TSIYON NEWS

From Eliyahu

Consider this:

We are still getting comments and questions about our final message of month 7, which was entitled Melchizedek Mysteries Revealed. In my last newsletter I answered a question about that from one of our readers. That answer brought up this follow-up question: 

"OK, with seemingly solid scriptural evidence that Melchizedek was actually Shem of the priest-king line of Seth through Noah..... wouldn't it follow that Jethro, the mysterious priest of Midian, must also be a descendant of Shem? and what about the mercenary Balaam, who also had a mysterious connection to God with altars and sacrifices ... descendant of Shem? How else could they have been priests of God."

An interesting question indeed. First, let's consider the case with Jethro. We will focus here on Exodus 18:

Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that Elohim had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, how that YHWH had brought Israel out of Egypt. Exodus 18:1

Who were the Midianites? The Book of Genesis indicates the Midianites were descended from Median, who was the son of the Hebrew patriarch Abraham by his wife, Keturah. The Midianites have also been identified by some as Ishmaelites. Either case would indicate that Jethro the priest of Midian, as with the rest of the Midianites, was also descended from Abraham's forefather, Shem.

 

While this is true, it does not follow that Jethro was carrying on the king-priest order of Melchizedek. Scripture never calls Jethro a king, only a priest. As we continue on in Exodus 8, we find more evidence against connecting Jethro to the king-priest order of Melchizedek: 

Moses told his father-in-law all that YHWH had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships that had come on them on the way, and how YHWH delivered them. Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which YHWH had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. Jethro said, “Blessed be YHWH, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh; who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that YHWH is greater than all gods because of the thing in which they dealt arrogantly against them.”  Exodus 18:8-11

If Jethro were the king-priest in the order of Melchizedek he would not be saying "Now I know that YHWH is greater than all gods." A true priest of YHWH would have already known, as Melchizedek did, "that YHWH is "Elohim Most High, possessor of heaven and earth." Nevertheless, it is great to see that Jethro was converted into a believer in the one true God upon learning what YHWH had done.  Genesis 14:19

What about Balaam? Could he have been a king-priest in the order of Melchizedek? Not at all. He was justly killed by Israel under Joshua. The Scripture reporting this tells us Balaam's occupation in these words:

The sons of Israel also killed Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer, with the sword, among the rest of their slain. Joshua 13:22

What is a "soothsayer?" Here is the definition of the Hebrew word:

AHLB#: 2718  Soothsayer - Divine: To practice divination.

Consistent with the Biblical account, Balaam was a diviner/sorcerer for hire. If Balaam was a priest in any sense it was in the sense of a medium that contacts spirits on behalf of customers. He would gladly curse anyone by calling upon any god for a price. Like any professional spiritist today, he did not limit himself to any one god or spirit, but called upon any of them so long as he got paid. When Balaam's potential client sought to hire him to curse Israel, Balaam attempted to contact Israel's God YHWH to get that done. Subsequently, YHWH made a complete fool out of Balaam, taking total control of him, showing His great superiority over all of the other gods that Balaam had been successful with in the past. Balaam was never a true man of YHWH, but was rather an evil man who attempted to manipulate the situation to his own profit - thus bringing on his own doom. Throughout the Scriptures Balaam is consistently condemned as an enemy of YHWH and of Israel. [See Deuteronomy 23:4-5, Joshua 13:22, 24:9-10, Nehemiah 13:2, Micah 6:5, II Peter 2:15, Jude 11, Revelation 2:14]

 

Now, let me tell you about tonight's meeting:

 

We will be taking a close look at Deuteronomy 27 and Mount Ebal, the mountain of curses. This study is of special interest because of recent archeological finds at the very location that the verses are speaking of. In other words, the site of the Covenant renewal ritual reported in Deuteronomy 27 has been found, and it conforms in amazing detail with Scripture! Imagine, this amazing proof of the reality of the Torah and the events it records as having happened nearly 4 millennia ago have remained buried for all that time, to be unearth now, at the end of the age! Is this not an amazing message to the skeptics of this world? To them I say "repent, while there is still time." 

join me tonight for our online meeting at Tsiyon.Net at 8 PM, CST for this faith-building discussion. YHWH is doing amazing things in these days. This is an outstanding example of His mercy, underscoring His truth to the deceived masses in this darkened world, before the final judgment falls.

 

Blessings and good health to you,

 

Eliyahu
Tsiyon.Org
 

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