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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:
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טבילת משה Baptism into Moses...
[ The following concerns this week's Torah reading (Beshalach) and the Exodus from Egypt... ]
01.31.23 (Shevat 9, 5783) Egypt represents the world system that enslaves people (the Hebrew word for Egypt, "mitzrayim," comes from the word tzur (צוּר), meaning "restriction"). As the ruler of this world, Pharaoh therefore represents Satan, the original serpent who deceived Eve in the orchard. Egypt therefore represents a state of exile (similar to the original exile from Eden), and just as the blood of the lamb applied to the doorposts in Egypt caused the plague of death to pass over, so the blood of Yeshua saves us from the wrath of God and spiritual death. Yeshua said that by nature people were in bondage to the dictates of this world system and its forces and needed to be set free. The Hebrew word for salvation (יְשׁוּעָה) means to be set free from the restrictions of "Egypt" and its forces.
The Apostle Paul likened the crossing of the sea as a metaphor of baptism: "All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (1 Cor. 10:1-2,11). In the New Testament, baptism symbolizes our identification with Yeshua's death, burial, and resurrection (Col. 2:12; Rom. 6:3-5). Some Christian commentators make a strong distinction between these two baptisms (i.e., baptism into Moses and baptism into Messiah), though there are many profound correspondences. For instance, the Israelites were facing death and were therefore at the "end of themselves." They had no other appeal or hope than God's gracious intervention on their behalf (i.e., salvation). Still, they needed to act and move forward. After they took the step of faith, they could see the Shekhinah Glory lighting up the way of deliverance, though this meant being "buried" within the midst of the sea. Their earlier fear of death was replaced with a song of God's great deliverance. The other side of the sea represented new life, the life that comes from above, by the power and agency of the Holy Spirit... The Israelites died to their old life, were symbolically buried in the waters, but rose to new freedom by the grace and power of God... In a way, the crossing of the sea represented a "birth canal" into the realm of true freedom as God's redeemed children.
Just as the Israelites were made free from the tyranny of Pharaoh when they crossed the Sea - being "baptized into the death of the waters" to be reborn to serve God in freedom – so those who trust in Yeshua are "baptized into His death" and reborn to serve God by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Note that this "baptism into Moses" was not a water baptism, since even though the people went through the water, they crossed over the sea on dry ground... No, it was a baptism or "immersion" into the Shekhinah Cloud, an identification with Moses and his mission (Heb. 11:29). At Sinai Moses would later ascend into the midst of that Cloud to behold the vision of the altar of Messiah (i.e., the Mishkan, or Tabernacle) - a vision that later became a reality during the time of Yeshua's transfiguation before his crucifixion (see Luke 9:28-31). Ultimately baptism is about identifying with the redemptive mission of God through Yeshua our Savior. The meaning of baptism is to be immersed by the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) to be made part of the greater redemptive mission of God's people.
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Beshalach... ]
01.31.23 (Shevat 9, 5783) "I am about to rain bread from heaven (לֶחֶם מִן־הַשָּׁמָיִם) for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my Torah or not" (Exod. 16:4). Note that while God graciously provided the miracle of manna, the people were required to receive it for themselves. Note further that a portion was given for just that day, and storing it up for later use (except for the Sabbath) resulted in rottenness and decay (Exod. 16:20). By being required to collect their daily bread (דְּבַר־יוֹם בְּיוֹמוֹ) the people learned that God's blessing and their efforts worked together. Our sustenance is a gift from heaven, though we must reach out to take hold of it...
"Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD" (Exod. 16:23). Here is the first mention of the obligation to observe the Sabbath (mentioned even before Sinai), which is introduced in connection with the requirement for the people to collect a double portion of manna on Friday for the following day. The sages here note that the Sabbath and the manna both underscore our complete dependency on God as the source of our sustenance. We will see this again regarding agricultural laws of Shemmitah (שְׁמִטָּה) and the Jubilee (יובל).
"I will test them (אֲנַסֶּנּוּ) whether they will walk in my Torah (הֲיֵלֵךְ בְּתוֹרָתִי) or not" (Exod. 16:4). This is the test (נִסָיוֹן) to see whether we will trust God to meet our needs... After all, it is one thing to believe God can help you and yet another to trust that it is so. Peace comes when belief and trust are unified within the heart - when the one who firmly believes completely trusts as well. God gave bread from heaven to test us: "And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, 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). God humbles us, which is really the greatest of blessings, since we then learn to rely on God's strength and love to meet all our needs.
[ The divine consequence of the exodus from Egypt (יציאת מצרים) is still felt to this day, as indeed is the greater exodus Yeshua attained by the power of the cross (Luke 9:30-31). ]
01.31.23 (Shevat 9, 5783) From our Torah this week (i.e., Beshalach) we read how the children of Israel were trapped before the sea with no way of escape... Moses then cried out to God who told him to march forward -- right into the waters -- as the Pillar of Cloud settled between the people and Pharaoh's advancing army.
According to midrash, when Moses lifted his staff to divide the sea, at first nothing happened. The people waited anxiously at the seashore, wondering what to do. Finally, Nachshon ben Aminadav, a descendant of Judah (Num. 1:7), waded into the water "up to his nose," and then the winds began blowing to divide the waters (Shemot Rabbah). The great miracle of kiryat yam suf (קרית ים סוף)- the splitting of the sea of reeds (the word "suf" means "reed,"seeExod. 2:3) therefore happened because someone found courage and took a step of faith: "And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall (חוֹמָה) to them on their right hand and on their left" (Exod. 14:22). They marched across the sea all that night (i.e., Nisan 21), under the light of the Shekhinah Glory...
The Talmud says "kasheh le'zavgom ke'kriat yam suf," which means it is more difficult for God to create a marriage than to split the sea. They reason this way because each person needs to take individual action to trust the other. Likewise with God. It is more difficult for God to get us to be in a genuine, trusting relationship with Him than it is for Him to split a sea. Of course the problem is not with God, who is the perfect "husband," but with our adulterous inner nature. It took the LORD a year to deliver Israel from Egypt, but it took Him 40 years to teach Israel to trust in His promises of love. God always awaits our teshuvah - our "answer" - to His invitation before He will reveal more to us. As Yeshua once said to his followers, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now" (John 16:12). Some things about God can only be known by stepping out in faith and surrendering ourselves to Him.
01.30.23 (Shevat 8, 5783) The Scriptures counsel us to be transformed (μεταμορφόω) by "renewing our minds" (Rom. 12:2), though just how we are to do this remains an open question. Our perspectives and attitudes are shaped by our assumptions about life, many of which are "preconscious" or hidden from our awareness. Habitual thoughts, biases, prejudices, fears, etc., all affect (and distort) the way we see and understand reality. In light of this, how can we change? How can we overcome our habitual negativity, misery, and general unhappiness? How do we develop right thinking power? How do we learn to apply our minds to perceive the good, instead of responding in unreflective and negative ways to our circumstances? How do we discipline our will so that "if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Phil. 4:8)? Surely we cannot transform ourselves, for we are the source of our own impairment; we are the patient who needs the cure....
Healing comes from receiving the light of truth, being "single-minded," with our eyes focused on what is real. "If your eye is "single" (i.e., ἁπλοῦς, sincere, focused)," Yeshua said, "your whole body will be filled with light" (Matt. 6:22). We are to "renew" (ἀνακαινόω) our minds, which means elevating our thinking by focusing on God. Likewise the Torah commands: "You shall be made whole (i.e., tamin:תָּמִים) with the LORD your God" (Deut. 18:13). We are made "whole" or "perfect" (i.e., complete) when we resolutely turn to God for healing of our inner dividedness, as it says: "The Torah of the LORD is perfect (תָּמִים), returning the soul" (Psalm 19:8). And where it is written, "Let us hear end of the matter: Fear God and love his commandments, the text adds: ki zeh kol-ha'adam (כִּי־זֶה כָּל־הָאָדָם), "for this is the whole man," suggesting that those who return will be healed of their double-mindedness (Eccl. 12:13). Ultimately we are made whole when we are united to God in Messiah, for then we are "with the LORD our God" and the Spirit writes Torah within the heart of faith (Jer. 31:33).
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Beshalach... ]
01.30.23 (Shevat 8, 5783) Our Torah reading for this week (Beshlach: Exod. 13:17-17:16) includes the famous Shirat Hayam (שִׁירַת הַיָּם), the "Song the Sea," a hymn of praise the Israelites sang to the LORD after they miraculously crossed the Sea of Reeds (i.e., Yam Suf:יָם סּוּף). Shirat Hayam is also traditionally sung on the 7th day of Passover (i.e., on Nisan 21) since it was first sung seven days after the people left Egypt during the time of the Exodus. When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, Shirat Hayam was sung every day by the Levites during the minchah (afternoon) offering. After the Temple was destroyed, however, the song was incorporated into the shacharit (morning) service of synagogues (i.e., "Mi Chamocha," etc.) 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).
Today the Sabbath on which parashat Beshalach is recited is called Shabbat Shirah Hayam and the congregation rises when the song is chanted:
"I will sing to Adonai, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. Yah is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will enshrine Him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his Name." (Exod. 15:1-3)
Notice that the Hebrew text is stylized in a special way according to soferut (scribal) tradition. The Talmud (Megillah 16b) states that Shirat Hayam must be written in the form of "a half brick over a whole brick, and a whole brick over a half brick," that is, with alternating half-lines, to resemble "building a house."
According to Yalkut Me'am Lo'ez, the alternating "bricks" are intended to resemble waves of water, while the blank spaces separating these (i.e., text blocks) suggest "blank spaces in our knowledge and praise of God" which we are encouraged to add to the "building." The sages count exactly 198 words in this song, which is the numerical value for the word tzchok (צחק), a word that means "laughter" and is the word used to describe Sarah's response when she finally gave birth to Isaac (Gen. 21:6). According to Rabbi Bachya, the laughter in Isaac's name comes from Abraham's joy (Gen. 17:17). The joy of Isaac's birth, then, is linked with the "birth" of the nation of Israel at the time of the Exodus, just as his symbolic death during the Akedah represents Israel's rebirth...
It is also noteworthy to remember that the Lord Yeshua was the One who saved Israel on that very day. He is the Angel of the LORD and YHVH the Redeemer, as Moses likewise stated: וַיּוֹשַׁע יהוה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל מִיַּד מִצְרָיִם / "On that day, the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians" (Exod. 14:30).
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.
[ In our Torah portion this week, the Lord divided the waters of the sea to make a path for the Israelites, a miracle that symbolized newness of life as God's liberated people... ]
01.29.23 (Shevat 7, 5783) Last week's Torah portion (i.e., parashat Bo) described how the Israelites were finally released from Egypt after God delivered the final plague during the time of Passover. In this week's portion (parashat Beshalach: Exod. 13:17-17:16), the Israelites begin their journey home, after 430 years of troubled exile. Instead of leading them along a direct route to the Promised Land, however, God directed them south, toward the desert, where the Glory of God appeared as a Pillar of Cloud by day and as a Pillar of Fire by night to lead them on their way. When Pharaoh heard that the Israelites were at the border of the desert, however, he perversely decided to pursue them and bring them back to Egypt. God then redirected the Israelites to camp near the edge of the Sea of Reeds, where the Egyptian army finally caught up with them. Dramatically, the Israelites were caught between the vast sea on one side, and Pharaoh's formidable army on the other!
The terrified people then began to blame Moses for their predicament. Moses reassured them of God's final deliverance and raised his staff to miraculously divide the waters of the sea. All that night the Shekhinah Glory enshrouded the Egyptian army but gave light to Israel as the people crossed through the sea on dry ground. Just before dawn, the dark pillar of cloud that veiled the Egyptian army lifted, and the soldiers immediately rushed after the Israelites into pathway of the sea. God then told Moses to lift his staff again so that the waters would overwhelm the Egyptians with their chariots and horsemen. By the time dawn arrived, the Israelites saw the dead bodies of Pharaoh's army lining the seashore.
Moses and Miriam then led the people of Israel in a spontaneous hymn of thanks and praise to God for their complete deliverance from Pharaoh, which is often called the "Song of the Sea" (i.e., shirah hayam). The song begins, "The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation" / עָזִּי וְזִמְרָת יָהּ וַיְהִי־לִי לִישׁוּעָה (Exod. 15:2, cp. Isa. 12:2). For Orthodox Jews, singing Shirat Hayam every day is thought to fulfill the biblical commandment to "remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt as long as you live" (Deut. 16:3). Note that Shirat Hayam is also sung on the 7th day of Passover, as a memorial of the deliverance by God through the waters of the Sea of Reeds.
The great message of our deliverance resounds throughout Jewish history, and indeed it is regarded as a theme of the faithful love of LORD for His people:
After their jubilation, the narrative resumes as God led the people away from the sea, into the desert of Sin (מִדְבַּר־סִין), a desolate region about midway to Mount Sinai. After traveling three days without finding any water, however, the people complained and God provided them with fresh water at Marah. Awhile later, the matzah (unleavened bread) the people had brought with them ran out and God tested their obedience by giving them "bread from heaven" (i.e., manna). The portion ends with the Amalekites' surprise attack of Israel at Rephidim, near Mount Sinai, and the selection of Joshua as the leader of the army of Israel.
01.29.23 (Shevat 7, 5783) It is written in our Scriptures: "For none of us lives to himself (οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἡμῶν ἑαυτῷ ζη), and no one dies to himself (καὶ οὐδεὶς ἑαυτῷ ἀποθνῄσκει)" (Rom. 14:7). Between these two clauses is all that matters. Do we live for ourselves or for Him? If we don't live for Him, how will we die in Him?
01.29.23 (Shevat 7, 5783) These are indeed dark days, and it is difficult not to be seduced by the profanity and fear of this evil world... The mass media is controlled to run it's scripts; the love of many runs cold; and people are living in fear of the "pestilence that walketh in darkness" and the "destruction that wasteth at noonday." So what do we do but encourage ourselves to look to the LORD for His salvation. We groan; we lament; we protest: "How long O LORD?" And yet we resolve to make our refuge in God's promises "until these calamities be overpast...." (Psalm 57:1; Isa. 26:20)
As a seed planted within soil seeks life by "reaching" for the sun, so our souls are drawn upward by the desire for God. The Lord calls us "out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Pet. 2:9); he calls us to awaken, to grow, and to come to the fullness of his life (John 10:10). Being called "out of darkness" means being set free of those spiritual forces that attempt to hold us captive. When we turn to the Divine Light for our sustenance and healing, we are set free from the pain of our fears and the insanity of evil (Acts 26:18). As it is written: "God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power (δύναμις) and of love (ἀγάπη), and of a "sound mind" (2 Tim. 1:7). The Greek word "sound mind" (σωφρονισμός) comes from the verb sodzo (σῴζω), meaning "to save," from saos (σάος) "safe," in the sense of being under care and influence of the Spirit of God. "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). Heeding the truth of Yeshua grounds you in what is real and reveals your identity and provision as a child of God, as it is written: "For you are my lamp (כִּי־אַתָּה תָּאִיר נֵרִי), O LORD, and my God lightens my darkness" (Psalm 18:28).
[ If you knew me, you would see that God indeed does the impossible in the heart of the least likely for the sake of his glory and great love... "God has chosen things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence" (1 Cor. 1:27-29). ]
01.29.23 (Shevat 7, 5783) What if we were to come to such brokenness of heart that there would be nothing left to say, nothing but an inward groaning that renders naught our every word, leaving us in muted sorrow, perplexity, and fear... Is not our silence heard?
We need to trust God in our darkness and with our darkness, and by that I mean that we need to believe that the Lord is allowing trouble for our ultimate good, despite our inexplicable losses, our grief, our sorrow and our pain. It takes great faith to trust God in our anguish, to offer our pain in praise.
"So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Yeshua himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were held back so that they did not recognize Him. Then said to them, 'What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?'" (Luke 24:15-17). Note that when the disciples were confused and distraught, Yeshua drew near to them in their anxiety and sadness... It was only later, after he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and then gave it to them were their eyes open, and they rejoiced in the truth of God. The bracha (blessing) was the signature statement of our Lord regarding his role as the Lamb of God. The entire account reminds me somewhat of John 21:3-13.
The Suffering of Truth...
[ "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 ]
01.27.23 (Shevat 5, 5783) We may say that we should bless the Lord for the bad as well as for the good (Job 2:10), since we affirm that God does everything for our ultimate benefit (Rom. 8:28), and we may therefore infer that affliction is a "messenger" from above provoking us to do teshuvah. If we had greater understanding or more faith, we may suppose, then we would accept that our troubles and sorrows are really disguised "afflictions from love" and we would learn to accept them without protest or bitterness...
But that's how we might reason. And while it is true that we trust in God's providential plans for our lives, we still feel pain, we still get sick, we cry, we get frustrated, angry, and even feel forsaken at times. However we must not be offended over our frailty, our vulnerability, and our smallness of faith, friends. For God is with us, even when we are confused or unsure...
An old story relates how some disciples wondered why their rebbe wept when he was falsely imprisoned. Didn't he regularly teach them that all trouble is for ultimate good? Said the rebbe, "When God sends bitterness, we ought to feel it..." Can you imagine someone admonishing Yeshua not to weep during his intercession at Gethsemane saying, "Where is your faith, Master?" Don't you believe that God is working all things for good?" There is very little difference between these sorts of "questions" and the taunts Yeshua received when he bled out on the cross for our sins (Matt. 27:39-45; Luke 23:35-37).
Look, there is "theology" and then there is the passion of living out your faith. Theology offers up the "right answers" while living by faith raises unanswered questions. Theology is cognitive; trust is a matter of the will and of the heart. People who live way up in their heads often forget their hearts. From a "legalistic" point of view Job was wrong to have argued with God; Moses was wrong to have despaired over his mission; Jeremiah was wrong to have lamented over the destruction of Jerusalem; David was wrong to have cried out for justice over his enemies, and John the Baptist was wrong to have doubted the identity of Messiah, to mention just a few instances where we see that passion, hunger and thirst, overruled the doctrines taught in our theology books.
This reminds me of another story I once read. A godly man died and was standing before the bar of the heavenly tribunal, undergoing questioning: "Did you learn Torah, as Moses had commanded?" he was asked. "No," he quietly answered. "Or did you pray with all your heart and soul, seeking God in all your ways?" he was asked. "No," the man again softly replied. "Well then did you do good, as implied by the categorical duty to care for others?" And again the man meekly said no... When the judgment was then given, however, the man was awarded divine favor, since he poke the truth and appealed only to God's mercy and love. The tzaddik is truthful even in his untruth; he confesses his wayward affections and acknowledges his weakness before God; he accepts the imperfection at the core of his being, and therefore he appeals only to his great need for God's love and mercy to make things right, to heal him, and to bring him home...
Hebrew Lesson Psalm 73:25-26 Hebrew reading (click for audio):
[ "A Jesus who never wept could never wipe away my tears." -- Charles H. Spurgeon ]
01.27.23 (Shevat 5, 5783) If you are having a tough day today, or if you feel oppressed, lonely, anxious, and/or heavy of heart, let me encourage you to praise God anyway... Offering thanks to the LORD is a powerful weapon for announcing God's triumph over the darkness of the present hour (2 Cor. 10:4). Indeed, the Lord is "enthroned" by the praises (תְּהִלּוֹת) of His people (Psalm 22:3). Therefore give voice to your hope and confidently affirm: "Behold, God is my salvation (i.e., my yeshua, my "Jesus"); I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation" (Isa. 12:2).
"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Yah the LORD (יָהּ יְהוָה) is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation (יְשׁוּעָה)." (Isaiah 12:2)
Therefore "do not be grieved (even over yourself), for the joy of the LORD is your strength" (Neh. 8:10). Affirming the love, goodness, faithfulness, compassion, and salvation of God is a powerful way to defeat the enemy of our souls, who regularly seeks to discourage us. King David constantly asked God to help him in his spiritual struggles. "Though I walk in the midst of trouble (בְּקֶרֶב צָרָה), you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me" (Psalm 138:7). "For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled" (Psalm 143:2-3). Though we must fight through the stubborn darkness and yet endure ourselves, "the LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18). He gives us his shalom... Indeed, the Lord God is far greater than your heart's sin and will one day entirely deliver you of sin's effect and influence. Amen, and let it be, LORD.
Behold the goodness and kindness of our God! Where it is written: "Know Him in all your ways" (Prov. 3:6), this of course includes the way of your struggles and the way of your transgressions... Acknowledge these ways before Him, too, and trust that God will help you overcome fear and depart from your sin (Prov. 28:13). As it is said, "Because he is devoted to Me I will deliver him; I will keep him safe, for he knows My Name. When he calls to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation" (Psalm 91:14-16).
Hebrew Lesson Isaiah 12:2 reading (click for audio):
01.27.23 (Shevat 5, 5783) From our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Bo) we learn that though God instructed each household to select its own lamb for the Passover, the Torah refers to "the" Lamb of God, as if there was only one: "You shall keep it [i.e., the Passover lamb] until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter him (אתוֹ) at twilight (Exod. 12:6). Note that the direct object "him" (i.e., oto) can be read as Aleph-Tav (את) combined with the letter Vav (ו), signifying the Son of Man who is First and Last... Indeed there is only one "Lamb of God" that takes away the sins of the world, and that is our Savior, Yeshua the Messiah...
01.27.19 (Shevat 21, 5779) On January 27, 1945, the largest of the Nazi death camps (Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland) was liberated by Soviet troops. In October 2005, the UN General Assembly designated this date as "International Holocaust Remembrance Day" to commemorate and honor the victims of the Nazi era. Note that the UN-sponsored date is not the same thing as Yom HaShoah, which occurs in the spring (i.e., Nisan 27).
The systematic genocide of the Jewish people is one of the most heinous and barbarous crimes in the history of humanity. Reflecting on the atrocities should lead each of us to be vigilant to protect the individual liberties of all people at the hands of the State. Any political ideology or religious creed that elevates the interest of the "collective" over the sanctity of the individual is therefore inherently suspect.
[ "I know my own soul, how feeble and puny it is: I know the magnitude of this ministry, and the great difficulty of the work; for more stormy billows vex the soul of the priest than the gales which disturb the sea." - John Chrysostom ]
01.26.23 (Shevat 4, 5783) One of the great Hebrew names of God is El Elyon (אֵל עֶלְיוֹן), often translated as "God Most High." The name first appears in the Torah regarding the mysterious figure of Malki-Tzedek (מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק), the enigmatic king and priest of Shalem (שָׁלֵם) who served "bread and wine" to our father Abraham – alluding to the sacraments later used to commemorate our redemption (Gen. 14:18). As the timeless king and priest of God, Malki-Tzedek is a "theophany," or a revelation of the LORD our God Yeshua before He emptied Himself and made his descent to this world (Phil. 2:7; Heb. 7:3). Yeshua is our great King of Kings (מלך המלכים) and High Priest of the New Covenant (הכהן הגדול של הברית החדשה), a better covenant that restores the kingship and priesthood back to God Himself (Heb. 7:12).
Now the name "Elyon" itself (עֶלְיוֹן) comes from a root word (עָלָה) that means "to ascend." For instance, an "olah offering" (עלָה) is a whole burnt offering that ascends upward to heaven, and "aliyah" (עֲלִיָּה) means "going up" to the land of Israel. The word "Elyon," then, expresses the truth that the LORD is the Resurrected and Ascended One who overcame all the powers of hell and utterly vanquished death's power. In other words, Elyon is a name for the LORD our God Yeshua (אדוננו אלוהים ישוע)
The sages say that Moses wrote Psalm 91 as he dwelt in the secret place (סֵתֶר) of the Most High God, in the "midst of the dark cloud" (Exod. 24:18), a place of sacred and holy concealment. The thick clouds are a "hiding place" for him (Job 22:14). Notice that the one who "abides" in the secret of the Most High dwells in an ascended place of rest – being lifted up above the surrounding madness of this fallen world of flux and shadows. The Hebrew word means to lodge or to "sleep" (לִין), connecting it with death and resurrection. By "dwelling in the resurrection ife" of Yeshua, God will shield you with His Presence and make evil powerless before you.
Since God hides Himself in this world (Isa. 45:15), we must humbly seek His face to enter into the place of His holy concealment in all things. God is Elyon – High above - but He dwells "with the lowly and the broken of heart" (Isa. 57:15). Therefore the LORD our God is called Shaddai (שַׁדַּי) – our powerful Provider (שׁ+דּי), Refuge, and Defense. Just as we can be surrounded by the "shadow of death" (tzal mavet), so we can be surrounded by the "shadow of Shaddai" (tzal Shaddai). Like a powerful eagle brooding over her chicks, so Shaddai covers you with wings of protection (Psalm 91:4). Being "under the shadow of Shaddai" (בְּצֵל שַׁדַּי) therefore means being under the protection of God's Presence.
When you "abide" in the secret of Elyon - the Ascended One - you are concealed by the dark clouds of His Glory, and the Presence of Shaddai overshadows you... The LORD will save you from the ensnaring trap and from the devastating pestilence (Psalm 91:3). By abiding in the truth that God's Presence pervades all things at all times - you become a "stranger" (גֵּר) with the LORD in this world, a "sojourner" (תּוֹשָׁב) who awaits the recompense of the wicked and the healing of the world at the end of the age. "You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot" (Psalm 91:13). "For the day of the LORD is at hand; It shall come as destruction (שֹׁד) from the Almighty (מִשַׁדַּי; Joel 1:15).
There is a "secret door" that you can enter at any time... This door leads to the realm of the Divine Presence, as David said: shiviti (שִׁוִּיתִי) - "I have set the LORD always before me - because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken" (Psalm 16:8). But how did David "set the LORD" before Him if He did not "enter the door" by opening his eyes to behold God's hidden Glory?
At any given moment of our day, regardless of our circumstances, we can attune ourselves to the reality of the Divine Presence and come "boldly before the Throne of Grace" (כס החסד). The world knows nothing of this realm and is enslaved by appearances and the delusions of this realm, ha'olam ha'zeh (העולם הזה). As Yeshua said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given" (Matt. 13:11). The Spirit always says, "Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you" (Isa. 26:20). In the secret places of our heart - our "prayer closet" - we appeal to the Hidden Presence to be manifest in the midst of every circumstance of our lives...
We are made secure only on account of the LORD our God Yeshua, who gloriously ascended over the powers of this age, the hidden principalities of darkness, and who made safe passage for us to come by means of his sacrificial death on the cross. Yeshua is the Bridge and the Way to the truth that sets you free, though He indeed is the narrow bridge. Because of Him alone, we have access to the Divine Presence, the Holy of Holies made without human hands. Yeshua is the Ascended LORD of Glory, the Master of all possible worlds, and the King over all things. Nothing can stop Him or thwart His victory secured for those who trust in Him. ברוך שם ה' לנצח - blessed is the Name of the LORD forever and ever. Amen.
Hebrew Lesson Psalm 91:1 reading (click for audio):
Personal Update: Shalom friends. I have been unwell the last few days, with high blood pressure and a broken tooth that has become infected. Thank you for your prayers for me.
Torah of Death and Life....
[ "Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else." -- Charles H. Spurgeon ]
01.26.23 (Shevat 4, 5783) Why does God want us to face the truth about death? Why does Moses ask God to teach us to "number of our days?" (Psalm 90:12). The reason is that by nature people deny the reality of death - they hide their eyes from it, ignore it, and pretend it's not there - so they can continue to live under the illusion that they are in control of their lives, that they are the center, that they are immortal little "gods." Death threatens the ego and humbles us to confess the truth about life, namely that we are not in control, that we cannot choose to be immortals, that we do not have power to exist in ourselves, and therefore we need life from a different source - spiritual life - wherein we receive a new identity and a new being found in relation to God.
The "natural man" regards death as an offense or as "absurd" because it splits us in two, creating a "divided house" that cannot stand. The ego demands be god-like, important, valued as sacred, etc., yet the prospect of death crushes the aspiration and yields alienation from reality. This creates a painful tension or dualism within the heart where the meaning and purpose of life is lost.... The message of the gospel begins precisely there, however, speaking to broken people who thirst for life but find themselves living on "death row" - people who are humbled and who understand they cannot heal themselves from the "sickness unto death," as Kierkegaard used the term. The remedy is not to deny death or to live as if death is not a genuine horror, but to understand it as our natural estate, brought about by sin that exalts the ego over the God who made us.
"Die before you die; there is no chance after." (C.S. Lewis)
The power of the gospel is to partake in a new source of life and to be healed from the sickness of death by God's miracle in Messiah (2 Cor. 5:17). "Jesus saves" is not a cliché for the faith but the sober truth of reality. It is by our union or identification with Him, by the agency of the Holy Spirit, that we are imparted new existence, true spiritual being, that is not subject to the natural law of sin and death (Col. 3:9-11). Being "in Messiah" means you are "justified," that is, welcomed, affirmed, accepted and declared righteous by God, and that you are set free from the condition of "being unto death." You partake and share in the life (relationship) of God based on his redeeming love: you are "adopted" by God, made a member of his "household," and attain the inheritance of which is eternal life. Consequently you cry out "Abba, Father" to God who watches over you and leads you through the days of your sojourn here on earth (Rom. 3:32). Despite walking through the shadowy byways and tribulations of this world, you refuse to let death define you or be the last word: you trust that your Father is with you, working all things for your ultimate good (Rom. 8:28). You know who you are, where you are going, and what your end is because of Yeshua our Lord.
Facing death is essential because the message of the gospel must be grounded and framed in the language of our wretched desperation as lost souls in this world (Rom. 7:24). Death is the central problem of existence, and death is therefore the "propaedeutic" that leads us to the salvation found in Yeshua the Messiah... When we confront the truth of our condition, there is real hope for healing. "Die before you die; there is no chance after" (C.S. Lewis).
Hebrew Lesson Psalm 39:4 reading (click for audio):
01.25.23 (Shevat 3, 5783) In our Torah portion for this week (i.e., Bo) we revisit the institution of the Passover sacrifice and the deliverance of the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt. Later in the Torah we read God's reason for the redemption: "For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall be sac for I am holy" (Lev. 11:45). Because we are God's people, his redeemed children, we are made sacred, as God is sacred (1 Pet. 1:15-16). Holiness, however, is not a matter of what you do (such as wrapping yourself in religious rituals) but instead is a matter of what you "allow" to happen: You let go and allow yourself to be rescued and taken up from the "depths of Egypt" to be with your God. Holiness is something you receiveby faith; it is a gift of being "set apart" to be sacred and beloved by God. Genuine holiness (i.e., kedushah) is connected with love and grace.
In Hebrew, the word kedushah (קְדוּשָׁה) means sanctity or "set-apartness" (other Hebrew words that use this root include kadosh (holy), Kiddush (sanctifying the wine), Kaddish (sanctifying the Name), kiddushin (the ring ceremony at a marriage), and so on). Kadosh connotes the sphere of the sacred that is radically separate from all that is sinful and profane. As such, it is lofty and elevated (Isa. 57:15), beyond all comparison and utterly unique (Isa. 40:25), entirely righteous (Isa. 5:16), glorious and awesome (Psalm 99:3), full of light and power (Isa. 10:7), and is chosen and favored as God's own (Ezek. 22:26).
Hebrew Lesson Psalm 26:8 reading (click for audio):
01.25.23 (Shevat 3, 5783) The Scriptures reveal that ultimate reality is a divine love story with a "happy ending," despite the struggles we face in this world. We see this in connection with the great deliverance of the Passover, when we read the story of our redemption in the Torah, summarized in a special book called a "haggadah." Note that the Hebrew word "haggadah" (הַגָּדָה) means "retelling," which of course refers to the story of our journey from slavery to freedom by the hand of God's love. With regard to the sanctity of this story, the Torah commands us: "You shall tell (i.e., ve'higadta:וְהִגַּדְתָּ, from which "haggadah" comes) your child on that day, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.' And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Torah of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt" (Exod. 13:8-8). The sages note that the numeric value of the word "haggadah" (הַגָּדָה) is the same as the word for "good" (i.e., tov:טוֹב), which again indicates that the story of our redemption in the Messiah is truly good – indeed, the greatest story ever told...
01.25.23 (Shevat 3, 5783) In our Torah reading for this week, parashat Bo, we read about the final plague that God would bring upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The previous nine plagues were terrible in consequence and clearly demonstrated God's justice and power, but the death of the firstborn (i.e., makkat bechorot:מַכָת בְּכוֹרוֹת) was the final blow that would break Pharaoh's hard heart and cause him to let go of his oppression of the Israelites.
According to some Jewish thinkers, the final plague was intended to impugn the ancient institution of "primogeniture," that is, the special status and privilege given to the firstborn son. Consider, for instance, the Torah's narratives about Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Reuben and Judah, Manesseh and Ephraim. Or think about the choice of Moses or King David. In each of these cases the firstborn son was "passed over" by God; in each case devotion to God trumped family "pecking order." In other words, the Torah makes the point (repeatedly) that personal godliness is more important than genealogy or genetics. Unlike ancient Egypt, people are not to be given special treatment because of their birth order or their lineage, certainly not before the Master of the Universe who is "no respecter of persons" (Deut. 10:17, 16:9; Prov. 24:23, Rom. 2:11, etc.). "Freedom from slavery" means more than recreating yet another caste system...
But what about Israel being called the "firstborn son" of God (בְּנִי בְכרִי יִשְׂרָאֵל)? The sages state that this status must be regarded as sacred because of God's promise to the Jewish people, but individually speaking, if a Jew does not keep the Torah or keep faith with the LORD, he will be "passed over" as well... Okay, but what about the selection of the Levites? Were they not "exchanged" for the firstborn sons of Israel because of the sin of the Golden Calf? Yes, but that in itself lends credence to the idea that status as a favored child of God comes through faith and obedience, since it was the Levite tribe that did not lapse in faith by worshipping the idol (Exod. 32:27-28). Later, of course, the Levites became itinerant teachers in Israel (living in Cities of Refuge), but eventually spiritual leadership was assumed by the Sages who through study and devotion to the Torah became the chosen sons of Israel. By the time of Yeshua personal godliness was recognized as more important than physical lineage or genealogy...
All of this leads to questions about the meaning or essence of "Jewishness." The word "Jew" (יְהוּדִי) comes from the patronym "Judah" (יְהוּדָה), which derives from a root (יָדָה) that means "to confess, to give thanks, to laud, or to praise." Note that every letter of the Divine Name (יהוה) appears in the word Judah. In Jewish tradition, there are two basic views about the essential character of the Jewish people (יַהֲדוּת). First, Rabbi Yehuda Halevi takes an ethnocentric approach by claiming that the Jewish soul is somehow different than the non-Jewish soul, possessing a mystical quality called "segulah" (סגולה). The Jew is therefore ontologically different than the Gentile, possessing a "higher-grade" neshamah (נְשָׁמָה), or soul. This is the "tribalist" mentality that is often embraced in various ultra-Orthodox communities... Maimonides, on the other hand, who was more Greek-minded, stated that there is nothing extraordinary about the Jewish soul in itself, but only if a Jew keeps the Torah is he worthy of the name, and if not, he is just like a non-Jew. It is the Torah - and the Torah alone - that makes a Jew special and holy.
Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1865–1935), the first Ashkenazi Rabbi of the modern State of Israel, attempted to mediate these views by quoting the Talmud (Sanhedrin 59a): "You shall therefore keep my statues and My ordinances, which if a man (adam) does, he shall live by them..." (Lev. 18:5). R' Meir interprets that the Torah's choice of the word "human" (adam) means that even a non-Jew who keeps the Torah and mitzvot is as great as the High Priest.
In other words, personal godliness is the issue, not physical ancestry or genealogy (i.e., shoshelet:שׁוֹשֶׁלֶת). Jews cannot rely on their mere inclusion of ethnic Israel for righteousness (though God has indeed promised a glorious future to ethnic Israel). Indeed, if a Jew is ungodly, then a godly Gentile is considered more righteous than they (Rom. 2:27). Once again, individual godliness is more important than ethnic identity or genetics.
The Apostle Paul, the quondam student of Gamaliel the Elder (רַבַּן גַּמְלִיאֵל הַזָּקֵן) -- who was the grandson of the sage Hillel the Elder (הלל הזקן) -- had argued along these same lines in his epistle to the Romans:
"Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God." (Rom. 2:25-29)
The very first occurrence of the word Torah (תּוֹרָה) in the Scriptures speaks of Abraham's obedience to God's instruction (Gen. 26:5), and the second occurrence occurs in the verse that says, "There shall be one law for both the native and for the stranger..." / תּוֹרָה אַחַת יִהְיֶה לָאֶזְרָח וְלַגֵּר (Exod. 12:49), referring to the observance of Passover. Torah - in terms of general instruction regarding the will of God - was always meant to be for all people...
Finally, what do we make of the idea that ethnic Israel is called the "first born" of God (Exod. 4:22)? Well, despite the fact that "Jewishness" is a matter of the heart - not of genetics - there are still prophetic promises given to the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to inherit the land, to be supernaturally preserved as a people, and to be recipients of the Millennial Kingdom of God on the earth. The LORD has always had a remnant of Israel (i.e., she'arit Yisrael: שארית ישראל) that has believed in Him - and this remnant today includes those Jews who have accepted Yeshua as their Messiah. But the Hebrew prophets are explicit: There awaits a future yet to be fulfilled for ethnic Israel. Yeshua confirmed this when He said He would return to Jerusalem at the end of the "End of Days." As the Apostle Paul said: "And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, 'The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob'" (Rom. 11:26). So what might all this mean for you? Well, if you are someone who genuinely trusts in Yeshua as your Savior and Israel's Messiah, then you share the heritage and glory of Israel -- regardless of your personal DNA or your particular genealogy. By God's mercy you have been "grafted in" to the covenants, blessings, and promises given to the "commonwealth of Israel." As Paul says, you are no longer an "alien" or "stranger" to God's family but can call upon the LORD God of Israel as your God (Eph. 2:12). As a follower of the Jewish Messiah, you are now made a "Jew inwardly" (i.e., yehudi shebe'lev:יְהוּדִי שֶׁבַּלֵּב) with a circumcised heart (Rom. 2:29, Col. 2:11). You understand that just as the LORD God of Israel will never forsake His covenant promises to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, neither will He ever forsake His covenant love for you... You are personally blood-related to Messiah Yeshua because of the cross! Bless His glorious Name!
Hebrew Lesson Genesis 29:25b reading (click for audio commentary):
01.25.23 (Shevat 3, 5783) Shalom chaverim. Faith separates us from the visible and temporal realm to reveal the invisible and eternal realm -- faith hears (shema) the "yes" of the LORD in the midst of worldly dissipation and despair. Today's "Daily Dvar" broadcast discusses the walk of faith and how we need to remain focused on what is real in the midst of the ups and downs of our daily lives. I hope you find it helpful...
Torah of Appointed Times...
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Bo(i.e., Exod. 10:1-13:16), concerning the significance of the Torah's calendar... ]
01.24.23 (Shevat 2, 5783) The calendar of ancient Egypt, like our present Gregorian calendar, followed the course of the sun. The sun symbolized the power of the Egyptian sun god Ra (Re) who was also considered the creator and giver of life in some Egyptian myths. As far back as 2700 BC, Ra was regarded as the great god of heaven, King of all the gods, and lord of the resurrected dead. The daily rising sun was a symbol of creation (or the "eye" of Ra), and the shape of the pyramid is thought represent the descending rays of the sun. The Pharaoh, like the sun, was sometimes called the "son of Ra" and said to oversee everything upon the earth (note: the name "Ramses" can mean "Ra bore him," though it is more likely that Amenhotep II [a name based on the merging of the gods Amun and Ra] was the Pharoah of the Exodus). Interestingly, the Hebrew word for evil or bad is ra' (רַע), and the ayin ha-ra, or "evil eye," might derive from this association. From a "macro" perspective, the call of Abraham out of Mesopotamia (Shinar-Babylonia) can be thought of as the beginning of God's judgment of the religion/mythology of ancient Egypt...
The very first word of Torah indicates the awareness of the significance of time - בְּרֵאשִׁית - "in the beginning..." (Gen. 1:1), and according to Jewish tradition, the very first commandment given to the children of Israel (as a whole) was that of Rosh Chodesh (ראש חודש), or the declaration of the start (or head) of the "new month," particularly with regard to the first month of their redemption (Exod. 12:2).
In other words, Passover month was to begin Israel's year (i.e., Rosh Chodashim). Note that the word for month (i.e., chodesh) comes from the root chadash (חָדָש), meaning "new," and therefore the Passover redemption (chodesh yeshuah) was intended to mark a "new beginning" for the Jewish people. And indeed, God marks the start of our personal redemption as the beginning of our life as a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), just as Yeshua is the "first of the firstfruits" of God's redeemed humanity (1 Cor. 15:45-49). God wanted Israel to look to the moon as their timepiece. Just as the moon wanes and disappears at the end of each month, but returns and waxes again to fullness, so we suffer until the return of our beloved Messiah Yeshua, who will restore the glory of God fully upon the earth.
Should We Observe the "New Moon"?
In Colossians 2:16-17 the Apostle Paul writes, "Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Messiah." But what does verse 17 mean? The Greek text reads: ἅ ἐστιν σκιὰ τῶν μελλόντων, τὸ δὲ σῶμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, but note that the shadow (i.e., skia: σκιὰ) is of the things to come (τῶν μελλόντων) - which was written in reference to the future at the time of Paul's writing. The word translated "substance" (i.e., soma: σῶμα) is perhaps better rendered as "body," and may refer to the body the Messiah, i.e., the followers of Yeshua... In light of this, we may wonder whether we ought to concern ourselves with the "new moon" - and the Torah's calendar - or not?
To attempt an answer, we first must reaffirm that we are not under the terms of the Sinai covenant but the New Covenant, and therefore we are not technically obligated to observe the appointed times of the Torah's calendar any more than we are obligated to keep kosher, or to sacrifice an unblemished sheep during Passover, or to elevate the weekly Sabbath above other days of the week (Rom. 14:5-6). However - and this is significant - according to the prophet Isaiah, in the Millennial Kingdom to come people will indeed observe Rosh Chodesh and the weekly Sabbaths: "It shall be that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD" (Isa. 66:23). Moreover, the prophet Ezekiel further mentions that Rosh Chodesh will be observed in the future Millennial Temple of Zion (see Ezek. 46:1-7).
"And it shall be that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before me declares the LORD." (Isa. 66:23)
So these verses indicate that there is an eschatological (i.e., future) dimension to Rosh Chodesh and therefore it is part of our future heritage with the LORD God of Israel. And while we are certainly not "legalistically" obligated to observe the Sabbath or the new Moon, we nonetheless recognize that they are part of the divine calendar that the LORD God Himself instituted, and that they therefore have spiritual application to our lives as believers living under the terms of the New Covenant (Gal. 4:4). Never forget that it was Yeshua who was the Rock that followed the people out of Egypt and who led them to the revelation at Sinai; it was Yeshua who spoke the Torah to Moses! And later Yeshua told his followers that he did not come to do away with the Torah and the words of the prophets, but said on the contrary that every "jot and tittel" of the Torah, that is, every letter and stroke of each letter (קוֹצוֹ שֶׁל יוֹד), was to be fulfilled "until heaven and earth passed away (see Matt. 5:17-18), but since heaven and earth have not yet passed, the Torah has its place in our theology and practice. As members of the remnant and household of Israel (Eph. 2:12-20), we don't "have to" observe the moedim (holidays, appointed times) - but it surely is an honor and great joy to do so, especially when we appreciate how the glory of Yeshua is revealed in each of them. After all, Yeshua the Messiah is "the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8).
Hebrew Lesson Psalm 104:19 reading (click for audio):
01.24.23 (Shevat 2, 5783) We praise the LORD our God for all things, since "his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation" (Dan. 4:3). "All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?" (Dan. 4:35). Yea, as the prophet Job testified, "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:2). "Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the LORD has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?" (Lam. 3:37-39).
ואלהינו בשׁמים כל אשׁר־חפץ עשׂה - "Therefore our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases" (Psalm 115:3). His power is ein mispar (אין מספר), unfathomable and infinite (Psalm 147:5). Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, whose inhabitants are as grasshoppers; it is He who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness" (Isa. 40:22-23). Yea, "He pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes" (Psalm 107:40). Amen.
"Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; ein od (אין עוֹד) - there is no other" (Deut. 4:39). "Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all" (1 Chron. 29:10-11). God is the Master of the Universe, the LORD of all possible worlds, who both upholds the great motions of the cosmos yet knows when a tiny sparrow falls to the ground. The LORD God knows the Beginning from the End and there is no power that can overcome Him or thwart his sovereign purposes. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. Amen, the LORD God Almighty holds the keys of life and death...
Hebrew Lesson Deuteronomy 4:39 reading (click for audio):
Are you afraid you might die of some sort of virus or other disease? Yet every day a man dies - for the day has passed, never to return. There are matters more significant than physical death, after all. "People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment (μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο κρίσις, Heb. 9:27). Death comes closer every day, yet do we tremble before the prospect that we shall give account of our lives to God? The real dangers of life are not vulnerability to sickness, crime, or the loss of worldly fortune, but rather the susceptibility to despair, the tendency to put off repentance, and the possibility of not dying well.... "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Messiah, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10). It is a great danger to walk through life asleep only to be jolted awake upon the day of death.
Each soul is given the choice to believe and be saved, or to reject the invitation and remain in darkness. Therefore turn this day and choose life that you may truly live... Time is running out; turn to God and ask for his healing in Yeshua while you are able. Amen.
Hebrew Lesson Ezekiel 33:11b reading (click for audio):
[ We are always re-telling the great story of God's salvation, chaverim... ]
01.24.23 (Shevat 2, 5783) In our Torah reading for this week (i.e., parashat Bo) we are commanded to retell "in the hearing of your son and your grandson" how the LORD overthrew the arrogance of the Egyptians and performed wonders to deliver us" (Exod. 10:2). This commandment is the basis of the Passover haggadah (i.e., הַגָּדָה, "telling"), the "oral tradition" of our faith, when we personally retell the story from generation to generation so that the spirit of the message is not lost. We participate in the Passover seder to make it "our own story," a part of who we are. Therefore b'khol-dor vador: "Every Jew must consider himself to have been personally redeemed from Egypt." Retelling the story of the exodus enables us to "know that I am the LORD" (Exod. 10:2). We recall the words, bishvili nivra ha'olam – "For my sake was this world created," while we also recall the words, anokhi afar ve'efer – "I am but dust and ashes." When we retell the story of the great redemption, we strengthen our faith and better know the LORD God our Savior.
Indeed God admonishes that the story of our redemption should be "as a sign on your hand and as a memorial (זִכָּרוֹן) between your eyes, that the Torah of the LORD may be in your mouth" (Exod. 13:9). We are instructed to "remember" (זָכַר) over and over again because our disease, our sickness of heart, induces us to forget how we were enslaved in the house of bondage. We must consciously remember and never forget that only by means of God's strong hand (בְּיָד חֲזָקָה) are we ever made free (John 8:36). Amen.
"And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and for a memorial between your eyes, that the Torah of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt." (Exod. 13:9)
[ "You and I have need of the strongest spell that can be found to wake us from the evil enchantment of worldliness." -- C.S. Lewis ]
01.23.23 (Shevat 1, 5783) It's been said that God sends each soul into the world with a special message to deliver, a revelation that only he or she can disclose... No one else can bring your message to this world - only you can do this. And since God is entirely unique, you are called to be who you were created to be, not someone else. On his deathbed Reb Zusya said, "I am not afraid that the Holy One will ask me, 'Zusya, why were you not more like Moses?' Rather, I fear the Holy One will say, 'Zusya, why were you not more like Zusya?'
George MacDonald once wrote: "I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God's thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest and most precious thing in all thinking." Amen. We are God's workmanship in the Messiah; "by the grace of God I am what I am" (xάριτι δὲ θεοῦ εἰμι ὅ εἰμι).
There are no insignificant people in God's eyes, since each soul has been created by Him for His glory and purposes... As C.S. Lewis wrote, "There are no 'ordinary' people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations -- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors" (The Weight of Glory).
Life is a miracle and nothing is trivial. In the world to come you will be shocked to understand that everything you thought, everything you said, and everything you did was given to you from above, and therefore has tremendous significance (Matt. 12:36-37). Therefore may it please the Lord to open our hearts and eyes to truly come alive... Amen.
[ "We are all insane. That is what original sin means. Sin is insanity. It is preferring finite joy to infinite joy, creatures to the Creator, an unhappy, Godless self to a happy, God-filled self. Only God can save us from this disease. "Jesus" means: 'God saves'." - Peter Kreeft ]
01.23.23 (Shevat 1, 5783) "I determined not to know any thing ... apartfrom Yeshua the Messiah and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). This mode of "not knowing apart" bespeaks a radical intimacy that mediates and transforms all other thought within you. It is the axiom of spiritual existence, the matter of "first importance," the heart of everything: to know the healing love of Messiah and the power of his resurrection on your behalf (Phil. 3:10). When you accept the Divine Presence in Yeshua, everything becomes simple, unified, and focused. Choosing to know everything "through" Yeshua moves you to the center of reality - where the present moment is lit up with the glorious light of the eternal... You begin to see past the distractions of this world - "for God is not in the earth, wind or fire" (1 Ki. 19:11-12) - beyond the ups and downs of your life, the hunger and thirst of your heart, past all your fears, desires, and sorrows, to hear the "still small voice" (i.e., kol demamah dakkah:קוֹל דְּמָמָה דַקָּה), to enter an unimaginably wonderful peace, the place of God (i.e., ha'makom:הַמָּקוֹם) which is your true home, the habitation of our all-loving Father who calls you by name...
"To all who overcome I will give a bright stone..." (Rev. 2:17). But what do you overcome if not unbelief, the fear that the miracle is not for you, the terror that you are not welcome in the most significant sense of reality? Many forfeit the highest for the sake of lesser things. We overcome despair by means of faith - by trusting in the One who gives us the victory (1 Cor. 15:57; 1 John 5:4-5). There is no "overcoming" apart from the love of God, who takes us up into his life and gives us his triumph over sin and death. Glory belongs to the Lord...
[ "Tribulations cannot cease until God either sees us remade or sees that our remaking is now hopeless." - C. S. Lewis ]
01.23.23 (Shevat 1, 5783) The sages sometimes "allegorize" the Exodus into a parable about the journey of faith. Moses represents our heart called by God, whereas Pharaoh represents our sin nature and the tyranny of the ego... Like Moses we are called by God to "go to Pharaoh," that is, to confront what keeps us from experiencing our freedom. The "heart of Pharaoh" represents our cynical and hardened self – the defensive ego that is fearful and marked by unhealed grief. We must face this "Pharaoh" and courageously demand to be set free to serve the LORD. The power of Pharaoh represents the "surface" of things - the world and its burdens, its fleeting vanities, its ongoing "need" to control others, and so on. Salvation (יְשׁוּעָה) is likened to rebirth that delivers us from the "narrow places of Egypt" (i.e., from mitzrayim:-מ, "from," and צַר, "narrow") into newness of life...
Note: None of this is meant to impugn the historical Exodus, of course, but to find a way to make it's experience felt dor va'dor - "in every generation..."
Hebrew Lesson Psalm 27:1 reading (click for audio):
[ Our Torah reading for this week, Parashat Bo, describes the great Passover by means of faith in the efficacy of the blood of the Lamb of God and the subsequent exodus from Egypt... ]
01.22.23 (Tevet 29, 5783) Shavuah tov, chaverim. Our Torah reading for this week (Exod. 10:1-13:16) begins with God commanding Moses "to go" (i.e., bo: בּא) before the Pharaoh to announce further apocalyptic judgments upon Egypt. The purpose of this power encounter was to vindicate God's justice and great glory (deliverance/salvation) by overthrowing the tyranny of unjust human oppression. Pharaoh's nightmare of "one little lamb" outweighing all the firstborn of Egypt was about to be fulfilled....
Recall that last week's Torah (i.e., parashat Va'era) retold how Pharaoh defiantly refused to listen to Moses' pleas for Israel's freedom, despite seven devastating makkot (plagues) that came upon Egypt in God's Name (יהוה). In this week's portion (i.e., parashat Bo), the battle between the LORD and Pharaoh comes to a dramatic conclusion. The last three of the ten plagues are unleashed upon Egypt: a swarm of locusts devoured all the crops and greenery; a palpable darkness enveloped the land for three days and nights; and all the firstborn of Egypt were killed precisely at the stroke of midnight of the 15th of the month of Nisan... In this connection note that the word בּא("go") and פרעה("Pharoah") added together equal the gematria of משׁיח ("mashiach"), providing a hint of the Messianic redemption that was foreshadowed in Egypt. Every jot and tittle, chaverim!
Before the final plague, God instructed the Jewish people to establish a new calendar based on the sighting of the new moon of spring. On the tenth day of that month, God told the people to acquire a "Passover offering" to Him, namely an unblemished lamb (or goat), one for each household. On the 14th of that month ("between the evenings") the animal would be slaughtered and its blood sprinkled on the doorposts and lintel of every Israelite home, so that God would "pass over" these dwellings when He came to kill the Egyptian firstborn that night. The roasted meat of the offering was to be eaten that night with unleavened bread (matzah) and bitter herbs (maror). God then commanded the Israelites to observe a seven-day "festival of matzah" to commemorate the Exodus for all subsequent generations.
Because of this, our corporate identity begins with a shared consciousness of time from a Divine perspective. The mo'edim (festivals of the LORD) all are reckoned based on the sacred calendar given to the redeemed Israelite nation. As it is also written in the Book of Psalms: "He made the moon for the appointed times" / עָשָׂה יָרֵחַ לְמוֹעֲדִים (Psalm 104:19). Undoubtedly Yeshua followed this calendar, as did His first followers (Gal. 4:4).
Just before the dreadful final plague befell, God instructed the Israelites to ask their Egyptian neighbors for gold, silver and jewelry, thereby plundering Egypt of its wealth (this was regarded as "uncollected wages" for hundreds of years of forced labor and bondage - not to mention for the services of Joseph, whose ingenuity brought the world's wealth to Egypt in the first place). Moses then instructed the people to prepare the Passover sacrifice, that is, the korban Pesach (קָרְבָּן פֶּסַה) - the Passover lamb - and to smear its blood on the two sides and top of the doorway, resembling the shape of the Hebrew letter Chet (ח). This Hebrew letter, signifying the number eight, is connected with the word חי(chai), short for chayim (חַיִּים), "life." The blood of the lamb (דַּם הַשֶּׂה) not only saves from the judgment of death, but also is a symbol of divine life given for our redemption. The "life is in the blood."
The dreadful final plague - the death of the firstborn - at last broke Pharaoh's resistance and he not only allowed the Israelites to depart without any conditions, he urged them to go. Because they left in great haste there was no time for their dough to rise. The Torah states that there were 600,000 adult men who left Egypt, along with the women, children, and a "mixed multitude" of other Egyptian slaves who tagged along.
The Israelites were commanded to consecrate all the firstborn to God and to commemorate the anniversary of the Exodus each year by celebrating the LORD's Passover in conjunction with the Feast of Unleavened Bread. During this time they were to remove all leaven from their homes for seven days, eat matzah, and retell the story of their redemption to their children. The portion ends with the commandment to wear tefillin (phylacteries) on the arm and head as a reminder of how the LORD saved the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt.
[ "The gospel about the Ten Lepers is about how the nine were healed of their leprosy– and then caught, so to speak, an even worse leprosy: their ingratitude and unthankfulness. Herein lies the difference between sickness of the body and sickness of the spirit." - Soren Kierkegaard ]
01.20.23 (Tevet 27, 5783) Some of us seem far more concerned with how others see than how God sees us... We strive to manage a public image crafted for others but lose the substance of what is real. Trying to control how we are seen by others is exhausting, however, since it implies that we must find our value in their (conditional) approval rather than from a deeper source. The emotional need for approval is a form of cruel bondage: We take ourselves too seriously, we deny who we really are, and we believe we are never good enough. Over time we become anxious and easily offended people... "Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, or of God?" (Gal. 1:10).
For every reaction there is a counter reaction. As the Kotzker Rebbe wisely said, "If I am I because I am I, and you are you because you are you, then I am I and you are you; but if I am I because you are you and you are you because I am I, then I am not I and you are not you." The Kotzer's saying reminds me of a story I once heard. A man went to a rabbi and said, "I know I am a fool, rabbi, but I don't know what to do about it. Can you help me? The rabbi replied in a complimentary way, "Ah my son, if you know you're a fool, then surely you are no fool!" "Then why does everybody say I am fool?" complained the man. The rabbi regarded him thoughtfully for a moment and then said, "If you don't understand that you are a fool, but only listen to what other people say, then you are surely a fool!"
As Hillel had said (Avot 1:14b):
אִם אֵין אֲנִי לִי, מִי לִי - "If I am not for myself then who will be for me?"
וּכְשֶׁאֲנִי לְעַצְמִי, מָה אֲנִי - "But if I am only for myself, what am I?"
וְאִם לֹא עַכְשָׁיו, אֵימָתָי - And if not now, when?"
Hillel points out here that the language of "I am" (אָנִי) and "for me" (לִי) reveals that we have a relationship with ourselves that must be sanctified and ordered before God. As Soren Kierkegaard once cryptically wrote: "The self is a relation which relates itself to its own self, or it is that in the relation that the relation relates itself to its own self; the self is not the relation but that the relation relates itself to its own self" (The Sickness unto Death). In other words, the "self" - your inner life - is revealed as an inner dialog or conversation with yourself... An "authentic" self must relate itself to God as the Ground of existence, otherwise irremediable despair will result, that is, lethal sickness of soul... The remedy for anxious confusion of heart is to turn to God and to find your value in God's love and blessing. "By the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10), that is, I am made a person. As we come to believe that we are accepted and loved despite our many imperfections, inadequacies, and character defects, we find courage to accept ourselves, to "let go" and relax. As Yeshua said, "whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall not enter it" (Luke 18:17).
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with but REALLY loves you, then you become Real. It doesn't happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time.... Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." (Margary Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit)
Hebrew Lesson Psalm 139:14 reading (click for audio):
[ "No faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs through adversity. You would never have believed your own weakness had you not needed to pass through trials. And you would never have known God's strength had His strength not been needed to carry you through." - Spurgeon ]
01.20.23 (Tevet 27, 5783) The midrash says Moses had a speech impediment and that is why he described himself as "heavy of mouth and of tongue" (כְּבַד־פֶּה וּכְבַד לָשׁוֹן), unfit to speak on behalf of God (Exod. 4:10). God reassured him, however, by reminding him that his limitation was by divine providence: "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak" (Exod. 4:11-12). The sages comment that God did not cure Moses of his stuttering because He wanted the Israelites to know Moses as his chosen messenger. When he spoke in the Name of the LORD, the stuttering disappeared and Moses spoke with fluent ease. This was to teach the people not to trust in human oratory or wisdom, but rather in the power of God (see 1 Cor. 2:1-5). Just as the Apostle Paul, the "Moses of the New Covenant," was given a "thorn in the flesh" (σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκί) to keep him humbly relying upon God for his sufficiency to serve (2 Cor. 12:7-10), so Moses was rendered entirely dependent upon the LORD to speak as his mediator.
But he said to me, "My grace is enough for you" (i.e., dai lekha chasdi:דַּי לךָ חַסְדִּי), "for My power is made perfect in weakness" (i.e., ki ba'chulshah tushlam gevurati:כִּי בַּחֻלְשָׁה תֻּשְׁלַם גְּבוּרָתִי). Therefore I will boast most gladly of my weaknesses, that the power of Messiah may tabernacle (ἐπισκηνόω) within me (2 Cor. 12:9).
[ The following is related to our Torah reading for this week, Parashat Va'era... ]
01.20.23 (Tevet 27, 5783) From our Torah portion this week we read that God said to Moses: "I appeared (וָאֵרָא) to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai (אֵל שַׁדָּי), but by my name the LORD (יהוה) I did not make myself known to them" (Exod. 6:3). Here we are faced with a puzzle, since the Torah clearly states that God revealed Himself as the LORD YHVH to the patriarchs. For example, to Abraham God said, "I am the LORD (אֲנִי יְהוָה) who brought you out of Ur of Kasdim" (Gen. 15:7), and to Jacob he said: "I am the LORD (אֲנִי יְהוָה), the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac (Gen. 28:13). In light of this, how then do we make sense of God's statement that He was not known as YHVH to the patriarchs?
The traditional explanation is that God was stating that the patriarchs had not directly experienced His mastery over creation through the signs and wonders He would perform as Israel's Savior and Redeemer. The patriarchs understood God as El Shaddai (אֵל שַׁדַּי), the all-sufficient One who nurtured the fledgling nation and who foretold Israel's future (Gen. 17:1-2; 28:3; 35:11), but Moses (and the Israelites) would now come to know God's attributes of covenantal faithfulness (chesed) as the "Promise Keeper" by directly witnessing his saving acts. Indeed, the Name YHVH implies that God is the Faithful One, since the name is formed by permutating the letters of the Hebrew root "to be": hayah (was), hoveh (is), and yihey (will be), which implies there is no power that can prevent God from fulfilling His promises. YHVH is Lord of lords and King of kings whose word can never fail (Deut. 10:17; Dan. 2:47). Ein od milvado (אֵין עוֹד מִלְבַדּו): "there is no truth apart from Him" (Deut. 4:35,9).
The name "ehyeh asher ehyeh" (אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה) means "I shall be as I shall be," that is, "I shall be with those who desire that I shall be with them. I reveal myself to those who seek for me, and as I am sought, so I will be found. According to your faith be it done unto you: Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled..."
Note that the question of the Name of God is raised both in last week's Torah portion (Shemot), where Moses asked God's Name to validate his mission to Israel, and again in this week's portion (Va'era), where God made the puzzling statement that the patriarchs did not know his Name as YHVH (יהוה). The entire question of God's name resolves to be a question about our ability to understand the very heart of God more than anything else (it's a matter of Who, not What). This is demonstrated by the fact that the name YHVH (יהוה) was revealed yet again to Israel after the dreadful sin of the Golden Calf, when Moses learned that it meant Compassion, Grace, and Love (see Exod. 34:6-7). This second revelation of the Name foreshadowed the promised New Covenant to come. Indeed the full meaning of God's name was revealed in the last gasp of Yeshua as He died upon the cross for our atonement, when he breathed out the great exhalation of all that he came to be for us... (Mark 15:37).
Hebrew Lesson Psalm 9:10 podcast (click to listen):
[ The following is related to our Torah reading for this week, Parashat Va'era... ]
01.19.23 (Tevet 26, 5783) Spiritually speaking, a heart that is insensitive, indifferent, unfeeling, and callous toward others is regarded as "hard" or "difficult" (קְשֵׁה לֵב). Often such hardness comes as a result of living in a fallen world. Many wounded people live with "scar tissue" that surrounds their heart, making them feel numb and unwilling to open up and trust others. Their affections have become disordered and their ego rationalizes blaming others or seeking various forms of entitlement. "Turning off your heart" can mean suppressing any positive regard for others (empathy) while nurturing anger and self-righteousness, or it may mean withdrawing from others as a lifeless shell (both approaches vainly attempt to defend the heart from hurt). Although Yeshua always showed great compassion, especially to the wounded and broken in spirit (Isa. 42:3), He regularly condemned the "hardness of heart" ("sclero-cardia," σκληροκαρδία) of those who opposed his message of healing and love.
A hard heart is closed off and impermeable to love from others, and especially from God. It is a "difficult" (קָשֶׁה) heart, inflexible and even cruel. Scripture uses various images to picture this condition, including a "heart of stone" (Ezek. 36:26, Zech. 7:12), an "uncircumcised heart" (Jer. 9:26), a "stiff neck" (Deut. 31:27), and so on. Stubbornness is really a form of idolatry, an exaltation of self-will that refuses to surrender to God. If you are wounded and afraid to open your heart in trust to others, ask God for healing...
God wants us to have "soft" hearts that are malleable and subject to His touch and influence (רך לבב). Consider the Biblical analogy of a potter who works with clay (Isa. 64:8, Jer. 18:6). Hard clay is brittle and hard to work with, though soft clay can be molded and adapted for a variety of uses. Applied to our heart attitudes, soft clay represents being open and movable, whereas hard clay represents being inflexible, intolerant, and so on. A "hard hearted" person is closed-minded, assured of his own righteousness, and unwilling to admit the possibility of being wrong. He is really a "fragile" soul who is often hidebound by traditions, unwilling to be corrected, and usually so driven by fear and suspicion that he is unable to look at other possibilities. When we find ourselves becoming rigid, inflexible, and intolerant, we may be demonstrating hardness of heart.
Hardness of heart is something all of us deal with, even those who trust in Yeshua. After all, New Covenant believers are commanded to "put off the old self with its practices" (Col. 3:9) and are urged not to harden their hearts (μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας) through unbelief (Heb. 3:8,15, 4:7). The flesh dies hard, however, and "putting off" the old self requires divine intervention; however, if we cry out to the LORD for deliverance (especially from ourselves) He has promised to hear us (Rom. 10:13, Joel 2:32). The awareness that we are hardhearted and self-deceived can lead to a (blessed) sense of brokenness and despair -- i.e., to the realization that own self-sufficiency is futile and ultimately self-destructive. Turning to the LORD in despair of ourselves is a mark of humility. When we are emptied of ourselves, we are delivered from pride and self-deception and thereby enabled to truly ask for God's help... This is a miracle, since all of us have "a little Pharaoh inside," clamoring ti be the center of our universe and refusing to submit to the Presence of the LORD...
May God's blessing keep our hearts soft and open toward others... May the LORD give us a new heart, and put a new spirit within us. May He remove the heart of stone (לֵב הָאֶבֶן) from us and give us a heart of flesh (לֵב בָּשָׂר). May we be lev echad (לב אחד) - "one heart" - with one another and with the Father (Ezek. 11:19). May we be so sensitized to the Presence of God that we detect the slightest touch from His hand upon us. Amen.
Hebrew Lesson Ezekiel 36:26 reading (click to listen):
[ The following entry is related to this week's Torah reading, Parashat Va'era... ]
01.19.23 (Tevet 26, 5783) The Divine promise given to Israel was "I will bring you out (וְהוֹצֵאתִי) from under the burdens of Egypt" (Exod. 6:6), though later the people "romanticized" their captivity and wanted to return there to eat their "free fish" (Num. 11:5). The sages note the word "burdens" (i.e., sivloht: סִבְלת) can also mean "tolerance" (the related word savlanut,סַבְלָנוּת, means "patience" or "tolerance") which suggests that the people had tolerated their enslavement and made it "work" for them... Despite the hardship of their slavery, the Israelites rationalized their condition as being "normal" or acceptable.
There is no worse slavery than to be enslaved to your own heart and mind, to believe that you cannot escape or are not worthy to be redeemed. Is this not one of the devices of Satan - to blind our hearts to the truth of God's love for us? The "bringing out" (יְצִיאָה) of the LORD is therefore something more than the physical escape from the shackles of the body, but instead involves freedom (חֵרוּת) from the shackles of the mind. The most severe form of slavery is to not understand that you are slave, that is, to be asleep, full of vanity and illustion, as you imprison your own heart in the hopelessness of fate.
And are we not likewise at risk to be enslaved by the various comforts and deceptions offered up by this world and its principalities? Have we not likewise tolerated our own slavery -- our addictions to comfort, pleasures, a life of worldly propaganda and "free fish"? Are we really ready to leave all that behind to experience the glory of Zion? People may profess that they want to know God, that they "hunger and thirst for righteousness" and earnestly desire that the kingdom of heaven be manifest, and yet they can't get away from their favorite television shows, super bowls, political intrigues, pop idols, and other the fads of the day... We must be careful not to become comfortable in our exile – to become "friends of this world" – by losing faith's voice of protest; we must be careful not to be distracted from beholding spiritual reality and the ultimate healing to come. We are away from home, friends! When the hour comes and we hear "gemar ha'tikkun" – the great "it is finished" sound of the shofar summoning us all to follow Yeshua to the Holy Land -- will we be ready to leave everything behind?
The story is told by Abraham Twerski how Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl once stayed at an inn, and as was his custom, he arose at midnight to recite lamentations over the destruction of the Temple and the exile of the people... The innkeeper, hearing his wailing, arose to see what the trouble was, and could not understand why the rabbi was sitting on the ground, mourning and praying... Nachum explained that we continually mourn the loss of our land and our exile, and that we cry out to God to hasten the ultimate redemption, when Mashiach will take us out of exile and lead us back to Jerusalem, our beloved Zion....
The innkeeper asked, "Will we all go to Jerusalem?" "Of course," Rabbi Nachum said. "But what will become of my little farm, my cows and chickens?" the innkeeper asked. "What account are these compared to our being in exile? Nachum replied. "We are repeatedly attacked by the Tartars, they carry out pogroms, killing and pillaging our people! In Jerusalem we will be free of such persecutions!"
The innkeeper was still not satisfied. "I must talk to my wife about this," he said. When he later told his wife what Rabbi Nachum said about the redemption by Mashiach, she said, "And how can we leave our farm and the cows and chickens that we worked so hard to get?" The innkeeper then explained how we would be free of the pogroms and persecutions of the bands of Tartars. The wife thought a bit and then said, "Go tell the rabbi that when Mashiach comes, he should take the Tartars to Jerusalem, and we can live here in peace."
There is hope, however, for all of us to be redeemed. Later in our Torah reading God said to Pharaoh, "I will bring about redemption (i.e., pedut:פְדֻת) between my people and your people (Exod. 8:23). The sages note that the word redemption (i.e., pedut) occurs three time in the Scriptures, explaining three types of exile. The first concerns the redemption from Egypt (יציאת מצרים), as mentioned above; the second refers to the remnant (שְׁאֵרִית) of the Jewish people redeemed in the days of Messiah: "He will send redemption to his people" (Psalm 111:9); and the third refers to the ultimate deliverance of the individual soul's bondage to his lower nature and evil characteristics. This is the "abundant" redemption mentioned in Psalm 130 - "for with the LORD there is the mercy, and with him is abundant redemption." This is the redemption that corresponds to the "abundant" life given in Yeshua our Messiah (John 10:10).
Hebrew Lesson Psalm 130:7b reading (click for audio):
[ "Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else." - Charles H. Spurgeon ]
01.19.23 (Tevet 26, 5783) Many of us are hurting, Lord, and we sometimes are tempted to feel abandoned in our struggle... This world seems so senseless, so brutal, and so evil at times; we feel powerless, overwhelmed, and even sick inside... We look to You, O God, and for your mercy and power. Help us to accept what we cannot change and to completely trust in Your great healing, despite the sickness of the world around us and the sickness within us. Remind us that though we cannot change the world, we are given grace to sustain our trust in You, our glorious and merciful Healer. And may we never be ashamed; may we never grow bitter; may our sorrows lead us from strength to strength. And may this time of testing lead us to greater wisdom, to compassion, and finally back to You. Amen.
God allows us to suffer because....... will any words here suffice? Suffering, like nearly everything else in the universe, is a mystery. Yes, we believe God will wipe away all our tears, but there are tears, after all, and things really hurt sometimes. Thomas Aquinas once said, "With faith there are no questions; without faith, there are no answers," which is to say that trusting in God's love ultimately gives rest to our relentless questions, whereas no amount of answers will ever be enough for the heart that refuses to trust. Having faith doesn't mean pretending to have all the answers, of course, but it affirms – even in the absence of understanding, in dark moments, in the midst of sorrow or pain or confusion – that hope is real, love is what matters most, and that God will never, ever fail us...
01.18.23 (Tevet 25, 5783) The Hebrew word for peace is shalom (שׁלוֹם), a word that means "wholeness," "completeness," "well-being," and "healing" -- not merely the absence of strife. People often fight with others because they are not made whole within themselves. And just as we cannot really love others until we first learn to love ourselves, so we cannot have peace with others until we first find our own inner healing and peace. Often this means learning to forgive both ourselves and others (including God) so that we can let go of whatever troubles or grieves our heart. As we accept ourselves and let go of our fear, we learn to accept others and give up the need to defend ourselves. As Yeshua said, "Blessed (happy) are those who love peace - for they shall be called the children of God" (Matt. 5:9).
In most English translations we read, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." Note, however, that the Greek word translated as "peacemakers" (εἰρηνοποιοί) can also mean "those who love peace," that is, those who long for peace and pursue it (see Psalm 34:14). In Jewish ethical teaching, seeking peace is called redifat shalom (רְדִיפַת שָׁלוֹם) and is considered a primary middah ha'lev, or heart quality. Rabbi Hillel is attributed as saying, "Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace" (Pirke Avot 1:2). Before we can hope to make peace among others, however, we must first know inner peace. If we threaten this peace, we rise up against God, and thereby undermine his will in our lives. Those who love peace will be called the children of God.
Peace is the foundation of God's great work of deliverance in our lives. Yeshua is called Sar Shalom (שַׂר־שָׁלוֹם), the "Prince of Peace" (Isa. 9:6), since salvation brings reconciliation (i.e., peace) between God and man (Rom. 5:1) and sets us free from the fear of condemnation. When we walk in the peace of God (שְׁלוֹם הָאֱלהִים) that "surpasses all our understanding," we are empowered to be a blessing to others in your life. "The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace" (James 3:18).
We understand the Torah commandment, "Thou shalt not steal" (לא תִּגְנב) to imply more than being forbidden to steal from others, but also to include the prohibition against stealing from ourselves by failing to practice inner honesty. When we lie to ourselves, we "steal" from the truth, we rationalize what is unjust, and we thereby rob from ourselves the great blessing of inner peace. Indeed, the traditional sages say that every sin essentially constitutes theft from God. For instance, in his discussion of teshuvah (repentance), Maimonides notes that confession of sin is connected with theft (Num. 5:7). Rabbi Yitzchak of Gur asks, "Inasmuch as there are 365 prohibitions in Torah, why does Torah choose to specify the need to confess sin in regard to theft?" He goes on to answer by explaining that if someone borrows something for a specific use, he is not permitted to use it for any other purpose other than that specified, lest he abuse the privilege and "steal the use" of the item. Likewise, God lends the neshamah (soul) the ability to speak, hear, see, and so on, for the sake of living a godly life. If we abuse these things, for example, by using our lips and tongue to speak evil about another, we are using our faculties for a purpose other than God intended, and that constitutes theft. Therefore every sin is a form of theft, an act of "breaking faith with the LORD," and that is why Torah mentions confession of sin in connection with it.
Hebrew Lesson Isaiah 26:3 reading (click for audio):
[ "There is no God, cry the masses more and more vociferously; and with the loss of God man loses his sense of values -- is, as it were, massacred because he feels himself of no account." - Karl Jaspers (Man in the Modern Age) ]
01.18.23 (Tevet 25, 5783) There is a great war going on, though it's not a war waged with conventional weapons. Nor is it a war that the princes of this world devise to attain their devious political ends. No, this is the war for the souls of human beings, and every person alive is currently engaged in it... There is no place of neutrality in this war, and you cannot escape from the conflict. Passivity or indifference is not an option, and therefore each of us must choose sides. We are either going forward or going backward; we are either drawing near or pulling away (Rev. 3:16). מי ליהוה אלי - mi Adonai aylai? "Who is on the Lord's side?"
The apostle Paul wrote about this great war when he said: "For though we walk in the flesh (i.e., as mortal men), we are not waging war according to the flesh (i.e., in human terms). For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to demolish strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to the truth of Messiah" (2 Cor. 10:3-5).
Successful spiritual warfare is waged in the spirit realm, not relying on physical means at all, but trusting in the power of God and the weapons he provides to demolish "strongholds" where evil is deeply rooted (the word "stronghold" is better translated as "fortress," a metaphor for militant prejudice that attempts to justify godlessness). In the profane world, these strongholds are expressed in the reasoning (i.e., λογισμός, "logic") and "arrogant opinions" (i.e., ὕψωμα, pretenses) of the godless heart that are distilled into a dark vanity called "the wisdom of this world" (1 Cor. 3:19). The phrase "every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God" refers to the various devices of the heart and mind that erect obstacles to the knowledge of the truth revealed in the Messiah. Such obstacles are affirmed daily in the treacherous news of this world that reinforce godless assumptions and outright deception. We must use active discernment to identify the fallacies and misleading schemes promulgated by the world system by "taking every thought captive" to the glorious truth of the Messiah.
This is the good fight of faith (1 Tim 6:12). The fight is "good" because it turns on the victory and glory of the Lord who shares his overcoming life with us. The battle belongs to the Lord; the victory has been secured (Psalm 84:11; Rom. 8:37-39). Always remember that we never fight for, but always from, the place of His victory, standing our ground in the sufficiency of God's power given to us (Luke 10:19). We must be sober and vigilant (1 Pet. 5:8-9); we must stay focused and persevere in the truth (2 Tim. 2:4). God gives us the "armor of light" that blinds the eyes of powers of darkness. We must not be afraid but stand firm in the strength given to us by the Spirit of God (Zech 4:6; Eph. 6:11-18). The Lord will help us in the battle (2 Thess. 3:3; Deut. 3:22). "No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, declares the LORD" (Isa. 54:17).
[ The following entry is related to this week's Torah reading, Parashat Va'era... ]
01.17.23 (Tevet 24, 5783) From our Torah reading this week (i.e., Va'era) we read how Moses objected to serve as God's emissary to the Pharaoh: "Behold, the children of Israel have not listened to me, so how will Pharaoh listen to me? And I have sealed lips!" (Exod. 6:12). Moses' argument is that if his own people would not listen to him, for all the more reason the Pharaoh would not listen.... His statement "I have sealed lips" (אֲנִי עֲרַל שְׂפָתָיִם) may be interpreted to mean that he would be regarded as without persuasive speech before Pharaoh, as an "uncircumcised" or unrefined person, or, more likely, that his lifelong speech impediment would be regarded as an offence before the niceties of Pharaoh's audience.
In this connection the sages have commented regarding Moses' great humility, saying that it was greater than even that of Abraham, for Abraham regarded himself as "dust and ashes" (עָפָר וָאֵפֶר) before the Lord (Gen. 18:27), whereas Moses regarded himself as "nothing at all" (i.e., ke'lum:כְּלוּם) - less than dust itself. When the Israelites later demanded bread from Moses and Aaron in the desert, Moses rhetorically asked "what are we?", indicating that he regarded himself as utterly powerless apart from the will and agency of God.
Yet it is precisely this "nothingness" that made Moses a fit vessel to witness and declare the greatness of the Lord. William James wrote about "Zerrissenheit," or the idea of being inwardly shattered within your heart. Moses understood his bankruptcy as a "failed Messiah" in Egypt as a young man; he walked as the living dead for 40 years in the desiccation of Midian before God raised him up in newness of life. And Moses continually experienced his own powerlessness and nothingness as he led the Israelites out of the death throes of Egypt.
Of Yeshua, who was with Israel in the desert (1 Cor. 10:4), it is said that "He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25), and that includes intercession for those regarded as dead on account of their own infirmities and sins, for those for whom all hope is lost, for those in extremis and who understand from the depths of depths that there is no life in them apart from the miracle of God who gives life to the dead. "For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself" (Gal. 6:3); but if someone confesses truth and looks to God, new life can arise. The "uttermost," the farthest extent, from the deepest pitch, in the vast expanse of stars that sweep across the cosmos, the furthest star, barely perceptible, is sustained by the mighty hand and outstretched arm of the Lord, our great deliverer. This is not a star consigned to outer darkness because of its lost estate or cast off because of proud defiance, no, this is a star that barely flickers in its self-effacement, as vulnerable as an unsteady flame ready to be extinguished.
Of our compassionate Savior it is written: "A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench" (Isa. 42:3). People conscious of their frailty and who have been crushed because of it are likened to "bruised reeds" of whom the loving Messiah shall attend. As it is written, "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." Indeed, He binds up the broken of heart and gives liberty to those in bondage (Isa. 61:1). "A smoking flax shall he not quench" likewise means that our Lord will not snuff out an unsteady flame ready to expire, but will tend to it with special oil to cause it to burn more brightly.
The Spirit of the LORD is always saying, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9). God doesn't need our religious acts of service, our worship, our prayers, or our approval; on the contrary, we desperately need Him... Prayer is a mirror of the heart, and we either come to God in our emptiness, our brokenness, and in real humility, or we are just playing religious games. Those who truly call upon the LORD understand their radical need for deliverance, inwardly confessing, "Woe is me, for I am ruined..." (Isa. 6:5).
The Savior seeks the "trampled and bruised," the poor in spirit, and those crushed by the blows of this fallen world and offers them healing. "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10), and therefore He is found in the midst of the leper colonies of the hurting, the forgotten, and the rejected. As a "man of sorrows" he understands the language of our pain (Isa. 53:3). He is the healer of the broken heart and the Savior of those who are crushed in spirit. Blessed be His Name forever... Amen.
[ "It is not the path which is the difficulty; rather, the difficulty is the path."- Kiekegaard ]
01.17.23 (Tevet 24, 5783) "If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if lay down in Sheol, here you are too" (Psalm 139:8). The sages note the peculiar use of the adverbs "there" and "here" in this verse, commenting that when a person feels like he has ascended to great heights, the LORD will be "there" (שָׁם), that is, distant from him, but when he makes himself humble and low - "in the depths" - the LORD will be "here" (הִנֵּה), that is, right at his side (Isa. 57:15). This is the "upside-down" way of beholding the Kingdom of Heaven. Can a camel go through the eye of a needle? No more than a 'rich man' can find life through his own ventures (Matt. 19:23-24). The only way to enter life is to disown your riches (i.e., your self-sufficiency) by becoming "impoverished in spirit." This is the narrow way that leads to life (Matt. 7:14). You have to let go of the "baggage" of your worldly ego... Yeshua teaches that only by emptying ourselves can we be made full; only by mourning ourselves can we find comfort, and only by hungering and thirsting for God's righteousness can we find inner satisfaction...
Personal Update: I have not been feeling well the last few days; your prayers are deeply appreciated. Also, today is our son Emanuel David's seventh birthday (oh, how time flies). Your prayers for him are also greatly esteemed. Shalom and thank you, chaverim. - John
Emanuel David - Chanukah
The "Torah" of Pharaoh...
[ The following entry is related to this week's Torah reading (Parashat Va'era) and the theme of freedom. Please read the Torah portion to "find your place" here. ]
01.16.23 (Tevet 23, 5783) Though he sometimes appeared to change his mind in light of the revelation of God, Pharaoh nevertheless reverted to his older thinking after the crisis seemed to pass. Therefore the Torah states that after each of the first five plagues, Pharaoh hardened (lit., "strengthened") his heart. It was only after five successive opportunities to face reality, to give up his claim to be god, to turn to the LORD in humility, however, that God ratified Pharaoh's will by "helping him" become the person he decided to be. Therefore after the sixth plague we read, ve'chazek Adonai et-lev paroh:וַיְחַזֵּק יְהוָה אֶת־לֵב פַּרְעֹה - "And the LORD strengthened Pharaoh's heart" (Exod. 9:12).
"The Torah of Pharaoh" (התורה של פרעה) teaches us that God will never force a sinner to turn away from their sin, but if they willfully continue to sin, they may eventually become unable to turn, trapped in a very difficult place.... The Shemot Rabbah states: "The Holy One, blessed be He, gives someone a chance to repent, and not only one opportunity but several chances: once, twice, three times. But then, if the person still has not repented, God locks the person's heart altogether, cutting off the possibility of repentance in the future." There is a very real risk that those who choose to be at war with God, who flatly refuse repeated appeals to turn to the LORD, will become progressively "strengthened" in their resolution to defy reality... And that, friends, is the "Torah" that Pharaoh teaches....
There are midrashim that Pharaoh eventually did repent, after seeing the destruction of his armies in the sea, so there is still hope for the most hardened of heart, but alas....
The tragic story of Pharaoh reminds us how pride can blind the heart. As Abraham Heschel said, "In a controversy, the instant we feel anger, we have already ceased striving for truth and have begun striving for ourselves." The truth needs no defense. If we find ourselves getting defensive or hostile, we need to take a step back and ask ourselves what we really believe... If we seek to use truth as a weapon, or as a means to rationalize our self-will, then we are not "in the truth," even if our facts in the matter may be correct. We must be careful not to find ourselves using the truth for our own agenda. Yeshua's words haunt the heart: "Without me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).
Kierkegaard notes: "The proud person always wants to do the right thing, the great thing. But because he wants to do it in his own strength, he is fighting not with man, but with God." Indeed, how many people seek visions, dreams, and private prophecies while they forsake the Spirit as it broods over the hearts of those around him or her? How many seek to "know God" as a matter of the pride of heart?
The Koretzer Rebbe was asked for instruction how to avoid sin. He replied, "Were you able to avoid offences, I fear you would fall into a still greater sin - that of pride" (Hasidic). The antidote to pride is the "fall of the soul," that is, those besetting sins and painful failures that (hopefully) bring us back to reality - namely, to the place of brokenness and our need for divine intervention... When we get "sick of our sickness" we enter into holy despair, and then the cry of the heart for lasting deliverance can be truly offered.
Hebrew Lesson Proverbs 16:18 reading (click for audio):
Note that the warning of Pharaoh's tragedy is not just for those who defy faith in the LORD God of Israel, for the New Testament warns God's redeemed children not to harden their hearts through unbelief as well:
"For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? and to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened." (Heb. 3:16-4:2)
Amen. Faith is the essence of obedience. "And this is one of the most crucial definitions for the whole of Christianity; that the opposite of sin is not virtue but faith." (Kierkegaard)
The Power of Truth...
[ The following is related to our Torah reading for this week, Parashat Va'era... ]
01.16.23 (Tevet 23, 5783) In this week's Torah reading (i.e., Va'era), the LORD sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh with the timeless message: shalach et ami (שׁלַּח אֶת־עַמִּי), "let my people go!" Because of Pharaoh's pride and hardness of heart, however, God began the sequence of plagues that would demonstrate his sovereignty over all the powers and so-called "gods" of Egypt (Exod. 12:12). The ten plagues (i.e, eser ha'makot:עֶשֶׂר הַמָּכּוֹת) were given not just to vanquish the hubris of Pharaoh, however, but to awaken the people of Israel. After hundreds of years of slavery, the people had forgotten who they really were and had passively accepted that all real power was vested in humans. Among other things, God's intervention was meant to deliver the people from the fallacy of ascribing greatness to worldly powers. Ultimately the people of Israel - and eventually the entire world itself - would come to understand ein od mil'vado (אֵין עוֹד מִלְבַדּו), "there is no reality apart from Him" (Deut. 4:35).
[ This week's Torah portion is called Va'era(וָאֵרָא), meaning "And I appeared..." ]
01.15.23 (Tevet 22, 5783) Shavuah tov, chaverim. Recall that last week's Torah portion (i.e., parashat Shemot) explained how Moses and Aaron were commissioned to go before Pharaoh and deliver the message: shalach et-ammi (שַׁלַּח אֶת־עַמִּי), "Let my people go" that they may hold a feast to me in the desert" (Exod. 5:1). Not only did Pharaoh dismiss the request, but he imposed even harsher decrees against the Israelites and caused them to suffer miserably. Moses then appealed to the LORD, who reassured him that Pharaoh would eventually relent because "the greater might" of the LORD's power would deliver His people.
In this week's portion, parashat Va'era, (i.e., Exod. 6:2-9:35), the LORD told Moses that He was now going to fulfill His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by giving the Israelites the land of Canaan, and that he had heard the "groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians held as slaves" (Exod. 6:5). The LORD (יהוה) was now coming down to earth to fight and save his people! Israel would now know that He alone is their Savior and God! The "showdown" between the LORD and the so-called gods of Egypt was imminent, and God therefore encouraged the people with precious promises: "I AM the LORD (אֲנִי יְהוָה) and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgment; and I will take you to me for a people and I will be to you a God; and I will bring you into the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and to Jacob as an inheritance forever (these are the "expressions of redemption" we recall during the Passover Seder every year).
Despite these wonderful promises, however, the people were unable to listen because of their "shortness of breath" (מִקּצֶר רוּחַ) on account of their harsh slavery. The LORD then told Moses: "Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land," and the great battle between the LORD and the so-called "gods" of Egypt began. However, even after repeatedly witnessing the series of miraculous plagues issued in the Name of the LORD, the despot remained proud and unmoved, thereby setting the stage for the final devastating plagues upon the land of Egypt and the great Passover redemption of Israel.
[ "Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations according to the promise..." (Rom.4:18) ]
01.13.23 (Tevet 20, 5783) One of the great tests of faith is learning to "endure yourself" as your inner character is being transformed... To do so, you must receive the miracle of Jesus... You must look beyond the realm of appearance, where the "outward man" perishes, to the realm of ultimate healing, where the "inward man" is finally liberated from the ravages of sin and death. This is the comfort we have in our affliction: that God's promise revives our hearts (Psalm 119:50). Even in the "shadow of the valley of death" (i.e., this moribund and broken world), the LORD is with us and comforts us with His Presence (Psalm 23:4). We are given this great promise: "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).
Many people want healing apart from the cure. How many of us settle for half-measures? While you might find respite for your suffering in temporary measures, you cannot have lasting healing apart from the divine remedy... Nonetheless, the Lord our God gives us special graces, especially in light of the passing of days, with thwarted hope, aching bones, and inner keening for lasting deliverance. This "gift of despondency" helps us to awaken and to reach out to find the Real, the True, the Eternal. Learn to wait; ask God for the wisdom of patience. Between acceptance and anxiety, always choose acceptance. Find hope while waiting (Job 14:14).
It's not often easy to wait for God, especially when we are in pain or anxiety, but we must never, ever, give up; we must never ever, abandon our heart's longing for ultimate healing. Faith exercises hope in the Reality, Substance, and Being (ὑπόστασις) of the Invisible and is made captive to undying hope (Heb. 11:1). Therefore the Spirit cries out: come alive and trust in the promise of God!
[ "Suffering is part of the divine idea. "God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering." - Augustine ]
01.13.23 (Tevet 20, 5783) "And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying... 'Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted' (Matt. 5:4). Mourning is the expression of care, the voice of pain, the sorrow of a broken heart. Those who mourn care deeply; they feel the weight of loss; they grieve over sin. Such sorrow expresses the longing to be released from inner sickness of evil, as Yeshua said: "from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts..." (Mark 7:21). Our own evil desires convict us of the truth... Here there is no place left to hide, no rationalization, no vain hope for self-reformation - just the raw realization of our fatal condition and the appeal for God's mercy in Yeshua.
Mourning over our sins draws us to God, to the Comforter who "comes alongside" to bind up the broken heart. The danger remains, however, for those who deny their sin and refuse to mourn, since they are made blind to their need for forgiveness and comfort (John 9:41). In heaven, how shall God be able to dry up your tears when you haven't wept?
[ "If there were no eternal consciousness in a man, if an unfathomable, insatiable emptiness lay hid beneath everything, what would life be but despair?" - Kierkegaard ]
01.13.23 (Tevet 20, 5783) The voice of conscience serves as a faithful inner witness sent by God to convict men of their evil ways (Rom. 1:20; 2:15). Like a built-in polygraph (i.e., "lie-detector"), the inner voice haunts the soul with the truth. The bravado of those who despise moral authority is therefore a form of self-deception. Who is a coward other than the man who does evil, the man of guilty conscience, who then runs away to hide from himself?
On the other hand, it takes real courage to take responsibility for your life, to confess the truth about who you are, and to acknowledge your need to be corrected and healed. The honest soul realizes its absolute insufficiency to overcome its fear and therefore trusts in God's power alone to be transformed according to the divine promise...
01.13.23 (Tevet 20, 5783) Though the meaning of God's Name (YHVH) was initially revealed to Moses as simply eheyeh (אֶהְיֶה), "I AM," or "I WILL BE" (Exod. 3:14), it is wonderful to realize that His Name was also revealed as eheyeh imakh (אהְיֶה עִמָּךְ), "I WILL BE WITH YOU" (Exod. 3:12; Josh. 1:5,9; Isa. 41:10,13; John 10:28; Matt. 28:20, etc.). Just as the LORD is called Elohei ha-ruchot lekhol basar (אֱלהֵי הָרוּחת לְכָל־בָּשָׂר), "the God of the breath of all flesh" (Num. 16:22), so He is the Source of your breath, the One who exhales to you nishmat chayim (נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים), the "breath of life" that enables you to live (Job 12:10). Indeed the Name YHVH (יהוה) first appears in the Torah in regarding imparting the breath of life to Adam (Gen. 2:7). Note further that each of the letters of the Name YHVH represent vowel sounds (i.e., breath), suggesting again that God's Spirit is as close as your very next breath. Like the wind that cannot be seen, so is the spirit the essential part of your identity. Yeshua breathed on his followers and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22).
[ "I believe that God will give us all the strength we need to help us to resist in all time of distress. But he never gives it in advance, lest we should rely on ourselves and not on him alone." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer ]
01.13.23 (Tevet 20, 5783) According to midrash (Shemot Rabbah), as a very young lad Moses was once seen throwing Pharaoh's gold crown to the ground. Upon learning of this apparent act of insolence, Pharaoh devised a test to see if the child understood what he was doing. He therefore commanded that a platter with a piece of gold and a glowing piece of coal were to be presented before Moses and ordered the little boy to choose one. If Moses chose the gold, it would imply that he understood its value, and therefore he would be killed. On the other hand, if Moses chose the burning coal, he would be spared since he was unable to differentiate between gold and a glowing piece of coal. Moses began to reach out for the gold when an angel pushed his hand aside and he grabbed the coal instead. He then immediately put his hand in his mouth, but that burned his lips and tongue so badly that he had a permanent speech impediment as a result.
Later, when God commissioned Moses to speak to the children of Israel, he protested to the LORD that he was "heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue" (i.e., kevad peh ve'kaved lashon:כְּבַד־פֶּה וּכְבַד לָשׁוֹן) and therefore was unable to eloquently speak on behalf of the LORD to Pharaoh (Exod. 4:10). But the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak" (Exod. 4:11-12).
When the time arrived for Moses to actually go before Pharaoh to declare God's message to let the Israelites go, he again protested to the LORD that he was a man of "uncircumcised lips" (עֲרַל שְׂפָתָיִם), an idiom that meant that he regarded his lips to be of no acceptable use to God. (Ironically the prophet Isaiah later had his lips burned to purify them to speak on behalf of God; Isa. 6:6-7). In this connection it is interesting to ask why God did not simply heal Moses of his impairment. After all, the LORD had earlier told him that He had the power to make the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the mute to speak...
According to many of the classical Jewish commentators, God did not cure Moses of his stuttering because He wanted the Israelites to know that he was a divine messenger. When he spoke in the Name of the LORD, the stuttering miraculously entirely disappeared and Moses spoke with fluent ease. This was to teach the people not to trust in human oratory or wisdom, but rather in the power of God (see 1 Cor. 2:1-5). Just as the Apostle Paul, the "Moses of the New Covenant," was given a "thorn in the flesh" (σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκί) to keep him humbly relying upon God for his sufficiency to serve (2 Cor. 12:7-10), so Moses was rendered entirely dependent upon the LORD but thereby became a "man of words" who spoke with "circumcised lips."
"O LORD, you will establish peace for us, for You have indeed done for us all our works" (Isa. 26:12). We must always remember that God does the work "for us" (לָּנוּ) and we are His witnesses. Salvation is "of the LORD," and is not the result of our own efforts. Anything of eternal value comes from God alone, who is the beginning and end of grace. "Not by (human) might, nor by (human) power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts (Zech. 4:6).
Note that God does the work "for us" (לָּנוּ) and we are His witnesses... Salvation is "of the LORD," and is not the result of our own efforts. Anything of eternal value comes from God alone, who is the beginning and end of grace. "Not by (human) might, nor by (human) power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts (Zech. 4:6). If we lose sight of this truth, we are again made subject to the "law of sin and death" (תּוֹרַת הַחֵטְא וְהַמָּוֶת), that is, the futile principle of self-justification that constitutes the "wheel of suffering." We can escape this cycle only when we accept the truth about our condition and trust God for our deliverance. It is the "law of the Spirit of Life" (תוֹרַת רוּחַ הַחַיִּים), that is, the inner reign of the Holy Spirit, that sets us free from the reign of sin that leads to death...
A Divine Names Theology?
[ The following is related to our Torah for this week, Parashat Shemot... ]
01.13.23 (Tevet 20, 5783) This week's Torah portion (the first of the Book of Exodus) is called Shemot (שְׁמוֹת, "names") because it begins with a list of the "names" of the descendants of Jacob who came to dwell in the land of Goshen: וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הַבָּאִים מִצְרָיְמָה / "These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt" (Exod. 1:1). Now while it's true that the Torah here lists the various names of the sons of Jacob, this portion of Torah more importantly refers the Names (plural) of the LORD God of Israel Himself.
To see this, let's consider the central story of this portion of Torah, namely, the commissioning of Moses at the Burning Bush (seeExod. 3:1-20). Note that the Torah states that it was the Angel of the LORD (i.e., Malakh Adonai:מַלְאַךְ יהוה) who appeared to Moses בְּלַבַּת־אֵשׁ מִתּוֹךְ הַסְּנֶה / "in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush" (Exod. 3:1-2). But then the Torah goes on to say that the LORD (יהוה) saw Moses drawing near to the bush while God (i.e., Elohim: אֱלהִים) called out to him. God (i.e., Elohim) then commanded Moses to remove his sandals and identified Himself as the "God of Abraham (i.e., Elohei Avraham:אֱלהֵי אַבְרָהָם), the God of Isaac (i.e., Elohei Yitzchak:אֱלהֵי יִצְחָק), and the God of Jacob (i.e., Elohei Ya'akov:אֱלהֵי יעֲקב)." In this short and dramatic account we have several Names of God presented - the Angel of the LORD, the LORD, God (Elohim), and the "God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" - all of which refer to the One true God!
When God commissioned Moses to be His shaliach (שָלִיחַ) - His emissary - to go before Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel back to the Promised Land, he objected that he was unfit for the task. He protested that he was kevad peh - "heavy of mouth" and kevad lashon, "heavy of tongue," and therefore unable to speak on behalf of the LORD (Exod. 4:10). God reminded him that He was the Creator of the mouth: "Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?" (Exod. 4:11).
Perhaps it was because Moses was "heavy of mouth" that he continued to object to God's decision to send him to to Egypt. After all, what would Moses say if he were asked what God's Name was? Perhaps Moses couldn't speak well enough to properly enunciate the Name? It is revealing to understand the LORD's reply: אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה / "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh ('I will be what I will be'); and He said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM (אֶהְיֶה) has sent me to you.'" Then God (i.e., אֱלהִים) went on to "spell it out" for Moses: "Say this to the people of Israel, 'The LORD (יהוה), [namely] the God of your fathers, [namely] the God of Abraham (אֱלהֵי אַבְרָהָם), [namely] the God of Isaac (אֱלהֵי יִצְחָק), and [namely] the God of Jacob (אֱלהֵי יעֲקב), has sent me to you.' This is my name forever (זֶה־שְּׁמִי לְעלָם), and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations" (Exod. 3:14-15).
Now I included the Hebrew text here to make it explicit that the distinct Names of God in this passage (i.e., יהוה, אֱלהִים, מַלְאַךְ יהוה, and so on) all refer to the One true LORD God of Israel, Maker of Heaven and earth. Indeed, the Torah makes it clear that the Name of the LORD YHVH (יהוה) is associated with the phrase ehyeh asher ehyeh (rendered as "I AM THAT I AM" in the KJV), which derives from the Qal imperfect first person form of this verb hayah (הָיָה): "I will be." In other words, there is a direct connection between the Name YHVH and Being and Reality itself. YHVH is the Source of all being and has being inherent in Himself (i.e., He is necessary Being). Everything else is contingent being that derives existence from Him. The name YHVH also bespeaks the utter transcendence of God. In Himself, God is beyond all "predications" or attributes of language: He is the Source and Foundation of all possibility of utterance and thus is beyond all definite descriptions.
In Jewish thought, the numerous names of God revealed in Scripture (Elohim, Shaddai, Adonai, the King of Israel, etc.) are thought to reveal different aspects or attributes of God's character and will to us. They function as "short hand" for descriptions of His essence - revelations of the hidden mystery and glory of the LORD. Since taking the name of the LORD "in vain" is one of the Ten Commandments, certain conventions are used to restrict the use of any of the Names of God. These conventions derive from Jewish law (halachah) that requires that secondary rules (גְּזֵרוֹת - "fences") be placed around a primary law to reduce the chance that the main law will be violated. For example, it is common practice to refer to God as "Hashem" (the Name) or to deliberately alter the sound or spelling of a divine name. The name Havayah (היוה) is also sometimes used to refer to YHVH, which is formed by transposing the letters of the Tetragrammaton.
According to Maimonides, one of the greatest Jewish theologians of the Middle Ages, all the various names and titles of God – with the possible exception of YHVH (יהוה) – are appellations that denote the Divine attributes. There is only one God revealed within Scripture and the multiplicity of names refers to different aspects of revelation rather than supposing that there is a multiplicity of deities. This idea also finds expression in the designation of God as Ein Sof (אֵין סוֹף), a theological term used to express that the essence of God is "without end" or "infinite." The revealed names of God therefore all represent some aspect of the divine nature to us in language that we can apprehend.
Some people seem to be preoccupied with finding out how to pronounce or utter the Sacred Name of the LORD (i.e., יהוה), though Jewish tradition maintains that the Divine Name is entirely ineffable and therefore intrinsically mysterious. Indeed, attaching a name to something "labels" it and claims authority over it (e.g., when David put his name over a conquered city). Since the LORD is utterly unique, without rival, the Creator and LORD who is answerable to no one, He cannot be named. The Jewish mystics say (surely as a form of hyperbole) that the proper Name of the LORD is all the letters of the Torah sounded at once -- without interruption. This is called the "304,805 letter Name of God." That is, string together all 304,805 letters of the Torah - from the first letter of Bereshit (Bet) through the last letter of Devarim (Lamed) - and "read" this as a single "Word." Of course the point here is that no one can do this. Indeed, the Angel of the LORD asks, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is incomprehensibly wonderful?" (Judges 13:18).
There are quite literally hundreds of different names, titles, metaphors, similes, allegories, and allusions given in the Hebrew Scriptures that refer to the one true God. Though YHVH is God's special Name, it is clearly a play on the verb "to be" (hayah). We do not "invoke" the Name like a magician might utter a "divine spell." God is near to us -- He's in the wind, in the heavens and earth, as close to you as your own heart (Deut. 30:14; Rom. 10:8). The really hard part is to love and obey the LORD -- not to learn how to say His incomprehensible Name. Indeed, what good would it be to know how to properly pronounce the Sacred Name of the LORD if you do not love and obey Him? If you want to call upon the Name of the LORD, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33). Learn to know Him as your Abba...
The Greatness of Empathy...
[ When the Pharisees were scandalized that Yeshua ate with "publicans and sinners," he said to them: "Go and learn what this means:`I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." A hard lesson for the proud of heart... ]
01.12.23 (Tevet 19, 5783) From our Torah reading for this week (i.e., Shemot) we read: "when Moses grew up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens" (Exod. 2:11). The sages say, "do not read, 'he grew up,' but rather 'he became great'" (וַיִּגְדַּל), since Moses chose to experience the exile for himself by opening his eyes to the people's suffering. Indeed Moses was made great as he emptied himself of his royal privilege and identified with the suffering of others (Phil. 2:7). As is says: "By faith Moses was made great (μέγας γενόμενος) by refusing to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin" (Heb. 11:24-25).
Regarding this verse the great Torah commentator Rashi wrote, "Moses set his eyes and heart to feel their anguish." The midrash says that when Moses saw the hard labor of the people, he took their yoke upon him. Indeed some of the earlier sages said that sharing the burden of another is the essence of Torah, the very foundation of all heavenly obligation (Avot 6:6). Therefore the Apostle Paul wrote (Gal. 6:2): "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the Torah of the Messiah (תּוֹרַת הַמָּשִׁיחַ)." Expressing empathy by identifying with the pains of others requires what is called bittul hayesh (בִּטּוּל הַיֵּשׁ), or the setting aside of the ego, which is also the essential requirement for revelation from heaven. Hence Moses was given direct encounter with the Divine Presence because of his great humility.
In order to say, "thy kingdom come, thy will be done" you must let go of your own agenda; your ego must be deposed from its petty little kingdom... Likewise, you can't say, "Come, Lord Jesus" by putting your fear first, or by otherwise demanding that your life should center on your own personal "advent." No, you must consciously choose to live in exile to this world (Gal. 6:14). How can we ever expect the LORD to live out His life through us if we do not genuinely offer our lives to Him? And yet this is exactly the problem of the ego...
A principle of spiritual life is that we descend in order to ascend, or the "the way up is the way down." As Yeshua said, "Whoever would be first among you must be slave of all" (Mark 10:44). Becoming nothing (i.e., ayin) in this world is the condition for seeing something in the world to come. But we become nothing by trusting in the miracle, not by trying to efface ourselves... This is not another venture of the ego. Life in the Spirit means trusting that God will do within you what you cannot do for yourself... We can only take hold of what God has done for us by "letting go" of our own devices (Phil. 2:13). When we really let go and trust, we will become nothing (i.e., klume:כְּלוּם), carried by the Torah of the Spirit of life. The way is not trying but trusting; not struggling but resting; not of clinging to life, but of letting go...
The Spirit of Hope...
[ "You don't realize Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have." - Tim Keller ]
01.12.23 (Tevet 19, 5783) When Moses proclaimed the good news of God's forthcoming redemption for Israel, the Torah states that the people could not listen because they were "short of breath" (Exod. 6:9). Interestingly, this phrase (i.e., mi'kotzer ru'ach:מִקּצֶר רוּחַ) can also mean "lacking in spirit," as if in a paralyzed state of hopelessness. But how did the people become so downhearted? Had they forgotten the promise given to Abraham (Gen. 15:12-14)? Had they disregarded Joseph's final words (Gen. 50:24-25)?
According to some of the sages, part of the reason for their "shortness of breath" (besides the cruel bondage and hard labor imposed on them) was that the Israelites miscalculated the duration of their 400 year exile, and therefore they began to lose hope. When members of the tribe of Ephraim tried to escape from Egypt some 30 years before the time of the redemption, they were all killed by the Philistines, and many of the Israelites began to believe that they would remain as perpetual slaves (Shemot Rabbah, 20:11). They became "short of breath" and could no longer receive the message of the Holy Spirit...
Indeed, life in this evil world can be suffocating at times. And though we may not be under the oppression of a cruel Pharaoh, we are affected by the "princes of this age" who spurn the message of the Messiah'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 govern the world system... The Scriptures make it clear that we are engaged in genuine spiritual warfare: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12).
It is evident that one of the central purposes of God's redemption is to bestow freedom and dignity upon his people. As the story of Pharaoh reveals, God does not take kindly to oppressors, dictators, and other megalomaniacal world leaders who deny the truth and who therefore seek to enslave (or kill) human beings created in His image and likeness. Just as God judged Egypt for its oppression and violence, so He will one day break the "rulers of this world" with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel (Psalm 2:9-10).
To help us "catch our breath" during this time of waiting, it is important to remember that the LORD redeems us so that we may become His children and therefore be clothed with everlasting dignity... Our redemption makes us heirs of the Kingdom of God and citizens of heaven. We must never regard ourselves as slaves - not to the State, not to the bankers, not to fear, and not to religion (Gal. 5:1). God gave up His Son for us so that we could be made free to live with honor as his dearly loved children.... All the threats of the world system - economic, political, religious, social, etc. - are ultimately made empty and vain by the glorious redemption promised to us in Yeshua our Savior.
There is an old story of the Maggid of Brisk who each year would bring proof from the Torah that the Messiah would come that year. Once a certain Torah student asked him, "Rabbi, every year you bring proof from the Torah that the Messiah must come that year, and yet he does not come. Why bother doing this every year, if you see that Heaven ignores you?" The Maggid replied, "The law states that if a son sees his father doing something improper, he is not permitted to humiliate him but must say to him, 'Father, the Torah states thus and so.' Therefore we must tell God, who is our Father, that by keeping us in long exile, he is, in a sense, causing injustice to us, and we must point out, "thus and so it is written in the Torah," in hope that this year he might redeem us." This same principle, of course, applies to those of us who are living in exile and who eagerly await the second coming of the Messiah Yeshua. We should continue asking God to send Him speedily, and in our day, chaverim...
The Scriptures declare that "we are saved by hope" (ελπιδι εσωθημεν), that is, we are saved through an earnest expectation of good to come on account of the promises of the LORD God of Israel. Amen. The LORD is called "The God of Hope" (אֱלהֵי הַתִּקְוָה), indicating that He is its Author and its End (Rom. 15:13). God both gives birth to our hope (tikvah) and is the satisfaction of our heart's deepest longings. For those with God-given hope, gam zu l'tovah – all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28). In light of God's promises, hope is the one "work" that we are called to vigorously perform: "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" Yeshua answered, "This is the work of God, that you trust (i.e. hope) in the one whom He sent" (John 6:28-29).
Don't let the world system destroy or impugn your hope, chaverim... If the devil can't seduce you with illusory hope or counterfeit joy, he will attempt to oppress you with fear and doubt. Fight the good fight of faith and refuse to succumb to despair. Run the race before you with endurance (Heb. 12:1). Look up, for the time of your deliverance draws near... God redeems us for the sake of His love and honor... It is the "breath of God" that gives us life and courage to face this dark and perverse world (John 20:22). May you be filled with the hope and strength that comes from the Holy Spirit. Amen.
01.12.23 (Tevet 19, 5783) Why did the LORD, the Holy One, reveal Himself to Moses out of the midst of a thorny bush (סְנֶה), and not some grand tree? God lowered himself to speak from within the bush, as it is written: "For though the LORD be high, he regards the lowly" (Psalm 138:6); and "I will be with him in trouble" (Psalm 91:15). The midrash imagines God saying to Moses: "Don't you feel that I suffer anguish whenever Israel does? Know, therefore, from the character of the place from which I speak, out of the thorn bush, that I, as it were share their suffering" (Shemot Rabbah 2:7). God speaks to us from the place of thorns – even those about his own head – words of great comfort and deliverance. From the midst of the fire (בְּלַבַּת־אֵשׁ מִתּוֹךְ הַסְּנֶה), within the lowliest of places, covered in the thorns of our sin and shame, Yeshua speaks words of healing love. Bless his name forever!
[ The following is related to our Torah for this week, Parashat Shemot... ]
01.12.23 (Tevet 19, 5783) When Moses asked why he (of all people!) was chosen to be God's emissary, the LORD did not explain His decision in natural terms; nor did not appeal to Moses' past experiences, his potential, his famly lineage, or even his great humility... Instead God simply said that whatever inadequacies Moses might have, being in relationship "with Him" was entirely sufficient: ki ehyeh imakh (כִּי־אֶהְיֶה עִמָּךְ): "for I will be with you" (Exod. 3:12). That is all that Moses would truly need...
When Moses then sought for some way to justify his role as a prophet sent from God, he sought to know God's secret "name" (see Exod. 3:13). God's response to the request was enigmatic: אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה - ehyeh asher ehyeh: "I will be what I will be" (or I am what I am), which may be understood as, "It doesn't matter what my Name is - I will be what I will be - all that matters is that I will be with you (ehyeh imakh) -- and that is enough! Indeed, God's name is nifla (נִפלָא) - "wonderful and incomprehensible" (Judges 13:18; Psalm 139:6), since the LORD is infinite and beyond comparison to finite things (Psalm 147:5). God is the great "I AM" that pervades all of Reality (אָנכִי), the glorious Eternal Personal Presence (i.e., hayah, hoveh, ve'yihyeh) whose power constantly sustains all things. Most of all, God is declared and expressed as our Savior, the One who reveals the face of God to us all (2 Cor. 4:6).
Regarding the perennial question of whether we can fully apprehend the inner meaning of the Name of God, we read the following vision from the New Testament: "Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called 'Faithful and True' (נֶאֱמָן וְיָשָׁר), and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a Name written that no one knows but himself (שֵׁם כָּתוּב אֲשֶׁר לא־יָדַע אִישׁ כִּי אִם־הוּא לְבַדּוֹ). He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the Name by which he is called is 'the Word of God' (דְּבַר הָאֱלהִים). And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron. And He will tread the winepress of the fierce fury of the wrath of God, the Ruler over All, the LORD God Almighty (יְהוָה אֱלהֵי צְבָאוֹת). On his robe and on his thigh he has a Name written, the King of kings (מֶלֶךְ הַמְּלָכִים) and the Lord of lords (אֲדנֵי הָאֲדנִים). And with the breath of his lips He will slay the wicked" (Rev. 19:11-16).
Notice that in this passage the LORD both has a Name that no one knows but Himself and also that is He is called 'Faithful and True,' 'the Word of God,' and so on... In other words, within Himself God's Name is something that only He can truly understand, though we can know what He is called based on the revelation and analogical language of the Scriptures.
Teshuvah and Waste Places...
[ "When God wants to do an impossible task He takes an impossible man and crushes him" (Alan Redpath). The following discusses the breaking of Moses in Torah reading parashat Shemot. ]
01.12.23 (Tevet 19, 5783) Forty years before encountering the LORD in the burning bush, Moses was full of himself, a prince of Egypt "mighty in word and deed" who regarded himself as Israel's deliverer (Acts 7:22-25). But Moses' "Egyptian-styled" ego led him to regard murder and human uprising as the means of deliverance, and consequently God sent him into exile to think things through... It was there, in the waste places of the desert, that God's education began - the school of brokenness, teshuvah, and heart-listening... Only after this did God appear to him, calling out to the man who had lost all confidence in the flesh. Moses' humility mirrored the emptiness of the desert: "Who am I?" he protested, "I can't do this thing..." (Exod. 3:11). Exactly! Now he understood. Similarly, we must be careful not to regard ourselves as "strong," since the power of the flesh is useless for the purposes of heaven (Zech. 4:6). As it is written, "Thus says the LORD: 'Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the desert, in an uninhabited salt land" (Jer. 17:5-6). It was only after Moses' question, "Who am I?" was answered by God's "I AM who I AM," that the "useless shrub" became aflame with power...
Moses' rod, which he had relied upon for years in the desert, was then transformed to be used as an instrument of Divine Power (Exod. 4:1-5). God entrusts the rod of His authority only in the hands of a truly broken man.... Similarly, though Moses was described as a man "mighty in word and deed," these were attributes of the flesh unrefined by the Spirit of God. Therefore, after being humbled in the desert, Moses confessed that he was kevad peh (כְבַד־פֶּה) - "heavy of mouth" - and kevad lashon (כְבַד לָשׁוֹן) "heavy of tongue," and unable to speak on behalf of the LORD. God then told him that He would "be with his mouth" to teach him what to say (Exod. 4:10-12). This likewise teaches that God entrusts the utterance of his word to the tongue of a genuinely broken man...
[ "Grace is not looking for good men whom it may approve, for it is not grace but mere justice to approve goodness. [Rather] it is looking for condemned, guilty, speechless and helpless men whom it may save, sanctify and glorify." - C. I. Scofield ]
01.11.23 (Tevet 18, 5783) "God chose you... from among all peoples" (Deut. 10:15). The idea is repeated several times in Torah (for example, see Deut. 14:2; Exod. 19:5-6; Deut. 7:7-8; Amos 3:2). What a great blessing to be personally selected by God to know his love and forgiveness; what a privilege to be made an heir of the covenant and promises of the LORD! Spiritually understood, being chosen is not the result of simply being born Jewish, but has to do with being in a relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the truth, and therefore Gentiles who trust in God are justified by their faith and chosen as His people. As it is written: "In the Messiah we too have been claimed as God's own possession, since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will" (Eph. 1:11). What an honor, what a mercy, what a joy!
The corollary of being a "chosen" person, however, is the responsibility to serve as an expression of God's love that repairs the broken world. Therefore the Apostle Peter refers to followers of Messiah as "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, so that we should show forth the praises of the One who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1 Peter 2:9, cp. Exod. 19:6, Deut. 7:6). Please note that these words were addressed to those formerly called Gentiles, since he adds: "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people" (1 Pet. 2:10, cp. Deut. 32:21; Hos. 2:23; Rom. 9:25). The Apostle Paul likewise calls believers in Yeshua a "chosen people" (Eph 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:13) who have been given direct and priestly access to God (Heb. 4:16). This priestly lineage began with Malki-Tzedek (Melchizedek), culminated in the advent of Yeshua, and is passed directly to the disciples by means of their justification and identification with the risen Savior "who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a treasured people (am segullah), zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14). "Blessed is the LORD God who has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him and through Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of his grace" (Eph. 1:3-7). Hallelujah!
In this connection note that the word "Hebrew" means "boundary crosser," that is, one who "crosses over" to life by being in relationship with the LORD, while a "Jew" means one who praises the LORD. The word "Jew" (יְהוּדִי) comes from a root (יָדָה) which means to "thank" or to "praise" (Gen. 29:35). The Apostle Paul alluded to this by saying that one whose heart has been circumcised by the Spirit is "one who is praised by God -- not by men" (Rom. 2:29). Being a Jew therefore means you are "chosen" to receive blessings and grace to live in holiness for the glory of God and for the healing of the world. The performance of various commandments are for the greater purpose of tikkun olam, the "repair of the world," in order to reveal God's goodness and love (Eph. 2:8-10). Doing so makes someone a Jew, since his praise comes not from man, but from the LORD. God is the source and the power of what makes a true tzaddik (righteous person). After all, Israel was meant to be a "light to the nations" (Isa. 42:6; 60:3), and God had always planned for all the families of the earth to come to know Him and give Him glory through his chosen servant Abraham (Gen. 12:3; 22:18). "Jewishness" is therefore not an end in itself but rather a means to bring healing to the nations, and that healing comes through the blessing of the Messiah... Indeed, the entire redemptive story of the Scriptures centers on the cosmic conflict to deliver humanity from the "curse" by means of the "Seed of the woman" who would come. The gospel is Jewish because it concerns God's great redemptive plan for the whole world (John 3:16; 4:22). Followers of Yeshua are given a Jewish heart that is full of praise for the truth of God's salvation and love.
[ "And now brothers, I will ask you a terrible question, and God knows I ask it also of myself. Is the truth beyond all truths, beyond the stars, just this: that to live without him is the real death, that to die with him the only life?" - Frederick Buechner ]
01.11.23 (Tevet 18, 5783) Since we are required to both affirm and to trust that "all things work together for good" (Rom. 8:28), we must bless God for perceived evil as well as for perceived good, since all circumstances of life come from the hand of the LORD our God (Job 2:10). Despite appearances that sometimes seem to the contrary, we believe that the all-powerful, supreme LORD has not abandoned the world but actively sustains and upholds it with benevolent intent (Heb. 1:3). "We walk by faith and not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7). When bad things happen to the righteous, we trust in God's personal care for their ultimate good, despite their present troubles. As the prophet Job said: "Though he slay me, I will trust in Him" (Job 13:15). This is the heart behind the Kaddish, the mourner's prayer, that expresses acceptance of God's world, despite the pain, sorrow, loss, and so on.
The term hashgachah pratit (השׁגחה פרטית) refers to God's personal supervision of our lives (hashgachah means "supervision," and pratit means "individual" or "particular"). Since He is the Master of the Universe, God's supervision reaches to the smallest of details of creation - from subatomic particles to the great motions of the cosmos. God not only calls each star by its own name (Psalm 147:4), but knows each particular lily and sparrow (Matt. 6:28-30, 10:29). Each person created in the likeness of God is therefore under the direct, personal supervision of God Himself -- whether that soul is conscious of that fact or not. As Yeshua said, even the hairs on your head are all numbered (Matt. 10:30). Indeed, the God of Israel is called אלהי הרוּחת לכל־בּשׂר / Elohei ha-ruchot lekhol-basar: "The God of the spirits of all flesh" (Num. 16:22), and that means He is LORD even over those who vainly attempt to suppress His Presence and reality. "Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth?" (Jer. 23:24).
The Talmud says that when Moses asked God, "Please show me your glory" (Exod. 33:18), he was asking for God's vindication in the light of the gnawing question: "Why do the righteous suffer while the wicked prosper?" Moses was not given an explicit answer, and some of the sages said he wrote the enigmatic Book of Job to demonstrate that the question can only be reduced to God's inscrutable will: "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?" (Job 38:4). In other words, the question can only be answered by the One who knows the beginning from the end, the Infinite One who sees the implications and concatenation of all things. As finite beings, we see only a fraction of the big picture, and therefore we must yield our trust to the Wisdom and Power of Almighty God (Deut. 32:4).
It is written, "Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb; in your scroll everything was written, my days were ordained before they came into existence" (Psalm 139:16). In light of God's providential ordering of our lives, Blaise Pascal asked, "What is left for us but to unite our will to that of God himself, to will in him, with him, and for him the thing that he has eternally willed in us and for us." The Mishnah says it this way: "Do His will as if it was your will that He may do your will as if it was His will" (Avot 2:4). In other words, what else can we do but learn to trust, accept, and to say "yes" to life -- even if at times we may feel like orphans, lost in a fatherless world... All our days are recorded in God's scroll.
There is a dark temptation to refuse to accept God's sovereign will, which includes objecting to his "tolerance" of evil (for a season) until his greater plan for the redemption is fully manifest... We need to be careful lest we become hardhearted, bitter, and despair over the purpose for life - like Ivan in The Brother's Karamazov (Dostoevsky) who, though he intellectually gave assent to God's providential plan, refused to accept it because of the unspeakable cruelty and senseless suffering he saw in the world. His disillusionment moved him to say to his sincerely devout brother: "It's not God that I don't accept, Alyosha, only I most respectfully return him the ticket." How tragic that the heart can turn away from God because the present moment seems incomprehensible and broken.... How many people have so despaired when, if they had but held on for awhile longer, they may have received solace and comfort... For me it helps to remain humble, to confess my ignorance of much, and to "remember the future" wherein glory and beauty will be soon be revealed (Psalm 31:19).
01.10.23 (Tevet 17, 5783) God's power is present in all things, in every world, every soul. Yeshua is the Source of all life in the universe: כָּל־הַמַּעֲשִׂים נִהְיוּ עַל־יָדוֹ / "All things were made by Him (John 1:3). God is Light, and Yeshua reveals the Light of God (John 8:12). The "Word made flesh" is the "image of the invisible God" and the "radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint (χαρακτήρ, 'character') of his nature" (Col. 1:15). All of creation is being constantly upheld by the word of His power (Heb. 1:3): "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 begins and ends with the redemptive love of God as manifested in the Person of Yeshua our Mashiach... He is the Center of Creation - it's beginning and end. As it says: אָנכִי אָלֶף וְתָו רִאשׁוֹן וְאַחֲרוֹן ראשׁ וָסוֹף / "I am the 'A' and the 'Z,' the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End" (Rev. 22:13). Indeed, Yeshua is the "King of kings of kings" (מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים), the LORD of all possible worlds -- from the highest celestial glory to the shame of bearing our sin and guilt upon a cross... All Reality centers upon Him.
God's abiding provision for our need is revealed in the "face of Messiah" (בִּפְנֵי הַמָּשִׁיחַ), not in the fading glory of the former covenant (2 Cor 3:4-18). Unlike Moses - who veiled his face to hide the fact that the glory of the former covenant of Sinai was indeed fading away - "we all, with unveiled face, reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. This comes from the Lord who is the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:12-4:1). Each of us, like Moses, must ascend the mountain of Zion to behold the Glory of God: "And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Yeshua only" (Matt. 17:8). "The face of Yeshua the Messiah" is therefore the radiance and glory of God Himself.
"Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be His glorious Name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise" (Neh. 9:5; Psalm 138:2; Phil. 2:9-11; Isa. 45:23). We have to stand for the truth, because the truth is what sets us free (John 8:32). As Yeshua said, "For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world -- to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice" (John 18:37). The way of life is found in Yeshua: "Whoever has the Son has the life (הַחַיִּים); whoever does not have the Son does not have the life" (1 John 5:12).
Therefore, as Yeshua said: "Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you... As you have the light, believe in the light. Then the light will be within you, and shining through your lives. You'll be children of light (בְּנֵי הָאוֹר). I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness" (John 12:35-6, 46).
Naming the Sacred...
01.10.23 (Tevet 17, 5783) In our Torah portion this week (i.e., Shemot), Moses encountered God in the form of a Paradox – a bush that burned but was not consumed – and from the midst of this fire a Voice was heard, summoning him to lead his people out of Egypt (Exod. 3:2-4). At first Moses protested the call, offering various excuses why he was unfit for the mission, but when he finally began to relent, he asked: "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God's answer is mysteriously wonderful: "eheyeh asher eheyeh" (אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה). And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'Eheyeh (אֶהְיֶה) has sent me to you'" (Exod 3:13-14). The sages have said that this phrase could mean "I AM who I am," or "I will be who I will be," based on the Hebrew verb hayah (הָיָה), which relates to the name YHVH (יהוה). However, since the name YHVH is not written with vowels and the transliteration is uncertain, focusing on the phonetics misses the point that God is the Source or Ground of all Being, the Sacred Essence of all that is real – the One who is and was and is to come" (Rev. 1:8). God is "ein sof" (אֵין סוֹף), the Infinite, the Unfathomable, the holy mystery of all. Every predication of existence is bound up in His power (Acts 17:28).
The LORD (YHVH) is ultimately "unrepresentable," and therefore we are forbidden to make idols, icons, "graven images," or "likenesses" that attempt to "finitize" his reality (Exod. 20:4; Lev. 26:1). God is always greater than which you can think or imagine (Isa. 55:8-9; 64:4; 1 Cor. 2:9). Paradoxically, our language and knowledge of God is incapable of adequate correspondence, and therefore we must "see through a glass darkly," relying on analogies, allusions, figurative speech, indirect modes of communication, and so on.
Despite all this – despite our inability to fully express or represent our intuitions, experiences, dreams, and imaginations of the divine – we nevertheless can (and do) "dialog" with God in personal terms, using everyday language of the heart. Moses, for example, talked with God throughout his experience at the burning bush – both before he asks for God's name and after. Indeed, YHVH continues: "Say this to the people of Israel, 'The LORD (יהוה), the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham (אֱלהֵי אַבְרָהָם), the God of Isaac (אלהֵי יִצְחָק), and the God of Jacob (וֵאלהֵי יַעֲקב), has sent me to you.' This is my name forever (זֶה־שְּׁמִי לְעלָם), and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations" (Exod. 3:15). In other words, though God's essence is mysteriously transcendent, and his name is "ineffable," he is immanent within human history and is revealed in the lives of the Hebrew patriarchs, in the history of the Jewish people, and in the ongoing conversation of those who are of genuine faith in Him. Indeed, even in olam haba, the world to come, the LORD God will be known in the face of Yeshua (בִּפְנֵי יֵשׁוּעַ), the anointed King of the Jews, in heavenly Zion, where the names of the tribes of Israel will all be remembered (Rev. 21:12).
Amen, despite all this "theological talk," we simply trust in the love and kindness of God revealed to us in the face and name of Yeshua, our Lord. We call God our "Abba," our Father, and we look to him to shepherd us every step of our sojourn here on earth... Regarding the question of whether we can fully apprehend the "inner meaning" of the Name of God (יהוה), we read the following vision from the New Testament: "Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called 'Faithful and True' (נֶאֱמָן וְיָשָׁר), and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a Name written that no one knows but himself (שֵׁם כָּתוּב אֲשֶׁר לא־יָדַע אִישׁ כִּי אִם־הוּא לְבַדּוֹ). He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the Name by which he is called is 'the Word of God' (דְּבַר הָאֱלהִים). And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron. And He will tread the winepress of the fierce fury of the wrath of God, the Ruler over All, the LORD God Almighty (יְהוָה אֱלהֵי צְבָאוֹת). On his robe and on his thigh he has a Name written, the King of kings (מֶלֶךְ הַמְּלָכִים) and the Lord of lords (אֲדנֵי הָאֲדנִים). And with the breath of his lips He will slay the wicked" (Rev. 19:11-16).
Notice that in this passage the LORD both has a Name that no one knows but Himself and also that is He is called 'Faithful and True,' 'the Word of God,' and so on... In other words, within Himself God's Name is something that only He can truly understand, though we can know what He is called based on the revelation and analogical language of the Scriptures.
God Knows your Name...
01.10.23 (Tevet 17, 5783) The Book of Exodus begins, ve'eleh shemot (וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת), "and these are the names" (of the children of Israel). God calls each person by name to make the journey... The Creator of all things (הבורא של הכל) calls each star by its own name (Gen. 22:17, Psalm 147:4) and yet He also knows each lily of the field and sparrow that flutters its wings (Matt. 6:28-30, 10:29). As Yeshua said, even the hairs on your head are all numbered (Matt. 10:30). In Jewish theology, the term hashgachah pratit (הַשְׁגָּחָה פְּרָטִית) refers to God's personal supervision of our lives (hashgachah means "supervision," and pratit means "individual" or "particular"). Since God is the Master of the Universe, His supervision and providence reaches to the smallest of details of creation - from subatomic particles to the great motions of the cosmos. Of particular interest, however, are those whom He created be'tzelem Elohim: in His image and likeness. The LORD is called אלהֵי הָרוּחת לְכָל־בָּשָׂר / Elohei ha-ruchot lekhol-basar: "The God of the spirits of all flesh" (Num. 16:22), and that means that every spirit ultimately answers to Him.
We find great comfort when we understand that God has complete authority over categorically everything in the universe -- including our ultimate welfare (John 10:27-28). When we pray to the LORD God of Israel, we intuitively understand that He is completely sovereign and Lord over all things... All power, glory, authority, and dominion is His alone, and all that is in the heaven and in the earth is His (1 Chron. 29:11-12). We do not worry that He is incapable of handling our troubles or that He is unable to help us. No, we acknowledge that the God most High (אֵל עֶלְיוֹן) sustains all things by the Word of His power (Col. 1:17). He is "the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings (מֶלֶךְ הַמְּלָכִים) and the Lord of lords" (1 Tim. 6:15). Whenever we think clearly in light of the revelation of Scripture, we apprehend the truth about God's sovereign glory and power...
[ "God, Who is everywhere, never leaves us. Yet He seems sometimes to be present, sometimes to be absent. If we do not know Him well, we do not realize that He may be more present to us when He is absent than when He is present." - Thomas Merton ]
01.10.23 (Tevet 17, 5783) The name for ancient Egypt in Hebrew is "mitzrayim" (מִצְרַיִם) a word that can be translated as "straits" or "narrow places" (i.e., -מ, "from," and צַר, "narrow"), suggesting that "Egypt" represents a place of constriction, tribulation, oppression, slavery, and despair. The Hebrew word for salvation, on the other hand, is "yeshuah" (יְשׁוּעָה), a word that means deliverance from restriction, that is, freedom and peace. As it is written: "From my distress (מִן־הַמֵּצַר), i.e., from "my Egypt," I cried out to the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me in a wide open place" (Psalm 118:5).
But why, it may be asked, did God tell Jacob: "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt" (Gen. 46:3)? Why did God allow this excursion into "heavy darkness" that Abraham clearly foresaw (Gen. 15:12-13)? What is there about "Egypt" that prepares us to take hold of our promised inheritance? Joseph become a prince of Egypt; however, he was still captive to Pharaoh, and later, after he died, a "new Pharaoh arose" that did not acknowledge his contribution to Egyptian history (Exod. 1:8). All that remained of Joseph were his bones – a chest of bones that were carried by Moses (and later buried by Joshua in Shechem). The "bare bones" of Joseph represented the essence of his faith, as he foresaw the time when God would rescue the family from Egypt and raise him up in the land of promise (Gen. 50:24-26; Heb. 11:22).
A general principle of spiritual life is that the "the way up is the way down" (John 12:24). As Yeshua said, "Whoever would be first among you must be slave of all" (Mark 10:44). Becoming nothing (i.e., ayin) in this world is the condition for seeing something in the world to come. Unless a seed falls to the ground it abides alone (John 12:24). But we become "nothing" by trusting in the promise of God, not by trying to do it ourselves... This is not another venture of the ego. Life in the Spirit means trusting that God will do within you what you cannot do for yourself... We can only take hold of what God has done for us by "letting go" of our own devices (Phil. 2:13). When we let go and trust, we will be transformed, carried by the "Torah of the Spirit of life" (i.e., תּוֹרַת רוּחַ הַחַיִּים, Rom. 8:2), The way is not trying but trusting; not struggling but resting; not clinging to life, but letting go...
God's way of deliverance is entirely different than man's way. Man tries to enlist carnal power in the battle against sin (i.e., religion, politics, etc.), but God's way is to remove the flesh from the equation. The goal is not to make us stronger and stronger, but rather weaker and weaker, until the ego is crucified and only the sufficiency of the Messiah remains. Then we can truly say, "I have been crucified with Messiah. It is no longer I who live, but the Messiah who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal 2:20). The word "Hebrew" (עִבְרִי) means one who has "crossed over" (עָבַר) to the other side, as our father Abraham did when he left the world of Mesopotamia (Gen. 14:13). Likewise it is on the other side of the cross that we experience the very power that created the universe "out of nothing" (i.e., yesh me'ayin:יֵשׁ מֵאַיִן) and that raised Yeshua the Messiah from the dead.
[ The following is related to our Torah reading for this week, Parashat Shemot... ]
01.09.23 (Tevet 16, 5783) According to midrash, just as the Pharaoh during the time of Joseph was troubled by his dreams (Gen. 41:1-7), so was the "new king" that arose during the time of Moses. In the new Pharaoh's dream, an old man was standing before him as he sat on his throne, holding a balance in his hand. The old man placed all the nobles and governors of Egypt on one side of the balance, and on the other side, he placed one small lamb. To Pharaoh's astonishment, however, the lamb outweighed all the leaders of Egypt! When the king asked his advisors to interpret the dream, they said it foretold of a coming king who would overthrow the kingdom of Egypt and set the Israelites free. This coming one would excel in wisdom and his name would be remembered forever as the Savior of Israel.
Of course the rest of the Book of Exodus is essentially God's interpretation of the new Pharaoh's dream, as the great events of the Exodus would reveal. The LORD God of Israel forewarned this king that Egypt would come into judgment by the Lamb of God... Indeed, the only way to escape this judgment and the wrath of God was by being covered by the sacrificial blood of the lamb... The Lamb of God is central to Israel's deliverance and becomes the focal point of the revelation of the sanctuary later given at Sinai.
Israel was redeemed from Egypt by trusting in the promise of their deliverance, as it is written, "and the people believed" (וַיַּאֲמֵן הָעָם) ... and bowed their heads and worshiped" (Exod. 4:31). Recall that the blood of the korban Pesach - the Passover lamb - was to be smeared on the two sides and top of the doorway, resembling the shape of the letter Chet (ח). This letter, signifying the number 8, is connected with the word חי(chai), short for chayim (life). The blood of the lamb (דַּם הַשֶּׂה) not only saves from the judgment of death, but it also is the means of imparting divine life and power...
01.09.23 (Tevet 16, 5783) In the midst of his struggle, King David asked the LORD: "How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily?" (Psalm 13:2). There may be times when we lack eitzah (עֵצָה), or clear counsel to follow, and this can make us feel uncertain, alone, and even desperate. The sages advise in this case that you must cry out to God over and over, casting your burden upon him, and relying on Him alone...
Cast your "fate" (i.e., goral:גּוֹרָל) before the LORD, trusting in his providential care (Psalm 16:5); unclench your fists and let go of all your desires and fears – those dark forces that hold you captive – by opening your heart to the Holy Spirit. There is no fear in God's love (1 John 4:18), and that means you are set free to confess the truth of your struggle before the One who heals and delivers you.
As long as you think your own counsel will be your deliverance (יְשׁוּעָה), however, there will be "sorrow in your heart daily," since there is no true salvation apart from the grace and power of God. That is why David finally affirmed, "My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation" (Psalm 13:5) rather than "my heart shall rejoice in my salvation," since salvation is of the LORD (לַיהוָה הַיְשׁוּעָה) and not from the counsel of the soul...
[ "All names of God remain hallowed because they have been used not only to speak of God but also to speak to him." - Martin Buber ]
01.08.23 (Tevet 15, 5783) Over the next several weeks (until the end of March, 2023) we will be reading and studying the Book of Exodus (סֵפֶר שְׁמוֹת) and considering its message in light of the revelation of Yeshua our Messiah. Some of the greatest narratives of all the Scriptures are found in this amazing book, including the Israelites' enslavement and subsequent deliverance with the ten plagues by the hand of the LORD. After the great Passover, Moses led the people out of the land Egypt, crossing the Sea of Reeds, and arriving at Sinai to receive the Torah exactly 49 days later. While Moses was on the mountain, however, the people worshipped a Golden Calf, and a long period of repentance occurred until the covenant was reestablished. The remainder of the book describes the amazing vision and construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) -- the great Altar upon which a defect-free lamb (קָרְבָּן תָּמִיד) was offered every day and every night...
In English the word "Exodus" ("going out") comes from the title of the ancient Greek translation of the phrase Sefer Yetziat Mitzraim ("the book of the going out from Egypt"). Hence the Greek word ἔξοδος became "Exodus" in Latin which later was adopted into English. In the Hebrew Bible this book is called Shemot (i.e., שְׁמוֹת, "names"), following the custom of naming a book according to its first significant word.
01.08.23 (Tevet 15, 5783) Our Torah reading for this week is the very first of the Book of Exodus, called "parashat Shemot" (i.e., Exod. 1:1-6:1). This portion begins directly where the Book of Genesis left off, namely by listing the various "names" (shemot) of the descendants of Jacob who came to Egypt to live in the land of Goshen.
Over time Jacob's family flourished and multiplied so greatly that the new king of Egypt – who did not "remember" Joseph - regarded them as a political threat and decided to enslave them. When the king's oppression did not curb their growth, however, he cruelly commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill all newborn Jewish boys. When the midwives bravely refused to obey, however, the Pharaoh commanded that all newborn boys were to be drowned in the Nile river (the Hebrew word for Egypt, Mitzrayim (מִצְרַיִם), can be rearranged to form the phrase tzar mayim (צַר מַיִם), meaning "torture through water," which was the plan of the nefarious Pharaoh).
During this time of terrible and appalling oppression, a family from the tribe of Levi bore a son and hid him for three months. When the baby could no longer be concealed, however, his mother Yocheved (יוֹכֶבֶד) set him afloat in the Nile River inside a basket, praying that he might somehow escape death. Miriam (מִרְיָם), the baby's sister, watched what would happen, and soon the basket was discovered by the daughter of Pharaoh, who decided to save the baby and adopt him as her own son. Miriam then cleverly offered to have her mother become the baby's wet-nurse for the princess. After the child was duly weaned, he was brought to Pharaoh's palace to live as the princess' son. The Egyptian princess named him "Moses" (משֶׁה), meaning "drawn out" (מָשָׁה) of the water.
Later, when Moses was a full-grown man, he "went out to his people and looked on their burdens." When he saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite slave, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. The following day he tried to reconcile two Israelites who were fighting, but the one in the wrong prophetically objected: "And who made you a prince and judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" Upon hearing this Moses decided to flee from Egypt to Midian. There he rescued Zipporah (צִפּרָה), the daughter of Jethro (יִתְרוֹ), a Midianite priest. Soon afterward, Moses decided to work for Jethro and married Zipporah. They had a son named Gershom (גֵּרְשׁם, "a stranger there").
After nearly 40 years living in Midian as a shepherd, God called out to Moses from the midst of a burning bush (סְנֶה בּוֹעֵר) to commission him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt back to the land He promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When Moses protested that he was inadequate for this task, God gave him three "signs" to authenticate his message. God also appointed his brother Aaron to be his spokesperson.
Moses and Aaron then went to the Pharaoh and demanded that the Israelites be permitted to leave Egypt to worship the LORD in the wilderness. Shelach et ammi! "Let my people go!" The Pharaoh, however, dismissed Moses and his God, and increased the workload of the slaves by forcing them to make bricks without straw. This set the stage for the great "showdown" between the LORD and the worldly power of Satan, as embodied in the Pharaoh...
01.06.23 (Tevet 13, 5783) I have written about the dangers of being "double-minded" or "two-souled" over the years. This is the ambivalent condition of heart wherein the soul desires two (or more) contrary things at once and therefore is in a state of contradiction and fragmentation. "A double-minded person (δίψυχος) is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8). This is because he is pulled in conflicting directions, unsure of where he wants to go. And since he is unclear and undecided about what he truly desires, he invariably gets lost within a "repetition" of feckless affections, never able to seek for the highest...
If "purity of heart is to will one thing," then impurity of heart is the result of simultaneously willing two things. It is therefore a state of inner opposition, of having two separate "minds" or "wills" that hold contrary thoughts or desires. Yeshua said that "a divided house cannot stand." A divided heart is at war within itself, "two-souled" and unstable in all its ways...
Paradoxically, there is another danger we may face even if we have inwardly resolved to love the love the LORD our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and that danger is impatience that may be expressed as discontent of heart. We may feel bereft of our heart's deepest longing. We may go through our days, with worldly concerns and the needs of immediacy, lost in holy distraction. We may experience homesickness, ennui, and sorrow as we return to the dust.
Perhaps you can relate to these words of Hadewijch of Antwerp: "I wander alone and must remain far from him to whom I belong above all that I am, and for whom I would so gladly be perfect love. And - God knows - he has fruition of all, and I lack everything through which my soul might repose in him." As the Song of Songs says: "All night long on my bed I look for the one my heart loves." Does not my beloved cry out to my heart: "O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff, Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your face is lovely."
I stand looking out through my little window, upon the vastness; my eyes fail as I scan the heavenly abyss; inwardly sighing, groaning, crying for his presence...I rehearse my need; I am swallowed up in my emptiness; all I am is hunger, thirst, and longing, hoping for I know not what -- but his touch.
I recall his comforts, like a dream, the smile in his eyes set upon me, my heart aflame. I have felt his touch, in ecstatic moments; I have warmed in his light; I have heard his voice whisper to me in the dancing wind. But then I return - falling back to earth, to the darkness of the shadows; I am caught in the thicket of the fleeting; my heart prisoned by its fears...
It is a painful contradiction between the person I am when I am close to God's heart, leaning upon his breast, and the faint shade of myself wandering the waste places of the desert. Abraham closed his eyes to this world to see the eternal, but when he opened them he saw once again the emptiness of exile that stretched out before him. Everything was changed through his vision, but everything then became strange, and his dream and his love were whisked into the unseen once again.
That is the "aching side" of hope - the waiting - the gap, the delay, the "already-not-yet" expectation, and the separation forged between this lonely world and our eternal home... Ironically enough, hope itself sees the "divided house" that cannot stand, and finds its refuge in the everlasting habitation of God's house. Hope endures in the midst of our dissolution and fading away; even when all we have left is hope to our very last breath.
Alas, our love for God - at least in this life - remains incomplete and unfulfilled. God's love draws our hearts to him in longing, yet we await the realization of salvation, or as Paul puts it. "we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Rom. 8:23). God "wounds us" to seek Him with greater intimacy and fervor. Such a divine disappointment is a hidden blessing, though, since God's love leads to a greater desire to love God, and this desire leads to further desire, and so on. As it says in the Song of Songs: "I opened for my beloved, But my beloved had turned away and was gone. My heart leaped up when he spoke. I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer." Yet the Beloved did not give up...
"In hope we are saved" (τῇ γὰρ ἐλπίδι ἐσώθημεν), but hope that is seen is not hope, for why would someone hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, then we must eagerly wait for it with endurance" (Rom. 8:24-25). As Jeremiah encouraged himself: "The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and silently wait for the salvation of the LORD" (Lam. 3:24-26). Or as David said: "I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning" (Psalm 130:5-6). Though we must await the fulfillment of our hope, we pray to the LORD: "Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame" (Song 8:6). "Our soul waits for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name" (Psalm 33:20-21).
Therefore do not give up! Never give up! Press on in hope. In our struggle against the darkness, there is an end coming, so don't let your heart grow numb. Encourage yourself with words of hope. Choose to fight (ἀγωνίζομαι - "agonize," "struggle") another day. Do not yield to despair or give place to anxiety. Press on and keep fighting the "good fight" of faith (1 Tim. 6:12). Trust that the deepest longing of your heart will one day be manifest; there is a "future and a hope" reserved for you (Jer. 29:11). In the end you shall see. "All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well." Amen.
[ "I saw a great oneing between Christ and us, because when he was in pain, we were in pain. All creatures of God's creation that can suffer pain suffered with him. The sky and the earth failed at the time of his dying because he too was part of nature." - Julian of Norwich ]
01.06.23 (Tevet 13, 5783) Where it is written in our Scriptures: "O LORD my God, I cried out to you, and you healed me" (Psalm 30:2), the sages comment that the heartfelt act of crying unto God is in itself a source of healing for spiritual ailments, and that the promise, "I am the LORD who heals you" (אֲנִי יְהוָה רֹפְאֶךָ, Exod. 15:26) means the knowledge that "the LORD is God, and there is none other" (הוָה הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים אֵין עוֹד מִלְבַדּוֹ, Deut. 4:35) is the true cure for troubles of the heart and mind.
Often, however, we resist turning to the LORD God for healing... Like Jonah we first must be "swallowed up" in the consciousness that we are undone and without remedy apart from His direct intervention and deliverance. עָקב הַלֵּב מִכּל וְאָנֻשׁ הוּא מִי יֵדָעֶנּו (Jer. 17:9). Often we find ourselves there - in the "belly of the fish" - and later are resurrected to go forth by God's mercy and grace. Likewise we first see ourselves as dying and go to the cross, finding pardon and given the power of the ruach HaKodesh to live unto God according to the truth.
[ Our Torah reading for this week is Parashat Vayechi, the last portion from the Book of Genesis, which includes Jacob's blessing of his sons... ]
01.06.23 (Tevet 13, 5783) In our Torah portion for this week (Vayechi), Jacob cursed the anger of Simeon and Levi because it was az (עָז) - "intense" (Gen. 49:7). Undoubtedly Jacob recalled their revenge upon the inhabitants of Shechem for the abuse of Dinah, but such intense anger, or rage, is regarded as a type of idolatry because it overwhelms the soul and "drives away" the Divine Presence (James 1:20). Therefore Jacob said "let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company," and then prophesied that God would divide and scatter them throughout Israel. Yet despite this prophecy, God singularly chose the Levites to draw close to Him to serve as Israel's priestly class. The sages explain that anger, if not az or intense, imparts a sense of mission, determination, loyalty, and steadfast passion, and therefore it can be sanctified for real good. The proper use of anger may help a person survive in the face of grave adversity. Anger gives focus and strength to the soul, though it must be entirely yielded to God in the heart of worship (Psalm 4:4).
[ The following is related to our Torah reading for this week, Parashat Vayechi... ]
01.06.23 (Tevet 13, 5783) When Joseph tried to correct his father regarding which of his two sons was the firstborn, he said: יָדַעְתִּי בְנִי יָדַעְתִּי - "I know my son, I know" (Gen. 48:19). Jacob's "incongruous" blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh was intended to serve as a parable to warn of the dangers of fraternal envy. The blessing of God is for the whole family, regardless of whoever may be regarded as "the favored son" (or favored daughter, for that matter). And since both Ephraim and Manasseh had accepted God's will without protest, Jacob ordained that these two brothers should serve as examples for all Israel to follow. Therefore Jacob blessed them that day, and carefully added, "By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, יְשִׂמְךָ אֱלהִים כְּאֶפְרַיִם וְכִמְנַשֶּׁה - yesimkha Elohim ke'efraim ve'khimnasheh: 'May God make you like Ephraim and as Manasseh'" (Gen. 48:20) -- a phrase that has been incorporated into our Sabbath blessings. "The first shall be last and the last shall be first," but regarding the love and blessing of God, this makes no difference....
01.05.23 (Tevet 12, 5783) Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) notes that many people read the Bible after "skipping to the end" and pretending they know the "whole megillah," namely that love wins, and all shall be well... Nevertheless we must remember that the LORD is completely just and there is no intrinsic advantage given to Yeshua's contemporaries over those who are living today. The same message requires the same faith to encounter the truth of the Teacher. "I AM the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26). Or do you suppose that you would have acted in faith had you been alive when Yeshua was here on earth? Consider well. When Mary held her newborn son and changed his soiled clothing, did she then believe he was the Savior of the world? Did she fully understand the "end of the story" at that time? When the disciples watched with horror as their Master was arrested, unjustly condemned, and then brutally crucified, did they then believe God was manifest in the flesh? Did they fathom the depths of God's providential love for them? And even after the resurrection from the dead, when Yeshua had directly appeared to his followers and they watched as he ascended on high, did they trust that eternal death was forever swallowed up by His overmastering and triumphant life?
Do you think our present generation would more readily accept the message of Yeshua more than that generation 2,000 years ago? That generation clamored: "We will not have this man rule over us!" (Luke 19:14), yet is this not the recurrent mantra of spiritual darkness spoken throughout the generations? How many of us read the Gospels and encounter something radically challenging, only to excuse ourselves and pretend that the question is not being asked of us? How many of us "take up our cross" and follow the path of sacrificial love? "But I say to you, love your enemies and do good to them that hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you" (Luke 6:27-28). Many want to believe they are following Yeshua's Torah here but hesitate when they hear such things; they don't really want to trouble themselves by changing or denying their natural impulses... Kierkegaard laments: "The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand, but we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly."
We must listen with a heart of faith to unlock the truth that speaks to the heart. If you believe only what you can tolerate, however, your faith is actually grounded in your own interests, not in the Divine Voice of Love that seeks to heal the world. "For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand today -- if you hear his voice" (Psalm 95:7). Today, if you hear his voice and do not harden your heart (Heb. 3:15). "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God, but encourage one another every day, as long as it is called "today," so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (Heb. 3:12-13).
[ The following is related to Torah reading parashat Vayigash... ]
01.05.23 (Tevet 12, 5783) Before he revealed his identity to his brothers, Joseph (arrayed as an unknown Egyptian satrap) ensnared his brothers by hiding a silver divination goblet in Benjamin's sack and then sending his steward (his disguised son Manesseh) to arrest Benjamin for stealing the goblet. All this was designed by Joseph to test his brothers. Would they abandon Benjamin, just as they had abandoned him to die in an empty well years earlier? After the arrest, the brothers returned to face the charges, and Judah nobly stepped forward and begged to take Benjamin's place for the "crime." When Joseph understood that Judah was willing to sacrifice his own life for his brother -- and when he saw the anxious looks of his other brothers -- he realized that they had learned their lesson.
Joseph then sent all the Egyptians out of the room, to spare his brothers embarrassment. According to Midrash, he then turned to his brothers and said, "You told me that your brother Joseph died. Are you sure?" "Yes, we are; he's dead," the brothers assured him. Joseph then became angry and said, "How can you lie? You sold him as a slave! I bought him and can call him right now." Joseph then called out, "Joseph, son of Jacob, come here right now to speak to your brothers..."
Terrified, the brothers turned to see if Joseph was coming. When Joseph saw that his brothers were prepared to meet their brother and ask for his forgiveness, he then spoke to them in Hebrew, "Who are you looking for? I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?" (Notice that Joseph revealed himself to his brothers using Hebrew speech as the token of his identity.) When Joseph saw his brothers draw back in fear at his shocking disclosure, he reassured them by saying, g'shu na elai - "Please come near to me; come and see..."
When Joseph's father Jacob later learned that his long-lost son was indeed alive, vatechi ruach ya'akov avihem - "the spirit of their father Jacob was revived." Though for over 22 years Jacob was bereaved, all along his beloved son was only a few days journey away from him. According to Jewish tradition, Joseph never told Jacob about his betrayal by his brothers, not even when Jacob was on his deathbed. His love forbade him to engage in lashon hara (evil speech) or to bring further pain to his father.
The revelation of Joseph and his reconciliation with his brothers is a prophetic picture of acharit ha-yamim (the "End of Days") when the Jewish people, in Great Tribulation, will come to Yeshua as Israel's deliverer. Presently, the veil is still over the eyes of the Jewish people and they collectively regard Yeshua as an "Egyptian" of sorts.
On a pe'shat level (i.e., literal sense), when Joseph revealed his identity: ani Yosef ha'od avi chai ("I am Joseph; is my father alive?"), he was asking his brothers if his father Jacob was still physically alive. This is puzzling, since in earlier encounters the brothers attested that Jacob was very much alive... On a sod level (i.e., in a mysterious sense), since Joseph is a picture of Yeshua (Mashiach ben Yosef), the question can be phrased, "I am Yeshua - is My father alive?," that is, do you now understand the righteousness of God the Father in raising me from the dead and promoting me to His right hand? Yeshua therefore evokes the confession of faith from the beloved Jewish people: "I am your brother Yeshua: do you now understand that My Father is alive?"
Time is short, chaverim... We are approaching the End of Days and time of "Great Tribulation." In a soon-coming hour Yeshua will speak comforting words to His long-lost brothers (in Hebrew, to be sure!) and restore their place of blessing upon the earth. May He come speedily, and in our days. Maran ata, Yeshua!
[ "When I look upon the world, it often seems to me that the universe were dead, and I had been left, the only living man. From whom, then, can I ask help, outside of God?" - R' Bunam. ]
01.04.23 (Tevet 11, 5783) The late Henri Nouwen said that there are two great fears (or wounds) that we all face. The first is the fear that we were not wanted at the time of our birth into this world, and the second is that we will not be wanted at the time of our death. "Not being welcome is your greatest fear. It connects with your birth fear, your fear of not being welcome in this life, and your death fear, your fear of not being welcome in the life after this. It is the deep-seated fear that it would have been better if you had not lived" (Inner Voice of Love). If you carry a wound of abandonment within your heart - if you live in dread over your worth as a human being, seriously wondering whether it would have been better had you never been born, then you know the taste of hell itself - the emotional prison of feeling lost, defective, rejected, shameful - unable to love or to be loved...
Is not the lament of the lonely heart to find a sense of welcome, or acceptance, or peace within? Is it not the heart's cry for connection? Yet even the very gospel message cannot make traction within a heart lost to its own shame... Therefore the miracle of salvation is profoundly connected with faith that you are loved and lovable - despite yourself - and that this love derives from the core of all that truly exists. Is this not "home" in the spiritual sense? Is this not "Zion, the perfection of holiness?" That God prepares a table for you in the presence of your enemies, yea, those enemies of self-rejection, abandonment, fear, and shame? And that there - in the midst of your lost and forlorn condition you are found, treasured, and celebrated? Is not that "place" God's very heart - Jesus dying upon the cross, gasping for each breath - knowing everything about you and loving you anyway?
Moses asks us to "soften our hearts" by remembering that we are beloved of God (see Deut. 10:12-16). He reminds us that the though Lord is "the God of gods" (אֱלהֵי הָאֱלהִים) - the power that transcends the gods of our idolatry (i.e., our fears, our disordered attachments, our shame), and the "Lord of lords" (אֲדנֵי הָאֲדנִים) - the Center and Authority of what is most real, he nevertheless cares for the lowly orphan and the grieving widow - he reaches out to the needy and the abandoned - and he desires to console the "stranger," the one shattered of heart, who has no sense of belonging, no pride of tribe, nor place to lay his head (see Deut. 10:17-18). God cares about those who are lost, hurting, and alone: He came to save all such from their despair...
But how does God reach the bound soul that walks alone among the tombs, cutting himself in his torment? How can he heal the deep trauma, the disassociated and broken of heart? How else but by the miracle of his intervention, quickening an otherwise numb and dead heart to come alive, to breathe in hope, and to begin to believe that - despite everything that has happened - he was wanted all along, from the very beginning, and that the wound of his sorrow was given so that he could find out who he really is and where he really belongs... The wound you were given is part of your story, and healing comes from accepting God's love for you -- and understanding how the Lord goes through the wound with you and for you...
Life in this fallen world is likened to a vapor or a passing shadow (Psalm 144:4). Ha'kol oveir: Nothing abides; good things here never last; and we labor under the unmentionable anxiety that death will separate us from everyone and everything we love. However, death is not the end for the us, for "love is stronger than death, passion fiercer than the grave; its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD" (Song 8:6).
"What will death be like?" they asked the Master. "It will be as if a veil is ripped apart and you will say in wonder, "So it was you all along!" (De Mello). Death is a most poignant homecoming, a place of joyful welcome, wherein all shall be well for ever. The righteous have an everlasting foundation in the faithful heart of God. Faith in the LORD believes that a single supreme, all-knowing, all-powerful and benevolent spiritual Power directs all things, and that Messiah is the beginning, middle, and end of all conscious meaning, truth, and substance, as it is written: כִּי הַכּל מִיָּדוֹ הַכּל בּוֹ וְהַכּל לוֹ הוּא, "For from him and through him and to him are all things" (Rom. 11:36). A life of faith in the one true God imparts the blessing of shalom (inner peace) and assures the heart that all shall be made well by the love of God. So then, "if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we belong to the Lord" (Rom. 14:8). For the believer in Messiah, death does not define us, and indeed, we trust that God will attend to us in the moment of our utmost extremity (John 5:24; 11:25-26). If we desire eternal life with all our hearts and remember our end before the Lord, we will be free of the fear of death. Amen v'amen.
