Rabbi’s Reflections – Monday, May 9, 2022
Shalom,
A quick reminder… Dan and Patty Juster will be at Shomair on Saturday morning, May 14th and again that afternoon. Dan and Patty will speak and minister at our regular Shabbat morning worship service which begins at 10:30. Then from 4-5:30, Dan has asked for a special gathering (again at our Shomair building) so he can share more of his heart regarding the condition of Messianic Judaism and its relationship to the rest of the Body of Messiah. Both meetings will be broadcast and recorded on our Shomair YouTube channel, but if you can be with us for either or both, that is best.
Counting the Omer – Day 16
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 two weeks and two days of the counting of the Omer.
Matthew 5:8 Part 1 of Many
Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
There is so much contained in the few words of this verse, we could stay on it for a long time. I’m especially intrigued by two words. In the TLV translation above, they are translated as “pure” and “see.” The Greek word translated “pure” is “katharos (phonetic spelling: kath-ar-os’). Part of the Strong’s translation (G2513) is “clean, pure, unstained, either literally or ceremonially or spiritually; guiltless, innocent, upright.”
The other word (translated as “see”) is horaó (phonetic spelling: hor-ah’-o). Part of the Strong’s translation (G3708) is “see, look upon, experience, perceive, discern, beware.”
Please indulge me for a moment…. Here is my own amplified translation of Matthew 5:8 Shout for joy if you are guiltless in heart, for you are among those who will experience God.
This raises the question, “How does a person become “clean, pure and unstained” of heart? After all, we’re born into a problem we didn’t create. Because we didn’t create it, we can’t fix it. In Hebrew, we sing, “Ki Ayn Banu Ma’a’sim,” meaning, “For we have nothing in us to make (a way of fixing the problem).” Here is a link to the liturgical song I’m referencing. It features Shilo Ben Hod and his band (many of whom came to Shomair last year). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQccxCPePiw
It is a question that demands an answer. If you know Yeshua, you know the answer, because He is the answer. John 1:29 The next day, John sees Yeshua coming to him and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Which is perfect match with this…. Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says Adonai. “Though your sins be like scarlet, they will be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they will become like wool.
To be “washed in blood” and come out clean (white as snow) is a great and notable work of God (aka “miracle”). It is implicit in the subject verse. As John is addressing the 7 Churches in the book of Revelation, he offers these words of greeting in the name of the Lord…. Revelation 1:5 from Messiah Yeshua, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood.
We all need a clean heart. Only through believing in Yeshua do we get a clean heart. That’s the RR for today. I’ll write more on this tomorrow. Can you see how this might take all week?
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Mon 09-May-2022 8th of Iyyar, 5782 16th day of the Omer
Le 21:16-22:16 Isa 65 Job 9 (Mt 24:1-28) Ro 8:1-17
Week 20
Memory Verse: Proverbs 1:7 The fear of Adonai is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
96 5/11 Monday: Proverbs 1-2
97 5/12 Tuesday: Proverbs 3-4
98 5/13 Wednesday: Proverbs 16-18
99 5/14 Thursday: Proverbs 31
100 5/15 Friday: 1 Kings 11-12