In the interest of disclosure, I obtained the image for “Shabbat Shalom” from this website… http://caje-ist2015.blogspot.com/
Rabbi’s Reflections – Saturday, February 8, 2020
Shabbat Shalom,
Yesterday I said I may write about this statement…
Rabbi Trail: I realize I am now quoting myself. This is a very dangerous precedent and should not go by without being covered in prayer. Only a genuine boor quotes himself. However; I will have to quote myself habitually before I rise to that level of boordom. (Yes, I just made that word up, another sure sign of becoming a boor.) End RT
“Even God’s judgment is full of grace.” Why even bother with a statement like that? Frequently we want to put the “judgment of God” in terms of God’s judgment of sin which is judgment of works, which is the opposite of grace (at least in our minds).
What we tend to miss is that God judged that the world was separated from Him by sin. This created a problem that could only be solved by God sending His only begotten Son. Yeshua (the Son) is described as… John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We looked upon His glory, the glory of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.
We must not miss the use of these two words together (meaning they are not opposed to each other), “grace and truth.” Isaiah writes to us… Isaiah 11:3b He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor decide by what His ears hear. 4a But with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the poor of the land.
My point is simple. We are condemned by Adam’s sin (not our own). This puts us in a situation in which we cannot help ourselves. We need the Savior (provision of God). He sent His Son because He loves us. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Along with that… Romans 8:3 For what was impossible for the Torah—since it was weakened on account of the flesh—God has done. Sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as a sin offering, He condemned sin in the flesh— 4 so that the requirement of the Torah might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Ruach.
It’s not God who wants to bring us into condemnation, but Satan (the adversary of God). John 3:17 God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.
The choice is simple. It’s the same choice Joshua put before the people. Joshua 24:15b …choose for yourselves today whom you will serve—But as for me and my household, we will worship Adonai!”
May your answer be this… Joshua 24:16 Then the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake Adonai to worship other gods!
Finally, we are asked a question in Psalm 27. Psalem 27:1 Of David. Adonai is my light and my salvation: whom should I fear? Adonai is the stronghold of my life: whom should I dread?
And the Bible also answers the question. Luke 12:4 “I say to you, My friends, you should not be afraid of those who kill the body, since after this they have nothing more they can do. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear. Fear the One who, after the killing, has authority to cast into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear this One!
The choice is simple. Choose God!
Psalm 116:1 I love Adonai, for He hears my voice, my cries. 2 Because He has turned His ear to me, I will call on Him all my days. 3 The ropes of death entangled me, and the torments of Sheol found me. I found trouble and sorrow. 4 Then I called upon the Name of Adonai: “Adonai, save my soul!” 5 Adonai is gracious and righteous— yes, our God is compassionate.