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2 Corinthians 7:10
… For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret … At the time of Jechonias, the last Davidic king to ever sit on the throne of Jerusalem, we find the following words in an oracle pronounced by the prophet Jeremiah: Thus says Adonai: "Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah" (Jeremiah 22:30). These words are troubling because according to the prophets Samuel and Nathan, the lineage of David was to be never-ending culminating to the Messiah. If this Davidic king was to remain childless the hope of Israel was gone and with it the hope of the world. As we continue looking into the Davidic genealogy, we realize that Jechonias has a son, Salathiel who dies. Pediaiah, the brother of Salathiel fulfills the levirate law and marries his brother’s widow thus raising seed to him in Zerubabel whom God chooses to continue the Davidic line (Haggai 2:23). It is then fair to ask the question: did God reverse Jechonias’ curse? But we also should ask another question: Did God annul the blessing on the Davidic line and the world because of the iniquity of one? These are very serious question imbedded in the reading of the genealogies. It would not be the first time that because of our unfaithfulness towards our covenant made with Him God would decide to annul the whole thing. We have seen it happen in the Sinai desert. One thing we learn from our dear Hashem is that ‘though we are faithless, He remains faithful’: Blessed be His Name. Jewish sages knew that so in Talmudic literature they conclude that Jechonias repented while in exile, thus even though his son died, God reversed the curse through the accepted Toratic principle of levirate marriage. The repentance of Jechonias cannot be documented but what this shows us is that the people of Israel looked at God as a One of mercy who reverses the fruits of our disobedience because of our repentance. Repentance therefore becomes essential to renewal and fulfillment of God’s promises. Come to think of it, it is not the first time that levirate law comes to the rescue of the covenantal lineage. It happened with Judah and Tamar, Boaz and Ruth, and in the immediate family of the Master Himself (Julius Africanus). The Davidic Messianic line is filled with people of disrepute who desperately needed absolution and renewal through sincere and true repentance. So when you feel that you’ve really blown it this time and that there is no hope left for you, look at whom God chose; look at the descendance of Messiah and know that Hashem is a God who rewards true and sincere repentance. David, more than anyone else knew it. He was destined to death because of murder and adultery, so he said, If you, O Adonai, should mark iniquities, O Adonai, who could stand (Psalms 130:3)?
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John 3:3
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." In Hebrew the word for ‘baptism’ is: mikvah. The etymological meaning of ‘Mikvah’ is: 'gathering', as in the gathering of waters. In the days of Noah, Hashem saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And Hashem was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart (Genesis 6:5-6). Our grieving Father could have opted to destroy the earth, but He opted instead to try to fix it. I lived ten years in S.E. Asia. Upon my arrival in the U.S.A., I was sharing with a friend about the miserable state of many places of rural India. My friend reacted by saying, "They just need to blow it up and start again!" The Father could have done the same thing with the world, ‘blow it up and start again,’ but no. Somehow He wanted to give a chance to humanity. He instead opted to try to fix us, and this 'fixing' took the form of a planet-wide mikvah, or ‘baptism’ through the Great Flood. The idea of being born-again is vividly portrayed in our Scriptures. .The first idea is given to us through Noah's flood. The narrative of the sixth chapter of the Book of Genesis tells us that the earth had become polluted by angels who renounced their heavenly station in order to settle down on earth with women. In the process they taught us mankind a knowledge we were not supposed to have and thus the earth became polluted with violence and wickedness. The Father then proceeded to gather all the waters of the planet and purify humanity. In the process of this worldwide ‘mikvah’, God rid the earth of the bad elements and through Noah and his family gave a chance for humanity to continue. Later, when God wanted to separate for Himself a people through whom He would teach the world about Him and finally redeem humanity, He brought the Israelites out of Egypt. He needed them to go through a ‘mikvah/baptism so He brought them all the way to the Eastern arm of the Red Sea (1 Corinthians 10:1-2). As they crossed, they shed behind their Egyptian culture and emerge on the other side a new people. They had become a new nation, a new culture: God’s people. Before entering the Promised Land, the Red Sea scenario was repeated, this time in the Jordan River. This area of the Jordan River became the place where later John the Immerser would mikvah people unto repentance. People would have to cross the Jordan out of the Land to meet John, mikvah, and re-enter the Land as born-again creatures. Friends; the message is clear. Unless we have shed behind ourselves the ‘Egyptian’ culture that keeps us in idolatry, the doubtful disobedient behavior that keeps us in the desert, we cannot call ourselves: born-again, and we cannot enter the Promised Land. May we daily 'mikvah' in His Words (John 15:3), shed our old selves behind, be born again, and live new lives as His creatures. TISHREI 3 ג בתשרי
Luke 24:31-33 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. … "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?" … that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. On the third day after the crucifixion, on the first day of the week, women came to the tomb to embalm the Master. To their great surprise Yeshua's body had ‘disappeared’. Though incredulous, upon hearing the women’s accounts Peter and John ran to the tomb only to be faced with the same conclusions. Yeshua soon comforted the disciple’s worries appearing to them on several occasions. While all this transpired in Jerusalem, two disciples who had come to Judea for the pilgrimage festival of Passover left for Emmaus (Luke 24). As Cleopas and his travelling companion still grieved the death of their Master, a ‘stranger’ joined them on their journey. As their new co-journeyer wondered at the disciples’ conversation, they asked, ‘Don’t you know what happened three days ago in Jerusalem? We thought that the famous Galilean prophet, Yeshua of Nazareth, was the Messiah. We thought He would be the one gathering back the Children of Israel from the four corners of the earth and re-establish us as a sovereign country but alas, the religious authorities did not approve of Him; they turned Him in to the Romans to be crucified as traitor and a criminal. To top it all, some our friends went to the tomb this morning and found it empty. We are still shocked at the whole thing, and also confused.” Upon hearing this account, starting with Moses and the prophets, the ‘stranger’ demonstrated to the disciples that all had happened according to Scripture and that they should not worry. Hearing the Scriptures in their Messianic perspective filled the discouraged disciples with hope again. As they arrived in Emmaus, they invited the ‘stranger to dine with them. As they sat at the table, the ‘stranger’ opened the meal with a blessing and it is at that time that He opened their eyes. They then realized that their travelling companion was the resurrected Master. Right away they decided to return to Jerusalem. This story is everyone’s story. In confusion and discouragement, we often leave ‘Jerusalem’ to return to the same old ways. As with the other disciples, no empty tomb or amount of convincing preaching could have changed these Jewish disciples mind. They needed to see the resurrected Master and He needed to open their eyes. It is also the only way that Israel as a nation will eventually see and recognize it’s Messiah: not by preaching, but when He comes in the cloud in the end of time (Zechariah12:10; Acts 1:11). When they recognized their beloved Master, they repented and returned to Jerusalem. Meeting the resurrected Master should create in us a spirit of repentance bringing us back to the origins of our faith, to the place where we belong, to 'Jerusalem'. After three days of Yeshua being absent, the disciples were already straying from the faith, but the Master ran after them. He met them at the tomb, and in their house where He spoke with Thomas (John 20:27). He even met them on the road to Emmaus, just in order to bring them back to ‘Jerusalem’ where they were to remain until the next pilgrimage festival: Shavuot/Pentecost (Acts 1:4). In these days of preparation for the awesome day of Yom Kippur, may our meditations grant us the presence of the Master that causes us to repent and return, repent from our straying and back to the ‘Jerusalem’ where we belong. May we be found doing His will on the Day of His coming. TISHREI 1 א בתשרי
Matthew 24:48-51 But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,' and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Those of us who acknowledge Yeshua as our Master and Rabbi have been given both assignments and responsibilities over His heritage. We are expected to behave as shepherds and responsible leaders over His flock. He left us in charge while He is gone on a journey, but at the time appointed our Master returns. At that time we will sit down with Him for an audit. He will look at what He left us with and require the increase. If there is no increase He will examine the situation and demand an explanation. This is the time when the priorities that led our lives will be examined and evaluated. We all mean to do well and I doubt if any person reading this actually beats his fellow servants or drinks with the drunkards. On the other hand, we can all admit to neglecting our responsibilities by just being selfish, self-motivated, negligent, and over-concerned with our personal pleasure, entertainment, comfort, and reputation. As we prepare for rehearsing the Day of the Lord through the Festival of Yom Kippur, we may need to do a little self-auditing. There are several questions we can ask ourselves that can help put us back in perspective: What does Yeshua expect of me? Have I been fulfilling His will and wishes for my life? If not, why? Where am I in my relationship with His family, my brothers and sisters? Are there any sour relationships that I need to sweeten? Would I want Him to ask me the question: ‘why is your relationship with so and so in such a state of negativity?’ Are there people in ether my social or biological entourage that I am expected to look after? Am I fulfilling my responsibilities with them? If not, why? James the apostle exhorts us in this way, For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. James’ 'mirror' is the Torah which defines what is expected of us. It is a bit like the evil witch’s mirror in the fairy tale Snow White. We are meant to look in it and compare our lives with the beauty of His Words. The mirror is meant to point out our blemishes so we can fix them through repentance, prayer , and emulation of the Master. Sad to say though, like in the story, some of us use it to retaliate against anything that challenges our innate self-righteous spirit, so the apostle continues and says, ‘But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing (James 1:23-25). May we look in the 'Mirror', learn, repent, and change, that our names may be written in the Book of Life! Matthew 5:21-26
"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; … ' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire. … First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, … and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person realizes his guilt, he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong. (Numbers 5:6-7 ESV). This is a very interesting verse. Sin here is viewed as 'breaking faith with the LORD', like breaking the terms of a contract. John actually teaches us that we 'trespass against the LORD', by breaking Torah commands (1 John 3:4 CJB). The CJB reads our verse in Numbers in this way, Adonai said to Moshe, "Tell the people of Isra'el, 'When a man or woman commits any kind of sin against another person and thus breaks faith with Adonai, he incurs guilt (Numbers 5:6). Sin here is viewed not only as the breaking of Torah command, but in the mishandling of people, or of people's property. Sin then becomes the trespasses against another human being made in the image of God. Along the same lines, Judaism teaches that because man is made in the image of God, in murder we actually attempt to commit deicide. In translating the verse this way, the CJB follows the translation given in Jewish texts. This translation may not seem literal, but it accurately follows the context. Notice here that the next verse speaks of 'restitution' because of sin. "Restitution' implies that a trespass against another was committed. The chapter even follows that context in telling us about the mishandling of someone's wife. This teaches us that when we mishandle he for whom Abba cares we mishandle Abba, and Abba is the faithful Avenger of His children. This section also teaches us about repentance according to the Father. In true repentance, we first admit guilt privately to God, but audibly (Psalms 32:5). But when we sin against others causing them some loss, it is not adequate to merely confess the sin the God and that's it. We confess sin, and then we repent by making restitution, even restitution above and beyond the cost of the trespass (Numbers 5:7). In this matter, Yeshua even gave us warnings about verbal offenses. How many times do we verbally trespass against God through uncontrolled and unjustifiable anger, sarcasm, mocking, condescending remarks towards loved ones, other drivers, store cashiers, restaurant waiters, even towards our children or our parents? The Master warned about that. He said, "by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matthew 12:37). How it must pain the Father of all compassions to see how we treat each other so proudly and arrogantly! By Torah's restitution standards, we should all be totally broke and spend a life of servitude to each other in restitution. Maybe that's what the World to Come is all about! May it come soon, Abba, even in our days! Luke 24:31-33
And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. … "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?" … that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. On the third day after the crucifixion, on the first day of the week, women came to Yeshua’s tomb with spices they had prepared to embalm the body. To their great surprise the Master’s body had ‘disappeared’. Though incredulous, upon hearing the women’s accounts Peter and John ran to the tomb only to be faced with the same conclusions. Yeshua soon comforted the disciple’s worries appearing to them on several occasions. . While all this transpired in Jerusalem, two disciples who had come to Judea for the pilgrimage festival of Passover started on their way back to Galilee, deciding to make a stopover at the village of Emmaus (Luke 24). As Cleopas and his travelling companion still grieved at the execution of their Master, a ‘stranger’ joined them on their journey. As their new co-journeyer wondered at the disciples’ conversation, they asked, ‘Don’t you know what happened three days ago in Jerusalem? We thought that the famous Galilean prophet, Yeshua of Nazareth, was the Messiah. We thought He would be the one gathering back the Children of Israel from the four corners of the earth and re-establish us as a sovereign country but alas, the religious authorities did not approve of Him; they turned Him in to the Romans to be crucified as traitor and a criminal. To top it all, some our friends went to the tomb this morning and found it empty. We are still shocked at the whole thing, and also confused.” Upon hearing this account, starting with Moses and the prophets, the ‘stranger’ demonstrated to the disciples that all had happened according to Scripture and that they should not worry. Hearing the Scriptures in their Messianic perspective filled the discouraged disciples with hope again. As they arrived in Emmaus, they invited the ‘stranger to dine with them. As they sat at the table, the ‘stranger’ opened the meal with a blessing and it is at that time that He opened their eyes. They then realized that their travelling companion was the resurrected Master. Right away they decided to return to Jerusalem. This story is everyone’s story. In confusion and discouragement, we often leave ‘Jerusalem’ to return to the same old ways. As with the other disciples, no empty tomb or amount of convincing preaching could have changed these Jewish disciples mind. They needed to see the resurrected Master and He needed to open their eyes. It will be the way that Israel as a nation will eventually see and recognize it’s Messiah: when He comes in the cloud in the end of time (Zechariah12:10; Acts 1:11). When they recognized their beloved Master, they repented and returned to Jerusalem. That’s what meeting the Master should create in us, a spirit of repentance that brings us back to the origins of our faith, to the place where we belong, to Jerusalem. After three days of being absent, the disciples were already straying from the faith, but Yeshua made sure to run after them; He met them at the tomb, in their house where He spoke with Thomas (John 20:27), even all the way on the road to Emmaus, just in order to bring them back to ‘Jerusalem’ where they were to remain until the next pilgrimage festival: Shavuot/Pentecost (Acts 1:4). They would have surely missed something being in the wrong place at the wrong time (Acts 2)! In these days of preparation for the awesome day of Yom Kippur, may our meditations grant us the presence of the Master in a way that causes us to repent and return, repent from our straying and back to the ‘Jerusalem’ where we belong. May we be found doing His will on the Day of His coming. Luke 15:22-24
. Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' As he terminated his task of writing the Torah, Moses commanded the children of Israel that, at the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing (Deuteronomy 31:10-11). At the return from the Babylonian captivity, under the strong unabashed leadership Ezra and Nehemiah, we learn of a contrite Israel gathering as one man at the newly rebuilt temple during the Feast of Booths to listen to the Words of the Torah (Nehemiah 8). At that time, Hebrew was no more the fluent language of the Children of Israel, but Aramaic. The text tells us that certain of the priests “helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading”. When Ezra opened the scroll and blessed the God who had allowed them to return home, the people “bowed their heads and worshiped Adonai with their faces to the ground”. The emotion was so strong that even though the Feast of Booths is a festival of joy, the people wept and Nehemiah had to command them to rejoice. Why did they weep? It seems that the Spirit of God was doing its job convicting Israel of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16.8). Reading Scripture should convict us. Oh yes, as we read the admonishing Text of Scripture we can easily justify, exonerate and absolve ourselves from guilt and responsibility. Like Paul on the road to Damascus we can “kick against the pricks” of conviction (Acts 9:5 KJV), but ultimately, true repentance, true return towards the Father does not happen until, even though we have sorely suffered loss as the results of our foolishness, we put down all our self-justification mechanisms, run back home, and prostrate to the ground in utter vulnerability saying, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son' (Luke 15:21. As we realize the error of our way, as we weep worm tears of repentance, we will realize that the Father Himself is crying, He is crying tears of joy having lived in mourning and never comforted Himself since our departure. May it be as this season of renewal and repentance approaches, as we hear the words of Torah, that we let them sink into our hearts and allow the Spirit of God to convict us of our ways. As we hear the divine utterances, may we weep warm tears of repentance that we may enter the season of the Festival of Booths with the joy of a Father having killed the ‘fattened calf’ for us. |
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