Shabbat Sabbath

The law of devotion in Leviticus 27, like the rest of the law, was applied in a limited manner under the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant manifestation of the law was largely limited to types and shadows, awaiting a greater manifestation under the New Covenant. Although Leviticus 27:28 shows that men might devote (cherem) a man to God, the law comes with little explanation. It is only when Jesus applies it to His disciples that we become aware of the spiritual law under the New Covenant.

Jesus now comes to the climax of His prayer for the disciples. His prayer summarizes the purpose for His entire ministry, the reason why He came to earth, and the successful result of that ministry in depositing His glory in the hearts of the disciples.

Many believers are familiar with this verse, and they quote the first half quite regularly. Yet most are unfamiliar with the rest of the sentence, which applies the “vision” more specifically to the revelation of the law. In fact, the Hebrew word translated “perish” is pawrah, “to loose, to let go, to let reins go, to let go unbridled.

When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, they all knew that their destination was the land of Canaan—their “Promised Land.” However, Moses did not take them on a direct route along “the way to Shur” (Genesis 16:7). Shur was a town on the border of Egypt, through which people passed along the highway going to and from Egypt.

The French phrase menage a trois means a household for three. The enemies of Yahweh our God have ascribed to it a meaning in modern literature which it the phrase by itself does not convey, just as they corrupt every other facet of society with their gross perversions. The French word menage refers to the order of a household, and it is related to our English word manage, as well as words such as manor and mansion.

Today, without an anchor in Christ, and raised by State schools, for several generations we as a society have been “tossed as waves and carried about in every wind of teaching by the trickery of men,” as Paul had warned in Ephesians chapter 4, “in villainy for the sake of the systematizing of deception.” Now we see the results of our alienation as our formerly Christian nations are overrun with pestilence of Biblical proportions.

More than 700 Southern Baptist pastors are calling on the Southern Baptist Convention to prohibit women from serving “as a pastor of any kind” at SBC-affiliated churches. Pastor Mike Law of Arlington Baptist Church in Arlington, Virginia, penned an open letter to the SBC’s Executive Committee calling on the board to amend the convention’s constitution to include verbiage requiring Southern Baptist churches to not “affirm, appoint, or employ a woman as a pastor of any kind.” Titled “A Call To Keep Our Unity,” Law’s letter warns of what he described as a trend of SBC-affiliated churches hiring women in pastoral roles “of various kinds…

In October 1874, a Russian woman named Madame Blavatsky arrived on a farm in Chittenden, Vermont. It was no ordinary country outing: She had traveled to the Eddy Brothers’ farm, where, for many months, witnesses had spoken of bizarre supernatural events that were occurring on an almost nightly basis. Spirits of the dead would appear, and the brothers—both claiming to be psychic mediums—would levitate before stunned audiences. The paranormal activity drastically increased following Blavatsky’s arrival. Reports emerged of the Russian woman conjuring up ghostly apparitions from faraway lands, who proceeded to play haunting tunes on non-existent musical instruments before disappearing in a puff of smoke. That 1874 séance was not the first or last time Blavatsky would intrigue the supernaturally curious—and she has polarized opinion ever since. One later leader of the Theosophical movement she helped found, William Kingsland, described her as “the most remarkable as well as the most notable woman of her age.” In contrast, the Society for Psychical Research memorably dismissed her as “one of the most accomplished, ingenious, and interesting imposters in history…

The region once known as the Fertile Crescent is on the verge of a food crisis as the main sources of water disappear. Officials struggle to cope as a prophetic scenario appears to materialize.

Iraqi officials are reporting that for three consecutive years, the rainy season has begun later and ended sooner than the historic norm. This has been coupled with less water flowing through its two main rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. The region has also been plagued by ongoing conflict.

“Desertification now threatens almost 40% of the area of our country – a country that was once one of the most fertile and productive in the region,” Iraq’s President Abdul Latif Rashid told the climate summit in Egypt last week.

Nadhir Al-Ansari, professor at Sweden’s Lulea University of Technology, told Reuters that rainfall in Iraq had declined by 30% over the past three decades, with the lowest precipitation coming in the last two years.

A national digital ID system for U.S. citizens is fast becoming a reality following a vote by the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to advance the Improving Digital Identity Act.  If digital identities are introduced in the U.S., which looks increasingly likely, they will be inextricably linked with financial services. Financial institutions, after all, are being encouraged to lead the way in the development of comprehensive digital identity solutions. Digital IDs, we’re told, will become more critical as online and mobile banking becomes more popular. Recent headlines make it easy to see why so many people, fearful of the enforcement of political/ideological conformity through financial control, are hesitant to embrace digital IDs. The banking behemoth JP Morgan Chase recently…

In Revelation 12, the apostle John switches from talking about the seven trumpets and trials of the earth to war in heaven. Revelation 12:7-10 is where the war begins. “Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil, and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it.” The word tannin or dragon appears multiple times in the Old Testament when referring to a great monster, whether in the sea or on land (Exodus 7:9, 7:10, 7:12; 32:33; Psalms 91:13). However, the word dragon only appears in the book of Revelations in the New Testament (12:3, 12:4, 12:7, 12:9, 12:16, 12:17). Each reference to the dragon in Revelations is when communicating something about the Devil and his actions. While many other symbols in Revelations have multiple interpretations, the dragon in the war in heaven is clearly defined in verse ten. “The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan.” In the war in heaven, the dragon (Satan) fights against the archangel Michael and his angels. Nothing is mentioned about how long this battle ensues, but it is clear in verse 8 that “the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven.” Once Satan is expelled from heaven, he turns his attention to the child mentioned in Revelation 12:5, which represents Jesus. But it doesn’t take long for…