Commentary - Year 3 Sabbath 12

Numbers 20:14 - 22:1   -   Judges 11:1-40   -   Psalm 110   -   John 3:1 - 4:15
 

Sivan 21, 5763 / June 21, 2003 

Sivan 21, 5766 / June 17, 2006

Sivan 21, 5769 / June 13, 2009

Sivan 19, 5772 / June   9, 2012

Sivan 19, 5775 / June   6, 2015

Sivan 19, 5778 / June   2, 2018

Sivan 18, 5781 / May 22, 2021

Malachim MiKadesh / Messengers from Kadesh   SCRIPTURES should be read first

Refer to the following places on a map!

Israel has spent years in the wilderness, and it is time for them to be heading to the Promised Land. They are in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula, from where they could head north to Canaan.

The Promised Land is much larger than all the Sinai Peninsula, about which they wandered for forty years!

The entire journey could have been a little more than a hundred miles, traversed in a few days! But God led them in a way to teach them, but they were so stubborn in retaining their sin that most of them died along the way. This all happened to them for an example for us!

Immediately to their north is Edom. Now, the children of Israel are the descendants of Jacob, and the people of Edom are the descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau (Genesis 25:30). Remember, Jacob ran in fear from Esau after the birthright incident, which involved the priesthood position.

(Deuteronomy 2:3-8) “You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north, and command the people, saying, ‘You will pass through the territory of your brothers the sons of Esau who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful; do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, even as little as a footstep because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. You shall buy food from them with money so that you may eat, and you shall also purchase water from them with money so that you may drink. For Yahweh your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He has known your wanderings through this great wilderness. These forty years Yahweh your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing.’ ” So we passed beyond our brothers the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road, away from Elath and from Ezion-geber. And we turned and passed through by the way of the wilderness of Moab.

(V.14-21) “From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to the king of Edom (Esau): . . . ‘Please let us pass through your land.’ Edom, however, said to him, ‘You shall not pass through us, lest I come out with the sword against you.’ ” Moses sent a “voice of prayer” (literal translation of v.14), but Edom responded by Esau’s blessing of “living by the sword” (Genesis 27:40).

“Again, the sons of Israel said to him, ‘We shall go up by the highway, and if I and my livestock do drink any of your water, then I will pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, nothing else.’ But he said, ‘You shall not pass through.’ And Edom came out against him with a heavy force, and with a strong hand. Thus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.”

Do situations with our relatives keep us from heading straight toward God’s promise?

So, Israel turned east, then north, bypassing Edom, and came to Hor haHar / Mount of the Mountain, by the border of the land of Edom.

It was the 1^st of Av (the fifth month) of the fortieth year of their wanderings.

(V.23-29) “Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ‘Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah. Take Aaron and his son Eleazar, and bring them up to Mount Har; and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be gathered to his people, and will die there.’ ”

“And when all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.”

Peoples’ sin establishes a bond between their soul and the pleasures of this present world. For those who become totally attached to this physical life, the sages liken their death to pulling embedded thistles from sheep’s wool. But for those who live in holiness to God, there is no pain or regret: it is like pulling a hair out of milk, there is no resistance.

So Paul said (Phillipians 1:21-24), “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.”

(V.21:1-3) Now we go back to an earlier problem, Noah’s sons, Shem and Ham. Israel was descended from Shem, Canaanites were from Ham – and Canaan was cursed (Genesis 9:25). “When the Canaanite (from Ham), the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel (from Shem) was coming by the way of Atharim, then he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. 2 So Israel made a vow to Yahweh, and said, ‘If Thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.’ And Yahweh heard the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; then they utterly destroyed them and their cities. Thus the name of the place was called Hormah (Devotion).”

(V.4-9) “The people became impatient because of the journey. And the people spoke against God and Moses, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.’ And Yahweh sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have spoken against Yahweh and you; intercede with Yahweh, that He may remove the serpents from us.’ And Moses interceded for the people. Then Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he shall live.’ And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.”

John 3:14-15 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

(V.16-18) “They continued to Beer, that is the well where Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Assemble the people, that I may give them water.’ Then Israel sang this song:

A-li’  ba-er’!  (Aw-nu-lah’)  Ba-er’!
‘Spring up, O well! (Sing to it!) O well!

Ka-fa-ro-ah  sha-rim’,  Ka-ro-ah’  na-di-vey’  ha-am’,  B-mi-ko-kek  b-mish-a-no-tam. 
Which the leaders sank, Which the nobles of the people dug, With the scepter and with their staffs.’”

(V.19-20) “And from the wilderness they continued to Mattanah (Gift of Yahweh), and from Mattanah to Nahaliel (Torrents of Elohim), and from Nahaliel to Bamoth (Great High Place or High Places), and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the land of Moab, at the top of Pisgah (Cleft) which overlooks the wasteland.”

(V.25-30) “And Israel took all these cities and Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all her villages. For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon

(V.22:1) “Then the sons of Israel journeyed, and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho.”

Judges 11

This chapter reiterates much of today’s Torah portion, using it to show the injustice of later accusations. We are skipping comment due to time constraints.

Psalm 110

That this Psalm refers to Yeshua is stated in Acts 2:34 and Hebrews 1:13.

Yahweh says to (Yeshua):

“Sit at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet.”

Yahweh will stretch forth (Yeshua’s) strong scepter from Zion, saying,

“Rule in the midst of Thine enemies.”

Yahweh has sworn and will not change His mind:

“(Yeshua) is a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

(Yeshua) is at Thy right hand; (Yeshua) will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. (Yeshua) will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, (Yeshua) will shatter the chief men over a broad country.

So we see that the enemies of Israel, which were not defeated here as God commanded, will ultimately be overcome by Yeshua. We are commanded to defeat the enemies – “the sins that so easily beset us” (Hebrews 12:1). Yeshua finally will complete the job. He will rule the world in righteousness.

John 3

(V.14-15) “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life.”

John 4

Readings:

Reader 1*  Amen. ¹⁴ From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to the king of Edom: "Thus your brother Israel has said, 'You know all the hardship that has befallen us; ¹⁵ that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly. ¹⁶ 'But when we cried out to Yahweh, He heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷ 'Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or through vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king's highway, not turning to the right or left, until we pass through your territory.'" ¹⁸ Edom, however, said to him, "You shall not pass through us, or I will come out with the sword against you." ¹⁹ Again, the sons of Israel said to him, "We will go up by the highway, and if I and my livestock do drink any of your water, then I will pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, nothing else." ²⁰ But he said, "You shall not pass through." And Edom came out against him with a heavy force and with a strong hand. ²¹ Thus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.

Reader 2*  Amen. ²² Now when they set out from Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor. ²³ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴ "Aaron will be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵ "Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up to Mount Hor; ²⁶ and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be gathered to his people, and will die there." ²⁷ So Moses did just as Yahweh had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ²⁸ After Moses had stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar, Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹ When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.

Reader 3*  Amen. ^21:1 When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, then he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. ² So Israel made a vow to Yahweh and said, "If You will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities." ³ Yahweh heard the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites; then they utterly destroyed them and their cities. Thus the name of the place was called Hormah.

Reader 4*  Amen. ⁴ Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. ⁵ The people spoke against God and Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food." ⁶ Yahweh sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. ⁷ So the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, because we have spoken against Yahweh and you; intercede with Yahweh, that He may remove the serpents from us." And Moses interceded for the people. ⁸ Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live." ⁹ And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

Reader 5*  Amen. ¹⁰ Now the sons of Israel moved out and camped in Oboth. ¹¹ They journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iyeabarim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, to the east. ¹² From there they set out and camped in Wadi Zered. ¹³ From there they journeyed and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴ Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of Yahweh, "Waheb in Suphah, And the wadis of the Arnon, ¹⁵ And the slope of the wadis That extends to the site of Ar, And leans to the border of Moab." ¹⁶ From there they continued to Beer, that is the well where Yahweh said to Moses, "Assemble the people, that I may give them water." ¹⁷ Then Israel sang this song:

"Spring up, O well! (Sing to it!)

¹⁸ "The well, which the leaders sank,

Which the nobles of the people dug,

With the scepter and with their staffs."

Reader 6*  Amen. And from the wilderness they continued to Mattanah, ¹⁹ and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰ and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the land of Moab, at the top of Pisgah which overlooks the wasteland. ²¹ Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, ²² "Let me pass through your land. We will not turn off into field or vineyard; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the king's highway until we have passed through your border." ²³ But Sihon would not permit Israel to pass through his border. So Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel. ²⁴ Then Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the border of the sons of Ammon was Jazer. ²⁵ Israel took all these cities and Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all her villages. ²⁶ For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon.

Reader 7*  Amen. ²⁷ Therefore those who use proverbs say, "Come to Heshbon! Let it be built! So let the city of Sihon be established. ²⁸ "For a fire went forth from Heshbon, a flame from the town of Sihon; it devoured Ar of Moab, the dominant heights of the Arnon. ²⁹ "Woe to you, O Moab! You are ruined, O people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to an Amorite king, Sihon. ³⁰ "But we have cast them down, Heshbon is ruined as far as Dibon, then we have laid waste even to Nophah, which reaches to Medeba." ³¹ Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. ³² Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there. ³³ Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out with all his people, for battle at Edrei. ³⁴ But Yahweh said to Moses, "Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon." ³⁵ So they killed him and his sons and all his people, until there was no remnant left him; and they possessed his land.

^22:1 Then the sons of Israel journeyed, and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho.

Judges 11

Reader 8*  Amen. ¹ Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior, but he was the son of a harlot. And Gilead was the father of Jephthah. ² Gilead's wife bore him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, "You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman." ³ So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob; and worthless fellows gathered themselves about Jephthah, and they went out with him. ⁴ It came about after a while that the sons of Ammon fought against Israel. ⁵ When the sons of Ammon fought against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob; ⁶ and they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our chief that we may fight against the sons of Ammon." ⁷ Then Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Did you not hate me and drive me from my father's house? So why have you come to me now when you are in trouble?" ⁸ The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "For this reason we have now returned to you, that you may go with us and fight with the sons of Ammon and become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead." ⁹ So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you take me back to fight against the sons of Ammon and Yahweh gives them up to me, will I become your head?" ¹⁰ The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Yahweh is witness between us; surely we will do as you have said."

Reader 9*  Amen. ¹¹ Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh at Mizpah. ¹² Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, "What is between you and me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?" ¹³ The king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, "Because Israel took away my land when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and the Jordan; therefore, return them peaceably now." ¹⁴ But Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the sons of Ammon, ¹⁵ and they said to him, "Thus says Jephthah, 'Israel did not take away the land of Moab nor the land of the sons of Ammon. ¹⁶ 'For when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh, ¹⁷ then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, "Please let us pass through your land," but the king of Edom would not listen. And they also sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh. ¹⁸ 'Then they went through the wilderness and around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came to the east side of the land of Moab, and they camped beyond the Arnon; but they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. ¹⁹ 'And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, "Please let us pass through your land to our place." ²⁰ 'But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people and camped in Jahaz and fought with Israel. ²¹ 'Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them; so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. ²² 'So they possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan.

Reader 10*  Amen. ²³ 'Since now Yahweh, the God of Israel, drove out the Amorites from before His people Israel, are you then to possess it? ²⁴ 'Do you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever Yahweh our God has driven out before us, we will possess it. ²⁵ 'Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive with Israel, or did he ever fight against them? ²⁶ 'While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time? ²⁷ 'I therefore have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by making war against me; may Yahweh, the Judge, judge today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.'" ²⁸ But the king of the sons of Ammon disregarded the message which Jephthah sent him. ²⁹ Reader 11*  Amen. Now the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon. ³⁰ Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh and said, "If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, ³¹ then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be Yahweh's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering." ³² So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and Yahweh gave them into his hand. ³³ He struck them with a very great slaughter from Aroer to the entrance of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel. ³⁴ When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. Now she was his one and only child; besides her he had no son or daughter. ³⁵ When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have given my word to Yahweh, and I cannot take it back." ³⁶ So she said to him, "My father, you have given your word to Yahweh; do to me as you have said, since Yahweh has avenged you of your enemies, the sons of Ammon." ³⁷ She said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months, that I may go to the mountains and weep because of my virginity, I and my companions." ³⁸ Then he said, "Go." So he sent her away for two months; and she left with her companions, and wept on the mountains because of her virginity. ³⁹ At the end of two months she returned to her father, who did to her according to the vow which he had made; and she had no relations with a man. Thus it became a custom in Israel, ⁴⁰ that the daughters of Israel went yearly to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

Psalm 110    (To be sung.)    A Psalm of David.

¹ Yahweh says to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet." ² Yahweh will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, "Rule in the midst of Your enemies." ³ Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; in holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew. ⁴ Yahweh has sworn and will not change His mind, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." ⁵ Yahweh is at Your right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. ⁶ He will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will shatter the chief men over a broad country. ⁷ He will drink from the brook by the wayside; therefore He will lift up His head.

John 3:1 – 4:15

Reader 12*  Amen. ¹ Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; ² this man came to Yeshua by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." ³ Yeshua answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." ⁴ Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" ⁵ Yeshua answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. ⁶ "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' ⁸ "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." ⁹ Nicodemus said to Him, "How can these things be?" ¹⁰ Yeshua answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? ¹¹ "Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. ¹² "If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. ¹⁴ "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; ¹⁵ so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. ¹⁶ "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. ¹⁸ "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. ²⁰ "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹ "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."

Reader 13*  Amen. ²² After these things Yeshua and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing. ²³ John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized-- ²⁴ for John had not yet been thrown into prison. ²⁵ Therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about purification. ²⁶ And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him." ²⁷ John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. ²⁸ "You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Messiah,' but, 'I have been sent ahead of Him.' ²⁹ "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. ³⁰ "He must increase, but I must decrease. ³¹ "He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. ³² "What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. ³³ "He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. ³⁴ "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. ³⁵ "The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. ³⁶ "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

Reader 14*  Amen. ^4:1 Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Yeshua was making and baptizing more disciples than John ² (although Yeshua Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), ³ He left Judea and went away again into Galilee. ⁴ And He had to pass through Samaria. ⁵ So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; ⁶ and Jacob's well was there. So Yeshua, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. ⁷ There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Yeshua said to her, "Give Me a drink." ⁸ For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. ⁹ Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) ¹⁰ Yeshua answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." ¹¹ She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? ¹² "You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?" ¹³ Yeshua answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." ¹⁵ The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw."

© 2003  Beikvot HaMashiach
(Followers of the Messiah)