Author: Steven R. Bruck

No Deals for Forgiveness

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Remember those old movies, the ones from the 40’s and 50’s? The tough kid whose brother is in the hospital, or the troublemaker who finally comes to terms with his own anger when the only girl he ever loved is dying, and they go through this kind of a speech:

“Lord, you know I ain’t no praying person, and I always kinda thought you were there, and if you are now, and you’re listening, please save (place name here.) S/he’s better than I am , I ain’t never been any good, so take my life and give it to him/her.”

I’m almost crying now, just thinking of those heart-wrenching prayers.

Poppycock!

Get real, people! God doesn’t make deals, you can’t swap your life for another. Each person who sins must deal with their sins; first, by accepting them (you can’t give away what you don’t own) and then by wanting to be rid of them. When we realize our own sinfulness and realize, at the same time, our inability to overcome it, that’s when people come to God and ask forgiveness for themselves. Praying for others is fine, interceding is godly, and asking God to forgive others is good to do. However, when it comes down to it, each person must have their moment with God. Each of us must form that relationship, that personal relationship, with God, and that has to start by asking forgiveness for ourselves.

This is clear throughout the Bible:

  • Jeremiah 31:30 (Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes–their own teeth will be set on edge.);
  • Deuteronomy 24:16 (Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.);
  • Ezekiel 18:20 (The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.)

These are some examples I found in the Tanakh, and even if it isn’t stated specifically in the B’rit Chadashah (Good News / New Covenant) Yeshua didn’t say or teach anything differently that what is in the Tanakh.

I am not saying that to pray for someone else’s forgiveness is not valuable or good to do- far be it for me to deny the power and goodness of interceding. If Moses hadn’t interceded for the Israelites, and more than once, we would all be remembering father Moses instead of father Abraham.

What I am saying is that God is not going to swap out your righteousness for someone else’s sinfulness. You can pray for them, I often pray for my kids (like every day often), and lift them up to the Lord. Ask His forgiveness of them, which He will do by sending others to show them the path to Him. They still need to come to Him on their own, and He can (and will) send angels of mercy to direct them, and (as in most cases) human beings who know the Lord to help those you pray for see the truth. I know that if not for the people who were mature of spirit and could approach me without telling me I had to convert, I would not be saved today.

Isn’t it best when we follow the rules? The Bible tells us what to do:

  1. Ask forgiveness for yourself, so that through the cleansing that comes from Yeshua’s sacrifice you can approach the Lord:
  2. Ask the Lord to save these people from themselves by forgiving them, not because they deserve it but because He is God, and ask that He do so for His names’ sake;
  3. Ask that God send angels of mercy to lead these people away from sin; and finally
  4. Pray that you are a better example to them of the peace and joy that is found only in God’s salvation, brought to us through the Comforter (the Ruach HaKodesh, Holy Spirit), so that they will become jealous of your peace and how you find comfort even in the midst of troubles.

Of course, you may have a better prayer, or something you are more comfortable with. The above is my prayer, it’s how I try to intercede for my loved ones who don’t know the Lord.

Don’t try to make deals or swap out your salvation for someone else. It makes for good fodder in the movies, but not in real life. In real life we all have to deal with our relationship to God and others, and what we do is what we will be held accountable for.

As I have said before, and will (no doubt) say again: people don’t mean what they say, they mean what they do. God will hold us accountable for what we do, so pray for others, and pray that they come to know the Lord so they can turn from their sin. God will always answer prayer, I believe that He will send angels and people to help those we pray for, but always understand and accept that each of us must come to the Lord, on our own.

Trust in God to answer your prayer but remember that He will not force anyone to worship Him, so as much as God works to lead others to Him, most will reject Him. Get comfortable with that truth, that Biblical truth, because you will see many you love turn against you and against God when the Tribulation comes.

We need to pray for others, accept that God is listening and working on their behalf, but it is, ultimately, up to them to come to God.

Parashah Ekev (follow) Deuteronomy 7:12 – 11:25

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Most of D’Varim (Deuteronomy) is a discourse from Moses reminding the children of Israel all that has happened to them over the past forty years, reminding them of God’s commandments and encouraging them to obey God after they have gone into the land and conquered it.

This parashah starts with Moses continuing his discourse on the history of their journey. He reminds them of the wonderful ways God has protected and fed them, and also of the horrible ways they have rejected God and tested Him. Moses goes back and forth from what God has done, what He will do to help, and how He has kept His part of the covenant, then about how they have, for their part, broken the covenant because they refused to obey and what will happen to them if they continue to refuse.

He tells them they are to go in and take over the land, destroying all the pagan items and peoples, and that even though the people there are stronger and mightier than they are, God will go before them and battle for them.

Moses warns the people that they shouldn’t become complacent when God has done all these wonderful things, and begin to think that they deserved any of it. He is quite adamant that they don’t, and they better not forget that. They are getting the best not because they deserve it, but because God loved their ancestors, who did deserve it. They don’t. He wants them to continually be humble before the Lord- as should we all.

I  like how Moses tells them in chapter 10, verses 12-13 that all God requires is for the people to fear God, walk in His ways, love and serve Him. Sound familiar? Read Micah 6:8.

The message here for all of us is that we need to remember that God will do for us all that we could ever want, and when we walk in trusting faithfulness, He will be there, in front of us, protecting us and forging a path for us so we can complete the trip. He will smooth the path, place hedges on the right and the left to keep us straight, and destroy the enemies blocking our way. And if we fall, He will pick us up. If needs be, He may even carry us for a way. However, He won’t carry us all the way; there may be a smooth path but there will be hills to overcome and valleys to pass through. It won’t be easy, it won’t always be fun, but we must keep going.

That’s really the whole story, isn’t it? From beginning to end, the basic A-B-C’s of salvation are:

A– Accept your own sinfulness and need for God, Accept the rule of God, and Accept His Messiah;

B– Be obedient, Be dedicated, Be an example of God’s wonder and goodness;

C- Continue to work at being more of what God wants you to be so you can Complete the journey.

That’s all there is to Salvation: it’s easy to attain, it’s hard to keep, but it’s well worth having.

What’s in a Name?

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According to Shakespeare, nothing. He asked that question, and justified the answer by having Juliet tell herself that a rose would still smell as sweet even if it was called something else.

That’s all good for Juliet, but we should be a little more careful with the names we use in worship, and we should be more aware that, based on what we read in the Bible, names do have meaning to God.

For instance, didn’t God tell Hosea what to name his children? There was meaning in their names. And in Revelations 2, 3 and 22 we are told about new names, and the “name of my God” (3:12): what is God’s name? The Tetragrammaton is made of the 4 Hebrew letters, yud, heh, vav, heh ( YHVH) but no one knows the real pronunciation. Supposedly, Moses was told what God’s true name is when he was sent by God to Pharaoh, so that he could prove he was sent by God to the Hebrew slaves. Knowing God’s true name is something that no one today knows.

Don’t think Jehovah or Yahweh is God’s name, absolutely, because we really don’t know. Jehovah most likely isn’t because it is a name composed of the letters of the Tetragrammaton with the vowels from the word Adonai, which in Hebrew means Lord (when used for God’s name, it is always spelled with a capital ‘A’.) The Masorites took the letters Y-H-V-H and placed the vowel points for the word Adonai under the letters, and Voila! You have Jehovah!

Jesus Christ is a name with no meaning. The etymology is that the Greek’s had no cultural, religious or (even) social identification with an “anointed one.” The name given to the son of Miryam and Yosef when he was born was (and it still is) ‘Yeshua’, which means ‘God’s salvation’; the Greeks didn’t have this name in any of their naming books, so they used a transliteration, a word that sounds like Yeshua. For them, that word/name was Jesu. When the Romans took over the writing of the scriptures, they latinized ‘Jesu’ to ‘Jesus.’ Christ came from Cristos, and I have seen a number of different histories of this word. Anything from the Greek word Chrestos, for ‘good’ to Cristo,  a method of rubbing oil on the leather shields to keep them supple. That meaning was used to identify the anointing by placing oil on the head of the Messiah.

Jesus Christ is not His name. His name is Yeshua ben Yosef, but we know that He is really Yeshua ben Adonai. The Talmud says the Messiah will first come as Yeshua ben Yosef (the suffering servant Isaiah talked about, where Yosef is the son of Yacov/Jacob) and then also as Yeshua ben David. That will be when He comes as the mighty king.

There is definitely substance and importance in the names we give and the names we are given, so far as God is concerned. That is pretty obvious in the Bible, especially in the writings of the Prophets. Every tribe of Israel was given a name (Genesis 29:31 and afterwards) based on how their mother (whether Leah or Rachel) felt about their relation at that time to God or Jacob, and even each other (since they were jealous of each other), and it ended with Benjamin, whom Rachel named before she died, Ben-oni (son of my sorrow) but Yacov changed to Ben-yamin, or son of my right hand, indicating a favored position.

I am not saying that everyone should stop using the name Jesus Christ and instead must use Yeshua ha Maschiach. That would be fine with me, but I think God and Yeshua are big enough to handle this centuries-old misnomer. Whether you call upon the name of Jesus, or Yeshua, you are calling out to the right guy and He will answer. However, I would ask that you be careful about calling on the name of the Lord if you happen to be around during the tribulation. Revelations also tells us about a few new names being given out, and one or two of them refer to someone you certainly do not want to be calling out to.

I am Jewish and feel much more comfortable with ‘Yeshua” than I ever will with ‘Jesus’, and that’s OK. It’s also perfectly acceptable if you use ‘Jesus’. We all know it’s the same guy, and I don’t think He minds too much which name we use (then again, who am I to talk for Him?) What is important is that you realize names do have meaning, and import, and I would ask that you make sure exactly what the name means for the person you call out to in your trouble and need.

The names we give our children used to serve a two-fold purpose: first to identify them as a member of a family, and their name was also a reminder of what they meant to their parents at the time of their birth; it could also be an indicator of who they may grow up to be. Today we name our children not based on our relationship to God but after people who have influenced our lives in one way or another. Nothing wrong with naming someone as a memorial or to honor a parent or ancestor, but some of the names we have today for kids? Really? And the names these movie stars use? Oy! Didn’t they ever hear Johnny Cash sing, “A Boy Named Sue?”

What’s in a name? It could be a lot, or nothing, depending on what you are trying to do when naming someone. Names are important, and there will be a couple of new names floating around during the End Days, so make sure you know which names are the ones to call out to when you call for help.

The Jewish Side of Why They Just Refuse to Believe

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One of the hardest things for a Jewish person to do, especially one who practices the religion (they say practice makes perfect but after a lifetime of practicing we still don’t get it right), is to accept that Jesus is the Messiah. In fact, you can barely even get anyone who is Jewish to talk with you about Him.

Maybe there’s a good reason, or even a few good reasons: the persecution that started after Rome accepted (what had become) Christianity, separated now from it’s Jewish roots and forcing Jewish people to convert or die, then there’s the Crusades (nearly as many Jews were forced to convert or be killed as Muslims were), the Inquisition, the Holocaust (the Nazi’s, believe it or not, had the saying “Gott mit uns” [God is with us] on their belt buckles)…just to name a few. All of these historical atrocities were perpetrated by “Christians” trying to get Jews to give up the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and convert to Christianity so they could worship Jesus.

I know, I know…Christians worship God. Well, sit down and hear this word: Christianity teaches idolatry. Many Christians will pray to Jesus instead of praying to God (Jesus is supposed to intercede for our prayers, not intercept them), and the Replacement Theologists say that Jews have been rejected by God because they rejected Jesus. The “Born Again” crowd often tells us that the Old Covenant is no longer valid, and I have personally heard from people who tried to be more Torah observant but their fellow Christians scolded them, accusing them of now being “under the law” instead of being “under the blood.” And just walk into any Roman Catholic church and count the graven images people bow down and pray to. To a Jewish person, all Gentile religions are “Christianity.”

If a Gentile in the 1st Century wanted to accept Yeshua as his or her Messiah, they would start to live as Yeshua did, which meant observing Torah; in other words, 1st century Gentiles (who were all Pagans) who accepted Yeshua were becoming Jewish. Nowadays, if a Torah observant Jewish person wants to accept Yeshua as his or her Messiah, they are told they can no longer be Jewish and have to become Christian, worship in a church and forget all that “Jewish” stuff. They are told, essentially, that they have to stop being a Jew to believe in the Jewish Messiah.

How stupid is that? And some people wonder why it is so hard for Jews to even listen to the truth about Messiah Yeshua!

If I hadn’t discovered Messianic Judaism, I don’t think I would have remained saved. If I had to stop being a Jew (and remember- I was not even a ‘practicing’ Jew) in order to accept Yeshua as my Messiah, I don’t think I would have lasted. Praise God that He directed me to mature Christians and a Messianic Synagogue. And a real Jewish Rabbi to show me how to be a Jewish Believer.

Jewish people have been the subject of persecution and hatred pretty much since the days of Goshen, even before they left Egypt. We’re almost used to it, although that doesn’t mean we like it. It’s easier to accept such treatment when you think you’re on the winning side, although it is a shame that many, actually most, Jews don’t realize that that isn’t going to happen without first accepting Yeshua, their true Messiah, for themselves.

That’s why it is so important to help Jewish people know the truth, and consequently so hard to get them to accept it. History is against us because history proves that accepting Jesus means giving up being Jewish. Although that is not the truth, and shouldn’t be the truth, it is a fact.

If you want to approach  a Jewish person with the truth of their Messiah, let me make a few suggestions:

1. Never use the name Jesus- His name is, was and always will be Yeshua, so use that name;

2. If you, yourself, do not believe that the Torah is valid and all who accept Yeshua should live a Torah observant life, then don’t ever talk to a Jew about Yeshua. And get your head into the game- Yeshua IS the living Torah and anyone who thinks Torah is dead might as well say Yeshua is dead;

3. Understand and emphasize with thousands of years of history which has shown for a Jew to believe in Yeshua means converting to a different religion and no longer being Jewish. You need to show that believing in Yeshua means they can stay Jewish, and is the most “Jewish’ thing they can do;

4. Introduce them to a Messianic Synagogue instead of a church- they will feel much more comfortable;

5. If you aren’t fully familiar with the Old Covenant writings, especially the predictions about the Messiah, then don’t ever talk to a Jew about Yeshua. Jews do NOT accept that the New Covenant is scripture.  In fact, they give it as much credibility as they give to the Quran or the Bhagavad Gita. You won’t get anywhere quoting the New Covenant as proof that Yeshua is the Messiah. You need to use Tanakh, and only Tanakh;

6. Once you have proven you know about Judaism, that you respect their Jewish heritage and do not want to take that away, then you might be able to talk to them about the B’rit Chadasha. And call it that- use all the Hebraic terminology you know so that everything you talk about “sounds” Jewish. To talk to a Jew about Messiah, you need to talk about His Jewishness, the Torah He taught, and that He did not create a new religion;

7. Last and most important: You cannot convince someone to listen to you by telling them they are wrong. If you want to start to get the interest of a Jewish person, you start by asking them questions why they believe what they believe. Don’t try to force your beliefs down their throat- simply ask them why they believe. Most people, Jewish or Gentile, who believe something probably do so because someone told them that’s what to believe. Most people are too lazy or unconcerned to study and try to determine the truth of something for themselves. So, if you want to get a Jewish person (or anyone, for that matter) to believe in what you have to say, you first have to get them to doubt what they already know. You do that by asking questions, as simple as , ” I know the reasons why I believe Yeshua is the Messiah God promised, please tell me why you don’t?”  Most likely it will be somewhere between “That’s what I’ve always been taught” to “Because He isn’t, that’s all.”

Jewish people have good reasons for not even wanting to hear about this guy Jesus. It is our responsibility to be understanding, patient and deliver a very “soft” sell when talking about Messiah Yeshua to them. They need to hear it, and Yeshua Himself said in Mattitayu 23:39 that He will not return until Jerusalem (i.e., the Jewish people) say “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”, so it is really important for Jewish people to learn about and accept their own Messiah, Yeshua.

It will take a lot of courage to talk to a Jewish person about Yeshua. But that’s what we need to do. Just follow the rules above and you will be OK. Remember: we can only plant the seeds, God is the one who makes them grow. So have good seed to spread around, and throw it everywhere.

The good soil is out there, you never know where, so disperse the seed of truth and salvation everywhere you go, to everyone, in the way they can receive it.

Parashah Va-ethchanan (I Pleaded) Deuteronomy 3:23 – 7:11

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This parashah continues the First Discourse of Moshe, which is the chronology of the travels of the Israelites and starts to go into the Second Discourse, the foundations of the covenant.

Moshe gives us in 6:4 – 9 the Shema and V’Ahavta, the watchword of Judaism: “Hear, oh Israel; the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.” The next statements tell us how to act everyday, to love the Lord with all our heart, soul and might, to talk of His laws when we rise, sleep, go out, come in, and to keep His commandments on our hearts and minds and doorposts of our houses.

These statements are repeated together at every Jewish Shabbat service. The most used interpretation of the word echad (one) at the end of the Shema is not what I think it should be, and that is because I agree with the interpretation of R. Rashbam, which is that ‘echad’ should be interpreted as “alone.”

To say that the Lord is one is not so different from the other paganistic religions of the day. I say that because we read in the bible that many pantheistic rulers agreed that the God of the Israelites was a powerful god and He was their god, indicating they believed that, geographically, Adonai was the god worshipped in Israel. If the Israelites say He is their god, and He is one, that simply means that Adonai is a singular god. He is one, not many.

But, if we interpret ‘echad’ as ‘alone’, then we have more than a statement of singular worship- we have a statement of monotheistic truth. The Lord is our God,  the Lord, alone. That meaning is, to me, much more clearly a statement that there isn’t any other God for us. It doesn’t insult or deny the religious beliefs of those nations surrounding Israel, but it does make the point that the jewish peoples do not recognize and will not worship any other gods. That is in keeping with the 2nd commandment about not worshipping any other gods.

The 2nd Commandment doesn’t really state that there aren’t other gods, for in fact, there were. Not that they existed in reality, but they existed in the culture and beliefs of the people surrounding the Jews. God didn’t tell us that He is the only god, He told us not to have any other gods before us. This may sound a little weird, almost as if I am acknowledging the existence of other gods, which I am NOT doing- I am saying that, as a form of tolerance for others, God did not deny their beliefs but simply told His people that they should worship Him, alone. Him, and only Him.

The history of Adonai’s blessing and power and miracles, when compared to the other, false gods of the nations, demonstrates that God, our God, is the only god.

So, I would prefer to use ‘alone’ at the end of the Shema. And, if I ever lead a congregation, I will.

Here’s something really interesting: first we need to know that in the Torah, the Ayin at the end of the word shema is written extra large, as is the Dalet at the end of echad. The Chumash I use (the Soncino Pentateuch and Haftorahs) notes this and says that this was to make sure the words were used correctly, i.e. ‘one’ for echad and ‘hear’ for shema (the difference between ‘hear’ and ‘perhaps’ is that the last letter for perhaps is an Aleph.)

The interesting thing is that when you put these two letters together, Ayin followed by Dalet, you get the word “ed”, which means ‘witness’. So, the last letter of the first word in the Shema and the last letter of the last word of the Shema, together form the word “witness”, which is exactly what the Shema is- a witness to the singularity and uniqueness of the Lord God, Almighty. And every time we repeat it we are all witnesses to the fact that Adonai is our God, and He is the only God.

One last thought for the day: God tells us to worship Him alone, and the Shema reminds us that He is the one, true God, Him alone. It doesn’t tell us we are to tell everyone else that their gods are false or that they are wrong. That won’t win anyone over. Today there aren’t that many pantheistic religions left, but there are monotheistic religions that are not teaching the truth about God. When trying to win people over to the truth about the salvation we have through Messiah Yeshua, we need to demonstrate it by being living examples of His love, mercy, compassion, power, and unique ability to change lives. We need to show what being Born Again did for us and not to tell others what they believe is wrong. Let them see in your life and how you live the truth of God’s salvation.

Why They Just Refuse to Believe

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I’m no psychiatrist (although my going to one has been suggested) but I think I know, from personal experience, why so many people just refuse to accept the truth about salvation.

I think it’s from fear of loss. And what they fear losing is their freedom to sin.

No one will say that they want to sin. Well, maybe there are some who will admit it, but most people won’t say they want to sin, and being “saved” means they can’t, so they would rather reject God.

But I think that’s the real reason why they reject God.

I know when I was rejecting (and ridiculing) God and all who accepted Him and the truth that Yeshua is the Messiah He promised, I was afraid of having to become “holy”, meaning that I couldn’t joke around, drink, have sex without marriage, make dirty jokes, curse a blue streak when angry, etc. And yet, when I thought about it, I realized that these things aren’t the best parts of my humanity, but I still didn’t want to be ‘transformed’ into the image of Messiah.

Also, as a Jew, I was told that this Jesus guy was a Jew who started a new religion, and history can support the teaching I received, which was that Christianity hates Jews. I  will talk about why Jews reject Jesus in my Monday, 8/3 blog.

Yet, deep down, I did want to change. I didn’t like the cynical comments I made all the time, I didn’t like it when I hurt people (although I blamed them for being hurt) and I didn’t like embarrassing myself. I didn’t like some things about me and I did like other things about me, but being a “saved again Believer” seemed to require giving up everything.

Man, oh Manischevitz, am I glad I was wrong! I finally got sick and tired of not making a choice and when I did I found out that what I really wanted was to have God’s spirit in me to help me get rid of the dreck and improve what was left. I didn’t become a different me, just a better me. There is still plenty of “wrong” stuff to work on so that I am still the “me” I was before, but just with a lot less of the stuff I didn’t want.

I think most people don’t want to review their thoughts and beliefs about God and Messiah because they are comfortable where they are, even though they have a first class seat to Hell. They are enjoying the ride without any thoughts about the destination. That’s a shame, and it’s what the enemy can use to win souls to him, even when those souls have no idea what is happening.

What really frustrates me is when you meet that person who was raised a Gentile and has heard about Jesus all their life, and is comfortable with what their religious leader told them. Most are told either you are going to hell if you are a bad person and heaven if you are good, or that Jesus died for your sins so you are OK, don’t worry about that “Jewish” stuff in the Old Covenant and just be a good person. It’s all OK.

That teaching is a one-way ticket to the hottest spot in creation, and I’m not talking about a night club.

Do you know someone who says they believe in God, pretty much, and they know about Jesus (Yeshua is His real name, and the only name that has a meaning to it) but they don’t want to talk about the bible or God? They just want to go to church on Easter and Christmas and be left alone. If so, try to reach them by reassuring them that whatever changes they may have to make to live a more Godly life will be welcomed changes. Tell them that you changed and you now can look back and realize how much more blessed your life has been, how much happier you are and more calm and peaceful, even when you are in the midst of terrible times. Let them know that they will have to change some of their behavior, take time and make the effort to read the bible and get to know God’s word (which is the best and fastest way to get to know Him) but that with the Ruach HaKodesh helping and guiding them, this work will feel more like enjoyment. Basically, they can still have a really fun ride while also going to the right destination.

I know people, close to me, whom I love, who refuse to accept that they need to make a decision on their own and to face up to accept or reject. God is binomial- either you are with Him or you are against Him; there is no other choice. And yet, these people just want to stay where they are, lean on the broken stick that their religion taught them about salvation (just be a good person) and refuse, adamantly, to save themselves. It really hurts to watch people run to destruction.

If you are reading this and seeing yourself, please don’t be afraid of the change. You will be more peaceful and able to find that “calm in the midst of the storm” as you go through life when God is your pilot. Life is a storm, we get tossed about like leaves in a tornado sometimes, and there are things we can’t control. But God is in control of everything, and when you choose to be on His side, He will keep you safe. The changes you make will be at your speed because God won’t put on you more than you can take (Yeshua told us His yoke is easy and His burden is light) but you do have to work at it. You will need to live more and more in accordance with the Torah, which is God’s commandments to everyone who worships Him (God has no religion, remember?), but it isn’t hard.

Face up to the reality that you are on a trip to eternity, like it or not. You can choose what you do while traveling, and you can choose who you want to travel with, but the destination is coming and you never know when you will reach it. It may be years from now, it may be today. But you will reach it, it is going to come, and it will be where you remain for all eternity.

The trip is short, as James says, it is a mist that is here and then gone; think about how long it takes for something you really, really want to arrive, and when you look back how quickly the time seems to have passed. Stop thinking you have all the time in the universe, because you don’t. Your destination will be here before you know it, and when you have to get off the ride you will not have any choice.

Enjoy the ride, sure, but make sure that you are going to the right place first.

I’m Drawing a Blank Here

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Ever find yourself just sitting, staring at nothing? That’s where I am right now…listening for an idea and all I hear are crickets chirping in my head.

Maybe I shouldn’t write anything; after all, just because I don’t have a word from God doesn’t mean I have to force something, right? I mean, I know He’s there, I know He has blessed this blog and that so long as what I write is justified and qualified by what is in the Bible, I will continue to reach people who need to know that God is God, His word is true, His Torah is still valid and applicable to everyone, and Yeshua (Jesus) is still the Messiah promised in the Old Covenant writings.

So what do I write about? Maybe I just found my topic- God is always there, even when we don’t hear from Him.

I remember that poem (I think just about everyone knows it) about the guy walking on the beach with God, and there are two sets of footprints, but as the man goes through tsouris and tribulations there is only one set of footprints. Later, there are two sets again, so the man asks God where He was when the man needed Him and was walking alone. God answers that the one set of footprints belonged not to the man, but to God- and God was carrying the man during those troubled times.

We need to maintain faith, which isn’t too hard when you are in the midst of the blessings. In fact, you get absolutely no “bragging rights” for being faithful in the midst of blessings. It’s when those blessings are absent, when we are walking in the desert and we see no oasis, no rocks gushing water, no birds flying to us and landing on the ground that we need to maintain our faith. It’s when we are surrounded by snakes and scorpions that we need to be faithful, and remember that just because we don’t see God in our life it doesn’t mean He isn’t there.  He is always there, waiting in the wings. Maybe He is waiting for us to return from wandering off on our own, trying to do something in our own strength instead of His; maybe He is testing our resolve, our faith, or maybe He is just letting us walk a little on our own.

Maybe we will never know (that’s probably the most accurate answer) because what God does we can’t always understand. I read once that a God who can be understood by the mind of Man is not worthy of the worship of Man. I couldn’t agree more, and those people who dare to say they know what God is all about are the ones you need to leave alone.

Yes, there are times when we realize that God is doing something in our life, and we should appreciate and always be on the lookout for those times, but to understand God? To know His mind? I don’t think so.

This is why I really get a kick out of God! Here, I start out thinking I have nothing to write about, so I start to walk (or write, as the case may be) in faith, humbly admitting my lack of ability this morning, and God just steps in and gives me something to say that glorifies Him.

God is always there, just like the sun: it’s always there but we can’t always see it. Sometimes there are clouds blocking it (humanity and the world), sometimes it’s because at night the sun is out of our sight and sometimes we just stubbornly have our eyes closed.

But the sun is always there, just as the Son is always there, just as the Father is always there. Just because you don’t see Him doesn’t mean He is gone.

There will be times when we won’t see God in our lives, and when you feel that way remember what Yeshua told us: if we seek , we will find, so seek the Lord by doing those things He tells us we should do and you will find Him.

He’s always there.

Parashah D’Varim (the words) Deuteronomy 1 – 3:22

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We are in the last of the 5 books of the Torah. This is where Moshe (Moses) reviews with the people the last 40 years of wandering, their laws and regulations, the history of their travels, warnings to stay true to God and His teachings (the correct meaning of the word, “Torah”) and his song and blessing of the people.

It has been nearly 41 years (this discourse starts on the first day of the eleventh month of the 40th year) since the rebellion at Horeb when the people refused to enter the land, and Moses recounts the fact that he assigned judges over the people to help him, the rebellion at entering the land, the decades of wandering and then, as they re-approached the land the Lord’s command that the Israelites should not battle against certain of their brothers (the Edomites, for example) but will destroy others, such as Og and Sihon. Then he told how those lands were given to the tribes of Gad, Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh but they would still fight with Israel in the land until all the land was settled. He told Joshua to be brave and to boldly enter the land knowing that God would go before them to conquer the peoples so that Israel would inherit and rule the land.

This final book is the epilogue of the life’s work of the greatest prophet in Judaism. Throughout it we will review all that happened to the children of Israel during their wanderings, constantly reminding them of the way that God had taken care of them despite the many times they rebelled and showed faithlessness. This is a review, a warning, a condemnation and a confirmation of the unique and blessed position that the children of Israel have with God.

What is important here, I believe, is that when anyone who worships God reads this, they should think of their own life. We wander through life, don’t we? Whereas the Israelites wandered at the command of God, we wander at our own command. We go from job to job, house to house, and (unfortunately, in today’s society) we also go from marriage to marriage. We wander, often aimlessly and not even knowing it, just as the Jews wandered in the desert.

And, just like them, we have God protecting and providing for us. However, the Israelites could see the rock give water, the birds gather, and the manna on the ground every morning. They saw the sea split open and the Glory of God on Mount Sinai. They could clearly and unmistakably see the miracles of God happening in their lives.

We don’t. Really, when was the last time you saw a rock split open so you could drink? Do you think that you would eat something off the ground while walking to work? Probably not.

But that doesn’t mean God isn’t providing for you. If you sit down and think, you might come to the same conclusions I have for my own life:

* when I was going from job to job, God provided all those jobs;

* when I was going through divorce, even though I wasn’t a Believer, He still kept me sane (OK, that is an arguable point), provided enough for me to survive and see my children 2 states away every weekend;

* when I met Donna God brought us together despite the worst first date ever;

* when I changed careers, God provided good people to mentor me;

* over 18 years ago, when I sought Him out, God showed me that I can be a Jew, and saved, and still be a Jew. God’s leading my wandering led me to people who helped me realize who and what Yeshua is, and that Yeshua saved me. God also led me to Messianic Judaism, which is what kept me saved. God provided all that for me. Baruch Ha Shem!!!

* God has given me salvation, the marriage I wanted with a wife whom I love more than life, a good job, financial and emotional security, friends, and even though there is still Tsouris in my life, God has carried me through it all.

This is what we can learn from this parashah; in fact, from this entire book of the Torah: God is always there, He is always helping and providing, and He will continue to do so. We may wander here and there, to and fro, but God is steady. He is always watching, never sleeping, and will care for those who care for Him. Even when we are in rebellion and He punishes us, it is not so much punitive as it is restorative- God punishes us so that we will turn back to Him. I know it sounds a little crazy, I mean really? You want me to come back to you so you send trouble on me? Yes, that is how it works with God because the reason for our rebellion is that we think we are in charge. We think that we can get it done on our own, taking care of “Numero Uno”, and all that garbage. God pulls the rug out from under us and makes us fall on our back so that the only way we can look is up-  at Him. And while there, trying to catch our breath and hurting, we have to look at Him and maybe, just maybe, doing that will remind us that it is God who can lift us up and keep us up, and that even though we wander, if we wander the way God wants us to go (meaning obeying Torah as we go) He will be there to protect and provide.

Do you ever just stop and review your life? Never, never, never do so with regrets or wondering about , “What if I had…..” because that will never move you forward. We need to remember the past, but try to filter out the dreck and recall mostly the stuff that helps us to keep going. Don’t dwell on the bad things but remember them as having passed, and recognize that you got through it because God was helping you through it.

Review your life and remember the good with the bad, but remember the bad as what God helped you through and the good as what God has, and will continue, to do for you.

Everything’s wonderful, but…

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I have often mentioned I read Dear Abby and Ask Amy in the morning newspapers, along with the comics and the word puzzles, because these “advice columns” give me fuel for my blogging fire.

If you also read them, have you noticed that so very often the writer starts off with how wonderful their spouse or partner is, how s/he is kind and affectionate and how wonderful everything is with that person. Then they say something like, “But when he is drunk every night , he hits me” or “She spends too much money and we are broke” or maybe even, “I sneak into his emails and he is flirting with co-workers.”

They try to convince themselves that everything is wine and roses, but they have really significant issues and they ask Abby or Amy what to do. Don’t they read their own letters? It’s obvious what to do- get your head out of the place it is in and back on your shoulders! Open your eyes! WAKE UP!!!

I also notice how I almost never see anyone write in who is a Believer. Oh, there are “religious” people who write in, all right, but they are usually the ones that give God a bad name: they are self-righteous, unloving, and stoic. It is good stuff for the column, since everyone reading their bigoted and pretentious attitudes gets a good rise from it (which is why, when we are honest with ourselves, many of us read these types of articles) but you rarely, if ever, see anyone who trusts in God and is faithful write in.

Maybe that’s because we know the best answers aren’t in the newspaper, but in the Bible.

What will happen to these people who try to convince themselves that all is wonderful while they are in the middle of tsouris? Won’t they be the ones who will run to follow the false Messiahs Yeshua warns us about? Won’t they be the ones to take the mark of the enemy because he will promise joy and riches and all those things people without faith and trust in God will want given to them?

We need to keep our eyes open and be honest with ourselves. We need to follow the example of those in the Bible who were able to accept the truth about themselves. David listened to Nathan and accepted responsibility for his sin with Bat Sheba; long before David, his ancestor Y’hudah (Judah) accepted his guilt when he realized he had not given his son to Tamar in marriage, as he promised; Shaul even took the vows of a Nazarene twice- not because he did anything wrong, but to demonstrate to others that he was not doing anything against Torah.

We need to be very, very careful. The times are here already, the shofar is in the hands of the one who is to blow it, and we need to be aware, alert, and honest with ourselves about what we are doing, who we are with, and where we are going.

It is especially important for those Believers who only want to hear about the love and acceptance that the grace of God gives to stop fooling themselves. They don’t want to even think that their salvation comes at a price; I am not talking about Yeshua’s suffering, but the price each of us must pay when we are saved. Our individual salvation is easy to receive and hard to keep. That’s why Yeshua said that those who wish to follow Him must take up their execution stake every day. We need to work at keeping our salvation, at being better, at doing more for God and dying more to self. Every day, every hour. Those who only want to hear about God’s love and acceptance and heaven are, as my Pastor says it so well, not willing to leave Goshen. They want all the happy-happy and none of the real life truth about how hard it is to be, and to stay, saved in an unsaved world.

Don’t tell yourself lies. Don’t make out that things are fine when they aren’t, and don’t go in the opposite direction, either: don’t be discouraged by the evil and hate in the world. It’s going to get worse. You need to steel yourself, you need to wear that armor Shaul told us about in Ephesians. We all need to maintain our hope in God’s promises and keep faith in Him; more than that, we also need to accept that we all have to work at it. Salvation is here but it hasn’t arrived yet; we have it but we won’t use it until Yeshua returns; when we cash in our chips is when we receive the prize.

Yeshua told parables that ended with Him saying, “Let those with eyes see and those with ears hear.” We need to have eyes that are open, ears that are unplugged, and faith that is unbending. More than just that, we need to have a humble attitude and contrite spirit, as David did, so that we can accept the truth and work within it.

Look for the truth in your life and don’t sugarcoat salvation. Remember what Yeshua told you: the truth will set you free.

Jesus Did Not Take Away the Sins of the World

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Whoa!! Slow down there, son! Of course Jesus took away the sins of the world- why, that’s what John the Baptist told us about him in John 1:29; he said, “Behold! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!”

Not. If Yeshua took away the sins of the world, why is there still so much sin left?

I know, it’s really a metaphor, but it is important, is it not, to know that what Yeshua did was to provide a means for each of us to be saved? I think it is more important for us to realize this is a personal thing, not a corporate thing.

When one is part of a crowd the individual disappears and becomes a part of the corporate identity. This is something that is both valuable and dangerous. Think of the term “Mob Mentality”, and how easy it was for the Nazi’s to do such horrible things, and Jim Jones, Charles Manson, and the other atrocoties done by people when they were part of a group.

The good side is that in Yeshua we are one, however, we are also separate in that each has been given different gifts to use for the glory of God. We aren’t stripped of our individuality, it is actually enhanced in that we become more of what we were, the good parts, and the bad parts are lessened.

I am still a sinner and I am still me, it’s just that since I was saved I have sinned less and I am a “better” me (I still have a long way to go, though.)

Yeshua didn’t take away the sins of the world- they are still here because so long as sinful people live, so will sin. What Yeshua did, what Yochanan was talking about, was the fact that Yeshua’s sacrifice would provide the opportunity for anyone and everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord, to be saved. Yeshua did not take away the sins of the world, He took away the Rabbinical legalistic requirement to be “Torah-perfect” in order to earn salvation.

The Torah’s meaning had been perverted to a system of legalistic actions, in that between the 613 commandments in Torah and the additional requirements that the Rabbis put on people, it is impossible to meet the requirement that anyone (born of human parents, that is) live in total accordance with Torah. What was supposed to be the road map to salvation became a maze of turns and corners that led to nowhere. The rules that Moses said were not too high or far, but right in front of us, became unreachable. That was the argument Yeshua had against the Pharisees, in that they  made what was supposed to lead us to God into something that kept us from approaching Him.

Torah is valid, Torah is right, and Torah is still something that everyone who worships the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob needs to know and obey, as best they can. Yeshua followed and taught the Torah, the Disciples followed and taught the Torah, and Shaul (Paul) also followed and taught the Torah. The entire book of Romans is all about how Torah is still valid, and because it is in the process of being replaced, as Shaul tells us, that doesn’t mean it is already done away with. Remember that Yeshua said nothing in Torah will change until all things have come to pass (Matthew 5:17), so unless you can show me the new Temple in the new Jerusalem, with a new Earth and new heavens, well…better stick with Torah.

Yeshua did not take away the sins of the world, He made it possible for us to be saved from our own sin. In that way, John was right: Yeshua made it possible to overcome our inability, individually, to live a Torah-observant life. Yeshua reminded us that Torah is a means to improve and become more holy, which was it’s original intent.

Religion is what changed the Torah from a rope that will help us climb up from humanity to a chain holding us back from salvation. It’s not the Torah that’s the problem, it’s religion. Judaism has, through Rabbinical Halakah, made living up to the Torah a burden that no one can carry, and Christianity, which originally was Judaism, rejected Torah for another religious set of rules, in many ways even more onerous than Torah!

It comes down to this: each of us must make up our own mind about salvation and Torah, and whether or not we do, we will all be held personally accountable for our actions, no matter who told us to do them.

Yeshua didn’t take away the sins of the world, but He did make it possible to take away my sins when I give them to him.

The reason I am stressing the individual’s part is because being part of a crowd doesn’t allow us to “own” our individuality, and what we don’t own we can’t give away. Therefore, if you want to give your sins to Yeshua, then you need to own (up to) them. Not as part of the world, or a church, or a synagogue, but as you, and you, alone.

Salvation is an individual thing, not a group activity. You need to first, and foremost, be saved from your own sins. Then, you will become a part of the group of Believers that are saved. Make sure you join the right group, the ones that understand Torah is still valid and worthy of obedience. Shaul told us that we are all one in Messiah, and he also pointed out that although we are one body, it is made up of separate parts, each doing what they were designed to do to keep the entire body healthy.

When we understand that each of us is responsible for our actions, then we can truly realize the impact that Yeshua’s sacrificial death has made: every single person on Earth can be saved.