Hi, here's a fun song from Isaiah 54, called "Sing O Barren Woman." It came to me from the Lord, as I was reading Bible Portion #2, in a Calypso beat (perfect for those of you in Trinidad and Tobago!). Click below to hear the song.
In my own life, it has been very enlightening to read the first five books of the Bible, called the Torah, plus related Old Testament scriptures. It's been even more enlightening to read the hundreds of New Testament scriptures that also relate.
Here's a simple chart of each Torah portion in Genesis. There are twelve in all. If you'd like to join with us, we are reading #3 today, Lekh Lekha, starting at Genesis 12:1
Jews have been reading this cycle for almost 2,500 years, usually reading one portion each week on the Shabbat. Messianic believers have added appropriate New Testament.
Here is a chart showing the Old Testament portions PLUS many New Testament passages.
For many years we have been reading the 54 Torah portions, one portion each day, which enables us to read through the Torah once every 54 days. It's been a tremendous blessing in our lives!
We highly recommend reading the Torah like this, one portion each day, plus all the related scripture portions in the Haftarah (prophets) and Brit Chadasha (New Covenant). It's amazing how God "writes" the Torah into our hearts, and confirms our faith in His commandments. And we see Yeshua on every page!
Today is Shevat 3 on the Jewish calendar, January 9, 2019. So we are reading Torah portion #3, "Lekh Lekha" (which means, "Get yourself out"), the story of how God called Abraham out from Ur of the Chaldees into the Promised Land. The Haftarah and Brit Chadashah portions all relate clearly.
Shalom!
Dr. Steve Kuban
About "Sing O Barren Woman" song:
How this song came about
In Torah portion #2 (Gen 6:9-11:32) we read how YHVH judged the earth with a massive flood, but He saved Noah and his family in the Ark. Then He promised He would never again destroy the earth with a flood.
The related Haftarah portion in Isaiah 54 begins with YHVH telling Israel: "Sing O Barren Woman."
The moment I read those four words, a happy melody and calypso beat suddenly popped into my mind, and joy rose up in my heart. "Could it be that YHVH is giving me a brand new song?" I thought to myself.
Putting this chapter into context, Isaiah 54 is actually a reassuring song YHVH is telling Israel to sing. He tells Israel that though she is like a young wife whom He has forsaken (due to her sin and unfaithfulness to Him), His anger against her was only going to be for a 'small moment' of time. In due time He would restore her to Himself. Thus He tells her:
"Sing O barren woman, break forth into song.
Enlarge thy dwelling places, lengthen thy cords
Break forth on the right hand (into dancing)
And break forth on the left
The nations are your inheritance!"
As I read those words, they continued to flow perfectly with the melody and calypso beat I was hearing in my head, which is usually a confirmation that what I'm hearing in my head musically is coming from the Holy Spirit.
As I read the whole chapter the words continued to fit into that same melody and joyful calypso beat. This was another confirmation.
Then YHVH gave me a third confirmation. As I read Isaiah 54 using a Hebrew Bible, I saw that the Hebrew word used for a "small moment" is rega katon. Suddenly I knew God was giving me this song for Isaiah 54, and it was to be sung and performed with a calypso beat.
When I saw the word rega katon, I immediately thought of reggaeton, a style of music used in the Caribbean. This was the third confirmation, so now I knew that YHVH wanted me to create the song, "Sing O Barren Woman" using a calypso beat. And the nice thing was, He'd already given me the melody, beat, and key in my head, so the most important work was already done, by Him. Isn't God great? This is typical of how He inspires and speaks to me. :-) Now, the rest of the song I would have to work hard to pull together.
So I spent the next hour researching and selecting verses from the King James Bible and the Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB), using YHVH's Hebrew name whenever possible (as I desire to restore His divine name through all my songs and teaching). This includes YHVH T'seva'ot ("the LORD of Hosts" in the KJV or "Hashem Tzva'os" in the OJB). I also used "Elohim (God) of the whole earth", and "Your Go'el" (Redeemer). I found the Orthodox Jewish Bible was quite helpful. For example here is Isaiah 54:7,8 in the OJB:
For a rega katon (small moment) have I abandoned thee; but with rachamim gedolim will I gather thee back. 8 With a little wrath I hid My face from thee for a rega (moment); but with chesed olam will I have rachamim on thee, saith thy Go'el, Hashem
May this song be a blessing to you. May this help you to memorize and internalize God's Word!
More Music from Steve Kuban: https://stevekuban.com/downloads