The Creation Gospel Podcast

Let’s review an important detail in Gideon’s battle, one that gives clarity to “knowing.” Knowing is positive, intimacy, growing into unity, and bearing fruit. Knowing is ALSO punishment with thorns of judgment for being apathetic, waiting for the sure thing.

Provoking are Hoshea’s prophecies of Ephraim’s apostasy with familiar verses:

 

Also the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed; thorns and thistles will grow on their altars; then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!” (Ho 10:8)

 

“Then they will begin TO SAY TO THE MOUNTAINS, ‘FALL ON US,' AND TO THE HILLS, ‘COVER US.’” (Lk 23:30)

 

...and they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the sight of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; (Re 6:16)

 

Briefly, the rabbinic commentary to Hoshea [The Twelve Prophets, Artscroll] points out Ephraim as the main culprit in the sin of the golden calves of the Northern Tribes. Jeroboam was from Ephraim, and he set up calves in Beth-El and Dan, changing the appointed times and places.

 

Strangely, it is these very two tribes missing from the list in Revelation Seven. Ephraim is replaced with ”Joseph,” and Dan omitted altogether (although the context says “every tribe” was there, don't worry!). This particular list in Revelation must be pointing to a mission with which the names of Ephraim and Dan cannot be affiliated, namely, preaching against idolatry and changing appointed times and the place of worship at those times. In this particular list, they are represented by their father and brothers.

 

While Hosea prophesied of Ephraim begging the mountains and hills to fall on them, the prophecy telescopes all the way to Revelation and worldwide judgment. Ephraim was a tribe of Israel, yet they were not above being disciplined by their Father who loved them very much. When they still refused to repent, they begged mountains to fall on them. Being apathetic about repentance is risky. The story of Gideon is an excellent example of the consequences of apathy during the time when the Anointed One of War goes forth.

 

The story of Gideon begins in Judges 6:1 when the Israelites fell into idolatry after Deborah’s forty-reign as judge. The Midianites consumed and destroyed everything the Israelites produced, livestock or crop, for seven years to starve them out. This may soon be driven home to our generation.

Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.

Gideon's army as a prototype for the return of Messiah with thorns of discipline.

 

Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.

“Usually, the people supply sacrifices, while the priests perform the rite. The priests are later allowed to eat part of the sacrificial meat. The priest may thus be described as ‘eating’ [the food supplied by] other people. In the case of the sacrifice in question, the priests offer a sacrifice of their own, therefore being themselves eaten [by God]…LevR connects this verse with Samson’s riddle ‘from the eater comes out food’ (Judg 14:14). The one who eats others, namely the lion, is now being eaten, namely, containing honey. The lion becomes a metaphor for the priests, who usually ‘eat’ others, but in the case of this sacrifice, they are the source of food for others.” 

 

An offering of a living creature shows a strong resemblance to the human being. The beasts and human being were created on the Sixth Day, but the human spirit was to rule over the animal soul. Beasts were to reproduce after THEIR kind. Human beings were to conform to the image of Elohim and reproduce after HIS kind. The point is to subdue, discipline, and humble the craving and sinning soul...for sin derives from nothing but a beastly, animal root. (Sefer HaChinnuch §116) The sacrifice of an offering repairs the human heart and “the defect of the erring animalistic spirit and the eminence of the intelligent spirit, now rectified and clear.” (ibid §120) 

 

The Sixth Day of Creation reminds us of the Hebrew letter vav, which means a connector, peg, or nail, holding two things together. Heaven and earth. Man was created on the sixth day, represented by the letter vav. Adam was after the kind of Yeshua, who holds all things together.

 

Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.

 

In this week's study we will be taking a look at the Scriptural patterns of shortening the days for the sake of the elect.

Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.

In last week's Torah portion Ki Tisa, which we called The Shabbat Elevator, it juxtaposed the observance of Shabbat with the Golden Calf and its alternate feast (Ex 31:12–32:6). Their relationship is adversarial, suggesting Shabbat brings Israel closer to Adonai, while forsaking the Shabbat leaves a breach in the wall for idolatry to enter in.

This week's Torah portion Vayekhel further clarifies the defense of Shabbat as the "assembling" of Israel. This assembly occurs weekly in synagogues and congregations, and it happens at the appointed times and their Sabbaths. Such assemblies are a result of the Spirit of Adonai, which He puts into the craftsmen to skillfuly prepare the Body of Messiah for His indwelling Presence. The result is an assembly delighting in the holy day.

 

Yeshua is possibly three out of the Four Craftsmen 

 

Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.

The expressions clarify the verses in the Song of Songs concerning the Vineyard Israel’s (Is 5:7) need to mature in the fruits of repentance and its identity as the ripe figs of Passover repentance.There is a lack of people of righteousness among the Vineyard and Fig Tree Israel. Knowing that the “fruits” are works reflecting repentance, this is dire. The foxes have ruined the fruits of repentance, so they did not ripen. The Artscroll commentary is more specific, saying that there is a lack of teachers who will teach integrity. (The Prophets: The Twelve Prophets to Micah 7:1)

 

The preservation of the fig trees and vineyard is usually through watchmen [and women!] who build secure fences and stand guard on the walls for predators such as foxes. Ezekiel explains the problem: “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.” (Eze 22:30)

 

Lack of care for the physical land explains the lack of care for the spiritual land’s destruction, its Vineyard.

 

Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.

 

This week we continue from the teaching on "The Fox in The Family" and uncover who the little foxes are as we correlate and discover parallels and similarities in the stories of Ahab and Jezebel with their offspring together with Herod and Herodius and their offspring. In this study we then finally recognize how we are all caught up in the exact same story today.

Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.

This week we continue our teaching on the "Fox in the Family" and discuss more attributes to watch out for with regards to the foxes and little foxes that present themselves in our society and daily life living in Babylon.  

Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.

In this week's lesson we identifying the fox in the family and modern idolatry.

 

Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings. 

Song of Songs 2:15 prophesies of the vineyard Israel: "Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, while our vineyards are in blossom." In the Footsteps of Messiah, the prophecies of the Song of Songs will become more evident in everyday life. This requires re-examining the patterns of the Exodus from Egypt.  

Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.