Zion's Voice

Haftarah Reflections   27

Torah portion           Leviticus `12 : 1  to 13 : 59

Haftarah portion     Ezekiel  45 : 16  to  46 :  18

Listen to the Prophets

Our parashah this week is set in the prophetic announcement of the Messianic Age Temple. Obviously not yet constructed. It presents challenges which most of us would rather not deal with! The whole vision of Ezekiel contains much detail and it is extremely difficult for us to comprehend. So we are left with a simple choice. God said it, so I believe it, OR Ezekiel got it wrong.

My conviction is that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable … etc”. Almost one fifth of Ezekiel’s message is taken up with this Temple vision. The conclusion I draw from that is the God considers it to be important.

The dilemma for many will result from teaching which has been prevalent in our churches over many years. That teaching concludes that Yeshua kept all the commandments, so a) we do not have to, and b) The “Old Testament” has been superseded by the “New Testament”. Both of those statements are demonstrably false. They do not have any foundation in the Scriptures. That teaching results from centuries of errant theology which commenced when the gentile believing community was severed from its Hebraic foundations. This has, in turn, resulted in a serious mal-nourishment regarding the Hebrew Scriptures in our churches today.

(It is somewhat ironic that the Torah portion assigned for this week’s reading deals with “uncleanness” and “leprous conditions”. What I have described above may be seen by some as analogous to both of those conditions in the church! Both conditions need to be dealt with so that healing may occur)

The parashah provides detail of the area assigned for this Holy place, the new Temple and its surrounds. It is an enormous tract of land. There is no need for me to dwell on that, other than to say that as you read the text, keep in mind that 25,000 cubits approximates to 12 Km. and 10,000 cubits would be nearly 5 Km. Those dimensions are approximate, but they provide an indication that it describes a future, rather than a former Temple district.

But then we have another dilemma. Who is “the prince”? The most obvious course is to consider that he is Messiah, and MANY commentators have made this conclusion. The main pointer being the fact that the “prince” appears to have exclusive access to the Eastern Gate of the Temple. But there are some difficulties with this conclusion. The first is immediately evident in the fact that this “prince” has only a relatively small allotment of land in the millennial kingdom. In Psalm 2 we read that “I have set My Kingdom My holy hill of Zion”. That is consistent with our universal belief that Yeshua will return to this earth to “rule and reign” in Jerusalem. The whole kingdom is His. In fact, the whole earth is His. So this apportionment of a quite large tract of land, which is in fact relatively small in relation to the whole, surely cannot be that of the King. One day we will know!!! I am not inclined to make this a point of dispute, but it is interesting.

The next issue which causes concern are the detailed instructions regarding the sacrificial system, no longer functioning today because there is no Temple in Jerusalem, which is evidently revived when the Temple described by Ezekiel is constructed.

Commentators are again divided on this. Why would there be a sacrificial system when the Messiah is reigning in Jerusalem? The answer is twofold. The first is fact. God has declared it in this word to Ezekiel. The second is speculative. They will be as a memorial to the finished work of Messiah.

Before we write off this second supposition, we should remember that when Yeshua shared His last Pesach seder with His disciples He instituted a memorial of that occasion. That memorial is called “Communion” or other names depending on the teaching of a particular Christian denomination. That memorial also varies in frequency in different congregations. My reading of the Scriptures cause me to see it as an annual memorial at Pesach. So the principle of memorial acts of celebration is not new. 

It is also worthy of note that there were several types of sacrifices, and none of them were for removal of sin, which is the unique characteristic of the sacrificial offering made by Yeshua. The Mosaic sacrificial system was introduced to allow the offeror to “draw near” to God. To recognize the ‘holiness’ of God, and to appreciate His unique status in their lives.

This parashah has probably raised more questions than answers. My ‘reflection’ on it has caused me to think more deeply, and to appreciate the wonder and majesty of Almighty God. I know He does all things well. My trust is in Him.

May the Lord provide insight into this Scripture, share it with someone and you will both be blessed.

Shabbat Shalom

RS

Haftarah Reflections   26

Torah portion           Leviticus 9 : 1  to 11 : 47

Haftarah portion     Ezekiel  36 : 16 - 38  

Listen to the Prophets

What a start to this week’s haftarah.

YHWH Elohim is telling Ezekiel that Israel behaved abominably when they were presented with the privilege of having a Land to call their own. God had pleaded with the Israelites to live righteously, with each other, and before Him, so that their example would be a ‘light to the nations around them’. Instead, God saw that their behaviour was outrageously bad. He describes it as like a discarded menstrual pad. Isaiah has a similar description of ‘all our righteousness’.  His use of the term ‘filthy rags’ in Isaiah 64 is precisely the same as that here in Ezekiel.

So God has given Ezekiel the reason why He chose to disperse the Judeans, which in Ezekiel’ day was to Babylon, where he himself was exiled. But the language of this message suggests that it is much broader in scope than just Babylon. The text indicates that the dispersion was to many nations. Our knowledge of history tells us that this is prophetic of another dispersion which took place about 750 years later, when the Romans expelled the Jews from the Land entirely in bout 134 C.E.

What follows is one of the most illuminating passages of Scripture, declaring the unfailing love God has for the Jewish people, and the reasons why He is restoring them to the Land, in spite of their many failings.

The predication is that the nations to which they were scattered would be somewhat puzzled by the fact that, even though they hold to their faith as Jews, they have been exiled from the Land. Our text tells us that God is vitally concerned that this amounts to a profanity to His Name. So, in the fullness of time, He has chosen to restore the Jews to their Land.

This is a great mystery to those in our churches who adhere to a doctrine known as “Replacement Theology”. It is a doctrine which sees the ‘church’ as having replaced Israel as God’s chosen ones. A brand new ‘special treasure’ if you will.

There are many places in the Scriptures which demonstrate this doctrine to be false. But none so clear as this haftarah parashah today. God clearly says that it is ‘not for their sakes’ that they are being restored to the Land, but “for MY holy Name’s sake”. Why is that important? That the world may know that I am the LORD. When will the world see that? When they see that YHWH Elohim is “hallowed” in you (Israel) before their eyes.

“Hallowed” means to respect, revere, honour as holy, consecrate.

We see the Jews returning to Israel in increasing numbers this very day. But the vast majority of those making ‘aliyah’ are secular Jews. They are returning to the Land in unbelief. But they are returning.

Now here is the prophetic message for us as we study this parashah. It is spelled out very clearly.

The plan of God for man is unfolding before our eyes. Be excited about it. Understand it. Get on board with it. Play your part in it. (The ministry of Zion’s Voice is literally “up to its neck” in supporting this move of God both by prayer, and financially.)

And this is the really exciting part.

When God’s timing is right, He “will sprinkle clean water on them” and “they will be cleansed of all their filthiness and idolatry”. And finally He says “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you”. At which time “I will cause you to walk in My statutes and you WILL keep My judgements and do them”.

My dear friends, this is the time when God will make that NEW COVENANT with the House of Israel and the House of Judah. The prophet Ezekiel is showing us that God is taking the Jews back to the Land so that He can enter into that covenant which they will NOT BE ABLE TO BREAK. Jeremiah said it, the writer to the Hebrews restated it, and Ezekiel is confirming it.

I would like to suggest that all who read this ‘reflection’ take time to read the parashah again. Marvel at the fact that we are seeing prophecy unfold before us, and determine to participate in God’s plan for Israel, by prayer, and by financially supporting those ministries which are front and centre in harmony with this prophecy.

Finally, as God leads us, let us be bold to speak. Let us be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us. And, if I am correct in my ‘reflection’ on this parashah, we have found all the reason we need.

To His great Name be the glory.

Shabbat Shalom

RS

Haftarah Reflections   25

Torah portion           Leviticus 6 : 8  to 8 : 36

Haftarah portion     Jeremiah  7 : 21  to 8 : 3 and 9 : 22,23  

Listen to the Prophets

As we open the parashah this week we immediately become conscious of the anger of God towards the Israelites of Jeremiah’s day. The tone of this discourse is set by the words at the beginning of this chapter which precede this reading. God is telling Jeremiah that he should continue his warnings of judgement, but that the people would not listen. How sad and discouraging. But the faithful Jeremiah spoke anyway.

The corresponding Torah reading this week concerns the instructions regarding the various sacrificial offerings and the anointing of the High priest to accept such offerings.

To paraphrase this haftarah portion, God was saying, “When I brought you out of Egypt (and that was hundreds of years earlier), I didn’t demand that you make sacrifices, I wanted you to obey My voice, to live in harmony with Me, to be My people”.  Of course, God did introduce the sacrificial system of drawing close to Himself in Moses day, but by their wanton disobedience they were now seemingly making a mockery of those sacrifices. So God says “don’t offer them to Me, eat them yourselves”.

The whole tone is one of deep disappointment. Frustration even. Over the centuries, God had sent warning after warning through His servants, the prophets, the judges, and the kings. Still the people were “doing that which was right in their own eyes”

As I read this message, and a timely one it is, I think that very little has changed. Aren’t the same things happening today? Everyone apparently doing that which is right in their own eyes. It may even be considered worse, because in addition to the verbal warnings of the prophets to the people, today we also have the written record of all that God had taught the people who are called by His Name. If God was frustrated with them, how much more with those of us who this day take little or no heed to His word. Then heap blame upon Him for all that is wrong in our world.

When God promised Abraham that He would provide a land in which his offspring would live, it was so that those people would be a “light to the nations around them”. Furthermore God told them that the reason why the Canaanites were to be dispossessed of the land was because of their abominations, which included human sacrifice, gross sexual misconduct and lewd living. Hadn’t He even provided a solemn warning in the days of Lot, when, for the same reasons, He had completely destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah? And now, Jeremiah is confronted with the same issues amongst his own people.

The Hinnom Valley, identified today approximately running from the Jaffa Gate, the Sultan’s Pool and joins the southern edge of the Kidron Valley, had a horrific history. Our text tells us that it would be known as the “Field of Slaughter”. It is the place where Judas Iscariot is said to have purchased a burial field with the ‘thirty pieces of silver’, and was well named the ‘field of blood’. It is a real place. It is not mythical. Here, was a place of sacrifice to Molech, where parents offered their children to be burned in the fire. Dreadful atrocities. It was here that some of the Israelites joined in this barbarous practice. This is the burden of Jeremiah’s task of warning in this parashah.

I also see a connection here with events still future to us. In Revelation 19 we read about the time when God will call the peoples of the nations to account. It will be a time of unspeakable slaughter as nations join in conflict with Israel. It is a time when the angel of God will call the birds to feast on the remains of those killed in the battle.(just as our reading this week declares) It hardly bears thinking about, but such will be the wrath of God on those who seek to destroy Israel in the last days.

But that is in the future. What about today.

Jeremiah’s message was prophetic of what would happen when the people continued in disobedience and idolatry. It did not have to be so. There was always the option of walking uprightly before the Lord. In all its history, there were times of great blessing for the Israelites as they walked obediently before God. Invariably, they were times when they had an upright and honourable leader. Not all leaders were honourable and the people suffered as a result.

Now here is the good news.

In His infinite love and grace towards us, God has provided the perfect leader for us today. His Name is Yeshua. The way has been made plain. The atoning sacrifice He made is complete. All that remains is our resolve to follow Him. To walk in obedience to His commandments. It is not “doing what is right in our own eyes”.

Just like the people in our parashah, we are presented with a choice between life and death. Choose life.

Shabbat Shalom

RS

Haftarah Reflections   24

Torah portion           Leviticus 1 : 1  to 6 : 7

Haftarah portion     1 Samuel  15 : 2  -  34

Listen to the Prophets

But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”

This week we see the judgement of God in action. We are familiar with the ‘love’ aspect of God’s character, which even the world recognizes, and with which we readily identify. We are less able to fully understand the righteousness of God which is expressed in our parashah today. That is God, the righteous judge. But it is important that we do.

The Amalekites were a nomadic people. They take their name from Amalek, a grandson of Esau. They had a history of enmity towards Israel. They were a people which chose to harass the vulnerable Children of Israel when they first left Egypt, The Israelites were vulnerable because they were in a desert place, water was scarce, and they pined for the security they knew in Egypt, even though they were in slavery there.

At the place where Moses struck the rock at Horeb, Amalek came and fought with the Israelites. The story is well known. As Aaron and Hur held Moses arms high, the Israelites prevailed, and when Moses arms lowered in fatigue, Amalek prevailed. In the end Amalek was defeated. Moses there declared that God was “Jehovah Nissi” (The Lord is my banner). 

But God said two things to Moses. Firstly, that ‘there would be war with Amalek from generation to generation’.  Secondly, that He would ‘utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven’.  The Amalekites joined in with Midianites, Moabites, Hittites, Edomites, you name it, anyone who had a battle with Israel. But here, in our parashah today, God said “enough is enough”.

Samuel called Saul, the recently anointed king of Israel, and told him that he was to take an army and ‘blot out’ the Amalekites. Everything. Let nothing remain. Saul assembled a large army of over 200,000 foot soldiers, and struck them. They were chased across the length of their territory, which was at that time part of Edom. Many thousands died in that pursuit, But Saul saw that there were good flocks of sheep and cattle. He could not resist the temptation. The weak ones were killed, but the good stock he decided to take back as booty. And for reasons that only Saul would know, maybe as an act of bravado, or gloating, or pride, he took the Amalekite king, Agag, captive too. Triumphantly, he trooped back with his booty. Up to the north of the country, Carmel, where he set up a monument to himself, then back east to Gilgal. A march of triumph and boasting.

But Samuel was in intimate communion with the Lord, who told Samuel that He regretted making Saul king. The whole episode was revealed to Samuel. He was distraught. All night long he cried out to the Lord. By morning he knew what to do.

He went to see Saul, who immediately put on a cheerful greeting and declared that he had done all that was asked of him. (There is a sequel to this story in the Book of Esther, which is recalled every year at the Jewish festival of Purim. The wicked Haman, who plotted the annihilation of the Jews, was an Agagite, so clearly, the commission Saul was given was not completed as instructed.) Then Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”

The rest of the story you may read for yourself. It is quite graphic in its description of events, and part of the story contains a damning description of what had happened in Saul’s life. (1 Samuel 15: 17-19)

But we need to see the lesson here for ourselves today.

Most of us are delighted to receive the call of God on our lives. As in the parashah today, because of our gifting and experience, many are called upon to carry out specific work in God’s Name, which only they can do. It is also the case, that not everyone completes the task. ‘Things’ get in the way. In Saul’s case it was arrogance and pride. But there are many other pitfalls for the unwary.

In fact, we may be sure that all who come to faith in Yeshua are called to service. Many of us appear not to understand what that calling requires. Consequently there are tasks that are not completed. In simple terms it is our responsibility to seek the Lord on that. Dare I suggest that sometimes it may be as plain as "letting our light so shine before men that they may see our good works, and glorify our Father in Heaven”. The prophet Micah gave us another guide. “to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God”. King Saul was in no such doubt, but he failed the test. What a tragedy it would be, when called to account, thinking that we have completed our mission to hear the words “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”

We will receive God’s blessing as we seek to do His will for us.

Shabbat Shalom

RS