The Clarion, Aug. 2025
Welcome
August is a time when we begin to think about school starting and summer ending and yet, we still have time to get in those summertime events. It’s kind of like when you begin growing old. You can’t retire yet, and still you begin slowing down. The autumn years of our lives are there to remind us that even though we still have the best years of our lives ahead, we begin remembering those days when we had our youth. The hair may begin to gray and even thin out a little but that only makes us look distinguished and full of wisdom. We are reminded in God’s Word that life is short no matter if you are in your autumn years or even in the time of winter, because there are so many people who do not even make it that far. We must appreciate life no matter where we find ourselves, for even the young have no guarantees. We have to take time and think about life. Here are a few Scriptures to remind us. “For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, for our days on earth are a shadow.” Job 8:9
“O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before You. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!” Psalm 39:4-5
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” James 4:13-15
“How precious to me are Your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with You. Psalm 139:17-18
And one thing we do know is this about God for He says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” which appears in the Bible in both Deuteronomy 31:8 and Hebrews 13:5.
All Rise For The Judge
We have been looking at Yeshua as the Judge and we want to continue looking at more of these times when Yeshua gave His verdict. Yeshua was asked to arbitrate between two brothers in a matter of the family’s inheritance. Yeshua was reluctant to do so, but He did give them a warning followed by a parable.
Luke 12:13-15 tells us all about it. “Now someone in the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ But He said to him, ‘You there—who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over the two of you?’ But He said to them, ‘Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one is affluent does his life consist of his possessions.”’ It is interesting that Yeshua equates the dividing of an inheritance with greed. Luke 12:16-21 continues, “And He told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man was very productive. And he began thinking to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and I will store all my grain and my goods there. And I will say to myself, ‘You have many goods stored up for many years to come; relax, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is demanded of you; and as for all that you have prepared, who will own it now?’ Such is the one who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich in relation to God.”
Luke 12:22-34 goes on to say, “And He said to His disciples, ‘For this reason I tell you, do not worry about your life, as to what you are to eat; nor for your body, as to what you are to wear. For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, that they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add a day to his life’s span? Therefore if you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about the other things? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither labor nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For all these things are what the nations of the world eagerly seek; and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek His kingdom, and these things will be provided to you. Do not be afraid, little flock, because your Father has chosen to give you the kingdom. ‘Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor does a moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”’
Maybe when He said all of this it was because He had just been saying this in Luke 9:23-25, “And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, this is the one who will save it. For what good does it do a person if he gains the whole world, but loses or forfeits himself?’”
Yeshua also says this in Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”’
Paul says this in Hebrews 13:5a “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.” So what does all of this have to do with an inheritance? Yeshua did not come as judge, for now, but to save lives, and He knew that the root of all evil was money. Yeshua was showing them a better way and that way was contentment, and we find contentment only in Yeshua.
Deuteronomy 15:11 tells us “For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.”
Yes, we will always have the poor, and because of this we should be generous to others. The reason why we do have the poor is because those who have money build bigger barns, and heap their wealth upon themselves.
Matthew 25: 31-46 tells us how God will judge. “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. ‘Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’ ‘Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’
Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me, either.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Yeshua says this in Luke 16:19-31, “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, enjoying himself in splendor every day. And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed from the scraps which fell from the rich man’s table; not only that, the dogs also were coming and licking his sores. Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s arms; and the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades he raised his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his arms. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set, so that those who want to go over from here to you will not be able, nor will any people cross over from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I request of you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not come to this place of torment as well.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
When we deny ourselves so others may have, then God looks upon that with favor, but if you only give your excess then that is no sacrifice.
Mark 12:41-44 says this, “And Yeshua sat down opposite the treasury, and began watching how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large amounts. And a poor widow came and put in two lepta coins, which amount to a quadrans. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”’
Matthew 19:23, “And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
It truly is better to give than receive, Acts 20:35.
Safetyzoneforteens.com The Sound of Silence
In 1964 Simon and Garfunkel released a song called “The Sound of Silence” Here are a few verses. “Hello darkness, my old friend I’ve come to talk with you again, because a vision softly creeping left its seeds while I was sleeping, and the vision that was planted in my brain still remains within the sound of silence.” “And in the naked light I saw ten thousand people, maybe more. And in the naked light I saw ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening, people writing songs that voices never share. No one dared disturb the sound of silence.”
So many activist songs were written in the 60’s and 70’s. There were so many things to protest, like war and inequality, and the rights for women and animals and well, almost everything. The young crowd spent most of their time gathered together to bring attention to one thing or another. I’m not sure that anyone heard them. You see in this country we have freedom to speak out, but when the sounds get drowned out by the noise of everyday life, there becomes a true sound of silence, no one hears and so no one cares. Today we still have people protesting and shouting and no one hears. Why? Because, once again the noise of everyday life drowns it out. Everyone has their problems. Everyone is trying to live their lives and that alone can become overwhelming. Life is what it is and life is hard enough. But the needs of people go unheard, and those who do sit in silence become more alone and helpless. Needs are not met. Friendships are not made. The poor and needy and lonely are still forgotten. So don’t you think that there is a better way than just protesting? How about actually doing something to change or help or to make the situation better. Many people need help. Many people would love to talk to someone because their life is nothing but the sound of silence, those who do sit in darkness. There are many homeless people who could use a friend. Get your friends together and go cut an elderly person’s grass or shovel their snow. There are so many things you could do. You could be the next greatest generation if you turned your words into action and loved one another with your deeds. Yes, it is easier to carry a picket sign or walk the streets with others, but this never does any good for those who really need help. Put your money together and buy a person lunch or a child a toy during the holidays.
Think about it and let your words become actions and then you will see that your voices are not falling on deaf years. Then you can look back one day and say I did this for society, for a person, for a family and you will see that the sound of silence can really be heard. The Bible says, “Love covers a multitude of sins.” We all have our faults, but we also all have talents and abilities that we can put to use to make this a better world. No sign or picket line or talk can do that, only true love put into action. Let’s break the silence with love for one another in giving a helping hand to those who may even be standing right alongside of you, as you carry your sign. Let’s break the silence and begin to listen with love.
Hebrew Corner: When Seven Became One, Part 1
The Biblical calendar, which is a lunar calendar, is the calendar in which God created at the time of Creation.
Genesis 1:3-5 mentions the first day. “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness He called ‘night.’ And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”
If you notice the day began with night and on day one began the year. It was called Rosh HaShanah, which means the beginning of the year, or the head. It is the birthday of Creation. This year may be 2025, but on God’s calendar the true year is 5785.
Ezekiel 40:1a speaks of it this way. In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, Rosh Hashanah. This is the beginning day and the start of the first month. All of Creation was created during this time. It was the first month till God changed it. You see only God can change what He created.
We read in Exodus 12:1-2, “Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year for you.”
So, the seventh month now became the first, and the first month became the seventh month. The seventh month still changes the civil year, but the first month begins the first month of the Biblical year. The first month is the month in which we celebrate the Passover. The Passover Season does not end till Shavuot or what we call Pentecost. They are the Spring Feasts of God’s Appointed Times. His calendar, His Appointed Times, not man’s, they are all part of His Creation. His history that He wrote before the foundation of the world. His story, not ours. The first month starts with Passover, when all the first born died in Egypt, also when Yeshua died. The Feast of Unleavened Bread, is when Israel fled Egypt. Yeshua’s blood gave us victory over our sinful nature. The Feast of First Fruits, is when Israel crossed the Red Sea, and the Resurrection of Messiah and Shavuot was the giving of God’s Word on Mount Sinai and Pentecost was the giving of His Spirit, which makes up the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.
Rosh HaShanah, is the Beginning, or as it is also called the Head. Rosh HaShanah is also known as the Feast of Trumpets. Leviticus 23: 24 tells us, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.”
Next month we will look at the reason why it is called the Feast of Trumpets.
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