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1 Corinthians 13:12
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. Measure for measure is so real. So much of what happens to us is the returning of our own actions. The dish life serves us often proceeds from the kitchen of our own cooking. The harvest we reap is surely the result our own sowing. By this standard a man’s life is easily assessed and his character revealed. If someone has many friends, he must have been friendly. If others are generous with him, he must have been sharing. By the same token, if someone finds the heart of others like desert sand or a sky of brass, closed to his needs and pleas, maybe he lived his life as selfishly as a closed book. We are all too often to blame for the hell we create with our own two hands. Jacob deceived his father Isaac by concealing his identity, several years later Jacob becomes victim of the same as Laban conceals Leah’s identity in the nuptial chamber. This would result in a family’s sibling rivalry that would cause Leah’s children to later try to kill Joseph. Joseph would later trick them by concealing his identity, appearing to them as an Egyptian viceroy (Genesis 40-45). When Leah’s children headed by Judah returned from pasture with the news about Joseph, Judah showed Jacob the ‘hard evidence’ of Joseph’s bloody coat to prove their case. Judah used the Hebrew words, ‘haker-nah’, meaning ‘Please, recognize these’. Many years later, Judah would be tricked and exposed by his own daughter-in-law using the very same words, ‘Haker-nah’. These must have pieced his heart as he remembered the treachery of lying to his own father (Genesis 37:32; 38:25)! The concealing identity theme is a common one throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. Kings, queens and prophets used it, sometimes even under God’s own purpose. It could even be said that today Messiah hides His Jewish identity from both Israel/Jacob, and the Gentiles. To the Western world He conceals His Jewish identity appears and appears to them as a Westerner, thinking and dressing, eating and living as they do. This in turn makes Him unrecognizable to His people. But as with Joseph with His brethren, the day will come when Yeshua will throw off His ‘Egyptian garb’ and say to them, “I am Yeshua, your brother” (Genesis 45:3). At that time Yeshua will show the whole world who He really is: the King of the Jews. He will also reap the harvest of His own labor and doing. At that time He will reunite Rachel and Leah’s family (the whole twelve tribes) under one banner (Ezekiel 37), and rule over the whole world from His throne in Jerusalem (Revelations 19 and 20). In this day and in the World to Come we will each reap the harvest of the actions of our lives. What will it be for you?
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Luke 14:33
So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. It was after that famous Pentecost when the Shekinah appeared on the disciples of the Master anointing them for the task at hand of revealing the Master to the whole world. Many of those who had come from abroad to Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost decided to stay and learn from those who lived closed to the Master (Acts 2). To financially support the fledgling Nazarene movement, the Jerusalem disciples adopted a Kibbutz type of lifestyle (Acts 2:44-45; 4:13). Barnabas was the first to set the example setting his enormous fortune at the feet of the disciples. He received great honor for that! Those like Barnabas who gave all became destitute, but having nothing left, they had access to the common pot. It was not a communistic forced sharing of wealth; it was a voluntary work of love for the sake of the community. I heard it said one time that the difference between what the early Jerusalem believers did to survive and what is called 'Communism', is that the Communist says, "What's your is mine and I will take it at the point of a gun", but the Master's disciple says, "What's mine is yours and I will share it with you because I love you". Like the Master suggested, in general, the disciples adopted the 'word of honor' system. People were bound by their word not by vows or swearing to give all (Matthew 5:37). People declared by their own word of honor that this was all their possessions, and thereby had access to the common pot. No one came to check that what they laid at the apostle's feet was actually the sum total of their wealth. Asking someone to bind their word by swearing as suggested in Numbers 30:2 denotes of a certain lack of trust in one's integrity, and lack of trust is never healthy in any type of relationship. That is why I never understood prenups: right away it shows you don't trust each other! Why even get married? Ananias and Sephira decided to use this system of trust to their own advantage. They were going to pretend to share all and thereby have access to the common pot, but in actuality, they kept a hidden reserve. This was wrong in so many ways but mostly of breaking and taking advantage of the principle of trust built on the word of honor system. It was lying and in this case the same as breaking an oath. The Father saw through their wicked heart and executed them as they faced the disciples (Acts 5: 1-11). We may look at Ananias and Sephira with disgust wondering how one could do such things. In the same manner though, discipleship to the Master implies a promise to give all (Luke 14:33). It is not right when two partners decide to share all but one keeps a reserve. Yeshua gave His all, so likewise we owe Him our all. When we come to the Master with our lives, everything must be on the table. If we have 'reservations', He will surely find us out. By the way, it is the same in marriage: it doesn't work when one gives all and the other has 'reservations'. May our lifestyle always reflect our words! |
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