Tag: Moses

Parashah Va-Ethchanan (I besought) Deuteronomy 3:23 – 7:11

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Moses completes his First Discourse, going into detail about how God has separated the Jewish people from the other nations by his laws, ordinances and (more than anything else) His continual presence and the miraculous works He has performed for His people. These all show the world who God is and who He has chosen as His inheritance.

Moses then assigns the cities of refuge and starting in Chapter 5, verse 1 Moses goes through the 10 Commandments, recites the Shema and the V’Ahavtah: the Shema being the watchword of the faith, the statement of monotheism which separated the Jewish people from the rest of the pagan world. The V’Ahavtah (‘and you shall love’) follows the Shema, and is the way we follow the Shema- to love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might. Yeshua told us that to love God (from this passage) and to love each other (Lev. 19:18) are the two most important commandments of all.

Moses also tells us, throughout this parashah and (indeed) throughout the entire book of Deuteronomy, that we are not to make a graven image of anything; nothing in the sky, nothing on earth and nothing in the sea. Maybe someone should tell that religion with all the statues in their churches about this commandment.

Chapter 5 also starts the Second Discourse of Moses, which is all about the foundations of the Covenant.

Well, all we have here today to talk about are the two most important prayers in Judaism and how important it is to follow God’s commandments in order to secure our future. Let’s see- maybe we can cover this completely in, oh say, …a LIFETIME!! We have been studying these things since we received them, some 3500 years ago. Oy!

I am going to keep this simple. The bottom line, the acid test question to be answered (“How does this affect my salvation?”) is that we are to remember to follow God’s lead. That’s it, really. Here’s salvation in a nutshell: do as God says.

Of course, since we can’t do that because of our sinful nature, God has provided Yeshua the Messiah to get us over that “hump”, but that hasn’t happened yet for these people.

God has given us the Torah- not “us” meaning just the Jewish people, but “us” meaning everyone.  The Jewish people are the chosen people (sorry to tell you, Replacement Theologists, but you are so wrong you aren’t even in the same universe where what is right is found), but chosen only to be the custodians of the Torah. We are to be teachers, Levites (priests) to the nations; by learning and following the Torah, we are to present to the world the example of how we all should act.

All nations will be blessed by Abraham’s seed- that is the promise God made to Abraham (Genesis 22:18) and we have seen that happen throughout history. Just as a small example, here is an excerpt from Wikipedia regarding the contribution Jews have made to the world resulting in being awarded the Nobel Prize:

 Nobel Prizes have been awarded to over 850 individuals, of whom at least 20% were Jewish or people of Jewish descent, although Jews comprise less than 0.2% of the world’s population (or 1 in every 500 people). Overall, Jews or people of Jewish descent have won a total of 41% of all the Nobel Prizes in economics, 28% of medicine, 26% of physics, 19% of chemistry, 13% of literature and 9% of all peace awards.

Less than 0.2% of all people have contributed over 20% of the most beneficial discoveries and contributions to society that have occurred in the modern world. I would call that a good example of blessing the world, wouldn’t you?

Moses tells the people (over and over) how God chose them, saved them, protected them, and will continue to do so, as long as they continue to worship Him and obey His Torah. It’s really that simple- do as He says, live in peace and comfort, the end; close the door on your way out.

That is today’s message: do as God says, not as we do.

Of course, you will counter with, “But, I can’t obey the Torah fully- there is no temple for the sacrifice, and besides that, (now comes the string of excuses that religion has taught you), and that’s why I can’t follow Torah. Oh, yeah- I am not under the Law but under the Blood of Christ!”

Religion is not something God created- mankind created religion. God has no religion. So, what religion has taught you may or may not be correct in God’s eyes. The Torah, on the other hand, is correct in God’s eyes. I mean, well, He gave it to us- how much more correct can it get than that? The only logical and sensible thing to do is try to follow the Torah to the best of our abilities.

Being under the Blood of Christ is a very good thing- a VERY good thing- but it is not license to ignore God’s commandments that are in the Torah. Being under the blood is being born again and having Yeshua (Jesus) as your intercessor: your unrighteousness before God is covered by His blood, which washes clean the stain of your sin. Being “under the blood” is how you are able to be saved from yourself at Judgement Day, but if you haven’t really done T’shuvah (turning from sin), if you use the suffering and sacrifice Yeshua underwent to save you as an excuse to continue sinning (on purpose), then there will be no blood shed for you! God and Yeshua want you to be saved from yourself, even to the point where Yeshua gave up His divinity to take on a mantle of flesh and die so that you can be welcomed into heaven.

BUT– neither God nor Yeshua are stupid. If your heart is not truly repentant, if you don’t truly try to sin less every day, if you have’t really done T’shuvah, then you aren’t fooling anyone. You may think you are under the blood, but you are, in fact, under a curse.

The whole Torah comes down to this, as I have said before, am saying now, and will continue to say: just do what God says to the best of your ability, and what He says in in the Torah. It’s not what the Rabbi, Priest or Minister tells you (although they are trying to help guide you), and it’s not what I tell you (Oy! Who, me? I am just like you!): it’s what God tells you! God is the Boss, the Big Kahuna, the Macher, the Holy One of Israel, the Lord of lords and King of kings. God is all there is, ever was, or ever shall be.

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the One and Only God, and that is all there is to it. His business is salvation, His CEO is Yeshua, His office is in heaven, and if you want to want to work for Him you need to follow His business practices.

And the Employee Handbook is called…..Torah.

 

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How many times have you heard someone praying, and they seem to go on, and on, and on andonandonandon……sometimes stopping to think of what to say, maybe to take a breath, as if they need to be like King Solomon or Elijah.

I have also heard people praying and interjecting “Father God” or “Lord God” over and over, every other word.

Hey- He knows who He is, OK?

I may be upsetting some people with this little pet peeve of mine, especially those that like to pray as if there is nothing else to do, but I believe the bible supports my feelings: prayer should be honest, direct and from the heart. Too many people pray from their head, meaning they try to speak in King James bible-ese, with flourishing speech, like some Shakespearean actor on the stage.

In Matthew 6:6-13 Yeshua told us what and how to pray:

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.  And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,  your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Many interpretations use “debt” instead of “trespass”, but I believe trespass is the correct interpretation because in the First Century that meant to sin against someone. The fact that verse 14 confirms that if we do not forgive on Earth those who sin against us we will not be forgiven in heaven is why I believe this verse is not about debt but about forgiveness.

This prayer is simple, and it serves as a template for any prayer we make.

We should start with recognizing who and what God is as we approach Him. Psalms 120 to 134 all start with the words “A Song of Ascents” and there have been different interpretations of what this means. I believe the teaching these specific psalms were sung as the Cohanim  (Priests)  ascended the steps towards the altar is correct. Each one is sung on a different step as the Cohan is bringing the sacrifice to God.

That is why our prayer should always start with recognition of God, like the Priest bringing the sacrifice to the altar, praising God before before anything is asked of Him, to show our respect and reverence for Him.

After we have recognized God’s goodness and awesomeness, then we can ask for ourselves. We should ask only for what we need, and only for now. We do not need to ask for anything past today, because tomorrow is up to God and we should trust that He will do for us tomorrow just as He will do for us today.

And when we ask to be forgiven, we need to be forgiving, as well, because our own forgiveness will be held against us. That is what the verse that says ‘forgive us as we forgive others’ means- judge us as we judge, forgive us the same way we forgive others, and if we don’t forgive others, well…we’re up the creek without a paddle. Why? Because we have told God not to forgive us if we refuse to forgive others.

And that will be all on our own head- no one else to blame for that one.

When Moses’s big sister was white as death because she spoke out against him, what was the prayer Moses presented to God? Was it long and drawn out? Was it with flourishes and beautiful language? Nope! When Moses sees his sister looking like death, he prays to God this way (Numbers 12:13):

So Moses cried out to the LORD, “Please, God, heal her!”

That’s it- four words. But those four words speak volumes to God, for they are straight from Moses’ heart. They were all that he needed to say, and all that God needed to hear to answer him.

When we pray we should pray quietly, from the heart, and tell God only what we want, which should be within His will for us or others. When we pray  as intercessors, we don’t need to babble on- pray to God that ‘whatever needs to be taken care of be done so, and swiftly, in Yeshua’s name. Amen.’

That’s it- that’s all you need to do. Yeshua tells us two important things:

  1. Don’t go on like the pagans, thinking that the more you talk the more He’ll listen, and;
  2. God already knows what you want and what you need.

So when you pray, pray as God wants you to, and as His son tells you you should. Prayer should follow the KISS rule:

Keep It Simple, Schlemiel!

So, to follow my own advice, I’m done.

Parashah D’varim (words) Deuteronomy 1 – 3:22

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This is the 5th and last book of the Torah. Moses gives three discourses: the first is review of their 40 year journey, the second (beginning at 4:44) deals with the foundations of the covenant with a review of the laws and commandments God has given, and the third discourse begins in Chapter 28, that one being on how to enforce the laws now that they are entering the land of promise.

At the end, Moses warns that no one should take away, or add to, any of the words written in this book. Does that mean the entire Torah, or just Deuteronomy?

If you ask me, it’s the entire Torah because the chapters and books are not very distinguishable in the Torah. The Torah is a single scroll, and the only way to tell where one book ends and another begins is that there is more space between the end of the sentences. Here is a sample of what the Torah looks like when there is a clear separation between a chapter or a page.

It is one book and it is one story. It is all about the one and only God and His choice of a people to represent Him; a people who were chosen to present His laws and commandments to the world. These laws and commandments are what will help lead us away from the sinful life our nature desires and to the sinless life that will bring us closer to God.

The Torah is a road map that leads us away from destruction; it shows us the path to salvation.

The Torah was given to the Jewish people because Abraham was so faithful that God chose him to be His means of salvation for the world. Before Abraham, it was Noah. Since Abraham, there have been many people that have saved the Jewish people from their own, well-deserved punishment, and with Messiah Yeshua there was no longer any need for Judges or Kings, because He is all of that, and more.

Deuteronomy, which is the Gentile name for the book called D’varim, reviews what we are told in the previous 4 books and serves as a reminder of what the people must do to faithfully follow God’s commandments. It is the recap, the “Reader’s Digest” version of the first four books. If you only read this fifth book of the Torah, you would still get the meaning and gist of the first four books, although you wouldn’t have the deeper understanding, the Drash, that you can enjoy when you have read the entire Torah.

The most wonderful thing about the bible, and the Torah is just the “warm-up”, is that God’s word has new revelations every time we read it. You could read this 50 times, but when you go over it the 51st time the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) will suddenly reveal to you something new, something that will help you to understand God better and to have a deeper and more fulfilling relationship with Him, and you will think to yourself, “How could I have not seen this before?”

It’s because we need to have spiritual eyes and spiritual ears when we read the Torah. For that matter, when we read anything in the Bible, since it is all the word of God. And these spiritual things take time to develop.

As we go through this book together, let’s read what is there and remember where we read it before. D’varim is the reminder to the people of all they have been through and what they were taught: how to live, how to worship, and how to treat each other. I think it is (no surprise here) very appropriate timing that this book of the Torah, which is a reminder and sort of memorial, comes right on the eve of Tisha B’Av, the 9th Day of Av, a day of mourning and memorial of the worst things that have happened to the Jewish people ever since we refused to enter the land.

That’s exactly where D’varim starts- Moses reminding the people that they refused to enter the land. Did you know that day was the 9th day of Av?

 

Parashah Mattot (chiefs) Numbers 30:2 – 32

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The previous parashah ended with Moses reviewing for the people the commandments regarding sacrifices and the Holy Days. Now he continues with the laws regarding vows. These three things- sacrifice, Festivals and vows- form the basis of worship. The people are at the end of their journey and being prepared to enter the land God promised them they would possess. This is not the generation that refused God’s offer, for they all died in the desert. This is the new generation of Israel, a nation not born into slavery but born into freedom, raised in the harshest of climates and environments. This is the generation that has grown up knowing battle.

After the A-B-C’s of worship are reviewed, God tells Moses that the last thing he is to do as leader is to have Israel destroy the Midianites for the cruelty they imposed on the Israelites. After this, Moses is to meet his Maker.

The Israelites destroy the 5 kings of Midian, but there are still Midianites left in other parts of Canaan. Israel takes all the spoil, including women and children, which makes Moses mad. He reminds them of the sin caused by these women after Balaam suggested they seduce the men of Israel into worshiping their gods. Moses orders all the women who are not virgins to be slain, and all the male children (BTW…Balaam is also slain in the battle.) The spoils are split with those who did not go to war, with a lions share to the men who went to battle. There is tithing of the spoils, and the men that risked their lives gave a portion one tenth the size of those that received spoils but did not fight.

Miraculously, but not surprising considering God is behind this, of the 12,000 men from Israel who went to fight (1,000 from each tribe) it is reported that not one man is killed in battle.

This parashah ends with the tribes of Gad, Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh asking if they can have the land east of the Jordan because it is good for their cattle.

Just for the record, Manasseh wasn’t really spit in half: there were 8 tribes of Manasseh (Numbers 26:29-32 lists the sons of Manasseh, 8 in all), of which 6 families stayed on the East of the Jordan, and the other 2 were on the West.

This request ticked Moses off, as he assumed they were refusing, as their fathers had, to enter the land, but it was soon resolved that they would go into the land to help the other tribes conquer it, and only after the other tribes had their inheritances would these three tribes return to their share east of the Jordan. These three tribes built up their cities and fortified them, then joined the rest of the camp to go into Canaan and take possession.

I have often heard that the bible is not fair to women. Of course, any complaint against social mores in historic times that is based on current beliefs is ridiculous. History is what it was, and can’t be judged by what is now. We can make comparisons, we can say that women were considered in a different light then, but when we look deeper we see that they were not treated unfairly then, considering that day’s ethical beliefs. In fact, the bible shows that women were given just as much right as men to make decisions, once they were of age or their social status was free of parental support.

That is really the difference- today a female person of majority (legal age) has rights and is accountable for what she does, with no consideration as to her marital status or where she lives.  Back then, the ages for majority were different, but what was the same then as it is now is …“as long as you live under my roof, you will abide by my rules.” A female who was a virgin and living with her father was under his authority. She was allowed to make vows, and if the father (or when married, the husband) let those vows stand by not voiding them, then she was totally accountable to God for keeping that vow. If the father (or husband), who technically owned all assets of the family, voided the vow the moment he heard about it, then the female was absolved of responsibility. However, if the male did not void it immediately upon learning about it, but tried to void it later, the female was not accountable because he was! She had the right to make a vow and the responsibility to keep it, unless the person that owned the property for the family voided it. Remember- a vow would affect the entire family, and may also affect their income; or, the person making the vow may be less available for doing chores. Whatever the vow was, it affected everyone in the family, and may have affected their assets. It is only right that the one who owns the assets is given a right of review. It may be that you say women should have as much right to the property as the man, but there were no communal property laws in 1500 BCE. Today that certainly isn’t fair, but that is how it was back then. When you consider the cultural ethics of the time, the laws about family leaders (the father or husband) having the final vote about a vow the female living with him makes, is very fair, and respectful to all involved.

Note , also, that if a woman was a widow or divorced (the assumption is that she is living alone), then her vows were binding. Again, here it shows that she has the same authority as a man to make a vow, but being under her own authority (marriage-wise) she is totally accountable. Having the right to promise to do something also carries the weight of responsibility for doing that which was promised. Man or woman, this was equally enforced.

One example that comes to mind is how Elkanah let stand Hannah’s vow to give her first born son to God (1 Samuel, 22-23.)

When we read the bible we have to incorporate proper interpretive rules, and one of those is to accept that the cultural norms of that day were acceptable then. We may not accept them now, but that doesn’t make the people back then “wrong” or “unfair’ because the rules, as well as the entire game, was very different.

By remembering to account for cultural and ethical differences, you will not misjudge the people, or (for that matter) the bible.

Parashah Balak, Numbers 22:2 – 25:9

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If it wasn’t for the continuity I want to keep for the Parashah posts every Friday, I would have titled this Shabbat’s Parashah, “It’s Always Up to You.”

This Parashah is also called the Book of Balaam, according to Jewish tradition, and it tells us the famous story of the talking ass, the beast of burden that Balaam is riding that avoids the Angel of the Lord sent to kill Balaam on his way to curse the nation of Israel in the Moabite desert.

Balaam is one of those people in the bible that is a conundrum: he clearly is worshipful and understands the one, true God, yet he also is a Diviner and “wizard-for-hire”, which is clearly against what God allows. He knows enough to ask for God’s guidance, can be convinced to do so, yet is later found disobeying what God says he should do, anyway.

Despite being enticed by rich rewards, and in the face of having three powerful kings really pissed off at him, Balaam (who has been called to curse the Jews) blesses them; not just once, but three times. The three blessings are because the kings of Moab asked him to curse them three times, despite Balaam saying that he could only do and say what God told him to. After the third blessing, Balaam is sent away with no pay, but before he goes he is led by God to give these kings a prophecy revealing their final defeat.

In the end, he does manage to help Balak, the Moabite king, to infiltrate and damage Israel by having the women of Moab seduce the men of Israel into worshiping the Semitic gods of the Moabites. The parashah ends with the zealousness of Pincus, the grandson of Aaron, killing an Israeli tribal prince who is flaunting his romantic relationship with a Moabite woman, right there in front of Moses and all the people.

What I see here is what happened to the world after Yeshua rose from the dead and through that resurrection, defeated the enemy of God, providing the salvation we all need. And more than that, I also see the ultimate truth about salvation- it’s up to us, always, to choose or reject it.

With Yeshua’s (Jesus) death the complete forgiveness of sin was made possible for all, and He defeated the enemy with His resurrection. But there is still sin and there are billions of unsaved people, despite the fact that the words, deeds and knowledge of Yeshua are known throughout the world. Why is that?

Because the enemy followed Balaam’s lead.

Balaam wasn’t able to curse the young nation of Israel, camped just outside of their final destination. As he was going to curse them, even though God said not to, he would have been killed if his donkey hadn’t bypassed the Angel of the Lord sent to smite him. Then as Balaam was beating this animal who has saved his life three times, it miraculously talked to Balaam and opened his eyes to see the angel standing in the road with sword drawn. From that point on, Balaam still had the choice to curse the Jews, but choose to save his life, instead.

Good thinking.

However, once that scary episode was over, Balaam still managed to get around God by suggesting to the kings that they have their women go to the men of Israel, seduce them romantically, then use that relationship to influence them to worship the Moabite gods. And we read, in Chapter 25, that his plan was very effective. Without unsheathing a single sword, Balaam’s suggestion resulted, ultimately, in the death of some 24,000 Israelites.

Yeshua’s death didn’t save us, His resurrection did, but the enemy counter-attacked (just as Balaam did) with extreme effectiveness: he used Constantine to cause such a schism between the Jews who did not accept Yeshua as Messiah and the (now called) Christians who were not fully living Torah, that “religion” separated the God-fearing people so much that today we are two totally separate religions, with Jews rejecting anything Christian (including their own Jewish Messiah) and Christians rejecting the Torah, saying it was replaced by Jesus (who preached the validity and necessity of following the Torah.)

Balaam was going to do the wrong thing, he did the right thing, but then did the wrong thing. God led Balaam onto the path of righteousness, but Balaam still chose to go the path of deceit and rejection of God’s direction. And, as we read in Numbers 31:8,  that decision led to his death.

We are all given the choice to chose life, through Messiah Yeshua, or to do as we please and choose death. We can change our mind, at any time, either one way or the other. Salvation is available to us, but we can choose to deny it, and even after we accept it, we can still choose to reject it. The bible is very clear about that. We need to realize that the enemy will not give up the fight- he will go into the pit of sulfur kicking and screaming, grabbing anything and anyone close enough to him to take in there with him. This means that we are never fully free of him, and won’t be until after the final Tribulation, the last fight, Yeshua standing on the Mount of Olives saying, “ENOUGH!” and the new Jerusalem being lowered from heaven.

Until then we need to be aware of our own frailties, and the power of the enemy to seduce us into sin. As Yogi Berra is known to have said, “It ain’t over ’till it’s over.”

Keep running the good race, keep your eyes on the prize, and don’t be swayed by others. Choose life, so that you may live, accept Yeshua (if you haven’t already) and never turn away from that, no matter what anyone says.

Look at it this way: God wants to be worshiped, He gave us the Torah to tell us how to worship Him, and He promised a Messiah to reconcile us back to Him. If Yeshua is the Messiah, then you need to accept Him and worship God and obey the Torah, just as Yeshua taught us to do.

If, however, Yeshua is not the Messiah, and you still worship God and obey the Torah, then by thinking and acting like Yeshua is the Messiah, do you really think God is going to have a problem with that? You are worshiping God, you are obeying the Torah- that is the foundation, that is the important thing, that is what is necessary.

But…you do need to accept Yeshua to be able to tear away the Parochet, to achieve fulfillment in your relationship with God, and to be saved from your sin once and for all. And, if you accept Yeshua and He isn’t really the Messiah, you are worshiping God and obeying the Torah, so you’re gonna be OK.

Get it? Accept Yeshua and do as God wants, you’re OK even if He isn’t the Messiah (but, He is); worship God, obey the Torah but reject Yeshua, then you better obey Torah exactly and completely, every second of your life, or you are in trouble.

The bottom line is accepting Yeshua as your Messiah is a win-win because Messiah or not, you will still be doing what God wants. Reject Yeshua and you take a big chance that billions of people (including millions of Jews) have been wrong for centuries.

Think about it.

Fear of the Lord or Afraid of the Lord?

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This coming Shabbat Parashah is the story of Korach. I was preparing my message (our Pastor is on vacation and when he is gone I help by leading the liturgy and delivering the message) and, although I usually keep that message separate from these postings, I really feel that it is important enough (well, I would hope they all are) to share here, as well.

After the rebellion is put down by God, Abiram and Dathan are swallowed by the earth, Korach and the 250 mutineers (in the Chumash they call this “The Great Mutiny”) are burned up alive, and the staffs that were placed in the Tabernacle have shown that Aaron’s is the one God has chosen, the people all cry that they are going to die if they come before the Tabernacle.

We can read in B’midbar (Numbers) 17:12-13:

The Israelites said to Moses, “We will die! We are lost, we are all lost!  Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all going to die?”

And, in truth, you can’t really blame them for being afraid. After all, Abihu and Nadab offered unauthorized fire before the Tabernacle and they were burned alive, and now these 250 men (not to mention Korach), all of whom were righteous (well, maybe we won’t mention Korach here) and well-respected leaders of their individual tribes, were also burned alive.

Maybe, just maybe, standing in front of the Tabernacle isn’t such a good idea because even those people who were good were killed.

Of course, we can also say that the people weren’t considering the sin these men committed against the Lord as the real cause of their death.

The truth is that any sinner can come before the Lord if he or she comes with a penitent heart and a contrite spirit. David says so in Psalm 51 (verse 17):

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise

The people were afraid of God at Sinai, too, but I believe there was a big difference between how they felt then and what they are feeling now: back then their heart was different. Their fear then was a righteous fear- they felt their unworthiness before the Lord and asked Moses to be their representative because they were so unworthy that if they heard God’s voice again they would die, and this attitude God appreciated (Deuteronomy 5:27-29):

“Go near and hear all that the LORD our God says; then speak to us all that the LORD our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.’ “The LORD heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. ‘Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!…”

This verse, which Moses tells the people when preparing to turn them over to Joshua, shows us the remorse and pain God felt from the knowledge that this healthy and righteous fear of Him will turn into the type of fear that will lead His people to resent, rebel and (ultimately) reject Him.

Proper “Fear of the Lord” means to respect His holiness and honor Him by being lovingly obedient. Faithful obedience is what God wants more than sacrifice and more than anything else we could ever give Him. He has created everything- there is nothing we have that He cannot give to Himself, except for our love, faithful obedience and worship. Those things God cannot have unless we give them to Him, and that is what He wants more than anything else.

If we are afraid of God, if our “Fear of the Lord” is not awesome respect for Him but is being afraid of what He might do to us, that serves the enemy of God. That is what Satan wants you to feel- Satan wants you to be afraid of God, because that kind of fear will be a wedge separating you from God’s loving protection and blessings. Then, being alone and unprotected, you will suffer the curses of living in a fallen and cursed world, and you will turn against the Lord and curse Him to His face for all your Tsouris. That is what Revelations 16:10 tells us will happen:

“And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness, and men began to gnaw their tongues in anguish and curse the God of heaven for their pains and sores; yet they did not repent of their deeds.”

We need to remember that for those who have accepted Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah, there is no more condemnation (Romans 8:1), and we can march boldly up to the throne of God (Hebrews 4:16), unafraid and confident that He will listen to us and that our Intercessor, Yeshua ha Maschiach, is sitting there at His right hand saying to Him, “Father, this one is mine.”

What we need to be afraid of is ourselves. We are the biggest stumbling block to salvation there is: the enemy can’t do anything to us unless we let him, and God will do everything for us, again, if we let Him.  It is our choice, and we are (and will be held) accountable for the choices we make.

Have a healthy “Fear of the Lord”, which will keep you in His Grace, and be afraid only of your own sinfulness and pride, which will separate you from it.

 

Parashah Shelach Lecha (Send out) Numbers 13:1-15:41

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This parashah tells us of the spies that went into the land and returned after 40 days with a report that disheartened and demoralized the entire camp of the Hebrews.

What really happened was that God provided everything He said He would, brought us to the land He promised our fathers, and showed us it’s wonderful riches.

And we said , “No thanks- we can’t do this.”

After all God showed us, all the miracles, all the battles we had won up to this point against strong enemies, all the wonders He had performed- fire at night, cloud by day, Miriam turning into a leper and recovering, the plagues, the Red Sea splitting, water for millions in the desert, manna from heaven, and on and on and on. After all that, they still only saw what God told them He would do coming as a result of their own strength and their own ability.

Jeez! How stupid can you get?

On the other hand, here is a generation that was raised in slavery, without any self-respect, without any self-confidence or self-governing training. They were, as a result of how they lived and were raised, truly unfit for self-rule. That isn’t a slap in the face, it is a statement of fact. However, for God, that didn’t matter. He proved to them that He was all they needed to be protected and cared for, and after all He did they still weren’t able to trust in Him. They can’t blame their upbringing for that.

He was ready to destroy the entire camp, but with Moses’ intervention, only the 10 spies that spread the bad reports died immediately, the rest died in the desert while wandering for 38 more years.

The parashah ends with God reviewing the regulations for sacrifice, which will happen when they are in the land. This seems out of place, but it is a confirmation that, although God will not allow them to enter the land now, He will bring them in, eventually.

This is a powerful lesson for us- the lesson being that God is always the power behind the action. When we walk with God He will provide and protect, and when we walk on our own we can’t do much at all.

It also shows us that once we have been judged, we are judged. God determined that He would not allow this generation into the land, and when they tried to attack the Canaanites (just another rebellion against God’s commands) they were severely beaten.

How many times do we still “kick against the goads” when we are trying to do something? When the people were given the chance to enter the land, they refused; yes, they were scared and they were feeling helpless in the light of what seemed to be overwhelming odds, but isn’t that the difference between the faithful and the faithless? If Arnold Schwarzenegger beat me up, so what? That would be expected. But if I kicked his Mr. Olympia butt into next week, that has to be the work of a supernatural power! That is what faith can do- help you overcome overwhelming odds.

David beating Goliath, Gideon overcoming an army, Samson killing a lion; these biblical events have one thing in common- God was the real power behind the action. The things these people did was not from the ability of humans, but from the power of God.

We need, even today- no! especially today- to rely on God in everything we do. In today’s world we aren’t attacked just physically but digitally, too. We are having our very identities stolen and we don’t even know it. Financial ruin today is as terrible as a drought or a famine was in biblical days. We face the End Times, which are lurking right around the corner. We are seeing prophecy become fact, hurricanes and Tsunamis, murder, religious genocide, and where is God?

Right where He always has been- in the wings, waiting for us to call on Him to come out to center stage.

The generation that died in the desert deserved that, although it really wasn’t all their fault- they were the result of their upbringing. Yet, Joshua and Caleb were also the result of their upbringing and they didn’t falter or go along with the bad reports. Consequently, they were allowed to go into the land. They had to wait, from no fault of their own, but they made it. And God kept them strong enough to not only conquer their land, but live long enough to enjoy their victory.  God is no respecter of persons, and when someone has done evil in His eyes, whether or not it was by their own choice or a result of what they had been taught, they are accountable.

That is another lesson for us today, which is something you will hear me saying over and over- it doesn’t matter what you are told by people, what matters is what God tells you. Don’t you think there were people in that generation destined to die in the desert that felt it wasn’t their fault? They were just doing and acting like everyone else! And what happened?- because they did what the others told them to do, they were judged as the others were judged. If one sins, and others follow that person in his or her sin, then they are sinners, too. Innocently or by volition, it makes no-never-mind to God: if you follow someone in their sin (just ‘following orders’ is not repentance, it is an excuse) you join them in their judgment.

Yeshua tells us that when the blind lead the blind they BOTH fall into a pit (Matthew 15:14), and that means pleading innocence or ignorance when you are before the Judge of the World, you will be told, “I understand you were just doing as your (fill in whatever religious leader title you want) told you, but it’s what I told you to do that counts. Sorry. Here is your bottle of SPF 10,000 and an umbrella- enjoy your afterlife! Going down!”

God is the power, God is the way, God is the relief, God is everything to everyone, everyday, forever. Amen! When you trust in God you will be unbeatable- even after a loss, you will end up winning as long as you maintain your faith. The Hebrews got their tuchas whipped but later they destroyed their enemies. God is eternal, and when we put our faith and trust in Him, that means that we are on an eternal plane.

Life will always have it’s ups and downs; the trick to overcoming life is by trusting faithfully in God to direct it. Trusting that God will do what He says He will do will allow you to see your life as more than just birth to death: you will realize it is only a dress rehearsal for eternity.

Life is temporary, eternity is forever. Choose to live for eternal rewards, keep your eyes on the Kingdom, and trust in God to provide everything you need.

Real faith doesn’t require understanding how God does it, it only requires that you trust He will.

Parashah B’Midbar (In the Desert) Numbers 1 – 4:20

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We begin the 4th book of the Torah.

God commands that a census be taken so that we know how many we have that are able to serve, both in the military and for the service of the Tabernacle. We are also reminded that all the first born belong to God, both of people and of animals, because God took all the firstborn of the Egyptians as a ransom for His people, Israel.

The Levites are counted separately and their first born are ransom for the first born of the other tribes.

Here we can see, again, the consistency of God: everything belongs to God. Everything that grows, everything human, everything animal, everything- of the produce we give a tenth to God, and all the first born we give to God. From our tithe the Levite takes their portion, and as a sort of return, the Levites supply the first born to God from their tribe as a way of paying back the other tribes.

That’s a little convoluted, and it’s my own way of looking at that arrangement- I hope I explained it well enough so that (at least) some of you may understand what I mean.

Taking a census is OK, so long as it is in accordance with God’s commandment. This census was taken to identify who can serve doing what, and is needed now because the people are about to travel to the Promised Land. The Tabernacle needs to be moved and the people need to know who will be responsible for protecting them as they travel. God also identifies how, exactly, the camp is to be arranged and the order of travel.

We are also told that those who are unclean must be kept outside the camp because God is in the camp and nothing unclean may be near Him. OK- that sounds fine. If you are unclean you can’t be in the same place where God is, that makes sense….and then it hit me: inside the camp there is protection, but outside the camp you are exposed to the world without protection. And if attacked, you can’t go into the camp- you are unclean. You have enemies all around you; not that your own people are your enemy, but as long as you are unclean, they are not allowed to help or protect you.

When we sin or disobey God, we are unclean. As such, we are no longer under His protection- we are “outside of the camp”, aren’t we? God tells us of all that He will do to bless us when we are “clean”, i.e., obeying Him. And He also tells us all the terrible things that will happen to us when we ignore and disobey Him. We read this in Leviticus and we are told this, over and over, throughout the Torah. The best place to get this listing of blessings and curses will come later, in Deuteronomy (Chapter 28.)

Sin not only separates us from God, but since we are outside the camp when we are unclean, it separates us from each other, as well. We may be physically close, but we are spiritually separated, and eventually that spiritual uncleanliness will show itself in our actions. Then we will be physically forced away from other Believers, because our actions will show we are no longer clean enough to be in the camp, spiritually or physically.

Sin excommunicates us, one way or another.

Does that mean if I do wrong I am no longer a child of God? Heavens no! We all sin, and there is a BIG difference between sinning without care and sinning without meaning to. When we sin, thanks to Yeshua, we can be cleansed then and there. And when we do T’shuvah in our hearts, the uncleanness that sin causes can be washed away ASAP when we ask for forgiveness. We can be back in the camp in a heartbeat, or (more accurately) in a prayer.

Those who were physically unclean had to wait until sundown, but we can be cleansed immediately. We can remain in the camp, where God walks with us, and that is all thanks to Yeshua and to God, who keeps His promises, especially the ones made through Yeshua ha Maschiach.

We all will sin now and then- we can’t help it, really, but we can regret it. Regretting it will lead to T’shuvah, which will lead to confession, which will lead to requesting forgiveness in Yeshua’s name, which will cleanse us and we will be able to re-enter the camp.

Outside the camp is a dangerous and scary place- you do not want to be there.

Parashah Emor (Speak) Leviticus 21 – 24

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There is enough in here to fill a book. I could write a whole chapter of a book just on Leviticus 23, the designations of the Holy Days…oh wait! I already did- it’s Chapter 7 in my book.

God tells Moses and Aaron the requirements for priesthood: about who they can marry, keeping clean (ceremonially) and who may eat of the holy foods. He also tells them those who serve must not have a blemish or an unnatural (today we would say challenged) physique.

It also, as I mentioned above, designates the Festivals of the Lord, the 7 Holy Days (not holidays, but Holy Days- read my book) that God has separated and commanded us to observe:

The Sabbath

Passover Passover is not 7 days long: it is just from the evening meal until midnight, when the angel passed over.

Hag Ha Matzot The next seven days are called Hag ha Matzot, the Festival of Unleavened Bread. First Fruits is also celebrated the first day after the first Shabbat after Passover starts.

Shavuot Festival of Weeks, which includes the counting of the Omer and is celebrated by Christians as the Pentecost (50 days). For Jews it celebrates also the giving of the Torah, although that is civil, not biblical.

Rosh HaShanah The bible declares this day as Yom T’Ruah, the memorial celebration with sounding of trumpets. The civil holiday it has become is a new year celebration. According to God, the new year begins 14 days before the Passover, with the month of Aviv (now called Nissan)

Yom Kippur The Day of Atonement is when we ask God to move from the Seat of Judgment to the Seat of Mercy and forgive us for our sinfulness and the sins we have committed. Of course, we are to ask forgiveness every day, but this was a special time, and the only time that the Cohen HaGadol, the High Priest, was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies.

Sukkot The Festival of Tabernacles is when we build small tabernacles, or open roofed shelters and live in them for a week, to recall the way we lived in the desert for 40 years. Today (not from Torah but a Rabbinical add-on) we also celebrate Sh’mini Atzeret, the Eighth Day, also called Simchat Torah (Joy of Torah). On that day we read the final lines of the Torah, then while the congregation sings (and dances in some synagogues) the Torah is turned back to the beginning, and the cycle of reading starts all over again.

The one thing I want to discuss today is at the very end of this parashah. Leviticus 24:22, where God says:

Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for the home-born; for I am the Lord, your God

This command is one of the most important of all commandments in the Torah, as far as I am concerned, because it signifies clearly that God makes no distinction between your geographic origin, your parent’s beliefs, or whether you are white, black, or multi-colored: as far as God is concerned, His laws are for everyone and it doesn’t matter where you are from or how you were raised. There is only one God, Adonai; there are only His rules and laws; like them or not, you are subject to them if you say you worship Him.

If you profess to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob then these laws are for you. Period.

Most, if not all, Christian religions teach differently, and any religion that says these Holy Days do not need to be observed or that any part of the Torah is not necessary, by definition that religion cannot be worshiping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

If you are being told the Torah, the holy days in Leviticus 23, or that the Old Covenant is all just “Jewish” stuff, then you need to find out who you are worshiping, because it ain’t the God Moses worshiped!

 

Called or Commanded

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Is there a difference? If God commands us to do something, or not do something, that is pretty clear. And if we disobey, we are in sin and must atone.

But what if God only calls us to do something? Technically, I guess, we have an option to refuse without really being in sin. I am pretty sure what will happen is that God will raise up someone else to do what He needs done, and we will have been guilty, not so much of a direct sin against God, but of failing to faithfully obey Him.

Wait a minute! Isn’t refusing to obey God a sin? If He commands or if He requests, shouldn’t we obey either way?

I believe the answer is that we should obey, either way, but I also believe there is a difference between commanded and called. It’s subtle, it’s a technicality, but there is a difference.

Remember that person in the bible whom God called to perform a great act and refused to do it? I’m not talking about Jonah, because he did (eventually) go to Nineveh. I’m talking about the man that God called to perform a wondrous act in His name and never did it. Do you remember reading about him?

No? That’s because he never did what God asked of him, so he never made it into the bible. Sometimes I wonder, especially after reading the book of Jonah, how many people has God called to do things that seem little at the time but, from the view of history, might have been great- but they failed to do it. Or maybe they just never got around to it. How many?

What really scares me is that I might be one of them, one day. I felt called to write my book, and I know I should do much more to sell it- if I think it is truly honoring to God and important, then I should do more than just write it. I keep telling myself next year, after I’m retired, I will have time. Am I just putting off the calling God gave me? Was it really God calling me to write it or am I just being myself: self-centered and self-important, thinking I am someone who has the right to tell others what God wants from them?

Self-evaluation is important, since it keeps us humble, but too much of it can do more harm than good. I want to keep a healthy view on myself to make sure I listen to God when He talks to me. I want to be like the people we read about in the bible, not like the ones that never made it. And I do believe that there are many who never made it. I can’t give you any definitive reason why: let’s just say from my experience with people and from a sense of human nature I feel certain there have been people God has called to do something for Him, and have been too afraid, too choked by the tares of this world, or just too stubborn to accept God’s call.

I also believe there are, and have been, many who are just the opposite- doing what they believe to be God’s calling in their life, but it is really what they want to do and they are using God as an excuse for doing it.

What about you? Do you feel you have a calling from God to do something with your life? If so, don’t over-evaluate it, don’t spend time thinking about it, but right now pray for confirmation (God is good at doing that.) Really- if you think or feel you have a calling, then go do it! Don’t think too much on it and don’t worry about how it will get done (God is good at making things happen, too)- just get started!

Abraham didn’t check out MapQuest or go to AAA for a trip ticket when God told him to leave Ur- he just left. Moses was really unsure of himself at first, but he eventually took the call and ran with it. Gideon tested that the call was really from God, and after receiving confirmation he performed his calling with a passion. We can be the same as these people- maybe not as great, maybe not as influential, maybe even just as scared (at first), but we can be like them.

I believe God has a job for everyone who calls on His name: you know, God never hesitates, He never thinks it over; if anything, He might wait until the time is perfect but God hears us when we call to Him and He is faithful to answer our prayers for help.

Don’t you think it is only right that He deserves for us to do what He asks when He calls?