Michael Rood

On this occasion, Yeshua teaches His disciples (in Luke 11:2-4) the correct way we should pray:

'Our Father in heaven...' – To whom do we address our prayer? To the Father.
'Hallowed be your name...' – How do we address Him? With respect and reverence.
'Your kingdom come...' – We acknowledge His lordship.
'Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven...' – His will comes before ours.
'Give us this day our daily bread...' – We ask for our daily manna, without worrying about what will happen tomorrow.
'And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us...' – We ask for mercy just as we have mercy on those who have wronged us.
'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil...' – That we may walk as a people set apart for Him.

It is interesting that James (Jacob) makes an exhortation to the 'twelve tribes' in the dispersion regarding the way they prayed (in their prayers):

'You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss...' (James 4:3).

Let us follow the example taught by the ultimate teacher, Yeshua, and see how our lives take a positive turn!

Sabbath Keepers Fellowship & Prison Ministry
Christi Banks
Yochanan Ben Yisrael

47 R’eih – Day 3

D’varym/Deuteronomy 12:29-13:18

“When YHWH your Elohim does cut off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, guard yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire about their mighty ones, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their mighty ones?

And let me do so too.’

“Do not do so to YHWH your Elohim, for every abomination which YHWH hates they have done to their mighty ones, for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their mighty ones.

“All the words I am commanding you, guard to do it – do not add to it nor take away from it.

“When there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he shall give you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder shall come true, of which he has spoken to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other mighty ones – which you have not known – and serve them,’ do not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for YHWH your Elohim is trying you to know whether you love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being.

“Walk after YHWH your Elohim and fear Him, and guard His commands and obey His voice, and serve Him and cling to Him.

“And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams is put to death, because he has spoken apostasy against YHWH your Elohim – who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim and ransomed you from the house of bondage – to make you stray from the way in which YHWH your Elohim commanded you to walk.

Thus you shall purge the evil from your midst.

“When your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own being, entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other mighty ones’ – which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, of the mighty ones of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth – do not agree with him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pardon him, nor spare him or conceal him, but you shall certainly kill him.

Your hand is first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people, and you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, from the house of bondage.

“And let all Yisra’el hear and fear, and not again do any such evil matter as this in your midst.

“When you hear someone in one of your cities, which YHWH your Elohim gives you to dwell in, saying, Some men, sons of Beliya’al, have gone out of your midst and led the inhabitants of their city astray, saying, “Let us go and serve other mighty ones”‘ – mighty ones whom you have not known – then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently.

And see if the matter is true and established that this abomination was done in your midst, you shall certainly strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, putting it under the ban, and all that is in it and its livestock, with the edge of the sword.

“And gather all its plunder into the middle of the street, and completely burn with fire the city and all its plunder, before YHWH your Elohim.

And it shall be a heap forever, never to be built again.

“And none of that which is put under the ban is to cling to your hand, so that YHWH turns from the fierceness of His displeasure and shall show you compassion, love you and increase you, as He swore to your fathers, when you obey the voice of YHWH your Elohim, to guard all His commands which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of YHWH your Elohim.

Sabbath Keepers Fellowship & Prison Ministry
Christi Banks
Yochanan Ben Yisrael

TEHILLAH/PSALMS 82 – DAY 3 (YOM SHLISHY)

Elohim stands in the congregation of Ěl; He judges in the midst of the elohim.

How long would you judge perversely, And show partiality to the wrong?
Selah.

Give judgment to the poor and fatherless, Do right to the afflicted and needy.

Rescue the poor and needy; Deliver them from the hand of the wrong.

They do not know, nor do they understand, They walk about in darkness.

All the foundations of the earth are shaken.

I, I said, “You are elohim, And all of you are sons of the Most High.

“But as men you die, And fall as one of the heads.”

Arise, O Elohim, judge the earth, For You shall possess all the nations.

I can't seem to get t he news feed to scroll up or down on the home page. This problem seems to go off and on.

Sabbath Keepers Fellowship & Prison Ministry
Ovadyah Ben Yisrael

Everyone Has a Box

I was asked a question this morning, “What religion are you?”

I had to think for a moment about my answer.

Not that I don’t know it, but I needed to think about the question itself and how I should respond to it.

This person innocently wanted to classify me in order to know from what perspective they should interact with me.

They wanted to place me in the proper box.

Everyone has a box, and humans need them in order to perceive the world and its people in an orderly and understandable way.

When something or someone won’t fit into or get into a box, it causes us some distress.

We don’t know what to do with that - it irks us.

One’s religious box is usually complicated.

We may fall under some general category, but the details and particulars of one’s beliefs often vary widely from one person to the next, even within those categories.

A simple single label will rarely suffice to sum up one’s religious beliefs.

Also, many categories of “religion” are not well known or understood, sometimes even by those who say they belong to them.

So, to be properly understood in regards to which religion a person belongs to usually requires a lengthy explanation.

When people want to fit something or someone into a box, a lengthy explanation is most often not what they are looking for.

I thought about all these things in a flash this morning as I paused before answering the person’s question.

I decided I didn’t feel like getting into a box today, and that a canned simple label would not help them.

Instead, I referred them to our weekly YouTube Sabbath lesson, which last weekend and next happens to be about this very subject.

I decided that if this person truly wanted to know the answer to their question, they would have to devote some of their time to obtain it.

I didn’t do this to be irksome or to distress them, but because I thought it might help this person to better understand both me and themself – if they were interested in doing so.

I also thought that, in the process, they might even discover a new box to place people in which they had never heard of or considered before, maybe even a whole new category of boxes.

If they weren't interested in doing that, then they’d just have to settle for being irked and distressed at not having a proper box for me.

Or perhaps they could just put me in some box of their own choosing by making assumptions about what they already do know of me.

Whatever, and it wouldn’t be the first time that's happened.

What box do you fit into?

Do you really know?

Are you sure?

Do you belong and fit in somewhere or with some religious community or group of believers?

What is it called?

What label do you use?

I’m curious.

If you don’t know, are uncertain, or even if you think you do know, why don’t you join us this coming Sabbath and talk about it?

We had a great lesson and discussion last Shabbath with our study on “Who You Are Not,” and expect another this coming weekend with the study called “Who You Might Be.”

Oh, and if you want to really be in sync with the discussion this weekend, watch the recording from last weekend first.

Here are the links to both:

Sabbath Prayer & Study 07/27/2024 – Who You are Not – Sabbath Keepers Fellowship (youtube.com)

Sabbath Prayer & Study 08/03/2024 – Who You Might be – Sabbath Keepers Fellowship (youtube.com)

Shalom!

(Some of you will bridle at the term “religion,” and say you don’t belong to any.

That is your choice, and you are free to say that, but you probably do belong to one.

Don't worry over it - religion isn’t always a bad word or thing, even though it has been described as such in recent years.

Religion:

· The belief in and worship of a supernatural power or powers, especially a deity or deities

· A personal set OR institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices

· The service and worship of deity or the supernatural

· Commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance

Paul of Tarsos recognized and approved of the word “religion” in his writings:

“Clean and undefiled religion before the Elohim and Father is this:

to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”)

They said to him, From a very distant country your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God. For we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt..."
Joshua 9:9 ESV

Despite their subterfuge, the Gibeonites expressed a faith in God’s character and a desire to become part of Israel. Maybe they wouldn’t have lied if they had a complete understanding, but consider the lie of Jacob and Rebekah to ensure the inheritance of Abraham’s covenant. Jacob (Israel) lied to obtain a covenant, and so was lied to by someone else to obtain a part in that same covenant.

https://bgmctv.org/video%20TRC..../Parash%20Studies/PA

The war with Midian in Numbers 31 illustrates how God counts nations and tribes by fathers, not by mothers. God decreed that the five tribes of Midian who had participated in Balaam's subversion of Israel had to be permanently ended. The subsequent events followed from that. Sometimes terrible things happen because they are necessary, not because every individual is being punished.
#matot #patriarchy

The Jews should have destroyed the Mosque of Omar when they had a chance, but because of their permissiveness, all kinds of corruption has infected every corner of Israeli society. I won't be at all surprised if God sends them all back into exile.