From our Torah portion this week (i.e., Masei) we read: “These are the journeys of the people of Israel (מַסְעֵי בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל) who went out of the land of Egypt…” (Num. 33:1). The sages ask why the word “journeys” (plural) was used here, since only the first journey – from Rameses to Sukkot – literally marked “yetziat mitzrayim,” the going out of Egypt – and the other journeys were outside of Egypt, in the desert. They answer that the journey out of Egypt goes beyond the physical land into the spiritual- an exodus from captivity to the world into the realm of the spirit. As has been said, it took the LORD 40 days to get Israel out of Egypt, but it took 40 years to get Egypt out of Israel… The “journey out of Egypt” is therefore a journey of smaller journeys that leads to deliverance.

Along the way we are repeatedly tested. The “desert experience” reveals what is hidden in our hearts… The murmuring and rebellion of the Israelites in the desert is our own, and our challenge is to find healing from our fears. Anger, doubt, boredom, cravings, and outright rebellion are symptoms of a deeper problem, and to change we must first confess our inner poverty, neediness, and emptiness (James 5:16). When we stop making excuses we can learn to trust in God’s provision for our lives; we will taste of the heavenly manna and be satisfied; we will be delivered from our fears by be filled with God’s love. The impulses that sought to lead us away from God will no longer be able to pretend to be the truth, since God’s peace and love will direct the heart. We will begin to take hold of the promise…

Be encouraged my fellow sojourners walking by faith through the desert of this present world. The Torah uses a repetitious expression, “Sanctify yourselves and you shall be holy” (הִתְקַדִּשְׁתֶּם וִהְיִיתֶם קְדשִׁים) (Lev. 11:44) because when we make an effort — no matter how feeble at times — to draw near to the LORD, He will draw near to us… Indeed the walk of faith is one of ascent and descent and ascent again: It’s often “two steps forward, one step back…” It is a long road, a process, as we learn to obey and seek to grow closer to God. Authentic repentance doesn’t imply that we will never sin or make any mistakes, of course, but rather means that the oscillating pattern of “up, then down, then up” is the basic way we walk. Our direction has changed for good; we have turned to God for life and hope. We now understand our sins in light of a greater love that bears them for us even as we draw ever closer to the One who calls us home…

 

• Zech. 1:3b Hebrew lesson page (pdf)

 

 

The Lord is likened to a potter and we are as clay in his hand (Isa. 64:8). Life on the “potter’s wheel” can be messy, unsettling, and sometimes excruciatingly hard, but it is God’s sovereign work to form your life according to his design and purposes….

Contrary to the assumption that the life of faith should always be triumphant, we all inevitably will experience various setbacks, pratfalls, troubles and sorrows in our lives. This does not mean that God does not care for us however, because on the contrary, this is by his design; a plan supervised by God’s love and blessing, and the afflictions we therefore encounter are part of his work for our good (Rom. 8:28; Heb. 12:6). We descend in order to ascend. It make seem counterintuitive, but the heart of faith gives thanks for all things – the good as well as the evil (see Job 2:10). We affirm: “This too is for the good,” yea, even in the midst of our struggle, no, even more — precisely in the midst of our struggle — for this, too, is for our good. Faith is the resolution to trust in the reality of God’s goodness even during hard times when we feel abandoned or lost (Isa. 50:10). The Lord uses the “troubles of love” (יִסּוּרֵי אַהֲבָה) for our good – to wake us up and cling to him all the more, since this is what is most essential, after all…

Read more “On the Potter’s Wheel….”

It’s tragic that many want to retaliate against those who have hurt them, clinging to their wounded pride and allowing bitterness to take root in their hearts. Holding grudges, harboring spite, and seething in anger are common and deadly sins. As psychologist Erich Fromm once astutely observed: “There is perhaps no phenomenon which contains so much destructive feeling as ‘moral indignation,’ which permits envy or hate to be acted out under the guise of virtue.”

Interestingly, the English word “resentment” literally means “feeling again,” alluding to the reliving of an offense, real or imagined, that instills an unforgiving attitude of the heart and mind that refuses to let go… “Anger and resentment are like drinking poisoned waters — and hoping the other person will die.”

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.

Yeshua warned that transgressions were inevitable – and he warned of great sorrow that would come to those through whom they come (Luke 17:1) – but he did not fulminate against the deeds of the wicked as much as he focused on our need to forgive others when they sinned against us. Indeed, Yeshua considered our need to forgive to be one of the most crucial matters of life itself, a corollary of the gospel message itself.

Consider Peter’s response to Yeshua’s teaching about correcting a brother who sins against another (Matt. 18:15-20). When he asked how often he should forgive someone who had sinned against him, wondering if “seven times” was sufficient before he could justifiably “excommunicate” him (see Luke 17:3-4), Yeshua corrected him by saying, “not seven times, but seven times seventy times,” in effect saying that forgiveness was an ongoing attitude of the heart, unlimited in its scope and application…

To illustrate what he meant, Yeshua likened the kingdom of heaven to the reign of a king who took account of his servants, discovering one who owed him an enormous sum of money. The debtor was unable to pay so the king then ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, children, and all of his possessions. The servant threw himself to the ground and begged the king for mercy, saying, “O Lord, have patience with me and I will repay you everything.” The king, moved with compassion, then graciously forgave him his debt.

Some time later, however, the selfsame servant found a fellow servant who owed him some money and grabbed him by the throat, saying, “Pay me what you owe me!” In response his fellow servant threw himself to the ground and begged the man, saying, “O have patience with me and I will repay you everything.” But the man refused the appeal and had him thrown in prison until he repaid the debt.

When the king’s other servants understood what had been done, they were grieved and came before the king to tell him what had happened. The king then summoned the man and said, “O you wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” The king then remanded him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. Yeshua then concluded the parable by saying: “This is how my Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from the heart” (see Matt. 18:23-35).

Our Lord was warning us that if we do not forgive our brother “from the heart,” that is, sincerely and without dissimulation, we will hold the fires of resentment within us and consign ourselves to grave suffering. This is the “middah keneged middah” principle, “like for like,” and measure for measure: “as you do unto others, so will be done unto you.” Therefore we see that forgiveness is not “recommended” for a godly life, it is absolutely essential. Forgiving “from the heart” relieves the inner pressure and pain induced by resentment, and the anger will dissipate. Your tension will be gone and you will feel lighter and set free. As it is written: “With the merciful you will show yourself merciful, with the upright you will show yourself upright; with the pure you show yourself pure” (Psalm 18:25-26).

It is important to understand that forgiveness is not an attempt to rationally understand or “explain away” sin; nor does it try to reduce (or “deconstruct”) evil in “naturalistic” terms. No, forgiveness deals with spiritual reality, that is, behavior that violates God’s moral truth and law, and therefore the doer of moral evil is under divine judgment. God’s forgiveness is costly and never cheap. It is a “severe mercy” that cost him the sacrifice of his son to release us from the debt we owe. And it is a gift, a sacrifice freely offered to repay what the sinful person owes. Forgiveness is therefore a conscious decision – an act of the will – that releases the sinful person from their guilt and lets go of any desire for revenge.

Because “we cannot give what we do not have,” the ability to forgive comes from something outside of ourselves, namely, the miracle of God’s life-giving grace accepted within the trusting heart. As we receive forgiveness from God, so we are obligated (and enabled) to practice forgiveness toward others. This is the “divine reciprocity,” the “balance” of a heart that is in genuine communion with Him. How we respond to God is revealed by how we treat others. What we do affects God’s heart, just as what God does affects our hearts.

Your forgiveness is your forgiveness: as you forgive, so you reveal your heart. What you do comes from what you are, not the other way around… We are first transformed by God’s grace and then come works of love. We are able to judge others mercifully, with the “good eye,” because we come to believe that we are beloved by God.

On the other hand, if we refuse to forgive others, we thereby subject ourselves to God’s judgment. Our indignation inwardly appeals to God as Elohim (אלהים), the Judge, rather than as YHVH (יהוה), the merciful Savior. But appealing to God for retribution for another’s sin is to fall under judgment ourselves (see Rom. 2:1-3). Hardening our heart locks us into a torture chamber of our own choosing. “This is how my Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from the heart” (Matt. 18:35). Refusing to be merciful to others is self-destructive and deeply painful. “Hurt people hurt people,” and bitterness invariably leads to desolation and hopelessness. “Despair has been called the unforgivable sin – not presumably because God refuses to forgive it, but because it despairs of the possibility of being forgiven” (Frederick Buechner).

Just as God graciously paid the price for our forgiveness, he expects us to pay the price of forgiving others as well. “The discretion of a man defers his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression” (Prov. 19:11). In the parable mentioned above, Yeshua says the refusal to forgive your brother is wickedness: “O you wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” (Matt. 18:32-33).

The consequences of retaining an unforgiving spirit are dreadful: the prison cell of resentment tortures the heart, extinguishes hope, and ultimately destroys the soul. “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no one be like a bitter root springing up and causing trouble, and through him many become defiled” (Heb. 12:15).

Deliverance from bitterness requires the miracle of God given in the gospel. What is at stake is the very salvation of your soul. If you find yourself unable to forgive, revisit the cross of Yeshua and behold how he bore your sin and paid for your freedom through his utmost agony and suffering. When we truly receive the miracle of grace it will show up in our interpersonal relationships (as well as in our relationship with ourselves).

Forgiveness is “easy” to those who have little to be forgiven, but the message of the cross is that we are in great need of healing, that our sinful heart is a disaster for us, and that we are desperately ashamed and in need of utmost reconciliation. In your struggle, ask the gracious Lord to increase your faith: “Lord, I believe: help my unbelief.” Go to the cross, with your sin and your need before you, and pour out your heart in confession. Trust your Heavenly Father to fulfill his will in your life. The Lord is able and willing to give you a new heart and a new spirit according to his sure promise. Amen.

 

Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 86:5 reading:

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• Psalm 86:5 Hebrew page (pdf)

 

Hebrew Lesson
Matthew 5:9 reading:

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•  Matt. 5:7 Hebrew page (pdf)

 

 

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Matt. 9:12). Even though we are weak, sickly, broken, and sinful people, we must never lose hope and begin to fear that we are worthless in the eyes of heaven… Indeed, our infirmities are often a blessing in disguise, a gift that reveals our need…

If you are sinful and sick, you are invited to come before the Master for life and rescue from the power of sin. Take your place among the lepers, the tax collectors, the outcasts… you will never hear Him criticize you or shame you for sincerely coming to Him for healing of your sinful state… “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).

Yeshua is the Good Shepherd (הָרעֶה הַטּוֹב) who leaves his flock of 99 sheep in order to find the one sheep who is lost (Matt. 18:12-14). He is always like that – He is always seeking and saving the lost sinner; He is always offering life and healing to those who have been made sick with the plague of sin. Thank God we have a Savior who seeks us out in our desperate need!

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• Ezek. 34:16a page (pdf)
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“Grace is not looking for good men whom it may approve, for it is not grace but mere justice to approve goodness. [Rather] it is looking for condemned, guilty, speechless and helpless men whom it may save, sanctify and glorify.” – C. I. Scofield

King David wrote, “You have given those who fear you a banner (נֵּס לְהִתְנוֹסֵס) for the sake of the truth” (Psalm 60:4), which Rashi interprets as, “You have given hardships and suffering to those who fear you to elevate them in the way.” Indeed the word nes (נֵּס) can mean “banner” (as on the mast of a ship), a “sign” (or miracle), or a “test” (nisayon). God tests those who fear Him in order to help them become a miraculous sign to the world at large. Ultimately, the sign or miracle is the gift of Messiah’s suffering on our behalf and His resurrection for our justification (Isa. 11:10). Even in the face of our enemies who have breached the land, we have the promise of victory in Adonai Nissi (יְהוָה נִסִּי), God my Miracle.

May you, broken and contrite one, hear the word of His hope calling out for your soul… He is your Shepherd, your Healer, and your Miracle. May you come beneath His banner of truth and love to find eternal refuge…. Amen.

 

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• Isa. 40:11 page (pdf)

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Ultimately we are living in the midst of a great spiritual war — the war for truth. This has been the battle from the beginning. The very first recorded words of Satan (הַנָּחָשׁ) questioned God’s truth: “Did God really say…?” (Gen. 3:1). In the end there will be found two types of people: those who love the truth and those who love the lie. These are the children of light (בְּנֵי הָאוֹר) and the children of darkness (בְּנֵי הַחשֶׁךְ), respectively. Followers of Yeshua the Messiah are told to “walk as children of light” / ὡς τέκνα φωτὸς περιπατεῖτε (Eph. 5:8). The children of light are called to be am kadosh – a holy people – separate from the evil engendered by the fallen world and its forces, just as the very first creative expression of God was the separation of light from darkness (Gen. 1:3-4). The children of light “hate evil and love the good,” and conversely, the children of darkness “hate the good and love evil” (Psalm 34:21, Prov. 8:13, Amos 5:15, John 3:20-21). Regarding the heavenly Zion to come, it is written: “nothing ritually unclean will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or practices falsehood (lit. “makes a lie”), but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev. 21:27).

We have to stand for the truth, because the truth is what sets us free (John 8:32). As Yeshua said, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world — to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37). We must turn away from the lie to embrace the truth. One day all that is hidden will become manifest. “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; His throne was ablaze with fire and its wheels were all aflame. A river of fire was streaming forth and proceeding from his presence; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened….” (Dan. 7:8-9).

If the devil can’t kill you, he will try to make you insane… He will lie to you about who you really are… He he will attempt harass you and vex your soul. He will whisper fearful things in your ear… He will make what is small seem big and what is big seem small. He will raise dark suspicion within your soul, causing you to walk in mistrust. He will remind you of your sins to make you feel ashamed and dirty. He will hiss that you are unlovable and unworthy. He will argue on behalf of your flesh that you deserve better than this… He will tempt you to seek relief in cisterns of emptiness and futility. Most of all, he will try to cast a spell to make you forget that you are truly a prince or princess of God Almighty… The devil seeks to drive you into the exile of loneliness and despair. Resist him in the Name of the LORD!

Fret not, therefore, because of evil doers, for they shall soon wither away (Psalm 37).  The Great Accounting is coming: “For there is nothing created that is hidden – אין יצור נסתר – but all things are naked and open to the eyes of the One to whom we must render an account” (Heb. 4:13). Every thoughtless word shall be accounted for in the Day of Judgment to come (see Matt. 12:35-37). Recompense is indeed coming, though it is reserved for the LORD God alone, who is ha’shofet ha’tzaddik (השופט הצדיק) – the Righteous Judge (Psalm 7:11). “According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, fury to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; to the coastlands He will repay recompense” (Isa. 59:18).

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• ­Proverbs 28:1 Hebrew page (pdf)

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There is a “transposition” of values, a “holy irony,” in the realm of the Spirit. From God’s perspective that which considered great in the eyes of men is considered of little account, and that which is considered insignificant in the eyes of men is considered of great importance (Luke 9:48). The wisdom of this world (i.e., pragmatic, self-promoting egotism, etc.) is regarded as folly before God (1 Cor. 1:20, 3:19). Therefore Yeshua “made himself nothing” and disguised himself in the form of a lowly servant (ἀλλὰ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν μορφὴν δούλου λαβών). Unlike various systems of religion that attach merit and status to those who have attained “respectable levels” of personal sanctity, those who are called “great” in the Kingdom of Heaven will be identified as the servants of all (Mark 9:35; 10:44). Like the hidden light of the menorah in the Tabernacle, the deeds of the humble are beheld inwardly, where the Heavenly Father sees in secret (Matt. 6:4). As Yeshua Himself said, כִּי מַלְכוּת הָאֱלהִים בְּקִרְבְּכֶם / “The Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).

Spiritual pride is inherently self-flattering, self-exalting, and therefore antithetical to spiritual life. Indeed, the term itself is an oxymoron (e.g., like “bittersweet”), since genuine spirituality is always rooted in humility (i.e., anavah: עֲנָוָה). The humble soul understands its finitude and radical contingency — and therefore understands its absolute need for God’s help. Spiritual pride is really a disguised mode of intolerance, a cocksure smugness regarding matters of infinite significance, and therefore represents a state of negation toward others… It is impatient to listen, spurns self-questioning, and refuses to accept uncertainty about some of life’s deepest questions. Such pride often pretends to “have the answers” regarding all the riddles and mysteries of life. Humility, on the other hand, confesses that it does not always know and is not always so sure. It is a state of openness, of listening, of being teachable. It is aware of our insufficiency, our frailties, and our limitations…

“You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors” (C.S. Lewis: The Weight of Glory). Regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election, understand that the LORD is upon the throne forever, and it is God who sets up and dethrones powers and authorities according to His good pleasure (see Psalm 75:6-7; Prov. 16:33; Job 42:2; Lam. 3:37-39; Sam. 2:7; Rom. 9:17, Col. 1:16-17, etc). “All the nations are as nothing before Him; he regards them as nothingness and unreality” (Isa. 40:17).

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• Isaiah 40:17 Hebrew page (pdf)

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“Blessed are those who weep while the world goes on laughing, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; blessed are the meek, for they shall overcome; blessed are those who realize they know little, for they shall find treasure; blessed are those who realize they are unrighteous, for they shall find healing; blessed are the misfits who are disowned by the world as fools, for they shall find mansions in heaven; blessed are the weak, for they shall be made strong; blessed are those who weep, for they shall obtain eternal consolation; blessed are those who refuse to assimilate into this world and its idols, for they shall be called victors in the world to come…”

God turns everything “upside down,” for what is esteemed in this world is regarded as vanity in the world to come, and vice-versa. The Scriptures teach, “Light is sown for the righteous (tzaddikim), and joy for the upright (yashar) in heart” (Psalm 97:11). May it please the LORD God to renew our courage to live wholeheartedly according to His truth, and to resist the pressure to conform to the idolatry of this world. Amen.

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• Psalm 97:11 Hebrew Lesson Card (pdf)

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The Scriptures are filled with desperate cries from the wounded of heart… “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?” (Psalm 13:1-2). “Make haste to help me, O LORD, my salvation!” (Psalm 38:22). “My soul melts away from grief; strengthen me according to your word” (Psalm 119:28). “Answer me quickly, O LORD! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit” (Psalm 143:7). God know that “hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prov. 13:12), so there can be no turning to God, no teshuvah, apart from the presence of real hope (תִּקְוָה). Indeed, as the Apostle Paul wrote: “We are saved by hope” (Rom. 8:24).

The apostle Peter wrote, “for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials” (1 Pet. 1:6), which indicates that sorrow and grief are part of the walk of faith. Troubles, oppression, heartache, loneliness, loss, and so on, can grieve and seriously depress us. Lev yodea marat nafsho, “the heart knows its own bitterness” (Prov. 14:10). The cry of the heart is directed heavenward: “I am suffering terribly; O LORD, revive me according to your word” (Psalm 119:25); “for I am on the verge of collapse; my pain is always with me” (Psalm 38:17). We must be careful not to judge those who are hurting by regarding them as weak in faith or perhaps even deserving of their sorrows. On the contrary, the Lord sometimes allows the soul to be grieved by various trials; the heart is broken, the light of the eye grows dim… and there is no ready answer….

Read more “Torah of Tears…”