October 16, 2024
“1 Corinthians 3:11 New King James Version (NKJV)
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
New King James Version (NKJV)
1 Corinthians 3:11 in all English translations” (BibleGateway.com)
“1 Corinthians 11:23-25 New King James Version (NKJV)
Institution of the Lord’s Supper
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, [a]“Take, eat; this is My body which is [b]broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
Footnotes:
- 1 Corinthians 11:24 NU omits Take, eat
- 1 Corinthians 11:24 NU omits broken
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” (BibleGateway.com)
“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you:”
“Romans 10:17 New King James Version (NKJV)
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Romans 10:17 in all English translations” (BibleGateway.com)
Good morning beloved; who have been saved by grace (GOD’S gift to the world—His only begotten Son-YESHUA CHRIST JESUS) through faith (in the precious Blood, death, burial, and resurrection [on the third day, according to Scripture] of our Messiah-YESHUA CHRIST JESUS-by His Holy Spirit; for the forgiveness of our sin of self-righteousness.) Amen.
Continued from the October 15, 2024 letter;
“Genesis 14:18-20 New King James Version (NKJV)
Abram and Melchizedek
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said:
“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
And he gave him [a]a tithe of all.
Footnotes:
- Genesis 14:20 one-tenth
New King James Version (NKJV)” (BibleGateway.com)
“Hebrews 11:32
New King James Version
32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:
Hebrews 11:32 in all English translations
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” (BibleGateway.com)
“2 Samuel 24
New King James Version
David’s Census of Israel and Judah
24 Again the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, “Go, [a]number Israel and Judah.”
2 So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, that I may know the number of the people.”
3 And Joab said to the king, “Now may the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times more than there are, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing?” 4 Nevertheless the king’s word [b]prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Therefore Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel.
5 And they crossed over the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the right side of the town which is in the midst of the ravine of Gad, and toward Jazer. 6 Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; they came to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon; 7 and they came to the stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to South Judah as far as Beersheba. 8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9 Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. And there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
The Judgment on David’s Sin
10 And David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”
11 Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, 12 “Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” ’ ” 13 So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven[c] years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”
14 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
15 So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died. 16 And when the [d]angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of [e]Araunah the Jebusite.
17 Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.”
The Altar on the Threshing Floor
18 And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David, according to the word of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded. 20 Now Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. So Araunah went out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground.
21 Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”
And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people.”
22 Now Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. 23 All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king.”
And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.”
24 Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 24:1 take a census of
- 2 Samuel 24:4 overruled
- 2 Samuel 24:13 So with MT, Syr., Tg., Vg.; LXX three (cf. 1 Chr. 21:12)
- 2 Samuel 24:16 Or Angel
- 2 Samuel 24:16 Ornan, 1 Chr. 21:15
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” (BibleGateway.com)
“24:1 The Lord moved David against Israel. For reasons not given, God was angry with the people of Israel. The chronicler records that Satan incited David to number the people (1 Chr. 21:1). Here it is said that God was the instigator. No contradiction exists. As in all situations, God is in control, and there is a difference between what God causes and what He allows. He did not prevent David from carrying out the evil action that Satan had suggested. In this whole chapter, the taking of a census seems wrong. Numbering the people also led to a plague (Ex. 30:12). Other men of the ancient world held similar views. Joab and the captains of the army recognized the dangers in such an undertaking (2 Sam. 24:4). The census may have been connected with David’s plans for building the temple, his main project at the end of his life. David may have wished to reorganize the systems of taxation, military service, and forced labor throughout the kingdom. However, numbering the people showed a proud spirit, a desire to measure his own greatness. It also indicated an attitude of self-sufficiency. David was putting his trust in human means, and forgetting that victories and achievements come from the Lord.’
’24:14 Let us fall into the hand of the Lord. The people of Israel had displeased the Lord, and David their king had also sinned by taking the census. Quickly David sensed in his heart that he had done wrong, and he repented before the Lord. He did not seek to justify his actions, although there were perhaps good reasons for taking the census (see v. 1 note). God forgave David, yet sent correction to him and his people (2 Sam. 12:13, 14). When presented with a choice among three evils for the land, David’s answer is remarkable. Even when God is about to strike him, he shows an intimate trust in God’s goodness and mercy. He believes that even in the consequences of sin, the Lord will be gracious. Indeed, God stopped the plague before the appointed time and chose this moment in history to reveal the location of the future temple (2 Chr. 3:1).’
’24:18 The threshing floor of Araunah was located north of Jerusalem on Mt. Moriah, the same mountain on which Abraham had offered his son Isaac and received God’s promise (Gen. 22:2). Here God, in grace, restrained His angel from destroying the people of Israel with the plague. When David saw the angel of the Lord on the threshing floor, he repented of his sin in taking the census (see 2 Chr. 3:1). Offering Israel reconciliation and peace, God instructed him to build an altar there. Refusing to offer God that which cost him nothing, David purchased the site. He understood that this was the place chosen for the temple that his son Solomon would build. Although 2 Samuel does not give this information, early readers immediately understood that the threshing floor of Araunah referred to the site of the temple. This book ends not with a plague but with a story of deliverance and the promise of future blessing.” (The Woman’s Study Bible) (NEW KING JAMES VERSION) (THOMAS NELSON) (Since 1798)
“Scriptures of Genesis, chapter 22, added by myself, that we partake of the sweet nectar our LORD-GOD and our Holy Spirit has for us, as He reveals our Savior and LORD-YESHUA CHRIST JESUS, to us, that we see and hear Him more clearly today than we did yesterday. Amen.” (Timothy M. Shephard.)
‘. . . “Genesis 22:15-19
New King James Version
15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” (BibleGateway.com)
“Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” (Italic and bold added by me—Timothy M. Shephard)
Let him who has an ear, hear what the Holy Spirit says to His church. Amen.
“Adversity is the test of faith; prosperity is the test of integrity.”
(THE JEREMIAH STUDY BIBLE—DR. DAVID JEREMIAH—NEW KING JAMES STUDY BIBLE—WORTHY)
Have a blessed Wednesday beloved of YESHUA CHRIST JESUS. Amen.
With much precious love, grace, and mercy, from our heavenly Abba-Father GOD, our Savior and LORD-YESHUA CHRIST JESUS, and our Holy Spirit, to Israel and to you and I; Sincerely: Mr. and Mrs. Timothy M. and Linda Shephard. Amen.