Rabbi’s Reflections – Thursday, October 8, 2020
Shalom,
Let’s start today with a Rabbi Trail: Boker Tov, (I’m writing this at 7:30 Wednesday morning)
I am a single issue voter. This issue of American support for Israel is so important to me, that I vote for the candidate who offers the best point of view on Israel. That doesn’t make me a politician or political, that makes me Jewish and a Zionist. I received the clipped article that you see above this message from a friend a few moments ago and I wanted to share it with you. One of our six founding purposes for Shomair Yisrael is to support Israel. Typically, we do that through the Messianic community to which we are connected over there.
You might say, “But that article is almost 40 years old.” Yes it is. Then ask yourself, “How much do people really change?” Is past behavior an indicator of future behavior? Every source I can find says “yes.” And I can find no source that says “no.”
Here is a non-political and non-partisan statement. When we have our new ark, I hope it will have written in Hebrew the words “know before Whom you stand.” I want to offer a twist. “Know for whom you vote.” But do vote. And pray that your vote will line up with the will of God. End RT.
Finally, please pray God’s blessings for Israel, God’s blessings for America, and that His kingdom will come to this earth in fullness. Pray the “Lord’s Prayer” with “Kavenah” (Hebrew for “intentionality”).
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Discipleship, Discipleship, Discipleship… we might get sick of hearing it, but the Bible never does. Discipleship is another way of identifying ourselves as students, and students never stop learning. The Hebrew word for “disciples” is “Talmidim.” It’s the same word for students. It is the first command of the “great commission”… Matthew 28:19a Go therefore and make disciples. And to make a disciple you’ve first got to be a disciple.
The sad truth is that we are ill prepared for Yeshua’s return. Our weekly study on Song of Songs is like cramming for an exam. We feel an urgency to dig deep to uncover the treasure that has been hidden in the wisdom of Solomon. In this story, the Shulamite is maturing through stressful challenges, many of them self-inflicted. She is a picture and the image of both the body and Bride) of Messiah today.
We see in the Song that the Shulamite has a destiny in the Beloved (Messiah Yeshua) which is identical to our own destiny in Him. Ephesians 4:13 This will continue until we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of Ben-Elohim—to mature adulthood, to the measure of the stature of Messiah’s fullness.
Immediately in Song of Songs 1:8b the Beloved reveals Himself to the Shulamite as the Great Shepherd and provides, in an otherwise obscure text, 3 instructions that will sustain her (us) through every ordeal.
Song of Songs 1:8 go out yourself in the footsteps of the flock (1) and graze your kids (2) by the shepherds’ tents (3). Let’s unpack them 1,2,3.
1. “In the footsteps of the flock” is a call to stay connected to the body (flock). The Hebrew indicates “stay on their heels,” meaning “follow closely.” Isaiah 35:8 A highway will be there—a roadway. It will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it. It is for the one who walks the way. Fools will not go astray.
2. “Graze your kids” is the command to feed the flock. It is a call to servant ministry. John 21:17 He (Yeshua) said to him (Peter) a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him for a third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know everything! You know that I love You!” Yeshua said to him, “Feed My sheep!”
3. “By the Shepherd’s tents” is a call to stay under spiritual covering. Psalm 118:15 Shouts of joy and victory (the Hebrew says “Yeshua” or “salvation”… joy and salvation) are in the tents of the righteous: “Adonai’s right hand is mighty!
These 3 are interconnected and cannot be separated. Disciples receive discipleship in order to disciple others. This is the picture of the Sea of Galilee which has both an inlet and an outlet. Fish live there. The Dead Sea, on the other hand, has only an inlet and no fish live there. Let’s be alive in Messiah Yeshua.
Remember we said that Ephesians is a parallel to the Song? Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship—created in Messiah Yeshua for good deeds, which God prepared beforehand so we might walk in them.
Week 41
Memory Verse: 1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
201 10/5 Monday: 1 Thessalonians 3-5
202 10/6 Tuesday: 2 Thessalonians 1-3
203 10/7 Wednesday: Acts 18:18-19:41
* 204 10/8 Thursday: 1 Corinthians 1-2
205 10/9 Friday: 1 Corinthians 3-4
Question of the Day: What is faith?
Answer: Everybody knows that one. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of realities not seen.
While I’m sure that’s true, it’s still a bit of a riddle. We believe (have faith in) the promises of God. Yeshua is the promised Messiah. He alone is the substance (foundation) of our faith. It is His desire to build our faith through signs and wonders.
Paul writes to the Corinthians about how God uses signs and wonders to build our faith. He’s explaining here that real faith is not based on reason but on demonstration. 1 Corinthians 2:5 so that your faith would not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
The people of God have been given all authority. That’s the beginning of the great commission as I mentioned above. Matthew 28:18 And Yeshua came up to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19a Go therefore and make disciples….
Yeshua has sent us with His authority. However; we are not yet walking in the fullness of that authority. Let’s purpose to wait on God, that we might take hold of that substance by receiving the full demonstration of the power of God which is the substance of faith.