Goeie dag??

Hoop dit gaan goed daar met jou ??
Hier is die video opname van die skrifgedeeltes vir die week ? 
Ek glo die Woord sal ook vreugde en vrolikheid in jou en jou geliefdes se harte wees ? 
Baie seën vir die week wat voorlê?

Vrede vir jou

Goeie dag??

Hoop dit gaan goed daar met jou ??
Hier is die video opname van die skrifgedeeltes vir die week ? 
Ek glo die Woord sal ook vreugde en vrolikheid in jou en jou geliefdes se harte wees ? 
Baie seën vir die week wat voorlê?

Vrede vir jou

SERIES A --- YHVH’S PIONEERS --- LESSON 12

PAST HOPE?

YHVH’S COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM

From Genesis 17

Adonai appeared once more to Abram when he was ninety-nine years old. [I am the Almighty YHVH,] Adonai told Abram. [Walk with Me and please Me. I will make My Covenant with you and will multiply you greatly.] Abram knelt with his face to the ground as YHVH continued to speak to him. [My Covenant is with you, and I will make you the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram, but your new name will be Abraham, which means {Father of Nations,} for I will make you the father of many descendants throughout numerous lands, and some will be kings. My Covenant will be with you and your descendants for many generations to come, a Covenant to be your YHVH and the YHVH of your descendants. I will give the land of Canaan to you and them forever, and I will be their YHVH. But you and your descendants must keep My Covenant. You must be circumcised as a sign between Me and you. Every boy must be circumcised eight days after he is born, whether he is a member of your family, or a servant boy, or a slave boy bought with money. Thus, My Covenant will leave its mark on your flesh as an everlasting sign. Any male who refuses to be circumcised refuses My Covenant, and he shall be cut off from his people.] Then Adonai spoke to Abraham concerning Sarai. [Her name shall be called Sarah from this time on] He commanded. [I will bless her and give you a son through her. She will become a mother of nations and kings shall come forth from her.] Abraham knelt before Adonai to worship, but he laughed when he heard YHVH’s promise. [How can I have a son when I am a hundred years old?] he thought. [And how can Sarah have a child when she is ninety?] Then Abraham spoke aloud to Adonai. [Oh, YHVH, bless Ishmael!] he cried out, assuming that YHVH was speaking of Ishmael. [But Sarah will have a son,] YHVH answered. [You will name him Isaac, and I will make My Covenant forever with him and his descendants. I have also heard your prayer for Ishmael and will bless him and give him many descendants. He will be the father of twelve princes and of a great nation. But My Covenant will be with Isaac, who will be born to you and Sarah about this time next year.] When Adonai finished speaking, He left Abraham alone. That very day Abraham circumcised all the males of his household, including Ishmael and the servants born in his household and the slaves he had bought, just as Adonai had Commanded. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, and his son Ishmael was thirteen. That very same day both Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised, as well as all the men of Abraham’s household, including all of Abraham’s servants and slaves.

COMMENTARY

ABRAHAM’S SUMERIAN ROOTS

Years after YHVH’s promise in the stars, Abram and Sarai still had no child. They were long past the age of childbearing: there seemed to be no hope. Then YHVH spoke again. YHVH changed the name Abram {which meant Father} to Abraham {which meant Father of a Multitude}. YHVH, who Created a universe from nothing, would bring miracle life from the aging pair. Isaac, their son, is a reminder that with YHVH we are never past hope. The bleak Mesopotamian plain seems an unlikely birthplace for human civilization, yet it was here that the ancient Sumerians flourished almost five thousand years ago. They were attracted to the [Land between the Rivers,] the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys, by the abundance of life-giving water and the rich soil along the banks of the rivers. Sumer was not a country with a single ruler. It was a confederation of individual cities that shared a common culture. Each city had its own king and its own gods. During the time of Abraham, Sumerian political power was declining. Many years of war between the cities had weakened their defences and opened the way for attack by outsiders. But in spite of its fading military strength, Sumerian civilization remained one of the most advanced cultures in the ancient world. The men of Sumer were expert and skilled craftsmen. They knew how to combine copper and tin to make bronze, from which they could forge stronger tools. They also understood how to build self-supporting arches, which some people believe made modern architecture possible. Early in their history the Sumerians invented a practical system of writing with which to record their business transactions. Many clay tablets have been found impressed with the symbols of ancient trade deals. Eventually writing became the foundation for a wide variety of literature. The Sumerians left behind written law codes, medical textbooks and mythological stories. Much has been learned about the world in which Abraham lived from these ancient Sumerian books.

Thought for Today: Sunday December 04:

May you grow and accept yourself YHVH is making you to be. May you walk in a new level of grace and gratitude that gives you peace and leaves other encouraged. May you be more apt to look forward with hope than you are to look back with regret. May your heart spill over with joy at the very thought of the story YHVH is writing with your life. Be at peace and rest in His Love.

To all who have been Grafted in to Israel !

Ever wonder?

A song for your Sabbath Afternoon!

Still alive and together~ Praise Yahh~ Shabbat shaloms~

SERIES A --- YHVH’S PIONEERS -- LESSON 11

PROMISE RENEWED

A PROMISED SON

From Genesis 15–16

After the war of the kings had ended, Adonai spoke to Abram in a vision. [Do not be afraid Abram, for I am your Shield,] Adonai said. [I will reward you richly with great blessings.] [But Adonai, I have no son,] Abram cried out. [How can I enjoy Your blessings without a son to be my heir, knowing that Eliezer of Damascus will inherit all that You give me? Since You have given me no child, a slave will inherit all I have.] [Eliezer will not be your heir,] Adonai answered. [Your own son will be your heir.] Adonai brought Abram outside under the great canopy of the sky. [Look up into the heavens and count the stars, if you can,] Adonai said. [Your descendants will be as many as the stars of the sky tonight.] Abram believed Adonai, and Adonai accepted him as righteous because he believed. Then Adonai told him, [I am Adonai Who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land forever as a possession.] [But how can I know for sure that this will be mine?] Abram asked. [Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon,] Adonai told Abram. Abram brought all of the animals, cut them in half, and laid the halves opposite each other. But he did not cut the birds in half. When birds of prey swooped down to devour these sacrifices, Abram drove them away. As the sun was setting a deep sleep came upon Abram and an overwhelming feeling of darkness swept over him. Then Adonai spoke again to Abram. [Your descendants will be slaves in a foreign land for four hundred years,] Adonai told him. [They will work for those who oppress them but I will punish the nation they serve and later they will go free with great wealth. But you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age. Your descendants will return here in four generations, for the wickedness of the Amorites will come to full fruit at that time.] When the sun had set and darkness had come over the land, Abram saw a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passing among the pieces of meat. Then Adonai made a Covenant with Abram. [To your descendants I give this land from the River of Egypt to the Great River, the Euphrates, along with the peoples therein; the Kenite, the Kenizzite, the Kadmonite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Rephaim, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Girgashite and the Jebusite.] Sarai was still childless at this time so she decided to give her Egyptian maid Hagar to Abram as a second wife, to bear children for her. [Adonai has not given me children,] Sarai told Abram. [Try to have children through Hagar and her children will also be my children.] Abram listened to Sarai’s idea and agreed to take Hagar as a second wife. At this time Abram had been in the land for ten years. As soon as Hagar knew that she would have a child, she began to look upon Sarai with contempt. [I hope you suffer as I have,] Sarai told Abram. [I put my maid into your arms, and as soon as she knew that she would have a child, she began to look upon me with contempt.] [But your maid is in your own power,] Abram argued. [Do whatever you want to her.] Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she ran away. While Hagar sat by a spring of water in the wilderness an angel appeared to her. [Where have you come from Hagar?] the angel asked, “and where are you going?” “I am running away from Sarai, my mistress,” Hagar answered the angel. [Go home to Sarai and submit to her,] the angel commanded. [I will give you so many descendants that you will not be able to count them. You will have a son whom you will name Ishmael, for Adonai has noticed your affliction. Ishmael will be like a wild donkey, against everyone and everyone against him, although he will continue to live near his relatives.] Hagar realized that this was Adonai speaking to her so she called Him [The Seeing YHVH.] For she said, [Haven’t I seen YHVH yet I am still alive?] Then Hagar named the spring [Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.] This well was located between Kadesh and Bered. In time Hagar presented a son to Abram and Abram named him Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six when Ishmael was born.

COMMENTARY

COVENANTS

When YHVH first spoke to Abram He promised to make him a great nation. Years passed. Abram and his wife, Sarai, remained childless. Then YHVH spoke again. [Count the stars,] He said. [Your descendants will be as numerous.] In spite of his advanced age, Abram believed the promise. Then, to show how sure the promise was, YHVH made an unbreakable Covenant: a contract known in Abram’s time as a Covenant of blood. In Bible times, a covenant was a solemn agreement between two people. Both worked out the terms of their agreement and swore in the presence of YHVH to honour all of the promises made in the covenant. A curse, included in the covenant, pronounced punishment or death if either party failed to uphold his half of the agreement. The word covenant is still used today by lawyers to describe certain kinds of contracts. Just as two businessmen shake hands after closing an important deal, the men of ancient times concluded their covenant with a special ceremony. They offered a sacrifice to YHVH and shared the flesh of the sacrificial animal in a ritual meal. This solemn occasion marked the moment when the covenant went into effect. But not every covenant made in Bible times was an agreement between individuals. Nations covenanted together to form political alliances or to establish peace among themselves. These treaties helped maintain a fragile balance of power in the Bible world. If one nation broke its covenant with another, the delicate balance was upset and armies began preparing for war. When the fighting was over and one nation had emerged as the victor over the other, a new covenant was established between them. The agreement, originally between equals, was now a treaty imposed by the conqueror on the conquered. These one-sided covenants placed all the obligations on the weaker party. But there are other examples of contracts in which the stronger member was responsible for fulfilling all the covenant promises. A rich man’s will, was a one-sided covenant in which he promised to distribute his wealth among his poor relatives. His heirs were not bound by the covenant to meet any requirements; they could accept or reject the rich man’s offer. YHVH used Covenants also. The Old Testament was His Covenant with Israel, first made with Abraham and extended to later generations. Adonai promised to be their YHVH and to give them the land of Canaan. In return they were to worship Him and obey His Law, with failure; punishable by death. But YHVH understood peoples’ weaknesses. They were not capable of meeting every requirement of His Law. He established a system of sacrifices by which they could atone for their sins. The sacrificial lamb suffered death in their place and preserved the Covenant between YHVH and His people. The Israelites turned away from YHVH and worshiped foreign deities. They set up idols in the temple and neglected to offer sacrifices to YHVH. They broke the old Covenant by their behaviour. But Adonai did not abandon men. Instead, He made a new Covenant that extended to all mankind. In the New Testament, YHVH took upon Himself a share of man’s Covenant responsibilities. He provided His own Son as the sacrificial Lamb to bear the curse of death. Moshiach’s blood has atoned for mankind’s sins as one great sacrifice. Animal victims are no longer to be offered for sin. Under the new Covenant people everywhere are like the rich man’s heirs. YHVH has met all the Covenant conditions and people have only to decide whether to accept or reject His offer.