Category: A Drash to Start the Day

How Do We Discern What is Important to Know?

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As most of you who are reading this blog today already know, I am a member of half a dozen (or so) “Christian” or “Messianic” discussion groups. Constantly I see the same type of discussion being raised, and the main ones that generate the most passionate responses (which are often not very “Christian”, if you know what I mean) are ones dealing with the pronunciation of the name of God and the need to obey the Torah once you have accepted and asked forgiveness through the Messiah, which we call being “saved.”

The people who consider it paramount that we know and use the “proper” pronunciation for the name of God (and Messiah) are called “Holy Namers”, which is a somewhat derogatory epithet, but is accurate in that the names are holy. God’s holy name, which is made up of 4 Hebrew letters, is called the Tetragrammaton.

I, myself, do not use God’s holy name simply because I am Jewish and we don’t do that. It is our way of showing respect for God, as well as a “fence around the law” about not using his name in vain (which is Number 2 on God’s Top Ten Hit Parade of commandments.) I understand that there are those who use it often, and I have seen no less than 4 different pronunciations, each one being the only correct one.

When we talk about obedience to the Torah, well, we can go almost anywhere with that one. I mean, really- even within Judaism, there are 6 different sects that each have different ideas about how to obey the Torah. Not to mention the additional requirements under the Talmud! Oy! If we Jews can’t make up our own minds, how can we expect the Gentiles to make up their minds? Am I right?

Besides these two issues, there are other questions that come up: when does the day really start; how do we really know when the holy days begin (is it only when they see the moon in Jerusalem?); should we celebrate Hanukkah or any other traditional holiday if it isn’t specified in Leviticus 23?

These questions and many others are not invalid or unnecessary, but we need to ask ourselves: Are they important?  And to answer that, we need to know just what is important. And I don’t mean what is important to us, I mean what is important to God.

I think it is, first and foremost, important for you all to know this: I cannot tell you absolutely how to determine what is important. Sorry- I am raising an issue I do not have an absolutely correct answer for. The best answer I have is that we each have to determine what we believe God wants us to know. If you are absolutely certain that you need to know an answer to something that you read in the Bible but don’t understand, then ask God first (I think we can all agree that is the best place to start) then ask others, those you trust and know to be spiritually mature. I suggest you also keep an open mind because, at least for myself, I truly do not trust my own judgment, and what I may think I am “hearing from God” may really only be my own voice with an answer I want to hear.

Sidebar: when I think I am getting an answer from God and it goes against what I would like the answer to be, then I feel pretty certain that it is from God.

Discernment should start with learning, which comes from reading the Bible and listening to others who have shown they have both a high level of biblical knowledge and spiritual maturity. Also, pray to God to show you through the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) the truth he has for you and to place in your path through life those who God wants to teach you.

He definitely did that for me, and I am very grateful to him for that.

I always use an “Acid Test” question when trying to discern what is important to know and what isn’t: I ask myself, “How does this affect my salvation?”  To answer that question also takes a bit of discernment and spiritual guidance, simply because we humans want to know everything there is to know about everything, and God doesn’t work that way. He keeps those things secret that he wants to, and reveals those things that he will (Deut. 29:29), and I believe he will reveal different things to different people so what may be important to me may not be important to you, and vice-versa.

There is no end to learning about God and the Messiah. From this moment on, until you get to meet them face-to-face, be open-minded, be studious (a “Berean” of the Word), and be flexible and compassionate with others who may have different priorities than you do. If you know someone is on the wrong track, gently and lovingly advise them. If they refuse to listen, so be it. Maybe they really do have a valid reason to know what you consider to be nothing more than biblical minutia. Who knows?

Finally, trust in God that what he wants you to know he will make sure you do, and what you don’t know but want to, well….always ask yourself if it is really that important? Are we saved by knowing exactly when the moon rises on the 10th day of Tishri? Is God going to condemn you to hell forever if you mispronounce his name?  If you celebrate a holiday that is a traditional celebration of God or Messiah but has a history that dates back to a pagan holiday, will your worship and prayers be rejected because of what that day used to represent, even though you are earnestly praying to the true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

I will end with something I do believe is important to know: I don’t think God is so thin-skinned to be upset by what something used to mean or how you pronounce whichever name you use when praying to him, so long as your prayers to and worship of God is from your heart and an attitude of faithful obedience and love for him.

 

One Way the Enemy Will Divide and Conquer

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I read an article recently that was a review of a particular cruise ship. The writer was in the ship’s Disco and saw many people dancing, all to a different song because they were all wearing headphones.

That’s right- people dancing together on the dance floor, but no one dancing with anyone else.

Back in the ’70s and ’80’s we were worried about “cocooning”, which was people staying in their homes and communicating through technology instead of actually getting out of the house and talking to each other in person. That worry has long since gone away, not because we stopped doing it but because it became the standard way to communicate.

For over 20 years my wife, Donna and I have taken an annual, anniversary cruise…we LOVE cruising! We also always try to get an assigned dinner table so that we can meet people and every night, despite how hectic it can be touring and doing all the activities offered on a ship, we can settle down and look forward to (at least) one stable activity. It sort of brings the day to a proper ending.

It saddens us that so many of the major cruise lines are now going from assigned times and tables to what is called Freestyle Dining, where no one has an assigned time or table. To me, it is a form of cocooning.

When I read about these people in the Disco, which (by definition) should be a social gathering to meet and get to have fun with other people, dancing individually to their own music, I realized this is the epitome of divide and conquer. And it certainly isn’t in accordance with how the Bible says we should be with each other.

God gives us rules for social interaction: he tells us how we should act with each other, and how we should not act with each other, but it always emphasizes how we are to be a community.

The Enemy of the Lord will want us separated, alone and lonely in order to make us behave the way he wants us to. Within a community, we can edify and encourage each other, but when alone we are vulnerable to any number of attacks, emotional and physical, which makes it easy for us to be influenced to do the wrong things.

I guess most people who read that article thought it was a cool idea- being able to take my partner to the disco and if we like different types of music, we can still dance together but each to our own music. They are repeating what the world says is good- be your own person, do your own thing, dance to your own music. This type of behavior encourages pridefulness, self-dependence, and forming of individual ethical standards- all the opposite of who God says we should be.

The Enemy is very smart and would make one really great therapist because he understands our basic, animal desires better than we do. Freud developed modern psychoanalysis, and he called one part of our personality the Id, which is the part of our emotional makeup that is our basic, hedonistic desire for immediate gratification. On a spiritual level, we would call it Iniquity. The Enemy knows all about this and uses it against us, to bring us away from godly actions (good works, if you will) and redirect us to self-dependence and individual gratification.

When you are focused on yourself and being who you feel you should be, you lose sight of being who God wants you to be.

The Enemy wants us to dance to our own music and ignore everyone else’s music; he wants us to be sitting alone in our house, playing on Facebook or Instagram or YouTube. The Enemy wants us to text and drive, to review Facebook notifications while walking across the street, and to live our own life, alone, secluded and vulnerable.

That is his plan to divide us from God so that he can conquer.

I use Facebook (obviously!) but limit my exposure. When I am done with my messages, I catch up quickly on notifications, then I get off Facebook and go to the gym or ride my bike, or do anything else. I don’t text that much and when I am home, my phone is usually sitting on the dresser in my bedroom being charged.

Are you cocooning yourself? If you took a good look at yourself in the mirror would you see someone who is living their life interacting in person with other people, or are you just looking at a “selfie” image?

We have to stop living on our own and make sure we are in a community of like-minded people so that we will not be separated from God. Yes, use email; yes, keep your Facebook account; yes, take your phone everywhere with you but NO!- do not live through these devices. Live your life with other human beings, interacting face-to-face and touch, sense, hear and speak as part of a living community.

Is This Really the Image We Want to Project?

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Every Friday I usually give a message on the Torah reading (parashah), but I saw an article in the local paper this morning and feel I need to talk about it, instead.

Some of you may take what I say here the wrong way so please be patient and do not allow yourself to jump to conclusions based on a word or phrase I use. I pray that I will say what I want to say in an effective way.

The article showed a gay pride parade with some of the marchers taking pictures of people on the other side of a police barrier, taking pictures of them. Those on the other side were wearing shirts with words on them such as, “Jesus is the Lord” and “Gay is an abomination.”

The image is clearly that “Christians” don’t like gay people. I believe this is not the image we should be sending.

There is an immediate and effective argument that anyone who is being protested against can use, which is the fallback excuse that the person protesting is “racist.” That word used in that context will almost always deflate the protester’s argument. When we add to it the somewhat extreme actions of wearing shirts that declaim the people and exclaim a “religious” attitude that will only add fuel to the fire of accusations.

I have family members who are gay, and I never stopped loving them for a second. I also never felt “devastated” by their lifestyle. I do not agree with that lifestyle and do not condone it, but I accept that that is who they are. Is homosexuality a sin? Of course it is! …so is lying, so is cheating on your taxes, so is taking that ream of copier paper from work to use at home, and so is gossiping about the neighbors. All of these are sins, and as far as God is concerned, one sin is as bad as another.

There are those that sin on purpose without any sense of remorse or repentance, and they are not going to be forgiven (that makes sense, doesn’t it?); and there are those who sin but don’t want to, and when they repent and remorsefully ask for forgiveness they will receive it (by means of the sacrifice of  Messiah Yeshua.)

The world says we should be tolerant of each other, but the world’s idea of tolerance seems to be not just acceptance, but support. I think the world doesn’t really understand what “tolerance” should be. To tolerate something doesn’t mean that you agree with it or that you condone it, and certainly should not in any way indicate support of it; for me, it depends on what we are tolerating. What I mean is this: I tolerate a friend who has a good heart but can be a real pain the neck to deal with sometimes. I tolerate a co-worker who may be lazy but will eventually get the job done with some prodding. I tolerate my cat waking me up 1 hour earlier than I want to be woken up.

What I don’t tolerate is someone who is cruel and unfair. I don’t tolerate injustice or cheating on your spouse. I don’t tolerate bullying or speaking against God. And by not tolerating I mean I will speak up against it, I will take action to stop it, or I will simply walk away and ignore the one doing it.

As for homosexuality, I see it as sin and will not tolerate someone forcing it on another, or someone denying another their right to choose how they will live. And yes- it is a choice; whether it is caused by hormones, it is genetic or for some other reason, the truth is that everything we do in our life is a choice. If someone feels that they are not the gender their body has, they can choose to go with their feelings or to submit to their physicality. I do not say one or the other is right or wrong, only that feeling the way they do they have a choice what to do about it.

I would rather have seen those “Christians” that were protesting the gay rights parade wearing regular clothes and holding up signs that would be more compassionate and understanding. Signs that said, “You do have a choice” or “We don’t love what you do but we can still love you”, or things similar to that form of compassionate disagreement. Protest the sin and do so not in an accusatory way, but in a compassionate, understanding way that still gets across the idea that their lifestyle is not acceptable to God.

Just as with any sin that we come against, we should protest the sin but leave any judgment of that person who sins between that person and God.

The image of a Believer, whether a Christian, Messianic Jew, Hebrew Roots, or whatever should be one of compassionate understanding with intolerance of wrongdoing. It is a delicate balance, a thin line to walk on, but with spiritual maturity and biblical understanding, we can achieve a dialog that will not be accusatory or support a claim of racism.

If we want to stop sin, we must do so in a way that will not turn away the sinner but attract them.

And I don’t know what that is- it probably needs to be determined case-by-case. But I trust in God that the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) will lead me in a way that can accomplish God’s desire for everyone, which he tells us in Ezekiel 18:23:

Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD; and not rather that he should return from his ways, and live?

God wants everyone to have eternal life…it’s our choice whether we choose that or not.

What Others Mean for Bad God Can Change to Good

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When Jacob died and Joseph’s brothers were concerned that now, with their father dead, Joseph would unleash his revenge on them, Joseph calmed them by saying (Genesis 50:20-21):

You planned to harm me. But God planned it for good. He planned to do what is now being done. He wanted to save many lives.  So then, don’t be afraid. I’ll provide for you and your children.” He calmed their fears. And he spoke in a kind way to them.

When we do what is right in God’s eyes, it is almost always going to seem wrong in the eyes of those who are of the world. And it is because of our righteousness, which is a stench in their nostrils because it has the smell of death (2 Corinthians 2:15-16):

For we are to God the sweet aroma of Messiah among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one, we are an odor of death and demise; to the other, a fragrance that brings life.

When we obey God we will be put through trials and persecutions of all kinds: at work, in our home, within our group of friends; and these persecutions may range from being verbally assaulted to being ostracized to being physically attacked. These things are bad things.

If, and when, this happens, won’t we be in the same position Joseph was when he was persecuted by his brothers and sold into slavery?

Those who perform evil deeds against those who are trying to act in accordance with God’s word will never succeed because what anyone determines for evil against the Lord or his children, God will turn to good. Maybe not in our lifetime, maybe not right away, but all that is done to attack God will always result in victory for God.

As Isaiah tells us (Isaiah 54:17):

No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.

So when you are being persecuted, when you feel that it just doesn’t seem worth it, when all hope seems to be lost- that’s when you must really knuckle down and keep going. Faithfulness is the way we receive strength when we are totally out of strength, therefore remain faithful even unto death, and whatever evil has been used against you God will turn to good for you and for his glory.

For those of you who are enjoying a time of Thanksgiving today, may it be a blessing to you and those you with whom you are sharing it.

No Way Out of This One

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I am hoping that you find this title- No Way Out of This One– interesting because it makes you wonder, “No way out of what?” And, remarkably enough, I have the answer, which is, “No way out of obedience to the Torah!”

You see, Yeshua preached and taught from the Torah, but later the Gentile Christian leadership (most notably Constantine and his cronies) changed the dogma and structure of Christianity.

When Yeshua walked the earth, what he taught was something that those Jews who accepted him as their Messiah already knew, i.e., the Torah. And that was the same thing that the Gentiles who chose to follow Messiah and worship God were being taught, which effectively meant they were converting to Judaism.  But after Constantine took charge of Christianity, he created a totally different religion based on Jesus Christ as the Messiah, rejecting everything Messianic (i.e., Jewish) about him, except for the teaching that through him we can receive forgiveness of sin.

The main difference between modern-day Christianity and its root, Judaism, is the Torah. Christians have been taught that the Torah is for Jews, and they only need the blood of Christ. Obedience to all of God’s instructions has been reduced to simply loving each other and being a “good” person; they have been taught that is all you need because this guy Jesus has got your back, so long as you ask him to forgive you.

In Catholicism you don’t even need to ask Jesus to forgive you- the local Priest can do that!

The reason I say you can’t get out of this one is that the Torah, whether anyone likes it or not, is the direct word of God given to Moses. God gave it to Moses to bring to the entire world. It is not, and never was, intended just for Jews. The Torah is not a set of laws, so much as God’s instruction to everyone about how he wants us to worship him and how he wants us to treat each other.

Let me go off on a bit of a tangent: there are parts within the Torah that are specific to a certain class of people, such as certain requirements for the High Priest and the Levites are different than for everyone else. Also, there are some instructions that apply only to women (for physiological reasons.) However, overall the Torah (which means “instruction”) was given to the Jews to learn so they could live it as an example to the rest of the world to show them how they should live.

Now that we know what God intended the Torah to be, let’s address the wrongful teaching that it is only for Jews. To do this we first have to establish some basic “givens”:

  1. God gave the Torah to the Jewish people;
  2. God has stated throughout the Bible that all who sojourn with the Jewish people (i.e., live with and worships as) are subject to the same treatment as natural-born Jews (Lev. 24:22; Numbers 15:15);
  3. God says eventually the entire world will worship him (Isaiah 60:1-3; Zech. 8: 22-23)
  4. God wants the people to learn Torah from the Jews (Deut. 4: 6-8);
  5. Yeshua’s Disciples preached obedience to the Torah (Luke 24:47; John 14:15; Romans 3:31; John 2:3-6; Rev. 22:14)

All of these statements from the Bible lead us to the same conclusion: the Torah is what God gave to the world so we can live and worship as he wants us to so that we can have eternal life.

And it is most clearly stated in Numbers 15:15 (your bible may have it as 15:14 or 15:16):

As for the congregation, there shall be one statute both for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you, a statute for ever throughout your generations; as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. 

That’s it! If you profess to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which means if you are a Christian you are included in that group, there is no way you can argue that God or Messiah say you are not subject to the same requirements for worship and interpersonal relationships as the Jewish people are.

God said it- one law for Jews and anyone who sojourns with them. And the New Covenant writings also confirm, absolutely, that if you have faith in God and Messiah you are an adopted son or daughter of Abraham- in other words, like it or not, as an adopted child of Abraham you are required to live subject to the same rules as his natural-born children.

Period; end of argument; close the door on your way out.

I know many of you have been taught differently, and you may not only dislike what I am saying but will passionately refute it. Go ahead- try. Look throughout the Bible and find the place where God says his commandments are just for Jews. Find where Yeshua says forget what my Father told you- it isn’t for you. Show us any place in the entire Bible where God or Yeshua or any of the Disciples say Christians don’t have to obey any of the laws or commandments in the Bible.

Obedience to Torah just makes sense, doesn’t it? If you are going to worship God then you should want to do as he says. Abraham did, David did, the Prophets did, the Apostles did, and even that nice Jewish tentmaker from Tarsus did. And the Gentiles that were accepting Yeshua as their Messiah, and worshiping God instead of their pagan deities were converting to Judaism… and THEY also were doing as God said to do in the Torah. Not all at once, but slowly over time they were expected to learn it (Acts 15:21.)

Starting right now, if you have been living your life separated from God’s instructions, read the Torah. What can it hurt you to learn how God wants you to live? And once you know what is in the Torah, if what some “person” has told you is the way to worship God but it is not confirmed by the Torah, ignore it.

Most people know that if something is really easy to do it probably isn’t all that worthwhile doing, and believe me when I tell you that worshiping God correctly, as he said to do it in the Torah, is not easy. But it is the most worthwhile thing you will ever do.

Send Messiah a Thank You Card

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I was reading Dear Abby the other day and a Grandmother wrote that she is upset her teenage grandchildren never send her a thank you card for the gifts and money she sends them. Abby agreed it was wrong and said when people do not send thank you’s for gifts they receive, the message it sends is that the receiver of the gift has no respect or appreciation for the gift or the sender.

When I read this I thought how nice it would be to send Yeshua a thank you card. After all, he gave me the greatest gift anyone could- eternal joy in the presence of the Almighty. It is wrapped and I already took possession of it, which anyone else can do with their gift of salvation at any time they want to, although it does have a card that says, “Do Not Open Until After the End Times.”

Of course, we can’t really send him a thank you card- we don’t have his email address and the post office delivers nationally as well as internationally, but not spiritually. So what can we do?

How about we do what he said we should do in order to show our appreciation? He told us this in John 14:15 when he said:

If you love me, keep my commands.

The problem here is that too many different religions will argue over what his commands were. That’s a shame because he never really made any commands- he always quoted from and obeyed the Torah. So, his commands were what we find in the Torah.

If you wanted to, you could say his only real commandment to us is found in Matthew 22:36-40. This passage starts with a man asking Yeshua what is the greatest commandment, and Yeshua’s answer is:

Yeshua told him, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength. This is the greatest and most important commandment. And a second is similar to it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. All of the Torah and the Prophets are dependent on these two commandments.

And even these commandments are not original: the first one is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-7 and the second one in Leviticus 19:18.

Do you want to send the Messiah a Thank You card for all he has done for you?  If you do, then all you need to do is obey God’s commandments in the Torah as best as you can.

Obedience is not the way to get to heaven (faith is), but every Torah commandment you do obey sends a “Thank You” card to Yeshua.

What Does “Believe in Jesus” Really mean?

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As a Jewish man who accepts Yeshua (Jesus) as my Messiah, I have been told by nearly every other Jewish person I know who doesn’t accept him that if I “believe in Jesus” I am no longer Jewish because believing in Jesus is only for Christians.

Yet, I doubt they even know what “believe in Jesus” means. For that matter, I’m not sure if I know what it means!

Does it mean acceptance that he is the Messiah? Many would say yes, but then what about the Muslims? They believe in Jesus, in that he existed, but he is a Prophet to them and nothing more. This is also the view of many Jewish people.

Does it mean I am a Christian? Many would say yes, but then again, what about all the demons in hell? They absolutely believe in Jesus and more than that- they have seen him, in person! But they’re not what anyone would call “Christian.”

Does it mean that I acknowledge only that he existed as a historical figure? Yes, for many people, including many Jews (especially those that are theologically educated.)

So where does this leave us?  Pretty much the same place we started- it can mean many things, with the only constant being that Jesus existed…and there are many who will refute that.

Generally, the phrase “believe in Jesus” is understood to not just mean that he existed, but that the person who “believes” has converted to Christianity. This is not true, though, because of the other ways we can believe in Jesus. I believe in Jesus: I believe he is the Messiah God promised to send and yet I have not converted to anything and I vehemently deny being a Christian- I am a Jew. In fact, I am more “Jewish” now than when I was before, living as a non-practicing Reform Jew. Yet, whenever I meet another Jewish person who is not “Messianic”, they call me a Christian. And they aren’t nice about it.

It is because of this misunderstanding of the phrase that I do not use it. I will say I accept Jesus (I always say Yeshua, but to keep it constant in this posting I will use the name “Jesus”) as my Messiah, the one God promised in the Tanakh to send to the Jewish people.

Going forward, I recommend that we stop saying we “believe in Jesus” simply because it sends the wrong message, especially to Jews. We should say instead that we accept Jesus as the Messiah God promised to send. And, if you are talking to a Jewish person, NEVER use the name “Jesus” but instead use “Yeshua”. And also make sure you say “Yeshua, the Messiah God promised to the Jewish people”- the only way you can make any progress with a Jewish person when talking about Jesus is to make sure you maintain the “Jewishness” of Yeshua the Messiah.

I believe that when we begin to concentrate more on who we are talking to instead of just repeating what we have always been taught to say, as Shaul (Paul) did in all his letters to the Messianic congregations he began, then we can begin to break down the wall of preconceived ideas that have formed over centuries as a result of misunderstanding, prejudice, and fear.

We need to address the Good News to people in a way they will be open to hearing it. We should rethink what Shaul meant in Romans 1:16 when he said the Gospel is to the Jew first, then the Gentile: maybe what he really meant wasn’t so much a chronological order of presentation, but that if the Gospel being spread isn’t acceptable to a Jew, it isn’t any good for a Gentile, either.

Remember this the next time God presents to you an opportunity to spread the Good News.

 

 

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.

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.