October 2020
Torah Reflection
Torah Reflection 03
Lekh - L’kha (get yourself out of here)
Just as Noah was a man of great faith, we are now introduced to the person God anointed to be the head of the one family to whom the rest of the Scriptures relate. Dr. Marvin R. Wilson, in seeking to expound the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, wrote much about him in his outstanding volume “Our Father Abraham”. A good read for those interested in the roots of our faith.
He was Abram, son of Terah, citizen of Ur of the Chaldeans. Terah took Abram and his wife Sarai (who had no children) and Abram’s nephew, Lot, intending to travel to Canaan. But they got no further than Haran in what is today, Syria. It was there that Terah died. (Legend has it that Terah made and sold idols for a living. It is speculated that this is how Abram abandoned the family idolatry and sought a new faith. He certainly was a man who heard from God and understood what he heard.)
It is a little known fact that Noah was still alive for almost the first 60 years of Abram’s life, and the lives of Abram and Shem (Noah’s son) overlapped for over 150 years. And that provides a possible answer to the question as to how Abram knew about YHWH Elohim doesn’t it? Neither Noah nor Shem would have remained silent about their experience of God. Turn back to Genesis 9: 25-27 and understand the way the Canaanites bore the curse (Hebrew “A’rar”) which Noah placed on them. In the event, we do know that God spoke directly to Abram, and Abram not only heard God’s voice, but he was obedient to it. His destination? The cursed nation of Canaan!
Read the promises God made to Abram in Genesis 12:1-3. They are staggering in scope and content, and I can only imagine that Abram was overwhelmed at the thought. But in verse 3, the English language uses the same word, “curse”, in translation of two different Hebrew words. “A’rar” which is a ‘bitter curse’ for the first, and “Qalal”, for the second, meaning ‘treating one lightly’ or ‘treating with contempt, or disregard’.
So now we get a glimpse of things to come. Abram is sent by God to the nation which was ‘bitterly cursed’ by Noah. There he is to establish a family,(nation), blessed by God, but with the added promise of ‘bitter curse’ on anyone (nation) who treats that family of Abram lightly, or with contempt. And if there is doubt in anyone’s mind, we read in Genesis 12:6 that Abram came to the place (known today as Nablus) called Shechem, which is built in a valley. High above Shechem is the township today called. Elon Moreh. It was there, with a commanding view of the surrounding area, that God appeared to Abram, and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” (I have had the personal experience of standing on the heights of Elon Moreh. To the North, Mount Hermon. East is the Jordan and beyond. South is the Negev. And west is the Mediterranean. It is a LOT of land, substantially more than that which is called Israel today.)
So Abram travelled through the land. He eventually, due to severe drought in the land, ended up in Egypt where he had that amazing encounter with the Egyptian Pharaoh over the identity of Sarai as his wife. (Rabbinic literature also identifies Sarai as a half sister to Abram) A consequence of this encounter with the Pharaoh seems to be that Abram acquired significant wealth in terms of silver and gold besides sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels and servants. Thus it was that Abram and his entourage returned to Canaan, specifically to the area near Bethel where he had earlier set up an altar of worship to God.
Some time later, Abram and his nephew Lot went their separate ways and that’s a whole new story. Read it in Genesis 13 and 14. Abram moved further south and dwelt near Hebron. Lot got into trouble with four local kings and lost his possessions, which Abram recovered and in the process met with the mysterious ‘Melchi Tzedek”, of whom much is written. (but not here!)
The remainder of our reading is pivotal to our faith as believers. It is here that we come to terms with God’s salvation plan for mankind. It is where Almighty God puts His credibility at stake, so to speak, by making that unconditional covenant promise to Abram, by which an elderly, barren woman, Abram’s wife Sarai, would give natural birth to her only son. It is a staggeringly challenging proposition. How easy it is today to take it all for granted because we know the end of the story .. BUT before it happened!! That’s a different matter. Genesis 15:6 says “And he (Abram) believed in the LORD, and He (the LORD) accounted it to him for righteousness.” Faith is counted as righteousness by Almighty God. And today, it is faith that God actually did what He promised to do which is counted as righteousness to those who believe and trust His word.
It is a measure of the enormity of what God requires of us in faith to read the account of how Sarai (and Abram) sought to give God a ‘helping hand’ in this, resulting in the birth of Ishmael. Abram was 86 years old at this time. And it was another 14 years before the child of God’s promise, Isaac, was born.
Genesis 17 gives us the account of the conversation God had with Abram as He was about to fulfil His promise of providing a naturally born child to him. God changed his name from Abram to Abraham, and Sarai to Sarah. At the same time God promised to establish His covenant with the as yet unborn Isaac, and his offspring, in perpetuity. LORD, give us faith to trust you, as did Abraham, that it may be counted as righteousness to us.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
Torah Reflection
Torah Reflection 02
Noach (Noah)
Such was the state of mankind, with its contempt for God, violence, anarchy, evil thinking, disharmony, corruption, ‘thoughts of the heart continually bad’. Verse 12 informs us that “God looked upon the earth and behold it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.” And that is what forms the catalyst for the events which follow.
We ended our ‘reflection’ last week with a quotation. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth”. And the very last verse of last week’s reading said “ But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD.”
Perhaps the most valuable comment of Noah in all the Scriptures is found in the very first verse of this week’s reading. “Noah walked with God.” It’s a most challenging lesson for any who read this passage. I ask myself, do I “find favour” in the eyes of the LORD? Would the people I relate to day by day know whether or not I “walk” with God? Am I “swimming against the current” (as Noah obviously was) or am I “going with the flow”? God, and ONLY God, knows.
So God told Noah to make a BIG box of gopher wood, three stories high, with compartments inside it. Now there wouldn’t be a child anywhere, who ever attended a Sunday School, who couldn’t recite to you the basics of the events which follow. But there are a few details which are worthwhile commenting upon because they have significant relationship to the future.
For example, in Chapter 7:2, we find a distinction about the numbers of animals between “clean” and “unclean”. It is the first reference to this distinction in the Scriptures. Much may be made of this, but to many people the distinction passes without comment. But in Genesis 8:20 we find that it is only the clean animals which are offered as burnt offerings to the LORD in thanksgiving for their preservation from the flood. Much later of course, when the people had ceased being ‘vegetarian’, God declared that ONLY the ‘clean’ animals were prescribed as ‘food’ for His people. (That list is documented in Deuteronomy 14 for those interested.)
Rev William Morford, in his enlightening translation of the Scriptures, “One New Man Bible”, draws attention to the Hebrew word “kopher”, translated as “pitch” in Genesis 6:14. It is a perfectly good and logical translation of that word. However, it also has a meaning ‘ransom’, even ‘atonement’ (covering). So Morford draws attention to the function of that box made of gopher wood as the means of salvation (atonement) for those who were privileged to be included as passengers in that box during those terrible days of judgement.
Then in Genesis 7:16 there is a simple phrase full of meaning. “And the LORD shut him in.” In His instruction to Noah, God specified that there should be a “pethach” in the side of the gopher wood box. That is literally an ‘opening’, a place of entry. Now I need to be careful here. Because in my mind’s eye I see an opening which is unrestricted. I presume that there were no guards preventing entry. But the only ones who actually passed through that entry opening were those who, by faith, trusted that God would perform what He had been warning that He would do for many, many years. Again, in my mind’s eye, I envisage scornful watchers, ridiculing those who did enter through that opening in the gopher wood box. And suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, so to speak, the opening was no more there! “The LORD had shut them in.” Then it began to rain!!! And in addition, “the fountains of the great deep were broken open”.
Does that present a picture to you, as it does to me, of a day still future which ONLY God knows, when the door to salvation will be closed? And then it will again (metaphorically) begin to rain!
The end of our reading contains a genealogy of the period from ‘the flood’ judgement right up to Abram. In addition to the covenant to never again ‘flood’ the earth, and its accompanying sign of the rainbow. (hasn’t that been hijacked in recent times by a quite rebellious group of people) God declared His control over the elements in saying “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.” It also contains some detail about God’s dealings and covenants with the faithful Noah, which has been ‘codified’ into what has become know as “The Noahide Laws”. Much of which now forms part and parcel of our present day legal code.
The seven ‘laws’ are:-
Not to worship idols.
Not to curse God.
To establish courts of justice.
Not to commit murder.
Not to commit adultery, bestiality, or sexual immorality.
Not to steal.
Not to eat flesh torn from a living animal.
God was totally in control of this earth then, and He is totally in control of the earth now .. in spite of what the climate alarmists tell us!!
Shabbat Shalom
RS
Torah Reflections
Torah Reflection 01
“B’reshite” (In the beginning)
“In the beginning”. O what disputes people have about this! Does it really matter when that ‘beginning’ was? What is infinitely more important is that God, our God, YHWH Elohim, was there “creating the heavens and the earth”. And the ONE sent to this earth to redeem sinful man, Yeshua Ha’Mashiach, the Apostle John tells us, was there too. (John 1:1).
For those who choose to keep the Sabbath on the day appointed by God for so doing, it is carefully noted that our Creator Himself set the standard, after completing His perfect work of creation in six days, then rested of all His work on the seventh day. So here we find, very early in the Scriptures, the example of Sabbath keeping.
The account of that creative event is very well known and recorded for our information and understanding in the first two chapters of our reading. Then chapter 3 provides the account of what we know as ‘the fall of man’. In that account we become first introduced to the person of satan. Beautiful, cunning, deceitful, persuasive, attractive, friendly, tempting, invoking doubt. Since God created all animals, and there was no ‘fear’ present in that lovely garden, we can accept that the serpent was chosen by satan to convey his deceitful message. For his part in that deceit, that creature’s squirming in the dust, is the result of God’s judgement on him. The abhorrence which most people feel when confronted by a snake is also probably indicative of the untrustworthy and potentially deadly character ascribed to snakes in general.
The narrative provides enough information to show us that God had been quite clear and unambiguous in His instruction to the people He had created. “There is a garden full of food for you to eat”. They were vegetarians! “But there is one tree, the fruit of which is forbidden, because eating that fruit will cause you to die!!” Well, because we know the story, we know that they did eat that fruit, and we also know that they did not actually “die” as we know death today. So what was this death that they experienced? My thought on this is that ‘death’ caused them to be separated from their Creator. They were, in effect, cut off from all the contact they had, up until that moment experienced at the hand of their Creator, without any real understanding of what it involved and how important it was to their existence. (on a most personal level, I can attest to the devastating effect of death which caused separation from my wife of 64 years. But her death also hugely affects my ongoing life)
I have often commented on the fact that there are lessons for each one of us to learn from every encounter with the Scriptures. This may be one of them. Jealously guard and appreciate every moment you have with your spouse! Take care not be distracted by “that serpent” who may appear in all sorts of guises offering seeming attractions which God has clearly forbidden to us in His word. His instructions are not mere ‘suggestions’ !! There are consequences for disregarding those instructions.
At the commencement of this new reading cycle, which for many people is an annual series of reminders of God’s instruction for living righteously with Him and with their fellow citizens, we should briefly survey what is covered in this Torah. In essence, it is the story of one family. A family called by God for His own reasons and purposes to be a light to the nations.
Today’s reading takes us from antiquity to a point where God seemingly despaired of the disobedient and unrighteous ways of mankind. And in our reading next week we discover the tragedy which befell mankind as a result. Over the course of the next twelve months we will ‘reflect’ on the way God led and nurtured a people to have fellowship with Him and to be an example to other nations of how He expects those who know Him to order their lives. And finally, just as God provided a warning to these people of His first creation that in their disobedience in eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, they would die (to Him), so a warning is provided to those with whom He had made a covenant, of the blessings which accrue from obedience and the curses which accompany disobedience.
The results of disobedience to the commands of God, for the believer, are not threats. They represent an honest appraisal, by God, to any who would take heed, of what the future will look like. On the one hand blessings, and on the other hand curses. Read the passage carefully today. Take note of what happened to the one aiding the deceit of satan. Take note of the assignment of childbearing and subservience to the man given to the disobedient woman. Take note of the life of toil and hardship in providing food assigned to the man. Take note of the change from the garden with plentiful food readily available. These are a direct result of disobedience to God’s command. These provide a timely lesson for everyone who reads the account in today’s reading.
Chapter 5 contains a genealogy of the descendants from Adam. They lived long lives and beget many children. Read the list. They all died after several hundred years. But in chapter 6, at the end of the week’s reading we find God saying “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was continually only bad … and God was grieved in His heart.” What a sad state of affairs.
Do you ever wonder what God thinks of our present generation?
Shabbat Shalom
RS
A “reflection” to end the reading cycle
A “reflection” to end the reading cycle Joshua 1:1 -18
This week sees the end of the annual reading cycle. The final parashah for the year. Moses had just died. The faithful Joshua, son of Nun, colleague of Caleb, is appointed by God to lead the new nation of Israel into the land of Promise. God had appeared to Abraham at Elon Moreh on his journey south. There, from that mountain location, Abraham was able to see the extent of the land. It was much larger than the nation we know as Israel today. To my mind it seems symbolic. Abraham shown the extent, but not the detail, of what God had promised him. And as we begin our journey into Torah again next week, a new year of readings, and a new year of discovery of what God has in store for us. It looks like a huge undertaking. But as we look, week by week, at the detail God had in store for them, and for us, we will be blessed.
God showed immense faith in Joshua. The promises of God, given at this inauguration were unequivocal, unconditional, and plain. “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you (not will give you, but have given you) as I said to Moses.” It was a done deal. ‘From the Euphrates River, all the land of the Hittites, to the Mediterranean.’ The Hittites were descendants of Heth, they were an important Canaanite group, and their land was extensive. It was a Hittite, Ephron, who sold the ‘cave at Machpelah’ to Abraham as a burial place!
Now it is interesting that the Land of Promise is specified in a number of places in Scripture, (students among us, look at Genesis 15, Exodus 23, Numbers 34, Deuteronomy 11 and Ezekiel 47), so here in Joshua 1 it seems that the Lord instructed Joshua that in order to possess the land all he had to do is to set foot in it. He cannot, (i.e. will not be able to), take more than is promised. I am reminded of that injunction in the Living Bible paraphrase of Jude 20 “Stay always within the boundaries where God’s love can reach and protect you”.
However, from other Scriptures we know that the Canaanites would not simply walk off the land, they would have to be driven out, sometimes with significant loss of life. But God had not finished with His proclamation to Joshua. He went on to bolster him with many encouraging statements. They are words which are often appropriated to ourselves as a timely encouragement for the fulfilment of some perceived God given task. Perhaps we should take careful note of the relationship God had with Joshua before making overly presumptive claims for ourselves! But they are very encouraging words anyway. Just look at them. “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life” “As I was with Moses, so shall I be to you” “I will not leave you nor forsake you”
These are immensely reassuring words from Almighty God. They are words, which, to a lesser person, might engender pride and even arrogance. But not to Joshua. Because there is an over-riding clause in this encouragement. When we presumptuously appropriate these promises to ourselves, we should, but often do not, look at the condition God made for the success which Joshua was to enjoy.
“Be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do all the Torah which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go”. And if that was not enough, the Lord continued “This Book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.”
Dear friends, God is not encouraging Joshua to fight battles, to do exploits, to clear the Land of the Canaanites, to lead a great army in warfare, or even to stand before the people in judgement. This is an encouragement to Joshua to be strong and faithful to God’s Word. To have the courage to stand up to the dissenters in his midst. To put scoffers in their place, so to speak. To be strong in upholding the Torah of Moses before the people. Inevitably, that would require Joshua to be an example. Unwavering. Steadfast. Consistent. When we see such a record of God’s promises to His servants, like Joshua, are we ready to also take on board the conditions under which such promises are given?
If you doubt God’s righteous judgement in His promises, move on a few chapters and read how and why God chastised the people by defeat in the battle for Ai.
As we enter a new year of study in God’s Word, let us covenant with Him to learn the lessons which are contained therein. Let us ask God to prompt us by His Holy Spirit, to be the kind of believers, doers of His Word, that He has called us to be.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
Torah Reflections “Tabernacles”
Torah Reflections “Tabernacles”
Torah portions Leviticus 22:26 to 23:44 and Numbers 29 :12 - 16
Haftarah portion Zechariah 14 : 1-21
The Torah of YHWH given to Moses
Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16 have the commandments about annual observances of the “mo’edim”. (The Hebrew word for “appointed times”, which in turn is usually translated into English as “feasts”). These are times when God specified He would meet with His chosen ones.
Today, they are most often referred to as “Jewish Feasts”. That correctly describes the fact that they are observances remembered by Jews. But it is an incorrect understanding of the Scriptures.
When God gave these instructions to Moses, He carefully worded these ‘appointed times’ (mo’edim) as MY ‘mo’edim’. They may be characterized as times when God says, in effect, “I will be there to meet with you on these specific occasions”. Those who choose not to attend miss an opportunity of blessing through meeting with Him at His invitation.
This festival is a happy occasion. It lasts for seven days and begins and ends with a Sabbath rest. Following just 4 days after the most solemn remembrance of Yom Kippur it is celebrated in a very special way in Israel particularly. The festival is actually known by THREE different English names. Tabernacles, Booths and Ingathering. In Hebrew” Sukkot”.
Each family builds a kind of makeshift shelter, which they call “booths”, outside their home. It is deliberately constructed so that the roof is lightly covered with palm fronds which easily allows those inside the shelter to see the sky above. Observant Jewish families then carry on all normal family activities in and around this shelter. That includes having meals and sleeping. The purpose of these constructions is to cause the family to remember the time when their ancestors lived in this manner in their wilderness journeying’s from Egypt to the Promised Land. Naturally, there is also much storytelling and appropriate scripture reading to encourage and enlighten the experience for the children of the family.
As mentioned above, it is an especially joyful festival.
In terms of our understanding of the prophetic significance of this festival, we need to recall the teaching which accompanied the first two festivals of this season. TRUMPETS heralds the return to this Earth of Yeshua Ha’Mashiach in power and great glory. Then follow 10 days of putting things right, before we remember the very solemn festival of YOM KIPPUR which is prophetic of the Great White Throne Judgement.
As the old hymn puts it “When the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there”. Well this festival is effectively the time for ‘roll calling’. Those who have been judged worthy at the Great White Throne Judgement are invited to attend the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. That is consistent with the joyfulness of the occasion isn’t it? In fact, “the Bride” of the Lamb is the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21 : 9 – 27) and there is no place for impurity within its walls. Only those cleansed by the blood of the Lamb participate in the Marriage Supper.
There is ONE more activity associated with this festival in Judaism. On the last day of the celebration is the most joyous parading of the Torah Scrolls through the Streets in Jerusalem, and I suspect, but have not personally witnessed, in other Jewish communities. This is called “Simchat Torah” (Rejoicing in the Torah). It marks the fact that the whole cycle of reading the Torah starts again for another year.
Take time to study and learn the significance of all the “mo’edim” of the Lord. They are full of rich meaning and this festival has been singled out for special mention in the millennial Kingdom. Read it for yourself in Zechariah 14 : 16 -19. It forms part of the Haftarah portion for this week.
Why is this ‘mo’ed’ singled out? For your thoughtful consideration, the first clue comes in Jeremiah 16:14,15. Probably the most memorable day in the Hebrew calendar superseded by a bigger event! Jews restored to the Land in preparation for the return of Messiah. Pesach (which includes Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits) no longer celebrated. Shavuot, traditionally the time of giving of Torah superseded by a New Covenant. Yom Teruah completed by the appearance of Yeshua as King of kings.(No third appearance expected) Yom Kippur, already completed at the White Throne Judgement. And what remains is the joyful time when Yeshua Tabernacles with us for the rest of time. It is the ONLY festival which remains when Yeshua returns to reign. Hallelujah, what a Saviour. Be part of “The great ingathering”.
Shabbat Shalom
RS