Ohev Yeshua

Parshat Bereishit, Shabbat, 27 Tishrei, 5777 Four years ago, my children and I were visiting the zoo. A zookeeper was out at the lion’s exhibit speaking to visitors about lions.  After going through his presentation, he asked if anyone had any questions about lions.  My daughter, Leah, who was four years old at the time, stepped forward and asked the zookeeper, “Why do lions eat sheep?”         

When we went home later that day, I had Leah read Isaiah 11 and, from this week’s parashah, Genesis 1:29-30.  In the verses from Genesis 1, we learn that, prior to the Fall, all the animals – lions included, to answer Leah’s question – did not eat meat, just as humans did not until after the Flood, as we learn in Genesis 9.        

 Rabbi Saul expands on the consequences of Adam’s partaking of the forbidden fruit in Romans 5:12.  There, he writes, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.”           

Genesis 3 lets us know that the Fall changed everything, including the ground itself being cursed, as we read in Genesis 3:17.  We enjoy the beauty we see in the world God gave us – flowers, forests, rivers, mountains, and, for Leah, sheep.  However, we are also appalled by the indications of the curse – earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, plagues, famines, and majestic animals which are also deadly.         

While it is categorically impossible for any of us to bring such astounding consequences as the Fall did by our decisions, we learn an important lesson from the devastating results of the Fall.  Our actions have consequences.  While our society has attempted to disconnect character and destiny, how we live and the decisions we make inevitably impact the trajectory of our lives – and, from a Biblical perspective, our eternity.         

Just as the Fall affects us all, our own conduct does not just affect us, but those around us.  A liar deceives his hearers.  A blasphemer brings perceived dishonor to God Himself.  A thief deprives others of personal property.  An adulterer hurts his wife and children.  Similarly, a truthful person cultivates meaningful, trusting relationships.  One who holds the Lord in high esteem in word and deed causes others to see just what an impact God can have on a person’s life.  A generous person benefits those around her.  And a person who is faithful to his or her spouse exemplifies the relationship between Messiah and His people, as we learn in Ephesians 5:22-33.         

Every day, we face the temptation of partaking of sin’s forbidden fruit.  In a culture with such a coarsened public morality as our own, such opportunities are ever-present and frequently encouraged.  However, we are social beings, and what we do affects those nearest and dearest to us.           

The highest reason for us to obey God is because we love Him.  However, He has designed our world in such a way that sin will cause troubles for us and others as well.  As such, Biblical morality – doing things God’s way – not only pleases Him, but also benefits us and those around us.         

In Parshah Nitzavim we read Dev 30:1-6:

“And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2 and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. 4 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. 5 And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your children, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”

Now it’s no secret, that we live in the day that this is happening. Jewish people are returning to the Land, Eretz Yisrael. This has been happening in larger numbers than ever before. It started coming in waves, beginning in the late 1800’s. The Jewish population in The Land continued growing from that time on, hallmarked by the Declaration of the Jewish State in 1948, and the re-birth of Jerusalem in 1967.

This is an amazing time. There was always a remnant of Jewish poeple in the land, but for nearly 2,000 years all the Jewish people all around the world prayed for God to bring us back to the land, and in this day and age it’s happening. This is something to be grateful for, and something to praise God for.

At the same time we see a spiritual revival of our people. In this exact same time frame, there have been waves, and stages, of Jewish people coming to put their faith in the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua. In fact, at every landmark in the process of Jewish People returning to Eretz Yisrael, there have also been landmarks in the stages of the growing Messianic Jewish Movement. This shows that there is a Spiritual Parallel between the two. That they are directly connected. But that should be no surprise to us, because it’s what we just read above. When we turn back to God with all our heart, he will bring us back to the land to bless us. This should be encouraging to us, because it shows us that our movement is very important. We can act as a catalyst to the return and the blessing of the Jewish People. Our repentance, our prayer, and our passion to share the good news with the Jewish People, is contributing to the return and restoration of the People and Nation of Israel. Now that's Pretty Amazing!

Moses goes on to say, “This commandment isn’t far from you. You can’t say ‘who’ll go to get it for us?’ But the word is very near to you, in your mouth, in your heart, that you may do it.” Can you hear the urgency in his words? This is an extremely well written passage. Let that urgency sink into our own hearts.

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Tomorrow night is Rosh HaShanah. Next Saturday Shabbat Shuvah, Shabbat of returning. Next week Yom Kippur. Isn’t it amazing that this passage is read right before Rosh HaShanah?

Often, revival starts and revival is fueled when small groups of people enter into deep repentance. This is the season of repentance. I encourage everyone from our community, to set time aside during these Fall Holy Days, to search our hearts, and turn to God, and cry out for revival. Let’s also take advantage of the opportunity to come together extra and pray and worship, and cry out to God as a community.

Let's set this season aside as an opportunity to do what it says in verse 2. Return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul. This year, let’s return, let’s repent, with all our heart and with all our soul.

May the LORD bless you and keep you. Shalom.

        As we approach the end of the book of Exodus, we read of the Tabernacle being constructed.  In this week’s parashah in particular, we see the human side of this endeavor.  Betzalel and Oholiab, artificers in charge of this multifaceted project are mentioned by name, and the efforts of others involved in the project are referred to as well.  

        The Tabernacle was being built according to the will of God by those He had appointed to the task.  Also, the work was being done with what He had provided.  In Exodus 12:35 and 36, we read, “The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing.  And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked.”  Then, in this week’s parashah, in Exodus 35:4-9, we read, “Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “This is the thing that the LORD has commanded.  Take from among you a contribution to the LORD.  Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the LORD’s contribution, gold, silver, and bronze; blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; goats’ hair, tanned rams’ skins, and goatskins; acacia wood, oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, and onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece.”  God was asking His people to contribute what He had given them to His glory.

        We all have talents, gifts, skills, and achievements we can contribute to our Lord’s glory.  More importantly, we are told in I Peter 4:10 that each of us has received a gift – in context, a spiritual gift – and we are to use our gift to serve one another.  Earlier in I Peter, in 2:5, we are told that we are “like living stones, being built up as a spiritual house.”

        Many of us have heard “sideline believers” who say they do not attend worship regularly because they do not “get anything out of it.” However, these people frequently never ask themselves what they are “putting into it.”  We assemble not simply to be served, but much more importantly, to serve the Lord and others.

        Bud Wilkinson once quipped that “Football is 22 people on the field who need rest and 22,000 people in the stands who need exercise.” To some degree, the Lord’s work is this way, too.  As Yeshua said in Matthew 9:37, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Whoever you are, you can contribute in some way to what the Lord is building up.  

        In conclusion, we read in Exodus 36:5 that Moses was told, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the LORD has commanded us to do.”  While our work is ultimately too great to exhaust our efforts, our attitude in offering to God all that we have – resources, skills, talents, spiritual gifts, and even our time – should be such that, when we stand before Him, He will say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servants.”

We have just finished celebrating the time-honored American tradition of Thanksgiving Day, and I would assume many of us have more than enough leftovers to keep us occupied and satisfied for days to come. In addition to the sumptuous feasting which accompanies this occasion, many of us also take time to use the day for its intended purpose, namely, to take time out to express our thanks to the Creator for His blessings in our lives.

This is, indeed, a wise practice; I Thessalonians 5:18 instructs us to “give thanks in all circumstances.” However, as we take time out to “count our blessings, name them one by one,” as the old song says, we must be careful not to fall into an old error. How old is the error I have in mind? Well, it is old enough to be present in the oldest book of the Bible, the book of Job. It is found throughout the Bible, and it is found in this week’s Ashkenazi haftarah.

In Hosea 12:8, the prophet quotes the personified Northern Kingdom, which he has been chastising for their sinfulness, as saying, “Ah, but I am rich; I have found wealth for myself; in all my labors they cannot find in me iniquity or sin.” The error I have in mind, represented here in Hosea, is the assumption that our present circumstances are a real-time indicator of our spiritual condition. In other words, if we are doing well financially and in good health, we must be doing well spiritually, and if we, or someone else, is going through a trial, such as a period of unemployment or a chronic health issue, this must indicate ongoing, known sin in the sufferer’s life.

To be sure, God may use difficulties to get our attention when we stray. However, the problem comes about when we assume that difficulties are always God trying to get our attention. This is what makes engaging the book of Job so challenging yet also rewarding – the dialogues of Job’s friends assume chastisement for unconfessed sin, which sometimes is what is going on in such a trial, yet it is not always.

The assumption that doing well in the here-and-now lays the groundwork for a rather unsettling passage in Revelation 3:20. Here in His letter to the Laodicean congregation, Yeshua says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me.” I know this passage is frequently quoted as an evangelist invitation, and such an application is not inconsistent with the “whosoever will” principle that we find elsewhere in Scripture, but in its original context, Revelation 3:20 actually presents a much more dire situation – the Laodicean congregation is convinced that, due to its apparent affluence and overall well-being, it must be doing well with the Lord. However, Yeshua is actually outside the congregation trying to get someone to let Him in!

Psalm 34:19 tells us that “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Similarly, Hebrews 12:8 assures us that, if we are God’s children, He will discipline us as necessary. What that discipline looks like may vary, and ultimately, we will come to understand that His discipline is His discipline when it happens, as His discipline for His children is to correct us and restore our fellowship with Him, which becomes strained when we tolerate known sin in our lives.

It is important to grasp that trials do not necessarily indicate divine judgment, and that affluence and health do not necessarily indicate divine reward, as this ultimately helps us in our spiritual development and can help keep a tendency to judge others in check. I’m sure we’ve known a brother or sister in the Lord who has experience a financial setback or had a serious health issue, and, if we’re thinking like Hosea’s personified Northern Kingdom, or Job’s friends, it is very easy to assume a person going through tough times must be hiding some sort of sin.

Sometimes the truth of the matter may be very different from what we would expect. In Hebrews 11:32-38, the author of Hebrews sums up the well-known “faith chapter” with some words which many would find surprising. Notice particularly verses 36 through the beginning of 38 – “Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated – of whom the world was not worthy!”