Sunday, 21 Adar II 5784 / March 31, 2024

Day 456 Readings

Torah: Parshat Shemini, 1st Portion Vayikra (Leviticus) 9:1-9:16

Leviticus 9:1-16

English Standard Version

The Lord Accepts Aaron's Offering

1 On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, 2 and he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and offer them before the Lord. 3 And say to the people of Israel, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old without blemish, for a burnt offering, 4 and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with oil, for today the Lord will appear to you.’” 5 And they brought what Moses commanded in front of the tent of meeting, and all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord. 6 And Moses said, “This is the thing that the Lord commanded you to do, that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.” 7 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Draw near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people, and bring the offering of the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord has commanded.”

8 So Aaron drew near to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. 9 And the sons of Aaron presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar. 10 But the fat and the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver from the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the Lord commanded Moses. 11 The flesh and the skin he burned up with fire outside the camp.

12 Then he killed the burnt offering, and Aaron's sons handed him the blood, and he threw it against the sides of the altar. 13 And they handed the burnt offering to him, piece by piece, and the head, and he burned them on the altar. 14 And he washed the entrails and the legs and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar.

15 Then he presented the people's offering and took the goat of the sin offering that was for the people and killed it and offered it as a sin offering, like the first one. 16 And he presented the burnt offering and offered it according to the rule.

Bible Study Together

2 Kings 7:3-8:15

English Standard Version

The Syrians Flee

3 Now there were four men who were lepers[a] at the entrance to the gate. And they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die.” 5 So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. But when they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no one there. 6 For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us.” 7 So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives. 8 And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them.

9 Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king's household.” 10 So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied and the donkeys tied and the tents as they were.” 11 Then the gatekeepers called out, and it was told within the king's household. 12 And the king rose in the night and said to his servants, “I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the open country, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive and get into the city.’” 13 And one of his servants said, “Let some men take five of the remaining horses, seeing that those who are left here will fare like the whole multitude of Israel who have already perished. Let us send and see.” 14 So they took two horsemen, and the king sent them after the army of the Syrians, saying, “Go and see.” 15 So they went after them as far as the Jordan, and behold, all the way was littered with garments and equipment that the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king.

16 Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. 17 Now the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. And the people trampled him in the gate, so that he died, as the man of God had said when the king came down to him. 18 For when the man of God had said to the king, “Two seahs of barley shall be sold for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria,” 19 the captain had answered the man of God, “If the Lord himself should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” And he had said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” 20 And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate and he died.

The Shunammite's Land Restored

8 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years.” 2 So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3 And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal to the king for her house and her land. 4 Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” 5 And while he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.”

Hazael Murders Ben-hadad

7 Now Elisha came to Damascus. Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick. And when it was told him, “The man of God has come here,” 8 the king said to Hazael, “Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord through him, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” 9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camels' loads. When he came and stood before him, he said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” 10 And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but[b] the Lord has shown me that he shall certainly die.” 11 And he fixed his gaze and stared at him, until he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept. 12 And Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men with the sword and dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women.” 13 And Hazael said, “What is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you are to be king over Syria.” 14 Then he departed from Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” 15 But the next day he took the bed cloth[c] and dipped it in water and spread it over his face, till he died. And Hazael became king in his place.

ESV Readings

Scripture

Psalm 90

English Standard Version

Book Four

From Everlasting to Everlasting

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place[a]    in all generations.

2 Before the mountains were brought forth,    or ever you had formed the earth and the world,    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You return man to dust    and say, “Return, O children of man!”[b]

4 For a thousand years in your sight    are but as yesterday when it is past,    or as a watch in the night.

5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,    like grass that is renewed in the morning:6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;    in the evening it fades and withers.

7 For we are brought to an end by your anger;    by your wrath we are dismayed.

8 You have set our iniquities before you,    our secret sins in the light of your presence.

9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;    we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

10 The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span[c] is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.

11 Who considers the power of your anger,    and your wrath according to the fear of you?

12 So teach us to number our days    that we may get a heart of wisdom.

13 Return, O Lord! How long?    Have pity on your servants!

14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,    that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,    and for as many years as we have seen evil.

16 Let your work be shown to your servants,    and your glorious power to their children.17 Let the favor[d] of the Lord our God be upon us,    and establish the work of our hands upon us;    yes, establish the work of our hands!

Exodus 35:30-35

English Standard Version

Construction of the Tabernacle

30 Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, 32 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, 33 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft. 34 And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.

Exodus 36:1

Esther 3

1 Corinthians 8

English Standard Version

Food Offered to Idols

1 Now concerning[a] food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.[b]

4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating[c] in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers[e] and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Dear AVI,

Baruk Ata Adonai YESHUA Elohim Melek HaOlam!!! Great, Awesome and Almighty are YOU O HOLY ONE of Israel!!! There is None like YOU! O Adonai, My KING, have mercy on me each day I cry out for mercy because I am helpless without YOU. Forgive me O GOD, I should never join them for dinner each night, I should just be with YOU. Forgive me for not thinking about YOU. I pray that tonight, I will be with YOU more and receive YOUR confirmation about doing the chicken business with the Lebanese man who is broken and messed up. I wanted to do the chicken business because I feel insecure about my family. I cannot trust them. I want YOU to secure my future, not them and not even my own family could secure my future. Look at Stephen, YOU say he is my husband but he has not spoken to me about loving me. I have nowhere else to go, no love to call my own but YOURS. I have nothing to cling to but YOU the invisible GOD who loves me who has broken me and healed me but today has made me a very insecure person. When I am silent, and reflect on YOUR Promises to me regarding this New thing YOU are doing (Isaiah 43:18-19), I am hurting and I cry because I cannot see it yet and YOU have hurt me so many many times in the past when YOU tell me something and it never happens but I believed YOU with all my heart because YOU are my GOD. Now YOU are telling me something that has not come to pass yet and from this time to the time it happens, I am in pain because I am afraid that YOU will hurt me again and again. But I still need YOU and I still cling to YOU because I have No ONE else but YOU. Every one of us is hurting in some way or the other, I feel my sister in law and her insecurities too - being fat, not being good enough, living up to the expectations of my parents. I feel my mom and why she is such a narcissist because of her past. And here YOU are feeding me to the Crocodiles, my life being sucked out by this monster because YOU sent me back here where I feared and dreaded the most. Yet from 2017 to 2023 YOU have made me secure as YOU take me high in the Spirit, nothing mattered to me more than YOU, but why does my singleness hurt me so much??? It's because I put my hope in YOU and expected YOU to perform YOUR WORD earlier than later. Do YOU still want me to have children??? I want to have 2 children with the man YOU have chosen for me but are YOU going to change this again? I wish I didn't feel this much pain but I trust YOU and the pain YOU allow me to go through. My life is YOURS I will not control it but I am praying that YOU will give me some security in a family with my husband who loves me deeply like YOU, YOU will secure my heart with YOUR love and the love of a man who loves me like YOU. I need YOU to comfort me because I am troubled by this life that YOU called me to live. I want to surrender my fears and everything that I am to YOU. I surrendered my ideal husband to YOU, will YOU also cause me to live another moment being unloved??? Help me to fight for the right things, help me KING JESUS to focus on YOU and not just the things that I can see with my eyes. I want to be happy, please make me happy O GOD, once again make me happy. Do not turn me away, do not set me aside. Heal my brokeness and all the pain I feel inside. Please take care of me and cause my husband to start loving me deeply because I need so much love. I need it, I need YOU to keep loving me O GOD. Help me to see YOU in all things, help me to keep seeing YOU. Thank YOU for my husband who is rising up right now, heal him heal Stephen from all his rejection and pain and cause him to follow his heart, to love me to build a family with me. I understand completely that YOU have called him to be like Bezalel filling him with wisdom and giftedness because YOU have called him to teach and he is already doing that. I already feel so much for him, I like him, I feel attached to him, I feel like I already love him because of who he is but it is not fair that I love him because he doesn't love me. But if I believe YOU GOD, If I let my faith to live then I know he already loves me. But I want to get away from this love because it hurts me. This love hurts me because I am afraid of the pain that comes along with it. I am so tired of feeling so many things, but I cannot allow my feelings to get bottled up inside. I do not want to love someone who is trying to burry all his deep feelings inside, it's so hard, I want YOU to heal Stephen KING JESUS. Heal him for me so that he can love me the way I need to be loved and be happy. If he is not the one please do not let me suffer another moment more. Please let me go to love the man YOU have called me to love, besides YOU KING JESUS. Please my GOD how many more tears do YOU want from me??? How much more pain do I have to bear in this world??? Please KING JESUS come to me and heal me like YOU healed the woman who bled 12 years, heal me I am desperate for YOU to heal me finally from all the pain I have ever been through. Heal Stephen and teach him to love me. I pray that YOU speak to Stephen and Benita and reveal YOURSELF to them. O GOD have mercy on me. I need YOU. For YOU deserve all the praise, all the glory, all the honor, all the worship all the credit in my life!

Ba HaShem YESHUA HAMashiach, Amen!