Rabbi’s Reflections – Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Shalom,
It’s “Rocket Tuesday.” I saw this headline in one of the many articles I read early Tuesday (that’s when I’m writing this). By now you know rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel. My youngest daughter, Jacquelyne, lives in Tel Aviv and works in Rishon L’Tziyon (a southern suburb of Tel Aviv). She was on her way to work when the alarms went off. Then she heard the rockets and saw the Iron Dome intercept. She was able to help a woman and her baby to safety.
Someone sent her the picture I’ve shared above of a woman running down the street wearing a pot for protection. There are so many possible one-liners that could follow. I’ve decided on this one (but feel free to send me yours)… “This gives a new meaning to the phrase made famous by Herbert Hoover’s presidential campaign in 1928, ‘A chicken for every pot.’”
Okay, enough with the jokes, this is serious. You know, I believe that. My purpose is to point out that we should not take ourselves too seriously.
My very good friend (and faithful RR reader), Gregor Smee, said something Sunday that I’ve been meditating on since. I want to share it with you. He was talking about our witness to unbelievers when he said, “You can’t blow the close.” Think about that.
The Lord draws people unto Himself. Hear Yeshua’s words… John 12:32 And as I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to Myself.” We lift Him up and He does the drawing. We don’t bring anyone into the kingdom of God, only He can do that.
Again, hear the words of Yeshua… Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it shall be opened.
Yeshua does the giving and the opening. We may bring people to the door, but they have to knock and He has to open. If I hear one more person say, “Stay in your lane, bro” I’m going to plotz, but it seems to fit here. So, stay in your lane, that is, remember who you are and what your responsibilities are. Don’t bear a burden to which you are not called. Is that speaking to anyone today? I’ll explain the Yiddish word “plotz” tomorrow.
Week 46
Memory Verse: 2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, so that the surpassing greatness of the power may be from God and not from ourselves. 8 We are hard pressed in every way, yet not crushed; perplexed, yet not in despair; 9 persecuted, yet not forsaken; struck down, yet not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Yeshua, so that the life of Yeshua may also be revealed in our mortal body.
226 11/11 Monday: Acts 20-21
227 11/12 Tuesday: Acts 22-23
* 228 11/13 Wednesday: Acts 24-25
229 11/14 Thursday: Acts 26-27
230 11/15 Friday: Acts 28
Question of the day: What is Paul’s testimony in Acts 24? Is it not the testimony of every Jewish believer in Yeshua?
Answer: Yes it is! Read the headline here… Acts 24:14b I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything written in the Torah and the Prophets.
That’s our starting point. We worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (our fathers) and believe the rest of the Bible. If that is what gets us in trouble, it seems a little upside down. How can people who are zealous for God and the Scriptures be angry at people who feel the same? Read these words from that same Paul (Rav Shaul in Hebrew).
Romans 10:2 For I testify about them (Jewish people who do not believe in Yeshua) that they have zeal for God—but not based on knowledge. 3 For being ignorant of God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God.
The next verse of Romans is an unfortunate translation in the King James Version. The KJV makes it look (or sound) like Yeshua put an end to the Law, when the better translation is that Yeshua is the logical conclusion (or greater reality) of the Law.
Romans 10:4 For Messiah is the goal of the Torah as a means to righteousness for everyone who keeps trusting.
Put these two thoughts together to get the last word for today. We must submit ourselves to the righteousness of God, and the righteousness of God is Messiah Yeshua. Okay, one more “last thought.” We can’t do what we want and call it submitting to Yeshua. Submitting to Yeshua means doing what He wants. “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way…” Sing it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDpqBEEY6as Go ahead, say it,
“Thank you Rabbi.”