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Prayer Request (for site updates, see below)
I was laid off from my full-time job several years ago when -- after a lot of prayer, soul searching and discussion with my wife -- we decided to operate the Hebrew for Christians ministry entirely by faith in God's provision through the love and kindness of His people. I am not paid for doing this work, and therefore I ask you to consider supporting us. If you can help, please offer a donation or purchase some of the Hebrew study materials offered here. Encouraging other web sites to link here also helps us become more visible on the web. Above all, agree with us for the Lord's will to be done in our lives. Todah, chaverim.
    
Note: My wife and I have have three young children (Josiah, Judah, and Emanuel David ). The LORD has graciously provided for us as Adonai Yireh (יְהוָה יִרְאֶה), "the One who sees [our need]." We are living one day at a time by the grace and mercy of God, and I want to publicly praise Yeshua and acknowledge His faithful love in caring for my family -- despite the trials during this time. The LORD God of Israel is faithful and true! And to those of you who have sent us a word of encouragement or donation during this difficult time, please accept our heartfelt appreciation! Your chesed truly helps sustain us.
יהי שׁם יהוה מברך - "May the Name of the Lord be blessed."
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Jewish Holiday Calendar
Note: For site updates, please scroll past this entry....
The Torah divides the calendar into two symmetrical halves: the Spring and the Fall, indicating the two advents of Messiah. The Biblical year officially begins during the month of the Passover from Egypt (called Rosh Chodashim, see Exod. 12:2), and the spring holidays of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits both recall our deliverance from Egypt and also our greater deliverance given by means of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah, the great Passover Lamb of God. The holiday of Shavuot (i.e., "Pentecost") both commemorates the revelation of the Torah at Sinai as well as the revelation of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) at Zion, in fulfillment of the promise given by our Lord....
The intermediate months of summer end with the advent of the sixth month of the calendar, the month of Elul, which recalls the time Moses interceded on behalf of Israel after the sin of the Golden Calf. To commemorate this time of our history, we likewise focus on teshuvah (repentance) in anticipation of Rosh Hashanah and especially in anticipation of Yom Kippur, the great "Day of Atonement." In Jewish tradition the 30 days of Elul are combined with the first ten days of the seventh month (called the "Days of Awe") to set apart "Forty Days of Teshuvah" leading up to the Day of Forgiveness for Israel. Immediately following Yom Kippur, the mood changes as we begin preparing for a joyous week-long celebration called Sukkot (i.e., "Tabernacles") that concludes with the holiday of Simchat Torah.
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The Spring Holidays:
The spring holidays (חגי האביב) portray the death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah: Yeshua was crucified on erev Pesach (during the time of the sacrifice of the Passover lambs), buried during Chag Hamotzi (the festival of Unleavened Bread), and was resurrected from the dead on Yom Habikkurim (the Day of Firstfruits). Fifty days after Passover, on the climactic holiday of Shavuot (i.e., the feast of Pentecost), the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) fell on the believers in fulfillment of the promise given by our Lord. Note that the giving of the Holy Spirit occurred precisely according to the calendar countdown given in the Torah (Lev. 23:15-16), and that it occurred after the resurrection of Yeshua -- just as our Messiah foretold (John 16:7; Acts 1:6-8, 2:1-4). This proves that the feasts of the LORD (מוֹעדי יהוה) were not abolished after the crucifixion. The meaning of the gospel is prefigured in the holidays given in Torah. See Luke 24:27, 24:44; John 5:46; Acts 26:22, etc.
![Spring Holiday Timeline (H4C]](../../About_HFC/Site_News/roshchodeshim-line.gif) |
Kindly note that in accordance with both Torah and Jewish tradition, the following holiday dates begin at sundown before the date they are listed (ויהי־ערב ויהי־בקר; Gen. 1:5):
- Month of Adar (Mon. Feb. 19th [eve]) - Wed. March 18th [day])
Dates for Passover Week 2026:
Free Seder Guide
- Month of Nisan (Wed. March 18th [eve]) - Thurs. April 16th [day])
- Month of Iyyar (Thurs. April 16th [eve] - Sat. May 16th [day])
- Month of Sivan (Sat. May 16th [eve] - Sun. June 14th [day])
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Note: For more about the dates of these holidays see the Calendar pages....
April 2026 Site Updates
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The First Step of Faith...
"He [God] lets me weep before him in silent solitude, pour forth again and again my pain, with the blessed consolation of knowing that he is concerned for me — and in the meanwhile he gives that life of pain a significance which almost overwhelms me." - Kierkegaard
04.22.26 (Iyyar 5, 5786) There is an indispensable element of our spiritual life that is all-determinative, that affects everything else, and that is the decision of whether we will choose to "show up," whether we will engage it's hope; and whether we will open our eyes and yield ourselves to the light... And this is an ongoing decision.
Therefore we read: "If you walk in my statutes (אִם־בְּחֻקּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ) and observe my commandments and do them..." (Lev. 26:3). The sages note that unlike the holy angels, we must "walk out" the faith of our days, and therefore we are always moving either forward or backward. In this world, God's sun shines on the just and unjust alike (Matt. 5:45). Every human being lives by faith of some kind, and it is therefore impossible to opt out of the decision to "choose this day whom we shall serve" (Josh. 24:15). Indifference or apathy is as much a spiritual decision as is outright rebellion, and if we do nothing today to draw us near to the Lord, we will eventually regress and slip backward.
This is all very sobering. "No one knows the day or hour," and that's why it is so vital to turn to God and be healed while there is still time. So turn today and bacharta ba'chayim (בָּחַרְתָּ בַּחַיִּים) - "choose life!" "For this commandment (of turning to God) is not hidden from you, and it is not far away... No, the matter is "very near you" (כִּי־קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר מְאד) - in your mouth and your heart - to do it" (Deut. 30:11-14; Rom. 10:8-13).
Hebrew Lesson
Deut. 30:19b reading (click):
Renew your mind:
Escape from the Matrix...
"Be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." (Matt. 22:44)
04.22.26 (Iyyar 5, 5786) "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" (Matt. 6:33). This is the right approach to life: Open your heart to heaven and seek God's presence before you do anything else (Prov. 3:5-6). This is particularly important at this time, friends. Do you want your mind to be confused, excited, depressed or angry? Do you want others to decide what is important and "real" for you? Then turn your attention to this world and its rumors and its tendentious news. The mass media thrives on trouble - whether real or imagined - and serves to manipulate people by making them afraid. The newsmakers of this world understand that fearful people make their most loyal consumers...
Consider the godless assumptions that underlie the news of the this world. Purported and alleged experts are lined up; the dialog is scripted; sound bites are repeated on a relentless schedule, images and videos are crafted, yet you will hear nary a word to call upon God for healing and deliverance. God is simply "not there"; he is not part of the narrative of the present crisis or trouble. And yet nothing could be further than the truth!
The LORD God must be the first principle of our thinking or else we will become deceived, regardless of the formal validity of our reasoning. There is a difference between "soundness" and "validity," and if we do not begin with truth, our thinking will be impaired, even if we accidentally make inferences that turn out to be empirically true. Therefore we must be vigilant and vigorously challenge ideas that attempt to seduce us away from the truth and divide our affections. We must learn to identify the false assumptions that deny the knowledge of God and take "every thought captive" to Messiah. We must be on guard for subtle, unspoken, and calculated appeals to compromise our faith (2 Cor. 10:5).
If we find ourselves in a state of recurring temptation, we must examine the underlying assumptions that are at work in our thinking. If we dig deeper, we are likely to discover that we are doubting that God cares for us, or we are fearful that God will not meet our needs. We must therefore counter such faithless assumptions with God's revealed truth, and that means regularly studying and reviewing the Scriptures to remind ourselves about what is real rather than what is illusory. We then can learn to look at life as it really is - a spiritual world, a "valley of decision," the corridor that irresistibly leads to the world to come. Each soul is on a journey to meet with God for judgment... Yet God does not leave us comfortless. He has promised to never leave nor forsake those trusting in Him. The Lord is your Good Shepherd who walks with you during your sojourn through this temporal world (Psalm 23).
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 23:4 reading (click for audio):
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A voice says, "Cry!" And I said, "What shall I cry?" All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field" (Isa. 40:6). "All flesh is grass" (כָּל־הַבָּשָׂר חָצִיר) - we are here today but gone tomorrow. We have only so many chances to turn to the LORD and make up our minds that we will serve Him. ALl our days are numbered. The Torah uses a metaphor: "man is a tree of the field," i.e., הָאָדָם עֵץ הַשָּׂדֶה, Deut. 20:19). The righteous man is described as a "tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in his season" (Psalm 1:3). If you stand in front of a tree to watch it grow, however, you will see nothing. But if you care for the tree, nurture it over time, and provide for its needs, eventually you will see its fruit appear. God gives us each a season to repent, but if that proves fruitless in our spiritual lives, eventually we will be "cut down" (Luke 13:6-9).
The Scriptures warn that a "double-minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8). The word translated "double-minded" is dipsuchos (δίψυχος), a word formed from δίς, "twice" and ψυχή, "soul." The word describes the spiritual condition of having "two souls" that both want different things at once. It is therefore a state of inner contradiction, of having two separate minds holding contradictory thoughts. "How long will you go limping between two opinions?" Notice that the word translated "limping" is posechim (פּסְחִים), from the same root as Passover (i.e., pasach: פָּסַח): How long will you pass from one thing to another? How long will you play "hot potato" with your commitments?
Being doubleminded makes us "unstable in all our ways." Such a "cross-eyed" approach leads to disorientation and confusion. The Greek word used to describe being "unstable" (ἀκατάστατος) is the same word used to translate being "storm-tossed and not comforted" in last week's Haftarah portion (LXX: Isa. 54:11). The image of a ship being tossed in the sea pictures a state of distress and peril. Interestingly, the description of being "not comforted" is lo nuchamah (לא נֻחָמָה), which comes from the very word translated as "repent" or "regret" (nacham). When we are double-minded, we are "storm tossed" and unable to experience the comfort that comes from genuine repentance. We are like "a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind" (James 1:6).
On the other hand, singleness of vision concentrates the will and produces wholeheartedness, conviction, stability, inner peace (shalom) and genuine character. As Soren Kierkegaard said, "purity of the heart is to will one thing." "I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved" (Psalm 16:8).
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 16:8 reading (click for audio):
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The Apostle Paul taught that we are not to be "conformed" (συσχηματίζω) to the pattern of this fallen world but rather be "transformed" (μεταμορφόω) by renewing our minds, so that by testing we may discern what is the will of God (Rom. 12:2). Note that the word translated "conformed" in this verse means to accept the world's scheme (σχῆμα) of understanding things, that is, to passively go along with the world's "matrix" of lies, wishful thinking, propaganda, etc. The word translated as "transformed," on the other hand, means to be metamorphosed or radically changed into a different kind of nature with a different source of being itself. Such transformation comes from having our minds "renewed" -- the word used in this verse (i.e., ἀνακαινόω) means being "made new on the inside," and therefore renewal is the gift of teshuvah (turning to God).
"Our view of the world is truly shaped by what we decide to hear" (William ames). Understand, then, that the foundation of all transformation of inner character and outward conduct comes from the miracle of having a renewed mind. I use the word "miracle" quite intentionally, since by itself "right thinking" is powerless to help the sinner truly change his ways, and therefore something more - radically new life and healing power from heaven, is what is necessary.The gospel is the power of God for salvation (Rom. 1:16). Indeed "the beginning of transformation of character is the renovation in the very centre of the being, and the communication of a new impulse and power to the inward self" (Alexander Maclaren). Amen, may the LORD God work out our salvation and give us the grace to walk our days in the light of his countenance.
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Loving the Stranger...
"No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear." - C.S. Lewis
04.22.26 (Iyyar 5, 5786) From our Torah portion this week (Acharei-Kedoshim) we read: "The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God" (Lev. 19:34). But how is it possible to love someone who is a "stranger" apart from empathy for someone who is lost? The unspoken assumption here is that since we know how it feels to be an outcast, oppressed and without a sense of belonging or home, so we ought sympathize with others who feel that way too.
When we acknowledge the suffering of others we also acknowledge our own. We let go of the weapons of blame and retribution when we give voice to the "stranger" within ourselves, when we realize that others share in our suffering: "Do not oppress a sojourner, for you know the soul of a stranger (וְאַתֶּם יְדַעְתֶּם אֶת־נֶפֶשׁ הַגֵּר), for you were strangers..." (Exod. 23:9). The Hebrew verb used here (i.e., yada, to know), implies intimacy, personal and direct understanding. You "know the soul" of the stranger by reliving their place, and by using the "good eye" to see how they share common our pain, joy, hope, and so on.
Being sensitive to the heartache of others helps us find our own healing: We are brought out of our "inner Egypt" into freedom and wholeness. Remembering what it was like to be a stranger helps us extend compassion to ourselves, and that brings healing to our hearts.
The mitzvah to love the stranger applies not only to someone whom we regard as an "outsider," but even more radically to the "stranger within ourselves," that is, to those aspects of ourselves we censor, deny, or reject...
Like the prodigal son, we have to "come to ourselves" to return home (Luke 15:17), believing that we are somehow redeemable, though we will be unable to know how much we are loved until we venture complete disclosure. That is the great risk of trusting in God's love for your soul: You must accept that you are accepted despite your own unacceptability... Those parts of ourselves that we "hide" need to be brought to the light, atoned for, healed, and reconciled. If we don't love and accept ourselves, then how can we hope to love and accept others?
Hebrew Lesson
Lev. 19:34 reading (click):
God's "Super Sign" of Israel...
"The very existence of Israel is as near to a miracle as we will find in the sober pages of empirical history." - Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
04.21.26 (Iyyar 4, 5786) Israel's Independence Day is called Yom Ha'atzma'ut (יום העצמאות), the "day of independence." In Hebrew, the word independence (atzma'ut) comes from atzmi - "my bones" (i.e., etzem: עֶצֶם), so the name itself alludes to God's glorious promise to revive the "dry bones" (עֲצָמוֹת) of Israel by bringing the Jewish people back from their long exile during the End of Days (Ezek. 37:1-6). "Son of man, can these bones live?"
Hebrew Lesson
Ezekiel 37:3a Hebrew reading (click):
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But why should Christians care about ethnic Israel? After all, many Christian denominations advocate some version of "Replacement Theology" and regard the promises God made to the Jewish people as belonging exclusively to their church... The existence of the modern State of Israel therefore evokes little thanks to God from these groups, and some of their ranks even regard Israel's revived presence on the world stage as an embarrassment to their typically "liberal" theology. Hence we see the (remarkably bad) phenomena of so-called "Christian" church denominations that express anti-Israel sentiment, even asking their followers to divest investments in Israel on behalf of the "Palestinians," etc.
The title "Christ" refers to the anointed King of Israel, the Mashiach (מָשִׁיחַ)... To say "Jesus Christ" is therefore to affirm that Yeshua is none other than the Messiah, the rightful King of Israel (מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל). Followers of Jesus, the One born "King of the Jews" (Matt. 2:2), should therefore care deeply about Israel because the existence of Jewish people - and of the nation of Israel in particular - demonstrates that the LORD (יהוה) is completely faithful to the covenant promises He made to our patriarchs (e.g., Gen. 15:9-21). Indeed, the Scriptures teach that the Name of God is forever designated as אלהי אברהם אלהי יצחק ואלהי יעקב - "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Exod. 3:15), just as it is also the "LORD God of Israel" (יְהוָה אֱלהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל). The perpetuity of the Jewish people - despite so much satanic hatred over the millennia - is an awesome testimony of God's loyal love (Jer. 31:35-37). עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי / am Yisrael chai: "The people of Israel live!" Israel is a sign of the "sure mercies of David" (חַסְדֵי דָוִד הַנֶּאֱמָנִים) that are revealed in Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah (Isa. 55:1-6). Moreover, the New Covenant itself, as foretold by the prophet Jeremiah, explicitly promises the perpetuity of the Jewish people throughout the ages:
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD (יהוה), when I will make a new covenant (בְּרִית חֲדָשָׁה) with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my Torah (תּוֹרָה) within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar - the LORD of hosts is his Name: "If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the LORD, then shall the offspring of Israel (זֶרַע יִשְׂרָאֵל) cease from being a nation before me forever." Thus says the LORD: "If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the LORD. (Jer. 31:31-37)
According to this theologically critical passage, if you saw the sun shine today or the stars in the night sky, you can be assured that God's promise to preserve the "offspring of Israel" -- (i.e., zera Yisrael: זֶרַע יִשְׂרָאֵל) -- is in effect. Indeed, in the world to come, heavenly Jerusalem will have the names of the twelve tribes of Israel engraved upon its gates (Rev. 21:12). Note well that this is the only occurrence in the entire Tanakh (i.e., "Old Testament") that the New Covenant (בְּרִית חֲדָשָׁה) is explicitly mentioned... It is a foundational passage of Scripture for those who claim to be followers of the Jewish Messiah.
The spiritual blessings Christians enjoy come from the root of God's covenants with Israel... Yeshua our Savior was born the King of the Jews, and he plainly said הַיְשׁוּעָה מֵאֵת הַיְּהוּדִים הִיא- "salvation is from the Jews" (Matt. 2:2; 27:11; John 4:22). The Apostle Paul clearly warned those who think the church has "replaced" Israel: "Remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you" (Rom. 11:18). This doctrine is so foundational that it may be rightly said that how you think about Israel will affect every other area of your theology. Indeed, the nation of Israel is God's "super sign" that He is faithful to His covenant promises (Jer. 31:35-37). Celebrating Israel's existence acknowledges God's loyal love for us all! For more on this subject, see the article, "Is Christianity Anti-Jewish?"
In the holy Torah we read how God said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (אלהי אברהם אלהי יצחק ואלהי יעקב), has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations'" (Exod. 3:15).
Hebrew Lesson
Exod. 3:15b Hebrew reading (click):
"Your Name, O LORD, endures forever, your renown, O LORD, throughout all ages" (Psalm 135:13). Therefore the prophet cries: "in the east give glory to the LORD; in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel" (Isa. 24:15).
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 135:15 Hebrew reading (click):
Extraordinary Encounters...
"The fullness of joy is to behold God in everything." - Julia of Norwich
04.21.26 (Iyyar 4, 5786) We "sanctify" our hearts whenever we consciously focus on what is sacred, awesome, wonderful, and glorious about Reality, and in particular, on the Living God, oseh shamayim va'aretz (עשֵׂה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ), the Maker of Heaven and Earth, and the great salvation we have in Yeshua. In our Torah portion this week (i.e., Acharei Mot) we read: "You shall not do as they do (לא תַעֲשׂוּ) in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes" (Lev. 18:3). In other words, we are not to follow the crowd, to appeal to the status quo, or to mimic the customs of the world because we are a visionary people who walk by faith in the Torah of the LORD (Psalm 119:1-3).
Being in a vital relationship with God means separating from the ordinary and mundane, leaving our "original homeland" behind us and crossing over to the realm of blessing. Abraham had to leave the land of his father before he could receive the promise; the Israelites had to trek far into the desert before they received the vision at Sinai, and we have to leave our old lives behind to partake of newness of life. There is a radical break from the past -- we are transformed, reborn, and made into new creations by the miracle of God (2 Cor. 5:17). "Being holy" therefore means coming alive and looking away from that which deadens our hearts (Col. 3:1-4). Behold, the LORD God of Israel makes all things new!
The call to be holy is radical and completely contrary to the world and its messages of conditional approval. Worldly culture flatters itself by making a pretense of true originality and genuine love. It imagines itself to be "cool," unconventional, creative, sophisticated, artistic, and so on, but in truth it is trite, uninspired, and cloyingly tragic. To be truly original means encountering God in your daily experience, struggling through the day in faith, disregarding the clamor and demands of popular culture and its idolatry (i.e., fads, fashions, trends, etc.). God calls his people to come alive, to be new, and to experience abundant life; we are to treasure the unseen, the possible, and to keep faith in the healing good that will overwhelm all darkness. Now that's radical; that's original; that's powerful.
Note the connection between worldliness and idolatry, since idolatry essentially involves trying to find your identity, your worth, your satisfaction, and your ultimate fulfillment in the realm of the transitory and the finite (i.e., the world) rather than in God.... We are (rightly) warned against the vices of "worldliness" and are admonished to abstain from popular culture and its spurious values, but note well that worldliness extends well beyond all this, since it concerns understanding the identity and nature of the person as a whole. The fruit of worldliness is the result of being rooted in this world rather than in God's kingdom. The various desires of the human heart - even the desire for "normal things" like personal happiness in this world - may be regarded as "worldly" if they are devoid of submission to God and His rule. Conversely, even Christian workers may be "worldly" if they base their identity in what they do rather than who they are in the Messiah...
We are "in" but not "of" the world; we are embedded within our culture to be salt and light, and that means we stay true to our vision and relationship with the LORD our God... We don't have to reinvent the wheel, however, since we learn from one another and especially from the testimony of our holy Scriptures, but nevertheless we must personally venture out and encounter God within our own hearts, trusting in his love for our everlasting healing. B'chol dor va'dor: in each generation an individual should look upon himself or herself as having been personally delivered from Egypt. To be efficacious, the message of the Passover Lamb must be personally received by the heart of faith.
Renew the affirmation of faith and know who you are: "If then you have been raised with Messiah, seek the things that are above (τὰ ἄνω ζητεῖτε), where the Messiah is seated at the right hand of God; focus your thoughts on the things above - not on things here on earth - for you have died, and your life has been hidden with Messiah in God. Then when the Messiah, who is your life, appears, you too will appear with him in glory" (Col. 3:1-4). Amen.
Hebrew Lesson:
Leviticus 20:7 reading (click for 2 min audio):
Loving our Neighbor...
"If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces." - Frederick Buechner
04.21.26 (Iyyar 4, 5786) Our Torah portion this week (Acharei Mot) contains the infamous verse, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD" (Lev. 19:18), which is generally given lip-service as the most important ethical law of the Torah. The Talmud recounts that when challenged by a pagan to impart the meaning of the Scriptures "while standing on one foot," Hillel said, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: that is the whole Torah and the rest is commentary; go and learn it." Hillel summed up the Torah as "doing no harm" toward others (i.e., the "Silver Rule"), which agrees with the Apostle Paul's statement, "Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment (πλήρωμα) of the law" (Rom. 13:10). Of course Yeshua earlier taught His followers, "whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets" (Matt. 7:12; 22:36-40).
Some of the mystics have said that when two people love one another, the Holy One reigns between them, as alluded to by the Hebrew word for "love" (i.e., ahavah: אהבה), the gematria of which is thirteen (1+5+2+5=13), but when shared with another it is multiplied: 13 x 2 = 26, which is the same value for the Sacred Name (יהוה), i.e., (10+5+6+5=26). In other words, when we love, esteem, and respect one another, the LORD's presence is multiplied and revealed among us (1 John 4:7-8). "Where two or three gather in my Name..."
Hebrew Lesson
Leviticus 19:18b reading (click):
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In this connection, it is interesting to note that the gematria for the Hebrew commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (i.e., וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹך) equals 820, which is the same value as the word yekidash'ti (וְקִדַּשְׁתִּי), "And I [the LORD] will sanctify" (Exod. 29:44). When God commands us to "love your neighbor as yourself," he graciously includes the addendum: "I am the LORD," which the sages say recalls the revelation of the Name YHVH (יהוה), and that therefore is understood to mean, "I will help you to do this," or (in this case) "I will sanctify you through your acts of lovingkindness."
Followers of Yeshua have the ongoing obligation to love and care for one another (see John 13:34, 15:12,17, Rom. 13:8; 1 Thess. 4:9; 1 Pet. 1:22, 1 John 3:11, etc.). After all, in this world the only tangible way we can express our love for God is by extending gemilut chasadim (loving acts) to others (James 2:15-17, 1 John 3:17, 4:20). Indeed, Yeshua taught that our obligation to love and care for others may sometimes even preempt our outward duty to love God Himself. For example, what good is it to "tithe mint and cumin" for God's sake and yet neglect the needs of those who are suffering? (see Matt. 23:23).
Tragically, the idea of "loving" or "serving" God can even be used as a pretext for rejecting those with whom we might disagree... What else explains religious hatred, hidebound denominational prejudices, and other forms of "sanctimonious malice" at work in the various world religions of today? Even in so-called Christian churches we see this sort of bigotry at work. As Yeshua forewarned: "the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God" (John 16:2). Sadly this sometimes applies even to those who claim to love and worship the very Prince of Peace (שַׂר־שָׁלוֹם). The world's religious zealots are routinely trying to "do God a favor" by hating and even killing others... This is "Jihad-version" of religiosity is unquestionably a terrible sickness of spirit. In light of the sacrificial love and grace of God, is it not the utmost sacrilege to scorn and despise others made in God's image?
Love is the central idea of all true Torah. Though there are some slight language differences between the Exodus and Deuteronomy versions of the Ten Commandments, both begin with "I AM" (אָנכִי) and both end with "[for] your neighbor" (לְרֵעֶךָ). Joining these together says "I am your neighbor," indicating that the LORD Himself is your neighbor (see diagram below). When we love our neighbor as ourselves (אָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ), we are in effect demonstrating our love for the LORD, while on the other hand, every social transgression is a transgression against God. As our Scriptures teach, "If anyone says, "I love God," but hates his brother is a liar," since "love fulfills the law" (1 John 4:20; Rom. 13:8). When we love our neighbor as ourselves we walk in the Torah of the LORD, which is perfect (Psalm 19:7).
A Living Faith...
04.20.26 (Iyyar 3, 5786) Shalom chaverim yikirim. We read in our Torah this week (Kedoshim): "You shall keep my decrees and my judgments, the pursuit of which man shall live: I am the LORD" (Lev. 18:5). The Kotzker Rebbe advised reading this verse as "You shall keep my decrees and judgments to bring life into them," meaning that we should bring all our heart, soul, and strength into the teaching of Torah. The commandments nourish the soul as food does the body. Just as we seek to season our food to make it flavorful, so we seek to observe the truth with conviction and joy.
"All things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Messiah will give you light. Therefore be very careful how you live – not as unwise but as wise, but redeem the time, because the days are evil." (Eph. 5:13-16)
Amen. "May the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish the work of our hands upon us; yea, establish the work of our hands" (Psalm 90:17).
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 90:17 reading (click):
Prophetic Significance of Israel...
"Therefore say: 'This is what the LORD God (אדני יהוה) says: I will regather you from the peoples and I will gather you from the lands where you have been dispersed, and I will give you back the land of Israel.'" - Ezekiel 11:17
04.20.26 (Iyyar 3, 5786) Shalom ohavei Yisrael. Can a case be made that we among the "terminal generation" before the return of Yeshua? The Torah predicted that the "End of Days" would occur sometime after the return of the Jewish people from their worldwide dispersion back to the land of Israel (see Deut. 30:1-3), and indeed the theme of exile and return is repeated in the prophets (see Jer. 23:3; 32:37-38; Ezek. 37:21, etc.). Therefore it is surely extraordinary that Israel was reborn as a nation in their ancient homeland on May 14, 1948 (Iyyar 5, 5708), after nearly 2,000 years of exile...
Moreover, the existence of the modern State of Israel is entirely consistent with New Testament prophecies regarding the advent of the Messiah, since Yeshua taught that the Jewish people would indeed be in the land of Israel at the time of his second coming, and that the city of Jerusalem would be surrounded by enemies of the Jewish state (see Matt. 24-25; Mark 13, Luke 21). Furthermore, if we understand a "generation" to mean 70-80 years in duration (as stated in Psalm 90:10), then when Yeshua said, "this generation (ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη) shall not pass until all these things take place" (Matt. 24:34), he was perhaps referring to the generation that would originate with the restoration of the modern State of Israel, which further implies that Daniel's 70th Week (i.e., the Great Tribulation) could begin very soon. And while it is true that "no one knows the day or hour" of the "great day of the LORD" (יוֹם־יְהוָה הַגָּדוֹל), Yeshua faulted the scribes and the Pharisees for failing to discern "the signs of the times" (Matt. 16:3) and for missing the "time of their visitation" (Luke 19:44), and therefore we are to actively look in anticipation his second coming...
Hebrew Lesson
Isa. 66:8 reading (click):
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Am Yisrael Chai! - the people of Israel live! Like many other prophetic statements found in the Jewish Scriptures, this verse from the prophet Isaiah is "dual aspect," since it was both partially fulfilled when the Jewish people reestablished the State of Israel, but it will be entirely fulfilled at the outset of the Millennial Kingdom after the return of Messiah (see Isa. 66:7-16; Rom. 11:26). Meanwhile we behold the restoration of the "Fig Tree," and understand that the great harvest draws near, friends... May God help each one of us be awake, ready, with hearts full of steadfast faith (1 John 3:2-3; Titus 2:11-14; Matt. 24:32).
Regardless of how you may regard the prophetic events that herald the "end of the age," however, know this: Today might be your last in this world - your very own "Rosh Hashanah" when you will appear before the Judge and Creator of your life... Therefore should we live each day as if it were our last and pray that God will help us to serve Him in the truth.
Finally let me (preemptively) add that while we may discern that the time is indeed "short" and that the hour "draws near," I do not believe in "date setting" or predicting the return of the LORD, since that is "chokhmah nisteret" (חכמה נסתרת), "sealed wisdom," known only to the Father (see Matt. 24:36, Acts 1:7; 1 Thess. 5:2, etc.). Nevertheless we can foresee by faith the great and promised day to come!
Tues. April 21st - Wed. April 22nd
Happy Birthday Israel!
Death and Atonement:
Parashat Acharei Mot...
The Atonement of the Savior is the foundation and essence of our eternal salvation...
04.19.26 (Iyyar 2, 5786) This week we have another "double portion" of Torah. Our first Torah portion for this week is called Acharei Mot (אחרי מות). This portion transitions from the preceding readings regarding ritual purity (tahora) to recall the tragic incident of Nadab and Abihu, the two sons of Aaron who were killed when they offered "strange fire" upon the Altar of Incense during the dedication of the Tabernacle (see Lev. 10:1-2). Because these priests came close to the Holy of Holies and offered incense in a forbidden manner, the LORD commanded Moses to instruct Aaron that he should enter the innermost chamber only in a carefully prescribed manner once a year - on the tenth day of the seventh month - during the sacred time called Yom Kippur (i.e., the "Day of Atonement"). Incidentally, this is the anniversary of the date when Moses descended from Sinai with the restored tablets of the covenant after Israel was forgiven of the sin of the golden calf...
On this most solemn day, Aaron was commanded to immerse himself in a mikveh (pool of fresh water) and to dress in all-white linen. He then was instructed to slaughter a bull as a personal sin offering. Aaron then brought some ketoret (incense) to burn within the Holy of Holies before returning to sprinkle the blood of the sin offering seven times before the Ark of the Covenant (i.e., the kapporet or "Mercy Seat"). Aaron repeated this procedure using the blood of one of two goats that was selected (by lot) to be slaughtered as a sin offering on behalf of the people. After this, Aaron took more of the sacrificial blood and purified the Altar of Incense and the other furnishings of the Tabernacle. Later, the fat of these sacrifices was burned on the Copper Altar in the courtyard, though the hide and the flesh were to be entirely burned outside the camp.
After purifying the Tabernacle, Aaron went to the gate of the courtyard and laid both hands upon the head of the other goat (designated "for Azazel," a name for the accusing angel) while confessing all of the sins and transgressions of the people. This "scapegoat" was not slaughtered, however, but was driven away into the wilderness, carrying "all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited." Finally, Aaron returned to the Tent, washed and changed his clothes, and offered two more burnt offerings – one for himself and one for the people – to complete the purification process.
This elaborate ritual was ordained to be a decree for Israel, and the day of Yom Kippur was to be observed every year as a time of "affliction and mourning" for all the people. The portion ends with further instructions about making sacrifices, including the prohibition against offering sacrifices apart from the rites of the Tabernacle. The consumption of blood is explicitly forbidden, since blood was reserved for sacrificial purposes upon the altar.
The Call to be Holy:
Parashat Kedoshim...
We are sanctified by faith in the mercy and grace of God given in the Atonement of Messiah...
04.19.26 (Iyyar 2, 5786) Our second Torah portion for this week, called Kedoshim (קדשׁים), provides a series of social and ethical commandments concerning the practical expression of holiness in daily life: "Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy (קדשׁים תהיו), for I the LORD your God am holy" (Lev. 19:2). Indeed this portion lists more mitzvot (commandments) regarding practical ethics (musar) than any other of the Torah, thereby directly connecting the holiness of the community with obedience to God's moral truth.
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After stating the requirement to be holy, the LORD begins to explain, "Each of you must respect (i.e., yirah: יִרְאָה) his mother and his father, and you must keep my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God" (Lev. 19:3). The duty to revere (or honor) one's parents recalls the Fifth Commandment (Exod. 20:12), which is the starting point of learning to respect other people in our lives. Notice that the word for "my Sabbaths" (שַׁבְּתתַי) implies both the keeping of the weekly Sabbath as well as the "appointed times" of the LORD. As we will see, sanctifying time is a way we can express practical holiness in our lives...
Various practical commandments are given in this Torah portion through which a Jew is sanctified, or set apart to be kadosh - holy - and therefore fit for relationship with God. God is not only "wholly Other" (i.e., transcendent) but also pervades all of creation (i.e., "immanent"), and those who are called into His Presence must therefore be holy themselves. Such practical holiness results in sanctification obtained through the observance of commandments (mitzvot). These commandments include both mitzvot aseh (commandments to do something) and mitzvot lo ta'aseh (commandments to refrain from doing something). In addition, chukkim, or "statutes" are given that further separate the Jew from the customs and profanity of the surrounding nations.
Israel's Independence Day...
"The State of Israel is not just a place, but an idea, a dream, and a reality." - David Ben-Gurion, first Prime Minister of Israel
04.17.26 (Nisan 30, 5786) After the Jewish people had suffered for nearly 2,000 years of exile as clearly foretold by Moses (Lev. 26:38, 44; Deut. 28:64-64) and the Hebrew prophets (Isa. 43:5-6; Jer. 30:11; Joel 3:2; Ezek. 36:8-10; Hos. 9:1-10, etc.), Israel was miraculously reborn as a nation in their ancient homeland on May 14, 1948 (Iyyar 5, 5708). In honor of this historical event, Jews across the world traditionally celebrate Iyyar 5 as Israel's Independence Day, or Yom HaAtzma'ut shel Yisrael (ום העצמאות של ישראל).
The date for Yom Ha'atzmaut can vary from year to year. For instance, it may be moved a day earlier (i.e., to Iyyar 4th) so that it will not conflict with the weekly Sabbath. On our secular calendar this year Israel's (78th) Independence Day will be observed Tuesday, April 21st at sundown until the following sundown on Wednesday, April 22nd.
Note that the word atzma'i (עַצְמָאִי) means "independent" in Hebrew. The word atzma'ut (עַצְמָאוּת) means the state of independence, which comes from atzmi - "my bones" (עֶצֶם). Hence the "Day of Independence" is called Yom Ha'atzmaut in Hebrew. The name reminds us of God's promise to revive the "dry bones" (עֲצָמוֹת) of Israel by bringing the Jewish people back from their long exile (see Ezek. 37:4-5).
עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי / am Yisrael chai: "The people of Israel live!" The nation of Israel is God's "super sign" that He is faithful to His covenant promises (Jer. 31:35-37). Celebrating Israel's independence acknowledges God's loyal love for us all.
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Tues. April 21st - Wed. April 22nd
Happy Birthday Israel!
Acceptance and Trust...
The following reflects on Yom HaShoah and our need for endurance...
04.17.26 (Nisan 30, 5786) What do we do with anguish of heart? The ancient Jewish custom of keriah (קְרִיעָה), the tearing of clothes (or cutting a black ribbon worn on one's clothes) to express grief, is to be performed while standing up. The sages say this is to teach that even in time of grave testing, when we protest over loss and recoil from what God brings our way - we are to be upright, we are to meet all sorrow while standing upright. We forswear all blame and accept life on God's terms, continuing to trust in times of darkness. Even in moments of inner heartache we affirm faith in God's promises for good.
We had nothing when we were born into this world, and all that we now have was given to us by hashgachah pratit - the providential plan of God. As the LORD graciously gave, so He has the prerogative to take away. Pain, suffering, and even death itself surely do not come by accident but are rather part of the inscrutable will of God, who works all things together for the good of creation. Gam zu l'tova – this too is "for the good," even if the good is not revealed in the moment.
Job refused to blame God for his troubles for he understood that whatever God does (or allows) must itself good, and there is no reason to doubt this, even if in the present there is tribulation – indeed, even unto the throes of death. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" (James 1:17). As it is written, lo yimna-tov laholekhim be'tamim (לא יִמְנַע־טוֹב לַהלְכִים בְּתָמִים), "no good thing does he withhold from those who walk in completeness" (Psalm 84:11), and you are made complete (תָּמִים) because of the finished work of Messiah on your behalf. Do not be afraid of His providence: no good thing will the LORD withhold from you...
We cannot escape suffering in this life, but God gives us heart to face the struggle. Each day contains the opportunity to serve God even in the midst of trouble (Matt. 6:34). We cannot control much of what happens to us in this life, so our task is to sanctify time and trust that God will see to our true needs. Taking refuge in God means personally trusting in His goodness for your soul, despite circumstances that might tempt you to lose heart. al evosh, ki chasiti vakh - "Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You" (Psalm 25:20).
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 25:20 reading (click):
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The Light of Faith...
"In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't." - Blaise Pascal
04.17.26 (Nisan 30, 5786) Instead of regarding the Bible as a "Book of Answers" for our questions, it is worthwhile to think of it as a "Book of Questions" for our answers. As we listen, God questions us so that we can know him by means of the dialog within our hearts.
As any good teacher knows, when a student earnestly wrestles with a question he learns more than if he were given a straightforward answer. As Soren Kierkegaard once said there are many who arrive at conclusions in much the way schoolboys do: "they cheat their teachers by copying the answer book without having worked the problem out themselves." We may be able to parrot creedal formulas or recite catechisms, yet in the end it is our own responsibility to make an authentic faith commitment.
The Lord allows to be without answers so that we will be free to seek, to struggle, and to "own" what we come to understand through our relationship with him... That way our learning will be real, substantive, and born from the urgency our own inner need.
Indeed, God's very first question to man is always, ayekah: "Where are you?" (Gen. 3:9), which appeals for us to acknowledge how we hide from the truth. "Where are you?" is the poignant call of the Seeking Father for his lost child, and the question only becomes "our own" when we are willing to look at how we've come to be at this place in our lives. God's question to our heart is meant to lead us out of hiding to respond to his loving call...
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 119:130 reading (click for audio):
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Thomas Aquinas' most significant work was his Summa theologiae or 'Summary of Theology,' a massive book that attempted to systematize all of Christian theology. He worked on it from 1266 through 1273, but when he was nearly finished, he underwent an experience so intense that, as he himself explained, everything he had written "seemed like straw." He thereafter gave up writing about theology after he encountered the Reality itself.
Everything is inherently mysterious, since everything ultimately expresses the inscrutable will and decrees of God.... Ask yourself with earnestness of heart: Where do I come from? Who am I? Where am I going? For what reason was I created? The first step is to wonder, to ask the searching questions, and to seek God's wisdom... The LORD is faithful and will reveal truth to the heart that seeks..
It is too easy to be preoccupied with everyday concerns and to miss the marvel and sheer wonder of existence itself. If you will approach these questions with humility and reverence, you will be filled with wonder, your heart will be filled with greater fervor, and you will hunger more than ever for God's Presence.
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Foreseeing Heaven...
"The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some chasm that yawns between us and reality, is part of our inconsolable secret. For glory means acceptance by God, response, acknowledgment, and welcome into the heart of things. The door on which we have been knocking all our lives will open at last." (C.S. Lewis: Weight of Glory, 1942).
04.16.26 (Nisan 29, 5786) When Abraham sought a place to bury his wife Sarah, he said to the Hittites chieftains: "I am a stranger and sojourner among you..." (Gen. 23:4). The righteous invariably feel like strangers to this world, since they are only passing through, and their focus is on the invisible "city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God" (Heb. 11:10). Likewise they are as sojourners, not at home in this world, because their faith sees through the vanity and deceit of the present world, and therefore they regard themselves as on a journey to the place of truth and holiness where God abides.
The profane person, on the other hand, regards their natural life in this world to be of utmost importance, and therefore they ensconce themselves in this world, "absolutizing" the moment and forfeiting the blessing of the eternal (Matt. 16:26). Abraham regarded himself as a "stranger and sojourner" (גֵּר־וְתוֹשָׁב) because the people of his world considered themselves as "owners" and "permanent residents" who sought their inheritance in the here and now. Abraham was a "resident" of someplace higher, however, and understood this world to be a corridor to the next. The sages comment on this paradox: God says to man, 'If you see yourself as a permanent resident in this world, then I will be a stranger to you; if, however, you see yourself as a stranger to this world, then I will be a Dwelling Place for you."
Hebrew Lesson
1 Chronicles 29:15 Hebrew reading:
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Like father Abraham we must learn to see beyond the temporal to behold the eternal; we must look past the shadows to see the substance. Faith calls us to see the unseen, to believe in the promised good that will come, and to keep hope alive... We have to turn our attention away from the rumors and visions of the present hour to see the supernal light which transcends the atmosphere of this world (2 Cor. 5:7). Faith separates us from the visible and temporal realm (i.e., chayei sha'ah: חיי שעה) before the invisible and eternal realm (i.e., chayei olam: חַיֵּי עוֹלָם); it hears (shema) the "yes" of the LORD in the midst of worldly dissipation and despair. Faith is the heartache, the groaning, and the yearning for undying love. "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may be consumed, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73:25-26). This world appears to the eye of faith a strange place, and here we are no more than sojourners as we look for our heavenly habitation whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11:10; John 14:1-3). Our hearts yearn for the unseen good, healing beyond death to life, the realm of promise and blessing and unending grace.
So for what do you hope? What are your dreams? Your deepest desires? Where is your treasure? Yeshua cautioned those who sought their happiness in this world: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures upon earth... be rich toward God" (Matt. 6:19-20; Luke 12:21). When we treasure God, our focus is directed toward the eternal reality, and our interest in this world is minimal. We trust God to meet our daily needs and surrender our future to His care. The only worry we face concerns our own deficiencies in our obligations to the Savior. Our duty is to love God in the truth - bekhol levavkha - with all our heart, having no thought of ourselves. Indeed, self-denial means to quit thinking about yourself (from α-, "not," + ῥέω, "to speak") by accepting what God has done for you. "It is not my business to think about myself. My business is to think about God. It is for God to think about me" (Simone Weil).
"Now, if we are made for heaven, the desire for our proper place will be already in us, but not yet attached to the true object, and will even appear as the rival of that object. If a transtemporal, transfinite good is our real destiny, then any other good on which our desire fixes must be in some degree fallacious, must bear at best only a symbolical relation to what will truly satisfy" (C.S. Lewis: Weight of Glory, 1942).
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 73:25 Hebrew reading:
Endurance and Hope...
"Those who hope in Christ can no longer put up with reality as it is, but begin to suffer under it, to contradict it. Peace with God means conflict with the world, for the goads of the promised future stab inexorably into the flesh of every unfulfilled present. If we had before our eyes only what we see, then we should cheerfully or reluctantly reconcile ourselves with things as they happen to be. That we do not reconcile ourselves, that there is no unpleasant harmony between us and reality, is due to our unquenchable hope." – Jurgen Moltmann
04.15.26 (Nisan 28, 5786) Though we are optimistic about the purpose and end of reality, and though we believe that God "works all things together for good" (Rom. 8:28), we are not therefore "monistic idealists," that is, those who say that "God is One" really means that evil is not real or that it is actually a "part of God." Reductionistic answers are always too simplistic, whether they come from science, theology, or cracker-barrel philosophy...
The Spirit of God says: "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!" (Isa. 5:20-21).
It is woeful to confound the moral truth of God with sophistical categories of human arrogance: "language games" intended to subvert and pervert all the great principles of truth, wisdom, and of righteousness... And it is woeful to "sanctify crimes with the names of virtues," to pillage the truth of language for illicit or perverse gain. And yet again it is woeful to abuse the mind by confounding the role of conscience, to disparage intuitions of moral reality, to impugn logical reasoning, and therefore to make a "pretend form" of knowledge.
The Holy Spirit states that the difference between good and evil, and of sin and righteousness, is as evident as the difference between the most obvious of contrary qualities discovered by the senses, such as the benefit of light over darkness and of seeing over being blind.... Throughout the Scriptures, "darkness" symbolizes ignorance, error, deception, and crime, whereas "light" connotes truth, knowledge, and heartfelt piety. Likewise bitterness is associated with evil and sin: "Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter (רַע וָמָר) that you have forsaken the LORD your God, and that the fear of Me is not in you (וְלֹא פַחְדָּתִי אֵלַיִךְ)," declares the Lord GOD of hosts" (Jer. 2:19; see also Jer. 4:18), just as sweetness is associated with goodness and righteousness: "How sweet are Your words to my taste! Sweeter than honey to my mouth" (Psalm 119:103); "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the person who trusts in Him" (Psalm 34:8). The commandments of God are more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb; moreover by them is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward" (Psalm 19:10-11).
Alas, the majority of people in every generation love darkness more than light, as our Lord attested: "This is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, but people love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. For every one that does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his deeds would be exposed. But the person who does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they done by God's power" (John 3:19-21). In this connection Charles Elliot wrote: "Deliberate perversion is in all ages the ultimate outcome of the spirit that knows not God, and therefore neither fears nor loves Him, whether it shows itself in the license of profligacy, or the diplomacy of Machiavellian statesmen, or the speculations of the worshipers of mammon."
We are given "exceedingly great and precious promises," yet in this world we suffer and experience real pain, heartache, and troubles. Yeshua said "in this world you will have tribulation," though that is not the end of the story, of course, for there is the cheer of God's' victory, even if we must repeatedly ask God for grace to endure our troubles without murmuring or kvetching (John 16:33; Heb. 4:16). I realize that is often difficult, and some of you might be within the fiery furnace even now. You might be asking, "Where are you, Lord, in all of this? Why don't you bring me out of these troubles?" In such testing you need endurance (ὑπομονή) to hold on to hope, believing that God uses affliction to refine you for good. As Paul said, "We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces refined character, and refined character produces hope" (Rom. 5:3-4). Each of us is still upon the "Potter's wheel," and God's hand continues to shape us into vessels that one day will reveal his glory and honor. "The LORD will give strength to his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace" (Psalm 29:11).
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 29:11 reading (click):
Let's keep holding on, friends, and never give up. Though these are indeed perilous times, the Lord our God is faithful and true. He will never leave nor forsake us, whatever may come. The Lord gives us acharit ve'tikvah (אַחֲרִית וְתִקְוָה), "a future and a hope" (Jer. 29:11).
Kaddish and Providence...
"Here is a fundamental difference between the man of faith and the man of unbelief. The unbeliever is 'of the world', judges everything by worldly standards, views life from the standpoint of time and sense, and weighs everything in the balances of his own carnal making. But the man of faith brings in God, looks at everything from His standpoint, estimates values by spiritual standards, and views life in the light of eternity. Doing this, he receives whatever comes as from the hand of God. Doing this, his heart is calm in the midst of the storm. Doing this, he rejoices in hope of the glory of God." - Arthur W. Pink
04.15.26 (Nisan 28, 5786) Since we are required to both affirm and to trust that "all things work together for good" (Rom. 8:28), we must bless God for perceived evil as well as for perceived good, since all circumstances of life come from the hand of the LORD our God (Job 2:10). Despite appearances that sometimes seem to the contrary, we believe that the all-powerful, supreme LORD has not abandoned the world but actively sustains and upholds it with benevolent intent (Heb. 1:3). "We walk by faith and not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7). When bad things happen to the righteous, we trust in God's personal care for their ultimate good, despite their present troubles. As the prophet Job said: "Though he slay me, I will trust in Him" (Job 13:15). This is the heart behind the Kaddish, the mourner's prayer, that expresses acceptance of God's world, despite the pain, sorrow, loss, and so on.
I've mentioned before that the term hashgachah pratit (השׁגחה פרטית) refers to God's personal supervision of our lives (hashgachah means "supervision," and pratit means "individual" or "particular"). Since He is the Master of the Universe, God's supervision reaches to the smallest of details of creation - from subatomic particles to the great motions of the cosmos. God not only calls each star by its own name (Psalm 147:4), but knows each particular lily and sparrow (Matt. 6:28-30, 10:29). Each person created in the likeness of God is therefore under the direct, personal supervision of God Himself -- whether that soul is conscious of that fact or not. As Yeshua said, even the hairs on your head are all numbered (Matt. 10:30). Indeed, the God of Israel is called אלהי הרוּחת לכל־בּשׂר / Elohei ha-ruchot lekhol-basar: "The God of the spirits of all flesh" (Num. 16:22), and that means He is LORD even over those who vainly attempt to suppress His Presence and reality. "Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth?" (Jer. 23:24).
The Talmud says that when Moses asked God, "Please show me your glory" (Exod. 33:18), he was asking for God's vindication in the light of the gnawing question: "Why do the righteous suffer while the wicked prosper?" Moses was not given an explicit answer, and some of the sages said he wrote the enigmatic Book of Job to demonstrate that the question can only be reduced to God's inscrutable will: "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?" (Job 38:4). In other words, the question can only be answered by the One who knows the beginning from the end, the Infinite One who sees the implications and concatenation of all things. As finite beings, we see only a fraction of the big picture, and therefore we must yield our trust to the Wisdom and Power of Almighty God (Deut. 32:4).
It is written, "Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb; in your scroll everything was written, my days were ordained before they came into existence" (Psalm 139:16). In light of God's providential ordering of our lives, Blaise Pascal asked, "What is left for us but to unite our will to that of God himself, to will in him, with him, and for him the thing that he has eternally willed in us and for us." The Mishnah says it this way: "Do His will as if it was your will that He may do your will as if it was His will" (Avot 2:4). In other words, what else can we do but learn to trust, accept, and to say "yes" to life -- even if at times we may feel like orphans, lost in a fatherless world... All our days are recorded in God's scroll.
Hebrew Lesson:
Psalm 139:16b reading (click):
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There is a dark temptation to refuse to accept God's sovereign will, which includes objecting to his "tolerance" of evil (for a season) until his greater plan for the redemption is fully manifest... We need to be careful lest we become hardhearted, bitter, and despair over the purpose for life - like Ivan in The Brother's Karamazov (Dostoevsky) who, though he intellectually gave assent to God's providential plan, refused to accept it because of the unspeakable cruelty and senseless suffering he saw in the world. His disillusionment moved him to say to his sincerely devout brother: "It's not God that I don't accept, Alyosha, only I most respectfully return him the ticket." How tragic that the heart can turn away from God because the present moment seems incomprehensible and broken.... How many people have so despaired when, if they had but held on for awhile longer, they may have received solace and comfort... For me it helps to remain humble, to confess my ignorance of much, and to "remember the future" wherein glory and beauty will be soon be revealed (Psalm 31:19).
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 31:19a reading (click):
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For more on this, see the meditation entitled "Paradox and Presence.
The Yoke of Messiah...
"And now brothers, I will ask you a terrible question, and God knows I ask it also of myself. Is the truth beyond all truths, beyond the stars, just this: that to live without him is the real death, that to die with him the only life?" - Buechner
04.14.26 (Nisan 27, 5786) What is the goal of our relationship with God? What is the point? Is it some form of escapism from the suffering we all experience? Is it as Karl Marx cynically said nothing but the "opiate" of the masses ("hopium") intended to insulate people from the dreadful truth of their mortal and ultimately hopeless condition? Or is it rather the most radical and fundamental need of the human heart, the very reason for our existence, and the ultimate truth for which we are willing to give up our lives and die?
Yeshua taught that the purpose of a relationship with God was to receive divine life by knowing the truth of God revealed in him. He said to his disciples: "This is eternal life (חַיֵּי עוֹלָם) that they may know you the only true God, and Yeshua the Messiah whom you have sent" (John 17:3). Knowing God in this way means understanding his heart and character, and learning to become "mature" (i.e., τέλειον, "complete, whole, finished") through your union with the Messiah (Col. 1:28; Eph. 4:13). Practically speaking we "put on" a new spiritual nature (our "new self") which is created after the likeness of God (כִּדְמוּת אֱלהִים) in true righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:24). We know and believe who we are as God's beloved children (Rom. 8:29). This is a matter of faith, indeed, but it is also a matter of the will. We must line up our attitudes and emotions in light of the truth of reality...
Immature emotions are out of alignment with what is real, evidencing disordered affections based on illusions. "Putting away childish things" (1 Cor. 13:11) means surrendering or letting die (καταργέω) self-centered emotions and desires, letting go of self-pity or bitterness, and refusing to blame others. Spiritual maturity implies humility, denying yourself, a word that means to stop thinking about yourself (from α-, "not," +ῥέω, "to speak"), and living the truth by sharing God's redemptive vision and mission for others. We must be careful, however, not to drift away, since it is possible to "forget" the truth that once guided our way; and it is possible to become dull of hearing, shortsighted, and to stop growing in relationship with God (Heb. 2:1). Spiritual truth is not merely intellectual but existential: we must earnestly pursue (διώκω) our heavenly calling (Phil 3:14) and this requires the daily and ongoing decision to live before the LORD our God (Psalm 16:8). The invitation to "choose this day whom you will serve" (Josh. 24:15) implies that is your choice - and your responsibility - to draw near to God (James 4:8). We can do this by studying and memorizing Scripture, meditating, praying, and sharing our hope with others. Above all we must ask God for the gift of the Holy Spirit to "bear us up into maturity" (i.e., ἐπὶ τὴν τελειότητα φερώμεθα, Heb 6:1) so that we may learn from our Master who calls us to be joined to his yoke and learn from him (Matt. 11:29).
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 116:7 reading (click for audio):
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Note: A "yoke" is a wooden crosspiece fastened over the necks of two animals that joins them together. Yokes are typically used to train one animal in the work of plowing or pulling a cart or as a way to team animals together for more efficient work. When Yeshua says "take my yoke (i.e., עוֹל / ζυγός) upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matt. 11:29), the metaphor implies that you will be joined or connected together with him to help cultivate the kingdom of God. Yeshua's yoke, however, is not like the yoke of various forms of "religion" that lead to slavery, but the source of a fruitful life that produces love, joy, and peace....
Cleansing of the Leper...
04.14.26 (Nisan 27, 5786) In our Torah reading this week we learn that while the priest needed to go "outside the camp" to examine a metzora (i.e., "leper"), the afflicted person still needed to come to the priest to meet him there (Lev. 14:2-3). In other words, the afflicted one was required to meet the priest "half-way." Hashivenu (הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ): "Return us to You, LORD, and we shall return" (Lam. 5:21). Like the prodigal son who returns home, God waits for us at the "edge" of the camp to meet us half-way...
The case of the metzora reveals that God sometimes disciplines his child with "exile" in order to awaken teshuvah within the heart. God imparted the spiritual disease of tzara'at to "remind" us of our sin and need for atonement, and the purification ritual was meant to illustrate our need for spiritual rebirth.... The gracious aim of affliction, then, is to "wake us from our slumbers" in order to reveal the way of life... As C.S. Lewis once said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."
A student once asked his rebbe: "Do we get punished for our sins in this world?" His succinct response was, "Only if we are made fortunate..."Indeed, correction from God is a blessing in disguise, since there is no worse state in this life than to be untouched by need, suffering and testing; there is nothing more dreadful than to be forgotten or overlooked by God (Rom. 1:28). God is teaching you through your failures; he is training you to persevere, to endure, and to become strong. As it is written, "If you are left without discipline (i.e., musar: מוּסָר), then you are illegitimate children and not sons" (Heb. 12:8). Being afflicted with "tzara'at" is a blessed state, since it reveals the nature of our lethal disease - and leads us back to the "edge of the camp" where God gives us healing....
As I have mentioned before, Jewish tradition links tzara'at with the sin of lashon hara, suggesting that the word metzora itself is a "play" on the Hebrew phrase, motzi ra: "one who brings forth [speaks] evil." Mavet v'chaim be'yad lashon (מָוֶת וְחַיִּים בְּיַד־לָשׁוֹן) - "Death and life and in the power of the tongue" (Prov. 18:21). Because we are made in the image and likeness of God, our words matter -- and they wield power. Indeed, the Hebrew word for "word" (דָּבָר) also means "thing." When we bless others, we are invoking grace and good will to be manifest in the world, but when we curse others, the opposite effect is intended... There is a connection here with the case of the metzora, whose fate rested upon a single word spoken by the priest: "unclean" (טָמֵא) or "clean" (טָהֵר). (For more on this subject, see "Teshuvah of the Tongue").
Yeshua soberly warned us, "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account (ἀποδίδωμι) for every careless word they speak (i.e., πᾶν ῥῆμα ἀργόν, all "empty" or "thoughtless" words), for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matt. 12:36-37). Every word we utter reaches up to the highest places of heaven and echoes there. The sages say, "my words - not a soul knows." But the Holy One, blessed be He, says, "I am sending an angel who will stand near you and record every word you say about your neighbor." Every word we speak is recorded in the "heavenly scrolls" (Rev. 20:12). Therefore David admonishes us, "Who desires life (מִי־הָאִישׁ הֶחָפֵץ חַיִּים) and loves many days that bring forth good? Guard your tongue from evil and keep your lips from using deceptive speech. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it" (Psalm 34:13-14). Notice the connection between our words and our deeds here, which again suggests the connection between "words" and "things" (i.e., devarim: דְּבָרִים). It is very sobering to realize that our thoughts are essentially prayers being offered up to God... As David also said (Psalm 35:13): "May what I prayed for happen to me!" (literally, tefillati al-cheki tashuv - "may it return upon my own breast").
Because the metzora was put into exile because of his sinful thinking (i.e., words), so he came back to the "edge of the camp" only with words... This first step back was crucial, as the prophet later said, "Take with you words and return to the LORD. Say to Him, "Take away all our iniquity and receive us for good, so shall we render the sacrifice of our lips" (Hos. 14:2). When we sincerely return to the LORD, He will take care of the problem of our impurity, uncleanness, and sin. That's the message of the Cross of Yeshua, too. We can add nothing to His finished work but simply accept it as performed on our behalf through faith...
Hebrew Lesson
Hosea 14:2 reading (click for audio):
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The love of God is so great that He reached out and touched us - becoming a "leper" for us - and even chose to die "in exile" upon the cross to eternally purify us from our sins... In that sense, Yeshua surely meets us more than "half-way," since He "emptied Himself" (κενόω) of His heavenly glory and power in order to willingly bear our sickness, shame, and even death itself on our behalf... "But [He] made himself nothing (εκενωσεν), taking the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men; and being found in human form, he brought himself low by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Phil 2:7-8).
May His Name forever be praised!
Priests and Lepers...
04.13.26 (Nisan 26, 5786) In our Torah portion for this week (Tazria) we read: "When a person (i.e., adam: אָדָם) has on the skin of his body a swelling (שְׂאֵת) or a scab (סַפַּחַת) or a bright spot (בְּהֶרֶת)... he shall be brought to the priest" (Lev. 13:2). Here the sages note three common afflictions that befall the "children of Adam," namely, 1) swelling (i.e., שְׂאֵת), representing arrogance; 2) scabs (סַפַּחַת), representing worldly vanity (from a root (סָפַח) that means to "join together"); and 3) bright spots such as moles or macula (i.e., בַּהֶרֶת), from a root (בָּהָר) meaning to enlighten, representing carnal reasoning to regard the ways of God.
When we see only the affliction, we must go to the priest – to one who helps mediate the Divine Presence – to see how deep the affliction is and what its root might be... Symbolically, since we are all priests to one another (see Exod. 19:6; 1 Pet. 2:5,9; Rev. 1:6), we share our afflictions with one another, allowing ourselves to be seen, and to confess our need for healing. "Therefore, disclose (ἐξομολογέω, lit. 'confess out') your sins to one another and pray (εὔχομαι) for one another, that you may be healed..." (James 5:16).
Followers of Yeshua are intended by God to be healers (Luke 9:1). The most common word for healing in the New Testament is therapeuo (θεραπεύω), a word that means to serve, to care for, and to restore to health. Unlike some ministers who draw crowds to demonstrate the power of miraculous "faith healing," true spiritual healers take the time to listen to others, to hear their inward pain, and to extend compassion and grace to them. They help open the inner eyes of the heart by extending hope and a new vision about what is real... Indeed, lasting healing focuses less on being cured than on finding hope that will never die.
Hebrew Lesson:
Psalm 103:3 reading (click for audio):
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Monday April 13th at sundown
Holocaust Remembrance Day...
04.13.26 (Nisan 26, 5786) Yom HaShoah, or "Holocaust Remembrance Day," marks Israel's time of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews -- including over a million children -- who perished as a result of the actions carried out by Nazi Germany and its accomplices. It was inaugurated in 1953 and is annually observed on (or about) the 27th day of the month of Nisan, just a few days after Passover Week in the spring. In stark contrast to the celebration of freedom commemorated during Passover, Yom HaShoah commemorates a very difficult time when we revisit specters of systemic evil and again ask haunting questions about the power and presence of malevolence in our world. Often we are left speechless over the cruelty and depravity of human beings. It all seems so inexplicable, so needlessly horrible, so senseless, so vile... We may feel powerless, despondent, or full of indignation, but still we ask ourselves, how could this have happened? How was all of this possible?
Simply put, the Holocaust was the result of cowardice and self-deception... The systematic, institutionalized, and "politically correct" genocide of the Jewish people was made possible solely because so many others - including nominal "Christians" - forfeited their God-given responsibility to live as authentic individuals by passively surrendering their will to "the crowd." But giving up your identity to join a gang inevitably leads to fragmentation of the soul, potentially inviting in a "legion of demons..." Regardless of whether it's a gang of thugs running an inner city neighborhood, or the pressure to keep quiet over ethical misconduct at your place of work, or the desire to feel "approved" as a good citizen of the state, or even the pressure to conform to a particular religious group, in either case, "losing yourself" in the midst of the crowd is an evasion, a cop-out, and a desecration of the image of God within you. Indeed following the crowd is a form of slavery where you surrender your freedom for the sake of a supposed sense of security... You become self-deceived because you no longer "own" yourself but became the ward of "another." Becoming a member of a crowd makes you into a copy or similitude, a shadow rather than a person of substance.
We must never forget what happened to the Jewish people under Hitler; we must resolutely say "never again" (i.e., le'olam lo od: לעולם לא עוד) to such atrocities. The Holocaust was made possible because people timidly refused to stand apart from the group to serve as bold witnesses of the truth. And the great risk of our age is the revival of political fascism that attempts to again control, disarm, and violate people's freedom all for the supposed "greater good" of the "state." We must remember that silence in the face of evil is itself evil: "First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me" (Martin Niemöller).
This year Yom HaShoah, or "Holocaust Remembrance Day, begins Monday, April 13th (at sundown) and runs through Tuesday, April 14th until sundown.
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 122:6 reading (click):
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As atrocious and appalling as the European Holocaust was for the Jewish people, we would be remiss not to mention the current persecution of Israel and the Jewish people by Hamas ("Islamic Resistance Movement"), by Hezbollah, by the Islamic Republic of Iran, by the Palestinian Authority (the old PLO), and the various anti-Jewish groups and advocates around the world. Israel is truly surrounded by enemies...
And we should also remember the earlier genocide of Christians -- mostly Armenians but also Assyrians and Greeks -- that took place under the Islamic Ottoman Empire, throughout World War I, where the Turks systematically massacred approximately 1.5 million Armenians, 300,000 Assyrians, and 750,000 Greeks. Indeed April 24th is recognized (by some) as "Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day." In Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, hundreds of thousands of people walk to the Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial to lay flowers at the eternal flame.
Finally, Christians are also under worldwide persecution and oppression as well. According to the Cato Report, today -- at this time in history -- Christians are the single most persecuted religious group in the world (and that does not include the persecution of Christians in many "democratic" countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other countries of western and eastern Europe).
Yom HaShoah Podcast...
Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Memorial Day, begins Monday April 13th at sundown and runs through the following day until sundown...
04.13.26 (Nisan 26, 5786) Shalom chaverim. I made an audio podcast for Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day (see the link below). In it I discuss some of the philosophical influences that led to the atrocities of the attempted genocide of the Jewish people, including the rise of the wild-eyed idealism of G.W. Hegel and the invidious concept of the "dialectic" that was used to negate the value of the individual in preference to the collective.... Hegel directly influenced Karl Marx and his godless materialism and social revolutionary theories, and in general it may be said that German idealism led both to the nihilism of Friedrich Nietzsche and eventually to the barbarity of Adolf Hitler's national socialism. Though the subject matter is a bit philosophical, I nevertheless hope you will find it helpful.
Parashat Tazria-Metzora...
04.12.26 (Nisan 25, 5786) Shavuah tov, chaverim. In addition to Yom HaShoah observance this week we have a "double portion" of Torah, both parashat Tazria (Lev. 12:1-13:59) as well as parashat Metzora (Lev. 14:1-15:33), both of which focus on the concept of being "clean" (i.e., tahor: טָהוֹר) and purified from a state of "uncleanness" (i.e, tamei: טָמֵא).
The first reading, Tazria (תזריה) continues the discussion of the laws of "purity" and "impurity" that were introduced earlier with parashat Tzav. A woman who has just given birth is regarded as a niddah (a menstruent woman) and is considered "impure" (tamei) regarding the sanctuary for 40 days (if it is a boy) or 80 days (if it is a girl). On the eighth day of life a boy must be circumcised. After the mother's "period of ritual impurity" had ended, she was required to bring a yearling sheep as a burnt offering and a dove for a sin offering (if she is poor, two doves sufficed for both offerings).
The portion goes on to describe certain afflictions, collectively called tzara'at (צרעת) that cause the affected person (or thing) to be both ritually impure (i.e. tamei: טָמֵא) and in a state of uncleanness (i.e., tumah: טומאה). Note that tzara'at is not to be identified with "leprosy" (as some translations claim), since the symptoms of tzara'at included not just the afflicted person's skin, but sometimes his clothes, pottery vessels, and even his house.
When applied to people, tzara'at indicates a sort of a spiritual sickness (i.e., yisur: יסור) that could only be diagnosed by a kohen (priest). If white or pink patches appeared on a person's skin, the afflicted person was required to contact a kohen for an examination. If the priest detected 1) two hairs that had turned white within the spot, or 2) a piece of healthy skin in the middle of the spot, he was declared a "metzora" (מצורע) and was required to do undergo prescribed treatment; otherwise he was declared tahor (clean).
On the other hand, if the priest suspected tzara'at but was somewhat unsure, the supposed metzora was quarantined and required to perform teshuvah (repentance). If a second evaluation indicated that the spot(s) had grown larger in size, however, the person was declared tamei (unclean) and was subject to the restrictions for the metzora.
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Once someone was diagnosed as metzora, they were forced to leave the community and to live in a state of exile. He or she had to tear their clothes like a mourner, put a shroud over their face (descending to the upper lip) and remain alone. If anyone came near, the metzora was required to cry out: "Unclean! Stay away! Do not become impure because of me!" (no one was permitted to come within eight feet of the metzora). While so isolated, the person would have opportunity to perform teshuvah and seek spiritual "rebirth" (as described in the following Torah portion, parashat Metzora).
In our second portion this week (i.e., Metzora: מצורע), we learn about the laws for cleansing metzoraim. If the person suffering from tzara'at had apparently been healed, he or she would call for the priest to be officially reexamined. If the priest saw no sign of tumah (uncleanness), a second examination was scheduled a week later, and if the metzora was free from any sign of the disease, the process of tahara (purification) would begin.
The purification process was somewhat elaborate: After the second examination, the priest required that the metzora bring the following items for his cleansing:
- An earthenware bowl filled with spring water (mayim chayim)
- Two birds of the same type (whether turtledoves or pigeons)
- A stick of cedar wood
- A hyssop branch
- A scarlet thread
The priest then instructed that one of the birds would be slaughtered over the earthen bowl filled with fresh water, with its blood mixing with the water. The living bird, the piece of cedar, and the hyssop branch were then tied together using the scarlet thread, and the entire bundle was dipped into the earthen bowl. The blood and water mixture was then sprinkled seven times on the healed metzora, and the living bird was then set free.
Next, the afflicted person washed his or her clothes, shaved off all their hair (including the eyebrows), and bathed in a mikveh (ritual pool for cleansing). After that he or she could return to the camp - but not to his home for another seven days. On the eighth day the person would bathe again and offer several offerings (a chatat, an asham, an olah, and a minchah), but the blood from the asham (guilt) offering was mixed with oil and applied to his earlobe, thumb and foot, similar to the blood applied to the priests during their ordination. Oil from a meal offering was sprinkled seven times in the direction of the Sanctuary. Only after all this was the metzora pronounced tahor (clean) by the priest. The life of uncleanness would be over, and the healed person would be like a one who was brought back from the dead to new life.
This purification ritual corresponded with other rituals revealed in the Torah. The sprinkling of the hyssop by the priest recalled both the blood of the Passover lamb and the sprinkling of the ashes of the Red Heifer that cleanse from contact with death; the offering made of the two birds - one which was sacrificed and the other set free - recalled the scapegoat of the Yom Kippur ritual. The washing of garments, the shaving of all hair, and the immersion in a mikveh recalled the birth of the Jewish people at the Sea of Reeds. The blood of the guilt offering applied to the earlobe, thumb and foot, recalled the dedication of Aaron and his sons as the priests of Israel (Lev. 14:14). In other words, the individual purification process mirrored the purification of the community of Israel, and healing ultimately meant being reidentified as a redeemed child of God. In a very literal sense, then, we see how the metzora was "reborn" by water and by the blood (John 3:5; 19:34; Heb. 9:19).
Strength for the Weary...
04.10.26 (Nisan 23, 5786) In connection with our Torah portion for this week (i.e., Shemini) the sages ask, "Why does the Torah use 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....
There is a story (told in the midrash) that illustrates the idea: An old sage once saw a beautifully shaped rock which he very much wanted to bring as a gift to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. However, the rock was too heavy for him to carry and he couldn't afford to pay porters to bring it to Jerusalem. The man prayed and asked God for help, and soon five angels (disguised as men) appeared to offer the man help. The sage told them that he would like them to carry the stone to Jerusalem, but he couldn't pay them. The five angels immediately offered to carry the rock on his behalf, but only if the man put his finger to the rock to "help" them carry it. The midrash states that although the angels didn't need man's help, the man was required to do what he could.... God then took care of the rest.
In this connection, the Dubner Maggid once told this parable: A tourist once checked into a hotel and asked the porter to bring his suitcase to the top floor, where he had rented a room. After an hour or so the porter knocked on his door and brought in the suitcase, sweating and breathing heavily. "What did you put into your suitcase, stones?", the porter asked, "it is extremely heavy!" The tourist looked at him in surprise: "My suitcase is heavy? Not at all! Mine is very light. You must have mistakenly brought up someone else's suitcase!"
Do you feel "weary" about serving the LORD? Then maybe you have "picked up" some other agenda along the way. The Lord says, "You have not worshiped Me .. that you should be weary of Me... (Isa. 43:22). In other words, serving the LORD leads to freedom and joy. Indeed, the NT Greek word for the word for "joy" (χαρά) is directly related to the word "grace" (χάρις). If you find yourself "weighed down" in your service of God, something may be wrong - and the burden you are carrying might be coming from a source other than God. Where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is liberty... God is not a "slave driver," and indeed the purpose of our redemption was to set us free to serve Him. Yeshua's burden is kal - "light."
People necessarily value things, and therefore every person alive is a "worshiper" (i.e., a person who finds "worth" in something). The question that matters is what is your ultimate concern? What moves you to get out of bed in the morning, to go through your day, to have hope in your heart? What do you really want? Where are you really going? Each of us will stand before God for judgment one day and give account of his or her life... One day all that is hidden will be fully disclosed to the light...
Where it says, "I can do all things through Messiah who strengthens me" (Phil 4:13), that includes being healed of the inner pain of your life: your failures, your shame, the ache of rejection, abandonment, and so on. It means being set free from disillusionment, despair, and the oppression of relentless fear. "I can do all things through Messiah" means no longer accepting messages of self-hatred and hopelessness, no longer heeding the malicious whispers that say: "I am of no value," "I am unlovable," "my life is hopeless." No! "I can do all things through Messiah" means learning to be accepted, honored, and esteemed by God; it means opening your heart to God's love and blessing for your life; it means allowing your heart to be made right, to have inner peace... After all, Yeshua's great prayer was that we would know the truth of God's love for us (John 17), and this is the central need our lives.
Of course sometimes we indeed become weary in life - from sickness, from the world and its oppression, from heartache of life in a fallen world, from the battle with the devil, and so on, though it is vital to remember there is consolation given to us in Messiah, and heavenly food is given to strengthen us (1 Kings 17:4-6). I believe the LORD allows oppression to sometimes chasten us -- that is, to help us remember Him and our profound need for His love to reign within our hearts... As long as that is not settled, there is an ongoing lesson.
"Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up" (Gal. 6:9). If you find yourself weary, chastened, and broken, then draw near to God, for he has promised to draw near to you: "Sanctify yourselves and you shall be holy."
Hebrew Lesson
Isaiah 40:29 reading (with comments):
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A Consuming Fire...
04.10.26 (Nisan 23, 5786) From our Torah portion this week (i.e., Shemini) we read: "Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered strange fire (אֵשׁ זָרָה) before the LORD, that He had not commanded them" (Lev. 10:1). The sages interpret "strange fire" (i.e., esh zarah: אֵשׁ זָרָה) as alien passion or illicit zeal stimulated by artificial means (in this case, drinking wine before their service). The experience of intoxication may seem to elevate the soul, but in reality it muddles the ability to discern spiritual realities: "Drink no wine or strong drink ... when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean" (Lev. 10:9-10).
Nadab and Abihu were highly honored in Israel, the first priests of God, and if they drank wine before entering the sanctuary it was surely not for crass purposes, but rather to "sanctify" their experience, or so they thought... They were severely judged, however, because they presumptuously sought to sanctify themselves by means of an artificial influence, and this made them "strange" before God. Likewise many people today seek "spiritual highs" and "signs" without undergoing the discipline of Torah study, prayer, meditation, and so on. God wants our hearts in service, but our hearts must be honest and soberly reverent before Him (1 Pet. 5:8; Eph. 5:15-18).
"Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron ... brought strange fire ... and they died before the LORD" (Lev. 10:1-2). It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God who is called esh okhlah, El kanna (אֵשׁ אכְלָה אֵל קַנָּא) - "a Consuming Fire, a jealous God (Deut. 4:24). Indeed, though atonement was provided under the law for every kind of sin and transgression, there was one exception: "But the soul that sins presumptuously (בְּיָד רָמָה) shall be out off from the midst of my people" (Num. 15:30). We must be careful not to casually regard God's truth with undue familiarity, lest we find ourselves under the influence of strange passions that lead to presumption....
Hebrew Lesson:
Deut. 4:24 Hebrew Reading:
Let us be sober and vigilant, friends. "Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come" (1 Cor. 10:11). It is astounding that during the very time that the Tabernacle was inaugurated, tragedy struck and Aaron's two sons were killed. This should warn those teachers who speak casually of God from the pulpit, since they act profanely and encroach upon the Divine Presence. Let us be admonished, friends and honor the Living God. As the sages have wisely said: Da lifne mi attah omed: "Know before Whom you stand!"
The metaphor that God is a Consuming Fire suggests that He is both indescribable and passionately concerned with our devotion to Him. "Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:28-29). We are promised a kingdom that cannot be shaken, wherein the Fire that consumes will consume all things that are not established by our Heavenly Father... "Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today..." (Deut. 4:39-40). May our lives on the altar ascend to God in praise.
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Returning to the Lord...
04.10.26 (Nisan 23, 5786) The Book of Lamentations is an acrostic (i.e., alphabetical) poem that begins with the Hebrew letter Aleph (א) in the word "eichah" (אֵיכָה), which also marks the Hebrew name of the book. It is begins: "How (eichah) lonely sits the city that once was full of people!" (Lam. 1:1). The sages note that this word "how" (i.e., eichah) could also be read as "where are you?" (i.e., ayeka: אַיֶּכָּה), God's first word spoken to Adam after he broke covenant in the Garden (Gen. 3:9).
Note that God's question is often our own: "Where are you? Where are you, God? Are you here, in the midst of this tedious moment? Do you know my loneliness, my ache for love? Do you understand the fears and troubles of my heart?" And yet how many people have faith that God's call is one of comfort and restoration? God uses our loneliness ("how lonely...") to search our hearts, asking each of us, ayeka – "Where are you?" Return to Me. "Why have you turned away from me and chosen a state of exile?" Our haunting sense of God's absence impels us to seek for him... God awaits our only possible response, "Hashivenu!" -- an imperative (urgent appeal) for the grace to repent: "Turn us back to yourself, O LORD, so that we may return to you; renew our days as of old" (Lam. 5:21).
Hebrew Lesson
Lamentations 5:21 Hebrew reading (click):
Our response to the questioning love of the LORD is called teshuvah ("turning [shuv] to God"). Teshuvah is an "answer" to a shelah (שְׁאֵלָה), or a question. God's love for us is the question, and our teshuvah – our turning of the heart toward Him – is the answer. As Jeremiah confessed in the hour of great trouble: "I called upon thy name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit; Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry. Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not" (Lam. 3:55-57).
The Wisdom of Life...
04.09.26 (Nisan 22, 5786) Let me ask you a searching question. Are you living today as you would wish you had lived when the time comes for you to die?
Regarding living for what matters most, Kierkegaard wrote: "The earthly minded person thinks and imagines that when he prays, the important thing, the thing he must concentrate upon, is that God should hear what he is praying for. And yet in the true, eternal sense it is just the reverse: the true relation in prayer is not when God hears what is prayed for, but when the person praying continues to pray until he is the one who hears, who hears what God is asking for" (Practice in Christianity). This "purity of heart" is the essence of the great Shema, that is, the call to listen to God and to inwardly accept that loving Him is the answer to all your prayers. "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the Lord alone, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your being..." (Deut. 6:4-5).
The prophet Daniel wrote of the end of days: "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever" (Dan. 12:2-3). The truly wise are those are esteemed righteous by faith in God's promise and who turn others to likewise partake of the blessing of divine life.
So are you consciously living a life of wisdom? Do you seek first what matters most of all? As King David prayed, "One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I will seek after: that I may abide in the presence of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord" (Psalm 27:4). One thing really matters, the hidden treasure, the pearl of great price...
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God gives who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him, but let him ask in faith, without doubting" (James 1:5-6). God knows how much we need his wisdom to live a life that truly matters. This wisdom is "from above," imparted by the Holy Spirit, enabling you to transcend the immediacy of worldly circumstance and to concentrate on what is abidingly significant. Though our outer self is wasting away, we are renewed by grace day by day, and the temporal affliction of being constrained by vanity is working within us an "eternal weight of glory" as "we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:16-18).
"For those whom God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers" (Rom. 8:29). God is working within you, transforming your heart and mind to know Him, even as you undergo refining fires. You are not an orphan in the final scheme of things: God is preparing you to dwell with him forever. "When this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal habitation made for us by God himself and not by human hands" (2 Cor. 5:1).
Meanwhile we press on in faith, keeping our focus by the radiance of His light. "I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved" (Psalm 16:8). By ourselves we are likened to "fragile clay jars" holding the great promise of God upon whom we entirely rely, knowing that the power to attain these things comes from God alone and not from ourselves (2 Cor. 4:7). The Holy Spirit attests that we are not alone; that we are never alone, for God Himself will never leave nor forsake us, and we therefore rejoice in anticipation of being with him soon in our heavenly home.
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 90:12 reading (click for audio):
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O Lord, teach us to die well. Reveal to us the great comforts of the gospel. Help us to step into eternity by surrendering our will and yielding ourselves completely to you, so that whether we live, we live unto you, and whether we die, we die unto you, and therefore whether we live or die we will forever belong to you...
Help us, then, to live in light of eternity, teaching us to number our days aright, so that we may attain a heart of wisdom. Help us to know your Torah, O LORD. Each of us is a cripple, hobbling through our days; each a terminal case, stricken and appointed to one day die. Sanctify our pains, our fears, and our sorrows, that they may draw our hearts closer to you. Help us prepare for the coming day by attending to what is most essential - the heavenly treasure of being in your presence. Amen.
Turn to God's Heart...
04.08.26 (Nisan 21, 5786) Turning to God in teshuvah, or "conversion," is not something you accomplish in your own strength or will. No, it is an act of grace wherein God touches you to make you alive (John 1:11-12). After all, how could it really be otherwise? From our perspective, teshuvah is a matter of trust - first trusting that God loves you and redeems you from the curse of your life, and second, that he will guide you by means of his spirit to know him. Sanctification, then, is the practice of attending to God's presence, seeking him in your heartache and in your hope, walking with him in your sorrows and in your joys....
Doubts may sometimes arise, however. You may hear questions within your soul asking where you are really going, or questions about the choices you have made. You may feel anxious or uncertain about your relationship to "God, the universe, and everything." When this occurs, you must again remember who you truly are. You must recall and reaffirm God's personal and covenantal love for you, even when you feel afraid or lost inside.
God's everlasting love in Yeshua is the foundation, the solid rock, and the place where you will find shelter. It is the very "ground of your being." God's heart is the place where you are never left nor forsaken, even if you have wandered into painful byways of regret, sinfulness, and loneliness. Like the prodigal son, when we "come to ourselves," when we remember who we really are and where we really belong, we will rediscover our Father's outstretched arms welcoming us back home (Luke 15:17-24).
Hebrew Lesson
Isaiah 41:13 Hebrew reading (click):
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The Torah of Aaron...
Consider that the very first High Priest of Israel was marked with the blood of sacrifice on his ear, hands, and feet and was anointed with oil in the sign of a cross upon his forehead... a clear picture of Yeshua as our ultimate High Priest...
04.08.26 (Nisan 21, 5786) Shalom friends. In this week's Torah (i.e., parashat Shemini), we read how Moses' brother Aaron was installed as Israel's first High Priest (Kohen ha-Gadol). Aaron was a great prophet of Israel. "Before I arose," said Moses, "my brother Aaron prophesied to Israel for eighty years" (Shemot Rabbah 3:16). While the Jews were enslaved in Egypt, he went about the people proclaiming that "the Holy One, blessed be He, would soon redeem Israel from bondage" (ibid. 5:10).
When the LORD's anger was kindled against Moses for his reluctance to lead Israel out of Egypt (Exod. 4:14), God told him, "I had said you would be priest and he [Aaron] a Levite; now, however, Aaron will be a priest and you a Levite" (Zevachim 102a). When the LORD later spoke to Moses in Midian, "Go, return to Egypt, for those who seek your life are dead" (Exod. 4:19) the utterance split into two voices. Moses heard "Go, return to Egypt" while Aaron heard, "Go into the wilderness to meet your brother Moses" (Exod. 4:27).
In Pirke Avot 1:12, Aaron is said to "have loved peace and pursed it; he loved people and drew them close to the Torah." Aaron was said never to interrupt his friend's words nor to accuse others of sin. He greeted all men with love and dan l'kaf zechut (דָן לְכַּף זְכוּת) - with the benefit of the doubt. He was a peacemaker, a humble teacher, and healer. Some of the sages have even gone so far as to say that Aaron was greater than Moses himself (Avot d'Rabbi Nosson). Rashi says that Aaron's attribute of being ohev shalom - a lover of peace - therefore qualified him to become Israel's first High Priest.
Aaron's middot ha-lev (qualities of heart) sometimes made him subject to abuse from others. Aaron's pursuit of peace (אוֹהֵב שָׁלוֹם וְרוֹדֵף שָׁלוֹם) caused him to conciliate the unruly mob's demand for an idol to lead them back to Egypt. Aaron had hoped to "buy some time," since he prophetically knew that Moses was returning later that very day from the summit of Sinai. Even though he had at his disposal the army of the Levites to deal with the mob using force, he turned away from the path of violence and temporized instead. Later, after Moses returned and smashed the luchot (tablets), Aaron realized that a terrible thing had come to Israel through his action, and he therefore underwent a period of teshuvah (repentance). "He tied a rope of iron around his waist and circulated throughout the camps of Israel teaching the people. To whoever did not know prayer he taught prayer, to whoever did not know "Keriat Shema" (how to recite the Shema), he taught Keriat Shema, to whoever did not understand the essence of Torah, he taught the essence of Torah" (Yalkut Shimoni).
As mentioned in the summary for Shemini, on each of the seven days of inauguration Moses anointed Aaron with holy oil. "He [Moses] disrobed him, washed him, anointed him between the eyes in the shape of a cross (the Greek letter Chi) with the oil of anointment, and then dressed him again. Moses repeated this for seven days, until the eighth day" (Midrash HaGadol, BaMidbar 7:1). After Aaron offered the sacrifices, however, the Shekhinah Presence (השכינה) did not appear immediately, and Aaron became frightened that his sins were still haunting him. According to the midrash Sifra, Aaron was tormented and thought the altar resembled the shape of an ox, which reminded him of the terrible sin of the Golden Calf, and his fear was preventing the revelation of God's love.
The classical commentator Rashi notes that Moses' commandment to his brother Aaron, "Draw near to the altar" (קְרַב אֶל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ) on the eighth day (Lev. 9:7), suggests that Aaron was still deeply ashamed over the Sin of the Calf. Though Aaron did not feel worthy to be the High Priest of Israel, Rashi states that Aaron was chosen precisely because of his shame. His reluctance and sense of utter unworthiness was the very reason why he was granted the role of Israel's High Priest. The service of God requires the death of the ego.
In similar measure, some of you might feel utterly unworthy of your high calling in the Messiah Yeshua. After all, you -- no less than Aaron -- are called to come before the Divine Presence and function as God's holy priests. But in similar measure, you -- no less than Aaron -- are unworthy for the role. Nonetheless the Lord has chosen you despite your weakness; you are beloved because of your lowly standing; you are made "pure in heart" because you realize your own inner nothingness and need before the Savior. Indeed, your brokenness is a gift that magnifies God's unending love and grace (see 1 Cor. 1:26-29).
Your avodah (service to the LORD) is one of the sacrifice of praise for the salvation God has bestowed upon you. "Through him [Yeshua] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name" (Heb. 13:15).
Sometimes our praise is offered while in a state of suffering, but "though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For our light and transient troubles are achieving for us an everlasting glory whose weight is beyond description. We concentrate not on what is seen but on what is not seen, since things seen are temporary, but things not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:16-18). As King David confessed: "It is for my good that I have been afflicted; so that I would learn your decrees" (Psalm 119:71).
On the other hand, As Soren Kierkegaard once said, "God punishes the ungodly simply by ignoring them. This is why they have success in the world the most frightful punishment, because in God s view this world is immersed in evil. But God sends suffering to those whom he loves, as assistance to enable them to become happy by loving him." Amen. "For what does it profit a man if he should gain the whole world but lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:36-37).
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 119:71 reading (click):
The Spirit of Humility...
04.07.26 (Nisan 20, 5786) During the season of Passover we are reminded that we are beloved yet broken people, and that errors and mistakes are part of our daily spiritual life... We journey toward the grace of humility and compassion rather than struggle for perfection; we confess our need for forgiveness and seek reconciliation with all those we might have harmed... During this season it is common enough to hear messages about our need to turn and draw near to God for life, but it is equally important to remember that God turns and draws near to the brokenhearted for consolation. As it is said, the Lord is near to the nishbar lev (נִשְׁבָּר לֵב), the one with a broken heart (Psalm 34:18).
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24). Brokenness is the means through which God performs some of His deepest work within our hearts. A.W. Tozer once said, "It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply." Likewise Alan Redpath once wrote, "When God wants to do an impossible task, he takes an impossible individual – and crushes him." William James called this deep work of the spiritual life Zerrissenheit, a term that roughly can be translated as "torn-to-pieces-hood," or a state of being utterly broken and in disarray... We are called to be living sacrifices; the brokenhearted live in day-to-day dependence upon God for the miracle.
"Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God." - Jonathan Edwards
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 51:17 Hebrew reading (click):
It is hard for the "rich" to enter the kingdom of God; it is hard for those who are self-satisfied, who regard themselves as moral, righteous, and who pray: "Thank you God that I am not like other men" (Luke 18:11). It is hard for those who are "rich" in anger, despair, and bitterness. Yeshua speaks to the "poor in spirit" and to those who mourn over their lost condition. Those who are blessed realize their great need for God's intervention in their lives. They understand that it is in brokenness that we find divine healing; it is in our weakness we find God's strength (2 Cor. 12:10).
The LORD is always near...
04.07.26 (Nisan 20, 5786) Sometimes we may feel overwhelmed in our lives. There's so much going on; troubles, uncertainties, and so on. The world seems out of control; disinformation and "mind games" are the substance of the "postmodern news." We've become alienated, distracted, and anxious; our emotions get the better of us, and we lapse into fearful thinking.... We are tempted to despair over our sins, our sufferings, and our ignorance.
At such times it is essential to redirect our attention by turning to God in "teshuvah" (תְשׁוּבָה) or "repentance." Teshuvah is our response to the question given by our present life circumstances. Deliberately seeking God's presence in the midst of our struggles is sometimes called "kavanah" (כַּוָנָה), a word that means "focus," "attention," or "concentration."
"When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him" (Isa. 59:19). Set your heart in trust before God and reaffirm that his presence is both with you and for you. Despite the apparent chaos, look up and find your bearings. When we turn to the Lord with all our heart — with "all-that-is-within me" earnestness — then he will guide us and make our paths straight, despite ourselves...
As it written in the Torah: "If from there you will seek the LORD your God, then you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deut. 4:29). The "there" mentioned in this pasuk (verse) is the "there" of where we find ourselves, in our exile, awaiting the completion of our redemption... In this context teshuvah means believing that concealed good is present, despite the adversities we face. Our LORD is always near...
Some people think they should turn to God for help only with their big problems but not with their everyday struggles and inner conflicts. This is a serious mistake. If God wants us to seek him be'khol levavkha -- "with all our heart," then understand that God wants all of us — and that includes our daily concerns, our missteps and sins, our sorrows and our joys. We turn to God in all that we are and in all that we do....
Yeshua taught us that the essence of Torah is mercy (Matt. 9:13; Matt. 23:23), and that God is close "in all our calling to Him" (Deut. 4:7), that is, in every appeal of our heart for Him. The Talmud says the central verse of Torah is "Know Him in all your ways" (Prov. 3:6), since by seeking the will of our heavenly Father, we attain the mitzvah (connection) of Torah.
The Hebrew word for trouble is "tzarah" (צָרָה), from the root idea of "constricting" or being bound (i.e., צָרַר). Indeed the land of Egypt, the house of slavery, is called mitzrayim (מִצְרַיִם), from a cognate root (צוּר) that means to "bind." This suggests that a narrow perspective is unable to understanding the "big picture." Of course it is impossible for us to fully fathom God's ways (Isa. 55:8), though we can rely on Him to lead us and to trust that our testing in this life is not in vain. That is why the sages remark that the Hebrew word lamah (לָמָה) "why?" also spells the word le'mah (לְמָה) meaning "for what?" In other words, instead of asking why afflictions befall you, ask how they may help you grow closer to God...
"Relax, nothing is in your control," though everything is in the hands of your Heavenly Father who is faithful and who has has promised to guide your way. Amen.
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 25:4 reading (click for audio):
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The Countdown to Pentocost...
04.06.26 (Nisan 19, 5786) In the Torah we are instructed to count forty nine days – seven weeks of days – from the day following Passover until the jubilee holiday of Shavuot (i.e., "Weeks" or "Pentecost"). This period of time is called Sefirat HaOmer (ספירות העומר), or the "counting the [barley] sheaves" (see Lev. 23:15-16; Deut. 16:9). In abstract terms, it's as if there is a dotted line pointing directly from Passover to Shavuot - a "Jubilee" of days - representing the climax of Passover itself:
![Spring Holiday Timeline (H4C]](../../About_HFC/Site_News/pesachline.gif) |
The early sages identified this jubillee that marks the seventh week of weeks to commemorated he revelation of the Torah at Sinai (which did happen exactly 49 days after the Passover in Egypt), however the New Testament identifies it with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (רוח הקודש) that ratified the reality of the New Covenant of God at Zion. The redemption process that began at Passover was therefore completed at Shavuot, and that "completion" was the revelation of God's love and deliverance for the entire world.
Moreover, although the Jewish sages did not fathom the use of the otherwise forbidden leaven in the offering (see Eph. 2:14). The countdown to Shavuot therefore goes beyond the giving of Torah at Sinai and points to the greater revelation of Zion. Shavuot is the fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Spirit's advent to those who are trusting in Messiah (Acts 2:1-4). "Counting the Omer," then, is about receiving the Holy Spirit to experience and know the resurrected LORD of Glory. You can "count" on that, chaverim!
In this connection it is important to understand that the climax of the 49 days was not the giving of the law at Sinai (i.e., matan Torah), but rather the revelation of the altar (i.e., the"Tabernacle") and its subsequent fulfillment in the sacrificial death of Yeshua as our Lamb of God. Moreover, it was during this time that Yeshua made His post-resurrection appearances to His disciples and indeed ascended to heaven during this period...
Of particular importance during this count down time are the following: 1) the beginning of the count of the omer since it signified the waving of the firstfruits and therefore the resurrection of Yeshua (1 Cor. 15:20); 2) the 40th day of the Omer (Mem B'Omer), when Yeshua ascended back to heaven, and 3) the climactic 49th day of the Omer (Shavuot) when the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples in fulfillment of the promise that we would not be left comfortless (Acts 2:1-4). It should be clear, then, that Shavuot marks the time of "Jubilee" of the Spirit, when we are clothed with power to serve the LORD without fear...
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Hebrew Lesson
Deuteronomy 16:9-10 reading:
"Pentecost Sunday?"
Most Christian traditions teach that Shavuot (i.e., "Pentecost") must fall on a Sunday, the "day after the Sabbath," which they assume must be the seventh Sunday after the Saturday of Passover Week, but the traditional Jewish sages understood the "day after the Sabbath" (i.e., מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת) not to refer to the weekly Sabbath, that is, to Saturday, but rather to the Sabbath of the Passover called "shabbat shabbaton" (שבת שבתון) which is the context of the commandment given in the Torah (Lev. 23:15). In other words, if we interpret "the day after the Sabbath" to refer to the Sabbath of the Passover, then the 49 day count would begin on Nisan 16, regardless of the day of the week that falls on the Jewish calendar, and therefore Pentecost would always occur 49 days later, on Sivan 6, again, regardless of the day of the week that happens to fall on the calendar.
For more information see the Hebrew for Christians Shavuot pages.
Made Whole by God's Love...
During Passover we read Shir Hashirim, the "Song of Songs," the amazing love story of a disguised Shepherd and his beloved... "Ani l'dodi, v'dodi li" - Song of Songs 2:16
04.06.26 (Nisan 19, 5786) In the Torah we read: "You shall be blameless with the LORD your God" (Deut. 18:13), which seems to suggest that we should be perfectionistic in our faith, and indeed some older Bible versions translated the Hebrew word tamim (תָּמִים) as "perfect" which once meant "to be thoroughly made," though in modern times means flawless, faultless, or ideal. Because of these connotations, it is better to translate the Hebrew word as "complete," "whole," or "sincere."
When God said to Abraham, "I am El Shaddai; walk before me and be tamim (Gen. 17:1), he was not saying "be perfect" or "don't ever make a mistake," but rather be fully engaged, that is, to walk before God passionately, sincerely, wholeheartedly (מכל הלב), and by doing so to "walk out" the relationship with full assurance that he is accepted and beloved by God. Likewise when Yeshua said "Be therefore perfect as your Father who is in heaven is perfect" (Matt. 5:48), he meant that we should be complete, finished, and "made whole" by knowing and receiving the overflowing love and light of God.
"You shall be wholehearted with the LORD your God" is therefore a mandate to know who you are, to know what is truly good as distinguished from what is evil, and to be united with God's passion to be healed from your inner conflicts and ambivalence (δίψυχος). We are made "whole" or "perfect" (i.e., complete) when we resolutely turn to God for healing of what divides our hearts, as it says: "The Torah of the LORD is perfect (תָּמִים), returning the soul" (Psalm 19:8). Understand the Torah's commandment, then: "You shall be tamim (i.e., whole and wholehearted) with the LORD your God," to be a prophecy of transformation for your life, friend... Amen. "Perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). And may you know "the love of Messiah that surpasses knowledge and be filled with all the fullness of God" (Eph. 3:19).
Hebrew Lesson
Deut. 18:13 Hebrew reading (click):
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This week's Torah:
Parashat Shemini - פרשת שמיני
04.05.26 (Nisan 18, 5786) This week's Torah reading (during the week of Passover this year) is parashat Shemini ("eighth"), which continues the account of the seven-day ordination ceremony for the priests (as described earlier in parashat Tzav). During each of these "seven days of consecration" Moses essentially served as the first High Priest of Israel by offering sacrifices and training Aaron and his sons (i.e., the kohanim or priests) regarding their various duties at the mishkan (i.e., "Tabernacle").
On the eighth day of the ceremony (i.e., Nisan 1) and just two weeks before the anniversary of the Passover, Aaron and his sons began their official responsibilities as Israel's priests. In the midst of the dedication, however, tragedy struck as Aaron's sons Nadav and Abihu took it upon themselves to make their own offering before the Holy of Holies of the tent. Since this was not the prescribed means of offering sacrifice, God considered the incense offered to be "strange fire" (i.e., esh zarah: אשׁ זרה) and both sons were tragically consumed by fire before the LORD (Heb. 10:29,31). Aaron was required to remain silent as his sons' bodies were removed by his cousins, and Moses then warned Aaron's two remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, not to mourn during this sacred occasion.
The portion includes a list of animals, birds, fish and insects permitted as food, which subsequently provided the framework for Jewish dietary law (i.e., kosher law). The Israelites were permitted to eat any mammal that has both a split hoof and chews its cud (Lev. 11:3). Likewise, only fish that have both scales and fins were to be regarded as kosher. A list of acceptable (i.e., non-predatory) birds was given, along with the commandment not to eat any insects unless they have a pair of jointed legs used for leaping. The dietary laws were intended to sanctify the Israelites by separating them for holiness: "For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy" (Lev. 11:44).
Providentially considered, the inauguration of the Sanctuary is directly connected with the Passover, since the daily sacrifice of the Lamb (i.e., korban tamid: קרבן תמיד) presented an ongoing memorial of the great Exodus from Egypt. Indeed, consider that the central sacrifice of the Mishkan (i.e., "Tabernacle") was that of a defect-free lamb offered every evening and morning upon the altar in the outer court, along with matzah and a wine offering, signifying the advent of the true Passover Lamb of God given sacrifice for us. This is called "God's Food" in the Torah (Exod. 29:38-42; Num. 28:4-10; John 1:29).
This changes everything!
The Resurrection of Yeshua...
"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he was buried and raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures." - 1 Cor. 15:3-4
04.03.26 (Nisan 16, 5786) The most important fact of all history - and that which radically transforms everything else - is the resurrection of Yeshua from the dead (תחייתו של משיח). Spiritual life means being awake to the risen reality and saving Presence of Yeshua, the One who Overcame and vanquished the power of death. Without Him we are hopeless; with Him we are more than conquerors (1 Cor. 15:14; Rom. 8:37).
The resurrection means Yeshua is forever alive, and that today he hears your heart's cry. He is surely able to help you, and nothing can overthrow his invincible will. Our Lord suffered and died for your peace and healing, but now death has no hold over him, and he "ever lives to make intercession for you" (Rom. 6:9, Heb. 7:25). He is your compassionate Advocate (παράκλητος, lit. "one called alongside") who gives you heavenly comfort (1 John 2:1).
The very power that raised Yeshua from the dead now dwells in you (Rom. 8:11). The miracle of new life is "Messiah in you - the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). The Lord will never leave you nor forsake you (Heb 13:5): He "sticks closer than a brother" (Prov. 18:24); He sustains your way, and he will perfect the work of salvation on your behalf (Jude 1:24). In short, there simply is no "gospel" message apart from the resurrection! The resurrection is the victory of God's plan of salvation - His everlasting vindication over the powers of darkness - for your life.
Everything turns on whether we awaken to the risen Reality
and Presence of Yeshua in our lives...
The Talmud says "All the world was created for the Messiah" (Sanhedrin 98b). The New Testament had earlier said the same thing: "All things were created by Him (i.e., Yeshua), and for Him" and in Him all things consist (συνεστηκεν, lit. "stick together") (Col. 1:16-17). Indeed, all of creation is being constantly upheld by the word of the Messiah's power (Heb. 1:3).
Creation begins and ends with the redemptive love of God as manifested in the Person of Yeshua our LORD... The Messiah is the Center of Creation - its beginning and end. As it is written: אָנכִי אָלֶף וְתָו רִאשׁוֹן וְאַחֲרוֹן ראשׁ וָסוֹף / "I am the 'Aleph' and the 'Tav,' the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End" (Rev. 22:13). "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen" (Rom. 11:36).
Yeshua is called מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים / Melech Malchei Hamelachim: The "King of kings of kings." He is LORD of all possible worlds -- from the highest celestial glory to the dust of death upon a cross. Yehi shem Adonai mevorakh (יְהִי שֵׁם יהוה מְברָךְ): "Let the Name of the LORD be blessed" forever and ever (Psalm 113:2). So while we can agree with the Talmud's general statement that the world was created "for the Messiah," we would insist that the name of the Messiah is none other than Yeshua, God's Son, and indeed, there is no other (Acts 4:12).
The heart of faith sees Elohei Yishi (אֱלהֵי יִשְׁעִי), the "God of my salvation," namely, the One who was and is and is to come (הַהוֶה וְהָיָה וְיָבוֹא) – the LORD our God Yeshua (Rev. 1:4;8; Isa. 41:4). The early Christian theologian Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) rendered Elohei Yishi as "God my Jesus," since "Jesus" (i.e., Yeshua) rightly means YHVH saves. Yeshua is the One who breathed life into the first Adam just as He is the One who breathes eternal life into those who are descended from Him, the great "second Adam."
Amen. He is alive, and we know this because of the testimony of Scripture, and because we also experience His glorious presence in our hearts. Shalom chaverim!
Hebrew Lesson:
Psalm 18:46 Hebrew reading:
Note: For more on this meditation, see the Techiyat Ha-Mashiach article...
Is Life Worth Living?
04.03.26 (Nisan 16, 5786) "To be, or not to be" is Hamlet's famous question regarding whether it is better to live or to die, debating the merits of enduring life's burdens despite the fear of the unknown in death:
"To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer; The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them, to die, to sleep: No more; and by a sleep, to say we end The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks That Flesh is heir to?" (Shakespeare: Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1).
The Scriptures address this question head on, and indeed, the central message of the entire Bible is that yes indeed, life is worth living, though this life is something very different than natural life with its various troubles in this fallen world... "Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward" (Job 5:7). To understand why we have true hope, read on.
The Talmud states that even after the great Flood (הַמַּבּוּל) humanity refused to truly turn back to God (as the present state of this world also attests). In light of the ongoing wickedness of mankind, the early sages Hillel and Shammai engaged in a protracted machlochet l'shem shamayim (מַחְלוֹקֶת לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, "a debate for the sake of heaven") regarding whether it would have been better for humans not to have been created at all... Hillel argued that it was better that humans had been created, whereas Shammai argued the other way. Finally a vote was called for and the decision rendered was this: It would have been better for humans not to have been created than to have been created. However, since we do in fact exist, we must search our past deeds and carefully examine what we are about to do (Eruvin 13b).
In his famous Gifford Lectures regarding the nature of religious belief, the American philosopher William James (1842-1910) described the consciousness of death as "the worm at the core" of all that we hope for in the attempt to find lasting happiness apart from God. He wrote: "Make the human being's sensitiveness a little greater, carry him a little farther over the misery-threshold, and the good quality of the successful moments themselves when they occur is spoiled and vitiated. All natural goods perish. Riches take wings; fame is a breath; love is a cheat; youth and health and pleasure vanish. Can things whose end is always dust and disappointment be the real goods which our souls require? Back of everything is the great specter of universal death, the all-encompassing blackness" (Varieties of Religious Experience).
These are sobering and chilling words, and yet the truth is that death is inevitable for us and therefore it constitutes the central question of our existence in this world. Pleasures, wealth, and worldly ambition do not satisfy us but are like chasing after the wind -- they are "havel havalim" (הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים), the utmost of vanities, as King Solomon said long before the French existentialists ever expressed the idea (Eccl 1:2). We live in a world of constant flux wherein ha'kol over (הכל עובר), "everything passes" and nothing abides. Our lives are as a vapor; our days are troubled and our aspirations fail: "My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass" (Psalm 102:11); "I am fading away like a shadow at the end of the day; I am shaken off like a locust" (Psalm 109:23); "What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field" (Isa. 40:6). "For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" (James 4:14).
"What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the Sun? I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; as the one dieth, so dieth the other; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. ... The dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love and their hatred and their envy is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in anything that is done under the Sun. ... Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the Sun: but if a man live many years and rejoice in them all, yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity." (from Ecclesiastes)
James concludes: "In short, life and its negation are beaten up inextricably together. But if the life be good, the negation of it must be bad. Yet the two are equally essential facts of existence; and all natural happiness thus seems infected with a contradiction. The breath of the sepulcher surrounds it." Such is the ambiguity and despair of the human condition.
Hebrew Lesson:
Ecclesiastes 1:2 Hebrew Reading (click):
In light of such harsh realities of our existence "under the sun," where can we find meaning? Where is hope? If all our dreams eventually turn to dust, where can we find substance, where can we find perpetuity, where can we find life? How can we reconcile our inner hunger for life with the transience and pain associated with our mortal coil? These sorts of questions prepare the heart for the message of the gospel, for the gospel message is always a message given to those who are broken in heart, to those in desperate need of healing.
Does all this imply that despair can be healing or curative? Yes, if it expresses the loss of our idolatrous ideals, visions, and dreams... It is hard to let go of old expectations, to give up cherished fantasies, and to find ourselves in a place of emptiness, but we must go through the desert before we can live the promise. We can only grow spiritually when we let go of our romance with the world, abandoning its vain idols, and awakening to the reality of the Divine Presence. We then can turn to God and learn to live in the moment, trusting him to help us through the temptations of the day. We all must walk through the "valley of the shadow of death" to find hope on its other side, and it is only by passing that way can we know the Name of God as the "I-AM-with-you-always" One.
Death is the central problem of life, and therefore to find a solution we must find something that has more power than death, something that can "untrue" death's lie and restore what was originally intended to be our divine inheritance. This is where the resurrection of Yeshua becomes the center of everything we believe as Christian people. The love of God is stronger than death, the mercy of God triumphs over his justice, and the sacrifice of Yeshua makes us right with all that is eternal, abiding, beautiful, and good.... Because Yeshua lives, we shall live also. The resurrection of Yeshua from the dead vindicates our salvation and secures for us eternal life. We are made alive together with Messiah and now live in an entirely different order of reality, free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 7:4, 8:2). God has "made us alive together with the Messiah" (συνεζῳοποίησεν τῷ χριστῷ) through the resurrection (Eph. 2:5; Col. 2:13). Our union (oneness) with the Messiah means that we are connected with Him in the spirit. "Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Messiah, so that you may belong to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God" (Rom. 7:4). We are "raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead" (Col. 2:12).
The resurrection foretells of the destiny and future glorification of the believer. "Because I live, you also shall live" (John 14:19). The resurrection ultimately restores us to a condition of eternal righteousness and innocence in olam haba, the world to come. It is therefore the ultimate expression of tikkun olam, the repair of the world, since even the creation "groans" and laments for the completion of salvation (Rom. 8:22). Creation is weeping for our future salvation! The Messiah's resurrection was the "firstfruits" of many that will likewise experience the glorified state (Rom. 8:23, 1 Cor. 15:20). "Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see him as He is" (1 John 3:2). The goal of salvation was to reconcile the world back to God in love. In the glorious end, יִהְיֶה הָאֱלהִים הַכּל בַּכּל / yihyeh ha-Elohim ha-kol bakol: "God will be all in all" (1 Cor. 15:28).
The resurrection of Yeshua (i.e., techiyat ha-Mashiach: תְּחִיַּת הַמָּשִׁיחַ) demonstrates that God is LORD over all. Only the Master of the Universe can resurrect the dead; only God Almighty can swallow up death in victory, and only Yeshua has conquered the grave (1 Cor. 15:54-55). Indeed, all other world religions were founded by people who are now decomposed in their graves. Yeshua's resurrection demonstrates that He is LORD and His word is truth (Matt. 24:35; Luke 21:33). We can find courage to face hardship and even death because we know that this world is merely a corridor to the world to come. The dead in Messiah will be resurrected, and those who remain and are alive at His coming will be changed and receive new, glorified bodies (1 Thess. 4:13-18). The resurrection guarantees that those who believe in Yeshua will likewise be resurrected to experience eternal life.
Finally, the resurrection of Yeshua means that He is present for you right now. He is not indifferent to your suffering or "too busy" to be bothered by your struggles. On the contrary, He is "sympathetic to our weaknesses" (συμπαθῆσαι ταῖς ἀσθενείαις ἡμῶν) and will help us through the trials (nisayonot) of life (Heb. 4:15). We therefore can come boldly before Him to find grace (χάρις) for our need (Heb. 4:16). Note that the word translated "boldly" in this verse (παρρησίας) means that we can speak freely to God from the center of our hearts -- without fear or shame. Our Savior knows who we are and we do not need to affect an outward show of righteousness in order to obtain His help... The Lord draws near enough to touch us when we draw near to Him (James 4:8). Only a risen and loving Savior can help you through the pain, frailties and temptations of this life; and only living Lord can fill our lives with meaning and purpose so that we are made more than conquerors by means of his great love. Our life in the Lord is never in vain, chaverim....
The most important fact of history, and that which radically transforms everything else - is the resurrection of Yeshua from the dead. Spiritual life means being awake to the risen reality and saving Presence of Yeshua, the One who Overcame and vanquished the power of death. Without Him we are hopeless; with Him we are more than conquerors (1 Cor. 15:14; Rom. 8:37). The resurrection means Yeshua is forever alive, and that today he hears your heart's cry. He is surely able to help you, and nothing can overthrow his invincible will. Our Lord suffered and died for your inner peace and healing, but now death has no hold over him, and he "ever lives to make intercession for you" (Rom. 6:9, Heb. 7:25). He is your compassionate Advocate (παράκλητος, lit. "one called alongside") who gives you heavenly comfort (1 John 2:1). Even more: The very power that raised Yeshua from the dead now dwells in you (Rom. 8:11). The miracle of new life is "Messiah in you - the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). The Lord will never leave you nor forsake you (Heb 13:5): He "sticks closer than a brother" (Prov. 18:24); He sustains your way, and he will perfect the work of salvation on your behalf (Jude 1:24). In short, there simply is no "gospel" message apart from the resurrection! The resurrection is the victory of God salvation - His everlasting vindication over the powers of darkness - for your life.
Hebrew Lesson:
Psalm 118:17 Hebrew reading (click):
We are always asking "To be or not to be?" and our decision shows up in the prosaic moments of our days. Vanity has an end, chaverim, and this end affects the entire universe. The prophetic future holds hope that salvation will be literally cosmic in its sweep: "For the creation was subjected to vanity (לַהֶבֶל) not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God" (Rom. 8:20-21). May that day soon come for us, friends!
יְהִי שֵׁם יְהוָה מְברָךְ - Yehi Shem Adonai mevorakh: "Blessed be the Name of the Lord."
The Third Day of Passover...
Yeshua was raised on the third day after his crucifixion, which coincides with Yom Bikkurim, or the Feast of Firstfruits, which is the third day of Passover (Nisan 17).
04.02.26 (Nisan 16, 5786) Every year I get asked when the resurrection of Yeshua likely occurred in relation to the date of Passover. The reason for the confusion, I think, is that the Jewish calendar is different than the secular calendar, and the date for Passover is not fixed in relation to it. To get an understanding of the issues, we must first keep in mind that the biblical "Day" (capitalized) begins at nightfall, which may seem a bit counter-intuitive. This is based on the Torah's definition of a day as the time between "evening and the morning" (עֶרֶב וָבֹקְר) repeatedly used in the account of the creation. Hence we speak of Passover as occurring just after nightfall of Nisan 15, and continuing through the night and throughout the day until the following nightfall, which then becomes Nisan 16. Remember that together the "night-day" span of time is considered a biblical "Day."
Now with this distinction firmly in mind, we can try to make sense of the time of the early Passover of Yeshua and his resurrection from the dead three nights and days later...
First, we know that Yeshua had an early seder with his disciples, because as the "Lamb of God," he would have to be sacrificed on Nisan 14, during the time the Passover lambs were slaughtered at the Temple (recall that the original Passover lamb was slaughtered and its blood daubed on the doorways before nightfall in Egypt (Exod. 12:6-7). Therefore Yeshua's seder would be on afternoon of Nisan 13 (a Wednesday), which would move into the first hours of the Nisan 14 after the seder was complete. After the seder, then, on Wednesday night, Yeshua left for the grove of Gethsemane (גת שמנים) at the foot of the Mount of Olives, where he underwent his agony, was betrayed by Judas, and was arrested (Matt. 26:30-50).
Early in early morning of Nisan 14 (i.e., Thursday morning) the "chief priests and elders" conspired to take Yeshua before Pilate to be executed (Matt. 27:1-33). Because it was the day before Passover, however, they asked Pilate to break the legs of those being crucified so that their bodies would not remain on the cross during the Passover "high Sabbath" (John 19:31). This meant that Yeshua would have to be quickly tried and judged so that he would be dead before the Passover began at nightfall... Hence the priests and elders roused the rabble to call for Yeshua's immediate condemnation, despite Pilate's objections (Mark 9-15). Yeshua was condemned to die by crucifixion sometime the late morning of Nisan 14.
Therefore on Nisan 14, from noon until three in the afternoon on Thursday, darkness covered the land, and Yeshua then cried out אֵלִי אֵלִי לָמָה עֲזַבְתָּנִי - "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46). A few moments later, He died upon the cross (his legs were left unbroken because he had already died before the Roman soldiers executed the order to break the legs). At the moment of his death, however, the veil of the Temple was torn from top to bottom, there was an earthquake that shook the area, and many miracles occurred (Matt. 27:50-54). Later that afternoon, Joseph of Arimathaea asked Pilate for permission to bury the body of Yeshua before the sun would set that day (Matt. 27:57-58) .
So we see that Yeshua was crucified and died on the day before the Passover, during the afternoon of Nisan 14, which is considered a "half day" in the "three days and nights" of being in the earth before his resurrection from the dead (Matt. 12:40).
Yeshua remained in the tomb throughout the first two (full) Days of Passover, that is, from Nisan 15 (from nightfall until following nightfall on Friday) and on Nisan 16 (from nightfall until following nightfall on Saturday), and He was resurrected sometime during the night of Nisan 17, before sunrise on Sunday morning when the women at the tomb discovered the stone had been rolled away and Yeshua's body was gone (Matt 28:1; John 20:1).
So, transposing this to the secular calendar for this year, Yeshua held his early Passover seder on Nisan 13th (Wednesday), which became Nisan 14th at sundown. That night he was betrayed and arrested, and early the following morning (Thursday) he was brought to Pilate for judgment by crucifixion. He died later that afternoon, at the time of the sacrifice of the lambs at the Temple, on Nisan 14, and was buried before sundown. He was in the tomb for all of Nisan 15 and Nisan 16, and was raised from the dead sometime during the night of Nisan 17 (a Saturday) -- before the women discovered the empty tomb (early Sunday morning). Again, the benefit of this reckoning is that it accounts for the prophecy of Yeshua that he would be in the earth for "three days and three nights."
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I realize there may be questions about this way of understanding the timing of the resurrection of Yeshua, but this account is in harmony with the basic facts of the Passover holiday and how it served as a "type" or foretelling of the death, burial, and resurrection of our LORD. And third Third Day of Passover therefore commemorates the glory of his resurrection from the dead. Happy third day of Passover and Yom Bikkurim, chaverim!
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 16:10 reading (click):
Trusting and Knowing...
04.01.26 (Nisan 14, 5786) The receiving of God's revelation (קבלת תורה) must take place each and every day, as it says, "Trust in the LORD 'bekhol libekha' (בְּכָל־לִבֶּךָ) - with all your heart; and know Him 'bekol derakhekha' (בְּכָל־דְּרָכֶיךָ), in all your ways" (Prov. 3:5-6). The revelation of Torah is described as a "loud and never-ending voice" (Deut. 5:22), though it is our constant responsibility to "shema" – to take heed and receive the invitation of God's heart.
It is written in our Scriptures: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding" (Prov. 3:5). The Hebrew word for trust is "bittachon" (בִּטָחוֹן), from a root word (בָּטָח) that means "to lean upon," to feel safe and secure (Psalm 31:19). Bittachon expresses the emotional conviction that you are welcome and accepted before God, and that you have access to his heart (Heb. 4:16; 1 Pet. 5:7). We trust with "all of our heart" when we let go of our need to control (or understand) things and instead rely on God's ability to take care of us. Trusting God means knowing "in your kishkas," that is, in your guts, that God is taking care of you (Rom. 8:28); it is the comfort of being made safe in his love...
"In all your ways know Him, and he will direct your paths" (Prov. 3:6), and that means you are to know God in whatever "way" you happen to find yourself in, which includes ways of joy and happiness, but also ways of struggle, ways of sinfulness, and ways of heartache (Job 1:21; Job 2:10; Psalm 119:71; Micah 7:9). In all these ways we are to know him.... And just as we are to trust God with all of our heart and abandon ourselves to his care, so we are "know God" in all our goings, opening our heart to his loving presence and trusting in his guidance for our lives. The Good Shepherd will lead us down the right paths for the sake of his beautiful name (Psalm 23:3). Amen.
Hebrew Lesson
Proverbs 3:5-6 reading (click):
"The" Question of Passover...
04.01.26 (Nisan 14, 5786) During the Passover Seder we begin our retelling the story of the Exodus when the question is sung: "Mah nishtanah ha-lailah ha-zeh mikol ha-leilot?" - What makes this night differ from all other nights? This is "the" central question of Passover, asked for thousands of years, and the answer is always the same: Avadim Hayinu: "We were slaves, but God redeemed us from bondage by the blood of the lamb (דַּם הַשֶּׂה)."
In this connection note that there were not many lambs, but the LORD told Israel: "You shall keep it [i.e., the Passover lamb] until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter him (את) at twilight (Exod. 12:6). Each family put their trust in God's uniquely appointed sacrifice to be delivered from the plague of death (מכת המוות). There is no Passover apart from the blood of the Lamb of God....
Happy Passover, chaverim. Let us give thanks, for Yeshua our Passover has been given for us!
Hebrew Lesson
Exod. 12:6b reading (click for audio):
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March 2026 Site Updates
Teshuvah and God's Love...
"The Holy One, blessed be God, said to Israel: 'My children, present to me a single opening of repentance, small like the eye of a needle, and I will open for you entrances through which wagons and carriages can pass.'" –Shir Hashirim Rabbah 5:3.
03.31.26 (Nisan 13, 5786) If you ever feel disappointed because of recurring personal struggles and failures, do not add to your troubles by despising yourself, but instead allow your character defects to lead you to humility and surrender before God. Bear in mind that you are unable to please God apart from his intervention and help (John 6:63), so avoid self-reproach, since teshuvah (i.e., repentance) is not about learning to deal with your pains, after all, but trusting the Lord to do the miracle of healing within you. It is liberating to fully apprehend that it is God who justifies you and not you yourself....
You "have been crucified with the Messiah" (Gal. 2:20) - the verb used in this phrase is a "perfect passive" form in the original language (i.e., συνεσταύρωμα), meaning that it indicates completed action done on your behalf. Your job is not to devise your own sanctification but to receive the blessing by faith, trusting in God's righteousness given on your behalf. The focus is not on you, and when you get out of the way and surrender, the grace and love of God will do the impossible within you (Matt. 19:26).
In a way, teshuvah is a kind of death, that is, identifying with the judgment of Messiah given on your behalf, just as teshuvah is life as you take hold of your new identity in him. Practically speaking you turn away (i.e., "die to") your anger, disappointments, bitterness, and sorrows by turning to the Lord for his acceptance and grace. God will bring freedom and newness of life from what binds your heart. As C.S. Lewis once advised: "Remember that He is the artist and you are only the picture. You can't see it. So quietly submit to being painted, that is, keep fulfilling all the obvious duties of your station... asking forgiveness for each failure and then leaving it alone. You are in the right way. Walk -- don't keep on looking at it" (Collected Letters). How you do teshuvah depends a great deal on where you are standing: if you are before the cross of Messiah, then you stand on the side of divine grace; otherwise you will remain in a place of exile, questioning God's love for you. Choose to believe and you will see his heart for you...
Hebrew Lesson
Jeremiah 32:27 reading (click for audio):
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The "severity" of the gospel demands that you regard yourself as beloved, worth saving, and that you are God's friend... "There is no greater love than this: that someone lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). God quite literally demands that you regard yourself as benefitted by the sacrifice of his beloved son Yeshua in your place; he demands that you understand how dear you are to his heart. God sees something of such great value in you that he was willing to suffer and die to redeem it from loss... Just as the kingdom of God is a "pearl of great price," so you are a pearl of great price to God. What grieves and angers God is the refusal to believe that you are someone of infinite importance to him... Only God can rightfully make such a demand because He knows that loving other things more than Him leads to "disordered love," darkness, and eventual madness. We were created and given the breath of life for God's love, but substituting finite things for our infinite need will never bring lasting healing to our souls...
Those who are "in the flesh" cannot please God (Rom. 8:8). We must turn away from regarding ourselves as mere "flesh" and understand that we are essentially spiritual beings created and redeemed by God (2 Cor. 5:16). We must give up the distinctions in the "world of basar" - the carnal world that is known through sensuous apprehension - and accept ourselves as "new creations" in the Messiah. It is "not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring" (Rom. 9:6-8).
The mere conviction of sin is not the same thing as repentance. We have to step beyond a troubled conscience and have our sin crucified by God's love and grace. Grace is therefore essential to genuine repentance, since moral reformation is never enough. "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." We must be humbled so that we can receive. God gives us bitter experience of our inadequacy to call us to return to him. Only God can kill the power of sin within our hearts. Conviction of sin is not the end, but rather newness of life.
There is a place for godly sorrow, of course, and for genuine regret over our sins. As we understand God's desire and love for us, we begin to realize that the essence of sin is the refusal of God's heart for us. The underlying issue with sin concerns the question of God's love. Simply abstaining from certain actions does not address the deepest need of the heart. It is not turning away from sin that matters as much as turning toward God. The death of sin is meant to lead us to the life of love...
God is both infinitely loving and infinitely just, and both of these "attributes" are inseparably a part of who he is. God is One. Nonetheless, the cross of Yeshua proves that "love is stronger than death, passion fiercer than the grave; its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame, the very flame of the Lord" (Song. 8:6). It is at the cross that "love and truth have met, righteousness and peace have kissed" (Psalm 85:10). This implies that we must drop our defenses – even those supposed objections and pretenses voiced by our shame – and "accept that we are accepted." It is God's great love for you that leads you to repent and to turn to him. Allow yourself to be embraced by his "everlasting arms."
Genuine repentance will entirely change you. It is an act of profound respect over what God has done on your behalf. You say, but I am a miserable wretch! Indeed that is so, but the consciousness of your wretched state is the heart's cry for love... God goes "outside the camp" to meet with you. He enters the leper colony to join you there, in your wretchedness, and even takes upon your fatal disease. He sees you in your desperate estate and joins you there. God enters into the dust of your death and says, "Live!"
Repentance means changing your thinking, turning around to face the truth, and returning to embrace God's love. It does not identify the whole person with sin, but rather regards all people as redeemable, worthy, and valuable to God. Conviction of sin is not the end, but rather the means to newness of life. God saved us so that we could be in a love relationship with Him. We must "choose life," and that means choosing to welcome God's love into your heart. The only sin that can keep you from God's everlasting love is the denial that his love is personally for you. You must forsake seeing yourself "in the flesh" and take hold of God's spirit, his passion, and his grace for your soul. You are worthy to be loved because God is worthy to make you so.
Repent and believe the good news. God is love, and that love is for you. Amen, and may the Holy Spirit seal these words upon our hearts....
Our Reason for Being...
03.31.26 (Nisan 13, 5786) From our Torah portion just before Passover (i.e., parashat Tzav) we read: "This is the thing that the LORD commanded you to do, so that the glory of the LORD may appear to you: Draw near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself" (Lev. 9:6-7).
In this connection, have you considered why you were born into this world? What is your purpose, destiny, and end? The Torah states that you were personally created by Almighty God, who breathed out the breath of life (נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים) into you, and then redeemed your life so you could know the glory of God and spiritual reality. As it is written: "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your desire they existed and were created" (Rev. 4:11).
God creates all things for his glory and purposes, which indeed is the first blessing recited over the bride and groom in a traditional Jewish wedding: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלם שֶׁהַכּל בָּרָא לִכְבוֹדו / "Blessed are you Lord our God king of the universe, who has created all things for his glory." The purpose of life is to know and love God, to walk in His light and truth, and to glorify his compassion and grace forever...
At a traditional Jewish wedding the groom places the ring on his bride's finger and says: Harei, at mekudeshet li: "Behold, you are betrothed to me." Love and holiness are interconnected, since the beloved is set apart as sacred and treasured. May God help us see the wonder of His love for our lives: "Do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy" (1 Pet. 1:14-16). Amen, the essence of holiness is God's love...
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Great Passover Mystery...
"But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." - Gal. 6:14
03.30.26 (Nisan 12, 5786) If you sometimes feel a bit unsettled or confused about the relationship between the law of God and the message of gospel, you are not alone, for even the Apostle Peter, who was a close disciple of Yeshua for over three years, was confused about the issue. In fact, Peter's confusion eventually led the Apostle Paul to publicly rebuke him for separating himself from Gentiles when certain religious Jews came to visit him in Antioch (Gal. 2:11-18). It's hard to believe what happened, since Peter should have known better after he was given a direct vision from God showing that Gentile believers were to be regarded as co-heirs of eternal life (see Acts 10). Nevertheless, Peter seemed to be afraid of "Judaizers" who insisted that Gentiles must observe the law of Moses in order to be saved, and it was that point in particular that raised the holy ire of the Apostle Paul...
What gave Paul the authority to rebuke Peter? Didn't Peter do a lot of miracles and boldly preached that salvation had come to Israel in Yeshua (e.g., Acts 2:14-40)? Yes indeed, though despite his special place among the first disciples, the conversion of Paul was an exceptional thing, and it is important to understand that after his conversion, God himself taught Paul the deeper implications of the ministry of Yeshua, particularly as it was related to the Torah (see Gal. 1:11-20). Whereas the four gospels faithfully bear witness of the life and ministry of Yeshua, God specifically called Paul to explicate the meaning of the gospel.
Recall that before his conversion Paul was a Torah student under Rabbi Gamaliel (גמליאל), a leading member of the Sanhedrin during years concurrent with Yeshua as he was preaching in Judea (Acts 22:3). Rabbi Gamaliel, who was the grandson of renowned rabbi Hillel the Elder (רבי הלל הזקן), is quoted in the book of Acts, where he sagaciously advised the Sanhedrin Council to show leniency toward the followers of Yeshua, saying "let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them, lest you find yourselves fighting against God" (see Acts 5:34-40).
I once read an article that wondered whether Paul might have known of the teachings of Yeshua before his conversion and whether he might even have heard him preach on various occasions. Indeed, Paul may have witnessed the Lord's crucifixion itself! I think this is an entirely reasonable possibility, especially since Paul was an earnest Torah student who lived in Jerusalem during the time when Yeshua was preaching there. Surely "Rabbi Sha'ul," as he might have been called, would have been zealously interested in Yeshua's discussions and confrontations with the scribes and Pharisees, and he likely would have been provoked by Yeshua's rejection of the priesthood of the Temple as well. And surely Paul would have been intensely concerned about Yeshua's claim to be the Messiah of Israel!
The New Testament records that Paul had witnessed the testimony Stephen and approved of his execution (see Acts 6:8-8:2). Shortly afterward we read that he was consumed with the madness of religious rage and volunteered to lead a posse to arrest followers of Yeshua who had fled to Syria and to bring them back to Jerusalem to face charges of blasphemy. It was during this Jewish "crusade," you will recall, that Paul was suddenly blinded by the light from heaven as he heard Yeshua (speaking in Hebrew) saying, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" Saul then answered, "Who are you, Lord?" and the voice replied, "I am Yeshua whom you are persecuting" (Acts 9:1-20; Acts 26:10-18).
Paul immediately understood the implications. He didn't need any further explanation. Perhaps in a flash he remembered Stephen's amazing testimony as he died for his faith, or perhaps he recalled the vision of Yeshua dying on the cross... We are not sure what went through his mind, but it is clear that he unquestioningly accepted the Voice that spoke to him as being none other than that of Yeshua himself, raised from the dead.
This might explain why Paul regarded the crucifixion of Yeshua to be the most significant thing God has ever done, surpassing all the glories and wonders of the Exodus from Egypt and the giving of the law at Mount Sinai (1 Cor. 2:2; Gal. 6:14). The significance of the cross and the resurrection of Yeshua suddenly opened Paul's eyes to the better and more profound redemption accomplished by God that set him free from slavery to religion...
Do you see why Paul had reason to oppose Peter's hypocrisy? When he wrote about the original controversy, Paul said: "When Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was in error. When he first arrived there, he ate with the Gentile Christians, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn't eat with the Gentiles anymore because he was afraid of those people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter's hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy (Gal. 2:11-13). This is an example of the principle that "a little leaven leavens the whole lump," meaning that a little compromise in the truth can lead to widespread apostasy if it goes unchallenged.
It is almost shocking that Peter acted this way. It seems as if Peter forgot what Yeshua had taught, despite being a very close disciple of Yeshua for several years and someone who had personally seen the resurrected Lord after his crucifixion. It is baffling that the very man whose confession was the was the "rock" and pillar of the early church was unclear about the ministry of the Lord and the implications of the gospel, and therefore God sovereignly called Paul to explain and clarify the meaning of the crucifixion...
Peter's hypocrisy aside, the crux of the matter had to do with the believer's relationship to the "law," understood as the collection of commandments given to Israel at Sinai through the mediation of Moses, and ratified as a special covenant with the Jewish people (Exod. 24:7-8). In later Jewish tradition, the idea of "law" extended beyond the written commandments to include matters of custom and self-serving interpretations... In essence, the controversy raised the question whether Christians were obliged to observe the law given at Sinai or whether the new covenant in Yeshua had radically changed our relationship with God.
Paul argued that while the moral law of God is constant, the new covenant is truly new, not a "renewed" version of the Sinai covenant with its conditional blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. The moral law of God itself is holy, just, and good, but Yeshua came to set us free from the need for the law itself by transforming the hearts of people to make them into God's beloved children (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:26-27; Gal. 4:1-7). Likewise the laws for sacrifice were temporary and provisional until Yeshua came to offer up his life as the High Priest and mediator of the new covenant of God (Heb. 10:4).
The danger of "mixing" the covenants was so great that Paul wrote the Book of Galatians as a sustained argument against the possibility. Far beyond rejecting the idea that followers of Yeshua were required to keep the law of Moses to be saved, Paul argued that they no longer were related to the former covenant at Sinai at all, and he went so far as to say that he "died to the law so that he could live to God" (Gal. 2:19, also Rom. 7). That is a very bold statement, particularly coming from Paul, who once boasted that he was far ahead of his fellow Jews in his zeal for the traditions of his ancestors (Gal. 1:14). Earlier he had testified to Agrippa, "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia but brought up in this city (i.e., Jerusalem), educated with strictness under Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors, and was zealous for God" (Acts 22:2). Yet despite all his Jewish pride and zeal, Paul compared his education and heritage as "dung" compared with the excellencies of knowing Christ.
In another letter Paul wrote: "For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh -- though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as dung, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith" (Phil. 3:3-9).
Paul did not say all this to boast of his Jewish heritage and background, but on the contrary he said this to point to Yeshua as the all-sufficient way for anyone - Jew or Gentile - to be made right with God. And that is why Paul sought to persuade Peter, who perhaps was still wondering if he should observe Jewish custom and law, saying: "You and I are Jews by birth, not 'sinners' like the Gentiles, yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified" (Gal. 2:15-16).
I've said it before, I'll say it again: Yeshua is not the "second coming" of Moses... There is something truly new with the "new covenant" with God in Messiah, not something merely reworked or "renewed." Paul put it this way: "I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ died in vain" (Gal. 2:20-21).
Most of us familiar with Christian theology are familiar with this passage, but at that time it was a shocking and even scandalous message for those who were born and raised to be followers of Moses. The Apostle Paul, the trained Torah sage, was keenly aware of the stakes and what a radical change was implied by the ministry of Yeshua. Therefore he went so far as to liken the Sinai covenant to a kind of slavery when compared to the new covenant of freedom (see Gal. 4:21-31). Trying to mingle the covenants of Sinai and Zion leads to confusion and to adulterous destruction (Gal. 1:6-9; 2:4-5; 2:21; 3:3,10, etc.). Only the "death benefits" of Messiah makes you an heir to the Kingdom of God (Gal. 4:4-7).
Paul's teaching - and the overall message of the New Testament - is that Yeshua is the "end" or the "goal" of the law for all who believe, the substance of all that the law required. If you are hoping to get right with God, trying to keep the law is a dead end. Yeshua repeatedly taught that we are slaves to sin that need to delivered by God's power, and that this power comes from trusting in the righteousness of God found in him.
Yeshua pointed to God's power to save from sin when he told his disciples, "For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors.' For what is written about me has its fulfillment" (Luke 22:37). Here the Lord refers to the cross he would bear on our behalf and the great suffering servant servant prophecy of Isaiah: "Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my Servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities" (Isa 53:11).
Some people falsely claim that Paul "invented" the doctrine of "justification by faith." Nonsense. It was alluded to in the Torah (Gen. 15:6), but Yeshua plainly taught that we are justified by faith in him and not by means of keeping the law. Recall the parable of the two men who went to the temple to pray (Luke 18:9-14). One was an "observant" Jew who did his best to keep the law, and who celebrated that he was "not like other men," and the other was a woebegone sinner who could only sigh, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" Yeshua says it was the honest and broken sinner who returned to his house justified, but not the other.... Indeed, even a carefully observant Jew who has done "all that God commanded" is still an "unworthy servant" that stands in need of salvation (Luke 17:10).
It's a great irony only God could orchestrate that the greatest rabbi of the Second Temple period, a man with the zeal of Pinchas, one who who fervently sought to persecute any who dared impugn the sanctity of Torah, was converted by God's sovereign intervention to become the great teacher of the significance of the gospel of Yeshua! No one was more qualified to understand the radical difference between justification through keeping the law and justification imparted by faith in the power of God than was Paul...
Among other things Paul wrote that "when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as his children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, 'Abba, Father'" (Gal. 4:4-5). He further said that "what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit" (Rom. 8:3-4). He pointed to Yeshua as the manifestation of the Savior and true redemption of God: "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21). Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Yeshua alone is Lord (Phil 2:9-11).
At issue here is nothing less than the truth of how we are made right with God. The "Judaizers" were a group of Jews who believed that traditional adherence to the law was necessary for salvation, even for Gentiles proselytes who came to believe in Yeshua. "But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, 'Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved' (Acts 15:1-5). Paul vigorously opposed this teaching because he understood the implications of what was being implied by the Judaizers. The controversy came to a head at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) where James presided and the matter was settled in agreement with Paul that "no one is justified by observing the law but by faith in Yeshua the Messiah. So we, too, have put our faith in Yeshua that we may be justified by faith in him and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified" (Gal. 2:16). Paul succinctly made his summary point by saying "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ died in vain" (Gal. 2:21). There is great comfort to be found here, friend, for if God justifies you, you no longer need to be afraid of his acceptance of you (see Rom. 8).
Justification by faith is indeed the true teaching of Yeshua. Listen to some of his words on the subject: "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed over from death to life" (John 5:24). "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life" (John 6:47). As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so everyone who looks to Yeshua will be saved. "This is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 3:14-15; 6:40). More could be said about this, but these verses alone should suffice to demonstrate that Paul's understanding of the gospel was grounded in what Yeshua himself had taught. Faith in Yeshua saves the soul...
Now I want to shift my attention to something that is utterly profound and that summarizes the existential meaning of the gospel for the person who receives its truth, and that has to do with what really happened during the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord...
The cross of Messiah means more than being saved from the judgment of hell... Of course that is part of its significance, and we are infinitely grateful for Yeshua's sacrifice on the cross for our healing and atonement, but we need to think this out some more by asking if our forgiveness of sin is the substance of the gospel, or is there something more? Is forgiveness the end of the matter or it is the means to something far more vital and significant?
Some people think "Jesus died for my sins and now I am just waiting for the glories of heaven to come some day," but is that all there is to the salvation of God - a future happiness, a "ticket to ride" into the kingdom to come, and so on? Might it not be better to say, "Jesus died for my sins, in my place, so that I might now live in his righteousness for his sake? Are we not redeemed for the purpose of bearing the life of Yeshua within us, to become living extensions of his presence here on the earth? (John 17:14-23).
In this connection I want to again quote Paul's radical summary regarding the cross: "For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me, and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:19-20). Note here the number of personal pronouns used in this passage. The pronoun "I" appears seven times, and the pronoun "me" is used three times. How can we unravel this?
The statement "I through the law (διὰ νόμου) died to law (νόμῳ ἀπέθανον) that I might live to God" summarizes and encapsulates the doctrine of "justification by faith." The law serves as a mirror that shows our need for salvation, whereas the cross of Messiah (and our relationship to it) allows us access to the Holy of Holies by the blood of Yeshua, "by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh" (Heb. 10:19-20). Yeshua was "under the law" and lived a life of complete righteousness, thereby becoming our perfect intercessor as he offered up his life in exchange for our own. There is a "new altar" that transcends what was given in the Levitical sacrificial system (Heb. 13:10).
"I have been crucified with Christ" (χριστῷ συνεσταύρωμαι) is the affirmation that my sinful life has been "incorporated" into Yeshua's own, just as he was sacrificed in my place and for my behalf. The "I" here refers to the old sin nature inherited through Adam's original transgression. God made Yeshua who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:12).
Then there's the next part: "nevertheless I live" (ζῶ δέ). Like Barabbas who was released from his death sentence, so am I released, though in the case of the crucifixion, the release takes place after the death of Yeshua, as his resurrected life is imparted within me. "I" am made new. I live, but not I (οὐκέτι ἐγώ), that is, not as I was before, but "Christ lives in me" (ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ χριστός), that is, I am who I am in relationship to God. This is Paul's way of saying he was "born again": the old nature derived from Adam has been crucified and a new nature has been given through his union with Yeshua. This is the power given to live according to the righteousness of God.
Just as you are to trust and to accept that Yeshua was crucified for you, on your behalf, incorporating you into his heart, taking your place in judgment, exchanging his life for your own, so you are to trust and to accept that you have been crucified with him, and that your old life was taken away and replaced with a new, indestructible nature of his resurrection life. A blessed union is created where his "for me" is answered by your "with him." Χριστῷ συνεσταύρωμαι– "I already have been crucified in Messiah." The two go together: trusting in the finished work of Messiah for you is trusting in his finished work within you, and that means living a new kind of life as a beloved child of God...
Paul's devotional conclusion logically follows: "The life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." This again is the new "I" or life created by God that trusts in his redemption given in Yeshua. Instead of connecting with God on the basis of the law of Moses and its ordinances, I am set free to live in heartfelt relationship with the Son of God who loves me and gave himself for me... I now have access to the throne of God's grace and rejoice in the glory of God given in our Savior the Messiah.
Yeshua did not come to "reform" or improve the old human nature, but to put an end to it, to kill it, crucify it, and bury it in the depths. It is just as much a matter of faith to receive the death of Yeshua as it is to receive his life. Receiving his death means identifying with his cross and leaving the old life in the tomb; receiving his life means knowing yourself made new by the power of his resurrection. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Cor. 5:18).
The end of the matter is "Christ lives in me" (ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ χριστός). The redeemed life is known by the new nature, the divine seed implanted within your soul at your rebirth and derived from your union in Yeshua's resurrection. It is by the eternal life given by Yeshua that we are able to "live to God" (ἵνα θεῷ ζήσω). The indwelling of Yeshua refers to his everllasting connection with your regenerated heart as a child of God. The divine seed of his life is the power of God within the trusting heart, making it grow in grace. God attests to his faithful love by putting the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"
"I decided to know nothing among you except Yeshua the Messiah and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). This is what mattered most to Paul in his relationship with God. The cross of Messiah means far more than being released from the verdict of death that our sin warrants and evokes, but instead is about the miracle of an exchanged life, the miracle of rebirth and divine life. We need God as our healer and our priest more than our lawgiver. We were redeemed from our bondage to sin and death for the purpose of being part of Yeshua's life and heart, part of his family, members of the gloprious "Kingdom of God." Amen. "I have been crucified with Christ," whatever I was in my former life is now gone; I am quickened and made alive as a new person, raised from the dead, and created by God's grace to be as his beloved child forever. All this comes from the merciful kindness of Yeshua, who loved me and gave himself for me. Blessed be his name forever and ever!
Let us celebrate the great Passover miracle of God within our hearts!
Hebrew Lesson
Rev. 5:12 Hebrew reading (click):
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Taking Passover Personally...
The great holiday of Passover begins Wednesday April 1st at sundown...
03.30.26 (Nisan 12, 5786) The message of Passover applies to each of us: "In each and every generation an individual should look upon him or herself as if he or she (personally) had left Egypt." Indeed the very First Commandment is to accept the reality of your personal deliverance by the LORD: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you (singular) out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Exod. 20:2).
Note that the Hebrew word "Egypt" is mitzraim (מצרים), a word that means "prison, enclosure, or straights," from the verb tzur (צוּר) meaning "to bind or confine" (the Yiddish word tsuris, "trouble," comes from the same root). On the other hand, the Hebrew word for salvation is yeshuah (ישועה), from a root that means to "make wide," to "release from constraint," to deliver or set free.
It is noteworthy that God began the Ten Commandments by identifying Himself as our Redeemer and Deliverer rather than as our Creator, because the very purpose of creation is to be set free by means of God's redemptive love given through Yeshua, the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8; 1 Pet. 1:18-20; Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9). Amen. The book of Genesis is the context to the story of the Exodus. Happy Passover, friends...
Hebrew Lesson
Exodus 20:2 reading (click):
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Passover Torah Readings...
03.29.26 (Nisan 11, 5786) The weekly Torah Reading cycle is suspended for the holiday week of Unleavened Bread (also called "Passover Week"), with each day of the week (from Nisan 15 through Nisan 22) assigned additional readings from the Torah and Haftarah. For a list of readings see the "Weekly Torah Readings" page on the Hebrew for Christians web site.
Unlike Western Christian tradition that followed the dictates of Emperor Constantine who oversaw the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) and decreed that "Easter" should be observed on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox (March 21), the early Messianic believers in Yeshua followed the Jewish calendar by observing Passover on Nisan 14 as clearly prescribed in the Torah (see Exod. 12:18; Lev. 23:5; Num. 9:4-5; Num. 28:16; Josh. 5:10), with the resurrection occurring three days later, on Nisan 17 (Yom Bikkurim).
Hebrew Lesson
Leviticus 23:5 reading (click for audio):
Our Broken Matzah...
The holiday of Passover begins Wed. April 1st at sundown this year...
03.27.26 (Nisan 9, 5786) During the Passover Seder, three matzahs are placed on the table, said to represent Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, respectively. During the "Yachatz" step of the seder, the middle matzah (representing Isaac) will be broken to recall how Isaac was sacrificed in obedience to his father, foreshadowing the sacrifice of Yeshua by God the Father. Indeed, the Talmud states, "We break the middle matzah in tribute to Yitzchak (Isaac), who accepted the sins of the people upon himself" (Shabbos 89b). The smaller half of this broken matzah will be eaten later during the Motzi Matzah step, while the larger half will be eaten during the "Afikomen" step, near the end of the night...
In Hebrew, the middle of something is it's heart - the heart of the heavens, the heart of the earth, the heart of the sea, the heart of a person... Since the offering of Isaac by Abraham foretold of the greater offering of Yeshua by God Himself, when we break the middle matzah, then, we recall the broken heart of God over the pain Yeshua endured by taking our sins upon Him at the cross...."For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21).
During his Passover seder with his disciples, Yeshua "took matzah, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body" (Matt. 26:26). Since Yeshua did this while they were eating dinner, the matzah he broke would have been the Afikomen, thereby making the connection between the hidden bread (lechem ha-nistar) that would be broken given for our deliverance. The matzah we eat during Passover is called lechem oni (לֶחֶם ענִי) - "the bread of [His] suffering" - and eating the Bread of Life that was "broken for us" remembers ish makhovot, the man of sorrows, the suffering of our LORD...
Hebrew Lesson
Deut. 16:3b Hebrew reading:
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Assured by Love's Promise...
"Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is. In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace." - Buechner
03.27.26 (Nisan 9, 5786) Right now, as you are seeing this, take a moment to reaffirm that the Lord Yeshua is your deliverer and that you trust in Him for eternal life. He promises the trusting heart: "I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes in the One who sent me has (i.e., present active indicative) eternal life and will not be condemned, but has passed over (literally, "crossed over") from death to life" (John 5:24).
Note that the verb translated "has passed over" is "perfect active" that expresses completed action: "this one has already crossed over from death to life." In other words, the gift of eternal life is an accomplished reality (though it is only experienced as we truly receive the love and grace of God from the heart of faith). The "basis" of life is now radically new and of a different order. As the apostle Paul later summarized: "For it is by grace you have been saved (i.e., a perfect passive participle that denotes completed action done on your behalf with effects that continue to the present) through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Eph. 2:9-10). I'm so glad it's not the strength of my grip that keeps me holding on to God, but the strength of His...
So "be strong and of good courage" – chazak ve'ematz! The Lord our God promises "never to leave you nor forsake you" and to be with you wherever you go (see Josh. 1:5,9; Heb. 13:5, Psalm 139; Matt. 28:20). That is the miracle of faith bestowed from above: The revelation that God himself attends to your life and personally cares for you. In the Greek New Testament, the wording of Hebrews 13:5 is highly emphatic: Οὐ μή σε ἀνῶ, οὐδ᾽ οὐ μή σε ἐγκαταλείπω: "Not ever will I give up on you; no, not ever will I leave you behind." Alevai! May you hear the voice of the Good Shepherd calling you, and may He forever keep you under His watchful care. Amen.
Hebrew Lesson
Isa. 43:1 Hebrew reading (click):
Truth's Weightier Matters...
03.26.26 (Nisan 8, 5786) The Torah is filled with various imperatives of one kind or another. The term mitzvah (מצוה) is a general term used to refer to any commandment given by God. The various mitzvot can be further divided into the subcategories of "chukkim" and "mishpatim" (Deut. 4:5). Generally speaking, mishpatim (מִשְׁפָּטִים) are rules or "judgments" given for a clearly specified reason. These sorts of rules, such as the prohibition to steal, promote well-being in a society and therefore make sense to us. Chukkim (חֻקִּים), on the other hand, are statutes given without a specifically stated reason (i.e., fiats or divine decrees). These sorts of decrees, such as the prohibition of mixing seeds or fabrics (kilayim), may appear irrational to human reason....
A verse from Torah portion Acharei Mot states that God expects His people to "follow my rules (mishpatim) and keep my decrees (chukkim) and la-lechet bahem (לָלֶכֶת בָּהֶם), 'to walk in them.' I am the LORD your God" (Lev. 18:4). This idea of "walking in" the commandments is called halakhah (הֲלָכָה), which derives from the verb halakh (הָלַךְ), meaning "to walk." Notice, however, the immediately following verse: "You shall keep my statutes and my rules, which the man who shall do them shall live by them (וָחַי בָּהֶם): I am the LORD" (18:5). The sages interpret this verse to mean that the Torah's commandments are intended to lead to life, and therefore they deduced that there were certain cases where the commandments may be broken to avoid the loss of life. For instance, if some rasha (evil person) were to force you to eat non-kosher or to be killed, the sages state that you should go ahead and eat the unclean meat... The duty to honor life - pikuach nefesh - is more important than following the "letter of the law" in such extreme cases.
The same can be said about violating the laws regarding the Sabbath: it is morally praiseworthy to violate the Sabbath day in order to save someone's life... Likewise, Queen Esther requested the Jews to fast precisely during the holiday of Passover because of the urgency of the situation... There are, however, certain exceptions that are regarded as "absolute" obligations. The prohibitions against murder, incest, and idolatry are always to be observed, even to the point of death itself. In these cases, in other words, it is better to die kiddush haShem (as a martyr) rather than to violate one of these commandments.
During the Holocaust, Jews at the concentration camps who wanted to observe the Passover Seder faced a dilemma regarding the "letter of the law." The Torah clearly states that no chametz was to be eaten during the days of Passover, but the only food given to the prisoners contained leaven. The prisoners were forced to either use chametz as their "matzah" (and water as their "wine") or else to fast for the holiday, thereby endangering their lives.... The rabbis quoted the verse from our Torah portion - "you shall live by my commandments" to imply "and not die by them" to not only permit the use of chametz but also provided a blessing for precisely doing so....
I share this with you to help keep things in perspective. As important as Passover rituals are (e.g., getting rid of chametz, etc.), they are never to trump the more important duties to honor life, to express gratitude, to walk in love, etc. Ahavat HaShem - the love of God - is ultimately what Passover (and the Cross) is all about, not religious rituals.... Yeshua didn't say that any particular ritual or religion was "the way, the truth, and the life," but that He was "the way, the truth, and the life," and that no one comes to God apart from Him (John 14:6).
Someone might object that I am "adding" Jewish tradition to the words of the Scriptures by agreeing that "living by God's commandments" implies the (negative) duty not to die because of them, but I would argue that Yeshua Himself would agree with Jewish tradition in this case. In other words, I believe Yeshua would agree that it is a valid inference that "living by the commandments" is intended to promote life, and that sometimes the "letter of the law" may indeed be broken for the sake of saving or preserving life. Indeed Yeshua ran afoul of those Pharisees who regularly insisted that Jews should obey the "letter of the law" at the expense of the needs of others. Hence we see Yeshua going out of his way to heal people on the Sabbath day (Luke 13:14; John 5:7-12); we see him touching the "untouchable" lepers (Matt. 8:2-3; Mark 1:40-31); we see him "consorting" with tax collectors and "sinners" (Mark 2:16; Luke 7:36-50), and so on. In fact, some of Yeshua's most scathing words of condemnation were delivered to those religionists who set aside "tithes" at the expense of the needs of others (Mark 7:9-13; Matt. 23:23; Luke 11:42).
It's important to remember that Yeshua didn't live in a cultural vacuum when he ministered among the Jews of the late Second Temple period... It may be safely said that Yeshua generally interpreted the moral meaning of the Torah similarly to Bet Hillel (and sometimes to Bet Shammai). He reaffirmed the central duty of the Torah (the Shema) and the duty to love others (for more on this subject, see the article, "Torah sheba'al Peh"). However it vital to remember that Yeshua did not come to teach us moral truth as much as He came to die as the Lamb of God... All of the moral law of the Torah is clearly restated in the New Testament. It is the sacrificial death of Yeshua that makes all the difference between the torah of the older covenant with the torah of the new.
So let's "keep the feast," chaverim, in the best way we can, but let's not forget what is really important during this season of Passover. Yeshua is the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away all our sin and makes us clean before the Father... When God sees the blood of His Son, he "passes over" the visitation of his wrath (Exod. 12:13; John 1:29; 3:36). Any message or "ritual" of Passover that overlooks this central fact is therefore radically misguided.
Follow the path of peace, chaverim... I wish you a joyous and grace-filled Passover season in the love of Yeshua, our true Lamb of God! May he give us purity of heart, sincerity and truth, set free from the "leaven" of anxiety, pride, and despair... Amen.
Hebrew Lesson
Isaiah 26:3 Hebrew reading (click):
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Believing to See...
Do not seek to understand in order to believe, but believe in order to understand...
03.26.26 (Nisan 8, 5786) Faith believes in the invisible light and accepts the truth of love that overcomes all darkness, hate, and fear. "I believe..." "I believe to see...." "I believe to see the goodness of the LORD..." "I believe to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13). I believe; I look upward; my chest aches and I long for relief; I look forward; my heart hopes even in these passing shadows, even in the midst of my fears, my afflictions, my struggles. My heart chooses to see the unseen good, the good limned by God's promise, the substance of his kindness, his blessing whispered over my fears...
The heart of faith testifies that there is "unfinished business," that there is more than meets the eye, that evil will not have the last word, and that our tears will one day forever be wiped away. Despite the ambiguity, faith "hopes against hope" that the LORD God will intervene and bring everlasting healing to us all. As it says, "Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the Name of the LORD (יִבְטַח בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה) and rely on his God."
Bittachon (trust) is a word for this world, which says, "Though he slay me, I will trust in him..." Those who call upon the LORD can trust not only in concealed good behind ambiguous appearances ("all things work together for good") but also in a future, real, substantive good that will one day be clearly manifest for us all. Meanwhile, may the LORD our God keep us from such depth of sorrow that leads to sickness, darkness and despair. Amen.
Hebrew Lesson
Psalm 27:13 Hebrew (click):
Living by Faith...
03.25.26 (Nisan 7, 5786) Each of us has been created by God for a sacred purpose. There is a deep reason why you were born. This explains why we sometimes feel lost and alone in this life. Our discontent, the fracture we sense both within and around us, our sorrows, suffering, and inevitable losses, all of it together, presents a "message" to our souls, a "basso profundo" groan of the heart, a visceral yearning for healing, for eternal life, for heaven... God has created us for himself, yet we find no lasting peace apart from him (Eccl. 3:11). Or as Augustine of Hippo famously put it: "Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee" (Confessions). Therefore our Lord cries out to those who are hurting, troubled, and afraid: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matt. 11:28-29).
We are told "lekh-lekha," to "come to yourself" and reconnect to your spiritual essence, your identity, and your heart (Luke 15:17). We have to start the journey there, because ultimate reality is intensely personal, being grounded in the "Who-ness" of God. It is within the consciousness of our own "I am," our deepest identity as a personal, thinking, and feeling being, that we are able to relate to the person and heart of the great "I AM" of the LORD.
Abram is the exemplar of faith for us; indeed he is called the "father of faith" (Isa. 51:1-2; Rom. 4:16; Gal. 3:29). Abram courageously searched for God in his emptiness, and God graciously answered the cry of his heart. He left everything behind as he journeyed into the realm of promise - regarding himself as someone chosen to know God's blessing and grace. Abram was able to walk by faith because he stopped listening to the voices of the ego - the worldly and unbelieving parts of himself - and therefore was able to hear God's truth.
According to the classical sages, Abram was tested ten separate times in the course of his life. In the first test, Abraham was asked to "go to a land that I will show you" only to find it a place of famine and trouble. In the very of the tests, Abraham was asked to "go to the land of Moriah, to the place that I will show you," and there to offer up his promised son Isaac as a burnt offering... In each case the temptation was to give up hope in God's promise, since at the time of each test Abram did not know the outcome as a foregone conclusion. Nevertheless Abram walked in faith, in fear and trembling, yet his trepidation was contextualized by the deeper strength he found in God's love and presence. Abraham had to close his eyes to this world and walk in the darkness of faith to see the divine light that transcends this realm; he had to "believe to see" that God's promise was sure.
So the journey is one of faith and the inner transformation that comes from trusting in God (בִּטָּחוֹן). "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you" is the call of teshuvah - turning away from enslaving habits that deaden our consciousness - and to come alive by believing that which transcends own understanding. The Greek word for repentance, "metanoia" (μετάνοια) describes the process well, since it means going beyond ("meta") the habitual categories of the mind ("nous") to believe and apprehend the miracle of God. Faith discerns the unseen good that is at work behind the realm of appearances. God is the "Father of Lights" who supervises the ebb and flow of creation. He is always working to direct all things according to his purposes and will. This is the "land that I will show you," that is, the realm of blessing and eternal life.
Hebrew Lesson
Proverbs 4:18 reading (click):
Retelling the Story...
"In every generation, each of us is obligated to see himself or herself as though he or she personally came forth from Egypt."- Traditional Hagadah
03.25.26 (Nisan 7, 5786) Concerning the observance of the Passover Seder the Torah states, "When your child asks you in time to come, 'What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?' then you shall say, 'We were slaves (עבדים היינו) to Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes" (Deut. 6:20-23). We are instructed to "remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out" (Deut. 7:19). As it is written in the Shema, "You shall teach them diligently to your children," we ask, what do we teach? And we answer: Kulo! Everything – the whole story of our deliverance (הסיפור המלא).
The early sages taught that Hebrew word "Pesach" (פסח) can be read as peh (פֶּה), "mouth," and sach (סַח), "speaks," indicating that Passover is a confession of the truth of God's redemption, testifying to the truth of the LORD's faithful love. On Pesach we thank God for the revelation and the wonder of the great Lamb of God that was slain... Indeed, in light of the truth of the Scriptures - both in the Torah, the writings, the prophets, and the New Covenant Scriptures - how is it possible to honor the LORD God of Israel and to celebrate his redemption apart from the Messiah who came to earth to die as the great Lamb of God? Yeshua is the heart and central meaning of the Passover, and there is simply NO true Passover Seder apart from the blood of the Lamb (Heb. 2:3; Heb 10:28-29).
Hebrew Lesson
Deuteronomy 26:8a reading (click):
Related Topics:
The Meaning of Passover...
03.24.26 (Nisan 6, 5786) In Parashat Bo we read about the institution of Passover and the final terrible plague that was to befall the Egyptians on the Passover night. When we think of this time, we may imagine God "passing over" those houses that had the blood of the lamb smeared on their doorposts, though it might better be said that God passed into the homes of those who trusted him, while he withdrew His Presence from those that did not...
To see this note that two different words are used that can be translated as "pass over." First, God said, "I will pass over (i.e., avar: עֲבַר) the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments; I am the LORD" (Exod. 12:12). But directly after saying this, God promised to "pass over" (i.e., pasach: פָּסַח) the homes of those who trusted in him to impart his protection from the plague of death: "The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over to you (lit. עֲלֵכֶם, 'upon you'), and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt" (Exod. 12:13). In other words, when God would see the blood of the Passover lamb, he would pass over to enter the house and "cover" its occupants from the judgment of death.
The blood of the Passover lamb sheltered people from the plague of death by atoning for their sin by means of a substitutionary sacrifice. The Torah states that "the life (i.e., nefesh: נֶפֶשׁ, or 'soul') of the flesh is in the blood" (Lev. 17:11), and therefore death represents the separation of the soul from the body. The life blood of a sacrificial lamb was therefore offered in exchange for the death and destruction of others. Eating the lamb "roasted by fire" meant identifying with the death offered in exchange for your own; eating matzah, or unleavened bread, signified being delivered in haste, apart from the "rise of the flesh" or human design; and eating maror, or bitter herbs, recalled the bitterness of former bondage.
The first time the word "blood" occurs in the Scriptures concerns the death of Abel, the son of Adam and Eve who was murdered by his brother Cain. After Abel's blood was shed, the LORD confronted Cain and said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground" (Gen. 4:10). Since blood is the carrier of life, it bears the energy and vitality of life: it has its own spiritual "voice." Likewise, the blood of Yeshua, the true Lamb of God who died upon the cross, speaks on our behalf, and reverses the power of death by creating a barrier that death can no longer cross, since the death of the sacrificial victim "exchanges" the merit and power of life. Unlike the blood of Abel that "cries out" for justice, the blood of Yeshua cries out for mercy (Heb. 12:24). Putting our trust in the provision of God's sacrifice causes His wrath (or righteous judgment) to pass over while simultaneously extending love to the sinner.... This is the essential message of the gospel itself, that we have atonement through the sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of Yeshua our Savior, the great Lamb of God. 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 over (i.e., μετά + βαίνω, lit., "crossed over" [עָבַר]) from death to life" (John 5:24). Just as God's judgment passes over from life to death on my behalf; so His love passes over from death to life on my behalf...
Notice that the Hebrew verb "pasach" can also mean "to limp," suggesting the heel of Messiah that was "bruised" in the battle for our redemption (Gen. 3:15). It is the cross of Yeshua that enables the mercy of God to "overcome" his justice, or that allows "steadfast love and truth to meet; righteousness and peace to kiss" (Psalm 85:10). His attribute of Justice passes over us as His attribute of Compassion passes into us... The sacrifice of Messiah allows God to be both just and the justifier of those who trust in God's remedy and exchange for our sin (Rom. 3:26).
The idea of substitutionary atonement is surely mysterious and complicated, but ultimately the message is simple: God loves you and has made a way for you to be eternally accepted -- despite your sin... That's the "good news" of the cross. That's what Yeshua meant when he said, "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (חַיֵּי עוֹלָם). For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:14-17). Humanity as a whole has been "bitten by the snake" and needs to be delivered from its deadly venom. Just as the image made in the likeness of the destroying snake was lifted up for Israel's healing, so the One made in the likeness of sinful flesh was to be lifted up as the Healer of the world (Rom. 8:3). All we need to do is look and believe. Yeshua died for you so you can live. He stands at the door and knocks, offering to "pass over" to give you his life (Rev. 3:20).
Hebrew Lesson
Exodus 12:13 reading:
Passover Soul Searching...
The following is related to the theme of repentance before the holiday of Passover...
03.24.26 (Nisan 6, 5786) The search for "chametz" (חפש חמץ) before Passover may be likened to the soul searching we do before the High Holidays in the fall, when we take an inventory of our spiritual condition (חשבון נפש) and do teshuvah. For the entire week of Passover we are not to have any leavened products in our homes, nor are we to consume any leavened products outside our home. We are to be "leaven-free" (Exod. 12:19).
This might seem a bit strange, but the Torah associates chametz (חָמֵץ), or "leaven" that which decays and "sours" (חָמוּץ), and it is therefore generally considered to be a corrupting influence or hidden source of uncleanness that manipulates purer elements (Lev. 2:11. Like the influence of a lump of leaven in a batch of dough, "spiritual" leaven functions or symbolizes the evil impulse within us that corrupts ("puffs up") and sours our soul (Matt. 16:6). As such chametz is considered a metaphor of sin which we are commanded to put away from us, and the removal of chametz is a metaphor of our sanctification (1 Cor. 5:6).
The Torah instructs us to mindfully search and remove sources of inner impurity so that we might experience the truth that we are a "new lump" - that is, a new substance that is purged from the rotting influences of our sinful past... We are to have no tolerance for our sinful former lifestyle and godless attitudes. And since Yeshua has been sacrificed as our Passover Lamb, you are indeed a new creation (בּריה חדשׁה) made "unleavened" (pure) by the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 5:17). Therefore you are likewise commanded put away the "old nature" (יצר הרע) and purge from your life the old influences that inwardly canker you and make you sick (Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9). Walk without hypocrisy in the truth of the love of God for your soul.
חָקְרֵנִי אֵל וְדַע לְבָבִי
בְּחָנֵנִי וְדַע שַׂרְעַפָּי
וּרְאֵה אִם־דֶּרֶךְ־עֹצֶב בִּי
וּנְחֵנִי בְּדֶרֶךְ עוֹלָם
"Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Test me and know my anxious thoughts!
And see if there be any idolatrous way in me,
and lead me in the way of eternity."
(Psalm 139:23-24)
Affirming God's Light...
"O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the LORD" - Isaiah 2:5
03.24.26 (Nisan 6, 5786) From our Torah for this week (i.e., Tzav) we read: "The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be extinguished" (Lev. 6:12). The sages say do not read "burning on it" but rather "burning in him" (בּוֹ), referring to the heart of the worshiper And where the text says "it (i.e., the fire) shall not be extinguished" (לא תכבה), read instead "extinguish (תִכְבֶּה) the negative (לא)" by trusting in God's promise for our good, despite any temporary setbacks or apparent failures...
The Holy Spirit imparts the fire of faith that fills our hearts with hope, affirming with "tongues of fire" words of life and light that vanquish darkness. As it is written: "Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious, full of compassion, and righteous" (Psalm 112:4).
זָרַח בַּחשֶׁךְ אוֹר לַיְשָׁרִים
חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם וְצַדִּיק
"Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
He is gracious, full of compassion, and righteous."
(Psalm 112:4)
Spiritually speaking, the first step is to find hope... The Divine Light is seen by means of the eye of faith (עין האמונה), and therefore we find strength by trusting in God's Presence, even though we cannot presently see Him (2 Cor. 4:18; 5:7). "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. Know Him in all your ways, and He will straighten your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil" (Prov. 3:5-7). Wait on the LORD and He will strengthen your heart....
We must keep courage, remain steady as we fight the good fight of faith. As it is written, "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men attack me to devour my flesh, when my adversaries and enemies attack me, they totter and fall. Even if an army is deployed against me, I do not fear; even if war is rises against me, I remain full of trust" (Psalm 27:1-3).
The Midrash says, "The Holy One Himself, as it were, made light for the upright. Thus it says, "The LORD is my light and my salvation" (Psalm 27:1) and "When I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me" (Micah 7:8). While I sit in darkness in this world, during these latter days before the promised return of Yeshua, when troubles may afflict me and lawlessness may abound – then God's light will shine brighter still, for the LORD is gracious to all who put their hope in Him, and this favor and love will be manifest for me.
Keep the flame within your heart burning, friend... A sage once told a person struggling with his faith: "It is written that all creation was brought into being because of people like you. God saw there would be people who would cling to our holy faith, suffering greatly because confusion and doubt would plague them. God perceived that such would overcome these doubts and troubles of heart and remain strong in their belief. It was because of this that God brought forth all creation." Indeed, it was because of this that Yeshua our LORD suffered and died for you... Amen. Therefore never yield to despair, since that leads to further darkness and fear. Press on and keep fighting the "good fight" of faith (1 Tim. 6:12).
Let us then reaffirm our confidence: The darkness of this world forever is swept back before the overmastering radiance and power of Yeshua, the King of Glory, the Root and Descendant of David, and the Bright Morning Star (Rev. 22:16). Those who believe in Him are given the "light of life" that overcomes the darkness of this world (John 8:12).
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