Hoshana Rabbah Blog

Midrash with Natan Lawrence

Hoshana Rabbah Blog

Another Appearance of the Pre-Incarnate Yeshua in the Torah

abrahamsarah-laughing

YHVH Appears to Abraham and Sarah and Promises Them a Son

1 And YHVH appeared [ra’ah, which is the common Hebrew word meaning “see, look, behold, show, appear, observe, have vision, present oneself, be seen”] unto [Abraham] in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. 8 And [Abraham] took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they [i.e. YHVH and the two other malakim/heavenly messengers] did eat. 13 And YHVH said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? 14 Is any thing too hard for YHVH? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. 15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh. 33 And YHVH went his way, as soon as he had left communing [rcs, the common Hebrew word meaning speak, say, talk, promise, tell, pronounce, utter, command] with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.

In this passage of Scripture, we find YHVH appearing in visible form to Abraham (verse 1), most likely eating a meal with Abraham (verse 8), conversing with Abraham and Sarah (verse 13–14), and having an ongoing discussion with Abraham over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah (verse 16ff), and finally leaving Abraham after this lengthy time of communing or conversing with Abraham (verse 33).

The literal or peshat meaning of this scripture passage should be very clear. There are no hidden meanings, no metaphors or symbolisms. There is no allegorical language. It is simple historical narrative of the events that occurred. The writer presents it in a literal, matter-of-fact manner. Nothing could be more straight forward. YHVH appears to Abraham in some “diminished,” less potent form that humans can physically endure, he interacts at length with them through the partaking of a meal and conversation. But to Continue reading →

 

Feast Date Information for 2017

,

For a list of projected dates for the spring and fall 2017 biblical festivals (and other biblical calendar information and resources), go to:

http://hoshanarabbah.org/calendars-info.html#feast_dates

For the record, our projected calendar dates are based on the visible new moon sliver as viewed from the land of Israel. The beginning of the new year is based on the barely being aviv in land of Israel.

For those of you who are unclear about the biblical calendar or confused about such things as conjunction vs. visible sighting, or rabbinic vs. first-century biblical calendar, I invite you to read the articles on the page at the link above.  For additional information not contained in these articles, you can scroll down through the posts on this blog to pick up articles and videos on the subject. To access this information quickly, in the search box at the top of this page, you can also type in the key search word “biblical calendar” or something similar and all the posts on this subject will come up in the search results.

Happy studying.

 

 

New Video: Gen 18:1– 22:24 Parashat Vayera (A Gospel-Oriented Torah Study)

 

 

For a free, printable adult and youth Torah study guide on this Torah portion (parashah), please go to http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/parshiot.html

 

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 11-13 Through 11-19-16

Aside

THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat Vayera — Genesis 18:1 – 22:24
Haftarah — 2 Kings 4:1-37
Prophets — Joshua 22:1 – 24:33; Judges 1:1 – 4:24
Writings — Psalms 27:1 – 34:22
Testimony — Matthew 16:1 – 21:22

Our new Scripture Reading Schedule for 2016-2017 is available to download!

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 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.

Weekly Blog Scripture Readings for 11/13/16 through 11/19/16.

 

New Video: Deliverance & How to Cast Out Demons

 

New Video: Prophets, the Gift of Prophecy and Giving Prophetic Words

 

A word to the cupcake and snowflake generation (round two): Suck it up!

From http://usdefensewatch.com/2016/11/an-open-letter-to-americas-college-cupcakes-on-veterans-day/

An open letter to America’s college cupcakes on Veterans Day

 cry_in_

By Ray Starmann

Dear College Cupcakes:

America has watched for the last year or so, as our nation’s universities have been consumed by a new strain of left wing totalitarianism that has all the traits of the haunting Marxist dictatorships of the past.

Free thought and expression and discussion are disappearing from college campuses and being replaced by behavior and lexicons out of 1984.

In the greatest arenas of free speech across this land, you shriek and howl and cry and stamp your feet like two year olds when someone disagrees with you.

You have mental meltdowns when reading passages from the world’s greatest literature that somehow offend you in every conceivable way, shape or form.

You feel oppressed and terrorized when viewing someone in a Halloween costume that you dislike.

You are triggered by opposing views from Presidential candidates, who do nothing more than say things that you may disagree with.

When triggered by every imaginable word, phrase and action on this planet, you find it necessary to retreat to so-called safe spaces, where you will be further coddled by counselors, Play Doh and Bubble Guppy videos.

Like raving martinets, you accuse anyone you disagree with of being a racist, a rapist, a sexist or any other derogatory term you can create to soothe your tender and warped psyches.

You have been told for your whole lives how special you are and these fantastical words have been reinforced by the ridiculous behavior of helicopter parents and idiotic teachers who found it necessary to control every facet of your lives and ensure that each of you precious little snowflakes received a trophy, even though many of you only deserved a kick in the behind.

Your latest irrational tirades concern the election of PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP. Inspired by the lunatic behavior of your socialist professors, you are the laughing stock of the rest of the country as you hold cry-ins, need therapy dogs and hide under the covers in your dorm roomsbecause a man was elected President.

Today is Veterans Day, when we honor those who served, which I have no doubt none of you ever have. The nation particularly honors our combat veterans who drained deep the chalice of courage and who fought against real racists, like the Nazis; real boogeymen like the Imperial Japanese Army, the Chinese, Victor Charlie, the Republican Guard and the Taliban.

ddayikebriefs101st_800

Today, at this very moment, as you tearfully meltdown because Donald Trump is our next President, our current military is in harm’s way in Mosul, fighting real sexists who call themselves ISIS.

King George, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, Saddam, these were real threats, some of the greatest madmen the world had ever seen and our veterans fought and defeated them in hot and cold wars.

94ec394bf2cc657a31da6bc5c1d768eb

Our veterans, men and women, many of whom were your age at the time they served, never had the luxury to wallow in self-pity over imagined nonsense and monsters.

Their threats weren’t created in the hallowed ivory towers of Harvard Yard. Their threats were created in the British Parliament, in Bavarian beer halls, in jungle outposts and jettisoned across the globe to cause havoc and death. The only thing that stopped them, the only thing that prevented the world from descending into darkness was the US military and our veterans.

There were no safe spaces on Iwo Jima or Omaha Beach. There were no cry ins on Bunker Hillor at the Frozen Chosin. There were no counselors in the Ia Drang Valley or at Khe Sanh. There was no time to protest imaginary enemies at Fallujah. The enemies were real and were doing their damnedest to kill Americans and destroy our way of life.

As I stated, our enemies were fighting against Americans who were mainly your age. I and many Americans have serious doubts that you aggrieved marshmallows could rise to the occasion and fight anyone, much less the Redcoats or the Waffen SS.

bunker-hill

How and why America has gotten to a point where being a wimp is looked upon as normal behavior for young people is the subject of another article and a disgrace in itself.

Instead of claiming half the nation is racist for voting for Donald Trump, you precious little snowflakes might want to get off your asses and read about men who overcame real prejudice and racism and fought for their country; like the Tuskegee Airmen.

Instead of being offended by words in books, you precious little cupcakes might want to step out of your safe spaces and read about American matadors at places like Trenton, the Wheatfield, Seminary Ridge, the Meuse-Argonne, the Bulge, New Guinea, 73 Easting and Tal Afar.

As for the election, get used to saying President Trump.

Suck it up buttercups.

Ray Starmann

Editor in Chief, US Defense Watch