Surviving the Coronavirus/COVID-19 Plague

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Both a physical and spiritual response is required to survive the current Coronavirus/COVID-19 plague that is sweeping the earth. I discuss both of these needed responses in the video below.

In the video, I also briefly discuss Psalm 91. In this post, I go into more detail on this vital biblical passage. This should encourage anyone who is experiencing fear and anxiety over the current viral epidemic.

In the video, I also discuss the physical precautions that I’m taking to protect myself from this lethal virus. Other than following government recommendations, I am also taking nutritional supplements to strengthen my immune system. (This is what I’m doing and I’m not recommending this for anyone else. Do your own research and check with your health care provider on what to do for you.) The supplement that I am taking include the following:

  • Four to six thousand mg of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) spread out through the day.
  • Several thousand mg of vitamin D per day.
  • Potassium iodide each day.
  • Glutathione each day.

Psalm 91:1 (and the rest of Psalm 91) Is the Biblical 9-1-1 to Call in Our Time of Trouble

Psalm 91:1, Secret. Heb. cether means “covering, shelter, hiding place, secrecy,” and is from the root word meaning “to hide, conceal.” When troubles comes our way like a tidal wave, the natural human reaction is either to stand and fight or to flee in fear. In psychology this is known as “the fight or flight response.” The Bible teaches us that there is both a time to fight and a time to flee (Eccl 3:1; Matt 24:16; 12:14 cp. Eph 6:14; Luke 19:13). Spiritual discernment and being led by the Spirit of Elohim will direct us what to do and when. Regardless, at all times we need to be “hiding” in the secret place or under the shadow of YHVH’s “wings” with regard to our spiritual relationship with our Almighty Father in heaven as this verse states. When we are in that place of covering and under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty, which alludes to his throne room, we will not be cowering in fear from our enemies, but we will find the courage, will and stamina to stand firm in faith, and, if necessary, to come out and to fight the enemy not in our own strength, but in Elohim’s strength as led and guided by his Spirit. 

Abide. This is the Hebrew word luwn meaning “to lodge, stop over, pass the night or abide.” A lodge is a place where one temporarily spends the night. When dark times come our way, we need to stop and spend the night or run to and abide in the throne room of the Almighty! This speaks of prayer, worship, praise and studying his Word.

Psalm 91:1, Cover. This Hebrew word literally means “to fence around or protect.” 

Psalm 91:1, 4, 16, Under the shadow of the Almighty…under his wings. (See notes at Ps 61:4.) According to the ancient Jewish sages, Moses composed this psalm for the tribe of Levi who, while ministering in the tabernacle, dwelt under the shadow of the wings of cherubim that stood over the ark of the covenant in the Tabernacle of Moses—an earthly representation of YHVH’s throne room in heaven. The sages go on to explain that the psalmist describes the devout man of faith lives with Elohim in his heart, and never leaves Elohim’s shadow. Such a man is a true biblical hero of faith to whom Elohim pledges (v. 16) to satisfy with long life and to show him his salvation or deliverance from evil (The ArtScroll Tanach Series Tehillim/Psalms Commentary on Ps 91). This psalm ends with the promise of the blessing of long life to those who love and serve YHVH, and beyond that, salvation, which is the Hebrew word Yeshua—the very name of the coming Messiah, who would offer his people deliverance from the ultimate enemy, namely sin and its death penalty. The result of this deliverance is the glorious divine gift of eternal life through faith in Yeshua the Messiah—the supreme gift and blessing of all! This psalm is literally a prophecy pointing to the Messiah.

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Blog Scripture Readings for 3-15 Through 3-21-20

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Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudei — Exodus 35:1 – 40:38
Haftarah — 1 Kings 7:51 – 8:21 | Exodus 12:1-20; Ezekiel 45:16 – 46:18**
Prophets — Isaiah 1:1 – 8:22
Writings — Proverbs 8:1 – 14:35
Testimony — John 10:1 – 13:16

Our new annual Scripture Reading Schedule for 2019-2020 with daily readings is available to download and print. If you are still working through 2018-2019’s Scripture Reading Schedule, the link will still be available on the right sidebar under “Helpful Links”. If you are using a mobile device or tablet, the link may be below, meaning you’ll need to scroll down instead.

Most of this week’s blog discussion points will be on these passages. If you have general comments or questions on the weekly Scripture readings not addressed in a blog post, here’s a place for you to post those. Just use the “leave a reply” link or the “share your thoughts” box below.

The full “Read Through The Scriptures In A Year” schedule, broken down by each day, can be found on the right sidebar under “Helpful Links.” There are 4 sections of scripture to read each day: one each from the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings, and from the Testimony of Yeshua. Each week, the Torah and haftarah readings will follow the traditional one-year reading cycle.

** A different Haftarah is read when it is a special sabbath in Jewish tradition. This week it is Shabbat HaChodesh on the traditional calendar with a special reading. Otherwise, 1 Kings 7:51–8:21 would be read.

Weekly Blog Scripture Readings for 3/15 through 3/21/2020.

 

NathanTalks #8—Should We Say Yeshua, Jesus, Yahshua, Yeshoshua or What?

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What is the name of the Messiah? Which name should we use? Should we use his Hebrew name, his English name, his Greek name, or his name in some other language? What does YHVH Elohim, the God of the Bible, think about this issue? Is using the right name of our Messiah, Savior and Redeemer a salvational issue? Some people think it is. We will discuss all of these issues in the video.

 

Psalm of a Discouraged Shepherd

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by Nathan Lawrence (2019-2020)

O my heart yearns to gather Your people as a shepherd,
But few will have it,
To teach them your enlightening ways,
For the cares of this life have overtaken their hunger for You!
Why do lambs in my own Nazareth pasture hear and ignore,
Yet those in distant fields respect and heed?

As a sheepherder lad, I loved the sheep young and old.
I knew each by name, fed and protected them.
They responded when I called.
Now, in the wilderness of the people
It’s all we like sheep have gone astray
Everyone to his own way,
Each doing what is right in his own eyes.

Sadly Your sheep have been hurt and abused
Victims of inherited lies,
Traditions passed down by church fathers;
Victims of self-serving, career-idolizing pastors—
False shepherds sold out to mammon,
Who know little or nothing of real sheep!And no wonder why Your lambs run scared and fearful, 
Even afraid of true shepherds after Your own heart.


Your sheep thanklessly rejected the Chief Shepherd, 
So who am I that they should accept this herder?
Despite all, my heart still beats with your love for them.
Yes, they refuse to be gathered.
Shepherdless, they huddle scattered and scared in flocklets.
Hurt, wounded, confused, bleating with headlight eyes.

So what am I do?
I’ve nurtured both two and four legged sheep;
My heart still contains a lamb-shaped space.
But this shepherd too is wounded.
O Lamb and Shepherd of Yehovah!
Pour out your grace and Spirit upon us all,
Assemble the fragments of scattered Israel,
Restore the fallen tent of David.
Yeshua haMashiach, come quickly
Sun of Righteousness, bring healing in your wings! 

 

How much to YOU love Yeshua?

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John 12:5, Three hundred denarii. This large sum is equal to 300 days’ wages for a common laborer.

To the natural mind, Judas’ objection to the use of this expensive spice (worth between $30,000 and $50,000 in today’s money) to anoint someone’s feet seems illogical and a total waste of money. By contrast, from our perspective today, we can look backwards historically with perfect 20–20 hindsight and realize that for Yeshua, the Messiah and Savior of the world, he was worth every penny of the spikenard and much more. Yet, from the perspective of Yeshua’s followers, Yeshua’s true identity and mission still weren’t clear. This confusion wouldn’t clear up until after his resurrection and glorification (v. 16). So for some of them, Mary’s act of faith in anointing Yeshua’s feet with a year’s wages of spice seemed to be illogical folly. 

This spice, most likely was originally intended for use on Lazarus’ body, whom Yeshua had just resurrected and so was no longer needed for that purpose, at least. It is likely that it was out of gratefulness for resurrecting her brother that Mary performed this act of love and devotion to Yeshua, not realizing that her actions were prophetic in that she was pre-anointing Yeshua’s body for his own burial ten days from that night (v. 7).

Now let us consider the following. We know that YHVH Elohim the Father gave us his greatest love gift by sending Yeshua, his Son, to this earth to live, die and resurrect for our redemption and ultimate glorification (John 3:16). How much do we love Yeshua, and what is the greatest gift we could ever give him, even if those around us may think that we were crazy to do so? It is your heart, devotion and obedience. Have you given him all your heart? Does all that you own belong to him including your life? Would you give away all of your possessions in devotion to him if he asked it of you? Would you literally lay your life down for him as he did for you? How much do you love Yeshua?

 

A great spiritual revival is coming…

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Exodus 34:1–35, Prophetic pictures of Moses’ second ascension of Mount Sinai. Moses’ second ascension of Mount Sinai is a prophetic and allegorical picture of the saints’ resurrection and glorification at the second coming of Yeshua the Messiah.

According to Jewish tradition, Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the second set of stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments on the first day of the sixth biblical month or 30 days before Yom Teruah, which occurs on the first day of the seventh month. Forty days later on Yom Kippur he descended from the mountain carrying with him the second set of tablets as a sign of YHVH’s forgiveness of the children of Israel after the golden calf incident. This signaled YHVH’s renewed relationship with Israel after they had repented of golden calf worship. 

We know that in biblical times a biblical Israelite bride, while waiting for her betrothed to arrive from his father’s house, would hear a shout and the sound of the shofar in the distance as her bridegroom approached (Matt 25:6 cp. Matt 24:31; 1 Thess 4:16; 1 Cor 15:51–52). If she were alert and not asleep (as were the ten virgins in Matt 25:1–13), she would have had time to put on her wedding robes, trim her lamp’s wick (an ancient version of a flashlight), and have it filled with oil and ready to light as soon as he arrived, since he would be coming at night time. 

Prophetically, the Scriptures indicate that the saints of Yeshua are to be resurrected and to meet the returning Messiah Yeshua in the air at the seventh or last shofar blast most likely on Yom Teruah (Day of the Trumpets also known as the Day of Shouting or Shofar Blasts, see 1 Thess 4:16; 1 Cor 15:52; Rev 11:15–18). From the time the saints begin hearing the shofar blasts in the distance signaling the arrival of Yeshua the Bridegroom until their ascension (at the resurrection) to meet King Yeshua in the air roughly seems to correspond to Moses’ ascension of Mount Sinai on the first day of the sixth month. That being so, then Moses’ descent with the stone tablets—the tokens of a renewed covenant between YHVH and Israel on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement)—would correspond to Yeshua returning to earth with his just-resurrected saints. As Moses saw the glory of YHVH in the cleft of the rock the second time he ascended Mount Sinai (Exod 33:18–23; 34:5–9), and as he descended in a glorified state, his face shining with the glory of YHVH, so the saints will resurrect to meet Yeshua in the air, see his glory, and will return with him with their own glorified immortal bodies (1 Cor 15:42–54; 1 Thess 4:16–17).

First John 3:2 says, “Beloved, now are we the sons of Elohim, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” These resurrect­ed saints are those who have heeded YHVH’s call to come out of Babylonian, golden calf-type religious systems (i.e. Christo-pagan churchianity, Rev 18:4) where paganism has been mixed with the truth of the Scriptures. These same saints are now waiting to enter into an everlasting (marital) covenant with YHVH-Yeshua (Rev 19:7–9). They are those who love Yeshua and his the Torah-commandments (Rev 12:17; 14:12).

In the end times there will be a great spiritual revival as many people are saved and come to faith in Yeshua out of the great tribulation period (Rev 7:14). Some of these new converts to Yeshua the Messiah will be native Israelites, along with many Gentiles, who have been spiritually grafted into the nation of Israel, and all of whom have repent of the golden calf worship of Torahlessness and false religious systems. If we can trust the end time prophetic chronology of the fall biblical feasts, we see that this momentous and glorious event will occur in the time period leading up to the Day of the Trumpets when many people will wholeheartedly repent and receive the covering of the blood of Yeshua for their sins, as pictured by the Day of Atonement. This will be a continuation of the process of the rebirth and reunification of the two houses of Israel (loosely speaking, Ephraim who is he church, and Judah who are the Jews) that began in the apostolic era.

The Bible likens this process to branches being grafted into an ancient olive tree, or to the unification of Jews and Gentiles becoming into the “one new man” Israel of Elohim through faith in and the blood of Yeshua the Messiah (Rom 11:13–24; Ezek 37:15–28; Eph 2:11–19; Gal 6:16).

 

Surprise, surprise! The concept of grace DID NOT originate in the NT

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Exodus 33:12–13, Grace.The mainstream church places a great deal of emphasis on the message of grace. The biblical doctrine of grace finds its roots in this chapter in the Torah and not in the apostolic writings as the mainstream church teaches. 

The noun grace (Heb. chen) is found six times in chapters 33 and 34. The adjective gracious (Heb. chanan and channuwn)as an attribute YHVH’s character is found three times in chapters 33 and 34. Six is the number of man and three is the number of Elohim. That is to say, the grace of the entire Godhead covers man completely even when his children turn away from him and give into golden calf worship. His grace for his people rejoices or triumphs over his fiery and consuming judgments (Exod 33:4; Jas 2:13; Pss 85:10; 89:14; Mic 7:18; Eph 1:7; Rom 5:8) that they deserve for their stiff-neckness and sinful rebellion against his commands (Exod 33:3).

The Hebrew word for grace is chen/IJmeaning “favor, grace, charm, acceptance.” The Hebrew word chen (found 69 times in the Tanakh), which is translated as grace, in this verse is equivalent to the Greek word charis/cariV, which is found 156 times in the Testimony of Yeshua and is translated as grace 130 times in the KJV.The equivalency of these two words is confirmed by the translators of the Septuagint (the Greek Tanakh) who used charis in place of chen when translating the Hebrew Tanakh into Greek beginning in the third century b.c. 

According to The TWOT, in the vast majority of occurrences of chen in the Tanakh, the focus of attention is not on the giver, but on the recipient. The emphasis is on the relationship of the superior to an inferior (e.g. a king to his subjects). What this teaches us is that despite sin and rebellion against him, YHVH (the king) is gracious (to humans, his subjects). Contrary to what many in the church have been led to believe, the grace of Elohim is a very prominent theme in the Tanakh. Examples of this include Noah who found grace in YHVH’s eyes (Gen 6:8), or the children of Israel although dead in their sins in Egypt and deserving of YHVH’s wrath, they were saved by the blood of the lamb. There are a number of other references to the grace of Elohim in the Tanakh as well (Gen 18:3; Exod 3:21; 33:16,17; 34:9; Ps 84:11; Zech 12:10).