070625

 

Mom Food PANIC
Sobbing at mass from it, what do i do?
DONATED IT!!!  SWEET SINLESS FREEDOM!!
OCD contamination terror was SO BAD though


------‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------

⭐The Remnant —those spared to carry forward covenant promises– has a Responsibility... surviving saints are not spectators; they actively cultivate faithfulness that preserves communal identity... they accept hardship as God’s discipline... modeling obedience within exile.
...in every generation, God embeds tokens of consolation amid judgment, urging His people to recognize and receive the comfort He supplies... comfort promised, then partially experienced, and fully realised in Christ.
God’s redemptive compassion is highlighted especially in seasons of national calamity... God’s promise to comfort His people after judgment... signals hope that divine mercy has not been extinguished... Congregations facing loss may draw encouragement from how Scripture testifies that comfort accompanies judgment... Leaders who shepherd traumatized communities today can model a peace-seeking posture, welcoming repentant warriors and rebuilding trust.

------‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Continuing from yesterday with the 5585-5589 hebrew
Don't overthink! Rely on the Holy Spirit’s revelation and guidance, not your own faulty & limited & tangled ideas and poor reasoning!

✅5585= saiph/ ca'iyph = high branch, cleft rock; "sectioned", "sword"??? Used ONLY of Samson hiding + Isaiah prophecies of Israel's destructive chastisement due to idolatry
✅5586= saaph/ca'aph  = to divide up, "divide into portions/ sections," disbranch; used ONLY in Isaiah prophecy about Assyria’s destructive chastisement due to pride
⭐🆕️5587 = saiph =  DIVIDED IN MIND
⭐🆕️5588 = seeph = DOUBLEMINDED
✅5589 = seappah/ c'appah = tree branches; "to overlay, to cover, to plate"? Used ONLY in Ezekiel prophecy about Egypt's "boughs" foreshadowing destructive chastisement for pride
🆕️5634 = sarappah/ car'appah = outer reaching boughs of a tree; "canopy". Used ONLY in Ezekiel prophecy about Egypt's "boughs" foreshadowing destructive chastisement for pride
🆚️6288 = porah = boughs of leafy foliage; "ornamentation"; Used ONLY in Isaiah "saaph" prophecy, & Ezekiel prophecy about Zedekiah breaking covenant
🆚️6851 = tsaphtsaphah = willow tree. Used ONLY in Ezekiel prophecy about Zedekiah breaking covenant

ALSO WE HAVE...
*️⃣5342 netser = branch, descendants = MESSIANIC overtones + God's Sovereignty
*️⃣6780 tsemach = branch, bud, sprout, growth = MESSIANIC + CREATION overtones
*️⃣1808 dalith = dangling boughs, "pendent branches" = PROPHETIC warnings against pride 
*️⃣6057 anaph = branches, that bear FRUIT? also FEAST OF BOOTHS!!
WE WILL SPEND ANOTHER DAY ON THESE??

💚💚"In the Bible YHWH was frequently represented as the Great Gardener, carefully guiding and nourishing each seed in His Creation. Seeds, trees, branches, roots, blossoms were favourite metaphors throughout the Tanakh (Old Testament). Presenting the story of YHWH and His Creation in botanical terms produced a kind of garden theology. It’s a beautiful, vibrant, way to tell a story."

Much like English, Hebrew vocabulary used multiple words (synonyms) to describe the same thing. In English branches could also be limbs, offshoots or shoots, twigs, boughs, sprigs, and tendrils. There are at least five different Hebrew words that have been commonly translated as “branch”: netzar, tsemakh, dalit, porah, anaph… and authors often use them interchangeably, as any author would to add variety to the text.
(AND YET, NOTHING IN GOD'S WORD IS RANDOM OR ARBITRARY. EVERY SYNONYM STILL HAS ITS OWN SUBTLE MEANING AND IT WAS PURPOSEFULLY CHOSEN BY GOD FOR ITS USAGE, EVEN IF ONLY USED ONCE.)

⭐⭐⭐‼️‼️Anything adversarial to YHWH, and His plan to redeem His people, would be cut off, gathered and burned... dead, worthless, branches did not help a plant grow. They needed to remove the dead to help the living thrive. 

Metaphorically YHWH planted a young sprig on a high mountain and it grew and flourished and its branches bore fruit. This was what YHWH would do with His Anointed (Messiah) King. He would take the once little twig, plant it in a high place, guide it it become strong and stately, and creation would come to depend on it for rest and shade. YHWH would take down the high, earthly, trees and exalted the low, humble, trees. The Messiah, the submissive Branch, would be exalted on a tree (the cross) and we would be humbled by His presence.
...When the Day of YHWH came, and the Anointed One fulfilled His mission, YHWH’s followers would become the righteous ones and new branches of God’s planting... We are the seeds, and heirs, of YHWH… We are His descendants (branches), His children. And because YHWH’s Spirit lives within us, we are the walking, living, Temple of God’s kingdom, and the new branches that share the Good News of His Salvation.

⭐⭐⭐‼️‼️❤❤God is the Root that flourishes into a strong trunk (ONE UNIT! UNDIVIDED; WHOLE), and the Messiah is the Branch that grows from the tree trunk (PART OF IT; UNITY OF TRINITY). We are the blossoms ON the Branch (His Spirit IN us) that grow fruit (BY the Spirit’s inner nourishment) and release seeds VIA those fruits to start new branches… a cycle of birth and rebirth. It’s a striking metaphor!
(It only works when you see this Tree as the ONLY TREE there is? And any "new branches" are genetically identical to it; it is the SAME TREE perpetuating itself throughout Creation? I honestly don't know enough about botany to pursue the imagery further. But the idea of Christians being blossoms feels very significant– we cannot bear fruit unless we are pollinated.)
(WHEAT IS SELF-POLLINATING!!) (More grains & legumes than fruits) "Occurs in PERFECT FLOWERS"; smaller, humble, subtle = "Results in more uniform progeny. Allows plant to be less resistant as a whole to disease (carrying the Cross? risks of heresy? "False Gospels"?). However, it does not need to expend energy on attracting pollinators and so can spread beyond areas where suitable pollinators can be found." (NOT APPLICABLE TO EVANGELIZATION!!! This would instead refer to the all-sufficiency of GRACE???)
As for cross-pollination= occurs in GRAPES!!! (And MANY kinds of fruits)
"Brightly colored petals, nectar and scent, long stamens and pistils." VISIBLY ATTRACTIVE. But these flowers can be "IMPERFECT"!!
"More variety in species (Includes all nations). It allows for diversity in the species, as the genetic information of different plants are combined. (ALL ARE MADE ONE IN CHRIST) However, it relies on the existence of pollinators that will travel from plant to plant. (EVANGELISTS!!)"


⭐⭐⭐‼️‼️When Yeshua entered Jerusalem on a donkey a week before His crucifixion, He was greeted with people waving palm branches in His honour... Although He was greeted as King when He entered Jerusalem, within a week He was charged as a traitor and executed on a Roman cross. Before Yeshua was lifted up onto the wooden cross the Roman solders made a crown of thorn branches. This was cleverly symbolic. Discarded thorn branches were gathered together, formed into a crown, and placed on Jesus’ head. Consider the crown of thorns… it was made up of rejected branches and placed on Jesus’ head, just like the sins of the people were placed on the head of Yeshua.
Finally, as He suffered on the cross, Yeshua was given a hyssop branch with a sponge to His lips, to ease His thirst... it does seem tragically fitting that Yeshua’s final bit of earthly relief (if you can call it that) came at the end of a branch.
The righteous Branch from the root of Jesse was raised up onto a crucifix tree and brutally executed. He bore the sins of the worthless branches, like He bore the crown of the same. He took one final drop of sour wine from the end of a branch, suffered terribly and died. But the grave could not hold Him down.
Yeshua defeated death and rose up (like a new shoot) out of the grave so that we, little saplings of God, could also raise up out of death and sprout anew. By conquering death, Yeshua gave worth, and life, back to the branches, making them blameless in His sight... He was the Living Water that would produce new branches out of dead stumps.

⭐⭐‼️‼️Centuries before Yeshua walked amongst us, Job had wondered about creation and death. He noted:
“For there is hope for a tree, when it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and its shoots will not fail. Though its roots grow old in the ground, and its stump dies in the dry soil, at the scent of water it will flourish and produce sprigs like a plant. But a man dies and lies prostrate. A person passes away, and where is he?…If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait until my relief comes.” Although it would be centuries in the making, Yeshua is the answer to Job’s question. Mankind's waiting was not in vain.

Followers of Yeshua have been born again, of God… therefore we are seeds that cannot perish.

‼️‼️Of course, humans are sinful and so most of the time we, as branches, are withered and fruitless. Paul preached to the Gentiles and he admitted that many of the Jewish people had rejected God and so their branches were broken off from the family tree. In comparison, the Gentiles who believed were grafted into YHWH’s family tree, but they were not immune to being cut off and rejected, if they themselves rejected God.
⭐⭐‼️But the prophets, even as they declare the axe-swings of God's just Judgment, testify to the merciful truth that It is never too late to be grafted back into the family of God. Any branch that is cut off the Tree of Life can yet be grafted back in, before the burning of obstinately dead branches on the Last Day. So repent immediately; forsake all idols; renew your covenant vows and stand committed in your love & faith; believe & trust in God alone, and then the branch that is you will flourish, bear fruit and remain firmly planted.
We Christians are branches in the One Tree of Life= the Triune God. Don’t let this world cause you to wither, droop and fade away. Be faithful, believe, and be the fruit-bearing branches you were made to be… offering rest, protection, and the good news of Salvation to all who gather in your company.

https://hebrewwordlessons.com/2021/01/24/netzar-tsemakh-dalit-porah-anaph-the-righteous-branch/

------‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------

5634 "sarappah" evokes the picture of thick, far–reaching boughs: outer limbs that extend beyond the tree’s trunk to form a canopy.
⭐The word therefore conveys both strength (weight-bearing wood) and influence (a spread that covers space and creatures beneath).

USED ONLY IN EZEKIEL 31:5!!!
"[Deep springs watered it and helped it to grow tall and luxuriant.] Therefore [this tree's] height & stature was exalted high above all the other trees of the field; and because of the abundant waters at its roots, its boughs were prosperously multiplied, and its branches became long as it spread them out & sent them forth."

⭐‼️The image celebrates greatness, yet simultaneously foreshadows downfall; what flourished ONLY by God’s water would later be felled for its pride... The luxuriant boughs remind contemporary hearers that no empire, however wide its reach, stands secure when it exalts itself above the Lord.

Provision and Refuge= “All the birds of the air nested in its boughs”. The limbs function as shelter... Influence granted by God is meant to bless others. All priests, pastors, elders, and religious teachers must serve as branches under Christ, meant to extend shade to creatures, not reach so high as to overshadow God.
⭐‼️This Growth is Nourished by Divine Supply= The “abundance of water” stresses that prosperity is sourced in God’s gracious provision. Severing that supply ends flourishing. Spiritual fruitfulness flows from abiding in the true Vine; our spiritual life depends entirely on grace.
When the boughs are thus multiplied by God, their very multitude becomes a stage for severe judgment if proud self-exaltation smothers or even replaces gratitude.
‼️‼️ALL "self-made" branches are cut down; only God-planted branches endure.
⭐⭐‼️The proud cedar of Assyria contrasts with Jesus Christ, the “Righteous Branch”, Who grows not through arrogance but obedience. Where Assyria’s luxuriant and haughty boughs collapse, Christ’s Kingdom offers eternal shelter for all.

⭐⭐⭐‼️ Ask: Are the “boughs” of my life spreading for my glory or God’s? Re-align all your ambitions decisively towards God, so that all your personal gifts of reach, impact and shelter point clearly to the Giver of all your growth.

------‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------

RELATED = 6288 porah = boughs (ornamentation; green foliage)
"LOP OFF THE BOUGHS" in Isaiah 10 = "SAAPH" THE "PORAH"

Porah = the spreading branch or bough of a tree, especially the thick, over-arching limb that both exhibits vitality and offers shelter beneath its leafy shade.

⭐Abundant, expansive, beautiful "boughs" express God-given prosperity and derivative glory... evoking lush Edenic overtones.

⭐Beasts dwelling UNDER the leafy & shady branches figuratively portray nations and peoples finding protection & benefit under the superpower’s dominion. (That's WHY God GAVE them such dominion to begin with! Political power is actually NEVER meant to serve selfish ends!)
⭐⭐‼️The cedar’s former (and proper!) role as refuge challenges the Church to become a better, Christ-centered shelter where “all nations” may nest without fear of sudden collapse (brought on by hypocrisy, pride, unfaithfulness, lack of charity, scandal, cults of popularity, sloth, heresy, etc. There are SO MANY RISKS & RESPONSIBILITIES for the Church, because it is MEANT to be the HIGHEST "Tree" on earth– the very BODY OF CHRIST!)

‼️‼️"porah" appears seven times and is always set within prophetic imagery that juxtaposes human pride and divine judgment.

5 TIMES IN EZEKIEL 31!!! Describing those branches (in order) as long, sheltering, glorious, broken, and fallen.

Ezekiel 17 = Within the parable of the transplanted vine, the low-statured plant still sends out “branches” toward its benefactor, emphasizing dependence and political alliance.
"The eagle (Nebuchadnezzar) also took some of the seed of the land (Zedekiah, of the royal family) and planted it in fertile soil and a fruitful field (Judean soil & Jerusalem throne); he placed it beside abundant waters and set it like a willow tree."
"The prophet... compares this new-made king to a willow, which grows best in a wet soil, and on banks of great waters...  “great waters” are the favourable conditions and suitable place granted to Zedekiah... his kingdom was left with sufficient elements for material prosperity... Nebuchadnezzar took a great deal of care and caution in placing Zedekiah upon the throne; he made a covenant with him, took an oath of him, and hostages for the performance of it... Zedekiah was outwardly secure in well-watered soil, yet was utterly dependent on Babylon’s favor for all his stability." Etc.
‼️‼️‼️ The choice of a willow— dependent upon constant moisture— depicts a fragile monarchy whose life is sustained only through the planter’s provision. When Zedekiah later breaks covenant, the fragile shoot (porah!) withers, illustrating Judah’s judgment for covenant infidelity.
(THIS IS THE CONSTANT THEME WITH BRANCH IMAGERY!!!!)

⭐‼️Divine Sovereignty means God is the ultimate Gardener who plants and uproots ALL kingdoms at will... The same well-tended limbs that display God's majesty are still within the reach of God's shears and axe. All worldly powers, however imposing, are cut down at God’s decree. Likewise, even individual spiritual leaders must remember that any position of influence, like Zedekiah’s throne, exists only by divine placement and preservation. All human greatness is derivative and temporary; the blight of haughty hubris invites its own destruction, downfall, and utter collapse.
‼️‼️The more exalted the position, the greater moral accountability is demanded, and the stricter the reckoning when it is disregarded.
⭐When the oppressive branches fall, the humble and the righteous are spared— an implicit comfort to the faithful remnant of Israel and, by extension, the Church. This merciful justice encourages trust in God’s Sovereignty amid political upheaval, assuring sufferers and exiles that God can replant and restore what pride has uprooted.

⭐‼️By invoking the willow, Ezekiel weaves together themes of covenant faithfulness, divine nourishment, and the peril of misplaced trust... The willow’s need for constant water pictures Judah’s need to remain within the life-giving covenant; it is the same with Israel at large. The failure of both to keep their life-giving covenants underscores the universal necessity of the later “majestic cedar” God Himself will plant— an image of Messianic hope fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Righteous Branch and Source of Living Water, Whose humble and holy Kingdom, anchored in His New Covenant, cannot be uprooted.
⭐The Messianic Branch motif offers deliberate contrast to merely human powers: ungodly (sinner) branches are hewn down in their ego-glorying pride, but the righteous (Godly=Divine) Branch arises humbly and perdures by God's will. The fall of self-absorbed, arrogant, and unfaithful boughs thus anticipates the eschatological inversion in which “every mountain and hill will be made low” and the lush, vibrant, ever-growing boughs of the Reign of Christ provides lasting and beautiful shelter for all nations.

⭐‼️❤ "Porah" highlights both the grandeur and the fragility of all human power. Every spreading limb ultimately answers to the Master Arborist, Whose pruning shears enforce righteousness, and Whose Own Branch, Jesus Christ, supplies an unshakable, undying refuge.

------‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------

⭐ 6057 "anaph" first designates the leafy boughs woven into the festive sukkah at the inauguration of the Feast of Booths. ("And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the foliage of beautiful & goodly trees, from magnificent & luxuriant trees... palm fronds and leafy branches... and make booths of them, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.")
"the people were allowed to take any trees they could obtain that were distinguished for verdure and fragrance. While the solid branches were reserved for the construction of the booths, the lighter branches were carried by men, who marched in triumphal procession, singing psalms and crying "Hosanna!""

⭐The image is one of covenant joy: Israel, having been gathered out of Egypt, now celebrates under the shade of (Edenic!) branches that proclaim the Lord’s rich provision in the wilderness. ...it is an enduring call to remember (in re-presenting practice; makes the truth tangible) the bounty of God’s sheltering grace (which persists EVEN NOW in the pattern of spiritual exile!!). (Simultaneously Protects AND provides; "LUSH" healthy greenery for shade AND food (date palms & "fruitful" branches!); never miserly; God always gives "life in abundance")
(CONTRAST TO PROPHETIC "PROUD" BRANCHES! Also prophecy of HOPE with "all nations" coming to Jerusalem to celebrate the FEAST OF BOOTHS = all participants in "covenant joy" through Christ, Who delivers all mankind from "spiritual Egypt" which is the slavery of SIN = exile in this world, on the way to Promised Land of Heaven; WATER FROM THE ROCK (Living Water that ALLOWS branches to grow + "SAIPH" ROCK OF REFUGE? Gives safety from judgment, yet still damns presumptuous idolaters)
(John = "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt with/ tabernacled/ pitched his tent among us"!!! BOOTH IMAGERY; HE HIMSELF IS THE LEAFY BRANCH USED?? There IS no other refuge or shelter?)
(Revelation = “These are the people who come out of the great tribulation (persecution), and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb [because of His atoning sacrifice]. For this reason, they are [standing] before the throne of God; and they serve Him [in worship] day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them and shelter and protect them [with His presence]." )


Psalm 80 uses agricultural metaphors to narrate Israel’s story. = “You brought us from Egypt like a grapevine; you drove away the pagan nations and transplanted us into your land... Our shade covered the mountains; our branches covered the mighty cedars." The same noun appears in Ezekiel’s parable of the two eagles. But the first planting fails through covenant infidelity = "...But then a second great eagle came (Egypt) with broad wings and full plumage. So the vine now sent its roots and branches out toward him for water, even though (the first eagle) had already planted it in good soil by abundant waters, that it might produce branches and bear fruit and become a noble vine. So this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Will that vine flourish, having been unfaithful? Will it not rather be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it shrivels? All its foliage and sprouting leaves will wither! Even if it is transplanted, will it flourish? Will it not completely wither when the east wind strikes? It will wither on the bed where it sprouted.’”
("...suppose this contrivance were successful, suppose this vine were planted by the help of Egypt, could it possibly prosper? No, no.
When the king of Babylon, which like the blasting wind comes from the north-east, shall but touch it, it will utterly wither; even amidst [Egypt's] greatest and best helps to make it flourish... their own strength, even with the help of the king of Egypt, will not be able to protect them from the rage of the king of Babylon. This discontent, ingratitude, and treachery will occasion the utter ruin of this people.")
⭐‼️Then the Lord promises a future work of His Own fidelity: “On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it; it will produce boughs and bear fruit and become a magnificent cedar”. These passages keep before the reader the tension between divine election and human responsibility: Israel’s prosperity is possible only under God’s sovereign care, which is nevertheless anchored in His Covenant with them as His People.

⭐‼️‼️"asaph" is used to describe pagan greatness in Ezekiel 31, and its total dependence on God's will and honor– arrogance will swiftly destroy even the most majestic branches.
("God speaks to Pharaoh: To whom would you compare your greatness? You are like mighty Assyria, which was once like a cedar of Lebanon, with beautiful branches that cast deep forest shade and with its top high among the clouds. Deep springs watered it and helped it to grow tall and luxuriant... Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because Egypt became proud and arrogant, and because it set itself so high above the others, with its top reaching to the clouds, I will hand it over to a mighty nation that will destroy it as its wickedness deserves. I have already discarded it... O Egypt, to which of the trees of Eden will you compare your strength and glory? You, too, will be brought down to the depths with all these other nations.")

‼️‼️God reminds us in Romans 11 that He, the same Sovereign Lord who grants expansive leafy "boughs" even to the Gentile nations, can also break them off of His Own People. The rise and fall of all nations and peoples are therefore traced to the Will and Purpose of the Divine Gardener, Who gives and takes greatness according to His Glory and our Good. There is no hope or actual power even in military or economic might, pride of ethnic status, or cultural historicity, to gain influence and power and reputation in this world– for those things are all gifts of God as well. He writes history; not us. He grants salvation and bestows blessings; we cannot earn or merit them, nor can we force the gift. We are but dust and grass!
⭐‼️Faithfulness to God is all that keeps us flourishing; He will not cut down a branch that is sincerely grounded in Him and watered by grace. Idolatry, the great Sin of infidelity and pride, is what destroys nations and saws branches off the Tree.

⭐Branch imagery portrays the expansive reach of God’s kingdom, inviting participation in gospel outreach.

⭐After judgment ALWAYS comes hope: “But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and bear fruit for My people Israel, for they will soon come home”. The fruitful, branch-bearing hills anticipate both the physical return from exile and the eschatological renewal that climaxes in the New Jerusalem.
("You will leave Babylon with joy; you will be led out of the city in peace. The mountains and hills will burst into singing, and the trees will shout for joy. Cypress and myrtle trees will grow in fields once covered by thorns. And then those trees will stand as a lasting witness to the glory of the LORD... ")
("Between the city street and the river, the tree of life was visible from each side. It produced twelve kinds of fruit, each month having its own fruit. The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.")

Even today, Evangelism and discipleship flourish only when & where the church trusts the Lord to make barren places fruitful again.

"For surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace… not leaving them root or branch” (Malachi 4:1). The final occurrence of "anaph" underscores total eradication. Whereas earlier passages picture luxuriant growth, the Day of the LORD strips the wicked of every last shoot. The warning motivates personal repentance and fuels the church’s proclamation of the gospel while there is still time... The same word that speaks of shade can also foretell fiery judgment, pressing home the urgency of holy living.

⭐⭐In Scripture, "anaph" is never a mere botanical term. Whether woven into feasts, shading mountains, or consumed by fire, every branch ultimately points to the Gardener who prunes, plants, and perfects His people for His glory.


------‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------

5587 = divided (in mind), i.e. (abstractly) a sentiment; disquieting or excited thoughts; "a sword"
"divided, wavering, hesitating, vacillation."

⭐⭐‼️‼️ "saʿiph" evokes the idea of a “split,” “branch,” or “fork.” Figuratively it portrays a heart or mind that is not whole but divided into competing paths. The word therefore colors each passage where it appears with overtones of wavering, anxious division, or fractured allegiance.
(THE VERY DEFINITION OF IDOLATRY!!)
(We are only whole IN GOD. He is our Source and Origin, Creator and Sustainer and Preserver, our Supply and Strength, our very Food and Drink and Breath and LIFE for heaven's literal sake!!)
("Competing paths" hits hard because God cooperates; He is a God of order and harmony, and works WITH His creatures by design. If anything sets itself AGAINST Him– which only SIN can do– it is DOOMED IN AND OF ITSELF, because it CANNOT win, EVER; it is foolishly trying to rebel against reality itself– GOD Himself. God doesn't "compete," He simply IS, True and Sovereign. "Competition" is futile & vain & purposeless.)
(A divided mind & heart = competing paths = God's will vs human will & emotions corrupted by concupiscence; fallen nature at odds with the truth = NOT WHOLE because it is WORLDLY; focus on the "flesh" to the disregard or even rejection of the spiritual = missing the majority of life, and cut off from life's purpose!)
(Wavering & anxiety = lack of TRUST in God. Fear of commitment;  unwilling to give oneself completely. Fear that HE won't commit!)
(Anxious DIVISION = worried splitting; "branching" out & away from simplicity/singleness to pursue one's own convoluted thoughts & plans of control.)


‼️‼️‼️‼️Indecision on Mount Carmel = “How long will you waver between two opinions?” — "how long are ye limping on the two divided opinions," as on unequal legs"?

‼️‼️Elijah’s challenge places the nation of Israel at a decisive fork. Baal worship had flourished under Ahab and Jezebel, yet the people hesitated to renounce YHWH entirely. Elijah exposes the spiritual absurdity of limping back and forth. The imagery paints Israel as a traveler who keeps changing feet at a crossroads and never commits to a road. The contest that follows vindicates the LORD and shows that divided allegiance is untenable. In covenant terms, saʿiph here signals imminent judgment if the people refuse singular loyalty.

"You must fear & revere the LORD, Who is your God. You must serve & worship Him only, and cling to Him, and take your oaths only in His Name. Never follow or worship any of the so-called deities worshiped by the peoples around you; don't have anything to do with them. If you do– if you abandon the LORD your God and run after these other "gods"– then God's burning wrath will be enkindled against you, and will destroy you from the face of the earth. The LORD your God, who is really among you and with you, is a jealous God, a Lover Who does not tolerate rivals, demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His."





------‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------
------‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I acknowledge my transgression, says David. If I admit my fault, then you will pardon it. Let us never assume that if we live good lives we will be without sin; our lives should be praised only when we continue to beg for pardon. But men are hopeless creatures, and the less they concentrate on their own sins, the more interested they become in the sins of others. They seek to criticise, not to correct. Unable to excuse themselves, they are ready to accuse others. This was not the way that David showed us how to pray and make amends to God, when he said: I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is ever before me. He did not concentrate on others’ sins; he turned his thoughts on himself. He did not merely stroke the surface, but he plunged inside and went deep down within himself. He did not spare himself, and therefore was not impudent in asking to be spared.
    Do you want God to be appeased? Learn what you are to do that God may be pleased with you. Consider the psalm again: If you wanted sacrifice, I would indeed have given it; in burnt offerings you will take no delight. Are you then to be without sacrifice? Are you to offer nothing? Will you please God without an offering? Consider what you read in the same psalm: If you wanted sacrifice, I would indeed have given it; in burnt offerings you will take no delight. But continue to listen, and say with David: A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; God does not despise a contrite and humble heart. Cast aside your former offerings, for now you have found out what you are to offer. In the days of your fathers you would have made offerings of cattle – these were the sacrifices. If you wanted sacrifice, I would indeed have given it. These then, Lord, you do not want, and yet you do want sacrifice.
    You will take no delight in burnt offerings, David says. If you will not take delight in burnt offerings, will you remain without sacrifice? Not at all. A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; God does not despise a contrite and humble heart.
    You now have the offering you are to make. No need to examine the herd, no need to outfit ships and travel to the most remote provinces in search of incense. Search within your heart for what is pleasing to God. Your heart must be crushed. Are you afraid that it might perish so? You have the reply: Create a clean heart in me, O God. For a clean heart to be created, the unclean one must be crushed.
    We should be displeased with ourselves when we commit sin, for sin is displeasing to God. Sinful though we are, let us at least be like God in this, that we are displeased at what displeases him. In some measure then you will be in harmony with God’s will, because you find displeasing in yourself what is abhorrent to your Creator.

My sins are embedded like arrows in my flesh. Lord, before they wound me,* heal me with the medicine of repentance.