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Jewish Holiday Calendar
For November 2025 site updates, please scroll past this entry.... The Torah divides the calendar into two symmetrical halves: the Spring and the Fall, indicating the two advents of Messiah. The Biblical year officially begins during the month of the Passover from Egypt (called Rosh Chodashim, see Exod. 12:2), and the spring holidays of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits both recall our deliverance from Egypt and also our greater deliverance given by means of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah, the great Passover Lamb of God. Yeshua was crucified on erev Pesach, buried during Unleavened Bread, and was resurrected on Yom Habikkurim (Firstfruits). The holiday of Shavuot (i.e., "Pentecost") both commemorates the revelation of the Torah at Sinai as well as the revelation of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) at Zion, in fulfillment of the promise given by our Lord....The intermediate months of summer end with the advent of the sixth month of the calendar, called the month of Elul, which recalls the time Moses interceded on behalf of Israel after the sin of the Golden Calf. To commemorate this time of our history, we likewise focus on teshuvah (repentance) in anticipation of Rosh Hashanah and especially in anticipation of Yom Kippur, the great "Day of Atonement." In Jewish tradition the 30 days of Elul are combined with the first ten days of the seventh month (called the "Days of Awe") to set apart "Forty Days of Teshuvah" leading up to the Day of Forgiveness for Israel. Immediately following Yom Kippur, the mood changes as we begin preparing for a joyous week-long celebration called Sukkot (i.e., "Tabernacles") that concludes with the holiday of Simchat Torah.
The Fall Holidays:
The fall festivals prophetically indicate the Day of the LORD, the second coming of Yeshua, the great national turning of the Jewish people, and the establishment of the reign of the Messiah upon the earth during the Millennial Kingdom in the world to come.Note that in accordance with tradition, holiday dates begin at sundown. Moreover, some holidays may be postponed one day if they happen to fall on the weekly Sabbath:
1. Month of Tishri (Mon. Sept. 22nd [eve] - Tues. Oct. 21st [day]) - Fall holidays begin
2. Month of Cheshvan (Tues. Oct. 21st [eve] - Thurs. Nov. 20th [day])
3. Month of Kislev (Thurs. Nov. 20th [eve] - Fri. Dec. 21st [day])
4. Month of Tevet (Fri., Dec. 19th [eve] - Sun. Jan. 18th [day])
Note: For more about the dates of these holidays see the Calendar pages....
November 2025 Updates
This week's Torah:Parashat Vayishlach...
We always read parashat Vayishlach a week or two before Chanukah when we connect the vision and ministry of Joseph with that of Yeshua, the Suffering Servant Savior of the world...11.30.25 (Kislev 10, 5786) Our Torah portion this week (i.e., Vayishlach) contains the famous account of how Jacob "wrestled" with the Angel of the LORD (מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה) just before he encountered his estranged brother Esau. During the "grappling" session (recall the meaning of Jacob's name), the Angel injured Jacob's thigh, but Jacob refused to release his hold until he received the blessing (הַבְּרָכָה). The LORD then asked him, "What is your name (מַה־שְּׁמֶךָ)?" And he said, "Jacob" (i.e., Ya'akov: יַעֲקב). The Angel then replied, "Your name shall no longer be Ya'akov (i.e., "heel holder" [of Esau]) but Yisrael (i.e., "contender with God"), for as a prince (i.e., sar: שַׂר) you have contended (i.e., sarita: שָׂרִיתָ) with God and with men and have prevailed" (Gen. 32:28). This encounter teaches that Jacob finally received the blessing when he refused to let his past determine his spiritual identity and destiny. With God's help he overcame the pain and shame of his past through faith.Likewise each of us must "go to Peniel" to wrestle with the Angel, just as each of us must be renamed from Ya'akov ("a supplanter") to Israel ("a prince with God"). When the Spirit of Truth asks, "What is your name," may the LORD God grant you the courage to refuse to "let go" until you receive the divine blessing of love and acceptance...
The word vayishlach (וַיִּשְׁלַח) means "and he sent" (from shalach, שׁלח, "to send"). The sages comment that like Jacob, each person of faith is a shaliach (שָׁלִיחַ), or an "emissary" sent out to bear witness to others of the reality and true blessing of God. And may the LORD God of Israel help you, friend, serve as an extension (שְׁלוּחָה) of His loving and gracious Presence to all you may encounter this day.... L'shavuah tov b'Yeshua Adoneinu, chaverim...Hebrew LessonGenesis 32:3a reading (click):
Vayishlach Outline:
Knowing what is Real...
"Theology is the science of living before God." - William Ames11.30.25 (Kislev 10, 5786) Though we believe that God is everywhere and "in him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28), he is not experienced through objective observation but rather inwardly, by means of the heart. This is true for two basic reasons. First, God literally cannot be experienced as an "object" both because we are unable to see him in his essence, and also because as the "Ground of Being" he is necessarily beyond the domain of objective measurement or "definite description." Secondly, God is a Spirit who "dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see," which again makes his infinite existence on a different plane altogether, beyond the horizon of human understanding. Therefore Scripture calls God "the King of eternity, immortal, invisible, and full of glory" (1 Tim. 1:17).Now while we cannot directly see God, we can rationally discern or infer his existence though the effects of nature itself. "The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork" (Psalm 19:1); "the invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead" (Rom. 1:20; Rev. 4:11). Furthermore, God has "set eternity" within each human heart (Eccl. 3:11; Gen. 1:27) which provides inner witness to his reality as the Creator and Judge of all the world (Rom. 2:15). This "general revelation," as it has come to be called, has been expressed in various logical arguments for God's existence over the years, including the "cosmological" argument (the universe exists because God is its first cause); the "teleological" argument (the universe displays purpose and intelligent design); the "ontological" argument (God is known intuitively by reflecting on the nature of existence itself); the "moral" argument (moral and aesthetic values indicate that right and wrong are grounded in God as the Lawgiver); the argument from religious experience (people encounter "transcendental" and spiritual meaning in life that points to God), and so on. In this present age, however, we see through "a glass darkly," which means we see indirectly by means of analogy or "riddles," and our language about God will therefore be analogical and incomplete. Faith is the "substance of hope" and the "conviction of the unseen" (Heb. 11:1) and the person of faith "sees the One who is invisible" (Heb. 11:27). It confesses that "we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor. 5:1)."Science," understood to be an empirical inquiry of observed natural phenomena, is blind to God because God cannot be observed using its methods. In general science assumes that everything that happens in the world has natural causes and that observation and experiments of specific instances can be used to form scientific generalizations. Scientific protocols attempt to guard against "hasty generalizations" by testing repeated samples or creating repeatable conditions that are peer reviewed and confirmed, though it must be added that at best inductive reasoning leads to probable and tentative conclusions, not to deductive certainty.In general, the more observations of a correlation, the stronger the conclusion, and if a tested hypothesis indicates a constant correlation, it may be accorded the status of being a "scientific law," such as Newton's three laws of motion. Nevertheless, even these "laws" are only probable, since they are based on inductive logic, that is, individual observations or experiments, and we cannot with certainty say that the future will resemble the past and that what has been observed in the past will necessarily apply to unobserved future instances. This uncertainty is sometimes called the "problem of induction" and it is a problem because induction relies on constant assumptions about the uniformity of time and space that are not observable using the tools of science itself. I should add that the problem of induction is not that science predicts outcomes or make inferences about cause and effect, but rather that it assumes axioms that are to be unreflectively accepted and regarded objectively true. For instance, even though people have observed the sun rise every day, it is possible that it might not rise tomorrow. Likewise the observation of certain types of genetic mutations in plants or animals does not "prove" that it is the mechanism of evolutionary theory. I believe that true scientific inquiry should understand its epistemological limitations and to acknowledge that its paradigms or models are inherently speculative and subject to revision. This is especially true when science is employed as part of the medical industry to sell treatments or cures, or when untested vaccines are "sold" as a remedy for a virus based on tentative subgroup sampling and outcomes that have weak (or no) statistical correlation to support such marketing claims. As Karl Popper once wrote: "Science, like any other human aspiration, is liable to self-deception. If we are uncritical we shall always find what we want: we shall look for, and find, confirmations, and we shall look away from, and not see, whatever might be dangerous to our pet theories. In this way it is only too easy to obtain what appears to be overwhelming evidence in favor of a theory which, if approached critically, would have been refuted."Today we live in an age of "scientism," an ideology that unscrupulously claims that science (and the scientific method) is the only arbiter and source of all truth. Honest science has historically been based on the formulation of hypotheses (educated guesses) combined with controlled observations and inductive reasoning to identify probable patterns of cause and effect relationships, but postmodern "scientism" is really a philosophical theory that ignores the limitations of inductive reasoning and pretends that only science gives us the "true" or "best" explanation about everything about "God, the universe, and everything." The claim that science is the only source of knowledge is itself not a scientific statement, of course, nor is the assumption that the scientific method is the "best" way to know things. Indeed saying so expresses a bias and commits the fallacy of assuming the truth of its own conclusion. Do we need science to teach us what it means to love our children? Do we need science to explain what beauty is? To feel our pain? To validate our dreams? In a way scientism repeats the ancient adage of the Sophist Protagoras that "Man is the measure of all things." Scientism is not real science, of course, but a faith system that believes that the "salvation" of the human species or "good outcomes" can only be found using the powers of science as directed by scientific overlords. It is a simplistic and reductionistic philosophy that disregards other modes of knowing "God, the universe, and everything."In the Scriptures we are instructed to "renew" our minds, which implies questioning the godless assumptions of worldly culture and resisting the temptation to flow with "preconscious" acceptance of habitual ways of seeing and thinking. For instance, our culture inculcates the idea that science should be regarded as the voice of authority about what is real.Just a moment of reflection, however, will prove that science is a faith system that inescapably believes many metaphysical axioms, including assumptions about time (i.e., that the future will "resemble" the past), about motion (i.e., that natural processes are "uniform"), about space (that there is an external world that is knowable to the human mind); about the capability of the mind to define and represent things (e.g., that measurement "makes traction" with this external world and can be used to predict outcomes); about values (i.e., that it is "better" to know rather than not to know; or that the scientific method is an "good way" to develop inductive inferences, or that a given theory is "elegant," etc.). Note that these various axioms are not based on scientific inquiry itself (which is based on evidence and repeatable empirical measurement), but they are brought to science as assumptions used to frame or organize a particular "paradigm." In other words, science is a system of faith about what constitutes "reality," and like any other faith system, it needs to undergo testing to see if its inferences and claims provide the best explanation for what is real. For instance, does the naturalistic view of reality espoused by evolutionary cosmologists best explain the meaning of life? Does it account, for instance, for the electromagnetic pulse of the individual human heart? For the aesthetic wonder of the beauty? For poetry, or the longing of heart for love? for friendship? truth? for eternal life?It is important to understand that there are real limits to scientific knowledge and its interpretations of reality (as explained by Immanuel Kant). The mind has a framework that filters experience. True science is a humble endeavor because it realizes its conclusions are tentative and open to falsification; it is based on verifiable research that has undergone the rigors of peer-reviewed testing and cross-examination. However not all that is claimed to be "science" deserves the title. For example consider that the theory of macro evolution that claims (without any empirical evidence) the universe simply exploded into being out of absolutely nothing for no logical reason whatsoever... It should be obvious that if we define science as "the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena," macro evolutionary theory is not true science, since it is not based on the direct observation of how the universe originated, etc., though the observation of expected results if it were true can be admitted, so long as it is understood that such evidence is inductive and therefore not demonstrable by logic (that is, if p then q, q, therefore p is not a valid form of reasoning). And as for the "noumenal" realm of reality, that is what things are "in themselves," science of course can say nothing...Many people ascribe to the realm of "science" powers it simply does not have, just as are many people are unaware that science is grounded in philosophical assumptions that transcend the realm of scientific knowledge altogether. It is wise, therefore, when presented with a scientific claim that something is true, to respectfully ask for the logical reasons and the "warrant" (i.e., data sets, methodologies, etc.) for believing the claim is justified. Remember that relying on self-professed testimonial is not sufficient warrant since such testimony may be biased, as for example when pharmaceutical companies claim the efficacy of a particular medication or vaccine. As a matter of fact, genuine scientific consensus is quite rare, and we should remember that scientific knowledge is an ongoing process that ever-approximates what is true. Modern experimental science is a relatively young field of study, and it was not long ago that science thought the earth was flat, that leeches and bloodletting were prescribed to cure illnesses; that phrenology and lobotomies were used to "cure" mental illness, and so on. Be wise and test truth claims, chaverim. If there are peer-reviewed studies that independently confirm the probable truth of a given hypothesis, then that is to be respected and taken into consideration, but unthinking acceptance of statements made by unqualified authorities (such as politicians, mass media pop stars, or a former Microsoft CEO) about the efficacy or interpretation of scientific data is not.Other people, perhaps jaded over the complexities, regard the value of science in "pragmatic" terms, saying that it is "true" simply because it "works" to bring about desired outcomes. William James wrote about this in his book on "pragmatism" where he said that "truth" only means that something has practical or "cash-value" in human experience. Of course this begs questions about what is a "good" or desired outcome (these may be very different things), and whether there is an obligation to do prescribe utilitarian principles at all. Does the state have the right to enforce that a secular humanist and evolutionary worldview must be taught to young children in public schools because it of its practical benefits of controlling individuality and religious convictions? Do utilitarian principles apply to social, political, and religious ideas, and if so, is it a form of censorship to enforce "tolerance" as a means of social control and compliance? Is there really a "calculus" to determine the "greatest good for the greatest number of people," and even if there is (which I doubt), does this not imply that the good of the majority is always the best?As I hope you can see, science is not godlike in its power; it is neither omnipresent nor omnipotent, nor is it the exclusive domain of substantive knowledge about "God, the universe and everything." Indeed there are other ways of knowing things that must be taken into account for the sake of understanding the whole picture about how we know things. Appeals to intuition, mystical awareness, spiritual experiences, the apprehension of beauty, the testimony of conscience - both good and evil - are inherent to the human condition. The careful study of history likewise can attest to the historicity of Jesus and his resurrection from the dead. Spirituality cannot be reduced to physics and biochemistry without being absurd. The secularist who claims that cosmic evolutionary theory is scientifically true is therefore absurd, for a moment's reflection shows that origin of the universe is not based on observation and at best is a speculative story devised to account for being, time, and change without reference to the Creator of the universe... I did not intend this to be a "deep dive" into "epistemology" (i.e., the study of how we can know things) or the philosophy of science (the study of how science attempts to justify its thinking), but merely to point out that any theory of reality that forgets or suppresses the existence of God is doomed to be wrong. Honest science may provide knowledge and applied technologies, but it cannot provide wisdom; it may believe that knowledge is good, but it cannot say why without philosophical justification; it can produce various technologies, but it cannot prescribe how to ethically use them; it may fantasize about utopia, nirvana, or eternal life, but it is powerless to find it. Allow me to go a bit further. True science, that is honest science that is conscious of its limitations, nevertheless can discover facts that ultimately point to God. Why is there something rather than nothing at all? The third law of Newton states that "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." In other words, everything that exists has a cause for its existence. The universe itself exists, so it requires a cause to explain its being. If time is "infinite," how did we arrive at this moment? The idea of a Creator of the universe is therefore a rational belief, perhaps even self-evidently true, that coheres with the observation of the universe. Of course the existence of God is something beyond the scope of empirical observation, but scientific cosmology discovers the "fine-tuning" of the universe and its precise calibration that allows for the existence of life. The astounding intricacy of gravity, magnetism, the distance of the earth from the sun, the viable atmosphere of the earth, etc., all indicate divine intelligence and design rather than the "randomness and chaos" that would result from an impersonal and inexplicable "big bang." This same intelligent design is evidenced in biological systems, especially on the molecular level.The Christian philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) indicated the limits of science by restricting it to the realm of phenomena, shifting the focus of knowledge away from objects to the role of the observing subject. What is observed is constrained by how the mind imposes a sense of space, time, and causality as it interprets and experiences the world. This is part of being created in the image of God (i.e., be'tzelem Elohim: בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים) wherein the structures of the mind enable us to understand and to correspond truth to reality. There are indeed limitations to how we can know, however, as the "thing in itself" (German: Ding an sich) is hidden from us, though God has endowed human beings with practical reason to be able to live and to navigate intelligibly in this world.Kant's famous three questions, namely "What can I know?" "What ought I do?" and "What may I hope?" all concern what it means to be a human being, and each of these questions are beyond the scope of the scientific method. Kant appealed to the sense of awe and wonder of life as evidence for the presence of God: "Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the most often we steadily reflect on them: the starry heaven above and the moral law within me. I do not seek or conjecture either of them as if they were veiled obscurities or extravagances beyond the horizon of my vision; I see them before me and connect them immediately with the consciousness of my existence" (Critique of Practical Reason).Science purports to value truth, but it is powerless to reveal the reverence for what is most important about life itself. Kant's appeal is not to abstract knowledge but to the intuitions of the heart as these are immediately present to consciousness and are basic to human existence. "The awe of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding" (Prov. 9:10). The one essential truth from which there is no escape is the fact of God, and yet, like father Abraham, we must choose to see what is invisible in order to discern what real. Each of us must "come to himself," that is, to turn and reconnect to our spiritual essence, our identity, and our heart (Luke 15:17). We have to start the journey there, because ultimate reality is intensely personal, being grounded in the "who-ness" of God. It is within the consciousness of our own "I am," our deepest identity as a personal, thinking, and feeling being, that we are able to relate to the person and heart of the great "I AM" of the LORD. Abraham is the exemplar of faith for us and indeed he is called the "father of faith" (Isa. 51:1-2; Rom. 4:16; Gal. 3:29). Abraham courageously searched for God in his emptiness, and God graciously answered the cry of his heart. He left everything behind as he journeyed into the realm of promise - regarding himself as someone chosen to know God's blessing and grace. He was able to walk by faith because he stopped listening to the worldly and unbelieving parts of himself - and therefore he was able to hear and to see God's truth. "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that I will seek after" (Psalm 27:4). As we receive light, more light will be given (John 13:17). "You compass my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways" (Psalm 139:3). Quite literally. God is present; His name YHVH (יהוה) means this very thing. All of life, all of existence, bears witness to his power, his beauty, and his goodness. We see it in the stars; we feel it in the evening breeze; we ache for it in our heart's cry for love, for mercy, for home. "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of Hosts (יהוה צְבָאוֹת), all the earth is filled with his glory" (Isa. 6:3). Blaise Pascal once wrote in his Pensees: "The heart has its reasons that reason knows not of," and "the last function of reason is to recognize that there are an infinity of things which surpass it." He also noted the truth that "Il n'est pas certain que tout soit incertain" - it is not certain that everything is uncertain. Human intuition, our feelings, a sense of wonder and awe, our personal encounters with the Spirit of God, and our hope for ultimate meaning, all provide us with genuine understanding that is not accessible through pure logic and rational thought alone. We encounter God's presence when we read the Bible and when we pray: God whispers to our heart and His Spirit comforts us. We sense him in our deepest hopes and fears; we glimpse his glory as we surrender to the beauty of a sunset or feel the expanse of the sea; we feel his heart as we embrace our spouse or hug our children; we know his care as we tend our pains, sigh our heartaches, and find hope despite the fragility of our waning days. And we know him in our hope that one day we shall rejoice in unspeakable joy as we are taken beyond the veil to there behold Him face to face... Amen.
"In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't." - Blaise Pascal11.28.25 (Kislev 8, 5786) Instead of regarding the Bible as a "Book of Answers" for our questions, it is worthwhile to think of it as a "Book of Questions" for our answers. As we listen, God questions us so that we can know him by means of the dialog within our hearts. As any good teacher knows, when a student earnestly wrestles with a question he learns more than if he were given a straightforward answer. As Soren Kierkegaard once said there are many who arrive at conclusions in much the way schoolboys do: "they cheat their teachers by copying the answer book without having worked the problem out themselves." We may be able to parrot creedal formulas or recite catechisms, yet in the end it is our own responsibility to make an authentic faith commitment.The Lord allows to be without answers so that we will be free to seek, to struggle, and to "own" what we come to understand through our relationship with him... That way our learning will be real, substantive, and born from the urgency our own inner need. Indeed, God's very first question to man is always, ayekah: "Where are you?" (Gen. 3:9), which appeals for us to acknowledge how we hide from the truth. "Where are you?" is the poignant call of the Seeking Father for his lost child, and the question only becomes "our own" when we are willing to look at how we've come to be at this place in our lives. God's question to our heart is meant to lead us out of hiding to respond to his loving call...Hebrew LessonPsalm 119:130 reading (click for audio):
Thomas Aquinas' most significant work was his Summa theologiae or 'Summary of Theology,' a massive book that attempted to systematize all of Christian theology. He worked on it from 1266 through 1273, but when he was nearly finished, he underwent an experience so intense that, as he himself explained, everything he had written "seemed like straw." He thereafter gave up writing about theology after he encountered the Reality itself.Everything is inherently mysterious, since everything ultimately expresses the inscrutable will and decrees of God.... Ask yourself with earnestness of heart: Where do I come from? Who am I? Where am I going? For what reason was I created? The first step is to wonder, to ask the searching questions, and to seek God's wisdom... The LORD is faithful and will reveal truth to the heart that seeks.. It is too easy to be preoccupied with everyday concerns and to miss the marvel and sheer wonder of existence itself. If you will approach these questions with humility and reverence, you will be filled with wonder, your heart will be filled with greater fervor, and you will hunger more than ever for God's Presence.
11.27.25 (Kislev 7, 5786) It is good to thank the LORD for all things, even for our afflictions, because they present an opportunity to come before God in prayer (James 5:13). Suffering offers us a nisayon (נִסָּיוֹן), a test, for our hearts to be exercised in ways otherwise rendered impossible should the path of our lives be attended without real struggle...In this connection I am reminded of a quote from Sadhu Sundar Singh, "Should pain and suffering, sorrow, and grief, rise up like clouds and overshadow for a time the Sun of Righteousness and hide Him from your view, do not be dismayed, for in the end this cloud of woe will descend in showers of blessing on your head, and the Sun of Righteousness rise upon you to set no more for ever" (Wisdom of the Sadhu).It's been said that both the devil and God want your soul, but their approaches are diametrically opposite to one another.... God offers you a bitter cup that, after it has been duly tasted, will be turned sweet, whereas the devil offers you an artificially sweetened cup that, after it has been duly tasted, will be found bitter to the last of its dregs... When you accept your suffering as permitted by God - by the LORD of Glory who could easily deliver you from all trace of its presence in but the twinkling of an eye – your heartache is sanctified, and your praise becomes more dear to Him. Only the wise and loving LORD knows how bitter waters may be made sweet; only the great Refiner of our souls knows how to bring eternal beauty up from ashes... "So heal me, O LORD (even if that means suffering and pain for my life), and I shall be healed; save me, O LORD (do whatever it takes to bring me to the end of myself), and I shall be saved – for you are my praise" (Jer. 17:14).Whether you are afflicted or are feeling happy, you have a great opportunity to glorify your Father in Heaven by offering Him your praise.... Praising God is the appropriate response to all of reality; the affirmation of God's glory transforms everything. "Is anyone among you feeling bad? Let him pray. Is anyone feeling good? Let him sing praise" (James 5:13). Remember that regardless of how you presently feel, your emotional life is centered in the truth of the Presence of God... As George Mueller once affirmed, "Be assured – if you walk with Him and look to Him, and expect help from Him, He will never fail you."Hebrew LessonPsalm 92:1 reading (click for audio):
Gratitude and Seeing...
Happy Thanksgiving Day, friends... 11.27.25 (Kislev 7, 5786) Gratitude is essential to the life of faith... We read in the Torah: "And you shall bless the LORD your God for the good" (Deut. 8:10). Whenever we derive benefit or enjoyment from something we are to bless (i.e., thank) God for his goodness. Indeed the Hebrew term for gratitude is hakarat tovah (הַכָּרַת טוֹבָה), a phrase that means "recognizing the good." The heart looks through the eye, and therefore how we see is ultimately a spiritual decision: "If your eye is "single" (i.e., ἁπλοῦς, sincere, focused)," Yeshua said, "your whole body will be filled with light" (Matt. 6:22). When we see rightly, we are awakened to God's Presence in the little things of life, those small miracles and "signs and wonders" that constantly surround us. The good eye of faith sees hundreds of reasons to bless God for the precious gift of life (1 Cor. 10:31). "Give thanks to the LORD for He is good; his love endures forever" (Psalm 136:1); "Gve thanks to the LORD always" (Col. 3:17; Eph. 5:20; 1 Thess. 5:18)... Gratitude is foundational to our lives as followers of Yeshua. Indeed there are really only two prayers we ever offer to God, namely "Help, LORD!" and "Thank you, LORD." Meister Eckhart once remarked that if the only prayer you said in your entire life was, "thank you," that would suffice... Genuine prayer ultimately resolves to an expression of thanks. We are to "praise the Bridge that carries us over" into the Presence and Love of God, and that Bridge is Yeshua our Lord.The "thank offering" mentioned in the Torah (i.e., zevach ha-todah: זֶבַח הַתּוֹדָד) is also mentioned in the New Testament. In the Book of Hebrews were are instructed to "continually offer up a sacrifice of thanks (זֶבַח תּוֹדָה) to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his Name" (Heb. 13:15). It is interesting to note that the Greek verb used to "offer up" (i.e., ἀναφέρω) is used to translate the Hebrew verb "to draw near" (karov) in Leviticus. In other words, the "offering up of thanks" for the sacrifice of Yeshua functions as "korban" and draws us near to God. Thanking God for our personal deliverance constitutes "right sacrifices" (זִבְחֵי־צֶדֶק) as we draw near to God in the truth of His love (Psalm 4:5; Heb. 7:19). Hebrew Lesson:Psalm 103:1 Hebrew Reading:
Heirs of the Spirit (יורשי הרוח)
11.26.25 (Kislev 6, 5786) "Not all who are (physically) descended from Israel (οἱ ἐξ Ἰσραήλ) are (spiritually) Israel, nor are all (physical) descendants (σπέρμα) of Abraham his (spiritual) children (τέκνα); but ביצחק יקרא לך זרע - 'in Isaac shall your seed be called'" (Rom. 9:6-7; Gen. 21:12, 32:28), which is to say that a child of promise is brought forth by the power of God, and not by means of human agency (see John 1:12-13). Though both Ishmael and Isaac were physical descendants of Abraham, the former was born "of the flesh" (κατὰ σάρκα) whereas the latter was born "of the Spirit" (ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος), and this is why Isaac was the true heir of the faith.
Note how faith expresses the direction of life. Isaac surrendered himself as a sacrifice to God, whereas Ishmael contended for worldly power. The "children of the flesh" often regard themselves as "free" when in fact they are slaves since they do not know the blessing of true surrender to God. Friend, if you are depending on your own inner strength, your resolve, or your "religion" to save you, then you have not taken hold of the promise, for it is receiving the promise of God that imparts life. You may regard yourself as a "spiritual" person but be a stranger to the heart of Reality. We are healed from the sickness of spiritual death only by the power of God, by being reborn with a radically new nature though the agency of the Spirit, not by attempting to "reform" our lower nature nor by taking pride in our lineage, religion, or our status in this world (Matt. 3:9, John 8:39-45). "It is the Spirit that makes alive; the flesh is of no use at all" (John 6:63).Hebrew LessonDeut. 7:6b reading (click):
11.26.25 (Kislev 6, 5786) There is a great danger today of fearing the wrong things, and despairing over that which is trivial in light of eternity. "What will it profit a person if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall someone give in return for his soul?" What we fear says a lot about what we worship. If we cling to life in this world we are focusing on "lying vanities" (Jonah 2:8).Despair is a gift from God, however, if it is received as a message from above to wake up to what is most essential to life. "And this is the simple truth - that to live is to feel oneself lost. He who accepts it has already begun to find himself, to be on firm ground. Instinctively, as do the shipwrecked, he will look around for something to which to cling, and that tragic, ruthless glance, absolutely sincere, because it is a question of his salvation, will cause him to bring order into the chaos of his life. These are the only genuine ideas; the ideas of the shipwrecked. All the rest is rhetoric, posturing, farce" (Kierkegaard). Kierkegaard further mused in his journal: "The purpose of life here below is to carry us to the highest degree of taedium vitae ("weariness of life"). When God does everything to rob a person of any inclination to live, yet that person persists in faith that God is love, such a one has become ripe for eternity." Like Jonah we first must be "swallowed up" in consciousness of our own hopelessness before we realize that we are without remedy apart from God's intervention and deliverance. We start there - in the "belly of the fish" - and later are brought forth by God's mercy and grace. This is the place of the cross, the "narrow gate" that leads to life. As we look to Yeshua, as we lean on him, he reveals more of himself to us.Hebrew LessonPsalm 86:13 reading (click):
Hillel the Elder had said, "If I am not for myself then who will be for me? (אם אין אני לי מי לי); But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?" (Avot 1:14). 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 Kierkegaard perceived, the self is "a relation which relates itself to its own self," that is, the self is always in a state of dialog. A healed self relates itself to God as the Ground of existence, since otherwise irremediable despair will result, eternal lostness within, and everlasting sickness of soul...In Hebrew, "to pray" is "hitpallel" (התפלל), from the root palal (פלל) that can mean to mediate, to intercede, or to judge. The prefix "hit-" (הת-) implies reflective action and is always connected with the root, and therefore we can put this together to understand that praying means judging oneself, or mediating your life in light of the truth of God. In this sense it is a form of soul searching and taking personal responsibility for your life. The remedy for being a lost self, relating only to itself without any center or ground, is to turn to God and to find your place in God's love and blessing. 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" in trust. As Yeshua said, "whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it" (Luke 18:17).
Always the First Step...
"Salvation is free, but discipleship will cost you your life." - Bonhoeffer11.26.25 (Kislev 6, 5786) There is a core element of our spiritual life that is all-determinative, that affects everything else, and that is the decision of whether we will choose to "show up," whether we will engage it's hope; and whether we will open our eyes and yield ourselves to the light... And this is an ongoing decision. Therefore we read: "If you walk in my statutes (אִם־בְּחֻקּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ) and observe my commandments and do them..." (Lev. 26:3). The sages note that unlike the holy angels, we must "walk out" the faith of our days, and therefore we are always moving either forward or backward. In this world, God's sun shines on the just and unjust alike (Matt. 5:45). Every human being lives by faith of some kind, and it is therefore impossible to opt out of the decision to "choose this day whom we shall serve" (Josh. 24:15). Indifference or apathy is as much a spiritual decision as is outright rebellion, and if we do nothing today to draw us near to the Lord, we will eventually regress and slip backward. This is all very sobering. "No one knows the day or hour," and that's why it is so vital to turn to God and be healed while there is still time. So turn today and bacharta ba'chayim (בָּחַרְתָּ בַּחַיִּים) - "choose life!" "For this commandment (of turning to God) is not hidden from you, and it is not far away... No, the matter is "very near you" (כִּי־קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר מְאד) - in your mouth and your heart - to do it" (Deut. 30:11-14; Rom. 10:8-13).Hebrew LessonDeut. 30:19b reading (click):
Do you now believe?
Christianity isn't hard to believe because it's untrue but because it IS true...11.25.25 (Kislev 5, 5786) Some people are scandalized by what they call "easy believism," or the idea that people only need to believe in Yeshua to be saved. Sometimes they call this teaching "cheap grace" or "sloppy agape," though in fairness it must be stressed there is nothing easy about truly believing, for believing is itself the most essential work of faith.What is easy, however, and what is indeed cheap, is merely professing (or thinking) that you believe without undergoing a miraculous heart transformation. That is very easy.... Anyone can say, "I believe in Jesus," but the test comes down to whether he is living within you. Do you draw life from Him? Is he categorically the most important person in your life? Anyone can claim they are saved, but it is a miracle greater than splitting the sea to undergo divine metamorphosis, to be given a heart that loves unconditionally, that dies to selfish pride, and that lives as the servant of all. Yeshua asks the one who looks to him: "Do you really believe? Many will profess to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord...' but I will say to them, 'I never knew you...' (Matt. 7:22-23). It's not just hard to believe (obey), it's impossible apart from God's radical intervention. It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh is no help at all (John 6:33).At issue here is the nature of believing, that is, what is the object of faith, and the degree to which holding that belief makes a difference in your life. Some beliefs are relatively unimportant, others are important, but only one can be a matter of "ultimate concern." Yeshua says he must be what concerns you most of all, and apart from this passion you will be otherwise "unknown" to him... "Who do you say that I am?" (Matt. 16:15). According to Yeshua, it is essential that your faith agrees with what is true, and the stakes are inestimably high for being misaligned with reality. On the one hand faith in Christ is indeed "easy" because it is grounded in God's grace: "Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly, and you shall find rest for your souls" (Matt. 11:28-29), while on the other hand, it is with "much tribulation that we enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Acts 14:22), and that tribulation includes wrestling through the paradox and choosing to commit your life to the promise. "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). Living by faith does not mean we profess Christianity or "talk theology" like some college professor. It's one thing to believe that something is true, but quite another to believe in the One who is true, the One who infallibly keeps his promises... Human reason can rightly infer that a morally good, all-powerful Creator exists, for example (Rom. 1:20), but it is unable to know God's love that way... Love requires trust, "taking to the heart." We are to "know this day and turn to your heart (והֲשֵׁבתָ אֶל־לְבָבֶךָ) that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other" (Deut. 4:39). We need to know truth (cognitive) and to be moved by the heart (emotional); we need both Spirit and Truth (John 4:24). "For all things come from You (כִּי־מִמְּךָ הַכּל), and from your hand we give to you" (1 Chron. 29:14). Teshuvah centers on Yeshua our Savior: turn to believe in Him!Regarding the question of faith, Soren Kierkegaard once wrote, "The easiness of Christianity is distinguished by one thing only: by the difficulty. Thus the Master's yoke it easy and its burden light -- for the person who has cast off all his burdens, all of them, the burdens of hope and of fear and of despondency and of despair -- yet it is difficult." The core issue has to do with the heartfelt conviction of faith, the "infinite certainty" that is faith's passion, versus the "probabilistic" acceptance of truth that comes from appeals to self interest or even from historical investigation... Yes, the difficult thing is to truly believe in the "for-you miracle" of God's love. As I've said before, sins can be like great possessions that are difficult to give up. Among other things, we must forgive ("give away") our sins (both our own sins and those against us), and that means trusting God enough to bear our wounds for us. Forgiveness allows us to move on with our lives by letting go of the pain of the past (2 Cor. 5:16). The atonement cost God everything, and yet is of no spiritual value until it is accepted into the heart. It is "easy" to understand this, but it is difficult to live it. Therefore let us pray: "Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). Amen.Hebrew LessonGenesis 15:6 reading (click for audio):
Pursuing Inner Peace...
11.25.25 (Kislev 5, 5786) 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. 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 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).
אַשְׁרֵי עשֵׂי שָׁלוֹםכִּי בְּנֵי־אֱלהִים יִקָּרְאוּ
"Blessed are those who love peace,for they shall be called the children of God." (Matt. 5:9)
Hebrew LessonMatthew 5:9 reading (click):
Note that the Greek word translated as "those who love peace" in the New Testament (εἰρηνοποιοί) can also mean "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 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 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.
11.25.25 (Kislev 5, 5786) In our Torah portion this week (Vayetzei) we read: "Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, akhen yesh Adonai ba'makom ha'zeh, ve'anokhi loh yada'ti: 'Surely the LORD is in this place, but I did not know it'" (Gen. 28:16). Jacob had been asleep but was jarred awake. He found himself in awe, sensing the presence of the gateway to heaven. The sages note the grammar here is emphatic, suggesting that Jacob said: "Surely the LORD is in this place -- but am I (וְאָנכִי)? I do not know! (לא יָדָעְתִּי). Jacob had awakened from his dream to realize that he had been dreaming his life away, living in a fantasy world. God is present in this place – but am I? Have I awakened to be present before God?
All religious reality begins with what biblical religion calls the 'fear of God.' It comes when our existence between birth and death becomes incomprehensible and uncanny, when all security is shattered through the mystery. This is not the relative mystery of that which is inaccessible only to the present state of human knowledge and is hence in principle discoverable. It is the essential mystery, the inscrutableness of which belongs to its very nature... Through this dark gate (which is only a gate and not, as some theologians believe, a dwelling) the believing man steps forth into the everyday which is henceforth hallowed as the place in which he has to live with the mystery. He steps forth directed and assigned to the concrete, contextual situations of his existence. That he henceforth accepts the situation as given him by the Giver is what Biblical religion calls the 'fear of God.' - Martin Buber, Eclipse of God
An honest theology must find a place for mystery, for "seeing through a glass darkly," and for the apprehension of awe and wonder. Philosophy (not science) asks the question: "Why is there something rather than nothing at all?" This is a question regarding the "why" of existence itself, the profusion of life as it surrounds us. Is there a reason for existence, a purpose, a direction, a radical meaning? Faith "sees what is invisible" by experiencing reality as revelation: the mystery of life points beyond itself to God's creative and sustaining presence: "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28; Rom. 1:20). Cut open a seed and what do you see, but "the hidden power that makes the fruit grow toward the sky." Likewise what is most real about us is shrouded in profound mystery. We are finite, our lives are short and bounded by darkness, yet we sense God's Spirit, the hidden power that upholds our souls, and we trust that we will indeed live forever because of God's love. As theologian Paul Tillich wrote: "The question of being is not the question of any specific being, its existence and nature, but it is the question of what it means to be. It is the simplest, most profound, and absolutely inexhaustible question – the question of what it means to say something is. The word "is" hides the riddle of all riddles, the mystery that there is anything at all." Though we might try to explain God by way of logic and doctrine, in the end it is the mystery of "Messiah in you - the hope of glory."When God said, "Let there be light, and there was light" (Gen. 1:3), He seemed to put on light as a robe of the Divine Majesty and Kingship: He wrapped Himself with radiance as a tallit gadol... Da lifnei mi attah omed (דַּע לִפְנֵי מִי אַתָּה עוֹמֵד) – "Know before whom you stand." The whole earth is lit up with God's glory, and every bush of the field is aflame before us -- if we have eyes to see (Isa. 6:3). May it please the LORD to open our spiritual eyes so that we can behold more of His glory and majesty in this hour... Amen.Hebrew LessonGen. 28:16b Hebrew Reading:
A fundamental axiom of interpretation is that a text without a context is a pretext... 11.25.25 (Kislev 5, 5786) Where is it written, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the godly one may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17), it is to be noted that "the Scriptures" referred to here are the Jewish Scriptures (i.e., the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings), since they are the foundation, the context, and the overarching matrix for the later New Covenant revelation... These were the Scriptures Yeshua used to contextualize and explain his ministry to his followers: "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24:27). Indeed when Paul wrote these words to Timothy the "New Testament" Scriptures had not yet been compiled by the leaders of the first-generation followers of Messiah.How important is the Torah, friends? It is essential as the foundation for all that follows, including the very meaning of the gospel message! In other words, the Torah has a logical, linguistic, semantic, and theological priority regarding our understanding of the New Testament, and the failure to read in context invariably leads to faulty interpretations and doctrinal errors of various kinds. "To the Jew first, and [then] to the Greek" (Rom. 1:16) is a principle not only of how the gospel message would transcend ethnic Israel to be offered to all the nations, but also about how we should approach the subject of Biblical hermeneutics. God "breathed out" (θεόπνευστος) his revelation in order, and the message itself must be understood in light of that order (Gal. 4:4-5). Moreover, since all of the New Testament finds its semantic roots in the Torah of Moses and the other Hebrew Scriptures, it is important to study Biblical Hebrew first before studying the Greek New Testament, since the Greek words were translated from the ideas originally given in the Hebrew texts of the Torah. All of the Torah is amazingly wonderful; it is an inestimably great blessing! After all, what would we know of the creation of the universe and of humanity apart from its pages? What would we know of the reason for sin, sickness and death -- and therefore our need for salvation itself apart from the account of the fall of man as described in Book of Genesis? Or what we know of God's moral truth apart from the revelation of the law at Sinai? Or how could we understand the need for sacrificial blood atonement apart from the sacrificial laws given in Leviticus? Or how would we understand the struggle of the journey of faith apart from the Book of Numbers? Or how would we appreciate the essential duty to love God with all our hearts -- the great Shema -- and the corresponding duty to love others as we love ourselves apart from the Book of Deuteronomy? So the Torah provides the framework by which we read the Gospels, and apart from this framework we miss much of the original intent and meaning of the Bible... Again, that was Yeshua's approach to the Scriptures, after all. He repeatedly explained to his followers that would have to suffer and die, according to the Scriptures (see Luke 9:22, 9:44; Matt. 16:21; Mark 8:31). He told the disciples on the road of Emmaus: "All things had to be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me (Luke 24:44). Indeed Yeshua chided the rabbis of his day saying: "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; but it is they that bear witness about me" (John 5:39), and he also said, "If you would have believed Moses, you would believe in me, because he wrote about me" (John 5:46). So love the Torah, friends; learn its message and study its passages carefully. That's good New Testament theology, after all: "For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the Scriptures we may have hope" (Rom. 15:4). The Holy Spirit still speaks to the heart of those who love Yeshua, the everlasting King of the Jews: "Oh how I love your Torah (תּוֹרָה); it is my meditation all the day" (Psalm 119:97). For more on this topic, listen to the audio (link below) and read the various articles on Torah here on the Hebrew for Christians website.Hebrew LessonPsalm 119:79 commentary (click to listen):
The Ladder to Heaven...
Our Torah reading this week (Vayetzei) includes the famous vision of Jacob wherein he saw the angels of God ascending and descending a ladder that reached from earth toward heaven. 11.24.25 (Kislev 4, 5786) Recall that after Jacob had received the (second) blessing from his father Isaac, he fled for his life to escape the wrath of his brother Esau. He then came upon a certain place (וַיִּפְגַּע בַּמָּקוֹם) and stayed there for the night because the sun had set. Jacob then "took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep" (Gen. 28:11). And so began Jacob's journey from his homeland to attain the promise of God, and such is the way for us as well, as we first receive our Father's blessing but soon are consigned to desolate places to await things yet unseen. For the way of blessing comes not from the "fatness of the earth" but from the more rarefied "dew from heaven," which descends in mystery, after the sun has set (Gen. 27:28, cp. Gen. 27:39). The faithful "descend in order to ascend," which means they first suffer and then they are glorified. This is the pattern of Yeshua, who emptied himself and suffered before he was raised up in everlasting glory. "Unless a seed of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24; 1 Cor. 15:36). God humbles and tests those whom he loves so they may learn to trust in his promise - his word - and to demonstrate his faithfulness in the end (Deut. 8:3; Rom. 11:36).Note, then, that after being driven from his homeland Jacob dreamed of the ladder with the angels ascending and descending as the LORD himself announced his blessing over his seed (Gen. 28:12-14). Yeshua, as we learn from the gospel (John 1:51) explained that the vision ultimately referred to him - about how the angels followed him during his ascent and descent as the ladder or "bridge" between God and man. The descent refers to Yeshua's incarnation wherein he entered the realm of this world, clothed in human flesh as the Promised Seed, the "Son of Man" who would restore the lost dominion of Adam; whereas the ascent refers to Yeshua's resurrection - the redemption and return of fallen humanity by means of ascension and glorification as LORD over all. Luther understands the angelic host descending and ascending to reveal how the angels love and follow after their Lord -- whose face they do always behold -- eager to behold His advent as our Savior and Redeemer (see Matt. 18:10; 1 Pet. 1:12; 1 Tim. 3:16). Yeshua is Emanuel (עמנו אל), the Heralded Seed through whom all the families of the earth be blessed (Luke 2:8-15).
Returning to the account of the Torah, after Jacob received this dramatic vision, he awoke from his sleep and exclaimed: "Surely God is in this place, but I did not know!" And he was afraid, and said, "How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God (בֵּית אֱלֹהִים), and this is the gate of heaven" (וְזֶה שַׁעַר הַשָּׁמָיִם, Gen. 28:16-17). Amen, Yeshua is ha'makom (המקום), the appointed "Place" of God, the very "House" of His presence; he alone is the way that leads us back to the Father (John 14:6). Yeshua is the Bridge to the Father, the narrow way of passage that leads to life. He has healed us from the sting of death. He calls out to us in the storm saying, "Take heart. It is I; be not afraid" (Matt. 14:27). Amen.Hebrew Lesson:John 14:6 Hebrew reading (click):
11.23.25 (Kislev 3, 5786) Last week's parashah (i.e., Toldot) told how Jacob had successfully supplanted his twin brother Esau by obtaining the blessing as the heir of the chosen family. However, since Esau had threatened to annul the decree by means of murder, if necessary, Jacob fled for Haran to stay with his uncle Laban until things would cool off. While Jacob was on the way to Haran, he came to a "certain place" (ba'makom) and camped there for the night. Using a stone for a pillow, he vividly dreamed of a ladder (sullam) that was set on the earth that reached to the heavens, with the angels of God (malakhei Elohim) ascending and descending upon it. Then the LORD Himself (YHVH) stood above the ladder and promised Jacob that his offspring would be like the dust of the earth, and that through Him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. When he awoke from this dream, Jacob was awestruck and called the place "the house of God" (bet Elohim) and the "Gate of Heaven" (sha'ar hashamayim). The following morning, he took the stone he used as a pillow, anointed it with oil, and consecrated the place as Bet 'El (Bethel). Then he made a vow (neder) that if the LORD would be with him, providing for his needs until he returned home to Beersheva, he would tithe to God one-tenth of all of his possessions and would return to worship and pray at the altar he had just consecrated.When he finally reached Haran, Jacob encountered some shepherds who were gathering their sheep at the local well. After enquiring about the welfare of his uncle Laban and discussing their method of watering the sheep, he saw his beautiful cousin Rachel bringing her father's flock to the well. Jacob immediately rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well, watered her flock, and kissed her. He told her that he was her cousin, her father's sister's son Jacob, who had come from the land of Canaan. Rachel then ran home and told her father Laban, who invited him to stay with him.Jacob had immediately fallen in love with his cousin Rachel and eagerly agreed to work as Laban's shepherd for seven years in order to marry her. After the seven years elapsed, however, Laban "supplanted" Jacob's desire by swapping his eldest daughter Leah for Rachel on the very wedding night -- a deception Jacob later discovered the next morning (presumably Jacob was a bit intoxicated with the previous evening's festivities to not notice the switch!). After protesting to Laban, Jacob was allowed to marry Rachel a week later -- provided that he agreed to work seven more years for his dear father-in-law! Next comes the account of the birth of the twelve sons of Jacob (i.e., the twelve tribes of Israel). When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved by Jacob, he "opened her womb" while her sister Rachel remained childless. Leah gave birth to Jacob's first four sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah. When Rachel realized that she was barren, she followed her great grandmother Sarah's example and offered her handmaiden, Bilhah, to be a surrogate wife. Bilhah then bore Jacob's next two sons: Dan and Naphtali. In the madness of this sibling rivalry, Leah thought she had stopped being able to bear children, so she gave her handmaiden, Zilpah, to Jacob as a surrogate wife. Zilpah then bore two sons: Gad and Asher. However, Leah was not finished with her childbearing after all, and gave birth to two more sons, Issachar and Zebulon.Finally the LORD remembered Rachel's prayers and she gave birth to a son, Joseph (she also gave birth to Benjamin, but that account is given in next week's parashah).
Now after Joseph was born, Jacob wanted to return to Beersheva to see his parents and to settle back in the Promised Land. However Laban persuaded him to remain, offering him sheep in exchange for his labor. Despite his father in law's repeated attempts to cheat him, Jacob nevertheless prospered, since God was with him. After six more years of service, Jacob received a vision from the LORD telling him it was time to return to the land promised to his descendants. After discussing the matter with Rachel and Leah, Jacob decided to flee from the clutches of Laban while he was away shearing sheep, since by this point it was apparent that his father-in-law never would let him leave in peace. Just before the flight from Haran, Rachel stole her father's idols, perhaps intending to cause him bad luck. Three days later, Laban discovered that Jacob had fled. He gathered his men and pursued him, finally catching up to him seven days later at the mountains of Gilad. However, the LORD appeared to him in a dream and warned him not to try to influence Jacob to return to Haran. Laban then rebuked his son-in-law for having left by stealth and accused him of stealing his idols. Jacob denied the accusation and (unwittingly) proclaimed that the real thief would die (a prophecy that was later to be fulfilled with the premature death of Rachel). After searching through Jacob's possessions (which proved fruitless since Rachel had carefully hidden the idols), Jacob was able to finally give his evil father in law a piece of his mind: "These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night."Laban and Jacob then parted after making a peace treaty attested to by a pile of stones. Laban (who was from Paddan-aram, or Syria) called the pile of stones Yegar-sahadutha (Aramaic) but Jacob called it Gal-Ed (Hebrew for "heap of witness").Jacob then got on his way back to the land of Canaan, where he was met by angels from God (malakhei elohim). When he saw the angels, he exclaimed, "This is God's camp!" and called the name of the place Machanayim ("two camps"). The parashah ends with Jacob sending messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Edom, explaining that he was returning to his homeland after his long sojourn in Haran.
Vayetzei Outline:
The Prerogative of God...
11.21.25 (Kislev 1, 5786) The Haftarah for parashat Toldot begins: "I have loved you," says the LORD. But you say, "How have you loved us?" "Is not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD. "Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert" (Mal. 1:1-3; cp. Rom. 9:9-13). Some people may find the idea of God's sovereign choice to be objectionable, though we know there is no unrighteousness in God's decrees and ways (Deut. 32:4; Psalm 18:30; James 1:17, etc.). Therefore Yeshua told his followers, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go forth and bear fruit..." (John 15:16). Religious pride recoils at these words, thinking, "I don't want to be chosen by God; I want to be in control; I want to choose God first." The ego seeks some reason for revelation, some merit that commends the self to God. It's hidden assumption is, "thank you, God, that I am not like other men" (Luke 18:11). The choice of God seems scandalous because it is based on God's love, not our own (1 John 4:19). We were spiritually reborn, not as the result of anything in the realm of nature, nor even through our personal decision, but solely on account of God's sovereign prerogative (John 1:13). This is the message of the choice of Jacob over Esau in our Torah portion this week. Regarding this the New Testament comments: "Though they (i.e., Jacob and Esau) were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad -- in order that God's purpose of election might stand (ἵνα ἡ κατ᾽ ἐκλογὴν πρόθεσις τοῦ θεοῦ μένῃ), not because of works but because of the One who calls, Rebekah was told, "the older will serve the younger" (Rom. 9:11-12). The carnal ego is quick to look for reasons why God chooses some people, looking for their merits or considering their worldly potential, though it is idolatrous to elevate the self this way. Clearly we will see evidence of regeneration in the truly converted soul, but that reveals the grace of God, not the good character of the one doing teshuvah. "Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the LORD of Hosts" (Zech. 4:6). We don't seek to please God so that we can be chosen; we are chosen so that we can seek to please him... The righteous soul says: "O LORD, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works" (Isa. 26:12). God's grace and love for us is always the starting point: "Lord, teach us to pray," that is, choose the words for us, the groaning of your Spirit, in accordance with your perfect will... Hebrew LessonExodus 33:19b reading (click for audio):
Over the years I have repeatedly affirmed the "salvation is of the LORD" (לַיהוָה הַיְשׁוּעָה), and therefore we are not saved "by works of righteousness (מַעֲשֵׂי הַצְּדָקָה) that we have done, but solely on account of the mercy given to us in God our Savior (אֱלהִים מוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ; Titus 3:4-5). Grace excludes all boasting (Eph. 2:9; Rom. 4:4). We believe that God justifies the ungodly (helpless) by trusting in his heart of compassion (Rom. 4:1-8). God loves us with "an everlasting love" (i.e., ahavat olam: אַהֲבַת עוֹלָם) and draws us in chesed (חֶסֶד, i.e., His faithful love and kindness). As it is written: "I love you with an everlasting love; therefore in chesed I draw you to me" (Jer. 31:3). Note that the word translated "I draw you" comes from the Hebrew word mashakh (מָשַׁךְ), meaning to "seize" or "drag away" (the ancient Greek translation used the verb helko (ἕλκω) to express the same idea). As Yeshua said, "No one is able to come to me unless he is "dragged away" (ἑλκύσῃ) by the Father (John 6:44). God's chesed seizes us, scandalizes us, takes us captive, and leads us to the Savior... Spiritual rebirth is a divine act, "not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). In everything - including human reason itself - the LORD God Almighty is preeminent. Dear friend, if God has chosen you to be in covenant with him, then you are indeed one of the "chosen people."
Therefore we can affirm the great benediction given in our Scriptures: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Adonai, Yeshua the Messiah, who has blessed us in Messiah with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world (καθὼς ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου), that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us (προορίσας ἡμᾶς) for adoption as sons through Yeshua the Messiah, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved; in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight..." (Eph. 1:3-8).
Remember that it is the fruit of his Spirit, not the fruit of our own that matters (Gal. 5:22-23). As Yeshua said, "it is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all" (John 6:63). We are God's workmanship, created in the Messiah for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10). We are able to live for God through the agency of His love and sustaining grace, all for the sake of the glory of His Name. "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen" (Rom. 11:36).Hebrew LessonProverbs 16:4 Hebrew reading (with comments):
11.21.25 (Kislev 1, 5786) In our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Toldot) we learn that the oath of blessing that God gave to Abraham was extended (exclusively) to his beloved son Isaac (Gen 26:3-4; Rom. 9:7, and not to Ishmael who was born of Hagar. Recall that it was only after the Akedah (the sacrifice of Isaac) that the LORD God swore the oath (שְׁבוּעָה) that through Abraham would all the families of the earth be blessed: "By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son (ben yachid), I will surely bless you... and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice" (Gen. 22:16-18; cp. Gal. 3:9,16). The critical Hebrew phrase, "by myself have I sworn" (בִּי נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי) is the most solemn oath God could make and must be regarded as an inviolable vow (Heb. 6:13-18). It is nothing short of astounding to realize that the very existence of Israel and the Jewish people - and therefore the advent of the Messiah himself - derived from Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his "only begotten son" -- an act of faith that constituted the revelation of "deeper Torah" later enshrined in the laws of sacrifice given at Sinai. This is why the key idea of the Torah centers on the idea of atoning sacrifice, and in particular, the continual sacrifice of the lamb. Indeed sacrificial atonement is the central theme of the central book of Torah, i.e., Leviticus, where we draw near to God through sacrificial rites, the foremost of which was the ongoing offering (i.e., korban tamid: קָרְבַּן תָּמִיד) of a defect-free male lamb, together with unleavened bread and wine. The LORD called this "My offering, My bread" (Num. 28:1-8). In other words, at the very center of the Torah we see the Altar that constantly prefigured the Lamb of God who would be offered up to secure our eternal redemption (John 1:29; Heb. 9:11-12). Amen, Yeshua is our "lamb offered in the morning and in the evening," and His sacrificial life embodies God's passion for us to receive his love. Hebrew LessonGenesis 22:8a reading (click for comments ):
Note: The "Gospel of Moses" revealed in the sacrifice of Isaac foretells the cross of our Savior. For more on this subject, see "Israel and the Akedah" here.
11.21.25 (Kislev 1, 5786) Yeshua forewarned that just before the End of Days, "many shall be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another" (Matt. 24:10). What dreadful people, you might imagine... what terrible depravity will mark that time! And yet here we are today, with so many crusading for their own personal sense of victimhood, demanding special treatment, and threatening retaliation for being treated unfairly... It must be remembered that when we find offence in others, we reflect the evil within ourselves (Matt. 7:1-5). What is this evil within you ask? How about being intolerant toward those who differ from us? How about be impatient – refusing to allow others to share their perspectives? Indeed, how many of us make the demand that others be "perfect" but turn a blind eye to our own imperfections? And what about the sin of unforgiveness? What about our attitude of suspicion -- using the "evil eye" regarding others' motives – looking for something impure – rather than extending to them the benefit of the doubt? Do you carry resentment with your heart? Do you hold on to a grudge over a real (or imagined) insult from the past? Do you harbor the desire to seek revenge? All of these evil attitudes are symptomatic of unforgiveness and failing to remember that all that is good in your life you owe exclusively to the mercy of God alone... When you feel offended, look within and examine the assumptions at work in your thinking. Ask whether your indignation is based on the truth of God or something else. Are you demanding: "My will be done, in heaven as it is on earth?" Are you seeking your own vision, or surrendering to the truth of Reality? Are you (insanely) attempting to justify your hatred of others in the name of love?It is written in the Book of Proverbs, "Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor, but evil comes to him who searches for it" (Prov. 11:27). The one who seeks good is called shocher tov (שׁחֵר טוֹב), "a seeker of good." The shocher tov uses the "good eye" (ayin ha'tovah) to see the worth and potential in others. The one who searches out evil, on the other hand, is called doresh ra'ah (דֹרֵשׁ רָעָה), "a searcher of evil." The doresh ra'ah has an evil eye (ayin ha'ra) that is stingy, critical and faultfinding. The proverb may therefore be stated this way: When you seek the good of others, you will find God's favor (ratzon), but when you search for evil in others, it becomes your own. As the Baal Shem Tov once said, "When we see faults in others, we must understand that they only reflect the evil within ourselves."King David said, וּתְפִלָּתִי עַל־חֵיקִי תָשׁוּב, "my prayer shall turn back upon my breast" (Psalm 35:13). Some prayers are conscious words spoken to God, whereas others are expressions of heart attitudes. Our proverb teaches that when we harbor indifference, ill will, or resentment toward others, we hurt ourselves; when we favor others and desire their blessing, on the other hand, we will find God's favor and blessing. Tov ayin hu yevorakh: "The one with the good eye will be blessed" (Prov. 22:9; Matt. 6:22). Hebrew LessonProverbs 11:27 reading (click for audio):
11.21.25 (Kislev 1, 5786) Chodesh tov Kislev, chaverim. In parashat Toldot we gain further insight into the coming spiritual showdown between the LORD and the serpent (nachash). Recall that the original promise of the coming Messiah was given within the context of the curse and judgment upon Satan: "I will put enmity (אֵיבָה) between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he (i.e., the Savior/Messiah) will crush your head (ראשׁ), and you (i.e., the serpent/Satan) will crush his heel (עָקֵב)" (Gen. 3:15). The very first prophecy of Torah therefore describes the coming of the "Serpent Slayer" and the great conflict of the ages. Since the Messiah would be "born of a woman," the prophecy implies perpetual warfare between those descendants of Eve who shared her faith and underwent teshuvah (called the "children of light" or "children of the promise") and those descendants of Eve who refused it (called the "children of darkness" or "children of the devil"). The ongoing enmity between these "two seeds" foretells the "tale of two kingdoms," the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil (John 8:34-36). After Abraham was tested with the Akedah, he was promised to be the heir of the world to come (Rom. 4:13). Genesis 22:18 clearly states that the blessing would come through Abraham's "seed" (זֶרַע), and indeed Abraham later bequeathed everything to his son Isaac (Gen. 25:5). Isaac and Rebekah had been married for twenty years but were still without an heir to carry on the family line. Finally their prayers were answered and Rebekah conceived, though her pregnancy was not without complications: "The children struggled together within her (וַיִּתְרצֲצוּ הַבָּנִים בְּקִרְבָּהּ), and she said, 'If it is thus, why is this happening to me?' So she went to inquire of the LORD" (Gen. 25:22). The LORD then told Rebekah (through the prophet Shem) that she was carrying twin sons who would father two great nations of opposite ideology and origins, though the younger child would be chosen as the heir of the godly line leading to the Messiah. The struggle within Rebekah's womb therefore recalled the original prophecy of God made in the Garden of Eden and the future conflict between the two "seeds." Note that the word translated "struggled" in this verse is ratzatz (רָצַץ), a verb used elsewhere to express violent conflict (e.g., to oppress (Deut. 28:33; 1 Sam. 12:3; Jer. 22:17), to crush (2 Kings 23:13), to break (Isa. 36:6), etc.).
Rashi quotes a fanciful midrash that says that when Rebekah would pass by the doorway of a House of Learning, Jacob fought to be born and enter it, but when she passed a temple devoted to idol worship, Esau fought to get out. The battle between the sons, in other words, would fundamentally represent the ongoing enmity between the children of light and the children of darkness (as would be revealed in later narrative of the Torah).When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, the first child came out with a full head of hair and of red (אַדְמוֹנִי) complexion (Gen. 25:25). Since he looked like a child who had been born long before, they named him Esav (from asah [עָשָׂה], meaning "made," or "completed"). His twin brother then came out holding his heel, and therefore was dubbed Ya'akov (meaning "heel holder" or "grappler"). It is interesting to note that Esav's name comes from the same root (i.e., asah: עָשָׂה) that is used for the word "works" (מַעֲשִׂים), whether human or divine. The midrash says that the spirit of Jacob was protesting from the very moment of his birth that his twin brother Esau was "complete" and that his works would be sufficient apart from divine intervention. Isaac immediately favored Esau, presumably because he was the firstborn; but Rebekah, believing the promise of the LORD, favored secondborn Jacob. We have to wonder why Isaac did not believe the message given to Rebekah regarding the twins (Gen. 25:23). Did Isaac associate the name Ya'akov (grappler of the heel) with the original prophecy given in the Garden ("he shall bruise your heel [עָקֵב]")? If Isaac believed that the Messiah would come through his line, perhaps he associated the image of Jacob attacking the heel of his brother as a bad omen.The question is raised as to why God chose Jacob and rejected Esau. If, as the New Testament affirms, Jacob was sovereignly chosen "before the children were born," how could Esau have overcome his natural tendencies to become righteous (see Rom. 9:11-12)? The sages remind us that both children grew up in a godly home, with virtuous and loving parents. Indeed, according to Rashi, throughout their youth they were "indistinguishable" in their goodness and virtue. It was only after the death of Abraham that Esau chose the path of impurity (according to tradition it was at this time that he sold his birthright for some stew). And yet (as any parent with a wayward child knows) this might explain why Isaac refused to let go of his hope for Esau. "According to the pain, is the reward" (Avot 5:22). Had Esau overcome his evil inclination during his adult years (as he had done in his youth), he would have been stronger than Jacob, who was described as ish tam yoshev ohalim, "a wholesome man, who lived in tents" (i.e., naturally inclined to holiness). As was later clearly revealed, however, Esau chose the path of darkness and made himself into an enemy of God's greater purpose of redemption. Like Cain before him, he was of the "seed of the serpent," and God therefore sealed his fate by rejecting him (Mal. 1:2-3; Rom. 9:13).As mentioned elsewhere (see "The Deception of Esau"), it took a long time for Isaac to "open his spiritual eyes" to discern the truth about his two sons. During the dramatic episode of the "stolen blessing," some have suggested that Isaac actually knew he was blessing Jacob but "pretended" to be fooled in order to avoid destroying his relationship with his firstborn son Esau.... Isaac's blindness is central here: when he regarded his sons using his physical sight, he favored Esau, but when he looked away from the realm of appearances, he was empowered to appoint Jacob as the heir of the promise of God...
The Choice of Jacob...
11.20.25 (Cheshvan 29, 5786) Shalom friends. In parashah Toldot we read that the LORD said to Rebekah: "Two nations (שׁנֵי גוֹיִם) are in your womb, and two peoples (שְׁנֵי לְאֻמִּים) from within you shall be divided..." (Gen. 25:23). These twins, of course, were Esau (עֵשָׂו) and Ya'akov (יַעֲקב), respectively. Regarding the innate enmity between the two brothers, it is clear that Esau was later associated with the region of Mount Seir (Deut. 2:4-12, Josh. 24:4) and became the founder of the Edomite kingdom (Gen. 25:30), though later rabbinical midrash dubiously associated the Edomites to refer to political Rome and even to Christianity! It should be noted however that Scriptures locate the ancient Edomite kingdom to be south of the kingdom of Judah (i.e., modern day Jordan) and therefore makes no connection with Rome or with Christianity. The origin of the rabbinical association is discussed in the Encyclopedia Judaica:
"The identification of Edom with Rome is never found in the literature of the Second Temple period and attempts at detecting it in the Pentateuch (Torah) have no real basis. The identification appears first, apparently, in an aggadah (midrash) of the period following the Bar Kokhba War... The identification is also found in a conversation between Rabbi Akiva and Tinneius Rufus, a Roman ambassador to Judea at the beginning of the second century. Later the association became very widespread." - Edom and Esau
Putting aside the fallacious identification made by the Second Temple rabbis, the issue of the birthright - and therefore the mantle of Abrahamic leadership - is surely crucial for the history of the Jewish people, and to this day, Edom (i.e, the Arabic middle east and the religion of Islam) and Israel are perpetual enemies... "Two peoples from within you shall be divided..."The sages justified Rebekah's scheme to ensure that the birthright blessing would go to Jacob and not to Esau as being "la'shamayim," that is, "for the sake of heaven." After all, was she not explicitly told - by God himself - that "the elder would serve the younger" (Gen. 25:23)? And was it not evident later that Jacob, described as ish tam yoshev ohalom - "a man of integrity who dwelled in tents" - was better suited for Abraham's heritage than Esau, who was described as ish yodea tzayid - "a man who knew entrapment" (the word tzayid suggests that Esau knew how to "entrap," i.e., deceive)? Indeed, Rebekah surely knew that Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob for "a mess of pottage," and she also understood that Jacob had tested his brother to determine whether his commitment to the family and its spiritual purpose was genuine. When Esau later married two "Hittite" women, was this not a source of bitterness to the family (Gen. 26:34-35)? And it's important to remember that Esau's polygamous union with the women of the surrounding pagan culture occurred before the duplicity that led to Jacob obtaining the blessing of the firstborn (bechor) from Isaac. The New Testament affirms that Esau was profane and that his vow implied that he indeed sold his birthright to Jacob (Gen. 25:33; Heb. 12:16).How could Isaac have been so blind? Couldn't he see the spiritual qualities of his sons? Why didn't he take heed of Rebekah's concern and counsel? And what of the portentous prophecy that the "elder shall serve the younger"? How could Isaac have missed this crucial truth about the future heir of the Jewish people -- especially since it was the overriding concern of his father Abraham? And what about the Akedah itself? Surely Isaac understood the promise that Abraham's legacy would bless the entire world....But perhaps Isaac may be "excused" from his ignorance because all he ever knew was the integrity and love of his father Abraham, and therefore it would have been unthinkable to him that one of his sons could be a deceiver... The twist here is that the deceiver was not Jacob, but rather Esau, who (according to midrash) "entrapped" his father into thinking that he was so punctilious in keeping the commandments that he would ask him how much salt he should "tithe" before salting his food... Rebekah's deception of her husband was intended to show him that he was gullible and thereby easily deceived by Esau's hypocrisy. It was an object lesson, if you will, rather than a outright case of "stealing." After all, Esau was soon to arrive - venison in hand - and the charade would be exposed for all to see... No, Rebekah's plan was to "open the eyes" of her myopic husband, revealing to him that he had been guilty of sacrificing the righteous son Jacob for the sake of deceptive Esau. We all know the story. The dissimulation succeeded, of course, and Jacob managed to "steal" the blessing from his father. When Esau returned from his hunting expedition, Isaac later tremblingly acknowledged to him that "... he (Jacob, not Esau) shall be blessed" (Gen. 27:33), thereby indicating that his spiritual sight was indeed restored. Isaac finally understood the truth about his sons... As Rebekah already foresaw, Jacob was not to be cursed as a deceiver, since it was Esau who all along had been deceiving him!But Esau cried out with "an exceedingly great and bitter cry" and implored his father, "Bless me, even me also, O my father!" (Gen. 27:34). Isaac again acknowledged that Jacob had come deceitfully and "taken away the blessing," yet Esau persisted: "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?" "Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father" (Gen. 27:34-38). Isaac then blessed Esau with the same two blessings he gave to Jacob, though the order was reversed: The "fat places" of the earth would be his dwelling and also the "dew of heaven" from above. In other words, Esau would be given prosperity in this world, and then (if he was interested), the "dew from heaven." Jacob, on the other hand, was given the same blessings but in right relation: his first concern would be prosperity in the world to come, and then (if he was interested) would he partake of the "fat places" of the earth. But what about this "deception for the sake of heaven"? Does the Torah endorse it as some sort of pragmatic necessity to effect the will of God? Well, despite Rebekah's good intentions, it's clear that the Torah depicts Jacob as complicit in an act of real deception ("Are you my son Esau?" "I am...") -- for which he paid dearly. First he earned the (perpetual) enmity of his twin brother Esau, who sought to murder him for his treachery. When Jacob then fled to his mother's ancestral home, his uncle Laban deceived him several times, first by switching Leah for his betrothed Rachel, and later by fudging with his wages. Later, his firstborn son (of Leah) Reuben dishonored him by committing incest with his concubine Bilhah (Gen. 35:22), and later still, when Jacob attempted to shower "extra blessings" upon his "firstborn son" (of Rachel), his other sons collectively deceived him by implying that Joseph was dead, showing Jacob his the blood-soaked coat of many colors. Fascinatingly, Joseph's subsequent exile in Egypt corresponded to the number of years that Jacob spent away from his own father, Isaac, and he was further deceived into thinking that his long-lost son was an Egyptian vizier...The enmity of Esau haunted Jacob for years, even to the point of wrestling with the Angel of LORD over the issue (Gen. 32:24-29). From such wrestling came a resolution -- the true blessing from God Himself that resulted in a "limp" -- and the new name of "Israel."Nonetheless, the sibling rivalry with Esau had cost him dearly. Above all, Jacob yearned for the approval and love of his father Isaac, yet he found himself a fugitive from the land of promise, a vagabond, and bereft of his loving mother's embrace (Rebekah died while Jacob was in exile). Psychologically it may be asked if Jacob's act of deception was not, in effect, a pathetic attempt to "entrap" his father's love. After all, Isaac loved Esau (Gen. 25:28), and Esau was a skilled deceiver. Perhaps if Jacob could be more like his brother, then his father would likewise love him?What a profound hunger -- for the love of our fathers! I have suffered, as I am sure many of you have, too, with the hunger to feel my father's love, acceptance, and affection, only to be denied, to feel bereft, to be driven and made desperately lonely because of this lack. Each of us must "wrestle with the Angel" to find the source of blessing from our true, Heavenly Father... Each of us must find healing for the abandonment of our fathers by returning to the embrace of our true Father in Heaven. Hebrew LessonGenesis 25:23reading (click):
Surrendering to God...
11.20.25 (Cheshvan 29, 5786) "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done" (Luke 22:42). This is the consummate expression of a heart fully surrendered to the care of God, because there is nothing more common than the impulse for self-preservation, and yet here we behold the sacrifice of Yeshua's very soul (מְסִירַת הַנֶפֶשׁ יֵשׁוּע) as he willingly offered himself up to suffer and die an agonizing death upon the cross - all in loving deference to his Father's will. Surrendering your will to the care of God is the essence of "bittachon" (בִּטָחוֹן), that is, trusting that God is in control of your life and will personally care for you, no matter what. Some people have an evil will that does not tolerate any contradiction or opposition; others attempt to surrender to God but their impatience belies their willingness to do so. The truly good will is simple and forthright, seeking the "beauty of the LORD" (Psalm 27:4). When hindered, the baal bittachon (trusting soul) says from his inmost depths, "I am content with whatever you give to me: Thy will be done."We sometimes think we know God's will for us, yet we find ourselves stymied or blocked in our doing so. In every case, however, we must seek first God's will and submit him (Matt. 6:33). The Lord may thwart even our best intentions to reveal his surpassing wisdom regarding the matter, however. For instance, recall Peter's appeal to the Lord to turn away from the way of the cross (Matt. 16:21-23). Yeshua minced no words, saying to him: "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." And then he turned to the other disciples present and said to them: "If anyone wants to be my follower, let him disown himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wills to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matt. 16:21-25).Because Peter did not realize the redemptive mission of Yeshua as the "Lamb of God" who would suffer, be killed, and ascend from the dead, he impulsively began to rebuke Yeshua by judging that it would be better for Yeshua to avoid such trouble from the leaders of Israel by taking a different approach, perhaps by attempting to "win them over" to the idea that he was Israel's promised Messiah. We are not sure what Peter was thinking, of course, but it is likely that he strongly believed - mistakenly enough - that what he esteemed as good was God's will... Peter needed to be humbled and to trust that God's unfathomable plan was best. He was faced with the decision whether he would crucify his own will or to lose himself through self-deception. Yeshua promised that those who were willing to surrender to him would find salvation and peace as they walked in trust of God's love and care for them. Amen.Hebrew LessonJeremiah 17:7 reading (click):
About Thanksgiving Day...
The Thanksgiving Day holiday occurs Thursday, November 27th this year. I am grateful to the Lord for every every heartbeat and every breath I take. Among other things, I am thankful for my children, my family, my mother, my friends, and for my H4C supporters here....11.20.25 (Cheshvan 29, 5786) The American holiday of Thanksgiving (חַג הַהוֹדָיָה) likely has its roots in the Jewish tradition of giving thanks to God, and some historians believe that the early "Puritans" (or "Separatists") actually derived the idea for the holiday from the Biblical festival of Sukkot (i.e., "the feast of Tabernacles"). Before fleeing to the "New World," the Puritans lived for a decade among the Sephardic Jews in Holland, since Holland was considered a safe haven from religious persecution at the time. Since they were devout Calvinists and piestists, their religious idealism led them to regard themselves as "new Israel," and it is likely that they learned that Sukkot commemorated the people of Israel's deliverance from their religious persecution in ancient Egypt at that time. After they emigrated to the "Promised Land" of America, it is not surprising that these exiles may have chosen the festival of Sukkot as the paradigm for their own celebration. As the Torah commands: "Celebrate the feast so that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God" (Lev. 23:39-43). The devout Puritans regarded their perilous journey to the new world as a type of "Exodus event" and therefore sought a Biblical holiday to commemorate their safe arrival in a land full of new promise...It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word for "turkey" is tarnegol hodu (תַּרְנְגוֹל הוֹדו), literally, "Indian chicken," which is often shortened to hodu (הוֹדוּ). It is a happy coincidence that we customarily eat turkey on Thanksgiving, and this reminds us of the "thanks" connection: "Give thanks (hodu) to the Lord for he is good," for His love endures forever."
הודו ליהוה כי־טובכי לעולם חסדו
"Give thanks to the LORD for He is good;for His love endures forever."(Psalm 136:1)
Hebrew LessonPsalm 136:1 Hebrew Reading:
Note: For more on this subject, see "Thanksgiving and Sukkot."
A Double Blessing for Jacob...
11.19.25 (Cheshvan 28, 5786) When we think of Jacob as a young man, we tend to recall the dramatic episode when he disguised himself as Esau to "steal" the blessing from his father Isaac. However the Torah tells us that Jacob actually received two blessings from his father. The first blessing was given to a disguised Jacob and it focused on material blessings: the "dew of heaven," the "fatness of the earth," "plenty of grain and wine," political power and hegemony (Gen. 27:28-29), whereas the second blessing was given to an undisguised Jacob and it focused on his role as God's chosen patriarch of the people of Israel (Gen. 28:3-4). The difference between these blessings turned on Isaac's restored vision. His first blessing was addressed to the character of Esau as his "natural choice," whereas his second blessing looked beyond mere appearances to behold the vision that was originally given to his father Abraham: "Now may El Shaddai bless you, make you fruitful and multiply you so you become an assembly of peoples. And may He grant the blessing of Abraham to you and your offspring" (Gen. 28:3-4).
וְאֵל שַׁדַּי יְבָרֵךְ אתְךָוְיַפְרְךָ וְיַרְבֶּךָ וְהָיִיתָ לִקְהַל עַמִּיםוְיִתֶּן־לְךָ אֶת־בִּרְכַּת אַבְרָהָםלְךָ וּלְזַרְעֲךָ אִתָּךְ
ve·el · Shad·dai · ye·va·rekh · ot·khave·yaf'·re·kha · ve·yar·be'·kha · ve·ha·yee'·ta · leek·hal · a·meemve·yee·ten · le·kha · et · beer·kaht · Av·ra·hamle·kha · ool·zar·a·kha · ee·takh
"Now may El Shaddai bless you,make you fruitful and multiply you so you become an assembly of peoples.And may He grant the blessing of Abrahamto you and your offspring"(Gen. 28:3-4)- Isaac's second blessing to Jacob
In a sense, the self-effacing, disciplined, and strong-willed Isaac abandoned his "natural vision" that sought to install Esau as the next patriarch -- despite the objection from his faithful wife Rebekah -- by finally surrendering to the vision of his father Abraham. Isaac's entire life was a sort of overreaction to his father - an "antithesis to Abraham's thesis." By choosing to bless Jacob a second time -- this time with his eyes wide open -- Isaac revealed that he had finally accepted the grace of God that was revealed to his father Abraham. Recall also that after Esau had discovered that the blessing was given to Jacob, he lamented and pleaded with his father to bestow upon him a blessing as well. It is interesting to note that the "residual" blessing that Isaac gave to Esau was the exact inverse of that given to Jacob: the "fatness of the earth" was put before the "dew of heaven" (compare Gen. 27:39 with Gen. 27:28), indicating that receiving sustenance from heaven is of greater value than finding earthly prosperity. And indeed, Jacob was "blessed with earthly trouble" his whole life, which caused him to rely on the "dew from heaven," whereas Esau was "blessed" with prosperity (and trouble) that came from trafficking in this world. Regarding Esau it may aptly be said: "Be careful what you wish for -- you just might get it!" (Heb. 12:17). Hebrew LessonGenesis 28:3 reading (click):
Note: Isaac was 60 years old when his two sons were born (Gen. 25:24-26), and according to Jewish tradition, Jacob and Esau were 63 years old at the time of the blessings (Yevamot 6a), making Isaac 123 years old at the time. He later died at the age of 180 (Gen. 35:28-29), making him the longest living of the three patriarchs. The Talmud further states that Jacob first fled to the School of Shem (i.e., Malki-Tzedek) before proceeding to Padan Aram, so that he actually arrived at Laban's home when he was 77 years old.
Seeing with Wonder...
Related to this week's Torah portion (Toldot) is the topic of Esau's profanity that was expressed when he despised his birthright and abandoned the promise of God... 11.19.25 (Cheshvan 28, 5786) The commandment not to take the Name of the LORD "in vain" (Exod. 20:7) implies that we must affirm the sanctity, meaning, significance, and worth of life itself. We must never live as though God does not exist, or, to state this positively, we must "set the LORD" always before us (Psalm 16:8). It is therefore forbidden to ignore the miracle of existence, to scoff at the value of life, or to debase ourselves by refusing to receive the truth. We are to take every thought "captive" to the reality of the Messiah (2 Cor. 10:5). Everything belongs to God, and every moment we have is beholden to Him...Finding deliverance from profane thinking requires concentrated focus, called "kavanah" (כַּוָנָּה) in Jewish tradition. The Apostle Paul had this in mind when he wrote: "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey the Messiah" (2 Cor. 5:10). We are instructed to "bring down reasonings" (λογισμοὺς καθαιροῦντες) and every "high thing" that is lifted up against the knowledge of God (κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεου) and to bring every thought "as a captive" to the obedience (ὑπακοὴν, from ὑπό: by, under, + ἀκούω: hear, obey) of Messiah. We can do this negatively by fighting against evil thoughts and censoring the inner evil of our hearts, or we can do this positively by being "captivated" by the words and love of Yeshua, and most often we have to do both! This is the deeper meaning of "profanity" - to deny reality, to live in willful ignorance, and to miss the wonder of God's presence. If we sanctify God in our hearts, we will be far less likely to use God's name in vain, of course. Dear friend, do you feel distant from God? Do you find yourself wanting to experience His presence and to be touched by Him? Then you are invited to "draw near" to Him now. He is "very present help" in troubles most surely found (Psalm 46:1). If you refuse to draw near, then how can God draw near to you? He is present but you are given the choice to open your heart. You were created in His likeness (בְּצֶלֶם אֱלהִים) so that you share a sense of meaning with him. The Lord does not force you into relationship with Him, however, but respects your choice whether to draw near or not. That's why the Scripture reads, "You draw near to God and [then] He will draw near to you" (Zech. 1:3; James 4:8). God is love and He cannot be untrue to His loving nature.Drawing near to God is God's way of drawing near to you... In other words, as you draw near to God, He will draw near and touch you. As Yeshua said, "Come to me, you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). But you must receive God's acceptance and love. Open the door of your heart and let Yeshua come in to meet with you now (Rev. 3:20).
You shall be loved...
11.18.25 (Cheshvan 27, 5786) In our Torah reading this week (Toldot) we read: "And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his food, but Rebekah loved Jacob" (Gen. 25:28). Regarding this the sages note that Isaac's love for Esau was based on what his son did for him, whereas Rebekah's love was based on who Jacob was and what he meant to her... Loving someone for what they do for you, no matter how pleasant that may be, is a lesser kind of love than loving someone simply for being who they are, of course. If you only love someone because of what they do for you, then if they stop doing you the favor, your heart will likely grow distant from them. Such conditional "love" is really a disguised form of self-love, since the object of love is the self rather than the other person. Indeed, this is the essence of worldly love...True love comes from within the heart of the one who loves, and is not a conditional response to the one who is beloved. Such love is a form of selfless compassion that extends beyond those who are lovable to those who are unworthy, as Yeshua himself taught us: "If you do good only to those who do good to you, what grace is that to you (ποία ὑμῖν χάρις ἐστίν)? Even the godless do that much! And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what grace is that to you? For even the godless lend to themselves to receive as much back. But love your enemies (πλὴν ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν), and do them good, and lend to them, hoping for nothing again, and your reward will be great, and you shall be children of the Most High (בְּנֵי עֶלְיוֹן), because He is kind to the ungracious and evil. Show compassion (לְגַּלוֹת חֶמְלָה) as your Father shows compassion" (Luke 6:32-36)."Love your enemies." Is this within our power? At best this seems like a paradox, for if we regard someone as our enemy, does that not mean that we decidedly will not love him or her? But this line of thinking exposes the conditional nature of our worldly affections and love, not the imperative of love that overflows from the inner life of God's love for you. The source of true love is God Himself, who is love (1 John 4:8). We are able to love because we are taken up into the love of God, and because of God's unconditional compassion for us, we extend this compassion to others, including those who are disagreeable or hostile. Just as our forgiveness from God is reflected in our forgiveness of others (including ourselves), so our love of God is reflected in our love for others (including ourselves). But the first step in knowing God's love is to believe that it is "for you" love, that God loves you with an everlasting passion that comes from the depths of who God is. This teaches that we are able to love others - including our enemies - by being loved by God, and in a practical sense that means believing that you are truly beloved of God as his child. "This is my beloved child, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17).If you find yourself unable or unwilling to love, or if you are full of resentment, anger, and fear, then you likely despise yourself. In the Torah we are told to love God with all our being (Deut. 6:5) and we are further told not to resent others but to love them as we love ourselves (Lev. 19:18). There is a connection here. The very first commandment (of the "big Ten") is "I am the LORD your God" (אָנֹכִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהיךָ) who brought you out of slavery (Exod. 20:2), which is the commandment to know and to believe in God who saves your soul... We cannot love ourselves or others unless and until we obey (i.e., choose to earnestly believe) the primordial commandment to know ourselves in relation to God's personal deliverance of our lives. To make this choice, however, requires a basic conviction that you are redeemable, worthy, and that God has created you for the purpose of knowing and loving Him forever.Some people cannot make this step of faith. They cannot believe that God really cares and loves them with all of His "heart, soul, mind, and strength." Perhaps this comes from trauma they have suffered in their lives. If they never felt loved or accepted by those closest to them, or if they have been betrayed by those whom they needed most, the struggle is to believe that love is possible at all in this world. And yet that is the message of the "gospel," after all. For what is the message if not that very thing? That God, embodied in Messiah, because of his great love for you, yielded his heart, soul, mind, and strength upon the altar of the cross to bring your soul back from the dead? That he was willing to go into the depths of hell itself, to taste all the pain and betrayal and heartache on your behalf, to partake of both your sins and the sins that were done against you, and to mediate them, to reconcile them, and to ultimately heal them forever? "We love him because he first loved us." Faith sees the crucifixion of Yeshua not as something done in the abstract but as something intensely intimate and personal: "I have been crucified with Messiah; it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). It is the faith of the Son of God (πίστει ζῶ τῇ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ) that He would save me and give me life that enables me to believe that he loved me and gave himself for me. He loved me and gave himself for me in my wretchedness, my faithlessness, my sordid wickedness... He knew me there, in the midst of the darkest cloud, as he suffered and made intercession for me, breathing out groans and pleas for my healing. Again, the first step in knowing God's love is to believe that it is his "for you" love, that God loves you with an everlasting passion that comes from the depths of who He is, and his love is grounded in who you ultimately are and not on what you are able to do for him (Jer. 31:3). To think otherwise would mean that God's love is conditional, based on what we do for him, whereas the truth is that his love is unconditional because it is based on his decision to love us for what we mean to him. Why did Rebekah love Jacob? Because she made the categorical decision to love him, she believed in him, and she unconditionally cared for her son. Why did God choose Israel (Mal. 1:2-3; Rom. 9:9-16). Why does God love you? Because he made the decision to love you, he believed in you, and he unconditionally cares for you as his beloved child... Your heavenly Father knows the number of the hairs on your head, and there is not a word upon your tongue that he does not hear. The Lord "encompasses your path" and your lying down and is acquainted with all your ways. He encloses you in every direction and lays his hand upon you. There is no place you go apart from his presence. He is with you always, unto the utmost depths of eternity. Blessed is the Lord forever and ever.Hebrew LessonPsalm 139:2 reading (click for audio):
11.18.25 (Cheshvan 27, 5786) The Jewish sages assumed that there are no "unnecessary words" in the written Torah. All 304,805 letters are carefully counted by the soferim (scribes). Moreover, Yeshua spoke about "kotzo shel Yod" (קוֹצוֹ שֶׁל יוֹד), that is, the smallest stroke atop the smallest Hebrew letter, in order to stress that every detail of God's revelation has its purpose (Matt. 5:18; Luke 16:17). Every "jot and tittle" has its place, and this implies that words spelled in unusual ways, the exact order of words in a phrase, and various textual oddities (such as redundant words, oversized or undersized letters, etc.) were intended to teach us something we might otherwise not have known.
Our Torah portion this week begins with a description of the birth of Jacob and Esau. Isaac and Rebekah had been married for twenty years but were still without an heir to carry on the family line. The Torah then states that "Isaac entreated the LORD before his wife, because she was barren" (Gen. 25:21). The sages asked why the Torah mentioned the prayer before mentioning its purpose. Wouldn't it have made more sense to first mention that Rebekah was barren and then to say that Isaac prayed for her? The Talmud states that Rebekah was barren because God desires the prayers of the righteous. God made them barren in order to cause them to seek His face. Since Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born (Gen. 25:26), and he had married Rebekah at age forty (Gen. 25:20), we know that they had waited twenty years for the birth of their first descendants. Twenty years is a long time to wait, especially when the promise of the heir of Abraham and Isaac (and therefore the Messiah) is at stake. Rabbi Bachaya said that the prayer offered by Isaac was the goal all along, and the barrenness was the divinely appointed means to that end. The Torah alludes to this by saying that Isaac first prayed before explaining his reason for doing so.
טוֹב־לִי כִי־עֻנֵּיתִי לְמַעַן אֶלְמַד חֻקֶּיךָ
"It is good for me that I was afflicted,that I might learn your decrees."(Psalm 119:71)
Hebrew LessonPsalm 119:71 reading (click):
The LORD wants us to be in a personal relationship with Him, and therefore He sometimes sends temporal affliction to remind us of our eternal need.... After all, is there anything worse than to be "forgotten" by God? Can there be any worse punishment in this life than to be untouched by need, suffering and testing? Indeed, it is curse to be devoid of need before the LORD, and affliction is a blessing in disguise. As A.W Tozer once wrote, "It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He's hurt him deeply." This is why, as the Talmud comments, the manna fell once a day during the 40 years, and not once a year, as we might have desired:
The students of bar Yochai asked him: Why did the manna not fall once a year [as opposed to once a day]? He answered, I will give you a parable: It can be compared to a mortal king who had a son for whom he provided food once a year; as a result, he saw his son but once a year. Thereupon he provided for his maintenance daily, so that he called upon him every day. The same is with Israel. One who had four or five children would worry and say, 'Perhaps no manna will fall tomorrow, and we will all die of hunger.' Thus they turned their faces to heaven in prayer (Yoma 76a).
Just as God humbled Israel with manna in the desert, so He humbles us. "Give us this day our daily bread..." The purpose of affliction is ultimately good and healing: God humbles us with manna so "that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD" (Deut. 8:3). In other words, God uses the discipline of affliction to lead us to the truth. We often pray that our problems be taken away, but God sometimes ordains these very problems so that we will draw near to Him... Yeshua told us, "Your heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask Him." Many of us are slow to learn, but God is patient with those whom He disciplines. The goal is to never lose sight of what's most important, which is God Himself.
Beans for Blessings...
"How can you expect to dwell with God forever, if you so neglect him here?" - Jonathan Edwards11.18.25 (Cheshvan 27, 5786) From our Torah this week (i.e., parashat Toldot) we read: "Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew (לֶחֶם וּנְזִיד), and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised (בָּזָה) his birthright (בְּכרָה)" (Gen. 25:34). Esau esteemed the honor of being the firstborn son (i.e, bechor: בְּכוֹר) – the high priest of the family – as worth a "bowl of beans" when compared with the drive of his lower nature, and so he tragically forfeited the blessing of God... Far from regarding service to God as a divine privilege and wonderful opportunity to benefit his family, Esau wanted to be free of such responsibilities and therefore discredited the meaning and promise of faith. Note that the Hebrew word for "lentil stew" (or pottage) is nazid (נָזִיד), which comes from a Hebrew word that means "to boil up" in pride (i.e., zid: זִיד). Sadly, Esau was consumed with his own interests and regarded them as more important than the things of God.Note further that most English translations of the Hebrew text (i.e., Gen. 25:34) seem to suggest that because he bartered his birthright, Esau had therefore disparaged it, but the text implies continuity: in other words, after he ate, drank, and went his way, then Esau rationalized (or justified to himself) his bad decision by discounting its importance. Hebrew LessonJonah 2:8 reading (click):
11.17.25 (Cheshvan 26, 5786) When the twins fought within her womb, Rebekah asked, lamah zeh anochi ("Why do I exist?"), and then the LORD gave her the prophecy: ve'rav ya'avod tza'ir – "the older (or "stronger) shall serve the younger" (see Gen. 25:23). God had chosen one of her two children to become the heir of the covenantal promise, and she therefore may have thought it was her purpose or mission in life to help make that happen... Rebekah's elaborate scheme to trick her husband by exchanging the twins for the blessing was doomed from the outset, since God needed to open the blind eyes of Isaac to truly bless Jacob as the family heir (Gen. 28:1-4). Rebekah's mistake was that she thought it was her job to intervene, or to "help God" by resorting to human intervention – somewhat like her mother-in-law Sarah earlier had sought to "help God" by giving Hagar as a surrogate wife to Abraham to produce the heir. It is a difficult thing to let go and to trust that the Lord will take care of everything. Lamah zeh anochi – Why do I exist, except to bear witness to God's providential plan and to trust in God's power to work all things together for good? Such a plaintive question, lamah zeh anochi (לָמָּה זֶּה אָנֹכִי) – "Why do I exist?" When she was young, Rebekah seemed strong, secure, and courageous. For example, after meeting Eliezer she unhesitatingly declared her willingness to leave all that she knew to go to a strange land and to marry an unknown man -- all for the promise of an unseen good. Nevertheless Rebekah was tested. First, she (like Sarah) was barren and for 20 years ached for a child with Isaac. Second, her pregnancy was difficult and the Lord foretold her that though she would have twins, there would be an ongoing conflict between them that would trouble their lives. Third, after bearing the children, Rebekah's turmoil continued: her husband discounted her faith; her sons pathetically competed for the approval of their father; and she was torn to choose to stand with Jacob even if that jeopardized her relationship with both Esau and Isaac. And later, after the scheme to exchange Jacob for Esau was exposed, her worst fear was realized: she indeed lost both of her sons (Esau because of her betrayal, and Jacob after he fled to Mesopotamia). Struggle after struggle: lamah zeh anochi? Why is this happening to me? Why did I deserve such a fate? Why, but to partake of the truth – to suffer for the sake of the deliverance of God's ultimate blessing for the world. Like Rebekah, we have an important part to play, though assuredly we will be tested and experience challenges along the way. Lameh zeh anochi? To learn to trust God for all that happens in life... Amen.Hebrew LessonProverbs 3:5 reading (click):
Note that the children "struggled" within her - the Hebrew verb means they collided and ran into one another. Rebekah's was in the midst of an inner battle, and her question was spiritually focused. She first affirmed that life is a blessing (אִם־כֵּן) and then asked why she was in such a state (לָמָּה זֶּה אָנֹכִי). She first sought God for answers, and then God told her that something wonderful was to come, though it would not come without a struggle...
11.17.25 (Cheshvan 26, 5786) "See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness (שׁרֶשׁ פּרֶה) springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is immoral or profane like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears" (Heb. 12:15-17; Gen. 27:38).The LORD says, "my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters (מְקוֹר מַיִם חַיִּים), and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water" (Jer. 2:13). Spiritually speaking, there are two basic sorts of breaking. One is to be broken by the inevitable sin and ruin of this world, and the other is to be made lev-nishbar (לֵב־נִשְׁבָּר), a broken heart, before the LORD. The former breaking comes from the vain attempt to find life in the broken vessels of this world, and "repentance" is expressed as remorse over perceived temporal loss. This sorrow eventually leads the soul to death (2 Cor. 7:10). To be inwardly broken, on the other hand, requires mourning over your life and returning to God for deliverance (Matt. 5:4). In hunger and thirst for God's righteousness the soul finds eternal satisfaction, since God alone provides the vessel of "living water" we need to live (John 4:14; 7:38). We all must drink from God's fountain of life (מְקוֹר חַיִּים), lest we suffer spiritual dehydration and death....Are you haunted by an inner ache for love, joy, peace, and life? "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (Matt. 5:6). Our inner poverty and need is a disguised grace; our desire for healing reveals the Spirit's invitation. Faith begins with the recognition of our need, since only then will we come to Yeshua for the "Bread of Life" (לֶחֶם הַחַיִּים) and the "Living Water" (מַיִם חַיִּים). Everything we truly need is found in him, though we must reach out in faith: "For without faith (אֱמוּנָה) it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists, and that he rewards those who seek him" (Heb. 11:6). Notice that God rewards those who seek him; he answers the heart's cry; he responds to all who trust in his love and salvation. Therefore "ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened" (Matt. 7:7-8). We are not saved by faith in our own faith, but in the Reality and Power of the LORD God who alone can raise the dead to new life... He gives to the trusting heart a new song of praise for the blessing of His salvation.Hebrew LessonPsalm 40:3 Hebrew reading (click):
11.17.25 (Cheshvan 26, 5786) Like Abraham's wife Sarah, Isaac's wife Rebekah (רִבְקָה) had trouble getting pregnant, though Isaac determined never to resort to the use of a concubine as did his father. Indeed, the story of Hagar and Ishmael apparently haunted Isaac throughout his life. Therefore the Torah records that Isaac "entreated" (יֶעְתַּר) the LORD on behalf of his wife. The sages note that this verb (עתר) means to slaughter, alluding to sacrifice, and the midrash explains that Isaac ascended Mount Moriah, pitched a tent, and there offered a lamb during his prayers. This must have been terribly difficult for Isaac, since the trauma of the Akedah never left him. Nevertheless, Isaac's intercession for his wife proved fruitful, and Rebekah later conceived twins (Gen. 25:21).Rebekah's pregnancy was not an easy one, however, and the children "struggled within her" (the Hebrew verb used here (רָצַץ) comes from a root that means "to run," suggesting that the children were "running in different directions" within the womb; see Rom. 9:11-12). According to Jewish tradition, Rebekah feared she might miscarry and decided to go to the School of Shem (i.e., Malki-Tzedek) to inquire of the LORD. There she was told that "two nations" were in her womb, and "two peoples from within you shall be divided"; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger" (Gen. 25:23; cp. Rom. 9:11-12). When the children were born, the first came out hairy and was named Esau (perhaps from the Hebrew word esev (עֵשֶׂב), "grass"), whereas the second came out with his hand on his brother's heel, and was named Ya'akov (יַעֲקב, "grappler," from the word ekev (עָקֵב, "heel"). When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, an outdoorsman, while Jacob was a quiet man, studying Torah in the tents of Abraham and Isaac (Gen. 25:27). In later Jewish tradition, Esau represented the nation of Rome (and especially Roman Christianity), whereas Ya'akov represented the nation of Israel. Perhaps opposites attract. The Torah states that Isaac loved Esau whereas Rebekah loved Jacob (Gen. 25:28). Isaac grew up as the quiet, disciplined, and dutiful son of Abraham, and he perhaps saw something in his son Esau which he himself lacked. Rebekah, on the other hand, grew up adventuresome, strong, and outgoing, and she perhaps saw something in her son Jacob which she lacked. At any rate, the sibling rivalry was deep and abiding in the family, and perhaps reflected the problematic differences between the parents themselves. As we will see, Isaac and Rebekah were opposites, just as were their twin sons. The Torah gives an episode in the lives of the two boys to indicate something of their respective characters. Once when Jacob was cooking lentil stew, Esau came in from the field quite exhausted. Esau said to Jacob, "Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!" (Gen. 25:29-30). Some scholars note that Esau's words should be rendered, "Let me swallow from that red-red" (הַלְעִיטֵנִי נָא מִן־הָאָדֹם הָאָדֹם הַזֶּה), suggesting that he was in such a hurry to meet his bodly needs that he didn't even bother calling it "stew" (the Torah parenthetically notes here that this was the reason Esau was later known as "Edom" (אֱדוֹם, "red")). Jacob, however, decided to take advantage of his brother's carnal weakness by manipulating Esau into "selling" him his birthright. The Torah gives a realistic view of this exchange: while Esau "despised" his status as the firstborn son, Jacob was cunningly manipulative and exploited his brother's weakness. Some time later, when Isaac "was old and his eyes were dimmed from seeing," he sought to bless Esau as the family heir before he died (Gen. 27:1-4). The midrash states that Isaac's eyes were dimmed on account of the ordeal of the Akedah. When he was bound to the altar, Isaac looked up and saw the Throne of Glory with the angels of God circling about. Some of the angels' tears fell on Isaac's eyes, and from that time his eyes had begun to darken. Perhaps Isaac "saw" God as Elohim (אֱלהִים) - the Judge and Ruler of the Universe - but became blind to God as YHVH (יהוה), the Source of Compassion and mercy. The "afterimage" of the Akedah never left him - despite the divinely supplied substitute of the ram - and haunted him later as a form of blindness. Isaac revealed that he was "blind" to the character of Esau, "blind" to his wife's vision regarding Jacob, and so on. When Rebekah overheard Isaac's plans, she decided to "trick" her husband into conferring the blessing upon Jacob instead of Esau. For his part, Jacob was left with a serious dilemma: Either he had to defy his mother or else deceive his father. And of course Rebekah knew that Isaac would discover the deception after the fact. Rebekah's deception of her husband was intended to show him that he was gullible and thereby easily deceived by Esau's hypocrisy. It was an object lesson, if you will, rather than a outright case of lying. After all, Esau was soon to arrive - venison in hand - and the charade would be exposed for all to see... Apparently Rebekah's plan was to "open the eyes" of her myopic husband, revealing to him that he had been guilty of sacrificing the righteous son Jacob for the sake of deceptive Esau (for more on this, see the "Deception of Esau"). The trickery proved to be tragic, however, for everyone involved. Jacob desperately wanted the love and approval of his father, but he sought to get it through false pretenses. "Come close and kiss me my son..." (Gen. 27:26). This was Jacob's deep desire, and yet after "grappling" the blessing from his father he ironically lost his father's embrace. Indeed, Jacob lost not only his father's embrace, but his mother's as well (after fleeing to Haran, Jacob never saw his mother again). Moreover, Jacob's pathetic attempt to "be Esau" severed any hope of a relationship with his twin brother, who afterwards became his sworn enemy. Away from home and on the run, Jacob's life was also marked with painful irony. He was later deceived by his father (in-law) Laban, his wife Leah, his firstborn son Reuben, and even by his own children (regarding the death of Joseph, his firstborn son from Rachel). And Rebekah's subterfuge cost her dearly, too: after the charade was exposed, Esau turned against her (Gen. 27:45), Jacob was lost to her forever, and her marriage undoubtedly suffered as a result of the duplicity.... When Esau returned from his hunting expedition to receive the blessing, the truth came out, but Isaac tremblingly acknowledged to his son: גַּם־בָּרוּךְ יִהְיֶה / "... he (Jacob, not Esau) shall be blessed" (Gen. 27:33). Isaac "trembled exceedingly" because he realized that he had been laboring under an illusion all these years. He now finally understood the truth about his sons and ratified heaven's decision. It is ironic that when Isaac had his sight, he favored Esau, but when he lost his (physical) vision he was enabled to give Jacob the blessing as the patriarch of Israel.After Esau realized the implications, he used wordplay used to vent his anger: When he learned that Jacob had taken away his blessing, he exclaimed, "Is he not rightly named "heel holder" (i.e., יַעֲקב, "Jacob," from the word עָקֵב, "heel")? For he has taken me by the heel (יַּעְקְבֵנִי) these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing" (Gen. 27:36). Then he cried out, "Have you only one blessing, my Father? Bless me too, my Father!" And Esau wept aloud." This was a terribly poignant moment. Esau didn't accuse his father of being gullible or foolish, but simply implored him for his blessing all the more. Tragically, Esau learned the value of the blessing too late. Despite his many tears, he could not reverse the decree from heaven (see Heb. 12:16-17). The sages talk about the "voice of Jacob" (קוֹל יַעֲקֹב) and the "hands of Esau" (יְדֵי עֵשָׂו) (Gen. 27:22). Both sons were counterparts of one another, though each needed the qualities of the other to be complete. Esau needed to learn the ways of Jacob - to love Torah, to respect the call of the family to be God's agents in the world, to value the things of heaven, and so on, whereas Jacob needed to learn the ways of Esau - to be a man of action, to work with his hands, to deal with the rough-and-tumble world at large. After Jacob fled to Haran to escape the clutches of his aggrieved brother, he learned to be a shepherd, a husband, and a father. In this way Jacob also learned the value of the blessing given to Esau, although this too was discovered needlessly late in his life. In Jewish tradition, Abraham is known primarily for the quality of chesed (חֶסֶד), "kindness," "openness," "expansiveness," hospitality, and generosity. His tent flaps were always open to all who happened to come his way. He was outgoing, welcoming, and solicitous for the welfare of others. His son Isaac, on the other hand, is known primarily for his quality of gevurah (גְּבוּרָה), "strength," "focus," concentration, and discipline. Isaac meditated alone in the fields, stayed close to his tent, and never ventured outside the Promised Land. The sages note that chesed unrestrained by gevurah is unbalanced (leading to indiscriminate leniency and gullibility), whereas gevurah unrestrained by chesed is also unbalanced (leading to stern judgmentalism or cruelty). Whereas Abraham was willing to sacrifice his beloved son at Moriah (chesed), Isaac was willing to be sacrificed (gevurah). The ideal is to have both chesed and gevurah function together (חסד וגבורה) to create an inner balance. This ideal is sometimes called tiferet (תִּפְאֶרֶת) and is thought to have been the characteristic later evidenced by Jacob (i.e., after he was renamed "Israel" at Peniel). The enmity of Esau (the extreme of gevurah) haunted Jacob for years, even to the point of wrestling with the Angel of LORD over the issue (Gen. 32:24-29). From such wrestling (i.e., between the ideal of justice and the ideal of chesed) came an inner resolution -- the true blessing from God that resulted in a "limp" -- and the new name of "Israel" (יִשְׂרָאֵל, Gen. 32:28).Some have speculated what it would have been like for the twins if Isaac and Rebekah had a better relationship. Was their marriage mirrored in the lives of their sons? Why didn't Rebekah tell Isaac about the prophecy about the "elder serving the younger" -- or if she had told him, why didn't Isaac listen to her? And why didn't Isaac tell Rebekah about his plan to bless Esau as the heir of the family? Was Rebekah justified deceiving her husband? Was Jacob justified for believing the promise God had made to his mother that he would be the heir of the family? And why did each parent favor a different child, thereby creating a ferocious sibling rivalry? Rebekah perhaps encouraged Jacob's duplicity because she felt ignored or disrespected by her husband. She therefore found an ally in her son -- a "tool" she could use to find leverage and a voice in the family. But Isaac perhaps encouraged Esau's profanity because he never resolved his inner turmoil regarding the Akedah. Perhaps he inwardly chafed at the ideal of strict justice and wanted to be set free.... After all, Isaac was wounded and left nearly blind from the encounter of God as Judge, but somehow he could not embrace God's sacrificial love for himself... It's clear that the families of the patriarchs had serious struggles and were often quite dysfunctional. When we idealize these people, however, we tend to forget their humanity, and they may appear disconnected from us - on a higher spiritual level. For example, Isaac is often characterized as the obedient son who was willing to be sacrificed at Moriah at the hands of his loving father, whereas Abraham is characterized as being so "sold out" to God that he was willing to sacrifice the son he so dearly loved. Now while it is gloriously true that the sacrifice of Isaac presents a clear foreshadowing of the greater "Akedah message" of the Gospel (John 3:16), there is a human side to this story that is sometimes overlooked. Jewish tradition states that Sarah died from the shock of the Akedah, leaving both Abraham and Isaac bereaved. Isaac's "personal holocaust" at the hands of his father caused him to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder that profoundly affected him for the rest of his life: He struggled as a son (he fled from his father Abraham after the Akedah), as a husband (he seemed unable to communicate with his wife), and as a father (his preference of Esau over Jacob caused a terrible rift in the family). Most of all Isaac struggled to understand God's love, despite God's justice...
The story of Isaac's family is ultimately one of hope for us all. Isaac was deeply wounded but ultimately found healing, just as his son Jacob later wrestled through his family issues to become "Israel." Take heart, chaverim: God can use us for His kingdom purposes despite whatever dysfunctionality might be in our family backgrounds.Hebrew Lesson:Proverbs 11:27 Hebrew Reading (click):
11.17.25 (Cheshvan 26, 5786) "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it" (Matt. 13:44-46). In these parables Yeshua teaches us that a relationship with God is the true source of joy and value in life, and that all other passions and desires are like "fools gold" when compared with its overwhelming worth... Regarding this Soren Kierkegaard wrote: "If anyone thinks he is a Christian and yet is indifferent toward being that, then he really is not one at all. Indeed, what would we think of a person who gave assurances that he was in love and also that it was a matter of indifference to him?" (Works of Love). The Shema, the "first and greatest commandment," is to love God "bekhol levavkha" (בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ) with all our heart, yet how is that love possible apart from the revelation of the passion of love itself? "We love because God first loves us" (1 John 4:19), and therefore teshuvah ("repentance") is really a matter of being in love, celebrating God's heart for us, awakening to its wonder, and being thrilled and overjoyed at its reality. And isn't this the essence of the matter? Yeshua asks: "Shimon ben Yonah, atah ohev oti?" – "Simon son of Jonah, do you love me?" (John 21:17). But how is it possible that we can love the Lord apart from trusting his heart for us? "Come unto Me," Yeshua says, "live in Me and I will live in you." O Lord God our Savior, deliver us from apathy and indifference! Soften our hearts and awaken us to our great desire and need for you! Hashivenu, Adonai: turn us, O LORD, and we shall be turned; heal us, and we shall be healed Let know the breadth and length and height and depth of your great love!. So for what do you hope, friend? What are your dreams? Your deepest desires? Where is your treasure? Yeshua cautioned those who sought their happiness in this world: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures upon earth... be rich toward God" (Matt. 6:19-20; Luke 12:21). When we treasure God, our focus is directed toward the eternal reality, and our interest in this world fades. We trust God to meet our daily needs and surrender our future to His care. The only worry we face concerns our own deficiencies in our obligations to the Savior. Our duty is to love God in the truth - bekhol levavkha - with all our heart, having no thought of ourselves. Indeed, self-denial means to quit thinking about yourself (from α-, "not," + ῥέω, "to speak") by accepting what God has done for you. "It is not my business to think about myself. My business is to think about God. It is for God to think about me" (Simone Weil). Amen, where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.Hebrew LessonJer. 24:7a reading (click):
11.16.25 (Cheshvan 25, 5786) Shalom friends, and welcome to another week of studying Torah with Hebrew for Christians. Since this is Thanksgiving Week, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all my visitors here. May the Lord bless you and give you his peace! Recall that last week's Torah (i.e., Chayei Sarah) told how Abraham's servant Eliezer (אֱלִיעֶזֶר) sought a bride for Isaac from among Abraham's relatives living in Mesopotamia. In response to his prayer to the LORD, Eliezer was shown that Abraham's nephew's daughter Rebekah (i.e., Rivkah bat-Betu'el: רִבְקָה בַּת־בְּתוּאֵל) was chosen to be one of the four matriarchs of Israel (i.e., arba imahot l'Yisrael: אַרְבַּע אִמָּהוֹת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל).This week's reading (i.e., parashat Toldot) continues the story by revealing that Isaac and Rebekah had been married for twenty years but were still without an heir to carry on the family line. Finally their prayers were answered and Rebekah conceived, though not without complications. When she inquired of the LORD about her travail, God told her that she was carrying twins that would be heads of two rival nations, but the younger child would in fact become the promised heir of the chosen people. When the day arrived for Rebekah to give birth, the first child came out "red and covered with hair," so they called his name "Esau" (i.e., esav: עֵשָׂו, "hairy"); and then his twin brother came out with his hand grasping Esau's heel (i.e., akev: עָקֵב), so they named him "Jacob" (i.e., ya'akov: יַעֲקב), from the Hebrew verb (i.e., akav: עָקַב), meaning "to take by the heel; to displace; to supplant." The Torah then says that Esau grew up to become a "crafty hunter" (i.e., ish yodea tzayid: אִישׁ יֹדֵעַ צַיִד), "a man of the field" (אִישׁ שָׂדֶה) while Jacob became "a wholesome man" (i.e., ish tam: אִישׁ תָּם) who "dwelt in tents" (יֹשֵׁב אֹהָלִים). Isaac favored Esau (וַיֶּאֱהַב יִצְחָק אֶת־עֵשָׂו); because he had a taste for game (כִּי־צַיִד בְּפִיו), but Rebekah favored Jacob (וְרִבְקָה אֹהֶבֶת אֶת־יַעֲקֹב) because she believed the prophecy given before the children were born that the younger would rule over the elder...
The portion then gives us a succinct look at the spiritual life of the two boys. According to Jewish tradition, on the day of the funeral of their grandfather Abraham, Jacob was cooking lentil soup for Isaac, the traditional mourner's meal. Esau rushed in from a hunting expedition, exhausted and hungry. He then begged Jacob to give him some of "that red stuff" (i.e, ha'dom hazeh), but Jacob answered that he would give him some only if he would sell him his birthright (i.e., bechorah: בְּכוֹרָה, from bechor: בכור, "firstborn"). Esau hastily agreed to the terms and thereby regarded his birthright as being worth only a "bowl of beans" (on account of this incident, Esau was given the nickname of "Red" (i.e., אֱדוֹם "Edom"). And it is In this manner the Torah describes how Esau revealed his characer by "despising the birthright" (Gen. 25:34).
Years later, when Isaac was old and blind, Jacob (with Rebekah's help) tricked Isaac into conferring the blessing of the firstborn (בִּרְכַּת בְּכוֹר) upon him, thereby making Jacob the heir of the family, and not Esau. When the ruse was discovered, however, Esau sought to kill his brother, and Jacob was forced to flee his home, never to see his mother again...
Hebrew LessonGen. 25:19 Hebrew Reading (click):
Toldot outline:
The Power to Repent...
11.14.25 (Cheshvan 23, 5786) Rabbi Israel Salanter (1809-1883), the father of the "Musar" movement, once said, "When I was young, I wanted to change the world. I tried, but the world didn't change. So I decided to change my town, but my town didn't change. Then I resolved to change my family, but my family didn't change. Then I realized that I first had to change myself." To his wise words I would add the essence of the matter: "but then I realized that I couldn't change myself, so I cried to the LORD for a new heart and He answered my plea..."We can only truly change when we die and are brought back from the dead by the power of God. As Yeshua said, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24). We must be spiritually reborn, remade, transformed, "metamorphosed" by the grace and love and kindness of God. This is the miracle of genuine teshuvah (repentance).Contrary to the laws of "karma" and worldly wisdom, God helps those who can't help themselves... He delights to take the weak and broken and establish them with divine power, for the glory of His own Name. He confounds the mighty of this world with the "foolish" heart of faith. Blessed be His Name forever and ever...Shabbat shalom and may the love of Yeshua be with you always...
כִּי־חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם יְהוָה אֱלהֵיכֶם וְלא־יָסִיר פָּנִים מִכֶּם אִם־תָּשׁוּבוּ אֵלָיו
"For the LORD your God is gracious (channun) and merciful (rachum) and will not turn away his face from you, if you return (shuv) to him."2 Chron. 30:9
Hebrew LessonExodus 24:6 reading (click for audio):
11.14.25 (Cheshvan 23, 5786) "My eye grows dim through sorrow; every day I call upon you, O LORD; I spread out my hands to you... Help me, O LORD my God; save me according to your love" (Psalm 88:9; 109:26). How long, O LORD, will you forget me forever? (Psalm 13:1). Such words pierce through the clichés and chatter about religion, theology, and so on, voicing the lament of a soul in trouble, desperately crying out to God for help... The language of prayer is often quickened by affliction and trouble, for the heart senses it must find God or die. "The troubles of my heart are enlarged..." (Psalm 25:17). "Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed..." for if you will not help, O Lord, then I will perish; I will be consumed in my grief, I will waste away in the void of darkness... "Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?" (Jer. 15:18). O Lord, "I am poor and needy; my heart is pierced within me" (Psalm 109:22). "Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long?" (Psalm 6:2-3).During hours of pain or mental anguish prayer becomes spontaneous, raw, unscripted and devoid of empty words. Anguish moves us right to the point, bypassing other concerns, distilling the heart's cry for God's help. If you feel overwhelmed, pour out your heart in prayer... It is not the words of the prayer that matter as much as it is the fervor, the intensity of the heart, and the passion that yields itself before God. "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matt. 5:4). "The LORD is near to the broken of heart and saves the contrite of spirit" (Psalm 34:18).
צָרוֹת לְבָבִי הִרְחִיבוּמִמְּצוּקוֹתַי הוֹצִיאֵנִי
"The troubles of my heart are enlarged;O bring me out of my distresses."(Psalm 25:17)
Believing to See...
We do not need to understand to believe, but we need to believe to understand... 11.14.25 (Cheshvan 23, 5786) Faith believes in the invisible light and accepts the truth of love that overcomes all darkness, hate, and fear. "I believe..." "I believe to see...." "I believe to see the goodness of the LORD..." "I believe to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13). I believe; I look upward; my chest aches and I long for relief; I look forward; my heart hopes even in these passing shadows, even in the midst of my fears, my afflictions, my struggles. My heart chooses to see the unseen good, the good limned by God's promise, the substance of his kindness, his blessing whispered over my fears...The heart of faith testifies that there is "unfinished business," that there is more than meets the eye, that evil will not have the last word, and that our tears will one day forever be wiped away. Despite the ambiguity, faith "hopes against hope" that the LORD God will intervene and bring everlasting healing to us all. As it says, "Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the Name of the LORD (יִבְטַח בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה) and rely on his God."Bittachon (trust) is a word for this world, which says, "Though he slay me, I will trust in him..." Those who call upon the LORD can trust not only in concealed good behind ambiguous appearances ("all things work together for good") but also in a future, real, substantive good that will one day be clearly manifest for us all. Meanwhile, may the LORD our God keep us from such depth of sorrow that leads to sickness, darkness and despair. Amen.Hebrew LessonPsalm 27:13 Hebrew (click):
"When you read God's Word, continually say to yourself: 'It is I to whom this is speaking.' This is earnestness, precisely this is earnestness. This is most crucial, as unconditionally the condition if you are to come to see yourself in the mirror." - Kierkegaard11.13.25 (Cheshvan 22, 5786) "Our Lord Jesus oftentimes said, 'This I am. This I am. I am what you love. I am what you enjoy. I am what you serve. I am what you long for. I am what you desire. I am what you intend. I am all that is'" (Julian of Norwich). Amen to such beautiful words. And we should attend to stirring of our hearts, our deepest desires, since they ultimately find their end in God. As C.S. Lewis noted, our longing for a love which no experience in this world can fully satisfy is a sign that were made for God's eternal love. You seek beauty, peace, love, and life, but the Lord says that he is the substance and heart of all these things... The lilies of the field do not toil but are arrayed in God's pleasure and design; the birds do not store up their food in barns but are sustained to take wing in the winds of God's hovering presence. Every hair on your head is numbered; there is not a word on your tongue unheard by your Heavenly Father. Imagine Yeshua saying the following words directly to you: "I am the bread of life. I am the substance of what satisfies your hunger. I am essential for life. I am the manna that comes down from heaven to feed you and make you forever alive. I give you sustenance and strength; I will give you living water that will be like an oasis for your heart - the Spirit of Life that will comfort you. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. I alone can satisfy your deepest needs and longings. I am Life itself, the source and blessing of all that is good and worthy and true.I am the light of the world. I give to you the light of life. My presence will guide your way. I will turn your darkness into light. In me is the fountain of life; in my light you shall receive light... I will give you a heart to know me. I am the Word of God: the Voice and revelation of the LORD, the Source of all truth. I am the LORD who brings you out of the darkness of your bondage; I am the one who redeems you, the one who atones for you, the one who suffers and dies for you to remove what separates you from God's Presence. I am the Father who receives you with open arms; I sacrifice the fattened calf to celebrate the blessing of your life... I am the LORD your healer; I sanctify you in my love.I am the gateway to life, the door that opens to the Kingdom of Heaven. I am the way to know the Father's heart; I express the truth of God in who I am; I am the resurrection of God: No one can enter the kingdom apart from me. I am the LORD and there is no Savior apart from me. Do not be afraid: I will hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, "Fear not, I am the one who helps you." I am the Good Shepherd who guards each one of his flock. I am your way to connect with God. I am the true Vine. Live in me and I will live in you. I will never leave nor forsake you. Draw near to me: lean upon my bosom. I will teach you what love means. Find comfort in my love for you. Then you will be able to love others and glorify the truth of my heart's passion for all people." Yeshua is the way, the truth, and the love for which our heart cries out. In Him we "live and move and have our being." He is the Alef and Tav, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, and the Sacred Center of all that exists. His heart is our "all in all," the fullness of all that will ever mean anything at any time. "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine; he grazes among the lilies." May you open your heart and draw near to him today. Amen.Hebrew LessonJeremiah 31:3 Hebrew reading (click):
When R' Bunam was lying on his deathbed, his wife wept bitterly. Thereupon he said, "Why are you weeping, my love? All my life has been given me merely that I might learn to die." 11.13.25 (Cheshvan 22, 5786) Shalom chaverim. Last week we read about Abraham's greatest trial of faith when God asked him to take his promised son and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. Abraham's obedience is the central lesson of course, and his willingness to sacrifice his son demonstrated his faith in God. But this willingness reveals the utmost level of surrender, a "faithful crucifixion" of his life that bore witness to the coming lamb of God who would be sacrificed to bring healing for the whole world.The story of Abraham's "walk of faith" is one of testing and great perseverance. Though he had heard God's call to "lekh-lekha" (לךְ־לְך), "to go" to an unseen land of promise and blessing, there were many troubles along the way. After he made the long journey from Ur of the Chaldees and came to the land as directed by God, he immediately encountered a severe famine which forced him leave the land and go to Egypt in search of food. Unfortunately while in Egypt his wife Sarah was abducted into the Pharaoh's harem to be a concubine. After God plagued the king's house and warned him to "let my people go," the pharaoh hastily summoned Abraham and told to take his wife and go back to the promised land (prefiguring the later Exodus from Egypt under Moses). When Abraham and Sarah returned to the land of Canaan, his nephew Lot separated from them and moved to the Plain of Jordan, near Sodom and Gomorrah, to find more pastureland for his growing cattle and herds. Some time later a war broke out in the Plain and Lot and his family were taken captive by the conquering kings of the area. Abraham marshaled his clan and rescued his nephew from captivity. After this he was met by the mysterious "Malki-Tzedek," the king and priest of Shalem, who brought out bread and wine and blessed Abraham in the name of the Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth (אֵל עֶלְיוֹן קֹנֵה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ).Some time later still God appeared to Abraham in a vision to reaffirm his promise to make him into a great nation. After showing him the vast sweep of the stars in the night sky, God said "so shall your offspring be." Despite his years of apparently fruitless wandering, Abraham believed God and God accounted his faith as righteousness (Gen. 15:6). The LORD then renamed Abram, meaning "exalted father" to Abraham. meaning "father of a multitude." He also renamed Sarai (meaning "princess") to Sarah, appending the letter Hey (ה) to indicate his blessing and presence. God then made covenant with Abraham to inherit the land of Canaan forever; Abraham was 75 years old when he had this vision. After he had lived in the land of Canaan for some time, Abraham began to wonder how God's promise to make of him a great nation would be realized. The years were passing by and he and Sarah remained childless. Perhaps Eliezer of Damascus, his chief servant, was to be his heir? Sarah, also eager for a child, decided to take matters into her own hands and ordered her servant Hagar, given to her by the Pharaoh in Egypt to be his concubine. Hagar became pregnant but Sarah soon became jealous. She treated Hagar so harshly that she ran away but later returned after she was met by an Angel who promised that her child would also become a great nation. Abraham was 86 years old when Ishmael was born (Gen. 16:1-16).Nearly 25 years later, after the vision of the stars, when he was 99 years old, God appeared to Abraham using the name El Shaddai (אֵל שַׁדַּי), "the All-Sufficient One," and reaffirmed his promise that he would be the father of a multitude of peoples by establishing the covenant of circumcision (Gen. 17). Soon after this revelation Abraham was visited by the three angels, one of whom was the Angel of the LORD himself, who told Abraham that Sarah would indeed have a son within a year. Sarah laughed at the announcement, but the LORD affirmed his words (Gen. 18:1-15). The other two angels then left to go to Sodom, to determine whether it would be condemned to judgment, while Abraham spoke with the Angel of the LORD and interceded on behalf of the city. Nevertheless Sodom and its surrounding area was destroyed by fire and brimstone, though Lot and his daughters escaped (Gen. 18:16-19:20). When Abraham was 100 years old, Sarah indeed gave birth to a son! They called his name "Isaac" (i.e., Yitzchak) as directed by the Lord (Gen. 17:9), a name which means "he laughs"– a play on words that expressed the great joy of Abraham and Sarah over the miracle of their son (Gen. 21:1-7). Abraham circumcised his son when he was eight days old, as God had commanded. After Yitzchak was weaned, however, Sarah demanded that her servant Hagar and her son be removed from the family so that there would be no controversy about who the promised heir of Abraham truly was. In sorrow Abraham sent them away, though God told him that Ishamael would survive and become a great nation. The LORD reaffirmed to Abraham, however, that Yitzchak alone was the chosen heir through whom his descendants would come. "In Isaac your seed shall be called..." (Gen. 21:12). The Torah is silent about the early years of Isaac, but many years later, when Abraham was 137 years old (and therefore Isaac was 36), he faced his greatest trial of faith when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering on a mountain... Wait, what? Is this for real? After all his years of hope and struggle, would it all come down to this: the sacrifice of his beloved son? a "whole burnt offering" of his dreams, the holocaust of his vision? And what about Isaac? When was he asked to become the sacrificial victim? Did he understand what was being asked? Did he have some earlier premonition? He was no longer a child but a grown man. Abraham needed Isaac to agree to become the sacrificial victim, but how could he explain all this to him without sounding insane? Apparently he did not object, though it must have greatly alarmed him. This test was not just for Abraham but for his son Isaac, too, and it was to Isaac's great credit that he willingly submitted to the request of his father to die on his behalf...Perhaps you are tempted to think all this was a "charade" of sorts? That Abraham knew all along that Isaac wouldn't die, that God wouldn't allow this to really happen, and therefore he went along with just to play his part in the macabre drama? But there is no such indication given in the Torah. God's instructions were clear enough and unambiguous. Abraham would sacrifice, that is, slaughter his son upon an altar and then burn his body as a whole burnt offering. I do not think it was meant to be a "prophetic parable," because what sort of a test would that be? What sort of sacrifice? For his part, Abraham was ready to do God's will, no matter what was asked of him. The very next morning after God asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac, Abraham saddled his donkey and got things ready for the offering (Gen. 22:1-3).Recall that the first "lekh-lekha" (לךְ־לְך) was a call to go to the "promised land" of God: "Go from your homeland (מֵאַרְצְךָ), and from your kindred (וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ), and from the house of your father (וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ), to a land that I will show you" (Gen. 12:1), and the second "lekh-lekha" was a call to go and annihilate the vision the promise of becoming the father of the nation: "Please take your son (קַח־נָא אֶת־בִּנְךָ), your chosen son (אֶת־יְחִידְךָ), whom you love (אֲשֶׁר־אָהַבְתָּ), namely Isaac (אֶת־יִצְחָק), and go to the land of Moriah (וְלֶךְ־לְךָ אֶל־אֶרֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּה) and offer him there as a burnt offering (לְעֹלָה) upon one of the mountains which I will show you" (Gen. 22:2). Go away from all you were - your history, your birthplace, your father's house ... and come to the place that transcends all that is natural and of this world, a place of resurrection and the world to come. In both cases there is a call to the unknown and the test to believe that God would lead him to the place of blessing, despite everything he faced (Gen. 12:2, Gen. 22:17). In the climactic test, however, God showed Abraham the cross of Messiah, the place where his Son would be bound and offered as a sacrifice for the healing of the nations. It reveals the heart of the Father who would give up everything, including his beloved Son, so that we may have eternal life.According to the author of the Book of Hebrews in the New Testament, Abraham believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead after he completed the sacrifice: "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, 'Through Isaac shall your offspring be called.' He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back" (Heb. 11:17-19). Imagine Abraham binding Isaac's arms and feet while saying, "After the sacrifice, I will see you again: you will be brought back to life!" No matter how we may try to rationalize this, it is clear that Abraham accepted God's will - even if what was asked seemed terrifyingly preposterous, even insane...They followed the cloud. After three days they reached the mountain, the place of the sacrifice. They left the others behind as they began their ascent. Isaac carried the wood that would burn his body. Abraham carried the knife and the torch. Together they built an altar of stones and arranged the wood for the fire. Abraham then asked Isaac to lay himself down on the altar as he bound the hands and feet of his son. As Abraham silently looked upon the knife, all of his history, his hope, and his struggle was refracted back in the glint of the blade's edge. Was he willing to go through with this? Even if God would bring Isaac back from the dead, would he be able to plunge the knife into the heart of his promised child, the heir of his life? He steeled his resolve and carefully lifted the knife above his waiting son. Their eyes met and both took a deep breath just as Abraham was about to thrust the knife down. At the very last instant, the Angel spoke: "Abraham! Abraham! Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me" (Gen. 21:11-12). After a moment of utter shock, Isaac was released, unbound from death, and raised up to new life. For the Angel testified before heaven and earth that the sacrificial act was "fait accompli," an accomplished fact, and that Abraham had indeed offered up his only begotten son who had been raised from the dead. It was just then that Abraham saw the "ram caught in the thicket" that was to be sacrificed in Isaac's place. But why a ram instead of a lamb? Because when Abraham had said, "God will provide for himself a lamb" (אֱלֹהִים יִרְאֶה־לּוֹ הַשֶּׂה) this referred to the coming of Yeshua, the great Lamb of God, but the ram was provided for Abraham in place of Isaac for the sacrifice. The ram was not the lamb that God would provide "for himself" to atone for the sins of the world and reconcile his justice with his love, but rather a sacrificial ram that was provided for Abraham in place of Isaac. This seems to be the right understanding since later Abraham called the place of the altar at Moriah "Adonai Yireh" (יְהוָה יִרְאֶה), in reference to the Lamb God to come who was to be provided for by God himself in fulfillment of the prophecy (Gen. 22:8, Gen. 22:14). The ashes of the sacrificed ram represented the dust and ashes of Isaac, and of Abraham as well. The "ashes of Yeshua" came from his passion upon the cross, and represent the atonement and exchange he made for the resurrection from the dead. God did indeed provided the Lamb - Adonai yireh ha'seh - and we will see this when we "ascend to the mountain" (Gen. 22:14). Yeshua later told the rabbis of his day, "Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad." When they objected by saying that he was too young to ever have seen Abraham, Yeshua answered: "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM," which provoked them to try to stone him for blasphemy (see John 8:56-59).Allow me now to consider whether Abraham might have been traumatized by the (near) sacrifice of his son. The sages say that when Sarah later understood what had happened, her heart gave out and she died. And Abraham's relationship with Isaac may also have been fractured as well. Did Isaac hear the voice of the Angel? The Torah does not indicate that he did. Perhaps Isaac was also deeply traumatized by the ordeal and needed some time apart from his father. Later on, after Abraham commissioned his chief servant Eliezer of Damascus to find a bride for his son, there is no recorded dialog between the father and son, and while Abraham bequeathed everything he had to Isaac, the last time Isaac saw his father was at Abraham's burial at Machpelah (Gen. 25:9). At any rate, the sacrifice at Moriah must have haunted Abraham during his remaining days, yet he pressed on in faith, later remarrying and having other children. Like the story of Job, from the whirlwind God's blessing will come... Recall at the outset that I had wondered whether Abraham might have been tempted to protest God's will for life, and that leads to the related question of whether you have ever found yourself protesting the course of your life and inwardly wrestling to accept God's will... Do you struggle with the call to "take up the cross" as did Abraham - and follow Yeshua? How much do you "need" to understand before you are willing to let go and surrender? Do you put God in the test - subconsciously demanding that he justify himself to you before you will obey? How did Abraham find the paradoxical strength to die to himself? How do we?So much is beyond our control and we understand so little. We can either abhor all that happens that we cannot understand, or we can trust that God has a plan that, although inscrutable to us and sometimes seemingly cruel, is nevertheless the ordained way of our lives. Yes, "ordained," for nothing happens in our lives due to "random" forces or by chance, for the LORD God Almighty knows the beginning from the end, and all of reality is His story to tell. God is the Central Character of the thing called "life," and indeed He is the creative force and Author of all that exists. Faith believes that the story is about his vindication of love despite all the darkness, evil and shame that seeks to deny its fulfillment.Reinhold Niebuhr's well known "Serenity Prayer" expresses the balance we need to walk in the present ambiguity and "already-not-yet" fulfillment of God's story. It begins, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change." That's most things of life. Nearly everything. "Who among you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?" "Serenity," or inner peace (שָׁלְוָוה פְּנִימִית), first comes from "acceptance" (קַבָּלָה), that is, receiving whatever is the case (קבלה של הכל), and not fighting it, not lamenting over it, not negotiating with it - just willingly accepting it as something God has allowed. "Thy will be done." Whatever bothers us is likely out of our hands anyway, and it is tragically foolish to "play God" in any circumstance. "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change," yes, that makes sense, but the prayer continues, "and [grant me] the courage to change the things I can." Though many things are indeed beyond our control, such as who our parents and ancestors were, when and where we were born, the state of the world we inhabit, and so on, some things are not. There are genuine choices we must make in life for which we are responsible and from which we cannot abstain. "Ought implies can" which means there is a moral order to reality and that we have the ability to make meaningful choices. We are born with a conscience; we have intuitive awareness of right and wrong, of good and evil. Choosing not to chose is itself a choice; saying you "can't help it" and making excuses by blaming circumstances is "bad faith." To decide means to "cut away" other options, and that requires courage because we don't know the effect of our choices with certainty. We are nevertheless accountable for whatever we choose, and our judgments and reasons that justify our choices imply that we are responsible for how we think, for our attitudes, our values, and so on. Faith provides the courage to trust in the unseen good rather than to allow fear to devour our souls. The Serenity Prayer ends with the phrase, "and [grant me] the wisdom to know the difference." This is very practical. Some things you can't change and must accept; other things you can change and must choose. Wisdom is understanding what's in your power and what's not, and therefore knowing what you must accept (for the sake of inner peace) and what you must actively fight (for the sake of duties of your heart). Acceptance is based on necessity whereas courage is based on possibility; knowing the difference is wisdom.
"Faith is nothing else but a right understanding of our being - trusting and allowing things to be; a right understanding that we are in God and God whom we do not see is in us."- Julian of Norwich
Surely it takes wisdom to relate to God - for that is what we are talking about, really -- how to find peace by surrendering to his will, and how to find courage to take responsibility for whatever we decide to do. The life of faith is not easy and tests are inevitable. God designed it that way and we must accept that. Yet we must choose to keep hope alive despite our finitude, brokenness, and inability to fathom much of anything. At times we will experience respite and calm; at other times we will struggle and fight. Either way we need wisdom. As Job said Adonai natan, v'Adonai lakach: yehi shem Adonai me'vorakh: "The LORD has given, the LORD has taken away; let the name of the LORD be praised" (Job 1:22). Whatever happens, however, we call out to God for his blessing and help. We seek His face. We will not give up, even if we don't understand. And that is the Torah of Abraham, who courageously accepted everything and was set free by choosing to believe in the truth of God's love.Hebrew LessonJeremiah 29:11 reading (click for audio):
11.12.25 (Cheshvan 21, 5786) Only God can help us die to ourselves - to let go of the "self life" and to be set free from the tyranny of what we naturally are... The old nature is never "reformed" by religion but is put to death by a supernatural act of God, as it says: "I have been crucified (συνεσταύρωμαι) with Messiah; it is no longer "I" who live, but Messiah who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20).By faith we trust and affirm that we already have been crucified with him, just as by faith we trust that we already have eternal life, though all this is only "theoretical" unless and until the Spirit of God makes it come alive within our hearts: "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). Only the LORD can put a new heart within us; only God can make the new "I" walk in the flesh; only the Spirit can breathe upon dry bones raised from the dust to make them live (Ezek. 37:5).
עיני תמיד אל־יהוהכי הוא־יוציא מרשׁת רגלי
"My eyes are always toward the LORD,for he will free my feet from of the net."(Psalm 25:15)
We believe not only that Yeshua died as our substitute for sin - saving us from its penalty - but also that our old nature has been put to death with him - delivering us from its power. As Paul wrote: "We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin" (Rom. 6:6). Therefore we confess that we are saved by grace through faith, "and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship (αὐτοῦ γάρ ἐσμεν ποίημα), created in Yeshua the Messiah for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:8-10). Note the use of the word "works" and "workmanship" in this passage. Human works (ἔργοι) here refer to religious or ethical acts that are performed in order to propitiate divine favor, and this is contrasted with God's work of righteousness that justifies the one who trusts in Yeshua for salvation. Salvation is a matter of God's "workmanship" (ποίημα) done through the agency of his Spirit, and not as a result of our of religious efforts or practices. We are saved by trusting in God's grace alone and healing, though our regeneration initiates a process wherein we are made to resemble the image of Messiah, doing those works that bear witness of his life and spirit within us (Rom. 8:29; John 15:5). "For as many of you as were baptized into Messiah have put on the Messiah" (Gal. 3:27) [by "baptism" think identification, not some ritual act]. We work out what God has worked in our hearts. May the LORD our God make the truth of what He has done for us come alive and breathe freely within us -- by the power of His salvation in Yeshua. Amen.
11.12.25 (Cheshvan 21, 5786) More space is given to the negotiation between Abraham and the Hittites for the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron (Gen. 23:3-16) than many other matters in Torah, since it represented both Abraham's faith in God's unconditional promise to be given the land of Canaan, as well as his faith in the resurrection from the dead. Indeed it was the death of Sarah that moved Abraham to "see and greet from afar" the fulfillment of God's promise, despite the appearances of this world (Heb. 11:13). Thus Abraham said to the sons of Chet: "I am a 'stranger and sojourner' (גֵּר־וְתוֹשָׁב) among you; sell me a burial site..." (Gen. 23:4). Abraham foresaw the City of God, the architecture of Zion to come, and by faith "he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God" (Heb. 11:9-10). It is significant that after the great Exodus, the two faithful spies sent to scout the land (Joshua and Caleb) first visited the burial place of the patriarchs in Hebron to renew their conviction that the land belonged to Israel and could be retaken (Num. 13:21-22). The heart of faith affirms the promise of God, even in the face of the dust of death itself; it affirms that underlying the surface appearance of life is a deeper reality that is ultimately abiding. It "sees what is invisible" (2 Cor. 4:18) and understands that the "present form of this world is passing away" (1 Cor. 7:31). Amen. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Heb. 11:1)."These (i.e., the patriarchs) all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles (גֵּרִים וְתוֹשָׁבִים) on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland (i.e., πατρίδα, "land of the Father"). If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire better, that is, a heavenly land. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city" (Heb. 11:13-16).Hebrew LessonJob 19:25-26 reading (click for audio):
The following entry is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Chayei Sarah... 11.12.25 (Cheshvan 21, 5786) Recall that Sarah gave birth to Isaac when she was 91 years old (Gen. 17:17, 21), and she later died when Isaac was 36 years old, at the age 127 (Gen. 23:1). And while the Torah does not explicitly state the cause of her death, we are told about her death following the dramatic episode of the sacrifice of Isaac (Gen. 22), and the midrash Tanchuma therefore links the two together by saying Sarah died from shock after learning about the ordeal of her son at Moriah. It was just too much for her heart to bear: "And a sword will pierce through your own soul also..." (Luke 2:35). Therefore Jewish tradition associates the cries of Sarah with the blasts of the shofar during Rosh Hashanah. The broken notes of the shofar are thought to recall her crying for her son... Isaac was the first "Jewish baby" born to the world, the promised son, the miracle child and the heir of Abraham. As the firstborn son of God's promise, without him the whole world would fall apart, and there would be no salvation to come... So when Sarah heard that Isaac was offered at Moriah, her soul departed from her and she thought the world was falling apart. She prayed to God: "Let me die for my son; let me die in place of my son..." Sarah's love was so great it brought Isaac back to life from the dead.Understand that we study Torah and the lives of the patriarchs because it is part of our great yerushah (יְרוּשָׁה), our heritage, in Messiah Yeshua... The Torah tells our story as the people of God; it is the context and framework of the entire Bible. As it says: "Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD (שִׁמְעוּ אֵלַי רֹדְפֵי צֶדֶק מְבַקְשֵׁי יְהוָה): look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look unto Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him" (Isa. 51:1-2). Amen.Note: For more information on this topic, see the "Akedah of Sarah" article.Hebrew LessonIsaiah 51:2a reading (click):
11.11.25 (Cheshvan 20, 5786) God's people are "strangers" in this world. They are literally estranged and live as "resident aliens" -- here, yet not here. Thus Abraham said to the sons of Chet: "I am a 'stranger and sojourner' (גֵּר־וְתוֹשָׁב) among you; sell me a burial site..." (Gen. 23:4), and King David likewise confessed: "For we are strangers with You, mere transients like our fathers (כִּי־גֵרִים אֲנַחְנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ וְתוֹשָׁבִים כְּכָל־אֲבתֵינוּ); our days on earth are like a shadow, without abiding" (1 Chron. 29:15). Life in olam hazeh (this world) is nothing but a "burial site," a graveyard, a shadowy place of passing that leads to olam haba, the world to come, and to God's glorious kingdom. We cannot find lasting hope in this world and its values; all that must be buried and surrendered to God.Hebrew Lesson1 Chron. 29:15 reading (click):
Being gerim v'toshavim (גֵרִים וְתוֹשָׁבִים), "strangers and sojourners," is inherently paradoxical, however, since a ger (גֵּר) is one who is "just passing through," like a visitor or refugee, whereas a toshav (תּוֹשָׁב) is one who is a resident, like a settler or citizen. Living by emunah (אֱמוּנָה, faith) therefore invariably leads to collision with worldly culture and its values. Faith affirms that underlying the surface appearance of life is a deeper reality that is ultimately real and abiding. It "sees what is invisible" (2 Cor. 4:18) and understands (i.e., accepts) that the "present form of this world is passing away" (1 Cor. 7:31). The life of faith therefore calls us to live as toshavim - sojourners - who are put at an infinite "distance" from the world of appearances. We ache with a divine "homesickness." We lament over the state of this world and its delusions. We gnaw with hunger for love and truth to prevail in the world. And yet this loneliness, this dissonance, this place of suffering "outside the camp" is not without an overarching comfort:
This slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. For we know that if the tent (σκηνος), which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling. (2 Cor. 4:17-5:2)
If we are given grace to answer the call of Yeshua to "take up our cross," we presently become ger v'toshav. As gerim we confess that we are strangers in this present world, but as toshavim we believe that our labors are not in vain, and that our true citizenship is in heaven. Just as father Abraham did, so we live in a foreign land as "strangers and sojourners," looking forward to the City of God (Heb. 11:9-10). Amen. May His Kingdom come speedily, and in our day, and may the LORD help us live today as ambassadors and emissaries of the world to come.
The following entry is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Chayei Sarah... 11.11.25 (Cheshvan 20, 5786) Though he is not explicitly named in the account, the "elder servant" commissioned to find a bride for Isaac was undoubtedly Eliezer of Damascus (see Gen. 15:2). Eliezer (אֱלִיעֶזֶר), whose name means "my God [אלי] is help [עזר]," is regarded as a consummate example of a godly servant, a picture of the Holy Spirit (רוּחַ הַקּדֶשׁ) sent on a mission to find a bride for the Sacrificed Seed of Abraham (i.e., the Messiah Yeshua). Eliezer dutifully departed on his mission and waited by the "well of water," interceding on behalf of righteousness... He prayed asking for a witness from heaven: "Let the young woman to whom I shall say, 'Please let down your jar that I may drink,' and who shall say, 'Drink, and I will water your camels' -- let her be the one whom you have appointed" (Gen. 24:13-14). Rebekah's response of kindness and generosity (i.e., chesed: חֶסֶד) to a tired wayfarer demonstrated God's choice. Note that the test concerned the inward character of the woman, not her status or beauty or other worldly factors. And since a single camel needs about 25 gallons of water and requires 10 minutes to drink, watering ten camels would require 250 gallons and at least a couple hours of work running back and forth to the well - no small task for anyone! Eliezer's prayer to find a bride for Isaac (the very first recorded prayer of the Torah) did not appeal for a special sign or miracle but instead relied on the providential and "hidden hand" of God that governs the regular affairs of life (i.e., hashgachah pratit: הַשְׁגָּחָה פְּרָטִית). His prayer at the well relied on God to lead him to a chosen woman who, like his master Abraham, would extend compassion to a person in need. The Torah therefore reveals that far from being a mere coincidence or chance encounter, then, "before he had finished speaking, הִנֵּה רִבְקָה - hinei Rivkah! "behold Rebekah..." (Gen. 24:15). "Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear" (Isa. 65:24).Consider the character of the woman whom the LORD God chose to be the bride for Isaac, the heir of Abraham. Rebekah was willing to leave her family - all that she knew - based on an "otherworldly" promise. Her response to the invitation was simply: אֵלֵךְ - "I will go" (Gen. 24:58). Her courageous willingness was a characteristic of Abraham himself who was willing to leave his homeland in search of the greater things of God. Like Abraham, Rebekah chose to be ger ve'toshav (גֵּר־וְתוֹשָׁב) - a "stranger and a sojourner" - who left everything behind in order to become part of the chosen family. Truly Rivkah was "eshet chayil," a woman of valor.Hebrew LessonProverbs 31:10 reading (click):
God's Pursuing Love...
11.11.25 (Cheshvan 20, 5786) Where it says, "Surely goodness and kindness (טוֹב וָחֶסֶד) shall follow me all the days of my life" (Psalm 23:6), note the Hebrew verb translated "shall follow me" (i.e., יִרְדְּפוּנִי) comes from a root (i.e., radaf: רָדַף) that means "to pursue," as a hunter chases after his prey. In this connection the Baal Shem Tov once asked, "But why the need for pursuit? Does anyone flee from goodness and kindness so that these must pursue him?" And he answered: "Indeed they do. A person may flee from something he thinks is harmful, not knowing that it is heaven-sent and intended for his advantage." This interesting interpretation suggests that we may try to protect ourselves even at the expense of receiving a blessing. Do we allow fear to rob us of the chance to grow? The sages comment that if we flee from what is good because we mistakenly regard it as evil, we should pray, as David did, that the hidden good should pursue us relentlessly. Amen. As David also prayed: "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults" (Psalm 19:12). The tragedy is that our secret faults often make us our own worst enemy.At any rate, given the context of this beloved Psalm, it is clear that King David was sure that God's kindness would "hound" him as he made his way through this world - even in the dark places, even in "the valley of the shadow of death" (בְּגֵיא צַלְמָוֶת) - where God's rod and staff would comfort him and direct his way (Psalm 23:4). Amen, thank God for Yeshua our Good Shepherd (ישׁוע הָרוֹעֶה הַטּוֹב שֶׁלָנוּ) who lays down his life for his sheep (John 10:11). Praise God that He came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).Hebrew LessonPsalm 23:6 Hebrew reading (click):
The following is related to our Torah reading for this week, Chayei Sarah...11.10.25 (Cheshvan 19, 5786) Do you understand that in God's sovereign design and plan for creation, He breathed out a part of his very heart, soul, and strength to create you in his own "image and likeness," a reflection of his own self-existence and reality? This is the essential blessing each of us has been given. Rene Descartes' intuitive awareness of the inner witness of the soul: "I think therefore I am" (cogito ergo sum) echoes the אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה, "I am that I am," within our hearts. The LORD is the "God of the spirits of all flesh" (Num. 16:22) for "in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).The moments of our lives, the ups and downs of our goings, the length of our days - and especially the purpose and end of our existence - are all in the hands of God, as it says: "In you I put my trust, O LORD; I said, 'You are my God; my times are in your hands" (Psalm 31:14-15). A person may "devise his own way," but it is the LORD that directs his steps.If we consider our lives apart from God, however, all we see is wretchedness, limitations, shortness of days, and the absurd specter of death at the end of it all. Life always seems too short; the days fly past us like a dream, soon we are "cut off" and gone. When the moment of death occurs, many are lost to its eternal significance... They die unprepared.On the other hand, when we trust that our lives are under God's providential direction, and we realize that our Heavenly Father "numbers the hairs on our head," then we can quiet our hearts and abandon ourselves to his care (Isa. 46:8-10; Psalm 103:19). As it is written: "Those who trust in you know your Name; for you do not forsake those who seek you, O LORD" (Psalm 9:10). And as the Apostle Paul preached to the Athenians, "God, who alone is Creator, the Lord of heaven and earth, has given life and breath to all people, and from one man has made every nation of people to live on the earth, having determined prescribed times and the boundaries of their habitations" (Acts 17:24-26).For the believer there is no greater comfort than to trust that the LORD will work "all things together" for our ultimate good (Rom. 8:28). "Whoever lives and believes in me shall never die" (John 11:26). Yet there is a veil, an ordained obscurity. "God has made every thing beautiful in his time, and he has set eternity in people's hearts, so that no one can find out what he has ordained from the beginning to the end" (Eccl. 3:11). So while we know only "in part," as through "a glass darkly," we believe that the LORD goes before us and will always be with us (Deut. 31:8). And one day we shall see him "panim el-panim," face to face (1 Cor. 13:12). "Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as He is; and everyone that has this hope in Him is purified, even as he is pure" (1 John 3:2-3).Χάριτι δὲ θεοῦ εἰμι ὅ εἰμι - "by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10). This is a radical axiom that should be foundational to our faith, namely that nothing occurs in our lives apart from God's will for our ultimate blessing. From small matters to big, from the seemingly insignificant to the momentous, from what seems hopelessly undone to the sheer miracle and glory of existence itself -- categorically everything, in every conceivable world, is under the sovereign hand of the One who works all things together for his glory and for our good. Amen. Yeshua "upholds all things" (φέρων τε τὰ πάντα) by the word of his power. "All things were created by him, and for him, and in him all things hold together" (ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν). He is the "Magnetic Center" of reality, its beginning and its end (Col. 1:16-17).How could it be otherwise? For who can overrule the will of God our Creator and the LORD over all? "From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. No one can undo what I have done" (Isa. 41:13). "For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?" (Isa. 14:27). Therefore do not be afraid. "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jer. 29:11). As Yeshua said: "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns! Hebrew LessonPsalm 9:10 reading with commentary (click):
Blessing of Confession...
"Nothing sets a Christian so much out of the devil's reach than humility." - Jonathan Edwards11.10.25 (Cheshvan 19, 5786) "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Not just this or that particular sin, mind you, but rather the whole constellation of attitudes, assumptions, and wayward thinking that brought us into exile in the first place. The Greek word "confession" (i.e., homologia: ὁμολογία) means bringing yourself before the Divine Light to account for the truth about who you are. Indeed, the verb form "homologeo" (ὁμολογέω) means "saying the same thing" - from ὁμός (same) and λόγος (word). In this sense confession is a form of earnest self-honesty before what is real...In biblical Hebrew teshuvah (תְשׁוּבָה) means turning back to God by turning away from what makes you lost in unreality and painful exile. God's first word to Adam after his transgression was "ayeka" (אַיֶּכָּה), "Where are you?" (Gen. 3:9). Repentance means returning to the light of divine truth. God's love for us is the question, and our teshuvah – our turning of the heart toward Him – is the answer.Teshuvah is one of the great gifts God gives each of us – the ability to turn back to Him and seek healing for our brokenness. בחר בחיים היוםHebrew LessonProverbs 28:13 reading (click):
Making the Dead Alive...
11.10.25 (Cheshvan 19, 5786) Human religion always emphasizes what we can do to connect with God, though that confuses cause and effect in the realm of the spiritual. After the original transgression of Adam and Eve, death became the root problem of the human condition, so to speak, with indwelling sin as its fruit (i.e., the "works of the flesh"). It is this inherited "spiritual death" that causes sin. To focus on outward behavior without first of all dealing with the underlying problem of spiritual death is therefore a misstep. It is to clean the outside of the cup or to wash the outside of a tomb in a vain attempt to disguise the truth about our unclean and dead condition. The good news is not that God wants to make bad people good, but rather wants to make dead people alive... The cure for spiritual death is to be spiritually reborn and to partake of the resurrected life of Yeshua.Following Yeshua is not a sort of "moral reformation" or self-improvement program to make us acceptable to God. Yeshua did not die on the cross so that we would become entangled in the old ways of being... No! He is Lord and Master and we find new life in His acts of deliverance done on our behalf and for our benefit. The temptation is always to go back to the law of sin and death (i.e., the principle of self-justification), but as Luther once said: "The sin underneath all our sins is the lie of the serpent that we cannot trust the love and grace of Christ and that we must take matters into our own hands." "LORD, I need Thee every hour..." There never will be a time when we "get past" the need for God's grace given in Yeshua, since the only antidote to power of indwelling sin is the greater power of God's redeeming love within our hearts (1 John 3:8). The gospel is - not was - "the power of God for salvation (δύναμις θεοῦ ἐστιν εἰς σωτηρίαν) for everyone who believes" (Rom. 1:16); it is an ongoing source of power for our lives... Our identity is made secure in the finished work of the Messiah - we trust in His strength, not our own; it is "Messiah in you" that is the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). Just as we are given a new life entirely by means of God's grace, so we are also sanctified as we walk in that newness of life... "As you received Yeshua the Messiah the LORD, so walk in Him" (Col. 2:6). The focus is always on Yeshua and His righteousness and obedience... Every step of the way is a miracle and a wonder when we walk "in Messiah."We walk "in Him," that is, in His strength, in His power, in His love... we don't walk "to" Him or attempt to climb the "stairway to heaven." Yeshua is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the Bridge - sha'ar hashamayim (שַׁעַר הַשָּׁמָיִם) and the Divine Ladder upon whom the angels of God ascend and descend. We look to Him, not to ourselves for life. Because of the life of Yeshua within us, we are now able to bear fruit of the Holy Spirit as the Torah is written upon our hearts (Jer. 31:31). We are enabled to keep the Torah of Yeshua (תּוֹרָה יֵשׁוּעַ) because the life of Yeshua empowers us to do so...Hebrew LessonPsalm 138:8 reading (click for audio):
11.09.25 (Cheshvan 18, 5786) Shavuah tov, chaverim. Our Torah reading for last week (i.e., parashat Vayera) told how God was faithful to Abraham and Sarah by miraculously giving them a son (Isaac) in their old age. Nonetheless, Abraham faced his greatest test of all by being asked to offer up his promised child as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah, the place of the future Temple. On account of his willingness to obey, God blessed Abraham and promised that He would multiply Abraham's offspring as the stars of heaven and that in his seed (singular) all the nations of the earth would be blessed.
This week's Torah portion is called Chayei Sarah (חיי שרה), the "life of Sarah," though it begins (paradoxically) with the account of her death, and it tells how the first great matriarch of the Jewish people was buried in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron, a burial site which Abraham had purchased from Ephron the Hittite (Gen. 23:1-20). Since the account of Sarah's death is given just after the account of the near-sacrifice of Isaac (i.e., the Akedah), some of the sages link the events together, suggesting that the shock of the near loss of her beloved son at the hand of her husband was just too much for her to bear.Hebrew LessonGenesis 23:1a Reading (click):
After Sarah was buried in Hebron, Abraham sought a wife for his son by commissioning his faithful servant Eliezer to go among his relatives living in Mesopotamia to seek a bride for Isaac. Eliezer (i.e., אֱלִיעֶזֶר, lit., "My God will help") then set out on the 550 mile journey to Haran (also called the City of Nahor and the place where Abraham's father died), taking ten camels laden with gifts in search of a suitable woman. In answer to his prayer, as soon as Eliezer reached the city of Nahor he encountered Abraham's grand niece Rebekah drawing water at a well, where she graciously provided water for him and for his ten camels, thereby confirming that she was God's choice for Isaac.
Chayei Sarah outline:
Chayei Sarah resources:
Identifying with the Lamb...
11.07.25 (Cheshvan 16, 5786) The near sacrifice of Isaac establishes that God does not want us to sacrifice ourselves on the altar, but rather to identify with the appointed sacrifice of the lamb given on our behalf... Isaac pictures the identification process. First he completely submitted himself to God's will by being bound as a sacrifice. Once that decision was made, God intervened by providing the ram caught in the thicket, which represented the "binding" or identification of God's sacrifice for him (Gen. 22:13). Just as the lamb was identified with Isaac, so Isaac was identified with the lamb. Likewise, Yeshua died in your place so you can identify with his death for you, trusting it as your atonement provided by your Heavenly Father. Your union with Yeshua means that his death was your death: "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Messiah in God" (Col. 3:3). Likewise, his "life after death" (resurrection) is your eternal life: "When Messiah who is your life appears, you also will appear with him in glory" (Col. 3:4). Baptism symbolizes your identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Yeshua as the Lamb of God sacrificed on your behalf (Col. 2:12; Rom. 6:4). Just as Isaac descended from the altar in newness of life, so we are made new creations because of the sacrifice of Messiah: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of God the Son, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20).Of course we cannot crucify ourselves, but we trust that God finishes the work of Yeshua on our behalf... We "reckon" ourselves crucified with Messiah and trust in his work of salvation performed for our personal blessing. As it says: "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Yeshua the Messiah" (Rom. 6:11). Only after this can you present yourself as korban chai (קָרְבָּן חַי) - a living sacrifice - for God (Rom. 12:1; 1 Pet. 2:5).There aren't two gospel messages: one for the sinner and the other for the saint... The message of salvation is always "good news" to those who are sin-sick and riddled with guilt and shame, and it is always "bad news" for those who deny their inner condition before God and believe that they can justify themselves. We never get beyond the call to "repent and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). We don't "get saved" in order to follow the path of self-righteousness; we get saved to be witnesses of God's righteousness. We love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Hebrew LessonIsaiah 12:2 reading (click for audio):
Faith and Surrender...
The following is related to our Torah reading for this Shabbat, parashat Vayera...11.07.25 (Cheshvan 16, 5786) Have you ever met a truly "surrendered" person? Someone who is completely yielded to God, happily unconcerned with their own will, delivered from all earthly fears and entirely at peace with whatever happens? I once knew such as person years ago when I was attending seminary. He was a missionary to Japan, soft-spoken, gentle, and fully awake to God's presence. You could sense his surrender in the little things, the petty inconveniences that come up -- not so much by what he said but by what he let pass him by. To an outsider he might mistakenly have been construed to be a shy or passive person, or a perhaps a man of Stoic resignation, but going deeper than superficialities it revealed that he was alive and awake to God's presence -- not in some self-serving way -- but in the depths of quiet serenity that attended his spirit.Now let's consider the patriarch Abraham, surely the ideal example of a surrendered soul in all the Torah. Behold the man. Imagine the depths of his surrender! What was his secret of his strength? Everything he wanted in his life was embodied in his son who lay bound upon the altar. Isaac was Abraham's world. His dream. His hope. His religion. All of the promises of God were bound up in Isaac as the leather ropes that tightly bound his hands and feet. Abraham's life flashed before his eyes. His mind was spinning as he remembered the starry night sky and the promise, "So shall your seed be...." It was all so incredible, impossible, and surreal. And yet it all led to this moment. The call to leave everything behind and go to an unknown land; the various tests he faced over the long years; the moments of unspeakable joy, of seeing God, hearing his promises, his laughter, his song; and moments of sorrow, loss, and fear. After it was all said and done, there was nothing left of him other than who he was in relation to the Lord, and nothing else -- not even his dearest hope and dream - mattered in comparison.There was no fear in his heart as Abraham lifted up the knife that would slay all his worldly hope and dreams, no fear, because he had seen the LORD, he was already as one dead yet made alive in the presence of God, and that presence spoke a deeper truth than whatever worldly any circumstance could say (Rev. 1:17). Abraham "hoped against hope" because the deeper hope was beyond any worldly hope that might have been imagined. Abraham was lifted up into the countless stars again, in another realm, beyond the pale of whatever might be seen, and it was that vision that gave him courage to believe despite the apparent insanity of the situation. But let's not forget the great surrender of Isaac, too, who willingly allowed himself to be bound by his father, their "hineini" love uniting them in God's presence. The midrash portrays Isaac asking his father to tighten the bonds that held him as their eyes locked in love for one another. The tears of Abraham fell from his eyes into Isaac's eyes; their well of tears filled by an unspeakable yearning.We perhaps tend to pass by the story too quickly and "read back into" what had happened, how the Angel of the LORD intervened to stop the sacrifice and to provide the lamb to take Isaac's place, and we are surely amazed that God provided the lamb which Abraham lifted up for a burnt offering "in place of" his son (Gen. 22:13). It was then that Abraham was rejoined with "resurrected" Isaac, as if receiving him back from the dead (Heb. 11:17-19). Recall that Abraham reflected and called the place of sacrifice "Adonai Yireh" (יְהוָה יִרְאֶה), "the LORD who sees," or "the LORD who provides," and Moses commented that it is so called to this day: "In the mountain of the LORD it shall be provided" (Gen. 22:14), prophetically referring to the place where Yeshua was lifted up as the true Lamb of God. This is of course the "gospel" of Moses, and we take note that Abraham offered there his "only begotten" son, the one whom he especially loved, for the sacrifice, and we further note that this is the first place in the Torah where the word "love" (אהבה), meaning "he will give" (א + הב), appears. There is a great peace when we let go of everything in our hearts (everything) and give ours lives over to the care of God.But is it possible for mere mortals, those frail human beings among us who are filled with fear, doubt, and shame, to do such things? Some people trivialize the idea by thinking of surrender as a sort of "diet," or the self-abnegation of practiced denial. And while it's true there is a sort of denial involved in true surrender, it is not the self-denial of a Hindu yogi nor the resolve of a Stoic philosopher who gives up all worldly desire in order to find the courage to face one's fate. Surrender is a paradoxical sort of "work" in that it is accomplished in the repose of trust, not in the strivings of the physical body. It is believing that whatever you really are is a witness to something Wonderful, beyond your understanding, and utterly worthy of your full attention. It is the "shalom from above," given freely as you look away from yourself to encounter something so strikingly beautiful and glorious that everything else becomes as "dust and ashes." But what is surrender in practical terms? Is it an attitude of mind and heart that gives up whatever it may otherwise want? Well that may be a "negative" aspect or side of surrender, the "giving up" or "letting go" side, but full surrender goes beyond the idea of self-denial to enter into the truth of God's presence, and that marks the resurrection of heart to newness of life. So on the other side of denial, death, and harrowing loss is acceptance, life, and unspeakably great gain! Surrender is a letting go of our illusions, our worldly desires, our attachments, and indeed whatever and however we may regard ourselves, in order to know God's love, strength, and sufficiency. It is really a form of "teshuvah," turning away from the darkness to the light, forgetting yourself in order to know yourself in relation to God's blessing and presence. Such surrender releases you from all manner of worldly fear as you are "transported" into the realm of divine beauty and truth. You are reborn by God's Spirit - the breath and atmosphere of God's love and grace suffuse your heart and inner life. If you find yourself "stuck" to your attachments, whether they are ideals or dreams or even your vision of what God is like, you can pray and ask the Holy Spirit to release you from what holds your heart captive. When by miracle you surrender your will to God, letting God to be God, you will sense perfect peace that passes all your understanding. Amen, and may the LORD help us all find ourselves in the truth of his heart and will for whatever we may be.Hebrew LessonPsalm 73:25 reading (click for audio):
We all struggle with surrendering fully to God, and if it were so easy Abraham would be otherwise unremarkable. Yeshua regularly admonished his disciples to have faith, and sometimes chided them for their unbelief: "Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith?" "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matt. 8:26; Matt. 14:31, etc.). This is a lesson of great contrast. Abraham's faith was so steady that he obeyed the call of God even when it seemed to make no sense... "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform" (Rom. 4:20-21). For this reason the Scriptures extol Abraham by calling him "the Father of the faithful" (Rom. 4:16-18).
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