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John 3:16
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son …" I have heard some who boast that they believe in obeying all the commandments in the Torah. It is a noble thing that we should try to be obedient, but we should also know that it is impossible. If it were, there would be no need for the twice daily offering of a lamb and for the Fall Feasts. Whereas the Torah requires our obedience, without condoning sin, it also provides for our human frailty. Divorce for example, whereas God is against it, guidelines are provided for it because of the hardness of our hearts. Whereas we appreciate God's mercy and compassion for our human state, it is important to keep them in their proper place, as to say that because of these accepted guidelines God condones divorce, would be like saying that because of the cities of refuge God condones murder (Deuteronomy 24:1-4; Mark 10:2-9; Numbers 35:6). On their claim that they obey all the Torah I like to ask people, "If it were legally permissible, would you stone your wife if you found her in an inappropriate relationship? Or should she stone you if you were the guilty one? Would you stone your son if he fit the bill for Deuteronomy 21:18-21? Even Jewish writings tell us that no one ever came to the Sanhedrin for the law of the rebellious son. Today though, not only it is illegal to personally claim and administer the death penalty on the sole basis of disobedience to Torah, but even if it were, the whole Torah procedure requires the presence of a legal Sanhedrin and of a Temple in Jerusalem. In the absence of such these laws, while not obsolete, are presently non-applicable. Some may heave a sigh of relief, but the absence of a legal Sanhedrin does not absolve us from judgment from Heaven as we read, whoremongers and adulterers God will judge (Hebrews 13:4). The law of the rebellious son may seem the most difficult law to observe especially when we look at it as a father towards his son. I personally like to change the perspective and look at it remembering that as a father, I am also somebody's son. I may not fit the bill where my earthly father can accuse me of being stubborn and rebellious; a glutton and a drunkard, but as far as my Heavenly Father is concerned, I do fit that bill and more. King David rightly commented, If you, O Adonai, should mark iniquities, O Adonai, who could stand (Psalms 130:3)? This law may seem harsh and condemning, but come to think of it, if God did not punish iniquity He would be unjust. Justice must be given its due to expunge iniquity; there is no other way. If not by us, by somebody else, and in this case this harsh justice is executed on Yeshua HaMashiach, the Obedient Son. If we were to be executed we would deserve it because we are guilty, but Yeshua was while He was innocent. His death therefore serves as atonement for the sinners that we are. In this case, we can say again that all the commandments tell us of the glory of God, even those that seem the most harsh and cruel. May Blessed be His Name.
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Philemon 1:18
"If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account." All the commandments teach us about God's character, about His sense of justice mixed with compassion. As we read about the law of the escaped slave we remember traditions about Eliezer, Abraham's servant (Deuteronomy 23:15-16; Genesis 15:2). It is said that Abraham found this escapee slave from Damascus nearly dying in the desert. Abraham took care of him and gave sanctuary but his owners came to ask for him. Abraham claimed that as long as Eliezer was in his camp he was bound to protect him. The customs concerning hospitality and protection of guests were very strong in those days. Abraham then bought Eliezer's freedom at a very high price, then freed him to do as he pleased. Eliezer then decided to remain as a servant to Abraham, a beautiful example of what the Master does for us. He frees us from our slave owner, but let's us serve him from our own free will. Contrary to what people think, Paul continued Torah observance, also honoring this command on the sanctuary of slaves in Israel. As he was in house arrest in Rome, an escapee slave from Colossi named Onesimus came to him. Paul tutored Onesimus and brought him to the knowledge of Yeshua. According to Paul's understanding of Torah, even though not technically in Israel, he represented Israel therefore Paul felt he should not return the slave to Philemon his owner. But Paul was also under Roman law, which demanded the return of escapee slaves to their owner. The situation was very delicate; what to do? Whereas the Torah forbade the returning of slave who found refuge in Israel, nothing forbade slaves from voluntarily returning to their owner. Paul knew Philemon, that he was a notable member of the community of believers in Colossi, and also a slave owner. In the letter to Philemon which we find in our apostolic Scrptures, Paul sends Onesimus who voluntarily returns to Philemon, with a letter from Paul asking for Onesimus' freedom. Ignatius later refers to an 'Onesimus' as a man of 'inexpressible love' and bishop of Ephesus. He who is not the servant of God is a slave of the enemy. This law of sanctuary for slaves shows us how as Onesimus did with Paul, when we run to the Jew Yeshua for refuge, He frees from the shackles of the enemy. He pays the high price for our redemption and all powers are subject to Him. Even if we have to return to the slave owner, he can own our body, but can never again own our soul! Luke 14:23
And the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. Abraham was known for his hospitality. He used to send his servant Eliezer search the wilderness for guests to bring to his table. Once there, Abraham served them a table that made them praise the God Creator of all things. This was his way to introduce people to God. If Eliezer came back empty handed, Abraham himself took off by the highways and byways compelling them to come in. When Moses watched over Jethro's flocks, one of his Father-in-law's sheep went missing. Moses immediately left the flock and did not return till he that lost sheep (however rebellious it as) and secured it back in the flock of his father-in-law. From His throne up above God saw the whole thing and decided that if Moses was so faithful with Jethro's flock, He could be assigned to Israel: His own flock. Weather these two mishnaic legends are true I do not know, but they certainly found their way as parables in the mouth of the Master. The Torah teaches us that we should return lost items (Deuteronomy 22:1-3). On the strength of this command, sages instituted that if you find something, you are to be the guardian over it until you find its owner and are able to restitute it. A story is told of an old Rabbi who found a bag of seed forgotten by a traveler on his property. The Rabbi found it secured it in his barn. After a year, fearing the seed would spoil he sowed the seed then harvested it and stored the proceeds in his barn. When later the rightful owner came to inquire about this lost bag of seed, the old Rabbi returned it with a profit. Even so, through year of bad politics and History, Israel has lost the identity of its Messiah. Christians on the other hand, have lost the Torah. We who have found the 'Seeds' of the Kingdom of true King of Israel and His Torah are responsible to return it to those who lost it. The seeds of Messianic Judaism have been sown into the world and produced a beautiful culture among those who practice it. The Master charged us to also go into all the world and make disciples of all nations Matthew 28:19). He taught us the virtue of leaving the ninety-nine behind to go rescue the one lost one (Matthew 18:12-14). He also told us to go by the highways and byways to compel them to come in (Matthew 22:9). After all, isn't it what He did? Hasn't he left the realm of glory by the side of the Father in order to walk our dusty roads and find us who were lost and wandering, that He may return us to His father, with a profit? 2 Timothy 2:13
If we are faithless, he remains faithful-- for he cannot deny himself. The study of the Torah is the study of God's character. Each commandment reveals to us His gracious and compassionate nature. Take for example the case of the commandments concerning the captured women. Pillage, loot, and rape have been the facts of war from the beginnings of time, but the soldier in God's army is to adhere to higher standards of ethics. He cannot use rape as a weapon. If he desires a woman from the loot, he is to first give her the comfort of mourning her parents, the dignity of marriage, and most of all: freedom. She is not a slave in his household and she cannot be sold once he is tired of her (Deuteronomy 21:10-14). In a sense, we are like that slave woman. God set out to 'capture' a people for Himself from the earth, a people through whom He will capture all of humanity for Himself. He first reveals His plan to Abraham using his life as a foreshadow of universal messianic redemption. Later, as the time matured, El-Shaddai actually goes to war. He bares His Mighty Arm and shows Himself strong to liberate her who would be His bride. He impresses her with valiant mighty acts and brings down her captors' power. Then He takes her to lonely place in the desert, reveals to her that He is a King with a great kingdom that will one day cover the earth as the waters cover the seas, and that He wants her to be His wife. He just saved her; He could take her just for the asking, but no: He asks her. She accepts. El-Shaddai then goes on to write a long 'Ketubah', called: the Torah (Exodus). Very soon El-Shaddai discovers that His beloved has a rebellious streak. She is stiff-necked and at times unfaithful. She is disobedient and constantly gets herself in trouble. He does not want to put her away so He punishes her but with measure always leaving behind a remnant for her as a ray of hope. We can see these principles at work in the story of Hagar. Hagar was a price from Pharaoh to Sarah, the wife of Abraham. When Hagar was found displeasing, she was sent away but not without a redemptive promise (Genesis 16 and 21). Even though we have broken our marriage contract many times, even though we are faithless and unbelieving at times, He remains faithful and through Mashiach He renewed for us the contract made, broken, and remade in Horeb. No He is has not rejected His people. He punished us but in measure always leaving for us a remnant so that our nation forever remains before Him as a chosen nation (Romans 11:1-5). Through our nation therefore He blessed the world with Messiah, a living representation of His compassion, the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature (Hebrews 1:3), therefore we cling to His mercy and compassion. May we then learn to be a faithful bride worthy of Him who shows such great strength, love, and compassion in our favor. The disciples of Yeshua of the fist century C.E. believed they would see the return of their Master in their lifetime or that of their children. In Emperor Nero and Domitian, they saw the Antichrists often spoken of by the prophets Daniel and Ezekiel, by Yeshua, Paul, and John. For that reason, much of Paul's writings are in the context of preparing the congregations of Messiah for evil days ahead.
Just like Messiah had His foreshadows in some of the patriarchs and prophets, the Antichrist has his foreshadows in the heads of world Empires and evil dictators of History. Whereas Nero and Domitian were not the 'Antichrist', they were foreshadows of him. Today, while we may not live under the 'Antichrist', maybe our children will, and if not them, maybe our grandchildren. Each year we celebrate the Fall Feasts which in Hebrew are called 'rehearsals'. The Fall Feasts speak of the time when the Messiah comes, when Yeshua will return. They are therefore rehearsals for that Blessed Day. In Judaism we do not try to figure out the date of the Messiah but are taught to be ready each year by preparing ourselves for it at the Fall Feasts, especially during the forty days preceding Yom Kippur, the most likely 'time' Yeshua will set His feet on the Mt of Olives. These forty days start with the first of Elul which was in this year's Gregorian calendar last 18th of September. If our grandchildren are to be ready, we better live lives that reflect that readiness in the sight of our children, so they will in turn teach their children, our grand-children. Paul gave to the Thessalonians congregation a readiness class in the form of a 'checklist' for that day. Oddly enough, unlike some to day who urge us to be ready, this 'checklist' did not have anything to do with self-preservation or survival such as changing money to gold, growing beans in their yard, or live outside the city in a self-contained environment. Paul's idea of preparation was first and foremost concerning inter-personal relationship, as well as their relationship with God. Here is what Paul said to prepare the congregations for that Day (my comments in italics): 1 Thessalonians 5 "Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you (You know the 'season' of the coming of Messiah: the Fall Feasts). For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of Adonai will come like a thief in the night (a Talmudic expression referring to Rosh Hashana, 10 days before Yom Kippur). While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief (you are enlightened by the knowledge and teachings of the Word about the Fall Feasts, so you will not be surprised like the others). For you are all children of light (light = knowledge), children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness (darkness = ignorance). So then;
Now the checklist continues:
Here is more instruction: Therefore:
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Master Yeshua HaMashiach. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. This was Paul's checklist for the Congregations to be prepared for the Day of Messiah. Remember these exhortations were given within the context of preparing the congregations for the imminent Day of Adonai. I think that if it was good for them, it must be good for us to use as a list to check our hearts during the next 40 days to prepare for Yom Kippur! Paul then added:
Acts 3:22-23
Moses said, 'Adonai will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.' After warning the people about false prophets, Moses tells Israel that they shouldn't try to get any prophetic messages from the spirit world through any sort of divination (Deuteronomy 13; 18:10-14). The patriarch then teaches the congregation of Adonai in the desert who they should go to for advice. He says that they should establish petite courts in every city and one higher court in Jerusalem for more difficult cases. The higher court carries the authority of life and death (Deuteronomy 17:8-13). Moses also says that they could have a king, but that he must be from their own midst and not a foreigner. This king has to write a Torah for himself to hold him accountable for every Word. The king of Israel is to be a Torah scholar (Deuteronomy 17:14-20). Then Moses reminds the people of the day when their fathers asked for a mediator between them and the majestic power on the Mount Horeb, something God agreed with. The patriarch tells them that God will give them a mediator in the form of a prophet; they are commanded to obey that prophet. This prophet is described by Moses as being, like unto him. Let's talk about that (Deuteronomy 18: 16-19). Moses is the one that God chose to lead the people into the truth of His Words. Disobedience and defiance to Him was fatal. If this prophet is to be like Moses, He also brings God's Words to people and defiance to him should be fatal. Moses spoke to God as a man speaks with his friend, face to face. The same should be of this prophet. John the Immerser, the Sadducees, Peter, and Stephen all spoke of Moses' 'prophet prophecy' as referring to the coming Messiah ( John 1:21-25; Acts 3:22; 7:37). This shows that people gave a messianic interpretation to the patriarchs' words. So when Moses says that we should listen (hear with the intention to obey) to that prophet, Moses gives us the commandment to listen to Yeshua. It is therefore a Torah command to be disciples of Yeshua as a divine authority, and since He is prophet 'like Moses', we should include His Words as Words of Torah. May we remember these things as we read the Words of the Master. He is the 'Prophet' as unto Moses; the Words of His mouth have the same validity as the Words of Torah. He Himself said, 'heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Words will never pass away'. John 11:49
"It is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish." From the blood of Abel, an innocent man assassinated by his own brother, humanity has been plagued with murders. According to Moses' instruction, a murder has to be atoned, and the only thing that atones it, is the blood of the person who shed it. It is not because of virtue awarded to vengeance, but because shed blood defiles the Land of Israel. The Torah even commands that the city living closest to a slain body takes vicarious responsibity for an unsolved murder (Deuteronomy 21:1-9; Numbers 35:33-34). When arriving in Canaan, the Children of Israel were to cleanse the land by ridding it of all the people who practiced idolatrous murders. Israel failed to obey that command which later became a snare to them. God then cleansed the Land by sending Judah to temporary exile not once but twice. We are now coming to the end of the second exile and an inhabited Israel probably has again unsolved murders on its hands. I do not know if religious authorities in Israel regularly clean the Land from unsolved murder, but we know that at Yom Kippur atonement is made on a national level. The Torah tells us that in the case of an unsolved murder, someone needs to take the responsibility. The Torahs suggest the ciy closest to the found corpse. We are taught an absolution ceremony which involves the decapitation of an heifer, its blood poured in a river, and city official washing their hands off the responsibility of the murder in the presence of priests. The Levites were to attend the ceremony because God had chosen them not only as religious, but also as judicial authorities (Deuteronomy 21:5). Justice is a religious matter, not civil, so in the Torah system, the priests are the religious and judicial authority. The role of the king is actually to enforce the rulings of the priests and of the Torah so you might say that in 'God's world' the administrative, judicial, and legislative branches of government come under the dictates of the Torah: a religious document. What I find amazing is that in a world where both innocent and guilty always try to claim their innocence, God teaches us the virtue of endorsing the guilt of a non-committed crime for the benefit of all. When Yeshua came, He taught that anger and character assassination were the seed of murder (Matthew 5:21-22), but He also Himself assumed responsibility for every unsolved murder in the world which makes us, humanity, responsible for His death, which He Himself atones for as Caiaphas made allusion to (John 11:49-50), and .the Talmud declares in, "The death of a righteous man atones for the sinner". May we always remember Yeshua who, though He did not sin, took responsibility for all our heinous murders to cleanse the Land with His own innocent shed blood that we may drink of the River of Life. Hebrews 11:24-26
By faith Moses, … considered the reproach of Messiah greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. One of the concerns with the Children of Israel appointing a king over themselves was that he may cause the people to return to Egypt (Deuteronomy 17:16). Because Egypt's agriculture did not depend on rain falls but on the yearly over flowing of the Nile, the country was rich and comfortable. That is why every conqueror wanted Egypt, including, Rome whose economy heavily relied on Egyptian goods. From the Exodus, Egypt had been a snare for the Children of Israel. The journey from Goshen to the Promised Land by way of the Mediterranean Sea is actually very short, but God took them in a way they could not return to Egypt even if they wanted to (Exodus 13:17-18). Time and again when the children of Israel grew dissatisfied, they wanted toreturn to Egypt. When they hungered they thought about the food of Egypt (Numbers 11:5); when they were scared to conquer the giants in the Land of Canaan, they wanted a leader to take them back (Numbers 14:4). But from the beginning The Mighty El-Shaddai forbade it. Some interpret this command as a forbiddance to make the journey from Israel to Egypt, but God Himself sent Yeshua and His family there to find protection from Herod. The idea of returning to 'Egypt' was much deeper than that. Several times when faced with wars and conquest, to God's great displeasure, Israel looked to Egypt instead of Him for strength and protection, trusting horses and chariots that they could see instead of the God they couldn't see; Israel may be facing the same lesson today (Isaiah 31:1-3; Jeremiah 42:15-16). Returning to Egypt has to do with trusting the world for survival instead of God. It also has to do with being dissatisfied, greedy, and desiring more than what the Father has wisely given us. It has to do with despising the prospects of the Promised Land for temporal personal comforts. 'Egypt' provided for the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. It was the 'world', so it has to do with 'love of the world' which is not of the Father (1 John 2:15-16). In the movie 'The Matrix', a man quits the mission on the Nebuchadnezzar and returns to the Matrix just because of food, even though he knows it is not even real; that is returning to Egypt. So when God says that Israel should not return to Egypt, he says, "just because you presently feel a little bit uncomfortable and you want to 'stuff your face' with better food, don’t return to the ways of the world". May we take sample from Moses who considered the reproach of Messiah greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. May we not look on a world with failing morals and economies for support and strength, neither compromise in order to benefit from their strong armies who can't protect us if God has not decreed it. It is our God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills who will fight for us (Psalms 50:10; Nehemiah 4:20)! John 1:21
"Are you the Prophet?" Deuteronomy 13:1-3 the congregation in the desert is taught to discern a false prophet in that he encourages the people to worship or serve other gods. The Torah is our Instruction on how to serve God but the false prophet tells people, in the Name of God, to do thing contrary to Torah, which is equal to serving other gods (Romans 6:16). Later, Moses instructs the children of the Children of Israel to not seek the will of God through diviners, fortune tellers, witches, or astrologers (Deuteronomy 18:9-14), but for matters too difficult for them, to establish judges and a Sanhedrin, and that they are supposed to listen to them (Deuteronomy 17:8-12). These are commandments. Later Moses gives people instructions on how to choose a king, even instructions for the king himself to obey. The king of Israel is to be subject to the Torah; when he is not, he makes Israel sin and serve other gods (Deuteronomy 17:14-17). In His Instruction through Moses, He Who makes Israel a nation tells us who is the prophet we should listen to once we are in the land. The main attributes given are "… a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers--it is to him you shall listen". Moses also informs the people that their ancestors who came out of Egypt had wisely that they could not hear God on their own; they elected wanted Moses as a mediator. God agreed and said, they are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18). It is important to notice here that any would be king of Israel also had to be "from among them" but in the days of the Master, there a non-Jewish king on the throne of Israel. Because Joshua opened the Jordan River as Moses opened the Red Sea, some conclude that this 'prophet' was Joshua, but when Sadducees came to see John by the Jordan River, they asked him, "Are you the Prophet (John 1:21)?". John later pointed to another one called Joshua, pronounced in Aramaic: Yeshua (John 1:29). In this Yeshua, Israel has found its prophet and king 'like Moses'. He is the true prophet who teaches us how to properly obey the Torah, and the true king who is Himself the copy of the Torah. Even though He had to temporarily return to the Father, He has not left us alone, but has established in His disciples a Sanhedrin we can, and should listen to (Matthew 16:16; Matthew 19:28). Living in an age of literacy, may we continually study and learn to obey the Instructions the Master and His disciples left behind that at His return, he might present the congregation to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27). Acts 6:3
Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. After the destruction of Jerusalem, two academies were formed in Israel; in Jerusalem that of the followers of the Rabi from Nazareth, and in Yavneh the school of Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zacchai. These two academies lived in mutual respect and acceptance. They had learned from the sectarian wars that became the downfall of Jerusalem. The first thing these two academies did was to establish leadership for their respective communities of disciples. They followed the instruction of Moses found in Deuteronomy 16:28 to appoint judges in all cities to be final authorities over disputes and matters of religious observance. This decision was essential to the preservation of their respective remnants. The chosen judges would be required to be honest and upright people from among the congregants. We can see from this that no-one ever believed that the Body of Messiah should be a disjointed federation of independent individuals but rather a synchronized cohesive group working under authority. Clerical leadership was actually the Father's idea because fathers know that kids don't do well without leadership. He also knows it is better for them to have bad leadership than no leadership at all! I consider one of the most pathetic verses in the whole Bible, In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6). Yeshua appointed His disciples as judges over Israel. They were to become the new Sanhedrin (Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:30). This is why Peter felt he did not have to answer to the old Sanhedrin: he was himself part of the Master's appointed Sanhedrin. It was not because he thought that human leadership was now obsolete (Acts 5:29)! That is also why Paul, who was very high in the old Sanhedrin, came to the disciples to check that he was on the right track in his mission (Galatians 2:2). Both Peter and Paul give us instructions on how to choose congregational leaders (Acts 6:3; 1 Timothy 3:1-13). The matter of clergy is very touchy for Americans. Other cultures are more willing to submit themselves to the Torah command to establish leadership. In the absence of appointed leaders though, we should be able to submit ourselves to the authority of the ones we know: Peter, James, and John who were apostles to the Jewish community of believers; and Paul, the apostle for the Gentile believers (2 Timothy 1:11). Their writings contain much relevant instructions concerning judicial and religious observance. One day the Master will return and He will help us to again observe this commandment to establish judges in all our cities. Many only want to listen to God, but how will one submit to God when he can't even submit to one made in the image of God? Even so, the Master came to us in the appearance of a man. He knows that just like sheep who cannot follow a man because he is not one of their own, we cannot follow God who is spirit. But like sheep who can follow the bell-weather (the big sheep with the bell who follows the shepherd everywhere he goes) we can follow Yeshua, our 'Bell-Weather'. The Son of man follows God, and we follow the Son of Man, who teaches us to appoint judges over ourselves. |
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