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Tag: deuteronomy

Apocalypse 6 – the Face of Justice
If I sharpen My flashing sword,
And My hand takes hold on justice,
I will render vengeance on My adversaries,
And I will repay those who hate Me.
Deuteronomy 32:41 NASB

What is already begun

And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

Revelation 6:4 KJV

A second horseman who wields a great sword is sent out to take peace from the earth. Men will kill one another and his horse is blood red.
- The first living creature was like a lion;
- the second living creature was like an ox;
- the third living creature had a face like a man..
- A creature like a lion sends out a rider with a bow
- a second living creature like an ox gives a powerful sword to his rider.
Now another living creature not a man, for like the others it has six wings and is full of eyes — a living creature with the face of a man — a terrible face like one never seen by any man created in God’s image — the third living creature hands the one who sat on a black horse a pair of scales.

He will weigh what is to be given to men of the earth.

The Terrible Face of Justice

A lion has roared! Who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken! Who can do anything but prophesy? – Amos 3:8 NASB

Amos – Not immune from judgment

We are NOT IMMUNE to the #pandemic of sin!

In March of A.D. 2020, I interrupted introduction to the Gospel of John with prophesy of Amos (linked above).

“But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.” – quoting Amos 6:24

Now, just eleven months later, I maintain the appropriateness of these parallels to US.

Pictures of JUSTICE & JUDGMENT!

What YOU think about Justice or about God or even about Jesus may turn out to be just POLITICS.

The JUSTICE of the LORD GOD will weigh the events of these last days differently than the blind Judgment of mankind.

Contemplation of Justice and Authority of Law

Even the US Supreme Court entrance displays the imagery of contemplation of justice.

A book of laws supports
her left arm and a figure of blindfolded Justice is
in her right hand.

Once the victorious and worthy Lamb of God takes the Throne and opens the BOOK of the LAW, a heavenly HIGH COURT now shows imagery to the Apostle John. One with scales in hand will equally weigh what remains for the PEOPLE after the ravages of war. It is a dreadful sight!

The Third Seal

Scarcity on Earth

Revelation 6:

5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.”

Remember, the awesome creature with the face of a man?

So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.
Revelation 6:5b NKJV

Now remember that the four living creatures surround the Throne day and night worshiping the Lamb.

6 And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying,

“A measure of wheat for a denarius, and three measures of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”

Famine & Scarcity

The available food is being measured on the scales equally for ALL, because there is hardly enough for ANY.

The denarius was a penny — and yet it was one man’s wages for one day!

The poor will be starving for lack of the “necessities” while those in powerful control will be enjoying “luxuries.”
John Brown :: Revelation 6:3-6 – source: BlueLetter Bible

Additional Commentary of John Brown – Excerpts on the Third Seal

1. This time the horseman carries no weapons. This time it’s a pair of scales!

a) At the onset of war there is always the promise of a “better world” and a better economy but famine always follows war!!!

(1) It has been the case in China, North Korea, East Germany, Cuba, and Vietnam.

(2) The scales as well as the black horse speaks of a time great death upon the earth!

(a) Lamentations 5:10 Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine. (KJV)

(b) Beating the plowshares into swords doesn’t leave much time for farming!

(c) There are already, in many countries, long lines for simple things like bread and butter and milk.

(d) Men, women and children are starving to death all over the world and it has become “common” and accepted!

What Next?

As if this were not fearful enough, we know that only three of the four living creatures have called John to come and see the apocalypse of this certain future.

Even if much is symbolic rather than literal, the remaining four seals of the book yet to be revealed bring all creatures in God’s image to contemplate the very justice of Almighty God.
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To be continued...
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February 12, 2021
A Day of the silence of the Passover Lamb
The Son of Man is Slain
- Jesus, the King of the Jews
- Day of Preparation
- The Passover Lamb
- He was already dead
- Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby they laid Jesus there.
- Joseph rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away.
“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! – John 1:36
From the day the Son of Man is delivered into the world and laid in a manger the shadow of the Cross foretold Christ’s Sacrifice.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.. For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
John 1:14,16-17 NASB

וַיִּקְרָ֥א מֹשֶׁ֛ה לְכָל־זִקְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֑ם מִֽשְׁכ֗וּ וּקְח֨וּ לָכֶ֥ם צֹ֛אן לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתֵיכֶ֖ם וְשַׁחֲט֥וּ הַפָּֽסַח׃
Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb.
Exodus 12:21 WLC; NASB http://blb.sc/002lS2

Jesus has prepared unwilling ears of the Disciples for this shabbath of the pecach, which takes away the sins of the world.

Crucifixion! – Scripture Fulfilled

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up..

– John 3:13 NASB

The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’?
Who is this Son of Man?”
John 12:34 NASB

By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.
Hebrews 11:28 NASB

Now the body of the Son of Man lays lifeless and bloodied, partially wrapped in the shrouds of burial and entombed in darkness sealed away from the living by a guarded stone door.

Jesus the ROCK of Salvation

The Song of Moses

“Listen, you heavens, and I will speak;
And let the earth hear the words of my mouth!
2 May my teaching drip as the rain,
My speech trickle as the dew,
As droplets on the fresh grass,
And as the showers on the vegetation.
3 For I proclaim the name of the Lord;
Ascribe greatness to our God!

4 The Rock! His work is perfect,
For all His ways are just;
A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
Righteous and just is He.
5 They have acted corruptly against Him,
They are not His children, because of their defect;
But are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 Is this what you do to the Lord,
You foolish and unwise people?
Is He not your Father who has purchased you?
He has made you and established you.

הַאֲזִ֥ינוּ הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וַאֲדַבֵּ֑רָה וְתִשְׁמַ֥ע הָאָ֖רֶץ אִמְרֵי־פִֽי׃

2 יַעֲרֹ֤ף כַּמָּטָר֙ לִקְחִ֔י תִּזַּ֥ל כַּטַּ֖ל אִמְרָתִ֑י כִּשְׂעִירִ֣ם עֲלֵי־דֶ֔שֶׁא וְכִרְבִיבִ֖ים עֲלֵי־עֵֽשֶׂב׃

3 כִּ֛י שֵׁ֥ם יְהוָ֖ה אֶקְרָ֑א הָב֥וּ גֹ֖דֶל לֵאלֹהֵֽינוּ׃

4 הַצּוּר֙ תָּמִ֣ים פָּעֳל֔וֹ כִּ֥י כָל־דְּרָכָ֖יו מִשְׁפָּ֑ט אֵ֤ל אֱמוּנָה֙ וְאֵ֣ין עָ֔וֶל צַדִּ֥יק וְיָשָׁ֖ר הֽוּא׃

5 שִׁחֵ֥ת ל֛וֹ לֹ֖א בָּנָ֣יו מוּמָ֑ם דּ֥וֹר עִקֵּ֖שׁ וּפְתַלְתֹּֽל׃

6 הֲ־לַיְהוָה֙ תִּגְמְלוּ־זֹ֔את עַ֥ם נָבָ֖ל וְלֹ֣א חָכָ֑ם הֲלוֹא־הוּא֙ אָבִ֣יךָ קָּנֶ֔ךָ ה֥וּא עָֽשְׂךָ֖ וַֽיְכֹנְנֶֽךָ׃

The Messiah & the Pharisees

Philip found Nathanael and said to him,
“We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Gospel of John 1:45 NASB

The Pharisees had often come to Jesus before they crucified Him and now faithful men have laid their Messiah in a grave. Joseph, Nicodemus and a remnant of influential Jews believe and follow the Messiah secretly out of fear of their own lives.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
John 5:25

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

“I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves…

The Pharisees had tested Jesus. Yet most continued to give glory to each other rather than the Messiah who came to teach truth in their midst.

Jesus preached the truth of Scripture to the Jews who claimed to be teachers.

“Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father;
the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope.
For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
John 5: NASB

The Writings of Moshe

Deuteronomy 32:
New American Standard Bible

.. And you drank wine of the blood of grapes..

18 You forgot the Rock who fathered you,
And forgot the God who gave you birth.

19 “The Lord saw this, and spurned them
Because of the provocation by His sons and daughters.

20 Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them,
I will see what their end will be;
For they are a perverse generation,
Sons in whom there is no faithfulness.

…

39 See now that I, I am He,
And there is no god besides Me;
It is I who put to death and give life.
I have wounded and it is I who heal,
And there is no one who can save anyone from My hand.
40 Indeed, I raise My hand to heaven,
And say, as I live forever,
41 If I have sharpened My flashing sword,
And My hand has taken hold of justice,
I will return vengeance on My adversaries,
And I will repay those who hate Me.

דברים 32
Westminster Leningrad Codex

18 צ֥וּר יְלָדְךָ֖ תֶּ֑שִׁי וַתִּשְׁכַּ֖ח אֵ֥ל מְחֹלְלֶֽךָ׃

19 וַיַּ֥רְא יְהוָ֖ה וַיִּנְאָ֑ץ מִכַּ֥עַס בָּנָ֖יו וּבְנֹתָֽיו׃

20 וַיֹּ֗אמֶר אַסְתִּ֤ירָה פָנַי֙ מֵהֶ֔ם אֶרְאֶ֖ה מָ֣ה אַחֲרִיתָ֑ם כִּ֣י ד֤וֹר תַּהְפֻּכֹת֙ הֵ֔מָּה בָּנִ֖ים לֹא־אֵמֻ֥ן בָּֽם׃

…

39 רְא֣וּ׀ עַתָּ֗ה כִּ֣י אֲנִ֤י אֲנִי֙ ה֔וּא וְאֵ֥ין אֱלֹהִ֖ים עִמָּדִ֑י אֲנִ֧י אָמִ֣ית וַאֲחַיֶּ֗ה מָחַ֙צְתִּי֙ וַאֲנִ֣י אֶרְפָּ֔א וְאֵ֥ין מִיָּדִ֖י מַצִּֽיל׃

40 כִּֽי־אֶשָּׂ֥א אֶל־שָׁמַ֖יִם יָדִ֑י וְאָמַ֕רְתִּי חַ֥י אָנֹכִ֖י לְעֹלָֽם׃

41 אִם־שַׁנּוֹתִי֙ בְּרַ֣ק חַרְבִּ֔י וְתֹאחֵ֥ז בְּמִשְׁפָּ֖ט יָדִ֑י אָשִׁ֤יב נָקָם֙ לְצָרָ֔י וְלִמְשַׂנְאַ֖י אֲשַׁלֵּֽם׃

Prophesy: Curses on Disobedience

Deuteronomy 28 :: HNV / WLC

20 The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me.

33 The fruit of your ground, and all your labors, shall a nation which you don’t know eat up; and you shall be only oppressed and crushed always..

45-46 All these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you didn’t listen to the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his mitzvot and his statutes which he commanded you: and they shall be on you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your seed forever.

יְשַׁלַּח יְהוָה בְּךָ אֶת־הַמְּאֵרָה אֶת־הַמְּהוּמָה וְאֶת־הַמִּגְעֶרֶת בְּכָל־מִשְׁלַח יָדְךָ אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשֶׂה עַד הִשָּֽׁמֶדְךָ וְעַד־אֲבָדְךָ מַהֵר מִפְּנֵי רֹעַ מַֽעֲלָלֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר עֲזַבְתָּֽנִי׃

פְּרִי אַדְמָֽתְךָ וְכָל־יְגִיעֲךָ יֹאכַל עַם אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יָדָעְתָּ וְהָיִיתָ רַק עָשׁוּק וְרָצוּץ כָּל־הַיָּמִֽים׃

וּבָאוּ עָלֶיךָ כָּל־הַקְּלָלוֹת הָאֵלֶּה וּרְדָפוּךָ וְהִשִּׂיגוּךָ עַד הִשָּֽׁמְדָךְ כִּי־לֹא שָׁמַעְתָּ בְּקוֹל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לִשְׁמֹר מִצְוֺתָיו וְחֻקֹּתָיו אֲשֶׁר צִוָּֽךְ׃

וְהָיוּ בְךָ לְאוֹת וּלְמוֹפֵת וּֽבְזַרְעֲךָ עַד־עוֹלָֽם׃

“In the morning you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’
And at evening you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’
because of the fear which terrifies your heart,
and because of the sight which your eyes see.
Deuteronomy 28:67 NKJV – curse of the LORD on Israel for breaking His Covenant

Judgment by a Savior
- Thus he showed me: and, behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand. – Amos 7:7 ASV
- Flight of the Prisoners, Artist: Tissot, Photographer: John Parnell, Photo © The Jewish Museum, New York
- “I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.
a resurrection of judgment…
“Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth;
those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life,
those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
The words of Jesus – John 5:28-29 NASB

As the crowds had approached Jerusalem for the seven-day celebration they laid palms before Jesus at the gates atop the holy hill.

Now as Jesus lay in the grave, His broken and bloodied Body partially prepared for burial, the public mourning of the faithful must wait for a sacred celebration of the final feast of pecach.

As Jesus lay on a slab of stone in a tomb sealed by a rock rolled before its entrance, faithful Jews knew well the curses of their own disobedience and separation from the Lord their God.

The Prophet Hosea (~755–710 B.C)

Hosea’s name means: salvation, as did that of Moses’ successor Joshua and as does that of the Son of Man known of Nazareth, Jesus.

From the hand of Sheol I do ransom them,
From death I redeem them,
Where is thy plague, O death?
Where thy destruction, O Sheol?
Repentance is hid from Mine eyes.
Hosea 13:14 YLT

After this day of irony in the festival feast would come the sorrowful day of mourning on the first day of the week.

Yet the words of Jesus before summoning Lazarus from the grave surly resounded in the hearts of their recent memory.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
the Good News of John 11:25-26 NASB

She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, God’s Son, he who comes into the world.” – John 11:27 Hebrew Names Version

The Silence of this Shabbat

There, as Jesus’ loved ones, family and followers mourned silently during the final feast of the Passover, the preparations of their hearts found no solace in His upcoming burial on the first day of the week.

For they had witnessed the brutality of sin against the Sinless One on the Cross of Calvary.

The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. One who believes in the Son has eternal life,
but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
the Good News of John 3:35-36 Hebrew Names Version
November 21, 2020
The Hour Is Come – Glory to the Son AND the Father
Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer of intercession begins simply and humbly.

Even from the confines of a dark upper room in Zion which Judas has now left on the eve of Jerusalem’s great darkness, Jesus looks up to the light of a glory the Son once had – the glory of the LORD God our Father in heaven.

Glorify your Son

Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee…
John 17:1 b KJV

John 17:

When Jesus had finished saying these things, he looked upward to heaven and said,

“Father, the time has come.

… glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify you— just as you have given him authority over all humanity, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him.
John 17:1b-2a NET

Our eternal High Priest has much more to say in His prayer of high importance to sinners for whom He intercedes. These include eternal life and as previously mentioned who the Father has given to the Son.

Yet today let’s focus in on why Jesus prays for the Father to glorify the Son – His reason for entering the Holy of Holies beyond the veil of our distanced understanding, on behalf of these eleven witnesses and more.

What is GLORY?

The Apostle John, one of the Eleven remaining had previously witnessed the glory of Jesus.

Luke 9:

The Transfiguration
28 Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming…

… when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him… a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

35 Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!”

δόξα – doxa –

From the base of δοκέω (G1380) – generally used meaning to ‘think.’

The LORD God is a thinking All-powerful, Ever-existing Being!

Think about it. As created and fragile beings our worship of the LORD God considers humbly our own humanity beneath His glory.

We who can think should glorify the LORD above all, but often we will not.
- δόξα dóxa, dox’-ah; glory (as very apparent),
  - in a wide application (literal or figurative, objective or subjective):—dignity,
  - glory(-ious),
  - honour,
  - praise,
  - worship.
These humble acknowledgements so rare in men of flesh, yet plainly evident in all creation, reflect the glory of God. Therefore a soul who thinks about the LORD our Creator and glorifies Him is a worshiper, flesh and spirit looking up and bowing down to our Lord and God.

Jesus prays to the Father as a Son of Man.

Having been sent by the Father to the world He has completed the work for which He was sent by the Father. The hour now approaches for Him to return to His former glory.

His former GLORY with the Father

Never forget, beloved Christian disciple of Jesus, that He and the Father are One.

Prior to creation and in the early history of God’s chosen, Jesus had the same former glory. You have read of it. Yet so often we remain blind to the LORD’S glory. How rare the time men bow before it.

The GLORY of the LORD is perhaps as foreign to 21st c. christians as hebrew.

וַיִּשְׁכֹּ֤ן כְּבֹוד־יְהוָה֙ עַל־הַ֣ר סִינַ֔י וַיְכַסֵּ֥הוּ הֶעָנָ֖ן שֵׁ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֑ים וַיִּקְרָ֧א אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֛ה בַּיֹּ֥ום הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖י מִתֹּ֥וךְ הֶעָנָֽן׃
וּמַרְאֵה֙ כְּבֹ֣וד יְהוָ֔ה כְּאֵ֥שׁ אֹכֶ֖לֶת בְּרֹ֣אשׁ הָהָ֑ר לְעֵינֵ֖י בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
Exodus 24:16-17 WLC [click for translations]

כָּבוֹד
- כָּבוֹד kâbôwd, kaw-bode’; rarely כָּבֹד kâbôd; from H3513; properly, weight, but only figuratively in a good sense, splendor or copiousness:—glorious(-ly), glory, honour(-able).
Exodus 24:

15 Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.

16 The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud.

17 And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountain top.

18 Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

the GLORY of a consuming FIRE

Moses later confirms in Deuteronomy [ דברים 4 ]:

“You said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives.

This is the former glory the Messiah Jesus knew with the Father!

Later the prophet Isaiah would write:

Sinners in Zion are terrified; Trembling has seized the godless. “Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning?”
Isaiah 33:14

Jesus knew a former glory with the Father, a fearful and awesome consuming fire which refines and humbles men made of dust and ashes.

The writer of Hebrews, restating Moses warning of keeping the covenant, reminds of this glory:

Hebrews 12:

18 For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. For they could not bear the command, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.”

21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.”

Do you fear the LIVING GOD? And do you, O man, humbly bow down to the GLORY of the LORD?

What is the chief end of man?

Any teaching of faith must begin from the glory of God and consequent worship of God by man, for we are nothing more than a created being glorifying our Creator.

We have glanced at a Hebrew origin, then New Covenant Greek.

Moving beyond millenia of teaching from ancient latin we receive an English version of this elemental Christian teaching since the 1640’s during the Reformation.

The Westminster Catechism begins with God’s glory.

“Man’s chief end if to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.

Another foundational Protestant teaching, The Heidelberg Catechism, begins by asking, “What is your only comfort in life and in death?”

Perhaps the Disciples had wondered this often while following their Lord and Master Jesus for three years.

What is about to take place on the Cross will fully bring light to Jesus’ prayer to the Father asking Him to bring the Son His former glory along with the Father.

Jesus’ prayer for glory

4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed…

10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them…

(John no doubt realizes that Jesus includes the Eleven here, but our Lord’s prayer of intercession goes much further than praying just for the Disciples in the room.)

22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

(Much to think about here even beyond the glory of the Lord.)

24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

High Priest of the New Covenant

Jesus intercedes as High Priest on our behalf — between the Father and all sinners given to Him

From here the Son our High Priest will move deeper into the unseen Holy of Holies where Jesus will present Himself as a living and acceptable Perfect Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.
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To be continued...
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June 1, 2020