About Me

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





My Designs

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

My Recently Completed Projects

On The Hook

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

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The Friday Night Knitting Club Square Pattern

The Friday Night Knitting Club square by Tuppence

Design inspired by The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

In the story, the central character lovingly calls her daughter 'muffingirl', presumably because she likes to bake muffins and other goodies and does so throughout the story. So I decided that this square would have a muffin to remind me of this book.

Size: Approximately 8 x 8 inches

Materials used:

Red Heart Super Saver yarn (or any worsted-weight yarn) in Fuchsia (color A), Turqua (color B) and Cornmeal (color C)

Size 8 knitting needles (or size needed to obtain gauge)

Yarn needle

Gauge: 17 stitches and 23 rows = 4" x 4" in stockinette stitch

This square is knitted with Fuchsia in stockinette stitch for the background, Turqua in 1/1 ribbing for the muffin cup and Cornmeal in seed stitch for the muffin top.

Cast on 34 stitches with A. (Even-numbered rows are the right side.)

Rows 1-4: With A knit.

Row 5: With A knit 2, purl 12, drop A, attach B and purl 5 with B, attach new thread of A and with A purl 2, pass B thread over A thread (in preparation for next row), then with A purl 11, knit 2.

(Note when looking at the right side of work before beginning row 6, counting from left to right, there will be 14 stitches A, 5 stitches B and 15 stitches A on the needle. Dropped yarn and yarn changes are always kept on the wrong side of the work.)

Row 6: With A knit 13, drop A over B, pick up B and knit 3, purl 1, knit 1, purl 1, knit 3, drop B over A, pick up A and knit 2, pass B over A and then with A knit 10.

Row 7: With A knit 2, purl 8, drop A over B, pick up B and purl 3, (knit 1, purl 1) three times, knit 1, purl 3, drop B over A, pick up A and purl 9, knit 2.

Row 8: With A knit 11, drop A over B, pick up B and (knit 1, purl 1) six times, knit 1, drop B over A, pick up A and knit 1, pass B over A and then with A knit 9.

Row 9: With A knit 2, purl 7, drop A over B, pick up B and purl 2, (knit 1, purl 1) five times, knit 1, purl 2, drop B over A, pick up A and purl 8, knit 2.

Row 10: With A knit 10, drop A over B, pick up B and (purl 1, knit 1) seven times, purl 1, drop B over A, pick up A and knit 9.

Row 11: With A knit 2, purl 7, drop A over B, pick up B and (knit 1, purl 1) seven times, knit 1, drop B over A, pick up A and purl 8, knit 2.

Row 12: With A knit 10, drop A over B, pick up B and (purl 1, knit 1) seven times, purl 1, drop B over A, pick up A and knit 1, pass B over A and then with A knit 8.

Row 13: With A knit 2, purl 6, drop A over B, pick up B and (purl 1, knit 1) eight times, purl 1, drop B over A, pick up A and purl 7, knit 2.

Rows 14, 16 and 18: With A knit 9, drop A over B, pick up B and (knit 1, purl 1) eight times, knit 1, drop B over A, pick up A and knit 8.

Row 15, 17 and 19: With A knit 2, purl 6, drop A over B, pick up B and (purl 1, knit 1) eight times, purl 1, drop B over A, pick up A and purl 7, knit 2.

Row 20: With A knit 9, drop A over B, pick up B and (knit 1, purl 1) two times, drop B, attach C and (knit 1, purl 1) four times, knit 1, drop C, attach new thread of B and purl 1, knit 1, drop C over B, pick up B and purl 1, knit 1, drop B over A, pick up A and knit 8.

Row 21: With A knit 2, purl 6, drop A over B, pick up B and purl 1, knit 1, fasten off B, pick up C and purl 1, knit 2, (purl 1, knit 1) three times, purl 1, knit 2, purl 1, drop C over B, pick up B and knit 1, purl 1, fasten off B, drop C over A, pick up A and purl 7, knit 2.

Row 22: With A knit 9, drop A over C, pick up C and (knit 1, purl 1) eight times, knit 1, drop C over A, pick up A and knit 8.

Row 23: With A knit 2, purl 6, drop A over C, pick up C and (knit 1, purl 1) eight times, knit 1, drop C over A, pick up A and purl 2, pass C over A and then with A purl 5, knit 2.

Row 24: With A knit 7, drop A over C, pick up C and knit 3, (purl 1, knit 1) seven times, purl 1, knit 3, drop C over A, pick up A and knit 1, pass C over A and then with A knit 5.

Row 25: With A knit 2, purl 3, drop A over C, pick up C and (purl 1, knit 1) eleven times, purl 1, drop C over A, pick up A and purl 4, knit 2.

Row 26: With A knit 6, drop A over C, pick up C and (purl 1, knit 1) eleven times, purl 1, drop C over A, pick up A and knit 1, pass C over A and then with A knit 4.

Row 27: With A knit 2, purl 2, drop A over C, pick up C and purl 2, (knit 1, purl 1) ten times, knit 1, purl 2, drop C over A, pick up A and purl 3, knit 2.

Rows 28 and 30: With A knit 5, drop A over C, pick up C and (knit 1, purl 1) twelve times, knit 1, drop C over A, pick up A and knit 4.

Rows 29 and 31: With A knit 2, purl 2, drop A over C, pick up C and (knit 1, purl 1) twelve times, knit 1, drop C over A, pick up A and purl 3, knit 2.

Rows 32 and 34: With A knit 6, drop A over C, pick up C and (purl 1, knit 1) eleven times, purl 1, drop C over A, pick up A and knit 5.

Row 33: With A knit 2, purl 3, drop A over C, pick up C and (purl 1, knit 1) eleven times, purl 1, drop C over A, pick up A and purl 4, knit 2.

Row 34: With A knit 6, drop A over C, pick up C and purl 1, pass A over C and then with C (knit 1, purl 1) eleven times, drop C over A, pick up A and knit 5.

Row 35: With A knit 2, purl 5, drop A over C, pick up C and (purl 1, knit 1) ten times, drop C over A, pick up A and purl 5, knit 2.

Row 36: With A knit 7, drop A over C, pick up C and knit 1, pass A over C and then with C (purl 1, knit 1) nine times, purl 1, drop C over A, pick up A and knit 7.

Row 37: With A knit 2, purl 7, drop A over C, pick up C and (purl 1, knit 1) eight times, purl 1, drop C over A, pick up A and purl 6, knit 2.

Row 38: With A knit 8, drop A over C, pick up C and purl 1, knit 1, pass C over A and then with C (purl 1, knit 1) seven times, purl 1, drop C over A, pick up A and knit 9.

Row 39: With A knit 2, purl 9, drop A over C, pick up C and (purl 1, knit 1) six times, purl 1, drop C over A, pick up A and purl 8, knit 2.

Row 40: With A knit 12, fasten off this thread of A, pick up C and (purl 1, knit 1) four times, purl 1, fasten off C, pick up A and knit 13.

Row 41: With A knit 2, purl 30, knit 2.

Rows 42-45: With A knit across.

Row 46: Bind off as if to knit.

Weave in all yarn ends.

(Knitting this square up was a lot easier for me than writing up the pattern, so please let me know if you discover any errors in the pattern so I can correct them.)

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Ravelry CAL Afghan 6

With less than two days left before the next month's CAL block pattern is announced, it looks like I've only managed to get four of these nine afghans caught up this month.

This is the one I call Afghan 6, and like all of these nine CAL afghans, it is being crocheted with Red Heart Super Saver yarn.


The colors used for this Afghan 6 are Cherry Chip, Baby Pink, Magenta and Coffee.
It is destined for one of my adult daughters who claims pink as her favorite color, as do the majority of my daughters. So, not an easy thing figuring out enough different pink color combos.


After I got caught up on these squares, I started designing my The Friday Night Knitting Club afghan square for My Reading Afghan since I finished reading the book a couple nights ago. I'm almost finished knitting it up, so picture and pattern hopefully will soon be forthcoming.


Next on the list is to sew together the completed 23-inch squares (they are so giant compared to these 12-inch squares!) for the Pineapple Square Afghan. Once that is done, all that will be left to complete that afghan will be crocheting the border.


Also, every night Husband is asking me if his Flag Kippah is finished yet, even though he can plainly see that it is still only about a 3 or 4-inch circle right now. I just can't crochet with that little hook and black thread for very long at a time even with perfect light and magnification!


Once those things are done, I'll go back to the Ravelry CAL Afghans and continue playing catch-up, beginning with Afghan 7. I think I got three of the afghans caught up in March and now four in April, so maybe I'll be able to get five of them caught up in May.


If I can keep up that pace, I can hopefully get all nine completed by the end of the year. Well, maybe at least all the squares finished, if not all the joining and borders.

On the TV front, both of the contestants I got randomly paired up with in the Ravelry pools got eliminated from the competition last week--Carly Smithson from American Idol and Marlee Matlin from Dancing With The Stars.

Marlee wasn't a big surprise. I was actually amazed she did as well as she did and lasted as long as she did.

I didn't expect Carly to win American Idol, but I did expect her to last longer than she did. She's certainly a much better singer than at least two of the singers left, namely Brooke and Jason, but oh well.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Day 7--Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread)

(Today is the seventh and final day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and it is the second of the seven yearly Sabbaths. I originally wrote and posted this to my previous blog on 04/10/2007.)

Readings:

Debarim (Deuteronomy) 15:19-16:17
Bemidbar (Numbers) 28:19-25
YeshuaYahu (Isaiah) 10:32-12:6

Deu 15:19 "Set apart to YHWH your Elohim all the first-born males that come from your herd and your flock. Do no work with the first-born of your herd, nor shear the first-born of your flock.
Deu 15:20 "You and your household are to eat it before YHWH your Elohim year by year in the place which YHWH chooses.
Deu 15:21 "But when there is any defect in it, lame or blind, or has any evil defect, do not slaughter it to YHWH your Elohim.
Deu 15:22 "Eat it within your gates – the unclean and the clean alike – as the gazelle, and as the deer.
Deu 15:23 "Only, do not eat its blood, pour it on the ground like water.

The first-born males of the herd and flock are to be set apart to YHWH, taken to the temple during the feast and slaughtered and eaten there before YHWH. But if it has any defect, it is to be slaughtered and eaten at home just like any wild game would be, and anyone may eat it, whether they are ritually clean or not (one would need to be ritually clean to enter and eat at the temple). But no matter what we slaughter and eat and no matter where, we are not to eat its blood.

Deu 16:8 "Six days you eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there is a closing festival to YHWH your Elohim – you do no work.
Deu 16:9 "Count seven weeks for yourself. Begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain.
Deu 16:10 "And you shall perform the Festival of Weeks to YHWH your Elohim, according to the voluntary offering from your hand, which you give as YHWH your Elohim blesses you.

Today is the final day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It is a High Sabbath, so no work is done on this day.

Today is also the 2nd day of the counting of the omer, which began on the Day of Firstfruits. We will be counting seven weeks, and the following day, the 50th day, will be the Festival of Weeks, the next High Sabbath. In Hebrew, it is called Shavuot (Weeks), and it is also known as Pentecost because it is the 50th day after the Day of Firstfruits.

Isa 11:1 And a Rod shall come forth from the stump of Yishai, and a Sprout from his roots shall bear fruit.
Isa 11:2 The Spirit of YHWH shall rest upon Him – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of YHWH,

The Sprout (or Branch) from the root of Yishai (Jesse) is Yeshua. The word translated as Sprout or Branch is the word Netzer, from which the word Nazarene is derived.

Isa 11:11 And it shall be in that day that YHWH sets His hand again a second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Ashshur and from Mitsrayim, from Pathros and from Kush, from Eylam and from Shin'ar, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.
Isa 11:12 And He shall raise a banner for the nations, and gather the outcasts of Yisra'el, and assemble the dispersed of Yehudah from the four corners of the earth.
Isa 11:13 And the envy of Ephrayim shall turn aside, and the adversaries of Yehudah be cut off. Ephrayim shall not envy Yehudah, and Yehudah not trouble Ephrayim.

This prophecy is yet to be fulfilled. The remnant will be gathered from the four corners of the earth--the outcasts of Yisra'el and the dispersed of Yehudah. There will no longer be enmity between Ephrayim (believers in Yeshua Messiah) and Yehudah (known today as the Jews). They shall be rejoined into one nation once again.

Isa 12:2 "See, El is my deliverance, I trust and am not afraid. For Yah, YHWH, is my strength and my song; and He has become my deliverance."
Isa 12:3 And you shall draw water with joy from the fountains of deliverance.
Isa 12:4 And in that day you shall say, "Praise YHWH, call upon His Name; make known His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His Name is exalted.
Isa 12:5 "Sing to YHWH, For He has done excellently; this is known in all the earth.
Isa 12:6 "Cry aloud and shout, O inhabitant of Tsiyon, for great is the Set-apart One of Yisra'el in your midst!"

This final day of the Feast is a wonderful time to gather together and sing praises to YHWH for His salvation!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Day 6--Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread)

(In addition to being Yom HaBikkurim, today is also the sixth day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. I originally wrote and posted this to my previous blog on 04/10/2007.)

Readings:

Shemot (Exodus) 13:17-15:26
Bemidbar (Numbers) 28:19-25
Shemu'el Bet (2 Samuel) 22:1-51

In today's reading from Shemot, the miracle of the Israelites crossing the sea on dry ground is recounted. It is difficult to imagine such an amazing event even with the depictions that Hollywood has supplied to us! The pillar of cloud and fire standing between them and the Egyptians is something I love to imagine--what a feeling of protection that must have given His people!

Exo 13:21 And YHWH went before them by day in a column of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a column of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.
Exo 13:22 The column of cloud did not cease by day, nor the column of fire by night, before the people.

He was always there--without ceasing!--in such a visible way!

Exo 14:19 And the Messenger of Elohim, who went before the camp of Yisra'el, moved and went behind them. And the column of cloud went from before them and stood behind them,
Exo 14:20 and came between the camp of the Mitsrites and the camp of Yisra'el. And it was the cloud and the darkness, and it gave light by night, and the one did not come near the other all the night.

This picture reminds me of these passages that have always brought me so much comfort:

Isa 52:12 For you shall not come out in haste, nor go in flight. For YHWH is going before you, and the Elohim of Yisra'el is your rear guard.

Isa 58:8 "Then your light would break forth like the morning, your healing spring forth speedily. And your righteousness shall go before you, the esteem of YHWH would be your rear guard.

How can we possibly ever be afraid when YHWH has our back?

Exo 14:13 And Mosheh said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the deliverance of YHWH, which He does for you today. For the Mitsrites whom you see today, you are never, never to see again.
Exo 14:14 "YHWH does fight for you, and you keep still."

In verse 13, the Hebrew word translated as "deliverance" is yeshuah. The King James translators translated this word as "salvation". Yeshua is the salvation of YHWH. He was then, He is now, and He always will be.

The reading from Shemu'el Bet is a beautiful song of praise which King David wrote when YHWH delivered him from all his enemies.

2Sa 22:20 "And He brought me out into a large place, He delivered me for He delighted in me.

I love this verse--How amazing is that? When we are completely His, the Almighty King of the universe actually DELIGHTS in us!!!

2Sa 22:26 "With the kind You show Yourself kind, With the perfect one You show Yourself perfect,
2Sa 22:27 "With the clean You show Yourself clean, And with the crooked You show Yourself twisted.
2Sa 22:28 "For You save the humble people, But Your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.

If we do not humble ourselves before Him, He will humble us, and it probably won't be nearly as pleasant as doing so ourselves. Many of us who have been proud, haughty and defiant know quite well what it is to be humbled under the mighty hand of YHWH!

2Sa 22:47 "YHWH lives! And blessed is my Rock! And exalted is my Elohim, The Rock of my deliverance,

It is the same Rock of deliverance who delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians who delivered David from all his enemies and who delivers us from bondage to the adversary.

1Co 10:1 For I do not wish you to be ignorant, brothers, that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,
1Co 10:2 and all were immersed into Mosheh in the cloud and in the sea,
1Co 10:3 and all ate the same spiritual food,
1Co 10:4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed, and the Rock was Messiah.

All have been immersed, and all eat the same spiritual food and drink the same spiritual drink. The Rock was, is and will be Yeshua Messiah, the salvation of YHWH.

Be encouraged by this song and video:

Yom HaBikkurim (Day of Firstfruits)

(Today is the Day of Firstfruits. I originally wrote and posted this to my previous blog on 04/08/2007.)

Readings:

Shemot (Exodus) 23:19
Debarim (Deuteronomy) 26:1-11
Hitgalut (Revelation) 15:1-4

Exo 23:19 "Bring the first of the first-fruits of your land into the House of YHWH your Elohim. Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk.

Today is the day after the weekly Sabbath, and during the week of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, this is the day when the firstfruits of the harvest are brought to YHWH. This is also the day Yeshua Messiah was offered as the firstfruits of the dead:

1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

He rose after being in the heart of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights, thus fulfilling the sign of Yonah:

Mat 12:39 But He answering, said to them, "A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Yonah.
Mat 12:40 "For as Yonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of the great fish, so shall the Son of Adam be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Since Yeshua states that this is the only sign given to prove to the wicked and adulterous that He is who He says He is, we need to learn to count to 3.

Yeshua was crucified on the afternoon of Passover, the 14th day of the 1st month, which that year according to the Scriptures had to have been on Yom Revi'i (the 4th day of the week, known on the Roman calendar as "Wednesday"). He was slaughtered by the Romans on Golgotha at the same time the Passover lambs were slaughtered by the priests in the temple.

He was put into the grave by sunset, which began the first day of Unleavened Bread, which is a High Sabbath. Yeshua had to be buried by sunset in order to be obedient to Torah:

Deu 21:23 "Let his body not remain overnight on the tree, for you shall certainly bury him the same day - for he who is hanged is accursed of Elohim - so that you do not defile the land which YHWH your Elohim is giving you as an inheritance.

These consecutive verses show us the correct timeline:

Mar 15:42 And when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,
Mar 15:43 Yoseph of Ramathayim, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the reign of Elohim, came, boldly went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Yeshua.
Mar 15:44 But Pilate wondered whether He was already dead, so summoning the captain, he asked him if He was already dead.
Mar 15:45 And when he learned this from the captain, he gave the body to Yoseph.
Mar 15:46 And he, having bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.
Mar 15:47 And Miryam from Magdala, and Miryam the mother of Yoseph, saw where He was laid.

As stated, this day was Preparation Day, but it was not the regular weekly Preparation Day. It was Passover, which is the Preparation Day for the annual High Sabbath of the first day of Unleavened Bread. This is the day the Passover lambs are slaughtered in preparation for the Passover meal to be eaten that evening. We have to look at the Scriptural calendar in order to know which day is which.

The 1st night and day of the 3 nights and days Yeshua was in the grave was the High Sabbath of the first day of Unleavened Bread. That year it was on Yom Khamishi (the 5th day of the week, known on the Roman calendar as "Thursday").

Mar 16:1 And when the Sabbath was past, Miryam from Magdala, and Miryam the mother of Ya'aqob, and Shelomah bought spices, to go and anoint Him.

The following day was a non-Sabbath day since the women were able to buy spices. There is no buying or selling on Sabbath days--not on the weekly Sabbath and not on the annual Sabbaths.

The 2nd night and day of the 3 nights and days Yeshua was in the grave was the regular weekly Preparation Day, the day before the weekly Sabbath, which is always on Yom Shishi (the 6th day of the week, known on the Roman calendar as "Friday").

Mar 16:2 And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
Mar 16:3 And they said among themselves, "Who shall roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb for us?"
Mar 16:4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, for it was extremely large.
Mar 16:5 And having entered into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right, wearing a white robe, and they were greatly astonished.
Mar 16:6 And he said to them, "Do not be much astonished. You seek Yeshua of Natsareth, who was impaled. He was raised - He is not here! See the place where they laid Him.

They did not go to the tomb until the first day of the week, after the weekly Sabbath, and by the time they got there, He had already arisen.

Thus, the 3rd night and day of the 3 nights and days Yeshua was in the grave was Yom Shabbat, the weekly Sabbath (known on the Roman calendar as "Saturday").

Yeshua rose from the dead and came out of the heart of the earth as the sun was setting for the 4th time since he was laid there, which marked the end of Yom Shabbat and the beginning of Yom Rishon (the 1st day of the week, known on the Roman calendar as "Sunday"). It was still dark (before sunrise) when Miryam discovered the empty tomb:

Joh 20:1 And on the first day of the week Miryam from Magdala came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.

Mar 16:9 And having risen early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Miryam from Magdala, from whom He had cast out seven demons.

"Early on the first day of the week" would have been at sunset, since that is when one Scriptural day ends and the next begins:

Gen 1:5 And Elohim called the light 'day' and the darkness He called 'night.' And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the first day.

Now we can easily count the 3 days and 3 nights Yeshua was in the grave:

  1. Evening and morning of Yom Khamishi ("Thursday"), which that year was the High Sabbath of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

  2. Evening and morning of Yom Shishi ("Friday), the weekly Preparation Day.

  3. Evening and morning of Yom Shabbat ("Saturday"), the weekly Sabbath.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rev 15:2 And I saw like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those overcoming the beast and his image and his mark and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of Elohim.
Rev 15:3 And they sing the song of Mosheh the servant of Elohim, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvellous are Your works, YHWH El Shaddai! Righteous and true are Your ways, O Sovereign of the set-apart ones!

Another important Scriptural truth is that those who overcome are those who sing the song of Mosheh (Torah) AND the song of the Lamb (Yeshua Messiah). This message is revealed seven times in the book of Revelation. The saints always have been and always will be those who hear and obey His Voice (keep His Torah) AND testify that Yeshua is Messiah.

HalleluYah--He is risen! Yom HaBikkurim Sameach (Happy Day of Firstfruits)!

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Day 5--Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread)

(Today is the fifth day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and it is also the weekly Shabbat. The Shabbat readings were included in yesterday's post, so today's post covers the regular day 5 readings. I originally wrote and posted this to my previous blog on 04/08/2007.)


Readings:


Shemot (Exodus) 9:1-14
Bemidbar (Numbers) 28:19-25


Exo 9:12 But YHWH hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as YHWH had said to Mosheh.

Because of the pride of man, there is a popular notion that we are masters of our own destiny. This is one of the places in the Scriptures where we are told very clearly that YHWH is in charge, not us. While Pharaoh no doubt already had a hard heart when it came to his Israelite slaves, YHWH hardened Pharaoh's heart as necessary in order for His plan to come to fruition.

People sometimes give up and fail to continue praying for someone because they have concluded that the person doesn't want to change, and since everyone has "free will", there's nothing more to be done. This is not what the Scriptures tell us, however:

Pro 21:1 The sovereign's heart is as channels of water in the hand of YHWH; He turns it wherever He wishes.

Mat 19:26 And looking intently Yeshua said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with Elohim all is possible."

Jam 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, so that you are healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous one accomplishes much.

The Sovereignty of YHWH is an important foundational principle. If we do not understand that, trust in Him and believe what He says, then His power will be limited:

Mar 6:5 And He was unable to do any miracle there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick ones and healed them.
Mar 6:6 And He marvelled because of their unbelief. And He was going around among the villages, teaching.

YHWH is in charge of all circumstances, not a neglectful parent or a wayward spouse or a rebellious child or a fair-weather friend or a cruel enemy. We need to pray with understanding so that we won't become discouraged and give up.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Day 4 and Shabbat--Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread)

(Today is the fourth day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread--are you eating unleavened bread every day during this 7-day feast? The readings for the fourth day are included amongst the readings for Shabbat for this week of Unleavened Bread, so this is a combined post for the two days. I originally wrote and posted this to my previous blog on 04/07/2007.)


Readings:

Shemot (Exodus) 33:12-34:26
Bemidbar (Numbers) 28:19-25
Yehezqel (Ezekiel) 37:1-14
Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs)
Hitgalut (Revelation) 15:1-4

The reading from Yehezqel is known as the dry-bones prophecy. It describes the spiritural resurrection of the people of YHWH.

The spiritual death of the House of Israel (the Northern Kingdom of Israel) is described in the book of Hoshea (Hosea):

Hos 1:4 And YHWH said to him, "Call his name Yizre'el, for in a little while I shall revenge the bloodshed of Yizre'el on the house of Yehu, and put an end to the reign of the house of Yisra'el.
Hos 1:5 "And it shall be in that day that I shall break the bow of Yisra'el in the Valley of Yizre'el."
Hos 1:6 And she conceived again and bore a daughter. And He said to him, "Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, for no longer do I have compassion on the house of Yisra'el so as to forgive them at all.
Hos 1:7 "But I shall have compassion on the house of Yehudah and save them by YHWH their Elohim, and not save them by bow or by sword or battle, by horses or horsemen."
Hos 1:8 And she weaned Lo-Ruhamah, and conceived and bore a son,
Hos 1:9 then He said, "Call his name Lo-Ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not for you.
Hos 1:10 "Yet the number of the children of Yisra'el shall be as the sand of the sea, which is not measured nor counted. And it shall be in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' they shall be called, 'You are the sons of the living El.'
Hos 1:11 "And the children of Yehudah and the children of Yisra'el shall be gathered together, and appoint for themselves one head, and shall come up out of the earth, for great is the day of Yizre'el!

The Northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered and then taken into exile by the Assyrians and swallowed up in the nations, so scattered among the gentiles that they lost their identity as the people of YHWH.

Hos 8:7 "For they sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no bud, it yields no grain. If it does yield, strangers swallow it up.
Hos 8:8 "Yisra'el has been swallowed up. They have now become among the nations as a vessel in which is no pleasure.
Hos 8:9 "For they themselves have gone up to Ashshur. A wild donkey alone by itself is Ephrayim, they have hired lovers.
Hos 8:10 "Also, although they sold themselves among the nations, this time I shall gather them, when they have suffered for a while from the burden of a sovereign, of rulers.

But, as promised, YHWH is bringing them back from where He scattered them. There is a spiritual resurrection taking place among the gentiles. Those who have believed in Yeshua as their Messiah are rediscovering the Hebrew roots of their faith--the Torah--and thus embracing the whole B'sorah (Good News) ONCE delivered. The dry bones are rattling and coming together.

Eze 37:5 'Thus said the Master YHWH to these bones, "See, I am bringing into you a spirit, and you shall live.
Eze 37:6 "And I shall put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, and cover you with skin and put a spirit in you, and you shall live. And you shall know that I am YHWH." ' "
Eze 37:7 And I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a noise, and there was a rattling. And the bones came together, bone to bone.
Eze 37:11 And He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are all the house of Yisra'el. See, they say, 'Our bones are dry, our expectancy has perished, and we ourselves have been cut off!'
Eze 37:12 "Therefore prophesy, and you shall say to them, 'Thus said the Master YHWH, "See, O My people, I am opening your graves, and shall bring you up from your graves, and shall bring you into the land of Yisra'el.

At the same time, those among Yehudah with whom were entrusted the Words of Elohim (Romans 3:2) are awakening to the identity of their Messiah in Yeshua the Nazarene so that they also are embracing the whole B'sorah. Eventually the House of Yisra'el and the House of Yehudah will be reunited and will again be one nation.

Eze 37:19 say to them, 'Thus said the Master YHWH, "See, I am taking the stick of Yoseph, which is in the hand of Ephrayim, and the tribes of Yisra'el, his companions. And I shall give them unto him, with the stick of Yehudah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in My hand." '
Eze 37:20 "And the sticks on which you write shall be in your hand before their eyes.
Eze 37:21 "And speak to them, 'Thus said the Master YHWH, "See, I am taking the children of Yisra'el from among the gentiles, wherever they have gone, and shall gather them from all around, and I shall bring them into their land.
Eze 37:22 "And I shall make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Yisra'el. And one sovereign shall be sovereign over them all, and let them no longer be two nations, and let them no longer be divided into two reigns.
Eze 37:23 "And they shall no longer defile themselves with their idols, nor with their disgusting matters, nor with any of their transgressions. And I shall save them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and I shall cleanse them. And they shall be My people, and I be their Elohim,

In his letter to the Romans, Shaul explains this promise and how it was beginning to be fulfilled.

Rom 9:22 And if Elohim, desiring to show wrath, and to make His power known, with much patience tolerated the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
Rom 9:23 and that He might make known the riches of His esteem on vessels of compassion, which He had prepared beforehand for esteem,
Rom 9:24 even whom He called, not only us of the Yehudim, but also of the gentiles?
Rom 9:25 As He says in Hoshea too, "I shall call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved."
Rom 9:26 "And it shall be in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' there they shall be called sons of the living Elohim."
Rom 9:27 And Yeshayahu cries out on behalf of Yisra'el, "Though the number of the children of Yisra'el be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved.

This is how all Israel will be saved--

Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

All the saved will be Israel--both the naturally born and the adopted, both the natural branches and the grafted-in branches. All will be "sons of the living Elohim".

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Day 3--Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread)

(Today is the third day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. I originally wrote and posted this to my previous blog on 04/06/2007.)

Readings:

Shemot (Exodus) 22:25-23:19
Bemidbar (Numbers) 28:19-25

The first portion of the reading in Shemot (Exodus) lists various specifics as to how we are to love YHWH and how we are to love our neighbor and even how to love our enemy:

Exo 23:5 "When you see the donkey of him who hates you lying under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall certainly help him.

There is also this important instruction:

Exo 23:13 "And in all that I have said to you take heed. And make no mention of the name of other mighty ones, let it not be heard from your mouth.

Not only are we not to follow after or worship other gods, but we are not even to say their names. In English this is a difficult instruction to follow because days of the week, months of the year and even many everyday words contain the names of foreign gods. But we can watch our tongue, change our habits and use alternatives, such as "the third month of the Gregorian calendar" instead of the title named for a false god. To give praise and honor only to YHWH, we need to be very careful about every word we speak.

Pro 8:13 "The fear of YHWH is to hate evil. I have hated pride and arrogance, And the evil way, And the perverse mouth.

Mat 12:34 "Brood of adders! How are you able to speak what is good – being wicked? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.
Mat 12:35 "The good man brings forth what is good from the good treasures of his heart, and the wicked man brings forth what is wicked from the wicked treasure.
Mat 12:36 "And I say to you that for every idle word men speak, they shall give an account of it in the day of judgment.
Mat 12:37 "For by your words you shall be declared righteous, and by your words you shall be declared unrighteous."

The Festival of Unleavened Bread is the first of three pilgrimage festivals during the Scriptural year. In the land of Israel, all males are to go up to the temple in Jerusalem to keep these festivals:

Exo 23:14 "Three times in the year you are to observe a festival to Me:
Exo 23:15 "Guard the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib – for in it you came out of Mitsrayim – and do not appear before Me empty-handed;
Exo 23:16 and the Festival of the Harvest, the first-fruits of your labours which you have sown in the field; and the Festival of the Ingathering at the outgoing of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labours from the field.
Exo 23:17 "Three times in the year all your males are to appear before the Master YHWH.

It is because of this instruction that Shaul was anxious to get back to Jerusalem in time for the upcoming mo'ed (appointed time):

Act 18:20 And when they asked him to stay a longer time with them, he declined,
Act 18:21 but took leave of them, saying, "I have to keep this coming festival in Yerushalayim by all means, but I shall come back to you, Elohim desiring so." And he sailed from Ephesos.

Today, the temple no longer stands and many cannot afford to make the sojourn to Jerusalem for the festivals, but we can still observe the festival of YHWH to the best of our ability with all of our heart:

1Co 5:8 So then let us observe the festival, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of evil and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

A Couple Of Fun Things To Try

Here are a couple of fun things I came across on the internet.

The first is called 123:5, and it goes like this:
  • Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages).
  • Turn to page 123.
  • Find the 5th sentence.
  • Post the 5th sentence on your blog.
  • Tag 5 people.

Here at my desk the books nearest me are a bunch of medical reference books, the very nearest being Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary, which is propping up my desk fan in the most effective position, but I'll temporarily remove it in order to do this exercise--

ardent (ar' dent) [L. ardere to glow] 1. hot or feverish.

There was more to the definition, but I figured once I got to the period, I was at the end of a sentence.

The nearest actual reading-type book on my desk is Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman, which is the current reading selection for the Ravelry Book Club group I belong to (although I haven't started reading it yet since I'm not yet finished reading The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs). I thought it might be more interesting to do this exercise with this book--

"They are green, no?"

Okay, not all that interesting, but the preceding four sentences on page 123 were (in comparison anyway)--

Because of her youth, she wore no wimple or veil, but let her hair fall free down her back. John brushed it aside, fastened the necklet about her throat; even in the moonlight, the stones glowed, opals the shade of twilight and amethysts of deepest purple. "Emeralds would suit you better, I think. Do you like emeralds, Isabelle?"

As far as tagging people, if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged and leave a comment describing your 123:5.

The other fun thing you might want to try requires that you take a full-face, straight-on picture of yourself (or someone else), which I didn't have available, but that didn't stop me. I used the sample picture on the site to try it out.

What it does is show what your face would look like if it was symmetrical. In other words, if the left side of your face was a mirror image of the right side of your face and vice versa. It's interesting to see how different each side of our faces can be.

Here's the sample picture from the site:

And here's how the model would look if both sides were like her left side or if both sides were like her right side:

If you give it a try, I'd love to see your results!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Day 2--Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread)

(Today is the second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. I originally wrote and posted this to my previous blog on 04/05/2007.)

Readings:

Shemot (Exodus) 13:1-16
Bemidbar (Numbers) 28:19-25

Exo 13:2 "Set apart to Me all the first-born, the one opening the womb among the children of Yisra'el, among man and among beast, it is Mine."

YHWH is to come first in our lives. We are to offer up our first and our best--the first-born of the flocks and herds, the firstfruits of the harvest. He even claims the first-born of our children in order to remind us of the Passover and how the first-born of Israel were saved from death.

First-born children, though, are to be ransomed and not sacrificed:

Exo 13:14 "And it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What is this?' then you shall say to him, 'By strength of hand YHWH brought us out of Mitsrayim, out of the house of bondage.
Exo 13:15 'And it came to be, when Pharaoh was too hardened to let us go, that YHWH killed every first-born in the land of Mitsrayim, both the first-born of man and the first-born of beast. Therefore I am slaughtering to YHWH every male that open the womb, but every first-born of my sons I ransom.'

By offering up the first and best, it reminds us that everything is His and not ours.

Hebel (Abel) understood this:

Gen 4:4 And Hebel also brought of the first-born of his flock and of their fat. And YHWH looked to Hebel and his offering,

He offered up the first-born with all the fat portions. He didn't hold back, but brought the very best.

Qayin (Cain), on the other hand, merely offered up "fruit of the ground", not the first-fruits and not the best:

Gen 4:3 And it came to be, in the course of time, that Qayin brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to YHWH.
Gen 4:5 but He did not look to Qayin and his offering. And Qayin was very wroth, and his face fell.

Qayin failed to acknowledge who YHWH is.

When we understand who YHWH is, it is nothing and no sacrifice to offer Him the first and best of everything we receive because we realize that it is all His anyway. By offering up the very best, we are acknowledging that HE is the true giver, not us.

Jam 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor shadow of turning.

Ravelry CAL Afghan 5

This is the third of these block-a-month afghans I've managed to get caught up on this month.

The yarn is Red Heart Super Saver in Bay Print, Linen, Country Blue and Windsor Blue. I like the way these colors work together.

There are not too many days left in the month, so I don't know if I'll get a fourth afghan caught up or not.

I'm also working on the Pineapple Square Afghan and a kippah Husband wants me to design, so it may take another month or two before I can get caught up on all nine of these block-a-month afghans.

I'm also hoping to join in another CAL (Crochet-A-Long) making the blocks in the 200 Crochet Blocks book by Jan Eaton.

Those blocks are supposed to be 6-inch blocks, so half the size of these 12-inch blocks. I'd like to make an afghan for each of my granddaughters with those smaller blocks.

In the meantime I enjoy looking at pictures of everyone else's blocks in both of these Ravelry CAL groups.

It's really inspiring to see all the different ways a single pattern can turn out with all the different color combinations and different ways of putting them together.

I'm getting close to finishing the Pineapple Square Afghan. All the squares are done, so only the sewing together and crocheting of the border yet to go. Can't wait to see how it turns out when it's all done.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Day 1--Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread)

(Today is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is the first of the seven yearly sabbaths. I originally wrote and posted this to my previous blog on 04/04/2007.)

Readings:

Vayikra (Leviticus) 22:6-23:44
Bemidbar (Numbers) 28:16-25
Melakim Beit (2 Kings) 23:1-9; 21-25

Vayikra chapter 23 describes the moedim (appointed times) of YHWH. These are not the appointed times of the Jews, but the appointed times of YHWH, as He tells us over and over in His Word.

In addition to the seventh-day weekly Sabbath, there are seven yearly Sabbaths which are also set-apart times when we gather together in His Name. No work is done on these days.

There are also other appointed times during the year which are not Sabbaths.

Lev 23:4 'These are the appointed times of YHWH, set-apart gatherings which you are to proclaim at their appointed times.
Lev 23:5 'In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, between the evenings, is the Passover to YHWH.

Passover is a memorial day, a day of remembrance. It is the day upon which the passover lamb is slaughtered. It is the day that Yeshua Messiah was slain at the same time as the passover lambs were being slain. It is a Preparation Day for the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, which is a High Sabbath.

Lev 23:6 'And on the fifteenth day of this month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread to YHWH - seven days you eat unleavened bread.
Lev 23:7 'On the first day you have a set-apart gathering, you do no servile work.
Lev 23:8 'And you shall bring an offering made by fire to YHWH for seven days. On the seventh day is a set-apart gathering, you do no servile work.' "

The Festival of Unleavened Bread is a seven-day festival. Both the first day and the seventh day of the festival are set-apart days where we gather together in His Name. They are not working days.

For each of the seven days of the festival we eat unleavened bread, all leaven having been removed from our homes prior to the beginning of the festival.

Exo 12:19 'For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, that same being shall be cut off from the congregation of Yisra'el, whether sojourner or native of the land.

Physically removing the leaven from our homes reminds us to remove the leaven of sin and false doctrine from our lives as well--

1Co 5:7 Therefore cleanse out the old leaven, so that you are a new lump, as you are unleavened. For also Messiah our Passover was offered for us.
1Co 5:8 So then let us observe the festival, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of evil and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Also during the Festival of Unleavened Bread is another special day--Yom HaBikkurim (Day of Firstfruits). This is when the firstfruits of the grain harvest (barley) are brought before YHWH. This takes place on the day after the weekly Sabbath during this special week.

Lev 23:9 And YHWH spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Lev 23:10 "Speak to the children of Yisra'el, and you shall say to them, 'When you come into the land which I give you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest.
Lev 23:11 'And he shall wave the sheaf before YHWH, for your acceptance. On the morrow after the Sabbath the priest waves it.

The reason this day is so important is that the grain harvest cannot be eaten until the firstfruits are brought before YHWH.

Lev 23:14 'And you do not eat bread or roasted grain or fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your Elohim - a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

Yeshua Messiah was slaughtered on the afternoon of Passover, which was on the fourth day of the week that year. He was put into the grave before sunset, after which began the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, a High Sabbath. He then remained in the grave for three nights and three days, thus fulfilling the sign of Yonah--

Mat 12:39 But He answering, said to them, "A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Yonah.
Mat 12:40 "For as Yonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of the great fish, so shall the Son of Adam be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

He rose from the grave at the end of the weekly seventh-day Sabbath at sunset, as the Day of Firstfruits began because He was to be the wave-sheaf offering of firstfruits from the dead.

1Co 15:20 But now Messiah has been raised from the dead, and has become the first-fruit of those having fallen asleep.

On the Day of Firstfruits is when we begin what is known as counting the Omer. An omer is a unit of measure for the grain offering. Once the firstfruits of the grain harvest is offered, we start counting the days until Shavuot (Festival of Weeks), which is the third High Sabbath of the year.

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 YHWH.

This day is also known as Pentecost because the counting of the Omer is for 50 days, and the High Sabbath is on the fiftieth day.

Act 2:1 And when the Day of the Festival of Weeks had come, they were all with one mind in one place.

Yeshua Messiah's disciples were all gathered together in one place at His appointed time on Pentecost. What if they had not followed YHWH's instructions for His "set-apart gatherings which you are to proclaim at their appointed times"? It was because they were all gathered together in one place at the appointed time that they were able to receive the outpouring of the Ruach HaKodesh (Set-Apart Spirit).

YHWH has appointed His times for us because He wants to pour out His blessings upon us. Why would we want to be anywhere else doing anything else other than what He has spoken?

Monday, April 21, 2008

Pesach (Passover)

(Today, which is the 14th day of the first month on the Scriptural calendar, is Pesach. I originally wrote and posted this to my previous blog on 04/04/2007.)

Readings:

Shemot (Exodus) 12:21-51
Bemidbar (Numbers) 28:16-25
Yehoshua (Joshua) 3:5-7; 5:2-6:1; 6:27
Luke 22:7-20
Yochanan (John) 1:29-31; 10:14-18
1 Corinthians 15:20-28

The instructions to keep Pesach (Passover) are to be guarded forever:

Exo 12:24 "And you shall guard this word as a law for you and your sons, forever.
Exo 12:42 It is a night to be observed unto YHWH for bringing them out of the land of Mitsrayim. This night is unto YHWH, to be observed by all the children of Yisra'el throughout their generations.

Pesach is to be observed by all the children of Yisra'el throughout their generations, forever.

Who are the children of Yisra'el?

In the morning, after the plague of the death of the firstborn, it was a "mixed multitude" that was brought out of Mitsrayim:

Exo 12:38 And a mixed multitude went up with them too, also flocks and herds, very much livestock.

It was not only the natural descendants of Jacob who were delivered from slavery in Mitsrayim. It was a "mixed multitude" who went on to become the nation of Israel.

Rom 11:17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, have been grafted in among them, and came to share the root and fatness of the olive tree,
Rom 11:18 do not boast against the branches. And if you boast, remember: you do not bear the root, but the root bears you!

The nation of Yisra'el has always had natural branches as well as wild branches who have been grafted in.

Mat 15:24 And He answering, said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Yisra'el."

Joh 10:16 "And other sheep I have which are not of this fold - I have to bring them as well, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one flock, one shepherd.

Those who hear and obey His voice are the children of Yisra'el.

Exo 12:49 "There is one Torah for the native-born and for the stranger who sojourns among you."

There is one flock, one shepherd and one Torah for all of the children of Yisra'el, whether naturally born or adopted.

The Pesach Seder (Passover meal) is a memorial of our deliverance from slavery--from the physical slavery of Yisrael in Mitsrayim and from spiritual slavery to sin.

The lamb reminds us of the Lamb who was slain, whose blood saves us from the law of sin and death.

Joh 1:29 On the next day Yohanan saw Yeshua coming toward him, and said, "See, the Lamb of Elohim who takes away the sin of the world!

The bitter herbs remind us of the bitterness of slavery and the contrasting sweetness of freedom.

Exo 12:8 'And they shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire - with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

We eat unleavened bread and drink the fruit of the vine in remembrance of the flesh and blood of Yeshua Messiah, who laid down His life for us.

Luk 22:17 And taking the cup, giving thanks, He said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves,
Luk 22:18 for I say to you, I shall certainly not drink of the fruit of the vine until the reign of Elohim comes."
Luk 22:19 And taking bread, giving thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you, do this in remembrance of Me."
Luk 22:20 Likewise the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the renewed covenant in My blood which is shed for you.

Ta'anit Bechorot (Fast of the First Born)

(Today is the 14th day of the first month on the Scriptural calendar. I originally wrote and posted this to my previous blog on 04/04/2007.)

Reading: Shemot (Exodus) 32:11-34:10

The 14th day of the 1st month of the year is traditionally a time of fasting from sunrise to sundown to commemorate the salvation of the Israelites from the 10th plague--the death of the firstborn.

YHWH refers to Israel as His firstborn son:

Exo 4:22 "And you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus said YHWH, "Yisra'el is My son, My first-born,

The Torah reading for this fast begins with Mosheh interceding and pleading with YHWH on behalf of the new nation of Israel. YHWH is so displeased with Israel that He is talking about destroying them because of their stiff-neckedness, rebellion and idolatry.

Exo 32:11 But Mosheh pleaded with YHWH his Elohim, and said, "YHWH, why does Your wrath burn against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Mitsrayim with great power and with a strong hand?

This intercession is a picture of what Yeshua does for us (who are also deserving of death). He pleads with YHWH on our behalf, and it is His blood that stands between us and death. Similarly, it was the blood of the Pesach (Passover) lamb that stood between Israel and death during the plague of the death of the firstborn.

Not only does YHWH relent after Mosheh's intercession, but He actually grants Mosheh's request to SEE Him!

Exo 33:19 And He said, "I shall cause all My goodness to pass before you, and I shall proclaim the Name of YHWH before you. And I shall favour him whom I favour, and shall have compassion on him whom I have compassion."
Exo 33:20 But He said, "You are unable to see My face, for no man does see Me and live."
Exo 33:21 And YHWH said, "See, there is a place with Me! And you shall stand on the rock.
Exo 33:22 "And it shall be, while My esteem passes by, that I shall put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand while I pass by.
Exo 33:23 "Then I shall take away My hand and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen."

Like Mosheh, we, too, should be standing in the gap and pleading on behalf of those who are hurting YHWH and being rebellious toward Him. It may be that by our doing so their eyes will be opened so that they will repent and be saved from the wrath to come.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

My Daughter's VFW Award

My 14-year-old daughter was recently honored by the local VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) post for submitting the winning entry in a recent contest to name the theme for Loyalty Day 2008.

She received a U.S. Savings Bond and a beautiful certificate of appreciation whch states, in part:

"Your suggestion for the 2008 Loyalty Day theme, '[our community]--Home of Veterans', is indicative of your loyalty and concern for America's ideals, freedoms, traditions and the foundation which has insured these goals. Your actions alone are commendable, and we hope will serve to awaken in others an awareness of the constant need to cherish and protect this nation against all its enemies."

Naturally, we're very proud of her.

I think this post would be a good place to include pictures of the flagpole Husband installed in front of our house a couple days ago.

We're hoping it will hold up to the wind. It's always a hold-your-breath kind of thing when putting something like that outside here because the wind is usually blowing and usually blows very hard rather than soft.

We once had a beautiful metal windmill out in front, and one day when the wind picked up, we heard a bunch of metallic groaning, and sure enough, the windmill was completely torqued and twisted, lying on its side with the ground anchors pulled out.

While I was outside taking pictures, I noticed that the cacti are starting to bloom, so it will be really colorful and pretty around here for a while.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Acharei Mot (After The Death)

(Today's Torah Portion is Acharei Mot. I originally wrote and posted this commentary in my previous blog on 04/29/2007.)

TORAH: Vayikra (Leviticus) 16:1-18:30
HAFTARAH: Yehezqel (Ezekiel) 22:1-19
KETUVIM NETZARIM: 1 Corinthians 6:9-20; Ivrim (Hebrews) 9:11-28

After the death of two of Aharon's sons, YHWH gives detailed instructions to Mosheh for how and when Aharon, the high priest, is to come into His presence so that he won't die. He is only to enter the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) and only after he has immersed his body in water and put on the set-apart garments--linen garments only worn on this day:

Lev 16:4 "He should put on the set-apart linen long shirt, with linen trousers on his flesh, and gird himself with a linen girdle, and be dressed with the linen turban – they are set-apart garments. And he shall bathe his body in water, and shall put them on.

Yom Kippur is on the 10th day of the 7th month on the Scriptural calendar, which is in the fall season of the year:

Lev 16:29 "And this shall be for you a law forever: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you afflict your beings, and do no work, the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.
Lev 16:30 "For on that day he makes atonement for you, to cleanse you, to be clean from all your sins before YHWH.
Lev 16:31 "It is a Sabbath of rest for you, and you shall afflict your beings – a law forever.

Forever means just that--forever. If this was a law only for the Jews to keep forever, then someone is lying:

Eph 4:1 I call upon you therefore, I the prisoner of the Master, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,
Eph 4:2 with all humility and meekness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
Eph 4:3 being eager to guard the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace –
Eph 4:4 one body and one Spirit, as you also were called in one expectation of your calling,
Eph 4:5 one Master, one belief, one immersion,
Eph 4:6 one Elohim and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

According to Shaul (Paul), there is one belief, one body, one expectation, so who is lying--YHWH or Shaul? The answer is neither. Both are telling the Truth, and man is the liar. There is one belief, the same as it was then in the wilderness as it is now.

If man says that Yeshua Messiah's atoning sacrifice did away with keeping the appointed time of Yom Kippur, then man is a liar, because YHWH certainly is not a liar:

Num 23:19 "El is not a man, to lie; nor a son of man, to repent! Has He said, and would He not do it; or spoken, and would not confirm it?

When YHWH says forever, He means forever. Why would we ever want to put our trust in a god who doesn't mean what he says?

We have to look to the Word of YHWH for Truth because that is the only place to find it.

Rom 3:4 Let it not be! But let Elohim be true, and every man a liar, as it has been written, "That You should be declared right in Your words, and prevail in Your judging."

We (believers in Yeshua Messiah) are the gentiles YirmeYahu (Jeremiah) is speaking of here:

Jer 16:19 O YHWH, my strength and my stronghold and my refuge, in the day of distress the gentiles shall come to You from the ends of the earth and say, "Our fathers have inherited only falsehood, futility, and there is no value in them."

Sadly, we have inherited lies, but His Word is Truth, and so as long as we listen to and heed His Word, instead of being stiff-necked and rebellious, we will be able to walk in Truth.

During the time before Yeshua Messiah sojourned on the earth, Yom Kippur and the other appointed times were prophetic of Messiah. During this time after Yeshua Messiah's sojourn on earth, His appointed times are kept in remembrance of Him. They are also still rehearsals as they were then because everything has not yet been fulfulled.

YHWH will be there at His appointed times. But will we? We don't want to be like the foolish maidens and miss him, do we?

Mat 25:10 "And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut.
Mat 25:11 "And later the other maidens also came, saying, 'Master, Master, open up for us!'
Mat 25:12 "But he answering, said, 'Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.'
Mat 25:13 "Watch therefore, because you do not know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Adam is coming,

Why does He say to watch if there is no way to know when He's coming?

Those who were listening to Him in the first century knew which appointed time He was referring to, because they had been 'watching' for centuries every year in the fall for this appointed time of which "the day or the hour no one knows" until it is upon them.

There is only one of His appointed times where we do not know when it is until it happens, but we only know it IF we are watching, and that is Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets), which is the 1st day of the 7th month. It is only when those watching towards the end of the 6th month can see the first visible sliver of the New Moon that Yom Teruah begins, and by the time we know it, it is already upon us.

Mat 24:30 "And then the sign of the Son of Adam shall appear in the heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of Adam coming on the clouds of the heaven with power and much esteem.
Mat 24:31 "And He shall send His messengers with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Mat 24:32 "And learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that the summer is near.
Mat 24:33 "So you also, when you see all these, know that He is near, at the doors.

He already kept His appointed times in the spring when He became our Passover Lamb and rose as the firstfruits among the dead on the Day of Firstfruits and when He poured out His Spirit on His people on Shavuot (Pentecost), so we know He will be faithful to keep His appointed times in the fall, when He will return with "a great sound of a trumpet" on Yom Teruah, judge the living and the dead on Yom Kippur and then tabernacle among us during Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles).

Those not ready and watching may miss that final Yom Teruah, but they will have no choice but to attend to Him on the final Yom Kippur:

Rom 14:10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Messiah.
Rom 14:11 For it has been written, "As I live, says YHWH, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to Elohim."
Rom 14:12 Each one of us, therefore, shall give account of himself to Elohim.

In Vayikra (Leviticus) 17, YHWH gives the instructions for abstaining from blood. The animals which YHWH created to be food for us are to be slaughtered in such a way that the blood is drained out.

Lev 17:12 "Therefore I said to the children of Yisra'el, 'No being among you eats blood, nor does any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.'
Lev 17:13 "And any man from the children of Yisra'el, or from the strangers who sojourn among you, who hunts and catches any beast or bird, which is eaten, shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust,
Lev 17:14 for it is the life of all flesh. Its blood is for its life. And I said to the children of Yisra'el, 'Do not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Anyone eating it is cut off.'

Eating blood (meat from strangled animals as opposed to properly slaughtered animals) is such an abomination that it was included in the 4 initial imperatives given to the gentiles by the Yerushalayim council so that they could enter the assembly on Shabbat to learn the rest of Torah. Ya'acov (James), the brother of Yeshua Messiah, speaking:

Act 15:19 "Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the gentiles who are turning to Elohim,
Act 15:20 but that we write to them to abstain from the defilements of idols, and from whoring, and from what is strangled, and from blood.
Act 15:21 "For from ancient generations Mosheh has, in every city, those proclaiming him – being read in the congregations every Sabbath."

YHWH says that He will set His face against any person who eats blood:

Lev 17:10 'And any man of the house of Yisra'el, or of the strangers who sojourn among you, who eats any blood, I shall set My face against that being who eats blood, and shall cut him off from among his people.

In chapter 18, YHWH delineates other things that are abominations to Him that His people are forbidden to do: incest, intercourse during menstruation, adultery, child sacrifice (modern-day equivalent is abortion), sexual relations between men, sexual relations with beasts.

Lev 18:29 'For whoever does any of these abominations, those beings who do them shall be cut off from among their people.
Lev 18:30 'And you shall guard My Charge, so as not to do any of these abominable practices which were done before you, so as not to defile yourselves by them. I am YHWH your Elohim.' "

1Co 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the reign of Elohim? Do not be deceived. Neither those who whore, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,
1Co 6:10 nor thieves, nor greedy of gain, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers shall inherit the reign of Elohim.

Those who inherit the reign of Elohim are a nation set apart only unto Him:

1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a set-apart nation, a people for a possession, that you should proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light,
1Pe 2:10 who once were not a people, but now the people of Elohim; who had not obtained compassion, but now obtained compassion.

Abba YHWH, may all of those You have called turn away from abominations and turn fully to You, to walk only in Your ways. B'Shem Yeshua HaMashiach, Amein.

Friday, April 18, 2008

HaGadol (The Great)

(I originally wrote and posted this in my previous blog for Shabbat HaGadol last year on 04/01/2007. Shabbat HaGadol this year begins at sunset this evening.)

Reading: Malaki (Malachi) 3:4-16; 4:1-6

In this last part of the last book of the Prophets, YHWH lets us know that He shall not change:

Mal 3:6 "For I am YHWH, I shall not change, and you, O sons of Ya'aqob, shall not come to an end.

As it has always been, so it also will be that those who fear Him and think upon His Name will be written in a book of remembrance. They will be His, and He will spare them:

Mal 3:16 Then shall those who fear YHWH speak to one another, and YHWH listen and hear, and a book of remembrance be written before Him, of those who fear YHWH, and those who think upon His Name.
Mal 3:17 "And they shall be Mine," said YHWH of hosts, "on the day that I prepare a treasured possession. And I shall spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.
Mal 3:18 "Then you shall again see the difference between the righteous and the wrong, between one who serves Elohim and one who does not serve Him.

If there is no difference between those of us who say we are serving Him and those who do not make such a claim, then are we truly serving Him?

Mal 4:4 "Remember the Torah of Mosheh, My servant, which I commanded him in H?oreb for all Yisra'el - laws and right-rulings.
Mal 4:5 "See, I am sending you Eliyah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of YHWH.
Mal 4:6 "And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with utter destruction.

Immediately before announcing that He will send Eliyah before the coming of the Messiah, He gives the instruction to "Remember the Torah".

The first fulfillment of this prophecy was during the first century when He sent Yochanan ben Zekaryah before the Messiah:

Luk 1:17 "And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Eliyahu, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the insight of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for YHWH."

But Yeshua Messiah is coming again, and there will be a second fulfillment of this prophecy, so we would do well to take heed of YHWH's instruction to "Remember the Torah" because during that fulfillment He will smite the earth with utter destruction. We need to make ready and be prepared for Him.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Chocolate Delight Modification














I re-crocheted the Chocolate Delight squares for April for Afghan 3, and I'm hoping the pictures will show up in the right places so as to see the 'before' pictures on the left and the improved 'after' pictures on the right.



When I originally crocheted the squares as written in the pattern, I didn't like the way the sides of the squares dipped inward. Thanks to Yellowduckie sharing her modification to round 8 in our Ravelry 2008 12" Crochet Block-A-Month CAL Group (the group crocheting these monthly squares), I followed her example and substituted treble crochets for double crochets on the center 6 stitches of each side during that round, and the sides are much straighter and improved now.

I first successfully tried this modification on the Chocolate Delight squares for Afghan 4, so these two squares of Afghan 3 are the only ones I had to frog back and re-do. I'm happy with the result and am happily working on Afghan 5 now.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Re-Judaizing Jesus

"Re-Judaizing Jesus" is number 10 on Time magazine's list of "10 Ideas That Are Changing The World". Click on the title of this post (above) to go to the article.

I liked what Daniel Lancaster of First Fruits of Zion (http://www.ffoz.org/) said about it:

“Jesus is beginning to be re-contextualized back into His proper cultural and historical setting. There are a lot of Christians who place a high value on biblical authority, and they’re serious enough to re-examine their own practices for authenticity.”

Terumah (Offering)

(I originally wrote and posted this commentary on the Torah portion, Terumah, in my previous blog on 02/25/2007.)

TORAH: Shemot (Exodus) 25:1-27:19
HAFTARAH: Melakim Bet (2 Kings) 5:12-6:13
KETUVIM NETZARIM: MattithYahu (Matthew) 5:33-37; 2 Corinthians 9:1-15

A friend of mine who is a gold prospector said he read that the estimated amount of gold used in the building of the Mishkan (tabernacle) was 1.25 tons. He told me that at today's prices that amount of gold would be worth about 50 billion dollars! And that doesn't include all the silver, bronze, wood, linen, wool, leather, etc. If that is the mere material value, can you imagine the spiritual value of such a dwelling place?

In contrast, the material value of the elements that make up the human body is only about $4.50!

1Co 3:16 Do you not know that you are a Dwelling Place of Elohim and that the Spirit of Elohim dwells in you?

Why would the King of the universe choose such a humble abode?

Mat 10:29 "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground without your Father.
Mat 10:30 "And even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
Mat 10:31 "So do not fear, you are worth more than many sparrows.
Mat 10:32 "Everyone, therefore, who shall confess Me before men, him I shall also confess before My Father who is in the heavens.

Just as He prescribed and attended to every detail in the building of the Mishkan, He knitted each of us together with the same careful attention to detail.

But even more awesome than that is that we were bought with a price (1 Cor. 16:20), and that price was His precious blood. Since that is how much we are worth to Him, how could we possibly love Him any less extravagantly?

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Ravelry CAL Afghan 4


I began this CAL (Crochet-A-Long) with the vague intention of someday ending up with one afghan by making the designated 12-inch square each month. I went out and bought a really pretty multicolored yarn called 'Monet' (Red Heart Super Saver yarn), and then I proceeded to crochet January's block, called Dream Catcher (upper left in the above photo).

When the February block came along, it was called 'Cross My Heart' (see bottom two squares in top photo), and the example shown with the pattern was made with four colors. I thought that looked really interesting, so I bought some more yarn in solid colors that matched the 'Monet' multicolored yarn (Pale Green, Orchid and Lavender) and made a 'Cross My Heart' block with all four yarns.

I thought that maybe future blocks would utilize more than one color of yarn as the 'Cross My Heart' block did, so I figured I was all set and ready to make the subsequent monthly blocks.

As I looked at these pretty colors I loved so much together, it occurred to me that these were colors that one of my daughters also loved, and I started to think about how it would be nice to give her this afghan if it turned out as nicely as I hoped it would.

This started me to thinking about how nice it would be to make an afghan for each of my children. At about this same time I had purchased patterns for three knitted afghans for my youngest still-living-at-home children, and I thought these monthly CAL blocks would be great for making afghans for my adult children.

I started asking each of them their color preferences and started getting yarn in the various color combinations I thought each of them would like. My two youngest daughters helped me figure out the different color combinations. I also decided it would be a good idea to make one of these for my husband since I can't stand the ratty old blanket he currently uses when he watches TV.

So, by the end of February I had finished a 'Dream Catcher' square and a 'Cross My Heart' square for each of these seven afghans in seven different color combinations. I put the pictures of the squares for each afghan here on my blog on the main page and told my kids they could check the pictures on my blog to watch the progress of their afghan.

When I explained that each afghan needed at least 24 blocks, and therefore it would take a couple years for their afghans to be completed, there were enough expressions of dismay about the 2-year wait that by the time the March block, Cygnus (see top 2 squares in second photo from top), came along I had decided to double up on the blocks, intending to crochet two of each monthly block for each afghan so that hopefully all seven afghans would be completed within one year instead of two years.

In March, I only managed to get three out of seven afghans caught up with six squares completed, two of each month's square. Another change came about when I found the 'Aspen Print' yarn that I thought would be perfect for my oldest son's afghan (Afghan 3) since his youngest daughter's name is Aspen. At that point, the former Afghan 3 got renamed Afghan 8 and reassigned to one of my brothers, who I thought would like that color combo, and I got a whole new color combination to start making these blocks for an afghan for my other brother.

So, now I have nine of these CAL block-a-month afghans in nine different color combinations planned, which means I need to make 18 of each month's block just to stay caught up, but since I was already behind, it looks like I'll probably be playing catch-up for a while yet.



Even though I got all eight of the monthly blocks crocheted for Afghan 3, I didn't like the way the sides on the April block, 'Chocolate Delight', turned out, so I'm having to frog back a few rounds to re-do them. I modified the pattern when I crocheted the 'Chocolate Delight' blocks for this Afghan 4 (see bottom 2 squares in the photo second from the top), and the sides are much straighter. Compare the photos of how the sides turned out between the unmodified pattern on the left and the modified pattern on the right.

Once I re-do Afghan 3's two 'Chocolate Delight' blocks with the same modification (the center six stitches on each side in round 8 were changed from double crochets to treble crochets), I will have a total of two of these afghans caught up so far this month, and then it will be on to Afghan 5 to see if I can get it caught up before the end of the month.

 

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