Dub and Experiential learning

I chose to take Dub with me for an eight-day retreat with fellow believers to celebrate the biblical holiday of Tabernacles.  My friends had reserved a group camp site with a larger gazebo and fire pit for our time together at Lake Mary Ronan State Park.  Most of our friends have either a 5th wheel or an RV.  I don’t have either a 5th wheel or an RV, and I’m so over tenting/sleeping on the ground!  There is a small cabin resort about 3 miles away from the State Park where I was able to rent a small cabin for Dub and me for the entire eight days.

We arrived Friday evening.  Saturday, the Sabbath, we gathered for worship, prayer and fellowship.  On Saturday, our son, Spencer, his fiancé, Sarah and her mom, Catherine, arrived in Kalispell for wedding planning things.  They stayed with Ben at our home and I joined them from Sunday to Monday.  I returned to the cabin late Monday (after prepping the house for a showing on Tuesday).

Something odd happened on Tuesday when I joined my friends at the state park.  There was a young man – the nephew of one of my friends who is both developmentally and physically disabled.  He was petting Dub who was off leash while I was on the other side of the campsite.  Dub, unprovoked, bit this young man in the butt.  It was more of a nip, and he did not bite hard enough to break the skin, but it hurt anyway!  I was told about it and put Dub in the truck.

There was nothing unusual that happened with Dub until Friday evening.  Dub and I had spent the afternoon at the cabin.  A friend had come to visit and afterwards I prepared food for Friday’s evening meal, as well as food for the Sabbath potluck.  Dub and I returned to the campsite for the evening meal.  Dub seemed to want to be in the truck, so I put him in there through the meal.  When I went to the truck to put on additional layers, I decided to bring Dub with me to the fire.  He was on a leash.  Many of us were sitting around the fire while kids and the other dogs played and ran around.  New people had come, and while we were at the fire a couple of cars came in too.  It was getting dark, but there was a lot of activity all around the campsite.  I had Dub’s leash in my left hand and he was in “down” just to the left and behind the camp chair I was sitting in.  All of a sudden, he erupted into violent barking and he lunged at something to my left.  My camp chair toppled over and I fell hard onto my left hip.  I was able to hang onto the leash, and I really did not know what had happened.  Someone stepped in and took the leash and pulled Dub back.  I couldn’t get up.  I put my hand up and asked for help getting up…. someone pulled me to my feet.  I immediately took Dub to the truck and then came back to the fire.  Everyone was in a stir, and I was told that Dub had bit a 7-year-old boy.  Shock set in and I was trembling violently.  One of my friends put her arms around me and held me a bit and we all talked over what had happened.  I was injured also – the fall on my left hip was pretty hard.  Praising God that my hip did not break!

After I pulled myself together, I knew I needed to talk with the boy and his parents.  I did not see any of them anywhere, and someone suggested that they might have gone into their trailer.  A man friend volunteered to go with me to the trailer as I did not know how the parents were going to react.  We knocked, but the trailer appeared empty.  Shaking and tearyness had set in…  I headed back to the cabin to regroup.

About an hour later there was a knock on the cabin door.  I opened it and the boy’s parents were there.  I asked them in and they both met me with such gentleness and compassion with big hugs.  We talked for a while, and they reassured me that they were not mad at me. The dad has had livestock dogs all of his life and has seen the “aggression switch” flip on in many of them.  They absolutely did not pressure me in any way, but the dad offered to put Dub down if that was what I ultimately chose to do.  I told him I’d think about it.  Sleepless night Friday night…. What an awful time of thinking about what had happened, and the choice I might be facing.

Saturday morning, we women had a study at 10 am.  So grateful I went (leaving Dub in the truck) as they loved on me a lot and it was a comfort.  I had thought about how I might have reacted if I were the mom of the boy who was attacked.  I can be a “mama bear” if my kids are threatened.  I asked all of them for forgiveness for bringing a dog I couldn’t control into the camp, and for bringing such a threat to them and their families.  They were so very gracious to me.

I spent the rest of Saturday at the cabin and down on the dock.  I was very shaken, and my body felt pretty beat up.  I was also so full of tears….

Sunday morning was packing up to head home.  After I went down to the lakeshore to pray, on my way back to the cabin, there was a man coming down the road towards us.  I had Dub on leash and had his leash tied to the rail at the top of my chair.  The man seemed like he was going to approach Dub and I said, “please do not come near the dog.  He is not a good dog.”  Just after that, Dub went into full on attack.  He lunged towards the man who was on the other side of the road.  Everything went flying, but the knot on the top of the chair held and I was able to hang on to the chair rail and hold Dub back from getting to the man.  It was so so scary for the man and for me.  The man kept going and I gathered my blankets and coffee cup.  I put Dub in the truck. I knew that Dub had really sealed his fate – and I said to him as I put in the truck, “you are done.”

I went to the campsite after I’d packed up and asked forgiveness of the boy and his older brother (who was very angry at Dub’s attack on his brother).  They forgave me.  I also asked forgiveness of my friend who is the uncle of the handicapped young man for what Dub had done to him.  Everyone was so kind and gracious.

I texted the mom of the boy who was attacked and asked if her husband was still willing to come and shoot Dub.  She affirmed that he was, and we agreed that he and the two oldest boys would come around 7.

Shortly after I got home, Dub got aggressive with Re’ah (our 11 month old golden retriever pup).  I put Dub in the truck for the rest of the afternoon.  Grieving, grieving…  I was there when Dub was conceived.  I met him when he was two weeks old.  I have loved him and trained him and taken care of him – trying so hard to make him the best dog he could be.  I have prayed over him asking the Father to keep him healthy, to give him a long life, to bless him with a peaceful, loving and obedient spirit.  He has been my constant companion; he has been at my feet during all of the long hours of prayer both at the swing and, when it was too cold, in the upstairs bedroom.  I did everything I could to make him a great dog.  Something happened on Friday night – a switch was flipped, and he became dangerous and unpredictable.  I realized that I was afraid of him and what he had become.  I was afraid that he would hurt Ben (most of his attacks have been on males).  I was afraid that he would turn on me.  I was afraid that he would attack and try to kill people who come on our property.  The only responsible choice was to put him down.  If he hurt or killed someone, it would be fully my responsibility.

My friend and his sons came Sunday night to kill Dub.  They were so kind to me – and to him.  I had given Dub a couple of sedatives (I was afraid that he would attack them!).  They first dug the grave, and then took him over to it. My friend, with one shot to the forehead, killed him.  I couldn’t bear to be there – I had gone down to the swing to wait it out.

When I thought that they would be near to finished filling the grave, I went in to the house and got Ben and we went over and thanked them.  They left shortly after that.

This morning at prayer…. no Dub at my feet… I was so angry at God.  I had prayed over Dub and done my absolute best with him.  That his life would end this way was so so hard to bear.  I could not understand why my Father, God/YHWH, would have allowed all of this!  I questioned His faithfulness to me.  I questioned His love for me.  WHY?!?

The Father has been showing me a lot these past couple of weeks.  Experiential learning is really powerful for me.  He has shown me the truth of what the Bible says about what happens after we people die. She’ol/Hades is real, and Jesus/Yeshua’s story of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31) gives a clear picture of what can be expected for those who choose indifference or hostility to YHWH/the LORD and Yeshua, and who choose not to follow YHWH/Yeshua (Jesus) fully and completely with their whole mind, heart, soul, spirit and body.  It was made horrifyingly real to me on the Day of Atonement (which I kept from Monday, September 21-nightfall Tuesday, September 22).  But that’s another story.

The Father gave me an understanding of what had just happened with Dub that was truly life shaking.

God, Himself, is there when we are conceived – it is His spark of life through His Spirit that gives us life.  He has created each and every one of us.  I was there when Dub was conceived and have loved him deeply these three years.  The Father showed me that He is with each and every person, in each and every day and time of our lives.  He loves us infinitely and He gives us life circumstances and challenges to turn us towards Him because He loves us.  He never stops loving us with His infinite and intimate love, but He is also the God of choice.  He is always inviting, and He longs for us to say yes to walking with Him in His ways.  But as the God of free choice, He always always respects our choices – whether we choose to be with Him and love Him, or whether we choose to go another way. 

I did not stop loving Dub when the aggression happened.  I thought about various strategies to try and keep people and dogs safe from him.  But when it became clear that my ideas would not protect people if Dub went on the attack, it came down to my personal responsibility.  I chose to have Dub.  I did my best to make him a great dog.  I did not foresee that he would turn into a killer, but now, if he hurt or, God forbid!, killed someone, their suffering and/or their death would be fully my responsibility.  The only right choice was to have him killed to protect others from him.

The Father showed me that just as I have been grieving horribly at the necessity of killing Dub, the Father/YHWH grieves when the people whom He created make the final choice to reject His invitation to walk with Him.  Ultimately, just as I had to make the choice to take Dub’s life, the Father, in protecting the others He loves, will choose to take out those who reject Him.  He will remove them from the potential or ability to lead others away from Him into ultimate eternal extinction, for the good of His people and His creation – all of which He loves infinitely.  I imagined the awful and infinite grief of the Father.  He is always having to make that horrible decision/choice out of His love for His people.  It is our choice to follow and obey Him, but If we choose another way, He will kill us for all eternity.  Yes, we have free choice, but the consequences of our choices are far worse than anything we have ever imagined.

My heart hurts so badly, and my body has bruises and contusions that also remind me of all that has happened in the last several days.  It seems that I needed to go more deeply into understanding Who the Father is – and the only way for me to do that was to walk out the loss of Dub.  I am grateful that no one was badly hurt or killed, and that my own injuries will heal.  I am grateful that He has revealed more truth to me – even though this truth is a bitter pill to swallow.  I know that YHWH, my Father does love me with His infinite love, and that in His faithfulness, He will make me into the woman He wants me to be. He has allowed this pain, and I know He is good – and the lesson is infinitely valuable.  And I am able to praise Him in it and for it…. even as difficult as it all has been.

I had Dub killed Sunday night (October 4, 2026).  He is missed. May he rest in peace. 

The Narrow Tracks

Matthew 7:13-14 Yeshua/Jesus: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Years ago, Ben and I went up to Fernie, BC to go cat skiing at Island Lake Lodge. Access to the skiing was exclusively by snow cat. We skied a huge bowl topped by a narrow ridge.
On this particular day, the guide told us about the upcoming run as we sat in the cat on the way up to the top of the ridge. There were 13 of us skiers – 12 men, and me as the only woman in the cat. He explained that on this run, on the upper part we were free to ski whatever line we chose. However, when he signaled us, from that point forward we were to follow precisely in his tracks. He did not say why, but his tone and his face were very serious, and he repeated himself several times.
We offloaded at the top of the narrow ridge, and our guide led us to the edge of the bowl and we launched onto a gorgeous wide-open area of untracked powder above tree line. Gloriously fun!
As we neared the tree line, the guide stopped and gave us the signal to follow precisely in his tracks. And we did…. all except for one man who decided that he wanted fresh tracks and decided to go a bit off to the side of the tracks laid by the guide.
All of sudden, we heard a screaming shout. We couldn’t see anything, but the second guide veered away and went in the direction of the shout. What he found, we heard about when we all regathered at the cat.
As the man who chose his own way skied to the side of our guide’s tracks, suddenly, right at the tips of his rocketing skis gaped a deep crevasse lined with rocks and ice on either side of its cliffs. The man launched off the side of the crevasse and his ski tips drove deep into the snow on the top of the other side. His momentum carried him forward so that his body was thrown onto the snow just beyond the lip of the cliff. He was rescued by the second guide.
We returned soberly to the lodge. The man was ghost white and shaking the entire time – and entirely silent. When we got to the lodge, he began drinking heavily and the story eventually came out. He knew just how close he came to dying that day, and the experience left him completely undone.
The tracks laid by the guide that we were to follow were narrow tracks, but the guide knew the only way to get safely down the mountain, and none of the rest of us really did. Jesus/Yeshua knows the only way to the Father and eternal life – by His narrow path. Like the guide, He warns us to follow closely His narrow path, because any other path leads to sure (eternal) death.

Smithing and Suffering

Several of my male friends are undergoing suffering that to my mind seems almost unendurable.  Praying and hoping for each of them, that the Father remembers mercy as He shapes my friends into the perfect tools for “such a time as this”.

Some thoughts on the ways of suffering and purification:

An image that has been used to tie suffering to purification can be seen as that of a silversmith carefully tending a chalice of silver ore over a fire.  The fire is watched intently by the smith. He increases the heat of the fire in the process of purifying the silver, so that at each level of heat, a particular impurity melts and rises to the surface of the molten silver.  That impurity is then scraped away.  The smith keeps a close eye on the flames of the fire – too hot will ruin the silver; too cold, and the impurities will not be released so that they can be scraped away.  Over and over the heat is increased and the impurities are scraped away. When the silver is pure, the silversmith can see his face reflected in the molten silver in the chalice.  Just as the silversmith brings purity through fire, so the Father brings purity in His children by the fire of suffering.

Smithing silver is more of a delicate process of purification – and its product is used for more delicate things – jewelry, fine dishes and bowls and cutlery, silver trumpets….

The forging of steel into tools, on the other hand, is a more brutal process.  The blacksmith takes a hunk of steel with tongs or another tool.  He thrusts it into the blazing furnace until it is red hot.  He pulls it out, lays it on the forge, and pounds it into the shape he desires.  He does this over and over refining the tool to be ever closer to the shape needed for its intended purpose.  After many times in the red hot fire, and many, many blows with the hammer, the tool is nearly finished. The blacksmith then polishes away the black soot from the surface of the tool.  The perfect tool fits well the hand of the one to wield it.  It is strong and durable, it does not easily bend under pressure.  And most importantly, it has been shaped to perform a specific task, and it does so in the way intended.

God can be likened to a silversmith.  He can use the refining process of suffering to transform a person into something of beauty for His particular purposes.  He can also be likened to a blacksmith who uses brutal methods to take that which is strong and resistant to change into  His perfect tool for the powerful job He intends for it to do.

A biblical defense of obedience

  • Torah is translated in our Bibles as “the Law”.  However, the word “Tora/Torah” in biblical Hebrew actually translates as “instruction” or “teaching”.
  • Has the “Law” been fulfilled such that we are free from being obedient to it?

Many quote Matthew 5:17 and use it as justification for it no longer being necessary for us as Christians to obey the Law/Torah.  One of the challenges in reading the Bible is that we tend to hear and read a verse without reading the surrounding context/content.  Matthew 5:17 is no exception.

Matthew 5:17-19: “Do not think that I have come to destroy (“katalyo” = dissolve, demolish, render vain, bring to nothing)  the Law (“nomos” = of the Mosaic Law/the Pentateuch (first five books of the OT) or the Prophets; I have not come to destroy them but to fulfill (“pleroo” =  fill to the full, make complete, to perform, bring into being, bring to pass … “to fulfill – i.e. to cause God’s will, as made known in the law, to be obeyed as it should be…” from the Blue Letter Bible online). For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law (“nomos”) until everything is accomplished. Therefore, anyone who does away with (“lyo” = set free from, dissolve, break apart) one of the least of these commands (“entole” = order, command, charge, precept) and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Luke 16:17  Jesus: “But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one of the smallest strokes of a Hebrew letter in the Law to become void.”

  • Another place in which Jesus addresses the fulfillment mentioned above is Luke 24:44:

He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

  • In Mark, Jesus has a discussion with the Pharisees after they had an issue with the disciples eating without first washing their hands in the way demanded by Jewish traditions.

Mark 7:5-9 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.They worship Me in vain; teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ Laying aside the commandments of God, you hold the tradition of men….”.” And he continued, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own traditions!”

  • Have we too laid aside the commandments of God so that we may keep our own traditions?
  • Are Jesus and the Father different?

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 8:19b Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”

John 10:30 “I and My Father are One.”

John 14:8-9 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”  Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’”

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD, Yehovah, our God, the LORD is One.  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

  • If the LORD (YHWH) and His Son (Jesus/Yeshua) are One, as Jesus has said, then what is said of the LORD must also be true of the Son.

Malachi 3:6 “For I am the LORD, I do not change; [He is faithful to His covenant with His people, Israel] therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.”

Psalm 90:1-2 LORD, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth, You brought forth the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

Psalm 119:89-90 Forever, O LORD, Your Word stands firm in heaven.  Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides.

Psalm 136:26 Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven! For His mercy endures forever.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Exodus 3:14-15 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘YHWH the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’’

Numbers 23:19-21 “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent (“naham” also = regret). Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. “He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen wickedness in Israel.
The Lord (YHWH) his God is with him, and the shout of a King is among them.”

1 Samuel 15:29  “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change (“naham” = be moved to pity or compassion; repent) his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change (“naham”) his mind.”

Isaiah 40:28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, YHWH, the Creator of the ends of the earth,
neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

Isaiah 44:6 “Thus says YHWH, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, YHWH of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God.’”

Revelation 22:12-14 [Jesus said,] “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.”

Isaiah 46:9-10 “Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’”

Jeremiah 10:10 But the LORD (YHWH) is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, and the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.

  • If the Father and the Son are One, then their standards must be the same.  Are the standards of the Father too difficult for those who are His children?

Deuteronomy 30:1-3 “Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you, and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul,”

Deuteronomy 30:6-8 “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.Also the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. And you will again obey the voice of the Lord and do all His commandments which I command you today.”

Deuteronomy 30:9-11 “For the Lord will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book (“seper” also means scroll) of the Law (“Torah”), and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult (“pala”) for you, nor is it far off.

Deuteronomy 30:14 “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.”

Jeremiah 31:33  “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law (“Torah”) in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

1 John 5:2-3 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

  • How does Jesus feel about those who obey His and His Father’s commandments?

John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.”

John 15:10 “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love,”

1 John 2:3 “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.”

1 John 2:4 “He who says, ‘I know Him’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

1 John 3:22 “And whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”

1 John 5:2 “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.”

1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.  And His commandments are not burdensome.” 

Revelation 12:17 “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring [those] who keep the commandment of God and have the testimony of Jesus.”

Revelation 14:12 “Here is the patience of the saints…. those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. “

  • What does Jesus say are the consequences of sin/lawlessness?

1 John 3:4 “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.”

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

John 8: 51 (Jesus, speaking to those who were confident that they were chosen and had salvation during His time on earth): “Most assuredly (“amen, amen” = firm, faithfully, “of truth, of truth”), I say to you, if anyone keeps (“tereo” = guard, observe, to attend to carefully) My word (“logos” = decrees, mandates, orders, the sayings of YHWH; equivalent to the Hebrew “dabar” = commandments/words), he shall never see (“thoreo” = behold, view, find out by seeing) death (“thanatos”= bodily death with the idea of future misery in Hell; the power of death; “death comprising all the miseries arising from sin….. physical death followed by wretchedness in Hell” – from the Blue Letter Bible).

1 Samuel 15:22-23  But Samuel replied:

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
    as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
    and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
    and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
    he has rejected you as king.”

Revelation 1:5b-6 ….”and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the Firstborn from the dead, and the Ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

  • Does practicing disobedience to God’s and Jesus’ commands as written in both the Old Testament and the New Testament mean rejection of us as His kings? (Revelation 1:6)

Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe (“tereo” =to attend to carefully, to guard) all things that I have commanded (“entellomai” = to order, to command to be done) you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Revelation 22:12-15 12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” 14 Blessed are those who do (“poieo = to do, to keep, to carry out, to perform) His commandments (“entole” = order, command, charge, precept, ‘ethically used of the commandments in the Mosaic Law’), that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15But outside are dogs (metaphorically – a man of impure mind) and sorcerers (“pharmakos” = pertaining to magical arts) and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters (“eidololatres”= one who worships anything other than YHWH, “a covetous man as a worshipper of mammon = “wealth as an evil influence or an object of worship and devotion” – from the Oxford Dictionary), and whoever loves and practices a lie.”

  • Are we truly “freed from the Law” as is stated by Paul in Romans 6:14? If there is a conflict between the writings of Paul, and those of the Father and His Son, Jesus, whom do we believe? Does the weight of what Jesus and the Father have said throughout the Bible stand, or do we believe Paul, their disciple?

Deuteronomy 28: 1-2 “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:”

Deuteronomy 28: 15 “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:”

  • It might be wise to reread all of Deuteronomy 28. The Father has so many blessings for those who keep His Torah… and so many more curses for those who live in rebellion and disobedience. AND His Word, the whole counsel of YHWH, is true and remains true until the end.

The Journey Continues….

This story begins with my sweet friend, Betty.  Who would have thought a simple suggestion could bring about such a profound shift in my journey…

“Have you ever heard of the ‘Daily Audio Bible’?”, Betty asked at one of our coffees.  She said it had made a huge difference in her marriage. Listening to it had brought her closer to her husband and closer to Jesus.  I hadn’t heard of it, so she showed me the app and got me started listening to the Bible being read to me each day – Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs.  Initially, I simply listened, but I soon grew frustrated as I could never hang on to/remember what I had heard.  I began listening and reading along, and then found that confusing and soon switched to simply reading the Bible reading plan used on the app.  From there, I began to read and take notes on what I read every day.  The reading plan was structured so that the entire OT, the entire NT, all of the Psalms and all of the Proverbs were read annually.

Sometime during 2013, I began to experience something a bit strange.  It seemed like each day (it wasn’t every day; it just felt that way!) I would read, “You shall keep My Sabbath holy.”, and each time it seemed like that specific sentence was in bold, highlighted, and it felt like it was jumping off the page.  This happened for a couple of years, and the conviction grew ever stronger that I needed to learn just what God meant for me to do about this.

We moved to Montana in 2016. We were attending a church in Kalispell and the conviction about the Sabbath became intolerable.  I needed to know why we worshiped on Sunday, and was no closer to figuring that out in 2017 than I was in 2013!  I set an appointment with our pastor and asked him to explain it to me.  He couldn’t.  He told me to read an enormous book with lots of “three-bit” words (most of which I had to look up in the dictionary).  The book did not use the Bible as its prooftext… instead it cited lots of theologians from various times in history.  I met with him once again, and unsatisfied, met twice with the chief elder.  Neither one could show me in the Bible any proof for why Sunday was the day of worship.

 In the fall of 2018, I researched Sabbath keeping churches locally.  I interviewed one man from a “messianic” gathering, but did not really like him.  There was a Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church in a small town north of us and Ben and I attended on the Saturday following Thanksgiving.  Each Saturday this church had a potluck, and we stayed and were seated next to a lovely elderly woman.  I told her I had lots of questions about the Sabbath and various other biblical issues.  She was wonderfully kind and patient with me.  I would ask my question.  She would answer, “this is what I think about that issue, but let’s look in the Bible and see what it says about it.”  Then she would direct me to various Scriptures and we would read them and talk about how they answered the question I had had. Then she would say, “I have told you what I believe, and have shown you Scriptures that answer that question, but you need to pray and ask God to show you the truth for yourself.”  Over and over we did this…. She spent over 1 ½ hours with me going through my questions.  It was a lovely experience.

We began attending both the Sunday church and the SDA church in Kalispell each weekend.  The pastor and the chief elder of the Sunday church came to know that we were attending the SDA, and they counseled those in the congregation that we had relationships with to distance themselves from us and to stop meeting with us.  The people at the SDA welcomed us during that year, and welcomed our questions.  They quickly integrated us into their community… we felt very loved.  Eventually, it became evident that we were being ostracized at the Sunday church, and we stopped attending there and only attended the SDA.

My habit of daily reading and studying the OT, NT, Psalms and Proverbs has continued.  Two or three years ago, I began to be curious about the Feast Days of the LORD, and my curiosity increased and increased.  It was all so complicated!  When I began studying them, none of them made any sense.  They are celebrated in accordance with the Hebrew calendar, which is based on the lunar cycles and the agricultural seasons.

Even the biblical weeks and days are different from what we now do.  The biblical days of the week begin at sunset and go to the next sunset (Genesis 1:5,8,13,19,22,31)  (”So the evening and the morning were the first day.”).  And again the Sabbath comes up…. Genesis 2:2-3  “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.  Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”

Many years ago as a new Christian, I was invited to a Passover Seder (the evening meal that begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread – the first feast of the biblical feast cycle).  Truthfully, at that point it didn’t mean very much to me.  Here in Montana, we were invited to a Passover Seder about 4 years ago, and slowly it has dawned on me the significance and importance of this special day/meal.  As I have studied the Feasts  – three in the Spring, one in the summer and three in the fall – I have come to see Jesus and the greater story of redemption as laid out in the Bible in a different way.  I am amazed at our God!  He truly does know the end from the beginning, and His plan is unfolding specifically and precisely as He ordained before the creation of the world.

The Spring feasts – Passover/the Day of Preparation, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits – were all fulfilled precisely and completely by our Messiah Jesus (His given Name is Yeshua which translated means “God, YHWH, is Salvation”). In the book of Exodus, the Israelites are told to bring the Passover lamb into their homes for testing and making sure it was perfect for four days (Nisan 10) before its slaughter on Passover (Nisan 14) in the middle of the afternoon. (Exodus 12:3-6).  Yeshua/Jesus came into God’s “home”, Jerusalem, on Nissan 10 on a donkey four days before his crucifixion. In the Gospels, it is shown that He was tested over and over by the Pharisees and the Sadducees and others in power in the religious community for those four days.  He was found to be without flaw or error.  And just as the lambs were to be slaughtered before sundown on Nisan 14, Jesus was slaughtered and died just as the Passover lambs were being slaughtered at the temple in Jerusalem.

The Feast of Firstfruits occurred on Sunday in that year’s Spring feast cycle.  Jesus fulfilled that feast as He was the firstfruits (the firstfruit of the harvest of souls) of the dead… (1 Corinthians 15:20). He was the first to be resurrected from the dead – and praise God! – there will be many who will also be resurrected from death because of what He has done…. a great harvest, for sure!

The Feast of Pentecost (Shauvot) is celebrated 50 days after Firstfruits.  It was fulfilled 10 days after Jesus’ ascension to heaven with the mighty “harvest” of over 3000 people coming to salvation and the giving of the Holy Spirit… just as Jesus had promised (John 14:16-20).

The three spring feasts, and the summer feast of Pentecost were fulfilled perfectly the year when Yeshua was killed, raised from the dead and ascended to the Father.

I look forward with great anticipation to the time when King Jesus/Yeshua will fulfill the fall feasts: the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles with the glory and precision with which He fulfilled the spring Feasts.  He has said that He will return to take us to be with Him.  I wait in expectation of His fulfillment of all He has promised – in the way that is uniquely and gloriously His.

So this journey which began with a sweet friendship with Betty has blossomed into the gift of a great love for my God (whose Name is YHWH), and a passionate love and friendship with His Son, Yeshua of Nazareth.  What an amazing gift Betty gave me as she set me on this path… a simple path taken each day in many small steps.  I am so grateful.

In defense of the biblical Feast Days

A BIBLICAL DEFENSE OF THE SPRING FEAST DAYS (Passover/Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Pentecost/Shauvot ) (The Journey Continues….)

Jesus’s given name: Yehoshua or Yeshua translated means:  Yah is Salvation (Yah is the short version of YHWH.)

Matthew 5:17-19 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.  Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Luke 24:44  Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”

John 10:30  “I and My Father are one.”

Could it not be that, if the Father and the Son are one as Jesus has said, that the authorship of the Law belongs to them both?  And if so, when Jesus repeatedly says, “If you love Me, keep my commandments.”, and if the only Law He saw as authoritative was that of the books of Moses, is He not telling us to obey what He/they have said and written?

John 14:7-11  “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”  Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”  Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.”

John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

John 15:10  “If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.”

1 John 2:3-6  Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.  He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

…. in full obedience to what was written in the book of the Law – that is the books of Moses.

Matthew 19:17  So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Which commandments would He have been referring to if they were not those as recorded by Moses – the ones He Himself kept and obeyed perfectly?

1 John 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.

Exodus 12:14 (re: Passover) ‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD (YHWH in the original texts) throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.”

Numbers 9:14 ‘And if a stranger dwells among you, and would keep the LORD’s Passover, he must do so according to the rite of the Passover and according to its ceremony; you shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger and the native of the land.’

Leviticus 23:1-8  Feasts of the LORD (YHWH)

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the YHWH, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.”

The Sabbath

‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD  in all your dwellings.”

The Passover and Unleavened Bread

 “These are the feasts of the LORD (YHWH), holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.  On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is  the LORD’s Passover.  And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’ ”

Exodus 12:19  “Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land.”

John 2:13, 23 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.

Matthew 26:2 “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

John 18:28-29  Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. [Note: Passover/the Day of Preparation was not a Sabbath.  However, the next day, the first day of Unleavened Bread is a High Sabbath, and if the Jews went near a Gentile, they would become unclean and unfit to eat of the Passover lamb, therefore, they would not have been willing to go into a Gentile place.] Pilate then went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?”

John 19:31-37 Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, [a.k.a. the Day of Passover] that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day) [Note #1:  regarding leaving a corpse on a tree – Deuteronomy 21:23] [Note #2: The weekly Sabbath – on the 7th Day of the week, Saturday, is different than a High Holy Day.  Within the Feast of Unleavened Bread there are two High Holy Days – the first and the seventh days of the week-long feast.], the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.” [Psalm 34:20; Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12] And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.” [Psalm 22:16-17; Zechariah 12:10, 13:6]

Psalm 34:19-20 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but YHWH delivers him out of them all.  He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken.

Exodus 12:46-49 “In one house it [the Passover lamb] shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to YHWH, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.”

Psalm 22:16-18  For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.

They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones.  They look and stare at Me.

They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots. (Matthew 27:35)

Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”

Zechariah 13:6  And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’

Ezekiel 45:21 “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall observe the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.”

Numbers 9:14 ‘And if a stranger dwells among you, and would keep the Lord’s Passover, he must do so according to the rite of the Passover and according to its ceremony; you shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger and the native of the land.’ ”

Leviticus 24:22  “There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am YHWH your God.”

Numbers 15:15-16 “As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the alien who sojourns with you, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the alien be before YHWH.  There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the alien who sojourns with you.”

Numbers 15:29  “You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the sons of Israel and for the alien who sojourns among them.”

Leviticus 18:26  “But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the alien who sojourns among you.”

The Feast of Firstfruits

Leviticus 23: 9-11  And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest [at that time in the spring the barley was beginning to ripen] to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the [weekly] Sabbath [during the Feast of Unleavened Bread] the priest shall wave it.”

1 Corinthians 5:7-8  Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the Feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 15:20-23 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the Firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the Firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.

Pentecost/Shavuot

Exodus 34:22 “Celebrate the Festival of Weeks [Pentecost in the Greek] with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest….  [Note: for this Feast, as with Passover and the fall feasts, the men of Israel were to go to Jerusalem.  In the chapter of Exodus in which this command appeared, Moses comes down from Mt. Sinai with the Law of the LORD YHWH.  It is thought that the Law was first given to God’s people at the time of the Feast of Weeks.]

Deuteronomy 16:9-12 “You shall count seven weeks for yourself; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. [Note: in this case this was the barley – an early maturing grain.]  Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you.  You shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide. And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.”

Acts 2:1-5 When the Day of Pentecost (the Feast of Weeks) had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.  And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.

Acts 2:15-21 [Peter speaks]: “For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.  But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel

 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,

That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

Your young men shall see visions,

Your old men shall dream dreams.

 And on My menservants and on My maidservants

I will pour out My Spirit in those days;

And they shall prophesy.

 I will show wonders in heaven above

And signs in the earth beneath:

Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.

 The sun shall be turned into darkness,

And the moon into blood,

Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

And it shall come to pass

That whoever calls on the name of the LORD

Shall be saved.’  (Joel 2:28-32)

Acts 2:22-24  “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.”

Acts 2:36-39  “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the LORD our God will call.”

HALLELUYAH!!!!  He is risen…. and He is faithful to fulfill all that He has promised!

John 14:16  “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever –“

John 14:26  “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

The Perfect Man

Ben asked me this question after we had talked about women who seem to hate men:

“What do you think about men?”

It was a question no one had asked me before… and I had to think long and hard before I could even begin to answer.

There are men I like more than others.  There are men whom I come to dislike when they act badly or are mean-spirited.  I tend to dislike men who are arrogant, and men who put others down. But, overall, I generally tend to like men.

I have noticed a longtime trend in our culture – one of disparaging and disrespecting men. Think of the characters in “The Family Guy,” or in “Beavis and Butthead”, or in many other animated depictions of men in the past thirty years.  Media often represents men, especially fathers, as really stupid and socially inept.  Television sitcoms represent men as bigots and uncouth (think of Archie Bunker and his relationship with Ethel and the rest of his family in “All in the Family”).  These depictions are all intended to make men look bad – and to destroy their respectability – especially in the eyes of young people.

In recent years, men seem to have lost their position as the head of the family – many seem to lack the confidence to lead, and their wives have been more than ready to take on the role of family head and leader.  Women are increasingly strident in voicing their disrespect for their men, and for other men as well.  Women are taking on leadership roles in the family and culture-wide.  Many treat their husbands disrespectfully demanding that the husbands act as their servants.  They insist that the men take more and more responsibility for household chores and childrearing.  Is there room for a man to be a man within the family and within our culture?   Is it seen as necessary by many to emasculate men and to treat them with great disrespect?

I began to think about the biblical basis for the roles of men and women.  From Genesis chapter 1:26, “Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion [authority] over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (28) Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion [authority] over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Before Eve was created, Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden to work it and care for it.  God commanded Adam: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:16) After this, God created Eve from Adam’s flesh (Genesis 2:22) and then brought her to Adam as his helper (Genesis 2:20b, 22).

In the story of the fall of man, it is recounted that the serpent and Eve had a conversation in which the serpent told Eve that God was not only a liar (“You will not surely die.”), but he infers that God is a withholding God – One Who withholds good things like knowledge from His own.  We are told that Adam was with her (Genesis 3:6) which infers that he was privy to what the serpent said and that he saw Eve’s intentions to take and eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree.  Adam failed to protect his wife from the lies of the evil serpent, and he did not prevent Eve from taking and eating the fruit. In fact, it would seem he made no protest at all, instead taking the proffered fruit and eating of it himself.  Adam, the first Adam, failed to exercise the authority he had been given to protect his wife from the wily serpent.  The story continues, and Adam again failed in his role as man/husband.  Instead of responsibility and accountability for the woman who had come from his own body, Adam was a coward (hides from God).  Adam then blamed God Himself (the woman You gave me!), and he blamed Eve when he is confronted by God for his disobedience.  He did not take appropriate responsibility for her failure and his.  It is truly a sad story!  Adam’s model for mankind as to what it is to be a man (even though he was given complete authority and responsibility for the earth and everything in it), is a role model that has played out in very ugly ways over the millennia. Coward. Irresponsible. Refusing to be accountable.  Without integrity. Blaming others for things for which he was responsible. He abdicated His God-given authority.

I thought of how authority is demonstrated and acted upon in the military.  An officer is held accountable and responsible for the actions of those soldiers under him.  If his soldiers do something dreadful, the officer is held responsible for their actions, and often pays a huge consequence for their wrongdoing.

I then thought of the second Adam, Jesus/Yeshua of Nazareth.  As the Son of God, Creator of everything in the entire universe, He has divinely given authority and responsibility for all things (and for all of us).  Jesus, as the second Adam, modeled what a man is meant to be.  He loved, disciplined, taught, led, and called to account those doing evil.  He physically disciplined the rebellious and He protected His own.  When faced with the rebellion and the sins of all mankind, He took responsibility for all that we have done. He was held accountable for the sins of all mankind, and took the just punishment for man’s disobedience and rebellion without trying to shirk it.  He truly was a man to admire and emulate in every way – One to Whom we owe an enormous debt of gratitude.

Ben’s question “what do you think of men?” led me to a place of clarity as to how I see the men in my life. More importantly, my reflections gave me an even greater love for the God/Man, Jesus/Yeshua.  As I thought of my own failures as a human being and their cost to those I love (and myself), and as I thought of Jesus’s willingness to take on my failures as His own, I truly understood just how marvelous and just how wonderful He truly is.

Daniel 12:11-12

In November, 2021, I was just finishing the Book of Daniel and read Daniel 12:11-12. As I thought about what I was reading, it seemed really obvious to me that what I was reading was a verbal timeline. Event number one: the taking away of the daily sacrifice. Event number two: 1290 days (years) later – the abomination that causes desolation is set up. Event number three: the blessing of those who are waiting at the end of 1335 days (years). As I thought about these verses, a picture came to mind of the Dome of the Rock which sits on the site of the holy Temple of YHWH on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The thought I had was: “what could be more abominable to YHWH than a shrine to the god of Islam sitting on His holy mountain?”

I became curious and wondered when the Dome of the Rock had been completed. I searched the internet and the date I found was 692 AD. I subtracted the 1290 years from that date which gave me 598 BC. I again searched looking for anything of significance that would have happened in Israel at around that time.

“The Lord said, “I will remove Judah also from My sight, as I have removed Israel. And I will cast off Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the temple of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.’ ”” (2 Kings 23:27)

“At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it. Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his captains and his officials. So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign. He carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, just as the Lord had said. Then he led away into exile all Jerusalem and all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land. So he led Jehoiachin away into exile to Babylon; also the king’s mother and the king’s wives and his officials and the leading men of the land, he led away into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. All the men of valor, seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths, one thousand, all strong and fit for war, and these the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon.” (2 Kings 24:10–16, 598 BC)

During the siege, the priests were able to get kosher animals for sacrifice at a great price from the Roman soldiers. At one point, the soldiers no longer provided the animals for sacrifice. In addition, the temple articles were taken to Babylon. The daily sacrifice was interrupted. The criteria for event number one were fulfilled.

If my reasoning was correct, than we should have much reason to hope that we are indeed in the last of the last days! 692 AD + 1335 years = 2027. My heart just lit up! Oh that Yeshua of Nazareth, Messiah and rightful King would return that soon! What a wonderful answer to our prayer: “thy kingdom come”!

We are in desperate need of hope in this season of betrayal by our governments. We are in desperate need of hope as we watch so many suffer from the consequences of this contrived pandemic and the bio-engineered covid vaccines upon every area of our world – on it’s people, young and old who have been hurt and even killed by this disease and the vaccines, and the many ways these have been mismanaged. We are in desperate need of hope as we see our food supply increasingly corrupted by the pesticides and herbicides that are known poisons being sprayed on our crops just prior to harvest. We are in desperate need of hope as we view the rampant destruction of animals and food production in the name of protecting our interests, our climate and our “health”. We are in desperate need of hope as we view the betrayal by those who believe in science as our savior – and who will do whatever science dictates to the detriment of those on whom its inflicted.

Father YHWH, only You know the day and the hour of Your Savior’s return. You did promise in Your word that You would cut the time short (and that if you did not, none would survive) (Matthew 24:22). Please Father, hear the cries of Your people all over this hurting, broken and corrupted world. Just as You looked out over the multitude and saw the sick and hurting and healed them all, look out over this multitude of Your children who are sick and hurting and heal us ALL!.

Come King Yeshua! Rescue Your people!

What’s in a ring?

A signet ring signified the authority of a ruler to make laws and decrees in ancient days. It was used to place the king’s official seal onto documents or onto other objects to designate them as being from the king, owned by the king, or under the authority of that king. A king could also give the signet ring to another as a symbol of giving that person the king’s own authority.

Genesis 1:26-28 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Figuratively, in this passage it is as if God the Creator gave mankind His signet ring. As Creator, He has complete dominion and authority over everything in creation. He gave mankind authority over all the earth, and over every living thing.

Genesis 2:15-17 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” God only gave Adam one commandment – you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Enter the serpent, also known of as satan, the devil, the Prince of the air. He met with Adam’s wife, Eve, while Adam was there with her. He spoke with Eve and called God a liar by saying: “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5) Eve took and ate of the fruit along with her husband, Adam. Sin entered them and instantly corruption and ultimately death became theirs. Not only were they made corrupt, but all that had been under their God-given dominion was also made corrupt and subject to death. And (again, figuratively) the signet ring of God – the authority He had given mankind – passed from mankind to the devil/satan, the Prince of the air. Satan’s cruel rule of death and corruption continues to this day.

The Book of Esther seems to be a parable of sorts which has strong similarities to the transfer of power just described – even though this ancient story has been substantially validated as being historical. In the story of Esther, King Xerxes rules from his throne in Shushan and holds all authority over the kingdom of Babylon. Xerxes gives his authority to Haman (signified by giving Haman his signet ring). Haman was an evil man who eventually hatched a plot to kill all the Jews in the kingdom of Babylon.

King Xerxes’ wife, Esther, a Jewess, and her uncle, Mordecai (and God!) thwart the plans of Haman, revealing his evil plans to King Xerxes. Haman is executed, Xerxes’ signet is returned and is then given to Mordecai. Mordecai and Esther work a plan of deliverance for the Jewish people.

The story of Joseph’s rise to power during the kingdom of Egypt is another in which the signet ring as a symbol of the transfer of authority and power is seen. Joseph, a Hebrew slave (son of Jacob/Israel), was given the opportunity to interpret the Pharaoh’s dreams through a series of circumstances. Joseph’s wisdom and his understanding of the dreams caused Pharaoh to elevate him to second in command over all of the kingdom of Egypt. Pharaoh gave Joseph his signet ring as a sign of his authority. The interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams led to Joseph stewarding well the harvests of the land during 7 years of plenty such that the storehouses were full when the 7 years of famine came. Because of his wise stewardship, the food stocks in Egypt were sufficient to sustain not only the Egyptians, but they also sustained the Hebrews of Jacob’s family. The Egyptians and the people of Israel were delivered from sure death by starvation.

The stories of Esther and of Joseph both involved the transfer of power from a Gentile (non-Jew) leader to a Jewish man as signified by the giving of the leader’s signet ring. This power was then used to deliver people from certain death.

Returning to the story of mankind and our cruel ruler, the devil, the Prince of the air…. Just as God provided a deliverer in the stories of Esther and Joseph, God has also provided a Deliverer for all of mankind and all of creation in Jesus the Messiah. There will come a day when God through Jesus will take back the dominion mankind forfeited to satan, the Prince of the air. Jesus, the second Adam, will rule and reign over all of the earth and all living things, just as God intended from the beginning.

Revelation 19:13-16 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS.

Revelation 20:2-3 He (an angel) laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished.

Praising God, the all-powerful One. Our Deliverer, Jesus the Messiah, is coming SOON. God will take the “signet ring” back from our enemy, the devil/satan, and He will give it to King Jesus who will rule and reign in righteousness forever.

HALLELUYAH!

Come out of her, My people.

Jeremiah 51:45 (NIV)
“Come out of her, My people!
Run for your lives!
Run from the fierce anger of the LORD.”

   It was February of 2016.  Ben and I were living in a comfortable rental up on Redmond Ridge, a bit east of Seattle.  We had been told by our landlord that there was no possibility of extending our lease (which ended June 22).  We were a part of a church planting effort there on the Ridge that was showing signs of being out of step with Scripture; and we were feeling like we needed to go in a different direction in a couple of areas.  We had listened to a teaching about how to seek God’s answer when at a crossroads and decided that we would fast, pray and worship God on a particular Sunday asking Him for His direction as to what to do.

  On that Sunday, we did indeed fast.  We attended church and were praying.  Ben went to lay down, and I began folding laundry.  An odd phrase came to mind: “Come out of her”.  Ben and I were fasting and praying to hear from the LORD about our particular “fork in the road”, and because I don’t tend to think in those kinds of words, I did a Google search through the Bible to see if there was a Scripture that included that phrase.  Jeremiah 51:45 and Revelation 18:4 both included that specific phrase, and both were written to God’s people about getting out of Babylon.  Revelation 18:4 (NKJV) “And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, My people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.”

   Ben got up and he talked about how he had a strong feeling that it was time for us to leave the Seattle area.  God impressed on me to stay quiet and let him talk until he asked me about my thoughts on this issue.  It was a bit of a wait…!  Eventually, Ben paused and asked, “What are your thoughts about all of this?”  I was so grateful he finally asked!  I told him about the phrase (Come out of her) and where it appears in the Bible.  He felt really confirmed in what he had been thinking – and we both agreed strongly that God had given us His answer in answer to our prayers.

   We moved forward in trying to purchase a home in the South Puget Sound area a bit outside of Olympia, Washington.  We put offers on two homes – the first was a “no-go” right away; the second offer proceeded smoothly until the very last moment when the seller backed out at the signing later in May.  We were coming up on the deadline for moving out of the rental home, and at that time there simply was not enough time left for us to find and purchase another property.  The hare-brained idea of moving into an RV popped out of my mouth shortly after the deal fell through… and Ben loved it!  He found an older RV by the next weekend and we purchased it.  We also found a spot in a decent RV park in Centralia, Washington.

   All kinds of crazy circumstances happened the morning after we hooked up in the RV park which led to the RV being nearly totaled and needing 3 weeks of work to fix it.  The insurance agent handled all of it and we found ourselves “homeless” the first week of September as the RV was being repaired.  We’d really never been to the Flathead Valley of Montana, and decided to take the generous bucket of money given to us by the insurance company for housing to go and explore new territory.  We were inaugurated into Montana one hour after we crossed the Montana/Idaho border in Montana’s northwest corner by a collision with a white-tailed deer.  The car sustained $5300 of damage, but was drivable and we limped to our B and B in an area southeast of Bigfork.

   September 11, 2016 there was a memorial for 9/11 and Benghazi.  It was held in an enormous tent just south of Bigfork on a horse farm.  It was truly memorable – love for our country, gratitude for the men and women who serve in our armed forces, and worship of Jesus/God, was on display in a manner we had never seen in all of the years we lived in Seattle.  We returned to our car afterwards and Ben looked over at me and said this, “Deb, in the 29 years that we have been married, I have never asked you to follow me to where I would lead us to live.  I am asking you today to follow me here.”  I agreed.

   There are many, many stories about the time following that decision.  In late July, 2017 after months and months of searching for a home/property, we were still in the RV (which was not holding up very well!).  The RV was not intended for cold weather, and it was an older RV, so everything kept breaking (think no A/C, heating or electricity for the first month of that summer).  I was beginning to worry… winters are long and cold here, and living in a poorly insulated, fragile RV seemed like a very bad idea.  Out of the blue, I received a call from an acquaintance asking if we would be interested in seeing her place, and of course! we were.  We saw it the last week of July, and everything about the transaction fell seamlessly into place.  We moved in on September 1, 2017.

   We have been very blessed in our time in Montana, but I would be lying if I said that I do not miss home.  I loved Seattle and Washington State.  I miss my family – three of our children and their significant others/families are in the Seattle area, and my siblings are in Olympia, Washington (about 90 miles south of Seattle).  There have been times of intense loneliness and of longing to see my loved ones.  I know with great certainty that Ben and I were called out of Washington.  I know with certainty that God has made a place for us here in Bigfork, Montana.  I know that I know that this place at this time is a part of His plan for me/us.  However, I still long for those I love… and I still miss the beauty of western Washington.

   Each morning, I study the Bible using a reading plan that leads me through the entire Bible in a year.  Each day I read a piece of the Old Testament, the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs – it has been a habit for around 8 years.  Friday morning, God impressed upon me to search the Bible for His promise for those who leave homes, lands and family at His direction, instead of the study plan I normally follow. 

This was His promise He gave to me Friday morning.

Matthew 19:29 “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My Name’s sake [in obedience to Him], shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.”

   In God’s perfect timing, He prepared me for what was coming later in the day – an intense and hurtful conversation with a family member in which I was told that I am the problem as far as a breakdown in relationship with several relatives.  There were things said that were very wounding, and I am wondering if there is any hope of reconciliation with any of those family members.  My heart hurts…. lots and lots of tears….

I am comforted in the knowledge that God, in His perfect timing, and in His perfect way gave me this His promise.  He knew what was coming and gave me His assurance that He sees all of this, and that He is with me and has been with me no matter the circumstances, no matter the hurt.  I am His child, and I am a part of His family, no matter what happens in my earthly family.  I am loved and cherished – I always have been and always will be – no matter the hurtful messages I may be given by those who say they love me here on earth.

My Father is a good, good Father.  He has provided marvelously for me, and I am so grateful.  He has given me His peace, His provision, His presence, His protection.  I am blessed.