It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Super Jimmy!!! by Flickr User Kerri Lee Smith, CC License = Attribution, Noncommercial, Share Alike
Click image to open a new tab/window to view the original image and to access the user’s full photo stream at Flickr.
Superman. No, wait, maybe it’s Underdog. I guess it depends on the era in which you grew up. I was definitely more Underdog than Superman, but when I grew up, we got great Superman movies, so my affections changed. I still hope that Underdog eventually got to marry Sweet Polly Purebread, though. š No matter which one of the characters was your favorite, you know that people said all kinds of stuff about the blur in the sky and never knew exactly who it was until he got closer.
In today’s reading from Deuteronomy 18:14 through Deuteronomy 19:13, we begin with Moses telling the people that God will soonĀ raise up a new prophet in his place. He reminds them how there was a time when God wanted to dwell with them, but they rejected God for fear He would kill them, so God used Moses to speak for Him instead. Now, Moses is getting ready to go away, and because the people cannot hear from God directly, they will need a new person to speak God’s words.
To prophesy is to speak, and to prophesy for God is to speak for God. It’s an awesome place to be and not one toĀ take lightly. If you’ve followed these Torah passages with me, and especially if you’ve read any of the passages yourself, you know that God’s words to the people through Moses were more often harsh than sweet. It’s hard to be a prophet (or prophetess) for God because most of what He has to teach us after we are saved is how to get the junk out of our lives when it becomes a wall between us and hearing His pure voice.
Moses has to give the hard words again in this passage. He warns the people that while God will raise up a prophet from among them, they are responsible to test the words of that prophet. If the prophet speaks words in the Name of Yahveh and the words are not something God told him to say, or if the prophet speaks in the names of other gods, that prophet must die. Moses then tells the people that if they are not sure if the words have been spoken by The Lord, they can tell by the outcome. If the prediction does not come true, that is, if the word is not fulfilled, then it was not spoken by God. If the prophet has spoken presumptuously, there is nothing to fear from his words.
At this point in the passage, the chapter changes, and Moses goes into repeating the instructions for building the cities of refuge. You can read the verses in Chapter 19 for yourself if you need a refresher because I want to focus on the parts in 18. It’s interesting that the information about the cities of refuge would directly follow the teaching about the new prophet since the replacement prophet for Moses points directly at Yeshua. It’s even referenced in Acts 3:22Ā and Acts 7:37. The first of those verses (in the Amplified Bible) reads…
Thus Moses said to the forefathers, The Lord God will raise up for you a Prophet from among your brethren as [He raised up] me; Him you shall listen to and understand by hearing and heed in all things whatever He tells you.
Of course, those of us who have New Testament history know that Yeshua never spoke presumptuously, and everything He prophesied did come to pass.Ā As our Prophet now, we have many warnings that Yeshua offered for us to be protected from those who would come in His name and testify falsely. In Matthew 24:24-26 (Complete Jewish Bible) we read…
For there will appear false Messiahs and false prophets performing great miracles ā amazing things! ā so as to fool even the chosen, if possible.Ā There! I have told you in advance! So if people say to you, āListen! Heās out in the desert!ā donāt go; or, āLook! Heās hidden away in a secret room!ā donāt believe it.
The part that concerns me is where Yeshua said they could come close to deceiving even those chosen by God, but as I cast my concerns and anxieties upon His shoulders, I am reminded that if I keep my heart and mind in His word, I have nothing to fear. If I strive to walk in His holy presence at all times, I can become more and more sensitive to even His still, small voice. And if I pay attention to all the warnings in His word (see all of Matthew 23-25 for full context), both Old and New Testament, I will know to make sure that any words spoken in His name are true. Even if someone claims to speak as a prophet for God, I will not believe that it’s a bird, a plane, or anything else until it lands and proves itself.
Last minute addition here: I just realized how much this reminded me of an old Hinson’s song I used to love. It is calledĀ The Original Superman and I was able to find it on Youtube…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KlsJtmXbg0
August 20, 2014
Posted by Crystal A Murray (aka CrystalWriter) |
Bible Study, Nonfiction, Torah Commentary | Bible Commentary, Bible study, Complete Jewish Bible, Deuteronomy, false prophets, God's words, Israel, Moses, prophet, Scripture, Superman, Torah commentary, Torah Portions, Yeshua |
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God’s Billboard by Flickr user Kevin Hale aka roundedbygravity, CC License = Attribution, Share Alike
Click image to open new tab and view original plus access user’s full photo stream at Flickr.
We know from Scriptural promises that EVERY word of God has profit, and that no word of God that is spoken will return to Him without accomplishing what He intended. So, if you are one chosen to speak God’s words, you know that what you are required to speak is both profitable and has power to affect change. In today’s reading from Exodus 6:29 through Exodus 7:7, God again tells Moses to tell Pharaoh EVERYTHING He has commanded him to speak. And Moses once again tells God that he is a terrible speaker and doesn’t think he will speak in a way that will make Pharaoh believe him.
As I read this today, I noticed that the profit of a prophet is not whether or not the listener believes in what the prophet has to say, but instead it is in the value of the spoken words. In these verses, as in some from the past few days, God even tells Moses that Pharaoh will not listen to anything he and Aaron will speak to him. But, even though Pharaoh will be hard-hearted, God says He is sending in Moses to be like God to him and Aaron to be like a prophet for Moses. And not only in words, but God has commanded Moses to perform miraculous works and still says that Pharaoh will not heed them.
God’s words and God’s deeds are important to speak and perform regardless of what those who listen do with them. The profit is there in a true prophet of God, but fear of not being listened to has caused many to speak pretty words to see if they can get more listeners instead of speaking the words of true value even when they don’t sound pretty. The words God gave Moses and Aaron were not pretty for Pharaoh, but for those who believed in the power and deliverance of Their Creator, they were just what they needed. In today’s reading, God even calls the sons of IsraelĀ His army and says He is sending them to bring His people out of Egypt with great acts of judgment. The bullies WILL have to pay a price for their bullying.
But the best profit that will come from these words, the profit that should come from any words we claim to speak for God or in His name, can be found in verse 5… then Egypt will know that I am God! Even what some call the “Five Fold Ministry” has one major task; to equip God’s people to work and do service that will build the body of believers in Messiah. We read today that Moses and Aaron did everything exactly as Yahveh commanded them to do even at 80 and 83 years of age.
If we are part of the body of Christ, we have a task to speak God’s word and do His work to build more believers into the body. Share with me what God has put on your heart to share with others. And with that, I’ll leave you with this thought: When all else fails, read the Word of God, and if that doesn’t work, try following it. š
December 30, 2013
Posted by Crystal A Murray (aka CrystalWriter) |
Bible Study, Devotion, Nonfiction, Torah Commentary | Aaron, Adonai, Almighty, Bible, Bible Gateway, Bible reading, Bible study, Complete Jewish Bible, Creator, crystalwriter, Egypt, Exodus, follow, God, Holy Bible, Lord, Moses, Old Covenant, Old Testament, Parashah, Pharaoh, Portions, profit, prophecy, prophet, Scripture, speak, teach, The Complete Jewish Bible, Torah, Torah commentary, Torah Portions, Torah Reading, Word, Word of God, Word of the Lord, www.biblegateway.com, Yahveh, Yahweh |
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Crystal Writes A Blog 
It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s…
It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Super Jimmy!!! by Flickr User Kerri Lee Smith, CC License = Attribution, Noncommercial, Share Alike
Click image to open a new tab/window to view the original image and to access the user’s full photo stream at Flickr.
Superman. No, wait, maybe it’s Underdog. I guess it depends on the era in which you grew up. I was definitely more Underdog than Superman, but when I grew up, we got great Superman movies, so my affections changed. I still hope that Underdog eventually got to marry Sweet Polly Purebread, though. š No matter which one of the characters was your favorite, you know that people said all kinds of stuff about the blur in the sky and never knew exactly who it was until he got closer.
In today’s reading from Deuteronomy 18:14 through Deuteronomy 19:13, we begin with Moses telling the people that God will soonĀ raise up a new prophet in his place. He reminds them how there was a time when God wanted to dwell with them, but they rejected God for fear He would kill them, so God used Moses to speak for Him instead. Now, Moses is getting ready to go away, and because the people cannot hear from God directly, they will need a new person to speak God’s words.
To prophesy is to speak, and to prophesy for God is to speak for God. It’s an awesome place to be and not one toĀ take lightly. If you’ve followed these Torah passages with me, and especially if you’ve read any of the passages yourself, you know that God’s words to the people through Moses were more often harsh than sweet. It’s hard to be a prophet (or prophetess) for God because most of what He has to teach us after we are saved is how to get the junk out of our lives when it becomes a wall between us and hearing His pure voice.
Moses has to give the hard words again in this passage. He warns the people that while God will raise up a prophet from among them, they are responsible to test the words of that prophet. If the prophet speaks words in the Name of Yahveh and the words are not something God told him to say, or if the prophet speaks in the names of other gods, that prophet must die. Moses then tells the people that if they are not sure if the words have been spoken by The Lord, they can tell by the outcome. If the prediction does not come true, that is, if the word is not fulfilled, then it was not spoken by God. If the prophet has spoken presumptuously, there is nothing to fear from his words.
At this point in the passage, the chapter changes, and Moses goes into repeating the instructions for building the cities of refuge. You can read the verses in Chapter 19 for yourself if you need a refresher because I want to focus on the parts in 18. It’s interesting that the information about the cities of refuge would directly follow the teaching about the new prophet since the replacement prophet for Moses points directly at Yeshua. It’s even referenced in Acts 3:22Ā and Acts 7:37. The first of those verses (in the Amplified Bible) reads…
Of course, those of us who have New Testament history know that Yeshua never spoke presumptuously, and everything He prophesied did come to pass.Ā As our Prophet now, we have many warnings that Yeshua offered for us to be protected from those who would come in His name and testify falsely. In Matthew 24:24-26 (Complete Jewish Bible) we read…
The part that concerns me is where Yeshua said they could come close to deceiving even those chosen by God, but as I cast my concerns and anxieties upon His shoulders, I am reminded that if I keep my heart and mind in His word, I have nothing to fear. If I strive to walk in His holy presence at all times, I can become more and more sensitive to even His still, small voice. And if I pay attention to all the warnings in His word (see all of Matthew 23-25 for full context), both Old and New Testament, I will know to make sure that any words spoken in His name are true. Even if someone claims to speak as a prophet for God, I will not believe that it’s a bird, a plane, or anything else until it lands and proves itself.
Last minute addition here: I just realized how much this reminded me of an old Hinson’s song I used to love. It is calledĀ The Original Superman and I was able to find it on Youtube…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KlsJtmXbg0
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August 20, 2014 Posted by Crystal A Murray (aka CrystalWriter) | Bible Study, Nonfiction, Torah Commentary | Bible Commentary, Bible study, Complete Jewish Bible, Deuteronomy, false prophets, God's words, Israel, Moses, prophet, Scripture, Superman, Torah commentary, Torah Portions, Yeshua | Leave a comment