Tears are a Language

John 11: 35 Y’Shua Wept
A very short verse, but it affords many useful instructions.
1. That Y’Shua Hamshiach was really and truly man, and partook with the children, not only of flesh and blood, but also of a human soul, vulnerable of the impressions of joy, and grief, and other affections.
Messiah gave this proof of His humanity, in both senses of the word; that, as a man, He could weep, and, as a merciful man, He would weep, before He gave this proof of His divinity.
2. That He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, as was foretold, Isaiah 53:3. We never read that He laughed, but more than once we have Him in tears. Thus He shows not only that a mournful state will consist with the love of the Father, but that those who sow to the Spirit must sow in tears.
3. Tears of compassion well become Believers, and make them most to resemble the Messiah. It is a relief to those who are in sorrow to have their friends sympathize with them, especially such a friend as their L-rd Y’Shua.
It becomes us, according to this example of Y’Shua, to show our love to our friends, both living and dying. Though our tears profit not the dead, they embalm their memory.
These tears were indications of His particular love to Lazarus, but He has given proofs no less evident of His love to all the saints, in that He died for them.
If Y’Shua's friends, whom He loves, died, --if His people, whom He loves, be persecuted and afflicted, --we must not impute it to any defect either in His power or love, but conclude that it is because He sees it for the best.

Shortcuts for the Computer

1. You can double-click a word to highlight it in any document, e-mail or Web page.
2. When you get an e-mail message from eBay or your bank, claiming that you have an account problem or a question from a buyer, it’s probably a “phishing scam” intended to trick you into typing your password. Don’t click the link in the message. If in doubt, go into your browser and type “www.ebay.com” (or whatever) manually.
3. Nobody, but nobody, is going to give you half of $80 million to help them liberate the funds of a deceased millionaire ... from Nigeria or anywhere else.
4. You can hide all windows, revealing only what’s on the computer desktop, with one keystroke: hit the Windows key and “D” simultaneously in Windows, or press F11 on Macs (on recent Mac laptops, Command+F3; Command is the key with the cloverleaf logo).
5. You can enlarge the text on any Web page. In Windows, press Ctrl and the plus or minus keys (for bigger or smaller fonts); on the Mac, it’s the Command key and plus or minus.
6. You can also enlarge the entire Web page or document by pressing the Control key as you turn the wheel on top of your mouse. On the Mac, this enlarges the entire screen image.
7. The number of megapixels does not determine a camera’s picture quality; that’s a marketing myth. The sensor size is far more important.
8. On most cell phones, press the Send key to open up a list of recent calls. Instead of manually dialing, you can return a call by highlighting one of these calls and pressing Send again.
9. When someone sends you some shocking e-mail and suggests that you pass it on, don’t -- at least not until you’ve first confirmed its truth.
10. You can tap the Space bar to scroll down on a Web page one screen. Add the Shift key to scroll back up.
11. When you’re filling in the boxes on a Web page (like City, State, Zip), you can press the Tab key to jump from box to box, rather than clicking. Add the Shift key to jump through the boxes backwards.
12. You can adjust the size and position of any window on your computer. Drag the top strip to move it; drag the lower-right corner (Mac) or any edge (Windows) to resize it.
13. Forcing the camera’s flash to go off prevents silhouetted, too-dark faces when you’re outdoors.
14. When you’re searching for something on the Web using, say, Google, put quotes around phrases that must be searched together. For example, if you put quotes around “electric curtains,” Google won’t waste your time finding one set of Web pages containing the word “electric” and another set containing the word “curtains.”
15. You can use Google to do math for you. Just type the equation, like 23*7+15/3=, and hit Enter.
16. Oh, yeah: on the computer, * means “times” and / means “divided by.”
17. If you can’t find some obvious command, try clicking using the right-side mouse button. (On the Mac, you can Control-click instead.)
18. Google is also a units-of-measurement and currency converter. Type “teaspoons in 1.3 gallons,” for example, or “euros in 17 dollars.” Click Search to see the answer.
19. You can open the Start menu by tapping the key with the Windows logo on it.
20. You can switch from one open program to the next by pressing Alt+Tab (Windows) or Command-Tab (Mac).
21. You generally can’t send someone more than a couple of full-size digital photos as an e-mail attachment; those files are too big, and they’ll bounce back to you. (Instead, use programs that can automatically scale down photos in the process of e-mailing them.)
22. Whatever technology you buy today will be obsolete soon, but you can avoid heartache by learning the cycles. New iPods come out every September. New digital cameras come out in February and October.
23. Just putting something into the Trash or the Recycle Bin doesn’t actually delete it. You then have to empty the Trash or Recycle Bin.
24. You don’t have to type “http://www” into your Web browser. Just type the remainder: “nytimes.com” or “dilbert.com,” for example. (In the Safari browser, you can even leave off the “.com” part.)
25. On the iPhone, hit the Space bar twice at the end of a sentence. You get a period, a space, and a capitalized letter at the beginning of the next word

Winter Wonderland

Job 37:6 For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth.
In the original it is, be thou earth: hence one of the Rabbis formed a notion, that the earth was created from snow under the throne of glory. This is one of the great and incomprehensible things of G-d. What is the cause of it, how it is generated, what gives it its exceeding whiteness and its form?
There are some things relative to snow not easy to be accounted for: as that it should be generated in the lower region of the air, so near us, and yet be so cold. And be so cold in its own nature, yet be like a blanket warming to the earth; and that being so cold, it should fall in hot countries, and though so easily melted, yet lies continually upon the top of a burning mountain.
G-d has His treasures of it, and He brings it forth from thence; it is at His command, it goes at a word speaking; it is one of the things that fulfill His word, (Psalms 148:8).
Snow never falls upon the high seas or Main Ocean, the expression here is, with great exactness and politeness, be thou on the earth. However, this is certain, that to the earth only it is useful, warming, refreshing, and fructifying; it has a wonderful virtue in it to fatten the earth. In the northern countries, where it falls in great plenty, the fields are more fruitful than any others are, and sooner put forth their fruits and increase than other fields prepared and cultivated with the greatest labor and industry. They are often obliged to drive off the cattle from them, lest they should eat too much and burst, the fields and meadows becoming so luxurious by it; and frequently they mow off the tops of herbs and grass with their sweep, to prevent their growing too thick. The word of G-d, as for its purity, so for its warming, refreshing, and fructifying nature, is compared unto it, (Isaiah 55:10, 11).
Job 9:30 If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;
Snow water - thought to be more cleansing than common water, owing to the whiteness of snow (Ps. 51:7; Isa 1:18). If we be ever so industrious to justify ourselves before men, and to preserve our credit with them. If we keep our hands ever so clean from the pollutions of gross sin, which fall under the eye of the world. Yet G-d, who knows our hearts, can charge us with so much secret sin as will for ever take off all our pretensions to purity and innocence, and make us see ourselves odious in the sight of the holy G-d. Never so clean - Better, to answer to the parallelism of the first clause which expresses the cleansing material, "lye:" the Arabs used alkali mixed with oil, as soap (Ps. 73:13; Jer 2:22).
Job 38:22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail?
The vapors rose, and clouds formed in the atmosphere, which is the storehouse of those meteors; and may be called treasures, because hidden in the clouds, and not seen by man until the fall of them. They are in the keeping and command and direction of the Father, the administrator of them. Rich and enriching, especially snow, and because of the abundance thereof which it sometimes falls.
Sometimes they come so opportunely, to serve the purposes of Providence, in G-d’s fighting for His people and against His and their enemies, that one would think they were laid up as stores of arms, ammunition, and provisions, against the time of trouble. The day of battle and war, when G-d will either contend with the world in general when the windows of heaven were opened, and the waters fetched out of these treasures to drown a wicked world that waged war with Heaven. G-d can fight as effectually with snow and hail, if He pleases, as with thunder and lightning or the sword of an angel!
Ps. 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
He prays that G-d would cleanse him from his sins and the defilement he had contracted by them (Psalms 51:7). Hyssop did not procure remission of sins, but has a mystical signification, and refers to what was meant by the sprinkling of the blood of the Passover; and then he says, thoroughly clean; for the blood sprinkled on the heart by the spirit clears it from an evil conscience, purges the conscience from dead works, and cleanses from all sin. One who was black with original corruption, and actual transgressions needs a washing not only the conversation garments white that are washed in it; but even crimson and scarlet sins as white as snow, and the persons of the saints without spot or blemish, (Rev. 7:14; Isa. 1:18; Eph 5:25-27.
If this blood of the Messiah, which cleanses from all sin, cleanse us from our sin, then we shall be clean indeed, Hebrews 10:2. If we be washed in this fountain opened, we shall be whiter than snow, not only acquitted but also accepted; so those are that are justified. Isaiah 1:18, though your sins have been as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.
Ps. 147:16 He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.
Like wool for the softness and warmth of it falls silently. See how G-d can work by contraries, and bring meat out of the eater, can warm the earth with cold snow. He scatters the hoar-frost, which is dew congealed, as the snow and hail are rain congealed. This looks like ashes scattered upon the grass. He casts forth his ice like morsels, which may be understood either of large hail-stones, which are as ice in the air, or of the ice which covers the face of the waters, and when it is broken, though naturally it was as drops of drink, it is as morsels of meat, or crusts of bread. When we see the frost, and snow, and ice, we feel it in the air: Who can stand before His cold? Therefore we must bear it patiently, and be thankful for warm houses, and clothes, and beds, to relieve us against the rigor of the season, and must give Him the glory of His wisdom and sovereignty, His power and faithfulness, which shall not cease any more than summer, Genesis 8:22. And let us also infer from it, if we cannot stand before the cold of His frosts, how can we stand before the heat of His wrath? Hard weather does not always continue; it would be sad if it should. He does not contend for ever, but renews the face of the earth. Converting grace, like the thaw, softens the heart that was hard, moistens it, and melts it into tears of repentance; it warms good affections, and makes them to flow, which, before, were chilled and stopped up. The change which the thaw makes is universal and yet gradual; it is very evident, and yet how it is done is unaccountable: such is the change wrought in the conversion of a soul, when G-d's word and Spirit are sent to melt it and restore it to itself as in Prov. 25:13.
Conclusion:
G-d commissions’ snow, He commands it, He appoints it, where it shall light and how long it shall lie. It is sin and folly to contend with G-d's providence in the weather; if He send the snow or rain, can we hinder them? Or shall we be angry at them? It is as absurd to quarrel with any other disposal of Providence concerning ourselves or ours. The effect of the extremity of the winter-weather is that it obliges both men and beasts to retire, making it uncomfortable and unsafe for them to go abroad.
1. Men retire to their houses from their labors in the field, and keep within doors (Job 37:7): He seals up the hand of every man. In frost and snow, husbandmen cannot follow their business, or some tradesmen, or travelers, when the weather is extreme.
The plough is laid by, the shipping laid up; nothing is to be done, nothing to be got, that man, being taken off from his own work. Now they may know His work, and contemplate that, and give Him the glory of that, and, by the consideration of that work of His in the weather which seals up their hands, be led to celebrate His other great and marvellous works.
Note, When we are, upon any account, disabled from following our worldly business, and taken off from it, we should spend our time rather in the exercises of piety and devotion (in acquainting ourselves with the works of G-d and praising Him in them) than in foolish idle sports and recreations. When our hands are sealed up our hearts should be thus opened, and the less we have at any time to do in the world the more we should thereby be driven to our Bibles and our knees.
2. The beasts also retire to their dens and remain in their close places, Job 37:8. It is meant of the wild beasts, which, being wild, must seek a shelter for themselves, to which by instinct they are directed, while the tame beasts, which are serviceable to man, are housed and protected by his care, as Exodus 9:20. The ass has no den but his master's crib, and thither he goes, not only to be safe and warm, but to be fed. Nature directs all creatures to shelter themselves from a storm; and shall man alone be un-provided with an ark?

We find our tears

Part of the reason women are so tired is because we are spending so much energy trying to “keep it together.” So much energy devoted to suppressing the pain and keeping a good appearance. “I’m gonna harden my heart,” sang Rindy Ross. “I’m going to swallow my tears.” A terrible, costly way to live your life and part of this is driven by fear that the pain will overwhelm us for we will be consumed by our sorrow. It’s an understandable fear – but it is no more true than the fear we had of the dark as children.
Grief, dear sisters, is good. Grief helps to heal our hearts. Why, Y’Shua himself was a “Man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.” (Isa. 53:3)
Let the tears come. Get alone, get to your car or your bedroom or the shower and let the tears come. Let the tears come. It is the only kind thing to do for your woundedness. Allow yourself to feel again. And feel you will – many things.
Anger. That’s okay. Anger’s not a sin (Eph. 4:26).
Remorse. Of course you do.
Fear. Yes, that makes sense. Y’Shua can handle the fear as well. In fact, there is no emotion you can bring up that Y’Shua can’t handle. (Look at the Psalms – they are a raging sea of emotions).
Let it all out.As Augustine wrote in his Confessions, “The tears . . . streamed down, and I let them flow as freely as they would, making of them a pillow for my heart. On them it rested.” Grief is a form of validation; it says the wound mattered. It mattered. You mattered. That’s not the way life was supposed to go.
There are unwept tears down in there – the tears of a little girl who is lost and frightened.
The tears of a teenage girl who's been rejected and has no place to turn.
No one understands the tears of a woman whose life has been hard and lonely and nothing close to her dreams.
Let them come it is a cleansing.

Offer your heart

Women minister something to the heart of G-d that men do not. Look at the record.
It was a woman who rushed into the Pharisee’s house uninvited and washed Y’Shua’s’ feet with her tears, dried them with her hair and kissed them in an act of intimate repentant worship.
It was a woman who broke the alabaster vase over Y’Shua’s head, anointing Him with oil and the fragrance of her sacrificial worship filled the room.
It was women who followed Y’Shua from Galilee to care for His needs.
It was women who stayed at the foot of the cross offering Him the comfort of their presence until Y’Shua breathed His last.
It was to women that Y’Shua first revealed Himself after He rose from the dead and it was women who first “clasped His feet and worshiped Him” as the Risen, Victorious
L-rd. Women hold a special place in the heart of G-d.
A woman’s worship brings Y’Shua immense pleasure and a deep ministry.
You can minister to the heart of G-d. You impact Him. You matter!
Y’Shua desires you to pour out your love on Him in extravagant worship that ministers to His heart.
This is not just for women who have the time; women who are really spiritual.
You are made for romance and the only one who can offer it to you consistently and deeply is Y’Shua.
Offer your heart to Him.

Scenario

Did anyone fall into this scenario?
[Job 9:17] For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause.
[Breaketh - His present miseries, which G-d had brought him into notwithstanding his integrity, gave him too sensible a conviction that, in the ordering and disposing of men's outward condition in this world, G-d acts by sovereignty. Though He never does wrong to any, yet He does not ever give full right to all (that is, the best do not always fare best, or the worst fare worst) in this life, because He reserves the full and exact distribution of rewards and punishments for the future state.
Tempest - Every man must expect the wind to blow upon him and ruffle him, but Job was broken with a tempest. Every man, in the midst of these thorns and briers, must expect to be scratched.
Wounds - Job was wounded, and his wounds were multiplied. Every man must expect a cross daily, and to taste sometimes of the bitter cup.
Cause - Not simply without any desert of his, but without any special cause of such singular afflictions; and peculiar and extraordinary guilt, such as his friends charged him with.]
[18] He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness.
[Breath - My pains are continual, and I have not as much as a breathing time free from them.
Bitterness – he was a product of what someone else sowed.
On the one hand, there are many who are chargeable with more sin than the common infirmities of human nature, and yet feel no more sorrow than that of the common calamities of human life. So, on the other hand, there are many who feel more than the common calamities of human life and yet are conscious to themselves of no more than the common infirmities of human nature.]

Do you feel like you keep getting hit by the storms of life?
Wounds upon wounds, being multiplied without much breathing time to free yourself from them?
May we stand as strong and steadfast as Job, for this is all but a test and trials we go through. In short, it is folly to contend with G-d, and our wisdom, as well as duty, to submit to Him and throw ourselves at His feet.

An Unholy Alliance

Over the years we’ve come to see that the only thing more tragic than the things that have happened to us is what we have done with them. Words were said; painful words. Things were done; awful things. And it shaped us to our way of thinking, acting, seeing and believing.
Something inside of us shifted. We embraced the messages of our wounds. We accepted a view of ourselves through another’s eyes. And from that we chose a way of relating to our little world.
We made a vow never to be in that place again.
We adopted strategies to protect ourselves from being hurt again.
A person that is living out of a broken, wounded heart is a person who is living a self-protective life. They may not be aware of it but it is true. It’s our way of trying to “save ourselves.” We also developed ways of trying to get something of the love our hearts cried out for, ache is there, and will it ever be filled?
Our desperate need for love and affirmation, our thirst for some taste of romance and adventure and something to be wanted for - is still there. So we turned to the opposite sex or to food or to novels, and we lost ourselves in our work or at church or in some sort of service.
All this adds up to the person we have become today.
Much of what we call our “personalities” is actually the mosaic of our choices for self-protection plus our plan to get something of the love and acceptance we were created to have. But not all of us had good role models to follow.The problem is, our plan has nothing to do with G-d, or His ways. The wounds we received and the messages they brought form a sort of unholy alliance with our fallen nature as people.
We will control our world, from hurting us, so we think,
But there is also an ache deep within, an ache for intimacy and for life.
We’ll have to find a way to fill it.
We’ll just have to arrange for the life G-d wants us to have by opening His Book and find His love and acceptance. Can we learn to see ourselves through His eyes? It will take much time but it can be done.
Best time to start is today!

Decree and Declare

Decree 49 times in Scripture
1. H1697 “speech, word, speaking, thing”
Root H1696 “to speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing”
2 Chron. 30:5 to keep the Passover

2. H2942 “report, taste, judgment, command”
Ez. 5:13; 5:17; 6:3; to build this house of G-d.
Ez. 6:1 search made

3. H6599 “declaration, public statement”
Est. 1:20 all the wives shall give to their husbands honour,

4. H1881 “law, act, regulation, usage”
Est. 2:8

5. H3982 “word, command”

6. H1504 “to cut, divide, cut down, cut off (destroy, exterminate), cut in two, snatch”
Job 22:28 Thou shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.

7. H2706 “statute, ordinance, limit, something prescribed, due, action prescribed (for oneself)”
Job 28:26 for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:
Ps. 2:7 I will declare the decree: the L-RD hath said unto me
Ps. 148:6 He hath made a decree which shall not pass.

8. H2710 “to cut out, inscribe, set, engrave, portray, govern”
Prov. 8:15 princes decree justice

9. H2711 “resolve, statute, action prescribed”
Isa. 10:1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees and that write grievousness which they have prescribed.

10. H1882 “law”
Dan 2:9 one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak

11. H633 “interdict, decree of restriction, bond, binding obligation, obligation”
Dan. 6:7 consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree

12. H2940 “taste, judgment, decision, to taste, perceive, eat”
John 3:7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published

13. 1378 “doctrine, ordinance”
Luke 2:1 that all the world should be taxed.

Declare 95 times in Scripture

1.H 5046 “to be eye-catching, tell, make known, confess” declare if you know it all.
2.H2706 “statute, ordinance, limit, something prescribed, due”
3.H874 “to make plain, distinct”
4.H1696 “to speak, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing”
Same meaning as Decree here ---
5.H2896 “good, pleasant, agreeable”
6.H5608 “to count, recount, relate”
Declare His glory among the heathen; His marvellous works among all nations.
7.G312 “to report, bring back tidings, rehearse”
8.G5419 “to indicate plainly, make known, whether by gesture or by writing or speaking, or in some other ways, to explain” Declare unto us
9.G1107 “to know, to gain knowledge of, have thorough knowledge of”
declared unto them thy name
10.G2017 “to bring good news, to announce glad tidings” declare unto you glad tidings
11. G1334 “to lead or carry a telling through to the end”
12. G1555 “to relate in full or wholly”
13. G2605 “to proclaim publicly, publish, to denounce, report, betray”
14.G1732 “demonstration, proof, manifestation made by act, sign, evidence”
15. G1213 “to make manifest, to make known by relating, to give one to understand, to indicate, signify”
16. G3853 “to transmit a message along from one to another, announce”
17. G518 “to bring tidings (from a person or a thing), bring word, report”
18. G1718 “to show one's self, come to view, appear, be manifest, make known”

Bottom line:
One can see there are many different meanings to the same word being used, so if one
wanted to get the full meaning they would have to do a word check to see what was being
applied in that Scripture. Doing this you get a fuller understanding. 2 Tim. 2:15

People like to use big words without always knowing the full meaning or the application of
the word.
Now we will hear a lot of “I decree and declare----” This is what led me to
a word study looking up 144 Scriptures, to see just was being declared and decreed, and
how the word was used.

Translated into English the meanings of the words would be:
“I (speak, command, warn, promise) and (to be eye-catching, make known, confess) ----”

It turns out to be a good word study and an eye-opener. We are to speak G-d's words, let us do so with understanding.

Hypocrite

The hypocrite cannot build his hope, without some false, rotten ground. He grounds it on his worldly prosperity, the plausible profession he makes of religion, the good opinion of his neighbors, and his own good conceit of himself, which are no solid foundation on which to build his confidence.
Job 8:13: “paths….the hypocrite's hope shall perish:”
[Paths - so "ways" (Prov. 1:19), Of wicked men. By their paths he doth not understand their manner of living, but the events which befall them, G-d's manner of dealing with them. The papyrus and the rush flourish while they have a plentiful supply of ooze and water; but take these away, and their prosperity is speedily at an end; so it is with the wicked and profane; their prosperity is of short duration, however great it may appear to be in the beginning. Thou also, O thou enemy of G-d, hast flourished for a time; but the blast of G-d is come upon thee, and now thou art dried up from the very roots.
Forget G-d - Forgetfulness of God is at the bottom of men's hypocrisy, and of the vain hopes with which they flatter and deceive themselves in their hypocrisy.
Men would not be hypocrites if they did not forget that the G-d with whom they have to do searches the heart and requires truth there, that He is a Spirit and has His eye on our spirits.
Hypocrites would have no hope if they did not forget that G-d is righteous, and will not be mocked with the torn and the lame. The hope of hypocrites is a great cheat upon themselves, and, though it may flourish for a while, it will certainly perish at last, and they with it.Such are the distinguishing trait of the godless (Ps. 9:17; 50:22).
Hypocrite’s Hope shall perish - A hypocrite, or rather profligate, has no inward religion, for his heart is not right with G-d; he has only hope, and that perishes when he gives up the ghost. This is the first place in which the word hypocrite occurs, or the noun chaneph, which rather conveys the idea of pollution and defilement than of hypocrisy. A hypocrite is one who only carries the mask of godliness, to serve secular purposes; who wishes to be taken for a religionist, though he is conscious he has no religion. Such a person cannot have hope of any good, because he knows he is insincere: but the person in the text has hope; therefore hypocrite cannot be the meaning of the original word. But all the vile, the polluted, and the profligate have hope; they hope to end their iniquities before they end life; and they hope to get at last to the kingdom of heaven. Hypocrite is a very improper translation of the Hebrew.]
[14] Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web.
[Hope - The hope of the hypocrite: Is woven out of his own bowels; it is the creature of his own fancy, and arises merely from a conceit of his own merit and sufficiency. There is a great deal of difference between the work of the bee and that of the spider. A diligent Christian, like the laborious bee, fetches in all his comfort from the heavenly dews of G-d's word; but the hypocrite, like the subtle spider, weaves his out of a false hypothesis of his own concerning G-d, as if he were altogether such a One as himself.
Cut off - Such persons, subdued by the strong habits of sin, hope on fruitlessly, till the last thread of the web of life is cut off from the beam; and then they find no more strength in their hope than is in the threads of the spider's web. Thus shall their support rot away? The foundation on which they trust is rotten, and by and by the whole superstructure of their confidence shall tumble into ruin.
Spider’s web - accord with the metaphor of the spider's "house," "The confidence (on which he builds) shall be laid in ruins" (Isa. 59:5, 6). Which tho' it be formed with great art and industry, is easily swept down, or pulled in pieces.]
[15] He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.
[He shall lean - This is all allusion to the spider. When he suspects his web, here called his house, to be frail or unsure, he leans upon it in different parts, propping himself on his hinder legs, and pulling with his fore claws, to see if all be safe. If he finds any part of it injured, he immediately adds new cordage to that part, and attaches it strongly to the wall. When he finds all safe and strong, he retires into his hole at one corner, supposing himself to be in a state of complete security, when in a moment the brush or the besom sweeps away himself, his house, and his confidence.
The wicked, whose hope is in his temporal possessions strengthens and keeps his house in repair; and thus leans on his earthly supports; in a moment, as in the case of the spider, his house is overwhelmed by the blast of G-d's judgments, and himself probably buried in its ruins. This is a very fine and expressive metaphor.
He shall hold it fast - implying his eager grasp, to uphold himself by it. But his web, that refuge of lies, will be swept away, and he crushed in it. When the storm of trial comes: as the spider "holds fast" by its web; but with this difference: the light spider is sustained by that on which it rests; the godless is not by the thin web on which he rests.
1. The expression, "Hold fast," properly applies to the spider holding his web, but is transferred to the man. Hypocrisy, like the spider's web, is fine-spun, flimsy, and woven out of its own inventions, as the spider's web out of its own bowels. An Arab proverb says, "Time destroys the well-built house, as well as the spider's web."
2. He is very fond of it, as the spider of her web; pleases himself with it, wraps himself in it, calls it his house, leans upon it, and holds it fast. It is said of the spider that she takes hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces, Prov. 30:28. So does a carnal worldling hug himself in the fullness and firmness of his outward prosperity; he prides himself in that house as his palace, fortifies himself in it as his castle, and makes use of it as the spider of her web, to ensnare those he has a mind to prey upon. So does a formal professor; he flatters himself in his own eyes, doubts not of his salvation, is secure of heaven, and cheats the world with his vain confidences.
3. It will easily and certainly be swept away, as the cobweb with the besom, when
G-d shall come to purge His house. The prosperity of worldly people will fail them when they expect to find safety and happiness in it. They seek to hold fast their estates, but G-d is plucking them out of their hands; and whose shall all those things be, which they have provided? Or what the better they will be for them? The confidences of hypocrites will fail them.
I tell you, I know you not. The house built on the sand will fall in the storm, when the builder most needs it and promised himself the benefit of it. When a wicked man dies his expectation perishes. The ground of his hopes will prove false; he will be disappointed of the thing he hoped for, and his foolish hope with which he marker himself up will be turned into endless despair; and thus his hope will be cut off, his web, that refuge of lies, swept away, and he crushed in it.]
[16] He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden.
[The hypocrite is here compared to a flourishing and well-rooted tree, which, though it do not wither of itself, yet will easily be cut down and its place no it no more.
He - the godless is green only before the sun rises; but he cannot bear its heat, and withers. The wide spreading in the garden does not quite accord with this, better, "in sunshine"; the sun representing the smiling fortune of the hypocrite, during which he wondrously progresses. The image is that of weeds growing in rank luxuriance and spreading over even heaps of stones and walls, and then being speedily torn away.
Green - Flourishes in the world.
Before the sun - Publicly and in the view of all men.
Branch - His children, who are here mentioned as additions not only to his comfort, but also to his strength and safety.
Garden - A place where it is defended from those injuries to which the trees of the field are subject, and where, besides the advantages common to all trees, it hath peculiar helps from the art and industry of men, so he supposes this man to be placed in the most desirable circumstances.
This is another metaphor. The wicked is represented as a luxuriant plant, in a good soil, with all the advantages of a good situation; well exposed to the sun; the roots intervolving themselves with stones, so as to render the tree more stable; but suddenly a blast comes, and the tree begins to die. The sudden fading of its leaves, which its root is become as rottenness, and its vegetable life destroyed. The prosperous wicked, in the inscrutable dispensations of the Divine providence, blasted, stripped, made bare, and despoiled, in the same way.
[21] Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.It is true that G-d will not cast away an upright man; he may be cast down for a time, but he shall not be cast away for ever.
It is true that, if not in this world, yet in another, the mouth of the righteous shall be filled with rejoicing. Though their sun should set under a cloud, yet it shall rise again clear, never more to be clouded; though they go mourning to the grave that shall not hinder their entrance into the joy of their L-rd.
It is true that the enemies of the saints will be clothed with shame when they see them crowned with honour. The secrets of all hearts shall be made manifest, and the present difficulties of Providence be solved to universal and everlasting satisfaction, when the mystery of G-d shall be finished.
Knowing the history of the ancient patriarchs; and contained facts of an opposite nature. Righteous Abel was persecuted and murdered by his wicked brother, Cain. Abram was obliged to leave his own country on account of worshipping the true G-d; so all tradition has said. Jacob was persecuted by his brother Esau; Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers; Moses was obliged to flee from Egypt, and was variously tried and afflicted, even by his own brethren. Not to mention David, and almost all the prophets. All these were proofs that the best of men were frequently exposed to sore afflictions and heavy calamities; and it is not by the prosperity or adversity of men in this world, that we are to judge of the approbation or disapprobation of G-d towards them. In every case our L-rd's rule is infallible: By their fruits ye shall know them. ]

Longevity

[Job 8:9] (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)
[Of yesterday - that is, a recent race, He perceived that Job had no opinion of their abilities, but thought they knew little. It is evident that Bildad refers to those times in which human life was protracted to a much longer date than that in which Job lived; when men, from the long period of eight or nine hundred years, had the opportunity of making many observations, and treasuring up a vast fund of knowledge and experience. In comparison with them, he considers that age as nothing, and that generation as being only of yesterday, not having had opportunity of laying up knowledge.
A shadow - (Ps 144:4), nor could they expect it, as their days upon earth would be but a shadow, compared with that substantial time in which the fathers had lived. Perhaps there may be an allusion here to the shadow projected by the gnomon of a dial, during the time the sun is above the horizon. As is a single solar day, so is our life. The following beautiful motto I have seen on a sundial: "We are shadows!" referring to the different shadows by which the gnomon marked the hours, during the course of the day; and all intended to convey this moral lesson to the passengers: Your life is composed of time, marked out by such shadows as these. Such as time is, such are you; as fleeting, as transitory, as unsubstantial. These shadows lost, time is lost; soul lost! The writer of this book probably had before his eyes these words of David, in his last prayer, 1 Chronicles 29:15: "For we are strangers before Thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers were; our days upon earth are as a shadow, and there is no expectation. There is no reason to hope that they shall be prolonged; for our lives are limited down to threescore years and ten, as the average of the life even of old men."
The days of this life are like a "shadow", dark and obscure; full of the darkness of adversity and trouble, as well as greatly deficient in the light of knowledge; there is nothing in them solid and substantial. The greatest and best things of this life are but a vain show; in heaven there is a better and more enduring substance: every thing is mutable and uncertain here. Man is subject to a variety of changes in his mind and body, in family and outward estate and circumstances: and life itself is but a vapor, which appears a while and soon vanishes away; or rather like a shadow, that declines, is fleeting, and quickly gone
Reader take heed! We know nothing as compared with them because of the shortness of our lives; so even Jacob (Gen. 47:9). Knowledge consisted then in the results of observation, embodied in poetical proverbs, and handed down by tradition. The more we think we know, the less we find we really know, life is a learning process.
Longevity gave the opportunity of wider observation.]

Salt of the earth

How Salt Is Made: All culinary salts are derived by evaporation. Table salt is made by driving water into a salt deposit (in a mine). This process forms a brine which is then evaporated leaving dried "cube-like crystals that look like granulated sugar". The salt is then refined. The health of our Thyroid gland is dependant upon iodine and in some regions natural iodine was depleted from the farming soil so it got added to table salt.
All salts are nutritionally the same.
Sea Salt has trace amounts of minerals not found in mined salt. It is produced by evaporating sea water. This process is more expensive than salt produced from mines. Sea salt comes in fine-grained or larger crystals. Many of these salts are refined and use some of the same additives as table salt.
Kosher salt is an additive-free coarse-grained salt. It is used in the production of Kosher meats to draw blood out of the meat. The salt is also preferred by some chefs because it disperses more readily. By nature of its "flake" texture it melts easily and is lighter (less dense) than table salt. Kosher salt is made in a similar fashion except the brine is raked continually during the evaporation process. The resulting product has a light and flaky texture. This size and shape allows it to absorb more moisture than other forms of salt, and this makes kosher salt excellent for curing meats. That is where the name comes from. The Jewish holy book, the Torah, prohibits consumption of any blood, which is why kosher meat must be slaughtered and prepared in a specific manner. A common way of removing the final traces of blood from meat is to soak and salt it.
The recommended daily maximum amount of salt for an ordinarily healthy person is 2400 mg. A quarter of a teaspoon is almost 600 mg. Salt occurs naturally in most fruits and vegetables and in alarming quantities in most processed foods. You can obtain sufficient amounts of salts in a normal healthy diet without ever adding a grain of salt to your food.
Recipe Substitutions:
Kosher Salt - Use coarse pickling salt which contains no additives and is roughly the same texture. You can also use non-iodized table salt but use half as much as the recipe calls for (table salt is more dense). Kosher salt adheres to the food better than table salt.
Pickling Salt - Use Kosher salt as a substitute because it does not contain any anti-caking additives which will cause your pickling brine to cloud. Pickling salt is fine-grained so you can double the amount of Kosher salt, or use a salt grinder and grid the Kosher salt before you measure it.
Grey Sea Salt - Kosher salt or coarse Sea salt is the best substitute for recipes requiring coarse Grey salt. If a recipe calls for fine sea salt you can substitute regular table salt.
Pretzel Salt - Kosher salt is a good substitute or coarse sea salt.
Table Salt - If a recipe calls for table salt you can use roughly 2 X's the amount of Kosher salt or substitute the exact amount of sea salt.
If we are the salt of the earth, what lesson can we learn from salt?

Lessons from my garden

Reaching out to touch the soft petals of flowering irises in lavender, rose, yellows, blues and snowy white, I hum softly “I come to the garden alone”. Everything around me – the rustling leaves, the scent of newly turned earth, and the warmth of my pet’s attention all assures me that this is a kind of sacred place. Is it any wonder that all my life I’ve loved to be outside nurturing and watch things grow to full beauty? How can anything so compact give off such tremendous perfume?
My son and I build sturdy planters to rise what we call G-d’s garden, in our yard then we picked flats of herbs, flowers and vegetables to show His Glory. Many friends and family have given us cuttings of their treasures to place in G-d’s garden.
I have to kneel to work my hands in the soil but when I do, I feel as if I am doing it onto the L-rd, for all things belong to Him. I am just the caretaker of what He gives me. With the sun at my back and my pets by my side, my hands bury deep in the soil, I felt connected to the things that really matter and my worries evaporate like the morning dew. If you listen carefully all nature can talk to you in that small wispering voice, you just need to watch for the signs of what they need to become all they can be.
No matter where your garden grows, it can enrich your life, as I worked, I felt my heartbeat slow sown, my body relax, my whole being becoming quiet and soften. I seemed to be developing a strong root system for my plants and myself. It keeps you rooted in your values, rituals, traditions; I even name the weeds as I struggle to pull them out. Between this growth and activity, bumblebees and butterflies drift by, and rabbits, squirrels and birds drop in to see what they can find for lunch.
I planted and tended those plants, giving them all the nourishment they needed and in return they nourished me spiritually. I learn to embrace the season for nothing compares to the excitement spring brings as new life comes back exuberantly. Suddenly, my yard is alive with color and fragrance. Yet, not long after they appear, those first flowers wither and it makes me sad, but then happy for by summer, there is new life in other gorgeous plants. Yes, to everything there is a season. We must adapt, grow and change. Instead of lamenting lost and wanting for control of nature, I rejoice in each plant that blooms and grows straight and tall.
Even in winter, when it looks like nothing is happening, life is at work – bulbs storing up energy for next spring, perennials resting, soil breaking down into rich mulch. And as our gardens go through their seasons of change, so too do we, just waiting sometimes to understand the larger purpose in our lives. It will come, as sure as crocuses in the spring.
I might live far from love ones, but I never feel lonely in my garden and walking in the cool of the day with my L-rd. The sadness in my heart at times seemed overwhelming as I unwrapped plants, whose roots and stalks look lifeless, but the Heavenly Gardener instructs me in the principle of life and death and renewal. To my astonishment, they flourish transforming before my very eyes. Digging, snipping, and putting my face into a full-blown rose and breathing deeply. In its rhythms, it offers the closest analogy to the concept of resurrection available to us. Renewal is always in the hand of the Creator of His Garden giving us our own small patch of eternity, well we enjoy each of the four seasons He has given us.

Tattoos

The only Scripture specifically mentioning "tattoos" is found in the Old Testament: "Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the L-RD." Leviticus 19:28.
That the ancients were very violent in their grief, it was the custom of the Amorites, when anyone died, to cut their flesh, as it was of the Scythians, and all this was done to appease the infernal deities, and to give them satisfaction for the deceased, and to make them propitious to them.
Most of the barbarous nations lately discovered have their faces, arms, breasts, tattooed. There are to this day such, who are marked in their youth in their faces, that they may be known; these prints or marks were made with ink or black lead, or, however, the incisions in the flesh were filled up therewith; but this was usually done as an idolatrous practice was the custom of the Gentiles in ancient times. The impression was made sometimes by means of a hot iron, sometimes by ink or paint, as is done by the Arab females of the present day and the different castes of the Hindus.
I have seen several cases where persons have got the figure of the cross, the Virgin Mary, made on their arms, breasts, punctured, and then a blue coloring matter rubbed in, imprinting figures of flowers, leaves, stars, and other fanciful devices on various parts of their person, even in unspeakable places. Does a religious figure make it all right? Then all religions would be free to do so also. What does the Word say to you?
Those that dishonor G-d are thus suffered to dishonor themselves and their families.
Tattoos were used extensively by the other nations for pagan worship, decoration, and to mark a slave. Tattoos are still forbidden among Jews today (by both Orthodox, Conservative, and Reformed Judaism). There is even one rabbinic text prohibiting the burial of bodies with tattoos. (However this prohibition is very rarely enforced - although some traditional Jewish mortuaries and cemeteries will not officiate at a funeral of one who is tattooed.)
The only Scripture that I know of on decorative "piercing" (as opposed to piercing by a sword or nails) is Exodus 21:6. This is a passage on piercing the ear lobe of a person to mark him as a slave. In the Jewish nation, slaves and pagans were the only ones with pierced ears. When Jacob's family wanted to set themselves apart to the L-rd, earrings are specifically mentioned as items that they put off (Genesis 35:4). Apparently any disfigurement or cutting of the body was not allowed for His "holy people" (see Leviticus 21:5; Deuteronomy 14:1-2; 1 Kings 18:28). The only exception to this was circumcision (Genesis 17:11-13).
In modern day Judaism, it has become permissible for women in the West to pierce their ears because it is a common practice among the majority non-Jewish population. Jewish men, however, still may not pierce their ears.
In the Jewish writings on this subject, the rabbis refer to two concepts:
1. We were "made in the image of G-d. Even though G-d is spirit, somehow our bodies reflect G-d's glory.
2. Our bodies are a good gift from G-d - complete as is. As one Jewish rabbi put it, "No matter how well considered, a tattoo is the result of a short-term decision to decorate the body forever. What hubris to imagine that any of us, as individuals, can improve artistically on the original design of the L-rd.
Do the Old Testament verses line up with any basic principle found in the New Testament? The answer is "yes." There is the New Testament concept that our bodies are not our own. This teaching is found specifically in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20: 1. "The body is meant for the Lord" 1 Corinthians 6:13.
2. "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit." 1 Corinthians 6:19.
3. "You are not your own; you were bought at a price." 1 Corinthians 6:19.
4. "Honor G-d with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:20.
The key principle here seems to be that our bodies belong to G-d, not ourselves, and that we are to use them in ways that honor and reflect G-d's glory. Our bodies aren't really ours to decorate as we see fit.
Based upon these facts (the Old Testament commands against tattoos and piercings AND the New Testament principle that my body is not my own) I would reason that G-d would rather I leave my body free from self-inflicted marks and cuts. We were made in "the image of G-d." Apparently He thinks no further pictorial adornment is needed.
Nothing in what I've said is meant to imply any disapproval against those who come to the Messiah with tattoos, cuttings, or piercings. We come to Y’Shua just as we are - with all our imperfections in spirit and body. There are many people in our churchs who have tattoos and scars from their previous life before Y’Shua. Some of these tattoos are even pagan or demonic. Some of the cuttings are from suicide attempts. No one looks down on these brothers or sisters or judges them. We are all flawed sinners. That is why we need Y’Shua. Some of us bear our markings outwardly. Some of us bear them more inwardly.

Tragedy

It is a tragedy that all people can not get along. G-d said in 1 Kg. 12:24 & 2 Ch. 11:4 “not to fight against your brethren!” As in the days of old so it is today, rivalry is still around. Why can we not be excepted as ourselves, but always have to compete? The Good Book was given to us to be examples, but we have not learned from other’s mistakes, apparently.
Is it a sign of the times of the unbelievers, ones who don’t walk in the path of righteousness?
Micah 7.6 For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.
Matt. 10:35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Lk. 12:53 The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
The first sin was satan trying to compete with G-d, and in everything we do down here is completive in schools, sports, homes, work, and even in the churches.
Why have we not learn from the lessons set before us?

Ship Ahoy!

Drop your anchor and test the waters. If the water is to cold and you remain in it long enough you begin to adjust to it. Question is if it was too cold in the first place, why do you choose to stay in?
If you step into hot water it can scaled you badly. But that too you can get use to and come out quite burnt.
Pull up your anchor and drift on for I have a place for you that is neither hot nor cold. Come towards Me for I am the Living Water that will be your resting place.
Lean neither onto your own understanding nor to your own provision. For I am watering the camp were you will be used mightily and I will provide the provision needed.
Do not look at the circumstances surrounding you for it is all part of a bigger picture, and I am in control. Keep your eyes on Me and I will direct your path.
As the wind blows so is My Spirit that floats as gently as the leaves, falling on My anointed ones.
So be ready in season or out of season for when I open the waves you are to walk through.
All glory is Mine, Saith the L-rd.

Events of Crucifixtion

Surrounding the Crucifixion
Y’Shua’s last meal was Wednesday night, and He was crucified on Thursday, the 14th of the Jewish month Nisan. The Passover meal itself was eaten Thursday night, at sundown, as the 15th of Nisan began.
The Jewish day starts at 6 P.M., so after sundown on Friday it is already Saturday. Y’Shua did not get to eat that Passover meal for He had died at 3 P.M. on Thursday.
Gentiles assumed the reference to the Sabbath had to be Saturday – so they figured the crucifixion must have been on a Friday. Not knowing the history that a Passover is a High Sabbath, no matter what week day it falls on. In the year A.D. 30, Friday the 15th of Nisan was also a Sabbath – so there was two Sabbaths occurring back to back.
The women who visited Y’Shua’s tomb came early Sunday morning (which to us would have been Saturday evening after sundown) and the two Sabbaths were over. (Matt. 28:1).
So He was in the tomb for three days, rose on the third day (after sundown on Saturday since it was considered Sunday to them, and the first day of the week.
The original Sabbath G-d had installed to be honored was still the same, He never changed it to be Sunday for His word does not change to suit our traditions but His that He set down for us.

Last Supper

Ironically our earliest account of the last meal on Wednesday night comes from Paul, not from any of our gospels. In a letter to his followers in the Greek city of Corinth, written around A.D. 54, Paul passes on a tradition that says he received from Y’Shua.
What is the historical likelihood that this tradition, based on what Paul said represents what Y’Shua said at the last meal? There are some legitimate problems to consider. The closest parallels are Greco-Roman magical rites.
The symbolic eating of flesh and drinking of blood was a magical rite of union in the Greco-Roman culture. Paul grew up in this culture in the city of Tarsus in Asia Minor. He never met or talk to Y’Shua in the physical, his connection he claims is a visionary one.
When the twelve met to replace Judas, after Y’Shua was killed, they insisted that to be part of their group one had to have been with Y’Shua from the time of John the baptizer through His crucifixion (Acts 1:21-22). Seeing visions and hearing voices were not accepted as qualifications for an Apostle.
At every Jewish meal, bread is broken, wine is shared, and blessings are said over each – but the idea of eating human flesh and drinking blood, even symbolically, is completely alien to Judaism. The Torah specifically forbids the consuming of blood (Gen. 9:4 & Lev. 17:10).
James, the brother of Y’Shua, later mentions this as one of the necessary requirements of the Noachide Laws for non-Jews, they are not to eat blood (Act. 15:20). Consuming human flesh and blood is simply inconceivable! This generally sensitivity to the very idea of drinking blood precludes the likelihood that Y’Shua would have used such symbols.
The gospel of John recounts the events but there is absolutely no reference to these words of Y’Shua instituting this new ceremony of the Eucharist.
Mark’s gospel is very close in its theological ideas to those of Paul. It seems likely that Mark, writing a decade after Paul, inserts this ‘eat my body’ and ‘drink my blood’ being influenced by what Paul has claimed to have received.
Matthew and Luke both base their narratives wholly upon Mark, and Luke is an unabashed advocate of Paul as well. Everything seems to trace back to Paul.
In 1873 a library at Constantinople had a text called ‘The Didache’ that is dated to the early 2nd century A.D. It is also known as ‘The Apostolic Fathers’. The title Didache in Greek means ‘teaching’ and its full title is ‘The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles.’ It is a type of early Christian instruction manual, in it had the blessing over the wine and bread:
First with respect to the cup: “We give You thanks our Father for the holy vine of David, Your child which You made known to us through Y’Shua your child. To You be the glory forever.”
With respect to the bread: “We give You thanks our Father for the life and knowledge that You made known to us through Y’Shua Your child. To You be the glory forever.”
Notice there is no mention of the wine representing blood or the bread representing flesh. And the prayer was directed to the Father, not the son, just as Y’Shua did.
In the Dead Sea Scrolls there is a sacred Messianic meal celebration of Y’Shua as the Davidic Messiah and the life and knowledge that He brought to the community. Not mentioning the eating of flesh and blood. Evidently this community of followers knew nothing about the ceremony that Paul advocates.
In the Jewish tradition it is the cup of wine that is blessed first, then the bread. With respect to the first cup (there are four in a Passover), in the order one would expect from Jewish tradition – there is noting said about it representing blood. Rather Y’Shua says in Luke 22:18, “I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom comes.” This tradition of the first cup, found now only in Luke, is a leftover clue of what must have been the original tradition before the Pauline version was inserted and now confirmed by the Didache. Y’Shua’s hope and prayer is that the next time they sit down together to eat, giving the traditional Jewish blessing overt the wine and bread – the Kingdom of G-d will have come. This is confirmed in a lost text called ‘The Gospel of the Hebrews’ that was used by Jewish – Christians who rejected Paul’s teaching and authority. It survives only in a few quotations that were preserved by Christian writers such as Jerome. In one passage we are told that James the brother of Y’Shua, after drinking the cup Y’Shua passed around pledged that he too, would not eat or drink again until he saw the Kingdom arrive. So here we have textual evidence of a tradition that remembers James as being at the last meal.
Just how far have we come from the original text? Through all the different translations, what was inserted to fit one’s believes or doctrine or taken out? I personally like the concept of the prayer from the Didache, one can still sup with the Father in acknowledging His Son’s blood shed for us and His body beaten, taking our sins upon Himself, without the eating of flesh or drinking of blood. The important thing is the remembrance of what He had to go through for us.

We are but shadows

Job 8:9: “For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing...”
1 Chronicles 29:15: "For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers were; our days upon earth are as a SHADOW, and there is no expectation. There is no reason to hope that we shall be prolonged; for our lives are limited down to threescore years and ten, as the average of the life even of old men.
The human life was extended to a much longer date than that in which Job lived; when men, from the long period of eight or nine hundred years, had the opportunity of making many observations, and treasuring up a vast fund of knowledge and experience. Are we ready to confess our ignorance for have we not repeated the same sins through out the years?
In comparison with them, we considers that age as nothing, and that generation as being only of yesterday, not having had opportunity of laying up knowledge: nor could we expect it, as our days upon earth would be but a shadow, compared with that substantial time in which the fathers had lived.
Blessed be G-d, now that we have the word of G-d in writing, and are directed to search. We need not enquire of the former age, nor prepare ourselves to the search of their fathers; for, though we ourselves are but of yesterday, the word of G-d in the Scripture is as nigh to us as it was to them (Rom. 10:8), and it is the more sure word of prophecy, to which we must take heed. If we study and keep G-d’s precepts, we may by them understand more than the ancients, Ps. 119:99, 100.
We do not live so long as those of the former age did, to make observations upon the methods of Divine Providence, and therefore cannot be such competent judges as they in a cause of this nature.
Perhaps there may be an allusion here to the shadow projected by the gnomon of a dial, during the time the sun is above the horizon. As is a single solar day, so is our life. "We are shadows!" referring to the different shadows by which the gnomon marked the hours, during the course of the day; and all intended to convey this moral lesson to the passengers:
Your life is composed of time, marked out by such shadows as these. Such as time is, such are you; as fleeting, as transitory, as unsubstantial. These shadows lost, time is lost; time lost, soul lost! Reader take heed!