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Come out of Her My People
By
James Scott Trimm

Believers are given a great warning in the Book of Revelation:

1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
(Revelation 18:1-4 KJV)

But who is Babylon?  Paul gives us a clue in a parallel verse:

14  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
15  And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
(2Cor. 6:14-18 KJV)

The word translated “unrighteousness” by the KJV is in the Greek ANOMIA a form of the Greek word ANOMOS.  The Greek prefix A- meas “without” and   the Greek word NOMOS means “Torah”, thus ANOMOS means “without Torah.  This means the definitive characteristic of Babylon, is that Babylon has forsaken the Torah.  Babylon teaches that the Torah is not for today.  Christendom is modern Babylon, keeping pagan Babylonian holidays and customs and teaching that the law is not for today.

Notice Revelation says “Come out of her, my people” (Rev. 18:4) and Paul says “they shall be my people” (2Cor. 6:16).  This phrase “my people” is a key to the very nature of this calling out:

24 (2:22) And the earth shall respond to the grain, and the wine, and the oil–and they shall respond to Yizre’el.
25 (2:23) And I will sow her unto Me in the land, and I will have
compassion upon her that had not obtained compassion. And I will say to
them that were not My people: You are My people, and they shall say, You are my Elohim.
(Hosea 2:24-35 (2:22-23) HRV)

This passage from Hosea brings us to a most overlooked thread of prophecy, that of the ultimate restoration of the House of Israel.

The name Yizre’el (Jezreel in the KJV) is the key to this overlooked thread.  In Hosea 1:4 Hosea’s wife bears a son and
YHWH names the son “Yizre’el”.  Throughout Hosea the names of Hosea’s sons had special prophetic meaning.  The name “Yizre’el” is a word play on “Yisra’el” (Israel) but has the maning “El sows” or “El scatters”:

4 And YHWH said unto him: Call his name Yizre’el, for yet a little while
and I will visit the blood of Yizre’el upon the house of Yahu, and will
cause to cease–the kingdom of the House of Yisra’el.
(Hosea 1:4 HRV)

The prophetic meaning of this name is revealed in Hosea chapter 2 where Elohim scatters Yisra’el.

At this point it is absolutely essential to distinguish the two houses of Israel in this book.  In these first two chapters of Hosea it is clear that it is not the House of Judah who are facing this chastisement.  In fact Hosea specifies that while he is punishing the House of Israel, He will have compassion on the House of Judah:

7 But I will have compassion upon the House of Y’hudah, and will save them by YHWH their Elohim: and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, nor
by horses, nor by horsemen.
(Hosea 1:7 HRV)

By contrast the House of Israel will lose their identity as the people of YHWH.  His second and third sons are named “Lo-Ruchmah” (“not compassioned”) and “Lo-Ammi” (“Not My People”).

Finally YHWH tells us that at a time when the number of the descendants of Israel is as the “as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered.” (Hosea 2:1 (1:10)) that this group known as Lo-Ammi “Not My People”  will come to be known as “Sons of the Living El.”

In other words these people would realize that they are not Gentiles after all, but members or the Ten Lost Tribes.

We read a beautiful prophecy about this restoration in the Apocrypha in the book of Baruch:

… but in the land of their captivities they shall remember themselves.
And shall know that I am YHWH their Elohim: for I will give them a
heart, and ears to hear: And they shall praise me in the land of their
captivity, and shall remember my name, And return from their stiff neck,
and from their wicked deeds: for they shall remember the way of their
fathers, which sinned before YHWH. And I will bring them again into
the land which I promised with an oath unto their fathers, Avraham,
Yitzchak, and Ya’akov, and they shall be masters of it: and I will
increase them, and they shall not be diminished. And I will make an
everlasting covenant with them to be their Elohim, and they shall be
my people: and I will no more drive my people of Israel out of the
land that I have given them.
(Barukh (Baruch) 2:30-35)

It should be noted that the second half of this prophecy occurs at the time of the return of Messiah:

…And I will bring them again into the land which I promised with an oath
unto their fathers, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov, and they shall be
masters of it: and I will increase them, and they shall not be
diminished. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them to be
their Elohim, and they shall be my people: and I will no more drive my people of Israel out of the land that I have given them.
(Barukh (Baruch) 2:30-35)

This is clearly an even that takes place at the Return of Messiah, as we see in Isaiah 11:12 as it is cited in Matthew 24:30-31:

12  And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the
outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
(Isaiah 11:12 KJV)

30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then
shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of
man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
(Matt. 24:30-31 KJV)

But the first part of Barukh’s prophecy takes place before this Messianic regathering to the land, while much of Israel is still “in the land of their captivities:

… but in the land of their captivities they shall remember themselves.
And shall know that I am YHWH their Elohim: for I will give them a
heart, and ears to hear: And they shall praise me in the land of their
captivity, and shall remember my name, And return from their stiff neck,
and from their wicked deeds: for they shall remember the way of their
fathers, which sinned before YHWH. …
(Barukh (Baruch) 2:30-35)

This is a prophecy of a great restoration that takes place before the return of Messiah, and which is centered outside of the land of Israel.  As part of this restoration, these persons would “remember themselves.”  Their identity had been lost, but now they realize that they are of the House of Israel.  They will remember His Name (YHWH) and they turn back to his Torah!

This is where we are right now in Biblical prophecy!  This is the time that the House of Israel is called out of Torahless Babylon.  This is the time that that the House of Israel begins to remember who they are, turn back to Torah and remember the Name of YHWH!  This is the time that YHWH will once again call the House of Israel “My people”!  And I am delighted that this ministry has been on the cutting edge of this great last days work! 

Emergency Alert!

We need your help today! We must still raise at least $500 by the end of the day tomorrow (7/5/24) or our account will go into the negative and start a chain reaction of returned items and fees!

As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall.  As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org or by Zelle or Go Fund Me.

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Hebraic Stoicism Lesson 1 Handouts

The Parable of the Ten Virgins
Do You Have Oil in Your Lamp?
By
James Scott Trimm

The Parable of the Ten Virgins is among one of the most interesting parables given by Yeshua.  The parable was given by Yeshua as follows:

1 Then will the Kingdom of Heaven be comparable to ten virgins, which took their torches, and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2 Five of them were foolish, and five of them were prudent.
3 The five foolish, when they took the torches, took no oil with them:
4 But the prudent took the oil in their vessels, with the lamps.
5 And while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6 And at midnight there was a cry, Behold! The bridegroom has come: go out now to meet Him!
7 Then all those virgins arose, and made ready their lamps.
8 And the foolish said to the prudent, Give us now of your oil, for our lamps are extinguished.
9 But the prudent answered and said to them, We may not give you, lest there suffice not for us and you. But go now therefore to them that sell, and buy for yourselves:
10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came. And they that were ready, went in with Him to the marriage, and the door was shut.
11 And after that, came the rest of the virgins, saying, My Master, My Master: open to us!
12 But He answered, saying: Amen, I say to you, I know you not.
13 Be you alert therefore, for you know not the day and the hour when the Son of Man comes.
(Matthew 25:1-13)

The ten virgins in this parable represent the ten tribes of the House of Israel and their

In 2Esdras Ezra sees a figure parallel to the “Son of Man” of Daniel 7 who comes riding upon the clouds (Dan. 7:13):

1  And it came to pass after seven days, I saw a vision  by night:
2  And, lo, there arose a great wind from the sea, that it moved all the waves thereof.
3  And I beheld, and, lo, that man flew with the clouds of heaven : that man was flying with the clouds of heaven.  And when he turned his countenance to look, all the things trembled that were seen under him.
4  And when-so-ever the voice went out of his mouth, all they burned that heard his voice, like as the earth melts .
(2Esdras 13:1-4)

The nations make war with this figure, and after they are defeated he calls to himself a “peaceful multitude” (2Esdras 13:12).  This peaceful multitude represented the “lost” ten tribes:

39  And whereas you saw that he called and gathered another peaceable multitude unto him;
40  Those are the ten  tribes, which were carried away prisoners out of their own land in the time of Hoshea the king, whom Shal’man’eser the king of Assyria led away captive, and he carried them over the [Euphrates]  River, and so came they into another land.
41  But they took this counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt,
42  That they might there keep their statutes, which they never kept in their own land.
43  And they entered into Euphrates by the narrow places of the river.
44  For Elyon then showed signs for them, and held still the flood, till they were passed over.
45  For through that country there was a great way to go, namely, of a year and a half: and the same region is called Artzaret  [at the end of the world] .
46  Then dwelt they there until the latter time; and again when they shall begin to come,
47  Elyon shall stop the springs of the stream again, that they may go through: therefore saw you the multitude with peace.
48  But those that are left behind of your people are they that are found within my set-apart borders shall be saved.
49  Now when he destroys the multitude of the nations that are gathered together, he shall defend his people that remain.
50  And then shall he show them great wonders.
(2Esdras 13:39-50)

(Artzaret is Hebrew for “another land”)

The Parable of the Ten Virgins illustrates this same event, with some unique insights.  Especially significant is the point that half of the ten virgins have no oil in their lamps.  What does this “oil” and lack of oil represent?


Oil for the Lamp

A clue as to the symbolism of the oil for the lamps can be found in the prophecy of Zechariah:

1 And the angel that spoke with me returned and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep.
2 And he said unto me: What see you? And I said, I have seen, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon; there are seven pipes: yes seven, to the lamps, which are upon the top thereof.
3 And two olive trees by it: one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
4 And I answered and spoke to the angel that spoke with me, saying, What are these, my master?
5 Then the angel that spoke with me answered and said unto me: Know you not what these are? And I said, No, my master.
6 Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying: This is the word of YHWH unto Z’rubavel, saying: Not by might, nor by power: but by My spirit! says YHWH Tzva’ot.
7 Who are you, O great mountain before Z’rubavel? You shall become a plain. And he shall bring forth the top stone with shoutings of Grace! Grace! unto it.
8 Moreover the word of YHWH came unto me, saying:
9 The hands of Z’rubavel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it: and you shall know that YHWH Tzva’ot has sent me unto you.
10 For who has despised the day of small things? Even they, shall see with joy the plummet in the hand of Z’rubavel–even these seven, which are the eyes of YHWH, that run to and fro through the whole earth.
11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick, and upon the left side thereof?
12 And I answered the second time, and said unto him, What are these two olive branches, which are beside the two golden spouts, that empty the golden oil out of themselves?
13 And he answered me and said: Know you not what these are? And I said, No, my master.
14 Then said he: These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Adon of the whole earth.
(Zech. 4:1-14 HRV)

In this prophecy we see that oil that fills the lamps derives from two olive trees.


Being Fed by the Root

One of the most beautiful prophecies of the reunion of the two houses of Israel is the “two sticks” prophecy in Ezekiel 37:15-20. In this prophecy each of the two houses of Israel are symbolized by two “sticks” which are brough together and made as one (Ezek. 37:15-18) the text goes on to specify that YHWH will:

…take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim,
and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him,
even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick,…
(Ezek. 37:19)

Now lets look at another prophecy in Zech. 8:23:

Thus said YHWH of hosts, ‘In those days ten men
from all languages of the nations take hold,
yea, they shall take hold of the edge of the garment of a man,
a Yehudite, saying, “Let us go with you,
for we have heard that Elohim is with you .”

Now lest anyone think that the “Jew” (Yehudite) in this passage is a certain Jew, such as the Messiah, I must point out that in the Hebrew the word “you” in “let us go with “you” and “Elohim is with you” is PLURAL and therefore refers not to an individual Jew, but to the House of Judah. No doubt the number “ten” here implies the lost ten tribes of Ephraim. Not that Ephraim says to Judah:

“let us [Ephraim] go with you [Judah]
for we [Ephraim] have heard that YHWH is with you [Judah].”

Finally let us look at the olive tree prophecy of Romans 11. This prophecy parallels the two “sticks” prophecy of Ezekiel 37 (note that the word STICK in Ezek. 37 is ETZ which also means “tree”).

17 And if some branches were broken off, and you who are a wild olive [tree], weregrafted into their place and became partakers of the root and of the oil of the olive [tree],
18 Do not boast against the [natural] branches. But if you boast, you are not bearing theroot, but the root bears you!
19 And perhaps you should say of the branches that were broken off, I will be grafted intheir place.
20 These [matters] are beautiful. They were broken off because they did not have trust,but you stand, by trust. Do not be exalted in your mind, but fear:
21 For if Eloah did not spare the natural branches, perhaps He will also not spare you.
22 See then the gentleness and the harshness of Eloah: upon those who fell, harshness,but upon you, gentleness, if, you remain in the gentleness. And if not, you will also bebroken off.
23 And those, if they do not remain in their lack of trust, also will be grafted in: for Eloahis able to graft them in again.
24 For if you, who are from the olive [tree] that was wild by your nature, were cut off andwere grafted–contrary to your nature–into the good olive [tree], how much more then,those, if they be grafted in their natural olive [tree]?
25 For I want you to know this mystery, my brothers, so that you will not be wise in thethought of your nefesh: that blindness of the heart, in part, has happened to Yisra’el untilthe fullness of the Goyim should come,
26 And then all Yisra’el will have Life. Thus it is
(Rom. 11:15-26 HRV)

Rom. 9 begins the contrast of the “Jews” and “Gentiles” by quoting Hosea 2:25(23); 2:1 (1:10) in Rom. 9:25-26. But if we look up the context of the people “which were not my people” which he calls “my people” in Hosea we find that they are the “children of Israel” (Hosea 2:1 (1:10)) as opposed to “the children of Judah” (Hosea 2:2 (1:11)) So if Paul is quoting Hosea in context and contrasting Jews and Gentiles (Rom. 9:24) using Hosea 2:1-2 (1:10-11) then the “Jews” of Rom. 9:24 are the “Children of Judah” of Hosea 2:2 (1:11) and the “Gentiles” of Rom. 9:24 are the “children of Israel” of Hosea 2:1 (1:10). If this is true then as this contrasting pair advances into Rom. Chapter 11 the two trees are the two Houses.

The Aramaic for the phrase “fullness of the Goyim” (Rom. 11:25) could also be translated “multitude of nations” as we read the blessing of Yoseph in Genesis:

18 And Yosef said unto his father, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn: put your right hand upon his head.
19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Howbeit, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
20 And he blessed them that day, saying, By you shall Yisra’el bless, saying, Elohim make you as Efrayim and as M’nasheh, and he set Efrayim before M’nasheh.
(Gen. 48:18-20 HRV)

Now the uncultivated olive tree in Romans 11 is clearly therefore Ephraim and the cultivated olive tree is clearly that of Judah. This prophecy tells us that branches from the tree/stick of Ephraim will be broken off and grafted into the tree/stick of Judah, are to be fed by the root of the tree/stick of Judah and are not to boast against the natural branches (Jews).”

This brings us back, full circle, to the Parable of the Ten Virgins.  The Ten Virgins represent the Ten Tribes of the House of Israel, the Ephaimites.  Half of the Ephraimites have oil and half of them do not have oil.  Half of them have been fed by the root and half of them have not been fed by the root, but have instead boasted against the natural branches.

The virgins that have oil in their lamps represent Ephraimites who have been fed by the root of the House of Judah, while the virgins without oil represent Ephraimites who have instead boasted against the House of Judah.

Do you have oil in your lamp?
Have you been fed by the cultivated olive tree (Judah)?
Or do you boast against the Jewish people? 

Donations have been extremely low this month. In these uncertain times, we need your support more than ever. The time is short, and there is much work to be done. This is no time to pull back from the great work in front of us!

As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall.  As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.orgor by Zelle or Go Fund Me.

Click HERE to donate

And don’t forget to join the conversations at the NazareneSpace Social Network

The Lost Tribes and the Two Houses of Israel
A True Jewish View
by
James Scott Trimm

There have been many attempts by mainline Messianic Judaism to discredit what has come to be called “Two House Theology”.   Yet the mainline Messianic position on this issue is not in keeping with Judaism.

Sometimes I have been asked “what is the difference between Nazarene Judaism and Messianic Judaism?”  My reply is “Judaism”.  The difference between the ways Nazarene Judaism and mainline Messianic Judaism have reacted to the “Two House” movement provides us with a perfect example.  The mainline Messianic Jewish attitude towards the Two House movement is totally at odds with JUDAISM.

The Mishnah recounts to us the age old question, as to whether or not the Lost Ten Tribes will yet return.

The ten tribes are not destined to return,
since it is said, “And he cast them into another land,
as on this day” (Deut. 29:28).  
Just as the day passes and does not return,
so they have gone their way and will not return,”
the words of Rabbi Akiva.
Rabbi Eliezer says,
“Just as this day is dark and then grows light,
so the ten tribes for whom it is now dark–
thus in the future it is destined to grow light for them.”
(m.San. 10:3)

The Gemara to this passage of Mishnah says:

Our Rabbis taught: The ten tribes have no portion in the world to come, as it says, And the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation: And the Lord rooted them out of their land, refers to this world; and cast them into another land — to the world to come: this is R. Akiba’s view. R. Simeon b. Judah, of the Kefar of Acco, said on R. Simeon’s authority: If their deeds are as this day’s, they will not return; otherwise they shall. Rabbi said: They will enter the future world, as it is said, [And it shall come to pass] in that day, that the great trumpetshall be blown, [and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land ofEgypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount of Jerusalem]. (Is. 27:13)
(b.San. 110b)

It must be understood here that the “World to Come” here refers to the Messianic Kingdom.  There was a conflict between Akiva and Eliezer as to whether the Lost Ten Tribes would return.  In the Gemara we see that Rabbi Y’hudah, the Nasi of the Sanhedrin ruled in favor of Rabbi Eliezer’s view, that the Ten Tribes would in fact return and have a part in the World to Come. (Whenever the Talmud refers to “Rabbi” without a name, it is a reference to Rabbi Y’hudah the Nasi) Rabbi Y’hudah (Rabbi Judah) also indicated that the Lost Ten Tribes had lost their identity and become mingled among the nations, only to have their identity revealed in the future:

Rab Judah said in the name of R. Assi: If at the present time a heathen betroths [a daughter in Israel], note must be
taken of such betrothal since it may be that he is of the ten tribes.
(b.Yev. 16b)

The Midrash Rabba speaks of the future reunion of the two houses of Israel saying:

AND HE SAID: GATHER YOURSELVES TOGETHER (HE’ASEFU)… ASSEMBLE YOURSELVES, AND HEAR (XLIX, 1 f.). GATHER YOURSELVES TOGETHER from the land of Egypt, and ASSEMBLE YOURSELVES into Raameses; GATHER YOURSELVES TOGETHER from [the exile of] the ten tribes, and ASSEMBLE YOURSELVES to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. He thus commanded them to show honour to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.1 R. Aha interpreted [the word HE’ASEFU], ‘Purify yourselves,’ as in the verse, And they gathered themselves together… and they purified themselves (Neh. XII, 28 ff.).2 The Rabbis say: He warned them against dissension, bidding them, Be ye all one assembly. Thus it says, And thou, son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it: For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions (Ezek. XXXVII, 16). ‘ His companion ‘ is written: when the children of Israel unite in one band, then they may prepare themselves for redemption. For what follows this? And I will make them one nation in the land, etc. (ib. 22).
(Gen. Rabbah XCVIII:2)

The Midrash Rabbah here is making a drash on the two phrases GATHER YOURSELVES TOGETHER and ASSEMBLE YOURSELVES, applying this as a type of their future reunion and redemption (as seen in Ezekiel 37)

The Midrash Rabbah also teaches that the Gentile nations will be blessed by the last days restoration of the Ten Tribes by virtue of their having been scattered among them:

They shall come trembling as a bird out of Egypt–this refers to the generation of the wilderness–and as a dove out of
the land of Assyria (Hos. XI, 11)–this refers to the ten tribes; and of both of them it says’ And I will make them to
dwell in their houses, saith the Lord (ib.). Rabbi says: When a certain kind of dove is given food, the other doves smellit and flock to her cote. So when the elder sits and discourses, many strangers become proselytes at such a time; so, for instance, Jethro heard the news and came, Rahab heard and came. So through Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, many strangers became proselytes at that time. What is the reason? Because, when he seeth his children sanctify My name, then, as it goes on, they also that err in spirit shall come to understanding (Isa. XXIX, 23, 24).
(Song of Songs Rabbah IV:2)

Finally the Midrash Rabbah tells us something about what became of the Lost Ten Tribes:

6. AND SHE CALLED HIS NAME JOSEPH, SAYING: THE LORD ADD TO ME ANOTHER SON (XXX, 24). ANOTHER [i.e. different] in respect of exile. R. Judah b. R. Simon said: The tribes of Judah and Benjamin were not exiled to the same place as were the other ten tribes. The ten-tribes were exiled beyond the River Sambatyon, whereas the tribes of Judah and Benjamin are dispersed in all countries. ANOTHER SON-in respect of dissension. R. Phinehas said: Through Rachel’s prayer the tribes of Judah and Benjamin did not revolt [against the Davidic dynasty] together with the remaining ten tribes. ANOTHER denotes the behavior of others.
(Gen. Rabbah LXXIII:6)

The identity of this river has remained a mystery.  The primary clue to the identity of the mysterious Sabatyon river is
also found in Midrash Rabbah which quotes Rabbi Akiba as saying:

      …the river Sabatyon carries stones the whole
     week but allows them to rest on the Sabbath.
     (Genesis Rabbah 11:5)

Similarly the Talmud says:

    Let the river Sabatyon prove that the
    Seventh day is the Sabbath.
    (b.Sanh. 65b)

Back in 1987 there was an article published in the Orthodox Jewish (Chabad) Journal B’Or HaTorah titled “Did any of the Lost Tribes Go North?” by Yochanon Ben David (John Hulley) (B’Or Ha’Torah 6 (1987): 127-133). The object of this paper was to identify the Sabbatayon and thus determine the location of the Ten Lost Tribes.  This article concluded that the Sabbatyon was in fact the Bosphorus straits between the Mediterranean Sea and the the Black Sea.  Hulley showed that the Straites were anciently referred to as a river and that due to current fluctuations between the two Seas, the Bosphorus slows down, stops or changes direction approximately once every seven days.  He concludes that the legend might further be based upon a Sabbath day crossing of the Sabbatyon coinciding with the current being at rest. This would mean that the Ten Tribes had migrated across the straites toward Europe.

The prophet Ovadyah (Obadiah) speaks of the destination of the House of Israel in their exile as follows:

    And the captivity of this host of the children of Yisrael,
    that are among the Kena’anites, even unto Tzarfat, and
    the captivity of Yerushalayim, that is in Sepharad, shall
    possess the cities of the South.
    (Ovadyah 1:20)

Where is Tzarfat?  Tzarfat is the Hebrew word for “France”.  In fact, if you were reading a newspaper in Israel today,  and it referred to France, the word used would be “Tzarfat”.

In fact Rashi’s commentary to Ob. 1:20 says: “Tzarfat is the kingdom of France.”

Gauls had migrated from an area just north of the Assyrian Empire across Europe to the area we know today as France.  The land we know today as France was Gaul. In fact the “DeGaulle” in Charles DeGaulle (the French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II) means “of Gaul”. These Gauls were also known as Celts… they migrated across the English channel into the Brittish isles… thus the Celts spoke “Gealic”.  These “Gauls” were GAL-aeens who had been exiled by the Assyrians to the land north of Assyria,  As they passed through the area known now as Turkey they created a colony there called GAL-atia.

In 1944 Zionist activist David Horowitz organized the United Israel World Union. The hallmark of this Jewish organization was Isaiah’s word “My house will become a house of prayer for all peoples,” and “Whosoever will call upon the name of YHWH will be saved.” Horowitz maintained that the Lost Tribes of Israel had scattered among the nations and having lost their identity, would be a key componant and catalyst of masses of “Gentiles” who he believed would be drawn to Judaism, and join the Jewish people bringing about a Messianic age.  Horowitz continued to lead the organization and proclaim this message of the future reunion of the two houses of Israel until his death at the age of 99 years in 2002. I know, I spoke with him on a number of occasions, he was a friend of mine.

Orthodox Israeli Yair Davidy is another Jew to proclaim the message of the Two Houses of Israel and the Ten Lost Tribes.  Davidy lives in Israel where he runs the organization Brit-Am Israel.  He has written several books on the topic of the Lost Tribes and their migrations into Western Europe.  Many of these books have a letter in the front, giving them Rabbinic Aprobation from Rabbi Avram Feld.  Among Yair’s books are The Tribes: The Israelite Origin of the Western Peoples (1993); Ephraim and Lost Israelite Identity.  Yair Davidy’s thoroughly documented research shows that the Lost Ten Tribes, which had been transplanted to the outskirts of Assyria came to be known as the Sakeans (they were previously known as Yitzakheans or in Aramaic Isakeans). These Sakeans are known to have migrated northwest and made their way into Europe to become the Scythians (S’kitheans) and Saxons (Saksons). Davidy’s research has shown that other tribal groups of the Lost Ten Tribes also emerged in Europe under names similar to those of the Tribe of Israel, such as: Galics (Galileans); Danes (Dans); Cimereans (Simeons); Goths/Gots (Gads “Gad” is pronounced in Hebrew as “God”).


Not only is the Two House message the traditional position of Rabbinic Judaism, it is also the historic position of the Nazarenes, the original Jewish followers of Yeshua.

Let me begin by examining the Nazarene Commentary on Isaiah 8:14 as cited by Jerome:

The Nazarenes, who accept Messiah in such a way
that they do not cease to observe the old law
explain the two houses as the two families, viz.
of Shammai and Hillel, from whom originated the Scribes
and the Pharisees. Akiba, who took over their school,
is called the master of Aquila the proselyte, and
after him came Meir who has been succeeded by Joannes
the son of Zakkai and after him Eliezer and further
Telphon, and next Joseph Galilaeus and Joshua up to
the capture of Jerusalem. Shammai then and Hillel
were born not long before the Lord; they originated
in Judea. The name of the first means “scatterer”
and of the second “unholy”, because he scattered and
defiled the precepts of the Torah by his traditions
and deutroseis. And these are the two houses who did
not accept the Savior who has become to them ruin and
scandal.


Now I want to clarify two things here. First of all the Nazarene commentary here is not giving the Pashat (literal meaning) of the passage but a MIDRASH (an allagoical meaning) for the passage. This Midrash draws an allagorical relationship between the two houses of Israel (the House of Israel and the House of Judah) and the House of Shammai and the House of Hillel. The basis for this Midrash is a wordplay on the names Shammai and Hillel which sound in Hebrew like the words for “scatterer” and “unholy”.  “Scatterer” ties the House of Shammai allegorically to the “scattered” House of Israel. “Unholy” ties the House of Hillel to the House of Judah.

Two things are important to note:

1. The Midrash is not identifying an allegory to the two houses
themselves, but to the STUMBLING (see Is. 8:14) of the two houses.

2. The Midrash is not attacking Hillel and Shammai themselves but the
Houses or schools of Rabbinic thought that arose after them in their names
(as is clear from the linage of Rabbis that came after them), The purpose
of this portion of the Midrash is to link Rabbinic Judaism to the
“stumbling” of the House of Judah discussed in this section of Isaiah.

This section of the commentary is purely midrashic (allegorical) and tells us little about the Nazarene understanding of the Pashat (literal meaning) of this passage.

But now lets look at the Nazarene commentary on Is. 9:1-4 (8:23-93 in Jewish versions) as cited by Jerome:

The Nazarenes, whose opinion I have set forth above,
try to explain this passage in the following way:
When Messiah came and his proclaiming shone out,
the land of Zebulon and Naphtali first of all were
freed from the errors of the Scribes and Pharisees
and he shook off their shoulders the very heavy yoke
of the Jewish traditions. Later, however, the proclaiming
became more dominant, that means the proclaiming was
multiplied, through the Goodnews of the emissary Paul
who was the least of all the emissaries. And the goodnews
of Messiah shone to the most distant tribes and the way of
the whole sea. Finally the whole world, which earlier walked
or sat in darkness and was imprisoned in the bonds of idolatry
and death, has seen the clear light of the goodnews.

(Note: The “Jewish traditions” in the context of this commentary refer to Rabbinic Halachah of the fourth century CE with which the Nazarenes took issue.)


Now Isaiah 9:1-4 refers to “Galilee of the GOYIM (nations/Gentiles)” but identifies these “Gentiles” as the inhabitants of “the land of Zebulon and Naphtali”. Here the House of Israel is being identified as “Gentiles”.  There are at least two other places in Scripture where the word “Gentile” is used to describe Ephraim (the House of Israel). One of these is Gen. 48:19 where (in the Hebrew) Ephraim is told his descendent’s will become “a multitude of nations (GOYIM; Gentiles)” (compare Rom. 11:25 where the same phrase is translated in the KJV as “fullness of the gentiles”). The other case is in Rom. 9:24 which refers to “Jews” and “Gentiles” but then goes on (in Rom. 9:25-26) to quote Hosea (Hos. 2:23; 1:10) to identify them which the “Children of Judah” and “the Children of Israel” (Hosea 1:10-11; 2:23).

The Nazarene Commentary on Isaiah understands “you have multiplied the nation” (Is. 9:3) to refer to Paul “the proclaiming was multiplied, through the Goodnews of the emissary Paul… to the most distant tribes”.  Therefore the ancient Nazarenes understood the “Gentiles” to whom Paul primarily directed his message with the Ephraimite “Gentiles” of Isaiah 9:1-4 and with “the most distant tribes”.

This comment in the Nazarene Commentary on Isaiah makes it clear that the Ancient Sect of Nazarene Judaism held to the Two House message and believed that Paul was an emissary to the Ephraimites.  The “Two House” message is a JEWISH message with deep roots in Judaism.  The Two House message has always been taught in Rabbinic Judaism and it is the historic position of Nazarene Judaism. Messianic Judaism has once again exchanged Judaism for traditional Christianity. 

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Purim: The Feast of Nicanor and Spiritual Warfare
By
James Scott Trimm

The Feast of Nicanor immediately precedes the Feast of Purim (2Macc. 15:36; 1Macc. 7:49) essentially turning Purim into a three day festival complex celebrating the defeat of our enemies who wish to exterminate us.

Now the Channukah story is found in the first ten chapters of 2nd Maccabees and many of us read these chapters each year at Channukah. Unfortunately we often stop with the death of Antiochus Epiphanies and the rededication of the Temple in Chapters nine and ten, and we never read the last five chapters of this amazing book.

In these last five chapters we read of the renewed persecution of the Jews and additional battles leading up to the defeat and death of Nicanor. There are some great jewels for us in these chapters which many have been missing out on.

In Chapter 11 we read on the victory over Lysias at Beit-Tzur followed by a false peace. This was followed by renewed attacks on the Jews (12:1-16) and battle in the northeast (12:17-31) and the battle with Gorgias (12:32-38).

Then we read that when Judas Maccabee and his men gathered the dead for burial, they discovered that ll of the Jews killed in the battle had carried secret tokens of pagan gods under their tunics as good luck charms. YHWH had withdrawn His protection from these soldiers for this sin (12:39-42). Then we read:


12:41 All men therefore praising the Lord, the righteous Judge, who had opened the things that were hid,
12:42 Betook themselves unto prayer, and besought him that the sin committed might wholly be put out of remembrance. Besides, that noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, forsomuch as they saw before their eyes the things that came to pass for the sins of those that were slain.
(2Macc. 12:41-42 KJV)

Then Judas Maccabee did something which has become very controversial:

12:43 And when he had made a gathering throughout the company to the sum of two thousand drachms of silver, he sent it to Jerusalem to offer a sin offering, doing therein very well and honestly, in that he was mindful of the resurrection:
12:44 For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should have risen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead.
12:45 And also in that he perceived that there was great favour laid up for those that died godly, it was an holy and good thought. Whereupon he made a reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin.
(2Macc. 12:43-45 KJV)

For more on this see my recent blog Judah Maccabee and Baptism for the Dead

Then in 13:1-8 we read of the death of the wicked priest Menelaus.

In 13:9-12 Judas orders his people to engage in intercessory prayer.

[9] Now the king came with a barbarous and haughty mind to do far worse to the Jews, than had been done in his father’s time.
[10] Which things when Judas perceived, he commanded the multitude to call upon the Lord night and day, that if ever at any other time, he would now also help them, being at the point to be put from their law, from their country, and from the holy temple:
[11] And that he would not suffer the people, that had even now been but a little refreshed, to be in subjection to the blasphemous nations.
[12] So when they had all done this together, and besought the merciful Lord with weeping and fasting, and lying flat upon the ground three days long, Judas, having exhorted them, commanded they should be in a readiness.
(2Macc. 13:9-12 KJV)

Judas was as much a master of Spiritual Warfare as earthly warfare, and he knew that the battle on earth was only a reflection of the real battle in the heavens:

[13] And Judas, being apart with the elders, determined, before the king’s host should enter into Judea, and get the city, to go forth and try the matter in fight by the help of the Lord.
[14] So when he had committed all to the Creator of the world, and exhorted his soldiers to fight manfully, even unto death, for the laws, the temple, the city, the country, and the commonwealth, he camped by Modin:
[15] And having given the watchword to them that were about him, Victory is of God; with the most valiant and choice young men he went in into the king’s tent by night, and slew in the camp about four thousand men, and the chiefest of the elephants, with all that were upon him.
[16] And at last they filled the camp with fear and tumult, and departed with good success.
[17] This was done in the break of the day, because the protection of the Lord did help him.
(2Macc. 13:13-17 KJV)

Next we read on the attack on Beit Tzur (13:18-26), the Accession of Demetrius (14:1-10) and the appointment of Nicanor and Alcumis (14:11-14).

At first Nicanor sought friendship with Judas Maccabee but the King over ruled him so he became an enemy to the Jews (14:15-36). Nicanor sent five hundred men to arrest an Elder of the Jews by the name of Razis. Razis had risked his body and life in defense of Judaism in times past (14:37-41).

[41] Now when the multitude would have taken the tower, and violently broken into the outer door, and bade that fire should be brought to burn it, he being ready to be taken on every side fell upon his sword;
[42] Choosing rather to die manfully, than to come into the hands of the wicked, to be abused otherwise than beseemed his noble birth:
[43] But missing his stroke through haste, the multitude also rushing within the doors, he ran boldly up to the wall, and cast himself down manfully among the thickest of them.
[44] But they quickly giving back, and a space being made, he fell down into the midst of the void place.
[45] Nevertheless, while there was yet breath within him, being inflamed with anger, he rose up; and though his blood gushed out like spouts of water, and his wounds were grievous, yet he ran through the midst of the throng; and standing upon a steep rock,
[46] When as his blood was now quite gone, he plucked out his bowels, and taking them in both his hands, he cast them upon the throng, and calling upon the Lord of life and spirit to restore him those again, he thus died.
(2Macc. 14:41-46 KJV)

Razis gave his life, confident that it would be given back to him by YHWH in the resurrection.

Following this Nicanor makes a plan to attack Judas Maccabee and his army on the Sabbath, hoping to find them unprepared, and even declaring himself to be sovereign over the Sabbath (15:1-6).

Of course Judas is fighting this war in two worlds, the world in which we live, and in the heavens. He prepares his army by studying the Torah and the Prophets:

[7] But Maccabeus had ever sure confidence that the Lord would help him:
[8] Wherefore he exhorted his people not to fear the coming of the heathen against them, but to remember the help which in former times they had received from heaven, and now to expect the victory and aid, which should come unto them from the Almighty.
[9] And so comforting them out of the law and the prophets, and withal putting them in mind of the battles that they won afore, he made them more cheerful.
[10] And when he had stirred up their minds, he gave them their charge, shewing them therewithall the falsehood of the heathen, and the breach of oaths.
[11] Thus he armed every one of them, not so much with defence of shields and spears, as with comfortable and good words: and beside that, he told them a dream worthy to be believed, as if it had been so indeed, which did not a little rejoice them.
(2Maccabees 15:7-11 KJV)

YHWH gave Judas the following vision:

[12] And this was his vision: That Onias, who had been high priest, a virtuous and a good man, reverend in conversation, gentle in condition, well spoken also, and exercised from a child in all points of virtue, holding up his hands prayed for the whole body of the Jews.
[13] This done, in like manner there appeared a man with gray hairs, and exceeding glorious, who was of a wonderful and excellent majesty.
[14] Then Onias answered, saying, This is a lover of the brethren, who prayeth much for the people, and for the holy city, to wit, Jeremias the prophet of God.
[15] Whereupon Jeremias holding forth his right hand gave to Judas a sword of gold, and in giving it spake thus,
[16] Take this holy sword, a gift from God, with the which thou shalt wound the adversaries.
(2Macc. 15:12-16 KJV)

Judas and his army thus encourage defeat Nicanor and his army, beheading Nicanor and hanging his head from the citadel as a sign of the power of YHWH to deliver His people (15:17-35).

The people then held a public vote, and elected to establish the 13th of Adar forever as a festival (The Feast of Nicanor) to precede the Feast of Purim, to celebrate the power of YHWH to deliver His people through intercessory prayer and spiritual warfare.

As we also read in the Talmud:

[Speaking of the 13th of Adar] What is Nicanor’s Day? … It has been taught: Nicanor was one of the Greek generals; every day he waved his hand against Judah and Jerusalem and exclaimed, ‘When shall it fall into my hands that I may trample upon it?’ But when the Hasmonean Rulers proved victorious and triumphed over him they cut off his thumbs and his great toes and suspended them from, the gates of Jerusalem, as if to say of the mouth that spake arrogantly, of the hands that were waved against Jerusalem, May vengeance be exacted.
(b.Ta’anit 18b)

(You can also read about the defeat of Nicanor in 1Macc. 7:26-50)

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The Prophecy of Ester Fulfilled
Ten Sons of Haman Hanged in 1946!
By
James Scott Trimm

I am sure you all know the Purim story as found in the Book of Ester, but there is an amazing prophecy buried in the original Hebrew of this book that you may not have heard of. In the Book of Ester Haman the son of Hamdata wanted “to destroy, to kill, and to exterminate” all Jews. In the end however the Jews defeated Haman and those who wished to destroy them. The climax of their victory was the execution of the ten sons of Haman, whose names the book details.
An interesting dialogue takes place between Queen Esther and Ahasverus just a few verses later:

12 And the king said unto Ester the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the castle, and the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now whatever your petition, it shall be granted you, and whatever your request further, it shall be done.
13 Then said Ester, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews that are in Shushan, to do tomorrow also, according unto this day’s decree: and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.
14 And the king commanded it so to be done, and a decree was given out in Shushan: and they hanged Haman’s ten sons.
(Ester 9:12-14 HRV)

Esther’s request seems odd. The ten sons of Haman had already been killed, why bother to hang them? In the writings of the Rabbis and the Midrashim, we find several thoughts that could elaborate on this: On the word “tomorrow,” in Esther’s request, the Rabbis comment:

“There is a tomorrow that is now, and a tomorrow which is later.” (Tanchuma Bo 13 and Rashi on Exodus 13:14).

In other words, Esther was prophesying that the hanging of Haman’s ten sons would not be a single episode in history, but would be repeated at a future “tomorrow” as well.

Lets look at the original Hebrew of the Book of Ester…we can clearly see, at first glance, that the list of Haman’s sons appears on a separate page, written in a prominent, special manner:

The left-hand column contains the word v’et (and) ten times. According to the Thirty Two Rules of Eliezer, the word v’et is used to denote replication. Thus, we may conclude that another ten people are also to be hung in addition to Haman’s ten sons.

Who would these ten men be?

Lets now go forward in time 2,300 years forward in time…. Special newspaper editions on October 16, 1946 reported the execution of ten Nazi war criminals found guilty by the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal.

It should be noted Adolf Hitler banned the observance of Purim, declaring it a capital offense to possess a copy of the Book of Esther. In a speech made on November 10, 1938, (the day after kristallnacht), A prominant Nazi named Julius Streicher said that just as “the Jew butchered 75,000 Persians” in one night, the same fate would have befallen the German people had the Jews succeeded in inciting a war against Germany; the “Jews would have instituted a new Purim festival in Germany.”

As a matter of fact many of the Nazi attacks against Jews often coincided with Purim. On Purim 1942, ten Jews were hanged in Zduńska Wola supposedly to avenge the hanging of Haman’s ten sons. In a similar incident in 1943, the Nazis shot 10 Jews from the Piotrków ghetto. On Purim eve that same year, over 100 Jewish doctors and their families were shot by the Nazis in Czestochowa. The following day, Jewish doctors were taken from Radom and shot nearby in Szydlowiec.

In an apparent connection made by Hitler between his Nazi regime and the role of Haman, he stated in a speech made on January 30, 1944, that if the Nazis were defeated, the Jews could celebrate “a second Purim”.
Amazingly, this outcome is hinted at in the Book of Esther!…

According to Nachmanides (the introduction to his commentary on Genesis) any change from the usual way of writing a word or letter indicates some hidden meaning in a text.

If we examine the list of Haman’s sons, we notice that three letters are written smaller:

the tav of Parshandata
the shin of Parmashta
the zayin of Vizata
(The enlarged vav of Vizata may refer to the sixth millenium.)

The three letters together form tav-shin-zayin, the Jewish year 5707 (1946 C.E.), the year that the ten Nazi criminals were executed.

Of the twenty three Nazi war criminals on trial in Nuremberg, eleven were in fact sentenced to execution by hanging. But just two hours before the sentence was due to be carried out, Goering committed suicide–so that only 10 descendants of Amalek were hung, thus fulfilling the request of Esther:

“let Haman’s ten sons be hanged.”

Furthermore, although the trial was conducted by a military tribunal, the sentence handed down was not the normal death by firing squad, or by electric chair as practiced in the U.S.A. However, the court specifically prescribed hanging, exactly as in Esther’s prophetic request:

“let Haman’s ten sons be hanged.”

None of this was lost on Julius Streicher….[as The New York Herald Tribune of October 16, 1946 reported after he ascended to the gallows] “With burning hatred in his eyes, Streicher looked down at the witnesses and shouted his last words as he was hanged: “Purim Fest 1946!”…

If we examine the calendar for that month. The date of the execution (October 16, 1946) fell on the Jewish festival of “Hoshana Rabba” (21 Tishrei). This is the traditional day all of Elohim’s verdicts are sealed.

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As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall.  As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

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The Long Version of Esther and Spiritual Warfare
By
James Scott Trimm

Although the lack of the presence of the use of the Sacred Name of YHWH is conspicuous in the short version of Esther, the name of YHWH seems to be shouting from between the lines of almost every verse.  As we have shown in a recent study, the name of YHWH appears hidden in key locations of the original Hebrew of the short version.

What is shouting from between the lines of the short version is very clear in the long version of Esther.  In this book we see the working of an invisible Elohim whose people are keenly aware of his presence around them.  The story reveals the threads of apparent coincidences woven by Elohim into a pattern of salvation.

The long version of Esther reveals plainly to us that Spiritual Warfare was very much involved in driving the events of this book forward.  The long version therefore shows a fundamental connection between Purim and the Feast of Nicanor (which receded Purim by one day, and effectively stretches Purim into a three day festival complex).  As we recently demonstrated in another teaching, the story behind the Feast of Nicanor, also deals with victory through Spiritual Warfare and Intercessory Prayer.  The long version begins with Mordecai receiving a Prophecy in the form of a Word of Wisdom from YHWH:

1  In the second year of the reign of Artaxerxes the great king, on the first day of Nisan, Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin,
2  Jew dwelling in the city Susa, a great man, serving in the king’s palace, saw a vision.
3  Now he was of the captivity which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried captive from Jerusalem, with Jechoniah the king of Judah.
4  And this was his dream: Behold, voices and a noise, thunders and earthquake, tumult upon the earth.
5  And, behold, two great dragons came forth, both ready for conflict, and there came from them a great voice,
6  and by their voice every nation was prepared for battle, even to fight against the nation of the just.
7  And, behold, a day of darkness and blackness, tribulation and anguish, affliction and great tumult upon the earth.
8  And all the righteous nation was troubled, fearing their own afflictions; and they prepared to die, and cried to Elohim:
9  and from their cry there came as it were a great river from a little fountain, even much water.
10  And light and the sun arose, and the lowly were exalted, and devoured the honourable.
(Esther A:4-10)

(This appears almost verbatim in the Midrash Rabbah as well).  Mordecai then meditates on the Word of Wisdom, seeking the Discerning of the Spirit so that he might transform the Word of Wisdom into a Word of Knowledge:

11  And Mordecai, who had seen this vision and what Elohim
designed to do, having arisen, kept it in his heart, and desired by all means to interpret it, even till night.
(Esther A:11)

After learning of Haman’s plot Mordecai engages in spiritual warfare, through intercessory prayer:

1  And he besought YHWH, making mention of all the works of YHWH; and he said,
2  O YHWH, YHWH, King ruling over all, for all things are in Your power, and there is none that shall oppose You in Your purpose to save Israel:
3  for You have made the heaven and the earth, and every wondrous thing in the world under the heaven:
4  and You are Adon of all, and there is none that shall resist You, YHWH.
5  You know all things: You know, YHWH, that it is neither in insolence, nor haughtiness, nor love of glory, that I have done this, to refuse obeisance to the haughty Haman;
6  for I would gladly have kissed the soles of his feet for the safety of Israel.
7  But I have done this, that I might not set the glory of man above the glory of Elohim: and I will not worship any one but You, my YHWH; and I will not do these things in haughtiness.
8  And now, O Adonai YHWH, the King, the Elohim of Abraham, spare Your people, for our enemies look upon us to our destruction, and have desired to destroy Your ancient inheritance.
9  Overlook not Your portion, which You have redeemed out of the land of Egypt for Your own self.
10  Hear my prayer, and be propitious unto Your inheritance, and turn our mourning into gladness, that we may live and sing praise unto Your Name, O YHWH: and destroy not utterly the mouth of them that praise You, O YHWH.
11  And all Israel cried with all their might, because their death was before their eyes.
(Esther C:1-11)

A similar account appear in the Midrash Rabbah adds that he gathered the Yeshiva boys to fast and pray in intercessory prayer as a group:

He collected the school-children and kept them without bread and water and put sackcloth on them and made them sit among the ashes, and they went on crying and weeping and studying the Torah.

Notice that they also studied Torah as part of the Spiritual Warfare.  When I first became a believer in Messiah I was told by the leader of the Messianic congregation I was attending that I was to intellectual and not spiritual enough.  During praise and worship time, while everyone was standing up and singing praises with their hands lifted up, I would at times sit down and study my Scriptures.  Then one day Rabbi Moyal visited.  Moyal was an Orthodox Rabbi from Israel who had become a believer in Messiah.  They told him that I was to intellectual and not spiritual enough because I would at times study the Scriptures during worship time.  He told me not to let these detractors bother me and that the truth is that Torah study is worship!  This was a wonderful truth we all need to learn.  It is a truth that Mordecai knew, and it played a part in the Spiritual Warfare and Intercessory Prayer he was directing.

Ether also, in the long version, engages in Intercessory Prayer asking YHWH’s help in the Spiritual realm while she set forth to enact her plan in the natural realm (this also appears in an abbreviated form in the Midrash Rabbah):

12  Queen Esther also betook herself for refuge unto YHWH, being taken as it were in the agony of death;
13  and having taken off her glorious apparel, she put on garments of anguish and mourning: and instead of grand perfumes, she filled her head with ashes, and humbled her body greatly, and every place of her glad adorning she filled with the torn curls of her hair: and she besought the Adonai YHWH of Israel,
14  and said,  my Adon, You only art our King: help me which am destitute, and have no helper but You;
15  for my danger is in my hand.
16  From my birth I have heard in the tribe of my family, that You, O YHWH, took Israel out of all the nations, and our fathers out of all their kindred, for a perpetual inheritance, and You have wrought for them all that You have said.
17  And now we have sinned before You; and You have delivered us into the hands of our enemies,
18  because we honoured their gods: Thou are righteous, O YHWH.
19  Nevertheless they have not been contented with the bitterness of our slavery, but have laid their hands on the hands of their idols,
20  to abolish the decree of Your mouth, and utterly to destroy Your inheritance, and to stop the mouth of them that praise You, and to quench the glory of Your House and Your Alter,
21  and to open the mouth of the nations to set forth the virtues of vanities, and in order that a mortal king should be admired for ever.
22  YHWH, resign not Your scepter unto them that are not, and let them not laugh at our fall; but turn their counsel against themselves, and make an example of him that has begun this against us.
23  Remember us, O YHWH, make Yourself known in the time of our affliction, and encourage me, O king of gods, and ruler of all dominion.
24  Put harmonious speech into my mouth before the lion, and turn his heart to hate him that fights against us, to the utter destruction of him, and of them that consent with him.
25  But deliver us by Your hand, and help me, who am destitute, and have none but You, O YHWH.
26  You know all things, and know that I hate the glory of transgressors, and that I abhor the couch of the uncircumcised, and of every stranger.
27  You know my necessity, for I abhor the symbol of my proud station, which is upon my head in the days of my being seen: I abhor it as a menstruous cloth, and I wear it not in the days of my tranquility.
28  And Your handmaid has not eaten at Haman’s table, and I have not honoured the king’s feast, nor drunk the wine of libations.
29  Neither has Your handmaid rejoiced since the day of my promotion until now, except in You, O Adonai YHHW of Abraham.
30  Elohim, who hast power over all, hearken to the voice of the desperate, and deliver us from the hand of them that imagine mischief; and deliver me out of my fear.
(Esther C:12-30)

In the long version the power of prayer, fasting and Torah Study, and the manifestations of the Ruach HaKodesh were very much a part of the events that led to the victory of the Jews over Haman’s plot.  The Long version ends by reminding us of Mordecai’s vision at the beginning of the book, and how this vision led to Spiritual Warfare and a victory which we celebrate as Purim to this very day:

1  And Mordecai said, These things are done of Elohim.
2  For I remember concerning the dream that I had concerning these things: for not even one word of them has failed.
3  There was the little fountain, that became a river, and there was light, and much sun, and water. The river is Esther, whom the king married, and made queen.
4  The two dragons are I myself and Haman.
5  And the nations are those nations that combined to destroy the name of the Jews.
6  But as for my nation, this is Israel, even they that cried unto YHWH, and were delivered: for YHWH delivered His people, and YHWH rescued us out of all these calamities; and God wrought such signs and great wonders as have not been done among the nations.
7  Therefore did He ordain two lots, one for the people of Elohim, and one for all the other nations.
8  And these two lots came for an appointed season, and for a day of judgment,
before Elohim, and for all the nations.
9  And Elohim remembered His people, and gave vindication unto His own inheritance.
10 And they shall observe these days, in the month Adar, on the fourteenth and on the fifteenth day of the month, with an assembly, and joy and gladness before Elohim, throughout the generations for ever among His people Israel.
(Esther F:1-10)

We need your help today! We must raise at least $200 by the end of the day today, or our account will plunge into the negative tonight and start a chain reaction of returned items and fees!

As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall.  As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org, or by Zelle, Go Fund Me, Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Click HERE to donate

And don’t forget to join the conversations at the NazareneSpace Social Network

The Long and Short Versions of the Book of Esther
By
James Scott Trimm

There are two versions of our Book of Esther, a long version and a short version. The short version, is the one that appears in most Bibles today.

The long version contains the following additional material (found in the “Apocrypha” today under the Title “The Rest of Esther” or “Additions to Esther”:

10:4-11:1 Mordecai’s dream

11:2-12:6 (An account of Mordecai saving the life of the king)

13:1-7 The King’s letter ordering a massacre of the Jews

13:8-14 The Prayers offered by Mordecai and Esther

15:1-16 Esther, at great risk, appeals to the king

16:1-24 The second letter of the king denouncing Haman and directing his people to help the Jews

The Long version appears in Catholic and Orthodox Bible Versions.

The question is, which version is most original? Was material taken out of Esther, thus creating a shorter abridged
version? Or was material added to Esther, creating a longer version?

The Masoretic Text lacks these “additional” sections, but it is not certain that they did not exist in the original
Hebrew and Aramaic of Esther. On the other hand, the long version appears in the Greek Septuagint and in the Aramaic Peshitta.

The Book of Ester is the only canonical book of the Tanak which does not appear anywhere among the Dead Sea Scrolls, so they offer us no help in resolving this issue.

Some form of the original Hebrew and/or Aramaic may have survived in Jewish circles apart from the Masoretic Text.

Except for the King’s letters all of the “additional” material appears in the Midrash Rabba to Esther.

While the “additional” sections do not appear in the Masoretic Text, they do appear in the Septuagint, and our oldest copies of Esther by far are these Greek Septuagint copies. SO are these truly “additions” to Esther? Or are they “subtractions” from Esther.

We need your hep today! We must raise at least $542 by the end of the day Monday, or our account will go into the negative, and start a chain reaction of returned items and fees!

As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall.  As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org or by Zelle, GoFundMe, Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Click HERE to donate

And don’t forget to join the conversations at the NazareneSpace Social Network

The Name of YHWH Encoded in Esther
By
James Scott Trimm

While the Name of YHWH is mysteriously absent from the short version of Esther (we will look at the Long Version of Ester in another blog soon) as it appears in the Masoretic Text, the Name of YHWH does appear encoded in the Hebrew text at four transitional points of the story, showing us that YHWH is guiding the events of the book (a point made more plain in the long version of the Book of Ester).

The Name of YHWH appears encoded in the Hebrew text of Esther through what is called NOTARIKON.

A Notarikon is an acronym; anagram or acrostic. Taking the first or last letters of the words of a phrase and joining them to make a new word or, conversely, expanding a word into a phrase.

The first is found in Esther 1:20

And when the king’s decree which he shall make, shall be published throughout all his kingdom, great though it be: all the wives will give to their husbands honor, both to great and small.
(Esther 1:20 HRV)

It was this decree that ultimately brought Esther before the throne of the King, thus saving the Jewish people. Now if we look at the phrase “all the wives will give” in the Hebrew we find that the first letter of each word spells out YHWH backwards because YHWH is over ruling and reversing the wisdom of man. Whereas it was man’s intention that this decree causes women to do the will of men, YHWH would ultimately use it to have the King do the will of Esther.

Next we come to Esther 5:4

And Ester said, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day, unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.
(Esther 5:4 HRV)

Now if we look at the phrase “let the king and Haman come this day” in the Hebrew we find that first letter of each word spells YHWH going forward because YHWH’s hand was upon this feast that He might defeat Haman.

Next we come to Esther 5:13

Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordekhai the Jew,
sitting at the king’s gate
(Esther 5:13 HRV)

If we look at the phrase “Yet all this avails me nothing” in the Hebew we see that the last letter of each word spells YHWH backwards. The final letters are used because this is the beginning of the end of Haman’s plot. The Name is backwards because YHWH is turning back Haman’s plot.


Next we come to Esther 7:7

And the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine, and went into the palace garden: but Haman remained to make request for his life to Ester the queen, for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.
(Esther 7:7 HRV)

If we look at the phrase “that there was evil determined against him” in the Hebrew we will see that the last letter of each word spells YHWH forward. The final letters because Haman’s plot had come to an end, and forwards because YHWH was moving the plans of Ester and Mordechai forward.

These four occurrences of the Name of YHWH in Notarikon, show that YHWH was behind the events and guiding the plans of Ester and Mordechai forward.

Then spoke the king Achashverosh and said unto Ester the queen,
Who is he, and where is he, that dares presume in his heart to do so?
(Esther 7:5 HRV)

If we look at the Hebrew “is he, and where is he” we see that the Masoretic Text makes the final letters of each word larger, spelling the Notarikon “EHYHE” which is the same backwards and forwards “I Am” one of the names of YHWH (Ex. 2:23-25; 3:14-15). The Name is made from the final letters so that YHWH shows that unlike Hamen, YHWH does have the authority and power to reverse the decrees of a King.

Thus we see that while YHWH is never mentioned in the short version of Esther, He is ever present working behind the scenes in the original Hebrew.

We need your help today! Donations this month have been low and bills are past due! We must raise at least $150 by the end of the day today to keep our account from going in the negative tonight and starting a chain reaction of returned items and fees.

As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall.  As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org, or by Zelle, Go Fund Me, Bitcoin of Ethereum.

Click HERE to donate

And don’t forget to join the conversations at the NazareneSpace Social Network

Pictured above is a home study group in Australia which has Gone thru our Thru the Book of Romans class and our Thru the Book of Galatians class, and will soon be going line by line thru Hebrews with the Thru the Book of Hebrews class with James Trimm, complete with PDF class handouts! Check out this Free Multi part class on Hebrews! and be sure to share it with your friends! Its all part of the NEW NazareneSpace!

Click Here: For all Four Classes

As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall.  As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by paypal to donations@wnae.org.

And don’t forget to join the conversations at the NazareneSpace Social Network