EliYah:
- Anyone that's not heard the study at EliYah.com/transcripts called "The Dying of Yahushua in Us," it was shared on February 10, 2007, and it's a message that will fit on a CD, and you can download an mp3 or RealAudio. I encourage you to listen to it.
- It is the heart of the Gospel of the Good News. I encourage you to listen to that message to recognize what has already happened, and that is Yahushua lives in us. It is not us that live anymore.
- This is the time when we like to take questions and phone calls, comments. We do have one person on line one, and I believe it's Sister Peggy. Shabbat Shalom.
Peggy:
- Shabbat Shalom.
EliYah:
- How are you doing?
Peggy:
- We're not too far from the coast in Texas, and there's hurricanes out there, and so we just have a prayer request for anybody in the path of the hurricane, who's a believer.
- My mother just had a couple of strokes, so we're going to go to Philadelphia.
EliYah:
- Okay.
Peggy:
- And get out of the path of the hurricane, but just prayer requests for both issues.
EliYah:
- Absolutely. We will definitely do that.
Peggy:
- And for safe travel.
EliYah:
- For safe travels, as well.
Peggy:
- Yeah, and I got a relocation packet from Ava sent to me last week.
EliYah:
- Oh, really?
Peggy:
- Yeah, we're just looking in northwest Arkansas and the Ozarks, and we'd love to be living up there in that area up there somewhere. Maybe we can combine the two on our trip.
EliYah:
- There you go.
Peggy:
- Yes.
EliYah:
- Well, it's beautiful up here--not too many jobs, but it's very beautiful.
Peggy:
- Yeah. [laughs] Yeah, we'd have to have jobs.
EliYah:
- Yeah, the jobless rate is pretty high. I think the income in this county is the low 20's.
Peggy:
- Oh.
EliYah:
- On average.
Peggy:
- Yeah.
EliYah:
- But it's a very beautiful place to live and a nice place to raise a family if you can do some kind of business online or have any other businesses or anything like that. Usually, it's pretty good.
Peggy:
- Yeah, it seems beautiful.
EliYah:
- Yeah, we like it a lot.
Peggy:
- Yeah, and no hurricanes. [laughs]
EliYah:
- No, no hurricanes. We just get the tornadoes. We're actually right next to Hurricane Alley, which is Oklahoma, and some of the storms go right by us, and to date we've never seen a tornado, but there was one that went through Ava last summer.
Peggy:
- Oh.
EliYah:
- Actually, last spring, I should say.
Peggy:
- Yeah.
EliYah:
- It was a very small one. I think the hills here kind of affect the weather a little bit. Most of the tornadoes go north of us, where it's flat. Yahweh is our protector, anyway, no matter what.
Peggy:
- He is.
EliYah:
- We'll pray for you and for all the brethren who may be out there, and the unbelievers, too. We know that ultimately Yahweh wants to see them turn to Him.
Peggy:
- This is a good technique. [laughs]
EliYah:
- It's kind of sad. It's like New Orleans might be in the path, and that would be another devastation. In all things, we need to remember the power of Yahweh is greater, and man may be able to predict different things, but no one can stop a hurricane. Where it's going is where it's going.
Peggy:
- Right.
EliYah:
- Except Yahweh. And so it's amazing how many people, in times like that, in times of struggle, in times of danger, they're willing to pray, and Yahweh gets all kinds of attention, but in normal, daily life, sometimes He gets forgotten.
Peggy:
- In my life, I really believe that the trials and tribulations put me on my knees and drew me much closer to Him, and I'm grateful. I was hospitalized a lot of times, and I'm grateful for the trials, because it drew me so close to Him.
EliYah:
- And that's exactly what happens, and that's why they're here, and we can be thankful in our trials, knowing that they produce patience and all the good fruits.
Peggy:
- Right.
EliYah:
- So halleluYah.
Peggy:
- HalleluYah. Thank you, Tom. Thank you, EliYah.
EliYah:
- Good to talk to you.
Peggy:
- Hold on, here's Joshua.
EliYah:
- All right.
Joshua:
- Are you still there?
EliYah:
- I'm still here.
Joshua:
- Okay. We'd also, since we're getting away from the hurricane and going to see Peggy's mom, who's had the strokes, we might like to meet some brethren along the way. We're thinking of going up maybe through Little Rock and then head up towards Cincinnati and across to Pennsylvania.
EliYah:
- Okay.
Joshua:
- And back maybe through Raleigh. I'm not sure.
EliYah:
- Sounds like a good plan. When are you planning on making the trip?
Joshua:
- Late today or tomorrow.
EliYah:
- Oh, so you're going right away.
Joshua:
- Yeah. Well, the hurricane, they're still uncertain as to where it's going to hit, but somewhere between, say, central Louisiana and perhaps farther west, maybe even Galveston or Port O'Connor, Texas.
EliYah:
- Okay. All right. We'll pray for your household and your dwelling place, and Yahweh will protect it and have His hand on it. We've heard of Him doing that in hurricanes, right along the coast. People had buildings that should have been destroyed, that were completely protected. Yahweh can work a mighty work. Yahweh be with you in your trip.
Joshua:
- Thank you.
EliYah:
- All right. Anybody that happens to be in the area can get ahold of you, right?
Joshua:
- Can we give out our mobile phone number?
EliYah:
- It's up to you.
Joshua:
- Okay, it's 281-222-7799.
EliYah:
- All right.
Joshua:
- Okay.
EliYah:
- Yahweh be with you.
Joshua:
- Thank you.
EliYah:
- Shalom.
Joshua:
- Shalom aleichem.
EliYah:
- All right, Joshua and Peggy Channing going on a trip, fleeing the hurricane but also visiting some relatives. Both lines are open. If you'd like to call in, our telephone number is 417-683-3575, or you can call us toll free at 866-435-4924.
- I think there was a question or two in the chat room regarding today's study, understanding forgiveness of people who rape and murder their children, sick people who are multiple murderers, or husbands that harm their children.
- I can't help but realize those are awful, terrible things, but greater sins would be those that are against Yahweh, but the greater commands have to do with loving Yahweh.
- We might have problems understanding forgiveness of those who rape and murder and do these different things, but we don't have a hard time understanding forgiveness when it comes to someone not serving Yahweh or blaspheming His name or things like that, because they don't particularly affect us so much as these other things.
- It's sort of out of self preservation or desire to see another person not hurt that we have a hard time forgiving these areas, but we need to be willing to forgive, no matter what it is. That doesn't mean we need to be okay with it happening, or to just kind of let it go, or think it should not be justly punished, but that we ought to forgive, if someone asks for forgiveness.
- There was a man that we all know, and he was a great man of Yahweh, and he got caught up in lust. He was looking at a naked woman, and he committed adultery, and then he went and murdered--he may have raped her, even--but he went and murdered this woman's husband and then acted like it didn't even happen.
- Then she got pregnant with his child, and he tried to cover it up by murder. His name was David, King David of the Bible. Yahweh forgave him for that. I think if He can forgive David, we ought to be able to forgive others who do the same things.
- I believe we have Brother Don Bacco [phonetic] on line one. Shabbat Shalom, brother.
Don:
- Shabbat Shalom, Brother Tom.
EliYah:
- How are you doing?
Don:
- Great, thanks. How are you all doing?
EliYah:
- We're doing very well.
Don:
- Well, I just wanted to say it was an excellent message that brought conviction to my heart. Of course, you know, I've been around awhile, and I've been--over the course of time, we've had situations come up among brethren, and sometimes I feel like I've judged properly and sometimes not, as far as how to handle certain situations.
- I'd just like to put something out there for thought. There are people--over time, people have reformed from coming through the Christian door, when they found out they weren't being taught truth, and they've had to come out and sometimes make strong comments and stands regarding that.
- Even among, once we learn the name, we find out some people that want to be self-appointed elders and put themselves in a position of power over others without having the credentials.
- It's been a tough call a lot of times, because we've experienced some things in local assemblies to where they would try to teach stuff that we would absolutely disagree with.
- And they would use the verse about causing discord among brethren to kind of hold your feet to the fire and say, "You have to put up with this, because this is what scripture says," even though they kind of disagree with a lot of what the other scriptures say. You know what I mean?
EliYah:
- Yeah.
Don:
- So that's a hard call for me. I've been, like I said--we've known each other a lot of years, and there's been certain ones--we would try not to say anything false. And I've really got to work on hearsay, matters of hearsay that we put out as true, when, in fact, it may not be. I wanted to let you know how much I appreciated the message.
EliYah:
- HalleluYah.
Don:
- Yeah. What do you think regarding--I think maybe you have certain ideas about certain ones that kind of hold themselves out in a position of power and really have false teachings. If you bring that to the attention of other ones to protect them from error, then you become the talebearer, so to speak. I'd like to get your thoughts on that.
EliYah:
- Well, I think a lot of it might have to do with the way we present it. If we're going to go up there and start ramrodding the elder of whatever assembly it might be, that might be one thing.
- But if we're coming forward and saying, "I understand you teach these things here; do you mind if I share another view?" it may be a little bit different. Most people are willing to--I say most, not all--but most people are willing to at least hear what you have to say.
- You present what you have to say, and you prayerfully present that matter to everyone. Then, at that point, those who have heard it will make the decision as to what they believe. But if it's something where we're undercutting or secretly going behind the elder's back and saying, "He's teaching this falsehood and these other things," I don't know if we need to do that.
- I think we should--most assemblies, if they're His, are willing to at least hear something and listen. If they try to stop you, then you just say, "If anyone wants to hear anything more, then let me know." Leave it at that.
Don:
- What tactic would you take regarding when the situation arises, something kind of on the order of Acts 15, where Paul and Barnabus were very close for the longest time, and they got into a hot dispute and had to just part ways.
- And it doesn't say Barnabus fell out of Yahweh's favor, particularly, but it seems to suggest that they were just so in disrepair in their friendship that they had to part ways, for peace sake.
EliYah:
- Yeah, and ultimately what came out of that is their efforts were redoubled. I think, later, I think it was--I can't remember which letter it was--but Barnabus was spoken of very positively by Paul. So it was not something to where they divided and didn't consider each other brethren, but they had two different understandings of what was the right thing to do.
- Yahweh may have allowed that difference to happen, to where they would both do different things, and the efforts that they had would be even greater. It's not necessarily a bad thing. It's not good when we're not in unity. I understand that. But Yahweh, even in our disunity, can still work.
- We see that even in the book of Acts. There are assemblies that have split over different things, one issue or another, and they end up splitting.
- Then they're be another assembly that splits off of that, but then you have three different assemblies getting the word out that they wouldn't have been able to do, unless they had split.
- You don't really want there to be a split, but when there is, a lot of times the Word of Yahweh gets magnified even more.
Don:
- Ultimately, there's going to be one assembly.
EliYah:
- Yeah.
Don:
- One faith, one immersion.
EliYah:
- And that's true. The thing is I think we're in a different situation than they were in the first century, in that they had truth from the scriptures. Yahushua walked 3 1/2 years with the disciples. There was no question as to their authority.
- They're setting up their elders and overseers and people that they considered to be solid and worthy. They set up their groups to keep things the way they were, which was truth, and to protect the group from error.
- But down through the centuries now, lots of error has crept in, and yet when someone trying to get back to that first century assembly finds a little bit of truth, then they want to stop, set up a denomination, and keep things the way they are.
Don:
- Yeah.
EliYah:
- When Luther stood up to the Catholic church and said, "This is wrong, and the Bible says this," he was right about that, but then they stopped where he was and didn't go any further.
- They set up their denomination, and someone in that denomination pulled out and said, "Wait a minute. What about this over here?" And then he said, "Well, that's what the Bible says." Others were saying, "Well, our teacher never taught that."
- So they split off into another group, and another group, and another group, and I think it's the denominational spirit we need to avoid. I think we need to be humble and say, "No matter how far I think we are, I don't think we have it all quite yet."
Don:
- True.
EliYah:
- And if we're going to just set up another denomination and set up another hierarchy and all these things to where it's going to lock us in to where if we do need to change, we're going to lose half our congregation, then something is wrong.
- Maybe a true thus saith Yahweh prophet is going to come and straighten us all out one day.
Don:
- Yeah.
EliYah:
- But until then, we're just going to have to accept that we don't all have it yet, and be patient with one another, and be willing to bear with one another.
Don:
- Yeah. Sadly, there's no real apostolic succession that you can point to and say that this is the line of truth that we come from. People having offices in eldership, the different offices that were given, there's no way we can point to this and say, this is the line of truth that came through all these times.
- I guess the true faith was kind of hidden away in the mountaintops for a number of years. It's kind of hard for me to fathom that the whole truth died off for a number of years.
- Perhaps it did, but we cannot point to a certain group, a certain man and say, "This guy is in the line of succession from the apostolic truth." Therefore, we have to discern a lot of these things and how to deal with these certain brethren that come in and lock on a certain truth or two, and then want to pass judgment from that point and say, "Well, if you disagree with me, then you're anathema."
EliYah:
- Right. They're the ones creating division, in that case. They'll have to answer to Yahweh for that.
- But on our part, where I really make the division is not in whether someone uses Yahweh or not, or whether somebody keeps the feast day on the same day I do, or whether they even keep the feasts at all, or whether they understand the Sabbath yet or not, that's not where I make a distinction.
- Where I make a distinction is do they love the Word, because if they love the Word, no matter where they are, and they receive Messiah, of course, and they love the Word, Yahweh is going to show them in His time.
- I'm hesitant to jump the gun in judgment, because if they do love the Word, that's what they need to bring them along to whatever Yahweh wants to show them whenever He's ready to show them.
- But if they don't love the Word, no matter what you say to them from scripture, they're not going to listen.
- That's where I think Yahweh Himself makes the distinction. We see that in Matthew 18. If your brother sins against you, you tell him. If he won't hear you, bring one or two more. If he won't hear you, he won't hear you, he won't hear you.
- You bring the whole assembly. He won't hear you, he won't hear you, he won't hear you, don't want to hear anything. I'm not talking about little doctrinal on what day you keep the feast. I'm talking about things that are clearly scripture. At that point, you have to make a distinction.
Don:
- Yeah, well, certain issues like, just an example, would be if they're impressed by spiritual warfare and deliverance, and they want to bring something written by Christians into the mix, and bring stuff that's highly controversial. Personally, I believe in spiritual warfare, but I believe it's exactly how the scriptures read it.
- I don't go into big formulas on it. When they're presenting something a Christian pastor puts out and go out and read it with the other names in the assembly--especially if you have little ones you're trying to raise in the truth are involved--then that could cause a problem.
EliYah:
- I wouldn't make a distinction there. When I look at a place where I fellowship, one of the things I look for is do they love the Word? Can I edify this assembly being here? It's not just about me being edified. Can I edify others?
- If I'm not able to edify others, that's strike one. If I'm not being edified, that's strike two. If I'm not able to edify, and they're not being edified by me, and I don't see Yahweh being glorified, that's strike three.
Don:
- Yeah.
EliYah:
- Those are the areas I look to, because a lot of people will say, "I'm going to this assembly, and I'm not feeling edified."
- Can you edify others? If you can, then halleluYah. That's a part of what we're called to be.
- Others will say, "They're doing this wrong, doing that wrong." Every assembly I've ever been to, they're doing something wrong, and probably I'm wrong about them being wrong in some areas.
- It's better that we don't jump the gun and be quick to divide, that we're willing to be patient and realize, like I said earlier, and I've heard it very eloquently said, "If you ever find a perfect assembly, you would not be able to attend it."
Don:
- So true. [laughs] I appreciate that, brother. Just pray. We've been through this bit. Pray that I discern what to do in these certain cases. Put me on the prayer list for today regarding that.
- For us--and I'm sure there are many families that are in dire straits financially, getting ready for the feast, and things are just not going real well in a worldly manner, as far as the financial situation.
- Just pray for all the brethren. I'm sure a good bit of us have this need. Put that on the list, also.
EliYah:
- Okay.
Don:
- All right, good to talk to you, brother.
EliYah:
- Good to talk to you. Shabbat Shalom.
Don:
- Shabbat Shalom.
EliYah:
- Yahweh bless.
Don:
- Yahweh bless you.
EliYah:
- Brother Don Bacco from Pennsylvania. I've known Brother Don for a long time, maybe about 13 years or so. Good to talk to him. That's one of the challenges a lot of us face. We're very excited. We come to the faith. We're finding Torah, praising Yahweh, and then you might find an assembly that is claiming these areas, but now they're lacking in some other areas.
- The tendency is to withdraw and say, "They're not perfect, so I'm going to go find someone else." I've met people that have said, "We've looked, and looked, and looked, and looked, and we still haven't found the assembly that really, truly is a true assembly in our mind."
- You ask more questions, and you find that, by their standards, the Corinthians wouldn't have survived, either.
- The Corinthians were pretty rough themselves. We need to keep in mind that it's about a willingness to be obedient. Be on guard, too, because there are lots of hirelings, people who are wanting to exalt themselves and be something they are nowhere near.
- I believe we have Brother Frank on line two. Shabbat Shalom, brother. Are you with us?
Frank:
- [blows shofar]
EliYah:
- HalleluYah!
Frank:
- Yeah, I'm here.
EliYah:
- That's great.
Frank:
- HalleluYah.
EliYah:
- Sounded good, brother. How are you doing?
Frank:
- Pretty good, pretty good.
EliYah:
- Good.
Frank:
- Yourself?
EliYah:
- Oh, we're doing great.
Frank:
- You sound like you're doing well.
EliYah:
- Yeah, we're doing great.
Frank:
- Well, I just called to say hello to all the brethren and hello to you. Thanks for everybody, whoever helped me with my hard times.
EliYah:
- HalleluYah.
Frank:
- With the prayers that were said for me out there, and that my weakness lift up Yahweh, and that if anytime I can be a help to anybody else in their weakness, my number is on that feast list. I'd sure like to help.
EliYah:
- Are you going to join us this year for the feast?
Frank:
- I'm in the middle of--I probably am, but I can't say for sure.
EliYah:
- Oh.
Frank:
- Because I've kind of got some things that are going on here, and if something happens, it might stop me from going that far to the feast. But my plans so far have been--I do take some classes at school, and I took them online this time, so this way I don't have to--I can just bring the laptop with me.
EliYah:
- All right.
Frank:
- I try not to do too much.
EliYah:
- You need to come, because we need you, and we need your shofars. [laughter]
Frank:
- Yeah.
EliYah:
- That was a great time. That was one of the best things about the feast was you brought your belt sander, and your drills, and just watching all the brethren get together and make those shofars was a moment to remember.
Frank:
- Yeah, it was. It was a bundle of energy right there.
EliYah:
- Oh, man, wasn't it?
Frank:
- It was pretty cool, yeah.
EliYah:
- I just love to see when brethren work together and do things like that. It just thrills my heart.
Frank:
- Yeah, there was a lot of joy going on. People were getting involved. That was kind of like--I can understand what you're talking about. People are actually interacting with each other, and it seems more like family.
EliYah:
- Yeah, yeah. It's like we're all learning, and then when you're done, you get to blow that horn.
Frank:
- Yeah. I don't know what's going on with the kudu antelope or whatever population this year. I haven't really been looking, because a bunch of times, when I did look, there was nothing happening.
EliYah:
- Okay.
Frank:
- I wonder if anybody out there is looking into that.
EliYah:
- Yeah, if you've got any information on acquiring any unfinished kudu horns...
Frank:
- I just go to--there's this place called Atlantic Coral on eBay, but I didn't see them doing anything.
EliYah:
- Oh, okay.
Frank:
- I just go on eBay, and I look, but you can only pull so many horns out a year, I guess.
EliYah:
- Oh, I guess so.
Frank:
- Before you slow down the influx.
EliYah:
- Last year, when we were all done making the horns and everything, it really added to the festive atmosphere. About every ten minutes, you'd be hearing shofars.
Frank:
- Yeah.
EliYah:
- And when that one brother came to faith in Messiah in the middle of the meeting, and everyone heard about it, the horns were just going crazy.
Frank:
- Yeah.
EliYah:
- The word spread about his salvation. Even those of you that got the horns last year, make sure you bring them.
Frank:
- Yeah, right.
EliYah:
- And we want to do that again. It was great.
Frank:
- Yeah.
EliYah:
- If you know of any source to get some kudu horns, that we could finish up, let us know. You can bring that, too. Hopefully...
Frank:
- There are a lot of places where you can buy your raw horn. If someone was interested in buying a raw horn, if enough people are interested, we could bring the tools to do it.
EliYah:
- Yeah.
Frank:
- I'm talking about longer ones, because the longer ones are quite a bit more expensive. But if someone wanted to get one for themselves, then they go ahead and buy their three to four footer, and I'm sure, by the blessings of Yahweh, I won't mess it up for you.
EliYah:
- All right, yeah.
Frank:
- I'm not really accustomed to doing long ones, though, because I've only worked with my bargain shopping things, and I get these little bulk.
EliYah:
- Right. How big do you normally get?
Frank:
- The ones I was finding, they ranged from 23 inches to 30, 32, but that's around the curve, so that's not the whole length. If you were to take a measure tape, it would be shorter.
EliYah:
- Okay.
Frank They measured around the curve, taking the tape and wrapping it around the curve.:
EliYah:
- Right, sort of like if you're sowing one of those little tapes.
Frank:
- Yeah, like a cloth tape.
EliYah:
- The full length, if you were to stretch it all the way out, if you were able to.
Frank:
- But in my batches that I've gotten, I've gotten some pretty good ones. They're blemished. Don't expect you have a perfect one when you're buying batches like that. But for anyone starting off blowing the shofar, it's the easiest way to go.
- There's really too small ones that don't work too well. I do remember that a couple of small ones were inactive. It makes a little more work.
EliYah:
- Well, I've got a couple of ram's horns here. One is very, very short, and it's extremely high-pitched, and it's hard to play, but the longer ones are a little easier to play.
Frank:
- Yeah, they seem to be, once you get the knack of it.
EliYah:
- Right.
Frank:
- They're fun, they're fun.
EliYah:
- Yeah, last year, the last day of the feast, the folks there that run the campground asked if we minded if another family came on that was not part of our group. I stayed there overnight on our last day, and I said, "I don't mind."
- As I was wrapping up to leave, they were still there, and he came over to them. I introduced myself and my family. I said, "Do you know what's going on here."
- He said, "We heard there was a Feast of Tabernacles or something." This was a Christian family. I said, "Do you have any questions or anything?" He said, "Yeah, actually I do." He said, "Why is everyone--is it some kind of ritual or something? Why is everyone always blowing the horns?"
Frank:
- Yeah.
EliYah:
- I said, "No, there's not really any kind of liturgy or ritual. It's just we want to rejoice somehow, and you just end up getting your horn, and that's how you express yourself."
- It's just for fun and rejoicing. It's a time of gladness. I witnessed to him a little bit. Yahweh knows where it all leads. You never know.
Frank:
- In the end times, I don't know what horns are going to be playing, but I don't know if it's a horn on a tractor trailer or a shofar, but I kind of figure it's going to be something that Yahweh created and not something man created, right?
EliYah:
- Yeah, yeah. Exactly. There were silver trumpets there that they used in the tabernacle.
Frank:
- They were for ceremonial, right?
EliYah:
- We're like the poor man. We're using the poor man's horns, actually.
Frank:
- Yeah. [laughs] Well, it's more like the parable of give to Yahweh what Yahweh--in other words, this is His creation.
EliYah:
- Right.
Frank:
- This wasn't created by the hands of man, you know?
EliYah:
- Yeah, that's great. Coming up here in about a month, we have the Feast of Trumpets, Yom Teruah. It'd be a good time to go look for horns. I'm sure there's an abundant supply out there this time of year.
Frank:
- That's true.
EliYah:
- If you're looking--those of you who maybe want to bring a horn with you and have--Brother Frank, hopefully, can make it to the feast.
- He'll bring his belt sander and drill and different things, and get a raw horn and turn it into one that plays. Bring it with you. He'll show you exactly how to do it. Then it's actually a little cheaper that way than trying to buy a fancy horn from wherever magazine you usually find them in or whatever. Anyway, halleluYah.
Frank:
- Yeah, it's been great to be able to get in here. I hope Free calls next, and he blows his horn, because I told him if he did it, I'd do it, but I guess I beat him to it. [laughter]
EliYah:
- All right.
Frank:
- So, thanks again, everybody. I was going through a little bit of tormented times there, and I'm not going to say I won't again. Please don't lose faith in me as if I'm some kind of bad guy because I go through tough times.
EliYah:
- Are you kidding me?
Frank:
- Because I'm sure all of us do.
EliYah:
- Don't we all go through rough times? It's part of our walk. It's not something strange that happens. It's something we all share in.
Frank:
- I've noticed that when people are in it, it's kind of hard to recognize what's happening to you.
EliYah:
- Yeah.
Frank:
- It strengthens the brethren that aren't going through it at the time. It's very encouraging, because you don't feel like you're left alone.
EliYah:
- HalleluYah.
Frank:
- When you're going through it, you pretty much feel like you're left alone.
EliYah:
- Right.
Frank:
- Because that's what it is. It's an attack against you.
EliYah:
- Yeah, yeah. Well, we praise Yahweh He brought you through.
Frank:
- Yeah, halleluYah. I mean, I just--it's kind of weird, because if you stay in faith, no matter how wobbly it is or whatever, a lot of times the devil is just drawing you closer to Yahweh when he attacks you--in the end.
EliYah:
- It always works against him in the end, doesn't it?
Frank:
- Yeah.
EliYah:
- HalleluYah.
Frank:
- That's a blessing to look forward to, isn't it?
EliYah:
- Amein. I often say when we're in a valley, don't get too caught up in it, because there's a mountain on the way. There's a high point. When you're up on a high point, be ready, because a valley is on the way.
- Try to keep an even keel as much as you can. Don't get too down in the dumps when you're in a valley, and don't get too excited when you're up on a mountain, because the valley is coming.
- Yahweh knows that when we're up on a mountain, and things are going really well, it's when we're both able to handle the trials.
Frank:
- I have another word to the wise type of thing. Usually, when you're trying to find more wisdom or verify wisdom you already know, because it doesn't seem clear, that's usually the area you're going to be used in, that you're going to be attacked against, against your beliefs.
- Don't hold it to yourself. If you're having problems, go out and say it to somebody. If you hold it to yourself, it's going to work in your mind on you. We're not smiley faces that just go bouncing around and we're always happy. We have things we go through, and we're there for each other.
EliYah:
- Yahushua sweat blood one time. He was not always Mr. smiley man, but He had His challenges. He said, "My soul is extremely sorrowful, even to the death." We, as Yahweh's people, are called to share in His sufferings, and it says in one place, the joy that was set before Him enabled Him to endure.
- It was that time He was in the valley, it was that mountain that was ahead, when He was going to be on that high place again looking forward to the things that were to come that enabled Him to endure the things that He struggled in. That's how it is for us.
Frank:
- Being human, sometimes when these attacks happen to us, they make us feel ashamed that we're being overtaken. Sometimes we don't want to reveal that to anybody, because we feel that person might look down upon us.
- If there's really love in your brethren right there, that's not going to happen. You might have to be a little discerning. Use discernment on who you talk to and how mature they are.
EliYah:
- Right.
Frank:
- But you need to.
EliYah:
- We're called to bear one another's burdens, and it's very difficult to walk alone.
Frank:
- It is. It'll even lift you up to know that we do need each other.
EliYah:
- Absolutely. HalleluYah.
Frank:
- HalleluYah.
EliYah:
- Love you, brother.
Frank:
- All right, Tom. Love all you guys. Thank you and have a great Sabbath.
EliYah:
- You, too, brother. Shabbat Shalom.
Frank:
- All right, bye-bye.
EliYah:
- Brother Frank from Florida, becoming a more and more dear brother as I get to know him that much more. Always good to hear from him. We all have that challenge, don't we? We all have that moment of testing. James, the book of James encouraged us to look to the crown and realize these things are all temporary. Our time is coming when the crown of life will be given.
James 1:12 - Blessed [is] the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which YAHWEH has promised to those who love Him.- HalleluYah. Nothing strange about encountering trials. We can count it all joy, knowing it produces patience, that we may have that perfect work in us. HalleluYah.
Q.
- How do I respond to gossip from my family?
EliYah:
- Sister Shacar asks the question, "How do you respond to gossip?" Usually, you can ask, "Have you talked to them privately about that?" That usually shuts them up right away. Or you can say, "I'm feeling a little uncomfortable about this conversation." Just kind of withdraw. If necessary, you could mention if that person knew you were talking about them like that, they would be very hurt.
- We need to sometimes--if it's an unbeliever, there's not a lot you can do, but believers, that's one thing that usually quiets them down quickly is to ask, "Have you talked to them privately about that?"
- I'd encourage you to do that, Matthew 18, because that is the source of most gossip is a lack of willingness to take that first step.
Q.
- Will the Feast of Tabernacles be broadcast daily for the benefit of those not in attendance physically?
EliYah:
- We hope so. That's our goal. I can't promise it. Sometimes technical challenges prohibit us, but our plan would be to hopefully do that daily and, hopefully, even record the meetings and have them available for later.
- You can link the Feast of Tabernacles information from the main website, EliYah.com. You can scroll down and read more about that.
- There's a link there about the Feast of Tabernacles. If you don't know anything about it, I encourage you to read about that. We're planning on having a wonderful time once again. HalleluYah.
Q.
- The moon sighting, is it Yahweh's calendar based on sighting in Jerusalem, rather than locally?
EliYah:
- There are many who believe we ought to go by a Jerusalem new moon, but I'm of the mind it would be a local new moon and not by Jerusalem new moon unless I'm in Jerusalem.
- Yahweh gave instructions, as far as new moons, when a month begins. It was before internet, and satellites, and things like that. We wouldn't have any clue what the moon is like in Jerusalem, living here in the United States, so we'd have to go by a local sighting.
- I think there's some scriptural precedents for that. I don't believe, necessarily, that Jerusalem is the only place Yahweh has placed His name at this time in history. That was the actual command. Yahweh never said at Jerusalem you shall keep the feasts.
- He said keep the feasts wherever Yahweh places His name. In John 4, Yahushua said that neither in Jerusalem nor on this mountain shall you worship the Father. The time is coming and now is where you shall worship the Father in Spirit and truth.
- He was anticipating that the place of worship would no longer be in Jerusalem, but we worship the Father in Spirit and truth. Yahushua said, "Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst of them."
- His name, the place where His name is, is where Yahweh's people are gathered. The day may come, anticipating in the age to come, the 1,000 year reign, once again, that place of worship and gathering for feasts will be Jerusalem, Yerushalayim.
- But at this time, I think it's wherever Yahweh places His name. In the absence of any other instruction from Yahweh, I think we ought to follow the moon cycle where we live, where we dwell, and not invent anything we have to go by a Jerusalem new moon. I think we can go locally. That's my opinion. I respect those who disagree with me.
- I believe that's all the questions at this moment. The phone lines are still open. If you'd like to give us a call, 417-683-3575 or 866-435-4924.
- In the meantime, we're going to share a song from the library. This is a song by Christy Beth. I don't know what the actual name is. I just call it, "I Need Some Direction."
- [Music Ministry: "I Need Some Direction"]
EliYah:
- HalleluYah. Yahweh is faithful to the end. HalleluYah. Blessed be the name of Yahweh. Looks like our phone lines are still free. If you'd like to give us a call, 417-683-3575 or 866-435-4924. Love to hear from you, sound the shofar, say shalom to the brethren, have a comment or question about today's meeting. Today's topic was loving one another, loving the brethren.
Q.
- How did David know which day the new moon was ahead of time?
EliYah:
- It's not that hard, if you have some experience, actually, in setting and understanding the moon cycles to determine which day the new moon will be. There are many months. Actually, most of the time you know ahead of time.
- For instance, in ancient times, if you had two 30-day months in a row, you know the following month is going to be 29 days. If you had two 29-day months in a row, there's no question whatsoever the next one will be 30.
- You can, a lot of times through experience, determine when the new moon will be ahead of time without looking, but there are times when it's not real certain. You have to look for yourself to be sure.
- I believe that's all the questions. If you'd like to call in, the phone lines are open. Otherwise, let's hear your prayer requests. We'll offer prayer up to Yahweh to close the meeting. In the meantime, we'll go ahead and share another song from the library. This one a Hebrew song called "Ram V'nisa HaMashiach, High and Lifted Up Is Messiah."
- [Music Ministry: "Ram V'nisa HaMashiach"]
EliYah:
- HalleluYah. That is a song by David Loden, all in the Hebrew language, of course, but nonetheless very beautiful. HalleluYah. There was a couple of questions that came in.
Q.
- What do you do when you go to visit friends that were once believers and now have gone back to Christianity? They know you do not eat pork, and they sneak it into your food.
EliYah:
- Friends like that, who needs enemies?
Q.
- Did not know until the meal was over. Found a piece in my mouth. Did not want to say anything without going to her husband or somebody in authority. Had no idea they would do that. We used to eat with them every Shabbat. It was spaghetti. We thought it was safe.
EliYah:
- Yeah, that's pretty rude and crude. I wouldn't be afraid one bit to say something to them and to say, "We will not be back. You violated our trust in terms of eating a meal with you. You walked away from truth, obviously, and are trying to seduce us, as well."
- Ask Yahweh for forgiveness, and pray for them, as they're walking as your enemy, whether they know it or not. That would be something pretty offensive. Ultimately, Yahweh will see all things, and that hopefully maybe will bring up a conversation where you can talk to them about kosher.
- Whenever something bad happens, I'm always looking for something good to come out of it, because most of the time that's what Yahweh does.
- He's done it so many times. Look at what Yahushua went through, and something came out of that. Look at the wrong David did in murdering and committing adultery. Out of that relationship came Solomon.
- It just seems that through every negative situation, something that Yahweh likes to do is turn it around for good. That's what I'd be looking at, but that was very wrong, very offensive. I wouldn't be afraid one bit to say something to them.
Q.
- The new moon being the sliver, the crescent, how do we know we should follow that instead of some other methods? Islam does the same thing. They also follow the crescent.
EliYah:
- I would say probably because they do follow the crescent, then it's only because their calendar is based on a new moon. That's probably the ancient way of determining a new moon.
- The fact that they might do it doesn't mean that we don't. They worship by getting on their face before their elohim they call Allah. It doesn't mean we don't worship that way.
- They might do other things that are similar. They pray. That doesn't mean we don't pray. They keep holy days. That doesn't mean we don't keep holy days. There's all kinds of similarities, but I can't use that as a basis for not doing something that I see in the scriptures. I do see the visible new moon being in the scriptures.
- I don't see the conjunction new moon, which is identified as the specific hour, minute and second that the moon is directly in front of--maybe not as far as covering the sun--but directly in line with the sun, as it goes in orbit around the earth, so it's completely dark on the front side of the moon, which is something you cannot see. It's impossible to see.
- It's something that would require mathematical calculations and a very, very good watch, which is something they didn't have in ancient times.
- I don't believe it was the way that Yahweh inspired man to determine. If the sundown was at 7:30, which is the beginning of a new day, and the new moon was at 7:30,then on which day is the new moon?
- You run into problems like that. I don't think the ancients even knew what 7:30 was. That's why I don't believe in the conjunction, which is a scientific new moon, which is the method followed by Jews today.
- I don't believe no moon is a new moon. I believe the new moon is new, because you see it. Oh, look, there it is. It's been renewed.
- I think we're ready for more prayer requests, if you have any. In the meantime, we'll pick out another song here from the library. This one is one of our favorites. It's called "Yom Kippur."
- [Music Ministry: "Yom Kippur," "Lead Me to the River of Your Healing Waters"]
EliYah:
- Amein. May Yahweh guide you and lead you by His Ruach HaKodesh, filling you with His Spirit as you go out once more to the work week.
- It was a wonderful time with you all. I look forward to doing it again next week. Yahweh bless you all. Shabbat Shalom to your homes.
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