Rabbi’s Reflections – Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Shalom << Test First Name >>,
Pillar Two – The Kingdom is Expressed in Worship, part 1
The first pillar is “The Gospel is the Gospel of the kingdom.” If we lose that connection, we have lost everything. The “good news” by which we are saved has to be connected to the Savior, (King of kings and Lord of lords).
Therefore; Yeshua (not Judaism) is central to everything we do at Shomair Yisrael. However; significantly, Yeshua is Jewish, and the New Testament (FFOZ wants us to call it “the Apostolic Scriptures,” but I’m not quite there yet.) is a Jewish book, written by Jewish people to explain God’s plan to redeem the world through His Jewish Son. Still, our focus must be on the Son and not on the Jewish.
Now that we have the first pillar in right order (alignment), we can continue searching out how God’s kingdom is expressed through His body (ecclesia). We are the body of Messiah. 1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are the body of Messiah, and members individually.
The first expression of His kingdom (following the gospel message) is worship. We are told in Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” To seek His kingdom, we must seek the King. We “seek the King” through worship.
Rabbi Trail: Last Sunday night, 20 of our ministry leaders at Shomair were waiting on the Lord as we started our meeting. One of the first things God spoke to us was a call to more intense worship. Specifically, He said He is pleased with our worship AND He is calling us to “raise the bar.” End RT.
Those of you who attended Shomair last Saturday prayed the Kaddish with us. Both it and the Lord’s Prayer start with the same thought, “May His glorious name be both magnified and sanctified.” We exalt Him and His name through worship.
What is worship? Any time you make a decision based on His principles, that is an act of worship. Getting in the car to attend a Bible study is an act of worship. My favorite worship is when we sing His words (the Scriptures) back to Him. The Moravian Church did this 24/7 for 100 years. https://www.moravian.org/
Yeshua said this to the Samaritan woman… John 4:23 But an hour is coming—it is here now—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people as His worshipers. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
What does that mean? We are very comfortable with worshipping in spirit, but what does it mean to worship Him in truth? The content of our worship should be the word of God. John 17:17 “Make them holy in the truth. Your word is truth.
Let me close today by teaching you another Hebrew word, “Kavenah.” It means intentionality. When we pray, it’s not the words themselves, but the heart intention behind the words. Another way to say this is, “I really mean this, Lord.” We must pray with “Kavenah.” In Hebrew we say “Ani Mitkaven” Unless you are a woman. Women say, “Ani Mitkavenet.” It’s so much easier to be a man.
Week 4
Memory Verse: 2 Corinthians 10:12 For we do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they have no understanding.
16 1/20 Monday: Genesis 27-28
17 1/21 Tuesday: Genesis 29-30:24
* 18 1/22 Wednesday: Genesis 31-32
19 1/23 Thursday: Genesis 33;35
20 1/24 Friday: Genesis 37
Question of the day: Can you explain the phrase from John 19:30 “It is finished?”
Answer: I would like to (that’s why I asked the question). There is so much to it. But first, how did this get to be the “question of the day?” From our reading today we see how difficult it was for Jacob to separate from Laban.
With Laban, something (anything) was never “finished.” There was always some secret meaning, or unspoken condition. A deal was never done. The first encounter Jacob had in Haran was to ask “Do you know Laban?” The answer says it all. The men replied, “We know him.”
Jacob should have said, what aren’t you telling me? Is that all you have to say, “We know him?” Can’t you say anything nice about him? In some translations, (like the TLV) it simply says, “We know.”
In contrast, when Yeshua says, “The matter is finished,” then the matter really is finished. But the Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels (https://ffoz.com/the-delitzsch-hebrew-gospels-deluxe-edition-hardcover.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Delitzsch) use the Hebrew word “kaf-lamed-hay” for “finished.” Yeshua simply says, “finished.” But there is so much more.
Rabbi Trail: The Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels are based on the Hebrew research of Franz Delitzsch. It is a great resource as you can see.
Kalah (the Hebrew word chosen here) means “the all.” That is to say, Yeshua meant, “This is everything.” Another interpretation of that one Hebrew word is the bride. A “kalah” is also a bride (spelled and pronounced the same).
Maybe Yeshua’s last word of His first coming was prophetic, “Bride.” Perhaps His last word was to say, “All that’s left is for me to return for my bride.”
Revelation 19:6 Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude—like the roar of rushing waters or like the rumbling of powerful thunder—saying, “Halleluyah! For Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot reigns! 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready, 8 She was given fine linen to wear, bright and clean! For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the kedoshim.” 9 Then the angel tells me, “Write: How fortunate are those who have been invited to the wedding banquet of the Lamb!” He also tells me, “These are the true words of God.”
How exciting!!! |
