For February 2021 site updates, please scroll past this entry....
The winter holidays (חגי החורף) remember special times when God acted on behalf of His people so that they would triumph over their enemies, and therefore they prophetically picture the final victory in the world to come.
The Winter Holidays:
Note that in accordance with tradition, the following holiday dates begin at sundown:
Note: Some calendars will list the first day of a holiday without indicating that the holiday actually begins sundown the night before. For more information see the Calendar pages...
February 2021 Updates
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Parashat Ki Tisa - כי תשא
02.28.21 (Adar 16, 5781) Shalom chaverim. Our Torah reading for this week is Ki Tisa, one of the longest of the Torah. It includes the tragic account of the Sin of the Golden Calf (עֵגֶל מַסֵּכָה) and Moses' passionate intercession for Israel. After a period of teshuvah (repentance) for Israel's idolatry, the LORD graciously revealed the meaning of the Name YHVH (יהוה), that is, the thirty-two words that have become known in Jewish tradition as the Shelosh Esrei Middot, or the "Thirteen Attributes of God's Mercy." This was the LORD's own definition of His character and attributes to Moses after the breaking of the Sinai covenant. See the Ki Tisa Summary for the Hebrew text and audio of this vital revelation from God.
Recall that in our last two Torah readings (i.e., Terumah / Tetzaveh), we read how Moses was upon Mount Sinai receiving the vision of the Sanctuary (i.e., the Mishkan or "Tabernacle") and its various furnishings. In this week's portion, God commanded that all Israelite men over the age of twenty were required to pay a tax for the upkeep of the Sanctuary: "each shall give (וְנָתְנוּ) a ransom (i.e., kofer:כּפֶר) for his life to the LORD" (Exod. 30:12). The sages note that the word ve'natnu can be written backward and forward, alluding to the idea that whoever gives tzedekah (i.e., "charity") never feels the loss of having given anything away (Bava Batra). Giving benevolence produces wealth; tzedakah is an investment in your spiritual future! Indeed, "charity saves from death" - tzedakah hatzil mi-mavet: / צְדָקָה תַּצִּיל מִמָּוֶת (Prov. 10:2; 11:4). The love of God is like that: when we give it away, it becomes our own possession. The converse is also true. If we withhold helping others, eventually we may be unable to give what we would have given had we the opportunity (and consequently, we lose our blessing). In this age of economic fear, giving tzedakah is truly countercultural and faith-affirming: but the truth abides: when we give, we receive....
After this tax was defined, the LORD described some additional elements that would be required for the priestly service at the Sanctuary, namely, a copper washstand, sacred anointing oil, and incense for the Golden Altar in the Holy Place. The Lord then named Betzalel, a man "filled with the Spirit of God" to be the chief architect of the Mishkan. Before the construction would begin, however, the Lord warned the people to be careful to observe the Sabbath day. Immediately following this admonition, God gave Moses the two tablets of the Ten Commandments, which were inscribed directly by the hand of God.
Before Moses returned to the camp, however, "certain people" had talked his brother Aaron into making a golden idol which they began to worship as their "god." The LORD then told Moses of their treachery and threatened to destroy all the Israelites, but Moses interceded on their behalf. As he rushed down the mountain, with the tablets in hand, he saw the people dancing about the idol and smashed the Tablets in anger. Moses then destroyed the idol and led the Levites in slaying 3,000 of the ringleaders.
The following day, Moses returned up the mountain and begged God to reaffirm the covenant. After a 40 day period of intercession, the Lord finally told Moses to carve a second set of Tablets and to meet him again at the summit of Sinai, where He would show Moses his glory and reveal to him the meaning of His Name (יהוה). When Moses encountered the LORD in a state of brokenness and forgiveness, his face began to shine with glory - a glory that foretold of the New Covenant of God's mercy and grace to come in Yeshua.
When the people saw Moses coming down the mountain with the second set of Tablets, they understood they were forgiven and that the Covenant had been renewed. When they approached him, however, they drew back in fear, because his face was radiant with the glory of God. Moses reassured them, however, and then told them all that the Lord had commanded while he was on the mountain. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil (מַסְוֶה) over his face. From that time on, Moses wore a veil in the camp, though he removed it whenever he went before the Lord for further instructions.
Shabbat Parah (the Sabbath following Purim in preparation of Passover)
Science Rightly Understood...
02.28.21 (Adar 16, 5781) Part of what "renewing your mind" means is learning to question the assumptions of worldly culture and resisting the temptation to flow with "preconscious" acceptance of habitual ways of seeing and thinking. Take the enterprise of "science," for example, and the frequent appeals made by its advocates that modern science should be regarded as the voice of authority about what is real... Just a moment of reflection, however, will indicate that the scientific enterprise is a faith system that inescapably believes many metaphysical (i.e., non-scientific) axioms, including assumptions about time (i.e., that the future will "resemble" the past), about motion (i.e., that natural processes are "uniform"), about space (that there is an external world that is knowable to the human mind); about the capability of the mind to define and represent things (e.g., that measurement "makes traction" or "corresponds" with this external world and can be used to predict outcomes); about values (i.e., that it is "better" to know rather than not to know; or that the scientific method is an "good way" to develop inductive inferences, or that a given theory is "elegant," etc.). Note that not one of these various axioms are based on the scientific merhod itself (which is based on evidence and repeatable empirical measurement), but they are brought to science as assumptions used to frame or organize a particular "paradigm." In other words, science is a system of faith about what constitutes "reality," and like any other faith system, it needs to undergo testing to see if its inferences and claims provide the best explanation for what is real. For instance, does the naturalistic view of reality espoused by evolutionary cosmologists best explain the meaning of life? Does it account, for instance, for the origin of the electromagnetic pulse of the individual human heart? For the aesthetic wonder of the beauty? For poetry, or the longing of heart for love? for friendship? truth? for eternal life?
There are limits of scientific knowledge and its apprehension of reality (as clearly explained by Immanuel Kant). Do phenomenal cause and effect inferences have anything to say to us today? Of course *good* science is a humble endeavor because it realizes its conclusions are tentative and subject to falsification. Good science that is based on verifiable research that has undergone the rigors of peer-reviewed testing is an avenue of knowledge about things, though of course it is not infallible. Moreover, not all that is claimed to be "good science" deserves the title. Some science is "politicized" and other "science" is employed for purposes of manipulation and marketing. Other science is wildly speculative and undeserving of the name "science" itself. For example consider that the theory of macro evolution that claims (without any empirical evidence whatsoever) the universe simply exploded into being out of absolutely nothing for no logical reason whatsoever... It should be obvious that if we define science as "the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena," macro evolutionary theory does not qualify as science, since it is not based on the direct observation of how the universe originated, etc., though the observation of expected results if it were true can be admitted, so long as it is understood that such evidence is inductive and therefore not demonstrable by logic (that is, if p then q, q, therefore p is not a valid form of reasoning). And as for the "noumenal" realm of reality, silence cannot comment. "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent."
Many people ascribe to "science" god-like powers it simply does not have, just as are many people are unaware that science is grounded in philosophical assumptions that transcend the realm of scientific knowledge altogether. It is wise, therefore, when presented with a scientific claim that something is true, to respectfully ask for the logical reasons and the warrant (i.e., datasets, methodologies, etc.) for believing the claim is justified. Remember that relying on self-professed testimonial is not sufficient warrant since such testimony may be biased, as for example when pharmaceutical companies claim the efficacy of a particular medication or vaccine. As a matter of fact, genuine scientific consensus is rare, and we should remember that scientific knowledge is an ongoing process that ever-approximates what is true. For example, it was not long ago that science thought the earth was flat, that leeches and bloodletting were prescribed to cure illnesses; that phrenology and lobotomies were used to "cure" mental illness, and so on. Be wise and test truth claims, chaverim. If there are peer-reviewed studies that independently confirm the probable truth of a given hypothesis, then that is to be respected and taken into consideration, but unthinking acceptance of statements made by unqualified authorities (such as politicians, mass media broadcasters, or pharmaceutical CEOs, etc.) about the efficacy or interpretation of scientific data is not.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." (C.S. Lewis: God in the Dock)
[ I wrote this entry a year ago, when Covid 19 was just beginning to be exploited by the change agents of culture. The devil plays the long game... This still applies today. ]
02.26.21 (Adar 14, 5781) In light of all the worldwide fear over contracting or dying from a virus, I encourage you to remember the words of Scripture that proclaim that Yeshua came to "deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery" (Heb. 2:15). For those who believe, death is a conduit to heaven and the Presence of God. As Yeshua our Savior said: "I am the resurrection and the life (אני התחייה והחיים). Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die" (John 11:25-26). "Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who wait for his lovingkindness, that he may deliver their soul from death..." (Psalm 33:18-19). As Paul also said: "We felt that we had received the sentence of death; but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and on him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again" (2 Cor. 1:9-10). "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as children, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" (Rom. 8:15).
We are given daily bread (לחם יומי) -- just enough to sustain us for this day. This teaches us to live one day at a time, trusting in God's provision and thanking him for the gift of life. The Torah of "manna" teaches us to trust God and to be thankful for his daily care. When you live each day as if it might be your last, the fear of the future fades away and you are free to live at peace in the moment. Therefore Yeshua taught us: "Don't be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow has its own troubles. Live one day at a time" (Matt. 6:34). Kierkegaard comments: "If there is no next day for you, then all earthly care is annihilated. When the next day comes, it loses its enchantment and its disquieting insecurity. If there is no next day for you, then either you are dying or you are one who by dying to temporality has grasped the Eternal, either one who is actually dying or one who is really living... The one who rows a boat turns his back to the goal toward which he is working. So it is with the next day. When, with the help of the Eternal, a person lives absorbed in today, he turns his back to the next day. The more he is eternally absorbed in today, the more decisively he turns his back to the next day." Amen. We walk by faith, not by sight (כי באמוּנה נתהלּך ולא בּראוּת עינים); we stand in the intersection between time and eternity, suspended between what is seen and what is unseen, and it is from there, from that place of struggle and exile that we call upon the name of the LORD, our Strong Tower in the midst of the flux of this passing realm (Prov. 18:10). Shabbat Shalom, chaverim. Remember the war with Amalek!
02.26.21 (Adar 14, 5781) Social engineers and cynical politicians know that "fear conditioning" is the tool of choice for disrupting the analytical and volitional capacity of its victims... Fear is the weapon of mass media designed to control people, to enforce conformity to a social order that refuses to question authority, and to distract people from the truth.
It is prophetically interesting that the State of Israel is leading the world in draconian vaccination policies that impart heavy social consequences for those who refuse compliance to the secular authorities. Without having a "digital passport" to validate your vaccine status, a person will literally be unable to travel, buy, or sell in the new social order. This will soon become the worldwide "norm," as specious utilitarian reasoning will elevate the status of the "greater good" of the political state to mean the end of the individual and civil liberties... This is nothing but the old "devil's logic" I have written about before....
The 144,000 tzaddikim that will withstand the satanic world order imposed by the antichrist will be, above all, courageous lovers of truth who submit to God as their sole authority in life. We can learn from their example by thinking for ourselves, walking in the light of divine truth, and repudiating any interpretation of reality that denies the presence of God. Our mantra in this age of political coercion and suppression must be: "In God I trust; I shall not be afraid; what can man do to me?" (Psalm 56:11). Amen. Lord, impart to us the Seal of your protection and empower us to stand for your truth, despite the madness of the crowd and the cruel tyranny of those who agitate them. On this day of Purim, please break the rod of the wicked and cause their wicked schemes to rebound upon them. Amen.
The Bible forewarns that in acharit hayamim, the End of Days, there will be widespread persecution of the followers of Yeshua (Matt. 24:7-9). We must be willing to stand faithful before the Lord, even as the world system attempts to force us bow to their false gods and idols... We will not falter if our minds are decided about what is truly real and abiding. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "A man who does not have something for which he is willing to die is not fit to live." Likewise Jim Elliot famously said: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Friends, there may come a time when we may have to make the ultimate sacrifice - to die kiddush HaShem for the sake of our commitment to Yeshua the Lord. We cannot serve two masters, and if the world system attempts to force us to accept its vision of "the good" or to face death, we will have no choice but die for our faith... Like Daniel's faithful friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who defied the decree of Nebuchadnezzar, we must say without hesitation: "Even if God should not deliver us from your fiery furnace, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up" (Dan. 3:17-18). We must be willing to die for the Lord if there is no other option. Like Queen Esther we say, וְכַאֲשֶׁר אָבַדְתִּי אָבָדְתִּי- "And if I perish, I perish." We cannot remain faithful unto death apart from God's grace, of course, and therefore we trust that the Holy Spirit will comfort us in the hour of our testing.
Esther and God's Providence...
02.26.21 (Adar 14, 5781) Much is made over the fact that the book of Esther is the only book of the Tanakh that does not explicitly mention the Name of God. However, the idea of God's sovereignty and hashgachah (divine providence) is clearly implied throughout the entire story. Indeed the sages teach that the message of Purim concerns the kingship of God (ממלכת האל), with the word "the king" (המלך) appearing over 100 times and the word "kingdom" (מלכות) appearing ten times in the scroll. In most cases the word "king" refers to King Achashverosh, though the sages say that when Achashverosh is not explicitly named, it may also refer to the King of the Universe. The phrase hester panim (הסתר פנים) means "hiding of the face" and is often used when discussing the Book of Esther. In this sense of the term, hester panim is somewhat like the sun on an overcast day: Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it isn't there. God's providential love is at work at all times, whether we perceive it or not. This is suggested in the name of the scroll itself: the phrase Megillat Esther (מגילת אסתר), literally "the Scroll of Esther," can be rearranged to say megallat ha'seter (מגילת הסתר), "the concealed scroll."
In light of this nes nistar (נס נסתר), or "hidden miracle" of the Jew's deliverance, Esther and Mordecai ordained that Purim should be observed as a "day of feasting and merrymaking" and of sending gifts to the poor (Esther 9:22,28). By the way, Purim (פורים) was so named because Haman had cast lots (purim) to determine the day on which to destroy the Jews.
So what does Purim teach us? Well first of all it teaches that the LORD is in control of everything, even if may seem otherwise. Nothing happens apart from God's sovereign will, and therefore everything works together for the ultimate good for those who trust in Him (Rom. 8:28). The term hashgachah pratit (השׁגחה פרטית) refers to God's personal supervision of our lives (hashgachah means "supervision," and pratit means "individual" or "particular"). Since He is the Master of the Universe (אדון עולם), God's supervision and providence reaches to the smallest of details of creation - from subatomic particles to the great motions of the cosmos. God not only calls each star by its own name (Psalm 147:4), but knows each particular lily and sparrow (Matt. 6:28-30, 10:29). Each person created in the likeness of God is therefore under the direct, personal supervision of God Himself -- whether that soul is conscious of that fact or not. As Yeshua said, even the hairs on your head are all numbered (Matt. 10:30). The God of Israel is called אלהי הרוּחת לכל־בּשׂר / Elohei ha-ruchot lekhol-basar: "The God of the spirits of all flesh" (Num. 16:22), and that means He is LORD even over those who vainly attempt to suppress His Presence and reality. Second, Purim teaches that God's plans for Israel will never (ever) fail and that those who disregard Israel in their theology do so at their peril. Third, the story of Esther provides a warning for those tyrants and princes of this world who oppress God's people: Like the false usurper Haman, you are likewise doomed to failure, and the LORD will vindicate all who trust in Him for deliverance.
There is great comfort when we understand that God has complete authority over everything in the universe -- including our ultimate welfare (John 10:27-28). When we pray to the LORD God of Israel, we intuitively understand that He is completely sovereign and Lord over all things... All power, glory, authority, and dominion is His alone, and all that is in the heaven and in the earth is His (1 Chron. 29:11-12). We do not worry that He is somehow incapable of handling our troubles or that He is unable to help us. No, we acknowledge that the God most High (אל עליון) sustains all things by the Word of His power (Col. 1:17). He is "the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings (מלך המלכים) and the Lord of lords" (1 Tim. 6:15). Whenever we think clearly in light of the revelation of Scripture, we apprehend the truth about God's sovereign glory and power... Happy Purim of the Messiah Yeshua, chaverim!
[ The holiday of Purim begins this evening at sundown... ]
02.25.21 (Adar 13, 5781) Purim is a prophetic holiday, foretelling of the ultimate victory to come. Here is a vision of the coming "Purim haGadol," that Coming Day and hour: "Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True (נֶאֱמָן וְיָשָׁר), and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a Name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the Name by which he is called is the Word of God (דְּבַר הָאֱלהִים). And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron. And He will tread the winepress of the fierce fury of the wrath of God, the Ruler over All (παντοκράτωρ), the LORD God Almighty (יְהוָה אֱלהֵי צְבָאוֹת). On his robe and on his thigh he has a Name written, the King of kings (מֶלֶךְ הַמְּלָכִים) and the Lord of lords (אֲדנֵי הָאֲדנִים). And with the breath of his lips He will slay the wicked" (Rev. 19:11-16).
On the great Day of the LORD (יוֹם־יְהוָה הַגָּדוֹל), the wicked will become "ashes under the feet of the righteous," hearkening to the promise of in the New Testament: "The God of peace (אלהֵי הַשָּׁלוֹם) will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you" (Rom. 16:20). Meanwhile, of course, we must fight the "good fight of faith" and be strong in the LORD and the power of His might. "Wondrously show Your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at Your right hand" (Psalm 17:7). As King Asa once prayed, "LORD, there is no one besides Thee to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in Thee, and in Thy name have come against this multitude. O LORD, Thou art our God; let not man prevail against Thee" (2 Chron. 14:11). We offer praise in anticipation of the great deliverance to come: "Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip" (Psalm 66:8-9). The LORD is surely able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy (Jude 1:24).
May that day come speedily, and in our time...
HAPPY PURIMCHAVERIM!
Happy Purim of the Messiah!
[ The festive holiday of Purim begins this evening at sundown... ]
02.25.21 (Adar 13, 5781) During Purim we read the Scroll of Esther (מגילת אסתר) and recall how the Jewish people were providentially saved from Haman's evil plot to destroy them. However it is important to know that any day that is marked by special deliverance by God may be regarded as a "personal" or "special" Purim. Therefore some Jewish families and communities observe "special purims" to commemorate the anniversary of a particular deliverance (such as the Purim of Cairo, the Purim of Tiberius, and so on). The most special deliverance we have comes from being set free from the guilt of our sins, of course, since this gives us true peace with God (Rom. 5:1,11). In fact, Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) is also known as Yom Kippurim in the Tanakh, which can be read as Yom Ke-Purim (i.e., יום, "a day" + כ, "like" + פרים, "Purim"). Therefore the day on which Yeshua sacrificed Himself on the cross is the greatest Purim of all, since through His loving intervention we are eternally delivered from the hands of our enemies. Yehi shem Adonai mevorakh (הי שׁם יהוה מברך): "Blessed be the Name of the Lord." Happy Purim of Yeshua the Messiah, chaverim!
[ How do we get "saved" or are made right with God? Is it by means of religious rituals, or by doing good deeds, or by believing certain things about God, or perhaps all of these? ]
02.25.21 (Adar 13, 5781) Do you really understand how people are "saved" or made right with God? Do you "get" the message of the gospel? I once read from a Christian devotional book that said that in order to receive God's salvation you must do the following: 1) believe in Jesus' substitutionary death and resurrection; 2) turn away from your sins, and 3) ask him to be the Lord and Savior of your life. The author then went on to explain that "this means you have to renounce and turn away from everything in your life that is contrary to what God wants: you must give up your sinful self-centeredness and turn to God."
Now while at first glance this appeal may sound Biblical, it implicitly assumes that your own goodness and self-effort will save you. After all, if you really could turn away from your sins and from "everything in your life that is contrary to what God wants," and if you really could simply "give up your sinful self-centeredness," then there really would be no need for the miracle of spiritual rebirth, no need for the power of God to impart a new nature to you, and therefore no need for the cross of Messiah to save you from the verdict of the moral law.
Contrary to the false gospel that "God helps those who help themselves," we must emphasize that God helps precisely and only those who cannot help themselves... Indeed the teaching of the New Covenant is clear: God will perform a miracle by putting his Torah within your will, writing it on your heart, and recreating you into his child (Jer. 31:33; Ezek. 36:26; John 3:3; 2 Pet. 1:4). All this comes from the power of God alone, however, not by human aspiration or resolution or good works (John 1:12-13; 6:44; Rom. 10:9-12; Titus 3:5). Like father Abraham, we are "justified" (i.e., made right) with God by believing in his power, relying on his Spirit, and trusting in his promise of love (Hab. 2:4; Rom. 4:13-25).
Yeshua did not come to set up a "new religion" but to give life to the dead. Therefore it is no longer "I" who live but Messiah in me, which is to say that we do not possess the miracle but the miracle possesses us... You are made into a new creation (בְּרִיָּה חֲדָשָׁה); your former life is passed and now all things become new (2 Cor. 5:17). But again you are not saved by "reforming" your character or by becoming a "promise keeper," but trusting in God's power and character. This is the way to receive the blessing. You come to God just as you are - acknowledging the truth of your raw and desperate need for deliverance from the corruption of your sinful condition, pressing past the verdict of the law in your desire for God's compassion (Psalm 85:10; Rom. 4:25). That's the heart of the gospel, after all. All you can do is bring is your brokenness and need to God for healing and then to respond to God's love by receiving it with humility and gratitude. Being made right with God is the gift of accepting that you are accepted despite your unacceptability because of God's great mercy for your life. As Yeshua said: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God" (Matt. 5:3).
"This wish to satisfy someone greater than the self, to be found acceptable, to belong at last, is a struggle familiar to many psychotherapy patients. In their lives they waste themselves on wondering how they are doing, on trying to figure out the expectations of others so that they can become someone in the eyes of others. They try to be practical, to be reasonable, to figure it all out in their heads. It is as though if only they could get the words straight in their heads, if only they could find the correct formula, then everything else in their lives would be magically straightened out. They are sure there is a right way to do things, though they have not yet found it. Someone in authority must know... It is as though it were discovered that two and two really did not equal four (but five), then at that moment all over the world every machine would stop operating, all of the lights would go out." (Sheldon B. Kopp)
It's almost comical to think that we must pledge to be perfect before we can come to the Lord for salvation. Can you imagine a person who has suffered for years as an alcoholic or addict of some kind being told that in order to be made right with God, they must believe that Yeshua died for their sins and that they therefore must turn away from all their sins, be perfect in their resolve, and pledge never to sin or be selfish again? For those of you who have suffered from addiction or struggled with chronic character defects in your lives, you know that empty promises to change mean nothing when it comes to turning away from what holds you in bondage... עָקב הַלֵּב מִכּל וְאָנֻשׁ ה֑וּא מִי יֵדָעֶנּו - "The heart is deceitful above all things and incurably sick: Who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9). God is not interested in our promises and pledges; he understands that we are bankrupt and powerless; he knows that what we need is nothing less than the miracle of raising a dead person to newness of life.
None of this is meant to impugn the importance of living your faith and making godly choices, of course... "Faith without works is dead," but note that such "works" come from the Spirit of God, as the truth that is worked into us is worked out in our experiences. The "work" of God is to believe in Yeshua (John 6:29) and true faith will "show up" in our lives... We must test the spirits but more importantly test our own -- do you really believe, even when you are tempted to judge yourself or others? There's nothing "easy" about really believing in God (though it is easy enough to say you believe when in fact you don't). The pattern remains: unless a seed "falls to the ground" and dies it abides alone; but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit (John 12:24). We first encounter the risen Lord and connect with the truth, and then we get off our crazy road to Damascus... Our subsequent life of sanctification is a "slow motion" catching up with the miracle and reality of the new birth wherein we "become who we are" in the Messiah (Col. 1:27; 3:1-4). In this connection, however, please remember that all the commandments of the New Covenant are directed to the new nature, not the old "Adamic" nature that is mortified and buried away from the life of the child of God.
Note: The Gospel and Buddhism...
Reflecting on the meaning of the true gospel message reveals that Buddhism (and Hinduism from which it evolved) presents another "gospel of humanism" as well. For instance, for many Buddhists the problem of life is suffering (dukkha) caused by selfish desire (tanha), and the way of salvation (moksha) from the wheel of rebirth (samsara) is to attain "nirvana," that is, to extinguish the ego and its desires by means of the enlightened practice of "right" views, intentions, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration summarized as the "Noble Eightfold Path." The eightfold path, in other words, is the means by which the soul is ultimately transformed and healed... On the other hand ancient Hinduism teaches that salvation is attained when we attain "divine consciousness" through various forms of "yoga" or ascetic disciplines. Only after long study and religious practices do we learn that all things are "one," and therefore the depth of the soul ("Atman") is ultimately divinity ("Brahman"). Salvation means becoming aware that you are inherently embedded into the oneness of all that is real: "One is the word of truth; two is the word of error." Duality of any kind is an illusion (maya), but understanding that "atman is Brahman" leads to timeless understanding and infinite bliss (mukti). The humanistic practice of various forms of yoga are the means by which people are saved -- not the revelation of the Mystery and Love of the Living God who radically intervenes in this world to save humanity from spiritual death.
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Tetzaveh... ]
02.25.21 (Adar 13, 5781) The last item described in the Mishkan (i.e., the "Tabernacle") was a golden "altar of incense" (מִזְבַּח הַקְּטרֶת) that was to be placed in the Holy Place just before the veil separating the Holy of Holies. Every morning and evening the High Priest would burn sacred incense on this altar (symbolizing prayer and intercession), and the blood of atonement was also applied there during the Yom Kippur service (Exod. 30:6-10). The sages say that the word "incense" – i.e., ketoret (קְטרֶת) – can be thought of as an acronym of the words kedushah (קְדוּשָׁה), "holiness," tahorah (טָהֳרָה), "purity," rachamim (רַחֲמִים), "compassion," and tikvah (תִקוָה), "hope," characteristics that marked the passion of Yeshua who interceded for us as he offered his blood before the heavenly kapporet as our High Priest of the new covenant. Indeed, the word ketoret comes from a root word (קטר) that means to offer sacrifice, further alluding to the intercession of Messiah on our behalf (Heb. 7:25). Disciples of Yeshua are likewise called priests of God (Rev. 1:6; 1 Pet. 2:5), and our prayers and service are regarded as a "sweet-smelling savor" offered to the Lord (Rev. 8:4). As it says in the Psalms: "Let my prayer be counted as incense before You; the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice" (Psalm 141:2).
Note: The Talmud states that the sacred incense recipe was made of eleven different spices, ten of which had pleasant fragrance, but one of which (i.e., galbanum) had an unpleasant odor. The sages explain that that the word for "community" in Hebrew (i.e., tzibbur:צִבּוּר) may be understood as an acronym for tzaddikim (צַדִּיקִים), "the righteous," be'nayim (בֵּינַיִם), "the intermediate," and resha'im (רְשָׁעִים), "the wicked," and that the presence of galbanum makes place for the transgressors... The presence of an unpleasant odor in the sacred mixture represents our laments, our cries, and confession for the foulness of our sins.
Priests of His Light...
02.25.21 (Adar 13, 5781) Our Torah for this week (Tetzaveh) describes the ceremony of consecration to the priesthood. We are chosen to be a "kingdom of priests," a set-apart people, and a light to the nations (Exod. 19:6; Isa. 42:6; 1 Pet. 2:9). Note the very first responsibility given to the priests was to care for the ner tamid (נר התמיד), the light of the Menorah (Exod. 27:20-21), which represents our consciousness of the Divine Presence (Psalm 18:28; 36:9). The challenge we all face is to remain "in the light as God is in the light" and not to be seduced by the world of fleeting appearances (Isa. 2:5; 1 John 1:7, 2:17). God's eternal light radiates through all things (Isa. 6:3; Psalm 139:11-12), just as the great "yehi ohr" (יְהִי אוֹר) - "Let there be light" - is the first word spoken to creation (Gen. 1:3). To be a priest means being so filled with the truth that you radiate peace; your inner light shines and you glorify your Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16). That is how we draw others to the truth, by receiving the beauty of the LORD (Psalm 27:4).
Of course being a "witness to the light," that is, being a "priest," does not mean you are a "perfect person" who walks about with a blissed-out attitude despite the various trials and tests we all face in this life. No, we all still sin, and we therefore need to confess the truth of our condition to abide in the light (1 John 1:9; James 5:16). Like everything else in Scripture, here we encounter paradox, as Yeshua taught: "Blessed are the impoverished in spirit (πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; blessed are the ones who mourn (οἱ πενθοῦντες), for they shall be comforted; blessed are the meek (οἱ πραεῖς), for they shall inherit the earth" (Matt. 5:3-5). Yea, "God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God" (1 Cor. 1:27-29).
The Hebrew word for priest (i.e., kohen:כּהֵן) may come from the word ken (כֵּן) meaning "yes" and the word kivun (כִּווּן) meaning to "direct" or "lead," implying that a priest helps direct a person toward affirming the Reality and Truth of God. The role of a priest is to draw us to God, then, but how is that possible if the mediator cannot genuinely understand our sorrows and struggles? What draws others to God is his love, but how can we come to believe in that love were it not for the priesthood of the leper, the priesthood of the outcast, the priesthood of the reject? Even so Yeshua was afflicted with our infirmities and therefore sympathizes with our brokenness and frailty (see Heb. 4:16).
As a priest of brokenness, you are called to be a wounded healer, and you can testify of God's saving grace and love for you despite your sorrow, anger, weaknesses, and failures... Accepting God's compassion for you - just as you are - allows you to show grace and kindness to others who are also hurting, and therefore you can serve as a priest of God.
Be encouraged, friends... "For the commandment is a lamp and Torah is light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life" (Prov. 6:23). Here we may understand the "reproofs of discipline" as the (ongoing) process of consciously turning away from darkness (of fear, anger, etc.) to the behold the divine light. We have to start here, after all... The way of life is teshuvah (repentance, turning to God), which is a painful process to the lower nature, but is necessary to walk in the light. Confession brings light into our hearts (James 5:16; 1 John 1:5-9), and the end of our struggle is healing and life.
The Light of the Servant...
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Terumah... ]
02.24.21 (Adar 12, 5781) The menorah (מְנוֹרָה) symbolizes light, growth, unity, and the Tree of Life (עֵץ הַחַיִּים). All its intricate parts (i.e., its seven branches with seven lamps, nine flower blooms, eleven fruits, and twenty two cups) were formed from a single piece of pure gold (זָהָב טָהוֹר) that was "beaten" or "hammered" into shape (Exod. 25:36). This is a symbol of the divine substance (gold has a hint of the color of blood combined with the pure white). Note further that the menorah sat upon a three-legged base - a hint of hashilush ha-kadosh (the triune nature of the Godhead that is the Root of all reality). This is another image of the concept of echdut - unity in plurality found in the Torah. Just as the many parts of the Mishkan were put together to form "one Tabernacle" (הַמִּשְׁכָּן אֶחָד, see Exod. 26:6) and the prophet Ezekiel was told to join together two sticks to form "one tree" (עֵץ אֶחָד, see Ezek. 37:17), so the many parts of the menorah were likewise fashioned to form "one menorah" (Exod. 25:36). Likewise, the Torah itself is made up of five separate Books, but it is nevertheless one Torah, just as the children of Israel were divided into Kohanim (priests), Levites, and Israelites, though together they form one nation... Yeshua likewise taught us there would be one flock formed from both Jews and Gentiles, having one Shepherd (John 10:16).
The seven lamps of the menorah were lit daily, "from evening until morning," starting from the central lamp (the shamash) and then moving right to left (Exod. 27:21). According to the Talmud (Shabbat 22b), while all the lamps received the same amount of olive oil, the "westernmost" lamp (according to Rashi, the center lamp, due to its orientation) miraculously never ran out of oil, even though it was kindled first in the sequence. When Aaron would rekindle the lamps every evening, he saw the shamash still burning, so he simply refilled it with oil and trimmed its wick. This miracle is also said to have occurred during the Temple period, though it abruptly ended about 40 years before the destruction of the Second Temple (c. 30 AD), after the death of Yeshua the Messiah, the true Servant and Branch of the LORD. As it is attested in the Talmud: "Our Rabbis taught: During the last forty years before the destruction of the Temple the lot ['For the Lord'] did not come up in the right hand; nor did the crimson-colored strap become white; nor did the westernmost light shine" (Yoma 39a).
The Scriptures declare that God is light, and Yeshua is the true Light of God (1 John 1:5; John 1:9). The light from the menorah reveals spiritual light. It was not seen from the outside of the Tabernacle, but only while inside the holy chamber, before the holy place of sacrificial atonement. The light itself came from the burning of pure and beaten olive oil - a symbol of anointing and the Holy Spirit (רוּחַ הַקּדֶשׁ). It enabled service to God to be performed, though it was not a light to be used for profane purposes. Notice that the six lamps faced the central lamp -- a picture of Yeshua, the Light of the World whose arms and legs were "hammered" for our sins.... He is the suffering servant (shamash) who lightens everyone in the world; He is the center, the supporting trunk for the other branches (John 15:5).
02.24.21 (Adar 12, 5781) There is an "upside-down way" of experiencing heavenly growth and lasting prosperity, though it is not a very popular one: "It was good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your decrees" (Psalm 119:71). Affliction is a teacher... There is a blessing when you feel like you are "falling to pieces" because then you can know "in your bones" that only God can hold you together... Affliction serves as a "leash" of sorts, keeping us close to God's side, helping us number our days to attain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12). As Yeshua said: Ashrei aniyei ha'ruach: "blessed are the poor in spirit," ki la'hem malchut ha'shamayim: "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:3). Such inner poverty is a disguised grace, and the desire for healing reveals the Spirit's invitation. Kotzer ruach (קוֹצֶר רוּחַ) is a phrase that means being short of breath, panting for the Divine Presence, yearning for God. When you are wounded, desperate, and find nothing else within you for life, then you are able to see clearly and to receive the miracle of the divine comfort. "I know, O LORD, that your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant. Let your tender mercies come to me, that I may live; for your Torah is my delight" (Psalm 119:75-77).
Learn to see your daily afflictions as a blessing in disguise, an opportunity for you to develop the precious middah (quality) of patience and endurance... Indeed, it is curse to be devoid of need before the LORD, and therefore affliction is a means to receiving divine comfort.
The students of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai asked him: Why did the manna not fall once a year [as opposed to once a day]? He answered, I will give you a parable: It can be compared to a mortal king who had a son for whom he provided food once a year; as a result, he saw his son but once a year. Thereupon he provided for his maintenance daily, so that he called upon him every day. The same is with Israel. One who had four or five children would worry and say, 'Perhaps no manna will fall tomorrow, and we will all die of hunger.' Thus they turned their faces to heaven in prayer (Yoma 76a).
Just as God humbled Israel with manna in the desert, so He humbles us. "Give us this day our daily bread..." The purpose of affliction is ultimately good and healing: God humbles us with manna so "that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD" (Deut. 8:3). In other words, God uses the discipline of affliction to lead us to the truth. We often pray that our problems be taken away, but God sometimes ordains these very problems so that we will draw near to Him... Yeshua told us, "Your heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask Him." Many of us are slow to learn, but God is patient with those whom He disciplines. The goal is to never lose sight of what's most important, which is God Himself.
"I didn't go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity." - C.S. Lewis: God in the Dock
Hiddenness and Disclosure...
02.24.21 (Adar 12, 5781) The sages extol the importance of the holiday of Purim because it reveals the hidden hand of God, despite his apparent absence in the affairs of this world... On the surface, each turn of the story could be explained naturally, or as simple "coincidence," yet in the end we realize that God was at work behind the scenes, carefully putting together deliverance for God's people. The eye of faith trusts in God's providential plan, despite appearances to the contrary. Indeed, the phrase hester panim (הֶסְתֵר פָּנִים) means "hiding of the face" and is often used when discussing the Book of Esther. Understood as hidden providence, hester panim is somewhat like the sun on an overcast day: Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it isn't there. God's great love is at work at all times, in all affairs of the universe, whether we perceive it or not.
The holiday of Purim occurs this coming Thursday, February 25th (at sundown) and runs through the following day. In anticipation of the coming holiday, then, let me wish you and your family Purim Sameach (פורים שמח) -- with the prayer that you will stand true to your faith, despite this wicked world and its syncretizing influences. Hooray for Mordecai! -- may the LORD raise up many like him!
Hidden in Plain Sight...
[ The festival of Purim begins Thursday, February 25th at sundown... ]
02.24.21 (Adar 12, 5781) Although the Name of God is not explicitly mentioned in the Book of Esther, the story is essentially about revelation, that is, the disclosure of God's Presence despite His apparent concealment. The phrase hester panim (הֶסְתֵר פָּנִים) means "hiding of face" and is often used when discussing the divine providence. God's plan is being fulfilled, step-by-step, even if it is hidden within the "natural" world of human beings and their choices (Jer. 10:23; Prov. 21:1). The LORD is Ha'mashgiach (i.e., הַמַּשְׁגִיחַ, the supervisor) of all things - from the motions of subatomic particles to the great events of the cosmos. He not only calls each star by its own name (Psalm 147:4), but knows each particular lily and sparrow (Matt. 6:28-30, 10:29). Indeed, each person is under the direct, personal supervision of God Himself (הַשְׁגָּחָה פְּרָטִית) -- whether he or she is conscious of this or not. As Yeshua said, even the hairs on your head are all numbered (Matt. 10:30).
The Apostle Paul taught that God "chose us [εκλεγομαι] in the Messiah before the foundation of the world" (Eph. 1:4). God called you by name -- before He created the very universe itself. "God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth" (2 Thess. 2:13). God loves you with an "everlasting love" (אַהֲבַת עוֹלָם) and with lovingkindness (i.e., chesed,חֶסֶד) draws you to Himself (Jer. 31:3). There is no fear in God's sovereign and irresistible love for your soul (1 John 4:18). "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31).
[ The festival of Purim begins Thursday Feb. 25th at sundown... Happy Purim chaverim! ]
02.24.21 (Adar 12, 5781) The Book of Esther centers on God's faithfulness and care of the Jewish people, and by extension, for all those (among the nations) who become partakers of Israel's blessings through Yeshua the Messiah. The "scandal" of the story turns on the "scandal of election," or the idea that God personally chooses some people -- for reasons that are entirely His alone -- to be the recipients of His covenantal love. The Jews are called the "chosen people" (עם הנבחר) just as Christians are said to be "chosen [εκλεγομαι] in Yeshua before the foundation of the world" (Eph. 1:4). In both cases we note God's sovereign prerogative to choose those who are in relationship with Him. Yeshua told his followers: "No one can come to me (δυναται ελθειν προς με) unless the Father who sent me drags [ἑλκύσῃ] him" (John 6:44, 6:65), and He also said "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you" (John 15:16). God is the Initiator of the relationship; He is the Master of the Universe and "the God of the spirits of all flesh" (Num. 16:22). If there is revelation from heaven, it is Heaven's prerogative to bestow it on Heaven's own terms...
Regarding this divine prerogative, Paul reminded us of God's words to Moses: "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy" (Rom. 9:15). He then followed this up with the statement: "So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who shows mercy" (Rom. 9:15-16). If this sounds "offensive" or "unfair," it may be that we are subconsciously appealing to our own supposed merit in order to find acceptance before God. The "scandal" of the gospel is that God loves whom He loves for reasons that are His alone, and this is likewise the scandal of God's sovereign choice of ethnic Israel. In either case, God is preeminent, and God is perfectly righteous in all he does.
Note that salvation is both for "whosoever wills" and is the direct result of God's effectual election for the particular individual... Though each person is responsible for believing the truth of God, no one is able to receive it apart from the intervening miracle of God's grace (see John 1:12-13; 3:3; 6:37,44; Jer. 31:3). Therefore we are instructed to "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling" because it is "God who works in you, both to will and to do his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:12-13). We are to "work out" what God "works in" to our heart of faith, though the beginning and end of salvation is the by means of the agency of God's power alone. I realize this is hard understand, but that does not mean we should dodge either side of the paradox, namely that it is our responsibility to "walk in faith" though we cannot do so apart from the intervention and sustaining power of God's Spirit our lives...
The life of faith is a "divine-human" cooperative whereby we learn to "walk in the Spirit" and understand our new identity forged by the grace of God. This is expressed by the apostle Peter where he wrote: "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love: For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Yeshua the Messiah. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you do these qualities you will never fall" (2 Pet. 1:3-10).
02.23.21 (Adar 11, 5781) The Amidah, or "standing prayer" is perhaps the most important prayer of the traditional Jewish synagogue, and next to the Shema, this prayer is the most widely recited Hebrew in the world. Indeed among observant Jews, it is referred to simply as Ha'tefillah, or "the prayer" of the Jewish people...
The basic form of the prayer was composed by Ezra the Scribe and the 120 Men of the Great Assembly in the fifth century BC. Some scholars surmise that the LORD's Prayer of Yeshua presents a concise restatement of the early version of the Amidah. Today the Amidah is a main section of the traditional Jewish prayerbook (siddur).
It has taken me quite a few long nights of work, but I have finally revised the Weekday Amidah prayer portion of the Hebrew for Christians site and have added brand new audio recordings, improved layout and text, and better quality study pages. I hope you will find it helpful in your study of Hebrew, chaverim. For more information click the link below:
02.23.21 (Adar 11, 5781) Where it is written, "The LORD appeared to me from far away: 'I have loved you with an everlasting love (אַהֲבַת עוֹלָם); therefore with love (חֶסֶד) have I drawn you'" (Jer. 31:3), note that the word translated "I have drawn you" (i.e., מְשַׁכְתִּיךְ) comes from mashakh (מָשַׁךְ), meaning to "seize" or "drag away" (the ancient Greek translation used the verb helko (ἕλκω) to express the same idea). As Yeshua said, "No one is able to come to me unless he is "dragged away" (ἑλκύσῃ, same word) by the Father" (John 6:44). God's chesed seizes us, takes us captive, and leads us to the Savior... Amen, and may the love of the LORD indeed be upon us, even as we put our hope in Him (Psalm 32:22).
02.23.21 (Adar 11, 5781) The Mishnah says, shuv yom echad lifnei mi'tatakh: "Repent one day before you die" (Avot 2:10), but who knows the day of one's death in advance? Perhaps your name will be called today, ending your lease on life in this world. Are you ready? Are you prepared to appear before God your Creator and Redeemer? Therefore live each day as if it were your last, making sure you seek the things that really matter... "Watch -- for you know neither the day nor the hour..." (Mark 13:33). As C.S. Lewis wrote: "The Future is, of all things, the thing least like eternity. It is the most temporal part of time -- for the Past is frozen and no longer flows, and the Present is all lit up with eternal rays, the point at which time touches eternity. Of the present moment, and of it only, humans have an experience analogous to the experience which [God] has of reality as a whole; in it alone freedom and actuality are offered them. God would therefore have us continually concerned either with eternity (which means being concerned with Him) or with the Present — either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself" (The Screwtape Letters).
[ The festival of Purim begins Thursday, Feb. 25th at sundown... Happy Purim Chaverim! ]
02.22.21 (Adar 10, 5781) The Scriptures state that the holiday of Purim "should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed" (Esther 9:28). According to Jewish tradition, we remember the miracles of Purim by means of four mitzvot (i.e., blessings): 1) Honoring the appointed time as directed by the Scriptures (see Esther 9:26-28); 2) Performing acts of tzedakah and kindness (Esther 9:22; i.e., misloach manot: מִשְׁלוֹחַ מָנוֹת); 3) Hearing the Megillah of Esther read; and 4) Enjoying a special Purim meal together. The Midrash Esther says that Purim, unlike many of the other holidays, will be celebrated even after the final redemption after the End of Days. Maimonides says that the Book of Esther will enjoy the same status as the Torah of Moses in the world to come (Mishneh Torah, Megillah). This is because the story of Purim -- i.e., God's covenantal faithfulness and defense of His people -- will be magnified in the deliverance that leads to the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom upon the earth. Indeed, the Second Coming of the Messiah will be regarded as the final fulfillment of Purim (Rev. 19:11-16).
Purim is all about God's irrepressible, undefeatable, insuperable and sovereign love for His people. Though the wicked seem to sometimes have the upper hand in olam ha-zeh (this present hour), we need not fret or become anxious (Psalm 37:1, Prov. 24:19, Phil. 4:6). God is in control and His love and purposes overrule the counsel of the wicked. He will one day speak to the princes of this dark world in His wrath and terrify them in His fury (Psalm 2:5). God's great vision for Zion, the "City of the Great King," will never fail, friends, nor will His love for those who are trusting in Him. God's sovereign love is our great hope. As King David said, בָּרְכוּ־נָא אֶת־יהוה אֱלהֵיכֶם / Barekhu-na et-Adonai Elohekhem: "Now bless the LORD your God" (1 Chron. 29:20). פּוּרִים שָׂמֵחַ / Purim Sameach: "Happy Purim" chaverim!
Oil of Illumination...
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Tetzaveh... ]
02.22.21 (Adar 10, 5781) From our Torah portion for this week (i.e., Tetzaveh) we read: "You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure olive oil "crushed" for the light, that an eternal lamp (נר תמיד) may be set up to burn" (Exod. 27:20). The Hebrew word for "pure" olive oil is zakh (זך), which refers to the clearest oil derived from squeezing out (or crushing) the very first drop from the choicest olive. The purest of oil was obtained by a process of "crushing for the light" (כתית למאור), which symbolizes the Light of the World, the One Crushed for our iniquities, the "Man of Sorrows" (אישׁ מכאבות) who offered himself up for our healing and illumination (Isa. 53:1-5). Some things are seen only through the process of tribulation, breaking, and surrender. When we kindle this lamp, we are able to see the truth; we perceive how God's heart was crushed for the sake of our salvation...
[ The festival of Purim begins Thursday, Feb. 25th at sundown... Happy Purim Chaverim! ]
02.21.21 (Adar 9, 5781) The Scriptures state that the holiday of Purim "should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed" (Esther 9:28). According to Jewish tradition, we remember the miracles of Purim by means of four mitzvot (i.e., blessings): 1) Honoring the appointed time as directed by the Scriptures (Esther 9:26-28); 2) Performing acts of tzedakah and kindness (Esther 9:22; i.e., misloach manot: מִשְׁלוֹחַ מָנוֹת); 3) Hearing the Megillah of Esther read; and 4) Enjoying a special Purim meal together. The Midrash Esther says that Purim, unlike many of the other holidays, will be celebrated even after the final redemption after the End of Days. Maimonides says that the Book of Esther will enjoy the same status as the Torah of Moses in the world to come (Mishneh Torah, Megillah). This is because the story of Purim -- i.e., God's covenantal faithfulness and defense of His people -- will be magnified in the deliverance that leads to the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom upon the earth. Indeed, the Second Coming of the Messiah will be regarded as the final fulfillment of Purim (Rev. 19:11-16).
Purim is all about God's irrepressible, undefeatable, insuperable and sovereign love for His people. Though the wicked seem to sometimes have the upper hand in olam ha-zeh (this present hour), we need not fret or become anxious (Psalm 37:1, Prov. 24:19, Phil. 4:6). God is in control and His love and purposes overrule the counsel of the wicked. He will one day speak to the princes of this dark world in His wrath and terrify them in His fury (Psalm 2:5). God's great vision for Zion, the "City of the Great King," will never fail, friends, nor will His love for those who are trusting in Him. God's sovereign love is our great hope. As King David said, בָּרְכוּ־נָא אֶת־יהוה אֱלהֵיכֶם / Barekhu-na et-Adonai Elohekhem: "Now bless the LORD your God" (1 Chron. 29:20). פּוּרִים שָׂמֵחַ / Purim Sameach: "Happy Purim" chaverim!
[ The following is related to our Torah reading for this week, parashat Tetzaveh... ]
02.21.21 (Adar 9, 5781) Shavuah tov, friends. Last week's Torah reading, parashat Terumah (תרומה), explained that God had asked for a "donation" (i.e., terumah) from the people for the sake of creating a portable, tent-like sanctuary called the Mishkan (משׁכּן), or "Tabernacle." God then showed Moses the pattern (תּבנית) according to which the Mishkan and its furnishings were to be made. First the Ark of the Covenant (ארון בּרית־יהוה) and its golden cover (called the kapporet:כּפּרת) would occupy an inner chamber of the tent (אהל) called the Holy of Holies (קדשׁ הקדשׁים). Within an adjoining chamber of the tent called the Holy place (הקדשׁ), a sacred Table (שׁלחן) would hold twelve loaves of unleavened bread (לחם פּנים) and a seven-branched Menorah (מנורה) would illuminate the tent. God gave precise dimensions of the tent with the added instruction to separate the Holy of Holies by a hanging veil called the parochet (פּרכת). The entire tent was to have a wooden frame (מסגּרת) covered by colored fabric and the hide of rams and goats. Outside the tent an outer court (חצר) was defined that would include a copper sacrificial altar (מזבח נחושת) and water basin (כּיּור נחשׁת). The chatzer, or outer court, was to be enclosed by a fence made with fine linen on silver poles with hooks of silver and sockets of brass.
Our Torah reading for this week, parashat Tetzaveh (תצוה), continues the description of the Mishkan, though the focus shifts to those who will serve within it, namely the kohanim (כּהנים), or the priests of Israel. First Moses was instructed to tell the Israelites to bring pure olive oil (שׁמן זית זך) for the lamps of the Menorah, which the High Priest (הכּהן הגדול) was instructed to light every evening in the Holy Place. Next God commanded Moses to ordain Aaron and his sons as priests and described the sacred garments (בּגדי־קדשׁ) they would wear while they were serving in the Mishkan.
All priests were required to wear four garments – linen breeches, tunics, sashes, and turbans, but in addition to these the High Priest (Kohen Gadol) was to wear a blue robe that was decorated with pomegranates and golden bells. Over this robe, an ephod (אפוד) – an "apron" woven of gold, blue, purple, and crimson – was to be worn, upon which was attached a "breastpiece" (חשׁן) inlaid with precious stones inscribed with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. The ephod also contained a pouch holding two unique gemstones called the urim v'tummin (אורים ותומים), usually translated as "lights and perfections." According to the Targum Jonathan, when a matter was brought to the High Priest for settlement, he would sometimes hold the urim (from אוֹר, "light") and tummin (from תָּם, "integrity" or "completeness") before the Menorah in the Holy Place and the Shekhinah would light up various letters inscribed on the gemstonesto reveal the will of God. Finally, the High Priest would wear a golden plate (i.e., tzitz zahav:צּיץ זהב) engraved with the words, "Holy to the LORD" (קדשׁ ליהוה) upon the front of his turban.
The priests were to be ordained in a seven-day consecration ceremony that involved washing, dressing, and anointing them with oil and blood, followed by the offering of sacrifices. The priests were further instructed to present burnt offerings twice a day upon the copper altar. The portion ends with a description of the Golden Altar (מזבּח הזהב) also called the Altar of Incense (מזבּח הקטרת) upon which incense (i.e., ketoret:קטרת) was offered twice a day by the priests when the Menorah lamps were serviced. In addition, the blood of atonement was to be placed on its corners once a year, during the Yom Kippur ritual.
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Terumah... ]
02.19.21 (Adar 7, 5781) In our Torah portion for this Shabbat (i.e., parashat Terumah), God provides instructions about creating the three-in-one chest called the "Ark of the Covenant" (אֲרוֹן בְּרִית־יְהוָה). Note that the Hebrew text says "they shall make an ark of acacia wood" (Exod. 25:10). Unlike other furnishings of the Tabernacle that were made by Betzalel, the text uses the plural verb here: "they shall make an ark" (וְעָשׂוּ אֲרוֹן), which implies that every person had a part in upholding the Torah. More - each person had a part in the place of blood atonement offered upon the kapporet - the cover of the Ark - which again symbolizes that Yeshua offered his life for the sins of all who would trust in him (1 John 2:2).
Note further that the Ark's dimensions were given in fractional measurements, "half-cubits" used to describe its length, width, and height, as we read: "They shall make an ark of acacia wood (עֲצֵי שִׁטִּים); two cubits and a half (וָחֵצִי) shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height" (Exod. 25:10). The sages comment that the "half-cubit" is symbolic of our fractional understanding, alluding to mystery and even paradox. "You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a crown of gold (זֵר זָהָב) around it" (Exod. 25:11). The heart of the Tabernacle held the law of God, a picture of Yeshua who bore the law of God within his heart (Matt. 5:17-18). And though the Ark was made of wood from the common thorntree, it was covered inside and out with pure gold and bore a "crown" where the sacrificial blood was offered for atonement, a picture of Yeshua who clothed himself in our humanity, bore the crown of thorns, and shed his blood for our eternal atonement (Heb. 9:12).
02.19.21 (Adar 7, 5781) Recall that before the revelation at Sinai God instructed Moses to set a "boundary" (i.e., hagbalah:הגבּלה) around the mountain with the stern warning that whoever would transgress the imposed limit would die (Exod. 19:12). But why did the LORD command this distance from the people at the time of such intense revelation? Why, for that matter, were God's first words to Moses, "do not come closer" (אַל־תִּקְרַב הֲלֹם) when he encountered the LORD before the burning thornbush (Exod. 3:5)? In response to such questions the sages have said that there is a fundamental "dialectic" or tension at the core of our connection with God. On the one hand God is utterly holy, sacredly separate, infinitely transcendent, and entirely beyond our understanding, while on the other hand God is entirely present within creation, upholding it and providentially sustaining it, and who is near to all who sincerely call upon him (Psalm 145:18). God is both Elohim (אלהִים) - the Master of the universe and ruler of all possible worlds -- the sole Creator (הַבּוֹרֵא) and the only true Judge and moral authority (הֲשֹׁפֵט הָאֲמִתִּית), yet he is also YHVH (יְהוָה), the source of our breath (Gen. 2:7; Num. 16:22), the compassionate Savior (הַמוֹשִׁיעַ), the intercessor (מַפְגִּיעַ), the Redeemer (הַגּוֹאֵל), the Healer (הַמְרַפֵּא), and Lover of our souls (חובב נשמתנו). God is both fully holy (separate) yet his glory pervades and fills the world (Isa. 6:3).
The dialectic between God's transcendence (sacred otherness) and immanence (inherent presence) evoke different existential responses within the heart of faith. The transcendence of God evokes emotions of fear, reverence, respect, honor, and profound awe, while the immanence of God evokes emotions of love, closeness, intimacy, comfort, safety, and so on. The Torah juxtaposes both heart attitudes by saying, "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear (לירוא) the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love (לֶאֱהֹב) him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deut. 10:12). In this summary statement of what the LORD requires of us, the fear of the LORD (i.e., yirat Hashem: יִרְאַת יהוה) is mentioned first. First we must learn to properly fear the LORD and only then will we be able to walk (לָלֶכֶת) in His ways, to love (לְאַהֲבָה) Him, and to serve (לַעֲבד) Him with all our heart and soul. But again, the requirement to fear the LORD your God (לְיִרְאָה אֶת־יהוה) is placed first in this list...
Indeed, "the fear of the LORD is said to be the beginning of wisdom (רֵאשִׁית חָכְמָה)." Without fear of the LORD, you will walk in darkness and be unable to turn away from evil (Psalm 111:10; Prov. 1:7; 9:10; 10:27; 14:27, 15:33; 16:6). The Scriptures plainly declare that "the fear of the LORD leads to life" (יראת יהוה לחיּים, lit. "is for life"):
The word translated "fear" in many versions of the Bible comes from the Hebrew word yirah (יִרְאָה), which has a range of meaning in the Scriptures. Sometimes it refers to the fear we feel in anticipation of some danger or pain, but it can also can mean "awe" or "reverence." In this latter sense, yirah includes the idea of wonder, amazement, mystery, astonishment, gratitude, admiration, and even worship (like the feeling you get when gazing from the edge of the Grand Canyon). The "fear of the LORD" therefore includes an overwhelming sense of the glory, worth, and beauty of the One True God.
According to the classical sages, there are three "levels" or types of yirat HaShem, or the fear of the LORD. The first level is the fear of unpleasant consequences or punishment (i.e., yirat ha'onesh: יִרְאַת הָענֶשׁ). This is perhaps how we normally think of the word "fear." We anticipate pain of some kind and (naturally) want to flee from it.
The second type of fear concerns anxiety over breaking God's law (sometimes called yirat ha-malkhut:יִרְאַת הַמַּלְכוּת). This kind of fear motivates people to do good deeds because they are afraid God will punish them in this life (or in the world to come). This is the foundational concept of karma (i.e., the cycle of moral cause and effect). As such, this kind of fear is founded on self-preservation, though in some cases the heart's motive may be mixed with a genuine desire to honor God or to avoid God's righteous wrath for sin (Exod. 1:12, Lev. 19:14; Matt. 10:28; Luke 12:5). God does not wink at evil or injustice, and those who practice wickedness have a genuine reason to be afraid (Matt. 5:29-30; 18:8-9; Gal. 6:7-8). God is our Judge and every deed we have done will be made known: "Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is" (1 Cor. 3:13). We should tremble before the LORD because we are fully accountable for our lives. We should fear sin within our hearts. Our actions matter, and we should dread the thought of angering God. There will be a final day of reckoning for us all...
The Chofetz Chaim warned that even though the fear of God's punishment may deter us from sin in the short run, by itself it is insufficient for spiritual life, since it is based on an incomplete idea about God. It sees God in terms of the attributes of justice (אלהִים) but overlooks God as the Compassionate Savior of life (יהוה). After all, if you are avoiding sin only because you fear God's punishment, you may clean the "outside of the cup" while the inside is still full of corruption... Or you might attempt to find rationalizations to excuse yourself from "legal liability." You may appear outwardly religious (i.e., "obedient," "Torah observant," "righteous"), but inwardly you may be in a state of alienation and rebellion. "The heart is deceitful above all things..." (Jer. 17:9).
The third (and highest) kind of fear is a profound reverence for life that comes from rightly seeing. This level discerns the Presence of God in all things and is sometimes called yirat ha-rommemnut (יִרְאַת הָרוֹמְמוּת), or the "Awe of the Exalted." Through it we behold God's glory and majesty in all things. "Fearing" (יִרְאָה) and "seeing" (רָאָה) are linked and united. We are elevated to the level of reverent awareness, holy affection, and genuine communion with God's Holy Spirit. The love for good creates a spiritual antipathy toward evil, and conversely, hatred of evil is a way of fearing God (Prov. 8:13). "For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God" (John 3:20-21). In relation to both good and evil, then, love (אַהֲבָה) draws us near, while fear (יִרְאָה) holds us back.
The complex tension between fearing and loving God expresses both God's distance and nearness -- both relations are expressed in the Scriptures, and therefore both are to be affirmed. We must honor and revere God as our Creator and Judge, conscious of the distance implied in his power, glory, holiness, and perfections, yet we draw close to Him as our Savior, our healer, and our friend...
We encounter this tension when we come to the cross of the Messiah as well, for there we see the severity of God's judgment for sin based on his absolute holiness (transcendence) while simultaneously seeing the incalculable depths of God's love as he offers himself in exchange for our condemnation (immanence). At the cross we see how Yeshua both suffered and died on our behalf, yet the dark cloud covered the place in the most intimate moments of passionate intercession for our deliverance.
We must cultivate awe in our hearts by consciously remembering the LORD's Presence and salvation. As King David said:"I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken" (Psalm 16:8). Note the paradoxes involved in this verse. We set the LORD always before us (shiviti Adonai lenegdi tamid) so that we will not be shaken, and yet we are to revere the LORD with fear and trembling (Psalm 2:11, Phil. 2:12). Likewise, we draw near to the LORD God as the Righteous Judge - in fear and trepidation - yet in the full confidence of His love as demonstrated by the Cross of Yeshua. God is a Consuming Fire, but also our Comforter.
In the Talmud it is written, "As to the one who reveres God, the whole world was created for that person's sake. That person is equal in worth to the whole world" (Berachot 6b). This might seem to be hyperbole, but it reminds me of the Chassidic tale that says says that every person should walk through life with two notes, one in each pocket. On one note should be the words bishvili nivra ha'olam (בִּשְׁבִילִי נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם) -- "For my sake was this world created," and on the other note the words, anokhi afar ve'efer (אָנכִי עָפָר וָאֵפֶר) -- "I am but dust and ashes."
Similarly, it is evident that both senses of yirah are called for within our hearts. We must fear the LORD as our Judge and yet be in awe of the cost of His Redemption. We draw close to God while regarding Him with exalted reverence. We should constantly fear sin. We should be afraid of stumbling and dishonoring God with our lives. We should be vigilant, alert, awake, mindful, and attentive to the Presence of the LORD in all things. Sin "misses the mark" regarding our high calling and status as God's children.
The hagbalah or "boundary" between God and man helps us maintain balance in our relationship with the LORD. We must guard against undue familiarity and presumption before God lest we forget the honor and glory of the Majesty on High, yet we must not view God as unreachable, inaccessible, or impassive to our condition lest we forget the compassion, mercy, and the fiery passion of his love for us...
Finally, the boundaries God gives us are meant to help us know our place in his plans. We are to know before Whom we stand and to refrain from lofty speculations or spiritual expressions that inspire us to disregard and therefore transgress the distinction between the creature and the Creator. Just as Israel was to stay at the foot of the mountain to receive revelation, so we must stay at the foot of the cross, not seeking other visions or wonders beyond which God himself discloses. We must be careful in our zeal not to offer "strange fire" (אֵשׁ זָרָה) as did the sons of Aaron in their exhuberance (Lev. 10:1). Again, it is a balance - spirit and truth - as we desire to draw near to the Divine Presence yet are humbled and in awe before the glory and greatness of God....
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Terumah... ]
02.19.21 (Adar 7, 5781) The Scriptures reveal that the Mishkan (or "Tabernacle") was intended to provide an elaborate "parable" or "pattern" that points to the salvation of our God (יְשׁוּעַת אֱלהֵינוּ). First, the Mishkan designated a central and sacred place (מִקְדָּשׁ) representing the Divine Presence, with the tribes carefully arrayed on each side (east, west, north, and south), and the four families of the Levites arrayed on each side of the courtyard (Num. 2). The gate to the Mishkan opened from the east, where the tribe of Judah was positioned (Gen. 49:10) and where the Kohanim (priests) had their camp just outside the court (Heb. 7:14). As you entered the Mishkan itself, you would immediately behold the mizbe'ach (i.e., copper altar), which revealed the "korban principle," namely, that the only way to draw near to God is by means of sacrificial blood offered in exchange for the sinner, as stated in the Torah, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life" (Lev. 17:11), and "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (Heb. 9:22).
In this connection note that it is God who gives us the blood for atonement, and indeed the central (and ongoing) sacrifice on the altar was the daily offering of a defect-free male lamb along with unleavened bread and wine called "korban tamid" (קָרְבַּן תָּמִיד). The korban tamid commemorates the Lamb of God and the deeper meaning of the Passover, which the LORD called "my Offering, my Bread" (see Num. 28:1-8). Note further that the sacrifice of the lamb upon the altar was openly displayed in the courtyard, just as the cross of Messiah was a public display (John 19:16; Col. 2:14-15), though the atonement for sin was made only after the High Priest sprinkled sacrificial blood upon the covering of the Ark of the Covenant that held the testimony of the law during the Yom Kippur service. Unlike the public sacrifice of the lamb upon the altar, the Yom Kippur ritual pictures the "hidden offering" of the blood before the Throne of God in the holy of holies "made without hands," that is, the greater priesthood of the Messiah who secures for us an eternal atonement (Heb. 10). Therefore understand that the Mishkan (and later the Temple) was a provisional pattern designed by God to foretell the Substance and Reality to come, as it is written: "the Word became flesh and tabernacled with us" (John 1:14), and "when our Messiah appeared as the high priest of the good things that have come, He passed through the greater and more perfect Mishkan not made with hands (τῆς μείζονος καὶ τελειοτέρας σκηνῆς οὐ χειροποιήτου), that is, not of this creation, and entered once for all into the most holy place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption" (Heb. 9:11-12).
Note that the High Priest was required to perform the Yom Kippur avodah (service) alone, while wearing humble attire, divested of his glory, and in complete solitude: "No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out" (Lev. 16:17). The Hebrew text literally says, "no adam (אָדָם) shall be in the tent," which suggests that something more than the natural man is needed for divine intercession. And just as Moses alone approached God in the thick clouds at Sinai to receive the revelation of the Altar as mediator of the older covenant (Exod. 24:15), so Yeshua, the Mediator of the New Covenant, went through his severest agony on the cross as the darkness covered the earth (Luke 23:44; Matt. 27:45).
02.19.21 (Adar 7, 5781) Shalom friends. The last few months I have been working extra long nights on different parts of the website removing the older "flash" technology I made for listening to the Hebrew audio here. For instance, the "Thirteen Principles of Jewish Faith" pages, the "Ten Commandments" pages, the "Weekday Amidah" pages, the "Shema" pages, the "Lord's Prayer" pages, the "Beatitudes" pages, and nearly all of the online Hebrew Grammar pages are being retooled. It might not seem like a lot of work to make these changes, but each of these multiple projects require me to re-record the sound files, re-code the various affected pages, and debug them after republishing them, so you can understand what I am going through... Thank you for your understanding and I sincerely appreciate your prayers for my endurance. Much of the work I do on the Hebrew for Christians web site is pure joy -- for example, studying the Hebrew texts, writing up insights, and so on, but this sort of task is tedious and calls for sheer perseverance. Kol tuv.
The Heart's Treasure...
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Terumah.... ]
02.19.21 (Adar 7, 5781) The materials needed for the creation of the Sanctuary were supplied by contributions (תְּרוּמוֹת) freely given by those whose hearts were moved (Exod. 25:2, Matt. 6:21). In a sense, God "needs" the willing heart to celebrate the glory of his love. It is the nature of love to be shared, and that implies vulnerability, even for God Himself (Luke 14:16-23). The "house" of the Lord is created from the willing heart, just as the goal of God's creative activity is the building of a kingdom based on divine love (i.e., malkhut ha'Elohim:מַלְכוּת הָאֱלהִים). As King David wrote, עוֹלָם חֶסֶד יִבָּנֶה / olam chesed yibaneh: "The world is built with love" (Psalm 89:3[h]). This is the meaning of "sanctuary," after all, that our lives are built on the solid foundation of God's grace and love (i.e., chesed:חֶסֶד). It is said that all the world was created for Messiah, since He is the "corner stone" of creation (i.e., rosh pinnah:ראשׁ פִּנָּה), and the house itself is built up in the love of God given in Him.
Created for a Purpose...
02.19.21 (Adar 7, 5781) It's been said that God sends each soul into the world with a special message to deliver, a revelation that only he or she can disclose... No one else can bring your message to this world - only you can do this. And since God is entirely unique, you are called to be who you were created to be, not someone else. On his deathbed Reb Zusya said, "I am not afraid that the Holy One will ask me, 'Zusya, why were you not more like Moses?' Rather, I fear the Holy One will say, 'Zusya, why were you not more like Zusya?'
There are no "little people" in God's eyes, since each soul has been created by Him for His glory and purposes... As C.S. Lewis wrote, "There are no 'ordinary' people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations -- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors" (The Weight of Glory). Life is a miracle and nothing is trivial. In the world to come you will be shocked to understand that everything you thought, everything you said, and everything you did was given to you from above, and therefore has tremendous significance (Matt. 12:36-37). Therefore may it please the Lord to open our hearts and eyes to truly come alive... Amen.
02.19.21 (Adar 7, 5781) The world might be in a frenzy over various earthly fears, but understand that the LORD God of Israel is upon the throne, friends. As it says in our Scriptures: "For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, the great king over all the earth" (Psalm 47:2). Those of faith understand history - including the End of Days - as the expression of God's sovereign and providential hand. The gracious Savior always works "all things together for the good" of those who are trusting in Him. Ein od milvado (אין עוד מלבדו) - there is no power that can be exercised apart from God's consent and overarching will. Indeed all authority in heaven and earth belongs to Yeshua, the "the Ruler of the Kings of the earth" (עליון למלכי הארץ). As it is written, "All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name" (Psalm 86:9).
02.18.21 (Adar 6, 5781) Sometimes in our afflictions we may feel lost, confused, and uncertain of ourselves. We dare not doubt God's love for us, though we may wonder how He might use such affliction to mend our hearts... As C.S. Lewis once said, "We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be" (Letters: 1964). There is a trust issue in suffering, and an intimacy that comes through its fires. As Kierkegaard reminds us, "It is one thing to conquer in the hardship, to overcome the hardship as one overcomes an enemy, while continuing in the idea that the hardship is one's enemy; but it is more than conquering to believe that the hardship is one's friend, that it is not the opposition but the road, is not what obstructs but what develops, is not what disheartens but ennobles" (Four Upbuilding Discourses, 1844).
Some of us want "mountain top" experiences of God, but more often than not we learn "down in the valley," where the daily cares of life encroach upon our ideals and visions. Yet it is precisely there, in the "desert of the everyday," in the "testing of the tedious," in the "hazards of hopelessness," that we are enabled to elevate our consciousness to realize that God is "ezra ve'tzarot nimtza me'od" (עֶזְרָה בְצָרוֹת נִמְצָא מְאד) - a "very present help in our troubles" (Psalm 46:1). Amen, God is aware of our frustration, our lowliness, our fear, our suffering... When God delivered his people by the miracle of splitting the sea (קריעת ים סוף), he closed off any way of escape apart from his direct intervention. The Egyptian army was behind them, the mountains hemmed them in, and the vast horizon of the sea loomed before their way. The only way of deliverance was from above, in the midst of our struggle, by God's own hand. Trust in God's healing and deliverance is the first step... The LORD is the Rock and all his ways are perfect (Deut. 32:4), and this must be affirmed especially if we cannot fathom the testing of our present circumstances...
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Terumah... ]
02.18.21 (Adar 6, 5781) "Let them make me a mikdash ("holy place," "sanctuary"), that I may dwell in their midst" (Exod. 25:8). Though this verse refers to the physical mishkan (i.e., "Tabernacle"), it more deeply refers to the duty of the heart to sanctify the Name of God and bring a sense of holiness to the inner life. This requires that we focus the mind and heart to honor the sacredness of life, taking "every thought captive" to the truth of God in Messiah (2 Cor. 10:5). Since our minds and hearts are gateways to spiritual revelation, we must be careful to not to abuse ourselves by indulging in sloppy thinking or unrestrained affections. God holds us responsible for what we think and believe (Acts 17:30-31), and that means we have a duty to honor moral reality and truth. There is an "ethic of belief," or a moral imperative to ascertain the truth and reject error in the realm of the spiritual. Since God holds us responsible to repent and believe the truth of salvation, He must have made it possible for us to do so ("ought" implies "can"). And indeed, God has created us in His image and likeness so that we are able to discern spiritual truth. He created us with a logical sense (rationality) as well as a moral sense (conscience) so that we can apprehend order and find meaning and beauty in the universe He created. All our knowledge presupposes this. Whenever we experience anything through our senses, for example, we use logic to categorize and generalize from the particular to the general, and whenever we make deductions in our thinking (comparing, making inferences, and so on), we likewise rely on logic. We have an innate intellectual and moral "compass" that points us to God.
Since we all necessarily must think in order to live, we should value clear thinking. This should be obvious enough, though people often make various errors and misjudgments because they devalue the effort required to carefully think through a question. As William James once said, "A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices." When it comes to questions about the gospel, however, God regards such carelessness to be blameworthy. Again, the LORD holds us accountable for what we think and believe, especially when it comes to the reality and mission of His Son.
The truth about God is always available to human beings, if they are willing to look for it. The Divine Light that was created before the sun and the stars represents God's immanent presence that "lights up" all of creation - including our minds (Gen. 1:3). As Paul stated, "the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen so that people are without excuse" (Rom. 1:19-20). The heavens are constantly attesting to the reality of God's handiwork (Psalm 19:1). All of creation "shouts out" that there is a God. Since an infinite series of causes is impossible, the Cosmological argument for the existence of a First Cause is intuitively known to be warranted...
The witness of God's truth is foundational to all of our thinking as well. If you regress far enough in a chain of reasoning, you will always encounter first principles, intuitions, axioms, and "apprehensions" of the laws of thought. This is how language works, or rather, how our mind necessarily discovers truth about reality. For example, the law of contradiction (or identity) is not discovered in experience, but is brought to experience by the operation of the mind. All reasoning is ultimately grounded on foundational first principles that are regarded as self-evident and that are known through the light of the mind itself. Even the pagan Greeks understood this. For instance, Aristotle said that both deduction and induction ultimately were based on the "intuitive grasp" of first principles of thinking itself.
It's important to realize that no one "invented" the rules of logic (such as the law of identity, the law of contradiction, valid rules of inference, etc.); no, these are self-evident and presupposed in all forms of intelligible thinking about anything at all. In other words, God created the mind so that true thinking is possible. If you are reading these words, you are presently using logic. You are identifying and combining letters, interpreting their meaning, making connections and comparisons, and therefore making inferences. There is no way to argue that logic is "artificial" or culturally relative. No one can consistently use logic to argue against its universal validity. The revelation (not the invention) of logical first principles is part of God's "signature," if you will, of how the mind is wired to correspond to reality. Reason discovers order in the universe but does not create it ex nihilo. If you deny this, you have opted out of the realm of thought altogether and entered the realm of the absurd.
Likewise we have intuitive awareness regarding the existence of moral truth (i.e., the standard of justice and moral law), aesthetic truth (i.e., ideals of beauty, goodness, worth, and love), metaphysical truth (i.e., cause and effect relationships), and so on. Even scientific truth is based on principles that transcend the discipline of science itself (for example, the assumption that knowledge is "good" and should be obtained is not an empirical statement). The human mind naturally uses these sorts of categories in its thinking all the time, but each of these are ultimately derived from the rational mind of God Himself.
God created people so that they could discern truth about reality. The mind functions according to logical laws because it is made in the image and likeness of God Himself... God Himself is the ground of all logic, since He created reality and structured the world to be knowable according to its laws. As it is written: "In the beginning was the word/logic (ὁ λόγος), and the λόγος was with God, and the λόγος was God" (John 1:1). God created a world that exhibits order and great beauty. And since human beings were created b'tzelem Elohim, in the image of God, our thoughts (and the words used to formulate our thoughts) as well as our actions are likewise intended to exhibit order and beauty. "For the fruit of light (καρπὸς τοῦ πνεύματος) is found in all that is good and right and true" (Eph. 5:9). Therefore "whatever is true... think on these things" (Phil. 4:8).
Followers of Yeshua are commanded to love the truth and to think clearly about their faith. The ministry of reconciliation itself is defined as "the word of truth, by the power of God, through weapons of righteousness" (2 Cor. 6:7). Indeed, the word of truth (τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας) is a synonym for the "gospel of salvation" itself (Eph. 1:13; Col. 1:5; James 1:18). We are saved by Yeshua, who is the "way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). God commands all people to believe this truth (Acts 17:30-31; 1 Tim. 2:4). People perish because "they refuse to love the truth and so be saved" (2 Thess. 2:10-12). Therefore we see that the issue of truth is central to salvation itself....
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Terumah... ]
02.17.21 (Adar 5, 5781) In our Torah for this week we read: "Take for Me an offering…" (Exod. 25:2). The midrash says that this teaches that if you give tzedakah (charity) to those in need, you take God to yourself, as it is written: "For the LORD stands to the right of the needy" (Psalm 109:31), and "Whoever shows pity to the poor lends to the LORD, and his kindness will be repaid to him" (Prov. 19:17). It may seem counter-intuitive to carnal and worldly reasoning, but when you give to others, you will receive even more in return (Mal. 3:10). Indeed the person who seeks treasure for himself is not rich toward God, since we can only keep what we give away in kindness (Luke 12:21). As our Lord taught: "Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you" (Luke 6:38).
"Whoever shows pity to the poor lends to the LORD, and his kindness will be repaid to him." (Prov. 19:17)
"Take for me an offering..." (Exod. 25:2). The Torah here indicates that the LORD is our great Kohen Gadol (High Priest), for He asked for terumah (an offering or contribution) just as the earthly kohen was given terumah from the yearly yields of the farmers.
02.17.21 (Adar 5, 5781) In our Torah reading for this week (i.e., parashat Terumah) the Lord told Moses to construct the Mishkan (or "tabernacle") exactly according to the pattern he was shown during his revelation on Mount Sinai (Exod. 25:40). At the inmost center of the Tabernacle, the place of utmost holiness, was the Ark of the Covenant (אֲרוֹן־הַקּדֶשׁ), a "three-in-one" box that held the tablets of the covenant. The Ark served as a symbol of kisei ha-kavod (כִּסֵּא הַכָּבוֹד), the Throne of Glory, since it stood entirely apart as the only furnishing in the Holy of Holies (קדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים). Upon the cover of the Ark (i.e., the kapporet) were fashioned two cherubim (i.e., angel-like figures) that faced one another (Exod. 25:17-18). According to the Talmud (Succah 5b), each cherub had the face of a child - one boy and one girl - and their wings spread heavenward as their eyes gazed upon the cover (Exod. 25:20). It was here - in the midst of sacred innocence, humility, purity, and hope - that the sacrificial blood was offered to make atonement for our sins, and it was here where God's Voice would be heard (Exod. 25:22; Num. 7:89).
The image of two innocent children's faces peering before the Throne of God gives fresh meaning to the statement that unless you "turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:1-3). The most important things of life are only known through love, and so-called knowledge apart from love is actually nothing (1 Cor. 13:2). Knowledge "puffs up" (φυσιόω), that is, it swells and feeds the ego and its posture before others, whereas love "builds up" (οἰκοδομέω), that is, it is other-focused and seeks to create a sense of habitation and a place of safety. "If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him" (1 Cor. 8:2-3). May God help us shine his love as His dear children...
Love is the reason we turn to God; it is the basis for teshuvah: "We love Him because He first loved us." We answer God's love by turning to Him.... that is the very first step. We must first receive hope into our hearts and that starts us on our way.
Comfort from the Shepherd...
02.16.21 (Adar 4, 5781) The Spirit of the Lord comforts and reassures those who trust in Him: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life (חַיֵּי עוֹלָם), and they will never perish - no, never! - and no one will snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:27-28). Note that the Greek grammar in this verse uses a "double negation," which is the strongest way to deny something. In other words, if the question were asked, "Will one of these sheep perish?" the answer is emphatic: "No, no, it will never happen! It is unthinkable!" Indeed all those who belong to Messiah "shall never, ever perish - not into eternity (εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα)." It is an eternal certainty that you who are trusting in Yeshua will never perish, and no power in heaven or earth will be able to take you out of God's hand... "Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue you all the days of your life, and you shall dwell in the Presence of the Lord forever (Psalm 23:6).
Regarding the certainty of salvation Yeshua said: "I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes in the One who sent me has (i.e., ἔχει, present active indicative) eternal life and will not be condemned, but has passed over (i.e., μετά + βαίνω, lit., "crossed over" [עָבַר]) from death to life" (John 5:24). Note that the verb translated "has passed over" (μεταβέβηκεν) is a perfect active that expresses completed action: "this one has already passed over from death to life." In other words, it is an accomplished spiritual reality though it is only experienced as we surrender to the love and grace of God. As the apostle Paul later summarized: "For it is by grace you have been saved (i.e., σεσῳσμένοι, a perfect passive participle that denotes completed action done on your behalf with effects that continue to the present) through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Eph. 2:9-10). Ultimately, salvation is a question about who you really are, not about what you do....
God does not want us uncertain or unsure of His great love for us. A fearful believer explained that he was anxious about his acceptance before heaven. When he was asked to define "salvation," he answered, "freedom, deliverance, rest, peace." So you think fear will help you do away with your fear? You are fearful of the idea of freedom from fear?
"Be strong and of good courage" - chazak ve'ematz (חֲזַק וֶאֱמָץ). The LORD God promises "never to leave you nor forsake you," and to be with you wherever you go (Josh. 1:5,9; Heb. 13:15, Psalm 139; Matt. 28:20). In the Greek New Testament the wording of Hebrews 13:15 is highly emphatic: "Not ever will I give up on you (οὐ μή σε ἀνῶ); no, not ever will I leave you behind (οὐδ᾽ οὐ μή σε ἐγκαταλίπω)." May you hear the voice of the Good Shepherd calling you, and may He forever keep you under His watchful care. Amen.
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Terumah... ]
02.16.21 (Adar 4, 5781) "Let the people make me a sacred place (מִקְדָּשׁ) that I may dwell in their midst" (Exod. 25:8). But what is this other than heartfelt and earnest prayer? The materials of the sanctuary come from "freewill offerings" (נְדָבוֹת), which derive from the inner yearning of the soul... We offer our hearts up to God, and the Lord, in his great mercy, fills us with faith, hope, and love. Our spiritual need for God is his habitation with us; our hunger and thirst for healing and life is a gift from heaven (Matt. 5:6). Our blessed desperation impels us to pray because we cannot help praying. As Abraham Heschel once said, "prayer is more than a light before us; it is a light within us." At its deepest level, prayer is not about asking but receiving; it is not so much appealing to God as it is allowing God to appeal to us. As John Bunyan once wrote, "Rather let thy heart be without words than thy words be without heart." Amen. Adonai sefatai teef'tach, "O Lord, open my lips," oo'fee yageed tehilate'kha, "and my mouth will declare your praise" (Psalm 51:15).
02.15.21 (Adar 3, 5781) "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world; if any one loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15). The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he's in prison (Dostoevsky). We may abstain from overt forms of worldliness, but when we subconsciously accept the unspoken assumptions and values of this world, we become functional idolaters. Worldliness seeks its comfort in the present hour; it has its own mythology and religious worship.
Test yourself by thinking about what concerns you most. What takes up most of your attention? What do you really want? Where do you look to find value, significance, and worth? What can't you live without? Do you desire romantic love? A political change? Are you addicted to entertainment? fantasy-thinking? the internet? your phone, or perhaps your work? Do want your own way and feel frustrated when other demands arise? Do you wrestle with pride? lust? covetousness? Are you tempted by fear or anxiety? Do you make an idol out of your career and "providing for your family?" Or do you perhaps seek religious "observance" or new experiences to justify your spiritual life? What "barns" are you filling today, friend? (Luke 12:16-20). God sees all things, of course; He knows those who "hide deep from the LORD," whose deeds are in the dark, and think, "Who sees us? Who knows us?" (Isa. 29:15). Yeshua lamented: "This people draws near to me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is far from me" (Matt. 15:8). The LORD says, "Return! Turn from your idols of the heart (i.e., gilgulim, vain repetitions, addictions, reincarnation, illusions, etc.), and be grounded in what is real (Ezek. 14:6). God understands that we are only healed - that is, made whole - when we order our affections aright within our souls. We cannot enjoy the truth about life if we are living a lie. As C.S. Lewis once said, "God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself because it is not there" (Mere Christianity).
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...
In the end, if we cannot say we have lived well, then nothing else matters... Seeking God is a process, a "how" of life, not a recipe or formula, no matter how venerated. Seeking God is the goal of life, and in the world to come, I am afraid that most of us will regret that we did not pursue the Eternal with all our hearts while we had the opportunity to do so...
"Give up yourself and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in" (Lewis: Mere Christianity).
Shrine of the Heart...
[ The following is related to our Torah reading this week, parashat Terumah... ]
02.15.21 (Adar 3, 5781) The sages have said that salvation may be likened to rebirth that delivers us from the "narrow places of Egypt" (i.e., from mitzrayim:-מ, "from," and צַר, "narrow") into newness of life... The first step of lasting deliverance (יְשׁוּעָה) is to receive the great revelation: "I AM the Lord your God," which begins our healing process (Exod. 20:2). We are set free from our bonds to surface appearances when we are made fully conscious of God's Presence, since we then understand everything in holy relationship with Ultimate Reality, the Ground and Source of all life (Acts 17:28). As it says in our Scriptures: "We 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" (2 Cor. 4:18). Therefore God says in our Torah, "Make for me a sacred place (מִקְדָּשׁ) so I can dwell within you" (Exod. 25:8). Each of us is created to be "mikdash me'at" that is, a sacred place for God. Making a sanctuary of the heart means choosing to stay connected with reality, attuning the heart to hear the Voice of the Spirit, and consciously walking before the Divine Presence.
The Hebrew word terumah (תּרוּמָה), the name of our Torah portion, means "gift" or "contribution," which first of all refers to the decision to give of our hearts to enshrine God's Presence. We "set the LORD always before us"; we abide in the Vine and remain connected to Him (Psalm 16:8; John 15:5). It two-way partnership: we make a sacred place for God within our heart, we invite his Presence, so to speak, to dwell within us, and then we listen for God's invitation to abide within his house and live as his beloved child (Rev. 3:20).
King David wrote, עוֹלָם חֶסֶד יִבָּנֶה / olam chesed yibaneh: "The (eternal) world is built with love" (Psalm 89:2), and so indeed is God's place within our hearts... We make God lovely and beautiful and wonderful and precious to us; we enshrine him and lift up our souls unto him in adoration and thanks. When we are willing to take part in the building of the sanctuary, God reveals to us "the pattern," that is, the inspiration that evidences His presence in our lives. As Yeshua said, "Let your light so shine" (Matt. 5:16).
Choosing to Believe...
02.15.21 (Adar 3, 5781) "And now abides faith, hope, love; these three" (1 Cor. 13:13). The opposite of faith is fear; of hope, despair; and of love, indifference. Fear is the "default mode" of the soul that dwells in darkness. This is because the "fallen" soul regards the empirical world and its flux as ultimately real -- and therefore "sees in order to believe." The life of faith, on the other hand, looks beyond the realm of appearances to behold an abiding glory -- and therefore "believes in order to see." How we choose to see is ultimately a spiritual decision for which we are each responsible....
In the geo-political world there are more seemingly good reasons to be afraid today than in any time since the rise of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Every day the media indoctrinates people about threats of various kinds: plagues (e.g., the bird flu, swine flu, coronavirus, etc.), natural disasters, economic uncertainties, terrorist plots, and so on. In short, by choosing to engage the "culture of fear" (with its ongoing propaganda campaigns from both the right and left wing perspectives) induces a sense of dread and anxiety (as someone once said, "FEAR" is "False Education Appearing Real"). Just as a lie-detector can physiologically sense when people are telling lies, so our souls can sense when we are believing them... There is no neutral ground here, no "transcendent" place of the soul where we can rise above the realm of contrary truth claims: We will either be set free by the truth or else we will live in fear. As Yeshua said, the "Truth shall set you free."
Of course this isn't easy, and the temptation to yield to fear is ongoing. The test of our faith is of more value to the Lord than our material or emotional comfort, however, and therefore we will all experience tribulation of various kinds. This is the way we obtain heart (i.e., courage). Several years ago I wrote a Hebrew meditation ("Fear Thou Not") that reminded us that the most frequently occurring commandment in Scripture is simply al tirah (אַל־תִּירָא), "don't be afraid." If living without fear were easy, it would be of little spiritual worth, but since it requires all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, it is therefore considered precious. Faith requires, in short, an infinite (and divinely given) passion. And it part of God's plan for us to be "in but not of" the world system, to be alienated, to be misunderstood, to be persecuted... We are called to "take up the cross" and die daily. Following Yeshua means sacrificing ourselves along the way.
Ultimately worldly fear distills to the fear of death, or rather, fear of "the one who has the power of death, namely the devil" (Heb. 2:14-15). If we come to peace with our own finitude, our own mortality, and our eventual end in the Messiah, however, then death has no more power over us. Perhaps this is part of the reason why those who sincerely live the Christian faith are so hated in communist countries or in other places of absolutist secular ideologies. If you are delivered from the greatest threat that man can menace over you, you are free to be a voice crying in the wilderness. The life of truth is something the humanist and atheist can never comprehend.
Fear is the antithesis of faith, though living without fear is certainly not easy. After all, how do we naturally choose to be unafraid of what we in fact fear? Is this power within our conscious control? Only by a miracle are we set free from fear... Indeed, true faith working within the heart is one of the greatest miracles of God. May it please God to impart to each us real courage that comes from Heaven itself... Amen.
[ The following is related to our Torah reading this week, parashat Terumah... ]
02.15.21 (Adar 3, 5781) Our Torah reading for this week is about "making space" for God in our lives... We read God's appeal: "Let them make for me a sanctuary (i.e., mikdash:מִקְדָּשׁ) that I may dwell in their midst" (Exod. 25:8). Each of us has an inner void, a place where only God belongs. Substituting the values of this world – money, power, fame, entertainment, pleasure (or even just a sense of personal security) – never satisfies our deepest hunger and thirst for life. Indeed the Lord laments: "My people have committed a double wrong: they have rejected me, the fountain of life-giving water (מְקוֹר מַיִם חַיִּים), and they have dug cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water" (Jer. 2:13). God is found by the thirsty soul; he is revealed wherever the heart permits him to speak. As Yeshua said: "If you had known the gift of God, and the one speaking to you, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water" (John 4:10). Ask Him today.
Hebrew Lesson Exodus 25:8 Hebrew reading and podcast:
02.14.21 (Adar 2, 5781) The Shabbat that immediatelyprecedes the holiday of Purim is called Shabbat Zakhor - the "Sabbath of Remembrance." The Maftir (additional Torah reading) commands us to remember (זָכוֹר) how the nation of Amalek functioned as Satan's emissary by attacking the Israelites at Rephidim, immediately following the Exodus from Egypt (see Exod. 17:8-16). After Israel routed the attack, God told Moses, "Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven" (Exod. 17:14). Moses later explained that Amalek did not fight using conventional methods of war but rather attacked and killed the weakest members of Israel, "those who were lagging behind" in the camp (Deut. 25:17-19). This cowardly approach represented the first attack of God's newly redeemed people, a Satanic assault that God vowed never to forget.... Amalek therefore embodies satanic forces arrayed against the people of God.
Note that the name "Amalek" (עֲמָלֵק) begins with the letter Ayin (symbolizing the eye) and equals 240 in gematria -- the same value for safek (סָפֵק), the Hebrew word for doubt. Amalek therefore suggests "the eye of doubt," or even "the severed eye" (the Hebrew verb מָלָק means "to chop" or "sever" in reference to the "eye" of Ayin). Amalek therefore represents spiritual blindness as it acts in the world...
The additional Haftarah portion (1 Sam. 15:2-34) speaks of how King Saul later failed to "devote to destruction" the evil tribe of Amalek -- a mistake which cost him the kingship of Israel. Samuel's rebuke of Saul's compromise is always timely: "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.... Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king."
These two readings were selected before Purim because Haman was an Agagite (Esther 3:1), i.e., a direct descendant of Agag, the wicked king of Amalek (whom Saul nearly spared, see 1 Sam. 15:32-33), and we should therefore link the 'wiping-out' of Haman with the 'wiping-out' of Amalek. The spiritual war between the light and the darkness admits of no compromise. For more about this Sabbath, click here.
Hebrew Lesson Deut. 25:17 Hebrew reading and podcast:
02.14.21 (Adar 2, 5781) Last week's Torah reading (i.e., Mishpatim) explained how the Israelites entered into covenant with the LORD at Mount Sinai. The terms of the covenant were written down in Sefer HaBrit ("the Book of the Covenant"), which contained a variety of laws to specifically govern the Jewish people in the Promised Land. When the people agreed to obey the terms of the covenant, Moses took sacrificial blood and sprinkled it on them saying, "Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words" (Heb. 9:18). Moses then re-ascended the mount to receive the tablets of stone inscribed with the Ten Commandments and to learn additional Torah from the LORD.
Now the goal of the Sinai revelation was not only the giving of the Ten Commandments to the Israelites but more importantly enshrining the Divine Presence within their hearts... Therefore in our Torah portion for this week (i.e., Parashat Terumah), we read how God asked the people to offer "gifts from the heart" to create a "place" for Him: "Let them make for me a holy place that I may dwell in their midst" (Exod. 25:8). The Hebrew word for "holy place" or "sanctuary is mikdash (מִקְדָּשׁ), which comes from the root word kadash (קָדַשׁ), "to be set apart as sacred." A mikdash is therefore a "set apart space," or a "holy place" that represents something profoundly treasured - a place of beauty and worship, a refuge, a place of rest. Other words that share this root idea include kedushah (holiness), kiddushin (betrothal), kaddish (sanctification), kiddush (marking sacred time), and so on. When God said, "Let them make for me a mikdash," then, he was inviting the people to make a sacred place within their hearts for His Presence to be manifest.... The "materials" required to make this place - gold, silver, brass, red and purple yarns, fine linens, oils, spices, precious stones, etc. - were ultimately from the heart, expressed in free-will offerings given to God.
The LORD then showed Moses the three-in-one pattern (i.e., tavnit:תַּבְנִית) according to which the Mishkan (tabernacle) and its contents were to be constructed. First an ark of acacia wood was to be overlaid with pure gold inside and out. The ark was to be fitted with gold rings and gold covered poles to make it portable. The two tablets of the law were to be stored inside the ark. Two cherubim (angel-like figures) were to placed facing each other over a cover of the ark called the kapporet (i.e., "Mercy Seat"). The ark was to be housed within an inner chamber of the tent called the Holy of Holies. Adjacent to the Holy of Holies was a second chamber called the Holy Place. This chamber would contain a table overlaid with pure gold that held twelve loaves of bread along with a golden, seven-branched menorah. The Holy of Holies was separated from the Holy Place by an ornamental veil called the parochet.
The design (or pattern) of the tent along with its exact dimensions was then given. The tent was intended to be portable, with a wooden frame covered by richly colored fabric and the hide of rams and goats. The outer courtyard was to include a sacrificial altar with horns of copper set at each corner. The portion ends with a description of the outer court, which was to be entirely enclosed by an ornamental fence made with fine linen on silver poles with hooks of silver and sockets of brass.
02.12.21 (Shevat 30, 5781) "We groan inwardly as we eagerly await our redemption..." (Rom. 8:23). We sigh deeply because we are suspended between two worlds, living in the ambiguity of an already-not-yet expectation, enduring ourselves as imperfect vessels longing for perfection, trapped between what is and what will be, seeing the unseen, yearning for healing, believing that we shall never die, even as we die (John 11:26). We are restless for our eternal home and long for God's presence as we walk through shadowy vales, facing various temptations, whispering our prayers in the dark. And though we must learn endurance and trust in God's sovereign purposes, our faith nevertheless compels us to cry out, "How long, O Lord?" and "Come, Lord Yeshua" (Rev. 22:20). Our ongoing challenge is to keep a positive attitude despite the struggles we face, and therefore we inwardly pray: "Renew within me ruach nachon (רוּחַ נָכוֹן) - "a spirit that says Yes" (Psalm 51:10).
Surrender means accepting God's will for our lives -- saying "yes" to the promise of love, even if we presently feel empty inside and wonder how long we can hang in there... Saying "yes" implies saying "no" to other things - no to fear, anger and doubt, for example. Tragically there are people who have given up hope for bitterness and despair. Asking God to give us a spirit of "yes" is really a prayer for focus, direction, and the willingness to keep pressing on to our heavenly destiny.
Though life is a struggle, we do not lose heart or faint, since even if the outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. "For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we 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 we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, that is, substance and reality..." (2 Cor. 4:16-5:3).
Dangers of Antinomialism...
02.12.21 (Shevat 30, 5781) Undoubtedly part of the reason for moral failure within the church comes from deceptive theology and the doctrine called "antinomianism," that is, the idea that faith in Yeshua implies that we are no longer "under the law" and therefore we are free to live apart from what the Torah (and by extension, the New Testament) plainly says and teaches... This is clearly a mistake -- a serious confusion between the terms of the former covenant at Sinai with the timeless truth of God's eternal Torah, or moral will... After all, the New Covenant (ברית חדשׁה) of Yeshua is the one in which the Torah of the LORD would be written upon our hearts (see Jer. 31:31-34). Genuine followers of Yeshua therefore will love the Torah of the LORD, since God does not lie or change His mind, and Yeshua our Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Num. 23:19; Psalm 33:1; Heb. 13:8). As it is also written: "Blessed is the person who delights in the law of the LORD (תורת יהוה) and meditates upon its truth day and night (Psalm 1:1-2). Amen, for the life of the follower of Yeshua "we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the sake of the truth" (2 Cor. 13:8).
It is frighteningly tragic that many so-called Christian ministers -- many of them perhaps well-meaning enough -- simply do not have the fear of the LORD within their hearts, as evidenced by their double-mindedness regarding sin and their ambivalence about the truth of God's law. We tremble at these words of the Savior who died upon the cross for our deliverance: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' (Matt. 7:21:23).
Simply put, those who truly know the Lord Yeshua understand that He is none other than the very Lawgiver and King of Israel, and it was He who spoke to Moses at Sinai regarding the moral will of God. Yes, he is also our Savior who graciously died for us to be pardoned from the verdict of the law, but he did NOT die so that we should continue to sin but rather to be delivered from sin's power in our lives.... We are never perfected in this life, and each of us will struggle with sin, but we should never allow sin to become a regular practice, and we should never live a secret and double life of hypocrisy... If we struggle, fair enough -- we need to be honest, confess the truth, and get help, but we should never hide the truth about who we really are, since that leads to sickness of the heart and self-destructive despair. May God have mercy and help us all be on guard from the deceptions of the enemy of our souls.
Hebrew Lesson Psalm 119:97 Hebrew reading and podcast:
02.12.21 (Shevat 30, 5781) The only way out of the painful ambiguity of life in this world is to hear a message from the higher world, the Heavenly Voice, that brings hope to our aching and troubled hearts: "Faith comes by hearing the word of Messiah" (Rom. 10:17). And yet what is the meaning of this message if it is not that all shall be made well by heaven's hand? Amen. There is hope, there is hope, and all your fears will one day be cast into outer darkness, swallowed up by God's unending comfort... "Go into all the world and make students (talmidim) of all nations" (Matt 28:19), and that means sharing that what makes us essentially sick – our depravity and despair – has been forever healed by Yeshua, and that we can escape the gravity of our own fallenness if we accept his invitation to receive life in him. "For it is You who light my lamp; the LORD my God outshines my darkness."
Exercising faith means actively listening to the Eternal Voice, the Word of the LORD that calls out in love in search of your heart's trust... To have faith means justifying God's faith in you, that is, understanding that you are worthy of salvation, that you truly matter to God, and that the Voice calls out your name, too.... Living in faith means consciously accepting that you are accepted by God's love and grace. Trusting God means that you bear ambiguity, heartache, and darkness, yet you still allow hope to enlighten your way.
Therefore "we walk by faith, not by sight" – as if the invisible is indeed visible. We must stay strong and keep hope, for through hope we are saved (Rom. 8:24). Faith is the conviction of things unseen (Heb. 11:1). Do not be seduced by mere appearances; do not allow yourself to be bewitched into thinking that this world should ever be your home. No, we are strangers and pilgrims here; we are on the journey to the reach "the City of Living God, to heavenly Jerusalem, to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven" (Heb. 12:22-23). Therefore do not lose heart. Keep to the narrow path. Set your affections on things above since your real life is "hidden with God" (Col. 3:1-4). Do not yield to the temptation of despair. Look beyond the "giants of the land" and reckon them as already fallen. Keep pressing on. Chazak, chazak, ve-nit chazek - "Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened!" Fight the good fight of the faith. May the LORD our God help you take hold of the eternal life to which you were called (1 Tim. 6:12).
Hebrew Lesson Psalm 18:28 Hebrew reading with meditation:
02.12.21 (Shevat 30, 5781) It is an ongoing struggle to live in this world without being devoured by its fear, insanity, and violence. Yeshua prayed to the Heavenly Father for his followers saying, "I am not asking you to take them from the world but to keep them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to this world" (John 17:15-16). To live in the world without belonging to the world marks the life of the tzaddikim (righteous ones) who testify of the place where God abides. Meanwhile we are on assignment here as we share the message of salvation with those who are lost in the wasteplaces and despair of this world...
There are "traveling mercies" for our journey, glimpses of the heavenly city, as we walk as "strangers and aliens" within the present world and its vanities. Abraham closed his eyes to this world and was given the inner light of truth that would reveal his way to God. "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going (μὴ ἐπιστάμενος ποῦ ἔρχεται). By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God" (Heb. 11:8-10). For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come (Heb. 13:14).
So let us lift up our souls unto the LORD and stand strong in faith, trusting God for light even when we are in darkness. "Blessed is the one who makes the LORD his trust" (Psalm 40:4).
02.12.21 (Shevat 30, 5781) From our Torah portion this week (Mishpatim) we read: "Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel" (Exod. 24:17). Now some people regard this fire as a threat, even a sign of God's judgment, though it is better to regard it as a sign of God's glorious passion. After all, the pillar of fire had led the people out of bondage, just as it later dwelt between the cherubim upon the Ark of the Covenant. Indeed the fire that fell upon followers of Yeshua at Pentecost was the same manifestation of the glory of God's passionate love that was revealed at Sinai. Our God is a "consuming fire" (אֵשׁ אכְלָה), which means that He is full of passion and zeal that your heart fully belongs to Him...
The metaphor that God is a Consuming Fire suggests that He is both indescribable and passionately concerned with our devotion to Him. "Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:28-29). We are promised a kingdom that cannot be shaken, wherein the Fire that consumes will consume all things that are not established by our Heavenly Father... "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. Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today..." (Deut. 4:39-40). Our lives on the altar ascend to God in praise.
Trusting to Understand...
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Mishpatim... ]
02.11.21 (Shevat 29, 5781) From our Torah portion this week we read: "all the people answered with one voice and said, כָּל־הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּר יְהוָה נַעֲשֶׂה / "All that that the LORD has spoken we will do" (Exod. 19:8; 24:3). It is paradoxical that we must first "do" and then "hear" (or understand), but in matters of the spirit, we don't really "hear" apart from acting in faith, which is another way of saying that "faith without works is dead" (James 2:17). In other words, our deeds will bring to life our creed, and we will be given light as we act in confidence and trust. As Yeshua said, "If you know these things, happy (μακάριος) are you if you do them" (John 13:17). And may God show us the mercy we need to be "doers" of the word and not hearers only, "deceiving our own selves" (James 1:22). Amen.
02.11.21 (Shevat 29, 5781) It is easy enough to hurry past words of Scripture without slowing down to reflect on what is being said. For instance, in our Torah portion for this week (i.e., Mishpatim) we read: "The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction" (Exod. 24:12). The Hebrew words veheyei sham (וֶהְיֵה־שָׁם), usually translated as "and wait there," can also be translated as "and be there." But why -- if every jot and tittle of Torah is indeed significant (Matt. 5:18) -- does the text say "come up to the mountain" and then add the superfluous phrase "and be there"? The sages answer that God is asking Moses to be present, be awake, and to be utterly focused – "with all your heart, soul, and might." This teaches us that to receive God's revelation, we need to show up – "to be there" – earnestly seeking his heart."
The first duty of the heart is to believe in the miracle of God's love for you, and the second is to stay awake, and to keep believing in that love, even in your ascent to the unknown...
Hebrew Lesson Exodus 24:12a Hebrew reading:
"One must keep on pointing out that Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important." - C.S. Lewis (God in the Dock)
Revelation and Fear...
02.11.21 (Shevat 29, 5781) While the Ten Commandments were dramatically uttered amidst thunder, lightning, smoke, and the roar of the heavenly shofar, they essentially restate spiritual and moral truth intuitively known by all people (see Rom. 1:19-32). In light of this, we may wonder why God made such a terrifying presentation of principles already implanted within those he created in his image, and especially to the direct descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses... After all, God's truth may be spoken using a "still small voice" rather than in fiery displays (1 Kings 19:12).
In reply, it may be said that while most people intuitively understand the whisper of "right and wrong," they often suppress the voice of conscience because they do not genuinely fear God, and therefore they fail to connect the significance of their choices with the Divine Lawgiver who is the Source of moral reality. They separate, in other words, the idea of transcendental "Supreme Being" (i.e., the cosmic Creator) from the Source of immanent value and meaning (i.e, the Judge of all). The First Commandment, however, reminds us: "I AM (anokhi) the LORD (YHVH) your God (Elohim)," which identifies divine power with righteousness and holiness. The drama of the revelation at Sinai was therefore intended to instill yirat haShem - the awe of God - within the heart, connecting the Supreme Power with moral truth and its implications (i.e., conscience). The Israelites drew back in fear because they realized that the Holy One was present in their private thoughts, attitudes, and motives of the heart, and this produced a sense of dread within them (Exod. 20:19). Moses reassured them, however, by saying that the surrounding terrors - which undoubtedly resembled the wonders they had witnessed in Egypt - would do them no harm if they would heed the Voice of the LORD. In other words, the terrifying glory of Sinai was meant to impart a sense of reverence and to help the people know that the LORD God is the Source of all power and glory...
02.11.21 (Shevat 29, 5781) The Ten Commandments are often divided into two basic groups or categories. The first five commandments are said to be "between man and God" (i.e., ben adam le'chavero:בֵּין אָדָם לְחֲבֵרוֹ), and contain 146 words; whereas the second five are said to be "between man and other people" (i.e., ben adam la'Makom:בֵּין אָדָם לְמָקוֹם), and contain 26 words, the same value as the Name of God, YHVH (יהוה). In this connection we note that the Ten Commandments begin with "I AM" (אָנכִי) and end with "[for] your neighbor" (לְרֵעֶךָ), which when joined together says, "I AM your neighbor." In other words, the LORD Himself is also found in your neighbor... When we love our neighbor as ourselves (אָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ), we are demonstrate our love for God. But who, then, is your neighbor? You are -- to every other soul you may encounter this day (Luke 10:36).
Note: I should add that loving others is impossible without first receiving (inwardly accepting and making your reality) who you are as the "beloved of the Lord..." You have to start there, since you can't give away what you don't have. If you struggle with loving others, or are a cynic, a misanthrope, a jaded soul, or are wounded or bitter of heart, then first find your heart's healing and then simply live honestly before others... May God help each of us!
Gift of a New Heart: The Tenth Commandment...
[ The following is related to the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai...]
02.11.21 (Shevat 29, 5781) The last of the Ten Commandments is the Tenth Commandment not to covet or to want things that are not yours. The Hebrew word translated "covet" in many translations (i.e., chamad:חמד) usually refers to selfish desire or lust (e.g., "Lust not after her beauty in thine heart..." Prov. 6:25), and thus speaks directly to the heart's innermost intention, which, even if unacknowledged by ourselves, is always revealed before God: "Your Father who sees in secret" (Matt. 6:6). On the other hand, selfish desire can - if we are willing to be honest with ourselves - reveal to ourselves the condition of our hearts and thus mark our need for deliverance from the power of sin. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Rome: "I had not known sin ...except the law had said, 'Thou shalt not covet'" (Rom. 7:7). Inner peace or contentment is the blessing that comes from surrendering your desires to God, letting go of your envy, and receiving your daily bread with humility and gratitude... It is the way to simchah (שִׂמְחָה), or "happiness."
[ The following is related to the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai...]
02.10.21 (Shevat 28, 5781) The Ninth Commandment prohibits swearing falsely against your neighbor in matters of law and civil proceedings, but, on a deeper level, it implicitly indicates the responsibility to be a witness of the truth at all times. Note that the Hebrew word for "truth" (emet) is composed from the first, the middle, and the last letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, thus indicating that it encompasses the first things, the last things, and everything in between. Thus, in relation to our neighbor (who is really everyone), we are to be truthful and bear witness to the truth in all our moments of life.
02.10.21 (Shevat 28, 5781) When Yeshua said, "Let not your heart be troubled... I go to prepare a place for you," he was assuring his friends that he had matters well under his control, and therefore they did not need to worry, since his passion rendered their salvation completely secure... The future is a "prepared place" for you, even if life in this world is often marked by testing and various refining fires. God has not promised to rescue us according to our own schedule, however, so if it appears that your prayers are not immediately answered, keep waiting in faith: "Rejoice, even if you have been grieved by various trials, because the tested genuineness of your faith -- more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire -- may result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Yeshua the Messiah" (1 Pet. 1:6-7). God works "all things together for good," and since the exercise of faith is your good, he engineers all things to build your faith. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD" (Isa. 55:8).
Recall the words: "Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God" (Isa. 50:10). Trusting in God (i.e., bittachon - בִּטָּחוֹן) doesn't mean that we are obligated to say this is "the best of all possible worlds," though it does mean we believe that eventually God will wipe away every tear and make all things right... Bittachon is a word for this world, which says, "Though he slay me, I will trust in him..." Those who call upon the LORD can trust not only in concealed good behind ambiguous appearances ("all things work together for good") but also in a future, real, substantive good that will one day be clearly manifest for us all... We fight the "good fight" of faith, which is a worthy struggle that eventually is realized for blessing.
The very last promise of Scripture is "I come quickly" (אֲנִי בָא מַהֵר) and the last prayer is, "Amen, come, Lord Yeshua" (אָמֵן בּאָה־נָּא הָאָדוֹן יֵשׁוּעַ) [Rev. 22:20]. Meanwhile we "inwardly groan" for the fulfillment of our redemption; since presently we are suspended between worlds, walking in hope yet subject to the vanities that befall all flesh. And though God may tarry, He declares, "I am the LORD; in its time I will hasten it" (Isa. 60:22). So we are made "captives to hope," clinging to the promise of our ultimate healing and redemption. Our hearts therefore affirm that God is faithful "to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24). Amen. God will help us before He will help us, and may He come speedily, and in our day....
[ The following is related to the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai...]
02.09.21 (Shevat 27, 5781) The eighth commandment against stealing (לא תגנב, Exod. 20:15) corresponds to the third commandment not to profane God's name. Stealing, in the sense of the Hebrew word ganav (גנב), refers to both the act of carrying off by stealth that which is not one's own (i.e., theft), but also to the deceptive inner disposition that accompanies the action. And ultimately that deceptive inner disposition is a form of self-deception. After all, none of us categorically "owns" anything, since God alone is the Creator and Giver of all of life. Stealing arrogantly (and vainly) attempts to seize some "thing" and to claim it for oneself - blindly disregarding the fact that "in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).
02.09.21 (Shevat 27, 5781) When Moses recalled the awesome revelation of the Torah at Sinai, he described how the mountain "burned with fire unto the heart of heaven" when the Ten Commandments were inscribed upon the two tablets of testimony: "And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire unto the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone" (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 (לב שמים), 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, when the fire of his passion burned unto the very heart of heaven, and in his mesirat ha'nefesh we see the greater glory of God... May we, then, readily take hold of his passion and never forsake his love and truth.
[ The following is related to the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai...]
02.08.21 (Shevat 26, 5781) The sages say that the Seventh Commandment prohibition against adultery (לא תנאף, Exod. 20:14) corresponds to the Second Commandment prohibition against idolatry. Adultery refers to sexual union between a married person and someone other than his or her spouse (fornication, on the other hand, is also prohibited in the Scriptures though it is a broader term that refers to any sort of sexual contact outside the covenant of marriage). The penalty for adultery is severe (see Deut. 22:22, Lev. 20:10).
From the verse, "The adulterer waits for twilight saying, No eye shall see me" (Job 24:15), the Talmud infers the adulterer to be a practical atheist, since he does not say, "No man shall see me, but no eye - neither the eye of one below nor the eye of Him above."
Adultery is a grave sacrilege, since it not only violates the sworn promise of parties to a sacred covenant, but perverts the picture of our union with God Himself. As Paul wrote to the believers at Ephesus, "We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Messiah and the church" (Eph. 5:30-32). This is why apostasy is likewise likened to spiritual adultery...
Hebrew Podcast Exodus 20:14 on adultery and sexual sin:
02.08.21 (Shevat 26, 5781) Shalom chaverim. I made a new audio podcast that considers the role of tradition in our understanding of the Torah and the Holy Scriptures. Though this is a somewhat complex subject, it is comprehensible if we take the time to carefully think through some of the issues. Among other things I consider the philosophical idea of the "Tao" as described by C.S. Lewis in relation to human conscience, the intuitive idea of the moral law as empirically expressed in various world cultures, and the argument that objective values are implied in any statement of right and wrong. I also consider the role and influence of tradition regarding the revelation of the law of God given at Mount Sinai, the subsequent preservation and transmission of the written words of Scripture, the creation of the biblical canon, and how both Yeshua and the Apostle Paul accepted and ministered in the context of the theological traditions of their day. I hope you might find it helpful...
[ This coming Sabbath is called "Shabbat Shekalim" and it anticipates the month of Adar... ]
02.07.21 (Shevat 25, 5781) Shalom chaverim. Four special Sabbaths occur just before the start of spring: two before Purim and two before Passover. Collectively, these Sabbaths are called "the Four Shabbatot" and four additional Torah readings (called Arba Parashiyot, or the "four portions") are read on each of these Sabbaths in preparation for the spring holidays. The names of these four Sabbaths are Shabbat Shekalim, Shabbat Zakhor, Shabbat Parah, and Shabbat HaChodesh, respectively.
The first of the four Sabbaths is called Shabbat Shekalim (שבת שקלים), "the Sabbath of the Shekels," which occurs just before the month of Adar begins. An additional reading (Exod. 30:11-16) is appended to the regular Torah reading that describes the contribution of a half-shekel for the construction and upkeep of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). According to a midrash in the Talmud (Bavli, Shekalim 1), the half-shekel represents a "fiery coin" that the LORD brought from underneath the Throne of His Glory to symbolically "atone" for the sin of the Golden Calf. Since every Jew was required to give this "widow's mite," repentance is accepted for all who come in true humility before the LORD. For us, it might be a time to remember those who offer personal sacrifices so that we also might draw closer to God.
02.07.21 (Shevat 25, 5781) Thursday, Feb. 11th (at sundown) marks the start of Rosh Chodesh Adar (חודש אדר) which runs through the following day. On the Biblical calendar the month of Adar is the last month of the year counting from Nisan (though on the civil calendar it is the sixth month counting from Tishri). The month usually falls during February/March on the secular calendar. The 14th day of the last month of the year (i.e., either Adar or Adar Sheni) marks the festive holiday of Purim, which is always celebrated a month before Passover(Megillah 1:4). During both Purim and Passover we celebrate God's deliverance of His people, and therefore Adar is considered one of the happiest of the months of the Jewish year. As it is written in the Talmud, "When Adar comes, joy is increased" (Ta'anit 29a).
Like the month of Elul (i.e., the month that precedes Rosh Hashanah and the New Year in the fall), the last month of the Biblical calendar is traditionally a time to make "New Year's Resolutions" and to turn away from sin before the start of the New Year of spring (i.e., Rosh Chodashim). The month of Adar is therefore a season given to us each year to begin preparing for the holiday of Passover.
The Rosh Chodesh Blessing
The following (simplified) blessing can be recited to celebrate the new month and to ask the LORD God Almighty to help you for this coming season:
[ After the revelation of the Ten Commandments God called Moses up to Sinai again, this time for 40 days and 40 nights, to teach him the details of the commandments and how they were to be applied. The 6th section of the Book of Exodus provides a sampling of these various rules and laws (called "mishpatim" in Hebrew) that God instructed Moses during this time. ]
02.07.21 (Shevat 25, 5781) Shavuah tov, friends. Last week we read in the Torah that exactly seven weeks after the Exodus from Egypt (i.e., 49 days after the first Passover), Moses gathered the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai to enter into covenant with the LORD. In a dramatic display of thunder, lightning, billowing smoke and fire, the LORD descended upon the mountain and recited the Ten Commandments (or Ten Declarations) to the people. Upon hearing the awesome Voice of God, however, the people shrank back in fear and begged Moses to be their mediator before God. The people then stood far off, while Moses alone drew near to the thick darkness to receive further instructions from the LORD.
In this week's Torah reading (i.e., Mishpatim, Exod. 21:1-24:18) we learn about these additional instructions Moses received on the mountain. The Jewish sages traditionally count 53 distinct commandments in this portion of the Torah, easily making it one of the most "legalistic" (i.e., law-focused) sections of the entire Bible. Civil laws, liability laws, criminal laws, agricultural laws, financial laws, family purity laws, Sabbath laws, and holiday laws are all given in this portion. These various social and civil laws are called "mishpatim" (מִשְׁפָּטִים), the plural form of the masculine noun mishpat (מִשְׁפָּט), meaning a "judgment," "ordinance," "law" or legal ruling. The word derives from the verb shafat (שָׁפַט) meaning to judge or govern. A shofet (שׁוֹפֵט) is the Hebrew word for "judge," and the LORD is called Ha-Shofet kol ha'aretz (הֲשׁפֵט כָּל־הָאָרֶץ) -- the "Judge of all the earth" who loves justice (Gen. 18:25, 37:28, Psalm 50:6, 94:2). In this connection note that the mishpatim became the basis for the tradition application of Jewish case law as well as for halakhah. According to common Jewish tradition, mishpatim are ethical judgments (or laws) given for a clearly specified reason (i.e., logical laws), as opposed to chukkim (חֻקִּים) which are divine fiats or decrees. An example of a mishpat would be the commandment to give charity or the prohibitions against theft and murder. These mitzvot (commandments) are inherently rational since the denial of their validity would make civil life impossible.
After receiving these additional rules, Moses descended Sinai and went before the people to reveal to them the words of the LORD. Upon hearing the details, the people responded in unison, "all the words which the LORD has said we will do" (i.e., na'aseh:נַעֲשֶׂה). Moses then wrote down the words of the covenant into a separate scroll (sefer habrit), built an altar at the foot of Sinai, and ordered sacrifices to the LORD to be made. He then took the sacrificial blood from the offerings, threw half upon the altar, and read the scroll of the covenant to the people. The people ratified the covenant by saying, "all that the LORD says we will do and obey" (i.e., na'aseh ve'nishmah:נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע). Upon hearing this, Moses took the other half of the sacrificial blood and threw it on the people saying, "Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words" (Heb. 9:18). After this ceremony, Moses, Aaron, and seventy of the elders of Israel ascended Mount Sinai to eat a "covenant affirmation meal" between Israel and the LORD.
Upon returning from the mountain with the elders, the LORD commanded Moses to go back up to receive the tablets of stone inscribed with the Ten Commandments. On the seventh day there, he heard the Voice of the LORD calling to him from the midst of the cloud of glory, and then entered into the Presence of the LORD. He remained on the mountain for a total of forty days and forty nights receiving further revelation about the Mishkan (i.e., Tabernacle) while the Israelites waited for him at the camp down below.
02.07.21 (Shevat 25, 5781) The Mechilta (a halakhic midrash on Exodus) teaches that the Ten Commandments were divided into two groups with the first five on one tablet and the second five on the other, and that these correspond to one another so that, for instance, the Sixth Commandment (לא תרצח, "you shall not murder"; Exod. 20:13) is linked to the first commandment to believe in God (Exod. 20:2). Since man is made in the image of God, his life is infinitely precious, and only God Himself has the right to give and take life. In the Mishnah it is written, "Why was only one man (i.e., Adam) created by God? - to teach that whoever takes a single life destroys thereby a whole world; and whoever saves one life, the Scripture accounts it as though a whole world had been saved (Sanhedrin 4:5). But murder can be figurative as well as literal. The Talmud notes that shaming another publicly is like murder, since the shame causes the blood to leave the face. Moreover, gossip or slander are considered murderous to the dignity of man. The Ethics of the Fathers states, "The evil tongue slays three persons: the utterer of the evil, the listener, and the one spoken about..." Yeshua also linked the ideas of our words and attitudes with murder (seeMatt. 5:21-22; 15:19).
Hebrew Lesson / Podcast Exodus 20:13 Hebrew reading with commentary:
02.05.21 (Shevat 23, 5781) The first four of the Ten Commandments focus on our relationship with God, and it is only through obedience to these commandments that we are able to really understand our own identity - as well as the identity of others in our family, our community, and our world. The Fifth Commandment, to honor your parents, bridges the commandments directed heavenward (bein adam la'makom) with those directed toward one's fellow man (bein adam le'chavero).
Honoring our parents teaches us the first principles of honoring God and others; it is the fulcrum by which we learn empathy and "derekh eretz" (דרך ארץ), the basic respect that underlies courtesy and good manners. The importance of this commandment cannot be overstated, since the word translated "honor" (i.e., kabed:כבד) derives from a root word meaning "weighty" (in terms of impressiveness or importance) and is often used to refer to the glory of God. The meaning of kabed in this context derives from the preceding verses (i.e., the first four commandments) which center on honoring God Himself. When we likewise honor our father and mother, the LORD says, "I reckon it as though I dwelled with them and they honored Me" (Kiddushin 31a).
Hebrew Lesson / Podcast Exodus 20:12a on honoring others:
02.05.21 (Shevat 23, 5781) The Fourth Commandment is to "remember" (i.e., zakhor:זכוֹר) the Sabbath day for holiness (Exod. 20:8). We are to set aside, that is, regard as sacred, the seventh day as an acknowledgment that God is both our Creator (Exod. 20:11) and our Savior (Deut. 5:15). By "remembering" the Sabbath we understand other days of the week in relation to it, the "first day" until the Sabbath, the "second day" until the Sabbath, and so on until we reach the Sabbath itself which marks an appointed time of sanctity and rest (i.e., menuchah:מנוחה). Some of the Jewish mystics came to regard the Sabbath not so much as a "day" in the usual sense but rather a spiritual "atmosphere" to be welcomed and greeted as beloved (לכה דודי). The fourth commandment also includes the restriction from doing profane activities (i.e., melachah:מלאכה): "you shall not do any labor" because Shabbat is time set apart for holy pursuits, for family connections, and for healing rest. God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it so that there would special provision from heaven to honor this time (Exod. 16:22). So important is the Sabbath day that God emphatically repeated the commandment just before he gave the tablets to Moses (Exod. 31:13-18).
The Sabbath is a delight – not a burden; a time for celebrating your personal rest in our Messiah Yeshua (Isa. 58:13; Heb. 4:9). Indeed, all those who honor the Sabbath - including the "foreigners" of Israel - will be given a name that is "better than sons and daughters" that will never be cut off (Isa. 56:3-8). Moreover, Sabbath will be honored in the Millennial Kingdom to come: "From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD" (Isa. 66:23). Indeed the blessing of the Sabbath will be honored in the heavenly Jerusalem itself (Rev. 22:2).
Hebrew Lesson / Podcast: Exodus 20:8 on the Sabbath day:
02.05.21 (Shevat 23, 5781) The Third Commandment is "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain" (Exod. 20:7). This commandment implies that it is forbidden to invoke God's name for unholy or profane purposes, for example in jest or as a curse, though it further forbids using the truth of God as a means of harming or degrading other people. "Lifting up" God's name for selfish purposes is a violation of this commandment, and the commandment continues by gravely warning that "the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain." The sages have said that all the words of Torah together form the name of God, and if a single word or letter is missing from a Torah scroll it becomes unfit for use. This teaches that honoring God's word is therefore connected with honoring his Name, and conversely, dishonoring God's name expresses contempt for his word.
02.05.21 (Shevat 23, 5781) Shalom friends. Soren Kierkegaard understood the "self" - that is, what is most essential to what you really are - to be a "dialectical relationship" you have with your own inner life, namely, with your thoughts, your feelings, and so on. He famously said: "The self is a relation which relates to itself, or that in the relation which is its relating to itself. The self is not the relation but the relation's relating to itself" (Sickness unto Death). This might seem like a nonsense statement, but what Kierkegaard meant was that you are always having a conversation with yourself, and there - in that dialog or "dialectic" - you are always deciding what matters most to you, what you really want, what you choose to believe, and so on. As strange as it may sound, "you" are always in relationship with yourself - both as speaker and hearer, and you are also the one who reasons and makes judgments about what to do in the midst of the ongoing conversation... Now what is most significant about this inner discourse, this "court of decision," is both the reasons for or against something, as well as the moral competence and authority of the judge. How could the "divided self" be unified, after all, if it made decisions that were not based on reality and truth?
Of course much of the time we are not conscious of what we are thinking, but we act from impulse acquired through unreflective habit and the passive acquiescence of worldly "assumptions" made about the meaning of things. This is the mode of the "mass mind" that has gone asleep and no longer bothers to ask searching questions about what is real... However, since whatever is thought is indeed based on assumptions, it is important to discern what those assumptions are and to question their veracity.
For example, you might "find yourself" feeling upset over the political affairs of the world, anxious about the future, and so on. "The world is falling apart," you might say, or "everything is coming undone!" It is wise, in this case, to discover the assumptions being employed that give reasons for your fear. What "argument" is being made within yourself that leads you to conclude that fear (or outrage or despair) is the appropriate response? What "axioms" or premises are at work in your thinking? Perhaps you assume that "God takes care of those who take care of themselves" and therefore you must "take control," you must fight against evil, and that you are responsible (somehow) for the state of the world, and so on.
If you take time to honestly examine your reasons for believing that your fear (or anger, or despair) is justified, you will eventually encounter foundational assumptions that are paradoxical and contradictory, such as notions that you are (both) responsible for everything yet nothing is within your control, or that you are (both) "free" yet determined by necessity, that God is (both) distant and yet very near, and so on. And this is where things get interesting and vitally important: in the midst of these tensions, in the midst of the "dialog" you have with such ultimate questions, in the midst of such ambiguity, you (both) must make a practical decision and yet you are unable to do so. Though you "hear" the arguments pro and con within your heart, you are simply unqualified to make a decision about what you should do: you are "double minded, unstable in all your ways."
It is not hopeless, however, because you were never meant to be the judge and moral authority of your life, since that role belongs to God alone who is the Sovereign LORD over all reality, and the only one who truly defines what is "good" and what is "evil." The original sin, after all, was the usurpation of God's authority over our lives. When Adam ate from the Tree of the knowledge of good *and* evil, he sat himself upon the throne of the heart as the god of his own life. The dreadful fall...
Healing comes through teshuvah, or returning to God as the true Authority of our lives. In the midst of the inner dialog of the self, your ego or "false judge" must abdicate the throne before the LORD, sincerely submitting to God's wisdom and truth. Doing so presents another "Voice" to the inner conversation of your self, namely the Voice of God's presence, power, and authority as the true Judge and Lord of our lives. This is the deeper meaning of "Shema," that is, to listen to God, to submit to his terms of reality, and to engage this within the deepest recesses of the self. Doing so yields "shalom" because you rest in God's wisdom and care for your life, instead of anxiously debating about what to do in the midst of the ambiguity and confusion of this world. Let's face it, you make for a poor god...
When you are tempted to despair, friend, when you seek to lose yourself in distractions of rage or fear, turn to God and ground yourself in what is real. Pray. Ask for divine wisdom; ask for truth in the midst of your inner conflict and uncertainty (Heb. 4:16). Then listen. Open your heart and ready yourself to hear the "still small voice" that will guide you. Doing so will purify your heart and transform your mind. "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, O LORD, my Strength and my Redeemer" (Psalm 19:14).
02.04.21 (Shevat 22, 5781) The Second Commandment, "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exod. 20:3), implies individual accountability for your soul before the Creator of all reality. Pagan religions often believe in a supreme being but regard such as unknowable and distant and therefore they commonly appeal to divine "subordinates" (e.g., angels, other beings with godlike powers, etc.) to intervene on their behalf. The second commandment teaches that there are no intermediate or subordinate beings to which we may appeal, since there is only one God who holds all power and authority in heaven and earth and we are each accountable directly to him. When we pray, then, we are not to venerate angels or saints or to appeal to God on behalf of intermediaries. We come boldly before the Throne of Grace to make our appeals personally before the Living God (Heb. 4:16). The second commandment implies monotheism with the implication that appealing to other gods (or god-like powers) is actually worship of demonic entities (see Deut. 32:17; 1 Cor. 10:20). We are to know that the LORD is one LORD, as the opening of the Shema proclaims (Deut. 6:4).
02.04.21 (Shevat 22, 5781) Sin is defined as the transgression of Torah (i.e., ἀνομία) in the Scriptures (1 John 3:4), and at root such rebellion comes from an unwillingness to trust that what God wants is your deepest happiness. Because of this, sin goes "out of bounds" and expresses itself as the desire to control one's life, to define "the good" (or the bad) on its own terms: to "eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Gen. 2:17).
Surrender, on the other hand, gives up control and relies upon God's care. It relaxes because it accepts God's love as a gift and not as something to be earned. Meister Eckhart said it this way, "God is not attained by a process of addition to anything in the soul, but by a process of subtraction." In other words, we don't need to do anything to be free, though we must "get out of the way" for the Holy Spirit to do the work in us. "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:36). Set us free, O precious Lord!
02.04.21 (Shevat 22, 5781) We sometimes "hear" others without really listening to them, usually because our attention is consumed with our own thoughts and feelings, or we tend to filter out what we don't want to hear. The spiritual life, however, is decidedly one of attentive listening. "Shema Yisrael" is a summons of the heart to turn away from the profane to heed the sacred call of God. The invitation of the Shema is to passionately love God with all our heart, soul, and strength, and to heed the truth of love in all your ways (Deut. 6:4-5).
A verse from our Torah portion this week (i.e., Yitro) relates God's appeal to Israel to become a people who listen with their heart: "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession" (Exod. 19:5). The Hebrew grammar here is intense. The phrase often translated as "if you will indeed obey" uses an emphatic construction, "if hearing you will hear" (אִם־שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ), which suggests a sincere willingness to listen for the voice of the LORD. That is why the LORD speaks kol demamah dakkah (בְּקוֹל דְּמָמָה דַקָּה), that is, in a quiet whisper, because a quiet and listening heart is required to hear what the Spirit is saying. Actively listening to the whisper of God enables you to walk as his beloved child, segulah (סְגֻלָּה), a treasured person.
The great commandment of Torah (i.e., divine wisdom) is always shema, "listen," because sincere listening requires that we surrender our self-centered perspective and immerse ourselves within the meaning and needs of another. Listening opens us to God's heart in all things, and therefore is essential for the "conversation" between our soul and the LORD. The act of listening is a sign of love, and that's why we feel so lonely when we have no one willing to hear our words. Many people are quick to speak but precious few sacrifice themselves through selfless listening. The spiritual life, however, ultimately is shared life: We can do together what we cannot do individually. Yeshua prayed that we would know how much we need one another (John 17:21-23). The first step is to listen to God.
Genuine listening creates a sense of trust and connection between people. When real listening is going on, there is no need to "talk over" the other person, because the listener "speaks" through his or her respectful silence...Spiritual listening is "set apart," holy, and hears the words spoken from the heart in a place of refuge.
God never asks of us what He does not do... If He urges us to listen to Him, to heed the voice of His love, then we can trust that He likewise listens to us and will answer the call of our hearts for Him. Regarding the Shema, "holy listening" involves more than just hearing with the physical ear, of course, but hearing with heart: "You shall love... you shall talk of God's love at all times, in all places, and know Him in all you do (Deut. 6:5-9).
We are able to listen to God by the agency of God's Spirit. God's words are breathed out and made alive to us in a mysterious way (John 3:8; 6:33). And just as God breathed into us the "breath of life" to become a living soul, so Yeshua breathes into us the Holy Spirit to quicken eternal life within us (John 20:22). Communing with God and others means breathing out the words of life that were first breathed into us.
02.04.21 (Shevat 22, 5781) The two tablets Moses brought down from Mount Sinai are often called the "Ten Commandments," though a better translation of the Hebrew would simply be the "Ten Declarations" (i.e., aseret ha'devarim:עשׂרת הדברים, from davar:דבר, meaning "word" or "matter"). Originally the two tablets were inscribed "by the finger of God" on both sides and were called "tablets of the testimony" (i.e., luchot ha'edut:לחת העדת), but Moses shattered these when he saw the people worshiping the Golden Calf (Exod. 31:18; 32:15-19). Later, after a forty day period of heartfelt teshuvah (repentance), God invited Moses to ascend the mountain again to obtain a second set of the tablets and to learn the inner meaning of the Name of the LORD (Exod. 34:1-8).
Now while the Ten Commandments summarize or encapsulate the central principles of the law, their unique status ought not to diminish the need to observe the other commandments, and for that reason the sages referred to them as the ten "words" (i.e., aseret ha'dibrot:עשׂרת הדברות), to indicate that they should not be regarded as the entirety of the words of the covenant (i.e., divrei ha'brit:דברי הברית) but rather as a set of divine "axioms" from which all of the other commandments are derived (see Exod. 34:27).
Christian tradition often regards the first commandment to be "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exod. 20:3), but Jewish tradition regards the opening words, "I am the LORD your God (אנכי יהוה אלהיך) who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Exod. 20:2) to be the first commandment and the foundation upon which all the other commandments are based. Though the statement "I am the LORD your God..." is not an imperative, it nevertheless assumes that you will accept the truth of God's revelation, and therefore it might also be understood as the duty or commandment to accept the truth. "I am the LORD your God who brought you out..." refers to the saving acts of God performed on your behalf, and therefore the proper response is one of heartfelt gratitude. After all, without faith in the truth that the LORD is your Redeemer who loves and chooses you, the subsequent commandments would be devoid of context and significance. Indeed all the subsequent commandments are grounded in the truth of God that is received by faith (Hab. 2:4), and therefore the first commandment is to have emunah, or faith in God. Moses ben Nachman interprets the first commandment to know that God exists and to believe in him, which implies studying and exploring the greatness of the Creator and Savior.
As I mentioned the other day, God began the Ten Commandments by saying, "I AM the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of slavery" (Exod. 20:2), rather than saying, "I AM the LORD your God, Creator of heaven and earth" (Gen. 1:1). The LORD refers to himself as our Savior first, since creation is designed to demonstrate His redemptive love given through Yeshua, the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8; 1 Pet. 1:18-20; Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9). "All things were created by Him (i.e., Yeshua), and for Him" and in Him all things consist (συνεστηκεν, lit. "stick together") (Col. 1:16-17). Creation therefore begins and ends with the love of God as manifested in the Person of Yeshua our Messiah, the great Lamb of God... He is the Center of Creation - the Aleph and Tav - the Beginning and the End (Isa. 44:6; Rev. 1:17). "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen" (Rom. 11:36).
[ The following is related to our Torah for this week, Parashat Yitro, and the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai in particular... ]
02.04.21 (Shevat 22, 5781) When asked how many commandments are in the Torah, most Jews will answer 613, based on Jewish tradition (the number 613 is sometimes called "taryag" (תריג), an abbreviation for the letters Tav (400) + Resh (200) + Yod (10) + Gimmel (3) = 613). Despite several attempts made over the centuries, however, there has never been a definitive list of these commandments, and of those who tried to compile such, no two agree... Some say the number 613 comes from a fanciful midrash that teaches that since there are 365 days in a year (corresponding to the 365 negative commandments) and 248 "parts" of the body (corresponding to the positive commandments), each day we should use our body to serve God. Regardless of the exact count, however, the Talmud followed the Apostle Paul by understanding all the Torah's commandments to be derived from the Ten Commandments given at Sinai, the most basic of which is the very First Commandment, namely, "I AM the LORD your God (אָנכִי יְהוָה אֱלהֶיךָ) who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Exod. 20:2). This foundational commandment was later restated by the prophet Habbakuk as: וְצַדִּיק בֶּאֱמוּנָתוֹ יִחְיֶה / "The righteous person will live by faith in God" (Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). In other words, all of the commandments of God come down to your sacred duty to receive the truth of God's love: אָנכִי יְהוָה אֱלהֶיךָ.
So if you hear people discussing the 613 commandments of Torah, be sure to ask them which list of "613" they mean, and then be sure to remind them that whatever list they might recommend, the central commandment that embodies all the rest is to have faith, to believe, to show up, to look to the LORD -- at this moment, in this hour. Amen.
02.04.21 (Shevat 22, 5781) We must give our pains and sorrows to God, even if we don't understand them, and even if they refuse to go away... Our hearts are often vexed; we are a mess of mixed motives; we are strong to be made weak, weak to be made strong. We bless and curse from the same mouth... We walk in faith yet we are often beset with anxiety. And yet, despite all this, despite our inner contradictions, the dance between the "old man" and "new," the divided house of our lives - our present sorrows, our troubles, our fears – we must endure ourselves, we must press on, and we must never let go of hope in God's love. Therefore we must not hide ourselves from God's presence, nor pretend to be what we are not. We come boldly before the Lord to cry out for help in our hour of need (Heb. 4:16). O Lord my God, be Thou my healer, the One who makes me whole... "Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for your are my praise" (Jer. 17:14).
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Yitro...]
02.03.21 (Shevat 21, 5781) I mentioned the other day (see below) that the Hebrew word "mitzvah" (מִצְוָה) is really about connection to God (i.e., the root צוה means to bind or unite). Rabbi Levi said, "When the Holy One spoke to the people of Israel, each one felt personally spoken to by God, and thus it says in the singular, 'I am the Eternal One, your God.'" Indeed the first commandment at Sinai was to accept the reality of our personal deliverance by the LORD: "I am the LORD your God (אָנכִי יְהוָה אֱלהֶיךָ), who brought you (singular) out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Exod. 20:2). In fact, the Hebrew text of the Torah reveals that God used the second person singular (not plural) for all the verbs throughout the Ten Commandments: "you (singular) shall have no other gods beside me"; "you (singular) shall not take the Name of the LORD your God in vain," and so on. The very first commandment, however, is the starting point for all that follows. Until you are personally willing to accept the LORD as your God and to connect with Him as your own Deliverer and King, the rest of the commandments are not likely to be heeded.
It is noteworthy that God referred to himself as "the One who delivered you from the land of Egypt" (i.e., אשׁר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים) instead of identifying Himself as the Creator of heaven and earth (i.e., הבּוֹרא השמים ואת הארץ). This is because the purpose of creation is to demonstrate God's redemptive love and to be known as our Savior and Redeemer, just as Yeshua is the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8; 1 Pet. 1:18-20; Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9). Of Messiah it is written: "all things were created by Him, and for Him, and in Him all things consist (συνεστηκεν, lit. "stick together") (Col. 1:16-17). Creation therefore begins and ends with the redemptive love of God as manifested in Yeshua our Mashiach, the great Lamb of God... He is the Center of Creation - the Aleph and Tav - the Beginning and the End (Isa. 44:6; Rev. 1:17). All the world was created for the Messiah: "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen" (Rom. 11:36).
02.03.21 (Shevat 21, 5781) In our Torah portion this week (Yitro), God revealed the Ten Commandments (i.e., עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִבְּרוֹת, literally, "the ten declarations") to the Israelites at Sinai, a dramatic event that represented the giving of the law, or the "Old Covenant," to Israel. Now while a case can surely be made that the revelation at Sinai represented an "older covenant" (see 2 Cor. 3:14; Heb. 7:18, 8:6,13, and here), when looked at from another perspective, Sinai actually represented a sort of new covenant, since it was given later and served as a proviso to the covenant given earlier to Abraham (Gal. 3:18). The culmination of the covenant at Sinai was the revelation of the Altar (i.e., the Tabernacle), which pictured the sacrificial blood "covering" the tablets of God's judgment. This, in turn, recalled Abraham's great sacrifice of his son Isaac (the Akedah), which further recalled the very first sacrifice of the Bible, namely the lamb slain in the orchard of Eden to cover the shame of Adam and Eve's sin (Gen. 3:21; Rev. 13:8). Therefore it was the promise God made to Eve regarding the "Seed to Come" that was the original covenant (Gen. 3:15), and it was this covenant that was later fulfilled by Yeshua, the "Serpent Slayer" of God (Num. 21:9; John 3:14). This is the "Gospel in the Garden" message, the original promise of the lamb of God that was slain from the foundation of the world... In other words, the "new covenant" (בְּרִית חֲדָשָׁה) may better be understood as the fulfillment of the original covenant, the promise to redeem all of humanity from the curse of sin and death. The redemptive plan of God therefore moves in an ascending circle. The "Tree of Life" (עץ החיים) reaches back to the primordial orchard of Eden and extends into the World to Come...
Because there is so much confusion regarding the topic of the role of the law, particularly among certain "Messianic believers," I would like to reiterate a few things mentioned elsewhere on this site. Let me first remind you that the legal aspect of the "Torah" refers to the subset of the written Torah called Sefer Ha-Brit (סֵפֶר הַבְּרִית), a portion that defined various ethical, social, and ritual obligations given at Sinai(Exod. 24:7-8). It is a "category mistake" to simply regard the first five books of the "Torah" as the "law," since the law was given later in sacred history, after the Exodus. Moreover, the Book of Genesis reveals that the very first "priest" (i.e., kohen:כּהֵן) was neither a Jew nor a Levite nor a descendant of Aaron, but rather Someone who is said to have "neither beginning of days nor end of life" but is made like (ἀφωμοιωμένος) the Son of God, a priest continually (Heb. 7:3). This priest, of course, was Malki-Tzedek (מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק), the King of Salem (מֶלֶךְ שָׁלֵם) to whom Abraham offered tithes after his victory over the kings (Gen. 14:18). The author of the Book of Hebrews makes the point that the priesthood of Malki-Tzedek is greater than the Levitical priesthood and is therefore superior to the rites and services of the Tabernacle (Heb. 7:9-11). It was to Malki-Tzedek that Abram (and by extension, the Levitical system instituted by his descendant Moses) gave tithes and homage -- and rightly so, since Yeshua is the great High Priest of the better covenant based on better promises (Heb. 8:6). As the Scriptures teach, in everything Messiah has preeminence (John 5:39; Luke 24:27; Col. 1:18).
02.02.21 (Shevat 20, 5781) Do you sometimes have trouble trusting God? Do you wrestle with fear, anxiety, or worry? Does an inexplicable dread or sense of hopelessness sometimes oppress you? Do you secretly wonder what's wrong with you - and whether you are truly saved, after all? Please hang on. Doubting and questioning are often a part of the journey of faith, and we don't have to be afraid of our questions, concerns, and difficulties... Being full of "certainty" is not the same as being full of faith, after all, since many sincere people are sincerely self-deceived, while many others experience fear, loneliness, and trouble as a result of their faith. There is so much we simply do not know, and it is dishonest to pretend otherwise. God knows your heart and its struggles; he knows all your secret fears. Thankfully, there is a special prayer included in the holy Scriptures for those times when we feel especially unsteady or insecure: "Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief..." (Mark 9:24). Here we may bring our (lack of) faith to God for healing....
We should not be scandalized that we sometimes struggle with our faith. After all, Yeshua constantly questioned his disciples: "Do you now believe?" (John 16:31). And that's why we are commanded to "put off" the old nature and to "put on" the new nature -- because God knows we are fickle admixtures, contradictions, carnal-yet-spiritual, inwardly divided souls that need to learn to trust in the miracle of God with all our hearts....
Of course it's easy to believe when things are going well, when faith "makes sense" or provides you with a sense of community, etc., but when things are difficult, when there are disappointments, pain, grief, losses, etc., then you need to trust in the unseen good, the "hidden hand" of God's love, despite the trouble of your present circumstances. This is part of faith's journey: leaning on God's care, despite the "valley of the shadow of death," despite the tests... The way may sometimes be difficult, but "the tested genuineness of your faith -- more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire -- will be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Yeshua the Messiah" (1 Pet. 1:7).
02.02.21 (Shevat 20, 5781) The knowledge of God (ידיעת יהוה) is our supreme good and the "chief end of human life." It is our highest blessing, more precious than earthly riches, power, or any of the pleasures this world affords (Jer. 9:23-24; Prov. 3:15; Matt. 13:44-46). Those who do not esteem the true knowledge of God invariably fall into darkness, idolatry, and despair (1 Thess. 4:5; Eph. 4:17; Hos. 4:1-2). The knowledge of God set us free to receive the inestimable blessing of eternal life given in the Messiah, as Yeshua testified: "And this is eternal life, to know you (לדעת אותך) the only true God (האל האמיתי היחיד), and Yeshua the Messiah (ישוע המשיח) whom you have sent" (John 17:3). Knowing God is the very reason for your existence and nothing can be compared with its superlative excellence (Phil. 3:8). Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! (Rom. 11:33).
We seek the knowledge of God by first of all believing in its possibility. This in itself is a miracle, since only God can make us come alive to "see" and "hear" the truth of the Spirit (John 3:8). We must humble ourselves, confess our need, and ask God for the grace to truly know him. We must be willing to study his word. This involves doing teshuvah - turning to God and trusting that he desires a genuine relationship with Him (Deut. 10:12). We first know know God in our need for deliverance, our poverty of spirit, and our inner desperation for life, for without these primary and existential concerns, we will not be actually receptive to the divine presence. As we begin to trust in God, however, holy desire is awakened within us to know Him more deeply. We begin to "enshrine" his Presence within the sanctuary of our hearts, making a "place" for him, affirming his reality as what is most precious and glorious (Exod. 15:2). We discover the "one thing" that King David desired - to dwell in God's Presence all his days, beholding the beauty of the LORD and inquiring in his palace (Psalm 27:4).
02.02.21 (Shevat 20, 5781) There is an old story(midrash) that says that before God offered the Torah to the children of Israel, He first asked the other nations if they wanted it. God did this so that the nations wouldn't be able to claim that they would have accepted the Torah if only they had been asked. So God first asked the children of Esau. "What's in the Torah?" they asked. "You shall not murder," God replied. "Well, we could never accept that," they admitted. "Isaac's blessing to Esau said that we would live by our swords (Gen. 27:40), so how could we stop doing that?" And so they refused to accept the Torah. God then went to ask the children of Ishmael. "What's in it?" they asked. "You must not steal," God answered. "Well, we could never accept a Torah like that, since we make our living by stealing," they admitted. So God decided to ask each of the 70 nations whether they would accept the Torah, but each refused it for one reason or another. Finally God came to the Israelites. "Do you want my Torah?" He asked them. "Of course we want the Torah," they replied -- without even asking what was required of them. kol asher diber Adonai na'aseh ("all that the LORD has spoken, we shall do"). So God gave the Torah to the children of Israel.
We might wonder if this midrash wasn't developed to defend against the charge by various anti-Semites that the Jewish people are ethnocentric, elitist, etc. After all, from a strictly "egalitarian" point of view it seems somewhat scandalous to suggest that God would exclusively choose one group of people at the expense of others.... And perhaps this would be offensive if, like aristocrats who live with a sense of inborn entitlement, the "chosen ones" believed they were chosen for the sake of their own self-importance....
But of course this is certainly not what Torah means by "chosenness" at all. Being a Jew means that you have been "chosen" to take on additional responsibilities to live in holiness for the glory of God and for the welfare of the world. Therefore a true Jew takes the role of being a both a mediator (i.e., "priest") and an ambassador for God. The performance of various mitzvot are for the greater purpose of tikkun olam (תיקון עולם), or the "repair of the world." After all, Israel was always meant to be a "light to the nations" (אור לגויים). God's greater plan was for all the families of the earth to come to know Him and give Him glory, as Abraham was called: Av hamon goyim (אַב הֲמוֹן גּוֹיִם), the father of a multitude of nations (Gen. 17:4; Rom. 4:16). "Jewishness" is therefore not an end in itself but rather a means to bring healing truth to the nations... Indeed, the entire redemptive story of the Scriptures is about the cosmic conflict to deliver humanity from the "curse" of death by means of the "Seed of the woman" who would come. As the Apostle Paul clearly affirmed, any talk of genetics, bloodlines, lineage, and so on are a means to this greater redemptive end (Phil. 3:2-9).
In fact, a chosen person is not selected on the basis of their genetics or family lineage, but solely from the personal call and election of God. "For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but "through Isaac shall your offspring be named." This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring" (Rom. 9:6-8). The idea of "chosenness" therefore is independent of considerations of "flesh" but is directly related to our response to God's promises.... This was true of "Israel at large" in relation to its faithful subset called she'arit Yisrael (i.e., the faithful remnant), just as it is true of those who trust the promise of life in Yeshua the Messiah.
Therefore the Apostle Peter refers to followers of Yeshua as "a chosen race (עַם נִבְחָר), a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession" (1 Pet. 2:9, cp. Ex. 19:6, Deut. 7:6). This is clearly a reference to both Jews and Gentiles who receive Yeshua as their Savior, since he adds: "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people" (1 Pet. 2:9-10). The Apostle Paul likewise understands Christians to be "chosen people" (Eph. 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:13). All true Christians are be'kehunat Mashiach - in the priesthood of Messiah Yeshua and therefore have direct access to God. This priestly lineage began with Malki-Tzedek (Melchizedek), culminated in Yeshua, and is passed directly to the believer by means of his or her justification and identification with the Lord, "who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a 'peculiar people' (i.e., am segulah: עַם סְגֻלָּה), zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14).
Within certain sects of Messianic Judaism, non-Jewish believers sometimes regard themselves as "second-class" members in the family of God. They often tend to be self-deprecatory, calling themselves "wild olive shoots," "Gentile believers," or even "ger tzedek" (a righteous convert). This is most unfortunate, since it robs these precious souls of their true identity as co-heirs of the Kingdom (Gal. 3:9; Titus 3:7), and it also destroys the unity that Yeshua sought to bring among God's people (John 17:20-23; Eph. 2:14-15).
While it's indeed true that ancient Israel was composed of various classes of people (priests, Levites, Israelites, women, converts, slaves, etc.), it's also clear that Yeshua didn't come to create a "caste system" among His followers. In fact, Yeshua turned things upside-down by saying that the "greatest would be the slave of all" (Mark 10:44; Matt. 18:1-4, Matt. 20:25-28). Whoever would be great in the Kingdom must humble himself and walk hatznea lechet - in childlike simplicity before the Lord (Micah 6:8). Yeshua transposed the all-too-human view of social relationships by inverting the "natural" order. Do you "seek great things for thyself"? Then take hold of your absolute nothingness before the LORD and serve your fellow man (Jer. 45:5). Show gratitude for the gift of life and quit your vain conceits:
"And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I will bring distress upon all flesh, says the LORD. But your life I will give to you as a prize in all places wherever you go." (Jer. 45:5)
The Apostle Paul - the greatest Torah sage of the Second Temple period - taught that in the Messiah there "is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female" since we are all one (echad) in the Messiah (Gal. 3:28). But what does this mean? Despite the egalitarian ideal, don't we use these very distinctions to this day? On a fleshly level we certainly do. After all, we clearly distinguish between men and women, rich and poor, and various ethnic identities. We all live with these distinctions in the world ofbasar - the carnal world that is known through sensuous apprehension. However, "from now on we regard no one according to the flesh" (2 Cor 5:16) but we aim to understand, with the help of God, that a follower of Yeshua is briah chadashah - a "new creation." Together we are ish-echad chadash ("one new man") designed to live in unity. ke'ish echad, be'lev echad - "like a single person with a single heart."
God is said to be no "respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34, Rom. 2:11). He is able to make the unclean clean (Acts 10:28) and to regard those who were once called "Not My People" as "My People" (Hosea 2:23, Matt. 3:9). Indeed, a true Jew is one who is circumcised inwardly, someone who has undergone spiritual brit millah - "covenant of the word" (Deut 10:16, 30:6; Rom. 2:28-29, 1 Cor. 7:19, Gal. 5:6; 6:15; Phil. 3:3, Col. 2:11, etc.). Indeed, Paul insisted that any merit obtained either through his pedigree or his adherence to the moral law code is accounted as less than nothing (i.e., σκύβαλα) in comparison to the imputed righteousness given by means of his relationship with Yeshua (Phil. 3:3-8).
So, dear Christian, is it correct to call yourself a "Gentile" believer in Yeshua? Is that an adequate label to describe your identity in Him?
Regardless of your ethnic background, then, or your gender, or your social status in this world, know that you are am segulah (עַם סְגֻלָּה), precious and elect, and part of the family of God. You are Kohanim l'El Elyon - priests of the Most High God - "living stones being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Yeshua the Messiah" (1 Pet. 2:5). Amen. Your heritage is the God of Israel.
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Yitro...]
02.01.21 (Shevat 19, 5781) 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. There is no love like that of the Lord, but you can't feel that love if you don't speak to Him, pouring out your heart and clinging to the truth of his love for you....
Pouring out your heart to God in an honest, transparent, and earnest way is sometimes 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 deeply and surrender 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 find strength when 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.
Since the essence of Torah is connection to God, the greatest blessing is to be filled with a steadfast desire to draw close to him, to experience hunger and thirst (visceral yearning) for God's presence and touch. Holy desire – expressed in the yearning of heartfelt prayer – is therefore a state of true blessedness, and the more desperate our need for God the more blessed we are. It is our desire, our holy need, that creates a bond between our soul and its Creator, and that is the deeper meaning of mitzvah... "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (Matt. 5:6).
Treasure in Frailty...
02.01.21 (Shevat 19, 5781) No one escapes suffering in this life, and therefore it is senseless to pretend to hide or deny our troubles. We are likened to "jars of clay," fragile and easily broken vessels that hold the truth of salvation; we are mere dust held together by the sustaining power and glory of God. Our frailty is intended to reveal God our Father's sufficiency and strength: "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us" (2 Cor. 4:7). In light of this, the only meaningful question is how our woundedness may be used to strengthen others (2 Cor. 1:4). The "surpassing power belongs to God and not to us" means that God keeps us continually dependent upon himself; we have nothing at our own command; God alone is our strength. "For he knows our frailty; he is mindful that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14).
02.01.21 (Shevat 19, 5781) From our Torah portion this week (i.e., Yitro) we read words of great promise and comfort: "You shall be for me a treasured people; you shall be children of the King; you shall be priests who help others draw near to God... these are the words (אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים) that you shall speak" (Exod. 19:5-6). These are the words of love: "And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your substance. Set these words (הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה), which I command you this day, upon your heart" (Deut. 6:5-6). We store up these words so that, in a holy moment, they are quickened within us and we are able to hear the Voice of the LORD speaking from the midst of the fire that burns within our hearts. As Simone Weil said, "love is revelation, and revelation comes only with love."
