Dec 16th Torah Vayeshev "And He settled "
Genesis 37:1 - 40:23
Haftorah Amos 2:6 - 3:8, Zechariah 2:14 - 4:7 Gospel Acts 7:9 - 16
Dec 23rd Torah is Mikketz "At the end of "
Genesis 41:1-44:17
Haftorah 1Kings 3:15-4:1, 1 Kings 7:40-50 Gospel 1Corinthians 2:1-5
Next weeks Torah Vaigash "And He drew near" Genesis 44:18-47:27 Haftorah Ezekiel 37:15-28 Gospel Luke 6:9-16
Vayeshev "And He settled " Genesis 37:1 - 40:23
Now Jacob was settled in the land where his father had sojourned, the land of Canaan. This, then, is the line of Jacob: At seventeen years of age, Joseph tended the flocks with his brothers, as a helper to the sons of his father's wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought bad reports of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him an ornamented tunic. And when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of his brothers, they hated him so that they could not speak a friendly word to him.Once Joseph had a dream which he told to his brothers; and they hated him even more. He said to them, "Hear this dream which I have dreamed: There we were binding sheaves in the field, when suddenly my sheaf stood up and remained upright; then your sheaves gathered around and bowed low to my sheaf." His brothers answered, "Do you mean to reign over us? Do you mean to rule over us?" And they hated him even more for his talk about his dreams.He dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers, saying, "Look, I have had another dream: And this time, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing, down to me." And when he told it to his father and brothers, his father berated him. "What," he said to him, "is this dream you have dreamed? Are we to come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow low to you to the ground?" So his brothers were wrought up at him, and his father kept the matter in mind.One time, when his brothers had gone to pasture their father's flock at Shechem, Israel said to Joseph, "Your brothers are pasturing at Shechem. Come, I will send you to them." He answered, "I am ready." And he said to him, "Go and see how your brothers are and how the flocks are faring, and bring me back word." So he sent him from the valley of Hebron. When he reached Shechem, a man came upon him wandering in the fields. The man asked him, "What arc you looking for?" He answered, "I am looking for my brothers. Could you tell me where they are pasturing?" The man said, "They have gone from here, for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothan." So Joseph followed his brothers and found them at Dothan. They saw him from afar, and before he came close to them they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, "Here comes that dreamer! Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we can say, 'A savage beast devoured him.' We shall see what comes of his dreams!" But when Reuben heard it, he tried to save him from them. He said, "Let us not take his life." And Reuben went on, "Shed no blood! Cast him into that pit out in the wilderness, but do not touch him yourselves"--intending to save him from them and restore him to his father.When Joseph came up to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the ornamented tunic that he was wearing, and took him and cast him into the pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. Then they sat down to a meal. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels bearing gum, balm, and ladanum to be taken to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, "What do we gain by killing our brother and covering up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let us not do away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh." His brothers agreed. When Midianite traders passed by, they pulled Joseph up out of the pit. They sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who brought Joseph to Egypt. When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he rent his clothes. Returning to his brothers, he said, "The boy is gone! Now, what am I to do?" Then they took Joseph's tunic, slaughtered a kid, and dipped the tunic in the blood. They had the ornamented tunic taken to their father, and they said, "We found this. Please examine it; is it your son's tunic or not?" He recognized it, and said, "My son's tunic! A savage beast devoured him! Joseph was torn by a beast!" Jacob rent his clothes, put sackcloth on his loins, and observed mourning for his son many days. All his sons and daughters sought to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, saying, "No, I will go down mourning to, my son in Sheol." Thus his father bewailed him. The Midianites, meanwhile, sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, a courtier of Pharaoh and his chief steward.About that time Judah left his brothers and camped near a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he married her and cohabited with her. She conceived and bore a son, and he named him Er. She conceived again and bore a, son, and named him Onan. Once again she bore a son, and named him Shelah; he was at Chezib when she bore him.
Judah got a wife for Er his first-born; her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah's first-born, was displeasing to the LORD, and the LORD took his life. Then Judah said to Onan, "Join with your brother's wife and do your duty by her as a brother-in-law, and provide offspring for your brother." But Onan, knowing that the seed would not count as his, let it go to waste whenever he joined with his brother's wife, so as not to provide offspring for his brother. What he did was displeasing to the LORD, and He took his life also. Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Stay as a widow in your father's house until my son Shelah grows up"--for he thought, "He too might die like his brothers." So Tamar went to live in her father's house.A long time afterward, Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died. When his period of mourning was over, Judah went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, together with his friend Hirah the Adullamite. And Tamar was told, "Your father-in-law is coming up to Timnah for the sheepshearing." So she took off her widows garb, covered her face with a veil, and, wrapping herself up, sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, yet she had not been given to him as wife. When Judah saw her, he took her for a harlot; for she had covered her face. So he turned aside to her by the road and said, "Here, let me sleep with you"--for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. "What," she asked, "will you pay for sleeping with me?" He replied, "I will send a kid from my flock." But she said, "You must leave a pledge until you have sent it." And he said, 'What pledge shall I give you?" She replied, "Your seal and cord, and the staff which you carry." So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she conceived by him. Then she went on her way. She took off her veil and again put on her widow's garb.Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite, to, redeem the pledge from the woman; but he could not find her. He inquired of the people of that town, "Where is the cult prostitute, the one at Enaim, by the road?" But they said, "There has been no prostitute here." So he returned to Judah and said,, "I could not find her; moreover, the townspeople said: There has been no prostitute here." Judah said, "Let her keep them, lest we become a laughingstock. I did send her this kid, but you did not find her." About three months later, Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the harlot; in fact, she is with child by harlotry." "Bring her out," said Judah, "and let her be burned." As she was being brought out, she sent this message to her father-in-law, "I am with child by the man to whom these belong." And she added, "Examine these: whose seal and cord and staff are these?" Judah recognized them, and said, "She is more in the right than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah." And he was not intimate with her again. When the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb! While she was in labor, one of them put out, his hand, and the midwife tied a crimson thread on that hand, to signify: This one came out first. But just then he drew back his hand, and out came his brother; and she said, "What a breach you have made for yourself!" So he was named Perez. Afterward his brother came out, on whose hand was the crimson thread; he was named Zerah. When Joseph was taken down to Egypt, a certain Egyptian, Potiphar, a courtier of Pharaoh and his chief steward, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he stayed in the house of his Egyptian master. And when his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD lent success to everything he undertook, he took a liking to Joseph. He made him his personal attendant and put him in charge of his household, placing in his hands all that he owned. And from the time that the Egyptian put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed his house for Joseph's sake, so that the blessing of the LORD was upon everything that he owned, in the house and outside. He left all that he had in Joseph's hands and, with him there, he paid attention to nothing save the food that he ate. Now Joseph was well built and handsome. After a time, his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, "Lie with me." But he refused. He said to his master's wife, "Look, with me here, my master gives no thought to anything in this house, and all that he owns he has placed in my hands. He wields no more authority in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except yourself, since you are his wife. How then could I do this most wicked thing, and sin before God?" And much as she coaxed Joseph day after day, he did not yield to her request to lie beside her, to be with her.
One such day, he came into the house to do his work. None of the household being there inside, she caught hold of him by his garment and said, "Lie with me!" But he left his garment in her hand and got away and fled outside. When she saw that he had left it in her hand and had fled outside, she called out to her servants and said to them, "Look, he had to bring us a Hebrew to dally with us! This one came to lie with me; but I screamed loud. And when he heard me screaming at the top of my voice, he left his garment with me and got away and fled outside." She kept his garment beside her, until his master came home. Then she told him the same story, saying, "The Hebrew slave whom you brought into our house came to me to dally with me; but when I screamed at the top of my voice, he left his garment with me and fled outside." When his master heard the story that his wife told him, namely, "Thus and so your slave did to me," he was furious. So Joseph's master had him put in prison, where the king's prisoners were confined. But even while he was there in prison, the LORD was with Joseph: He extended kindness to him and disposed the chief jailer favorably toward him. The chief jailer put in Joseph's charge all the prisoners who were in that prison, and he was the one to carry out everything that was done there. The chief jailer did not supervise anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the LORD was with him, and whatever he did the LORD made successful.Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt gave offense to their lord the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was angry with his two courtiers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and put them in custody, in the house of the chief steward, in the same prison house where Joseph was confined. The chief steward assigned Joseph to them, and he attended them. When they had been in custody for some time, both of them--the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison--dreamed in the same night, each his own dream and each dream with its own meaning. When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were distraught. He asked Pharaoh's courtiers, who were with him in custody in his master's house, saying, "Why do you appear downcast today?" And they said to him, 'We had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them." So Joseph said to them, "Surely God can interpret! Tell me [your dreams]." Then the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph. He said to him, "In my dream, there was a vine in front of me. On the vine were three branches. It had barely budded, when out came its blossoms and its clusters ripened into grapes. Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand." Joseph said to him, "This is its interpretation: The three branches are three days. In three days Pharaoh will pardon you and restore you to your post; you will place Pharaoh's cup in his hand, as was your custom formerly when you were his cupbearer. But think of me when all is well with you again, and do me the kindness of mentioning me to Pharaoh, so as to free me from this place. For in truth, I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews; nor have I done anything here that they should have put me in the dungeon." When the chief baker saw how favorably he had interpreted, he said to Joseph, "In my dream, similarly, there were three openwork baskets on my head. In the uppermost basket were all kinds of food for Pharaoh that a baker prepares; and the birds were eating it out of the basket above my head." Joseph answered, "This is its interpretation: The three baskets are three days. In three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale' you upon a pole; and the birds will pick off your flesh." On the third day--his birthday--Pharaoh made a banquet for officials, and he singled out his chief cupbearer and his chief baker among his officials. He restored the chief cupbearer to his cupbearing, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand; but the chief baker he paled-just as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief cupbearer did not think of Joseph; he forgot him. This Weeks Torah Mikketz "At the end of" Genesis 41:1-44:17 After two years' time, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, when out of the Nile there came up seven cows, handsome and sturdy, and they grazed in the reed grass. But presently, seven other cows came up from the Nile close behind them, ugly and gaunt, and stood beside the cows on the bank of the Nile; and the ugly gaunt cows ate up the seven handsome sturdy cows. And Pharaoh awoke. He fell asleep and dreamed a second time: Seven ears of grain, solid and healthy, grew on a single stalk. But close behind them sprouted seven ears, thin and scorched by the cast wind. And the thin ears swallowed up the seven solid and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke: it was a dream! Next morning, his spirit was agitated, and he sent for all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise men; and Pharaoh told them his dreams, but none could interpret them for Pharaoh. The chief cupbearer then spoke up and said to Pharaoh, "I must make mention today of my offenses. Once Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and placed me in custody in the house of the chief steward, together with the chief baker. We had dreams the same night, he and I, each of us a dream with a meaning of its own. A Hebrew youth was there with us, a servant of the chief steward; and when we told him Our dreams, he interpreted them for us, telling each of the meaning of his dream. And as he interpreted for us, so it came to pass: I was restored to my post, and the other was impaled." Thereupon Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was rushed from the dungeon. He had his hair cut and changed his clothes, and he appeared before Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it. Now I have heard it said of you that for you to hear a dream is to tell its meaning." Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, "Not I! God will see to Pharaoh's welfare." Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "In my dream, I was standing on the bank of the Nile, when out of the Nile came up seven sturdy and well-formed cows and grazed in the reed grass. Presently there followed them seven other cows, scrawny, ill-formed, and emaciated--never had I seen their likes for ugliness all the land of Egypt! And the seven lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven cows, the sturdy ones; but when they had consumed them, one could not tell that they had consumed them, for they looked just as bad as before. And I awoke. In my other dream, I saw seven ears of grain, full and healthy, growing on a single stalk; but right behind them sprouted seven ears, shriveled, thin, and scorched by the east wind. And the thin ears swallowed the seven healthy ears. I have told my magicians, but none has an explanation for me." And Joseph said to Pharaoh, "Pharaoh's dreams arc one and the same: God has told Pharaoh what He is about to do. The seven healthy cows are seven years, and the seven healthy ears are seven years it is the same dream. The seven lean and ugly cows that followed are seven years, as are also the seven empty ears scorched by the cast wind; they are seven years of famine. It is just as I have told Pharaoh: God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do. Immediately ahead are seven years of great abundance in all the land of Egypt. After them will come seven years of famine, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. As the land is ravaged by famine, no trace of the abundance will be left in the land because of the famine thereafter, for it will be very severe. As for Pharaoh having had the same dream twice, it means that the matter has been determined by God, and that God will soon carry it out. "Accordingly, let Pharaoh find a man of discernment and wisdom, and set him over the land of Egypt. And let Pharaoh take steps to appoint overseers over the land, and organize the land of Egypt in the seven years of plenty. Let all the food of these good years that are coming be gathered, and let the grain be collected under Pharaoh's authority as food to be stored in the cities. Let that food be a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will come upon the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish in the famine."
The plan pleased Pharaoh and all his courtiers. And Pharaoh said to his courtiers, "Could we find another like him, a man in whom is the spirit of God?" So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is none so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my court, and by your command shall all my people be directed; only with respect to the throne shall I be superior to you." Pharaoh further said to Joseph, "See, I put you in charge of all the land of Egypt." And removing his signet ring from his hand, Pharaoh put it on Joseph's hand; and he had him dressed in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. He had him ride in the chariot of his second-in-command, and they cried before him, "Abrek!" Thus he placed him over all the land of Egypt. Paraoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh; yet without you, no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt." Pharaoh then gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him for a wife Asenath daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On. Thus Joseph emerged in charge of the land of Egypt. Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt.--Leaving Pharaoh's presence, Joseph traveled through all the land of Egypt. During the seven years of plenty, the land produced in abundance. And he gathered all the grain of the seven years that the land of Egypt was enjoying, and stored the grain in the cities; he put in each city the grain of the fields around it. So Joseph collected produce in very large quantity, like the sands of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured. Before the years of famine came, Joseph became the father of two sons, whom Asenath daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On, bore to him. Joseph named the first-born Manasseh, meaning, "God has made me forget completely my hardship and my parental home." And the second he named Ephraim, meaning, "God has made me fertile in the land of my affliction." The seven years of abundance that the land of Egypt enjoyed came to an end, and the seven years of famine set in, just as Joseph had foretold. There was famine in all lands, but throughout the land of Egypt there was bread. And when all the land of Egypt felt the hunger, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph; whatever he tells you, you shall do." Accordingly, when the famine became severe in the land of Egypt, Joseph laid open all that was within, and rationed out grain to the Egyptians. The famine, however, spread over the whole world. So all the world came to Joseph in Egypt to procure rations, for the famine had become severe throughout the world. When Jacob saw that there were food rations to be had in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you keep looking at one another? Now I hear," he went on, "that there are rations to be had in Egypt. Go down and procure rations for us there, that we may live and not die." So ten of Joseph's brothers went down to get grain rations in Egypt; for Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, since he feared that he might meet with disaster. Thus the sons of Israel were among those who came to procure rations, for the famine extended to the land of Canaan. Now Joseph was the vizier of the land; it was he who dispensed rations to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed low to him, with their faces to the ground. When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them; but he acted like a stranger toward then, and spoke harshly to them. He asked them, "Where do you come from?" And they said, "From the land of Canaan, to procure food." For though Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. Recalling the dreams that he had dreamed about them, Joseph said to them, "You are spies, you have come to see the land in its nakedness." But they said to him, "No, my lord! Truly, your servants have come to procure food. We are all of us sons of the same man; we are honest men; your servants have never been spies!" And he said to them, "No, you have conic to see the land in its nakedness!" And they replied, "We your servants were twelve brothers, sons of a certain man in the land of Canaan, the youngest, however, is now With our father, and one is no more." But Joseph said to them, "It is just as I have told you: You are spies! By this you shall be put to the test: unless your youngest brother comes here, by Pharaoh, You shall not depart from this place! Let one of you go and bring your brother, While the rest of you remain confined, that your words may be put to the test whether there is truth in you. Else, by Pharaoh, you are nothing but spies!" And he confined them in the guardhouse for three days. On the third day Joseph said to them, "Do this and you shall live, for I am a God-fearing man." If you are honest men, let one of you brothers be held in your place of detention, while the rest of you go and take home rations for your starving households; but you must bring me your youngest brother, that your words may be verified and that you may not die." And they did accordingly. They said to one another, "Alas, We are being punished oil account of our brother, because we looked on at his anguish, yet paid no heed as he pleaded With us. That is why this distress has come upon us." Then Reuben spoke up and said to them, "Did I not tell you, 'Do no wrong to the boy'? But you paid no heed. Now comes the reckoning for his blood." They did not know that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between him mid them. He turned away from them and wept. But he came back to them and spoke to them; and he took Simeon from among them and had him bound before their eyes. Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, return each one's money to his sack, and give them provisions for the journey; and this was done for them. So they loaded their asses with the rations and departed from there. As one of them was opening his sack to give feed to his ass at the night encampment, he saw his money right there at the mouth of his bag. And he said to his brothers, "My money has been returned! It is here in my bag!" Their hearts sank; and, trembling, they turned to one another, saying, "What is this that God has done to us?" When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had befallen them, saying, "The man Who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the land. We said to him, 'We are honest men; We have never been spies! There were twelve of us brothers, sons by the same father; but one is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.' But the man who is lord of the land said to us, 'By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take something for your starving households and be off. And bring your youngest brother to me, that I may know that you are not spies but honest men. I will then restore your brother to you, and you shall be free to move about in the land." As they were emptying their sacks, there, in each one's sack, was his money-bag! When they and their father saw their money-bags, they were dismayed. Their father Jacob said to them, "It is always me that you bereave: Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you would take away Benjamin. These things always happen to me!" Then Reuben said to his father, "You may kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him to you." But he said, "My son must not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. If he meets With disaster on the journey you arc taking, you will send my white head down to Sheol in grief." But the famine in the land was severe. And when they they had eaten up the rations which they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Go again and procure some food for us." But Judah said to him, "The man warned us, 'Do not let me see your faces--unless your brother is with you.' If you will let our brother go with us, we will go down and procure food for you; but if you will not let him go, we will not go down, for the man said to us, 'Do not let me see your faces--unless your brother is with you." And Israel said, "Why did you serve me so ill as to tell the man that you had another brother?" They replied, "But the man kept asking about us and our family, saying, 'Is your father still living? Have you another brother?' And we answered him accordingly. How were we to know that he would say, 'Bring your brother here'?" Then Judah said to his father Israel, "Send the boy in my care, and let us be on our way, that We may live and not die--you and we and our children. I myself will be surety for him; you may hold me responsible: if I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, I shall stand guilty before you forever. For we could have been there and back twice if we had not dawdled."Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, do this: take some of the choice products of the land in your baggage, and carry them down as a gift for the man--some balm and tonic honey, gum, ladanurn, pistachio nuts, and almonds. And take with you double the money, carrying back with you the money that was replaced in the mouths of your bags; perhaps it was a mistake. Take your brother too; and go back at once to the man. And may El Shaddai dispose the man to mercy toward you, that he may release to you your other brother, as well as Benjamin. As for me, if I am to be bereaved. I shall be bereaved." So the men took that gift, and they took with them double the money as well as Benjamin. They made their way down to Egypt, where they presented themselves to Joseph.When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his house steward, "Take the men into the house; slaughter and prepare an animal, for the men will dine with me at noon." The man did as Joseph said, and he brought the men into Joseph's house But the men were frightened at being brought into Joseph's house. "It must be," they thought, "because of the money replaced in our bags the first time that we have been brought inside, as a pretext to attack us and seize us as slaves, with our pack animals." So they went up to Joseph's house steward and spoke to him at the entrance of the house. "If you please, my lord," they said, "we came down once before to procure food. But when we arrived at the night encampment and opened our bags, there was each one's money in the mouth of his bag, our money in full. So we have brought it back with US. And we have brought down with us other money to procure food. We do not know who put the money in our bags." He replied, "All is well with you; do not be afraid. lour God, the God of your father, must have put treasure in your bags for you. I got your payment." And he brought out Simeon to them. Then the man brought the men into Joseph's house; he gave them water to bathe their feet, and he provided feed for their asses. They laid out their gifts to await Joseph's arrival at noon, for they had heard that they were to dine there. When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts that thry had brought with them into the house, bowing low before him to the ground. He greeted them, and he said, "How is your aged father of whom you spoke? Is he still in good health?" They replied, "It is well with your servant our father; he is still in good health." And they bowed and made obeisance.
Looking about, he saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and asked, "Is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke to me?" And he went on, "May God be gracious to you, my boy." With that, Joseph hurried out, for he was overcome with feeling toward his brother and was on the verge of tears; he went into a room and wept there. Then he washed his face, reappeared, and--now in control of himself--gave the order, "Serve the meal." They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; for the Egyptians could not dine with the Hebrews, since that would be abhorrent to the Egyptians. As they were seated by his direction, from the oldest in the order of his seniority to the youngest in the order of his youth, the men looked at one another in astonishment. Portions were served them from his table; but Benjamin's portion was several times that of anyone else. And they drank their fill with him. Then he instructed his house steward as follows, "Fill the men's bags with food, as much as they can carry, and put each one's money in the mouth of his bag. Put my silver goblet in the mouth of the bag of the youngest one, together with his money for the rations." And he did as Joseph told him. With the first light of morning, the men were sent off with their pack animals. They had just left the city and had not gone far, when Joseph said to his steward, "Up, go after the men! And when you overtake them, say to them, 'Why did you repay good with evil? It is the very one from which my master drinks and which he uses for divination. It was a wicked thing for you to do!'He overtook them and spoke those words to them, and they said to him, "Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything of the kind! Here we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money that we found in the mouths of our bags. How then could we have stolen any silver or gold from your master's house! Whichever of your servants it is found with shall die; the rest of us, moreover, shall become slaves to my lord." He replied, "Although what you are proposing is right, only the one with whom it is found shall be my slave; but the rest of you shall go free." So each one hastened to lower his bag to the ground, and each one opened his bag. He searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest; and the goblet turned up in Benjamin's bag. At this they rent their clothes. Each reloaded his pack animal, and they returned to the city. When Judah and his brothers reentered the house of Joseph, who was still there, they threw themselves on the ground before him. Joseph said to them, "What is this deed that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me practices divination?" Judah replied, "What can we say to my lord? How can we plead, how can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered the crime of your servants. Here we are, then, slaves of my lord, the rest of us as much as he in whose possession the goblet was found." But he replied, "Far be it from me to act thus! Only he in whose possession the goblet was found shall be my slave; the rest of you go back in peace to your father."
Please read this in your KJV Bible also
Mission UpDates: Messiah's Branch Luke 7:22
22Then Yeshua answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
Matthew 28:16 18And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Greetings Saints in His Perfect Peace, Talking about Radio I am going to start this by talking about Radio. Now we cannot tell how many people listen to our programs on live radio. I am sure that there is some way our web master can look at our radio archives on our web site and tell how many hits we are getting there but I do not direct him to do so. What I do watch is our pod-cast page <http://branch.podomatic.com/> . Since November 20th we have had 4,278 programs downloaded from this site. Today is the far busiest day for downloads with 395 programs downloaded just toady and of course the day is not yet spent. Now I am told that these figures are not accurate as there are other ways for the programs to be heard other than downloaded so this figure is less than what is really being heard. I would not know, as I am not that computer savvy. I will deal only with what I do know for sure.
Heard all over the World
I can also look at a google map with these and see where the programs are reaching. Almost a 1000 programs this last month have been heard through China. While people in Canada listens to many so do many other countries in the world. And of course they do here in the USA. Clearly we are warning the World by our radio programs. And this is one of my strong callings by the Lord is to Warn the People out of love and concern for them as the Day of the Lord Draws near.
Changing people�s lives
One of our strongest programs is From Prophet Tom Deckard called " The Last Transition of the Church" This program has been changing people lives. While I get comments from other broadcasts this program I get comments saying that the program changed their lives and they are seeing just where that the world is at in Prophecy and that they should be changing how they think about the Sabbath, the feasts, and really their whole belief systems.
Helping the poor
I have said from the first time I talked with a saint about starting the radio programs over two years ago that it would lead to more support for the ministry we do with the poor. Radio now brings in more donations for the Wichita ministry that the mail out newsletter we have did for 139 monthly issues. We started Pod-casting this last July. That was basically uploading programs to RSS feed and to the pod-cast page. I have people tell me now they listen to our program on their cell phones. The Great thing about a pod-cast is that I do not have to pay radio airtime. I can record a program and just upload it to the net, which is the media of now! Yes CD�s are great and we are getting those out also. People have CD players in their vehicles and they can listen to our programs on the way to work. But I am speaking of Pod-cast right now. So while I was writing this 3 more programs were downloaded so now today the total so far is 398. So what does this mean to the poor? The more people who hear our radio programs the more people hear about our work with the Homeless and poor. This means more support for them! All that have met us or followed our ministry, speakers such as Prophet Tom Deckard, Stan of the Prophecy Club, Henry Guver, well that list goes on have vouched for know that wed are not about building for ourselves a Kingdom on earth but are truly doing the Lord�s work with the poor and warning the world!
What needs to be done
Back to what needs to be done with the pod-cast. I believe that people listening to our pod-cast will increase. But that is limited to right now about one program done a week because I generally just put out what has been recorded from radio. While I can upload other programs I cannot record with good quality a guest form the telephone. Once I have this ability then I can ask everyone that I have on radio to do an extra radio program with me for placing in the radio archives and in the pod-cast page. This will give a surge of programs heard. I can then also ask others to do net radio programs with me that do not have to be played on regular radio. So we can add more programs per week to inform the World of the times we are in. So we must get the radio studio right in order to do this.
Why you should help with the studio
So again more programs going out means more people warned and more support for the poor and the homeless. I just checked the pod-cast page and 4 more programs have been downloaded while I was writing bring the total up for today to 402 programs, and of course the days still is not spent. So why should you help with the studio getting fixed?
Warning the World!
Two reasons, one you get to help spread the Warning messages to the world as you read in Ezekiel 33:8 8When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 9Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
So should be able to clearly see that we are to Warn the World of things to come. You should read the entire above chapter as it tells us we will deliver our souls for doing this. Other places in the Word of God Back this up. So this is reason one.
Reason two, spreading the gospel message and helping the Poor
Reason two is that more people that hear more radio will also have their hearts touched to help with our mission to the poor. Maybe also hearing about what we do will help others to understand God�s love for the poor and His heart to bring the gospel message to the world and to the poorest of the poor and the worst of the sinners. So helping radio you help the poor something the Lord always will bless you for even if you are not looking for a blessing! But really I see both reasons being interlocked! With us they always have been.
Clear Direction
I do have clear direction on what we wish to do with the poor in Wichita. Number one we are in a very cramped space. We have 40 chairs inside but there is barely room to walk in between. Yesterday when we opened we had 58 people there. That was just at the first count and more came and some left because of the crowd many eat and leave. Clearly we need more space. We cannot afford to pay more rent. We also have had neighbor problems off and on so again clearly I know that we need more space and the way to do that is buy. That means starting a fund for people to donate to purchase and older building to feed and care for the poor. If we would have had triple the space we could have just opened for an over-flow shelter this year. I am not trying to buy a church but a place where we can bring in the homeless and poor to help them but you see that is really what a church is to share the gospel and care for one another. And yes we will have our Sabbath service there as we do now. Giving all a chance to hear truth. So any that would contribute to the building fund do NOT take away from your monthly, weekly, etc donations to do this, as we need your support to keep doing what we do now! And I just looked again the total programs for today is now up to 413 from 402, which means another 11 program have been downloaded while I was writing! I also have clear direction on which way radio is supposed to go which I have already laid out. I have talked with others and to finally finish off the studio without cutting anyh corners I need $1000. If I need to explain what all I need I can. Another clear direction I believe we should be headed is buying two properties in Florence. One has a house on it and a large lot that a ministry building could be placed on. We are trying to get this one for payments of $250 a month. Cost $12,500. Please stand with us in prayer that the people will give this to us on payments. Our family needs this house badly and a new radio studio/office would be built here from a building on the property. The Other place is much larger and you have seen the picture of it. Here we would use as a storage place, which is a great need right now. It would also give us a place to put a trailer to help others out. The small new house on the lot would be expanded into a outreach to the poor and a meeting place or church if you will. I feel very strongly that we need to pray in this place first as to not miss the opportunity. I have found that there are many poor right here in Florence that could use a food bank. We also believe when the trouble hits soon the Lord will be having us care for those un prepared. We intend to help our neighbors the Lord will be sending us. I talked with a grandma caring for 5 little ones in her house and is barely making it, she as others could use a food bank. The Cost is merely $10,000 for the 10 lots I think it is. Again more Radio can do all these things. So these are the reasons for more radio, meaning finish the studio.
Ministry needs right now
Our Main computer is out! This computer is the one mom uses and the other computers in the house/ministry go through this one to print. We had the computer reload but now it freezes up when it comes on. It needs replaced! A Laptop is of very high need right now. I am having a hard time sitting up and doing computer work. It happens generally in the winter. I have been avoiding a surgeon�s knife since 1985. I will be getting pin shots any day for this. But they only help for a short period. A Laptop frees up to lie down or move to the big house to work on my book and the net to keep the people warned and to find radio guests.
Mom says she needs around $300 to finish up the bills for this month that is in. That does not include the newsletter money, gas, food account money, etc. You see all of our supporters cut back in donations this month so we are behind. I need money to buy cold remedies and medical supplies. We need clothing donations, hats, coats, gloves, winter things, and blankets, sleeping bags.
Yesterday at the Wichita Mission
Yesterday we were packed as I said when open. One fellow had to be doctored for a broken nose. Others had colds, that drained my supply of cold remedies. Prayers were given for lost loved ones. A prayer was given for a woman with AIDS and has a mental problem. Another homeless woman came with only sandals on and her feet were red from the cold. I went to wal-mart and got her some shoes. I counseled and prayed for a man who wants to change his live and followed my advice-contacted relatives in another city with my phone and if things work out right will be moving there. A woman brought socks so everyone got a brand new pair of socks it was a blessing. Other things happened and of course mom made a great meal for them. So please consider us in your Prayers! And I just looked again and we are up to 418 programs for today! The LORD bless thee and keep thee;The LORD make His face shine upon thee;
and be gracious unto thee;The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee shalom. (peace)
Bemidbar (Numbers) 6:24-26 In Yeshua's Name, Bro. Dan, Pastor of Messiah's Branch
Zechariah 3:7
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by. Shalom In Yeshua our Messiah
Wow what a weekend we had! Friday Lynda made eleven dozen egg, lunchmeat and cheese sandwiches and I set out 18 trays of sweets. I made a bean soup with hamburger and home made corn bread for dinner. We had a Chanukkah party for Messiah's Branch members on Friday night and we all had lots of fun. We had home made cherry pie, Latke's, nuts, chocalate candies jelly rolls and sugar cookies. After the party our family pulled out our sleeping gear and snuggled up at the Mission so we would be there at noon Saturday when the peoples party was to start. We opened a little early as the guys were all out front when we got up, some said they came at 7:30am. We had a man who had heard Tom Decker and seen our web site bring in some foods, fruits and drinks for the party while Pastor Dan & I were out getting some last minute items. There was nuts, candy,pita chips & hamos, oranges,fruit juice, sparkling drink, beef sausage & two different kinds of cheese squares. This really helped in spoiling the guys for Chanukkah, I made home made cherry pie for the night before and served out the rest first thing Saturday. We had five pizza's donated and i bought four more so they had hot pizza around 2pm. I made beef hotdogs around 4:30 then at 6:45 we served BBQ Beef sandwiches, BBQ chips, Potatoe Salad and the sparkling drink for dinner. The whole 24 hours I set out packaged sweets we made pop corn, chocolate milk shakes, and home made double chocolate chip browines. I also gave out tooth brushes & paste, razors and shaving soap. I passed out some chocolate mints and made special coffees and teas. Everyone had a wonderful time and all were well behaved. The newsletter went out Tuesday so you all should have it by now. There are four bills I still need to pay and I need the postage to mail out the over seas newsletters. I recieved 280 stamps of which I used 100 on the newsletter and the rest will mail the prison weekly. That list has now grown to 21. All the accounts are low again so please pray about supporting this ministry. All we ask is that you pray about it Yahweh may be waiting to hear from you to use you as a vessel in some area of these works. Thanks to all who helped with the Chanukkah Parties and to all who support and continue to support Messiah's Branch and all of the outreaches there of. We love you all and pray for your safety in the times ahead. Shalom sisterlinda/family & Messiah's Branch Mark 9:23,10:27
More on the Mission Next update:" THE Truth will set you FREE" / Shalom B�Shem Yeshua HaMashiach / Peace in the Name of Yeshua, the Messiah
LOVE sisterlinda/family & Messiah's Branch
