COME AS A CHILD LESSON 104 ISRAEL BLESSES EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH AND JOSEPH

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

So now Jacob/Israel is very old and he has been living in Egypt almost seventeen years under the favor of Pharaoh because of his son Joseph.

 Israel had fallen very ill.  Joseph heard of his father’s failing health and he went to visit him.  He took Manasseh and Ephraim, his two young sons with him.  These two boys had been born to Joseph before their grandfather ever arrived in Egypt.  That would make both of them at least 17 years old or older.  They had spent 17 years knowing and loving their grandfather, Israel.

When Joseph arrived Israel rallied.  He gained a little strength and sat up on his bed.  He spoke with Joseph of things that mattered very much to him.  These were his words:  “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the Land of Canaan, and there He blessed me and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers.  I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’”

Remember that “Luz” was another name for Bethel.  Bethel was where Jacob had wrestled with The Angel of The Lord, which most people now consider to be Christ Himself in the form of a Christophony.  It is thought that Jacob was now dying in peace because of this experience where he had met God at Bethel.  Jacob never forgot what happened there. He knew that he was redeemed by the Angel of The Lord at Bethel.  He had held on to the Angel until The Angel had blessed him.  Jacob had been begging for pardon of his sins, both against his brother and against God.  At Bethel he gave up his old self.  There he had repented, confessed, pleaded and wrestled and begged forgiveness from The Angel of The Lord all night long until the sun began to come up.  He had held on all through the dark night until The Angel of The Lord finally agreed to his request.  The “blessing” that The Angel of The Lord brought to him was Jacob’s pardon for his sins and guilt.  There at Bethel Jacob had been redeemed and changed.  He was a new man, forgiven and had the new name of Israel.

We all have our Bethels.  They are unforgettable.  Do you remember yours?  Has it happened yet?  There comes a time in a person’s life when they have to repent of their sins, turn from their old self and allow God to bless them with a new name. 

There at Bethel, Jacob had received the greatest blessing that one can receive; the blessing of being the first physically redeemed new man of Christ.  Only Jesus has the power to forgive sins.  He earned this right as he died on the cross as a perfect sacrifice, once and for all, for the sins of mankind. 

Try to wrap your mind around what truly happened to Jacob at Bethel with Christ.  Jesus had come back from outside of time with God the Father as The Angel of The Lord and had forgiven Jacob, making him the first after Abraham, who had believed in Messiah on faith alone, ahead of the cross and the coming of  Messiah.

 Jacob was given so much more than Abraham to hold on to; He had met Christ in person, seen him with his own eyes and wrestled with Him and had been redeemed and promised a new life with a changed name.  At Bethel, Jacob had become Israel, the first of a nation of people who would follow God The Father. 

Now Israel lay dying, ready to go meet with God again, just as soon as he passed on his blessing to his son Joseph and his descendants as well as Joseph’s other brothers.

Israel continued to talk with Joseph.     

“Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Ruben and Simeon are mine.  Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. 

Israel spoke to Joseph once again of his mother, Rachel and spoke of how she died in The Land of Canaan on the way to where they were going, just a little distance from Ephrath.  (This was Bethlehem.)  Israel spoke to Joseph of how he had buried Rachel near Bethlehem.  He felt it was important for Joseph to remember this. 

Then he went on to explain to Joseph his plans for Ephraim and Mannesseh’s future.   In so many words Israel was explaining to Joseph that he was legally adopting Ephraim and Mannesseh as his own sons. This adoption would make them the legal heirs to all that Israel possessed. They would be considered first, above all the rest of Israel’s sons, as heirs to Israel’s estate and blessings. 

One cannot help but think of the old saying “what goes around comes around.”  Jacob’s sons were jealous of his love for Joseph.  They once would have inherited equally, but because they cast him away from Jacob his love for Joseph had only been multiplied.  The inheritance of Joseph and his sons was much greater than the inheritance of all of Joseph’s brothers, though he was not the oldest at all.  He was the most favored.  His sons were the most loved.  The brother’s of Joseph had brought justice on their own heads by their plots against Joseph.  Even though Joseph and Israel had forgiven them, Joseph had only gained favor, just the opposite of what they had hoped to accomplish. 

Once again we see the proof of Joseph’s dream where his brothers would bow to him.  Once again we see that people plotting with that ugly green monster called jealousy never win in the end.  Joseph never had to say a word in his own defense.  God looks after those who follow Him in righteousness through all kinds of circumstances.  In the end, it is God who arranges their outcome, not the plotters and the schemers. 

Ruben and Simeon were physically the oldest two sons, the first and second born, but they had disqualified themselves as leaders of the family long ago and Israel was placing Ephraim and Mannesseh in their place of leadership as head of the family. 

How could he do such a thing?

There is a good logical explanation, even more than all the love he held in his heart for Joseph. It had to do with the type of people Ruben and Simeon had become.   It had to do with the type of people Ephraim and Manesseh were already and would go on to be.  Israel had been with them for seventeen years and God had been speaking to him about them all along.  God had given this knowledge to Israel by Divine counsel, through the spirit of prophecy.

Manesseh had been named by Joseph.  Manesseh meant “forgetting.”  It was Joseph’s wish that with the birth of his first son, Manesseh, he would become more content in his circumstances and learn how to forget the disconnect he had to endure by living in a land away from his family and all that he loved against his will.  The “forgetting” that came with Manesseh had made Joseph a stronger person, a person who could endure and cope with all circumstances and situations.  This is a very good trait for a man to have. 

Israel perceived that Manesseh would inherit these same traits of his father.  Even though Manesseh was born in a pagan land and the odds of him being like his father in the culture he grew up in were low, Israel sensed that he was going to rise above the mediocrity of his culture and become very much a man like Joseph.  Manesseh has become for the world looking back, a perfect example of a man who rises above the teachings of his culture and society and becomes righteous and godly in spite of his surroundings. 

Then there was Ephraim who was born second to Joseph.  Ephraim was born to a much stronger, more settled, very stable Joseph.  By the time of Ephraim’s birth Joseph had become very prosperous and successful in a foreign land.  Joseph named him Ephraim because it meant “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”  Joseph had transformed beyond merely surviving to thriving because of his faith that God would see him through anything.  By the time of Ephraim’s birth Joseph had moved on up to a higher spiritual plane.  He had come to a place of experiencing the joy of communion with God in any circumstances.  Ephraim’s birth was symbolic of Joseph’s joy. 

In spite of the fact that Ephraim too was born in a culture that was pagan, he also had begun to aspire to be like his father Joseph, to possess integrity in a land where integrity was not required or expected.  Israel perceived from God that Ephraim would be very great.  Ephraim became the symbol to mankind after him of one who could rise above mediocrity, one who could obtain physical and spiritual enlightenment from God in any circumstances.  He could swim against the current and keep moving upstream with no problem.    

So Joseph brought his beloved sons to Israel.  When Israel saw them he asked, “Who are these?”

Joseph said, “They are the sons God has given me here.”

Israel and Joseph both knew who the boys were.  This was simply Israel giving Joseph the chance to state out loud and in front of God and his two sons that they were a gift from God.  Joseph acknowledged in this statement that all that they were and all that they would become were simply a blessing from God’s hand on their lives and nothing that Joseph had done on his own.  It was a way of showing honor and thankfulness to God for the gift of the two boys.   Israel wanted to honor God first before passing on the blessings he had received from God.

Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.”

Israel’s eyes were very bad in his old age and he could hardly see the boys.  Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them, then he said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too!”  I can imagine both men’s eyes being filled with tears at this point.  It was a very sweet moment in both of their lives.

Joseph bowed down toward his father showing him the great love and respect he held for him.  Then,  Joseph took both sons, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to Israel. 

An interesting thing happened next.  Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephriam’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the first born.

This wasn’t a mistake.  Israel crossed his hands on purpose.  It was what he had discerned from God that should be done.  This has happened over and over again throughout the history of God and his people and the passing down of blessings.  Remember how it happened with Jacob and Essau?  It has happened with many more since them. 

Everything does not always go as expected by humans when God is in control.  God sometimes gives more to some than others.  This should never be questioned.  It may not seem logical to humans at the time.  Often this happens to those who expect to receive less.  We are reminded of that worn out verse that people like to ponder that says ‘the first shall be last and the last shall be first.’  God’s idea of fair isn’t always on a human level.  That is because His wisdom is so far beyond our ability of thinking that we cannot begin to understand it. 

The right hand always holds the idea of showing the most favor.  The right hand is said to be the hand of strength and skill.  We  hear much later in history of Jesus being seated at the right hand of The Father in heaven.  It is because He has the most favor from God that he sits on the right.

Joseph was displeased that his father placed his right hand on the head of Ephraim, so when he saw this he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head saying, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.,” But Israel said “I know, my son, I know.  He too will become a people, and he too will become great.  Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.” 

That was exactly how it happened years and years later.  Ephraim became the father of Joshua who led the people of Israel into the promise land!  Israel had the discernment to bless them according to how God would use them and lead them later.  God gave this discernment to Israel and there was no doubt in his mind that he was making the right blessing.

These were the words he used in the blessing:

“May the God before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the Angel who has delivered me from all harm – may he bless these boys.  May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly on the earth.”

This blessing from Israel was the first place in the scriptures where God was related to as a Shepherd who would guide the nation of Israel.  It was very appropriate for Israel, a shepherd himself, to state. 

And then Israel said something amazing: “In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing; ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh”.

It has come to pass after this blessing that all of the nation of Israel, even up until this present day, still pray for their sons to be like Ephraim and Manesseh.  Many Christian families have adopted this tradition too. They are hoping that they have sons who will rise above the commonplace people of their culture and society and conform to and worship God in all circumstances at all times.  This was what Ephraim and Manesseh did in Egypt.  This is also a perfect blessing for the sons of the earth today from any parents who wish for them to follow God’s will and ways all the days of their lives.

Then Israel blessed Joseph.

After Israel had blessed Joseph’s sons, he looked up at Joseph and said “I am about to die, but God will be with you and take you back to the land of your fathers.  And to you I give one more ridge of land than to your brothers, the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

Later scriptures hints at where this ridge that Joseph inherited as an extra portion was.  John 4:5 seems to imply that with this blessing Joseph was given the land of Sychar.  Joshua 24:32 goes on to explain:  “And Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.  This became the inheritance of Joseph’s descendants. 

A while back we studied what happened in Shechem with Reuben and Simeon.  It was a terrible tragedy and it was the reason they were disinherited.  

The word for “portion” is “Shechem.”  Shechem was the name of the city where this land that Israel spoke of had existed.  The tribe of Ephraim eventually possessed this land.  Israel was seeing this as he blessed Ephraim under the spirit of prophecy.  When Israel refers to obtaining the land with his sword and bow, he speaks of his money.  His money at that time was marked with an archer holding a sword and a bow.   This was the way the land was obtained.  He bought it from the children of Hamor the Hivite.  You would do well to review the story again, I do not have time or space to re-teach it here. 

The Jewish people state in their writings that Jacob and his sons had a very grievous war with the Amorites because of their capture of the Shechemites. 

By giving to Joseph this portion above his brothers, it seems that Joseph was given the birthright, the double portion, all that Jacob had obtained in the land of Canaan. 

This land of the double portion, was the spot where Joseph later declared that his bones should be buried when he died.  

SEASONS GOD'S SACRED HOLY DAYS KEEPING THE SABBATH

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Do you keep God's Holy Days?  If so, you must start with The Sabbath.    It is a most sacred time.  The Sabbath is God's gift to mankind.  It is a precious gift that should not ever be overlooked.

God created time.  He placed the sun, the moon and the stars in the sky as signs to mark our time.  He is outside of time, but He placed us inside of time.  He speaks to us of time through the heavenly bodies of the sun and the moon, and He has written His story out for us in the skies. 

When He created time,  God appointed certain times and seasons for us to come closer to Him. 

God created these special sacred times so that we could better understand His ways and to make it easier for us to commune with Him.  

He uses these special sacred times to tell us who He is, why He created us, and how we should worship.  He also gives us glimpses of our future destiny in His Kingdom through these special sacred times.

THE WEEKLY SABBATH

The first special sacred time God set aside for us is called The Sabbath.  It occurs every seven days.  God made six days in which we are to work, and He made one day in which we are to rest.   This one day in seven is The Sabbath.  It is a special gift God made just for us.  Every seven days God gives us this special gift of a sacred set-apart time with Him.  He has asked us to put our work aside and to rest with Him.  Like all good Fathers, God likes to have quality time with his children.  The Sabbath is our quality time with our heavenly Father.   God showed this to Adam and Eve in the garden at the beginning of time.  They in turn taught their children, and people have been keeping Sabbath ever since. 

Sometimes various human people have tried to change the days God sanctified and use another day of the week for the 7^th day; but God always pointed out the correct day as history progressed so that we would not be confused.  He wanted us to keep THE day.  He sanctified it and called it Sabbath.  It was not up to us to change the day. It was God's decision.  It was His gift to us, not our gift to Him.  The Jewish people have always kept this day.  We can trust their calendar, because God has used them to keep the calendars straight for the rest of us.

God clarified this with the children of Israel in the wilderness when he rained down the manna from heaven for six days.  On the sixth day only they could gather double portions for the next day and keep it fresh for two days.  On any other day if they gathered more than they needed it would spoil.  The manna did not fall on the seventh day.  God was at rest and so were those who followed Him.  The people ate the manna gathered on the sixth day and they rested with God.  It was a day of rest and a day of worship; a special sacred space in time, set apart from the other days of the week.  This pattern of how the manna fell allowed men to once again know how to exactly keep the seventh day so that they never lost count of the proper seventh day again.  Ever since those days in the wilderness the faithful Jewish culture has been careful to keep the days accurate with God's calendar.  We can easily trace back to the proper times in history and trace back forward again to be sure.    

The other special sacred times come in their appointed seasons.  There are special set-apart days in the spring, in the summer and in the fall.  

God gave us the moon to help us track these days correctly.  It was as if God said:  "I'll hang a big watch in the sky so you all can tell time by it," and he created the moon with its phases.  By the phases of the moon we know exactly when one day ends and another begins; we know when spring has begun, and we can tell when God's special appointed times arrive by counting the phases of the moon.  God made the phases of the moon correspond exactly to the days He wanted us to keep in the spring, summer and fall seasons. 

When you truly come to be a child of God you drop all of the world's dividers; those of race, nationality, language, culture or religious laws

and you trust in God's greatest law of love to settle your differences. 

 There is now only one way that is open, workable and clear to you; it is the way of The Lord.  The main rule is love and the way to the best ways to live in love, grace and mercy are all spelled out in the holy scriptures.  You must study to show yourself approved.  This is exactly how we come to know of God's Holy Days.    

THE HOLY DAYS OF GOD

With spring comes the sacred season of Passover.  Passover incorporates three holy, sacred times; beginning with the days of Passover itself, then the seven days of Unleavened Bread which follow, and  within the Days of Unleavened Bread we find The Feast of First Fruits. 

With summer comes the sacred season called Pentecost.  We come to Pentecost by counting the omer.  It is always 50 days  from the Day of First Fruits after Passover.  This day of Pentecost represents the late harvest, especially the wheat harvest, and the giving of The Holy Spirit to God’s people.

With Fall comes the sacred  season of the Fall Holy Days which are:  The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot.)

There are also other days I will not mention here that man has set aside to honor as memorials of great events that God brought about; but the days above are the specific Holy Days God commanded His people to keep.  They are God’s days; and they do not belong to any specific culture or region of people.  They were given and sanctified by God specifically to anyone who wishes to follow Him and celebrate His way of life.  Does your church congregation keep these holy days?  God has not revoked them, even though He has fulfilled the spring and summer days; all the more reason to remember them!  If God fulfilled the Spring and Summer days, will He not eventually fulfill the Fall days?  We should be watching, studying and waiting to see what God is going to do next!

It is true that we no longer have a physical Temple inside Jerusalem to go up to, but did Jesus not explain that the new temple would be Him living through His Holy Spirit within our bodies?  So, we do have a temple left on this earth; hence that is no excuse.  

If you are a believer, The Temple of your body is now the habitation of God.   Your own physical body with your soul residing inside with God's Spirit is your holy temple.  The tent of your body houses The Holy Spirit of God.  Is that not an awesome thought to ponder?  

There is that fact so many people are hung up on which proclaims that God told the people to go up to Jerusalem to celebrate these feasts.  That was because the Temple was in Jerusalem!  Now the temple resides within the believers who have The Holy Spirit dwelling inside them.  There is no Temple in Jerusalem anymore!  We are the Body of Christ.    We are the Temple folks.  We must keep the days that were meant to be kept at The Temple.  The Temple now goes with us everywhere that we go.  It is no longer confined just to Jerusalem, though our hearts still love Jerusalem.  Jesus has made this easy.  We no longer have to travel far away to a building.  We are living, breathing and walking around in The Sanctuary of The Most High God.  It cost us absolutely nothing to go to the temple.  It is the gift of God's Holy Spirit that has made this miracle happen.   Jesus first died for us, rose from the grave for us and then went away from us in order to make this possible.  He sent the comforter.   We have no excuse for not keeping the days, we have everything that we need.  Jesus has explained this to us in a million different ways all through the new testament scriptures.

You should not have to be a Christian worshiping with a Messianic congregation in order to keep these days.  Messianic congregations were originally conceived to help Jewish people become Christian, not to help Christian people become Jewish.  The Church was originally set up to house all those who believed in The Messiah and God the Father.  It is shameful that the church has decayed into this state, that we must divide off into groups to worship the same God! 

 The ways of God and His Holy Days are clearly spelled out in the Old Testament and New Testament of the Christian bible.  What excuse will we give when we stand face to face with God?  Why do we feel we can cut out almost one third of the bible as if it doesn't exist and ignore it?  

God's church should begin to recognize ALL of the holy scriptures and teach and keep the days that God gave to us.  The fact that our great, great grandfathers got off track is no excuse for us to stay off track.  The fact that we have allowed ourselves to become a business instead of a body is no excuse.  We should not be calling ourselves Christians and doing just the opposite of what God has clearly proclaimed in the scriptures.  If Jesus returned tomorrow, would He see even one of the customs He taught us to follow being carried out within our congregations that proclaim His name?  I wonder?

These days are a great gift that Our Father has bestowed on all of His people to be celebrated throughout all generations.  They are one of the greatest ways of all to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others.  We should not have to separate ourselves from ourselves in order to keep God's commandments and enjoy His gifts to us.  Do you not realize there will be no denominations in heaven?  God will not say "all Baptist must answer to this and all Methodist must answer to that and all Catholics must check off this list and all Presbyterians must check off that list!  God will simply look at each of us individually and ask "Why have you not obeyed the Holy Scriptures?  Did you not read the book I sent to you? "   

All who believe on the Name of God should always be welcomed within the family of God, whether you were born of the specific race which God used to start his family, or whether you were adopted into the family after the family was formed.  All are the same here inside The House of God. God loves each and every one of the children He created.  God has given His gifts to ALL of His children and He expects all of His children to learn and understand and practice them.  

God gave certain patterns that show how He wished His Holy Days to be kept, observed and celebrated.  He gave them to the nation of Israel first.  He made these instructions specific to the people of Israel in the days of Moses.  Two of these tribes of Israel (Benjamin and Judah)  are known today as The Jews.  These two tribes have been faithful to keep God’s Holy Days for years and years and years; but they fail to see how The Messiah has come and has already fulfilled the Spring and Summer Feast Days.  They keep the spring holy days year after year with blinders on.  They keep the Summer Holy Day of Pentecost also; but once again fail to see how this day as well as the Fall Holy Days are pointing to the return of Christ.  For them, the fall days are just a glimpse of the very first time they will ever know the Messiah.  

Some of both sides of this equation are true.  We who know He has already come will see Him coming again one day, and at that time they who have never known Him will know He is The Messiah.  For us it will be the second time.  For them it will be the first time.  All will know in the end, and we will finally be united in our faith in God, Our Father. 

We will not trouble the Jewish people about this right now.  We will let God open their eyes in His good time.    We will love them until that happens, and we will forever be grateful for the gifts they have saved up for our learning.  We will always recognize that God chose them of all people to become the nation who bore The Messiah.  

The day will come when God will open their eyes just as He is now opening the eyes many of the Gentiles to the truths they are learning about  keeping the holy days these Jewish people have kept for so many generations.  They did not trouble us about learning these days.  They let us learn in God's good time.  With the fullness of knowing The Messiah, our blessing is very great.  

God usually goes about doing things a little different than we would.  He knows more about us than we know about ourselves, after all; He created us!  He knows how we learn best; and He knows how to bring the circumstances about that teach us better ways.  We must simply love one another until that time of unity arrives and trust Him for these answers in His own good timing.  Let us pray as we wait that all people who believe in God will come to know The Messiah.    

Ten of the tribes of those first Israelites which God announced the details of His Holy Days to were scattered around the earth as lost little lambs.  They were separated from the other two tribes and the ways of their people by assimilation because of the sudden rule of a very powerful culture who captured them and ruled over them.  These assimilated people of the lost ten tribes are now known as The Gentiles.  They lost their identity as Israelites when they were separated and isolated from each other.  Over time their ancestors have come to populate all corners of the earth.  The teachings of God were lost from them for many, many years.  They had no way of knowing and remembering all of the details of the Holy Days of God while they lived in a foreign culture that separated them from each other for so long.  

Because of being removed from what they knew of God, most of the Gentiles today, though they believe in Messiah,  fail to see the importance of keeping God’s Holy Days and they have fallen into the trap of keeping the days that were made up later by greedy pagan men claiming to know God who were only using religion to rule and unite their own kingdoms instead of God's Kingdom.  These rulers, using the name of God in vain, changed dates and times.  They created new customs that worked better for their causes and their own ruling governments.    To persuade people to follow them they simply incorporated some of the stories of God that the people remembered into their own proclaimed dates and celebrations, luring them into a false sense of security.  This is one of those times when a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous.  These greedy rulers deceived many, many people into a whole different way of celebrating holy days and worshiping God.  The whole picture of what God had laid out carefully to the Hebrew people originally was not even considered.      

There remains to this day an element of truth in all of those days made by men, but they are counterfeit days, not the original days that God gave for observance.

One day every one will see all of the truth because The Messiah will be physically with us and He will proclaim the truth in person directly to everyone living in His Kingdom.  All of God's Holy Days  point to and lead up to that wonderful end.   

Thank God for the faithful meticulous way the Jewish culture has recorded and kept with accuracy and precision these most awesome Holy Days of God.  We Gentiles can learn much truth from them and our understanding is heightened and we can worship in a more pure sense of knowing and observing the true story.  Because of them, we may know the truth of the history of the children of God and the words God gave directly to them in the scriptures regarding these special set apart days of God.  

Because of the faithful Gentile believers of Jesus Christ, the Jewish people too may come to know a truth that they have not  yet been taught.  Through the Gentiles they will learn the  Good News of The Messiah, the One these days point to, the One who will fulfill every part of the knowledge of these days.    These special, holy, set apart and appointed days should be the key that unlocks this for them.  

Iron sharpens iron; God works in mysterious ways, always bringing His plan about in a supernatural surprising array of events beyond our wildest imaginations.   He has used the truth each group has learned separately to be a light bearer to the other.

One day all eyes will be opened at the same time and we will all see the whole picture as a very beautiful tapestry that God has been weaving for all eternity.  In the meantime; as we are all growing and changing every day, God has used each culture to teach the other.   He has used the Gentile culture to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Jews.  Though they for some odd reason have not always known of or observed the beautiful rich background of the holy days that are shadows of all the teachings of Christ.  The Gentiles simply believed in The Messiah by faith, and God counts this unto them for righteousness because of the blood of Christ shed on the cross for all sins.  God has in turn used the Jewish culture to teach the Gentiles His original ways of worship.  

Blessed are the followers of Christ from both cultures who already have open eyes to see all of the truth from the scriptures, who can celebrate their time the way God has sanctified it from the beginning of the world.  Their days will be joyful and full of God’s stories!   Their hearts will always be full; even in the worst of circumstances.  Their stories will spread and fill the earth until all come to see The Messiah is Jesus Christ.

  







Thanks be to God who has given us such beautiful and significant holy days which teach us all about our beginning, middle and end times as we walk through His Kingdom in faith. 

 Because He has proclaimed these days before us and guarded them through a chosen people, we have come to know the hope of His Son and we have come to see there is hope for our own sons who follow Him and keep His ways.

If you have The Holy Spirit residing within your heart, you will eventually find the path of God that leads you into the joyful celebration of your own destiny in the observance of God's Holy Days in light of His Son, Our Messiah, Jesus Christ.  

May your journey be delightful and full of God's glory!

  

FOOD ART AND FAMILY TRADITIONS - A MENU FOR TORTELLINI SPINACH CASSEROLE

( An Everyday Simple and Good Recipe Collection Collected and Tested by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

ORANGE CONGEALED SALAD

Ingredients:

1     (6-ounce) package orange flavored gelatin

1     (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple in heavy syrup

2 cups buttermilk

1     (8-ounce) container frozen nondairy whipped topping, thawed

¼ cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Combine gelatin and pineapple with syrup in a large saucepan and bring to a boil; stirring to prevent sticking. Cook slightly and stir in buttermilk. Fold in whipped topping and pecans. Pour into mold (spray the mold lightly with vegetable spray)

and chill for about 3 hours or until set. Garnish with fresh orange slices and whipped cream, if desired.

TORTELLINI SPINACH CASSEROLE

Ingredients:

2 packages (10 ounces) frozen cheese tortellini

1 pound sliced fresh mushrooms

1 teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon pepper

½ cup butter, divided

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk

1-8 ounce bag cubed cheese (your favorite flavor)

3 packages (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach (thawed and squeezed dry)

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Cook tortellini as instructed on package.   Saute mushrooms, garlic powder and onion powder and pepper with ¼ cup of butter in a large skillet until mushrooms are tender.  Remove from skillet and keep warm.  Using the skillet again combine milk and remaining butter.  Bring to a gentle boil.  Stir in cubed cheese.  Cook and stir until smooth.  Drain tortellini.  Place in a large bowl.  Stir in the mushroom mixture and the spinach.  Add cheese sauce and toss to coat.  Transfer to a greased 13 inch x 9 inch baking dish.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees until heated through and cheese is melted.

FIG CAKE WITH BUTTERMILK GLAZE

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped fresh figs
1 cup chopped pecans

Ingredients for Glaze:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup buttermilk1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Directions:
Mix together first 7 ingredients.  Fold in eggs, oil and buttermilk.  Stir in vanilla.  Fold in figs and pecans.  Pour into a greased 13 x 9 inch pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes.  While cake is baking make a glaze by boiling all of the above glaze ingredients in a small saucepan for 3 minutes.  Pour over cake. 

THE HOUSE DOCTOR FINDING YOUR HOME'S PERSONALITY AS AN EXPRESSION OF ART

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Art is expression, and your home can be your canvas.  Mr. Arnold Bennett once said:  "Nobody has the right to be bored in a half-made home.  A home which is not a fair expression of us at our best, a home which lacks what it might have, a home which is in any part more ugly or in any part more uncomfortable than it absolutely need be." 

So, taking his words seriously, I have approached my home as a hobby, not a chore.  It is also a luxury, not a necessity.  I could make a good home anywhere, so I'm not idolizing this particular place; it is simply the place where God has chosen to put me right now.  I have a feeling I could carry on the same hobby if I lived in an alley in the street.  My part of the alley would take on a certain charm of its own, I'm sure!  Perhaps you can identify with these feelings.  I hope so.  

I've seen many living examples of this illustration and they never cease to take my breath away.  Some people have an art form within their soul that just spews and doles out beauty where ever they exist.  I pray for increase of this quality in my life! 

It isn't about collecting things and spending money, but it is about recognizing the souls and spirits of those who live in a space and perform the daily act of coming and going there.  

Like many who love sharing their homes I find myself with this  desire for pure unadulterated hospitality, such as Abraham showed the Holy Trinity when he was first visited at his tent.  Mind you, he was living in a TENT, but Abraham brought forth his best, even when it was inconvenient and unexpected.  He was always prepared to do so, at any moment, at the drop of hat.  I just feel my home must be that way too.

So many of us approach repairing, remodeling and dressing up our homes as a feat that requires too much physical labor, psychological exercise, and financial resources.  I try to reverse that thought.  Instead of making this a chore, I think of my home as a work of art that is continually being pursued from many different angles with a variety of mediums.  

It is a hobby, not a chore.  It is organic and evolving.  Progress is never overnight, and I expect that things will never be finished and tied up like a pretty little package with a bow on top.  A home is a life-long, ever changing project that never ends.  It is a life-process and not something that has to happen all at once or in one day.  It is more like a metamorphosis than a planned event.

The art of making a home is simply a way to enjoy the abundance that God grants to us for the taking.  This abundance is free.  It isn't something that you go out and buy, it is a way for your mind to think about change.  You can resist it, or you can relish the beauty and refreshment of it. This is not about spending money, but this is about having quality.  It is all about caring for what you have been blessed to have.  You can chose to take the easy road and be materialistic in this venture.  You are almost guaranteed in this case to eventually get bored with your choices; or you can chose to be gently caring for your home, and always feel refreshed about the constant process of moving forward.  

For years now I have been cleaning out a building full of accumulated junk.  Just things that have piled up over time, but this building, once empty will help me to keep my house fresh and alive.  

That may sound strange at first, but I must share with you the concept that I've been slowly building over the years.  I have collected decorative items that express the seasons, spring with all it's holiness and bright colors, then the red white and blues of Memorial Day that lead into Pentecost and Independence Day, then summers with patio fun in the sun and times at the beach, then fall with those lovely colors of the changing leaves and expressions of thanksgiving.  Last, but not least the lights of Chanukah, and the splendor of a traditional Christmas that celebrates the conception of Christ and The Incarnation.  I love all of these seasonal expressions of beauty.  

Now, I've finally put each season's expressions into labeled boxes to be stored in their own section of that storage building until it is time to bring them out each year in their own season. This is my main decorating technique, the rest is very basic and simple.  These items rotated every season keep my house fresh, interesting and new feeling year after year, no matter what stage of life we find ourselves living out.  It is that simple.  More than that, I've got those memories from seasons where I have used these things with my family and friends etched over my heart and photographed in all the family scrapbooks.  It is definitely not the things that matter, but it is the excuse that the things present to enjoy time with others and the reasons to develop relationships through times spent together in every season of life.  

If you don't see this, try a little experiment.  Invite some friends over for just an ordinary day.  How many people felt it was really important to show up when you asked?  Now, tell them you are having a seasonal party, spring fling, summer beach party, fall harvest party, and watch their enthusiasm and reactions change.  They will not want to miss it!  When you decorate seasonally and live your life around those seasons, life becomes more of an adventure.

For example, think about winter in this respect.  It is not at all about hoarding or storing like a squirrel getting ready for winter; it IS all about sharing and loving the moments that life presents in winter.  Center your decor around a blazing fireplace and invite friends over for hot chocolate and carol singing.  They will love it and admire your home to boot. 

People gather and gravitate towards order and beauty.  The order of the seasons and the beauty of your decorations of the season will make them feel harmony and love.  Is this an illusion?  Not if your heart makes it true.  People will see your heart every time they look around your home.  They will respect this and respond to it in beautiful ways.  Both you and they will be blessed.

I tucked this plan into the back of my mind years ago when I chose the main furnishings for our house, I've kept the colors neutral, creamy white sofas, beige rugs, simple straight lines, wooden floors, white walls with traditional art for the main spaces that do not change.  All of this blends with everything else I chose to add each season.  I've used solid bedspreads, loving and making full use of the effects of the freshness of whites.  Solid black in some furnishings and tabletops make a great backdrop for showing off pops of color.  Grays and beiges make decorating easy and natural.  All of these neutrals make a perfect backdrop for any season.  

So every season I pack up the things from the past season, label appropriately, and store until the next season comes along.  I do this year after year.  It is not a hard thing to do.  I take it in stages to make it easier.  We might have a weekend here and there of transition where the house is partially decorated for one season and partially decorated for the past season.  I don't stress or try to aim for perfection in just one day.  

Each new season I pull out the next season's things and enjoy them for the next several weeks, until the clock of life says "it is time for a change."   It works beautifully.  I feel like I get a whole new house every season. Each time I pull out the seasonal decorations I feel like I'm greeting old friends I haven't talked to for awhile.  When I find some very special new treasure, I introduce it to my old friends.  

For many people all of this packing up and pulling out feels like a dreaded chore and seems to be a lot of extra work.  For me though, it is like Christmas all year round.  The pulling out of new and boxing out of the previous season occurs gradually, a little at a time the old season dissolves away, and the new season appears and we follow the paths of our lives.  The idea is to LIVE in each season and to appreciate it's own unique beauty.  

It really doesn't take a lot of effort when you live through it this way.   I don't have to run to the store every time I want to be seasonal or festive, I simply reuse the same items over and over each year.   The familiarity only makes them become more special.

 Some nails in the wall are good for switching items each season.  My door wreaths and welcome signs in the foyer change with the seasons.  Some tabletops are good for changing decor when the dates change.  Some dishes are perfect for a time, then seasons change too.  (This makes cooking the same old recipes over and over a lot more fun and inspirational.)  Of course, I have my own created cookbook too that (you guessed it) has recipes for each season. of the year.  If you are interested in purchasing one of these, send me a message and I will try to accommodate you.    

Everything always feels fresh and new, and if you follow this process over the years just adding a piece at a time here and there, it is very cost effective.  

You could also have a variation on this idea if you just don't want to be seasonal.  It isn't about copying my ideas, but thinking up your own ideas.  What do you have in your life that would lend to making your home more interesting?  Grab that theme and go with it.  Mine started with observing God's Holy days.  My life was and is constantly evolving around these days.  

You may be a sports fan or an athlete, with your life evolving around whatever sport is happening; go with it!  You may be an outdoors person who is fond of  enjoying all of the natural beauty of nature that God gives to us.  Bring it into your home!  Let your home express your personality.  Give it a reflection of you. 

Maybe instead of going with a typical seasonal decor, you could pick your favorite hobby (horses, art, cooking, gardening) and decorate for the season with those types of items, only change and rotate them every two or three months.  Show how these things evolve in your life.  

Take these ideas any where you want, the jest of it all is to be creative with your home's interior and exterior in a way that keeps it interesting and expresses more of your personal lifestyle.  Find a way to show that you live in and love your home, and let your home say to others that you are not just existing there while you are not at work.  

I know a couple that decorates their home with classic car ideas.  You never know what they will have next, it is likely to be something they found at a recent event and just had to display in their home.  Be creative and reflect the things you enjoy!

And so it goes with this hobby of mine for always finding inexpensive and creative ways to make a house a home.  I never run out of ideas, and I hope to share some of them with you, step by step and season by season in this blog.

Keep reading "The Home Doctor" section titles of my blog if you are interested and hooked on this hobby as much as I am.  

I'll be posting new ideas about seasonal decorating and articles about ideas and themes that could make a home unique.  It is so much fun!   

I would love to hear your ideas and suggestions too!  I hope to receive many comments with these articles and think it would be wonderful for all of us to share our ideas for making a house a home.

COME AS A CHILD LESSON 103 THE EGYPTIANS BECOME SLAVES OF PHARAOH

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

          So Jacob and all of Joseph’s brothers settled in the land of Egypt and Pharaoh gave them choice land in the district of Ramses, just as he had promised.  They prospered and did well there.  They, their children and grandchildren and their herds had food and shelter because of Joseph’s favor with Pharaoh.

          It wasn’t too long until Joseph had collected all the money in the land and placed it inside Pharaoh’s treasury in exchange for food.  Both Canaan and Egypt continued to suffer from drought and produced no crops.  When all of the people ran out of money they cried out to Joseph, “Give us food!  We have given you everything that we have and we are still hungry!”

          Joseph told the people to bring their cattle,sheep, goats, horses and donkeys  in exchange for food from Pharaoh.  They did and everyone came through that year of famine by trading all of their livestock to Pharaoh for food.

          The next year was the same story.  The horrible famine continued. The people came before Joseph needing food.  They said they had nothing left to trade for seed to plant to grow food, so they offered themselves as servants to Pharaoh and their land as collateral for food.  So Joseph bought every citizen and all of their land and put them into service for Pharaoh, except for the priest of the land, because Pharaoh allotted them land and had allotted them seed to grow their own food and they were not in need.  The rest of the Egyptians though, were now Pharaoh’s slaves.  Pharaoh owned all of their land and all of their livestock. 

          Joseph, however, was a fair man.  When all the people became slaves, he gave each of them seed to plant to grow and harvest for food.  He made a new law in the land, which remained in effect throughout time, that all of the people would give one fifth of their produce to Pharaoh.  They were able to keep four fifths of the crops they grew for seed and for food for themselves, and the other portion belonged to Pharaoh.  I guess you could say that Joseph established the first official government tax system.  Only the land that belonged to the priest of the land was not taken or taxed.  That land remained free and was used by the priest for sustaining their households.

          Not only does one begin to see how the first government taxes came about here, one also begins to see that taxation by the government is also a form of slavery.  The people were in bondage to Pharaoh, yet they were able to take what he allowed in order to sustain themselves.  It was only preferable if one had no other choice but death by starvation.  This was the case.  It could be said that Pharaoh gained all of his wealth from the suffering of his people.  They bargained with him in order that they might live.  Joseph brought balance into this equation.  He allowed the people to flourish in spite of their bondage to their leader.

          By this time Jacob's family was well established in the land of Goshen.  They multiplied and grew and were very fruitful in the land.  Their numbers increased greatly. 

          Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years.  He lived to be 147 years old.  When Israel was so old and tired that he could only worship God by leaning on his staff, he requested a promise from Joseph.  “Bury me in the land of my fathers.  Do not forget this!  Do not leave my bones here in the land of Egypt but let me rest with my fathers in the land of my heritage.”

          Joseph made this faithful promise to the father that he loved with all of his heart.