TorahBytes podcast

TorahBytes

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Show and Do

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For the week of March 1, 2025 / 1 Adar 5785 Terumah; Rosh Hodesh; Shekalim Torah: Shemot/Exodus 25:1 – 27:19; B’midbar/Numbers 28:9–15 Haftarah: 2 Kings 12:1–17 (English: 11:21 – 2 16) Originally posted the week of February 20, 2021 / 8 Adar 5781 Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it. (Shemot/Exodus 25:9) There are two major sections in the second book of the Torah that are concerned about the building of the mishkan, usually translated into English as “tabernacle.” It was a large, yet mobile, complex designed as the locale for the offering of sacrifices and other priestly functions on behalf of the nation of Israel. Mishkan means, “dwelling place,” as it was to represent God’s dwelling among his people. This week’s parsha (English: Torah reading portion) through chapter thirty contains the instructions of the mishkan, its furnishings, and other related items, including the priests’ clothing and recipes for the special oil and incense. Then the actual construction is described beginning in chapter thirty-five through the end of the book, chapter forty. Various people have attempted to draw or build accurate images or models – including life-sized versions – of the mishkan, but there is no way to ensure accuracy due to a missing ingredient in the instructions recorded by Moses. It appears that he was privy to something besides the details we read in the Torah. Not only did God tell him what to do, he also showed it to him. Because Moses saw what to do, he could also instruct the people on how to do it. Before I continue, a word about the so-called Oral Torah. Jewish tradition claims that when God gave Moses his word to write down, he also told him other things that he did not write down, but instead was to be passed on orally. One of the main purposes of the Oral Torah is to interpret the written Torah. The Mishnah, which is the core of the Talmud is the written version of the Oral Torah. A scriptural basis for the Mishnah is the verse we are looking at, since it suggests that Moses was made aware of certain aspects of God’s revelation to Israel that he didn’t write down. However, this is no way legitimizes an oral tradition that most certainly was developed over time. Just because Moses was equipped with more than the written instructions for the Mishkan here doesn’t prove anything about other later rabbinic teachings. What then might we learn from Moses’ experience of the mishkan? The people of Israel needed more than just “the what” of building it. They also needed “the how.” Throughout the ages people have abused the Bible because they thought that a simple reading was sufficient to live out its teachings. Armed with only the what, well-meaning, but otherwise naïve people have caused more damage than good. They claim to be taking God at his word but possess neither the sensitivity necessary to understand it nor his wisdom to live it out effectively. When we read the Bible, we are not on our own. It’s a very old book, but its ultimate author is still alive. Not only that, he has made himself available to anyone who seeks him. In order to truly understand his word, we need to rely on him to show us how. This is not to say that our intuition or spiritual senses are reliable guides in themselves to understand the difficult and not-so difficult parts of scripture. The Scriptures themselves provide interpretive boundaries for us. If Moses, having recorded the mishkan instructions, claimed that God showed that they were to build a boat, then everyone would know something was not right. I know that’s an extreme example, but it makes the point clear. If an interpretation of scripture is not well-supported by scripture, we should not trust it. The same goes for any attempt to follow God’s instructions. Through the Ruach HaKodesh (English: the Holy Spirit) God speaks to his people in various ways. But too often we fail to wait upon him for how to do what he is calling us to do. Instead, we need to wait on him to show us, and then do. Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version…

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Practical Torah

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For the week of February 22, 2025 / 24 Shevat 5785 Mishpatim Torah: Shemot/Exodus 21:1 – 24:18 Haftarah: Jeremiah 34:8-22; 33:25-26 Originally posted the week of February 6, 2016 / 27 Shevat 5776 (updated) Now these are the rules that you shall set before them (Shemot/Exodus 21:1) Last week’s parsha (weekly Torah reading portion) included the giving of the Ten Words (commonly known as the Ten Commandments). As I explained in a previous TorahBytes message , the Ten Words represent the covenant God established with the people of Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai. Accepting them as eternal principles simply because they are the Ten Commandments or rejecting them as Old Testament relics fails to regard their covenantal function. With the coming of Yeshua and the inauguration of the New Covenant as promised by the prophet Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 31:31-33; compare Luke 22:20), the constitution of God’s people underwent a significant transformation. That which was given on tablets of stone has been internalized as Jeremiah had foretold (see 2 Corinthians 3:3). The life that God had called Israel to live was no longer something outside and out of reach, so to speak, but instead to be lived from the inside out. The alienation from God, which had prevented Israel from living up to the Sinai covenantal demands, was resolved by the forgiveness of sin brought about through Yeshua’s sacrificial death. Therefore, the main contrast between the Sinai and New Covenants is found—not primarily in their practical details—but in the contrasting constitutional arrangements within which the details are given. The older covenant provides for the organization of a national entity; the newer one enables the inclusion of all nations without requiring specific membership in Israel. The great change in the sacrificial system from ongoing and temporal to final and permanent makes the older priestly function obsolete and thus allows all believers to approach God directly. But just because the covenantal foundations have changed, that doesn’t mean that every God-given directive through Moses is no longer relevant. For it is in the Torah that we encounter almost every aspect of life from God’s perspective. Discerning which elements of God’s “teaching” (for that’s what “torah” means) were for ancient Israel alone and which ones are for all people for all times can be a challenge, but a worthwhile and enriching one. Through Torah, we are reminded that relationship with God is not something detached from life’s practicalities. While abstract notions of love and forgiveness are essential, it is through the directives of Torah that the core of our faith is expressed in very practical ways. When reading the first section of this week’s Torah portion, you might wonder if that is really true. The subject of slaves in the Bible is often used to demonstrate how backward it is. But what we actually have here is God’s speaking into a world where slavery was taken for granted. The boundaries and regulations God established through Moses emphasize the value of all human beings. This would have been radical for those days and sets the stage for its eventual abolishment. How’s that for being practical? Our portion continues by addressing personal liability. We are privileged to be given God’s mind regarding common issues like those people have faced throughout history. We neglect God’s word on these matters to our peril. In another section in this week’s reading, we also see the consequences of certain types of social behavior, including premarital sex, bestiality, and sorcery, as well as dealing with the vulnerable members of society: foreigners, widows, and orphans. As with the slavery section, modern readers might too quickly react to the prescribed consequences for certain behaviors rather than glean wisdom from God’s perspective. The determining of consequences is subject to the jurisdiction of civil leaders, which, while regulated under Sinai for ancient Israel, is not expanded to the nations under the New Covenant. But we can derive from this an understanding of the destructive nature of the things addressed so that they can be avoided among believers and discouraged within the cultures in which we find ourselves. This is what Yeshua meant when he told his followers that they are “salt and light” (see Matthew 5:13-16). As the great Master Rabbi, he expounded the teachings of Moses so that they (and us!) could learn the practical details of Torah within a New Covenant framework. Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version…

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What’s with the Sabbath?

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For the week of February 15, 2025 / 17 Shevat 5785 Yitro Torah: Shemot/Exodus 18:1 – 20:23 Haftarah: Isaiah 6:1 – 7:6; 9:5-6 (English Isaiah 6:1 – 7:6; 9:6-7) Originally posted the week of February 18, 2017 / 22 Shevat 5777 (updated) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. ( Shemot/Exodus 20:8-11) I was in Vancouver, Canada, some years ago to participate in an event. Over three days, thousands of people gathered at one of the city’s largest venues to hear speakers on a variety of biblical topics. My ministry was one of over two hundred with displays, small and large. Weeks before the event, I was discussing with one of my daughters what I might do to encourage people to interact with my display. She suggested I make a simple sign with the words, “Ask me a Bible question!” This indeed led to some very interesting discussions. One interaction didn’t go so well, however. In the name of asking me a question, the person chose to harshly lecture me on the Sabbath. In the end, they questioned my eternal future with God because I wouldn’t fully subscribe to their perspective, which is too bad since this is a critical and often neglected issue. So, as briefly as I can, I will share what I believe to be a sound biblical perspective on the Sabbath. First, in whatever way we may derive universal moral principles from the Ten Commandments (of which the Sabbath command is a part), it is primarily a cornerstone of the covenant given by God to the people of Israel through Moses at Mt. Sinai. As the special ten, they represented the whole of the covenant, which includes many other directives covering every aspect of Israelite society. This is why the tablets of the Ten Commandments were to be included in the Ark of the Covenant, stored in the Most Holy Place within the Tabernacle and later the Temple. Unlike the earlier covenant God made with Israel through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which was unconditional and eternal, the Sinai Covenant through Moses was conditional and temporary. As a covenant, it was broken by the people of Israel by their repeatedly turning to other gods. God’s response to the breaking of the Sinai Covenant was the New Covenant promised through the prophet Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 31:31-33) and instituted by the Messiah (see Luke 22:20). The New Covenant internalizes much of the Sinai Covenant’s essence and permanently establishes a right relationship with God. As a system of law, therefore, the Sinai Covenant is no longer in effect. Therefore, the Ten Commandments as representative of the Sinai Covenant aren’t binding. This doesn’t mean that the principles they represent are to be neglected necessarily, since biblically speaking, they are clearly eternal, universal principles, like so many of the other directives contained in the Sinai Covenant. However, applying the Sabbath beyond the confines of ancient Israel isn’t straightforward. As the early followers of Yeshua began to teach God’s Truth to non-Jews, while they taught principles based on Old Covenant Scripture, including the Ten Commandments, they warned against the imposition of Sabbath law (e.g., Galatians 2:16; Colossians 4:10). Why is that? Unlike the other nine and many other directives revealed by God through Moses, Sabbath keeping includes more than the moral and spiritual components of other commands. By regulating the workweek, Sabbath also addresses society in general. Not only would it be impossible for people outside the Jewish world to effectively observe Sabbath by demanding the cessation of work, it would also cause an unnecessary clash with the pagan world of that day. Does that mean, therefore, that Sabbath has no place whatsoever among Yeshua’s followers? For much of history, Sabbath has been central to the lives of believers. It is thought that the Sabbath was changed from the seventh day (Saturday) to the first (Sunday) due to Yeshua’s resurrection and the early believers meeting on that day. Actually, there is very little evidence of what occurred and why. Nevertheless, for most of the past two thousand years, believing communities have almost always determined that some sort of Sabbath-keeping was to be implemented. In my opinion, they were right to do so because even though Sabbath keeping was not to be imposed upon believers from among the nations, it is clearly an important principle of Scripture stemming back to the giving of the Sinai Covenant. While the Sabbath, as expressed in the Ten Commandments, is specific to Israel under the Sinai Covenant, it is rooted in creation (Bereshit/Genesis 2:1-3) and also reveals God’s perspective on the need for rest. The need for rest is not just about self, but also for those under our care, even including animals. Therefore, why would we not seek to implement such a principle that obviously expresses God’s understanding of life, work, and rest? By not imposing their particular implementation of Sabbath, the early Jewish believers gave non-Jewish communities the opportunity to develop culturally appropriate expressions of Sabbath over time, which is precisely what they did. They did, that is, until more recently when it has just about been forgotten altogether. While we are not mandated to impose Sabbath keeping upon one another, we would be well advised to seek God and the Scriptures to appropriately apply the Sabbath within our communities today. This includes speaking into the society at large, encouraging civil governments to return to the godly rhythm of rest exemplified by the Creator himself. Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version…

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Whatness

28일 전

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For the week of February 8, 2025 / 10 Shevat 5785 B’shallach Torah: Shemot/Exodus 13:17 – 17:16 Haftarah: Shoftim/Judges 4:4 – 5:31 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. (Shemot/ Exodus 16:15) As I was looking over this week’s parsha (weekly Torah reading portion), the story of the manna caught my eye, which led me to check out its Hebrew background. The very popular Strong’s concordance of the Bible [1] , includes a suggested definition for the supposed root of the word “manna” as: “literally, a whatness (so to speak).” [2] According to the Cambridge Dictionary, “whatness” is “the quality of something that makes it what it is and different from other things. ” [3] Take trees, for example. A tree’s whatness is its unique combination of attributes that makes it distinct from other things, such as a root system, trunk, branches, leaves or needles, and perhaps especially its woodiness. Strong’s use of “whatness” for the manna is especially interesting because it’s in a category all its own. It cannot be grouped together with anything else in existence. Therefore, its “whatness” is found solely in its relation to itself. In other words, it is what it is. When the people of Israel first encountered the manna, they were dumbfounded. They had never seen anything like it. That’s because there wasn’t anything like it. Eventually, they would discover it didn’t behave like anything else in all creation. If they took too much for their family between the first and fifth days of the week, it would go bad. And yet, on the sixth day, they were to take double the daily amount since none would appear on Shabbat, the seventh day. This would continue for forty years until they entered the Promised Land when it abruptly stopped. As far as we know, manna is the only food substance to have ever existed that provided everything needed, in addition to water, for a human’s daily nourishment. None of this would have been known to the Israelites on the first day they encountered it. But they knew it was something most special. They looked at it. They touched it. They tasted it. And all they could say was something like, “What?” Many theologically minded people like the concept of “mystery” to describe the unknowns of God and life. Regarding the manna, its whatness, that which makes it what it is, might be described as a mystery. Indeed, much of what makes manna manna is beyond our understanding, but that should not be a barrier to truly experiencing it to its fullest extent. And that goes for both those who literally partook of it and the rest of us who encounter it in Scripture. The manna didn’t only sustain the people of Israel for forty years in a most inhospitable environment; it demonstrated God’s provision and was designed to teach the people to rely on God’s Word. As we read: And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD (D’varim/Deuteronomy 8:3) . To understand the essence of the manna was not to be found in its unknowns but in its knowns, its profound and complex whatness. I wonder how often we miss God’s own whatness because we can’t figure him out or understand what’s happening. But should we allow our inability to understand God and life to get in the way of our fully experiencing him? Perhaps you are in a situation right now that makes you want to say, “What?” If so, may God help you see it for what it is so that it can accomplish what God wants in and through you. Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version [1] “A concordance is a comprehensive index of the words used in a text or a body of texts. Ordinarily it will not only index but also cite all passages in which a given word occurs” ( https://guides.library.queensu.ca/english/concordances-quotations ). [2] https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h4478/nasb20/wlc/0-1/ [3] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/whatness…

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Tangible Darkness

5 weeks 전

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For the week of February 1, 2025 / 3 Shevat 5785 Bo Torah: Shemot/Exodus 10:1 – 13:16 Haftarah: Jeremiah 46:13-28 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived. (Shemot/Exodus 10:21-23) People like to explain away the unusual happenings in the Bible. Some of these happenings are easier to explain as natural occurrences than others. Among the ten plagues, take the locust infestation, for example. While such infestations happen, it was the timing that was unusual. On the other hand, the fly infestation was a little more unusual as it only affected the Egyptians, though I imagine natural causes can be involved when one community doesn’t attract flies. The darkness, however, is another story. How could Egypt be thrown into such utter darkness to the extent that the people couldn’t see each other while the people of Israel had light? I wish we knew more about the nature of this darkness. From the Torah’s description, it sounds as if it was at ground level, something like a dust storm or dense fog. It’s probably better that we don’t know its exact nature because that would distract us from an important life lesson, which is when the leaders of a community resist the clear directives of God, the result is a penetrating darkness that encompasses all of society. When leaders insist on doing their own thing in their own way for their own benefit, their people begin to behave like a crowd of blind people trying to escape a burning building. When a community is built on lies, everything it produces is tainted and destructive. And because of the all-encompassing darkness, the permeating negatives can’t be identified, resulting in further harm. It’s not until light is restored that our misguided ways can be seen for what they are. Tragically, the longer we live in darkness, the more resistant we become to the light. Israel’s having light while Egypt was thrown into darkness reminds us that those who truly know the God of Israel needn’t be affected by the pervading darkness. And yet, the nature of the darkness can be intimidating. Out of concern for those groping in the dark, we may tone down the brightness of God’s light to avoid harsh reactions. More and more, our communities’ ideals distract people from life’s realities, encouraging them to treat their fantasies as if they are real. We point out a weakness in someone’s life philosophy, and they get angry at us. Instead of thanking us for illuminating their issues, they blame us for making them uncomfortable. So, instead of turning up the light, we tone it down to preserve our relationships. But can a valid, meaningful relationship exist in the dark? Remember, the Messiah said, You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16). Unlike the Israelites in Egypt, whom God protected as part of his process of rescuing them, we haven’t been called to simply sit in our lighted rooms. Instead, we have been called to head out into the dark as light bearers. It’s time to dispel the darkness. Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version…

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Rejection Fear

6 weeks 전

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For the week of January 25, 2025 / 25 Tevet 5785 Va-era Torah: Shemot / Exodus 6:2 – 9:35 Haftarah: Ezekiel 28:25 – 29:21 Originally posted the week of December 28, 2013 / 25 Tevet 5774 (revised) You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. (Shemot / Exodus 7:2-4) When we study the Bible, we should not let our knowing how the stories end get in the way of our learning the lessons God wants to teach us. Knowing how stories end provides an overall perspective and encourages us to face similar challenges. At the same time, we need to remember that the characters in these stories didn’t know how things would turn out, just as we can’t see how our circumstances will unfold. To learn how to navigate life effectively, we should pay close attention to how Bible characters navigated theirs. In the case of Moses, we know how things turned out. The people of Israel left Egypt after years of harsh servitude due to the signs and wonders God performed at Moses’ hand. But this didn’t happen in a moment. Pharaoh was far from accommodating. It took much arm twisting, so to speak, on God’s part to secure the release of his people. Have you ever thought about what this must have been like from Moses’ perspective? Moses’ primary role was that of a messenger. He was to tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, that the God of the Israelites demanded their release. As long as he could secure an audience with the king, his task was straightforward: deliver a message—except for one thing. God made it clear from the beginning that Pharaoh wouldn’t listen. This is where we have to stop for a second and not jump to the end of the story. Moses knew before performing his assigned task that he would get a negative response, yet he did it anyway. But didn’t God encourage him by informing him it would all work out in the end? Yes, but let’s be honest. How many of us would be sufficiently motivated by that kind of information? It apparently worked for Moses because the inevitable negativity didn’t stop him. And that’s the point. Even though Moses knew how Pharaoh would respond, he confronted him anyway, just as God directed. One way to respond to this is to think, “Better Moses than me!” This is what we may call “the viewing-of Bible-characters-as-heroes” approach. We read the exploits of these men and women and are wowed by their seemingly super-human abilities. We cheer their exploits and perhaps take comfort in our being on the same team as them. But this completely misses the point! These people are to be our examples. While we are not all given the same tasks or scopes of influence, people like Moses demonstrate to us what it is like when the reality of God works in and through human beings. Through the Bible, God wants to teach us what it means to know and follow him. One of the challenges I face—I know I am not alone in this—is the fear of negative reactions. Many years ago, soon after my wife and I were married, just before our senior year in college, I got a summer job selling (or tried to sell) encyclopedias door-to-door in Toronto. I lasted two weeks. I actually sold a set my last door! During those two weeks, I struggled so much with both the anticipation and experience of rejection. What made it all the more difficult was my observing how the successful salespeople didn’t let the reactions of potential customers get to them. Temperament aside, it appears that they really believed (and rightly so!) that if they didn’t get overwhelmed by rejection, potential rejection, I should say, and keep to their task, they would be successful. For some reason, I couldn’t fully grasp that and quit. Whether or not I did the right thing by quitting, I mention this as an illustration of how crippling the fear of rejection can be. Becoming successful at selling encyclopedias was not a priority to me at the time, and I eventually landed a far more suitable job, not to mention that God met all our needs. Still, I guess like most people, I have faced the challenge of negative reactions many times since then. I share this here, wondering how many of you are debilitated by this same fear. It’s wonderful when God tells us that things will work out in the end, but sometimes, he doesn’t. We don’t know how much of a difference this made for Moses. All we know is that he did what God told him to do despite anticipating rejection. Rejection can be a scary thing, but does it need to get in our way? Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version…

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Your Story

7 weeks 전

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For the week of January 18, 2025 / 18 Tevet 5785 Shemot Torah: Shemot/Exodus 1:1 – 6:1 Haftarah: Isaiah 27:6 – 28:13; 29:22-23 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. (Shemot/Exodus 1:8-14) I remember years ago, reading John Eldredge’s book, Epic , in which he suggested that our love for story is due to our being in a story – God’s story. I have thought a lot about that since then, and I couldn’t agree more. Over the years, I have grown in my understanding that Scripture is given to us within a framework of a grand, complex story. Despite being a collection of a wide variety of writings written by multiple authors over a period of centuries, an epic tale unfolds within its pages. I became convinced that the better we grasp the big picture of the Bible’s story, the better we’ll understand its details and find our place in God’s plan. You may be aware that I have a seminar where I unpack this. Please contact me , if you are interested. More recently, I realized that not only is Scripture revealed within a storied framework, but so is life itself. Our existence as participants in God’s creation is a storied one. Contrary to popular philosophies, we are not random particles meaninglessly bouncing off each other, but human beings made in God’s image on purpose and for a purpose, each one of us, in some way, contributing to God’s epic. One of the things I love about life is when unusual so-called coincidences happen. You know what I mean, I am sure. It’s being far from home and surprisingly bumping into an old friend. It’s sitting next to a stranger on an airplane and you or they or both have a life-altering experience as a result. It’s going to a friend’s house to say goodbye to their out-of-town cousin, not knowing I was going to meet God that day (this is a key component of my own story. If you don’t know it, check it out here ). Moments like these remind us that there is more going on than mere happenstance. Of course, not all such occurrences are positive, but whatever is going on, it’s still a story. While I love getting a peek into my life’s story, most of the time, it doesn’t look like there’s much of a story going on at all. This week’s parsha (weekly Torah reading portion) helps me with that. The book of Bereshit (Genesis) closes with Israel finding safety and provision in Egypt due to the strange and difficult circumstances surrounding Joseph and his brothers. What a story that was! Israel prospers in Egypt. But at some point, the Egyptian rulership changes and begins to oppress the Israelites. Eventually, with God’s call of Moses, great drama will return with the ten plagues, the Passover, the Red Sea, and so on. But until then, I wouldn’t blame the Israelites for losing sight of the divine saga they were part of. The reader gets to see what was happening behind the scenes with the birth of Moses, which should encourage us that God is working even when we are unaware of it. Now, Israel’s suffering as slaves didn’t make them any less part of a story, let alone God’s story, but as they endured their painful existence day by day, I wouldn’t blame them for not being aware of it. Many Israelites were born slaves and died slaves. Not too much plot development there. Our own circumstances may not be as dire as that, but much of the time, our daily lives don’t feel like much of a story, let alone an epic one. But it is. Knowing we are part of God’s epic story doesn’t make every moment of our lives exciting and meaningful. But knowing we are part of something way bigger than ourselves and our immediate circumstances helps us gain perspective. In fact, the supposedly futile aspects of our lives may not be as futile as we think. You never know when the Author’s next plot twist is about to happen. Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version…

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Something Worth Fighting For

10 weeks 전

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For the week of December 28, 2024 / 25 Kislev 5785 Miketz & Hanukkah Torah: Bereshit/Genesis 41:1 – 44:17; B’midbar/Numbers 7:24-35 Haftarah: Zechariah 2:14 – 4:7 (English: 2:10 – 4:7) Originally posted the week of December 28, 2019 / 30 Kislev 5780 My favorite movie clip for Hanukkah is from Lord of the Rings. Frodo, the unlikely hero of this popular epic is becoming more and more overwhelmed by the evil power of the ring he is seeking to destroy. At this point he is about to be captured or killed by one of the Dark Lord’s emissaries, thus bringing his quest to a most disastrous end. At the last moment Frodo’s loyal companion, Sam, rescues him. But Frodo, having temporarily lost his senses, is ready to stab his friend. Note: The movie clip is available below. Frodo : I can’t do this, Sam. Sam : I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo; the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end… because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was, when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something. Frodo : What are we holding on to, Sam? Sam : That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for. “There is some good in the world…and it’s worth fighting for.” What a noble statement. But as I was getting ready to repost this for Hanukkah, I realized that there is an assumption behind Sam’s words. In order for there to be a good worth fighting for, there needs to be such a thing as good. Good, as Sam understands it, is not about our side versus their side. Sam’s statement isn’t one of staying true to their team or their cause. The undergirding worldview of this humble character (in the mind of the author, of course) is there is such a thing as objective good and objective evil. What is obvious in Lord of the Rings is quite fuzzy in our day. Many doubt that such objectivity exists while others who may suspect it does resist making any conclusive determinations about it. Good has become a matter of personal preference. This version of good is actually an expression of the lure of the misguided influence that Tolkien exposes in his popular trilogy. Self, self-seeking, tribal loyalty for its own sake, blind commitment to ideology, groupthink, are all forms of the Shadow, the evil influence overtaking the world of Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings and overtaking our world today. Thankfully, there is objective good, because the good and only God created the universe. Good isn’t good simply because God says so, but rather because he designed it that way. The Maccabees were not fighting for a personal cause. They, as many were doing in their day, could have easily gone along with the crowd, keeping with the times in which they lived, one of progress and tolerance. But the Maccabees knew what was at stake—God’s plan for Israel—that would eventually culminate with the restoration of the entire creation—was in jeopardy and they were not going to just let it happen. Instead they knew that, in spite of the increasing shadow overtaking Israel, they would resist; they would fight. With God’s help, they won the miraculous victory we commemorate this week. What was true for the Maccabees is no less true for us today: there is good in the world and it’s worth fighting for!…

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Internal Forces

11 weeks 전

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For the week of December 21, 2024 / 20 Kislev 5785 Vayeshev Torah: Bereshit/Genesis 37:1 – 40:23 Haftarah: Amos 2:6 – 3:8 Originally posted the week of December 9, 2017 / 21 Kislev 5778 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. (Bereshit/Genesis 37:5) While the story of Jacob’s son Joseph is one of the more comprehensive Bible stories, his personality is often overly simplified to be the God-favored victim of his brothers’ murderous hatred. Staying faithful to God through it all, God uses his terrible circumstances to save the day. The message to us is equally simple: trust God and he will take care of us no matter what. Nice thought. It certainly contains dependable truth. The problem is this story, including Joseph’s part, isn’t that straightforward. Neither is real life. Within the complexity of Joseph’s character, we can find real hope for our own complicated lives. Was Joseph a passive victim? No one should blame him for being his father’s favorite. That wasn’t fair to his brothers, of course. But life isn’t fair. God also favored him by giving him dreams. I am aware favored persons can be the object of other people’s ire. But that’s not really Joseph’s story. Without excusing what his brothers did, Joseph was not passive. Joseph had a bit of a mouth. When we are first introduced to him, we are told he had brought a bad report of his brothers to their father. Not given the details of that, we don’t know what he said or how he said it. He may have been completely in the right. But when trouble ensued later on, most people would wonder if they could have done things differently. It’s the sharing of the dreams, however, that is of greatest concern. The bad report may have been necessary. But did he have to tell his brothers and father about the dreams? Didn’t he know he would further infuriate his brothers? Even if he was clued out about the meaning of the first dream, he knew how his brothers took it (and correctly so) as a prediction of his eventual prominence in the family. Therefore, he knew exactly how they would understand the second similar dream. He may have been purposely trying to put them in their place. Joseph most likely figured his being favored by his father and God would protect him from his brothers’ wrath. If so, he figured wrong. The Bible doesn’t tell us what was going on in Joseph’s mind through his ordeal. What we do know is after all was said and done, he was able to be gracious to his brothers in spite of what they did to him. His perspective he expresses as “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Bereshit/Genesis 50:20) is an unusually healthy balanced understanding of the interplay between human activity and God’s sovereignty. It’s easy to say, but Joseph’s freedom from bitterness and demonstration of generosity towards those who aggressively hated him is extraordinary. Still, that was his state at the end of a very long and arduous personal journey. What about all the time in between, especially as he finds himself enslaved in Egypt, followed by unjust imprisonment in a vile dungeon? Shall we assume he took it all in stride as he made up songs about ruling over his family one day? That’s possible, but not probable. It’s reasonable to assume he wondered about his big mouth. Did he really have to talk up his dreams? Too late now, of course. But what if he had kept his big mouth shut? Perhaps he didn’t give much thought to his contribution to his dismal situation. That would make him even more remarkable than most people think. Most of us spend considerable amount of time with our could’ve/would’ve/should’ves. We obsess over the possibility that we are the ones who got us into our messes. Others blame shift, of course, refusing to take any responsibility for their lives. But that’s a different story for another time. Here I want to address those of us who get stuck over ourselves. Whether or not Joseph blamed himself partly or completely for his situation, it is clear it didn’t cripple him. Dreams, something that got him in trouble earlier in life, would be key to his release and promotion in Egypt later on. Also, whether as a slave, prison foreman, or Prime Minister; his leadership skills, which may have helped precipitate his tense relationship with his brothers when a teenager, were fully expressed. How many people, when their abilities get them into trouble, out of fear vow to “never do that again”? Some may even think they are being responsible by avoiding the potential damage their God-given abilities may cause. Somehow Joseph didn’t fall into that trap. Perhaps the way Joseph dealt with the relationship of his brothers’ evil to God’s sovereignty is a clue to how he coped with his own role in the story. Consciously or unconsciously, Joseph’s trust in God set him free to fully function in the role God assigned to him. He knew God was bigger than the outside forces of his life. Obviously, he also learned that God was bigger than his own internal forces as well. Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version…

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The Wrestling God

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For the week of December 14, 2024 / 13 Kislev 5785 Vayishlach Torah: Bereshit/Genesis 32:4-36:43 (English: 32:3 – 36:43) Haftarah: Hoshea/Hosea 11:7-12:12 (English 11:7 – 12:11) Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” (Bereshit/Genesis 32:29; English: 32:28) Each year, when looking over the parsha (Torah reading portion) for this week, I have a hard time not commenting on this verse. I think it is the most astounding verse in the entire Bible. At one level it makes no sense. Not only is the idea of prevailing against God far-fetched in a general sense, but neither is it logical within its immediate context. The mysterious wrestler, who turns out to be God in human form, dislocates Jacob’s hip with a touch. It is clear that he could have completely obliterated Jacob. But instead of simply commending Jacob’s tenacity , he demands to be let go, as if he needed his permission. When Jacob refuses to do so unless the wrestler blesses him, God supposedly gives in and speaks the astounding words above. There is no doubt in my mind that God remained in control of the situation. It’s reasonable then to conclude that he only made it look like Jacob prevailed over God, not that he actually did. But there’s a problem with this conclusion. The passage clearly says otherwise. Perhaps some scholars attempt to resolve this tension by claiming there’s an issue with the biblical text. However, the conceptual tension the reader faces appears to be deliberate. Of course, no one can prevail against God, but Jacob did anyway. And if there’s an unstated level of hypothetical reality where God only made it appear that Jacob prevailed over him, we miss the point. The point is that this story acts as an invitation to you and me to wrestle with God as Jacob did. And not just Jacob. Almost every other exemplary Bible character also wrestled with God. I don’t know if they all prevailed, however. Joseph wrestles with God in managing his interpretive gift, throwing him into slavery in preparation for ruling in Egypt. God invites Moses to wrestle with him at the burning bush as part of his call to confront Pharoah. David wrestles with God in the process of his transition from shepherd to royal court musician to warrior to king. Solomon wrestles with stewarding his riches and fame, possessing great wisdom, yet facing severe temptation. Elijah wrestles with God amidst his prophetic call and threats upon his life. Yeshua, the greatest wrestler of them all “offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence” (Hebrews 5:7). This is what being Israel is all about: “striving with God and men and prevailing.” What these Bible characters embody individually also marks Israel as a nation. Beginning with Jacob (though this wrestling factor actually began with Abraham), whether we’ve been aware of it or not, the Jewish people have been thrown into the wrestling ring with God. And against all odds, we have prevailed. It hasn’t always looked like it. And like Jacob and his limp, we don’t always emerge from our struggles unscathed. We’ve suffered extreme loss, we’ve been traumatized, and many have lost faith, but we wrestle. Like Jacob, we haven’t always known that it was God with whom we were wrestling. But through the centuries, time and time again, he has snuck up on us for an all-night wrestling match. And we’re still here. We are Israel. Not only have we survived, but we have prevailed in so many ways, not the least that we have returned to our ancient homeland after 2000 years. Tragically, for many Christians, not only do they fail to see God’s ongoing engagement with the Jewish people, but they have also tamed the wrestling God. Instead of engaging him on his terms, many have reduced him to some sort of fluffy, therapeutic formula for personal benefit. This god never rocks the boat, doesn’t correct behavior, nor stretches us beyond our perceived capabilities. This god pats us on the head and tells us how wonderful we are. He invites us to avoid conflict and controversy, suffering, and rejection. It’s time to cast off this false god and get into the ring. Jacob shows us that we can not only survive wrestling with God, but we can become better people for it. That is, if we stick it out long enough, not letting go until he blesses us. Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version…

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