Rabbi’s Reflections – Friday, June 9, 2023
(Early) Shabbat Shalom,
Victory Over Sin part 42 – Romans, part 103
Rom 8:24 For in hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, then we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
Rabbi Trail: Rudyard Kipling wrote the poem ‘If” in 1895, in which he describes the qualities of a man. The third “if” of the first stanza says, “If you can wait and not be tired by waiting.” Kipling thought that described the character of a man. Paul wrote the same thing, describing the character of a believer in Yeshua. End RT.
Hope and wait! Seems like two sides of the same coin. Doesn’t sound glamorous, does it, but it is still part of every believer’s assignment. Paul is writing these words in an effort to keep us aware that this (this life which we are now living) is not all there is. We were saved in hope, hope there will be a coming reward. In Hebrew we say, “Bo Yeshua bo!” Meaning, “Come Yeshua come!”
Rabbi Trail: As I’m writing this, I keep hearing the word “faith.” Although it isn’t mentioned directly in these two verses, hope and faith do go together, along with love. We read about all of them at the very end of the “love chapter…” 1Corinthians 13:13 But now these three remain—faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love.
Why is love the greatest? Because when Yeshua returns we will not need faith or hope. But love will endure beyond His return, for His kingdom is based on love. The world wants us to choose between love and judgment. The judgment we must avoid is condemnation, final judgment. We don’t send anyone to hell. However; we are called to know right from wrong, that’s the good judgment of discernment. End RT.
Paul is writing about the character of those who follow Yeshua. We “hope for what we do not see.” Another way to say that is that we “wait for it with perseverance.” Immaturity does not understand waiting. We have been commissioned, not with a command to “hold until relieved” (as was told to the commander of the 78th infantry division at Remagen in March of 1945 near the end of the second world war), but with the command at the end of the book of Matthew….
Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Ruach ha-Kodesh, 20 teaching them to observe all I have commanded you. And remember! I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Remember, while we wait with perseverance for our hope to be fulfilled, we are not alone, Yeshua is with us in spirit, but soon in physical reality. Shabbat Shalom.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Fri 9 June-2023 20th of Sivan, 5783
Nu 10:35-11:29 Jer 31 Dan 7 1 Co 13 (Mk 14:1-42)