Priests of His Light…

The Chanukah holiday is now over, chaverim, though may its message pervade our souls every day, as we dedicate our lives to serving the Lord and choose to walk in His light… Amen, we are chosen to be a “kingdom of priests,” a set-apart people, and a light to the nations (Exod. 19:6; Isa. 42:6; 1 Pet. 2:9). Note the very first responsibility given to the priests was to care for the ner tamid (נר התמיד), the light of the Menorah (Exod. 27:20-21), which represents our consciousness of the Divine Presence (Psalm 18:28; 36:9). The challenge we all face is to remain “in the light as God is in the light” and not to be seduced by the world of fleeting appearances (Isa. 2:5; 1 John 1:7, 2:17). God’s eternal light radiates through all things (Isa. 6:3; Psalm 139:11-12), just as the great “yehi ohr” (יְהִי אוֹר) – “Let there be light” – is the first word spoken to creation (Gen. 1:3). To be a priest means being so filled with the truth that you radiate peace; your inner light shines and you glorify your Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16). That is how we draw others to the truth, by receiving the beauty of the LORD (Psalm 27:4).

Of course being a “witness to the light,” that is, being a “priest,” does not mean you are a “perfect person” who walks about with a blissed-out attitude despite the various trials and tests we all face in this life. No, we all still sin, and we therefore need to confess the truth of our condition to abide in the light (1 John 1:9; James 5:16). Like everything else in Scripture, here we encounter paradox, as Yeshua taught: “Blessed are the impoverished in spirit (πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; blessed are the ones who mourn (οἱ πενθοῦντες), for they shall be comforted; blessed are the meek (οἱ πραεῖς), for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:3-5). Yea, “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Cor. 1:27-29).

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An Everlasting Radiance…

Though the whole earth is filled with the miracles and glory of the LORD, we must choose to see, to open our hearts, and to become God’s partners in calling forth goodness and truth. God is the Source of all Light and truth, and therefore we first turn to receive his radiance within our heart. As Yeshua said, “Let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good works and glorify your heavenly Father” (Matt. 5:16).

 

Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 100:5 Hebrew reading lesson:

 

 

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The Source of Light…

“God is Light; in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Yeshua said: “I am come a light into the world, that whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness” (John 12:46). The ultimate message of Chanukah is eschatological and full of hope. This world is passing away and the Kingdom of Heaven will one day be established upon the earth. We live in light of this blessed hope (Titus 2:11-13). The world’s rulers are “on notice” from God Almighty: their days are numbered and they will surely face the judgment of the LORD God of Israel (Psalm 2). We must stand against evil by refusing to conform to the world around us (Eph. 6:11-18). Now is the time. “Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). Followers of Yeshua are made part of His Dwelling – extensions of His Presence in this dark world – and during this Chanukah season may we remember the call to rededicate our lives to Him! יְהִי אוֹר – May your light shine!

 

Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 36:9 Hebrew reading:

 

 

Love not the World…

We are commanded not to love the world (κόσμος), nor the things this world values, since doing so embraces a philosophy of life, or spirituality, that is at war with the Father and contrary to the truth of the Eternal (1 John 2:16; James 4:4). The fallen world values “the flesh” and the “desire of the eyes” that is patterned according to the “arrogance of life”; it is a “beauty pageant” that esteems others based on their accidental qualities instead of their inner and essential qualities….
 
The world values other people as means to an end rather than as ends in themselves, and therefore is inherently violent and exploitative. The flesh is the realm of the all-too human, the selfish, the natural, the ordinary, and the tit-for-tat, where love and acceptance are extended solely in conditional terms (Matt. 5:46-47). In this connection, let me quote from the late Henri Nouwen and his book “Return of the Prodigal Son”:
 

“At issue here is the question: To whom do I belong? God or to the world?” Many of my daily preoccupations suggest that I belong more to the world than to God. A little criticism makes me angry, and a little rejection makes me depressed. A little praise raises my spirits, and a little success excites me. It takes very little to raise me up or thrust me down….

As long as I keep running about asking: “Do you love me? Do you really love me?” I give all power to the voices of the world and put myself in bondage because the world is filled with “ifs.” The world says: “Yes, I love you if you are good-looking, intelligent, and wealthy. I love you if you have a good education, a good job, and good connections. I love you if you produce much, sell much, and buy much.” There are endless “ifs” hidden in the world’s love. These “ifs” enslave me, since it is impossible to respond adequately to all of them. The world’s love is and always will be conditional. As long as I keep looking for my true self in the world of conditional love, I will remain “hooked” to the world – trying, failing, and trying again. It is a world that fosters addictions because what it offers cannot satisfy the deepest craving of my heart.”

 
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Chanukah vs. Humanism…

We read in the New Testament that “the Greeks seek for wisdom” (1 Cor. 1:22), which of course does not refer to the ethical wisdom of the Torah (i.e., chokhmah: חָכְמָה), but rather to the venture of the human intellect to investigate and speculate about the nature of “ultimate reality.” Since Greek culture during the time of the Second Temple was without a viable religious outlook (it’s earlier pantheon of Olympian gods had been abandoned by that time), various Greek philosophers arose to fill the void by offering an account of the nature of the universe. Some of these philosophers sought abstract essences and archetypal patterns, while others regarded reality as a product of random chance (or fate) that rendered it essentially unknowable. What was common to these speculative approaches, however, was faith in the power of human reason to discover truth apart from older mythological explanations.

Despite the fact that ancient Jewish culture likewise valued truth and wisdom, in general the sages of the Second Temple period regarded Greek humanistic wisdom as chokhmah hachitzonit, “superficial wisdom,” since it wasn’t deeply grounded in the revelation and conviction of a moral Lawgiver who was the Sovereign Center and purposive cause for everything that existed. For this reason the Greek worldview was deemed spiritually dangerous, since it surreptitiously implied that Torah should be understood in strictly human terms, a product of mere men, rather than as special revelation directly given from the LORD God. At issue, then, was a clash between the role of faith and the role of reason…

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The Beauty of Truth…

It has been said that the Greek mindset regards what is beautiful as what is good, whereas theHebraic mindset regards what is good as what is beautiful. The difference is one of orientation. Doing our duty before God, in other words, is what is truly beautiful, not merely appreciating the appearance of symmetry, order, and so on. This explains why moral discipline (i.e., musar, מוּסָר) is so prominent in Hebrew wisdom literature. True beauty cannot exist apart from moral truth.

The word chinukh (חִנּוּךְ), “education,” shares the same root as the word “chanukah” (חֲנֻכָּה, dedication). Unlike the Greek view that regards education as a pragmatic process of improving one’s personal power or happiness, the Jewish idea implies dedication/direction to God and His concrete purposes on the earth. Disciples of Yeshua are likewise called talmidim (תַּלְמִידִים) — a word that comes from lamad (לָמַד) meaning “to learn” (the Hebrew word for teacher is melamad (מְלַמֵּד) from the same root). In the New Testament, the word “disciple” is μαθητής, a learner or a pupil of a διδάσκαλος, or a teacher. True education is therefore foundational to being a disciple of the Messiah…

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The Light Still Shines…

Chanukah is important because it stands in decided opposition to the relentless propaganda of humanism and its ongoing attempt to deny the reality of the Divine Presence in our lives… It makes bold the statement that reality is not reducible to merely natural categories, and it repudiates the “Hellenistic” conceit that all religions are true, and it especially rejects the arrogant notion that the LORD God of Israel is just “one more member” of some globalist pantheon… Chanukah adamantly denies the politically correct dogma that despair is the universal condition of humanity and that darkness will finally extinguish the light. Like the gospel message, Chanukah scandalizes human rationalism and the solipsism that affirms that “man is the measure of all things.” “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world (νικᾷ τὸν κόσμον); and this is the victory that has overcome the world- our faith” (1 John 5:4).

Think counterculturally. It is written: Do not let your mind be conformed (lit., “squeezed into the mold”) of this world, but be transformed (μεταμορφόω, i.e., metamorphosized like a caterpillar is changed into a butterfly) by the renewal of your mind (Rom. 12:2). The Greek word translated “renewal” is ἀνακαίνωσις, from ἀνά, meaning “into the midst,” and καινός, meaning “newness.” The idea here is that we are inwardly transfigured as we take hold of the truth of the new covenant and make it central to our lives. For this we must “put on the mind of Messiah” and repudiate the world’s values and vain philosophy (1 Cor. 2:16). “When the devil is called the god of this world, it is not because he made it, but because people serve him with worldliness.” The “god of this world” blinds the eyes of those who do not believe so they cannot see the truth of the gospel of Messiah (2 Cor. 4:4). The philosophy of this world is always based on lies, propaganda, fear, lust, pride, anger, appeals to vanity, and so on. We must be vigilant, friends, and use discernment by testing the world’s assumptions against the truth of the Scriptures.

 

 

The Revelation of Light…

In the Gospel of John it is recorded that Yeshua said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (i.e., ᾽Εγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή; John 14:6). The Greek word translated “truth” in this verse is aletheia (ἀλήθεια), a compound word formed from an alpha prefix (α-) meaning “not,” and lethei (λήθη), meaning “forgetfulness.” (In Greek mythology, the “waters of Lethe” induced a state of oblivion or forgetfulness.) Truth is therefore a kind of “remembering” something forgotten, or a recollecting of what is essentially real. Etymologically, the word aletheia suggests that truth is also “unforgettable” (i.e., not lethei), that is, it has its own inherent and irresistible “witness” to reality. In that sense light is a metaphor for truth: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). People may lie to themselves, but ultimately truth has the final word.

Greek scholars note that the word lethei is derived from the verb lanthano (λανθάνω), which means “to be hidden,” so the general idea is that a-letheia (i.e., truth) is non-concealment, non-hiddenness, or (put positively) revelation or disclosure. Thus the word of Yeshua – His message, logos (λόγος), revelation, and presence – is both “unforgettable” and irrepressible. Yeshua is the Unforgettable One that has been manifest as the Word of God (דְּבַר הָאֱלהִים). He is the Light of the world (אוֹר הָעוֹלָם) and the one who gives us the “light of life” (John 8:12). Though God’s message can be suppressed by evil and darkened thinking, the truth is regarded as self-evident and full of intuitive validation (see Rom. 1:18-21).

 

 

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The Sigh of Faith…

“We groan inwardly as we eagerly await our redemption…” (Rom. 8:23). We sigh deeply because we are suspended between two worlds, living in the ambiguity of an already-not-yet expectation, enduring ourselves as imperfect vessels longing for perfection, trapped between what is and what will be, seeing the unseen, yearning for healing, believing that we shall never die, even as we die (John 11:26). We are restless for our eternal home and long for God’s presence as we walk through shadowy vales, facing various temptations, whispering our prayers in the dark. And though we must learn endurance and trust in God’s sovereign purposes, our faith nevertheless compels us to cry out, “How long, O Lord?” and “Come, Lord Yeshua” (Rev. 22:20). Our ongoing challenge is to keep a positive attitude despite the struggles we face, and therefore we inwardly pray: “Renew within me ruach nachon (רוּחַ נָכוֹן) – “a spirit that says Yes” (Psalm 51:10). Surrender means accepting God’s will for our lives — saying “yes” to the promise of love, even if we presently feel empty inside and wonder how long we can hang in there… Saying “yes” implies saying “no” to other things – no to fear, anger and doubt, for example. Tragically there are people who have given up hope for bitterness and despair. Asking the Lord to give us a spirit of “yes” is really a prayer for focus, direction, and the willingness to keep pressing on to our heavenly destiny, especially when the way seems dark and hope seems distant.

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Courage for this hour…

Our Heavenly Father sees in secret… “The deepest thing in our nature is this region of heart in which we dwell alone with our willingnesses and our unwillingnesses, our faiths and our fears” (William James). It is there, in the secret place of the heart, that the sound of the “knock” is either heard or disregarded (Rev 3:20). May the Lord give us the willingness to do His will and the courage to believe in His love. And may God deliver us from doubt and from every other fear. May we all be strong in faith, not staggering over the promises, but giving glory to God for the miracle of Yeshua our LORD. May we all be rooted and grounded in love so that we are empowered to apprehend the very “breadth and length and height and depth” of the love of God given to us in Messiah, so that we shall all be filled with all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:14-19). Amen.