Sunday Grace

Sunday, 11 Iyar 5784 / May 19, 2024

Day 505 Readings

Torah: Parshat Behar, 1st Portion Vayikra (Leviticus) 25:1-25:13 

Leviticus 25:1-13

English Standard Version

The Sabbath Year

25 The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. 6 The Sabbath of the land[a] shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves[b] and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you, 7 and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food.

The Year of Jubilee

8 “You shall count seven weeks[c] of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. 12 For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You may eat the produce of the field.[d]

13 “In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property.

BIBLE Study Together

Isaiah 15-16

English Standard Version

An Oracle Concerning Moab

15 An oracle concerning Moab.

Because Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night,    Moab is undone;because Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night,    Moab is undone.2 He has gone up to the temple,[a] and to Dibon,    to the high places[b] to weep;over Nebo and over Medeba    Moab wails.On every head is baldness;    every beard is shorn;3 in the streets they wear sackcloth;    on the housetops and in the squares    everyone wails and melts in tears.4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;    their voice is heard as far as Jahaz;therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;    his soul trembles.5 My heart cries out for Moab;    her fugitives flee to Zoar,    to Eglath-shelishiyah.For at the ascent of Luhith    they go up weeping;on the road to Horonaim    they raise a cry of destruction;6 the waters of Nimrim    are a desolation;the grass is withered, the vegetation fails,    the greenery is no more.7 Therefore the abundance they have gained    and what they have laid upthey carry away    over the Brook of the Willows.8 For a cry has gone    around the land of Moab;her wailing reaches to Eglaim;    her wailing reaches to Beer-elim.9 For the waters of Dibon[c] are full of blood;    for I will bring upon Dibon even more,a lion for those of Moab who escape,    for the remnant of the land.

Isaiah 16

1 Send the lamb to the ruler of the land,from Sela, by way of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Zion. 2 Like fleeing birds,    like a scattered nest,so are the daughters of Moab    at the fords of the Arnon.

3 “Give counsel;    grant justice;make your shade like night    at the height of noon;shelter the outcasts;    do not reveal the fugitive;4 let the outcasts of Moab    sojourn among you;be a shelter to them[d]    from the destroyer.When the oppressor is no more,    and destruction has ceased,and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,5 then a throne will be established in steadfast love,    and on it will sit in faithfulness    in the tent of Davidone who judges and seeks justice    and is swift to do righteousness.”

6 We have heard of the pride of Moab—    how proud he is!—of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;    in his idle boasting he is not right.7 Therefore let Moab wail for Moab,    let everyone wail.Mourn, utterly stricken,    for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.

8 For the fields of Heshbon languish,    and the vine of Sibmah;the lords of the nations    have struck down its branches,which reached to Jazer    and strayed to the desert;its shoots spread abroad    and passed over the sea.9 Therefore I weep with the weeping of Jazer    for the vine of Sibmah;I drench you with my tears,    O Heshbon and Elealeh;for over your summer fruit and your harvest    the shout has ceased.10 And joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field,and in the vineyards no songs are sung,    no cheers are raised;no treader treads out wine in the presses;    I have put an end to the shouting.11 Therefore my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab,    and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.

12 And when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.

13 This is the word that the Lord spoke concerning Moab in the past. 14 But now the Lord has spoken, saying, “In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all his great multitude, and those who remain will be very few and feeble.”

ESV Readings

Scripture

Psalm 138

English Standard Version

Give Thanks to the Lord

Of David.

1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;

2 I bow down toward your holy temple    and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things    your name and your word.[a]

3 On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.[b]

4 All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth,

5 and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.

6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.

8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;    your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.    Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Numbers 22

Balak Summons Balaam

7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak's message. 8 And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9 And God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, 11 ‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Now come, curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” 12 God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” 13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your own land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” 14 So the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”

15 Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than these. 16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Let nothing hinder you from coming to me, 17 for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Come, curse this people for me.’” 18 But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more. 19 So you, too, please stay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me.” 20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.” 21 So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.

Balaam's Donkey and the Angel

22 But God's anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road. 24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. 25 And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam's foot against the wall. So he struck her again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” 30 And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.”

31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. 32 And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse[c] before me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.” 34 Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.” 35 And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.

36 When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, on the border formed by the Arnon, at the extremity of the border. 37 And Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?” 38 Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak.”

Isaiah 59

English Standard Version

Evil and Oppression

59 Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,    or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;2 but your iniquities have made a separation    between you and your God,and your sins have hidden his face from you    so that he does not hear.3 For your hands are defiled with blood    and your fingers with iniquity;your lips have spoken lies;    your tongue mutters wickedness.4 No one enters suit justly;    no one goes to law honestly;they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,    they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.5 They hatch adders' eggs;    they weave the spider's web;he who eats their eggs dies,    and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched.6 Their webs will not serve as clothing;    men will not cover themselves with what they make.Their works are works of iniquity,    and deeds of violence are in their hands.7 Their feet run to evil,    and they are swift to shed innocent blood;their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;    desolation and destruction are in their highways.8 The way of peace they do not know,    and there is no justice in their paths;they have made their roads crooked;    no one who treads on them knows peace.

9 Therefore justice is far from us,    and righteousness does not overtake us;we hope for light, and behold, darkness,    and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.10 We grope for the wall like the blind;    we grope like those who have no eyes;we stumble at noon as in the twilight,    among those in full vigor we are like dead men.11 We all growl like bears;    we moan and moan like doves;we hope for justice, but there is none;    for salvation, but it is far from us.12 For our transgressions are multiplied before you,    and our sins testify against us;for our transgressions are with us,    and we know our iniquities:13 transgressing, and denying the Lord,    and turning back from following our God,speaking oppression and revolt,    conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.

Judgment and Redemption

14 Justice is turned back,    and righteousness stands far away;for truth has stumbled in the public squares,    and uprightness cannot enter.15 Truth is lacking,    and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.

The Lord saw it, and it displeased him[a]    that there was no justice.16 He saw that there was no man,    and wondered that there was no one to intercede;then his own arm brought him salvation,    and his righteousness upheld him.17 He put on righteousness as a breastplate,    and a helmet of salvation on his head;he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,    and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.18 According to their deeds, so will he repay,    wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;    to the coastlands he will render repayment.19 So they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west,    and his glory from the rising of the sun;for he will come like a rushing stream,[b]    which the wind of the Lord drives.

20 “And a Redeemer will come to Zion,    to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.

21 “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children's offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.”

SOAP:

S: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22

English Standard Version

Final Instructions and Benediction

12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle,[a] encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.

O & A: The Commands of GOD in the New Testament are all practical for every believer to live a GODLY Life with a certain mindset of Honor. For example is

1. To esteem very highly in love actually means to honor and respect those who work for the LORD over me, my Pastors and Mentors, Counselors and Leaders. These are the DO's not the DONT's as compared to the Commandments in the Old Testament.

2. To Be at Peace within yourself (process all your feelings and do not burry them)

3. To Admonish Idle, to encourage the fainthearted, help the weak

4. To be patient with all that is weak (not to keep complaining about them)

5. See to it that no takes revenge, executing justice

6. Do good to one another

7. Rejoicing Always (in the LORD by giving thanks in all circumstances)

8. Do not quench the HOLY SPIRIT or despise prophecies

9. Test everything (test and do no just believe but rely on the HOLY SPIRIT)

10. Hold fast what is good (cling to it, repeat it, do it)

Application:

Last night, I talked to my mother who was weak when it came to Business problems related to the Government, she felt sick and I was worried for her, I encouraged her in the LORD and asked her to keep trusting GOD because GOD though he allows the trials and storms to come into our lives, HE didn't allow me to feel weak or fainthearted, but I felt amazingly strong even after the passing of my worker Raquel who was my only accountant and now I am left with none but GOD had already urged me to find a Book Keeper the month before, because of the many problems we were facing in the Accounting Department.

Prayers:

Dear AVI,

Blessed are YOU O GREAT and Glorious GOD!!! For YOU reign forever and YOUR WORDS have given me life and power to face each day's challenge and troubles. I pray O GOD, enable us to be all that YOU want us to be. Enable us to always look to YOU for strength and power to conquer because YOU have called us to be more than conquerors. I pray for Anacel that she will know YOU and love YOU, she will know YOU more, and that she will walk in YOUR Truth. I pray that we will work together to do everything right in the business. I pray for Mom to finally decide to declare everything so that we will not have a problem with anything. I pray O GOD have mercy on us. I pray O GOD, take care of us. I pray to improve the system I pray to be able to do all things becuase JESUS is my Strength, I pray that YOU will continue to rule and reign within me because YOU deserve the highest honor, glory, and praises!

Ba HaShem YESHUA HaMashiach, Amen!

Dear AVI,

O HOLY and Great I AM! My GOD and Lover of my Soul YESHUA! YOU are the KING of Glory, King of Love! I pray O GOD, that YOU would somehow continue to remove my feelings for Stephen as I do my part in praying for him, I pray that one day I will be free to love another or free to be loved by him. I pray O GOD that YOU will continue to call him to YOUR Kingdom and that he won't be able to resist YOUR call but surrender entirely and completely to YOU and to YOUR will for him on earth as it is in heaven. I pray for salvation for his family and especially his mother who I don't know but I pray that they will all enter YOUR kingdom one day. I pray for favor upon my inlaws, whoever the man YOU want me to marry I pray that my inlaws will love me instantly because YOU have put YOUR favor and love upon me. I pray for YOUR grace and mercies, I pray for YOUR healing upon us all. I pray that YOU will continue to prepare me for the man YOU have chosen for me to marry. Be it Stephen, Dominic or someone even better than these two. I pray O GOD, that my husband has been praying and searching for me already. Please speak to him about me, please bring us together soon and I pray that both my parents and all my siblings will bless our union... I pray for YOUR love to rule and reign over us and the our source in loving one another. I pray O GOD, perfect everything that concerns me O GOD, please take care of me and give us new helpers. Please close all our open cases and help us to settle with the Audit of 2022 WUCMIRF with BIR, and they will give a more reasonable audit O GOD. I pray that YOU give me a new accountant who can do our internal accounting. I pray that YOU give me a spouse who can love me and help me with all that I am concerned with because he is the man YOU have chosen for me to love and cherish, to work with and be a helpmate to and be helped with. I pray O GOD make all my dreams come true, bring me a good man that comes only from YOU.

In the name of JESUS, AMEN!