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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...
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Seeking What is Above...
02.28.23 (Adar 7, 5783) "If then you have been raised with Messiah, seek the things that are above, where the Messiah is seated at the right hand of God (לִימִין הָאֱלהִים); focus your thoughts on the things above - not on things here on earth - for you have died, and your life has been hidden with Messiah in God" (Col. 3:1-3). Note that the verb translated "you have died" (ἀπεθάνετε) indicates that your death is a spiritual reality you must accept by faith. You don't "try to die" to the flesh, since that is the fool's errand of man's "religion." No, you trust that God has killed the power of sin and death on your behalf and imparted to you a new kind of life power (John 1:12; Eph 2:5). Because you partake of an entirely greater dimension of reality, namely, the spiritual reality hidden from the vanity of this age, your life is likewise hidden from this world (Col. 3:4). Therefore we are instructed to consciously focus our thoughts (φρονέω) on the hidden reality of God rather than on the superficial and temporal world that is passing away: "For we are looking not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient (i.e., "just for a season," καιρός), but the things that are unseen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:18).
Just as you must trust and accept that Yeshua was crucified for you, identifying with you, taking your place in judgment, exchanging his life for your own, so you must trust and accept that you have been crucified with him, and that your old life was taken away and replaced with a new, indestructible nature. In other words, a union is created where his "for me" is answered by my "with him." Χριστῷ συνεσταύρωμαι– "I already have been crucified in Messiah" (Gal. 2:20). Indeed the two go together: to trust in the finished work of Messiah for you is to trust in his finished work within you... When he died on the cross for you, which sins didn't he bear on your behalf? which remedy did he leave unfulfilled?
02.28.23 (Adar 7, 5783) "Not all who are (physically) descended from Israel (οἱ ἐξ Ἰσραήλ) are (spiritually) Israel, nor are all (physical) descendants (σπέρμα) of Abraham his (spiritual) children (τέκνα); but ביצחק יקרא לך זרע - 'in Isaac shall your seed be called'" (Rom. 9:6-7; Gen. 21:12, 32:28), which is to say that a child of promise is brought forth by the power of God, and not by means of human agency (see John 1:12-13). Though both Ishmael and Isaac were physical descendants of Abraham, the former was born of the flesh (κατὰ σάρκα) whereas the latter was born of the Spirit (ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος), and this is why Isaac was the true heir of the faith.
Note how faith expresses the direction of life. Isaac surrendered himself as a sacrifice to God, whereas Ishmael contended for worldly power. The "children of the flesh" often regard themselves as "free" when in fact they are slaves since they do not know the blessing of true surrender to God. Friend, if you are depending on your own inner strength, your resolve, or your "religion" to save you, then you have not taken hold of the promise, for it is receiving the promise of God that imparts life. You may regard yourself as a "spiritual" person but be a stranger to the heart of Reality. We are healed from the sickness of spiritual death only by the power of God, by being reborn with a radically new nature though the agency of the Spirit, not by attempting to "reform" our lower nature nor by taking pride in our lineage, religion, or our status in this world (Matt. 3:9, John 8:39-45).
02.27.23 (Adar 6, 5783) No one wants to say they are needy, broken, weak, and so on, and indeed such a confession is blasphemy to the heart of the proud. The truth, however, is that we are indeed all these things, and Yeshua told us we were blessed if we understood this (Matt. 5:3-6). There is great danger to pretend you are strong and capable of living life on your own terms, since eventually you will be blindsided by the truth about your condition. On the other hand, the confession of our weakness opens the way to God's power, as Yeshua said to Paul in his affliction: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9). Paul came to see that the various trials and afflictions in his life taught his profound dependence on God: "for when I am weak, then I am strong."
Access to this grace, however, comes at the expense of our pride. We must humbly confess who and what we are, and therefore we must entirely abandon hope in our own strength and virtues. "We are only as sick as the secrets we keep," especially those secrets we keep from ourselves - those self-deceptions and illusions we use to defend ourselves.
Suppose, for instance, that you have the bad habit of complaining and even cursing when you are beset by troubles, and you want to stop doing these behaviors. You may resolve to be more optimistic and grateful, or you may read self-help books -- or even take anger management classes -- but nothing will do you any lasting good until you know "in your bones" that you are powerless to change your heart. That is the first step to being set free. Or suppose that you are habitually unhappy, troubled, anxious, and in pain, yet you want to find inner peace and joy. Again, apart from the miracle of God there is no lasting remedy. You must be honest with yourself and confess the truth of your condition, asking God to do in you what you cannot do for yourself. As Yeshua said: "What is impossible with man is possible with God." So in this way God uses your sins to correct you or bring you to the end of yourself, and in that way awareness of your personal weakness is a blessing from God.
Recall that Yeshua said out of the heart proceed "evil thoughts," or more literally, "evil dialogs" or reasoning within yourself (διαλογισμοι πονηροι). You are tethered to yourself - you cannot escape yourself - yet a divided house cannot stand. Attempting to relate to yourself apart from a relationship with God leads to ongoing despair -- either the despair of resigning into yourself or else the despair of fleeing from yourself -- but either way, to a condition of anxiety derived from not being grounded in the life of God... "Unless a seed of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it abides alone..." (John 12:24). Yeshua is the source of all life, and we find nourishment, strength, and the meaning of who we are as we connect with him. By faith we affirm: "I have been crucified with Messiah, and it is no longer 'I' who live, but Messiah who lives in me" (Gal. 2:20). There is a new self that comes from above, known only in spiritual relationship with the Savior. The miracle of the exchanged life comes as we surrender to the truth of what God does for us (2 Cor. 5:17). That is the essence of the gospel, "the power of God for salvation for all who believe" (Rom. 1:16). Therefore we do not attempt to crucify ourselves, or labor to reform our corrupted lower nature, but we instead accept that we already have been crucified and healed by the mercy and miracle of God. We clothe ourselves in the robes of His righteousness as we celebrate God's redeeming love for our lives. Only then are we miraculously empowered by the Spirit to truly "love the LORD and keep his charge" (see Deut. 11:1).
The gate is narrow that leads to life, and few there be that find it (Matt. 7:14). That is part of the offense of the cross, after all - the confession you are lost, in darkness, and in need of salvation. Few receive this truth into their hearts because they want to be in control and refuse to let go; few regard their weakness as a blessing that opens the gate to God's strength. Let the weak say "I am strong" because of what the LORD has done. God's grace is sufficient, and his strength is perfected in weakness: "So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Messiah may reside in me" (2 Cor. 12:9). "I can do all things through the Messiah who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13). Amen.
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Tetzaveh... ]
02.27.23 (Adar 6, 5783) The two onyx stones attached to the shoulder pieces of the High Priest's vest (i.e., ephod:אֵפד) were meticulously inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel: "Take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth. As a jeweler engraves signets, so shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall enclose them in settings of gold filigree. And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the High Priest's vest (i.e., ephod:אֵפד), as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his two shoulders for remembrance" (Exod. 28:9-12).
Likewise the twelve precious stones arrayed on the breastplate (i.e., choshen:חשֶׁן) that hung over the front of the High Priest's robe were inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel: "You shall make a breastpiece of judgment (i.e., choshen ha'mishpaht:חשֶׁן הַמִּשְׁפָּט) in skilled work... and you shall set in it four rows of three precious stones enclosed with gold in their settings. There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes... "So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment upon his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the LORD" (Exod. 28:15-29).
The sages comment that just as a father carries his young child on his shoulders, or a shepherd his lamb, so the High Priest carried his people before the LORD in intercession. Similarly, at the cross Yeshua carried our names on his shoulders, bearing the burden of our sins on on breast as he cried out in prayer for us before the Father. As our great High Priest of the New Covenant, Yeshua "bore the judgment of the people upon his heart" as he made intercession for them (Isa. 53:12; Rom. 8:34).
02.27.23 (Adar 6, 5783) We shouldn't be surprised that most people refuse to wake up and realize the profound spiritual danger of their lives – namely, the imminent reality of personal judgment and death – since the Scriptures declare that people willingly suppress the truth and "celebrate" untruth (see Rom. 1:20-32). Soren Kierkegaard commented: "The world wants to be deceived... intensely, more intensely, more passionately perhaps than any witness to the truth has fought for the truth, the world fights to be deceived; it most gratefully rewards with applause, money, and prestige anyone who complies with its wish to be deceived" (Judge for Yourself). Indeed, any distraction that seduces people to deny reality will suffice for the sake of untruth... The Scriptures state: "And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 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 the power of God" (John 3:19-21).
It is vital to remember that one of the main tactics of the enemy of our souls is to cast a spell over us induce a sense of forgetfulness and apathy... Satan wants you to forget that you are a child of the King. The entire venture of teshuvah (repentance) presupposes that you are created be'tzelem Elohim - in the image of God - and therefore you have infinite value and dignity. This is all the more evident in light of the awesome ransom that Yeshua paid to reconcile your soul with God. Understand: the judgment is so great because the love is so great... So what is one of the greatest of sins you can commit in your life? To forget what God has done for you... Remaining asleep, unmindful of your true identity is one of the most tragic things of life. Therefore the blast of the shofar is meant to jolt us awake... We are to remember who we really are -- to remember that God is our King. The person who says, "Tomorrow I will do teshuvah" really is saying, "Not now." And then tomorrow comes and he says, "Not now." And in this way his entire life passes by, saying, "Not now." Finally one day he wakes up only to find himself already dead.
Kierkegaard once said: "To become sober is: to come to oneself in self-knowledge and before God as nothing before him, yet infinitely, unconditionally engaged." This is the earnestness of wide-awake faith. May God help us wake up today to the Reality that is set before us. The "End of the World" is the day you will die and give account of how you lived before the Truth of Eternity -- and there will be no more rationalizations, no more evasions, no excuses, no pretense of being a victim, that will bear on the question before the bar of heaven....
[ "All truth and understanding is a result of a divine light which is God Himself." - Augustine ]
02.26.23 (Adar 5, 5783) 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.
Behind the Sacred Veil: Blood over Broken Tablets...
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Tetzaveh... ]
02.24.23 (Adar 3, 5783) The earthy Tabernacle (i.e., Mishkan) and its furnishings were "copies" of the heavenly Temple and the Throne of God Himself (see Heb. 10:1). Moses was commanded to make the Sanctuary according to the "pattern" revealed at Sinai (Exod. 25:9). As it is written in our Scriptures, "For Messiah has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are representations (ἀντίτυπος) of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf" (Heb. 9:24).
The centermost point (heart) of the earthly Tabernacle was the Ark of the Covenant (אֲרוֹן־הַקּדֶשׁ), a "three-in-one" box that contained God's Holy Word (i.e., the tablets of the Torah). As such, the Ark served as a symbol of kisei ha-kavod (כִּסֵּא הַכָּבוֹד), the Throne of Glory. The Ark stood entirely apart as the only furnishing placed in the "three-in-one" space called 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). This was the sacred place where the blood of purification was sprinkled during Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and this is the Place (הַמָּקוֹם) that prefigured the offering of the blood of the Messiah, our eternal Mediator of the New Covenant. "For I will appear in the cloud over the kapporet" (Lev. 16:2; Exod. 25:22). As it is written in the prophet Isaiah: "I have blotted out your transgressions like a thick cloud and as a cloud your sins; return to me (שׁוּבָה אֵלַי), for I have redeemed you (Isa. 44:22).
The central ritual of atonement given in the Torah is that of the anointed High Priest sprinkling sacrificial blood over the tablets of the law upon the kapporet (the "mercy seat") of the Ark of the Covenant - the Place where "Love and truth meet, where righteousness and peace kiss" (Psalm 85:10). It was from the midst of the surrounding cloud in the Holy of Holies that the Voice of the LORD was heard, just as it was in the midst of the surrounding cloud of darkness upon the cross that Yeshua cried out in intercession for our sins (Luke 23:44-46).
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).
Half-Cubits and Mystery...
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Terumah... ]
02.24.23 (Adar 3, 5783) The renowned "Ark of the Covenant" (ארון ברית־יהוה) was constructed using fractional measurements (i.e., "half-cubits") to specify its length, width, and height: "They shall make an Ark of acacia wood (ועשׂוּ ארוֹן עֲצֵי שִׁטִּים). Two cubits and a half (אַמָּתַיִם וָחֵצִי) shall be its length, a cubit and a half (ואַמָּה וָחֵצִי) 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).
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 the whole world (1 John 2:2). Shalom chaverim.
The Light of the Servant...
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Terumah... ]
02.24.23 (Adar 3, 5783) One of the main components of the Mishkan (i.e., Tabernacle) was the Menorah (מְנוֹרָה), a beautifully designed lampstand that illuminated the Holy Place. 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). The gold color is symbolic of the divine substance (gold has a hint of the color of blood combined with the pure white). The six lamps of the menorah faced the central lamp, called the shamash or "servant," so called because it bore the flame from which the other lamps were kindled.
The seven lamps of the menorah were lit daily, "from evening until morning," starting from the central lamp (i.e, 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).
[ "Repentance means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into… It means ...undergoing a kind of death." - C.S. Lewis ]
02.23.23 (Adar 2, 5783) When we sincerely pray to God, "Thy will be done," are we not surrendering our desire for whatever might happen? Are we not confessing trust in His sovereign care as Ribbono shel olam (ריבונו של עולם), the Lord of the world? The prophet cries out: "Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counselor has taught him?"(Isa. 40:13). He is our God, and we are sheep in his pasture, if we obey his voice (Psalm 95:7).
If we find ourselves habitually complaining or murmuring about the course of our lives, are we not resisting his will? Indeed, is not such complaint a type of blasphemy before the Lord? Is it not an accusation that God is not to be trusted with whatever happens, whether good or bad? Is not such a complaint, in its essence, tantamount to the demand: "I want it my way"?
As C.S. Lewis warned: "Hell begins with a grumbling mood, always complaining, always blaming others... but you are still distinct from it. You may even criticize it in yourself and wish you could stop it. But there may come a day when you can no longer. Then there will be no 'you' left to criticize the mood or even to enjoy it, but just the grumble itself, going on forever like a machine. It is not a question of God "sending us" to hell. In each of us there is something growing, which will BE hell unless it is nipped in the bud" (Great Divorce). "Perhaps my bad temper or my jealousy are gradually getting worse - so gradually that the increase in seventy years will not be very noticeable. But it might be absolute hell in a million years!"
There is a Torah of surrender we must offer: "Be still and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10). This is something you must do; you must quiet your heart to know the Divine Presence. Therefore "set the Lord always before you" (Psalm 16:8) and refuse anxious thoughts that weigh in upon you, creating pressure and "dis-ease." Let go of your will. Confess your selfish desire; abandon the insanity of your self-rule. Quieting your heart allows you to hear the holy Spirit's whisper: "It is I; do not be afraid..." Once the storm of fear dissipates, you can access the truth of God. The Spirit asks us to do teshuvah: "In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength" (Isa. 30:15).
Worry is a place of exile and pain. Since God's Name (יהוה) means "Presence" and "Love," being anxious is to practice the absence of God's presence instead of practicing his presence... A divided house cannot stand. Where it is written, "cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you" (1 Pet. 5:7), the word translated "anxiety" comes from a verb that means to divide into pieces. Bring your brokenness to God – including those distractions that make you ambivalent and afraid – to receive God's healing for your divided heart.
"Be still and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10). Note that the Hebrew verb translated "be still" (i.e., rapha:רפה) means to "let go," to stop striving, stop kvetching, and to surrender everything to the care of God (Rom. 8:28). "Being still" means letting go of your supposed "need" to control the world. Relax your hold and rely on God's care for your life instead, without "taking thought" for tomorrow and its concerns (Matt. 6:34). The past is gone, after all, and the future is God's business: all you have is the present moment to call upon our Lord. Be faithful in the present hour, then, asking God for the grace and strength you need to endure yourself and engage the task at hand. In this way you will experience the peace of God "which surpasses all understanding" (Phil. 4:7).
Walking with God isn't just a matter of "head education," but also of "heart education," and these two must always go together as Spirit and Truth (John 4:23). Head education seeks knowledge primarily as a means of defining what you believe (emunah); heart education, on the other hand, centers on fear, or rather, on overcoming your fear by trusting in God's love and healing grace (bittachon). When you accept that you are accepted despite yourself, you are delivered from the need to defend yourself. You can let go, quit denying who you are, and accept God's unconditional care for your life – regardless of the state of the world. When your heart learns to "be still," you can know that the Lord your God reigns over all things! As Yeshua said: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matt. 11:28-30).
"Be still and know that I am..." Prayer is a type of listening (shema), a turning back to know the message of God's love and hope in Messiah. The word "teshuvah" (תְּשׁוּבָה) means an answer or response to a question. God's love is the question, and the heart's repose is the answer. Some of us may find it difficult to trust, to open our heart to receive grace and kindness. For those wounded by abandonment, it can be a great struggle to hear the voice of God calling you "beloved," "worthy," "valued," and "accepted." When you find faith to receive God's word of love, however, your heart comes alive and you begin to heal... Yeshua speaks words of comfort: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet still believe."
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen." - Reinhold Niebuhr
[ "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). ]
02.23.23 (Adar 2, 5783) It is a sobering glory to understand that 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...
If you belong to the Messiah you are not part of this world and its matrix of deception but instead serve the King of Kings (Col. 1:13; Acts 26:18; 1 Pet. 2:9). Therefore set your thoughts on things above, not on things of this world (Col. 3:2). In the end all things born of the lie will be exposed and forever put away from us (Eccl. 12:14). The great Day draws near. "For though the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end -- it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay" (Hab. 2:3).
02.23.23 (Adar 2, 5783) It is easy enough to hurry past words of Scripture without slowing down to reflect on what is being said. For instance, in Torah portion 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 ve'heyei 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 into the dark cloud of the unknown... Are you "showing up" in the secret place of your heart?
[ "Christianity preaches the infinite worth of that which is seemingly worthless and the infinite worthlessness of that which is seemingly so valued." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer ]
02.23.23 (Adar 2, 5783) 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).
02.23.23 (Adar 2, 5783) 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.
Hebrew Lesson Proverbs 3:3 reading (click for audio):
02.22.23 (Adar 1, 5783) 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.
Hebrew Lesson Joshua 1:9 reading (click for audio):
02.22.23 (Adar 1, 5783) 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 this Tabernacle -- the place of utmost holiness -- the Ark of the Covenant (אֲרוֹן־הַקּדֶשׁ) was placed, 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 allusion 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.
Hebrew Lesson Jeremiah 31:33b reading (click for audio):
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Terumah.... ]
02.22.23 (Adar 1, 5783) 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 up with love" (Psalm 89:4). This is the meaning of "sanctuary," after all, that our lives are built on the solid foundation of God's grace and lovingkindness (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.
02.22.23 (Adar 1, 5783) The teshuvah (repentance) called for by Yeshua is not like that of the rabbis... The rabbis want you to be sorry for your sins, to confess "every sin in the book," and to find "atonement" in religious rituals, but this is not "good news," but rather "stale news." The teshuvah of Yeshua is the miracle of new life; Messiah sets you free from the power of sin and death itself. The repentance of Yeshua is to trust in God's remedy for your sin: "This is the work of God, to believe in the One whom God sent" (John 6:29). "He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then His own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him" (Isa. 59:16).
We must turn away from the idea that God demands anything from us other than trust in his love. "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:3). Stop trying to "measure up" to his standards. You simply cannot give more than you have the grace to give, so you must begin by getting your heart needs met by accepting God's unconditional love. It's not about what you do for God, after all, but about what he does for you. That's the message of the gospel. Trust that you are rightly related to God because of the salvation of Yeshua, not because of your own efforts at self-improvement. "I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the One who sent me has eternal life (חַיֵּי עוֹלָם) and will not be condemned, but has passed over (i.e., μετά + βαίνω, lit., "crossed over" [עָבַר]) from death to life" (John 5:24).
Do you believe that God loves you right now - just as you are - and that you don't have to change or improve yourself to be loved by him? Do you believe that, whatever your present condition, God loves you with the very passion that put Yeshua on the cross? The LORD is present for you now, if you will believe, not some time later, after you've attempted to remedy yourself or after you have somehow "endured to the end." If we come to God in utter poverty of spirit, confessing our need for deliverance from the misery of ourselves, why do we think that, after so coming, we should later relate to God on a different basis? You are delivered by trusting in God's grace, by accepting his love for your soul, and likewise are you sanctified. We never get beyond our need for the cross, which is to say that we always need God's compassion and mercy... "Repentance is the ultimate honesty" (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).
We must be careful not to worship an idol, that is, a false concept of God... It is possible to read the Bible, to go to church or synagogue, and yet worship a pagan god. How so? By not knowing the heart of the Father; by not honoring the One who passionately seeks our healing. We know the Father by the Son, that is, in "the language of Son" (Heb. 1:2; Luke 10:21-24). Our heavenly Father is eager to forgive and embrace all of his children. In Yeshua's famous parable of the "prodigal son," the father saw his child a "long way off" and ran to embrace and kiss him - no questions asked, no explanations needed about his past. When the son nevertheless began reciting his carefully prepared speech of repentance, the father barely listened, and in his overwhelming joy instructed his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found...' (Luke 15:20-25).
Hebrew Lesson Psalm 63:3 reading (click for audio):
[ The following is related to our Torah reading this week, parashat Terumah... ]
02.22.23 (Adar 1, 5783) The sages have said that salvation may be likened to spiritual 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 the 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 the Lord says in our Torah portion, "Make for me a sacred place (מִקְדָּשׁ) so I can dwell within you" (Exod. 25:8). Each of us is created to be "mikdash ha'lev" (מקדש הלב) that is, a sacred place for God (1 Cor. 3:16; 1 Cor. 6:19). 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 first believe God's invitation to abide within his heart and live as his beloved child, and then we make a sacred place for Him within our heart as the place of his dwelling (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).
Rosh Chodesh Adar...
02.21.23 (Shevat 30, 5783) Today marks 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:
02.21.23 (Shevat 30, 5783) Do you sometimes have trouble trusting God? Do you wrestle with fear, anxiety, or worry? Does a vague sense of dread or feelings 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 deceived, and on the other hand many believers 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....
"I believe! Please help me in my lack of faith..."
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).
[ The following is related to our Torah reading this week, parashat Terumah... ]
02.21.23 (Shevat 30, 5783) 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). Let's ask Him today.
02.20.23 (Shevat 29, 5783) "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Eternal One, the LORD, is the Creator of the ends of the earth (בּוֹרֵא קְצוֹת הָאָרֶץ). He does not faint nor grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength" (Isa. 40:28-29). Human reason has no objection that God can impart strength, but it objects that strength is found in those who are broken and weary – that is, to those mortally wounded in the battle against evil. The principle of the self-life, the ego, religious observance, "doing the law," etc., is a spiritual dead-end. The word is this: God gives strength to the weary, to the faint, to those who are without potency or power. But this means that we first must be emptied, broken, and stripped of our self-sufficiency before the strength of God is manifest in us. "My grace is sufficient for you - dai li chasdi (דַּי לְךָ חַסְדִּי) - for my power will be perfected in weakness - כִּי תֻּשְׁלַם גְּבוּרָתִי בַּחֻלְשָׁה (2 Cor. 12:9).
God's way is first to break us, to make us weaker and weaker, until we are at the "end of ourselves," so that he can then fill us with the miraculous divine nature (1 Cor. 1:27-29). Like all sacrifices that were brought to the altar, we must pass through death to life by means of our union with the Messiah at the cross... It is only after the cross that it may be said, "It is no longer 'I' who lives; now it is Messiah who lives His life in me" (Gal. 2:20). There is indeed strength, power, and victory – but such comes after the cross, after we reckon carnal energy as useless. "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says Adonai Tzeva'ot" (Zech 4:6).
Hebrew Lesson Isaiah 40:31 reading (click for audio):
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Terumah... ]
02.20.23 (Shevat 29, 5783) "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).
02.20.23 (Shevat 29, 5783) 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...
Revelation and Fear...
02.20.23 (Shevat 29, 5783) While at Mount Sinai 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 the souls of 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...
02.19.23 (Shevat 28, 5783) Yeshua likened His relationship with his followers in terms using the metaphor of a vine and its branches: "I am the true Vine (הַגֶּפֶן הָאֲמִתִּית), and you are the branches" (see John 15:1-5). We derive our identity, life and strength from being made part of His life... The purpose of the branch is to be a conduit of the life of the vine. Vine branches by themselves are of little value, apart from the manifestation of fruit; they cannot be used for building things and otherwise are regarded as bramble (Ezek. 15:2-4). Notice further that the vine branch cannot bear good fruit while it remains on the ground: it must "climb" upward and be elevated. And if you look closely at a vine, it is often difficult to see where the vine ends and the branches begin. The life of the branch becomes "entangled" in God's love as it bears spiritual fruit from the sustenance of the True Vine (הַגֶּפֶן הָאֲמִתִּית). When we abide in, or are truly connected with, Yeshua as the Source of life, we bear the fragrance and sweet-smelling savor of heaven itself...
"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Note that the expression "apart from me" (χωρὶς ἐμοῦ) means being in a state of separation from Yeshua, which is likened to spiritual death... It is the death of possibility, the absence of power to yield true good to the world, and so on. This is what is meant by "you can do nothing" (οὐ δύνασθε ποιεῖν οὐδέν), that is, you can do nothing of any lasting significance or worth... There is simply no true life apart from the Savior who is the Source of divine life. May you find your life and peace in Yeshua's heart, friends. Shavuah tov chaverim!
[ The Kotzker Rebbe said that the verse, "this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt Him" (Exod. 15:2), may be understood as, "this is my God, and I will make a dwelling for Him within me..." ]
02.19.23 (Shevat 28, 5783) 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 (מִשְׁפָּטִים) to 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"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 symbolic sacred place for His Presence to be manifest, the Holy of Holies representing God's Presence and Throne...
The LORD then showed Moses the three-in-one pattern (i.e., tavnit:תַּבְנִית) according to which the sacred place of the mikdash was to be surrounded by a mishkan (מִשְׁכָּן), or a tent-like dwelling place set apart for the Divine Presence. 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 before which a golden altar of incense would be placed.
The various "materials" required to make the mishkan (and mikdash), namely, the gold, silver, brass, red and purple yarns, fine linens, oils, spices, precious stones, and so on, were to be supplied from the people by means of free-will offerings given to honor the LORD. Collectively these offerings were referred to as terumot (תְּרוּמוֹת), meaning consecrated "donations" or "contributions" (from the verb רוּם meaning to raise or lift up) though later the word generally referred to various tithes given to the priests.
The LORD then described the pattern of the tent of the Tabernacle (i.e., ohel:אֹהֶל) along with its exact dimensions. The tent was designed to be portable, with a wooden frame covered by richly colored fabric and the hide of rams and goats. The outer court was to include an altar with horns of copper 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.
[ "God creates out of nothing. Therefore, until a man is nothing, God can make nothing out of him." - Martin Luther ]
02.19.23 (Shevat 28, 5783) In his famous "Sermon on the Mount," Yeshua revealed the inner condition of the heart, despite the various pretenses that people may contrive to evade the truth.... "You have heard that it was said, "Do no murder," but I say to you, harbor no anger; you have heard "do no adultery," but I say to you harbor no lust..." You have heard it said, "Do not break an oath," but I say to you swear no oath at all, but let your word be enough. Yeshua brings the Torah inside, to the heart, to reveal our great need. A person who makes an oath assumes he can keep the law, that he can control the impulses and sickness of his own deceptive heart. That is the source of the problem (Jer. 17:9; Eccl. 9:3; Mark 7:21). The Lord reveals what we are inside so that we may realize our need for deliverance from ourselves. What we really need is a miracle on the order of splitting the sea or raising the dead, namely, a new heart (לֵב חָדָשׁ) and a new spirit (רוּחַ חֲדָשָׁה) put within us. For those who might struggle with pride, fear, anger, lust, and hardness of heart, please take hold of hope. God can turn "stone to flesh" and make you fully alive by His power.
Hebrew Lesson Ezekiel 36:26a reading (click for audio):
The heart (lev) is the inner person, the seat of the emotions, thought, and will. A new heart (lev chadash) represents the transformation of the whole of your inner nature - with the impartation of new appetites, new passions, new desires, etc. (Psalm 51:10). A new spirit (ruach chadashah) implies the renewal of your inner life – the rebirth of your will. This is the "law of the Spirit" (תוֹרַת רוּחַ הַחַיִּים) and the new principle of eternal life (Rom. 8:2).
The "stony heart" (lev ha'even) represents unfeeling, self-serving numbness of being. This heart is the locus of yetzer hara, the inner selfish impulse that is the common heritage of the "natural man." The Targum renders this as, "I will break the heart of the wicked, which is hard as a stone.'' A hard heart has a form of "sclerosis" that makes it closed off and impermeable to love from others, and especially from God. Scripture uses various images to picture this condition, including a "heart of stone" (Ezek. 36:26, Zech. 7:12), an "uncircumcised heart" (Jer. 9:26), a "stiff neck" (Deut. 31:27), and so on. Stubbornness is really a form of idolatry, an exaltation of self-will that refuses to surrender to God.
The heart of flesh (lev basar) represents an inner life of genuine feeling and joy that makes a fit habitation for the radiance of the Divine Presence. After all, the word for "grace" (χάρις) is directly linked to the word for "joy" (χαρά). This heart is soft and tender - a spiritual and sanctified heart - that is submissive to the will of God. It is upon the inner "tablets" of this heart that the Torah of God truly written (Jer. 31:33).
There aren't two gospel messages: one for the sinner and the other for the saint... The message of the gospel is always "good news" to those who are sin-sick and riddled with guilt and shame, and it is always "bad news" for those who deny their inner condition before God and believe that they can justify themselves. In other words, there's no "gospel" message apart from the message of the cross of Yeshua, and the cross represents the end of the ego and its devices. We don't get saved in order to follow the path of self-righteousness; we get saved to be witnesses of God's righteousness... We love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).
May it please God to give us all soft hearts and renewed spirits that are empowered to love in the truth and to walk before His Presence... May He perform a divine "heart transplant" so that we may feel the heartbeat of the Spirit within us. Amen.
The Torah of Love...
02.17.23 (Shevat 26, 5783) The Kotzker Rebbe once said, "The prohibition against making idols includes the prohibition against making idols out of the commandments. We should never imagine that the whole purpose of the Torah is its outer form, but rather the inward meaning." Indeed, sacrificial blood was placed over the tablets of the law (i.e., the blood sprinkled on the kapporet, or the "crown" of the Ark) that represented God's forgiveness and atonement for sin. The life is "in the blood," which represents God's passion, the deepest truth of Torah. And this is the message of the gospel itself, of course, since the blood of Yeshua passionately shed for our sake has opened up a new and everlasting way for us to be rightly related to God (Heb. 9:12). As C.S. Lewis fictionally portrayed in the Chronicles of Narnia, after Aslan was slain on the Stone Table, it broke in two "from end to end," symbolizing the deeper Torah of God's love had rightfully satisfied the Torah of His justice.
Man prays to God, but to whom does God pray? For what does He pray? Or do you think that the Almighty has no desires of His own, no yearning of heart? The sages of the Talmud believed that God indeed addresses himself: Yehi ratzon milfanai, "May it be acceptable before me, may it be My will, that my compassion overcome my anger, and that it may prevail over my justice when my children appeal to me, so that I may deal with them in mercy and in love" (Berachot 6a). This is the deeper unity of the Name YHVH (יהוה), the Savior and LORD, revealed to Moses after the sin of the Golden Calf (Exod. 34:6-7), and this is the essential meaning of the cross of Yeshua, where the LORD passionately "prayed within Himself" so that His compassion would overcome His fearful judgment for our sins.
Only the cross allows God's righteousness and mercy to "kiss" (Psalm 85:10; 89:14); only the cross reveals the true Holy of Holies where the blood was placed over the Ark of the Law; only the cross intimates the Inner Sanctum of God's heart. Because of the cross, a holy God is able to truly love and help the trusting sinner (Rom. 3:26). It is written: "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne (צֶדֶק וּמִשְׁפָּט מְכוֹן כִּסְאֶךָ); steadfast love and faithfulness go before you" (Psalm 89:14). Because of Yeshua, God is vindicated as entirely just - and the Justifier of those who trust in His redemptive love (Rom. 3:24-26). Yeshua is the prayer of God the Father's on behalf of His children...
The will of God - His heart's yearning and desire - is for his children to receive his love (2 Pet. 3:9; 1 Tim. 2:4; John 3:16; Ezek. 18:23). As Yeshua prayed, "Holy Father, keep them in your Name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one... I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me" (John 17:11,23). Yeshua died on the cross to bear the shame for your sins, to be sure, but he did this so that you could be accepted and securely loved forever.... It is the love of God that is the goal of all things, after all. When Yeshua cried out, "It is finished" and breathed his last breath as He died for our sins upon the cross, the greatest exhalation of the Spirit occurred, the greatest sigh, the greatest utterance was ever declared. The sacrificial death of Yeshua for our deliverance was God's final word of love breathed out to those who are trusting in Him.
The Knowledge of God...
02.17.23 (Shevat 26, 5783) 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).
Hebrew Lesson Proverbs 1:7 reading (click for audio):
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).
Hebrew Lesson Deuteronomy 10:12a reading (click for audio):
02.17.23 (Shevat 26, 5783) 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" (i.e., esh okhelah: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.
The midst of our Sorrows...
02.17.23 (Shevat 26, 5783) Sometimes in our troubles 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."
Amen, God is aware of our frustration, our helplessness, 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.
Therefore trust in God's healing and deliverance is the first step... The LORD is our refuge and strength in times of trouble, and this must be affirmed especially when we cannot fathom the testing of our present circumstances... He will never leave nor forsake us.
Personal Update:Please remember my mother Jocelyn in your prayers, if you will. She is quite old now and yesterday fell down, breaking her pelvis in two places. She was taken to the hospital and is in a great deal of pain, highly sedated. She did, however, tell a nurse that she had a vision of the cross, and that is encouraging indeed! I will keep you updated as I learn more of my mom's condition. Thank you and Shabbat Shalom.
No Fear in His Love...
02.17.23 (Shevat 26, 5783) This week's Torah reading (i.e., parashat Mishpatim) concerns various social and civil laws of ancient Israel. Regarding the opening statement of the portion: "And these are the judgments (i.e., mishpatim:הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים) which you shall set before them" (Exod. 21:1), the sages state that this means there must be the recognition of social obligation between man and his fellow man before the obligation between man and God can be embraced (see Matt. 5:23-24). This idea may be summed up as, "respect precedes Torah" (דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה), since without any form of brotherhood, unity, or basic civility, we are left with anarchy, anomie, and despair...
As we move closer to the prophesied "End of Days" (אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים), it is evident that the world has become more and more lawless, heartless, and a place of despair. Civil law is flouted and every person does "what is right in his own eyes." The storm clouds are gathering...
Nonetheless Scripture admonishes us: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). Fear and faith are antithetical, but if you're anything like me, you struggle with fear... The Greek New Testament says that "perfected love" (ἡ τελεία ἀγάπη) "casts out fear" since it is rooted in the idea of punishment (κόλασις). 1 John 4:18 goes on to say that the one who keeps fearing has not been brought to maturity with regard to love....
My fears often center on the future, for example, regarding the matters of providing for my family, being a good parent and husband, the health of my aged mother and father, etc. The prospect of the "End of Days" makes me more than a little concerned about the moral and spiritual condition of this country. I sometimes find myself anxiously thinking of my childrens' future. But sometimes I just find myself in a state of fear without any identifiable reason -- i.e., anxiety -- and then it's more difficult for me to discern the message of this state of soul.... Regardless, there is one thing we can (and must) do to secure ourselves in these perilous times, and that is to renew our faith and stand firm in our convictions. If you feel tempted to surrender to worldly despair, redouble your efforts to study the Scriptures and hold to the truth that sets you free. Study Torah and the Words of Yeshua our Savior!
02.17.23 (Shevat 26, 5783) People confuse morality with religion, saying things like, "if I do good, the rest will take care of itself," but Yeshua did not come to simply teach (or reinforce) moral truth, but to die for our sins and to transform our nature. The message of the cross is not that we should reform ourselves with renewed hope, but rather that our old nature must die and be replaced with something far greater...
When King David cried out to the Lord, "Create in me a clean heart, O God," he did not use the Hebrew word yatzar (יָצַר), which means to "fashion" or "form" something from pre-existing material (Gen. 2:7), but he instead used the word bara (בָּרָא), a verb exclusively used in the Torah to refer to God's direct creation of the cosmos (Gen. 1:1). In other words, King David understood that no amount of reformation of his character would be enough, and therefore he appealed to that very power of God that alone could create yesh me'ayin, or "out of nothing." Such was the nature of the remedy required that was fulfilled in the cross of Messiah...
Yeshua taught, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8). The Greek word translated "pure" is katharos (καθαρός), sometimes used describe the cleansing of a wound (catharsis), or to describe the unalloyed quality of a substance revealed through refining fire. Metaphorically, then, purity of heart refers to separation from the profane - singleness of vision, wholeheartedness, passion, and focused desire for the sacred.
Faith is a great trembling of love: "With this ring I do worship thee..." As we center our affections on Yeshua, we become pure in heart -- i.e., unified, made whole, and healed of our inner fragmentation. We see the Lord both in this world, through his effects, and then panim el-panim (פָּנִים אֶל־פָּנִים), "face to face," in the world to come. Our hope purifies us for that coming great day of full disclosure (1 John 3:2-3; Heb. 12:14).
Click for some recent photos...
The Work of Faith...
02.16.23 (Shevat 25, 5783) In our Torah portion this week (Mishpatim) we read that when the people gathered before Moses to receive the covenant, they said: "All that the LORD has spoken we will do and we will hear (נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע)." Note the order: first comes the decision to obey, and then comes understanding... As Yeshua said, "If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know," and "if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" (John 7:17; 13:17).
The heart of faith is willing to do what God asks before hearing what exactly is required. Many people operate the other way round, sitting in judgment of God's word, demanding to understand why they should obey. You cannot understand apart from trust, however, and that is categorically true of all forms of knowledge.
We are to be "doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves" (James 1:22). We don't audit the words of Scripture since we ourselves are under examination! The Scriptures demand us to respond, choose, decide. The word is like a shofar blast rousing us to action. We are to be doers, not just passive hearers. The Greek verb is emphatic: "Be doers!" (γίνεσθε) means "be born! come alive! do, live, exist before God! This is a call to creative action, to newness of life!
The Scriptures state that "if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like" (James 1:23-24). If we just hear the truth but do not act upon it, we are comically likened to someone who carefully looks at his face in a mirror but then promptly forgets what he looks like after he steps away... Likewise those who only hear the word but do not bring it to life in their deeds forget who they are and why they were created (Eph. 2:10; Titus 2:14; Col. 1:10). When we look into the mirror of truth we see our need for teshuvah and turn to God for the healing miracle he provides (Heb. 4:12).
There is a deeper law, however, a "mirror" that reveals something beyond our passing image. When we look intently into the "perfect law of liberty" (תּוֹרַת הַחֵרוּת וּמַחֲזִיק) - the law of faith, hope, and love for our Savior - we find blessing in our deeds (James 1:25). Note that the verb translated "look into" the law of liberty is the same used when John stooped down to "look inside" the empty tomb of Yeshua (John 20:5). The deeper law reveals the resurrection power of God's invincible love. The Torah of the New Covenant also has many mitzvot, though these are based on the love God gives to us in Yeshua: "This is my Torah: that you love one another as I have loved you" (John 13:34).
We are set free from the verdict of the law to serve God without fear, on the basis of his saving love and grace given in Yeshua (Gal. 5:1), but our freedom is not meant to violate the Ten Commandments or to engage in licentiousness (Gal. 5:13; Matt. 7:21). The moral law speaks, as it were, to young children who need a guardian until they can attain to their place as hiers (Gal. 3:24). Mature sons and daughters do not not need the law but operate on a different level, and enjoy a different relationship with the Master of the house. Serving God this way results in holy passion. The verse, "the appearance (i.e., mareh:מַרְאֵה) of God's glory was like a consuming fire" (Exod. 24:17) may be read, "the mirror (or reflection) of God's glory..." When we act as God's children, full of faith in his love, and walking before the power of his presence, our hearts reflect his passion, too.
As a brief excursus, let me ask how you can "do the word" and live in harmony with the divine commandments... The dividing line between faith and works is often difficult to discern, after all, and indeed Yeshua told us that faith in Him is itself a type of "work" (John 6:29). Studying the Scriptures, praying, trusting God in the midst of our pains and struggles, and worshiping are all in a sense "works," yet they express the inner reality of faith....
Here is the conundrum: Do we "do the word" by means of our own resolution (i.e., will) to act, or is a deeper miracle of transformation first necessary? If the latter, is the miracle entirely sufficient, or do we need to add something else for it to come into being? The Scriptures command us to be "slow to anger" and "put away wrath," and yet how is that possible apart from God's help, after all? How can we manage destructive emotions that sometimes arise within the heart? How do we "put away" fear? On the other hand, how can we be commanded to love? to be joyful? full of faith?
These considerations reveal the divine-human partnership: We "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:12-13). In the end we are faced with paradox: We are utterly dependent upon God to work within our hearts for salvation, yet we are also entirely responsible for working out that salvation in our daily lives. "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (Mark 10:27).
Hebrew Lesson Deut. 6:18a reading (click for audio):
We feel this tension throughout the Scriptures. For instance, we read: "For the grace of God that brings salvation (הוֹפִיעַ חֶסֶד אֱלֹהִים לְהוֹשִׁיַ) has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly (בְּצֶדֶק וּבַחֲסִידוּת) in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Yeshua the Messiah (כְּבוֹד אֱלֹהֵינוּ הַגָּדוֹל וּמוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ יֵשׁוּעַ הַמָּשִׁיחַ), who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people (עַם סְגֻלָּה), zealous for good works" (Titus 2:11-14).
The "Torah of grace" (תורת חסד) teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the days of our sojourn, as we look for our blessed hope - the glorious appearance of the great God and our Savior Yeshua the Messiah, who has redeemed us from all lawlessness (ἀνομία) to purify for himself a "chosen people" (λαὸν περιούσιον), zealous of good works... Note here that the grace of God is manifested in the exercise of our good works (i.e., ma'asim tovim:מעשים טובים), and that a little later Paul wrote: "This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works" (Titus 3:8). Amen, "For we are His workmanship, created in Yeshua the Messiah for good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10).
"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:12-13). So let us be careful to "work out" what God has "worked in" to our hearts by letting our light so shine that God receives the glory from what we do with our lives (Matt. 5:16). Amen.
Cries of the Heart...
02.16.23 (Shevat 25, 5783) Life is often a messy (and painful) business for us. We are weak. We are tempted, and we regularly fail. We are filled with ambivalence; we contradict ourselves; we struggle; we falter, we sin. At times we may even feel lost and inconsolably alone. But faith is a gift from heaven - the gift of God's presence, and as such the miracle attests that "God is with us," even in our times of darkness, in moments of sadness, heartache, confusion, anger, and fear.
Where is God in our sorrows, our losses, our nightmares? He is with us. Despite the blindness of our hearts, the Spirit whispers: "I am with you." Yea, God never leaves us; he never forsakes us. He cares. His heart spans "the breadth and length and height and depth" of all that we are, expressed in his eviscerated groans for our deliverance, in drops of blood sweat out in his passion, in the forsakenness and utmost anguish of the cross... Faith believes and then sees.
God is with us, yet in the anxiety of the everyday we often lose sight of him. We forget. We go dark. We go into exile. And then in "the mercy of our misery" we sense the call of his heart once again: "Come unto me, you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest..." We slow down and again seek his "hidden" Presence, remembering his greatness and turning our thoughts back to what is ultimately real... What we thought was so big -- the dramas of this world -- suddenly seems small and insignificant. We remember the LORD our God; we revisit what matters most of all. And as we do so, the Spirit of God begins to flow within us as we reconnect with our true identity as God's beloved child. We come back to the open arms our Savior. He is alive; Jesus is real; we belong to him and he will lead us into the depths of his love forever and ever... Amen.
Friend, if you struggle inwardly with sin and despair over yourself, remember: Faith is itself the struggle to believe, and therefore the struggle reveals the presence of earnestness within you... God sees you and will hear the cry of your heart...
Hebrew Lesson Psalm 34:15 reading (click for audio):
02.16.23 (Shevat 25, 5783) Contrary to the misleading notion that worldly prosperity and comfort are tokens of God's favor, we discover the truth that the Lord often leads his children to places of sorrow and testing wherein they find nothing on earth in which to find solace, and therefore they are compelled to cast themselves on Him alone.... This is the "hidden blessing" (i.e., berakhah nisteret:בְּרַכָה נִסְתֶרֶת) that is bestowed through faithful perseverance that endures despite affliction, namely, the blessing that comes when our hearts are driven to God and to God alone for respite.
When we are brought so low that our troubles are incommunicable to others, when we feel so overwhelmed and so burdened that we can only groan in lament to God, then we enter into the "secret place," where our heavenly Father sees in secret.
By means of divine fortuity, by means of sacred and providential grace, trouble will draw you close to your heavenly Father for your comfort. God then becomes your only hope; God becomes your most sacred trust, your truest and greatest friend... and surely such revelation is the most precious and esteemed of all. Contrary, then, to the world's shallow valuation of blessing, true blessedness is found in the Everlasting Arms of the one who holds your world together by the strength of his love.
So in the midst of your trouble, abandon yourself to God's care and put your full confidence in his kindness and deliverance. Doing so will dispel fear and anxiety from your heart. Let your heart be strengthened and anchored in trust, for God will show himself strong in your weakness, and your confidence in the midst of your secret distress will glorify his name... The faithful see God in everything, in every circumstance, and they are confident that even if the earth should shake and the mountains totter, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble. Yea, "the LORD will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge for times of trouble, for you, O LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you."
02.15.23 (Shevat 24, 5783) In our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Mishpatim) we read, "Keep yourselves away from a false matter" (Exod. 23:7). In this connection note that the Hebrew word for falsehood (or lie) is sheker (שֶׁקֶר), which can be rearranged to spell kesher (קֶשֶׁר), meaning a band, gang, or group of people... The power of the lie is often found in the "group" rather than in the individual, and if enough people in a group repeat something untrue, eventually the individual's conscience will be overruled and the truth will be lost... This is a common methodology regularly employed by mass media for purposes of social engineering and political propaganda.
Regarding this commandment Abraham Twerski comments that it means we should act in a way that will not move us to "hide," and that includes hiding within the anonymity of the crowd. "Think about what you are about to do. Is there a possibility that you may at some time have to deny that you did it? If so, then do not do it" (Twerski on Chumash).
Each of us must individually strive to be yashar (יָשָׁר) - upright and honest - free from the complications and devious speech that attends to lies. We are to be "simple" (תָּמִים) with the LORD our God (Deut. 18:13), which requires that we are first willing to be rigorously honest with ourselves. "No person is saved except by grace; but there is one sin that makes grace impossible, and that is dishonesty; and there is one thing God must forever and unconditionally require, and that is honesty" (Kierkegaard).
In this connection we note that the midrash teaches that the Hebrew word for "truth" (i.e., emet:אֱמֶת) is composed of the first, near-middle, and last letters of the alphabet, whereas the three letters that spell "falsehood" (i.e., sheker:שֶׁקֶר) all stand next to one another. The sages say this suggests that truth creates a firm foundation, secure, strong, and trustworthy, while falsehood is unstable. As it is written, "truth stands forever, falsehood has no legs." In other words, the way of truth is "self-authenticating" and made secure, whereas the way of falsehood is "unlivewithable" and made unsteady...
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading (Mishpatim). Please read the Torah portion to "find your place" here. ]
02.15.23 (Shevat 24, 5783) "You shall be holy to me" (Exod. 22:31). That is, you shall be "set apart" to know and live in God's love; you shall dwell in the secret place of the Most High, a place prepared especially for you (Psalm 91:1; John 14:2). Properly understood, holiness (קְדֻשָּׁה) expresses the realm of being loved, cared for, and watched over. It is an intimacy that is exclusively hallowed and made sacred. God calls you to his closed off chamber, the "holy of holies" where He dwells; there he invites you in, he welcomes you, he desires to see you (Heb. 4:16). The deeper meaning of holiness is to be spiritually intimate with God. Hence the Spirit of Holiness uses romantic and even sexual imagery in the Song of Songs to express the deepest yearnings we have for connection with God...
02.14.23 (Shevat 23, 5783) Teshuvah ("repentance") is often described as "turning" back to God, though practically speaking it is an ongoing turning, that is, a turning to God both in moments of ambiguity, pain, and distress, as well as in moments of respite and relative happiness... It is in the midst of the ego's clamor, before the parade of worldly fears or pressures, in the crucible of "everydayness" that we must "come to ourselves" and (re)find God. In that sense, teshuvah is a sort of focus, a direction, a seeking, and a center of life, the place of constant repair for the inner breach we constantly feel. It's a long road home to finally understand you belong at your Father's table... That is the message of the parable of the prodigal's return (see Luke 15:11-32).
It is written in the Mishnah (Avot:15b), "repent one day before you die," but who knows the day of one's death in advance? Therefore "seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him when he is near" (Isa. 55:6). "In eternity you will not be asked how large a fortune you are leaving behind - the survivors ask about that. Nor will you be asked about how many battles you won, about how sagacious you were, how powerful your influence - that, after all, becomes your reputation for posterity. No, eternity will not ask about what worldly goods remain behind you, but about what riches you have gathered in heaven. It will ask you about how often you have conquered your own thought, about what control you have exercised over yourself or whether you have been a slave, about how often you have mastered yourself in self-denial or whether you have never done so" (Kierkegaard).
Just as God humbled Israel with manna in the desert, so He humbles us. "Give us this day our daily bread and deliver us..." The purpose of affliction is ultimately good and healing: God humbles us with manna, the "bread of affliction, 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 tzuris to lead us to do teshuvah and accept the truth. We often pray that our problems be taken away, but God sometimes ordains these very problems so that we will turn and draw near to Him... We are being weaned from this present age to be made ready for heavenly glory, for things unimaginably wonderful, soon to be revealed to you. Chazak – stay the course, friends; the hour is near.
02.14.23 (Shevat 23, 5783) Surely our great need is to have heart, to find strength, resolution, and steadfast determination to walk boldly during these heartless and depraved days (2 Tim. 3:1-5). We are not without God's help, of course. Yeshua told us that the Ruach HaKodesh (רוּחַ הַקּדֶשׁ) would be "called alongside" (παράκλητος) to comfort us on the journey. The English verb "comfort" literally means "to give strength" (from com- ["with"] and fortis ["strong"]), an idea similarly expressed by the verb "encourage," that is, to "put heart [i.e., 'core'] within the soul." In Hebrew, the word courage is expressed by the phrase ometz lev (אמֶץ לֵב), meaning "strong of heart," denoting an inner quality of the will rather than of the intellect. Ometz lev means having an inner resolve, a passion, and a direction. The sages say "the mind is the eye, whereas the heart is the feet." May God be our Light and Salvation as we walk through the surrounding darkness...
Fear is the primary tool of the devil and the underlying motive behind sin itself (Rom. 14:23). Beloved, "do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom 12:21). Always focus on Yeshua, the Light of Torah (האור של תורה) and the true Wisdom of God (חָכְמַת אֱלהִים): "Whoever has My commandments (מִצְוֹתַי) and keeps them, that is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will manifest (lit., "shine within" from ἐν, "in" + φαίνω, "shine") myself to him" (John 14:21). There it is - the Source of the Light that overcomes all darkness; the Power that is behind the armor of God... Yeshua is the Beginning, the Center, and the End of all true meaning from God. Blessed is His Name forever and ever...
The Breath of His Life...
02.14.23 (Shevat 23, 5783) The Holy Spirit is called "Ruach HaKodesh" (רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ), the "breath of the Holy One." The Spirit is likened to our breath to indicate how intimate and essential God is to our own lives.
By ourselves we are nothing (כְּלוּם), without substance or breath, for the Lord is our Maker and the one who imparts nishmat chayim (נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים), the "breath of life" (Gen. 2:7). If this is true of the natural, how much more so is it of the spiritual? We are as powerless to give pulse to our natural hearts as we are to give life to our spiritual existence. How does the natural heart receive its secret pulse? What is the origin of this "spark" of life within the body? As the lower, so is the higher...
We must be reborn to be made alive in the realm of the spirit. Such rebirth originates "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). It is the Spirit of God (רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים), the Breath of the Holy One (נשימת יהוה), that quickens us to the truth of spiritual reality. Yeshua said this life was as mysterious as the motions of the wind: "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). Just as the origin of the pulse of our physical life is a mystery to us, so is the origin of life from above. Just as we received nishmat chayim (נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים) to partake of the atmosphere of this realm, so we need receive nishmat chayim chadashah (נשמת חיים חדשה), a new breath of life to partake of the atmosphere of the heavenly realm of the Spirit.
The life of the Spirit of God imparts the "fruit of the Holy Spirit" (פרי רוח הקודש) that is, supernatural qualities of heart (i.e., middot ha'lev:מידות הלב) that are evidence of newness of life. These fruits are spiritual in nature, derived from the heart of God: "love, joy, peace, patience, good will," and so on (see Gal. 5:22-23). Yeshua explained that a transformed life is a miracle of God: "The Spirit is the one who gives life; human nature is of no help! The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life" (John 6:63).
Hebrew Lesson John 6:33a reading (click for audio):
If you feel breathless and filled with anxiety, ask the Father for the comfort of the Holy Spirit. "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?" (Luke 11:13). By faith may you "receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22).
Faithful Afflictions...
02.13.23 (Shevat 22, 5783) When we suffer in this life - and all of us will - we should never despair and conclude that life is no use living anymore. Perhaps more than anything else suffering raises the question of our faith. Do you really believe that God is working all things for your good? Is your mind settled to trust in God's plan for your life - even if that is presently incomprehensible to you?
We are being educated for eternity, and one of the chief lessons concerns the breaking of our arrogance (ga'avah). When we surrender our lives to God's care, trusting in Him alone for everything we need, we forsake our demand to understand -- i.e., our pride. This is a great blessing, of course, since the Lord resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (Prov. 3:34; James 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:2). Humility draws us near to God. Sometimes, however, this lesson is learned when facing life-threatening illness and death. A sage was once told by a doctor, "There is really nothing else we can do." Upon hearing this, the sage smiled and said, "This is what I was preparing for my whole life." Amen. Rightly understood, theology is the practice of death, since it prepares the heart for what is eternally abiding and everlastingly real.
God allows sickness into our lives to teach us to trust in him. Afflictions are "yissurim b'ahavah" - troubles ordained by love. Sickness humbles us and reveals our need for healing -- not just physical healing but healing from the spiritual sickness of our pride...
Where it says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul," that includes when he takes your soul. That's the meaning of the Kaddish, after all - thanking God for all things, including our own mortification. Followers of Yeshua affirm that physical death is a transition from the temporal to the realm of eternity. As Yeshua promised us: "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die" (John 11:25-26).
02.13.23 (Shevat 22, 5783) The "silver rule" of Torah may be stated as, "Do not do to others as you would not have them do to you," (i.e., "do no harm"), whereas the "golden rule" may be stated positively as, "Do to others as they would have done to them" (i.e., "do the good"). Both principles are based on the concept of reciprocity: How you treat others affects who you are, and vice-versa, and therefore we see the centrality of respecting ourselves, of regarding ourselves as redeemable, lovable, and so on. "You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt" (Exod. 22:20), and this includes the stranger you make of yourself; the parts of yourself you hide away from consciousness.
Moral sense is grounded in empathy, or the exercise of sympathetic imagination... "Give and it shall be given back to you." Put yourself in the place of the other - the stranger, the outsider, the lost child - and remember the pain you experienced when you were an outsider, isolated and excluded... As we recognize the value, dignity, and worth of others, so we will find it within our own hearts, and this enables us to see more of the good. The measure you use will be measured back to you (Luke 6:38).
There is an old Chassidic story of two men sitting and enjoying a drink together. One of them then says to the other, "You know, you're my best friend. I really love you, brother!" The other man responds, "Oh yeah? If you really love me, tell me where I hurt..."
The point of this simple story is that we can't really say we love someone without taking the time to know them -- and that means knowing how they suffer. Most of us are suffering, of course, but are we able to transcend our own pain to genuinely empathize with others? Conversely, how many people do we trust enough to to confide our own pains and heartaches? The Law of Messiah (תוֹרת המשׁיח) is to bear one another's burdens (τα βαρη, "weights," Gal. 6:2), and that means making ourselves vulnerable -- and making room inside our hearts for the vulnerability of others.
James tells us that personal healing comes from confessing outwardly (εξομολογεισθε) our sins (τας αμαρτιας) to one another so that we may be healed (James 5:16). Of course it's humbling to share our sins, our failures, and our hurts to another, but without an audience for the inner voice of our pain, we suffer all the more... "We are only as sick as the secrets we keep."
If someone loves us, they will know "where we hurt"; and if we love them, we will know where they hurt, too. This same principle can also be applied to our relationship to Yeshua... We take comfort that Yeshua sticks closer to us than a brother (יֵשׁ אֹהֵב דָּבֵק מֵאָח), interceding on our behalf and "knowing where we hurt." But if we say that we truly love him, are we are not thereby claiming that we know him and "where he hurts?"
Does Yeshua suffer today? The Apostle Paul wrote: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions (τὰ ὑστερήματα τῶν θλίψεων) for the sake of his body, that is, the church" (Col. 1:24). What is "lacking in Christ's afflictions" is our present sacrifice for the sake of others... Yeshua hungers with those who are hungry, thirsts with those who are thirsty, feels loneliness with those who are abandoned, shivers with those who are cold, weeps with those who are forlorn, is imprisoned with those who are incarcerated, is sick with those who are ill, and so on (Matt. 25:31-ff). Yeshua feels the pain of even the "least of these my brothers." This is where he hurts, chaverim...
Hebrew Lesson Psalm 116:1-2 reading (click for audio):
[ "Reason is itself a matter of faith. It is an act of faith to assert that our thoughts have any relation to reality at all." - Gilbert K. Chesterton ]
02.13.23 (Shevat 22, 5783) In general, people don't like to be told what to do but would rather make their own judgments... However the moral rules of Torah may be likened to guideposts along the way, warning us about dangers up ahead. And just as a physical law like gravity describes material reality, so a moral law describes spiritual reality. We can no more deny moral reality than we can deny physical reality, though the effect of violating moral truth is not physical but spiritual - affecting our inner life, our conscience, our sense of value, and so on. In either case, however, we deny reality at our own peril.
Laws of any kind are generalizations, of course. In science, for instance, we inductively sample phenomena and then universalize that experience as a law applicable in all similarly controlled conditions, until proven otherwise. In the case of moral reality, we have revealed and intuitive awareness of value, but we still must wrestle to discover how to apply such truth to our lives. For example, a moral rule is to always "speak truth," but in some cases this rule can be "broken" for the sake of a more important truth. For instance, we are forbidden to gossip because it hurts other people, yet the law of truth-telling may be suspended if we were hiding Jews in our attic and the Nazis asked if we were doing so, and so on (פיקוח נפש). Moral and social rules speak to our need for boundaries, for sacred space, safety, and provide means to show respect to one another. That's the "spirit of the law," the deeper reason for its expression. The "role of the rule" is to promote and upbuild life; a righteous rule helps us discern how to limit and redirect our impulses to express godly character. As is also written in our Scriptures: "You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I AM the LORD" (Lev. 18:5).
Hebrew Lesson Leviticus 18:5 reading (click for audio):
Note: A somewhat mixed case, involving both physical and spiritual reality, is given in our Torah reading this week: "You shall be sacred to me (קדֶשׁ תִּהְיוּן לִי); therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field" (Exod. 22:31). Why not eat such meat? Because it may both cause physical sickness (i.e., disease) while it also violates the dignity of our life, causing spiritual sickness, too.
Torah of the Neighbor...
02.13.23 (Shevat 22, 5783) 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!
Hebrew Lesson Leviticus 19:18b reading (click for audio):
[ After God spoke the Ten Commandments to Israel, 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. ]
02.12.23 (Shevat 21, 5783) 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 that 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 explain 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" (כּל־הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּר יְהוָה 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.
02.10.23 (Shevat 19, 5783) The Ten Commandments (i.e., עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִבְּרוֹת, literally, "the ten declarations") may be summarized this way: 1) "I AM your only deliverer, the One who loves and chooses you; 2) love me exclusively; 3) regard my love as sacred; 4) rest in me; 5) honor your life and its history. Do no harm to others: 6) forsake anger, 7) abandon lust, 8) respect others, 9) abhor lying, and 10) refuse greed and envy. Know that you belong to me and that you are accepted. Love others as you are also loved.
The "heart of the law" is the Torah of love, just as the "law of love" is the Torah of the Gospel (John 15:12). "Teach me the whole Torah, a heathen said, while I stand on one foot. Shammai cursed and drove the man away. He went to Hillel. Hillel said, What is hateful to you, do not do to anyone else: that is the whole Torah. The rest will follow – go now and learn it." As the Apostle Paul taught: "For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: Ve'ahavta: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Gal. 5:14). Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom. 13:10).
The sages have said that 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'" (Midrash Shemot Rabbah). Indeed the very first commandment given at Sinai was to accept the reality of our personal deliverance by the LORD: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you (singular) out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Exod. 20:2). In fact, 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 trust Him as your own Deliverer and King, the rest of the commandments are not likely to be heeded.
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). 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).
[ "The sin underneath all our sins is to believe the lie of the serpent that we cannot trust the love and grace of Christ and must take matters into our own hands" - Martin Luther ]
02.10.23 (Shevat 19, 5783) 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!
02.10.23 (Shevat 19, 5783) The first four of the Ten Commandments (עשרת הדברות) 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), that is, 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 Exodus 20:12a reading (click for audio):
02.10.23 (Shevat 19, 5783) 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 of the law 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 Exodus 20:8 Hebrew reading (click for audio):
O Lord, my Heavenly Father, I am all of need, all of brokenness, all of emptiness, all of weakness before You. I call out from the depths; O Lord, hear my prayer... For you alone are my Healer; you alone are the Source of all my hope. Whom have I in heaven but Thee? Without you I am as nothing, but with you I can leap as a hart over a wall; I can run and not be weary, I can walk and not faint...
You are the fountain of life; in your light I see light; in your consolations I find strength. Break forth your streams in my desert places; set my feet upon the highway of your holiness; direct my heart toward Zion with songs of praise upon my lips, with songs and everlasting joy. Let sorrow and sighing flee away in the compass of your peace, O Lord.
Thank you for being my salvation, O Lord, and for attending to my heart's cry for you. Thank you for being all I need for everything you call me to be. Help me to rest by trusting in the gift of your life. O Lord, I surrender to your love for me; thank you for your care... Amen.
Affirmation:"O Lord, help me to seek the beauty of your holiness always..."
Respecting the gift of Life: The Third Commandment...
02.10.23 (Shevat 19, 5783) 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.
Hebrew Lesson Exodus 20:7a Hebrew reading (click for audio):
Affirmation:"O Lord, you are worthy of all my praise; may your Name be magnified in my life."
Focusing on the highest The Second Commandment...
02.09.23 (Shevat 18, 5783) 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, the LORD alone, as the opening of the Shema proclaims: שׁמע ישׂראל יהוה אלהינו יהוה אחד (Deut. 6:4).
Affirmation:"O Lord, you are my greatest blessing and good; the treasure of my life."
What is the Torah?
02.09.23 (Shevat 18, 5783) Shalom chaverim. Since this week we read parashat Yitro and the great event of "mattan Torah" (מתן תורה), or the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, it is fitting for us to ask once again what the Torah is. Now some people may think Torah refers to the tablets with the Ten Commandments written on them or perhaps to a scroll that contains the collected writings of Moses, and while both of these ideas point to what the Torah physically is, in Jewish thinking the more interesting question is what does Torah mean? What role does it play in our lives and how are we to understand it?
As many of you know, the Hebrew word Torah (תּוֹרָה) comes from the root word yarah (יָרָה) meaning "to shoot an arrow" or "to hit the mark." When used in relation to moral and spiritual truth, the word means "direction" or "instruction" regarding doing the will of God. Practically speaking, however, Torah refers to the apprehension of divine wisdom (חָכְמָה), that is, upright thinking and doing as directed by divine imperatives (mitzvot: מִצְווֹת) revealed in the holy Scriptures and practiced through sanctified discipline(mussar: מוּסָר).
The sages note that are two basic categories of commandments: mitzvot aseh (מִצְוֹת עֲשֵׂה), or positive directives ("thou shalt..."), and mitzvot lo ta'aseh (מִצְוֹת לא תַעֲשֵׂה), or negative directives ("thou shalt not..."). A positive commandment is obligation to do something, whereas a negative commandment is an obligation to refrain from doing something.
The Jewish Scriptures are filled with directives intended to awaken us to the reality of God's immanent Presence. Da lifnei mi attah omed (דַּע לִפְנֵי מִי אַתָּה עוֹמֵד) - "Know before Whom you stand." There are 613 commandments given in the Torah of Moses, hundreds more found in the Writings (הַכְּתוּבִים) and the Prophets (הַנְּבִיאִים), and over a thousand revealed in the New Testament (הַבְּרִית הַחֲדָשָׁה). All of these imperatives are intended to give voice to the concern and love of God by pointing to the blessing of knowing the Divine Presence in the midst of our daily lives. Torah teaches us to make choices according to the divine light revealed in Scripture. Godly wisdom is grounded in the fear (i.e., respect) for the gift of life that will be expressed through the discernment between the sacred and the profane, good and evil, right and wrong, in our daily lives. This is called yirat shamayim (יראת שמים).
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The Good Fight of Faith...
02.09.23 (Shevat 18, 5783) An old story tells that a person died and stood before God. God asked, "Where are your wounds?" The person answered, "What wounds? I have none." God said, "Was there nothing worth fighting for?"
The struggle of faith is infinitely and everlastingly worth it, friends! "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called" (1 Tim. 6:12). "Our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison" (2 Cor. 4:17); "for I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us" (Rom. 8:18). "We have an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you... although you may have to suffer for a short time in various trials" (1 Pet. 1:4-6). So be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might; hold fast to your confession and persevere in your journey, despite the challenges and trials along the way. God is faithful; he will bring you safely back home....
02.09.23 (Shevat 18, 5783) Historically, Christian tradition has regarded the First Commandment (of the Ten Commandments) to be: "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exod. 20:3), though 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.
Hebrew Lesson Exodus 20:2 Hebrew reading (click for audio):
Affirmation:"O Lord, you are the LORD my God, my Savior and Deliverer."
A "New Covenant" at Sinai
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Yitro...]
02.09.23 (Shevat 18, 5783) 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).
As we will see next week, 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).
02.08.23 (Shevat 17, 5783) Yeshua told his followers that the Kingdom of God (i.e., mamlekhet Adonai:ממלכת יהוה) is "within you" (Luke 17:21). This teaches us that the reign of the Spirit is not to be found "out there," nor is the kingdom to be regarded as a political structure of this world, but is realized in spiritual relationship - namely, in communion between the LORD God with your heart and your heart with the LORD God...
When we learn to believe clearly, yielding to the rule of God's heart, Yeshua says we experience the divine Presence within and among ourselves. As we turn to God, we understand that who we are is more vital than our outer appearance and contingent circumstances, and even more important still is who we are in relation to the will and blessing of our heavenly Father. Life in the kingdom means having a new identity, being a new creation (בְּרִיָּה חֲדָשָׁה), and that changes everything (2 Cor. 5:16-17).
[ "If our pain doesn't destroy us, it just might transform us into truly human beings at last."- Frederick Buechner ]
02.08.23 (Shevat 17, 5783) Why do we exist? What's the purpose of our lives? Most people of faith will answer, "the purpose of life is to know God and to love Him forever," and yet this is merely an academic answer until it is spoken from a heart that has been tested. In other words, we can only genuinely know and love God through the purifying struggle of testing...
A tested faith, as opposed to an unproven one, has lived through various ordeals that authenticate the heart's convictions. The troubles we face are divine opportunities for us to grow - they are concealed blessings (i.e., berachot nistarot:בְּרָכוֹת נִסְתָרוֹת). How so? Because an untested faith is merely cognitive, a matter of the intellect, an abstraction that professes its ideals but knows nothing of the grit and raw determination of the heart to remain constant, despite darkness, pain, and confusion. Just as pure gold is separated from debasing alloys, so faith must be distilled from debasing motivations. "Purity of heart is to will one thing."
The life of faith is education for eternity (חינוך לעולם הבא)... "This world is like a corridor before the World to Come; prepare yourself in the corridor, that you may enter into the hall." God tests us along the way, disciplining and correcting us, so that we are no longer "two souled" but rather strong of faith, with singleness of vision and purpose. The most important questions probe the depths... "Out of the depths I cry out to you, O LORD" (Psalm 130:1). In your struggle to understand, allow faith its space. If your conclusion leads you to obvious error (e.g., God failed me), then back up and get your thinking right about your assumptions...
Rabbi Moshe of Kobrin used to say, "When a person suffers, he shouldn't say that things are bad. Rather, he should say that the situation is bitter. The Almighty does nothing bad. Just as medicine is beneficial, although it might be bitter, so too events are always beneficial even if they are bitter." The sages have also said that God is sometimes closer to sinners than to those esteemed as saints. "God in heaven holds each person by a string. When you sin, you cut the string; but then God ties it up again, making a knot - and thereby you are brought a little closer to him. Again and again your sins cut the string - and with each further knot God keeps drawing you closer and closer" (De Mello).
A student once asked his rebbe: "Do we get punished for our sins in this world?" His concise response was, "Only if we are made fortunate..." The same can be said of testing: trials given to us by God are really opportunities. God "hides his face from us" so that we will seek him. "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8; Zech. 1:3). The venture of seeking God creates inward strength that cannot be gained apart from the exercise of faith.
Not everyone is blessed with being tested by God. Some people are overlooked. As Kierkegaard once remarked: "God punishes the ungodly simply by ignoring them. This is why they have success in the world – the most frightful punishment - because in God's view this world is immersed in evil. But God sends suffering to those whom he loves, as assistance to enable them to become happy by loving him." The righteous person - the tzaddik - is always under God's scrutiny, both in order to refine his character and to bring about correction. This scrutiny is a sure sign of God's love, for God disciplines those whom he receives as his children (see Heb. 12:5-11). If we endure chastisement, we are being received as his sons.
So we are tested to know our identity as God's children. Again, purity of the heart is to will one thing, and divine testing functions as a "refining fire" that removes the dross of ambivalence from our hearts. For the righteous, the various trials of life ask divine questions addressed to the heart of faith: Who do you say that I am? Do you love me? Will you trust me now - in this place? with this trouble? in this darkness? As we believe, we are given more revelation, and that, in turn, further vindicates God's faithfulness and love.
Remaining steadfast in faith is the way we express our love to God: "Happy is the one who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life (עֲטֶרֶת הַחַיִּים) that God promised to those who love him" (James 1:12). The "tested genuineness of your faith" is precious to God and will bring praise and glory and honor when the Messiah's righteousness is vindicated upon the earth (1 Pet. 1:7).
So remember that tests of life are a "hidden blessing" (בְּרָכָה נִסְתֶרֶת) for our good. God sends us trials so we might turn to Him for help... As Yitzchok Hutner once wisely said, "The main purpose of tefillah (i.e., תְפִלָה, prayer) is not to get us out of problems. The purpose of problems is to get us into tefillah." Amen. May you turn to the LORD and be strengthened in all the tests that come your way, chaverim.
"The worst isn't the last thing about the world. It's the next to the last thing. The last thing is the best. It's the power from on high that comes down into the world, that wells up from the rock-bottom worst of the world like a hidden spring. Can you believe it? The last, best thing is the laughing deep in the hearts of the saints, sometimes our hearts even. Yes. You are terribly loved and forgiven. Yes. You are healed. All is well." - Frederick Buechner
02.07.23 (Shevat 16, 5783) Life in this evil world can feel oppressive at times. And though we may not be under the tyranny of a cruel Pharaoh, we are indeed affected by the "princes of this age" who spurn the message of God's redemption and love, and we are still subjected to bondage imposed by taskmasters who defy the LORD and who seek to enslave us by means of lies, propaganda, and threats of violence... The devil is still at work in the hearts and minds of many of his "little Pharaohs" that serve the world system. Nevertheless "there is no fear in love" (אין פַּחַד בָּאַהֲבָה), especially since we know that ein od milvado -- there is no real power apart from the LORD (i.e., He is the only true Power in the universe). Indeed, Yeshua is elyon lemalkhei-aretz (עֶלְיוֹן לְמַלְכֵי־אָרֶץ) - the "Ruler of the princes of the earth" (Rev. 1:5) - and that means that they will answer to Him (Psalm 2).
If you belong to the Messiah you are not part of this world and its matrix of deception but instead serve the King of Kings (Col. 1:13; Acts 26:18; 1 Pet. 2:9). Therefore set your thoughts on things above, not on things of this world (Col. 3:2). In the end all things born of the lie will be exposed and forever put away from us (Eccl. 12:14). "The great Day of the LORD is near; it is near and hastening quickly" (Zeph. 1:14). "For though the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end -- it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay" (Hab. 2:3).
02.07.23 (Shevat 16, 5783) Many people are anxious about dying, though it would profit them more to be anxious about living well instead. Indeed the best reason to think about death (memento mori) is to think about the value of life (memento vivere). Likewise many people are anxious over the prophesied "End of Days," though it would profit them more to be anxious about walking their present day before the Presence of the Lord....
In the Gospel of Matthew we read these words of our LORD Yeshua the Messiah: "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matt. 6:34). Soren 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." May God help us live for Him today, as it is written: "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in Him!" (Psalm 118:24). Whatever circumstance you find yourself in, this is the day made for you...
The walk of faith is one of "holy suspense," trusting that God is on the other side of the next moment, "preparing a place for you" (John 14:3). In the present, then, we live in unknowing dependence, walking by faith, not by sight. For "hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he sees?" (Rom. 8:24). This is the existential posture of faith - walking in darkness while completely trusting in God's daily care. Our task at any given moment is always the same - to look to God and to accept His will. This is where time and eternity meet within us, where God's kingdom is revealed in our hearts. It makes no sense to worry about the future if the Good Shepherd tenderly watches over your way (Psalm 23:1-3).
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Yitro...]
02.07.23 (Shevat 16, 5783) This week we are reading about the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and in particular the declaration of the Ten Commandments. In this connection 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 trust Him as your own Deliverer and King, the rest of the commandments are not likely to be heeded.
It is noteworthy that God began with the phrase asher hotzetikha me'eretz mitzrayim ("who delivered you from the land of Egypt") instead of identifying Himself as the Creator of heaven and earth (Gen. 1:1). 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). "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 redemptive love of God as manifested in the Person of 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).
These are the words...
02.06.23 (Shevat 15, 5783) From our Torah portion this week (i.e., Yitro) we read words of great promise and comfort as the LORD formally proposed betrothal with his redeemed people: "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 which evoke the antiphon: "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."
02.06.23 (Shevat 15, 5783) It is an ongoing struggle to live in this world without being devoured by its fear, insanity, and violence. Yeshua prayed 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 who are seeking the house of love, the place where God abides. Even though we are given "traveling mercies" for our journey in this world, we must lift our heart toward heaven, desisting the world and its vanities, and regarding the place of God's heart to be our true home.
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. 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 refuse to live in fear. Let us stand strong in faith, trusting God's promise even if we are sometimes in darkness. And let us take hope in God word: "Blessed is the one who makes the LORD his trust" (Psalm 40:4).
02.06.23 (Shevat 15, 5783) You may sometimes feel lonely and afraid, wondering if anyone really cares for you; you may feel abandoned to wander about, imprisoned in your heartache, without a sense of acceptance or "place" for your life; you may feel estranged from others, in a place of desperation, a silent scream, without apparent comfort in the world... These are real feelings and I do not discount them, though often such feelings arise from unbelief, or at least from questioning whether God's love is really for you, after all.
Friend, there is an intimate comfort for your mourning; there is heavenly consolation for the grief and emptiness you feel inside. Look again to the cross and attend to God's passion for you; believe in the miracle of Yeshua's love for you; by faith see his blood shed for you... He knows your alienation: he was "despised and rejected of men"; he knows the pains of your heart: he was a "man of sorrows acquainted with grief"; he knows the heartache of being forsaken, abandoned, and utterly betrayed. Indeed Yeshua knows your infirmities; he understands how you hurt and calls you to his comfort... Therefore when feelings of loneliness well up within you, go inward to commune with the Spirit. Ask God for his consolation so that you too might console others who are suffering (2 Cor. 1:3-4). Do not lose hope but foresee your blessed future. Focus on the coming day of healing for all the world. Remind yourself again and again that you are never really alone, that nothing can separate you from God's love, and that God's Name is "I-am-with-you-always," "I am your Abba, your Imma, your true home and place of belonging, all your dreams of love will come true, and unimaginable beauty and endless delight await you in the glories of the world to come."
"Whoever has God truly has a companion in all places, both on the street and among people.. Why is this so? It is because such people possess God alone, keeping their gaze fixed upon him, and thus all things reveal God for them.... Such people bear God in all their deeds and in the places they go, and it is God alone who is the author of all they do." - Meister Eckhart (Talks of Instruction)
You will never feel safe as long as you regard the acceptance of who you are as conditional, since you will only be as secure as your own best efforts, a project that will exhaust you in the end. Instead you must know yourself as truly loved by God, just as the "prodigal son" came to know his father's unconditional love and acceptance despite his many misdeeds (Luke 15:11-32). The incarnation of Jesus means that God "runs to meet and embrace you," regardless of whatever happened in your life that made you run away from home. And whatever else it may be, sin is the separation from God's love, but Yeshua made the decision to die for your sins before you were born. Your sin cannot overrule God's surpassing and personal love for your soul, since God gave up his very life for you to find life.
The Hebrew word for "life" is chayim (חַיִּים), a plural noun that contains two consecutive letter yods (יי) that picture two "hands held together" (the Hebrew word yad [יָד] means "hand"), or the union of our spirit with God's Spirit. The word itself reveals that there is no life apart from union with God, who extends his hand to you and says, "Live in me" (John 15:4). We live in him by faith, receiving our daily bread as his flesh and our drink as his blood (John 6:53). Yeshua is the Source of all life, and we find nourishment, strength, and fullness of joy in his life. The Lord is our light and our salvation, the Mediator of divine life (Psalm 27:1; John 1:4). As it is written, "Whoever has the Son has the life; but whoever does not have the Son of God does not have the life" (1 John 5:12).
The Lord is also called "the God of breath" (Gen. 2:7; Num. 16:22). The Hebrew word for breath is ruach (רוּחַ), a word that means both "spirit" and "wind." God is as close as your breath and surrounds you like the unseen yet encompassing air. Since God's name YHVH (יהוה) means "Presence" (Exod. 3:13-14), "Life" (Deut. 30:20), and "Love" (Exod. 34:6-7), he is the Beloved, the "I-am-with-you-always" lover of your soul. So fear not; you are never really alone. Yeshua breathes out to you and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22).
02.06.23 (Shevat 15, 5783) The "Tree of Life,"etz chayim (עֵץ־חַיִּים) is mentioned ten times in the Scriptures. In the Torah it first appears in the center of the paradise of Eden (Gen. 2:9; 3:22-4), but it is soon lost to humanity because of Adam's transgression. In the book of Revelation, it reappears in the center of the Paradise of God (Rev. 2:7, 22:2), resurrected on account of the faithful obedience of Yeshua as mankind's "last Adam" (1 Cor. 15:45). Those who have washed their robes by means of His righteousness are given access to this Tree in the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. 22:14). The paradise lost by Adam has been regained by the greater ben-adam, Son of man, Yeshua the Messiah.
In the book of Proverbs, the Tree of Life is a metaphor for the life of wisdom (chokhmah), which is the implied subject of our verse above (see Prov. 3:13). Traditional Judaism identifies talmud Torah (the study of Torah) as the Tree of Life, promising wisdom to those who "lay hold of her" (a Torah scroll has wooden rods called atzei chayim – the "trees of life" – used to roll the parchment). According to the Rabbis, the eternal life that was lost in Eden was restored to humanity with the giving of the Torah at Sinai.
A midrash relates that in the paradise of olam haba (the world to come) there stands the Tree of Life, with the tree of knowledge forming a hedge around it. Only the wise one who has cleared a path for himself through the tree of knowledge can come close to it (which is said to be so enormous that it would 500 years to walk around it). Beneath the Tree flows forth the water that irrigates the whole earth, parting into four streams, the Ganges, the Nile, the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. In mystical (i.e., gnostic) Judaism, the Tree of Life is depicted as an elaborate symbol, the meditation of which is said to "clear the path" back to paradise.
Followers of Yeshua understand that He (alone) is the Tree of Life, the Center of the true Paradise of God (Rev. 22:2). He is the Seed, Root, Trunk, Branches, and Fruit that comes from heaven. The first Adam lost access to God by means of his transgression (eating from the tree of the "knowledge of good and evil"), but the "Greater Adam" reclaimed our access by means of His obedience, resisting the power of evil even to the point of death upon the "tree" of the cross (Phil. 2:8). The resurrection of the life of Yeshua is the "firstfruits" of all who put their trust in Him (1 Cor. 15:20; Jas. 1:18). Yeshua is the "Tree of Life in the center of the Paradise of God," and all who retain Him are forever blessed indeed. Say ye Amen.
02.06.23 (Shevat 15, 5783) The Torah alludes thathuman life is like "the tree of the field," i.e., כִּי הָאָדָם עֵץ הַשָּׂדֶה, Deut. 20:19), and many people therefore observe Tu B'Shevat as time to assess man's place within creation as well. Since God created the world for a habitation (Isa. 45:18), some have pictured the world itself as a "great tree" with human beings as its fruit. Indeed, Yeshua often used such agricultural images in his parables. For example, he explained that people are known by the "fruits" of their lives (Matt. 7:16-20). He likened the spread of his message in terms of "sowing and reaping" (Matt. 13:3-23) and compared the Kingdom of Heaven to the secret working of a mustard seed (Matt. 13:31-32). Yeshua regarded the world as a "field" for planting with different "types of soil" (Matt. 13:38-43), and warned of the "great harvest" of souls at the end of the age (Luke 10:2; Matt. 13:30). He pointed to signs from a fig tree to indicate the nearness of the prophesied End of Days (Matt. 24:32-33). Yeshua also used the metaphor of a "vine and its branches" to explain how his followers are to be connected to Him (John 15:1-6).
The Scriptures explicitly state various laws regarding the use of trees. In other words, there is a "Torah of Trees." For example, "When you enter the land and plant any tree for food, you shall regard its fruit as "uncircumcised" (i.e., orlah:עָרְלָה) for three years; in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the LORD; only in the fifth year may you use its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the LORD your God" (Lev. 19:23-25; 26:3-4). The Torah also clearly forbids the destruction of fruit trees during times of warfare: "When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you?" (Deut. 20:19-20). Clearly, then, God cares for trees...
The psalmist describes the trees of the forest as singing for joy (Psalm 96:12), just as the prophet Isaiah foretold the day when the trees of the field shall "clap their hands" in praise to the LORD God of Israel (Isa. 55:12). Indeed the wisdom of Torah (chochmat haTorah) is metaphorically called etz chaim, a "Tree of Life," and the ideal righteous man is described as the one who delights in the Torah (תּוֹרָה) and meditates upon it daily. "He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in its season."
"And he [i.e., the one who loves Torah] is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. And all that he does shall prosper." (Psalm 1:3)
Hebrew Lesson Psalm 92:12 reading (click for audio):
[ The following is related to Tu B'Shevat, or the "new year" for trees, a holiday that provides opportunity for us to reflect on the idea of fruitfulness and the fruit of the Spirit in our lives... ]
02.05.23 (Shevat 14, 5783) Yeshua said that as a tree is to its fruit, so is a person's heart is to his speech. Our words arise from an underlying source and root: "I tell you, on the Day of Judgment people will give account for every careless word (πᾶν ῥῆμα ἀργὸν) they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matt. 12:36-37). First note that the phrase translated "every careless word" can be understood as "every 'workless' word," that is, every vain or empty word spoken, every broken promise, every insincere utterance, and so on. Second, note that there is a relationship between naming and being in Hebrew thought, and indeed the Hebrew word davar (דּבר), usually translated as "word," can also mean "thing." This suggests that our words define reality - not in an absolute sense, of course - but in terms of our perspective and attitude, and for that we are held responsible before the LORD. Since our words express our thoughts, Yeshua wants us to make up our minds: "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit" (Matt. 12:33).
Listen to the words of your heart and understand that they are devarim (דְּבָרִים) "things" that are defining the course of your life right now. Our thoughts and words "exhale" the breath of God that was given to each of us. In a very real sense they serve as "prayers" we are constantly offering.... And may it please our gracious and long-suffering LORD to answer the cry of our heart: "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." Amen.
יהיו לרצון אמרי־פי והגיון לבי לפניך יהוה צורי וגאלי
[ This week's Torah reading (Yitro) includes the account of the giving of the Torah at Sinai... ]
02.05.23 (Shevat 14, 5783) Last week's Torah portion (i.e., Beshalach) recounted how the LORD delivered the children of Israel from Pharaoh's advancing armies by dramatically drowning them in the Sea of Reeds. The Israelites were overjoyed over their new freedom and celebrated by singing the "Song of the Sea." Despite their newfound freedom, however, the people soon began complaining about the hardship of life in the desert. Nonetheless God was gracious and provided fresh water and manna from heaven as he led them by the Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night to Mount Sinai (Exod. 13:21-22).
In our Torah portion for this week, parashat Yitro, Moses' remarkable father-in-law Jethro (i.e., "Yitro") heard how God delivered Israel from Egypt and set out from the land of Midian to the desert area of "Rephidim" to meet with Moses. There Moses recounted the great story of the Exodus, telling him all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake. Jethro rejoiced, blessed the LORD, and offered sacrifices which were communally eaten with Moses' brother Aaron and the 70 elders of Israel (Exod. 18:1-12).
After this celebration, Jethro observed how Moses sat every day to judge the people "from morning to evening" and expressed concern that his son-in-law was taking on too much responsibility. Jethro then wisely advised his son-in-law to appoint a hierarchy of magistrates and judges to help him govern the people, thereby freeing Moses to be a more effective prophet and intercessor before the LORD. Jethro's wise counsel helped implement the system of justice that later became the basis of Jewish social law (i.e., the Sanhedrin, etc.).
After the third new moon after leaving Egypt (i.e., the 1st day of the month of Sivan), the Israelites encamped opposite Mount Sinai, the place where Moses was initially commissioned at the "burning thornbush." Moses then ascended the mountain, and there God commanded him to tell the leaders that if they would obey the LORD and keep His covenant, then they would be mamlekhet kohanim ve'goy kadosh -- a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation." After returning down to deliver this message to the elders, the people responded by proclaiming, kol asher diber Adonai na'aseh ("all that the LORD has spoken, we shall do"). Moses then returned to the mountain and was told to command the people to prepare themselves to experience the presence of God upon the mountain in three days.
According to Jewish tradition, on the morning of the "third day" (i.e., the sixth of Sivan, exactly seven weeks (49 days) after the Exodus), all the children of Israel gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai, where the LORD descended amidst thunder, lightning, billowing smoke, fire, and the voluminous blast of the heavenly shofar. The LORD then declared the foundation of moral conduct required of the people, namely, the Ten Commandments, which begins with the words: "I AM" (Exod. 20:2). Because the vision was so overwhelming, the terrified Israelites began beseeching Moses to be their mediator lest they die before the Presence of God. The portion ends as the people stood far off, while Moses alone drew near to the thick darkness where God was (Exod. 20:21).
02.03.23 (Shevat 12, 5783) From our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Beshalach) we read that when the Israelites came to Marah, "they could not drink the water because it was bitter" (Exod. 15:23). Note that the Hebrew text allows us to read that it was the Israelites themselves who were bitter – ki marim hem (כִּי מָרִים הֵם) – "for they (i.e., the Israelites) were bitter," and their bitterness made the water seem so as well.... After the people complained, God showed Moses a tree and threw it into the water, making it drinkable. Interestingly the Hebrew text literally reads, "the LORD taught him a tree" (וַיּוֹרֵהוּ יְהוָה עֵץ), suggesting elon moreh (אֵלוֹן מוֹרֶה), the "teaching tree of Abraham" (Gen. 12:6). The sages say this tree symbolized Torah, the tree of life (etz chaim), which brings happiness to those who take hold of it (Prov. 3:18), though we see Yeshua, the fallen tree that yields mayim chayim - living water - to revive the hearts of mankind...
[ Sunday February 5th at sundown begins "Tu B'Shevat" (ט"ו בשבט), or the 15th of the month of Shevat, which marks the traditional date celebrating the "New Year" for Trees... ]
02.03.23 (Shevat 12, 5783) The Bible begins and ends with the great Tree of Life -- first in the orchard of Eden, and later in the midst of the paradise of heaven. "The Tree of Life (i.e., etz ha' chayim:עֵץ הַחַיִּים) was in the midst of the garden..." (Gen. 2:9). "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the Tree of Life (etz ha-chayim) with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month" (Rev. 22:1-2). Notice that the "twelve fruits" (καρποὺς δώδεκα) from the Tree of Life are directly linked to the "twelve months" of the Jewish year (κατὰ μῆνα ἕκαστον ἀποδιδοῦν τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ: "each month rendering its fruit"). Twelve months; twelve fruits.... This teaches us that the sequence of the biblical holidays (moedim) was intended to teach us revelation about God. That is why God created the Sun and the Moon for signs and for "appointed times" (Gen. 1:14), as it also says: "He made the moon to mark the appointed times (לְמוֹעֲדִים); the sun knows its time for setting" (Psalm 104:19).
The Scriptures state twice: "Take root downward and bear fruit upward" (2 Kings 19:30; Isa. 37:31). As Yeshua said, "unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit (John 12:24). We pray we might surrender ourselves to the Lord fully, being immersed in His passion, "bearing fruit in every good work (ἐν παντὶ ἔργῳ ἀγαθῷ καρποφοροῦντες) and growing in da'at HaShem (דַעַת אֱלהִים) - the knowledge of God" (Col. 1:10). The "fruit of the righteous is a Tree of Life" lit., etz chayim (עֵץ חַיִּים), literally, "the Tree of lives" (Prov. 11:30). It is the fruit of Yeshua, the Tzaddik of God, the Righteous One, who bears fruits of healing in the lives of those who turn to Him in trust...
The "Tree of Life" is mentioned ten times in Scripture, corresponding to the "ten words of God" (i.e., the Ten Commandments). In the Torah it first appears in the center of the paradise of Eden (Gen. 2:9; 3:22-4), but it is soon lost to humanity because of Adam's transgression. In the book of Revelation, it reappears in the center of the Paradise of God (Rev. 2:7, 22:2), resurrected on account of the faithful obedience of Yeshua as mankind's "last Adam" (1 Cor. 15:45). Those who have washed their robes by means of His righteousness are given access to this Tree in the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. 22:14). The paradise lost by Adam has been regained by the greater "Son of Man," Yeshua the Messiah, the Savior of us all. Amen.
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Beshalach... ]
02.03.23 (Shevat 12, 5783) A verse from our Torah portion this week (i.e., Beshalach) contains all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet (i.e., aleph (א), bet (בּ), gimmel (ג), etc.). The special verse reads, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer (עמֶר), according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent'" (Exod. 16:16). Since this refers to the manna the Israelites were to collect for their daily bread, and this verse contains all the letters of the alphabet, we may "poetically" infer that if we immerse ourselves in the Scriptures, "from Aleph (א) to Tav (ת)," God will provide us with the "daily bread" (לֶחֶם חֻקֵּנוּ) we need, just as He did when the bread from heaven (לֶחֶם מִן־הַשָּׁמָיִם) was miraculously given to feed the Israelites in the desert. Therefore Yeshua, who is the Aleph and Tav, taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," which surely refers to the spiritual food (i.e., encouragement, hope, life) that we receive from the Word of Life (Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4).
Yeshua taught us: "Don't be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow has its own troubles. Live one day at a time" (Matt. 6:34). It makes no sense to worry about the future if the LORD is the Good Shepherd who tenderly watches over your way (Psalm 23:1). Every day we are given daily bread, but we must remember that manna could not be stored up without becoming rotten (Exod. 16:20). God's provision is "sufficient unto the day...."
Isn't it amazing how studying the Hebrew text reveals further insights into the Scriptures? Kotzo shel yod... And may you rest in the promise: "My God will supply every need of yours - "from A to Z" - according to his riches in glory in Yeshua the Messiah" (Phil. 4:19). He is lechem ha'chaim - the Living Bread from heaven (John 6:51)!
Keep on Trusting...
02.03.23 (Shevat 12, 5783) When Yeshua said, "Let not your heart be troubled... I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:1-2), he was assuring us that he had matters well under his control, and therefore we need not worry, since his passion rendered our 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. Meanwhile, may the LORD our God keep us from such depth of sorrow that leads to sickness, darkness and despair.
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 this week's Torah reading (Beshalach). Please read the Torah portion to "find your place" here.]
02.03.23 (Shevat 12, 5783) The story of the exodus is as an allegory of faith. We were slaves, but the LORD redeemed us and set us free from our bondage. Immediately afterward, we faced great distress as the powers of darkness sought to enslave us again, but God intervened and delivered us from their wicked devices. Through the Shekhinah Cloud we crossed over into newness of life, leaving the corpses of this world behind. We offered our thanks and praises to God, but soon we experienced severe thirst. We searched for worldly water but found it "marah," or bitter. It was only after the "tree" was added to the bitterness that the water became sweet, a picture of the cross of Messiah who suffered and thirsted for us. Then we came to the oasis of Elim, a place of rest that pictured heaven to come, though the Spirit led us into the desert of emptiness and hunger to discover how we must trust God for "manna," our daily bread from heaven. We experienced thirst again, and God provided an ongoing source of living water from the Rock that was smitten, another picture of the grace and sustenance of Messiah (1 Cor. 10:4). We fought against brazen powers of unbelief (Amalek), but we overcame them by the power of God. We received the Torah, only to discover we could not abide its demands. We committed idolatry but the LORD forgave and revealed the Altar of Mercy (the Tabernacle) that gave us access to His Presence by means of the sacrificial blood, recalling the Lamb of God that was slain.
[ The following concerns this week's Torah reading (Beshalach) and the Exodus from Egypt... ]
02.02.23 (Shevat 11, 5783) In our Torah portion for this week (i.e., Beshalach) we learn that the LORD chose to take his redeemed people along the "longer road" to the promised land, just as we find ourselves still awaiting the completion of our redemption in the world to come. And like the Israelites, we must be on guard, since when things get difficult, our tendency is to go back to what is familiar, even if it is painful. Thank God our Good Shepherd Yeshua teaches us and guides us in the way to go: "And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher (מוֹרֶה) will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, saying: 'This is the way; walk in it,' when you turn to the right or to the left" (Isa. 30:20-21).
What a beautiful image of our LORD as our Teacher and Good Shepherd, who guides us in the paths of life and delivers us from "right-hand and left-hand errors." And may God keep us upon the path of his righteousness, free from the seductions of the tempter who wants to distract our souls and lead us into fruitless byways and trouble. May we receive grace to behold His face, even in the midst of adversity or affliction, learning from Him the way to go...
"Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you" (Isa. 26:20). The LORD beckons: "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known" (Jer. 33:3). And I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place" (Rev 4:1).
Site update: I've been busy removing older "flash" audio files from the Name of God sections of the Hebrew for Christians website. This involves removing the older sound files and recreating them as simple .mp3 files that are linked on the pages... It's tedious work, but it's important, and of course the subject matter is precious!
Torah and Healing...
02.02.23 (Shevat 11, 5783) In this week's Torah portion (Beshalach) we read: "If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his decrees, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer" (Exod. 15:26).
There are several aspects of this verse of Scripture that are worth careful consideration and meditation, including the following comments:
"Diligently listen."
The very first part of this commandment is to "diligently listen (שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמַע) the Voice of the LORD thy God," which recalls the great Shema and the commandment to love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might. The Mekhilta De-Rabbi Ishmael states that the "Voice of the LORD" (קוֹל יהוה) refers to the Ten Commandments, though it is clear it refers primarily to the Word of God (דְּבַר־אֱלהִים), "the voice speaking out of the midst of the fire" (i.e., Yeshua). The first thing required, then, is to humble yourself in order to listen to what God is saying... This involves "making space" within yourself to hear the Voice of the LORD.
"Do what is right."
The second part of this commandment is to "do what is right in God's eyes (וְהַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינָיו תַּעֲשֶׂה). The Hebrew word yashar (יָשָׁר) means "straight" (as in a straight line) or "right." Because God is tov v'yashar (good and upright), he teaches his children to be yesharim (יְשָׁרִים), i.e., those who walk uprightly (Psalm 25:8). Indeed, the "way of the LORD" (דֶּרֶךְ יהוה) is "to do acts of charity and justice" (לַעֲשׂוֹת צְדָקָה וּמִשְׁפָּט) (Gen. 18:19). This is the "straight way" (derekh ha-yashar), or the "narrow path" that leads to life (Matt. 7:14). The yesharim are known by the good fruit of their lives (Matt. 7:15-23). The Mekhilta associates "doing what is right" with making God-honoring choices in our daily lives (1 Cor. 10:31).
"Give ear to God's Commandments."
The third part of this commandment involves "giving ear" to God's mitzvot (i.e., his commandments). The metaphor of "giving ears" is used to express the idea of active listening, and indeed the term oznaim (ears) is often used as a synonym for shema (hear) in the poetic books of the Scriptures. But notice that the object of our listening is God's commandments, His mitzvot (מִצְוֹה), which connects with the first part of the commandment to diligently heed the Voice of the LORD. There is a focus, in other words, to our listening, and that focus is upon the revealed will of God. We cannot "listen for the Voice of the LORD" apart from thoroughly hearing (and doing) His commandments. As the Apostle James admonished: "Don't deceive yourself (lit., "reason around" the truth, from παραλογίζομαι, from παρά, "around, beside" and λογίζομαι, "to reason") by merely hearing the truth of Scripture: Live it!" (James 1:22).
"Keep God's Decrees."
The decrees of God (חֻקִּים) are statutes given without an explictly defined reason or explanation. These laws can seem irrational to the sentiment of human logic. Zot chukat haTorah (זאת חֻקַּת הַתּוֹרָה) - "this is the Torah's decree...." is therefore a statement that God has commanded something and that settles the issue. Notice that this part of the commandment says we are to guard (i.e., shamar:שָׁמַר) these decrees of the Lord as something precious. "Keep (shamar) your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life" (Prov. 4:24). The decrees of God often become associated with customs (minhagim) and rituals in our lives which help form a sense of identity and community.
Find Healing in God.
Finally, the verse concludes with the declaration that honoring God's Torah leads to protection from the divine makkot (plagues) and to personal healing. You truly understand God as Adonai Rophekha (יְהוָה רפְאֶךָ), "the LORD your Healer," when you heed the message and truth of the Torah in your life.
Notice that the emphasis of this verse has to do with acts of obedience, or "deeds more than creeds." The Mishnah states: "It is not the explanation that is essential, but the deed itself." This mirrors the Apostle James' statement that "faith without works is dead" (James 2:17). Obedience to God is its own reward, since we are given more light as we obey: "If you know these things, happy are you if you do them" (John 13:17). Indeed Yeshua warned us, "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).
This is why we say, "Blessed are You, LORD our God... who sanctifies us with His commandments..." The giving of the commandments is a gift that enables us to walk in the righteousness of life (1 John 2:29). We don't "have to" do the commandments of God, but what a great joy it is to do so!
It is clear from other Scriptures that we are not saved by means of law-keeping, of course, though on the other hand that does not excuse us from doing acts of righteousness (James 1:23-25; 1 John 3:18). God did not "waste His breath" revealing the principles of righteousness to the Jewish people, and therefore we are to "study to show ourselves approved unto God" (2 Tim. 2:15). The "law of the Spirit of life in Yeshua" (תּוֹרַת רוּחַ הַחַיִּים בְּיֵשׁוּעַ) empowers to serve God according to a new principle of freedom. After all, true freedom doesn't mean doing "whatever you want," but rather means the power to choose contrary to the demands of your lower nature. We "put off" the old self and "put on" the new (Eph. 4:22-24). It is the divinely imparted "new nature" that gives us the power to "put to death" the old self by reckoning it crucified with Messiah (Gal. 2:19-20). Obedience to the Torah of Yeshua leads to further revelation, just as disobedience to it leads to further darkness (Matt. 13:12). Yeshua is only the "Author of Eternal Salvation" for those who heed and obey Him (Heb. 5:9). "If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit" (Gal. 5:25).
For the follower of Yeshua, much of this process is "unconscious," by which I mean that it happens as a result of God's grace (χάρις, a word related to χαρά, "joy") over time.... As we learn to see the beauty of God's Torah, we will spontaneously and joyfully seek to do those things that please our LORD and Master. As the Apostle John wrote: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome (lit. "heavy," βαρύς) (1 John 5:3).
Greater Exodus of Messiah...
[ The following concerns this week's Torah reading (Beshalach) and the Exodus from Egypt... ]
02.01.23 (Shevat 10, 5783) After Yeshua explained to his disciples that he would suffer, be killed, and raised to life (Luke 9:22), he took Peter, James, and John up on a mountain to pray. As Yeshua was praying, he was "transfigured" as his face and clothes becoming dazzlingly bright and radiant. The disciples then saw Moses and Elijah in their glorified state talking with Yeshua - a scene right out of the heavenly places! Notice that the topic of conversation was Yeshua's "departure" (literally, his "Exodus": τὴν ἔξοδον αὐτοῦ) which he would accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). This is the great connecting point between the revelation of Torah at Sinai (Moses and the prophets) and the revelation of Torah at Zion (Yeshua as Messiah ben Yosef, the Suffering Servant). At Sinai the great vision was given of the Altar upon which a lamb was offered every day and night (קָרְבָּן תָּמִיד) in commemoration of the Passover in Egypt; at Zion the great vision was the cross of Messiah, upon which the blood of the true Lamb of God would be offered as "Messiah our Passover" (1 Cor. 5:7).
Recall that Yeshua said: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not a Yod (י), nor a stroke of a Yod (i.e., kotzo shel yod: קוֹצוֹ שֶׁל יוֹד), shall in any way pass from the Law until all is accomplished" (Matt. 5:17-18). Both the Torah of Moses (תורת משה) and the words of the Hebrew prophets (דברי הנביאים) foretold of the coming of Messiah who would purge Israel from her sins and establish the glory of God before the nations. Yeshua is the central meaning of all true Torah....
The Exodus from Egypt is the central miracle of the Torah because it prophetically tells the story of the redemption of God's people throughout the dispensations. Israel's deliverance from bondage to Pharaoh serves as an allegory of both the salvation promised to Adam and Eve after losing their freedom to Satan as well as the fulfillment of the promises to the Jewish people of the coming Savior of Israel who would establish God's kingdom on the earth. Yeshua is both the Savior of the world as well as Israel's true King and Deliverer.
The great story of God's redemption is revealed on two levels in Scripture - one that concerns the paradise of Eden (the universal level), and the other that concerns the paradise of Israel (the particular level). Therefore Yeshua is both rightly called the "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29) and "the Messiah our Passover Lamb who has been sacrificed for us" (1 Cor. 5:7). Likewise he is both called the "Seed of the woman," and "the Son of David"; he is called the "Second Adam," and the "King of the Jews," and so on.
God's redeeming love was present from the very beginning (Psalm 90:3). The midrash states that Adam was created from the "dust of the Temple." After Adam's transgression, the Tree of Life was "removed from reach" and guarded by cherubim until the blood that spoke a "better thing than the blood of Abel" was offered for the redemption of mankind (Heb. 12:24). This "better thing" was prefigured in many ways in Scripture: through the martyrdom of Abel, through the Akedah of Isaac, through the blood of the lamb that delivered Israel from the angel of death, through the blood sprinkled upon the kapporet ("mercy seat") of the Ark of the Covenant, through the sacrifice of the Red Heifer, and most especially through the sacrificial death of Yeshua upon the Cross at Moriah.... Those who trust in the sacrifice and victorious resurrection of the Messiah are given access to eat of the Tree of Life in the Paradise of God (Rev. 2:7; 22:14).
Yeshua "lifted up" is the antidote to the venom delivered through the serpent's bite (John 3:14-15). "For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:22). The "new seed" of life given to us in Yeshua makes us into a "new creation" (בְּרִיאָה חֲדָשָׁה) that fully restores the defaced image of God within us: "Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven" (1 Cor. 15:49).
02.01.23 (Shevat 10, 5783) It is nearly an axiom of human nature that people are unreasonably proud, and yet many of us would be offended if someone suggested that we we were proud ourselves.... Yet surely we are all subject to "hidden faults" (נִסְתָּרוֹת) and "presumptuous sins" (זֵדִים) that lurk within the human heart (see Psalm 19:13), and if there is one ubiquitous fault that besets mankind, it is that man tends to overestimate his virtues while simultaneously underestimating his vices...
"Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him." (Prov. 26:12)
Note that the Hebrew word for "fool" here (i.e., kesil:כְּסִיל) refers to a dullard, or a boorish and "thickheaded" person who is enamored with his or her own opinions. A kesil is someone who believes his or her own propaganda, who always regards himself as "right," and who becomes obstinate, defensive, or enraged when challenged. Sadly, since nearly all people are taken captive by this sin, most are indeed foolish and without the truth within them.
The humble person (עניו הנפש), on the other hand, acknowledges that he or she might be wrong and is therefore willing to examine their views... He or she is genuinely open-minded and willing to undergo self-examination. The humble of heart (עניו הלב) have the courage to say to the LORD, "Search me, and know my ways; test me, and know my thoughts; and see the wicked ways in me – and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24).
The sages rhetorically ask, Ezehu chacham? "Who then is wise?" and answer "the one who learns from every man." In the Jewish tradition, humility (i.e., anavah:עֲנָוָה) is among the greatest of the virtues, as its opposite, pride (i.e., ga'avah:גַּאֲוָה), is among the worst of the vices. Indeed God literally hates the eyes of the proud countenance (Prov. 6:16-17). Therefore Moses is described as the most humble of men: "Now the man Moses was very humble, above all the men that were on the face of the earth" (Num. 12:3), and likewise the great patriarch Abraham confessed to God: "Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes (עָפָר וָאֵפֶר)" (Gen 18:27).
It has been said that a mark of this present wicked and debased age is the inability to feel real shame (בּוּשָׁה) for sin... We are a shameless people who brazenly defy the Living God by arrogating to ourselves supposed powers of wisdom that we surely do not possess (think, for example, of the arrogance and anti-science of the medical-industrial complex being promulgated today). "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight (Isa. 5:20-21). But the right use of shame is a blessing for us, as has been taught by the sages: "Come, my students, and I will teach you about the virtue of shame (i.e., boshet:בּשֶׁת). Know, my students, that shame is very important because everyone who exhibits shamefacedness (i.e., boshet panim) is rescued from sin and iniquity. As it is written, "Do not be afraid, because God has come to test you so that the fear of God will be on your faces (תִּהְיֶה יִרְאָתוֹ עַל־פְּנֵיכֶם), lest you sin' (Exod. 20:20). Moreover, shame is the proper attitude we should have before the LORD for the great atonement He graciously provides us in Yeshua our LORD. As it is written, "I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD, then you will remember and never open your mouth again because of your shame (לְמַעַן תִּזְכְּרִי וָבֹשְׁתְּ), when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord GOD" (Ezek. 16:62-63).
It has been wisely said that humility means "teachability." Dwight Moody once said, "God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves." Confessing that we sometimes are proud and foolish is therefore a first step toward finding inner peace and serenity. May the LORD help each of us humble ourselves before Him so that we can hear His voice and be filled with truth of His glory. Amen.
Hebrew Lesson Proverbs 26:12 reading (click for audio):
[ The following concerns this week's Torah reading (Beshalach) and the Exodus from Egypt... ]
02.01.23 (Shevat 10, 5783) Perhaps the central event of this week's Torah portion is how the LORD split the waters of the sea to make a path for His people to escape from Egypt. This event is commemorated in the great "Song the Sea" (i.e., Shirat Hayam: שִׁירַת הַיָּם), a hymn praising God for His deliverance (see Exod. 15:1-19). Because of its critical significance for the Jewish people, the Sabbath on which this song is chanted is called Shabbat Shirah ("Sabbath of the Song"), and the custom is for all the congregation to rise while it is recited...
Since the crossing of the sea represents a "baptism," if you will, of the Jewish people, the Song of the Sea is customarily sung on the seventh day of Passover (i.e., on Nisan 21), which marks the date when Israel crossed the sea after leaving Egypt. When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, the song was sung every day by the Levites during the afternoon offering. After the Temple was destroyed, however, it was incorporated into the morning service to fulfill the Torah's commandment to "remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt all the days of your life" (Deut. 16:3).
After the Israelites left Egypt, the LORD did not lead them along the most direct route to the land of Canaan (through territory occupied by the Philistines), but rather toward Yam Suf - the Sea of Reeds. The LORD led the Israelites in a Pillar of Cloud (עַמּוּד עָנָן) by day and a Pillar of Fire (עַמּוּד אֵשׁ) by night, and had them "turn back" from Etham toward Egypt to encamp before Baal-Tzefon (בַּעַל צְפן) - an Egyptian idol - by the Red Sea, so that Pharaoh would be led to believe that the Israelites were lost in the wilderness (according to rabbinic literature, this idol - the only one that remained undestroyed after God sent the tenth plague upon Egypt - was intentionally spared by God in order to "bait" Pharaoh into thinking that the God of Israel was powerless over him).
When the Egyptian cavalry caught up to them, the Israelites were trapped against the sea, and the people were terrified that they were to be slaughtered. God then moved the Pillar of Cloud so that it stood between the Egyptians and the Israelites. The Cloud grew black and the Egyptian cavalry could no longer see the Israelites. Meanwhile, a Pillar of Fire appeared in front of the people, lighting their way. Moses then raised his staff and a strong east wind blew and divided the waters, forming a wall of water on the right and left, and the Israelites began to cross safely.
According to Midrash, the sea formed a "tent" over the heads of the Israelites, protecting them on all sides. Moreover, the waters divided into twelve tunnels, one for each tribe. The walls of the water were perfectly clear, like translucent glass, so that the tribes could see one another as they crossed.... Another midrash says that all of the waters of the earth split at the same time as the Sea of Reeds - including rivers and lakes around the world.
At any rate, by daybreak all of the Israelites had safely reached the other side, and the Pillar of Cloud lifted. The Egyptians then began to follow in pursuit, but the ground beneath them turned to mud and the wheels of their chariots became stuck (this is considered retribution for forcing the Israelites to make bricks of mortar without straw). As the Egyptians attempted to retreat, Moses stretched out his staff and the wall of waters collapsed over them. The Israelites watched in awe as the waters engulfed all of Pharaoh's mightiest warriors. There were no survivors.
Overjoyed that they no longer need fear Pharaoh, the people began to cheer and rejoice. Then Moses composed a great song (Exod. 15:1-21), a spontaneous hymn of praise and thanks to the LORD for Israel's deliverance (the song opens with ashirah (אָשִׁירָה): "I will sing..." and apparently will also be sung in the Heavenly Jerusalem: see Rev. 15:3). Miriam, Moses' sister led Israel in a dance of victory, as the people all sang out: "Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea."
The great message of deliverance resounds throughout Jewish history, and indeed it is regarded as a theme of the faithful love of LORD for His people:
"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for Yah the LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation." (Isaiah 12:2)
It's been said that all the signs and wonders performed during the Exodus served two purposes: 1) to convince the Egyptians of the greatness of God, and 2) to convince the Israelites of the same thing... An even greater blessing, however, is to trust in the LORD without the need for signs and wonders (John 20:29). May the LORD God of Israel help us live by true bittachon (בִּטָּחוֹן) - trusting in Him and rejoicing in His salvation. Amen.
