Salvation From Both a Jewish and Christian Perspective- Part 2

In Part 1 of this teaching series, we reviewed the meaning of “salvation” and the Jewish expectations of what the Messiah will do when he comes, based on both the Tanakh and the Talmud.  Today, in Part 2, we will examine why Yeshua was not, and still isn’t, accepted as the Messiah by the majority of the Jewish population.

If you prefer to watch this as a video, please click on this link: Watch the video.

For the purposes of this discussion, when we talk about “the Jews” during the time of Yeshua’s ministry we are referring to the main portion of the Jewish population living in and around Jerusalem during the First Century. And we need to remember that these people were mostly “Am Ha’aretz“, which means people of the land. The reference is not very complimentary and refers to those who are not well educated regarding the Bible or Jewish tradition. At that time, people looked to the Sanhedrin and their local Levites for instruction and guidance in their worship and how to live. Even today, most of the Jewish people look to their Rabbi for instruction and interpretation, and not to God through the guidance of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit.)

As we are told in the New Covenant writings, Yeshua performed many miracles and taught in a different and more meaningful way. Yet, he was not accepted by the majority of the Jews. And, even with the publication of the B’rit Chadashah (New Covenant), in modern times “mainstream” Judaism still rejects him, not just as the Messiah but some even reject the idea that he ever existed! And, as we will soon see, the actions “Christianity” has performed against the Jewish people over the millennia have made it nearly impossible for a Jewish person to believe anything a Christian says.

The Jews living during the time of Yeshua’s ministry rejected him based on his inability to meet the expectations they had been taught regarding their Messiah.

First off, Yeshua had no father. The Tanakh tells us the Messiah will be a son (i.e., descendant) of David, and because Judaism is a Patriarchal religion, one’s heritage comes through the father’s line. Because Yeshua was not conceived by Joseph he had no father, therefore he couldn’t be a son of David.

Another reason for the Jewish rejection of Yeshua is because the Bible says that God will raise up a prophet like Moses; however, Jewish tradition stated that the age of prophecy ended circa 300 BCE, centuries before Yeshua was born. Because the Talmud taught there were no more prophets, Yeshua could not be a prophet like Moses.

One of the major expectations was that the Messiah will rebuild the Temple and reestablish the Levitical service. Well, when Yeshua walked the earth, the Temple was there! The service was actively being performed! Therefore, how could Yeshua be the Messiah? Besides, this, there was no peace throughout the world, and under Roman rule there most certainly wasn’t a world government that recognized God as the one and only King of kings ruling from Jerusalem.

The Pharisees, who saw Yeshua as a threat to their political power over the people, also spread lies about him that last to this very day. One of these was that Yeshua changed the Torah because he violated the Shabbat (see John 9:14.) The Rabbis since then have added that Isaiah 53, one of the strongest and most accurate prophecies about Yeshua found in the Tanakh, was not prophesizing about the Messiah but about Israel. They say the references to the suffering servant are a metaphor about the nation of Israel and should not be taken as a literal prophecy about a person. In fact, in modern times this one chapter from the book of Isaiah is not even read in the Synagogue!

One of the strongest and hardest to refute arguments against Yeshua being the Messiah is that the Messiah was to bring salvation to the world, a universal redemption for the people of Israel. Yet, while Yeshua lived that did not happen. There was neither spiritual nor political nor even a social redemption of any kind.

It is easy to understand why it was so difficult for the Jewish people at that time to accept him: he didn’t perform many of the expected events the people had been taught by the Rabbis he was supposed to do, and he was rejected by the leaders of the people.  As we are told in John 12:42, even those in leadership who accepted him as their Messiah kept that fact a secret out of fear of retribution by the Sanhedrin.

But what about since then? What about all that we have learned, the additional events recorded in Acts, the miracles of the Gospels that many other Jews have been able to read about who didn’t know about it then? Why, with all this historical evidence, haven’t the Jewish people readily accepted Yeshua as the Messiah God promised to Israel?

The reason is simple: early Christianity totally separated itself from Judaism at the Council of Nicene, and since then has been such an enemy of Judaism that no Jew in his or her right mind would accept anything “Christian.”

Huh? What could they have done that was so terrible? Good question. Here are some examples:

  1. During the Crusades hundreds of thousands of Jews were slaughtered because they refused to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and reject Judaism (even his name was changed from Yeshua to Jesus to remove any trace of “Jewishness” from their Messiah);
  2. The Inquisition also saw the torture and slaughter of thousands upon thousands of Jews, not to mention all Jews being expelled from Spain, if they refused to reject Judaism and accept Jesus as their God (by now God, himself, was being left behind as Christianity gave all glory to Jesus);
  3. Because to a Jew, all non-Jews are Gentiles, a Gentile is the same as a Christian. During the Second World War, the Nazi’s (really, only a select group of them) murdered millions of Jews, but do you know what was inscribed on their belt buckles? “Gott mit uns”, which means “God is with us.” This statement of divine hatred for Jews was no different than what had been heard by Jews being killed by Christians since the second century; and
  4. The on-going persecution of Jews by the Gentile (Christian) world.  The Pogroms in Russia, the rejection by America of Jews trying to escape Nazi Germany, and even today we see the constant unjustified accusations by the media against Israel through the use of fake news and purposefully not showing the Israeli side. Don’t even ask me about the unbelievable injustice against Israel being done at the United Nations. As far as I am concerned, it should be renamed “The United Nations against Israel!”

To conclude today’s lesson, let’s review why the Jewish people haven’t accepted Yeshua as their Messiah.  The answer is two-fold: first, during his ministry, Yeshua did not perform many of the activities that the Messiah was supposed to perform based on Talmudic interpretation of the Tanakh, and he was rejected by the power elite of the Jewish people.

Secondly, and I believe even more influential in why Jews have rejected Jesus, is the historical and continual hatred for and persecution of Jews by “Jesus-loving” Christians that began as early as the end of the First Century. That was when the Gentile followers of Yeshua first began to separate themselves from their Jewish roots and reject the Torah. This separation was “set in stone” with Constantine and the Council of Nicene in the Third Century, which created the dogma and traditions of modern Christianity.

Should we really be surprised that Rabbis throughout the centuries have taught against Jesus Christ and the religion he created, which has tried to destroy Judaism? Why would any Jew even think of accepting or believing anything that is in the Christian Bible?

The rejection by the Jewish people of Jesus Christ as the Messiah is completely understandable when we consider the above reasons.  I was, as most every Jew is, brought up being taught that Jesus Christ was a Jew who rejected the Torah and Judaism, creating his own religion that wants to destroy Jews.

Next time we will look into what Christians believe their Messiah will do, and why there is such a difference between the Jewish and Christian expectations.

 

If you liked this, please share it out and also don’t forget to click on the SUBSCRIBE button in the right-hand margin, so you will be notified next time I post a message.

Until then, l’hitroat and Baruch Ha Shem!!

 

Parashah Shemini (Eighth Day) Leviticus 9 – 11

We pick up from the last parashah with the Priests completing the 7 days of consecration, and today they finalize the ceremony with a sin offering, a burnt offering and a peace offering. That is the proper order: first, be cleansed of sin so you can approach God; next, show total obedience and worship of God; lastly, enter into His presence in peace and thanksgiving.

Then Aaron’s two oldest sons, Abihu and Nadab, thought they could just go ahead and offer their own fire before the Lord, ignoring the rules and (according to some Rabbinic thought) coming to the Sanctuary drunk (DUI– davening under the influence.) This sin was immediately addressed by God, who sent fire to destroy them. 

The next chapter, Chapter 11, is the chapter that outlines the laws of Kashrut: the Kosher regulations. 

I do not eat pork or shellfish, or any of the other animals mentioned as unclean, yet I will have meat and dairy together (I LOVE cheeseburgers.) I don’t keep Kosher according to the rules the Rabbi’s have stipulated in the Talmud, but I do keep kosher according to the Bible’s rules.  God tells us what He wants us to do, and we should do that. As Moses says, it isn’t too hard to do, it isn’t so far we can’t reach it, but religious leaders have historically placed a heavier yoke on us.

The Rabbi’s mean well. Their basic motivation is that we don’t want to trespass (violate) God’s word, so since we are weak and foolish, let’s put a “fence” around the law so we can’t cross over it, even by accident. Of course, being Jewish, we need to point out that maybe I can fall over the fence, so let’s put another fence around the first fence, because I can’t accidentally trespass both fences. Oh, wait- maybe my car brakes fail, and I run through the second fence, then when I get out to see the damage to my fender, in shock I fall back and stumble over the first fence…it could happen. Oy- OK, so let’s put a third fence around the second fence, which protects the first fence which is there to keep us from trespassing God’s law.

Maybe I was driving a truck? If I was driving a truck, it might be going so fast, and it’s so big, that it goes through two fences, and then….get the idea? It never stops, so today we have Kashrut laws that say we need three sets of dishes, cups and silverware, a Rabbi to observe the slaughter and preparation of commercially prepared Kosher foods, and so many other rules of Halacha (the Way to Walk) in the Talmud that the yoke is overwhelming.  

I could write an entire book on the way Kashrut is misunderstood by both Jews and Gentiles, whether “Believers” or not. The B’rit Chadasha (New Covenant) writings in Acts and the Gospel of Mark have references that have historically been used as a polemic against Kosher laws, but when taken in context (both grammatically and historically) they have nothing to do, whatsoever, with kashrut ( for a detailed explanation please buy my book, Back to Basics: God’s Word vs. Religion because there is an entire chapter devoted to this misunderstanding.)

Let me make a simple statement regarding the regulations of Kashrut stipulated in this parashah: they are still as valid today for everyone who worships the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as they were the day God first gave them to Moses. Like it or not, that is the truth. In the Torah, every law, regulation, commandment, and even the suggestions (just kidding- God never suggests, He commands) are valid for everyone in the world.

The Torah is not just for Jews: it was just given to the Jews, in order that they may live it as an example to everyone else how God wants everyone else to live.   

If we obey the Lord, we get blessed (Deuteronomy 28);  Yeshua (Jesus) did not change the law, and certainly did not give anyone permission to ignore the commandments in the Torah. If you worship God, then you are subject to Torah. If you are one of the millions upon millions over the millennia who have been taught to worship Jesus- not the real Jesus but the one Constantine created- then you are told Torah is for Jews and you are OK ’cause Jesus has got your back. Sorry to burst your bubble, but (as the song goes), it ain’t necessarily so. 

There are so many things that humans have done to make worshiping God so much more difficult than what God told us to do. Even if we give the benefit of the doubt, and assume that these regulations and rites and rituals are all designed to honor God, still and all, they just get in the way of pure worship. I find it so disheartening that the Elders in Jerusalem correctly realized that putting too much on the new converts to Judaism (colloquially called the “early church”) was not right, yet three centuries or so later, the Council of Nicene destroyed any semblance of proper worship by totally separating the (now called) Christians from their Jewish roots, and since then have created so many rituals, regulations and requirements that Christianity today isn’t even what they started with back then. What a shame. 

So, nu? What’s my point? My point is the same one I make over and over, and over- before you accept what anyone says about anything dealing with God, check it out yourself by reading the Bible and asking God to direct your understanding. Everything you do, or don’t do, is a decision that you will be held accountable for; so, whichever way you worship God, please make sure it is your choice based on your own understanding and not just what someone else told you you should do.  

Humor is God’s Gift, Too

Although it isn’t specified anywhere in the Bible that I can recall seeing, humor is a gift from God, just as much as teaching, prophecy, compassion, patience, etc. are all gifts from God. 

It just has to be! I mean, look at us- we are so incompetent and foolish we should be in a deep funk every moment of our lives, yet because we can laugh at ourselves our frustration of being who we are is less damaging to our emotions and psyche.

We are told about many people, from Abraham to Moses, to Isaiah, to John, Shaul (Paul) and others. These people were holy, and we read of their emotions often. Yet we don’t read about them laughing or telling jokes or just having a good time. Even when we read about Yeshua (Jesus) there is no specific reference to His having a good time, yet we know He attended weddings. So, while at a wedding (which in those days was a one week celebration with food, dance, song and drink), do you really think Jesus just sat in the corner, like a wallflower, spewing out parables while everyone else was having a good time? 

I don’t think so! 

I believe He was dancing and singing and laughing, and enjoying Himself along with everyone else. 

Again, there isn’t anything in the writings of the Apostles that specifically said Yeshua laughed, or sang, or danced. We are told that He cried (John 11:35) and that He showed frustration when He asked how long He would have to put up with people who just didn’t get the message (Matthew 17:17′ Mark 9:19), so if Yeshua was able to be sad and to be frustrated (somewhat), and we know that because He had taken on human form He was human, then it just makes sense that He must have also had all the other emotions that go with being human. Right?

A small caveat here, one that is my personal opinion: when we are dealing with God, we can’t trust the expression or thought that something must “make sense” because what is sensible to a human being has nothing at all to do with what is sensible to God. We are barely able to see past our noses, and God can see all the way to the end of eternity, so just because it makes “sense” that Yeshua had to have all the emotions humans do, we can’t say that is an absolute fact. 

Historically, He has been painted as somber and melancholy because (I think) we expect that being “holy” means being, well…boring. If I am holy, I don’t laugh (which sometimes indicates a lack of seriousness), and if I am holy I don’t have fun (which indicates I am just like everyone else), and if I am holy all I ever do is decry the sinfulness of the world and show people that they need to be a holy, boring, stick-in-the-mud wet blanket, like I am. 

I certainly hope not! 

I think that humor is one of the greatest gifts God has given us- it should be included in Ephesians 6 as part of the Armor of God. I believe, and have had it confirmed, that God has given me His gift of humor, and I try to use it to make people happy, or (at least) less sad.  I don’t always use this gift well, but I am now much more “appropriate” with it than I was before I was saved.

Humor can turn around anger, it can bring forth good feelings, it can bring light into a dark place, and it can also be used to make people realize how foolishly they are acting without making them mad.

When I was in Sales, I used humor as a sales tactic because I learned that people buy from people; if you can make someone laugh, they can’t help but like you. That bonding is what gave me an advantage when we had to close the sale.

There are basically two types of people: those who make jokes, and those who laugh at them. Each one has a sense of humor, and the funniest times I have ever seen are when two jokers get together because those who make jokes love to laugh at other’s jokes (and steal them, too.) Whether through telling a joke, or making a humorous statement, or providing a humorous narrative, use your God-given sense of humor to make people happy. If you are a missionary, use humor to bond with people and break down their resistance to hear about God; if you teach a congregation, use humor to help them remember the message; if you are counseling someone, use humor (carefully) to reduce their pain and help them see the funny side of their troubles.

Almost every great humorist that ever lived went through a lot of T’souris (troubles) in his or her life, which is where the humor comes from. 

Humor is an emotional balm that God has given us to help heal our painful existence in a fallen and cursed world, so when you are feeling down, take two jokes and throw a pie in someone’s face in the morning.  

Too afraid to preach what we need to hear?

How many of you go to your place of worship and get told, over and over and over, how much God loves you? Just the way you are? And that Jesus loves you, and died for you so that you can be with Him and the Father in heaven, forever? And that your sins are forgiven the moment you call on the Name of the Lord? Forever and ever. All you need to do is call on His name and you are saved! Hallelujah!!

That’s all true, of course; God does love you, and Yeshua died for you so that you have a chance to be with Him.

But not in heaven- that is not where the bible says we will be.

And when you call on the Name of the Lord for salvation, it only works if you really mean it, and that requires you to change your ways for the rest of your life. And if you think that is hard to do, you’re right!

And when you go to a place to worship, you must tithe to that place. And not just the loose change you happen to have, but 10%! Too often people argue: 10% of gross? 10% of net? of expendable? Why not just give what you want to give, no matter what percent it represents?  That’s up to you, but you must tithe, and that tithe should be, at the very least, a significant amount of your income.

And you need to participate. You need to help clean up after an Oneg Shabbat (snacks after the services- it means ‘Joy of Sabbath’), or clean up the property, or help vacuum the sanctuary: whatever it is, you need to participate in congregational activities.

These are things that are biblically required, but how often does a Minister, Priest or Rabbi talk about tithing? Or tell you that calling on God’s name is only the start, because you have to work at it. Constantly. And how often does someone tell their congregation they need to get more people to come because we need more people to do the work?

Yes, we hear leaders pray for Yeshua (Jesus) to send more harvesters to the field, and we pray for God’s divine guidance and help to fulfill our mission, but that’s not enough. There is nothing in the bible that says we should sit around and pray, and not do anything. All the people in the bible God called, He called to DO something.

God didn’t tell Abraham to stay in Ur; God didn’t tell Jacob to stay with Laban; God didn’t tell Moses to hang around Mt. Sinai; God didn’t tell the Prophets to stay at home and pray; God didn’t tell Yeshua to stay in Bethlehem; Yeshua didn’t tell Shaul to stay at home, and God will never tell you to sit around, pray for something and wait for Him to make it happen for you. God wants you to look to Him for guidance, for help, for strength and for leadership, but He expects that you will do something with it when He gives it to you!

(Read the parable of the Talents- Matthew 25:14)

I am blessed and honored to give the message about once a month, and we usually follow the parashot in the Torah, but this year I think I need to expand that to tell people they need to get off their tuchas and do something. We need to stop going to church or synagogue on Sabbath Day and pray, sing, and kibbutz, then forget about it all until next weekend. We need to be challenging ourselves to do more during the week, as well. Bring God into conversation, ask people you know to visit with you at the next service, ask your religious leader what you can do to help him or her to accomplish the mission of your place of worship. Volunteer somewhere that does God’s work, with humans or with animals- it doesn’t matter. God likes animals, too.

And if you are a leader in your religious community, a Pastor, a Rabbi, a Council member, an Elder…whatever you are, if you are in ministry leadership, don’t be afraid to tell your congregation what they need to know. If you don’t feel comfortable talking about tithing because it is, after all, your salary, well…get over it!  God commands people to tithe, and if you don’t keep on them about it, then you aren’t spreading God’s word, and (worse than that) your fear or discomfort may be causing some to stumble into sin.

If you don’t like to talk about the hard work and suffering it takes to remain a faithful servant of God, and all you want to do is tell people the “Happy-Happy” stuff because then they tell you how much they liked the sermon, and you get more people coming in to hear about how they are OK just as they are, then you are failing to tell the truth. You are recruiting people for battle without showing them how to defend themselves or even giving them any battle armor.

If you are in leadership you need to lead. You cannot be afraid to tell the truth about salvation, that truth being that it is hard: Yeshua said we need to leave everything behind, which includes our comfort zone, and carry our own execution stake to follow Him. People need to be prepared for the fact that they will be ridiculed, excluded from friends, (maybe even) excluded from family, talked about as prudish and “holier-than-thou” by other people. They need to know they will be required to give their time and money to the place where they worship, and expected to participate in activities there.

If someone is unevenly yoked, meaning that their spouse doesn’t believe the same way they do, or maybe is just a member of a different place of worship, they need to be told that there will have to be compromise- but never compromise to the point where you do not tithe or participate. Two people who love the Lord and believe in Yeshua as their Messiah can still be unevenly yoked. Dealing with that situation ain’t gonna be easy, take it from me, but if you also show your spouse the the love, patience and understanding that God shows to you, you will make it that much easier to deal with.

Salvation is easy to get, and hard to keep. If we don’t let people know that, up front, then the good seed will not be able to take root. Living for God is living against the world, and there’s a lot more world out there than there is you, or me. But we have God on our side, so the bottom line is that, as Shaul (Paul) says in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9:

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

And in Romans 8:31, Shaul also gives this word of encouragement regarding our struggle against the world:

If God is for us, who can be against us? 

So be prepared to prepare yourself, and your congregation, for what is to come. Yes, preach about God’s love and forgiveness- please don’t ever let up on that, for it is an encouraging and edifying word. But also let people know what they will be up against, and what they need to do to maintain a proper attitude of faithfulness- not just in their spirit, but from their pocket and from their sweat.

It is because God’s love for you and me is so great that it resulted in God sending His only son to die, which required Yeshua to give up His divinity in order to take on flesh, so that He could die. We often hear that God is all about love, but God isn’t all about love; He is also about sacrifice, hard work, justice, diligence, and perseverance. Don’t ever forget that.

Look at all He did for you, all He gave up, forever: is what He asks back from us so much?

Parashah Metzora (Leper) Leviticus 14 and 15

Continuing the laws of cleanliness, Chapter 14 deals with leprosy of the body and any infectious contamination that spreads to the plastering on the walls of the house.  Chapter 15 deals with bodily secretions, such as when a woman has a discharge during her menstrual cycle or a man with a seminal secretion.

You would think, this being the Bible and all, you wouldn’t find mention of such graphic and disgusting things. Yet, having read through the Bible many times, there isn’t a part of the body, and I mean ANY part of the body, that isn’t mentioned or referred to very specifically in the Bible, somewhere.

So, you have a skin disease, your house has mold or something similar, you are bleeding or exuding some liquid from your body- you are unclean. Whether it is contagious or not, you are unclean. Everything you touch becomes unclean, and anyone who touches what you touched or is touched by you becomes unclean. The only difference is that the clean who touched the unclean must wash themselves and their clothes, and after doing so at evening (meaning the start of the next day) they are clean. When you become unclean by association you wash and for the rest of that day you are unclean, but then you are clean (mostly meaning ceremonial, or having to do with entering the Sanctuary area) the next day. If you are the source of the uncleanliness, you are always unclean until, according to the rules stipulated in these chapters, the Cohen declares you no longer unclean, you make the appropriate sacrifice, and then you are accepted back into the camp and the Sanctuary.

The simple truth is that these laws deal with outward evidence of being physically unclean- we are, all of us, unclean in our hearts. We are born with the Yetzer Hara, the Evil Inclination, and we have to overcome this. As Yeshua said, with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible; hence, we have a Messiah to be the ultimate soap, if you will, to cleanse us spiritually so that we can come before God, tabernacle notwithstanding, and be clean before Him.

The warning in today’s Parashah is about not dying in one’s uncleanness by entering the Sanctuary when unclean. The intimation is that if you enter the Sanctuary unclean, you will be killed, and thus not just die, but die unclean. Not what you want, really. When we accept Yeshua as Messiah and ask forgiveness of our sins in His name, it is His righteousness that cleanses us so we can come before God clean. The cleanliness of our bodies is still important: when they say cleanliness is close to godliness, these chapters about clean and unclean should dispel any doubts about the accuracy and biblical confirmation of that old saw. But, yet, more than physically, or even ceremonially, clean, we need to be spiritually clean. We need to be more than clean outside, we need to be clean inside. Didn’t Yeshua tell us that it isn’t what goes into us that makes us unclean, but what comes out of our hearts?  Read Matthew 15:11 and Mark 7:15 to see what He said.

The Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) is what cleans us, inside and spiritually, and to receive it we have to ask. But we won’t want to ask until we are ready to be clean, until we want to wash our hearts and minds of the dirt that we are born into because of this cursed world we exist in. We have to do T’shuvah before we can really clean up our act (pun intended) and want to ask for the Ruach.

No one would go to the Cohen to get diagnosed until they saw the evidence of their disease, and wanted to be clean. We need to see the evidence of our disease, our sinful nature and accept what we do as truly being wrong; we need to stop rationalizing what we do as acceptable and start realizing what we do as wrong. That’s the first step. Next we have to truly want to stop doing wrong, that’s called T’shuvah, or turning from sin. Now we can come to the Cohen, either a religious leader as a Rabbi or Minister or Pastor or Priest, and ask them for help.

In truth, even a good friend can do the same- you need to find a spiritually mature person who can help you to be cleansed and then you clean yourself with water; not water from a sink but the everlasting water that we only get from Yeshua ha Maschiach.

The best thing is that once cleansed by Yeshua’s blood, you don’t have to wait until evening to be clean.

This is a simple lesson- to be clean forever the steps are:

  1. Confess that you are dirty
  2. Do T’shuvah
  3. Accept Yeshua as your Messiah and ask for His intercession before God
  4. Pray to God for forgiveness, calling on the name of Yeshua (not praying to Yeshua, but praying to God and asking that God accept you as one of the sheep that Yeshua owns)
  5. Ask for the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) and accept it
  6. Be prepared to fight against your nature for the rest of your life.

And remember: you can be strengthened in that fight knowing you now have the hope of eternal joy and peace, which you can also find here on Earth, through the Ruach HaKodesh.

Parashah Ki Thissa (When you take) Exodus 30:11 – 34

Big stuff in here: the sin of the Golden Calf and the 13 Divine Attributes of God (announced when He passes by Moshe), which make up the major restrains of almost every Jewish prayer of repentance. Also we are told what spices to use for anointing oil and incense before the Lord, and it ends with Moses coming down (the second time) from the mountain with the Ten Words, his face beaming so much that from then on he wears a veil, except when he goes in the Tabernacle to talk to the Lord.

I asked myself why this time?  Why didn’t his face beam after being 40 days on the mountain the first time? My answer to myself was that there was one major difference between the first meeting with God and the second one: the second time Moses saw the Glory of God. In Exodus 34:5-7 God walks by Moses, covering Moses’ face as He passes so Moses can only see His back. God actually, physically was there, close enough to cover the face of Moses. I believe that Moses’ face shone from that day on because he was so close to the Glory of the Lord that the Shekinah glory infused his body. That’s why his face shone, and from what I read it sounds like his face shone for the rest of his life.

What I find of interest is not the great story of the Golden Calf- there is so much for us to learn there. What I want to talk about today is much simpler, much “smaller”, but no less important.

The parashah starts out with God telling Moses that everyone who is called up to fight in a war must pay a ransom for their soul of a 1/2 Shekel. Now the word of God is very clear that there shall be no ransom for a murderer, that is, someone who has committed murder purposefully. But this ransom is for those who have murdered during a war. Even though the wars the people of Israel performed were not just sanctioned  by God, but actually commanded by Him in many cases, they were still guilty of murder.

This shows us that God is true to His word, that His laws are always laws, that forgiveness is possible but only with real repentance. Those who go to a “holy” war for God and kill those God says should die (effectively being the executioner of the Lord) are still murderers. They have killed, and God said we shall not kill, but unlike the murderer who kills for passion or gain, and does so on purpose, this “murder” is different, so a ransom is acceptable. Again, even though this form of murder is commanded by God, we must ransom our soul to the Lord. The monies were to be used exclusively for the maintenance of the Tabernacle, so that this ransom did go, wholly, to the Lord.

God is always willing to forgive a repentant sinner, but He is also more than willing, and frighteningly able, to punish those who are unrepentant. And God must punish the wrongdoer. If God doesn’t punish those who do wrong and do not repent, then His promise of salvation is empty. God said that the guilty will be punished- He says it over and over throughout the Tanakh; He has the Prophets tell us over and over that we shall suffer if we do not obey the Lord (and we did, too!), and Yeshua also tells us this. At the end of the Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:14, Yeshua tells us that if we do not forgive on Earth, then we will not be forgiven by God in heaven.

Torah is valid: it was valid when God gave it to us, it was valid when David was king, it was valid when Herod ruled, it was valid during and after Yeshua’s ministry, and it is valid, today. Not just to Jews, but to everyone.  Just because we can be forgiven doesn’t mean we can ignore God’s word: God told us to ransom our soul even though we were doing what He commanded, so even when we obey Him we can still be guilty! His laws are absolute.

Christianity has been teaching for centuries that the Jews have Torah and Christians have the blood of Christ. That is totally wrong- everyone has Torah, and everyone has the blood of Christ! The Torah was given to the Jewish people so they could live it as an example for everyone else to learn from, and follow. The blood of Messiah was shed so that everyone could have salvation because no one can live perfectly in accordance to Torah. How absolutely inane to say that Christians have the blood of Christ, as if they were the only ones He died for! He died for Jews, He died for Buddhists, He died for Muslims, He died for Devil worshipers, He died for E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E!!!   

And Torah was given to the Jews, but Torah is also for everyone. Torah tells us how God wants us to worship Him and treat each other, Yeshua told us the deeper meanings of the Torah and that we shouldn’t try to just follow it legalistically (i.e., just obey the letter of the law), but that we need to follow it spiritually. Jeremiah 31:31 tells us that the New Covenant will be that God will write His Torah on our hearts, which is exactly what Yeshua was telling us to do! It will be more than words to follow, it will be the very thing we are!

The Torah was given to guide us, Yeshua died for us because we can’t follow Torah perfectly (but NOT in place of the Torah) and the blood of Christ is for everyone to be able to have their sins washed away and be reconciled to God. God isn’t stupid- if you call upon His name and hold up the blood of Christ as your means of forgiveness, but you are unrepentant, you will not be accepted. And the proof that you are repentant, or that you are not repentant, will be by your fruits, by how you act towards others and towards God.

The Torah tells us how to show our repentance, so to refuse to follow Torah is to refuse to be repentant.

Look…no one can obey Torah completely, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t supposed to try.

Parashah Shemot (the Names) Exodus 1 -1 6:1

Wow. That’s about all there is to say when reading this parasha; in fact, when reading the next couple of parashot. Wow!

The seeds of the Nation of Israel have been planted in Goshen, seventy souls, and they begin to multiply. Joseph dies, and so, too, the generation of Joseph’s brothers. Later a new ruler, one of ancient Egyptian heritage (the Pharaoh who showed such kindness to Joseph was of the Hyksos and they were replaced by previously ousted Egyptians) is fearful of the multitude of Israelites, so he makes them slaves. As a way to maintain their numbers, he orders the death of the male children but the midwives refuse to do so and make excuses why they can’t get there in time to kill the children. The Israelites continue to prosper, despite the hard labor they are under.

One day a child is born who is kept aside, hidden for three months, then released to God’s care in a basket floating down the river Nile. His sister, Miryam, follows in the reeds (extremely dangerous when you consider that the Nile Crocodile, which can grow to 20 feet or more, likes to sunbathe in the reeds) and when a daughter of the Pharaoh finds the child and shows compassion, Miryam offers to get a Hebrew woman to nurse him. So, Moshe (Moses) is nursed by his own mother for years, and when he is returned to the daughter of Pharaoh he is old enough to have learned of his true heritage, which he remembers during his years under Egyptian study and while living in the Palace.

Moshe as an adult sees an Egyptian TaskMaster beating a Hebrew and in a fit of anger, kills the Egyptian, thinking no one will ever know. But he is discovered, and flees for his life. Living in Midian he takes a wife and becomes a shepherd. He has a son and when he is 80 years old, he sees the burning bush and receives his calling from God.

He didn’t take to it right away, but Moshe does go to Egypt and God has his older brother, Aaron, also go with him. Moshe asks Pharaoh to release the children of Israel. Pharaoh refuses, and to show even more disregard for the people and their God, he orders that they maintain their daily quota of bricks but refuses to give them the straw needed, forcing them to take what little time they have to themselves and use it to gather the straw they need.  The people, understandably, were not too happy with Moshe and Aaron, and this parashah ends with Moshe asking God why He has made things even worse than before when He said He would free the people.

There is a small part of this I want to talk about today- it is in Chapter 3, verses 21 and 22. Here is what the Chumash has:

“And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. And it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: (22) but every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment; and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians. (Italics added)”

In Deuteronomy 15:12 we are told that when a faithful servant leaves the master that the servant is to be equipped liberally by the master. Therefore, God is saying that the parting from the Egyptian peoples, not the royalty, but the people, should be friendly and compassionate.

Most interpretations are that the despoiling of the Egyptians is thought to be the overdue compensation for centuries of unpaid labor, and there is certainly some validity to that interpretation. However, we are told in Deuteronomy 23:8 that we “shall not abhor an Egyptian.” The hebrew word often translated as “spoil”, נצל , is found 212 times in the Tanakh, and in 210 of those times it is translated as to snatch from danger, to save. The Chumash, therefore, says the proper translation of the end of verse 22 in this chapter is to save the Egyptians, not despoil them. The fact that the children are to be the ones wearing these ornaments and jewels demonstrates that this is an act to be remembered throughout the generations.

I was amazed when I read this, and I believe this is a hermeneutically proper usage of the word “נצל” because God is a God of forgiveness and compassion, and even though there is a very strong argument that the Israelites were due compensation for their labors, it is more important to forgive and reconcile than to revenge and repay. The Israelites were going to save the Egyptians by asking them to provide their former slaves with gifts as they leave their service. How does this “save” the Egyptians? By letting them send away the Israelites with good feelings, with a clean slate, so to speak, and by letting the Israelites have the reminders of the generosity of the Egyptian people so that they will know it was the Pharaoh, not the people, who persecuted the Hebrews.

Saying that the Hebrews despoiled Egypt is to me an anti-Egyptian (if you will) interpretation, no different than the underlying anti-Semitic interpretation of the New Covenant writings, in which it sounds like the entire Jewish nation rejected and hated Yeshua, when in truth the people loved, listened to and followed Him. There were probably tens of thousands of followers of Yeshua at the time of His death and after His resurrection, yet the interpretations of the New Covenant books and letters make it sound like the entire nation wanted Him dead. It was only the political powers that were against Yeshua, not the people, not “the Jews”. It was the leaders, not the led.

This was true of the persecution of the Jewish people under Pharaoh during the time of Moses, and it was true of the persecution of the new Believers, the Messianic Jews, in Jerusalem during the first and second centuries.

Throughout the bible we see how the people suffered as a result of the sins of their leaders, we see this in the (subliminal) anti-Semitic teachings in the Christian world where so many Christians have been taught that Torah is invalid and doesn’t apply to them. Today, thank God, many Christians are becoming more aware of the fact that their Jewish roots are still valid, that Torah is still valid, and that it is not true that Yeshua died a Jew and then was resurrected as a Christian. The Epistles of Shaul are not polemics against the Torah, but apologetics for it. Yes, things will change, but the word of God does not change. Yeshua said that the world will pass away but His words will never pass away (Mark 13:31), and all of His words were in keeping with the Torah. More recently, we have had world wars, terrorism, James Jones, Charles Manson, etc.  People suffering for the sins of their leaders.

What this passage reminds us is this: leaders don’t always speak for the people. That sounds bad, doesn’t it? I mean, if that’s true then we elect people based on what they say they stand for and what they will do, but that doesn’t mean when they are in power they will keep their word. Oh, really? Duh!!

We have to be the leaders, not them. For a government, or for that matter, a company, an organization, even a sports team, to be true to it’s standards, the leadership must be subject to the people, not the other way around.

Gee, doesn’t that sound familiar? Didn’t Yeshua say as much when He told His Talmudim:

“Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,…”   Mattitayu 20:26

The government in Moses’ day was hereditary; the government in Yeshua’s day was comprised of appointed leaders by a despotic ruler, and the legal leadership (Sanhedria) were mostly political “hacks” appointed by Herod and not true Levites. Today, we have elected officials.

But, when it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter if the ones in charge are there by heredity, by appointment, by election or by military coup: the leaders must be subject to the led. The organization, whether political or social or laic, must be an inverted triangle.

That is what God wants, that is how the bible shows us we should be organized. If you are in a position of leadership, you should lead by being an example, not an exception. You must lead by taking care of your people, with compassionate guidance, and by taking the responsibility for what happens. Rulership sucks- you have to do what the people want, and when that happens and something goes wrong, you have to take the responsibility for it. It’s essentially a “lose-lose”or a “win-win”: there is no middle ground.

We are beginning a new year today- although I think it is silly to teach that this is the time for making resolutions to change for the better. We shouldn’t make that an annual thing, it should be a daily thing. In any event, today’s lesson from the Word of God should encourage us to be both more understanding of those in leadership positions, and more attentive to what they do. We need to make sure that our leaders do what they said they would do, and that they be held accountable. The truth is that we, the people, are the leaders and the “leaders” we place in charge of us are just there to help facilitate things. But it’s our responsibility to make sure they do as we expect, and if they don’t, it’s our responsibility to place someone there who will.

I also confess I am as much to blame for this as anyone- I don’t follow politics much at all. I need to change, too.

I guaranty that if we start to successfully impeach and/or vote out of office those government officials who don’t do as we want, the ones that are there will realize their greatest shield against losing their job, which is our apathy, is no longer effective. And the ones we vote in will know they got there because their predecessor didn’t do what he or she was supposed to do and if they don’t, they will be out on their tuchas, too!

I am not preaching anarchy, I am preaching responsibility. As I said, we see throughout history how the people suffer for their government’s actions. If that is to be the case, then we should (at least) make sure those actions are what we want them to be.

God wanted the Egyptians to have the opportunity to be absolved of the horrible things their leaders did. The people certainly suffered much before the Jewish nation was set free, and to ask for gifts upon leaving the service, and to have the Egyptian people give those gifts willingly and generously, did save the people from the wrongdoing of their leaders.

Don’t accept what your government, corporate or (especially) religious leaders tell you without carefully reviewing and justifying the validity of what they say. Too often, for too long, people have been misled by the leaders they trust, so always make sure that you are aware of what you are being told.

Ultimately, it’s your butt on the line so you better make sure the ones you expect to keep it safe are doing their job.

Parashah Naso (Numbers 4:21-7:89) “Take”

This reading starts with a census of the Levitical clans so that the number of those who are able to do service in the Tent of Meeting can be counted. The age range for service is from 30 to 50 years old.

It also outlines the regulations about restitution for sin against each other, the Water of Jealousy and the Nazarite vows. It finishes with the tabernacle being completed, and the gifts bestowed by the 12 tribes, which were exactly the same gifts from each tribe. The Chumash says the gifts were exactly the same so that no one tribe would outrival the other.

Verses 6:23-28 is the only place in the entire bible where God specifically tells us how we are to be blessed. No where else are we told exactly what to pray (the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew is really more of a template describing the manner in which we are to pray than an actual prayer, although on it’s own it is a really good prayer) or how to bless someone. These three sentences, which God told Moses to have Aaron use when blessing the people, are God’s own words that we are to use when placing His name on the people.

The Talmud goes into detail about the underlying meaning of each of these three blessings. If I may shorten the commentary a bit, the first line is in the singular to represent that the entire nation of Israel is one in the eyes of God, and we are to feel that we are a single entity. God’s face shining upon us is a symbol of not just happiness and purity (light) but friendship, as well. Yeshua also uses light this way, in telling us that those full of light have compassion and charity.  When God’s face is turned towards us He is showing and pouring out to us His love and salvation. The bible talks much, especially in the books of the Prophets, about how when God turns His face away from us we are left on our own and unprotected by  Him. So, to turn His face , to shine it upon us, is a symbol of His protection, love and divine intervention for our good. And to be gracious unto us is to provide in abundance both our physical and spiritual needs. Finally, to give us peace means more than relaxation: it is peace for us and peace from us to others, it is individual, familial and national. It means to be healthy, financially secure, without fear and tranquil.

God said this is how the Kohanim are to place His name upon the people; the Talmud is clear that even though it is the Kohen who pronounces the blessing, it is God who does the blessing. The Priests are only the channel through which God’s word and blessings are conveyed to the people.

The majority of religions I have studied and experienced, including Judaism, have forgotten this fact, i.e. that God is the one who we worship and God is the one who forgives and God is the one who is the origin and source of our blessings. How many religions have made God secondary to the Priests (or Saints) when it comes to asking for forgiveness, blessings or help? The Rabbi’s are the ones who decree what the bible means in the Orthodox and Chasidic religions, with the Talmud often taking precedence over the Tanakh; in Catholicism the Priests forgive sins and the Pope is the one who determines what God’s will is for the church. In the other Christian religions Yeshua/Jesus has been lifted up (just like He said He would be) like the serpent in the desert to where He is prayed to, and He is asked for forgiveness from sin instead of God. Yeshua never said to pray to Him, but to pray to God in His name- meaning to invoke His righteousness as our intercessor, not as the source and origin of our salvation. Yeshua is to be a Kohen like Melchizedek- not in place of God but as intercessor to God on our behalf.

Christianity and Judaism have placed their Priests and Rabbis in a position of status higher than God- the people go to the priest for forgiveness and they pray to Jesus, and the Rabbis quote Talmud instead of Torah. We are to pray to God, and not to anyone else. We pray to God, we ask for God’s favor and for God’s forgiveness, and we invoke the name of the Messiah as our mediator and as our intercessor. We should NOT pray to Jesus instead of God; we should pray to God in Jesus’s name , which means to have Jesus bring our requests to God; praying this way it will be Yeshua’s righteousness God sees when our request is before Him, and not our own sinfulness.

Don’t pray ‘retail’:  get factory-direct blessings and forgiveness. No one can do for you what God can do for you, so why ask anyone else?

Today’s Priesthood: In the Right or In the Way?

The Kohanim (Priests) in the Bible were not there to serve the people: they were there to serve God. Their services were to prepare the sacrifice. True, sacrifices were made for the benefit of the people, but wasn’t it also as a service that God demanded? He was to be sacrificed to morning and evening, and the Ner Tamid (Eternal Light) was to always be lit, as well as the sacrificial fire in the Altar. The Kohanim also were to serve God by instructing the people about the laws and by rendering judgements based on the Torah. It was God who made the decision, though- the priest had the ritual vest with the Urim and Thummim,  which was the means by which they served God in receiving His guidance and decisions. They also maintained the Tabernacle, and later, the Temple.

The job of the Priest was to serve God by sacrificing to Him (on behalf of the people who bring the sacrifice), to intercede with God on behalf of the people and to act on God’s behalf when rendering judgements for the people in court. Everything they did was to serve God.

I wonder if that is still what the Kohanim of today are doing? Are today’s Rabbis, Priests, Ministers, Chaplains, etc. serving God or are they acting in place of God? I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way: what I mean is when we go to our Kohen to ask for God’s advice and guidance, is he or she praying to God or are they just telling us what they learned in Cemetery (uh, I mean, Seminary) school?

God gave us the rules and laws we are to live by in the Torah, and the Torah was (up until a century or two after Yeshua was resurrected) the place where the Kohanim went to find out what God said we should do. Today it seems only the Rabbi’s still honor Torah, but that isn’t always where they go for answers. If you ask an Orthodox or a Chasidic Rabbi what to so, you are more likely to get a Talmudic interpretation that one from the Torah. The Talmud is a wonderful and rich compilation of Jewish studies and discussion about the Torah, but it is not the Torah, and it is not scripture.

As for the Christian Priesthood, well, for the most part they have thrown the “baby out with the bath water”: the bath water being Torah and the baby being Jesus. Jesus/Yeshua lived by and preached Torah. That was the only scripture He had and, apparently, all He needed. If we are to do as Jesus did, then we need to live by the Torah. But that is not what Christians are being told, and what they say are the “teachings” of Jesus and the Apostles has been misconstrued and prostituted into a series of man-made rituals that in many ways are an aberration of God’s word.

Today we have Rabbi’s quoting Talmud instead of Torah, synagogues and (some of) the “Church” allowing homosexual Kohanim and same-sex marriages , and Christianity (for the most part) teaching that the Torah is done away with by the very same guy who is called the Living Torah. So, I ask again: is today’s Priesthood in the right or in the way?

Thomas Jefferson is supposed to have said something to the effect that the tree of liberty needs to be watered with the blood of revolution every now and then. I bring this up because we need a little “revolutionary” thinking today. The time is getting closer and closer when we will all have to decide for ourselves whose side we will be on. Will we refuse the mark of the devil or will we accept it, gladly? I think many will be accepting it and not really knowing what they are doing because, like sheep, they will blindly and ignorantly follow their religious leaders into damnation.

All the while thinking they are doing what pleases God. All because the enemy may have lost the battle, but he counter-attacked really, really well when he caused the schism between Judaism and what has come to be called Christianity. In truth there shouldn’t be any “religions”, only the one God and His laws, ordinances and regulations.

If you are not being taught:

1. the Torah is the Word of God (not the Talmud);

2. the New Covenant writings and Yeshua’s teachings did NOT do away with Torah but, in fact, confirm Torah;

3. Torah is still valid; and

4. Faith is the only way to find salvation, but without good works to demonstrate your faith is real, you are still lost

then your religious leader is not in the right, but is (actually) in the way. He or she is blocking your path to righteousness and has become a wedge between you and God. That Kohen is not interceding: he or she is interfering.

I am talking today about my feelings regarding today’s Kohanim.  And it is sad that I can, right off the top of my head, think of no less than 3 names of well known pastors that have fallen by the wayside. Do you remember a few years ago the news about the New Jersey Rabbi who killed his wife to be with his mistress? We read of pastors robbing their church, ministers getting involved in politics, televangelists using the name of God to promote their own income, and many, many other heinous activities (Catholic priests abusing young boys and girls, which I am sure is not just within the Catholic church, it’s just that they are getting all the attention right now) that we read about regularly. More and more our “godly” leaders are proving that is not what they are.

The Priesthood is an honorable and Godly livelihood, and I am sure that the vast majority of those serving are trying to serve the Lord. I mean no disrespect to any person who is in that position today, but I do admonish you to make sure you are serving God as God said to do it, and not just the way you were taught. You may not have been taught correctly; however, you will be held doubly-accountable for what you teach, so don’t you think you should make sure it’s OK with God, yourself?

When Yeshua died and was resurrected, He became our eternal Kohen HaGadol, the High Priest, the last priest we will ever need. He is the one who intercedes with God the Father, in judging us; He is our ultimate Defence Attorney.  Most of the priestly duties are unnecessary now because there is no Temple, therefore there is nothing to maintain and no sacrifices can be made. The other Levitical duties were to judge between people and to teach them God’s ways. Even in biblical days that could be done by a scribe, such as Ezra, or anyone well versed and knowledgeable in Torah.

You need to decide, for yourself, if you are being taught correctly. If you don’t think you are, discuss it with your religious leader. If that person is not going to teach you what you think you should be taught, then get the heck out of there, now! Get your bible, the one that starts with Genesis and ends with Revelations, and read it, pray for the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) to lead your understanding, and learn what God says He wants of you.

Since time does not go backward, and the Acharit HaYamim (End Days) are still in the future, then every second we live may be the one just before the End Days!  If you are walking the wrong path when the stuff hits the fan it will be too late to change roads, so you better make sure you are already on the path that is hard to travel and that leads to that narrow gate.

Did You Reboot It?

I am that guy you call when the computer you work with proves it is smarter than you are. And sometimes, not too often but sometimes, it is smarter than I am, also.

Many people complain and/or joke about the fact that when they call tech support they are first asked, “Did you reboot the system yet?” It is a sort of running gag, but it is also true. The computer performs many, many thousands upon thousands of small, regular computations, and all those bits and bytes floating around in the memory confuse it. Just like we get confused when we are trying to do too many things at once. The reboot turns off all electric power for a second or two, which is enough for the memory to be cleaned out. Sort of an “electronic colanic.”

Humans need to reboot, as well. We call that process “Vacation”, although many come back from vacation more stressed and tired than when they went on it.

Spiritually we need a reboot now and then, as well. I have found myself feeling burned out, too involved in doing “church” things, and then feeling guilty that I haven’t done enough. Help this committee, fix that, be there for meetings, etc. etc.etc.

Now don’t get me wrong- we all must participate in more than just showing up once a week. It is more than just a place to go, it is a place to participate in maintaining. Throughout the Bible we see how the Levites were responsible for the service to the Lord in His house, but everyone helped with the maintenance of the house.

If you feel that you are overwrought with the responsibilities, whether real or imagined, of having to do more for the Rabbi, Pastor, Priest, whomever, then you need to reboot. Even if you are the Rabbi, Pastor, Priest or that whomever guy I keep talking about.  Rebooting is necessary to maintain a well managed and efficient system.

So, nu? How do I reboot my spirit? By doing something different. Go on a retreat, leave the job to someone else for a week or two, read the Bible in total solitude, go for a walk in the woods, travel to Bryce Canyon and on a clear night observe all the stars in the heavens. That’s a humbling experience, especially when one knows the Lord and can really appreciate His grandeur and wonder.

My Pastor has asked me to fill in once in a while to give the message, as well as with other people whom God has given teaching skills and who show spiritual maturity (that’s the only kind of maturity I have.) This is not just so he can help develop us, but so that he can take a break now and then. He’s a smart guy, and he recognizes that even the ‘Levite’ among us needs to have a rest, to reboot not just spiritually but physically, too. King David set specific times for the Levites to serve, giving time on and time off. He was somewhat ahead of his time, when you think about it: back then you worked all the time. The only rest was Shabbat. David gave the Levites a “working week”, if you will, although it was more than a week at a time. But then, again, they had really long weekends 🙂

If you feel tired of doing whatever you are doing, then give it a rest. Have someone else take over for a bit, let someone else lead the service, teach the Bible class, clean the floors. Don’t be so selfish- there is nothing more rewarding than serving the Lord, so let someone else enjoy the blessing now and then!

Reboot your body, reboot your emotions, reboot your Spirit.

As my people like to say, “Try it! You’ll like it!”