Tag: parashah

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 Pinchas, Numbers 25:10 – 30:1

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The previous Parashah ended with Pinchus, also called Phinehas, killing the prince of the tribe of Simeon along with Cozbi, the daughter of one of the kings of the Midianites. It was this act of zealousness for God’s law and honor that stayed the plague God had sent among the people for turning to the gods of Midian.

Now, God states that Pinchus and his descendants will be the high priest as reward for his actions. God then commands Moses to take a census of the people (meaning the men) aged 20 and older (except the Levites are to be counted at 1 month and older.)

After we are told the results of the census, the next chapter is about the daughters of Zelophehad, who died in the desert but had no sons. Their request was that they inherit their fathers portion, even though they are women. God agrees that the family should have their share of inheritance, and so the law is created that if there are no sons, the daughters inherit but they must marry within the tribe so the overall property distribution remains stable.

Moses is told that it is time for him to die, and the first thought in Moses’ mind is not about himself (remember- he is the humblest of all men) but for the people, so he asks God to provide a leader. God tells Moses to appoint (no surprise here) Joshua. Moses lays his hands on Joshua in the sight of all Israel so that they know Joshua is the Man!

Finally, God has Moses remind the people about the rules for sacrifice and the festivals that they are to maintain forever once they are in the land.

Some have argued over the years, especially in recent times, that the bible is sexist and God is a misogynist.  The story of the daughters of Zelophehad shows this to be untrue, and unfair. It is an absolute fact that the rights of a woman in those days were no where near the rights women enjoy today, with regards to job opportunities and legal status within the social structure. But, on the other hand, they were given important responsibilities within the family structure and, when you read the bible carefully, you see that they were not really second class citizens (OK, OK- I agree the laws regarding a Get, the divorce decree, are unfair) but simply have a separate and distinct role within the society. Proverbs is very complimentary to women, and show them to be very influential.

The fact that God decreed woman have the right to inherit and own land is unique among the other peoples of that day, and to require marriage within the tribe is a legal matter to maintain the proper distribution of the inheritance the tribe receives. This one section demonstrates that God is not a misogynist.

The chronological order of events in the bible is not always clear, but here we are told that this is some 38 years after the people refused to enter the land, which was only a few chapters ago. Eleazar is the Cohen HaGadol because Aaron is dead. The daughters of Zelophehad tell us their father died in the desert, and the results of the census show that no one who was counted in the first census coming out of Egypt is alive today.

The time to enter the land is coming quickly: all those who were to die are dead, there is a new High Priest, Joshua is now in charge, and Moses is about to die. We’re on the precipice of the desert, about to cross over the Jordan into the land of promise. That is why God tells Moses to remind the people about the laws for sacrifice and the festivals so that they will not forget and sin when they first come into the land. That would be a pretty lousy start, don’t you think?

“Well, here we are…in the Land…finally! Let’s forget everything we are supposed to do and with out first step in the promised land we can fall flat on our faces.”

Not a good idea.

The lesson I see here is simple- the best way to not forget what to do is do remind yourself of it, constantly. God has Moses review the commandments, He told Joshua to write it on the stones on Mount Gerizim, later God tells the kings of Israel to have a copy of the Torah with them always and to read from it every day, and we all (should) have our bibles close at hand, and read from it everyday.

I often tell how I keep my bible in the bathroom, because I know I will be there, at least once, every day of my life. That is how I can guarantee I will have 10 minutes or so, undisturbed, in which I can read a chapter or two, daily, without fail.

Where is your bible? How often do you read it?  Daily? Once a week? Do you take it with you to worship and go to the place in it that the Priest, Pastor or Rabbi tells you? Or do you just figure if you go to services someone there will read something from it to you?

God holds each and every one of us accountable for what we do, and if we do what others tell us, it is still what we do. And you will be held accountable for it! If you only allow others to read the bible to you, then you will not be able to hear the Holy Spirit talking over the sound of the human being reading. Humans shout, but the Holy Spirit speaks in a still, quiet voice. If you want to hear the Holy Spirit ( in Hebrew called the Ruach HaKodesh) then you need to be reading the bible in a still, quiet place. Otherwise, how will you be able to hear the the Lord whispering to you?

Today’s parashah lesson is this: be zealous for God and demonstrate it by reading His word daily. This is the best way to learn about God, what He wants from you, and to hear from the Ruach HaKodesh when it speaks to you. And don’t worry about the “boring” parts, just go through them. That’s what is so wonderful about the Spirit- you are reading a bunch of names and numbers and can’t even figure out why this stuff is in there, and suddenly something you have read a dozen times, that seems to have no impact or worth,  comes alive in your mind and you see a deep and abiding truth that God put there, just for you! That’s right- He had Moses put that in there, millennia ago, just for you.

And now you get it. That’s why we need to read, over and over, until we know it well enough that we can get past the P’Shat (plain language) and into the Drash (deeper meaning). It’s like math- you first learn to count, then how to add and subtract, then how to multiply, and eventually you are doing quantum mechanics in your head.

Well, maybe not in your head. But you can do it! That’s why we need to read every day what God has for us.

It’s like Cracker Jacks- the word of God is like honey on my lips, taste and see that it is good (Psalm 38);  as you devour the word, loving every bite, you will find, hidden deep inside, a prize. That prize is the revelation God has for you, just for you, and it is in there.

You only need to look.

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.

Parashah Korach, Numbers 16-18

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Monday, July 4 I wrote about this parashah, and about how fear of the Lord is not the same as being afraid of the Lord. This parashah is the story of what my Chumash calls “The Great Mutiny”, when Korach (a Levite), Dathan and Abiram (Reubenites) came together, and under Korach’s leadership gathered 250 men- righteous, respected leaders- from the 12 Tribes and led them in rebellion against Moses and Aaron. The reason was to discredit Moses as the one God choose to be in charge by accusing him of taking on too much responsibility, and by association also accuse Aaron of doing the same by being the only person allowed to offer fire before Adonai.

I can’t do this story justice repeating it, and if you don’t know it you really need to read it. Spoiler alert!– Dathan and Abiram (who refused to go before the Tent of Meeting with the others) were destroyed right in their own tents, swallowed up by the earth, and the others in front of the Tabernacle offering incense met their fate as Aaron’s sons, Abihu and Nadab, met theirs- consumed by God’s fire.

The people, after they stopped running around screaming in abject horror and fear for their own lives, came against Moses again the very next day (Again? How long will they remain stupid, right?) and accused him, Moses, of killing God’s people! Well, that pissed the Lord off so much that as He was telling Moses how He was going to destroy them, a plague already started, and Moses had to tell Aaron to take fire from the alter and incense, run in the midst of the people (now remember there is a plague killing people right where Aaron is running to) and stop the plague. Aaron risked his life to help people that were there to stone him.

There is more to the story, and near the end all the people cry out that they are all going to die if they even come near the Tabernacle.

These people may have looked like they were made of skin and bone, but they were really made out of Polytetrafluoroethylene. You may know it better as….Teflon.

Teflon people, like the frying pans and cooking pots, never have anything “stick” to them. They have been in the desert for 2 years, they have seen God destroy Egypt with miracles and wonders, they have seen Him split open the sea, they have received water from rocks and manna from the sky, birds enough for a million people to eat for a month and a pillar of fire every night and a cloud leading them every day.

Yet all they know is that they were told to stone a man to death for collecting sticks on the Shabbat, Aaron’s sons, Korach and 250 leading members of their nation were burned alive, Abiram and Dathan with their entire families were swallowed up by the earth, they were struck with a deadly plague and to top it all off- they are not going to get the land they were promised. And who do they blame for all this T’souris? Moses and Aaron.

Oy! What a bunch of Meshuggahs!

The real reason all these terrible things happened is because they sinned: the man collecting sticks on Shabbat showed irreverence and rejection of God’s commandment, Aaron’s sons refused to follow Adonai’s orders about worship, Korach and all his associates refused to accept God’s authority and choose to follow a man (Korach) instead, and the people, well, the people just rebelled against God over and over. They complained about no meat when they had provisions from God that met their needs, they complained about no water, and they refused to take the land God gave them (then, after being told they were not allowed in, they tried to get in, anyway.) These people all earned their punishment, and proved over and over that their repentance was superficial and not really heart-felt. Their T’Shuva, turning from sin, was not a 180 degree turn- it went a full 360 degrees so they ended up going in the same direction that got them into trouble in the first place.

Teflon people are the hardest to work with, and the slowest to learn because, as the name implies, nothing “sticks” to them, i.e., they take no responsibility for their actions and are not accountable, in their minds, for what they do and say. As such, how can they ever learn anything?

I think we all have a little Teflon in us; I confess that there are many times I do something wrong or make a mistake and I would like to redirect the blame somewhere else, to someone else. I feel that way because I am a sinner and sinners don’t like to ‘fess up’ to their wrongdoing. But I also have the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, indwelling which reminds me and admonishes me to accept the blame and not just confess, but ask for forgiveness. And more than that, it convicts me of my errors and when someone else does wrong to me it forces me to forgive them. That is the only reason I do anything that pleases God- it is because of His spirit in me, not because of who I am.

His spirit in me doesn’t make me a different me, it just makes me a better me.

We all have to deal with Teflon people, mainly because there are just so many of them out there. The best way to deal with them is not to waste your time trying to convince them or change them. What we, as Believers, should do is show them how to act in a way that is pleasing to God. If they throw their problems at you because they know things stick to you, you need to be gentle as doves and wise as serpents to CYA in everything you do so that when they throw stuff at you it bounces off your shields.

Daniel was upright and just in all he did, which is why the Satraps trying to trap him could only do so by fooling the king into making a law regarding something they knew Daniel did which was a righteous thing in and of itself (Daniel Chapter 6.) I’m not saying we can all be like Daniel- I know I sure ain’t gonna be that righteous, ever- but we can follow his example.

Teflon people are out there, everywhere, and they need to find someone who is stickier than they are. That would be you and me, because the Ruach haKodesh makes us accountable. And when you feel unjustly accused or you are in trouble for something you know isn’t your fault, accept it with humility and trust that God will justify you, sooner or later.

These Teflon people will one day come before the judgment of the Lord; He will strip off their Teflon and leave them with raw, unprotected skin that will have the lemon juice of their sins poured on it by the gallon. They will be held accountable for what they never felt accountable for, and they won’t be able to do anything about it.

Brothers and Sisters, all we should feel for these poor, ignorant sheep is pity.

 

 

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 Bechukotai (If you walk) Leviticus 26:3 – 27

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Throughout the Torah, the methodology for God commanding us is that He tells us what we are to do, then He tells us what will happen if we don’t, and finally He confirms that after we have disobeyed, when we do T’shuvah (turn from sin) and return to Him with all our heart, He will remember us and His covenant with the Patriarchs, redeem us from wherever we are and bless us, again.

Leviticus is a book that is the penal code for the nation, as well as the ceremonial rites and actions we are to perform, from the High Priest (Cohen HaGadol) down to the common person. And, as outlined above, after we are told of the rites, laws, commandments, regulations and all that we are do to in order to properly worship God, and all that we are to do to properly treat each other, now comes the final warning: if you don’t do as I say, then I will do this to you.

And it ain’t pretty! What’s interesting is that it is not just a warning, it is a prophecy. The language of the warning, as it seems to me, is that God is not just saying “if you don’t”, but more like “when you don’t.”  God tells us what we should do, then tells us He knows we won’t. Next, He tells us what He will do to bring us back into obedience because He will not coddle us or enable our disobedience. No- what God will do when we try to act bigger than Him is to bring us down to our knees, and if that doesn’t get us back in line, He will bring us down to our hands and knees, and if that doesn’t bring us around, He will flatten us until our faces are in the dirt, and if we are still unwilling to atone, He will shove our head into the ground and step on our necks until we finally realize how stupid we have been and cry, “UNCLE!!!” Then, finally, after we do T’shuvah and return to Him, God will return to us the blessings promised for obedience.

Obedience is the fulcrum for worship: when we sin, we tilt to the side of disobedience, which results with the weight of God’s punishment falling on us like a ton of bricks; but, when we tilt to the side of obedience, God’s blessings come down from heaven like a gentle rain. The best place of all is in total obedience, at which point we are in perfect balance with God, and that will result in living in harmony with the world and at peace with each other. I like this simile because ever since God created us, we have see-sawed from one side to the other, blessed and cursed, obedient and disobedient, almost never balanced.

And if you have ever been on a see-saw and had the other person, when you were way up high, get off the see-saw you know what it feels like to be at the wrong end of God’s wrath.

Have you ever heard that it takes more muscles to smile than it does to frown? I don’t know if that is true or not, but I think, from a spiritual viewpoint, it is true because sinning is so much easier than obeying. But that doesn’t mean obedience is impossible, it is just harder to get started doing.

It is also said that if you do something 21 times in a row it becomes a habit. So if I can chose just one commandment, just one, and do it 21 days in a row, then it shouldn’t be hard anymore because it has become a habit. Are you willing to try this? Now, now- don’t pick Do Not Kill or Do Not Steal– those are too easy. Try something harder, something worth working to do, like Do Not Covet, or Keep the Sabbath. Pick any commandment that has been difficult for you to obey, and try to obey it for 21 days in a row. Mark it on your calendar, tie a string around your finger, whatever will work to keep this one commandment in front of you (let it be a frontlet between thine eyes) and see if you can do this one thing for 21 days.

If the saying is correct, then it will no longer be hard to do because it will be a habit. Imagine- what was once hard to do will now become hard not to do!

We can never be sinless, but we can always sin less. That is a reasonable goal, and one we can reach- to sin less. Less than I used to sin as a child, less than I used to sin as an adult, less than I used to sin last year, less than I sinned yesterday. One day at a time, one step at a time, one sin at a time.

You can perform one less sin today, can’t you?

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!

 

Parashah Kedoshim (Holy) Leviticus 19 – 20

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“Ye shall be holy; for I, the Lord thy God, am holy”

Powerful words, and the first words of this week’s Torah reading (parashah.) It is not a command to be as holy as God is, but to be holy because God is our God and He is holy.

To be holy doesn’t mean to be better, as a better person or a better Believer, but to be separated. To not do what others do, which may end up making us better, in a way. Better at being kind, better at being forgiving, better at being compassionate. Those are things which we should be ‘better’ at doing than others, and as such, we will be separated from the world.

The world is a cursed place, and those that live in it cannot avoid it. Just like walking through a field of sheep- no matter how carefully you step, eventually you will step into something. Living in the world, and having the Yetzer Hara (Evil Inclination) from birth, we will step in more than just one something during our lifetime. We will wallow in it, at one time or another. That’s part of living, and even though we may be covered in dirt, we don’t have to be dirty. We can have dirt on our bodies but not be thinking dirty thoughts; we can carry the smell of the world on us but not be of the world.

It’s a tough balancing act, and we have God’s word and the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) as our balancing pole to keep us on that high wire.

This parashah is all about being holy- it is the User’s Manual for holiness. Leviticus 19:18 is what Yeshua based His entire ministry on: love your neighbor as you love yourself. Yeshua said that on this commandment, and also on the commandment to love God, pivot all the rest of the commandments and the lessons from the Prophets. If we truly love God, then we have no choice but to love each other, and when you love someone you do whatever you can to make them happy, to not hurt them (although we end up doing that anyway, don’t we?) and to forgive them.

To err is human; to forgive, divine. You’ve heard that, and I’m sure often, but did you ever think about how biblically accurate it is? It is, in essence, what we learn from the Torah- we are sinners who are sinful, but we also have the ability to rise above our nature and be more like God than like other people.

These chapters instruct us in moral laws, ritual laws, duties towards others, consideration for the needy, and prohibitions against hatred and violence towards each other.

Even the Christians who teach that ‘Jews have Torah and Christians have the Blood of Christ’ (who, by the way, taught everyone to obey the Torah) can agree that the laws in this part of Leviticus are still valid for everyone.

If you haven’t read these last chapters of Leviticus, please do so! Start in 18 and go to the end. It isn’t that hard to do, and if you have to miss one of your TV shows, tape the show or let it go. This IS more important.

The parashot from here to the end of this book tell us how to treat each other and how to act as God acts, which is all He wants from us. As Moshe said, it isn’t too hard to do, it isn’t so far away we can’t get to it or need to send someone to bring it to us; it is right here, within reach.

God’s hand is always stretched out to meet our hand when we stretch our hand out to Him, and the means to reach God is to read and honor His Torah. When I say to honor the Torah, I don’t mean to just recognize it as a wonderful thing;  when I say to honor the Torah, I mean you must obey it to the best of your ability. No!- not to the best of your ability, beyond your best! Too often saying ,”To the best of my ability” is already admitting failure. You need to live beyond what you are able to do: that is why we have been given the Ruach HaKodesh.

Humanly it is impossible to live beyond what we are, but with God, all things are possible. The Ruach is from and of God, and it lives in you, in me, and in all those who profess Yeshua is the Messiah and accept Him as their Savior. That is the only way to get past the flesh, and it is only available to those that do T’shuvah (turning from sin) and ask for it with a broken spirit and a contrite heart.

Everything you need to be happy is here, in the Torah, and especially (I believe) in these few chapters, which form the very foundation of Yeshua’s ministry. If you want to be happy, these chapters tell you how.