The Lutheran Hour Ministries in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour - Daily Devotion - Saturday, April 7, 2018 "Neither Man nor Woman"
Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Neither Man nor Woman"
April 7, 2018
Galatians 3:28 - There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.***
Do you know what you were doing on Monday, February 19, 2018?
I don't, but the residents of the Nigerian community of Dapchi do. On that day, terrorists from Boko Haram entered their village and kidnapped 110 schoolgirls. In many ways, it was an instant replay of the attack in 2014 when 276 young women were spirited away from a boarding school in the town of Chibok.
Of that number, about 100 were never returned.
This time it appears things are different. Because of some outside help and political intervention, Boko Haram returned most of the girls to Dapchi. The residents, who were hiding in their homes or had fled into the jungle, watched as nine vehicles unloaded the girls in the center of town. Before they left, the terrorists gave only one order.
Can you guess what that order was?
In 100 years I would never have been able to figure it out. What the terrorists told the frightened members of the community was this: "Don't ever put your daughters in school again." In Hausa, the native language, they said, "Western education is forbidden."
The command makes little sense until you realize that for the terrorists "Western education" also includes information about Jesus Christ, God's Son, the Savior of the world. Learning about Jesus causes two very big problems for these supporters of ISIS.
The girls find out that Jesus was sent into the world to seek and save the lost. He carried the sins of every man, woman, and child, and bestows forgiveness on all who are brought to faith by the Holy Spirit. The day will come when these young girls will become Christian mothers, and Boko Haram doesn't want the Lord's message of salvation being passed down to another generation.
These girls will also find out that they are not second-rate citizens in the Lord's kingdom. They do not become viable human beings only because they are married to a Muslim man. They know that the Christ lived, suffered, died, and rose for them, even as He did for their brothers and everyone else they know.
In Galatians 3:28, the apostle Paul said it clearly: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
The universal love of the Lord for every member of this damned and dying world is a truth everyone should cling to. We should hold fast to it because it is the only way by which any of us can be forgiven and saved.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, first we give thanks to You that these girls have been returned to their families We pray that You will keep them and all of our children safe from the physical attacks of Satan's forces. At the same time, we ask that our children may hold fast to the love of the Savior who has redeemed them at the cost of His own life. This I ask in the Savior's Name. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by One News Now on March 21, 2018. Those who wish to reference that article may do so at the following link, which was fully functional at the time this devotion was written: click here.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible in a Year Reading: Joshua 4-6; Luke 9:18-36A
Joshua 4:1 After the whole nation had finished crossing the Yarden, Adonai said to Y’hoshua, 2 “Take for yourselves from the people twelve men, a man from every tribe; 3 and give them this order: ‘Take twelve stones from the middle of the Yarden riverbed, where the cohanim are standing, carry them over with you and set them down in the place where you will camp tonight.’” 4 Y’hoshua called the twelve men whom he had chosen from the people of Isra’el, a man from every tribe, 5 and said to them, “Go on ahead of the ark of Adonai your God into the riverbed of the Yarden. Then, each of you take a stone on his shoulder, corresponding to the number of tribes of the people of Isra’el. 6 This will be a sign for you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do you mean by these stones?’ 7 you will answer them, ‘It’s because the water in the Yarden was cut off before the ark for the covenant of Adonai; when it crossed the Yarden, the water in the Yarden was cut off; and these stones are to be a reminder for the people of Isra’el forever.’”
8 The people of Isra’el did just as Y’hoshua had ordered. They took twelve stones out of the Yarden riverbed, as Adonai had said to Y’hoshua, corresponding to the number of the tribes of the people of Isra’el, carried them over with them to the place where they were camping, and set them down there. 9 Y’hoshua also set up twelve stones in the Yarden River itself, in the place where the feet of the cohanim carrying the ark for the covenant had stood. They are there to this day. 10 The cohanim carrying the ark stood in the Yarden riverbed until Y’hoshua had finished saying to the people everything that Adonai had ordered him to say, in keeping with everything that Moshe had ordered Y’hoshua; then the people hurried across. 11 When all the people had finished crossing, the ark of Adonai passed on, and the cohanim, ahead of the people. 12 The descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M’nasheh went on, armed, ahead of the people of Isra’el, as Moshe had said to them; 13 some 40,000 armed soldiers ready for battle crossed in the presence of Adonai to the plains of Yericho.
14 That day Adonai made Y’hoshua great in full view of all Isra’el. They were in awe of him, just as they had been in awe of Moshe all his life.
15 Adonai said to Y’hoshua, 16 “Order the cohanim carrying the ark for the testimony to come up out of the Yarden.” 17 So Y’hoshua ordered the cohanim, “Come up out of the Yarden!” 18 The cohanim carrying the ark for the covenant of Adonai came up from the Yarden riverbed, and as soon as the soles of the feet of the cohanim touched dry ground, the water of the Yarden returned to its place and the river overflowed its banks as it had before.
19 The people came up out of the Yarden on the tenth day of the first month and camped at Gilgal, by the eastern boundary of Yericho. 20 Those twelve stones which they took out of the Yarden, Y’hoshua piled up at Gilgal. 21 Then he said to the people of Isra’el, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers what these stones mean, 22 you are to explain it to them by saying, ‘Isra’el came over this Yarden on dry land. 23 For Adonai your God dried up the water in the Yarden from in front of you, until you had crossed, just as Adonai your God did to the Sea of Suf, which he dried up from in front of us, until we had crossed. 24 From this all the peoples of the earth can know that the hand of Adonai is strong, and you can fear Adonai your God forever.’”
5:1 When all the kings of the Emori on the west side of the Yarden and all the kings of the Kena‘ani near the sea heard how Adonai had dried up the Yarden River ahead of the people of Isra’el until they had crossed it, their hearts failed them, and they fell into depression because of the people of Isra’el.
2 It was at that time that Adonai said to Y’hoshua, “Make yourself knives of flint, and circumcise the people of Isra’el again, a second time. 3 So Y’hoshua made himself knives of flint and circumcised the people of Isra’el at Giv‘at-Ha‘Aralot [the hill of foreskins]. 4 The reason Y’hoshua circumcised was that all the people who had left Egypt who were males, all the fighting men, had died in the desert along the way after leaving Egypt. 5 For although all the people who left Egypt had been circumcised, all those who had been born in the desert on the way as they went on from Egypt had not been circumcised; 6 because the people of Isra’el walked forty years in the desert until the whole nation, that is, the fighting men who had left Egypt, had died out; because they had not heeded what Adonai said. Adonai had sworn that he would not allow them to see the land which Adonai swore to their ancestors that he would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 So he raised up their children to take their place, and it was these whom Y’hoshua circumcised; till then they had been uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised while traveling.
8 When all the nation had been circumcised, every one of them, they stayed where they were in camp until they had healed. 9 Adonai said to Y’hoshua, “Today I have rolled off from you the stigma of Egypt.” This is why the place has been called Gilgal [rolling] ever since. 10 The people of Isra’el camped at Gilgal, and they observed Pesach on the fourteenth day of the month, there on the plains of Yericho. 11 The day after Pesach they ate what the land produced, matzah and roasted ears of grain that day. 12 The following day, after they had eaten food produced in the land, the man ended. From then on the people of Isra’el no longer had man; instead, that year, they ate the produce of the land of Kena‘an.
13 One day, when Y’hoshua was there by Yericho, he raised his eyes and looked; and in front of him stood a man with his drawn sword in his hand. Y’hoshua went over to him and asked him, “Are you on our side or on the side of our enemies?” 14 “No,” he replied, “but I am the commander of Adonai’s army; I have come just now.” Y’hoshua fell down with his face to the ground and worshipped him, then asked, “What does my lord have to say to his servant?” 15 The commander of Adonai’s army answered Y’hoshua, “Take your sandals off your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy.” And Y’hoshua did so.
6:1 Yericho had completely barricaded its gates against the people of Isra’el — no one left, and no one entered. 2 Adonai said to Y’hoshua, “I have handed Yericho over to you, including its king and his warriors. 3 You are to encircle the city with all your soldiers and march around it once. Do this for six days. 4 Seven cohanim are to carry seven shofars in front of the ark. On the seventh day you are to march around the city seven times, and the cohanim will blow the shofars. 5 Then they are to blow a long blast on the shofar. On hearing the sound of the shofar, all the people are to shout as loudly as they can; and the wall of the city will fall down flat. Then the people are to go up into the city, each one straight from where he stands.”
6 Y’hoshua the son of Nun called the cohanim and told them, “Take up the ark for the covenant, and have seven cohanim carry seven shofars ahead of the ark of Adonai.” 7 To the people he said, “Move on, encircle the city, and have the army march ahead of the ark of Adonai.” 8 When Y’hoshua had spoken to the people, the seven cohanim carrying the seven shofars before Adonai passed on and blew on the shofars, with the ark for the covenant of Adonai following them. 9 The fighting men went ahead of the cohanim blowing the shofars, while the rearguard marched after the ark, with incessant blowing on the shofars. 10 Y’hoshua gave this order to the people: “Don’t shout, don’t let your voice be heard, don’t let a single word out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout; then you will shout.”
11 So he had the ark of Adonai make a circle around the city, going around it once; then they returned to camp and stayed in the camp. 12 The next morning Y’hoshua got up early, and the cohanim took up the ark of Adonai. 13 The seven cohanim carrying the seven shofars ahead of the ark of Adonai went on, continually blowing on their shofars, with the fighting men marching ahead of them and the rearguard following after the ark of Adonai; all the while the blowing on the shofars was incessant. 14 The second day, they went around the city once and returned to camp. They did the same for six days.
15 On the seventh day, they got up early, at sunrise, and went around the city in the same way seven times. That was the only day they encircled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time, when the cohanim blew on their shofars, Y’hoshua said to the people, “Shout! because Adonai has given you the city! 17 But the city and everything in it is to be set aside for Adonai and therefore to be destroyed completely; only Rachav the prostitute is to be spared, she and everyone with her in her house, because she hid the messengers we sent. 18 So you, keep clear of everything reserved for destruction. If you bring a curse on yourselves by taking anything set aside to be destroyed, you will bring a curse on the whole camp of Isra’el and cause great distress there. 19 All the silver and gold, and all the brass and iron utensils are to be separated out for Adonai and added to the treasury of Adonai.”
20 So the people shouted, with the shofars blowing. When the people heard the sound of the shofars, the people let out a great shout; and the wall fell down flat; so that the people went up into the city, each one straight ahead of him; and they captured the city. 21 They completely destroyed everything in the city with the sword — men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.
22 Y’hoshua said to the two men who had reconnoitered the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring the woman out with all that she has, as you swore to her.” 23 The young men, the spies, went in and brought out Rachav with her father, mother, brothers and all she had; they brought out all her relatives and put them safely outside the camp of Isra’el.
24 Then they burned the city to ashes with everything in it, except for the silver, the gold and the brass and iron utensils, which they put in the treasury of the house of Adonai. 25 But Y’hoshua spared Rachav the prostitute, her father’s household and everything she had; and she has continued living with Isra’el from then until now; because she hid the messengers Y’hoshua had sent to reconnoiter Yericho. 26 Y’hoshua then made the people take this oath: “A curse before Adonai on anyone who rises up and rebuilds this city of Yericho: he will lay its foundation with the loss of his firstborn son and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son.” 27 So Adonai was with Y’hoshua, and people heard about him throughout the land.
Luke 9:18 Once when Yeshua was praying in private, his talmidim were with him; and he asked them, “Who are the crowds saying I am?” 19 They answered, “Yochanan the Immerser; but others say Eliyahu, and others that some prophet of long ago has risen.” 20 “But you,” he said to them, “who do you say I am?” Kefa answered, “The Mashiach of God!” 21 However, he, warning them, ordered them to tell this to no one, 22 adding, “The Son of Man has to endure much suffering and be rejected by the elders, the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers; and he has to be put to death; but on the third day, he has to be raised to life.”
23 Then to everyone he said, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him say ‘No’ to himself, take up his execution-stake daily and keep following me. 24 For whoever tries to save his own life will destroy it, but whoever destroys his life on my account will save it. 25 What will it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but destroys or forfeits his own life? 26 For if someone is ashamed of me and of what I say, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and that of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 I tell you the truth, there are some people standing here who will not experience death until they see the Kingdom of God.”
28 About a week after Yeshua said these things, he took Kefa, Yochanan and Ya‘akov with him and went up to the hill country to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed; and his clothing became gleaming white. 30 Suddenly there were two men talking with him — Moshe and Eliyahu! 31 They appeared in glorious splendor and spoke of his exodus, which he was soon to accomplish in Yerushalayim. 32 Kefa and those with him had been sound asleep; but on becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As the men were leaving Yeshua, Kefa said to him, not knowing what he was saying, “It’s good that we’re here, Rabbi! Let’s put up three shelters — one for you, one for Moshe and one for Eliyahu.” 34 As he spoke, a cloud came and enveloped them. They were frightened as they entered the cloud; 35 and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen. Listen to him!” 36 When the voice spoke, Yeshua was alone once more. They kept quiet — at that time they told no one anything of what they had seen. (Complete Jewish Bible).
***The Lutheran Hour Minidtries in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour Daily Devotion - Friday, April 6, 2018 "Unchanging Word"
Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Unchanging Word" for Friday, April 6, 2018
John 3:16a - For God so loved the world ...As of this writing, the men's record for running the mile is 3 minutes, 43 and 13/100 seconds.
I only looked that up because while we were apart from each other during Lent, Roger Bannister passed away at the age of 88. He, for those of you who might not remember, was the first man to run a mile under four minutes -- ever.
Bannister set the record by posting an impossible time of 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds. It was a record which remained unbroken for a grand total of 46 days. Of course, since Bannister's unattainable time was logged into the record books, a whole host of runners have sailed past his mark without nary a "by your leave."
He did what many said and believed was impossible.
My sports fan friends tell me that there is any number of records which are "impossible." When I asked them for a list, they quickly came up with more than 25. "Narrow it down" I said, "so I can use it in a devotion. That took a while, but all five of them agreed on these four:
- 110 career shutouts pitched by Walter Johnson
- Richard Petty's 200 NASCAR wins
- Ty Cobb's .366 lifetime batting career record
- Georgia Tech's one-sided 1916 football victory over Cumberland. Final score: 222 to 0
"Not a thing," I replied, "other than our Lord has set a record which can never, ever be broken."
"And where can we read about this record?" they wanted to know.
"The first six words of John 3:16," I told them. "For God so loved the world." That truly is a record for the ages.
That passage says God loves absolutely everybody. That's everybody. In that list is last month's serial-bomber. It includes Adolf Hitler, Genghis Khan, and every sick and twisted individual who has walked the earth.
As you can tell from my language I don't love everybody. I don't even like everybody.
But the Lord is different, and His ability to love exceeds mine by an immeasurable number. Consider, Jesus loved the people who placed Him on the cross, the repentant thief who hung next to Him, and the unrepentant thief who was on the other side.
Oh, I almost forgot, Jesus loves me ... and you.
He loved us with a love which calls us to faith in Him, who gave His life so we would not perish but have life everlasting. And that, my friends, is a record which can never be broken.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, many things come and go. I pray Your Word, Your plan of salvation, and our Savior may always be appreciated. Let Your Word stand, and let the Savior's sacrifice be received by the lost, I ask this in the Savior's Name. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by Steve Jordall for One News Now on March 16, 2018. Those who wish to reference that article may do so at the following link, which was fully functional at the time this devotion was written: click here.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible in a Year Reading: Joshua 1-3; Luke 9:1-17
Joshua 1:1 After the death of Moshe the servant of Adonai, Adonai said to Y’hoshua the son of Nun, Moshe’s assistant, 2 “Moshe my servant is dead. So now, get up and cross over this Yarden, you and all the people, to the land I am giving to them, the people of Isra’el. 3 I am giving you every place you will step on with the sole of your foot, as I said to Moshe. 4 All the land from the desert and the L’vanon to the great river, the Euphrates River — all the land of the Hitti — and on to the Great Sea in the west will be your territory. 5 No one will be able to withstand you as long as you live. Just as I was with Moshe, so I will be with you. I will neither fail you nor abandon you.
6 “Be strong, be bold; for you will cause this people to inherit the land I swore to their fathers I would give them. 7 Only be strong and very bold in taking care to follow all the Torah which Moshe my servant ordered you to follow; do not turn from it either to the right or to the left; then you will succeed wherever you go. 8 Yes, keep this book of the Torah on your lips, and meditate on it day and night, so that you will take care to act according to everything written in it. Then your undertakings will prosper, and you will succeed. 9 Haven’t I ordered you, ‘Be strong, be bold’? So don’t be afraid or downhearted, because Adonai your God is with you wherever you go.”
10 Y’hoshua instructed the officials of the people 11 to go through the camp and order the people, “Prepare provisions, because in three days you will cross this Yarden to go in and take possession of the land Adonai your God is giving you.”
12 To the Re’uveni, the Gadi and the half-tribe of M’nasheh Y’hoshua said, 13 “Remember what Moshe the servant of Adonai ordered you: ‘Adonai your God has let you rest and will give you this land.’ 14 Your wives, your little ones and your livestock will stay in the land Moshe gave you on the east side of the Yarden; but you are to cross over armed as a fighting force ahead of your brothers, to help them; 15 until Adonai allows your brothers to rest, as he has allowed you; and they too have taken possession of the land Adonai your God is giving them. At that point, you will return to the land which is yours and possess it, the land Moshe the servant of Adonai gave you in ‘Ever-HaYarden to the east, toward the sunrise.”
16 They answered Y’hoshua, “We will do everything you have ordered us to do, and we will go wherever you send us. 17 Just as we listened to everything Moshe said, so will we listen to you. Only may Adonai your God be with you as he was with Moshe. 18 If anyone rebels against your order and doesn’t heed what you say in every detail of your order, he will be put to death. Just be strong, be bold!”
2:1 Y’hoshua the son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Sheetim with these instructions: “Go, inspect the land and Yericho.” They left and came to the house of a prostitute named Rachav, where they spent the night. 2 The king of Yericho was told about it — “Tonight some men from Isra’el came here to reconnoiter the land.”
3 The king of Yericho sent a message to Rachav, “Bring out the men who came to you and are staying in your house, because they have come to reconnoiter all the land.” 4 However, the woman, after taking the two men and hiding them, replied, “Yes, the men did come to me; but I didn’t know where they had come from. 5 The men left around the time when they shut the gate, when it was dark. Where they went I don’t know; but if you chase after them quickly, you will overtake them.” 6 Actually she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax she had spread out there. 7 The men pursued them all the way to the fords at the Yarden; as soon as the pursuit party had left, the gate was shut.
8 The two men had not yet lain down when she returned to the roof 9 and said to them, “I know that Adonai has given you the land. Fear of you has fallen on us; everyone in the land is terrified at the thought of you. 10 We’ve heard how Adonai dried up the water in the Sea of Suf ahead of you, when you left Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Emori on the other side of the Yarden, Sichon and ‘Og, that you completely destroyed them. 11 As soon as we heard it, our hearts failed us. Because of you, everyone is in a state of depression. For Adonai your God — he is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 12 So, please, swear to me by Adonai that, since I have been kind to you, you will also be kind to my father’s family. Give me some evidence of your good faith, 13 that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers and sisters and all who are theirs, so that we won’t be killed.” 14 The men replied to her, “Our lives are certainly worth yours, provided you don’t betray our mission. So when Adonai gives us the land, we will treat you kindly and in good faith.”
15 Then she lowered them by a rope through the window; since her house abutted the city wall, indeed was actually built into it. 16 She told them, “Head for the hills, so that the pursuit party won’t get their hands on you; and hide yourselves there for three days, until the pursuers have returned. After that, you can go on your way.” 17 The men said to her, “We will not be guilty of violating the oath you made us swear, provided that 18 when we enter the land, you tie this piece of scarlet cord in the window you let us down from; and you gather together in your house your father, mother, brothers, and your father’s entire household. 19 If anyone goes out the doors of your house into the street, he will be responsible for his own blood, and we will be guiltless. But everyone who stays with you in the house — we will be responsible for his blood if anyone lays a hand on him. 20 However, if you say a word about this business of ours, then we will be free of your oath that you made us swear.” 21 “According to your words, so be it,” she said, and sent them away. As they departed, she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
22 They left, arrived in the hills, and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had returned. The pursuers had searched for them all the way but hadn’t found them. 23 Then the two men returned. Descending from the hills they crossed over and came to Y’hoshua the son of Nun, and reported everything that had happened to them. 24 “Truly Adonai has handed over all the land to us,” they told Y’hoshua. “Everyone in the land is terrified that we’re coming.”
3:1 Y’hoshua got up early in the morning, and they left Sheetim and came to the Yarden, he with all the people of Isra’el; they camped there before crossing. 2 After three days, the officials circulated through the camp 3 and gave the people these orders: “When you see the ark for the covenant of Adonai your God and the cohanim, who are L’vi’im, carrying it, you are to leave your position and follow it. 4 But keep a distance between yourelves and it of about a thousand yards — don’t come any closer, so that you will understand which way to go, because you haven’t gone this way before.”
5 Y’hoshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, because tomorrow Adonai is going to work wonders among you.” 6 Then Y’hoshua said to the cohanim, “Take the ark for the covenant, and go on ahead of the people.” They took the ark for the covenant and went ahead of the people.
7 Adonai said to Y’hoshua, “Starting today, I will make you great in full view of all Isra’el; so that they will know that just as I was with Moshe, so I will be with you. 8 Now you are to order the cohanim carrying the ark for the covenant as follows: ‘When you come to the edge of the Yarden River, you are to stop in the Yarden itself.’”
9 Y’hoshua said to the people of Isra’el, “Come here, and listen to the words of Adonai your God.” 10 Then Y’hoshua said, “Here is how you will know that the living God is here with you and that, without fail, he will drive out from before you the Kena‘ani, the Hitti, the Hivi, the P’rizi, the Girgashi, the Emori and the Y’vusi: 11 the ark for the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going on ahead of you across the Yarden. 12 Now choose yourselves twelve men out of the tribes of Isra’el, one man for each tribe. 13 As soon as the cohanim carrying the ark of Adonai, the Lord of all the earth, put the soles of their feet in the water of the Yarden, the water of the Yarden will be cut off upstream and stand piled up like an embankment.”
14 So the people left their tents to cross the Yarden, with the cohanim carrying the ark for the covenant ahead of the people. 15 When those carrying the ark had come to the Yarden, and the cohanim carrying the ark had waded into the water (for throughout harvest season the Yarden overflows its banks), 16 the water upstream stood piled up like an embankment for a great distance at Adam, the city next to Tzartan; so that the water flowing downstream toward the Sea of the ‘Aravah, the Dead Sea, was completely cut off; and the people crossed over right by Yericho. 17 The cohanim carrying the ark for the covenant of Adonai stood fast on dry ground in the middle of the Yarden, while all Isra’el crossed on dry ground, until the entire nation had finished crossing the Yarden.
Luke 9:1 Calling together the Twelve, Yeshua gave them power and authority to expel all the demons and to cure diseases; 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal. 3 He said to them, “Take nothing for your trip — neither a walking stick nor a pack, neither bread nor money; and don’t have two shirts. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there and go out from there. 5 Wherever they don’t welcome you, shake the dust from your feet when you leave that town as a warning to them.” 6 They set out and went through village after village, healing and announcing the Good News everywhere.
7 Herod the governor heard about all that was going on and was perplexed, because it was said by some that Yochanan had been raised from the dead, 8 by others that Eliyahu had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. 9 Herod said, “I had Yochanan beheaded, so who is this about whom I keep hearing such things?” And he began trying to see him.
On their return, the emissaries detailed to Yeshua what they had done. Then, taking them with him, he withdrew by himself to a town called Beit-Tzaidah. 11 But the crowds found out and followed him. Welcoming them, he went on to speak to them about the Kingdom of God and to heal those who needed to be healed.
The day began to draw to a close. The Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they can go and get lodging and food in the towns and farms around here, because where we are is a remote place.” 13 But he said to them, “Give them something to eat, yourselves!” They said, “We have no more than five loaves of bread and two fish — unless we ourselves are supposed to go and buy food for all these people!” 14 (For there were about five thousand men.) He said to his talmidim, “Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 They did what he told them and had them all sit down. 16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fish and, looking up toward heaven, made a b’rakhah, broke the loaves and began giving them to the talmidim to distribute to the crowd. 17 Everyone ate as much as he wanted; and they took up what was left over, twelve baskets full of broken pieces. (Complete Jewish Bible).
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CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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