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One of the purposes of Hungry Hearts Ministries is to provide resources for believers to learn more about Jesus (or Yeshua, in Hebrew), and His word, the Bible.

We believe that the Bible is truth and that living according to Torah is the beginning of this truth, which allows us to grow spiritually These resources are designed to facilitate this growth.

God created you for a very special, intimate, personal relationship. He made you just the way you are, because He loves you. He is calling you today to return to Him, to enjoy that close relationship that comes from knowing Him. Come learn how to get acquainted with the Living God. Learn how to walk in true holiness that will draw the manifest Presence of Jesus Christ. Come and take a journey to know your God in a most intimate and personal way.

Pastor Bill Shults has been serving the Lord as a Sabbath-keeper for 34 years. He is the Founder of Hungry Hearts Ministries with three churches statestide and missions in Kenya and India. The ministry hosts a variety of feast celebrations in Tennessee. He is also a gifted author of books, articles, and pamphlets.

In addition to our quarterly Pursuit magazine, we offer:

• Books and CDs available through our website and Amazon

• Free Booklets available through our website in PDF format or in print, by request

• Sabbath Sermons available live on RevMedia every Saturday at 3pm/4pm Central/Eastern and later on Youtube

The Feast Days of Leviticus 23 reveal to us God plan of salvation. These Feasts have been honored for centuries by the Jewish people. They are times of tremendous revelation and celebration! They have prophetic meanings in Jesus Christ, many of which have yet to be fulfilled. Discover the significance of Christ as our Passover Lamb, which Feast represents the Lord return to rule and reign, and God plan to save the lost. You will learn how to celebrate these days with their full meaning!

Evangelist Kelly McDonald, Jr. currently serves at the President of the Bible Sab bath Association (BSA) in addition to a variety of roles at Hungry Hearts Ministries. He is a prolific author of books, articles, and blogs. He has been preaching for 13 years and is available to speak at your church upon request.

Eldress Kasey Perry

In my humble opinion, chesed is one of the most beautiful Hebrew words. It is defined as goodness, kindness, and faithfulness. We see the word used in scripture when there are acts of benefit or favor shown from man to man and when it is a divine gift from Adonai.

Abraham’s servant recognized that God would bestow such kindness on us when he prayed in Genesis 24:12. He was not even asking for himself but for Abraham. He was petitioning for success in the search for the appropriate wife for Isaac. And he said, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.” The word interpreted as kindness here is chesed.

When the request is coming to fruition, he is not shy about acknowledging the source of the successful outcome. We see the servant bowing to the ground and worshipping when Rebekah relates her family information to him (vs 23-26) and again when her family agrees to the arrangement after hearing his story (vs 50-52).

In another account, we see chesed demonstrated when Joseph was in dire need of it. Potiphar’s wife flung herself upon Joseph, but he separated himself from that sinful circumstance. While Joseph obeyed God, he still landed in prison because Potiphar’s wife twisted the events into a lie. Joseph seemed condemned, but Adonai knew what He was going to do. He was watching over Joseph’s life. In Genesis 39:21, we are told, “But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison.”

Again, chesed is translated as kindness. Even in what would have been seen as an unjust and more than difficult circumstance, Adonai’s chesed was not out of reach. It was demonstrated in an extravagant manner to be sure. We see in the following verses, “And the warden of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. The warden of the prison did not supervise anything under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him; and, the Lord made whatever he did prosper.” What do you think is the likelihood that, as a normal course of events, this kind of trust was given to a prisoner? The trust was so great that the warden did not supervise anything Joseph did! Wow! This helps us see the great impact of Adonai’s reach!

We see demonstrations of Adonai’s goodness and kindness in our lives every day. Do we acknowledge them? Do we bow down and worship? Joseph’s account reinforces that regardless of our circumstance, His chesed is ready for those who love and obey Him. He extends this to us every day in both big and small ways. We must train ourselves to be watchful, to acknowledge, and to raise our worship to Him—even from a prostrate position.

The word chesed is spelled with three Hebrew letters: chet-samech-dalet. Chet is pronounced with a guttural sound. It is similar to a k sound but it is made farther back in the throat. It is not pronounced using your breath with the front teeth together—not like chair. It is interesting that Chet is the first letter of the Hebrew words for both life (chai) and sin (chata). It shows us both sides, the two choices we have been given—life or the way that leads to death. This is the choice we’ve been given; isn’t it?

Samech is the second letter in the word chesed, and it has the sound of an s. The root of this letter’s name means support, lean upon, and uphold. The letter itself looks like a shield. How appropriate is this?

King David pours out his heart in Psalm 3, written as he is running from his son, Absalom. David must have had words echoing in his mind. The consequence of his own sin was that “…the sword shall never depart from your house…Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household…” (2 Samuel 12:10-11). And we see here, he trusts in God. Even in the distress David brought on himself, Adonai hears him, because David had repented. David recognizes Adonai as his Deliverer. “But Thou, O LORD, art a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head” (Psalm 3:3).

The third letter in Chesed is dalet. We know dalet to represent a door, and it is sounded like a d. Yeshua referred to himself as the door in John 10. In this passage, he makes it clear that, those who are his, know His voice and can differentiate between himself and the enemy.

There is a stark contrast noted in this passage between the enemy and our Savior Adonai Yeshua. Yeshua identifies the enemy as a thief and states, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Yeshua came to this earthly, human existence to provide a way for us to have life. Real LIFE…this brings us back to the beginning of chesed, where life is represented in the letter chet.

Chet reminds us that we have a choice, life or sin and death. If we choose life, samech keeps us mindful of the One who is our shield and lifts our head. Dalet tells us Who the Door is and points us to the source of abundance in our lives.

We see this idea of abundance in another passage – one of speechless beauty. In Exodus 34:6-8, we read how the LORD came to Moses. “Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.

Adonai describes Himself in this captivating passage, and in doing so, He emphasized His abundance of both lovingkindness and truth. Chesed is the word found in this Hebrew text, translated as lovingkindness. In His abundant lovingkindness, He wants to give us the abundant life we read in John 10. Too, once more, we see Adonai’s Majesty being worshipped from a bowed position.

It is His chesed that makes eternal life possible for us. Offering Him our worship is a must. We should be so humbled by His acts of love for us that we follow the examples given to us and make haste to bow low toward the earth and worship!

References

“Genesis 24 (NASB20) - Now Abraham was old, advanced.” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 13 Aug, 2022. <https://www.blueletterbible. org/nasb20/gen/24/1/s_24001>.

“Genesis 39 (NASB20) - Now Joseph had been taken.” Blue Let- ter Bible. Web. 13 Aug, 2022. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/ nasb20/gen/39/1/s_39001>.

Parsons, John J. “The Letter Chet.” Hebrew For Christians, www. hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Aleph-Bet/Chet/chet. html. Accessed 14 Aug. 2022.

Parsons, John J. “The Letter Samekh.” Hebrew For Christians, www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Aleph-Bet/ Samekh/samekh.html. Accessed 24 May 2022.

Parsons, John J. “The Letter Dalet.” Hebrew For Christians, www. hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Aleph-Bet/Dalet/ dalet.html. Accessed 14 Aug. 2022.

The Light of the World, continued kind of creatures we should start to have radiance from the morning star rising in our hearts. Or, maybe we should aspire to that radiance.

In the quote from Hebrews 6:4 above the writer uses the term “enlightened.” Could Jesus Christ mean that we are supposed to be “enlightened” from the Holy Spirit with the morning star? The apostle John would agree. “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7). The Apostle John continues: “because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8). And, “Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble” (! John 2:10). The true light should already sine within our hearts, which means the basis of the new creature in Christ; that combination of our human spirit with the Holy Spirit. God’s light within our person will motivate us to live righteously, thereby eliminating sin.

When you have been enlightened, the Bible should make sense. No more stumbling over disputable passages, no more grumbling about God’s Law. You can not do away with the Sabbath anymore than you can do away with the electromagnetic spectrum. Once enlightened, obedience under duress makes perfect sense and even becomes desirable. Worship becomes an enlightening experience, one to seek out. Fellowship becomes a way to spur one another on to good works, especially an intense time with Yeshua in both Word and Worship. “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn” (Isaiah 8:20). Morning Star rising anyone?

Victory is a major Hannukah theme since the celebration commemorates the surprising triumph of the Maccabees over 2,000 years ago. The Maccabee brothers led a small band of untrained men who fought and won multiple battles against the much larger and better trained Greek army during the reign of Antiochus IV (175-164 BC).

While Maccabee is the family name of the leaders in this infamous war, the word Maccabee is also an acronym in Hebrew for the words meaning, “Who is like You among all powers, God” (Maccabees). This is an amazing physical example of the eternal victory available to each of us. “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

When Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden and sinned, two things happened. First, death entered this age and world. While Adam and Eve were then appointed to die a physical death, the first death that happened was the animal that The LORD killed to make clothes for Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1). Second, this act established that blood was necessary to cover sin.

Under Moses, The LORD codified the sacrificial system as a means for the Israelites to seek redemption each time they broke the law, the Ten Commandments. The LORD also established the Tabernacle as a location for the sacrifices, and the Aaronic priesthood to perform the sacrifices as well as manage their distribution.

While the sacrificial system in the Old Testament provided a means for a person to be forgiven for their sin, the sin was still remembered by God. It was only after Jesus’ perfect sacrifice on the cross that a person could have both their sin forgiven and forgotten (Hebrews chapter 10).

During His earthly ministry, Jesus taught basic principles that are foundational in Christian doctrine. During His public ministry, Jesus explained that you need to have faith in Him to be saved. He said, “Most certain- ly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life” (John 6:47). We can understand that this eternal life is not going to be in our earthly bodies because Jesus further explained, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies” (John 11:25).

Since people’s physical, earthly bodies have died before, during, and after Jesus’ life on earth, we can conclude that eternal life is different. There are many references to the kingdom of heaven that is coming, especially in Jesus’ parables (Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 5:3, 10, 19-21, 7:21, 8:11, 10:7, 11:11-12, 13:11, 14, 31, 33, 44-45, 47, 52, 16:19, 18:1, 3-4, 23, 19:12, 14, 23, 10:1, 22:2, 23:13, 25:1). Eventually, we learn that the Father will rule His Kingdom from the New Jerusalem in the New Heavens and New Earth (I Corinthians 15:14; Revelation 3:12, 21:1-27).

For us to understand why and how Jesus can offer salvation, we need to first be clear on who Jesus was and is. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus is a transliteration of the Hebrew name, Yeshua. Yeshua literally means salvation (Yeshua).

Forgiveness is connected to salvation, and the shedding of blood was necessary for forgiveness. “According to the law, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22).

Jesus prophesied that repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached in His name, and that the disciples would have the power to preach that once they received a helper (Luke 24:45-49). That helper is the Holy Spirit. “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you” (John 14:26).

The Holy Spirit, then, empowers us to remember Jesus’ teachings, and to walk in His ways. Ultimately, if more we live as Jesus did and taught, we will have a changed life (Ephesians 4:17-32).

Some Christians and Jews choose to say a prayer known as The Shema to declare their faith. The Shema starts with words from the Bible, “Hear, Israel: The LORD is our God. The LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Hebrew in this statement can also be translated that we can be one with the LORD. When we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us, that could not be truer.

As our relationship with Jesus increases, we are transformed by His love, and then desire to do His will. While obedience is required of us, our love for Him should motivate us to desire obedience. We should want to obey. The continuation of our love for The LORD moving us into obedience is captured in another prayer said by Christians and Jews: The V’ahavta.

This prayer is a continuation of the verse that begins the Shema, “You shall love The LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:5-9).

This sentiment captures both the idea of circumcising our hearts (Deuteronomy 10:16, 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4; Romans 2:29) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), both traditionally taught as New Testament teachings. However, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). And because He is the same, the result of us being in a relationship with him is the same: obedience. This is why “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).

Jesus taught, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Obedience does not earn us forgiveness or salvation—those are from faith alone in Jesus Christ. Instead, obedience is the result of our love of Jesus (Romans 3:21-31). As Christ’s followers, we want to obey Jesus’ commandments to walk in His ways, but there remains our humanness, or flesh that causes us to stumble and sin.

When we become aware of our sin, we feel bad and should immediately repent (2 Corinthians 7:10-12). While we should constantly repent when we sin, it is helpful if we occasionally set aside some time to take an inventory of our lives, and ask the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sins that are not so obvious, or those “pet” sins that we try to excuse away (John 16:7-15).

It is traditional to go through a period of repentance before the fall holy days (Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot). The Hebrew word for this process of repentance is Teshuvah. Teshuvah means returning to the path of righteousness. The end result of this is a true victory.

John summarizes this well: “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:3-4, NIV).

If we would like to experience this victory in Jesus, then we just need to keep our focus on Jesus in all things. The word gospel literally means good news, and this is good news! Jesus is ready and available 24/7 to hear our prayers! And then He gives us a helper, the Holy Spirit, to help us during our journey.

With all of this available to us, we can truly rejoice as in the hymn, “Victory in Jesus”:

“O victory in Jesus, My Savior, forever, He sought me and bought me With His redeeming blood; He loved me ere I knew Him, He plunged me to victory, Beneath the cleansing flood.”

(Bartlett)

References

All Bible verses are from Kingdom Life Version: Old and New Testaments with Text Notes and Words of Jesus in Red Letters, 1st Edition, Public Domain.

Bartlett, E.M. “Victory in Jesus.” BMI Work #1803360. 1939. “Jesus or Yeshua?” https://yeshua.org. Web. 17 August 2022. “The Maccabees: The Jewish Freedom Fighters.” https://www. chabad.org. Web. 14 August 2022.

Strong, James. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. Hendrickson Publishers, 2009.

Elder Joe Perry

In our last article, we saw how Samson broke part of his Nazirite vow and also married a Philistine woman. To cover a lost bet in which he had been cheated, Samson killed thirty Philistines and appropriated their clothing to pay his debt. The Bible implies that he did not immediately return to Timnah to dwell with his bride. “But after a while, in the time of the wheat harvest, it came about that Samson visited his wife...” (Judg. 15:1). His father-in-law greeted Samson with some unexpected news. “I really thought that you hated her intensely so I gave her to your companion” (verse 2). Not at all amused by this turn of events Samson, in a fit of anger, struck back at the Philistines.

What followed constitutes one of the more amazing miracles of the Bible. He gathered three hundred foxes, tied them in pairs by their tails, and placed a lit torch in between them. The foxes ran into the Philistine grain fields; “thus burning up both the shocks and the standing grain, along with the vineyards and groves” (verse 5). When the Philistines found out that it was Sampson who was responsible for the destruction of their crops because of his father-in-law, they burned the man and his daughter. This further angered Samson against the Philistines “and he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter” (verse 8). Afterward, Samson fled to a rocky area called Etam. Local lore associates Etam with a tunnel that leads to a spring near the village of Bayt ‘Itab, but this cannot be confirmed at this time.

This incident stirred the Philistines to action, and they marched into Judah and camped at Lehi. Unnerved by this threat, the men of Judah sought out Samson to turn him over to the invaders. He agreed to go quietly and so his captors bound him and took him to Lehi; unfortunately another unknown site.

What happens next is another awesome miracle. “When he came into Lehi...the Spirit of Adonai came mightily upon him, and the ropes that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and the bands dropped from off his hands. And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass and took it and smote a thousand men therewith” (verses 14-15).