Notes on Israel’s enduring purpose for our sake.

I mentioned in an earlier post that some of things I write here are as much to provide an online archive of things I’ve noticed as they are for others’ information, amazement, or amusement. This post will be along those lines; a sort of “note to self” that I can refer to without having to find my paper notes which by now may well be lost in a stack of Bibles. But if you also gain something from reading these things, then all the better.

A friend recently lent me a copy of Dan Juster’s The Irrevocable Calling – Israel’s Role as a Light to the Nations. This book details some of the ways in which the ancient nation of Israel has been a living priesthood that not only brought forth the Savior of the world roughly 2000 years ago, but also provided a sacrificial covering for the sins of the world for a millennium or two before that time, and continues to be a living witness of the reality of God to the world, even in a current “state of unbelief” (meaning not having yet seen by faith and acknowledged the first coming of Yeshua HaNatzri as Mashiach and Goel).

My notes on Chapters 4 and 5 of the book cite Juster (hopefully accurately – I returned the book to my friend) as writing:

In summary, Israel was called to establish a nation in the midst of the earth that has preserved and lived out the truth of God. Their life under the Lord shows the significance of God’s Word, his standards, and his redemption…

Even in unbelief, the Jewish people can’t help but testify to the truth of the Scriptures. In their dispersion, but also by their preservation… Scripture continues to be fulfilled…

Israel’s continued faithfulness to the Sabbath and the Holy Days maintains a picture of redemption and spiritual truth for the world’s benefit…

Though Jewish people do not engage in literal sacrifices, the liturgy… is still done with direct reference to the practices of the ancient temple… The irrevocable call – to act in an intercessory-representative role for humanity – continues, though in a weakened form… there are also some Orthodox Jews who fully comprehend their life and practice (their call) as a means of intercession for the redemption of the world…

Even in partial unbelief, Israel speaks the Word of God [in daily prayers] and this Word will not return void. There is still power released that moves history toward the goal of the fullness of the kingdom of God on earth…

And then some notes regarding the relationships between Jewish and Gentile believers, both from the inception of the church, and now (chapters 6 and 7):

In reference to Acts 15:21, Juster sees James’ intent as pointing out the continued value of the weekly synagogue Torah readings in teaching Godly precepts to the Gentiles without their needing to follow the regulations [of kashrut]…

The Jewish believers, by maintaining their Jewish identity and traditions, keep alive the authentic context for understanding the Scriptures…

Jewish life proclaims that God exists and He will rule the world. Every time a Jewish person keeps the Sabbath and the feasts… they proclaim the reality of God and look forward to the fullness of redemption…

All the nations seek a world order that excludes the God of the Bible, who is the God of Israel… Israel, even in unbelief, challenges this view…

Dr. Peter Hocken notes that the first church division came from a rejection of the legitimacy of the early Messianic Jewish community… [and also] suggests that doctrinal differences within the church can likely be bridged by a return to the Jewish roots and context of our faith…

Tragically, both the church and the synagogue have rejected the organic link between them, [which is] the Messianic Jews…

And then some notes on Malachi 4:5-6 (Behold, I am sending you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of Jehovah.
Mal 4:6  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their fathers, that I not come and strike the earth with utter destruction):

Some contemporary leaders have discerned… some larger implications… Just as scholars have seen in the fifth commandment to ‘honor your father and mother’ an implied concern to honor all authorities, these verses in Malachi can also be applied in a wider sense…

The church needs to honor her Jewish spiritual parents. Though the church may consider the Jewish people as ‘missing it’ with regard to Yeshua, it is still appropriate to act as a respectful child to parents who do not yet believe. Honoring its spiritual parentage is crucial for the church to come into right order, understanding, and unity.

It is equally important for the Jewish people to see the church as their own offspring, even if it appears to be a wayward child… Messianic Jews know that unless the church fulfills its call and destiny, Israel will not be saved and world redemption will not come…

As I said, these are just my notes jotted down when I first read Juster’s book. Placing them in this blog post doesn’t mean I’m completely on board with everything he says – but he does give us some things to consider.

The Righteousness of the Law Fulfilled in us

Romans 8:3-4  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; so that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard believers say, “Oh, I’m not under the law, but under grace!” Aside from the matter that Romans 6:14 is being taken out of context when it’s used this way – the “law” referred to here is not specifically the law of Moses, but rather the law of sin & death which came through Adam; see my explanation here — does that mean we are to disregard the law? I think, somewhat unfortunately, that too many believers come to that conclusion, whether they realize it or not. They similarly take another verse, Romans 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for everyone who believes, to reinforce the notion that Christ somehow did away with the law. Never mind that He himself said that he came to do no such thing. And please take no notice of the fact that the word “end” in this verse, or “fulfill” in Matthew 5:17 mean not to terminate but to consummate. Is a marriage terminated because it’s consummated? Of course not!

So then what are we to do with the law? Even if we were to keep it, that would not make us righteous, so what’s the point?

I think we’re missing the point entirely when we say things like that. The law was given so that we can know right from wrong. Or more importantly, from the viewpoint of restoring the love relationship between us and our Creator — which is what our salvation is really all about — the law was given so that we would know what our Lover likes and dislikes, loves and hates, accepts or rejects.

This is basic salvation 101 to say that we all needed Jesus to come to take away our sin, since we were completely incapable of doing so ourselves. You won’t find many Christians arguing that point. But what we do seem to miss a great deal of the time is that this isn’t just so we can be forgiven, but so we can have an opportunity to come into communion with a holy God. God cannot have communion was ungodliness. And we were incapable of godliness until Jesus came and removed the barrier. And now that the barrier is removed, we have to know what constitutes godliness in order to live in it. And there’s where we stumble. We tend at this point to wander off into some nebulous – or worse, religious — idea of what that is. Most of us have a pretty good idea of the basics — the nine* commandments are a good starting point – but most of us also carry a sense around with us that that’s not all there is.

And we’re right. That isn’t all there is. He wrote us a big, thick Book, and we ought to read it to discover what He wants, what He likes, and what He hates. And, if we’re honest, we’ll admit that we haven’t exactly done that either. Even if we are careful to do the basics, we always feel like there’s something missing. But – thanks be to God – He doesn’t leave us there, any more than He leaves us in utter sin. After we come through the Door, Jesus, into the sheep pen, the Shepherd begins to raise us up into what He wants us to be, day by day. But we lose track of what He’s doing when we don’t go back to the Book He wrote to see what’s next. And we miss most of the Book when we throw out huge chunks of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy because we think that’s just “the law of Moses.” Which brings me back to the title of this post: if we walk day by day in the way God leads us, we can fulfill all of His desire. Not just the basics, but the “righteousness which is of the law” — the whole enchilada.

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* I know; it’s supposed to be ten commandments, but most of Christianity (as far as I can tell) kind of skips # 4: remember the seventh day to keep it holy, so that leaves nine. Most of us are OK, though, with thou shalt not kill, commit adultery, steal, etc.

Intersections: Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Mat 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Another well-recognized phrase that we think was first heard in the Sermon on the Mount? Think again.

Here is one of the greatest medieval Jewish sage’s comment on Exodus 4:14: Rashi explains that the import of the word eh-heh-yeh – I Shall Be – is as follows, "I shall be with them in this sorrow as I shall be with them in other sorrows." According to the Midrash, Moshe responds with "An evil in its own time is enough."

Please note that I am not saying that Jesus was laying a false claim to originality in any of these instances. Rather it is that he was reminding his students of precepts they should be recognizing. This, I think, puts it in a perspective that is even more instructive than the traditional Christian one.

Intersections: Parables and their purpose

Matthew 22:1-14  And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding …So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast [him] into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few [are] chosen.

Johanan b. Zakkai illustrates the necessity of daily conversion and of constant readiness to appear before God in heaven by the following parable: "A king invited his servants to a banquet without stating the exact time at which it would be given. Those who were wise remembered that all things are ever ready in the palace of a king, and they arrayed themselves and sat by the palace gate awaiting the call to enter, while those who were foolish continued their customary occupations, saying, ‘A banquet requires great preparation.’ When the king suddenly called his servants to the banquet, those who were wise appeared in clean raiment and well adorned, while those who were foolish came in soiled and ordinary garments. The king took pleasure in seeing those who were wise, but was full of anger at those who were foolish, saying that those who had come prepared for the banquet should sit down and eat and drink, but that those who had not properly arrayed themselves should stand and look on" (Shab. 153a).

Matthew 13:10-11  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Ezekiel 20:49  Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?

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One of the first things I noticed in reading Everyman’s Talmud was that it has long been a common rabbinical practice to teach in parables; it wasn’t just something that Jesus invented during the time of his earthly ministry. That misconception is quite understandable, consistent with the traditional Christian interpretation of Matthew 13, but it’s obviously not quite correct. Never mind that the Hebrew prophets who came before either the rabbis or Jesus also taught in parables, as the example from the book of Ezekiel shows.

My personal outlook is that Jesus, being the living Word & wisdom personified, did it a little differently, and more effectively, but even saying that much to my more tradition-bound fellow believers got me some funny looks. We’re just not used to this stuff yet.

And, just to balance things out, I should note that The Jewish Encyclopedia takes a competing viewpoint, conceding that parables were used both by their rabbis and by Jesus, but theirs were better. We all have our preferences.

Intersections: Replacement theology, Talmud style

Or not, actually. But I was amazed to read just this morning that there was a sort of anticipation – and refutation – of the phenomenon years before. Stone Chumash cites Pesachim 87a as the source of this commentary on the Book of the Hosea (Haftarah Bamidbar):

God told Hosea that Israel had sinned, to which the prophet replied, “All the world is Yours. [If they are unworthy] exchange them for another nation.”

God responded by commanding him to marry a harlot and have children with her, even though he knew she was unfaithful. Chapter 1 of Hosea relates that he had three children from this marriage and, at God’s command, named them as follows:

Stone runs through the story of the names of the children, the second and third being Lo-ruhamah and Lo-ammi. These verses are some of the key Scriptures used to say that God has replaced Israel with the Church. But Stone goes on the relate:

…for the Jews had forfeited their claim to chosenness. Then, after the three children were born, God ordered Hosea to send his family away. Hosea pleaded that he could not part with the children!

God then said: “Your wife is a harlot whose children may not even be yours but the product of adultery, yet you say that you cannot abandon them. Israel is the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – how dare you say I should exchange it for another nation!”

I really don’t understand any longer how the church theologians who have wanted to go with the first premise have so completely missed the second and more important one, unless it’s through some sort of willfulness.

Intersections: Oral Law as the source?

One of the things that occurred to me early on is that the coincidences between NT writings (or other Christian teachings) and Talmud (or other rabbinical teachings) make complete sense if they are both elucidations of the same underlying tradition. And could it be that the underlying tradition for both is the Oral Law?

(Don’t expect me to explain here what the Oral Law is – that sort of thing is beyond the scope of these short “intersections” posts. You’ll also notice if you read these posts that I don’t necessarily start or end them neatly packaged as a post ought to be, since they are mostly just musings on various points.)

This thought is just foreign enough to my mind (my experience with Christianity as relationship rather than religious formality has been in a Protestant stream, not the Roman one which openly acknowledges the validity of the Oral Law) that I’m just keeping an eye out for it for now.

Intersection: Beginning and End

Revelation 4:8  And each one of the four living creatures had six wings about him, and within being full of eyes. And they had no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.

My first encounter with Mesorah publications was through the Artscroll Siddur. I had picked it up in a bookstore more or less on a whim, having no idea yet what a siddur is – a prayer book, basically. So naturally I started at the beginning. On the first page following the front matter I found this:

The Names of God

The Four-Letter Name of God [Y-H-V-H {transliterated}] indicates that God is timeless and infinite, since the letters of this Name are those of the words Hayah Hoveh Veyheyeh, He was, He is, and He will be…

Of course the connection between Revelation 4 and Isaiah 6 is easily recognizable, but I’d never seen the Three Part Name in the Hebrew Scriptures (maybe it’s there & I haven’t seen it). It instantly struck me that when Jesus appeared to John on Patmos, John did not recognize his friend and rabbi until he identified himself as “the First and the Last.”

So what the Artscroll rabbi wrote, and what John wrote, are essentially the same. Consider the implications.

Where Talmud & New Testament Intersect

If it sounds surprising to you that there is any place where the Christian New Testament* and the Jewish Talmud are on the same page, so to speak, it did to me at first, too. But now, the more I study, the more I discover there are a great many places where both the Jewish sages and the Christian writers appear to be saying the same things, and often from a similar perspective.

My first exposure to this phenomenon was through Dr. A. Cohen’s Everyman’s Talmud, E.P. Dutton & Co., New York, 1949. Dr. Cohen writes from an educated Conservative Jewish perspective, not from a Christian or Messianic Jewish one. So when I saw the sayings of Jesus reflected over and over again in rabbinical parables and precepts, I began to realize that there was a lot more in common between the two supposedly divergent streams of teaching than I had previously considered or ever heard. And I got some pretty strange looks whenever I mentioned it to my fellow Christian believers.

And I’m not just talking here about the well-known fact that many different cultures have some form or another of “the golden rule.” That’s just basic human social sense. The correspondence between Gospel precepts and parables and their Talmudic counterparts are more detailed, and sometimes very much out of synch with common social wisdom. You may have read Matthew 5:28, “I say to you that whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” but you may not have read this in the Talmud: "He that looks upon a woman’s heel,  is as if he looked upon her belly:  and he that looks upon her belly,  is as if he lay with her."

Or Luke 24:5  “And as they were afraid, and bowed their faces down to the earth, they said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead?” is very much like this rabbinical quote found in Cohen: “a person who lost his son went to inquire for him in a cemetery …is it the way to inquire for the dead among the living or the dead? Surely it is always the practice of the living to attend to the needs of the dead, not vice versa!”

Luke 8:18,  “Therefore be careful how you hear. For whoever has, to him shall be given; and whoever has not, from him shall be taken even that which he seems to have,”  is not much different from this: “God’s measure is not like the measure of flesh and blood.  The measure of flesh and blood is this:  ‘An empty vessel is receptive,  but a full one can take in no more.  But God’s measure is this,  The full vessel is receptive of more,  but the empty vessel receives nothing;  according as it is said,  If hearing thou wilt hear;  that is,  If thou hearest thou shalt hear;  if thou dost not hear,  thou shalt not hear.”

Those are just a few instances of what I began to run into. I started bookmarking them as I came to them, but the book began filling with slips of paper citing Gospel verses where they matched the Talmudic reading under discussion. Too much to be mere coincidence. This got me to wondering if perhaps the sages, since they historically followed Jesus and the apostles, were maybe just copy-catting, but then I considered that it seemed more likely that both Jesus and the sages followed the same stream, which ultimately comes from the same source: the Torah.

Which makes complete sense, if we dare allow ourselves to go there in our minds. Another one of the books I mention on my Resources page lays it all out rather clearly: that Jesus was (and therefore still is) a Jewish Rabbi of the first order, in love with the Torah, perfectly diligent to keep every one of its precepts and statutes and judgments with all of his heart and soul and strength. Like no other, before or since. Yet isn’t it his desire for us that we follow his example?

So began a delightful journey over the past several months, looking into contemporary Jewish theological literature and Biblical commentary, not necessarily digging for parallels and correspondences, but keeping an eye out for them, all the while drinking in the richness of the wisdom of men who had been studying the Scriptures for hundreds of years before Martin Luther was even a twinkle in Daddy Luther’s eye.

I’ve become especially fond of the Stone Editions of the Pentateuch (Chumash) and Hebrew Scriptures (Tanach) from Artscroll Mesorah. I began keeping a handwritten journal of choice nuggets as I came across them, and even that is now filling up so much as to be hard to keep track of. I’ve shared a few of these things with friends, and I still get some odd looks, but not as many, and not quite so odd. So I’m going to try to follow along here, as much as is practical. Partly so I can come here myself and use the web browser ‘find’ function to look up something I’d noted earlier, and partly to share. If no one else comes here, that’s OK; I’ll still find this method useful for my own purposes. But if anyone does wander this way, maybe they’ll be blessed, or at least piqued to poke around the powerful principles which tend to pile up where the Talmud and New Testament meet.

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(*Just to mention it here, one of the important principles I learned in Gruber’s book Copernicus and the Jews – see my Resources page – is that the use of the term New Testament to refer to the Scriptures written after the close of the Hebrew canon is, if you’ll pardon my saying, completely unscriptural. Gruber thoroughly explains this in his chapter Dr. Frankenstein’s Neighborhood Bible Club. I’d love to spend some time with you quoting and summarizing, but I’ll restrain myself here, and bow to common usage, in order to be understood without having to go over the matter every time I post. A similar deference I’ll make is with respect to the use of the term “Christian.” Gruber also spends a chapter on this, but simply put, it’s not at all clear from “New Testament” Scripture that the early disciples ever thought of themselves by that term, and certainly not primarily. Interesting stuff, really, once you get into it, but not necessary at this point. Also please note my use of the term Talmud is in the most general sense. I refer the interested reader to Dr. Cohen’s book for a very good explanation of what that entails.)

Nine months!? You’re kidding me!

No, really – it’s been that long.

I’ve been working elsewhere, and something someone said in one of those elsewhere places got me to thinking about how close I come in my own mind to maybe wishing I were Jewish.

I figured out that I’m not really near that point at all, which wasn’t a huge surprise, but I also got a clearer perspective on where I stand as a goy in relation to the Jewish world.

This particular person, an Orthodox lady on Twitter (who shall remain nameless for the sake of this blog, since it’s what she said that matters, not who said it), seemed intrigued as to why I wanted to study Torah (or Talmud), and said something about how hard it is sometimes to keep all those mitzvot, but how wonderful it is to be in the privileged position to be under the obligation.

Wonderful, yes, it would be, but knowing I’m not, I got to thinking would I want to? That it is, would I want to convert? Simple answer – no. That, my friends, completely skewers any wannabe attitude. I mean, how could I say I wannabe, if given the chance, I would not. Not that I’ve really said here that I am or was a wannabe Jew – wannabe, or wouldabeen-nicetobeen actual Shabbos Goy, yes, but I don’t think I’ve ever said I thought I was a wannabe Jew. But I’ve thought about it.

And all that made me also think a little harder about what is it that I do want to be in relation to the Jewish people. I’m not sure if this constitutes a fall-back position, but my basic vista point (like one of those places on a scenic highway) is that I who was born into darkness have been shown the light because Am HaSefer carried that light for centuries, carefully preserving it and transmitting it from one generation to the next, until it shined on me.

Yes, of course it was through HaAdon Yeshua HaMashiach the Lord Jesus Christ that this occurred, but it’s not just a simple matter of saying that we ought to love the Jews because Jesus was (never mind that He still is) Jewish. It’s also because a nation, and not just a nation, but thousands and millions of individual people – men, women, children, families – lived and died for the purpose of carrying the light of life in the form of a book, and in the form of their own lives. Not everyone lived their daily lives thinking that way, nor likely many at all, but it was the fact of their lives nonetheless.

And because of the purpose and sacrifice of these many, many souls, I have life.

They had life given to them, to give to me, and they gave what they had, and now I have life.

I think perhaps some gratefulness is in order. Well, more than some. But a remarkable thing about gratefulness is that it’s human nature to begin to put on a pedestal those to whom we are rightly grateful. And that is not good. It does them a disservice, in that we then may begin to expect more from them from that point on than is fair, and it also is a first step toward idolizing them. Even if we don’t go that far, we tend to start thinking that most of what they do is right – that it must be, because that’s who they are. There is, for instance, a serious tendency among Christian Zionists to give cart blanche support to the State of Israel, defending its actions even when they are wrong and we know it. Or maybe sometimes we don’t know it when they’re wrong, because we’ve got them up on that pedestal.

So I have to watch myself on that account. But still my heart is deeply moved that, at no particular cost to me, I have life through the written Word of God, preserved at such great, great cost by the People of the Book.

What chutzpaniks these Shabbos Goyim were!

A really great story from Yeshiva World, passed along in The Goy’s Guide to Israel!

In this news item, really, there are these shabbos goyim (real ones, not wannabes like me) who decided they should be paid as though they were, well, not goyim. If that’s not bad enough, they thought they could sue and win! For some reason, Tel Aviv Labor Court did not agree.

With such chutzpa, perhaps we should make them honorary yids? No. God forbid we should encourage such behavior!

Moving day for Shabbes Goy

Dear Reader (no, I’m not Miss Manners),

It had been my intention when I started this blog to cover a wider range of topics in support of the People and the Land so loved by God, including commentary on current news regarding Eretz Israel and the Middle East. Since that time, I’ve noticed that my focus has hardly deviated from cultural and Biblical issues. One of the great things about blogging is that you don’t have to answer to a publisher – you can write what you want; you can focus your thoughts in a narrow range, or roam the steppes and deserts and forests of ideas.

But then, if you’ve been following me at all, you saw a few days ago that I started a new category in which I began to cover the news. Since that brief time, however, I decided just to go ahead & start a separate blog for that, and I’ve already started moving my few newsy posts over to that new blog.

I hope you don’t mind.

I also hope you don’t mind if I do not direct you there from here, but I have a couple of reasons for that. First of all, in case you haven’t noticed, I’ve kept myself under a pseudonym in this blog, and I don’t plan to change that. “Nameless and faceless” is a current buzzword (buzz phrase?) in Christianity, and I approve of the principle of not only failing to call attention to our own individual identities, but to make a reasoned attempt to draw attention away from ourselves, so as to better step out of the way of the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. I do believe that light should be seen in me, but not in me as John Smith or Joe Jones. It ought to be the purpose of all believers for that light to be seen in the collective Body of Christ, each one of us a member of that body, but visible only as a member of that body.

So, I would have actually preferred a completely anonymous blog, but haven’t seen a way to accomplish that in the technology of blogging, hence the next best thing, a pseudonym. Or I’d rather call it a “nom de plume,” but that’s just a fancy way of saying the same thing, so why should I do that?

See – there I go again getting off track of what I was trying to say about posting more on news issues and less on what are considered issues of religion (though I dislike that word).

Which leads me to the second reason for not directing you, dear reader, to my new blog. I want you, if you wish, to go looking for it, because if you do, my hope is that you’ll stumble upon many of the excellent blogs which sound the trumpet call for more accuracy in the public reporting of current events, as I have found in my cruising of the web. And so also to the purpose of sending you in the direction of accurate reporting, I’m retaining most of my news oriented links. And also just so you still know where I stand in defense of the land and the people.

You can’t become righteous by trying to become righteous

One of the things Rabbi Yeshua said to His talmidim was that they had to be more righteous than those chasidim who were at that time held in the highest regard for their righteousness.

“For I say to you, If your righteousness is not greater than the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never go into the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5:20

Now, most of the time when we read about Yeshua’s comments regarding this bunch, they don’t come off as sounding very righteous, but I believe that in this instance (and in some others) He was not speaking of them quite that way. I believe that at this point he was referring to the highest attainable standard.

But they had to do better than that.

He was trying to get them to understand that the only way to succeed was going to be by the new covenant He had come to ratify with His own blood (in a little while). And because through that new covenant, He would inscribe His very Torah in their hearts, their very being.

But this shall be the covenant that I will cut with the house of Israel: After those days, declares YHWH, I will put My Law in their inward parts, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Yermeyahu 31:33 [31:32]

Now of course, all you learned theologians out there (you’re still out there, aren’t you?) know that books and books and books have been written on this, and I don’t plan to write a new one.

But I would like to point out that, although Christians are always saying that this is why our covenant is better than their covenant, we don’t seem to be any better at walking in it. Do we?

But all is not lost. We do need to keep this covenant, and all the Torah of God, before our eyes continually, and endure the exhortations of our elders to not just throw in the towel, saying what’s the use.

Having said all this, I want to insert here an exhortation from an elder named Oswald Chambers, who wrote quite a few piercing admonitions about 100 years ago. (I’ve put a link in my blogroll to a source where you can read him.)

In his entry for July 24, in his devotional My Utmost for His Highest, he wrote:

His Nature and Our Motives

The characteristic of a disciple is not that he does good things, but that he is good in his motives, having been made good by the supernatural grace of God. The only thing that exceeds right-doing is right-being. Jesus Christ came to place within anyone who would let Him a new heredity that would have a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus is saying, “If you are My disciple, you must be right not only in your actions, but also in your motives, your aspirations, and in the deep recesses of the thoughts of your mind.” Your motives must be so pure that God Almighty can see nothing to rebuke. Who can stand in the eternal light of God and have nothing for Him to rebuke? Only the Son of God, and Jesus Christ claims that through His redemption He can place within anyone His own nature and make that person as pure and as simple as a child. The purity that God demands is impossible unless I can be remade within, and that is exactly what Jesus has undertaken to do through His redemption.

No one can make himself pure by obeying laws. Jesus Christ does not give us rules and regulations — He gives us His teachings which are truths that can only be interpreted by His nature which He places within us. The great wonder of Jesus Christ’s salvation is that He changes our heredity. He does not change human nature — He changes its source, and thereby its motives as well.

Perfection

That’s a big word. And it’s talked about a lot in Christianity, since it’s a major topic in the Bible. But most of the time, you hear the great preachers saying it doesn’t really mean that.

So then – it means what? Some say “maturity.” Some say “completion.” Some say “equipping.” What the!?! You can take all the Greek you want & turn it inside out & backwards, but when Messiah himself defines it as simply being perfect as the Father is perfect, you just can’t wriggle out of it.

(Yeshua sat down with his talmidim and had a nice, long talk with them, outlining his requirements for their behavior. His talmid Matityahu recorded it in his book of the gospel – see the end of chapter 5.)

I’ve been putting off this post for a long time, trying to think of some wonderfully erudite way of expressing this, but then I realized it’s really just as simple as Yeshua said it.

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of learned scholars saying that parts of the Bible don’t mean what they say, simply because they don’t want to deal with it. Accepting what the Bible says entails a great deal of personal responsibility, and if you don’t like that – too late!

And then the other comeback is something like, “Well, look at you – you’re not perfect.” Yes, I am not, but that doesn’t excuse either one of us, does it?

Now, if you will please excuse me while I go and deal with it.

Whoever says Messiah is the King, must also admit He is the High Priest

Numbers Chapter 18: “And YHWH said to Aaron: You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood… And you shall keep the charge of the sanctuary and the charge of the altar, that there be no more wrath upon the children of Israel… And YHWH spoke to Aaron: I, behold I have also given you the charge of …all the holy things of the children of Israel; I have given them to you and your sons because of the anointing, as a perpetual ordinance.”

Please correct me, anyone, if I’m wrong, but I’ve read in more than a few places which explain traditional Judaism* that Messiah, when he comes, will arise as the King and Deliverer of Israel. This is certainly true, and would to God more goyim would realize and acknowledge this. And would to God that more goyim who profess to be followers of Christ would realize and acknowledge that to truly do so is to pledge allegiance to Israel’s King.

But are we missing something here? Isn’t the anointing of the high priest just as much of an anointing as that of the king?

The high priest is the messiah of YHWH, just as much as the king. Why am I not seeing this pointed out?

We need to understand that much of what we read in Torah may be understood as illustrations of eternal truth, as well as the explicit instructions of the God of Israel. And is it just me, or isn’t there a marvelous picture in Numbers Chapter 18 of YHWH’s anointed being set out to bear a more profound iniquity than merely his own? You have to notice that the reason YHWH gives for instituting this assignment for the high priest is “that there be no more wrath upon the children of Israel.” If you go back and read the preceding chapters of the book, you’ll see that there was plenty of iniquity and plenty of resulting wrath going on! There had to be something done – the present system wasn’t working. It doesn’t seem fair to tell Aaron that from now on, he’s going to bear the iniquity of the entire community, but if you were in the shoes of anyone else there but him, you wouldn’t be the first one to point that out, would you?

It is surely an admirable thing for someone to suppose that they can atone for their own sin through repentance and prayer, and to make a sincere effort to that end. But what does it take? Is anyone good enough – can anyone be or become good enough – to satisfy Elohim’s just demand for absolute, flawless righteousness? Let’s just start with the number one requirement – to love Him with everything we’ve got, and the person across the street, to boot!

It’s not that it’s humanly impossible, but we start out just far enough behind in that quest to ever quite get caught up (you may have noticed, if you’ve had children, that the first word many learn is “no!”), and each day that we fail to live up to even the first requirement, the farther behind we get. But if we had someone to take all iniquity away from us, to bear it away for us – ah, then we might have a fresh start, mightn’t we? And what if – could it be this good? – what if that sin-bearer could always be there for us each new day, and bear it away if and when we slip up again?

Ah, but would that be what we want, really? A guarantee of sin-then-get-forgiven today, and then sin-but-get-forgiven tomorrow, and then sin-but-get-forgiven-again the next day, and so forth? I think that is, unfortunately, what we do experience in Christianity, but I don’t buy for one minute that this is what God ever intended for us. There is a much greater place for tshuva and tikkun olam in our lives than we often realize, and sometimes I think that those who see this as their only means to atonement have a practical leg up on Christians who act as though we think we can “continue in sin that grace may abound,” as Paul puts it. But first we need that fresh start. We need a High Priest who will bear our iniquity, at least until we can come into our inheritance as children of the Most High.

(* For example, Jews for Judaism is a provocative resource for understanding the traditional viewpoint, updated to our time; another detailed site is Judaism 101.

Take a look at specific and detailed references to the traditional concept of Messiah, and, if you’re brave, at an argument against vicarious atonement.)

How to fulfill Torah

Or, The Romans and the Law, part II

Rom 13:10 Love does no evil to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law.

Which “Law” does love fulfill? Love fulfills Torah. “Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

So, to those Christians who say they are not under Law, but under grace, if they do not distinguish between Torah and the law of sin & death, does this mean they are not obligated to love God and their neighbor?

“You are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14)” Ok, but which law are we talking about?

“The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)”

I see no mention in either of these two verses of the “law of Moses.”

Have you ever heard before of “the law of sin and death?” Did you think it’s the law (Torah) of Moses?

One of the most annoying things about the Bible (annoying, that is, unless you choose to love it) is that in order to understand one verse you often have to read a great deal more than that verse. The book of Romans discusses “law” or “the law” in about a zillion places. Well, ok, it’s only 50-something times, but in 16 chapters, that’s a lot!

A friend said something lately which sounded like he was saying because he’s under the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, he didn’t have to pay much attention to the requirements of what we call the Old Testament. “Oh, I don’t have to worry about that stuff – I’m not under the law, but under grace.” Or words to that effect. If I’d asked him about it, he would have said that’s not what he meant, and I know him well enough to know he was not at all dismissing the Hebrew Scriptures, but the context of his comment showed that he didn’t really understand what “the law” is.

I think that’s true of a lot of us, including myself. I’m discovering there’s a whole lot more to learn before I say “I’m right and he’s wrong.”

But when my friend said what he did, something clicked. I suddenly realized that Romans chapter six is not at all about Torah. It struck me that in order to understand what “law” he’s talking about in chapter six, you have to go back to chapter 5, which talks about the sin (disobedience) of Adam bringing about not only his death, but the death of all his descendants, in that every one of them (us) was sure to sin. That’s the “law” (not a Torah – not a teaching or instruction – but an unavoidable outcome, like gravity) of sin and death. “The wages of sin is death.” (Last verse in chapter 6.) You work, you get paid your wages; you sin, your payment is death. Simple.

“But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

We don’t have to sin – we can be free from sin – *if* we come through the Way that is Jesus, and He enables us to stop sinning, as we learn His way. There’s a whole lot more I could say about that some time, but for now I’m just saying that’s what I see going on in this chapter.

So, back to Torah (the “law of Moses”). Is Romans talking about that at all?

Yep. And this is where we often get mixed up, as I think my friend was. Now ask yourself (assuming you acknowledge the reality of sin, or why have else you read this far) – do you know what sin is? If you answered, disobedience to God, good answer. But to disobey someone you have to know what they told you to do, or what they told you not to do, right?

I think you’re following me, here – I can just feel it. We can know with certainty what pleases or displeases God by simply reading the Book He wrote to us. (The Bible.) The essence of His likes and dislikes is contained in the books of His servant Moses. The Torah.

We’re born with an innate sense of right from wrong (conscience), but if you look around you, when people just go by their own conscience, without any further instruction, things eventually don’t work out so well. Never mind that the more we practice following our own inclinations, the farther we get from God’s directions.

So that’s what Torah (the law of Moses) is – God’s Big Ol’ Instruction Book. The “Owner’s Manual” for our lives. Or, How to Live and not Die, in five easy volumes.

Which is why Paul talks about the law of Moses so much throughout the Book of Romans, in relation to the issues of death & sin, or obedience & life.

But please, let’s not confuse the two. God forbid we should ever be freed from His instructions on how to live! But we have been freed from the law of sin and death (if we will be willing and obedient), through the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

“My doctrine shall drop as the rain… as the small rain on the tender plant”

Moses wrote those words in a book. Deuteronomy 32. Part of the law.

Right after I got up this morning, it began to rain. A nice, gentle rain, to water a dry and thirsty land. So what, you may ask? I live in California. California is classified as an arid state. Like a desert. And we’ve been in an awful drought, and it never rains (well, hardly ever) in summer. And here it is the 5th of June. So this is a big deal for us.

And spiritually also, California has been dry and thirsty. And, when you consider it, America has been dry and thirsty. America used to be known as a Christian country. You wouldn’t know it any more, would you? America actually is still a Christian country, in spite of what our highest leadership says, but the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, or h’qahal b’h’Adon Yeshua h’Mashiach, if you wish to Hebraisize it, has been dry, unproductive, and unable to direct the course of this nation.

Nonetheless, the church has been asking for rain lately. A spiritual rain. Most of the time it’s called “revival,” but how can the land revive if it has no rain?

Then again, if we do receive rain, and it just runs off, what good has it done? We need to open ourselves up to receive the rain from heaven. And this isn’t just standing there with our arms and mouths lifted up, though this is good, but it unavoidably entails that old, crummy notion of “repentance.” Now, we all tend to glaze over when we hear that word. It has become not much more than relgious lingo, so we nod & agree and go about our ways without doing much about it. It means changing what we’re doing, folks. Making a 180 degree turn and heading back in the direction we belong.

“They have corrupted themselves… a crooked and perverse generation. Do you thus repay the Lord, oh foolish and unwise people? Isn’t He your Father who bought you?”

The church? Crooked, perverse, and corrupt? Yep.

Now (bear with me while I seem to switch gears a little), one of the things in the church that has been bothering me is called “replacement theology,” where Christians say that the old covenant people (aka Israel, or the Jews) have been replaced by the new covenant people (the church). Which is supposed to mean that all the wonderful promises written in the “old testament” Scriptures have been taken away from the natural seed of Abraham and bestowed upon the “spiritual” seed of Abraham. We even call ourselves “spiritual Israel.”

But – oops! – we claim the promises, not the curses. What’s up with that?! The curses written in the Book of Deuteronomy are really nothing fancier than the consequences of disobedience. So we think the church hasn’t been disobedient? Excuse me?! Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy when he said that the great commandment — that makes it a “new testament” commandment, if Jesus said it — is to love the Lord with everything we have. Are we doing that? Let alone loving our neighbor in the same way and to the same extent that we love our own selves. That includes our president. Ouch!! Ok – we won’t dwell on that one. But how about that brother or sister that just drives us up the wall? Let alone loving the Redeemer. We like to say we do that (“Oh, I just love Jesus…”), but let’s prove it with our actions, not our words.

I’m not yelling at anyone else who happens to still be reading this, any more than I’m yelling at myself. It starts with me, and I haven’t been obedient to the commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ, but I don’t really think I’m alone with this.

So, we have to deal with the consequences of Deuteronomy, if we want to claim its promises. All of a sudden, replacement theology doesn’t seem to be so attractive, does it?

Now, Christians who claim this doctrine (still ignoring the consequences, of course) like to quote Galatians 4:24, “which things are an allegory; for these are the two covenants, one indeed from Mount Sinai bringing forth to slavery, which is Hagar…” in such a way as to mean that there are two peoples – the Jews and the church, but it’s two covenants he’s talking about.

If there’s any replacing being done, as Paul writes in Hebrews, the new covenant replaces the old covenant. And Paul writes this in Hebrews because the book of the prophet Jeremiah tells us in chapter 31, “Behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I cut with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which covenant of Mine they broke, although I was a husband to them, says Jehovah; but this shall be the covenant that I will cut with the house of Israel: After those days, says Jehovah, I will put My Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people...”

The requirements of behavior that will please God don’t change. He will write his Law – his Torah – on the hearts of his people, not do away with Torah. Like Jesus said, he didn’t come to do away with it, but to fulfill. And as Paul says again in Romans “that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us.”

(Please also note this promise is to us goyim only if we willingly join ourselves to the house of Israel and the house of Judah, and therein is a mouthful, or rather a book full, but let’s just say for now that we are very, very fortunate to be given the opportunity, which is only through the blood that ratifies the new covenant, that is the blood of Yeshua the Promised One, the Messiah of Israel.)

I would like to think that even now, he is writing his Law on my heart, but I know I have to be willing and obedient, and take the bad with the good, until such a time as I have completely turned my back on — repented of — the bad, and stuck myself like glue to the good.

“I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live, so that you may love Jehovah your God, and that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him.”

It looks like the rain outside my window has begun to let up a little — although I really hope not.

Inside out for Jesus

Don’t even think that I came to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I did not come to do away with them, but to fulfill.

What I hear a lot of the time from well-meaning Christians about that verse in Matthew is that Jesus fulfilled Torah (which is true, although they flinch a little when you say “Torah” rather than “the law”), but then they seem to sidetrack that by saying, in effect, that because he fulfilled the law, we now don’t have to, or something like that. He did it, so it’s taken care of, and we can move on to the next thing, such as being good Christians, whatever they think that means. Ask three different Christians what that means, and you’ll get at least five different answers. But — hello! — Jesus is telling us in this whole chapter what it takes to be “good Christians;” what constitutes being the salt and light. And it’s keeping every “jot and tittle” of the law.

Heaven and earth may disappear. But I promise you that not even a period or comma will ever disappear from the Law. Everything written in it must happen. If you reject even the least important command in the Law and teach others to do the same, you will be the least important person in the kingdom of heaven. But if you obey and teach others its commands, you will have an important place in the kingdom. You must obey God’s commands better than the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law obey them. If you don’t, I promise you that you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. [Olam Haba]

He then goes on to give a few more details about what it means to keep the mitzvot better than the most religious people around – and it all boils down to what’s going on in the heart. He has a lot to say in several places about doing the commandments by starting from the inside out – that it just plain doesn’t work when you try to do it any other way.

But, how can we do that, even? Can a leopard change its spots? Aren’t we like, bad inside, and can’t change that?

Well, yes we are, until we submit to God’s purpose in changing us, completely, on the inside, so that we can then be changed progressively from the inside out. This is what being “born again” means. It’s not a catchy phrase meaning “now I’m a Christian.” It’s a whole new, brand new start in life.

The prophet Ezekiel wrote “And I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you: I will take away the heart of stone from your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit in you, causing you to be guided by my rules, and you will keep my commandments and do them.”

Now, notice how many times God says “I will” in that verse. “I will… I will… I will.” Folks, we can’t do it, but he will. The apostle Paul gets a bad rap in a lot of places, but this holds true, if you can grasp it: “God is working in you to make you willing and able to obey him.”

But, there’s an “if” here, as there nearly always is. We have to submit to God’s will in this, and he says in the verse right before that, “at the name of Jesus everyone will bow down, those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And to the glory of God the Father everyone will openly agree, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord!‘”

This is to do the work of God: to have faith in him whom God has sent.

Or as the prophet Isaiah said: “I invite the whole world to turn to me and be saved. I alone am God! No others are real. I have made a solemn promise, one that won’t be broken: Everyone will bow down and worship me. They will admit that I alone can bring about justice. Everyone who is angry with me will be terribly ashamed and will turn to me. I, the LORD, will give victory and great honor to the people of Israel.”

God says, “I invite.” He doesn’t force us. I’m not here, and neither is he, to twist your arm into believing that Jesus Christ, Mashiach Yeshua ha-Natzeri, is Hashem revealed in human form. It’s your choice, my friend, whether to accept this, or not.

Sheep rule, Goats drool!

The Lord promised the descendants of Jacob through the prophets that when they became sheep scattered all over the mountains of Israel, he* would raise up a true shepherd who would regather them into a place of safety. Now, mind you – he was speaking to Israel at that time. No goyim need apply.

So when Yeshua comes along, it makes sense that he tells the first goy-lady he meets that he hadn’t come for her, but for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It wasn’t that he was being heartless – she did get what she came for – but he had to make his purpose clear to everyone. And please notice that sheep are still sheep, even when they’re lost. But goats are not sheep. Only sheep are sheep, and Yeshua came for the sheep. No goats need apply.

And when he first issued instructions to his followers to go out and preach, he told them to stay away from goyim and Samaritans (did you ever meet a Samaritan? me, neither), but to go to the lost sheep of Israel.

Then we read the great sheepfold lecture of John chapter 10 — where he says that there is a sheep pen, and that he is the entrance to that sheep pen, and he also is the shepherd of the sheep.

Now, are you with me here — who are the sheep? If you said the descendants of Jacob (aka the Jews), then I thank God that I haven’t put you to sleep yet. If you said something else, why are you still reading?

But then he took a turn and said “There are other sheep which belong to me that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them, too.” What other sheep? Ah, that’s where we goyim get in on the deal! Of course, not all goyim get to become sheep, but at least there was something in the plan all along to let us into the sheep pen. Through the door. Not any other way. And we sure as ‘ell don’t get to kick any of the original sheep out!

If you don’t know what I meant with that last comment, and if you haven’t yet caught on, then let me tell you that far too many “Christians” say that “the Church” has supplanted or superseded or replaced or somehow knocked into second place “the Jews” in God’s plans for this world. Big, big mistake. (For all you learned theologians out there, this is what is called “replacement theology,” but then all you learned theologians out there already knew that.)

I wasn’t around in 1947 or 1948, but from what I understand, many Christians a generation or two ago who bought into this load of – excuse me – figured that there obviously was no way the Jews would ever get their land back, let alone their original place in God’s favor. I’m not sure how they explained what happened next; if they were honest with themselves, they radically re-adjusted their theology. But we hardly ever do that, do we?

(*by the way, if anyone objects to my not capitalizing the Divine Pronoun, tell them to get over it — I am merely following the Biblical practice. On the other hand, whenever I do Capitalize, and someone sees an inconsistency in that, tell them to quit being so religious.)

Rolf and Mike

I was sort of thinking what it might be like to be a people without a country for 2,000 years…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So there we are, living in Germany, Spain, Russia, China – wherever, and what nationality are we? We’re Americans!

I always feel just a little bit uncomfortable, Mike, and I don’t really know why, whenever you say, “we’re Americans!” the way you did just now. Like it bothers you somehow. You know there hasn’t been an America for two thousand years. You’re a citizen of Germany. I mean, I know you’re an American, but you’re also a German.

Like, right, I’m a German! Tell that to my “fellow” Germans!

Well, yeah, they usually do call you an “American,” and maybe grudgingly admit that you have German citizenship… But it’s been two thousand years, Mike! Do you think there will ever be an “America” again?

Maybe not. I don’t know. But what else can I think? I’m not a German. I’m an American. And so was my father. And my grandfather lived in Russia. But he was an American. Who ever called him a “Russian?” And his grandfather before that lived in Spain. But he was an American.

But look at you! You’re prosperous and successful – more so than most non-Americans in this city.

Yeah – and they resent me for it, don’t they!?

[Laughing] Yes – they say you’re all part of a great global conspiracy to take over the world!

[Also laughing] Yes, of course we are… have you ever heard of “American work ethic,” Rolf?

But you can’t tell me that something like that – an ethic – has prospered your people for two thousand years?

Why not? And we haven’t always been prosperous. No, more often than not, we’re the off scouring of the earth. But, let up on us a generation or two, and we work our way back up to the top. It’s not that we’re special — it’s hard work. The “American work ethic.” We roll up our sleeves, work hard, send our children to University, their children become doctors or lawyers or bankers or government officials – and then they resent us for it!

Well, what do you want me to say, Mike? I don’t resent you.

No, Rolf, and I appreciate it. You’re my friend. I appreciate you. When we’re together, it’s like I’m a German like you. But I’m not. I’m an American.

Well, do you prefer being an American? What if you could hide the fact? I mean, you live really like the rest of us do.

But I’m still different, Rolf. Before I even told you I was an American, you knew it somehow, didn’t you?

Yes.

And, if it would work – if I could hide it and pass myself off as a German… Do I want to? No. But plenty of my “grandfathers” have chosen otherwise. But it never worked. Maybe for one generation, or even two, but they were always found out. And then the persecution began again. You know what they say – that we’re doomed to wander the earth forever, because of something they say our great-great-whatever grandfathers did two thousand years ago. Which, of course, we didn’t. But you know the history. There were three hundred million of us at that time, Rolf! Three hundred million!! And like, yeah, let’s all three hundred million of us get together and decide — in one week, mind you — to do that great and horrible thing that afterward you decided was all wrong. Oh, c’mon, Rolf! Three hundred million!

It was just the few million in Washington DC.

There you go! So you actually believe that load, don’t you Rolf!?

Well, I’m sorry — it’s what I was brought up with. I was raised as a German, and I am a German.

Yeah, Rolf. And I’m an American. But we’re still friends, aren’t we, Rolf?

Yeah, Mike. The best of friends.

I know. Hey – you know Charlie’s Boy Scout initiation is next week. You wanna come?

Uh, yeah, Mike. [slightly awkward pause] They’d let me?

[Laughing] Sure! Hey – I’ve even got a spare Scout Cap I’ll let you wear!

Uh – that’s ok, Mike… But sure, I’d love to come!

Great! But I was just kidding about the Scout Cap. It’s permitted, but it’s just kind of tacky.

Hey, what if I wanted to become an American, you know, convert?

Are you serious, Rolf? No, of course you’re not. But we try to discourage that sort of thing, anyway.

Why’s that?

Well, you can if you really, really want to, but you have to really want to, and study a long time, and then go thru a huge exam…

You’re kidding…

No, really…

But why?

We want to make sure someone is deadly serious about wanting to become an American. Because, you know, sometimes being an American can be deadly.

Jesus said, “What can I compare God’s kingdom with?”

“…It is like what happens when a woman mixes yeast into three batches of flour. Finally, all the dough rises.”

Jesus taught the Jewish people about the kingdom of God, but much of it was hidden in the form of parables. There are many things regarding the kingdom of God that are hard to grasp for the average Joe. So then, there are also many different understandings of what it’s all about.

I was writing last time about the kingdom of God in us being an amazing vertical relationship. (“In us” — now there’s a mouthful right there!) It’s for His own good pleasure, and also for our benefit. “Stop being afraid, little flock, because your Father is delighted to give to you the kingdom.”

But at the same time God is not a pushover. He wants His will His way. Or as I was saying, complete submission to the Creator brings fullness of joy. I’m talking about living and dwelling in God, being saturated with His power and having His life infused in and through us, and radiating out from us.

Something totally different from the things in the past that we call religion.

There are a few basic requirements, though, starting with a sticky little thing called “repentance.” All that means is changing your mind about everything, in such a way that it changes everything you do. That’s all. Not much. Just everything.

But at this point, I’m getting into what is commonly and rightly known as “the gospel of salvation.” How we can be released from the power of sin and of darkness, so that we can then be transferred into the kingdom of the Son of God. How we can have forgiveness of sins, and then a whole new life, through the shed blood of Jesus, God’s own sacrificial lamb.

There are plenty of places where you can hear this. However my purpose here was to write about how the kingdom of God is, in an outwardly visible way, the kingdom — the rightful rule — of Jesus, Son of David, Yeshua ben David. And how this is completely tied up with the restoration of the people of Israel, the descendants of Jacob the grandson of Abraham, to their rightful preeminence in the affairs of man. And how all we goyim better sit up and pay attention to what is even now happening in Israel, and in the lives of Jews across the globe. How all along, we goyim have been the bottom of that two man pole, and we should begin to recognize that, and also be okay with it.

And, if you’ve heard of something called “the rapture,” you can forget all about that, too. I’ll let that sink in a little before I say some more. In the meanwhile, is there anything you’d like to say?

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not about dying and going to heaven

I had written an earlier post in this spot, but since that time I’ve seen over and over again where well meaning believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have been caught up short when speaking with Jews who rightly point out that God’s purpose for us is to live righteously in this present world, not muddle through this life in order to go to heaven when we die. And why are we so looking forward to death? Death is a thief and a robber.

Jesus came to give us life, but the only way we can have life is by doing the complete and perfect will of God. And it was only He who accomplished the work of living perfectly and righteously before God in this world who then became qualified to pass that ability on to all who come to him through faith.

I began to realize that I could never say enough about this in a blog post, so I’ve put this discussion in a separate page here. And yet I know that I can never say enough about this in a blog page, or in an entire blog, but we all have to start some place. Since there isn’t a spot to comment on a WordPress page as far as I can tell, I welcome your comments, corrections, or challenges under this post. Just don’t expect me to argue with you much about it. Sometimes one just has to put forth “the foolishness of preaching” for them that choose to believe.

Ts’daka, shalom, v’chedvah b’Ruach Haqodesh

Two men on the totem pole

To my way of thinking, there are two kinds of people in the world: HaAm, and the rest of us. Not that I mind being in the second category. Not all that much, anyway. I mean, it’s what I’ve been given in life. I should be thankful, and therefore I am. And what if I were able only to keep 612 mitzvot?

More on Shabbes Goyishness

I realize that some may consider the term derogatory, or embarrassing, or whatever. But I apply it proudly. Even if I am being very presumptuous in that, having not been a true SG as I explained earlier, but more like a wannabe.

But then, that’s rather what I’m saying about this entire blog – it’s as much about how I want the world to be as about how it really is. Which, when you think about it, is what just about everybody says or writes, anyway.

If need be, I invoke the Humpty Dumpty clause: “When I use a word, it means exactly what I want it to mean. Nothing more, nothing less.” Now, if that seems to be a cop-out, then why do we all relate to it so well?

What you can expect here

As you may have gathered from my introduction, of central interest to me among the things of this world is Am Yisrael, and how the rest of the world regards the People. So you’ll likely see me writing a good deal on that. My friends tell me that my viewpoints tend to be, to put it euphemistically, “different,” so if you can relate to that, plunge ahead.

But I also have strong feelings in some other areas. As an American, I cannot sit still with my mouth shut about what has been happening to this country of late. Then again, I don’t see much point is merely pasting in what others have already said, other than for linking to general sites and other bloggers.

As a believer in the coming kingdom of God, when the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of David, makes a return appearance (oh my God! Yes, it’s going to happen!) to sit on His throne in Jerusalem, I will from time to time be writing things from that viewpoint. I may even quote a good deal of Scripture. I don’t usually thump my Bible, because to do that, you usually have to close it first. It makes more of a slapping noise than a thumping sound if it’s open. And I prefer to keep it open.

And I’m not sure at this point what other subjects I will spout off on – maybe I’ll even talk about you! Enjoy!