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Jewish Holiday Calendar
For July 2018 site updates, please scroll past this entry....
In the summer there occurs a three week period of mourning that begins with the Fast of Tammuz and ends with Tishah B'Av. The last nine days of this three week period (i.e., from Av 1 until Av 9th) are days of increased mourning. However, after this somber time, the romantic holiday of Tu B'Av, the 15th of Av occurs. Summer ends with the 30 days of the month of Elul, a yearly season of teshuvah (repentance) that anticipates Rosh Hashanah and the fall holidays. The 30 days of Elul are combined with the first 10 days of the month of Tishri to create the "Forty Days of Teshuvah" that culminate with Yom Kippur.
Because they occur between the spring and fall holidays, the summer holidays help us prepare for the second coming of the Messiah:
The Summer Holidays:
Note that in accordance with tradition, holiday dates begin at sundown. Moreover, some holidays may be postponed one day if they happen to fall on the weekly Sabbath:
- Month of Tammuz (Tues., June 12th [eve] - Thurs. July 12th [day])
- Month of Av (Thurs. July 12th [eve] - Fri. Aug. 10th [day])
- Month of Elul (Fri. Aug. 10th [eve] - Sun. Sept. 9th [day])
- Month of Tishri (Sun. Sept. 9th [eve] - Mon. Oct. 8th [day])
Note: For more about the dates of these holidays see the Calendar pages....
July 2018 Updates
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Divine Heart Operation...
[ The following is related to our Torah reading for this week, parashat Eikev.... ]
07.31.18 (Av 19, 5778) Our Torah for this week (i.e., parashat Eikev) appeals to our need to forgive: "Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer hardened" (Deut. 10:16). The metaphor of a "circumcised heart" (ברית מילה של הלב) symbolizes cutting away the outer covering of the heart so that it is "opened up" to feel once again. God wants us to let go of "hard feelings" so we can experience compassion (i.e., com+passion: "feeling-with") and sympathy for other people... Heart circumcision represents a radical turning away from the insular realm of the self toward the emotional realm of others and God. When our hearts are open, we are able to receive the flow of the Spirit of God and obey the "law of the Messiah" (תּוֹרַת הַמָּשִׁיחַ) to bear one another's burdens (Gal. 6:2).
וּמַלְתֶּם אֵת עָרְלַת לְבַבְכֶם
וְעָרְפְּכֶם לא תַקְשׁוּ עוֹדָ
u·mal·tem · et · or·lat · le·vav·khem
ve·or·pe·khem · lo · tak·shu · od
"Circumcise the foreskin of your heart,
and be no longer hardened"
(Deut. 10:16)
Physical circumcision represents a sign or mark of inclusion; it is a token that you are one of God's family, a Jew, though it is only a sign or token. Spiritual circumcision is an inner operation of the heart that marks you a true child of heaven. It is about your identity and purpose. Therefore we see the paradox that some physical Jews are not spiritual Jews, and some spiritual Jews are not physical Jews (though some are both), as the Apostle Paul said: For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit (ἐν πνεύματι), not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God (Rom. 2:28-29).
Spiritually speaking, a heart that is insensitive, indifferent, unfeeling, and callous toward the needs of others is regarded as "hard." Often such hardness comes as a result of living in a fallen world. Many wounded people live with "scar tissue" that surrounds their heart, making them feel numb and unwilling to open up and trust others. Their affections have become disordered and their ego rationalizes blaming others or seeking various forms of entitlement. "Turning off your heart" can mean suppressing any positive regard for others (empathy) while nurturing anger and self-righteousness, or it may mean withdrawing from others as a lifeless shell (both approaches vainly attempt to defend the heart from hurt). Although Yeshua always showed great compassion, especially to the wounded and broken in spirit (Isa. 42:3), He regularly condemned the "hardness of heart" ("sclero-cardia," σκληροκαρδία) of those who opposed his message of healing and love.
A hard heart is closed off and impermeable to love from others, and especially from God. It is a "difficult" (קָשֶׁה) heart, inflexible and even cruel. Scripture uses various images to picture this condition, including a "heart of stone" (Ezek. 36:26, Zech. 7:12), an "uncircumcised heart" (Jer. 9:26), a "stiff neck" (Deut. 31:27), and so on. Stubbornness is really a form of idolatry, an exaltation of self-will that refuses to surrender to God. If you are wounded and afraid to open your heart in trust to others, ask God for healing...
Hardness of heart is something all of us deal with, even those who trust in Yeshua. After all, New Covenant believers are commanded to "put off the old self with its practices" (Col. 3:9) and are urged not to harden their hearts (μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας) through unbelief (Heb. 3:8,15, 4:7). May God's love help us keep our hearts soft and open toward others... May He give us a new heart, and put a new spirit within us. May He remove the heart of stone (לֵב הָאֶבֶן) from us and give us a heart of flesh (לֵב בָּשָׂר). May we be lev echad - "one heart" - with one another and with the Father (Ezek. 11:19). May we be so sensitized to the Presence of God that we detect the slightest touch from His hand upon us. Amen.
Take with you words...
07.31.18 (Av 19, 5778) In the appeal to turn to God for life, the Holy Spirit says to us, "Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to Him, 'Take away all iniquity; accept what is good ... for in you the orphan finds mercy' (אֲשֶׁר־בְּךָ יְרֻחַם יָתוֹם). The LORD then responds to the words of our broken heart: "I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them" (Hos. 14:2-4).
קְחוּ עִמָּכֶם דְּבָרִים וְשׁוּבוּ אֶל־יְהוָה
אִָמְרוּ אֵלָיו כּל־תִּשָּׂא עָוֹן וְקַח־טוֹב
אֲשֶׁר־בְּךָ יְרֻחַם יָתוֹם
ke·chu · im·ma·khem · de·va·rim · ve·shu·vu · el · Adonai
im·ru · e·lav · kol · tis·sa · a·von · ve·kach · tov
a·sher · be·kha · ye·ru·cham · ya·tom
"Take with you words and return to the LORD;
say to Him, 'Take away all iniquity; accept what is good
... for in you the orphan finds mercy' (Hos. 14:2-3)
"In you the orphan finds mercy..." Do any of you feel like orphans in this world? "When my father and my mother forsake me, the LORD will take me in..." (Psalm 27:10). This might be hyperbole for some, though tragic reality for others. The point, however, is that the love of God is stronger and more certain than even that of your own father or mother, and He will never leave you nor forsake you (Josh. 1:5; Heb. 13:5). This works the other way around, too. The passion we have for the Savior may produce a split that can tear even the most holy of bonds: "A person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" (Matt. 10:37).
Danger of Forgetfulness...
[ The following entry concerns this week's Torah reading, parashat Eikev... ]
07.31.18 (Av 19, 5778) The sages note: "Great is the power of forgetfulness, for it is also capable of causing you to forget the LORD your God, as it is written, "Guard yourself lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today" (Deut. 8:11). Therefore earnestly strive to remember and to retain the truth that has been entrusted to you: "Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth" (Prov. 4:5).
הִשָּׁמֶר לְךָ פֶּן־תִּשְׁכַּח אֶת־יְהוָה אֱלהֶיךָ
לְבִלְתִּי שְׁמר מִצְוֹתָיו וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו וְחֻקּתָיו
אֲשֶׁר אָנכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם
hi·sha·mer · le·kha · pen-tish·kach · et · Adonai · E·lo·he·kha
le·vil·ti · she·mor · mitz·vo·tav · u·mish·pa·tav · ve·chuk·ko·tav
a·sher · a·no·khi · me·tza·ve·kha · ha·yom
"Guard yourself lest you forget the LORD your God
by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes,
which I command you today" (Deut. 8:11)
Note that the word "forget" comes from a root (שָׁכַח) that means to ignore or "wither," thus recalling the words of Yeshua: "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers (ξηραίνω); and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned" (John 15:5-6).
Believing in Love...
07.31.18 (Av 19, 5778) From our Torah portion for this week (i.e., parashat Eikev) we read: "But now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask from you ... but to love him with all your heart and with all your soul?" (Deut. 10:12). But how are we able to love God be'khol levavka (בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ) – "with all our heart" – and be'khol nafshekha (וּבְכָל־נַפְשֶׁךָ) - "with all our soul," apart from healing of the brokenness that makes our hearts divided and sick? That is what the redemption from Egypt was about: we were personally chosen by God, redeemed by his grace, led out from from cruel bondage, only to be led into the desert, away from the world, where we slowly began to understand that we were valued, cared for, and beloved of God. We believed in the possibility of promise, of covenant... Only then could we hear the request from heaven: "Now love Me..." In other words, we can only truly love God by knowing we are beloved by God, and the invitation to love him is a response of his great passion for you (1 John 4:19). Accept that you are accepted in the heart of the Beloved (Eph. 1:4-6).
For more on this, see "Blessings and Brokenness."
Seeing the Sacred...
07.31.18 (Av 19, 5778) From our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Eikev) we read: "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God..." (Deut. 10:12). Every moment of life is an opportunity to ask the question: "How may I see the sacred here?" How may I revere and esteem the gift of life? How may I perceive the awe of God? Seize the moment and walk in God's way, today, now, and in this hour. Open your heart; renew your mind; turn to the light; find the sacred in your midst...
הוֹרֵנִי יְהוָה דַּרְכֶּךָ
אֲהַלֵּךְ בַּאֲמִתֶּךָ
יַחֵד לְבָבִי לְיִרְאָה שְׁמֶךָ
ho·rei·ni · Adonai · dar·ke·kha
a·hal·lekh · ba·a·mi·te·kha
ya·ched · le·va·vi · le·yir·ah · she·me·kha
"Teach me your way, O LORD,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your Name"
(Psalm 86:11)
King David understood the great need for focus, for passion, for surrender: "One thing I ask of the Lord; that is what I will seek" (Psalm 27:4). Therefore he prayed for deep healing: "Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your Name" (Psalm 86:11). David understood that walking in the truth required "uniting his heart," or "repairing the breach" within his inner affections so that he could experience God's Presence... He needed emotional healing from inner wounds that split him off from reality. In effect, David prayed: "After You have healed my ambivalent heart, I will thank You with all my heart - entirely, wholly, completely - and I will glorify Your Name forever. My healing comes from Your great love (chesed) toward me, and through your love I am delivered free from the depths of hell" (Psalm 86:12-13).
Where it says, Ve'ahavta et Adonai be'khol levavkha – "you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart" (Deut. 6:5) that includes both your "good heart" and your "bad heart" – that is, all of you, all of your being, the whole person. Come as you are - broken, fragmented, divided within - and ask God to unify your heart by the miracle of his grace...
The Bread of Life...
[ The following is related to our Torah reading for this week, parashat Eikev.... ]
07.30.18 (Av 18, 5778) Our Torah portion for this week includes the famous statement: "Man does not live by bread alone (על־הַלֶּחֶם לְבַדּוֹ יִחְיֶה הָאָדָם), but from everything that comes from the mouth of the LORD shall he live" (Deut. 8:3). Note that Yeshua quoted this verse when he was tested with physical hunger in the desert (Matt. 4:3-4). Eating is inherently a sacrificial act: We must "eat life" in order to live.... But while physical food helps us survive, we must ask the question, for what end? Do we live for the sake of eating (and thereby live to eat for another day, and so on), or do we eat in order to live? If the latter, then what is the goal of such life? What is the source of its nutrient and where is it taking you? What does your soul or "inner man" feed upon to gain the spiritual will to live?
כִּי לא עַל־הַלֶּחֶם לְבַדּוֹ יִחְיֶה הָאָדָם
כִּי עַל־כָּל־מוֹצָא פִי־יהוה יִחְיֶה הָאָדָם
ki · lo · al-ha·le·chem · le·va·do · yich·yeh · ha·a·dam;
ki · al-kol-mo·tza · fi-Adonai · yich·yeh · ha·a·dam
"Man does not live on bread alone, but by everything that comes
from the mouth of the LORD does man live" (Deut. 8:3)
Hebrew Study Card
Both the written Torah and Yeshua (who is the true embodiment and expression of Torah) attest that we receive sustenance from the Word of God (דְּבַר הָאֱלהִים), the Source of spiritual life. But the word of God itself expresses the message of the very love of God (אַהֲבַת הָאֱלהִים) that always sustains us -- whether we are conscious of this or not. After all, for those of us who understand our brokenness and radical dependence for deliverance from ourselves, what "word" could we possibly endure were it not His words of hope, consolation, and even endearment? The Love of God is our life, chaverim, and the love of God is most clearly seen in the life and sacrificial death of Yeshua the Messiah...
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May we always remember that our very spiritual life -- its source and its end -- depends upon receiving the word of the Living God who is King of Eternity (אֱלהִים חַיִּים וּמֶלֶךְ עוֹלָם). He is the Bread of our Life (לֶחֶם הַחַיִּים) who speaks life-giving words of hope and love to all who will attend themselves to His Presence.
Countdown to Rosh Hashanah...
07.29.18 (Av 17, 5778) The weekly haftarah portion (i.e., the weekly reading from the Prophets) usually is thematically connected with the weekly Torah portion; however, after the fast of Tishah B'Av, and for the next seven weeks (49 days) leading up Rosh Hashanah (i.e., the new year), we read selections of comfort that foretell of the future redemption of the Jewish people and the coming Messianic Era of Yeshua. In other words, we have a seven-week period of consolation, encouraging us to keep our hope alive, culminating in the "jubilee" of the Jewish new year.
Seven Weeks of Comfort:
- Nachamu, Nachamu Ammi ("Comfort, comfort, my people") - Isa. 40:1-26
- Va'tomer Tzion ("But Zion said...") - Isa. 49:14-51:3 (this week)
- Aniyah So'arah ("O afflicted and storm-tossed") - Isa. 54:11–55:5
- Anochi, Anochi hu ("I, even I am He...") - Isa. 51:12–52:12
- Rani Akarah ("Sing, O Barren one...") - Isa. 54:1–10
- Kumi Ori ("Arise and shine...") - Isa. 60:1–22
- Sos Asis ("I will greatly rejoice...") - Isa. 61:10–63:9
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Regarding the theme of the consolation given in these haftarot, the Midrash suggests that "the sages established that the first of these haftarot would be "Comfort, comfort My people" – as though Hashem is commanding the prophets to comfort His nation. To this Knesset Yisrael responds: "And Tzion says, 'Hashem has abandoned me' – i.e., she is not consoled by the comfort of the prophets... And where the haftora is "a stormy afflicted one who will not be comforted," it is as if the prophets once again declare before the Holy One: See, Knesset Yisrael is not appeased with our consolations. Therefore the Holy One Himself again speaks: "I, I am your comforter," and then He says, "Rejoice, O barren one who has not given birth," and also "Arise and shine, for your light has come." To this, Knesset Yisrael responds: "I shall surely rejoice in Hashem" – as if to say, now I have reason to rejoice and to be joyful, "My soul will rejoice in my God for He has dressed me in garments of salvation" (Orach Chaim).
Shabbat Va'tomer Tzion
The second of the "Seven Weeks of Comfort" leading up to Rosh Hashanah is called Va'tomer Tzion (וַתּאמֶר צִיּוֹן, "But Tzion said..."), which reminds us to never to lose hope for the heavenly future of Zion (Jerusalem).... "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me" (Isa. 49:15-16). The Haftarah concludes by Isaiah saying that the LORD will comfort the Mountain of Zion by making it like the Garden of Eden, with joy and happiness within her, along with thanksgiving and the sound of song.
Note: The month of Elul begins in about two weeks (i.e., on Friday, August 10th this year), which initiates the 40 day period of preparation for the Jewish High Holidays. This means that Rosh Hashanah will begin in about six weeks (i.e., Sunday, September 9th at sundown). During the time leading up to the High Holidays, it is customary to engage in cheshbon ha-nefesh ("soul searching") and to derive comfort that God is forgiving and loving to those who sincerely turn to Him. The sages chose the seven "Haftarot of comfort" to encourage us to make our hearts ready for the upcoming High Holiday Season.
Making Room for Wonder...
[ The following is related to our Torah reading for this week, parashat Eikev.... ]
07.29.18 (Av 17, 5778) From our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Eikev) we read: "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?" (Deut. 10:12-13). Ultimately we must make the choice whether we will respect life or not, and that is the question before us... In this present world, God "hides" so that people may seek him (see Isa. 45:15; Matt. 13:10-15). The voice of conscience may be suppressed and the revelation of nature ignored; moreover, some things are perceived only if they are looked for in the right way, and the Divine Presence is not apprehended apart from humility and reverence. Therefore we must "make room" for wonder; we must open the "eyes of the heart" to see what is greater than our everyday vision. "It is good to look at the sky often, as this helps develop the awe of God." Indeed the word for fear, yirah (יִרְאָה), is connected with the word for seeing, ra'ah (רָאָה). When we really see life as it is, we will be filled with wonder over the glory of it all. Every bush will be aflame with the Presence of God and the ground we walk upon shall suddenly be perceived as holy (Exod. 3:2-5). Nothing will seem small, trivial, or insignificant. In this sense, "fear and trembling" (φόβοv καὶ τρόμοv) before the LORD is a description of the inner awareness of the sanctity and eternal significance of life itself (Psalm 2:11, Phil. 2:12).
The fear of God is paradoxical. One verse teaches the fear of the Lord (i.e., his power), another teaches the "fear not" love of the Lord (i.e., his grace). We are drawn to God in adoration, appreciation, wonder, and love, and yet we are compelled to shrink back because of His overwhelming power, glory, holiness, and radiance. Therefore we see "the disciple whom Yeshua loved" both leaning on his chest but also falling on his face in "dreadful adoration" (John 13:23; Rev. 1:17). Only when these heart attitudes are combined is the heart balanced. But the fear of the Lord is primary (see Psalm 110:10; Prov. 1:7, 9:10), and when we walk in it, we are released from the ordinary fears of men by apprehending a far surpassing power that overrules all things. Again, it is a paradox: if we fear lesser things we lose sight of the awe of God; but if we first revere God, we will lose sight of lesser fears.
In Jewish tradition, seeing the Presence of God in all things is called yirat ha-rommemnut (יִרְאַת הָרוֹמְמוּת), or the "Awe of the Exalted." We might get a sense of this reverential awe when we behold the canopy of stars in the night sky, or when we look down from atop a mountain peak, or when we catch site of a spectacular sunset. Or we might experience it during the birth of a baby or the death of a loved one... This sense of awe or "transcendent mystery" is also called yirat Adonai (יִרְאַת יְהוָה), the "fear of the Name." It presents a holy hush, a feeling that you are standing before something utterly wonderful, sacred, set apart, mysterious, and profoundly significant; it both attracts yet causes you to draw back...
Parashat Eikev - עקב
[ The Torah reading for this week is parashat Eikev, which is traditionally read during Shabbat Va'tomer, the second "Sabbath of Consolation" after Tishah B'Av. ]
07.29.18 (Av 17, 5778) In our Torah reading for this week (i.e., parashat Eikev), Moses continues his farewell address to Israel by saying, "And because (עֵקֶב) you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the love that he swore to your fathers" (Deut. 7:12). Note that the word eikev (עֵקֶב), often translated "because," literally means "heel," which recalls Jacob (יעקב) the "heel-holder" who wrestled with the pain of his past to learn to bear the name Israel (יִשְׂרָאֵל), the "prince of God" (Gen. 32:28)... And like Jacob, we must grapple to believe that the covenant of God's love and acceptance is for us, too... The Sassover rebbe interpreted the opening verse of our Torah portion, "And because you will listen..." (וְהָיָה עֵקֶב תִּשְׁמְעוּן) as, "and it shall be when your heel is ready to take a step, you will listen to your heart." This is the step of faith. As you begin to walk with God, you will come to know yourself as a child of the great King. Likewise regarding the related verse in the Torah, "Because Abraham heard my voice" (עֵקֶב אֲשֶׁר־שָׁמַע אַבְרָהָם בְּקלִי), the sages read, "Abraham heard the word 'down to his heel'" (Gen. 26:5). Like Abraham, we will hear God's voice as we walk with him by faith...
עֵץ־חַיִּים הִיא לַמַּחֲזִיקִים בָּהּ
וְתמְכֶיהָ מְאֻשָּׁר
etz · cha·yim · hi · la·ma·cha·zi·kim · bah
ve·to·me·khe·ha · me·u·shar
"A tree of life is Torah to those who lay hold of it;
those who grasp it are called blessed"
(Prov. 3:18)
Hebrew Study Card
Our portion begins: "ve'hayah eikev..." (Deut. 7:12). Here translators differ about how to understand the Hebrew. The JS version, for instance, renders this as "and if you listen," whereas others render it as, "and because you listen..." The former translation makes the blessing seem conditional upon obedience, whereas the latter reading affirms the obedience that leads to blessing... The Hebrew word eikev (i.e., עקב, "heel," "step"), however, refers to action, and therefore it may be regarded as a prophecy expressing faith that the blessing which God swore on oath will be fulfilled. May it be so for us, chaverim...
Cleaving to God (דְּבָקוּת)...
07.27.18 (Av 15, 5778) "But you who have clung to the LORD your God are all alive today" (Deut. 4:4). The Hebrew word devakut (דְּבָקוּת) means "cleaving" and refers to communion with God. This word comes from the root word davak (דָּבַק), meaning to "cling" or "stick" (the Modern Hebrew word for "glue" is devek (דֶבֶק) which also comes from the same root). The sages comment that we can cleave to God only one day at a time. As Yeshua said: "Take therefore no thought for tomorrow: for tomorrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient for the day its own trouble" (Matt. 6:34). One day at a time. The LORD gives us daily bread (לֶחֶם חֻקֵּנוּ) so that we may persevere for this day. "For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand today -- if you hear his voice" (Psalm 95:7). Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart (Heb. 3:15). "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God, but encourage one another every day, as long as it is called "today," so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (Heb. 3:12-13).
דָּבְקָה נַפְשִׁי אַחֲרֶיךָ
בִּי תָּמְכָה יְמִינֶךָ
da·ve·kah · naf·shi · a·cha·re·kha
bi · tam·khah · ye·mi·ne·kha
"My soul clings to you;
Your right hand upholds me."
(Psalm 63:8)
Hebrew Study Card
Important Message:
Internet Censorship
07.27.18 (Av 15, 5778) Shalom friends. I am seriously concerned that recent Facebook (and Google) algorithms are causing Hebrew for Christians to be "shadow banned," which means that the site is being marginalized and hidden from view from people. For instance, when I create posts to share my writing here on the Hebrew for Christians Facebook page, the latest algorithms secretly "tag" (i.e., censor) the content as "Christian" and hide it from others, even if they have previously subscribed to the page.... According to David Wisniewski of Change.org, "Facebook is covertly flagging and effectively censoring people who actively oppose mainstream media's viewpoint on various social topics (including religious and philosophical topics). They are doing this to manipulate the world's perception of these topics by limiting people's exposure to alternate opinions. This is a very powerful and dangerous ability that can easily sway public opinion one way or another to accomplish their agenda and control the people." In other words, "shadow banning" is a form of censorship that effectively "buries" or "hides" things considered unacceptable according to the canons of political correctness propaganda and ideology. For example, saying that Yeshua is the LORD and only way to eternal life is regarded as "intolerant" language or even "hate speech" these days. Friends, more than ever please pray for Hebrew for Christians and consider supporting us, if you can. In the days to come I will try to implement new strategies to share content here.
Finding your heart...
07.27.18 (Av 15, 5778) From our Torah portion this week (Vaetchanan) we read: "Take good heed for your souls..." (Deut. 4:15). The Hebrew grammar here is a bit unusual, since the verb shamar (שָׁמַר), meaning to "keep" or to "guard," is written in the passive (niphal), i.e., "Let yourselves be guarded well..." (וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם מְאד לְנַפְשׁתֵיכֶם). If we open our hearts to heed or listen to the truth of God - if we surrender to God's will for our lives - we will be protected from the snares of idolatry. "Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other" (Deut. 4:39). When you surrender from the heart you will understand that "the LORD is your keeper (יְהוָה שׁמְרֶךָ)... and yishmor et nafshekha - the LORD will guard your life" (Psalm 121:5,7).
Note that the phrase "lay it to your heart" (in Deut. 4:39) may better be rendered as "return to your heart" (וַהֲשֵׁבתָ אֶל־לְבָבֶךָ), suggesting that the truth of the LORD is found there – within the heart that truly seeks him (Deut. 4:29). Hashivenu! In other words, the truth is found in the heart's seeking for the LORD and His love. Know this truth today... "The most important part of teaching is to teach what it is to know," that is, to know "in your heart."
I am my Beloved's...
[ Today is the 15th of Av, the "holiday of love and romance." Happy Tu B'Av ahuvim... ]
07.27.18 (Av 15, 5778) From our Torah this week we read: "I stood between the LORD and you at that time .. for you were afraid..." (Deut. 5:5). Martin Buber comments: The 'I' stands between God and us. When a man says 'I am' [as if he were sufficient unto himself] he shuts himself off from Him. But there is no dividing wall before the one who sacrifices his 'I,' for of him it is said, 'I am my beloved's and his desire is for me' (Song 7:10). When 'I' belongs to the Beloved, then His desire is for me" (Collected Sayings).
אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְעָלַי תְּשׁוּקָתוֹ
ani · le'do·di · ve·a·lai · te·shu·ka·to
"I am my beloved's, and his desire is for me."
(Song 7:10)
The Heart of Love...
[ The following concerns this week's Torah reading, parashat Vaetchanan, which is always read on the Sabbath following Tishah B'Av... "Comfort ye My people...." ]
07.27.18 (Av 15, 5778) Our Torah for this week (Vaetchanan) includes the first part of the Shema (שמע): "Hear, O Israel, the LORD is our God; the LORD is One, and you shall love (וְאָהַבְתָּ) the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might..." (Deut. 6:4-5). During its recitation we attempt to concentrate our attention to the utmost, pronouncing each word carefully and covering our eyes with our right hand, focusing on the Kingship of God and our primary need to love Him with our whole being. Yeshua said that the Shema was "the great commandment of Torah" (see Mark 12:28-31). Note that the opening declaration of the Shema includes three Divine Names: Lord (יהוה), God (אלהים), and Lord (יהוה) again, which suggests the multiplicity-in-oneness (unity) that the word "echad" implies (see below). In the Torah scroll, the two letters Ayin (ע) and Dalet (ד) are enlarged in the opening verse of the Shema. Together, these letters form the word 'ed (עֵד), which means "witness," suggesting that we recite the Shema to testify of the sovereignty of God and our great need to love Him bekhol levavkha, (בּכָל־לְבָבְךָ) with all our hearts...
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד
she·ma · Yis·ra·el · Adonai · E·lo·hei·nu · Adonai · e·chad
"Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD."
(Deut. 6:4)
Hebrew Study Card / Shema Reader Page
The Shema affirmation says: "The LORD our God is one LORD" (יְהוָה אֱלהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד). Interestingly, the word echad (אֶחָד) in Hebrew, translated as "one," implies unity in diversity, not absolute numerical identity (the word for one and only one, i.e., "unique," is yachid (יָחִיד)). For example, in Exodus 26:6 the parts of the Tabernacle (Mishkan) are to be constructed so that "it shall be one (echad) tabernacle," and Ezekiel spoke of two "sticks" (representing fragmented Israel) as being reunited into one: "and they shall be one (echad) stick in My hand" (Ezek. 37:19). Moses also uses echad in Genesis 2:24 when he says: "And they (husband and wife) will become one flesh (basar echad)." God's attributes as Compassionate Source of life, Eternal Judge, and Savior, are unified and affirmed in this verse. Ultimate Reality is multidimensional, personal and loving, and that is part of the very essence of God. There is no such thing as a "Person" - either human or Divine - that exists in an absolute vacuum, outside of relationship. Absolute monism is inconsistent with the idea of Divine Personhood, just as Aristotle's "Unmoved Mover" is a logical absurdity.
There is a "three-in-one" sacred place of the heart (represented by the inmost chamber of the Mishkan called the Holy of Holies) which contains the "three-in-one" sacred Throne of the Divine Presence (represented by the Ark of the Covenant covered by sacrificial blood that signifies the cross of Messiah), before which the "three-in-one" blessing of God is heard (represented by the the priestly benediction when the Sacred Name YHVH was uttered), as we affirm the great "three-in-one" affirmation of faith known as the Shema: "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is One LORD," which declares our duty to love God with the "three-in-one existence" he has given us: with all our heart (be'khol levavkha), with all our soul (be'khol nafshekha), and with all our strength (be'khol me'odekha).
At the revelation at Sinai, "the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven" (בָּאֵשׁ עַד־לֵב הַשָּׁמַיִם), wrapped in darkness, cloud, and heavy mist" (Deut. 4:11). Yet what is this divine Fire if it is not the very passion of God - a passion that descends from the "heart of heaven" to the place of revelation within the human heart? Indeed the fire is none other than the Word of God, "the Voice that speaks from the midst of the fire" (קוֹל אֱלהִים מְדַבֵּר מִתּוֹךְ־הָאֵשׁ) the truth revelation (see Exod. 3:2, Deut. 4:33). As the Spirit asks: "Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his Son's name? Surely you know" (Prov. 30:4).
מִי עָלָה־שָׁמַיִם וַיֵּרַד
מִי אָסַף־רוּחַ בְּחָפְנָיו
מִי צָרַר־מַיִם בַּשִּׂמְלָה
מִי הֵקִים כָּל־אַפְסֵי־אָרֶץ
מַה־שְּׁמוֹ וּמַה־שֶּׁם־בְּנוֹ כִּי תֵדָע
mi a·lah sha·ma·yim vai·ye·rad?
mi a·saf ru·ach be·chof·nav?
mi tza·rar ma·yim ba·sim·lah?
mi he·kim kol af·sei a·retz?
mah she·mo u·mah shem be·no, ki tei·da?
"Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name? Surely you know!"
(Prov. 30:4)
Hebrew Study Card
Yeshua is the Center of Creation - its beginning and end. As it is written: אָנכִי אָלֶף וְתָו רִאשׁוֹן וְאַחֲרוֹן ראשׁ וָסוֹף / "I am the 'Aleph' and the 'Tav,' the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End" (Rev. 22:13). "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen" (Rom. 11:36). Indeed he is called מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים / Melech Malchei Hamelachim: The "King of kings of kings" and the LORD of all possible worlds -- from the highest celestial glory to the dust of death upon a cross. Yehi shem Adonai mevorakh (יְהִי שֵׁם יהוה מְברָךְ): "Let the Name of the LORD be blessed" forever and ever (Psalm 113:2).
Note: In Hebrew, the "heart" of something represents its core. center, and essence. Revelation is a matter of the heart, written by the God's Spirit, yielding a life of praise and thanks to the Lord. For more information about the Shema and its blessings, or to download Shema study pages, please see the Shema section of the site. Shalom.
Healing in Exile...
07.26.18 (Av 14, 5778) From this week's Torah (i.e., parashat Va'etchanan) we read: "if you seek for the LORD your God from there, you will find him, if you search for him with all your heart (בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ) and with all your soul" (Deut. 4:29). From where do we search, from what place, except while we are in exile, after hardship, testing, and tribulation? If you seek for the LORD your God from there - in the midst of your exile, in the midst of your heart's cry - you will find him there, in your heart. This message is a prophecy, so that even after testing befalls you, in the end you will belong to the LORD and will hear his voice.
וּבִקַּשְׁתֶּם מִשָּׁם אֶת־יְהוָה אֱלהֶיךָ וּמָצָאתָ
כִּי תִדְרְשֶׁנּוּ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל־נַפְשֶׁךָ
u·vik·kash·tem · mi·sham · et · Adonai · E·lo·hey·kha · u·ma·tza·ta
ki · tid·re·she·nu · be·khol · le·va·ve·kha · u·ve·khol · naf·she·kha
"But you will seek the LORD your God from there and you will find Him,
if you search for Him with all your heart and with all your soul."
(Deut. 4:29)
Note that the word "you will seek" is in the plural, whereas the rest of the verse is in the singular. "Where is God to be found?" asks the Kotzker Rebbe, but "in the place where He is given entry!" As the Apostle Paul wrote, "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Yeshua is LORD and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same LORD is LORD of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For "everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved" (Rom. 10:8-13).
The Work of Faith...
07.26.18 (Av 14, 5778) From this week's Torah portion (i.e., parashat Vaetchanan) we read: "And now, O Israel, shema: listen to the decrees and judgments that I am teaching you, and do them that you may live..." (Deut. 4:1). The sages have said that "the seal of God is truth," since the final letters of the three words that conclude the account of creation (Gen. 2:3) -- bara Elohim la'asot, "God created to do," spell the word for truth (emet) [i.e., בָּרָא אֱלהִים לַעֲשׂוֹת - אמת]. We do not study Torah and the Scriptures merely for intellectual edification, but l'shem shamayim, for the sake of doing the "works of love." As Rabbi Chiya said, "Someone who studies Torah but does not intend to do the mitzvot (commandments), it were better were he not created." Faith without ma'asim tovim (works) is dead, and we are to be "doers of the word" and not hearers only (James 1:22). The Baal Shem Tov said, "the object of Torah is that the individual should become Torah himself," which agrees with New Testament teaching that we are to be "living letters," expressing God's light in our daily lives through our actions (Matt. 5:16; 2 Cor. 3:3; Phil. 2:15).
וְעַתָּה יִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁמַע אֶל־הַחֻקִּים וְאֶל־הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים
אֲשֶׁר אָנכִי מְלַמֵּד אֶתְכֶם לַעֲשׂוֹת לְמַעַן תִּחְיוּ
ve·at·tah · yis·ra·el · she·ma · el · ha·chu·kim · ve·el · ha·mish·pa·tim
a·sher · a·no·khi · me·la·med · et·khem · la·a·sot · le·ma·an · ti·che·yu
"And now, O Israel, listen to the decrees and judgments
that I am teaching you, and do them that you may live..."
(Deut. 4:1)
God writes the Torah on the hearts of those who put their trust in Yeshua for righteousness (Jer. 31:31; Heb. 10:16). It is written that "we are God's workmanship, created in Yeshua the Messiah for good works (לְמַעֲשִׂים טוֹבִים) that God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10). In other words, the agency of the good works is the reality and spirit of Yeshua within the heart of faith, not the striving of the carnal nature... Yeshua, be my inner word, my heart, and my groaning for life today, and forevermore, amen.
Seeking Things Above...
07.26.18 (Av 14, 5778) Then he said to them all, "If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it" (Luke 9:23-24). Paradoxically only those willing to give up their lives will take up their cross, but the prospect remains an offense to those who seek to protect themselves. We must let go, say goodbye, and turn away from the allure of this world. The cross of Messiah crucifies your relationship to this world with its ignorance and vanities (Gal. 6:14). Through the cross you die to this world and its idolatry and cross over to a new realm of existence altogether (Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:1-4). The cross marks the beginning of life in the spirit...
"If then you have been raised with Messiah, seek the things that are above (τὰ ἄνω ζητεῖτε), where the Messiah is seated at the right hand of God (לִימִין אֱלהִים). Focus your thoughts on the things above, not on things here on earth. For you have died, and your life has been hidden with Messiah in God. Then when the Messiah, who is your life, appears, you too will appear with him in glory" (Col. 3:1-4).
All of this turns on our faith... If we are spiritually identified with Yeshua, we are "dead" to this age (olam hazeh), and therefore we are awakened to a realm that transcends the appeals of carnal flesh (olam habah). We no longer live chayei sha'ah (חַיֵּי שָׁעָה, "fleeting life") but chayei olam (חַיֵּי עוֹלָם, "eternal life"). The arorist verb "you have died" indicates "you have died once for all," that is, this is a condition granted by the power and agency of God on your behalf. You don't "try to die" to the flesh; you accept what God has done by killing its power over you through Yeshua... You are dead to this world; you are dead to sin's power; you are no longer enslaved to the deception of the worldly matrix, etc. Now you are made alive to an entirely greater and more powerful order and dimension of reality, namely, the spiritual reality that is not disclosed to the vanity of this age. Therefore we are to consciously focus our thoughts (φρονέω) on the hidden reality of God rather than on the temporal world that is passing away: "For we are looking not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient (i.e., "just for a season," καιρός), but the things that are unseen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:18).
When faith in God begins to affect an individual, his entire existence is transformed. His obsession with immediate pleasures and pains dies away. Instead his attention is increasingly focused on God. He comes to conceive God in his heart not just at a particular moment, but at every moment. He desires to share the infinity of God, and so feels himself confined within his present existence. He is like a bird in a cage, dreaming of flying free; he is like a fish on dry land, dreaming of swimming in a pool. He is acutely aware of the contrast between God's power and his own frailty. Yet even in his confinement, he feels joy in the knowledge that soon he will be free" (Kierkegaard: Journals)
We share the (in)visibility of the Messiah in this age... Since He is presently hidden from view, "the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not" (1 John 3:1); on the other hand, when He is revealed from heaven, so we will appear with him in glory... Therefore "being dead" is an inversely reciprocal relationship: being dead to this world is to be alive in the other world, and vice-versa.... We have "hidden life" in the Messiah, as it is written: "your life has been hidden (i.e., κρύπτω, "concealed," "disguised") with the Messiah in God." By faith you are made dead to one order of reality so that you would be made alive to another order of reality, to the reality of God that transcends the shadows and decay of this world. Your life has been hidden - like a "hidden treasure" - with the Messiah, who holds its store for you and will reveal its glory in the coming age. Because Yeshua knows you by name, calls you to follow Him, and is your Sin-Bearer, Priest, Advocate, and Savior before the throne of God, your life is indeed "hidden with Him," and you are made secure through His all-powerful providential care... Praise His Name forever.
Salvation is forever a matter of life and death. We esteem earthly doctors because they are healers of the body, but how much more do people need true healers of the soul? "Be not deceived" about your own hope for eternity; "God is not mocked" (μυκτηρίζω). He knows your inner motivations with perfect clarity (Gal. 6:7; Heb. 4:12). To "serve" God in the truth means being willing to face ongoing self-examination, to own up to the truth about yourself, to be real, to be honest. We are here to share the message of God's love and to help bring others to eternal life. Yeshua's fiercest words of condemnation were reserved for those who played games with "religion" - for those who forgot that people were literally dying without God's love... May God help us remember what is closest to His heart, friends...
Return us to You, O LORD...
07.26.18 (Av 14, 5778) Have you ever lost something very valuable only to later discover it "hiding in plain sight," in the most obvious place? And yet that is what tends to happen to many of us as time goes by: we lose sight of what is most important and get lost in trivialities... We forget the meaning and purpose of our existence, we begin to sleepwalk through our days, numb and in quiet despair... A key verse chanted during this season of the year is: Hashivenu Adonai elekha ve'nashuvah: "Return us to you, O LORD, and we shall return," chadesh yamenu ke'kedem: "renew our days as of old" (Lam. 5:21). When we ask the LORD return us to Him, we are really asking him to help us wake up, to redirect our focus, and to enable us to engage in heartfelt self-examination by asking searching questions: "Who am I?" "How did I get here?" and so on. Teshuvah is a matter of "coming to yourself" and remembering the most important truths of life.
הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ יְהוָה אֵלֶיךָ וְנָשׁוּבָה
חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵינוּ כְּקֶדֶם
ha·shi·ve·nu · Adonai · e·ley·kha · ve·na·shu·vah,
cha·desh · ya·me·nu · ke·ke·dem
"Return us to you, O LORD, and we shall return;
renew our days as of old" (Lam. 5:21)
Hebrew Study Card
Light of the World...
07.26.18 (Av 14, 5778) Yeshua said, anochi ohr ha'olam (אָנכִי אוֹר הָעוֹלָם); "I am the light of reality; the one who walks after me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). If you feel lost or in darkness, call upon the One who is everywhere and upholds all things, the Radiance of light to the universe, the One present in the center of all things. The Light of Yeshua outshines and overcomes every shade of darkness (John 1:5). If we open the eyes of our heart (i.e., einei ha'lev: עֵינֵי הַלֵב) we behold the inner light and truth of the divine life: "Believe in the light that you may become children of light" (John 12:36).
אָנכִי אוֹר הָעוֹלָם
הַהלֵךְ אַחֲרַי לא יֵלֵךְ בַּחוֹשֶׁךְ
כִּי־לוֹ אוֹר הַחַיִּים
anochi ohr ha'olam
ha'holekh acharai lo yelekh ba'choshekh
ki lo ohr ha'chayim
ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου·
ὁ ἀκολουθῶν ἐμοὶ οὐ μὴ περιπατήσῃ ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ,
ἀλλ᾽ ἕξει τὸ φῶς τῆς ζωῆς
"I am the light of reality;
the one who walks after me will never walk in darkness
but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)
Some of the mystics have said that "isness" is God, by which they mean that "in Him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28), and that our lives are derivative of the greater life and being of God... God upholds all things by the word of his power; in Him all things "stick together" as invisible magnetism of the Spirit (Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:17). Sensing the sheer "gratuity" of life, the momentary trajectory of existence, or the "isness" of something, alludes to the numinous, the sacred, and the miraculous. "All existence makes me anxious, from the smallest fly to the mysteries of the Incarnation; the whole thing is inexplicable, I most of all; to me all existence is infected, I most of all. My distress is enormous, boundless; no one knows it except God in heaven, and he will not console me" (Kierkegaard, Journals). A spiritual perspective understands that nothing is trivial or insignificant, and that everything resounds the call of the Divine Presence. As King David said, yom le'yom yabia omer; v'lailah le'lailah yechaveh da'at: "Day to day flows forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge" (Psalm 19:2). We are surrounded by the handiwork of God; our very breath is a gift from heaven; the present moment is an opportunity to turn to God and celebrate the gift of life in Yeshua. Dear Lord, teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom; help us sanctify the gift of life you that you have graciously given to each of us. Amen.
The Kingdom of God...
07.25.18 (Av 13, 5778) Yeshua told his followers that the Kingdom of God (i.e., mamlekhet Adonai: ממלכת יהוה) is "within you" (Luke 17:21). This teaches us that the reign of the Spirit is not to be found "out there" nor is the kingdom to be regarded as a political structure of this world, but is realized in spiritual relationship - namely, the communion between God with your heart and your heart with God... When we learn to see clearly, Yeshua says we can experience the divine Presence within our hearts and among ourselves. As we turn to the LORD, may we recognize that who we are is more vital than our outer appearance and contingent circumstances. Life in the kingdom means having a new identity, being a new creation (i.e., briah chadashah: בְּרִיָּה חֲדָשָׁה), and that changes everything (2 Cor. 5:16-17).
Everlasting Love (אַהֲבַת עוֹלָם)
07.24.18 (Av 12, 5778) It is written in our Scriptures: "In Him (i.e., Yeshua) we have obtained an inheritance (i.e., yerushah: יְרוּשָׁה, from which we have "Jerusalem"), decreed beforehand (i.e., προορισθέντες) according to the purpose of the One who works all things according to the counsel of His will" (Eph. 1:11). This teaches us the "Torah of Providence" (תּוֹרַת קְדוּמָה) -- that God has loved us without beginning, before the foundation of the world, "from the days of eternity" (מִקֶּדֶם מִימֵי עוֹלָם) -- and therefore we can trust in the outworking of his promises and his invincible will. Indeed nothing can thwart or overrule God who is the Master of all possible worlds. In everything - including human reason itself - the LORD God Almighty is preeminent and works all things together for good (Rom. 8:28). This implies that there is an "original blessing" before the "original sin" wherein God chose us to know the truth and blessing of his love. As it is written: "I have loved you with an everlasting love (i.e., ahavat olam: אַהֲבַת עוֹלָם): therefore with lovingkindness (i.e., chesed: חֶסֶד) have I drawn you (Jer. 31:3). Note that the Hebrew verb translated "I have drawn you" comes from the word mashakh (מָשַׁךְ), meaning to "seize" or "drag away" (the ancient Greek translation used the verb helko (ἕλκω) to express the same idea). As Yeshua clearly said, "No one is able to come to me unless he is "dragged away" (ἑλκύσῃ) by the Father (John 6:44). God's chesed seizes us, scandalizes us, takes us captive, and leads us to the Savior. Therefore understand that there has never been a time when you were not loved by God, and that it has always been true that God knows and loves you, friend.
מֵרָחוֹק יְהוָה נִרְאָה לִי
וְאַהֲבַת עוֹלָם אֲהַבְתִּיךְ
עַל־כֵּן מְשַׁכְתִּיךְ חָסֶד
me·ra·chok · Adonai · nir·ah · li
ve·a·ha·vat · o·lam · a·hav·tikh
al · ken · me·shakh·tikh · cha·sed
"The LORD appeared to me from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you."
(Jer. 31:3)
Hebrew Study Card
The Heart of Heaven...
[ The following concerns this week's Torah reading, parashat Vaetchanan, which is always read on the Sabbath following Tishah B'Av... Nachamu, nachamu... ]
07.24.18 (Av 12, 5778) In our Torah portion this week (Vaetchanan), Moses recalled the awesome revelation of the Torah at Sinai, describing how the mountain "burned with fire unto the heart of heaven" (בּעֵר בָּאֵשׁ עַד־לֵב הַשָּׁמַיִם) when the Ten Commandments were uttered and were written upon the two tablets (Deut. 4:11-13). The sages say that the tablets represented a heart, as it says, "write them on the tablet of your heart" (Prov. 3:3), and God's word is likened to a fire that reveals the great passion of God's heart for us (Jer. 23:29; Deut. 4:24). Tragically, the two tablets were smashed after the people lost sight of the heart of heaven, and therefore God requires a broken heart - teshuvah - to behold his glory once again. Therefore we see that Yeshua died of a broken heart upon the cross for our return to God, and the fire of his passion burned unto the very heart of heaven....
Clear Thinking and Spirituality...
07.24.18 (Av 12, 5778) "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7). Consider for a moment how your thinking defines your inner reality and the quality of your spiritual life. Thinking is inextricably linked to faith, and therefore we are responsible not only for what we believe, but for how we think (Acts 17:30-31). Sinful thinking creates "negative energy" that brings pain to yourself and others. Left unchallenged, such impaired cognitive function leads to slavery of the mind, hopeless addictions of thought, and distressing captivity. The first step to freedom is to confess our sin, acknowledging the reality of our own negativity – and bringing that truth to the light. Therefore teshuvah – turning to God – involves cheshbon hanefesh (חֶשְׁבּוֹן הַנֶּפֶשׁ), accounting for our soul and yielding it to the love of God for rectification: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). For freedom we have been set free, and that means freedom from the power of the lie. If we are blind to our own sin, we cannot confess the truth to find lasting healing (James 5:16).
Teshuvah's Confession...
07.24.18 (Av 12, 5778) Teshuvah and confession go hand in hand. Confession means bringing yourself naked before the Divine Light to agree with the truth about who you are. Indeed, the Greek word "homologia" (ὁμολογία) literally means "saying the same thing" - from ὁμός (same) and λόγος (word). As I've said before, in Modern Hebrew teshuvah (תְּשׁוּבָה) means an "answer" to a shelah (שְׁאֵלָה), or a question. God's love for us is the question, and our teshuvah – our turning of the heart toward Him – is the answer (and healing) for our broken hearts. Teshuvah is one of the great gifts God gives each of us – the ability to turn back to Him and seek healing for our brokenness.
One Single Prayer...
07.23.18 (Av 11, 5778) King David says in Psalm 27:4, "One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek" (אַחַת שָׁאַלְתִּי מֵאֵת־יְהוָה אוֹתָהּ אֲבַקֵּשׁ). Notice immediately that David asked for just one thing – not many things. He did not come with a litany of requests. He was not "double minded." As Kierkegaard said, "purity of the heart is to will one thing." David asked for the gift of focus and the pursuit of truth. He desired the "pearl of great price." Note also that the verb translated "I will seek" (avakesh) comes from the verb bakash (בָּקַשׁ) meaning "to wish" or "to desire." The verse could therefore be read as, "The one thing I ask from the Lord is for godly desire – for the will to "behold the sweetness of the Lord, and to inquire in His Presence." This is a prayer for the highest we may attain. The "one thing" David asked for was a heart made alive to perceive the wonder of God.
אַחַת שָׁאַלְתִּי מֵאֵת־יְהוָה אוֹתָהּ אֲבַקֵּשׁ
שִׁבְתִּי בְּבֵית־יְהוָה כָּל־יְמֵי חַיַּי
לַחֲזוֹת בְּנעַם־יְהוָה וּלְבַקֵּר בְּהֵיכָלוֹ
att·ah · sha·al·ti · me·et-Adonai · o·tah · a·vak·kesh
shiv·ti · be·vet-Adonai · kol-ye·mei · cha·yai
la·cha·zot · be·no·am-Adonai · u·le·va·ker · be·he·kha·lo
"One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his Presence."
(Psalm 27:4)
If we consciously delight ourselves in the Lord, He has promised to give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4). As Yeshua taught us: "seek first the Kingdom of God" (Matt. 6:33).
Pouring out your heart...
07.23.18 (Av 11, 5778) Our Torah portion for this week (i.e., Vaetchanan) begins: "And I pleaded with the LORD at that time, saying..." (Deut. 3:23). The Torah does not mention any specific time here, though we surmise from the context that it was just before Moses' death. The sages comment on this verse by saying that when a person is praying, regardless of the prayer, it is the heart attitude that matters most. If your prayer is devoid of the depth of feeling, it is as if you are not praying at all. That is what is meant when the Scriptures states, "Trust in Him at all times, people; pour out your heart to Him" (Psalm 62:8), and elekha Adonai nafshi essa (אֵלֶיךָ יְהוָה נַפְשִׁי אֶשָּׂא) "To you, LORD, do I lift up my soul" (Psalm 25:1).
בִּטְחוּ בוֹ בְכָל־עֵת עָם
שִׁפְכוּ־לְפָנָיו לְבַבְכֶם
אֱלהִים מַחֲסֶה־לָּנוּ סֶלָה
bit·chu · vo · ve·khol-et · am
shif·khu · le·fa·nav · le·vav·khem
E·lo·him · ma·cha·seh-la·nu · se·lah
"Trust in Him at all times, people;
pour out your heart before Him
God is a refuge for us: Selah" (Psalm 62:8)
Pouring out your heart to God in an honest, transparent, and earnest way is called hitbodedut (הִתְבּוֹדְדוּת). After we "talk our hearts out" before the Lord, in our emptiness we can begin to truly listen, as it says, "In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength" (Isa. 30:15). Only after we sigh to the depths and surrender our will are we receptive to the voice of the Spirit's whisper. "Blessed are all those who wait for Him" (Isa. 30:18). We wait, we abide, even when God takes his time or does not immediately intervene. We do not lose heart, for we believe that no prayer goes unanswered, and we find strength as we trust in God's love... The Light of the world still shines: Yeshua, be my inner word, my heart, and my groaning for life today, and forevermore, amen.
Therefore remember the One who poured out his heart for our healing before the Father, in the agony of his passion and in his heart's suffering unto death for our sake... Few words were spoken, but groans, cries, gasps for breath, and the steadfast resolution to offer up the last drop of his blood for our healing and life... Pouring out of heart is not so much about the words we use but the fullness of our heart being offered: "When you pray, rather let thy heart be without words than thy words be without heart" (Bunyan).
The Romantic Holiday of Tu B'Av...
[ Thursday July 26th (at sundown) marks the 15th of Av - otherwise called Tu B'Av... ]
07.22.18 (Av 10, 5778) The Torah teaches that because of the Sin of the Spies, the entire generation of Israelites rescued from Egypt was sentenced to die in the desert (Num. 13-14). According to the Midrash Eichah Rabbah, every year until the fortieth year (after the Exodus), on the eve of the Ninth of Av, Moses would command the people, "Go out and dig," and the people would leave the camp, dig graves, and sleep in them overnight. The following morning a messenger would proclaim, "Let the living separate from the dead!" Fifteen thousand would die that very night, but the survivors would return to the camp for another year.... This occurred year after year, but in the fortieth year no one died. Since they thought they might have miscalculated the days, they slept in their graves an additional night. This went on for five nights until the fifteenth of Av, when they saw the full moon, realized that there calculations were correct, and rejoiced that no more of the first generation would die. They subsequently declared the fifteenth of Av to be a day of celebration. The "desert generation" had finally died off and the new generation was finally ready to enter the land!
Just as Yom Kippur originally celebrated the reconciliation of Israel to the LORD after the sin of the Golden Calf, so the fifteenth of Av, called Tu B'Av (see note below), originally celebrated the reconciliation of Israel for the Sin of the Spies. Therefore both the fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur became joyous times celebrating forgiveness and restoration to the LORD. The Babylonian Talmud (Ta'anit 31a) quotes Shimon ben Gamliel as saying, "Israel had no holidays as joyous as the fifteenth of Av and the Day of Atonement, when the maidens of Israel would go out and dance in the vineyards... What were they saying: Young man, consider whom you choose to be your wife..."
Indeed an old midrash says that 40 days before a person is conceived in the womb, God decrees who that person's life partner will be (Talmud: Mo'ed Katan 18b). The sages calculate that Tu B'Av falls 40 days before Elul 25, the traditional date of the creation of the universe, and infer that at that time - before the foundation of the world - God "chose us to be His beloved (Eph. 1:4). Tu B'Av reminds us of the deeper truth that you were created to be in a love relationship with God!
In modern Israel, Tu B'Av is observed as an annual holiday of love and affection (i.e., chag ha-ahavah: חַג הָאַהֲבָה) that is celebrated like "Valentine's Day" (though it is a much older holiday of course). However, since it is the "last" festival of the Jewish year, Tu B'Av prophetically pictures our marriage to the Lamb of God (Seh Elohim), Yeshua our beloved Messiah. On a soon-coming day those who belong to him and are faithful to follow his ways will be blessed with the unspeakable joy as their "wedding day" finally has come. This is heaven itself - to be in the Presence of the LORD and to be His beloved (Rev. 19:6-9).
With the advent of the holiday of Tu B'Av, we are reminded of the beautiful phrase, ani l'dodi ve'dodi li (אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְדוֹדִי לִי), "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine" (Song. 6:3), a phrase the sages say is an acronym for the name Elul (אלול). Now the month of Elul begins in just a couple of weeks (i.e., Monday, August 21st this year), and the entire month is set apart to prepare us for the coming High Holidays that begin late September During this time it we engage in cheshbon ha-nefesh ("soul searching") and to derive comfort that God is forgiving and loving to those who turn to Him. The sages chose the seven "Haftarot of comfort" to encourage us to make our hearts ready for the upcoming High Holiday Season.
Note: Why is the 15th of Av called Tu B'Av? Well, as you perhaps know, Hebrew letters can be used to express numbers. Joining the letters Tet (9) and Vav (6), for example, equals the number 15, sometimes written as the acronym "Tu" (ט"ו). The phrase "Tu B'Av" (ט"ו באב) indicates the 15th day of the month of Av (אָב), a "full-moon" holiday that has been celebrated as a day of love and affection since the First Temple period.
Parashat Vaetchanan - ואתחנן
[ Our Torah reading for this week, parashat Vaetchanan, is always read on the Sabbath following Tishah B'Av (i.e., on Shabbat Nachamu, see entry below). ]
07.22.18 (Av 10, 5778) We have a lot to study and to prayerfully consider this week, talmidim. First we will read parashat Vaetchanan (פרשת ואתחנן), a great Torah portion that includes some of the most foundational texts of the Jewish Scriptures, including the Ten Commandments, the Shema (the duty to love God and study His Torah), and the commandments of tefillin and mezuzot. In addition, in this portion Moses predicts the worldwide exile and the eventual redemption of the Jewish people in acharit hayamim (the prophesied "End of Days"). We always read this portion on the Sabbath that follows Tishah B'Av, called Shabbat Nachamu (שבת נחמו), the "Sabbath of Comfort," since the haftarah speaks about God's future consolation in the coming kingdom of God ("Comfort ye, comfort ye my people [Isa. 40:1]). With the advent of this special Sabbath, we have just seven weeks to prepare for the new year (i.e, Yom Teruah) and the High Holidays - a "jubilee" season that heralds the return of Yeshua... In addition, on the 15th day of the month of Av we will celebrate chag ha-ahavah (חַג הָאַהֲבָה), or "the holiday of love." Since it marks the "last" festival of the Jewish year, prophetically the 15th of Av (called Tu B'Av) pictures our marriage to the Lamb of God (Seh Elohim), the LORD Yeshua our beloved Messiah. On a soon-coming day those who belong to the LORD and are faithful to follow His ways will be blessed with the unspeakable joy of an eternally intimate relationship with Him. This is heaven itself - to be in the Presence of the LORD and to be regarded as His beloved (Rev. 19:6-9).
The portion begins with Moses' plea to the LORD to be allowed entry into the Promised Land, despite God's earlier decree (see Num. 20:8-12; 27:12-14). The Hebrew word va'etchanan (וָאֶתְחַנַּן) comes from the verb chanan (חָנַן), which means to beseech or implore. It derives from the noun chen (חֵן), grace, implying that the supplication appeals to God's favor, not to any idea of personal merit (in Jewish tradition, tachanun (תַּחֲנוּן) are prayers recited after the Amidah begging for God's grace and mercy). Moses was asking God to show him grace by reversing the decree that forbade him to enter the Promised Land.
Note that in Jewish tradition, the idea of appealing to God's grace is not without expending personal effort. The gematria of vaetchanan is 515 -- the same as the word for prayer (i.e., tefillah, תְּפִלָּה) - which suggests that while grace is "free," it is something precious that must be sought after with the whole heart. Despite his repeated appeals, however, God finally said to Moses: רַב־לָך, "enough from you" (Deut. 3:26) and reaffirmed His decree that he would not be allowed to lead Israel into the land. That privilege was given to Yehoshua bin Nun (יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן־נוּן), i.e., "Joshua the son of Nun," who foreshadowed Yeshua the Messiah.
Moses was prophetically forbidden into the land because the covenant made at Sinai was insufficient to fulfill the promise of God. This insufficiency, however, was not the fault of God's Torah, which of course is "holy, just, and good" (Rom. 7:12), but rather because of the weakness of the human condition (i.e., the "law of sin and death" - תּוֹרַת הַחֵטְא וְהַמָּוֶת). "For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit" (Rom. 8:3-4). The New Covenant was needed to bring people to Zion, and this required a "change in the Torah" and the offices of a new priesthood (see Heb. 7:12). "The former commandment was set aside because of its weakness and uselessness - for the law made nothing perfect - but a better hope is introduced, and that is how we now draw near to God" (Heb. 7:18-19). The Love of God is our remedy, chaverim...
Shabbat Nachamu (שַׁבַּת נַחֲמוּ)
[ With the advent of this coming Sabbath, we have seven weeks to prepare for the new year (Rosh Hashanah) and the High Holidays - a "jubilee" season that heralds the return of Yeshua... ]
07.22.18 (Av 10, 5778) The prophet Zechariah (זְכַרְיָה) foresaw the future Messianic Era when the various fast days of the Jewish year will be transformed into to appointed times of great joy (Zech. 8:19): "Thus says Adonai Tzeva'ot (יהוה צְבָאוֹת): The fast of the fourth month (Tzom Tammuz), and the fast of the fifth month (Tishah B'Av), and the fast of the seventh month (Tzom Gedaliah), and the fast of the tenth month (Asarah b'Tevet), will be to the house of Judah for joy and rejoicing, and for pleasant appointed seasons, and the truth and the peace they have loved (וְהָאֱמֶת וְהַשָּׁלוֹם אֱהָבוּ)."
Because the great vision of Zion is promised such future consolation by God, Jewish tradition named the Sabbath immediately following Tishah B'Av as the "Sabbath of Comfort, that is, Shabbat Nachamu: שַׁבַּת נַחֲמוּ, and assigned to it the prophetic portion from the Book of Isaiah that begins: נַחֲמוּ נַחֲמוּ עַמִּי - Nachamu, Nachamu ami - "be comforted, be comforted, my people..." (Isa. 40:1). The sages reasoned that the word nachamu was repeated to offer consolation for both Temples that were destroyed. Thematically, this Shabbat marks a time of joy over anticipated comfort: Despite present tribulations, the LORD will vindicate His glory and completely ransom His people.
נַחֲמוּ נַחֲמוּ עַמִּי יאמַר אֱלהֵיכֶם
na·cha·mu · na·cha·mu · am·mi · yo·mar · E·lo·hey·khem
"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God"
(Isa. 40:1)
Hebrew Study Card
Seven Weeks Until Rosh Hashanah...
Shabbat Nachamu marks the start of a series of seven weekly readings related to the final redemption of the Jewish people (and indeed the entire world) called "The Seven Haftarot of Consolation." From the Sabbath following Tishah B'Av until Rosh Hashanah, we read words of comfort from the prophets. These selections foretell the restoration of the Jewish people to their land (the ingathering of the exiles), the future redemption of Israel, and the coming of the Messianic Era. In other words, we have seven weeks - 49 days - to prepare for the start of the new year (Rosh Hashanah) and the High Holidays - a prophetic "jubilee" season that concerns the return of Yeshua (and may He return soon, chaverim).
Note: Today we are observing Tishah B'Av, a day of dolorus mourning for Zion. Hear then a few words from Jeremiah the prophet (ירמיהו הנביא) regarding the anguish of heart he felt regarding the destruction of Jerusalem: "My strength has perished; so has my hope from the LORD. Remember my impoverished and homeless condition, which is a bitter poison. My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Nevertheless this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases (חַסְדֵי יְהוָה כִּי לֹא־תָמְנוּ); for his mercies never come to an end (כִּי לא־כָלוּ רַחֲמָיו); they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness (רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶךָ). "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for yeshuat Adonai, the salvation of the LORD (לִתְשׁוּעַת יְהוָה); it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; let him put his mouth in the dust -- there may yet be hope; let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults. For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men. To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth, to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High, to subvert a man in his lawsuit -- the Lord does not approve. Who has spoken and it came to pass (מִי זֶה אָמַר וַתֶּהִי), unless the Lord has commanded it (אֲדנָי לֹא צִוָּה)? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High (עֶלְיוֹן) that good and bad come? Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? Let us search and examine our ways, and return to the LORD! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven..." (Lam. 3:18-41).
Transience and Tishah B'Av...
[ This weekend we are observing the holiday of Tishah B'Av... ]
07.20.18 (Av 8, 5778) In the Book of Isaiah it is written: "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever" (Isa. 40:8), which sets up a great contrast between olam ha-zeh and olam haba – between this present world and the heavenly realm. Unlike the grass of the field that dries up or flowers that soon fade, the word of God stands forever. And despite the frailty of man and the inevitability of physical death, God's truth endures, which is a foundation upon which we can rest.
But how are metaphors that our lives are "like dried up grass" or a "withered flower" intended to comfort us? Do they not, on the contrary, lead us to regard our lives as vain and perhaps meaningless? Yes indeed. Our lives are empty and vain apart from God and His truth. If we find ourselves wincing over such images, it is perhaps time to reexamine the state of our faith: To the extent that we regard this world as our "home" we will find the transience of life to be tragic... For those who are seeking a heavenly habitation, the "City of God" and the fulfillment of the promise of Zion, the fleeting nature of this evil world is ultimately a form of consolation...
הוֹדִיעֵנִי יְהוָה קִצִּי
וּמִדַּת יָמַי מַה־הִיא
אֵדְעָה מֶה־חָדֵל אָנִי
ho·di·e·ni · Adonai · kitz·tzi,
u·mid·dat · ya·mai · mah · hi,
e·de· ah · meh · cha·del · a·ni
"O LORD, make me to know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how quickly my life will pass"
(Psalm 39:4)
Hebrew Study Card
The theme of the transience of life is part of the message of Tishah B'Av. The Holy Temple, despite being the pride and joy of the Jewish people during the time of King Solomon, went up in smoke, and the place (i.e., ha-makom: הַמָּקוֹם) where the LORD chose to "put His Name" vanished as if it had never been... Understand, then, that the expression of your highest ideals, your most celebrated achievements, likewise can be turned to smoke in an instant. This, then, is the sober message of Tishah B'Av, a "holiday" that teaches that all things will be "tossed into the oven" (Matt. 6:30), though the truth of God endures forever.
On the Torah's calendar, Tishah B'Av is "sandwiched" between the two times Moses received the tablets of the covenant, first during Shavuot and later, after a period of repentance, during Yom Kippur. This means that just two months after celebrating the Sinai revelation, we mourn for the destruction of the Temple and the beginning of our long exile; and two months later still, we celebrate national atonement and the restoration of the covenant during Yom Kippur. All this is prophetic, of course, since Shavuot recalls the ascension of our LORD and the giving of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit); Tishah B'Av foretells of Israel's long exile and the "age of grace" extended to the Gentiles; and Yom Kippur foretells the coming atonement of the Jewish people at the end of the age, when Israel accepts Yeshua as their great High Priest of the New Covenant (Jer. 30:24).
Tishah B'Av reminds us that this world is not our home, and that we are "strangers" and exiles here. The heart of faith is always in collision with this world. Yes, it is an affliction to wait for the LORD, a sort of "homesickness" of heart... The apostle Paul says our loneliness and alienation prepare for us an "eternal weight of glory" beyond all comparison, because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. "For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal" (2 Cor. 4:17-18). Just as the "two-souled" man is unstable in all his ways, so the process of being "educated for eternity" means learning to focus our heart's passion and hope on the glory of heaven. "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
Ultimately, the loss of "the place where God put His Name" was a deliberate affliction of His love for his people. The Sacred Name of God [יהוה] is formed from the words hayah ("He was"), hoveh ("He is"), and yihyeh ("He will be"): הָיָה הוֶה וְיִהְיֶה, indicating that the LORD is always present, despite momentary appearances. Note that all the letters of the Name are "vowel letters," which mean they evoke breath and life. Indeed the first occurrence of the Name in Torah regards the inspiration of nishmat chayim (נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים), the "breath of life" in Adam (Gen. 2:4). The LORD is always present for you, breathing out life and hope...
Note: It's been a tough week for me, chaverim, for a variety of reasons, though I feel like I am grieving inside because I am remembering Tishah B'Av and the long suffering of the Jewish people... God is faithful to us, even in our heartaches; our inner pain is a messenger for us to turn to for healing; and we believe that all things work for our ultimate good in the Messiah. So let's be encouraged, friends, because there is a future and a hope prepared for us. "Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches: 'To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it'" (Rev. 2:17). So stay strong and keep focused on God's amazing love in Yeshua. Shabbat shalom.
Note: Today there is a growing alliance between Russia, Iran, and Turkey in Syria, with military strongholds near the northern border of Israel, by the Golan Heights, close to the Sea of Galilee (which has had seismic activity recently), all of which may forebode the coming "war from the north" wherein Damascus meets its end and the time of tribulation may be incited.... Prophetically speaking, the theater of operations for the arrival of the "End of Days" is upon us, friends, so stay vigilant and pray. Shalom.
One with Messiah...
07.20.18 (Av 8, 5778) "If you are united with me and my teaching ... you will bear much fruit that glorifies God and demonstrates you are my student" (John 15:7-8). We are to learn from Yeshua, who teaches us the inner meaning of Torah, how to be rightly related to God, and how to love others bekhol levavkha, with all our heart. This is the education for eternity. We are to be united with his words, his heart, and his vision for life. We set the LORD always before us; we know Him in all our ways; we live in devotion to the truth he taught... What truth? That God Himself entered our world to die on our behalf, to overcome our separation from life (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Yeshua delivers us from the curse of death by means of his shed blood and his resurrected life: Because he lives, we also live. This is the truth that sets us free. People who think that "freedom" means be able to walk after the lusts of their imaginations are really enslaved to their lower nature. Such is a sign of weakness and cowardice, not strength; it reveals sickness of the spirit, not life and healing... Blindly following the crowd or yielding to the dictates of evil passion is slavery of the soul. True freedom is the power to walk in the light that overcomes the darkness.
Being a student (disciple) of Yeshua means being united with his mission to give life and healing to a lost and sin-sick world... It is to share the message of his love with others. "To love another is to help them love God," which is the great commission - to go and live the truth that sets them free (Matt. 28:19-20).
Seek and you shall find...
07.20.18 (Av 8, 5778) Teshuvah, or turning to God, means waking up, coming alive, returning to what is real... As is says: "Awake thou that sleepest - arouse from your state of slumber: and arise from the dead" (Eph. 5:14). The message to the sinner is always, "Wake up, wake up - you are living a nightmare..." The Spirit of God's love calls out, dirshuni vichyu (דִּרְשׁוּנִי וִחְיוּ), "seek me and live!" Open your eyes to discover life! "You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."
וּבִקַּשְׁתֶּם אתִי וּמְצָאתֶם
כִּי תִדְרְשֻׁנִי בְּכָל־לְבַבְכֶם
u'vik·kash·tem · o·ti · u·metz·a·tem
ki · tid·re·shu·ni · be·khol · le·vav·khem
"You will seek me and find me
if you search for me with all your heart"
(Jer. 29:13)
Hebrew Study Card
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened" (Matt. 7:7-8). The problem with many of us is not that we are so hungry, but rather that we are not hungry enough... We settle for "junk food" when God spreads out his banqueting table before us. There is a "deeper hunger" for life, and I pray we are all touched by such hunger pangs; there is a "blessed hunger and thirst" that feeds our heart's cry for God (Matt. 5:6); there is a "divine discontent" that leads to a deeper sense of contentment for the heart...
Looking for God...
[ The following is related to the theme of teshuvah (repentance)... ]
07.20.18 (Av 8, 5778) The Hebrew word for "world" or "age" is olam (עוֹלָם), which is derived from a root verb (עָלַם) that means "to conceal" or "to hide." God "hides" His face from us so that we will seek Him, and that means pressing through ambiguity of this world to discern and take hold of the truth. Therefore King David said, בַּקְּשׁוּ פָנָיו תָּמִיד/ bakeshu fanav tamid: "Seek His face continually" (Psalm 105:4). Note that the Hebrew gematria (numerical value) for the word "fanav" (i.e., "His face") is the same as that for the word "olam." When we truly seek God's face (i.e., seek His Presence) we are able to discern the underlying purpose for our lives in this age.
דִּרְשׁוּ יְהוָה וְעֻזּוֹ
בַּקְּשׁוּ פָנָיו תָּמִיד
dir·shu · Adonai · ve·u·zo
ba·ke·shu · fa·nav · ta·mid
"Seek the LORD and his strength;
seek his presence continually."
(Psalm 105:4)
ζητήσατε τὸν κύριον καὶ κραταιώθητε
ζητήσατε τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ διὰ παντός
Hebrew Study Card
The ancient Greek version of the Torah (i.e., the Septuagint) translates this verse, "Seek the LORD and be strengthed; seek His face through everything (διὰ παντός)." The LORD God gives us "inner strength" (i.e., ἐγκράτεια, from εν-, "in" + κράτος, "strength" or "power") when we yield to "the power of His might" (ἐν τῷ κράτει τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ) (Gal. 5:22-23; Eph. 6:10). Therefore we must remember God's power and glory, for "He is the LORD our God (הוּא יְהוָה אֱלהֵינוּ); His judgments are in all the earth" (Psalm 105:7).
Words of Heart...
07.20.18 (Av 8, 5778) "If we ask anything according to God's will, he hears us," which is to say that in heaven there is only the language of truth, and truth is the language of heaven. Those who pray insincerely abuse the gift of speech, and such language is not understood in heaven... God speaks to us "in son," which is forever the language of faithfulness, hope, and love (1 Cor. 13:13). Kierkegaard wrote, "No person is saved except by grace; but there is one sin that makes grace impossible, and that is dishonesty; and there is one thing God must forever and unconditionally require, and that is honesty." Confession means "saying the same thing" about ourselves that God says - and that means not only acknowledging our sins, but also affirming that we are loved by God. "Love hopes all things" (1 Cor. 13:7), and therefore the language of truth is always spoken in hope. No truth about your sin is known apart from the love of God revealed in Yeshua our Messiah. Shabbat shalom friends...
The Armor of Light...
07.20.18 (Av 8, 5778) We are in the midst of a great spiritual war -- the war for the truth. This has been the battle from the beginning. The very first recorded words of Satan (הַנָּחָשׁ) questioned God's truth: "Did God really say...?" (Gen. 3:1). In the end there will be found two types of people: those who love the truth and those who love the lie; these are children of light (בְּנֵי הָאוֹר) and children of darkness (בְּנֵי הַחשֶׁךְ), respectively. Followers of Yeshua the Messiah are told to "walk as children of light" / ὡς τέκνα φωτὸς περιπατεῖτε (Eph. 5:8). Children of light are called to be am kadosh - a holy people - separate from the evil engendered by the fallen world and its forces, just as the very first creative expression of God was the separation of light from darkness (Gen. 1:3-4). The children of light "hate evil and love the good," and conversely, the children of darkness "hate the good and love evil" (Psalm 34:21, Prov. 8:13, Amos 5:15, John 3:20-21). Yes, we hate sin, because sin separates people from healing; we hate sin but we love others. We are to walk in the peace and love of God; to do acts of justice and lovingkindness (Psalm 97:10). "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other."
In a sense, the history of humanity - especially as it has been expressed philosophically and politically through the centuries -- has been nothing less than the collusion to redefine reality as something that it isn't. "The kings of the earth station themselves, and the dignitaries (רוֹזְנִים) take counsel together against (lit. "over") the LORD and His Mashiach" (Psalm 2:1-3). Spiritual warfare is therefore the fight for sanity and truth in a world that prefers madness and self-deception...
Be vigilant! If the devil can't kill you, he will try to drive you insane... He will lie to you about who you really are... He he will harass you and vex your soul. He will whisper fearful things in your ear... He will make what is small seem big and what is big seem small. He will raise dark suspicion within your soul, causing you to walk in mistrust. He will remind you of your sins to make you feel ashamed and dirty. He will hiss that you are unlovable and unworthy. He will argue on behalf of your flesh that you deserve better than this... He will tempt you to seek relief in cisterns of emptiness and futility. Most of all, he will try to cast a spell to make you forget that you are truly a prince or princess of God Almighty... The devil seeks to drive you into the exile of loneliness and despair. Submit yourself to God and refuse to heed voices of fear or shame. Da lifnei mi attah omed: "Know before whom you stand!"
There are two basic approaches to "spiritual warfare." The first is to discern the presence of evil and then pray for God's intervention, deliverance, protection, and so on. The second approach is to use ayin tovah (עין טובה), a "good eye" and focus on God insteadand focus on God instead - to "set your thoughts on things above" (Phil. 4:8). Whereas the former approach may at times seem necessary to dissipate encroaching darkness to find inner peace, the latter approach has the decided advantage of trusting in the Divine Presence that pervades and overrules all things (Psalm 16:8). When David was surrounded by the enemy, he kept focused on the glory of the LORD. David knew that God would shelter him and elevate him above the powers of darkness (Psalm 27:1-6). The highest form of spiritual warfare, then, is to consciously turn away from fear by choosing to praise the LORD God, magnifying His Name, and walking before Him in awe...
יְהוָה אוֹרִי וְיִשְׁעִי מִמִּי אִירָא
יְהוָה מָעוֹז־חַיַּי מִמִּי אֶפְחָד
Adonai · o·ri · ve·yish·i, · mi'mi · i·ra?
Adonai · ma'oz · chay·ai, · mi'mi · ef·chad?
"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"
(Psalm 27:1)
Hebrew Study Card
Surely our great need is to have heart, to find strength, resolution, and steadfast determination to walk boldly during these heartless and depraved days (2 Tim. 3:1-5). We are not without God's help, of course. Yeshua told us that the Ruach HaKodesh (רוּחַ הַקּדֶשׁ) would be "called alongside" (παράκλητος) to comfort us on the journey. The English verb "comfort" literally means "to give strength" (from com- ["with"] and fortis ["strong"]), an idea similarly expressed by the verb "encourage," that is, to "put heart [i.e., 'core'] within the soul." In Hebrew, the word courage is expressed by the phrase ometz lev (אמֶץ לֵב), meaning "strong of heart," denoting an inner quality of the will rather than of the intellect. Our faith is the victory that overcomes the world (1 John 4:4, 5:4).
Fear is the primary tool of the devil and the underlying motive behind sin itself (Rom. 14:23). Beloved, "do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom 12:21).
Always focus on Yeshua, the Light of Torah (האור של תורה) and the true Wisdom of God (חָכְמַת אֱלהִים): "Whoever has My commandments (מִצְוֹתַי) and keeps them, that is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will manifest (lit., "shine within" from ἐν, "in" + φαίνω, "shine") myself to him" (John 14:21). There it is - the Source of the Light that overcomes all darkness; the Power that is behind the armor of God... Yeshua is the Beginning, the Center, and the End of all true meaning from God. Blessed is His Name forever and ever...
The City of the King...
[ The following is related to the fast of Tishah B'Av, which begins Saturday, July 21st.... ]
07.19.18 (Av 7, 5778) Jerusalem is central to the Jewish heart. When religious Jews pray three times a day, they always turn toward the Holy City (i.e., mizrach: מזרח "east"). Synagogues likewise place the holy ark (the place where Torah scrolls are kept) on the wall closest to Jerusalem. Many observant Jews keep small section of an eastern wall of their house unpainted as a sign of mourning for the destruction of the Temple. Every year we close the Passover Seder with the words, La-Shanah Haba'ah Bi Yerushalayim! ("Next year in Jerusalem"). These same words are invoked to conclude the holiest day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur. Indeed Yeshua called Jerusalem the "City of the great King" (Psalm 48:2; Matt 5:35): It is the place where He was crucified, buried, resurrected, and from where He ascended to heaven. It is also the birthplace of the true church (כלה של משיח) and the focal point of humanity's eschatological future. At the Second Coming, Yeshua will physically return to Jerusalem to restore the throne of King David. Then all the New Covenant promises given to Israel will be fulfilled as the Kingdom of God is manifest upon the earth.
For more on this, see "The Significance of Zion and the Tragedy of Tishah B'Av."
Healing and Tishah B'Av...
07.19.18 (Av 7, 5778) The Second Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. (a catastrophe clearly foretold by Yeshua the Messiah, see Matt. 24:2; Luke 19:44), yet despite the regathering of the people back to their promised homeland over the past century, the Jewish people still are in a state of spiritual exile, or golah (גּוֹלָה) to this day, awaiting their final redemption, called the ge'ulah (גְּאוּלָה). In this connection the sages note the difference between the two words "golah" and "ge'ulah" is expressed the presence of the letter Aleph (א) signifying God, the overcoming champion (i.e., aluf: אלוּף) of the universe. This indicates that the golah will last only until the LORD's revelation of Messiah as the overcoming Go'el (גּוֹאֵל) of the Jewish people, at which time all Israel will be redeemed and the promises of Zion will finally be fulfilled (see Matt. 23:39; Rom. 11:26; Isa. 59:20). At that coming time Tishah B'Av and the other fast days of the Jewish year shall become "occasions for joy and gladness, happy festivals for the House of Judah" (Zech. 8:19). Therefore: Shuvah Yisrael ad Adonai Elohekha (שׁוּבָה יִשְׂרָאֵל עַד יְהוָה אֱלהֶיךָ), "Return O Israel to the LORD your God" (Hos. 14:2).
Moving Toward the Center...
[ The following entry is related to our Torah portion this week, parashat Devarim... ]
07.19.18 (Av 7, 5778) From our Torah portion this week we read: "'You have been traveling around this mountain country long enough. Turn northward" (Deut. 2:3). Around and around, covering the same ground; learning the rules of behavior, focusing more on "the what" than on "the how." The sages say that "turning north" (צָפוֹן) means turning to that which is deeper, hidden (צָפוּןֵ). Look within and attend to the secret sins, the unconscious ways that prompt us to revisit old patterns of behavior: "Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me" (Psalm 19:13). Examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith: ἑαυτοὺς δοκιμάζετε - test yourselves (2 Cor. 13:5). Consider what gives life to your everyday choices and attitudes. God calls us to love Him in wholeness, and that means in the hidden recesses of the heart (Matt. 6:6).
There is a tension between self-acceptance, the unconditional love of God, and the duty to consecrate ourselves: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:12-13). The sages say that every desire is ultimately rooted in a hunger for life, for God, and for holiness – though it is our responsibility to uplift the desire, to sanctify it, and to order our affections by making them express the hunger for heaven (1 Cor. 10:31).
Our Greatest Need...
[ The following entry is related to our Torah portion this week, parashat Devarim... ]
07.19.18 (Av 7, 5778) From our Torah this week we read: "For the LORD your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing" (Deut. 2:7). With God you have everything you need; without Him, you will never be truly satisfied. "Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee," which is to say that the merry-go-round of desire for things of this world is ultimately vain and unfulfilling. Indeed, it is slavery to be attached to unslakeable desire; it is madness to restlessly desire more and more. God has set eternity within our hearts (Eccl. 3:11), a hunger that only heaven can fulfill, but we try to find happiness with the trinkets and junk of this passing realm.... When the LORD is with us – and when we dwell in the simplicity of that reality – we lack nothing: "For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you" (Psalm 84:11-12).
כִּי שֶׁמֶשׁ וּמָגֵן יְהוָה אֱלהִים
חֵן וְכָבוֹד יִתֵּן יְהוָה
לא יִמְנַע־טוֹב לַהלְכִים בְּתָמִים
יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת אַשְׁרֵי אָדָם בּטֵחַ בָּךְ
ki · she·mesh · u'ma·gen · Adonai · Elohim
chen · ve'kha·vod · yit·ten · Adonai
lo · yim·na · tov · la·cho·le·khim · be'ta·mim
Adonai · Tze·va·ot · ash·rei · a·dam · bo·te·ach · bakh
"For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you."
(Psalm 84:11-12)
Loneliness and Exile...
07.18.18 (Av 6, 5778) The Scroll of Lamentations (מגילת איכה) is traditionally recited during Tishah B'Av to remember the destruction of the Holy Temple and other tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people. Lamentations is an acrostic poem that begins with the Hebrew letter Aleph in the word "eichah" (אֵיכָה): "How (eichah) lonely sits the city that once was full of people!" (Lam. 1:1). The sages note that this Hebrew word "how" (i.e., eichah) could also be read as "where are you?" (i.e., אַיֶּכָּה, ayekah), God's first question to Adam after he broke covenant in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:9). The midrash draws a connection between the lamentation of the LORD over Adam's banishment from Eden and Israel's banishment from Zion (Hos. 6:7). In both cases the problem centers on the failure to ask where God is.
During the Tishah B'Av service at the synagogue, when the cantor reaches the second to last verse of the book, "Hashivenu," he pauses and the congregation recites the verse in unison: Hashive'nu Adonai, eley'kha venashu'vah; chadesh yame'nu ke-ke'dem: "Turn us back to You, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old" (Lam. 5:21). Often this verse is repeated and sung to a haunting melody as the scroll is returned to the Ark.
הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ יְהוָה אֵלֶיךָ וְנָשׁוּבָה
חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵינוּ כְּקֶדֶם
ha·shi·ve·nu Adonai e·ley·kha ve·na·shu·vah,
cha·desh ya·me·nu ke·ke·dem
"Turn us back to yourself, O LORD, so that we may return to you;
renew our days as of old" (Lam. 5:21)
Hebrew Study Card
How many people today live in a state of self-imposed exile from the LORD? How lonely... God uses our loneliness and alienation to question our hearts, asking each of us, ayekah – "Where are you?" "Why have you turned away from me and chosen a state of exile?" Our inner pain is meant to provoke us to seek His face. He awaits our only possible response, "Hashivenu!" -- an imperative (demand) for the grace to repent: "You return us (i.e., you cause us to return) so that we may be reunited with you and healed!" We do not appeal to our own resources or strength to undergo this return, but rather trust that God's sovereign grace is sufficient to restore us to His presence. As Yeshua said, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up" (John 6:44).
The tears of the prophet Jeremiah represent God's compassionate love for the Jewish people; the Book of Lamentations is really God's cry... God cares about the suffering of His people: b'khol tzaratam lo tzar (בְּכָל־צָרָתָם לוֹ צָר) - "In all their affliction he was afflicted" (Isa. 63:9). Even after all the horrors that befell the people of Judah due to God's disciplinary judgment, the LORD still encouraged them to seek Him again. "The faithful love of the LORD (חַסְדֵי יהוה) never ceases, and his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" (Lam. 3:22-23). Our response to the faithful love of the LORD is teshuvah (i.e., תְּשׁוּבָה, "turning [shuv] to God"). In Modern Hebrew teshuvah means an "answer" to a shelah (שְׁאֵלָה), or a question. God's love for us is the question, and our teshuvah – our turning of the heart toward Him – is the answer. We return to the LORD when we truly acknowledge that He is our Father and our King. May we so turn today...
Darkness of Man's Wisdom...
07.18.18 (Av 6, 5778) Regarding the verse, "And the earth was without form and void (תהוּ וָבהוּ), and darkness was upon the surface of the deep" (Gen. 1:2), the midrash comments: "Darkness – these are the Greeks who darkened the eyes of the Jewish nation with their evil decrees." The utter darkness of Hellenistic thought (i.e., ancient Greek "universalism") came disguised as an angel of light, as "enlightened" thinking, but whenever such humanism usurps the authority of divine revelation, the result is exile and darkness. Indeed, the very worst kind of exile is to be unaware that you are in exile, to be so blinded that you do not see that you do not see... As Yeshua said, "If the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!" (Matt. 6:23); and "be careful lest the light in you be darkness" (Luke 11:35). In the end, the world and its blind lusts will pass away, for it is "tohu" (תּהוּ) - confusion and unreality - but whoever does the will of God abides forever (1 John 2:15-17).
Using the Good Eye...
07.17.18 (Av 5, 5778) If you look for flaws or defects in others, you will find them (Prov. 11:27). "A bitter person makes himself miserable." In this connection, recall that when the Jews came to Marah, they "could not drink the water because it was bitter" (Exod. 15:23). The Hebrew, however, could be read, "they could not drink the water because they (i.e., the people) were bitter (כִּי מָרִים הֵם). The problem is often not "out there" but within the heart (Matt. 15:19-20). How we choose to see, in other words, says more about us than it does the external world. If you read the daily news and see only ugliness, you run the risk of becoming hardhearted. Your despair can eclipse the Presence of God....
Instead of refusing to judge others (in the name of supposed tolerance), we are commanded judge people favorably by using a "good eye" (עַיִן טוֹבָה). As it is written in the Torah, "in righteousness judge your neighbor (בְּצֶדֶק תִּשְׁפּט עֲמִיתֶךָ)" (Lev. 19:15). Notice that the word translated "righteousness" is tzedek (צֶדֶק), a word that includes the heart motive of "charity" and love. We are commanded to give tzedakah (צְדָקָה, "charity") not just because it is "right," but it is right because it is based on God's love and care for others. Something is righteous, in other words, because it expresses the truth about God's love. We could read this commandment as "in love judge your neighbor." Our judgments should be based on compassion, empathy, and care for others - never as a verdict about someone's worth and status before God. We see with a redemptive eye, and that means seeing the potential of others and their inherent worth as God's children.
Similarly, Yeshua warned us not to judge by appearances, but to "judge with righteous (צֶדֶק) judgment" (John 7:24). In the context in which he spoke (i.e., teaching the crowd during the festival of Sukkot in Jerusalem), Yeshua justified healing someone on the Sabbath day as an example of understanding the "weightier matters" of the Torah. He appealed to the crowd to use their sense of charity (צְדָקָה) before coming to a decision. He was grieved that people often "turned off their hearts" by disregarding the pain of others (Mark 3:5). Yeshua warned us not to "judge by appearances," which was the very mistake Job's friends made when they regarded Job's suffering as deserved because of some hidden sin... Certainly such indifference to personal suffering is an implication of a merit-based religious system that was endorsed by some of the religious authorities of Yeshua's day. Even some of Yeshua's disciples mistakenly correlated suffering with sin (John 9:1-3).
We are to "master the art of seeing good in others." Soren Kierkegaard tells the story of two young portrait artists who both sought to capture the essence of beauty in their paintings. One artist looked high and low for the "perfect face of beauty" but never found it. Tragically, he later gave up painting and lived in despair. The other artist, however, simply painted every face he saw and found beauty in each one. Now which of the two mastered the art of seeing the good in others? Which of the two had a good eye?
For more see on this see, "Righteous Judgment: Further thoughts on Devarim."
Expressing Anger to God...
07.17.18 (Av 5, 5778) From our Torah this week (i.e., Devarim) we read: "You were not willing to go up but rebelled at the word of the LORD your God. And you murmured in your tents and said, 'Because the LORD hates us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt...'" (Deut. 1:26-27). We may decry the childish insolence of the people, we lament their lack of faith, and yet God was still speaking through Moses to Israel... The sages ask whether we can ever be justifiably angry at God, and answer that we can, because otherwise we could never love Him "bekhol levavkha," with all our heart (Deut. 6:5). Indeed, how can we claim to love God if we withhold the truth, lie to ourselves, and attempt to hide who we really are from Him? If you are angry at God, he already knows, so why the pretense? Being angry with God is part of being a real person in a real relationship with Him, and allowing yourself to express the truth of your heart to him is a sign of trust...
Moses' Miraculous Words...
[ The following entry is related to our Torah portion this week, parashat Devarim... ]
07.17.18 (Av 5, 5778) TThe midrash says that even though Moses "stammered" and was "kevad peh" (i.e., כְּבַד־פֶּה, "heavy of mouth") "and heavy of tongue" (וּכְבַד לָשׁוֹן), he was empowered to speak fluently whenever the Holy Spirit moved him. Sefer Devarim (the Book of Deuteronomy) is unique among the five books of Torah because it represents Moses' great farewell appeal to follow the LORD bekhol levavkha, "with all of your heart" (Deut. 6:5). In this final book of Torah, Moses - who once described himself as lo ish devarim (לא אִישׁ דְּבָרִים) "a man of no words" (Exod. 4:10), speaks some of the moving words of all of the Holy Scriptures, eloquently calling us to embrace the truth of Torah, to walk in God's love, and to await the final redemption...
The Will to Believe (לִשְׁמוֹר אֱמוּנִים)
[ The following entry is related to our Torah portion this week, parashat Devarim... ]
07.16.18 (Av 4, 5778) From our Torah portion this week (i.e., Devarim) we read: "But you were not willing to ascend (וְלא אֲבִיתֶם לַעֲלת), but became bitter (מָרָה) against the Word of the LORD your God" (Deut. 1:26). Moses' rebuke was not that the people were afraid to conquer the land as much as that they had lost heart and no longer desired to take hold of God's promise. The people gave up their dream; they forsook their hope; and they had lost the "devotion of their youth, their love as a bride, how they followed the LORD in the desert, into a land not sown" (Jer. 2:2). The people's failure was on two levels: First they lapsed in faith by abdicating trust in God's word, and second, they had lost the passion of their first love. In light of this, the sages say that the greater problem was that of losing heart, since the heart directs the will to believe in the miracle of God, or not...
Moses' rebuke of the people's heart condition recalls the sober warning Yeshua gave to the Ephesian believers: "I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your menorah from its place, unless you repent" (Rev. 2:2-5). Likewise the author of the Book of Hebrews commented: "And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief" (Heb. 3:17-19). The question of our faith is essential: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:31).
Personal Note: Please remember Hebrew for Christians in your prayers, friends. Despite my best efforts to keep the site up and running, technological changes made by web hosting services, by Google (new SSL certfiication), and by operating system "required updates" have made me busier than ever trying to keep the site "up to code" and therefore functional... Please pray that I will not grow weary friends. Thank you so much. - John
Shabbat Chazon (שבת חזון)
[ The Sabbath preceding the somber holiday of Tishah B'Av is called Shabbat Chazon... ]
07.15.18 (Av 3, 5778) We are in the midst of the "Three Weeks of Sorrow" that began with the Fast of Tammuz and ends with the solemn fast of Tishah B'Av. Spiritually, these three weeks are marked by a renewed called for teshuvah (repentance), and the weekly readings from the prophets all warn about imminent judgment from heaven. Among the Orthodox, the last nine days of the Three Weeks are very solemn. Beginning on the first day of the month of Av, traditional mourning customs are practiced in anticipation of the doleful fast of Tishah B'Av, when the Book of Lamentations (Megillat Eichah) will be plaintively chanted during the evening service. The Sabbath that immediately precedes the fast of Tishah B'Av is called Shabbat Chazon (i.e., שבת חזון, the "Sabbath of Vision") because the Haftarah that is read (i.e., Isa. 1:1-25) describes the terrible vision of the prophet Isaiah regarding the imminent destruction of the Temple:
"Hear, O heavens and give ear, O earth,
For the LORD has spoken;
Though I brought up and raised My children,
They have rebelled against me." (Isa. 1:2)
When it was first recorded, Isaiah's vision of the destruction was still future, and the Jews still had a chance to repent before the great tragedy befell them. However, since they refused to turn back to God, calamity overtook them. Today the Haftarah is traditionally chanted to the same haunting melody as Megilat Eichah (Lamentations), written by the prophet Jeremiah, who was an eyewitness to the destruction and fall of Jerusalem.
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During the last nine days of the Three Weeks of Sorrow it is common to confess the sins in our lives that likewise contribute to the lack of God's Presence in our midst. Hashivenu Adonai, elecha vena-shuvah; chadesh yamenu kekedem: "Turn us back to You, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old" (Lam. 5:21).
Though Shabbat Chazon is a time of mourning, it is also a time for hope. The Torah reading for this Sabbath is always parashat Devarim, the first portion of the Book of Deuteronomy. In this reading, Moses details the victorious battles with Sihon the king of Amorites and Og the king of Bashan. Because it speaks of God's victory, the sages recommended envisioning the future Temple that will be built by the Messiah at this time. According to Jewish tradition, after the Messiah comes and restores Israel, Tishah B'Av will become one of the happiest days of the year (and may He arrive soon and in our days). L'shavuah tov, chaverim....
Shabbat Devarim (שבת דברים)
07.15.18 (Av 3, 5778) The very first portion of the Book of Deuteronomy (i.e. parashat Devarim) is always read on the Sabbath that immediately precedes the somber holiday of Tishah B'Av (תשעה באב) because it reviews Israel's sin of unbelief at Kadesh and God's judgment that the people would be forced into exile as a result. In Jewish tradition, this Sabbath is called "Shabbat Chazon" (שַׁבַּת חַזוֹן), "the Sabbath of Vision," since the Haftarah that is read (i.e., Isa. 1:1-25) comes from the vision of the prophet Isaiah (ישעיהו הנביא) regarding the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. In both Jewish tradition and liturgy, teshuvah (repentance) and viduy (confession of sin) are the themes of this preparatory Sabbath.
In our English Bibles, Devarim is known as "Deuteronomy," a Greek word that means "repetition of the Torah" (i.e., δευτερονόμιον) derived from the Hebrew phrase מִשְׁנֵה הַתּוֹרָה, mishneh ha'Torah (Deut. 17:18). The Book of Devarim has 34 chapters divided into 11 weekly Torah readings. The first Torah portion of the book is named after the book itself, which begins: אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר מֹשֶׁה אֶל־כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן בַּמִּדְבָּר - "These are the words that Moses spoke to all of Israel near the Jordan in the desert..." (Deut. 1:1). According to the sages' traditional reckoning of the chronology of Torah, the book opens 37 days before Moses was to die, namely, during the fortieth year since the Exodus from Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month (of Shevat). As such, the book has the tone of a farewell discourse from Moses to the people of Israel...
New Audio Broadcast...
I worked on an audio broadcast for (parashat Devarim but I had to cut it short because I am dealing with some health issues, including an eye infection that is troubling me. Nevertheless I hope you will find what I accomplished to be encouraging friends:
Folly and Wisdom (האיוולת והחוכמה)
07.13.18 (Av 1, 5778) "For the word of the cross [i.e., ῾Ο λόγος ὁ τοῦ σταυροῦ - i.e., the meaning of the cross] is folly to those who are perishing..." But why is it regarded it as folly? Surely not because Yeshua died as a martyr for his faith, for even worldly wisdom may acknowledge the nobility of this (for example, when it esteems the death of the pagan philosopher Socrates at the hands of the Athenians). No, the offense of the cross comes from its message that we are helpless and lost apart from divine intervention. The cross is an affront to the aspirations of human reason because it states that through the lowliness and sacrifice of Yeshua - and only through Him - may a person be healed by God; and there is categorically no other way. The cross therefore exposes the sham of so-called worldly wisdom, proving it to be worthless and vain. However, to the person of faith, the cross is gevurat Elohim - "the power of God (גְּבוּרַת אֱלהִים) for those being saved" (1 Cor. 1:18).
The Hebrew word for salvation (i.e., yeshuah: יְשׁוּעָה) comes from a root (i.e., yasha: ישׁע) that means to "make wide," to make "broad," "spacious," or "free [from what blocks or holds in bondage]." The word is used to describe deliverance from Egypt (Exod. 14:13; Deut. 33:29), victory over Israel's enemies (Num. 10:9; Psalm 44:7), release from exile (Isa. 46:13; Ezek. 44:22), and the divine preservation and blessing of the Jewish people (Jer. 14:8). The word is also associated with deliverance from sin and its penalty (Jer. 17:14; Psalm 51:12,14). The LORD God of Israel is called the Savior (Isa. 45:21] - (i.e., moshia [מוֹשִׁיעַ] - from the same root). The Name transliterated as "Jesus" is Yehoshua (יְהוֹשׁוּעַ) in Hebrew, from יְהוָה and יָשַׁע, which means "YHVH is salvation" or "YHVH saves." As it is uttered by the agency of the Ruach ha'emet: אָנֹכִי אָנֹכִי יְהוָה וְאֵין מִבַּלְעָדַי מוֹשִׁיעַ - "I, even I am the LORD, and besides me there is no Savior" (Isa. 43:11).
אָנכִי אָנכִי יְהוָה
וְאֵין מִבַּלְעָדַי מוֹשִׁיעַ
a·no·khee · a·no·khee · Adonai
ve·ein · mee·bal·a·dai · mo·shee'·a
"I, even I am the LORD,
and besides me there is no Savior."
(Isa. 43:11)
In this connection, note that some Bible translations print the words of Yeshua in red, though of course we should likewise mark the words of YHVH (יְהוָה), since YHVH is indeed the Moshia' (מוֹשִׁיע) - the Savior and LORD of all... Shabbat Shalom chaverim.
Why Faith Matters...
07.13.18 (Av 1, 5778) Have you ever wondered why the exercise of your faith is so important to heaven? The Scriptures say that faith is the "substance" (ὑπόστασις) of hope, the conviction of unseen blessing, and "without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him" (Heb. 11:6). Faith is its own reward, since believing the truth brings you into alignment with reality. Teshuvah is the response to God's love... Faith confesses that God is your Ultimate Concern, your Supreme Good, the goal and end of all that matters to your heart. Your faith is "more precious than gold," because its heart is your highest blessing, namely, the Divine Presence, the beatific reality, and heaven itself.... God tests our faith to draw our attention to Him (Psalm 119:71); to teach us endurance (Rom. 5:3-5; James 1:4); to upbuild our soul (Jude 1:20); to purify our affections (1 Pet. 1:7), to conform us to the inner image of the Messiah Himself (Rom. 8:29), and to glorify God's Name (kiddush HaShem). Life in this world is likened to a school wherein we learn how great God is and how much we are loved, valued, and esteemed precious in His eyes. You must believe that God is your healer, that he will make the crooked things straight, and that you are his beloved child... Faith sees the end in God's unfailing love: The LORD God of Israel says: "And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them" (Isa. 42:16).
וְהוֹלַכְתִּי עִוְרִים בְּדֶרֶךְ לא יָדָעוּ
בִּנְתִיבוֹת לא־יָדְעוּ אַדְרִיכֵם
אָשִׂים מַחְשָׁךְ לִפְנֵיהֶם לָאוֹר
וּמַעֲקַשִּׁים לְמִישׁוֹר
אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים עֲשִׂיתִם וְלא עֲזַבְתִּים
ve·ho·lakh·ti · iv·rim · be·de·rekh · lo · ya·da·u
bin·ti·vot · lo · ya·du · ad·ri·khem
a·sim · mach·shakh · lif·ne·hem · la·or
u·ma·a·ka·shim · le·mi·shor
el·lah · ha·de·va·rim · a·si·tim · ve·lo · a·zav·tim
"And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known I will guide them.
I will make dark places before them turn to light,
and perverse things into uprightness.
These things I will do, and I will not forsake them."
(Isa. 42:16)
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The Weapon of Praise...
07.13.18 (Av 1, 5778) If you are struggling through a tough day today, or if you feel oppressed or heavy of heart, let me encourage you to praise God anyway, no matter what is going on... Offering thanks to the LORD is a powerful weapon announcing your faith in God's triumph over the darkness of the present hour (2 Cor. 10:4). Indeed, God Himself is "enthroned" by the praises (תְּהִלּוֹת) of His people (Psalm 22:3). Therefore the heart of faith will choose to say: "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation" (Isa. 12:2).
הִנֵּה אֵל יְשׁוּעָתִי אֶבְטַח וְלא אֶפְחָד
כִּי־עָזִּי וְזִמְרָת יָהּ יְהוָה
וַיְהִי־לִי לִישׁוּעָה
hi·nei · el · ye·shu·a·ti · ev·tach · ve·lo ·ef·chad,
ki · o·zi · ve·zim·rat · Yah · Adonai
vai·hi · li · li·shu·ah
"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the LORD God (יָהּ יְהוָה) is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation."
(Isa. 12:2)
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"Do not be grieved (even over yourself), for the joy of the LORD is your strength" (Neh. 8:10). Affirming the love, goodness, faithfulness, compassion, and salvation of God is a powerful way to defeat the enemy of our souls, who regularly seeks to discourage us. King David constantly asked God to help him in his spiritual struggles. "Though I walk in the midst of trouble (בְּקֶרֶב צָרָה), you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me" (Psalm 138:7). "For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled" (Psalm 143:2-3). Though we must fight through the stubborn darkness and yet endure ourselves, "the LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18). Indeed, the Lord God is far greater than your heart's sin and will one day entirely deliver you of sin's effect and influence, and that's a great reason to offer thanks!
The Journey of journeys...
[ Every soul has an appointment with the Eternal... ]
07.13.18 (Av 1, 5778) From our Torah portion this week (i.e., Masei) we read: "These are the journeys of the people of Israel (מַסְעֵי בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל) who went out of the land of Egypt..." (Num. 33:1). The sages ask why the word "journeys" (plural) was used here, since only the first journey – from Rameses to Sukkot – literally marked "yetziat mitzrayim," the going out of Egypt – and the other journeys were outside of Egypt, in the desert. They answer that the journey out of Egypt goes beyond the physical land to the spiritual realm - an exodus from captivity to the secular world itself. As has been said, it took the LORD 40 days to get Israel out of Egypt, but it took 40 years to get Egypt out of Israel... The "journey out of Egypt" is therefore a journey of smaller journeys that leads to deliverance.
Be encouraged friends of Messiah, the King of Glory (מֶלֶךְ הַכָּבוֹד). The Torah uses a repetitious expression, "Sanctify yourselves and you shall be holy" (הִתְקַדִּשְׁתֶּם וִהְיִיתֶם קְדשִׁים) (Lev. 11:44) because when we make an effort -- no matter how feeble at times -- to draw near to the LORD, He will draw near to us... Indeed the walk of faith is one of ascent and descent and ascent again: It's often "two steps forward, one step back..." It is a long road, a process, as we learn to obey and seek to grow closer to God. Authentic repentance doesn't imply that we will never sin or make any mistakes, of course, but rather means that the oscillating pattern of "up, then down, then up" is the basic way we walk. Our direction has changed for good; we have turned to God for life and hope. We now understand our sins in light of a greater love that bears them for us even as we draw ever closer to the One who calls us home...
Prayer and Victory...
07.13.18 (Av 1, 5778) "You shall send a thousand (אֶלֶף) from each of the tribes of Israel to the war [against the Midianites]" (Num. 31:4). The midrash, however, says that Moses actually sent 3,000 from each tribe: a thousand soldiers, a thousand to intercede for victory, and a thousand to guard those who prayed... Those in the "prayer squadron" were stationed up at the front of the battle, along with the priests who carried the "war ark" (ארון המלחמה) and who sounded shofars, with the guardians protecting them. Moses arranged the troops this way to demonstrate that the source of Israel's power was the LORD alone. Crying out to God is the way of victory in our battles against darkness...
Remember too that Scripture alludes that for every angel of darkness there are two angels of light... sent by heaven to help the tzaddikim... (Rev. 12:4)
Integrity of our Words...
[ Our Torah this week (Mattot) discusses various laws regarding vows and oaths... ]
07.12.18 (Tammuz 29, 5778) "If a man vows a vow (i.e., neder: נֶדֶר) to the LORD, or swears an oath (i.e., shevuah: שְׁבוּעָה) to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth" (Num. 30:2). The Hebrew expression "break his word" literally means "profane his word" (יַחֵל דְּבָרוֹ), that is, to defile the soul by causing it to be inwardly divided, irresolute, and cowardly. After all, breaking your word means violating the integrity of who you are, showing that what you say and what you do are not unified, and this leads to feelings of shame. Your words confess your reality and bring it to life... If you cannot keep your word, your word becomes profane, empty, lost -- you become a "stranger to yourself," unsure of what you intend. "Let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no; learn to say what you mean and mean what you say.
"I accept upon myself - without a vow - not to excuse any of my actions with a falsehood. Even if this resolution will cause me great shame, I will will accept that shame and will admit to the truth." - Ahavat Meshorim
Note: A "vow" (neder) is a promise to do something (or to refrain from doing something), whereas an "oath" ( sheva') is a sworn testimony that something is true (or false). See the summary page for Parashat Mattot for more information.
Zion's Indefatigable Vision...
[ The Fast of Av (i.e., Tishah B'Av) begins Saturday, July 21st at sundown this year... ]
07.12.18 (Tammuz 29, 5778) The solemn holiday of Tishah B'Av represents the yearning of the heart for the establishment of the Kingdom of God upon the earth... As Yeshua taught his disciples to pray: tavo malkhutekha (תָּבא מַלְכוּתֶךָ): "Thy Kingdom come"; ye'aseh retzonkha (יֵעָשֶׂה רְצוֹנְךָ): "Thy will be done," ba'aretz ka'asher na'asah va'shamayim (בָּאָרֶץ כַּאֲשֶׁר נַעֲשָׂה בַשָּׁמָיִם) "on earth, as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10). Now if you say that the King of the Jews lives inside your heart by faith (Matt. 2:2), and if the King of the Jews calls Jerusalem the "City of the Great King" (Psalm 48:2, Matt. 5:35), then heed the Spirit's call to "pray for the healing of Jerusalem" and for the final redemption to come. At the End of the Age, the Messiah will indeed return to establish Zion as a praise upon the earth (Isa. 62:7).
שַׁאֲלוּ שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלָםִ
יִשְׁלָיוּ אהֲבָיִךְ
sha·a·lu · she·lom · ye·ru·sha·la·yim
yish·la·yu · o·ha·va·yikh
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem;
May those who love you be at peace" (Psalm 122:6)
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Turning to the Real...
07.11.18 (Tammuz 28, 5778) The Spirit of Truth proclaims: "I the LORD search the heart, I test the affections, to give to every person according to their ways, and according to the fruit of their doings" (Jer. 17:10). Among other things, repentance (i.e., teshuvah: תְּשׁוּבָה) means unlearning the messages and propaganda of this fallen world by turning to receive the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). For this courage is needed, namely, the courage of honestly facing who and what we are, and therefore the refusal to repent amounts to a form of cowardice and a denial of reality... The world stridently proclaims its nonsense in order to quell the "still small voice" that is whispering over all of creation (Psalm 19:1-4). The constant clamor of this world is symptomatic of its disregard of the truth, and its "need" for noise is designed to keep the soul from confronting the ultimate questions of life.
Seeing the Invisible...
07.11.18 (Tammuz 28, 5778) As we draw close to the appointed "End of Days," it is crucial that we gird ourselves by recalling the truth of God and by refusing to embrace the world and its despair... The Hebrew word "mitzvah" (מִצְוָה) is often translated as "commandment," though its basic idea is about connection to God (i.e., the root צוה means to bind or unite). Being connected with the Almighty means talking with him, relating to him as your heavenly Father, and trusting that he esteems you as his beloved child. Whatever else you may think about the commandments of God, this idea of a love connection is foundational and essential. The very first of the Ten Commandments is anochi Adonai Elohekha, "I am the Lord your God," which invites you to open your heart to receive the touch of the Spirit of God.
Just as the patriarch Noah foresaw the great cataclysm to come, so we are to understand that the world above our heads and under our feet is likewise destined to destruction, as we also await the promised world to come (2 Pet. 3:10-14). As it is written in our Scriptures: "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever (וישׁוּעָתִי לְעוֹלָם תִּהְיֶה), and my righteousness will never be dismayed" (Isa. 51:6).
In light of all this, we choose to look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. "For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal... For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead. Therefore we are strangers and exiles on the earth, looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God" (2 Cor. 4:18; Rom. 1:20; Heb. 11:10,13).
Faith sees the invisible... Our father Abraham was promised descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky or sand on the seashore, despite the fact that he was an old man and his wife had long past the age of bearing children. Abraham believed in the One who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist: "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform: And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness" (Rom. 4:19-22). Faith in God trusts in an unseen good, apprehends a future and a hope, and refuses to allow this world to have the last word of what is ultimately real. May we walk by faith, and not by sight, chaverim...
The Central Thing...
07.11.18 (Tammuz 28, 5778) From our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Mattot) we read: zeh ha'davar asher tzivah Adonai: "This is the thing the LORD has commanded" (Num. 30:1). The language here seems to suggest that there is only one matter that God has commanded, namely, to speak truth and to be faithful in our promises (Num. 30:2). This is because the sacredness of our word is the foundation for all our other responsibilities. After all, if our word is equivocal, it is unclear, unreliable, undecided, and therefore ultimately meaningless.... Insincere words are without genuine commitment, and the lack of decisiveness undermines all Torah. זֶה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה - "This is the thing the LORD has commanded," namely, to accept your duty to honor the truth; to keep your faith in God's word; and to hold sacred your commitment before God.
כִּי־אֱמֶת יֶהְגֶּה חִכִּי
וְתוֹעֲבַת שְׂפָתַי רֶשַׁע
ke-e·met · ye·he·geh · chi·ki
ve·to·a·vat · se·fa·tai · re·sha
"For my mouth will utter truth;
wickedness is an abomination to my lips"
(Prov. 8:7)
The Exile of Shame...
07.11.18 (Tammuz 28, 5778) The midrash explains that when he saw the Jews infatuated with the fires of their idolatry, Jeremiah asked them, "Why do you pursue idols? What attracts you to such emptiness? The Jews replied, "We have forsaken the LORD and He is angry with us. That is why we seek comfort in our idols..." (Jer. 8:14). Note here the profound connection between our faith in God's love for us and our tendency toward sin. Despair over oneself can lead to shame, and shame leads to shameful actions (Prov. 13:5; 23:7). A person who abandons hope in the LORD and His love becomes a prey to the devil himself. If he no longer believes God can give him comfort, he will turn to the grossest forms of immorality to assuage his sense of abandonment.
According to Devarim Rabbah, "The Holy One, blessed be He, sent Jeremiah to the people when they sinned and said to them, 'Go tell my sons to repent.' The people said to Jeremiah, 'Should we return to the Holy One, blessed be He, with these faces? [i.e., we are ashamed to show our faces to Him].' The Holy One, blessed be He, sent Jeremiah again to tell them, 'My sons, if you return, is it not to your Father in heaven that you are returning? For He has never rejected you... By your lives, I will not deny my relationship with you. ' Nonetheless, despite such appeals, the people mocked Jeremiah and clung to their shame. It was the shame of sin that led to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, just as it was the shame of sin that led to the death of the exiles in Egypt....
Wisdom and Tishah B'Av...
[ The somber holiday of Tishah B'Av begins at sundown, Sat., July 21st this year... ]
07.10.18 (Tammuz 27, 5778) In the Book of Isaiah it is written: "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever" (Isa. 40:8), which sets up a great contrast between olam ha-zeh and olam haba – between this present world and the heavenly realm. Unlike the grass of the field that dries up or flowers that soon fade, the word of God stands forever. And despite the frailty of man and the inevitability of physical death, God's truth endures, which is a foundation upon which we can rest.
But how are metaphors that our lives are "like dried up grass" or a "withered flower" intended to comfort us? Do they not, on the contrary, lead us to regard our lives as vain and perhaps meaningless? Yes indeed. Our lives are empty and vain apart from God and His truth. If we find ourselves wincing over such images, it is perhaps time to reexamine the state of our faith: To the extent that we regard this world as our "home" we will find the transience of life to be tragic... For those who are seeking a heavenly habitation, the "City of God" and the fulfillment of the promise of Zion, the fleeting nature of this evil world is ultimately a form of consolation...
הוֹדִיעֵנִי יְהוָה קִצִּי
וּמִדַּת יָמַי מַה־הִיא
אֵדְעָה מֶה־חָדֵל אָנִי
ho·di·e·ni · Adonai · kitz·tzi,
u·mid·dat · ya·mai · mah · hi,
e·de· ah · meh · cha·del · a·ni
"O LORD, make me to know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how quickly my life will pass"
(Psalm 39:4)
Hebrew Study Card
The theme of the transience of life is part of the message of Tishah B'Av. The Holy Temple, despite being the pride and joy of the Jewish people during the time of King Solomon, went up in smoke, and the place (i.e., ha-makom: הַמָּקוֹם) where the LORD chose to "put His Name" vanished as if it had never been... Understand, then, that the expression of your highest ideals, your most celebrated achievements, likewise can be turned to smoke in an instant. This, then, is the sober message of Tishah B'Av, a "holiday" that teaches that all things will be "tossed into the oven" (Matt. 6:30), though the truth of God endures forever.
On the Torah's calendar, Tishah B'Av is "sandwiched" between the two times Moses received the tablets of the covenant, first during Shavuot and later, after a period of repentance, during Yom Kippur. This means that just two months after celebrating the Sinai revelation, we mourn for the destruction of the Temple and the beginning of our long exile; and two months later still, we celebrate national atonement and the restoration of the covenant during Yom Kippur. All this is prophetic, of course, since Shavuot recalls the ascension of our LORD and the giving of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit); Tishah B'Av foretells of Israel's long exile and the "age of grace" extended to the Gentiles; and Yom Kippur foretells the coming atonement of the Jewish people at the end of the age, when Israel accepts Yeshua as their great High Priest of the New Covenant (Jer. 30:24).
Tishah B'Av reminds us that this world is not our home, and that we are "strangers" and exiles here. The heart of faith is always in collision with this world. Yes, it is an affliction to wait for the LORD, a sort of "homesickness" of heart... The apostle Paul says our loneliness and alienation prepare for us an "eternal weight of glory" beyond all comparison, because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. "For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal" (2 Cor. 4:17-18). Just as the "two-souled" man is unstable in all his ways, so the process of being "educated for eternity" means learning to focus our heart's passion and hope on the glory of heaven. "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
Ultimately, the loss of "the place where God put His Name" was a deliberate affliction of His love for his people. The Sacred Name of God [יהוה] is formed from the words hayah ("He was"), hoveh ("He is"), and yihyeh ("He will be"): הָיָה הוֶה וְיִהְיֶה, indicating that the LORD is always present, despite momentary appearances. Note that all the letters of the Name are "vowel letters," which mean they evoke breath and life. Indeed the first occurrence of the Name in Torah regards the inspiration of nishmat chayim (נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים), the "breath of life" in Adam (Gen. 2:4). The LORD is always present for you, breathing out life and hope...
Strangers in this world...
07.10.18 (Tammuz 27, 5778) One consequence of the self-policing mindset of a culture indoctrinated with political correctness ideology is that the "big questions of life" are often regarded as inflammatory, radical, challenging (or at least impolite), and therefore they are carefully avoided and even censored... The failure to seriously discuss questions such as "Who are we?" "Where did we come from?" "Why are we here?" "Where are we going?" and "What does it all mean?" is to abandon the deepest need of the human heart... Pop culture abandons our existential plight by exchanging our need to find meaning, purpose, and healing with chatty comments or mindless sound bites about externalities, superficialities, fads, and vanity. The result is the despair of exile, a thoughtless mode of existence that "lives" in ignorance of its ultimate concern.
God created us to ask philsophical questions so that we would seek and to find the meaning for our existence (Jer. 29:13). Honestly pursued, such questions will disclose an inherent dualism in our reflective consciousness wherein we seek an eternal happiness and ultimate good that transcends anything that may be found in this temporal world (see Eccl. 3:11). Faith in the revelation of the Divine Presence therefore confesses that reality itself is "two-tiered," corresponding to two different realms of existence, namely, an "upper realm" of the immaterial and spiritual (i.e., heaven) and a "lower realm" of the material and physical (i.e., the natural universe). Upon reflection we may sometimes feel lonely and bewildered in this duality, not knowing how to "mediate" or bring together the opposite poles of our experience... On the one hand life in this present world is surely fading away, and finitude, dissolution, and the "dust of death" seem omnipresent to our physical senses, nevertheless our hearts yearn for eternity, for unending life, and for the ideal of everlasting significance. We long for meaning, wonder, greatness, and the peace and peace of unconditional love, yet we find ourselves trapped within a diseased and moribund world that is filled with thwarted dreams, painful losses, harrowing vexations, and death... We hunger and thirst for real life, for salvation from our misery, but the cosmological visions of mechanistic science reveal an immense emptiness that has no goal or end, no explanation for its existence, and therefore no meaning or real hope.
וּבִקַּשְׁתֶּם אתִי וּמְצָאתֶם
כִּי תִדְרְשֻׁנִי בְּכָל־לְבַבְכֶם
u'vik·kash·tem · o·ti · u·metz·a·tem
ki · tid·re·shu·ni · be·khol · le·vav·khem
"You will seek me and find me
if you search for me with all your heart"
(Jer. 29:13)
Hebrew Study Card
Torah describes the people of faith as "gerim v'toshavim imadi" (גֵרִים וְתוֹשָׁבִים עִמָּדִי), "stranger-settlers" with God in this world (Lev. 25:23). We are "in" but not "of" this realm; we live in the temporal yet are looking for the heavenly city to come (Heb. 11-9-10). Indeed the Eternal dwells among those who are exiles in this world, but to those who lay claim to life in this world God makes himself a stranger. .. As James warned, "Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God" (James 4:4). Likewise the Apostle John admonished: "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him... For the world is passing away along with its lusts, but whoever does the will of God shall abide forever" (1 John 2:15,17). Those who walk in faith invariably find themselves gerim v'toshavim (גֵּרִים וְתוֹשָׁבִים) - "strange settlers" upon the earth (Heb. 11:13).
For more see on this topic see "Faith and Lonliness..."
Core Issues of Life...
07.09.18 (Tammuz 26, 5778) All life flows from the heart, whether it is physical life or spiritual life. And just as the physical heart supplies life-giving blood through the arteries to the various organs of the body, so our faith, or the spiritual heart (i.e., lev ruchani: לב רוחני), supplies the means of life and grace to the organs of the spirit. And just as the physical heart can be obstructed or blocked, so faith can become constricted and hindered by sin, impeding the free flow of the Divine Presence. Therefore since the heart represents the "engine" that sustains life, it is vital that we attend to the heart's needs in order to be healthy people...
מִכָּל־מִשְׁמָר נְצר לִבֶּךָ
כִּי־מִמֶּנּוּ תּוֹצְאוֹת חַיִּים
mik·kol · mish·mar · ne·tzor · li·be·kha,
ki · mi·me·nu · to·tze·ot · cha·yim
"Above everything else guard your heart,
for from it are the issues of life"
(Prov. 4:23)
Hebrew Study Card
In this verse notice that the word mishmar (מִשְׁמָר) refers to the act of guarding someone closely, just as an prison guard or warden might keep watch over a prisoner. The phrase translated "with all diligence" (mikkol-mishmar) literally means "more than anything that might be guarded," and is used here to intensify the command to exercise vigilance. Plainly put, this verse commands us to watch over our heart more than anything else.
And yet "the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint" (Isa. 1:5). We understand how apt we are to go astray in our affections, and therefore the heart is easily divided, obstructed, and liable to failure... Despite its frailty, however, the heart determines totze'ot chayim, or the "issues" (i.e., wellsprings, sources, fountainhead, course, origin, font, flow) or "contours" of life. In the Tanakh, the word totza'ot is sometimes used to refer to the borders of territories or the boundaries of a city. This verse is saying that from the heart of a person (lev) a "map" or "chart" to life is drawn. As the heart is either pure or corrupt, so will be the course (or issues) of one's life... Purity of heart represents healing, which means being single-minded in our affections and attention before the LORD.
How you choose to guard your heart from inner corruption and hardness will determine the "road" of your life. Concerning this verse the Metzudos commentary says, "Above all – more than anything else – a person must be careful to guard his heart from improper thoughts, for one cannot contemplate using the heart – the very vortex of life – to harbor thoughts that are inimical to life." Because the flesh is weak, we must be vigilant lest we become cynical, weary, and unfeelingly selfish. An unguarded heart soon becomes troubled, lonely, suspicious, and unstable. If, however, we keep ourselves from the obstruction of sin, we will experience the free flow of compassion, encouragement, and joy. The faithful heart is open - it believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things (1 Cor. 13:7).
It is your personal responsibility to guard your heart from negative influences -- a duty that is connected with yielding yourself as a vessel or "steward" of the kingdom of God. We must regularly ask God to enlighten "the eyes of the heart" (i.e., einei ha'lev: עֵינֵי הַלֵב) according to His wisdom and power (i.e., truth revealed in Scripture), and to impart the power of the Holy Spirit to transform our desires and affections so that they conform to the character of the Messiah (Eph. 1:17-21). In this connection, note that the great vision of the Sanctuary - the climax of Sinai - revealed that faith in the efficacy of a blood sacrifice was the means by which a person could draw near to God. Just as the physical heart is central to distribution of blood - and the "life is in the blood" - so faith in God's vicarious atonement leads to life and healing. In this regard, the altar represents the heart, and we must carefully guard the innermost place, the holy of holies, that is within us.
Every thought Captive...
[ The following entry concerns this week's Torah reading, parashat Mattot-Masei... ]
07.09.18 (Tammuz 26, 5778) "Speak to the children of Israel, and say unto them, 'When ye are passed over into the land of promise… drive away all the inhabitants of the land before you; destroy all their carved images, all their molten images, and demolish their high places'" (Num. 33:51-52). The Hebrew word for idolatry is "avodah zarah" (עֲבוֹדָה זַרָה), which literally means strange or "foreign" worship... The worship of anything other than the true God, whether it is pleasure, money, fame, control, security, self-improvement, health, religion, etc., is regarded as foreign, since it alienates us from the truth of reality. We were created to be in relationship with God but we lose sight of this truth whenever elevate what is finite to the status of the infinite. Indeed idolatry is the substitution of not-god (לא־אֵל) for the sacred, absolutizing the present and worshiping the temporal. Since our greatest good is found in the eternal verities of the divine communion, the Lord cannot give us an absolute good apart from Him, since there literally is no such thing. "No one can serve two masters," Yeshua said, and "a divided house cannot stand." For our own good, then, God necessarily is the Ultimate Concern of our life, and he wants to spare us the pain, disappointment, and trauma of being double-minded, disintegrated, and full of inner conflict. Spiritual warfare therefore means taking every thought captive before the bar of God's truth, rooting out and destroying all our inner idols so that we can be delivered from the anguish of uncertainty and ambivalence.
What is at stake here is your inner life, or rather the threat of the disintegration of your deepest essence into a fragmented multiplicity without center... The soul must be grounded in Reality or it is lost, dissipated in existential dread and despair. Yeshua said that when your eye is "single" (ἁπλοῦς), your whole being will be full of light (Matt. 6:22), which means that being single-minded and wholehearted unifies and heals the soul.... Being pulled in opposite directions is both painful and debilitating, for there is no overarching reason to direct the will in its decisions. Hating and loving the good is the ambivalence of despair. Being both willing and unwilling weakens the soul, but seeking the good and making God your ultimate concern binds up the broken heart and centers the will. "Your faith has made you whole..."
"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life" (Prov. 4:23). The heart, that is, the willing and desiring center of the self, is to be proactively guarded, and for this sacred task God offers us heavenly comfort and resolve. Courage does not chase away or deny fear and despair, but instead gives us determination to persevere despite these feelings. "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope thou in God" (Psalm 42:11). Courage expresses hope in the midst of the struggle; it finds strength to confront pain, danger, or grief with God's help. Courage is grounded in the decision to trust that God is with us, despite our circumstances or feelings of abandonment. How you choose to guard your heart from the corruption and hardness of the world will determine the "road" of your life. If you do not care to keep your heart open and soft, you will become cynical, weary, and more and more selfish. Your way will be lonely, suspicious, and dangerous. If, however, you keep yourself from the hardness of unbelief, you will experience compassion, encouragement, and the joy of loving others.
May God help you guard your heart and walk in the way of true life...
Parashat Mattot-Masei (פרשת מטות-מעסי)
07.08.18 (Tammuz 25, 5778) Shavuah Tov, chaverim! This week we read a "double portion" of Torah to conclude Sefer Bamidbar, or "the Book of Numbers." Our first Torah portion, parashat Mattot (מַטּוֹת, "tribes"), begins with the LORD giving laws regarding the making of vows (nedarim). After this, the Israelites were commanded to wage war against the Midianites for seducing the people to sin at the incident of "Baal Peor." During the ensuing battle, the wicked sorcerer Balaam was killed, as well as five tribal kings of the land of Midian. Our second Torah portion, parashat Masei (מַסְעֵי, "journeys"), provides the boundaries of the land of Canaan that were to be initially occupied by the Israelites. Note that these borders are not the same as those described earlier to Abraham (see Gen. 15:18-21), since that area will be given to Israel only after our Messiah Yeshua returns to establish Zion during the Millennial Kingdom (see Ezek. 47:15-48:35). During that coming time, Jerusalem (i.e., Zion) will be the center of the earth and renamed as "Adonai Shammah" (יְהוָה שָׁמָּה), "the LORD is there."
You can download the "Table Talk" for each of these portions here:
Since the Book of Deuteronomy is called "mishneh Torah" (מִשְׁנֶה תוֹרָה) -- a sermon "retelling the Torah" -- it may be said that the Torah of Moses ends with these final portions from the Book of Numbers, and by extension, with the ongoing yearning for Zion... Therefore let us recite the three special words of encouragement: Chazak, chazak, ve'nitchazek, meaning "be strong, be strong, and we will get stronger." Amen!
New Audio Broadcast...
I just finished a new audio broadcast on parashat Mattot-Masei that I hope you will helpful... In addition to an overview of the Torah readings, I discuss a number of themes regarding taking vows and the importance of shemirat lashon or the "guarding of the tongue." I also discuss the "Three Weeks of Mourning" leading up to the somber holiday of Tishah B'Av as well as the significance of the month of Av. Shavuah tov chaverim.
The Month of Av (חודש אב)
07.08.18 (Tammuz 25, 5778) The Hebrew month of Av is traditionally regarded as the most tragic in the Jewish calendar. On the first day of this month, Aaron (the first High Priest of Israel) died (Num. 33:38), which was regarded as a prophetic omen of the future destruction of both of the Temples on the Ninth of Av. Parashat Mattot-Masei is traditionally read near the new moon of the month of Av (which begins Thursday July 12th at sundown).
Since Rosh Chodesh Av marks the time of mourning for Zion, we humbly ask the LORD to help us prepare for the coming time of teshuvah:
יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֵיךָ יהוה אֱלהֵינוּ
וֵאלהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ שֶׁתְּחַדֵּשׁ עָלֵינוּ חדֶשׁ טוֹב
בַּאֲדנֵינוּ יֵשׁוּעַ הַמָּשִׁיחַ אָמֵן
ye·hee · rah·tzohn · meel·fah·ney·kha · Adonai · E·lo·hey·noo
vei·loh·hey · a·voh·tey·noo · she·te·kha·deish · ah·ley·noo · khoh·desh· tohv
ba'a·doh·ney·noo · Ye·shoo·a' · ha·mah·shee·akh · a·mein
"May it be Your will, LORD our God and God of our fathers,
that you renew for us a good month in our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Amen."
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Safe in God's Love...
07.06.18 (Tammuz 23, 5778) The Spirit of God says, Al tira ki imekha ani - "Fear not, for I am with you..." This is the way out of fear – to trust and understand that God is "with you," that he is drawing you near, and that he is as close as your next breath... Being "with" God is to bound up in his love, identified with his purposes, visions, and expectations. Knowing that God is "with you," (עִמָּנוּ אֵל) delivers you from disappointment, and you can then find courage "to be with yourself," regardless of the vexation of your past. You no longer need to defend yourself; you are free to forgive others (including yourself), you can show compassion to yourself, and even laugh at yourself. May the LORD God set you free from all your fears and grant you peace to accept who you are, and to abide in the comfort that God unconditionally loves and welcomes you in Yeshua...
אַל־תִּירָא כִּי עִמְּךָ־אָנִי אַל־תִּשְׁתָּע כִּי־אֲנִי אֱלהֶיךָ
אִמַּצְתִּיךָ אַף־עֲזַרְתִּיךָ אַף־תְּמַכְתִּיךָ בִּימִין צִדְקִי
al ti·ra ki im·me·kha a·ni; al tish·ta ki a·ni E·lo·he·kha
im·matz·ti·kha af a·zar·ti·kha, af te·makh·ti·kha bi·min tzid·ki
"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
(Isa. 41:10)
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How do you think God regards you? Does he see your sin first? If you think he disapproves of you, it's likely you will attempt to earn his approval by doing certain things (and not doing others), which puts you "under the law," that is, the never-ending cycle of self-justification. But you will never feel safe as long as you regard God's acceptance of you as conditional, since you will only be as secure as your own best efforts, a project that will exhaust you in the end. Instead you must know yourself as truly loved by God, just as the "prodigal son" came to know his father's unconditional love and acceptance despite his many misdeeds (Luke 15:11-32). The incarnation of Yeshua means that God "runs to meet and embrace you," regardless of whatever happened in your life that made you run away from home. And whatever else it may be, sin is the separation from God's love, but Yeshua made the decision to die for your sins before you were born. Your sin cannot overrule God's surpassing and personal love for your soul, since God gave up his very life for you to find life.
The Lord is also called "the God of breath" (Gen. 2:7; Num. 16:22). The Hebrew word for breath is ruach (רוּחַ), a word that means both "spirit" and "wind." God is as close as your breath and surrounds you like the unseen yet encompassing air. Since God's name YHVH (יהוה) means "Presence" (Exod. 3:13-14), "Life" (Deut. 30:20), and "Love" (Exod. 34:6-7), he is the Beloved, the "I-am-with-you-always" lover of your soul. So fear not; you are never really alone. Yeshua breathes out to you and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22).
Shabbat shalom and thank you for remembering Hebrew for Christians in your prayers...
True and False Zeal...
[ The following entry concerns our Torah reading for this week, parashat Pinchas... ]
07.06.18 (Tammuz 23, 5778) You may be entirely sincere in your convictions, but you may be sincerely wrong... In the time of the Second Temple, for instance, the Zealots despised the rule of Rome. Their political hatred caused them to blindly regard anyone who didn't share their passion as a personal enemy. In one of the great tragedies of Jewish history, these Jewish zealots actually killed more Jews than did the Romans themselves! And how many Christians these days "kill" relationships with other believers because of their particular zeal regarding some doctrinal question? I am not suggesting that doctrine is unimportant, of course, but before you pick up that sword to do the business of Pinchas, you might do well to consider your heart's attitude...
"In this respect fundamentalism has demonic traits. It destroys the humble honesty of the search for truth, it splits the conscience of its thoughtful adherents, and it makes them fanatical because they are forced to suppress elements of truth of which they are dimly aware." - Paul Tillich
We need to be careful with our passions. There is a "false zeal" that leads to estrangement and confusion. Withholding love from others is ultimately grounded in an appeal to God as the administrator of Justice. It is an appeal to God as Elohim (אֱלהִים), not as YHVH (יהוה), the Compassionate Source of Life. If we insist on our rights, we appeal to principles of justice, i.e., to God as the Lawgiver. But if we intend to have God be the Judge of others, we must appeal to Him to be our own Judge as well. If we have an unforgiving spirit toward others, we will not be forgiven (Matt. 6:15); if we are judgmental toward them, we ourselves will be put on trial; if we are cruel and ungiving toward them, we will experience life as hellish, miserable and mean. This reciprocal principle of Kingdom life appears throughout Jesus' teaching. According to your faith, be it done unto you (Matt. 9:29).
Note: For more on this important topic, see "Parashat Pinchas: God's Greater Zeal."
Olam Katan - Small World...
07.06.18 (Tammuz 23, 5778) It is written in our Torah portion for this week (i.e., Pinchas), "My offering, my food for my food offerings, my pleasing aroma, you shall be careful to offer to me at its appointed time" (Num. 28:2). Food for God? What need has the LORD for food? But by this is meant "as you have done it to least of these my brethren, you have done it unto Me" (Matt. 25:40). The offerings you make to tzedakah (giving charity, your time, your kindness, etc.) constitute food presented before the secret place of God's altar...
God created Adam alone, as a solitary being, made in the divine image, to teach us that to destroy a single life is to destroy an entire world, and to sustain a single life is to sustain an entire world. Therefore everyone should say: 'For my sake the world was created' (Talmud). Each of us is olam katan (עולם קטן), a small world that represents the large world. Indeed, one righteous human being can sustain the entire world, as it is written (Prov. 10:25), "the righteous is the foundation of the world" (וְצַדִּיק יְסוֹד עוֹלָם).
On the other hand, balance is of course required here. Each of us is olam katan, a small world, though, as Rabbi Noah of Lekhivitz once wisely said, "if we are small in our own eyes, we are indeed 'a world,' but if we are a 'world' in our own eyes, we are thereby made small." This thought obviously echoes Yeshua's teaching: "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (Matt. 23:12).
גַּאֲוַת אָדָם תַּשְׁפִּילֶנּוּ
וּשְׁפַל־רוּחַ יִתְמךְ כָּבוֹד
ga·a·vat · a·dam · tash·pi·le·nu
u·she·fal · ru·ach · yit·mokh · ka·vod
"The proud will be humbled,
but the humble will be honored"
(Prov. 29:23)
There are assumptions we bring to the reading of Torah that affect how we read and what we will hear... The sages generally agreed that the greatest principle of Torah is to love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18), though Ben Azzai further said that even greater is the principle that God created man in His likeness (i.e., bid'mut Elohim, בִּדְמוּת אֱלֹהִים, in "outline" or "silhouette," the word demut [דְּמוּת] is a synonym of tzelem [צֶלֶם], a "shadow" or semblance) since then one cannot say, 'Since I despise myself I can despise another as well; since I curse myself, let the other be accursed as well.' Being made in God's likeness means how we regard ourselves will be the measure we regard even God Himself (1 John 4:20). Therefore the first commandment is always, "I am the LORD thy God..." (Exod. 20:2), since apart from faith, there is no Torah of any kind.
A Dangerous Drifting...
07.06.18 (Tammuz 23, 5778) We are living in perilous times, and for all the more reason we must "pay more careful attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away" (Heb. 2:1). Spiritually speaking, the greater danger is often not some spectacular sin but rather the imperceptible drifting away of the heart, a cooling of passion, a failure to tend the fire of our inner altar.... I would much prefer a heaven-sent affliction and chastisement than to fade away in deathly repose, a state of unconscious exile... "Awake, my glory! Awake!" (עוּרָה כְבוֹדִי עוּרָה). Break the spell of lethal habit.
Eleazar ha-Kappar used to say: "They who have been born are destined to die. They that are dead are destined to be made alive. They who live are destined to be judged, that men may know and make known and understand that He is God, He is the maker, He is the creator, He is the discerner, He is the judge, He is the witness, He is the complainant, and it is He who will in the future judge, blessed be He, in whose presence is neither guile nor forgetfulness nor respect of persons nor taking of bribes; for all is His. And know that everything is according to the reckoning. And let not your evil nature assure you that the grave will be your refuge: for despite yourself you were fashioned, and despite yourself you were born, and despite yourself you live, and despite yourself you die, and despite yourself shall you are destined to give account and reckoning before the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He." (Mishnah Pirkei Avot 4:29)
We must be anchored to the truth lest we become shipwrecked in our faith. Drifting is often imperceptible, and occurs slowly, though the end result is as deadly as openly turning away from God in outright apostasy. As C.S. Lewis once wrote, "The safest road to hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." The grave danger today is to quietly and invisibly give up hope, to unconsciously "go with the flow," to become comfortably numb, to fall asleep, and therefore to die inside... It is far more dangerous to ignore God's mercy, or to make a pretense of knowing God's grace, than it is to blatantly break his law. Therefore the urgent need is to remember, to hear, and to awaken the soul to face the truth about reality. We must focus the heart, concentrate the will, and consciously "set" the Lord always before us (Psalm 16:8). Each day we must awaken from our emptiness to reaffirm the central truth: "Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deut. 6:4-5). "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And the Messiah will give you light" (Eph. 5:14).
With all your heart...
07.06.18 (Tammuz 23, 5778) We love God because He is our Creator, our Breath of Life, the Source of all true good, our Savior, our Healer, and the substance of all that is real and significant... We are able to love because he discloses his love to us (1 John 4:19). We respond to God with a heart of gratitude and love, not out of fear of punishment; with a whole heart (כָּל־לֵבָב), not a heart divided by fear. The Torah says you are to love God bekhol levavkha (בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ), "with all your heart" – like Abraham, who loved God wholeheartedly; and you are to love God bekhol nafshekha (בְּכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ), "with all your soul" – like Isaac, who gave his soul over to God, willing to be sacrificed for our atonement; and you are to love God bekhol me'odekha (בְּכָל־מְאדֶךָ), "with all your muchness" – like Jacob who gave from his substance to support his children, the sons of Levi. And these words, namely, the words that return us to God's love, shall today be on your heart (הַיּוֹם עַל־לְבָבֶךָ), which means we are to love God at all times, for this is the day that the LORD has made...
וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יהוה אֱלהֶיךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ
וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל־מְאדֶךָ
ve'a·hav·ta · et · Adonai · E·lo·he·kha · be'khol · le·vav·kah
uv'khol · naf·she·kha · uv'khol · me'o·de·kha
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your strength."
(Deut. 6:5)
The Lord knows how you have walked across this great desert (Deut. 2:7). He knows your groaning of heart, because He has carried you through, like a father carries his young son, all the way until you have come to this place (Deut. 1:31). So, in this present age, likened to a desert, do we walk, awaiting to cross over to the world to come. Here is the valley of the shadow of death, but here we will not fear, for God is with us, and he gives us the comfort of his touch as we make our way back home (Psalm 23:4). "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, and we shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever." Amen.
The Hunger of Heart...
07.05.18 (Tammuz 22, 5778) From our holy Torah we read, "...people do not live by bread alone, but also by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD" (Deut. 8:3, see also Matt. 4:4). The sages liken this to being fed from the King's own table, right out of the Ruler's mouth, so to speak. But what is the food from God's table but the sacrifice of the lamb, which the LORD called "my offering, my bread" (Num. 28:1-8)? "God is like a king who prepares a banquet and sends his loved ones some of the food that lies before him" (Talmud: Niddah 70b). The sacrifice of the Lamb satisfies the hunger of God's heart for our reconciliation with him, and we therefore find life by sharing "God's food," the Lamb of God (שֵׂה הָאֱלֹהִים). As Yeshua said, "Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life... This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever" (John 6:54,8).
אֲנִי הוּא לֶחֶם הַחַיִּים
כָּל־הַבָּא אֵלַי לא יִרְעַב
וְהַמַּאֲמִין בִּי לא יִצְמָא עוֹד
ani · hu · le·chem · ha·cha·yim
kol · ha·ba · e·lai · lo · yir·av
ve·ha·a·min · bi · lo · yitz·ma · od
"I am the Bread of Life
all who come to me will not hunger
and those who believe in me will not thirst"
(John 6:35)
Note that the Greek text for this verse uses "double negatives" to express the strongest negation, i.e., the one who comes to me will never, ever hunger, and the one who believes in me shall never, ever thirst:
ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς
ὁ ἐρχόμενος πρὸς ἐμὲ οὐ μὴ πεινάσῃ
καὶ ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ οὐ μὴ διψήσει πώποτε
Only the Lord can truly satisfy our deepest longings, chaverim...
The sacrifice of the Lamb represents "God's food," a pleasing aroma, for it most satisfied the hunger of God's heart (Eph. 5:2). Indeed, the obedience of Yeshua to the death upon the cross represents God's hunger for atonement, or "at-one-ment," since it restored what was lost to Him through sin, namely, fellowship with human beings. God could never be satisified until He was able to let truth and love meet (Psalm 85:10).
The Fear of the LORD...
07.05.18 (Tammuz 22, 5778) Some people are afraid that God will punish them for their sins, but the true fear of God, yirat Adonai (יִרְאַת יְהוָה), is rather the fear of losing our closeness to Him... The sages say that where it is written, "What does the LORD ask of you except to fear the LORD" (Deut. 10:12), we should read instead, "fear with the LORD" (לְיִרְאָה אֶת־יְהוָה), that is, we share his concern that we could forfeit the sanctity of a heart-relationship with Him due to carelessness and sin... Indeed is not sin rooted in such carelessness and indifference to the truth of God? Rather ought we fear our sin because it blinds us from awareness of God's care and love. The fear of God can therefore be understood as God's fear that we will miss the blessing of intimately knowing him.
The LORD has promised to never leave nor forsake us (i.e., לֹא אַרְפְּךָ וְלֹא אֶעֶזְבֶךָּ, see Deut. 31:6; Josh. 1:5, Heb. 13:5, Matt. 28:20), though we can choose to turn away from his love and care for our lives...We are not permitted to fear other than that we have no fear of God, for that indeed is a fearful state of soul. May it please God to help each us never to leave nor forsake ourselves by getting lost, by forgetting what is real, and by abandoning hope in the miracle for our lives... May the LORD help us not be grieved, not to hurt ourselves, and never to abandon our hearts to the despair of shame.... May God help us to esteem our relationship with him as our ultimate concern and our greatest treasure. Amen. Hashivenu Adonai vena-shuvah; chadesh yamenu ke'kedem...
Pinchas and Isaac...
[ The following entry concerns this week's Torah reading, parashat Pinchas. Please read the Torah portion to "find your place" here. ]
07.04.18 (Tammuz 21, 5778) The name "Phinehas" (i.e., Pinchas: פִּינְחָס) shares the same numeric value (gematria) as the name "Isaac" (i.e., Yitzchak: יִצְחָק), which suggests that just as Isaac was willing to be sacrificed in obedience to God (i.e., during the Akedah), so Pinchas was willing to die for his zeal. Note further that Pinchas' passion turned away the wrath of God and established a covenant of an "eternal priesthood" (כְּהֻנַּת עוֹלָם), a phrase that shares the letter value as the word be'acharit (בְּאַחֲרִית), a term that means at the "end of days" (Gen. 49:1; 1 John 2:18). To string this together, we see a connection between Isaac and Pinchas, both of whom picture Yeshua our Messiah. Isaac is a picture of the Lamb of God, of course, and Pinchas pictures the zeal that grafts the heart into the everlasting priesthood of God. The Hebrew gematria reveals that the priesthood of Yeshua that brings everlasting peace is the "end of days" priesthood for humanity, and there is no other. Just as Pinchas was "grafted in" to the priesthood of Israel, so those who belong to Messiah are "grafted in" priests for the end of days, chaverim...
כִּי־קִנְאַת בֵּיתְךָ אֲכָלָתְנִי
וְחֶרְפּוֹת חוֹרְפֶיךָ נָפְלוּ עָלָי
kee · kee·nat · be·te·kha ·a·chah·laht·nee
ve·cher·poht · choh·re·fey·kha · nah·fe·loo · ah·lai
"For zeal for your house has consumed me,
and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
(Psalm 69:9)
The Meaning of Freedom...
07.04.18 (Tammuz 21, 5778) Many people celebrate their political freedoms on July 4th, usually called "Independence Day." Picnics, baseball games, patriotic events, and of course spectacular fireworks mark the occasion. In the postmodern world, however, "freedom" has been confused with the idea that human beings are "autonomous," that is, "self governing" and therefore people are able to define good and evil on their own terms without any appeal to the transcendental moral authority of a Divine Lawgiver... Indeed many political activists today argue that "freedom" means little more than "licentiousness," or the ability to do whatever they want to do whenever they want to do it. Likewise many politicians feel no compunction when they openly lie to others because they define "right" and "wrong" as a means to the end of their own vision of what is "good." However, simply doing whatever you want to do is not the Torah's idea of freedom. Yeshua told us "whoever commits sin is the slave (δουλος) of sin," and went on to say "if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:34-36). True freedom (i.e., cherut: חרוּת) is therefore moral and spiritual rather than merely physical; it has to do with the *power to choose what is right and good,* not simply to find a way to to practice your lusts... In other words, there is no freedom when people are enslaved to their own desires and ignorance; there is no freedom when people are lost in illusions and depravity. God-given liberty is meant to clothe us with divine power to walk in righteousness and truth...
The idea that each individual is endowed by the Creator with "inalienable" rights comes directly from the holy Torah, of course, as it is written: "Let us make mankind in our image, after our likeness (נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ) ... so God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God (בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים) he created them male and female" (Gen. 1:26-27). In the New Testament the idea is amplified in that people are esteemed so highly that God was willing to exchange his very life for the sake of their redemption (2 Cor. 5:14-21). Whenever true faith in the LORD is lived and expressed there is dignity and respect accorded to people made in His image. As Martin Luther commented (nearly 600 years ago) regarding the proper sphere of the authority of the State vis-à-vis the individual person of faith:
If an emperor or prince were to ask me about my faith, I would surely tell him. not because of his governmental authority, but because I should confess my faith publicly. If however, he ordered me to believe this or that, I would say, 'Sir, take care of secular government. You have no authority intruding on God's kingdom. I will not obey you. You cannot tolerate anyone intruding on your domain. If someone oversteps their boundary without your permission, you shoot him. Do you think that God should tolerate your desire to push him off his throne and seat yourself in his place?' (Luther: Table Talk on 1 Peter)
The true significance of the "Fourth of July" lies in the expression of the revolutionary political declaration that people's rights are inherent and God-given, and therefore they do not derive from any mere government of men... The true authority of government comes from the consent of the People, not from the reign of autocrats, dictators, or kings...
Hold Fast to Truth...
07.03.18 (Tammuz 20, 5778) One of the main strategies of the devil is to induce a sense of forgetfulness, apathy, and hopelessness... The devil wants you to ignore what is real and to forget who you really are. The truth is your weapon against the cascade of lies that pours forth from the world and its princes. The entire venture of teshuvah (repentance) presupposes that you are created "in the image of God," that you are related to him, and therefore you have infinite value and dignity. This is all the more evident in light of the awesome ransom that Yeshua gave to reconcile your soul with God. Therefore hold fast to the truth, friends; da lifnei mi attah omed - "know before Whom you stand." Turn to what is real, refuse the lies and despair of this world, and review what will abide the test of Eternity.
כִּי־חַסְדְּךָ לְנֶגֶד עֵינָי
וְהִתְהַלַּכְתִּי בַּאֲמִתֶּךָ
ki · chas·de·kha · le·ne·ged · ei·nai
ve·hit·hal·lakh·ti · ba·a·mi·te·kha
"For your steadfast love is before my eyes
and I walk in your truth."
(Psalm 26:3)
Note that the verb "I walk" (הִתְהַלַּכְתִּי) is "hithpael," a verb pattern used to express reflexive, intensive action done to oneself. Therefore we could translate this as "I earnestly choose to walk" in the truth, indicating decisiveness of intent, focus, purpose... As King Shlomo said: בְּכָל־דְּרָכֶיךָ דָעֵהוּ - "know Him in all your ways" (Prov. 3:6).
Wounded Shepherd...
[ The following concerns this week's Torah reading, parashat Pinchas....
07.03.18 (Tammuz 20, 5778) From our Torah this week (i.e., parashat Pinchas) we read Moses' appeal for his successor: "Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh (אלהֵי הָרוּחת לְכָל־בָּשָׂר), appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep that have no shepherd" (Num. 27:16-17). The Koznitzer rebbe commented here that Moses asked God to appoint a leader "for all flesh," lekhol basar (לְכָל־בָּשָׂר). Rearranging the letters of basar (בָּשָׂר), he formed the word shavar (שָׁבָר), which means "to break in pieces," and concluded that a true leader should be one with a broken heart (לב שבור), that is, one who can sympathize and have pity on his people (Heb. 2:8; 4:15; 5:1-ff). He should not be proud or aristocratic, but like a shepherd, a plain and simple person, who guides his people to observe the ways of the LORD.
Reaffirming the Appointed Times...
[ The following entry concerns this week's Torah reading, parashat Pinchas... ]
07.02.18 (Tammuz 19, 5778) Our Torah portion this week (i.e., Pinchas) lists eight of the main mo'edim (מוֹעֲדִים), or the "appointed times" of the LORD, given in the Jewish Scriptures. Note that this is the second time that the Torah provides a description of the festivals of the year, including the following special times: 1) The daily offering of the Lamb of God (Num. 28:1-8); 2) the weekly Sabbath offering (Num. 28:9-10, Lev. 23:1-3); 3) the monthly or Rosh Chodesh offering (Num. 28:11-15); 4) the Passover and Unleavened Bread offering, including Shavuot (Num. 28:16-25; Lev 23:15-21); 5) the Firstfruits offering (Num. 28:26-31; Lev. 9:14); 6) the Yom Teru'ah or "Trumpets" offering (Num. 29:1-6; Lev. 23:23-25); 7) the Yom Kippur offering (Num. 29:7-11; Lev 23:26-32); and 8) the Sukkot (Tabernacles) offering (Num. 29:12-38; Lev. 23:33-43). These appointed times were given by God to help us turn away from the omnipresent urge within the human heart to embrace vanity: "Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father and guard (שָׁמַר) my Sabbaths (שַׁבְּתתַי)... Do not turn to worthlessness (i.e., אֱלִיל) or make for yourselves any molten gods" (Lev. 19:3-4).
Notice that the Torah teaches that the Biblical holidays - including Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, and so on - were intended to help us to sanctify ("set apart," "make holy") the times and seasons in order to remind us of God's Presence (Psalm 104:19). Therefore they are called mikra'ei kodesh (מִקְרָאֵי קדֶשׁ), "times in which holiness is proclaimed" (Lev. 23:2). The Torah's declaration that these days are holy implies that they are set apart for special activities, such as commemorating God as our daily Savior (the tamid offering), our Creator (Shabbat), our Redeemer (Passover), our Resurrection (Firstfruits), our Law Giver (Shavuot), our King (Rosh Hashanah), our High Priest (Yom Kippur), and so on. In this connection it should be noted that it is a mistake to assume that the divine calendar was somehow abrogated with the cross of Yeshua, since all of the Jewish holidays center on Him, and indeed the advent of the Ruach Ha-Kodesh (Holy Spirit) occurred after the resurrection and prescribed 49 day countdown to Shavuot (Acts 1:8; 2:1-4). This is signifcant because it shows that Yeshua intended his followers to observe the holidays after the institution of the new covenant.
Personal Update: I am having all sorts of problems with my web hosting provider, including lost directories, broken links, corrupted graphics, sound issues, the inability to ftp, etc. I am getting exhausted trying to keep up with the repairs I do literally on a daily basis. I am also having problems with the various forced "upgrades" delivered by Microsoft that actually corrupt my work and force my computer to restart - even after I had turned off automatic updating... Moreover Facebook algorithms are now making it so that my posts there are generally not received by people unless they are "boosted" (i.e., paid to be made viewable). Besides this I am dealing with health challenges that distract me from my writing, so your prayers for this ministry are deeply appreciated, friends... Thank you so much. - John
Hunger of the Heart...
[ The following entry concerns this week's Torah reading, parashat Pinchas. Please read the Torah portion to "find your place" here. ]
07.02.18 (Tammuz 19, 5778) As I've discussed elsewhere on the site, the great revelation of the Torah at Sinai focused on the giving of the mizbeach (altar) to Israel. However -- as our Torah portion this week makes clear-- the central sacrifice upon this altar was the daily sacrifice (i.e., korban tamid: קָרְבַּן תָּמִיד) of a defect-free male lamb offered with shemen (oil), matzah (unleavened bread), and wine. The LORD calls this "My offering, My bread..." (see Num. 28:1-8). In other words, the service and ministry of the Mishkan (i.e., Tabernacle) constantly foreshadowed the coming Lamb of God who would be offered upon the altar "made without hands" to secure our eternal redemption (Heb. 9:11-12).
The sacrifice of the Lamb represents "God's food," a pleasing aroma, for it most satisfied the hunger of His heart (Eph. 5:2). Indeed, the obedience of Yeshua to the death upon the cross represents God's hunger for atonement, or "at-one-ment," since it restored what was lost to Him through sin, namely, fellowship with human beings. God could never be satisfied until He was able to let love and truth be reconciled:
חֶסֶד־וֶאֱמֶת נִפְגָּשׁוּ צֶדֶק וְשָׁלוֹם נָשָׁקוּ
che·sed ve·e·met nif·ga·shu, tze·dek ve·sha·lom na·sha·ku
"Love and truth have met, justice and peace have kissed"
(Psalm 85:10)
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Sometimes we say that we "hunger for God," but it is vital to remember that it is God who first hungers for us. God desires our love and fellowship. He comes to seek fruit among the trees - but does He find any? He walks in the cool of the day, calling out to us, but are we attuned to hear His voice? Do we accept the invitation to be in His Presence? When God "knocks on the door of your heart" to commune with you, what "food" will you be serving? (Rev. 3:20). Every day we are given an opportunity to "feed God" through expressing faith, hope, and love. Ultimately it is our obedience to the truth is what "feeds" Him: "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams" (1 Sam. 15:22).
Note: For more on this subject, see "The Hunger of the Heart."
Parashat Pinchas - פינחס
07.01.18 (Tammuz 18, 5778) Last week's Torah portion (i.e., parashat Balak) first introduced us to Phinehas (i.e., Pinchas), the son of Eleazar the priest (and grandson of Aaron), who, during the tragic rebellion at Baal Peor, zealously removed evil from Israel by driving a spear through a tribal prince who was brazenly cavorting with a Midianite princess in defiance of God's law. On account of Pinchas' zeal for the truth of Torah, God stopped the plague and Israel was delivered from destruction... This week's Torah portion (i.e., parashat Pinchas) begins with the LORD rewarding Pinchas by granting him a "covenant of peace" (בְּרִית כְּהֻנַּת עוֹלָם) and officially promising to incorporate him into the priestly line of Israel. As I hope you will see, Pinchas pictures the Messiah Yeshua, and the covenant of priesthood given to him is a picture of the greater priesthood after the order of Malki-Tzedek.
Jewish tradition says that when Aaron and his sons were commissioned as the exclusive priests of Israel (Exod. 40:12-15), the office applied only to themselves and their future descendants. Since Aaron's grandson Pinchas had already been born at the time the promise was given, however, he did not automatically receive this honor, especially since his father Eleazar (the son of Aaron) was married to an "outsider" -- namely, the daughter of Yitro (also called Putiel, Exod. 6:25). This explains Rashi's statement that the other tribes mocked Pinchas. How dare this "son of an outsider" kill a nassi (prince) of Israel (i.e., Zimri), especially since Pinchas' mother was regarded as an idol worshipper! The LORD honored Pinchas' zeal, however, and overruled the tribalism of the Israelites, and he was therefore elevated to be a priest with special honor before the LORD.
God looks at the heart, chaverim, and is able to make those who have zeal for Him true priests of the LORD! You don't have to be born Jewish to impress the LORD God of Israel, since He's "no respecter of persons" (Rom. 2:11). Not only can He create spiritual children of Abraham from the stones of the ground (Matt. 3:9; Luke 3:8), but He can turn someone considered a non-Jew (by the rabbis, anyway) into a highly honored priest of Israel (1 Pet. 2:9-10). Indeed, many descendants of Pinchas later became the most faithful of the High Priests of Israel during the First Temple period.
Note that according to one midrash, when Zimri and Cozbi (the Midianite princess) were cavorting, they actually ran inside the Tabernacle compound itself, directly past Moses and the people who were weeping at its entrance (Num. 25:6)! Pinchas then took a spear from the Tabernacle guards and followed after them. When he caught up with them within the Tent of Meeting itself, he pierced them through (Num. 25:7-8). After this, thousands of men from the tribe of Simeon ran in after him, seeking to kill him. Pinchas was in such a state of terror that "his soul left him" and the souls of Nadav and Abihu (Aaron's deceased sons) entered his body -- and by this means he became a Kohen.
Parashat Pinchas (like parashat Emor in Leviticus) also includes mention of all of the (sacrifices of the) mo'edim (holidays) given to Israel (Num. 28). These include the daily (tamid), weekly (Shabbat), monthly (Rosh Chodesh) sacrifices, as well as the sacrifices assigned to the special holidays: Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hoshannah (Terumah), Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret. Remembering the joys of the Temple and the special celebrations of the Jewish people are thought to add a contrast to the otherwise somber time of reflection during the Three Weeks of Sorrow.
New Audio Broadcast...
I just finished a brand new audio broadcast on this week's Torah portion (parashat Pinchas) that I hope you will helpful... In addition to an overview of the Torah reading, I discuss a number of themes regarding the meaning of faith, the importance of gospel message, and how Yeshua is revealed in the life of Pinchas... I also discuss the "Three Weeks of Mourning" leading up to the somber holiday of Tishah B'Av as well as the significance of the Jewish holidays (mo'edim). For more see the link below. Shavuah tov chaverim.
Mourning for Zion...
07.01.18 (Tammuz 18, 5778) According to Jewish tradition Moses shattered the tablets on the 17th day of the 4th month, after he came down from Mount Sinai and found the people worshipping the Golden Calf. Today, this tragic date is commemorated as a fast day (i.e., the "Fast of Tammuz"), which marks the beginning of a three week period of mourning that culminates on the 9th of Av (i.e., "Tishah B'Av"), the date the Israelites were sent into exile from the promised land because they believed the evil report of the spies (Num. 14:20-35).
During this three week period of national mourning, the weekly readings from the prophets are all "Haftarahs of Rebuke" that warn the people about imminent judgment from heaven, and therefore the theme of most Jewish religious services is teshuvah (repentance). In addition, weddings or other joyous events are usually not held during this time of year. Indeed, among the very Orthodox, the last nine days of the three weeks are the most rigorous and solemn. Beginning on the first day of the month of Av, traditional mourning customs are practiced in anticipation of the most solemn fast day of Tishah B'Av, when the Book of Lamentations (Megillat Eichah) is plaintively recited during the evening service.
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Dates During the Three Weeks of Sorrow (2018):
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