Let's Eat Fruit
Shabbat shalom.
Welcome. This is church, the Messiah.
We're going through Leviticus says Mary Sylvia said. And their many i words in the Bible. I'll give you one. I don't know. My What's I don't mean? Lord, what's a donut? I mean. My Lord. so, the eye becomes my And Hebrew and you can think of a dozen words, but I'll just do that one. We're going through Leviticus and
It's a Wonderful book this year. I'm going through it in a kind of all-new way. It it, it's it, it's floating for me this year. So I'm very excited about that and I hope to share some of that with you. Lord, we ask your blessing on this time, on my teaching and on the hearing of your instruction. Lord. We desire to appropriately hear what you're trying to tell us. So I pray that that is accomplished this morning. In Jesus name, amen. And amen.
Title. Let's eat fruit. Sounds like a crazy title subtitle, might be eat fruit or die.
Yoga, that doesn't make any sense. This is not roasted Fruit. By the way, with the fire there in the title slide here. It's it's a choice this week, all the readings juxtaposed. Great things and really not great things. All of them. It's amazing. I do like roasted brussel sprouts. So they're quite good dip them. In a little bit of olive oil, spring, salt and pepper, put them over the fire in the oven and then just wonderful. Turn up on that. Extreme juxtaposition, so I'm not kidding. These are these are kind of like keywords. Deatschwerks.
Something like that. Eat ants counterpose with dye plant, Bill Harvest is counterposed with be cut off Lord's. Child is counterpose with malux. Child molest child is the child as sacrifice to moloch. The Lord's child gets to live malux child Burns.
Blessed fruit, cursed fire. And then I thought, okay. There's a lot of holy in this verse this week. So I looked through all the things that were kind of like, whole, like good or clean, or other things that were wholly, ish things. And I came up with over 39 and I tried to come up with, how many of the profaned ordered are cursed things. There are in a can of, with / 33. It's a lot of great things going on. On the one hand and lousy things going on on the other hand, and we want to be on the great side. So I title the sermon eat fruit. Cuz that's great stuff. I had some wonderful strawberries, this week and I had some wonderful pineapple. This morning is quite good. I enjoyed it. Nice. The main thing. So before we'd even do the sermon, this is a prayer that I've been praying for quite some time. Now, if you can, before my granddaughter had her problem, which she still has but it continued game powerful significance to me as I was praying for my granddaughter, but it isn't just my granddaughter. I kind of refocus the prayer toward my granddaughter's healing but then I realized it's bigger than that. So this is the prayer that I've been praying for some time and I I want to share it with you. Lord, please reveal yourself to us. Jesus does reveal himself?
If we think he doesn't, we're not paying attention. He reveals himself to us. And when he reveals himself to us, we pray. That he reveals himself, not just to us, but to our children. And to our children's children every week. We say this children's blessing and every week. I'm praying Way. Beyond the children here who are here. I'm praying for all of my grandchildren. All of my children, adult children of many people represented here, adult children of many people who Aren't here used to be here. I'm praying for a lot of children. And families. It goes Way Beyond Church them aside goes, actually this prayer actually goes all over the world to our children. Not only our children and our children's children, but the body of Messiah and please reveal yourself to many others beyond the body of Messiah and help. Each of us to receive. You don't just reveal yourself. Help us to receive you. Help us to know you're revealing yourself and help us to actually receive you. Here you listen to you. Recognize that you're there. Receive you and to listen to your instruction and follow your spirits leading for our healing and health and for the good of your body and for your kingdom. Amen. And amen. I polished this more than a dozen times. That's as good as I can come with a short prayer.
And I can tell you this in absolute confidence. I don't know my my Lord. The I word honors, our attempts to follow him and blesses us in more ways than we can ask or imagine.
If you don't think you're blessed, you're not thinking.
Amen. Extreme juxtapositions. We've talked about them. Just wanted to remind you. That's kind of what this sermon is about.
Leviticus 19. This is the Torah reading wife vs. Death. When you enter the land and plant trees for fruit. Wait, three years offer the fourth years fruit to add 29. My Lord. Eat the fruit. In the fifth year. It will yield its increase to you. I am you'd have. I'll pay your God. Don't do what the Canaanites do. Elderly Revere, the Lord treat strangers. Well, so somehow honoring the Elder is Elder least tied to
Revering God, and it's tied to treating even strangers. Well.
Love them like your cells. Make good, judgments trade, fairly observe. All my rules and judgments do them. Don't give your children to moloch. So I said there's juxtapositions here. Don't give your children to moloch. Don't turn the spirits of the dead or spirits of divination. Consecrate yourselves. Another way to translate this would be wholly eyes yourselves. It's a verb of holiness. Be holy, be holy. Do my, will I sanctify you now? This is almost always spoken like this. Be holy for I the Lord your God. I'm holy. Holy eyes yourself. I will holy eyes. You. I will sink if I you almost always, you're not the one who hold the eyes is yourself. You can't. This was an interesting question. We raised last week and Torah study Emily was there and Sam was there. And I thought, okay. This will be interesting to hear what the youngest kids people in the group have to say. And I asked them. Can you do this? Can you be holy? Or is that impossible for you? And I'm not going to tell you what they said, but I'm just going to say it's awesome to come to tour group. Was that a good plug Kyle?
It was awesome. The rest of the conversation danced around their answers. It was beautiful to hear young kids, talking about this and thinking about it and trying to apply it in their lives. I really was blessed. Honor honor, honor South 6th and consecrate the holy Isle sanctify. You don't do sexual sense. Is that a flip or what? This is? Like really big. You heard what I said.
Do my statutes my rules and my mixed with Team my instructions. So the land won't vomit you out. Like the nation's before you, if you do not do these things. If you do these things that the land will vomit you out. That's what the word means. Separate the clean from the unclean. It doesn't mean just food. It means all things clean and unclean. Don't do the unclean. Do the clean, b, b clean. It's not as simple as food be holy I sanctify you. There you go. Make you make you. Holy, I separated you. Separated Mary Sylvia already talked about that. I made you. Holy. I put you in this column from the nation's to be mine. Look 13, we talked about it man. Plan of the fig tree came looking for fruit dip found, then he said for three years. I've been looking for food on this street. So how old is the tree? I think it's 3 years old. Now, if you plant a fruit tree, do you think you're going to have fruit within the first three years? Not likely. But there's some understanding the, maybe they clip the buds to make the the the energy go to the root system. So it would be developed. There's some idea that the first three years, you helped the tree to eventually bear fruit the fourth year, if it Bears. When it bears fruit, we read that in the, in the Torah reading. In the fourth-year, give all the fruit that are not the first fruits.
And the gardener, he said he look for screw for three years and didn't find any said, why is it use up the ground? The Gardener answered now. We could say the gardeners God or The Gardener's Jesus, or the garnet with the gardener. I don't know, but he said, leave it alone. I'll loosen the fruits and fertilize if it bears fruit good, but if not cut it down. What's this mean? I've Heard lots of sermons on this and this is what occurred to me this week, 1st to the 3rd year. No fruit to eat. Take care of the tree, the fourth-year devoted to Adonai to the Lord, the fifth-year its time its time. It's time to eat fruit in the fifth year and I couldn't help. But remember the old Paul Masson commercial. I will sell no wine before its time.
And the other I will sell no wine before you buy it, but that's a different argument. All the other.
Fourth-year. The fourth-year significant, if it bears. Fruit is devoted to Adonai The Gardener says, if it bears fruit good, that's great. But if there's nothing devoted to God, that's really what the gardener saying. If in your life, there's nothing devoted to God. And it's the fourth year. It's not good.
And he's saying, cut down the tree.
If that applies to me, I don't want to know about it, but I think it does. I think the parable here has to do with me. I should be bearing fruit to the Lord, and if I am good, that's wonderful. Because if I'm bearing fruit to the Lord, I'm going to get lots of fruit next year. Might not be this year, but I'm going to get fruit. Destroyer don't destroy.
Route. Fire all the way through the readings. I thought of queso, where in scripture do we have destruction ordained by God? This is the one that came up with me. After Benjamin sense of Benjamin, did a terrible thing. You can read about it on your own. Fin. It Phineas penis, penis, Aaron's grandson. Ask the Lord is got the breastplate on that room in the film. And so he can ask God questions and God answers him. Shall we do war against Benjamin? Or should we stop? And the Lord said, go up. I'll give them into your hand. So Israel destroyed Benjamin and it's towns. This is a gross understatement, but you get the drift.
Connor poster. This God says, when you take a city, don't destroy its trees, eat fruit, but don't cut the trees down. But here is real destroyed Benjamin and burned all of its towns trees everything. So God is authorizing approving. Scorched-earth. Of the benjaminites.
This is a coin. Anyone from New Hampshire.
State motto in Acton near the end of World War II Live Free or Die.
It's a longer coat than that. And then also on the coin they have a picture of the Old Man of the Mountain, which used to be a series of rock Cliffs that if you looked a certain way, you'd see this old man, but the rock clips of since fallen, so, if you want to see this image, you kind of have to look at the coin. Live Free or Die. That's the main thing Live Free or Die. So this is General, John Stark. In 1777 in the Battle of Bennington, he was the commander and he he survived in defeating the British. He defended the land, he was on and didn't let them take it and killed about a thousand of the British soldiers with. So many people say was the Turning of the Revolutionary War. If he hadn't defeated this General, they need to have a thousand more soldiers and he won he would have won the Battle of Saratoga and the war would have gone British, but losing the Battle of Saratoga and losing, I think, 3700 men turn the course of the Revolutionary War. And Bennington this, this General, John Stark is called the hero of Bennington. And they asked him to speak at the 32nd anniversary of this battle, and he was too ill, but he sent them a quote, as a toast. They said, read this. Live Free or Die. Death is not the worst of evils.
And I think what he meant is death in this life isn't the worst thing that could happen.
Live Free or Die. Eat fruit or die.
Live Free or Die, life or scorched-earth. Whenever I hear scorched-earth something comes to mind.
lots of verses in the Bible, where God Scorch, the Earth, Or the people of Israel, Scorch, the Earth approved by God, It's Not Unusual. God is going to exercise judgment. It's going to be a fiery judgement. It's going to be scorched-earth. It's not going to be good.
I'd like to introduce you to a young man.
This guy right here. The Little Drummer Boy. Anyone recognize him?
That's Rob Wilson 10 years old. Well, here I'm 12. Actually, I got involved in the Civil War reenactments when I was 10 and I was inactive in them until the Civil War re-enacting. Sanded, and this is a small battle, small insignificant battle, and I got to tell you in the mind of a 10 year. Old boy, 12 year old boy, this is really cool.
It is really cool to be right next to you. It's just really, really, really cool. It's way better than King of the Hill, and all the rest of those games. And I got to play with these older guys and older guys aren't like younger guys. There like sneakier. And trickier and smarter and experience. So I learned a heck of a lot in these in these years and I thought a lot about war and about battles in about good versus evil and about right and wrong.
And I'm not going to try to make judgments on the Civil War.
Because I know good Christian men were on both sides. It wasn't just good versus evil. It was one idea of how things should be versus another idea and I'm not, I'm not going to get into all the details. It's just too, it's too fraught with.
Issues.
Scorched-earth. If you're thinking Civil War in your thinking scorched-earth, you're wondering what's going on. You cannot help. But thanks Sherman's, March to the Sea Sherman. March through Georgia, and the south in particular claims. There was a scorched-earth policy that he burned down everything in its path. That's not actually true. It's a lie that's been perpetrated, but scorched-earth is if you look up scorched-earth Civil War, you're going to find Sherman that fast.
It was significant. They had 17 major battles to take Atlanta, major battles to take Atlanta. They took Atlanta if you still are Gone With the Wind, you saw some good imagery about the fire that the burning of Atlanta.
Laid on on Atlanta. It's a little bit inaccurate. The main part of Atlanta that was burned was the part that could could support the War Industry, railroads. Telegraph lines. Things like that. They weren't mainly trying to kill civilians. That's a wrong idea. So Sherman decided he was going to forget about the supply line coming from the north because it was a very torturous Affair to defend the supply line and get your food. He decided he would just go through, Georgia. And take the food wherever we could just March through Georgia. Why from military conquest snow just to prove he could do it.
March through Georgia. No. One thought of that. They thought about telling you to do other things, but if he proved to the Arts, not the thing that we should do, we should just do this. And so was approved. So, he started marching through Georgia with 60,000 roughly men, and they broke it up into basically two units for units, but two on one side, two on the other side, and I went down a 50 mile wide pack. 50 miles wide. 285. Miles long. 37 days. About 7 miles a day. Now, you can't do a lot. If you're marching, seven miles a day and trying to destroy railroads Telegraph lines at cetera, your kind of involved in the thing that you're trying to do. And a lot of people said, Sherman had this policy and I go, I'd like to see the policy. He must have issued a policy. Can I find it? I found it. I found a policy that German roach. This is interesting special field order number 124 liberally, take food corn, meat vegetables. Whatever is needed. Don't enter dwellings of inhabitants or commit, any trespass? Don't violate people's property.
That's different than I walk. Then I heard. Corps, commanders only have the authority to destroy things. Mills house is Cotton Gins, everything anything that can can support the war effort. Mainly that was what he was trying to destroy, not houses and barns destroy houses and barns. Why? Because this next line where the enemy is unmolested. No destruction is permitted. If gorillas or Bushwackers, molest our March, or if inhabitants burn Bridges, or obstruct roads or manifest hostility toward us as were marching through their land. Army commanders should order and enforce Devastation according to the measure of such hostility. So where people were fighting them and shooting at them and destroy their path. They took action. They were getting in the way if you're not harassing him. They just March through.
Wow, that's not scorched-earth. Not exactly. It's called scorched-earth, but it's not. So this is what they did, they destroyed railroads. This is a roundhouse in Atlanta, made a shambles of it. You can see they're going to have trouble with industry and railroads, if they keep tearing up this stuff, and when you tearing up railroads. You got to catch up cuz you got to make seven miles a day to get where you're going. After Savannah surrender, this is after. So so they marched 257 Mi 50 miles wide and they get to Savannah and Savannah goes.
I'd given them up, I'd given up absolutely, if I got that far. We can rub. Atlanta gave up and so they moved their headquarters into it Savannah's main buildings and on January 12th. Not much later, then we're talkin about. So we talkin about
December 21st.
Then Savannah, surrenders, then January 12th. This is something I didn't realize happened on January 12th, General, Sherman. And Secretary of War Stanton. These are some pretty significant guys. Secretary Secretary of War Stanton met, so he came all the way down from Washington DC to Savannah. They met with 20 black. Savannah. Ministers to discuss emancipation. It's a lot written about it. After the meeting Sherman, drafted primarily for military expediency, special field order number 15 to provide for the thousands of black refugees. Who'd, followed his army through Georgia, and he sent the draft to Lincoln who approved it within 4 days.
So Lincoln approve, the special field order within four days proposed by 20 black ministers. In Savannah, Georgia regarding emancipation of the Negro slaves who followed the army.
Why did he draft it to provide for the refugees who followed his army through? Georgia link, Lincoln approved. Granting freed Negroes up to 40 acres of tillable ground to live on in the right-to-work. It now you may have heard 40 acres and a mule. The mule wasn't part of this field order and you may have heard 40 acres and two mules. Those are different things. But this is where the 40 acres comes from of tillable land to live on and the right to work at after Lincoln's assassination. President Johnson. Now, Johnson and Lincoln were not in the same party. That's weird. They ran on the same ticket, but Lincoln was a republican, a newly-formed party and Johnson was a southern Democrat. And a southern Democrat assassinated Lincoln, I generally don't like Southern Democrats, but this is not a political Forum. So I'm not going to say anymore about that. But present Johnson, who is the son, who was a southern Democrat ordered, all the confiscated lands be returned to the former. White owners owners. How much land is this Rob? What's a heck of a lot of land? It's all the way from Charleston, halfway, through South Carolina, all the way down to the Florida border, 50 miles in 50 miles back from the from the coast and all the islands. This was land ceded to the freed Negroes. When Sherman got the Savannah. So when you think about scorched-earth going through, Georgia? He didn't intend to totally Scorch the Earth. He intended to make it to Savannah and Savannah surrendered. And he ceded, this much land, roughly the size of New Jersey to the freed black slaves.
That rock your boat. Rocks mine.
Lament, Lincoln's assassination and and Johnson's.
Overturning. Special field order 15 set, apart for the settlement of negroes freed by acts of Warren, by proclamation of the president of the United States by the laws of war and Orders of the president. The Negro is free and must be dealt with as such. He cannot be subjected to conscription or for service. He can serve and whatever way he chooses. Like domestic servant, blacksmith Carpenter, mechanic Etc, free to select their own work and their own residence. If this it's stood this would have radically changed the South completely.
And we wouldn't have had a lot of terrible. Terrible, terrible things that happened after that in this entire area. White men were not allowed because the black ministers said that they would be better off separate from the white population because the South would have a long time. Dealing with this adjustment and they were right.
Questions. This is something many of you've never even heard before. I think it needs heard, but okay. Isaiah 65. So we're going to Isaiah and I think it has to do with route. Death fire, judgement good life. Build houses. Plant, Vineyards. I got one more. Remember. When Desert Shield? Desert Shield kicked off. You do. I had come back from Saudi Arabia. I was in a master's degree at the University of Illinois, and I volunteered to go and they wouldn't send me because I was in a master's program in once you get in a master's program. They're not going to let you do the master's program. So I was I was at Chanute Air Force Base going to University of Illinois and seeing in Desert Shield. Kicked off. I happened to be reading Isaiah 40.
That night I read from Isaiah 40 all the way through the end of Visalia. And I thought this is it. This is the day of the Lord or the Forerunner, the day of the Lord. It's coming now, and I prayed so earnestly. That night. Not that it not happen.
But the Benny would come to faith in the Lord before it happened.
And I was ready. If it happens, Lord. It happens. I'm ready. And whenever I get to this point in Isaiah.
I remember that. and I think, It's going to happen if it's happening today. I'm ready.
I pray. Many others are. Amen. Hard thing. So life versus death, I can't be in this part of Isaiah, not think this build houses, plant Vineyards, live safely eat fruit. Eat fruit or die. I'll here before you speak. I'll answer before you call Wolf & Lamb, will lie eat together. The Serpent's dust. Nothing will be hurt. I'll be I'll be with the humble in the country. Right and I'll bring fear and destruction on evildoers. You don't answer when I call or listen when I speak rejoice and be glad you love Drew Slim.
Remember the prayer? May we receive you and hear your instruction and Cetera. Rejoice and be glad you. Who love Jerusalem. I'll send peace like a river and Glory like an everlasting stream. I'll execute judgment on my enemies. This is this is part of God's glory blessing. There's not going to be evil. He's going to do away with it. Those who don't. Want to talk or listen to God, aren't going to be around us anymore. Let's hope that they convert to follow the lord in some way. Before that day. Amen. I'll execute judgment on my enemies and gather all nations and tongues to declare my glory. This is really radical now at the end of Out of Isaiah 66 all the nations are going to come in. All the nations are going to come in and this is what God says through Isaiah. I'll receive them like, first fruits. Like the fourth-year offering and then he says something absolutely radical and I received some of them as priests and Levites in My Kingdom.
They're going to be German non-jewish, priests. They're going to be Turkish. Formerly. Arab priests at formerly Moslem. Priests there going to be priests and Levites in the kingdom of God. At the end of Isaiah 66. You would never think anyone would be a levite, except the levite. But they will be. Don't know what it means, but it's glorious. God's plan, all people. This is exerted sort of from the message because telling you what the nations are. As it's easier to use the message, I'll gather on that s*** Nations. The languages to see my glory missionaries, will preach my glory all over the world. Spain Africa, Turkey Greece, and even the far-off islands. Now, where are the far-off islands? He's talking about the Virgin Islands, right?
He's talking about the Canary Islands, little itty bitty islands. Is England an island. Is United States, an island? Is Australia? An island? Yep, the South America part of an island? All the 40 filings means everywhere else. This is all nations will return with long-lost, brothers, and sisters, and living worship to the Lord. I'll even take some of them to make them priests and Levites in My Kingdom. So, this is excited from Ants and rainy and Steven not Lee's book card is new century handbook and atlas of the Bible. That's the replicated to some degree in the updated version, which is called the sacred sacred. Bridge sacred Bridge, so if you look at this, Japheth settled North, japheth has one of the sons of Noah J Pitts settled North all this area. And you can see this trade Rod, kind of, like, All this Europe, East Asia, East Asia, Sarah ham settled South and kind of West and Shem settled East and kind of North. So these are these are the this is the table of Nations and Israel is viewed as a land bridge, that connected all of the nations of the earth. And I love this picture. Because we're all Brothers. When you come down to the bottom line. We're all Brothers. Yeah, there were divisions, Family Division cultural divisions, ethnic divisions, language divisions etcetera, but we're all brothers and sisters in the Lord, and he's going to take all of these. And some of them at wall of them is first fruits and some of them he's going to make into priests and Levites in the kingdom of God. There will be priests and Levites from japheth priests, and Levites from Ham priests and Levites from Shem. Not just the Jew, Jewish priests and Levites. But all the rest Chinese priests and Levites Indian priests and Levites Etc. Amen, amen, the main thing. So I'm going to say this prayer again. I'd like to, at least sit with me and your mind, Lord. Please reveal yourself to us our children and our children's children. The body of Messiah, and many others, and help us to receive you. And to listen to your instruction and follow your spirits leading for our healing, and her health and for the good of your body and the good of your kingdom. Amen. The Lord will honor our attempts to follow him and blesses us in more ways than we can ever ask or even imagine. I'll sing to Adonai. This is the muse more for the day. The song, the praise and worship is a beautiful song, Mariah's favorite. I understand when she goes hiking, she sings the song, I'll sing tao tonight. As long as I live. I'll praise my Lord. While I am, I rejoice in that and I made plays pray. Please him. Let sins be ended. Your Bible may say, Sinners be ended. That should be marked in my opinion. Let wickedness be no more bless the Lord. My soul praise the Lord. Why do I think it needs revised Rabbi mirror? The third most mentioned Rabbi in. In, in missioner. He had a wife named Maria. A ria was renowned in in the Jewish world as a ice age. She's actually renowned higher than this great. Rabbi who's mentioned the third-most in all the mishnah. It's amazing. The wife has more wisdom than the rabbi. No, it's not amazing. It's not a man. But anyway, Rabbi mirror. There was some hoodlums who kept pestering him in his neighborhood. He reward his bore, interesting. That's bore. Don't be such a bore doesn't mean boring and beans. Don't be a hooligan. Don't be a rabble-rouser. Don't be a vagrant. Don't be up vagrants. Okay, don't be a vandalizer. Be nice. Don't be a bore. Anyway, that's Hebrew weird. So mirror said what's Sinners be ended? Let their wickedness be no more and back in the day when they were there Berea Berea and Rabbi mirror. It didn't have valid points. The Hebrew didn't have all points. So if you pointed at one way, it's centers. And their wickedness. And if he pointed it another way, it's sins. And all wickedness.
Seborrhea said it doesn't say centers. It says, since God's proclaiming there will be no sense anymore.
Not Sinners, you should pray that these men repent of their evil. And come to Faith in the one true God. And he said
Try that, so I prayed.
And they changed and they didn't cause him any trouble anymore. So, the proof is Berea was right? They turned into okay people, not centers anymore. Their wickedness was no longer. And so that's an Ancient Ancient Ancient tradition, but all of our Bibles, almost all of them safe centers. I think it should be corrected based on this story. There's the reference Girl Code, CNA Albury is argument with Rabbi mirror.
One more time. This is our final prayer. I'll sing to Adonai as long as I live. I'll praise my Lord, while I am while I still am. As long as I am. I'll praise my Lord shall rejoice in the Lord made prep. Please him. Let sins be ended. Let wickedness be no more bless the Lord. My soul. Praise the Lord. Amen. Hallelujah.