Rabbi’s Reflections – Friday, October 30, 2020
(Early) Shabbat Shalom,
A N N O U N C E M E N T S
Yes, there is a service Friday night. Kiddush and covered dish dinner at 6 followed by praise, worship & prayer at 7. No service Saturday morning.
There will be a Discipleship Class from 4-6 on Sunday. Only those interested in growing to maturity need attend.
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Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Fri 30-Oct-2020 12th of Cheshvan, 5781
Ge 15:7-17:6Jos 24Ps 25Mt 17(1 Jn 5)
Joshua 24 is part of our “Daily Bread” reading today. In it, Joshua recounts the history of the previous 500 years or so beginning with Abraham’s father, Terah, all the way to the current day (in which he was speaking). Joshua spoke of numerous times of deliverance, from Pharaoh, from the Amorites, from Balak, from the 7 nations of verse 11, and from the two kings of the Amorites in verse 12.
Finally, in verse 14, Joshua comes to a point with this declaration. Joshua 24:14a Now therefore, fear Adonai and worship Him in sincerity and in truth. I want to break down the Hebrew and write a full understanding of the significance of this command. Some 3,500 years after it was written, maybe ours will be the generation that will get it right. We can always hope and pray.
וְעַתָּה יְראוּ אֶת-יְהוָה, וְעִבְדוּ אֹתוֹ–בְּתָמִים וּבֶאֱמֶת;
V’Ata Y’r’u Et-Adonai(YHVH), V’Ev’du Oto — B’Tamim U’Ve’e’met.
And now, you will fear (exactly) Yehovah, and serve Him — in eternal perfection and eternal truth. (RMAV – Rabbi Michael’s Amplified Version)
Each word has a weighty significance. We all have a call on our lives to fear God. “Fear,” in this sense, is a call to respect, honor and obey God. If we hope to know about Him and His commands and expectations on our lives, we have to read His word, the revelation of His mind. The fullness of our understanding is found in His Son, Yeshua, who is the manifestation of God the Father.
Paul wrote to Timothy how God the Father was revealed in the flesh (through Yeshua) so that we might know how to conduct ourselves in the community of God.
1 Timothy 3:15 But if I delay, I write so you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God—which is the community of the living God, a pillar and foundation of truth. 16 Now beyond question, great is the mystery of godliness: He was revealed in the flesh, Vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Trusted throughout the world, Taken up in glory.
Too often grace is used to excuse ungodly behavior, and this should never be. Grace is not an excuse for ungodliness, it is the power by which we live according to God’s righteous standards. Grace is too big and complex to fit into a single sound bite, but it is both the God-given desire and ability to obey Him.
Philippians 2:13 For the One working in you is God—both to will and to work for His good pleasure. And then, as if to underscore my next point, Paul adds Philippians 2:15a so that you might be blameless and innocent.
The next step is to serve Him. Then the Scripture provides two modifiers or ways that we serve God, in eternal perfection (Tamim) and eternal truth (Emet). You’ll notice I used the word “eternal” along with those qualities of perfection and truth. Both words have a connotation of eternity or ever-lasting permanence. Although Joshua didn’t specifically mention grace in that one verse, we can only approach God by grace.
Hebrews 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great Kohen Gadol who has passed through the heavens, Yeshua Ben-Elohim, let us hold firmly to our confessed allegiance…. 16 Therefore let us draw near to the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need.
Week 44
Memory Verse: Romans 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly but powerful through God for the tearing down of strongholds. We are tearing down false arguments.
216 10/26 Monday: 2 Corinthians 9-10
217 10/27 Tuesday: 2 Corinthians 11-13
218 10/28 Wednesday: Romans 1-2; Acts 20:1-3
219 10/29 Thursday: Romans 3-4
* 220 10/30 Friday: Romans 5-6
Question of the day: Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound?
Answer: Paul answers the question with the next verse… Romans 6:2a May it never be! Antinomianism is a wrong concept, that some people hold to, that when we sin we receive grace (which is true), and the more grace we receive, the better (which is also true) therefore; we should sin more so we can get more grace (which is categorically false).
Visine eye drops had a commercial tag, “get the red out.” I think the community of God should have a commercial tag, “get the sin out.”
I like Ephesians 4:17-32 on this. I was going to reprint it here, but it’s too long. Will you please read it so you can receive your blessing? Thank you.