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John 14:8
"Adoni, show us the Father,” The Children of Israel blew it. Impatient for the return of Moses they make themselves a god of gold. They did not transfer their loyalty to an idol of gold. Unfamiliar with the idea of an unseen god with no image or temple, they concretized the unseen One who had qualified Himself by taking them out of Egypt into the similitude of a calf. Hashem seems to have an issue with identity theft. Israel played the harlot during her betrothal so God calls off the wedding. The first covenant made at Sinai is already broken. Israel, the bride is technically allegeable to the death penalty. Justice is an invariable concept. When justice is not paid, we give way to injustice and God cannot be found to be unjust. Justice has to be given its due but here where Moses found a legal loophole: it doesn’t matter by whom it is paid. In this case, Moses negotiates with Hashem. Moses drives a hard bargain. Knowing that the Father wants to destroy Israel but that he also himself found favor in the sight of God, Moses places himself on the side of Israel. He stops talking in 'I', ‘You’, and ‘them’ terms, but uses ‘we’, and ‘You”. Therefore if God kills Israel, He has to also kill Moses. Moses saves the day by identifying himself with Israel, by putting his own life on the line alongside Israel. As a result, by the righteousness of one, the whole nation is saved. This is a very important concept foreshadowing Messiah’s mission. Having heard Moses’ pleas, Hashem rewards his sacrificial stand and shows His True compassionate nature by renewing the broken covenant. It will be the same covenant but renewed, not a new covenants such, this 'renewed covenant' (brit Chadasha) carries the same terms as the first one. Hashem does so because of His own character and desire. In the third chapter of the Book of Exodus, as the Almighty Creator of the Universe reveals His identity to Moses,. He uses the words “HEHIYEH ASHER HEHIYEH”, or “I Will Be That I Will Be” (Exodus 3), which means something to the essence of “I Am the Eternal Existential Being and I keep Covenant Forever’. In Exodus thirty-four, Hashem continues revealing His identity. He does so using a list of thirteen attributes. These attributes represent the Father’s compassionate nature and are a central motif in Jewish liturgies. Because Hashem is forgiving and compassionate, there will be a wedding in Horeb after all. It is so funny that so many people think that divine grace and forgiveness is something our Master Yeshua brought, and that it didn’t exist before. Yeshua’s grace was only a reflection of the Father’s never-changing willingness to atone and forgive. Yeshua came to show and represent the Father's eternal comapssion to us. Do we forget that it is actually God who so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16)?
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2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. Moses convenes the whole congregation of the children of the Children of Israel who came out Egypt. He calls in the tribes' heads, the elders, the officers, all the men of Israel. Moses also includes the little ones, the wives, the sojourners, or strangers who live with Israel. Each human soul of the Sinaitic congregation is to stand alone before its Maker and be made personally responsible for the terms of the covenant (Deuteronomy (29: 10-12). The people are to understand the resultant blessings for obedience, and the retributions for disobedience. Moses' lecture betrays his insight into the future. It is as if he could predict Israel's apostasy, two exiles, and overall future spiritual condition. Moses especially warns of the cynic, he who thinks he can ignore the covenant terms and get away with it. He says, Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from Hashem our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, 'I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.' This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. Hashem will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of Hashem and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and Hashem will blot out his name from under heaven (Deuteronomy 29: 18-20). The Book of Hebrews alludes to this verse in, See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled (Hebrews 12: 15-16). This idea flies in the face of those who comfort themselves with an erroneous idea of 'grace', of a 'grace' which through a clever perversion of the enemy becomes the gate for un-retributed licentious living, a 'grace' where a man says to himself, "I need not to fear sin; there is no condemnation for me; I am forgiven". The 'Son' who teaches this is certainly not the 'Son' of the Father who spoke the words in Deuteronomy 29: 10-12 (2 Thessalonians 2:3; John 3:16)! 'Grace' as implied in the Apostolic Scriptures is of a different nature. Paul, the Jewish apostle defines the Hebrew word, 'chesed' translated as 'grace' in English texts. He says, God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8). In other words, Grace is given to us that we may abound in every 'good work' which in the mouth of the apostle refers to 'every mitzvah', which in turn refers to 'every commandment'. Grace therefore is given to us that we may have the love, strength, and power to be obedient, not to be forgiven for being disobedient. There is a place in the Torah for making the proverbial slate clean, but this is not the idea of grace. May His grace help us abound in those 'mitzvot' (commandments) which we fail the most in, those Messiah claimed to be the weightier matters of Torah such as love, mercy, humility, temperance, unity, and gratefulness. Hebrews 12:15
See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; In their wonderings from Egypt to Canaan, our fathers learned to become a new nation. Birthed in a worldwide culture of idolatry they learned to become a people with a sense of morality and humanity: Hashem’s people,. They learned that both good and evil has consequences and retribution not only in the sight of man, but in the sight of God, and that He is the One who establishes what is justice and righteousness. One of Moses main point as he readies the people to enter the Promised Land is that being God’s people does not absolve us from the punishment of sin; that to the contrary, adoption into God’s Kingdom legally binds us to His rulings. Moses especially warns against the rationalization of sin. He says, Beware lest there be among you a man or woman … whose heart is turning away today from the LORD our God … Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, … saying, 'I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.' … The LORD will not be willing to forgive him, … (Deuteronomy 29:18-20). Many years later, the apostle uses the same imagery to warn the Israeli Messianic community of believers about the dangers of disobedience and sin (Hebrews 12:15-16). Many seem to have an erroneous idea of ‘grace’. They see God’s abundant grace as some sort of divine unswerving ability to forgive our sins and wickedness. Any would be deity who absolves iniquity, sin and injustice without proper recompense and retribution is certainly not the God of Israel (Deuteronomy 29:20), and neither is he the god that Yeshua claims to be one in spirit and principle with (John 17:11). The Corinthians’ congregations had a difficult time pulling out of their Hellenistic sensual culture. They often argued with Paul trying to rationalize sin and disobedience, especially along the lines of sexual immorality. They had a hard time to obey so to them Paul explained the purpose of God’s grace. He said that, God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8). The expression ‘good works’ is not solely referring to charity and good deeds. It is the Hebrew word ‘mitzvah’ which refers to the commandments. It refers to charity, but only in the context that charity and good deeds are commandments from the Torah. The ‘grace’ given to us is like an extra ‘boost’ from the Holy Spirit to help us obey God’s commands such as charity and good deeds, but also the other ones. Grace therefore has nothing to do with forgiveness and absolution, but everything to do with the ability to obey God’s commandments. In fact, if we claim to have the grace of God, we even take away our excuse for disobedience. May Hashem help us in properly evaluating our lives. May He deliver us from the evils caused by the rationalization of sin. May He give us His abundant grace that we may please Him through our obedience towards His will and commandments. Philippians 2:13
For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. As they readied to enter the Promised Land, Moses addresses this second generation of Israelites from Egypt. He reminds the people of all that happened during the last forty years of wondering. He debriefs them on all the lessons learned and on how not to repeat the same errors. Knowing that he will not enter the land, this was Moses’ departing address. Promises of wealth, prosperity, fertility and military victories fill this address, promises that all hang on one phrase, “Because you listen to these rules and keep and do them” (Deuteronomy 7:12). From this we can define the role of Torah in our lives. Our fathers in the desert had already experienced salvation from Egypt and entered a relationship with El-Elyon, the Almighty God on the Mount. They had been chosen not for their goodness and works but because of the promises God made to their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Deuteronomy 9:5). The Hebrew word translated as ‘grace’ is ‘chesed’, which means: covenant loyalty. We have a God who, unlike man, keeps His promises and doesn’t repent from them. The covenant was ‘cut’; they were the redeemed on their way to the land God calls His Own. The Torah was simply the contract on how to live and prosper in that Land. If they kept it, they would prosper in it, if they disobeyed it, He would take them out. Was it good news or bad news? It was both. If our success is to be measured by our obedience we are all doomed as we are desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). As human, not only do we need to be shown the way, but we also need someone to walk it for us, and we have it: Yeshua our Mashiach. True, some people seem more virtuous than others. Some rationalize stealing in business while others keep their integrity; some lie while other’s word is as good as gold; some easily break promises (especially in marriage) while others wouldn’t dare; some are proud while others humble; some use bad language while other’s mouths are clean. All these virtues though have nothing to do with any personal goodness of our own. They are solely the results of the indwelling of the Spirit of the Almighty within us, which is given to us though the atonement of our Adon Yeshua. This was the promise that was given to the people at the Mount that He will walk ‘within’ us. Take that Presence away from us and we are again as wicked as the most wretched criminal on the planet. When Yeshua walks within us, He is the shield that in a way ‘blinds’ the Father to our iniquities. In the Name of His virtuous sinless life we are redeemed and it is because none of our own works. No matter how much we try to obey Torah, because of our wicked human nature we will always fail. We need the atonement of the Righteous One, of the Tzaddik Yeshua as they say in Hebrew, to intervene between us and the Father. All Abba sees then is the atonement of the Master for us, and it is this grace which then gives us the ability to perform the ‘good works’, the obedience of Torah ( Titus 2:11-14; Eph 2:10). |
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