"The Anchor Holds In Spite of the Storm"
Pastor: Gaylen Jones
Sunday Service 10:30 A.M.
Wednesday Evening Bible Study and Prayer 7:00 P.M.
PO Box 1926
Clute, Texas 77531
[Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:1-13; Mathew 28:18-20; I Corinthians 10:1-33]
Pastor: Gaylen Jones
Sunday Service 10:30 A.M.
Wednesday Evening Bible Study and Prayer 7:00 P.M.
PO Box 1926
Clute, Texas 77531
[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")
|
Bamidbar (Numbers)
shelach 13:1-15:41 |
Meaning
send for yourself |
Day One
19th day of 3rd Month 5785 15 June 2025 
|
Haftara
Joshua 2:1-24 |
B'rit Hadashah
Matthew 10:1-14 |
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.
Numbers 13:1-33 (NASB)1
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses saying, 2 "Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers' tribes, every one a leader among them." 3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel. 4 These then were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; 6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe of Joseph, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua. 17 When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, "Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country. 18 "See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. 19 "How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications? 20 "How is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not? Make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land." Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes. 21 So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, at Lebo-hamath. 22 When they had gone up into the Negev, they came to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs. 24 That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there. 25 When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, 26 they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Thus they told him, and said, "We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 "Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 "Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan." 30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it."
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us." 32 So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. 33 "There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us." 32 So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. 33 "There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."
We move on in our Torah journey today with the latest news that Israel is maintaining their bombardment of Iran's strategic nuclear sites and bomb-making labs. At the same time, Iran attacks the citizenry of Israel. They are sending drones and missiles to heavily populated areas in Israel. While the IDF warns Iranian citizens away from the strategic areas, the enemy goes for the civilians within Israel. Nothing new. Our house continues to pray for the citizens of both Israel and Iran. Many would be surprised to learn how many of the Iranians are cheering for Israel. Their lives under the Iranian rulers have not been pleasant.
35 And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee. 36 And when it rested, he said, Return, O LORD, unto the many thousands of Israel. Numbers 10:35-36.
After the reports of the attack on Iran by Israeli forces, I couldn't help thinking about the verses that we read in Numbers chapter ten! "Rise up LORD and let thine enemies be scattered!" How fitting we read that in the days ahead of this offensive! Later, I heard the name of the offensive: Operation Rising Lion/Am KeLavi, meaning “People Like a Lion”. It is based on the Scripture from Numbers 23:24: 24 Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain. How ironic that this is a statement/prophecy uttered by Balaam, the greedy, seedy, hire to the highest bidder ancient psychic, brought in to curse the nation of Israel. From the article by First Fruits of Zion titled, “Rise Like a Lion, and May Your Enemies be Scattered BREAKING: Israel Strikes Iran”, I quote:
“Fervent petitions and prayers at the Western Wall were accompanied by the sound of shofars and the silver trumpets of war in keeping with the command from this week’s Torah portion:
When you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. (Numbers 10:9)”
We've marveled while listening to Messianic Jewish Rabbi Jonathan Cahn's messages at how he tied historical dates and events to Biblical passages. He linked multiple historical events with the exact portion of Torah that was read that very same week. There is no such thing as coincidence! By definition, coincidence is the occurrence of events that happen at the same time by accident, but seem to have some connection! If we were to follow through the definition then we could attribute the fates, or luck to many situations, which would then eliminate THE GOD FACTOR! Rabbi Cahn has preached on so many of these historical tie-ins with Israel's history and the schedule of Torah readings so frequently that I believe that believers who won't give The Old Testament a thorough reading and respect are losing out on knowing our Father God with increased clarity! Now we can move on with our daily perusal in the journey.
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. 3 And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel. Numbers 13:1-3.
That's how our reading begins. And now we see how the reading concludes.
25 And they returned from searching of the land after forty days... 32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. Numbers 13:25; 32-33.
Joshua and Caleb saw it in a very different way, but there were only two of them and ten of the others. Joshua and Caleb were SO positive! The ten were SO terrified!
Perspective is the word that pops into my head!
I’m thinking how many times have I stopped and asked the Lord: "Please help me to see this situation as You see it, Father." Not very often—in fact--rarely have I had the presence of mind to utter that little one-second prayer. And if I did it would just save me so much angst! I think it’s going to take some intensive training for this writer but I’m willing to give this a go. Perspective is what moves one person looking at the tip of the iceberg that took out the Titanic to say, "Why that thing isn’t all that big! How did that little iceberg sink that huge ship?" An underwater diver comes up on deck and exclaims, "You should see it from under the water!" One could look at this story of the ten spies, where two appeared to have some objectivity and faith whereas the rest of them got the screaming meemies when they saw some of the people that populated the land. The Nephilim! The giants!
What is so scary about Nephilim? They were supposed to be giants and misfit mutants that were the products of unions between fallen angels and human women according to the extant source called the Books of Enoch. Most mainline resources explain these brawny, some very large and giant-like progeny as men of the lineage of Cain and women from the Godly line of Seth.
"In time, when men began to multiply on earth, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were attractive; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Adonai said, "My Spirit will not live in human beings forever for they too are flesh; therefore their life span is to be 120 years." The N’filim were on the earth in those days, and also afterwards, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, theses were the ancient heroes, men of renown." Genesis 6:1-4 (CJB)*
The sight of these Nephilim gave the majority of the spies a fear virus, and because they had neither the faith nor the perspective of Joshua and Caleb, they chose the screaming meemies over a more objective judgment. If only they could have stopped, perhaps taken a few deep breaths, and then asked the Almighty, "Please would you help us to see this situation the way You see it!" Sadly this wasn't happening despite the pleas of Caleb.
30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. Numbers 13:30.
You might say that the two perspectives were going to have to battle it out. No faith (or immature faith) plus no objectivity on the part of the remaining spies meant a mountain of frustration for those who had mature faith! When the disbelievers were ready to mount up and make a return trip to Egypt poor Caleb and Joshua went ballistic. But I'm getting ahead of the story here. What in the world were the men of faith to do? How could they win over and help their fellows see good sense? The rest of this story continues tomorrow. Perhaps in the meantime, we can take a good look at how we meet the challenges of life that are certain to come at us if we are serving Adonai and not the enemy. I'm going to be focusing on the main lesson from this situation even before we finish the story in another twenty-four hours. "Father, please let me see this how You see it!" May our Father God speak to us as He spoke to His disciples.
35 And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee. 36 And when it rested, he said, Return, O LORD, unto the many thousands of Israel. Numbers 10:35-36.
After the reports of the attack on Iran by Israeli forces, I couldn't help thinking about the verses that we read in Numbers chapter ten! "Rise up LORD and let thine enemies be scattered!" How fitting we read that in the days ahead of this offensive! Later, I heard the name of the offensive: Operation Rising Lion/Am KeLavi, meaning “People Like a Lion”. It is based on the Scripture from Numbers 23:24: 24 Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain. How ironic that this is a statement/prophecy uttered by Balaam, the greedy, seedy, hire to the highest bidder ancient psychic, brought in to curse the nation of Israel. From the article by First Fruits of Zion titled, “Rise Like a Lion, and May Your Enemies be Scattered BREAKING: Israel Strikes Iran”, I quote:
“Fervent petitions and prayers at the Western Wall were accompanied by the sound of shofars and the silver trumpets of war in keeping with the command from this week’s Torah portion:
When you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. (Numbers 10:9)”
We've marveled while listening to Messianic Jewish Rabbi Jonathan Cahn's messages at how he tied historical dates and events to Biblical passages. He linked multiple historical events with the exact portion of Torah that was read that very same week. There is no such thing as coincidence! By definition, coincidence is the occurrence of events that happen at the same time by accident, but seem to have some connection! If we were to follow through the definition then we could attribute the fates, or luck to many situations, which would then eliminate THE GOD FACTOR! Rabbi Cahn has preached on so many of these historical tie-ins with Israel's history and the schedule of Torah readings so frequently that I believe that believers who won't give The Old Testament a thorough reading and respect are losing out on knowing our Father God with increased clarity! Now we can move on with our daily perusal in the journey.
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. 3 And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel. Numbers 13:1-3.
That's how our reading begins. And now we see how the reading concludes.
25 And they returned from searching of the land after forty days... 32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. Numbers 13:25; 32-33.
Joshua and Caleb saw it in a very different way, but there were only two of them and ten of the others. Joshua and Caleb were SO positive! The ten were SO terrified!
Perspective is the word that pops into my head!
I’m thinking how many times have I stopped and asked the Lord: "Please help me to see this situation as You see it, Father." Not very often—in fact--rarely have I had the presence of mind to utter that little one-second prayer. And if I did it would just save me so much angst! I think it’s going to take some intensive training for this writer but I’m willing to give this a go. Perspective is what moves one person looking at the tip of the iceberg that took out the Titanic to say, "Why that thing isn’t all that big! How did that little iceberg sink that huge ship?" An underwater diver comes up on deck and exclaims, "You should see it from under the water!" One could look at this story of the ten spies, where two appeared to have some objectivity and faith whereas the rest of them got the screaming meemies when they saw some of the people that populated the land. The Nephilim! The giants!
What is so scary about Nephilim? They were supposed to be giants and misfit mutants that were the products of unions between fallen angels and human women according to the extant source called the Books of Enoch. Most mainline resources explain these brawny, some very large and giant-like progeny as men of the lineage of Cain and women from the Godly line of Seth.
"In time, when men began to multiply on earth, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were attractive; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Adonai said, "My Spirit will not live in human beings forever for they too are flesh; therefore their life span is to be 120 years." The N’filim were on the earth in those days, and also afterwards, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, theses were the ancient heroes, men of renown." Genesis 6:1-4 (CJB)*
The sight of these Nephilim gave the majority of the spies a fear virus, and because they had neither the faith nor the perspective of Joshua and Caleb, they chose the screaming meemies over a more objective judgment. If only they could have stopped, perhaps taken a few deep breaths, and then asked the Almighty, "Please would you help us to see this situation the way You see it!" Sadly this wasn't happening despite the pleas of Caleb.
30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. Numbers 13:30.
You might say that the two perspectives were going to have to battle it out. No faith (or immature faith) plus no objectivity on the part of the remaining spies meant a mountain of frustration for those who had mature faith! When the disbelievers were ready to mount up and make a return trip to Egypt poor Caleb and Joshua went ballistic. But I'm getting ahead of the story here. What in the world were the men of faith to do? How could they win over and help their fellows see good sense? The rest of this story continues tomorrow. Perhaps in the meantime, we can take a good look at how we meet the challenges of life that are certain to come at us if we are serving Adonai and not the enemy. I'm going to be focusing on the main lesson from this situation even before we finish the story in another twenty-four hours. "Father, please let me see this how You see it!" May our Father God speak to us as He spoke to His disciples.
20 And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according unto all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them. Numbers 8:20.
1 NASB www.lockman.org for daily reading and KJV in commentary unless otherwise stated.
*The Complete Jewish Bible by David H. Stern Jewish New Testament Publications INC.
*The Complete Jewish Bible by David H. Stern Jewish New Testament Publications INC.
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.
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.