Yahweh – The Blogging Hounds

¹I will praise the Lord at all times.
    I will constantly speak his praises.
²I will boast only in the Lord;
    let all who are helpless take heart.
³Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness;
    let us exalt his name together.

⁴I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.
    He freed me from all my fears.
⁵Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
    no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
⁶In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened;
    he saved me from all my troubles.
⁷For the angel of the Lord is a guard;
    he surrounds and defends all who fear him.

⁸Taste and see that the Lord is good.
    Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
⁹Fear the Lord, you his godly people,
    for those who fear him will have all they need.
¹⁰Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry,
    but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.

¹¹Come, my children, and listen to me,
    and I will teach you to fear the Lord.
¹²Does anyone want to live a life
    that is long and prosperous?
¹³Then keep your tongue from speaking evil
    and your lips from telling lies!
¹⁴Turn away from evil and do good.
    Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

¹⁵The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right;
    his ears are open to their cries for help.
¹⁶But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil;
    he will erase their memory from the earth.
¹⁷The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help.
    He rescues them from all their troubles.
¹⁸The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
    he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

¹⁹The righteous person faces many troubles,
but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.
²⁰For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous;
not one of them is broken!

21 Calamity will surely destroy the wicked,

    and those who hate the righteous will be punished.

22 But the Lord will redeem those who serve him.

    No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
 
He is worthy of His name.  There is none like Him.  None beside Him.
 
Through His unfathomable and unmerited grace and favor I have a new name that has been imputed to me.  Lord knows I need it.

Revelation 2:17 (NLT):
Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.

His name needs no cleansing.  No imputed righteousness.  No redemption.  No justification.  No sanctification.  No adoption.  No separation from sin.  No grace.  No mercy.   No sacrifice.  No atonement.
Our Lord Jesus is indeed worthy of His name and at His name every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.

HOLY HOLY HOLY

He is solid, unmoving, unchanging and a friend to sinners.

Hallelujah!!! (Click to Site)

September 5, 2017September 5, 2017

Mark of the Beast 2017 – It Has Begun

What you are witnessing and what you are experiencing is the beginning of the end of the ways of man. There is an appointed time and season for all to come to pass and you have now begun the time of the end.

It is of the utmost importance that you heed My voice and learn of My instructions, or you will fall prey to the evil one and his manipulative and deceptive schemes.

All those made in My image are redeemable, but the wicked one and those who choose to follow him are forever separated from Me, and will not be permitted to repent or be forgiven for their treachery of the Most High Creator.

Your adversary will continue to make war on the saints until his allotted time is over. He hates you because you are made in My image, but he hated Me first. In his fury, for thousands of years, he has worked aggressively to amass an army for his own so called kingdom, as he will attempt to make himself a god before Me, destroying as many as he can along the way.

For those who will not willingly give allegiance to him, he will accuse and petition against and attack. He has planned the greatest deception for mankind and sadly, many will succumb as they have not taken My Word seriously.

Because satan cannot create beings, he must inhabit them in order to retain control so his plans can be acted upon. This is an understanding you must have for these days upon you, as you are living in the days of Noah.

When the fallen angels came down and knew the daughters of men, My pure and untainted bloodline fell under a curse. The Nephilim offspring and strange hybrids that came as a result of evil spirits mixing with flesh was an abomination in My sight. Therefore, I destroyed the earth with a flood.

Because of the forbidden knowledge that was presented to mankind, many things that were not possible through manipulative knowledge previously, then became known and tangible in this realm.

I am speaking of manipulation of DNA and of the flesh that was created in My image. By mingling evil spirits with the blood of the flesh of men and animals, satan has and is acquiring the hosts he desires to accomplish his wicked design, which is to ultimately be a god and to kidnap as many of those who are created in My image as he can, so they too will be forever lost to Me. (Click to Site)

September 2, 2017September 2, 2017

Torah Commentary – Ki Tetze (When you go out) – Protecting the Back of the Pack – SCRIPTURES FOR September 2, 2017

Torah Commentary

Ki Tetze (When you go out)

Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19

Isaiah 54:1-10

Mark 10:2-12

Luke 20:27-38

1Tim 5:17-18

Protecting the Back of the Pack

As I read through these middle chapters of Deuteronomy I sometimes want to put my head back and say, “Well duh!” For me, I find many of the instructions here are common sense. I really cannot think of a time in my life that I needed to be reminded to not wear a dress or makeup! Then I recall something simple, yet profound, a friend said, “If common sense is supposed to be so common, then why isn’t it?” While watching the news it is rather evident that there are many folks across this world in need of reading these verses and putting them into practice in their lives.

Why are these instructions difficult for so many people? The very simple answer is no relationship with Yeshua, no Torah, no life!! Torah teaches us about taking responsibility for our actions. Consider it this way. Let’s say your ox walks through a hole in your fence and falls in a ditch. You ponder the issue. The blame goes to the ox for walking through the hole in the fence and falling into the ditch. Then you consider maybe a demon spooked the ox which made him run through the hole and into the ditch. The obvious issue is not what the ox did wrong, but the fact you needed to fix the fence. Had responsibility been taken the ox would not be in the ditch!

For the prepper at heart think about the verse that asks you to include a trowel in your pack. How do feel when you realize what the trowel is needed for? Wait, you want me to use that trowel? Do you shutter at the idea that you might get it dirty requiring you to clean it? Are you wondering why someone else can’t clean up the mess you made in the camp? Do you avoid taking responsibility?

The Torah also teaches us what is referred to as the “Golden Rule.” It is amazing how many people actually think the words “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is really a verse in Scripture. No, it is not a verse of Scripture, but it is a principle derived from It. Things like not charging a brother or sister interest, respecting others physical and spiritual boundaries are all instructions taught in these Torah portions. (Click to Site)

August 17, 2017August 17, 2017

Torah Commentary – Re’eh (See) – See, Perceive or Selah – SCRIPTURES FOR August 19, 2017

Torah Commentary

Re’eh (See)

Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17

Isaiah 54:11-55:5

1Corinthians 5:9-13

1John 4:1-6

See, Perceive or Selah

The title of this Torah portion is translated very simply with the word “see.” This small simple word can be taken for granted by some. For the vast majority of the people in this country, “seeing” is the first thing they do every morning. People wake up, open their eyes to see, or depending on your optical ability, at least look at the images our eyes are allowing their brains to discern. I question whether there is a difference between seeing or looking?

In Hebrew the word is re’eh. The word has the meaning of looking at something with our eyes, but that is not the context in how it’s being used here. The Hebrew meaning is for us to perceive and consider something so as to bring forth discernment. Many of you may relate to the example I’m going to use to explain my point. Most people wake up in the morning head to the bathroom to begin their daily routine to make themselves presentable before leaving home. Many of us find in the mirror the proverbial “bed head” look with hair going every direction. As one makes sense of the new style their pillow created they might find a few gray hairs that certainly could not have been there the day before.

How you handle these sneaky little gray hairs is what brings forth my point. Will you make a mental note of the location of these sly little hairs to pluck them out, hide them with a new hairstyle or run to the local Wal-Mart to grab a bottle of hair color? Are these little gray hairs a frightful unwanted sight or do they bring you to a place of introspection? Do you just “see” the gray hair or do look deeper to evaluate the Scriptural meaning behind gray hair and how it’s interpreted. Do you perceive what is happening in your life regarding your maturity and reflect on decisions you are making? The gray hair is a sign to us to ponder if we are learning the lessons life has been trying to teach us or traveling around the same mountain of mistakes. Are you gaining wisdom through maturity or just going gray? (Click to Site)

August 4, 2017August 4, 2017

TorahScope – V’et’chanan – I pleaded – “Call Upon Him!” – 30 July, 2017

V’et’chanan

I pleaded

Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11
Isaiah 40:1-26

“Call Upon Him!”

by Mark Huey
mark@outreachisrael.net

V’et’channan is one of the most compelling Torah portions in the entire annual cycle. With a reiteration of the Decalogue[1] and the Shema[2] being just two of the many words that are declared, the commentaries written about this critical juncture in the sojourn of Ancient Israel are voluminous. One could spend days dissecting the grand significance of the Decalogue and the Shema, as these two critical pieces from the Bible have doubtlessly molded the thoughts and views of countless followers of the Creator God since. While these studies are definitely beneficial and recommended for the ardent student of the Torah, the aspect of this week’s reading, that seemed to settle in my spirit, is the comment that Moses made regarding the opportunity that God’s people have to call upon Him:

“For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on Him?” (Deuteronomy 4:7).

There should be no doubt that this week I am being influenced by the distressing affairs that are currently going on in our world. These are troubling times for many who follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. From my limited perspective, if there were ever a time to call upon Him, this is such a time. The fact that these particular Scriptures just happen to be studied this week is not by chance, because our Sovereign God is intimately aware of the circumstances of His Creation. The question that keeps coming to my mind is just how we should all be calling on our God as we each deal with the various challenges of this hour.

As born again Believers, each of us should already know that since we have a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father, via the work of the Risen Savior Yeshua, with us being granted the indwelling presence of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit)—that we can have the confidence to approach the Lord with our requests (Hebrews 4:16). These following words from David, who knew the Lord and is often referred to as one after God’s own heart, should have much more meaning to you as you experience the presence of the Spirit of God in a redeemed heart of flesh by your faith in the Messiah:

“The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds. The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. The LORD keeps all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever” (Psalm 145:17-21).

One can definitely see a connection between how Deuteronomy 4:7 speaks of those who “call on Him,” and Psalm 145:18, those “who call upon Him in truth.” The noticeable difference, between these two phrases, is how Psalm 145:18 adds the requirement that God’s people call upon Him b’emet or “in truth,” also rendered as “in integrity” (HCSB). Surely, with a knowledge of God’s truth, and a comprehension of His holiness and awesome power, we will be able to properly issue our requests—and most especially our pleas for His mercy and intervention—to Him.

Personally, I have been praying for many different situations this week. Messianic Believers always have the current events present in the Land of Israel, and the proverbial “mess” in the Middle East to pray about. This past week (for 12 August, 2011), though, there has been the growing “mess” in the global economy, and specifically the U.S., to pray about. Uncertainty about the future is running rampant, especially as the value of homes, property, one’s investment portfolio, and confidence in government(s) plummet “down the tubes.” Many people want direction regarding these, and other challenges.

I am reminded that it is often in the broken moments of life, that God finally has the opportunity to reveal Himself. It is when questions seem to go unanswered, that people can come to the end of relying on themselves, and turn to their Creator for mercy, comfort, and even redemption. There is something truly wonderful about seeing that you are nothing without the Lord. When you can honestly confess that you need to totally trust in Him, and recognize that what He is doing or allowing is for your ultimate good—it is then that the understanding witnessed in the Shema can be realized:

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5).

To love the Lord your God with all of oneself, means that you totally accept what He is doing in you and your environment. While you might not completely like what is going on, and you might want it to change, the fact remains that He as Supreme Creator is still in charge. He knows the beginning from the end. He is not confounded by the horrific circumstances that have caused turmoil for someone’s financial holdings or stocks this week.

In V’et’chanan, we see a prophecy of how in the Last Days, those who are scattered of Israel will return to the Lord, and be gathered back to the Promised Land. Within this word are ever-critical admonitions about how His people are to turn to Him with all their beings, and how He is astutely faithful to His covenant:

“The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD drives you. There you will serve gods, the work of man’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. For the LORD your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them” (Deuteronomy 4:27-31).

As you can read, our compassionate God will remember His promises to the ancients. This is one promise we can all rely upon, something which faithful followers have always turned to throughout the remainder of Holy Writ:

“Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness, do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You, which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria to this day” (Nehemiah 9:32).

“Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Yeshua our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Yeshua the Messiah, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21).

I would urge you to please take the time to regularly cry out for all of those who truly need Him. Are you one of those people? We live in a world today, where circumstances appear to be getting worse and worse, and are completely out of our control. This is when the Lord can move. Please take the time to call upon the Lord. Pray for all of those being affected by what is happening today, because He is the only One who can bring true shalom, true peace and tranquility, to those whose lives are being turned upside down and into chaos. May we be among those who know that we can call on Him in this time of need!

NOTES

[1] Deuteronomy 5:1-21.

[2] Deuteronomy 6:1-12.

(Click to Site)

August 3, 2017August 3, 2017

Torah Commentary – Va’etchanan “And I besought” – The Call to Return – SCRIPTURES FOR August 5, 2017

Torah Commentary

Va’etchanan “And I besought”

Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11

Isaiah 40:1-26

1 Kings 19-22

Matthew 4:1-11; Romans 3:27-31
James 2:14-26

The Call to Return

This Torah portion is so rich that it is difficult to not write pages and pages of commentary. Instead I will focus on a great work which is happening in our day, a work based upon just one verse. In Deuteronomy 6:4 we find the Shema, “Hear oh Israel YH VH our God, YH VH is One”. For many people this is the first verse in Scripture they learn to say in Hebrew! The importance of this verse for the Jewish and Messianic communities is likened to John 3:16 in the Christian church. These verses are foundational in faith.

It was the mid 2000’s when the Shema took on fuller meaning for me. It was then I learned the verse in English and Hebrew. Later on, while I was at a speaking engagement in Lucerne Valley, California a dear friend and brother brought this verse to life for me. He, his wife and congregation had the alarms on their cell phones set to ring at 9am and 3pm. When the alarm went off they would stop whatever they were doing to recite the Shema. I liked the idea and set my alarm also. For a year or so I followed the tradition. In time the alarm and recitation lost interest in my daily life, subsequently the alarms were deleted. I found it was never a heart’s desire to do this, but more an interest in joining in with my friends.

I am not sure what prompted me, but a couple of years ago a change of heart occurred. I decided to set my alarm again. In meetings, conferences and daily life I have encouraged others to do the same. It is quite the experience to be in a meeting and hear alarms going off all over the room at 9am or 3pm so we can join together as one to give honor to the One that brought us together in the first place! Even more exciting is being on a tour to Israel with a busload of folks, or even just a few people in a restaurant, rise, turn toward the Temple Mount and begin to recite the Shema. Rather interesting conversations and events have happened around this as you may imagine.

Why the Shema and why now?

The Shema is not a prayer, but rather a call and declaration. As we honor Elohim, it is a call to those who turned away from Him. It is our voices being used to call out to the “Lost sheep of Israel” to make teshuvah (repentance and return) unto the Elohim of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov through the covenant of Messiah. When you and I recite the Shema our voices are going to the far reaches of the earth to call our brothers and sisters to nasa (lift up their heads) and return unto Him. It is a declaration of the revelation that the Elohim we serve is Echad, (One).

The words of the Shema are few, but filled with great meaning. Here is an amplified version by Barry Phillips of Remnant of Yisrael.

“So hear, grasp and comprehend, Yisrael, You covenant people chosen by YHWH, full of colors, nations, and tribes, YHWH, He Who is Mercy and Lovingkindness is our very own Elohim, our personal Creator and Judge Who will repay. This YHWH, the second mentioning, the revealing of the first mentioned, Y’shuah, is a mystical and wondrous unity of One; The first and the last together.” (Click to Site)

July 1, 2017July 1, 2017

Torah Commentary – Chukat “Statute” – Give or It Shall Be Taken From You – SCRIPTURES FOR July 1, 2017

The Hebrews have been in the wilderness for 38 years. There are still trials to go through and people who must die before they can move on. Let us not miss the personal nature and just read over the deaths of Moshe’s brother and sister. Their deaths will bring many changes in the camp.

Torah Commentary

Chukat “Statute”

Numbers 19:1-22:1

Judges 11:1-33

John 11-12

Give or It Shall Be Taken From You

A common thread we have seen the past few weeks with grumbling, murmuring and complaining continues this week. I pray we have learned the importance of having an “attitude of gratitude” to help us overcome these unwelcome sins. Sadly, in this portion Israel’s grumbling not only affected them, but their leader. Their sin permeated the camp. Moshe had enough of the people and entered into their spirit of frustration. This mistake cost him a price higher than he desired to pay. Because he disobeyed a direct command from Yah by striking the rock the second time, instead of speaking to it, he was judged. His consequence was painful; the inability to enter the Promise Land with Israel. Although he would not enter the Land, he still had the job of taking the people to their destination.

There was an obstacle in the way between Israel’s current location and the Land they were to enter – the land controlled by Sichon, king of the Emori. Moshe sent word to Sichon explaining he wanted to lead Israel through the land Sichon occupied. After all, they have been in the desert for a long time and a shortcut is a shortcut. Moshe made sure Sichon understood he did not desire to take the land, eat from its fields and vineyards or even drink the water of the land. Israel did not need any of those things. They had the land HaShem promised them, they had all the manna a person could ever want; manna burgers, manna pancakes, manna upside down cake. (You know the rest.) Moshe had one interest the shortcut through the land of the Emori.

It seems Sichon was never told about the wonders of giving to Yah or Genesis 12:3. I am sure if he understood who these people were and Whom they served and that by giving Israel access to the King’s Highway, he would have been blessed beyond measure, Sichon’s decision would have been different. Instead of giving to Yah, self service thinking provoked him to take from Yah. In this case he greedily desired to take the lives and possessions of HaShem’s people. What he failed to recognize was the Creator of the universe owned the people and their possessions. We read as expected Sichon was defeated. Not only defeated, but what he controlled was taken from him and given to Israel as a temporary dwelling place until they moved on to their inheritance. Don’t mess with what belongs to HaShem!

What can we learn from the account of Sichon, king of the Emori? Here are a few suggestions. (Click to Article)

June 13, 2017

Heart Transplant

Have you received your heart transplant from YHWH?

The reason I ask is that many people claim they have, but I would like to examine in more detail what happens when we received our “new heart” from YHWH. Let’s begin by looking at a few verses in Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 24:6-7
‘And I shall set My eyes on them for good, and shall bring them back to this land. And I shall build them and not pull them down, and shall plant them and not pluck them up. ‘And I shall give them a heart to know Me, that I am YHWH. And they shall be My people, and I shall be their Elohim, for they shall turn back to Me with all their heart.

To start off, we see in these verses that the new heart will be given so that we will know YHWH, and “they shall turn “back” to Him with all their heart.” Now let’s look at Jeremiah 31 which contains the most used verses to claim we are in or under the new covenant.

Jeremiah 31:31-33
“See, the days are coming,” declares YHWH, “when I shall make a new covenant with the house of Yisra’ĕl and with the house of Yehuḏah, not like the covenant I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Mitsrayim, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares YHWH. “For this is the covenant I shall make with the house of Yisra’ĕl after those days, declares YHWH: I shall put My Torah (Law) in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts. And I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.

Here in Jer 31, we see that YHWH will write His Torah on our hearts and then He will be our God, and we shall be His people. Let’s continue by looking at two other verses with very similar language that are often overlooked.

Ezekiel 11:17-21
“Therefore say, ‘Thus said the Master YHWH, “And I shall gather you from the peoples, and I shall assemble you from the lands where you have been scattered, and I shall give you the land of Yisra’ĕl.” ’ “And they shall go there, and shall take away all its disgusting matters and all its abominations from there. “And I shall give them one heart, and put a new spirit within you. And I shall take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, so that they walk in My laws, and guard My right-rulings, and shall do them. And they shall be My people, and I shall be their Elohim. “But to those whose hearts walk after the heart of their disgusting matters and their abominations, I shall recompense their deeds on their own heads,” declares the Master YHWH.

Ezekiel 36:24-27
“And I shall take you from among the Gentiles, and I shall gather you out of all lands, and I shall bring you into your own land. “And I shall sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean – from all your filthiness and from all your idols I cleanse you. “And I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. And I shall take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I shall give you a heart of flesh, and put My Spirit within you. And I shall cause you to walk in My laws and guard My right-rulings and shall do them.

Now we see a new spirit being given to go with the Torah being written on our hearts. This transplant of the new heart of flesh along with His Spirit allows us to know Him, return to Him with all our hearts, walk in His laws/statutes (Torah), and guard (keep) His right-rulings (judgments) so that we will do them.

Did you catch that?