Fear of Yehovah

Fear of Yehovah

 

Apologia

This paper is dedicated to Pastor Robert Berry whose ministry was teaching the Fear of God by preaching, teaching and action. His belief in the inherent evil of each one born into this world (with the exception of Messiah) never detracted from his work to give special rare opportunities to those whose lives came to an impasse. He provided many with what they could never obtain. He taught them the fear of God. His sense of humor and fearless “interference” in the course of injustice will be remembered by the poor who have came to him for help. The author is just one example. Thank you, Ann Miller, for editing help.

 

I have literally rendered some of the following texts. Others have been left the way you will find them in the King James Version.

 

Definition of Fear

Fear is a strong and often-emotional reaction and response to potential consequences and/or danger (known or unknown). A person who fears considers consequences, dangers, and/or responsibility. A person who is without fear has no concern over consequences, danger, and/or personal responsibility.

 

Definition of the Fear of Yehovah

The fear of Yehovah is the reaction and response to consequences of doing right and/or doing wrong before Him, knowing that Yehovah will certainly judge and consider both in His judgment.

 

Preface

The Fear of Yehovah combines with three other objects Yehovah commanded the Israelis to fear: Mother, Father, and the Sanctuary, in that order. A healthful fear of good and strict parents will often give understanding of what the fear of Yehovah is. The basic aspects of the Fear of Yehovah include:

·    The promise of reward for those who do well. Yehovah is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

·    Certain chastisement of those who are His: instruction on doing right and correction for doing wrong.

·    Protection of His own (when that protection is good).

·    Meeting needs of His own (when meeting needs is good).

·    Consolation of His own in distress (as a father would a child who hurt himself) when that consolation is necessary

·    Certainly doing exactly what He said He will do.

 

Necessary additions to the above include the following:

·    To a young child, his (good) parent knows all; sees all; hears all.

·    To a young child, his (good) parent is able to do anything, and has power over death.

These sum up the perspectives and faith that a true fearer of Yehovah must have. The Fear always results in turning from doing evil and turning to do good.

 

 

A. The Fear of Yehovah is One of the Seven Spirits

The Fear of Yehovah is the most basic and the most important teaching in the Bible. Without the Fear of Him there is no Spiritual Salvation, no everlasting life, and no relationship with God (except for wrath and certain destruction).

Few teach this Fear; the subject is rare among those who claim relationship with the Biblical God.

The Fear of Yehovah is listed as one of the seven Spirits of God in Isaiah 11. No one can claim to have the Spirit of God without Fearing Him.

Isaiah 11:1 And a twig will exit from the stump of Jesse. And a shoot will fruit from his roots. 2And the Spirit of Yehovah will rest upon Him—Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, Spirit of Counsel and Valiance, Spirit of Knowledge and Fear of Yehovah!

 

B. Descriptions and Definitions of the Fear of Yehovah

Biblical texts give a large assortment of descriptions and definitions of the Fear of Yehovah. Yet anyone wanting to know it will easily understand. The Fear of Yehovah is pure, everlasting, the beginning of wisdom and knowledge, and the instruction of Wisdom. It is to hate evil. Notice that all has to do with Yehovah. Only a fool will attempt to separate Him from wisdom, knowledge, and the hatred of evil.

Psalm 19:9 The fear of Yehovah is pure, enduring for ever…

Psalm 111:10 The fear of Yehovah is the beginning of wisdom. All they who do [His commandments] have a good understanding. His praise is to Hider.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of Yehovah is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of Yehovah is to hate evil. I hate pride and arrogancy and the evil way and the perverted mouth.

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of Yehovah is the beginning of Wisdom. And the knowledge of the Holy is understanding.

Proverbs 15:33 The fear of Yehovah is the instruction of Wisdom. And before honour is humility.

Psalm 34:11 Walk-ye, children! Hearken-ye to me, fearers of Yehovah! I will ‘learn’ you! 13Who is the man delighting lives, lover of days to see good? 14Watch-guard thy tongue from bad and thy lips from speaking deceit! 15Eschew from bad, and do good! Seek peace, and chase him!

 

C. Yehovah’s Commands and Warnings that Men Must Fear Him

Biblical Scriptures plainly teach that all must Fear Him. From the beginning of the Torah to the descriptions of the End Times, only those who Fear Him are in right standing with Him. The others will be destroyed. Texts give details of what a fearer of Yehovah daily practices, what Yehovah will do, and what some who refuse to fear Him will do and not do. The following texts include the Hebrew expression, “fear from thy God.” That is no lessening of fear, but is rather an intensifier:

Leviticus 19:14 Thou shalt not curse the deaf or put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear from thy God.

Leviticus 19:32 Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head and honour the face of the old man, and fear from thy God. I am Yehovah.

Leviticus 25:17 Ye shall not therefore oppress one another. But thou shalt fear from thy God! For I am Yehovah your God.

Leviticus 25:36 Take thou no interest (of thy brother who has become poor, even if he is a stranger or a traveller), or increase, but fear from thy God that thy brother may live with thee.

Proverbs 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes. Fear Yehovah and depart from evil.

Leviticus 25:43 Thou shalt not rule over [thy hired servant] with rigour, but shalt fear from thy God.

Proverbs 24:21 My son, fear thou Yehovah and the king…

Ecclesiastes 5:6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin. And say thou not before The Angel that it was an error. Why should God be angry at thy voice and destroy the work of thine hands? For vanities are also in the multitude of dreams and many words! But fear thou God!

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and guard His commandments! For this is the whole of man.

Joshua 24:14 And now, fear Yehovah and serve Him with perfection and with Truth! And put away the gods that your fathers served on the other side of the river and in Egypt. And serve ye Yehovah.

1 Samuel 12:24 But-rather, fear ye Yehovah and serve Him in Truth with all your heart! For, see what He ‘biggened’ with you!

Psalm 34:9 Fear Yehovah, ye His saints! For there is no lack to them who fear Him.

Deuteronomy 6:2 …that thou [Israel] shalt fear Yehovah thy God to guard all His statutes and His commandments that I command thee—thou and thy son and thy son’s son all the days of thy life, and that thy days will be prolonged.

Deuteronomy 6:13 Thou [Israel] shalt fear Yehovah thy God and serve Him, and shalt swear by His Name.

Deuteronomy 10:20 Thou shalt fear Yehovah thy God! Thou shalt serve Him! And thou shalt cleave to Him and swear by His Name. This is thy praise! And He is thy God…

Leviticus 19:3 Ye shall fear every man his mother and his father, and guard my Sabbaths. I am Yehovah your God.

II Kings 17:39 But ye [Israelis] shall fear Yehovah your God. And He shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.

I Samuel 12:14 If ye [Israelis] will fear Yehovah and serve Him and obey His voice and not rebel against the commandment of Yehovah, then both ye and also the king who reigns over you shall continue following Yehovah your God. And if ye will not hearken into the voice of Yehovah, and ye will rebel against the commandment of Yehovah, and the hand of Yehovah shall be into you and into your fathers!

Psalm 2:11 Serve ye Yehovah via fear! And circle-dance ye with trembling! 12Kiss-ye [the] Son lest He will be infuriated, and ye have damned a way! For His nose will burn as a little!” Happy are all refugees in Him!

Psalm 90:11 Who knows the strength of Thy nose? And as Thy fear, Thine overflowing is to number our day!

Isaiah 2:10 Enter into the rock! And hide thee in the dust for trepidation of Yehovah and for the glory of His majesty!

 

D. Yehovah’s power before those who did not fear Him

Humanity’s vast majority will not fear Yehovah. The majority of those who claim to be followers of the true and living God are not His fearers. If they were, they would know the promises made to His fearers, and they would walk in that fear. This claiming majority instead practice Replacement Theology, putting themselves in Israel’s place and perverting the Word of Truth so that they will feel included. They religiously walk in religious traditions of ‘Church Fathers’ who spurned the fear of God with their teachings.

The following passages show how Yehovah judged those who set fear aside or never feared Him, and how some turned to fear Him when He judged. Other passages declare what He will do.

2 Kings 17:25 And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there. They didn’t fear Yehovah. Yehovah therefore sent lions among them that slew of them… (Read to verse 33).

Malachi 3:5 “And I will come near to you to judgment. And I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in wages, the widow and the fatherless, and that turn-aside the stranger, and don’t fear me,” says Yehovah of hosts.

Deuteronomy 28:58 If thou (Israel) wilt not observe to do all the words of this Teaching that are written in this book that thou wilt fear this glorious and fearful Name: Yehovah Thy God, then Yehovah will make thy plagues incredible…

II Samuel 6:9 And David feared Yehovah that day. And he said, “How shall the ark of Yehovah come to me?”

Ecclesiastes 3:14 I knew that all the Elohim will do, he, he will be to Hider. There is nothing to add concerning him, and there is nothing to diminish from him. And the Elohim did, that they will fear from His faces!

Jonah 1:9 And [Jonah] said unto them, “I am a Hebrew. And I fear Yehovah the Gods of the heavens Who made the sea and the dry.” … [v.16] And the men feared Yehovah a big fear. And they sacrificed a sacrifice to Yehovah. And they vowed vows.

 

E. The certainty that all shall fear Yehovah

A time is coming when all on earth shall fear Yehovah:

Psalm 33:8 They shall fear from Yehovah, all the land! All inhabitants of the planet shall sojourn from Him!

Psalm 67:8 (7, kjv) God shall bless us [Israel]! And all the ends of the land shall fear Him.

Psalm 102:16 (15, kjv) So the nations shall fear the Name Yehovah, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

Isaiah 59:19 So shall they fear the Name Yehovah from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun.

Micah 7:17 [The races—non‑Israelis] shall lick dust as a serpent! They shall tremble as earth‑creepers from their strongholds (in surrender) unto Yehovah our God. They shall be afraid and shall fear Thee!

Hosea 3:5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek Yehovah their God and David their king. And they shall tremble unto Yehovah and His Goodness in the latter days.

 

F. Examples of Fearers of Yehovah, and How to Distinguish Them from Non‑Fearers

The following together form a practical test to establish who is and who is not a fearer of God. Obedience will be key. These Biblical examples teach the principles of fearing Yehovah and how their acts demonstrate that fear.

I Kings 18:12 (Obadiah) …but I thy servant fear Yehovah from my youth.

Nehemiah 7:2 …that I (Nehemiah) gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the ruler of the palace charge over Jerusalem. For he is a man of Truth, and feared God above many.

Exodus 1:17 & 21 But the midwives feared God and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them. And they saved the men children alive. … And it was because the midwives feared the Gods. And He made houses for them.

Jonah 1:9 And [Jonah] said unto them, “I am a Hebrew. And I fear Yehovah the Gods of the heavens Who made the sea and the dry.” … [v.16] And the men feared Yehovah a big fear. And they sacrificed a sacrifice to Yehovah. And they vowed vows.

I Kings 18:3 Now Obadiah greatly feared Yehovah. For it was, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Yehovah, that Obadiah took one hundred prophets. And he hid them by fifty in a cave. And he fed them with bread and water.

Exodus 9:20 He that feared the Word of Yehovah among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses. And he that regarded not the Word of Yehovah left his servants and his cattle in the field.

Genesis 22:12 And [the Angel Yehovah] said [to Abraham], Lay not thine hand upon the lad [Isaac]! And do not do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son—thine only from me.

Proverbs 14:2 He who walks in his uprightness fears Yehovah. And the perverse in his ways despiseth him!

Exodus 18:21 And thou, thou shalt choose men of an army from all the people, fearers of Elohim, men of Truth, haters of cuts. And thou shalt put over them princes of thousands, princes of hundreds, princes of fifties and princes of tens.

Psalm 119:38 Cause-to-stand Thy saying to Thy servant {masc.} what is to Thy fearer {fem.}.

(We asked the following question and proposed its answer in a Bible study: “What is being communicated by this verse? Mount Zion is asking Yehovah to fulfill the same promise made to Mount Zion to the House of Israel!”)

Psalm 119:161 Princes have persecuted me without a cause. And my heart trembles from Thy Word.

Psalm 36:2 (1, kjv) He declared a transgression to a culpable-one in the midst of my heart! There is no terror of gods straight-in-front-of his eyes!

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God and eschewed evil.

Psalm 119:63 I am a companion of all that fear Thee and of them that guard Thy visitations.

 

G. How to Learn to Fear Yehovah

How can one learn to fear Yehovah? Believing His word and believing whomever He (truly) sends helps, but that may be ‘putting the cart before the horse’. One way the fear of God comes is from the following: first merely hearing His Word, then considering it, then hearkening to it, then believing it. No person can learn to fear Him without literally believing (believing literally) what He has said.

Deuteronomy 31:12 Congregate the people—the men and the women and the little-one, and thy sojourner who is in thy gates in order that they will hearken and in order that they will learn. And they have feared Yehovah your Gods. And they will guard to do all the speeches of this Teaching.

Joshua 4:24 …in order for all the people of the land to know the hand of Yehovah. For she is gripping in order that ye shall fear Yehovah your Gods all the days.

Deuteronomy 4:10 …the day that thou stood to the faces of Yehovah thy Gods in Horeb in Yehovah’s saying unto me, “Congregate the people unto me. And I have-announced-to-them my speeches that they will learn to fear me all the days that they are alive upon the soil. And their children shall learn!”

Deuteronomy 14:23 And thou shalt eat the tithe of thy grain, of thy wine and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks before Yehovah thy God in the place that He shall choose to place His Name there so-that thou wilt learn to always fear Yehovah thy God.

Tithing is a food and drink party designed to teach the Israelis to always fear Yehovah!

Deuteronomy 17:18 And it shall be, when he sits upon the throne of his kingdom, that he (a king) shall write him a copy of this Teaching in a book from that which is before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him. And he shall read in him all the days of his lives in order that he will learn to fear Yehovah his God, to guard all the speeches of this Teaching and these statutes, to do them so that his heart will not be elevated above his brethren, and so that he will not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or the left so that he will lengthen days upon his kingdom—he and his children in the midst of Israel.

Psalm 86:11 Teach me, Yehovah, Thy way. I will walk via Thy Truth. Unite my heart to fear Thy Name.

Jeremiah 32:39 And I will give to them one heart and one Way to fear me all the days to benefit to them and to their children after them. And I will cut to them a covenant of Hider that I will not return away from them, to do them good. And I will give my fear into their hearts so-that they shall not depart from me.

Deuteronomy 8:6 Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of Yehovah thy God to walk in His ways and to fear Him.

Psalm 34:11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me! I will teach you the fear of Yehovah.

Proverbs 2:1 My son, if thou wilt take my words, and thou wilt hide my commandments with thee 2to prick-up thine ear to Wisdom, thou wilt bend thine heart to Understanding, 3but-rather, thou wilt call to Understanding, thou wilt give thy voice to Prudence, 4if thou wilt seek her as silver and search for her as hid-treasures, 5then shalt thou understand the fear of Yehovah! And thou wilt find the knowledge of God.

 

H. Promises Made to Those Who Fear Yehovah

The Word of God gives certain promises to those who fear Him and who fear His Name:

Malachi 3:16 Then fearers of Yehovah were spoken, a man unto his neighbour. And Yehovah pricked-up. And He hearkened. And He wrote a scroll of remembrance to His faces for fearers of Yehovah and for thinkers of His Name. 17 “And they will be to me,” said Yehovah of Hosts, “for the day that I am doing segregation! And I will have-compassion upon them just as a man will have-compassion upon his son who is serving him. 18And ye shall return. And ye shall see between a righteous-one to a culpable-one, between a slave of Elohim to who is not His slave. 19(4:1)For behold, the day came burning as an oven! And all presumptuous-ones and every doer of culpability shall be stubble. And the coming day shall burn them,” said Yehovah of Hosts, “that will not forsake them root and branch!” 20 (4:2)And a sun of righteousness shall sunrise to you, fearers of my Name! And healing is in her wings. And ye shall exit. And ye shall spread as calves of a stall. 21 (4:3)And ye shall trample culpable-ones. For they shall be ash under palms of your feet in the day that I am doing,” said Yehovah of Hosts.

Deuteronomy 5:26 (5:29, kjv) Who will give? And this their heart will be to them to fear me and to guard all my commandments all the days so-that he-will-good-do to them and to their children to Hider!

Deuteronomy 6:24 And Yehovah commanded us to do all these statutes to fear Yehovah our God for our good always so-that He will preserve us alive as at this day. And righteousness shall be ours if we observe to do all these commandments before Yehovah our God, as He hath commanded us.

Deuteronomy 10:12 And now, Israel, what does Yehovah thy God require of thee but to fear Yehovah thy God, to walk in all his ways and to love Him, and to serve Yehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy being to keep the commandments of Yehovah and His statutes, that I command thee this day for thy good!

Malachi 2:5 “My Covenant was with him, the lives and the peace. And I gave them to him, a fear. And he feared me. And he is a terror from the faces of my Name! 6Teaching of Truth was in his mouth. And iniquity was not found in his lips. He walked with me in peace and in straightness. And he turned many from iniquity.

Haggai 1:12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the son of Josedech the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of Yehovah their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as Yehovah their God had sent him. And the people did fear before Yehovah.

Psalm 25:12 Who is this—the man feared Yehovah! He will teach him via the way he will choose! 13His being shall lodge via Good. And his seed shall inherit a land! 14Secret of Yehovah and His Covenant are to His fearers to make them known!

Psalm 128:1 My happiness is every fearer of Yehovah walking in His ways!

Proverbs 13:13 A despiser to the word will be bound to him! And a fearer of a commandment—he will be-peaced [be recompensed].

Psalm 61:6 (5, kjv) For Thou, Elohim, Thou hearkened to my vows. Thou gave possession of fearers of Thy Name.

Psalm 135:20b …ye that fear Yehovah, bless Yehovah.

Ecclesiastes 8:12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them who fear God—who fear before Him. But it shall not be well with the wicked. And he shall not prolong days—as a shadow. For he doesn’t fear before Elohim.

Psalm 119:74 They who fear Thee will see me and will rejoice. For I hoped in Thy speech.

Psalm 31:19 How great is Thy good that Thou laid up for them who fear thee. Thou did for them who trust in Thee before the sons of men!

Psalm 33:18 Behold, the eye of Yehovah is upon them who fear Him, upon them who hope in His Grace.

Psalm 103:11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so has His Grace overpowered them who fear Him!

Psalm 103:13 As a father wombs concerning children, Yehovah wombs His fearers.

Psalm 103:17 But the Grace of Yehovah is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

Psalm 145:18 Yehovah is nigh unto all them that call upon him: to all that call upon him in Truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.

Psalm 147:11 Yehovah taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his Grace.

Psalm 25:14 The secret of Yehovah is with them that fear him; and he will show them his Covenant.

Psalm 34:8 (7, kjv) The Angel Yehovah encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

Psalm 85:9 & Psalm 119:155, in contrast: Surely his Salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land (of Israel)…Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not thy statutes.

Proverbs 31:30 Gracefulness is deceitful, and beauty is vain: a woman that feareth Yehovah, she shall be praised.

Proverbs 10:27 The fear of Yehovah prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked ones shall be shortened.

Proverbs 14:27 The fear of Yehovah is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

Proverbs 19:23 The fear of Yehovah is to life: and he shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.

Proverbs 22:4 By humility: the fear of Yehovah are riches, and honour, and life.

Proverbs 16:6 By Grace and Truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of Yehovah men depart from evil.

Jeremiah 32:40 And I will make an everlasting Covenant with [Israel], that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

Psalm 5:7 But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy Grace; in thy fear will I worship toward the Temple of Thy Holy One.

Exodus 20:20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

Proverbs 28:14 Happy is the man that trembleth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.

 

I. The Goodness of Yehovah Brings Fear

The goodness of Yehovah leads men to repentance. Repentance is a dead issue without the fear of Yehovah. There is no price that a man can bring that will pay for sin. The establishment of a good relationship with the Creator is only through the sacrifice provided by Yehovah. The following demonstrate the goodness of Yehovah that brought or will bring fear to those who respond:

1 Kings 8:41 Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy Name’s sake; (for they shall hear of thy great Name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house; hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all peoples of the earth may know thy Name, to fear thee, as thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I (Solomon) have builded, is called by thy Name.

Nehemiah 1:11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.

Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it: and God doeth, that they should fear before him.

1 Kings 8:38 What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the PLAGUE of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

Exodus 14:31 And Israel saw that great work which Yehovah did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared Yehovah, and believed Yehovah, and his servant Moses.

Psalm 130:4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

 

J. Commands for Those Who Fear Yehovah

The final section consists of commands for those who already fear God, so that they will patiently wait for Him, knowing that He will respond to their need:

Isaiah 50:10 Who is among you that feareth Yehovah that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the Name Yehovah and stay upon his God.

Psalm 22:23 Ye that fear Yehovah, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.

Psalm 115:11,13 Ye that fear Yehovah: trust in Yehovah; He is their help and their shield…He will bless them that fear Yehovah, small and great.

Psalm 118:4 Let them now that fear Yehovah say, that His Grace is eternal!

Psalm 135:20b …ye that fear Yehovah, bless Yehovah.

Anyone without His fear is not one of His. If you, the reader, falls into this category, determine to fear Him. That fear will be given to anyone who desires it.

The appropriate fear of Yehovah never makes an ulcer; it makes for joy and peace. The fear of God is required for Salvation from sin to righteousness.

 

as Explored from the New Testament

 

In Relation to the Tenach

 

 

K. Fearsome Texts

Matthew 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Luke 18:8b Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Matthew 7:13 Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because narrow is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it [compare with Psalm 33:11‑ ].

Luke 11:52 Woe unto you, lawyers, for ye have taken away the KEY OF KNOWLEDGE: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye do hindered [compare Proverbs 1:7].

II Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether good or bad. Knowing therefore the TERROR of Yehovah, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God…

The New Testament leaves no doubt that one must fear Yehovah. A popular modern belief directs folks to the love of God in such a way that eliminates fear of Him. He is described much like a mighty Santa Claus. Yehovah is love. He is also wrath. He is Jealous. He is literally a consuming fire. He is a hater of sin and those who propagate sin (causing guilt: workers of iniquity). God so loved the world; He will burn it with fire because of sin’s pollution. God is a Man of War. God is the Avenger. God will not pardon. He made a way of escape by being the sacrifice for sin Himself. How much will He destroy those who lightly esteem His sacrifice by lightly treating sin? God is love. That love is only directed to some: to His Saints, to His land, to His People (literal) Israel. Yet, He remarkably attacks Israel for ignoring and violating the Torah.

Fear God and live. Refrain from fearing Him and be destroyed.

 

L. Commands and Warnings that Men Must Fear Him

Part of the definition of the Everlasting Gospel includes the Fear of Yehovah. No everlasting Salvation is possible without the fear of Him.

One man in Yeshua’s day understood the second part of the Everlasting Gospel by giving glory to Him, by confessing Him:

Luke 17:17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

The following are examples of commands are warnings to fear:

2 Corthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Ephesians 5:21 …submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work our your own salvation with fear and trembling.

1 Peter 2:18 Servants, be subject to masters with all fear: not only to the good and gentle, but also to the perverted.

1 Peter 3:1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the Word, they also may without the Word be won by the lifestyle of the wives: while they behold your chaste lifestyle [coupled] with fear.

Luke 12:4 & Matthew 10:28 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear Him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, FEAR HIM!…And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

I Peter 2:17 Honour all. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the EVERLASTING GOSPEL to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him: for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

Hebrews 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we, if we turn away from him that is from heaven: whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we, receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have Grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire.

 

M. Examples of Fearers of Yehovah and How to Distinguish Them from Non‑Fearers

Acts 9:31 Then had the churches rest (after Saul became a believer in the Messiah Yeshua) throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of Yehovah, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, were multiplied.

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Luke 23:39: And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on [Yeshua], saying, If thou be Messiah, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we received the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Yeshua, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

Acts 10:1, 22: There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, a devout man, and one that Feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway…And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.

 

N. Promises Made to Those Who Fear Yehovah

Acts 13:16,26 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience …  Men: brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the Word of this Salvation sent.

Luke 1:50 [And Miriam, Yeshua’s mother said:] …and His Grace is on them that fear Him from generation to generation…

16. Acts 10:34: Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.

Revelation 11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy Name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

The conclusion of the whole matter is this:

Fear Yehovah.

Matthew 1 Literally Rendered

Matthew 1 Literally Rendered

(See Accompanying Matthew 1 Questions and Proposed Answers on this site.)

 

1Scroll of the generation of Yeshua, anointed son of David, son of Avraham. 2Avraham childed Isaac, and Isaac childed Jacob. And Jacob childed Judah and his brethren. 3And Judah childed Pharez and Zerah of Tamar. And Pharez childed Hezron. And Hezron childed Ram. 4And Ram childed Aminadav. And Aminadab childed Nahshon. And Nahshon childed Salmon. 5And Salmon childed Boaz of Rakhav. And Boaz childed Obed of Ruth. And Obed childed Jesse. 6And Jesse childed David the king. And David the king childed Solomon of her of Uriah. 7And Solomon childed Rehoboam. And Rehoboam childed Abijah. And Abijah childed Asa. 8And Asa childed Jehoshaphat. And Jehoshaphat childed Jehoram. And Jehoram childed Uzziah. 9And Uzziah childed Jotham. And Jotham childed Akhaz. And Akhaz childed Hezekiah. 10And Hezekiah childed Manasseh. And Manasseh childed Amon. And Amon childed Josiah. 11And Josiah childed Jeconiah/Jehoiachin and his brethren about the time they were carried away to Babylon. 12And after the carrying away of Babylon Jeconiah/Jehoiachin childed Shealtiel. And Shealtiel childed Zerubbabel. 13And Zerubbabel childed Abihud. And Abihud childed Eliakim. And Eliakim childed Hazor. 14 And Hazor childed Zadok. And Zadok childed Joiakim/Jehoiakim. And Joiakim/Jehoiakim childed Elihud.15And Elihud childed Eleazar. And Eleazar childed Mattan. And Mattan childed Jacob. 16And Jacob childed Joseph the husband of Miriam of whom was born Yeshua who is called Messiah. 17So all the generations from Avraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David until the carrying away of Babylon, fourteen generations, and from the carrying away of Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

 

18Now the birth of the Anointed Salvation was thus. For His mother Miriam, having been betrothed to Joseph, was found to be with child from the Spirit of the Holy-[One] before they came together. 19But Joseph her husband secretly purposed to put her away, being righteous and not willing to expose her publicly. 20And when he had pondered these things, behold an angel of Yehovah appeared to him in a dream saying, “Yoseph ben David! Fear not to take to Miriam thy wife! For what is in her is holy, is begotten of the Spirit! 21And she shall bring forth a son. And thou shalt call His Name Salvation. For He shall save His people from their sins!” 22Now this all came to pass that what was spoken by Yehovah through the prophet will be fulfilled, saying, 23 “Behold the pregnant virgin! And she shall child a son. And they shall call His Name Immanuel,” which being interpreted is God-With-Us. 24And having been aroused from sleep, Joseph did as the angel of Yehovah had ordered him and took his wife. 25And he knew her not until she brought forth her son—the firstborn. And he called His Name Salvation [Yeshua].

Matthew 1 Questions and Proposed Answers

Matthew 1

Questions and Proposed Answers

(See Accompanying Matthew 1 Literally Rendered on this site.)

Note: This document has not been finely edited. It is written during studies. Please expect to find errors in spelling, words missing, etc. If you use the document and desire to participate in editing it, please do so. I will need the number-letter address along with a partical quote of the error, and what you know or think it should say. Please send it to james842@eeweems.com.

1. a) Why is all of Matthew called the “Scroll of the generation of Messiah Yeshua…”? The entire scroll spoke of the historic generation in which Yeshua lived, but also spoke of the future generation that will believe on Him.

1. b) How long is a generation? The Bible doesn’t give an exact length to a generation. One generation lasted 40 years: that generation that came out of Egyptian bondage only to be killed off in the wilderness due to unbelief, disobedience and blatant rebellion against Yehovah’s commands. Another generation mentioned in the Bible lasts 100 years:

Genesis 15:13 And He said unto Avram, “Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not theirs, and shall serve them. And they shall afflict them four hundred years. 14And I will also judge that nation whom they shall serve. And shall they come out afterward with great substance. 15And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace. Thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16But they shall come hither again in the fourth generation. For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

This text associates 400 years with a fourth generation, thus making an average of 100 years per generation.

1. c) What is the advantage of a scroll over a book? A scroll in which a page has been removed will show the evidence by the scroll falling into two, whereas a book can have a page torn out without the reader knowing it is missing for a long time. Even computers scroll through their pages, showing continuity. Thus, the most modern of equipment uses scroll descriptions and design.

1. d) What does Yeshua mean? This name means Salvation.

1. e) What does anointed mean? It means selected for a particular assignment, including any empowerment needed to carry out that assignment (often accompanied by the pouring of olive oil over a person’s head, signifying the stopping of bugs and other things that would inhibit a person, like a sheep, from concentrating on the appointed task). Only God or a prophet has the power to anoint.

1. f) For what purpose was Yeshua an anointed son of David? He was anointed to fulfill the Scriptures. He was anointed to:

  • Be the sacrifice for sin
  • Live according to the Teaching of Yehovah in a perfect manner
  • Bring the announcement of the Kingdom of God/Heaven to the Israelis
  • To be the Salvation of His people Israel
  • To instruct regarding the End Times
  • To bring every aspect of the Word of God to them that He brought

It is imperative that a reader know that Messiah had to be of specifically David’s lineage because of the promise Yehovah made.

1. g) When was Yeshua anointed?

Luke 2:25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Yehovah’s Messiah.

Yeshua was already the Messiah, therefore anointed, at eight days old. Thus, His anointing must precede His birth.

1. h) Why did He have to be the son of David? This was the proper lineage for the Messiah. He could not be of the tribe of Levi. The Levites will never produce the Messiah. Messiah is from a different priestly line (that of Melchizedek). David’s lineage is the kingly lineage, and thus it makes sense for King Messiah to be born in that lineage.

1. i) What is the significance of His being a son of Abraham? The promises went through Avraham. One of those promises was specifically to the seed, a reference to the Messiah (Galatians 3:16).

1. j) Define David: This word means lover, but is a different root from the normal word for love. It is a term that shows a particular type of affection that is far more sexual in its implications automatically than the other word ahavah that is used for love. Thus, the term dodi (directly related to David) is used in Song of Solomon over and over again: my lover.

1. k) What does Avraham mean? It means father of a crowd.

2. a) Verse 2 has a very curious detail: “Jacob childed Judah and his brethren.” Judah was not the firstborn. Why mention Judah instead of Reuben the firstborn? Verse 3 gives the answer, since this lineage will not be concerned with any other son of Jacob except Judah. This is the lineage through Judah.

2. b) What does Isaac mean? It means he will laugh.

2. c) What does Jacob mean? It means he will heel(pull). It also implies coming afterward, but not in time as much as in position. The word for heel in Hebrew is also the word showing the furthest back position. Thus, it is used as an adverb to describe something occurring afterward.

2. d) What does Judah mean? It means he confessed Yehovah.

3. a) What does Pharez mean? It means he breached.

3. b) What does Zerah mean? It means Sunrise.

3. c) What does Tamar mean? It means palm tree.

3. d) What does Hezron mean? It means either courtyard or trumpet-blast.

3. e) What does Ram mean? It means elevated.

4. a) What does Aminadav mean? It means my people is generous.

4. b) What does Nahshon mean? It means enchantment.

4. c) What does Salmon mean? It means garmented.

5. a) What does Boaz mean? It means in strength.

5. b) What does Rakhav mean? It means broad.

5. c) What does Obed mean? It means server.

5. d) What does Ruth mean? It means abundantly watered (with a good drink).

5. e) What does Jesse mean? It means he will exist.

6. a) What does Solomon mean? It means her peace.

6. b) What does Uriah mean? It means light of Yah.

7. a) What does Rehoboam mean? It means he broadened a people.

7. b) What does Avijah mean? It means my Father is Yah.

7. c) What does Asa mean? It means I will measure.

8. a) What does Jehoshaphat mean? It means Yehovah judged.

8. b) What does Jehoram mean? It means Yehovah elevated.

8. c) What does Uzziah mean? It means strength of Yah.

9. a) What does Jotham mean? It means Yehovah is perfect.

9. b) What does Akhaz mean? It means he grasped.

9. c) What does Hezekiah mean? It means Yehovah strengthened/will strengthen.

10. a) What does Manasseh mean? It means Forgetter.

10. b) What does Amon mean? It means Faith.

10. c) What does Josiah mean? It means Yah will do.

11. a) What does Jeconiah/Jehoiachin mean? It means Yah will foundation.

12. a) What does Shealtiel mean? It means I asked a mighty [one].

12. b) What does Zerubbabel mean? It means He scattered confusion.

13. a) What does Abihud mean? It means My father is majesty.

13. b) What does Eliakim mean? It means a mighty-one shall make-stand.

13. c) What does Hazor mean? It means helped.

14. a) What does Zadok mean? It means justified.

14. b) What does Joiakim/Jehoiakim mean? It means Yehovah will make-stand.

14. c) What does Elihud mean? It means My mighty-one is majesty.

15. a) What does Eleazar mean? It means Mighty [one] helped.

15. b) What does Mattan mean? It means gift.

15. c) What does Jacob mean? It means He will heel(pull).

16. a) What does Joseph mean? It means He will gather.

16. b) What does Miriam mean? It means Myrrh of the sea.

16. c) If we propose to add together all the meanings of the names given above, and if we rearrange them just a little so that adjectives are in the right order and articles (a, the) are supplied, what type of a statement is forthcoming? We propose that it will be prophetic. The following is what we derived by the above means:

Lover of Father of a crowd will laugh. He will heel(pull). He confessed Yehovah. He breached a Sunrise. Palm tree Elevated a trumpet blast. My people is generous, enchantment garmented in broad strength. A server abundantly watered (with a good drink). Lover of her peace will exist, the Light of Yah. My Father Yah broadened a people I will measure. Yehovah judged! Yehovah elevated! The Strength of Yah Yehovah is perfect. Yehovah grasped; He strengthened [and] will strengthen a forgetter of Faith. Yah will do! Yah will foundation! I asked a mighty [one]; He scattered confusion. My father is majesty! A mighty-one shall make-stand a Helped [and] Justified [one]. Yehovah will make-stand! My mighty-one is majesty. Mighty [one] helped, a gift. He will heel(pull)! Salvation will gather Myrrh of the sea.

16. d) If the above is correct, what does this mean about the process of naming children in this lineage? What took place? Yehovah is sovereign, including over the naming process. If these names together are also the Word of God (through their meanings), Yehovah made sure that all names were given exactly as He determined. That means that some names may never be used for another human again. All the parents had other children (if more than one child was born), but only those listed are important if prophecy is implanted in these names.

16. e) Are all the names mentioned the names of firstborn? No. Some will be, because the lineage of kings is among them.

If these names were meant to make a sentence that speaks of the End Times and Yeshua, this would be why some of these names were chosen instead of another sibling’s name. A number of the folks in this lineage were unrighteous, and a few were slime. Yet their names are what is important to the lineage if the names form a paragraph.

16. f) What is the difference between adding all the names together to form a supposed paragraph and skipping every other letter in order to obtain a new writing that is secret, the technique of numerologists? The differences include the following:

Connecting Names

Skipping Letters

This uses names that are part of open infallible Scripture.

This is an occult (hidden) technique that has no open example.

This employs definitions that usually can be found.

This assumes that all scrolls have the same Hebrew letters, which they don’t.

This is concentrating on the text.

This is distracting from the text to find occult messages.

This assumes that texts are literal.

This assumes that messages are hidden; from whom are they hidden?

 

 

 

16. g) Why is Joseph mentioned in this lineage when he had nothing to do with Yeshua’s birth? Why even have a lineage of Joseph when he is a non-participant? The Bible is never meant to be read and understood in a piecemeal fashion when the other parts are available. (If they are not available, the pieces that are available may be read in this fashion, for Yehovah can supply what is missing. If they are available, however, there is no reason for Yehovah to supply what isn’t missing; He doesn’t reward laziness.) Since Luke gives the genealogy of Miriam, the reader can see where the two lineages departed from each other, and can see that both Miriam and Joseph were from David. But Joseph was from a lineage with a curse, while Miriam is from a lineage without a curse. One king in Joseph’s lineage did such a wrong that Yehovah pronounced a curse on that line. Thus, the careful reader will know that the lineage of Joseph was included fully to substantiate that there is no way that Joseph could have fathered the Messiah.

Jeremiah 36:30 Therefore thus saith Yehovah of Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.

From verse 14, Jehoiakim is given a specific curse: he will never have anyone to sit upon the throne of David. (This did not mean that this lineage was excluded from being greatly blessed in all other ways.) If Messiah had come through him, Messiah could not have sat on David’s throne.

16. h) Why does the text explain that Yeshua was called Messiah instead of indicating that He was and is the Messiah? The Bible usually leaves conclusions up to readers rather than telling them what to believe. This is the tenor of the entire Bible. It gives Truth in a way that a reader can easily twist it into error. It also gives Truth in a way that one who desires to know will find it presented in a most candid way.

16. i) What does Messiah mean? It means anointed. Thus, this text indicates that Yeshua is called anointed.

16. j) For what purpose was He anointed? This text states that He is anointed by using the word Messiah. He was anointed to be the sacrifice for sin. Yet this is a death issue. For what was He anointed while He lived? He was anointed to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and to do many miracles.

16. ?) What is the purpose of anointing? It is not for the purpose of equipping. If it were, everyone anointed while functioning in the anointing would do right. Some are anointed to positions in which they will do violence. One king was anointed to slaughter Israelis. He was a wicked and cruel man. Anointing is not necessarily for good. Anointing is an assignment. The anointing, therefore, guarantees that a person will succeed in doing a task or series of tasks (if the person lives). Anyone who lays a hand on one anointed by Yehovah in such a way that it would stop the person from that assignment (whether good or bad) is challenging Yehovah. If a person does violence against one who is anointed without knowing that the person was anointed, that is still a violation. One man put King Saul out of his misery. He then came to David to give him the crown that King Saul wore, telling what he had done. David paid him well with a sword in his gut for his trouble. He should have known that King Saul was anointed by Yehovah. This is also why Yehovah makes sure to have anointings eventually be publicized.

An anointing is not a calling. The callings of Yehovah are always for good and for benefit (even if one is killing Palestinians). An anointing is an assignment, especially to a position. What one does in that position can greatly vary.

The only persons who are legitimately able to anoint are prophets and God. Anyone who anoints is claiming to be a prophet. Thus, if the person isn’t really a prophet, the person is a false prophet, and that is a lethal profession. The one anointing is absolutely claiming to speak for God. This includes folks who anoint for healing.

16. k) When was Yeshua anointed? The anointing was official when John baptized him.

16. l) What is the normal tool of anointing? Olive oil being poured over one’s head (in large quantities) is the normal tool; baptism is not. Yet this is when the Spirit of Yehovah came on Him to start His ministry.

16. m) Who usually anoints (in the Bible)? Only a prophet or Yehovah can anoint, since the anointing is accompanied by infallible information and an assignment of a position from God. Anyone claiming the right and power of anointing is also necessarily claiming infallibility in that anointing. The person is also claiming to prophesy, whether the person understands that or not.

I know of no seminary that refrains from anointing their graduates to the ministry.

Modern ordination is exactly the same as anointing. A person or a group is declaring that another is ordained by God to a work.

16. n) If a person, then, anoints another without being called of God to do that (with a calling that meets Biblical requirements), is that person blaspheming? Yes.

16. o) If a person anoints another with oil, then prays for the person’s recovery (not claiming that the God will heal the person), is that blasphemy? No; it is just stupid and can eventually lead that person to blaspheme.

If they pray over the person while anointing the person with oil, and their prayer is a request, they combining error with a prayer as if that error will aid the prayer in being answered. They think they are following the command in the Book of Jacob (James):

James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

This text has a target (the Israelis) and a timing. It has guarantees. Folks who do not consider these things are playing.

17. a) What does this verse indicate about the definition of a Biblical generation? This verse shows that generations hang on particular families and ranks in their areas. Thus, Yehovah viewed these generations as three times 14, or 42 generations, regardless of the many other birthings and deaths that occurred at the very same time. Yehovah sees a generation in terms of one ruling or important culture and family, not in terms of death to death and birth to birth. Therefore, the term “World War II generation” is correct in Biblical terms. Three other texts speak of one thousand generations from the giving of the Covenant to Avraham to the end of the planet. Therefore Yehovah must have 1,000 specific generations in mind regardless of what is occurring in other cultures in the world. These generations must pertain to Israel, to Avraham’s offspring, the David’s lineage, and indeed to David’s lineage! These generations are attached to a particular administration. They move quickly because they depend on one person each. Other generations can outlive five or six births and deaths of fathers to sons. The Greek word genea, genea does not carry the same meaning as the Hebrew word rwd, dor. The Greek word indicates genesis, beginnings, while the Hebrew word indicates periods, ages. The three texts refer to the Hebrew generations, and we will not be able to tell how long that is until it has occurred unless Yehovah gives more information.

17. b) Why did Yehovah divide the 42 generations into threes with the first three being specifically from Avraham to David, the second three being from David to the carrying away of Babylon, and the third being from the carrying away of Babylon to Messiah? Doesn’t this mean that the last of the first two sets also is the first of the last two sets, making it two less than 42? The ending of the first two sets took place during the administration of the last generation. Thus, David both oversaw the ending of the 14th generation AND oversaw the first of the 15th generation. The same is true of the Babylonian exile; it ended one generation, and it also began a new generation. Thus, it is mentioned twice. These divisions are because (I propose) Israel was not important as a world power before King David’s time. Israel became a true world power during King David’s administration, and was a major force in the Middle East until the Babylonian captivity. Then Israel resumed being a minor force in the world with very few exceptions. (We are living during a curious exception.)

18. a) What is so important about giving the details of Yeshua’s birth?

  • This is necessary to show regarding the virgin birthing a child while she is still in her virginity.
  • This shows the responses of the various folks involved.
  • This shows how Yehovah communicates and does when His plan is being directly activated.
  • This shows how others not directly involved responded to Yeshua’s birth.
  • This shows the controversies over His birth.
  • These details demonstrate prophetic fulfillment (in a few cases).

18. b) Does this verse claim that Yeshua was indeed anointed? Yes! It is part of the text.

18. c) What does betrothed mean? It does not mean promised, and it does not mean engaged. It means that they are fully husband and wife, but they have not sexually consummated the marriage. The only way to break a betrothal is through a divorce.

18. d) What type of ceremony occurred at a betrothal? The ceremony wasn’t at the betrothal. The betrothal instead was a covenant or an agreement of some type akin to the purchase of a house or the selling of a mule. The folks who make this betrothal agreement can be parents or can be the adults themselves who are about to be betrothed. Many factors can determine who does what. Kings would sometimes use diplomats to become betrothed.

18. e) Who participated in the betrothal agreement between Miriam and Joseph? The text does not say. It only states, “having been betrothed” as if Miriam was either not the one doing the betrothal or that she was already betrothed to him at the time indicated in this verse.

18. f) How old were Miriam and Joseph at the time of this betrothal? The text doesn’t say. Assuming an age for them will lead to error, not truth.

18. g) Who found Miriam to be pregnant? We can’t tell who was the first to determine that she was pregnant. She did not tell anyone that she was pregnant; she hid the information in her heart. There is no indication that she discussed this with Joseph. He was clueless regarding what was occurring.

18. f) This verse states that she was found pregnant from the Spirit of the Holy One. Who would have known that the source of the child was Yehovah’s Spirit? This isn’t referring to what humans determined, but instead what Yehovah and the angels knew. No human except Miriam knew. And Miriam found herself pregnant. She had been told that she would become pregnant, but she didn’t know when. Luke 1 explains, and does not include a timing for the pregnancy nor even that she knew when the conception occurred. She only knew that it would occur.

18. g) What is significant if she was found to be pregnant before they came together? She would know that the testimony of the angel was true; she would certainly know if Joseph and she had had sexual intercourse. Readers who believe the text would also know that no sexual act of a man took place before the pregnancy.

18. h) Could Miriam and Joseph participate in sexual intercourse after she was found pregnant? The issue is not whether they could have done that; it is instead that they didn’t:

Matthew 1:25 And he knew her not until she brought forth her son—the firstborn.

19. a) What was Joseph planning to do (described as putting her away)? He was planning to divorce her. She was pregnant; she had not stated how that came about; he would not be able to trust her.

19. b) Could he have suspected that Messiah’s being born of a virgin might have been fulfilled in Miriam? Wouldn’t Joseph, a spiritual man, have thought that Miriam could have been the bearer of the Messiah? Joseph’s spirituality was of a nature to not presume or assume without evidence. He would know that Yehovah could do as Yehovah desired, but that didn’t mean that he would give a pregnant woman that means of escaping her participation even in the plan of God without some type of evidence or proof.

19. c) Would Joseph have known Miriam very well, or would they have been betrothed without knowing each other? Had parents arranged the marriage, they would have known each other in most cases (unless the marriage was for power or wealth). Parents normally knew each other before ‘selling’ their children together. I have found no indication of parental participation in the betrothal of Joseph and Miriam. My impression is that Joseph was older. His reaction to her pregnancy doesn’t sound like a 20-year-old.

19. d) What is the difference between the two following statements?

“Joseph her husband secretly purposed to put her away”

or

 “Joseph her husband purposed to put her away secretly”

In the first statement, he was planning in secret: Miriam would not know. In the second statement, he was going to put her away in a manner that others would not find out he had done that in order to save her from shame.

19. e) Which of the above is correct? The first is correct: “Joseph her husband secretly purposed to put her away” as if he would not tell her until he did it. Yet the rest of the verse shows that his intention was to not publicly expose her.

19. f) What does his being righteous have to do with his unwillingness to expose her publicly?

Deuteronomy 24:1 When a man hath taken a woman and married her, and it come to pass that she finds no favour in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he shall write her a bill of divorcement and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. 2And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s.

If Joseph had ruined her reputation, he would have drastically cut the possibility of her becoming another man’s (wife). He was going to do according to the Torah, and not taint her in the process. Joseph had no proof that she had been whoring around. All he knew was that she was pregnant, and had not explained to him how that had come about. For all he knew, she might have been raped.

19. g) How did Joseph know that Miriam was pregnant? Was she showing? Yes, she was showing, but that may not be the full explanation. Thanks to Kristen, I add the following thoughts: In Luke 1, Miriam goes to see Elizabeth. In verse 1:43 Elizabeth seems to be speaking in the present tense when she says, “the mother of my Lord should come to me” as though Miriam is already with child. Miriam stays with Elizabeth about 3 months according to Luke 1:56. At the time of her return, if Miriam is with child, she could be showing entering possibly her 4th month. Word of mouth about Elizabeth’s exclamation could have gotten to others and then to Joseph. I know the text does not tell specifically. (Thank you, Kristen, for that correction.)

19. h) Did folks gossip about them after they did come together? Absolutely. That was a scourge that they both faced. Some knew that the child was from Yehovah; most didn’t. A prophet and a prophetess both publicly spoke of His being the promised one, the Messiah. Anyone challenging them would be calling them false prophets. Thus, there was a split in Israel over Yeshua’s legitimacy.

20. a) What was he pondering? He was pondering about her pregnancy and how to divorce her without publicly exposing her. He also would have been pondering the hurt and heartbreak that he was experiencing.

20. b) Why did the angel of Yehovah wait to appear to him at this last moment, thus increasing Joseph’s suffering? The question is flawed. The angel didn’t wait; Yehovah didn’t dispatch the angel until this time. Therefore, the question must be address to Yehovah’s timing. Why did Yehovah wait? Yehovah often waits. This is how Joseph’s character is shown. Joseph’s character was right and righteous up to the very point at which he was going to act. This character aspect was exposed to all readers of the Bible.

20. c) Why did the angel appear to Joseph in a dream instead of in person? Joseph did not need a personal appearance to believe what he was told. That dream was enough for Joseph, showing Joseph’s character. Others might have insisted on or needed a personal appearance.

20. d) How can an angel appear in a dream? If Yehovah has sent an angel to a person to appear in a dream, Yehovah will give that angel interactivity in that dream. Yehovah is sovereign over dreams.

20. e) Why did the angel refer to Joseph as “Yoseph ben David,” or “Joseph son of David” when Yoseph’s father was another Jacob (verse 16 above)? Joseph was in the direct lineage of King David. Yet this had nothing to do with Yeshua, since Yeshua did not come from Joseph. Still, the angel recognized that Yeshua’s caretaker was as much from King David’s lineage as Yeshua’s mother, though through separate lines. This connection with the righteous King David was a very good way to refer to Joseph.

20. f) The next statement (“Fear not to take to Miriam thy wife”) implies that Joseph may have feared to take Miriam his wife. Is this true? If so, explain. Because the angel had complete information, the reader can rightly assume that Joseph did fear to take her as his wife. (They were already married!)

20. g) Why did Joseph fear to take his wife Miriam? I will propose some ideas why he feared:

  • Joseph knew that her reputation in this community was ruined; her living there would be torture.
  • Joseph’s own reputation could easily be ruined such that his business would be greatly diminished because he had taken a tarnished woman in spite of her being tarnished.
  • Joseph had not heard the true events from Miriam; she had not said a word. How could Joseph deal well with a woman who could experience something as important as a pregnancy, yet not speak to him about it? How could he participate in her happiness when he had no idea of the events that led to it?
  • How would Joseph know whether she would be faithful to him if she could become pregnant by some other means even while they were married (and they were already married!)?

20. h) Explain the wording of “What is in her is holy”: The baby is the object of the pronoun what. This is no insult, but was a normal expression. Since the child was described as holy, the child was owned. The angel didn’t specify the owner, but the sender of the angel sent to let Joseph know that that child was owned, implying Yehovah as the Owner.

20. i) What does “what is in her is begotten of the Spirit” mean? This directly links Yeshua to the Spirit of Yehovah. Thus, anyone who challenges Yeshua’s station is challenging the Spirit of Yehovah, according to this text.

21. a) Who was assigned to call the child’s name Salvation? (Who is thou?) The first pointer is to Joseph. He has been given an assignment, and thus he is now involved. Then, this text is prophetic, for all Israel will call His Name Salvation.

21. b) Whom will He save, according to this verse? He will save His people from their sins. His people refers to the People of Israel, and no other group.

21. c) What is a people? It is a group of individuals with a common culture. A nation on the other hand is exactly the same as a race. The United States is not a nation in the Biblical sense, but the Cherokee is a nation in the Bible sense. The United States is an empire in the Biblical sense (regardless of its form of government) since an empire encompasses numerous races and peoples.

21. d) What event is this when He will save His people from their sins? The provision is in the crucifixion. The event is during the Tribulation, since this refers to the entire people.

21. e) How will He do this? He is the sacrifice and the substitute. Numerous texts describe this event. Some even tell how. For one thing, He will call, and they will answer. His Goodness will draw them to repentance—His Goodness, and not the terrible things going on.

21. f) If this is the case, why didn’t this happen long ago? The Israelis will not be ready for this until the time of the Tribulation. A strange set of events will make them ready, but they will not be made ready by Tribulation itself. If they were, they would be ready by the middle of the Tribulation. Instead, they will be ready by some time in the 7th year. Apart from this, I don’t know what means Yehovah will use. It won’t be a case of His sovereignly overruling their hearts. That would eliminate faith.

Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of His Goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the Goodness of God leads thee to repentance?

21. g) What will be the effect of his (the people’s) being saved from the sins of the Israelis? The effect will be that the Israelis will become free of sin, and will stay free of sin.

22. a) Look at the wording: “Now this all came to pass that what was spoken by Yehovah through the prophet will be fulfilled.” What is this statement communicating? The first part of the statement is: “Now this all came to pass.” This describes a historical event. This event occurred, but it occurred for a reason that had nothing to do with the event itself. The text continues, “that what was spoken by the Yehovah through the prophet;” this is a reference to a historical prophecy, telling that these things had already been declared. The last part of the statement is what is so curious, for it states, “that what was spoken by Yehovah through the prophet will be fulfilled in the future. It has not yet occurred, and will not occur until the End Times. Most all of what was spoken by the prophet has yet to be fulfilled.

23. a) If the above answer is correct, what in verse 23 has yet to be fulfilled? The meaning of the name Immanuel declares a future event, since the Mighty One of Israel is not yet among the Israelis in person. They cannot declare, “God is with us!” and be right. He may show His hand on their behalf, but abiding with them awaits a future time.

The command, “Behold the pregnant virgin!” has never been obeyed. When Israel finally beholds the pregnant virgin, Israel will see Israel’s Son. That will be when they believe.

The item that hasn’t been fulfilled is this: “they shall call His Name Immanuel,” the Israelis believing that He is indeed God with them.

23. b) What is the difference between the statement, “Behold the pregnant virgin” and “A virgin shall conceive”? One difference is that the first refers to the present tense, while the second declares what will occur. Another difference is this: The first declares the pregnancy of a virgin, something that cannot normally happen. The second declares that a virgin shall or will conceive, something that happens every day. It isn’t worded right. Virgins can easily conceive, though their virginity has been removed by the sexual act that leads to conception. In other words, the normal wording easily leads to doubt regarding the possibility of the miraculous aspect.

24. a) Who aroused Joseph from sleep? It appears that either the angel or the dream aroused him. (If it were a farm animal, the text didn’t say.)

24. b) Does this verse indicate some form of speed on the part of Joseph? It seems to indicate this. If this were not the case, the arousal from sleep would have been superfluous information.

24. c) How often is a man ordered to take his own wife in the Bible? I can think of no instance.

24. d) What does this wording show about the legal relationship between Joseph and Miriam? It shows that they were already legally married; the word wife is found in the Greek (or woman, if you prefer).

24. e) What did the taking of a wife (or woman) involve? The taking involves a living quarters that is in common. Once they are living under the same roof, the woman has been taken. She was already married to him.

25. a) Did he ever know her? Yes. They had children. (Some do not believe this; they figure she remained a virgin, and in their eyes, maintained purity. This ignores at least one text describing Yeshua as having a brother.)

Galatians 1:19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.

25. b) Did Joseph obey the angel of Yehovah? Yes; he called the child’s name Salvation (Yeshua).

25. c) Did Miriam ever directly explain to Joseph what had occurred? We don’t know.

 

 

 

 

 

Matthew 2 Literally Rendered

Matthew 2 Literally Rendered

(See Accompanying Matthew 2 Questions and Proposed Answers on this site.)

 

Matthew 2:1 Now Yeshua, having been born in Beth-Lehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold Magi from the east arrived at Jerusalem 2saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and are come to worship Him.” 3But Herod the king, having heard, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4And having gathered together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah should be born. 5And they said to him, “In Beth-Lehem of Judaea. For thus it has been written by the prophet: 6 ‘And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, in no wise art least among the governors of Judah. For a leader shall go forth out of thee’ who shall shepherd my People Israel.”

7Then Herod, having secretly called the magi, inquired accurately of them the time of the appearing star. 8And having sent them to Bethlehem, he said, “Having gone, accurately inquire for the little child. And when ye shall have found, bring word back to me that I also, having come, may do homage to him.” 9And they, having heard the king, went away.

And behold, the star that they saw in the east pro-led them, until, having come, it stood over where the little child was. 10And they rejoiced an exceedingly great joy, having seen the star. 11And having come into the house, they found the little child with Miriam His mother. And having fallen down, they worshipped Him. And having opened their treasures, they presented to Him gifts—gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12And they withdrew by another way into their own country, having been admonished in a dream not to return to Herod.

13Now they, having withdrawn, behold an angel of Yehovah appears in a dream to Joseph, saying, “Having risen, take and flee into Egypt with the little child and his Mama. And be there until I tell thee. For Herod is about to seek the little child and destroy him.”

14And he, having risen, took and withdrew into Egypt with the little child and His mother by night, 15and was there until the death of Herod so that what was spoken by Yehovah through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “I called to my son from Egypt.”

16Then Herod was greatly enraged, having seen that he was mocked by the Magi. And having sent, he put to death all the boys from two years old and under who were in Bethlehem and in all its borders according to the time that he had accurately inquired from the Magi. 17Then that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, 18 “A voice in Rama was heard: lamentation, weeping of bitternesses. Rachel is weeping concerning her sons. She is refusing to be consoled concerning her sons. For they aren’t!”

19But Herod having died, behold an angel of Yehovah appears to Joseph in Egypt in a dream, 20saying, “Having risen, take and go into the Land of Israel with the little child and his Mama. For they who were seeking the life of the little child have died.” 21And he, having risen, took and came into the Land of Israel with the little child and his Mama. 22But he was afraid to go there, having heard that Archelaus reigns over Judaea instead of Herod his father. And he withdrew into the parts of the Galilee, having been divinely instructed in a dream. 23And having come, he dwelt in a city called Nazareth so that what was spoken by the prophets, that he shall be called a Nazarene, should be fulfilled.

 

 

Matthew 2 Questions and Proposed Answers

Matthew 2

Questions and Proposed Answers

(See Accompanying Matthew 2 Literally Rendered on this site. Thank you, Janie, for text editing!)

Note: This document has not been finely edited. It is written during studies. Please expect to find errors in spelling, words missing, etc. If you use the document and desire to participate in editing it, please do so. I will need the number-letter address along with a partical quote of the error, and what you know or think it should say. Please send it to james842@eeweems.com.

1. a) How long after the birth of Yeshua did the Magi arrive? They arrived about a year and a half after the birth. I figured this based on Herod’s determination to slaughter all the male children from two years and down; else he might miss the child. Verse 8 refers to a little child, a distinction from a baby.

1. b) What are Magi? They are astrologers.

1. c) What does Beth-Lehem mean? It means House of Bread.

1. d) What is fitting about the city being called House of Bread? Yeshua Himself is the Bread of Life.

1. e) Where in the east did the Magi originate? The text does not say. It was far enough away that it took them perhaps a year or more (discounting the arrangements time for traveling).

1. f) What transportation did they use? The text does not say. Assuming they used camels is an error. Assuming they didn’t is an error. If they used camels, they would have been two-humped, not one. They could have used horses, asses, or any combination. They may have used animals during part of the journey, sold them, and obtain different animals for the terrain. They had stuff to carry, but they also may have had slaves to help. So many things are not described, and assuming any one of them is an error.

2. a) How did they know that the one born was specifically king of the Jews? They read the constellations. The information of the birth of the King of the Jews was clearly written in the constellations, and they could them. The information about the specific location within Israel was not evident to them in the constellations, so they had to ask for His location.

2. b) How can one read constellations? In what school can a person learn to accurately read constellations to only derive Truth and no error? Learning to read any pictorial language is not more difficult than reading a language of symbols. What is required is a good teacher who can perfectly read the pictorial representations. Yehovah was the writer of the pictures in the constellations; He is therefore equipped to instruct in constellation reading. He taught someone or someones who in turn taught others, the same way we learn to read English characters (letters). An astrologer was one who studies the constellations to read Truth from them. Modern astrologers read the constellations in the same way that modern pastors read the Bible: non-literally with their own opinions and whatever keeps others from the Truth. Thus, there is no practical difference between the word of modern astrologers and nearly all modern pastors/preachers/teachers, etc. Those who are truly called of God will speak what is infallible; the rest will speak the same falsities that they were taught, just as modern astrologers. Yehovah has condemned the lies of astrologers, and astrologers of Israel are under the death penalty. How much is this also true of pastors, preachers and teachers who teach lies about the God of Israel and lead others to death?

If this is true, Yehovah could easily instruct anyone in infallibly astrology today, were that necessary. It is necessary in some lands where Bibles are illegal and where obtaining copies is nearly impossible and at risk of death.

These magi learned to read the constellations infallibly.

2. c) Whom were they asking? They were asking residents of Jerusalem.

2. d) Why were they asking residents of Jerusalem? They assumed that such a momentous event would be common knowledge among a people whose King was of the stature of God! They must have been very surprised to find that their question was not answered among the common residents!

2. e) Were these wise men born of God? I propose that their faith in the infallible Hope of God invested in Israel showed that they strongly believed. Yehovah made sure to protect them. They greeted the Messiah of Israel in Israel when the Israelis were unaware. I have no evidence that they were anything but born of God.

2. f) Was Yeshua actually born king of the Jews? We know from other texts that Yeshua was born the Saviour; His Name means Salvation.

John 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto Him, “Art thou a king then?” Yeshua answered, “Thou sayest that I am a king! I was born to this end and I came into the world for this cause, so-that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the Truth hears my voice.”

Yeshua was indeed born King of the Jews. He will take up the throne in the Millennium. His kingdom is in exile in the heavens. He is King, but He is not exercising His kingly prerogative over the Land of Israel and the earth at this time. The kingdom is not here.

The astrologers knew that Yeshua’s being King was from birth! They knew what few readers of the Bible have understood.

2. g) Is His being King of the Jews distinct from His being King of the Israelis (referring to the split between Israel and Judah)? No! The term Jews does not make that distinction automatically. His being King is over all Israel.

2. h) How was that star His star? They were able to understand this from what they knew from the constellations. Yehovah made that star special, and made its identification in a way that these astrologers understood it. They read the constellations because Yehovah put that knowledge into their brains. They knew that star identified with the newly born King of the Jews.

2. i) Did they know that the newly born King of the Jews was named Yeshua? No text (that we have seen) indicates this. Had they known His Name, they would have specified that. Had they specified Him by name, they would have endangered Him and everyone around Him! Herod would have used this information to get a solid lead on Yeshua and His mother and His stepfather, and would probably have pursued them into Egypt to assassinate Him.

2. j) They saw His star in the east. Does that mean that they followed that star all the way to Israel? The texts do not indicate this. Rather, once they see the star again, they greatly rejoice. That tells the reader that the star they saw in the east was not with them on their journey to the Land of Israel. They knew to go to Israel; they needed no star to inform them of their destination in general. They needed help when it comes to the specific city.

2. k) Exactly how would they worship Him? They would prostrate themselves before Him. Worship is always prostration: lying down flat before another.

2. l) What is the benefit of worship? These men had no concern regarding their own ranks in life. They desired to physically demonstrate their willingness to serve the child who is King. Thus, they determined to make a declaration before that King that they are willing to serve. One who is truly humble will sometimes show that humility through the act of prostration. That does not mean that only humble folks worship; many arrogant folks will prostrate before Messiah.

2. m) Did it seem odd to these travelers that others didn’t also want to go and worship the one born king? We spoke earlier on this. They did seem somewhat mystified by the lack of response among the Israelis to their own King.

3. a) Why was all Jerusalem troubled? They were concerned about King Herod. He was a violent man. If he suspected that the Jews had a secret king, he would go violent, and many would die. If Herod was unhappy, everyone would be unhappy.

3. b) Why was Herod troubled? He was called a king; he didn’t desire another to take his position!

3. c) How did Herod hear? He had spies everywhere, folks who would inform him.

4. a) Why did Herod inquire when the Messiah should be born instead of ‘the king of the Jews’? I propose that Herod knew that the Messiah of Israel would later become king. He didn’t desire to actually call this child a king lest he lend credibility to that child’s rank, making it equal or greater in legitimacy than his own rank. Thus, he chose what would be considered an inferior title (Messiah) in his view, while still finding the person he needed to assassinate.

4. b) How much trouble did Herod’s servants have to gather all the chief priests and scribes of the Israeli people? This took a great deal of effort and trouble. Herod was a dangerous man. He was on a very serious and deadly mission.

4. c) What information would the chief priests have regarding this issue? The chief priests would know the Torah if they knew anything. They would also know prophecies.

4. d) What information would the scribes have regarding this issue? They would know every word in the copies of the scrolls they copied! Thus, they would be a quick resource for this information.

4. e) Did the chief priests and scribes know the answer to his question? Yes! They knew, indeed! Yet they hadn’t moved to find Yeshua.

4. f) If this is the case, why didn’t they also go on the quest to find the Messiah? I propose that they didn’t know the timing of Messiah’s birth. I also propose that once they knew that the timing was now, they didn’t want to be identified with worshiping him lest they become targets of Herod’s assassinations.

5. a) Were they right in their location? They were right regarding the location of His birth. They were not necessarily right regarding His present location. The text does not state where Miriam, Joseph and Yeshua were living at this time. Luke does:

Luke 2:39 And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. 

5. b) How far is Nazareth from Bethlehem? As the bird flies, it is about 70 miles. As animal or person walks, it must be about 100 miles, which is at least two days journey, and more like a solid three days. She went on this journey while in her last month of pregnancy. Folks were tough!

5. c) Where is it written?

Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

5. d) How can these two quotes be reconciled? –

Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel.

And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, in no wise art least among the governors of Judah. For a leader shall go forth out of thee who shall shepherd my People Israel.

 

A literal rendering of Micah 5:2 is the following:

And thou, House of Bread: I-will-make-her-fruitful. Little to be in the thousands/alufs of Judah. He will go forth from thee to me to be a ruler in Israel.

The last part about His being a shepherd is combining other texts. Since this text mentions “the prophet,” I ended the quote where I did. Genesis was written by Moshe, while Micah wrote Micah.

Genesis 49:24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. (From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel.)

6. a) This text states that Bethlehem is “land of Judah” while the Micah text calls it “Ephrata”. Which is correct? Both are correct. Bethlehem is in the land of Judah, and it is also specifically known by its longer title, Bethlehem Ephrata. That literally means, House-Of-Bread I-Will-Make-Her-Fruitful.

6. b) Why was this location named House of Bread? A number of locations in Israel were named House of Bread. This is an appropriate name for a bakery. It could also be a storage location for grain: a silo. Chances are good that where there would be a silo/storage facility for grain, there would be a bakery.

6. c) Is this name House of Bread significant? Yes! It is the right place for the Bread of Life to be born.

6. d) Was there a question about Bethlehem being least among the governors of Judah that necessitated Yehovah to explain that this city was not the least? Was Bethlehem a governor? The location and its leader are often combined in thought and address. Thus, one speaks of President Bush when thinking of Washington, or one speaks of Washington when referring to President Bush or the government. Thus, Bethlehem is the seat of a government, but it was considered very small and unimportant compared to other districts. Yehovah is speaking of a future event when Bethlehem’s importance will be great, because Bethlehem will produce a leader (and a shepherd) Who will lead and Shepherd Yehovah’s People Israel.

6. e) When will that leader go forth out of Bethlehem? That will be at and after the end of the Tribulation, unless it is referring to Yeshua’s visits during the Tribulation.

6. f) How will He shepherd them?  When will He shepherd them? He will shepherd them in the Millennium, certainly, But He will also shepherd them during the Tribulation, as the 23rd attests. He will shepherd them by directing them in the way they must go, by tending their needs, by providing protection, by doing all things necessary for their welfare.

6. g) What does “my people Israel” indicate? It indicates that the Israelis are His people. No other people or mixture of peoples has taken that spot.

6. h) Will this leader shepherd any Gentiles? Yes, He will shepherd some. Those who desire to do good and who desire Truth will need shepherding during the Tribulation. This text doesn’t mention these folks because they are not part of the topic of this text.

7. a) Why did Herod call the magi secretly? He plotted to kill the child king. If he had made such an inquiry in public, some hearers would have easily guessed what he had in mind, and would have been able to warn residents of Bethlehem. He also promised to “do homage” (bow down) to the child king. Enemies hearing of this promise would have caused Herod to be kicked off his throne.

7. b) Why did Herod desire to know the time of the appearing of the star? He could figure how old the child king was in order to kill only the children of that age.

8. a) What did Herod think that the astrologers would have to do to find the child, once they had arrived in Bethlehem? They thought the astrologers would have to ask residents to identify where this child lived. He thought they would have to determine the birth date and then ask citizens of the area.

8. b) What does do homage mean? It means bow down to another, often with the idea of expressing good things to the object of the homage or about the object of the homage.

9. a) Did they agree to do as King Herod said? The text doesn’t indicate that they agreed.

9. b) Had that star been with them the entire time of their journey? The text does not indicate this. They saw the star in the East, and they knew where to travel: that is, to Israel. They did not need the star to guide them to the Land of Israel. They understood the message in the constellations so that they knew the Land of Israel as being the birthplace of the Messiah. Once the star appeared, that was the signal to travel. Again, I propose that they didn’t need to follow a star; they knew the trade routes to Israel.

9. c) Why is the text worded, “the star… pro-led them”? This indicates that the star is now in a position for them to follow.

9. d) Does this mean that the star moved as they moved? The text’s wording does not rule this out, but it also does not substantiate this. There will be movement in the next phrase. The text states that the star stood over where the little child was. This indicates that the star did move at least at the end, if not during the trip. The very rotation of the earth would have made following stars useless if those stars followed the normal night-sky course. This star acted like a high-motion satellite or like an alien space ship.

9. e) How can a star ‘stand’ over anything? Yehovah has no problem designing the light rays so that they are directly perpendicular to the ground below, and so that it is obvious.

9. f) What information does the wording, “little child” express to a reader? He is no longer an infant; he is a small child.

10. a) Why were they so excited about the reappearance of the star? They knew they had come to the right place, and that star had not been with them on the entire journey. Its reappearance reassured them that they had traveled to the correct place.

10. b) Why didn’t Yehovah supply them with the star during the entire journey? They were tested regarding faith. This also kept that star from being seen by others who would interpret it in their own ways.

10. c) Their seeing the star again in the sky was equivalent to what experience in the Bible? It would be akin to an appropriate cross-reference. They are reading infallible information from that star. An appropriate cross-reference is an infallible cross reference in the Bible. That star was the Word of Yehovah.

11. a) Did they just walk in, or did they knock? The wording indicates that they just walked in. The animals upon which we have supposed that they journeyed, or their walking by feet would have given away their arrival. We don’t know the custom. The wording, however, indicates that they came in, and they found.

11. b) Did these folks speak Hebrew? We also have no indication that they knew the Hebrew language or Hebrew customs. Herod likely would have had interpreters in his court, since businessmen who traveled would have known the languages of places where they bargained. The text only indicates that the prostrated themselves, and that they presented gifts. These acts need no spoken language.

11. c) Where was Joseph? The text doesn’t indicate that he was home. He is in the next text.

11. d) Why did they worship Him? They knew who He was.

11. e) Did they take the child into their laps? It doesn’t say.

11. f) Did they bless the child? It doesn’t say that they spoke.

11. g) How many were in this group? The text doesn’t say. It uses the plural, indicating that there were two or more. The number of the gifts is no indication of the number of the bearers.

11. h) Were there any women in the group? The text doesn’t say. The journey was long, and women are very capable. Assuming that all the astrologers were men is assuming that Yehovah did not have women who could read the stars. We do not know if the astrologers were accompanied by helpers, slaves, etc. Those details are not important.

11. i) Why did they give gold? It was valuable. The gifts were prophetic and needed. Messiah and His family were about to travel. They were poor; they needed the funds, and Yehovah knew it. Gold itself is a type. We have proposed that it typifies immortality because it doesn’t tend to rot.

11. j) What is frankincense? It is the rosin (sap) from a desert bush, not unlike pine sap, but with a different fragrance. It is used as incense to deodorize an area or as a pleasant fragrance. It is activated by placing it on a very hot surface (like a piece of hot coal or a hot rock, or on heated metal), and it smokes with a pleasant smell. It is not highly perfumed, so that its smell is not sickening, but it is a pleasant fragrance.

11. k) Why did they give frankincense? The text doesn’t say. Frankincense was valuable, and it still is. It was useful in life or for the selling.

11. l) What is myrrh? Myrrh is just like frankincense, but from a different bush. It is also rosin, and it is activated the same way. Its smell is different, but it curiously can mask the odor of death much more than frankincense.

11. m) Why did they give myrrh? I propose that gave myrrh for the same reasons as frankincense (it was valuable), but also as a picture of death. Frankincense is intimately connected with sacrifice. Thus, the three, gold, frankincense and  myrrh end up being types: incorruptibility, sacrifice and death.

12. a) Why is the word withdrew used? This shows the opposite of an advance. They not only left, but they specifically gave their space back as if they were an army that has left the area. It wasn’t as if they were on a trip with another destination. They had come as far as they desired. They then went back in a withdrawal form. This is a different picture from one in which they merely return. A withdrawal can be done in secret. They pulled out, getting away from danger.

12. b) How far did they withdraw? They went back to their own country located in the East. This withdrawal could have been for more than 1500 miles. They had traveled for 1½ years to arrive. Their return was probably faster.

12. c) From how many countries did these travelers come? They came from one country.

12. d) Was one person in this company given a dream, or were two (or more) given the warning dream? The dream was singular. How many saw the dream is another issue. The text doesn’t say.

12. e) Who instructed them in the dream? We don’t know whether it was Yehovah in some form or an angel, but we know the source: this was from Yehovah. The Greek word does not permit a proof that God did it.

12. f) What would have happened had they reported back to Herod? Yeshua would have been targeted for death. Yehovah would have still saved the child, but many others might have died in the encircling of Yeshua to kill Him.

13. a) Who was this angel of Yehovah? This was an angelic messenger, since messenger and angel are exactly the same word in Greek (and are the same different word in Hebrew). The text doesn’t say. Gabriel or Michael could certainly be the angel, but Yehovah could use any angel.

13. b) Why would an angel have to tell anyone to flee? Wouldn’t advance warning have been preferable? No advance warning would have helped; it would only have increased anxiety and risk.

13. c) Why is Egypt chosen? This is so that prophecy will be fulfilled. Verse 15 shows this: “what was spoken… might be fulfilled, saying, “I have called my Son out of Egypt.” That will occur when Israel and Messiah Yeshua as one Son of Yehovah are called physically out of the Land of Egypt. We have proposed that this will be the fulfillment of the Succot event (Booths or Tabernacles).

13. d) What did they use for travel expenses? They had those gifts. The frankincense and myrrh could have been used to make them appear as traveling merchants. This disguise would not alert Herod. The gold could purchase apparel that disguised them. Coming from the village in which they lived would have marked them as quite poor.

13. e) Who is thee in “be there until I tell thee”? This refers to Joseph. He is the one having the dream.

13. f) How old is the little child? He is about 1½ years old. That is why Herod will kill all the males from 2 years and down, making sure that he gets them all.

13. g) Why didn’t Yehovah just protect the child in place? These actions were for future prophetic events; they were miniatures of events to come. Yehovah will protect when that is appropriate, but He will also warn when that is appropriate. Yehovah at times will neither protect nor warn, as future verses here will show. If Yehovah’s character were to stop all the bad effects of sin, His character would also be to put a halt to sinful man. Yehovah does not usually kill doers of evil. They will be routed in the judgment when they are consigned into the Lake of Fire.

13. h) Why didn’t Yehovah just strike Herod dead? Yehovah rarely does that. Sinners are given opportunity to either turn or to accrue more sin.

13. i) Why did Herod desire to even do anything to Yeshua? He felt threatened. Even though Yeshua was a very small child, even the claim that a child king was in the territory would give boldness to some who would use it as a pretext to challenge the government. There have been child kings in various places.

13. j) Would Herod have succeeded in destroying Yeshua, had he caught up with Him? The danger was real, and not artificial. Herod would have destroyed the child had he caught Him, apart from miraculous intervention or the help of others. We see the danger with Yeshua during His entire ministry, but we also see Yehovah or Yeshua using miraculous forces to forestall the time of Yeshua’s death until the time was right.

14. a) Why did he need to arise? He was in bed when he had the invasive dream.

14. b) What did he take? He took his family and whatever they needed for the trip.

14. c) The text states that they withdrew into Egypt. What does this word mean? It is pulling out.

14. d) Why did they leave at night? They needed to be unobserved by their neighbours.

14. e) Why did the text use “and His mother” instead of “and his wife”? I don’t know the reason, but I can suppose that this shows Joseph in a supportive role for the Child and His mother, that role superceding the role of husband and (adoptive) father. In a normal consideration of a marriage, the husband-wife relationship supercedes the father-child and mother-child relationship. That is not the case in this text.

15. a) Did they have to stay in Egypt until the death of Herod? Verse 20 explains that the answer is yes. They had to stay there, because Herod was determined to kill him until Herod died. Yehovah did not call for their return until Herod died.

15. b) What can these events show about not being presumptuous? They obeyed, taking the warning seriously, and not presuming to return before they were told. This is vital information for folks living during the Tribulation, so that they won’t be presumptuous. Many religious folks (perhaps all) are presumptuous by nature and practice. If presumption is assumption with arrogance, religion teaches arrogance: that is, it teaches an elevated position before and in front of the True and Living God. Thus, religious folks think that they stand right before whatever god/God they think they worship and trust. Folks usually have much confidence, which amounts to arrogance if they are wrong, since humility (the opposite of arrogance) is knowing where one stands in rank and responsibility before God and man, and living that way. Religious folks do not practice this type of humility. They can’t. They have another god that stops them from concentrating on the real One. Arrogance makes for obstinacy.

Joseph and Miriam were not presumptuous. They did what they were told, and waited to hear from the same source before returning to the Land of Israel. Folks who live during the Tribulation will include some who are not presumptuous, and who hearken. They will live.

15. c) Explain “might be fulfilled”: These expressions are common in the Bible. The form of the verb in the ‘New Testament’ is an aorist passive subjunctive. That means that the verb has no tense assigned to it, like gerunds in English: “The rolling ball hit the wall.” The word rolling has no tense with it, but instead looks at a point in time. That is supposedly how the Greek aorist works. The passive state of the verb shows that the verb is doing its work on the subject. Since the verb is might be fulfilled is passive, the action is to the subject, “what was spoken”. Don’t ever trust the Greek subjunctive. The subjunctive form indicates possibility or the possibility that it won’t occur. The English language sometimes uses if with the subjunctive that is contrary to fact, as in, “If I were a rich man…” If we believe that the Greek subjunctive is ‘iffy’, the Bible is also ‘iffy’ and therefore not Truth. I propose that the subjunctive in the Greek usually is an emphatic indicator with certainty, not an uncertain and ‘iffy’ situation.

Thus, “might be fulfilled” is more like “in order to be fulfilled” in its flavour. It still holds the idea that it is dealing with a future event. In other words, it is not saying that this event fulfilled a prophecy, but rather that this event sets the stage for a future fulfillment.

Consider the original text of “Out of Egypt I have called my son”:

Hosea 11:11 For Israel is a youth. And I loved him. And I called to my son from Egypt.

This text could mean one of two things: that the speaker was in Egypt, and called to his son from Egypt, or that the speaker called to his son to leave Egypt. This text is an End Times text, and the son in the text is Israel.

Yehovah did not call to Yeshua; He called to Joseph to bring Yeshua out. Thus, the Hosea text cannot be fulfilled by what happened to Yeshua.

What happened to Yeshua wasn’t the fulfillment of any prophecy, but instead was the set-up for the fulfillment of a specific prophecy.

Had the text been declaring that Yeshua’s experience was a fulfillment of prophecy, the wording would have been more akin to “and was there until the death of Herod to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘I called to my son from Egypt.’”

15. d) Who is the son in this text? It is Israel!

15. e) Which is true? Is Yehovah calling to His son Israel while Yehovah is in Egypt, or is He calling His son Israel to come out of Egypt? Since this is an End Times text, and since a portion of Israel will necessarily find shelter in Egypt, then again, since that portion will have to leave Egypt, being called out from Egypt, both are true.

16. a) Did the Magi mock Herod? They didn’t do what he asked them to do. They avoided obedience. Herod saw that as mockery: making a fool of him. He was very enraged.

16. b) Who are these Magi? They are the astrologers listed above.

16. c) Did the Magi do wrong by not obeying Herod? No; they did right.

16. d) Why did Herod choose to kill boys? He was attempting to kill a king, not a queen.

16. e) Why did Herod choose boys 2 years and under to slaughter? He had diligently sought the time the star appeared (see verse 7). That would have been exactly when the child-king was born.

16. f) Why didn’t Herod instead fear because of the star? Herod didn’t see the star. While he definitely believed the message of the star, he didn’t fear God; he feared competition. He knew that word of a king sent from heaven would bring many to participate in a rebellion. Herod feared the movement that the Israelis supported.

16. g) Why did he choose Bethlehem? Prophecy had identified Bethlehem as the source city.

16. h) Did the Magi have anything to do with Herod’s believing that the child king was legitimate or a threat? Yes, they had everything to do with that. The Magi would not have made that long trip if they hadn’t believed that Yeshua was a king. Their presence stirred up the messianic fervour and the messianic movement among the Israelis.

16. i) Did the Magi do wrong by stirring up the messianic fervour? No, they did no wrong.

16. j) Why did Yehovah give no warning to the parents of the children slaughtered in this text? Didn’t He love those children and care about their parents? All through history, Yehovah has refrained from stopping many slaughters of innocent folks. Had Yehovah been doing the work of stopping sinners from hurting the innocent, history would have been different. This is the very reason why many have turned from Biblical faith. The understanding that Yehovah knows in advance appears to make Yehovah seem guilty by refraining to do anything. Indeed, He will hold others guilty in the ‘Sheep/Goat Judgment’ for not having done things to help the innocent.

View it from this angle. Had Yehovah stopped the terrible consequences of sin before they occurred from the beginning of this planet, you would not exist to ask this question. Yehovah’s withholding and refraining from action in many cases is exactly why you are here. Most would have been slaughtered. Or, Yehovah would have been so often intervening, that humans would have found it outrageous. This is exactly what happens in the Millennium. Yehovah will intervene. Most humans will so hate His intervention, that they will delight in the opportunity to overthrow Yeshua and Jerusalem (during the Millennium.) The complaints against Yehovah will be greater then than during the time of Ramah’s vicious slaughter.

It appears that Yehovah is careless (that is, that He doesn’t care) by not stopping violence against the innocent. It is because He does care that He will not enforce such a rule until He can oversee it in person as King. Consider the consequences. If Yehovah were to stop all violent crime, violent criminals would seek out followers of Yehovah to slaughter them even if they thought they might not succeed. Setting up the Millennium before Messiah is King would be a worse disaster.

16. k) Why did Herod also do this slaughter in all the borders of Bethlehem? He wanted to be certain that he got him and killed him.

18. a) Where is Rama? According to the Greek lexicon, it is “a town of the tribe of Benjamin, situated about 5 miles (8 km) north of Jerusalem on the road to Bethel.”

18. b) Who is Rachel? Apart from some other unidentified woman, she is one of the wives of Jacob. Rachel childed two sons: Joseph and Benjamin.

18. c) What does Rama have to do with the tribes of Joseph and Benjamin? The supposed location of Rama is five miles north of Jerusalem, and is in the area of Benjamin’s possession. Thus, Rachel’s children’s children’s children’s… children were slaughtered.

18. d) Why use Rachel’s name when she was long dead? How would she be weeping? The only way I could construct this and have it make sense at this point in what I understand about details in the Bible was to view Rachel (Raquel) in Sheol. Both Saints and non-saints were in Sheol at this time. I cannot state which side she occupied. She could have been weeping on either side. When this slaughter occurred, she saw her children descend into Sheol, and word of what happened spread in Sheol. Remember that these were children on the surface of the earth, but once in Sheol, all are adults. There are no children in Sheol. Thus, they arrived as adults. She heard what happened, and she mourned for these innocent offspring, and she refused to be consoled. If this is true, it gives another view of events in Sheol. It shows that folks in Sheol have emotional displays just like with the rich man who used to give crumbs to the Lazarus at his gate.

18. e) Why did she refuse to be consoled if these children who died became adults who were in the Lamb’s Book of Life? Two events of very different proportion and timing are colliding in this text. Consider the greater text:

Jeremiah 31:15 Thus said Yehovah, “A voice in Rama was heard: lamentation, weeping of bitternesses. Rachel is weeping concerning her sons. She is refusing to be consoled concerning her sons. For they aren’t!” 16So said Yehovah, “Refrain thy voice from weeping and thine eyes from a tear. For there is a wage to thy act,” declared Yehovah, “and they shall return from the land of an enemy!”

This shows a much greater-scaled slaughter that will occur during the Tribulation. The land of an enemy may be a reference to Babylon.

These folks (whether now in the heavens or in torments in Sheol) are aware of what is occurring, and some are suffering over the violence on earth as they see they other side of the terrible results.

18. f) Why did Yehovah design the Bible so that some texts (the number is not low) require a great deal of thought before they even make sense? Why did Yehovah make some texts so difficult? Yehovah gave man many things to study and consider. Many discoveries come only after a great deal of thought and careful research. But then, why did He make His Word so much like research, since this would seem to eliminate the vast majority of folks from understanding it? If anyone has a love for the truth of the Word, that person will search and will try to find the answer. Another text guarantees that Yehovah will research that for the person!

1 Chronicles 28:9 “And thou, Solomon my son, know the Gods of thy father. And serve Him with a heart of peace and with a being of desire. For Yehovah researches all hearts, and He understands every formation of thoughts. If thou wilt research Him, He will find to thee! And if thou wilt forsake Him, He will cast thee to onward!”

This corresponds with “Seek, and ye shall find.”

Thus, the most difficult text in the Bible that the most simple person truly desires to know will be obtainable and understandable because Yehovah will find the answer to that person and will supply it. The two requirements in that text are also given to Solomon: serving Him with a heart of peace and with a being of desire. Anyone who expects to obtain an answer from Yehovah who has no intention of a heart (mind) of peace as an end result and a being of desire to Yehovah if He is the Truth will be disappointed. Consider this text to back this up:

James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he shall ask from God Who liberally gives to all and doesn’t upbraid. And it shall be given him. 6But he shall ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he who wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7For that man shall not think that he shall receive anything from Yehovah. 8A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.

19. a) What angel of Yehovah appeared to him in a dream? It is unspecified. It cannot be Yeshua, since He is a child at this time.

20. a) Why again did the angel appear to Joseph, the adopted parent, rather than to Miriam, the true mother? Joseph was the head of the family and was responsible for their welfare to the degree he was able. Yehovah did not diminish Joseph’s position in all this, but underscored it.

20. b) Why did the angel specify, “take and go … with the little child and his Mama” instead of “and your wife”? The accented relationship was with the child and his mother rather than with Joseph and his wife, then the child. Joseph had a responsibility. The other would not have shown responsibility, but the superiority of the marriage relationship.

20. c) The Bible calls that land “the Land of Israel”. Others refer to it nowadays as ‘the Land of Palestine.’ Was it the land of Palestine? The Land of Israel was never given to the Palestinians. Gaza and Ashkelon did and do belong to the Palestinians. They are coastal towns within the present border of Israel. The term Palestine for all Israel was coined by enemies of Israel, and does not reflect Yehovah or His Word.

20. d) Who sought the life of the little child? Herod did. But since the Bible refers to a plurality, Herod wasn’t alone. He was one of at least a group of two (if not two hundred) all at the same time.

20. e) What happened to all who sought Yeshua’s life? They died.

20. f) Who would these folks who sought the little child’s life be? Some would be those who are under Herod’s authority. Others would likely be among the Israelis who later determined to kill Yeshua. Nothing indicates that the plot to kill Yeshua commenced once He started His open miracles. They may have been determined to kill Him from the time they heard from the wise men. Herod and all of Jerusalem were upset over Yeshua’s birth because of Yeshua’s identity as king.

22. a)  Where was he afraid to go? He was afraid to go where they had lived before. The text doesn’t say. The text makes it sound like he was afraid to go into the Land of Israel as instructed by the angel, but that isn’t the case. The angel will give more specific instructions in verse 22.

22. b) Where are “the parts of the Galilee”?

Map of Galilee

Find the Sea of Galilee on the map, in the north central part of Israel. The word galeel in Hebrew means wheel from the verb to rotate. The sea is shaped like a wheel. Cities are located around it; it is a very nice property. The fishing is good and the fish are good. Bananas are now frequent along the sea shore. Thus, the parts of the Galilee are the parts of the wheel.

22. c) Was Archelaus a threat? Joseph thought he was, and the angel didn’t tell Joseph to not fear. Archelaus was a threat. The angel divinely instructed Joseph to go into the Galilee area. That is where Nazareth is located. This way, Joseph didn’t have to fear Archelaus. (If Archelaus had heard that Yeshua is a king growing up in Israel, he also would have sought Yeshua to kill him.)

The Galilee area was a wild Gentile-Jewish-mixed set of neighbourhoods where anything went. It was not known for spirituality, but instead for moral decadence.

23. a) What does Nazareth mean? One Hebrew word is run, netzer meaning a shoot, sprout or branch. The following text refers to Yeshua:

Isaiah 11:1 And a twig will exit from the stump of Jesse. And a shoot from his roots will fruit. 2And the Spirit of Yehovah will rest upon him—Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, Spirit of Counsel and Valiance, Spirit of Knowledge and Fear of Yehovah! 3And His fragrance is in the Fear of Yehovah! And He will judge—not to the appearance of His eyes. And He will correct—not to the hearkening of His ears. 4And He will judge poor ones via righteousness. And He will correct via straightness for humble ones of land. And He will smite land with the staff of His mouth! And He will kill the Culpable-one via the Spirit of His lips! 5And righteousness shall be the belt of his loins. And the Faith is the belt of His arming!

 

Matthew 3 Literally Rendered

Matthew 3 Literally Rendered

(See Accompanying Matthew 3 Questions and Proposed Answers on this site.)

Matthew 3:1 Now in those days, Yokhanan the Immerser comes proclaiming in the wilderness of Judaea 2and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near! 3For this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying, ‘A voice is calling in the desert! Turn ye the Way of Yehovah! Straighten-ye in the steppe a highway for our Gods!’” 4And Yokhanan himself had his raiment of hair of a camel, and a girdle of leather about his loins, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

5Then Jerusalem went out to him, and all Judea, and all the country around the Jordan, 6and were immersed by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 7But having seen many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his immersion, he said to them, “Offspring of vipers! Who forewarned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8Therefore produce fruits worthy of repentance! 9And do not think to say within yourselves, “We have father Avraham!” For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Avraham from these stones! 10But the axe is already also applied to the root of the trees! Every tree not producing good fruit, therefore, is cut down and is cast into fire! 11I indeed immerse you with water to repentance, but He Who is coming after me is mightier than I, of whom I am not fit to bear the sandals. He will immerse you with the Holy Spirit and with fire, 12of whom the winnowing fan is in His hand. And He will thoroughly purge His floor. And He will gather His wheat into the granary, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire!”

13Then Yeshua comes from Galilee to the Jordan to Yokhanan to be immersed by him. 14But Yokhanan was hindering Him, saying, “I have need to be immersed by Thee! And Thou comest to me? 15But Yeshua answering said to him, “Permit now. For thus it is becoming to us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permits Him. 16And having been immersed, Yeshua went up immediately from the water. And behold, the heavens were opened to Him. And he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him. 17And behold, a voice is out of the heavens, saying, “This is my Son the beloved in Whom I have thought-well!”