Category: Parashot Teachings

Parashah V’Yetze (And he went out) Genesis 28:10 – 32:3

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Jacob leaves his home, travels to his Uncle Laban and while living there gains his wives and all his children except Benjamin. There is strife between them, though, as Jacob’s flocks get healthy and large while Laban’s grow weaker. Jacob leaves secretly and Laban goes after him to recover his daughters, but God warns Laban to do no harm to Jacob, so they meet, make a pact of peace and Laban returns home.

During Jacobs time with Laban, Laban deceives Jacob, Jacob deceives Laban, and Rachel deceives them both.  How can it be that the Father and Mother of the tribes of Israel are such sneaky people?

Parashah Chayye Sarah (Life of Sarah) Genesis 23:1 – 25:18

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In this parashah both Sarah and Abraham come to their deaths, and Isaac gets a wife. Abraham has told his servant to make sure that his son never goes back to the place where they came from, and this theme is repeated throughout the bible.
What’s so bad about going back to Egypt?

Parashah Vayera (And He Appeared) Genesis 18:1 – 22:24

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Abraham is visited by God and the angels that save Lot when Sodom is destroyed. Sarah gives birth to Isaac, Hagar and Ishmael get the boot, and later Abraham takes Isaac to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice him

SPOILER ALERT– he doesn’t.

But what we are going to talk about are the angels of the Lord: are they just angels, or does God show up in the middle of the message they bring?

 

 

Parashah Beresheet (In the Beginning) Genesis 1:1 – 6:8

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Chag Simchat Torah!!  This is the holiday where we turn back the Torah, from the end of Deuteronomy to the beginning of everything: Genesis. Simchat Torah means “Joy of Torah”, and we certainly do receive joy from reading the Word of God!

This parashah takes us from creation of the universe and everything in it to just before the story of Noah. God created the universe, Earth, sky, ground, set boundaries for the oceans, created life in the seas, on the land and finally created us. That’s when things started going downhill.

All through the early stages of creation we read how “God saw that it was good”, and it was. I mean, REALLY good! And when Adam and Eve got here, things were still OK, Then the enemy got involved. He lured Eve into sin, and she lured Adam into sin, and ….well, you know the rest of the story.

But was it all the fault of the enemy? Did Satan do anything that forced Eve to eat the apple? Did Eve ram it down Adam’s throat? Did she threaten him with, “Eat this apple or you will be sleeping on the couch (that is, if we had a couch)”?

No, Satan didn’t force Eve, Eve didn’t force Adam, and even to this day no one forces us to sin. We’ve always had a choice, and we still do. The problem isn’t that we don’t have a choice, the problem is that it is just so much easier to sin. It is what the world teaches us to do, it is what we instinctively desire, and it generally yields immediate satisfaction. Whereas righteousness is hard to do- we have to overcome our sinful desires (iniquity), we have to deal with other people harassing us (because they don’t want to see righteousness in their presence- it convicts them), and we have to delay the rewards of righteousness until a future time. Righteousness usually doesn’t have immediate gratification, other than we know, in our hearts, that we are doing the right thing.

Let’s tackle what is probably the biggest issue that comes from Genesis- creationism vs. evolution.

Way back when, sometime around July of 1925, a substitute teacher in Tennessee named John Scopes taught human evolution. This was a violation of the Tennessee Butler Act, which made it unlawful to teach human evolution in a state-funded school. Scopes was found guilty, fined $100, but that was later overturned on a technicality. The funny thing about this is that today, according to Wikipedia:

In the United States, the Supreme Court has ruled the teaching of creationism as science in public schools to be unconstitutional, irrespective of how it may be purveyed in theological or religious instruction. In the United States, intelligent design (ID) has been represented as an alternative explanation to evolution in recent decades, but its “demonstrably religious, cultural, and legal missions” have been ruled unconstitutional by a lower court.

So what was illegal to teach in 1925 is now the only legal thing to teach! Oy!

Even within Judaism, some of the greatest Jewish scholars and Torah teachers knew that the Genesis story was not to be taken literally. Rashi, known to be one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) Jewish commentator of all times, taught that the purpose of Scripture was not to give a strict chronology of Creation. Also, Maimonides (the RamBam) declared, ” The account given in Scripture of the Creation is not, as is generally believed, intended to be in all its parts literal.” The remarkable truth is that Judaism does not contest the evolution of species. Where the disagreement lies is with what drives evolution. The atheistic scientific community states that evolution is caused by random mutations,  where those mutations which proved more adaptable to the environment succeeded and the less adaptable mutations died out. Charles Darwin put forth this idea as the survival of the fittest.  Judaism (along with most Judeo-Christian and Muslim religions) does not accept that the advancement of species from lower order to higher order came from chance, but from Divine control. We call this Intelligent Design. The truth is, the answer to whether we were created or we evolved is, as it always has been: Does God exist?

If God exists, then we have intelligent design, and if there is no God, then it all happened by chance.

I can understand the depression and uselessness that people who reject God feel in their daily lives; after all, if everything you wanted to be or wanted to achieve was totally out of your control (because without God there is no control), then what hope do you have? Only the hope that some random collision of quarks in a sub-atomic environment will result, somehow, in circumstances and events which will benefit you. Not very promising, is it? Especially when compared to having a supreme being, who is loving, compassionate, all-powerful, knowing everything that there is and everything that will ever be, on your side helping you to attain those things you want.

I mean, really- there’s no comparison. But yet, millions (if not billions) of people who have heard about God will still reject Him and choose to live their lives with no hope, no control, and no future (because without God, there is no future beyond this life. Again, a very depressing and hopeless existence.)

I wrote about how there is no control without God in this blog: Without God There Cannot be Free Will.

Genesis tells us how everything in the universe started, and whether you accept God created it or believe it randomly occurred, life has always been what we make of it. We always have a choice to do, say, and act the way we want to. And what we choose to believe will define who and what we are.

For me, I choose to believe in God; I choose to believe that He created the entire universe for me and provided everything I need to survive; I choose to believe that God also provided a spiritual means for me to live eternally despite my own fatal flaw of iniquity ( yes, I am talking about Yeshua/Jesus); and I choose to believe that because God exists and because I accepted Yeshua as my Messiah, I have a future beyond this mortal existence.

Those without God have no future: they only have this life, and will have to spend it in this world without control, without hope, and without the complete joy that comes from God’s Holy Spirit indwelling in us.

And that is just so sad.

Special Reading for Sukkot- Chol Hamoed (Weekday of the Festival) Exodus 33:12 – 34:26

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This reading is from the parashah Ki Thissa, and recounts Moses asking God to stay with the Israelites as they travel through the desert. Moses also asks God to show His Glory, which God agrees to do but Moses can only see His back as He passes by. God tells him He will put him in a cleft of a rock and cover Moses’ face as He passes because no one can see God’s face. As God passes He declares (what in Judaism is called) the “13 Attributes of God’s Nature” to Moses, and (consequently) to us. The reading ends with God reiterating commandments regarding idolatry, ransom of the first-born, not allowing intermixing with other cultures, the Shabbat, the festivals of Shavuot, Bikkurim (First Fruits) and Sukkot and certain Kashrut (Kosher) laws.

The way Moses prayed when he asked God to forgive the sins of the people is one of the most identifying aspects of Jewish prayer: we pray communally, not individually. Moses certainly was not one of the sinful, rebellious types that were rampant within the million or so Israelites he was leading, but yet when he asked God to forgive the sins that they (not him, but they) committed, he included himself with them. Jewish prayer is communal, we know that in God’s eyes we are one entity, one nation, one people, and when one of us sins we are all covered with that sin. It is one of the things that is really unique about the Jewish relationship with God. This is not meant as an attack or accusation, but most every Christian prayer I have ever heard is on an individual relationship with God; it is a one-to-one, personal relationship that doesn’t include anyone else, take responsibility for anyone else, or even acknowledge anyone else as part of that relationship. When a Christian prays for forgiveness it is only for themself.

In Judaism we pray differently. Yes, we ask God for forgiveness of our own sins, but we also always take responsibility for the sins of the nation. On Yom Kippur we recite the Ashamnu prayer which translates as “We are guilty”; the prayer “Act for the Sake of” ends with asking God to act for His sake if not “our” sake; the Al Het (All Sins) prayer is a recitation of every sin you could ever think of, and we ask for forgiveness of each one, but (as I said) it is not “For the sin I committed in Your sight”, but it is “For the sin WE committed in Your sight”, and what is repeated throughout this prayer is:

ועל כלמ, אלוה סליחות, סלח לנו, מחל לנו, כפר-לנן  (Forgive us all sins, O God of forgiveness, and cleanse us.)

Jewish prayer and relationship with God goes way beyond just “You-and-me.” And even though we pray as a nation, we still have a personal relationship with God: being one people doesn’t mean we aren’t each uniquely loved and known by God.

After Moses has interceded for the people and gained God’s forgiveness, God hides Moses in the rock cleft and passes by announcing His 13 attributes (these definitions are from my Chumash):

1. and 2.- The Lord, the Lord. The Rabbis interpret this as meaning God is the same before we sin, and the same after we sin, indicating that change must be from the sinner’s heart because God is the same all the time;

3. God– the allmighty Lord of the Universe;

4. Merciful– full of affectionate sympathy for the sufferings and miseries of human frailty;

5. Gracious– assisting, helping, consoling the afflicted and raising up the oppressed. In Man these attributes are temporary but with God they are inherently eternal.

6. Long-suffering– slow to anger and not rushing to punish the sinner but affording opportunities for the sinner to retrace his evil courses;

7. Abundant in goodness– plentiful in mercy and blessing beyond what Man deserves;

8. Truth– eternally true to himself pursuing His plans for the salvation of mankind and rewarding those who are obedient to His will;

We need to take note that the Hebrew used here is “v’rav chesed v’emet“: loving-kindness (rav chesed) comes before truth (emet), indicating that we are always to tell the truth, but to tell it in love.  We see this message often in Yeshua’s teachings and the Epistles of the New Covenant…Gee, I wonder where they got it from?

9. Keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation– remembering the good deeds of our ancestors and reserving reward to their descendants;

10. Forgiving iniquity– bearing with indulgence the failings of Man;

11. (forgiving) Transgression– deeds that spring from malice and rebellion against God;

12. (forgiving) Sin– the shortcomings of Man due to heedlessness and error; and

13. Will by no means clear the guilty– no matter how willing or how strongly God desires to forgive us our sins, He is also holy and will not allow the impenitent to go unpunished.

 

So nu…  there you have it! You want to know God? Here He is. This is what God wants us to know about Him, and for me that is all I need to know about Him. I think the most important attributes we human beings (and especially worshipers of God) need to remember above all are long suffering and willingness to forgive. The old saying, “To err is human; to forgive, Divine.” is absolutely in line with Torah.

We are to imitate God, but (of course) we can’t imitate God- He is eternal, spirit, holy and ineffable. But we can imitate some of His attributes, such as His forgiveness, His charity, His love for others, His desire to help the needy and to prosecute the guilty. Love of righteousness and hatred of evil: these things we can imitate, and I believe God wants us to do exactly that- imitate those of His attributes which we can imitate!

God gave us this “To Do” list, so let’s get to work on it.

 

The Day of Jubilee is on Yom Kippur for a Good Reason

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This Shabbat (29 September, 2017) is also Kol Nidre, the first evening of Yom Kippur. As such, the traditional Torah reading is Leviticus 16:1-34 which are the rulings regarding this day.

However, I am going to talk about Leviticus 25: 8-10, which goes as follows:

You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years.  Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land.  And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.

The Jubilee Year is designed to allow every Israelite to return to take possession of his ancestral land, and to be freed of any and all debts that he has incurred. It allows him  and his family to restart their life in their own home and without any debt. The economy of this action is remarkable: it prevents land grabbing, it maintains a working class, it establishes a moral economy, and it prevents people from being sold into slavery forever. It maintains a family standard of wealth, in that their property will always revert to them, at some point in the future, if they should ever fall on bad times.

It is not unlike the biblical prophecies regarding the Children of Israel that state no matter how many times they are conquered, or how far from home they are dispersed, their homeland and their own, personal property will always be there and one day God will bring them back to it.

Yom Kippur also allows us to restart our life debt free; not free from owing money to someone, but free from the debt we owe to God for our sins.

When we sin we owe God restitution- whether it be blood of the innocent, grain, 1/5th additional to what we took, or any combination of those things. What we owe Him is more, though, than just things- we owe Him our life. When we sin we separate ourselves from God, and our eternal life is then forfeit. The only way we can be reunited and gain back our eternity is to pay the debt. Yom Kippur provides us a single point in time where we can know that our debt will be paid off and we will start anew.

The Jubilee Year and Yom Kippur have this in common- both free us from debt; the former from worldly debt, and the latter from spiritual debt. The year when Yom Kippur and Jubilee fall together is certainly a joyous occasion, even though Yom Kippur is a solemn event.

In case you were not aware, 2017 is a Jubilee Year, and starting on Saturday evening, 9/30/2017 all Jews are to receive back their ancestral lands. I live in Florida, in the United States, and don’t even know what tribe I belong to, but I do know this: I will be forgiven of my sins and somewhere in Israel is a plot of land that belongs to me.

As a Messianic Jew who has accepted Yeshua ha Maschiach (Jesus Christ) as my Savior, you may ask why I need to fast or worship on Yom Kippur. After all, didn’t Yeshua die for our sins? Yes, He did, but He didn’t change the commandments. Yom Kippur, including the fast, is still a commandment of God and all who worship God should obey it. Not because I believe, as my fellow  “mainstream” Jews do, it is the only means of forgiveness, but simply because it is commanded. I think we should also fast and worship as a sign of solidarity with the Jewish people, most of whom have not accepted Yeshua, to show them that believing in Yeshua doesn’t mean one is no longer an observant Jew. Most any Jew will tell you, if you are Jewish and believe in Yeshua as your Messiah, you aren’t a Jew anymore because you have to be a Christian if you believe in Jesus. It’s really sad- they don’t even know what the term “believe in Jesus” means!

Today is a very, very special day- the Yom Kippur of Jubilee Year! We are freed from debt to Man and to sin, and we can start our lives afresh, clean and unencumbered.

Of course, this is a spiritual statement; I don’t suggest going to the local bank branch and insisting that because this is the Yom Kippur Jubilee Year you would like the deed to your house. I think you will find yourself on the sidewalk.

One last note: since Yom Kippur is all about forgiveness, I also suggest there be one other type of debt you relieve yourself of. That is the onerous debt of unforgiveness for others. Starting at sundown tonight we will be praying and fasting, asking God to move from the Throne of Judgement to the Throne of Mercy and to forgive us the debt of our sins, which we owe Him. We must, therefore, also forgive those that owe us a debt of sin, whether they ask for it or not.

Remember Matthew 6:14-15:

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Remember also the parable in Matthew 18:23-35 about the man that was forgiven a large debt and refused to forgive one who owed him only a little. It didn’t go well for the one who refused to forgive. It will be the same for you and me if we refuse to forgive, so on this day, more than on any other day, as you pray to God for forgiveness, think also of those that have sinned against you, and forgive them!

Believe me, please, when I say that the heaviness of spirit we feel when we have monetary debts is nothing compared to the emotional emptiness you feel when you are unforgiving.  Debts can be paid, after which they are just a memory, but unforgiveness is a poison that eats away your heart, little by little, until you can’t even love anymore.  It destroys all your relationships, and it hurts everyone you care about and who cares about you.

So celebrate the forgiveness you receive from God by forgiving others, especially those you have refused to forgive because they “don’t deserve it.” It doesn’t matter what they deserve because your unforgiveness separates you from God, and when you forgive them you will be reunited with the Lord in joy, the pain of being hurt will be gone, and a great weight will be lifted.

Forgiveness brings us closer to God, both when He forgives us and when we forgive others.

Rosh HaShanah 2017 Message

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Rosh HaShanah began Wednesday evening (the only holy day to occur the same night as the new moon) and the traditional reading is the Akedah, Genesis 22, which is the story of the Binding of Isaac. Even though we have Ha’azinu (the Song of Moses) as this Shabbat’s Parashah, I am going to talk about the Akedah.

The story, as I am sure you all know, starts with God telling Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to Him. Abraham sets off the very next morning to do so, and they walk three days until they come to Mount Moriah, where Abraham takes Isaac, binds him, places him on the wood and is about to slaughter him with a knife when the angel of the Lord calls and stops Abraham. God tells Abraham this was a test of his loyalty and faith; Abraham sees a ram with it’s horns stuck in a bush and sacrifices the ram to God. Then he and Isaac go back home.

NOTE: because it was a ram that was substituted for Isaac, the shofar is usually a ram’s horn to honor that ram.

This reading is considered a Messianic passage by both Jews and Christians, alike. From the Christian (and Messianic) viewpoint, we see the father of the nation of Jews sacrificing his only son (Isaac, who is the “son of the promise”) as a foreshadow of the Father of the Universe sacrificing His only son, Yeshua.

From the Jewish side, I have seen too many different messages from this to even start to say this one is what it means, or that one is why it is considered messianic. The only thing agreed is that the Akedah it is the most read passage in the Torah, since it is repeated daily before the Shacharit (morning) prayer and again on the second day of Rosh Hashannah. In some circles it is even thought that Isaac did die and was resurrected, but the bible is clear he did not die.

I am just going to say the Akedah is considered a Messianic passage by Jews, and leave it at that.

The point I want to make today, though, has nothing to do with it’s messianic foreshadowing. What I want to talk about is how sometimes we hear from God, and we know what He wants from us, but then things change just as we are doing what we thought He wanted us to do!

For instance, in the Akedah (which means “binding”) Abraham was sure that God told him to sacrifice Isaac, but at the last moment God changed that. Abraham was told why things changed, that this was only a test of his faith, but often we may not be told why things suddenly change. They just will.

By the way, God didn’t even tell Abraham to substitute the ram- Abraham took that upon himself to do. I believe it was a thanksgiving sacrifice, for I am certain Abraham was very, VERY thankful to God that the sacrifice of Isaac was not required.

If, and when, we hear God’s calling in our lives, (hopefully) we answer that calling. But what about when after we answer it we find out that what we are doing isn’t working out? Here’s an example: where I have been worshiping, a place I know God called me to go, we are going to be disbanded in a few months. This is currently a Hebraic Roots church which is a sovereign Assemblies of God church; the first Senior Pastor left almost immediately after I joined to pursue his corporate calling (Ezra International) and the current Senior Pastor is quitting to pursue a Masters his employer (Bridges for Peace) is paying for. This leaves the church with no one who has Senior Pastor credentials with the A of G. That means the church will revert to an A of G district church, and that means we can kiss goodbye Friday night Shabbat. It is almost a foregone conclusion that they will go back to Sunday mornings, and even if they send a pastor with a heart for Israel, it is impossible to consider that this will remain a Hebraic Roots congregation. So you see, I am very sure that my calling to this church is about to take a significant turn from what I thought it would be when God told me this is the place for me.

And it has been the place for me. What God sent me here to do wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be, but it turns out that I have been exactly what was needed at that time. And now that time is over. Abraham was looking forward (not in the way of hopeful expectation) to having to kill his only son, and knew that is what God wanted from him.  Both Abraham and I found out that what we thought God told us we were to do didn’t end up being what He had planned for us to do.

When you find yourself following God’s calling in your life and suddenly you have to make a U-Turn, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are under attack from the enemy; it doesn’t have to mean you misunderstood what God was calling you to do; and it doesn’t mean that you have fallen from Grace.  It just might mean when you heard God call you to do something, you thought there was more to it, but there was only what He had planned, and you’ve done it.

Just like Abraham thought God called him to kill Isaac, but all God needed was to test his willingness to kill Isaac.

Just like I thought I could come to this place and only be in the congregation, without the responsibilities or burden of being in leadership, but I ended up holding three positions on the Council and working with the Pastor leading the congregation in liturgy and delivering the weekly messages.

What about you? Have you found yourself in a position where you could have sworn God called you to, and now it seems that you might have been wrong about it? Are you currently experiencing troubles (tsouris) in your life that you can’t explain, and you are doubting your calling with God? Are you thinking , “Maybe I’m not doing what God wants of me?” You could be right, or you could be done with what God really wanted of you and you just don’t know that yet. Maybe you are being pruned and the real reason for your current troubles is that you aren’t trying to listen to God because you think you already know what He wants?

Overall, the only way to know what God wants for you is to ask Him to show you. Always expect the unexpected from God because He doesn’t have to tell you any more than what you need to know, when you need to know it. That means things may change at any time, so be alert, be watchful, be ready.

And always be listening to the Spirit.

Parashot Nitzavim (standing) and V’yellach (and he spoke) Deuteronomy 29:9 through 31

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This Shabbat we have a double-parashah. This happens during non-leap years so that the reading cycle will conform to the Gregorian calendar.

In these parashot (plural of parashah) Moshe finishes the third of his three discourses: the first is the review of their journey (1:6 to 4:40), the second deals with the religious foundations of the covenant and rehearsal of the Code (4:44 – Chapter 11), and this third discourse (Chapter 12 to here) as been all about obedience and punishment.

In these two relatively short chapters, we are given teachings that are so very, very valuable and important. In Chapter 29:28 Moses tells us that the secret things belong to the Lord, and that which has been revealed belongs to us AND our children. Prior to this Moshe reminds the people that the covenant is made between God and all the people- the ones there, the ones that were before, and the ones that are to come. In other words, God is eternal, and His covenants are eternal: although the people He made this covenant with (Israelites) are, individually, mortal, His covenant is with not just them, but their seed. Israel is, to God, an eternal son and so the covenant made with Israel, the nation, is as eternal as God.

The other important teaching, which comes on the heels of the fact that our relationship with God is eternal, is that this code, this covenant, is not too hard for us. We are told this in the very next Chapter, verses 30:11-14:

For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

After telling the people that God’s commandments are not too hard for them to do, he calls to heaven and earth to witness that day that Moshe is presenting life and death, and they should choose life. Here, again, a very important lesson for us, maybe the most important lesson in the entire bible: we are all, each and every one of us, responsible for the choices we make. God has given us Free Will to accept or reject Him, and it doesn’t matter who tells us what we should do, if we listen to anyone other than God we will be held accountable for that. The line the Nazi’s used in Nuremberg during the war crime trials was, “I was only following orders.”  In the human courts that excuse didn’t hold water, and it certainly won’t hold water in the Court of the Almighty!

The last reading this Shabbat is God telling Moshe his time is up, and to anoint Joshua, but first God let’s Moshe in on a secret: He tells Moshe what is to happen in the future. God shows Moshe the history of the nations of Israel and Judah, and has Moshe write down a song that God, Himself, has created which will be taught to the leaders to teach to everyone, so that when all this tsouris comes to be, they will remember the song and know that it is because of their rejection of God and violation of His covenant that these calamities have come upon them.

So what shall we talk about today? Which lesson that brings life eternal to us, which knowledge and understanding of God’s plan can we discuss?

I think it is simple, just as Moshe told the people- what God wants from us is for us to choose life. He has told us what we must do, and that when we don’t do it we will not be blessed or protected from our enemies. But, when we do as He says, He will protect us, He will bless us beyond our imagination, and He will provide all we need, forever.

Sounds like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? In truth, it IS a no-brainer, and we qualify- we have no brains! We choose death, we choose fleshly desires and rewards, all which are fleeting and momentary. I just don’t get it- I suppose that is the iniquity we all inherited from Adam and Eve. Desire to sin is in our very DNA, and the only hope we have is that the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) is an expert in recombinant DNA. God can rewire our brains to accept His laws and teachings, but it means we have to work at it. It is not something He will just do- it is a team effort. When people have brain surgery done, very often they are fully awake to help guide the neurosurgeon. I believe that this is also how God helps rewire our brain- we work together, with God doing the repair while we give Him feedback, which is through our actions and words.

We are nearing the end of the Torah, and in a few weeks we will turn it back to the beginning and start to read it all over again. I think it is wonderful that these last chapters deal with the future of the Children of Israel, which eventually affects the world, just before we start all over again learning about God’s intervention in the world.  It is a vicious cycle that we create for ourselves- God blesses, we get used to His blessings and forget about Him and screw it all up, God punishes us to bring us back to Him, we do T’shuvah, God forgives and again blesses us, then we (again) become enured to God’s blessings, our iniquity wins out, we forget about God and sin, so God (again) punishes us, we (again) do T’shuvah, God (again) forgives us and blesses us, we screw it up…ad infinitum. This will not end until God completes His plan of salvation.

Albert Einstein is reputed to have given this definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I think, based on this definition and the cycle of sin that mankind has demonstrated for millennia, there can be no doubt that we are insane!

It’s like the old joke: How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?  Only one, but the light bulb has to really want to change.

We are the light bulb and God can change us, but only when we let Him.