Monthly Archives: December 2017

A little while back, Rhonda started us down a path, being prompted to look once again at something we had explored briefly in the past. It is the concept of ‘all creation’ being created ‘male and female’, and how it all responds accordingly and properly, beyond mere physicality or sexuality, but rather, spiritually. That recent exploration took us to a passage in Hosea, Hosea 2:21-22, that uses and translates the Hebrew word ‘anah’ as ‘hear’ or ‘respond’.

We just couldn’t seem to get that little word ‘anah’ out of our minds. She kept being prompted again and again, commenting over and over ‘we need to look at that word’. There just seemed to be something about those three little letters, and, in particular, the ‘n’ sound in the center. Well, here’s just a portion of what is hidden in that letter, which is also a word, hidden within a word, a true example of our Father YHVH’s ‘Bible Codes’.

The word is ‘anah’, which means ‘to respond to; to answer in response’.

The Hebrew spelling of the word anah is ayin, nun, hey. Every Hebrew letter is also a word and has individual and distinct meaning.  Simply put, the ayin is the word for ‘eye’ and the hey means ‘to behold’. (makes sense)  We already understood some of the meaning of the first and last letters, but we were somewhat unfamiliar, and, at the same time fascinated and drawn to this little letter ‘nun’.

The letter ‘nun’ (which is also a word) is spelled  – nun, vav, nun soffit.

For those that might not be familiar with Hebrew, the nun – pronounced noon (the hebrew ‘n’ sound) is one of 5 hebrew letters that have a different form when used at the end of a word. The term used for that different ending form of the letter is ‘soffit’ (sofeet).  We will explain a little later why that little tidbit is so intriguing.

Nun is the 14^th letter of the Hebrew alphabet; an interesting number. It is the number of years Jacob worked to finally get his bride. Fourteen is the number of the children of Rachel in Gen 46:19-22.

14  – two sevens – is the number of lambs each day during Sukkot, the feast of Tabernacles. (Numbers 29:12-ff)  But on the 8^th day, there is only one group of 7 lambs, for the kingdoms of the earth have become the Kingdom of our God, an image of our Father YHVH bringing together the two sticks/the two houses/the two donkeys in and through the work of His Right Hand – Yeshua, the Lamb of God, the one that takes away the sin of the world.  In Matthew 1, it says ‘and from Abraham (the one to whom the promise is given and who is set apart with bread and wine by Melchizedek/Yeshua) to King David (a type and shadow and progenitor of Messiah Yeshua) is 14 generations . . .

And again, nun is not only a letter, but also a word. It is both an Aramaic word for ‘fish’ as well as a Hebrew word for ‘fish’ or ‘posterity’, the root of which means ‘to propagate, to bring life’.

The first time we see in Scripture, not just the letter, but the word ‘nun’, is in Exodus 33:11. It introduces us to Joshua (Yehoshua – YHVH saves), the son of Nun – The Son of Life, The Son that propagates and brings life, a type and shadow of Yeshua (Salvation), the Son that is The Way , The Truth and The Life.

In Gen 48:15-16, we see, in the Hebrew, the use of a phrase that actually refers to ‘fish’ in the blessings for Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh.  – “And he (Israel) blessed Joseph, and said  “The Elohim, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, ¹⁶ The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them ‘grow’ into a multitude in the midst of the earth.””

{‘grow’ – dagah – (as fishes do increase) into a multitude in the midst of the earth}.

And that brings to mind a couple more passages in Scripture that mention ‘fish’ and ‘fishing’.

Jeremiah 16:16 – I will send Fishers, says Father YHVH

Matthew 4:19 – Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men, says Yeshua.

Here’s another interesting nugget concerning the letter ‘nun’.  The Gematria (numeric value and meaning) of the letter nun is ‘50’. Hopefully we all understand the number ‘50’ to be an allusion to jubilee, restoration, new life, all of which point to Messiah Yeshua, His first coming and His ultimate return and the restoration of all things. (Acts 3:19-21)

Oh yeah, remember, we mentioned that little tidbit about the different forms of the letter ‘nun’ within the word ‘nun’? The word (and the letter) is spelled nun, vav, nun soffit. And, just as a reminder, Hebrew is read from right to left. In this word ‘nun’, the first letter ‘nun’ resembles something that has been bent, representing humility and humble faithfulness. The second letter (the vav) is the spike or nail that connects heaven and earth. That ‘vav’ is Yeshua, the One nailed to a cross to be the reconciliation between us and our Father YHVH and for all who will come to Yeshua. The last letter, the nun soffit, is not bent but rather straight and upright, representing the reward for faithfulness and humility.

Remember Yeshua’s words in Matthew 23:12? “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”  We see those same thoughts echoed in 1 Peter 5:6. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty Hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time”.

And obviously, all this points us to the example of our Messiah Yeshua. “And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  ⁹ Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name.” (Phi 2:8)

Even the sages of old (whom we rarely quote) taught the word ‘nun’ in psalm 72:17 as a reference to Messiah ben David, the One we know as Yeshua/Jesus, the Returning King. “His name shall be forever: His name shall be ‘continued’ as long as the sun. (literally in Heb. ‘continued’ – His name shall propagate, bring life}: and men shall be blessed in Him: all nations shall call Him blessed “(Psa 72:17)

“And it shall come to pass in that day, I will respond (Anah), saith YHVH, I will respond to the heavens, and they shall respond to the earth; ²² And the earth shall respond to the grain, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall respond to Jezreel. ²³ And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.” (Hos 2:21-23)

Anah – to respond –ayin, nun, hey – “The eye beholds the One who humbled Himself and is exalted.”

Blessed is He Who Comes in the Name of YHVH

Shabbat Shalom – J&R

Beginning January 20th, Prodigal Ministries will host a monthly Sabbath gathering on the 3rd Shabbat of each month. The meetings will be held at the First Southern National Bank Community Ballroom, located above the BlueBird Cafe, 202 W. Main St, downtown Stanford KY. The gathering will begin at 1:30pm est. There will be a time of praise and worship, prayer, ministry and discussion as the Spirit leads, to be concluded with a potluck fellowship.
As long as there is apparent interest evidenced by commitment in attendance, the meetings will continue.

Words . . . combinations of letters that are used to convey meaning, emotion, direction, instruction, correction, and hopefully culminate in true communication. Words are words. Words are not pagan. Words can be used to promote pagan or idolatrous or cultic, unclean and unholy concepts, and, at the same time, some of these same words can be used to promote that which is good and proper and clean and holy.
‘Shekinah’ is a word. ‘Shekinah’ is a word used by many to convey the idea of the divine presence of God Almighty. Although this is a legitimate Hebrew word, the word itself does not appear in the Hebrew Bible. It comes from the same root as many words that do appear in the Hebrew Text. The Mishkan, the Hebrew word for the ‘Tabernacle of Moses’ comes from this same root. We see this root again in 1 Chronicles 24 and 2 Chronicles 31 in the name ‘Shecaniah’ (ShecinYah) which means’ dwells with Yah’. It is the word used in Exodus 40:35 where it says the cloud (anan) settled (shakan) on the tent of meeting and the Glory (kavod) of God filled the tabernacle (mishkan). We actually see in Psalm 94 and Psalm 120, a word from this same root that is very close to the English transliterated ‘shekinah’. It is the word ‘shakanah’ (sheen, kaf, nun, hey). This same root word is used in this same manner in many other passages in the Tanach (Old Testament), showing not only the dwelling or presence of man but also the dwelling, abiding, residing presence of The Spirit of God in the Land and among His people. The root word is ‘shakan’, (sheen, kaf, nun) which means ‘to dwell or reside or abide’.
So what about this word ‘shekinah’? The first place it is believed to have been used is in The Targum and early Judaic writings, after the period of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Although almost a THOUSAND years later this word began to be connected to aspects of Jewish Mysticism, in the earlier writings and usages it would be recognized as comparable to the concept in more modern ‘christianity’ as the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, the divine presence of God Almighty. Yes, there are those in cultic, occultic and pagan ‘religions’ who have taken this word and applied it to aspects of ‘divinity’ that are very much in opposition to the True Word of God. But is that not what the enemy of our souls does? Is He not the original counterfeiter and liar? Does he not take the Word of God and twist it, distort it and use it to his advantage and to our demise, doing everything he can to deprive us of what our Father YHVH has for us?
Our Abba created Light. The enemy has taken light and perverted it. Should we therefore sit in the dark? Our Father created music. The enemy has taken music and perverted it. Should we therefore close our ears to the beauty of these sounds our Father has given? YHVH has given us the beauty of all His creation. The enemy has taken that creation and prompted man to worship the creation rather than the Creator? Should we therefore close our eyes to the beauty our Father has given us? God Almighty has given us His Word. The enemy has taken that word and perverted and twisted and used it in half-truths to our detriment. Should we therefore avoid aspects and passages of The Word our Father YHVH has given us so as to supposedly not be pagan or occultic and ultimately deprive ourselves of the full counsel of God ?
Words are words. YHWH, Yahweh, Yehovah, Jesus, Christ, Cross, church, these are all words . . . words to which some in our camp have assigned paganistic, cultic and ‘evil’ meanings. Words are words. Shekinah is a word . . . use the word . . . don’t use the word . . . but know why you do what you do, and that what you do is not to be based merely on what others have said. Be a Berean. Shalom

. . . a little background on the ‘why’ of The Dedication . . . Happy Channukah.

2 Maccabees 10:1 Now Maccabeus and his company, the Lord guiding them, recovered the temple and the city:
2 And the altars which the heathen had built in the open street, and also the walls of the sacred enclosures, they pulled down.
3 And having cleansed the temple, they made another altar, and striking stones they took fire out of them, and offered a sacrifice after two years, and set forth incense, and lights, and shewbread.
4 When that was done, they fell prostrate, and besought the Lord that they might come no more into such troubles; but if they sinned any more against him, that he himself would chasten them with mercy, and that they might not be delivered unto the blasphemous and barbarous nations.
5 Now upon the same day that the strangers profaned the temple, on the very same day it was cleansed again, even the five and twentieth day of the same month, which is Chislev.
6 And they kept the eight days with gladness, as in the feast of the tabernacles, remembering that not long afore they had held the feast of the tabernacles, when as they wandered in the mountains and dens like beasts.
7 Therefore they bare branches, and fair boughs, and palms also, and sang psalms unto HIM that had given them good success in cleansing HIS place.

For Rhonda and I, the time in Columbus this past weekend was tremendous. There was such a good spirit of fellowship and worship and sharing. ‘Thank you so much’ to the Serna family who opened their hearts and home to us. We were overwhelmed by the warm hospitality and feeling of ‘family’ we received from them. They made us feel ‘at home’.  Abba, thank you for Your Presence . . .

Sitting here, pondering the events of yesterday, overcome by emotion, we are humbled and overwhelmed by our Lord’s mercy, grace, power and faithfulness. This is not the first time this has happened, and not only to us but to others as well. In the past, the Spirit spoke these words to Rhonda, ‘the enemy is going to try to kill you’, and within minutes the attempt was made, and the enemy has tried to take out many others who can share a similar testimony.
There is a tremendous battle raging in the heavens and in the earth and there is ‘change’ coming, a change the enemy does NOT want to take place. God’s glory is coming and the enemy is desperately raging against it. Anyone that willingly steps onto the battle field is a target, for it is not about any person or ministry or group or denomination or theology. It is about the promised move of God in the earth in these last days.
The Lover of our souls is wanting to do a great work in His people in these days and the enemy of our souls is fighting tooth and nail to prevent it.
So Pray . . . pray for protection . . . pray for one another . . . pray for our families . . . keep one another covered . . . circle the wagons . . . pray for the upcoming meetings in Columbus and Brad Scott in January and Bro. Charles in June . . . and as people and situations and circumstances and ministries and needs are brought to your mind, heart and spirit, Pray . . . Pray as if life and all eternity depends on it . . .

Rhonda and I had the privilege of speaking in Somerset yesterday. The presence of The Spirit of God was evident, as well as open hearts, spirits and minds.
During the prayer time, the virtually unanimous petition on everyone’s lips was ‘protection’. Bro. Paul kept speaking concerning protection for us all during the prayer time . . .

The enemy attempted to eliminate Rhonda and I last night.