Search Me & Know Me

[Ps. 139:1] O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. All the motions and actions both of our inward and of our outward man are naked and open before him.
[2] Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. He confesses that neither our actions, thoughts or any part of our life can be hid from G-d. G-d knows me and all my motions, my downsitting to rest, my uprising to work, with what temper of mind I compose myself when I sit down and stir up myself when I rise up
[3]Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. G-d knows me when I come home, how I walk before my house, and on what errands I go. G-d takes notice of every step we take, every right step and every by-step. He is acquainted with all our ways, he knows what rule we walk by, what end we walk towards, what company we walk with.
[4] For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. The L-rd knows all my imaginations; He knows my meaning before I speak. Not a vain word, nor a good word, but knows what it meant, from what thought it came, and with what design it was uttered, for thoughts are words to G-d. "Thou understandest them from afar; from the height of heaven thou seest into the depths of the heart,’’ Ps. 33:14. When I am withdrawn from all company, and am reflecting upon what has passed all day and composing myself to rest, G-d knows what I have in my heart and with what thought I go to bed
[5] Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. G-d so guides me with His hand, that I can turn no way, but where He appoint me. Wherever we are we are under the eye and hand of G-d.
[6] Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. G-d hast such knowledge of me as I have not of myself, nor can have. I cannot take notice of all my own thoughts, nor make such a judgment of myself as He has made of me.
[7] Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? From G-d’s power and knowledge, for G-d is everywhere.
[8] If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
[9] If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
[10] Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. G-d’s power holds me so fast that there is no way I can escape from Him. [
11] If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Though darkness is a hindrance to man’s sight, yet is serves G-d’s eyes as well as the light.
[12] Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. No deceitful mask or disguise can save any person or action from appearing in a true light before G-d. Secret sins are as open before G-d. [13] For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. My reins; G-d is Master of my most secret thoughts and intentions, and the innermost recesses of my soul; thou not only knowest, but governs, them. My mother’s womb - in the forming, and un-sharpen embryo, was not hidden from G-d; His eyes did see my substance. G-d has made me in all parts and therefore must know me.
[14] I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. Considering G-d’s wonderful work in forming me, I cannot but praise Him and fear His mighty power.
[15] My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. That is, in my mother’s womb so privately and so far out of sight.
[16] Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. All the days ordained for me were written IN YOUR BOOK before one of them came to be’. Here is a verse which prophetically symbolizes Israel, declaring that ‘all the days’ were written in the book! The Jerusalem Bible is equally astounding; ‘You have scrutinized my every action, all were recorded in your book, my days listed and determined, even before the first of them occurred.’ My members – is not part of the original Hebrew Scriptures. They were added by the translators. It was to be days. Reading: “in thy book all my days were written, which in continuance Chorological order) were fashioned when as yet there was none of them.] Seeing that G-d knew me before I was composed of either flesh or bone, much more now must G-d know me when G-d have fashioned me.
[17] How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! G-d, who knew me, thought of me, and His thoughts towards me were thoughts of love, thought of good, and not of evil, Jer. 29:11. We cannot conceive how many G-d’s kind counsels have been concerning us, how many good turns He has done us, and what variety of mercies we have received from Him.
[18] If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. I continually see new opportunity to meditate in G-d’s wisdom, and to praise Him. It would help to keep us in the fear of the L-rd all the day long if, when we awake in the morning, and our first thoughts were of Him and we did then set Him before us.]
[19] Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. [Depart from me, you bloody men; you shall not debauch me, for I will not admit your friendship nor have fellowship with you; and you cannot destroy me, for, I am under G-d’s protection, He shall force you to depart from me.’’
[20] For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. They set their mouth against the heavens (Ps. 73:9), and shall be called to account for the hard speeches they have spoken against Him, Jude 15. They are His enemies, and declare their enmity by taking His name in vain.
[21] Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? He teaches us boldly to contemn all the hatred of the wicked and friendship of the world, when they would prevent us from serving Him sincerely.
[22] I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. Sin is hated, and sinners are lamented, by all that fear G-d. "I hate them’’ (that is, "I hate the work of them that turn aside,’’ Ps. 101:3) "with a sincere and perfect hatred; I count those that are enemies to G-d as enemies to me, and will not have any intimacy with them,’’ Ps. 69:8.
[23] Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: I desire that as far as I maybe in the wrong, G-d would show it to me. [24] And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Or any terrible or rebellious way: meaning that though I am subject to sin, yet I may not give to wickedness, and to provoke G-d by rebellion. The way of godliness is an everlasting way; it is everlastingly true and good, pleasing to G-d and profitable to us, and will end in everlasting life.

Mystery Babylon

[Ps. 137:1] By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
[2] We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
[3] For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. [4] How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a strange land? This psalm appears to be written as a prelude to 138-145. the prophecy begins here with the introduction of Mystery Babylon, thus introducing seven years of Tribulation and concluding with the glorious appearing of the Messiah in Psalm 144, followed by a psalm of praise (145). Psalms 138-145 were written by David. Though Psalm 137 was not authored by him, it nevertheless sets the stage for those events predicted in David’s psalms. The prophetic implications appear to be both progressive and chronological. This psalm addresses the subject of the Babylonian captivity following the destruction of Solomon’s Temple with strong prophetic implications to Babylon’s future mystery daughter, Babylon the Great. Prophetically, the lament of the 144,000 can be seen in verses 5-7:
[5] If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
[6] If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
[7] Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. The memory of the Temple’s destruction is kept alive in every facet of Jewish life. A Jewish home has at least one unpainted rick or board. Every garment has one small part soiled. At every wedding a glass is broken-all to keep the remembrance of a destroyed Temple. Prophetically, a restoration of Temple worship will be forthcoming at or near the beginning of the Tribulation. The Tabernacle of David will be set up on the Temple site (Amos 9:11-12). According to prophets there is at least one more desecration of the Temple site-the abomination of desolation. It is ironic that Edom is mentioned here, for that will be the destination of the fleeing 144,000 when Jerusalem is surrounded by armies and the antichrist commits the abomination that makes the Temple Mount desolate. The Babylonian Captivity set the stage for the ‘Times of the Gentiles’ - a term used to describe, the great world empires which, having begun with Babylon, will end with her mystery daughter, Babylon the Great.
[8] O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Mystery Babylon may be the capital of the antichrist. The great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth (Rev. 17:18), will be destroyed sometime during the Tribulation. By the middle of those seven years the antichrist will move to Jerusalem and take over the government. He will enter the Temple Mount, establish his throne, and claim to be the Messiah. He will demand a mark be accepted in the right hand or forehead of every person on earth as a medium of exchange in the marketplace. From that point, however, his kingdom will began to deteriorate-ending in the Battle of Armageddon.
[9] Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. 8-9 This psalm is just one of six psalms that are generally classified as imprecatory psalms. These are Psalms 55, 59, 69, 79, 109, and 137. There is no author or title to Ps. 137; the scene is pictured as taking place by the river Babylon. Ps. 79 is ascribed to Asaph; the remaining four are from David’s pen, according to the ancient psalm titles. The label imprecatory may be misleading if it is not used to denote its more proper sense of invoking judgment, calamity or curse in an appeal to G-d who alone is the judge of all believers. These invocations are not mere outbursts of a vengeful spirit; they are prayers addressed to the Father. These earnest pleading to G-d ask that He step in and right some matters so grossly distorted that if His held does not come all hope for justice is lost. These are legitimate expressions of longings of OT saints for the vindication that only G-d’s righteousness can bring. They are not statements of personal vendetta, but they are utterances of zeal for the kingdom of G-d and His glory. To be sure, the attacks, which provoked these prayers, were not from personal enemies; rather, they were rightfully seen as attacks against G-d and especially His representatives in the promised line of the Messiah. Thus, David and his office bore the brunt of most of these attacks, and this was tantamount to an attack on G-d and His kingdom! These prayers were the fierce hatred of sin from those who wanted to see G-d’s name and cause victory. Therefore, those whom the saints oppose in these prayers were the fearful byword of wickedness, and praying for G-d speedily to vindicate their own honor and name. In almost every instance, each expression used in one of these prayers of malediction may be found in plain prose statements of what will happen to those sinners who persist in opposing G-d. Happy is used altogether twenty-six times in the book of Psalms. It is used only of individuals who trust G-d. It is not an expression of a sadistic joy in the ruin or destruction of others. It means that G-d will destroy Babylon and her progeny for her proud assault against Him and His kingdom. But those who trust in Him will be blessed and happy. For those who groaned under the terrifying hand of their captors in Babylon there was the prospect of a sweet, divine victory that they would share in as sons and daughters of the living G-d. Dasheth thy little ones against the stones – is usually regarded as being so contrary to the teachings of the NT., but these words are repeated by Y’Shua in Lk. 19:44. The verb in its Greek form is found only in here, the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew text and in the lament of Luke. Y’Shua found no more difficulty in quoting this psalm than He did in quoting the other two psalms most filled with prayers of imprecation, namely, 69 and 109. Little ones – the Hebrew word does no specify age, for it may mean a very young or a grown child. The word focuses on a relationship and not on age; as such, it points to the fact that the sins of the fathers were being repeated in the next generation. That the psalmist has located the site of G-d’s judgment in Babylon not only appears to denote this psalm as being composed while Judah was in exile in Babylon but also that there are figurative elements included in this psalm. One thing Babylon was devoid of was rocks or rocky cliffs against which anything could be dashed. In fact there were not any stones available for building, contrary to the rocky terrain of most of Palestine. All building had to depend on the production of sun-dried mud bricks and the use of bituminous pitch for mortar. Therefore when the psalmist speaks of dashing little ones against the rocks, he is speaking figuratively and metaphorically. Close to this metaphorical use of the same phrase is that of 141:6, ‘their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs.’ But that same psalm adds, ‘and the wicked will learn that My words were well spoken (the literal rendering is sweet).’ If the rulers had been tossed over a cliff, they surely would have had a hard time hearing anything! The point remains: these psalms of cursing do not contain ‘wicked or immoral’ requests or desires. They only plead with G-d that He not let the office of the Messiah or His kingdom be trampled underfoot by the arrogant despisers of those who currently hold that office and throne.

King Hezekiah

The Psalms of Ascent 120-134: A veil of sadness hung over the city of Jerusalem. There was no singing in the Temple. There was no joy in the streets. The beloved King Hezekiah was dying. He had been a godly ruler and had brought spiritual revival to the country. Idolatry had been put away, and the worship of Jehovah had been encouraged. Some months before, Jerusalem had been under siege by Sennacherib, the Assyrian king. But because of the prayer life of King Hezekiah, G-d had destroyed the Assyrian forces and had kept the nation free. Now Hezekiah was sick, and the prophet Isaiah had the difficult task of telling the king to set his house in order, for he would not survive. The sadness over the sickness of the king was compounded by the fact that he did not have a son to succeed him on the throne. With the death of Hezekiah, the royal lineage of the house of David would come an end. But Hezekiah was a godly king, and he knew how to pray. When news of his impending death reached him, he turned his face to the wall and with tears called upon the G-d who had sustained him through some of the most dramatic moments in history of the kingdom. He reminded the Father of his faithfulness and asked that he might be granted a miracle, He wanted to live. This shows us the Father hears our prayers and loves His faithful students. 2 Kg. 20:5 G-d had granted the godly king another fifteen years to live! As was the custom in the days of he prophets, Hezekiah asked for a sign to prove the word he had received from Isaiah – the sign was the shadow return backward ten degrees (2 Kg. 20:9-10. It is believed from that day forward, to the astonishment of all the world, the length of the year was changed from 360 days to 365 ¼ days. The rabbis wrote that Hezekiah changed the calendar in the fifteen remaining years of his life, adding one month to the calendar every six years. It has also been recorded that the Romans and the Egyptians changed their calendars to account for the lengthened year. Hezekiah composed ten sons to compare with the ten degrees on the sun dial and added to them four songs written by David and one by Solomon to set the total number at fifteen. Those fifteen songs chosen by the recovered Hezekiah are recorded in Psalms 120-134. They are called the ‘Songs of the Degrees.’ So named because of the ten degrees of the sun dial, they are also called the ‘Psalms of Ascent,’ for they were sung by the priesthood as they ascended the fifteen steps of the Temple each year during the Feast of Tabernacles. It is believed these songs also contain five prophetic prayers of a dispersed Israel. 1. There is a prayer for the restoration of the land to the Jews which corresponds with Genesis. 2. There is a prayer for the restoration of the Jews to their land which corresponds with Exodus. 3. There is a prayer for deliverance from tribulation which corresponds with Leviticus. 4. There is a prayer for deliverance from tribulation which corresponds with Numbers. 5. There is a prayer for the coming of the Messiah to establish a kingdom of peace which corresponds with Deuteronomy. These fifteen psalms are compiled in five sets of three psalms each. The first psalm in each group offers a cry of distress; the second psalm declares a trust in the L-rd; and the third psalm promises deliverance, blessing, and peace. Furthermore, these five sets follow an outline given in the five divisions of the Psalms: Ps. 120-122 represent a Genesis period Ps. 123-125 represent a Exodus period. Ps. 126-128 represent a Leviticus period. Ps. 129-131 represent a Numbers period. Ps. 132-134 represent a Deuteronomy period. In so doing, they offer a prophetic overview of the events of the last generation, read and learn.

Divine Design

[Ps. 117:1] O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. Ps. 117 is both the shortest chapter and the middle chapter with 594 chapters before it and 594 chapters after it. There are 39 Books of the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. [118:8] It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. This Psalm contains the middle verse of the entire Christian Bible. There are 1189 Chapters in the Christian Bible, making a total of 1188 chapters apart from the middle chapter – making the number 1188 compare with uncanny accuracy, it is located between the shortest chapter and the longest chapter in the Bible This must be a product of Divine inspiration. These three psalms were planned to come together for a definite reason – that reason evidently being that the relation of such coincidences would sooner or later strike some searcher of truth, as an illustration of Divine Design and Consequently proof of the Divine inspiration that guided not only the writer of the Psalms, but thousands of years later, the translators of this book into other language. The design could not have been made by the psalmist who compiled this portion of the Psalms centuries before the New Testament was written or by the others who organized the order of the books. The Old Testament was compiled in its accepted form hundreds of years before the New Testament was compiled in its accepted order. Psalms 117-119 fit into the center of the Scriptures. By that time they were already there. Only Divine design could have ordered this phenomenon. This middle verse actually sets the theme of the entire Bible. It’s teaching is the epitome of all Scripture! [119:11] Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Ps. 119 has 176 verses and it is located in the fifth book of the Psalms corresponding to the fifth book of Moses – Deuteronomy. The Hebrew title of Deuteronomy is ‘Dabarim’ meaning words taken from Deut. 1:1, These be the words. The emphasis is upon the Word – the Dabar. Prophetically, it points to Y’Shua HaMashiach who was introduced in the Gospel of John as the Word of G-d! the term is used forty two times (6x7) to highlight the significance of this great psalm. IIt must represent the L-rd Y’Shua. It was He, who, on the evening of resurrection day said all things must be fulfilled concerning Me in (Lk. 24:44; John 1:1, 14: Rev. 19:13). Ps. 119 follows the theme of the great Dabar as He would be called in Hebrew, or Logos as He is called in Greek. Both are terms translated into English as Word. The term is found 42 times in this psalm. What a perfect number! It is a multiple of 6 and 7 – six representing the number of man and seven representing the number of G-d. Y’Shua HaMashiach is both man and G-d. These 176 verses are divided into 22 portions, each containing 8 verses, and named according to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each section is subdivided into 8 verses, each verse being an iambic tetrameter, namely 16 syllables alternately short and long in the Hebrew language. Still more extraordinary is the fact that every one of the 8 verses of the first section begins with the letter of the Hebrew alphabet: Aleph. Each of the verses of the second section begin with the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet: Beth. Each of the 8 verses of the third section begin with the third letter of the alphabet: Gimel. This extraordinary precision continuing until all the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet are employed. Not only do they declare the Word 42 times, they are subtitled according to the letters which make up those words. May we reminded that our Savior referred to Himself as the great author of all things when He used the first and last letters of the alphabet to represent all that He is and all that He does. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the L-rd, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty…I m Alpha and Omega, the first and the last (Rev. 1:8,11). The very name Jesus (in the Greek language) has a numerical value of 888, as opposed the number of the antichrist which is given in Rev. 13:18 as 666. Ps. 119 is the eighth and final acrostic psalm in the great songbook of the Bible. There are two basic numbers found in Ps. 119. There is a nineteen and there is a hundred. How perfect is our G-d! He never misses an opportunity to emphasize the mathematical precision of His great design!

Typicy Antichrist

[Ps. 118:12] They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. Two symbols are used in this verse which typify the antichrist – bees and thorns. Midrash described the bees as typical of that final war when G-d gathers all the nations of the world and brings them against Jerusalem. The symbol of the bees was first used in the riddle of Samson the Danite in Jug. 14:14. His bees made honey in the carcass of a lion. Prophetically, they are believed to represent the tribe of Dan killing the Lion of Judah, then producing a utopian world government, represented by the honey. Rabbis considered the possibility that the lost tribe of Dan might produce the antichrist. Could his symbol be the bee? An example, Joseph Smith, founder of the Morman Church had a group of bodyguards who called themselves ‘Danites.’ When the state of Utah was founded, the Mormon state adopted the honeybee as its symbol The historic tie goes back to the Spartans of Southern Greece and their cousins, the Trojans. Honey was used as a sacrifice to their idols. Furthermore, Flavius Josephus recorded a letter from the king of the Spartans to the High Priest in Jerusalem claiming descent from the ‘stock of Abraham.’ Could the Spartan king have been a Danite? According to Homer’s ILIAD, the first Spartan king was named DAN-aus. He came by boat from Phoenicia with his fifty daughters who were called DAN-ades. They invented the cult of the mother goddess known as Diana! The people loved their king so much they called themselves DAN-aans before they were called Spartans. History records that they wore their hair long as a symbol of their magical power – just like Samson. The first Trojan was Dar-DAN-us (another use of Dan) who built the city of Troy along the Dar-Dan-elle waterway leading from the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea. Such uses of the words Dan may be clues to tracing the lost tribe. In the year A.D. 448, a Frankish king named Merovee claimed descent from the Trojans and wore his lair long as a symbol of magical power. His symbolic bees were retrieved from the tomb of his son in 1653. Those three hundred bees became the motif of Napoleon’s reign. They belonged to the Habsburg Dynasty, who were of Merovingian descent. This famous family provided the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire for five hundred years. In fact, all European royalty are cousins. The thorns take us back to a parable given by Jotham, son of Gideon in Jud. 9:8-15. His wicked brother, Abimelech, became king in Israel and killed almost all of Gideon’s seventy sons. Only Jotham escaped to stand before the elders of Israel on Mount Gerizim where he comparled Abimelech to a bramble bush of thorns. The story is a phophetic scenario of he future dictator who will seek the extermination of all Jews. When Micah described the future day of G-d’s visitation, He wrote in Micah 7:4; the best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity. The wicked thorn hedge will attempt to enslave the world. Perhaps that is why Y’Shua was made to wear a humiliating crown of thorns on the day of His crucifixion. The true Messiah was rejected as an antichrist!

Final Judgment

[PS. 116:14] I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. [15] Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. During the Tribulation Period, many of the Jewish remnant may be martyred. This passage is alluded to in the Revelation as the faithful martyrs refuse the mark of the beast in Rev. 14:13. Many of the psalms express, prophetically, the joys and sorrows of the tribulation remnant. [16] O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. [17] I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. [18] I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people, [19] In the courts of the LORD’s house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD. The Talmud explains how this psalm describes the day of Final Judgment at the time of the Resurrection of the Dead. The events of these verses are thus placed at the end of this dispensation of Gentile Christianity. Two thousand years ago Israel was set aside by the messiah for the purpose of bringing salvation to Gentiles (Rom. 11:11, 12, 15, 25). The Jewish nation was not forever forsaken. Their blindness in part was only for the purpose of bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles. The day will come when the fullness of Gentiles will have arrived. At that time, Israel will be reconciled to G-d. Talmudic scholars say that I will pay my vows unto G-d means they will invoke the ineffable Name of G-d. This is the Name which Jews reverence to be so holy that will not pronounce it or write it. They refer to G-d only as HASHEM (the Name). Jewish publications render G-d as ‘G-d” for fear they will be guilty of taking the Name in vain, thus breaking the written Third Commandment. On the day of their reconciliation, they will speak the Holy Name. The Jewish sage says it will be in the presence of the Gentile Nations, called in verses 14 and 18 as ALL His people. This is a most important admission by Talmudic scholars that Gentile Christians are indeed children of G-d through faith in the Messiah. This recognition will come in the future when Israel pays their vows to G-d in courts of His house that is in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount. The vows will be paid in the location of the Holy Ark. [117:1] O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. [2] For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD. The Gentile Christianity will observe this praise celebration of the Great Hallel! The prophet Amos 9:11-12 gave an indication of how and when this great Praise celebration will take place. Implications are the same day the Ark of the Covenant will be returned to Jerusalem. The Jews will secure a place on the Temple Mount (perhaps north of the Mosque of Omar) and raise the Tabernacle of David. Gentile Christianity will be invited to join Israel in a great praise celebration as the processional brings the Ark back to its resting place on the Holy Mount. This prophecy records the concluding event which closes the fullness of the Gentiles, when Israel is prepared to be reconciled to G-d. Prophetically, it symbolizes the simplicity of the world order which will prevail after the Advent of the Messiah. Presently, the world is filled with many different groups and nations but in the Messianic Era, there will be only two Groups – Gentile nations who will serve the L-rd and the Children of Israel who will be exalted at eh head of the nations. They will again be our priest and guide teaching us all of G-d’s 613 commandments on how to live godly lives. Better days are coming!

Refuse To Assimilate

Psalms 114 discusses the first three of five themes highlighted in the Hallel (Praise) Psalms –the exodus from Egypt, the splitting of the sea, and the revelation at Mount Sinai. The fourth theme, the resurrection of the dead, is addressed in Psalm 116:3-9 and fifth theme, the coming of the Messiah, is given in Psalms 118:26. These are Israel’s most revered events both past and future. They constitute their reasons for praise. This psalm (second of the Hallel) carries the same theme as Psalm 113 – G-d lifts the needy and destitute and gives them nobility. The Chosen People attained this exaltation by their willingness to plunge into the Red Sea. According to verse 1, Israel refused to assimilate themselves into the culture of Egyptians. When Israel went out indicated that the Jewish nation remained Israel, retaining their Jewish names. They maintained their distinct and holy language, refusing to use the language of Egypt. After 210 years, they could still refer to the Egyptians as a people of strange language. G-d singled out the Tribe of Judah to be royalty. They became His sanctuary because, it is said, they led the way to jump into the Red Sea. At first, Benjamin’s people ran toward the sea and the royal tribe of Judah cried out, “You are committing suicide by jumping into these waters. You deserve to be stoned for this crime.’ But Benjamin argued, “G-d commanded the Children of Israel, to descend into the sea. The forerunners of the other tribes were born while our father was still called Jacob. Only Benjamin was born after Jacob was awarded the title, Israel. Thus, only we Benjaminites are the true Children of Israel and only we are fit to lead the Jewish people triumphantly across the sea.” Though the psalm states that Judah is G-d’s sanctuary, the Temple was built on Mount Moriah at the border between Judah and Benjamin-just inside the territory of Benjamin. Could the fact that Benjamin was changed to Israel be the reason why? Verse 4-7 Some believe that the entire earth trembled at the splitting of the Red Sea and that every person on the planet felt the tremor. Someday, the earth will again tremble – at the appearance of the Messiah! The time is running shorter; people need to refuse to assimilate to the worldly ways for it is advancing from bad morals to unbelievable un-godly ways. May we learn from the history of the Chosen People.

Homemade Cough Remedy

The powerful ingredients in this remedy are common everyday items: ginger, cayenne, cider vinegar and honey. Yet they work together to create a potent remedy for cold symptoms. It's definitely worth trying before turning to the medicine cabinet once again this winter. The serving size (or dosage) will vary depending on the person. Children are able to drink 1-2 teaspoons without a problem. A full tablespoon worked great for me. Homemade Cough Remedy 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (preferably Bragg's, if available) 2 tablespoons honey (locally produced raw honey is best, if available) 2 tablespoons water 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger Place all the ingredients in a small jar and shake to combine. Leave at room temperature for a few days or place in the refrigerator for longer storage. Shake well each time, before using. The spices will not dissolve into the liquid. It will not be thick syrup, it should remain watery. Take as needed !