Category: Understanding Torah
“Come out of her, My people” Show
Posted by Mark Call | May 15, 2025 | Biblical Basics, Come Out of Her My People - Mark Call, News, Old Testament & New Testament, Personal Improvement, Understanding Torah, Who Are We? | 0 |
Now Is The Time w/Rabbi Steve Berkson | Love and Torah | Part 1
by nittpodcast | May 26, 2025 | Biblical Basics, Biblical History, Now Is the Time - Steve Berkson, Old Testament & New Testament, Understanding Torah, Who Are We? | 0 |
Torah, or “the Law,” often raises questions about its connection to love. Rabbi Steve Berkson...
Read MoreHollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 154 (Walking on Water Part 5 – Is it something in the water?)
by Hollisa Alewine | May 25, 2025 | Biblical Basics, Biblical History, Torah Class - Hollisa Alewine, Understanding Torah, Weekly Torah Portion Reading | 0 |
Is it something in the water?
“Count time! On your feet!”
When I worked at the federal prison, there was a particular officer with a funny voice, kind of like the drill sergeants at boot camp. It could penetrate cinder block walls, mainly because it had to. The best I can describe it is 50% drill sergeant, 35% smoker’s throat, and 15% helium.
When it was time for a “standing count,” inmates were required to stand up for the count. It made it easier for the officer to obtain an accurate count, and more importantly, the officer was sure the prisoner
1) was still alive and well, and
2) really there; it wasn’t just a lump of pillows under a blanket
When I worked with this officer, he called out in that boot camp voice, “Count time! On your feet!” You couldn’t not hear it. He said more colorful things than “Count time!” when inmates or staff caused him problems, but those are best not repeated.
We are quickly approaching Shavuot, the end of “Count time! On your feet!” The harvest time between Pesach and Shavuot is extremely busy agriculturally, but it only get BUSIER between Shavuot and the fall feasts of ingathering. If we’re struggling to stand, much less walk right now, we might need a fainting couch when the relentless summer heat hits.
Yeshua told the following parable:
“Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.”…“Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God… Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.” (Lk 8:7-15)
The “fresh” Word does wonders in our lives. It makes for a fun Passover when we’ve renewed the joy of our salvation each year. A week or two into the count, though, the seed of the Word is in mortal danger. Seed is the promise of life, yet when the soil isn’t prepared, protected, nurtured, and watered, the fruit that could have matured in that field dies in the early stages.
As the omer count goes on, it’s harder to stand and be counted. A temptation comes, perhaps a “stones-to-bread” twisting shortcut of what the Word actually means, or the consequences of throwing one’s self off a height of risky behavior, hoping an angel will catch us, or even a brush with idolatry: greed, rebellion, sexual immorality, etc. Others will be choked by worries, busy-ness thorns that choke off the nourishment times of studying the Word needed to put down deep roots and to choke out the thorns instead.
But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Lk 10:41-42)
Our busy days will be weighed in the balances of the Kingdom when we enter, and imagine how much of it will be taken away as we cross the threshhold to the Garden. And imagine what will not be taken away. Any time invested in the Word of the Father will remain, and in that Kingdom, it will continue to bear eternal fruit, especially if we’ve grown and pulled that fruit from the bitter waters of a test.
There’s something in the water during count time. What is it?
While walking through, under, on, and between water of the Reed Sea might feel miraculous and spectacular, the omer count time is also a time when the Father begins to test His Word in us. It will not feel so miraculous or spectacular.
This will bring back the bitter Egyptian taste of mistrust. The Egyptian masters coerced and abused their slaves*, and life only became worse, not better. Is YHVH the same kind of master? Is he an abusive father like Pharaoh, demanding everything, yet slow to deliver what was owed or not delivering at all? Our “childhood” walk to Shavuot will be characterized by a major test or two because “…as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything…(Ga 4:1)
Israel was the heir to the Promised Land, the Kingdom, yet they were being treated like slaves, forced to rely upon the Father at every stop along the way to Sinai, starting with the encounter with the bitter water. Remember as kids when we hated boring, long rides in the back seat (because we didn’t have “devices” for distraction back then!), doing chores, making our beds, or having to spend time at a family occasion when we could have been out playing with our friends?
Children are being introduced to the fundamentals of the Torah so that they can later become disciples, routine practicers of even the more exacting holy commandments required of a kingdom of royal priests. Before that betrothal into discipleship at Sinai, though, we learn the fundamentals of the faith and practice them. Remember? L’hitamen is the reflexive form of L’haamin, “to trust, to have faith.” L’hitamen means to practice, drill, and train.
Amen?
Some believers love count time. Some don’t. Some believers embrace test day; others develop a stomachache and stay home.
Really, can’t you divide most believers into those who view Moses’ instructions as sweet, the Tree of Life, and those who see them as bitter, distasteful, and unnecessary to their maturation into the Bride of Messiah?
In fact, we all swing between those two positions along the journey. As the Father prepares the Bride, He will gently wash, wash, wash. We must practice, practice, practice, drill, drill, drill, correcting our attitudes. How? In spite of the bitter taste of water, it tests the sotah. The test of the sotah called for the suspected adulteress to drink bitter water containing both the words of Torah and the sacred Name YHVH, which would be washed off in the water she drank.
If innocent, she would experience no harm and bear fruit. Good soil.
If guilty, both she and her adulterous partner would waste away. Dry soil. Summer heat. Unguarded against predators. Choked by non-Kingdom business. Not hearing, which means not doing, the Seed of the Word. Not enough practice in righteousness to balance the worries that always come.
Vulnerability leads to easy pickins for the adversary. Not the harvest of good barley and wheat, but the opposite. The adversary plucks up before the plant comes to maturity. Practice in righteousness slowly washes away the victim mentality of Egypt along with its vulnerabilities that invite predators; practice in the commandments sends down good roots that will find water when the topsoil is dry.
Count time is a vulnerable time. Practice.
The bitter water of Marah tested the Israelites who had just walked on water! Were they thinking of adultery/idolatry again? Or could they think through the problem, practice faithful thinking based on His Word and promises, and find sweetness in the situation? Actually bear good fruit because of the bitterness…in spite of it? Could they do what Moses did, which was to throw a “stick” (etz) into the water. An etz is a tree.
Trees are sometimes metaphors of human beings in Scriptures. (“I see men like trees walking…”) Sometimes we see ourselves in the water. That’s when we need to throw ourselves into the water. Go all the way under. If our reflection doesn’t look so good, it’s time to jump in the bitter water and sweeten it with our faithfulness.
When we pop back up, we’ll be surrounded by the concentric water circles waving and traveling outward. They remind us that we are maturing plants, and our faithfulness will have an impact on those around us that just keeps on going.
Don’t see anything?
Keep going under until you bob up and see fruit.
Keep drinking until it’s sweet.
If we will allow our bitter tests to be refreshed with washing of water by the Word, Yeshua, then where there were bitter memories of past wrongs and dashed hopes, there will be the seed of fresh fruit. It will be a great step in leaving the past behind and pressing forward.
The pomegranate represents the Torah because of its approximate 613 seeds, representing the 613 commandments. There is a fruit tree of the Word awaiting us in the water. Maybe Peter wasn’t really sinking in the water after all. Maybe he was just learning to stand and be counted, washing and polishing his commandment pips, learning to trust Yeshua to finish and perfect his childlike faith in bitter tests between then and Shavuot.
If we saw Yeshua, a Living Word, the Tree of Life, as our reflection in the water, it would transform the bitter test to a sweet one. How far do we need to go to change our attitudes about tests to conform to Yeshua’s attitude? It’s not different water. It’s not a different Word. It’s how we view the changes that need to take place in us in order to taste a hard Word as a sweet one.
If we wait upon the Father’s will and practice His Word, He will sweeten the water and improve our reflection in His time. He’ll teach us “the good part, which shall not be taken away.” Our reflection in the water will be transformed by the washing, sweet water of the Word. We need not be either thirsty or unclean in His Presence at Sinai.
There is something in the water. It is Yeshua. His solution to an ugly reflection at count time?
On your feet!
And jump in!
*Archaeologists have found potsherds scattered around the Egyptian pyramids and other building projects where workers scrawled their complaints onto the scraps of pottery. Perhaps the complaints were too dangerous to say aloud, and they contented themselves with scattering these anonymous grievances around the work camp for the supervisors to find. One of the main complaints was that they were shortchanged wages, which was sometimes goods, or the wages were slow to arrive.
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Read MoreMark Call – Torah Teaching for Double-Parsha “Behar-Bechukotai”
by Mark Call | May 24, 2025 | Biblical Basics, Biblical History, Come Out of Her My People - Mark Call, Old Testament & New Testament, Personal Improvement, Shabba Shalom Mesa - Mark Call, Understanding Torah, Weekly Torah Portion Reading, Who Are We? | 0 |
The Book of Vayikra or Leviticus concludes with the two part torah parsha, “Behar,”...
Read MoreTorah Teachers’ Round Table – Apostolic Edition – II Corinthians chapter 11:4
by Mark Call | May 21, 2025 | Biblical Basics, Biblical History, Come Out of Her My People - Mark Call, Old Testament & New Testament, Personal Improvement, Torah Teachers Round Table, Uncategorized, Understanding Torah, Who Are We? | 0 |
The Torah teachers, Mark Call and Ray Harrison, are now joined again by Pete Rambo, as they...
Read MoreNow Is The Time w/Rabbi Steve Berkson | Peace in a World Not His | Part 12
by nittpodcast | May 19, 2025 | Biblical Basics, Biblical History, Now Is the Time - Steve Berkson, Old Testament & New Testament, Understanding Torah, Who Are We? | 0 |
In Proverbs chapter 3, King Solomon writes to his children to “bind his Torah around their neck.”...
Read MoreMark Call – Torah Teaching for Double-Parsha “Kedoshim-Emor”
by Mark Call | May 18, 2025 | Biblical History, Come Out of Her My People - Mark Call, Old Testament & New Testament, Personal Improvement, Shabba Shalom Mesa - Mark Call, Understanding Torah, Weekly Torah Portion Reading, Who Are We? | 0 |
The Erev Shabbat (Friday evening) of two-part Double-parsha “Kedoshim,” then...
Read MoreTorah Teachers’ Round Table – Apostolic Edition – II Corinthians chapter 7 thru 10
by Mark Call | May 16, 2025 | Biblical Basics, Biblical History, Old Testament & New Testament, Torah Teachers Round Table, Understanding Torah, Who Are We? | 0 |
The Torah teachers, Mark Call and Ray Harrison, continue the study of Shaul or Paul’s Second...
Read More“Come out of her, My people” Show
by Mark Call | May 15, 2025 | Biblical Basics, Come Out of Her My People - Mark Call, News, Old Testament & New Testament, Personal Improvement, Understanding Torah, Who Are We? | 0 |
“It’s a MESS.” In every way, on just about every front. And it’s By...
Read MoreNow Is The Time w/Rabbi Steve Berkson | Peace in a World Not His | Part 11
by nittpodcast | May 12, 2025 | Biblical Basics, Biblical History, Now Is the Time - Steve Berkson, Old Testament & New Testament, Understanding Torah, Who Are We? | 0 |
Dealing with the idea of “Waiting, Seeking, and Being strong,” Rabbi Steve Berkson takes us to...
Read MoreDr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 153 (Walking on Water Part 4 – The Underwater Army of Abaddon)
by Hollisa Alewine | May 11, 2025 | Biblical Basics, Biblical History, Torah Class - Hollisa Alewine, Uncategorized, Understanding Torah, Weekly Torah Portion Reading | 0 |
The Underwater Army of Abaddon – Walking on Water Part 4
In Walking on Water Part Three, we looked in depth at the Gospel of Matthew 14:22-33 account of Yeshua and Peter walking on water. Peter lost faith when he saw the wind, and he had to call on Yeshua.When it looks like the angels of the four winds, or princes and principalities, or spiritual darkness in high places (and low ones!) are bringing destruction, our confidence is in the right arm and saving hand of YHVH, Yeshua. For Peter, the last watch of the night, the time of immindent destruction, was too close for comfort. He knew that the “dry land” he walked on could turn to stones of destruction at any second.Yeshua said to Peter, “Come!” In Hebrew, he said, “Bo!” [???]That should sound familiar from our Reed Sea salvation as well:The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land,?????????? ???????????????? ???????? ?????? ?????????????The verb? Yavo-u! The collective congregation in plural form of Bo. Peter knew YHVH walking on water had happened in the past…if Yeshua was who he said he was, the son of YHVH, then wouldn’t he want the disciples to Bo! now in their present time of trouble as well? If it was Yeshua, then it wasn’t a “ghost,” a spirit assigned to the East Wind, but Salvation guiding the East Wind.This is an example to us that neither should we be distracted by the tempestuous spiritual forces being used to shepherd us into safe haven.In this newsletter, we need to review the dark spiritual forces of “Egypt” that were bound at the Abyss of the Reed Sea and how they play a role in the prophecies of Revelation. It’s a necessary layer of understanding to help us take the next step with Yeshua, the dry land, the resurrection, and the mystery of its mikveh.It also is an encouragement that even as we walk on the water with Yeshua when he says “Bo!”, he is marshaling the King of Abaddon and “Egypt” to take vengeance on the very adversaries who pursued us. He is surrounding us with a protective, pure tunnel of salvation.Please review the Chariots of the Abyss this week, and we will progress to the mystery of immersion in Messiah next week. Since each of these lessons of the mini-series builds on the previous one, it is recommended to print and review in order if possible.Also, if you want to review a related video, Chariots of Abaddon it is free to view on YouTube.Please SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to get new teachings.
Mark Call – Torah Teaching for Parsha “Achre Mot”
by Mark Call | May 10, 2025 | Biblical Basics, Biblical History, Come Out of Her My People - Mark Call, Old Testament & New Testament, Personal Improvement, Shabba Shalom Mesa - Mark Call, Understanding Torah, Weekly Torah Portion Reading, Who Are We? | 0 |
The annual Torah cycle reading for this week, Achre Mot, Leviticus chapters 16 through 18, takes...
Read MoreTorah Teachers’ Round Table – Apostolic Edition – II Corinthians chapter 5 thru 6
by Mark Call | May 6, 2025 | Biblical Basics, Biblical History, Old Testament & New Testament, Personal Improvement, Torah Teachers Round Table, Understanding Torah, Who Are We? | 0 |
This week the Torah teachers, Mark Call, Ray Harrison, and Mark Pitrone, welcome a new,...
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