PEACE AND UNITY

Matthew 5:9

"Blessed are the peacemakers”

As Aaron is anointed High-priest, he became a foreshadow of Messiah. The one time anointing of Aaron is remembered in Psalms 133 in the following words, Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there Adonai has commanded the blessing, life forevermore (Psalms 133:1-3). Why did David compare Aaron’s anointing to peace and unity? We have learned before of the little scheme Aaron used to get people at odds with each other back in fellowship. Jewish sages taught that we should emulate Aaron in our efforts to bring peace within our families and communities.

 We all search for peace and unity but seem to be plagued with division and conflicts. Maybe we have a wrong idea of what peace and unity are. Peace and unity does not mean 'absence of conflict' and uniformity. Debates from differences of opinions are healthy. They keep us intellectually alive and sharp while seeking for better answers. Also, as humans, we are naturally divided into cultural groups and thought patterns. Who said that we were all supposed to be uniformed zombies all thinking the same thing? Hashem made us human beings with free will, not preprogrammed robots.

What creates our inability to be together is not the way Hashem made us, but the way we react to those that are different from us. We generally fear that which we do not understand and do not have the control over, and that is what causes the problem. We all believe in unity but because of our fear mixed with intolerance, we want that unity to orbit around us.  

The Master had around Him twelve men coming from diverse walks of life, culture, and religious affiliation from Israel, and He taught them to love, accept, understand each other, so they could work together. As a result, they taught about the God of Israel to the whole world. Let us therefore learn not to concentrate on what divides us but on what unites us; not on what we dislike but on what we appreciate about each other; not to merely see each other, but see Yeshua, the image of the Father in our brethren.

Didn't our Master say, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God (Matthew 5:9)?