Friday, 26 Cheshvan 5784 / November 10, 2023
Day 214 Readings
Torah: Chayei Sarah, 6th Portion Bereshit (Genesis) 25:1-11
Abraham’s Death
1 Now Abraham took another wife, [a]whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore to him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All of these were the sons of Keturah. 5 Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; 6 but to the sons of [b]his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.
7 These are [c]all the years of Abraham’s life that he lived, 175 years. 8 Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people. 9 Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre, 10 the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 11 It came about after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac [d]lived by Beer-lahai-roi.
When someone in the family dies, brothers reconcile.
Bible Study Together
1 Samuel 6
The Ark Returned to Israel
6 Now the ark of the Lord had been in the territory of the Philistines for seven months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What are we to do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us [a]how we may send it to its place.” 3 And they said, “If you are going to send the ark of the God of Israel away, do not send it empty; but you shall certainly return to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be revealed to you why His hand does not leave you.” 4 Then they said, “What is to be the guilt offering that we shall return to Him?” And they said, “Five gold tumors and five gold mice corresponding to the number of the governors of the Philistines, since one plague was on all of [b]you and on your governors. 5 So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that are ruining the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will lighten His hand from you, your gods, and your land. 6 Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, did they not let [c]the people go, and they left? 7 Now then, take and prepare a new cart and two milk cows on which there has never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves back home, away from them. 8 Then take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart; and put the articles of gold which you return to Him as a guilt offering in a saddlebag by its side. Then send it away that it may go. 9 But watch: if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth-shemesh, then He has done this great evil to us. But if not, then we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance.”
10 Then the men did so: they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut in their calves at home. 11 And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the saddlebag with the gold mice and the likenesses of their tumors. 12 Now the cows went straight in the [d]direction of Beth-shemesh; they went on the same road, bellowing as they went, and did not turn off to the right or to the left. And the governors of the Philistines followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh.
13 Now the people of Beth-shemesh were gathering in their wheat harvest in the valley, and they raised their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced at seeing it. 14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite and stopped there where there was a large stone; and they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15 And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the saddlebag that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices that day to the Lord. 16 When the five governors of the Philistines saw it, they returned to Ekron that day.
17 Now these are the gold tumors which the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, and one for Ekron; 18 and the gold mice, corresponding to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five governors, both of fortified cities and of country villages. The large [e]stone on which they placed the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.
19 Now He fatally struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck 50,070 men among the people, and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter. 20 And the men of Beth-shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom will He go up from us?” 21 So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord; come down and take it up to yourselves.”
1 Samuel 7
Israel Saved from the Philistines
1 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the Lord and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and they [a]consecrated his son Eleazar to watch over the ark of the Lord. 2 From the day that the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, the [b]time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel [c]mourned after the Lord.
John 9
7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he left and washed, and came back seeing. 8 So the neighbors, and those who previously saw [a]him as a beggar, were saying, “Is this not the one who used to sit and beg?” 9 Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” [b]The man himself kept saying, “I am the one.” 10 So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made mud, and spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.”
24 So for a second time they summoned the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?” 28 They spoke abusively to him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.” 30 The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is the amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes! 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners; but if someone is [g]God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him. 32 [h]Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and yet you are teaching us?” So they [i]put him out.
Jesus Affirms His Deity
35 Jesus heard that they had [j]put him out, and upon finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered [k]by saying, “And who is He, [l]Sir, that I may believe in Him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.” 38 And he said, “I believe, Lord.” And he worshiped Him. 39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Those who were with Him from the Pharisees heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now that you maintain, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.
365 Daily Kingdom Living
Stand By Him
At the crucifixion, the gospel of John records these four were present. Mary (Jesus’ mother); Mary of Cleopas (Jesus’ aunt); Mary Magdalene and John (his disciple). What a contrast to the triumphant entry, where crowds were cheering and praising Jesus, but now only a few stood near the cross. It took a lot of courage for these to be still standing by Jesus amidst the scorn, rejection and hatred of the crowd. These followers of Jesus loved Him and remained faithful even in the face of adversity. At that moment, Jesus as Son of Man suffering on the cross, the presence of these disciples must have encouraged Him
Prayer : Father, help me to remain steadfast in You. No matter what circumstances I face, what obstacles I encounter, what trials await, let me be faithful to You just as You are always faithful. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Scripture
Ezekiel 21
Babylon, the Sword of God
1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, preach[a] against the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel; 3 and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am against you, and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off both righteous and wicked from you. 4 Because I will cut off both righteous and wicked from you, therefore My sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh from south to north, 5 that all flesh may know that I, the Lord, have drawn My sword out of its sheath; it shall not return anymore.” ’ 6 Sigh therefore, son of man, with [b]a breaking heart, and sigh with bitterness before their eyes. 7 And it shall be when they say to you, ‘Why are you sighing?’ that you shall answer, ‘Because of the news; when it comes, every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming and shall be brought to pass,’ says the Lord God.”
24 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand.
25 ‘Now to you, O profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose iniquity shall end, 26 thus says the Lord God:
“Remove the turban, and take off the crown; Nothing shall remain the same. Exalt the humble, and humble the exalted.
Ezekiel 22
6 “Look, the princes of Israel: each one has used his [i]power to shed blood in you. 7 In you they have made light of father and mother; in your midst they have oppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the [j]fatherless and the widow. 8 You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.
29 The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger. 30 So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. 31 Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.
Hebrews 10:1-18
Christ’s Death Fulfills God’s Will
5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,But a body You have prepared for Me.6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sinYou had no pleasure.7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.’ ”
8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, [b]O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. 10 By that will we have been [c]sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Christ’s Death Perfects the Sanctified
11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being [d]sanctified.
15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 18 Now where there is [e]remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
Psalm 108
Assurance of God’s Victory over Enemies
A Song. A Psalm of David.
1 O God, my heart is steadfast;I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.2 Awake, lute and harp!I will awaken the dawn.3 I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples,And I will sing praises to You among the nations.4 For Your mercy is great above the [a]heavens,And Your truth reaches to the clouds.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,And Your glory above all the earth; 6 That Your beloved may be delivered,Save with Your right hand, and [b]hear me.
7 God has spoken in His holiness:“I will rejoice;I will divide Shechem And measure out the Valley of Succoth. 8 Gilead is Mine; Manasseh is Mine;Ephraim also is the [c]helmet for My head;Judah is My lawgiver. 9 Moab is My washpot; Over Edom I will cast My shoe; Over Philistia I will triumph.”
10 Who will bring me into the strong city?Who will lead me to Edom?11 Is it not You, O God, who cast us off?And You, O God, who did not go out with our armies? 12 Give us help from trouble, For the help of man is useless. 13 Through God we will do valiantly,For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.
Proverbs 27:12
New King James Version
12 A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself;The simple pass on and are punished.
Dear AVI,
Baruk Ata Adonai YESHUA Melek Ha Olam! O GOD Almighty, I am so overwhelmed by the way YOU Told me today to take off my turban and crown in Ezekiel 21:26 because YOU made me wear it since 2017 and all of a sudden now, today a sudden turn! Sudden! And so I did YOUR Directive today but I felt so naked... coz I was not used to it already. And today also this afternoon, I was meeting Stephen and I am so sure he noticed the difference of my uncovered head, but what can I do??? It is YOUR command to me and I adhere to it because I am YOUR Obedient daughter. I will do as YOU say no matter what people say, even if they feel that I am doing it for someone YOU alone know, I'm doing things for YOU! But YOU know what Adonai, he looked so cute and handsome today, in his blue poloshirt barong and he smelled nice too. I just feel so helpless and weak around him, he strength makes me feel weak. For the first time, I felt femine energy oozing out of me as I have been cooking the past few days and preparing him food made me feel satisfied and fulfilled. Every Saturday I would want him to come to our gazebo, enjoy good food and find his rest and home around me as I always prepare the place to give hime a homey atmosphere that he can come to. I want to be his home, his rest and this feeling he makes me feel is so strong that it leaves me so helpless and so weak, everytime he leaves my presence, I feel weaker and weaker still. I pray today and everyday for the rest of our lives that his love for me would be greater than my love for him because I have been waiting and trusting YOU to give me the kind of love YOU could only give, this time through a husband who would forever love me. Toda for Stephen, he is so precious.
Ba HaShem YESHUA HaMashiach, Amen!