follow the cloud

YHVH said to him, "What is that in your hand?" And he said, "A staff."Then He said, "Throw it on the ground." So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.But the YHVH said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail"--so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand. I don't know quite how to unpack this one. It makes for a good meditation indeed. Throw down your security and pick up your insecurity.
There is a niggling in the back burner... On one hand the Almighty is quite free with the miracles. In multiple anecdotes He suspends, bends and breaks the laws of nature for purposes of persuasion, vindication or "showing off". But on the other hand what is our response to these displays? I'm thinking about the passage in Devarim 13 when God speaks about allowing miracles to come from "bad" sources to test His people. Also there is the adage "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” And what about second-hand signs and wonder? To what degree can one base one's beliefs on other's experiences? ...not much. Of course when we talk about miracles as empirical foundation we may be shang-haiing the whole phenomenon. A foundation needn't be based on aberrations in the natural order of things, everyday experiences ought to suffice. Discuss the role of miracles...

In Vayechi are the blessings on Yosef's sons here are some thoughts on the subject. In verse 8 of Bereishes 48 Yaacov says, regarding Yoseph's sons, "Mi Eleh?" (who are these) which is an allusion (scrambled letter message) to the pagan gods (elohim) their decendants would worship. The Zohar says as much: Soncino Zohar Volume I p. 228a - When Jacob was about to bless Joseph's sons, he saw by the Holy Spirit that Jeroboam the son of Nebat would issue from Ephraim, and he exclaimed, “Who are these?”, the word “these” (eleh) being an allusion to idols. The reason is that besides the evil serpent there is one that rides on it, and when they are joined together they are called “these”, and they visit the world with all their hosts.
The interesting thing is the correlation between the imagry in revelation 17 of "the woman sitting on a scarlet beast" and the idolatry of Ephraim.
(Ideas c/o)

"Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold! - I am about to die; God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers. And as for me, I have given you Shechem - one portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Emorite with my sword and with my bow." Bereishit (Genesis) 48:21-22

The New International Version translates Shechem as "the ridge of land", which is it's literal meaning, but I'm inclined to think that Israel is literally referring here to the city of Shechem that Shimon and Levi conquered, and the land nearby that he purchased from the locals. If so, then Shechem (modern-day Nablus) belongs to Yosef and his descendants, the tribes of Efraim and Menashe. Perhaps the repossession of Shechem/Nablus for the nation of Israel will be accomplished by the sons of Yosef when they return to Eretz Israel. It's interesting to think about.

One. I post for the first time. Here's our new blog. We aim for total domination of the Internet for the cause of fundamentalist Torah obedience and devotion to Yeshua. Ya'll have been warned.

So, This is the inauguration of "Follow the Cloud". The plan is to regularly update it with things that would be of note to the humble Israelite. Things like parsha commentary, Israeli/mideast news, recipes and other messianic type stuff are fair game.
The contributers are just a couple of young (single) guys from the middle of nowhere (middle of Canada), who happen to have acces to the WWW( or 666 if you will). I (sphere/P.D.) will not have regular access to the interweb until next school term but Yoel does... and ... Ummm... and the guy in the back ground is supposed to be Abraham.