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Present day Hinnom Valley

NISAN 21

Shadow of Death

 

“When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death …” (Ps 23:4)

Our modern Dictionaries define ‘shadow’ as “a dark figure or image cast on the ground or some surface by a body intercepting light; shade or comparative darkness, as in an area”^[1]. Using this definition, we can understand that a shadow is not the real image, it is merely an imperfect copy. When we apply this to our opening verse, the “shadow of death” would probably mean a circumstance, situation, or place where death and destruction looms as a possibility.

In the history of Jerusalem, there was such a literal place, called the ‘Valley of Hinnom.’  Located in the area south by southwest from the original city, it was the place where the decadent Kings of Yisra’el would offer human sacrifices to the god Molech (see 2Kin 17:17), and, in later times, became the garbage dumb to the city. Known in the Greek as Gehenna, our Master referred to the perpetual fires that burned there (see Mark 9:43, 47). Apparently, this steep sided valley was also the place where the bodies of the dead were thrown, and again, during the time of Messiah Yeshua, the bottom end of this valley was the site of the burial tombs of the wealthy. Between the fires that burned continually, and the wild dogs that inhabited this area, it was not a choice nature walk.^[2]

We are called to walk through such places, not turning to the left or right, but with our eyes focused on the One who leads us, totally trusting in His plan and purpose. We cannot afford to glance at the dangers that might surround us, for just as surely Peter begin to sink in the water when he glanced at the wind and the waves (see Mat 14:25-32), we too will falter and fail when we do so. Help us, Master, as we cling to You.

 

“But seeing the wind, he became terrified. And beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Master, save me!” Immediately Yeshua reached out His hand and grabbed him. And He said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”  (Mat 14:30-31 TLV)

“Yahweh is my rock and my stronghold and my deliverer; My Ěl is my rock, I take refuge in Him; My shield and the horn of my deliverance, my high tower.”  (Ps 18:2)

 

©2025

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[1] https://www.dictionary.com/browse/shadow?s=t

[2] http://biblehub.com/topical/h/hinnom.htm

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NISAN 20

Walking Through

 

“When I WALK THROUGH …” (Ps 23:4, emphasis mine)

Most of us have seen the popular meme that says, ‘If God brought you to it, He will bring you through it.’  With this thought in mind, I am relatively certain that we can all look in the rear-view mirror and remember those times of trial and testing that threatened to consume us, yet with the help of our Creator, we made it through. We cannot ever have a ‘testimony’ without a test, and there is no ‘victory’ without first there being a battle fought.

‘Walking through’ implies continuous motion. Elohim never intended for us to stop and set up camp in one of those valleys of darkness, despair, and discouragement; we were always meant to persevere and walk through them, with only the lessons learned attached to us. However, should we choose to stop and check out the accommodations, He will patiently wait for us, until we realize that this place was never to become our final goal. And I am certain we can all think of different ‘places’ where we lingered too long.

A good exercise would be to really examine all the challenging times and places that our Elohim brought us through. Be it the loss of a loved one, monetary crisis, a debilitating illness – these and many other examples reveal to us the loving care and compassion of our King. Please, always remember that our Creator is in the business of building character, and the lessons learned from these ‘through’ places are extremely valuable to this process. May we continue to look toward the true goal, the reflection of Messiah Yeshua in us (see Col 1:27). Amein!

 

“And you, lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and let the children of Yisra’ĕl go on dry ground THROUGH the midst of the sea.” (Ex 14:16, emphasis mine)

“You have let men ride at our head; We went THROUGH fire and THROUGH water; But You brought us out to plenty.” (Ps 66:12, emphasis mine)

“When you pass THROUGH the waters, I will be with you, or THROUGH the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk THROUGH the fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flame burn you. For I am Adonai your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior ...” (Isa 43:2-3 TLV, emphasis mine)

 

©2025

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NISAN 19

Right Paths

 

“He leads me in paths of righteousness For His Name’s sake.” (Ps 23:3)

 

So much of Psalm 23 is concerned with our Creator leading and guiding us in the direction that is always best for us. We learn of the advantages of following where our Shepherd leads us; however, He never drags us, or pushes us toward the place we need to be. Final choice is always our own, yet the benefits of obedience are many: good pastures and great water!

“Paths of righteousness” is the equivalent of the Torah Walk. We learn that the paths of our Father are ‘kindness and truth’ (see Ps 25:10), and His paths are filled with abundance (see Ps 65:11). We are told to ask after the ‘old paths,’ for they are good, and will provide us with rest (see Jer 6:16). We also know that the Word of our Elohim provides us with the needed light for our path (see Ps 119:105), and if we would diligently seek His Word, take delight in it, and treasure it, we would then understand the ‘good path’ we are to walk (See Pro 2:1-9).

Among the reasons we have been created is to bring honor, glory, and esteem to our Maker. How do we do this? By being obedient to His Word, His Torah, and allowing HIM to lead us – as we need to be led. Only then, will our light so shine … (see Mat 5:16)

 

“The path of the righteous is uprightness; O upright One, You weigh the course of the righteous. Also, in the path of Your right-rulings, O יהוה, we have waited for You; the longing of our being is for Your Name and for the remembrance of You.” (Isa 26:7-8)

“But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.” (Pro 4:18)

©2025

 

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NISAN 14                                                      Pesach

“Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to Yahweh your God; for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night.”  (Deu 16:1, WEBA)

“And this day shall become to you a remembrance. And you shall observe it as a festival to יהוה throughout your generations – observe it as a festival, an everlasting law.” (Ex 12:14)

At sundown on the day of Nisan 14, Jews and Messianic believers worldwide will participate in the event known as The Pesach, an event that commemorates the last of the plagues in ancient Egypt, and the deliverance of the Hebrew nation. It is commanded in the Torah that we must never forget where we were, and the great deliverance that was brought about by the hand of Elohim – taking us out from slavery, bondage and suffering and into deliverance, redemption, and freedom.

Those of the Jewish faith believe that we must look at the Pesach experience as if we were actually there, going through what the ancestors experienced right alongside of them. And, in truth, we have all been there. Egypt – or Mitsrayim, in the Hebrew – has also been compared to an ‘iron furnace’ (see Deu 4:20), with the indication being that of a large vessel used for the refining of gold and precious metals. When a substance has been ‘refined,’ it generally involves a process of intense pressure or intense heat, with the result being that impurities and other unwanted elements are easily removed.

When we choose to look in the rearview mirror, we can see our journey to reach where we are today. We can see the ‘pig pen’ where we lingered for too long (Luke 15:15-17) before finally realizing that it was not where Elohim desired for us to assume residence. And if we are truthful, we can recognize the refining process that Elohim allowed us to go through before He brought us to the Mountain where we would receive His Torah, His ‘divine instructions in moral and righteous living.’ We have all had our own personal ‘Egypt’ that He has brought us out of, and He was the only One that could.

As we celebrate this amazing event, let us take the time to look back on our own lives, and rejoice at the deliverance given to us. And as we recite the Pesach Haggadah (the text that guides us through the rituals of the Seder, and the retelling of the Exodus story), let us see ourselves as the ones who are walking free from the bondage that is Egypt.

“I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Ex 20:1-2 TLV)

 

Chag Pesach Sameach!

 

©2025

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NISAN 9

Unity of the Belief

“… until we all come to the unity of the BELIEF …” (Eph 4:11, 13, emphasis mine)

When I talk about the Westernized Church System, I am including all the many different denominations that profess to be ‘Christian,’ which number in the thousands. And there seems to be more being added almost on a daily basis^[1]. Differences in religious beliefs appears to be one of the greatest motivations for war and enmity throughout all of the ages.

Having said that, the war between Islam and those not of the Muslim faith pre-dates the time of Yeshua, all the way back to Jacob and Esau. Jihad is an important part of the Muslim doctrine, as is death to any ‘non-believers.’  Ireland has also been the home of an on-going religious and political war – the longest in the history of the ‘Christian church’^[2]. Protestants against Catholics, and vice versa, it seems that none of them can doctrinally agree, and probably never will. However, according to our opening verses, agreeing doctrinally is relatively unimportant; we are to unite according to our emunah, our trust, belief, and faith.

We can agree that we believe in the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He is the eternal, everlasting, and only true God. We can also agree in the belief that He is the Creator of everything there is, and that His Word is absolute truth. We can unite in our agreement of our Messiah, Yeshua of Nazareth, and His finished work of redemption. And then we can come to an agreement concerning the future day of reckoning of all mankind, a day that is fast approaching.

It is not up to us, individually, to try to change someone’s doctrine, one that they have believed for their entire lives is the correct one. That is not our job description. Should someone ask, we should be able to answer – gently, kindly, and with love – why we believe the way that we do (see Col 4:5-6). We are called to be His light to a lost and dying world, and if it is at all possible, “let us pursue the things of peace, and the things for building up one another” (Rom 14:19).

©2025

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[1] http://infomory.com/numbers/number-of-christian-denominations/

[2] https://whistlinginthewind.org/2012/05/23/religion-as-a-cause-of-war-in-ireland/

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NISAN 8

Built up               

 

“…to the work of service to a BUILDING UP of the body of the Messiah” (Eph 4:12, emphasis mine)

I always think of an athlete when I read this portion of Scripture. The path to becoming that successful athlete requires dedication and commitment, with no room for compromise. Many athletes will have one or more trainers, assisting him, or her, to reach the goal that is aimed at. These trainers are, in effect, ‘building up’ the athlete, all in preparation to be the best that one could possibly be.

The Greek word that is translated here is the word oikodomē (Strong’s G3619), and is also translated as edifying, or edification. Noah Webster, in his wonderful Dictionary, defines ‘edification’ as “a building up, in a moral and religious sense; instruction; improvement and progress of the mind, in knowledge, in morals, or in faith and holiness.”^[1]  It would appear that the mission of those anointed and appointed to any of the five-fold ministry gifts is that of instructing and improving all of us, in order that we might progressively grow in the knowledge and wisdom concerning the ways of our Creator. 

As stated by the Apostle Paul, those of us who claim to belong to the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are all part and parcel of one another, and make up what is called “the body of Messiah” (see Rom 12:4-21). A body cannot be a functioning body if its members are all scattered off somewhere, playing Lone Ranger and running around with Tonto. Only as we come together, committed to the building up of one and another, will the body function as our Father has intended.

 

“For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of the body—

“But now God has placed the parts—each one of them—in the body just as He desired. 

 

“Those parts of the body that we think to be less honorable, we clothe with greater honor; and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty; but our presentable parts have no such need. Rather God assembled the body, giving more honor to those who are lacking, so that there may be no division in the body, but so that the parts may have the same care for one another.” (1Cor 12:12, 18, 24-25)

©2025

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[1] American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828

 

NISAN 7

Service

 

“And He Himself gave some … to the work of SERVICE …” (Eph 4:11-12, emphasis mine)

“His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of MINISTERING …” (Eph 4:12 AMPC, emphasis mine)

 

When a young adult joins any branch of the armed forces, that individual is required to go through a period of training, where they are taught the basic skills needed for their time in the military. Those that qualify may go on to more intense training, further equipping them for the specialized positions they will be in. Additional in-depth knowledge of the ‘tools of their trade,’ the weapons required of them, etc. is also taught, and taught again, that each one of these enlisted persons has much more than a passing knowledge of which end of a rifle is which.

The same agenda applies with our different agencies of law enforcement. Most states in our nation have their own form of ‘Police Academy,’ where people learn from those with more knowledge and experience what is what. And let us never forget, regardless of the bad publicity law enforcement receives the motto of our police force: “To Protect and to Serve.”

As it is in the natural, so also it is in the spiritual:  for those of us who are walking this Torah walk, we too are learning from others with more knowledge and experience. Does this make our ‘instructors’ any better than we are? In one sense, it does, for they have already travelled this road upon which we are just embarking. The accumulation of all the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding that those found in the five-fold ministries have stored up deserves all our respect and honor.

If our instructors are doing THEIR job, then we too are being taught to ‘protect and serve.’  Torah is all about the sanctity and preservation of life and loving our neighbor as ourselves (Lev 19:18). Only as we absorb the instruction and teachings that are needed will we be able to go and DO what our Creator desires for us to do:

“Clean and undefiled religion before the Elohim and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (Jam 1:27)

©2025