Author: Steven R. Bruck
Use Your Write-In Vote to Elect Messiah
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Wouldn’t it be great if every Believer in God and Messiah used their right to a Write-In Candidate and submitted “Messiah, the son of God” instead of who is on the ticket?
There are millions of people who are “Born Again”: Christians, Messianic Jews, Hebraic Roots Movement, and even members of the other established Christian religions which aren’t associated with the idea of being “Born Again.” What if they all rejected the slated political candidates and wrote-in “Messiah, the son of God” as their choice?
NOTE: I am using the title “Messiah, the son of God so there is no confusion because there are many names we use for him: Jesus, Christ, Yeshua, HaMashiach, as well as other names which identify the Messiah God promised to the world. Messiah, the son of God is pretty much a universal description that I believe everyone will recognize.
Of course, this won’t ever happen, but wouldn’t it be cool if it did? And if it did, would Yeshua appear to take office? That would raise another interesting question: would he really have to be sworn in, since he never lies? He could just take the oath of office without having to swear at all.
You may be asking why I would present an idea and in the same breath say it can’t happen? For this reason: it won’t happen but it should be the ideal on which we decide who we do vote for. What I mean by that is this: when we vote for someone, we should consider the political and personal history of the candidate against what the Bible says a leader should be. And here are a couple of guidelines for that:
Exodus 18:21-22– But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens
Titus 1:5-9– An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
1 Timothy 3:12– A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well.
Based on these biblical requirements for being a leader of the people, we would have almost no one in the Capital, on the bench or in the White House. Given this situation, maybe we should write-in Yeshua at the next election!
I hear, just as I’m sure you do, people always complaining about the people in government. I find it sad that they fail to remember that our government is a representative government, meaning that the people running the show are there because we put them there, or (worse yet) we left them there. In my opinion, the reason our governmental system has worked so well over the centuries is this: because politicians do what they need to do to get re-elected, there must be enough good done for the people in order that they will re-elect that representative. Therefore, despite the politicians’ main goal to be doing what is best for them, they end up doing what is good for the country.
One last point I would like to make, which is a personal opinion: if there isn’t anyone I want to have in a position of leadership, then I won’t vote. I have a right to vote, and an obligation, but that obligation is NOT to put someone in office that I don’t think deserves to be there. I will not vote for the other person just because he or she is “not as bad”- when it comes down to electing the lesser of two evils, I will not be a part of electing either one. An abstention is just as important as a vote and has been used to signify disagreement with a position, policy, or person ever since governments were first formed.
This 2018 mid-term election is over, but when the next one comes along (and there is always another election) and you are called upon to elect a representative, make sure he or she represents what God says a leader should be.
And if there isn’t anyone on the ticket that meets or (at least) comes close to God’s requirements, then you might consider abstaining and just stay home.
The vote is a very important obligation, one that is not to be wasted just in order to please someone who tells you that you HAVE to vote! It is YOUR vote, not theirs, and you can do with it as you want.
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When Taking Care of Numero Uno is Biblically Correct
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In the Gospel of Luke (12:26), we are told that Yeshua the Messiah says if we wish to be the greatest we must be the last. In order to be in charge, we must first learn how to serve. The world tells us quite the opposite: it says you should first and foremost take care of Numero Uno (Number One), and that once you have seen to your own needs and desires, then you can do something for someone else, but you don’t have to. That’s because they are supposed to be taking care of their own needs, too.
The world says take care of yourself first and the Bible tells us to serve others, yet the Torah teaches us that when we ask for forgiveness of sins, we cannot start with others. We must take care of Numero Uno before we can attend to the rest. Starting with the Cohen HaGadol (High Priest) and going down the ladder of authority to the Elders and community leaders, each person must first atone for their own sins before they can come to God to intercede for someone else.
I found this to be an interesting thought when I was reading the beginning of Leviticus the other day. Even though the religious and community leaders have an obligation to care for their “flock”, when it comes to one of the most important things we can do for others, which is interceding for them, we have to see to ourselves first. Once we have taken care of our own need to be forgiven, then and only then can we ask forgiveness for those who we are in charge of.
BTW: I know that no one can forgive someone else’s sins, and to be forgiven each person must ask that of God, individually. I am assuming that any intercession is similar to the one made for sin by the Cohen HaGadol in Biblical days.
We see this also in the teaching of Yeshua, who said (Matthew 5:24) that we are not to bring an offering to God until after we have taken care of our own issue with someone else, meaning that before we come into the presence of the Almighty we must be as “clean” as we can be. That doesn’t mean just physically or ceremonially clean- it also means spiritually clean.
Just about everything Yeshua taught was on the level of the Remes, the spiritual truth underlying the written word (P’shat) in the Torah. He is repeating what God told us in the Torah- take care of our own sins before we come to God to ask for someone else.
In Leviticus, the High Priest is to atone for his sins before he atones for the people. Yeshua tells us if we have an issue, some unrepented sin with someone else (and we know that any sin is first and foremost a sin against God), we must first atone for that sin, i.e. be cleansed of it before we come to God.
Another example is when Yeshua tells us to first remove the log from our own eye before we tell a brother (or sister) about the log in their eye (Matthew 7:5.)
One of the most difficult spiritual positions I can think of is the one of being an Intercessor. It requires the gifts of compassion, empathy, and patience- none of which I have in abundance- and because of the requirement to be sinless before interceding for others, well.. can you see now why I think it is such an awesome burden to have?
To intercede for others we must first take care of Numero Uno: we have to make sure we have interceded for ourselves. Only after we are clean, physically, ceremonially and spiritually, can we then ask God to help others.
I suppose it makes sense when we consider that we who have accepted Yeshua as our Messiah are seen by God through his righteousness, through his “cleanliness” when he intercedes on our behalf. Likewise, when we intercede for others we must also first be “clean” before the Lord so that he will see them through our cleanliness.
I pray every day for forgiveness. Not just because I know I am sinning, but because I don’t always know when I am sinning. I find it much more comforting to do this because I accept that I am a sinner and born with iniquity, and despite how hard I try I will never be free (at least, not in this lifetime) of what I am- a sinner who wants to sin. By always asking for forgiveness I know I am covering any and all sins I have or may have committed before the Lord. Remember how Shaul (Paul) confessed in Romans 7:15-20 that he does what he doesn’t want to do, and doesn’t do that which he wants to do. That’s why I accept my sinfulness and pray every day for forgiveness because he did, and believe–you–me…I am certainly not better than him!
So let’s put today’s message to rest with this conclusion: when someone tells you to take care of Numero Uno, tell them you do by interceding for others only AFTER you have first asked for your own forgiveness. That’s how to take care of Numero Uno correctly.
Then tell them that in all other matters, we are to be a servant of the Lord and a servant to others.
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Parashah Chayei Sarah 2018 (The life of Sarah) Genesis 23:1 – 25:18
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This parashah begins with the end of Sarah’s life. Abraham buys a burial cave and after the mourning period, he has Eliezer, his servant and guardian of all he owns (like Joseph was for Potipher’s household) go back to Abrahams’ old village to find a wife for Isaac from amongst Abraham’s own family. God goes ahead of Eliezer and Rebekah, the daughter of Abraham’s brother, Nachor, is the one God has chosen. After she is brought back and joined with Isaac, the parashah ends with a note about the other sons Abraham had through his second wife, Keturah- 6 more sons. Finally, we are told of Abraham’s death and burial. The last lines of this parashah give us the names of the sons of Ishmael, who become 12 nations.
I need to confess some pridefulness on my part in that I have always thought that the numberless amount of descendants that God promised Abraham would beget (Gen. 15:5) are the Jewish people. I never really thought of anyone else that came from Abraham’s loins as being part of that number. Oh, yes- I recognized that the Arab peoples were brothers, way, way back somewhere since they also came from Abraham, but I always thought the descendants that counted were just the Jewish people.
Lately, I have had discussions with other people who claim they are one of the tribes sent into the Diaspora and are just now tracing themselves back to their Israelite tribe. The 10 tribes that have been dispersed throughout the world have also lost their origins, having been assimilated into the culture and bloodlines of the geographical locations to which they went. And these locations are worldwide, from Asia through Africa, in Europe- all over!
We all know that Abraham had 2 sons, Ishmael and Isaac- one became the Arab nations and the other the Jewish nation. But do you recall that in this parashah we are told of 6 other sons that Abraham had? He gave them all gifts and sent them on their own way, and since his first two sons grew into nations that numbered (and still do) in the millions, it only seems reasonable to believe that God’s promise to make his descendants as numerous as the stars in the heavens would also be fulfilled through these other 6 sons. That means that we know of at least 24 tribes from Ishmael and Isaac, alone, and who knows how many more tribes from the other 6 sons?
Over the past 5 Millennia, that’s a heck of a lot of people! Even when we consider that some of the Semitic tribes have been destroyed, such as the Assyrians and Babylonians, that still leaves plenty of descendants.
My point is that God’s promise to Abraham may not have been restricted to just the Jewish descendants. There may be more “sons and daughters of Abraham” around than I ever thought there were. My “special” condition, being a Jewish descendant of Abraham, may not really be oh-so-special, after all. And I confess I felt a little let down by that realization; on the other hand, after I thought it over a bit more, I started to think this is a good thing.
God promised Abraham his descendants would be more numerous than the stars, more than the grains of sand on the beach, and when we think about that promise as including the adopted children of Abraham, that fits in perfectly with what we are told in the Bible.
John 10:16– “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd”
Gal. 3:29– “For if you belong to Messiah, you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise”
Isaiah 56:6-8 –“Also the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants, everyone who keeps from profaning the Sabbath and holds fast My covenant; even those I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”
Psalm 86:9– All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and they shall glorify Your name.
Hosea 2:23– “I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, and I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they will say, ‘You are my God!'”
That verse in Hosea is, contextually, dealing with the regathering of Israel, but the adopted sons and daughters will be the regathered, as well.
There are many other verses throughout the Bible, Old and New Covenants, which indicate God’s plan to bring all the nations- not just those that are the direct descendants of Abraham- into his salvation.
I have met many people over the years, especially those that have seen my testimony, who have stated they wished they had been born Jewish. Others have come to me or have posted that they are just now finding out that their grandparents were Jewish (many European and Sephardic Jews hid their Jewish lineage for fear of being persecuted or killed.)
The truth I have now accepted is that being a “Jew” is not so special, after all, since I have many brothers and sisters who are all children (either directly or adopted) of Abraham, throughout the world. And they are, indeed, as numerous as the stars in the heavens.
The conclusion I have come to is this: being a Jew by birth is not what is special. What is special is to accept Yeshua as my Messiah and to live my life as my Messiah did, worshiping the Holy One of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through obedience to his Torah.
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Do All Blessings Come from God?
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Now for today’s drash…
We know that God loves to bless his children and that he rains on both the just and the unjust, alike (Matthew 5:4.) To me, that means even someone who rejects God will receive blessings from him, if for no other reason than God loves all his children.
Besides those blessings God gives to us simply because he loves us, we can earn blessings through obedience to his commandments (Deut. 28), which means that there is an awful lot of really nice stuff God has for all of us, and he never ever runs out of blessings for us.
But what about the Enemy, the Devil, that old lion HaSatan stalking each and every one of us, trying to place a wedge between us and God? Does he ever do nice things for people?
You bet he does!!
In fact, I believe that Satan gives more good things to people than he does bad things. Why? It’s because when we are given things we like, especially things that are worldly and appeal to our base nature, we become prideful and unappreciative. The Israelites in the desert are a perfect example of this, and for those who are not Jewish don’t think for a moment you are any better than they were. Even after 40 years of seeing bread fall from heaven, water come from rocks, clothes and shoes not worn from the rough terrain, having food and water supplied for over a million people (not to mention millions of animals) and yet, the moment they were had any trouble, they carped and complained and lost faith in the One who had been providing this all along.
They had the same attitude towards God that I used to hear when I was in Sales:
“I know you’ve been the best producer this branch has ever had, but what did you do for me today?”
I believe that Satan gives many blessings so that when they are taken away, we will curse God. Look at the Bible verses that support this:
Job 2:9– His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”
Matthew 4:9–Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will fall down and worship me.”
Revelation 16:11– 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 know that Job did not fall victim to the Devil’s tricks, and neither did Yeshua. But we are told that in the Acharit HaYamim (End Days) many will curse God for the pain and suffering they will be going through without realizing that this is as much a chance for them to be saved as it is having to suffer God’s just punishment for their sinfulness.
The Enemy knows that after being blessed with fleshly desires we not only get used to them, we think we deserve them. And when they are taken away, we feel rejected, unjustly punished and we take it out on the one who we think gave us these in the first place- God! How many people who have been given blessings (Satanists notwithstanding) think that the Devil made it happen? Probably none. We blame the Devil for bad things happening in our lives, but not for the good things. And because we think God is blessing us, when the Devil takes away those things he gave us we don’t blame him- we blame God. We ask “Why?”; we look for reasons we are being punished; we tend to get sad, melancholy and resentful, which results all too often in our rejecting God.
Can you see how by blessing us the Enemy can turn us against God?
So, nu? How can I know who gave me the blessings I have? Actually, it’s not so hard to figure it out: if you are being obedient to God’s Torah you will receive blessings. That’s God’s promise, and all his promises are trustworthy. If you know that you are not obedient to Torah and yet, you are receiving blessings, then you have to ask yourself, “Who is giving me so many wonderful things for rejecting God’s commandments?” The answer is obvious, isn’t it? There is only one entity in the universe who will reward people for disobeying God.
One last note on this: if you are doing your best to obey the Torah and find yourself devoid of blessings, or at least having a lot of tsouris, then be happy for that. It means you have successfully rejected the Enemy’s attempt to seduce you and you are getting closer to God, which is why now he is attacking you. Maintain your faith and the blessings will come, eventually, just as they did for Job.
Blessings are able to be earned and also given freely by God to those who love him and show that love by obeying his commandments. If you know that you are disobedient to God’s commandments but have many blessings, you can be fairly certain those blessings are not from God.
This may sound like an oxymoron, but the Bible shows us it is true:
The Enemy gives us wonderful things to take us away from God; God takes away what we have in order to bring us back to him.
Always be certain your blessings are the ones earned through obedience.
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There’s a Right Way and a Wrong Way to Disagree
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When I was a “suit” working on Wall Street back in the 80’s, and you said I should be a Salesman working strictly on commission, I would have told you that you were NUTS!! Yet, as the old saying goes: If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans; my plans were turned around and by 1992 I was working as a commission-only salesman, doing the hardest of all types of sales- in the home from a telemarketing lead. And God helped me by placing good trainers in my path so that after about 2 years in that field I was one of the top two salesmen in the country selling siding, windows, and kitchen refacing.
You may wonder what this has to do with the title of today’s message, and I’ll be happy to tell you how:
Nowhere, in all of my experience throughout three different career paths, did I learn as much about human nature and how to get my ideas across successfully to others then when I learned how to sell.
Selling is the “Poor Man’s” career in Psychology. It isn’t so much manipulation of people as it is getting them to reject their own pre-conceived ideas and actually listen and absorb what you are saying to them. They still get to make up their own minds, but a good salesman will do three things:
- Make them realize that what they think they want is not what they need;
- Show them that what he has is really what they need;
- Allow them to come to their own conclusion that what he has is not just what they need, but what they want.
People don’t buy what they need but they do buy what they want, and when we take this from the commercial applications to the spiritual, we need to be able to “sell” the idea that what they need and want is Messiah and obedience to God which must come about through proper interpretation of God’s Word. .
Now we get into the real meat of today’s message- how do we get past that first step in which we are disagreeing with their pre-conceived ideas without making them kick us out the door? I can tell you this, absolutely…it isn’t by slapping them in the face with the truth.
I am a member of half a dozen different “Christian” or “Messianic” discussion groups, and too often I run into people with ideas totally opposite to my understanding. And no matter what their ideas are, or mine (for that matter), if we cannot discuss or argue in a respectful and proper manner, then we achieve nothing.
The proper way to disagree with someone is not to tell them they are wrong, and never, never, NEVER attack them on a personal level. You can’t win someone over by insulting them (remember that old saw about how you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?) I am not saying you should agree with them or say something like “You might be right” if you really believe they are wrong, but disagree with them and do it with respect for their right to choose what they want to believe.
God has given each of us Free Will to choose, and when people tell me (as I often have to deal with) that I am wrong and I have to change, they are (in my opinion) abrogating my God-given right to choose.
NOTE: did you catch that style of disagreeing? Starting off with “in my opinion”, or “for me”, or even “what I have been taught…” is a way to disagree and get your opinion out there which will allow them to listen without feeling the need to defend themselves. Thats’ becasue the focus is on you, not them.
I will try to respectfully disagree with people without attacking them, although I might attack what they have been taught. When I do this I make sure that first I have a biblical reference to justify my position. I state how proper biblical interpretation must account for historical and linguistic context, hermeneutics, etc. in justifying my position, but I will not come right out and tell them they are wrong.
Having said that, there are times when I will be very straightforward and say they are wrong, but not in a way that blames them for being wrong. I will say that what they have been taught is wrong- attacking what they have been told without attacking them. I will say that they have been taught is a form of traditional doctrine, that what they have been told is not in compliance with the Bible (showing them the Bible reference), or some other means of demonstrating that what they are saying is not accurate but not saying that THEY are inaccurate.
At some point, usually after two or three back-and-forth discussions, if I can see that they are not ever going to even consider what I am saying, I ask them if we can just agree to disagree and let God judge between us. If the other side is spiritually and emotionally mature, we will end friends. But, unfortunately, too many times pridefulness overrules spirituality and the other side just can’t let it go. They will continue to post their side, and from the frustration that comes from my not bending to their will, they stop talking about the Bible and begin to attack me, personally. They call me spiritually empty, unknowing, ignorant, demonically possessed (yes, there have been people who have accused me of that), and any number of nasty, virile attacks against me. That is why God invented BLOCKING on Facebook.
When the discussion turns from your ideas and beliefs being argued to you being insulted and berated, it is time to shake the dust off your sandals and move on. Let them have the last word, you be the humble one and accept that you can’t make someone change their mind if they don’t want to.
How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? Only one, but the lightbulb has to really want to change.
People are the same way. And remember: there is very little good soil out there to begin with, and we are just here to sow the seeds.
After having read this, if you disagree with me about any part of it, that’s OK- you have a right to! And if you agree with me, that’s much better, but the hard thing is not to just understand what I am saying but to actually use it in real life. When people are so passionate about what they believe that they can’t stand the thought of someone else not agreeing with them, the situation can become very tense and hurtful before you even know it is happening. Practice makes perfect, as with any skill, and if you find that your arguments keep falling on deaf ears, first I would suggest you verify that you are correct. Review your position with an open-minded approach and, if after doing so, you still believe your original position is the correct one but no one is listening to you, consider that you might need to change your method of argumentation.
No matter how “right” we may think we are, if we can’t get people to listen to us we might as well say nothing.