{"id":2456,"date":"2020-11-23T11:11:22","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T17:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/?p=2456"},"modified":"2020-11-28T07:29:20","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T13:29:20","slug":"jacobs-great-awakening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/jacobs-great-awakening\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacob\u2019s Great Awakening…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"In our Torah portion (i.e., Vayetzei<\/a>) we read: “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, akhen yesh Adonai ba’makom ha’zeh, ve’anokhi lo yadati<\/em>: ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, but I did not know it'” (Gen. 28:16). Jacob had been asleep but was jarred awake. He found himself in awe, sensing the presence of the gateway to heaven. The sages note the grammar here is emphatic, suggesting that Jacob said: “Surely the LORD is in this place — but am I (\u05d5\u05b0\u05d0\u05b8\u05e0\u05db\u05b4\u05d9)? I do not know! (\u05dc\u05d0 \u05d9\u05b8\u05d3\u05b8\u05e2\u05b0\u05ea\u05bc\u05b4\u05d9). Jacob had awakened from his dream to realize that he had been dreaming his life away, living in a fantasy world. God is present in this place \u2013 but am I? Have I awakened to be present before God?<\/p>\n

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All religious reality begins with what biblical religion calls the \u2018fear of God.\u2019 It comes when our existence between birth and death becomes incomprehensible and uncanny, when all security is shattered through the mystery. This is not the relative mystery of that which is inaccessible only to the present state of human knowledge and is hence in principle discoverable. It is the essential mystery, the inscrutableness of which belongs to its very nature… Through this dark gate (which is only a gate and not, as some theologians believe, a dwelling) the believing man steps forth into the everyday which is henceforth hallowed as the place in which he has to live with the mystery. He steps forth directed and assigned to the concrete, contextual situations of his existence. That he henceforth accepts the situation as given him by the Giver is what Biblical religion calls the \u2018fear of God.\u2019 – Martin Buber, Eclipse of God<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

An honest theology must find a place for mystery, for \u201cseeing through a glass darkly,\u201d and for the apprehension of awe and wonder. Philosophy (not science) asks the question: \u201cWhy is there something rather than nothing at all?\u201d This is a question regarding the \u201cwhy\u201d of existence itself, the profusion of life as it surrounds us. Is there a reason for existence, a purpose, a direction, a radical meaning? Faith \u201csees what is invisible\u201d by experiencing reality as revelation: the mystery of life points beyond itself to God\u2019s creative and sustaining presence: \u201cIn Him we live and move and have our being\u201d (Acts 17:28; Rom. 1:20). Cut open a seed and what do you see, but \u201cthe hidden power that makes the fruit grow toward the sky.\u201d Likewise what is most real about us is shrouded in profound mystery. We are finite, our lives are short and bounded by darkness, yet we sense God\u2019s Spirit, the hidden power that upholds our souls, and we trust that we will indeed live forever because of God’s love. As theologian Paul Tillich wrote: \u201cThe question of being is not the question of any specific being, its existence and nature, but it is the question of what it means to be. It is the simplest, most profound, and absolutely inexhaustible question \u2013 the question of what it means to say something is. The word \u201cis\u201d hides the riddle of all riddles, the mystery that there is anything at all.\u201d Though we might try to explain God by way of logic and doctrine, in the end it is the mystery of “Messiah in you – the hope of glory.”<\/p>\n

When God said, “Let there be light, and there was light” (Gen. 1:3), He seemed to put on light as a robe of the Divine Majesty and Kingship: He wrapped Himself with radiance as a tallit gadol… Da lifnei mi attah omed<\/em> (\u05d3\u05bc\u05b7\u05e2 \u05dc\u05b4\u05e4\u05b0\u05e0\u05b5\u05d9 \u05de\u05b4\u05d9 \u05d0\u05b7\u05ea\u05bc\u05b8\u05d4 \u05e2\u05d5\u05b9\u05de\u05b5\u05d3) \u2013 “Know before whom you stand.” The whole earth is lit up with God’s glory, and every bush of the field is aflame before us — if we have eyes to see (Isa. 6:3). May it please the LORD to open our spiritual eyes so that we can behold more of His glory and majesty in this hour… Amen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/gen28-3-jjp-1.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

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