"The Bread Basket" The sweet, unleavened bread, holy and without sin,
made an offering unto the LORD for the life of the world.
This is the bread which cometh down from heaven,
That a man may eat thereof, and not die.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven:
I am the living bread which came down from heaven:
If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever:
And the bread that I will give is my flesh,
Which I will give for the life of the world.
-Yeshua HaMashiach, John 6:50-51
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"It is said that bread is the staff of life, and represents man's physical sustenance. This is certainly so, and it is important that G-d's blessing for goodness and bounty be found in the bread which we partake of... for without His munificent blessing, all of man's efforts would neither satisfy nor satiate. Thus we endeavor to fulfill His will throughout every aspect of our endeavors, and in so doing, we earn His favor and blessing... for each area wherein man fulfills the Holy One's will becomes a channel receiving Heavenly blessing.
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This was especially so in the case of the Showbread, and one aspect of its function was indeed to elicit Divine guidance and providence. The sages teach that since these loaves were in essence the vehicle for fulfilling G-d's commandment, and they were used to accomplish His will, special blessing could be found in it, and indeed, the Divine blessing was seen and felt particularly in the context of the Showbread. The Talmud describes that a miracle took place every week: When the priests came to replace the breads with new loaves every Sabbath, they found that those of the previous week remained fresh and hot upon the table, like the moment they were baked. This miracle was seen as a clear confirmation that the Divine Presence indeed rested in this holy place."
This was especially so in the case of the Showbread, and one aspect of its function was indeed to elicit Divine guidance and providence. The sages teach that since these loaves were in essence the vehicle for fulfilling G-d's commandment, and they were used to accomplish His will, special blessing could be found in it, and indeed, the Divine blessing was seen and felt particularly in the context of the Showbread. The Talmud describes that a miracle took place every week: When the priests came to replace the breads with new loaves every Sabbath, they found that those of the previous week remained fresh and hot upon the table, like the moment they were baked. This miracle was seen as a clear confirmation that the Divine Presence indeed rested in this holy place."
an excerpt from the article: The Table of Showbread )
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Although Yeshua's birthday was not December 25, according to the Roman Catholic Church's solar calendar, His birth did take place at some point in time. I, and many others, think He was born during Sukkot since He is "Immanuel" and the literal fulfillment of the sign King Ahaz requested of God in Isaiah 7:10-14. Immanuel, the formless God tabernacling among His covenant people with a covering, a veil of flesh.
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Bless the LORD, oh my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy Name!
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A special thanks to Babs for sharing the idea of "The Bread Basket".
15 comments:
"I, and many others, think He was born during Sukkot"
Not to rain on your parade but if he was born at all. You never answered me about historical proof for that man. (Wondering, why was he called Jesus and not Emmanuel if he was a fulfillment of the prophecy 'and his name will be called emanuel'?)
I know that you don't celebrate Christmas but happy holidays anyways.
BK,
You're not raining on my parade! Guess it depends which side of the street you're on, and it must be raining on your side, but it's nice over here. :)~ As promised, I will resume our debate. But all my children are home and my mom is in from Israel, so until next Friday when my mom leaves, I don't have the time to dedicate to study. You know I enjoy our debate, but since my mom came in, we have had one meeting to attend and then another. And, despite my mother's and my understanding of Christmas and our personal reservations about 'celebrating' Christmas because of its pagan origins, try to tell that to my kids who were raised to celebrate like every other American kid according to their dad. I, personally, do not give December 25 place in my heart as Yeshua's birthday, but I also realize this is the ONLY time that the rest of my 'Yeshua believing brethren' celebrate His birthday. I don't quench anyone's joy during the holiday, but I have had the opportunity to share the information about the origins of Christmas on occasion with mature (wise) Believers and that is good enough for my conscience.
So, as can you see by this posting, I don't hesitate to share that December 25th is NOT Yeshua's birthday and is a contrived date for His birth. I may do a post describing how the various practices were derived, but its shocking! Sadly, whether we are aware of its origins or not, it is the only time of year that the vast majority of Christians take the time to acknowledge His entry into this world as prescribed by the hellenized church.
The original Hebrew form Yeshua means "the Salvation of YHVH" - Yeshua is YHVH's agent or means of salvation. Yeshua is YHVH in His role as Savior. "You shall call his name JESUS, for he shall save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) As to why we never hear him referred to as "Emmanuel" except in Matthew 1, I'm not sure of course, but apparently it was understood that He was also to be named Emmanuel, which means "G-d (YHVH) is with us." "'Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel,' which being interpreted is, G-d with us." (Matthew 1:23).
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23 "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US." 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
(Matthew 1:18-25 - NABS)
Chag Malud Sameach!
Deborah
Activist,
I am well informed by knowledge of God's covenant with the Jewish people, not to mention history and media. You are ill informed! The PLO killed thousands... thousands... of Lebanese Christians! (http://christianactionforisrael.org/medigest/mar98/backgrnd.html) And the Hezbollah and Hamas will kill Palestinian Christians as quickly as they will kill Jews and non-Palestinian Christians when given the chance!!!! Islam is a sick, hateful religion - I am all to well informed about Islam and its lies! (http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59031)
First of all, I unequivocally support Israel as a Jewish nation 100% - God bless the Land and stretch it's borders as promised to Abraham!! Baruch HaShem! Secondly, the Israeli government does not oppress Palestinians, Christian or Muslim. Hezbollah and Hamas oppress their own people, Christian and Muslim alike.
As a Christian Zionist, it is my heart to pray for Israel, the Jewish people, and help Jews make Aliyah. If God wants Christians in the Land, God will preserve their presence - men will not thwart God's plans! Likened to Cyrus, prophecy tells us that the Gentiles will bring the Jews back to their Land - carrying them on their shoulders, Gentiles will help them rebuild their Land, and ten Gentiles will cling to one Jew saying, "Let us go with you because we heard that God is with you."
22 Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.
23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you. (Zechariah 8:22-23)
Call me any name you want - an undeserved curse doesn't land on the intended victim. You won't find any sympathy from me so there's no use arguing! The Palestinian Christians are welcome to come to America!
I do not curse you, no, I'll be praying for the eyes of your understanding to be opened and that you'll see truth!
Shalom,
Deborah
Merry Christmas, Deborah. I'm glad you got a chance to watch the old Christmas cartoons. There's something about animation that makes me feel happy and good. Just a big kid I guess! Enjoy your kids and your mom!!!
Well Merry Christmas anyways and enjoy your family.
Deborah, thank you for dropping by today..I was delighted!
God bless you, and I know that you will have a wonderful visit with your mother..you are truly blessed!
Oh..I forgot to mention what a great blog you have, and your whole family is beautiful! :)
Merry Christmas, Deborah! I hope you have a wonderful time with your family!
Daniel and Karin
A very thoughtful, spiritual message for this Christmas Day.
Wishing you and yours the best this holiday season!
Professor Douglas,
Thanks for stopping by and for the holiday wish for the best!
I took the time to visit your blog and it looks like I can count on you to keep me in 'the know' - beyond the liberally biased media's efforts - during this election campaign. I'll be visiting your blog often in reveiwing your perspective.
I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas!
Shalom,
Deborah
Activist,
Wherever I stand, I STAND WITH ISRAEL! Again, you won't find any sympathy from me. It's obvious you are ill informed, not to mention, again, God's covenant with Israel is an everlasting covenant and His promises stand regardless of men's actions, votes, beliefs thoughts, or whims.
I personally know of two Palestinians, one a former terrorist who was raised and taught to hate and kill Jews and Christians, who now believe Yeshua is the Messiah; hence, they fear and love the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and will tell you themselves that the Land belongs to the Jews by covenant between Abraham and God. But I can't even share their names since they have to maintain low profiles for their own safety and the safety of their families, even though they no longer live in Israel and have sought refuge from Islamic terrorists by moving to Canada and America.
As for Palestinian muslims, you have certainly proved the point made in a very good article I linked to in my blog some time back, "The Peaceful Majority", by William Haynes (http://www.google.com/reader/shared/00724192294556308256). As for your concern about the Palestinian Christians... I'm not concerned. If they're really Christians, if they really fear and love the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and accept Yeshua as Messiah, God will take care of them. Every Believer who truly loves the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in heart and not just words, knows God hides them under the shadow of His wings. And I suspect they will come to the same belief as the two men mentioned above if they truly spend time with God through His word (the Bible) and in prayer! A lot of people call themselves 'Christians' but their label is due more to culture than belief - they're not true believers in Yeshua and they do not adhere to the Torah or Yeshua's teachings - they are Christians in name only, not in heart nor in practice!
It sounds like Palestinian Christians need to start praying, suck it up, stop whining, and intelligently think through and appropriately deal with the situation their [muslim] brothers have cultivated and continue to exacerbate! Israel has every right to protect and defend the civilian population using its military, as does America and every other nation on the face of the earth! After 9/11, my right to privacy was taken from me and every American, but I don't blame my government for having to do so or inconveniencing me at the airport and at the border, I blame ISLAM - radical and peaceful (see "The Peaceful Majority" above)! Please don't give me a song and dance about inconveniencing Palestinian Christians by asking them to move to America, or some sob story about lack of representation. First, because of ISLAM several people were tragically inconvenienced on 9/11 without any provocation when thousands of lives were lost and hundreds of thousands more lives changed in an instant! Secondly, Palestinians have representation by their own in the Knesset.
I realize there are radicals in Islam, just as in every religious group, but as for the so-called Christians you eluded to who murder in the name of God, they're simply and obviously not true Christians in heart, which includes every Catholic pope and Protestant leader who murdered Jews - and obviously Hitler and every Nazi involved in his plot and psychosis! The 'peaceful' majority of so-called Christians stood by and watched as an egotistical, psychotic tyrant murdered innocent people. Hitler owned the 'peaceful' majority, hence, they felt powerless and scared! As they say, "History repeats itself," therefore, Palestinian Christians can either stand by and be part of he problem by misdirecting their animosity at the on-the-defense Israeli government or they can start relocating to countries who will accept them and leave their muslim brothers to whatever fate befalls them when Israel has to counter-attack in its defense and in protecting the civilian population. But the saddest thing: Palestinians have behaved so badly that most free countries, if not all free countries, will not readily accept the Palestinian Christians. So you see, radical Islam - Hezbollah and Hamas - now 'own' the peaceful majority of Palestinians - all Palestinians, Christian and muslim, will suffer because of Islam! I shed no tears for the religion of Islam - it is insidious!
I will continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem knowing God is the One who will ultimately see to it that everlasting peace is established through Yeshua HaMashaich. I do not believe in giving Palestinians one more morsel of land for peace - NO, NO, NO - since Palestinians have connived and lied time and again! Every time Israel has given land in exchange for peace the Palestinians say "thank you" with rockets, bullets, and bombs.
Logical or illogical, fair or unfair... God will keep His covenant with Israel! God bless Jerusalem and all of Israel!
Wherever I stand, I STAND WITH ISRAEL!
Activist... Young one,
Here, again, you are not well informed. Palestinians do have representation in the Knesset:
http://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/MKIndex_Current_eng.asp?view=1
As I said before, I will be praying that your eyes of understanding will be opened... and I will also pray your knowledge will increase in truth, not hearsay.
Deborah
Well, since I don't believe in a Palestinian state/nation occurring anywhere within the borders of the Land given to the decedents of Abraham and Isaac, of course I mean 'Arabs.' The term "Palestinian" is understood to mean a demographic faction, not a nationality! When I say "Hispanic or Latino" in the context of their presence in America, I'm certainly not referring to peoples of a Latin American nation within U.S. borders! But I really like your point and I'm going to stop referring to the all the Arabs living within Israel's original borders as "Palestinians" and I am going to start calling them "Arabs in Israel."
Oh, and I must further clarify who the Land belongs to so as not to leave any doubt in your mind regarding my understanding: the Land of Israel belongs to the decedents of Abraham, Isaac, and 'Jacob'... remember, Esau gave his birthright to Jacob.
"The Muslims are the religious descendants as well as the Jews and Christians and it is not possible to prove familial descendants. Either way the state of Israel opens citizenship to Jews on the basis of religion and not familial relation." - The Young Activist
In part you are right, the nation of Israel opens immigration and citizenship to those who are Jews. However, being a Jew is accomplished by either familial relation (ethnicity) or by conversion. The muslims are not decedents of Isaac, but of Ishmael (obviously, muslims also comprise anyone who converts to Islam). As such, they have no valid claim to land within the borders promised to Abraham and the rightful heirs, Isaac and Jacob. God was kind to Ishmael and gave Ishmael a promise as well, but it did not include Eretz Israel (Genesis 17:7-21). Eretz Israel was promised to the son born of Sarah, who was Isaac, and then bequeathed to Jacob and his decedents by Esau. Jacob was then blessed by Isaac: Jacob's brothers would bow to him and he would be lord over them - nations would serve Jacob and bow to him (Genesis 25 and 27, http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Gen%2012:7;%2013:15;%2015:7,%2018;%2026:4;%2028:13;%2035:11,%2012;%2048:16;&version=9).
Moses already knew the Land belonged to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exodus 32:13), nonetheless, the promise regarding Eretz Israel was reaffirmed to Moses by God, "And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it..." (Exodus 33:1)
The very fact that the nation of Israel was reassembled two thousand years after its destruction, and against all odds, as foretold by the prophets in the Tanakh ought to cause a reasonably sensitive and intelligent person to fear Hashem and His ability to do so! Human effort and strength is not capable of bringing about such a miracle. Imagine a Native American nation or state being reassembled and given back its right to U.S. territory after a little more than hundred years, let alone two thousand years. Hashem is obviously the One True God who is capable of such a feat! It is Hashem who removes and establishes kings, He puts down one and exalts another (Daniel 2:20-22, Psalm 75:7).
By the way, I am not Jewish - I'm not able to to emmigrate to Israel - but I'm faithful to God and intelligent enough to recognize God's plan and promise, which does not currently include my ability to reside in Israel. I have friends and family who are temporarily living in Israel since God has laid it upon their hearts to assist Jews in making Aliyah. They realize they could be asked to leave the country and Jewish people they love so much, but they honestly believe they are in Israel for as long as God desires to have them there for the purpose of supporting Aliyah.
As a Christian who loves the Jewish people and Isreal, I do not hold a grudge against the Israeli government for barring me from immigrating into Israel. Although the thought is wonderful, God's promise to the Jewish people regarding Eretz Israel is more important to me.
Since I believe in God's promises, I know what is promised to me as a Gentile believer along with Jewish believers in the book of Ezekiel and Revelation... I will one day live in the new Jerusalem with all those who remain faithful to God and who are now able to come close to Him by the blood of Yeshua - both Jew and Gentile believers who God has made into one new man based on our faithfulness to Him in our hearts, not by named association (Ephesians 2), will live in the new Jerusalem.
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