Rabbi’s Reflections – Monday, May 18, 2020
Shalom *|FNAME|*,
Menachem Notice: It is with deep regret that I announce the passing of Simcha Fillenworth. She passed away on Sunday morning at her home in Virginia after a long illness. Please join me in praying for her family and our entire Shomair community. We are poorer and heaven is enriched. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, so with Him God will also bring those who have fallen asleep in Yeshua. Simcha’s daughter, Sara, texted the following message… She passed peacefully in in her sleep at home. We are thankful that she went quickly and will be interrred with her husband in the Black Hills National Cemetery in Sturges, SD. She so loved her Shomair family and enjoyed all the cards that were sent. May the Lord comfort us all.
Birthday Notice: “Shout out” to my brother, Richard Weiner, who lives in McKinney, TX on his 65th birthday. Welcome to Medicare bro.
Counting the Omer – Day 37
Here is the proper blessing to be said each day. This is how Jewish people fulfill the command to count.
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 five weeks and two days of the counting of the Omer.
This week we will be studying the longing to be great and successful. Like all the other longings, this one too is part of our created being. God is great. We are created in His image with a desire to be great. Psalm 95:3 For Adonai is a great God and a great King above all gods. We find our identification with His greatness through submission. Psalm 95:6 Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before Adonai our Maker.
God’s vision for our submission involves relationship with Him. Like every other longing, we must satisfy our desire for greatness in our relationship with Yeshua. Ephesians 2:4 But God was rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us. 5 Even when we were dead in our trespasses, He made us alive together with Messiah. (By grace you have been saved!) 6 And He raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Messiah Yeshua—.
Yeshua addressed the “heavenly places” mentioned here in verse 6 when He said in John 14:2 In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you may also be.
Is there a greater honor than to be seated together with Him? I think not, and I hope you agree with me. Blessings.
Week 21
Memory Verse: Psalm 17:15 I in righteousness will behold Your face! When I awake, I will be satisfied with Your likeness.
* 101 5/18 Monday: 1 Kings 16:29-34; 17
102 5/19 Tuesday: 1 Kings 18-19
103 5/20 Wednesday: 1 Kings 21-22
104 5/21 Thursday: 2 Kings 2
105 5/22 Friday: 2 Kings 5; 6:1-23
Question of the day: What is the deeper meaning of 1 Kings 17:14?
Answer: 1 Kings 17:14 “For thus says Adonai God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be exhausted nor shall the jug of oil be empty until the day Adonai sends rain on the land.’”
This woman had run out of food. 1 Kings 17:12 So she said, “As Adonai your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in the jar, and a little oil in the jug. Now look, I am gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.”
I see a symbolic meaning in the text. This woman is a lot like us. We have nothing in ourselves. Our supplies are exhausted. Without the provision of God, we’re just waiting to die. Yet, when He comes into our lives, we are sustained. Even when what we see looks exhausted and near empty, His promises never fail. His provision is available in never ending supply.
You may have heard my mantra, there is never a shortage in the Kingdom of God. Hear the words of Elijah and receive them for yourself… 1 Kings 17:14 “For thus says Adonai God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be exhausted nor shall the jug of oil be empty until the day Adonai sends rain on the land.’”
What am I saying? It’s supposed to rain on Monday and throughout the week. In Hebrew we call rain “Yered Geshem” meaning “falling rain.” But there is another rain spoken of in Scripture, a former rain and a latter rain. Joel 2:23 So be glad, children of Zion, and rejoice in Adonai, your God. For He gives you the early rain for prosperity, Yes, He will bring down rain for you, the early and latter rain as before.
The early rain was the first coming of Yeshua. We are sustained until the latter rain, Yeshua’s second coming. Until then, there will be flour and oil in unending supply. Flour symbolizes the body of Messiah. Oil symbolizes the holy spirit. Both are available to us in a never ending supply until He returns. Bless the Lord for His abundant provision.