Parashah Mikketz (It came to pass) Genesis 41 – 44:17

December 19, 2014 Leave a comment

The famous, prophetic dream that Pharaoh had is revealed in this parashah. The cows and the corn, the 7 years of abundance to be followed by the same number of years of terrible famine.

Famine was not uncommon in the Middle East; Abraham saw famine, Yitzchak saw famine, Ahab saw famine (and no rain, too, for 3 years) and even in modern times there was the famous famine that was world wide from 1920 -1924.

I believe God is in charge of everything, and also that sometimes things just happen. Just because God can make everything run the way He wants it to run, that doesn’t mean He does. In the case of today’s Parashah, though, I would like to offer my reason to believe why this particular famine was directed by God: simply because it served so many of God’s purposes, some of which He had already told us about.

When this parashah takes place, the “nation” of Israel numbered about 70, give or take children and in-laws. God promised them to become a great nation. We know that they already were pretty awesome in the eyes of their immediate neighbors, assuming that with their slaves and such they were somewhat formidable to a small town or village, but to be considered a nation as we define one, they weren’t there by any stretch of the imagination. And they were living in a world where the strong took what they wanted. They were exposed on all sides to any number of aggressive enemies.

At this same time we have Joseph in jail. He has been there for nearly 12 years already, forgotten by the Cupbearer and not likely to be remembered any time soon.

God’s plan had to get Joseph out of jail, Israel and his entire family out of constant threat of annihilation, and the children of Israel into a place where they can grow from a large family into a nation, safely and securely.

I can just see the Lord, sitting on His throne, stroking his beard of snow-white wool, asking Himself, “What to do? What to do? AHA!!! A famine. Oh, yes, I love a good famine! And dreams- that’s the ticket! Let’s give Pharaoh two dreams- that’ll rattle his bones, and then we can get this show on the road.”

So now the plan starts to take shape. Pharaoh’s dreams are directly from God, so only a man of God can interpret them. The magicians have no chance, and the confusion and concern awakens the Cupbearer to his own negligence of forgetting Joseph, which he quickly admits to Pharaoh. Now, after God has given Joseph the insight he needed to impress Pharaoh and give God’s plan some more momentum, Joseph is in the position God needs him to be in to have the ability to call his family down to Egypt.

Not letting sin go unpunished, God provides also the opportunity for Joseph to have his brothers suffer recompense for the sin they committed against him, which was merciful when you consider that their punishment and suffering was an emotional one whereas Joseph suffered physically. Yet, through God’s design Joseph is out of jail, the seed of the nation of Israel is planted in good soil, protected by the most powerful nation in the known world, and watered with the kindness that Pharaoh showed to Joseph and that Joseph had for his brothers.

That’s how God did it. He designed the famine to bring Joseph to power, Israel to Egypt, the nation to fruition. And later, in Sh’mot (Exodus) we see God’s plan for the nation to receive the promised land fulfilled, as well. In this Parashah we see the promise to Abraham that his descendants will be many and they will suffer for 400 years in slavery being fulfilled before our eyes.

If there is one thing we can learn from the Bible, it is that God’s plans will always come to be. What God wants done, will get done, and what God says He will do, is so absolutely trustworthy that His prophecy is already history. We can trust God absolutely, without reservation, and that trust is necessary to strengthen our faith. Faith is believing in what we cannot see or prove, but we have trust in what we know. Faith is given and trust is earned. God has demonstrated, historically, that His word is true and dependable. The science of archeology has shown us that the Bible is, if nothing else, historically accurate. That’s enough to earn our trust that the stories are true. It is through this trust of the accuracy of the historical events that we can justify (at least, initially, in our walk with God) our faith to believe those events were by Divine design. Once we take that leap of faith and accept God is in charge, that Yeshua is the Messiah, and (finally) take that most important step- decide to live our life a slave to God and not a slave to sin (for, as Yeshua said, we are all slaves to something)- then we can ask for (and know we have received) forgiveness through Yeshua’s sacrificial death. We can also request and receive the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) and begin our walk with God. After that your faith will grow in leaps and bounds if you continue to be fertile soil for the seed of the Word being sown within you.

I have said that God will never give us “scientific proof” of His existence because it is through faith we are saved, and scientific proof (meaning that the event can be reproduced at will) is the antithesis of faith. But once you are faithful, and you prove to God your T’Shuvah, He will absolutely let you feel His presence, see His goodness, and He will reveal Himself to you in so many different ways that you will have unquestionable proof He exists; thus, your hope for salvation will be confirmed and you will know that it will really happen. He will let you know Him, intimately, and you will experience His love. As you continue to grow in spiritual maturity, you will know more and more His trustworthiness and see His awesome power and compassion in your life, and in the lives of others.

God is in charge: whatever happens, whether designed by Him or simply allowed to run it’s own course by Him, is by His will and by His power. Trust in the deeds, have faith in the promises, and be secure in the hope of eternal joy and peace you will have once this world is no more.

Parashah Vayishlach (He sent) Genesis 32:3 – 36:43

December 5, 2014 Leave a comment

Verse 32:11 stood out to me in this Torah portion, as a reminder not only of God’s trustworthiness, but also of the fact that we can bring God to task by reminding him of His promises.

Not that God ever forgets promises. He does forget something, though: He forgets the sins He forgives. Much better than humans, who say we forgive, and I think most of the time really want to, but we still relive the hurt. Sometimes we don’t want to forgive.

Silly Rabbit! Hatred is for losers! The only way to make the hurt go away is to forgive, then forget. We tend to think forgive and forget means never let them forget what we forgive.

In any event, this verse is where Jacob, soon to be Israel, prays to God to protect him from Esau, who is coming with 400 men to greet his brother. Jacob reminds God of the covenant God made, in essence, calling God’s hand and saying, “You promised my descendants would be numberless, so if Esau destroys me your promise will be broken.”

Of course, he didn’t say it that way, but that’s what he is saying, isn’t it?

We see this a number of times in the Bible, where God is called upon to remember His promises. Apparently this isn’t a problem for the Almighty. I would suggest a respectful reminder, but still, even though God never forgets we are allowed to remind Him.

How many times did Moses (almost) remand God when He wanted to destroy the rebellious people, telling God it is isn’t a good idea because it would make God look less than all-powerful to the nations? Here is a human telling the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, the Almighty Creator of the Universe, “Hey, ya’ know…that’s not a good idea. I think we should revisit that plan.”

The fact that we, little more than worms compared to God, are allowed to remind and, to a point, even remand God shows His merciful, compassionate nature.

Maybe he allows this because He is testing us? Maybe He wants to see if we remember what He says. That makes sense to me, since I can’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning. Pretty soon I won’t even remember if I had breakfast, let alone what it was. So to make sure that we remember His promises is just s step away from making sure we remember His commandments.

The point here is that we need to not just listen to God, but remember what He tells us. When the fecal matter hits the air circulation device we will need to know God’s word, His promises and His commandments. More than that, we will need to know the other parts of the Bible, too: Shaul’s advice, what the Prophets tell us to expect, and what John tells us about the Acharit HaYamim (End Days.) All this needs to be read and remembered.

And when we are in the midst of troubles, there is nothing wrong with kvetching to God. He can handle it, and (I like to think) He actually likes it when we call out to Him, even if it is to remind Him of his promises.

I pray for my wife and children every day, and I remind God that His son said whatever I ask, if I ask it in His name, will be given. Then I remind God that He, Himself, said He doesn’t want anyone to die in their sin, so it certainly is in His will when I ask for the salvation of my loved ones. I remind God of these things every time I pray.

There is the parable of the woman who asks justice from the unjust judge. Eventually he grants her justice, if for no other reason than to get rid of her.

God is a totally righteous judge, so how much more will He do for us when we continually ask, and respectfully remind, Him to do what He has told us He would.

Parashah Shof’tim (Judges)

August 22, 2014 Leave a comment

When I read this parasha I think to myself that when God let Moshe go to the top of the mountain to show him The Land, maybe He also showed him the future. If not, Moshe was truly a prophet because , as he says in this parashah, they will know a prophet is truly speaking God’s word when what the prophet says will happen comes to be. Moshe is telling the people their future: they will have judges but will want a king. The king will marry too many wives (it’s implied they will be foreigners), become entangled in their religious practices and fall away from God. The kings will have too many horses, representing power and military strength, and will stop depending on God for military victory but count on their own strength. Moshe also told them if they don’t completely destroy the people that God says they are to destroy that will become another thorn in their side, an entanglement which will also pull the people away from worshipping God as they should. Finally, Moshe said (one of the Messianic prophecies) that God would raise up a prophet like him to lead the people, and he warned them that if they don’t listen to the prophet they will suffer. This is a dual-prophecy, occurring both in the immediate future (i.e., the prophets that came up to the time of the Maccabees) and in the distant future, which is when Yeshua, the ultimate and final prophet, appeared to the people.

Every single one of these warnings came true. During the time of the Judges, as we read in the book of the same name, we are often told that people had no king and they did as they wanted to do. Saul screwed up, David did as good as anyone ever did and would until the coming of Yeshua, yet he committed adultery, murder, and held a census that caused the death of thousands. Solomon, with all his wisdom, married “out of the family” with hundreds of wives and fell into their practices. The kings of Shomron (Israel, the Northern Kingdom) well, geez- they never even came close! And after Yoshiyahu, the Judean kings got worse and worse. All this time the peoples that were not destroyed continually polluted the worship of the people. And, eventually, the people were ejected from their inheritance, as Moshe said would happen.

Praise God that today we are seeing the collection of His people from all over the world returning to the Land. It’s better to be at this end of the prophecy than the other end.

The lesson here is pretty simple: do as God says and you will be fine; reject Him, and you are in deep doo-doo.

We are told that everything we do we need to do with God in mind. Everything we say we need to remember will be held against us at Judgement (Yeshua tells us this in Matthew.) Everything we need (note: not everything we want) God will provide if we ask for it and trust in Him. Everything…everyday…always…forever…throughout all your generations…getting the picture? God talks to us in terms of eternity. That’s what He sees- He sees us now and in the future, and throughout all eternity, so He talks to us with an eternal focus. We can’t see past our own noses. Another really good reason to listen to God. Yeshua tells us when the blind lead the blind they both fall into a hole. Moses is seeing the future. He is able to see the holes that we, stiff-necked and prideful, are blind to. Throughout this parasha Moses is leading us, but we refused to accept his guidance, which came directly from God, and look at how often we fell into holes for the next, what? 1,500 years? Truth be told, we have been falling into holes from that time until this very day.

Let God be your guide, let Adonai be your Docent on the tour of life, let the Lord take you by the hand and lead you to the Promised Land. And accept Yeshua as your travel agent, setting you up with the Almighty for the trip of a lifetime; no, not the trip of a lifetime. The trip of an Eternity.