Rabbi’s Reflections – Thursday, February 25, 2021
Shalom,
Join with Revive Israel on Thursday, February 25th at 8:00AM EST (Knoxville) / 3:00PM IDT (Jerusalem) as we gather to wait upon the Lord as a corporate Body on the Fast of Esther. The Gathering will be broadcasted live on Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/reviveisraelmedia/) and YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/ReviveIsraelTV/videos) with live interpretation available in multiple languages.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Thu 25 Feb-2021 13th of Adar, 5781 Ta’anit Esther
Ex 29:19-37 Isa 3-4 Pr 3 Ac 3 (Heb 9)
Ex 32:11-14; 34:1-10
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in Adonai with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
“Trust God with all your heart” is our first instruction. Perhaps easier said than done. The opposing thought helps us put this in perspective. Don’t rely on what you understand. The Hebrew word is “Binah” from which we get the Yiddish word “Mavin.” A “Mavin” is a know-it-all. Don’t trust in yourself being a know-it-all.
Then in the second verse, we find the word “acknowledge,” but a better translation might just be “know” (God). When we know God, He straightens us out. Did you ever watch water flow downstream? The path is anything but straight. Water seeks the lowest level possible. It follows the easiest path, which is anything but straight.
Another way to translate the word for “straight” is “righteous.” It means upright, not in a proud sense, but in a straightforward sense. We are not to follow the path of least resistance, but to pursue God as we put our faith (trust) in Him.
The straight path is mentioned by Jeremiah along with the promised ingathering… Jeremiah 31:8(9) With weeping and supplications they will come. I will bring them, leading them to walk by streams of water on a straight path where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.” 9(10) Hear the word of Adonai, O nations, and declare it in the distant islands, and say: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather and watch over him, as a shepherd does his flock.’
Week 9
Memory Verse: Matthew 22:37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
41 2/22 Monday: Exodus 32-33
42 2/23 Tuesday: Exodus 34-36:1
43 2/24 Wednesday: Exodus 40
* 44 2/25 Thursday: Leviticus 8-9
45 2/26 Friday: Leviticus 16-17
Question of the Day: We read this verse… Leviticus 9:1 Now it happened on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron, his sons, and the elders of Israel. Why “the eighth day?”
Answer: The “eighth” day is actually a balance to the first day. It is the first day all over again. The eighth day is the first day of the next week. After a week of weeks (49 days), the next eighth day is also the 50th day. Pentecost (Shavuot) is celebrated for one day only. It is the only major holiday (the others are Tabernacles (Sukkot) and Passover (Pesach) that is not 7 days long.
The 8th day is always a Sunday because the 7th day is always Shabbat. The 8th day is always the new beginning. While Sunday is called “the Lord’s day” because of the resurrection, Saturday is never replaced by Sunday. Please understand me; I’m not anti-Sunday, in fact, I’m very pro-Sunday. But neither am I anti-Shabbat, quite the opposite.
Yeshua was not anti-Shabbat either. Hear Yeshua’s words… Matthew 12:8 “For the Son of Man is Lord of Shabbat.” In fact, both Saturday and Sunday are not in competition with each other. 7 cannot become 8 nor 1 and neither can 8 nor 1 can become 7. So then, let’s rest on the day of rest. For Aaron and his sons, the week of consecration was not over until the end of Shabbat. For us, as a kingdom of priests, our week isn’t over until the end of Shabbat either.