Rabbi’s Reflections – Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Shalom,
Surprise announcement: This Shabbat, Lars Enarson (see the image above) will be ministering at Shomair Yisrael. Here is a wonderful opportunity to connect with this man of God. Lars is a Messianic Jewish leader originally from Sweden who now lives in Israel. An amazing set of circumstances has brought us together in Knoxville for such a time as this. He is a minister who moves in the prophetic and has authored many books. Just look at the address of his website https://www.thewatchman.org/. Shomair means “watchman.” See, we’re connected.
A few years ago we bought a case of his “Daily Bread” devotionals. Maybe some of you still have it and would like him to sign your copy. Now we have an opportunity to meet the author. His bio reads… Lars Enarson, a native of Sweden, has been an author and Bible teacher with a prophetic voice since the 1970’s. Lars is the founder and president of the Watchman International (thewatchman.org), a ministry dedicated to “prepare the way for the Lord.” He is based in Israel, teaching and mobilizing prayer for Israel by way of Seminars, books, and TV-programs. His YouTube channel has over 1.5 million views and he has been interviewed many times on Israeli television. His latest book is “Joy of the Whole Earth: Jerusalem and the Future of the World.”
Please plan to be with us at 10:30am this Saturday for a unique opportunity to have fellowship with one of God’s servants who is on the front lines of what God is doing in uniting the Jewish people with the followers of Yeshua.
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Today I’m taking a break from writing directly about the Song of Songs series, but everything is still interconnected. What follows is a brief expression of my point of view on covenant. This is a disclaimer that my “brief expression” is just that. However; a brief expression on a subject that defines how God created the world is perhaps unfair. Where would we be without the Yeshua Covenant? Where would Abraham be without Covenant? Where would we be without Abraham’s Covenant? Where would David be without Covenant? Where would we be without David’s Covenant? The list goes on. I hope you get the point. This is a huge subject that deserves immense attention, and these are but a few thoughts.
Recently, I was asked if it is a biblical mandate to belong to a congregation. I found the question interesting. The answer could actually be the subject of a large book. Here are six bullet points that could each become a chapter in the book.
- God has a body “that every joint supplies” (Ephesians 4:16). How do those “joints” get supplied unless they are connected?
- How can the “body of Messiah” be connected except in covenant? God is the God of Covenant. The covenant of membership in a community is one of those covenants. We have to function as one, as He is One.
- The command from God is to love one another. (1 John 4:7) (Rabbi Trail: There are too many verses commanding us to love one another to even list them all. I just picked one I like. End RT.) To love one another without covenant is adultery or prostitution or both. (Tell us what you really think, Rabbi.)
- The command in the Torah is to bring your offering to the door of the Tabernacle (in the place God chooses), not just any place we want. (Leviticus 17:5)
- Each letter at the start of the book of Revelation is addressed to a congregation (To the church…). God is communicating to His people through His body.
- Even Yeshua submitted to earthly authority in having John the Baptist immerse Him. We follow Yeshua in all things, including being submitted to existing authority.
Concluding thought… the world is full of “good” people doing “good” things. And yet, their efforts are not building the kingdom of God because they lack covenantal alignment with God’s kingdom, both historically and presently. One of our Hebrew words for “righteousness” is “Yashar” (meaning “straight, straight up” or “upright”). God has called His people to align in right relationships one to another. Read the memory verse below. Righteousness is done properly when done in accountable (covenantal) relationships, and then “all will know” you are Yeshua’s disciple.
Week 35
Memory Verse: John 13:34 “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so also you must love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
171 8/24 Monday: John 11; Matthew 21:1-13
172 8/25 Tuesday: John 13
* 173 8/26 Wednesday: John 14-15
174 8/27 Thursday: John 16
175 8/28 Friday: Matthew 24:1-31
Question of the day: What does this mean? John 15:4b The branch cannot itself produce fruit, unless it abides on the vine. Likewise, you cannot produce fruit unless you abide in Me.
Answer: It proves the top part of the RR today (what you just read, unless it’s your habit to skip to the “Question of the Day”). You might say, I’m grafted into Messiah. To bear fruit that remains requires a grafting into His body, so that “every joint” can supply the other “joints.”
Yeshua goes on to say, John 15:8 “In this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples.” Disciples both receive and give. They are discipled by others and they in turn disciple others. This cannot be done as a “lone wolf” for Yeshua. In fact, the term “lone wolf” should tell you something.
There are four generations in what Paul wrote to Timothy. 2 Timothy 2:2 And what you have heard from me among many witnesses, entrust to faithful people who will be capable to teach others also. Generational teaching and blessing go hand in hand, but not without a community. It is impossible to “hold hands” with someone who is not there.
Here’s the last word today… come under authority and then see how much authority God will entrust to you. Alright, really the last word today… to paraphrase John Kennedy’s inaugural address, don’t ask what your congregation can do for you, ask what you can do for your congregation.
Sometimes the answer doesn’t come quickly. Keep on asking. God blesses those who give honor. Proverbs 3:27 Do not withhold good (honor) from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. (Romans 13:7)