The Call By The Sea

As Yeshua was walking by the Sea of Galilee He came across to men Simon and Andrew. The were casting their net into the sea to catch fish; for they were fishermen.

Flatts Village (Where our Family Boat was moored) [photograph by Wikipedia]

A fisher's life is not an easy one. This I know from personal experience. My grandfather and step father were fisherman. I have other extended family members who are also fishermen. Some of my early memories is that of seeing my father arise at 4:45am and be out in our nearby barn with crowbar in hand prying out bagged bait from the sides and bottom of the deep freezers. After this arduous task, the bait was put into old paint buckets and carried; by hand down to the boat which was about 1/4 mile away. The way to the boats was a short cut and it was a dark and slippery path. But having gone down there many times we can traverse it's windy downward path in almost total darkness because you would know where the rocky out crops are and know exactly where to put your foot so as to get the best footing.

Once at the boat, we would quickly get the bait into large coolers; and if we got fuel the night before, we would head out to sea. On the way we would need to organize the deck and get everything ready for hauling the large fish pots which were way out of from the shore. (9-12miles) Once we got to the pots we would start the winch and began hauling up to 20 or more pots; empty out the fish and reset it and go to the next one. After all this was done we then would either stay out there and clean up 1-200 pounds of fish or do it at the dock back home;either way it was a lot of work. And all this was done in the hot summer sun. (my summer job) for several years. The gutting, filleting, boning, and cleaning  would take from around 2:00pm to 8:00pm. Then it was getting it back to the barn and into the freezer or selling it to customers while at the dock.

If we went out to do hand line fishing, we would need  get up very early, get to the punt near the larger fishing boat, and row around the inlet shore and search for bait to catch in our nets. When we found the bait, we would set the net, then pull it in, and then fill the large tubs with it; bag the bait and transport the unused portion back to the barn freezers and then head back to the boat with fresh bait in hand and go out fishing. Often we would arrive back at the dock at dusk and sometimes as late as 11:00pm; then clean the fish, and take them to the restaurants or hotels if they needed it urgently.

So the life of a fisherman is not easy. Not to mention if you did not catch much. The cost of fuel in Bermuda is around $2.00/liter (or $7.70/gal.)(2008 price). And even back then (when I was a boy) gas was not cheap. And yes many of the fisherman here, like in other places are rough man.

But what was it that caught Yeshua's eye about Simon and Andrew? What did Yeshua see in these uneducated lower class men? What so impressed Him that He would extend such an honored invitation for them to learn of the greatest Teacher the world has ever seen? I personally believe that Yeshua saw in these apparently unpromising fisherman a teachable spirit; men who would allow themselves to come under the tutelage of One who is infinite in wisdom and knowledge.  They did not; like the rabbi's, scribes and Pharisees, think themselves too learned or wise to be taught by a carpenter. They did not think themselves to wise to hear instruction. Yes, they had issues; like we all do, but Yeshua was endowed with infinite Love and wisdom; and thus He knew that over time they would come to understand many things and become softened and subdued by Divine grace and thus be fitted for the most important work given to mortals. The same energy and hard labor and arduous effort needed to etch out the life of a fisherman, Yeshua would use, combined with His winning love and meekness to make them now........fishers of man. For they were open to divine influences and they saw in Yeshua, such sterling, and loving  mien, such compassion and meekness blended with full consciousness of Infinite Power, that as He looked into their very soul, (for His eyes are like a flame of fire piercing the night of the soul) and with rich musical voice He said follow me, they left all, and quickly followed Him.

And He said.............  "..... and I will make you fishers of men." 


What think ye of Messiah....He is altogether lovely.

Two Calls .....One Message.....One Teacher

Shalom all. As mentioned in an earlier post we are focusing on all the instances in the Life of Yahusha where He is is either by the sea, teaching by the sea, or any other events in His life by the sea.

We find Him now by the Sea of Galilee in Matit'yah ha Levi 4 (Matt) and lets look at verses 18-22

"And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left [their] nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James [the son] of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him."

The first thing I find interesting about verse 18 is that Yeshua is pictured as walking; not riding a camel or horse or donkey, or in a horse drawn cart, but simply walking. There are several points one can consider in this simple word picture. Did you know that the first time the word walking is mentioned in the Scriptures is in B'resheet 3:8 (Gen.)  "And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden." Isn't that interesting? Yeshua, at the commencement of His personal misistry of Redemption is portrayed as walking by the sea and He calls out after two people; and yet in B'resheet we see the same picture of our Creator calling out for two people, namely Adam and Eve. Now Adam and Eve are the progenitors of our race (the human race) and Simon and Andrew are the first of the apostles which are the fathers of the new (human and divine) race."Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." Kefa Bet 1:4 (2Pet.)

Yeshua, who is before all things, and is the Lamb slain, from (before) the foundation of the world....was walking in the cool of the day calling out after a wayward son and daughter. Four Thousand years later He appears as a man among men calling out after humanity (in Simon and Andrew) inviting them; as He did Adam and Eve to become living stones."Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ".Kefa Aleph 2:5 (1Pet.) For the word Eve means living (Strong's #H2332) and Simon means stone (Strong's #H8095) This call is given to all mankind; for Adam means mankind (Strong's H120); and although Adam first hid from Elohim; he afterward accepted the Gospel of B'resheet 3:15 (Gen.) and so too did Andrew; which means manly (strong's G406) receive the gracious call of Yehsua.

We too can be like them in hearing and accepting each day the call of Yeshua upon our lives. We too will accept His call and go where He bids us and do what He commands......and thus by hearing and doing He will lead us back to Eden .....the Garden of Delight.

The Mystery of The Kingdom

In reference to the parable of The Sower Yahusha said "Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God...." (Yochanan Makabi 4:11) [Mk]  These words were spoken to His (Talmidim)His disciples as He taught by the sea. The followers of Yahusha will know (will perceive, will have intimate knowledge and  understanding of His kingdom) (Strong's # G1097 genosko). This knowing conveys no shallow or surface understanding of His kingdom but a deep and personal relationship with Yahusha and His truth.

In the parable of the Sower; the one who sows the seed is Yahusha (Jesus); and the seed sown is the word of Truth.  From the time of our first parents until now, the Sower has been at work, scattering His pure seed far and wide. Satan has also been at work sowing his corrupt seed of iniquity; hoping to thwart the great plan of Salvation contained in the seed of truth, and bring about a harvest that bears his fruit according to his corrupt seed and then; in turn, accuse Yahweh (God) for the evil ruin of souls that he himself has instigated.

But the mighty argument of the Cross of Calvary silenced this accusation by making apparent the very heart of YHWH and at the same time the machinations of Satan. YHWH is love. He ever has been and ever will be. And Satan is the root of all evil and his children are the branches.(Malakhi 4:1) The Cross manifested in an infinite degree that YHWH is love and it at the same time it made known the murderous harvest seed of Satan in leading the religious leaders of that time to put to death Yahusha; the only begotten of the Father. Yahusha said that Satan is liar and murderer from the beginning. And thus in every life the battle for souls, for the implanting of seed is raging. It will culminate in two distinct crops; the Wheat and Tares. And although we are primarily dealing with the parable of the Sower we will also look at the parable of the Wheat and Tares.

In His life and ministry Yahusha sowed among all classes of people; none where beneath is notice or care. His great heart of infinite love was moved to compassion as He earnestly and patiently taught the people and prayed that they will receive the inestimable seed He so willingly offered.

But to most His teachings where not, and are not, priced for the simple but far reaching wisdom and power and depth of heart meaning and purpose . Most hear His teaching with the physical ear but do not really hear with the spiritual; (they do not hear with the purpose of bringing their lives into conformity, by grace through faith, with His truth). The choice of neglecting, or rejecting, true heart reform is popular with many. For many, the choice of idol worship{or self worship} (a primary principal of the Throne of Iniquity{See my blog spot called Arrested for Sedition}) is easy because it does not require the complete surrender of self to YHWH (God); and this is the reason why Yahusha says they see, and see not, they hear, and hear not. Not that they cannot see or cannot hear but that they simply choose not to surrender all of self to Him at every step. This very condition is shown in all accept the good ground hears of this parable.

What is interesting to note is that of the four ground conditions given; only one is worthy of our example. Of all the ground conditions given only 25% is "good ground" the 75% is either eaten up by the fowls (Satan and those who follow him) or they (the plant) do not make it to maturity and bear fruit. The great object in this life is to bear fruit to the glory of Elohim "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." (Yochanan 15:8) [Jn] "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every [branch] that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.(Yochanan 15:2) [John] (See Gal. 5:22,23 and Eph. 5:9) 

All mankind bears fruit. For all mankind receives seed; the (wheat seed of Matit'yah ha Lev13 and the (tare seed)."Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. ". In this matter we have no choice. We will serve only one of two masters. " No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other." (Matit'yah-ha Levi 6:24)[Matt]. The fruit upon the tree of our lives manifests which seed type we are of; or which seed we are choosing to sow in our lives.  And there are only two types of seed in all of Scripture; the seed of Satan (which come from the Throne of Iniquity) or the Seed of Truth from the Throne of Glory(YHWH'S). Listen as YHWH speaks to Satan in the garden of Eden..... "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed(the tare seed) and her seed(the wheat seed); it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel"(B'resheet 3:15) [Gen.] Every motive, every thought, every word, every  tone of voice, every smile, every action is a manifestation of  evil fruit or good fruit....and every tree is known by it's fruit; which is turn was brought forth "after its kind"of seed.

In this last remnant of time, it is imperative that we; as followers of Messiah, first of all examine our own selves to see whether we are in the faith;(See 2Cor13:5) then, we must, (in the love of Messiah) try those who say they are of Messiah's seed so as not to bring a curse upon ourselves by being in accord with Belial. We as followers of Messiah should carefully consider the parable of the wheat and tares of Matit'yah-ha Levi 13; in connection with the parable of the sower.For the latter shows the results of the good seed sown and the former is the commencement of the work of good seed sowing with the final results of both seed types.

.Notice in the parable of the Wheat and Tares; there are two types of seed sown, namely wheat seed and the tare seed. The wheat seed is sown by Yahusha while the tare seed is sown by Satan. And we are told by Yahusha Himself that the good seed is the children of the kingdom but the tares are the children of the wicked one. Satan hopes that by sowing his seed among the wheat that reproach would be cast upon the people of YHWH; that they would bear the blame for the actions of the tares, then in turn the Devil seeks to turn away many who may have otherwise received the word of YHWH. He then says that no one can serve God; or God's plan of Redemption does not work. But in the end the wretchedness and ruin of untold millions will be shown for what it is; the harvest of what he himself has sown in the heart of the lost.

The Word of truth (the seed of Yochanan Makabi 4) that has been sown (upon good ground) is developed to the point of bearing fruit in the Sower Parable. And in the Wheat and Tares Parable we see it's final destination "...my barn...." or Yahusha's Kingdom. In the parable of the Sower we see in three out of four conditions shown, the beginning of spiritual life in the soul.

The seed that falls upon the stony ground springs up quickly. The seed that falls among thorns grows up. The seed that falls upon good ground also germinates and grows.

However, the seed that is sown by the way side, never germinates. (Spiritual life never commences).

In the case of the stony ground hearers we are told that when the sun comes up the plant withers and dies. Also, with the thorny ground hearers we see that the plant is choked by the thorns and dies.
Only in the case of the good ground hearers do we see a steady growth to maturity and fruit bearing.

Lessons to be learned.

We are the ones who determine what type of hearer we would be by the way in which we respond to the seeds of truth sown in the soul. 


If we see that we are a way side hearer; we can take heed to the advice of Scripture which teaches that now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation, harden not your hearts (in unbelief) but obey YHWH while it is called today for you no not if this is your last opportunity for repentance or if this is your last day on earth.

To the stony ground hearer the advice of Scripture is------
"Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for [it is] time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you." (Hoshea 10:12) [Hosea] and "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh" (Y'chizki'el 36:26)(Eze.)


To the thorny ground hearer the word of Truth is------ "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" (Matit'yah ha Levi 6:25) [Matt] Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. (Yirmi'yah 4:3) [Jer.]


And to the good ground hearer the word of Yahusha is this "....and every [branch] that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.(Yochanan 15:2) [John] "....and that your fruit remain" (Yochanan 15:16)
 

The seeds of truth sown in good ground in  Yochanan Makabi 4 [Mark] grow up into maturity and bear fruit, then it is gathered in at the harvest time shown in Matit'yah ha Levi 13[Matt]. The wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest. And When is the harvest? At the end of the world. The question now is, are we at the end of the world? According to Yesha'yah 46:10 and  Kefa bet 3:8 and B'resheet 1 we are. YHWH has clearly stated that we are to know the end from the beginning. In B'resheet we are told of the six literal days of creation week. From the beginning we are informed that YHWH will give six thousand years for man to work (to sow seed)" While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease" (B'resheet 8:22)[Gen.].; but on the Millennium Shabbat all man will cease from his works(in one way or another) as YHWH did from His (at creation). The weekly Shabbat is a weekly reminder of our implicit trust in Yahusha for salvation; for salvation is of YHWH.(Yochanan 2:9) [Jn] and Yahusha said come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. {Shabbat means rest}Rest from our own works of iniquity and rest in doing His works of righteousness(by faith)..... (the word of truth says: awake to righteousness and sin not) (See 1Cor 15:34)

We see this same theme of work and rest bought to view in Hagilu Natan Elohim 20(Rev). YHWH'S will is for us to cease from our own works and trust in the mighty works wrought out for us in the Life of Yahusha.

By living faith in Messiah we, day by day grow in holiness unto YHWH. For every plant must grow or die. As in the natural so in the spiritual world.Every day, as we look by faith to Yahusha in heart felt prayer, we receive water, sunshine and spiritual nourishment.

The heart (mind) where the seed of truth is sown must be continually cultivated. No farmer casts his seed into the garden before the ground is first tilled.And after the seed is sown in the tilled earth care must be taken, the garden must be weeded or else the precious crop is in danger of being strangled by the unwanted weeds.

Thus, each day, we must take time to watch (examine ourselves) and pray. We must look for the weeds of evil thoughts which fight for germination and  growth in actions. For it is thoughts which become actions which in turn become habits; and habits form  character. Elohim is coming for a people which are without spot or winkle. Character determines destiny. It is up to us to weed the garden of our minds. This is a daily work of faith. And Yahusha has promised to give us all the help we need. Ask, says Yahusha, and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you. These and many other precious promises(seeds of truth)  have been given us to sow (commit to memory) in the soil of our hearts; that we may grow into the fulness of the statue of men and women in Messiah.

I have touch on several subjects; within the parameters of the parable of the Sower, which we cannot now go into with great depth, however please let me know if you have any questions regarding this study and we will try our best to answer each one.

I would also have you to know that I write, not as one that has arrived or attained. The teaching here given is for me. And one of the ways to be put in remembrance of these things is to share them with you.

Shalom in Messiah

The Best Theme To Think Upon

"...What think ye of Christ?...." (Matit'yah ha Levi 22:42) [Matt.]

I was in evening worship with my wife and children just now and we sung a song that is so full of meaning that I thought within myself that what better theme to think on than that which is contained in this song? Can any of  you come up with a theme more exalted than this one? Please let me know if you have a better way of spending your thought life. (thought life meaning the person place or thing or things you think about the most)

I'm currently in the process of preparing the next study; but I thought to do a post on this most important theme.

As a matter of fact I'm persuaded that nothing else is worthy of our supreme attention than this theme. My goal in this life is to make it a mental habit to continually meditate on this theme as I go throughout my daily life; (home chores, work, exercising, whatever else there is to do).


What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this
That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!
When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down
Beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.
To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb,
Who is the great I AM,
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing,
While millions join the theme, I will sing.
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free
I’ll sing His love for me,
And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
And through eternity I’ll sing on.

 "....He is altogether lovely....." (Shir Hashirim 5:16)[S.ofS.]

From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.(Gal. 6:17)


Shalom.