✨ Preface
This study on the Millstone explores its literal, cultural, and prophetic meaning throughout Scripture. From Torah instructions about pledges, to Yahusha’s parables, to Babylon’s downfall in Revelation, the millstone is consistently presented as a symbol of life, covenant bread, and judgment.
The millstone (lower and upper) is the very means by which grain is transformed into flour and bread — the staple of life. Spiritually, it points to Yahusha, the Bread of Life, who was crushed for our iniquities. The same stone that feeds and gives life also grinds in judgment against Babylon and all false religion.
1. ๐ Hebrew Words for Millstone
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ืจืืื (rachyam / reแธฅayim) → the lower millstone, stationary base.
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ืจืื (rakab / rekeb) → the upper millstone, the rider stone that turns on top.
๐ Deut 24:6 — “No one takes in pledge the lower or the upper millstone, for he would be taking a life in pledge.”
➡️ Transliteration (without vowels): lo-yachabal rachyam u rakab kiy nepesh hua chabal.
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The first (ืจืืื-rachyam) is the lower / handmill / millstone pair in context.
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The second (ืืจืื-urakab) is the upper millstone.
Also the Targum (Aramaic translation) and classical Jewish commentaries explicitly equate:
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ืจืืื = lower millstone
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ืจืื = upper millstone
Another Hebrew word used in other contexts: ืจֵืַืִื (rechayim) — hand-mill or millstones in dual form.
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๐ Judg 9:53 / ๐ 2 Sam 11:21 → the upper millstone is called ืจֶืֶื (rekeb).
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The base millstone sometimes called ืคֶּืַื (pelaแธฅ) or ืชַּืְืชִּื / ืชַּืְืชִּืืช (taแธฅtรฎ / taแธฅแนฏรฎt) in poetic contexts.
๐ Judg 9:53 — “And an upper millstone (ื־ืจืื) from above the wall was dropped.”
๐ Judg 9:53 But a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on the head of Aแธimeleแธต, and crushed his skull.
๐ Job 41:24 — ืคֶּืַื ืชַּืְืชִּืืช (“pelaแธฅ taแธฅtรฎt”) = “lower millstone” (taแธฅtรฎt = nether, under).
๐Job 41:24 His heart is as hard as stone, even as hard as the lower millstone.
Position Table:
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Lower / base millstone → ืจืืื → ืจֵืַืִื (reแธฅayim) → stationary lower stone
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Upper / runner millstone → ืจืื → ืจָืֶื (rakev / rakhรฉv) → turning upper stone
๐ The Torah forbids seizing either stone as collateral, since without them a person cannot produce bread — it is his very life (nephesh).
๐น Symbolism:
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Lower stone = foundation, womb, compassion (root: ืจืื, racham).
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Upper stone = rider, heavenly force, judgment/pressure.
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Together = heaven + earth, crushing grain into flour → transformation into covenant bread.
So the two stones symbolize the complete means of life itself.
2. ๐พ Millstones in Daily Life and Temple Service
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Every household in YasharEL had millstones for daily bread.
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Temple offerings required fine flour — prepared by millstones:
๐ Lev 2:1–7 → grain offerings (minchah).
๐Lev 2:2 and he shall bring it to the sons of Aharon, the priests, and he shall take from it his hand filled with fine flour and oil with all the frankincense. And the priest shall burn it as a remembrance portion on the slaughter-place, an offering made by fire, a sweet fragrance to ืืืื.
๐Lev 2:3 ‘And the rest of the grain offering is for Aharon and his sons, most set-apart of the offerings to ืืืื by fire.
๐Lev 2:4 ‘And when you bring as an offering a grain offering baked in the oven, it is of unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened thin cakes anointed with oil.
๐Lev 2:5 ‘But if your offering is a grain offering on the griddle, it is of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil.
๐Lev 2:6 ‘Divide it into bits and pour oil on it, it is a grain offering.
๐Lev 2:7 ‘And if your offering is a grain offering, in a stewing-pot, it is made of fine flour with oil.
๐ Lev 24:5–9 → twelve loaves of showbread, placed before Yahuah continually.
๐Lev 24:6 “And you shall set them in two rows, six in a row, on the clean table before ืืืื.
๐Lev 24:7 “And you shall put clear frankincense on each row, and it shall be on the bread as a remembrance portion, an offering made by fire to ืืืื.
๐Lev 24:8 “On every Sabbath he is to arrange it before ืืืื continually, from the children of Yisra’ฤl – an everlasting covenant.
๐Lev 24:9 “And it shall be for Aharon and his sons, and they shall eat it in the set-apart place, because it is most set-apart to him from the offerings of ืืืื made by fire – an everlasting law.”
๐ Even manna was ground in mills before baking:
๐ Num 11:8 — “The people ground it in mills or beat it in mortar, baked it in pans, and made cakes of it.”
๐น Symbolism of Lower & Upper Stone
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Lower stone = fixed foundation → Torah, covenantal base, what is given.
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Upper stone = active agent that grinds → application, interpretation, power that breaks the grain.
✝️ Yahusha’s Parable of the Millstone
๐ Mat 18:6 — “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.”
๐ Here Yahusha uses the image in reverse:
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Instead of grinding grain, the stone is tied to the neck and a man is cast into the sea.
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If someone makes a little one stumble (new believer = “milk of the Word”), his actions cut off life.
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Better he be removed entirely than choke others with carnal interpretation that kills rather than gives life.
๐ 2 Cor 3:6 — “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
๐ฐ Mystery Babylon and the Millstone
๐ Rev 18:21–22 — “A mighty messenger picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea… The sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you any more at all.”
๐ Babylon = system that pretends to grind bread (Torah, religion) but only produces carnal sustenance.
๐ Casting into the sea = counterfeit bread system drowned and silenced forever.
⚔️ Abimelek and the Upper Millstone
๐ Judg 9:53–54 — A woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelek and crushed his skull.
๐ 2 Sam 11:21 — Recalled as a warning.
๐ Abimelek, false ruler, usurped kingship violently. His end came by the upper millstone — prophetic picture of illegitimate power destroyed.
๐ The woman (assembly/people) casting judgment parallels Mystery Babylon crushed by the stone.
๐น Lessons
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Literal: Taking millstone = taking away bread = taking away life.
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Spiritual: Grinding = transformation → wheat becomes flour → bread → Bread of Life.
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Prophetic tie: ๐ Mat 21:44 — “He who falls on this stone shall be broken; but on whomever it falls, he shall be crushed.”
Yahusha is the stone — either for repentance or judgment. -
Babylon contrast: Millstone becomes judgment sign (Isa 47, Rev 18).
✅ Deut 24:6 shows millstones = man’s very life — physically (bread) and prophetically (Messiah, Bread of Life).
3. ๐ Covenant Meals and Measures
๐ John 6:35 — “I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me shall not hunger.”
๐ Gen 18:6 — Sarah prepares three seahs for Yahuah’s messengers.
๐Gen 18:6 So Aแธraham ran into the tent to Sarah and said, “Hurry, make ready three measures of fine flour, knead it and make cakes.”
๐ Judg 6:19–22 — Gideon offers one ephah (3 seahs) to the Messenger of Elohim. This is considered as ephah which is a temple offering as Yahuah didn't eat it but accepted it as an offering and hence its recorded as ephah and not 3 seah's.
๐Jdg 6:20 And the Messenger of Elohim said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.
๐Jdg 6:21 And the Messenger of ืืืื put forth the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. And fire went up out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Messenger of ืืืื went from his sight.
๐Jdg 6:22 And when Giแธ‛on saw that He was a Messenger of ืืืื, Giแธ‛on said, “Oh Master ืืืื! For I have seen a Messenger of ืืืื face to face.”
๐ 1 Sam 1:24 — Hannah brings one ephah with Samuel’s dedication.
๐ 1 ephah = 3 seahs.
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Seah = domestic measure.
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Ephah = covenant/temple measure.
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Homer = largest.
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Omer = smallest (1/10 ephah).
๐น Prophetic contrast:
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True covenant woman = unleavened bread (Sarah, Hannah).
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False covenant woman = hides leaven (Mat 13:33, Zech 5:6–8).
Inside the Temple measures: ephah, homer, bath.
Household measures: seah, omer, kab, log.
๐ Ephah = covenant measure, unleavened.
๐ Seah = household measure, corrupted with leaven.
๐ Mat 13:33 — Woman hid leaven in three seahs of meal.
๐Mat 13:33 Another parable He spoke to them, “The reign of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until all was leavened.”
๐ Zech 5:6–8 — Woman in the ephah = Wickedness carried to Babylon.
๐น Hidden Message:
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True Bride = unleavened ephah.
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False Woman = leavened seah.
๐ Isa 47:1–5 — Babylon cast down to grinding slave with millstones, shame exposed, silenced in darkness.
๐Isa 47:2 “Take the millstones and grind flour. Remove your veil, lift up the skirt, uncover the leg, pass through rivers.
๐Isa 47:3 “Let your nakedness be uncovered, let your shame also be exposed. I take vengeance, and meet no man.”
๐Isa 47:4 Our Redeemer, ืืืื of hosts is His Name, the Set-apart One of Yisra’ฤl.
๐Isa 47:5 “Sit silent, and go into darkness, O daughter of Kasdim! For no more do they call you Mistress of Reigns.
4. ๐ชจ Prophetic Symbolism of the Millstones
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Grinding = transformation → flour → bread.
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Bread = life.
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Yahusha = true Bread of Life.
๐น Bethlehem (House of Bread):
๐ Mic 5:2, ๐ Mat 2:1 — Yahusha born in Bethlehem.
๐ Mic 5:2 “But you, Bฤyth Leแธฅem Ephrathah, you who are little among the clans of Yehuแธah, out of you shall come forth to Me the One to become Ruler in Yisra’ฤl. And His comings fortha are of old, from everlasting.”
๐Mat 2:1 And ืืืืฉืข having been born in Bฤyth Leแธฅem of Yehuแธah in the days of Herodes the sovereign, see, Magi from the east came to Yerushalayim,
๐ Fulfillment: true Bread of Life born in the “House of Bread.”
5. ✝️ Yahusha’s Teaching and the Millstone
๐ Mat 18:6 — better drowned than stumble a little one.
๐Mat 18:6 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.
๐ Mat 21:44 — fall on Him = broken; He falls on you = crushed.
๐Mat 21:44 “And he who falls on this stone shall be broken,a but on whomever it falls, he shall be pulverised.”
๐ Yahusha = Stone of repentance or Stone of judgment.
6. ๐ฐ Mystery Babylon and the Millstone
๐ Rev 18:21–22 — Babylon cast down with a great millstone, silenced.
๐ Isa 47:2–5 — Babylon humiliated, grinding like a slave, exposed, silenced.
๐ Babylon pretended bread → only corruption.
7. ๐ฅ Showbread, Manna, and Bread of Life
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Showbread = twelve loaves, one bread (Lev 24).
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Manna = heavenly grain, ground in mills (Num 11:8).
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Yahusha = true Bread of Life (John 6).
๐ All converge in Yahusha, born in Bethlehem.
8. ๐ฉ Women and the Mill
๐ Mat 13:33 — Woman hides leaven in three seahs.
๐Mat 13:33 Another parable He spoke to them, “The reign of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until all was leavened.”
๐ฉ Hence, what did the woman corrupt by mixing leaven?
A) Torah-covenant pattern
๐ Gen 18:6 — The three measures echo Abraham & Sarah’s unleavened bread.
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They represent hospitality to Yahuah — a true covenant meal.
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The woman/Babylon corrupts everything offered to Yahuah by leavening what should be unleavened spiritually.
B) Three covenantal structures
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Priest / King / Prophet — the three anointed offices.
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Babylon introduces corruption into each, twisting priesthood, kingship, and prophecy, deceiving people to go back into the carnal system of the Levitical priesthood, its rule and its oracles.
C) Three parts of YasharEL’s covenant life
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Torah / Temple / People — all were leavened by traditions of men.
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By Yahusha’s day, Pharisaic leaven, Herodian kingship, and corrupt priesthood had defiled the whole “meal.”
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In our day the Torah of sin and death is revived, temple customs revived (wearing kippa, tzitzit, frontlets, Levite garments, etc.). The leaven attracts the people to all this because it looks outwardly pure.
D) Spiritual man
๐ 1 Thess 5:23 — Paul divides man as body / soul / spirit.
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Babylon’s system leavens all three, corrupting the whole person.
๐ Zech 5:6–8 — Woman in ephah = Wickedness.
๐Zec 5:7 “And see, a lead cover lifted up, and this: a woman sitting inside the ฤphah-measure!”
๐Zec 5:8 And he said, “This is Wrongness!” And he threw her down into the ฤphah-measure, and threw the lead weight over its mouth.
๐ Mat 24:41 — Two women grinding → one taken (judgment), one left (preserved).
๐Mat 24:41 “Two women shall be grinding at the mill, one is taken and one is left.
๐น 1. Two Women Grinding Together
๐ Mat 24:41 — “Two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken and the other left.”
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Both appear to be engaged in the same act: grinding grain (preparing bread, i.e., handling the Word).
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But at the end, a separation occurs: one is accepted/preserved, the other taken in judgment.
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Outwardly, both look alike; inwardly, their grinding is different (unleavened vs. leavened, truth vs. corruption).
๐น 2. The Carcass and the Eagles
๐ Mat 24:28 / Luke 17:37 — “Wherever the carcass is, there the eagles (vultures) will be gathered.”
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Carcass = dead body (religion without Spirit, truth without life, Torah without Mashiyach).
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Eagles/vultures = nations, unclean spirits, judgment.
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In prophetic language, the carcass = Yerushalayim after the flesh / Mystery Babylon, abandoned to destruction.
➡️ In the immediate context of Matthew 24 the strongest reading is:
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“Taken” = taken away in judgment (destroyed).
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“Left” = preserved (like Noah in the ark).
Why this is the better fit:
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๐ Mat 24:37–39 — Noah’s days: “the flood came and took them all away.” Being “taken” = destroyed.
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๐ Mat 24:40–41 — “Two men in the field… one taken, one left.” Same context = judgment.
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๐ Mat 24:28 / Luke 17:37 — “Carcass and eagles” = judgment aftermath, not rescue.
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๐ Luke 17:26–37 — Noah parallel + “taken/left” = taken in judgment, left preserved.
๐ So:
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“One is accepted/preserved” = the one left.
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“The other is taken in judgment” = the one swept away/destroyed.
Outwardly both grind, but one’s grinding is unto life and the other’s unto death.
๐น 3. How They Fit Together
➡️ “One woman’s grinding is in vain: she’s grinding for a carcass.”
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One woman (false, Babylon-type) grinds, but only produces food for the carcass — leavened, carnal, ending in death.
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The other (true bride) grinds pure flour, unleavened, for life.
It can be seen two ways:
(A) Two distinct women
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True witness → grinding unto life.
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False witness → grinding unto death.
(B) One woman seen in two states
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Outward religion (busy works, leavened bread).
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Inward reality exposed as carcass (dead, judged, abandoned to vultures).
So the “two” show both realities: living and dead witness of the assembly.
๐น 4. Why “Two” Matters
Scripture often uses two women as contrast:
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Sarah vs. Hagar (๐ Gal 4:24) → promise vs. flesh.
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Bride vs. Harlot (๐ Rev 12 vs. Rev 17).
Thus, two women grinding symbolize:
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Outwardly same act (religious labor, handling the Word).
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Inwardly different destinies: one unleavened and preserved, the other leavened and judged.
๐ Bride = unleavened, preparing pure bread of sincerity and truth.
๐ Harlot = leavened, corrupting covenant bread, ending in carcass and vultures.
๐นSeven Days of Unleavened Bread
๐ Exo 12:15 — “Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. Indeed on the first day you cause leaven to cease from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that being shall be cut off from YasharEL.”
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Seven days = complete cycle of creation, leading to the Sabbath rest.
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These days shadow the entire redemptive history of mankind: we are to remain unleavened until the final rest in Mashiyach.
๐ 1 Cor 5:7 — “Therefore cleanse out the old leaven, so that you are a new lump, as you are unleavened. For also Messiah our Pฤsaแธฅ was slaughtered for us.”
➡️ To eat leaven = to break covenant and be cut off.
๐น Shaul’s Interpretation
๐ 1 Cor 5:7–8 → Mashiyach = our Passover Lamb.
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Therefore the assembly must keep the feast by removing leaven = sin, hypocrisy, false doctrine.
๐ 1 Cor 5:9–11 → warns against whoredom in the assembly.
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Those who claim to be “brothers” but live corruptly are themselves leaven in the dough.
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The whore imagery matches Mystery Babylon, who adulterates the pure bread of Mashiyach.
๐น Spiritual Picture
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Grinding = preparing pure flour for the bread of Elohim (unleavened).
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Woman (Babylon) = secretly alters it with her own measures.
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Result = a corrupted offering, puffed up, no longer pointing to Mashiyach.
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Contrast = the bride of Mashiyach, who prepares herself with fine linen, pure and bright (๐ Rev 19:8) — unleavened, sincere, true.
๐ The millstones = the divine process of preparing the pure Word/Bread.
๐ The leavened bread of the whore = Babylon’s puffed-up religion, stumbling blocks, and corrupted Torah.
๐ The unleavened bread = Yahusha in truth and sincerity, the covenant meal for the redeemed.
9. ⚖️ Judgment: Grinding Unto Life or Death
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Abimelek killed by upper millstone (Judg 9).
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Babylon cast down with great millstone (Rev 18).
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Yahusha = Stone that feeds or crushes.
๐ Millstone = double sign:
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For faithful → grinding produces bread of life.
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For rebellious → grinding to powder.
๐ Summary
1. Millstones and Life
๐ Deut 24:6 forbids taking the upper or lower millstone in pledge because they represent a man’s very life. Without them, there is no flour, no bread, no survival.
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The lower stone (ืจืืื / rachyam) = foundation, womb, compassion (root ืจืื).
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The upper stone (ืจืื / rakab) = rider, heavenly pressure, judgment.
Together, they symbolize heaven and earth grinding grain into flour — a picture of transformation and life.
2. Daily Bread and Temple Service
Every household in YasharEL used millstones for food; the Temple required fine flour for offerings.
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๐ Lev 2; Lev 24 → grain offerings and showbread.
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๐ Num 11:8 → even manna was ground in mills.
Thus, millstones link ordinary bread with covenant bread — both point prophetically to Yahusha, the true Bread of Life (John 6:35).
3. Yahusha and the Millstone
Yahusha applied millstone imagery in two ways:
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๐ Mat 18:6 — causing a little one to stumble = better drowned with a millstone. Life must not be cut off.
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๐ Mat 21:44 — fall on Him = broken in repentance; He falls on you = crushed in judgment.
He is both the stone of transformation (breaking grain into flour → bread) and the stone of judgment (crushing the rebellious to powder).
4. Covenant Meals and Measures
Scripture sets apart Temple measures (ephah, homer, bath) and domestic measures (seah, omer, kab, log).
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๐ Gen 18:6 — Sarah prepares three seahs for covenant guests.
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๐ Judg 6:19 — Gideon offers one ephah (equal to three seahs).
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๐ 1 Sam 1:24 — Hannah brings one ephah with Samuel.
๐ Tradition: 1 ephah = 3 seahs.
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Ephah = covenant measure.
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Seah = household measure.
True covenant women (Sarah, Hannah) prepare unleavened bread; the false woman (Babylon) hides leaven in three seahs (๐ Mat 13:33).
5. The Woman and the Leaven
The harlot woman corrupts covenant bread:
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Torah-covenant pattern → Abraham’s three seahs = unleavened hospitality. She leavens it.
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Three covenantal structures → Priest / King / Prophet corrupted.
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Three parts of YasharEL → Torah / Temple / People leavened by men’s traditions.
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Spiritual man → body / soul / spirit defiled by Babylon.
๐ Exo 12:15 → Seven days of unleavened bread = entire redemptive history.
๐ 1 Cor 5:7–8 → Messiah, our Passover, requires sincerity and truth.
๐ Bride = unleavened, sincere, true.
๐ Harlot = leavened, puffed-up, corrupted.
6. Women Grinding at the Mill
๐ Mat 24:41 — “Two women grinding… one taken, one left.”
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Outwardly same act (grinding grain, handling Word).
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Inwardly different: one grinding unleavened, one grinding leavened.
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“Taken” = taken in judgment (as in Noah’s flood); “Left” = preserved.
๐ Mat 24:28 / Luke 17:37 — “Wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered.”
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Carcass = Yerushalayim after the flesh / Babylon, a dead body without Spirit.
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Eagles/vultures = judgment nations.
So the false woman grinds only for carcasses (death), but the true Bride grinds flour for covenant bread (life).
7. Mystery Babylon and the Millstone
๐ Rev 18:21–22 — Babylon cast down with a great millstone, silenced.
๐ Isa 47:2–5 — Babylon reduced to grinding slave, exposed, and judged.
Babylon pretended to produce covenant bread but only made leavened corruption.
๐ Judgment: her millstone cast into the sea = end of the false system.
8. Bethlehem and the Bread of Life
Bethlehem = “House of Bread.”
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๐ Mic 5:2; Mat 2:1 — Yahusha born there.
He is the Bread of Life, the true showbread, the fine flour offering crushed for our iniquities.
9. Judgment and Life
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Abimelek, false king, killed by an upper millstone (๐ Judg 9).
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Babylon cast down with a great millstone (๐ Rev 18).
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Yahusha is the Stone who either feeds His people or grinds His enemies to dust.
✅ Final Picture
The millstone weaves together:
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Life (daily bread, showbread, manna).
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Covenant (Abraham’s three seahs, Gideon’s ephah, Hannah’s offering).
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Messiah (Bread of Life, crushed for us).
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Judgment (Abimelek crushed, Babylon silenced).
๐ For the faithful, the grinding = transformation into fine flour → one bread, one body in Yahusha.
๐ For the rebellious, the grinding = crushing into dust, silence, judgment.
Thus the millstone is the double-edged sign of covenant life and covenant judgment.
It calls us to embrace the crushing of repentance that makes us unleavened bread of sincerity and truth in Messiah, and to reject the leaven of Babylon that puffs up unto destruction
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