Colossians 4 ~ pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the Word, to declare the mystery of Christ

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.


Colossians 4

Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.


7 Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant[a] in the Lord. 8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, 9 and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.

10 Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him), 11 and Jesus who is called Justus. 

These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.

12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. 

13 For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. 14 Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. 15 Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. 16 And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. 17 And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.”

18 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

Are you grim? Do you suffer the ravages of Daylight Savings Time? Will your Thanksgiving be small, with old people who ask lots of questions? Will your adult Children rebel? Will people complain about your food? Do you have a cold? Did your TV quit and your oven? Do you suffer knowing Thanksgiving isn't Christmas? Do you complain a lot because Thanksgiving has Christmas decorations?

If you have to eat Aunt Marge's Stuffing one more time will you just die? Are you angry Walmart is open? Are you Veggan and will you punish the meat eaters with commentary? Is someone going to be offended at your Beliefs? Will your behavior be questioned? Will your in-laws still be talking about last year? Do you have children with colic? Is someone going to complain about their health? Will you be the football at Lucy and Charlie Brown's table?

Isaiah 11:6 -
The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all.

Matthew 18
3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven


Welcome to Thanksgiving in America.

It's only a Hallmark card day for over-eating created by Abraham Lincoln to insure guilt over civil liberties.

Then again...

Thanksgiving is a ministry we give to ourselves. Receiving a time set aside to tell HIM with gratitude about what He has given us. Read these letters called Scripture telling us centuries of people gave up freedoms to proclaim Love. Greet people from far away, traveling to do this. 

Bear witness to the efforts people bring just to get to the table. Appreciate the work of the table provided. Struggle, if you have to, to make your Thanksgiving Day include a prayer out loud at that table. Pray for good health and praise having good health. Make sure your table includes the grace of keeping your mouth shut, in love, not to take the day to improve someone. Greet each person at the table with a message of encouragement for the unique blessings and abilities given to them from Him, because all people are Children of God. He wants to save the World.

Encourage Hearts by listening more. Listen to the details provided, many explain unspoken cares and blessings of interests He gives us to develop our souls in Him. He equips us to grow in maturity, confidence and assurance to stand in the Will of God. Remembering that as fellow sojourners in life, we all need forgiveness for the sins of our youth...youths...

It would appear Micah had a friend with some similar Spirit...

Zechariah 7:8-10

And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”

Maybe this isn't just an Abraham Lincoln remembrance of days of yesteryear.

Maybe this goes back.. Just a bit further, Bob Uecker style.

America rests upon four cornerstones ~ the English Bible, English language, common law, and traditions of liberty. However justly and fairly, knowing our Heavenly Father, liberty, language, and the law might have been drawn from the Bible alone.

The Feast of Tabernacles, a Biblical celebration, was kept in the autumn. People camped on their roof for a week. No Hallmark Cards allowed.

God's SEVEN Biblical festivals are contained within the three major Harvest (why Thanksgiving comes in after the work is redeemed) seasons of the Holy Land: the barley harvest, the later spring wheat harvest, and the great ingathering late summer and fall harvest.

So many festivals - why - we are literally moved out of your chair - seeing a new perspective increases our attitudes of 'gratitudes' and changes our dog path thinking. New paths for people riding the Wind called the Holy Spirit. Seize the Day He brings.

John 3:8
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

Find what Wind serves to advance an honest mind. John Donne

Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, LORD, have blessed it and it will be blessed forever. In the Highest name - grace - Love - walking among us, Jesus, we pray. Amen

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11/26 Perhaps it is worth noting today, that as my mother and I shopped at a local store - Picket Fences - I went out to the car. When I came back to the door of the shop, it flung itself open and the wind - which was blowing all day - followed me in and as my eyes adjusted, the ladies, about twenty-five of them, were riveted. I paused, and the store manager explained, "When you arrived the indoor Santa on the door was carried up, up and down the sidewalk outside". Father God, let me always say, welcome Jesus! Amen. 

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Joel 3:1-2; Joel 3:9-17 ~ Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

There will be a Day. We experience the Day of the Lord. Scripture, which is very honest, says this is a day of Shock. It's frightening. And this is the work of Jesus. Salvation. We travel like the Children of Israel out of slavery - life chasing us - into the Valley of Decision - Go with the Lord. Go.
 

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 
Colossians 2:6-7 

Exodus 19

16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. 20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called...


Ephesians 3
3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in[b] God who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

4 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Revelation 21

2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place[a] of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,[b] and God himself will be with them as their God.[c] 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Joel 3:1-2; Joel 3:9-17

“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land,
Footnotes:

9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Consecrate for war;
stir up the mighty men.
Let all the men of war draw near;
let them come up.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords,
and your pruning hooks into spears;
let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”

11 Hasten and come,
all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves there.
Bring down your warriors, O Lord.
12 Let the nations stir themselves up
and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
for there I will sit to judge
all the surrounding nations.

13 Put in the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Go in, tread,
for the winepress is full.
The vats overflow,
for their evil is great.

14 Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.

16 The Lord roars from Zion,
and utters his voice from Jerusalem,
and the heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is a refuge to his people,
a stronghold to the people of Israel.
The Glorious Future of Judah

17 “So you shall know that I am the Lord your God,
who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain.
And Jerusalem shall be holy,
and strangers shall never again pass through it.


We can ascend. Standing in our Churches, in our decision making, we are seekers,establishers, climbers, goers, doers, of the Higher Path of the Shepherd, the Guardian of our souls. Your soul meeting His, Jesus. And the awe of knowing the mysteries of faith.

Isaiah 49
And I will make all my mountains a road,
and my highways shall be raised up.
12 Behold, these shall come from afar,
and behold, these from the north and from the west,
and these from the land of Syene.”

13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted.

Song of Ascents. Going where Jesus has made a place for us.

Psalm 126
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us;
we are glad.

4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like streams in the Negeb!
5 Those who sow in tears
shall reap with shouts of joy!
6 He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.

1 Corinthians 15:57
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:37
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

2 Corinthians 2:14
But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

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Genesis 26:1-33 ~ For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land

He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures has said, out of his heart will flow living water. John 7:38

Leviticus 26:6-13
6 " 'I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove savage beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. 7 You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you.

 8 Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.


9 " 'I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. 10 You will still be eating last year's harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. 11 I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. 12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

Genesis 26:1-33

1-5 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines. And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

6-11 So Isaac settled in Gerar. When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance. When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with [Hebrew, may suggest an intimate relationship] Rebekah his wife. So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’” Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

12-16 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

17-22 So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them. But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, [Esek means contention] because they contended with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah. [Sitnah means enmity] And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, [ Rehoboth means broad places, or room] saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

23-25 From there he went up to Beersheba. And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake.” So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well.

26-33 When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army, Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.” So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” He called it Shibah; [Shibah sounds like the Hebrew for oath] therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

Isaac was a man of peace; he relied upon the Lord. In abundance - the blessings - in the famine - the events around his life.

And like Abraham, Isaac probably knew most of his father's life ~ the repeat situation with Abimelech, Abram and Sarai. Certainly Isaac knew of the blessings the Lord promised Abraham all of the land and Isaac counted on God’s promise to carry these on in himself.  Still wobbly, even in this amazing faith.

During Isaac’s life, most of the Scripture had yet to be written which is frankly an interesting thought - to be living Scripture fulfillment and creation.

And Isaac shows he is reasonable, by moving on to his 3rd water well and calling it Broad Places, as he looked to the future with hope.

Using the opportunities the Lord brought him, Isaac's life reflected the Lord extremely well and observers wanted his company and probably prayers. St. Francis of Assisi understood this quality.

In Chapter XVII of his Rule of 1221, Francis told the friars not to preach unless they had received the proper permission to do so. Then he added, "Let all the brothers, however, preach by their deeds."

Leading to our understanding of the phrase, "“Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words."


This is a great week to bless others pitching not just our tent with God (this is a transient life), but building with Him what endures, our souls. Let us be blessed by Him in our efforts to do this. In Jesus' strength. Amen.

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Nehemiah 9 ~ The Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

Nehemiah 9

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. 2 And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

3 And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God. 4 On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God. 5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said,

“Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

6 “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. 7 You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

9 “And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, 10 and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. 11 And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters. 12 By a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go. 13 You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, 14 and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant. 15 You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.

16 “But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. 17 They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. 18 Even when they had made for themselves a golden[c] calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies, 19 you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. 21 Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

22 “And you gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner. So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan. 23 You multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess. 24 So the descendants went in and possessed the land, and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would. 25 And they captured fortified cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in your great goodness.

26 “Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies. 27 Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies. 28 But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies. 29 And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey. 30 Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. 31 Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

32 “Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. 33 Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. 35 Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. 36 Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. 37 And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.

38 “Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.

Isaiah 58:8
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Zechariah 2:5
And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.

Luke 19:38
saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

NOTES ON THE PLAN OF THE TEMPLE
FROM THE TALMUD AND OTHER JEWISH AUTHORITIES.
PAGE 368,17 The gate of Nicanor which opened into the Court of Israel from the Court of the Women. It is called "the higher gate" (2 Kings xv. 35) and the "new gate" (Jer. xxxvi. 10). The ascent to it was fifteen steps. Each step was half a cubit high and half a cubit broad.

The Southern Steps outside of Temple Mount, there is some thought the fifteen long steps may have been one of the locations where pilgrims sang the fifteen Psalms of Ascent (120 to 134) as they went up to worship. Could possibly have been for pilgrimage festivals. Truly the Psalm of Ascent would have been by the Treasury and in front of the Nicanor Gate These excavations begun by Benjamin Mazar in 1968 were the largest earth-moving archaeological projects in Israel.

There is a very good reason the existing Southern Steps were not the real worship.

This is the warning stone placed in the partition wall of the Herodian temple at Jerusalem. Far beyond the Southern Steps, was the soreg wall designed to partition access for worship preserved for the Israelites, and separated access from the gentile. Numbers 1:51: “and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death“. The wall or “soreg” was described as being 3 cubits high by Josephus. Along the top of this wall at regular intervals were placed stones. Interspaced was lattice-work or “a reticulated fence of sticks” ten hand-breadths high (7) which was perforated by 12 gates. The photographed stone was discovered by Clermont and Ganneau in 1871 at the northwestern corner of the graveyard abutting the Temple Mount wall. The court styled ”hieron” or sacred is referred to in John 2:15 and Acts 21:28,29 and was the issue of the dispute with Paul that he had brought gentiles into the very sacred area of the Temple itself.

The Romans permitted the Jewish authorities to carry out the death penalty for this offense, even if the offender were a Roman citizen. The engraved block of limestone was discovered in Jerusalem in 1871. It's dimensions are about 22 inches high by 33 inches long. Each letter was nearly 1 1/2 inches high and originally painted with red ink against the white limestone.

I suggest to you, these were the people rejoicing to be in their rebuilt Temple were again rather cavalier about their amazing restoration from God. And those sins were cast behind them in their hearts... ascents were being thought of more locally.

Nehemiah 13
10 I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field. 11 So I confronted the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?”

15 In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food.

17 Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? 18 Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”

The Samaritans were cast out as unholy without lineage references.

23 In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people.

In this Temple, the Ark of the Covenant had not returned from being hidden by Jeremiah.

God had told Isaiah a new branch of David would rebuild for Him. Isaiah had seen Nehemiah 13 as well.

Isaiah 14:13-
13 You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’

The King of Babylon gave David's son, King Jehoiachin a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon and gave him a regular daily allowance all the days of his life. 2 Kings 25:27-30

Israel fulfilled Jeremiah 22:30, God states Jehoiachin (also called Jeconiah) or his offspring will not prosper, for none of his offspring will sit on throne of David and rule over Judah.

King Zerubbabel, listed first in returning exile sons, does not regain David's throne. How God felt during this?

Psalm 24:2-4

2 for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.

3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.


1 Peter 2

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Isaiah 53:11
After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

Acts 1:9-11
And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

John 14:2
In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Ezekiel 10:4
And the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord.

Timothy 3:16
Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. 

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