A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
קָנֶ֤ה
qa neh – reed
רָצוּץ֙
bruised – ra sus
In Israel in the springtime there is an abundance of green pasture, the sheep are allowed to graze close to the village where the shepherd’s home is nearby.
After the grain is reaped, and the poor have had an opportunity to glean what is left for them; then the shepherd brings in his flock. The sheep feed on certain fresh growths, or dried blades, or an occasional ear of grain that the reapers may have left, or was overlooked by the gleaners. When this source of food is exhausted then the pasture is looked for in other places.
The wilderness of Judea, which is located along the western side of the Jordan Valley, is carpeted in the spring with a certain amount of grass and this turns into standing hay as the hot weather comes, this becomes food for the sheep during part of the summer
The shepherd spends much time alone with his sheep isolated in desert places; and his reed pipe, helps to pass the hours cheerfully.
This reed pipe is a frail little instrument of two reeds bound together, hollowed out and with holes on the side. Over time the shepherd learns to play many little tunes on it.
The reed pipe is very easily broken and if it falls it can be quickly crushed by a careless foot, then its’ music is silenced.
This simple pipe is of almost no value, a new one could quickly and easily be made and the bruised pipe simply left by the wayside to disintegrate.
However, the shepherd appears to have a great fondness for this pipe; and because he loves it so much, he will not let it go.
He picks up the crushed reed, and with great affection he tenderly repairs it, binding up its broken parts, until once more he can play it, producing the music he loves so well.
A bruised reed shall he not break.
This is such a precious picture of the sinner, bruised and broken by sin, of no apparent value and lying by the wayside, downtrodden and kicked to the side. Then God’s love and concern is turned towards that one and His desire to restore the broken life reaches down and lifts up the crushed, rejected soul; bringing healing and restoration that will cause songs of praise and tunes of worship to gush forth from a thankful heart.
for more on Psalms/Mizmor and the connection to our heart strings.
The Shepherd’s Pipe
A dual-piped flute made of reed is often carried by shepherds in different countries.
These reeds are similar to our bulrushes/cats tails or bamboo/ papyrus.
Only simple musical notes come from this pipe, but the heart of the shepherd is stirred, and the sheep in his flock are soothed by the lively music that comes from the inner being of the shepherd through this simple instrument.
There can be little argument that David probably used such a pipe when he was guarding his sheep, in the same way the young shepherd boys have done for centuries around Bethlehem.
Reeds were also used to make flutes by Jewish children. When they were broken they were discarded and thrown away.
An interesting point is that the word in the Arabic/Aramaic language which is mazmoor
which means:
played on a pipe or flute.
The equivalent of the word in Hebrew word is
מזמור
mizmor.
Which means: a melody.
The phonetic spelling is miz-more’
The Hebrew word for “Psalm” is
tehillim,
The most common reed native to Israel is the Arundo donax (Natural Order Gramineae), known in Arabic as qacabfarasi, “Persian reed.” It still grows today in immense quantities in the Jordan valley along the river and its tributaries.
It also grows at the oases near the Dead Sea, notably around `Ain Feshkhah at the northwest corner. It can often grow up to 20 ft./7metres high, and is still a beautiful fresh green in summer when everything else is dead and dry.
Other scriptures where a pipe is mentioned:
Zechariah 10:8
I will whistle for them –
“hiss, whistle, & pipe”
piping with a shepherds pipe.
Judges 5:16
“Why did you sit among the sheepfolds,
To hear the pipings for the flocks?”
This context does support the shepherd’s reed pipe being used to gather his flock.
He will Strengthen them! (12) He will establish them “back in the land”.
The ancient reed pipe forerunner to gaelic bag pipes with which we are familiar today.
A thought worth mentioning here is that the enemy never created anything, he just takes of our Heavenly Fathers creation and perverts it; changing it to his own nefarious and ugly plans for everything opposed to the good that God has for all of us.
The shepherds pipes makes one recall the pipes of pan. The pan flute is named after Pan, a creature half goat and half man, the Greek god of nature and shepherds!!
Another legend is that of the Pied Piper of Hamelin from the 1300’s. Often what we deem as folklore and old wives tales have very much more truth to them than we choose to believe!
As both of these were the agents of beguiling their followers/children to follow them as they played music, remembering that Lucifer himself was the covering cherub with musical instruments, specifically timbrels and pipes as part of him. see Isaiah 14:12-14; and in Ezekiel 28:13-17
You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.
The timbrel or tabret (also known as the tof of the ancient Hebrews, the deff of Islam, the adufe of the Moors of Spain) was the principal percussion instrument of the ancient Israelites. It resembled either a frame drum or a modern tambourine
The tabret or timbrel was a favorite instrument of the women, and was used with dances, e.g. by Miriam, to accompany songs of victory; it was one of the instruments used by King David and his musicians when he danced before the Ark of the Covenant.
The Smoking Flax
“The smoking flax shall he not quench.”
Here in this Scripture we see a little clay lamp, with its wick floating in an hour’s supply of olive oil. The oil has been used up, and the wick begins to smoke as it burns. We would probably say,
Just throw it away and get a fresh wick; this one is smoking and it’s of no value.
But the owner does not agree to that,
The old will do just fine, all that’s needed is more oil, and the wick will burn as brightly as ever.
That is just what our Heavenly Father does, pouring out His grace upon us and restoring us when the light is almost out.
The smoking flax will he not quench.
The oil is representative of
His Ruach HaKodesh – His Spirit of Holiness.
Known as anointing when poured over the head of one being consecrated or dedicated to the Lord’s service; and also is a type of the Torah. Oil can also represent the qualifying experiences of our halak/walk along lifes’ WAY (Chaim Derek). This oil represents our life and cannot be bought, sold or given as Yeshua/Jesus speaks of with the parable of the 10 virgins.
Jesus/Yeshuas’ listeners understood what He meant because
a smoking flax was a Hebrew idiom
for an untrimmed lamp casting a dim light and
irritating the eyes and nose with smoke.
The people knew that logically the best thing to do with such a lamp is put it out, extinguish or quench it.
Above is a picture of the flax of which the wick is made, and some of the lamps of ancient times which were made of clay and filled with olive oil.
The wick for such a lamp was a few strands of flax fiber or twisted cotton thread.
The flaxen wick was a quick burner and hard to keep lit.
From this understanding …
A smoking flax
represents a state in which there is a little good.
The words
dimly burning flax.
Indicating it is burning; but it is burning very dimly. There is a tiny spark of good within the center, in our case our hearts; which our savior sees and fans the tiny flame until it burns bright enough to become the light that will shine in the darkness again.
ye are the light of the world.
He does not break thebruised reed.
He does not reach out to extinguish it, but to rekindle and to reinforce and strengthen it.
He does not quench the smoking flax! He will not snuff out that smoldering flame, but He will breathe His life/chaim upon it once again.
We can see from these examples that the believer is likened to the smoking flax; which is a picture of an oil lamp with a flax wick that is not properly trimmed or that does not have any oil in reserve. So instead of burning brightly, it is smoking, and instead of providing light in the darkness as it is designed to do, it is smoldering and producing irritants.
We are to be encouraged that Yeshua/Jesus doesn’t throw away His smoking lamps but rather breathes new life into them giving them another opportunity to burn brightly for Him.
Messiah Jesus/Yeshua was bruised for us, the wick has little light and is mixed with smoke BUT, when He blows upon us until we burst into flame, then the smoke of any residual fleshly life in us is burned away.
It is important to remember that when Matthew wrote these words, he was quoting a prophecy from Isaiah 42:1–4. This prophecy was pointing to the actions and character of the then future Messiah,
the bruised reed and the smoldering wick.
In the prophecy, it’s in reference to those who are weak spiritually, physically, or morally. A reed that is bruised may be damaged, but its’ damage is NOT irreversible. Even though a smoldering wick may be about to go out altogether, it can still be rekindled.
To see these in the new Testament, we can read at the beginning of Matthew 12, where we find the disciples walking through a grain field with Yeshua/Jesus, picking grain because they were hungry. Picking grain was a lawful activity according to Deuteronomy 23:25, but the Pharisees, who were always looking for something against Him were quick to condemn what they did, questioning its’ legality because that day was the Sabbath. They accused the disciples of “harvesting” grain and therefore “working” on the Sabbath day.
Yeshua/Jesus explained that doing good on the Sabbath was acceptable in His and the Fathers sight and that there was something more significant happening here than simply the observation of a holy/set apart day, Matthew 12:6. He further explained that the Pharisees were condemning innocent people because they misunderstood the Scriptures, which said,
“I desire mercy, not sacrifice” Hosea 6:6,7
While the Pharisees sought to judge those who did not keep the man made traditions, imposed rules and laws, Yeshua/Jesus sought to grant mercy to all and to restore the correct interpretation of His Fathers Word and to fulfill it.Matthew 5:17.
The Pharisees challenged Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” Matthew 12:10-15,and Jesus /Yeshua again showed mercy by healing a disfigured man in front of them. Later still, in a large crowd that was following Him, Jesus/Yeshua
healed all who were ill.
Why did Yeshua/Jesus warn the crowd not to mention His miracles to anyone else?
His instructions for secrecy could have been for the purpose of timing and must have made Matthew remember the ancient prophecy, of Isaiah bringing it into a new understanding with Messiah’s identity being revealed:
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope”
Isaiah 42:1–4
In fulfillment of that prophecy, He did not shout rather He worked quietly, to accomplish His Fathers’ will, and many times avoiding the public eye on purpose. Not seeking fame or the spotlight to be on Him until the Fathers’ appointed time of His revealing…
My time has not yet come.
Also there is the bruised reed.
To the world, a bruised reed is a worthless thing. It has no power, no stability, no purpose. It cannot be relied on so it’s good for nothing but to be cut down and discarded. We know that in the world there are many bruised people, individuals who have been wounded emotionally, spiritually, or physically. They are, to most of the world, dispensable.
But NOT to God.
The prophecy that Messiah fulfilled is that
the bruised reed He would not break.
This prophecy that speaks of Jesus/Yeshua’s tender, compassionate care. His loving kindness for the weak and downtrodden. In Matthew 12, the disfigured man whom Yeshua/ Jesus met was a bruised reed and He cured his shriveled hand and also gave him strength.
In John 8, another bruised reed was the woman taken in adultery. Yeshua/Jesus forgave her sin, and saved her from being stoned to death.
Another bruised reed was Jairus, as he mourned his daughter’s death, but Yeshua/Jesus strengthened his faith and raised his daughter from the dead.
In Luke 8, The woman with the issue of blood was a bruised reed, too; and Messiah restored her to full health.
After his denial of the Lord, Peter was a bruised reed but after His resurrection Yeshua/Jesus gently and lovingly restored their relationship.
All through the gospels, we see Messiah showing His loving kindness and tender mercies towards all the bruised reeds that He met. Because He was bruised for our iniquities,
Yeshua/Jesus completely understands the
bruised reeds. Isaiah 53:5.
To put it another way,
He was bruised on behalf of those bruised by sin.
He will not despise those who come to Him and they have this promise in Isaiah 61:1 from His own mouth: God has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted
Many are bruised reeds in some way today, pressed down with the troubles of the world. Many struggle with fear, doubt and unbelief. Many may be feeling disheartened and ready to break and give up.
But remember this:
Yeshua/Jesus cares.
He has compassion for the humble,
affection for the repentant hearts,
healing for the afflicted, sick and oppressed
and pity for those with broken-hearts.
We are not to wait on feelings but to come to Him in faith, and to humbly trust in His abilities and strength, and know that we can find He is gracious to everyone.
A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick
he will not quench.
Matthew 12:20
There is not much that can be said of anything that is weaker than the bruised reed or the smoldering wick!
When any wild bird lands on a reed that grows in the marshlands, it snaps under the weight; and if a man’s foot brushes against it, and it is bruised and broken; and every wind that sweeps across the river blows it to and fro.
No two things have more shaky lives than a brittle reed that is bruised and the smoldering wick; because even though it has a tiny spark within it, it is almost smothered; and even a baby’s breath could easily blow it out.
We need never shrink back from His touch and never fear harsh words from Him; though He might well discipline us at times. Bruised reeds shall not receive any harmful blows from Him, and the smoldering wick no smothering actions. He will not crush the weakest reed, or put out a flickering candle and finally He will cause justice to be victorious.
Our Heavenly Father has not forgotten about us.
Look once more at the smoldering wick and what it is referring to as concerns us… It was a ancient bowl of olive oil with a little flax floating in it for a wick. As long as the lamp had enough oil, the wick would soak up the oil and serve as a catalyst for turning it into light. But when the oil was gone, the flax would begin to burn. Flax doesn’t give much light, it just fills the room with smoke and stinks up the room.
Could this be us at times in our walk?
The solution would be to throw out the smoking flax and start over with fresh oil and a fresh wick.
A point here to think on:
It takes a lot of patience to make a smoldering wick burn bright again. Our father has the patience to stick with us when every one else has given up. He certainly looks beyond our faults and sees our needs. Others might give up on us. But He will work with us until we burn brightly again.
Gentleness. Patience. Persistence. We need all three.
Let patience have her perfect work.
Our healer is gentle: He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
Isaiah 42:2-3
These idioms will bring comfort when we are disappointed in ourselves.
A bruised or broken reed is unreliable and should be broken and thrown away. Yet Messiah will not do this. He knows all too well His people are all broken reeds, damaged by sin, bad habits, selfishness and weakness. Yet regardless of the failure, He will not break any bruised reed. When we are at our lowest, feeling bruised and broken and perhaps having let Him down in some way just like Peter did when he denied his savior, still, we will not be broken, because as soon as we repent He will receive us back and continue to use us as His vessels.
In Israel, a Smoking Flax is the source of light in the darkness coming from the lamp. It held oil and used a wick to burn brightly. The wick, made of flax, was placed in the lamp and raised or lowered for optimum light. In the parable of the ten virgins, the wise not only took extra oil, but when the bridegroom came..
all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.
(Mt. 25:7).
They brought trimmers because as the wick burned, its upper portion became charred and the light dimmed. Once charred, when raised to give more light, it would smolder and smoke.
Even the golden lamp stand hadwick-trimmers Num. 4:9.
As we have seen a smoking flax was an idiom for an untrimmed lamp casting a dim light and irritating the eyes and nose with smoke and the best thing to do with such a lamp is put it out /quench it.
So who are the smoking flaxes?
Once again Isaiah speaks of those who serve the Messiah as His disciple in an obedient/perfect way.
If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light and you shine as lights in the world.
Lk. 11:36; Phil. 2:15-16.
When we are zealous and holy/set apart; the light does indeed shine brightly, but dims and smokes when we are discouraged or when we sin and fall short. Yet Yeshua/Jesus is not like any other because He will continue to use the smoking flax.
A smoking flax, He will not quench.
What a Savior we love and serve!
He is meek and lowly in heart and in Him we will find rest for our souls.
Isaiah did not justify laziness or unfaithfulness. He gave hope to the weak, the immature, and even those who stumble as mature disciples. Even after a lifetime of working to remove undesirable character flaws we are still
bruised reeds and as the flax, we still smoke sometimes!
But as a bruised reed He will not break us and if our light should become as a smoking flax He will not quench us.
May His true Shalom rest upon each one in Yeshuas’ Name.
You are greatly loved and prayed for daily..
make sure you are secure in the knowledge you are saved
NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..
SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.
In the course of study a rereading of what the scripture actually says revealed in
IKings 19:19. Elisha was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth.
The last 5 words tells us something we may have missed and when we have a clearer understanding of the cultural aspects of farming and agriculture of the day it makes more sense. And as we are all learning, this is an amendment to the post previously made in mantle of glory, where it was mentioned as:
Worthy of note that:
Elisha was working with twelve yoke of oxen that is a huge number of animals.
Two or four were a more usual number.
He had to have been very skilled and strong to manage and control so many, we miss the importance in the reference to the number of oxen that were yoked together.
Now with further information and another translation recording the call of Elisha which says:
19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair.
Rather than being inclined to think, from a surface reading, that he had a team of twelve yoke of oxen with which he was plowing;
there were twelve teams of oxen in the field,
and Elisha was plowing with the twelfth team.
The picture is actually of twelve separate plows following another one another as closely as possible as they traversed the field.
In that time the arable land of nearly all villages was cultivated in common. The local inhabitants joined forces and cooperated with each other enjoying each others company and camaraderie. The fact of being a group was also partly for protection, there being safety in numbers.
Each of their small plows did not make a really deep furrow, and only scratched the top surface of the soil, so the added number of plows that could follow after, with each making its own scratch, had a much greater effect and took less time than if it was done by only one individual. They went back and forth in this manner until the whole piece of land was plowed.
The yoked oxen with their farmer had to remain in line and could not pass one another as they plowed. Elisha was plowing last in the procession and this was significant because it gave time for the mantle to be given and at the same time not hinder or interrupt the plowing process because once a furrow was started they had to plow through to the end without stopping.
So Elisha was not plowing with 12 yoke of oxen by some supernatural strength but working in a well organized group of local farmers ( or possibly his servants); coordinating and combining their resources to achieve a common goal.
Rachel Took the Images
Genesis 31:34 Now Rachel had taken Laban’s household idols, put them in the saddlebag of her camel, and was sitting on them. And Laban searched everything in the tent but found nothing.
Another translation says:
“Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel’s furniture, and sat upon them.”
hat·tə·rā·p̄îm
הַתְּרָפִ֖ים
household idols
Later on they were frequently mentioned however, this appears to be the first mention we have of the existence and worship of these teraphim in this patriarchal family.
They were very small and easily hidden under the saddle bags/furniture of the camel. People were known to often hide stolen property under their saddles. Though it may seem strange to us, stealing a god to worship was in fact not to them. Why? Because, their logic and reasoning would no doubt tell us that it was not a sin to steal a god who would help you get other things you wanted and needed!
Teraphim were frequently consulted for answers about the future by the children of Israel; a kind of fortune telling, divining. After they entered the Promised Land, the worship or use of the teraphim remained one of their corrupt practices.
Many of the Hebrews leaned to idolatry in those days and consulted these images of gods, while still holding on to their belief in the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob/Israel.
The statement in the passage:
Rachel stole the family gods or teraphim.
If we’ve ever wondered why such a big issue was made over a pair of small figurines that had very little money value. Here is one possible explanation from an inscription found by an archaeologist on a clay tablet. The Nuzi tablets 15th century.
To date, around 5000 tablets are known, mostly held at the Oriental Institute, the Harvard Semitic Museum and the Iraq Museum in Baghdad.
Although the Nuzi tablets are to be dated in the 15th and 14th centuries b.c., sometime after the patriarchal period (c. 2000–1800 b.c.), nevertheless, they illustrate the times of the patriarchs. The reason is that when the patriarchs came out of Ur, they sojourned in Haran and mingled in west Hurrian society.
The Nuzi tablets tell us why the person who was in possession of these domestic images (teraphim) also had the rights to the inheritance. Taken together there is a striking conformity between the Bible and the Nuzi texts.
Nuzi (or Nuzu; Akkadian Gasur; modern Yorghan Tepe, Iraq) was an ancient Mesopotamian city southwest of Kirkuk in modern Al Ta’amim Governorate of Iraq, located near the Tigris river.
The site consists of one medium-sized multiperiod tell and two small single period mounds.
Nuzi was a provincial town in the kingdom of Arrapha.
The tablets of this period indicate that Nuzi was a small provincial town of northern Mesopotamia at this time in an area populated mostly by Hurrians, a people well known though poorly documented, and that would be even less if not for the information uncovered at this site.
According to the inscription their belief was that:
“If a son-in-law possessed the household gods of his father-inlaw, then he was considered a real son and shared in the inheritance.”
Is it possible then that Rachel stole the family gods to make her husband an immediate member of her father’s family, and that made him an heir and gave him a claim to a portion of Laban’s property?
Her husband had served the father-in-law fourteen years for the two daughters so, did she feel he had a right to be considered an heir?
Household gods similar to those Rachel stole.
Genesis 31:19
The objects Rachel stole may have been small figurines that resembled certain gods of the day. Worshipers thought that the gods were present in/on these images or idols, and why Laban speaks of them as “my gods” Genesis 31:30.
Perhaps Rachel stole those household gods because she hoped that possessing them will bring her good fortune and deprive her father of such benefit? If so, she had not fully broken free from her polytheistic upbringing read Genesis 35:2; Joshua 24:2. She may also have taken the items for their monetary value if they were made of precious metals.
However, the fact that we are informed she sat on them, also meant she had no respect for them and by that, we would understand she was probably not a worshipper of these gods.
In Genesis 31:19-20 we are told,
Rachel stole . . . Jacob deceived.
Although it is not immediately obvious from most English translations, these verses describe two thefts.
In verse 20 the Hebrew text says,
Jacob stole the heart of Laban;
in Hebrew the idiom to steal someone’s heart
means to deceive or trick a person. Genesis 31:26-27.
While Jacob steals Laban’s heart (that is, deceives him),
Rachel steals her father’s gods.
Later, Laban accuses Jacob of stealing everything that Jacob now possesses Genesis 31:43.
Laban searches for what he fears he lost, in this case his protection and entered Jacob’s tent, and Leah’s tent, and the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find the idols.
Genesis 31:33 33
Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s.
Instead of showing love to his family, Laban searches out his family for his possessions.
His idols are seemingly of more valuable to him than his family.
A very old interpretation (the Tanhuma Yelammedenu) suggests that Rachel stole the teraphim in order to “eradicate idolatry from her father’s home.”
What might the teraphim have looked like?
The Tanhuma has a picturesque vision of them:
And how were they constructed? First they would take a firstborn male child, kill him, and sprinkle him with salt and spices. Then they would write a demon’s name upon a gold tablet and place it beneath the child’s tongue while performing certain magical rites. After this, they inserted the corpse into a recess in the wall and bowed down before it. Then, they would bow down before it, and it would speak to them in a whisper.
(Tr. Samuel Berman)
It s no wonder from the above quote, that our Heavenly Father forbade such idolatry!
More likely, the teraphim were much less gruesome, (but who knows?): household gods, familiar deities were made of stone or clay. Such deities, perhaps a foot or so high, have been found through much of the territory of ancient Israel.
What did Jesus/Yeshua mean
when He used the local idiom of:
The Grass of the Field
in Matthew 6:30saying
“IF God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven.”??
The term is used generically to include the meadow-flowers which were cut down with the grass, and used as fodder or as fuel.
The shortage of wood in Israel, Palestine at that time, made their use for fuel more common there than in Europe.
The oven in this passage was the portable earthen vessel used by the poor for baking their bread.
The rough hay/grass/sticks were placed below it and round it, and short-lived as the flame was, so that “the crackling of the thorns”
became well known, and it had time to do its work.
Which for us today means:
It lives today, or it lives for a day.
It is short-lived, and seems to be a thing of no value, and is so treated.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field:
What grows up in the field, or grows wild and without culture. The word grass, also applied here to the lily, denotes merely that it is a vegetable production, or that it is among the things which grow wild, and which are used for fuel.
A Jewish proverb says:
People are like grass in the field:
some blossom, some wither.
Is cast into the oven
The Jews had different modes of baking. In early times they frequently baked in the sand, warmed with the heat of the sun. They constructed, also, portable ovens made of clay, brick, or plates of iron, which could be easily transported.
The one probably referred to here, was the most common kind made by digging a hole in the ground 2 1/2 feet in diameter, and from 5 to 6 feet deep and paving the bottom with stones. It was heated by putting wood or dry grass into the oven, and, when heated, the ashes were removed and the bread was placed on the heated stones. Frequently, however, the oven was an earthen vessel without a bottom, about 3 feet high, smeared outside and inside with clay, and placed upon a frame or support.
Fire was made within or below it. When the sides were sufficiently heated, thin patches of dough were spread on the inside, and the top was covered, without removing the fire as in the other cases, and the bread was quickly baked.
This is illustrated, by the short endurance of the grass of the field, which is so clothed; and the use it is put to, when cut down; which today is in being, but does not live long, as it were only for a day: it flourishes in the morning, continues for the day in its glory and verdure, is cut down at evening, and withers and dies, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, to heat it with,
or as the Syriac version reads
“in the furnace“.
(From Munster’s Hebrew edition of this Gospel.)
For furnaces used to be heated with straw and stubble, and things, that were gathered out of the fields; so, we read in the Mishna (k), that pots and furnaces were heated;
“a pot which they heat “with straw and stubble”, they put into it that which is to be boiled–a furnace which they heat “with straw and stubble”, they put nothing into it, nor upon it (i.e. till they have removed the coals or ashes): a little furnace, which they heat , “with straw and stubble”, is as the pots.”
The last word, is said to signify wood, or sticks, small as stubble, which they gather out of the field; that is, the stalks of some sort of herbs and plants, that grow in the field:
This is for readers to understand that if God clothes these plants, which are so short lived, and at their end used for such basic purposes; shall He not much more clothe you, His people, who are of a much longer life, designed for greater ends and destined for His purposes; including the worship and service of God, for His honor and glory here, and for eternal life and happiness hereafter.
We as God’s children can trust our Heavenly Father to provide everything we need.
Yeshua/Jesus asked in the previous verses why they worry about what they will wear Matthew 6:28–29; it’s likely some of His original listeners, literally did not know where the money would come from to replace their tattered garments; so He asked them to think about lilies, clothed in splendor despite doing nothing equivalent to human work.
Then He makes the point of the illustration clear, encouraging them that our Heavenly Father cares much more deeply about His children than He does about birds, or about flowers.
Matthew 6:26
The wild lilies are considered only grass here. They spring up, bloom in splendor, and quickly die before being raked up and burned. If God provides clothing for them, Yeshua/Jesus says, don’t you think He will clothe you?
He cares for us SO VERY MUCH,
so let’s focus on Him above all else
and as we wait for Him
let these songs minister to us…
We’re going home very soon… but, have we already sent our hearts on ahead?
Be Our Vision…
A bruised reed, smoking flax and
a shepherds pipe in part 2…
May His true Shalom rest upon each one in Yeshuas’ Name.
You are greatly loved and prayed for daily..
and make sure you are secure in the knowledge you are saved
NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..
SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.
aren’t we all born blind, naked and dead in prison!
Spiritually that is..
If that is not the case,
why did Messiah come and say in Luke 4
that this day the scripture was fulfilled
as He quoted from Isaiah 58:6; 61:1,2?
Releasing the captives,
recovery of sight to the blind,
clothing us with the garment of salvation/
robe of righteousness
and stating He is the resurrection and the Life
and those that believe and follow Him will never die!
So, if we need these provisions…
then that is exactly how we were!
Truly we don’t need to be living our lives while running around blind; how will we see where we are going?
and Yeshua/Jesus said
don’t follow people..
because it’s the blind leading the blind
and both will fall into a pit.
Those being casual, will become casualties.
Are we going to become victims or victors!
Matthew 20:29-34
also
Mark 7:34;10:46-52
& Luke 18:35-43
There were 2 blind men who cried out
as Yeshua/Jesus was passing by.
He asked them.
What do you want Me to do for you?
Their reply was:
Lord that our eyes would open.
What are we asking the Lord for?
Paul prays for the Ephesians in chapter 3: that the eyes of your understanding be enlightened that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.
And when they were/regained their sight,
what did they do?
They followed Him.
The meaning of
followed Him,
is not just a mental assent,
agreeing or confessing belief
in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
and His Son Jesus/Messiah Yeshua.
It is so much more than that it means that
their lives
BECAME LIKE HIS,
they followed His example.
In
Matthew 24:34 and in Mark 8:23
The word for eyes in Greek is OMMA,
And means the eyes of the soul
as well as the natural eyes.
This word is only used here otherwise it is ophthalamous.
We often think only in terms of the physical realm however the spiritual realm is the one that is eternal this physical realm will not last forever. According to scripture the worlds systems and the earth itself have expiry dates.
In Mark 7:31-37is the account of the deaf and mute man.
In this account, Yeshua/Jesus looks up to heaven and
said to him in Hebrew/Aramaic
פְּתַחח
hippatach – you must right now be opened.
The ref. here is to Isaiah 61:1where the word means:
(Niphal: to be opened, be let loose,be thrown open.
pethach: to open
פְתַח
r to l
peth-akh’
pey tav chet
(paleo)
mouth cross fence
Original Word: פְתַח Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: pethach Phonetic Spelling: (peth-akh’) Definition: to open
Sometimes written with the H hey added.
The two words together
beopened
Hippatach
היפים
Here it was for the man who was deaf and mute.
You must right now be opened
Mark 7:34 and Is. 61:1 having same meaning.
Mark 7:34
And looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to him,
“Ephphatha!”
or aphtach, (which means, “Be opened!”)
which [in Aramaic] means,
“Be opened and released!”
Ephphatha or Ethphatha
– This word is Syriac/Aramaic/Hebrew, the language which Yeshua/Jesus used in addressing the man, and means
Be opened.
that is, being interpreted, be opened, both ears and mouth.
This Aramaic word, is found in the Greek text of Mark 7:34.
We there read that Yeshua/Jesus said to a man who was ‘deaf and had an impediment in his speech,
Ephphatha ’ ( ἐφφαθά ).
The writer appends a Greek translation of the word:
ὅ ἐστιν διανοίχθητι, ‘that is, Be opened.’.
Ἐφφαθά {ephphtha} (Aramaic) This could be from the Aramaic ethpthah, the passive imperative of the verb pthah, ‘to open.’ Διανοίχθητι : [unique] ( verb 2nd sg aor imperat pass ) “Be opened” is dianoigo , which means “to lay open”, “to open so as to connect”, “to reveal,” and “to explain.”
Why is this important?
Because this way of speaking is used by the Jews,
of a deaf man being restored to hearing, as of a blind man’s being restored to sight;
These actions of looking up to heaven and sighing, as they may be understood in a spiritual sense, or with relation to the spiritual healing of a sinner, may show that such a blessing comes from above: it is received from heaven; it is our Heavenly Father Who gives the
hearing ear,
as well as
the seeing eye;
and that is in a spiritual, as well as in a natural sense:
and therefore this directs us to apply to Him for it, whether asking for a ourselves, or for others;
Opening of the prison – In Hebrew is,
the most complete opening,
namely,
of the eyes to them that are bound,
that is,
deliverance from prison,
for captives are as it were
blind
in the darkness of prison
(Isa 14:17; 35:5; 42:7)
So Luke 4:18 and the Septuagint interpret it; Luke 4:18, under inspiration, adds to this, for the fuller explanation of the single clause in the Hebrew, “to set at liberty them that are bruised”; thus expressing the double “opening” implied; namely, that of the eyes (John 9:39), and that of the prison (Rom. 6:18; 7:24, 25; Heb. 2:15).
His miracles were acted parables.
and in the
opening of eyes for those who are bound.
The literal meaning of
opening
is referring to specifically:
opening both spiritual and physical natural eyes and ears.
With the Hebrew verb here doubled for emphasis, this is really powerful,
However, it is true that the word is generally used
of the opening of eyes (once of ears).
Added here for those who like further study:
[In the Heb. read pĕqaḥqôaḥ as a single word, = “opening.”]
Peqach-qōăch is written like two words (see at Isaiah 2:20).
The Targum translates it as if peqach were an imperative:
“Come to the light,” probably meaning
undo the bands.
But qōăch is not a Hebrew word;
for the qı̄chōth of the Mishna (the loops through which the strings of a purse are drawn, for the purpose of lacing it up) cannot be adduced as a comparison. Parchon, AE, and A, take peqachqōăch as one word (of the form פּתלתּל, שׁחרחר), in the sense of throwing open, viz., the prison.
except in Isaiah 42:20, where it is used for the opening of the ears,
we adhere to the strict usage of the language,
if we understand by peqachqōăch the opening up of the eyes
(as contrasted with the dense darkness of the prison);
and this is how it has been taken even by the lxx, who have rendered it καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν, as if the reading had been ולעורים (Psalm 146:8).
Matthew 5:3
Hippatach
this is the word meaning
in the translation of the Hebrew scripture ofIs 61:1
to open the prison
it refers specifically to
opening both
spiritual and physical eyes and ears.
This is so important to understand
because it was the statement
Yeshua/Jesus made in His home town synagogue.
He was literally declaring that He was the Messiah
the one to fulfill this prophecy.
And immediately they rejected Him because
their
spiritual eyes and ears
were
blind and deaf.
We are born dead in our sins the scripture says,
and death stinks by its very nature of decay
and we are born into decay;
(which is where our word decadent comes from
so we should use it wisely!)
So what does all this mean for us as individuals?
(References can be found in Mark 8 and John 9.)
Many of Gods’ creatures are born blind and after a specific time their physical eyes open.
This makes them very vulnerable and their parents
watch over them VERY carefully.
Human babies are born with physical eyesopen…
but our spiritual eyes still closed.
Similar to those creatures whose eyes open after some time.
In this way we all born blind and why Messiah said to Nicodemus.
John 3
Similar to those creatures whose eyes open after some time.
When we are born again by His Spirit/Ruach HaKodesh
our spiritual eyes are opened.
This opening of our spiritual eyes is the throwing open of the door of the prison, where we are in darkness, bound in chains of sin and in a state of decay. This door is open and we are to come forth like Lazarus and like Peter from the prison. Messiah has opened the lock and the door is swung wide, what are we still doing inside?
The blind had their sight restored and many other miracles were to stimulate the faith of the people, we however are to believe by faith in the Son of God not by sight and not by proof of signs. Proof is the enemy of faith. We don’t need signs to see Him because we have His Ruach HaKodesh/Spirit of Holiness within by Whom are eyes are opened!
As we have noted:
Hippatach
the Hebrew meaning
is You must right now be opened
And our heavenly parent watches over us more intently
until we can see better.
And what Jesus/Yeshua said is what it means for us
Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
You are worth much more than many sparrows
Matthew 6:26; Luke 12:6
Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?
This is a military word which in its Semitic root, means:
to communicate by a signal.
Before the development of radio,
communication in the battle field was done by signals.
This type of communication was carried out by many cultures.
The native Americans are said to have communicated by smoke signals.
In Africa they communicated by drums.
Ships would communicate with each other with flags.
Even today a pitcher, in American baseball, communicates with the catcher through a hand signals.
Soldiers in a covert operation will use hand signals.
All this is
‘oth,
a communication that is not really verbal, but more of a sign that is very obscure and secret, that is understood by only those for whom the sign is given.
The thing about an ‘oth or sign is that it is limited and if we don’t pay close attention we might misinterpret the sign or if it’s a sign we don’t want, we might roll it around in our heads and make up our own interpretation, which would be less risky and then we plead a lack of understanding later if we got it wrong.
The signs/signals were there from Bresheet /Genesis
Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years
Let them be for signs לְאֹתֹת֙
Many signs and signals surrounded Messiah’s birth; as with the magi, the bethlehem star and the shepherds:
this shall be a sign/signal unto you!
This letter TAV is written as a cross
in the pictographic script and represents a sign or mark
The name of the letter is tav and is derived from the word תו tav[H:8420] meaning mark as well as a covenant.
Healing a person who was blind from birth…
It had never happened before prior to that time.
The religious leaders of the day, either ignored, denied or did not recognize the hand of God as the kingdom of the heavens came near to them.
However on other occasions, like that of Bartimaeus?
He cried out and Yeshua/Jesus asked him what he wanted.
That I might regain my sight
Do we want our spiritual eyes opened?
Or
are we still walking, living and seeing partially sighted?
Are we like the one who Yeshua/ Jesus laid his hands on
and said
I see men walking as trees?
(Mark 8:24).
What did this mean?
This is a Hebrew idiom, and we have missed that fact with our western mindset!
Because in this instance it was not a strange thing for him to say, rather it was accurate in its meaning
Why?
because in the middle east it would be a strange sight to us to see men, women and animals walking along the road with such huge loads of brushwood, thorn bushes, or branches that you just couldn’t see what was carrying it.
If it was a donkey all you could see was the
lower part of four small legs.
The half-restored sight of the man who had been blind
prevented him from seeing clearly
between the branches and the animal that carried them,
but he remembered the days when he had his sight,
and he knew what these walking trees really were.
These were his physical eyes
his natural sight
which needed a second touch…
At the moment of new birth in the spirit our spiritual eyes are opened and we begin to see for the first time who Jesus/Yeshua is and who we are in relationship to Him and the Father.
We are probably aware of the popular hymn amazing grace and the line that says I was blind but now I see.
We sing it but do we fully comprehend its meaning?
We walk in the natural state of man with all our natural physical senses operating believing we have our lives under control and going along our own way.
Thinking everything is just fine.!
Spiritual new birth changes
EVERYTHING
and our spiritual eyes are opened.
However, sometimes we to need
a second touch
to clear
the fog of frustration
the cloudiness of confusion
the blurriness of bondage
the mists of self indulgence
the mud of misunderstanding
the blindfold of brokenness
and
the dinginess of disobedience.
For Paul it was something like scales
that fell from his eyes
when they were restored from the temporary blindness!
Scales make us think of reptiles or fish, a skin or membrane, a covering that prevents water from passing through.
When our eyes are open,
the waters of life are no longer prevented
from cleansing and washing us;
but spring up to eternal life and we are no longer thirsty.
Be opened He says to us
and Paul tells us to pray Ephesians 1
that the eyes of our understanding be opened for us to know the hope of His calling and the dimensions of His love.
Jesus/Yeshua said
Those born blind were for the glory of God
to be made manifest
not because they or their parents sinned.
WE ARE
ALL
BORN BLIND
so that His glory
may be seen in us too.
He came to open the eyes of the blind to see the truth;
the truth of the world systems and who’s they are, only for this season/age…
The truth of who is really in control
of ALL things in the heavens and the earth.
The more one reads in scripture, the more it becomes clear that this world is far more than we have been taught and it’s not we have been led to believe or, as science has informed us.
Science is not god, certainly not for believers.
Our trust must be in the creator, not the creation or the created.
Jesus/Yeshua said all will be revealed…
Luke 12:2 For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, neither anything secret that will not be known.
We are to make sure that we are
grounded only in Him
and in the truth of the Life/chaim
which we can obtain in Him
and the TRUTH of the WAY
in which we ought to walk.
Are we still blind?
Are we
Turning a blind eye
Are we still partially sighted
or
out of focus?
Do we need to second touch?
Hippatach
Matthew 10:49 He is calling you – the one who is born blind
Lets speak to our eyes in Yeshua/Jesus name
Hippatach be opened!
And let’s clearly see
the footsteps ahead of us in which we are to walk…
continually looking up, for our full redemption draws nigh.
Let’s make certain we are firmly rooted and grounded
and that our faith rests in Him alone.
That we are unshakable because everything is being shaken
Hebrews 12:27, 26–Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27–And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
There will be signs for us at the end of the age.
Read Matt.24, Mark 13 & Luke 21
Be genuine and be real, be authentic and, as a child does, trust in our Heavenly Father, the creator of the universe and lean not to our own understanding.
Prov.3:5
Let not your heart be troubled: ye in God believe also in Me.
John 14:1,
and My word
Heaven and earth will pass away but my word will not pass away.
Can we say with Isaiah My eyes have seen the Lord?
Open our eyes Lord that we may see…
Beloved Mishpocah,
have His word indelibly printed in your spirit
and let not your heart be troubled;
instead let it be fixed, focused, stayed on Him.
Days are approaching quickly when
the spiritual darkness will make it hard to see
and Messiah said, no man can work.
Hippatach let’s keep our
spiritual eyes open
and upon our Heavenly Father and Yeshua,
and immovable
as our eyes of faith look up
waiting to see the salvation of the Lord.
EYES OPEN!
and remember that He who has an ear let him hear means:
that the one who has heard is to accomplish the task that was given/spoken.
Similar to the meaning of shema, which is
to hear and obey/hear and do what you heard.
Let this song be our prayer today..
Purify me…
May His true Shalom rest upon each one in Yeshuas’ Name.
You are greatly loved and prayed for daily..
and make sure you are secure in the knowledge you are saved
NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..
SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.
In Matt. 3:16 clearly recorded the spirit of His Father/ Yehoveh, coming upon Him so it would seem He put on Yeshua/Jesus.
In Ps. 22
There was a prophetic description of the moments on the cross which were fulfilled according to Matt 27:46 when Yeshua/Jesus quotes the Psalm
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
There was a brief time when
Our Heavenly Father left Him on the cross.
Literally His Father was not wearing Him for those moments
– no wonder He felt it.
The robe of righteousness is our wedding garment
and He clothes us with it.
He was filled with YeHoVeH
His Father wore Him!
I and the Father are one
if you have seen me you have seen the Father
I in you and you in Me
It makes one wonder whether in Revelation
if John knew who He was talking to?
I and the Father are one
We are to seek Him early before the day begins.
In Hebrew terms it is as the dusk falls in the evening!
Genesis 1:3-5
and this is where we are to be sure that we have
put on the Lord
Ps 27:8
and will wear Him throughout the night and the day.
The same way we put on clothes suitable to the task ahead, so the sooner we affirm that we have put the Lord on by communicating with Him, the better prepared we are for whatever the day brings.
Like the Eph. 6 armor –
don’t ever take it off –
and we should never remove our robe of righteousness
we must wear it at all times
together with our garment of salvation.
Without the helmet in place, to garrison guard and keep our minds on Messiah, we are not in the best position to co ordinate and direct the rest of the armor.
Our brain and mind must be in the helmet and protected by it.
This is the most likely location of our spirit and of His Ruach dwelling in us.
Which enables us to walk in the spirit and
not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
In a practical way, it’s eventually to have His mind,
the mind of Jesus/Yeshua;
to think His thoughts
by asking His spirit of Holiness
to control our thinking and
thereby renewing our minds
as our thoughts are transformed to His.
Whose mind is stayed on Him
and here is true shalom/peace
Is 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on thee:
because he trusteth in thee.
So what are we wearing today?
Clothed in humility, harmony and wholeness.
1 Peter 5:5-6
Being a disciple means being clothed in Messiah/Christ as Paul says in Galatians 3:26 and Romans 13:14:
Every one of you that has been baptized
has been clothed in Christ and
Let your armor be the Lord Jesus Christ.
This being clothed in Christ is much more than wearing a cloak that covers our wretchedness.
It is referring to a complete transformation
that allows us to say Gal. 2:20 with Paul:
I have been crucified with Messiah/Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me.
To be clothed with humility means you have put on
Messiah/Christ and leave Him on:
Are we a worldly fashion statement based on and reflecting satans’ kingdom; or are we the image and likeness of our Heavenly Father? And if we are like Gideon – as the Lord put him on – we too will be the mighty people of valor.
If He is in us, it is His light that shines out through us,
this phrase appears for the first time in Joshua 1:14
Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them.
Our dictionary today states that
valor is
great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle.
The conventional Hebrew means more of a force,
especially of an army,
but can also mean a force of might, power, riches, or virtue.
Here the mighty men of valor are the armed men of the army of Israel.
Is there anything about these men in the picture letters in Chayil?
Chayil is spelled
Chet, Yood, Lamed.
חָֽיִל
Reading from right to left above:
Chet
is the
picture of the fence
and indicates a place of protection,
a sanctuary, or a place of security.
Yood
is the picture of the hand or arm
and points to a mighty deed.
Lamed
is the picture of the shepherd’s staff
and demonstrates the voice of authority or control.
It could be said that in the paleo pictograph letters of
Chayil/valor
these warriors in Israels army were…
Lamed, under strong leadership
Yood, performing a mighty work,
and
Chet, providing a place of protection, a sanctuary for their people, especially for their wives and little ones.
Does our Heavenly Father view us like the warriors of Chayil/valor?
Gideon in Judges 6:11
Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites, and the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
We already read that Gideon was hidden from his enemies in a winepress threshing wheat when YeHoVeH’s angel appears to him and calls him
a mighty man of valor.
Gideon didn’t see himself that way and in verse 15 he replies:
And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh,
and I am the least in my father’s house.
the reply in verse 16 is an indication of how our Heavenly Father sees us even when we are hiding from our enemies, feeling totally unworthy because we are afraid and anxious:
And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth,
that he may establish his covenant
which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
The word translated
wealth here,
is
Chayil.
Here again it is to show that, the Chayil –
the force of might, power, or riches
comes from Our Heavenly Father YaHoVeH
and is provided to us for serving His purposes.
It is important we remember that.
These references all point to mighty men of valor.
We know we are neither male nor female in the spirit.
Gal.3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
But is there such a thing as
a woman of valor,
a woman of Chayil?
In Proverbs 31:10, Solomon writes
Who can find a virtuous woman?
For her price is far above rubies.
Here the word in
the virtuous woman
in Hebrew is
הֶחָֽיִל
pronounced kyell
Chayil,
the woman of valor,
the force for virtue.
Solomon says about her that she is invaluable.
Why?
Solomon gives a long list of her accomplishments and her character, and in verse 29 and 30:
Many daughters have done virtuously,
but thou excellest them all.
Favour is deceitful, and beauty vain!
but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
The word
well/ virtuously is Chayil/hayil
so we find the
outstanding woman of valor
begins with the fear of the LORD.
This kind of fear is reverence,
not terror as in being afraid.
She follows His voice of authority
and does a mighty work
to provide a sanctuary for her family!
The numbers represented by the letters in chayil
seem to show a connection to Jesus/Yeshua.
The letter Chet is also the number 8
which is a new beginning.
The letter Yood is the number 10
and stands for something ordained in Heaven.
The letter Lamed is also the number 30
and points to the blood of Messiah and His sacrifice.
So the numbers could be telling us that
Our Heavenly Father will give us a new beginning
that was ordained in Heaven
and that was made possible
through the blood sacrifice of Yeshua Ha-Mashiach.
The result being that We have
freedom from sin through His blood sacrifice
and the promise of a new beginning with Him.
There is one more place where the scripture uses the word Chayil. In Habakkuk 3:19 His Word speaks this truth:
The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.
The word strength is again Chayil or valor;
so the meaning of the pictographs could apply once again as
Our Heavenly Father/ The LORD God, or Yahweh/YeHoVeH Adonai,
is our ultimate man of valor.
He is the voice of authority who by the
mighty work of
His blood sacrifice
provided an eternal place of sanctuary for us
with Him in Heaven.
When we place our trust in Him, He sees us as He saw Gideon hiding in the winepress;
the Creator of the universe the source of Faith
calling those things that were not as though they were
and describing the woman in Proverbs 31:
Chayil, mighty men and women – people of valor.
Can we be clothed with humility and strong at the same time?
Yes because
we are told in
Eph. 6:10.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the the wiles of the devil.
It’s the power of
His might
not our own.
Is God wearing us?
If not why not?
And if He is…
then as David said,
of whom shall we be afraid?
Ps. 27:1 Jehovah is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? Jehovah is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
Ps. 31:24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart: all ye that hope in the Lord.
John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer;
I have overcome the world.
Reading the accounts of Gideon shows us he was an excellent example of modesty in action.
When the Angel of the Lord first came to him he readily acknowledged his background and abilities in a modest manner. Then after he accepted the will and plan of the Lord, Gideon made certain he understood thoroughly what he had to do and constantly looked to the Lord for guidance for each step of the way.
Gideon became
bold and courageous
acting with shrewdness and caution
when
the Lord put him on.
Furthermore, Gideon didn’t use this opportunity to self promote or gain any personal advantage and as soon as he was able, he happily resumed his former place in life.
These are great lessons for us and when we walk with God we should always be ready to
Now we know who Jerubbaal was and
Who He Was Wearing!
When the Father is wearing us-
anyone become a mighty person of valor.
It’s time to
May His true Shalom/Peace
rest upon each one in Jesus/Yeshuas’ Name.
‘Mishpachah’ ‘Family’
משפחה
Mish-pa-KHa
you are greatly loved and prayed for daily..
NOT SURE if you are part of His Family?
YOU CAN BE..
Say the following and mean it from your heart…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He came in the flesh and He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life.
Because your word is truth, I say that I am now forgiven and born again in my spirit and by faith I am washed clean with the Blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.
“The smoking flax shall he not quench.”
There is an old saying: 
if you have seen me you have seen the Father
Yood
and points to a mighty deed. 
Lamed, under strong leadership
Why?
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