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Arizona, United States
I'm a work-at-home mom who enjoys the beautiful sunsets here in the high desert.





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For the free patterns for these afghan squares I designed for My Reading Afghan, click here.

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Ravelry CAL Afghan 1 in progress
Ravelry CAL Afghan 1

Ravelry CAL Afghan 2 in progress
Ravelry CAL Afghan 2

Ravelry CAL Afghan 3 in progress (squares 1-4)Ravelry CAL Afghan 3 in progress (squares 5-8)
Ravelry CAL Afghan 3

Ravelry CAL Afghan 4 in progress (squares 1-4)Ravelry CAL Afghan 4 in progress (squares 5-8)
Ravelry CAL Afghan 4

Ravelry CAL Afghan 5 in progress (squares 1-4)Ravelry CAL Afghan 5 in progress (squares 5-8)
Ravelry CAL Afghan 5

Ravelry CAL Afghan 6 in progress (squares 1-4)Ravelry CAL Afghan 6 in progress (squares 5-8)
Ravelry CAL Afghan 6

Ravelry CAL Afghan 7 in progress (squares 1-4)Ravelry CAL Afghan 7 in progress (squares 5-8)
Ravelry CAL Afghan--Flower Burst 7ARavelry CAL Afghan--Flower Burst 7B
Ravelry CAL Afghan 7

Ravelry CAL Afghan 8 in progress
Ravelry CAL Afghan 8

Ravelry CAL Afghan Blocks:
Dream Catcher
Cross My Heart
Cygnus
Chocolate Delight
Flower Burst

Friday, May 16, 2008

Behar (On The Mount)

(This week's Torah portion is Behar. I originally wrote and posted this to my previous blog on 05/15/2007.)

TORAH: Vayikra (Leviticus) 25:1-26:2
HAFTARAH: YirmeYahu (Jeremiah) 32:6-27
KETUVIM NETZARIM: Luke 4:16-21

Lev 25:2 "Speak to the children of Yisra'el, and say to them, 'When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall observe a Sabbath to יהוה.

The Sabbath is an oft-repeated pattern throughout the Scriptures, and here YHWH is telling us that the land is also to observe a Sabbath. Every seventh year the land is to rest because it is a Sabbath to YHWH. There is to be no sowing, pruning, reaping, harvesting, etc., so it is also a year of rest for the farmers and their workers.

Lev 25:6 'And the Sabbath of the land shall be to you for food, for you and your servant, and for your female servant and your hired servant, and for the stranger who sojourns with you,
Lev 25:7 and for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land. All its crops are for food.

Whatever the land produces during this year of rest without being cultivated may be taken for food, like from hand to mouth, but is not to be harvested as a crop as in the other years.

This seventh year is special in at least a couple of other ways:

Deu 15:12 "When your brother is sold to you, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, and shall serve you six years, then let him go free from you in the seventh year.

Deu 31:10 And Mosheh commanded them, saying, "At the end of seven years, at the appointed time, the year of release, at the Festival of Booths,
Deu 31:11 when all Yisra'el comes to appear before יהוה your Elohim in the place which He chooses, read this Torah before all Yisra'el in their hearing.
Deu 31:12 "Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and your sojourner who is within your gates, so that they hear, and so that they learn to fear יהוה your Elohim and guard to do all the Words of this Torah.
Deu 31:13 "And their children, who have not known it, should hear and learn to fear יהוה your Elohim as long as you live in the land you are passing over the Yarden to possess."

Hebrew indentured servants were to be released in the seventh year, and in the seventh year when all the people came to Yerushalayim for Sukkot (Festival of Booths), the Torah was to be read to them. This may have been the only time for many to hear the Word of YHWH, especially those in outlying areas.

Lev 25:8 'And you shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years. And the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.
Lev 25:9 'You shall then sound a ram's horn to pass through on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement cause a ram's horn to pass through all your land.
Lev 25:10 'And you shall set the fiftieth year apart, and proclaim release throughout all the land to all its inhabitants, it is a Jubilee for you. And each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you return to his clan.

This instruction to count "seven Sabbaths of years for yourself" is similar to the instruction to "count for yourselves seven completed Sabbaths" from Yom HaBikkurim (Day of Firstfruits) to Shavuot (Festival of Weeks):

Lev 23:15 'And from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you shall count for yourselves: seven completed Sabbaths.
Lev 23:16 'Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you count fifty days, then you shall bring a new grain offering to יהוה.

Just as the 50th day of the counting from Yom HaBikkurim is a set-apart day--Shavuot, the 50th year is a set-apart year--HaShanah Yovel (Year of Jubilee).

Lev 25:11 'The fiftieth year is a Jubilee to you. Do not sow, nor reap what grows of its own, nor gather from its unpruned vine.
Lev 25:12 'It is a Jubilee, it is set-apart to you. Eat from the field its crops.
Lev 25:13 'In the Year of this Jubilee let each one of you return to his possession.

The 50th year is also a time when there is to be no sowing or reaping, as in the 7th year. It also is a time when property is returned to the original possessor. YHWH is the true owner of the Land, but it was allotted amongst all of the families of the 12 tribes of Israel as their inheritance from YHWH for their use.

Lev 25:23 'And the land is not to be sold beyond reclaim, for the land is Mine, for you are sojourners and settlers with Me.
Lev 25:24 'And provide for a redemption for the land, in all the land of your possession.

YHWH promises to provide during these set-apart years:

Lev 25:18 'And you shall do My laws and guard My right-rulings, and shall do them. And you shall dwell in the land in safety,
Lev 25:19 'and the land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat to satisfaction, and shall dwell there in safety.
Lev 25:20 'And since you might say, "What do we eat in the seventh year, since we do not sow nor gather in our crops?"
Lev 25:21 'Therefore I have commanded My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth the crop for three years.
Lev 25:22 'And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat of the old crop until the ninth year. Eat of the old until its crop comes in.

As long as we are seeking Him first and obeying Him, He is faithful to keep His promise to provide what we need:

Mat 6:31 "Do not worry then, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
Mat 6:32 "For all these the gentiles seek for. And your heavenly Father knows that you need all these.
Mat 6:33 "But seek first the reign of Elohim, and His righteousness, and all these matters shall be added to you.

Another provision in the economy of YHWH is to care for the poor:

Lev 25:35 'And when your brother becomes poor, and his hand has failed with you, then you shall sustain him, and he shall live with you, like a stranger or a sojourner.
Lev 25:36 'Take no interest from him, or profit, but you shall fear your Elohim, and your brother shall live with you.
Lev 25:37 'Do not lend him your silver on interest, and do not lend him your food for profit.

At the end of this portion, YHWH reiterates His instructions regarding idols, images and pillars, His Sabbaths and His set-apart place:

Lev 26:1 'Do not make idols for yourselves, and do not set up a carved image or a pillar for yourselves, and do not place a stone image in your land, to bow down to it. For I am יהוה your Elohim.
Lev 26:2 'Guard My Sabbaths and reverence My set-apart place. I am יהוה.

In light of these words from the mouth of YHWH, why do so many churches have images in their buildings? Why do they erect pillars (steeples)? Why do they ignore the Sabbaths of YHWH? Why do they ignore His Name that He makes known to us nearly 7000 times in His Word?

When HaSatan tried Yeshua Messiah, Yeshua took up the sword of the Spirit and struck 3 blows with it:

Eph 6:17 Take also the helmet of deliverance, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of Elohim,

Mat 4:4 But He answering, said, "It has been written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of יהוה.' "

Mat 4:7 Yeshua said to him, "It has also been written, 'You shall not try יהוה your Elohim.' "

Mat 4:10 Then Yeshua said to him, "Go, Satan! For it has been written, 'You shall worship יהוה your Elohim, and Him alone you shall serve.' "

Yeshua Messiah gave us His example in these 3 blows He leveled against the enemy for us to follow:

  1. Live by every word that comes from the mouth of YHWH.
  2. Do not try YHWH.
  3. Worship and serve only YHWH.

So, if He says to guard His Sabbaths, then isn't that exactly what we should do? That is what Yeshua Messiah did.

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