Category: Weekly Torah Portion Reading

Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 158 (Walking on Water Part 9 – Fruit Loops)

Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 158 (Walking on Water Part 9 – Fruit Loops)

by | Jun 29, 2025 | , , , , | 0 |

FRUIT LOOPS

This week is a review of our mini-series of Walking on Water as a prophecy of the Greater Exodus.

Walking on Water has been a mini-series full of encouragement and hope. It grew from this verse in the Song of Songs:

“Awake, O north wind,

And come, wind of the south;

Make my garden breathe out fragrance,

Let its spices be wafted abroad.

May my beloved come into his garden

And eat its choice fruits!” (4:16)

To wrap up our series, let’s review some key points. First, the walk through the Reed Sea is connected to the separation and gathering of waters at the Creation in Genesis One as well as the Tree of Life and the River of Life in Revelation. That’s quite a swim, so Baruch HaShem we can walk on water!

What those Creation and Revelation bookends have in common is fruit trees along the water. This fruit symbolism appears in natural cycles, which reflect fruit cycles in their spiritual cycles. The natural world is merely the parable of the spiritual world, but by studying the creation, we can see the spiritual fruit cycles to which we will be in perfect tune in the millennial kingdom of Yeshua.

This is one reason it is so important to study and practice the feasts of Scripture, which are themed around agricultural themes. Israel works the fields to produce natural fruits which are offered as tithes, firstfruits, and offerings. The natural is elevated to the spiritual realm where it is perfected, just as those resurrected from the dead will be planted mortal, yet raised immortal, fully equipped to function in either the natural or spiritual world.

The feasts of Adonai loop year after year, offering believers an opportunity to be nourished by His fruit loops. No artificial dyes, added sugar, or whatever else it is that makes Froot Loops bad for you. This is fruit for those entering the Kingdom as little children, needing nourishment for maturity when they emerge from the water:

Bahya writes. When they were walking in the sea and their children cried, the mother took an apple or a pomegranate and gave it to the child. There were apple trees and other fruit in the sea. The Holy One made them grow quickly and had fruits in the sea. *Bahya, Exodus, 14:22. [Tze’enah Ure’enah, Beshalach] *The Bahya text is a reference to Midrash Rabbah to Shemot 21§10 (Exodus 14:21-22)

The trip over the water-and-earth-bridge of the sea provided a taste of Eden. Not a complete transition to the Garden, but a brief experience, like their everwear clothes and sandals, food, and water.

What did the water bridge provide? It lifted their feet from the natural earth, supplying a cushion of purifying water for the swift journey. Things that ascend to the Garden in a physical body must pass through fire or water to purify them for holy use.

“You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

If we sanctify ourselves on earth, Adonai sanctifies and perfects us in heaven. It is our duty, and it allows the world to be enticed by our odor of holiness instead of despairing that a holy walk is impossible or not even a fruitful one. We die to the sin slavery of the natural body, yet we live according the resurrection spirit of Yeshua.

We have available the washing of water by the Word. This might explain Yeshua’s washing of the disciples’ feet…they would experience the supernatural, like Philip’s rapid translation after he witnessed to the Ethiopian. 

Our immersion in the water of the Word in the Torah cycles and feasts is like walking in Fruit Loops. As the mothers of Israel took fruits from the walls of water in the Reed Sea on the journey, so we enjoy the fruits of the Ruach when we enter the Kingdom as a little child.

As we mature, we also bear fruit to give to others who are maturing by the River of Life, for we are a part of the Tree of Life. The crossing of the Reed Sea recalled the Creation, yet according to the Song of the Sea, the nations witnessed Israel’s journey as they walked on water.

It was dark, the waters split, nations saw the good fruits, and the fragrance wafted abroad. Likewise, Yeshua’s return to gather his bride into the clouds of glory will be witnessed by all the earth: “BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.” (Re 1:7)

The pillar of cloud and light moved behind the Israelites, protecting their entrance to the “Garden and giving the Bride the opportunity to invite him after her into the Garden, which is customary. The Bridegroom does not enter the chuppah until invited by the Bride: “May my Beloved come into his garden and eat its choice fruits!” “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Come, Lord Yeshua.” (Re 22:20)

As we taste his choice spiritual fruits, so he tastes the choice fruits the Ruach produced in the Bride who cultivates natural fruits of earthly service to offer the Bridegroom.

The pattern is this:

Water represents spirit (as does fire)
The earth is the substance of mankind, adam
When YHVH turns the sea into dry land as a way of escape, that which was spirit became substance/flesh in order to provide a new beginning for Israel/mankind, a resurrection from the sin decay of mere earth to earthly life with the spirit, a promise of perfections from above
New life follows a mikveh in Messiah, the Great Hand of YHVH.

“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.” (Re 22:17) Those fruits renew every month beside the River of Life. The Bride will be eternally new and renewed by the Ruach, free of mortal decay.

When Yeshua has perfected his Bride at the resurrection of her body and Body, she will invite him to once again join her in the Garden under the chuppah. Blessed is He who comes in the Name of YHVH. Lekha dodi. Come, my Beloved, to meet the Bride. The Ruach of Shabbat we receive.

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Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 156 (Walking on Water Part 7 – The Dead Messiah and Stickin’ Chickens)

Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 156 (Walking on Water Part 7 – The Dead Messiah and Stickin’ Chickens)

by | Jun 16, 2025 | , , , , | 0 |

I have chickens. They are not my chickens. They belong to the neighbor. He already had chickens in a chicken coop. Now he has ten more chickens. They are not in the chicken coop. They are in my yard. My flowers. Digging holes in the yard and around the foundation of the house. Pooping on the porch. Hanging out.

I tried playing red-tail hawk sounds really loud. I tried taking watermelon rinds and veggie scraps over to their property, but they still lurk in the shady spots and follow me around every time I go outside to work. They just stick around.

It took me a whole day to lay chicken wire under the flower bed mulch to keep them from destroying my carefully designed and freshly-planted flower beds.

We let the neighbor know, but so far, we still have sticken’ chickens.

I even told them the story of when Billie Idol went missing, but while they enjoyed story time, they don’t connect Billie’s demise to their current situation.

Chickens are like that.

When I was four years old, my first pet was a chicken named Slicker.

Grandma’s cat Fuchsia ate it.

I didn’t connect a cat to Slicker’s current situation.

I was telling a good friend about our sticken’ chickens yesterday, and we were chatting about the danger of Moses’ forty days of absence on the mountain. The Israelites and mixed multitude pretty much gave up on his return. In spite of every miracle they’d seen, they couldn’t wait forty full days for the next one. Not only that, they started breaking the Big Ten. An idol. Sexual immorality. You know the story. They’d been delivered from slavery in Egypt; they’d been immersed as a congregation in the Reed Sea; they’d witnessed the glory of Adonai and agreed to His covenant at the mountain…and yet, they had sticken’ chickens from Egypt. They went right back to feeding slavery to sin.

“For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea…” (1 Co 10:1-2)

The tunnel of the Reed Sea was like a birth canal. Immersion has always been a symbol of a resurrection that is more than symbolic. On the Third Day of Creation was a birth of life from the water to fruit trees. On the dawn of the Seventh Day of Passover, the Israelites completed a supernaturally fast, effortless journey through the Reed Sea.

Likewise, immersion (mikveh) is undertaken as a rebirth. The pattern is this:

• Water represents spirit (as does fire)

• The earth is the substance of mankind, adam

• When YHVH turns the sea into dry land as a way of escape, that which was spirit became substance/flesh in order to provide a new beginning for Israel/mankind, a resurrection from the sin decay of mere earth to earthly life with the spirit, a promise of wholeness and perfections completed from above

• New life follows a mikveh in Messiah, the Great Hand of YHVH.

This is the mystical picture of the Reed Sea. When YHVH turned the sea into dry land, he figuratively resurrected the Israelites. When the natural body dies, it returns to the earth. In Messiah Yeshua, the bared arm of YHVH, mankind is resurrected from earth through water.

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.” (Ro 6:1-7)

When we turn back to sin, we’re not quite dead enough.

Few who entered the Reed Sea mikveh entered as newborns in physical age; Israelites and the mixed multitude entered in various stages of aging. In that sense, we understand why a mikveh symbolizes rebirth, yet it is available to all ages for their various reasons.

Regardless of the age entering it, emerging from the mikveh is a re-set upon emerging. Immersion is a type of resurrection, especially as the water becomes the “dry land” of burial. It is a fresh start for a newborn who has yet to choose sin.

Purities of obedience begin in the home…

“There are seven dwelling places listed in the Seder Gan Eden, and in each there is a righteous woman who teaches the Torah: Batyah, daughter of Pharaoh, Yocheved, mother of Moses, Miriam, sister of Moses, Huldah the Prophetess, Abigail, David’s wife, and beyond this point, the matriarchs, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.” In one source, those who enter Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden) go through four transformations through their learning experience. Upon entry, the righteous individual is changed into a child and tastes the joys of childhood (Raphael, p. 187)… “When the Torah was first given, it was taught to the women first. It is written, ‘Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob’ – the women – ‘and tell the sons of Israel’ (Ex 19:3).” (Kaplan, p. 59)

Whether literal or not, the principle is that purity and obedience are first learned in the home, the domain of the mother: “My son, observe the commandment [mitzvah] of your father, and do not forsake the teaching [torah] of your mother.” (Pr 6:20)

Yeshua reiterated how important childhood is in entering the Kingdom without a habit of sin, without the pride of rebellion against the Word.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 18:1-4)

The humble child is like a slave, not yet inheriting, yet he/she already has everything. Children of every age are equal, yet honor and responsibility according to growth age.

There is no least or greatest in that sense. All are children. All begin as little children and need time to experience spiritual childhood because of its pure joy and lack of responsibility. Just because a child is precocious doesn’t mean he/she is ready for the keys to the Kingdom.

The Hokey Pokey of Eden

Yeshua said, “Unless you be “converted” and become like children…”

?????? stréph?; to twist, i.e. turn quite around or reverse (literally or figuratively):—convert, turn (again, back again, self, self about).

“Now I say, 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)

Immersion into Messiah Yeshua mimics this growth principle, re-setting to childhood for a new cycle, preparing the child to inherit the Kingdom. No getting around it! What the child must not do is mistake himself or herself for the slave who has no inheritance! A slave inherits nothing! A slave has Egyptian sticken’ chickens of sin. A child, though awaiting and learning in the Father’s house, will inherit the estate. The child does not serve because of his past, but because of his future.

A child who hangs around slaves, however, may believe he is a slave. He may begin to mimic sins that are not his mother’s training for the inheritance of their father…and Father.

This principle is so elementary to our faith. We must mature in our faith, learning to be holy on earth because He is holy in Heaven, our inheritance. Through repentance and conversion, constantly turning around to live innocently according to the “new man” that was immersed in Messiah, we can mature in the Word to inherit the Kingdom:

“Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits. For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.” (He 6:1-8)

That’s horrible. Our continued sin crucifies and shames Yeshua again! It is as if we are among those screaming, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” It is as if we whipped Yeshua, spit on him, and drove the nails into his hands and feet. We are false witnesses, for while in one breath we speak of Messiah Yeshua, in the next breath we sin as if Yeshua is dead. If he is alive, we are his little children, learning, repenting, correcting, and trusting Yeshua the Living Word is alive in us. If we practice sin, we proclaim the death of Messiah, but not his resurrection.

If we don’t believe Messiah Yeshua is dead, then we need to cease dead works.

Dead works, too, are a testimony, not of Messiah Yeshua’s life, but of his death.

Let the world see the life of Yeshua in us resurrect us to increasing pure, holy, and faithful works when we trip over sticken’ chickens and fall. We can do the hokey pokey and turn ourselves around, but we must make the connection to our current situation.

Although I have sticken’ chickens during the day, at night, they go home to roost. Ultimately, that’s what sin does. It returns to the one who provides it a resting place. Those kinds of chickens should find no place to rest or roost in a believer. Yeshua lives. Let the little child arise from the waters of immersion, no matter what our age. Children were Yeshua’s greatest fans, and he always welcomed them with open arms, no matter how busy he was healing, teaching, and delivering the grownups.

How does water relate to the resurrection of the whole spirit, soul, and physical body? When we make transgressions, the spirit of grace offers a path of reconciliation with our Father, our King. If we sincerely repent and immerse, we come up a new creation, a new child. Forget the Fountain of Youth-this water is WAY better! It is a fountain of youth with an eternal inheritance!

As we wait for Yeshua’s return, let us not grow weary of waiting or become vulnerable to Egypt’s sticken’ chickens. An inheritance awaits.

“For we will surely die and are like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away life but plans ways so that the banished one will not be cast out from him.” (Wise Woman of Tekoa in 2 Sa 14:14)

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Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 155 (Walking on Water Part 6 – Water in the Rock, or Rock in the Water?)

Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 155 (Walking on Water Part 6 – Water in the Rock, or Rock in the Water?)

by | Jun 2, 2025 | , , , , | 0 |

Water in The Rock, or The Rock in the Water?

This newletter is lengthy, so let it serve for two Shabbats. There will be no newsletter next week due to visiting Jacob’s Tent services Up to the Mountain.

In the last several newsletters, we’ve taken a close look at the many prophecies embodied in Yeshua’s walk on the water of the Galilee in Matthew Fourteen. How different was Yeshua’s perception of the walk than Peter and the other disciples’! For the one who was the water in the Rock…and the Rock…in the wilderness for the Israelites, it was no problem to also be the Rock in the water to his students.

“He alone spreads out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea…” (Job 9:8)

Sometimes it helps to put the Gospel of Matthew back into its original Hebrew text. While no one is certain of where that text might be (only fragments are known to survive), there is a version whose provenance can only be traced so far back in Jewish history, yet it is quite accurate considering it was used by a less-than-friendly readership. It is the Shem Tov’s Evan Bohan version from the Fourteenth Century. The differences between the Hebrew and Greek texts are not drastic.

To Yeshua, the stroll on the Galilee during the storm was perceived much differently than his students, who perceived it as dangerous, chaotic, and “contrary.” In the Hebrew Matthew version, the word for contrary is neged, or opposing, opposite. Neged has a good side, too, for Adam’s wife Chavah was his ezer kenegdo, or “helper opposite him,” which brings balance. When opposition is a helper, it is because in spite of the opposition, the overall purpose is to achieve unity walking in the Word. The opposite helper pulls the weight of the yoke beside the other, ensuring the burden does not get dragged in endless circles, but can go straight. For example, grace and truth are not opposed to one another. One cannot be practiced at the expense of the other. In Yeshua, they work together.

Sarah wasn’t such a good helper when she suggested Hagar as a solution to their problem, but she was a good helper when she advised Abraham to send away Ishmael, who had not internalized the righteousness of his father and threatened the inheritance of Isaac. The disciples did not see the waves of the storm as their ezer kenegdo, or helping opposition, but as a destructive force. They were just rowing in circles in the middle of the Galilee, taking on water.

Galilee does indeed imply circles in Hebrew, like a roll or spool, and a wave is a gal, pronounced gahl (not to be confused with other gals). This is perhaps what it has in common with the “circle of the earth,” and why from Isaiah’s prophecy, Galilee came to be called “Galilee of the Nations.” In Jewish tradition, Moses hid the Rock that followed them in the wilderness in the bottom of the Galilee before he died, which explains why Yeshua would have made his early home near the Galilee and begun his ministry there. The Rock was both the water in the Rock, the Rock, and the Rock in the water.

It also explains how Yeshua’s ministry prepared the way for the nations to hear the Gospel message from his disciples:

“But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.” (Is 9:1-2)

As the region of the Galilee represented the Gentile nations in the time from Isaiah to Yeshua’s ministry, so the disciples were dispersed to proclaim the Light of the Word Yeshua to the scattered of Israel as well as the Gentiles who dwelled among the raging waves of tormenting wickedness.

Even as we are rescued, we are tested of the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, who also is described as a “Helper.” An ezer kenegdo may seem contrary, yet it is a necessary instrument of contention from the Father before we officially enter into “the bond of the covenant” with Him. While we said “We will do and we will hear” at many Shavuot feasts in our wilderness of the peoples, a final reckoning under the Shepherd’s rod will occur at a future Feast of Trumpets (Rosh HaShanah) so that the bond may be sealed at Yom HaKippurim before we enter into the chuppah of Sukkot with Yeshua:

“I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out; and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you,” declares the Lord GOD. “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; and I will purge from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am the LORD.” (Ezek 20:34-38)

If there are rebels, they will be purged in the wilderness of the nations, but the testing and refining process will not feel good to any believer even if they are not sifted out by the test.

When we follow Yeshua, we will encounter the contrary waves of the Galilee, for we fish people in “Galilee” of the nations. For many walking with Yeshua, whether on land or sea, they realize that they are already a long distance from where they departed, but yet are quite a distance from where they are going. At this point, turning around might seem easier because that’s the way the wind is blowing. Just ride it wherever it blows, right?

It really isn’t the easiest way out of the storm, though. Hebrew Matthew 14:24 says the disciples’ boat was b’emtzah, or “in the middle of, the center of” the sea. It’s just as far to go back as it is to go forward, yet fear makes going back to the wilderness of Egypt, the starting place, seem less painful and scary than riding out the storm.

It isn’t.

When Yeshua steps into our “boat,” the journey will be over in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. “So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going” even though the text states they were three or four miles along the water (Jn 6:21), and Matthew says they were in the center of the Galilee.

Yes, going forward feels like going nowhere because every stroke of the oars meets resistance. What discouraged Peter mid-walk was that the wind was chazak, or “strong.” A strong force was at work on the Galilee. The forces that test us ARE strong. The disciples could have no better object lesson of struggle not being against flesh and blood, but against “principalities and powers in high places.” No wonder the disciples thought Yeshua might be a not-so-friendly-ghost, or in Hebrew, a sheid (demon).

On the other hand, their struggle was against flesh and blood…their own fears and limitations to act in the storm.

“But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary.” (Mt 14:24)

Two words describe the reason for the disciples’ fear: “battered” and “contrary.”

The Greek word for “battered” is:

basaniz?

The KJV translates Strong’s G928 in the following manner: torment (8x), pain (1x), toss (1x), vex (1x), toil (1x).

to test (metals) by the touchstone

to question by applying torture

to torture

to vex with grievous pains (of body or mind), to torment

to be harassed, distressed

In Sodom, Lot was also tortured by the wickedness surrounding him:

“…for by what he saw and heard, that righteous man, while living among them, felt G928 his righteous soul tormented G928 day after day by their lawless deeds)…” (2 Pe 2:8)

The disciples were figuratively among the nations, “battered” by the waves, their righteous souls tortured at the level of Sodom’s wickedness.

In the Hebrew Matthew, the wording is slightly different: “The boat was in the midst of the sea, and the waves of the sea were driving it because the wind was contrary.”

While the Greek describes the waves as tormenting the disciples, the Hebrew is dachaf, which means pushing and shoving. Who or what are these deathly tormenting, pushing, shoving, waves driven by contrary, neged wind?

“When the waves of death surrounded me, the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.” (2 Sa 22:5)

It is ungodliness that tests us just as it tested Lot and every other righteous person in Scripture. Yes, ungodliness is very frightening. Every stroke of the oar that should impel us forward to the goal meets strong resistance. We’re pushed and shoved. Faith in Yeshua, however, can cause the storm to give it a rest.

Think of this. Although it feels as though we’re not stronger than the wicked waves, going wherever the contrary ruach shoves us, the opposite is true. In the boat with faith in Yeshua, we DO have control over the direction of the boat even in the storm. Obedience to the Word is a definite direction, not drifting. When we invite Yeshua into the boat, it shortens the journey to where we’re going. The longer we struggle against it alone with our fears, the longer it will take.

Yeshua is still the Rock in the water of the nations. When we walk on his Word, we walk on a solid foundation.

And eventually, the nations will stand still and watch the salvation of YHVH like the Israelites did while Yeshua arranged the waters of the Reed Sea for their journey home. The nations will have to watch Yeshua be the cloud, the bridge, the strong hand that leads His people to their destination in the City of Comfort. When the Israelites crossed the Reed Sea, the waters below them became dry land; the waters to their right and left hardened into brick-like stone walls, and the water above them was the cloud: “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea…” (1 Co 10:1-2)

Remember this from the beginning of the “Walking on Water” mini-series:

“All the waters of the world were split when the sea was split. Ten miracles occurred at the sea. First, that it split. Second is that it was made like a dome or a roof and Israel walked under the water. The water was under, on the sides of and over Israel. Third, it was dry under them, so that Israel should not smear their feet with mud. Fourth, for the Egyptians, the earth was all mud and slime and they sank into it. Fifth, the water was congealed and hard as stone. Sixth, the water was not congealed completely, but it was congealed a section at a time. It was like large boulders, in the expectation that when the Egyptians would drown, the hard water would smash their heads, like stones. These pieces were on top of each other, like a brick wall.” (Tze’enah Ure’enah, Commentary to Beshalach)

Understanding the symbolism of the Galilee in relation to the crossing of the Reed helps us to make the connection between the Exodus from Egypt and the coming Greater Exodus. The ancient rabbis carefully read the Exodus text, and they saw the “stone wall” composition of the sea walls when it parted to make a way for Israel to cross the earth on its journey home. The pushing, shoving, tormenting waves of the world were frozen in place so that they could not move, forced to watch the salvation of YHVH’s strong right hand Yeshua as he led Israel to a supernatural existence:

“Terror and dread fall upon them;

By the greatness of Your arm they are motionless as stone;

Until Your people pass over, O LORD,

Until the people pass over whom You have purchased.

You will bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance,

The place, O LORD, which You have made for Your dwelling,

The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.” (Ex 15:16-17)

When the Israelites completed their journey, the “stones” fell on one another, wicked smashing wicked.

Imagine what the gathering of Yeshua will be like. The wicked will be frozen, unable to move, while Israel exits the natural world and begins walking in the supernatural world of Eden. It’s a realm of heavenly waters where supernatural meets the natural, just above us.

Peter said to Yeshua, “If it is you, command me to ‘Bo!’”

?Yeshua said, “Bo!”

“Come up here!”

Step on up, students. There’s a Rock in the waters.

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Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 154 (Walking on Water Part 5 – Is it something in the water?)

Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 154 (Walking on Water Part 5 – Is it something in the water?)

by | May 25, 2025 | , , , , | 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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