Your cloaks (שִׂמְלָ֨תְךָ֜) did not wear out and your foot (וְרַגְלְךָ֖) did not swell (בָצֵ֑קָה) during these forty years. Deuteronomy 8:4

Yet YHVH says, “During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your cloaks (שַׂלְמֹֽתֵיכֶם֙) did not wear out, nor did your sandal (וְנַֽעַלְךָ֥) on your foot (רַגְלֶֽךָ). Deuteronomy 29:5

If you take your neighbor’s cloak (שַׂלְמַ֣ת) as a pledge, return it by sunset, because that cloak (שִׂמְלָת֖וֹ) is the only covering (כְסוּתוֹ֙) your neighbor has for his skin (לְעֹר֑וֹ). What else can he sleep in? When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate. Exodus 22:26‭-‬27

So much in chapter 8 yesterday. The clothes rather than the shoes did come to note in verse 4 but this was a small detail. The significant discussion with these young men was the well received and clear message connecting D8 to Heb10 and of course 1Cor10. Powerful.

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for (σκοπεῖν) those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. Romans 16:17

The Truth is not far from you. It is not difficult to discern Truth and sound doctrine, sound teaching. For the carnal mind, it is impossible. Things which cause division are of the enemy, and things which lead to impurity are of the enemy. Division among disciples is of the enemy. Quenching the Spirit is of the enemy, and following deceiving spirits is of the enemy. Being washed in the WORD, and keeping in step with the Holy Spirit are things which promote and advance the will of God.

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. Romans 16:17‭-‬19

I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church. 3 John 1:9‭-‬10

It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work. 2 John 1:4‭-‬11

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:1‭-‬16

WTW 2021
1 April
Deuteronomy 1

Yahweh our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Deuteronomy 1:6

Read Deuteronomy 1.

Immediately it is reminiscent of the Great Commission with direct parallels to the New Testament & our own continued journey in this New Covenant.

Yahweh our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates. See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land Yahweh swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”

Go! Witness. Evangelize. Disciple.

At the same time, organize. Like Moses, the apostles chose some wise, understanding and respected men to handle issues within the community. Like Paul who admonished the Corinthians to judge rightly in their own affairs, we also establish matters in our own communities with this same divine and now Spirit empowered wisdom.

At that time I said to you, “You are too heavy a burden for me to carry alone. Yahweh your God has increased your numbers so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky. May Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised! But how can I bear your problems and your burdens and your disputes all by myself? Choose some wise, understanding and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you.” You answered me, “What you propose to do is good.” So I took the leading men of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them to have authority over you—as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens and as tribal officials. And I charged your judges at that time, “Hear the disputes between your people and judge fairly, whether the case is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner residing among you. Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of anyone, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it.”

Organize!

Now, GO! Evangelize. Disciple.

Then, as Yahweh our God commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites through all that vast and dreadful wilderness that you have seen, and so we reached Kadesh Barnea. Then I said to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which Yahweh our God is giving us. See, Yahweh your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Go!

Now, GO! Evangelize. Disciple.

Then all of you came to me and said, “Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to.”

What? You want to make a plan first? Okay, that sounds good. Here’s a plan. Now GO! Evangelize. Disciple.

The idea seemed good to me; so I selected twelve of you, one man from each tribe. They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshkol and explored it. Taking with them some of the fruit of the land, they brought it down to us and reported, “It is a good land that Yahweh our God is giving us.”

Now GO! Evangelize. Disciple.

But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God. You grumbled in your tents and said, “Yahweh hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us. Where can we go?

What are you waiting for? What? What are you grumbling about? What are you complaining about now? You’re afraid? What?! What are you afraid of?

Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’ ” Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. Yahweh your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the wilderness. There you saw how Yahweh your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”

Now GO! Evangelize. Disciple.

In spite of this, you did not trust in Yahweh your God, who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.

When God says “Go” you really should go. It really won’t end well if you don’t. It definitely won’t end as well not going when He says “Go” as it will going when He says “Go.” And definitely don’t try going on your own after he gives you different instructions because of your fearful doubting and complaining disobedience. You really should obey and go when God says “Go.”

When Yahweh heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore: “No one from this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed Yahweh wholeheartedly.” Because of you Yahweh became angry with me also and said, “You shall not enter it, either. But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it. And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad—they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it. But as for you, turn around and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.” Then you replied, “We have sinned against Yahweh. We will go up and fight, as Yahweh our God commanded us.” So every one of you put on his weapons, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country. But Yahweh said to me, “Tell them, ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.’ ” So I told you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against Yahweh’s command and in your arrogance you marched up into the hill country. The Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you; they chased you like a swarm of bees and beat you down from Seir all the way to Hormah. You came back and wept before Yahweh, but he paid no attention to your weeping and turned a deaf ear to you. And so you stayed in Kadesh many days—all the time you spent there. Deuteronomy 1:6‭-‬17‭, ‬19‭-‬46

Now, GO! Evangelize. Disciple.

WTW 2021
31 March
Isaiah 59

“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says Yahweh. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says Yahweh.
Isaiah 59:21

Exactly as we have discovered so clearly in these past few weeks and in full clarity these past few days, so we conclude this season of Wisdom in the WORD with this clear understanding. Yahweh has allowed the old covenant of fits and starts because of its 2-sided nature to be replaced by this perfect covenant which is complete, perfect and eternal for all people. It is without equal because it depends only on the Eternal One Who Himself is without equal.

Surely the arm of Yahweh is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks along them will know peace. So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

Yahweh looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. From the west, people will fear the name of Yahweh, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of Yahweh drives along. “The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,” declares Yahweh.

“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says Yahweh. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says Yahweh.

Isaiah 59:1‭-‬2‭, ‬8‭-‬9‭, ‬14‭-‬17‭, ‬19‭-‬21

WTW 2021
30 March
Isaiah 58

Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. Isaiah 58:1

Israel is no longer an earthly nation.
Jacob is no longer Yeshurun of the old.

In God’s economy, Israel is God’s people who are in covenant with him. All Israel will be saved.

Now regarding fasting, these profound insights here in this chapter are as revealed in the new as they are in these pages of the old. And these never get old. They have always been fresh and new.

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Isaiah 58:6‭-‬7

What is new is this next observation about slander. We have known this. We have known that anyone who never sins in what he says is a perfect man. Yet there has been a new light shining from a number of passages. From these comes another new focus understanding the significance of purity of speech and speaking as God speaks. His WORD is perfect and ours should be also.

This however does not come by desire or effort. Righteousness in speech does not come from controlling our words or merely speaking nice sounding words. This only amounts to a fine glaze on earthen pottery. Righteous speech comes from The Righteous One speaking from the heart by the Spirit of Truth.

Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk. Isaiah 58:9

For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. 1 Peter 3:10

He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Mark 7:20‭-‬2

Therefore, rid yourselves of
all malice and all deceit,
hypocrisy, envy, and
slander of every kind.
1 Peter 2:1

WTW 2021
29 March
Isaiah 57

The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Isaiah 57:1

Read on and you will see.

Pay attention and you will understand.

Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death. Isaiah 57:2

Even as The Righteous One is laid in the tomb, the wicked rejoice. They see the silencing of the righteous as freedom for all their licentiousness ways.

“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” Isaiah 57:21

They do not consider that there are but 2 paths, 2 economies and that theirs is bankrupt. While the wicked may appear to be the survivors, it is in fact the sleeping giant who is victorious.

For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. Isaiah 57:15

WTW 2021
28 March
Passover

These notes were sparked by a number of passages referenced in the Shores message leading into this Passover & Resurrection week.

3/28/2021 Message

(Note: Mat 26:24 & Jn 17:12 disregarded)

*****

Alabaster Anointing: Myrrh & Spikenard
(notes from 13 January 2021)

Still reflecting on these accounts of the anointing by the woman which Jesus said would be recounted everywhere the good news is preached – and sure enough mentioned in all 4 written accounts

Matthew 26:1-2 days, Passover, Bethany, Simon Leper, woman, alabaster, expensive perfume, head, reclining at table, indignant, waste, poor, bothering, beautiful, burial

Mark 14:1-2 days, Passover, Bethany, reclining at table, Simon Leper, woman, alabaster jar, expensive perfume, pure nard, BROKE JAR, head, indignant, waste, poor, rebuked, bothering, beautiful, burial

Luke 7:36- Simon Pharisee, reclining at table, sinful woman, alabaster jar, feet, tears, hair, kisses, forgiveness

John 12:1- 6 days, Passover, Bethany, reclining at table, Lazarus, Martha served, Mary, pure nard, expensive perfume, feet, fragrance, poor, burial, Judas, objection, money, retort

*****

The Hand: Judas & The Last Supper

*****

Prayer on the Mountain

*****

PA

WTW 2021
28 March
Isaiah 56

Blessed is the one who does this—the person who holds it fast, who keeps Shabbath without desecrating it, and keeps their hands from doing any evil.” Isaiah 56:2

It is actually shocking to see emphasis on shabbath, mentioned directly no fewer than 3 times in this chapter. We just discussed yesterday how significant the shift was from 53 and the breakout as a butterfly from its old covenant cocoon into the abundant and glorious new covenant life. Our expectation and understanding is 55 through 66 flitting and floating, soaring and glinting in the Sonlight in flight to ever increasing eternal glory.

And here we encounter Shabbath.

We understand that Yeshua is our Shabbath, indeed our Jubilee, more our very menucha.

And still there is so much more concealed and revealed in this chapter, simply awaiting discovery by those who would search for Him.

WTW 2021
27 March
Isaiah 55

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Isaiah 55:1

Saturday morning dose of WTW

Daily discipleship as we R.E.A.D. God’s WORD together is transformational.

Reading Isaiah together daily in this way, one chapter each day, is powerful.

I used to think immediately of Isaiah as a micro Bible with a sense of chapter 39 ending the old and 40 beginning the new. There are certainly still some things we can match up in this way.

Now it is clear that 53 marks a powerful breakthrough and unparalleled revelation of the new covenant leading forward into even more glorious revelations in 54 & 55 and beyond.

This thought came to mind this morning. Just a curiosity, it seems, yet intriguing all the same.

How did this breakthrough impact the life of the man Isaiah himself? Do we have any indications which synchronize the life of Isaiah with the revelations of Isaiah, the history of the man with the visions of the spirit, the experiences of the individual with the demonstrations of the eternal?

The breakthrough of the new covenant from the old, like a glorious butterfly from its cocoon of death continues to reverberate across the eternal ages.

Thank you LORD for this breakthrough and for all You continue to teach and show us through Yeshayahu.