Month: October 2023
Parashat Lech-Lecha: I Will
Parashat: Genesis 12:1 – 17:27
Haftarah: Isaiah 40:27 – 41:16
When Abraham heard the words “I will” he knew with certainty that God was affirming the promises, though they were still in the distant future. In other words, Abraham didn’t just cross his fingers and hope that God would bless him, multiply him, and grant him the land. He was convinced that once God spoke it, it was done. Even though Abraham never saw the fullness of God’s promise in this lifetime, he was already certain that he would experience it in the world to come. Thus, where most people’s faith would crumble in doubt and despair, he did not waver in belief but was strengthened in faith… Continue Reading
Parashat Bereshith: He Saw It Was Good
Parashat: Genesis 1:1 -6:8
Haftarah: Isaiah 42:5 – 43:10
Genesis 1:31: “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”
In the first chapter of Genesis, God looked upon His creation six times, and each time it says that He saw that it was good. The seventh time He looked upon the entirety of His creation and declared that it was very good. Each of the the six days, God completed different aspects of creation, each part that would eventually fit into the grand scheme of creation. By the end of the sixth day, He saw the all of the parts fit and worked together in harmony and called it very good… PDF
Parashat Noach: Light Bearers
Photo by Lucas Dial on Unsplash
Parashat: Genesis 6:9 – 11:32
Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1 – 55:5
Lawlessness has been at work, and the forces of darkness will continue to wage war against the light. Those who prevail are those who have received the love of the truth. In these times, it is important that we continue to spread the good news, but it is perhaps of even greater importance that we continue to strengthen the righteousness in our gates and fight diligently to keep the light–the love and presence of truth–from going dim. For it is the light, those who are righteous, who will preserve the people. The book of Proverbs reminds us of this truth:
Proverbs 11:10-11
“When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices; and when the wicked perish, there is jubilation. By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.” Read Full Text
God’s Enduring Word, Pt. 3
In the final chapter of Luke’s gospel, following Jesus’ resurrection, Luke tells us that Jesus appears to two disciples who were walking on the road to Emmaus. As Jesus draws near, Luke says that the eyes of the men “were restrained, so that they did not know Him” (Luke 24:16).
As they continue walking, Jesus listens to the men explain all of the details surrounding His death. Despite spending time with Jesus, witnessing His crucifixion, and being told of His resurrection, the men are perplexed, for they say to Jesus, “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel”(24:21). These men knew the narrative, or at least they were versed enough to know that God was going to send a redeemer to Israel, but knowing does not always equate to seeing. The Messiah these men were hoping for was walking alongside them, yet they failed to recognize Him. Upon hearing their doubts, Jesus begins to awaken their senses: “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter His glory.” Following this, we are told that “beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them IN ALL the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:15-27). Jesus then begins to fill in the context of His story, beginning with Moses and the Prophets.
This is just beginning.
As they continue along, the men urge Jesus to eat and stay with them. When they sit at the table for the evening meal, Jesus takes the bread and breaks it, and when He gives it to them and,“their eyes were opened and they knew Him.” Immediately, the men reply to one another: “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us”(Luke 24:30-32). Following this encounter, the two men rush off to Jerusalem and share the news with the other disciples. As they are speaking, Jesus appears to all of them, echoing the same words:
Luke 24:44-45
“‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.’ And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the scriptures.”
Again, He takes them directly to the Scriptures, reminding them that all that has happened has been foretold–in Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. These are the very scriptures that these men and women heard every week in the synagogues. Why, then, did they not recognize Him? Luke tells us again that He opened their understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures. Understanding the narrative and seeing it play out in front of us requires these two crucial elements: First, we must devote ourselves to reading the scriptures from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation. For in the scriptures we are given the details of what has happened, what is happening, and what is to come. Until Christ accomplishes all the work, not just on earth but in heaven as well, then the law will continue to bear witnesses of these coming events. To dismiss any of the scriptures–especially Moses, the Prophets, and the writings–because we believe them to be irrelevant, outdated, completely fulfilled, or too difficult to understand–could cause us to miss the story when it’s happening right in front of us. Every jot and tittle is important for us to know:
Matthew 5:18-19
“For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled… but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Second, we not only read the scriptures, but we diligently seek and ask God to open our eyes and our understanding to the scriptures. We pray that, like those whom Jesus conversed with on the road to Emmaus, God will continue to send His Spirit to open our understanding, and that our ears will be open to hear, our eyes open to see, and out hearts open to receive. This is understanding is what ties our knowledge together, helping us see how past, present, and future events are intertwined. Prior to teaching the crowds, Jesus told His disciples why it was that He spoke to them in parables: “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” (Matthew 13:11). Why, if many of these individuals knew the Torah–or at least possessed a very basic knowledge–did they not have a greater understanding of it? Because Jesus said it was not “given” to them. This tells us that we can possess the knowledge through our own seeking and pursuit, but it is God who unlocks the mysteries; it is God who opens the eyes and ears and helps us to see the beginning from end. It is God who grants the spiritual understanding.
This is why, in the Parable of the Sower, an individual’s ability to bear fruit is not only contingent upon whether he or she receives the word, but how he or she receives it. After sharing the parable, Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah who provides a diagnosis for the people’s blindness, deafness, and lack of understanding: it is a heart issue. People are unable to see, hear, and understand because their hearts are dull. Dull, according to the Greek (bareos), seems to indicate that they have become heavy with difficulty, burdened. In Hebrew, the word dull (saman) means to become or grow fat. The people’s eyes and ears–our eyes and ears–remain impaired because our hearts have become dull and fat. In other words, they have become calloused and weighed down with sin, corruption, apathy, idleness, idolatry, contempt, pride, or anything that has produced an unwillingness and inability to understand the truth. Thus, the truth remains a mystery to many because of the dullness of their hearts.
Jesus shares an entire parable driving this point home. In three out of the four examples, the individual hears the word, but there were barriers in each of their hearts that prevented them from actually seeing, hearing, and understanding the word. These barriers are what caused their hearts to become dull, and they are the same conditions that keep our hearts in a similar state. The first individual hears the word, but he never receives it because he doesn’t have the capacity to understand it; there is no penetration into his heart. Thus it is easily snatched away by the evil one. The second individual hears the word and receives it with joy, but in time it is overcome by trouble and persecution on account of the word. Because this individual lacks depth, lacks a root (faith? continued knowledge? perseverance?), he is unable to move forward in his understanding. The third individual also hears the word, and perhaps receives it, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke any sort of understanding or desire for understanding. It is only the fourth who hears the word and is said to understand it. Why? Because the soil of his heart was good soil, soil that had been tilled, weeded, watered, and thoroughly prepared to not only receive the seed, but to understand it, and ensure its growth. In other words, the truth was received by a heart that was no longer dull, but had been tenderized.
It’s vital for us to understand that it is not enough to just receive the word. Unless we ask God, give ourselves over to Him, and work with Him to prepare and continuously cultivate our hearts, then the word stands very little chance of surviving, and we risk shutting ourselves to receiving the mysteries of the kingdom. We must start with the acceptance that our hearts, in one way or another, have become dull. Yes, both Jesus and the prophet Isaiah are addressing us when they say that our hearts have become dull. Much of this dullness is a consequence of our decisions, but the prophet Isaiah also informs us that our state of dullness is also on account of God. Prior to being sent to the people, Isaiah is instructed by God to “make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes…”(6:10). By this time, Israel had already allowed the process to begin. Thus, God told Isaiah to go out and complete what was already happening. So, in Isaiah we read “make the heart of this people…,” and in Matthew, Jesus says, “the hearts of this people have grown dull.” From Isaiah to Christ, the people’s hearts had progressively become heavier, more calloused, and increasingly dull, so much so, that they were spiritually blind and deaf. From the time of Christ until now, the same process continues.
The central issue is our hearts… they have grown dull. The condition of our hearts determines our receptiveness to the word; even more, it affects the spiritual receptiveness of our eyes and ears. The more we allow our hearts to become dull (heavy with difficulty), the more we prevent ourselves from seeing and hearing the mysteries. It is when our hearts are softened that Isaiah says that our eyes become conditioned to see, our ears to hear, so that God can open our understanding. This is also why the Psalmist commands us: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (95:7). This is our prayer as we pursue the knowledge of His word, that we would be those who “receive the seed the good ground, who hears the word and understands it, and who bears fruit and produces” (Matthew 13:23).
Understanding God’s plan with Israel, with humanity, and with all creation begins with the knowledge of His word. Jesus didn’t make up His own ideas when he walked and talked with the disciples. He went directly to the scriptures. He used all of them to make sense of what had just happened. Likewise, if we are to understand what will happen, then we, too, must turn to Moses, to the prophets, and to all of God’s word. Many today have dismissed large segments of the scriptures. In doing so, they have disregarded key details within God’s story, details that have yet to be fulfilled. There is no understanding God outside of diving into the entirety of His scriptures. With this knowledge, it’s imperative that we also seek the Spirit of God to unlock the mysteries of His story. As we continue to grow in the knowledge of His word–transitioning from milk to meat–we ask God to open our eyes, our ears, and our understanding. While being carried through this process, we grow in faith. This means that all we cling to and trust in all that He grants us. As the scales fall from our eyes, and as our understanding becomes more clear, we will begin to see the grand scheme of God’s work from beginning to end. For our purposes here, we will see God’s redemptive power through His people, His beloved, His chosen people Israel.
God’s Enduring Word, Pt. 2
“It is written, ‘Man shall not LIVE by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD that proceeds from the mouth of God.” -Matthew 4:4
The struggle, then, that challenges the restoration of the natural world and humankind with it is not that God is failing or will fail to bring about His word, rather it is mankind’s struggle to trust or have faith that His word will prevail. It is also our failure to understand every word’s future implication. This has been, hands down, our struggle from the beginning; in fact, mankind’s plunge into the world of corruption, sin, and spiritual isolation is on account of our failure to take God at His word. With the help of Satan, we have been overrun by doubt, skepticism, and faithlessness. It all started in the garden, where we witness the fall of mankind due to one of our greatest weaknesses: doubt.
Genesis 3:1-6
“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And He said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.” ‘ Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.”
The fall of humanity was conceived from the seed of doubt. The words, “Did God really say?” have plagued humanity throughout history, even the most devout followers. Adam and Eve are called the father and mother of humanity and we, like them, bear within our genetic makeup their propensity to doubt and to question God at His word. We, too, have attuned our ear to the sweet words of the enemy. With very little effort, Satan continues to cultivate corruption and sin by sowing the seeds of doubt and deceit. Thus the Bible calls him the deceiver of the whole world. He appears as light and as truth, but His words sow destruction. Many believe that Satan’s primary goal is to introduce the most vilest sins into the lives of men and women, but as we will see, this is not always the case. Satan’s easiest and most cunning weapon against humanity are these words: Did God really say? Once he plants this seed, man inevitably leads himself down the path of vile sin.
It was through these words that Satan even tried to snare the Son of God Himself, for in the wilderness he used God’s own words in an attempt to entrap Jesus (Matthew 4) in the same manner as Adam and Eve:
Did God really say that He would sustain you? Sustain yourself by using your power to turn these stones into bread.
Didn’t God promise to protect you no matter what? Then throw yourself from the temple and see if He means it.
Will God really give you an inheritance? If you truly desire to rule, worship me and I will give to you all the kingdoms of this world…without suffering.
Jesus’ responses to each of Satan’s temptations sets the stage for how we encounter and defeat the voice of deception. To the enemy He stated, “It is written, ‘Man shall not LIVE by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
As we set forth on this journey to understand the mind and will of God concerning His people Israel–and all of humanity for that matter– then we must do so with a hunger for His truth, for it is only in His word and His word alone that the true promises are revealed, the hope for which we strive. It is through His word that we are given a clear, unadulterated vision of His story, past, present and future. Ultimately, like our Master, we ought to hunger for every word that proceeds from the mouth of God because these words are our life, our hope, and our defense against the schemes of the enemy. He is cunning, which is why he, and those who do his work, have been able to keep the world entranced in deception and will continue to do so until he is finally removed. In the book of Second Thessalonians, Paul warns us that the time is coming–and may already be–in which there will be a great falling away because the man of sin will set Himself up in the temple of God, showing Himself as God. Many will be deceived, in large part, because the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, according to Paul. It is already spreading confusion, doubt, and discord. This is visible in the fact that people’s lives are governed by lawlessness. Our society feeds off lewdness, violence, and perversion. This, in large part, is because we have lost our sense of truth, or because we are wandering from and rejecting the truth. Paul goes onto tell us that,
“the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness“(2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).
It is the truth that will save us; it is the truth, Jesus tells us, that will set us free. One would believe that humanity would be running toward this freedom. But the prophets spoke rightly, even of us: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”(Isaiah 5:20-21). Why did Isaiah speak this of his own people? Why do these words still ring true among God’s people today? Isaiah tells us a few verses later: “Because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel” (5:24). Our senses have been dulled, and our discernment has been flipped inside out. Therefore, Satan will continue to do to us what he attempted to do with Jesus: lull us asleep and destroy us through deception, lawlessness, and unrighteousness. Twice in Thessalonians, Paul emphasizes that those who do not love the truth will be deceived through lying wonders, signs, and power. Yes, these individuals will believe that he who sets himself up to be God is God. Because they do not live by every word spoken by the true God, they will fall for the lies of the lawless one. It is a love for God’s word, His law, that will protect us in these times. Those who know, understand, and who have received the truth will have a greater chance of identifying the lies of the lawless one, and will recognize the deception in his narrative; they will know that his signs and wonders are not of God. Why? Because they will know the story. They will have trained senses, and they will understand that the enemy comes cloaked in light and works of wonder, and that his lies are coated in honey. The only way to see through them is with truth. Their defense is the love of the truth.
Thus, Paul later encourages the Thessalonians–and all believers–that the only defense is through “sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth”(2 Thessalonians 2:13). These are what will help us stand against the schemes of the lawless one. Jesus confirms this. In His prayer for His followers, Jesus asks the Father “to keep them from the evil one and to sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth”(John 17:15-16). To sanctify means to separate from profane things, to cleanse, and to purify internally. It is God’s word that not only reveals to us the nature of who He is and what He is doing, but it is His word that cleanses us, sets us apart, removes from us all deception and lawlessness, so we can see clearly. As the author of Hebrews states, solid food [the truth] belongs to those “who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good ad evil”(Hebrews 5:14). This is why it is vital that we not only believe every word, but that live by every word. Th enemy is cunning, and from the beginning, he has set out to disrupt and destroy the story of God. He knows that Israel are God chosen people, which is why He tried to destroy them through Balak, but then eventually tripped them up through the counsel of Balam. Israel’s success is God’s victory, and God’s victory is the enemy’s defeat. Thus, Satan’s greatest tool deception, because deception taints our view and our acceptance of God’s plan. This is why we must diligently seek the truth.
This is not enough though. We must pray that God gives us the eyes to see, the ears to hear, the hearts to understand, and a faith to follow after this word. The enemy is cunning, and as we see in his encounter with Jesus, he is familiar with the words of God, and he uses this familiarity to twist whatever lies into this word that is necessary to deceive us. He does not want us to know the story; he does not want us to discover who we are and the power we wield through Christ and through the word of God. He will stop at nothing to turn us against the Author of truth, and that is why our pursuit of truth is of utmost importance. To simply have knowledge, though, is only part of our defense. We must also be given the wisdom and discernment to properly handle the word of truth. There are many who know the scriptures, but as we will see, our understanding must be opened in order to see the continuity of God’s story.
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