I was laid off from my full-time job several years ago when -- after a lot of prayer, soul searching and discussion with my wife -- we decided to operate the Hebrew for Christians ministry entirely by faith in God's provision through the love and kindness of His people. I am not paid for doing this work, and therefore I ask you to consider supporting us. If you can help, please offer a donation or purchase some of the Hebrew study materials offered here. Encouragingother web sites to link here also helps us become more visible on the web. Above all, agree with us for the Lord's will to be done in our lives. Todah, chaverim.
Note: My wife and I have have three young children (Josiah, Judah, and Emanuel David - born Jan. 17, 2016). The LORD has graciously provided for us as Adonai Yireh (יְהוָה יִרְאֶה), "the One who sees [our need]." We are living one day at a time by the grace and mercy of God, and I want to publicly praise Yeshua and acknowledge His faithful love in caring for my family -- despite the trials during this time. The LORD God of Israel is faithful and true! And to those of you who have sent us a word of encouragement or donation during this difficult time, please accept our heartfelt appreciation! Your chesed truly help sustain us.
יהי שׁם יהוה מברך - "May the Name of the Lord be blessed."
Jewish Holiday Calendar
Note: For 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 winter holidays (חגי החורף) remember special times when God acted on behalf of His people so that they would triumph over their enemies, and therefore they prophetically picture the final victory in the world to come.
The Winter Holidays:
Note that in accordance with tradition, the following holiday dates begin at sundown:
Note: Some calendars will list the first day of a holiday without indicating that the holiday actually begins sundown the night before. For more information see the Calendar pages...
February 2021 Site Updates
Glory as Consuming Fire...
02.11.21 (Shevat 29, 5781) From our Torah portion this week (Mishpatim) we read: "Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel" (Exod. 24:17). Now some people regard this fire as a threat, even a sign of God's judgment, though it is better to regard it as a sign of God's glorious passion. After all, the pillar of fire had led the people out of bondage, just as it later dwelt between the cherubim upon the Ark of the Covenant. Indeed the fire that fell upon followers of Yeshua at Pentecost was the same manifestation of the glory of God's passionate love that was revealed at Sinai. Our God is a "consuming fire" (אֵשׁ אכְלָה), which means that He is full of passion and zeal that your heart fully belongs to Him...
The metaphor that God is a Consuming Fire suggests that He is both indescribable and passionately concerned with our devotion to Him. "Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:28-29). We are promised a kingdom that cannot be shaken, wherein the Fire that consumes will consume all things that are not established by our Heavenly Father... "Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today..." (Deut. 4:39-40). Our lives on the altar ascend to God in praise.
Trusting to Understand...
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Mishpatim... ]
02.11.21 (Shevat 29, 5781) From our Torah portion this week we read: "all the people answered with one voice and said, כָּל־הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּר יְהוָה נַעֲשֶׂה / "All that that the LORD has spoken we will do" (Exod. 19:8; 24:3). It is paradoxical that we must first "do" and then "hear" (or understand), but in matters of the spirit, we don't really "hear" apart from acting in faith, which is another way of saying that "faith without works is dead" (James 2:17). In other words, our deeds will bring to life our creed, and we will be given light as we act in confidence and trust. As Yeshua said, "If you know these things, happy (μακάριος) are you if you do them" (John 13:17). And may God show us the mercy we need to be "doers" of the word and not hearers only, "deceiving our own selves" (James 1:22). Amen.
02.11.21 (Shevat 29, 5781) It is easy enough to hurry past words of Scripture without slowing down to reflect on what is being said. For instance, in our Torah portion for this week (i.e., Mishpatim) we read: "The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction" (Exod. 24:12). The Hebrew words veheyei sham (וֶהְיֵה־שָׁם), usually translated as "and wait there," can also be translated as "and be there." But why -- if every jot and tittle of Torah is indeed significant (Matt. 5:18) -- does the text say "come up to the mountain" and then add the superfluous phrase "and be there"? The sages answer that God is asking Moses to be present, be awake, and to be utterly focused – "with all your heart, soul, and might." This teaches us that to receive God's revelation, we need to show up – "to be there" – earnestly seeking his heart."
The first duty of the heart is to believe in the miracle of God's love for you, and the second is to stay awake, and to keep believing in that love, even in your ascent to the unknown...
Hebrew Lesson Exodus 24:12a Hebrew reading:
"One must keep on pointing out that Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important." - C.S. Lewis (God in the Dock)
Revelation and Fear...
02.11.21 (Shevat 29, 5781) While the Ten Commandments were dramatically uttered amidst thunder, lightning, smoke, and the roar of the heavenly shofar, they essentially restate spiritual and moral truth intuitively known by all people (see Rom. 1:19-32). In light of this, we may wonder why God made such a terrifying presentation of principles already implanted within those he created in his image, and especially to the direct descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses... After all, God's truth may be spoken using a "still small voice" rather than in fiery displays (1 Kings 19:12).
In reply, it may be said that while most people intuitively understand the whisper of "right and wrong," they often suppress the voice of conscience because they do not genuinely fear God, and therefore they fail to connect the significance of their choices with the Divine Lawgiver who is the Source of moral reality. They separate, in other words, the idea of transcendental "Supreme Being" (i.e., the cosmic Creator) from the Source of immanent value and meaning (i.e, the Judge of all). The First Commandment, however, reminds us: "I AM (anokhi) the LORD (YHVH) your God (Elohim)," which identifies divine power with righteousness and holiness. The drama of the revelation at Sinai was therefore intended to instill yirat haShem - the awe of God - within the heart, connecting the Supreme Power with moral truth and its implications (i.e., conscience). The Israelites drew back in fear because they realized that the Holy One was present in their private thoughts, attitudes, and motives of the heart, and this produced a sense of dread within them (Exod. 20:19). Moses reassured them, however, by saying that the surrounding terrors - which undoubtedly resembled the wonders they had witnessed in Egypt - would do them no harm if they would heed the Voice of the LORD. In other words, the terrifying glory of Sinai was meant to impart a sense of reverence and to help the people know that the LORD God is the Source of all power and glory...
02.11.21 (Shevat 29, 5781) The Ten Commandments are often divided into two basic groups or categories. The first five commandments are said to be "between man and God" (i.e., ben adam le'chavero:בֵּין אָדָם לְחֲבֵרוֹ), and contain 146 words; whereas the second five are said to be "between man and other people" (i.e., ben adam la'Makom:בֵּין אָדָם לְמָקוֹם), and contain 26 words, the same value as the Name of God, YHVH (יהוה). In this connection we note that the Ten Commandments begin with "I AM" (אָנכִי) and end with "[for] your neighbor" (לְרֵעֶךָ), which when joined together says, "I AM your neighbor." In other words, the LORD Himself is also found in your neighbor... When we love our neighbor as ourselves (אָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ), we are demonstrate our love for God. But who, then, is your neighbor? You are -- to every other soul you may encounter this day (Luke 10:36).
Note: I should add that loving others is impossible without first receiving (inwardly accepting and making your reality) who you are as the "beloved of the Lord..." You have to start there, since you can't give away what you don't have. If you struggle with loving others, or are a cynic, a misanthrope, a jaded soul, or are wounded or bitter of heart, then first find your heart's healing and then simply live honestly before others... May God help each of us!
Gift of a New Heart: The Tenth Commandment...
[ The following is related to the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai...]
02.11.21 (Shevat 29, 5781) The last of the Ten Commandments is the Tenth Commandment not to covet or to want things that are not yours. The Hebrew word translated "covet" in many translations (i.e., chamad:חמד) usually refers to selfish desire or lust (e.g., "Lust not after her beauty in thine heart..." Prov. 6:25), and thus speaks directly to the heart's innermost intention, which, even if unacknowledged by ourselves, is always revealed before God: "Your Father who sees in secret" (Matt. 6:6). On the other hand, selfish desire can - if we are willing to be honest with ourselves - reveal to ourselves the condition of our hearts and thus mark our need for deliverance from the power of sin. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Rome: "I had not known sin ...except the law had said, 'Thou shalt not covet'" (Rom. 7:7). Inner peace or contentment is the blessing that comes from surrendering your desires to God, letting go of your envy, and receiving your daily bread with humility and gratitude... It is the way to simchah (שִׂמְחָה), or "happiness."
[ The following is related to the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai...]
02.10.21 (Shevat 28, 5781) The Ninth Commandment prohibits swearing falsely against your neighbor in matters of law and civil proceedings, but, on a deeper level, it implicitly indicates the responsibility to be a witness of the truth at all times. Note that the Hebrew word for "truth" (emet) is composed from the first, the middle, and the last letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, thus indicating that it encompasses the first things, the last things, and everything in between. Thus, in relation to our neighbor (who is really everyone), we are to be truthful and bear witness to the truth in all our moments of life.
02.10.21 (Shevat 28, 5781) When Yeshua said, "Let not your heart be troubled... I go to prepare a place for you," he was assuring his friends that he had matters well under his control, and therefore they did not need to worry, since his passion rendered their salvation completely secure... The future is a "prepared place" for you, even if life in this world is often marked by testing and various refining fires. God has not promised to rescue us according to our own schedule, however, so if it appears that your prayers are not immediately answered, keep waiting in faith: "Rejoice, even if you have been grieved by various trials, because the tested genuineness of your faith -- more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire -- may result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Yeshua the Messiah" (1 Pet. 1:6-7). God works "all things together for good," and since the exercise of faith is your good, he engineers all things to build your faith. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD" (Isa. 55:8).
Recall the words: "Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God" (Isa. 50:10). Trusting in God (i.e., bittachon - בִּטָּחוֹן) doesn't mean that we are obligated to say this is "the best of all possible worlds," though it does mean we believe that eventually God will wipe away every tear and make all things right... Bittachon is a word for this world, which says, "Though he slay me, I will trust in him..." Those who call upon the LORD can trust not only in concealed good behind ambiguous appearances ("all things work together for good") but also in a future, real, substantive good that will one day be clearly manifest for us all... We fight the "good fight" of faith, which is a worthy struggle that eventually is realized for blessing.
The very last promise of Scripture is "I come quickly" (אֲנִי בָא מַהֵר) and the last prayer is, "Amen, come, Lord Yeshua" (אָמֵן בּאָה־נָּא הָאָדוֹן יֵשׁוּעַ) [Rev. 22:20]. Meanwhile we "inwardly groan" for the fulfillment of our redemption; since presently we are suspended between worlds, walking in hope yet subject to the vanities that befall all flesh. And though God may tarry, He declares, "I am the LORD; in its time I will hasten it" (Isa. 60:22). So we are made "captives to hope," clinging to the promise of our ultimate healing and redemption. Our hearts therefore affirm that God is faithful "to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24). Amen. God will help us before He will help us, and may He come speedily, and in our day....
[ The following is related to the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai...]
02.09.21 (Shevat 27, 5781) The eighth commandment against stealing (לא תגנב, Exod. 20:15) corresponds to the third commandment not to profane God's name. Stealing, in the sense of the Hebrew word ganav (גנב), refers to both the act of carrying off by stealth that which is not one's own (i.e., theft), but also to the deceptive inner disposition that accompanies the action. And ultimately that deceptive inner disposition is a form of self-deception. After all, none of us categorically "owns" anything, since God alone is the Creator and Giver of all of life. Stealing arrogantly (and vainly) attempts to seize some "thing" and to claim it for oneself - blindly disregarding the fact that "in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).
02.09.21 (Shevat 27, 5781) When Moses recalled the awesome revelation of the Torah at Sinai, he described how the mountain "burned with fire unto the heart of heaven" when the Ten Commandments were inscribed upon the two tablets of testimony: "And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire unto the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone" (Deut. 4:11-13).
The sages say that the tablets represented a heart, as it says, "write them on the tablet of your heart" (Prov. 3:3), and God's word is likened to a fire that reveals the great passion of God's heart for us (Jer. 23:29; Deut. 4:24). Tragically, the two tablets were smashed after the people lost sight of the heart of heaven (לב שמים), and therefore God requires a broken heart - teshuvah - to behold his glory once again. Therefore we see that Yeshua died of a broken heart upon the cross for our return to God, when the fire of his passion burned unto the very heart of heaven, and in his mesirat ha'nefesh we see the greater glory of God... May we, then, readily take hold of his passion and never forsake his love and truth.
"There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true." - Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
[ The following is related to the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai...]
02.08.21 (Shevat 26, 5781) The sages say that the Seventh Commandment prohibition against adultery (לא תנאף, Exod. 20:14) corresponds to the Second Commandment prohibition against idolatry. Adultery refers to sexual union between a married person and someone other than his or her spouse (fornication, on the other hand, is also prohibited in the Scriptures though it is a broader term that refers to any sort of sexual contact outside the covenant of marriage). The penalty for adultery is severe (see Deut. 22:22, Lev. 20:10).
From the verse, "The adulterer waits for twilight saying, No eye shall see me" (Job 24:15), the Talmud infers the adulterer to be a practical atheist, since he does not say, "No man shall see me, but no eye - neither the eye of one below nor the eye of Him above."
Adultery is a grave sacrilege, since it not only violates the sworn promise of parties to a sacred covenant, but perverts the picture of our union with God Himself. As Paul wrote to the believers at Ephesus, "We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Messiah and the church" (Eph. 5:30-32). This is why apostasy is likewise likened to spiritual adultery...
Hebrew Podcast Exodus 20:14 on adultery and sexual sin:
02.08.21 (Shevat 26, 5781) Shalom chaverim. I made a new audio podcast that considers the role of tradition in our understanding of the Torah and the Holy Scriptures. Though this is a somewhat complex subject, it is comprehensible if we take the time to carefully think through some of the issues. Among other things I consider the philosophical idea of the "Tao" as described by C.S. Lewis in relation to human conscience, the intuitive idea of the moral law as empirically expressed in various world cultures, and the argument that objective values are implied in any statement of right and wrong. I also consider the role and influence of tradition regarding the revelation of the law of God given at Mount Sinai, the subsequent preservation and transmission of the written words of Scripture, the creation of the biblical canon, and how both Yeshua and the Apostle Paul accepted and ministered in the context of the theological traditions of their day. I hope you might find it helpful...
[ This coming Sabbath is called "Shabbat Shekalim" and it anticipates the month of Adar... ]
02.07.21 (Shevat 25, 5781) Shalom chaverim. Four special Sabbaths occur just before the start of spring: two before Purim and two before Passover. Collectively, these Sabbaths are called "the Four Shabbatot" and four additional Torah readings (called Arba Parashiyot, or the "four portions") are read on each of these Sabbaths in preparation for the spring holidays. The names of these four Sabbaths are Shabbat Shekalim, Shabbat Zakhor, Shabbat Parah, and Shabbat HaChodesh, respectively.
The first of the four Sabbaths is called Shabbat Shekalim (שבת שקלים), "the Sabbath of the Shekels," which occurs just before the month of Adar begins. An additional reading (Exod. 30:11-16) is appended to the regular Torah reading that describes the contribution of a half-shekel for the construction and upkeep of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). According to a midrash in the Talmud (Bavli, Shekalim 1), the half-shekel represents a "fiery coin" that the LORD brought from underneath the Throne of His Glory to symbolically "atone" for the sin of the Golden Calf. Since every Jew was required to give this "widow's mite," repentance is accepted for all who come in true humility before the LORD. For us, it might be a time to remember those who offer personal sacrifices so that we also might draw closer to God.
02.07.21 (Shevat 25, 5781) Thursday, Feb. 11th (at sundown) marks the start of Rosh Chodesh Adar (חודש אדר) which runs through the following day. On the Biblical calendar the month of Adar is the last month of the year counting from Nisan (though on the civil calendar it is the sixth month counting from Tishri). The month usually falls during February/March on the secular calendar. The 14th day of the last month of the year (i.e., either Adar or Adar Sheni) marks the festive holiday of Purim, which is always celebrated a month before Passover(Megillah 1:4). During both Purim and Passover we celebrate God's deliverance of His people, and therefore Adar is considered one of the happiest of the months of the Jewish year. As it is written in the Talmud, "When Adar comes, joy is increased" (Ta'anit 29a).
Like the month of Elul (i.e., the month that precedes Rosh Hashanah and the New Year in the fall), the last month of the Biblical calendar is traditionally a time to make "New Year's Resolutions" and to turn away from sin before the start of the New Year of spring (i.e., Rosh Chodashim). The month of Adar is therefore a season given to us each year to begin preparing for the holiday of Passover.
The Rosh Chodesh Blessing
The following (simplified) blessing can be recited to celebrate the new month and to ask the LORD God Almighty to help you for this coming season:
[ After the revelation of the Ten Commandments God called Moses up to Sinai again, this time for 40 days and 40 nights, to teach him the details of the commandments and how they were to be applied. The 6th section of the Book of Exodus provides a sampling of these various rules and laws (called "mishpatim" in Hebrew) that God instructed Moses during this time. ]
02.07.21 (Shevat 25, 5781) Shavuah tov, friends. Last week we read in the Torah that exactly seven weeks after the Exodus from Egypt (i.e., 49 days after the first Passover), Moses gathered the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai to enter into covenant with the LORD. In a dramatic display of thunder, lightning, billowing smoke and fire, the LORD descended upon the mountain and recited the Ten Commandments (or Ten Declarations) to the people. Upon hearing the awesome Voice of God, however, the people shrank back in fear and begged Moses to be their mediator before God. The people then stood far off, while Moses alone drew near to the thick darkness to receive further instructions from the LORD.
In this week's Torah reading (i.e., Mishpatim, Exod. 21:1-24:18) we learn about these additional instructions Moses received on the mountain. The Jewish sages traditionally count 53 distinct commandments in this portion of the Torah, easily making it one of the most "legalistic" (i.e., law-focused) sections of the entire Bible. Civil laws, liability laws, criminal laws, agricultural laws, financial laws, family purity laws, Sabbath laws, and holiday laws are all given in this portion. These various social and civil laws are called "mishpatim" (מִשְׁפָּטִים), the plural form of the masculine noun mishpat (מִשְׁפָּט), meaning a "judgment," "ordinance," "law" or legal ruling. The word derives from the verb shafat (שָׁפַט) meaning to judge or govern. A shofet (שׁוֹפֵט) is the Hebrew word for "judge," and the LORD is called Ha-Shofet kol ha'aretz (הֲשׁפֵט כָּל־הָאָרֶץ) -- the "Judge of all the earth" who loves justice (Gen. 18:25, 37:28, Psalm 50:6, 94:2). In this connection note that the mishpatim became the basis for the tradition application of Jewish case law as well as for halakhah. According to common Jewish tradition, mishpatim are ethical judgments (or laws) given for a clearly specified reason (i.e., logical laws), as opposed to chukkim (חֻקִּים) which are divine fiats or decrees. An example of a mishpat would be the commandment to give charity or the prohibitions against theft and murder. These mitzvot (commandments) are inherently rational since the denial of their validity would make civil life impossible.
After receiving these additional rules, Moses descended Sinai and went before the people to reveal to them the words of the LORD. Upon hearing the details, the people responded in unison, "all the words which the LORD has said we will do" (i.e., na'aseh:נַעֲשֶׂה). Moses then wrote down the words of the covenant into a separate scroll (sefer habrit), built an altar at the foot of Sinai, and ordered sacrifices to the LORD to be made. He then took the sacrificial blood from the offerings, threw half upon the altar, and read the scroll of the covenant to the people. The people ratified the covenant by saying, "all that the LORD says we will do and obey" (i.e., na'aseh ve'nishmah:נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע). Upon hearing this, Moses took the other half of the sacrificial blood and threw it on the people saying, "Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words" (Heb. 9:18). After this ceremony, Moses, Aaron, and seventy of the elders of Israel ascended Mount Sinai to eat a "covenant affirmation meal" between Israel and the LORD.
Upon returning from the mountain with the elders, the LORD commanded Moses to go back up to receive the tablets of stone inscribed with the Ten Commandments. On the seventh day there, he heard the Voice of the LORD calling to him from the midst of the cloud of glory, and then entered into the Presence of the LORD. He remained on the mountain for a total of forty days and forty nights receiving further revelation about the Mishkan (i.e., Tabernacle) while the Israelites waited for him at the camp down below.
02.07.21 (Shevat 25, 5781) The Mechilta (a halakhic midrash on Exodus) teaches that the Ten Commandments were divided into two groups with the first five on one tablet and the second five on the other, and that these correspond to one another so that, for instance, the Sixth Commandment (לא תרצח, "you shall not murder"; Exod. 20:13) is linked to the first commandment to believe in God (Exod. 20:2). Since man is made in the image of God, his life is infinitely precious, and only God Himself has the right to give and take life. In the Mishnah it is written, "Why was only one man (i.e., Adam) created by God? - to teach that whoever takes a single life destroys thereby a whole world; and whoever saves one life, the Scripture accounts it as though a whole world had been saved (Sanhedrin 4:5). But murder can be figurative as well as literal. The Talmud notes that shaming another publicly is like murder, since the shame causes the blood to leave the face. Moreover, gossip or slander are considered murderous to the dignity of man. The Ethics of the Fathers states, "The evil tongue slays three persons: the utterer of the evil, the listener, and the one spoken about..." Yeshua also linked the ideas of our words and attitudes with murder (seeMatt. 5:21-22; 15:19).
Hebrew Lesson / Podcast Exodus 20:13 Hebrew reading with commentary:
02.05.21 (Shevat 23, 5781) The first four of the Ten Commandments focus on our relationship with God, and it is only through obedience to these commandments that we are able to really understand our own identity - as well as the identity of others in our family, our community, and our world. The Fifth Commandment, to honor your parents, bridges the commandments directed heavenward (bein adam la'makom) with those directed toward one's fellow man (bein adam le'chavero). Honoring our parents teaches us the first principles of honoring God and others; it is the fulcrum by which we learn empathy and "derekh eretz" (דרך ארץ), the basic respect that underlies courtesy and good manners. The importance of this commandment cannot be overstated, since the word translated "honor" (i.e., kabed:כבד) derives from a root word meaning "weighty" (in terms of impressiveness or importance) and is often used to refer to the glory of God. The meaning of kabed in this context derives from the preceding verses (i.e., the first four commandments) which center on honoring God Himself. When we likewise honor our father and mother, the LORD says, "I reckon it as though I dwelled with them and they honored Me" (Kiddushin 31a).
Hebrew Lesson / Podcast Exodus 20:12a on honoring others:
02.05.21 (Shevat 23, 5781) The Fourth Commandment is to "remember" (i.e., zakhor:זכוֹר) the Sabbath day for holiness (Exod. 20:8). We are to set aside, that is, regard as sacred, the seventh day as an acknowledgment that God is both our Creator (Exod. 20:11) and our Savior (Deut. 5:15). By "remembering" the Sabbath we understand other days of the week in relation to it, the "first day" until the Sabbath, the "second day" until the Sabbath, and so on until we reach the Sabbath itself which marks an appointed time of sanctity and rest (i.e., menuchah:מנוחה). Some of the Jewish mystics came to regard the Sabbath not so much as a "day" in the usual sense but rather a spiritual "atmosphere" to be welcomed and greeted as beloved (לכה דודי). The fourth commandment also includes the restriction from doing profane activities (i.e., melachah:מלאכה): "you shall not do any labor" because Shabbat is time set apart for holy pursuits, for family connections, and for healing rest. God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it so that there would special provision from heaven to honor this time (Exod. 16:22). So important is the Sabbath day that God emphatically repeated the commandment just before he gave the tablets to Moses (Exod. 31:13-18).
The Sabbath is a delight – not a burden; a time for celebrating your personal rest in our Messiah Yeshua (Isa. 58:13; Heb. 4:9). Indeed, all those who honor the Sabbath - including the "foreigners" of Israel - will be given a name that is "better than sons and daughters" that will never be cut off (Isa. 56:3-8). Moreover, Sabbath will be honored in the Millennial Kingdom to come: "From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD" (Isa. 66:23). Indeed the blessing of the Sabbath will be honored in the heavenly Jerusalem itself (Rev. 22:2).
Hebrew Lesson / Podcast: Exodus 20:8 on the Sabbath day:
02.05.21 (Shevat 23, 5781) The Third Commandment is "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain" (Exod. 20:7). This commandment implies that it is forbidden to invoke God's name for unholy or profane purposes, for example in jest or as a curse, though it further forbids using the truth of God as a means of harming or degrading other people. "Lifting up" God's name for selfish purposes is a violation of this commandment, and the commandment continues by gravely warning that "the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain." The sages have said that all the words of Torah together form the name of God, and if a single word or letter is missing from a Torah scroll it becomes unfit for use. This teaches that honoring God's word is therefore connected with honoring his Name, and conversely, dishonoring God's name expresses contempt for his word.
02.05.21 (Shevat 23, 5781) Shalom friends. Soren Kierkegaard understood the "self" - that is, what is most essential to what you really are - to be a "dialectical relationship" you have with your own inner life, namely, with your thoughts, your feelings, and so on. He famously said: "The self is a relation which relates to itself, or that in the relation which is its relating to itself. The self is not the relation but the relation's relating to itself" (Sickness unto Death). This might seem like a nonsense statement, but what Kierkegaard meant was that you are always having a conversation with yourself, and there - in that dialog or "dialectic" - you are always deciding what matters most to you, what you really want, what you choose to believe, and so on. As strange as it may sound, "you" are always in relationship with yourself - both as speaker and hearer, and you are also the one who reasons and makes judgments about what to do in the midst of the ongoing conversation... Now what is most significant about this inner discourse, this "court of decision," is both the reasons for or against something, as well as the moral competence and authority of the judge. How could the "divided self" be unified, after all, if it made decisions that were not based on reality and truth?
Of course much of the time we are not conscious of what we are thinking, but we act from impulse acquired through unreflective habit and the passive acquiescence of worldly "assumptions" made about the meaning of things. This is the mode of the "mass mind" that has gone asleep and no longer bothers to ask searching questions about what is real... However, since whatever is thought is indeed based on assumptions, it is important to discern what those assumptions are and to question their veracity.
For example, you might "find yourself" feeling upset over the political affairs of the world, anxious about the future, and so on. "The world is falling apart," you might say, or "everything is coming undone!" It is wise, in this case, to discover the assumptions being employed that give reasons for your fear. What "argument" is being made within yourself that leads you to conclude that fear (or outrage or despair) is the appropriate response? What "axioms" or premises are at work in your thinking? Perhaps you assume that "God takes care of those who take care of themselves" and therefore you must "take control," you must fight against evil, and that you are responsible (somehow) for the state of the world, and so on.
If you take time to honestly examine your reasons for believing that your fear (or anger, or despair) is justified, you will eventually encounter foundational assumptions that are paradoxical and contradictory, such as notions that you are (both) responsible for everything yet nothing is within your control, or that you are (both) "free" yet determined by necessity, that God is (both) distant and yet very near, and so on. And this is where things get interesting and vitally important: in the midst of these tensions, in the midst of the "dialog" you have with such ultimate questions, in the midst of such ambiguity, you (both) must make a practical decision and yet you are unable to do so. Though you "hear" the arguments pro and con within your heart, you are simply unqualified to make a decision about what you should do: you are "double minded, unstable in all your ways."
It is not hopeless, however, because you were never meant to be the judge and moral authority of your life, since that role belongs to God alone who is the Sovereign LORD over all reality, and the only one who truly defines what is "good" and what is "evil." The original sin, after all, was the usurpation of God's authority over our lives. When Adam ate from the Tree of the knowledge of good *and* evil, he sat himself upon the throne of the heart as the god of his own life. The dreadful fall...
Healing comes through teshuvah, or returning to God as the true Authority of our lives. In the midst of the inner dialog of the self, your ego or "false judge" must abdicate the throne before the LORD, sincerely submitting to God's wisdom and truth. Doing so presents another "Voice" to the inner conversation of your self, namely the Voice of God's presence, power, and authority as the true Judge and Lord of our lives. This is the deeper meaning of "Shema," that is, to listen to God, to submit to his terms of reality, and to engage this within the deepest recesses of the self. Doing so yields "shalom" because you rest in God's wisdom and care for your life, instead of anxiously debating about what to do in the midst of the ambiguity and confusion of this world. Let's face it, you make for a poor god...
When you are tempted to despair, friend, when you seek to lose yourself in distractions of rage or fear, turn to God and ground yourself in what is real. Pray. Ask for divine wisdom; ask for truth in the midst of your inner conflict and uncertainty (Heb. 4:16). Then listen. Open your heart and ready yourself to hear the "still small voice" that will guide you. Doing so will purify your heart and transform your mind. "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, O LORD, my Strength and my Redeemer" (Psalm 19:14).
02.04.21 (Shevat 22, 5781) The Second Commandment, "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exod. 20:3), implies individual accountability for your soul before the Creator of all reality. Pagan religions often believe in a supreme being but regard such as unknowable and distant and therefore they commonly appeal to divine "subordinates" (e.g., angels, other beings with godlike powers, etc.) to intervene on their behalf. The second commandment teaches that there are no intermediate or subordinate beings to which we may appeal, since there is only one God who holds all power and authority in heaven and earth and we are each accountable directly to him. When we pray, then, we are not to venerate angels or saints or to appeal to God on behalf of intermediaries. We come boldly before the Throne of Grace to make our appeals personally before the Living God (Heb. 4:16). The second commandment implies monotheism with the implication that appealing to other gods (or god-like powers) is actually worship of demonic entities (see Deut. 32:17; 1 Cor. 10:20). We are to know that the LORD is one LORD, as the opening of the Shema proclaims (Deut. 6:4).
02.04.21 (Shevat 22, 5781) Sin is defined as the transgression of Torah (i.e., ἀνομία) in the Scriptures (1 John 3:4), and at root such rebellion comes from an unwillingness to trust that what God wants is your deepest happiness. Because of this, sin goes "out of bounds" and expresses itself as the desire to control one's life, to define "the good" (or the bad) on its own terms: to "eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Gen. 2:17). Surrender, on the other hand, gives up control and relies upon God's care. It relaxes because it accepts God's love as a gift and not as something to be earned. Meister Eckhart said it this way, "God is not attained by a process of addition to anything in the soul, but by a process of subtraction." In other words, we don't need to do anything to be free, though we must "get out of the way" for the Holy Spirit to do the work in us. "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:36). Set us free, O precious Lord!
02.04.21 (Shevat 22, 5781) We sometimes "hear" others without really listening to them, usually because our attention is consumed with our own thoughts and feelings, or we tend to filter out what we don't want to hear. The spiritual life, however, is decidedly one of attentive listening. "Shema Yisrael" is a summons of the heart to turn away from the profane to heed the sacred call of God. The invitation of the Shema is to passionately love God with all our heart, soul, and strength, and to heed the truth of love in all your ways (Deut. 6:4-5).
A verse from our Torah portion this week (i.e., Yitro) relates God's appeal to Israel to become a people who listen with their heart: "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession" (Exod. 19:5). The Hebrew grammar here is intense. The phrase often translated as "if you will indeed obey" uses an emphatic construction, "if hearing you will hear" (אִם־שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ), which suggests a sincere willingness to listen for the voice of the LORD. That is why the LORD speaks kol demamah dakkah (בְּקוֹל דְּמָמָה דַקָּה), that is, in a quiet whisper, because a quiet and listening heart is required to hear what the Spirit is saying. Actively listening to the whisper of God enables you to walk as his beloved child, segulah (סְגֻלָּה), a treasured person.
The great commandment of Torah (i.e., divine wisdom) is always shema, "listen," because sincere listening requires that we surrender our self-centered perspective and immerse ourselves within the meaning and needs of another. Listening opens us to God's heart in all things, and therefore is essential for the "conversation" between our soul and the LORD. The act of listening is a sign of love, and that's why we feel so lonely when we have no one willing to hear our words. Many people are quick to speak but precious few sacrifice themselves through selfless listening. The spiritual life, however, ultimately is shared life: We can do together what we cannot do individually. Yeshua prayed that we would know how much we need one another (John 17:21-23). The first step is to listen to God.
Genuine listening creates a sense of trust and connection between people. When real listening is going on, there is no need to "talk over" the other person, because the listener "speaks" through his or her respectful silence...Spiritual listening is "set apart," holy, and hears the words spoken from the heart in a place of refuge.
God never asks of us what He does not do... If He urges us to listen to Him, to heed the voice of His love, then we can trust that He likewise listens to us and will answer the call of our hearts for Him. Regarding the Shema, "holy listening" involves more than just hearing with the physical ear, of course, but hearing with heart: "You shall love... you shall talk of God's love at all times, in all places, and know Him in all you do (Deut. 6:5-9).
We are able to listen to God by the agency of God's Spirit. God's words are breathed out and made alive to us in a mysterious way (John 3:8; 6:33). And just as God breathed into us the "breath of life" to become a living soul, so Yeshua breathes into us the Holy Spirit to quicken eternal life within us (John 20:22). Communing with God and others means breathing out the words of life that were first breathed into us.
02.04.21 (Shevat 22, 5781) The two tablets Moses brought down from Mount Sinai are often called the "Ten Commandments," though a better translation of the Hebrew would simply be the "Ten Declarations" (i.e., aseret ha'devarim:עשׂרת הדברים, from davar:דבר, meaning "word" or "matter"). Originally the two tablets were inscribed "by the finger of God" on both sides and were called "tablets of the testimony" (i.e., luchot ha'edut:לחת העדת), but Moses shattered these when he saw the people worshiping the Golden Calf (Exod. 31:18; 32:15-19). Later, after a forty day period of heartfelt teshuvah (repentance), God invited Moses to ascend the mountain again to obtain a second set of the tablets and to learn the inner meaning of the Name of the LORD (Exod. 34:1-8).
Now while the Ten Commandments summarize or encapsulate the central principles of the law, their unique status ought not to diminish the need to observe the other commandments, and for that reason the sages referred to them as the ten "words" (i.e., aseret ha'dibrot:עשׂרת הדברות), to indicate that they should not be regarded as the entirety of the words of the covenant (i.e., divrei ha'brit:דברי הברית) but rather as a set of divine "axioms" from which all of the other commandments are derived (see Exod. 34:27).
Christian tradition often regards the first commandment to be "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exod. 20:3), but Jewish tradition regards the opening words, "I am the LORD your God (אנכי יהוה אלהיך) who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Exod. 20:2) to be the first commandment and the foundation upon which all the other commandments are based. Though the statement "I am the LORD your God..." is not an imperative, it nevertheless assumes that you will accept the truth of God's revelation, and therefore it might also be understood as the duty or commandment to accept the truth. "I am the LORD your God who brought you out..." refers to the saving acts of God performed on your behalf, and therefore the proper response is one of heartfelt gratitude. After all, without faith in the truth that the LORD is your Redeemer who loves and chooses you, the subsequent commandments would be devoid of context and significance. Indeed all the subsequent commandments are grounded in the truth of God that is received by faith (Hab. 2:4), and therefore the first commandment is to have emunah, or faith in God. Moses ben Nachman interprets the first commandment to know that God exists and to believe in him, which implies studying and exploring the greatness of the Creator and Savior.
As I mentioned the other day, God began the Ten Commandments by saying, "I AM the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of slavery" (Exod. 20:2), rather than saying, "I AM the LORD your God, Creator of heaven and earth" (Gen. 1:1). The LORD refers to himself as our Savior first, since creation is designed to demonstrate His redemptive love given through Yeshua, the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8; 1 Pet. 1:18-20; Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9). "All things were created by Him (i.e., Yeshua), and for Him" and in Him all things consist (συνεστηκεν, lit. "stick together") (Col. 1:16-17). Creation therefore begins and ends with the love of God as manifested in the Person of Yeshua our Messiah, the great Lamb of God... He is the Center of Creation - the Aleph and Tav - the Beginning and the End (Isa. 44:6; Rev. 1:17). "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen" (Rom. 11:36).
[ The following is related to our Torah for this week, Parashat Yitro, and the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai in particular... ]
02.04.21 (Shevat 22, 5781) When asked how many commandments are in the Torah, most Jews will answer 613, based on Jewish tradition (the number 613 is sometimes called "taryag" (תריג), an abbreviation for the letters Tav (400) + Resh (200) + Yod (10) + Gimmel (3) = 613). Despite several attempts made over the centuries, however, there has never been a definitive list of these commandments, and of those who tried to compile such, no two agree... Some say the number 613 comes from a fanciful midrash that teaches that since there are 365 days in a year (corresponding to the 365 negative commandments) and 248 "parts" of the body (corresponding to the positive commandments), each day we should use our body to serve God. Regardless of the exact count, however, the Talmud followed the Apostle Paul by understanding all the Torah's commandments to be derived from the Ten Commandments given at Sinai, the most basic of which is the very First Commandment, namely, "I AM the LORD your God (אָנכִי יְהוָה אֱלהֶיךָ) who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Exod. 20:2). This foundational commandment was later restated by the prophet Habbakuk as: וְצַדִּיק בֶּאֱמוּנָתוֹ יִחְיֶה / "The righteous person will live by faith in God" (Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). In other words, all of the commandments of God come down to your sacred duty to receive the truth of God's love: אָנכִי יְהוָה אֱלהֶיךָ.
So if you hear people discussing the 613 commandments of Torah, be sure to ask them which list of "613" they mean, and then be sure to remind them that whatever list they might recommend, the central commandment that embodies all the rest is to have faith, to believe, to show up, to look to the LORD -- at this moment, in this hour. Amen.
02.04.21 (Shevat 22, 5781) We must give our pains and sorrows to God, even if we don't understand them, and even if they refuse to go away... Our hearts are often vexed; we are a mess of mixed motives; we are strong to be made weak, weak to be made strong. We bless and curse from the same mouth... We walk in faith yet we are often beset with anxiety. And yet, despite all this, despite our inner contradictions, the dance between the "old man" and "new," the divided house of our lives - our present sorrows, our troubles, our fears – we must endure ourselves, we must press on, and we must never let go of hope in God's love. Therefore we must not hide ourselves from God's presence, nor pretend to be what we are not. We come boldly before the Lord to cry out for help in our hour of need (Heb. 4:16). O Lord my God, be Thou my healer, the One who makes me whole... "Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for your are my praise" (Jer. 17:14).
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Yitro...]
02.03.21 (Shevat 21, 5781) I mentioned the other day (see below) that the Hebrew word "mitzvah" (מִצְוָה) is really about connection to God (i.e., the root צוה means to bind or unite). Rabbi Levi said, "When the Holy One spoke to the people of Israel, each one felt personally spoken to by God, and thus it says in the singular, 'I am the Eternal One, your God.'" Indeed the first commandment at Sinai was to accept the reality of our personal deliverance by the LORD: "I am the LORD your God (אָנכִי יְהוָה אֱלהֶיךָ), who brought you (singular) out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Exod. 20:2). In fact, the Hebrew text of the Torah reveals that God used the second person singular (not plural) for all the verbs throughout the Ten Commandments: "you (singular) shall have no other gods beside me"; "you (singular) shall not take the Name of the LORD your God in vain," and so on. The very first commandment, however, is the starting point for all that follows. Until you are personally willing to accept the LORD as your God and to connect with Him as your own Deliverer and King, the rest of the commandments are not likely to be heeded.
It is noteworthy that God referred to himself as "the One who delivered you from the land of Egypt" (i.e., אשׁר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים) instead of identifying Himself as the Creator of heaven and earth (i.e., הבּוֹרא השמים ואת הארץ). This is because the purpose of creation is to demonstrate God's redemptive love and to be known as our Savior and Redeemer, just as Yeshua is the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8; 1 Pet. 1:18-20; Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9). Of Messiah it is written: "all things were created by Him, and for Him, and in Him all things consist (συνεστηκεν, lit. "stick together") (Col. 1:16-17). Creation therefore begins and ends with the redemptive love of God as manifested in Yeshua our Mashiach, the great Lamb of God... He is the Center of Creation - the Aleph and Tav - the Beginning and the End (Isa. 44:6; Rev. 1:17). All the world was created for the Messiah: "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen" (Rom. 11:36).
02.03.21 (Shevat 21, 5781) In our Torah portion this week (Yitro), God revealed the Ten Commandments (i.e., עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִבְּרוֹת, literally, "the ten declarations") to the Israelites at Sinai, a dramatic event that represented the giving of the law, or the "Old Covenant," to Israel. Now while a case can surely be made that the revelation at Sinai represented an "older covenant" (see 2 Cor. 3:14; Heb. 7:18, 8:6,13, and here), when looked at from another perspective, Sinai actually represented a sort of new covenant, since it was given later and served as a proviso to the covenant given earlier to Abraham (Gal. 3:18). The culmination of the covenant at Sinai was the revelation of the Altar (i.e., the Tabernacle), which pictured the sacrificial blood "covering" the tablets of God's judgment. This, in turn, recalled Abraham's great sacrifice of his son Isaac (the Akedah), which further recalled the very first sacrifice of the Bible, namely the lamb slain in the orchard of Eden to cover the shame of Adam and Eve's sin (Gen. 3:21; Rev. 13:8). Therefore it was the promise God made to Eve regarding the "Seed to Come" that was the original covenant (Gen. 3:15), and it was this covenant that was later fulfilled by Yeshua, the "Serpent Slayer" of God (Num. 21:9; John 3:14). This is the "Gospel in the Garden" message, the original promise of the lamb of God that was slain from the foundation of the world... In other words, the "new covenant" (בְּרִית חֲדָשָׁה) may better be understood as the fulfillment of the original covenant, the promise to redeem all of humanity from the curse of sin and death. The redemptive plan of God therefore moves in an ascending circle. The "Tree of Life" (עץ החיים) reaches back to the primordial orchard of Eden and extends into the World to Come...
Because there is so much confusion regarding the topic of the role of the law, particularly among certain "Messianic believers," I would like to reiterate a few things mentioned elsewhere on this site. Let me first remind you that the legal aspect of the "Torah" refers to the subset of the written Torah called Sefer Ha-Brit (סֵפֶר הַבְּרִית), a portion that defined various ethical, social, and ritual obligations given at Sinai(Exod. 24:7-8). It is a "category mistake" to simply regard the first five books of the "Torah" as the "law," since the law was given later in sacred history, after the Exodus. Moreover, the Book of Genesis reveals that the very first "priest" (i.e., kohen:כּהֵן) was neither a Jew nor a Levite nor a descendant of Aaron, but rather Someone who is said to have "neither beginning of days nor end of life" but is made like (ἀφωμοιωμένος) the Son of God, a priest continually (Heb. 7:3). This priest, of course, was Malki-Tzedek (מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק), the King of Salem (מֶלֶךְ שָׁלֵם) to whom Abraham offered tithes after his victory over the kings (Gen. 14:18). The author of the Book of Hebrews makes the point that the priesthood of Malki-Tzedek is greater than the Levitical priesthood and is therefore superior to the rites and services of the Tabernacle (Heb. 7:9-11). It was to Malki-Tzedek that Abram (and by extension, the Levitical system instituted by his descendant Moses) gave tithes and homage -- and rightly so, since Yeshua is the great High Priest of the better covenant based on better promises (Heb. 8:6). As the Scriptures teach, in everything Messiah has preeminence (John 5:39; Luke 24:27; Col. 1:18).
02.02.21 (Shevat 20, 5781) Do you sometimes have trouble trusting God? Do you wrestle with fear, anxiety, or worry? Does an inexplicable dread or sense of hopelessness sometimes oppress you? Do you secretly wonder what's wrong with you - and whether you are truly saved, after all? Please hang on. Doubting and questioning are often a part of the journey of faith, and we don't have to be afraid of our questions, concerns, and difficulties... Being full of "certainty" is not the same as being full of faith, after all, since many sincere people are sincerely self-deceived, while many others experience fear, loneliness, and trouble as a result of their faith. There is so much we simply do not know, and it is dishonest to pretend otherwise. God knows your heart and its struggles; he knows all your secret fears. Thankfully, there is a special prayer included in the holy Scriptures for those times when we feel especially unsteady or insecure: "Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief..." (Mark 9:24). Here we may bring our (lack of) faith to God for healing....
We should not be scandalized that we sometimes struggle with our faith. After all, Yeshua constantly questioned his disciples: "Do you now believe?" (John 16:31). And that's why we are commanded to "put off" the old nature and to "put on" the new nature -- because God knows we are fickle admixtures, contradictions, carnal-yet-spiritual, inwardly divided souls that need to learn to trust in the miracle of God with all our hearts....
Of course it's easy to believe when things are going well, when faith "makes sense" or provides you with a sense of community, etc., but when things are difficult, when there are disappointments, pain, grief, losses, etc., then you need to trust in the unseen good, the "hidden hand" of God's love, despite the trouble of your present circumstances. This is part of faith's journey: leaning on God's care, despite the "valley of the shadow of death," despite the tests... The way may sometimes be difficult, but "the tested genuineness of your faith -- more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire -- will be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Yeshua the Messiah" (1 Pet. 1:7).
02.02.21 (Shevat 20, 5781) The knowledge of God (ידיעת יהוה) is our supreme good and the "chief end of human life." It is our highest blessing, more precious than earthly riches, power, or any of the pleasures this world affords (Jer. 9:23-24; Prov. 3:15; Matt. 13:44-46). Those who do not esteem the true knowledge of God invariably fall into darkness, idolatry, and despair (1 Thess. 4:5; Eph. 4:17; Hos. 4:1-2). The knowledge of God set us free to receive the inestimable blessing of eternal life given in the Messiah, as Yeshua testified: "And this is eternal life, to know you (לדעת אותך) the only true God (האל האמיתי היחיד), and Yeshua the Messiah (ישוע המשיח) whom you have sent" (John 17:3). Knowing God is the very reason for your existence and nothing can be compared with its superlative excellence (Phil. 3:8). Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! (Rom. 11:33).
We seek the knowledge of God by first of all believing in its possibility. This in itself is a miracle, since only God can make us come alive to "see" and "hear" the truth of the Spirit (John 3:8). We must humble ourselves, confess our need, and ask God for the grace to truly know him. We must be willing to study his word. This involves doing teshuvah - turning to God and trusting that he desires a genuine relationship with Him (Deut. 10:12). We first know know God in our need for deliverance, our poverty of spirit, and our inner desperation for life, for without these primary and existential concerns, we will not be actually receptive to the divine presence. As we begin to trust in God, however, holy desire is awakened within us to know Him more deeply. We begin to "enshrine" his Presence within the sanctuary of our hearts, making a "place" for him, affirming his reality as what is most precious and glorious (Exod. 15:2). We discover the "one thing" that King David desired - to dwell in God's Presence all his days, beholding the beauty of the LORD and inquiring in his palace (Psalm 27:4).
02.02.21 (Shevat 20, 5781) There is an old story(midrash) that says that before God offered the Torah to the children of Israel, He first asked the other nations if they wanted it. God did this so that the nations wouldn't be able to claim that they would have accepted the Torah if only they had been asked. So God first asked the children of Esau. "What's in the Torah?" they asked. "You shall not murder," God replied. "Well, we could never accept that," they admitted. "Isaac's blessing to Esau said that we would live by our swords (Gen. 27:40), so how could we stop doing that?" And so they refused to accept the Torah. God then went to ask the children of Ishmael. "What's in it?" they asked. "You must not steal," God answered. "Well, we could never accept a Torah like that, since we make our living by stealing," they admitted. So God decided to ask each of the 70 nations whether they would accept the Torah, but each refused it for one reason or another. Finally God came to the Israelites. "Do you want my Torah?" He asked them. "Of course we want the Torah," they replied -- without even asking what was required of them. kol asher diber Adonai na'aseh ("all that the LORD has spoken, we shall do"). So God gave the Torah to the children of Israel.
We might wonder if this midrash wasn't developed to defend against the charge by various anti-Semites that the Jewish people are ethnocentric, elitist, etc. After all, from a strictly "egalitarian" point of view it seems somewhat scandalous to suggest that God would exclusively choose one group of people at the expense of others.... And perhaps this would be offensive if, like aristocrats who live with a sense of inborn entitlement, the "chosen ones" believed they were chosen for the sake of their own self-importance....
But of course this is certainly not what Torah means by "chosenness" at all. Being a Jew means that you have been "chosen" to take on additional responsibilities to live in holiness for the glory of God and for the welfare of the world. Therefore a true Jew takes the role of being a both a mediator (i.e., "priest") and an ambassador for God. The performance of various mitzvot are for the greater purpose of tikkun olam (תיקון עולם), or the "repair of the world." After all, Israel was always meant to be a "light to the nations" (אור לגויים). God's greater plan was for all the families of the earth to come to know Him and give Him glory, as Abraham was called: Av hamon goyim (אַב הֲמוֹן גּוֹיִם), the father of a multitude of nations (Gen. 17:4; Rom. 4:16). "Jewishness" is therefore not an end in itself but rather a means to bring healing truth to the nations... Indeed, the entire redemptive story of the Scriptures is about the cosmic conflict to deliver humanity from the "curse" of death by means of the "Seed of the woman" who would come. As the Apostle Paul clearly affirmed, any talk of genetics, bloodlines, lineage, and so on are a means to this greater redemptive end (Phil. 3:2-9).
In fact, a chosen person is not selected on the basis of their genetics or family lineage, but solely from the personal call and election of God. "For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but "through Isaac shall your offspring be named." This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring" (Rom. 9:6-8). The idea of "chosenness" therefore is independent of considerations of "flesh" but is directly related to our response to God's promises.... This was true of "Israel at large" in relation to its faithful subset called she'arit Yisrael (i.e., the faithful remnant), just as it is true of those who trust the promise of life in Yeshua the Messiah.
Therefore the Apostle Peter refers to followers of Yeshua as "a chosen race (עַם נִבְחָר), a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession" (1 Pet. 2:9, cp. Ex. 19:6, Deut. 7:6). This is clearly a reference to both Jews and Gentiles who receive Yeshua as their Savior, since he adds: "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people" (1 Pet. 2:9-10). The Apostle Paul likewise understands Christians to be "chosen people" (Eph. 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:13). All true Christians are be'kehunat Mashiach - in the priesthood of Messiah Yeshua and therefore have direct access to God. This priestly lineage began with Malki-Tzedek (Melchizedek), culminated in Yeshua, and is passed directly to the believer by means of his or her justification and identification with the Lord, "who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a 'peculiar people' (i.e., am segulah: עַם סְגֻלָּה), zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14).
Within certain sects of Messianic Judaism, non-Jewish believers sometimes regard themselves as "second-class" members in the family of God. They often tend to be self-deprecatory, calling themselves "wild olive shoots," "Gentile believers," or even "ger tzedek" (a righteous convert). This is most unfortunate, since it robs these precious souls of their true identity as co-heirs of the Kingdom (Gal. 3:9; Titus 3:7), and it also destroys the unity that Yeshua sought to bring among God's people (John 17:20-23; Eph. 2:14-15).
While it's indeed true that ancient Israel was composed of various classes of people (priests, Levites, Israelites, women, converts, slaves, etc.), it's also clear that Yeshua didn't come to create a "caste system" among His followers. In fact, Yeshua turned things upside-down by saying that the "greatest would be the slave of all" (Mark 10:44; Matt. 18:1-4, Matt. 20:25-28). Whoever would be great in the Kingdom must humble himself and walk hatznea lechet - in childlike simplicity before the Lord (Micah 6:8). Yeshua transposed the all-too-human view of social relationships by inverting the "natural" order. Do you "seek great things for thyself"? Then take hold of your absolute nothingness before the LORD and serve your fellow man (Jer. 45:5). Show gratitude for the gift of life and quit your vain conceits:
"And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I will bring distress upon all flesh, says the LORD. But your life I will give to you as a prize in all places wherever you go." (Jer. 45:5)
The Apostle Paul - the greatest Torah sage of the Second Temple period - taught that in the Messiah there "is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female" since we are all one (echad) in the Messiah (Gal. 3:28). But what does this mean? Despite the egalitarian ideal, don't we use these very distinctions to this day? On a fleshly level we certainly do. After all, we clearly distinguish between men and women, rich and poor, and various ethnic identities. We all live with these distinctions in the world ofbasar - the carnal world that is known through sensuous apprehension. However, "from now on we regard no one according to the flesh" (2 Cor 5:16) but we aim to understand, with the help of God, that a follower of Yeshua is briah chadashah - a "new creation." Together we are ish-echad chadash ("one new man") designed to live in unity. ke'ish echad, be'lev echad - "like a single person with a single heart."
God is said to be no "respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34, Rom. 2:11). He is able to make the unclean clean (Acts 10:28) and to regard those who were once called "Not My People" as "My People" (Hosea 2:23, Matt. 3:9). Indeed, a true Jew is one who is circumcised inwardly, someone who has undergone spiritual brit millah - "covenant of the word" (Deut 10:16, 30:6; Rom. 2:28-29, 1 Cor. 7:19, Gal. 5:6; 6:15; Phil. 3:3, Col. 2:11, etc.). Indeed, Paul insisted that any merit obtained either through his pedigree or his adherence to the moral law code is accounted as less than nothing (i.e., σκύβαλα) in comparison to the imputed righteousness given by means of his relationship with Yeshua (Phil. 3:3-8).
So, dear Christian, is it correct to call yourself a "Gentile" believer in Yeshua? Is that an adequate label to describe your identity in Him?
Regardless of your ethnic background, then, or your gender, or your social status in this world, know that you are am segulah (עַם סְגֻלָּה), precious and elect, and part of the family of God. You are Kohanim l'El Elyon - priests of the Most High God - "living stones being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Yeshua the Messiah" (1 Pet. 2:5). Amen. Your heritage is the God of Israel.
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Yitro...]
02.01.21 (Shevat 19, 5781) The Hebrew word "mitzvah" (מִצְוָה) is often translated as "commandment," though its basic idea is about connection to God (i.e., the root צוה means to bind or unite). Being connected with the Almighty means talking with him, relating to him as your heavenly Father, and trusting that he esteems you as his beloved child. Whatever else you may think about the commandments of God, this idea of a love connection is foundational and essential. The very first of the Ten Commandments is anochi Adonai Elohekha, "I am the Lord your God," which invites you to open your heart to receive the touch of the Spirit of God. There is no love like that of the Lord, but you can't feel that love if you don't speak to Him, pouring out your heart and clinging to the truth of his love for you....
Pouring out your heart to God in an honest, transparent, and earnest way is sometimes called hitbodedut (הִתְבּוֹדְדוּת). After we "talk our hearts out" before the Lord, in our emptiness we can begin to truly listen, as it says, "In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength" (Isa. 30:15). Only after we sigh deeply and surrender are we receptive to the voice of the Spirit's whisper. "Blessed are all those who wait for Him" (Isa. 30:18). We wait, we abide, even when God takes his time or does not immediately intervene. We do not lose heart, for we find strength when we trust in God's love... The Light of the world still shines: Yeshua, be my inner word, my heart, and my groaning for life today, and forevermore, amen.
Since the essence of Torah is connection to God, the greatest blessing is to be filled with a steadfast desire to draw close to him, to experience hunger and thirst (visceral yearning) for God's presence and touch. Holy desire – expressed in the yearning of heartfelt prayer – is therefore a state of true blessedness, and the more desperate our need for God the more blessed we are. It is our desire, our holy need, that creates a bond between our soul and its Creator, and that is the deeper meaning of mitzvah... "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (Matt. 5:6).
Treasure in Frailty...
02.01.21 (Shevat 19, 5781) No one escapes suffering in this life, and therefore it is senseless to pretend to hide or deny our troubles. We are likened to "jars of clay," fragile and easily broken vessels that hold the truth of salvation; we are mere dust held together by the sustaining power and glory of God. Our frailty is intended to reveal God our Father's sufficiency and strength: "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us" (2 Cor. 4:7). In light of this, the only meaningful question is how our woundedness may be used to strengthen others (2 Cor. 1:4). The "surpassing power belongs to God and not to us" means that God keeps us continually dependent upon himself; we have nothing at our own command; God alone is our strength. "For he knows our frailty; he is mindful that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14).
02.01.21 (Shevat 19, 5781) From our Torah portion this week (i.e., Yitro) we read words of great promise and comfort: "You shall be for me a treasured people; you shall be children of the King; you shall be priests who help others draw near to God... these are the words (אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים) that you shall speak" (Exod. 19:5-6). These are the words of love: "And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your substance. Set these words (הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה), which I command you this day, upon your heart" (Deut. 6:5-6). We store up these words so that, in a holy moment, they are quickened within us and we are able to hear the Voice of the LORD speaking from the midst of the fire that burns within our hearts. As Simone Weil said, "love is revelation, and revelation comes only with love."
01.31.21 (Shevat 18, 5781) Last week's Torah portion (i.e., Beshalach) recounted how the LORD delivered the children of Israel from Pharaoh's advancing armies by dramatically drowning them in the Sea of Reeds. The Israelites were overjoyed over their new freedom and celebrated by singing the "Song of the Sea." Despite their newfound freedom, however, the people soon began complaining about the hardship of life in the desert. Nonetheless God was gracious and provided fresh water and manna from heaven as he led them to Mount Sinai.
In our Torah portion for this week, parashat Yitro, Moses' remarkable father-in-law Jethro (i.e., "Yitro") had heard of Israel's deliverance from Egypt and went to the land of Rephidim to meet with Moses. There Moses recounted the great story of the exodus, telling him all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake. Jethro rejoiced, blessed the LORD, and offered sacrifices which were communally eaten with Moses' brother Aaron and the 70 elders of Israel (Exod. 18:1-12).
After this celebration, Jethro observed how Moses sat every day to judge the people "from morning to evening" and expressed concern that his son-in-law was taking on too much responsibility. Jethro then wisely advised his son-in-law to appoint a hierarchy of magistrates and judges to help him govern the people, thereby freeing Moses to be a more effective prophet and intercessor before the LORD. Jethro's wise counsel helped implement the system of justice that later became the basis of Jewish social law (i.e., the Sanhedrin, etc.).
After the third new moon after leaving Egypt (i.e., the 1st day of the month of Sivan), the Israelites encamped opposite Mount Sinai, the place where Moses was initially commissioned at the "burning thornbush." Moses then ascended the mountain, and there God commanded him to tell the leaders that if they would obey the LORD and keep His covenant, then they would be mamlekhet kohanim v'goy kadosh -- a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation." After returning down to deliver this message to the elders, the people responded by proclaiming, kol asher diber Adonai na'aseh ("all that the LORD has spoken, we shall do"). Moses then returned to the mountain and was told to command the people to prepare themselves to experience the presence of God upon the mountain in three days.
According to Jewish tradition, on the morning of the "third day" (i.e., the sixth of Sivan, exactly seven weeks (49 days) after the Exodus), all the children of Israel gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai, where the LORD descended amidst thunder, lightning, billowing smoke, fire, and the voluminous blast of the heavenly shofar. The LORD then declared the foundation of moral conduct required of the people, namely, the Ten Commandments, which begins with the words: "I AM" (Exod. 20:2). Because the vision was so overwhelming, the terrified Israelites began beseeching Moses to be their mediator lest they die before the Presence of God. The portion ends as the people stood far off, while Moses alone drew near to the thick darkness where God was (Exod. 20:21).
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading (Beshalach). Please read the Torah portion to "find your place" here.]
01.29.21 (Shevat 16, 5781) The story of the exodus is as an allegory of faith. We were slaves, but the LORD redeemed us and set us free from our bondage. Immediately afterward, we faced great distress as the powers of darkness sought to enslave us again, but God intervened and delivered us from their wicked devices. Through the Shekhinah Cloud we crossed over into newness of life, leaving the corpses of this world behind. We offered our thanks and praises to God, but soon we experienced severe thirst. We searched for worldly water but found it "marah," or bitter. It was only after the "tree" was added to the bitterness that the water became sweet, a picture of the cross of Messiah who suffered and thirsted for us. Then we came to the oasis of Elim, a place of rest that pictured heaven to come, though the Spirit led us into the desert of emptiness and hunger to discover how we must trust God for "manna," our daily bread from heaven. We experienced thirst again, and God provided an ongoing source of living water from the Rock that was smitten, another picture of the grace and sustenance of Messiah (1 Cor. 10:4). We fought against brazen powers of unbelief (Amalek), but we overcame them by the power of God. We received the Torah, only to discover we could not abide its demands. We committed idolatry but the LORD forgave and revealed the Altar of Mercy (the Tabernacle) that gave us access to His Presence by means of the sacrificial blood, recalling the Lamb of God that was slain.
01.29.21 (Shevat 16, 5781) In our Torah for this week (Beshalach) we read how "Amalek" attacked the Israelites after they had miraculously crossed over the sea into a new life of freedom (Exod. 17:8). After Israel routed the attack, God told Moses, "Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. So Moses built an altar and called the name of it: Adonai Nissi (יהוה נסי), 'the LORD is my Banner,' for a hand is upon the LORD's banner (כי־יד על־נס יה) -- the LORD will war against Amalek for all generations" (Exod. 17:14-16).
Spiritually speaking the Amalekites aligned themselves with the wicked Pharaoh of Egypt and therefore they sought to continue the war against God's people. Apparently the Amalekite clan in Canaan was founded by a grandson of Esau (Gen. 36:12,16), though Amalek is also listed as the "first among the nations," a man who even predated the time of Abraham (Num. 24:20, Gen. 14:7). In Augustine's terms, Amalek represents the "City of the World," whereas Israel represents the "City of God."
In Jewish tradition, Amalek represents pure evil, or those who have "given themselves over" to Sitra Achra, the side of impurity. Indeed the name Amalek (עֲמָלֵק) begins with the letter Ayin (symbolizing the eye) and equals 240 in gematria -- the same value for safek (סָפֵק), meaning "doubt,"and for rahm (רָם), meaning "haughty." Amalek therefore represents "the evil eye of doubt," or even "the severed eye" (i.e., when you remove Ayin from "Amalek," you are left with malak (מָלָק), a verb that means "to chop off" or to sever). Understood in this way, Amalek represents spiritual blindness acting arrogantly in the world, and therefore the LORD vowed perpetual warfare against Amalek: "The Hand is on God's banner (or staff): God shall be at war with Amalek for all generations" (Exod. 17:16).
The Torah reveals that we must "go out and fight" Amalek, which is a call to ongoing spiritual warfare in our lives (Deut. 25:17-19). When Moses raised his hands in battle against the Amalekites, the Israelites prevailed, but if he lowered them, they suffered defeat (Exod. 17:11). Eventually Moses grew weary and needed Aaron and Hur to help him hold his arms steady to ensure victory (Exod. 17:12). Note that the Hebrew word translated "steady" is emunah (אֱמוּנָה), the word for faith... It was Moses' steady faith in God's power that gave Israel the victory over the powers of darkness, just as we lift up our faith in God's power demonstrated at the cross gives us the victory over Satan and his schemes.
The Targum Yonatan says, "you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the heavens; but of the days of the King Messiah you shall not be unmindful." The commandment to "blot out" Amalek ultimately will ultimately be fulfilled in the Messianic Kingdom to come, "when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies in the land the LORD your God is giving you as your inheritance to possess" (Deut. 25:19). At that time all memory of Amalek will be "blotted out" from under heaven just as God will "wipe away" all tears from our eyes... This is a glorious truth we should never forget, despite the condition of this world and the apparent upper hand of the "Amalekites."
Meanwhile we are engaged in spiritual warfare and must be armed for the battle. "Since therefore the Messiah suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves (ὁπλίζω) with the same way of thinking" (1 Pet. 4:1). Be sober and vigilant. Put on the whole armor of God, because we wrestle against spiritual forces of evil at work in the world today (Eph. 6:10-18). "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men (ἀνδρίζω), be strong" (1 Cor. 16:13). In God's power you will "tread upon the lion and cobra; the young lion and the serpent you will trample down" (Psalm 91:13; Luke 10:19). May the LORD help us "stand firm in one spirit, with one mind fighting together (i.e., συναθλέω from συν, "with" and ἀθλέω, "contend," "fight") for the faith of the gospel" (Phil. 1:27). Amen.
[ The following concerns this week's Torah reading (Beshalach) and the Exodus from Egypt... ]
01.29.21 (Shevat 16, 5781) In our Torah portion for this week (i.e., Beshalach) we learn that the Lord chose to take his redeemed people along the "longer road" to the promised land, just as we find ourselves still awaiting the completion of our redemption in the world to come. And like the Israelites, we must be on guard, since when things get difficult, our tendency is to go back to what is familiar, even if it is painful. Thank God we have a Good Shepherd who teaches us and guides us in the way to go: "And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher (מוֹרֶה) will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, saying: 'This is the way; walk in it,' when you turn to the right or to the left" (Isa. 30:20-21).
What a beautiful image of our LORD as our Teacher and Good Shepherd, who guides us in the paths of life and delivers us from "right-hand and left-hand errors." And may God keep us upon the path of his righteousness, free from the seductions of the tempter who wants to distract our souls and lead us into fruitless byways and trouble. May we receive grace to behold His face, even in the midst of adversity or affliction, learning from Him the way to go...
"Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you" (Isa. 26:20). The LORD beckons: "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known" (Jer. 33:3). And I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place" (Rev 4:1).
Chaos and the End of Days....
01.28.21 (Shevat 15, 5781) The Apostle Paul wrote that the time before the "End of Days" would be "perilous" and full of unrelenting human depravity and lawlessness (2 Tim. 3:1-5). Yeshua warned that apostasy would abound and that the hearts of many would run cold as ice (Matt. 24:12). In light of the raging spiritual war going on all around us, the following needs to be emphatically restated: "The important thing is to not lose your mind..."
The mind is the "gateway" to your heart, and it is therefore essential to guard your thinking by immersing yourself in the truth... "Not losing your mind" therefore means being grounded in what is real, and it therefore means understanding your identity and provision as a child of God. "God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind" – literally, a "delivered" mind, "healed" from chaos and despair (2 Tim. 1:7). The Greek word "sound mind" (σωφρονισμός) comes from a verb meaning "to be made safe," in the sense of being under restraining influence of the Spirit of God... The closest Hebrew word might be musar, or "moral discipline."
Part of the task of "guarding your mind" is being able to discern between good and evil. "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil" (Prov. 8:13) and as the prophet cried out, "Hate what is wrong, love what is right" (Amos 5:15). We must love the truth and abhor the lie (Psalm 119:163, Zech. 8:19; Prov. 12:22). Tolerating sin in a world ripe for judgment is a tacit form of "collaboration" with the enemy. Indeed, the only thing regarded as intolerable in the devil's world is the denial that people have the "liberty" to sin. But the Lord is clear on this point: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, and who turn darkness into light and light into darkness, to those who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!" (Isa. 5:20-21). It is the truth that sets people free, but this presupposes the ability to discern how we become enslaved to deception. Therefore we are instructed: "You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean" (Lev. 10:10).
Someone who loves you will to help you stay honest with yourself: The truth of God's moral law is likened to a Father's moral correction that leads his child to life (Prov. 6:23).
It is lawlessness to reject the Torah of the LORD that commands us to follow Messiah and know him in all our ways - including the ways of our struggles, our calls for justice, and so on... Yeshua warned that those who practice anarchy do not know him and therefore they will be judged as outsiders of the truth of God. In this audio podcast, I discuss the meaning and importance of the "law" in the life of those who claim to be followers of King Messiah.
Deliverance from Anxiety...
01.28.21 (Shevat 15, 5781) It is written in our Scriptures: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (Phil. 4:6). Note that the verb translated "be anxious" here (i.e.,μεριμνάω) comes from a root word (μερίζω) that means to be fragmented or divided into parts and pieces. Being anxious is therefore the uneasy state of being distracted, unfocused and divided within yourself. When we worry we heed voices of fear and begin to feel 'double-minded,' (i.e., δίψυχος), unstable, and unable to think clearly; we get restless and find it difficult to deeply breathe. We start to feel out of control, fearful that something bad will happen despite all our efforts or wishes to the contrary; we sense doom; we lose heart; we go dark... The Scripture here admonishes us to pray when we are tempted us to be anxious by focusing on something for which we are grateful. Doing so will instill the "peace of God" (שלום יהוה) that rises above all worldly thinking to keep watch over your heart and your thoughts through Yeshua the Messiah (Phil. 4:7). We gain the "light of life," that is, inner illumination from God, so that we can remain steadfast and unmovable in our faith, despite the temptation to look for relief from our struggles apart from God.
Daily Dvar Podcast: Faith in the time of Coronavirus...
01.28.21 (Shevat 15, 5781) Shalom friends. Many people today are living in a state of bewilderment and anxiety over of the release of the Coronavirus (i.e., Covid-19), particularly because of the mixed messages and disinformation propagated by the mass media about its existential threat. Because of this engineered uncertainty, however, various governmental bureaucracies have arrogated dictatorial powers, and such overreach has resulted in forced lockdowns of various public places, the attrition of civil liberties, massive unemployment, the implosion of the private sector economy, among other things. In a matter of months a radical revolution has surreptitiously taken place, wherein the once great United States of America has devolved into a techno-fascist state that surveils not only the behavior of its "citizens," but their biochemistry as well... In today's climate of irrational fear, you can be labeled an "enemy of the state" simply for asking for justification regarding the latest "official edict" handed down by faceless overlords. The relentless propaganda campaign has had a "totalizing" effect on the culture: those who dare to question the efficacy of masks or the safety of untested mRNA vaccines, for example, face social ostracism ("banning"), job loss, and even threats of violence. The chill of political suppression and tyranny is in the air...
In light of this political morass - and the cultural rot that marks the thinking of the world today- we need logical clarity and courage to face reality. As I have said many times over the years, the important thing is not to "lose your mind" by forgetting what is real... In this audio podcast (recorded back in March of 2020) I discuss the struggle of faith and how we find peace by accepting the sovereignty and greatness of the LORD. I hope to remind you that Adonai Tzeva'ot, the LORD over all, has matters completely in hand, and to find faith that He will help you persevere in these days of testing.
God allows the wicked to rise in order to test his people... God's strength however, is made perfect in weakness, and therein lies the paradox: "Lord, we do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You" (2 Chron. 20:12). The battle belongs to the Lord!
[ The following concerns this week's Torah reading (Beshalach) and the Exodus from Egypt... ]
01.28.21 (Shevat 15, 5781) The Apostle Paul likened the crossing of the sea as a metaphor of baptism: "All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (1 Cor. 10:1-2,11). In the New Testament, baptism symbolizes our identification with Yeshua's death, burial, and resurrection (Col. 2:12; Rom. 6:3-5). The Israelites were facing death and were therefore at the "end of themselves." They had no other appeal or hope than God's gracious intervention on their behalf (i.e., salvation). Still, they needed to act and move forward. After they took the step of faith, they could see the Shekhinah Glory lighting up the way of deliverance, though this meant being "buried" within the midst of the sea. Their earlier fear of death was replaced with a song of God's great deliverance (shirat hayam). The other side of the sea represents new life in the Messiah, the life that comes from above, by the power and agency of the Holy Spirit... The Israelites died to their old life, were symbolically buried in the waters, but arose to new freedom by the grace and power of God...
Note that this "baptism into Moses" (1 Cor. 10:1-2) was not a water baptism, since even though the people went through the water, they crossed over the sea on dry ground... No, it was a baptism or "immersion" into the Shekhinah Cloud, an identification with Moses and his mission (Heb. 11:29). At Sinai Moses would later ascend into the midst of that Cloud to behold the vision of the altar of Messiah (i.e., the Mishkan, or Tabernacle). Ultimately baptism is about identifying with the redemptive mission of God through Yeshua our Savior. The meaning of baptism is to be immersed by the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) to be made part of the greater redemptive mission of God's people.
01.28.21 (Shevat 15, 5781) Shalom chaverim. Faith separates us from the visible and temporal realm to reveal the invisible and eternal realm -- faith hears (shema) the "yes" of the LORD in the midst of worldly dissipation and despair. Today's "Daily Dvar" broadcast discusses the walk of faith and how we need to remain focused on what is real in the midst of the ups and downs of our daily lives. I hope you find it helpful...
Heaven's Alphabet...
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Beshalach... ]
01.27.21 (Shevat 14, 5781) A verse from our Torah portion this week (i.e., Beshalach) contains all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet (i.e., aleph (א), bet (בּ), gimmel (ג), etc.). The special verse reads, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer (עמֶר), according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent'" (Exod. 16:16). Since this refers to the manna the Israelites were to collect for their daily bread, and this verse contains all the letters of the alphabet, we may poetically infer that if we immerse ourselves in the Scriptures, "from Aleph (א) to Tav (ת)," God will provide us with the "daily bread" (לֶחֶם חֻקֵּנוּ) we need, just as He did when the bread from heaven (לֶחֶם מִן־הַשָּׁמָיִם) was miraculously given to feed the Israelites in the desert. Therefore Yeshua, who is the Aleph and Tav, taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," which surely refers to the spiritual food (i.e., encouragement, hope, life) that we receive from the Word of Life (Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4).
Hebrew Lesson Matthew 6:11 Hebrew reading (click):
Yeshua taught us: "Don't be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow has its own troubles. Live one day at a time" (Matt. 6:34). It makes no sense to worry about the future if the LORD is the Good Shepherd who tenderly watches over your way (Psalm 23:1). Every day we are given daily bread, but we must remember that manna could not be stored up without becoming rotten (Exod. 16:20). God's provision is "sufficient unto the day...."
Isn't it amazing how studying the Hebrew text reveals further insights into the Scriptures? Kotzo shel yod... And may you rest in the promise: "My God will supply every need of yours - "from A to Z" - according to his riches in glory in Yeshua the Messiah" (Phil. 4:19). He is lechem ha'chaim - the Living Bread from heaven (John 6:51)!
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
01.27.21 (Shevat 14, 5781) On January 27, 1945, the largest of the Nazi death camps (Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland) was liberated by Soviet troops. In October 2005, the UN General Assembly designated this date as "International Holocaust Remembrance Day" (IHRD) to commemorate and honor the victims of the Nazi era. Note that the UN-sponsored date is not the same thing as Yom HaShoah, which occurs in the spring (Nisan 27).
The systematic genocide of the Jewish people is one of the most heinous and barbarous crimes in the history of humanity. Reflecting on the atrocities should lead each of us to be vigilant to protect the individual liberties of all people at the hands of the State. Any political ideology or religious creed that elevates the interest of the "collective" over the sanctity of the individual is therefore inherently suspect.
"For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease." (Job 14:7)
Note: For more information about IHRD, see this page.
Shabbat Shirat Hayam...
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Beshalach... ]
01.27.21 (Shevat 14, 5781) The Torah reading for this week (Beshlach) includes the famous Shirat Hayam (שִׁירַת הַיָּם), the "Song the Sea," a hymn of praise the Israelites sang to the LORD after they miraculously crossed the Sea of Reeds (i.e., Yam Suf:יָם סּוּף). Shirat Hayam is traditionally sung on the 7th day of Passover (i.e., on Nisan 21) since it was first sung seven days after the people left Egypt. When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, Shirat Hayam was sung every day by the Levites during the minchah (afternoon) offering. After the Temple was destroyed, however, the song was incorporated into the shacharit (morning) service of the synagogue (i.e., Mi Chamocha, etc.) to fulfill the Torah's commandment to "remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt all the days of your life" (Deut. 16:3). Today the Sabbath on which Beshalach is recited is called Shabbat Shirah ("Sabbath of the Song") and the congregation all rises when the Song of the Sea is chanted.
"I will sing to Adonai, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. Yah is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will enshrine Him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his Name." (Exod. 15:1-3)
Notice that the Hebrew text is stylized in a special way according to soferut (scribal) tradition. The Talmud (Megillah 16b) states that Shirat Hayam must be written in the form of "a half brick over a whole brick, and a whole brick over a half brick," that is, with alternating half-lines, to resemble "building a house."
According to Yalkut Me'am Lo'ez, the alternating "bricks" are intended to resemble waves of water, while the blank spaces separating these (i.e., text blocks) suggest "blank spaces in our knowledge and praise of God" which we are encouraged to add to the "building." The sages count exactly 198 words in this song, which is the numerical value for the word tzchok (צחק), a word that means "laughter" and is the word used to describe Sarah's response when she finally gave birth to Isaac (Gen. 21:6). According to Rabbi Bachya, the laughter in Isaac's name comes from Abraham's joy (Gen. 17:17). The joy of Isaac's birth, then, is linked with the "birth" of the nation of Israel at the time of the Exodus, just as his symbolic death during the Akedah represents Israel's rebirth...
It is also noteworthy to remember that the Lord Yeshua was the One who saved Israel on that very day. He is the Angel of the LORD and YHVH the Redeemer, as Moses likewise stated: וַיּוֹשַׁע יהוה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל מִיַּד מִצְרָיִם / "On that day, the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians" (Exod. 14:30).
It's been said that all the signs and wonders performed during the Exodus served two purposes: 1) to convince the Egyptians of the greatness of God, and 2) to convince the Israelites of the same thing... An even greater blessing, however, is to trust in the LORD without the need for signs and wonders (John 20:29). May the LORD God of Israel help us live by true bittachon (בִּטָּחוֹן) - trusting in Him and rejoicing in His salvation. Amen.
01.27.21 (Shevat 14, 5781) From our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Beshalach) we read that when the Israelites came to Marah, "they could not drink the water because it was bitter" (Exod. 15:23). Note that the Hebrew text allows us to read that it was the Israelites themselves who were bitter – ki marim hem (כִּי מָרִים הֵם) – "for they (i.e., the Israelites) were bitter," and their bitterness made the water seem so as well.... After the people complained, God showed Moses a tree and threw it into the water, making it drinkable. Interestingly the Hebrew text literally reads, "the LORD taught him a tree" (וַיּוֹרֵהוּ יְהוָה עֵץ), suggesting elon moreh (אֵלוֹן מוֹרֶה), the "teaching tree of Abraham" (Gen. 12:6). The sages say this tree symbolized Torah, the tree of life (etz chaim), which brings happiness to those who take hold of it (Prov. 3:18), though we see Yeshua, the fallen tree that yields mayim chayim - living water - to revive the hearts of mankind...
"Behold, it was for my healing that I had great bitterness; but You in love have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back." (Isa. 38:17)
In this verse note that the term "pit of destruction" (מִשַּׁחַת בְּלִי) might better be understood as the "pit of wearing out," that is, the pit of nothingness, consumption, vanity, or worthlessness (i.e., belial:בְּלִיַּעַל). The idea is that the LORD loves us "from the pit of nothingness." The word "loved" used here (i.e., chashak:חָשַׁק) means to be attached in devotion or affection, to embrace in kindness... God's great love is like that – it descends into the pit of shame and draws us out from it, just as Yeshua went down to the pit for that purpose – to deliver those trapped in throes of death (Psalm 88:4-6; Zech. 9:11, 12; Heb. 13:20, 2 Cor. 5:12, etc.).
The Fruit of Spirit - פרי הרוח
[ Wed., January 27th at sundown begins "Tu B'Shevat" (ט"ו בשבט), or the 15th of the month of Shevat, which marks the traditional date celebrating the "New Year" for Trees... ]
01.26.21 (Shevat 13, 5781) Traditional Judaism identifies various middot ha-lev (qualities of heart) that attend to a genuinely Jewish life. Among others these include Talmud Torah (studying Scripture), ahavat Adonai (loving God), gemilut chasidim (doing works of compassion), bikkur cholim (visiting the sick), and so on. The follower of Yeshua likewise is intended to evidence middot hav-lev, though the Source for such comes directly from the power of the Ruach Ha-Kodesh (Holy Spirit) working within the heart of faith. The peirot (fruits) listed in Galatians 5:22-23 represent nine visible attributes of a true follower of Yeshua, namely: love (אהבה), joy (שׂמחה), peace (שׁלום), patience (סבלנות), generosity (נדיבות לב), kindness (חסד), faithfulness (נֶאֱמָנוּת), humility (ענוה), and modesty (צְנִיעוּת).
Note that these fruits are not realized through self-effort or attempts at human "reformation," but rather are a supernatural outgrowth of the grace and love of God in the life of one who puts their trust in Yeshua as Savior. They are fruits of the Spirit (פּרי הרוח). SeeJohn 15:1-8. Our lives are sanctified in the manner in which they were initially justified: wholly by faith in the love and grace of God...
The tough question we need to ask ourselves is whether our lives give evidence to the power and agency of the Holy Spirit within us. Strictly speaking, these nine attributes are qualities that only God Himself possesses, since He alone is perfectly loving, perfectly joyful, and so on. But since we are created be'tzelem elohim (in the image of God) and were given the Holy Spirit to help us resemble our Teacher (Luke 6:40), spiritual fruit should be seen in our own lives (John 14:12; 15:1-8; 26-7). Obtaining such fruit is invariably a matter of faith - trusting that God will help us live our lives in truthful union with Him.
Let's remember to pray for one another and ask the LORD to make each of us fruitful l'shem shamayim - for the sake of the Name of our beloved One.
01.25.21 (Shevat 12, 5781) Don't allow worldly propaganda to define what reality is for you... Though you may feel disheartened and exasperated over the state of the political schemes of human beings, remember that the light of our God shines forth in resplendent glory; his power is unrivaled, and his love endures forever... Our God works all things together for good; "indeed, the LORD of all power (יהוה צבאות) has a plan, and who can possibly frustrate it? His hand is ready to strike, and who can possibly stop it?" (Isa. 14:27). Amen, as it is written: "There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel that can prevail against the LORD" (Prov. 21:30). So take heart: be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid even if an army encamps against you; be confident even though war rises in this hour (Psalm 27:3). Walk in the Light of God's Presence and be confident of his blessing. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go!
01.25.21 (Shevat 12, 5781) This week's Torah portion (parashat Beshalach) contains some of the most dramatic episodes recorded in all of the Scriptures. Here we read about the great exodus of the Israelites on the day of Passover and Pharaoh's last-ditch pursuit of the Hebrew slaves. We read how the Shekhinah Glory held back Pharaoh's army, how the LORD split the Sea of Reeds so that the Israelites could safely pass through the waters, and how Pharaoh's forces were all drowned in the sea. We further read how God personally led the Israelites into the desert and sustained them by transforming "bitter water" into sweet water, sending manna from heaven, and providing a miraculous water source from the rock that Moses struck. Yet despite all the miracles and wonders performed on behalf of the Israelites, the people inexplicably seemed to "forget" about their miraculous redemption. Indeed, it was just a few days after the awe-inspiring deliverance from Egypt that the people began to murmur, complain, and kvetch. The sorry state of the Israelites was so bad that the Midrash Rabbah plaintively wonders how it was possible that the Israelites could have so quickly forgotten all of God's miracles performed on their behalf...
The story of the disgruntled Israelites teaches us that miracles are never enough to sustain our faith. Seeing isn't believing, but rather the other way around.... This explains why those church groups that emphasize "signs and wonders" often contain so many exhausted people. Miracles are insufficient for faith; people get excited about them while they occur, but they soon forget them and return to a state of desperation and despair. Necessarily the cycle must repeat itself, with ever-increasing claims of the miraculous, in order to keep the illusion alive.... In light of this, it is wise to consider that the passion for "signs and wonders" may be little more than a counterfeit of the duty to serve God. After all, truly loving the LORD with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength is the goal of faith. A genuine heart of faith, then, is a miracle of a greater kind than that of splitting the Sea of Reeds.
Regarding the case of the redeemed Israelites, what has struck some commentators is not so much the incredible signs and wonders that the LORD performed on behalf of Israel, but rather the people's persistent inability or unwillingness to believe... Some of the Jewish sages have gone so far as to say that the entire Jewish Bible may be read as a book about God's apparent inability to teach the Jewish people how to be grateful. The same certainly can be said about many professing Christians today.
It must be stressed that lasting transformation of the heart comes from "following" the LORD God of Israel. Yeshua is our Teacher. As I've mentioned elsewhere, disciples of Yeshua are called talmidim (תַּלְמִידִים) -- a word that comes from lamad (לָמַד) meaning "to learn" (the Hebrew word for teacher is melamad (מְלַמֵּד) from the same root). In the Greek New Testament, the word for "disciple" is μαθητής (the word "math" comes from this), that is, a pupil of a διδάσκαλος, or a teacher. In other words, disciples of Yeshua are automatically "enrolled" in the school of truth, which is also a "school of suffering" (Col. 1:24). In the Torah the "daily sacrifice," or korban tamid (קָרְבַּן תָּמִיד), was offered to the LORD every morning and evening upon the altar, which corresponds to being a "living sacrifice" (i.e., korban chai: קָרְבָּן חַי) to the LORD (Rom. 12:1-2). We must take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23). Yeshua plainly said: "For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world -- to bear witness to the truth. All who are of the truth listen to my voice" (John 18:37). It is hard to imagine a follower of Yeshua who does not love, study, and value the truth...
The Hebrew word for education is chinukh (חִנּוּךְ), a word that shares the same root as the word for "dedication" (i.e., chanukah:חֲנֻכָּה). True education of the Scriptures is therefore foundational to being a student of the Messiah. We are called to "rightly divide" (ὀρθοτομέω, lit. "cut straight") the "word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15). Among other things, then, following Yeshua means becoming a student of the Jewish Scriptures that He loved and fulfilled (Matt. 5:17-18; Luke 24:44-45). Only after learning from Yeshua as your Teacher will you be equipped to "go to all the nations and teach" others (Matt. 28:19). This is accomplished not merely by explaining (propositional) doctrine but by kiddush HaShem -- sanctifying the LORD in our lives (1 Pet. 1:15-16). As the sages noted long ago: "Upon three things the world does stand: upon the Torah (truth), upon worship, and upon acts of lovingkindness" (Avot 1:2). We are a "living letter" sent to the world to be "read" (2 Cor. 3:2-3).
It has been said that it was easier for the LORD to get Israel out of Egypt than it was for Him to get Egypt out of Israel... The LORD knew the process would be an arduous one, requiring 40 long years of study in the desert under the instruction of Moses, and yet despite all this the people "were unable to enter because of unbelief" (Heb. 3:19; 4:11; Psalm 95:7-11). This is a truly sobering warning, and we are encouraged to open our hearts to the miracle of God's love for us. "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." May it please God to help us make a new commitment to study and to live the truth of the Torah and Scriptures for the glory of His Name. Amen.
The Tu B'Shevat New Year...
[ Wednesday January 27th at sundown begins "Tu B'Shevat" (ט"ו בשבט), or the 15th of the month of Shevat, which marks the traditional date celebrating the "New Year" for Trees... ]
01.24.21 (Shevat 11, 5781) The Bible begins and ends with the great Tree of Life -- first in the orchard of Eden, and later in the midst of the paradise of heaven. "The Tree of Life (i.e., etz ha' chayim:עֵץ הַחַיִּים) was in the midst of the garden..." (Gen. 2:9). "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the Tree of Life (etz ha-chayim) with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month" (Rev. 22:1-2). Notice that the "twelve fruits" (καρποὺς δώδεκα) from the Tree of Life are directly linked to the "twelve months" of the Jewish year (κατὰ μῆνα ἕκαστον ἀποδιδοῦν τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ: "each month rendering its fruit"). Twelve months; twelve fruits.... This teaches us that the sequence of the holidays (moedim) was intended to teach us revelation about God. That is why God created the Sun and the Moon for signs and for "appointed times" (Gen. 1:14), as it also says: "He made the moon to mark the appointed times (לְמוֹעֲדִים); the sun knows its time for setting" (Psalm 104:19).
The Scriptures state twice: "Take root downward and bear fruit upward" (2 Kings 19:30; Isa. 37:31). As Yeshua said, "unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit (John 12:24). We pray we might surrender ourselves to the Lord fully, being immersed in His passion, "bearing fruit in every good work (ἐν παντὶ ἔργῳ ἀγαθῷ καρποφοροῦντες) and growing in da'at HaShem (דַעַת אֱלהִים) - the knowledge of God" (Col. 1:10). The "fruit of the righteous is a Tree of Life" lit., etz chayim (עֵץ חַיִּים), literally, "the Tree of lives" (Prov. 11:30). It is the fruit of Yeshua, the Tzaddik of God, the Righteous One, who bears fruits of healing in the lives of those who turn to Him in trust...
The "Tree of Life" (i.e., etz ha'chayim:עֵץ הַחַיִּים) is mentioned ten times in Scripture, corresponding to the "ten words of God" (i.e., the Ten Commandments). In the Torah it first appears in the center of the paradise of Eden (Gen. 2:9; 3:22-4), but it is soon lost to humanity because of Adam's transgression. In the book of Revelation, it reappears in the center of the Paradise of God (Rev. 2:7, 22:2), resurrected on account of the faithful obedience of Yeshua as mankind's "last Adam" (1 Cor. 15:45). Those who have washed their robes by means of His righteousness are given access to this Tree in the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. 22:14). The paradise lost by Adam has been regained by the greater ben-adam, the Son of Man, Yeshua the Messiah, the Savior of the children of men...
[ In our Torah portion this week, the waters of the Red Sea divide to make a path for the Israelites, a miracle that symbolized newness of life as God's liberated people... ]
01.24.21 (Shevat 11, 5781) Last week's Torah portion (parashat Bo) described how the Israelites were finally released from Egypt after God delivered the final plague during the time of Passover. In this week's portion (Beshalach), the Israelites begin their journey home, after 430 years of exile. Instead of leading them along a direct route to the Promised Land, however, God directed them south, toward the desert, where the Glory of God appeared as a Pillar of Cloud by day and as a Pillar of Fire by night to lead them on their way. When Pharaoh heard that the Israelites were at the border of the desert, however, he perversely decided to pursue them and bring them back to Egypt. God then redirected the Israelites to camp near the edge of the Sea of Reeds, where the Egyptian army finally caught up with them. The Israelites were caught between the sea on one side, and Pharaoh's army on the other!
The terrified people then began to blame Moses for their predicament. Moses reassured them of God's final deliverance and raised his staff to miraculously divide the waters of the sea. All that night the Shekhinah Glory enshrouded the Egyptian army but gave light to Israel as the people crossed through the sea on dry ground. Just before dawn, the dark pillar of cloud that veiled the Egyptian army lifted, and the soldiers immediately rushed after the Israelites into pathway of the sea. God then told Moses to lift his staff again so that the waters would overwhelm the Egyptians with their chariots and horsemen. By the time dawn arrived, the Israelites saw the dead bodies of Pharaoh's army lining the seashore.
Moses and Miriam then led the people of Israel in a spontaneous hymn of thanks and praise to God for their complete deliverance from Pharaoh, which is often called the "Song of the Sea" (i.e., shirah hayam). The song begins, "The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation" / עָזִּי וְזִמְרָת יָהּ וַיְהִי־לִי לִישׁוּעָה (Exod. 15:2, cp. Isa. 12:2). For Orthodox Jews, singing Shirat Hayam every day is thought to fulfill the biblical commandment to "remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt as long as you live" (Deut. 16:3). Note that Shirat Hayam is also sung on the 7th day of Passover, as a memorial of the deliverance by God through the waters of the Sea of Reeds.
The great message of our deliverance resounds throughout Jewish history, and indeed it is regarded as a theme of the faithful love of LORD for His people:
After their jubilation, the narrative resumes as God led the people away from the sea, into the desert of Sin (מִדְבַּר־סִין), a desolate region about midway to Mount Sinai. After traveling three days without finding any water, however, the people complained and God provided them with fresh water at Marah. Awhile later, the matzah (unleavened bread) the people had brought with them ran out and God tested their obedience by giving them "bread from heaven" (i.e., manna). The portion ends with the Amalekites' surprise attack of Israel at Rephidim, near Mount Sinai, and the introduction of Joshua as the leader of the army of Israel.
Because of the critical significance of the miracle of crossing the sea, this Sabbath is called Shabbat Shirah, the "Sabbath of the Song," because it includes the song of deliverance sung by Moses and Miriam after the people made safe passage to new life. The "Song of the Sea" (i.e., shirah hayam) begins, "The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation" / עָזִּי וְזִמְרָת יָהּ וַיְהִי־לִי לִישׁוּעָה (Exod. 15:2, cp. Isa. 12:2). For Orthodox Jews, singing Shirat Hayam every day is thought to fulfill the biblical commandment to "remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt as long as you live" (Deut. 16:3). Note that Shirat Hayam is also sung on the 7th day of Passover, as a memorial of the deliverance by God through the waters of the Sea of Reeds.
01.22.21 (Shevat 9, 5781) The Scriptures declare that though the "outward self" (ὁ ἔξω ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπος) inevitably wastes away (διαφθείρω), the "inner self" (ὁ ἔσω ἡμῶν) is being renewed (ἀνακαινόω, i.e., "raised up in newness of life") day by day (2 Cor. 4:16), which implies that we have nothing to fear regarding our perpetuity and acceptance as God's beloved children. Therefore we do not "lose heart" (lit., act badly, from ἐκ, "out" + κακός, "badly"). Despite the shadows of this world, we take hold of the words of our Savior, who said: "I give you eternal life, and you will never be destroyed (ἀπόλλυμι), and no one will snatch you out of my hand" (John 10:28). And in another place he likewise said, "Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die (οὐ μὴ ἀποθάνη)" (John 11:26).
God has redeemed you, friend, and has called you by name; he knows you intimately, and you belong to Him. God does not call groups, but rather individuals. The Spirit calls out, "follow me..." The Lord never leaves nor forsakes those who trust in Him, even if they should face waters that seem to overwhelm or fires that seem to devour and consume. Shabbat Shalom.
Heaven's Love Story...
01.22.21 (Shevat 9, 5781) The Scriptures reveal that ultimate reality is a divine love story with a "happy ending," despite the struggles we face in this world. We see this in connection with the great deliverance of the Passover, when we read the story of our redemption in the Torah, summarized in a special book called a "haggadah." Note that the Hebrew word "haggadah" (הַגָּדָה) means "retelling," which of course refers to the story of our journey from slavery to freedom by the hand of God's love. With regard to the sanctity of this story, the Torah commands us: "You shall tell (i.e., ve'higadta:וְהִגַּדְתָּ, from which "haggadah" comes) your child on that day, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.' And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Torah of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt" (Exod. 13:8-8). The sages note that the numeric value of the word "haggadah" (הַגָּדָה) is the same as the word for "good" (i.e., tov:טוֹב), which again indicates that the story of our redemption in the Messiah is truly good – indeed, the greatest story ever told...
01.22.21 (Shevat 9, 5781) "This is the thing that the LORD commanded you to do, so that the glory of the LORD may appear to you: Draw near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself" (Lev. 9:6-7). Have you considered why you were born into this world? What is your purpose, destiny, and end? The Torah states that you were personally created by Almighty God, who breathed out the breath of life (נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים) into you, and then redeemed your life so you could know the glory of God and spiritual reality. As it is written: "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your desire they existed and were created" (Rev. 4:11). God creates all things for his glory and purposes, which indeed is the first blessing recited over the bride and groom in a traditional Jewish wedding: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלם שֶׁהַכּל בָּרָא לִכְבוֹדו / "Blessed are you Lord our God king of the universe, who has created all things for his glory." The purpose of life is to know and love God, to walk in His light and truth, and to glorify his compassion and grace forever...
At a traditional Jewish wedding the groom places the ring on his bride's finger and says: Harei, at mekudeshet li (הרי את מקודשׁת לי): "Behold, you are sacred to me." Love and holiness are interconnected, since the beloved is set apart as sacred and treasured. May God help us see the wonder of His love for our lives: "Do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be sacred, for I am sacred" (1 Pet. 1:14-16).
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading (Bo) and the story of the Passover exodus from Egypt.... Please read the Torah portion to "find your place" here. ]
01.22.21 (Shevat 9, 5781) The Hebrew word for "Passover" comes from a verb pasach (פָּסַח) that means to "pass over," though it also can mean "to limp," recalling the "heel of Messiah" that was bruised in the battle for our deliverance (Gen. 3:15). It is written in the Torah, "the life (i.e., nefesh [נֶפֶשׁ], breath, "soul") of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to cleanse (i.e., kafar [כָפַר], cover, atone, ransom, purify) your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life" (Lev. 17:11). When Yeshua offered his blood upon the cross for our purification, he poured out his very soul, his final breath, and his last extremity for the sake of our healing... Since blood is the carrier of life, it has its own spiritual "voice" that intercedes on our behalf in the Holy of Holies made without hands (Gen. 4:10; Rev. 6:10; Heb. 9:12, 12:24). The great passion of our Lord still speaks, since Yeshua always lives to make intercession for us (Heb. 7:25).
01.22.21 (Shevat 9, 5781) "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. The one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life" (Gal. 6:8). Here we see the importance of feeding the divine nature given to us in Messiah - to "sow" or "plant" truth within our hearts so that we will yield the "fruit of righteousness." However, feeding the lower nature, gratifying the desires of the flesh, disregarding the truth of eternity for the sake of temporal pleasure, and so on, leads to corruption and to death. Spirituality (רוּחניוּת), then, is of utmost importance to us, as we learn to "renew our minds" and yield ourselves to the truth of God (Gal. 5:16). We are engaged in the battle daily - an internal struggle to direct our hearts and to make the decision to be awake to the Lord's Presence or to surrender to our fallenness, fear, and despair. The Lord has promised us his very strength for the battle, but we must choose to believe in order to receive the blessing. Since God will surely help us as we seek to do His will (see 1 John 5:14), let us therefore draw near to the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16). God makes the way of escape (1 Cor. 10:13). The LORD God Almighty says to your heart: "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God: I will strengthen you, yea, I will help you, yea, I will uphold you the right hand of my righteousness (Isa. 41:10).
01.21.21 (Shevat 8, 5781) We love God because He is our Creator, our Breath of Life, the Source of all true good, our Savior, our Healer, and the substance of all that is real and significant... We are able to love because he discloses his love to us (1 John 4:19). We respond to God with a heart of gratitude and love, not out of fear of punishment; with a whole heart (כָּל־לֵבָב), not a heart divided by fear. The Torah says you are to love God bekhol levavkha (בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ), "with all your heart" – like Abraham, who loved God wholeheartedly; and you are to love God bekhol nafshekha (בְּכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ), "with all your soul" – like Isaac, who gave his soul over to God, willing to be sacrificed for our atonement; and you are to love God bekhol me'odekha (בְּכָל־מְאדֶךָ), "with all your muchness" – like Jacob who gave from his substance to support his children, the sons of Levi. And these words, namely, the words that return us to God's love, shall today be on your heart (הַיּוֹם עַל־לְבָבֶךָ), which means we are to love God at all times, for this is the day that the LORD has made...
01.21.21 (Shevat 8, 5781) "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one" (Deut. 6:4). These famous words, usually referred to as "the Shema" (from the Hebrew word "hear"), distill the central affirmation of faith for the Jewish people, and indeed the Shema is often the very first word of Torah that a Jewish child learns. During its recitation in the synagogue, Orthodox Jews pronounce each word very carefully and cover their eyes with their right hand. Many Jews recite the Shema at least twice daily: once in the morning and once in the evening. The text of the Shema is meticulously written on a small scroll which is then rolled up and put inside a mezuzah. In a sefer Torah, or a handwritten Torah scroll, the two Hebrew letters Ayin (ע) and Dalet (ד) are enlarged in the opening sentence of the Shema. Together, these letters form the word 'ed (עֵד), which means "witness," suggesting that the Shema is a testimony of the sovereignty of God and our primary duty to love Him with our whole being.
When asked which of the various commandments was the "first commandment of all," Yeshua responded by quoting the Shema: "The first of all the commandments is this: 'Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength'" (see Mark 12:29-30).
Hebrew Lesson Podcast Deut. 6:4: the opening of the Shema (click):
The "Three-in-One" Affirmation The Shema is actually more than just the famous six words "Shema Yisrael, Adonai eloheinu, Adonai echad," but is composed of three distinct parts linked together into a unity:
The Shema (Deut. 6:4): The core Hebrew admonition. Special emphasis is given to the first six Hebrew words of this passage (i.e., Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad: "Hear, O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is one"). After a pause, the Ve'ahavta (Deut 6:5-9) is then recited, which stresses the commandment to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, and might. Note that Yeshua combined the core admonition (i.e., Deut. 6:4) with the first verse of the Ve'ahavta (i.e., Deut 6:5) as the first great commandment" (see Mark 12:28-30).
Of particular interest is what the declaration that God is "one" means. Interestingly, the word echad ("one") in Hebrew can imply a unity in plurality (the word for "one and only one," i.e., unique, is more often rendered as yachid). For example, Moses used the word echad in Genesis 2:24 when he wrote, "And they (husband and wife) will become one flesh" (i.e., basar echad). Moreover, in Exodus 26:6 the various parts of the Mishkan (i.e., "Tabernacle") were to be constructed so that "it shall be one (echad) sanctuary," and Ezekiel spoke of two "sticks" (representing fragmented Israel) that would be reunited into one: "and they shall be one (echad) stick in My hand" (Ezek. 37:19).
For information about how the Shema reveals the triune nature of the Godhead, listen to the audio podcast.
The Vehayah (Deut. 11:13-21): This moving passage stresses the blessings that come through obedience to Adonai and the consequences that come through disobedience.
The Vaiyomer (Num. 15:37-41): This passage concerns the use of the tallit, a rectangular prayer shawl with four fringes (called tzitzit). One tzitz is attached to each corner of the tallit. The reason for wearing the tzitzit is to remind oneself to observe all of the commandments of the Lord.
For more information about the Shema, please listen to the short podcast linked above.
Sanctifying the Name...
01.21.21 (Shevat 8, 5781) The reason for what happens in our lives is often (always?) beyond our understanding, yet the righteousness of God's plan – even if undisclosed to us - must be accepted by faith. When Job was tested with trouble and suffering he said, "The LORD gives; the LORD takes away; blessed is the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21), and he later reaffirmed his conviction that God was to be trusted, despite the darkness and pain he was experiencing: "Should we receive what is good from God, but not receive what is evil?"he asked (Job. 2:10). The Torah of Job teaches us that all things - both the good and the evil - are under the sovereign control of the LORD, and since "all things work together for good" (Rom. 8:28), we trust God and bless Him for perceived evil as well as for perceived good. Despite appearances that sometimes seem to the contrary, we believe in an all-powerful, supreme LORD who has not abandoned the world, but who actively sustains and upholds it with benevolent intent. "We walk by faith and not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7). When bad things happen to the righteous, we trust in God's personal care for their ultimate good, despite their present troubles (Jer. 29:11). As Job further said: "Though he slay me, I will trust in Him" (Job 13:15). This is the heart behind the Kaddish, the mourner's prayer, that expresses acceptance of God's world, despite the pain, sorrow, loss, and so on..
In this life we "see through a glass darkly" and therefore we must surrender our need to understand God's sovereign purposes: "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa. 55:9). There is danger here, for if we refuse to accept what we cannot understand (or change), we wil find ourselves in further pain and exile. Indeed exalting our need to "understand" or justify suffering is a hopeless venture, and it is also a category mistake -- as if an intellectual "answer" could assuage the emotional pain and loss we experience... Faith goes beyond the realm of reason to trust in God's goodness and care, especially when we are enshrouded within a "dark cloud of unknowing." Surely our Lord understands the test (i.e., our need to practice trust) and therefore Spirit encourages us: "Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God" (Isa. 50:10).
There are many people who find it difficult to accept the idea of God -- not because of the "problem of evil," that is, the puzzle of why an all-powerful and all-loving God would allow so much suffering and pain to be present in the world, but rather because of the problem of their own secret fears, their own personal heartaches, their own searing disappointments... A person who was abused or mistreated as a child might reason that if God wasn't there for them when they needed him most, that is, when they were in such a helpless state, how can they trust in him when facing the abandonment of their own death? The question is not intellectual but emotional; a matter of trust, not of rationalization. Comfort is what is needed, that is, the assurance that God is nevertheless for you, that he is your friend, your good shepherd, even if you were to be thrown into a fiery furnace... Bonhoeffer went through the death camps, trusting God to the day he was hanged. He never gave up hope, even in the midst of all that darkness. Bonhoeffer died kiddish HaShem, sanctifying the Name of the LORD: Adonai natan, va'Adonai lakach; yehi shem Adonai me'vorach (Job 1:21).
It is written, "Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. All the days ordained for me were recorded in your scroll before one of them came into existence" (Psalm 139:16). In light of God's providential ordering of our lives, Blaise Pascal asked, "What is left for us but to unite our will to that of God himself, to will in him, with him, and for him the thing that he has eternally willed in us and for us." The Mishnah says it this way: "Do His will as if it was your will that He may do your will as if it was His will" (Avot 2:4). In other words, what else can we do but learn to trust, accept, and to say "yes" to life -- even if at times we may feel like orphans, lost in a fatherless world... All our days are recorded in God's scroll.
Where it says, "Ve'ahavta et Adonai be'khol levavkha" – you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart" (Deut. 6:5) that includes both your "good heart" and your "bad heart" – that is, all of you, all of your being, the whole person. Come as you are - broken, fragmented, divided within - and ask God to unify your heart by the miracle of his grace...
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading (Bo) and the story of yetziat mitzrayim, the great Exodus from Egypt.... Please read the Torah portion to "find your place" here. ]
01.20.21 (Shevat 7, 5781) In our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Bo) we read about the institution of the Passover and the final terrible plague that was to befall the Egyptians on the Passover night. When we think of this time, we may imagine God "passing over" those houses that had the blood of the lamb smeared on their doorposts, though it might better be said that God passed into the homes of those who trusted him, while he withdrew His Presence from those that did not...
To see this note that two different words are used that can be translated as "pass over." First, God said, "I will pass over (i.e., avar:עֲבַר) the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments; I am the LORD" (Exod. 12:12). But directly after saying this, God promised to "pass over" (i.e., pasach:פָּסַח) the homes of those who trusted in him to impart his protection from the plague of death: "The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over to you (lit. עֲלֵכֶם, 'upon you'), and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt" (Exod. 12:13). In other words, when God would see the blood of the Passover lamb, he would pass over to enter the house and "cover" its occupants from the judgment of death.
The blood of the Passover lamb sheltered people from the plague of death by atoning for their sin by means of a substitutionary sacrifice. The Torah states that "the life (i.e., nefesh:נֶפֶשׁ, or 'soul') of the flesh is in the blood" (Lev. 17:11), and therefore death represents the separation of the soul from the body. The life blood of a sacrificial lamb was therefore offered in exchange for the death and destruction of others. Eating the lamb "roasted by fire" meant identifying with the death offered in exchange for your own; eating matzah, or unleavened bread, signified being delivered in haste, apart from the "rise of the flesh" or human design; and eating maror, or bitter herbs, recalled the bitterness of our slavery...
The first time the word "blood" (דָם) occurs in the Scriptures concerns the death of Abel, the son of Adam and Eve who was murdered by his brother Cain. After Abel's blood was shed, the LORD confronted Cain and said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground" (Gen. 4:10). Since blood is the carrier of life, it bears the energy and vitality of life: it has its own spiritual "voice." Likewise, the blood of Yeshua, the true Lamb of God who died upon the cross, speaks on our behalf, and reverses the power of death by creating a barrier that death can no longer cross, since the death of the sacrificial victim "exchanges" the merit and power of life. Unlike the blood of Abel that "cries out" for justice, the blood of Yeshua cries out for mercy (Heb. 12:24). Putting our trust in the provision of God's sacrifice causes His wrath (or righteous judgment) to pass over while simultaneously extending love to the sinner.... This is the essential message of the gospel itself, that we have atonement through the sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of Yeshua our Savior, the great Lamb of God (שׂה האלהים). As Yeshua said, "I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the One who sent me has eternal life (חַיֵּי עוֹלָם) and will not be condemned, but has passed over (i.e., μετά + βαίνω, lit., "crossed over" [עָבַר]) from death to life" (John 5:24). Just as God's judgment passes over from life to death on my behalf; so His love passes over from death to life on my behalf...
It was in the midst of the "dark cloud" that Yeshua made intercession for us (Matt. 27:45). The idea of substitutionary atonement is surely mysterious, but ultimately the message is simple: God loves you and has made a way for you to be eternally accepted -- despite your sin... That's the "good news" of the cross, after all. That's what Yeshua meant when he said, "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (חַיֵּי עוֹלָם). For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:14-17). Humanity as a whole has been "bitten by the snake" and needs to be delivered from its deadly venom. Just as the image made in the likeness of the destroying snake was lifted up for Israel's healing, so the One made in the likeness of sinful flesh was to be lifted up as the Healer of the world (Rom. 8:3). All we need to do is look and believe. Yeshua died for you so you can live. He stands at the door and knocks, offering to "pass over" your sin and to impart to you his life in exchange (Rev. 3:20).
[ The following is related to this week's Torah reading, parashat Bo... ]
01.19.21 (Shevat 6, 5781) The very first occurrence of the word "Torah" (תּוֹרָה) in the Scriptures refers to the faith of Abraham (Gen. 26:5), and the second occurs in our reading for this week (i.e., parashat Bo) regarding the ordinance of Passover: "There shall be one law (תּוֹרָה) for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you" (Exod. 12:49). There is a link here. Recall that Abraham lived before the time of the Exodus, of course, and therefore he obeyed the "Torah of Passover" by means of the Akedah (the sacrifice of his beloved son Isaac and the substitution of the lamb of God upon the altar). Abraham's faith revealed that the inner meaning of Torah is that the "righteous shall live by faith" (Hab. 2:4, Rom. 1:17), that is, by trusting God's justification of the sinner (Heb. 11:17-19). The Torah of Passover likewise teaches that redemption from death is possible through the exchange of an innocent sacrificial victim. The blood of the lamb was "a sign" of imputed righteousness obtained entirely by faith - with no "leaven," or human works, added. This is the "korban" principle of "life-for-life" that underlies the sacrificial system of the Mishkan (i.e., Tabernacle) as well. Ultimately all true Torah points to Yeshua, the Lamb of God, who is the divinely appointed Redeemer and promised Slayer of the Serpent...
"When the fullness of time (τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου) had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the Torah, to redeem those who were under the Torah, so that we might receive adoption as sons" (Gal. 4:4-5).
01.19.21 (Shevat 6, 5781) In our Torah portion for this week (i.e., Bo) we revisit the institution of the Passover sacrifice and the deliverance of the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt. Later in the Torah we read God's reason for the redemption: "For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall be holy, for I am holy" (Lev. 11:45). Because we are God's people, his redeemed children, we are made holy, just as God is holy (1 Pet. 1:15-16). Holiness, however, is not a matter of what you do (such as wrapping yourself in religious rituals) but instead is a matter of what you "allow" to happen: You let go and allow yourself to be rescued and taken up from the "depths of Egypt" to be with God. Holiness is something you receiveby faith; it is a gift of being "set apart" to be sacred and beloved by God. Genuine holiness (i.e., kedushah) is connected with love and grace.
In Hebrew, the word kedushah (קְדוּשָׁה) means sanctity or "set-apartness" (other Hebrew words that use this root include kadosh (holy), Kiddush (sanctifying the wine), Kaddish (sanctifying the Name), kiddushin (the ring ceremony at a marriage), and so on). Kadosh connotes the sphere of the sacred that is radically separate from all that is sinful and profane. As such, it is lofty and elevated (Isa. 57:15), beyond all comparison and utterly unique (Isa. 40:25), entirely righteous (Isa. 5:16), glorious and awesome (Psalm 99:3), full of light and power (Isa. 10:7), and is chosen and favored as God's own (Ezek. 22:26).
01.19.21 (Shevat 6, 5781) In our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Bo) we are commanded to retell "in the hearing of your son and your grandson" how the LORD overthrew the arrogance of the Egyptians and performed wonders to deliver us" (Exod. 10:2). This commandment is the basis of the Passover haggadah (i.e., הַגָּדָה, "telling"), the "oral tradition" of our faith, when we personally retell the story from generation to generation so that the spirit of the message is not lost. We participate in the Passover seder to make it "our own story," a part of who we are. Therefore b'khol-dor vador: "Every Jew must consider himself to have been personally redeemed from Egypt." Retelling the story of the exodus enables us to "know that I am the LORD" (Exod. 10:2). We recall the words, bishvili nivra ha'olam – "For my sake was this world created," while we also recall the words, anokhi afar ve'efer – "I am but dust and ashes." When we retell the story of the great redemption, we strengthen our faith and better know the LORD our Savior.
Indeed God admonishes that the story of our redemption should be "as a sign on your hand and as a memorial (זִכָּרוֹן) between your eyes, that the Torah of the LORD may be in your mouth" (Exod. 13:9). We are instructed to "remember" (זָכַר) over and over again because our disease, our sickness of heart, induces us to forget how we were enslaved in the house of bondage. We must consciously remember and never forget that only by means of God's strong hand (בְּיָד חֲזָקָה) are we ever made free (John 8:36).
"And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and for a memorial between your eyes, that the Torah of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt." (Exod. 13:9)
In this connection, the traditional Passover haggadah describes four kinds of "children" at the seder table. First is the child who is unable to ask, or who doesn't understand that there is a question about the meaning of the seder (she'eilo yodea lishol). Second is a simple child who goes along with the seder but does not bother to look beneath the surface to find its meaning and relevance. The third child is rasha - alienated and distant - a stranger at the table who wants to hear a different story rather than the one being told. Finally, the wise child (chakham) humbly asks, seeks, and desires to understand the mystery and the truth about Passover. The wise child's questions lead to answers that lead to yet other questions, and so the meaning of the redemption belongs to him... By extension, since Yeshua is indeed the Lamb of God, the true Substance of the meaning of Passover, we must ask and answer the question, "Were you there when they crucified our LORD?"
Web Site Updates...
01.19.21 (Shevat 6, 5781) Shalom chaverim. I have several thousand Hebrew audio files and podcasts I have made on the Hebrew for Christians website, though many of these are embedded in various pages using "flash audio" format, and since flash has recently been discontinued, I have been busy converting these files into simple mp3 files instead. As you might imagine, this presents a great deal of work to do, so I ask for your patience if I am not interacting here as much as usual. I will still try to post a few updates here every day, though I thought you should know what's going on on my side of the screen over here. Thank you.
The Substance of Hope..
01.18.21 (Shevat 5, 5781) "Faith is the foundation (i.e., ὑπόστασις: the "substance," reality, underlying essence, etc.) of hope, the conviction of the unseen... Without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near must believe that God exists and rewards (μισθαποδότης) those who seek him" (Heb. 11:1,6). Note that God is pleased when we seek his presence, that is, when we when we look past the ephemera and ambiguity of the phenomenal world for the truth about spiritual reality (2 Cor. 4:18). For our part, faith resolves to confession (ὁμολογέω), that is, aligning our perspective and focus to agree with the revelation and message of divine truth and verballly declaring our conviction. We must say that we believe, and affirm it with all our heart (Rom. 10:9). As it says, "I will make Your faithfulness known with my mouth" (Psalm 89:1). When you encounter tribulation, or experience some crisis of faith, reaffirm aloud: "I believe in God's promise..." Physically expressing your faith is itself an act of faith, and this encourages your soul to trust in God's healing reward even in the present struggle or darkness...
01.18.21 (Shevat 5, 5781) You may feel anxious about knowing God, about how to relate to him or how to understand or interpret the Scriptures, though the heart can only know the essential meaning of God in the state of its need, as its ultimate concern, and therefore unless you cry out "from the depths" of your being, you are merely intellectualizing or playing games... After all, the inner heart asks "How can I find God?" "How can I relate to God?" "How can I find hope and life?" but the answers to such questions are found by personal encounter with the reality of the Spirit of God, not by theological rationalizations.
It is one thing to say "Lord" or "Master" but quite another to say "my Lord," or "my Master..." The Torah teaches that name of God refers to that which God alone is, namely, the "I am that I am"(אהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה) which is unknowable apart from the miracle of disclosure within the heart. That is why we find so many different names and titles for God in Scripture, for these are disclosures to the heart in a time of its need. For instance, to know God's name as "Savior" (מוֹשִׁיעַ) means experiencing deliverance from your struggles, pains, and fears by the agency of God's victory, comfort, and consolation as given in Yeshua. However, unlike the experience of worldly education that might enable you accomplish certain tasks, spiritual education leads to a "dark clouds of unknowing" where you must regularly confess your weakness and your need for divine connection. God's name is therefore bound up with the basic quest within the heart for meaning, healing, and the desire of unconditional love. Knowing the name of God is an ongoing process as you struggle to accept and trust your life to be a blessing, and as you are enabled by the Holy Spirit to say "yes" and "amen" to life despite your failures, pains, fears, sorrows, and even your unanswered questions... It means opening your heart to life and believing that you are loved, that you are accepted, that you will be okay, and that God is holding you in his everlasting arms.
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 for many years, but when he was nearly finished he underwent a spiritual experience that, as he himself explained, made everything he had written "seem like straw." He thereafter gave up writing about "theology" after he encountered the Reality itself. Aquinas apparently moved from the realm of theoretical emunah (i.e., cognitive faith) to the realm of heartfelt bittachon (i.e., existential trust). Similarly, toward the end of his life and career someone asked the prolific theologian Karl Barth if he could sum up all that he had learned and written. Barth thought a bit and then replied, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."
Exodus and the Lamb...
[ Our Torah reading for this week, Parashat Bo, describes the great Passover by means of faith in the efficacy of the blood of the Lamb of God and the subsequent exodus from Egypt... ]
01.17.21 (Shevat 4, 5781) Shavuah tov, chaverim. Our Torah reading for this week (Exod. 10:1-13:16) begins with God commanding Moses "to go" (i.e., bo: בּא) before the Pharaoh to announce further apocalyptic judgments upon Egypt. The purpose of this power encounter was to vindicate God's justice and great glory (deliverance/salvation) by overthrowing the tyranny of unjust human oppression. Pharaoh's nightmare of "one little lamb" outweighing all the firstborn of Egypt was about to be fulfilled....
Recall that last week's Torah (i.e., parashat Va'era) retold how Pharaoh defiantly refused to listen to Moses' pleas for Israel's freedom, despite seven devastating makkot (plagues) that came upon Egypt in God's Name (יהוה). In this week's portion (i.e., parashat Bo), the battle between the LORD and Pharaoh comes to a dramatic conclusion. The last three of the ten plagues are unleashed upon Egypt: a swarm of locusts devoured all the crops and greenery; a palpable darkness enveloped the land for three days and nights; and all the firstborn of Egypt were killed precisely at the stroke of midnight of the 15th of the month of Nisan... In this connection note that the word בּא("go") and פרעה("Pharoah") added together equal the gematria of משׁיח ("mashiach"), providing a hint of the Messianic redemption that was foreshadowed in Egypt. Every jot and tittle, chaverim!
Before the final plague, God instructed the Jewish people to establish a new calendar based on the sighting of the new moon of spring. On the tenth day of that month, God told the people to acquire a "Passover offering" to Him, namely an unblemished lamb (or goat), one for each household. On the 14th of that month ("between the evenings") the animal would be slaughtered and its blood sprinkled on the doorposts and lintel of every Israelite home, so that God would "pass over" these dwellings when He came to kill the Egyptian firstborn that night. The roasted meat of the offering was to be eaten that night with unleavened bread (matzah) and bitter herbs (maror). God then commanded the Israelites to observe a seven-day "festival of matzah" to commemorate the Exodus for all subsequent generations.
Because of this, our corporate identity begins with a shared consciousness of time from a Divine perspective. The mo'edim (festivals of the LORD) all are reckoned based on the sacred calendar given to the redeemed Israelite nation. As it is also written in the Book of Psalms: "He made the moon for the appointed times" / עָשָׂה יָרֵחַ לְמוֹעֲדִים (Psalm 104:19). Undoubtedly Yeshua followed this calendar, as did His first followers (Gal. 4:4).
Just before the dreadful final plague befell, God instructed the Israelites to ask their Egyptian neighbors for gold, silver and jewelry, thereby plundering Egypt of its wealth (this was regarded as "uncollected wages" for hundreds of years of forced labor and bondage - not to mention for the services of Joseph, whose ingenuity brought the world's wealth to Egypt in the first place). Moses then instructed the people to prepare the Passover sacrifice, that is, the korban Pesach (קָרְבָּן פֶּסַה) - the Passover lamb - and to smear its blood on the two sides and top of the doorway, resembling the shape of the Hebrew letter Chet (ח). This Hebrew letter, signifying the number eight, is connected with the word חי(chai), short for chayim (חַיִּים), "life." The blood of the lamb (דַּם הַשֶּׂה) not only saves from the judgment of death, but also is a symbol of divine life given for our redemption. The "life is in the blood."
The dreadful final plague - the death of the firstborn - at last broke Pharaoh's resistance and he not only allowed the Israelites to depart without any conditions, he urged them to go. Because they left in great haste there was no time for their dough to rise. The Torah states that there were 600,000 adult men who left Egypt, along with the women, children, and a "mixed multitude" of other Egyptian slaves who tagged along.
The Israelites were commanded to consecrate all the firstborn to God and to commemorate the anniversary of the Exodus each year by celebrating the LORD's Passover in conjunction with the Feast of Unleavened Bread. During this time they were to remove all leaven from their homes for seven days, eat matzah, and retell the story of their redemption to their children. The portion ends with the commandment to wear tefillin (phylacteries) on the arm and head as a reminder of how the LORD saved the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt.
[ The following is related to our Torah reading for this week, Parashat Va'era... ]
01.15.21 (Shevat 2, 5781) The great exodus of Israel from Egypt (יציאת מצרים) is the central parable of the Torah, and indeed of the entire Bible. The bondage of the Israelites to Pharaoh represents humanity's slavery to sin; deliverance from cruel bondage is effected by trusting in the blood of the sacrificial lamb of God; the exodus from death to life symbolically comes through baptism into the Sea of Reeds; the journey to truth represents the pilgrimage to Sinai, and so on. Indeed, the redemption in Egypt led directly to revelation given at Sinai, and when the LORD God gave the Ten Commandments, he did not begin by saying he was our Creator, but rather our Redeemer: "I am the LORD your God (אָנכִי יְהוָה אֱלהֶיךָ), who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Exod. 20:2). This is because the purpose of the creation itself is to demonstrate God's redemptive love and to be known as our Savior and Redeemer, just as Yeshua is the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8; 1 Pet. 1:18-20; Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9). "All things were created by Him (i.e., Yeshua), and for Him" and in Him all things consist (συνεστηκεν, lit. "stick together") (Col. 1:16-17). Creation therefore begins and ends with the redemptive love of God as manifested in the Person of Yeshua our Mashiach, the great Lamb of God and our Savior... He is the Center of Creation - the Aleph and Tav - the Beginning and the End (Isa. 44:6; Rev. 1:8). All the world was created for the Messiah: "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen" (Rom. 11:36).
[ The following is related to our Torah reading for this week, Parashat Va'era... ]
01.15.21 (Shevat 2, 5781) Spiritually speaking, a heart that is insensitive, indifferent, unfeeling, and callous toward the needs of others is regarded as "hard" or "difficult." Often such hardness comes as a result of living in a fallen world. Many wounded people live with "scar tissue" that surrounds their heart, making them feel numb and unwilling to open up and trust others. Their affections have become disordered and their ego rationalizes blaming others or seeking various forms of entitlement. "Turning off your heart" can mean suppressing any positive regard for others (empathy) while nurturing anger and self-righteousness, or it may mean withdrawing from others as a lifeless shell (both approaches vainly attempt to defend the heart from hurt). Although Yeshua always showed great compassion, especially to the wounded and broken in spirit (Isa. 42:3), He regularly condemned the "hardness of heart" ("sclero-cardia," σκληροκαρδία) of those who opposed his message of healing and love.
A hard heart is closed off and impermeable to love from others, and especially from God. It is a "difficult" (קָשֶׁה) heart, inflexible and even cruel. Scripture uses various images to picture this condition, including a "heart of stone" (Ezek. 36:26, Zech. 7:12), an "uncircumcised heart" (Jer. 9:26), a "stiff neck" (Deut. 31:27), and so on. Stubbornness is really a form of idolatry, an exaltation of self-will that refuses to surrender to God. If you are wounded and afraid to open your heart in trust to others, ask God for healing...
God wants us to have "soft" hearts that are malleable and subject to His touch and influence. Consider the Biblical analogy of a potter who works with clay (Isa. 64:8, Jer. 18:6). Hard clay is brittle and hard to work with, though soft clay can be molded and adapted for a variety of uses. Applied to our heart attitudes, soft clay represents being open and moveable, whereas hard clay represents being inflexible, intolerant, and so on. A "hard hearted" person is closed-minded, assured of his own righteousness, and unwilling to admit the possibility of being wrong. He is really a "fragile" soul who is often hidebound by traditions, unwilling to be corrected, and usually so driven by fear and suspicion that he is unable to look at other possibilities. When we find ourselves becoming rigid, inflexible, and intolerant, we may be demonstrating hardness of heart.
Hardness of heart is something all of us deal with, even those who trust in Yeshua. After all, New Covenant believers are commanded to "put off the old self with its practices" (Col. 3:9) and are urged not to harden their hearts (μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας) through unbelief (Heb. 3:8,15, 4:7). The flesh dies hard, however, and "putting off" the old self requires divine intervention; however, if we cry out to the LORD for deliverance (especially from ourselves) He has promised to hear us (Rom. 10:13, Joel 2:32). The awareness that we are hardhearted and self-deceived can lead to a (blessed) sense of brokenness and despair -- i.e., to the realization that own self-sufficiency is futile and ultimately self-destructive. Turning to the LORD in despair of ourselves is a mark of humility. When we are emptied of ourselves, we are delivered from pride and self-deception and thereby enabled to truly ask for God's help... This is a miracle, since all of us have "a little Pharaoh inside," clamoring ti be the center of our universe and refusing to submit to the Presence of the LORD...
May God's blessing keep our hearts soft and open toward others... May the LORD give us a new heart, and put a new spirit within us. May He remove the heart of stone (לֵב הָאֶבֶן) from us and give us a heart of flesh (לֵב בָּשָׂר). May we be lev echad - "one heart" - with one another and with the Father (Ezek. 11:19). May we be so sensitized to the Presence of God that we detect the slightest touch from His hand upon us. Amen.
01.14.21 (Shevat 1, 5781) Though the meaning of God's Name (YHVH) was initially revealed to Moses as simply eheyeh (אֶהְיֶה), "I AM," or "I WILL BE" (Exod. 3:14), it is wonderful to realize that His Name was also revealed as eheyeh imakh (אהְיֶה עִמָּךְ), "I WILL BE WITH YOU" (Josh. 1:5,9; Isa. 41:10,13; John 10:28; Matt. 28:20, etc.). Just as the LORD is called Elohei ha-ruchot lekhol basar (אֱלהֵי הָרוּחת לְכָל־בָּשָׂר), "the God of the breath of all flesh" (Num. 16:22), so He is the Source of your breath, the One who exhales to you nishmat chayim (נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים), the "breath of life" that enables you to live (Job 12:10). Indeed the Name YHVH (יהוה) first appears in the Torah in regarding imparting the breath of life to Adam (Gen. 2:7). Note further that each of the letters of the Name YHVH represent vowel sounds (i.e., breath), suggesting again that God's Spirit is as close as your very next breath. Like the wind that cannot be seen, so is the spirit the essential part of your identity. Yeshua breathed on his followers and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22).
01.14.21 (Shevat 1, 5781) The tragic story of Pharaoh reminds us how pride can blind the heart. As Abraham Heschel said, "In a controversy, the instant we feel anger, we have already ceased striving for truth and have begun striving for ourselves." The truth needs no defense. If we find ourselves getting defensive or hostile, we need to take a step back and ask ourselves what we really believe... If we seek to use truth as a weapon, or as a means to rationalize our self-will, then we are not "in the truth," even if our facts in the matter may be correct. We must be careful not to find ourselves using the truth for our own agenda. Yeshua's words haunt the heart: "Without me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).
Kierkegaard notes: "The proud person always wants to do the right thing, the great thing. But because he wants to do it in his own strength, he is fighting not with man, but with God." Indeed, how many people seek visions, dreams, and private prophecies while they forsake the Spirit as it broods over the hearts of those around him or her? How many seek to "know God" as a matter of the pride of heart?
The Koretzer Rebbe was asked for instruction how to avoid sin. He replied, "Were you able to avoid offences, I fear you would fall into a still greater sin - that of pride" (Hasidic). The antidote to pride is the "fall of the soul," that is, those besetting sins and painful failures that (hopefully) bring us back to reality - namely, to the place of brokenness and our need for divine intervention... When we get "sick of our sickness" we enter into holy despair, and then the cry of the heart for lasting deliverance can be truly offered.
Providential Impediments...
01.14.21 (Shevat 1, 5781) The midrash says Moses had a speech impediment and that is why he described himself as "heavy of mouth and of tongue" (כְּבַד־פֶּה וּכְבַד לָשׁוֹן), unfit to speak on behalf of God (Exod. 4:10). God reassured him, however, by reminding him that his limitation was by divine providence: "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak" (Exod. 4:11-12). The sages comment that God did not cure Moses of his stuttering because He wanted the Israelites to know Moses as his chosen messenger. When he spoke in the Name of the LORD, the stuttering disappeared and Moses spoke with fluent ease. This was to teach the people not to trust in human oratory or wisdom, but rather in the power of God (see 1 Cor. 2:1-5). Just as the Apostle Paul, the "Moses of the New Covenant," was given a "thorn in the flesh" (σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκί) to keep him humbly relying upon God for his sufficiency to serve (2 Cor. 12:7-10), so Moses was rendered entirely dependent upon the LORD to speak as his mediator.
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness" (δύναμις ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ τελεῖται). Therefore I will boast most gladly of my weaknesses, that the power of Messiah may tabernacle (ἐπισκηνόω) within me (2 Cor. 12:9).
01.13.21 (Tevet 29, 5781) It is important to "die on the right hills," friends. Arguing with others on social media, for example, or expressing your viewpoint without a sense of godly tact and respect, is likely to create needless strife and trouble. Follow peace with all (Heb. 12:14). There may come a time when sharing our faith will be judged a "thought crime," but meanwhile we should use prudence and humility in our online communications (1 Pet. 3:15).
By way of reminder, recall that our ability to use language is what most differentiates us from animals -- and what most closely links us to God Himself. Indeed, words (devarim) and rationality (הִגָּיוֹן) are central to tzelem Elohim, the image of God, even as Yeshua represents this image perfectly as devar Elohim (דְּבַר הָאֱלהִים), the "Word (λόγος) of God" (Heb. 1:3, John 1:1). Just as the Word of God resounded, "Let there be Light, and there was Light (Gen. 1:3), so our words are the medium of how we experience and understand reality. Words, then, can bring forth light and life, though tragically, they can cause darkness and death, too.
It is written in the Proverbs: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits" (Prov. 18:21). Death and life are be'yad lashon - in the "hand of the tongue," an idiom meaning under the control of the tongue. Our words (and the thoughts they express) have vast spiritual significance and repercussion... Because we are made in the image and likeness of God, words wield spiritual power. Indeed, the Hebrew word for "word" (דָּבָר) also means "thing." When we bless others, we are invoking grace and good will to be manifest in the world, but when we curse others, the opposite effect is intended. The phrase, "those who love it will eat its fruits," suggests that as we speak, think, and imagine, so will come to us: we will eat the fruit of our words and their consequences....
Proverbs 18:21 Podcast Hebrew reading with commentary (click):
I realize that it is not easy to control our tongues, especially when we feel passionately about something, or when we feel outraged, disgusted or threatened, yet we are repeatedly admonished in Scripture to sanctify our speech and to control our spirits. If going to social media sites entices you to engage in vitriolic dialog with others, stop going there, or at least refrain from leaving comments or "feeding the trolls." We are responsible for whatever we say and do in our lives, and it is our duty to use this blessing as an opportunity to glorify God.
Taking the Name in Vain...
01.13.21 (Tevet 29, 5781) The Third Commandment states: lo tisa et shem Adonai Elohekha lashav, "You shall not lift up (lit. "carry") the Name of the LORD your God in vain" (Exod. 20:7). Note that the Hebrew word lashav (לַשָּׁוְא), usually translated "in vain" in English, means in an empty or thoughtless manner (the LXX translates it as ἐπὶ ματαίῳ, "worthlessly" or "thoughtlessly"), though the word might also be rendered as "for show," that is, insincerely or for sake of others. Obviously "lifting up the Name" of God 'lashav' includes invoking the Divine Presence in profane and vulgar ways, but it also includes "lip-service" expressions of faith, mechanical confessions, heartless acts of service, and so on. "Lifting up the Name" should never be used as a "weapon" against others, nor should it ever be used to justify or practice violence. You cannot "call upon God's Name" in the truth without first exercising genuine reverence by recognizing the sacredness of life, the value of other people, and the LORD's all-consuming glory, love, and power...
Reverencing the Name of the LORD means being in a personal, vital, and all-important relationship with the truth. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth (רוּחַ הָאֱמֶת). This means understanding God's character as "merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin" (Exod. 34:6-7). Since the Hebrew idea of word (דָּבָר) is coextensive with truth (i.e., "thing"), Yeshua is called the Word of God (דְּבַר אֱלהִים) who represents the Name of God to all who trust in Him (John 17:26, Heb. 1:3). Indeed Yeshua is the true Name of God, the "substance" (being) of God, the "exact imprint and representation of His nature," and so on. "His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is 'The Word of God" (Rev. 19:12-13). The New Testament describes Yeshua as the "Aleph and the Tav, the one who is and who was and who is to come, God Almighty" (Rev. 1:8).
Techno-Fascism and the rise of the New World Order...
01.12.21 (Tevet 28, 5781) In light of the ever-creeping techno-fascism of the postmodern age, we wonder how long before politically motivated "censorship" will cross boundaries from various social media platforms to any "offensive content" on any publicly accessible website whatsoever... Indeed this is already happening as we see search engine services delivering filtered results (i.e., "shadow-banning"), Internet browsers that label web sites as "unsafe," various conservative content providers being "defunded," alternative social media sites being "Parler-ized," and so on. In light of this incipient tyranny, we note there is a great passage of Scripture whereby we have precedent to make appeal to the LORD God Almighty: "O our God, will you not execute judgment? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you" (2 Chron. 20:12).
Note: I have plans to set up a "deep web" site using a private Linux server for a continued online presence, just in case things go even darker... I will keep you posted.
Lessons from Pharaoh...
[ The following entry is related to this week's Torah reading (Parashat Va'era) and the theme of freedom. Please read the Torah portion to "find your place" here. ]
01.12.21 (Tevet 28, 5781) Though he sometimes appeared to change his mind in light of the intervention of God, Pharaoh nevertheless reverted to his older thinking after the danger seemed to pass. Therefore the Torah states that after each of the first five plagues, Pharaoh hardened (lit., "strengthened") his heart. It was only after five successive opportunities to face reality, to give up his claim to be god, to turn to the LORD in humility, however, that God ratified Pharaoh's will by "helping him" become the person he decided to be. Therefore after the sixth plague we read, "And the LORD strengthened Pharaoh's heart" (Exod. 9:12).
The Torah of Pharaoh teaches us that God will never force a sinner to turn away from their sin, but if they willfully continue to sin, they may become unable to turn, trapped in a very difficult place.... The Shemot Rabbah states: "The Holy One, blessed be He, gives someone a chance to repent, and not only one opportunity but several chances: once, twice, three times. But then, if the person still has not repented, God locks the person's heart altogether, cutting off the possibility of repentance in the future." There is a very real risk that those who choose to be at war with God, who flatly refuse repeated appeals to turn to the LORD, will become progressively "strengthened" in their resolution to defy reality...
[ The following is related to our Torah reading for this week, Parashat Va'era... ]
01.12.21 (Tevet 28, 5781) When Moses proclaimed the good news of God's forthcoming redemption for Israel, the Torah states that the people could not listen because they were "short of breath" (Exod. 6:9). Interestingly, this phrase (i.e., mi'kotzer ru'ach:מִקּצֶר רוּחַ) can also mean "lacking in spirit," as if in a paralyzed state of hopelessness. But how did the people become so downhearted? Had they forgotten the promise given to Abraham (Gen. 15:12-14)? Had they disregarded Joseph's final words (Gen. 50:24-25)?
According to some of the sages, part of the reason for their "shortness of breath" (besides the cruel bondage and hard labor imposed on them, of course) was that the Israelites miscalculated the duration of their 400 year exile, and therefore they began to lose hope. When members of the tribe of Ephraim tried to escape from Egypt some 30 years before the time of the redemption, they were all killed by the Philistines, and many of the Israelites began to believe that they would remain as perpetual slaves (Shemot Rabbah, 20:11). They became "short of breath" and could no longer receive the message of the Holy Spirit...
Indeed, life in this evil world can be suffocating at times. And though we may not be under the oppression of a cruel Pharaoh, we are affected by the "princes of this age" who spurn the message of the Messiah's redemption and love, and we are still subjected to bondage imposed by taskmasters who defy the LORD and who seek to enslave us by means of lies, propaganda, and threats of violence... The devil is still at work in the hearts and minds of many of his "little Pharaohs" that govern the world system... The Scriptures make it clear that we are engaged in genuine spiritual warfare: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12).
It is evident that one of the central purposes of God's redemption is to bestow freedom and dignity upon his people. As the story of Pharaoh reveals, God does not take kindly to oppressors, dictators, and other megalomaniacal world leaders who deny the truth and who therefore seek to enslave (or kill) human beings created in His image and likeness. Just as God judged Egypt for its oppression and violence, so He will one day break the "rulers of this world" with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel (Psalm 2:9-10). The victory is found in our faith, just as the people of Israel believed; "and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped" (Exod. 4:31).
To help us "catch our breath" during this time of waiting, it is important to remember that the LORD redeems us so that we may become His children and therefore be clothed with everlasting dignity... Our redemption makes us heirs of the Kingdom of God and citizens of heaven. We must never regard ourselves as slaves - not to the State, not to the bankers, not to fear, and not to religion (Gal. 5:1). God gave up His Son for us so that we could be made free to live with honor as his dearly loved children.... All the threats of the world system - economic, political, religious, social, etc. - are ultimately made empty and vain by the glorious redemption promised to us in Yeshua our Savior.
Don't let the world system destroy or impugn your hope, chaverim... If the devil can't seduce you with illusory hope or counterfeit joy, he will attempt to oppress you with fear and doubt. Fight the good fight of faith and refuse to succumb to despair. Run the race before you with endurance (Heb. 12:1). Look up, for the time of your deliverance draws near... God redeems us for the sake of His love and honor... It is the "breath of God" that gives us life and courage to face this dark and perverse world (John 20:22). May you be filled with the hope and strength that comes from the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[ Worldly politics is the devil's game... Look the true LORD over all and find peace! ]
01.11.21 (Tevet 27, 5781) People confuse morality with spirituality all the time -- and that includes apparently Christian people who mistakenly think that godliness has to do with worldly politics (and supporting certain political characters who assume a moral posture or offer up "conservative" sounding messages). Think again. Yeshua's kingdom is not of this world, and he was never politically active or involved in the politics of this world (see John 18:36; Luke 17:21). No, his mission was to transform individual hearts through the miracle of regeneration, to call out a people who would surrender their lives to God and to love one another. Judas Iscariot was a "social activist" who wanted to change the fallen world in the name of morality, but we know his end... Being obsessed with worldly politics, fawning over a particular political candidate, believing that a mere man could change the world for God's sake -- all this is sheer idolatry and folly. "Love not the world, neither the things of the world; if any one loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15).
Ever since the time of the defunct "moral majority" of the 1970's, the so-called "evangelical church" has conflated worldliness with spirituality, resulting in an adulterous blend of muddled pragmatic thinking. One negative consequence of "politicizing" Christianity is that if the preferred political candidate or movement does not succeed in changing society, then Christianity is regarded as a failure, and the message of Yeshua is considered ineffectual. On the contrary, a worthy theology understands that the LORD God is in the heavens and that categorically nothing is beyond His sovereign will and power (Isa. 40:28; Psalm 145:3; 147:5). We are not to be disappointed or "crushed" because a political candidate did not get reelected since we are citizens of heaven and our allegiance is to the King of all kings (Phil. 3:20-21; Col. 3:1-4). We are to "seek first" the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33). Father Abraham "closed his eyes" to this world in order to behold the heavenly light. Looking to man and his schemes to solve the world's problems is the essence of idolatry, since only the LORD our God is the Healer and Savior of people. Many people of the church would do well to weep over their misguided affections and ask the LORD for forgiveness for their worldliness and idolatries; many would do well to confess their lack of faith in the LORD and plead with heaven for the miracle of genuine regeneration. Dear friends, "God is the King over all the earth, sing his praise with understanding!" (Psalm 47:7).
Repentance begins with a broken human heart, not with political change... Maybe God doesn't want your activism or political fervor as much as He wants you to humbly turn and seek Him with all your heart; maybe that is part of the message of Covid-19, after all. Maybe the Lord is tired of religious assemblies of the various apostate churches; maybe God is closing down the churches because He is no longer welcome there (Isa. 1:12-15). It is written that judgment will begin with the house of God (1 Peter 1:14).
The mandate of the gospel is not to go into all the world to reform the culture, but rather to go into all the world to make students of God's truth in Messiah (Matt. 28:18-20). Genuine spiritual regeneration is not reformation of the lower nature but rather the creation of something amazingly new, the gift of eternal life from above. People may try to correct (or manipulate) human nature, but God's way is to crucify the old nature by means of the miracle. The cross represents the instrumentality of the death of humanistic aspirations: it is the surrender of all human effort whatsoever. It is only after the cross that it may be said, "It is no longer 'I' who lives; now it is Messiah who lives His life in me" (Gal. 2:20). Our true identity, our spiritual life, our very reason for being is no longer found in this world and its vain philosophy. The cross brings these things to an end, as we "cross over" from the realm of the dead to the realm of life... "If then you have been raised with Messiah, seek the things that are above (τὰ ἄνω ζητεῖτε), where the Messiah is seated at the right hand of God; focus your thoughts on the things above - not on things here on earth - for you have died, and your life has been hidden with Messiah in God. Then when the Messiah, who is your life, appears, you too will appear with him in glory" (Col. 3:1-4).
"Die before you die; there is no chance after." (C.S. Lewis)
But what about our moral duty to pursue justice and promote righteousness? And what about the threat of political tyranny and oppression, like we are seeing today? My answer is the same: We must trust God to engage the powers on our behalf: "Let God arise; let his enemies be scattered; let all that hate Him flee from before Him" (Psalm 68:1; Num. 10-35). First we submit ourselves to the Lord and then we resist the devil, in that order (James 4:7); first we seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then we trust that God's will is done for our lives (Matt. 6:10-11; 6:33). We pray to God for deliverance from evil, but even if he allows us to be persecuted or oppressed, we will not bow down to the threats and devices of mere men (see Dan. 3:16-18).
I for one am exhausted by the contrived political dialectic - the prevarications, disinformation, and outright deception at work in the phony "left vs right" paradigm, the identity politics, the race-baiting, the fear-mongering, the "cancel culture," verbal violence and disingenuous rhetoric coming from players on both sides of the artificial political divide... The so-called "choice" between the lesser of two evils is still evil, since in either case the truth about reality is denied and suppressed. I am tired of the "mass media" (that is, a very small and overly influential group that programs public opinion and creates "issues" of the day) playing both sides - left and right - off of one another while they secretly promote their own godless agenda. To understand how this works, simply back up and carefully examine the unspoken assumptions at work in the so-called "daily news" (i.e., scripted programming) on the mainstream news and its indoctrinating affiliates. When you do that and actively "test the spirits," you will discern godless thinking and scheming at every turn. Enough, friends; we are not to be ignorant of Satan and his devices (2 Cor. 2:11).
Excuses are sometimes made that this evil "dialectic" is somehow "necessary" or "inevitable," though saying so may be a veiled form of compromise to justify the choice of the lesser of two evils... We are called to be "pure of heart" and walk in the Spirit of truth, and therefore the lies served up by the "devil's logic" are abhorrent to us. Indeed, since all of the "world news" is based on false assumptions, the entire system is unsound and therefore deceptive.
The advent of the Covid-19 virus - whatever its true cause - provides an opportunity to turn to God and seek the truth of his very near Presence. We must entertain, however, the possibility that it may also serve as a corrective scourge permitted by God directed to lukewarm and apostate churches as well. Indeed many churches today have forsaken the truth and are therefore confounded in their thinking along with the godless world at large. Yeshua came to set people free from slavery to the darkness of the lower nature by creating within the heart of faith an entirely new nature that transcends this world of unreality and despair.
It may not be possible to "opt out" of the realm of politics altogether, though "know that the Lord sets apart the godly for himself; the Lord will hear when I cry out to him" (Psalm 4:3). Yeshua told us we would be "in" but not "of" the world, and prayed that we would be kept from the evil one: We are not "of" the world since we are sanctified by God's truth (John 17:15-17). Our relationship with the political world is derived from a different realm and perspective than "social justice warriors" and those who justify doing evil that good may come. I sincerely believe in the power of prayer, asking God to intervene and bring good out of evil, though the prerogative always belongs to Him alone as to all outcomes. In all things we are to trust in the Lord and know Him in all our ways (Prov. 3:5-6).
The Lord has his sovereign plans and purposes and we must trust in him even if the whole world turns away, and even if we don't understand why things are the way they are. God does not give us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2 Tim. 1:7). Yeshua gives the trusting heart peace (John 14:27), and there is no fear in God's love! (1 John 4:18). At the end of the age Yeshua wondered if there would be any who would stay faithful to God (Luke 18:8). People tend to get focused on the wrong things, even (and perhaps especially) on things that seem good. The most important thing is for someone to come to know the Lord, to be regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit, and to walk in the sanctity of his love. Other things than this are a distraction.
Parashat Va'era - וארא
01.10.21 (Tevet 26, 5781) Shavuah tov, chaverim. Recall that last week's Torah portion (i.e., parashat Shemot) explained how Moses and Aaron were commissioned to go before Pharaoh and deliver the message: shalach et-ammi (שַׁלַּח אֶת־עַמִּי), "Let my people go" that they may hold a feast to me in the desert" (Exod. 5:1). Not only did Pharaoh dismiss the request, but he imposed even harsher decrees against the Israelites and caused them to suffer miserably. Moses then appealed to the LORD, who reassured him that Pharaoh would eventually relent because "the greater might" of the LORD's power would deliver His people.
In this week's portion, parashat Va'era, (i.e., Exod. 6:2-9:35), the LORD told Moses that He was now going to fulfill His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by giving the Israelites the land of Canaan, and that he had heard the "groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians held as slaves" (Exod. 6:5). The showdown between the LORD (יהוה) and the so-called gods of Egypt was imminent, and God therefore encouraged the people with precious promises: "I AM the LORD (אֲנִי יְהוָה) and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgment; and I will take you to me for a people and I will be to you a God" (these are the "four great expressions of redemption" that we recite during our Passover Seder every year).
Despite these promises, however, the people were unable to listen because of their "shortness of breath" (miko'tzer ru'ach:מִקּצֶר רוּחַ) on account of their harsh slavery. The LORD then told Moses: "Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land," and the great showdown between the LORD and the gods of Egypt began. However, even after repeatedly witnessing the series of miraculous plagues issued in the Name of the LORD, the despot remained proud and unmoved, thereby setting the stage for the final devastating plagues upon the land of Egypt and the great Passover redemption of Israel.
01.08.21 (Tevet 24, 5781) Perhaps it was because Moses was "heavy of mouth" that he repeatedly objected to the role of being God's spokesman. Moses was unsure of himself. What would he say to the learned elders of Israel if he were tested by being asked what God's Name was? It is revealing to understand that the LORD's reply: אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה / "Eheyeh Asher Eheyeh ('I will be what I will be') was connected with the God of the patriarchs: "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM (אֶהְיֶה) has sent me to you.'" Then God went on to state the connection: "Say this to the people of Israel, 'The LORD (יהוה), [namely] the God of your fathers, [namely] the God of Abraham (אֱלהֵי אַבְרָהָם), [namely] the God of Isaac (אֱלהֵי יִצְחָק), and [namely] the God of Jacob (אֱלהֵי יעֲקב), has sent me to you.' This is my name forever (זֶה־שְּׁמִי לְעלָם), and this is my memorial throughout all generations" (Exod. 3:15). The great I AM, the LORD whose name is "Incomprehensibly Wonderful" is none other that the God of Israel (אלוהי ישראל), the very One who revealed His truth to the fathers of Israel...
Again recall the distinct Names of God mentioned in the encounter at the burning bush (i.e., יהוה, אֱלהִים, מַלְאַךְ יהוה, and so on) all referred to the One true LORD God of Israel, the Maker of Heaven and earth. In other words, there is a direct connection between the Name of the LORD (שׁם־יהוה) and Being and Reality (הוויה ומציאות) itself... YHVH is the Source of all being and has being inherent in Himself (i.e., He is "necessary" Being); everything else is contingent being that derives existence from Him. Indeed the name YHVH also bespeaks the utter transcendence of God: since He is beyond the limitations of space and time, He is fully aware of all things and his word is therefore entirely reliable and true. His name is Faithful and True (Rev. 19:11). In his essence, God is beyond all "predications" or attributes of language: He is the Source and Foundation of all possibility of utterance and thus is beyond all definite descriptions. Hence the LORD is sometimes simply called HaShem, "the Name," since no amount of verbiage can do justice to the infinite majesty and truth of His Life.
People who get anxious about the Name of God miss the point... As I've said before, God is "Presence" (Exod. 3:13-14), "Breath" (Gen. 2:7; Num. 16:22), "Life" (Deut. 30:20), "Love" (Exod. 34:6-7), and the "I-AM-WITH-YOU One" who keeps His promises. The Name YHVH (יהוה) means that "God was (i.e., hayah:היה), God is (i.e., hoveh:הוֶה), and God always will be (i.e., veyihyeh:וְיִהְיֶה)," which implies that He is ever present and not restricted by time or space. Moreover, God is called havayah (הֲוָיָה), which means He sustains creation by the Word of His power: "In Him we live, move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28; Heb. 1:3). Most important, though, from the point of view of our heart's faith, is the name Yeshua taught us to call upon God, namely "Abba, Father..." We know the name of God when we trust He is our beloved heavenly Father, and that we are his beloved child...
[ The following is related to our Torah reading for this week, Parashat Shemot... ]
01.08.21 (Tevet 24, 5781) According to midrash, just as the Pharaoh during the time of Joseph was troubled by his dreams (Gen. 41:1-7), so was the "new king" that arose during the time of Moses. In the new Pharaoh's dream, an old man was standing before him as he sat on his throne, holding a balance in his hand. The old man placed all the nobles and governors of Egypt on one side of the balance, and on the other side, he placed one small lamb. To Pharaoh's astonishment, however, the lamb outweighed all the leaders of Egypt! When the king asked his advisors to interpret the dream, they said it foretold of a coming king who would overthrow the kingdom of Egypt and set the Israelites free. This coming one would excel in wisdom and his name would be remembered forever as the Savior of Israel.
Of course the rest of the Book of Exodus is essentially God's interpretation of the new Pharaoh's dream, as the great events of the Exodus would reveal. The LORD God of Israel forewarned this king that Egypt would come into judgment by the Lamb of God... Indeed, the only way to escape this judgment and the wrath of God was by being covered by the sacrificial blood of the lamb... The Lamb of God is central to Israel's deliverance and becomes the focal point of the revelation of the sanctuary later given at Sinai.
Israel was redeemed from Egypt by trusting in the promise of their deliverance, as it is written, "and the people believed" (וַיַּאֲמֵן הָעָם) ... and bowed their heads and worshiped" (Exod. 4:31). Recall that the blood of the korban Pesach - the Passover lamb - was to be smeared on the two sides and top of the doorway, resembling the shape of the letter Chet (ח). This letter, signifying the number 8, is connected with the word חי(chai), short for chayim (life). The blood of the lamb (דַּם הַשֶּׂה) not only saves from the judgment of death, but it also is the means of imparting divine life and power...
[ The following is related to our Torah reading for this week, Parashat Shemot... ]
01.08.21 (Tevet 24, 5781) The Book of Exodus begins, ve'eileh shemot (וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת), "and these are the names" (of the sons of Israel). God call each person by name to make the journey... Indeed, God calls each star by its own name (Gen. 22:17, Psalm 147:4) and yet He also knows each lily of the field and sparrow that flutters its wings (Matt. 6:28-30, 10:29). As Yeshua said, even the hairs on your head are all numbered (Matt. 10:30). In Jewish theology, the term hashgachah pratit (הַשְׁגָּחָה פְּרָטִית) refers to God's personal supervision of our lives (hashgachah means "supervision," and pratit means "individual" or "particular"). Since God is the Master of the Universe, His supervision and providence reaches to the smallest of details of creation - from subatomic particles to the great motions of the cosmos. Of particular interest, however, are those whom He created be'tzelem Elohim: in His image and likeness. The LORD is called אלהֵי הָרוּחת לְכָל־בָּשָׂר / Elohei ha-ruchot lekhol-basar: "The God of the spirits of all flesh" (Num. 16:22), and that means that every spirit ultimately answers to Him.
We find great comfort when we understand that God has complete authority over categorically everything in the universe -- including our ultimate welfare (John 10:27-28). When we pray to the LORD God of Israel, we intuitively understand that He is completely sovereign and Lord over all things... All power, glory, authority, and dominion is His alone, and all that is in the heaven and in the earth is His (1 Chron. 29:11-12). We do not worry that He is incapable of handling our troubles or that He is unable to help us. No, we acknowledge that the God most High (אֵל עֶלְיוֹן) sustains all things by the Word of His power (Col. 1:17). He is "the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings (מֶלֶךְ הַמְּלָכִים) and the Lord of lords" (1 Tim. 6:15). Whenever we think clearly in light of the revelation of Scripture, we apprehend the truth about God's sovereign glory and power...
Revelation of our Words...
01.07.21 (Tevet 23, 5781) The sages have said, "From a person's mouth you can tell who they are," which means that the words we speak reveal the inner condition of the soul and whether the Spirit of God is in control of our thinking or our lower nature... Because we are created in the image of God (i.e., b'tzelem Elohim:בצלם אלוהים), our thoughts express our essential nature, and that is why it is vital to avoid evil thinking, since otherwise we will be brought into darkness and pain. As Yeshua said, "the good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45). The Hebrew word for evil (i.e., ra':רַע) also means sad or "heartbreaking." We must learn to discipline ourselves to think good thoughts since that brings us before the light and blessing of the Father of Lights (אֲבִי הָאוֹרוֹת) from which every good flows (James 1:17). Wisdom is essential for right thinking, and therefore it is important to guard your mind against alien and godless thoughts (1 Pet. 5:8). We gain wisdom by studying Torah which is called the "Tree of Life" (עֵץ־חַיִּים) and by speaking forth its truth, as it says: "Healing speech is a tree of life, but deceitful speech shatters the spirit" (Prov. 15:4). Knowing the truth of God and the reason for our existence sobers the mind and dispels the ways of folly. Negative character traits are formed by carelessly admitting alien thoughts into the heart. Genuine teshuvah leads to life, wherein the heart returns to the truth and is delivered from the darkness of the lie.
