Endings&Beginnings

      At this time of year, after the Feast of Tabernacles, the Torah Sabbath readings come to an end with the last chapters of Deuteronomy, but at the same time, the Torah Sabbath readings are renewed with readings beginning again in the Book of Genesis (Greek word meaning "origins, source, generation, beginning"), or the Hebrew name of the first Book, B'reishit, which means "In the Beginning." The Hebrew Title of this first Book of the Torah comes from the first verse: "In the beginning (re'sit/ro's - beginning, first fruits, first, chief, best, choice, principal thing, first of its kind/head, top, beginning, first, rulers, captain, summit, height, choicest, best, height, summit, forefront) God created (bara - create, creator, select, choose, make, done, shape, form, fashion, to cut, to carve out, to produce) (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the heavens ([vaw]*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) and the earth." The presence of the two *aleph-tav's and their written locations in front of the heavens and the earth bring an eternal meaning to those two parts of creation. The presence of the *aleph-tavs also connects the heavens and the earth with the identity of the Messiah/Christ Jesus, who is eternal, and calls Himself "the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last". (see *note at bottom). We see this eternal characteristic of the heavens and the earth, including new beginnings, in these prophecies: Isa. 65:17-25, 2 Pet. 3:13-14, Rev. 21:1-4. When Father God connected the heavens and the earth to His Messiah/Christ by the written Hebrew *aleph-tav, He incorporated into them the ending and the beginning of them as well.

     This Book could have been titled "Created" from the Gen. 1:1 verse above, but the title and emphasis is placed instead upon "beginning". The end of the Torah reading in Deut. 33 and 34 deal with Moses' blessings spoken over each tribe of Israel, the laying on of Moses' hands upon his appointed successor, Joshua, and the death of Moses on Mount Nebo (meaning "prophet") after the LORD showed (ra'a - look, behold, appear, consider, seer, perceive, provide, foresee, to be visible, be shown, cause to see, discern, have vision) Moses all of the land that the children of Israel were about to possess. Within this ending was the prophetic spiritual seed for the new beginning found in the ra'a vision which the LORD caused to be seen by Moses. (Deut. 34:1-4). Moses would end, but the new beginning, the land soon to be possessed by the children of Israel, was incorporated into the vision given to the prophet. There is no ending without the accompanying provision of God of the new beginning. Don't despise the ending of something, but look for the new and greater beginning that is about to come.

      Another reading from this B'reishit Sabbath brings forth a prophetic revelation of the Messiah/Christ in Isa. 42:1-9. The LORD covers this prophecy with His authority as Creator: "Thus says God the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it (se'esa'im - offspring, issue, descendants, children, produce), who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it." (v. 5). The LORD also is prophesying by the principle of endings and beginnings: "Behold, the former things (ri'son/ri'sa - first in time, foremost, primary, former, aforetime/beginning time, early time) have come to pass, and new things (hadas - new, new thing, fresh, unheard of, renew, make anew, rebuild, repair, be new) I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them." (v. 9).

     The LORD is both the beginning of something and the end of something (see Isa. 46:9-10, Rev. 22:12-13), followed by another new beginning (see Isa. 43:18-19, Isa. 65:17-18, Eph. 4:22-24, 2 Cor. 5:17, Rev. 21:5-6). As we can see from Eph. 4:22-24 and 2 Cor. 5:17 linked above, part of what the Lord is able to create anew is a person, whoever believes Him through Jesus Messiah/Christ, who IS the beginning and the end.

     As we can see from the first verse of Genesis, above, the meaning of the words in Hebrew includes the truth of a Creator who chooses or selects, forms, shapes and fashions. The Creator makes the purposeful decisions. Creation does not occur by happenstance or accident but is purposefully directed. Challenging the idea of Creator God is not just a recent phenomenon. The LORD understood that man in foolishness would deny this truth: "Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb (see also Ps. 139:13-18): 'I am the LORD, who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by Myself; Who frustrates (para - makes void, come to naught, make ineffectual) the signs of the babblers (bad/bada - lie, liar, used in regard to soothsayers and false prophets/devise, contrive, invent, feign), and drives diviners mad; Who turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolishness." (Isa. 44:24-25). Many of those who deny a Creator consider themselves wise intellectuals, but the LORD says here that he makes their "knowledge" into foolishness.

     It is very important that we know God as Creator. The absolute power and authority of the Creator is so great and high, that it is beyond human understanding and imagination without a revelation from Him. In that power and authority, what can't God do? Jesus and the angel of the Lord both said that nothing is impossible with God. (see Mt. 19:25-26, Lk. 1:35-38).

He is a Creator of things that no man can create in the natural world, as He notes above in Isaiah 44. For example, God spoke light energy, both spiritual light (Gen. 1:3-5) and natural light energy (Gen. 1:14-19) into existence, when the scientific law of the conservation of energy states that in the physical realm, energy cannot be created by man: "Energy can neither be created nor destroyed; rather, it can only be transformed from one form to another."

     Not only did God command light to manifest from nothingness, but that Light was the spoken Word of God, and that same Light is the Light of life in man (see Jn. 1:1-5). That Light, Who also became flesh, Jesus, (see Jn. 1:14-18) was the Author/Prince and Beginning of Life. (see Acts 3:14-15). 

     It is essential that man understands that he has a Creator and did not create or evolve himself by chance into existence. The LORD directly connects His authority to redeem and save us to His authority as Creator. He is able to redeem man because He created man. He is able to extend His Salvation to man, because He created man. We see this connection in the verses above from Isaiah 44. Isaiah also gave us even more declarations from the LORD of this connection: "But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior...I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King." (Isa. 43:1-3a, 15). Here we see again, the Creator has the authority to provide redemption and salvation to the uttermost extreme condition, distance and need through His Salvation, Messiah/Christ Jesus. (Heb. 7:24-25). God created that uttermost and has authority over it. David said in another reading from this Sabbath that there was no extreme distance where he could go over which God does not inhabit and have authority. Therefore, in every circumstance, God can see him, David, and rescue him. (Ps. 139:7-12).

     In another declaration through the prophet Isaiah, the LORD speaks over His people as their Creator: "For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: 'I am the LORD, and there is no other....Who has declared this from ancient time (qedem/qadam - ancient time, before time, eternal, that which is before, earliest time, beginning/beforehand, before)? Who has told it from that time ('az - beginning, old, earlier, at that time or place, of old, now)? Have not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, a just God and a Savior; there is none besides Me. Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other." (Isa. 45:18, 21b-22). Only God is Creator and therefore, only God is Savior. Man cannot save himself or anyone else. There is only one Savior.

     Again we read from Isaiah: "I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I the LORD do all these things...I the LORD have created it (referring to heavens that rain down righteousness and earth that opens to bring forth salvation). Woe to him who strives with (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) his Maker!" (Isa. 45:7-9, excerpt). The earth, the grave, indeed opened and Salvation (Yeshua, Jesus) was brought forth! The earth could not disobey its Creator. Only man will disregard His Maker, even though it is his Maker who has called forth righteousness and salvation on man's behalf from the beginning.

     In another reading from this B'reishit, "In the beginning" Sabbath, we find God's faithful servant Job suffering great affliction through no fault of his own. He is undergoing a testing of his faith that is extreme. In this testing, he is looking in the wrong places for his help. His search, probably like ours would be also, involves the question, "Why did this happen to me?" His friends were not much help to him either, as they also searched for the reason that this affliction came upon Job. In chapters 38 through 41, the LORD begins to present the wonders of His creation to Job through questions. There were mysteries, impossibilities, specific characteristics of creation that were all meant to illustrate the presence and control of a Creator. Man could neither explain nor duplicate any of the marvels about which the LORD asked Job. The LORD "answered ('ana - answer, testify, speak, to sing, utter tunefully) (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Job out of (min/men - from, among, a part of anything/string of a harp, a musical chord as parted into strings, slender threads) the whirlwind (sa'ar - storm, whirlwind, tempest, be troubled, tossed with tempest, be sore, be made, insane, violently shaken, scatter by wind)." (Job 38:1, 40:6).

     The LORD entered into Job's whirlwind of affliction and sang His testimony to him with musical chords of strings according to the Hebrew words of the verses. After beginning His revelation of His power in creation, the Lord asked Job these questions: "Have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His? Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, and array yourself with glory and beauty." (Job. 40:9-10). No man can do what God has done as evidenced in His creation.

     After the LORD continues His revelation to Job, Job answered (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the LORD: "I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You...I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees (ra'a - see above) You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:1-2, 5-6).

     The LORD "restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before...Now the LORD blessed (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the latter days of Job more than his beginning (re'sit -see above)..." (v. 10, 12).

     Within the LORD's revelation of His authority and power over His creation, Job found a new knowledge of God and a new beginning prepared for him that was even greater than his former blessings or ending. We also see the *aleph-tav eternal Messiah/Christ thread that we first saw in Genesis 1:1 throughout Job's experience.

     The "in the beginning" B'reishit message of this Sabbath has great meaning for all creation, and for each one of our lives. Contained within it for the heavens, the earth and all that springs out of the earth are endings and beginnings and then again new beginnings enveloped by the identity of (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Messiah/Christ Jesus, who is the spoken Word of creation. Our Father, the Creator, has authority over all, and as Job said, "You can do everything, and...no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You." Are we able to walk in this powerful knowledge where nothing is impossible with God?

     If you would like to know more about this awesome creation power of God, or if you need a new beginning, you can join in my prayer: "Father, Creator, help me to walk in the knowledge of the endings and beginnings contained within the power of creation. Renew me, LORD, by faith in the redemption and salvation of Your Son, Jesus Messiah/Christ. The old things have ended and passed away, and Jesus has made me and all things new. Strengthen me in faith, LORD, and heal my unbelief. You have a new beginning already planned for the heavens and the earth, as well as for me. I praise You and exalt You as my Creator and King, my Redeemer and my Savior. I pray today in the name of Jesus, my *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega". Amen."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13. 

Creation

      

     This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled B'reishit, meaning "In the beginning", and brings us back to the beginning of Scripture, back to the beginning of everything. B'reishit is also the Hebrew name for the Book that we call "Genesis", and comes from the word resit/ros, meaning "first, beginning, firstfruits, chief/head, top, total, sum, front, beginning, highest and supreme, multitude". Genesis is the Greek word meaning "to be born, origin, source, establish, all events established".

     The word "created" from Gen. 1:1 is the Hebrew word bara meaning "to create [always with God as the subject], creator, choose, make, produce, shape, fashion, cut down, carve out, beget, separating, to feed".

     As we can see from the word meanings above, the Creator cannot be separated from the creation, and so we have in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) created the heavens and the earth." As we know from the Genesis account, all of the separate parts of the creation began as the spoken word out of God's mouth, the first thing created being light: "Then God said, 'Let there be light', and there was light." (Gen. 1:3).

     In John 1:1, we read a parallel but more revealing view of creation: "In the beginning (arche/archomai/archo - beginning, origin, first person or thing in a series, the leader, the first place, principality, rule, the extremity of a thing/to begin, the first to do, leader, ruler, designate office of dignity/to be chief, to lead, to rule, to be first in rank or power) was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made." (Jn. 1:1-3). "The Word" used here is the spoken word, logos, and is identified later as Jesus: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (Jn. 1:14). The Greek meaning of the very word "beginning" must include with it a leader, ruler, highest power. "The beginning" also includes the idea of "the extremity of a thing". The beginning must be followed by a continuation of a thing all the way to the end or outermost extended part, no matter how distant that end might be. For instance, the creation continues or perpetuates through many generations from a beginning point. The flower we see today is the result of generations of flowers and seeds. The people that live today came from a long line of generations that had a physical beginning point in Adam and then Noah. The Jewish people have the concept of the creation as being a "cosmic womb" or a perpetual or eternal pregnancy. God placed this perpetual cycle of birth and renewal within the characteristics of His creation. We will see that creation was not just a special one-time event that happened long ago.

     The LORD demanded in His Word that we know this: "Remember this, and show yourselves men; Recall to mind, O you transgressors. Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,' ... Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it." (Isa. 46:8-11).

     In one of our reading portions for this Sabbath, Job, a godly man who ministered to his community, from those in the highest ranks to those most humble, in an almost Christ-like manner (see Job 29), forgot the above wisdom in his troubles, and God rebuked him: "Then the LORD answered (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 'Who is this who darkens (hasak - darken, grow dim, be hidden, conceal, confuse) counsel (esa/ya'as - counsel, purpose, advisement, prudence, wisdom/devise, plan, guide, purpose, give counsel, minister of a king) by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding."" (Job 38:1-4). The LORD then continued through several chapters to question Job's neglect of the knowledge of God's sovereignty and omnipotence as revealed in the secrets of His creation. The nature of God and creation has a necessary wisdom to teach us.

     What had Job said that caused God to speak to him in such a way out of the whirlwind? In Job 3, we read: "After this Job opened his (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) mouth and cursed the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) day of his birth. And Job spoke and said, 'May the day perish on which I was born, and the night in which it was said, 'A male child is conceived.' May that day be darkness; May God above not seek it, nor the light shine upon it. May darkness and the shadow of death claim it; may a cloud settle on it; may the blackness of the day terrify it. As for that night, may darkness seize it; may it not rejoice among the days of the year, may it not come into the number of the months...because it did not shut up the doors of my mother's womb..." (Job 3:1-6, 10). Did Job think that the beginning of his life was in his own hands or the hands of any man? Did he not know that the LORD had ordained his birth from the foundation of the world? As we start our Sabbath readings from the beginning, I think that this is the serious warning and message for us as well this year. Have we, with our words and deeds, "darkened counsel", or caused the supreme wisdom and omnipotence of God to be hidden from sight and forgotten? The LORD may well make demands of us to give an account, as He did with His servant, Job.

     After the LORD gave Job a thorough dressing down concerning his failure to see the sovereignty of God in His continuing manifestation of the purpose of His creation, Job says to the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) LORD: "I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know....I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (Job. 42:2-6, excerpt). One purpose of the omnipotence of God in the creation is that our eyes may "see" Him in revelation understanding. Do we have eyes to see it?

     After God restored Job, he lived one hundred and forty years longer and went on to have seven sons and three daughters. The three daughters were the only children named in scripture and were so excellent that they were given an inheritance among Job's (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) sons. The daughters' names are translated: "Day of the Dove", "The fragrance of incense", and the "Glistening setting of precious gems (ref. Isa. 54:11)". It is as if Job's daughters were a prophetic picture of the Bride of Christ. This anointed generation and those that followed, were hidden within Job's life, which he had wrongfully cursed. With his repentance, this (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) generation was able to manifest as God intended from the beginning.

     We, as believers in Christ and heirs of salvation, were "seen" by God from the beginning: "...just as He (God and Father) chose (see bara, "created", above) us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved (agapao - to welcome, to love dearly, to have a preference for, to wish well to, affectionate reverence, unique proof of love such as Christ washing the feet of His disciples)." (Eph. 1:4-6). We were in the knowledge and choice of God from the beginning, and each of us manifested physically at the appointed time here within the creation because of that ancient choice. We have a tremendous responsibility as holders of this almost overwhelming knowledge that our Creator has entrusted to us, but are we sidetracked like Job from this truth by the cares, distractions and desires of life? Jesus warned us against this danger that is so easy to fall into. (see Mk. 4:18-20, Lk. 21:34-35). 

     The creation of man was a very personal work for the LORD. (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Man was created in God's image and likeness (Gen. 1:26-28) and became a living soul by the breath of God (Gen. 2:7). Like the rest of creation, continuity was contained within (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) man, being fruitful and multiplying, generation, after generation: "Then God saw (ra'a - behold, appear, foresee, visions, observe, discern) everything (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them were finished (kala - accomplished, end, done, fulfill, to be determined in thought, plotted, come to an end, make an end, bring to pass, completed, perish, vanish)." (Gen. 1:31, 2:1). As He considered His creation, God saw everything that was contained within it, including future generations, and even the end or accomplished purpose of that creation from its beginning. The generations would bring forth the Messiah/Christ, who is the Aleph-Tav/Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, and all of creation would be redeemed and made into a new thing.

     From another reading portion from the B'reishit Sabbath, David considered his own creation which was before he was even formed in his mother's womb: "My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw (ra'a - see above) my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!" (Ps. 139:15-17). 

     This knowledge that God foresaw and knew everything concerning David's life, even before he was physically formed, was so overwhelming to David that he said: "Such knowledge is too wonderful (pil'i, pil'i - double wonderful, incomprehensible, extraordinary, secret, supernatural, marvelous, difficult thing beyond one's power) for me; It is high (sagab - inaccessible, high, exalted), I cannot attain it." (v. 6). This knowledge should change us also and have a profound effect upon us every day of our lives. This is our God and Creator. Are we seeing His greatness in this? He saw you and me and knew everything about us and ordered our days before the foundation of the earth was established.

     All of the things spoken by God in the creation became submitted to the measure of time when the lights in the firmament of heaven were created on the fourth day "to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons (mo'ed/ya'ad - appointed, time, days, congregation, feast, a fixed time or season, a point of time, a set time/betrothed), and for days (yom - day, time, daily, continually, full, always) and years (sana - division or measure of time, an age, a lifetime, a year, transformation, transmutation)...and to divide the light from the darkness." (Gen. 1:14-19). John Ch. 1 tells us that the darkness will never be able to overcome or conquer the light.

     Ecclesiastes, traditionally understood to have been written by King Solomon, says this: "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven." And again he says: "...for every matter there is a time and judgment, though the misery of man increases greatly." (Eccl. 3:1 and 8:6). The prophecy of creation manifests at appointed times. All things have already been appointed in time from within the initial creation.

     Jesus came to Galilee to preach the Gospel, saying, "The time (kairos - measure of time, the right time, limited period of time, a fixed or definite time, season) is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel." (Mk. 1:14-15).

     There was an appointed time for Christ to die: "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." (Rom. 5:6). However, Peter wrote of the order of Christ's death within the Creation: "...knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things...but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifested in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God." (1 Pet. 1:18-21). The death of Christ is found in the pictographic Hebrew letters composing the words that open Genesis Ch. 1. Then, at the appointed time, it became manifested. All that we see and exists from the beginning, through the middle and to the end, was established within the initial creation, to be manifested at the proper time.

   Paul wrote: "Even so we...were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman...that we might receive adoption as sons." (Gal. 4:3-5). The creation held that prophecy (Gen. 3:13-15).

     According to His will and good pleasure, God "purposed in Himself that in the disposition of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth - in Him." (Eph. 1:9-10). This is a mystery which God wanted to make known to us. It is Who He is. Can our eyes see Him?

     Paul wrote this instruction to the church: "See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the LORD is." (Eph. 5:15-17).  How do we view these times in a way that redeems them from evil? We can view them from the creation as God saw it and expected it to manifest at the perfect time according to His spoken will in Genesis 1. As we saw above, "God saw everything that He made, and indeed it was very good." Paul said in the context of these verses from Ephesians that we are to be speaking in psalms and spiritual songs to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God. (v. 19-21). The world curses the day, and the One who made it, but we are not of the world. 

     In another of this Sabbath's reading portions, the LORD identified Himself to His prophet in terms of the creation. He said to Isaiah: "Thus says God the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it:" (Isa. 42:5, see also Isa. 44:24). The prophecy that followed the above concerned a picture of His Messiah/Christ. The creation is prophetic and the source (genesis) of prophetic events manifesting as declared from the beginning by God. Notice how God speaks in the present tense of His acts of creation? It is not an event to be consigned to the past.

     Another prophet, Zechariah, wrote what the LORD said to him: "Thus says the LORD who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him:" (Zech. 12:1). What follows this reference to creation is a prophecy about the troubles that will surround Jerusalem "in that day", a phrase repeated seventeen times throughout the prophetic Word delivered to Zechariah, and the revealing of their Messiah/Christ to Jerusalem and the house of David. The LORD was announcing something established within His work of creation into the appointed time of its manifestation "in that day".

     Perhaps one reason that the seventh (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) day became a sanctified day of rest (sabat - rest, celebrate, desist from exertion, to sit down, be completed) for the LORD (Gen. 2:1-3) is because all of His work was not only ended (kala - end, finish, accomplish, fulfill, be fulfilled, bring to pass), but was fulfilled in His sight, and just waited upon the fullness of the appointed time to manifest itself. He had full confidence that His creative Word would continue bearing fruit, and accomplishing His perfect will for all time (see Isa. 55:11). Paul wrote that all things are made manifest by light (Eph. 5:13), and light was the first thing spoken by the living Word (Jesus) of God in Genesis 1. We are called to be the light of the world. Understanding this becomes the place of our rest as well.

     No wonder, then, that nothing has been so undermined and attacked in modern times as the idea that there was a creation fashioned by the Creator, including the creation of man by God, with the world preferring to believe instead convoluted "theories" of godless happenstance. This dead, faithless, powerless secular religion is being systematically taught to our children. We need to speak the wonderful and high truth to our children so that they also may be able to "see God with their eyes".

     If you would like to know more about the continuing manifestation of God's creation, you can pray with me: "Heavenly Father and Creator, by Your Word Jesus, You spoke creation and it manifested and continues to manifest generation by generation. Help me to understand by Your Holy Spirit how to change my thinking to incorporate this knowledge that is high, this knowledge of how Your creation continues to bring Your will into manifestation at the proper time. Help me to walk and speak circumspectly each day, so that I am not in opposition to Your spoken will and the manifestation of it for that day. I ask this in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

      *NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as Α Ω , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.

     

     

Creation

This Sabbath, we go back to the beginning of the Sabbath readings, to the Book of Genesis. This sabbath reading portion is titled B'reshiet, which means "In the beginning", and is also the Hebrew name for this first Book of the Bible. This reading portion specifically covers Genesis chapters 1 through 4. God, Elohim (aleph-tav: same as Alpha and Omega, the title of Christ in Rev. 1:8, 21:6, 22:13), begins to speak His Word in creation. At the opening of Genesis, all that exists, heaven and earth, is shrouded in a thick, deep darkness (hosek/hasak - obscured by darkness, as of Hades, meaning also misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness/surround by darkness, to make darkness). Whatever earth was, it was without form (tou - formless, confusion, waste, nothingness, place of chaos), and void (bou - emptiness). The waste was so great that the darkness extended onto the face (panim - face, presence, location, turn towards, approach) of "the deep" (tehom/hum/hamam - depth, primeval ocean, abyss, grave/make a great noise, destroy, make an uproar, agitate, be in commotion, disturb/destroy, consume, crush, confuse, break). From the meanings of the Hebrew words used, we can see that it was a horror. However, in the middle of this dark void, the Holy Spirit moved upon (rahap - shake, flutter, grow soft, hover, to brood, affected with the feeling of tender love, cherish) the waters (mayim - danger, violence/watersprings, washing, refreshing). Something that was dark and emptied with violence and chaos was going to be transformed into cleansing watersprings of refreshing. (see Gen. 1:1-2). The prophet Jeremiah saw a vision that is similar to the scene we are given in the beginning of Genesis, and his vision can give us a deeper understanding. What he saw in a vision concerned what was coming to the people of God, and caused him to cry out in pain. He wrote: "O my soul, my soul! I am pained in my very heart...Destruction upon destruction is cried, for the whole land is plundered....I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; And the heavens, they had no light...I beheld, and indeed there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled...the voice of the daughter of Zion bewailing herself; she spreads her hands saying, 'Woe is me now, for my soul is weary because of murderers!" What was the cause of this desolation, so much like the conditions of Gen. 1:1-2? The LORD spoke to Jeremiah, saying: "For My people are foolish, they have not known Me. They are silly children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good, they have no knowledge...For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black, because I have spoken. I have purposed and will not relent, nor will I turn back from it." (Jer. 4:19-31, excerpt). This is a terrible thing. Because of this vision from God, Jeremiah cried out to God's people: "O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?...Your ways and your doings have procured these things for you. This is your wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reaches to your heart." (v. 14, 18). Jeremiah cried that the people of God would be cleansed in their hearts. The righteousness of Jesus Christ has been given for our cleansing. Do we seek and desire it? Christ in us is our only hope of glory (Col. 1:24-29). Can the unrepented sins of God's people really affect creation in such a way? Yes. We read from our Sabbath portion tht when Adam listened to other voices instead of the voice of God and sinned, God told him: "Cursed is the ground for your sake..." (Gen. 3:17). When Cain murdered his brother Abel, the LORD told him: "So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you..." (Gen. 4:11-12). The good news, however, from Genesis 1, is that God (Elohim aleph-tav) spoke (amar, amar - speak, answer, command, vow, promised) the words that told the spiritual light (or - bright, clear, flood, light of life, light of face, luminary, glorious, kindle, fire, become light, shine) to be (haya/hava - become, exist/to breathe) (Gen. 1:3). This creation of light marked the first day. A day in Genesis 1, and in Hebrew, does not fade from morning to night, or from light to dark, but the darkness/night becomes light/day. Darkness is ended by the arrival of light. The command for light "to breathe" defined the first (ehad/ahad - first, to unify, to collect/to join oneself together to, ravage with united powers, "sword of three edges") day. It was not a natural light, because the natural light-givers, the sun, the moon, and the stars, were not created until the fourth day (v. 14-19). The good news is that the Light of the World, Jesus the Messiah, came also and brought us out of the kingdom of darkness and into His marvellous light as He saved us from death itself. I want to make note at this point of a special astronomical event called a "ring of fire", a rare kind of solar eclipse, that is occurring around this Sabbath, and pertains to our study of creation. While a "ring of fire" is also associated with the birthing process (see also Rev. 12:1-6, a sign in the heavens: a fiery red dragon seeks to devour a male child who will rule the nations as soon as a woman gives birth to him), in this case, "the ring of fire" refers to the outer ring of light of the sun that is expected to be visible during the rare annular solar eclipse, when the moon completely darkens the sun. At the same time, NASA intends to launch three rockets during the annular eclipse in order to study the effect of the event on the ionosphere. The designer of this NASA study project, Dr. Aroh Barjata, said that he deliberately chose the name APEP for the project, the name of an Egyptian demon god, because this god was an enemy of the Egyptian sun deity. This demon, APEP, was/is a god of darkness and chaos (see Gen. 1 above), that seeks to devour light, order and truth. This Egyptian demon god is depicted as a giant serpent, and was also called Evil Dragon and Lord of Chaos. In mythology, this demon god "was believed to have existed from the beginning of time in the waters of primeval chaos" (see also Gen. 1:2). It was thought that the demon inhabited the underworld as well, and was therefore also called "an Eater of Souls". This NASA study project is flying into the heavens under the name of this demon destroyer of light. Man often chooses and installs darkness and chaos, rather than light and truth. Many might view these Egyptian gods and goddesses as pure mythology, but the LORD does not view them in that way: "For I will pass through the land of Egypt, nd will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD." (Ex. 12:12). So man, by the spiritual authority which God has given him, will, this B'reshiet Sabbath, willfully re-establish the name of this demon god in the heavens through this mission. This is no small matter, and may hold great prophetic significance in the time we are living, in view of the verses from Rev. 12 and the grave prophetic events which are about to break out on the earth. We read in Genesis 1 that God, Elohim aleph-tav, spoke light into the darkness, established an ordered creation out of the chaos that existed, set divisions and boundaries between the elements (Gen. 1:4-5, 6-9), and spoke life into every level of creation: in the air, on the land, and in the seas (Gen. 1:20-25). Eventually He spoke and created man with His hands, whom He created in His own form and image (Gen. 1:26-28). John 1:1-5, also records the role of the spoken Word of God, which is Christ, as light, and life. Man may act as an accessory to the works of this demon of darkness, APEP, but God's Word of light, order, and truth will stand. God's people must do all that God has ordained for them to do in order to be the children of light and day, rather than the children of darkness and night (see 1 Thess. 5:5-6). It is a further injustice, it seems to me, that man named the heavenly bodies, the planets, which God hung in space in perfect gravitational balance and distance from each other, after Roman and Greek (Uranus) gods and goddesses. God, Elohim aleph-tav, also specifically named our planet ehretz in Hebrew (Gen. 1:10), which is translated in our Bibles into the old Anglo-Saxon word, Ertha, or "earth". The Hebrew name for our planet, ehretz, specifically given by God, is very important because of the pictographic meanings of the individual Hebrew letters of the word. The letters aleph, reysh, and tsadde can mean: "the authority of the Lord (Adonai), who is the Highest, pulls towards the desired destination of the harvest of the righteous". We sometimes consider creation a completed work of God from the very distant past, but the work is ongoing, not ended. The other Sabbath reading portions for this week all testify to God's continuing absolute authority over all of creation, from the time and place of its beginning, to the appearance of the new creation to come. God's Word still holds His creation together in the order that He ordained it. Isaiah wrote that this same ultimate and complete authority that we see in creation (Isa. 42:5), is the same authority that will establish other things: "Behold! My Servant...My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him...He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail..." (v. 1-4). "...give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house...I have held My peace a long time...Now I will cry like a woman in labor...I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight..." (v. 6-16, excerpt). The same creative authority sent His Servant, the Messiah, to free man from the darkness. In David's psalm written about God's perfect foreknowledge and creation, both of David and man in general, he says of His God: "If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall fall on me', even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb...I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvellous are Your works...When I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth...And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them." (Ps. 139:11-15). The same God of the immense creation, is the same God that wonderfully and miraculously formed each one of us. The same God that called the chaos into order, is the same God who meticulously writes each of our days in His book. His creative power and authority is extended to the most personal, intimate knowledge of, and attention to, each one of us. How humbling, yet how enriching! As we saw from examples above, however, man often fails to view God with the humility that should result from the knowledge of this truth, which David considered too wonderful for him to attain. Even a righteous man (Job 1:8) can fall into the temptation offered to his pride and self-absorption (Job 29:1=25, 30:1). We see this in our next reading portion from this Sabbath, as God confronted an embittered Job with the sovereign power and authority that is seen in His creative work. The LORD asked Job: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?... Who determined its measurements?...Or who shut in the seas with doors?...When I fixed My limit for it, and set bars and doors; When I said...'Here your proud waves must stop!'...And caused the dawn/dayspring (sahar - morning, dawn, light, whence riseth, the end of dark night; seek early, diligently seek for, painstakingly search for, break forth as light; see also Lk. 1:76-79)) to know its place, that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?...Have you walked in search of the depths? Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this." (Job 38, excerpt). When man becomes too proud in their "knowledge" to bow before the Great Creator, we also would do well to consider these questions that the LORD asked His beloved Job. In these days when darkness, terror, and chaos have been embraced and promoted by man, it is more important than ever to learn the lessons of B'reshiet, the beginning work and authority of God, Elohim aleph-tav, and His Aleph-Tav Son: "He (the Son, Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence." (Col. 1:15-18). If you would like to learn more about our Creator and King, you can join in my prayer: "Father of all creation, and Father of my life, I come before You reminded of Your immense knowledge and power, as well as the love by which You brought order to destructive chaos, light into the oppressive darkness, and life and man into the earth by the Word of Your mouth. I exalt and magnify YOU, and Your Son, our Salvation, over all things visible and invisible. What can compare to Your greatness? It is too wonderful for me! You order and care for my life with the same lovingkindness. Fill me with the Holy Spirit, who teaches me about You and Your Son of Light and Truth. I ask for these things in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

B'reishit

After the recent conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Sabbath reading cycle swings back around to the beginning of scripture - Genesis 1. This sabbath reading is titled B'reishit translated as "(In) the beginning". The Hebrew meaning and root of the word is "beginning, the first (in order, rank. place or time), firstfruits, best, chief, captain, head, top, summit, to shake". When we think of the beginning of creation, we usually think of the physical elements that manifested when God spoke the words. However, the sabbath readings of B'reishit for this week began to lead me down a path that took me further than that first thought. As we start on the path of this week's sabbath readings together, we will find confirmation and additional revelation waiting for us in New Testament scriptures as well. What is the nature of "the Beginning" in God? When we look at an overview of Genesis 1, we can see that God created things that He called "good" (tob - goodness, prosperity, excelling, precious, first fruits, first of its kind, fine, beautiful, benefit, kind, right, happiness, welfare, glad, delight, confer benefits), and "very good" from an existing situation that was full of deep darkness and hopeless emptiness. The idea of "good" is not just a description, but contains the active quality of God's benevolence also. As we continue, we will also see that this good intent of God in the Beginning, included His Son, Jesus, before the world ever "saw" Jesus. In fact, He is the Person of the Beginning. In one of this sabbath's readings about "the Beginning", we are able to see that even after Adam and Eve fell by choosing to believe a lying serpent (nahas - serpent, snake, enchanter, practice divination, sorcery, fortune telling, whisper (hiss) a magic spell), God brought forth the goodness of His Son, Who had been hidden in "the Beginning", into this seemingly hopeless situation. To the serpent, God prophesied: "And I will put enmity (eba/ayab - hatred, hostile mind, be a foe to, be an adversary with anger and hatred) between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head (ros - head, chief, captain, rulers), and you shall bruise His heel." (Gen. 3:15). God brought forth "good", a benefit out of His kindness, hidden in the Beginning, by prophesying the Savior to be born who would overcome the serpent and its ruler(s). In another sabbath portion, Cain, only the second generation of man on the earth, murdered his brother, Abel. As Cain realized the consequences for this act, he cried to God: " My iniquity (aon/ava - iniquity, punishment, fault, sin, depravity, guilt from sin, evil, perversity, crime, wrongdoing) is greater than I can bear!...driven out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive (nua - stagger, wander, tremble, tottering, be tossed about) and a vagabond (nud - sorry, shake, grief, wander aimlessly) on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me." (Gen. 4:13-14). At this cry from Cain, the LORD set him apart with a "mark". What could this mark have been? It is the Hebrew word ot meaning "miraculous sign, token, mark, banner, warning, evidence, signal, consent, to come". The individual Hebrew letters of the word ot, or mark, form the meaning "Adonai God nailed to a cross". Cain committed one of the most heinous crimes there is - he murdered his brother. However, there was a hidden provision within the Beginning that set him apart with a hope - the crucified Christ as a "mark" upon Cain. Jesus, in Rev. 3:14, says that He is "the Beginning of the creation of God", so we shouldn't be surprised to see these references to His (hidden) presence from the very beginning of man's walk on earth. In another sabbath reading from this week's portion titled B'reishit, we see again an example of Jesus Christ in the Beginning of creation. God spoke a prophecy to Isaiah of the Messiah, the Savior. Revealing the Messiah to come, the LORD said: "Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him...He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands shall wait for His law...I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison..." (Isa. 42:1-4, 6-7, see also Mt. 12:15-21). God brought forth this prophecy in connection to the Beginning of His work of creation by saying: "Thus says God the LORD, who created the heavens...who spread forth the earth...who gives breath to the people on it..." (v. 5). God established all things from the beginning of creation. As He said, "I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done...". (Isa. 46:9-10). Jesus also personified this same principle as He called Himself the Alpha (Aleph) and the Omega (Tav), the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last (Rev. 22:13). Looking at the Greek word and roots, arche/archomai/archo, translated as "Beginning" in this verse, we not only find that the meaning is a starting point, but also a ruler behind the starting point. The meaning is: "beginning, origin, that by which anything begins to be, the active cause/chief, ruler, leader/to lead, to rule". The Greek word and root for "End" used in the above verse, telos/tello, is also interesting. The meaning is: "end, uttermost, that by which a thing is finished, the end to which all things relate/to set out for a definite point or goal". According to the meanings of the Greek, the concept involved in the Beginning and End of something, in this case, creation, is not accidental or coincidental, but is specifically and deliberately introduced and directed towards a planned and expected conclusion. Intelligence and personal will must be behind it to purposefully start it, and direct it to a goal. In this case, the intelligence belongs to God, of course! Paul wrote the following to help us understand God's purposeful intentions behind "the Beginning": "He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." (Col. 1:15-17). John also wrote: "He (the Word, Jesus) was in the beginning with God, and without Him nothing was made that was made (see Jn. 1:1-3). It is because of this preeminence in all things that Jesus is also stated by Paul as being "the beginning, the firstborn from the dead", and the One who is able "to reconcile all things to Himself". (Col. 1:18-20). Death was not beyond the scope of His preeminence, and therefore was under the same authority of that which was present in the Beginning. We see this when God was challenging Job regarding Job's limited understanding, and God's limitlessness that was set into the Beginning of creation, God said this to Job in another portion from this sabbath's reading: "Where were you when I laid the foundations (yasad - to found, to place, set, fix, establish, begin, appoint, ordain) of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding...Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths? Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell Me if you know all this." (Job 38:4, 16-18). God had set the limits or boundaries of all creation, including death, from the Beginning. Jesus said this about His authority over the gates and doors of death mentioned in Job above: "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys (kleis - key, the power to open and to shut) of Hades (Hell), and of death." (Rev. 1:17-18). God had already set the limits of death in and by Christ before physical creation and physical death had been established in the earth. We see this same connection to the Beginning when we read that Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8, see also 17:8). We have seen death's limits established in the Beginning, what about each individual life? David sang about his life that existed before he was physically born in another portion from this sabbath's B'reishit reading: "...You LORD understand my thoughts afar off...For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether...Such knowledge is too wonderful for me: It is high, I cannot attain it...For You formed my inward parts; You covered (sakak - a covering, defense, hedge in, shut in, overshadow, weave together) me in my mother's womb...My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret (seter/satar - covering, shelter, hiding place, secret place, protection, a veil/conceal, hide carefully, lie hidden, guard, defend), and skillfully wrought (raqam - embroider, mix or adorn with colors, woven, the formation of the embryo in the womb {of the formation of the members of Christ's mystical body})in the lowest parts (tahti/tahat/toah - the depths, low parts, the under part, from under the hand of, lowly, humble) of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them." (Ps. 139:2, 4, 6, 13-16). Before David was born, God had already known the thoughts he would have and the words he would speak! Everything concerning David was known and written in God's book before David manifested in physical birth. We associate the creation of Genesis 1 with the physical elements of the heavens and the earth, including Adam and Eve, but all things, like David, were hidden in the depths of creation's Beginning. Even now, our lives are hidden in that Beginning, because we are hidden in Christ, "the Beginning and the End". (Col. 3:3, Rev. 22:13). Scripture also says: "...just as (God) chose us in (Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love..." (Eph. 1:4), and that even the good works in which we are to walk were prepared "beforehand" (Eph. 2:10). Christ, Himself, was hidden in the Beginning: "He (Christ) indeed was foreordained (proginosko - known before) before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you..." (1 Peter 1:20). So there are things that have been hidden in the Beginning, and then the hidden is made manifest, or visible. The meaning and roots of "manifest" are very helpful. The word in Greek is phaneroo meaning "to make actual and visible, to make visible and known what has been hidden or unknown". The Greek root words give us more understanding. When we look back to several roots, phaneros/ phaino/ phos, we begin to see the secret. The roots mean: "evident, plainly recognised or known/bring forth into the light, cause to shine, to become clear, to be seen/light, to shine, make manifest, that which is exposed to the view of all". Hidden things are made manifest in the presence of light, according to our meanings here. The first thing that God spoke in the Beginning, before any of the rest of creation came forth was: "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good." (Gen. 1:3-4). This light was not a natural source of light, which would be created later, but the revealing light by which all things hidden in the Beginning, would be made manifest or seen in the proper time, including God's Son. Paul also wrote about this revealed mystery saying, "...making all see what is the dispensation of the mystery, which from the beeginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places...", as Paul also additionally commnds us: "...now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." (Eph. 3:9-10, 5:8). The other side of the coin is that the evil things that are hidden are also made manifest by that same light. They are exposed at the appointed time for judgment: "But all things that are exposed (elegcho - admonish, convict, shame, to call to account) are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light." (Eph. 5:13). The world tries to convince us that the formation of creation, and life itself, is an undirected accident acted upon by a series of haphazard events, with no divine, intelligent planning, no direction, and no assigned purpose or goal. However, as we can see, when God said in His Word, "In the beginning...", or "B'reishit, in Genesis 1:1, He was saying an awesome mouthful! He was including everything that will ever exist, and His intelligent purpose that drives it to its completion or end. If you would like to know more about being part of God's Beginning in Christ, you can pray with me: "Dear Father, You created all that exists, including me, in a Beginning that is in and through Your Son, Jesus. You saw my form before it was made. You knew my thoughts and words before I was even born. I was, and am, hidden in Christ, the Beginning and End. My sabbath rest in You comes from the knowledge that You have declared the end from the beginning concerning all creation, including myself. You have revealed the mystery of purpose hidden in the Beginning, B'reishit. As David said, "These things are too wonderful for me!". Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and understanding so that I can walk in the light that makes the hidden things of the Beginning manifest in their appointed time. I ask these things in Jesus' name AMEN."

Inheritance

The title of this week's Sabbath reading is Ki Tavo, meaning "When you come in", based on the words that Moses spoke to Israel "It shall be when you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving to you as an inheritance..." in Deut. 26. The Israelites were about to cross over the Jordan River from the eastern direction into the land promised to them by God. The situation changes for the people of God when they come into their inheritance, and there are important principles for us to learn, as we also come into an inheritance when we become followers of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote of our being "...heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ..." and spoke of "...the glory which shall be revealed in us", and "...the glorious liberty of the children of God...", having "the firstfruits of the Spirit". (Rom. 8:17-23, excerpt). In another place, Paul wrote: "In Him (Christ) also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory." (Eph. 1:11-12). We who have received an inheritance from God are called to function at a different level. We will see this in this Sabbath's readings also, because we have "come in". The first thing the Israelites were to do when they arrived in the land was to bring an offering to God. This offering was not to be from what they had brought with them from Egypt, and it was not be what they had planted and grown themselves, nor accumulated during their journey. The LORD commanded: "...you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land your God is giving you...and go to the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide...". (Deut. 26:2). This offering was to come from what they found already growing in their new land, from their inheritance given to them. However, a declaration was to accompany this offering. The one bringing the offering must say before the priest: "I declare today to the LORD my God that I have come to the country which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us...My father was a Syrian (Aramean), about to perish, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. But the Egyptians mistreated us, and laid hard bondage on us. Then we cried out to the LORD God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which You, O LORD, have given me." (v. 3-10). Then the offering is set before the LORD and He is worshipped, "So you shall rejoice in every good thing which the LORD your God has given to you and your house..." (v. 11). In the third year in the land, the Israelites were to begin bringing the tithe they had laid aside of all of the increase they have received. The offering of the tithe (a tenth) was also to be accompanied by a declaration ending with "I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that You hve commanded me. Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, 'a land flowing with milk and honey'." (v. 13-15), excerpt). As the people further proclaimed that the LORD was their God, and that they will walk in His ways, His commandments, and His judgments, and obey His voice, the LORD makes a proclamation in exchange: "Also today, the LORD has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments, and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to the LORD your God, just as He has spoken." (v. 17-19). All of these declarations are made in conjunction with the giving of tithes and offerings to the LORD, and, as we read, the LORD proclaims amazing things over His people in return. Those amazing things sound very similar to what Peter wrote to the Church of believers (see 1 Peter 2:9-10). I must ask myself, then, what I am declaring, if anything, as I bring my tithes and offerings to the LORD. We can see that making a declaration of the Lord's deliverance and inheritance to us is to be a powerful, appropriate, even a commanded, part of our giving. I have received an amazing inheritance from Him. When I bring something to the LORD, I should be declaring that inheritance. An inheritance that first found me in sin, oppression, bondage, darkness, and death, as the Israelites were in Egypt, and brought me into that place of glory that Paul wrote about above - even to the sharing of Christ's own inheritance from His Father! Isn't this worth a declaration or two? The LORD has promised here in Deuteronomy 26 that if I make my declaration while giving to Him, He will make a declaration or proclamation to me. We should be aware that there are expectations of a people "when they come in", and have received their miraculous inheritance. God has given them and us a guideline to guarding and keeping the inheritance that they, and we, have been given. In Deuteronomy 28, another portion from this Sabbath's reading, Moses brought to the Israelites the Word of the LORD: "...if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments...the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth." (v. 1). This is the same declaration that the LORD made to His people previously in Deut. 26. This is part of their inheritance of the land, if they obey. On top of that, the LORD declared: "And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God." (v. 2). The LORD then told them of all of the blessings that will manifest in their lives, including the fruitfulness of their own bodies in children. Enemies would flee from before them. "The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments...and walk in His ways. Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you...and the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath (see Jesus' words in Jn. 8:23), if you heed the commandments...and are careful to observe them." (v. 2-13, excerpt). Observing the commandments and voice of God preserves and guards the inheritance which the LORD has given to His people. His intentions were not to bring them to the land, and then set them on their own without His counsel. As we continue in this Sabbath's readings, we will find that this is just the beginning of the expectations, proclamations and miraculous manifestations that God has in store for His people to whom He has given an inheritance. The inheritance includes, as Paul wrote above, the LORD's inclusion of His people in His own glory. This Sabbath's reading also includes specific portions from the prophet Isaiah: "Arise (qum - rise up, stand, come on the scene, be established, raise up, give effect to), shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness (hosek/hasak - darkness including destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness; the dark place of Hades, dark as withholding light, to be surrounded with darkness) shall cover (kasa - overwhelm, hide, conceal, spread over, clothe) the earth, and deep darkness (arapel/arap - thick darkness, heavy or dark cloud, gloom, night, darkness dropping down) the people; but the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you...Surely the coastlands shall wait for Me...to bring your sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, to the name of the LORD your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because He has glorified you...And they shall call you 'The City of the LORD', 'Zion of the Holy One of Israel'." (Isa. 60:1-2, 9, 14). The inheritance of glory is not for our sake alone, but in order that the Gentiles and the nations will glorify the LORD also. The inheritance of glory given to us, if we will rise up and stand in it, is the only light that will be available to a world and its people who have been totally swallowed up in a natural and spiritual darkness, even the darkness of Hell. To understand and obediently walk in our inheritance from God through His Son, has grave importance to the world. Paul also wrote of our inheritance as sons of God: "For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing (apokalypsis - a disclosure of truth, appearance, of something previously withdrawn from view but now made visible to all, lighten) of the sons of God...because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption (phthorah- destruction, perishing from defilement, eternal misery in Hell) into the glorious liberty of the children/sons of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now." (Rom. 8:19, 21-22). We see Paul's teaching again in the Sabbath reading for this week in another selection from Isaiah regarding our salvation inheritance's effect on creation and other people: "...the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing...They shall see the glory of the LORD, the excellency of our God...Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing (see also the words of Jesus in Mt. 11:2-6). For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water...A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it...And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." (Isa. 35:1-2, 5-8, 10). As the ancient order of weekly Sabbath readings was established many generations ago, we can see that the miraculous inheritance from God of the Promised Land by the Israelites also promised and was joined to an even greater inheritance, which would include other people as well. It is an inheritance that transforms from the deep darkness of Hell into the light of God's Glory through Jesus Christ. This is an inheritance well worthy of guarding and keeping as God instructed His people to do with all diligence. If you would like to learn more about this precious inheritance from the LORD of Glory, you can pray with me: "Dear Father, You have promised in Your Word that the whole earth will be filled with Your glory. You have given Your people an inheritance of shared glory with You through Your Son, Jesus. As You gave the land to Israel, You called them to be Your holy people set high above all nations, declaring the inheritance You gave to them as You delivered them out of Egypt and bondage, and into holiness and liberty. I have also received an inheritance of salvation through Your Son, and I declare how You delivered me from deep darkness and death into Your kingdom of marvelous light and glory. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I can diligently obey Your Word and Your voice in guarding this inheritance received from You. All creation waits eagerly, and depends upon seeing Your people walk in this inheritance. I thank and praise You in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

Journey

The title of this week's Sabbath reading portion is Massai, meaning "Journey", and is found in Numbers 33. What an enlightening picture it contains for all who follow the Lord! In this Sabbath reading, Moses was given a commandment from God. He was to make a record of all the places the Israelites had journeyed up to the point where they are encamped by the Jordan River, across from Jericho, at the crossing point into the Promised Land. We usually consider a journey to be about where we are going to, or our destination. However, the LORD had a different viewpoint in recording the journey. He wanted the journey to record where the Israelites had departed from at each stage of travel. Although our Hebrew title, Massei, means "journey", its root word is massa, which means "pulling up of stakes, breaking camp, point of departure, removed, go forth, set aside, be plucked up, to bend a bow". "Now Moses wrote down the starting points of their journeys at the command of the LORD. And these are their journeys according to their starting points..." (Num. 33:2). The Hebrew word used here for "starting points" is the word and root, mosa/yasa, which mean "watersprings, go out (forth), come out, source of a spring of water, place of departure, exit, lead out, deliver, to come out of". The journey was not just about "the going to", but more importantly "the departure from". In Moses' list of departures, there are forty-two named places, covering forty years (v. 38) of journeys. The number forty-two, which is the list of places of departure in Num. 33, also has a profound meaning in the Hebrew tradition, and rabbinical teaching. I will just give you some of the more important points here: The number 42 is written as the Hebrew letters mem bet. Those two letters refer to the written Torah, which begins with the letter beth, and the oral Torah, which begins with the letter mem. The Kaddish is a series of prayers said in the synagogue sanctifying the name of God. That name, according to rabbinical teaching, is composed of 42 letters from the Genesis account of creation. Here also is a direct quote: "The Kaddish is the means for the elevation of the sons of Israel from one stage to the next in their journey of life, leading ultimately to "Olam Haba", the world to come." (See 2 Pet. 3:11-13: "...we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."). The name of God in Ex. 3:13-14, "I AM THAT I AM", equals the number 42 in gematria, which is the number value assigned to Hebrew letters. The Messiah's genealogy is expressed in three sets of fourteen, which equals forty-two (see Mt. 1:17). Forty-two months is alo involved in the revealing of end time events and the antichrist figure (Rev. 11:2, 12:6, 13:5). So, the forty-two places of departures listed in the journeys of Israel in Numbers 33 has great significance in scripture. The first place of departure from this week's Sabbath reading, which took place on the first dy after Passover, was from the Egyptian city of Rameses (Num. 33:1), which means "child of the sun (god). Rameses was built with the slave labor of the Israelites, and named after the Pharaoh. The Israelites would later speak of wanting to go back to Egypt, but once God causes us to depart a place in our journey, we are not to go back unless He brings us back. Some of the places departed from by Israel had pleasant names like "tabernacle"/Succoth, "resting place"/Rephidim, "beauty, goodness, glisten"/Mount Shapher, "sweetness, sweet fountain"/Mitheah, "pleasantness, goodness, acceptance"/Jotbathah. Many places departed from had unpleasant names like "to beat violently"/Dophkah, "graves of lust, longing, desire"/Kibrothhattavah, "bonds, prisoner"/Moseroth, "the slashing place, cut"/Horhagidgad, "shadow of death, deep darkness"/Zalmonah, "darkness, perplexed"/Punom, "familiar spirit, practice of necromancy/Oboth, "wasting, to pine and pass away/Dibongad, and their final place of departure when they cross the Jordan River will be: "house of desolation" and "meadow of whipping and scourging"/Bethjesimoth-Abelshittim. The LORD had stated that He would bring judgment against all the gods of Egypt (Ex. 12:12), and many of these places of departure represented those demon gods of darkness and suffering. One place of departure, Pi Ha hiroth, was a place sacred to Typhon, a demon god of Egypt. The departures in the journeys of the Israelites therefore evidently involved God's subduing of the powers of darkness. When the Israelites stayed or "encamped" at a place, the Hebrew word and root hana/hanan was used, which means "dwell, abide, lay siege against/mercy, gracious, favored, pity". The LORD laid siege through the presence of His people and His tabernacle, which was the foreshadowing of His Son, the Messiah Jesus, while at the same time, protecting and covering them with His mercy and favor (when they cooperated!). When the Israelites departed from Egypt, they departed as the armies of the LORD (Ex. 12:41). They were a spiritual army as well as a natural army, I believe. What does all of this mean regarding our walk in Christ? We also are being brought to a destination, and the journey is filled with a series of departures, as well as the reaching of an expected conclusion or end (see Jer. 29:11). Each departure in that journey accomplishes God's victory in spiritual warfare through His Work of Christ in us. Paul wrote: "...if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (ktisis - the act of creating, of God creating the worlds, complete change or transformation); old things (archaios/arche/archo - from the beginning, original; the first place: principality, rule of angels, demons; to rule over) have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Cor. 5:17). This verse, according to the Greek meanings of the words used here, refers to the passing away of the ancient spiritual rulers of darkness. Within us, as we abide in Christ, the God of creation is causing the ancient principalities and rulers to pass away, and a new (never before seen, unheard of, unprecedented) creation pertaining to all things has come to pass. We see this same idea in the rabbinical teachings, as discussed above, in the meaning of the number forty-two. Paul also wrote: "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus...For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working (energeia - by superhuman power, energy, operation) by which He is able even to subdue (hypotasso - put in subjection underneath, put in a certain order) all things to Himself." (Phil. 3:14-15, 20-21). Christ is able to subdue all things beneath Him, including the primeval spiritual rulers of wickedness and chaos, through His transformational work in us, and into His body. This is a fulfillment of one of the prophetic shadows found in the forty-two "departures" of the Israelites throughout their forty year journey to the Promised Land. Our spiritual journey in Christ is essential, and accomplishes a finished work that re-orders and re-news creation. Are we willing to accept the departures, and their work of subduing spiritual powers, that the Lord has placed in our journey, or are we continually looking back (see also Gen. 19:24-26), going back, and repeatedly rehearsing the old things of the past in our minds, resulting in the re-enpowering of those ancient evils, and the undoing of His accomplished work through us? Let us accept the departures, if we wish to move upward in Him. If you would like to experience the beginning point and the departures found in a walk with Christ, you can pray with me: "Father, as you have shown us through the journeys of the Israelites, You led Your people by pillars of smoke and fire, and caused them to depart, or be removed from, places of spiritual strongholds as You judged the gods of Egypt. You accomplish a transformational work in and through me also as I continue my journey of departures with Jesus Christ that affects all things, including rulers and principalities of spiritual powers of wickedness. I can see the creation power of God at work in this journey, bringing me to new heavens and a new earth. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, Who leads me to follow the path of Christ in my journey. I ask these things in Jesus' name. AMEN."

Compassion

Last week's entry marked the end of the one year Sabbath reading cycle as practiced in synagogues around the world. I learned so much about my faith in Christ reading along with them. Many of the Sabbath readings carry a prophetic importance as well. Israel and Jerusalem have a great and unique importance in the prophetic and salvation plan of God, especially in the days to come. God has made important promises to Israel that will impact the whole earth, and He will keep those promises. He is not done with either Israel or Jerusalem, and He will never be done with them! My intention, as a Christian, in following the Sabbath readings this past year was not to replace the Jewish people on their path of study, but to walk beside them, and learn with them. I have a feeling that as I begin the new yearly cycle of readings, it will be in a different way than I had done in this past year. This week, I opened the first chapter of Genesis, and the corresponding reading from Isaiah 42. As I started reading, I was surprised to find out about the role that compassion played in the creation of the heavens and the earth. The power God exhibited in the Creation seemed to have been focussed through the presence first of compassion in the form of the Holy Spirit, as I hope we will see. After stating that God created the heavens and the earth, Genesis 1:2 goes on to say: "The earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering/moving over the face of the waters." There is great power in the Spirit of God, but the Spirit is also called "The Comforter" by Jesus (Jn. 14:26, 15:26). In this verse from Genesis, the Spirit was hovering over a terrible sight. The Hebrew word for "hovering" is rehap meaning "shake, move, flutter, to grow soft, to brood, with the feeling of tender love hence to cherish, to brood over/cherish young as an eagle, of parents who cherish their children, to soothe a child". (The Hebrew meaning, rehap can also include "to cause to tremble with fear, like the bones of a person terrified". Even as the Holy Spirit can move with comfort and compassion, we can also say then that it can move in a way to create fear.) The conditions over which the Spirit of God hovered in Gen. 1:2 above, are written as "without form, void, darkness, and deep". These words have the Hebrew meaning "the dark, misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness, desolation, confusion, lie waste, abyss". Before the Word of God was spoken into this desolation, the Spirit hovered over it, "brooding" over it, cherishing it as a parent cherishes a child. In speaking "Light" over this void, and dividing the light from the darkness (v. 3-5), God (Elohim) was, at the same time, taking authority over the darkness on the First Day. John Ch. 1 tells us that the words of Creation spoken was Jesus, who was with God, and was God, and became flesh to dwell with us (v. 14). Again this first moment is described in John 1:5 as: "And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend (seize, overtake, overcome) it." (Jn. 1:5). We see again that the darkness cannot overcome the Word of God. As Jesus worked in the power of His anointing, it was often said in scripture that He was moved by compassion for the people, whether they had gotten into their calamities through their own fault or not (Mt. 14:14, 15:32, 20:30-34). Jesus taught in a heavy warning of the consequences of failing to show to others that same compassion which we have received from "the king", or the Lord (Mt. 18:21-35). He taught parables about incorporating compassion as a lifestyle, and as a fulfillment of the Law (Lk. 10:26-37), and a parable, know to us as The Prodigal Son, of the role of compassion in the restoration of one who was lost (Lk. 15:18-24). The apostles' teaching also reminds us to exercise compassion (1 Peter 3:8, Heb. 10:34). The Greek word and root word for compassion used in these parables means "from the deepest part of a person, having compassion from the seat of sympathy, love, and pity; a great passion that includes love, tenderer affections, kindness, benevolence, mercies, compassion". The only people that Jesus seemed to lack compassion for were those who lacked compassion for others, most of these being the religious authorities of His time. What can sometimes be surprising however, is how angry and stirred up some may become because of what they consider to be an inconvenient or inappropriate show of compassion (Lk. 15:25-32, Lk. 7:36-48, Jn. 12:1-7). Coming back to the Creation of Gen. 1, we see that it begins with the presence and work of Christ as the Word (Jn. 1:1-3), Who is also revealed in the first phrase of Genesis 1 for those who wish to search it out, but it also involved a work of compassion by the Spirit of God. Looking at Isaiah 42 of this week's reading, the words of the LORD remind the reader again of Gen. 1 as the LORD declares that He created the heavens, the earth, and gave breath to the living (v. 5). His unchanging purpose is to bring forth justice for the truth (v. 3-4). Will we see again compassion having a role in this work of justice? Towards this purpose, the LORD prophesies that He is sending Someone, whom He describes as "My Servant", "My Elect One". He says, "I have put My Spirit upon Him." (v. 1). To this special Servant, whom we know as the Messiah, Jesus, God says: "I the LORD have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people..." (v. 6). We will know this Servant by certain works to which the LORD has appointed Him in Isa. 42. They are works of compassion: "...as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house." The LORD continues: "I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them." (v. 16). In this chapter from Isaiah, judgment has also been sent mong God's people in order to bring forth "justice for truth". The LORD describes the judgment of His people who would not listen to Him: "But this is a people robbed and plundered; All of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prison houses; They are for prey, and no one delivers; For plunder, and no one says "Restore!". (v. 22). The LORD said that He is the one who put them in this condition (v. 24). Even so, the LORD turns and shows His compassion: "But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are mine." (Isa. 43:1). Sometimes we may think that by showing compassion, we are ignoring sin. However, it may be that it is the constant, ever-available compassion of God that is one thing that draws men to repentance of sin. Why would a man seek repentance in the first place, unless he feels that he is dealing with the LORD who will turn and have compassion on him, and forgive him? First John 1:9 guarantees us that if we confess our sins before God, not only is He faithful to forgive, but His justice requires that He forgives. However, the compassion of God goes even beyond this. The prophet Joel wrote of God's people assembling for the purpose of repentance before the LORD. The LORD gave the promise of compassion to His people if they repented before Him: "Now, therefore, says the LORD, 'Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart...Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm." (Joel 2:12-13). Joel promised that the LORD would have pity, and answer His people (v. 18). Not only did the LORD promise to restore His people, but He went beyond restoration to even more abundance (v. 19, 23-27). On top of the greater abundance, He promised to pour out His Spirit upon all, regardless of gender, social position, or age in a miraculous way never before seen (Joel 3:28-29). In the same manner, for those who accepted His compassionate gift of forgiveness and reconciliation through His Messiah and Son, Jesus Christ, the LORD again did even greater than a restoring work: "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." (Jn. 10:10). We are given even more than restoration as a result of salvation, beyond what Adam and Eve had before their fall into sin. They were given dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:26), but, to serve as an example of the compassion (love, kindness) of God, those in Christ are given greater. They are seated in the heavenly places with Him (Eph. 2:4-7), and have become joint-heirs with Christ Himself, which is the work of the Spirit, the Comforter, in us (Rom. 8:16-18). While Adam and Eve experienced a visitation of God in the Garden (Gen 3:8-9), those who have accepted God's gift of compassion through Jesus Christ, don't have to wait for a visitation, but now have both Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God dwelling within them, and communing with them (Rom. 8:10-11). The law of compassion, it seems from the evidence, does not just restore to the previous condition, but it supersedes the previous condition with even greater than before. Compassion is not the only quality of God that impacts man, and by which we impact each other, but perhaps it deserves a deeper look. The power of God is focused through compassion in the examples that we have read. Compassion does not give unrepented sin a "pass", but I think it is one way that God uses to defeat Satan at his own game of destroying human souls. Because of this, compassion should play an important role in our lives as believers. If you would like to receive and live in the compassion of God through Jesus Christ, you can pray: "Dear Father, You sent Your Son into my life out of Your compassion and love for me. Through Jesus, You not only cleansed me from sin, and reconciled me back to Yourself, but You gave me a greater, more abundant life. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I can minister compassion to others as You ministered to me. Lead me in discernment so I may see when compassion shown can break the stronghold of the enemy over another person's life. Let me not forget to show others the same compassion that You showed me, as You drew me back to Yourself. I ask and thank You for this in the name of Jesus. Amen."