Rabbi’s Reflections – Wednesday, November 4, 2020
Shalom *|FNAME|*,
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Wed 4-Nov-2020 17th of Cheshvan, 5781
Ge 19:21-21:4 Jdg 4 Ps 30 Mt 21 (Ro 1)
These are the most bizarre stories in the Torah reading for today. In Genesis 19, Lots two daughters have children fathered by their Father, Lot. Then in Genesis 20, Abraham is in his 90’s and Sarah is in her 80’s when the king, Abimelech, thought she was so beautiful (he was the king and could have any wife he wanted) that he would take her as his own wife. Abraham did not disclose that they were married, but told the truth about her being his sister, although more accurately, his half sister. But all is restored when God intervenes. Only then, in Genesis 21, is Isaac (the previously promised son) born to Abraham and Sarah.
My “take-away” from all of this is that God can bring order to any level of chaos. All it takes is obedience mixed with faith. First, Abraham had to obey God. Remember the command to “Lech-L’cha” in chapter 12? Only then was Abraham given revelation to believe. Genesis 15:5 He took him outside and said, “Look up now, at the sky, and count the stars—if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “So shall your seed be.” 6 Then he believed in Adonai and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
We are all children of Abraham. Galatians 3:6 Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” 7 know then that those who have faith are children of Abraham. And we are all baptized into Moses (meaning consecrated into the Law of Moses). 1 Corinthians 10:1 For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea. 2 They all were immersed into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
So, while these stories are bizarre (strange), they are part of our heritage. And our heritage is that we, ourselves, are strange. In other words, normal outside the kingdom of God is not normal inside the kingdom of God. Being called “special” is not always an honor, but in this verse (I’m using the Amplified Version) it is… 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a [special] people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies [the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections] of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
This is the point, God has called us out of darkness. Let’s be the children of light who live and walk in the spirit, in the anointing of God.
Week 45
Memory Verse: Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Messiah Yeshua.
221 11/2 Monday: Romans 7-8
222 11/3 Tuesday: Romans 9-10
* 223 11/4 Wednesday: Romans 11-12
224 11/5 Thursday: Romans 13-14
225 11/6 Friday: Romans 15-16
Question of the day: Meditate on these two verses. Romans 11:12 Now if their transgression leads to riches for the world, and their loss riches for the Gentiles, then how much more their fullness! Romans 11:15 For if their rejection leads to the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? What comes to mind?
Answer: My first thought is that God has plans for Israel (Jewish people, not the country) that are not yet complete. God will “graft them in again”… Romans 11:25 For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be ignorant of this mystery—lest you be wise in your own eyes—that a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer shall come out of Zion. He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
My second thought is that God’s future for Israel is bound up in the coming worldwide revival. That phrase at the end of Romans 11:15 “life from the dead” is a very accurate description of worldwide revival. The Hebrew term is “Tikkun Olam” meaning “restoration of the world.” God made a world with a garden and it was “very good.” Satan stole that “very goodness,” but God is going to restore it to Himself through His Son, Yeshua, and His people. God’s people are Israel and all those grafted into the root through Yeshua. And that’s my take on those verses.