Study the Bible with Arthur Bailey

The story of Jonah is well documented in Scripture in a Book bearing his name. The Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, and all the people of Yeshua’s day would have been familiar with the prophet Jonah and his exploits. Yeshua referenced Jonah on several occasions when asked by the religious leaders to perform a sign for them to prove Himself to them. Most who preach about Jonah focus on the three days and three nights that Jonah was in the belly of the fish as Yeshua illustrated in one of His references to Jonah. However, there was much more to the story of Jonah. In this passage, Yeshua would use this opportunity, after speaking about the sign of Jonah, to call attention to the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees and to caution His disciples about their teachings. 

When Abimelech heard that Abraham had said that Sarah was his sister, Abimelech sent for Sarah and took her.  What relation was Sarah to Abraham?  The term “sister” in the Hebrew could refer to a relative.  YeHoVaH threatens Abimelech’s life in a dream and afflicted him, his wife and his slave girls for unknowingly taking Abraham’s wife.  Abimelech declared himself as a man of integrity and his nation as a righteous nation.  YeHoVaH agrees with Abimelech as a man of integrity of heart and He kept Abimelech from sinning against Him with Sarah.  

Yeshua’s ministry was a continual ministry of Faith, Healing and Miraculous Works. Calling His disciples to follow Him gave them the opportunity to live with Yeshua day in and day out observing His life, practices, and daily lifestyle. The disciples got to witness firsthand and close-up, all that Yeshua did and taught, including the ability to ask questions about those things they heard and witnessed but did not understand. In this passage, the disciples are given the opportunity to observe Yeshua’s ministry to a foreigner, multitudes of healings of different kinds, and another miraculous work that has never been repeated in the history of the called-out ones.

In this teaching, Faith, Healing and Miraculous Works, the disciples are once again given the opportunity to see for themselves those things Yeshua did that they would ultimately be challenged to do in their own lives and ministry.

 | YeHoVaH remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow of the cities in that region. Lot was hesitant to leave, so the Angels took Lot, his wife and 2 daughters by the hand and led them out.  Lot was spared because of his connection and relationship with Abraham.  Lot  was instructed to go into the mountains, but Lot negotiated with the Angels to stay in Zoar. However, fear caused Lot to move to the mountain instead of dwelling in Zoar.   Lot’s wife was destroyed when she “looked back” in disobedience to the instructions given by the Angels.  Lot’s daughters had the desire to preserve Lot’s seed.  Because YeHoVaH gave the command to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, preserving seed is, and has always been, a concern of the people of YeHoVaH.  

Knowledge of being able to distinguish between clean and unclean animals was revealed to mankind before the days of Noah. The Commandments of YeHoVaH given to Moses to give to the Hebrew Israelites, and those that join themselves to YeHoVaH’s people, expanded clean and unclean things beyond animals to people and to the land. Specific Instructions to follow were given to keep His people from becoming defiled and defiling others. The religious leaders expanded even further YeHoVaH’s Laws pertaining to clean and unclean. They created their own laws on the subjects that they taught which ultimately made the Torah/Law of no effect. By adding to the Torah/Law, the religious leaders were able to subjugate YeHoVaH’s people into bondage to their religious systems. In this teaching, Yeshua and His disciples have a confrontation with some Pharisees and teachers of the law who tried to subject Yeshua and His disciples to their religious laws. Join us in this encounter as Yeshua exposes the religious leaders’ commandments on clean and unclean and declares that their commandments lead to vain worship and religious hypocrisy. 

According to 2 Peter, Lot was a righteous man living in the midst of wickedness. Lot had gone from living outside of Sodom to living in Sodom and serving in some counsel capacity by sitting at the gates of the city.  When the two Angels arrived at the gate of Sodom, Lot urged them to come to his home instead of sleeping in the streets. 

The men of Sodom did not know the men were angels for the Angels appeared to be mortal men.  The Sodomites had evil sexual motives and pressed upon Lot with the intent to break down Lot’s door to get at the Angels. The Angels smote the men of Sodom with blindness.

As we read that Lot is gathering his family, Arthur addresses: 

•       How many sons-in-laws did Lot have?

•       How many sons did Lot have? 

•       How many daughters did Lot have? 

Listen as YeHoVaH remembered his negotiations with Abraham and preserved Lot before everything in the cities were decimated.    

When the news of the beheading of John the Baptist at Herod’s birthday party reached Yeshua, He went into the wilderness to get away. However, as soon as the people heard He had departed, they followed Him into the wilderness. As thousands of people gathered around Yeshua, with a variety of needs from healing to hunger, He ministered to them all. Yeshua’s desire had been to get to a solitary place to pray and be alone which He was finally able to accomplish. The events that followed His time in prayer caused excitement, bewilderment, and fear amongst His disciples as Yeshua did what seemed to be impossible. In this teaching, we will tag along with the disciples and witness the miraculous power of YeHoVaH manifested in Yeshua, get a glimpse of Yeshua’s prayer time, examine what caused fear amongst His disciples, and reveal a time of ministry rarely spoken about in Christian, Messianic and Hebrew Roots circles. 

YeHoVaH reasoned concerning the need to share with Abraham what He was about to do to Sodom, where Lot lived, and Gomorrah.  Among the reasons was that Abraham was a prophet; he would become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him; Abraham lived in the region where YeHoVaH was about to judge the people; and Abraham had fought to save the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and returned them to their homeland.  YeHoVaH gave Abraham the opportunity to intercede and negotiate on behalf of the people just as he had risked his life and fought to save them.

Birthdays are rarely celebrated in Scripture. There are two birthday celebrations recorded in Scripture. In this study, we will look at the events surrounding the only birthday celebration recorded in the New Testament. John the Baptist had been recognized by Yeshua as being the greatest prophet born of a woman. John had been sent by YeHoVaH as the voice crying in the wilderness declaring “prepare ye the way of the Lord…” John had declared to the king, the king’s violation of YeHoVaH’s Law that resulted in a desire for the death of the prophet. Join us in this twisted tale of dance, debauchery, and death in the message, A Birthday Execution. 

This is the 3rd time the Scriptures record YeHoVaH appearing to Abraham.  YeHoVaH and the men with Him had their feet washed and were served bread, butter, milk and beef.  Ironically, consuming meat and dairy products (including cheese) together is forbidden by Kosher dietary laws.

YeHoVaH said that He would certainly return unto them according to the time of life and Sarah would have a son.  Sarah’s faith was not in the same place as Abraham’s faith. Sarah had a difficult time, if not impossible time, trusting that YeHoVaH could bring forth a child from her, being beyond childbearing age, and through Abraham who also was old.