Assemblies of Yahweh Ministries Newsletter

Issue No. 08                                             India                                                            Sept. 2003

Festival of Tabernacles(Sukkot) in Eluru, W.G. Dt., Andhra Pradesh

All of good will are invited to the Festival of Tabernacles that will be observed in Eluru W.G. Dt. A.P. on Oct. 12-19, meetings will start Fri. night Oct. 10, for those coming from out of town.  The meetings will be held at the Mothevari Satram, near the Old Bustand.  There are rooms for lodging at the premises with bathing and bathroom facilities.  Meals will be served throughout the festival.  Make plans now to come and rejoice in the Law of Yahweh during this sacred time.  For more info. contact, G.B. Benoni at:  8812-250404 or 235109.  

Day of Trumpets(Yom Teruah) and Day of Atonement(Yom Kippur)

The seventh new moon of the Scriptural year will be seen from India and Yerushalim Sept. 27 at sunset, thus making the 28th the day of Trumpets, during the ten days from Trumpets to Atonement it is good to meditate on one of the ten commandments each day and make sure that ones life is in harmony with Yahweh, then we are able to rejoice during the festival of Tabernacles knowing that all our sins have been forgiven.  This month we are sending out calendars for the months of September and October that show the dates of the festival days.  We plan on making a complete calendar for the year of 2004 that will show the timings of the new moons and all festival days;  if any would like to receive a free copy of the 2004 calendar, please contact the address at the end of this newsletter.  Donations are accepted, but not required.

The calendar will start the sacred year with the first visible crescent from Ysrael after the vernal equinox.  To study  the Scriptural and historical way to start the year, please contact us and request AOYM Newsletter #4 in which this subject is covered, or all past newsletters and other articles can be viewed on the internet at:  www.sevendayweek.com.  

New Telugu Sacred Name Song tape

A new Telugu/English song tape has been produced by the Assembly of Yahweh in Vizakhapatnam, two songs are in English, the rest are in Telugu.  This is the second Sacred Name song tape they have produced, it is entitled, "Springs in the Desert".  If any would like a copy, send 50Rs to:  Zion School, 9-9-43 Mangapuram Colony, Visakhapatnam, AP 530017 – telephone 0891-2575569;  9849147243 cell phone.  Please specify cassette or CD.  

Telugu Sacred Name Bible Translation

In Eluru, W.G. Dt., A.P. the books of Gen.- 2Sam., Dan., and Matt. have been translated into the Telugu Language and are typeset into the computer.  For the book of Matthew, the DuTillet Hebrew manuscript was followed.  This translation of the book of Matthew will vary somewhat from the Greek manuscripts translations.  It was translated into Telugu by Shmuel Yacobi who studied Hebrew for four years at the Andhra Christian Theological College in Hyderabad.  Shmuel translated directly from Hebrew to Telugu being that he knows both languages.  If anyone would be interested in seeing a copy of any of the books that have been completed, contact the address at the end of this newsletter.  We welcome all proofreading helps.  

Fundamental Belief #7, State of the Dead

Throughout the Scriptures the dead are spoken of as being in a state of unconscious "sleep", see Job 14:12; Ps. 13:3; Ps. 146:4; Eccl. 9:5,6; Jer. 51:39,57; Dan. 12:2;  Jn. 11:13,14; Acts. 2:29,34; 13:36; I Cor. 11:30; I Thes. 4:14; Mt. 27:52; I Cor. 15:20.  At the return of Yahshua He will awaken the righteous dead out of their unconscious "sleep" in the graves, to eternal life. I Thes. 4:16,17; Jn. 5:28,29; I Cor. 15:51-54;  Isa. 26:19.

The Witch of Endor

There are a few verses that seem contrary to the above doctrine, one is found in 1Sam. 28 where we read the story of King Saul and the witch of Endor.  King Saul asks his servants to find him a woman that has "a familiar spirit".  So a lady is found that eventually conjures up, what appears to be, the prophet Samuel.  First, we need to ask, does a mere mortal human have the power to raise Samuel or anyone else from the dead?  Yahshua Messiah said that He was the One that had the keys of the grave and death, Rev. 1:18;  those keys are not given to anyone else, especially a lady that talks with demons.  It is Yahshua's voice that the dead will hear when they arise from the grave, Jn.5:28;  not some witch.  Furthermore, it was commanded in the Torah that someone should be put to death that was a witch or had a familiar spirit, Ex.22:18;  Lev. 20:27.  A person that is a witch or wizard is in communication with evil spirits and Yahweh does not want them to deceive the people.  So we can safely conclude that the witch of Endor did not have the power to raise anyone from the dead.  Being that the Endor witch was in communication with demons, what Saul actually saw was a demon in the form of the prophet Samuel.

It might be contended that what "Samuel" told Saul did come to pass.  This is true, but Satan can see the events in this world and make a fairly accurate guess as to what will be in the future.  Modern day Psychics and Spiritists in our times will have a certain percentage of accuracy in their predictions, but they are not 100% correct as they are not "all knowing" as Yahweh is.  A prophet from Yahweh will be 100% correct in his predictions. 

The 4 Beasts and 24 Elders

There are a few people that are exceptions to the rule.  In Revelation 5, it mentions 24 elders and four beasts that are worshipping Yahweh day and night and they sing a song that says, "Thou... hast redeemed us to Eloah by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;" Rev. 5:9.  So here we see 24 elders and four beast that are in the direct presence of Yahweh and they are saying that they are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.  If they have been redeemed, this means they were once sinners here on earth that found salvation through Yahshua Messiah.  Who could these people be?  In Mt. 27:52,53 it mentions that when Yahshua died, the graves of many were opened, and when He resurrected, the people in these graves also resurrected at that time.  What ever happened to these people?  Eph. 4:8 says, "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train".NIV, see also Ps. 68:18.  Who are these captives?  The ones Yahshua captured from the grave at His resurrection.  What about the four beasts?  They also say that they were redeemed by the blood of the Lamb(Rev.5:8,9), which means they also were once sinners.  There are two people in the Bible who are mentioned as having never died.  Both Enoch and Eliyah ascended to heaven without dieing according to 2Kings 2:11; Gen.5:24; Heb.11:5.  In the book of Matt. 17:3 it mentions that Moshe and Eliyah appeared to Yahshua and talked with Him.  Moshe died according to Dt.34:5, so Yahweh raised him from the grave sometime later.  This is also alluded to in Jude 1:9.  The four beasts that worship Yahweh in Revelation are said to look like a man, lion, calf, and flying eagle,Rev. 4:7.

When Eliyah slew the 850 false prophets of Baal he was like a lion, 1Kings18:19,40.  Moses was like a calf, in that he was one of the meekest men to have ever lived, Num.12:3.  The book of Jasher(Joshua 10:13; 2Sam.1:18) describes how Enoch lived up in the mountains, and from time to time he would come down to the wicked people in the plains and warn them of Yahweh's judgments upon sinners, Jude 14,15.  The people refused to listen to him;  one day as Enoch was walking away from the city he slowly floated up into the heavens.  So Enoch was like an eagle in that he lived in the mountains and he eventually "flew away".  This describes three of the beasts, but what about the fourth beast that looked like a man?

All the apostles of Yahshua were eventually martyred except for Yochanan(John).  He was tried before the Roman Emperor Domitian and sentenced to be thrown in a pot of boiling oil.  But, Yahweh delivered him, and the boiling oil did not harm him, so Domitian then banished him to the island of Patmos were John received the visions that make up the book of Revelation.  Yahshua told Peter that if John was to live to see His return, that it was none of Peter's business, so it was rumored that John would not die, Jn. 21:21-23.  The Bible gives us no record of John's death.  However, the church historian Eusebius records that John did die, and was buried;  whether that is true or not, I do not know, as Eusebius is inaccurate in several of his accounts.  But, even if John did die it is possible that Yahweh raised Him from the grave as He did Moshe.  John was known as the disciple that "Yahshua loved", (Jn. 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7,20), and being that Yahweh did not allow John to be martyred, it seems right that John has been honored to be the fourth beast that has the face of a man;  see also Mt.16:28.

Mount of Transfiguration

In Mt. 16:28 Yahshua told His disciples that some of them would not die till they had seen the "Son of Man coming in His Kingdom".  It seems that John is the only disciple that could have literally fit this prophesy, as all the rest were martyred.  However, there is also an application to those words in what took place in the next few verses, during the events of the "mount of transfiguration".  In Mt. 17:1-3 it records that Moshe and Eliyah both appeared to Yahshua in the presence of Peter, Jacob(James), and John.  Later, Peter commented on this experience by calling it the "coming of our Lord Yahshua Messiah",2Pet.1:16-18.  How is it that the experience on the mount of transfiguration, was a type of the coming of Yahshua Messiah?  In 1Thes. 4:16,17 it says that when Messiah returns, the dead shall rise first, and then those that are alive shall rise up to meet Him in the clouds.  So there are two groups of righteous people at Messiah's return, the dead who are resurrected, and the righteous living.  In the experience of the mount of transfiguration, Moshe represented the righteous dead who will be resurrected, and Eliyah represented the righteous living that will be "translated" without tasting of death.  So thus, we see a symbolic mini representation of "the coming of the Son of Man in His Kingdom".  

Hellfire – burned up or burned eternally

I was browsing the internet the other day and I saw a website by a man that claimed he was an atheist, but he wrote that even if he could be convinced that the God of the Bible existed, he still would not worship Him.  The main reason he gave was, he could not worship a Being that would burn people in an eternally burning place, throughout eternity, for just 70 years or so of sinning.  And to be honest, neither could I(bro. Mattithyah);  it is not fair to burn someone for eternity who only sinned for 70 or less years.  But could it be, that some people have a wrong idea about the eternal fate of the wicked?  The Scriptures tell us that the wicked will be burned up,Mal.4:1; 2Pet.3:7,10; Isa.24:3,6, and become as ashes,Mal. 4:3; Eze.28:13-18.  Eternal life is only promised to the righteous in Messiah, not the wicked, John 3:16, Rom.6:23; Mt.19:16,17.  The idea of an eternal burning hell is foreign to the loving character of the heavenly Father.  Some might say that Yahshua Himself taught eternal hellfire in the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16.  Many components of this parable show that it is not to be taken literally, also the Jews in Yahshua's time had the idea that there was an eternally burning place for sinners, as can be seen from the writings of post-exilic Jewish writers, such as Josephus.  So Yahshua simply used a common widely believed misconception to get across a more important point, namely, that if someone refuses to hear Moshe and the prophets, they have forfeited salvation, Lk. 16:29-31.  Questions or comments can be sent to the address below.

Contact Information:                                    

Assemblies of Yahweh Ministries

G. B. Benoni

Navabpet, Eluru

W.G. Dt., A.P. 534001

telefax# - 8812-250404

Yahweh@vsnl.com  (bro. Mattithyah)

www.sevendayweek.com

Sarah Ephrati Hebrew Language Research Academy – Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh

A new four day Seminar Academy has been started in Machilipatnam, to teach the fundamentals of the Hebrew language, also Hebrew history, literature, and culture.  The Academy will start Monday 2pm Sept. 29, 2003.  The Seminar will last till Thurs. Oct. 2, 2003 at 12noon.  Each week will start with a new group of students.  12 students are allowed per weekly Seminar.  The classes will be in Telugu medium one week and English medium another week.

Teachers – Shmuel Yacobi; studied Hebrew for four years at the Andhra Christian Theological College in Hyderabad, and has three years of Jewish Studies in Brooklyn, New York at a Rabbinical Seminary.  His son Yehoshua works in the Library of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, and he has sent materials from the library that will be used in the classes in Machilipatnam.

Other teachers include, Yacob, Shmuel's second son, M.Sc. Environmental Science; 

Dan, Shmuel's third son, 1yr. Torah Studies in Brooklyn, New York, 1 1/2 yrs. Rabbinical Studies in Jerusalem, Israel; 

P. Israel, M.A. Politics; 

P. Esther, M.A. English; 

G. Magdiel will teach basic Hebrew through Telugu Medium.

Fees – 300Rs. includes Food, lodging, and 40 pages of materials.

Items to bring – Bible, 200pg. Notebook, pen, personal items, toothbrush, towel, one bedsheet, etc...

Students should make their own train/bus reservations in advance

______________________________________________________________________________

 Registration Form

1.  Name -

2. Age –                       3.  Sex -

4. Language required, Telugu or English?

5.  Address -

6.  Religious Affiliation -

7.  Qualifications -

8.  Registration Fee Money Order Receipt Number ____________________________, checks,cash,D.D. also accepted.

                 Date:_________________________

9.  Declaration: I have read and understood all about the Academy, yes, I am willing to attend the three day Hebrew class Seminar.  I am sending my Registration Fee.  Please send the Dates, batch number, and the directions to the Institute.

Date:                                                                                                                      Signature -

Place:                                                                                    

Mail to : Yacob Yacobi, Director

                  c/o P. Sudhir Israel

                 D.No.4 – 1026/25 B, Raju Peta,

                 Machilipatnam, A.P. 521001

                 S. India

                 Telephone – 08672- 254408;  0866-2431734  Cell Phone # 9849328683