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Video: Gen 12:1–17:27 Parashat Lekh L’kha (A Gospel-Oriented Torah Study)
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SIGNS OF DIVINE INTERVENTION IN TRUMP VICTORY
From World Net Daily at http://www.wnd.com/2016/11/signs-of-divine-intervention-in-trump-victory/
ELECTION 2016
SIGNS OF DIVINE INTERVENTION IN TRUMP VICTORY
Bachmann prayed with millions at crucial moment tide turned
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New York Times graph displaying “Chance of Winning Presidency” in real time
WASHINGTON – Election eve 2016 began without any real sign of a gathering storm. No hint a popular revolt was brewing. In fact, just the opposite.
The networks were reporting the mood in the inner circle of the Republican candidate was subdued, somber, tense, even foreboding – as if fearing the worst.
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President-elect Donald Trump (Photo: Twitter)
In direct contrast, the mood in the camp of the Democratic Party presidential candidate was described as confident, expectant and already almost celebratory.
Giddy.
When the first polls closed on the East Coast and the first results began to come in, those moods seemed to be swiftly confirmed by reality. The pre-election polls were not wrong. Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton immediately took the lead.
And she was winning in the battleground states.
She was leading in Florida. She was leading in North Carolina. She was leading in Pennsylvania. She was leading in Ohio. Clinton was threatening to pull away and end the suspense early.
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Presidential election loser Democrat Hillary Clinton
At 7 p.m., there was no sign of a popular uprising led by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. There was no sign at 8 p.m. There was still no sign as time inexorably marched on.
Something would have to break.
And then it did.
Like a scene out of the film “It’s a Wonderful Life,” people had begun to pray.
But not just in one small town. Across America. And around the world.
Simple acts of faith heralded the first faint wisps of a breeze that would soon become a storm that would shake the world.
It began in Jerusalem.
Christians from many nations gathered in the heart of Israel to pray and fast for the fate of the United States. Americans knelt on stage as the faithful prayed. Organizers instructed them to pray like never before for a just God to deliver his most Christian nation. They called it the Jerusalem Global Gathering.
Christians also gathered to pray for the nation outside the U.S. Capitol. As WND reported, pastor Dan Cummins of the small rural East Texas town of Bullard led prayers for a return to biblical principles.
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JoAnn and Dan Cummins lead prayers on election night in front of the U.S. Capitol
And it was in Texas that the prayers for deliverance were sent around the world, using modern technology.
A large prayer group had gathered in Dallas, hosted by Ken Copeland ministries. It was broadcast by the Daystar channel. Presenters David Barton and former Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., invited viewers to join in prayer.
Daystar has a global reach of 400 million potential viewers.
As they prayed, something began to stir.
“At the precise moment we began broadcasting on Daystar,” Bachmann told WND, “as the polls were still open, and a national audience of believers joined together and prayed in concert, we literally saw the race break in favor of Trump.”
“At that very minute.”
She presented proof.
“The New York Times documented the shift in voting from that minute.”
Michele Bachmann on Donald Trump’s victory: ‘The Lord did this’
“The Times put out a timeline tracking the election results as they broke for Trump last night,” Bachmann continued. “We went wild in the Dallas studio last night when David Barton, Ken and Terri Copeland, and various pastors saw that the victory for Trump began exactly at the precise moment believers corporately, over national television, sought the Lord for His favor upon our nation.”
“We knew it was at the exact same time that believers joined in corporate prayer on behalf of voting for a godly platform. Believers brought the Lord into this election, and that made all the difference,” added the devout believer.
“That is the story of last night’s victory. I have no doubt. The strong right arm of a holy God heard the prayers of His people and graciously answered our prayers,” Bachmann reflected.
“It truly explains the Trump victory. I have no doubt. No man can take the credit. Only the strong right arm of a merciful God.”
image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2016/11/donald-trump-victory-speech-ok-sign-600-300×166.jpg
President-elect Donald Trump giving his victory speech (Twitter)
But that was in harmony with the “believers interceding on behalf of the American election last night in Jerusalem, praying in concert with those of us praying in America.”
And there is no doubt someone was listening.
In addition to the hundreds-of-millions of viewers within Daystar’s reach, the event drew about a million views online.
Bachmann said there had been a genuine repentance and coordinated beseeching of God. She told WND, “We saw the effective fervent prayers of righteous believers availing much.”
“And, prayers so specific,” she explained, “we prayed for elections by county and cities and districts. We literally watched results follow the faithful effectual prayers of righteous people who had humbled themselves and cried out to God for his mercy. This wasn’t credit for us; this was clearly the Lord’s gracious doing.”
Bachmann proclaimed, “It is the story of the night and the biggest story of the year. I have no doubt.”
“We were told more believers came out to vote in this election than ever before,” she reflected, and the numbers confirmed that.
Trump benefited from the largest evangelical turnout in history.
image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2016/11/hispanicsfortrump_getty-300×169.jpg
Exit polls showed that an overwhelming 80 percent of white evangelical voters (who made up 25 percent of all 2016 voters) supported Trump.
Evangelicals of color preferred Clinton, but she did not get the same support from Hispanics and African-Americans as did President Obama.
Polls also showed that Trump recaptured the Catholic vote for the GOP by a margin of 52 percent to 45 percent, after most of them voted for Obama in the two previous presidential elections.
Bachmann said all of this “shows the necessity of believers voting for biblical principles in the voting booth.”
Despite the victory, she concluded the work has just begun for the faithful, as well as the president-elect.
“This is not the time for believers to celebrate and turn away from doing our part affecting our society with the salt and light found in the Bible.”
“Now is the time,” she continued, “for pastors to preach biblically from America’s pulpits on the various issues we confront in America.”
“This is a beginning for people of faith. It is an opportunity to share the gospel and educate people on the fundamental primacy of the foundation of western civilization: the Bible.”
image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2016/11/Trump-election-TW-300×151.jpg
Donald Trump wins election to the White House (Photo: Twitter)
So, what did happen around 8 p.m. Eastern time, when the Times indicated the odds favoring Trump began a dramatic turnaround in his favor?
Did prayers sway the vote, or did they coincide with the moment the tabulations began to swing to Trump?
Either way, there could be a case to be made that the Trump victory was not really the work of man, because man chose Clinton.
She won the popular vote. Just as the polls predicted.
But it was where those people voted that made all the difference. Providentially, perhaps, the shift toward Trump happened in the key swing states needed to push him over the top in the all-important Electoral College.
From that perspective, Trump’s victory might indeed be seen, even by the skeptical, as less the work of man, and more of an act of God.
Who and NOT What is the Word of Elohim?
Genesis 15:1, The Word of YHVH came. Yeshua the Messiah is the Word of Elohim and is Elohim’s spokesman or intermediary with men (John 1:1–14). This is the Bible’s first usage of this phrase.
Subsequently, the phrase “Word of YHVH” is found some 242 times in the Tanakh. Many of these times relate to the biblical prophets receiving prophetic revelation from the “Word of YHVH,” which was the preincarnate Yeshua. How these prophets received their revelation from the Word of YHVH isn’t always clear.
In the case of Abram in this passage, he received the word through a vision. In most cases, Scripture simply records that “the Word of Elohim came” to such and such a prophet. Whether it came through dreams, visions, audible voice, or direct visitation, the Scriptures usually don’t say.
Nowadays, in prophetic circles within the church, seldom do people speak authoritatively and announce that “the Word of YHVH came to me and here is what I was told….” Instead, phrases such as “I have a word from God for you,” or “God told me to tell you this” are used. This is not how it was done by the legitimate prophets of the Bible. They actually received direct revelation from the preincarnate Yeshua and who spoke dogmatically and authoritatively as such.
Yeshua is more than a carpenter!
Matthew 13:55, Carpenter’s son. Yeshua was physically and spiritually a carpenter or housebuilder (Pss 104:3; 127:1; Heb 3:1–6).
He still works with wood in that he’s joining the two sticks of the two houses of Israel together (Ezek 37:19). Men are like trees or sticks that Yeshua is putting together (Mark 8:23–24) into one house, or one tree—the olive tree of Israel (Ezek 37:19 cp. Rom 11:16–18; Jer 11:16; Hos 14:6).
At his second coming, Yeshua will permanently bind or graft the two houses together legally as he finalizes the new covenant, which he initiated at his last supper (Matt 26:28 cp. Heb 8:8, 13 and Jer 31:31, 33).
May your face shine like the sun!
Matthew 13:43, Shine forth as the sun. The reward of the resurrected and glorified saints will be that they will shine forth like the sun or stars (Dan 12:3), and like Yeshua (1 John 3:2), whose face shines like the sun (Rev 1:16), for he is the Sun of Righteousness (Mal 4:2), and the light of the world (John 1:6–9; 8:12; 9:5; 12:46), and he will be the light of the New Jerusalem shining in place of the physical sun (Rev 21:23; 22:5; Isa 60:20).
Paul speaks of the resurrection of the saints and their glorification that will occur at that time, and he likens the saints’ appearance to the stars. As stars have different levels of brightness, so too will the saints (1 Cor 15:41–43) in accordance with their levels of rewards commensurate with their level of obedience to the Torah (Matt 5:19; 16:27; Rom 2:6–11; 2 Cor 5:10; Eph 6:8; 1 Pet 1:17; Rev 19:8; 22:12–15).
Eight Things You Can Do Now that Donald Trump Will be President
Yehovah Elohim, the Creator of the universe, has granted the USA a reprieve from a well-deserved spiritual judgement by allowing Donald Trump to win the US presidency in a stunning and historical election upset over Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump IS NOT the answer to America’s problems. No human is. Only Yeshua the Messiah is. Period. Yet down through the ages, Yehovah has chosen to use human instruments to accomplish his purposes no matter how flawed they may be. The Bible records several notable examples of amazing flawed individuals and even a heathen leader that the Creator has used. Two examples of this were Samson the womanizer who helped liberate the Israelites from their wicked Philistine enemies, and Cyrus the heathen Persian king who sent the Jews back to the land of Israel to rebuild the temple. Beyond that, Moses, King David (he as also an adulterer) and Paul the apostle were all murderers. Also let’s not forget how the Almighty Creator used Balaam’s donkey to accomplish his purposes!
The choice in my mind was clear who to vote for. Admittedly, I never cared for Donald Trump from the time I read his best-selling book back in the 1980s, The Art of the Deal. This was because of his extreme arrogance and his womanizing. However, as the owner and operator of a business since I was twelve years old, I can’t but help but respect anyone who is a success in the business world. Most business fail in the first five years. Anyone who can make it, deserves credit and respect.
Beyond that, the choice was clear. I will be blunt here. This may offend some, but I don’t care. You can switch the channel if you don’t like it. It’s time wake up and get real. Our choice was between a woman who is a lying, megalomaniac, Jezebel witch and sexual deviant who was also a traitor to her country and totally sold out to the Babylon the Great New World Order and a very flawed and rather typical carnal man. That’s all.
America had a choice to make. It could continue down the road of leftist progressivism that has failed everywhere in the world where it has been tried. It could choose a leader Continue reading
Mysteries Pertaining to the Kingdom of Heaven Explained
Matthew 13:1–58, Yeshua unlocks fundamental mysteries pertaining to the kingdom of heaven.
Let’s systematically analyze this amazing chapter section-by-section to see if we can unlock some deep mysteries pertaining to the kingdom of Elohim.
In the Parable of the Sower, Yeshua reveals that he is sowing the seeds of the gospel message far and wide across the field of the world (v. 38). That seeds falls on all types of ground and there are external influences (i.e., the world, the flesh and the devil) that affect whether the seed will germinate and come to fruition or not. The bottom line is that the majority of seed gets destroyed along the way and fails to produce fruit.
Yeshua then explains the purpose of parables (see comments on v. 14). The main point of this discussion is that only those who are genuine and earnest truth seekers will find the deep spiritual truths of Yeshua’s kingdom behind his parables. These are the ones who have “eyes to see and ears to hear” who will eventually become part of his kingdom. All others will fall by the wayside having disqualified themselves by their lack of spiritual zeal and tenacity to enter into his kingdom.
Yeshua’s Parable of the Wheat and Tares is an expansion of one aspect of the of the previous parable. In the Parable of the Sower, bad seed (i.e., the sons of the wicked or the lawless/Torahless one, vv. 38 and 41) can also be sown by the enemy (the wicked one or the devil, v. 39) into the field in which the good seed on the good ground is sown. This means that of the seed that is sown there’s a reduction factor of four to one. Only one in four seeds or twenty-five percent comes to fruition. Amongst the remaining twenty-five percent, tares or noxious weeds that are planted by the Satan will grow up around the good seed or wheat. The wheat plants are the saints or the sons of the kingdom (v. 38) or the righteous (v. 43) who must be tried, tested and spiritually refined along the way by the tares amongst them. Will the saints be faithful to the Master, or will they fall victim to the lies and dessemblance of the false saints or satanic elements among them? Distinguishing who are wheat and tares is only possible by evaluating the fruits that are produced (Matt 7:15–20). This takes time to determine as a plant slowly develops and it then becomes evident whether it’s a wheat or a tare. At the end of the age, Yeshua will send his angels to separate out the wheat and the tares (see Matt 24:31 and Rev 7:1–8 cp. 14:14–20). The former will inherit his everlasting kingdom, while the latter will be burned up in the lake of fire.
Through the process of separation, refinement and elimination, the good seed in the fertile ground germinates and begins to spread its roots and grow into a large plant. Though the saints are like many individual plants in Yeshua’s spiritual field, Yeshua likens the expansion of the kingdom of Elohim in the life of the saints to a singular mustard seed that though it is very small, in time it becomes a very large tree-herb in the garden. Even as a large plant that is now well established in Yeshua’s garden (despite the opposition of the tares), the wicked one will continue to send his demonic agents (the birds of heaven, see vv. 4 cp. 19) that will attempt to find shelter within the branches of the tree. As demonic spirits and their agents were attracted to Yeshua (Mark 3:11) and his apostles (Acts 16:16–18), even so in our days, those with demonic spirits will be attracted to the congregation of the righteous.
Next, Yeshua likens his kingdom to the action leaven in bread dough. This is the only reference in the Scriptures to leaven as a positive thing. In this case, bread may be viewed as a metaphor for the spiritual body of Yeshua. Indeed, Yeshua is the bread of life (John 6:26–40) that is unleavened or sin-free. However, when humans become part of Yeshua’s kingdom or spiritual body it will expand, which is a good thing. However, because humans aren’t sin free, but are like leavening (a biblical metaphor for sin), the bread or body of Yeshua will grow, though comprised of sinful humans who have been redeemed from sin. This calls to mind the bread waving ceremony the priests conducted on the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) where they waved two leavened wheat flour loaves of bread representing the two houses of Israel above the altar before YHVH for his acceptance. Though YHVH is set-apart or holy and hates sin, his mercy triumphs over his judgment against men’s sin, and he graciously accepts humans who have been redeemed from sin by Yeshua the Messiah, who is the Bread of Life. His eternal kingdom will be comprised of imperfect humans who have been redeemed from sin, which is why he likens the expansion his kingdom to leaven being used to expand the bread.
Yeshua then likens the kingdom of heaven to a treasure buried in a field, which a man discovers and sells all he has to buy the field containing the treasure. This parable shows the heart attitude that one must have if they want to be part of Yeshua’s everlasting kingdom. They must seek first his kingdom above everything else in their life (Matt 6:33), and be willing to die spiritually to anything that comes ahead of Yeshua (Matt 10:39; 16:25).
The kingdom of heaven is also like a pearl of great price — an ultimate treasure — that one must be willing to sell all to “purchases.”
The Parable of the Dragnet teaches us that as the gospel is preached, it is like a giant fishnet that is cast out across the seas of humanity. Many people will respond to the glorious gospel message of salvation and the kingdom of heaven. However, like the Parable of the Wheat and Tares, the gospel message will attract both the sons of the kingdom and the sons of wicked into the same field (as in the earlier Parable of the Wheat and Tares) or fishnet (as in the Parable of the Dragnet). Again, Yeshua reveals that at the end of the age, his angels will separate out the good fish (the sons of the kingdom) from the bad fish (the children of the devil). The latter will be cast into the lake of fire (see Matt 24:31 and Rev 7:1–8 cp. 14:14–20).
Yeshua finishes his teaching on the kingdom of Elohim by explaining that only those who study the Bible deeply and diligently will understand these mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. They will view them as priceless treasures and desire to share them with others.
Sadly, Matthew 13 ends by showing that Yeshua’s own friends and family largely rejected his teachings on the kingdom of heaven. “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house,” he concludes.