Tag: Elisha

Who Were The Eaters Of Barley Bread?

For the answer to this question we will look at several scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments:

Judges 7:13 
HEB: ק) לֶ֤חֶם שְׂעֹרִים֙ מִתְהַפֵּךְ֙ בְּמַחֲנֵ֣ה
NAS: a loaf of barley bread
KJV: and, lo, a cake of barley bread

לֶ֤חֶם שְׂעֹרִים֙

barley

שְׂעֹרִים֙

Strongs # 8184 

seorah: barley

Original Word: שְׂעֹרָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: seorah
Phonetic Spelling: seh-o-raw’
Definition: barley

לֶ֤חֶם

Strongs # 3899

lechem: bread, food

Original Word: לֶחֶם
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: lechem
Phonetic Spelling: lekh’-em
Definition: bread, food bread (188), food (87), fruit (1), loaves (3), meal (7), meal* (1), meals (2), prey (1), provision (1), showbread* (4), something (1).

Greek:

Strongs #740  artos: bread, a loaf

Original Word: ἄρτος, ου, ὁ
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: artos
Phonetic Spelling: ar’-tos
Definition: bread, a loaf
Usage: bread, a loaf, food.

740 ártos – properly, bread; (figuratively) divine provision; all the sustenance God supplies to yielded believers scene-by-scene to live in His preferred-will (2307/thélēma).

bread, loaf.

From airo; bread (as raised) or a loaf — (shew-) bread, loaf.

(The shew bread that was in the tabernacle)

The common bread was made of

barley – seorah

שְׂעֹרִים֙ –

and was eaten by the very poor and unfortunate folks

and by everyone in times of famine.

The sons of the prophets in the days of Elijah & Elisha ate

barley bread.

 42 HEB: עֶשְׂרִֽים ־ לֶ֣חֶם שְׂעֹרִ֔ים וְכַרְמֶ֖ל בְּצִקְלֹנ֑וֹ NAS: loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain 

lechem …

 bread, the ordinary food of early Hebrews.

2 Kings 7:1 Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says: ‘About this …

… tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.” Elisha replied, “Listen to this …

Ruth 3:17 And she said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said, ‘Do not go back …

… and added, “He gave me these six measures of barley, saying, Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.” and she added, “He gave me these six scoops

Ezekiel 4:12 And you shall eat the food as you would a barley cake, after you bake it over dried …

... Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of … Prepare and eat this food as you would barley cakes. While all the people are watching,

There was famine in the land in the days of Second Kings.

We are told In verse six that they brought Elijah bread and flesh each morning and evening; meanwhile, he drank of the brook. Birds were used by God to provide food and water!

Later, God told Elijah to go to Zarephath.

He commanded a woman there to sustain him.
Interesting to note that she only had

a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil in a cruse

for her and her son,

and was gathering sticks for the fire.

Elijah, the man of God, instructs her to not only make a cake, but to make it for him FIRST.

The cakes the widow of Zarephath made for Elijah with a handful of meal, (l Kings 17:13), were baked on hot stones and covered with hot embers. 

Thin wafers of dough spread with oil (Exodus 29:2), sometimes strewn with seeds, were baked in an earthenware oven.

Sometimes cakes would be baked with honey,

Ezekiel 16:13, 19

and these tasted so good that the manna of the desert was compared to them. Exodus 16:31; Numbers 11:8. 

The dough was kneaded in a stone mortar or it would be rolled.

It was not uncommon for the people to complain that their oppressors had left them nothing but barley bread to eat. The Bedouins often called their enemies “eaters of barley bread.”

The diet of the East has always been plain, light and simple. The contrast between their diet and that of the west is the very small amount of animal food they consume and the variety of things used with bread; but the most important thing to note is the huge consumption of bread. This reference would immediately mean something with those listening and no doubt this is one reason Jesus/Yeshua used bread in many of His parables and miracles. He also included it in His instruction concerning prayer, when His disciples asked how to pray; He said,

give us this day our daily bread.

Preparations of their bread were simple yet varied; sometimes after being carefully picked, the fresh grains were roasted in a pan over a fire, and eaten as “parched corn” This was and still is part of an ordinary diet.

In Syria women make bread by first, making a fire of dried dung and vine branches which have withered, they are then laid on the hearth; the bread is spread out with the hands like a pancake, and baked over the hearth. Each flat cake was very thin, and could then be rolled up and placed in the mouth.

Many times unleavened wafers were made, smeared with olive oil, they were then baked in a plate or pan. Genesis 18:6 tells us that Sarah made upon the hearth for the three angels, and it is very likely the cakes she made were of this type.

Genesis 18:6 KJV

And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.

Sometimes the grain was bruised and then dried in the sun; it was eaten, either mixed with oil, or made into soft cakes. This was the dough of the Old Testament scriptures. The common people who were poor by western standards did not, and still don’t, have much other food than durra bread, this durra bread, is made of a sort of coarse millet, it is kneaded with camel’s milk, oil, butter, or grease.

The best bread was always made of wheat, it was ground and sifted and formed the fine flour, such as was used in the sacred offering.

Leviticus 2:4 (KJV) »
And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.

The ground but un-sifted wheat would answer to the “flour” and “meal” of Judges 6:19.

Judges 6:19 KJV

And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.

Gideon prepares food (a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour) for the angel. Judges 6:19-20

Another reference to barley cakes and Gideon is in Judges 7:13-15

KJV:  And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.

“Gid‘on got there just as a man was telling a comrade about a dream he had had: ‘I just now dreamt that a loaf of barley bread fell into the camp of Midyan, came to the tent and struck it so hard that it overturned the tent and knocked it flat.‘  His comrade answered, ‘This can only be the sword of Gid‘on son of Yo’ash, a man of Isra’el. God has given Midyan and all its army into his hands.’ When Gid‘on heard the dream and its interpretation, he fell on his knees in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and said, ‘Get up! because Adonai has handed Midyan’s army over to you.’”

Why would a Midianite soldier see

a barley cake as symbolizing Israel?

In those days, bread made out of barley was considered the food of the poor people which is what Israel was during their time of oppression.

It was also the season when the nomad tribes came to attack Israel.

In Judges 6:11, it is recorded that Gideon was given his divine assignment by the Angel of the Lord, when he was threshing wheat in a wine press.

The invaders came during the wheat harvest and not the barley harvest. In general, wheat tends to ripen slightly before barley. Most translations in English Bibles read as a

loaf of barley

that tumbled into the camp.

Maybe this is not the best translation, because the original word being used here in Hebrew is:

tselil or צְלוּל.

Strongs 6742

Literally it means a: round loaf.

The word tselil not referring to a typical squared shaped loaf of bread which is the image most people have.

The barley cake most likely looked similar to those in the picture below:

It was a flat bread that was cooked on a griddle and was round like a thick pancake or Middle Eastern pita bread.

This was the main food of the Bedouins in the ancient Middle East.

There is also an interesting play on words, that can only be seen in the original Hebrew.

It seems the word tselil

was meant to be paired with the Hebrew word

haphak or הָפַךְ.

Strongs 2015 happek or hapkehu as indicated below.

According to Strong’s concordance,

haphak

means: to turn or overturn.

The word tumbled is also a correct translation.

The image being suggested here is of:

a round barley cake tumbling into the enemy tent.

After Gideon overheard what the soldier had dreamt, he was greatly strengthened and he fell to his knees in worship to the Lord.

Gideon was now ready to place all his faith and trust in God’s promises to him and to Israel.

Shouldn’t this be our response too when our Heavenly Father sends us an encouraging message? Just as the widow in 1Kings our Fathers promises can always be relied on. 

What possible significance can of 

a lump of barley bread

have?

Obviously by itself, nothing, however for Gideon and the armies of Israel, it won the victory!

Gideon was an unassuming, humble and unpretentious man. Exactly the kind of individual our Father looks for, through whom He can perform great exploits.  However like all humans, Gideon did have some issues.

He had doubts concerning God’s power and ability to work in his life.  We know this, because Gideon was a sign-seeker and asked God to give him signs, not once, but three times… to prove to him that He, God, was really going to use him to destroy Israels’ enemies.

And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.

Finally Gideon didn’t ask for another dream…

because he knew what the

barley bread meant.

Barley bread –  A weak and contemptible thing, and in itself as unable to overthrow a tent as to remove a mountain; but, being thrown by a divine hand, it bore down all before it. ~ Benson

That barley bread,

the bread of the poor,

the least of all breads,

was Gideon.

He said, 

My family is poor in Manasseh, and

I am the least in my father’s house.

This is very encouraging to all of us, that our Heavenly Father would choose to use someone of such low standing.

Little is much

when the Creator of the universe is involved in it!

Truly God will exalt the humble…

Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. James 4:10

and He hasn’t changed.

For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: (1 Corinthians 1:26-28)

We are not to serve simply because we see with physical eyes but, with the eyes of our heart, the eye of faith.

a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign.

Matt. 16:4.

We have our sign, Messiah Jesus was resurrected and He lives…we need no other sign to trust in and have faith in than our Heavenly Father and His Messiah!

In those days there were no kitchens. Food was cooked in the open in front of the tent, in the closed courtyards of houses in the cities or in the communal living room. In villages the bread is either baked on cakes of dried dung, or by means of clay ovens, built on the floor of the house.

Except for the very poor, each household had an oven, and one oven often served for several families.

It was heated with dried twigs and grass and thorns.

The bread to be baked was placed both inside and out.

A team from the Tell Halif archaeological excavation made their own tannur,

a traditional oven referenced in the Hebrew Bible, and baked bread in it.

An Iraqi woman baking with a tannur.

J. Gordon [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

The bread dough in the picture below, was made from stone ground wheat, barley, oat, and rye flours, mixed with whey, honey, and nuts.

The dough would then be flattened and cooked on a flat pan over the coals of an open fire (below).

The bread would have been eaten warm, since such loaves turn rock hard when cooled.

Pancakes made of a sour dough and filled with a tasty mixture were fried in oil (2 Samuel 13:8) or baked on hot stones pulled out of the embers of a fire. (1 Kings 19:6).

Many baking pans have been found on which the dough of bread and cakes was laid and cooked.

Providing bread for Israel in the wilderness—is reminiscent of God’s supernatural feeding of the Israelites with manna in the wilderness in the days of Moses. Jewish tradition had come to expect the Messiah to repeat this miracle of provision. Messiah/Jesus was revealing Himself as the spiritual redeemer of Israel to all who would accept Him.

The people were as “lost” as their ancestors who wandered in the desert during the Exodus, when God provided manna to feed them.

Messiah/Jesus was superior to Moses because He not only provided physical food but also spiritual food, as the bread of life.

When Messiah Jesus/Yeshua, miraculously fed 5000, it is the only one recorded in all 4 Gospels.

He fed the hungry multitude with five barley loaves which belonged to a small boy.

For 5,000 Matthew 14:13-21;

Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1- 15.

Some scholars believe that the crowd could have been between 15,000 and 20,000 people to include all the women and children.

Matthew 15:32-39 features the feeding of the 4,000

& Mark 8:1-10 the 4,000.

John 6:8–13) One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, There is a lad here, which has five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?

Everyone, men, women and children ate as much as they wanted! Jesus/Yeshua miraculously multiplied the loaves and fishes so there was more than enough.

Then He told His disciples/talmidim to gather the leftovers so nothing was wasted.

The disciples collected enough broken pieces to fill 12 baskets; which some believe may symbolize the 12 tribes of Israel. This event tells us that our Heavenly Father is not only an extremely generous provider, but that His resources are limitless.

Possibly over 20,000 on 2 separate occasions ate their fill.

There were baskets of food left over that no one could eat.

Do you still not understand?

Do you not remember the five loaves for the 5,000 and now many basketfuls you gathered or the 7 loaves for the 4,000 and now many basketfuls you gathered?

There were 12 basketfuls of broken pieces from the 5000 and in

Mark 8:20 And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did … pick up?” They answered, “Seven.” also in John 6:12

There was abundance but nothing was wasted! 

This was because according to halakhah, traditional Jewish law, (shabbat 50b), the destruction of food was prohibited, in feeding the multitudes, Messiah honors the edicts of Judaism by stating,

Gather the leftover pieces, so that nothing gets wasted.

This is a timely reminder for us as shortages are on the rise, along with prices, that we are to good stewards of the resources and daily provision that we receive; and to be mindful of the true source of every provision in our lives.

In all these biblical accounts, the individuals were

eaters of barley bread

for one reason or another. They all had needs that only our Heavenly Fathers intervention could supply. When they yielded in humble obedience to Jehoveh Jireh, they A:LL received miracles. Provision in abundance yet with no waste!

If we remain humble and obedient, we too can be counted among

the eaters of barley bread

and be included with Gods’ mighty men and women!

In Matt. 4:4. He reminds us that

we cannot live on bread alone.. and later tells us:

I am the bread of life.

If we eat of Him we will not perish but have everlasting life…

see also Matt. 14 :17,19 and 15:34,36.

We are so very blessed when we simply go to the nearest store and buy a loaf, of which ever bread we desire. We don’t have to plough the ground, plant the seed, grow the wheat, harvest it or process it by grinding the grains. Nor do we have to prepare the flour or cook the dough – we just eat the bread of our choice….

May we not ever take for granted what our Heavenly Father supplies as we continue to thank Him for our daily bread…let’s remember the eaters of barley bread and learn to put our faith and trust in the only One Who is the Bread of Life everlasting. The Bread Who came down from Heaven for each and every one of us.

Eat of Him today and live forever in His presence. Meanwhile we are still on earth where He promises to supply all our needs…not desires so it’s possible that what we don’t have right now we don’t need today!

and when you NEED that Miracle,

be like a

Barley Bread Eater –

simply receive it by faith!

Shalom, shalom mishpachah/family

and cheverim/friends!

It’s all about Life and Relationship,

NOT Religion.

You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

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.

What Is The Connection Between The Descender, A Spring, An Eye, A Dove And A Miracle?? Part 2

Last post we looked at some of the connections

between the

ירדן

Descender/Yarden/Jordan

and

John the Baptizer
יוחנן המטביל

And we visited two locations that are mentioned

in the scriptures for immersion;

and we saw that the meaning of

Aenon/Aeiynon/Ain-Yon

עֵינָן.  = spring, eye of a dove.

Aenon = “springs”

the name of a place “near to Salim”.  John 1:37

Ainon- pronounced: ahee-nohn’ of Hebrew origin

(a derivative of 5869, place of springs).

In Greek: Αἰνών Ainṓn, ahee-nohn’; of Hebrew origin,

place of springs; Ænon.

According to the scriptures, here is the location that is more accurately describing the place where Yeshua/Jesus immersion occurred.

The place is called

Bethabara – בֵּית בָּרָה

John 1:28
These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

And in other versions…

This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

This encounter took place in Bethany, an area east of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.

 

This is clearly Not the same as the 2 previously mentioned places in verse 22. Bethany an AREA which was EAST of the Yarden/Jordan/Descender.

Bethabara beyond Jordan

the other side of the Jordan and

Bethany, an area east of the Jordan River.

Bethabara –  בֵּית בָּרָה

means: house of the ford or crossing.

 בֵּית בָּרָה Bêyth Bârâh,

Pronounced: bayth baw-raw’;

 beth-ba’-ra (beth barah; Baithera):

Perhaps Beth-`abharu,

of Hebrew origin from H1004and H5679;

H1012 – bêṯ bārâ – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (kjv)

Strong’s Greek: 962 Βηθαβαρά

 – Bethabara

In Jordan this place is called

Qasr al-Yahud –

Baptismal Site of Yeshua/Jesus:

Located across the river from Jericho, this is the believed to be the place where Yeshua/Jesus was immersed/baptized.

It’s also a popular place where many people go to be immersed/baptized today.

Bethabara is located about 2 miles (3.2 km.) east of Hwy. 90, across from Jericho. It re-opened in 2011 but the Jordan River there is muddy brown, the infrastructure isn’t as developed, and Qasr al-Yahud doesn’t have the marketing power of Yardenit, which sadly separates money from Christians with impressive business acumen.

It’s also known as:

Qaser al-Yahud/Kasser al-Yahud.

Close by there is also a

Cave of John the Baptist/John the Baptizer
יוחנן המטביל

Why the change of location?

Until the Six-Day War of 1967, Qasr al-Yahud, located a few miles north of where the Jordan River empties into the Dead Sea, was considered the location of

Yeshua/Jesus’ baptism.

After the Six-Day War, the southern stretch of Jordan River became the mined, militarized border between Israel and the country of Jordan, making Qasr al-Yahud inaccessible.

To provide an alternative site that could be safely visited, in 1981 Israeli Ministry of Tourism funded Kibbutz Kinneret, a Jewish farming cooperative on a picturesque part of the Jordan River, there they built Yardenit.

However as we can see from the scriptures in

Verse 26. He that was with thee beyond the Jordan.

 

Amplified Bible
These things occurred in Bethany across the Jordan [at the Jordan River crossing], where John was baptizing.

So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Look, Rabbi, the One who was with you beyond the Jordan, the One you testified about–He is baptizing, and everyone is going to Him.”

John 10:40
Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had first been baptizing, and He stayed there.

John10:40  And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode.

Now some Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

JOHN 1:25-28

In verse 28, John identifies the location where John the Baptist was baptizing as 

Bethany beyond the Jordan.

(the NJKV follows an inferior textual variant, Bethabara distinguishing it from the Bethany that was near Jerusalem.

This verse also confirms the

other side of the Jordan:

Above Immersion areas at Qaser al-Yahud/Kasser al-Yahud/Bethabara. Jordan side on right in top left and both bottom pictures and Israel side on the left except top right which is Israel side/site.

The Syriac and Persic versions call it:

Ain, or In you,

the fountain of the dove;

and the Arabic version reads ,

the fountain of Nun:

and whether it was a town, or river,

it seems to have its name from a fountain near it,

or that itself was one, where there was

as the text shows

an abundance of water.

Above early excavations at Bethany beyond the Jordan site:

Qaser al-Yahud/Kasser al-Yahud/Bethabara.

 

Judaism had understood up to this point that the Ruach HaKodesh/Holy Spirit was only ever given in a measure: Usually only a Prophet, Priest or King.

The sent Word speaks the Word of the God; and John directs things to Messiah 1:26, I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. Then he waited until the next day to draw the contrast between his

baptizing/immersion in water and

Yeshua/Jesus’

baptizing/immersion in the Ruach Hakodesh/Holy Spirit

John 1:29, 31-33

It is the Word, Jesus/Yeshua, Who is given authority by the Father to pour out His Spirit without measure, something that had never happened before in Israel.

This is prophetic of the outpouring of His Spirit at

Shavuot (Pentecost)

50 days after the Resurrection of Yeshua/Jesus.

Isa.44:3; Joel 2:28; Acts 2.

John 3:35  

The Father

Greek: Ho-pater, Hebrew:Ha-Av

loves = ohev in Hebrew

His Son = et-beno in Hebrew,

and the all, everything,

every individual – pas in Greek, ve’et-kol in Hebrew

has been given – didomi in Greek, natan in Hebrew

into His hand – be’yado in Hebrew.
 
Having revealed the promised outpouring of the Fathers’ Spirit of Holiness, Yochanan/John, spoke of the Father having given all creation into the hands of the Son. Here the 3-fold conceptual image is revealed in unity as all three are recorded as being manifested in one place at the same moment. Yeshua/Jesus has been given authority because it is through Him, (a man, Who is also God/YHVH/YaHoVeH), that humanity and creation are to be redeemed. Yeshua/Jesus in turn will submit both Himself and all of the renewed creation to the Father.

There’s a deeper spiritual meaning to the word Jordan/Yarden.

In the same way we must descend to access the Jordan/Yarden Rivers’ waters physically,

we must descend and humble ourselves

before we can ascend spiritually. 

This concept is seen in many of the miracles that happened in and around its shores.

Descending as in

Jordan/Yarden

the Descender.

The place of the descending as a dove was here.

The Jordan/Yarden, is also frequently mentioned in connection with the ministry of John the Baptist,

John the Baptizer.
יוחנן המטביל

JOHN 1:28, 10:40.

Although The Jordan/Yarden is rather shallow and relatively easy to cross, at certain times of the year, the river was in flood stage and could be a formidable natural barrier for advancing armies.

Adam – This is the place where the waters of the Yarden/Jordan river backed up to when the Israelites crossed the river which was about 20 miles, 32/33 km. above the crossing place.

Bethabara –  בֵּית בָּרָה

means: house of the ford or crossing.

No coincidence that the waters were in a heap at a place called Adam!!!!

Recall the scriptures tell us that the Israelites crossed the Jordan/Yarden River on dry ground as the waters were miraculously parted. 
Joshua 3:14–17: So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), 16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam [20 miles, 32 km. north], the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. 17 Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

Over the years, several earthquakes, where the African and Arabian tectonic plates collide, have altered the course of the river and it now runs further away from the site shown in the maps and photos.

This means that the place Messiah was immersed is now dry ground and interestingly, no one can be immersed on exactly same spot.

We have answered most of the question posed but

What about the miracle??? 

The miracle was MUCH MUCH bigger

than we may have realized because

we have not understood the geography of the area,

that this was a river valley and as

the river was at flood stage,

it was overflowing its banks yet…

when the priests feet touched the river..

the water stopped flowing!

As previously mentioned, the body of water that would have gathered would have been approx. 20 miles (32/33 km.) long, 2 miles (3.2 km.) wide, and around 120 ft. (37 m.) high.

This was a massive body and a high wall of water that the 3 million or more Israelites would have witnessed as they walked alongside it for about 2 miles (3.2 km.)!

The miracle was similar to the crossing of the Reed/Red Sea after the Israelite’s Exodus from Egypt. God repeated this miracle to reveal His glory and faithfulness. 

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

opened the waters to provide the exit from bondage and then opened the waters to provide an entrance into the freedom of the promised land/Israel.

In the same WAY in our lives we can trust our Heavenly Father that as we leave a situation behind us, He opens the WAY before us. How we leave a place or set of circumstances is how we will enter the next.

Crossing into the Promised Land is also a picture of living in victory.

Our Heavenly Father shows us His WAYS in scripture by His patterns, entering and leaving is one of those and just as we will reap what we sow in life; consequences of our actions or lack of them, will determine the pattern we set for ourselves.

It is surely possible that the people in Jericho saw what happened as the flood waters parted, and this no doubt is what made them fear the Israelites.

There are so many things that occurred at this very strategic location when we recall scripture references and see that we have missed their importance since this place was re placed by the Yardenit Baptismal Site near Galilee.

Quick recap and some wonderful scriptural connections:

The meaning of the place across from where John was baptizing/Immersion…

Spring – eye – dove.

Dove = Jonah

The name Jonah,

in Hebrew, Yonah – יונה,

means: dove.

 It is the name of a biblical prophet whose story is read on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement!

Yeshua/Jesus said in Matthew 12:39 An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

This was a reference to the mixed Goyim/Gentile nation at Nineveh being included in the Fathers plan of redemption if they repented. Also Messiah was indicating that He was about to initiate the same offer to the nations of the world; extending it outwards from just Abrahams seed and the children of Israel. Did it also refer prophetically by default, to the DOVE/Ruach HaKodesh Who was soon to come?

In speaking of the end of the age Yeshua/Jesus also said in

Matthew 24:37

But just as the days of Noah, so will the coming of The Son of Man be. When the Son of Man appears, things will be just as they were when Noah lived. 

The Dove returned to Noah after he released it to see if the water level had dropped and if, again, all the species that he had saved could live on dry land; the dove quickly returned as there was nowhere for it to rest. Genesis 8:11.

Noah – נח – is believed to come from the Hebrew “Noach,” meaning “rest.”

Also possibly “long-lived”, “comforter”, or “wanderer. pronounced NOH-ach with a ch like Bach

We enter into the rest of Messiah by His Ruach/Spirit.

Noah waited 7 more days and sent out the dove again, the dove returned with an olive branch. 

Noah waited 7 more days and sent out the dove again, who did NOT return. Interestingly the dove returned symbolically upon Messiah as He raised up out of the waters of immersion/baptism/cleansing to the new life/start that Noah also experienced and we do too.

The living waters of cleansing and renewal.

Elijah parted the waters of the Yarden/Jordan/Descender here…

2 Kings 2:6–8: Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. 7 Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. 8 Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground….

And he ascended to heaven here…

The area in the picture below is also associated with the ascension of the Prophet Elijah into heaven,

which is commemorated at a hill called

Tell Mar Elias

or

Jabal Mar-Elias (Elijah’s Hill).

John the Baptizer came in the spirit of Elijah.

And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.

Matthew 11:14

Elisha took Elijahs prayer shawl/mantle and parted the waters here twice in 2 Kings 2:8 and 2:14. 

Naaman, the Leper,

was healed in the Jordan River

by the Prophet Elisha.
2 Kings 5:10–14: : 

And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”

The place of the

crossing of the Jordan River

by the Israelites is located close-by to the

Immersion/Baptismal Site of Yeshua/Jesus.

Recall that prophetically Joshua/Yehoshua

is a type and shadow of Jesus/Yeshua.

Joshua’s name is יְהוֹשׁוּעַ or,

transliterated into English,

Yehoshua, a form of Yeshua.

This is where we get the English name Joshua. But, when the Hebrew name is translated into Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament, it becomes Ἰησοῦς, which transliterates into Iēsous. This is where we get the English name Jesus. Thus, Yeshua and, correspondingly, Joshua and Jesus all mean “Yahweh Saves” or “The Lord Is Salvation.”

Jesus and Joshua are really the same name, although in different languages. The Greek form (in English) is Jesus. The Hebrew form (in English) is Joshua. The Greek form of the name “Joshua” (“Yahweh saves” or “Yahweh is salvation”) is “Jesus.” As Joshua led Israel to victory over her enemies and into possession of the Promised Land, and as he interceded for the nation after it had sinned and been defeated, so does Jesus/Yeshua. 

Before entering the Promised Land, the Israelites camped on the east side of the Yarden/Jordan River, opposite Jericho.
Joshua 3:1: Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.

The splitting of the Yarden/Jordan, the waters of the descender, is comparable to that of the Sea of Reeds, which was through the staff of Moses (Exodus 14:16) and ultimately to the second creation day, when the primordial waters were divided. (Genesis 1:6). 

For them to make this crossing, the Lord held back the water of the Jordan by means of the Ark of the Covenant (Joshua 3:16)

The waters parted at Jordan and the priests

went first with the ark YHVH/Gods presence in the earth

when their feet stepped into the water they parted.

Jesus/Yeshua descended into the

waters/immersion/baptism and as our

High Priest

and the presence of the Lord in the earth

went through the waters

to make the Way for us

to enter into our promised land

the kingdom of God/the heavens.

Yeshua/Jesus leading the WAY through the waters of immersion/baptism for repentance and into the new life He gives into the new land, the kingdom of the heavens.

The Jordan River represented life and vitality to the Israelites. They were desert people, and water was their life. Messiah used this concept to teach them that in the same way water was vital for their physical lives, He was vital for their spiritual lives as well.

As the start of Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land, God ordered Joshua to set up a memorial after crossing the Jordan and they placed 12 stones in the middle of the river.

Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day. Joshua 4:9.

In order to facilitate this crossing, the Lord held back the water of the Jordan by means of the Ark of the Covenant (Joshua 3:16)

Naaman, the Leper, was healed

in the Jordan River

by the Prophet Elisha.
2 Kings 5:10–14: : And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

All these miracles happened in the Jordan/Yarden River

Who was the ultimate (Yarden/Jorden) descender?

Yeshua, Messiah Jesus, He said Himself

No one has ascended into heaven except the One who

descended

from heaven–the Son of Man. John 3:13

Yeshua/Jesus THE descender from heaven

and when He ascended at Shavuot/Pentecost,

His Spirit of Holiness/RuachHaKodesh,

Who came before as a DOVE/Jonah was the DESCENDER as tongues/flames of fire on the waiting Talmidim/Disciples.

Joh 14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Hallelujah!! He is with us always!

 

שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם‎,

Shalom aleikhem

chaverim and mishpachah!

Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week, you are greatly loved and prayed for daily. Please don’t leave here without assurance of your salvation or without our Heavenly Fathers’ shalom ENVELOPING you and the deep inner knowing that you are sealed to the day of redemption by the Blood of Messiah Jesus/Yeshua.

Not sure ..you can be…

Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.

It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.

You are very precious in His sight.

SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..don’t delay one more minute, SAY IT 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.

Crusts and Crumbs – Explaining Some Obscure Scriptures

What does the grass of the field and

a bruised reed mean?

What are teraphim and

12 yoke of oxen?

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 6:30 saying

“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”

(Psalm 118:12; Ecclesiastes 7:6)

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.

 

Why Was Elisha Digging Ditches To The Sound of Music?

The background to the story is that of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, a relatively good, God-fearing King, but he made a critical mistake by making an alliance with the wicked son of Ahab, Jehoram. 

2Kings 3:5-24

But after Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6 So at that time King Joram….7 sent this message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?”

Israel was at war with the Moabites but their king had led them in a roundabout route for 7 days, leaving them with no water and dwindling hope. 

Kings 3:9-26, 9 “So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched on that roundabout route seven days; and there was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them. 10 And the king of Israel said, “Alas!

King Jehoshaphat

המלך יהושפט

Yehoshaphat.

Phonetic Spelling: (yeh-ho-shaw-fawt’)

Definition: the LORD has judged or

Yah Hath Judged/Yahweh Has Judged/The Lord Judges.

The name Jehoshaphat consists of two elements:

1) The name יה(Yah) = יהו(Yahu) = יו(Yu), which in turn are abbreviated forms of the Tetragrammaton; the name of the Lord: YHWH.

2) The verb שפט (shapat), meaning to judge or govern:

King Jehoshaphat plan was to try to take over the land of Moab…but as we know, the end doesn’t justify the means.  The plan backfired on him and he found himself with thousands of soldiers and animals and no water.  

God never wants us to align ourselves in a common goal with wickedness, those not walking in covenant relationship with Him.

Both old and new testaments remind us

32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.  Exodus 23:32-33

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 2 Cor. 6:14  

Jehoshaphat had not done right in terms of separating himself from unbelievers, and it ended up costing his people because now their very lives were in danger. 

Having commanded some 40,000 men to march 7 days over a hot desert with minimal food and water.

When his options had run out, he finally decides to go to the man of God for counseling; this should have been his first action along with seeking the Lord for His direction. He realized he needed to separate from them, and yet there is no water…

What was the answer to his dilemma?

“Let’s consult ELISHA, a prophet and a man of God to inquire of him. He knows about water. He poured water on the hands of Elijah.”

And Jehoshaphat said, Whether any prophet of the Lord is here, (so) that we (can) beseech the Lord by him? And one of the servants of the king of Israel answered, Elisha, the son of Shaphat, is here, that poured water upon the hands of Elijah (Elisha, the son of Shaphat, is here, who poured water upon Elijah’s hands). 2Kings 3:11

Elisha

  אלישע

Modern: ʼElīšaʻ,  My God is salvation or

God is salvation

Greek: Ἐλισ[σ]αῖος, Elis[s]aîos or Ἐλισαιέ, Elisaié)

So they did, however, the answer was probably not what they were expecting because…..

Sometimes He asks us to be a part of His solutions….

and sometimes in rather strange and unusual ways.

Elisha says:

2Kings 3:15-17

15 But now bring me a musician.”. Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him. 16 And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Make this valley full of [ a]ditches.’ 17 For thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.’.

This word “valley” in the Hebrew is

ואדי

“wadi“,

which is a “dry riverbed

More Hebrew words for wadi.

noun וָאדִי.

gully, ravine.

noun נַחַל. s

tream, river, brook, valley, ravine.

“Cherith, Kerith (Hebrew: נַחַל כְּרִית ‎ Naḥal Kərīṯ), or sometimes Chorath (/ ˈ k ɔːr ɑː θ /; from the Septuagint’s Greek: Χειμάῤῥους Χοῤῥάθ cheimárrhous Chorrháth), is the name of a wadi, or intermittent seasonal stream mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.

Now bring me a minstrel/musician…  One that can sing and play well upon an instrument of music.

He sent for a minstrel, possibly to calm his mind from the impressions of the physical problem and having been disturbed at the sight of idolatrous Jehoram,

the soft tones of the lyre/harp brought composure to his mind and soul so that he might be inspired to more fervent prayer, and thereby be prepared to receive the prophetic inspiration.

When the musician played, the hand of the Lord came on him and his spirit gave instructions to work the miracle.

minstrel

2 Kings 3:15
HEB: קְחוּ־ לִ֣י מְנַגֵּ֑ן וְהָיָה֙ כְּנַגֵּ֣ן
NAS: bring me a minstrel. And it came
KJV: But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel

also

נָגַן  Nagan

Phonetic Spelling: naw-gan’

Definition. to touch or play a stringed instrument. NASB Translation. minstrel (1), minstrel played (1), musician

Strongs #5059 

2 Kings 3:16-18
“This is what the Lord says: I will fill this valley with pools of water. For this is what the Lord says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink. This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord; he will also deliver Moab into your hands.“

God lays it on Elisha’s heart what

He,

the Lord,

will do to rescue them:

All they have to do is dig some ditches!

Why?

It sounds completely crazy!

So Why?   ….

Because God said to.

Even though He said in v. 17 there won’t be storms or rain!

…but

there’ll be water…

God has spoken.

Dig ditches…..

תְעָלָה

ditch, channel, canal, gutter, culvert, water course

They needed

to act

on their faith,

regardless of how illogical it sounded!

Imagine what passers-by must have thought….

an army digging ditches???

Digging a valley full of ditches,

for water,

to win a battle with no sign of rain!

He didn’t need human logic,

no rain was required,

no river,

just

His power and

simple faith, trusting in Him.

if He says it, He does it!

From the irrational display of desperation to the next morning

….they find that…

Water has flowed uphill and across this ancient plain

that was once a stream bed.

In verse 20, the valley is full of water for the troops

Then a further miracle happens:

the Moabites mistake the water for blood and through this they are defeated.

Nothing is impossible for God, and He achieves it through

His plans,

no matter how illogical and unexplainable they are to us.

He even provides in abundance,

far more than we would expect, for them

AND their animals.

But they had to trust God,

His plan

and what He asked them to do.

So should we.

We think often that God will give us faith to change or to persevere and stand until the situation changes.

However, true faith comes when we walk into the valley,  often situations that are opposite to mountain top experiences; and instead of trying to fill the valley, we instead dig until they are filled with ditches.

The Lord requires places/ containers for His waters to collect, so that it won’t run off and dissipate into another stream.

He wants to fill our valleys.

biqah: a valley, plain

 בִּקְעָה

Phonetic Spelling: bik-aw’

Strongs#1237

 

Not only so we can drink, but to have enough for everyone around us who needs it, including crops and animals/ livestock.

Faith is not looking up and seeing rain clouds and seeing the rain fall.

Faith is looking at a clear sky

but being full of expectancy

that the valley will be filled.

You will not see wind nor rain.

He wants us to do things like, dig ditches, with the promise to fill them and in unexpected unconventional ways.

He wants a faith filled people.

He is looking for people who don’t need rain in order to have rainfall!

Faith people who will dig ditches to collect water that never falls from the sky!!!

People who will believe

He will bring water

in His own way and time

all we have to do is act in obedient response,

that is faith!

The ‘ridiculous’ faith of Elisha!

We must sometimes dig a ditch so God can fill it! 

That is a clear lesson from this scripture account. 

Our Heavenly Father specializes in

FILLING

things

which are

EMPTY. 

We are to empty ourselves of the cares of this world, and that makes room for God to fill us! 

As we remember, the cares of the world choke the Word of God.

When we empty ourselves of the flesh

and then the Spirit comes flowing in like a rushing river,

filling the valley of our souls!  

Our Heavenly Father gets all the glory when He uses our provision of emptiness to fulfill His will in and through us in overflowing ways!

His OUTPOURING into our need!

In the following chapter we see the familiar story of the widow and her empty vessels which God filled for her.  Elisha, who challenged the widow woman to create more emptiness for the Lord to fill, had just seen it happen himself as he dug ditches so God could fill them. 

        Have faith…trust…

lay aside all self-sufficiency,

and instead,

find some emptiness! 

The widow of 2Kings 4 brought all the jars she had faith to bring! 

How many would we bring?

Sometimes we are called to create some emptiness so God can fill it.  

        … Dig a ditch,

or God won’t fill it!

A mind occupied with planning

pays homage to the idol of control.

Planning takes little to no faith because it is fore-thought and carefully and deliberately arranged and what is worse, it leaves God completely out of the picture and then we ask Him to bless our way.

Many spend all week planning the weekend, thinking it is Gods’ will when in fact it is just simply what they want to do.

One of the greatest hindrances to living a faith filled life is not making room for God.

In this account, Elisha shows how faith works.

It is echoed in Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Now faith is a well-grounded assurance of that for which we hope, and a conviction of the reality of things which we do not see.

The principle here is 

putting

faith

into

action.

Don’t just say you have faith!

Show it by our actions

James said in 2:17…

17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” shew me thy faith without thy works/actions, and I will shew thee my faith by my works/actions.

 

Fulfillment comes in emptiness of self, and being filled with the Spirit maybe its time to dig some ditches???

May His true Shalom/Peace

rest upon each one in Jesus/Yeshuas’ Name.

‘Mishpachah’ ‘Family’

משפחה

Mish-pa-KHa 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.