Faith
Luke 1: John the Baptist
In the first chapter of Luke, we learn about the birth of Jesus and His cousin John the Baptist. Before we dive into the birth of Jesus, let’s talk about who John the Baptist was and what he did to prepare the way for Jesus. John came from a very distinct family. In fact, we read that both of John’s parents were righteous before God, following all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord without fault (Luke 1:6). What does this mean? These are the same words used to describe Abraham’s relationship with God. Abraham trusted God, had faith in His word, and followed after God in obedience. In fact, this is what God instructed Abraham: “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). Like Abraham, Zacharias and Elizabeth were also righteous and blameless. They were faithful to God and obedient in everything He asked of them. As we’ll soon see, John will also follow in the example of his parents.
John’s father is soon visited by an angel who informs him that God has heard his prayers and that his barren wife will now bear a child. Here is what the angel tells us about John.
Luke 1:15
“For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.”
Almost immediately, we discover that John is no ordinary child. He is destined to be great in the sight of the Lord, and because he will be great, God equips him with the Holy Spirit. His task will be monumental, and his entire life—from start to finish—will be dedicated to preparing the way for Messiah. Luke continues, giving us further insight into his future:
Luke 1:16-17
“And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the Spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people ready for the Lord.’
There is a lot of description and context packed into this seemingly simple verse. When we read this passage, it ought to prompt a variety of questions, some of which we can discuss at a different time, but they are still worth considering.
What does this mean to turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God?
What does it mean when it says that he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children?
What does it mean to turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the just?
What does it mean to make ready a people prepared for the Lord?
There was a lot John was being called to do, and there is so much meaning packed into this verse. For our purposes, it’s important to know that his role was to prepare the people’s hearts for the coming Messiah. At this point in time, the people of Israel had become spiritually alienated from God. In fact, for many years, God continued to warn the people, through the prophets, that they would turn from and go after other gods, and over time they would become estranged from their God. The prophet Isaiah, whom Jesus references many times in His lessons, also foretells this about God’s people:
Isaiah 1:2-4
“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me; The ox knows its owner and the donkey its masters’ crib; but Israel does not know, and My people do not consider… They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward.”
God has been with His people from the beginning; He nourished them and guided them as children when He brought them up out of Egypt, yet despite all that He has done, they have rebelled against Him. Isaiah contrasts them with animals, saying that even the animals are familiar with their masters and know their home, but not God’s people. They do not know Him, nor do they even consider Him. Since the days of Abraham, God has sought to be with them, to be their God, to bless and multiply them, and so forth. They have not always shared the same desire. Instead, they have turned away backward. It doesn’t stop there, because their rebellion has deeply affected their spiritual well-being. Again, Isaiah tells us of their condition:
Isaiah 1:5-6
“The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment.”
This is pretty descriptive of how spiritually sick God’s people had become, and this was a significant amount of time before Christ even came. It continued to get worse as the years passed. From head to toe, the entire nation was filled with sin, corruption, and sickness. Spiritually, they were like a man covered in sores, bruises, open wounds, and with no relief. This was the state of the people when the birth of John the Baptist was announced, and this was the diagnosis when Jesus came into this world, and this is why John the Baptist’s mission was to turn the children of Israel back to God and to make ready a people ready for the Lord. Jesus’ arrival meant healing, restoration, and life, but before the children of Israel could experience any of these things, it was necessary that they first recognize the condition they were in and why they were in that condition. John was being sent to help the people understand and see how much they had turned from God and His law. They were dying in their sins, and the first step for them, as well as us, is to recognize one’s sinfulness and turn in repentance.
At this point, it is worth noting that Luke tells us that one of John’s purposes was to “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children” (1:17). This is a significant passage, and it is important that we understand its origin because it will further help us understand John’s mission. Here, Luke is actually quoting from the book of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament. Let us read the verse in its full context:
Malachi 4:4
“Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.”
First, the prophet reminds the people to remember the Law of Moses, which was given on Mount Sinai. One of John’s first tasks would be to get people to do this: remember the Law of Moses. Why? If John were to call to people to repent, it’s impossible to do so without the Law of Moses. The very definition of sin is breaking the Law God gave to Moses (1 John 3:4). We cannot repent of sin if we do not know what sin we have committed. The first step to repentance is understanding that we have rebelled against God by breaking His commandments. This is the message John came to preach. Forgiveness was on the horizon, but the people needed to first acknowledge and come to terms with their sin and their condition. Next, we read God say following through the prophet Malachi:
Malachi 4:5-6
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
Who is Elijah the prophet and how is he connected to John? Elijah was remembered throughout history as the prophet who turned Israel back to God. His story, which is worth reading, is found in 1 Kings 17. Elijah was an incredible prophet, and John was said to be the one who would go before Jesus in the spirit of Elijah (Luke 1:17). This means that John would come with the same purpose and message as Elijah: to call Israel back to God. What does this look like? Both Malachi and Luke tell us that John’s purpose would be to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children and the hearts of the children back to the fathers. This probably has a variety of meanings, but essentially John’s calling was to reconnect the hearts of the people with the hearts of the fathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The call to repentance was not just for forgiveness of sins, but it was a call for the people to remember and return to the faith, the righteousness, the covenant, and the relationship that God established with the fathers. God made His covenant (promises) with the fathers, and He promised Abraham that “I will establish My covenant between Me and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant” (Genesis 17:7). Sin had not only separated the people from God, but it had separated them from their past, separated them from those whom God had chosen to be both the forerunners and examples of our relationship with God.
So what does all of this mean? God doesn’t just desire a people who repent of their sins, accept forgiveness, and then move on with their lives. He has come to redeem His people in order to fulfill the promises He delivered to the fathers—our fathers—long ago. He has come to turn our hearts back to the faith and the righteousness of the fathers. In order for this to happen—before we can truly receive the healing of Christ—we must heed the message of John: “Remember the Law of Moses which I commanded him in Horeb for ALL Israel, with the statutes and judgments.” In other words, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Parashat Vayakhel: He Gathered
Parashat: Exodus 35:1 – 38:20
Haftarah: 1 Kings 7:40 – 50
Mark 6:14-29
2 Corinthians 9:1-15
Hebrews 9:1-14
Revelation 11:1-13
The word sh’ma in Hebrew is such a beautiful and instructive word, speaking to the very heart and nature that God desires from His children. The people of Israel are to be characterized not only by their attentiveness to God’s instruction, but also by their steadfast obedience to those very instructions.Sh’ma is a double command to “hear”—with attention, interest, and understanding—and to obey. In living the divine life, both aspects of the command are not only necessary, but without exception. In other words, to have one without the other leaves the follower susceptible to either irreparable negligence or inaction. In this week’s portion, we bear witness to the fullness and reality of this command, carried out by Moses and the people. Continue Reading
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
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.
The Sabbath: A Journey Toward Rest
Photo by Elias Ehmann on Unsplash
So, the process of rest begins when we are ready to be freed from the old yoke. We approach Him and allow Him to remove this heavy yoke that we have been burdened under, a yoke that has become increasingly heavier on both our shoulders and upon our souls. We trade this yoke for His. As we place His yoke upon our shoulders it is, at first, unfamiliar and uncomfortable. This is why He says that we must learn from Him, learn to bear His yoke. What does this mean? It means learning to walk in faith–to no longer just see and interact with the world as it is, but also as it will be. The beauty of God’s word, His Torah, is that it gives us practical wisdom for engaging the world as it is today, but its power and its mystery lie in the fact that it is a window into the future, into the reality that is drawing near. This is why Paul calls us to “seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth”(Colossians 3:1-2). This is why the yoke is, at first, unfamiliar because we are not accustomed to seeing, thinking, and living in this manner. This was the example set from the beginning, when God called our forefathers.
Hebrews 11:8-10
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going . By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, their heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”
Like Abraham, we are called to leave, to go out from the place in which we have been dwelling. Our journey is toward this new country, this heavenly city. It is when Christ removes the old yoke and places His upon us that our journey begins, for we cannot take the old with us, and we cannot begin without the new. Along the way we learn, just as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did, how to bear His yoke, the yoke of faith. In Romans, Paul tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Faith is a journey that is traveled more so with the ears than with the eyes. It is vital that we understand this. It was by hearing the word of God, that Abraham was able to travel, not knowing where he was headed, yet remain assured that he was on the right path. It was by hearing that he dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, strangers in the land of promise, yet fully assured that he was exactly where God destined him to be. Had he been looking with his eyes only, then there would have been much cause for doubt and confusion. For when he arrived in the land, there were many trials, such as barrenness and famine, yet he pressed forward. This is why many struggle with faith, struggle to bear His yoke, because they are trying to understand with their eyes and with their own understanding. Not Abraham. Though the land looked desolate and unpromising, by hearing the word of God, he knew he was standing in the midst of the city which has foundations, and whose builder and maker is God. God was speaking it to him, and because he was listening, he was able to “see” it. Our journey of faith requires the same–that we learn to travel by what we hear and not always by what we see, because what we perceive with the eyes will, at times, contradict what we hear. This is the journey of faith; this is what it means to take His yoke upon us and to learn from the One who demonstrated how to live in this world but not of it.
This was the purpose of Israel’s journey from Egypt toward the land of their inheritance, to learn how to hear. God delivered Israel from the oppressive yoke of Egypt and attempted to place His yoke of freedom upon them, this yoke of faith. It was indeed lighter, but the people didn’t know how to bear it. Therefore, God needed to teach them. For forty years they wandered and struggled because they refused to learn. They became overwhelmed by what they were seeing with their eyes–the vastness of the wilderness seemed more like certain death than it did an opportunity for freedom. Not only that, but they became embittered by the grumbling of their stomachs and the dryness of their throats. Thus, the yoke that was intended to be light became more of a burden than the previous one. This is why there was a part of them that always yearned and cried out for the old yoke:
Numbers 11:4-6
“Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”
The people quickly became disheartened by what they physically lacked instead of understanding what they were spiritually gaining. Had they understood, they would have turned in faith to the One who could provide what they physically needed. Even more, instead of fixing their eyes forward toward that city whose builder and maker is God, they opted to look back in longing for the city of their captivity and oppression. They yearned to exchange the the yoke of freedom for the heavy yoke of oppression. Hebrews tells us that because of their lack of faith, this generation came up short: “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as them; but the word which they hearddid not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it”(4:2). From the beginning, the issue has always been about faith. It begins with hearing, but hearing must be accompanied by believing, and believing must produce obedience. This is the process of faith. God spoke of a kingdom not seen with the eyes, and He promised Abraham a multitude that had yet been born. Abraham heard, and though he did not see it with his eyes, he perceived it by faith. What does this mean? In Paul’s words, Abraham was “fully convinced that what He (God) had promised He was able to perform”(Romans 4:21). Because he was convinced of those things that had yet to come, he set out after them. He followed what he heard, “not having received the promises, but having seen them, afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth”(Hebrews 11:13). Our journey from here to the kingdom holds the same purpose as Abraham’s journey to Canaan and Israel’s journey through the wilderness. It is a process of developing faith, a faith that hears, believes, and responds to every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. As faith develops and comes to maturity, we not only perceive the coming kingdom with more clarity, but we also, like Abraham, bring the kingdom closer to this world… we close the gap between who we are and who we are destined to be.
What role, then, does Sabbath play in this process? The road to Sabbath is our weekly journey, just as our days upon this earth are a journey to His ultimate rest. Six days a week we travel the road of faith as strangers and pilgrims toward the destination God established from the beginning: rest. On the seventh day, we arrive at our destination and cross over into His rest, into His appointed time of restoration and sanctification. During each of the six days, we do not wander aimlessly, rather we set out into the so-called wilderness to learn, to seek, to be tested, and to mature in faith. Daily, we exercise our faith by listening for His voice, attuning our ears and hearts to His word in a sea of noise and distraction. Six days a week, we experience hunger and thirst, loneliness and fear, fatigue and temptation, just as Israel did on their journey. When these come upon us, we, too, long for our thirst to be satisfied, we crave companionship, and we yearn for comfort and assurance. The world offers various alternatives to satisfy all of these needs–bread and water of sorts–but the question is, will we seek rest in all that the world offers, or will we continue on toward the promise of His rest? This is the purpose of the journey–our life journey, and our weekly journey–God wants to know and reveal what is in our hearts, if we will live by every word that comes from His mouth or not. If we will trust that these words will carry us to His destination and sustain us along the way. Will we keep our eyes set on the destination, His determined rest, or will we follow our own intuition? Will we travel by the dictates of our own hearts, concede to our feelings, conform to those around us, allow our hearts to turn back from where we came? This is the purpose of our lives–to reach the rest that He has prepared for us at the end of the age. Every week, we are given the opportunity to travel and experience the same journey.
The Sabbath: An Invitation to Rest
Genesis 2:2-3
“And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”
Photo by Jessica Delp on Unsplash
God sanctified this day and not any other day because on it He rested from all of His work and what He made. This is clearly pointing our attention toward what God did and not what man is doing. It is His work, it is His day, it is His creation; He did it and sanctified it. Therefore, it is up to us to keep this day, and no other day, as holy. On this day, God rested from all of His works because creation was finished. When God saw everything that He had made, He called it very good. Why? Because it was perfect. Everything was as it should be, and it all functioned in perfect harmony according to His will. Therefore, the seventh day–the day sanctified by God–is a sign of this completion, of this perfection. On this day, we acknowledge and worship the One by Whom “all things were created and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things exist”(Colossians 1:15-17). Yes, on this sanctified day, we cease from our work and worship the One Who existed before us, through Whom we came into existence, and by Whom we are being renewed in His likeness. Shabbat is a sacred reminder, a covenant, “a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you”(Exodus 31:13). On this holy day, we also cease from our works to recall and celebrate this covenant, which reminds us that He is the author and perfecter of creation. This covenant also assures us that just as He completed creation in the beginning, He will once again bring it back to perfection. We find rest knowing that–even though we are surrounded by chaos and darkness–we stand in the presence of Him who separated the light from the darkness, who spoke and transformed the chaos to order. One day a week He calls us to set aside the work of our own hands, to step out from the chaos, so that we are reminded that the God who formed us from the dust and breathed life into us is the One who alone sustains us–not our jobs, not our entertainment, not our pleasures, not the work of our own hands, and not our human relationships.
Therefore, on this day we seek out this rest by deliberately separating ourselves from everything that consumes our time, our energy, and our attention. Six days a week, we are compelled to meet the demands of our taskmasters–be they physical or spiritual–but on this holy day, God invites us to separate ourselves from these, and we eagerly do so, knowing that it is the Creator, not the creation, that restores us, fills us, feeds us, sustains us, and gives us rest all around. Not only are we compelled to meet the weekly demands or our taskmasters, but we voluntarily fill up any spare moments with additional pursuits, pleasures, and obligations. By His goodness, God grants us the freedom and the time to pursue these pleasures and fulfill these obligations. Six days a week we spin, toil, build, and pursue, but on the seventh He commands us to cease. Why a command? Because He knows that we are creatures driven by success and accomplishment, which are not evil in and of themselves, but left unbridled, easily become the sole objects of our attention and worship. The Creator knows His creation, how easily we are seduced by ambition and enslaved by addiction–addiction to work, pleasure, and busyness. We are so consumed by such things that we are constantly driving ourselves, each other, and creation into exhaustion, illness, and spiritual depravity. Consequently, this leads us deeper into addiction, deeper into the feedback loop of despair. It is because of this that Paul writes,
Romans 8:22-23
“For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves…”
This is where we find ourselves today. We appear to be more advanced than any other civilization in history, seemingly closer to the pinnacle of innovation than we ever imagined, but at what cost? We are “progressing” quicker than we can keep up, and the more we accomplish the more this insatiable desire to have more spreads like cancer. Has all this innovation made us better human beings? Look around. Depression, anxiety, and other metal health issues appear to be on the rise and are beginning to manifest themselves in new ways. Across the internet these issues are even being celebrated and normalized. We are at war with ourselves and with each other. Violence is becoming the norm, and even if we are not directly affected by it, we seem to be growing increasingly numb to its presence. Even as we become more impacted by this, as we feel ourselves and the fabric of our societies unraveling each day, we refuse to stop. We push forward under the delusion that if we just work harder, we will find the holy grail we have all been desperately seeking after: rest. Yet the more we distance ourselves from our Maker, from the One who is the Lord of the Sabbath, the farther we find ourselves from what our souls desperately need, and that is His rest. Jesus also witnessed this depravity amongst His own brethren, which is why we hear Him extend the following invitation to rest:
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
The Lord of the Sabbath has come to this earth to extend His invitation, or better yet, to reestablish His command to rest. “Come,” He says, because He is inviting us, calling us to rise up and join Him. He does not say, “I will come to you when it is convenient for you, when you can fit Me in your schedule, or on a day you set apart for yourself.” No, He says “come to Me,” because He is inviting us into His sanctified space and time, a time established and set apart by Him and the Father in the beginning. He is Lord of the Sabbath, because He initiated this time, and He was the first to rest from His work and to be refreshed on this day (Exodus 31:17). Now He invites us to do as He did… to do as He does. Hebrews tells us that, “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His”(Hebrews 4:9).
He is the One who invites us to willingly cease from our own labors, from our wearisome efforts and the daily toiling, so that He might sustain us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Ultimately, this time is when we find relief and refreshing from the curse that has plagued mankind since being expelled from the Garden. Since that time, man and woman have been plagued and wearied by enmity, strife, sorrow, pain, unfulfilled desire, subjection, endless toil filled with thorns, thistles, and sweat (Genesis 3:15-19). All of these terms are used to describe humanity’s existence since being ousted from the Garden, ousted from God’s rest. Now, Jesus is calling us to return to the Garden, to the time of Rest that was and will once again be. Until then, we are invited weekly to experience this rest, this sanctified time, this separation from the world and all its demands.
So, Jesus invites us to “come and take.” Take what? He says to take His yoke upon ourselves and learn from Him. This is what Sabbath is, a time of refreshing and of learning. It is not a time of sitting around and waiting for time to pass, as many believe it to be. On this day we cease from our works and open ourselves to His work. We open ourselves so that He might first do His work in us, then we learn from Him how to do the work. This may seem confusing because the Sabbath is about resting, so how can we be working? On one Sabbath, Jesus was persecuted by His own people for supposedly breaking the Sabbath by healing a man who had been sick for thirty-eight years. What was Jesus’ response to their accusations? “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working”(John 5:17). He tells them He has been working all along. On Sabbath, Jesus has and continues to do the work of the Father. He was not doing His own work, out earning His own paycheck; nor was pursuing His own pleasure, taking the day off to get a round of golf in. He was not working in this manner. What exactly, then, was He doing? He was healing, He was feeding, He was worshipping, He was teaching, He was restoring, He was doing good. In other words, He was removing the yoke of physical and spiritual oppression from people’s lives, and giving them rest. Throughout the Torah, the command to rest includes ensuring others enjoy God’s rest as well. He intentionally did these things on the Sabbath to shake up what Sabbath had become. For many, Sabbath had become a prison. Those who were in power, who held the monopoly on religious practice, were able to rest, while the rest of God’s people were suffering. Therefore, Jesus performed miracles to remind the people of what the Sabbath was and still is: a day in which ALL of God’s people ought to be refreshed and given opportunity to rest. This is what it was, and this is what it will be in the future –a time of healing, of restoring, of teaching, of worshipping, a time of removing–once and for all–the yoke of oppression from our necks, from our bodies, and from our souls. This is the “work” of the Sabbath.
Therefore, we come to Him on this day, setting aside everything so that we can first experience this healing, this lifting of the yoke, this rest in our own lives. Then, like Jesus, we learn from the Father how to engage in this work ourselves. After replying to His accusers about He and the Father working, Jesus then said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does”(5:19-20). Once we experience the rest given through Sabbath, we learn to do what the Father is doing, just as Christ did and continues to do. In fact, Jesus takes us to Himself and teaches us. This is why Jesus invites us to learn from Him. He teaches us what it means to rest, but He also models what it means to do the work of the Father, which is to lead the world to rest.
The Fight Against Lawlessness Must Begin in the Church
Romans 8:7
“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Photo by Austrian National Library on Unsplash
Paul’s words are both clear and direct. The carnal, fleshly mind is enmity against God. In other words, the mind that is set on its own way and is controlled by the passion of selfish desire is opposed to God and hostile toward His law. Those of this mind have set themselves up as His enemies. This is why Paul says that individuals in this state cannot and will not subject themselves to the law of God, because they will not obey, submit, or willingly yield to the instructions of God. Consequently, it is impossible for individuals in this state of mind to please God. We have all been in this state of mind, and if we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that these tendencies are still in us. Even Paul, himself, who served the law of God in his mind and inward man, confessed, saying, “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is my members” (Romans 7:23). Those who delight in the law of God and, like Paul, seek to serve the law in their minds understand this battle. They are fully aware that the desire of the flesh, the natural man, does not yield so willingly. Every command God plants in our minds, the flesh rails against. Thus, everyday we must seek the strength of the Spirit in order to subject our minds to His law, just as Paul did, as David did, and as Christ did.
When Paul speaks of the carnal mind, it’s necessary to remind ourselves that he is not only referring to unbelievers. Those who profess the faith are also included. Paul wasn’t alone on this. Reading through the prophets, one will find that it was often God’s people who set their minds against God (Jeremiah 6:19; 4:14; Isaiah 65:2). Just as many of the devout Jewish leaders were Jesus’ most vehement opposers, so those who bear His name can be as well. How does this happen? When we reject the mind of Christ and exalt our own doctrines and traditions above God’s. Many of those who opposed Christ thought they were defending God’s word when they were, in fact, defending their own doctrines and traditions. In Mark 8, Jesus addresses this issue with the so-called religious leaders of His time. After these leaders questioned His disciples about not properly washing their hands, Jesus responds with this indictment:
Mark 7:8-9
“For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men–the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do… All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”
Jesus was not the first to call out this pattern; there were others before him, including the prophet Isaiah, whom Jesus quotes: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-7; Isaiah 29:13). Both Isaiah and Jesus were speaking directly to the people of God. Let us heed their words and not become ignorant. If we possess the mind of Christ, then we will do the works of Christ, and these works are the commandments of God, not the commandments and traditions of men. Even the most devout fail to distinguish between the two. There are many who will stand before Him on the last day and say, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in your name?” And what will His response be? “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). These are tough sayings, but true nonetheless. Attaching Jesus’ name to manmade works, doctrines, traditions, creeds, ministries, and so forth is of no significance if these do not align with the commandments and will of the Father. Jesus did not come to start His own religion, nor did He come to be the poster child for man’s ideals and personal agendas, no matter how sincere and well-intentioned they may be. He came to teach and do the will of the Father, and so must those who profess Him as Lord (Matthew 7:21). This only happens when we listen to His word and let it soak into our minds and hearts. Then, we begin to see and understand His will. Paul teaches this when he instructs the church to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).
Today, there is a battle for our minds and hearts, and not just ours, but the minds, hearts and attention of our succeeding generations. Through social media, Hollywood, the music industry, and even through academia there is siege happening to keep our minds in captivity. The enemy–both physical and spiritual–knows that if our minds can be subdued and entranced, then so can our wills. Thus, the enemy continues to do what he has been doing since the beginning: turning people–God’s people–away from and against the word of God. Why? Because God’s word is the only antidote to deception and lawlessness. Everyday and in every hour, the enemy whispers the same words as he did in the garden: “Did God really say?” These words continue to effectively poison the minds of the vulnerable, the unstable, and the untrained. Yes, his ability to twist and annul the teachings of God is the reason why we are not only seeing our world rapidly decay, but it is also why multitudes continue to walk away from the faith. Even worse, it is why we are even witnessing the moral foundation of so many churches and church goers dissolve into conformity.
All of this will continue to happen unless we learn from the pattern of history. What is this pattern? The further God’s people distance themselves from His law, the more corrupt and degenerate we become. There is, perhaps, not a more pronounced pattern throughout the entirety of the scriptures, and we are now witnessing this pattern in our own times. Jesus warns that it will get worse: “And because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). Paul, too, tells us that the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, and those people will be deceived who do not receive the love of the truth, who do not believe the truth, but instead have pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). Jesus and Paul speak what has always been true, that the dissolution of love, truth, and righteousness is directly correlated to the increase of lawlessness. This is certainly true of the unbeliever, but it is also true of those who believe. This is why Jesus and His disciples continuously warn the church. We, too, wander because we forget the source of these things (love, truth, and righteousness):
What is the truth?
His Torah (John 17:17).
What is righteousness?
His Torah (Hebrews 5:14).
What is love?
His Torah (Romans 13:10).
The proliferation of lawlessness will continue the more the Torah is extracted from our personal lives, from our families, from our communities, from the public square, and more so from the pulpit. The church will not and cannot be a beacon of love, righteousness, and truth if it continues to erase, annul, modify, and teach against the very source of these things. If the people of God are to fulfill their calling (1 Peter 2:9), if we are to stem the tide of lawlessness, we must first recognize our own wandering from the Torah. We must collectively pray for God to turn our hearts and minds back toward His word–the source of truth, love, and righteousness. Then, and only then, will we be able to effectively carry out our role as His royal priesthood (Malachi 2:7). Throughout the scriptures, when the people of God experienced this type of revival, they not only experienced God’s rest and healing, they also became a force to be reckoned with.
“The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law; but when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them… and Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around” (2 Chronicles 15:2-4, 15).
Torah Discovery 