THE PROTOCOL

John 2:21

But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

As we study the different elements of the Tabernacle (Exodus 25) we learn so much about the role of Yeshua in our lives. The Tabernacle was nothing less than a portable Temple, a temporary dwelling place for the Shekinah until such a time when King David would plan the first Jerusalem temple to be built by his son, Solomon. Reminding us of the words inspired to Isaiah the prophet, Yeshua Himself called the Temple ‘a House of Prayer’ (Isaiah 56:7; Matthew 21:13).

By definition God is thrice 'kadosh' (Holy: Isaiah 6:3), meaning He is set-apart and cannot be approached by a human which is by definition common. Hashem wants to live among us but as the Holy King that He is, there is a protocol to be respected. There is death penalty for breaking it (Leviticus 10:1-2). The Tabernacle and its protocol is the means by which God is to be approached. This is reflected even today in the way we have learned to approach the Almighty, solely through the Agency of Yeshua.   The Tabernacle therefore was kept holy in order to house the Shekinah, just as Yeshua kept Himself holy and without sin so He could house the Spirit of God in Him (Hebrews 4:15).

As Yeshua debated Temple use (or misuse) with Judean leaders, He compared it with His own body or His own self (John 2:13-21). Learning therefore about Tabernacle/Temple protocol is learning about our own relationship with God through Messiah and as we do, we should realize that though we may refer to Him as 'Father, which He is, though it may so, there is nothing casual about our relationship with Hashem. This term, ‘Father’ has nothing to do with the casual manner certain fathers play their role today. It is used with a sense of awe and respect. The relationship is not as one between peers, but rather reflects the idea of someone we can strongly lean and count on, someone we should pattern ourselves by in order to learn integrity and righteousness.

The role of Messiah is to clean (sanctify) us with His Words so that through His agency we can approach the Holy Father (John 15:3). We are cleaned not only by listening and reading His Words but also as we set ourselves apart to obey Hashem in the manner which Messiah shows and teaches us. May we therefore learn to serve an obey; to let our lives be transformed by Yeshua that He may testify of us to the Father as those who have cleaned themselves, washed their robes  and set themselves apart from the impurities of the world to be presented unto Him (Revelations 7:14).

THE RIGHTEOUS TAKEN AS A PLEDGE

   Colossians 2:9

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.

After successfully receiving the stone tables where Hashem engraved His first Ten Instructions to Israel, Moses was asked to levy from them a free-will contribution (Exodus 25:1). This voluntary contribution will serve to build what will eventually become the Tabernacle, the very place the Almighty El-Shaddai will use as a sort of communication center with Moses. Remember, the Children of Israel confessed that they could not hear the Voice of God; they ask Moses to act as an intercessor for them (Exodus 20:18-19). I think it strange that today many people seem to casually say that they hear ‘God’ speak to them when in fact, the Children of Israel couldn’t and even asked for an intercessor, move which Hashem approved (Deuteronomy 18:16-17).

Sages from ancient Israel saw the future and imagined Moses asking God, “Will not the time come when Israel will be deprived of a Tabernacle or of a Temple? What will happen then?” According to the sages the Divine reply was, “I will then take one of their righteous men and retain him as a pledge on their behalf, in order that I may pardon all their sins.” (Midrash Rabbah Shemot 35:4). The agricultural ancient Israelites were familiar with the custom of dedicating a whole harvest to God by presenting one sheave, the first and purest drop of oil from their olives, or even the first-born of animal and man-kind. They understood the principles of the first and best given to Hashem for the sanctification of the whole.

The Tabernacle and Temple housed the Ark which represented God’s covenant Presence among man. At the time when Hashem knew the Temple would disappear for a long time and the Children of Israel would go for a long exile, the Almighty took one righteous man to hold as a pledge for the sanctification of the people; His name was Yeshua from Nazareth. By the end of the first century, there were over 1,000.000.000 believers in Israel.

Chassidic Jews seemed to understand the mechanism by which God operates They believed that their righteous men, their ‘tsaddik’, their ‘rebbes’ (rabbis) housed the Shekinah of God; that they acted as the Temple or the Tabernacle. They were not so far off. Yeshua Ben Yoseph Hanotsree (Jesus Son of Joseph from Nazareth) is that righteous Jewish man, that Rebbe whom God held as a pledge for the sanctification of the Jewish people and through whom the whole worlds is redeemed as, in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority (Colossians 2:9-10). He is the first sheave of the harvest (Numbers 28:26), the pure first drop of olive oil from the press (Gethesemane, the place where the Master was pressed measure means: the olive press). He is also the perfect lamb offered as voluntary contribution from the heart.

THE HEART OF HASHEM

Matthew 7:21

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven”.

The rulings contained in Exodus 21-24 provide us with a big window into the heart of the Father. How more sensible our world would be if it acknowledged Hashem’s wisdom in His approach to government. This is the problem today with the Bible: so few ever tried it! Maybe they will one day, probably out of desperation when the best of man’s efforts will have only led to catastrophe, as they seem to presently do.

For millennia the world has not been able to care for its poor. Even today, with all our sophistication, at its best, all the world has to offer is a ‘slave-master’ economy based on cruel usury (Proverbs 22:7) which is forbidden in God’s eyes (Exodus 22:25-27). In the Torah, lending to the poor in need is not an option, it is a commandment witch Yeshua reiterated in, Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you (Matthew 5:42). An idea for the Messianic communities would be to emulate Jewish communities and create interest-free lending funds. As times worsen, we certainly need to pool our resources. Hashem is the Generous One; He cares for the downtrodden; He has compassion on the poor and gives freely. As disciples, we should emulate Him and be the same.

Another ruling that we should be careful to observe is "You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people (Exodus 22:28). Miriam was afflicted with Biblical leprosy as a result of disobeying this commandment (Numbers 12). If the English wording in this verse seems strange, it is because the original Hebrew in the text of this whole chapter merges the identities of God and of ‘Judges of the people’ into one. In essence, in cursing or blessing the spiritual authority Hashem sets upon us, we curse or bless Him.

This commandment is still relevant and here is an important precedent for it. After Paul publicly reviled a corrupt Sadducee High-Priest who was trying to unjustly condemn him and had even smitten his face, the apostle apologized saying, "I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest”. Paul then justified his apology quoting from Exodus, “for it is written, 'You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people (Acts 23:5).'" This is a condition-less commandment.

Even if the ruler seems to you curse-worthy, you are not to curse him with gossip, criticism, or open challenge. Let’s say you don’t like the way things are in your congregation, after humbly presenting your point to the persons involved, if things don’t change, just leave and go where you can feel happy. It is certainly a sin to openly challenge leaders and create a mutiny. If you do it, it will surely happen to you in return, either in your congregation or in your family. Hashem will see to it. May we learn to live by His rulings; Yeshua did!

HOLD ON TO THAT KETUBAH!

2 Peter 1:4

He has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature ….

In ancient times in Israel when a young man wanted to marry, he first consulted with the local matchmaker. He then went to the prospective girl’s father or guardian and agreed to a price. The agreement was then sealed with a glass of wine, which allowed the young man to go and ‘prepare a place’, or build a house for them to live in. This period of betrothal was as binding as marriage itself. A ketubah was also written. A ketubah is a legal document written in beautiful calligraphy. This document outlines the bride-price paid for the girl and incorporates all the conditions of the marriage, especially the responsibilities of the groom towards his bride-to-be. It serves as a prenuptial agreement and deterrent in case the husband would leave her as it also makes mention of the money owed to the wife in case of divorce, unless of course the divorce was due to the wife’s marital unfaithfulness. During the ceremony held under a ‘chupah’ which is a cloth held by four poles above the couple, the terms of the ketubah/contract are sealed again through the sharing of a glass of wine. The glass is then placed on the floor for the groom to smash with his foot saying, ‘thus be done to me if I do not honor the words of this contract’. The ceremony is usually followed by a celebration with music, dancing, entertainment, and a copious banquet.

When the Almighty wanted to marry Israel He was His own matchmaker. He also had already prepared a place for them: The Promised Land of Israel. He brought His prospective wife to a solitary place under the 'chupah' of Mt. Horeb's shade so He could have her full attention and bare His heart to her. After the Heavenly Bridegroom made His proposal, Israel agreed and said, ‘all that God said we will do’. The engagement was then rendered valid. Moses along with seventy-three other people (witnesses) climbed Mt. Horeb to get the ketubah/contract written in stone by the finger of Hashem Himself. The whole thing was sealed in blood and followed by a meal with the Almighty Himself (Exodus 19-24).

When God took Israel.as a bride, He entered a covenant with everlasting legal promises. Whereas it can be agreed that the marriage has been ‘rocky’, Hashem is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind (Numbers 23:19), and unlike many men, He is compassion and forgiveness itself; He repents from the evil He wants to do to His people. We Israel need to cling tightly to that ketubah, to the term of the marriage found in the Torah. We need to study it so we can hold our Bridegroom to His terms and to His promises.

We need to be a faithful wife and hold to our terms of faithfulness and obedience. A very wise mother one day instructed her kingly son in the choosing of a wife and said, An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels (Proverbs 31:10). In his search, her son ended up with almost a thousand women. As Israel, let us put on the regeneration offered by the Righteous One, Yeshua the Messiah and become the excellent wife so sought after by the Almighty God.

KNOWING THE TERMS OF THE CONTRACT

James 1:22

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves”.

The reading portion assigned for this week starts with the rulings of freeing slaves every seven years (Exodus 21:2). This law of release also applies to fields that are to be let fallow one year out of seven. The purpose of these rulingss is to keep people from oppressing each other, as well as to establish a sense of priority in our hearts. Hashem doesn’t want us to spend our lives aimlessly increasing our wealth at the cost of our relationships and and responsibilities towards human beingsas well as towards our spiritual walk, which also needs attention.

When the people of Israel did not obey the law of release, God sent Babylon against them. The seventy years of Babylonian captivity correspond to the seventy jubilees they did not observe (Jeremiah 25:11). The earth is God’s and everything in it. He makes the rules and He gets His due, you can make sure of it.

The part that compliments this week’s reading portion is in the Book of Jeremiah. As the Babylonians besieged Jerusalem, through the mouth of Jeremiah the Lord convicts the people about not observing the jubilee (Jeremiah 34:8-10). As they obeyed, word reached the Babylonian army that Hophra was coming up out of Egypt with an army to raise the siege. It is not that the Egyptians loved Israel so much, it is just that whoever controls Israel controls the Via Maris, the main trade route between Egypt and Assyria.

Here is where the story changes. When Israel sees Egypt coming to its rescue causing the lifting of the Babylonian siege, they renege on their repentance. They bring their slaves back to labor. They maybe thought they played a good one on God, until Jeremiah unveiled God’s retributive plan. You can read it in chapter thirty-four of the Book of Jeremiah.

Through Abraham, God made a covenant with mankind which cannot be broken (Genesis 15). But the fact that this covenant cannot be broken does not exclude retributions for us breaking it. Though these retributions may not be fatal, they are nevertheless drastic (Jeremiah 34:13-22). In the same manner, when a person goes under Hashem's redemptive covenant made with the world through Yeshua the Messiah, that person becomes liable to the obligations of its contract. Inclusion under Hashem’s covenant is free, but there are particulars to the terms.

As we read Scripture, it is important for us to understand the particulars of our contract. In this day and age of literacy, the only excuses we have for not knowing is distraction, disobedience, or indifference, and all are bad. 

 

James admonished the Israeli community of believers in these very pertinent words, Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (James 1:21-22). May we also take these words to heart!

THE TORAH RELEVANT FOR TODAY

Luke 1:79

“… To give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

The Torah provides us with much ruling having to do with man’s inhumane behavior. Some of the things the Torah talks about would make very gory bedtime stories. How can such a heavenly document be so besmirched with the filth of human sin?

King David said that the Torah is Light (Psalms 119:105). Light is only useful when it shines in darkness. In essence, the Torah finds its mission within the spiritual darkness of our human dimension. Paul built on David’s proclamation in the Psalms with, But when anything is exposed by the light (of Torah), it (the sin of ‘anything’) becomes visible (Ephesians 5:13). He also taught his disciple Timothy that, the law (the Torah) is … not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine (1Timothy 1:8), and I think that includes all of us! The Torah is a Light made to reveal to us our sinful condition. As such, it is a help to direct our paths away from sinful behavior.

In studying God’s Oracles, we must be careful to distinguish between what the Torah permits and what the Torah advocates. Failure to do so can be disastrous. Whereas the Torah advocates unbroken marriages, in the knowledge of the nature of man’s heart it gave leeway for divorce (Matthew 19:8). Whereas it advocates monogamous marriages, it gave rulings concerning polygamy. It doesn’t mean that the Torah advocates divorce or polygamy, it only means that the Torah is relevant to the society in which it was given. The same goes for slavery; whereas the Torah gives ruling for slaves, it does not advocate slavery. We must be careful to study it according to its contextual values. Not understanding this could cause us to feel removed from Its text to a point of irrelevance. Many of us who would not consider polygamy as a lifestyle, practice it in a sequential manner, using one spouse, and ‘throwing it away’ for another one. Also many today who would not consider enslaving humans practice a different form of slavery through the very commonly accepted practice of usury (lending for interest) and economic policies that offer less guaranties than those offered to slaves in the Bible.

The Torah is a Light, and those who consider it obsolete live in darkness. The Torah reveals the Light of Hashem's nature and character to contrast it with ours, and those who in a cafeteria-style pick and choose what they want from it, are found to ‘edit’, or adding or taking away from the Torah in their hearts, For centuries man has tried to find a better type of government than the one offered in the Torah, and the messy results are evident. In the World to Come, the Light of Torah will expose our sinful world for what it is and we will finally learn to rule and be ruled under the justice and righteousness of Hashem.

May it come soon Abba Father, this world can’t wait any longer; too many are crying out for justice.

THE UNPAYABLE DEBT!

Matthew 18:35

“So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your

brother from your heart."

Because of an erroneous stubbornly recurring antithesis theology between the Hebrew and the Apostolic Writings, people assume that Yeshua overthrew the retributive Mosaic legal code of, ‘an eye for an eye’ and replaced it with a new law based on love and forgiveness (Exodus 21:24; Matthew 5:38-41). Let’s examine the issues a little closer.

The expressions, ‘eye for an eye’ and, ‘turning the other cheek’ are not to be taken literally. These are Hebrew idioms; legal terms invoking damage restitution by a liable parties. For damage restitution not to be demanded by God’s court of law would be unjust, and Hashem cannot be unjust. ‘An eye for an eye’  is a command for an offender to restitute what is lost, broken, or stolen, as a chance to redeem himself, not for the offended to demand. For a liable party not to ‘beg’ for an opportunity to demonstrate his true repentance for his foolish actions, would show callousness and a total lack of the fear of God.

When reading the Master’s recommended application of the Torah legal code all throughout His teachings, we must realize that Yeshua could not have been changing the Torah. That would automatically make Him a false prophet to be shunned. It is because of that erroneous teaching that until today Jews will not consider Yeshua as the Messiah. What Yeshua did in His teachings was absolutely in line with Rabbinic Judaism. He took the Torah and gave His personal opinion on how to apply Its wise instructions. Most of the Master’s recommended Torah application can be found within Judaism itself. He promoted much of Rabbi Hillel’s teachings (Rabbi Hillel was Gamaliel’s (Paul’s mentor and teacher) Grand-father)).  Of course, since Yeshua is the Mashiach, His chosen applications are the right ones.

The mistake people make when they read the Master’s teachings is the failure to distinguish between obligations pertaining to Torah courts of Law, and imperatives given to individuals. Because of this, people often want to take the ‘law’ in their own hands and apply it in a vigilante style desiring wanting to kill the adulteress, the idolater and the criminals, when actually nothing of the sort can be done outside of a legal Sanhedrin ruling.

What the Master teaches us is greater than requiring the due course of justice. There is no commandment to litigate, and what Yeshua offers here is the idea of not to litigate; to rather to forgive a debt (a sin or an offense) from the heart; to not hold grudges, but instead,to rely upon Hashem for justice. This principle is the one found in the parables of the unjust servant (Matthew 18:21-35).To forgive in the legal code of Torah was not an emotional mental exercise; it was simply not to require retribution.

Come to think of it; could anyone of us be required the full mandate of the Torah for our trespasses against God?

THE IRREVOCABLE COVENANT

SHEVAT 24                                                                                                        כד בשבט

Romans 11:29

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

The text of rulings started in Exodus twenty can take us back to a time of cultural irrelevancy to the point that we may wonder about their current usefulness. Somehow though, these things about buying and selling children, slavery and polygamy are part of the great Horeb oracle, so to consider them irrelevant can be, and is in my opinion disrespectful.

Let’s look for example at the laws of polygamy. If he (a man) takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her (the first wife) food, her clothing, or her marital rights (conjugal intimacy). And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money (Exodus 21:10-11). Read from our modern western cultural viewpoint, these rulings sound barbaric; but while understanding them within their own merit and context, let’s give them a fair try.

Polygamy was an accepted Middle-East lifestyle in the days of Exodus when marriage was a business transaction. If he could afford it, a man could marry a woman for financial, political, or just plain lustful selfish reasons and once she served her 'purpose', get himself a new one to the neglect of the first one. Apparently God did not approve of this practice so He decreed that if a man re-marries, the food, the clothing and the conjugal rights of the first wife are not in any way to be diminished. If the husband doesn’t hold to that, she has automatic legal grounds to leave him and even remarry. In a certain way, that makes polygamy impossible unless you are as rich as Solomon.

We now are a far cry from these days of healthy ‘woman’s rights’. Today a man can take a woman, and if he has affairs on the side that cause him to neglect the first wife, she has to go through the cruel humiliations of being rejected in public divorce proceedings. This ruling teaches about the heart of the Father against such cruelty as rejecting a wife.

A common teaching today is replacement theology: the ideology that because of sin God rejected His first wife Israel in favor of Christianity. For many, this explains our on-going exile, the inquisitions and the Holocaust. People easily understand replacement theology scenario because of the way they live and generally understand God through the lenses of their own perverted divorce-accepting viewpoint. First, God hates divorce (Exodus 20:14; Matthew 10:2-9), and as far as Israel is concerned, Paul explains that, “the gifts and the calling of Hashem are irrevocable (Romans 11:29)”. First, if God practices the irrevocable putting away of wives because of sin, Christians are also in danger. Second, even if He did, our relationship with Him was not to be diminished.

My point here is that this commandment reveals the true nature and character of the Father. He may chastise us for awhile to help us know and trust Him more, but never in an attempt to drive us away from Him, and He doesn’t go from ‘bride’ to ‘bride’ as mankind seems to enjoy doing today. We can now see not that this seemingly archaic rule teaches us much about our current value system and even our theology. 

THE TORAH PENTECOST CONNECTION

Act 2:3

And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.

The English narrative that concludes God’s uttering of His Ten Statements at Mt. Horeb tells us, Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking … (Exodus 20:18). The Hebrew on the other hand literally reads, “And all the people 'saw' the voices and the torches”. One may see a ‘torch’, but how does one see a “voice”? The question may have pushed English translators to stray from a literal rendition of the verse, but not the Hebrew sages. Also, the congregation at Horeb was composed of people from many nations, so for everyone to ‘understand’ them (a Hebrew synonym for ‘seeing’), the Ten Statements would have had to be uttered in several languages.

How do you see a voice, and how does a single voice speak in many languages?  When Moses recounts these events to the second generation of the Children of Israel in the desert he says, Then Adonai spoke to you out of the midst of the fire (Deuteronomy 4:12). One of the sages saw this verse through the lenses of the following passage, Is not my word like fire, declares Adonai, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces (Jeremiah 23:29)? The sages of Israel have always described these events as the Voice of God splitting into seventy voices speaking seventy different tongues and that these voices were actually like hot sparks flying forth from a hammer’s blow on a stone and becoming tongues of fire. This may sound farfetched, but is it really?

Fourteen hundred years after these events Yeshua, the Prophet 'like unto Moses', (Deuteronomy 18:15) came to give His elucidation of the Heavenly Voices. When He was on earth, like Moses He climbed a mountain and His disciples came to Him (Exodus 24:9; Matthew 5:1-2). Later, on the same Jewish calendar date as the Horeb events (Pentecost, or fifty days after the resurrection) as the disciples were celebrating the festival of Pentecost they saw these voices in the form of tongues of fire that gave them ability to speak in the languages of all the foreign pilgrims then present for the festival in Jerusalem (Acts 2:1-5).  These ‘voices’ were later to be sent to the whole world to reach out to the lost sheep of the House of Israel and to the nations with their message.

Today we, followers of the Jewish Messiah Yeshua HaMashiach, are these ‘Voices’ of fire from Sinai. Today, from where ever we are in the world we are Hashem's emissaries and apostles of the great message spoken at Sinai. I usually teach my students that the Words of the Ten Statements uttered at Horeb elucidated by God’s Agent Yeshua, constitute the solution to all of the world’s social problems.

But the people must not only hear the message, they must also see it. They must see it in the exemplary walk of our lives. A tall order maybe, but a lot is at stake and His Spirit is ever present to help us. Truly, Yeshua ever lives to make intercession off us (John 14:26; Hebrews 7:25). May we not fail in our mission!

SLAVES TO THE 'COMPASS'

John 8:36

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 

Our fathers were slaves in Egypt. Pharaoh ordered their lives. He told them what to work, where to work, and how to work. He told them to serve him and no one else.  Pharaoh was to be obeyed and worshipped under pain of death. When they cried under the cruel oppression, the Almighty El-Shaddai heard them and by His mighty Right Hand delivered them. He delivered them, brought them to a mountain and bound them to Him and to His Laws. Hashem’s Law then ordered our father’s lives. It told them what to work, where to work, and how to work; to serve Adonai and no-one else.  Adonai was to be obeyed and worshipped under pain of death.

For those who have a tendency to think that living under the Torah is a form of bondage, it could be concluded that the Children of Israel went from one bondage to another; from slavery under Pharaoh to slavery under God. Indeed, judging by the way living under the commandments of Torah is viewed by many people today, these conclusions are inevitable.

Let me indulge in a mariner’s analogy. A sailor is at sea. He is in charge of an expensive vessel. He is also responsible for the life of a crew and he has a mission to accomplish. He is at the helm. He has a serious look on his face and does not make a move. He does not take one decision without checking his compass. This reliance on the compass determines the success or failure of his mission, the safety of his vessel; the life and death of his crew. I heard it said that if a sailor wants to enjoy the high seas, he must become 'slave' to the compass.

My friend, thus it is with life. To keep our traveling vessel worthy, to preserve the life of those entrusted in our care, and to accomplish the goal for which we were sent on the high-seas of life, we also must become slave to the ‘Compass’, and in this case, the ‘Compass’ is the Torah.

A famous American folk singer used to sing the words, "You’re gonna have to serve somebody; whether it may the devil or whether it may be the Lord, you’re gonna have to serve somebody!" This is so true. In the end, we truly always have to serve somebody. We either serve the idolatrous King of the land or we serve Hashem. And even if our lives are not regulated by external forces, we eventually become slaves to the worse bondage of all: the bondage to our own passions.  

Serving God under His Torah is the most wonderful freedom of all. It means freedom from human slavery, self-imposed or otherwise. It is the wings that free us from even the bondage of gravity to take us to higher ground. It is the very substance that delivers us from the fear of death to bring us to eternal life. If that is bondage, may I live under it all the days of my life. 

THE FIRST AND THE LAST TRUMPET

1 Corinthians 15:52

… At the last trumpet.

Paul, Yeshua’s emissary speaks to us about the ‘last blow of the shofar’ (1 Corinthians 15:52).  If there is a last blow there must also be a first. Through the passage of time, the last blow of the shofar is an echo of the first shofar blown at Horeb.

The first shofar is blown to herald the grand entrance of the King in the lives of men. The King entered the created dimension and His feet touched the mountain (Exodus 19:11). Later, He whom they saw as Hashem and who did not lay His hand on them also enjoyed a meal with the elders of Israel sitting at His feet (Exodus 24:9-11; Exodus 33:20). In the same manner, the last shofar will herald the arrival of Hashem's King whose feet will touch the mountain. He will also recline for a meal with His true followers, with those who cared not to lose their lives for Him (Zechariah 14:4; Revelations 19:7-9).

At the Exodus, while Egypt drowned and licked its wounds from the results of a series of plagues, our fathers were placed under the legislation of God’s eternal Instruction.  By these, they were to be a light to the rest nations of the world. At the last shofar, while the worlds also licks its wounds from the plagues of God’s judgments, through Instruction flowing from Jerusalem, those of the nations who remain will also be placed under the legislation of the Light of Torah, the constitution of the Word to Come (Micah 4:2).

When a man blows the shofar, he starts out strong then grows weaker as he runs out breath. It is not so with the God whose breath (in Hebrew: ruach meaning: spirit or /breath) is infinite. The mighty El-Shaddai doesn’t run out of breath as the text in Exodus tells us, As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder …(Exodus 19:19).

Looking at our sad world today, it can easily be concluded that all of its problems are the result of breaking the fundamental instruction taught at Mt Horeb. One of the sages of Israel defined that just by keeping the last of Horeb’s Ten Statements we keep all the rest of them. Indeed if we (10) do not covet the things that we do not have or even need, (1) we worship our One God and (2) are not tempted the dainties offered us by idol-worshipping; (3) we do not need to lie so we do not need to take His Name in vain by swearing falsely (Matthew 5:33-37); (4) we do not find it binding to take a day off from lucrative activities to spend it with Hashem and those created in His image such as family and friends, and (5) we have no qualms about morally and financially supporting our aged parents. The absence of covetousness also negates the need for (6) murder, (7) adultery), (8) stealing, and (9) lying. 

Thus is the legislation of the Messianic Era now and in the World to Come.

May it come soon Adon Yeshua, even in our days!

P. Gabriel Lumbroso

For a Kindle edition of my devotional UNDER THE FIG TREE, click HERE.

THE BALANCE OF A MAN

1Timothy 3:2-6 (CJB)

A congregation leader must be above reproach, he must be faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, orderly, hospitable and able to teach. He must not … get into fights; …, he must be kind and gentle. He must not be a lover of money … if a man can't manage his own household, how will he be able to care for God's Messianic Community? He must not be a new believer, because he might become puffed up with pride and thus fall under the same judgment as did the Adversary.

In Genesis 2:18, Hashem intentions towards Adam in creating Eve are either lost in translation, or in the personal bias of the translator. A more literal reading would say, "I will create someone to be 'against' him". It seems that the help man most often needs is in the form of someone who is ‘against’ him; not someone who necessarily fights him, but someone who challenges him and is a balance to him. Because of this, Judaism even advises to not trust the teaching of a Rabbi who is not married. 

A wise man will invite the counsel of his wife; she really is the one who knows him best. If he willingly listens to her, not only his life will be more harmonious, but he will make wiser decisions. But a wise woman needs to learn how to ‘fitly’ advise her husband. If she nags him or makes him feel inferior, he’ll turn off and she won’t be able to fulfill her God-given duty.  She also needs not to do it as an attempt to control him. If because of control issues, passiveness, or a lack of wisdom a wife is not able to advise her husband, she fails in her main reason for being. The same goes for a wife who fans her husband, which a woman usually does that because she wants to bask in his glory. Such a woman will be responsible for her man's downfall. A beautiful example of a married relationship in American History is that of the second president of the United States John Adams, and his wife Abigail Adams. It is even said that one time Georges Washington asked Abigail Adams' help to try to convince her husband of an important piece of diplomatic strategy.

When Roman Emperor Tiberius started commandeering the Senate, one senator protested and compared his governing body to an unheard and ignored wife. If a man, if a leader does not have a wife, he should at least be able to listen to the counsel of those wise people God put around him. It is a wise man who surrounds himself with people who are wiser than him. Paul was not married, but he worked within counsel. Though he took some liberties, he went to Jerusalem to make sure that his race was not in vain. He sought the approval of his own apostolic leaders (Galatians 2:2). 

Sad to say though, many leaders in their pride, fear, and insecurity surround themselves with passive people who adulate them, or with those who find an interest in the relationship, so they will not balance a leader or a teacher. Even if they try, they eventually will give in. The leader knows it and it will be his downfall in the sight of God if not in the sight of men.

May God give us leaders men who have a right spirit before Him; leaders whom the position of office does not corrupt with pride; true humble ministers of Hashem’s flock who only wish to serve.

LEADERSHIP IN THE KINGDOM PT 2

1Timothy 3:1

If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

Mankind is of a rebellious nature. We are small, weak, vulnerable and yet as ironic as it may seem, we strive for independence at any cost. Human history teaches us that our thirst for freedom from even God-appointed human leadership has solely been quenched by the spilling of much blood.  Mahatma Gandhi is known to have said to British officials then controlling India that every man would prefer to be run by his own bad government that the good government of others. Whereas countries do have their own right to self-determination, in theology this principle translates in that mankind prefers to be led by his own distilled spiritual errors than by the Truth taught him by a God-appointed leadership.

The Father knows that we need leadership, that’s why He inspired Jethro to advise Moses to establish a council of elders. This council was to be called the ‘Court of Judgment’ or ‘bet-din’ in Hebrew. Authority was granted to individuals to help people find answers for their everyday questions, interpreting the Torah by the Torah. This council would later become the Sanhedrin.

Just as people today refuse to answer to any human authority, it is not hard to imagine that some of the Children of Israel resented that lower court in favor of the higher court: that of Moses (Torah). It is not hard also to imagine that a charismatic council member form this lower court would draw much attention to himself thus provoking unbalanced loyalties from the people. These problems with human leadership exist today, and they certainly existed then; we see them plenty in the Bible.

This is why these needed to be men known for their integrity; men from among the people who fear God, are trustworthy; men who hate a bribe; men to whom Moses would teach the statutes and the laws of God. Moses had the charge to teach them the way in which they must walk and what they must do (Exodus 18:20-21).

The disciples of the Master used the same blue-print to establish leadership in the Messianic congregations. At a time of crisis, they also established leaders to judge petty matters within the community (Acts 6:1). Again, as in the Horeb blue-print, these men were chosen for their integrity; men of good repute and full of the Spirit and of wisdom (Acts 6:3). Also, according to the same parameters, Paul established leadership over each and every congregation. Hear his advice to Timothy on how to choose congregational leaders: an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive … dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain … their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things (1 Timothy 3:1-12).

It is also noticeable that it was the people who chose these leaders who were afterward anointed and appointed by Moses or Paul.

LEADERSHIP IN THE KINGDOM!

Acts 6:3

Look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

Flabbergasted Jethro looks at Moses single-handedly dealing with every problem in the camp. He foresees problems, and even danger in that kind of leadership. Jethro conjectures that eventually people will learn to lean too heavily on Moses, and that His son-in-law will not last very long. At that rate, he will burn out quickly. Jethro, who is a spiritual leader in his own rights, suggests a lower court to be established to care for simpler cases. Moses would then share the load of leadership with others.

God’s leadership is not autocracy. In God’s Kingdom even a King has advisors, and a wise king leans on the council of his advisers as a cripple does on a cane. God’s style of government is not democracy either. The ‘will of the people’ is not supreme; the will of Hashem is! God’s government is usually made up of a leadership teamwork; a group of upright people elected by the congregation. It is to be no less than three people, so a tie vote between them is less likely. Also a man and his wife either tend to have a dominant party or they fan each other, so a couple generally does not provide a good balance for judgment. Also, no one person is perfectly well-rounded so this leadership teamwork should be composed of people exerting different views and ways of looking at things. They should also be filled with a spirit of humility so they can yield to each other’s counsel and advice.

We can see this pattern as God’s leadership all throughout the Scriptures. Even Yeshua used it. He did not keep the whole burden on Himself but established a group of disciples, who also went to preach, exhort, exorcise, and heal people. He even said that they will sit on twelve thrones judging the tribes Israel, so even Yeshua shared the responsibility of judgment. Peter and the disciples later followed that same example and asked the congregation to submit seven people that they could ordain as leaders (Acts 6:1-7). These forms of congregation leadership follow the ‘Jethro’ pattern, and if Yeshua Himself did it, why shouldn’t we?

The answers to that question are varied and can be scary. We will try to answer them in later articles. In the mean time, may God give us leaders, men and women of integrity whose sole desire is to do whatever needs to be done, either it be to step in or to step aside, that His Kingdom be established on earth as it is in Heaven.

THE GREATER PLAN

Revelations 11:15

“The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of Adonai, and of his Messiah; and he shall reign for ever and ever”.

As Moses arrived at Mt Horeb with the people of God, his Father-in-law Jethro pays him a visit. Jethro is not really his name. Jethro is a title defining a societal rank. The name of Moses' father-in-law was Reuel (The shepherd of God) (Exodus 2:18).

With Reuel’s visit, we realize the greater purpose for the Exodus program. Reuel was a descendant of Abraham through his third wife Keturah (Genesis 25: 1-2). It is recorded that Abraham gave that side of his descendance what is today called Saudi Arabia to settle in. It seems that they did not continue in the faith of Abraham but adopted the paganism of the area, thus we find Jethro, a descendant of Abraham as a pagan priest of Median.

Jethro witnessed the life of Moses as a seeker. Like Abraham in Ur, Moses was not satisfied with he had learned in Egypt (Hebrews 11:8-16; 24-28). Moses was not going to put up with the magic tricks of the Egyptian priests. He wanted the real thing. He searched for Hashem with all his heart; that’s why he found Him (Jeremiah 29:13). Jethro also was a seeker. He probably knew about the God of Israel but thought He was dead, or maybe asleep.

Whichever the case this God, this Creator of Heaven and earth, was on the verge of meeting all those who seek Him for all generations to come. He was about to make such a grand entrance on the scene of World History that it would not be forgotten for generations, not even until today.

As Jethro received knowledge of all God had done to Egypt i order to free His people, he returned to the faith of his ancestor Abraham. He said, Blessed be Adonai, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that Adonai is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people. And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to Hashem; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God. (Exodus 18:10-12).

A greater Exodus is coming. A time is coming when people will not say anymore, As Adonai lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but rather, Blessed be Adonai who brought back His people from all the nations where He scattered them (Exodus 16: 14-15). This will have the same effect as the first Exodus. Like Jethro, the whole world will then know that Hashem is the Lord of all the earth.

May it be soon Abba, even in our days!