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hearts joys

Friday, June 29, 2018

Context of Isaiah 7: vs Matt 1:20-23.

  By now I hope you have taken a look at Matt. 1 and Isaiah 7 and have had a side by side comparison along with some word studies.  If not we can take a very close look at them here.  So, if you are ready let's dig in.


Mat 1:18  Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
Mat 1:19  Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
Mat 1:20  But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
Mat 1:21  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Mat 1:22  Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,


Mat 1:23  Behold,G2400 a virginG3933 shall be with child,G2192 G1722 G1064 andG2532 shall bring forthG5088 a son,G5207 andG2532 they shall callG2564 hisG846 nameG3686 Emmanuel,G1694 whichG3739 being interpretedG3177 is,G2076 GodG2316 withG3326 us.G2257 

Isa 7:14  ThereforeH3651 the LordH136 himselfH1931 shall giveH5414 you a sign;H226 Behold,H2009 a virginH5959 shall conceive,H2029 and bearH3205 a son,H1121 and shall callH7121 his nameH8034 Immanuel.H6005 
Isa 7:15  ButterH2529 and honeyH1706 shall he eat,H398 that he may knowH3045 to refuseH3988 the evil,H7451 and chooseH977 the good.H2896 
Isa 7:16  ForH3588 beforeH2962 the childH5288 shall knowH3045 to refuseH3988 the evil,H7451 and chooseH977 the good,H2896 the landH127 thatH834 thouH859 abhorrestH6973 shall be forsakenH5800 of bothH8147 her kings.H4428 


Mat 1:24  Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 
Mat 1:25  And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS. 

CONTEXT:
Isa 7:1  And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. 
Isa 7:2  And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. 
Isa 7:3  Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field; 
Isa 7:4  And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. 
Isa 7:5  Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, 
Isa 7:6  Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal: 
Isa 7:7  Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. 
Isa 7:8  For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. 
Isa 7:9  And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. 
Isa 7:10  Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, 
Isa 7:11  Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. 
Isa 7:12  But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. 
Isa 7:13  And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? 
Isa 7:14  ThereforeH3651 the LordH136 himselfH1931 shall giveH5414 you a sign;H226 Behold,H2009 a virginH5959 shall conceive,H2029 and bearH3205 a son,H1121 and shall callH7121 his nameH8034 Immanuel.H6005 
Isa 7:15  ButterH2529 and honeyH1706 shall he eat,H398 that he may knowH3045 to refuseH3988 the evil,H7451 and chooseH977 the good.H2896 
Isa 7:16  ForH3588 beforeH2962 the childH5288 shall knowH3045 to refuseH3988 the evil,H7451 and chooseH977 the good,H2896 the landH127 thatH834 thouH859 abhorrestH6973 shall be forsakenH5800 of bothH8147 her kings.H4428 
Isa 7:17  The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.
Isa 7:18  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
Isa 7:19  And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.
Isa 7:20  In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.
Isa 7:21  And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
Isa 7:22  And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.
Isa 7:23  And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.
Isa 7:24  With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
Isa 7:25  And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle. 

In Isaiah, just what in the world is going on?

There are 3 kings that are mentioned here.
1.  Ahaz, king of Judah.  You need to know here that the kingdom of Israel was split in two after the death of king Solomon.  There were 10 tribes that made of the northern kingdom of Israel and was also called Ephriam because of the largest of the 10 tribes.  Judah continued to be ruled by the Davidic line as was promised by Hashem to David.  Now, Ahaz was a wicked king but Hashem remembered His promise to David.

2.  Pekah, was the king of Israel, or the northern 10 tribes.

3.  Retsin, was the king of Aram or Syria.

The ruling dynasty over this whole area were the Assyrians.  The Assyrians would later come and take the northern 10 tribes into captivity from which they never have yet returned.

Kings 2 and 3 have come down to Judah and have besieged Jerusalem because they wanted to revolt against Assyrian rule, Judah remained loyal.  Ahaz and the rest of Judah were scared to death of their impending doom.  So, because Hashem remains loyal to the covenant He made with David, (II Kings 7:12-16).   He sends Isaiah with news that the kings gathered against Jerusalem will fail.  Hashem told the wicked Ahaz to name a sign which the wicked king refused to do.  So, Isaiah names the sign for him.  This sign takes place in the lifetime of the king, not 700 plus years into the future.  The goal here is to allow Ahaz to see the hand of Hashem at work instead of relying upon a gentile nation, the Assyrians, to come and save them.  Ahaz, would not be alive to see the hand of Hashem at work if he had to wait for the Christian messiah to come 700 years later.  We are able to see the confirmation of the prophecy being completed in II Kings 15:29-30 and also in II Kings 16: 5-9.  So with this background let us dig a little more.

1.  Where in the Isaiah Chapter is there any indication That this is a messianic passage?
G3933
παρθένος
parthenos
par-then'-os
Of unknown origin; a maiden; by implication an unmarried daughter: - virgin.

a.  "A virgin"....  In Matt. the Greek....G3933
παρθένος
parthenos
par-then'-os
Of unknown origin; a maiden; by implication an unmarried daughter: - virgin.

LXX related word(s)
  H1330 betulah
  H5288 naar
  H5291 naarah
  H5959 almah

Now, let us examine the original Hebrew from Isaiah and how it is also used in the rest of the Scriptures.
H5959
Total HOT Occurrences: 7
עלמה (4)
Gen_24:43, Exo_2:8, Pro_30:19, Isa_7:14
עלמות (3)
Psa_68:26, Son_1:3, Son_6:8

‛almâh
Total KJV Occurrences: 7
maid, 2
Exo_2:8, Pro_30:19
virgin, 2
Gen_24:43, Isa_7:14
virgins, 2
Son_1:3, Son_6:8
damsels, 1
Psa_68:25

H5959
עלמה
‛almâh
BDB Definition:
1) virgin, young woman
1a) of marriageable age
1b) maid or newly married
Part of Speech: noun feminine
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H5958
Same Word by TWOT Number: 1630b

Almah is not used the same way in all circumstances.  Therefore it may not be declaring "a virgin".
In the Hebrew it is much better translated as a young maiden.  And most often it does not mean a virgin at all.  The better word in the Hebrew which actually means virgin is not used here.  That word is betulah.

Better yet is the way in which the word Almah is used here in the Hebrew
Isa 7:14  לכן יתן אדני הוא לכם אות הנה העלמה הרה וילדת בן וקראת שׁמו עמנו אל׃

 העלמה  

In Hebrew (reading from right to left), the word alma begins with a Hay.  This prefix is a definate article.  In others words the Hebrew says "This young woman" or "the young woman you see here.  The person being pointed out is someone who is known to both the prophet and the king.  Mary was not known to either Isaiah or the king.  So, Matthew tinkered with the quote and removed the definate article.  I have learned that Hebrew does not have an indefinate article.

There is more to this to work through though, we have just begun.  So come back next time where we will start where we have left off.



Friday, June 22, 2018

Study Preliminaries

Before we get into looking at the Matthew 1:20-23 and Isaiah 7:14 passages, there are some passages we need to keep in mind.

1.  Deu 12:28  “Guard, and obey all these words which I command you, that it might be well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the eyes of יהוה your Elohim.
Deu 12:29  “When יהוה your Elohim does cut off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,
Deu 12:30  guard yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire about their mighty ones, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their mighty ones? And let me do so too.’1 Footnote: 1See also 18:9, Lev. 18:3, Jer.10:2, Ezek. 11:12 & 20:32
Deu 12:31  “Do not do so to יהוה your Elohim, for every abomination which יהוה hates they have done to their mighty ones, for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their mighty ones.
Deu 12:32  “All the words I am commanding you, guard to do it – do not add to it nor take away from it.1 Footnote: 1See also 4:2, Prov. 30:6,

 1.  We are not to worship Hashem in the same way in which other nations have worshiped their idols.  You can cross reference what the children of Israel did with the golden calf.  They attempted to worship Hashem with it.  Human sacrifice was also part of pagan worship.

2.  Do not add or take away from Hashem's instructions.

Deu 13:1  “When there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he shall give you a sign or a wonder, 
Deu 13:2  and the sign or the wonder shall come true, of which he has spoken to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other mighty ones – which you have not known – and serve them,’
Deu 13:3  do not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for יהוה your Elohim is trying you to know whether you love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being.
Deu 13:4  “Walk after יהוה your Elohim and fear Him, and guard His commands and obey His voice, and serve Him and cling to Him.

3.  Just because someone does signs and wonders does not mean they are from Hashem.  If they teach things that go against the word of Hashem (Torah and Tenak, i.e. the Old Testament) then Hashem is testing you to see if you will remain true to the Word which He has given.  Hashem sends us tests!!

Amo 3:7  For the Master יהוה does no matter unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

4.  If Hashem is going to do something new, it is revealed first to His prophets.
       a.  changing the sabbath day?   
       b.  a mashiac to die for sins...?


Mal 3:6  “For I am יהוה, I shall not change, and you, O sons of Yaʽaqoḇ, shall not come to an end.

Zec 8:23  “Thus said יהוה of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all languages of the nations take hold, yea, they shall take hold of the edge of the garment of a man, a Yehuḏite, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that Elohim is with you.”

5.  Here we see that men from the nations go to the Jews to be taught.  Not the church, not Messianics or even those who have been grafted in.  They go to those who have been guarding the Scriptures through the ages.

And finally

Jer 16:19  O יהוה, my strength and my stronghold and my refuge, in the day of distress the gentiles shall come to You from the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers have inherited only falsehood, futility, and there is no value in them.”1 Footnote: 1See Ps. 147:19, Isa. 2:3, Isa. 60:2-3,

6.  notice it is the Gentiles who come and say they have been taught things that are wrong.

Now the first passages we will look at.  I will post them here and comment next time.

From the NET Bible.  This translation is pretty close to the Hebrew.

Isa 7:11  "Ask for a confirming sign from the LORD your God. You can even ask for something miraculous."
Isa 7:12  But Ahaz responded, "I don't want to ask; I don't want to put the LORD to a test."
Isa 7:13  So Isaiah replied, "Pay attention, family of David. Do you consider it too insignificant to try the patience of men? Is that why you are also trying the patience of my God?
Isa 7:14  For this reason the sovereign master himself will give you a confirming sign. Look, this young woman is about to conceive and will give birth to a son. You, young woman, will name him Immanuel.
Isa 7:15  He will eat sour milk and honey, which will help him know how to reject evil and choose what is right.
Isa 7:16  Here is why this will be so: Before the child knows how to reject evil and choose what is right, the land whose two kings you fear will be desolate.

Isa 7:14  לכןH3651  יתןH5414  אדניH136  הואH1931  לכם  אותH226  הנהH2009  העלמהH5959  הרהH2030  וילדתH3205  בןH1121  וקראתH7121  שׁמוH8034  עמנו  אל׃H6005
Isa 7:15  חמאהH2529  ודבשׁH1706  יאכלH398  לדעתוH3045  מאוסH3988  ברעH7451  ובחורH977  בטוב׃H2896
Isa 7:16  כיH3588  בטרםH2962  ידעH3045  הנערH5288  מאסH3988  ברעH7451  ובחרH977  בטובH2896  תעזבH5800  האדמהH127  אשׁרH834  אתהH859  קץH6973  מפניH6440  שׁניH8147  מלכיה׃H4428

Now  How does Matthew treat this?

Mat 1:20  But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
Mat 1:21  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Mat 1:22  Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
Mat 1:23  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.



Tuesday, June 19, 2018

The Challenge!

      Last April, the one in 2017, Laurie was given some notes from a friend.  The notes were about all of the fulfillment prophecies listed in the book of Matthew.  Laurie's friends had studied them out and compared them with the original places quoted in the Old Testament.  They studied them in context.  They came to an astonishing conclusion.  That conclusion was these Old Testament passages did not support what the book of Matthew was claiming.

     Laurie, being the studious person she is, started out to prove them wrong, and the rest of us also started our own studies of the "fulfillment passages".  As we studied, and talked and worked through these passages, we also came to some very disturbing conclusions, unanimously (except for one daughter who was not looking into it).  We worked on these things over and over until June.  Then we had to make some difficult decisions.  Life-changing decisions.  Scary decisions.

Everyone was hesitant to put what we had found into the practice of our lives.  As the head of the family, I decided we could no longer continue on as we had been.  It was necessary to put the Scriptures ahead of what our heads were telling us.  Voicing what everyone was thinking put us on a totally different track of living.  But we didn't know hardly anyone who was doing what we were going to do.  We were alone again in our walk.  Once the decision was made an amazing thing occurred.  We started to stumble on small groups of people, on facebook, who were also making the tough decisions that we had just made.  We also were finding people who were asking the same questions that we had already asked.

So, at this point, let me challenge you to take the Gospel of Matthew and find all of the fulfillment passages and then compare them in the whole context of the Old Testament passage referred to.  In some cases you may need to read the context of 10 or more chapters to find out who is actually being talked about.  In other cases you may not find anything.

In the next post I will give you some notes and some videos that were made after we came to our conclusions as aids in your search.  We did not have these at the time we started looking into things.
Until then,  happy studying.

Monday, June 18, 2018

So what remains the same?

1.  We as individuals and as a family remain the same. We still have the same personalities.  Even though we believe differently now, we are the same people we have always been:  loving, caring, compassionate, industrious and scholarly.

2.  We still believe the Torah and Tenak are applicable to our lives and the way we live them.

3.   We still homeschool and advocate for that.

4.  We still study the Scriptures

So, what has changed?  We have a deeper relationship with the Creator God.  and that is where I will begin in the next post.

Saturday, June 16, 2018

A Year? What can happen in a year?

     It has been well over a year since I have posted in this format.  Can anything substantial happen in a year's time?  Well, yes, plenty.  As a result our journey for truth resulted in much more in depth study and prayer and much more change in our lives.  So, that being said I would like to say most if not all of my previous posts on the Scripture are in error. With this post and the ones following it I would like to correct those errors and hopefully you will bear with me and take time to prayerfully and studiously work through the posts that will follow as I share our journey.  I will not be taking earlier posts down for I would like a record of where we were and where we are heading. 

In August last year we had an opportunity open to us to return to Michigan.  So we packed up and left in September.  We headed north through the upper peninsula and across the bridge.  For some of our children this was the very first time they had been in Michigan.





 In the posts following I will tell some of things that we did as family and tell of our spiritual journey.
Over all it has been an amazing trip.  I trust that you will return and follow even if you are at odds with us.  May the Father strengthen you as you seek Him and His truth.