This week in our Sabbath class Judah told Jacob that he would be surety for his brother Benjamin. What is surety? Can it be used for both good as well as bad? Here is what Judah said to Jacob.
Surety Can Be Good
I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. (Gen 43:9)
We will see next week that when Joseph wants to make Benjamin his servant forever that Judah will say that he will take his place so that Benjamin can return to his father.
In Psalms David asks Yehovah to be surety for him for good. He says,
Do not be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge, one of those who is surety for debts; if you have nothing with which to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you? (Pro 22:26-27)
Or Surety Can Be Very Bad
My son, if you become surety for your friend, If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, you are snared by the words of your mouth; you are taken by the words of your mouth. So do this, my son, and deliver yourself. For you have come into the hand of your friend. Go and humble yourself; plead with your friend. Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids. Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, And like a bird from the hand of the fowler. (Pro_6:1-5)
This is such an important subject, which we just touched on in our class this week, that I included two articles about surety in my Coming Out Of Babylon Series. The 1st on is called “You Are Surety for YOURSELF,” and the 2nd on is called “Deliver Yourself.” I hope you will read them and not continue in the bondage that most live in.
For more teachings like this one (beginning at Genesis 1), visit our Join Us for Sabbath page.
Please Contact Michael to help support his work in building Yehovah’s kingdom on the earth.
Providence Ministries is NOT incorporated with any kingdom of this world. Providence Ministries is an affiliate of the Director of Ecclesiastical Enterprises, a Washington State acknowledged corporation sole of the ecclesia on file with the Secretary of the State. This charitable ministry is not for profit and maintains its nontaxable status consistent with 26 USC 508(c)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to 501 (c)(3) organizations special rules as a “mandatory exception.â€
There is only one place in the Tanach that says “pray for Jerusalem’s peace.” It does not say “pray for Israel’s peace,” is says “pray for Jerusalem’s peace.” It was written by King David and it can be found in the Psalms.
Pray for Jerusalem’s peace; may those who love you prosper. May shalom be within your ramparts, prosperity in your palaces. (Psa 122:6-7)
We will see here that Ye·ru’-sha·lem’ is not a place, Ye·ru’-sha·lem’ is a people; those spiritually born men who lead all within their gates peacefully and have Yehovah dwelling in the midst.
In our Sabbath class today we only covered the first eighteen verses of Genesis 14. In this portion Abram’s nephew Lot (and all belonging to him) “the women” and “the people” are taken by 800,000 men led by 4 kings who came from Babylon; one of whom is Nimrod (a.k.a. Amraphel). When Abram, the Hebrew, hears what happened, he gathers “318 young men who were born in his household” and recovers Lot, his wives and all belonging to him.
But this portion REALLY gets interesting in verse 18. In my NKJV it reads like this.
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. (Gen 14:18)
In reality mel·chi’-ze·dek’ [ומלכי צדק, pronounced mel·kee’-ze·deek’] is a compound word meaning “king of the righteous” or “righteous’ king.”
Ultimately, while I really like WordStudy, even it is written by men who have never left the kingdom of their birth and have become wholly Yehovah’s men, those who dwell in heaven. So it is hard for men of the flesh to gain spiritual understandings.
Sha·lem’ is another word for Ye·ru’-sha·lem’. It is only used twice in the Tanach.
Then Melchizedek, king of Sha·lem’, brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of El Most High. (Gen 14:18)
At this point “Jerusalem” did not even exist; it was called Jebus or Jevus; the home of the Jubusites.
In Sha·lem’ also is His tabernacle, and His dwelling place in Zion. (Psa 76:2)
We will see that Yehovah dwells in the midst of Ye·ru’-sha·lem’, those who “shall lead peacefully.”
The Sha·lem’ are a people (men) at peace with Yehovah. The Sha·lem’ are the “contented ones” who have restored Yehovah’s image in their life, His ezrach men.
The mel·chi’-ze·dek’ is the one who taught Abram all that he knows about Yehovah. First it was Noah and now it is Shem; later the mel·chi’-ze·dek’ will be Abraham. And all those who will carry the rod of Elohim. So it was out of gratitude for the understandings which Abram received from Shem, that he gave a tithe of the booty which he took from the 800,000 men whom he killed.
Here is what Yasher says about this encounter between Abram and his “king”, or in this case, “master.”
Yasher 14:11 And a·do·ni’-ze·dek’ [righteous’ master] king of Ye·ru’-sha·lem’ [those who “shall lead peacefully], the same was Shem, went out with his men to meet Abram and his people, with bread and wine, and they remained together in the valley of Melech.
12 And a·do·ni’-ze·dek’ blessed Abram, and Abram gave him a tenth from all that he had brought from the spoil of his enemies, for a·do·ni’-ze·dek’ was a priest before Elohim.
The mel·chi’-ze·dek’ and the a·do·ni’-ze·dek’ are one in the same.
And the Sha·lem’ and Ye·ru’-sha·lem’ are also synonyms.
But where is the “city where the mel·chi’-ze·dek’ / a·do·ni’-ze·dek’ is priest and king?
This city is NOT a city made of brick and mortar, it is a holy, a spiritual city in which Yehovah dwells in the hearts of his spiritually born seed, Ye·ru’-sha·lem’, those who lead all within their gates peacefully.
Could Ye·ru’-sha·lem’ be the place where the “Resh” (those who lead their women, children, servants and their Ger peacefully in each of their gates) dwell?
The prefixי (yud) and the suffix ו (vav) form a verb conjugation which forms an imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, plural; a conjugation which says, “they shall …” the word (in this case the Hebrew picture) they modify is the ר (resh).
[Note: Here is a Hebrew verb conjugation chart that you must have in your files if you want to learn to decode Hebrew verbs. Hebrew Verb Tenses]
Look what Jeff Benner says about the resh in his Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible.
The Ancient picture for this letter is resh, the head of a man. This letter has the meanings of head or man as well as chief, top, beginning or first. (AHLB)
I think “they shall lead peacefully” is better than “teaching of peace.” The kingdoms of this world rule by force and intimidation. But in Yehovah’s kingdom no one is forcing or tricking anyone into joining Him; all who join themselves (and their families) to Yehovah and His Ye·ru’-sha·lem’, must do so voluntarily.
BUT NOW, look what Joshua 10 says about another “a·do·ni’-ze·dek’.”
This is the 1st time that the name “Jerusalem” is used in the Tanach, and the place most people think of today as His “holy city” does not yet exist.
This supposed a·do·ni’-ze·dek’ is 500+ years after Abram meets with the true a·do·ni’-ze·dek’, and the physical city of “Jerusalem” is still called Jebus.
The world thinks “Jerusalem” is Yehovah’s city, but they fail to understand who the real Ye·ru’-sha·lem’ (his Ezrach men who lead everyone in each of their gates peacefully) actually is.
Read Joshua 10 and you will see a false “master of the righteous”, the supposed “king of Jerusalem” come against Yehovah’s host, the men who are led by Joshua, as they claim Canaan for Yehovah’s kingdom. I will encourage you to read this whole chapter, as we did in our class, with eyes that see what I am teaching here.
All of this chapter is a shadow picture of what is going to happen in the last days also. Yehovah is even now raising up Ye·ru’-sha·lem’, His Ezrach men, all over the earth, who will battle with supposedly righteous men who have never dwelt with Yehovah in their midst.
Pray for Jerusalem’s peace
Now look at how Ye·ru’-sha·lem’ is often used in the scriptures.
Break forth into joy, sing together you waste places of Ye·ru’-sha·lem’! For Yehovah has comforted His people, He has redeemed Ye·ru’-sha·lem’. (Isa 52:9)
“Ye·ru’-sha·lem’,” “Zi·on’,” “Israel,” “the holy city,” ” the Ezrach,” “Israel’s seed,” “His people,” and more, all refer to the same group of spiritually born men.
For they call themselves after the holy city, and lean on the Elohim of Israel; Yehovah of hosts is His name: (Isa 48:2)
And they shall call them the holy people, the redeemed of Yehovah; and you shall be called sought out, a city not forsaken. (Isa 62:12)
O Zi·on’, You who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your Elohim!” (Isa 40:9)
Also the sons of those who afflicted you shall come bowing to you, and all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet; and they shall call you “The City of Yehovah“, “Zi·on’ of the Holy One of Israel“. (Isa 60:14)
His foundation is in the holy mountains. Yehovah loves the gates of Zi·on’ More than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God! Selah
“I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those who know Me; Behold, O Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia: ‘This one was born there.’ ”
And of Zi·on’ it will be said, “This one, and that one, were born in her; And the Most High Himself shall establish her.” Yehovah will record, when He registers the peoples: “This one was born there.” (Psa 87:1-7)
Abraham waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is Elohim. (Heb 11:10)
For more teachings like this one (beginning at Genesis 1), visit our Join Us for Sabbath page.
Please Contact Michael to help support his work in building Yehovah’s kingdom on the earth.
Providence Ministries is NOT incorporated with any kingdom of this world. Providence Ministries is an affiliate of the Director of Ecclesiastical Enterprises, a Washington State acknowledged corporation sole of the ecclesia on file with the Secretary of the State. This charitable ministry is not for profit and maintains its nontaxable status consistent with 26 USC 508(c)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to 501 (c)(3) organizations special rules as a “mandatory exception.â€
We finished Genesis 12 and Yasher 13 this week in our Sabbath class; and as we have seen all along, it is the Yasher (upright) men of Yehovah who taught ‘ha·a·dam’ seed (men), just like Abram taught men to know and follow only Yehovah. A man of Elohim teaches women, if they teach them at all, to follow only their man.
Abram is only mentioned once in Torah before he leaves Haran for Canaan, for what seems to be the 1st time. Here is the fist time he is mentioned, at the end of Genesis 11.
And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s woman, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. (Gen 11:31)
In my mind, before I read Yasher, I saw 3 men and 1 woman (Torah does not even mention Nahor and his woman Milcah) leaving Ur with Terah.
The second time Abram is mentioned is when he leaves Haran for Canaan with Sarai and Lot and the people whomthey had acquired in Haran. They? Who is they? And why does it not say “he”? Is it possible that Lot “went with” Abram, but he really did not “follow” Abram at that time?
So Abram departed as Yehovah had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his woman and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. (Gen 12:4-5)
It is just 3 years later (Abram is 78) that Lot (and his family) were taken captive by the 4 kings (Nimrod/Amraphel was one of them) who came out of the north with 800,000 men;Â and Abram rallied “318 trained young men who were born in his own house” to kill 799,996 of those men.
Now when Abram heard that his brother [kindred] was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained young men who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. (Gen 14:14)
318 young men born in his own house? And these are just the trained ones? Where did they all come from? And how can so few destroy so many? That is 2,516/1 odds. Yikes!
The answer to these questions is found in the book of Yasher; it gives us the rest of the story and makes sense out of Torah.
Abram Taught Men To Serve Yehovah
Abram lived in the home of Noah for 39 years. When he was 50 he left there and went back to see his father (Terah), who was the head of Nimrod’s host for over 50 years in Babylon. At his father’s house he broke all his idols and was brought before Nimrod and then thrown into Nimrod’s fiery furnace with his brother Haran (a “fence-sitter,” just like so many men today). Haran died, but Abram walked in the fire for 3 days in the sight of almost a million men, all the people of the land. The ladies and children watched from a distance.
Afterword Abram received great honor and riches from Nimrod, and 300 men (with their families) became Abram’s servants.
Yasher 12:41 And Abram went forth from the king in peace, and many of the king’s servants followed him, and about three hundred men joined him. 42 And Abram returned on that day and went to his father’s house, he and the men that followed him, and Abram served Yehovah, his Elohim [not Nimrod] all the days of his life, and he walked in His ways and followed His law. 43 And from that day forward Abram inclined the hearts of ‘ha·a·dam’ seed to serve Yehovah.
Two years later Terah, Abram, Lot and their women and their servants left Ur for Canaan, but only came as far as Haran. To my surprise, Nahor and Milcah did not go with them at that time; they must have been still dwelling in Babylon.
Yasher 13:1 And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s woman, and all the souls of his household and went with them from Ur Casdim to go to the land of Canaan. And when they came as far as the land of Haran they remained there, for it was exceedingly good land for pasture, and of sufficient extent for those who accompanied them.
Please remember that Terah was a VERY wealthy man with many servants, and so were his sons (Haran and Nahor). When Haran died Lot would have inherited all that Haran had (including all his servants). I would guess, that when these men left Ur, that there were well over 400 men (many with families) who went with them. Abram is only 52 at this point.
When they reached Haran some (no number given) of the people of that land (men) joined themselves to Abram in the next 3 years.
Yasher 13:2 And the people of the land of Haran saw that Abram was good and upright with Elohim and men, and that Yehovah, his Elohim was with him, and some of the people of the land of Haran came and joined Abram, and he taught them the instruction of Yehovah and His ways; and these men remained with Abram in his house and they adhered to him.
Abram remained in Haran for 3 years before he left for Canaan the 1st time at 55, and he remained in Canaan for 15 years. How many men were born within his gates while he was in Babylon for 2 years, Haran for 3 years, Canaan for 15 years and now in Haran for the next 5 years?
At 70 Abram returned to his father and mother in Haran for 5 years. During that time 72 more men (with their families) joined Abram.
Yasher 13:20 At that time Abram returned and went to Haran to see his father and mother, and his father’s household, and Abram and his woman and all belonging to him returned to Haran, and Abram dwelt in Haran five years. 21 And many of the people of Haran, about seventy-two men, followed Abram and Abram taught them the instruction of Yehovah and his ways, and he taught them to know Yehovah.
When we pick up the story of Abram leaving Haran at 75 in Genesis 12, this time with Lot, we can finally begin to understand that Abram’s gates, a mobile tent city, was in excess of 1000 souls (nephesh) and perhaps as many as 600 men.
So now, “318 trained men born in Abram’s own house” begins to make more sense. All of these men, who have all left the kingdoms of their birth and joined Abram, are now spiritual men under Abram’s authority and dwelling in Yehovah’s kingdom on earth. And as Yehovah promised Abram…
I will bless those who bless thee, and I will curse him who curses thee; and in thee all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen 12:3)
The 800,000 men, ‘ha·a·Dam’s’ seed, a.k.a. belial’s seed who took Lot and his family, never had a chance! And that is exactly how it will be when Yehovah raises up His spiritual men, all over the earth, in the latter days.
Please join me as we go through these chapters together.
For more teachings like this one (beginning at Genesis 1), visit our Join Us for Sabbath page.
Please Contact Michael to help support his work in building Yehovah’s kingdom on the earth.
Providence Ministries is NOT incorporated with any kingdom of this world. Providence Ministries is an affiliate of the Director of Ecclesiastical Enterprises, a Washington State acknowledged corporation sole of the ecclesia on file with the Secretary of the State. This charitable ministry is not for profit and maintains its nontaxable status consistent with 26 USC 508(c)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to 501 (c)(3) organizations special rules as a “mandatory exception.â€
It was while I was studying for this week’s Sabbath class on Genesis 5 and its corresponding material in the book of Yasher that I came upon the phrase “the sons of men” which piqued my interest. It was used 5 times in 4 verses.
Yasher 2:1 And it was in the hundred and thirtieth year of the life of Adam upon the earth, that he again knew Eve his woman, and she conceived and bare a son in his likeness and in his image, and she called his name Seth, saying, because Elohim has appointed me another seed in the place of Abel, for Cain has slain him. 2 And Seth lived one hundred and five years, and he begat a son; and Seth called the name of his son Enosh, saying, because in that time the sons of men began to multiply, and to afflict their souls and hearts by transgressing and rebelling against Elohim [the only true lawmaker and judge]. 3 And it was in the days of Enosh that the sons of men continued to rebel and transgress against Elohim, to increase the anger of Yehovah against the sons of men. 4 And the sons of menwent and they served other elohim, and they forgot Yehovah who had created them in the earth: and in those days the sons of menmade images of brass and iron, wood and stone, and they bowed down and served them. 5 And every manmade his elohim and bowed down to it, and the sons of men forsook Yehovah all the days of Enosh and his sons; and the anger of Yehovah was kindled on account of their works and abominations which they did in the earth.
Who are these people who are forsaking Yehovah and choosing new elohim (lawmakers and judges) and then, and even worse, making idols and serving them.
That is a violation of both the first and the second commandments, Yehovah’s basic instructions!
“I am Yehovah, thy Elohim, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shall have no other elohim existing before My face.” (Exo 20:2-3)
“Thou shall not make for thyself a carved image”any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, Yehovah thy Elohim, am a jealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. (Exo 20:4-6)
I knew I had seen this phrase many times and decided it would be worthwhile to find out where; this same phrase is used only once in Torah and many times in the tanach.
But Yehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men [be·ni’ ha·a·dam’] had built. (Gen 11:5)
Oh my – be·ni’ ha·a·dam’ is not “the sons of men” it is “‘the man’s’ seed“! And that man is the one whom I wrote about several weeks ago “who became the first of his kind,” AFTER his fall. It was this man who could not be permitted access to the tree of life because he had become a creation that Yehovah never intended.
Remember: Ha·a·dam’ was created in Yehovah’s likeness and His image; he was Yehovah’s seed which had glory, and honor and immortality. But because of his actions, he became enosh – mortal man. He died a spiritual death that day, and probably did not even know it. And now, instead of being Yehovah’s seed, His kind, he became belial’s seed. And, as we saw in verse 1 above, this new kind of man is now producing other men, other seed, in his image and his likeness (not Yehovah’s)!
But Enosh’s first-born son, Cainan, began to turn “the sons of men” to the “service of Elohim.”
Yasher 2:12 And Cainan knew by his wisdom that Elohim would destroy the sons of men for having sinned upon earth [nothing has changed], and that Yehovah would, in the latter days [the latter days of the antediluvian world] bring upon them the waters of the flood. 13 And in those days Cainan wrote upon tablets of stone, what was to take place in time to come, and he put them in his treasures. 14 And Cainan reigned over the whole earth, and he turned some of the sons of men to the service of God.
Oh, so cool! Cainan treasured the word of The Elohim and turned some of the sons of men (ha·a·dam’ seed) to Yehovah’s service! Now compare this last verse (14) with what I found in Psalms.
… Help, Yehovah, for the god kind [חסיד, khaw·seed’] ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men [a·dam’ be·ni/seed]. (Psa 12:1)
Both of these verses contrast those involved with Yehovah’s service with “the sons of men.” These two groups of men are diametrically opposed to one another.
I love this word khaw·seed‘. Ha·a·dam’ was created in the image and likeness of Elohim; he was Elohim kind. But after the fall all males, you and I, are born as belial kind (wicked kind who serve other elohim).
But here is the good news of the kingdom; we, belial kind can once again become Elohim kind and once again be transformed into Yehovah’s created image and likeness which has all the glory and honor and Immortality that we were made to walk in.
This covenant, which is cut through slaughter, only happens once a year, and is referring to the Passover slaughter; it is the time that the Gercan become the Ezrach, Elohim kind.
Well, we will talk about this more in my video teaching below. Please join me as I go through this week’s material.
For more teachings like this one (beginning at Genesis 1), visit our Join Us for Sabbath page.
Please Contact Michael to help support his work in building Yehovah’s kingdom on the earth.
Providence Ministries is NOT incorporated with any kingdom of this world. Providence Ministries is an affiliate of the Director of Ecclesiastical Enterprises, a Washington State acknowledged corporation sole of the ecclesia on file with the Secretary of the State. This charitable ministry is not for profit and maintains its nontaxable status consistent with 26 USC 508(c)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to 501 (c)(3) organizations special rules as a “mandatory exception.”
I have been asked many time to give my perceptions of what we can expect to happen in the last days, so here is a series of blogs that details what I see, in the scriptures, coming on the world.
This week in our Sabbath class Judah told Jacob that he would be surety for his brother Benjamin. What is surety? Can it be used for both good as well as bad? Here is what Judah said to Jacob.
