Prophet Pearls #14 – Vaeira (Ezekiel 28:25-29:21)

Prophet Pearls Vaeira, Ezekiel, Yehovah, vaeira, Egypt, Exodus, haftarah, ingathering of exiles, Keith Johnson, nehemia gordon, Pharaoh, prophets, tsemachThis episode of Prophet Pearls, (Ezekiel 28:25-29:21), reveals Yehovah as maestro—orchestrating kings, nations and events to further the day when the house of Israel, and all mankind, will know who he is. Ezekiel’s prophecy that a revelation of God would result from the ingathering can be witnessed today. However, not all who see believe, and Nehemia Gordon draws an ominous parallel between Pharaoh claiming the Nile as his own and those who boast about modern-day Israel without giving credit to Yehovah.

Despite the firmest handle on language, history and context, every phrase in the Tanakh cannot definitively be explained and we meet several examples in this portion. Gordon and Johnson offer educated guesses on when Egypt was desolate for 40 years and to what monster and to which years Ezekiel refers.

Gordon examines Ezekiel’s prophecy of the horn that will “spring up” and looks at other verses in the Tanakh where “tsemach” is used. Gordon concludes that when Messiah “springs up,” all will know that Yehovah is the one who carries out judgments, who redeems, who is in control, and who is worthy of praise.

"Thus says Lord Yehovah, 'Behold, I am against you Pharaoh King of Egypt, the great crocodile that lies in wait in the Nile'" (Ezekiel 29:3)

I look forward to reading your comments!

Download Prophet Pearls Vaeira Transcript
Prophet Pearls #14 - Vaeira (Ezekiel 28:25-29:21)

You are listening to Prophet Pearls with Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon's Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

Keith: Here we are folks. Welcome back to Prophet Pearls. This is Keith Johnson, I’m upside down on the earth. Nehemia Gordon is wandering somewhere on the western part of the United States. We’re going to try our best to do Prophet Pearls, and I will tell you right now, this is a 50:50 proposition. Why is that? Because technology is not cooperating. We’re going to get right into it. But before that, Nehemia, can we just let folks know that this really is… I mean, there’s no guarantee that we’re going to be able to continue to do this. Let’s just let them know what the situation is.

Nehemia: In the last episode, we had some serious technical difficulties. It was the second episode with you overseas, and it was a disaster. I mean, we had to keep stopping it and re-recording it. And you know, you really pour your heart and soul into doing this - we’re not reading from a script. We’re giving our souls to Scripture, and then to have to redo that - it’s tough. It really takes a lot. It might be like a 15-minute thing that takes a lot out of you, and we actually had the discussion - are we going to be able to continue this? We had tried some stuff when I was in China and the Internet was just so bad that I decided I couldn’t continue doing that. So yes, please be in prayer for us about this, and hopefully it’ll work out.

Keith: In all seriousness, you know, one of the things that we did is we’ve come up with a few backups, and those backups aren’t the best, but at least would potentially keep us in communication. But if it gets to the place where we just have too many issues, we’ll have to come up with something else, or who knows what will happen.

But for now, we’re going to go ahead and get started in Ezekiel. And I’ll tell you something, Nehemia, I’m excited about this section. It’s Ezekiel chapter 28:25 through 29:21, and we do have sponsors for this and instead of giving the name - I love this, I love this - these two people are calling themselves servants of the Most High, El Elyon Yehovah. They just want to be supportive of what we’re doing. They didn’t even have any questions or comments, they just have been Prophet Pearls Partners that have helped us to be able to do this. It’s interesting, Nehemia, we didn’t have any idea what the other issues were going to be regarding technology and phones and costs and all that. But we did have some people like these two servants of Yehovah who came alongside and supported us. So we want to give a shout out to them, and actually, there are a few that they sponsored. So hopefully we’re going to be able to continue to do this. But we’re in Ezekiel chapter 28.

Nehemia: Can I give them a Hebrew thanks?

Keith: Oh, absolutely.

Nehemia: The Most High, obviously, in Hebrew is El Elyon, and servants of the most high is avdei El Elyon. Todah lachem avdei El Elyon.

Keith: Ah-ha. I like that. Well, Nehemia, I’ve got to be honest with you. Whenever I open up the book of Ezekiel, I get the chills, and let me tell you why.

Nehemia: I know why.

Keith: Well actually it’s for a couple of reasons, but something hit me early this morning, and I don’t know if folks know it or not, we’re actually recording this on Christmas morning where I’m at.

Nehemia: Now I’m a little confused about that, because you actually live in the future.

Keith: I live in the future, yes.

Nehemia: You got in your Tardis and traveled into the future. But where I am, it’s December 24th, just around sunset time. Does that make it Christmas Eve? Or is that like, on the Jewish calendar it’s Christmas Eve? I really don’t know the answer to that. Like, I was getting together with these people for Thanksgiving and I had to ask an American, “So do you eat the meal Wednesday night?” Because that’s the Jewish mentality? So when is Christmas Eve? Is it December 24th or 25th?

Keith: The truth of the matter is some people start getting ready on the eve of Christmas, as many people have the tradition that that’s their Christmas Day. Other people wake up in the morning and make it Christmas Day. And so literally, it kind of covers both issues. The evening before and the entire day.

Nehemia: So some people are on the Hebrew calendar, is what you’re trying to tell me? What are you talking about?

Keith: So you know, it’s interesting though, I’m over in an area right now, and I mean we could really get into this. It is Christmas Day here in the Far East, and I’m actually going to be spending some time out amongst the people. But for them it’s a workday, it’s not a holiday, there’s no issue, and actually one of the things I appreciate about being over here - I’m actually in Shanghai, the most populous nation in the world.

Nehemia: Most populous city in the most populous nation.

Keith: I’m sorry, in the city. Yes. Populous city. I’m sorry about that. But it’s really interesting because they celebrate Christmas more in its root beyond the religious issues. They say, “Jesus is the reason for the season,” or “Yeshua is the reason for the season.” Well, not over here. I mean, there’s none of that. I mean, they might have a Christmas tree or whatever, but they’re thinking of it completely different. I know you were here, obviously in a different part of China, but I really find that interesting that there’s not the religious significance to the celebration.

Nehemia: What I found weird is when I was in a mall in Tongsha over Christmas last year, and they’d be having these purely religious songs, nothing about snow, but like purely religious songs, and I’d ask the people, “Do you know what that means?” And they’re like, “No, we have no idea.”

Keith: No idea. None.

Nehemia: There’s an interesting analogy I came up with. So you watch these American movies and there’ll be some religious scene and you hear people doing this choir singing a Latin chorus. You know what I’m talking about? It’s like those angelic voices. Now, what are they really singing about? I mean, no one has any idea, and probably nobody cares - It just sounds religious. They might be singing about the price of tea in China, but in Latin. And I think that’s what the Chinese will hear, they’ll hear Noel and Silent Night. And to them, that’s just pretty sounds. They don’t care what it means. They just want to buy and sell.

Keith: Yeah. So anyway, there’s so much going on, Nehemia, we can talk about it a lot, but let’s get right into this with Ezekiel. The thing I wanted to say about Ezekiel, this morning I was thinking about him, and the reason I brought up this morning was because I was telling you it’s Christmas morning over here, but it’s Christmas Eve over there. But I was thinking this morning about the ups and downs of Ezekiel, the highs and lows of his life. The fact that he sort of lived - and correct me if I’m wrong about this - but he really lived in the mountains and the valleys; a prophet who could speak about what Yehovah says and then to deal with the reality and his wife dies or he’s dealing with so many things.

Nehemia: He’s a tragic figure.

Keith: He’s a tragic figure. And yet Yehovah used him, and I just have to say when I read… Like I say, I get the chills. I’ve had a number of interactions with this book, but we’ll get right into it. But it really just strikes me that he lives life sort of… I don’t even know what the word is. I mean, you said tragic. I just thought about the hills and the valleys of his life and like, wow, amazing. So here we go - Ezekiel chapter 28 verse 25.

Nehemia: So here we’ve got to comment, again, like we talked about in the last episode, about how you have these sections, and the sections are… The chapters are a later invention, and so you would assume that in the Hebrew they’re going to go based on the original Hebrew sections. And that’s not at all the case. So here, clearly in chapter 29 verse 1, there’s a new prophecy, and 28:25 and 26, what are those doing in this week’s portion?

The answer I think is simply, it’s a happy story. There definitely was this thought, like, “We want to read something in the synagogue out loud or read the stuff that’s relevant for the portion, we also want some sort of a lift-me-up.” So verses 25 and 26 – they’re the lift-me-up, I’m going to sing, I’m going to be happy. And when it gets to 29, I’ll let you take over with your Methodist downtrodden.

Keith: Okay you go ahead. You go ahead and start out with 25 and 26.

Nehemia: So it says, “Thus says Lord Yehovah.” I love it when it says that. A lot of people say, “Oh Lord,” every time it’s Lord that’s in the English, that must be Yahweh or Yehovah in the Hebrew. But that’s not the case. Here, it’s Adonai Yehovah, so Adonai actually appears in the Hebrew. “Thus says Adonai Yehovah,” Lord Yehovah, “When I gathered the house of Israel from the peoples that they were scattered in them. And I will be sanctified through them in the eyes of the nations and they will dwell upon their land, which I gave to my servant Jacob.” And can I read 26? “And they will dwell upon it in security and they will build houses and they will plant vineyards and they will dwell securely when I carry…” and this is really interesting - I want you to read your English translation of the rest of the verse. Can you do that?

Keith: Okay. “When I inflict punishment on all their neighbors who maligned them.”

Nehemia: Wow. Interesting. Yes, so it’s interesting what that actually means. Here’s how I would translate it, although admittedly it can be translated a number of ways. So it literally says, “Be’asoti shphatim”, So shphatim - maybe that should be the Word of the Week - so we’ve got the word shophet, which is a judge. We actually have two Torah portions for those who want to listen to the original Torah Pearls, and there are two Torah portions – shphatim, we have one called Shoftim, which is judges, and Mishpatim are judgments. And this is shphatim, which is the result of judgment or verdicts. So “Be’asoti shphatim” means, “When I carry out judgments or verdicts,” and it says “against all those who something them from their surroundings,” and in the JPS it has let’s see “all those about them who despise them,” it translates it, which is definitely not what it says in the Hebrew. King James has “despise them.” But what did you have in yours?

Keith: “Neighbors who maligned them.”

Nehemia: “Maligned them” in the NIV, okay. So here’s how I would translate it, but I suppose it’s possible to translate it as despise or malign, here, it’s less clear. I would say “All those who caused them to wander from their surroundings, and they shall know that I am Yehovah their God.” So this is an amazing picture. There’s going to be this ingathering of the exiles, and Israel will dwell securely in the land, and all the nations will know that God is true because of the ingathering of the exiles. And it’s amazing, I’ll speak to people all over the world today, and their faith has been fundamentally transformed in my lifetime and in your lifetime. Meaning, worldwide there’s just been fundamental transformation of people’s faith over this issue of the Jews coming back to the land. So it’s a fulfillment, and we’re not done, but this is the beginning of the fulfillment of these verses, in Ezekiel 28:25 and 26. That’s what gets me so excited about this - he’s describing this thing that we take for granted because I was born in it. When I was born this was the reality that Israel, Jews, millions of Jews have been gathered in from the four corners of the earth, and we’re continuing to be gathered through this process of aliyah, ascent to Israel, ingathering of the exiles. But when he was saying this, it must’ve sounded insane. I mean the Jews have just been taken into exile, the ten tribes were taken into exile, and he’s talking about how, “This is the proof that our God is true, that we’re going to come back to this place!” And they must have thought, “Yeah, right Ezekiel, what are you smoking?” Not literally, but… And we read this, and we’re like, “Yeah, of course that’s true.” No, this was an amazing prediction that for thousands of years sat on the pages in black and white, and people said, “Yeah, right.” And now we live in that time where it’s a reality, where we get… we have the privilege of taking it for granted. Halelujah.

Keith: You know, it’s interesting, people, commentators who would say this, I think even in the 1800s and things, and they talk about the people coming back. And even then they were like, “What are you talking about?” This place is not even a legitimate… they looked at it and like literally, what are you talking about? And like you say, that’s actually happened. One of the things that’s interesting to me is when I read it and it says, “They will live there in safety and will build houses,” and there’s this… I can’t help it, Nehemia, I always have to talk about sort of the modern day. We talk about the Prophet Pearls, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. And today, this particular phrase causes a lot of angst with people all over the world because you’re talking about building houses - that immediately in their mind says, “They’re expanding.” And they use that word that, yeah.

Nehemia: They’re building settlements!

Keith: Yes, they’re building settlements. But you know, it’s something - I was just looking a couple of days ago, and they just finished the International Bible contest, and Netanyahu was actually in this contest. He says he studied every week. He studies every week with his son, the Prime Minister of Israel. He studies every week with his son, and he prepares for this international contest. They just had this contest that I think it was on Tuesday, and he made it, he was there. Of course, he’s the prime minister, so he can say, “Look, I qualified,” but he didn’t win. And what’s interesting about this is, the reason I think about this is they asked these really in-depth questions, they ask about the prophet, and the name, and this and that and the other. But the other thing they talk about is circumstance in the Bible. So here’s the prime minister, who clearly knows that this verse exists. He clearly knows, it’s something that even we’ve talked about before, hearing these portions read in the synagogue about houses being built. And so what hit me was, here’s a person who’s opening up the book, reading the book, and then attempting to lead a country. Like, that’s just not the case over here. I mean, the Bible is not a part of any aspects of what’s going on. And one of the things that I have to say is they were talking about, and he was talking about, why he wanted to have this international Bible contest - because they have it for children - but why he wanted to have it for adults. And as they were discussing it, they were talking about the Bible being on the streets, meaning that the people of Israel would understand, “Yes, we are the Jews, we’ve come back.” But that the Bible, not just the traditions of men, not just the rabbinic rule and regulation, but the Bible itself, the Scriptures, would be on the street. So when I read this, I think about that. I think about like you say, this is what’s happening in the present day, but it comes from this book. And so that just really encouraged me, the prime minister put himself in a contest to see who knows most about the book.

Nehemia: Isn’t it amazing though? So going back to the verse, let’s dissect this. What is this really saying? I mean, it’s saying very clearly, “God is going to be sanctified in the eyes of the nations by the people of Israel coming back, dwelling in their land, building houses, planting vineyards and dwelling securely.” And it’s those very things, those exact things, that are the proof of God, the one true God that the nations are yelling and screaming and shouting in the United Nations and denouncing Israel all over the world, and in the international press, “You Jews, you’re building homes! You stole that land from the Palestinians.” Wait a minute; read the Bible! It says it right here. This is proof that the one true God exists, and they don’t want that proof to be heard. I think there’s an agenda there.

Keith: They don’t care about the Bible. That’s the problem. The Bible’s got no…

Nehemia: No, I’m going to say something really controversial. Read the Qur’an. Did you know in the Qur’an it says that the god of the Qur’an gave the land of Israel to the people of Israel? They don’t preach that in the mosque, I’ll bet. Now, we can talk about whether that’s the true God or a false god, but even according to the people who don’t believe the Bible, even their god says that this land belongs to Israel. And despite that, all the nations want to come against Israel. Just like it talks about in Psalms chapter 2 for example, “And murmur and make noise and say, ‘No, we are speaking against God’s anointed people, and we will not let them live out a proof of the existence of the one true God by building homes and living securely. We’re going to do whatever we can to stop them. We’re going to call black white and white black, we’re going to call bitter sweet and sweet bitter, and we’re going to make a mockery of truth, but whatever it takes, we’re going to prevent the Jews from building their homes in their land of fulfillment of this verse.’”

Keith: Absolutely. You know, it’s interesting too, we’re going to be as we’re going through this, folks and we’ve done this. So we started the beginning of our series, we did about 10 or so together and man I’m telling you we had all of our Bibles open and all these things going on, and it’s so funny, I just believe Yehovah’s hand is in everything. So we’ve had these technology issues and struggles, and sometimes you wonder, are we going to make it through or are we not going to make it through? But one of the things, Nehemia, I just want to continually challenge people to do this, because as we mentioned last time, we’re never going to be able to do everything, even in these portions that are shorter than when we were doing the original Torah Pearls, we’d sometimes have three chapters, but we want to invite people to read along with us, to fill in the gaps, to make comments, to go to both Nehemiaswall.com and BFAinternational.com share your comments with people. Because again, I don’t want to take the approach that we’ve got all the answers. Certainly, the last passage showed we don’t have all the answers, but by us opening the book, reading the book, asking how it can apply to us today, what it meant yesterday, today and tomorrow - I think that that’s the beauty of Prophet Pearls, again. So the invitation is real. We really really need you now. We’re not even sure we’re going to be able to continue, but as we do this, we want people to study along with us.

So, let’s keep reading, “and prophecy against Egypt.” You know, one of the things about this, before I read this, is one really, really powerful thing to do is to find out what’s happening in history, historically, that doesn’t show up in Scripture. In other words, what was going on with the nations at that time? And boy, there’s just so much, Nehemia, as far as what’s happening with Egypt and what was happening with Babylon and in Israel in between.

But I’m going to read this. It’s 29 verse 1. It says - and I love whenever there’s time in the Bible, it says, “In the 10th year,” I’m reading out of the NIV of course here, “in the 10th year, in the 10th month, on the 12th day.” So I mean, this is pretty specific. We’re talking about a specific year, we’re talking about a specific month, and we’re talking about a specific day. And this happens with Ezekiel a lot - he’ll say, “On this day, at this particular time…”

Nehemia: Yeah, the month and the day I got. What’s the year?

Keith: Well, that’s a great question. It says, “in the 10th year.”

Nehemia: Of what? We really could do a whole long teaching just on that.

Keith: Exactly.

Nehemia: It’s not exactly clear in the end. That’s the answer.

Keith: It’s not clear. But one of the things that is interesting is about looking at, like I said, what we think is happening sometime within that particular period of time that Ezekiel’s prophesying.

Nehemia: Just to give people an idea, it says the 10th year. Is it the 10th year of Nebuchadnezzar? Is it because he was taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar, Ezekiel was? Is it the 10th year of the exile which began in 597 BCE? Is it the 10th year of one of the kings of Judah, who maybe isn’t even reigning anymore? Meaning, it could be the 10th year of Yehohachin or Jekanaya. It could be the 10th year of Zedekiah. It’s really, it’s not entirely clear.

Keith: That’s something. Wow. So it says here, he says “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh, King of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all of Egypt, and speak to him and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says” in the NIV says, Adonai Yehovah. I hope that it says in 29:3. Look at 29:3.

Nehemia: So it’s Adonai Yehovah again. So why do they say, “Sovereign Lord”? It says, Lord Yehovah. That’s weird. Because I would think sovereign translates the word melech, king. But in this case, it’s translating the word Lord. So just that makes no sense.

Keith: Well maybe because they already had decided that it’s Lord, so they didn’t want to say, “Thus says Lord, Lord.”

Nehemia: Oh yeah, of course. They didn’t want to say Lord twice, but sovereign Lord. Yeah, they’re just making stuff up is what you’re telling me.

Keith: They’re coming up with their attempt to try to fix it without just sharing what it actually says, and not doing such a good job. “I am against you, Pharaoh, King of Egypt, you great monster.” Oh my goodness. “You great monster, lying among your streams.”

Nehemia: Monster?

Keith: That’s what it says. What does it say in the Hebrew, Nehemia?

Nehemia: Okay, so that’s really interesting that it’s monster, because like contextually… so it’s “crocodile”, tannin is possibly a crocodile. That’s my take on it.

Keith: He’s a gadol. He’s a big one.

Nehemia: Yeah. So in the context here, it has to mean crocodile, because that’s what’s in Egypt, and it’s talking about scales later in the next verse, I believe, and crocodiles have scales; not scales like fish. But yeah, no, I don’t buy that it’s “monster”.

Keith: You don’t like the monster.

Nehemia: I don’t accept that. No.

Keith: Okay. “You say the Nile is mine, I made it for myself. But I will put hooks in your jaws and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales.” There you’re talking about the scales. “I will pull you out from among your streams” and I want to say as we’re reading this, here’s what I think is so interesting. When you’re reading – like, this is an example where he’s talking about Pharaoh, King of Egypt. Now if I wanted to, I could skip that first part of context and specifically talk about the great monster and have no idea.

Nehemia: Why are you saying that? Are there people who do that?

Keith: What do you mean, are there people who do that? My point is that if there’s a great monster...

Nehemia: Wait, so who’s the great monster according to those people?

Keith: I’m saying, Nehemia, this is what I could do, but in context, he’s saying who it is that he’s talking about.

Nehemia: No, so you’re saying that’s the wrong interpretation, but I’m not even familiar with this wrong interpretation. Who is it? Is it maybe Satan? Is that who you’re talking about?

Keith: I have no idea.

Nehemia: No, you’re telling me. Stop joking. Are you telling me there are people who will actually take this passage and say it’s speaking about Satan?

Keith: I didn’t say that.

Nehemia: No, but is that what you’re saying? I’ve never heard that in my life.

Keith: No, what I’m saying is this. I want to start my own denomination. Okay, here’s the deal. The denomination is going to be based on battling the great monster. Okay? Now here’s the point - how does the passage start? “Pharaoh, King of Egypt”, and it gives a picture of Pharaoh, King of Egypt. Let’s just cut that part out. Let’s just talk about the great monster. I can open the Bible; I can show you. I’ve got a translation. It’s the great monster, and I could build an entire teaching, revelation, thoughts, about the great monster. But again, language, history, and context. What’s the context here? He’s speaking about Pharaoh. Even if it’s the great crocodile, or even if they say it’s the great monster. The point is, it’s a picture of what he’s dealing with, and I think this happens, and I know we’ve talked about this before, it happens over and over in Scripture, there’s a picture that’s being brought forth that’s supposed to be a picture of the reality of the situation, and the reality is removed and the picture becomes prominent.

Nehemia: Right. I think we do have to point out that sometimes the picture of something is reality and sometimes it’s not. Sometimes the picture is something we might call mythical or imaginary. Isaiah 27, actually the verses that we just missed, it wasn’t in our section, they talk about these various types of giant serpents that are going to be slain, which represents death in that passage. So yes, I think we have to talk about the phrase, “The Nile is mine; I made it for myself,” because that’s Pharoah’s sin. Pharaoh’s sin is that he doesn’t recognize God. I always think of… There are two examples I think about, and maybe you could pull them up using your quick little computer program there, because you’ve got a Macintosh now, right? I hear you can like build bridges with Macintoshes and go into outer space with it.

Keith: So let me tell you, I just want to find out how to keep the thing on.

Nehemia: Ok. So there are two passages this brings to mind. One is in Daniel where Nebuchadnezzar is walking through his kingdom and he looks around and he says, “I made this all by myself. I’m amazing.” And then he gets stricken as an animal like disease for seven years, or whatever it is. The other is the king of Assyria, who comes to destroy Israel. And this is the time of Hezekiah. He says a really similar thing that “I made this all by myself. I’m invincible. Your God can’t do anything to me.” And God strikes him in that instance as well.

And in both cases, there’s this pride, and every time I hear it in Israel - I’m speaking about Israel, this may happen in other countries - but I hear this in Israel a lot, and it makes me really nervous. It actually makes me scared. I’ll hear people say, “We have the most powerful army in the world. We built this all by ourselves. We built this country, we built this amazing army.” It always makes me really nervous, because it sounds like it’s right out of those two passages. Like, what are you guys doing? And there is a remnant in Israel who recognizes that it is Yehovah who gave us the power to do these things and enabled us to do these things, and without Him, literally our wheels would have been coming off in the mud, like Pharaoh going through the... Pharaoh had an amazing army, but when it came to chasing Israel, you know, God took his wheels off and he could do that to us just as easily.

And there are stories about that - that people in the Israeli army fighting the enemy, and the enemy just disappeared, and the enemy ran away, you know about that in the Yom Kippur War for example. So I literally get scared whenever I hear people saying, “We did this with our great might. We made all this wealth and greatness with our great might,” and I’m like, “Guys, this is the Creator of the universe. We have to give Him the honor. Otherwise, we’ll end up like Egypt and Assyria and Babylon.”

Keith: And it’s interesting the phrases that you’re talking about are exactly sort of… I mean, obviously that’s the point. The point is he’s saying, “The Nile is mine,” he says, “here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to put hooks in your jaws and make the fish of your stream stick to your scales, pull you out from among your streams, and with all the fish sticking to your scales. I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field and not be gathered or picked up. I will give you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air.”

But then this is what I love about verse 6. Then, all these things are going to happen, “All who live in Egypt will know that I am Yehovah.” I mean, even in that I keep getting this thing over and over again, Nehemia, where I just think about how big and how awesome and how amazing the Creator of the universe is that He deals with the friend and foe; He deals with Israel in their disobedience. He deals with them in their obedience. There’s redemption, there’s accountability, and even those other nations, and we’re going to get into that, that are used as a part of that plan. I mean it’s just, wow. “Then they’ll know that I am Yehovah.” Wow. So go ahead, and you can read the next couple of verses.

Nehemia: So you stopped in the middle of the verse. It says, “They will know that I am Yehovah because you have been a reed staff for the house of Israel.” I love this imagery. I’m going to read from the JPS here. This is really great imagery in the Hebrew as well. “When they grasped you with the hand, you would splinter and wound all their shoulders.” Think about that - you’re walking on almost like a crutch or a walking stick made of reed, and anybody who’s dealt with reed… papyrus is probably the original thought here of, Egypt, but any reed in a stream, it’s like bamboo. Or actually, it’s not like bamboo. Bamboo is very strong, but the reeds in the Middle East are very weak and they splinter, and they’ll go right through your hand. They’ll splinter through… you’re leaning on it with your hand, it’ll break splinter into your hand and go all the way into your shoulder, “wound all their shoulders, and when they leaned on you, you would break and made all their loins unsteady,” meaning they fell.

I love that image of the pierced hand and the pierced shoulder and the person falling down. That’s an amazing image. And so the very walking stick that they trusted is the one that pierced through their hand. That’s a powerful image, it’s one that appears a number of times in Isaiah as well. The idea here is that there’s this international superpower, Egypt and the other international superpower is Assyria, and later Babylon, and later Persia. But really it’s Egypt against Assyria and then against Babylon that we have this image for. And Israel’s in the middle. Israel is being squeezed in the middle between the two superpowers, and what God is saying is, “Trust Me, don’t trust Egypt. Trust Me, don’t trust Babylon, don’t trust Assyria.” And instead, Israel says, “Well, I’m not going to trust You. I’m going to go trust the superpower.” To this very day, that is something that causes Israel to suffer, trusting in a superpower instead of trusting in the greatest superpower of all time, the one that never falls, the one that never stumbles, the one that never has the pierced hand, the one who will always be powerful, Yehovah, the Creator of the universe. Amen.

Keith: Amen. This phrase comes up and we can stop and look at it and see it and talk about it, but it really is an important phrase. As I’m reading through this, the phrase jumps out over and over again. “Then they will know that I am Yehovah.” “Then they will know that I am Yehovah”, “Then they will know that I am Yehovah”, or “that I am the Sovereign Lord” in the NIV, I am Yehovah, Adonai Yehovah. It’s like this rhythm of what’s happening. You can get caught in listening to what’s going on and hearing it and understanding it. And then He says, “And then they will know.” And then there’s some more and it says, “And then they will know.” Is it fair to say it’s like… And all this is going to happen, the purpose that they will know that I am Yehovah. I mean, wow.

Nehemia: All right. Let’s read a few verses here. “Surely thus says Lord Yehovah, ‘Lo I will bring a sword against you and will cut off man and beast from you.’” This is speaking about Egypt. “So that the land of Egypt shall fall into desolation and ruin and they shall know that I am Yehovah because he boasted, ‘The Nile is mine and I made it.’” So, I love that. It’s not just a river in Egypt. It’s the symbol of their defiance. They’re not relying on God. They’re believing in their own power, not the power of the Creator.

Verse 10, “Therefore, behold I am going to your” it’s funny it says “to deal with you in your channels. And I’ll reduce the land of Egypt to utter ruin and desolation from Migdol to Syene all the way to the borders of Nubia”, that’s in the JPS in Hebrew. It’s actually from the Tower of Syene, which I presume is maybe Aswan, who knows? Anyway, all the way into the border of Kush, which was the Kingdom of Kush, which is in Sudan today, and part of the Ethiopia. “No foot of man shall traverse it and no foot of beast shall traverse it and it shall remain uninhabited for 40 years.” And that’s really interesting. So, when did that happen?

Keith: What’s the 40 years?

Nehemia: Yes, when was that?

Keith: And it’s interesting, Nehemia, we were talking about the dates and times and stuff like that. And so here comes this specific date. Now, what do you want to do? I mean, you want to find out when are those 40 years, is that going to let me know exactly what those dates are and when those dates are? Or is that an image - 40 years meaning…?

Nehemia: Thus says, Nehemia, “The 40 years begins with the Arab Spring.” Dun, dun, dun... So here’s where we could make up our own theologies. We could say it was at the time of the Persians or the Assyrians or maybe it’s something in the future or maybe it was something sometime historically in the Middle Ages. I mean it’s… here’s an interesting situation when we talk about the 70 years of Israel being in exile in Babylon, we know exactly when it began - I shouldn’t say exactly - we know roughly when it began or roughly when it ended within a few years. They say 586 to 516 BCE, and I would say give or take a few years. But the 40 years of Egypt being desolate? I don’t know, and neither does anybody else; maybe it had something to do with the Babylonian invasion. It wasn’t really desolate. There were definitely problems, but it’s not really clear.

Keith: You’re tempting me to get into something I really don’t want to get into.

Nehemia: Come on, preach it.

Keith: I’m really having a hard time. No, Nehemia, this has really been a struggle for me over the last year. I have really struggled with what I call the sensationalism of taking aspects of Scripture, or outside of Scripture issues and then trying to connect them with Scripture, and how far people are willing to go and how far they’re willing to go even in - and I’ve got to be so careful in how I say this - but even in deception, where there will be deception because it fits. I mean, if we can get it to fit, even if we have to fudge a little bit, can I go further? Even if we have to lie, we’re going to make it fit. And I think that’s the thing that… One of the reasons I’m really excited about doing this, and really I prayerfully hope that we can continue to do this with the technological challenges and the wandering Jew and the upside down Methodist and everything else. But what I love about this is opening up, and when it doesn’t fit, we don’t say we’re going to make it fit. If we don’t have the answer, we don’t say “We’re going to create an answer.” If the answer’s there, we’re going to drive that truck right through the wall. But when the answer isn’t there, being willing to say, “It doesn’t fit” or “We don’t know.” And that’s what I have to tell you. I am really - I’m trying not to be overly specific here - but I’ve really become less patient when I see that happening, especially as it pertains to Scripture. Take one aspect of Scripture and knowingly attempt to lead people down a road of deception, to me, has got to be one of the… I don’t even know what word to say. I’m struggling with that. So, I’m glad that we’re not trying to do that. I’m glad you’re not going to write that book. You’re not going to write the book about 40 years…

Nehemia: What do I know. This will be the basis of my ministry, “The 40-year Prophecy of Nehemia”. “40-Year Prophecy of Ezekiel Revealed.” No, I clearly understand what you’re saying, but maybe I’m a little naive. You’re accusing people of wanting to be sensational. They want to sell books, and things… I don’t know, I’ve met a lot of people who say some of the wackiest things you could imagine and they really deep down believe it.

I’m reminded of… Look, I’m innocently ignorant maybe, but I’m reminded of a famous saying of one of the most brilliant scientists of all times, his name was Richard Fineman, and he said, “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.” I’ve got to wonder if those people, are they really intentionally deceiving others? Or they just so desperately want to believe it that they first fooled themselves and then they go out and fool the others. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. I can’t see in their heart.

Keith: I would like to say to you, I want to thank you for that. I want to try to keep that as the category -that they’ve fooled themselves and now they’re attempting to fool others. Okay, I’ll go with that. But you know, and I wish I knew that that was the case all the time. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case in some circumstances that really are just, it’s bothering me.

Nehemia: Look I’m still bitter about the thing in 2012. There was like the end of the world and you were supposed to be raptured away and I was supposed to get your iPad, and it didn’t happen. And I’m still bitter about that. The guy gave a specific date. All the Christians will be taken away, Jews throughout the world were celebrating, except we’re going to get left behind with some other people we don’t really get along with. We’ll take you guys first. And it never happened. I don’t understand.

Keith: And the list goes on and the list goes on. So, I mean, again, we can do this, but I really appreciate the fact that we’re stopped on this issue of the 40 years and that we could read this passage and we could look at it in the languages and we can go to all the different aspects and still not know what those 40 years are, or when they took place or when they will take place.

Nehemia: Until you read my book and buy my DVD - The Secret of the 40 Years Revealed, coming soon to a bookstore near you!

Keith: Okay. Can I start reading?

Nehemia: Yes, yes, go ahead.

Keith: This is what the sovereign Lord says, this is what Adonai Yehovah says, “at the end of 40 years” and then again, here it comes again. Now, this is interesting. It says, “at the end of the 40 years”, I will do what? Have we done the Word of the Week yet? Did we actually give them the Word of the Week? I know we did this word before.

Nehemia: I think the word was “Shphatim” which is Shin-Pey-Tet-Yud-Mem.

Keith: You didn’t tell them what it was.

Nehemia: Okay, I’m telling them now, the Word of the Week was shphatim, which means to carry out judgment or verdict. That was up in the previous verse, and it’s related to the word shoftim, judges and mishpatim, judgments. And this is the carrying out of judgment, shphatim. The three-letter root, like every word in the Hebrew language, is Shin-Pey-Tet.

Keith: Okay. Now let me ask you a question. I want to go to 29:13.

Nehemia: You’re going to go for another Word of the Week, aren’t you? I know it.

Keith: No, I’m not. No, I’m not. I’m really not.

Nehemia: We’re in 29:20? What are you talking about, what happened to verse 13?

Keith: No, no, no, 29, no 13.

Nehemia: Yes, okay, 13 yes.

Keith: 13. Yet this is what the sovereign Lord says in the NIV, “At the end of 40 years, I will gather the Egyptians.” Now I want to ask you a question. Is that the same gathering that takes place? Is that the same word for gathering?

Nehemia: Yes, absolutely. That’s the word kibbutz that we had before, in a previous week. “I will kibbutz the Egyptians, I will gather them in.” And isn’t it great... I always think of Isaiah 56, where Yehovah talks about how He will gather in Israel and He will gather others unto those he has gathered, and maybe the Egyptians are some of those others who are gathered. And now I want to get really controversial and I’m just thinking out loud here, and you could say, “It’s completely ridiculous, Nehemia.” Maybe we’re not literally talking about Egypt here. Maybe we’re talking here… and maybe there’s a literal level and a non-literal… that maybe there was a spiritual Egypt who was scattered among the nations that God is gathering back. And then I think of the verse in Isaiah where it talks about how God will have three nations, Egypt, Assyria, and Israel. I wonder if Egypt and Assyria there represent literally what today is Egypt and Iraq or if they represent different groups of people who are gentiles, who are going to be part of God’s people. Just thinking out loud. I don’t know.

Keith: We’ll edit that out. Okay, folks. No, just kidding.

Nehemia: Lama, ma pitom?

Keith: No, I like that, I actually like that. And again, one of the questions that we want to ask is, when are we looking at a picture that’s a picture both in practicality for them and potentially a spiritual connection?

Nehemia: And here’s what I’m not saying, just to be really clear. I’m going to go back and tell a story. This was in 2005. I was traveling around the U.S. I did 42 speaking events in one year. It was actually a three-month period, it was insane. And I met this one man, somewhere in Ohio or something like that. He was telling me his whole doctrine and theology of the end times, and he had this really elaborate story, very specific of exactly what was going to happen in the exact sequence and the exact timing. And part of the elaborate story had to do with something like - I may be getting some of the details wrong - but America being Ephraim, representing Ephram or Ephraim, and England representing Manasseh, the two brothers, the two tribes of Israel. I was actually in the very city where I am right now, Seattle, Washington - I’m visiting my sister here, and back in ‘05 I was speaking here and I met another man who told me an elaborate story, which was strikingly identical to the other man’s story. I said to him at the end, “You sound just like so-and-so. That’s amazing. Do you guys know each other?” And he got very irate. He said, “Oh no! He says America is Ephraim and England is Manasseh, and I say America is Manasseh and England is Ephraim!” And I’m like what? You guys just pull this entirely imaginary story about what’s going to happen in the end times, which might be true, but I don’t see it. It could be true. But what they did is, they took, here a little, there a little, half of verse here, three verses there, two words there…

Keith: Precept upon precept.

Nehemia: Exactly. And they wove themselves the tapestry of the scenario that was going to happen. And one of the details was different. So I don’t want people to walk away and say, “Nehemia says that Egypt is the nations and Assyria… Egypt is the Christians and Assyria is the Muslims and they will be gathered unto God...” That’s not what I’m saying. I don’t know what it means. I’m saying here’s a possibility let’s consider. The reason I suggest that possibility is I can point to you and say, “Here were the Jews who were taken to exile by the Babylonians, here are the 10 tribes of Israel who were taken to exile by the Assyrians. Where in history do we have the Egyptians taken as exiles for 40 years?” I don’t know about that in history. And so maybe Egypt isn’t literally Egypt here. I don’t know. It’s possible. Or maybe it’s happened in history and we just don’t know about it. Maybe it will happen next week. Who knows?

Keith: I could actually go down the road of bringing some thoughts about why that might be. But again, I think I like the idea of it being a possibility. Again, the issue becomes when this is what’s going to happen and in fact, we’re going to break fellowship if you don’t agree.

Nehemia: Egypt represents the Scottish!

Keith: Then all of a sudden, I can’t, we can’t talk anymore. I mean that’s where things get worse. So now can I read this 14?

Nehemia: Read it. Preach it.

Keith: “I will bring them back from captivity, return them to the Upper Egypt, the land of their ancestry. There, there will be a lowly kingdom. It will be the lowest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself above the other nations.” Now when I read that, then I say, “Okay, so the gathering - we have to add that into the aspect.” The aspect is He’s going to gather them so that they will not be able to stick their chest out and say this is what we’ve done. “They will never again”, it says in 15, “exalt themselves above the other nations. I will make it so weak that it will never rule over the nations.”

Nehemia: We have to bring the possibility that this has already happened. And specifically if you look at the history of Persia, the Persian empire was this huge empire that lasted several hundred years. And the history is really murky. A lot of things that happened that were really not clear. There were all kinds of splits and factions and rival kings and emperors. And so, this could have actually already happened and maybe that’s why Egypt to this day is a second-rate nation and probably always will be.

Keith: I will just say this, I have been waiting to get to this verse. Now this happens to be one of those verses where I desperately want to find out what else is happening just because of the timing of it. But it says, and please check me here. It says, “In the 27th year”, we don’t know what year that is.

Nehemia: What verse are you in? What happened to verse 16?

Keith: I thought we were at 16, “Will no longer be a source of confidence for the people of Israel?”

Nehemia: Yes, yes, yes, is that what you’re…

Keith: Okay, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. You can go ahead and talk about that.

Nehemia: “Never again shall they be trust of the house of Israel recalling it’s guilt and having turned to them, and they shall know that I am Lord Yehovah.” Okay. Now, verse 17.

Keith: There’s a new book off that verse. Okay. It’s one of the most important verses in the entire Bible.

Nehemia: Have I even said that once this entire section? I’m saving it for the end.

Keith: I’ve been counting, we’re up to 72 of the top 50.

Nehemia: I’m saving it for the end.

Keith: “In the 27th year in the first month on the first day”, boy, oh boy, what... First month, first day? Is there anything hidden there? Is there anything hiding there? I mean, was it really on the first month on the first day?

Nehemia: Wait this is really, apropos, this is appropriate because today, where I am, is December 24th and it will be broadcast January 15th, and this took place January 1st right? Is that what… first day of the first month? Right?

Keith: No, no, no.

Nehemia: Wait, so was this Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the first month?

Keith: No, I don’t think so. I think it’s the first day of the first month.

Nehemia: Not the seventh month.

Keith: Yeah. It’s not the seventh month. And it’s interesting, because we could say, “Well, yes it was, because where Ezekiel was, that’s the way they were counting time.” They were counting it based on the seventh month, and that they would argue that and go, you know…

Nehemia: But they still called it the seventh month. If they wanted to have, say, the first month… meaning, they could’ve said Tishrei, which was the seventh month, but if you said it in the Hebrew terms, you called it the seventh month. Actually, even in the Babylonian system, they also began their year in the seventh month. They also called it the seventh month. That’s why it was so convenient for the rabbis. But that’s a different story.

Keith: Now, I will say this, as he’s hearing this word from Yehovah, this is where we get into interesting… Specifically speaking of the king of Babylon. And I mean, and I don’t know. I tell you what I want you to do, Nehemia, I know that people get a chance… hopefully, people are taking advantage of listening to the passage being read in Hebrew both at Nehemiaswall.com and Biblical Foundations Academy, BFAinternational.com, we have Nehemia actually reading the entire passage. And I have to say, when I hear the passage, especially some of the names - so in 17, verse 18, how would you say in Hebrew what we always call Nebuchadnezzar?

Nehemia: Yes. Nebuchadnezzar. Like in that movie there was the ship the Nebuchadnezzar. So yes, there are actually two forms of the name in Hebrew. One is Nevuchadnetzar, which is the more well-known version. But here in verse 18, it actually says Nevuchadretzar with a resh. So isn’t it interesting? The same word could be with an R or with an N, Nevuchadretzar or Nevuchadnetzar.

Keith: Well, you probably don’t remember this, but we were having a conversation about why this was happening. We won’t go into that right now, but anyway, so 18 - so go ahead and read 18 and 19.

Nehemia: All right. This is the JPS. I can’t stand it. All right. It says, “O mortal,” in Hebrew it says “ben adam” which is “son of man”. “Son of man, King Nebuchadnezzar,” or Nevuchadretzar, actually in the JPS it says Nevuchadretzar with the R.

Keith: Does it?

Nehemia: “King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon has made his army expend vast labor on Tyre.” Tyre is a city in Lebanon. “Every head is rubbed bald and every shoulder scraped, but he and his army have had no return for the labor he expended on Tyre. Assuredly thus says Lord Yehovah, ‘I would give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrezzar, King of Babylon. He shall carry off her wealth and take her spoil and seize her booty, and she shall be the recompense of his army as the wage for which he labored for what they did for Me, I give him the land of Egypt’ declares Lord Yehovah.” That’s amazing on so many levels.

Keith: And I’m telling you, we can read… and that’s what I said about history. I have to just give one little quick story. One of the things that I am doing over here, my wife Andrea has been selected to do a really important job over here. She’s working with some people that are establishing Montessori schools in China, which if you know anything about the education system in China, this is a really big deal, because they’re very strict in how they teach and what they do and what they want the kids to do and the test they have to take. And the Montessori way is completely different than that. Some really smart people went through Montessori; in fact, that the founders of Google were Montessorians. And so the Chinese people are very open to having a shift in their educational approach.

So what I’ve said to her is that I’m going to do whatever I can to be supportive of her as she’s been supportive of me. And one of the ways that I can be supportive is to be able to expand some of the things that we’re doing from this part of the world, because as she’s doing this work with them, I’m here and being supportive of her. But one of the things that happened, Nehemia, I thought a lot about you, because I was in a home with some Chinese people, and one of the things I’ve decided to do is I’m not going to be illiterate here. I’m going to learn the language. I’m going to learn to read and write. And I’m doing that diligently. But what I love about little children is that they’re so honest. So as I was reading through this, as I was reading through this passage, I thought about you and me and it says, it says “every head was rubbed bare.” Let me finish so hold on. So I’m over at this house, Nehemia, and I’ve got on my hat because it’s cold over here at this particular time of the year, and I take off my little hat…

Nehemia: They don’t really use central heating.

Keith: You kidding me? It’s freezing. So the little girl says to me in Chinese, “Mayo hair”.

Nehemia: “Mayo hair” – no hair.

Keith: So I take my little hat off and she looks at me, and the first thing she says, “You don’t have any hair on your head.” Kids are so honest, and I thought about Ezekiel, “my head has been rubbed bare.” I don’t know if it’s true. That’s the way it says, but Nehemia, also your hair has also been rubbed bare.

Nehemia: It’s a choice.

Keith: All right. Anyway, let’s go. Let’s continue. This is what he says. Okay, so we’re talking about Tyre, and he’s talking about Egypt, and I don’t want to skip ahead to the most important verse.

Nehemia: No, let’s skip ahead.

Keith: It’s in the passage, but I want to give you a chance to comment before I say what I want to say.

Nehemia: Go ahead. I’m waiting for my verse at the end.

Keith: Okay. Is 21 yours?

Nehemia: Yeah 21 is mine. We’ll share it.

Keith: Can I just talk about 20, because we really are getting... okay. He says, “I have given him Egypt as a reward for his efforts because he and his army,” and check me if I’m wrong, “did it for Me.”

Nehemia: That’s what it says.

Keith: I mean, this is where I almost have to have the revival music that, all through Scripture… it’s like the hardening heart of Pharaoh, “I hardened his heart that My name might be known.” It’s like when you get into this conversation about just how big He is that “they shall know that I am Yehovah.” Just how amazing He is. How His hand can be in the smallest detail and in the largest movement in the earth, in the creation of everything. And then the smallest thing, like the picking of a wife for Isaac, it’s like, He can do everything. And here He says, and in this, He says “They did this.” Did what? “What they did, they did it for Me.” Wow. I just don’t know why that overwhelms me. It just overwhelms me. That we look at situations and circumstances, and we’ve talked a lot about this, you know, His will shall be done in the earth is what our book A Prayer to Our Father: Hebrew Origins of the Lord’s Prayer… it shall be done. Why? Because He’s running this show. He’s the one, He’s not up there wondering, “Well, what’s going on over there in Israel? What’s going on over in Africa? What’s happening in America?” He knows what’s going on. His hand is in what’s happening. And that’s why He’s worthy of all of our praise, all of our energy, all of our devotion, all of our love. He is that amazing. And when I read this verse, it just shows me how amazing He is. He’s like, “You see all this stuff going on? They did it for me.” Wow.

Nehemia: So here’s the question I asked, and this is something we see at a number of places, that God will punish Israel, let’s say, or in this case, Egypt, and it’s like a father hitting a child with a rod. That’s the ancient image. And in this case, Babylon is the rod. So does Babylon know that they’re working for Yehovah?

Keith: I don’t believe so.

Nehemia: I mean clearly not from the book of Daniel. They don’t know. He doesn’t find out until he gets messed with. Right?

Keith: Absolutely.

Nehemia: So isn’t that interesting? They don’t know. They don’t even realize why they’re doing what they’re doing. Isn’t He amazing? He might be using you or using me in ways that we don’t even realize.

Keith: Oh, little things that… and I have to say, you know, I want to give a Ministry Minute here if we can before we get to the verse. Because I’m sure when we get to this verse, you might go 20 minutes, and by then hopefully this thing will click off, the technology will... I’m just kidding. It really is something, Nehemia, about the way, how big He is in the way He works in small ways, in big ways.

You were in China, and we didn’t know how long you were going to stay, but one of the things that we determined to do this last fall, is we determined to venture out again and we went on tour together and we decided we would do Prophet Pearls, and from there we did the Right On Time series. And when I say we, Biblical Foundations Academy. But you were definitely a key to that, because you and I had done a couple of years ago, we went to go look for the seventh month. And it’s been so amazing the way that you’ve been willing to be a part of the aspect of what we’ve been teaching. Of course, the ministries are different. There’s Nehemia’s Wall and Makor Hebrew Foundation. You can talk about that. With BFA International, we’ve come to just about an end of a phase that has been really, really significant. We produced so many things, and I think the last count, there are over 50 different presentations, high quality, some of them have been on television, primetime Christian television. They’ve been seen by thousands of people. And we’ve just come to the end of that phase. We just finished this last calendar year with both a Christmas special and a brand-new Hanukkah special, which already the numbers of people both watching it and commenting and becoming a part of what we’re doing is just really encouraging.

So as we start this next year, this next calendar year, we have a couple of things that are in front of us. The only way we’re going to do those things that are in front of us is that we’ve got to have a group of people that really understand the mission of inspiring people around the world to build a biblical foundation for their faith, and we found a creative way for people to do that. One, of course, people can always support us. You can go to BFAinternational.com and support us. That’s certainly one way, but the other is to actually be a part of what we call the mission. And the mission is for people to build the biblical foundation for their faith. We now have over 50 presentations that can help you throughout a year, a full calendar year where you could literary once a week watch something, and I’m saying it would actually help in the building of that faith, and we’ve made it so that it can be free. You can have a seven day free trial and if you don’t like it, cancel, but if you do, it’s going to help us with the next two things, and I’m not going to go into detail on it, because it’s the end of my minute, but the next two things that we’re working on will be basically the most - in my opinion - the most important things that we will do. If we can find enough people that will join us in this process.

So it is exciting that God has been doing the big things and the small things, and the way He’s used circumstances in the Ministry of BFA International. And I see that even now that I’m over here in China supporting my wife, but as a result, doors are opening for ministry in ways that I just can’t even begin to tell people. It’s just amazing. So continue to pray for us. We really do believe that He’s opening doors, and as vision comes, provision comes and we believe you can be a part of that. So BFA international.com, go to it, front page. You can even take a look at a lot that we have with no commitment, but if you want to go further, that’s going to help us do what we want to do to reach as many people as we can, to reach that mission.

Nehemia: Yeah. Okay. Well as you said, Keith, we have different ministries. Mine is called Makor Hebrew Foundation, and my main website is Nehemiaswall.com, and I just want to give a shout out of thanks to the shofar blowers who are standing with me on the wall. There’s that image I keep coming back to of Nehemia building the wall, and there are two aspects of it. They’re holding the weapon in one hand and the building implement in the other, and then there’s the shofar blowers who are warning the people when to use which, and that’s empowering the people.

That’s really what I’m excited about is empowering people with information so they can do this for themselves and own the information themselves. And the people who are supporting me in doing that, I really appreciate that. One of the things I have coming up is the Aviv Search and we’ll be talking more about that in the coming episodes. That’s where we go around Israel and we look at the barley, and that is the indicator of the beginning of the Hebrew year. The first new moon after the barley in Israel reaches aviv. And the other thing we’ve got going on is, I’ve been doing these Support Teams Studies, and really, you know, people are like, “Do I have to pay for these studies?” And the answer is absolutely not. In fact, you can’t buy them even if you want to it. They really are just a thank you to the people and the folks who have been supporting the ministry, Makor Hebrew Foundation. Just my way of saying thank you and for those trumpeters with me on the wall.

And the other thing I want to want to ask people to do is pray about this is, I’m going to be spending the next few months in the United States, and I’ll have some opportunities to go out and speak and teach. And so if you’ve got a congregation somewhere, I get people to write to me all the time, “Oh, we wish we could bring you to come speak. But wait, we’re a small congregation. We don’t have a big budget.” And look, I’ve spoken at everything from, from very small to, I think we once went to an event, the two of us together and there were 19 people, all the way up to 950 and on television, you’re reaching tens of thousands of people. So I’m really comfortable with, as long as I’ve got two witnesses that I can preach to, I’m happy. So think about that, of contacting me through NehemiasWall.com and setting up a speaking event, and giving people around you an opportunity to hear some of these teachings.

I’ve taught everywhere from… I think the least I ever did was 60 seconds in New York, each of us had 60 seconds. The most I’ve done is I was, actually recently in Hong Kong. I spoke for 12 hours. So last thing, final thing is, iTunes – people, get over to iTunes and subscribe to the Nehemia’s Wall podcast so you can get these directly delivered to your phone. If you’re an Android person like me, you’ve come over to the side of light, the Android device, then you can use really any device. You can use… I use Pocket Casts, there’s Podcast Republic, there are a whole bunch of different free and pay for podcasts. The podcast itself is free - Nehemia’s Wall Podcasts. You get Prophet Pearls, the Original Torah Pearls and other teachings that I’m sharing, and there are really three things that we’re asking you to do specifically in iTunes, which is subscribe, rate, and review. Those rate and reviews - even if you don’t use iTunes, go to iTunes and give us a rating and a review, and what that does is it helps us get the podcast in front of other people. They could then see it. People who never even heard of any of this, who are just looking for solid biblical information, will hear about it if there’s a lot of ratings… ratings, and reviews. And that is my Ministry Minute.

Keith: Awesome. Awesome. Well, it is an honor to be able to do this. We really are a grassroots movement here, Nehemia speaks of speaking to small groups and large groups, and I think it’s just amazing the doors that open, and the doors are opening many places. So I hope that people will take advantage of getting an invitation, of inviting you to come and speak. I think that that would be amazing. So, now, Nehemia, this is the last verse. We’re going to give this verse to you and if things cut off, like if you don’t hear me, you know, it’s because...

Nehemia: I’ll keep talking.

Keith: You just keep talking. We’re going to wrap it up with this. Go ahead.

Nehemia: All right. It says “Bayom hahu”, “on that day,” I love that phrase, “Bayom hahu ”, “on that day,” “atzmiach keren l’beit Yisrael”, “I will cause to grow a horn for the house of Israel,” “ulecha eten pitchon-peh.” “And to you I will give an opening of mouth in their midst.” “Betocham”, “and they shall know that I am Yehovah.” And really, there is a lot to talk about in this verse. I want to go to maybe the strangest part of the verse and maybe the least important, I don’t know. But He says, “And to you.” Who’s the “you”? What do you have in your translation? Do you have the opening of mouth?

Keith: “On that day, I will make a horn sprout for the House of Israel and I will open your mouth in their midst.”

Nehemia: So who’s you? You has to be Ezekiel. Who else could it be? Earlier in the section, he says, “the word of Yehovah came to me.” So what is he talking about? God’s going to give him an opening of mouth? And I like how the JPS has it. It says, “On that day, I will endow the house of Israel with strength.” That’s not correct, but whatever. Then it says, “and you shall be vindicated among them.” In other words, when this prophecy is fulfilled, everyone will know that what came out of Ezekiel’s mouth was true, and that’s pretty cool. Apparently it hasn’t been fulfilled yet.

Ezekiel 29:21, we have here, “On that day, I will, it says “atzmiach keren”, and “I will cause”, literally, “I will cause to grow a horn.” These are words that are so charged with meaning that, I mean, I’m excited. So let’s talk about “atzmiach.” The root there is… maybe that should have been the Word of the Week. It’s the three letter tzemach, Samech-Mem-Chet is the root, and it means a plant or a shoot or it could also mean a branch.

And famously, we have the verse in Zacharya, Zachariah chapter 3, verse 8, which says, “Here now Joshua, the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting before you, men of miracle,” I would translate that, “they are men of miracle. For behold, I will bring my servant Tzemach”, and let’s see what that is in your King James translation. More familiar for many people here. “Now Joshua, the high priest thou and thy fellows that sit before thee for they are men wondered at.” That’s very different. “For behold, I will bring my servant the branch”, and branch is written at least my version in capital letters, all caps, which - does that represent Yehovah? No, it’s the word tzemach.

And then in Zachariah 6:12 it says, “And speak unto him saying, ‘Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts saying’”, Yehovah of course says, “Behold the man whose name is the branch.” And again, in Hebrew it says “tzemach.” “He shall grow up out of this place and he shall build the temple of the LORD.” So who is this branch? And many people believe this branch is the Messiah, and the justification for that, of course, some people will point at everything and say, “Well, that’s the Messiah. That’s the messiah,” without really any justification. But you can make a strong case for this, because Jeremiah 23:5 says, “‘Behold, the days are come’, says Yehovah, ‘that I’ll will raise up unto David, a righteous tzemach, and a king shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.’” So here we have very clearly what we think of as… at least what Jews think of as the Messiah from the Line of David, the Davidic Messiah who will be King of Israel. He will be called Tzemach. There are three witnesses - one in Jeremiah and two in Zachariah, and I believe when it says, “I will cause to grow here a tzemach, I will cause to grow here a horn,” that “atzmiach” is the same root and therefore is referring to the Messiah in Ezekiel. I think that’s pretty cool.

Now, the word keren, which is “horn”, literally, it says “I will cause to tzemach a keren.” So Keren is a word that also in at least one passage refers to the Messiah, or a messiah, in any event. So 1 Samuel 2:10 says… let me read you the King James version. It says, “The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces out of Heaven, shall be thunder upon them. The LORD shall judge the ends of the earth and He shall give strength unto His king and exalt the horn of his anointed. And exalt the horn of his anointed. He will raise up the keren of his Mashiach.” And here we’re clearly talking about the king. I mean, it says explicitly the king. So this is the King Messiah, perhaps in the time of Samuel, but definitely this is the image of the King Messiah who is referred to as a horn.

And of course, horn there is a symbol of two things. One is the strength. You know, you see the rams that clash; that’s a symbol. Even today you have the Ram truck, which has the symbol as the horn, but even in ancient Israel, that was even more the case. And of course, horn is also a vessel that held the oil, the oil of anointing.

Keith: Amen.

Nehemia: So they would be pour a horn of oil, literally a horn full of olive oil on someone’s head, and that was a sign that someone was anointed. They were “Meshiached”, they were anointed with oil. So I’m excited about this verse. This is a verse for telling the coming of the Messiah, and when the Messiah comes, we’ll all know that Ezekiel was telling the truth, and I love how it ends, “Veyadu ki ani Yehovah”, “and they shall know that I am Yehovah.” That’s what it’s all about. It all points back to… the Messiah will come and we’ll know that Yehovah is the one true God.

Keith: Wow. Well, I just have to say I’m glad that we took the time to share that. That’s a pearl, Nehemia. That’s one of those pearls that we love to find. And as we continue to go through this process, we’re looking for more pearls. We want people to go over to Nehemiaswall.com, BFAinternational.com, and share the pearls that you got out of these passages. Just go to the comments section of both of those websites. If you comment on one, comment on the other, and if you comment on the other one go to the other one, because we’ve got so many people who do half or part or some people even go to both, but we just want to reach as many people as possible to help them build their faith, and yeah, what a blessing this is. Well, we made it through another one…

Nehemia: Hallelujah. This is a miracle.

Keith: We can write this one down, we made it through the technology. You should see this Nehemia, I’m here, I’ve got a WIFI thing over here. I’ve got a little Chinese phone. I’ve got an iPad. I’ve got a computer. I’ve got my Bibles. I’ve got these other things going on. I’ve got three levels of security so that we can keep on doing this. And I’m not sure where you are or what you’re doing, but you’re definitely having to make adjustments as you’re wandering throughout the United States.

So in the meantime, while you wander, and I continue to find the right side up on the upside down part of the earth, we want people to keep reading and watching and studying, and more than that, continue to pray that we would be able to continue to bring these Pearls from the Prophets. Amen?

Nehemia: Amen.

You have been listening to Prophet Pearls with Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon’s Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

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Related Posts: The Original Torah Pearls - Vaeira (Exodus 6:2-9:35) Torah and Prophet Pearls Hebrew Voices Episodes Support Team Studies Nehemia Gordon's Teachings on the Name of God
  • shell says:

    (Sorry for all the comments) there seemed to be some confusion over the line “i will give you the opening of the mouth”, but God struck him dumb early on and gave him conditions for his mouth being opened, and i might be missing something, but is ezek 29:21 different than that? If 24v27 is a forewarning of 33v22, shouldnt 29v21 be a forwarning of the same pattern, that God would literally open ezekiels mouth in his lifetime under the listed conditions?

    Ezk 3: v26. And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb… v27. But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them…

    Ezk 24: v27. In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb…
    Ezk 33: v22. Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.

  • shell says:

    Oh, and the america, england/ephraim, manasseh thing is a doctrine from the old worldwide church of god. I was born into that church, and so far as i know every church that split off from it (and there was a lot, it was a disaster) retained that doctrine. I remember hearing garner ted talk about it all the time. The thing is, all the split off churches became bitter rivals with every other split off church. The insult that the man suffered from you suggesting they knew each other does not surprise me in the least 😅

    • donald murphy says:

      at the time of WWCG, I enjoyed listening to GTA. It was when the I started to study scripture.

  • shell says:

    I thought this was also relevant in 2 kings:

    2Ki 18: v21. Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, [even] upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so [is] Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.

    Rabshakeh says 2Ki 18: v25.”…The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.”, its such a similar idea, it kinda makes me wonder if God told him to say that first part about egypt, sorta like a “words of Necho from the mouth of God” kinda thing

  • Terri MacLeod says:

    Thanks for the mental imagery of Egypt in kilts. Bwahahaha I learn while getting a good laugh. Thank Y’all btw I’m actually from Texas. How y’all know Egypt ain’t Texas? LoL

  • Oksana Minnikova says:

    I have read this post. Usually, I read in the Russian language, my mother tongue language. I like to compare and dig deeper for the truth. However, I have found that Ezekiel 29;2 says, ” Behold, I am against you,
    Pharaoh king of Egypt,
    the great dragon that lies
    in the midst of his streams,
    that says etc.. however, there is no word “great dragon”, but “a crocodile” in Russian translation. In addition, I would like to add that there are so many words in scripture that were translated differently.

  • daniel says:

    I should point out that the ESV indeed translates 29:3 as, ‘ the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams’ , and years ago heard entire sermons on the radio go off on a tangent as some end-time prophecy of satan. Since moving to Texas, I too, get rather nervous hearing all this talk spouting “Pride” of this, that and the other thing (when even the local football team has nothing to be proud of) – it just seems like wishful thinking. Factoring in what the Bible says, I sometimes tell parents maybe what they feel should be described as ‘Joy’ for their children, or state, or team and quote Proverbs “Pride goeth before a stumble, and a haughty spirit before a fall”. I always enjoy hearing these pearls, even years later. Please keep them coming!

  • Nunya Biz says:

    Very important to capture Ezekiels dates as 30day months, 360 day-years, in his prophecies, i.e. laying on one side then another but ANYWAY
    Egypt had presidents from 1953… Oslo toilet accords 1993, then 2000, then 2007, then Spring Uprising, cuz Egypt currently isn’t Israel’s God-given land yet. The spring failed btw, so Ethiopians populating Egypt in new testament, ik ik, wud be ousted by Islam in 800-ish.
    BTW Keith, the heart of pharaoh was hardened by pharaoh himself cuz of the actions of YHVH…Like spanking a child who then vows revenge on ur chastise…ing. lol

  • Lucile Dossou-Yovo says:

    I like this Ministry because it really brings to life the readings for me. May the lord bless you Keith and Nehemia. We are now in 2021 and i want to believe that you are aware of the fact that Ethiopia built a dam on a part of the Nile and it could cause a drought situation in Egypt. Right now the two countries are not really in good term. If the other countries like Uganda, Burundi etc decide to claim their portion of the Nile, Egypt will run into problem. What I am saying is that the Nile is no longer the monopoly of Egypt and may be it is the beginning of the 40 years prophesied in the passage. Pharaoh could be Egypt itself as a country run by a government which may not be that friendly to Israel in spite of signed agreement.

  • donald murphy says:

    once again please stay away from christain teachers. also once again Israel is on the verge of depending on a superpower for protection(the USA) in peace talks between Israel and the palestinians. remember what happened to them the last they did that (with Egypt).

  • Sylvia says:

    Shalom, y’all! Regarding Egypt being brought low and such, I thought about the fact that Egypt got trounced by the Greeks (I think), and the native pharaohs got replaced by Greek rulers. My Greek and Egyptian history is extremely weak, so I could be totally off.

  • Bernardo says:

    In Revelation Yerushalaim is called Sodom and Egypt, in my understanding it’s also the Babylon in this book.

  • Mark king says:

    Ritualistic abuse handed down by the rabbis as well as the Talmud. The is the script that is used so that the programmers know how to reinenforce the programming for the human software. This is a computer code that is used to enslaved millions of unseen captives from Hollywood to military, all the way to synagogue and churches.

  • RayDean Sanders says:

    I’m very proud of everyone on your team involved in getting the message of the Tora out. Sometimes it’s a little hard to follow with the additional joking going on and be aware of the ramifications of that according to Proverbs because it Can effect the potentcy of the message.-Shalom.

  • D'vorah Rasmussen says:

    I’m so happy to have discovered your ministry Nehemia. I stumbled accross you while doing a you tube search when I found you on an A Rood Awakening broadcast. I am in a small country town in rural Queensland, Australia and your teaching is an enormous blessing! I’ve really enjoyed your joyous banter and your excitement at the truths you’re revealing is infectious. May Yehovah bless you in all your endeavours. Shabbat shalom and todah rabah!

  • Angela&Dale Adams says:

    It was interesting to find out why Nehemia used a cocradile picture for this prophet pearls, hmmm.
    Also, Nehemia was expecting Keith to say that Pharo was hasatan…well yes that’s the way we (Christians and messianics) perceived pharaoh/ Egypt as an evil creature or Hasatan, And we also rebeuke him ( hasatan/Egypt)in Yeshua’s mighty name.

  • daniel says:

    …and thirdly, a horn represents the authority of office. So, a horn can be all three; physical strength, holy anointing and legal authority. When it’s done right(as in YHVH’s will) the three aspects certainly seem interdependent.

  • mark says:

    shalom all, Yehovah say he will sanctify his name and I wondered about this until I remembered Ezekiel 36:20 “They came among the nations where they came,and they profaned my holy name when it was said to them, “these are the people of yehovah but from his land they went out”. Remember what Moses said to yehovah when he was about to destroy Israel Numbers 14 specifically verse 13-17. Israel’s presence among the nations is a desecreation of his name. Hence not because of anything Israel does but because of his name yehovah brought back israel into the land but he is not yet finished purifying his name that will happen on the mountains of israel

  • stf7com says:

    Shalom! I’m forever grateful for the resources and knowledge you pass on to us. Yehovah Bless you mightily!!!
    by the way how do you call one servant [female] of the most high in Hebrew

  • Shalom brothers and sisters. The Torah pearls and Prophet pearls sections pertaining are awesome and I have a suggestion concerning the 10 years of vrs 1 and the 40 years of vrs 11. Could this be a Jubilee Cycle? Whenever I see ambiguity in scripture, I know it is purpose driven and therefore default to foundational aspects that, in this context, seem to point to multiple time periods and if we overlap the Jubilee cycles of the respective time periods, we see clarity of what Yahovah is putting forth. Advanced information of our day and time can afford us to accomplish this heretofore impossible feat. Now, concerning the 27 year juncture of 29 vrs 17,, I have no clue as yet. Hehe! Sorry. I hope this helps. Blessings to all!

  • Bonnie says:

    I looked up the Egyptian God Sobek which had a crocodile head and human body God of strength and power patron of the Egyptian army and royal warriors defender of Egyptian people and Pharaoh was also believed to be a God of creation…in light of this as I re-read Ezekiel 29 the words of YAH made more sense and was not Judah forging alliances with Egypt at this time of Ezekiel’s words? I really believe once again YAH was going to show Pharaohs that there is only one true GOD and that this crocodile god which Pharaohs thought made him invincible would once again prove to be nothing and HIS chastise ment of Judah for not trusting YEHOVAH. THANK YOU KEITH AND NEHEMIA! Excellent study.

  • Bonnie says:

    Correction: Small g when referring to Egyptian god

  • Laurie Jo says:

    AH! USA is Ephrayim, like I am. My Hebrew name is Ezracha Bat Ephrayim, We are “the tree that is growing over a wall. That is a picture of the northern tribes, namely EPhrayim, children of the covenant, and the fulfillment of it. HALLELLUYAH
    leaving the land and climbing over the walls to escape the wrath of YHWH. running as an adulterous bride. Our ancestors left “The Belief,” Let us not continue on tat path which leads to outer darkness. Let us return to our Elohim at once.

    this is the Good News of our Mighty One, YHWH is His name.; “Worship Him who made the shamayim h’eretz, the yom and fountains of mayim, for His judgment is eminent. We are the called back ones, and there are a multitude with me, some still not knowing who they are. Yah whistles, and we SHEMA.
    Blow the ram’s horn and warn the people.

    We, like our father Abraham, have had to learn to follow YHWH not knowing where we are going. (Saying good by to Babylon and leaving our idolatry behind,
    We walk by this belief, that this YHWH does keep his promise to His Am. Isra’el. Am-erica is our name, but truly we are scattered all over the earth with the rest of our brothers, sons of Ya’acob, SHOOB (DO RETURN) which also means to repent, especially for the sins of our forefather’s which we have inherited.
    As a nation spread out over a large area, like branches on a great tree ready to fall.Yeah, this people have worshipped many false mighty ones; the list is too long to bear. But I have seen a miracle in my life time, and I have seen more than one.
    YHWH keeps His promise to His people Isra’el.
    The Torah is forever, and King David said it was his lamp. The Torah of Eloah is my light.
    My first name goes back to a Hebrew word meaning “native green tree.” Also, during Sukkot when I go to get my Sukka branches, I also feel connected to the Willow tree. It has always been in all the areas I have lived. I love water. The land of Ephrayim is on the West coast of Isra’el, along he Mediteranian Sea. Ephrayim gate, which was once a gate to a great people blessed by Elohim who became fat and spoiled, and forsook the ways of our father Abraham and went our own way, the way of the nations; as prophesied.
    Ephrayim, yeah, these are the children of the promise. These are those of whom Yahushua H’Moshiach, Sar Shalom came, yeah the lost sheep.
    Let our shame be turned to joy on that day, the Great Day of YHWH our LORD.
    Shalom Yisra’el YHWH Elohenu YHWH echad!
    Blessed is he who is coming in the name YHWH!
    Worth is the lamb!
    Amen Amen
    Ephrayim and Yahudah one stick

    • suzanholland says:

      Nehemia, I believe YHVH put the thought in my head/spirit about 3 years ago that “Egypt” in these prophecies is an end-times “spiritual Egypt” as you suggest. We’ll soon see. shalom

  • Kitty Corbett says:

    Is Ezekiel not the prophet only to the exiles of the Northern Kingdom, aka the Lost Ten Tribes, aka the House of Israel (as opposed to the House of Judah)? In the first chapter he says he was in the community of exiles by the Chebar Canal in the land of the Chaldeans, modern Iraq. Would not that lend a different interpretation to these passages (Ez. 28 – 29), indeed, to all of Ezekiel? Is Ezekiel saying that the House of Israel/Northern Kingdom is to be found in Egypt? Ez. 29:16 “Never again shall they (Egypt) be the trust of the House of Israel, recalling its guilt in having turned to them.”

    • Hi Kitty, Please have a look at Ezekiel 1:2. He dates his prophetic ministry to the Exile of Joiachin, who was a king of Judah. In Ezekiel 8:1 he is speaking to the elders of Judah. He is talking to the Judahites about their issues, which includes an ultimate reunification with their long lost Northern brothers. Ezekiel is not Hosea. Hosea is actually a prophet to the Northern Kingdom.

  • David Espenlaub says:

    Thank you guys for another interesting session. We have “strings of pearls”, do we not?

    Looking further at the horn which will sprout into the BRANCH. Do you think this is related to the horns on the altar in the use of the same word to indicate the same power and authority?
    @Karen Powell, thanks for the horn definitions.

    David

  • Owen Murphy says:

    So informative and engaging – thank you. Ezek.28:5 wisdom in trade – v-16 abundance of trade – v18 By iniquity of trading – It seems that trade or commerce is the basis of the pride and power of nations. Would this tie in with Rev.13;17 where buying and selling is controlled by having the mark of the system. Commerce again as the source of human needs rather than dependence on Yehovah?

  • Michelle says:

    Hi~When you were talking about how some Israeli’s are talking about how powerful they are & how they made their military, it brought to my mind 9/11 and how the President of the United States, the Mayor of New York City, etc. were saying that THEY would rebuild, not giving any credit to Yehovah or not realizing that they, too, were fulfilling this prophecy in Ezekiel 28.

    Thank you. Keith & Nehemia for another interesting Prophet Pearl.
    May you both be richly Blessed,
    Michelle

  • Reyes Nava says:

    Question for Nehemiah, what is the figurative picture (if any) regarding the concept of “open field” used for judgment in Ezekiel 29:5:

    “I will abandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers; You will fall on the open field; you will not be brought together or gathered. I have given you for food to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the sky.

    And the compassion shown to Israel at it’s birth in Ezekiel 16:4-9:

    “As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths. “No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born. “When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’ …Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil.

  • investjg says:

    What Egypt now?

  • Erin Hunter says:

    I am in agreement that coming together as YHWH calls us to, and expound with humility for He has a remnant left and all will learn about many facets in His Magnificent Wisdom toward His plan. Thank you for sharing and will return as long as YHWH permits.

    I have been apprehended to see the unseen through the eastern culture and seek here for some word depth. For America has been taught based on sight…
    http://ancient-hebrew.org/

    Listen within for no interpretation comes by human or private translation ONLY by His Spirit.

  • Paul Lopez says:

    I believe the 10th year is the Year of Captivity or when Jerusalem is over-run but before the Temple is destroyed – or 1 year before the Temple is destroyed…
    Eze 31 goes to the 11th year, 3rd month 1st day…. then the Temple is destroyed

    • Paul Lopez says:

      10th, 27th & 40 Years of Egypt

      This seems to be the answer for the YEAR references in Ezekiel.

      The 10th year refers to the Exile years.
      I have a timeline tracking the Years of the Exile, Kings, & Prophets
      So it is obvious when you put the Prophets together.
      Ezekiel, Jeremiah & Daniel overlapped dates.

      I would love some feedback and will stand corrected by any other insight.

      Neb Yr 36 / Exile Yr 27th / BC 570 / Month 12 Day 1

      Exe 29:13, 17
      Nebuchadnezzar conquers Egypt
      Egypt is given to Babylon in the 27th Year, 12th Month & 1st day.
      40 Years (27 + 40 yr Prophecy = 67)

      Belshazzar 1st Yr / Exile Yr 44 / BC 553

      Darius 1st Yr / Exile Yr 48 / BC 549 / Dan 9-70 Yr
      Vision

      Darius 20th / Exile Yr 67 / BC 530 /Jer 29:17 40 Yr End

      So approximately 3 years to the 70 years and End of Israel’s Exile
      Cyrus comes in and sets Israel free and I’m guessing Egypt is left alone to re-gather?

      Cyrus 1st Yr / Exile Yr 70 / BC 527

      I stand corrected if any other information I may have missed will correct this.

      Shalom to all and great Prophet Pearl
      Paul

      I have a Excel Worksheet if anyone needs to see this visually and with the permission of Nehemia & Keith I can share..

      • I believe you are correct when you say that the 10th year refers to the exile years. Ezekiel 1:1 says that in the 30th year, Ezekiel had his vision. Then in Ezekiel 4:4-8 it states to lay on his one side for Judah for 40 years to represent the remaining years of iniquity. And we know from Jeremiah that the years of exile were to be 70 years. 70 – 40 = 30th year of the vision.

  • Karen Powell says:

    It’s not necessarily an either or,concrete or abstract, literal or figurative. A specific time, era, or a layering.But rather whatever the Creator uses to get his message across and what ever level the person is able, willing, or ready to receive his message at. Why does the Lord speak one moment in concrete manner and then in parables, or symbolism. It depends on who, the degree, and at what point in time, that he wants his message to be understood. It’s his timing not ours.Sometimes, he makes it easy, sometimes, people have to put in effort,exposure. Sometimes, he doesn’t want some people to get the message at all. It’s his field, uniforms, and his football, and no one else really gets to say who he loans out his football to. There is a difference between someone driving past a stadium, or in the parking lot, or one with a ticket that doesn’t go in, or one in the stadium, and one on the bench, and one on the field. It’s just the way it is.

    Horn-(function of a horn).to prod, wound, call, assemble, alert.prepare,move out, stop, announce a coming, to announce/seal a kingship, pre request of the Lord’s protection and his coming. Just to name a few.
    O.K. excessive use of commas but…

  • Kêpha says:

    You guys are Awesone, our modern day Elijah and Elisha!!