Yosef…

It has struck me that we focus a lot on Yeshua and Miriam at Christmas but forget to look at Yosef as an example. Yet he is in many ways much more involved than either Yeshua or Miriam. Yeshua is just born, and Miriam is basically just giving birth to him. Yosef on the other hand is faced with what might be the hardest task a Jewish man at that time could face.

Let's look at the text:

Matthew 1:18-19 "Now the birth of Yeshua Christ took place in this way. When his mother Miriam had been betrothed to Yosef, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Yosef, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly."

How kind and considerate, what a righteousness he displays! For all Yosef knew, Miriam had been playing around with another man and betrayed him and the promised marriage. We now have the knowledge that The Holy Spirit is the "culprit". Yosef didn't know. By any reading of the Law, he would be in his right to divorce Miriam, publicly denounce her and turn her over to the authorities as an adulteress. At which point she would be stoned, unless she could produce evidence that she had been raped "in the field". But Yosef does none of this. He resolves to divorce her quitely. To spare her the shame of public exposure and ultimately her life. He must have loved her. He also must have understood the Core of the Law Leviticus 19:18. Yosef's ordeal isn't over:

Matthew 1:20-23 "But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Yosef, son of David, do not fear to take Miriam as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Yeshua, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us)."

His faith and understanding of Scriptures is further put to the test: He has a dream in which he is required to believe a completely mindblowing idea. The idea that HIS wife is about to give birth to a fullfillment of prophecy.

Put yourself in Yosef's shoes for a moment. Just imagine that YOU are Yosef – what would you think, do, feel? What would you do?
Personally I am glad I am not Yosef, because put in the same position I would have freaked. Yosef doesn't freak, he accepts.

Matthew 1:24-25 "When Yosef woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Yeshua."

This is fantastic story! The thing is that it isn't over. Yosef accepts responsibility for a boy who isn't his, as if the child was his:

Luke 1:21-24 "And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord") and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons."

Jewish Law requires the FATHER to make sure that his sons are circumcized, and if it is the first-born, he also has to redeem him through the offering of Pidjon Ha-Ben "redemption of the son". Yosef does all this, that's how we know that he assumed responsibility for the up-bringing and well-being of Yeshua. From Scriptures we also know that Yosef was well educated in matters of Torah, because when Yeshua appears before the Priests and Scribes at what was his BarMitsvah, he impresses the Teachers deeply with his knowledge of Torah.

It is quite unfair that Yosef is not focused on more in the Church and in the lives of Christians, as an example of a Father for other Fathers to emulate. His kindness, his righteousness, his adherence to the Law, his love for his wife and his child. His efforts to educate his son in matters of Scriptures. I am not Catholic, but if I were, I would make Saint Yosef's Feast Day a day of all Fathers and if I was the Pope, I would make Yosef the Patron of all Fathers.

Merry Christmas,
Henry

 

The blessing of Baby-purple Eyes

 

 

December 20 “It is more blessed to give than receive.”

It is also a whole lot easier.‘Tis the season! I don’t bemoan the tinsel and the twinkling lights, the commercial hype or the self-induced hysteria. I love this time of year.I do, however, mourn the loss of one important element of the Christmas season. It is the gift of receiving gifts with grace. It has become more and more apparent to me that many of us have lost the ability to gracefully accept the gifts of others.Have you noticed?Someone gives you a gift and immediately you are frantically trying to decide what to buy them in return. Someone else invites you over to their home for dinner and before you finish the appetizer you have already made plans to return the favor. The very thought of receiving a gift has become overshadowed by the heavy burden of obligation.This sad state of affairs has permeated every aspect of our lives…including our faith.”I don’t take charity!” is a statement of pride in our society.”There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” we piously tell our children.”God helps those who help themselves!” we claim with certainty.
We continue to teach and to believe that we must not be beholden to anyone. We cling to the American ideal of rugged individualism. We pull our own weight and need help from no one.Yet Christianity is based on the grace-filled gift of God in Jesus Christ. Unmerited and undeserved, this gift comes to us without any strings attached. The God who is love simply seeks to share that love with each of us. It is a gift, in the true sense, without obligation.That makes us very uncomfortable. It goes against what we really believe.Nothing can be that good.The Good News is too good to be true.But that is what the Christmas season is precisely about. It is the reason that gifts are offered. They are symbols of that most precious gift, symbols of grace.How wonderful it would be if this Christmastide we could all capture the true spirit of this special time and allow ourselves to accept with grace and not guilt, with words of rejoicing and not reciprocity.How wonderful it would be to put Christ back in Christmas.

A note on receiving gifts. Ever noticed how hard it is to accept positive attention? Like compliments either on your person or on your apparel? How you start mentally scraping your feet, embarrassed, if someone gives you attention that is not negative?

Christmas is a matter of positive attention, of God saying “I see you, and what I see is good, very good”. Christ didn’t come to be adored, have a baby shower with foreign guest and cause a ruckus among the shepherds. Christ came to look at you with the all-wise purple eyes of a baby, imprinting you with an eternal “I see you, and what I see is Good, very Good”. That is the message of Christmas.

Unfortunately, for you, the majority of Christians, rather than understanding and proclaiming this, will give you all the negative attention that you are already accustomed to. That’s because they too have trouble receiving positive attention, so they will give you the best they have and all they have received is negative attention. They will focus on how sinful, depraved (have you noticed how they just love to use words like “depravity”, “debauchery”, “perversion” etc when describing human life?), corrupt and evil you are, simply because you were born (as if you didn’t already feel that in your bones). Then they will tell you that because of this “depravity”, “debauchery”, “perversion” which God, (or really their idol of Him) according to them wallows in hate of (they seem to be wallowing along with their idol of Him too), you need to be celebrating Christmas and sing “Come let us adore Him…” You know, I’d go crazy if people came to my Birthday Party and sang “Come let us adore Him…” or some such musical expressions. Don’t believe them. God and Christ isn’t like that. Trust me I have been around them for a very long time.

Look into the all-wise purple eyes of a baby, any baby, and accept its message of “I see you, and what I see is Good, very Good”, then go home, put some tinsel in the window, light a candle….write a letter to someone you care about, read a passage from your favorite book, have a snack and a long conversation with those baby-purple eyes that looks deep into you and says “I see you, and what I see is Good, very Good”, then accept this positive attention with a simple “thank you…”

May the Blessing of Baby-Purple Eyes be with you forever,

Henry

Magnificat in Stereo

Luke 1:46-55	1Samuel 2:1-11
46 And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord,	1 And Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoices in Adonai, my horn is exalted in Adonai. My mouth is enlarged over my enemies because I rejoice in Your salvation.
48 For He looked on the humiliation of His slave woman. For, behold, from now on all generations shall count me blessed.	3 Talk no more so very proudly. Remove arrogance out of your mouth, for Adonai is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.
49 For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name.	4 The bows of the mighty are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.
50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.	5 They that were full have hired themselves out for bread, and they that were hungry ceased; yea, while the barren has borne seven, and she who had many sons has languished.
51 He has worked power with His arm, He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart.	6 Adonai kills and makes alive. He brings down to Sheol, and brings up.
52 He has put down rulers from their seats and exalted the lowly,	7 Adonai takes away, and He gives riches; He brings low; yea, He lifts up high.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things, and He has sent away the rich empty.	8 He raises up the poor out of the dust; He lifts up the needy from the dunghill to set them among princes; yea, He causes them to inherit a throne of honor; for to Adonai are the pillars of the earth; and He sets the habitable world on them.
54 He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy,	9 He keeps the feet of his saints, and the wicked are silenced in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
55 as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.	10 The foes of Adonai shall be broken to pieces. He thunders in the heavens upon them. Adonai shall judge the ends of the earth. And He shall give strength to His king, and exalts the horn of His anointed.

 

I have to admit that I like Hannah’s Song better than I like Mary’s Magnificat. Hannah is expressive and personal, while Mary is brief and impersonal. Being Jewish and a woman, Mary (Miriam) would have been intimately familiar with Hannah’s Song. Alongside Miriam’s Song from Exodus 15 and Deborah’s Song in Judges 5 it was something every Jewish girl knew by heart. The fact that Mary’s song is scant and impersonal speaks volumes to me. My guess is that “Magnificat” was put into her mouth. Hannah refers to both in her Song by parallelism and allusions, something Mary’s Song doesn’t. Mary refers to herself in various positive ways, in a manner Miriam, Deborah and Hannah don’t, and wouldn’t. This is very telling. There’s a little story about how and possibly by whom it was created hidden in this literary fact.

 

Luke was Greek. He had no direct knowledge of Jewish customs, especially not Jewish Women’s customs, so whatever he wrote would be lacking in that aspect. My guess is that Luke picked bits and pieces from the Book of Psalms and redacted those bits and pieces into what we know as the Magnificat or that his “sources” did prior to passing it on to him.

 

This, imo, doesn’t detract from the Magnificat as a source of prayer for women. However, to me it is important to know and understand this. To me it’s important to understand WHY the Greek Scriptures seem to be marrow-less patchworks, rather than the full bodied narrative and poetry of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Psalms on Eternal Life

Psalm 119: 159 “Consider how I love your precepts; revive me and give life to me, O Lord, according to your loving kindness.”

“The term “loving kindness” is chessed in Hebrew, and is the equivalent of the word grace in the “New Testament.” David knew he was saved by God’s grace — NOT by keeping all the commandments perfectly, but rather by what he says at the beginning of the verse; “Consider how I love your precepts …”

“An interesting question to ask is, “Why does God save us?” The typical reply might be, “So we won’t go to hell.” That may be true, but it’s an incomplete answer. In fact, God saves us so that we can perform the commandments (mitzvot) of His Torah in this lifetime. Our performing God’s mitzvot is part of His desire to return us back into a correct relationship, the purpose and intent of mankind, as first seen in the Garden of Eden (Gan Eden).”

Psalm 119:174-176 “I have longed for Thy salvation, O LORD; and Thy law is my delight. Let my soul live, and it shall praise Thee; and let Thine ordinances help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Thy servant; for I have not forgotten Thy commandments.”

A trick of the trade in the Book of Psalms is parallelisms and repetitions of concepts within the same verse. Thus when Psalm 119:174 says “I have longed for Thy salvation…” and thy Law is my delight, it is in reality equating “salvation” with “Law”, or at least connecting them intimately. If we them look at the following two verses, we see this idea emphasized, where “life” is equated with or logically followed by “praise”, and “seek Thy servant” with “for I have not forgotten…”

There is a logical red thread here “salvation”, “life” and “lost sheep being sought” are logically followed by “praise” “ordinances” and “commandments”. David fully expects to be sought out, saved to life by God and THEN he will praise and obey…quite the contrary to what is traditionally taught about how salvation in the Hebrew Scriptures was attained. This “order of procedure” is confirmed by Psalm 51:1-4; 6-9

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions; 2. wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3. For I know my transgressions, my sin is ever before me. 4. Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment. 6. You desire truth in the inward being, therefore, teach me wisdom in my secret heart. 7. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.”

Note: 10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and a new and right spirit within me.”

Spurgeon suggests: “Only God can bring the newness that the word “create” suggests. Here there is no idea of washing the old heart and trying to remove the contamination of sin. In verse 10, the psalmist abandons the priestly language of forgiveness and begins using the language of transformation. The psalmist is no longer simply praying for continued forgiveness, but for a radical change in who he is.”

As we can see, David clearly expect a transformation to take place as a result of his supplication for forgiveness and removal of his sins. This is the same procedure as was suggested by Jesus to Nicodemos when He tells Nicodemos that he needs to be “born again”.

Salvation in the Hebrew Scriptures is granted by Grace (chessed) and is followed by renewed Obedience. The result?

“In the way of righteousness is life, and in the pathway thereof there is no death.” (Pro 12:28) Eternal life. Period

lest anyone should boast

December 10

Give, the Language of Grace
I have written more boldly to you on some points . . . because of the grace given to me by God . . . I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus. (Rom 15:15 and 1Co 1:4)
The grace of God (which produces boldness in those who live by it) is a gift from God. “I have written more boldly to you on some points . . . because of the grace given to me by God.” In fact, “give” is basic to the language of grace.
When Paul began his first letter to the believers in Corinth, he emphasized this truth. “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus.” This is the starting point for all of the work of God in human hearts. The initial work of salvation is by the gift of God’s grace. None of it is produced by the work of man. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph 2:8-9). This same pattern of the giving of grace is true concerning every good thing that God wants to accomplish in man. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights” (Jam 1:17).
Whatever God wants to do in the family of man is by His grace, which must be given to us by Him. This is true concerning eternal life. “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” (Joh 10:28). This also pertains to the Holy Spirit in our lives. “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever” (Joh 14:16). It is true concerning spiritual gifts. “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all . . . But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (1Co 12:7 and Eph 4:7). This pattern applies to spiritual rest and peace as well. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest . . . Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you” (Joh 11:28; Joh 14:27). When it comes to the greatest matter of all (getting to know the Lord better), God must give to us what is required for such growth: “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him” (Eph 1:17). All of these precious benefits from God are a result of His giving of His grace into our lives.
Will the giving heart of God ever cease toward us? We need never fear that God will be tire of giving us grace. “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luk 12:32).

Lord God, giver of every gift of grace, I thank You for the rich and extensive grace that You have given to me. Help me to understand that all of Your kingdom is brought into my experience by the giving of Your grace, in Your Holy Name, Amen. (From Bob Hoekstra’s Devotions)

All the What Ifs

“I am looking forward to understanding the conclusion of this author, but I am certain that the Torah was insufficient for total salvation, otherwise the Cross would have been unnecessary. And, Hebrews does tell us that if the blood of bulls and goats were sufficient, Yeshua would not have needed to die and be resurrected.”

Can I pose a couple of provocative questions? I don’t expect you to answer them, I am just posing them for contemplation.

“…the Torah was insufficient for total salvation…”

What if Torah was sufficient? What if Yeshua was basically just another Prophet in a line of Prophets calling Israel to repentance, and along with her the Gentiles too? What if Yeshua was God’s final attempt at getting a pretty complacent Israel to SHARE the Revelation on Sinai with the World?

“…otherwise the Cross would have been unnecessary.”

So, what would happen if it was? Or if it wasn’t what the Greek Scriptures claim? What if His death was what historians claim – an execution of another Jewish Rebel against the Roman Empire? What if Yeshua was just another man, and that God in His incomparable Mercy USED those events to reach Humanity?

“Hebrews does tell us that if the blood of bulls and goats were sufficient, Yeshua would not have needed to die and be resurrected.”

What if there is no direct connection between Hebrews and those events, but God allowed the connection be made so we’d CONNECT to Him beyond bulls and goats?

Those are certainly questions that arise from the clash between Hebrew Scriptures and Greek Scriptures. Between Judaism and Christianity, between Yeshua and Paul, between Paul and James, between the Gospels and the Letters, the Letters and the Prophets.

“From Chapter 2 In Hebrews chapter 11 — the “Faith Hall of Fame” as some have called it, we find three interesting names from the Tenakh — Moses, David and Samuel. The book of Hebrews says they were saved by faith, even though they were well known for following the Torah. In writing Psalm 119, David can’t say enough about following the Torah. But, according to Christian theology, there is a dilemma with regard to what he writes. David writes the following about himself: Psalm 119:22 — “Take away from me reproach and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies.” Psalm 119:51 — “… yet have I not declined in my interest or turned aside from your Law.” Psalm 119:56 — “I have kept your precepts …” Psalm 119:102 — “I have not turned aside from your ordinances …” Psalm 119:121 — “I have done justice and righteousness …” Is this the same David that committed adultery with Bathsheba and had Uriah murdered? Not to mention a number of other documented violations of the Torah. According to Christian theology, David is clearly a liar. How can he claim to have followed “the Law,” when we all know how he broke it in some terrible ways? To add to the “confusion,” God Himself calls David, “a man after His own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14) So is David a liar? Perhaps God is making an “exception” for him? There is a hint of the answer found in Psalm 119 itself: Psalm 119:159 — “Consider how I love your precepts; revive me and give life to me, O Lord, according to your loving kindness.”

I know, it all seems and sounds heretical, but if we look at what the Tanakh says, repeatedly, there is at least reason for us to suspect that not only have we been thoroughly Greekenized, but we have utterly misunderstood the message Yeshua came to deliver.

One question that keep popping up for me is: Throughout Tanakh God tells us that 1. He abhors human sacrifice; 2. He’d rather have the offerings of our lips and obedience than sacrifices; and yet we are to believe that He demands a human sacrifice to save us, to forgive us – a gift He has offered for free throughout human history? You don’t need to answer that either, I am just posing it, because more than the Greek Judaism (traditional) Christianity presents, this has me puzzled. It defies all logic that God, Who is unchangeable would undergo such a change in character over 400 years.

Ok, I have rambled.

My suggestion is that we take a look at those passages from Chapter 1:

• Romans 7:1-6: “Freed from the Law”
• Romans 14:1-13: “The Law of Liberty”
• Galatians 3:10-14: “The Law Brings a Curse”
• Galatians 5:7 -15: “Love Fulfills the Law”

and ponder “if they do not mean what traditional Christianity teaches, then WHAT do they mean?”

Blessings, Henry

Righteousness by Faith through Obedience

“we must realize that the psalmist was speaking to a people that could never experience the life altering grace of Christ’s shed blood.”

Yet, it must have been enough for the people living at that time, or the Psalmist would not have said what he said in verse 3. Don’t get me wrong, I am not scrapping Christ or what was done by Christ, I am just pointing out that meditating on the Law of God and living by it in Faith and Obedience, as God intended DID have a life altering effect, it DID make them righteous before God. We cannot scrap the entire Hebrew Scriptures, what God has said and God has promised and what God has given, and say that it was for nothing for 2000 years. Let’s not make God a liar. If God says that someone is righteous, is His friend, walks with Him, believes in Him and does His commandments, then that is absolutely true. We can’t say “Christ came, and NOW all people can be righteous”, because that would be a lie. Being redeemed through Christ isn’t enough. It’s merely a starting point of a life-long process of bettering ourselves through faith, understanding and practice of what Scriptures teach. There are devout believers in Christ out there who are no more righteous than an Amalekite, because they constantly violate the Word of God and what Christ taught, piling burdens on people and self-righteously boast of their faith. I say like James:

Jam 2:1-26 : “My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

“Tracking along on Henry’s thoughts we must consider that in the OT, righteousness and salvation were a process of practice and effort that never quite succeeded in the goal.”

What was the goal? To be righteous before God. To “to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God…” Micah 6:8. No more, no less. Why did they so often fail? Because 1. they were human, like us, struggling with the impulse to do good and to do evil, as described by Paul in Romans 7, and they were no worse than us at it. However, if jolting us into realization that God loves us, and wants us to walk with Him, righteous in Faith AND Works, as James teaches, takes God making a drastic effort, then that is what God will do. But claiming that there was no success before Christ isn’t quite accurate.

As I wrote this, a thought kept poking my mind: Don’t we claim that God and Christ are One and the Same? Then those who lived in Faith and Obedience during the times of the Hebrew Scriptures were as much justified through Faith and Obedience in Christ as we are…?

In spite of their devotion to following God, in spite of their wanting to do His Will, they failed time after time.

Yes, that is correct. Then so do we. We are not done, just because we accept Christ. As I said, to me that is the starting point. We still have to return through repentance every time we fail, and fail we will, as did David. No amount of Holy Spirit or Christ dying on the Cross can change that. The Covenant of Faith and Obedience is the same now as it was then, it never changed. It never will.

The problem never was that we fail, but that we don’t repent when we do. Israel had that problem, we have that problem. The remedy is the same forever. Repentance and return to Faith and Obedience.

If this wasn’t true there wouldn’t be two equal passages in Scripture both speaking of Abraham as on the one hand a model of Righteousness through Faith and on the other hand as a model of Righteousness through Obedience.

If we look at both those models superimposed one over the other, we will most likely see that they are indeed identical, and that we cannot claim one without the other.

Christ highlights this, draws us towards Faith and Obedience, and Illustrates this indivisible Unity between Faith and Obedience for us, so that we can SEE how it’s done. When He says in Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” He is actually stressing this idea. This is further accentuated in Luke 6:46 “…but DO not what I say?” I can pray, and believe and speak all I want, but unless I DO, my prayers, beliefs and words are absolutely worthless to God.

If we say that God and Christ is one, we have to accept both the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures without picking and choosing what to DO claiming that we only have to do that which is “repeated” in the Greek Scriptures.

We either accept ALL of Scriptures in its entirety as God’s and Christ’s Word and Command or we don’t. If we don’t, then we cannot claim the gift of Christ, because He spoke just as much in the Hebrew Scriptures as He did in the Greek Scriptures.

Matthew 23:2-3 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practise what they preach.”

I am sorry but HE actually said that, and He didn’t say it just to “the Jews”. James, his brother confirms it.
H

This was written in connection with my post on Psalm 1

Psalm 6

Psalm 6:1-10 To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O LORD–how long? Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise? I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.”

 

Spurgeon says about this Psalm:

“This Psalm is commonly known as the first of The Penitential Psalms, and certainly its language well becomes the lip of a penitent, for it expresses at once the sorrow (Psa 6:3, Psa 6:6, Psa 6:7), the humiliation (Psa 6:2 and Psa 6:4), and the hatred of sin (Psa 6:8), which are the unfailing marks of the contrite spirit when it turns to God. O Holy Spirit, beget in us the true repentance which needeth not to be repented of.”

Yes, I agree. But as is my usual want, I’ll also go beyond this idea and suggest that it is a prayer of a contrite soul who does not FEAR God’s anger, only acknowledges it. What’s my basis for such an assertion?

“Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer. Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.” verses 8-10

Those are the words of a man who knows that all that is needed is sincere regret and prayer for forgiveness for God to blot out any transgressions. So certain is he that he tells any thoughts, inside or outside claiming different to shut up.

This is Isaiah 1:18 in practice. This is a man bringing his case to God and having the issue resolved in a contrite heart-beat.

Amen,
Henry

The Good Samaritan – A Lesson in Spiritual Purity

The Good Samaritan – Luke 10:30-35

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’”

I don’t know how many times I have heard this story, and never realized that not only is this a story about helping one’s neighbor no matter what it might cost. It is actually a story about spiritual purity.

You know the setting. The Samaritans were despised by the Judeans, which is part of why Christ picks a Samaritan as a role model. Any person, including Levites and Priests would be considered ritually impure until nightfall if they touched anything that was dead. That same Law was adhered to by the Samaritans, so the Samaritan risked the same ritual impurity. The Priest and the Levite couldn’t know if the man was dead, so they didn’t do anything. But they were so stuck up that they didn’t even stop to check if the man was dead. Their spiritual purity was more important to them than the safety of another, so they walked by.

Not so the Samaritan. Why? What’s the point he is making? The point that spiritual purity comes from the in-side, not from the out-side. We don’t maintain our spiritual purity by socializing with those within our own group only, we maintain spirtual purity by obeying the command given to us: “love thy neighbor as thyself…” (Leviticus 19:18).

“If you resist reading what you disagree with, how will you ever acquire deeper insights into what you believe? The things most worth reading are precisely those that challenge our convictions.”

How are you going to know what mettle your faith is made of if you never step out and interact with that which challenges it? How can you profess spiritual purity if you believe you will be “contaminated” if you see all people as equally your brothers and sisters regardless what THEY profess, how THEY live, what are their status before God?

Blessings,
Henry

The Poor Widow, a Lesson in Love

Mark 12:42-44
And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” Parallel Luke 21:2-4 Cross references: Proverbs 22:4; Ecclesiates 2:10; Isaiah 45:13.

I think we have a tendency to forget to “think out-side the box” when it comes to Biblical texts. We read what it says, think that is all there is and then apply the “lesson” to similar situations, and get quite irate if someone suggests a different way of approching the text, than the one we are used to.

Let’s think away the money for a minute. This lesson is not primarily about money. This story is about pride and vanity. About being a show-off. In AA’s Big Book we find a passage about Acceptance (page 419, third edition) where it says: “Shakespeare said ‘All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players…’ He forgot to say that I was the chief critic…” We like to “strut our stuff”, whether it be spiritual, financial, social or just human stuff. We critique each other and whomever manages to out-dazzle the others with spiritual gifts, correct doctrine, most copy and paste bombs, most thought through theology and best apologetics “wins”. Just like the people Christ admonishes in Matthew 6:1-6 we have gotten our ‘reward’. Jesus points to the poor widow and tells us that she is one to emulate, because she didn’t “strut her stuff”. She gave what she thought belonged to God from her heart, and didn’t care one yud about whether it ‘pleased the crowd’. She put her two mites in and pleased God, and I am not too sure she was aware that it pleased God

Now, let’s get to the money
We live in an extremely materialistic world, that measures worth and success in money and possessions. If you have neither you are, also among many Christians, considered a second class person.

I’d like to share a portion of a Blog entry:

“Maybe the poor shoe maker is poor in a financial sense, and needs Tzedakah to provide for his kids – but he is rich in knowledge on how to make shoes, which means he can teach. The Rabbi might not be very well off, and some times need assistance to make ends meet – but he has one thing in abundance – knowledge of Torah, which provides Spirtual richness to the Community. The Artist may not be rich at all, but what he creates enriches peoples’ lives by providing beauty that opens peoples’ souls and hearts…and so on and so forth…”

I imagine you know where I am going with this . Jesus pointed out the Poor Widow to us, because despite her poverty, she was rich in love for God, and she didn’t make “a thing” out of it. With her two mites she kept the entire Law of Moses, which says “love thy neighbor as yourself!” Leviticus 19:18

Blessings,
Henry

Personal Comment on the Idea of Love

Re: Love, and why I mistrust the idea in a Christian context

The basic idea of ‘love’ in Scriptures is one of combination of attitude and action. FEELING has absolutely nothing to do with it.

In our Western society we pay very much attention to feeling, and forget that emotion in a spiritual/ethical context is worthless unless it is followed by action.

How do we love God? Feeling and praying and singing and shouting hallelujah at the top of our voices has nothing to do with loving God, that is nothing but vanity and pride. There is only one way to love God: Obeying His Law in Letter and in Spirit.

How do we love other people? Telling them that we love them, claiming that we love them, quoting scriptures at them and witnessing to them has absolutely nothing to do with loving other people, that is nothing but chaff, that will vanish. There is only one way to love others: Accepting them as they are and treating them as we would treat God. Period.

So many things have been done and are being done in the name of ‘love’ in the Chrsitian Church, by well-intended people, that have so very little to do with the idea of love in Scriptures that I’d rather not be ‘loved’ at all. Some peoples’ idea of Christian ‘love’ makes me both ashamed of being a Christian and scares me real bad, because if that is love, then how do these people hate?

Blessings,
Henry

For a longer article of the idea of Love in Scriptures:

The Concept of Love in Hebrew Scriptures

The Concept of Love in Hebrew Scriptures

To Love Adonai (le’ahav Adonai)

By

Yochanan Ben Emek

We often hear about love in our society today. Generally, we see it in the context man and woman whether young or old. We even see some love expressed as sex. Yet is this the kind of love that the Tanakh talks about or is it closeness in relationship between two in a relationship. I am not talking about sex in this context. More specifically how are we to love Adonai.

In the Hebrew, ‘ahav is translated as love. This is reference number 157. In Hebrew, it is Aleph-Hey-Bet. You can find this verb in the New Englishman’s Hebrew Concordance (NEHC) on page 25 and in the Brown-driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (BDB) on page 12.

First lets see what is love in The Tanakh by looking at traditional relationships.

Bereshit/Genesis 22:2

2 And He said, “Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom you love (ahav’ta), and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the heights that I will point out to you.”

Here we see that of a father’s love for a child. This love was especially deep as this was his only child.

Bereshit/Genesis 37:3

3 Now Israel loved (ahav) Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him an ornamented tunic.

Here we see that Yisrael/Yaqqov loved Yosef more than all of his brothers. It wasn’t that his brothers were not worthy of his loving them more there was just a closer relationship because this was the son of his most loved wife.

Shemot/Exodus 21:3-5

3 If he came single, he shall leave single; if he had a wife, his wife shall leave with him. 4 If his master gave him a wife, and she has borne him children, the wife and her children shall belong to the master, and he shall leave alone. 5 But if the slave declares, “I love (ahav’tiy) my master, and my wife and children: I do not wish to go free,”

Here we see that the man must he loves his master, his wife and his children to stay with his master. Whether his desire is for his master or more for not losing his wife.

Vayiqra/Leviticus 19:18, 34

18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen. Love (ahav’tiy) your fellow as yourself: I am Adonai.

34 The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love (ahav’tiy) him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I Adonai am Eloheykha.

Here we see that the way one would love one’s self is how we are to love our fellow or the Ger. We see that love is not just limited to the relationship between and man and woman. Love can be for a child, for one’s master, for your fellow, or for the Ger among you. Clearly love in the last two examples his a kind of love without a deep relationship but that is why we are given the example of loving one’s self. Would you cause harm to yourself, would you cheat yourself, would you be unjust to yourself?

Now lets look at what love is for Adonai. What and who does he love?

Devarim/Deuteronomy 23:6

6 But Adonai Eloheykha refused to heed Balaam; instead, Adonai Eloheykha turned the curse into a blessing for you, for Adonai Eloheykha loves you.

Here we see that Adonai love the children of Yisrael.

Devarim/Deuteronomy 10:12-16

12 And now, O Israel, what does Adonai Eloheykha demand of you? Only this: to revere Adonai Eloheykha, to walk only in His paths, to love Him, and to serve Adonai Eloheykha with all your heart and soul, 13 keeping Adonai‘s commandments and laws, which I enjoin upon you today, for your good. 14 Mark, the heavens to their uttermost reaches belong to Adonai Eloheykha, the earth and all that is on it! 15 Yet it was to your fathers that Adonai was drawn in His love for them, so that He chose you, their lineal descendants, from among all peoples—as is now the case. 16 Cut away, therefore, the thickening about your hearts and stiffen your necks no more.

Here we see why he loved them. We also see some of the requirements for showing love to him.

Devarim/Deuteronomy 7:6-11

6 For you are a people consecrated to Adonai Eloheykha: of all the peoples on earth Adonai Eloheykha chose you to be His treasured people. 7 It is not because you are the most numerous of peoples that Adonai set His heart on you and chose you—indeed, you are the smallest of peoples; 8 but it was because Adonai favored you and kept the oath He made to your fathers that Adonai freed you with a mighty hand and rescued you from the house of bondage, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

9 Know, therefore, that only Adonai Eloheykha is El, the steadfast Elohim who keeps His covenant faithfully to the thousandth generation of those who love Him and keep His commandments, 10 but who instantly requites with destruction those who reject Him—never slow with those who reject Him, but requiting them instantly. 11 Therefore, observe faithfully the Instruction—the laws and the rules—with which I charge you today.

Again, Here is the reason why he loves the Children of Yisrael. It was their fathers Avraham, Yitzaq, and Yaqqov/Yisrael who were the ones Adonai made the oath with. He made promises to them and loved the children for that reason.

Malakhi/Malachi 1:2-3

I have shown you love, said Adonai. But you ask, “How have You shown us love?” After all—declares the Lord—Esau is Jacob’s brother; yet I have accepted Jacob 3 and have rejected Esau. I have made his hills a desolation, his territory a home for beasts of the desert.

Here he states in the prophets he loves Yaqqov (his descendants) . Even showing that he rejected Esau (Edom) over Yaqqov.

Hoshea/Hosea 14:5-8

5 I will heal their affliction, Generously will I take them back in love; For My anger has turned away from them. 6 I will be to Israel like dew; He shall blossom like the lily, He shall strike root like a Lebanon tree. 7 His boughs shall spread out far,

His beauty shall be like the olive tree’s, His fragrance like that of Lebanon. 8 They who sit in his shade shall be revived: They shall bring to life new grain, They shall blossom like the vine; His scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

Here we see that Adonai will take back Yisrael (Northern Kingdom) in love. He put him away for the transgressions of the Idols yet in the future he will take him back in love.

What does He love?

Yeshiyahu/Isaiah 61:8

8 For I Adonai love justice, I hate robbery with a burnt offering. I will pay them their wages faithfully, And make a covenant with them for all time.

Here we see that he loves Justice. That is one of his desires for us to do.

Mishlei/Proverbs 8:17

17 Those who love me I love, And those who seek me will find me.

Here it is said that he loves those who love Him.

Tefillim/Psalms 11:7

7 For Adonai is righteous; He loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold His face.

Here He is said to love righteousness because he is righteous.

 

How do we show love to him?

Devarim/Deuteronomy 6:5

5 You shall love Adonai Eloheykha with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

The Hebrew here is “va’ahav’ta et Adonai Eloheykha bakal levavkha ubakal naf’shekha ubakal me’odekha” We have a statement of devotion. One in which we are to love Adonai with everything in our being.

Shemot/Exodus 20:6

6 but showing kindness to the thousandth generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

The Hebrew here is “vaosheh chesed la’alafiym la’ohavay ulashom’rey mitz’votay” Which tells us he is merciful to those who keep His Commandments. They show him love in keeping the mitvot (plural mitzvah) he gave us in his Torah. This is repeated in Devarim 5:10.

Devarim/Deuteronomy 7:9

9 Know, therefore, that only Adonai Eloheykha is Elohim, the steadfast haEl who keeps His covenant faithfully [and Mercy] to the thousandth generation of those who love Him and keep His commandments,

Here we again see he is faithful in keeping his covenant. Those who show their love to Him by keeping His mitzvot.

Devarim/Deuteronomy 10:12-13

12 And now, O Israel, what does Adonai Eloheykha demand of you? Only this: to revere Adonai Eloheykha, to walk only in His paths, to love Him, and to serve Adonai Eloheykha with all your heart and soul, 13 keeping Adonai‘s commandments and laws, which I enjoin (command) upon you today, for your good.

What does he ask of us? That we fear him to walk in his ways, to love him and and serve him. How do we walk in his ways? We keep his mitzvot and chuqqotayv as was taught to the children by Moshe. These which were taught were commands. It again speaking of all our heart and soul, which is the level of devotion, we must have.

Devarim/Deuteronomy 11:1,13-15, 18-26

 

11:1 Love, therefore, Adonai Eloheykha, and always keep His charge, His laws, His rules, and His commandments.

Here is his telling them to keep all that we has commanded them to keep: “Our Charge/Watch (mish’maretu), and his statues (chuqqotayv) and His judgements (mish’patayv) and his commandments (mitzvotayv) all the days (kal hayamim).” This means to show love to Adonai we must embrace all he teaches us in the Torah. Not justy one day, or two days or even a week but all the days from here on until the end of time.

13 If, then, you obey (tish’me’u “you listen”) the commandments (mitzvotay my commandments) that I enjoin (metzaveh in commanding) upon you this day, loving (le’ahavah to love) Adonai Eloheykha and serving Him with all your heart and soul, 14 I will grant the rain for your land in season, the early rain and the late. You shall gather in your new grain and wine and oil—15 I will also provide grass in the fields for your cattle—and thus you shall eat your fill.

Here we see that we are to listen to what he commands us. Every seven years they were to come to the Feast of Sukkot and here the Torah read to them there. So listen was the only way they would have learned about it since writing was not in the means of many Yisraelim. The one commanding her was Moshe as he was taught and told to command the children of Yisrael. Here we see some of the benefits of loving him.

18 Therefore impress (place) these My words upon your very heart: bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead, 19 and teach them to your children—reciting them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up; 20 and inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates—21 to the end that you and your children may endure, in the land that Adonaiswore to your fathers to assign to them, as long as there is a heaven over the earth.

22 If, then, you faithfully keep (tish’merun) all this Instruction (kal hamitzvah) that I command (metzaveh) you, loving Adonai Eloheykha, walking in all His ways, and holding fast to Him, 23 Adonai will dislodge before you all these nations: you will dispossess nations greater and more numerous than you. 24 Every spot on which your foot treads shall be yours; your territory shall extend from the wilderness to the Lebanon and from the River—the Euphrates—to the Western Sea. 25 No man shall stand up to you: Adonai Eloheykha will put the dread and the fear of you over the whole land in which you set foot, as He promised you.

26 See, this day I set before you blessing and curse: 27 blessing, if you obey (tish’me’u you listen) the commandments (mitzvot) of Adonai Eloheykha that I enjoin (metzaveh) upon you this day; 28 and curse, if you do not obey (tish’me’u you listen) the commandments (mitzvot) of Adonai Eloheykha, but turn away from the path (haderekh) that I enjoin (metzaveh) upon you this day and follow other gods, whom you have not experienced.

Here we see that when we love Adonai and keep his way (derekh) we are blessed and we show love to him. When we turn from this path or way we are no longer following what he desire of us to do. Therefore, we don’t show love to Him.

Devarim/Deuteronomy 19:9 (8-10)

8 And when Adonai Eloheykha enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you all the land that He promised to give your fathers—9 if you faithfully observe all this Instruction (hamitzvah) that I enjoin (metzav’kha) upon you this day, to love Adonai Eloheykha and to walk (to go lalekhet) in His ways (bid’rakhayv) at all times (kal yamim)—then you shall add three more towns to those three. 10 Thus blood of the innocent will not be shed, bringing bloodguilt upon you in the land that Adonai Eloheykha is allotting to you.

If our fathers had followed/to go to his ways then Adonai would have expand their territory they would be able to build three more cities of refuge. The pattern he is we are to listen, go agfter his ways (do what he told us), which expresses we are concerned for those ways and thus we are showing him we love Him.

Devarim/Deuteronomy 30:1-10

30:1 When all these things befall you—the blessing and the curse that I have set before you—and you take them to heart amidst the various nations to which Adonai Eloheykha has banished you, 2 and you return to Adonai Eloheykha, and you and your children heed (listen) His command (baqulu his voice) with all your heart and soul, just as I enjoin (metzav’kha) upon you this day, 3 then Adonai Eloheykha will restore your fortunes and take you back in love. He will bring you together again from all the peoples where Adonai Eloheykha has scattered you. 4 Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world, from there Adonai Eloheykha will gather you, from there He will fetch you. 5 And Adonai Eloheykha will bring you to the land that your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your fathers.

6 Then Adonai Eloheykha will open (mal circumcise) up your heart and the hearts of your offspring to love Adonai Eloheykha with all your heart and soul, in order that you may live. 7 Adonai Eloheykha will inflict all those curses upon the enemies and foes who persecuted you. 8 You, however, will again heed (listen) Adonai and obey (asit do) all His commandments (baqul His Voice) that I enjoin (metzav’kha commanding you) upon you this day. 9 And Adonai Eloheykha will grant you abounding prosperity in all your undertakings, in the issue of your womb, the offspring of your cattle, and the produce of your soil. For Adonai will again delight in your well-being, as He did in that of your fathers, 10 since you will be heeding Adonai Eloheykha and keeping His commandments and laws that are recorded in this book of the Teaching—once you return to Adonai Eloheykha with all your heart and soul.

Here Moshe is talking of a time when they will be scattered to the farthest parts of the earth. Yet he will bring us back to his love, and the land when we return to him with all our hearts and soul, and listen to his commandments (mitzvot) and all he has commanded for us.

In Devarim/Deuteronomy 29:8 says it in about the covenant, which also understand, is the entire thing he commanded us through Moshe.

8 Therefore observe faithfully all the terms of this covenant, which you may succeed in all that you undertake.

Here it says: And listen to the word of the covenant this, and do them that you may prosper in all that you do. It is important that we listen to his words and do what he says.

Devarim/Deuteronomy 13:

13:1 Be careful to observe (listen tish’meru) only that which I enjoin (metzaveh commanding you) upon you: neither add to it nor take away from it.

2 If there appears among you a prophet or a dream-diviner and he gives you a sign or a portent, 3 saying, “Let us follow and worship another god”—whom you have not experienced—even if the sign or portent that he named to you comes true, 4 do not heed (listen) the words of that prophet or that dream-diviner. For Adonai Eloheykha is testing you to see whether you really love Adonai Eloheykha with all your heart and soul. 5 Follow none but Adonai Eloheykha, and revere (fear) none but Him; observe (tish’motu) His commandments (mitzotay) alone, and heed (tish’ma’u) only His orders (baqolo); worship none but Him, and hold fast to Him.

Here again we are to Listen and Do. He will test us to see if we really love him and are keeping his commandment. We are to be on our guard for this.

Yeshiyahu/Isaiah 56:6

6 As for the foreigners (beney nekkhar)

Who attach (hanil’vim the joiners) themselves to Adonai,

To minister (lesharoto to serve) to Him,

And to love the name of Adonai,

To be (lih’yot to become) His servants—

All who keep the sabbath and do not profane it (mechal’lu to make common),

And who hold fast to My covenant

Here we see that the sons of the foreigner who come to embrace the covenant and the shabbat. The shabbat which is the sign of the people of Yisrael and the covenant which they are bound to keep. They too are becoming His servants. His people. They are joiners which means they join or convert.

Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 8:16-17

16 These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to one another, render true and perfect justice in your gates. 17 And do not contrive evil against one another, and do not love perjury, because all those are things that I hate—declares the Lord.

We are to speak truth (emet) to our Neighbor (re’ehu) and judgement (mish’pat) peace judge in your gates. We are to judge rightly and truthfully. Without bias. These are favorable to Adonai and we show him love through this too.

We don’t show him love when we do harm to our neighbor, not we should do a false oath. He does not love theses things. So who is you neighbor, can it be more that our Yisraelim bothers.

Shemot/Exodus 11:2

11:1 And Adonai said to Moses, “I will bring but one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; after that he shall let you go from here; indeed, when he lets you go, he will drive you out of here one and all. 2 Tell the people to borrow, each man from his neighbor (re’ehu) and each woman from hers, objects of silver and gold.”

In Egypt, The neighbor of the Yisraelim was the Egyptians. Which shows us that Neighbor can also be a gentile living among us too. So when we read about our neighbor we need to keep this in mind.

So what Commandments of the Torah we are to keep?

Bamidbar/Numbers 15:22-23

22 If you unwittingly fail to observe any one of the commandments (hamitzvot) that Adonai has declared (diber spoken) to Moses 23 —anything that Adonai has enjoined (tzivah commanded) upon you through Moses—from the day that Adonai gave the commandment (tzivah commanded) and on through the ages:
Here we are told that a commandment was whatever was declared to Moshe. It was in effect from the day it was declared for all generations. So it also show us that commands given by Adonai were not all given at once but given over time and took effect upon their giving.
—-
All the occurances of אהב / אהב ‘âhab / ‘âhêb in Tanakh:
H157
אהב / אהב
‘âhab / ‘âhêb
Total KJV Occurrences: 208
love, 74
Gen 27:4, Gen 29:32, Exo 20:6, Exo 21:5, Lev 19:18, Lev 19:34, Deu 5:10, Deu 6:5, Deu 7:9, Deu 7:13, Deu 10:12, Deu 10:15, Deu 10:19, Deu 11:1, Deu 11:13, Deu 11:22, Deu 13:3, Deu 19:9, Deu 30:6, Deu 30:16, Deu 30:20, Jos 22:5, Jos 23:11, Jdg 5:31, Jdg 16:15, 1Sa 18:22, 2Sa 13:4, 2Ch 19:2, Neh 1:5, Psa 4:2, Psa 5:11, Psa 31:23, Psa 40:16, Psa 69:36, Psa 70:4, Psa 97:10, Psa 116:1, Psa 119:97, Psa 119:113, Psa 119:119, Psa 119:127, Psa 119:132, Psa 119:159, Psa 119:163, Psa 119:165, Psa 119:167, Psa 122:6, Psa 145:20, Pro 1:22, Pro 4:6, Pro 8:17 (2), Pro 8:21, Pro 8:36, Pro 9:8, Pro 16:13, Pro 18:21, Pro 20:13, Ecc 3:8, Son 1:3-4 (2), Isa 56:6, Isa 61:8, Isa 66:10, Jer 5:31, Dan 9:4, Hos 3:1 (2), Hos 4:18, Hos 14:4, Amo 5:15, Mic 3:2, Zec 8:17, Zec 8:19
loved, 48
Gen 24:67, Gen 25:28 (2), Gen 27:14, Gen 29:18, Gen 29:30, Gen 37:3-4 (3), Deu 4:37, Deu 23:5, Jdg 16:4, 1Sa 1:5, 1Sa 16:21, 1Sa 18:1, 1Sa 18:16, 1Sa 18:20, 1Sa 18:28, 1Sa 20:17, 2Sa 12:24, 2Sa 13:1, 2Sa 13:15, 1Ki 3:3, 1Ki 11:1, 2Ch 11:21, 2Ch 26:10, Est 2:17, Job 19:19, Psa 26:8, Psa 47:4, Psa 78:68, Psa 109:17, Psa 119:47-48 (2), Isa 43:4, Isa 48:14, Jer 2:25, Jer 8:2, Jer 14:10, Jer 31:3, Eze 16:37, Hos 9:1, Hos 9:10, Mal 1:1-2 (4), Mal 2:11
loveth, 38
Gen 27:9, Gen 44:20, Deu 10:18, Deu 15:16, Rth 4:15, Psa 11:5, Psa 11:7, Psa 33:5, Psa 34:12, Psa 37:28, Psa 87:2, Psa 99:4, Psa 119:140, Psa 146:8, Pro 3:12, Pro 12:1 (2), Pro 13:24, Pro 15:9, Pro 15:12, Pro 17:17, Pro 17:19 (2), Pro 19:8, Pro 21:17 (2), Pro 22:11, Pro 29:3, Ecc 5:10 (2), Son 1:7, Son 3:1-4 (4), Isa 1:23, Hos 10:11, Hos 12:7
lovers, 17
Psa 38:11, Jer 22:20, Jer 22:22, Jer 30:14, Lam 1:2, Lam 1:19, Eze 16:33, Eze 16:36-37 (2), Eze 23:5, Eze 23:9, Eze 23:22, Hos 2:5, Hos 2:7, Hos 2:10, Hos 2:12-13 (2)
friends, 8
2Sa 19:6, Est 5:10, Est 5:14, Est 6:13, Pro 14:20, Jer 20:4, Zec 13:6 (2)
lovest, 7
Gen 22:2, Jdg 14:16, 2Sa 19:6, Psa 45:7, Psa 52:3-4 (2), Ecc 9:9
beloved, 6
Deu 21:15-16 (3), Neh 13:26, Son 1:16, Hos 3:1
friend, 4
2Ch 20:7, Pro 18:24, Pro 27:6, Isa 41:8
lover, 2
1Ki 5:1, Psa 88:18
liketh, 1
Amo 4:5
lovedst, 1
Isa 57:8
lovely, 1
2Sa 1:23
loving, 1
Isa 56:10

H157
אהב / אהב
‘âhab / ‘âhêb
BDB Definition:
1) to love
1a) (Qal)
1a1) human love for another, includes family, and sexual
1a2) human appetite for objects such as food, drink, sleep, wisdom
1a3) human love for or to God
1a4) act of being a friend
1a4a) lover (participle)
1a4b) friend (participle)
1a5) God’s love toward man
1a5a) to individual men
1a5b) to people Israel
1a5c) to righteousness
1b) (Niphal)
1b1) lovely (participle)
1b2) loveable (participle)
1c) (Piel)
1c1) friends
1c2) lovers (figuratively of adulterers)
2) to like

Psalm 5

Psalm 5:1-12 To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning. (2) Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. (3) O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch. (4) For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. (5) The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. (6) You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. (7) But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. (8) Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me. (9) For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. (10) Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you. (11) But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. (12) For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield.

Quick course in Prayer

“Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.” Psalm 5:1-3

“But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.” Psalm 5:7-8

Two things strike me in those verses:

1. It seems to be a direct continuation from Psalm 4 which ended: “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” after David had given us a Quick Course in Anger management. He wakes and the first thing he does is address God with a supplication to be heard. Then he gives a hint as to HOW this supplication is to be made. ( I generally use ESV or JPS as I trust those more than any other translations ) JPS renders v.3 “O LORD, in the morning shalt Thou hear my voice; in the morning will I order my prayer unto Thee, and will look forward.”

The Hebrew used for ‘order’ or ‘direct’ and ‘prepare’ is ערך ‛ârak which Strong explains: to set in a row, that is, arrange, put in order (in a very wide variety of applications): – put (set) (the battle, self) look at the last word – self – So what it’s saying here is that David will set himself working order and his prayer in an arranged order before presenting himself and his prayer to God. That is fascinating, I think, because it teaches us to be careful in our prayer routines, so we think through what we are going to say to God first thing in the morning. Then the Psalm says “will look forward” forward to what? The day, the future, the Lord. But it also implies “watch” as that a watchman on a city wall does, thus giving exhortation to be watchful, mindful and vigilant. To me it means that we are to have a positive out-look, keep ourselves in order and be mindful of the day ahead, all the time with God in our front minds. Perhaps even looking for GOD as we go through the day.

2. Next there is the affirmation “the abundance of your steadfast love” through which David, and we may come before God in service through prayer and action. A prayer and action that is to be preceeded by a prayer “Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.” that we might serve and act as righteous people, so those who see us (enemies) may step back and give way to our service of the Lord.

Amen
Henry

Psalm 4

Psalm 4:1-8

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! (2) O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah. (3) But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him. (4) Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah. (5) Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD. (6) There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!” (7) You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. (8) In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

A Quick Course in Anger management.

“Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah. Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD.”[...] In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” (v. 4-5,

“Be angry…” if you are – anger is a natural, God-given emotion that we are supposed to acknowledge. Nevertheless we are not to sin as a result of our anger. This idea is paralleled in Genesis 4, where the consequences of anger are very well out-lined. So how are we to we deal with anger, according to Scriptures? Well, the Psalmist actually gives us the answer right away: “ponder in your own hearts on your beds and be silent” Hm. I’d like to think that the ‘pondering’ isn’t synonymous with ‘agonize over’ or ‘nourish a grudge’, but rather a rational assessment of the situation, person, event with which we are angry, because this verse then expresses the manner in which we are to deal with our anger functionally and Godly.

The root used for pondering is ‘amar’, which can also mean ‘challenge’. In which case we are to challenge our own anger, examine it honestly to see where it came from, why we are angry, As it says that we should “be silent” it seems to imply that this self-challenge, self-examination is to be done without involvement of the subject of our anger. Which makes a lot of sense, since the emotion is ours and ours alone ‘Be silent’ (‘damam’) can also be rendered ‘hold peace’ or ‘wait’. This was Kain’s mistake. He got angry because he felt snubbed, he projected his anger on Abel and it resulted in the very first murder in human history…So is pondering enough?

No. Ephesians 4:26-27 offer this parallel with an interesting advice. It suggests that we are to fix all this BEFORE sun-down, i.e within the same day. “Be angry, and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down upon your wrath.” and then it continues with a reflection back to Genesis 4:7 “…And if you do not do well, sin crouches at the door; and its desire is for you, and you shall rule over it.” by saying: “neither give place to the Devil.” The main point with Genesis 4:7 for the purpose of this ’study’ is “and you shall rule over it.”, as it points to what Kain didn’t do. From a friends writings: “Kayin’s problem is that instead of taking responsible for his own feelings and turn to G-s with a simple question: “Why, what’s wrong?” he looks down and inward, at his own anger, depression, feelings of rejection and fear of inadequacy, away from G-d.” Kain didn’t turn to God with his anger so he could rule over the impulse to murder his brother.

But as we lay there in our beds, having pondered, examined and challenged our anger, we have every possible tool at our disposal to rule over sin. Offer it up to God, the anger, the situation, our part in the matter and trust that God will take care of the out-come; “Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD.” Trust that He will remove the impulse to “make ourselves miserable” through another human, so that we can succeed where Kain failed. The reward? “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.”
Amen

Quote of the Day

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
– Ursula K. Le Guin

I have observed how many of my fellow Christians are, if not obsessed with The End Times and Heaven, then at least preoccupied with those two concepts. They spend hours and hours delving into obscure Scripture passages in search for dates and events. They hardly seem to be living NOW, or enjoying NOW.

I never understood this “obsession”.

Since I have to repent and return to God every day anyway, being concerned with “being prepared” for the ‘Second Coming’, seems like a waste of time. I’ll be ready when it is time. In the mean time I’ll simply enjoy the Journey, pick some flowers on the way and be content that Life will take me where I am supposed to go