Say to them, As I live, declares Adonai YHWH, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
Ezekiel 33:11

The closer a nation is to God, the quicker and more severe is the ruin brought on by their wickedness, but forgiveness awaits the penitent.

But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. —Exodus 1:17

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from YHWH.
Proverbs 16:33

God gave us brains, spirits, and a Bible for a reason, and he wants us to exhaust those avenues before rolling dice or flipping a coin. Only cast lots when it is completely unclear which path is more righteous and more advantageous. If you do cast lots, go with it and don't doubt.

SERIES M --- PROPHESIES AND MIRACLES --- LESSON 25

ELISHA DIES

THE DEATH OF ELISHA

From 2 Kings 10:35; 13:1-25; 14:15-16

After a reign of twenty-eight years, King Jehu of Israel died and was buried in Samaria. Thus, while King Joash of Judah was repairing the temple and doing other things in Judah and Jerusalem, Jehoahaz became the new king in the northern kingdom of Israel. In fact, it was the twenty-third year of King Joash’s reign when this took place. Jehoahaz then ruled for the next seventeen years over Israel. Jehoahaz was an evil king and followed the practice of idolatry which Jeroboam had begun, causing Israel to sin. This made Adonai angry with Israel and He permitted King Hazael of Syria and his son Ben-hadad to defeat them. Hazael made life so miserable for the Israelites that Jehoahaz prayed to Adonai for help. Adonai listened to him and rose up able leaders to rescue Israel from the Syrians. But as soon as things settled down, Israel began to sin again. They kept on worshiping idols, as Jeroboam had led them to do and they also kept the Asherah idols in Samaria. Before long Jehoahaz had only fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten-thousand foot soldiers left, for Syria had destroyed all the others, trampling them like dust under their feet. Then in the thirty-seventh year of the reign of King Joash of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign along with his father in Samaria and continued as king for sixteen years. At last, Jehoahaz died and was buried with his ancestors in Samaria. The rest of his adventures are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. After the death of Jehoahaz, his son Jehoash {Joash} ruled as sole king over Israel. He also was an evil king and followed the idolatry which Jeroboam had introduced into Israel, causing Israel to sin. During the reign of Jehoash, Elisha was confined to his home with the illness which caused him to die. Jehoash went to see him and wept over him. [My father! My father!] he sobbed. [You are as important to Israel as our chariots and horsemen.] Then Elisha told the king to do something. [Take your bow and arrows,] Elisha said and the king did as he was instructed. [Now put your bow in your hands,] Elisha added. When the king did that, the prophet put his hands on the hands of the king. [Open the window toward the east,] said Elisha. When the king did that, Elisha ordered him to shoot, which he did. [That was Adonai’s arrow!] Elisha shouted. [He will give you victory over Syria, for you will conquer them at Aphek. Pick up those other arrows and strike the ground with them.] Jehoash picked up the other arrows and struck the ground three times. That made Elisha angry. [You should have struck the ground five or six times,] he said. [Then you would have completely defeated Syria. Now you will have only three victories over them.] After that, Elisha died and was buried. Some time later, a band of Moabites was coming through the land as they frequently did in the spring. They came near Elisha’s tomb as some men were burying a friend nearby. When these men saw the Moabite band, they quickly slipped their friend’s body into Elisha’s tomb so they could hurry away. As soon as the man’s body touched Elisha’s bones, he came back to life and stood on his feet. Throughout the reign of King Jehoahaz of Israel, the Syrians had oppressed them. But Adonai graciously kept Israel from being totally destroyed by King Hazael of Syria, for He remembered His Covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. When Hazael died, his son Ben-hadad became king of Syria in his place. As predicted by Elisha, King Jehoash of Israel had three victories over Ben-hadad and recovered the cities which Israel had previously lost to the Syrians. The other adventures of King Jehoash are recorded in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. When he died, he was buried in Samaria with the previous kings of Israel and his son Jeroboam II reigned in his place.

COMMENTARY

TOMBS OF PALESTINE

The earliest tombs found in Palestine, from thousands of years before the Israelites, were simply graves dug in the floor of cave dwellings. These were usually communal graves, with food, weapons and tools buried alongside individuals. Much later, people placed the dead in large pits with plastered sides. Flat stones covered the top, and stones marked it as a tomb. The same pit was used for burials over many years. Stone tombs called {dolmens} were the first ones built above ground. Stone slabs were braced together to form a three-sided room; a fourth slab across the top formed a roof. The tomb was covered with earth and never reopened. Eventually people began digging graves into the soft limestone hills, and they became the major type of tomb. Bones of the dead were placed in small chests called ossuary’s and then set in the cave. The same cave continued to be the collecting place until it became full. A simpler type of burial chest was the {cist} grave; a burial chamber cut to fit the individual and lined with stone slabs, forming a kind of underground chest. By Old Testament times, tombs were cut directly into rock-veined hills. The most common type was the shaft grave, in which a deep tunnel led to an underground cavern. The shaft was sealed at the bottom with a large stone. The Israelites carried the body into the tomb on a bier and placed it in the centre of the chamber. The bones were moved aside for each new burial. The need for more space led to the use of benches along the chamber walls, where funeral biers were placed. These benches eventually developed into niches hollowed into the walls. The shafts also disappeared, becoming steps leading to a main chamber room. Passageways inside the vault led into other rooms containing these burial niches. The great expense of cutting such tombs limited their use to families of wealth. The poor buried their dead as they had for centuries in shallow graves, cists and open caves.

Here's a list of New Testament passages for #biblestudy with #torah portion #achareimot ("After the death" #leviticus 16-18), along with links to related commentary and videos: https://www.americantorah.com/....2022/01/05/parsha-ac

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Chesed of Tiferet

Tiferet - compassion - blends and harmonizes the free outpouring love of chesed with the discipline of gevurah. Tiferet possesses this power by introducing a third dimension - the dimension of truth, which is neither love or discipline and therefore can integrate the two.

Truth is accessed through selflessness: rising above your ego and your predispositions, enables you to realize truth. A clear and objective picture of yours and others needs. The imbalance of love and discipline (and for that matter, any distortion) is a result of a subjective, hence limited perspective; introducing truth, by suspending personal prejudices, allows you to express your feelings (including the synthesis of chesed and gevurah) in the healthiest manner.

This quality gives tiferet its name, which means beauty: it blends the differing colors of love and discipline, and this harmony makes it beautiful. For tiferet to be complete it needs the inclusion of the following seven facets: love of compassion, discipline of compassion, compassion of compassion, endurance of compassion, humility of compassion, bonding of compassion and sovereignty of compassion.

Day One of Week 3 (15th day of omer): Chesed of Tiferet

Examine the love aspect of compassion.

Ask yourself: Is my compassion tender and loving or does it come across as pity? Is my sympathy condescending and patronizing? Even if my intention is otherwise, do others perceive it as such? Does my compassion overflow with love and warmth; is it expressed with enthusiasm, or is it static and lifeless?

Exercise for the day: When helping someone extend yourself in the fullest way; offer a smile or a loving gesture.