Reflections
TORAH REFLECTION
Torah Reflection 08
Vayishlach (He sent)
Jacob had concluded his non-aggression arrangement with Laban, so free of that worry, he turned his attention to another! His brother Esau. The brothers had not seen each other for twenty years, and yet Jacob somehow knew where his brother was. So he sent some men to announce that he would be returning to his own country, with much wealth and possessions, and he wanted to “make friendship” with his brother again. Guilty conscience? Sad about the past? Fearful? Tricky? We can only speculate.
At this stage, Jacob and his entourage were about 20 miles east of the Sea of Galilee, north of where Amman is today. Esau and his family were several miles south of there, somewhere in the region of where Petra is today in Southern Jordan. So when Jacob’s men returned from their mission, in paraphrase they said :- “There is good news and bad news. The good news is that Esau is so pleased that you are coming that he has decided to come to meet you half way! The bad news is that he is bringing 400 of his men with him!!” To say that that put “the shivers up” Jacob is probably an understatement. So he set about making contingency plans to survive.
Let’s look at a lesson here. Just last week we read in Genesis 28:15 that God spoke to Jacob in a dream, “behold I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land: for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” That was 20 years earlier. In those 20 years God had blessed Jacob with two wives (and their handmaids), eleven sons and a daughter, a countless flock of sheep etc. etc.. PLUS, He had spoken to Jacob in a dream again (Genesis 31:11-13) telling him that it was time to return to his homeland. What more could God do? So here is the lesson. Is there something that God has spoken to me? To you? Does it matter to God what time has passed since He promised to “never leave us nor forsake us”? Was it good prudence or lack of trust that caused Jacob to make these contingency plans? Are WE making contingency plans to do things “our way”? Or is our trust in God’s promises to us? When God dispersed the Israelites from the land, after many warnings, for their wanton disobedience to the covenant they had made, and rejection of Messiah Yeshua who had come to restore “the lost sheep of the House of Israel”. He had also told them that a day would come when He would restore them to that land. That restoration is happening in our generation, and it started in 1948. Our God is a promise-keeper, as we will see as we continue our ‘reflection’.
Read Genesis 32 to see how Jacob carefully planned his protective strategy for his meeting with Esau. However, Jacob, in his fear of what now might befall him, remembered the promises God had made to him all those years ago. So in humility he prayed to the God of Abraham and Isaac “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed this Jordan with my staff (and nothing else) and now I have become two companies (alluding to his great blessing of wealth and possessions). Deliver me I pray …” Then he acknowledged his fear and reminded God of His promises. God, in response, planned one more encounter with Jacob!! The day before meeting Esau, Jacob sent his whole family over the brook Jabbok and remained behind alone. Jabbok means ‘emptying’. At this point there was a ford across the river, which, because it is shallow, flows faster, as it continues and ‘empties’ itself into the River Jordan some miles away. But scholars have shared another meaning to this place. The ‘emptying’ is applied to Jacob, who that night encountered the LORD again, and ‘emptied’ himself as he ‘wrestled’ with “a MAN” until he received an assurance of the promised blessing on his life. For his trouble, Jacob received a new name and a hip joint dislocation!! But his life was changed.
Jacob’s reunion with his brother Esau went surprisingly well. Was that another example of God’s protection in answer to Jacob’s prayer? We are not told anything more about the 400 men accompanying Esau. But Jacob still remained cautious about going along with Esau’s invitation to go back to Edom with him. The result was that Esau left, with the gifts Jacob had offered him, and journeyed the 250 Km or so back to his home, whist Jacob promptly led his family about 200 Km in the other direction, to Shechem in Canaan (Nablus today). Thus God completely fulfilled the promise He had made to Jacob 20 years earlier. But there is an important detail in our text. Genesis 33: 19,20 tells us that Jacob bought and paid in full for the land on which his family settled. So just as his grandfather Abraham had paid for the cave at Machpelah, and never re-sold it, so Jacob acquired the parcel of land in Shechem and it too has never been re-sold.
There is much more to be studied in this account of God’s dealings with the ‘flawed’ Jacob. As I ‘reflect’ on this passage, and the evident shortcomings in Jacob as a person, I take enormous hope and encouragement. Jacob was used by God to be the father of all the tribes of Israel, ‘flawed’ as he was. But we saw how Jacob, in fear for his life, humbled himself in prayer, then held on to that MAN as he wrestled with Him, until he received God’s blessing and guidance. Then , because we know how the story unfolds, we know that God used Jacob as part of His global promise “that in you, will all the nations of the earth be blessed.”
And that, my dear friends, is US. You and me. And finally, this thought. If He can do that in Jacob, He can do it in anyone … can’t He?
Shabbat Shalom
RS
TORAH REFLECTION
Torah Reflection 07
Vayetze (Went out)
Last week we ended with Jacob being sent away, with Isaac’s blessing, to find himself a wife out of his own ‘family’ in Padan Aram. That was the place from which his mother Rebekah had come. Esau, on the other hand, having missed out on the ‘blessing of the firstborn’ from Isaac, in colloquial terms, ‘spat the dummy’, and married a daughter of Ishmael. The gulf between the brothers was widening. Although the main division we see in our modern world is that between Isaac and Ishmael (with their respective family groupings), Esau, it seems, rebelliously joined the Ishmaelite group and is now recognised as the father of the Edomite nation (southern Jordan today).
Isaac and his family had settled just south of Beersheva. Jacob dutifully “went out” on his journey towards Haran, today in southern Turkey, the place where Abram dwelt after leaving Ur of the Chaldeans. It was a distance of just over 1,000 Km. !!! (Imagine walking from Sydney to Brisbane or Melbourne). Jacob lay down to sleep after a long day walking, and he had a dream. There wouldn’t be many who couldn’t relate the story quite well. But there a few observations which some may not be familiar with.
First, there was a ladder between earth and heaven. Angels of God were ascending and descending. Some commentators have seen significance in that order. That they first ascended indicates that their ‘station’ was on earth, presumably doing their allotted task among men. Were they reporting on their activity? Well we don’t know, but the concept is interesting.
Second, the LORD stood at the top of the ladder and addressed Jacob. “I am the LORD God of Abraham (Jacob’s grandfather) and the God of Isaac (his father); The land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants … and in you and your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; For I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
Third, the content of God’s promise to Jacob is in almost identical terms to that which He had previously spoken to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3) and to Isaac (Genesis 26:2-5). It is for this reason that our God is frequently referred to as the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”. They were uniquely privileged to receive the “land promise” directly from God Almighty. And to each of them that promise was extended to their ‘descendants’. Pass it on!!
Fourth, Jacob has gained a bit of a reputation as a ‘tough negotiator’. Not least because of the ‘birthright’ deal he did with his older brother Esau! Some have even labelled him a “bit tricky!” And here again, as we have just noted, God had made an amazing promise to Jacob. In paraphrase “I’ll be with you wherever you go and I’ll bring you back again.” It’s a promise that many christians today hold on to as applicable to themselves. But it was not quite good enough for Jacob!! His response was to add conditions onto God’s promise. Jacob said, again in paraphrase “IF you stay with me, feed me, clothe me, look after me, and bring me back to my father’s house in peace, THEN You can be my God! AND if you do all that, of everything you give me, I’ll give a tenth back to You.”
The rest of our portion shows how God led him directly to the family of Laban, Rebekah’s brother. It begins with meeting some shepherds at the well where the sheep drank water each day. Those shepherds identified Laban’s daughter Rachel (who was a shepherdess) and so it was that Jacob later met Laban, Now, if the comment earlier about Jacob being “a bit tricky” was true, it is also true that in Laban, Jacob met his match! Please read the story to get the message! However, in spite of that, Jacob ended up with two wives, Leah and Rachel, lots of children, who would become leaders of the tribes of Israel, plenty of servants, and a large flock of sheep. But he was twenty years older than when he first met Laban!!!! Although Jacob and Laban parted in strained circumstances, the LORD also ensured that His promise to Jacob (see Genesis 31:24) remained intact.
But now we need to find the message for ourselves today from this fascinating account of Jacob’s twenty year search for his wife.
The first thing I note is that Jacob honoured his parents in undertaking the journey they had instructed him to make. It was not easy, and required patience, persistence, and hardship at times. But in so doing, he was blessed by having a life-changing encounter with the LORD. He met the wife of God’s choosing, and he became the father of the boys who headed the tribes of Israel, ‘the apple of God’s eye’.
The second thing I note is that, although his conditional acceptance of God’s promise seemed to be arrogant and presumptuous, he never-the-less kept his word to the LORD. He never forgot the faithfulness, love, and mercy of God in bringing him through those twenty difficult years.
The third thing I note is that all of us who have had an encounter with God, have received His promise to us, of never leaving us nor forsaking us. That is a priceless promise. BUT it comes with a responsibility. To order our lives in a manner which brings glory to His name. Keeping our part of the arrangement, as did Jacob. The LORD bless you as you seek to honour your covenant with the LORD.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
TORAH REFLECTION
Torah Reflection 06
Toldot. (Descendants)
God had chosen Rebekah to be Isaac’s wife, and at 40 years of age, he married her. Good start eh! But we are not told how old Rebekah was! And the Bible doesn’t tell us, simple as that. What we are told (Genesis 24:8 and 24:58) is that Rebekah willingly consented to the marriage. Speculation beyond this is unprofitable, even though the sages have postulated on this matter for centuries. It is also speculated that Rebekah was barren for the first 20 years of that marriage, and this brings us to a salient point in the story.
There is little doubt that Abraham would have shared with Isaac the promise God had made to him about his descendants being numerous! Isaac’s mother was 90 when God miraculously intervened in the matter of Isaac’s birth. Now, the very next generation is beset with the same issue. Infertility. Their marriage has not produced any children. At stake here is Isaac’s relationship with God Almighty. There is no suggestion of going down the path that Abraham and Sarah had gone, which resulted in the birth of Ishmael. Our text in Hebrew uses the word “aqar” to describe the childlessness of the marriage, and that word is equally applicable to both male and female incapacity!!
So Isaac “pleaded” with the LORD. A good lesson from our portion today. The first ‘port of call’. Perhaps a lesson Isaac had learned at the feet of his esteemed father Abraham. Much later Psalmists make many references to the quality of reliable “refuge” and “comfort” which is to be found in the LORD. And then we read “and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.” Isaac was 60 years of age when Rebekah gave birth.
The rest, as they say, is history!! The story is well known, but some of the detail is not as clearly understood as it should be. The LORD clearly knew the future, which He revealed to Rebekah. Multitudes of people who identify as “Christian” today appear to not grasp the effects on our society of this seemingly simple act of the birth of twins, and the revelation God gave to Rebekah about the future for each of them. “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.” There are those who see it as a prophetic announcement by the Almighty. Which it is. Others might interpret it as ‘foreknowledge’. What we all know, or should do, is that in His infinite and perfect plan, God made everlasting unconditional covenants of promise with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (the younger twin). And God IS working out His purposes for the world in direct fulfilment of those covenants.
The birthright (law of succession) belonged to Esau. But chapter 25 of our text ends by telling us “Thus Esau despised his birthright.” The Hebrew word is “bazah”, it means ‘disesteem’ or ‘disregard’. And for that he paid a very high price!! But there is a bit more to this situation. Some time later, when Esau was 40 years old, he married two Hittite women, Judith and Beeri, in defiance of the wishes of Isaac and Rebekah. How do we know this? Look at Genesis 26:35. “And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah”. He later again took another ‘foreign’ wife, this time a daughter of Ishmael. Esau seemed to be very rebellious. He is recognised as the father of the Edomites. But that is a digression from our portion today.
There was a famine in the land. Just like his father before him, Isaac took his family down into Philistine country to survive. To Gerar, which borders Gaza. And just like his father before him, he too tried to pass off his wife as his sister. And again Abi-Melech, king of Gerar, just as had happened to Abraham, blessed Isaac with safety of residence. Isaac planted crops and reaped a bumper harvest, so much so that the Philistines envied him. They had stopped up the wells which Abraham had dug there. So Isaac moved further into the valley of Gerar and dug open the wells which Abraham had dug years before. That caused more quarrels about the water! So eventually, Isaac moved yet again, to about 20 miles south of Beersheva, and again dug a well. He called the place Rehoboth (meaning ‘open spaces) and said “Now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land”. And so they were.
Our final comment on this portion has to be about the blessing which Isaac proclaimed over Jacob. The circumstances are dubious, many would say even fraudulent. We know the story. The blessing in part said “ May God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let the peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you!.” That blessing, having been proclaimed, could not be revoked.
Enter Esau. I am your firstborn, “Bless me father”. Too late. But Isaac has some words, with the same introduction, but a very different meaning, for Esau. “By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; And it shall come to pass, when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.” (i.e you will put some distance between you!) And so it was.
God has provided all of us who are His, a birthright. Guard it. Honour it. Esteem it highly. Do not treat it lightly. Learn the lesson of Esau.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
TORAH REFLECTION
Torah Reflection 05
Chayei Sarah (Life of Sarah)
What an interesting title to this week’s Torah reading! The life of Sarah. The first sentence tells us that Sarah lived 127 years. And the second proclaims her death!! It is not unusual today for a funeral to be principally about remembering the life of the deceased. In Sarah’s case, apart from mentioning her in relation to her burial place, her name is not used again in the whole reading. Nothing! Of course we can all recall things about her from our previous Scripture readings. For me, perhaps the standout is the degree of faith she shared with her husband Abram. After all, she too left her home and followed the LORD’s instructions to journey to a land she did not know. But she will always be remembered as the elderly lady, unable to bear children, chosen by God to miraculously bear ONE child only. That child became the grandfather of the 12 boys who each became head of one of the twelve tribes of Israel, the nation called by God to be His “special treasure” and “the apple of His eye”’
There is often speculation regarding the timing of some events in the Scripture. Rabbinic reasoning is that Sarah’s death, at the age of 127 years, is closely related to the anxiety she experienced at the Lord’s testing of Abraham with the ‘binding of Isaac’. Most people consider Isaac to have been about 12 years old at the time. But if the Rabbi’s are correct, Isaac would then have been a 37 year old man! And certainly, the sequential timing of the two events favours the Rabbinic view.
I find it interesting to look at a map of the area where events occurred in Scripture. At the same time, reference back to genealogy, specifically Genesis 10, (after Noah) in order to provide a framework to see how the names we encounter fit into the picture. But none of that alters the general thrust of the message contained in the reading today. Abraham was in Canaan, a foreigner (Hb. ‘ger’) from the ‘other side of the river’ (Euphrates) and he had developed a good relationship with his Canaanite neighbours. He needed a place to bury his beloved Sarah, so he negotiated, not for ANY burial sepulchre, but the best available. “The cave of the field of Machpelah”’. It was not cheap, but Abraham paid without bargaining. It is one of three well known places recorded in Scripture where land title was purchased from the landholder. The others being the site of Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem, and Araunah’s threshing floor in Jerusalem. They have never been sold back again!
Eventually, the “cave of the field of Machpelah” became the final resting place of the bodies of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their wives Sarah, Rebecca and Leah. (Rachel is not buried there) Later Herod built the huge wall around the ‘cave’ and over time it has become the enormous building, known as the “Tomb of the Patriarchs” which still stands on that site today. It functions mostly as a mosque, with a quite small synagogue adjacent to the main building, and Jews are allowed access to the main building on ten days each year. (On a visit to friends in Kiryat Arba on one such day, a few years ago, my late wife and I were privileged to witness the awe in which this place is held by Jews today).
We are then told that Abraham was ‘advanced in age’, and he wanted to make sure that his son, Isaac, had a wife of ‘correct lineage’! Taking up the timing issue again, it does seem a bit premature for Abraham to be caring about a wife for a 12 year old boy doesn’t it? In any event, he was concerned. In those days, “putting a hand under one’s thigh”, was considered an intimate gesture which confirmed a promise, and Abraham’s ‘governing servant’ was placed under such promise. It was a solemn oath. Little did that servant know that God had preceded him in that mission. It was a “done deal” as the words came out of Abraham’s mouth. Don’t you marvel, as I do, at God’s ways. The story is a most interesting one and worthy of your careful attention. Read it yourself. Abraham wanted all the possibilities covered. Isaac’s wife was to come from Abraham’s own family, BUT Isaac was forbidden to go there himself. Why? Because Abraham believed God. And God had said (Genesis 12:7) “To your descendants I will give this land”. At that particular time there was only ONE descendant. Isaac. And Isaac had not yet heard that promise directly from God. It was vital that he did. The whole future plan of God depended on it. And, by Abraham’s reckoning, Isaac’s wife could not possibly come from an idolatrous Canaanite family. The mixture would be wrong.
So Rebekah, a daughter of Abraham’s nephew, was the young lady who met Abraham’s servant at the watering place. What a coincidence!!! Abraham’s old servant was praying for some guidance at the well. “How am I going to know the person I am supposed to find?” I imagine him thinking. Wham! There she is standing in front of him. No short list. No choice. No ambiguity. Thank You LORD. The young Rebekah invited Abraham’s servant, who by this time was so sure that his mission was prospering, that he presented costly gifts to the young lady in thanks for her kindness. It was shortly after this that we meet Laban. Rebekah’s brother. We will meet him again later in this series. He, seeing the costly jewellery, and I suspect, having an eye for business, ‘gushed’ to offer hospitality and friendship to the new visitors. And so it was, that this story had a happy ending. Rebekah, God’s choice of a wife for Isaac, returned with Abraham’s servant.
But the elderly Abraham then re-married and produced many more children. He eventually died aged 175 and was buried, with his beloved Sarai in “the cave of Machpelah”.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
TORAH REFLECTION
Torah Reflection 04
Vayera. (And He appeared)
There are three times recorded in Genesis when the LORD appeared to Abraham. This is the second of those appearances.
Abraham sat in the door of his tent in the heat of the day. The text suggests he was perhaps ‘nodding off’! When he looked up, there were three men standing looking at him. Abraham ran towards them and bowed, addressing them as “my Lord” (Adonai is actually a plural word). The text makes it clear that even though there are different words used for “God” in this encounter, the common source is of God Almighty, and His purpose was to convey the news that the promise of a natural born child, previously conveyed to Abraham, was about to be fulfilled. Sarah overheard the announcement and couldn’t avoid a chuckle! That chuckle was countered by an amazing insight, which we do well to remember, perhaps especially in our day when we consider what is happening in the world today. “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” Of course the answer is “NO”, but we also need to be mindful that God unfolds His plan in His own time, and not in a timeframe which we often expect because of our sincere supplication.
Again it is manifestly evident in the text that God had determined that His judgement was to be brought on the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Why? Because “their sin was very great”, AND there had been an “outcry to the LORD” against it. Was that outcry from righteous people praying for change? We can only speculate. It certainly gives enormous encouragement to us to bring before the LORD matters which we can plainly see wrong and gravely sinful in our society today doesn’t it? Then an amazing dialogue occurred.
Why was God concerned about revealing to Abraham His intention to bring judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah? The “great and mighty nation”, which God had promised Abraham would spring from his loins, was unfulfilled at this stage. (I now take a bit of licence here, and disagree if you wish. But roll forward 4000 years to the time when God (in the person of Yeshua) came and dwelt bodily amongst us, for a comparison.) Abraham was righteous, God was faced with the judgement of severely unrighteous men. And NOT for the first time. What would a righteous man make of that judgement? Abraham was representative of a future nation of ‘priests’ before God. How would they prosecute judgement when faced with rank unrighteousness? Is that unrighteousness to be tolerated, or dealt with? As I pen this ‘reflection’, that is what I perceive to be God’s motive. But I may be wrong!! In any event God entered into dialogue with Abraham .. and Abraham was honest, and generous, in his attitude. (The Bible records another account similar in nature which God had with Moses after the exodus from Egypt .. Numbers 14) The dialogue which ensued appears to see God ‘giving ground’ in the light of Abraham’s concerns about numbers. The final number of “righteous men”, in order that the community avoid the severe judgement, TEN, is the minimum number much later decreed by the Rabbinate to be sufficient (and necessary) to be a “minion” to form a Jewish synagogue congregation.
The text, Genesis 18:19, says “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” It is from that statement that I have taken my licence!
Of course, we must acknowledge that God knew exactly how many ‘righteous’ men were there, but it seems to me that He wanted to ensure that Abraham (and those considered righteous who came after him) would accept the ‘fairness’ of the judgement. (my earlier reference to 4000 years later alludes to the fact that God, in the person of Yeshua, took on human form and had no cause, then, to determine what man might think about His judgement. He had become ‘flesh’ and dwelt among them. BUT we also know that unrighteous men do, and always will, consider God’s judgements to be harsh and inappropriate!!) Whatever God’s reasons, that’s what happened. Then followed the well know account of the judgement of Sodom and Gommorah
Isaac, the son of God’s promise to Abraham, was born when Abraham was 100 years old. How precious would that have been to him? But Abraham had another son, Ishmael, born about 14 years earlier as a result of Sarai trying to ‘help God out’ in providing Abram with an heir. The enmity which developed between the mothers of those two boys, passed to the sons, and remains to this very day. The enmity runs very deep, and is unlikely to end until God again intervenes by sending His Son, Yeshua, back to this earth as the King of kings. And that is another story, an event, still future to us, which will happen as sure as night follows day.
But God had one more test for the faithful Abraham. It is impossible for any father to imagine a more daunting test. MOST fathers would fail the test upon its suggestion. “Offer your son to Me as a burnt offering”. What would you think went through Abraham’s mind at that point? Again, I take licence here, because it is impossible to know. But shock and horror would be a first guess. God knew that there was a day coming when He Himself would have to make such a sacrifice. Was there a man on the earth who would do such a thing? Well we know the story. Abraham was such a man who FULLY TRUSTED his God. Selah! What an example he is.
What God expects of us is to put our trust in Him. No more, no less.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
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 Reflection
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
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 52
The “Silent Years” 1
Conclusion to ‘living in the Promised Land’
There is academic debate about the timing of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. This series of ‘reflections’ is not about date accuracy, even though there are precise dates included for some of the events. It is more about the experience of the Jews when they entered the land of God’s promise to them. Of necessity, it goes more to the relationship of the Israelites with their God when they got there. If we accept the commonly accepted date of 1446 BCE for the Exodus, we arrive at an approximate date of 1400 BCE for the entry of the Israelites into the land. If we also accept that Malachi prophesied about 430 BCE, towards the end of Nehemiah’s time, then the events ‘reflected’ on in this series covers a time frame of approximately 1,000 years.
Our Hebrew Scriptures are silent about events after Nehemiah. The Apostolic Scriptures take up events some 400 years later.
So what have we learned ?
Joshua led the people over the Jordan River about 1400 BCE and it was roughly another 25 years before the first Judge, Othniel, was appointed to rule the people. A succession of judges followed with very little success. No-one led the people to follow the LORD according to the covenant promises they had made. This situation prevailed for a further 300 years before Samuel was appointed judge over Israel, and it was a further 20 years or so before Saul became Israel’s first king. Samuel attempted to keep Saul under some check, but it was a very difficult and divisive period for the Israelites.
Forty years after Saul, David became king and for the first time in the history of the nation there was unity among the tribes and the LORD was honoured and worshipped as He expected. Solomon followed his dad and ‘kept the faith’ for a long while, but then he too faltered and after about 40 more years the nation was much distressed as division plagued them once again. The ten tribes occupying the north became “Israel”, and the two tribes in the south took the name “Judah”.
It is interesting to note, that under the leadership of Moses, when the people left Egypt as a fledgeling new nation, God provided them with a blueprint for living righteously before Him. It’s known as the “TORAH” (instructions). The whole nation assented to accept these instructions as good, and made a covenant with God concerning those instructions. Simply put, “Then Moses took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said ‘All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient’.” It was their continuing failure to honour that commitment which caused God, who gave them multiple warnings and chances to reform, to eventually say “ENOUGH”. It is a matter of regret for them that God expelled them from the land as a result. But in his boundless mercy and grace, some 850 years after their first entry to the land, God allowed them back again. However, the point of interest is this. The covenant, which the united Israel made with God, and broke when they became a divided nation, is not ended. God remains faithful to that covenant. However, through the prophet Jeremiah, (Jer 31:31) He told us that He will make “A NEW COVENANT” with the same people … the house of Israel and the house of Judah. BUT, that new covenant will be unbreakable because it will be put in the mind and written of the hearts of those people. In the DNA as it were.
In spite of all the failures and disappointments which we have seen in this series of ‘reflections’, God is determined to remain faithful to His covenant promises which He unilaterally made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And there is more. Because in His conversation with Abraham He said “I will bless those who bless you, and curse (Heb. ‘Orar’ ‘bitterly curse’) those who curse (Heb, ‘qalal’ ‘treat contemptuously’) you.” The Apostle Paul, asked the rhetorical question speaking of the Jews “Have they stumbled that they should fall?” Then he answered with a resounding “Certainly not ! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the gentiles.” (Romans 11:11)
So the conclusion is this. The story of the exploits of these people in the land God promised them is a rather sad and depressing one. It is very easy to point an accusing finger at them and wonder at their insensitivity and continuing failure. It is easy to say “they got exactly what they deserved”. And they did. But the whole point of the Scriptures is to provide understanding and example. It is an honest story. It tells it like it is. It is a story about God as much as it is a story about Israel. And therein lies an extremely important lesson. To quote the Apostle Paul again, also from Romans 11, talking about the Jews being branches broken off from the natural Olive tree. “Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either”.
We have viewed this group as a whole nation, but they were dealt with by God as individuals too. Some very good servants of the LORD, like Daniel, Ezra, Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, were exiled from the land. But we saw how strategically God was able to use those men to fulfil His purposes. May God bless you as you ponder His marvellous, gracious, merciful, ways. We should always check ourselves to determine if we are walking the path God intended.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 51
N E H E M I A H 1
Ezra had faithfully taught the people the historical detail of the journey of the forefathers of those now living in the land. He had successfully re-introduced the observance of the ‘mo’edim’ (appointed times of the LORD) specified Leviticus 23, and was delighted when the people made a covenant to observe and to do the commandments of the LORD. It heralded a new chapter in their relationship with God. Free of the influence of the kings of the divided kingdom (about which we have ‘reflected’ for some weeks), it was time to begin a new system of government, albeit concentrated on the tribal territory of Judah and Benjamin.
Nehemiah, had led the last wave of returnees. He ensured that Jerusalem’s walls were completely rebuilt and secure, and was recognised as Governor. However, he had committed himself (Nehemiah 2:6) to one day returning to his post as cup-bearer to king Artaxerses king of Babylon. He spent 12 years in Jerusalem before returning to serve the king again. Then, having dutifully returned to Artaxerxes, he again sought, and was given, permission to go back to Jerusalem (but it is not clear how long he was absent from Judah). He had put many administrative details in place. First was to ensure that Jerusalem was populated with more people than just those in leadership and those who had responsibilities in the temple. But ‘ordinary’ people too. They drew ‘lots’ to decide the ones who would be the extras (10% of the populace) who would augment the numbers of those who volunteered to be resident in Jerusalem. The other 90% were settled in the remaining cities of Judah. The Nethinim, (non Jewish temple assistants) lived in Ophel, a small compound just south of the temple, inside the city walls. Nehemiah brought orderliness and structure to Judah, which was largely centred on the worship of God and the proper use of the temple. (reference to the illustrative sketch in “reflections 49” might assist in understanding the layout of the city at this time).
A ceremony of dedication of the newly constructed walls of Jerusalem was arranged, and for that, all the Levites, wherever they lived, were sought out “to celebrate the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings and singing, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps”. The “singers’”who had accompanied Nehemiah from Babylon, had settled in villages all around Jerusalem. They too were sought out to participate in the celebration. The Levites purified themselves, the people, the gates, and the wall. It must have been quite a spectacle. Ezra led the leaders up onto the wall, and the singers formed two large choirs, one to the right, the other to the left. They went in opposite directions around the wall until they met up in the temple area. (In some ways, it appears that Nehemiah attempted to replicate the celebration which occurred when David arranged the divisions of the priests for temple service in a similar ceremony described in 1 Chronicles 25).
However, it seems that whilst Nehemiah was out of the country certain things had been allowed which were inconsistent with the covenant the people had made. It evidently was a time of great trial and learning for them. The reading of the scroll on the day that included Deuteronomy 23, taught them that God had pronounced a judgment on the Ammonites and Moabites because of their refusal to assist the Israelites when they attempted to pass through their territory on their journey to the land of God’s promise. Also they hired Balaam to put a curse on the Israelites. For that reason the Judeans had separated themselves from ‘the foreigners’. But during Hezekiah’s absence Eliashib, the High priest, had allowed Tobiah, one of the three conspirators who tried to frustrate Nehemiah’s wall construction project, to have a room in the temple court. Nehemiah threw out Tobiah’s possessions and had the room cleansed. Then he discovered that the Levites and the singers hadn’t been looked after properly and had returned to their fields. He put that right. Then he found that the nobles were causing their workers to work on the Sabbath. So he commanded that the gates of the city remained closed on the Sabbath. He discovered that some of the people had married the women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Foreign women. And the last straw was that Eliashib had married the daughter on Sanballat the Horonite. Nehemiah got rid of him.
So Nehemiah prayed. “Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. Thus I cleansed them of everything pagan. I also assigned duties to the priests and the Levites, each to his service, and to bringing the wood offering and the first fruits at the appointed times. Remember me O my God, for good !”. Nehemiah had done all he physically could to restore right behaviour and practice to the people of the land.
During this time of trial and challenge for Nehemiah, God caused Malachi to prophecy in Judah (and possibly Joel too, but that is disputed by some). We will address that issue next week. Following this account, the Scriptures are silent for the next 400 years or so. But secular historians have much to say about this time. It is obvious to me that the people who returned to the land from Babylon needed strong leadership. Ezra and Nehemiah provided that while they lived, and we can only speculate about what happened after they died. The lessons which are to be learned for this whole episode of ‘life in the promised land’ is that it isn’t easy. Many temptations and pitfalls appear in order to distract all but the truly committed. God grant that we learn these lessons, and remain faithful in our times of trial.
Shabbat Shalom
RS