Day One of Week 5: Chesed of Hod
29th Day of the Omer

Week Five - Hod

If endurance is the engine of life humility is its fuel. As gevurah (discipline) gives chesed (love) focus, hod gives netzach direction.

Humility is the silent partner of endurance. Its strength is in its silence. Its splendor in its repose. Humility leads to yielding, which is an essential element of Humility - and the resulting yielding - should not be confused with weakness and lack of self-esteem.

Humility is modesty; it is acknowledgement (from the root "hoda'ah"). It is saying "thank you" to G‑d. It is clearly recognizing your qualities and strengths and acknowledging that they are not your own; they were given to you by G‑d for a higher purpose than just satisfying your own needs. Humility is modesty; it is recognizing how small you are which allows you to realize how large you can become. And that makes humility so formidable.

Endurance draws its energy from the acknowledgement of humility. Human endurance goes only as far as your tolerance level. Acknowledging that your strengths come from a higher place gives you the power to endure far beyond your own perceived capacity. It gives you part of G‑d's enduring strength.

A full cup cannot be filled. When you're filled with yourself and your needs, "I and nothing else", there is no room for more. When you "empty" yourself before something which is greater than yourself, you allow in much more than your limited capacity. Humility is the key to transcendence; to reach beyond yourself. Only true humility gives you the power of total objectivity.

Humility is sensitivity; it is healthy shame out of recognition that you can be better than you are and that you expect more of yourself. Although humility is silent it is not a void. It is a dynamic expression of life that includes all seven qualities of love, discipline, compassion, endurance, humility, bonding and sovereignty. Humility is active not passive. Not a state of being but an interaction even in its calm and inaction.

Day One of Week 5: Chesed of Hod

Examine the love in your humility. Healthy humility is not demoralizing; it brings love and joy not fear. Humility that lacks love has to be reexamined for its authenticity. Sometimes humility can be confused with low self-esteem, which would cause it to be unloving.

Humility brings love because it gives you the ability to rise above yourself and love another. Arrogance in the guise of love means loving yourself, or what is even worse: making others a part and an extension of yourself and your self-love.

Does my humility cause me to be more loving and giving? More expansive? Or does it inhibit and constrain me? Am I humble and happy or humble and miserable?

Exercise for the day: Before praying with humility and acknowledgment of G‑d, give some charity. It will enhance your prayers.

Goeie dag

Baie Dankie vir al julle gebede ??

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 naweek wat voorlê?

Vrede vir jou

Goeie dag

Baie Dankie vir al julle gebede ??

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 naweek wat voorlê?

Vrede vir jou

Thought for Today: Monday May 08:

Elohiym is with you and for you. You face nothing alone! When you feel anxious, know that you are focussing on the visible world and leaving YHVH out of the picture. The remedy is simple – Fix your eyes not on what is seen, but what is on unseen. Verbalize your trust in YHVH, the Living One Who sees you always. He will get you safely through this day and all your days. But you can find Him only in the present. Each day is a precious gift from Elohiym our Father. How ridiculous to grasp for future gifts when today’s gift is set before you! Receive today’s gift gracefully, unwrapping it tenderly and delving into its depths. As you savour this gift, you find Him.

SERIES O --- RETURN TO THE LAND --- LESSON 10

THE WORD READ

THE BOOK OF THE LAW IS READ

From Nehemiah 8:1-9:5

About the middle of September, the people of Israel gathered in the square in front of the Water Gate and asked Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses which Adonai had given to Israel. Ezra therefore brought the book before the great gathering of people as they waited to hear it read. From early morning until noon Ezra read to those who had gathered, and the people listened attentively. He stood on a wooden platform which was made for this purpose. Beside him at his right hand stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah. At his left hand stood Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. When Ezra stood on the platform above the people, he opened the scroll, and the people stood up. Then Ezra gave praise to Adonai, the great YHVH, and all the people responded [Amen, Amen] while they lifted their hands. Then they bowed low to worship Adonai with their faces to the ground. While the people remained in their places, Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiab, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah explained the law to the people as each passage was read. But when the people understood the commands of the law, they began to weep. Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people tried to comfort the people. [You must not cry today,] they urged, [for this day is holy to Adonai your YHVH. Instead, you should celebrate by eating and drinking good food and sharing it with someone who has nothing prepared. Do not mourn, for the joy of Adonai is your strength.] The Levites also joined in comforting the people by saying, [Don’t weep, for this is a holy and joyful day.] The people went from that place to eat and drink and to share their food with others. They had a great festival, for now at last they understood the words which the law spoke to them. On the following day the heads of families, along with the priests and Levites, met with Ezra to see what new truth they could learn from the law. They learned that Adonai had commanded Moses that the people of Israel should live in tents during the feast of the seventh month, the Feast of Tabernacles which was to be held that very month. They learned also that this feast should be proclaimed throughout the land, especially in Jerusalem, calling for the people to gather branches from the olive, myrtle, palm, and fig trees in the hills, and to make with them booths where they could live during the feast. The people went to the hills and gathered the branches and made booths with them. Some booths were made on the flat rooftops of the people’s houses, others in their courtyards, and still others in the great square before the house of YHVH, in the square by the Water Gate, and the one before the Gate of Ephraim. All who had returned from captivity made booths and lived in them during the feast and were very joyful. This had not been done since the time of Joshua the son of Nun. On each of the seven days of the feast Ezra read from the Book of the Law of YHVH. On the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the Law. On the twenty-fourth day of the month, which was October 10, the people assembled in Jerusalem again, wearing sackcloth and fasting, and with dust upon their heads. The people of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners. For a fourth of the day, they stood in their place and read from the Law of Adonai, and for another fourth of the day they confessed their sins and worshiped Adonai. Some of the Levites, including Jeshua, Kadmi-el, Bani, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiab, Bani, and Chenani, stood on the platform and praised Adonai with a loud voice. Then other Levites joined in calling for the people to worship. [Stand up and praise Adonai, who is from everlasting to everlasting,] they said. [Praise His glorious name, which is higher than all blessing and praise.]

COMMENTARY

THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM IN NEHEMIAH’S TIME

The Jews who returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile moved from a comfortable, settled existence to one of hard labour and personal sacrifice. Work on the walls was long and difficult. The day began at sunrise, and ended not much before sunset. Arms were kept nearby; the sound of a horn would alert everyone to gather and prepare to do battle. The people who were not at work on the walls were kept busy by the daily need to furnish food for the Levites, priests, porters, singers and Nethinim. Ezra restored the place of the Law of Moses in the Jews’ lives by having the scribes give public readings. They had to learn the law, and follow it, confess their waywardness and establish a new Covenant with YHVH. Eventually, Nehemiah compelled one out of ten returned Jews to live inside Jerusalem itself. A larger population meant a more secure city and a safer populace; it would also help the city grow in size and wealth.

One of Abba's messengers brought me a beautiful gerber daisy for my garden today! What a blessing and a treat.

"When the wicked rise, a man is hidden."

Pr 28

What did the early Christian faith look like, what were their beliefs, and how are we supposed to be worshiping today?

https://firstcenturychristiani....ty.net/first-century

What did the early Christian faith look like, what were their beliefs, and how are we supposed to be worshiping today?

https://firstcenturychristiani....ty.net/first-century

SERIES O --- RETURN TO THE LAND --- LESSON 09

PLOTS AGAINST NEHEMIAH

From Nehemiah 6:1-7:6, 64-73

When the news reached Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and our other enemies that I had completed the wall so there was no opening left in it [although at the time I had not yet hung the doors of the gates], they sent word that I should meet them in one of the villages of the Plain of Ono. But I knew that they were planning to kill me there, so I sent back this answer: [I am too busy with an important work to come to see you. Why should I stop this work to meet with you there?] They sent the same message to me four times, and each time I sent back the same answer. At last, Sanballat’s messenger brought me an open letter. This is what Sanballat’s letter said: [There is a rumour among the various people that you are planning to rebel against the king. Geshem says that he hears this and that is the reason you are building the wall. This rumour says also that you plan to be the new king and that you have even appointed prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim ‘There is a king in Judah.’ Now this will certainly be reported to the king, so you and I ought to meet to discuss it.] Once again, I sent a message to Sanballat. [Of course, these things are not true,] I said. [You are making them up in your own mind.] We knew that these people were trying to discourage us from finishing our work. So now, YHVH, give us even more strength to do it. Later, when I visited the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah and grandson of Mehetabel, who was a shut-in at home, he warned, [Let us go to the house of YHVH for our meeting and close the doors, for they are coming tonight to kill you.] But I answered, [Should I run from danger? Should I hide in the temple to save my life? No, I will not do that.] I was sure that YHVH had not given this message to him but that Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him to say it. They did this to frighten me so that I might sin and they could have a bad report to bring against me. O my YHVH, remember Tobiah and Sanballat and what they have done, as well as Noadiah the prophetess and the other prophets who have tried to frighten me. The wall was finished at last on the twenty-fifth day of Flu, early in September, fifty-two days after we had begun our work. When our enemies and the surrounding nations saw that it was done, they were humbled, for they realized that YHVH had done this work through us. During the days when we were building the wall, many letters were exchanged between Tobiah and the influential men of Judah. Many of these men were loyal to him because he was a son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and because his son Johanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. These men often told me what a good man Tobiah was, while they shared with him all that I said. Then Tobiah sent his threatening letters to frighten me. When the wall was finished and the doors were hung in the gates, I appointed the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites. I placed my brother Hanani in charge of Jerusalem and made Hananiah commander of the fortress, for he was a faithful person with more reverence for YHVH than all the others. I ordered them not to open the gates of the city until long after sunrise and to close and lock them for the evening while the guard was still on duty. I also ordered that each guard should be a resident of Jerusalem and must guard a certain station near his own home. The city was large, but there were at this time few houses or people in it. Moreover, Adonai put it in my heart to assemble the leaders of the city along with the common people to enrol them by families. I had found the genealogical record of those who had returned to Judah earlier. In it was a long list of names of those who had come from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had carried away, but who had returned later to Jerusalem and Judah. Some of the priests could not find their family history, so they were not permitted to serve as priests. The governor warned them also not to eat any of the sacred food usually given to priests until the time came when Urim and Thummim could be consulted to find if they had descended from priests. Altogether there were forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty persons in the assembly. In addition, there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven servants and two hundred and forty-five male and female singers. They had seven hundred and thirty-six horses, two hundred and forty-five mules, four hundred and thirty-five camels, and six thousand seven hundred and twenty donkeys. Some of the heads of families gave money to the work. The governor gave a thousand gold drachmas, worth about five thousand dollars, as well as fifty golden bowls, and five hundred and thirty garments for the priests. Other heads of families gave twenty thousand gold drachmas, worth about a hundred thousand dollars, and twenty-two hundred silver minas, worth about seventy thousand dollars, as well as sixty-seven garments for the priests. The priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants, and all the others returned home to their villages throughout Judah. By the seventh month, September, they were back in their homes again.

COMMENTARY

SCRIBAL MATERIALS

In Nehemiah’s time, those who knew how to write possessed a rare and valuable skill. Chief among them were the priests and trained scribes; the latter could be men or women. Even prophets and kings were not always literate. The governors may have signed their letters to Nehemiah with a character that looks like a modern Western {X.} The ancient Hebrew letter {tau,} which means {signature,} resembled an {X.} Because of the hot and humid climate in the region of Palestine, fewer samples of writing have survived than in Egypt. Letters, now long vanished, may have been written on papyrus that was originally imported from Egypt. Sometimes papyrus scrolls were as much as thirty feet in length. Filled with writing, they were rolled up and stored in large lidded clay pots. Ink was used on papyrus. It was also used on clay. Letters, memos and receipts have been found written on broken pieces of pottery; called {potsherds} or {ostraca.} The most common writing surface was a clay tablet; a triangular-tipped stylus made impressions on the wet surface. Other materials were used to write on as well, though much less often. Bronze and stone were used, carved with a chisel; wood and bark were inscribed with pen and ink –- unless the wood was coated with stucco, and then a stylus was used; ink was also used on linen, which was very uncommon, and on leather. Parchment and vellum, which made the smoothest writing surfaces, were not invented until around 200 B.C. The writing itself evolved from the picture-letters of hieroglyphics to the wedge shapes of cuneiform, and finally to the fast and graceful Aramaic script.