#it’s like fattening up the sacrificial lamb before the offering

[bakudekublogblog]

they’re making him more gorgeous every week because they know they’re about to deadwife him

[dfroza]

to have an open heart

is what Love is seeking from us.

and we see Paul write of this nearly 2,000 years ago in his Letter of 2nd Corinthians:

[Chapter 6]

As for those of us working as His emissaries, we beg you not to take the grace of God lightly. For God says through Isaiah,

When the time was right, I listened to you;

and that day you were delivered, I was your help.

Look, now the time is right! See, your day of deliverance is here! We are careful in what we teach so that our words won’t be a stumbling block and so that no one will discredit our ministry. But as God’s servants, we commend ourselves in every situation. So that with great endurance we persevere even in anguish and hardship. We have been cornered by the enemy suffering beatings, imprisonments, uproars, toil, sleeplessness, and starvation. And by the Holy Spirit with purity, understanding, patience, kindness, and sincerest love we have proved ourselves. Now with the voice of truth and power of God—armed on the right and armed on the left with righteousness from God—we continue. Whether respected or loathed, praise or criticized as frauds, yet true, as unknown to this world, and yet well known to God, we serve Him. We are treated as dying and yet we live, as punished and yet we are not executed. Though we are sorrowful, we continually rejoice. As the poorest of the poor, we bring richness to all, and though we have nothing, we possess all things.

Corinthians, we have been completely open to you. We’ve exposed the truth, holding nothing back while our hearts open wide to take you in. We have revealed our affection toward you—though it’s obvious you have a hard time showing your affection toward us. If I could offer some fatherly advice: open yourselves up as children; share your hearts with us as we have done for you.

Don’t develop partnerships with those who are not followers of Jesus’ teachings. For what real connection can exist between righteousness and rebellion? How can light participate in darkness? What harmony can exist between the Anointed and Satan? Do the faithful and the faithless have anything in common? Can the temple of God find common ground with idols? Don’t you see that we house the temple of the living God within us? Remember when He said,

“I will make My home with them and walk among them.

I will be their God,

and they will be My people.

So then turn away from them,

turn away and leave without looking back,” says the Lord.

“Stay away from anything unclean, anything impure,

and I will welcome you.

And I will be for you as a father,

and you will be for Me as sons and daughters,”

Says the Lord Almighty!

The Letter of 2nd Corinthians, Chapter 6 (The Voice)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is chapter 4 of First Kings that describes King Solomon’s reign:

King Solomon reigned over Israel, and these are the men who helped him do so. The following were his officers and administrators: The priest was Azariah (Zadok’s son); the secretaries were Elihoreph and Ahijah (Shisha’s sons); the recorder was Jehoshaphat (Ahilud’s son); the commander of the army was Benaiah (Jehoiada’s son); the priests were Zadok and Abiathar; the commander of all the administrators was Azariah (Nathan’s son); the king’s confidant and priest was Zabud (Nathan’s son); the household manager was Ahishar; the commander of the compulsory labor force was Adoniram (Abda’s son).

Solomon commissioned 12 administrators over the entire community of Israel. They each gave provisions for the king and his house. Each administrator provided supplies for one month out of every year. The following were his administrators: Ben-hur from the hills of Ephraim; Ben-deker from Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan; Ben-hesed from Arubboth (he possessed Socoh and all of Hepher); Ben-abinadab from the height of Dor (he was married to Taphath, Solomon’s daughter); Baana (Ahilud’s son) from Taanach, Megiddo, and Beth-shean, which is next to Zarethan below Jezreel (from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah) all the way to the far end of Jokmeam; Ben-geber (Manasseh’s son) from Ramoth-gilead, which is the whole of all the towns of Jair, the towns in Gilead, the sector of Argob in Bashan, and 60 large cities which were fortified by walls and bronze bars; Ahinadab (Iddo’s son) from Mahanaim; Ahimaaz from Naphtali (Ahimaaz was married to Basemath, Solomon’s daughter); Baana (Hushai’s son) from Asher and Bealoth; Jehoshaphat (Paruah’s son) from Issachar; Shimei (Ela’s son) from Benjamin; and finally Geber (Uri’s son) from Gilead (the land of Sihon the Amorite king, and the land of Og, Bashan’s king). Geber was the only administrator who lived in the country.

The people of Judah and Israel were innumerable, like the grains of sand on the beach. They ate and drank and celebrated.

Solomon reigned over all the countries from the Euphrates River to Philistia and to Egypt’s border. These countries honored Solomon with gifts and remained in Solomon’s service for his entire life. Solomon’s provisions for his house for one day were just over 195 bushels of the best flour and about 391 bushels of meal, 10 fattened oxen, 20 pastured oxen, 100 sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened birds.

Solomon reigned over all places and people and kings to the west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah all the way to Gaza on the Mediterranean. Solomon’s reign had peace on all sides: Judah and Israel lived in peace from Dan to Beersheba, with each man under his vine and beneath his fig tree, for Solomon’s entire life.

Solomon owned 40,000 horse stalls for the chariot horses, and he had 12,000 horsemen under his command. The 12 administrators made provisions for King Solomon and all who sat at King’s Solomon’s table. Each agent was responsible for one month out of the year, and not one of them ever did an insufficient job. They also provided barley and straw for the chariot horses and war horses in their specified stalls throughout the kingdom. Each agent fulfilled his responsibilities for his appointed month.

God gave Solomon wisdom and discernment: his mind was as expansive as the sands of the beach; his wisdom was far beyond that of the wise men of the East and of Egypt. He was the wisest of any other man. He was even wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, and Calcol and Darda (Mahol’s sons). Solomon was immensely famous in all the nearby countries. He also wrote 3,000 proverbs and composed 1,005 songs. He reflected upon trees, from Lebanon’s cedars to the hyssop that blankets the walls. He reflected upon animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. People came from every corner of the earth—sent by kings who were fascinated by Solomon’s wise reputation—to listen to Solomon’s wisdom.

The Book of 1st Kings, Chapter 4 (The Voice)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for Tuesday, november 17 of 2020 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible, along with Today’s Psalms and Proverbs

A post by John Parsons about the significance of atonement:

Chodesh tov, chaverim! In our Torah portion this week (i.e., Toldot) we learn that the great oath of blessing that God gave to Abraham was extended (exclusively) to his beloved son Isaac (Gen 26:3-4; Rom. 9:7). Recall that it was only after the Akedah (the sacrifice of Isaac) that the LORD God swore the oath (שְׁבוּעָה) that through Abraham would all the families of the earth be blessed: "By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son (ben yachid), I will surely bless you... and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice" (Gen. 22:16-18; cp. Gal. 3:9,16). The phrase, "by myself have I sworn" is the most solemn oath God could make and must be regarded as an inviolable vow (Heb. 6:13-18). It is nothing short of astounding to realize that the very existence of Israel and the Jewish people - and therefore the advent of the Messiah himself - derives from the Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his “only begotten son,” an act of faith that constituted the revelation of "deeper Torah" later enshrined in the laws of sacrifice given at Sinai.

That is why the key idea of the Torah centers on the idea of atoning sacrifice, and in particular, the continual sacrifice of the lamb. Indeed atonement is the central theme of the central book of Torah, i.e., Leviticus, where we are called to draw near to God through sacrificial rites, the foremost of which was the ongoing offering (i.e., korban tamid: קָרְבַּן תָּמִיד) of a defect-free male lamb, together with unleavened bread and wine. The LORD called this "My offering, My bread" (Num. 28:1-8). In other words, the very center of the Torah is the altar that constantly prefigured the Lamb of God who would be offered up to secure our eternal redemption (John 1:29; Heb. 9:11-12). Yeshua is our “lamb offered in the morning and in the evening,” and His sacrificial life embodies God’s passion for you to receive his love. [Hebrew for Christians]

11.16.20 • Facebook

and another post about the significance of humility:

We must humble ourselves and renounce anger, for the "wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God" (James 1:20). Therefore “let go of anger and forsake outrage, for indignation leads to evil within the heart, and evildoers will be cut off” (Psalm 37:8-9). After all, before the eyes of heaven, who are we to take offense at others? Is not all our self-justified outrage a symptom of pride and arrogance? Despite all our sins and the times we angered the LORD we still ask, "Bless us, our Father; let your light shine upon us with favor..." And yet when we get slightly upset at a friend we restrain from showing him a shining face? Know the spiritual principle: As we are to others, so we are to ourselves: middah keneged middah ("like for like"); as we judge others, so we put ourselves before the bar of divine judgment, measure for measure (Matt. 7:1-2). Forgiveness means asking of ourselves what we are asking of God, and the same is true of love. When Yeshua taught us to “forgive us as we forgive,” He taught that our forgiveness (of others) is a measure of our own understanding of the forgiveness (of God). Conversely, demanding perfection from others means appealing to God to judge of our lives... Friends, we should focus on the Eternal; we should believe the blessed promise of God; we should anticipate the great Coming Day of ultimate healing - and then our hearts may be quieted. Remember that nothing happens on its own; everything comes from above, and this too will keep you from outrage and bitterness... [Hebrew for Christians]

https://hebrew4christians.com

11.17.20 • Facebook

Today’s message from the Institute for Creation Research

November 17, 2020

Business Structure: Masters

“Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.” (Colossians 4:1)

Kurios is the common Greek word for a person with authority. It is most often translated “lord” and is used frequently as part of the title and descriptions of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The most obvious focus of the term is the right to exercise that authority.

The short sections in Colossians and Ephesians about basic human relationships include the relationships between servants (employees) and masters (bosses). The employees are expected to work consistently and maintain loyalty as if they were working directly for the Lord Jesus Himself.

The bosses are expected to behave toward their employees with “just and equal” treatment (our text) and to forbear any “threatening” that might be the result of favoritism, since there is no “respect of persons” with the Lord Himself (Ephesians 6:9).

For those “masters” among the family of God, prompt payment of earned wages is required (Leviticus 19:13). Nor is the focus to be centered on becoming rich (Proverbs 23:4), particularly not if the focus is to get rich quick (Proverbs 28:20-22)! Rather, those to whom the Lord has granted wealth (through diligence—Proverbs 10:4) are to “do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate” (1 Timothy 6:18).

Finally, our Lord Jesus made it abuntantly clear that none of His leaders are to “exercise dominion” or seek to “exercise authority” over others. But in contrast, “it shall not be so among you: whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant” (Matthew 20:25-27). HMM III