Discussions of Biblical subjects from the perspective of a Torah observant Messianic community.
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The final two chapters of the historical narrative sees the end of Babylon as an independent kingdom and the rise of the Medes and the Persians. As a major figure in both Babylon and Persia, Daniel interprets the writing on the wall for Belshazzar and survives an attempted assassination via the lion's den.
False prophets were saying that the Babylonian captivity was going to end quickly and that everything would be restored to normal. Jeremiah put on a yoke symbolizing the Babylonian occupation. He spoke both locally and by letter to the exiles in Babylon saying that they should settle down and prepare for a seventy year stay. In being good citizens and seeking to benefit Babylon they would find…
In the Luke 12 parable of the rich man whose barns were too small to hold his crops, Y'shua accuses him of covetousness. Why? The man is harvesting his own fields, the crop is his and he owns the barns. On the surface he is not lusting after anyone else's property. He just wants to keep what is his own. What's going on here?
When Daniel's friends remained true to character and to God by refusing to worship the state idol, they were thrown into a furnace. Their salvation from that trial was a witness to Nebuchadnezzar who gave glory to God. Nebuchadnezzar's conversion was later complete when God humbled him for a season, by giving him the mind of a beast.
Among the people who matter in Judah, Jeremiah has been marginalized as a kook. People don't change their ways he gets considerable abuse. In chapter 24 his prophecy from chapter 21 is realized. Those who surrendered to the Babylonians were carried away but they were to live and prosper in exile. Those who listened to the false prophets and remained in Judah died.
In Parsha Re'eh Moses emphasizes over and over that for sacrifice and feasts Israel is to come before God and rejoice because of all the blessings that He has bestowed. This rejoicing is demonstrate a healthy, loving relationship between God and His people. The love of God is unconditional - His blessings are not. Like any good father, God will correct bad behavior. One way He does that is by…
Daniel and his companions were Jewish hostages to Babylon before and during the destruction of the first temple by Nebuchadnezzar. In this first vignette involving adherence to the dietary laws and the interpretation of dreams, Daniels character and favor with God are established.
After Jeremiah was let out of the stocks, the king sent to him asking if the Lord would deliver the city from Nebuchadnezzar. God said that He would not and proceeded to lay the blame for the evil that was to befall the city on the dereliction of Israel's shepherds. They had enriched themselves through injustice and had not taught the people to follow the word of the Lord.
All of the words in the Torah translated as 'obey' are variations on 'shema', 'listen'. God explicitly forbids making any sort of image to be used in worship - even worship of Him. Seeing and listening provide two very different levels of understanding. Seeing is superficial and detached from the one being observed. It tells nothing of what's going on inside. Listening, on the other hand, can…
In both of these two short letters, John speaks of the duty and limits to Christian hospitality. In one he warns against extending hospitality to those who would sow confusion about the identity of Messiah and in the other he commends hospitality to missionaries.
The corruption of Jerusalem has become so great that even God expressed His surprise. They were burning their children for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. Therefore God was going to turn the entire city into a place for burying the bodies of the people of Judah. In doing this He would defile the place entirely.
When evil is in the minority, it tries to be attractive and seductive. When it is in the majority, it becomes ugly and coercive. It is thus possible to gauge the moral state of a society by the prevalence of coercion in service of things that God clearly says are wrong.
John closes his first letter with what seems almost like a throw away line, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." Far from being a non sequitur, that line summarizes the entire letter.
The heart, being preoccupied with the things of the world loses focus on the things of God. This loss of focus cascades until Judah is so deep in sin that she must be sent into exile. Even then, God offers hope that if they just kept Shabbat things might turn around.
Over the past three millenia calamities have happened to the Hebrew people on the ninth day of the month of Av. Remembrance of those events have shaped the Israelite character and community. So too with everyone; community history and personal experience shape our character and perspective. The past cannot be changed, but the future is not yet written. If circumstances have brought you to an…
John speaks of Messiah abiding in us, we in Him and we in God. The criteria for this are belief that Y'shua is the Son of God who came in the flesh and obedience to His commandments.
Judah has made one of her formulaic expressions of regret and repentance, but God does not believe their sincerity. He says that He is weary of relenting from exercising the negative side of His covenant. The nation is to be conquered and sent into exile.
Numbers ends with a list of the places where Israel camped in the wilderness. The message here is that between liberation and the Promised land there is a long period of testing and travel and that this process takes more than a single generation. Indeed, between the Exodus and present day, Israel has spent the majority of the time sojourning away from the land. This says something important about…
Loving your brother is practical, not ethereal. So if your brother has worldly needs, you shall not close your hand against him. This is Torah 101.
Faced with calamity on all sides caused by their turning away from the ways of God, Judah cried out for God to remember His covenant and send them relief. God does not believe their sincerity and tells Jeremiah that there will be no relief and that the nation is going into exile.
The Declaration of Independence and the formation of the United States were a watershed in human history. Only two times have nations been established based on the word of God and the Bible - Israel and the United States. In both cases God's project has been to show the rest of the nations the superiority of His ways.
The love of the Father and the sacrifice of Messiah has allowed us to be children of God. In this we are, in a sense, estranged from the world because He was also.
The clergymen of Anathoth, a Levite city, are speaking religious bromides which give evil Judah false comfort. Jeremiah, by speaking the truth, has brought embarrassment to the men in his home town. Thus they plot to silence and perhaps kill him.
On His way to Jerusalem a number of people offer to become disciples. He turns them down, perhaps because He sees that they do not understand what will be required of them. Looking at the various figures in the Bible, it becomes clear that the dividing line between those who are approved and those who are rejected is their willingness to accept responsibility. So too with discipleship. Those who…
John speaks of the Torah as both an old commandment and a new commandment. In this view, the text has not changed but our understanding of it must be adjusted in light of the sacrifice of Y'shua. His light shines upon us and allows us to understand the spirit of the Torah as well as the letter.
In explaining how Judah has fallen so far, God says that they followed the way of the nations which lead them to fear other gods - which are no gods at all. He mocks the stupidity of those who make idols from wood and stone and then fall down to worship the work of their own hands.
According to an article by Rabbi Dunner, romantic love is unique to humans and defies explanation. His conclusion is that it helps us understand and relate to God. Consider a human family, the man typically works to sustain and support those he loves. He also does things like bring flowers to his wife on special occasions. Looking at all of the opportunities to give to God in the Torah, we can see…
John is writing to address heretical confusion sown among believers as to the nature and person of the Messiah. He starts by stating that he has personally seen, heard and touched Y'shua.
Judah had fallen into idolatry and wickedness but still maintained some of the form of the worship of God. Their prophets and priests were encouraging the people with religious platitudes. Whereas those platitudes had been true when the nation walked with God, the same words were now false and misleading because God was not in them. This trust in what had become false kept the nation from seeing…
In Numbers 13 Moses sent twelve men to look at the Promised Land and report back. Two of those men brought a good report and urged the nation to rise up and begin the invasion. Ten, however, did not believe it was possible for Israel to prevail and they spread panic among the people. Why did they bring a bad report? Why did God punish the entire nation for their failure?.
During his time in the cave at Mount Sinai, God gave Elijah a task to perform. It is only toward the end of his ministry that Elisha actually completes it.
God sends Jeremiah to Jerusalem looking for even one who does justice and seeks truth. None is to be found either among the poor or the great. As Y'shua says, the only way to the Father is through Himself who is the Way the Truth and the Life. Since Jerusalem has abandoned the truth and gone after worthless idols, God's words will be to them a consuming fire.
Numbers 11 is a watershed for Israel. When they complained about the manna and said it was better for them in Egypt, they began the slide that would result in a whole generation perishing in the Wilderness. Bread, first mentioned in Genesis 3 is a metaphor for the thing that people eat who are going to die eventually. Bread from heaven then is a metaphor that something better is coming. Y'shua…
Being a prophet of God was tough duty. Very often powerful people did not appreciate what you had to say and would have you to be slapped around or worse. The Syrian siege of Samaria.
Here God talks of the spiritual adultery of Israel and declares that her sister Judah is worse. At the time of the prophecy Israel had been in exile for over a century and Judah had not yet been exiled to Babylon. Even though God declares all of the reasons for His sorrow, He also promises a return and a reunification of the two houses.
In Luke 8 Y'shua casts a legion of demons into a heard of pigs. Why did He not cast them into the abyss? What does that mean for us as we navigate a world where there are still demon about? What is it about our current culture that is so demon friendly? Clearly, dealing with demons was a big part of Y'shua's ministry and when He sent his disciples out, he gave them authority over demons.
As a prophet, Elisha wields the power of God with a confidence and accuracy that seems more like sight than faith. He cures Naaman the Syrian of leprosy in so casual a manner that Naaman does not initially have any faith that the cure will work.
The calling of Jeremiah. The first of his visions depicts God being faithful to His own word and the second, a northward facing boiling pot, prefigures the Babylonian invasion that would sweep Judah and Jerusalem away into exile.
When God met with Israel at Mt Sinai. He established a relationship of a type that had never existed before. He asked for their consent to the relationship - other 'gods' and rulers had simply taken power. He spoke to everyone, not just the elite - before only the adept were initiated into the mysteries of their gods. He told them all what He expected, not just a small occult group. This…
Elisha succeeds Elijah asking for a double portion of Elijah's anointing. He raises the Shunamite's son from death.
Writing to Hebrews, James does not present a balanced approach to wealth. Rather he simply condemns its unjust accumulation and use. Since God uses wealth to motivate us, Proverbs presents both sides of wealth. James' advice on healing mirrors that of the Great Commission.
In the world as we know it, there are great spiritual forces contending for human worship and dominance. In this, the world is a battleground. On side is YHVH, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. On the other side is everything else. While the forces on the other side may offer many temptations, their goal is ultimately our destruction. God, on the other hand, loves us and wants us to live and…
Idol worship eventually leads to murder and Jezebel is not above murder to obtain what she wants. Elijah passes on his mantle to Elisha.
During the time before His crucifixion, Y'shua spent considerable effort contending with the Pharisees about their interpretation of God's law as given by Moses. In these encounters, there are several key phrases: "You have heard it said..." and "It is written..." What to these phrases signify and what does that mean to us today?
Every six years God promises a bumper crop so Israel will let the land have a sabbath in the seventh year. Obeying this command requires no faith - the farmer can see the sixth year bounty. If he plants on the seventh year, he is taking more than God is offering. Such ill-gotten wealth creates all sorts of societal problems.
Elijah, distressed by the behavior of Israel, turns off the rain. The resulting drought sets up the remainder of his ministry.
James talks about pride in the context of wealth, slander and boasting. Those who live for their wealth will find no peace and that wealth finally desserts them. Those who slander others will find themselves shunned. Those who boast of their plans may find that God has other plans for them.
In Scripture there are three distinct voices: the king, the priest and the prophet. The king speaks of the wisdom people have learned over the centuries of human existence. The priest speaks of the things that have been revealed to man by God. The prophet speaks for God when a society has drifted away from God's plan. Y'shua embodies all three roles and speaks with each of the three voices at…
Elijah, distressed by the behavior of Israel, turns off the rain. The resulting drought sets up the remainder of his ministry.
The tongue is both hidden and visible. It serves as the gateway for the things of the heart to be revealed. When governed by wisdom, it promotes societal well being. When the heart is wicked or foolish, it can cause great harm.