abomination of desolation

daniel 9, part one
daniel 9, part two
daniel 9, part three
daniel 9, part four
daniel 11, part five
definition of abomination of desolation
daniel 12, part six

daniel

daniel 9, the abomination of desolation, part one
daniel 9, the abomination of desolation, part two
daniel 9. the abomination of desolation, part three
daniel 9, the abomination of desolation, part four
daniel 11, the abomination of desolation, part five
daniel 12, the abomination of desolation, part six


expert studies on the book of daniel at bible.org*

*There is a lot of valuable material at bible.org, so enjoy digging around! However, I do not agree with every premise made or conclusion drawn in every study. Many have a traditional, learned bias against the Torah which God is stripping away in His Church in these last days.

daniel 9, the abomination of desolation part one

Read Daniel 9 at Bible Gateway.

We are continuing with Mark 13. In Mark 13, Jesus begins explaining the time of His coming, in which He mentions the prophecies given to Daniel. So we must go back to Daniel and understand what it being referred to, to understand Jesus in Mark 13.

“So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” Mar 13:14

So let's look at what Daniel the prophet had to say about the abomination of desolation, one passage at a time:

vs. 24: “Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.”
vs. 25: “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times.”
vs. 26: “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.”
vs. 27: “Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.” Dan 9:24-27

This is the most important reference in Daniel to the abomination of desolation, because while other passages in Daniel give further details about it, this passage places the event in the context of the big picture. And this passage does not even make it into the cross references in Mark 13! People, you do need to read and know your whole Bible! We should therefore understand this passage, before we go on to the next passages.

“Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.” Dan 9:24

Seventy weeks are determined for Daniel's people: Jews, and for Daniel's holy city: Jerusalem. When Christians apply this passage to the Church, they have already made a mistake. The angel tells what will be accomplished at the end of seventy weeks: transgression will be finished, sins will be brought to an end, reconciliation will be made for iniquity, and everlasting righteousness will be brought in. Also, vision and prophecy will be confirmed (the meaning of the Hebrew), and the Holy of Holies will be anointed.

So when was reconciliation made for iniquity? When Jesus was crucified on the cross.

When was transgression finished and everlasting righteousness brought in? When Jesus was crucified on the cross.

When were the visions and the prophecies comfirmed? We must understand, that all the prophecies recorded in the Hebrew Bible have to do with the coming and ministry of Messiah, in one way or another! He is the One who fulfills the Law and the Prophets (Mat 5:17), for all of Torah is also prophectic concerning Him!

When were the visions and prophecies confirmed? When Jesus came and fulfilled His ministry!

When was the Holy of Holies in the heavenlies anointed with His blood to make an end of transgression and sin? When He Himself took it there and presented it on the altar! (Heb 9:12).

All of these phrases in Dan 9:24 are describing the same event, which took place at the first coming of Messiah - this event which was prophesied of by Jeremiah and Ezekiel:

“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Jer 31:31-34

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” Eze 36:25-27

Sin is lawlessness, John tells us (1 Joh 3:4). To which law is John referring? Man's law, or God's Law, which is recorded in Torah? To God's Law, for Torah provides God's definition of sin and righteousness. An end of sin is made, because by the Spirit of the Lord now indwelling us, an end has been made of lawlessness, torah- lessness, as Paul explains in Gal 5:18-24. (We have discussed before, that to be under the Law, as Paul uses the phrase, means to be under the indictment of the Law which requires the penalty of death for transgression. It does not mean to be obedient to the Law, or the will of God. By no means, for even Paul obeyed the Law (Act 21:24)!)

Back to Daniel. If this understanding is correct, then seventy weeks were determined for Daniel's people, until the end would be made for sin. And we are assuming at this point that the end the angel is speaking of refers to the death and resurrection of Jesus, which took place at His first coming. So tomorrow we will continue to verse 25 and see.

mark 12, the currency of the kingdom

Read Mark 12 at Bible Gateway.

“Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. When they had come, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.” So they brought it. And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at Him.” Mar 12:13-17

“Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.” Mar 12:41-44

While I was reading today's chapter, I was thinking about the things that are Caesar's, and the things that are God's, and how this widow rendered to God the things that were God's. That got me to thinking about the currency of the Kingdom - not the kingdoms of men, which are passing away, but the Kingdom of God.

The images and inscriptions on the money indicate whose kingdom the currency operates in. The denarius of Jesus' day was inscribed with Caesar's image and inscription, so the currency belonged to him. Our dollar bills and coins are inscribed with the portraits of our presidents, and “United States of America”, however the inscription still is, In God We Trust. Even with that, the currency still belongs to the kingdom of man.

Now God does not need to use the currency of the kingdoms of men in order to accomplish His work in the Kingdom of heaven. The widow put in, by the kingdom of man's reckoning, two copper mites worth a fraction of a penny, and yet this was greater than all the other offerings put in. That is because treasure stored up in the Kingdom of heaven is not reckoned as treasure is in the kingdom of man. She put in all she had, so the treasure she stored up in the Kingdom of heaven was great (Mat 6:19-21).

So what is the currency of the Kingdom of heaven? I think it is just this: when we give all that we are and all that we have to YHVH, and back up those words with actions, we store up currency in the Kingdom of heaven. The scribes, whom Jesus told us to beware of (vs. 38-40), talked a great talk, but then devoured widows' houses. Presumably, He meant that when the widows could not pay their rent, instead of forgiving their debt and providing for their need, the scribes took what they had and cast them out.

For those of us who are Abraham's children, it is all about how can we be a blessing today (Gen 12:2)? What can we give today? We have a rich Daddy, who is rich in mercy and who owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Eph 2:4, Psa 50:10), so we can afford to be generous, LOL. It means more than giving money, although money sure plays an important part, because our hearts can be tied to it. But also, time, food, labor, talents, mercy, forgiveness, listening, respect, as well as money - these things are the currency of the Kingdom. Let our Vinedresser receive His fruit when He sends someone to us to collect it (Gal 5:22-23)!

And when we trade in those things, God increases the Kingdom to us. When the children came out of Egypt, their clothes did not wear out for 40 years and God provided water from the rock in the midst of the desert and manna from heaven. They did not need the currency of the kingdom of man. When Elijah was delivering the word of the Lord to Ahab, God sent a raven with meat and bread for him twice a day for three years. He did not need the currency of the kingdom of man. And when 5000 men, besides women and children, needed to eat after hearing Jesus teach all day, the disciples fed them with five loaves of bread and two fish. They did not need the currency of the kingdom of man.

So what do we do? Do not fear, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom (Luk 12:32). Give Him all that you are and all that you have, and He will take care of the rest.

mark 11

Read Mark 11 at Bible Gateway.

I saw a chiastic structure in this chapter, but in order to understand it, we have to understand what the fact of the riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey's colt, and the cleansing of the Temple, meant to the Jews. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the colt, vs. 1 tells us that when they came to Jerusalem, when they were still outside the city, they were at the Mount of Olives. This is significant information, because if you look on a map of Israel, you will notice that the Mount of Olives is due east of the Temple (what follows is from Ezekiel's vision of the Temple):

“Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory.” Eze 43:1-2

“Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces toward the east, but it was shut. And the LORD said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the LORD God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut.” Eze 44:1-2

Do you realize the gate which faces toward the east, is the gate which Jesus entered Jerusalem and the Temple by, when He came riding in on the colt of a donkey from the Mount of Olives? For many centuries now, this gate has been bricked up, as Suleiman the Magnificent so ordered when the Ottoman Turks took the Holy Land from the Persians in 1541. My pastor in Colorado, who goes to Israel every year with a tour group, told us that they bricked up this gate, because they did not want the people of the Book (us and the Jews) thinking that someone who entered that gate was the Messiah, and thereby rising up in rebellion against their Ottoman overlords. Thanks to them, the gate has been shut up, and no man has entered by it, because YHVH the God of Israel entered by it, riding on the colt of a donkey!

“And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the LORD my God will come, and all the saints with You.” Zec 14:4-5

The prophecy makes it clear in vs. 3 that it is YHVH Himself whose feet will stand on the Mount of Olives - and of course, YHVH manifest in the flesh is Jesus our Messiah! When He returns, He will return to the Mount of Olives, and He will again enter through the East Gate from the Mount of Olives just as He did the first time!

When He entered through the East Gate from the Mount of Olives the first time, the people cried out before Him:

“Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” Mar 11:9-10

Because they knew what Ezekiel prophesied about the coming of the Messiah, and because they knew what Zechariah prophesied about the coming of the Messiah, they were proclaiming the one coming in through the East Gate the son of David, the promised Messiah. They were proclaiming that David's kingdom was coming with Him, and that He would save them from the Romans (Hosanna means, save us!)

Here is the chiastic structure:

1A Mar 11:1-11 The Son of David enters the city and Temple through the prince's gate and is proclaimed to be the Messiah by the people;
  1B Mar 11:12-14 the fig tree
    --> X Mar 11:15-19 Jesus cleanses the Temple;
  2B Mar 11:20-26 the lesson of the fig tree;
2A Mar 11:27-33 Jesus' authority questioned.

Almost every covenant that God established with man carries with it its own sign. The sign of the Abrahamic covenant is circumcision (Gen 17:10). The sign of the Mosaic covenant is the Sabbath (Exo 31:13). The sign of the Davidic covenant, which is that the Seed of David shall rule the Lord's kingdom forever, is the house in which the Lord's name dwells (2 Sam 7, especially 2 Sam 7:12-14)! Now you know, when Jesus was cleansing the Temple, why He quoted Isa 56:7, in that the Lord's house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations!

So, that Jesus immediately went to cleanse the Temple, after entering through the East Gate and being proclaimed Messiah by the people, is an action taken in order to acknowledge the people's praises and establish that it is His right, as the Son of David, to do so.

The Pharisees and scribes, in asking by what authority Jesus entered the East Gate, and cleansed the Temple, were in essence asking Him whether He was the Messiah or not. They knew the Scriptures and knew that building the Temple/ restoring the Temple is the sign of the house of David! Why do you think a cruel and grasping king like Herod the Great built and beautified the second Temple? He did not care for God! He was trying to establish his claim to the kingship of Israel!

Jesus, in order to answer them, asked them a question in turn which revealed their heart. They did not acknowledge that the ministry of repentance of John the Baptist was from God! They thought that he just got the idea in his head one day to be a prophet and live in the desert, and that it was from his own flesh. Their answer revealed that if He told them the truth about His authority, they would not believe Him. Even a Roman centurion, a Gentile, recognized His authority before they did (Mat 8:5-13).

As to why they were so slow to acknowledge who He was: before Messiah came, they were the authorities on God. But from the beginning, Jesus showed them that they did not understand either the God or the Scriptures they claimed to be experts on. Because of pride, they resisted Him. And that is always the way. Satan resisted Him because of pride, and men resist Him today because of pride.

So now, we see that when Messiah comes, He will cleanse the Temple. That is one of His ministries - to restore to the people the pure worship of God, and to drive out the dross and impurities. Beloved, that is still His ministry! When He comes into our hearts, when we have acknowledged Him not only as Savior but also as King, then He begins to cleanse His Temple - which is us (1 Cor 6:19)! He restores to us the pure and unadulterated worship of God! Sometimes, what He wants to do, will bring us into the cross hairs of the professional experts on God. Thus it has ever been!

It is interesting that cleansing the Temple, in the chiastic structure, is wrapped with the fig tree incident. The fig tree represents Israel, into which us Gentiles have been grafted, so that we are not to consider ourselves Gentiles any longer, but partakers of the covenants of promise, which were all made with Israel (Eph 2:11-13, Rom 11:17). The lesson of the fig tree is a warning, I believe, to us who are called Israel, not be found without fruit when Messiah comes! For if He finds no fruit in us, then our place is forfeit.

We have learned before about the Seed of the Woman, who is Messiah, being planted in the ground of our hearts. In Gen 1 we learn the law that seeds reproduce fruit after their kind, so if the seed of Messiah is planted in our hearts, we will produce the fruit of Messiah in our lives, which is love, joy, peace, patience, meekness, self- control and the like (Gal 5:22-23). The fruit of Messiah is not first miracles, which I think some modern Christians misunderstand. Miracles accompany believers as signs to the world (Mar 16:17-18), but miracles are not the fruit of the Seed of Messiah - a changed life is! A sanctified life in holiness is (Mat 7:21-23)! That is the lesson of the cleansing of the Temple!

So beloved, let us not resist our Savior and King, but let us get in the habit now of submitting to His will in our daily life, of allowing Him to cleanse us from all sin and impurities, so that when He comes, He may say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

mark 10

Read Mark 10 at Bible Gateway.

“Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” Mar 10:17-22

Treasure in heaven caught my attention today. What is it? This passage makes it seem as if providing for the needs of the poor is like making a deposit into a bank account in heaven. But I wanted to be sure, so I looked up “treasure in heaven” to see what the rest of the Scripture had to say about it:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Mat 6:19-21

Jesus tells us here not to lay up treasure on earth, but to lay up treasure in heaven!

“Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Luk 12:13-20

God calls the one who lays up treasure for himself without laying up treasure in heaven (“rich toward God”) a fool!

“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Luk 12:32-34

Giving alms was giving to the poor, so Jesus is telling us to sell what we have, and instead of putting the money we have made from the sale, into our money bag, give it to the poor. When we do that, we will have treasure in heaven. This must be because Jesus said,

“And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’” Mat 25:40

When we give to the poor who are His brethren, it is the same as if we are giving to the King, and that is how the treasure gets into heaven. Now something Jesus said in Luke resonated with me: He said, Do not fear, for it pleases the Father to give us the kingdom. The kingdom which is of heaven, which is where our treasure is stored! The reason we are reluctant to do this word of Jesus, is because what happens when the treasure which we have on earth is at zero, because we sold it all? What happens when it is time to provide for our needs? Jesus is saying, Don't be afraid to do My Word, because it makes your Father happy to provide for you out of His great treasure house which He has in heaven!

I looked up the Greek for “good pleasure” (Strong's G2106); do you realize this is the same word God uses when He says at various times throughout the Gospels, that Jesus is His beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased (Mat 3:17 and others)?

The Hebrew word, from whence the Greek is derived, is ratsah, Strong's H7521, which means to be delighted in. The ancient Hebrew pictographs are of the resh, the head of a man, and the tsaday, the path one walks. So it is painting the picture of the chief path, as in 1 Chr 29:17, where the Lord says that He has pleasure (ratsah) in uprightness. When someone is walking His path, He is delighted in that person.

Notice that in our passage in Mark, when Jesus learns from the young ruler that he has kept all His commandments from his youth? (Now we know why he was rich, for blessings are commanded upon the head of those who obey Him, Deu 28:1-2!) “Then Jesus looking at him, loved him ...” (vs. 21).

Didn't Jesus love Him before? Yes, but I believe Jesus shows us that while He loved everyone, and had compassion for everyone, He had a special place in His heart for a few. Even among the twelve, there was the disciple whom Jesus loved (John, Joh 13:23), and the three, Peter, James, and John, who were in His inner circle. Among the Jews, He spent time at the house of Lazarus, whom He loved, and his sisters, Mary and Martha (Joh 11:5).

God is not any different, of course, for Jesus is God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8)! It says in the Scriptures, that God loved Jacob, but hated Esau (Mal 1:2-3). I believe this is the Scripture's way of saying that God has a special place in His heart for His own who walk His path, but for those who disregard Him completely, who do not give a fig whether they are on His path or not, as Esau did, they are not well pleasing to Him. He does not delight in them.

So that is the meaning of, It is our Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom! He takes delight in doing so! When Christmas rolls around and you have spent the better part of a year searching for the perfect thing that you know will bring so much joy to your loved one, it gives you more pleasure to watch them open their gift than you get from unwrapping any of your own! So we know what it is feels like for God to take delight in giving us His kingdom!

Listen, if the days draw near for the Lord to return, and we are unable to buy, sell, or otherwise participate in the economy of the kingdoms of this world, let us take heart that we can participate in the economy of the kingdom of heaven, where we do not have to be afraid, because it is our Daddy who is the King - who also takes delight in giving us our inheritance in His kingdom! So if we have not been laying up treasure in heaven, now would be a good time to begin!

The other thing I was thinking about as I was reading Mark this morning, was how much of a gift of grace it is sometimes, from the heart of God, that we have not won the lottery, LOL. For His treasured ones, He wants to make certain that they enter the kingdom of heaven, and would not put a stumbling block before our feet, such as the temptation to trust in riches instead of in Him!

mark 9

Read Mark 9 at Bible Gateway.

vs. 1-7:

“And He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.” Mar 9:1

Then the vs. 2-7 describes the Transfiguration. The vision of the transfiguration is the vision of the kingdom of God present with power. In the vision, Jesus' appearance becomes shining with white light, i.e., His glory as Messiah, as the Living Word, becames outwardly evident. Moses and Elijah appear with Him. Moses represents the Torah, the Word, and Elijah the Spirit. Moses represents the Judah, and Elijah represents Ephraim. Moses represents Jews and Elijah Christians. When the two are united in Israel's Messiah, then the kingdom of God will be present with power.

vs. 11-13:
Elijah coming first is a reference to the belief among the Jews that Elijah, who was taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot and did not taste death, will return and precede the coming of Messiah. Jesus said that Elijah had already come - Elijah preceded the first coming of the Messiah. When the angel announced the birth of John of Baptist, he said:

“But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Luk 1:13-17

We have just read about the importance of turning a few chapters ago in Mark 4! The ministry of Elijah the prophet in the Old Testament, we can see (1 Kin 17-21 and 2 Kin 1-2), was to turn idolatrous Israel, the northern kingdom, back to the worship of YHVH, the one true God. And we see that this was the same ministry which was foretold for John even before he was conceived.

Jesus not only said that Elijah has come, in the person of John the Baptist, to prepare the way before the first coming of Messiah, but that Elijah will come. The spirit and power of Elijah will be poured out to prepare the way before the second coming of Messiah. The purpose of the ministry will be the same: to turn hearts back toward the Lord God. To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children; i.e., to restore homes with fathers in them who are fulfilling their designated role as the priest of their home!

This is why I believe a massive outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which will manifest as true repentance and restoration to the Lord our God, with revival worldwide, and signs and wonders following, will precede the second coming of the Lord Jesus. I guess I don't believe that Elijah will come this time as a single man. But as it is prophesied in Joel,

“And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.” Joe 2:28-31

Joel chapter 2 is fascinating, for it describes the events that will precede the great and terrible day of the Lord. Vs. 1-11 describe a terrible army which is coming upon Israel. Vs. 12-17 describe the weeping and mourning which will take place in Israel because of this army. It is a call to turn!

“Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” Joe 2:12

Vs. 18-27 describe the great deliverance the Lord will execute on behalf of Israel, and the great prosperity and blessing which will follow Israel's deliverance from all her enemies. Then comes vs. 28-32, and the great outpouring of the Spirit in signs and wonders. This whole chapter describes the coming of Elijah who will precede the coming the Lord Jesus, for the ministry of turning, of repentance, and the outpouring of the Spirit in power, are the characteristics of Elijah's ministry!

Now Peter quoted this same passage in Joel on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, when the Spirit fell upon the gathering of the believers, saying that that event fulfilled this prophecy (Act 2:14-21). In fact, it has been “those days” for the past 2000 years, and the work of the Spirit in the world, between the ascension of Jesus and His return, has been to testify of Jesus, to turn all flesh toward the Lord our God, and to prepare the earth for the coming of Messiah in power and glory. But as the time draws near, so will the ministry of the Spirit in repentance and power increase.

Back to Mark 9!

vs. 14-29:
We read a little further down that even those who were not following Jesus were casting out demons in the name of Jesus (vs. 38). Power is inherent in His name, because of the authority He has been given! But before someone decides to cast out demons in the name of Jesus, not having a relationship with Him, please read what happened to the seven sons of Sceva!

However, there is a kind of evil spirit which can only be cast out, Jesus said, by prayer and fasting (vs. 29). Jesus lived a lifestyle of prayer and fasting, where those disciplines were just part of His everyday walk with God. When He encountered the boy with the deaf and mute spirit, He did not have to go away for a week to fast and pray, and then come back to heal the boy. I believe the Spirit is calling those who have ears to hear, to do likewise, so that we will, as our Master was, be ready to help all those whom the Lord brings across our paths, for the glory of the Father!

vs. 33-37:
I think that if someone even desires to be first, he has missed the heart of Jesus, for He is humble and lowly in heart (Mat 11:29). And meekness is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). Moses was the meekest man of his generation (Num 12:3), and we all know he had no desire to be first, and to be the leader that God called him to be (Exo 3-4)! But that is why meekness, humility, lowliness, is the necessary prerequisite in the leaders God raises up - for anyone who desires to be first, can have their hearts corrupted by pride once they acquire a following.

vs. 42-50:
What are the causes of stumbling and sin? Is it your hand, your foot, or your eye? James said:

“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” Jam 1:13-15

The cause of sin, is the desire for that thing that is conceived in the heart of a man. Cutting off the hand will not change the heart. But Jesus, by saying something as radical as, If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off, is saying that whenever you find a cause of sin in yourself, don't make the mistake of thinking that you can give in to it once in a blue moon and the rest of the time resist it - but cut that cause completely off - sever it from you!

Obviously, a man's heart cannot be cut off from him. The heart can only be changed, made new, by the new birth in Jesus Christ! If the believer finds a desire for sin in his heart, then the only course is to turn! With prayer and fasting, bring your heart before the Lord, and do not leave His presence until His desires have incinerated the evil desire from you, and the flesh of your heart has been cut away, so that you have a circumcised heart toward the Lord!

“For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.” Mar 9:49-50

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” Mat 5:13

Because Jesus is continuing His same discourse on the causes of sin, He is teaching that His people retain their saltiness, as it were, by maintaining their holiness and their sanctification as the set apart people of YHVH. The world runs after sins, but if the Lord's people do so also, then they have lost their flavor, and are in danger of being thrown out and trampled underfoot.

mark 8

Read Mark 8 at Bible Gateway.

“When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” Mar 8:34-38

Jesus describes following after two opposite and diametrically opposed people and agendas. The first is, of course, Jesus. Following after Jesus means not following after (denying) self. The self's agenda is the agenda that is in opposition to Jesus!

From Webster's, we learn that to deny means to declare untrue. So to deny self, is to declare the self's wants to be untrue; i.e., not valid! Deny also means to disavow - to refuse to acknowledge. To deny self, is to disavow and refuse to acknowledge the self's rights, wants, or interests. Deny means to not grant or to not concede. To deny self, is to not grant the self's whims and desires. The deny self, is to not concede to the self's logic or manipulation.

The cross was possibly the most horrific form of execution devised by man. Burning at the stake was even kinder, because it was over quicker. Of course, the self runs from death of any kind, but especially a dishonorable and painful death on the execution stake (the literal meaning of “cross”). But to follow Jesus means to take up the execution stake, not run from it. Following Jesus, then, means even more than to deny the self - it means the self literally dies on the execution stake.

This means my goals, my agenda, my wants, my desires, my rights, and my interests, my honor, my prestige, my wealth and my acquisition of comforts to please my flesh and my sense of pride - all of these things that are about me me me, I daily nail to the execution stake. I have to make decisions on a daily basis, even and hourly basis: who am I going to gratify with my words, with my actions, with the attention of my heart and the expenditure of my time? Even if I have prayed a sinner's prayer, if the decisions I make every day gratify self, and do not glorify Jesus, then who I am following? Not Jesus!

If I seek to save for myself all the things that define the life of the self - success, family, status, money, reputation - then I may save the things of my outward life, but I will lose my eternal soul over it. But if I seek to nail to the execution stake all the things that define the life of the self, and lay down me me me, and take up Him Him Him, then I may lose the things of my outward life, but I will save my eternal soul.

If, in front of unbelievers, adulterers and wicked men, I am ashamed to acknowledge Jesus and deny self, or am ashamed to repeat His words in the face of the world, because I want to save the self from being ridiculed or shamed, then when He returns He will be ashamed to acknowledge me as His own in front of His Father and in front of the holy angels! I for one would much rather endure the temporary and short- lived shame from the world than to have to hear anything from His lips other than, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

deuteronomy 7:7, set His love upon

“The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;” Deu 7:7

When I first began looking into the Hebrew of this verse, I assumed that “to set His love upon” would include ahab, Strong's H157, the strong love which reveals the heart of the father, of which agape is the Greek equivalent. Ahab is used in the next verse, vs. 8, when Moses says, “but because YHVH loves you;” but to my surprise, the word “love,” ahab, is not in the phrase, “set His love upon.”

In Hebrew, this is a single word, chashaq, q?j, Strong's H2836, chet shin quph. In the ancient Hebrew pictographs, the chet is the fence, thus outside, also divide or half. The shin is the two front teeth, so sharp, eat, or press; also two, again, second, both. The quph is the sun on the horizon, so circle, cycle, revolution, time, even condense, as light is condensed in the sun when it is at the horizon.

The primitive root chashaq is itself from the two letter root, chash, ?j, chet shin, which means to bind. As I was thinking about how chash could mean to bind from the pictographs, I wondered if originally it had been a chet sin or samech, the fence of thorns, as fences in those days were made of bundles of thorns joined together. It would not be the first time the sin had transposed to a shin because of their similar sounds, and vice versa.

So taking the root, chash, being bound together or joined together, and adding the quph and its meaning of condensed light, leads us to being bound together by a concentrated emotion. The meaning of the verb form is to attach or adhere; the meaning of the concrete form is unknown; and the meaning of the abstract form is desire.

Gesenius' Lexicon says of chashaq: “to adhere, to join together, to cleave; to be attached with a very great love, to burn with desire.”

YHVH cleaved to us (chashaq) and chose us (bachar), not because we were great, for we were least of all; but because He strongly loves us (ahab), and because He is faithful to His word that He promised to our fathers, He delivered us mightily, and redeemed us from the house of bondage!

deuteronomy 7:1-11, a chosen people

Read Deuteronomy 7:1-11 at Bible Gateway.

In the parshas before this one, we saw that YHVH, in order to help us to love Him with all that we are, and worship and serve Him only (the commandment), has instructed us to hear His Word, to take heed to His Word, to do and observe His Word, and to teach His Word to the next generation.

This parsha forms a chaistic structure:

1A Deu 7:1a - YHVH brings Israel into the Land;
  :1B Deu 7:1b-2 - YHVH delivers the seven nations to be utterly destroyed;
  :  :1C Deu 7:3-5 - preserving the worship of YHVH by abhorring the idols of the Canaanites;
  :  :  :1D Deu 7:6 - Israel is YHVH's holy people and special treasured possession;
  :  :  :  :--> X Deu 7:7-8a - YHVH set His love on Israel;
  :  :  :2D Deu 7:8b - Israel is His therefore He redeemed them from Egypt;
  :  :2C Deu 7:9 - YHVH is God;
  :2B Deu 7:10 - YHVH repays those who hate Him to their face to destroy them;
2A Deu 7:11 - Israel shall keep the commandment, statutes and judgments of YHVH.

The A pairs show that just as YHVH is keeping something, Israel is to keep something. YHVH is keeping His promise to bring Israel into the Land. Now Israel is to keep their covenant with YHVH, which is expressed by obedience to the commandment, and to the statutes and judgments.

The B pairs show that because it is the seven nations of the Canaanites who are to be utterly destroyed, and YHVH destroys those utterly who hate Him, then it is revealed that the seven nations of the Canaanites hated YHVH. Their wickedness in their idolatry was greater than the idolatry of the other nations, who were idol worshippers out of ignorance. But the Canaanites were idol worshippers out of active hatred for YHVH.

The C pairs show first of all, how Israel is to abhor the idolatry of the Canaanites and to preserve the pure worship of YHVH (for YHVH is our Elohiym, and He alone is God, vs. 9): remove every trace of their idolatry from the Land, and moreover do not mix with them! YHVH's emphasis in the C pairs is on the future generations of Israelites - that they come from marriages and thus households where YHVH alone is God. He is not looking for a racially pure people, but a spiritually pure people of single heartedness!

Then, if Israel will keep covenant with YHVH, by purifying the Land, and keeping themselves from idolatry and not mixing through intermarriage, YHVH will also keep covenant with Israel, by showing His mercy and faithfulness to a thousand generations of Israelites!

The D pairs reveal that because we are the special treasured possession of YHVH, He has redeemed us from the hand of Pharaoh and delivered us from Egypt. We are His because of our fathers, and YHVH is faithful to the Word He promised to our fathers.

YHVH chose us to be His. Chosen is in Hebrew bachar, rjb, bet, chet, resh, Strong's H977. There is a two letter root that this primitive root comes from, and that is bach, jb, bet chet, meaning to slaughter as a verb, or knife, as a concrete object. The bet is the house, the chet is the fence, outside, to divide or half. Slaughtering an animal was a task performed outside the house. The resh, the head of a man, adds the meaning of slaughtering that which is chiefest or choicest, and so bachar is the sacrifice, the firstfruits in its concrete meaning; but an examination to determine the choicest, thus to choose, in its verbal meaning.

A special treasure is segullah in Hebrew, hlgs, Strong's H5459, from the primitive root segul, lgs, samech, gimel, lamed. In the ancient Hebrew pictographs, the samech is the thorn, so also, pierce, grab hold, and even shield, as thorn bushes were used to fence in the flock in at night to keep them from predators. The gimel is the foot, so also to walk, carry, and even gather, as men walked to an appointed place from all around in order to gather together. The lamed is the shepherd's staff, his tool of authority by which he both guided and protected the sheep, so often to or toward, as the direction of guidance. The lamed can also mean teach, as the father or the patriarch (the one with authority) was the teacher; and yoke, as a staff that is placed across the shoulders; and even bind, as the yoke or staff is bound to the animal.

The mountain top meaning of segul, then, is that which has been gathered is bound up, then placed behind a protective shield. In its verb form, this word means to shut up; in its concrete form, this word means a jewel or precious stone. To YHVH, we are a special treasure (segullah) above all the peoples on the face of the earth.

The central axis of the parsha reveals that YHVH loves us. He set His love upon us, or in Hebrew, He desired us greatly, chashaq, q?j, because He loves us. In fact. He loves us with 1 Cor 13:4-7 love, for the Septuagint translators translated this passage with agape, the same word Paul uses in 1 Cor 13. The Hebrew word is ahab, bha. Ahab is strong love which reveals the heart of the father for his children.

This parsha reveals YHVH's love for us; He first loved us, and delivered us and redeemed us and made us His own special treasure. Now because we are thus set apart, in His heart and on this earth, we respond in love for YHVH, expressed by pure and unadulterated worship, and obedience to His commandments. We love Him because He first loved us (1 Joh 4:19), and we express that love through obedience (Joh 14:15). The theme of this parsha is the love- covenant keeping (or obedience) dynamic.

parashah ki tiqrav (when you approach), deuteronomy 20:10 - 21:9

We study the Torah according to the triennial cycle every Sabbath. (Why?)

We must understand the paragraph divisions in Torah, which are inspired by the Spirit and preserved by Moses and the Jewish scribes (but discarded by the English translators), are key to help us understand what God is trying to tell us. He wants to be understood, and has provided these helps to aid us! We must also understand how the Spirit teaches through Torah by common theme.

Today is the 146th Sabbath of the triennial cycle: parashah (Torah portion) Ki Tiqrav /When you approach, Deu 20:10 - 21:9. Read Deu 20:10 - 21:9 at Bible Gateway, or Deu 20 and 21 from the Hebrew Bible in English.

Deu 20:10-18 ends with a parsha stumah, a weak paragraph division. The theme of this parsha is do not commit murder against enemies.
Deu 20:19-20 ends with a parsha p'tuchah, a strong paragraph division. The theme of this parsha is do not commit murder against enemies.
Deu 21:1-9 ends with a stumah. The theme of this parsha is atonement for unsolved bloodguiltiness.

This parashah continues the explanation of the 6th commandment, Do not commit murder, which was begun in last week's parashah Karath /Cut off, Deu 19:1 - 20:9.

Deu 20:10-18 continues the explanation begun last time on what does and does not constitute murder during warfare.

1. For the enemy city which accepts peace, the lives of every citizen are to be spared. If anyone is slain with the sword, then the Israelite has committed murder.


2. For the enemy city which does not accept peace, the lives of the women and children are to be spared, and the men are to be slain. It is not murder in this case to slay the men, but if a woman or child is slain, then the Israelite has committed murder.


3. The enemy cities of the seven nations of the Canaanites are not to be spared under any circumstance, man, woman, or child. It is not murder to destroy them, because the wickedness of their idolatry has called down judgment upon them.

The theme of this parsha is do not commit murder against enemies.

Deu 20:10-20 continues the explanation of what does and does not constitute murder during warfare. Trees which are used for food, if they are cut down, induces famine, which would bring death upon a district; thus, cutting down food trees during warfare constitutes murder. The theme of this parsha is do not commit murder against enemies.

This parsha ends with a p'tuchah and thus the strong paragraph begun in Deu 19:11. Every parsha in this section explains what constitutes murder in specific cases.

Deu 21:1-9 leaves the topic of warfare, but explains blood guilt in the case of an unsolved murder. This parsha forms a chiastic structure:

1A Deu 21:1 bloodguiltiness discovered;
  1B Deu 21:2 the responsibility of the elders and judges;
    1C Deu 21:3-4 the heifer and the valley that has not been worked;
      CENTRAL AXIS Deu 21:5 YHVH has chosen the sons of Levi to settle the innocence and guiltiness of every controversy and assault;
    2C Deu 21:6 the heifer and the valley that has not been worked;
  2B Deu 21:7-8a the responsibility of the elders and judges;
2A Deu 21:8b-9 bloodguiltiness put away.

The theme of this parsha is atonement for unsolved bloodguiltiness.

The theme of parashah Ki Tiqrav is avoiding bloodguiltiness (do not murder).

mark 6

Read Mark 6 at Bible Gateway.

“Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?" So they were offended at Him.” Mar 6:3

We learned the other day (in Mark 4) that not everyone will receive Jesus - that some, who see the same miracles that everyone else sees, and yet will not perceive, and who hear the same words of truth that everyone else hears, and yet will not understand -- they will not let the fact of those miracles and that truth teach them about who it MUST be who is doing them. If unclean spirits are being cast out, and people are being healed, and the dead are being raised, and the winds and the waves obey Him, then WHO IS IT who is doing these things? It must be the Creator and Ruler of heaven and earth, because NO ONE ELSE has authority over not only the natural world, but the spiritual world, as well as life and death. Then it must be that YHVH has come in the flesh!

Because they will not perceive and not understand, they will not stop going away from His house, and turn around and start going toward His house again (repent) so that their sins will be forgiven them. Today we see that men of His hometown became offended at Him, but why? Because He was of humble origins, but He was greater than they. The excellence of His ministry outshone them, so instead of receiving Him, they took offense at Him, and rejected Him.

Can we see how the enemy will use our pride in our own accomplishments or our pride in our own value as a human being to prevent us from receiving GOOD from the hand of the Lord? Everywhere Jesus went, He taught with wisdom, He healed the sick and He cast out demons - He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil (Act 10:38). And today we learn He also fed people and met their need for daily bread. All He did, was GOOD, and all He gave, was of BENEFIT. And yet because they were offended at His goodness, they refused to receive that which was good for themselves.

But the enemy will use whatever tool he can to cause men to stumble over Jesus so that they will reject Him. The enemy hates God, and he hates us because we are beloved of God, therefore whatever he can do that will harm us, he will do. And pride, and taking offense, are his fruits; while humility, teachableness, and receiving good from the hand of the Lord (which we all do, even athiests, Mat 5:45) are the Lord's fruits.

“For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.” Mar 6:52

Here we see that a hard heart contributes to seeing and hearing, but not perceiving or understanding. Before we go on to fixing the problem of a hard heart, let's just note who it was who was taking offense at Him and whose hearts were hardened so that they could not perceive or understand. It was the Sabbath go to synagogue folks. It was His own twelve disciples. None of us are above offense or hardness, so we need to take heed of ourselves and watch out!

“But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.” “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?” And they said, “Seven.” So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?” Mar 8:17-21

Jesus affirms that it is hardness of heart that causes a person to have eyes and yet not see and perceive, and to have ears and yet not hear and understand.

There is a remedy for a hard heart. In the Scriptures, the heart is often compared to ground in which seed is sown:

“And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.” Mar 4:13-15

Now hard ground cannot be sown with seed, because nothing will grow in it. The soil is hard, and the roots of the sprouting seed cannot penetrate it to get nutrients. In order to prepare the ground for seed, first the husbandman needs to break up the hard ground, like rototilling the garden. Then if the ground is watered regularly after that, so that it remains soft, it will receive seed and a harvest will be possible from it.

“Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.” Hos 10:12

Here the Scriptures reveal to us that if the ground of our hearts is hard, we can break it up by seeking the Lord, and when we do that, He will rain on our hearts so that they remain soft - not a rain of water, but of righteousness!

How does one seek the Lord? First of all, pray! He hears prayers! A simple acknowledgement that Lord, I know You are there, and I know my heart is hard, and I don't want it to be; I want to seek You but don't know how or where to look, will You help me? is a good starting place! Then keep praying, every day!

Jesus taught His disciples, when they asked Him to teach them to pray, to pray this way:

“Our Father in heaven, Holy is Your name. May Your kingdom come. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Please give us this day our daily bread. Please forgive my sins, as I forgive the sins others have sinned against me. Do not let me be tempted, but deliver me from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.” Mat 6:9-13

I pray this way every day, even though I have been a disciple for 44 years. I pray this way because Jesus is smarter than I am, and out of all the ways He could have chosen to answer that question, He chose to answer it with this simple prayer -- I assume because that is the best prayer a disciple can pray!

And in order to seek the Lord, I would read the Scriptures, every day. They are His words breathed by His Spirit to mankind, and they will tell us true things about Himself and about ourselves! I would start with Genesis, not John. John is just about the hardest book of the Bible to understand, and knowing who God is and what He has previously said as revealed in the Old Testament helps to understand it. Genesis reveals who the Lord is and who we are and what we have to do with each other! The entire theology of the whole Bible is revealed in this book of beginnings!

There is one other person who wants our hearts to be soft, and not hard; who wants us to see AND perceive, and hear AND understand, more than we ourselves do - and that is God! He will help all those who ask Him for help!

mark 5

Read Mark 5 at Bible Gateway.

In this chapter we are presented with three pictures of healing. The first is the demon- possessed man. The key to understand his healing, is the phrase, “they ... saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind,” (vs. 15). Before, he had been a wild man, not able to live in society, preferring to live with the dead, and wailing and cutting on himself. But when he was delivered of the demons, he was calm and in his right mind. He experienced a healing of the mind.

Not all mental illness is caused by demon possession. But demon possession often manifests itself as a mental illness. This is because the weapon for destruction which Satan wields is lies (Joh 8:44, 10:10). Lies which are received and believed in the mind, cause torment. And torment drives a person to destructiveness. It is my belief that demon possession is still alive and well in our day and age, even in first world countries like the U.S. It often manifests itself as mental illness. (But go back and read the first sentence of this paragraph: NOT ALL MENTAL ILLNESS IS CAUSED BY DEMON POSSESSION.) Have you ever met a troubled teen who cuts on himself? What is causing his trouble, is the lies which bring torment that he is being lied to, by an evil intelligent speaker (demon) who is speaking them to his mind.

Demons try to attack every believer, and every person, really, especially if some lie finds a place to dwell in someone's heart. I believe that belief in the lie is the open door that lets that demon attach itself to that person. Once they gain entrance, they stay, unless they are specifically driven out by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. A person can receive the lie and the demon speaking that lie, and then later in life receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, and still be tormented by that lie and the demon speaking that lie, if that lie has not been demolished by belief in the truth that countermands it (Joh 8:32).

As far as whether the demon is within the person or without the person, merely oppressing him with lies, I don't know all that. All I know is that torment is torment, whereever it is coming from, and as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit within us, to cast out demons (Mar 16:17-18). They must bow their knee at the name of Jesus, and leave (Phi 2:9-11), just as the demons did when Jesus commanded them to depart from the man.

The second healing is the healing of the physical body of the woman with the issue of blood. Jesus makes it clear that it was her faith that healed her, yet the story tells of power which Jesus felt which went out from Him. I believe that our faith works like flipping a light switch to the “on” position, to activate the power that is always there. That is the mechanism the Scriptures describe.

What about those people who believe God for healing and they never get it? Didn't they have faith? This question is the reason some people have decided that miracles passed away with the apostles or that faith is not the mechanism that activates the power of God. James says that God gives to all who ask liberally and without reproach, but let us ask in faith with no doubting, for he who doubts is double- minded, who will not receive anything from the Lord (Jam 1:5-8). There is a remedy for double- mindedness (Jam 4:8)! But denying that this is our problem because it puts the reason we have not received on us instead of on God, is not it!

I believe that the vast majority of the time, faith is the issue if we have not received from God, but there are others. Sometimes illness is a consequence of our choices, thus we might not be unwell if we had believed God's Word from the beginning and obeyed it (for example, heart disease resulting from coveting unhealthy foods). Sometimes it is so that God can show forth His glory at the right time (Joh 9:1-5), and sometimes, God allows us affliction in this life for wisdom He alone knows (Job, 2 Cor 12:7-10). If we ask God to show us why we have not received the healing we are praying for, He will! He will show us the honest reason, if we are willing to hear it. But we can rest assured that all that He does and does not do, He does because He loves us perfectly and knows what is best for us.

The third healing is, I believe, a spiritual healing, because the body of the little girl was dead and her spirit was departed. When Jesus raised the little girl to life, He had to do more than just heal her physical body, because death had already come. He had to swallow up death with life, which is what happens to us when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior and our spirits are reborn! He had to recall her spirit from Sheol!

There is so much more that we could say about these healings, but suffice it for now that Jesus has the ability to heal every part of our person, spirit, soul (mind) and body, and not only the ability, but the desire to do so! Thank you Lord!

mark 4

Read Mark 4 at Bible Gateway.

“And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that ‘SEEING THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND HEARING THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND; LEST THEY SHOULD TURN, AND THEIR SINS BE FORGIVEN THEM.’ ” Mar 4:9-12

Turn is the Hebrew word shuv, Strong's H7725, shin vav bet. In the ancient Hebrew pictographs, the shin is the two front teeth, and has the meaning of sharp, pressing, eating, two, or possibly, again (a second time). The vav is the tent peg, and means to secure, hook, or add. The bet is the house, so also, household or family. The parent from which this word is derived means to turn; so the mountain top meaning of shuv is to press in securely to the house, or to again secure oneself to the house. Shuv is the root of teshuvah, which is repentance.

The thing that stood out to me, is that anyone who turns around from the direction they are going, and begins to press in toward the house they have left, will be forgiven their sins. The house we have left, is God's house, because history began with Father God, a beautiful garden, and the two children He had made to dwell with Him forever - to be a part of His household.

Now why then is the message of Jesus only for those who have ears to hear? Why is it only for those who see and perceive, or who hear and understand? Jesus was quoting a passage from the Old Testament, in which Isaiah saw a vision of YHVH, Creator of heaven and earth:

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.” Isa 6:1-4

Seraphim are a certain class of angel. They cover their face in the presence of YHVH, Creator of heaven and earth, because the weight of His glory is so great that it cannot be looked upon.

God allowed Isaiah to see a glimpse of Him in His majesty as He really was and is, and the picture that Isaiah paints of Him is unimaginable majesty, glory, and greatness. The Lord is greater than words can describe, but to realize that even magnificent and powerful beings like seraphim dare not look on Him because His glory is so great makes a beginning at describing it. David said that the mountains will melt like wax before Him, when His presence comes to the earth (Psa 97:5). In other words, the most enduring substance of this earth, the granite which serves as a foundation for everything else, has sense enough to recognize the greatness of His glory and majesty, and melts before Him. Angels recognize His greatness and glory. So what does mortal man do?

They have one of two responses. They can have Isaiah's response, which is:

“Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts." Isa 6:5

When we see the Lord in all His beauty and majesty, His greatness instantly throws our uncleanness into high stark relief. Isaiah saw the Lord's greatness, and perceived his own filthiness in the light of it, and grave distress at his unclean state came out of his mouth unbidden.

When he saw and his heart perceived, he turned. Because the next thing that happened was:

“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”” Isa 6:6-7

First Isaiah saw, then he perceived, and perceiving, pressed again securely toward the Lord's house (shuv), and his sin was purged.

The other response a man can have to the revelation of the Lord's greatness, is to see it with their eyes and to hear it with their ears, but because their heart is dull, it is as if their ears are heavy and their eyes shut, so that they cannot understand or perceive, that the only wise response to YHVH, Creator and Ruler of heaven and earth, is to turn - to press in again securely toward our real home, which is with the Lord forever. To be in distress over our state of uncleanness and to cry out to Him! For everyone who turns has their sins forgiven and is healed!

mark 3, what is lawful on the sabbath

Read Mark 3 at Bible Gateway.

“And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.” Mar 3:1-6

The Torah is specific about what may and may not be not be done on the Sabbath:

“Six days you shall labor (abad) and do all your work (melakah), but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work (melakah), you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.” Exo 20:9-10, see also Exo 23:12, 34:21, 35:2, Deu 5:13-14, Lev 23:3, Jer 17:22.

The Hebrew word for work is melakah (Strong's H4399) meaning “deputyship; employment (never servile) or abstract or concrete work; property as a result of labor; business, occupation, workmanship.”

In Exo 23:12, the Hebrew word for work is ma'aseh (Strong's H4639) meaning “an action or transaction; activity; product; property; act, art, business, labor, thing made, occupation, operation, workmanship, thing wrought.”

The Hebrew word for labor is abad (Strong's H5647) meaning “to work in any sense; to serve; to till; to enslave; to be or keep in bondage; to husband; to be wrought.”

From the definitions of work and labor, we can see that what is meant is one's employment by which one provides an income, whether it is as a laborer, a landowner, a businessman or merchant, or a craftsman. The work can be physical labor or mental labor (concrete or abstract work). Work includes commerce: for even if you are buying, your transaction requires someone to labor to provide you with that good or service (see also Neh 10:31, 13:15-22, Amo 8:4-6). Work also includes workmanship: so even doing what might be considered a hobby, and thus restful, such as building models or sewing, if a thing is wrought by effort, then that falls under the biblical definition of work.

Work includes bearing burdens (Jer 17:21-27), because if something is a burden, then it requires effort, exertion, to bear it. If something is not a burden, then bearing it is not work. Not everything is a burden. If we consider that God specifically banned bearing burdens on His day of Sabbath rest, which foreshadows the millennial reign of our Messiah, it gives a whole new meaning to 1 Pet 5:7, doesn't it?

Work includes preparing food, a laborious task in the old days (Exo 16:22-26). I do the food preparation on Fridays. I think it is alright to combine previously prepared ingredients together to make a dish on Sabbath (like combining veggies and dressing to make a salad), or to place a previously prepared meal in the oven to cook or reheat on Sabbath. While monitoring something that was cooking was a laborious task in the old days, today it is not work to just set the oven temp and forget about your dish.

In Torah, work also includes kindling a fire (Exo 35:3). Kindling a fire was a laborious task in the old days. Is flipping a light switch or turning on an oven kindling a fire? Because of the nature of our appliances these days, I don't think so - but that is my opinion. What about striking a match? Well, striking a match does kindle a fire, it just does so in a very non- laborious way. So while it probably isn't work as it was in the old days, I avoid striking matches on Sabbath just because my heart wants to obey the Spirit of the Torah as well as its letter. :)

So if we take all the commands on the Sabbath together, we can see that the intent of the command was to provide a day of cessation of labor, and working to provide an income or to provide for needs, so that a person could rest. Even all the extra details, such as not kindling a fire or preparing food, were included because those daily tasks were often laborious.

Now over time, the Pharisees and teachers of the Torah had built up an elaborate system of dos and don'ts for the Sabbath, which amounted to if a person did anything at all, he was breaking the Sabbath. God did not prohibit every activity, just work. But the Pharisees, because they did not understand the spirit of compassion that was behind the command to rest, prohibited almost all activity, even doing good on the Sabbath. Jesus, in healing on the Sabbath, was showing Israel that it was lawful on the Sabbath to do good and to save life. He was showing us that the true spirit behind the letter of Torah is a soft heart of compassion for our neighbors, not a hard heart which hides from self- sacrificing love in self- righteousness and religious obligation.

sabbath

lord of the sabbath, mark 2
what is lawful on the sabbath, mark 3

mark 2, lord of the sabbath

“Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?" And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” Mar 2:23-28

Although an excellent case can be made that the Pharisees' first premise was wrong, that in fact the disciples were not violating the Sabbath by plucking the heads of grain to eat, Jesus did not refute their complaint with that argument. Instead, He used an example from Scripture, when David seemed to violate Torah by eating the showbread in the Temple (Lev 24:5-9, 1 Sam 21:1-6), to show that something greater was being shown since no judgment fell upon David for this act.

Now it was not that David, as king, was immune from violations of Torah. God judged David more than once when he truly broke Torah, as he did in the matter with Uriah and Bathsheba (2 Sam 11-12), and also the census taking (1 Chr 21). But He refrained from judging him in the instance Jesus refers to. Why? It must be because Torah was not truly broken.

It is prophesied of Messiah that He will serve as king (Psa 2), prophet (Deu 18:15-19), and priest (Psa 110). He will fulfill in one person, all roles of authority designated by Torah (Deu 16:18-18:22). Some scholars believe this is why Saul was rejected from being king over Israel, because he was king, and prophet (1 Sam 10:1-13), but when he took the role of priest upon himself, he was rejected (1 Sam 13:8-14), for by that act he was assuming the mantle of Messiah.

But David is a type of Messiah. He was a shepherd who was called to shepherd God's people Israel. He delivered them from giants and the Philistines, and all their enemies. He established righteous rule from one end of the kingdom to the other. He served as king, and as prophet, for his psalms are Thus saith the Lord, and many are prophetic of the Messiah. But then when David ate the showbread, reserved only for the priests, he was not rejected. I believe Jesus brought out this point to show to the Pharisees that it was because David was foreshadowing Messiah (I.e. it is lawful for Messiah to act as priest), that he was not rejected.

Combined with the dispute over whether Sabbath was really being broken or not, Jesus paints a powerful truth. And that is, that Messiah, who is the Living Torah (the Word of God made flesh, Joh 1:14), knows how to rightly apply Torah in every situation and not be in violation of it, because His heart is right before God. Thus the Son of Man, His own Messianic title for Himself, is the Lord of the Sabbath.

We who have been raised with an anti- Torah bias, read that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, and think automatically that by that phrase He must mean that He can now disregard Sabbath at will, since He is Lord of it. But does being Lord of something mean that you can now disregard it?

The biblical principle of rulership, is to care for, protect, and bless what is under your authority. To uphold what is under your authority! It is man's way of thinking that says that a ruler disregards what is under him; in God's way of thinking, a ruler upholds what is under him. We see this is the case, in that God Himself obeys His own Torah! His Torah is His Word, and His Word is Himself, breathed from His Spirit, and He cannot be faithless to Himself (Rom 3:4).

Jesus lived this understanding that to be Lord of something means to uphold it. For He fulfilled Torah perfectly, not transgressing it in any point, while He lived on earth. He did not break Torah cavalierly because He was Lord of it, showing that the sense of being Lord of it could not be to disregard it.

Jesus also taught us something important about Sabbath observance here: Sabbath is was made to serve man. Man was not made to be enslaved by Sabbath. So let's be clear: this understanding is not license to disregard Sabbath. Sabbath is God's holiest of moedim (appointed times or feast days), and He commanded us not to pursue our livings on this day, so that we could rest and have a day to worship and serve Him. Obviously, plucking a few heads of grain because you are hungry, on Sabbath, is not the same as harvesting your grain for your livelihood on Sabbath. So let us honor the Sabbath day, because we honor the Lord whose day it is, without being wrongly enslaved to it as the Pharisees were.