Thought for Today: Thursday June 15:

YHVH says to His children: Are you lonesome? Breath out My Name, come to Me and I will be your Friend. Are you sick? Come to Me for healing. Are you left out of things? Feelings of rejection and pushed aside? Come home, come to Me!

BIBLE STUDY LESSON 21

SERIES R --- THE GOOD SHEPHERD

CARE FOR LITTLE ONES

A CUP OF WATER

From Mark 9:38-50

One day John told Yeshua about a man he had seen. [He was driving out demons in Your Name,] said John. [Since he wasn’t one of us, we told him to stop.] [Don’t do that,] Yeshua said. [Those who perform miracles in My Name will not turn against Me soon afterwards. Whoever is not against us is for us. Listen to Me! Whoever gives you a cup of water because you belong to Me will receive a reward.] Then Yeshua continued, [Anyone who makes one of My little ones turn away from Me would be better off to have a millstone around his neck and be thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to turn away from Me, cut it off. It is better to live without a hand than to go to hell, to an endless fire. If your foot causes you to turn away from Me, cut it off. It is better to live without a foot than to go into hell with two feet. If your eye causes you to turn away from Me, take it out. It is better to go into the Kingdom of YHVH with one eye than to go into hell with both eyes. In hell, their worms never die and the fire never stops burning. It is a place where everyone is seasoned with fire. Salt that serves its purpose is good. But when it loses its power to season, how can you restore it? Keep your seasoning power, your purpose, alive and continue to live with one another in peace.]

WHEN SOMEONE WRONGS YOU

From Matthew 18:15-35

[When a brother sins against you, go to him personally and tell him what is wrong,] said Yeshua. [But be sure to do this alone, just between the two of you. If he listens and acknowledges his wrong, you have won back a brother. But if he will not listen, then take one or two others along and visit him again. They will confirm all that you have to say against him. If this brother will still not listen to you, then you should bring your complaint before the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, then he should be treated as an outcast. Let Me tell you truly that whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever you free on earth is freed in heaven. Also, I must tell you that if two of you agree here on earth about anything for which you pray, My Father in heaven will do it for you. Wherever two or three are together in My Name, I will be there with them.] Then Peter came to Yeshua with a question. [Adonai, how many times should I forgive my brother who keeps on sinning against me? Seven times?] [Not seven times,] Yeshua answered. [Seventy times seven.] Then Yeshua told this story: [The Kingdom of heaven is like a king who began to bring his accounts up to date. One servant owed the king millions of shekels. Of course, he didn’t have enough to pay his debt, so the king gave orders for him to be sold as a slave, along with his wife and children and all his property, and the money to be used to pay part of the debt. The servant fell on his knees and begged the king for mercy. ‘Be patient, and I will pay you everything I owe,’ the man pleaded. The king felt sorry for him and forgave his debt. But the servant went out from the king and met a fellow servant who owed him no more than a few shekels. He grabbed this fellow servant by the throat and started to choke him. ‘Pay me what you owe!’ he shouted. The fellow servant fell down at his feet and pleaded, ‘Be patient and I will pay you what I owe.’ But the wicked servant would not show mercy. Instead, he had his fellow servant put into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants heard about this, they were angry and told the king about it, who called this servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ said the king, ‘I forgave you an enormous debt merely because you asked me to. Why didn’t you show the same mercy to your fellow servant?’ The king angrily sent his servant to prison to be punished until he paid back every part of his debt. That is what My Father in heaven will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brother.]

COMMENTARY

DEBTS AND DEBTORS

The Law that YHVH gave to Moses taught the people of Israel that it was a privilege to lend something to a friend or neighbour. Making a loan to someone in need was showing him the same kindness that YHVH had shown Israel when He led them out of slavery in Egypt. The rich man was strictly forbidden to make a profit from lending money to the poor. An Israelite was not permitted to charge interest on a loan to another Israelite. It was common for other people to charge the borrower an interest fee half as large as the amount of the loan; at the very least the debtor was forced to pay back more than he borrowed. Interest on a debt was almost a penalty for being poor, and YHVH’s Law did not allow that. When a poor man asked for a loan from his rich neighbour, he had to offer his creditor a {surety payment} -- something of value to him, like his sheep or an ox. This was a symbol and guarantee of his promise to repay what he had borrowed. The lender could keep the surety payment until the entire loan was paid back. The lender was not permitted to take anything the borrower needed for his living. If his ox was taken, for example, he could not plough his fields. Without crops, he not only would be unable to pay back the loan, he also would probably not be able to survive. If the poor man left his cloak as surety, the lender had to return it to him by nightfall. The poor man’s garment was not only his coat; it also served as his blanket at night. It was not lawful for a lender to go into a borrower’s house and seize whatever he chose as surety payment; the lender had to offer it himself. When a person was so poor that he had nothing to give as a surety payment, he could offer himself as a slave to the creditor. If the loan was a large one, he might also give his sons and daughters as well. They worked for the lender without pay until the value of their labour equalled the amount of the debt they owed. The creditor was not permitted to make a poor man his slave forever. Every seventh year was observed as a Sabbatical year. During that period, all debts were forgiven and all Israelite slaves freed. But the Israelites began to act like the cruel and dishonest pagan people around them. They charged their countrymen very high interest rates, making them repay far more than they had borrowed. And if a poor man could not repay his loan on time, they seized whatever property he owned or had him thrown into prison. The debtor was to be kept in prison until he could repay the loan. But he could not earn the money in any way while he was in jail, and there was very little hope that he would ever be free again. Prison conditions in Yeshua’ time were unbearably cruel. A prisoner might be chained to the wall with iron clamps around his neck, wrists and feet. He lived with murderers, thieves and the insane. The cell was dark, with no windows, and the air smelled foul. There was no food or water, except for what the prisoner’s family could bring to him. If he became sick, there was no help. Many prisoners died in the horror of the jails.

In Ephesians 2:15, Paul wrote that Christ broke down the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile “by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances.” But what does Paul mean by this phrase? Is Paul saying that Christ abolished the Law of Moses, or something else? https://davidwilber.com/articl....es/does-ephesians-sa

The faithless man says "There are giants in the land. Think of the children!" Those who don't want to believe will search out any excuse to doubt God. But the man of #faith says, "Let us go up at once and possess it. For we are well able to overcome it."
Numbers 13:30

https://www.americantorah.com/....2017/10/04/everythin

BIBLE STUDY LESSON 20

SERIES R --- THE GOOD SHEPHERD

GREATNESS

THE SECRET OF THINGS TO COME

From Luke 9:43-45

The people were still overwhelmed by the miracles of Yeshua when He began to teach His disciples. [Remember what I am going to tell you,] He said. [I am about to be betrayed into the power of men.] The disciples did not understand what Yeshua meant by this. The secret of it was hidden from them and they were afraid to ask Him for some explanation.

YESHUA PAYS SOME TAXES

From Matthew 17:24-27

When Yeshua and His disciples returned to Capernaum, the temple tax collectors came to see Peter. [Doesn’t your Master pay taxes?] they complained. [He certainly does!] Peter answered. When Peter returned to the house, Yeshua spoke to him first. [What do you think, Simon?] Yeshua asked. [Do the kings of the world collect taxes from their own people or from others?] [From others, of course,] Peter answered. [Then their own people are free from taxes!] said Yeshua. [But since we don’t want to offend these people, go down to the water and throw in a fishing line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch. In it you will find a coin that will pay the taxes for you and Me. Take it and pay our taxes.]

THE GREATNESS OF A CHILD

From Matthew 18:1-6

At that time, the disciples came to Yeshua to ask Him a question. [Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?] they wanted to know. Yeshua called a small child to Him and asked him to stand in the midst of the disciples. [I have something important for you to remember,] Yeshua said. [Unless you change and become like a little child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. The one who is greatest in heaven is the one who humbles himself and becomes like this child. Whoever receives a little child in My Name, receives Me. But whoever causes a little child who believes in Me to turn away from Me will be punished. It would be better for him to have a millstone tied around his neck and to be thrown into the deepest sea.]

COMMENTARY

COINS THAT YESHUA SAW

Each time a new ruler came to power in ancient times, he ordered new coins to be made for his kingdom. To honour him, they often had his picture on the front; an image, such as a pagan god or goddess was on the back. There were many countries and kings in Bible times, so there were many different coins in use. The New Testament mentions several coins that were then common. Although they were made for different rulers, including some who ruled in previous years, they would likely have still been in circulation while Yeshua walked the earth. Since Jews came from all over the world to worship at the temple in Jerusalem, foreign coins were common. But coins with portraits of men were not accepted at the temple. YHVH had Commanded the Israelites not to make any images of Him. Since man was in YHVH’s image, only coins that had no image -- Jewish coins had none -- could be used as an offering for the poor or to buy a lamb for a sacrifice. Moneychangers set up their tables inside the temple court so that people could exchange their forbidden foreign coins for acceptable Israelite money. These men often cheated their customers badly. It was in anger at their dishonesty that Yeshua overturned their tables and drove the moneychangers out of the temple. Because Israel was a conquered country, it was not allowed to make gold or silver coins during Roman times; only the Roman government was permitted to do that. Countries controlled by Caesar could issue only bronze coins. They were much less valuable than the gold and silver money made by Rome. One of the more common Roman silver coins was a denarius. It had an image of Tiberias Caesar on the front. Although it was only about the size of an American dime, a denarius was considered a day’s wages. This was the coin that Yeshua used when the Pharisees tried to trick him with their question about paying tax to Caesar. He pointed to the picture of the emperor and said, [Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to YHVH the things that are YHVH’s.] The mite was a small Israelite coin made of bronze; it was worth the least of any coin made, like the penny in America. When Yeshua saw the poor widow put her two mites in the temple offering, He said that her money was worth much more than all the wealth of the rich, because she had given all she had. Two mites were worth one farthing, but the large bronze coin was not worth very much either. It was the price of two sparrows -- Matthew 10:29, just about the only meat a poor person could afford. Every Jew who lived in Palestine had to pay a tax for the support of the temple of a half-shekel a year. Yeshua had to pay it too, When the tax was due, he sent Peter to catch a fish. He found a silver shekel {made before Roman rule} in its mouth, enough to pay the temple tax for Yeshua and himself as well. Judas made his bargain with the religious leaders for thirty pieces of silver, the usual price for a slave. They agreed to pay him for his betrayal of Yeshua in silver coins that would be accepted anywhere in the Roman Empire. The money he received was probably in the form of large silver tetradrachms from Tyre. They were the most commonly used silver coins during Bible times. Yeshua used money to buy food for Himself and his twelve disciples during His lifetime on earth. But He did not place any true value on metal coins. He taught His disciples and all who would listen that it was infinitely more important to build up treasure in heaven than to desire wealth on this earth.

Ramban said that the twelve spies were listed in order of personal greatness or social rank. Caleb was third and Joshua fifth. Whether this is true or not, the spies were not weak and fearful men, but respected leaders who had witnessed God's power. What happened to their souls that they would doubt God despite all they experienced? "The people are strong and the cities are great, but with God, we will prevail." This is what they should have said.
Numbers 13