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The study of the Bible in its historical context - with a focus on the archaeology, history, geography, customs , culture, and even the languages of the ancient Middle East. WE ask what did they understand THEN - the original intent of the Lord - so that we can expand and enrich our understanding NOW and thus become true disciples of Adonai Yeshua as in John 8:31-32.
Episodes
3 days ago
3 days ago
SHAVUOT - EPISODE 1
So few Christians really understand that there is a God ordained connection between Passover and Pentecost, between פֶּסַח Paysak and שָׁבוּעוֹת Shavuot. So few churches today even celebrate Pentecost. We have lost so much, we have become so disconnected from our roots, שׁוֹרָשִׁים SHORASHEEM.
One connection between Passover and Pentecost is "geographical." Passover is the time of the barley harvest. Pentecost is the time of the wheat harvest. Two harvests and both times the Torah calls them times of the First Fruits. Interesting. Paul calls Jesus the FIRST FRUITS. Is there something Paul understands that we don't. You bet. And there is so much more.
God commands a COUNTDOWN starting, in Jesus' day, on the Sunday after Passover (Resurrection Sunday!). That was day 1 and the count is to continue for 7 Sabbath weeks - 49 days. The 50th day God commands in His Torah is the feast of Pentecost (which means 50) or שָׁבוּעוֹת Shavuot meaning weeks. God is telling us there is some awesome connection between Passover and Pentecost so much so that we are to count each day till Pentecost.
In the past religious Jews started using Psalm 67 as they did the countdown. Many still do it today. Why? In Hebrew Psalm 67 has 49 words. ON top of that Psalm 67 has only 7 verses like the 7 weeks between the start of the Omer count and Pentecost or Shavuot. You can see this in the picture below. (Note - you'll see perhaps a hyphen used in the text. That does not mean one word but actually two in the original Hebrew which never used hyphens). So each day the Jewish people say a blessing to the Lord, state what day of the count it is, and recite out loud Psalm 67.
In this lesson I make the case that this is something we Christians should be doing. Why? Wait till you hear the lesson. Psalm 67 seems to have been inspired by the Lord to His ELECT, Israel, and now to us. The psalm used between Passover and Pentecost is connected to Jesus in amazing and surprising ways. It's all about Jesus and it always has been. We should do the countdown and look to the awesome feast of Pentecost. All churches should now, during the countdown, teach about Pentecost and Passover, the 1st harvest and the 2nd harvest, the 1st blessing and the 2nd blessing, the giving of the Laws of the Lord and the giving of that which completes the Law, and the coming of the Teaching of the Lord (Torah) and the coming of the Teacher, רוח הקודש, RUACH HAKODESH, the Holy Spirit. For more on all this check out these links that can be found after the picture of Psalm 67 below.
My article on the Feast of First Fruits, the Omer Count, and Shavuot - https://www.dropbox.com/s/dv38j7tx1qos4ue/d%20Lesson4..COUNTING%20THE%20DAYS...2019..107..136.pdf?dl=0
Link to the Light of Menorah podcasts, "Archaeology of Passover" - https://lightofmenorah.podbean.com/?s=archaeology
Link to pictures of the Chapel of the Ascension - https://www.biblewalks.com/AscensionChurch
Link to pictures of the Russian Church of the Ascension on the Mt. of Olives - https://www.biblewalks.com/russianascensionchurch
Link to pictures of Augusta Victoria and the German Lutheran Church of the Ascension - https://www.biblewalks.com/augustavictoria
Rev. Ferret - who is this guy? What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0
4 days ago
4 days ago
4 days ago
5 days ago
5 days ago
A Place Called Gethsemane
The Passion Week account of Jesus happens during the annual feast of Passover for the Jews. This is one of three times that every Jew was required to travel to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast. Jesus being a devout Jew went to the city as well not only for the feast but to complete His awesome mission. Not every Jew in the world could possibly come but it is estimated that 1 to 1.5 million people would be in the city during Passover. The picture below from the Temple Institute in Israel shows the 1000’s entering the city at Passover.
Since Jerusalem was a city of perhaps an estimated population 35,000 to 80,000 depending on the archaeologist, it is clear that the city could not handle such a dramatic increase in population. Every extra room was rented and those not finding rooms camped out on the hills nearby or they sought lodging in nearby towns like Bethlehem or Bethany. Many of those who camped out in the hills around Jerusalem would more than likely camp on the beautiful slopes of the surrounding hills like Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem. (Vander Laan 177)
After Jesus and His apostles had completed the Passover Seder meal they went to the Mount of Olives to a place called Gethsemane at the Mount of Olives in an olive grove. The account can be found in Matt 26:36, Mark 14:32, Luke 22:39 and John 18:1. The word Gethsemane is the English transliteration of a Greek word which was based on two Hebrew words. (Picture below from Permaculture Research Institute, is a good idea of what the side of the Mt. of Olives would have looked like in Jesus’ day).
The first was GAT. The Hebrew word stands for a press. The second word is SHEMIN which means oil – like olive oil. The plural in Hebrew is Sheminim. Thus, Gat Sheminim means a press for oils and referred to in most cases an olive press. (Vander Laan 178)
Today in Israel one can visit Tel Maresha in the Negev. At this tel archaeologists found the remains of a perfectly intact olive press. Olive presses were built in caves close to an olive grove. The cave itself would have “windows” cut into the walls and an air shaft in the roof. These “windows” and the airshaft were used to control the airflow and temperature since processing olives required a certain temperature range. The olives themselves were processed by first smashing them with a millstone to break open the skins. The smashed olives were then put into special porous bags and crushed under the weight of huge weighted down cypress logs in the main press room. The olive oil would run down into a basin which had a drain directly into a collection jar below the pile of bags of crushed olive pulp. The jar of oil would be sealed when filled and made ready to be taken to market. (Vander Laan 178) The picture below is of the Gat Sheminim at Tel Maresha Israel courtesy of Israel Travel Inc.
Where is this exact location of where Jesus prayed and is there a connection to the Gat Sheminim and the word Gethsemane? As far as location is concerned, “Christian tradition has always placed Gethsemane on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives – though today the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches hallow different sites.” (Reader’s Digest 186) Recently, however, archaeologists working at the base of the Mount of Olives made a very interesting discovery. “A cave nearby was recently identified as containing an ancient olive press. Early 6th century tradition supports this cave as being Jesus’ Gethsemane.” (Vander Laan 179) Moreover, no archaeological evidence nor evidence from ancient descriptions of the city of Jerusalem and its surroundings as ever found a place called the Garden of Gethsemane. This name is a modern label attached to an area that tourists would come to experience what the place called Gethsemane in the Bible was like. “The designation ‘Gethsemane’ does not occur outside the gospels. Even Luke 22:39 omits the name, using the more general description, ‘the Mount of Olives.’”(Flusser 251) What we know for a fact is that the Mount of Olives had an olive grove and near olive groves one will find a Gat Sheminim or an olive press.
One might conjecture the following based upon the fact that in the Jewish culture God taught His people difficult theological truths with the use of pictures – as in the case of the word tekton and 1 Peter 2:4-6. Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and entered the gat sheminim, or the olive press, to find a secluded place to pray. He would prefer the seclusion of the press since there were many possible pilgrims camping out on the slopes of the hill for Passover and the press would be located in a quiet cave. Perhaps Jesus knew the owner and was able to gain private access to the olive press. Again, all of this is conjecture but it is based on the archaeological evidence that is factual.
In the gat sheminim, or in a location very close, we know that Jesus prayed and was in deep stress and anguish. In the account found in Luke 22:44 Jesus’ sweat was like drops of blood. What is intriguing about this picture is a verse found in Isaiah 53:5. This verse for us Christians says He was crushed for our inequities. When one makes the connection between the discovery of the olive press and how it was used and these verses it would seem that God is showing us how Jesus was crushed – like an olive crushed by the weight of a huge cypress log with heavy weights attached. It would seem that God Himself is making use of the archaeological discoveries to open up the world of the Bible to us so that its meaning is enhanced. Do we know for a fact that Jesus was in the olive press or the Gat Sheminim? No we do not. But, these discoveries perhaps are given to us to intensify our understanding of His word and the picture of the gat sheminim can simply be used to help us understand the scope of Jesus’ stress and anxiety that horrible night.
Works Cited
* That the World May Know Set 3 Ray Vander Laan c 1996 Focus on the Family Publishing Colorado Springs CO
* Egypt and Bible History: C. Aling Baker House book Grand Rapids MI c 1981
* “Reader’s Digest Atlas of the Bible”, C 1981 Reader’s digest, Plesantville, NY
* “Jesus”, David Flusser, Magnes Press, Hebrew Univ., Jerusalem, 1998
* Josephus WAR 5:141
* “First Easter: The True and Unfamiliar Story”, Paul L. Maier, Harper and Row, NY 1973.
* Archaeology and the Bible: The Best of Biblical Archaeology Review, “The Garden Tomb: Was Jesus Buried Here?”, Gabriel Barkay, Vol. II, Archaeology in the World of Herod, Jesus and Paul.
Rev. Ferret - who is this guy?
(John & Robin somewhere in the Middle East)
What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0
6 days ago
6 days ago
TRUTH NUGGET #17
Jesus is the Lamb of God and the original Bible never says He is the Passover Lamb. This is clear in the ancient Greek manuscripts like Codex Sinaiticus dated to 330 A.D. We said He is the Passover Lamb. It is easy to see why but the Bible like the NASB or the KJV, the best translations from the ancient Greek and the Hebrew, state Jesus is the Passover and NOT the Passover Lamb in 1 Cor. 5:7. But, if we see Jesus as distinct from the Passover Lamb, if we see Jesus as the Lamb of God, these lambs on Passover create an amazing picture of God's redemption of His people, Israel, through Moses the first redeemer, and God's ultimate redemption of Jew and Gentile, the whole world, through Messiah Jesus the Ultimate Redeemer. Once again God has created an amazing literary structure in His Bible that creates a mirror to help us see His awesome truth. Let us now study the Mirror of Passover and see the centrality of the Cross from Genesis to Revelation.
Rev. Ferret - who is this guy?
What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0
7 days ago
7 days ago
In lesson 5 we will focus on Resurrection Sunday. In previous sessions we reconnected to our Jewish roots and found an amazing "picture" that relates the 1st Palm Sunday to the events of the 1st Exodus. The 1st Palm Sunday - if it was a Sunday happened in 30 A.D. - would have been Nissan 10. The day in Exod. 12:1-3 when the fathers of each household would pick the Passover lamb. We learned that the Father, our God, chose His son Jesus on the 1st Palm Sunday, on Nissan 10, as His LAMB OF GOD. What an amazing picture. And, when we go to the next Sunday, the day Jesus rose from the dead, we will see another "picture" from the foundation of Christianity, our Jewish roots, that will add to and enhance our understanding of this explosive event in the doctrine of all Christian believers, the Resurrection of Jesus the Bread of Life and the First Fruits of those who will also rise from the dead.
Links for this lesson ...
Rev. Ferret's video - where is Gethsemane? - filmed on location in Israel -
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mh36zp9i5ta7g74/Gat%20Sheminim%20Real%20Story%20v6.mp4?dl=0
Joel Kramer's video - the location of Jesus' trial - filmed on location in Israel -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx3qtmik_Fg&list=PL0xmKFdTYCJUBPesnN4vK9_uFyf540NsB&index=10&t=0s
Ray Vander Laan's article on the New Tomb - https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/a-new-tomb
Pictures of tombs in Jesus' day - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/h79kcqbbeb7vf65/AADxSidFpnf0jn3aHSXfZaJpa?dl=0
Dr. Barkey - video of Dr. Barkey proving that the Garden Tomb is not the tomb of Jesus - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dndRgZGvNNM
Rev. Ferret's video - THE MIRROR OF PASSOVER -
Rev. Ferret - who is this guy?
What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0
Tuesday Apr 15, 2025
Tuesday Apr 15, 2025
Why unleavened bread for Passover? Christians say that leaven represents sin. Well, yes and no. We are not ancient Hebrews. We never lived in ancient Egypt 3500 year ago. If we did we'd see something totally different. Why? Because the Bible was written to those Hebrews who were slaves in Egypt and prior to their slavery had adopted the ways and the gods of Egypt. We need to hear what they heard and see what they saw and try and understand a they did so we can rightly understand what God is teaching us and telling. This has a direct impact on the bread Jesus took and said that it was HIS body. This is too amazing.
And we will get into the issue of what day did Jesus have His Last Supper, the Passover Meal of the Messiah? If you read Matt 26:17 and say that it is correct then Jesus died on a Saturday if you think Jesus died in 33 A.D. - it results in us contradicting the Bible! And what about the Last Supper - did Jesus do a Seder? He never did!! He couldn't have. Why? He is God and He gave us the Torah and He never changes and will never go against His own commands. Just because some in Jesus' day did the Passover meal on days they decided were right, we don't listen to their ideas that are not connected to God's word. So hang to your seats. This session will blow you away.
Here's the links for articles and a video that will enhance your studies in this 4th session.
LINK - article on the Egyptian god Amun - https://www.ancient.eu/amun/
LINK - article on the Egyptian god Ra - https://www.arce.org/resource/ra-creator-god-ancient-egypt
LINK - article on the location of the upper room - https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/jesus-last-supper-tomb-of-david/
LINK - article on the origins of the Seder - https://schechter.edu/the-origins-of-the-seder/
LINK - video lesson entitled "The Mirror of Passover." This takes this series and expands upon it even further. The Passover of Adonai is an amazing event that seems to provide a mirror the Lamb of God and the Passover Lamb and the new creation in Genesis and the new creation in the book of Revelation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipaeu7AQZ8Y&t=836s
Rev. Ferret - who is this guy?
What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0
Monday Apr 14, 2025
Monday Apr 14, 2025
We will focus on the Last Supper and we will see how knowing ancient Egypt enhances our understanding of not only the Passover meal of Israel but how it helps us see the Last Supper, the Passover meal of the Messiah, in a deeper and more intense way.
Another concept we will study is the Jewish Seder. What is a Seder and when did it develop? You will be amazed to see that Jesus NEVER did a Seder and, even the Jewish people prior to 70 A.D., never did a Seder. Again, we are dealing with real history and we will see that the Jewish Seder that we know today had its beginnings in Jesus' day and before. But, Jewish sources show clearly that the Seder was established after 70 A.D. as a response of the rabbis to figure out what to do now that the Temple was destroyed and they could not do the Passover meal as commanded by God in the place He commanded, in Jerusalem. After 70 A.D. Passover and the Appointed time of Unleavened Bread was not a pilgrimage event any more. Now the rabbis sad you could do it in your house anywhere to keep the feast alive. On top of that we will also see that Jesus did not do a Passover meal as commanded in Exodus 12. His meal was something unique and distinct but it was only understood in light of the Passover meal.
Here's the links for articles and a video that will enhance your studies in this 4th session.
LINK - article on the Egyptian god Amun - https://www.worldhistory.org/amun/
LINK - article on the Egyptian god Ra - https://www.arce.org/resource/ra-creator-god-ancient-egypt
LINK - article on the location of the upper room - https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/jesus-last-supper-tomb-of-david/
LINK - article on the origins of the Seder - https://schechter.edu/the-origins-of-the-seder/
LINK - video lesson entitled "The Mirror of Passover." This takes this series and expands upon it even further. The Passover of Adonai is an amazing event that seems to provide a mirror the Lamb of God and the Passover Lamb and the new creation in Genesis and the new creation in the book of Revelation - https://youtu.be/ipaeu7AQZ8Y
Rev. Ferret - who is this guy?
What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0
Sunday Apr 13, 2025
Sunday Apr 13, 2025
Session 2 - we continue our focus on the 1st Palm Sunday probably in 30 A.D. We ask why did the Lord pick this day to ride into Jerusalem? Was it just the day that was convenient or was it part of a plan? Is there something about this Sunday that they understood almost 2000 years ago but we don't since we are not Jewish and we did not live then. And what's the deal about the palm branches? In those days the palm branch to the Jews was not a symbol of victory like Rome or Greece - that's a pagan meaning and devout religious Jews would never use such a pagan meaning. For the Jews then it was the symbol of the land of Israel. If you waved a palm branch in Jesus' day as they did it's like us raising the American flag today like after 9/11 and shouting out, "USA, USA, USA!" Waving palm branches was a patriotic gesture in those times in Israel. So, let's delve into our continued study and walk those ancient streets and paths to try and grasp what they knew, what they understood so that the Bible's meaning for us is enhanced and our walk with Rabbi Jesus becomes more passionate and committed.
Here's links to some awesome articles that will enhance your study ...
The article from Jerusalem Perspective on Jesus' last ride into Jerusalem - https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/1402/
Rev. Ferret's graduate paper on the archaeology of the Passion of Jesus - https://www.dropbox.com/s/28fu8ay951lwy3u/NWC%20Paper%20Passion%20Week%202020%20revised.pdf?dl=0
Rev. Ferret - who is this guy? (Teaching in Mexico in the desert)
What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0