It is written in our Torah: “When a person (i.e., adam: אָדָם) has on the skin of his body a swelling (שְׂאֵת) or a scab (סַפַּחַת) or a bright spot (בְּהֶרֶת)… he shall be brought to the priest” (Lev. 13:2). Here the sages note three common afflictions that befall the “children of Adam”: swelling (arrogance), scabs (worldly vanity, from a word that means to join togther), and bright spots (representing the light of carnal reasoning to understand the ways of God). When we see only the affliction, we must go to the priest – to one who helps mediate the Divine Presence – to see how deep the affliction is… Symbolically, since we are all priests to one another (see Exod. 19:6; 1 Pet. 2:5,9; Rev. 1:6), we share our afflictions with one another, allowing ourselves to be seen, and to confess our need for healing. We are only as sick as the secrets we keep, and therefore we are encouraged to share our struggles with one another: “Therefore, disclose (ἐξομολογέω, lit. ‘confess out’) your sins to one another and pray (εὔχομαι) for one another, that you may be healed…” (James 5:16).
Author: John J Parsons
Teruah and the Resurrection…
Rosh Hashanah literally means the “head of the year,” and it traditionally marks the anniversary of the creation of mankind. The sages note that where it is written, “When you take a census of the children of Israel” (Exod. 30:12), the Hebrew reads, “When you lift up the heads (כִּי תִשָּׂא אֶת־ראשׁ) of the children of Israel,” which implies that each person should be encouraged to understand that they “count” in the eyes of Heaven. The sages also note that the word “Israel” (יִשְׂרָאֵל) contains the letters that form the phrase li rosh (לִי ראשׁ), “there is to me a head,” that is, a soul created in the image of God.
The Blessing of Struggle…
Recently I mentioned that we are part of a seemingly endless journey of falling down and getting back up once again. It is this struggle, this “good fight of faith,” that eventually ennobles the heart and establishes character… The hidden blessing of our repeated failure, then, is that we attain genuine humility as we rely on God for the miracle of deliverance. When we draw near to God in confession of our weakness, we may discover that our struggle disguises unacknowledged need within. For example, we might wrestle with sexual lust, but this may come from refusing to trust others or because we are harboring resentment… “Hurt people hurt people,” which means that often our sins come from a place of inner pain of abandonment. When we confess the truth we are enabled to draw close to God – the God of Truth – to discover his mercy. Those things you believe make you unlovable are the very means by which God manifests the glory of His compassion and love for you. “It is not judgment that breaks the heart, but mercy and love.”
Rosh Hashanah and the Lamb…
In the Torah we find that the word “love” (i.e., ahavah) first appears regarding Abraham’s passion for his son: “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love (אֲשֶׁר־אָהַבְתָּ), and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Gen. 22:2). After journeying to the place, Abraham told his child that God would provide a lamb (אֱלהִים יִרְאֶה־לּוֹ הַשֶּׂה), and then bound Isaac, laid him upon an altar, and raised his knife to slay him (Gen. 22:8-10). At the very last moment, the Angel of the Lord called out: “Abraham! Abraham! Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son (בֵּן יָחִיד), from me” (Gen. 22:11-12). Abraham then “lifted up his eyes” and saw a ram “caught in a thicket” which he offered in place of his son. Abraham then named the place Adonai-Yireh (יהוה יִרְאֶה), “the LORD who provides” (Gen. 22:14). The sacrifice of the lamb for Isaac portrayed the coming sacrifice of Yeshua, the great “Lamb of God” (שֵׂה הָאֱלהִים) who would be offered in exchange for the trusting sinner (John 1:29). Indeed the story of how God provided the lamb at Moriah (and later during the Passover in Egypt) foreshadowed the greater redemption given in Messiah at the “Passover cross,” and may be understood as the “Gospel according to Moses” (Luke 24:27; John 5:46). Therefore, Rosh Hashanah, or the Day of Judgment (יוֹם הַדִּין), is all about our Messiah, and the sound of the shofar reminds us of the Lamb of God who was offered in our place…
Ever-Present Mercy…
Since Rosh Hashanah is known as the “Day of Judgment” (i.e., yom ha’din: יום הדין), it is customary to offer additional prayers of supplication (selichot) before the advent of the holiday. These prayers appeal to God’s compassion and often include the recitation of “shelosh esrei middot rachamim,” that is, the thirteen attributes of God’s mercy (Exod. 34:6-7). The thirteen attributes reveal the inner meaning of God’s Name YHVH (יהוה) disclosed to Moses after the people had committed the dreadful sin of the worshiping the golden calf (עגל זהב) at Sinai. God is not only our Judge and Lawgiver (Elohim), but our Savior and our Healer (Moshia). In his great mercy He restores what we have broken; He overcomes our judgment by means of his abounding love given to us in Yeshua (Psalm 85:10). We therefore appeal to YHVH as the Source of Compassion, the “breath of life” (נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים) that was imparted to Adam on the day he was first created (Gen. 2:7).
This is the day…
God’s Name is “I-AM-with-you-always,” imanu-El (עִמָּנוּ אֵל) – always in the midst of you, your heart, your Center (Matt. 28:20; Isa. 41:10, Psalm 23:4, etc)…. The LORD is so named because he is never without his own, and we are who we are in relation to his presence in our lives. Yeshua is not simply the Lord of the past or the Lord of the future, but the Lord of this moment, this “here” and this “now.” He is the same yesterday, today, and forever – the breath of life, our sustaining hope, the Shepherd of our souls… Whatever else may come of this day, this is the day that the LORD has made, and we find peace in God’s Presence… Let us look to Him in this hour!
Seeking and Finding…
“Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isa. 55:6-7). But how will we seek if we do not believe? And how will God be found unless God makes it possible for us to find Him? Hashivenu. We first believe the invitation to return is for us, and the moment we believe we draw near, which is to say God reveals himself to the heart of faith. If you feel devoid of God’s presence, heed David’s words to “set the LORD” before you (Psalm 16:8). Ask God for help to truly know Him and have confidence that he will indeed heal you. No prayer offered according to his heart will ever go unanswered (1 John 5:14-15). “The greatest honor we can give to the Almighty is to live gladly because of the knowledge of his love” (Julian Norwich). As Yeshua promised: “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (John 14:21). Note that the Greek word translated “manifest” means to “shine inside” (i.e., ἐμφανίζω, from ἐν, “in” and φαίνω, “shine”), indicating that the revelation would be inward light of the Presence of Messiah himself (Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν, ἡ ἐλπὶς τῆς δόξης, Col. 1:27). God calls you so that you might find him to be the greatest love of your life, and as you receive that love, as you embrace it as your own, the love of Messiah will become inwardly visible to you. This comes from a place of surrender and acceptance. As Paul Tillich said, “Sometimes in a moment of weakness light breaks into darkness, and it is as though a voice says, ‘You are accepted; you are accepted… Do not seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted.’ If that happens to you, then you experience grace, and everything will be transformed.” Ultimately teshuvah is about salvation and transformation – beauty from ashes – and the love of God…
Rosh Hashanah and the Lamb…
In the Torah we find that the word “love” (i.e., ahavah) first appears regarding Abraham’s passion for his son: “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love (אֲשֶׁר־אָהַבְתָּ), and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Gen. 22:2). After journeying to the place, Abraham told his child that God would provide a lamb (אֱלהִים יִרְאֶה־לּוֹ הַשֶּׂה), and then bound Isaac, laid him upon an altar, and raised his knife to slay him (Gen. 22:8-10). At the very last moment, the Angel of the Lord called out: “Abraham! Abraham! Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son (בֵּן יָחִיד), from me” (Gen. 22:11-12). Abraham then “lifted up his eyes” and saw a ram “caught in a thicket” which he offered in place of his son. Abraham then named the place Adonai-Yireh (יהוה יִרְאֶה), “the LORD who provides” (Gen. 22:14). The sacrifice of the lamb for Isaac portrayed the coming sacrifice of Yeshua, the great “Lamb of God” (שֵׂה הָאֱלהִים) who would be offered in exchange for the trusting sinner (John 1:29). Indeed the story of how God provided the lamb at Moriah (and later during the Passover in Egypt) foreshadowed the greater redemption given in Messiah at the “Passover cross,” and may be understood as the “Gospel according to Moses” (Luke 24:27; John 5:46). Therefore, Rosh Hashanah, or the Day of Judgment (יוֹם הַדִּין), is all about our Messiah, and the sound of the shofar reminds us of the Lamb of God who was offered in our place…
Vayeilech Shavuah Tov Podcast
In this “Shavuah Tov” audio broadcast I discuss both the Jewish High Holidays — and how they relate to us as followers of Yeshua the Messiah — as well as the weekly Torah portion we will read for Shabbat Shuvah, namely parashat Vayeilech. I hope you will find it helpful. L’Shanah Tovah u’Metukah b’Yeshua Meshicheinu, chaverim! – “to a good and sweet year in our Messiah Yeshua, friends.”
Nitzavim Shavuah Tov Podcast
Our Torah rea
ding for this week, parashat Nitzavim (פרשת ניצבים), is always read on the Shabbat immediately before the solemn holiday of Rosh Hashanah, and therefore it is the last portion read before the new Jewish year (see Exod. 23:16). In many synagogues, the opening and concluding paragraphs of parashat Nitzavim are also read during the Yom Kippur morning service.
Nitzavim begins: “You are standing here today, all of you, before the LORD your God (אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלהֵיכֶם) … so that you may enter into the sworn covenant of the LORD your God, which the LORD your God is making with you today, that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he promised you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob” (Deut. 29:10-13). After this Moses went on to review Israel’s history and prophetic future — i.e., the great prophecy of the Diaspora and Return of the people — and then he solemnly appealed for all those who believed to turn to the LORD for life: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deut. 30:19).
In addition to an overview of the Torah reading, I discuss the fall holidays of the Torah’s calendar, particularly the significance of Rosh Hashanah for followers of Yeshua the Messiah.