“You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall, and lead him away to water him? And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?” (Luke 13: 15-16)

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Today’s Feature

Jesus Confronted the Priests—on the Sabbath

Jesus performed many miracles on the Sabbath to send a strong message to the priests. Yahweh wanted the Sabbath to be a day of rest and an opportunity for His people to fellowship with Him. The priests had turned it into a ritualistic, tradition-bound event by creating a vast array of laws that people were forced to obey. It didn’t even resemble what Yahweh had in mind when He said, “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” (Exodus 20: 8) Jesus told them that their traditions were way off base, and He revealed Yahweh’s enormous power as proof that He was right and they were wrong.

Although the Bible includes many examples of Jesus challenging the priests on the Sabbath, I will mention only one. It is discussed in Luke 13: 10-17. Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath, and a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit for 18 years was in the congregation. When Jesus saw her, He called her over, laid His hands on her, and said, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” (Luke 13: 12)

Her healing was instantaneous. She stood erect for the first time in almost two decades and immediately began praising God. But the “president of the synagogue” (Luke 13: 14 from The New Jerusalem Bible.) was indignant because Jesus healed her on the Sabbath. He said, “There are six days in which work should be done; therefore come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” (Luke 13: 14)

Jesus was furious. He looked directly at the priests and said, “You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall, and lead him away to water him? And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?” (Luke 13: 15-16)

Everyone in the synagogue, except the priests, rejoiced. Luke 13: 17 refers to them as Jesus’ opponents, or His adversaries, and the Bible describes Satan as Yahweh’s adversary. In this case, the priests were following Satan’s lead. Although the “president of the synagogue” aimed his remark at the healed woman, Jesus was his real target because He had violated their tradition by “working on the Sabbath.”

With a simple demonstration of Yahweh’s healing power, Jesus showed everyone, including the priests, that their traditions were contrary to Yahweh’s desires. He had much more to tell them, and in Matthew chapter 23, He held nothing back. Matthew chapter 23 is the best example in the New Testament of Yahweh’s attitude toward the priests because of what they had done to misrepresent His Law.

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SnyderTalk® Commentary

Exodus Chapter 7

Yahweh then said to Moses, ‘Look, I have made you as a god for Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron is to be your prophet.
You must say whatever I command you, and your brother Aaron will repeat to Pharaoh that he is to let the Israelites leave his country.
But I myself shall make Pharaoh stubborn and shall perform many a sign and wonder in Egypt.
Since Pharaoh will not listen to you, I shall lay my hand on Egypt and with great acts of judgement lead my armies, my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.
And the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I stretch out my hand against the Egyptians and lead the Israelites out of their country.’
Moses and Aaron did exactly as Yahweh had ordered.
Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron,
‘If Pharaoh says to you, “Display some marvel,” you must say to Aaron, “Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and let it turn into a serpent!”‘
Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as Yahweh had ordered. Aaron threw down his staff in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it turned into a serpent.
Then Pharaoh in his turn called for the sages and sorcerers, and by their spells the magicians of Egypt did the same.
Each threw his staff down and these turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up theirs.
Pharaoh, however, remained obstinate and, as Yahweh had foretold, refused to listen to Moses and Aaron.
Yahweh then said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh is adamant. He refuses to let the people go.
Go to Pharaoh tomorrow morning as he makes his way to the water, confront him on the river bank and in your hand take the staff that turned into a snake.
Say to him, “Yahweh, God of the Hebrews, sent me to say: Let my people go and worship in the desert. Up till now, you have refused to listen.
This is what Yahweh says: You will know that I am Yahweh by this: with the staff that is in my hand I shall strike the waters of the River and they will turn to blood.
The fish in the river will die, and the River will stink, and the Egyptians will not be able to drink the river water.”‘
Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, “Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt — over their rivers and canals, their marshland, and all their reservoirs — and they will turn to blood. There will be blood throughout the whole of Egypt, even in sticks and stones,”
Moses and Aaron did as Yahweh ordered. He raised his staff and struck the waters of the River, with Pharaoh and his officials looking on, and all the water in the River turned to blood.
The fish in the River died, and the River stank; and the Egyptians could no longer drink the River water. Throughout the whole of Egypt there was blood.
But by their spells the magicians of Egypt did the same; Pharaoh remained obstinate and, as Yahweh had foretold, refused to listen to Moses and Aaron.
Pharaoh turned away and went back into his palace, taking no notice even of this.
And the Egyptians all dug holes along the river-bank in search of drinking water, since they could not drink the River water.
After Yahweh struck the River, seven days went by.
Then Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh and say to him, “Yahweh says this: Let my people go and worship me.
If you refuse to let them go, I shall strike your whole territory with frogs.
The River will swarm with frogs; they will make their way into your palace, into your bedroom, onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and subjects, into your ovens, into your kneading bowls.
The frogs will actually clamber onto you, onto your subjects and onto all your officials.”‘

Yahweh spoke the universe into existence (Genesis 1: 3-28). He could have destroyed Egypt by simply saying the word, but He did not. Yahweh wanted to teach this lesson, and He told Moses to write it down as a permanent record and as a warning to the world that disobedience is costly. At the end of the lessons, Pharaoh would die.

The First Plague—Turning Water Into Blood—Yahweh introduced the first plague with these words: “By this you shall know that I am Yahweh.” (Exodus 7: 17)

Moses instructed his brother Aaron to strike the Nile River with his staff, and it turned into blood. Then he told Aaron to stretch out his staff over the waters of Egypt, and all the streams and ponds in Egypt turned into blood. Pharaoh responded by asking his magicians to perform a similar sign through trickery, which they did. So Pharaoh hardened his heart, and he did not let God’s people go.

Pay careful attention to the purpose of the first plague: “By this you shall know that I am Yahweh.” Can there be any doubt about what Yahweh wanted to accomplish? No!

Yahweh was sending a message, a message intended for everyone in the world, and not just to the people living on earth at that time. By having Moses write it down, Yahweh preserved a record for us. It has been passed down through the generations for about 3500 years, and the message is this. We have One God, and His Name is Yahweh.

Notice one more thing. Yahweh said, “I myself shall make Pharaoh stubborn and shall perform many a sign and wonder in Egypt.” Yahweh wasn’t simply leaving a record of an historical event. He wanted to demonstrate His awesome power so people everywhere would know that Yahweh is the Sovereign of all creation. The Children of Israel were going to experience temporary hardship while Yahweh performed signs and wonders, but in the end Yahweh did for them exactly what He said He would do. He led them out of Egypt to the Promised Land.

Yahweh’s promises are just as sure today as they were then. He is delivering His people and leading them to Him right now. The Messiah’s primary mission on earth was to become our atoning sacrifice. By shedding His blood, He paid the price for our sins and reconciled us to the Father.

The Messiah explained His role this way:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” (John 10: 7-18)

He also said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” (John 14: 6-7)

Philip, one of His disciples, was confused by that remark. In John 14: 8, he said, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

This is the Messiah’s response to Philip. Pay careful attention because it has monumental significance:

“Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” (John 14: 9-21)

When the Messiah said “My Name,” what Name did he mean? He couldn’t have meant Jesus because that Name was given to him more than 1,600 years after His death on the cross by people who translated the original King James Bible into modern English. The original King James Bible was published in 1611 A.D. It refers to the Messiah as Iesus. He also didn’t mean Yeshua. That’s the Name He was given at birth. It’s an Aramaic name, and it was one of the three most common names for boys in Israel when the Messiah was born. Clearly, the Name Yeshua did not set Him apart. The Messiah was talking about the Name Yahweh. He had just finished telling Philip that He is Yahweh, so it follows that He meant Yahweh.

You need to let this sink in. The Messiah is the personification and the manifestation of Yahweh. He is the only God you will ever see. He opened the door for us to have intimacy with Him. HalleluYah! For your information, halleluyah is a Hebrew word. Hallelu means praise, and Yah is short for Yahweh. Thus, halleluyah means praise Yahweh!

You can be certain about this. Everyone will have the opportunity to meet Yahweh face-to-face. His sheep will rejoice when that day comes. Using today’s vernacular, others will not be happy campers.

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News Items of Interest

Abbas’ move reflects deep Palestinian despair

You need to read the article above carefully. It’s a “news” article, or so you would think, but look at the way it begins:

“By saying he wants to step down as president, Mahmoud Abbas has highlighted a deep Palestinian despair rooted in decades of failed peace initiatives and fruitless violence.

Neither strategy has yielded a Palestinian state, and Israeli settlements still encroach on lands that would make up their would-be nation.

Facing a hawkish Israeli government and an Obama administration reluctant to put muscle behind its demands on Israel, many Palestinians say they see no hope at all.”

Truth be told, this isn’t a news article at all. It’s an op-ed piece masquerading as a news article. It’s written to advance an anti-Israel point of view. Unfortunately, most people reading articles like this don’t make that distinction, but professional journalists should. So should their editors and their publishers.

I won’t go into detail explaining how one-sided this imitation of news reporting is, but I will recommend a book you should read. The title is From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters. Reading it won’t just open your eyes. It will make you angry because it lays out the Palestinian history of lying and deceit and the Arab nations’ attempts to use the “Palestinian cause” to tear Israel apart.

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Climate Change Special

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His Name is Yahweh

There is a wealth of material available for free download on www.hisnameisyahweh.org including the book His Name is Yahweh. His Name is Yahweh is also available at Amazon on Kindle for just $5. If you haven’t read His Name is Yahweh, you should. The importance of Yahweh’s Name is becoming more apparent with each passing day.

HNIY bookcover in JPEG Kindle edition