Category Archives: Lot

two witnesses, Genesis 19, Yasher 19, Revelation 11 3, angels vs messengers, two or three witnesses

Two Witnesses Mark The Beginning Of The End

Two witnesses. I have heard people talk of the two witnesses my entire life. But I am ashamed to say that these two witnesses might just as well have been called the “two Smiths.” Until this week I never realized that they are Yehovah’s eyes, the two men that He needs to confirm His judgments on a wicked people.

Two Witnesses Are Required For Any Death Sentence

 Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two witnesses, or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you. (Deu 17:6-7)

“One witness shall not rise against a man (eesh) concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses the matter shall be established. (Deu 19:15)

If we do a search for the phrase “Two Witnesses” in all of what most people call the “Bible” we will find that there is only one place that talks about two men who are called “two witnesses.” That phrase is only found in the NT commentaries in the book called “The Revelation of John.” Before this week I would have said that you will not find “two witnesses” in Torah. But I am always learning, and this week was no different.

And I will give power to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” (Rev 11:3)

Look at that! The two witnesses are called, “My Two Witnesses.” So cool, in light of what we saw today.

The Two witnesses, Are Men; Not Angels!

AND he [Abraham] saw Yehovah coming towards him, by Mamre’s strong tree, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men [enoshim, plural of eesh] were coming to him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, and said, “My Master [adoni], if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant.” (Gen 18:1-3)

Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. And he said, “Here now, my master [adoni], please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.” (Gen 19:1-2)

Angels!? I hate the use of all “religious” words that mislead men who want to  know Yehovah and His eternal and unchanging ways. The word malach or malak is often translated as angels, but they are “messengers” who are sent (shalach) by Yehovah to speak and act on His behalf. Throughout Genesis chapters 18 and 19 these supposed “angels” are called “enoshim,”  the plural form of “eesh” or “man”. The three men in chapter 18 who come to Abraham, and the two men who come to Lot in chapter 18 are known by them.

Elohim is not a eesh, that He should lie, nor a son of adam, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Num 23:19)

So Who Were These Three Men?

The answer to this question comes when we understand what a sent one, a shalach, actually is. I like to use the example of Eliezer who was sent by Abraham to find a bride for his son Isaac when describing who a shalach is. What Eliezer did was as if Abraham had done it. What Eliezer said was as if Abraham had said it. The gifts Eliezer gave were as if Abraham had given them and the decisions Eliezer made were as if Abraham had made them. Was he Abraham? No, and yes. He was his sent one, Abraham’s shalach.

For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of Yehovah, and Yehovah has sent us [shalachim, plural of shalach] to destroy it.” (Gen 19:13)

Moses too was sent by Yehovah. Listen to what Yehovah tells Moses about Aaron and then Pharaoh.

So the anger of Yehovah was kindled against Moses, and He said: “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do. So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as Elohim. (Exo_4:14-16)

So Yehovah said to Moses: “See, I have made you as Elohim to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send Israel’s seed out of his land. (Exo 7:1-2)

Who Were Yehovah’s The Two Witnesses?

I’m going to suggest to you that Abraham and Lot both knew these men. Both of them recognized them from a distance, came to them, bowed down to them and called them “my master” or “adoni.” Who would Yehovah use to represent Him on the earth at this time and who would both Abraham and Lot trust without question? There is only one man, and his name is Shem. We saw in Genesis 14 that he was the melchi-zedek (the righteous’ king) and also, as we saw in Yasher the adoni-zedek (the righteous’ master). Noah [who died when Abram was 58] and Shem raised Abraham and taught him the ways of Yehovah for 39 of his first 49 years. Would it make sense that the three men who first came to Abraham were Shem, Eber and one other? Would it make sense that both Abraham and Lot would run to them,  bow down with their faces to the ground and call him (Shem, the leader of the three) adoni (my master) when they greet him? Shem was the one who was carrying the same “Rod of Elohim” that Moses is going to carry in the future. Do Abraham and Shem greet every passerby this way?

The Two Witnesses Have To Be Men Who Are Mature In Understanding Yehovah’s Word

Only Shem and Eber fit the bill for the destruction of Sodom. But Sodom is just a shadow picture of the main event, which is the destruction of the earth for the second time. Who will Yehovah use this next time to represent Him? Men who are still thinking in terms of “the children of Israel” and don’t know who the Ezrach or the Ger (who dwell with them) are? Men who have never learned Yehovah’s created purpose for ‘the man’ and the man’s woman? Men who have never left the kingdom of their birth and who teach men to obey “the law of the land”? Or men who are still teaching others to keep a Seder, a foot-washing ceremony, or communion service instead of a real Exodus 12 celebration?

No, the two witnesses whom Yehovah will use in the future to represent Him on the earth will be Ezrach men who teach other men to leave the kingdoms of their birth and then, at Passover, come into covenant / cutting with Yehovah.

I still have much to say on this subject, but you will have to listen to the video to find out more.

Two Witnesses Mark The Beginning Of The End

2G24 Genesis 19 & Yasher 19:45-60 – The Two Witnesses
[Click here to download this audio mp3]

Copyright © 2015 Providence Ministries, All rights reserved.

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.

Abram And Lot Separate – Lot Was Not “With” Abram

Abram and lot separateGenesis 12 tells us that when Abram left Haran (at 75), that Lot went with him. But few people understand that Abram and Lot separate within that very year.

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. (Gen 12:4)

What do we know about Lot? Here is the first and second time he is mentioned in Genesis.

This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. (Gen 11:27)

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)

To understand who Lot is we must first understand who Terah and Haran are.

Terah was, until he left Babylon (via Ur), the head of Nimrod’s host for more than 50 years; and he was a very wealthy man. He bore Haran (and then Nahor) 32 years before Abram was born.

Haran was what I like to call a “fence-sitter,” neither cold or hot for Yehovah and His eternal and unchanging ways. Through a series of events which began with a sign in the heavens at the birth of Abram and concluded with Abram confronting his father (Terah), and then Nimrod himself, for encouraging ha·a·dams’s seed to worship images, both Haran (82) and Abram (50) are thrown into Nimrod’s fiery furnace. Haran was thrown in because of a lie Terah told to protect himself. You will have to read the links above to understand that story fully.

So, if Abram was 50, Lot had to be approximately 43; and the entitled son of Haran, the first-born son of Terah, the head of Nimrod’s host and the only heir of his father Haran.

We saw last time, after Nimrod called Abram out of the fiery furnace, that 200 men joined themselves to Abram and became his servants; and they and their families stayed at Terah’s house for 2 years. As Haran’s heir, Lot not only has his own home and servants, but also his father’s home and all his servants.

And now, 25 years later Abram is leaving the second time for Canaan (he has already lived there for 15 years and Haran for 8) and Lot is now going with him. Abram leaves the second time with around 1000+ people going with him (perhaps as many as 600 are men) and hundreds of sheep, goats and cattle.

But feeding this many people and animals in a drought is difficult and Abram is forced to go to Egypt. We talk about  his visit there at length in our class today.

Look at how Genesis 13 starts.

Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his woman and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. (Gen 13:1)

All that Abram had, and he had a LOT of men, servants, cattle, silver and gold; but Lot and all he had was not part of Abram’s possessions.

Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. (Gen 13:5)

Lot was “with him,” but he did not obey Abram nor learn from him.

Was there anyone who went with Abram who did not obey him? Look what Yasher says about Lot.

Jasher 15:35 And Lot the son of Haran, Abram’s brother, had a heavy stock of cattle, flocks and herds and tents, for Yehovah was bountiful to him on account of Abram.
36 And when Abram was dwelling in the land the herdsmen of Lot quarreled with the herdsmen of Abram, for their property was too great for them to remain together in the land, and the land could not bear them on account of their cattle.
37 And when Abram’s herdsmen went to feed their flock they would not go into the fields of the people of the land, but the cattle of Lot’s herdsmen did otherwise, for they were suffered to feed in the fields of the people of the land [we will see that the “people of the land” are all men, Canaan’s seed].
38 And the people of the land saw this occurrence daily, and they came to Abram and quarreled with him on account of Lot’s herdsmen.
39 And Abram said to Lot, What is this thou art doing to me, to make me despicable to the inhabitants of the land, that thou orders thy herdsman to feed thy cattle in the fields of other people? Dost thou not know that I am a stranger in this land among Canaan’s seed, and why wilt thou do this unto me?
40 And Abram quarreled daily with Lot on account of this, but Lot would not listen to Abram, and he continued to do the same, and the inhabitants of the land came and told Abram.

Abram and Lot Separate

If one of the men or servants, who Abram is teaching and leading, were to disobey him they would be asked to leave. Those whom Abram leads MUST follow his directions or they will not be allowed to stay. But it is a different story for a relative who is simply “with” you. Listen to how Abram addresses Lot.

So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between thee and me, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen; for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Please separate from me. If thou take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if thou go to the right, then I will go to the left.” (Gen 13:8-9)

In Yasher he says it like this.

Yasher 15:42 But I pray thee separate from me, go and choose a place where thou may dwell with thy cattle and all belonging to thee, but keep thyself at a distance from me, thou and thy household. [Lot’s household is not Abram’s household.]
43 And be not afraid in going from me, for if any one do an injury to thee, let me know and I will avenge thy cause from him, only remove from me.

I think Lot was “with” Abram for two reasons; the blessing he received and the protection he enjoyed while he was “with” him. This makes me wonder, “what about Lot made him a righteous man?” Did he escape the burning at Sodom because he was righteous, or was it perhaps because of the words Abram spoke when Abram and Lot separated? Time will tell.

Abram and Lot Separate – Lot was Not “With” Abram

2G17 Genesis 13 and Yasher 14 – 15
[Click here to download this audio mp3]

Copyright © 2015 Providence Ministries, All rights reserved.

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.”

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Abram Taught Men To Follow Yehovah

Abram taught menWe 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 whom they 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;  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.

Abram Taught Men To Follow Yehovah

2G16 Genesis 12 and Yasher 13
[Click here to download this audio mp3]

Copyright © 2015 Providence Ministries, All rights reserved.

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.”

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The Wickedness Of Sodom And Gomorrah

The story about the 3 messengers of Yehovah who came to Abraham in the appointed time, the moed which is called the “Time of Life” in Genesis 19 and Yasher 18 is in both cases followed immediately by the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Is this just a coincidence or is Yehovah trying to tie these two events together? The Time of Life is what Passover was called before it was called Passover; this is what I discussed in our last lesson. The spiritual son (Isaac) was born in the Time of Life.

Sodom and Gomorrah Will Be Judged

sodom and gomorrah, Genesis 18, Genesis 19, Yasher 18,Yasher 19Genesis 19 tells the story of the two messengers going down into the city of Sodom with a plan to stay in the town square, but Lot would not let them. He brought them into his house and served them unleavened bread. It appears to me that this is Passover, the Time of Life: and this night seems to have fallen on a spring equinox as well.

And he [Lot] said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.” But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. [Why? The righteous are indoors on the night of the Passover!] Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. (Gen 19:2-3)

The wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah Continue reading The Wickedness Of Sodom And Gomorrah

Abram Rescues Lot

In Genesis 13 Abram leaves Egypt after Pharaoh gave him more silver, gold, sheep, goats, cattle, camels and male and female servants, including Hagar the daughter of one of his concubines. Abram had 300+ of Nimrod’s servants (men with their families) who came with him out of Babylon (including Eliezer, who Nimrod had given him after he was saved from the furnace), and 72 more men that came with him out of Haran and all the souls which were born to his household.  Lot too has many servants, tents and livestock.

In a very real sense, the camp of Abram and the camp of Lot are like two traveling cities and require a large “footprint” in the land to sustain them; and because of this, Lot needs to leave. There is just not room enough for the two of them; and he chooses to go down to Sodom which by the sea, a land described in Yasher as “the garden of Yehovah.”

But not long after he is there Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, Nimrod (Amraphel) king of Shinar, and two other kings come raiding from the North with 8oo,000 men. And on their way back north they raid the city that Lot and all his people are in and take them as slaves.

When Abram receives the word about Lot being taken captive, he fields 318 trained servants who were born in his house. Think for a moment. How many families must Abram have in his camp to have 318 men who are trained and ready to fight?

Abram rescues Lot Continue reading Abram Rescues Lot

Abram and Nimrod (Part 2)

This blog is continued from Abram and Nimrod (Part 1).

The animosity between Abram and Nimrod is a shadow picture of what we can expect in the coming last days. At Abram’s birth the stars proclaimed the destruction of rebellious Nimrod and his Babylonian kingdom.

Jasher 8:2 And when all the wise men and conjurors went out from the house of Terah, they lifted up their eyes toward heaven that night to look at the stars, and they saw, and behold one very large star came from the east and ran in the heavens, and he swallowed up the four stars from the four sides of the heavens.
3 And all the wise men of the king and his conjurors were astonished at the sight, and the sages understood this matter, and they knew its import.
4 And they said to each other, “This only betokens the child who has been born to Terah this night, who will grow up and be fruitful, and multiply, and possess all the earth, he and his sons for ever, and he and his seed will slay great kings, and inherit their lands.”

This event has both short-term and long-term ramifications; and is a shadow picture of things to come.

Two years after Abram was once again delivered miraculously, this time from Nimrod’s furnace, Nimrod has a dream. Continue reading Abram and Nimrod (Part 2)