Rabbi’s Reflections – Tuesday, July 6, 2021
Shalom,
I’m following up on yesterday’s announcements. Go to youtube.com and search for Shilo Ben Hod, then enjoy what you find. We will be having a special evening of worship with Shilo and company this Thursday night beginning at 6:30. Come at 6 and enjoy some pizza and fellowship first.
Then search YouTube.com for “Baht Rivka Whitten,” and know this… she will be with her husband, George, at Shomair on Shabbat to lead worship and minister. We are so glad they are coming to visit us in this season.
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Tomorrow is the last question in our series on the Red Heifer. But first, today’s question… “Why are the ashes of the Red Heifer then used for the community?” Both yesterday’s question and today’s arise from Numbers 19:9 “A clean man is to gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a clean place outside the camp. They are to be for the community of Bnei-Yisrael to use as water of purification from sin.”
Hillary Clinton (There’s a name you probably didn’t think I would write in the RR today. If you bet against it, you lose.) was both right and wrong when she wrote her book, “It Takes A Village.” It does take a community, but her subtitle is wrong. This is not a lesson children teach us, it is a lesson the Scriptures teach us.
There is a reason trees grow in a forest. Trees lean on each other when they are being blown over. God gave us each other, partly so we would learn to overcome the challenges of loving one another, and partly so we could lean on one another in difficult times.
There is family and then there is extended family. That extended family functions like a nuclear family. It’s a good thing when mom and dad balance each other out. They are almost never both up or both down at the same time. If they are, one comes out of it quicker than the other. This is God’s plan.
There is a difference between the “community of Beit (house of) Yisrael” and the rest of the world. In that same way, we, who are grafted in to the family of God, experience a difference. There is Koinonia within the community. That is a closeness of fellowship only accessible to those who share in the spiritual blessings of God available through Messiah Yeshua.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Tue 6 July 2021 26th of Tamuz, 5781
Nu 32:1-19 Ez 20 1 Ch 1 (Lk 19:28-48) Php 1
What is the great promise of Ezekiel 20? It doesn’t come until 3rd verse from the end… Ezekiel 20:42 You will know that I am Adonai, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country where I lifted up My hand to give it to your fathers. Let’s take a moment and appreciate that we are seeing this promise of God fulfilled in our day.
Week 28
Memory Verse: Psalm 101:3 No base thing will I set before my eyes. Twisted behavior I hate— it will not cling to me. 4 A perverse heart will depart from me. I will know nothing evil.
136 7/5 Monday: Esther 5-7
*137 7/6 Tuesday: Esther 8-10
138 7/7 Wednesday: Nehemiah 1-2
139 7/8 Thursday: Nehemiah 3-4
140 7/9 Friday: Nehemiah 5-6
The question of the day: I’m writing this on the Monday holiday (Independence Day celebrated), and I want a holiday. Besides, I’ve written everything I care to write about the book of Esther. So there, I’m showing my independence. No question.
Besides, I want to say something about independence. It is independence from tyranny, not independence from God. True independence requires responsibility. We must be responsible to love God and love each other if we really expect to live in a free country.
Freedom isn’t free. It costs something. It requires sacrifice. I want to thank those (and there are many) who made sacrifices to defend our freedom. These sacrifices were made in many forms, both directly and indirectly. But they were made, for the benefit of all, even those who today curse those sacrifices.
Few things irk me as much as an ungrateful attitude. Let us all hold tight to the promises of God. True freedom is found in Messiah Yeshua… John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed! Freedom! Not to act like an idiot, but to live in a way that honors the one Who sacrificed all for our benefit, Yeshua HaMashiach!!! Hu Adonai!!! (He is Lord!!!)