Some time after entering the promised land, Abram’s faith was tested: “Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there…” (Gen. 12:10). The sages say that Abram stumbled by leaving the land, and that he should have trusted that the LORD would provide for him despite the lack of food. Indeed during his time in Egypt Abram lost sight of God, lied about Sarai, compromised his values, and was passive as his wife was abducted into Pharaoh’s harem. The situation got so bad that God finally intervened by sending “great plagues” upon Pharaoh and his household to rescue the family from their captivity (Gen. 12:17). Because of these plagues, Pharaoh urged Abram to to make an “exodus” from the land, and Abram left with wealth acquired there (including Hagar, a daughter of Pharaoh). Humbled by his lapse of faith, Abram then returned to the altar he built near Bethel and called upon the LORD (Gen. 12:10-13:4).
Category: Daily Dvar (דבר יומי)
Daily teaching audios from John Parsons at Hebrew for Christians
Words of Death and Life…
Just as the body can become sick with illness, so can the soul: “I said, ‘O LORD, be gracious to me; heal my soul (רְפָאָה נַפְשִׁי), for I have sinned against you'” (Psalm 41:4). The targum Onkelos states that God breathed into Adam the ability to think and to speak. In other words, thought and speech are two primary characteristics of the image (tzelem) and likeness (demut) of God. Since our use of words is directly linked to the “breath of God” within us, lashon hara (לָשׁוֹן הָרָה), or evil speech, defaces God’s image within us…. Using words to inflict pain therefore perverts the image of God, since God created man to use language to “build up” others in love. This is part of the reason the metzora (i.e., one afflicted with tzara’at, or skin disease) was regarded as a “leper” in need of rebirth…
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The Original Priesthood…
The Torah 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 ultimate covenant based on God’s eternal life (Heb. 8:6).
The Meaning of “Hebrew”…
In our Torah reading for this week (i.e., parashat Lekh Lekha) Abram is called ha-ivri (הָעִבְרִי) – “the Hebrew,” a term that means “one who has crossed over” (עָבַר) from another place (Gen. 14:3). Rashi identifies this “other place” as Ur of the Chaldees (אוּר כַּשְׂדִים), located east of the Euphrates River, though the midrash (Genesis Rabbah) symbolically identifies it as the realm of idolatry: “The whole world stood on one side, but Abram crossed over to the other.” Abram separated himself from a world steeped in idolatry and polytheism by worshiping the One LORD God who is the sole Creator of all things…. Understood in this way, being “Hebrew” means being regarded as an “other,” a “stranger,” or an “outsider” to idolatrous world culture. Similarly, all those who “cross over” from the realm of death to life because of Yeshua our Savior are rightly called “Hebrews” (John 5:24).
Broken and Remade…
“See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is immoral or profane like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it (the blessing) with tears” (Heb. 12:15-17; Gen. 27:38).
“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters (מְקוֹר מַיִם חַיִּים), and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jer. 2:13).
Spiritually speaking, there are two basic sorts of breaking. One is to be broken by the inevitable sin and ruin of this world, and the other is to be made lev-nishbar (לֵב־נִשְׁבָּר), a broken heart, before the LORD. The former breaking comes from the vain attempt to find life in the broken vessels of this world, and “repentance” is expressed as remorse over perceived temporal loss. This sorrow eventually leads the soul to death (2 Cor. 7:10). To be inwardly broken, on the other hand, requires mourning over your life and returning to God for deliverance (Matt. 5:4).
He Gives Greater Grace…
“For though the LORD is exalted, He regards the lowly, but the haughty He knows from a distance” (Psalm 138:6). Yea, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). And who are the humble but those keenly aware of their own nothingness – the despised, the needy, and the rejected of men? The LORD justifies the ungodly by faith; He hears their cry for deliverance “from the depths”; he creates them anew yesh me’ayin, “out of nothingness,” by making them into a “new creation” (בְּרִיאָה חֲדָשָׁה) through the agency and power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 4:5; 5:6; 2 Cor. 5:17; Rom. 4:17). O praise Adonai Oseinu, the LORD God our Maker, for he looks upon the lowly, he is near to nishberei lev, the brokenhearted, and he binds up their wounds… Amen.
No Other Savior…
Philip said to him, “Show us the Father and we will be satisfied.” Yeshua replied, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How then can you ask, ‘Show us the Father’? (John 14:8-9). Yeshua – and Yeshua alone – reveals the heart and truth of God to us, and looking for God “beyond” Him – up in heaven, across the sea, or in the mysteries of unfathomable forces that pervade reality – is ultimately a sign of unbelief and a denial of God Himself. The Father and the Son are of one essence and trying to separate them vitiates the message of Yeshua and makes it appear unfinished…. On the contrary, the work of salvation is finished, and “Whoever has the Son has the life (החיים); but whoever does not have the Son of God does not have the life” (1 John 5:12). There is no other way to access the heart of the Father than through Yeshua, and Yeshua is the Name above all other names for salvation (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Phil. 2:9-11; John 17:3). Every knee shall bow to Him; there is no other Savior (Isa. 45:21-23).
The Very Heart of Reality…
The Scriptures teach us that the most essential truth about life, the “core” of Reality, the very essence of Being itself, is not something objective to be studied (a “what”) but Someone intimately to be known (a “Who”), experienced by the revelation of the Heart of God, the Divine Love that is willing to be wounded, to suffer, and even to die for your sake so that you may know that you are beloved, chosen, and treasured of heaven… There are innumerable attributes, names, and titles ascribed to the LORD God in Scripture, but His essence is described as Love itself (1 John 4:16). Indeed, God’s heart is the beginning, middle, and end of Reality (אֱמֶת), but if your theology somehow leads you away from this all-encompassing and great truth, you’ve missed the point of it all…
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Sin and Despondency…
“Whoever battles with monsters had better see to it that it does not turn him into a monster” (Nietzsche). A God-fearing man once complained to a sage that he was tormented by evil desire and had become despondent over it. The sage listened intently and then said, “Guard yourself from such despondency above all else, for it is worse than sin. When the yetzer [evil impulse] awakens desire in us, it is not concerned with plunging us into sin, but with plunging us into despair by way of our sinning.”
We recall the words of James the Righteous: “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived…” (James 1:14-16). In other words, sin begins with selfish desire, but the “fruit” or “end” of sin is death, understood as separation from life, healing, love, peace, and so on. Sin “crouches” at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it (Gen. 4:7).
Endurance and Suffering…
“Pray that you may never have to endure all that you can learn to bear.” Yes, though we must also believe that God “will not let us be tested beyond what we are able to bear, but with the test will also provide the way of escape (τὴν ἔκβασιν) so that we may be able to endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13). Indeed, in light of suffering what we really need is perseverance, or what the New Testament calls hupomone (ὑπομονή), a word that means “remaining [μένω] under [ὑπο]” the Divine Presence while being tested (the English word “suffer” comes from the Latin word sufferre, from sub- (under) + ferre, to carry, and therefore denotes “bearing under” difficulty). Suffering people often do not need moral platitudes or correction from others, but rather the will to believe, the strength to stay constant, and the rise of hope that gives life to simple prayers that focus the heart upon the Lord’s Presence: “God have mercy…” “Help me, O God…” “I need Thee, O Lord…” When we receive grace to faithfully suffer, we hear the Spirit whispering back to us: “Be not afraid…” “Live in me…” “Walk in the light…” “I am with you always…” “You are loved…”