Month: September 2022

Judgment on this evil world…

John J Parsons

[ Originally published Aug 8, 2020 ]

Reading the news of this evil world is a demonstration of Romans 1:28: “Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” This is the word that describes our godless and brazen generation: “Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD (יראת יהוה), they refused my counsel and despised my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices” (Prov. 1:29-1:31). God is patient and loving, of course, though there comes a time when his patience runs out, when — after repeated warning and appeals — a culture tragically hardens its heart further and further until God withdraws and people are left to their own vain imaginations and darkened impulses.

A widely accepted maxim of the Talmud is: “All is in the hands of God except the fear of heaven (yirat shamayim)” (Berachot 33b; Niddah 16b). In other words, though God constantly showers the world with grace and light, He does not “force” us to revere His Presence but rather leaves that choice with us. Of course God could overwhelm us all so that we had no choice but to see and fear Him, but He “withdraws” Himself and restrains His influence in our lives so that we can exercise faith. As Blaise Pascal said, “there is enough light for those who want to believe, and enough shadows to blind those who don’t.” The Hebrew word for seeing (ראה) and the word for fearing (ירא) share the same root. We cannot genuinely “choose life” apart from personally seeing it, but we cannot see it apart from the reverence of God. The reverence of God sanctifies our perception and enables us to see clearly. Therefore the righteous “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).

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The Significance of Rosh Hashanah…

John J Parsons

Let me begin this entry by quoting a passage of Scripture from the New Testament that admonishes us to remember our shared heritage with the Jewish people:

“Brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Messiah. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the desert. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Messiah, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:1-12).

Amen.  “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29).

The very first word of the Bible — the very first utterance of revelation — is the Hebrew word “beresheet” (בְּרֵאשִׁית), which is commonly translated as “in the beginning” (Gen. 1:1). Note then that the Bible begins the account of creation using a word about time… That might seem a bit unsurprising or even trite, a little bit like saying “Once upon a time…” but it clearly indicates the significance of time in relation to the divine revelation given to us…

As we learn Torah, which is the foundation of the other Scriptures of the Bible (including the New Testament), we repeatedly are instructed to sanctify (i.e., honor) certain occasions throughout the year. These are called “appointed times,” or mo’edim in Hebrew, from a root word (יָעַד) that means to assemble together, to meet, and even to betroth… The first occurrence of the root occurs in the account of the creation when God said: “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons (i.e., mo’edim), and for days and years” (Gen. 1:14).

These appointed times were designed by God to be special occasions for human beings to have fellowship with him. Indeed, after God created Adam and Eve in the orchard of Eden, he explained that the Sabbath day was to be set apart in honor of the creation. God also regularly met with Adam and Eve in the “wind of the day” (i.e., לרוּחַ הַיּוֹם, Gen. 3:8) to instruct them about their responsibilities as his stewards of creation. God’s teachings to our primordial ancestors were later preserved as traditions within the godly line of Seth who had observed the “new moon” of the months and commemorated seasonal transitions. Similarly, the earliest forms of Passover celebrated the beginning of spring, Pentecost celebrated the first spring harvest, Sukkot (i.e., Tabernacles) celebrated the fall harvest, and so on. During these special times sacrifices to God were offered and feasts celebrated.

Moses did not write in a vacuum, of course, and he was quite familiar with the heritage of the godly line of Seth handed down through Noah’s son Shem and his descendants. The ancient appointed times were later codified and sanctioned by God when Moses wrote the Torah during the years of the Sinai revelation. Therefore we note the Torah’s calendar is divided into 360 days, 54 weeks, 12 months, 4 seasons, and 2 half-years.

There are two distinct “new years” on the Torah’s calendar: one in the spring, on the first day of the month of Nisan, called “Rosh Chodashim” (Exod. 12:2; Deut. 16:1), which marks the season of the redemption from Egypt, and the other in the fall, precisely six full months later, on the first day of the month of Tishri, called “Yom Teruah” (Num. 29:1), a day to be celebrated by shouting (teruah) and the sounding of shofars and trumpets (Lev. 23:24).

Now the new year in the spring remembers the Exodus from Egypt (Passover) and the crossing of the sea, culminating in the 49 day (seven week) countdown to the giving of the law at Sinai (Shavuot / Pentecost), whereas the new year in the fall remembers God as our Creator, our Judge, the one who purifies us from sin (Yom Kippur), as well as the one who restores us to fellowship and surrounds us with his love (Sukkot / Tabernacles). (Note that the eight days of Passover in the spring correspond with the eight days of Sukkot in the fall.)

It has been said that the liturgy of the Jew is the calendar, and the two new years, then, serve as two “axes” upon which turn the theme and tone of the calendar year. For instance, we begin getting ready for the Passover every year just after the holiday of Purim. We then plan our house cleaning, the removal of chametz, and we review the story of the exodus from Egypt to ready ourselves for the Passover. During Passover we abstain from leaven and begin the countdown for seven weeks until we reach the jubilee of Shavuot, or “Pentecost” – recalling how God gave us the law at Sinai and made covenant with us to be his holy people.

The intervening summer months offer time for reflection, recalling the various tragedies that befell the Jewish people, such as the incident of the Golden Calf (Exod. 32:4) the tragic “Sin of the Spies” (Num. 14:22-34), and (later) the destruction of the Holy Temple (2 Kings 25; Jer. 52:12-16). The summer culminates in the sixth month of the calendar, called the month of “Elul.” During this month we focus on “teshuvah” or turning back to God in repentance… Sermons are given admonishing us to repent; our Torah portions warn of the “great rebuke” (i.e., tochachah) that Moses warned would come if we turned away from God, and so on.

Because of this, Rosh Hashanah (another name for Yom Teruah) became associated with the time of divine judgment – the advent of Yom Adonai (יוֹם יְהוָה), or the “Day of the LORD” – wherein each soul would be examined by God in relation to his or her teshuvah and the decree established whether their soul would live or die in the forthcoming year…. Customs arose about making amends with others and joining in corporate confession of sin at this time.

According to Jewish tradition, on Rosh Hashanah the destiny of the righteous, the tzaddikim, are written in sefer ha’chayim, the Book of Life, and the destiny of the wicked, the resha’im, are written in sefer ha’mavet, the Book of Death. However, most people will not be inscribed in either book, but have ten days — until Yom Kippur — to repent before sealing their fate. Hence the term “Aseret Yemei Teshuvah” (עֲשֶׂרֶת יְמֵי תְּשׁוּבָה) – the Ten Days of Repentance arose in the tradition. On Yom Kippur, then, everyone’s name will be sealed in one of the books.

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­ Read more “The Significance of Rosh Hashanah…”

Written in the Book of Life…

John J Parsons

The Scriptures teach that every word we speak and every choice we make are infallibly recorded in “heavenly scrolls,” and one day these scrolls will be opened as a testimony about what we did with our lives (Dan. 7:10; Matt. 12:36-37; 1 Cor. 3:13, 4:5). “And I saw the dead, both the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book (סֵפֶר אַחֵר) was opened, which is called the Book of Life (סֵפֶר הַחַיִּים). And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done” (Rev. 20:12).

Read more “Written in the Book of Life…”

Through a glass darkly…

John J Parsons

In this present world it is a struggle not to be afraid… We see through a glass darkly; our heart’s desire is often thwarted; we frequent times of uncertainty; our prayers may seem to go unanswered. There are many tribulations, sorrows, and pains; we are grieved and often feel lonely; we sometimes struggle to hold fast to our confession and hope; we feel alarmed over the insanity and depravity that pervades the culture around us; we feel powerless to stop the juggernaut of unrestrained evil, yea, we lament over the battle within our own hearts — our own inner fears, outrage, and wretchedness.

We may wonder why God does not directly intervene to help in the midst of our plight; we may pray anguished prayers beseeching heaven’s intervention to deliver us from evil. Many of our brothers and sisters around the world are undergoing persecution, being murdered for the sake of their faith; others languish in prison or “reeducation” camps, being labeled as “enemies of the State,” brutalized, ostracized, marginalized, rejected, and forsaken of the common welfare of others. We shed tears over the burning of churches; we are repulsed by acts of violence against God’s people; we protest that Christians are regarded as political enemies for honestly questioning the logic and veracity of governmental mandates. We are often misunderstood, or worse, vilified for honoring the truth. We are made outsiders, segregated outside the camp, maligned as lepers and deplorables… Indeed, the world system hates us, and for the sake of our faith “we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered” (Psalm 44:22; Rom. 8:36).

So where is God in the midst of our alienation and tribulation? As followers of Yeshua we are called to walk in the truth, to do justice, and to walk humbly with our God. More: we are to die to ourselves, love our enemies, and be faithful to God even in martyrdom. In these darkened days, however, this means walking through the darkness of the valley of the shadow of death, for it is apparent that worldly culture has decisively rejected the truth of God and regards those who esteem it as its enemies. “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel against the Lord, and against his Messiah, saying ‘Let us break their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us'” (Psalm 2:3-4). Prophetically, we know what is on the horizon; we foresee the terrors of the “End of Days.”

The test of faith in our circumstances, as has always been for God’s people, is to remain steadfast in our conviction of God’s love despite the darkness that surrounds us (Isa. 50:10). The test is summed up by C.S. Lewis this way: “We’re not doubting that God will do the best for us; we’re wondering how painful the best will turn out to be” (Collected Letters). We can’t stay in the limbo of such questioning forever, however; we must shake off our misgivings and find settled determination to press on in faith: Our Lord has a crown and a kingdom prepared for us, and he will give us what we need in the way to attain unto it.

There is a difference between knowing about God in your head and knowing God in your heart… Unlike a merely intellectual idea of faith that passively assents to theological propositions or creeds, trusting in the Lord (i.e., bittachon: בִּטָחוֹן) is an emotional commitment to God’s presence in the midst of the sorrows of our lives; it is the struggle of hope that affirms we are not truly alone, abandoned, helpless… Trust goes beyond the “head knowledge” to engage God personally, existentially, and from within the whirlwind of harrowing pain and pain’s fearful loneliness. Authentic theology is “dialogical” — a conversation of the heart with God – seeking, yearning, protesting, lamenting, and struggling with life’s inscrutabilities and unfathomable questions as it appeals to God for the assurance and comfort of the Holy Spirit. Trust finds courage to voice to our sorrow and fears, inviting God into the midst of our brokenness, often yielding to tearful silence in unknowing expectation. As Dorothy Soelle wrote: “Prayer is an all-encompassing act by which people transcend the mute God of an apathetically endured reality and go over to the speaking God of a reality experience with feeling in pain and happiness” (Soelle: Suffering). This is perhaps the deepest meaning of the Shema – to listen for God’s heart in the midst of your struggle; learning to encounter God’s love in the place of your brokenness and need (Job 13:15).

 

Hebrew Lesson:

 

 

Reflecting on the role of suffering in the heart of faith, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) – who was murdered by the Nazis – once wrote: “Here is the decisive difference between Christianity and all religions. Man’s religiosity makes him look in his distress to the power of God in the world: God is the deus ex machina [i.e., “quick fix”]. The Bible [on the other hand] directs man to God’s powerlessness and suffering: only a suffering God can help” (Letters and Papers from Prison). Bonhoeffer’s comment alludes to the difference between an “Elohim” (אֱלהִים) conception of God as the omnipotent power and Judge of reality, and the “YHVH” (יהוה) conception of God as the compassionate Source and Breath of life – the Suffering God who empties himself to partake of our condition – to know our pain, to bear our sorrows, to heal us from the sickness of spiritual death, and to touch us in the loneliness of our exile… The Spirit enables us to “groan” in compassion, directing us away from the impulse to “kill the pain” to accept it as part of our lament and need for connection with God.

 

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Anticipating Yom Teruah…

John J Parsons

The “Feast of Trumpets” (i.e., yom teruah: יוֹם תְּרוּעָה), otherwise known as Rosh Hashanah (ראש השנה) in Jewish tradition, begins Sunday, Sept. 25th at sundown in Israel this year (Num. 29:1). There are worldwide tremors, engineered plagues, nation rising up against nation, men’s hearts failing them for fear, worldwide apostasy and godlessness, and the love of many now runs cold… A time of testing is approaching. Look up, for the day of redemption draws near, chaverim.

 

 

Yom Teruah Meditation:

Luke 13:1-9 is a timely section of Scripture to meditate upon during the last two weeks of month of Elul…

“There were some present at that time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

 

Why then the Law? (podcast)

John J Parsons

Our Torah reading for this week (i.e., parashat Ki Teitzei) identifies 74 of the Torah’s 613 commandments (more than any other), which again invites the question of whether we are obligated to follow the law code of Moses or not… In this Shavuah Tov broadcast, I explore how we are to understand the law in light of the salvation given in Yeshua the Messiah. I hope you will find it both provocative and helpful.

 

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For more information, see “Why then the Law? Further thoughts on parashat Ki Teitzei” on the Hebrew for Christians web site.

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Parashat Ki Teitzei Podcast…

John J Parsons

In last week’s Torah reading (i.e., Shoftim), Moses defined an extensive system of justice for the Israelites and pointed to the coming Messiah who would be the rightful King of Israel: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers — it is to him you shall listen” (Deut. 18:15). In this week’s portion (i.e., parashat Ki Teitzei: כי־תצא), Moses returns to the immediate concern of life in the promised land by providing additional laws to be enforced regarding civil life in Israel. In fact, Jewish tradition (following Maimonides) identifies no less than 74 of the Torah’s 613 commandments in this portion (more than any other), covering a wide assortment of rules related to ethical warfare, family life, burial of the deceased, property laws, the humane treatment of animals, fair labor practices, and honest economic transactions.

Of particular interest to us is the law regarding capital offenses and the instruction that one who was executed and “hanged on a tree” (עַל־עֵץ) is under the curse of God (Deut. 21:22-23). According to the Talmud (Nezakim: Sanhedrin 6:4:3), the Great Sanhedrin (סַנְהֶדְרִין גְדוֹלָה) decided that “a man must be hanged with his face towards the spectators” upon a wooden stake, with his arms slung over a horizontal beam. It should be noted that while this is technically not the same thing as the gruesome practice of Roman crucifixion, the reasoning based on this verse was apparently used to justify the execution of Yeshua (Mark 15:9-15; John 19:5-7; 15). The exposed body was required to be buried before sundown to keep the land from being defiled. Besides the shame of this manner of death, the one so executed would be unable to fall to their knees as a final act of repentance before God, thereby implying that they were under the irrevocable curse of God (קִלְלַת אֱלהִים).

 

Podcast:

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The Prophet like Moses…

John J Parsons

“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers — it is to him you shall listen” (Deut. 18:15). So who was this “prophet like Moses”? Islam claims it was Muhammad, though that is certainly false, since the true prophet to come would be a Jew who would be from the people Israel, not from another nation, and particularly not from the descendants of Ishmael. So what characteristics were to mark this extraordinary Jewish prophet to come? To answer that question intelligently, we must first consider the life of Moses so that we might detect the foreshadowing of the one who would be “like” him, that is, a prophet who would serve as an analog to his mission and life. Consider, then that after being chosen by God to deliver Israel from bondage during the time of the Exodus, Moses became 1) the mediator (priest) of the covenant between God and the Jewish people, 2) the legislator the various commandments of the Torah, and 3) the prophet who received the vision of the Mishkan (the Altar), the future exile, and the ultimate destiny and glory of Zion. Moses was extraordinary because as the mediator of Israel, he instituted various sacrificial rites before the laws of sacrifice were enacted. For example, he instituted the Passover sacrifice in Egypt (Exod. 12:1-11), and when the people later reached Mount Sinai, he offered blood sacrifices to ratify the terms of the covenant (Exod. 24:8). As the great legislator of Israel, Moses declared the terms of the covenant, serving as its voice of authority. And finally, Moses ascended the mountain and received the prophetic vision of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) before the priesthood had been instituted in Israel (Exod. 25:8-9). And even after the laws of the priests were proclaimed and the Mishkan was set up, Moses went before the very Holy of Holies to hear the Voice of the LORD, even though technically speaking this was forbidden, since he was not a kohen (i.e., descendant of Aaron). Indeed our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Naso) concludes, “And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard the Voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat (i.e., kapporet: כַּפּרֶת) that was on the Ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim; and it spoke to him” (Num. 7:89).

“A prophet like unto me…” (Deut. 18:15). I mention all this because some people stumble over the fact that Yeshua, who was from the tribe of Judah, served as Israel’s High Priest of the New Covenant. Of course this issue is addressed in the Book of Hebrews, where the role of the Malki-Tzedek priesthood is ascribed to King Yeshua (Heb. 5:6-11; 7:1-19), but it is important to realize that Moses himself foresaw the coming of the Messiah as Israel’s great prophet, priest and King (Deut. 18:15-19; John 5:36). Indeed, just as Moses himself was “outside” the law by serving as Israel’s priest but nevertheless was commissioned by God Himself, so also with Yeshua, who instituted the sacrifice of His blood as the Lamb of God and who went directly before God’s Throne to intercede on our behalf.

 

Hebrew Lesson:

 

 

For more on this subject, see “Moses’ Prophecy of the Messiah.”