Genesis 50:
24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you
out of this land unto the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you,
and you shall carry up my bones from hence.

[H6485]-pakad=to visit; [H6486]-pekuddah=visitation

The Israelites for 400 years in Egypt clung to this prophetic promise from Joseph. This covenant oath between Joseph
and the people continued as a memorial and became the words used by God to introduce Moses as their deliverer.
The fulfillment of this promise becomes a remembrance of the Lord and is prominent in the narrative.

Exodus 3:16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, The Lord God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, I have surely visited you and seen
what is done to you in Egypt.

Exodus 4:31 So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel
and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Exodus 13:19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel
under solemn oath, saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.

The Good News in the Old Testament
Job 10:12 You have granted me life and favor, and your visitation has preserved my spirit.

A deeper comprehension of this word is needed to fully grasp the statement:
“your visitation has preserved my spirit”.
Pakad appears 90 times in the book we call Numbers, and is the basis for using this title.
The first four chapters recall a series of censuses that the Lord commanded
Moses and Aaron to take of the Congregation.

Numbers 1:
2 Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families,
by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;
3 From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron
shall number them by their armies.

Verse 2 describes a numerical count “take the sum” and is a head count.
“By the polls” literally means “by the skulls”.
Verse 3 uses the word pakad, “number them by their armies”.
So then what is the relationship between “to visit”,
and “to number” when the word pakad appears?
The word more accurately means “to make an assessment”;
to observe to determine the mental, physical, and spiritual condition.
The key here is the phrase “that are able to go forth to war”.
More than simply a head count, it is a skills and abilities assessment.

And so in Exodus 4:31, “He looked upon affliction”. The visitation is concerned with the state of being.
This correct understanding of visitation forms the basis for ministry and fellowship.

James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this:
to visit orphans and widows in their trouble,
and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

This verse does not limit ministry to orphans and widows, but to all who are oppressed,
with these two as prominent examples from the Law.

Visitation also aids in defining the role of leadership within the Congregation.
Matthew 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler
over his household, to give them meat in due season?

Remembering the words of Christ:

John 4:32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.
34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

Many translations use “your care”, rather than “your visitation”.
This must be clarified to include the understanding that the visitation can result
in discipline, and even judgment.

For example;
Jeremiah 10:15 They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

And so this is found in the New Testament
Luke 19:
43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you,
surround you and close you in on every side,
44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone
upon another, because “you did not know the time of your visitation.”

1 Peter 2:12 Having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles,
that when they speak against you as evildoers,
they may, by your good works which they observe,
glorify God on the day of visitation.

Deuteronomy 33:26. There is none like the God of Yeshurun,
Riding the heavens in thy help, and in His excellency the skies.

Yeshurun-from yashar [H3474]=Straight, direct. As in:

Isaiah 40:3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Psalms 5:8. Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies;
make thy way straight before my face.

The Israel of God is Yeshurun, those who walk the narrow way.
This is the Lord's Dominion.
Isaiah 44:
1 Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant,
And Israel whom I have chosen.
2 Thus says the Lord who made you
And formed you from the womb, who will help you:
‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant;
And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

All descendants of Jacob are called servants of The Lord.
Those who obey are chosen.
These are the Israel of God. These are Jeshurun.
Many are called, few are chosen.
The chosen are the new creation of the Lord.

Isaiah 43:15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
The Creator of Israel, your King.

Isaiah 44:
1 Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant,
And Israel whom I have chosen.
2 Thus says the Lord who made you
And formed you from the womb, who will help you:
Fear not, O Jacob My servant;
And you, Yeshurun, whom I have chosen.

Psalms 84:
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory:
no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusts in Thee.

Children Of Israel; A People Who Are Near To Him​

Psalms 148:14 And He has exalted the horn of His people, the praise of all His saints.​

Of the children of Israel, the people who are near to Him.

Halleluyah!
Considering this reference to who the children of Israel are,
and understand that this is not a physical proximity.

Isaiah 29:13 Therefore the Lord said: these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips,
but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men.

How then does one draw near to God?

Isaiah 66:2 For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist, says the Lord.
But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.

He inhabits eternity, and the hearts of those who are broken and contrite.
Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the High and Lofty One, Who inhabits eternity,
whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and with him who
has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

This is the place where His salvation manifests.
Psalms 34:18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,
and saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Children of Israel show they are the contrite ones by their devotion
to the fear of the Lord.

Psalms 119:38 Establish Your word to Your servant,
who is devoted to Your fear

The Joy of our Salvation, and the offering of acceptable sacrifices.
Psalms 51:
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart,
O God, thou wilt not despise.

The Blessing of Joseph:
Genesis 49:26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors
unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph,
and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

To be separated for the Lord’s Purpose led Joseph to this conclusion
concerning his past experiences
Genesis 45:
7 And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth,
and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 So now it was not you who sent me here, but God…

This is to know and to love Him
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those
who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

After walking in the Lord’s Purpose, we see His Life forming Christ in us,
and this Way of Life in our making convinces us that we were His from the beginning.
Galatians 1:15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb
and called me through His grace…

He who has saved us has also called us for His Own Purpose
2 Timothy 1:9 Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works,
but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

Our Inheritance obtained in accordance with His Will
Ephesians 1:11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to
the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His Will.

Separated for the Eternal Inheritance of the sons and daughters of God
2 Corinthians 6:
17 Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.
18 I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.

Psalms 121:8 The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in:
From this time forth, and even forevermore.

How would you describe your "going out and your coming in"?
Here is an instruction from Leviticus:
Leviticus 18:
1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them:
I am the Lord your God.
3 According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt,
you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan,
where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in
their ordinances.
4 You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances,
to walk in them: I am the Lord your God.

Christians are said to be brought "out of the world",
but what are they brought into?
A megachurch environment? A home fellowship?
A traditional denomination?
Is there a point in common with these instructions?

Matthew 23:3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe,
observe and do, but do not do according to their works;
for they say, and do not do.

The context for this is the Pharisees and Moses seat. But many people
enter the faith and into a church only to immediately find fault with
the leadership and members of the church. There is no perfect church,
because the church is people. It takes faith to abide in where the Lord places.
"Look unto the Lord, maker of heaven and earth". "And grow in grace".
Were the Israelites not forever ‘coming out’ of Egypt?
It is a Memorial of the Torah every seven days!

Deuteronomy 5:15 And remember that thou were a slave in the land of Egypt,
and that the Lord thy God brought you out thence through a mighty hand
and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded you
to keep the Sabbath.

In regards to your going out and coming in, are you in a
wilderness trek to "a promised land", or returning to the tents
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?
The "promised land" of course is the age to come:

2 Peter 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens
and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

In this age, we live as "strangers and sojourners".
Hebrews 11:
9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents
with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims,
abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul....

Michie said:

Contemporary debates about “disinformation” point back to a fundamental tension in Enlightenment philosophy.

The debate over disinformation today reveals a fundamental divide not merely between Republicans and Democrats, but between two philosophies of human nature that both trace their lineage to the Enlightenment.

Those advocating government suppression of disinformation believe that individuals are products of their environment, molded by the inputs they receive. Confident that society can be perfected by carefully controlled influences, they envision a government capable of shaping an informational landscape that fosters collective well-being. Opponents, however, see this ambition as profoundly misguided. They believe in the individual’s capacity for self-direction and doubt the wisdom giving the state the authority to impose or encourage such controls. This clash is not just political; it is philosophical, reflecting a deep-seated disagreement about man’s potential and his autonomy.

Continued below.

The Political Theories Underlying the Disinformation Debate – John O. McGinnis

Contemporary debates about “disinformation” point back to a fundamental tension in Enlightenment philosophy.

lawliberty.org

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Nobody is the arbiter of truth ... especially our government. If we do not have free speech ... then our rights to question things are eliminated and we are then totally controlled and have no recourse of any kind .... a type of slavery.

This is what many Christians are doing with Christianity. These college students who attended the political rally and chanted "Jesus is the Lord" did not go there to praise God or spread the gospel. They went there to make a political statement. They used the Son of God to create a political sensation.

These are young individuals who probably do not fully understand the implications of their actions. It is surprising that many Christians have used this incident to make political points. In the Old Testament, taking the Lord's name in vain was punishable by death. Thankfully, we no longer live in those times. Jesus was not glorified by this incident, some Christian used Jesus’ name to make a political statement.

The Lord Makes a Covenant of Faithfulness With His Betrothed
Hosea 2:
19 I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me
In righteousness and justice, In loving kindness and mercy;
20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,
And you shall know the Lord.

By Law, the betrothed must cry out in faithfulness to the beloved
Deuteronomy 22:
23 If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man
finds her in the city and lies with her,
24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall
stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry
out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor’s wife; so you
shall put away the evil from among you.
25 But if a man finds a betrothed young woman in the countryside, and the man
forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die.
26 But you shall do nothing to the young woman; there is in the young woman no sin deserving of death,
for just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter.
27 For he found her in the countryside, and the betrothed young woman cried out, but there was no one to save her.

The Lord Sows Mercy in the Earth in Response to the Cry of His Betrothed.
Hosea 2:
21 It shall come to pass in that day I will answer, says the Lord;
I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth.
22 The earth shall answer with grain, with new wine, and with oil;
They shall answer "God Will Sow" (Jezreel)
23 Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, And I will have mercy on her
who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people,
You are My people! And they shall say, You are my God!

The Spreading of the Gospel is in The Cry for Mercy and Justice From the Betrothed
Romans 9:
22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much
longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy,
which He had prepared beforehand for glory,
24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 As He says also in Hosea: I will call them My people, who were not My people,
and her beloved, who was not beloved.
26 And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them,
You are not My people, There they shall be called sons of the living God.

Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord
require of you but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

The Lord’s Covenant of Betrothal: The Door of Hope
Micah 2:
14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness,
and speak comfort to her.
15 I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope.
She shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
16 And it shall be, on that day, says the Lord, you will call Me My Husband, and no longer call Me Lord.

The Body of Christ must be made pure as the Lord's betrothed
2 Corinthians 11:2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband,
that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

discombobulated1 said:

In Revelation it says that no impure thing will enter Heaven.

Well, all humans are impure. So virtually all humans are headed for Hell.

In a sense, every single human who ever lived or ever will live is on his/her way to Hell, pretty much from birth (or age 7...). Yet some people stop that head-long process toward eternal doom.

The thing is, how does one do that?

You have the world, the flesh and the devil fighting against you every step of the way.

The last one listed is the worst. That so and so has been around "forever" and knows all the tricks in the book. And bad news: he is more intelligent than any human who ever lived, save Jesus (who is God).

Abandon all hope.. (is what things look like)

Yet some say all we have to do is accept Jesus... whatever that may mean (entirely). Um... no, that is not what the Word says. Jesus said that Few find the narrow way to Heaven. Mt 7:21... Lk 13:24 (etc) and that not all who say Lord, Lord will enter

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After I was baptized, I tried to show myself worthy of Christ's sacrifice by being obedient to the 10 Commandments. But, as I did this a great anxiety fell over me. This became worse as I continued with my efforts.

I began to pray about this and the Spirit spoke to me and said "I did not ask you to be perfect, Jesus has already done that for you."

With this came the understanding that Jesus is our perfection through faith. Now, it was time to work on my faith. That meant stop worrying about my sin and focus on trusting God, WITH EVERYTHING.

I surrender to the Holy Spirit and trusting that the Spirit would change my heart and spirit. I needed him to do what I could not.

The Spirit began to teach me how to love and as love grew deeper, desire of the flesh wanted. The thought of doing anyone harm became abhorrent. If I did hurt someone, the need to repair it pushed me to repent and do what I could to make them whole again.

God's children who have been declared righteous have perfection from God and we will be known through our love.

We are here to bring God‘a Kingdom on earth. So yes, we must influence everything in our daily lives.

Fantine said:

It will be great if God helps us. Without his intervention in the next four years we are doomed.

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Some believe that Holy Scripture is plain about people who do such things as kill children in the womb and those who support sexual sins that God abhors.


Unless those who practice those sins and those who approve of the sins repents - they are doomed for eternity.

I pray repentance comes and comes quickly.

Lord have mercy!

May God grant them eternal rest and peace.

That’s pretty awesome!

Lord have mercy!

Whatever happened to freedom of speech?

SMH

May God grant him eternal rest and peace.

lordiluktou said:

so fasting is okay

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Most certainly yes. Unless you have a significant health problem!

He 4:

11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

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This sword cut deep to transform the heart of a believer.

There is another imagery of the sword in the opening chapter, Re 1:

14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

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This was not a warm vision but a scary one to John:

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not."

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Jesus comforted John.

In the final battle, Re 19:

15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty."

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The sword of Jesus' mouth represents the fury and the wrath of God. It will judge the wicked.

These are two distinct images. The word of God, like a sword, penetrates believers' way of thinking and behaving. The word of God, coming out of Jesus' mouth in Re, targets the wicked as their final judgment.

Makenzie Van Eyk wrote the letter as part of a class project in 1998, when she was in fourth grade. Recently, the note was discovered by a boy who goes to school with her daughter—who is now in fourth grade herself

Continued below.

Jerry N. said:

Thank you very much. I posted the question on the Messianic Judaism forum. Should I delete my post from this thread, since it is not its purpose?

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Please leave your posts up, otherwise my posts won't make sense!

John 6:
28 Then said they unto him, what shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Jesus was not simply referring to Himself, but also their rejection of God's prophets, especially John.
John 1:
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.

Luke 7:
28 For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist;
but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
29 And when all the people heard, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John.
30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.

Matthew 21:
23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching,
and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”
24 But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me,
I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:
25 The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.”
27 So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.”
And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

John 10:
40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.
41 Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.”
42 And many believed in Him there.

What about kennels?

It’s the Democrats’ catch-all justification for their inability to win

Do you remember when “money in politics” was the pressing issue of our time? For a while, one could hardly engage with the news without being bludgeoned over the head with slogans about the problem. Whatever the question, whatever the detail, the declarations were always the same. “We have to get money out of politics!” “We have to overturn Citizens United.” “We have to pass comprehensive campaign-finance reform.” “This country is for the people, not for the corporations and billionaires.”



Continued below.