Rabbi’s Reflections – Thursday, April 27, 2023
Shalom,
Day 19 of counting the Omer
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל סְפִירַת הָעֹֽמֶר
Baruch Atah Adonai Elohenu Melech Ha-Olam, Asher Kid’shanu B’mitzvotav, Vitzivanu Al Sefirat Ha-Omer.
Blessed are You O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by his commandments and commanded us about the counting of the Omer. Today is two weeks and five days of the counting of the Omer.
Follow up that prayer by remembering a blessing from the Lord and give Him thanks.
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Victory Over Sin 14 – Romans, part 75
Our text for today is Romans 7:1-4. It is a little long, but I had to find a good stopping place to complete the thought.
Romans 7:1 Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I speak to those who know law), that the law is master over a person as long as he lives?
2 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives; but if the husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.
3 So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law—so she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man.
4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were made dead to the Torah through the body of Messiah, so that you might be joined to another—the One who was raised from the dead—in order that we might bear fruit for God.
Let’s not get sidetracked as we study these verses. It’s easy to get distracted by all this talk of divorce and death. Paul is giving us examples of what it means to be brought in to the family of God, living according to the “rules of the house,” His commandments. (They’re not suggestions.)
We have to fully understand the meaning of “…you also were made dead to the Torah through the body of Messiah.” Who died? “You also were made dead.” In what sense did you (who Paul calls “my brothers and sisters”) die? We just finished chapter 6 (what would become known as chapter 6 from his letter to the Romans) in which Paul fully explains that WE have died to sin. Romans 6:2b How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Sin is transgression of the Torah. So, when we die to sin, we also, by definition, die to Torah. The Torah doesn’t die, we do. The Torah doesn’t change, our approach to the Torah changes. Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets! I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.”
Through Yeshua, we have a “new and living” approach to God’s commandments. Hebrews 10:19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have boldness to enter into the Holies by the blood of Yeshua. 20 He inaugurated a new and living way for us through the curtain—that is, His flesh.
Striving to accomplish God’s commandments never worked. Striving is works and it starts from an adversarial position. It starts with us outside, trying to work our way inside, into God’s good graces. Grace starts with acceptance (just as I am) and continues in favor from within the family of God. The objective is always the righteousness of God. Abraham received this command. (btw – The Abrahamic Covenant is a covenant of grace. Abraham believed God….)
Genesis 17:1 WHEN ABRAM was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, I am the Almighty God; walk and live habitually before Me and be perfect (blameless, wholehearted, complete). AMPC
We also, who follow Yeshua, are called to that same level of righteous living…. Philippians 2:15 so that you might be blameless and innocent, children of God in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. Among them you shine as lights in the world.
The objective is not personal salvation, it is greater than that. Paul tells us (Romans 7:4b) “…so that you might be joined to… the One (Yeshua).” For what purpose? “That we might bear fruit for God.” Yeshua is coming again, this time for His Bride (the one to be joined to Him). We will join Him in bearing fruit for God. There is a coming marriage in heaven. We won’t know the fullness of who will be the Bride until the end. What we do know is that there will be plenty of rejoicing on the day of the gladness of His heart. (Song 3:11) Receive Yeshua’s call today and hold on to your place of honor in the age to come. Shalom shalom.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Day 19 of the Omer
Thu 27 Apr-2023 6th of Iyar, 5783 Day 19 of the Omer
Le 19:15-32 Isa 55-56 Job 12 1 Jn 1 (Mt 13:1-30)