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1 Corinthians 8:4
… "an idol has no real existence,"… When Israel made the Golden Calf, they were not transferring their worship of Hashem to that of another deity. In their mind, they were still worshipping Adonai, albeit in a syncretized version. A literal translation of what Moses says in Exodus 32:4 reads: "this is your God Israel who brought you out of Egypt". They thought they could worship Adonai by the medium of something familiar, in this case the calf. Contrary to the claimed deities of the day, being the Creator of all things, the God of Abraham did not want to be represented through the mere medium of one His creations. Let's look at idolatry in religion today. While the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church are a mixed bowl of ancient Jewish Messianism and their respective pagan cultures, Western Protestantism seems to have has adopted a form of religion that is very reminiscent to Hellenic ascetism and transcendentalism, along with an anti-Biblical materialism philosophy that over glorifies independence, wealth, and prosperity over the virtues of generosity, humility, and a submissive spirit. There is also a form idolatry that empowers words of affirmation, astral bodies, and geometric shapes, through fear and acknowledgment. Hashem indeed created all languages, geometry, and the astral bodies, all in order to glorify Him (Revelations 4:11); that is why the enemy is intent on high-jacking creation for his own purposes. Witches today center their worship around new moons, and call some of their feast days ‘Sabbaths’. Does it mean that we should stop obeying God’s commandment to sanctify the new moon and remember the Sabbath just because the devil perverted these things (Numbers 29:6; Exodus 20:8)? Should we stop recognizing God’s Holy Days just because pagans also have special days (Colossians 2:16)? In the Bible God used a brazen snake on a pole to heal His people. They were told if they just gaze at it they will live. Several hundred years later, a Judean King Josiah had to destroy it because people had made it an object of worship (Numbers 21:8; 2 Kings 18:4). As a French-born naturalized American, as long as I am on American soil the laws of France cannot affect me. In the same manner, when we renounce allegiance to the enemy, as long as we remain on spiritual God’s territory, none of the devil’s trinkets have power over us. Idols, astral bodies, and geometric shapes only have the power we allot them through fear or ignorance. Judaism teaches that when we use an element of creation for the glory of God we capture it from the hands of the enemy to the glory of God. Wood can make an idol, but also an Ark to house a Torah scroll. Metal can make money, the love of which is the source of all evil, but it also can be fashioned into a head piece to crown the King of Kings. Mathematics, Geometry, physics and astronomy are all related as sciences proving God’s ownership of creation. It is high time we recapture God’s creation and give it back to him, along with our own hearts, minds, souls, and spIrits.
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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)? Revelations 14:1
Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had His name and His Father's name written on their foreheads. Moses gives a stern warning to the Children of Israel concerning the alternative spiritual influences they will find in Canaan. Remember, not only this generation of Israelites hadn't seen Pharaoh, the plagues, and the crossing of the Red Sea, but they lived in God's hands of provision and protection. That's all they knew. As home-schoolers, my wife and I taught our kids in a spiritually controlled environment. When they grew older and went into the world by themselves, they were faced with unfamiliar elements and had to make choices as to where they stood about things. It was tough for them and they made some mistake. So we sent the last one part-time to High-School while he was still with us. He could then be faced with some of these unfamiliar issues while at home when we could coach him through some of that. It was the same for the children of Israel. As they would enter the land, not only they would be faced with alternative spiritual forces, but the Father would also withdraw some of His provision and protection. No more manna, protective cloud at night, or column of fire during the day. Also, no more free water from the Rock. It is graduation time; they will now have to depend on their army for protection, on their agricultural skills for survival, and on hard work for water and irrigation. My youngest just graduated and turned eighteen; we are putting him through some of that reality, and he doesn't like it too much. Some Jewish sages speculate that that was really the reason why the first generation of children of Israel in the desert didn't want to go in the Land in the first place. Moses says, You must destroy all the places where the nations you are dispossessing served their gods … Break down their altars …. Exterminate their name from that place But you are not to treat Adonai your God this way (Deuteronomy 12:2-4)." It is from this command that is derived the prohibition to erase God's Name, therefore the 'fence' not to write or pronounce it in a common manner. Whereas we need to treat the place where His name is written, and even books which display the Sacred Name with honor and respect, there is also another place. In his vision on the Isle of Patmos John reports seeing, 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads (Revelations 14:1). As believers, His Name is sealed on our foreheads, and in our hearts, it is therefore incumbent upon us to treat all those with His Name on their foreheads and hearts with utter honor respect lest we deface the place where His Name is written. May we not be found guilty of hypocrisy by showing honor to temporal books and buildings while defacing His Name in our brother or sister's eternal soul! Maybe that is why Yeshua said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39)." 1 Corinthians 8:4
We know that "an idol has no real existence," and that "there is no God but one." Moses continues preparing the children of the Children of Israel to enter the Land. He gives them commandments such as what to do with the idolatrous temples, about the jubilees, and instructions concerning worship. These are all 'Land' relevant and do not necessarily apply in the Diaspora. We must be wise with this commandment though. In Asian countries people have in their houses statues of gods. In Thailand people hang 'spirit houses' on their walls with a statue or a picture inside. In front of it is a little platform to place a bill or a fruit symbolizing an offering. People pray towards it. These people use these things as religious objects. When I came to America, I saw people use 'spirit houses' as garden decorations. People who travelled even use statues or symbols of African or Asian gods as decorations. They are probably atheists, or believers with poor discernment in their choice of art, but they do not use these statues as objects of veneration. Many youth in the West use the 'Ying-Yang' sign not knowing that it is a Taoist symbol. We must be careful with symbols. We can't condemn every household with a symbol we consider idolatrous. Symbols are nothing in themselves; they travel through time and cultures and only reflect the power WE give them: what they mean to us. The cross that reminds you of Messiah to us is a symbol of persecution, even to a believing Jew. We must always consider what is called: 'kavanah', or 'intent'. A person could adorn themselves with the right 'symbols', clothing, and linguo, yet have an idolatrous heart, and vice-versa. In the ancient world, people used trees, rocks, semi-precious stones, silver, and gold as objects of veneration. Today the rainbow is a symbol for homosexuals. Do all these things represent the identity we give them? Satanic cults use five pointed-stars in their rituals; is every star then a pentagram? Sadly, this what happened to the Six-Pointed Star. Christian Anti Semitism really started with Roman hatred of Israel and Domitian's efforts to exterminate the House of David. This anti-Semitism transferred to the Roman Catholic Church in the crusades, the Inquisition, Martin Luther, the writing of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and eventually the Holocaust. The favored propaganda tool was (and still is) to associate Judaism and its symbols with all kinds of satanic evil. This developed into the still lingering image of the conspirator Jew, personified by an evil Star of David, taking over the world. There might have been Jewish bankers with an agenda, but to justify condemnation of a race or religion on the basis of the actions of some is the prelude to racism and bigotry. The six-pointed star is used today by many organizations, Jewish and not. It is even used by Satanists and some proclaim it to be the Mark of the Beast of Revelations. It is very clever and the resurgence of these lies could bring about a persecution bigger than the Holocaust, again by Christians swallowing these lies and viewing Jews as the enemy. Will History repeat itself? Paul addressed the issue of idolatry, He said, we know that "an idol has no real existence (1 Corinthians 8:4)". Luke 22:46
"Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation." The first chapters of the Book of Leviticus teach us about the importance of offerings as means of approaching God. In the forty-third chapter of Isaiah, God complains that Israel has become weary of Him; that His people give their attention to idols of metal, stone and wood, and that when it come times to serve Him, they are not available. They are like a spouse who has become bored in their relationship with their lover. The Sages of Israel put it this way: A man stands engaged in his business transactions all day long without growing weary, but when it is time to pray to Me, then he is too weary. A man stands engaged in his business transactions all day long without getting weary, but if his friend says to him, “come and pray”, he replies that he is not able to do so. A man will sit all day long without getting tired, but as soon as he gets up to say prayers he feels tired. A man will sit all day long without growing drowsy, but as soon as he sits down to study he feels drowsy. (Lamentations Rabbah chapt 10; Ester Rabbah 4:8). I am a married man of thirty two years. My wife and I have raised 6 children. One thing we have learned is that it takes work to keep a marriage relationship alive and interesting. One of the best marriage advice I ever received is, “Your wife loves God, so become the man God wants you to become and your wife will fall in love with you; she will fall in love with the Spirit of God within you”. I think it works both ways. A man who loves God will also fall in love with the Spirit of God in his wife. In the case of Israel and God, I think that God does not fail to keep things exciting for us. The problem was that Israel got its eyes off Adonai and distracted by the false glitter of idols. Today idolatry is not such a problem, but distraction is. If we feel that God is not enough, maybe we do not invest ourselves enough in the elements of our relationship with Him. Our eyes are somewhere else, on the world, instead of focused on the things He has for us. May we learn to return to Him; to say with the psalmist, light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death (Psalms 13:3); My eyes are ever toward the LORD, for he will pluck my feet out of the net (Psalms_25:15). 1 Corinthians 8:4
… "an idol has no real existence,"… When Israel made the Golden Calf, they were not transferring their worship of God to the worship of another deity. In their mind, they were still worshipping the Lord, albeit in a synchretized form (Exodus 32:4: the Hebrew says: this is your God who brought you out of Egypt). They just associated their Almighty God with the image of something familiar, in this case the calf, one of the gods of Egypt, which happened to also be prevalent in Canaan. This is what made the God of Abraham different from any of the claimed deities of the day, being the Creator of all things, He did not want to be represented through the mere medium of one His creations. Religion today is guilty of very much the same sin. As Catholicism and the Eastern Orthodox Church are a mixed bowl of ancient Jewish Messianism with their respective pagan cultures, Protestantism has adopted a form of religion that is very reminiscent to Hellenist ascetism, transcendentalism, along with an anti-Biblical capitalistic philosophy that glorifies independence, wealth and prosperity. There is also a form idolatry that glorifies words, astral bodies and geometric shapes, giving them power through acknowledgment. God created all languages, geometry, and the astral bodies, all in order to glorify Him (Revelations 4:11). That is why the enemy is intent on high-jacking creation for his own purposes. Witches today center their worship around new moons, and call some of their feast days ‘Sabbaths’. Does it mean that we should stop obeying God’s commandment to sanctify the new moon and remember the Sabbath just because the devil perverted these things (Numbers 29;6; Exodus 20:8)? Should we stop recognizing God’s Holy Days just because pagans also had special days (Colossians 2:16)? In the Bible God used a brazen snake on a pole to heal His people. They were told if they just gaze at it they will live. Several hundred years later, a Judean King Josiah had to destroy it because people had made it an object of worship (Numbers 21:8; 2 Kings 18:4). As a French-born naturalized American, as long as I am on American soil the laws of France cannot affect me. In the same manner, having renounced allegiance to the enemy, as long as we remain on spiritual God’s territory, none of the devil’s trinkets have power over us. Idols, astral bodies, and geometric shapes only have the power we allot them through fear or ignorance. Judaism teaches that when we use an element of creation for the glory of God we capture it from the hands of the enemy. Wood can make an idol, but also an Ark to house a Torah scroll. Metal can make money, the love of which is the source of all evil, but it also can be fashioned into a head piece to crown the King of Kings. Mathematics, Geometry, physics and astronomy are all related as sciences proving God’s ownership of creation. It is high time we recapture God’s creation and give it back to him, along with our own hearts, minds, souls, and sprits. Philippians 1:27
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the Besorah of Mashiach. The Text of the Hebrew Scriptures in Deuteronomy 12 tells us about the reverencing of the Name of God. When the Children of Israel entered the Land, they were to shun all forms of idolatry. God told them to tear down pagan temples and sites, burn trees used for worship, destroys groves; in a sense, to obliterate the name of pagan gods before establishing Hashem’s Name in the Land (Deuteronomy 12:1-4). They were told specifically that they were not to worship Hashem in the way these nations worshipped their idols (Deuteronomy 12:4). This wasn’t meant to be a worldwide campaign against idolatry; these commands were only incumbent to the Land of Canaan the Children were soon to possess (Deuteronomy 12:1). To establish Hashem’s Name on the Land meant to establish His character, His ways defined in the Torah, His culture, and His authority. To obliterate the names of idols was to consequently obliterate their character, ways, culture, and authority. The nations had not yet been introduced to Hashem, so they were allowed to worship other gods like the sun, the moon, and the stars (Deuteronomy 4:19), it wasn’t necessarily a sin to them since they didn’t know any better; it is the way they did it that was despicable unto Adonai (Deuteronomy 12: 30-32). In order to keep Israel as far away as possible from any of the vile idolatrous practices of the Canaanites, God gave very specific instructions as to how He should be honored and worshipped. This teaches us that religion without the instruction of Torah leads to idolatry. As soon as they were in the Land,, they were to implement them in a very detailed manner, and not live according to their own thinking anymore (Deuteronomy 12: 8-11). Of course, the place where God would write His Name would not be fully revealed until the days of King David who purchased the piece of land where the Temple should later be built (2 Samuel 24), a place established by divine decree long before. There is another place where the Father writes His Name: our hearts (Numbers 6:22-27). Yeshua also declares Hashem’s Name in us by revealing to us His character, His ways, His culture, and His authority (John 17:26). As the Children of Israel were to ensure the sanctity of the Name by cleaning the Land of all forms of idol-worship, we should also make sure that the Name of God is sanctified in our hearts by cleansing ourselves from any selfish and proud ways that don’t testify of His presence in us. To claim holding His name while denying it though our daily walk renders us worse than the pagan who doesn’t even know God. This is what Yeshua had against the Pharisees; not their teachings, but their practices. They didn’t walk their talk (Matthew 23:2-3), which is the essence of hypocrisy. Let us not be the same, and may we learn to sanctify God’s name, not just in verbal praises, but in deed and in truth from our hearts. 1Peter 5:5
Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." When the Children of Israel entered Canaan, their Almighty God asked them to sanctify the land from all forms of idolatry. They were to ruthlessly and zealously destroy temples, shrines and groves; even sacred trees were to be cut down and burned. If there is anything God is intolerant of, it is idolatry. He is indeed a jealous God who does not allow us to have divided loyalties. It is important to notice though that this commandment specifies ‘In the Land’ and ‘in that place’ (Deuteronomy 12:1-3). It is therefore not incumbent on us to start destroying and defacing idolatrous structures that are not in Israel The only other place where it is pertinent for us to rid ourselves of idols and idolatrous practices is our hearts, and by extension, our homes. The difficulty with that is that it is often much easier to see the idolatry on others that it is in ourselves. Our nature is such that we have a natural tendency to mercifully analyze and rationalize ourselves to ourselves. To see our own lifestyle in its proper perspective requires the same instrument as the one we use to see if our face is clean: a mirror. And in the case of our lifestyle, the ‘mirror’ is the Torah (James 1:23-24). Religion defined by Torah lifestyle is clean from idolatry, but religion away from Torah becomes idolatrous. The other problem is that Torah today is in the form of a written text. One’s culture usually defines his worldview and perspective, which in turn defines his understanding of any written text. To see ourselves as we truly are therefore takes the ‘mirror’ of Torah, but in the form of a brother or a sister (Proverbs 27:17). This brother or sister whom the Holy Spirit will use and speak through in the same manner it spoke through Balaam’s donkey (Numbers 22:28) is usually someone just like ourselves who sees the wrong in us more than in himself. This alls makes for a perfect match because it also requires us to learn submissive humility, which in itself is a pertinent exercise against stubborn and prideful and therefore idolatrous rebellion (1 Samuel 15:23). Many of us don’t mind if God descends from His Great Place to talk to us in a vision or a dream about our problems (that actually feeds our pride), but He usually doesn’t do that; most of the time, He likes to use the agency of an imperfect brother or sister. This reminds me of Naaman, the leprous Syrian general. First, his wife’s young Jewish slave advised him to seek healing from Elisha, the prophet in enemy country. When he arrived there (having first tried to see the king), Elisha would not even see him; he just sent his servant to tell him to go bathe in the dirty Jordan River. Proud Naaman took offense to the whole thing. It is again his own servant who had to bring him to his senses (2 Kings 5). May we learn to look in the Torah in our brothers and sisters. May we, as the apostle says, ‘be quick to hear, slow to speak (James 1:19). 2 Peter 2:15
Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, The story of Balaam in the Book of Numbers leaves many details up to the reader. Aside from the donkey arguing with his master and Balaam seemingly being punished while obeying, we also have to wrestle with this man who, being a non-Israelite well sought after sorcerer, also related to the God of Israel as ‘Adonai my God’ (Numbers 22:18). Who then is Balaam? We have here the perfect example of a polytheist who adheres to a large spectrum of deities. Balaam is probably an expert in the mysticism of the day, keeping tabs on all current religious news and fads, including the fresh stories coming from Egypt of a Jewish Egyptian shepherd who brought an empire to its knees along with its pharaoh and princes. Whatever is not told us in the Hebrew Scriptures about Balaam is indicated by the writers of the apostolic Scriptures, John (Revelations 2:14), Jude (Jude 1:11), and Peter (2 Peter 2:15). These writers all had inside info from other Jewish texts and they all looked at Balaam as a ‘prophet with profit’, the typical picture of the importunate mercantile religious man who transforms religion into a business venture. Sad to say, looking at it in that light, we can see how today from East to West, religion has given way to many ‘Balaams’, who with elitist profit in mind, run their offices in a corporate manner, with the same ethics and understanding of a business. While this is bad enough, there seems to be an even worst factor in this story. Balaam called the Lord ‘Adonai my God’. We therefore here have a man who calls upon the Name of the Adonai, who confesses with his mouth the God Creator of heaven and earth, the God of Israel as his God, but who is also a renown sorcerer on his way to curse Israel, the people of God. Can all who seem to make the beautiful confession be trusted? Obviously not, especially when godly works do not accompany godly confession. Through the last two millennia, Jews who believe in Yeshua have seen many ‘Balaams’ in Christianity. People, including many of those who are called today ‘Church fathers’, who while confessing to believe in Yeshua the King of the Jews, the Messiah sent from He who is the God of Israel, found it their duty to malign and persecute the Jews whom God said He will restore along with their country Israel, when the time of the gentiles (non-Jews) is fulfilled; when Jerusalem is no more trampled by the nations (Luke 21:24), but is again under Jewish authority (1967?). May we learn from the story of Balaam and take upon ourselves the rebukes from John, Jude and Peter, checking our hearts for spiritual inconsistencies. Matthew 6:10
… on earth as it is in heaven. When Moses met Adonai on the mountain he received the following instructions, And let them (the Children of Israel) make me (Adonai) a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it. And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain (Exodus 25:8-9, 40). Moses was the first Biblically recorded prophet to have seen God’s throne room and God required that the Children of Israel build His earthly Sanctuary exactly as Moses saw it on the Mount. If we want to understand Heaven and our relationship with the Almighty, all we have to do is ponder on the picture of Israel’s encampment around the Tabernacle and on the Tabernacle Itself. In essence, the Children of Israel were building Heaven on earth. The dimensions and instructions to build this Tabernacle were very specifics (Exodus 35). This teaches us that God didn’t leave it up to us to decide how to worship and love Him. Of course we are free moral agents, but even as Yeshua said, our love for Him, as well as our unification to Him are measured by our obedience (John 15:10). Spirituality outside of Torah always leads to idolatry and paganism. Torah teaches us the definition and structure of worshipping God; it creates a structure and shape for spirituality to fill. In their attempt to bring divinity into their midst without the parameters of Torah, the Children of Israel built an idol, and rather than bring God close to them, they repulsed Him. Here is something to think about now: how often do we see the same dynamic at work among believers who earnestly desire after God, but pursue Him outside of the good laws of His revealed word? We would like to think that God doesn’t care how we love Him as long as we love Him, but these instructions on how to do so are a testament to the opposite. My wife and I run a small school and youth programs from our house. I have certain behavior rules concerning attitude, language, and general comportment that kids have to uphold while they are within the parameters of my property. I expect them to obey me if they want to benefit of what I have to offer them. They cannot argue with my rules telling me that their parents or their neighbor allows them to do certain things that I don’t. I tell them it is, ‘My house, my rule!’ I guess God is like any father on earth. He establishes the rules and parameters of His Kingdom and anyone living in it has to live by them or incur His displeasure. May we today learn to love the Father as He intended us to do it. Certain things may still be difficult to understand, but the Father in His indulgent love has sent Yeshua to help answer much of our questions. Yeshua in turn has allowed His apostles to give us many specifics on how to live a Torah lifestyle. May we spend our lives living by them and in so doing, build Heaven on earth. |
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