Rabbi’s Reflections – Monday,November 20, 2023
Shalom,
Reminder: You will see below, in “The Daily Bread,” the daily Scripture reading plan by Lars Enarson (our friend in Jerusalem), that today is the 7th of Kislev. That means there are only 18 shopping days before Chanukah. You’ve just been reminded.
Life In The Body part 40 – Romans, part 215
Romans 14:13 Therefore let us not judge one another from now on, but rather decide this—not to put a stumbling block or a trap in the way of a brother.
Remember, Paul is making a statement (Romans 12, 13, and 14) on how we are to live with each other in the body of Messiah. Here we are instructed not to condemn nor set traps for one another. Condemnation is the work of the devil (spelled d-evil). When we do condemn (or judge), we are doing Satan’s work for him. Paul is admonishing us not to do that.
He goes on to say, not to put obstacles in the path of a person seeking to walk with the Lord. This is affirmed in Scripture, many times as a discussion of snares or traps. Psalm 141:9 Keep me from the jaws of the trap they (my enemies) have laid for me, and from the snares of the evildoers. 10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by safely. See, it is the wicked who try to trap God’s people.
The earliest believers were called “followers of the way.” The “way” of the Lord, in the Hebrew Scriptures, is the “Derech,” meaning “road.” Isaiah describes this “way.” Isaiah 35:8 A highway will be there—a roadway. It will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it. It is for the one who walks the way. Fools will not go astray. Here it is called the “Derech HaKodesh” meaning “the Way of Holiness.”
So let us purpose to help people along their way to holiness, and avoid setting traps or stumbling blocks in their way. God’s people are called to do His work and not the work of the enemy. Shalom shalom.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Mon 20-Nov-2023 7th of Kislev, 5784
Ge 29:1-17 Jdg 18 Ps 39 Mt 28 (Ro 15)