"The Anchor Holds In Spite of the Storm"
[Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:1-13; Mathew 28:18-20; I Corinthians 10:1-33]
[Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:1-13; Mathew 28:18-20; I Corinthians 10:1-33]
An Anchor, when properly placed, holds a marine vessel securely in one location and keeps it from drifting away from the captain’s desired position. Under the teachings of the Holy Spirit of God, what in Hebrew is called the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), the Five books of Moses serve us as an Anchor to keep us from drifting away from God's good, acceptable and perfect will for our lives.
(Romans 1:1-17; Romans 5:1-2; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-8; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:1-13
At the Anchor, we have come to the understanding, that the daily study of these books, along with the rest of the Scriptures, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit is the way God promised and systematically does place His Word (the oracles of God – see Romans 3:1) in our minds according to the covenant promise. As we go about practicing what He says for us to do, and not practicing what he says for us not to do, these same words become attached or grafted into our hearts. We discover that as we hear and practice doing what we hear [The shema of God - Mark 28:28:34, James 1:21-25), He becomes more and more pleased with what He does through us. Therefore to Him (יהוה) , LORD, YHVH, Yahveh, Jehovah be all the glory for the things He is doing.) As followers of Jesus the Christ (Hebrew – Yehshua Ha Mashiach), our desire is to regard the Law of God (the Torah) in the same way Jesus (Yeshua) did; when he was here. And learn to teach the same specific instructions that his disciples received from him. To continue to practice the same works that he taught them, until he returns. [I John 2:1-16] His disciples were commanded to go into all nations and make disciples. Jesus/Yeshua did not say go into all the nations and make Christians and build churches. Jesus/Yehshua said; "go and make Disciples, teaching them to do what so ever I have commanded you to do." (Mitzvot = "good works")
(Romans 1:1-17; Romans 5:1-2; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-8; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:1-13
At the Anchor, we have come to the understanding, that the daily study of these books, along with the rest of the Scriptures, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit is the way God promised and systematically does place His Word (the oracles of God – see Romans 3:1) in our minds according to the covenant promise. As we go about practicing what He says for us to do, and not practicing what he says for us not to do, these same words become attached or grafted into our hearts. We discover that as we hear and practice doing what we hear [The shema of God - Mark 28:28:34, James 1:21-25), He becomes more and more pleased with what He does through us. Therefore to Him (יהוה) , LORD, YHVH, Yahveh, Jehovah be all the glory for the things He is doing.) As followers of Jesus the Christ (Hebrew – Yehshua Ha Mashiach), our desire is to regard the Law of God (the Torah) in the same way Jesus (Yeshua) did; when he was here. And learn to teach the same specific instructions that his disciples received from him. To continue to practice the same works that he taught them, until he returns. [I John 2:1-16] His disciples were commanded to go into all nations and make disciples. Jesus/Yeshua did not say go into all the nations and make Christians and build churches. Jesus/Yehshua said; "go and make Disciples, teaching them to do what so ever I have commanded you to do." (Mitzvot = "good works")
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B'reisheet
(Genesis) b'reisheet 1:1-6:8 |
Meaning
in the beginning |
Day One
20th day of 7th Month 5786 12 September 2025 
|
Haftara
Isaiah 42:5-43:10 |
B'rit Hadashah
John 1:1-17 |
1 Our Father, we receive Your Words and hide Your commandments with us; 2 we incline our ear unto wisdom, and apply our hearts to understanding; 3 We cry after knowledge and lift up our voices for understanding; 4 we seek it as silver; and search for it as for hidden treasures; 5 We declare that we shall understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. Declaration of Proverbs 2:1-5
Modeh Ani (ּמודה אני)
Pronounced moe-DEH ah-NEE, this Hebrew phrase literally means "I give thanks" and refers to the prayer traditionally recited upon awaking in the morning.
Pronounced moe-DEH ah-NEE, this Hebrew phrase literally means "I give thanks" and refers to the prayer traditionally recited upon awaking in the morning.
Genesis 1:1-31 (NASB)1
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, "Let there be light "; and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. 6 Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." 7 God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. 8 God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. 9 Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear "; and it was so. 10 God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them"; and it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. 13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day. 14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. 16 God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. 17 God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. 19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. 20 Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens." 21 God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." 23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. 24 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind "; and it was so. 25 God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 29 Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food "; and it was so. 31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
God said, “Let there be” and then He saw that “it was good”, and then He blessed what He created. I'll never forget what one precious congregant of The Anchor Church said on one of my visits. Donnie said, “I believe in the 'Big Bang' theory”. Donnie demonstrated by swinging his arms out wide and then bringing his hands together in a loud clap as he shouted, “BANG!” Then, with a twinkle in his eye, he smiled and exclaimed, “And there it was!” That is one version of the very first chapter of Genesis that I've always appreciated. I seldom focus or remember that Yah made the heavens and the earth FIRST. In my mind, the planet was already formed, and we're on to the creation of its populations. There is a most interesting discussion that has erupted over the “Gap Theory”. It's not quite as “cut and dried” or in the jocular vein as Donnie's statement, but it requires some sleuthing and thinking that is directly under God's authority.
The Gap Theory suggests that between verses one and two, a great clamor and war took place in the universe, possibly in our section of the star field where our planet is located.
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Now, this is where the 'gap' is thought to have occurred. The Bible doesn't say there is a gap, and so many will say categorically that there is none. The 'Gappers' contend that our earth is not young, but very old. I have often heard humanist discussions declare that the earth is millions and billions of years old, while those who cling more to Biblical accounts state that the earth is much younger than that. It's very possible that the earth is younger. Instead of billions of years, it may be as young as 5,786 years old. The Gappers maintain that after Genesis 1:1, came a great war or cataclysm of some sort, and it was then that Genesis 1:2 comes to tell us the reason why the earth was “formless and void”. Some folks think it was the war of the angels that is referred to in Revelation.
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Revelation 12:7-9.
The caution to always read the context of Scripture comes to mind. A good reading of the verses that come before and after the selection is always a good rule of thumb in ferreting through the Bible. This morning I'm only throwing it 'out there'. I'm not advocating either argument. The plain fact is, we can look at it and consider the possible truth of it, but carefully, and under HIS authority. Seems to me that there would be other verses in the Bible that would confirm such an event, or even allude to it. I've never done a study to see if there are. Chuck Missler's name came up in my cogitations regarding this. He was always on the cutting edge of discussion about Biblical historicity and context. I'll leave a link right here so that I don't forget to include it at the bottom of the edition. I have been known to get a little squirrelly in the autumn/fall of the year, and I've been a tad forgetful of late as well. This is a combination for which I must be more alert than ever in the coming months. (The snow is coming!) There is a historical origin that Chuck Missler points out about this particular subject. In the file cabinet full of seventy years of acquired knowledge of a mixture of “things to know OR remember” in what I laughingly call my mind, this theory originated as early as 1814. I exclaim in my cerebral 'filing room', “Wow. Who knew?”
The "Gap" Theory | Koinonia House
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2.
There is much discussion of late over the exact meaning of the Hebrew phrase in the original language in verse two:
2 And the earth אֶרֶץ was הָיָה without form, תֹּהוּ and void; בֹּהוּ and darkness חֹשֶׁךְ was upon the face פָּנִים of the deep. תְּהוֹם . Various English translations render “formless and void” (and with darkness), as the NASB. The KJV says “without form and void”. The Complete Jewish Bible says “unformed and void”, and the Jewish Tanakh states “unformed and void”. They all agree that 'darkness' was present as well. So, whatever it was between verses one and two, we can speculate all we want (with care). But this spoiler may not become apparent until we're on the other side of eternity. The term without form or formless from the Hebrew is תֹּהוּ tôhûw, to'-hoo from an unused root meaning to lie waste; a desolation (of surface), i.e., desert; figuratively, a worthless thing; adverbially, in vain:—confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness. The word void is בֹּהוּ bôhûw, bo'-hoo from an unused root (meaning to be empty); a vacuity, i.e., (superficially) an undistinguishable ruin:—emptiness, void. At this time, only our Father God knows how this desolate and undistinguishable ruin looked.
I must have been in several years ferreting through Genesis before it suddenly dawned on me. Hey! How did God create light BEFORE He brought up the sun, the moon, and the stars?! I suppose that this shows how our knowledge can be quite progressive. Or it can show how the Bible reveals its mystery “in time”. OR, it can showcase how we as humans can only focus on so many things at once. My story and I'm sticking to it is: that I was looking at other details and didn't fully integrate that fact until much later about the luminaries. You could say that in my mind, “the light finally came on”! Today I looked at the phrase in the third verse.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. Genesis 1:3.
The word, light in the Hebrew is אוֹר ʼôwr, ore from H215; illumination or (concrete) luminary (in every sense, including lightning, happiness, etc.):—bright, clear, day, light (-ning), morning, sun. The word darkness is חֹשֶׁךְ chôshek, kho-shek' from H2821; the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively, misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness:—dark(-ness), night, obscurity. Perhaps I'm seeing something a little remez this year in Genesis. Remez is Hebrew for a clue, or a hint. Perhaps, this had a deeper meaning than simply light and dark, the way I was perceiving light and darkness. What if this were a cleaving of good and evil? Perhaps, could it have been the separation of light and dark in the spiritual and not the natural, as I thought before? See what you think about this.
I'm on page three here already, and we've hardly scratched the surface! I confess that this morning was another case of procrastination based on a grief response. “I didn't wanna”. I didn't wanna because I didn't exactly know how to start. Finally, with a prayer and the reading, I moved on. This twenty-fourth Torah cycle (that will officially begin in March 2026) is dedicated to the blessed memory of our founder, Gaylen Jones. This past year, I removed the italicizing type from all the Scripture references because I realized that if I did that, the words that were not in the original Hebrew script would not be apparent. Wherever the word in Strong's or KJV Bibles is italicized, it means that word was added by the translators. I added the assistance in February from a program called Grammarly. It was a last-ditch strategy to clean up my typos and my over-correcting in my last drafts. It got to the point that my proofreader in Nevada was calling me out almost every day! She gets respite now. I've curbed my rewrites exponentially. I don't use the AI portion of this application and am quite satisfied that it picks up my oversights. The creative component of writing still needs to be balanced by the rules of grammar!
So, we move on with a new Torah cycle. The sun is shining brightly and the temperature is the usual for this time of year. The hen house has integrated splendidly with the alumni hens and the newbies. They aren't newbie anymore. Egg production has fallen considerably since the rooster overpopulation occurred last summer. There may be a solution for that soon. Betty still waits for her ACL surgery on the twenty-eighth day of this month. I'm lengthening my winter “Annie do-list”. The osteoarthritis in my knees is being mitigated with daily tens machine treatments and less medication. That is a bonus for my liver! God is good! Things are progressing as they usually do in this season. The last coop run is occurring earlier and earlier each week until November, when we'll be closing it up at 4:40 in the afternoon! Oh well. Today, I feel like the “carpe diem” of winter is coming on. Bring it on! I'm ready. God is good.
The Gap Theory suggests that between verses one and two, a great clamor and war took place in the universe, possibly in our section of the star field where our planet is located.
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Now, this is where the 'gap' is thought to have occurred. The Bible doesn't say there is a gap, and so many will say categorically that there is none. The 'Gappers' contend that our earth is not young, but very old. I have often heard humanist discussions declare that the earth is millions and billions of years old, while those who cling more to Biblical accounts state that the earth is much younger than that. It's very possible that the earth is younger. Instead of billions of years, it may be as young as 5,786 years old. The Gappers maintain that after Genesis 1:1, came a great war or cataclysm of some sort, and it was then that Genesis 1:2 comes to tell us the reason why the earth was “formless and void”. Some folks think it was the war of the angels that is referred to in Revelation.
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Revelation 12:7-9.
The caution to always read the context of Scripture comes to mind. A good reading of the verses that come before and after the selection is always a good rule of thumb in ferreting through the Bible. This morning I'm only throwing it 'out there'. I'm not advocating either argument. The plain fact is, we can look at it and consider the possible truth of it, but carefully, and under HIS authority. Seems to me that there would be other verses in the Bible that would confirm such an event, or even allude to it. I've never done a study to see if there are. Chuck Missler's name came up in my cogitations regarding this. He was always on the cutting edge of discussion about Biblical historicity and context. I'll leave a link right here so that I don't forget to include it at the bottom of the edition. I have been known to get a little squirrelly in the autumn/fall of the year, and I've been a tad forgetful of late as well. This is a combination for which I must be more alert than ever in the coming months. (The snow is coming!) There is a historical origin that Chuck Missler points out about this particular subject. In the file cabinet full of seventy years of acquired knowledge of a mixture of “things to know OR remember” in what I laughingly call my mind, this theory originated as early as 1814. I exclaim in my cerebral 'filing room', “Wow. Who knew?”
The "Gap" Theory | Koinonia House
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2.
There is much discussion of late over the exact meaning of the Hebrew phrase in the original language in verse two:
2 And the earth אֶרֶץ was הָיָה without form, תֹּהוּ and void; בֹּהוּ and darkness חֹשֶׁךְ was upon the face פָּנִים of the deep. תְּהוֹם . Various English translations render “formless and void” (and with darkness), as the NASB. The KJV says “without form and void”. The Complete Jewish Bible says “unformed and void”, and the Jewish Tanakh states “unformed and void”. They all agree that 'darkness' was present as well. So, whatever it was between verses one and two, we can speculate all we want (with care). But this spoiler may not become apparent until we're on the other side of eternity. The term without form or formless from the Hebrew is תֹּהוּ tôhûw, to'-hoo from an unused root meaning to lie waste; a desolation (of surface), i.e., desert; figuratively, a worthless thing; adverbially, in vain:—confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness. The word void is בֹּהוּ bôhûw, bo'-hoo from an unused root (meaning to be empty); a vacuity, i.e., (superficially) an undistinguishable ruin:—emptiness, void. At this time, only our Father God knows how this desolate and undistinguishable ruin looked.
I must have been in several years ferreting through Genesis before it suddenly dawned on me. Hey! How did God create light BEFORE He brought up the sun, the moon, and the stars?! I suppose that this shows how our knowledge can be quite progressive. Or it can show how the Bible reveals its mystery “in time”. OR, it can showcase how we as humans can only focus on so many things at once. My story and I'm sticking to it is: that I was looking at other details and didn't fully integrate that fact until much later about the luminaries. You could say that in my mind, “the light finally came on”! Today I looked at the phrase in the third verse.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. Genesis 1:3.
The word, light in the Hebrew is אוֹר ʼôwr, ore from H215; illumination or (concrete) luminary (in every sense, including lightning, happiness, etc.):—bright, clear, day, light (-ning), morning, sun. The word darkness is חֹשֶׁךְ chôshek, kho-shek' from H2821; the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively, misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness:—dark(-ness), night, obscurity. Perhaps I'm seeing something a little remez this year in Genesis. Remez is Hebrew for a clue, or a hint. Perhaps, this had a deeper meaning than simply light and dark, the way I was perceiving light and darkness. What if this were a cleaving of good and evil? Perhaps, could it have been the separation of light and dark in the spiritual and not the natural, as I thought before? See what you think about this.
I'm on page three here already, and we've hardly scratched the surface! I confess that this morning was another case of procrastination based on a grief response. “I didn't wanna”. I didn't wanna because I didn't exactly know how to start. Finally, with a prayer and the reading, I moved on. This twenty-fourth Torah cycle (that will officially begin in March 2026) is dedicated to the blessed memory of our founder, Gaylen Jones. This past year, I removed the italicizing type from all the Scripture references because I realized that if I did that, the words that were not in the original Hebrew script would not be apparent. Wherever the word in Strong's or KJV Bibles is italicized, it means that word was added by the translators. I added the assistance in February from a program called Grammarly. It was a last-ditch strategy to clean up my typos and my over-correcting in my last drafts. It got to the point that my proofreader in Nevada was calling me out almost every day! She gets respite now. I've curbed my rewrites exponentially. I don't use the AI portion of this application and am quite satisfied that it picks up my oversights. The creative component of writing still needs to be balanced by the rules of grammar!
So, we move on with a new Torah cycle. The sun is shining brightly and the temperature is the usual for this time of year. The hen house has integrated splendidly with the alumni hens and the newbies. They aren't newbie anymore. Egg production has fallen considerably since the rooster overpopulation occurred last summer. There may be a solution for that soon. Betty still waits for her ACL surgery on the twenty-eighth day of this month. I'm lengthening my winter “Annie do-list”. The osteoarthritis in my knees is being mitigated with daily tens machine treatments and less medication. That is a bonus for my liver! God is good! Things are progressing as they usually do in this season. The last coop run is occurring earlier and earlier each week until November, when we'll be closing it up at 4:40 in the afternoon! Oh well. Today, I feel like the “carpe diem” of winter is coming on. Bring it on! I'm ready. God is good.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Genesis 1:31.
1 NASB www.lockman.org for daily reading and KJV in commentary unless otherwise stated.
Daily Torah Bites ©
anne@anchorchurchsurfside.com
“Vehalachta Bidrachav—you shall walk in His ways!”
Ten Commandments
1
2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
3
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
4
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
5
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
6
13 Thou shalt not kill.
7
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8
15 Thou shalt not steal.
9
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10
16 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.