Rabbi’s Reflections – Monday, January 13, 2025
Shalom,
Psalms
Psalm 22:31,32 – Part 28
Psalm 22:31 His posterity will serve him, telling the next generation about my Lord. 32 They will come and declare His righteousness to a people yet to be born—because He has done it!
“Because He has done it!” Sounds nice, except there in no such thing as “it” in Hebrew. “It is finished” in John 19:30 matches the final words of Psalm 22. They both mean, “He is accomplished and completed.” And remember this… What the Lord does, keeps on being done. His final work on the cross 2,000 years ago is just as effective today as it was then.
There is a “Zerah” (a seed) who will “Y’saper V’Yagidu” (tell the story, like a book, and speak or declare, the story of His righteousness). My oh my, what a long way we’ve come from the start of Psalm 22. The Psalm details the journey of Yeshua, from His utterance on the cross (paraphrasing: My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? I cried out, but You did not answer.) Now, at the end of the Psalm, There is a generation of seed, yet to be born, (you and me) who will tell the story of the Lord’s righteousness. Similar Hebrew words are found in Psalm 145….
Psalm 145:6 They will speak of the might of Your awesome deeds, and I will proclaim Your greatness. 7 They will pour out the renown of Your great goodness, and sing joyfully of Your righteousness.
Rabbi Trail: Psalm 145 is generally referred to in liturgical terms as “The Ashre Prayer.” The rabbis prepended two verses (Psalm 84:5 and 144:15, both of which start with the Hebrew word, “Ashre,” meaning joyful, glad, and delighted) and they also appended one verse (Psalm 115:18) to the entire Psalm 145 (all 21 verses). Psalm 145 is written in an acrostic with each line starting with the next letter of the Hebrew “Aleph-Bet.” But there are 22 Hebrew letters and only 21 verses of Psalm 145. There is a story here too.
The rabbis who wrote the Masoretic Text deleted the verse that starts with “Nun” (Pronounced with a short “u” sound, as in the Yiddish word, nudnik.) They did this because the word for “fall down” starts with a “Nun,” (Joshua’s family name) and they didn’t want to honor that word by including it. Oddly enough, the word (“those who fall”) appears in the very next verse anyway (Psalm 145:14).
The deleted verse has been found in some ancient manuscripts, including the Dead Sea Scrolls. Here is the English translation… “The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.” End RT.
Psalm 22 tells the story of Yeshua’s first coming. You may recall the rabbis came to believe there were two Messiahs (rather than one Messiah Who comes twice). That first coming is the suffering servant (Shamas) Who, just like the Shamas of the Chanukiah, gave light to the world.
John 1:9 The true light (Yeshua), coming into the world, gives light to every man.
The “light” of Yeshua’s seed telling (witnessing) of His greatness, stands in stark contrast to the darkness of Yeshua’s crucifixion. Luke 23:44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. But, that darkness was temporary. The promise of eternal life was sealed by Yeshua’s resurrection. John 11:25 Yeshua said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life! Whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” The correct answer is, “Yes, I believe this!”
Now, our transition is made easy. We flow from the first coming into what is now, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Let’s give Isaiah the last word today… Isaiah 2:5 Come house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of Adonai. Shalom shalom
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/
Mon 13-Jan-2025 13th of Tevet, 5785
Ex 1:18-2:10 2 Sa 18 Ps 90 Lk 11:29-54 (2 Co 13)