Mercy and Loving-Kindness of the Lord

      Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me bless His holy name;

       Bless the Lord, O my soul; and forget not all His benefits-

       Who forgives all your iniquities; Who heals all your diseases,

       Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption;

       Who beautifies and dignifies and crowns you with loving-kindness

       And tender mercy; Who satisfies your life with good things

       so that your youth is renewed like the eagle (Ps. 103:1-5).

Living the spiritual life, perceiving the Lord’s faithfulness in His mercy and loving kindness is to express gratitude all day long. In the midst of our trials and pains, in the midst of sorrows and diseases, the song remains, His mercy and loving kindness endure forever; I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge, my fortress; in Him I will trust (Ps. 91). The greatness of the mercy of the Lord is shown in the broken body of our Lord, when stricken with many blows to heal us; when He was hanging on the cross, connecting heaven and earth, reconciliating God and men. But it did not stop there. His mercy and loving kindness continued in the person of His Holy Spirit, Who is in each one of us believers until the end. Overlooking the trials and pains that come our way, instead, concentrating on the mercy and loving kindness of the Lord is to agree with Him that He is faithful at all times. There is a point in time for all of us to exercise our faith trough difficulties.

The writer of the book of Lamentations although, reflecting upon the horror he witnessed in the calamity that had befallen Jerusalem, had words that recognized God’s mercy and loving kindness, and words that calls us to accept God’s corrections. He said, … He has filled me with bitterness; He has made me drink to excess and until drunken with wormwood; He has also broken my teeth with gravel; He has covered me with ashes; and You have bereaved my soul and cast it off far from peace; I have forgotten what good and happiness are and I say, Perished is my strength and my expectation from the Lord. O Lord, remember my affliction and my misery, my wandering and my outcast state, the wormwood and the gall; my soul has them continually in remembrance and is bowed within me. But this I recall and therefore have I hope and expectation: It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not; they are new every morning; great and abundant is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion or share, says my living being; therefore, will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him; the Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him (Lam. 3:15-25).

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God’s Trumpet and the Last Trumpet of Revelation

The Jewish Feast of Trumpets has nothing to do with the new covenant of blood YAHSHUA established for all who will believe in Him- His church, comprised of Jews and Gentiles. From God’s command to blow trumpets, it derived its name. The word teruah in Hebrew has its meaning in English a shout or a blowing. The significance of the blowing of trumpets in the Jewish tradition is:

Time to move on

Time to gather the people and call an assembly

To mark a sacrifice on a feast day

Warning of war or danger

To praise

To declare a procession or feast

To proclaim a king

Assemble the troops for battle

To declare victory.

We see here the blowing of trumpets as God commanded Israel, has great significance for that nation in the formation of their tradition, in setting them apart from other nations, as a guide and many other reasons. The blowing of trumpets does not necessarily serve the church of the New Testament, as it embraces all nations with different traditions and life-styles. It connected the nation of Israel to God’s command as in the practice of a feast, although the meaning of gathering the people for an assembly, is relevant to the church, because God’s calling His bride to assemble to heaven will be through the sound of His trumpet, according to the words of Paul, which read, For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God… (I Thess. 4:16). The trumpet mentioned here clearly shows a difference from the trumpets of Revelation 8-9, whose purposes are for judgments. These seven trumpets are angelic trumpets and not defined as God’s trumpet. For those who believe that the last trumpet mentioned by Paul has to do with the last trumpet in Revelation, remember one thing: that seventh and last trumpet is not the trumpet of God. Not one of the seven trumpets in Revelation is defined as the trumpet of God. In God’s coming judgment there will be seven angels, seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls each carrying that which was determined to fulfill God’s judgments on the wicked. One more thing, the last trumpet of Revelation is not the same last trumpet Paul mentioned in I Corinthians, since the book of Revelation had not yet been written. Someone has said that Paul was drawing his tradition from the Old Testament in referring to the summoning the congregation of Israel to set out (Numbers 10:2-5) Paul called it the last trumpet to show the completion of God’s redemption embed in the number seven.

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Do Not I Fill Heaven and Earth?

(Jer. 23:24b)

Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from Your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there; if I take the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me and the night shall be light about me, even the darkness hides nothing from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You (Ps. 139:7-12). In the beginning, God. In the beginning of creation, God was there creating all that was created. When He spoke, things were created. “Let it be” and existence took place. The world was created in order of things as God planned. Before Adam and Eve sinned, they enjoyed the presence of the Lord in the cool of the day, as He walked in the garden. However, when they sinned, they tried to hide from His presence, ashamed of what they had just done; The relationship was then broken, but God’s presence was ever in the world He created. No place to run from Him as the psalmist so expressed and asked the question, Where could I go from Your Spirit?

As humans, we can never comprehend the omnipresence of God. He is everywhere at the same time. When reading the verse in Jeremiah 23:24b, I came to understand better how it is that God is everywhere: “He fills heaven and earth.” His presence is everywhere we go, or cannot go. It is God Who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; it is He Who stretches out the heavens like curtains and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in (Isaiah 40:22).

The world, in midst of chaos because of sin, still enjoys peace and physical order, because the heavens and earth are filled with God’s presence.  It is the presence of the Lord that maintains order in the universe. Sitting above the circle of the earth, nothing escapes Him. The Patriarch Job said, He is Who spreads out the northern skies over emptiness and hangs the earth upon or over nothing; He holds the waters bound in His clouds and the cloud is not rent under them; He covers the face of His throne and spreads over it His cloud; He has placed an enclosing limit [the horizon] upon the waters at the boundary between light and darkness; the pillars of the heavens tremble and are astonished at His rebuke; He stills or stirs up the sea by His power, and by His understanding, He smites proud Rahab; by His breath the heavens are garnished; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent; yet, these are but the outskirts of His ways or the mere fringes of His force, the faintest whisper of His voice! Who dares contemplate or who can understand the thunders of His full magnificent power? (Job 26:7-14). These inspired words from the Holy Spirit to the Patriarch Job make us to realize how much do we lack in respect and the honor we due Him.  The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” What fear means here is reverence; it is to regard Him as holy and honor His holy name. To fear men instead of God, it constitutes an offense to Him; God spoke to Isaiah and said, The Lord of hosts-regard Him as holy and honor His holy name; and let Him be your fear and let Him be your dread (Isaiah 8:13).

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A Heart That Is Willing

“Nevertheless, not My will, but Your will be done.”

Satan’s opportune time had come to confront YAHSHUA with torment of soul in the garden of Gethsemane- the garden of suffering. In a few hours, YAHSHUA was going to face the most challenging experience of His life on earth: the sacrifice of His body on a cross. He was going to take the curse upon Himself and free us from it. Men, in his sinful estate was going to humiliate, dishonor, mock, reject, betray, and turn His body into a disfigured body and after that, hang Him on the cross for all to see. He died the death of a criminal, although, He was sinless. In spite of all that, He still remained faithful to the plan to save humankind. “Not My will, but Your will be done.”  There is no human heart so willing with such sacrificial love for the world as the heart of our Savior and Lord, YAHSHUA. When God’s plan was established to save the humankind, YAHSHUA said, In burnt offerings and sin offerings You have taken no delight. Then He said, Behold, here I am, coming to do your will, O God what is written of Me in the volume of the Book (Heb. 10: 6-7). From His willing heart overflowed love which closed the gap between God and men, making it possible for us to have a relationship with God. YAHSHUA performed then the work of reconciliation. Salvation of the human race was the ultimate result of His willing heart.

The willing heart of Peter and John when YAHSHUA told them to lower their net for a catch of fish, they, in spite of toiling all night for a catch without success, said, on the ground of Your word, I will lower the nets. They were amazed with the great number of fish they caught without breaking the net (Luke 5). The heart that is willing will be blessed in the end. When that happened, the disciples were then introduced to the Son of God. Peter, perceiving that He was not one of them and convicted of his own sins, fell down at YAHSHUA’S knees, saying, Depart from Me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord (Vs.8). After they had experienced this amazing miracle, they left everything and joined YAHSHUA to be His disciples (vs.11). And this marked the beginning of their new life; no longer fishermen, but followers of YAHSHUA full time. A willing heart that bends toward the will of God will experience His amazing love and blessings in his or her life time. A man covered with leprosy, hopeless and rejected by family, friends and society, found hope when he saw YAHSHUA. His heart broken and contrite, humble and in very need of the Savior’s touch, falling on his face, he implored Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You are able to cure me and make me clean. YAHSHUA reaching out His hand, touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed! And immediately the leprosy left the man (vs.12-13). Isn’t God’s willing heart always ready to heal our infirmities spiritual and physical ones? Look at His hands and feet, His head, His side, His body scourged beyond recognition; why do you think He took all the beatings upon Himself? Because of His willing heart to save and to heal men, not wanting that they would perish eternally. He invites all who are weary and restless to come to Him to receive rest; to receive His peace.

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You Rule the Raging of the Sea

King Hezekiah of Judah, a righteous king before God, suffered two raging of the sea storms. In II Kings chapters eighteen to twenty, is the story of how Jerusalem was about to be conquered by the king of Assyria, a very powerful king, who God had used in the past to bring destruction of nations. King Hezekiah found himself at his mercy, when he declared his purpose to him through a letter saying, Behold, you have heard what the Assyrian kings have done to all lands, destroying them utterly, and shall you be delivered?… Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. He went up into the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed:  O Lord, the God of Israel, Who is enthroned above the cherubim. You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the heavens and the earth; Lord, bow down You ear and hear; Lord, open You eyes and see; hear the words of Sennacherib which he has sent to mock, reproach, insult and defy the living God…Now therefore, O Lord, our God, I beseech You, save us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know and understand that You, O Lord, are God alone (II Kings 19:14-16,19).  This storm of tsunami proportion came to Hezekiah without any warning. Just imagine the devastation King Sennacherib would have caused to the city of Jerusalem, as it would have been in time of war! King Hezekiah’s heart sunk with fear, however, his faith in God led him to the path of deliverance, when he cried to Him. God heard him, and responded by causing chaos among his enemies; He said, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own country. While King Sennacherib was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword (II Kings 19:7, 37). Exactly as God told him. Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? The Prophet Jeremiah asked the question (Jer. 10:7).

But King Hezekiah became deadly ill in those days. The Prophet Isaiah came and said to him, Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover (II Kings 20:1). After such great victory, King Hezekiah was facing with a challenge, the rage of the sea, once again. Still young, he pleaded with God for his life saying, I beseech You, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before You in faithfulness and truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight. Hezekiah wept bitterly (II Kings 10:3). The word of the Lord came to Isaiah then saying, Turn back and tell Hezekiah, the Leader of My people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your [forefather]: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord; I will add to your life fifteen years and deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake. (II Kings 20:5-6). King Hezekiah was miraculously healed according to the words of the Lord God. These two times the raging sea arose against King Hezekiah, it did not accomplish its purpose, for the Lord God intervened through the prayers that went up to Him with sincere heart and in humbleness. Who is like our God?  O Lord God of hosts, who is a mighty one like unto You, O Lord? And Your faithfulness is round about You; you rule the raging of the sea, when its waves arise, You still them. (Ps. 89:8-9).

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For the Lord Is Our Judge

(Isaiah 33:22-24)

When we think of the word judge with all that it represents in the courts of law, we come to honor such title with respect. When having to face him for some reason or other, at his mercy, as the person who determines our destiny- winner or loser in the case presented to him, we fear that he will determine us to be guilty, even though innocent. It is our fear that it will happen upon the false evidences presented to him, as many who were innocent, found themselves serving life in prison, even sent to die, for the crime they did not commit. When this elected official, with authority to decide cases in a court of law is God fearing, we feel confident that he will be spiritually discerning to make the right decision, according to his faith in God. Today, however, judges have great political power over the people. They can reverse decisions to bring about chaos in the country to conform to the agendas of those who are wicked, for they have been bought out through bribes. It is a thing of money that compels them not to take the stand for righteousness’s and justice’s sake. We have experienced it firsthand in this country and others. But Our God, the Lord is God of gods and Lord of lords, He is the Great, the Mighty, and awesome God, Who is not partial and takes bribes (Deut. 10:17); He is the Judge of all judges; someday all judges will have to face Him for judgment. So, it will be the judges being judged by the Sovereign, the Almighty Judge of all the earth. To Him they will give accounts of all the injustices they performed in the courts of law, destroying lives to no end. God, Who established the law, said, You shall not do injustice in court; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor (Lev. 19: 15).

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Let Not the Iniquity of My Father’s Be Remembered by the Lord

Iniquity is a word with grave meaning and consequences. It spreads its roots to generations without end. A weakness we carry on our genes from the time of conception. It became active when our forefathers Adam and Eve first sinned. I do not mean that they sinned because they were unrighteous, but because Eve was deceived. Sinned for the first time, they did not stop there. It seemed that that was an open door for the root of all kinds of sin to take place in their soul. We do sin with our soul: the mind, the emotion and the will. The body is controlled by the dictates of the soul, and it acts upon the demand of the soul. It seems that it is in the level of the soul that we receive the curse of the sin of iniquity at conception. The Psalmist said, My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret, intricately and curiously wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them (Ps.139:15-16), a psalm of David. When the sperm touches the egg successfully, then life is created. All that we will be is in that sperm. It is the “unformed substance.”  “It runs in the family,” whatever weakness a person has. The sin of iniquity is one that carries the curse from generation to generation. It holds us prisoners to its consequences, which will be for sure in our life time, so it seems.

What was happening when YAHSHUA was going through the atonement for our sins, including our diseases? The Prophet Isaiah, many years before YAHSHUA’S time on earth, prophesized this: Surely, He has carried our griefs (sicknesses, weakness and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains, yet, we considered Him stricken, smitten and afflicted by God. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities, the chastisement [needed to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole (Isa.53: 4-5). “He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities.” Let’s talk about the word bruise. The Webster dictionary describes as to break, to shatter, to crush with or as with mortar and pestle, to hurt the feelings; a bruise cause discoloration of the skin caused by a blow. The word bruise has a strong connotation and varied results, depending if physical or emotional. When YAHSHUA was bruised for our guilt and iniquities, He suffered deeply into His soul. It was as a mortar crushing into His emotion and heart. A pain that carries a heavy load of emotional feelings, as He took upon Himself the guilt and iniquity of the entire world. That, my friend was not easy for the Son of God to carry. We were once and for all free from the consequences of the sin of iniquity and guilt, but not until we accept and surrender our lives to His control. He did all to save us from the power of the sins of iniquity, although we still have to face it in the form of temptation. That brings to mind Paul’s struggles with it when he expressed himself concerning it saying, For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it, for I fail to practice the good deeds I desire to do, but the evil deeds that I do not desire to do are what I am doing. Now, if I do what I do not desire to do it is no longer I doing it, but the sin which dwells within me; so, I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is right and good, evil is ever present with me, and I am subject to its insistent demands, for I endorse and delight in the Law of God in my inmost self, but I discern in my bodily members a different law of my mind and making me a prisoner to the law of sin that dwells in my bodily organs. O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from this body of death? O thank God! Through YAHSHUA Messiah! So, then indeed I of myself with the mind and heart serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin (Rom. 7:18-21;23-25). We must overcome this spiritual battle raging against us every day, if we are truly born-again; if we are born of the spirit.

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I Will Say of The Lord…

Every time we face problems with faith and courage we are proclaiming who and what the Lord is to us: our Refuge, our Fortress; He is our God in Him we have put our trust. This is truly a summary of Psalm 91. When abiding in God’s hiding place with certainty we can experience safety. The storms might rage near us; thunders might vibrate the earth and lightening’s flash of fire come down and burn it, even quakes might split the earth, still nothing will touch those who securely have embraced the Lord’s refuge. He is our impenetrable fortress. Nothing in this world and below is greater than He. Therefore nothing can touch us. He created the world and the heavens and all submit to His command and power; He created all living things big and small, great and powerless, all are His creation. The same Lord is the One Who says to us, I AM with you always, fear not!

In one occasion when the disciples were with YAHSHUA in a boat, a storm raged greatly against them, but He was found asleep. With only a whisper of His voice, the wind calmed down and all became peaceful again. The disciples asked the question: Who is this that even the winds obey His voice? He is God almighty, my refuge, my fortress, He is my God; in Him I have put my trust. Let be and be still, and know that He is God; He will be exalted in the earth!

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Uncleanness Works Destruction

(Micah 2:10)

Physical uncleanness, sometimes, is the picture of the soul in turmoil. It can indicate depression, sadness, grief and so on. It shows spiritual and emotional problems within. It happens because the person does not want to face reality. In that mode, he becomes blind and insensitive to his surroundings. I don’t care, sort of attitude. In the hardness of his heart, he goes on. That is also a picture of a guilty person, wanted to escape the guilt by making it easy on himself. However, what does the Bible mean by “uncleanness that works destruction”?  In the battle of Jericho, the Lord instructed the people to keep themselves from the “accursed and devoted things.” That constituted idolatry. Idolatry is the excessive devotion to or reverence for some person or thing (Webster dictionary). It is a sin that brings destruction to a nation, for forsaking the true God, as it was the case of the nation of Israel. Idolatry is a sin that leads the nation astray to immorality, to confusion and to alienation from the true God. The Lord describes Israel’s spiritual condition by saying, From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness or health in but wounds and bruises and fresh and bleeding stripes; they have not been pressed out and closed up or bound up or softened with oil; your country lies desolate, your cities are burned with fire; your land- strangers devour it in your very presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by aliens (Isaiah 1:6-7). This seemly is the spiritual condition of the United States of America. Blessed, as it has been, has long time embraced the position of idolatry and gone far away from the Lord’s blessings. Lately, America has speedily experienced spiritual decline of all times, as it waits for the Lord’s judgment to fall upon her.

Considered as the “Mystery Babylon,” America has taken her position of power in the world as it has influenced many countries to follow her ungodly life-style, destroying some that stood in her way. Powerful and proud, she stood tall above all to see; but the time is rapidly approaching for her fate to be known. Her uncleanness is beyond the norm one can understand and accept. Her glamourous life-style is nothing but filthy, rotten rags under all that jazz. Lights, painted eyes, fancy dresses, in Jezebel’s styles, Hollywood crowd, deeply in sin, is under God’s judgment for all that they represent. Judgment from God has already started. Do you see the multitudes invading this country? That’s just the beginning of America’s ordeal. Her uncleanness has reached heavens, God’s longsuffering has ended for this nation. As it were in the days of old when God brought judgment against the nation of Israel, so it will be for America, for God has heard the crying of the innocent children being carried to their slaughter, as He heard the blood of Abel crying for vengeance against his brother. We see, but we do not perceive, we hear, but we do not believe the graveness of the sins of this nation. God’s people are asleep in the pews of the churches, while their children are brainwashed through the teachings of public schools, they trusted their children to. It is all happening right before their eyes, but their spiritual condition keeps them from perceiving. Their babies are taken from their womb for their own freedom and killed for businesses purposes as babies’ body’s parts for the make of makeup. Do you know what kind of meat Macdonald fast food is offering you? Do you think for a minute that God has fallen asleep, not to consider this immoral uncleanness, against them? He who formed the eyes and the ears, will not see and hear? He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah if His judgment will not fall to this nation and the world, for following America’s unclean life-style. How can His church escape His judgment, if it continues inert to the sins of this nation?  God’s patience is not to be confused with His holiness. The severity of His coming judgment upon this nation should be the reason for His church to be on her knees.

Micah 2:10 says, “Arise and depart, for this is not the rest, because of uncleanness that works destruction, even a sharp and grievous destruction.” We are living in an unclean society. Television, and other media are like a magnet, like gravity, pulling down those who follow them to the pit of infidelity, while they watch the satanic worshippers from Hollywood perform immorality to please their god-the devil. Entwined with them, they become one with them, and before they know it, idolatry in the form of pornography, takes control of their sexual desires, leaving them powerless. As a result, divorce abounds and families are destroyed. God continues calling all out of it before destruction strikes, as He always does and has done in the past “Arise, and depart, for this is not the rest, because of uncleanness that works destruction…”   Depart, depart.  Go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Go out of the midst of her [Babylon]; cleanse yourselves and be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord (Is. 52:11). What the world is experiencing today is described in Isaiah 64:6: “For we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like filthy rags or polluted garment; we all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away [far from God’s favor, hurrying us toward destruction].”  Thus says the Lord: Flee out of the midst of Babylon! Let every man save his life! Let not destruction come upon you through her sin and guilt. For it is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; He will render to her a recompense (Jer. 51:6).

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The Hireling Flees

(John 10)

There is much to ponder when watching a sheep and comparing them to us human beings, according to the Bible. Isaiah said, We like sheep have gone astray; He (YAHSHUA) was oppressed, He Was afflicted, He was submissive and opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. (Isa. 53:6-7).  We see first here that sheep wanders and second, they are submissive to their own fate; they are submissive at the time when being sheared. They cannot survive without the care of a shepherd. For they easily wander from the flock; they are easily panicked and because of too much wool, they flip on their back without being able to get up and die of starvation. They are defenseless; easily become prey to wild animals. These are partial characteristics of a sheep, but enough to feel compassion for them. When in my early twenties, I was given a sheep for a pet. He was all white with black markings on his face. Every morning, with the help of my student, he would come to my bedroom to wake me up. He was gentle and his baa sound was my alarm clock. That made my day very special, indeed.

YAHSHUA had much to say concerning a relationship between a shepherd and his sheep found in John ten. When reading this chapter, one cannot help, but feel His love for His sheep. He gives a picture of what a true and good shepherd should be; and compares the care of a good shepherd with that of a hireling. The difference between one and the other is that the shepherd constitutes the owner of the sheep, in this case; but the hireling is just an employee, working for money. The shepherd will do all to save his sheep, even risk his own life to save them. The employee however, has no intention to die for the sheep he is tending. This is quite a difference between the two and YAHSHUA was very clear about that in verses twelve and thirteenth: He said, But the hired servant who is neither the shepherd nor the owner of the sheep, when he sees the wolf coming deserts the flock and runs away. And the wolf chases and snatches them and scatters [the flock]. Now, the hireling flees because he merely serves for wages and is not himself concerned about the wellbeing of the sheep. So, there will never be love to compel the hireling to sacrifice himself for the sake of someone else’s sheep.

I compare this parable to the spiritual shepherds, called pastors. A field of great importance in the eyes of the Lord YAHSHUA, who has given His life for His sheep and trusted them to spiritual shepherds. A pastor that is not concerned with his sheep enough to risk his life for his church, is not a shepherd in his heart, but a hireling; this position is to him only a career. He took the position of pastor for his own gain. Read what the Lord says concerning them: Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasturing! Says the Lord, concerning the shepherds who care for and feed My people; You have scattered My flock and driven them away and have not visited and attended to them; behold, I will visit and attend to you for the evil of your doings, says the Lord…And I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them. And they will fear no more nor be dismayed, neither will any be missing or lost, says the Lord (Jer. 23:1-2,4). Today’s church of Laodicea is in great need of good shepherds, who will feed their sheep solid Bible truths, and not diluted, tainted spiritual foods. YAHSHUA’S flock are scattered from church to church in search of a good shepherd who will represent YAHSHUA’S love for them. Pastors of some mega churches are putting their flock to sleep by good feeling messages. Truth, as the Prophet Isaiah said, is falling on the ground. No longer perceived as truth, for being rejected by shepherds in their teachings. These “hireling” pastors will someday give God an account for not accomplishing the will of God for their flock.

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