Many of our deepest anxieties come from the fear of death, whether we are conscious of this or not… Death represents fear of the unknown, fear of being abandoned, fear of being rejected, fear of being separated from others, and so on. I am so glad Yeshua gives us eternal life, which for me is not so much about immortality of the soul as it is being loved and accepted by God… That is what “at-one-ment” means, after all (John 17:22-23). Because God loves and accepts us, we trust Him to be present for us, even in the darkest of hours, on the other side of the veil, where he there “prepares a place for us” (John 14:2). 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 (i.e., μετά + βαίνω, lit., “crossed over” [עָבַר]) from death to life” (John 5:24). God’s love “crosses over” from death to life and now forever sustains me.
Torah reading Acharei Mot provides details about Yom Kippur, or the “Day of Atonement,” a special service that gave ritual expression of God’s love by making purification for our sins. As I’ve explained before, the word for love (i.e., ahavah: אהבה) equals the number thirteen (1+5+2+5=13), but when shared it is multiplied: 13 x 2 = 26, which is the same value for the Sacred Name (יהוה), i.e., (10+5+6+5=26). Likewise the Hebrew word for “life” is chayim (חַיִּים), is written in the plural to emphasize that life cannot be lived alone but must be shared. Notice that within the word chayim are embedded two consecutive Yods (יי), representing unity in plurality (Yod-Yod is an abbreviation for YHVH, also indicating the “deep Akedah” of Father and Son). God gave up His life so that we can be in relationship with Him, that is, so that we can be “at-one” with His heart for us. Whatever else it may mean, then, the Hebrew word for “atonement” (i.e., kapparah, “covering,” “protection,” “purification,” “cleansing,” “forgiveness,” and so on) is about accepting God’s heart for you – being unified in his love – and if you miss that, you’ve missed the point of the Torah’s teaching… Thank God we are “sealed” in the book of life by the love of Yeshua!
Blessed are You, LORD, Giver of the Atonement:
ברוך אתה יהוה הנותן כפרה
Hebrew Lesson:
- Isaiah 61:10 Hebrew page (pdf)
“Whoever endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 24:13). Here Yeshua speaks regarding “endurance” (ὑπομονή), or the ability to hold fast to your faith despite hardship and suffering… There is a risk – a very real danger – of turning away from God, and therefore we are warned to “continue in the faith” and not to “drift away” from the blessing of our salvation (Col. 1:23; Heb. 2:1-3). It is not sufficient to simply accept the message of the gospel, or to intellectually assent to its truth, because truth is something lived, fought out in our conflicts and in our temptations…
The very first prophecy of the Torah concerns the promise of the coming “Seed of the woman” who would vanquish the serpent (nachash) that had originally tempted and deceived Eve (Gen. 3:15). This prophecy is sometimes called the proto-euangelion (“first gospel”), since it is the starting point of all subsequent prophecy and redemptive history revealed in the Scriptures. Indeed, since the mystery of the Incarnation of God the Son (the “Son of Man”) is foreshadowed here, this prophecy is linked to the original woman, Eve. Just as Eve became a carrier of the corruption of human nature by heeding the voice of the tempter, so she would be the carrier of God Himself for the deliverance of mankind through the advent of the Redeemer. In the tragic aftermath of the transgression of the first man and woman, then, God first announced His unfailing redemptive love for the human race that would culminate in the birth, sacrifice, and resurrection of Yeshua our Savior and Deliverer – “born of a woman, born under the law” (Gal. 4:4).
The walk of faith refers to trusting in the Presence and love of God for your soul, even though you will suffer and experience various hardships in your life. Yes, we receive comfort from heaven and consolation through the Spirit of God, and yes we are given heavenly wisdom to know the truth that sets us free in Yeshua, however in this life we “see through a glass darkly,” which literally means “in a riddle” (ἐν αἰνίγματι). A riddle is an analogy given through some resemblance to the truth, though quite often the correspondences are puzzling and obscure. Hence, “seeing through a glass darkly” means perceiving obscurely or imperfectly, looking “through” something else instead of directly apprehending reality. We see only a reflection of reality, and our knowledge in this life is indirect and imperfect. This is contrasted with the “face to face” (פָּנִים אֶל־פָּנִים) vision and clarity given in the world to come, when our knowledge will be clear and distinct, and the love of God will be fully manifest to us and no longer hidden. Realizing this should make us humble whenever we consider our faith. “Now we know in part, but then shall we know in whole” (1 Cor. 13:12). We often do not have the “answers” for suffering, though “seeing through a glass darkly” means we have the means to trust God despite the present hour.
We must humble ourselves and renounce anger, for the “wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God” (James 1:20). Therefore “let go of anger and forsake outrage, for indignation leads to evil within the heart, and evildoers will be cut off” (Psalm 37:8-9). After all, before the eyes of heaven, who are we to take offense at others? Is not all our self-justified outrage a symptom of pride and arrogance? Despite all our sins and the times we angered the LORD we still ask, “Bless us, our Father; let your light shine upon us with favor…” And yet when we get slightly upset at a friend we restrain from showing him a shining face? Know the spiritual principle: As we are to others, so we are to ourselves: middah keneged middah (“like for like”); as we judge others, so we put ourselves before the bar of divine judgment, measure for measure (Matt. 7:1-2). Forgiveness means asking of ourselves what we are asking of God, and the same is true of love. When Yeshua taught us to “forgive us as we forgive,” He taught that our forgiveness (of others) is a measure of our own understanding of the forgiveness (of God). Conversely, demanding perfection from others means appealing to God to judge of our lives… Friends, we should focus on the Eternal; we should believe the blessed promise of God; we should anticipate the great Coming Day of ultimate healing – and then our hearts may be quieted. Remember that nothing happens on its own; everything comes from above, and this too will keep you from outrage and bitterness…
Our most serious struggles are inward, matters of heart, as we wrestle with dark emotions like fear, anger, disappointment, and guilt. We often despair over the contradiction between our ideals and our realities; we deny reality and then feel lost and unlovable in the hardness of unspoken shame…
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.
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.