Gilbert House Fellowship

SINS OF omission are just as serious in the Lord’s eyes as those we commit intentionally.

We continue our discussion of the detailed laws for the burnt offering, grain offering, sin offering, guilt offering, ordination offering, and peace offering, with a reminder that all of this is just “a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” (Col. 2:17; see also Hebrews 8:5 and 10:1).

Above all, as we begin Thanksgiving week, remember to be thankful that God will still be on the throne come January 21. This has been a trying year for most of us, but He still reigns, and His sacrifice has secured our future regardless of what happens in this life. As Paul wrote, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19). Keep looking up!

Join us in Israel next year! We will lead another tour through the Holy Land April 18-May 1, 2021, with an optional four-day extension to Mount Nebo, Wadi Rum, and Petra in Jordan.

For more information, log on to www.SkyWatchinIsrael.com.

Our new book Giants, Gods & Dragons is available now for Kindle and for pre-order in paperback! Get it as part of a great package with more than 27 hours of our video teachings at the SkyWatchTV Store, or by itself at Amazon.com.

And Derek’s novels The God Conspiracy and Iron Dragons are available now in paperback and Kindle! See the official trailers and learn more at the website for Rose Avenue Fiction.

Download these studies directly to your phone, tablet, or iPod! Get our free mobile app for iOS and Android. Links to the App Store and Google Play are on the main page at www.GilbertHouse.org.

Click here for the complete archive of our New Testament Bible studies to date, and click here for the Old Testament studies to date. Or go to www.spreaker.com/show/gilbert-house-fellowship for all of the audio.

GOD GAVE very explicit instructions for the slaughter of animals required for the slaughter of animals for required offerings.

This week, we look at the first four: burnt, grain, peace, and sin offerings. (We’ll get to guilt offering next week.) We note some of the seemingly random requirements, such as slaughtering the bull for the burnt offering on the north side of the altar, and God’s repeated command to burn the long lobe of the liver, the organ used by pagans in their extispicy and haruspicy rituals to divine the future.

Join us in Israel next year! We will lead another tour through the Holy Land April 18-May 1, 2021, with an optional four-day extension to Mount Nebo, Wadi Rum, and Petra in Jordan.

For more information, log on to www.SkyWatchinIsrael.com.

Our new book Giants, Gods & Dragons is available now for Kindle and for pre-order in paperback! Get it as part of a great package with more than 27 hours of our video teachings at the SkyWatchTV Store, or by itself at Amazon.com.

And Derek’s novels The God Conspiracy and Iron Dragons are available now in paperback and Kindle! See the official trailers and learn more at the website for Rose Avenue Fiction.

Download these studies directly to your phone, tablet, or iPod! Get our free mobile app for iOS and Android. Links to the iTunes App Store and Google Play are on the main page at www.GilbertHouse.org.

Click here for the complete archive of our New Testament Bible studies to date, and click here for the Old Testament studies to date. Or go to www.spreaker.com/show/gilbert-house-fellowship for all of the audio.

THE CONSTRUCTION of the tabernacle is the focus of this week’s study—although, as usual, we follow some rabbit trails that lead us to other parts of the Bible.

We compare the number of stones in the high priest’s ephod to the precious stones covering the rebel in Eden, as described in Ezekiel 28. That led us to another discovery—namely, that the Septuagint and some modern English translations, such as the New English Translation (NET), distinguish between the rebel (Satan) and the “guardian cherub,” unlike the ESV and the King James Bible, which identify the rebel as the guardian cherub. See Ezekiel 28:14-16, and compare translations at BibleHub.

Join us in Israel next year! We will lead another tour through the Holy Land April 18-May 1, 2021, with an optional four-day extension to Mount Nebo, Wadi Rum, and Petra in Jordan.

For more information, log on to www.SkyWatchinIsrael.com.

Our new book Giants, Gods & Dragons is available for pre-order! Get it as part of a great package with more than 27 hours of our video teachings at the SkyWatchTV Store, or by itself at Amazon.com.

Our book Veneration is available for Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader! Click here and find out why readers rate Veneration 4.7 out of 5, describing it as “a must read” that “opens up…the Bible’s hidden mysteries.”

And Derek’s novels The God Conspiracy and Iron Dragons are available now in paperback and Kindle! See the official trailers and learn more at the website for Rose Avenue Fiction.

Download these studies directly to your phone, tablet, or iPod! Get our free mobile app for iOS and Android. Links to the iTunes App Store and Google Play are on the main page at www.GilbertHouse.org.

Click here for the complete archive of our New Testament Bible studies to date, and click here for the Old Testament studies to date. Or go to www.spreaker.com/show/gilbert-house-fellowship for all of the audio.

TAKE TWO at Mount Sinai: Moses goes back up the mountain for another 40 days and nights to get two new tablets to replace the ones he smashed.

We discuss the construction of the tabernacle and the willingness of the Israelites to contribute building materials after the unpleasantness following the golden calf incident. We also explain why the famed artist Michelangelo sculpted Moses with horns — it was a translation error that confused Hebrew qaran (“shone”) with qeren (“horned”).

Here is a link to Derek’s interview with Andrew Hoy, a professional engineer and the author of The House of El Shaddai, in which he argues that the shape of the tabernacle was a dome rather than a rectangle.

Join us in Israel next year! We will lead another tour through the Holy Land April 18-May 1, 2021, with an optional four-day extension to Mount Nebo, Wadi Rum, and Petra in Jordan.

For more information, log on to www.SkyWatchinIsrael.com.

Our book Veneration is now available for Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader! Click here and find out why readers rate Veneration 4.7 out of 5, describing it as “a must read” that “opens up…the Bible’s hidden mysteries.”

Download these studies directly to your phone, tablet, or iPod! Get our free mobile app for iOS and Android. Links to the iTunes App Store and Google Play are on the main page at www.GilbertHouse.org.

Click here for the complete archive of our New Testament Bible studies to date, and click here for the Old Testament studies to date. Or go to www.spreaker.com/show/gilbert-house-fellowship for all of the audio.

IT DIDN’T take long for Israel to rebel against God’s commands. They broke the first two commandments—no other gods and no idols—before Moses even came down from Mount Sinai.

We discuss the Israelites’ desire for an idol to give locality to their “god,” and whether the golden calf was supposed to represent Yahweh, the storm-god Baal, the moon-god Sîn (they were at Sinai, after all), or the creator-god of the Amorites, El, whose main epithet was “Bull El.”

And Sharon makes the astute observation that God’s promise to send His angel to push out the nations before Israel is a picture of what will happen when Christ returns.

There is a bit of archaeology this week, too, as we point out that some of the people occupying Canaan whose names have been lost to history, like the Hivites, Perizzites, and Jebusites, have actually been identified by scholars in recent years (Mycenaean Greeks, Philistines, and Hurrians respectively).

Join us in Israel next year! We will lead another tour through the Holy Land April 18-May 1, 2021, with an optional four-day extension to Mount Nebo, Wadi Rum, and Petra in Jordan.

For more information, log on to www.SkyWatchinIsrael.com.

Our book Veneration is now available for Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader! Click here and find out why readers rate Veneration 4.7 out of 5, describing it as “a must read” that “opens up…the Bible’s hidden mysteries.”

Download these studies directly to your phone, tablet, or iPod! Get our free mobile app for iOS and Android. Links to the iTunes App Store and Google Play are on the main page at www.GilbertHouse.org.

Click here for the complete archive of our New Testament Bible studies to date, and click here for the Old Testament studies to date. Or go to www.spreaker.com/show/gilbert-house-fellowship for all of the audio.

THE RULES for consecrating the Aaronic priesthood were very specific, and many of those rules were a repudiation of rituals the pagan neighbors of ancient Israel practices for their gods.

We discuss the purposed of the blood shed by the bulls and rams sacrificed during the ritual, the reasons for burning their livers and kidneys, and the restricted use of holy anointing oil. (In other words, we shouldn’t use the recipe in Exodus 30 to make our own.)

We also follow a rabbit trail back to our discussion of the Ark of the Testimony two weeks ago and its possible origin along the lines of an Egyptian sacred bark. We note the connection between the ark, the sacred boats of the Mesopotamian gods, and the pagan belief that the Amorite moon-god Sîn and the Egyptian sun-god Re (or Ra) traveled across the sky in cosmic boats.

Join us in Israel next year! We will lead another tour through the Holy Land April 18-May 1, 2021, with an optional four-day extension to Mount Nebo, Wadi Rum, and Petra in Jordan.

For more information, log on to www.SkyWatchinIsrael.com.

Our book Veneration is now available for Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader! Click here and find out why readers rate Veneration 4.7 out of 5, describing it as “a must read” that “opens up…the Bible’s hidden mysteries.”

Download these studies directly to your phone, tablet, or iPod! Get our free mobile app for iOS and Android. Links to the iTunes App Store and Google Play are on the main page at www.GilbertHouse.org.

Click here for the complete archive of our New Testament Bible studies to date, and click here for the Old Testament studies to date. Or go to www.spreaker.com/show/gilbert-house-fellowship for all of the audio.

THE GARMENT worn by the high priest represented the tribes of Israel, who were (symbolically) brought before the Lord when Aaron and his successors entered the Holy Place.

We discuss the ephod, probably a tunic or robe worn on the upper body, the breastpiece of judgment that held the twelve gemstones inscribed with the names of the tribes of Israel, and the purpose of the Urim and Thummim — about which we know very little even today.

We also discuss the altar, a wooden construction that allowed it to be moved from place to place, and compare it to the later stone structure at Shiloh and the permanent structure built by Solomon.

Here is the link to the Leen Ritmeyer article at Patterns of Evidence regarding the discovery of three blocked gates that may have led to underground music rooms on the Temple Mount.

Join us in Israel next year! We will lead another tour through the Holy Land April 18-May 1, 2021, with an optional four-day extension to Mount Nebo, Wadi Rum, and Petra in Jordan.

For more information, log on to www.SkyWatchinIsrael.com.

Our latest book Veneration is now available for Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader! Click here and find out why readers rate Veneration 4.7 out of 5, describing it as “a must read” that “opens up…the Bible’s hidden mysteries.”

Download these studies directly to your phone, tablet, or iPod! Get our free mobile app for iOS and Android. Links to the iTunes App Store and Google Play are on the main page at www.GilbertHouse.org.

Sharon’s last novel Realms of Fire is available for Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader! The print edition should be available this week. For more information, see Sharon’s website, www.sharonkgilbert.com, or www.TheRedwingSaga.com.

Click here for the complete archive of our New Testament Bible studies to date, and click here for the Old Testament studies to date. Or go to www.spreaker.com/show/gilbert-house-fellowship for all of the audio.

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT is the focus of this week’s study. Contrary to Raiders of the Lost Ark, no, it was not a radio to talk to God.

The ark was, in fact, God’s throne. He sat above the mercy seat, between the cherubim—who, by the way, looked more like sphinxes than the effeminate angels typically portrayed by artists.

Cherubim, and similar throne guardians such as the lamassu of Assyria and the griffins of Egypt and the Hittites, were well known in ancient Mesopotamia. The Hebrew name of the creatures probably derives from the Assyrian kirubu. In all cases, however, the purpose of these entities was the same—they guarded the thrones of the gods.

Scholar Scott B. Noegel argues that we can get a better understanding of the ark by analyzing the sacred bark of Egypt. It resembled a boat, but was rarely, if ever, put in water. According to Noegel, “its purpose was to transport a god or a mummy and sometimes to dispense oracles.” You can read his paper “The Egyptian Origin of the Ark of the Covenant” by clicking here (opens a PDF document).

This is not to say that Moses copied the Hebrew religion from Egypt, Assyria, or the Hittites. Rather, God directed Moses to construct the Ark of the Testimony as a polemic against the counterfeit religions and iconography of the pagan nations around ancient Israel.

We also discuss the design of the tabernacle and the significance of the colors and types of metal used in its construction. While it’s usually depicted as a rectangular structure, engineer Andrew Hoy has proposed a different shape altogether for the tabernacle based on the description in Exodus. You can hear Derek’s interview with Hoy on his book The House of El Shaddai by clicking here.

Join us in Israel next year! We will lead another tour through the Holy Land April 18-May 1, 2021, with an optional four-day extension to Mount Nebo, Wadi Rum, and Petra in Jordan.

For more information, log on to www.SkyWatchinIsrael.com.

Our latest book Veneration is now available for Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader! Click here and find out why readers rate Veneration 4.7 out of 5, describing it as “a must read” that “opens up…the Bible’s hidden mysteries.”

Download these studies directly to your phone, tablet, or iPod! Get our free mobile app for iOS and Android. Links to the iTunes App Store and Google Play are on the main page at www.GilbertHouse.org.

Sharon’s last novel Realms of Fire is available for Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader! The print edition should be available this week. For more information, see Sharon’s website, www.sharonkgilbert.com, or www.TheRedwingSaga.com.

Click here for the complete archive of our New Testament Bible studies to date, and click here for the Old Testament studies to date. Or go to www.spreaker.com/show/gilbert-house-fellowship for all of the audio.

MANY OF US have been taught that it isn’t possible to see God with our natural eyes and live. How do we reconcile that with the account of God personally eating a meal with Moses, Aaron, and the seventy elders of Israel?

The scripture verse is clear: And He did not lay His hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank. (Exodus 24:11)

This is an appearance by the Second Power in heaven, or Jesus in the Old Testament. This meal on Mount Sinai was a message from God to the spirit realm, aimed directly at the small-G gods of the nations, showing them God’s ultimate plan to restore humanity to His divine council.

We discuss the contrast between this encounter and the ritual Rephaim Texts from the Amorite kingdom of Ugarit. This is another example of God reversing a pagan ritual to demonstrate His power and authority.

Join us in Israel next year! We will lead another tour through the Holy Land April 18-May 1, 2021, with an optional four-day extension to Mount Nebo, Wadi Rum, and Petra in Jordan.

For more information, log on to www.SkyWatchinIsrael.com.

Our latest book Veneration is now available for Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader! Click here and find out why readers rate Veneration 4.7 out of 5, describing it as “a must read” that “opens up…the Bible’s hidden mysteries.”

Download these studies directly to your phone, tablet, or iPod! Get our free mobile app for iOS and Android. Links to the iTunes App Store and Google Play are on the main page at www.GilbertHouse.org.

Sharon’s last novel Realms of Fire is available for Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader! The print edition should be available this week. For more information, see Sharon’s website, www.sharonkgilbert.com, or www.TheRedwingSaga.com.

Click here for the complete archive of our New Testament Bible studies to date, and click here for the Old Testament studies to date. Or go to www.spreaker.com/show/gilbert-house-fellowship for all of the audio.

WE DIG into the Law this week, as we discuss God’s commands to Israel on such things as slaves, restitution, and social justice.

Slavery, in particular, had a far different meaning in the ancient Near East than it does for us in 21st century America. “Indentured servanthood” is perhaps a better term, since Hebrew slaves were to be released after six years of service.

The roles of men and women were also different under the Law. While they appear old-fashioned (or even misogynistic) by today’s standards, they actually offered more rights and protection to women than had existed previously.

We also discuss God’s ban on sorcery and sacrificing to other gods, and the consecration of firstborn sons, and why those things were so radical and relevant to the world in which the Hebrews lived.

Join us in Israel next year! We will lead another tour through the Holy Land April 18-May 1, 2021, with an optional four-day extension to Mount Nebo, Wadi Rum, and Petra in Jordan.

For more information, log on to www.SkyWatchinIsrael.com.

Our latest book Veneration is now available for Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader! Click here and find out why readers rate Veneration 4.7 out of 5, describing it as “a must read” that “opens up…the Bible’s hidden mysteries.”

Download these studies directly to your phone, tablet, or iPod! Get our free mobile app for iOS and Android. Links to the iTunes App Store and Google Play are on the main page at www.GilbertHouse.org.

Sharon’s last novel Realms of Fire is available for Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader! The print edition should be available this week. For more information, see Sharon’s website, www.sharonkgilbert.com, or www.TheRedwingSaga.com.

Click here for the complete archive of our New Testament Bible studies to date, and click here for the Old Testament studies to date. Or go to www.spreaker.com/show/gilbert-house-fellowship for all of the audio.