Rabbi’s Reflections – Tuesday, June 11, 2024
Shalom,
Day 45 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 six weeks and three days of the counting of the Omer.
Follow up that prayer by remembering a blessing from the Lord and give Him thanks. Jeremiah 30:19 Out of them will come thanksgiving and the sound of celebration. I will multiply them, so they will not decrease. I will also honor them, so they will not be insignificant.
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Psalms
Psalm 9:16-18(15-17) – Part 12
Psalm 9:16 The nations sank into the pit they made. The net they hid caught their own foot. 17 Adonai is known for executing judgment. The wicked one is trapped in the work of his own hands. Selah 18 The wicked will turn to Sheol, as will all the nations that forget God.
All three of these verses share a similar message. Let’s start at the end and work backward. Something is going to happen to all the nations that forget God. In the previous verse, those same nations are considered “wicked,” while in verse 16 they are prophesied to “sink into the pit.” In both verses 16 and 17, they will trap themselves in the trap of their own making. The Lord’s judgment will make it happen.
These verses are focused on those peoples who are adversarial to God. They “forget God” and in wickedness “turn to Sheol.” No so for the people of God. They (we) remember God (Luke 22:19b “Do this in memory of Me.” – speaking of communion) and in righteousness, turn to heaven (2Peter 3:13b …we look for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.)
What we’re seeing here is the great divide prophesied by Yeshua Himself. The difference is as plain as left and right. We want to be on Yeshua’s “right” side.
Mat 25:31 “Now when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on His left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Mat 25:41 Then He will also say to those on the left, ‘Go away from Me, you cursed ones, into the everlasting fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.
Rabbi Trail: That’s the end of the RR for today. Now I want to make a separate comment. In writing these RRs, I feel like I’m risking repeating myself. In doing so, I’m in good company with King David who made the same points repeatedly throughout the Psalms.
This RR is very similar to several other RRs I’ve written recently. The reason they are similar is sensible. Every RR is written concerning the kingdom of God. There is a battle every day between good and evil. This conflict is made evident in the Scriptures. It is the basis of our daily devotionals, as we devote ourselves to God’s purposes and the building up of His kingdom.
The principles of right and wrong are not complex, although Satan wants to make them confusing. 1Corinthians 14:33a For God is not a God of confusion. Right and wrong, good and evil, righteousness and sin are like black and white. “Fifty shades of gray” is the work of the enemy of God. “Right” is our destiny (Ben’ya’min = Son of the right hand). The Latin word for “left” is “Sinister.” That should tell us something. End RT.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
5 Sivan Tuesday 11-Jun-24 45th day of the Omer
Numbers 5:1-5:10 Jeremiah 20-21 Job 30 Mark 7 1 Corinthians 9