TorahBytes: God's Secrets (Nizzavim & Va-Yelekh)

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Devarim / Deuteronomy 29:29; ESV)

I love the Bible! It's hard to believe that this week marks 34 years since I first came to know Yeshua as Messiah. Perhaps my love for the Scriptures has been at least partly fueled by how God used them to bring me to himself. I remember like yesterday how even though I knew little about the Bible at the time, and I wasn't religious in any way, I wouldn't let my eyes be cast upon the New Testament. Whatever was my understanding of Judaism then, I knew that anything to do with Jesus was taboo.

I was overwhelmed by being shown for the first time the messianic prophecies in the Tenach (Hebrew Scriptures / Old Testament). Some examples: Zechariah 12 and Psalm 22 foretold his suffering on the cross; Micah 5 predicted that Bethlehem would be his birthplace; Daniel 9 set the Messiah's coming before the destruction of the second Temple (which happened almost two thousand years ago); and Isaiah 53 is a play-by-play description of his rejection, sinlessness, sacrifice, and resurrection predicted hundreds of years before Yeshua came.

So from day one of my following Yeshua, the Scriptures have been foundational to my life. I am so grateful to have been influenced by others who were firmly committed to the complete trustworthiness of the whole Bible. Whatever struggles I have faced throughout all these years, God's written Word has proven to be an anchor that has stabilized me, a compass to give me direction, treasure that has enriched me, and a light to keep me from stumbling.

Some people think I enjoy debating God's Word, but debating is formulating argument to prove one's point. I am not interested in being right, for I know that only God is right. While some may regard me as argumentative, that's just my way of grappling with Truth. If my understanding of something in the Bible is correct, it will stand up to scrutiny and challenge. The Scriptures are likened to a sharp double-edged sword that effectively cuts through to our hearts. By grappling with the Scriptures, we have the opportunity to more clearly understand what God is saying to us.

To understand the Bible's teachings it is essential to not only better understand what God is saying, but also what he is not saying. God has purposely revealed what he has intended to reveal. As for what he has not revealed, that too is purposeful. As we contemplate the revealed things, it is so easy to speculate over what he has not revealed. But God's secrets cannot be known, no matter how hard we try. As we read from the Torah at the beginning, we are responsible to live out all of what God has told us to do. But as for God's secrets - those things which he has kept to himself - they belong to him and he is not sharing.

The Bible is not a text book with neat subject categories. It sufficiently deals with a wide range of subjects, covering every area of life. It is not missing a single essential ingredient for successful godly living. Yet the truth of Scripture often leads us to ask questions to which there are no intellectually satisfying answers. And yet how much division has been caused among God's people over areas that God has not made clear? Instead of being satisfied with what God has revealed, we fight over conclusions established by speculation over what God has kept secret. That doesn't mean we shouldn't ask hard questions or seriously contemplate the implications of the Bible's teachings. But as we do, we also need to take care that we don't create conclusions over things which God has kept secret.

I am aware that we don't always know when we are doing that. But the only way we will discover that we are, is by humbly submitting our understanding of the Scriptures to the Scriptures themselves. We need to be willing to give up convictions that have no basis in what God has truly revealed. As we do, the Scriptures will begin to speak to us with a clarity like never before.

Movie Review: "To Save A Life", but at what cost?

Theatrical Release: January 22, 2010
DVD Release: August 3, 2010

How can someone have an issue with the idea of inviting troubled lonely teens to see a movie that not only attempts to accurately and powerfully speak into their meaningless lives, but also gives them a reason to live? This seems to be the motive behind the film "To Save a Life" - a supposed attempt to provide a true-to-life depiction of today's teen world, including a school shooting, suicide, sex, and drunken parties.

Determined to avoid cheesiness (which is pretty high on the 21st century's list of sins), "To Save a Life" purposely pushes the limit of what is appropriate for Christian film making. Followers of the Messiah who understand that God's morality reaches into every aspect of life understand the need to determine limits when it comes to artistic expression. It seems to me that "To Save a Life" goes beyond those limits.

That God isn't opposed to confronting us with the vilest of evil is clear by the many disturbing scenes we encounter in the Bible. Christian artists are right in wanting to effectively portray evil. To water down truth, positive or negative, is to portray falsehood. Yet, how we portray truth must also include an understanding of the different ways various art forms communicate to our hearts and minds. The visual arts convey truth in a very different manner than does the written word.

God purposely chose the written word, not pictures or other visual art forms, as his chief means of communicating his truth to people. The big difference between conveying truth through words as opposed to pictures is clear in that while God forbids the representation of himself through images, he freely depicts himself thorough words. The conveying of God's truth through pictures, moving or otherwise, carries with it additional information that God did not intend. For example, the Genesis account of the innocence of Adam and Eve's being "naked and unashamed" would be completely lost in a show-it-like-it-really-was movie rendition.

It is understandable that the makers of "To Save a Life" had to grapple with how to effectively depict their subject matter. But the film doesn't simply address these issues; it spends significant time drawing the viewer into immoral scenes. Causing the audience to understand the prevalence of teen drinking does not require lengthy party scenes. The tragedy and immorality of teen sex doesn't require being taken into the bedroom with two of the main characters as they passionately prepare to fornicate. So much for Paul's instruction, "But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints" (Ephesians 5:3; ESV).

Whatever the filmmakers' intent, these scenes are portrayed as some of the more fun moments of the film. In fact youth pastor, Jim Britts, who wrote the screenplay, referring to the two drunken party scenes has said,

That scene and the other party scene were the hardest for me to be a part of. Two or three times in between takes I had to say, "I have to remind you that this life leads to sorrow," because they were looking like they were having a lot of fun. It was hard for me as a youth pastor to watch, even though I knew they were acting (see http://www.pluggedin.com/upfront/2010/savinglivesisyourjob.aspx).

These comments are not surprising considering the film itself soft peddles the consequences of immorality. When the police bust one of the drunken parties, the amorous couple escapes virtually unscathed with the main character aided and abetted by a local youth pastor. While the unplanned baby is not aborted, and while the adoption scene is certainly touching, does anyone notice that this consequence of their immoral activity is only a small inconvenience to their pursuing of their personal dreams and goals?
 
Some may claim that the so-called realism of the film is necessary to attract unchurched teens. It is difficult to know whether including these scenes would make a difference or not. One does not need scantily clad young women throwing their bodies around, a passionate sex scene with after-the-event commentary, crude language, and an actual cutting scene to make a good movie. But who is actually seeing this film anyway? Is it the despairing teens or the Christian kids whose parents would not normally let them see a movie like this?

That the movie is geared toward a Christian audience is made clear by the message of the film. According to "To Save a Life" the reason for teen despair and suicide is the rejection of their peers. The emotionally charged message to the audience is that we need to stop being so cliquish and start looking out for the misfits and the lonely around us. What despairing teens need is a group of other teens that will not judge them, but accept them. Salvation is not found in the Gospel, but in the peer group. The film never actually speaks to the misfits themselves - only to cliquish Christians. But what if their peers, Christian or otherwise, never accept them; what then? "To Save a Life" doesn't tell us.

God never designed us to find our identity or our worth in our communities and peer groups. We need to find these things in him. Healthy godly communities should be vehicles of this to others but not the substance of it. As David writes, "For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in" (Psalm 27:10; ESV). While "To Save a Life" does encourage us to reach out to the lonely and hurting around us, it never makes clear that the acceptance we all need is only found in God through the Messiah.

The underlying systemic problem that this film exposes us to is never really dealt with. For the most part the young people in this movie are on their own. In fact, good parental and adult leadership is almost non-existent. The teen who commits suicide doesn't seem to have a father; neither does the girlfriend of the main character. The main character's father is a self absorbed workaholic, who is cheating on his wife. The senior pastor of the featured church is more concerned about his donors, than God and people. He is completely clued out with regard to his own wayward son. The dominant adult role model is the youth pastor, who seems to have a good heart, a desire to serve God, and is part of a loving family. Yet he has no problem covering up young people's mismanagement of their lives. The only consistent strong adult male is a security guard at the school, but he doesn't influence the plot in any significant way.

So if "To Save a Life" is correct, then today's youth culture, Christian or otherwise, is out of control, completely disconnected from their elders. If there is a lesson to be learned, it is that it is time for parents and leaders to take notice of what is going on, including the questionable content of supposed Christian entertainment, and provide the biblically based, loving oversight our children require of us.

TorahBytes: The Promise Foundation (Ki Tavo)

And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, "I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come into the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to give us." (Devarim / Deuteronomy 26:3; ESV)

This week's Torah portion describes what the people of Israel were to say when they presented some of their harvest first fruits. The individual was to verbally recount Israel's history from Abraham through the acquiring of the Land. Before the person presented his offering he was to say to the priest, "I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come into the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to give us". By doing this the person reasserted that the blessings he had received were fundamentally due to God's having fulfilled his promise to his people.

The Israelites' living in the Land of Israel was based on a promise - a promise given by God - a promise fulfilled by God. It was not due to their own ability, but God's power. The declaration to be made as the fruit of their labors was being offered not only corrected any prideful misconceptions the people may have had, but reminded the person that God is true to his word.

The trustworthiness of God's word is one of the most basic concepts in the entire Bible. It was over this that our first parents fell out of sorts with God. The serpent had introduced doubt over what God had said to Adam and Eve (see Bereshit / Genesis 3:1). Later on God would instruct the people that their lives depended on everything he said to them (see Devarim / Deuteronomy 8:3). And so it was crucial for the people to declare that they were where they were because God fulfilled his promise.

Sadly it is easy to forget how often God fulfills his promises to us. We receive blessing after blessing from his hand and yet we don't always take the time to declare what he has done for us. We may or may not have thanked him at the time, but how about years later? The person in our Torah portion may not have been part of the generation that acquired the Land. He may have lived many centuries later, and yet he was to declare that his current blessings were due to the fulfillment of God's promise in the past.

The fulfilled promises of the past are the foundation upon which our lives are built on today. In fact all the blessings in the world are due to God's being true to his word. It is as people and communities have trusted in God's promises that his goodness has been spread to every corner of the globe. When we declare that our present blessings are due to God's having fulfilled his promises in the past, we see life for what it really is.

If God had not done what he did in the past, we would not have a present to live in. Our technologically-focused society doesn't appreciate this. We throw away yesterday's achievement for today's so-called latest greatest thing. It is as we take the time to, not just remember, but purposefully and verbally declare that we are blessed today because of God's fulfilled promises in the past, that we will truly understand how blessed we really are.

TorahBytes: The Cursed Messiah (Ki Teze)

And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance. (Devarim / Deuteronomy 21:22-23; ESV)

I referred to these verses two weeks ago when I mentioned how years ago I encountered the faulty logic of claiming that because Yeshua was hung on a tree to die, he was cursed, and therefore could not have been the Messiah. At that time I explained that we cannot determine the state of a person's standing with God based on their circumstances.

There is a sense in which Yeshua was cursed - not because of wrongdoing on his part - but because of his taking our sin upon himself. As our sin bearer, he suffered the penalty of our wrongs by dying a humiliating and excruciating death on our behalf.

That Yeshua was cursed is clearly stated in the New Covenant writings. Paul writes:

The Messiah redeemed us from the curse pronounced in the Torah by becoming cursed on our behalf; for the Tanakh says, "Everyone who hangs from a stake comes under a curse." (Galatians 3:13; Complete Jewish Bible)

Even though Yeshua himself did nothing to deserve this curse, he willingly took it upon himself so that we could be free from God's wrath.

Yeshua's own fulfillment of Torah is evidenced in his death. For the Torah states that those so hanged should not be left all night lest the land be defiled. The Roman custom of crucifixion was known to last sometimes for days. But Yeshua died more quickly than expected. In fact, the accounts of his death clearly suggest that he willed his death once he satisfied God's requirements for him (see Matthew 27:50, Luke 23:44-46, John 19:28-30). This enabled him to be buried on the same day just as the Torah directs. He completely fulfilled the Torah by not only adhering to its moral and religious precepts but also by receiving its curses.

The idea that someone could bear the punishment deserved by another may seem strange, but not from God's perspective. The Torah demonstrates this principle vividly through the sacrificial system. Innumerable innocent animals were cursed to die because of the sins of the people. However strange, brutal, or unfair this may appear it is the way it works. God had intended for his Son to become a curse for us cursed ones and provided a clear illustration of this reality through the sacrifices.

The curse upon the Messiah is not the final word, however. As we read in Mishlei (English: Proverbs), "Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight" (Mishlei / Proverbs 26:2). If any curse was causeless it was the one borne by the Messiah. Therefore the curse could not remain upon him, death was defeated and he rose from the dead, providing the way for those who trust in him to also rise from the dead at the end of the age.

TorahBytes: Who Are You? (Shofetim)

I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor? He who is bowed down shall speedily be released; he shall not die and go down to the pit, neither shall his bread be lacking. (Isaiah 51:12-14; ESV)

A couple of months ago, I began a new journey in my spiritual life. It started as I was struck by Yeshua's words to a particular synagogue official. Yeshua had been on his way to heal his daughter, but she died before he arrived. When the official heard the tragic news, Yeshua said to him, "Do not fear, only believe" (Mark 5:36; ESV). It surprised me to read that it was fear, not doubt that was the potential obstacle to faith and restoration.

Fear is a common human emotion and one that I am greatly familiar with. I know that as a believer in the Messiah, it is not appropriate, but seeing it addressed in this way shed new light on it and has helped me to confront fear more effectively.

This week's Haftarah provides us with yet another angle as to the inappropriate nature of fear in the lives of God's people. The wording here again took me by surprise. Maybe it's just me, but the way God confronts fear here is not what I expected. In this context the people of Israel are afraid of "the wrath of the oppressor." When God confronts Israel's fear one would expect him to say something like, "Who is this oppressor that you are so afraid?", but instead he says, "...who are you that you are afraid...?"

The presence of fear in this case is due not so much to how threatening the enemy was, but because of a lack of correct self awareness. They were reacting to their situation as if they had been abandoned by God and therefore had reason to fear. They had forgotten who they were as God's own children.

Having a correct understanding of God is essential to having a correct understanding of our relationship to God. But it is not enough to understand how great God is if we don't grasp the nature of what it means to be his children.

As followers of the Messiah, we are assured of God's presence, love, and provision. And yet we often find ourselves intimidated by fear as we face difficult people or situations. At those times we may justify our fear for one reason or another. We really do feel threatened. We try to remember how capable God is, but for some reason, we still fear. Perhaps the reason is we haven't really accepted what it means to belong to God. We have forgotten who we are. As we read in the New Covenant writings:

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" (Romans 8:15)

This suggests that what God has done for us through the Messiah has affected a fundamental change in our hearts. Yet some of us still struggle with fear. If we do, then we need to stop and ask the same question God asked Israel through Isaiah: "Who are you?" If we are not God's children, we can become so through repentance and faith in Yeshua as Messiah. And then once we realize that we truly are God's children, the fear that was once so prevalent will begin to disappear.

TorahBytes: Backwards Logic (Re'eh)

But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. (Devarim / Deuteronomy 13:5; ESV)

I first encountered this verse many years ago shortly after I came to believe in Yeshua. It was in conversation with a so-called ultra-orthodox Jewish man. In his attempt to turn me from my faith, he had me read this verse. He claimed that because Yeshua had been executed, he must have been a false prophet. I didn't know enough at the time to ask him about other true prophets of God who had been executed. Regardless, his logic was faulty.

He asserted that since Yeshua experienced the consequences of being a false prophet, he was a false prophet. Of course, it wasn't Yeshua's death that disqualified his messiahship in this person's eyes. He had rejected Yeshua for other reasons. As far as he was concerned, Yeshua's execution was justified because he was a false prophet. He hoped his backwards logic would impact me. It didn't.

We know that according to Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, and Zechariah 12, the Messiah was to die. The popularized understanding of the Messiah in Jewish tradition which focuses exclusively on his victorious triumph over evil and death doesn't take into account the full picture provided us by the Tenach (the Hebrew Scriptures). Messiah's death and resurrection on the third day are key components of his victory for Israel and the whole world.

The faulty nature of the backwards logic offered me that day might seem obvious as I tell this story, but this kind of thinking is far more normal than we might realize. Students of the Bible are aware that life isn't a meaningless collection of random circumstances. The Scriptures teach that God oversees life - both in the grand scheme of things and in the minute details. Theories abound as to how this works; something I don't think the Bible explains, but, however it works, God is intimately involved in the affairs of our lives. Simply, those who truly follow after God and his ways will be blessed and those who do not will be cursed. However, in whatever way this actually works, it is not meant to be understood backwards. Yeshua's execution was not proof that he was not a true prophet of God. In the same way we are not to determine the state of a person's relationship to God based on his current circumstances.

Job's friends (see the Book of Job) also used backwards logic. Since Job appeared to be cursed, they wrongly concluded that he must have greatly offended God. They couldn't have been more wrong. The reason for Job's suffering was because of his righteousness, not his sin. The outworking of God's blessing in Job's life would only become evident in the long term. In the short term, his circumstances proved nothing. What made Yeshua the Messiah was the reality of an entire life lived, not the state of his circumstances at a particular given time. What makes a false prophet a false prophet is his teaching, not his circumstances.

Not only can we wrongly conclude that someone is out of sorts with God because of current difficulties in their lives, we can also wrongly conclude that external blessings somehow justify their otherwise ungodly behavior.

This doesn't only relate to how we look at others, but also how we look at our own lives. While God may use difficult circumstances to get our attention or teach us certain lessons, let us not use backwards logic to create inaccurate pictures about ourselves.

TorahBytes: This Is a Test (Ekev)

And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (Devarim / Deuteronomy 8:3, 4; ESV)

You may be aware of the miracles of the Messiah commonly known as the feedings of the 5000 and 4000. What you may not be aware of is how they are tied to this verse. Yeshua made explicit references to the manna not too long after the miracle, but there is more to it than that. The connection with our Torah portion is found in a curious question Yeshua asked one of his disciples leading up to the miracle.

A large crowd had gathered, but they had nothing to eat. So Yeshua asked his disciple, Phillip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat? (John 6:5; ESV) - a fairly understandable question, until we read John's comment immediately following. He writes, "He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do" (John 6:6; ESV). "Test him"? What kind of test is this? He wasn't testing his knowledge of grocery stores and fast food outlets in the area. He and his disciples knew that there was nowhere to buy food, let alone have the amount of money to purchase it. It is clear from the interchange that follows that there was no anticipation on the disciples' part that a miracle was about to be performed. Yet John says Yeshua's question was a test.

The parallels between this situation and the verse from our Torah portion are striking. In both cases the people were purposely led by God into a situation where they had no food. Yeshua like Moses had a large crowd following him. In each case, they faced enormous need. Moses tells us that as God led the people in the wilderness, he was testing them to know what was in their heart. The purpose of this kind of testing is to demonstrate the quality of the thing tested. When our hearts are tested, we discover the kind of people we really are and where we are actually at in our relationship with God.

So like the people of Israel, Yeshua also tested Phillip in the wilderness. Phillip's heart was being tested by the Messiah. By this time, Phillip, like the people of Israel, had seen God's power by Yeshua's hand. But had Phillip come to a place of knowing Yeshua for who he really was? Obviously not.

You might want to come to Phillip's defense; I do. He didn't know what Yeshua was going to do. Yet it seems that Yeshua expected Phillip to trust him. If God is real, does he ever lead us into situations where he will not provide? Is that not one of the key lessons of the manna? Had not Yeshua already sufficiently demonstrated that? So why tell Yeshua what can't be done? Shouldn't knowing him always result in confident faith?

My sympathy for Phillip in this situation reveals the condition of my own heart. When I face difficult problems, I, like Phillip, think first of my lack of ability to resolve it. I easily get anxious and overwhelmed by difficult situations. But for those who know God, is anxiety and being overwhelmed ever an appropriate response? My heart has been tested, and I have been found wanting.

But, thankfully, that is not the end of it. God knows our lack of faith better than we do. He tests us to cause us to face reality. Unless we are honest about the condition of our hearts and lives, we won't become the people God calls us to be.

Both through Moses and Yeshua, God teaches us to focus not on our needs and the normal processes of life ("man does not live by bread alone"), but instead to be attentive to everything he says to us ("but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD"). As he tests us, we have the opportunity to learn this lesson.

TorahBytes: The Torah Controversy (Va-Ethannan)

You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you. (Devarim / Deuteronomy 4:2; ESV)

Misunderstandings among New Covenant believers about the Torah stem partly from a lack of awareness over the issues the New Covenant writers were dealing with. New Covenant believers, especially of the Protestant variety, see Torah through the eyes of the controversy that took place over the doctrine of salvation during medieval times. In those days it had became common to think that in order to be accepted by God one had to accumulate a certain number of merits. The New Covenant teaching that faith in the death and resurrection of Yeshua was sufficient for salvation had been lost. It seems that many of the creeds and theology established during the Reformation was a response to this and other unbiblical teachings.

Looking at the New Covenant references to the Torah (English: the Law / Greek: nomos), there appears to be very clear statements against an approach to God that includes the accumulation of merits. When reading these statements, one would almost think that the New Covenant writers were purposely and directly criticizing medieval thinking. The biblical contrast of justification by works vs. justification by faith is certainly relevant to that discussion. If I understand this aspect of the Reformation correctly, the prevelant thinking at that time had been that even though a person was part of God's family through faith in the Messiah, they still needed to be good in terms of their moral and religious deeds to be fully accepted by God. The Reformers, rightly based on Scripture, demonstrated that acceptance by God could never be established on the basis of our own efforts, but solely upon the merits of Messiah alone.

Statements about Torah in the Book of Acts, Paul's letters, and the Book of Hebrews clearly demonstrate justification by faith alone. But what has contributed to current misunderstandings is that these statements are not concerned about the accumulation of merits. It is common today to hear people explain our need for God in terms of our not being good enough. We explain how the Torah is God's standard, given to show us that all human beings fail to meet that standard. As a result we are all under God's condemnation and can only be forgiven through faith in the Messiah. All this is true. But the realization of our failure to live up to the Torah's demands is only one aspect of the Torah's function. Most of the negative Torah statements in the New Covenant writings aren't concerned with this problem. Adherents of the Torah in the first century - as well as many in contemporary Jewish circles - were not concerned about being good enough to be accepted by God. Those who wanted to impose Torah upon non-Jewish followers of Yeshua were not doing so that these Gentiles might become good enough. It was that they thought that possession and observance of Torah itself was what merited God's acceptance.

For those not used to this concept, you may need to pause and take a deep breath at this point. The New Covenant writers when speaking about Torah confronted the wrong notion in their day that living a life of Torah was the key to acceptance and intimacy with God. The gift of God's revelation to the Jewish people became something like an idol. Instead of being the people of God, we became the people of Torah.

It is true that this is not the only aspect of the Torah being addressed by the New Covenant writers. According to Jeremiah's prophesy (Jeremiah 31:31-33), there are significant differences between the Old and New Covenants.  One of those differences is the internalization of Torah, not the doing away with Torah all together. Any teaching that implies that Torah is completely done away with is a misunderstanding of the intent of the New Covenant writers. Note that this is not to say that Torah as the Sinai Covenant is still in force. That is made clear both by Jeremiah and the New Covenant writers.

Torah is God's direction or teaching for our lives. Torah is the revelation of God and his revelation of how we are to relate to him. But it is not our understanding of this that puts us in good stead with God. That only happens through trusting in his Son, Yeshua. As we trust in him, we will also hunger for his Word - his Torah - for guidance in life.

TorahBytes: Torah is Good for You (Devarim)

In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them... (Devarim / Deuteronomy 1:3; ESV)

In the New Covenant scriptures we read:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17; ESV)

When Paul wrote the words, "all Scripture", he was referring to the Tenach, which is the Hebrew name for the Old Covenant Scriptures. Tenach is an acronym for Torah (the five books of Moses), Nevi'im (the Prophets), and K'tuvim (the Writings). While this reference, by extension, applies to the New Covenant Scriptures, he most likely only had the Tenach in mind, since the New Covenant Scriptures were only at their very early stages of development.

So according to Paul, the Tenach is not only inspired by God, but it is profitable for followers of Yeshua in the ways he lists. The Old Covenant Scriptures are not to be treated like a religious shrine that marks extraordinary events and to which we visit only to trigger memories and evoke feelings. The Tenach is truly profitable for God's people today. And note that he doesn't say some Scripture, but "all Scripture". The whole Tenach is profitable, not just parts of it.

Of course this doesn't mean that every verse is relevant to every single person in every situation. Verses that apply exclusively to women only don't apply to men. God's directives to kill Canaanites don't apply today even if you happen to meet one. Any part of the Bible must be understood not only in its immediate context, but also within the context of the rest of the Bible. The descriptions and regulations of the various sacrifices, for example, are meaningful in many ways, even though the sacrificial system is no longer in force. Directives to kings were specific to the ancient Israelite monarchy, yet there are aspects that are instructive to leaders in general.

There are certain references in the New Covenant writings that sound very negative on the Old Covenant Books of Moses. But those passages are more concerned with relating to the Torah as a system, than with its specifics. Adherence to Torah was never intended as the basis upon which people are made right with God, This is only accomplished through faith in the Messiah. This was also true for those who lived before Yeshua's coming in that their faith was in anticipation of God's provision of salvation through him.

Confusion exists because there is more than one way that Torah can be understood. Torah in a general sense means God's teaching or direction. For the people of Israel this became associated with the covenant given at Mt Sinai through Moses and the five books associated with him. So during the era between Moses and the coming of Yeshua, Torah was synonymous with the Sinai covenant. But in fact they are not one and the same thing. When the New Covenant was promised through Jeremiah, we read that while the people of Israel broke the Sinai covenant, God would put his Torah in their hearts. The New Covenant is not an internalized Sinai Covenant. It includes an internalized Torah, meaning that God's direction for life would not be something that exists externally on stone tablets. Instead, God's direction would spring forth from a new inner nature due to the forgiveness of sins (See Jeremiah 31:31-33).

Since for followers of Yeshua the Torah has become an inner reality, there remains the question as to what are the Torah's specifics for us today. There is no sense anywhere in the Bible that faith automatically and unconsciously results in godly living. It is through the study of the entire Scriptures and reliance on God's Spirit that we learn how God wants us to live today. As we do that we will see, as I have already mentioned, that certain directives don't apply or don't apply directly in the messianic age. On the other hand, there are many directives that are eternal, including don't murder or steal, and stipulations about building safety (Devarim / Deuteronomy 22:8) or fair business practices (Devarim / Deuteronomy 25:15). How to determine what applies to today and how it applies is not always straightforward, but it is a blessing to delve into God's written Word to discover his ways, especially when our hearts delight to do God's will.

Of course, much of both the Old and New Covenant Scriptures are not directives. They also include history, songs, and prophesy, etc. Most if not all of this is relevant to us today in that they help us to get to know God better. So we can be confident that these words from Tehillim (Psalms) are as true today as they were when they were first written:

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Tehillim / Psalms 119:105; ESV)

TorahBytes: The Search for the Authentic (Mattot & Masei)

And now what do you gain by going to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what do you gain by going to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates? (Jeremiah 2:18; ESV)

Some serious students of the Bible are keen to establish what they believe to be an authentic expression of biblical faith. While this could be said about almost all serious believers, some are more concerned than others that the various forms of faith today have their roots, not in the Bible, but from paganism. This approach believes that if a custom can be found to be derived from a pagan source, then it is automatically deemed to be inappropriate for believers in Yeshua.

This seems to be what God is saying through Jeremiah in this week's Haftarah. The people of Israel were under God's judgment due to many years of rebellion against God. Failing to heed warning after warning, they were on the verge of destruction and exile. One of the things that Jeremiah was confronting in his day was that his people, instead of turning back to God, gave up on him altogether and were turning to foreigners and foreign ways. Instead of accepting that this was the sort of thing that got them into trouble in the first place, they believed their God had let them down.

I have the impression that some in search for the authentic see themselves as walking in Jeremiah's shoes. Believers may or may not be facing impending doom, but at the very least we are viewed as living far below God's expectations. The reason for this according to the searchers of the authentic is that we have turned from the authentic and replaced it with foreign concepts and forms, thus resulting in God's disfavor.

I agree with this to some extent. God in the Scriptures has revealed to us his ways and we cannot improve upon that. But a commitment to the Scriptures is not the same as the so-called search for the authentic. I say "so-called" because there are some foundational wrong assumptions about such a search. I will mention two of them.

First, the search for the authentic assumes that if something is shown to originate from a pagan or ungodly source, then it is automatically bad. There are many customs that God's people must avoid, but they are wrong because God says they are wrong, not simply because of their pagan origins. If I could show that books with pages as opposed to scrolls were invented by pagans, then should believers avoid them? How about paper money? Or languages besides Hebrew? The real issue has to do not with origins but with how they are regarded by God.

The second wrong assumption is that the authentic customs and forms are easily identified. The searchers for the authentic seem to believe that the New Covenant Scriptures provide sufficient information as to the forms within which our faith is to be expressed. I do believe that the whole Bible, including the Hebrew and New Covenant writings do provide us with all we need to legitimately practice our faith both individually and corporately. However, we are not given a complete picture as to how first century followers of Yeshua did that. More importantly, God has given us relatively few commands regarding the forms of our gatherings and many other practical aspects of faith.

This is not to imply that God has nothing to say about our customs and forms. The Bible is clear on many areas, but we must be careful not to put words into God's mouth, establishing as authoritative that which God himself has not established.

I agree with the searchers for the authentic that we would do well to be more biblical in how we live out our faith. But in order to be more biblical we need to carefully and diligently study the Scriptures, relying on God's Spirit for guidance as we allow him to reveal his will to us. As we do that, we will be better equipped to determine the difference between godly and ungodly customs.

TorahBytes: Don't Be Fooled by Appearances (Balak)

And God came to Balaam (Hebrew: Bilam) at night and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you." So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. But God’s anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the way as his adversary. (Bemidbar / Numbers 22:20-22; ESV)

This week's Torah portion includes the account of Balak, king of Moab, and how he hired a diviner by the name of Bilam to curse the people of Israel. The people of Moab, a country on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea within modern day Jordan, were in great fear of Israel. So King Balak turned to Bilam for help.

The interactions between God and Bilam are confusing. Bilam told Balak's men that he would report back to them what God would say to him. He either sincerely anticipated that the God of Israel would speak to him or he purposely gave a false impression. Either way, God did speak to him and told him not to do what Balak had asked.

When Balak was told that Bilam refused to come, he sent another entourage with promises of great honor to try to get him to do the king's bidding. Bilam gave to them what sounds like the response of a true believer:

Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God to do less or more (Bemidbar / Numbers 22:18; ESV).

But when Bilam inquired of God a second time, God told him to go with Balak's men, yet he was to do only that what God told him. So he goes. But then we read that God was angry with him because he went. What's going on here?

The clue to this apparent contradiction in God's directives to Bilam is found in the fact that even though God clearly told Bilam the first time not to go, he inquired of God again. Bilam already knew God's will for this situation. There was no need for further inquiry. Yet he persisted and God sent him in a direction that God himself did not approve of.

This may seem strange, but is it? How often does God allow us to pursue the things that we know are wrong? How often have we prayed and knew deep down what God's will was and yet, not being satisfied with his answer, continued to pray until God let us do what we wanted.

Some may look at Bilam and think he was a really good guy, who faithfully followed God. Did he not only go when God said to go? And did he not speak over Israel only the words that God put in his mouth? Doesn't he seem to be a man truly blessed by God? Not if we see everything the Torah says about him.

We already noted that God was angry with him for doing this. Then, following this incident, Israel committed immorality with the Moabite women and worshipped their idols, thus resulting in a plague which killed 24,000 Israelites. It is not until some chapters later that we learn that this had been instigated by Bilam (Bemidbar / Numbers 31:16).

How often do we think that the evidence of God's power and presence in the life of an individual is an indication of God's approval of that person? We equate God's favor with his approval even when we are aware of very questionable issues in that person's life. Yeshua himself said that there would be people who would show signs of God's power and presence to whom he would one day say, "I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness" (Matthew 7:23; ESV). Just because God allows certain behaviors or he uses someone does not necessarily mean he approves of them.

The associated Haftarah (reading from the prophets) speaks well to this. I close with reading a portion of it:

"O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam (Hebrew: Bilam) the son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the LORD. With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:5-8)

TorahBytes: Death Is Not Our Friend (Hukkat)

Whoever touches a dead person, the body of anyone who has died, and does not cleanse himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not thrown on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is still on him. (Bemidbar / Numbers 19:13; ESV)

In this week's parsha (Torah portion), we read about the ritual cleansing that is necessary when coming into contact with the dead, as well as the deaths of Moses' sister Miriam and his brother Aaron. How people have related to death throughout history has varied. Today there is growing interest and openness to euthanasia. Euthanasia is commonly thought of as mercy killing, whereby causing or aiding in the death of a suffering person is viewed as a better option than allowing them to continue to suffer.

But is killing someone ever a better option than living? One of the things that this depends on is what death really is. To hear some of the arguments in favor of euthanasia one would think that death is a welcome friend to the sufferer, or that death is just one of many natural parts of life. For some who believe in an afterlife death is a doorway to a better place or the long awaited freedom from our bondage to our flesh. While these kinds of notions about death are not the only thing fueling the growing acceptance of euthanasia, it would be difficult for society to embrace such a thing if death itself was seen in a negative light.

But according to the Bible death is negative. Death is not natural. It is an aspect of God's curse upon the human race due to the rebellion of our first parents (See Bereshit / Genesis 2:15, 17; cf 3:17-19). We were created to live, not die. Death is not a solution, but a problem - our biggest problem. It is not our friend; it is an enemy - an enemy that God has purposed to destroy (See 1 Corinthians 15:26).

For those who have been made right with God due to trusting in the Messiah, death poses no threat. For even when it works its evil upon us, it will not have the final word. God's children are kept safe in his care after death and anticipate the receiving of incorruptible bodies at the resurrection.

However, while we have no reason to fear death, it continues to represent God's displeasure with humankind and will continue to be part of our plight until the Messiah returns. At that time, we will not be reconciled with death; it will be destroyed.

The word euthanasia is derived from the Greek, meaning "good death," but there is no such thing. Death is bad. Putting a positive spin on it distracts us from its purpose in human experience. To pretend that it is a welcome friend, when it is really our enemy, undermines the God-derived value of life.

TorahBytes: Perspective (Korah)

They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?" (Bemidbar / Numbers 16:3; ESV)

This week's Torah portion includes a rebellious challenge by several key individuals of the community of Israel against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. Even though the people knew full well that the roles of Moses and Aaron were clearly defined by God, Moses offered to the rebels an opportunity to see God yet again confirm their leadership. This was not acceptable to the rebels, however. Their minds were already made up. God therefore severely punished them by causing the ground to swallow them alive.

This disaster set the whole community against Moses and Aaron. God's response was to destroy the whole nation, except that Moses and Aaron intervened on their behalf. God relented, but not until over 14,000 people had died.

This is one of the many examples of Scripture that illustrates what happens when we stubbornly rebel against God. Not only did it ruin the lives of the rebels themselves, but it destroyed their families and resulted in thousands of unnecessary deaths. Rebellion against God is not just an individual matter; it brings destruction far beyond our own personal lives.

But how did the rebels get to the place where they would take such a stand against God's will? How is it that they could so misunderstand God's intentions for their community? When the rebels refused Moses' invitation to allow God to reconfirm the leadership he established, they said,

We will not come up. Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us? Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up. (Bemidbar / Numbers 16:12-14; ESV)

These people had struggled ever since leaving Egypt. This is not the only time that a reference had been made to their having been well fed there and perhaps they were, but that may have been one of the only positive aspects of their lives as slaves. Somehow the hardship of living in the wilderness since their deliverance helped them to forget how terrible their lives had been and why it was they had cried out to God for help in the first place.

Living in the wilderness was not easy. More than once they were without food and/or water, many of their number had already died, and they failed to enter the Promised Land. But it wasn't the hardships themselves that fostered rebellion in their hearts; it was how they responded to those hardships. Instead of seeing life from God's perspective, learning the lessons he sought to teach them, they gave in to discouragement. Their discouragement skewed their view of the situation. They really believed that Moses and Aaron had overstepped their bounds by assuming leadership, when actually they were the ones who were overstepping their bounds by challenging them. Their warped understanding was due to their choosing to view their lives from a place of discouragement. They were completely convinced that Moses and Aaron were the problem and thus failed to learn what God was seeking to teach them.

Many of us tend to think that how we see life and life situations is the way they really are. We don't always realize how profoundly affected we are by the way we respond to circumstances. This is not to say that reality is based on our perspective or that life has no objective meaning. Rather, how we respond to our lives makes all the difference in how we see our lives. This is not just about having a good attitude, though good attitudes can help quite a bit. But good attitudes can only take us so far. In order to view life correctly in the face of serious hardships, we need to have God's perspective.

TorahBytes: Don't Fear! (Shela Lekha)

Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them. (Bemidbar / Numbers 14:9; ESV)

A few years ago I wrote a TorahBytes message entitled The Fear Is Real, where I proposed that it was understandable that the Israelites who spied out the land of Canaan would be afraid of its inhabitants. I mentioned at that time that their real problem was not that they were afraid, but that they gave into their fears. I have heard courage explained as not the absence of fear, but rather doing what needs to be done in spite of fear. There may be some truth in that, but I don't know if that is the way God sees it. For I cannot think of a scripture that says "It's OK to be afraid, as long as you do what is right". Rather, what we read over and over again is "Don't fear."

When the people of Israel were afraid because they were told how big and powerful the inhabitants of the land were, Joshua and Caleb confronted their fear. They told them not to be afraid and why. The reason they gave was that God was with them and would work on their behalf. God had said he would give the inhabitants of the land into the hands of the Israelites, and Joshua and Caleb believed him.

God was real to these two. God's word was true as far as they were concerned. The inhabitants of the land may have been big and numerous, but God was more powerful. If God said he would give Israel victory, he would give Israel victory. There was no reason to fear.

There is a fascinating story about Yeshua, where a synagogue official asked him to heal his daughter. As Yeshua arrived at the place where she was, she died. The people who informed the official of this also suggested to him that he needn't take any more of Yeshua's time. But hearing this, Yeshua said to the official, "Do not fear, only believe." (Mark 5:36; ESV). Yeshua didn't say, "Don't doubt, just believe", he said "Don't fear, only believe." Was the official scared? Maybe not in the way we might think. He wasn't afraid in the same way the people of Israel were afraid of losing their lives in battle. In the case of the official, his was a fear of quiet acceptance of something quite normal, a child dying after an illness. Understandably to believe that there was still hope for his daughter would make him a laughing stock, something many of us have fear of being, and more so for someone of this man's stature as a synagogue official. As it turned out, Yeshua was laughed at when he said to the mourners, "The child is not dead but sleeping" (Mark 5:39; ESV), viewing her condition from God's perspective. To be called by Yeshua into living life this way can be very frightening.

So whether we are the Israelites facing the conquest of the Promised Land or a follower of Yeshua being called to trust him for a miracle, fear will prevent us from doing what God calls us to do.

Fear isn't always a noticeable, conscious emotion. At times the reason why we don't feel afraid is because of fear. That's because we tend to avoid what frightens us to the extent that we aren't afraid. We often only become conscious of our fears when we are forced to face whatever it is we are afraid of. The people of Israel were already afraid of big powerful armies before they faced the prospect of taking the Promised Land. The people already didn't trust that God would help them in such a circumstance. They may not have been in touch with their fear until the situation presented itself, but it was there. Yeshua knew the heart of the synagogue official and confronted his fear in the midst of what was, in the natural, an impossible situation. In order for him to walk in the miraculous, he needed to turn from fear and trust Yeshua.

Fear cannot co-exist with faith. Even if our initial state or reaction is one of fear, in order to live by faith we must reject fear. God knows how much we struggle with this. That is why Yeshua confronts it. We don't have to stay afraid, only believe.

TorahBytes: Good Complaining (Be-Ha'alotkha)

I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness. (Bemidbar / Numbers 11:14,15; ESV)

The chapter in which these verses appear begins like this:

And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp (Bemidbar / Numbers 11:1; ESV).

This is but one example of Israel complaining about their hardships during their years of living in the wilderness. Several times we read of their grumbling and God's punishing them in response. One would get the impression from these incidents that complaining is bad. God doesn't like it; so we shouldn't do it.

The problem with this conclusion, however, is that it doesn't seem to be consistent with the earlier verses we read. In that case, Moses is complaining to God that what he believed God expected of him was more than he could handle. His complaint is pretty intense. He even asks God to kill him rather than let him continue in his situation. In both these cases the complainers had enough of the challenges they were facing. Whether or not they could actually handle their situations or whether or not God would give them special ability to do so didn't matter to them. Enough was enough as far as they were concerned.

Yet unlike the people who were punished for complaining, God responds favorably to Moses and alleviates his unbearable burden. The difference in Moses' case has to do with to whom the complaining was directed. Moses complained to God. The people just complained among themselves. The people simply vented their frustration and fueled discontent among themselves. Moses' complaint engaged the only one who could truly help him with his problem. There is nothing wrong with bringing a reasonable complaint to those who truly have the authority and power to address your situation. But when they are unable or unwilling to alleviate the situation, what are we to do? Does God expect us to just suck it up and quietly endure every negative situation?

The writers of the Psalms didn't think so. A large proportion of the Psalms are complaints. They were not just "singing' the blues", but rather they believed that God heard their complaints and expected him to do something in response.

When we face challenges and hardships, God is not expecting us to suffer in silence. As our Heavenly Father, he longs for us to come to him with our troubles, with our fears, even with our doubts. For only he is able to help us.

As we read in one of the New Covenant letters:

Don't worry about anything; on the contrary, make your requests known to God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. Then God's shalom, passing all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with the Messiah Yeshua. (Philippians 4:6,7; Complete Jewish Bible).

This doesn't say "Stop worrying and keep your problems to yourself." Rather, instead of worrying we should come to God with what worries us. As we do, we will experience his shalom, his peace.

TorahBytes: Some Things Only You Can Carry (Naso)

All the service of the sons of the Gershonites shall be at the command of Aaron and his sons, in all that they are to carry and in all that they have to do. And you shall assign to their charge all that they are to carry. (Bemidbar / Numbers 4:27; ESV)

The sons of Moses' brother Aaron were assigned by God to be priests (Hebrew: cohanim), whose primary responsibility was to offer the sacrifices. The priests were part of the tribe of Levi. The rest of the Levites (Hebrew: levi-im), who were not descended from Aaron, were assigned the job of assisting the priests. This week's Torah portion includes some of the specific responsibilities God gave to the Levitical clans. One of the stated responsibilities was the carrying of the Mishkan (English: Tabernacle). The Mishkan was a large tent-like structure in which the sacrifices were offered. God was very particular with regard to what each clan had to carry.

The Levites are not the only ones to whom God gives burdens to carry. In one of the New Covenant letters followers of Yeshua were given instructions about carrying burdens, albeit figurative ones. One of the interesting aspects of these instructions is that there is a distinction between those burdens only we can carry and those of which we are to help each other carry:

Brothers, suppose someone is caught doing something wrong. You who have the Spirit should set him right, but in a spirit of humility, keeping an eye on yourselves so that you won't be tempted too. Bear one another's burdens - in this way you will be fulfilling the Torah's true meaning, which the Messiah upholds. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is really nothing, he is fooling himself. So let each of you scrutinize his own actions. Then if you do find something to boast about, at least the boasting will be based on what you have actually done and not merely on a judgment that you are better than someone else; for each person will carry his own load (Galatians 6:1-5; Complete Jewish Bible).

While some people find life more burdensome than others, we all have burdens to bear, loads to carry. These include our day-to-day responsibilities, problems we face, opportunities that present themselves, managing our personal health, relationships, and on and on. All of these require some amount of mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical energy for us to effectively handle them. To refer to responsibilities as things we carry is not to imply that they are negative necessarily, but only that they are responsibilities.

Sometimes we make life heavier for ourselves than it needs to be. We can do this by placing unreasonable expectations on ourselves or by buying into the expectations of others. Yeshua addressed this when he said,

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, 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 (Matthew 11:28-30; ESV).

The Messiah isn't saying here that our lives should be responsibility free. Rather he is saying that he would not lay upon us anything beyond what God himself requires of us. The religious leaders of those days had piled all sorts of extra responsibilities upon the people, far more than they were able to bear. Yeshua had come to restore right relationship with God, which included removing all sorts of unnecessary burdens from our lives.

The light burden of Yeshua doesn't mean that we should irresponsibly cast off those things which God has determined we should carry. We may attempt to do that through simple neglect or by trying to get others to carry those things which we ourselves must bear. If God is the one who has placed a particular burden on us to carry, no matter how much we try to ignore it or lay it on others, it will keep coming back to us. The sooner we accept our God-given responsibilities the better.

TorahBytes:Owned by God (Bemidbar)

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the LORD." (Bemidbar / Numbers 3:11-13; ESV)

The Levites (Hebrew: levi'im) fulfilled a special function within ancient Israel. Instead of being given territory within the Land as were the other tribes they were to be the religious ministers. A subset of the Levites were the priests (Hebrew: cohenim), the descendants of Moses' brother Aaron, who offered the sacrifices. The rest of the Levites assisted the priests in their duties and fulfilled other religious tasks throughout the nation. There is a sense in which the Levites belonged to God in a way the rest of the people did not, for their daily concerns were consumed with the service of God rather than normal human endeavors.

The setting aside of the Levites was not simply due to the need of having religious ministers. Rather they stood in the place of all the firstborn males who survived the Exodus. God rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt by striking the Egyptians with ten plagues. The final plague was the killing of the firstborn males, both human and animal. To protect the people of Israel from this, God told them to sacrifice a lamb and apply its blood to the doorframes of their houses. When God came to strike down the firstborn males, he passed over the houses upon which the blood was applied. This is why the festival commemorating this event is called Passover (see Shemot / Exodus 11:1-12:13).

An important element of this is how it relates to the Levites. The tenth plague was not limited to the striking down of the Egyptian firstborn only, but rather of all the firstborn of the land of Egypt regardless of nationality. The stubborn disobedience of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, brought general destruction upon his land. There were certain plagues in which the people of Israel experienced special protection, but not all of them. With regard to the tenth plague, if any Israelite home did not follow God's instructions, their firstborn males would have perished as well. Therefore, the preservation of the Israelite firstborn males was due to God's special grace. Thus, the firstborn males of Israel were indebted to God to a greater extent than the rest of the nation. While the whole nation was indebted to God for their freedom, the firstborn males were indebted for their very lives.

The preservation of the firstborn males and their special relationship to God was to be remembered throughout future generations. Instead of the actual firstborn males of the whole nation being called into religious service, God determined that the Levites should stand in their place. Their service to God was more than a special calling simply due to the need for religious ministers. Rather they represented God's unique ownership of the firstborn males.

Just as the Levites were God's special possession, so are all followers of the Messiah. Like Egypt of old, God's judgment is coming upon the whole Earth. Due to our stubborn refusal to obey God according to his standards, God himself will condemn everyone to eternal destruction, unless we apply the blood of Yeshua's sacrifice to our lives. Like the firstborn males, God's judgment will pass over us if we follow God's instructions and entrust ourselves to Yeshua the Messiah.

Like the firstborn males, if we believe in Yeshua, we are indebted to him, not just for our freedom, but for our very lives. Therefore, like the Levites, we are God's special possession. Since we are owned by God in this way, we don't have the freedom to live however we wish, pursuing our own goals and desires. Rather, we are owned by God, set apart to serve his interests alone.

TorahBytes: Worthless Lies (Be-Har & Be-Hukkotai)

O LORD, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: "Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit. Can man make for himself gods? Such are not gods!" Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the LORD. (Jeremiah 16:19-21; ESV)

The story of the Bible is one of rescue and restoration. The human predicament, which is largely denied today, yet is nonetheless prevalent, is explained in the story of Adam and Eve. Our first parents' rebellion against the Creator resulted in the profound dysfunction which has overwhelmed humankind ever since. But even as God pronounced judgment upon us, he promised that the day would come when evil would one day be destroyed. It would not be until the time of Abraham that how God would accomplish this would begin to unfold: from Abraham would arise a nation that would be the instrument of God's blessing to all other nations (see Bereshit/Genesis 12:1-3). As the history of Israel developed the nature of this blessing became clear: through faith in the Messiah, the son of David, Abraham's descendent, the nations of the earth would be reconciled to God.

Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, the prophetic writings in particular, the anticipation of this reconciliation is expressed in a variety of ways, an example of which is found in this week's Haftarah. God through Jeremiah predicted that the day would come when the non-Jewish nations would realize that their religions, traditions, and philosophies were nothing but worthless lies, were of absolutely no benefit to them, and that the God of Israel is the only true God. In so many different ways from Abraham onwards, this is the emerging picture. The world existed in spiritual darkness, but God made himself known to the people of Israel in anticipation of restoring the nations to himself.

This is exactly what has happened since Yeshua the Messiah came about two thousand years ago. The Jewish people of that time believed correctly that through the Messiah the reality of God would come to the entire world. How they envisioned it happening was very different from how it did happen, but happen it did. Or I should say, rather, that it is still happening. Beginning with Yeshua's first followers, the reality of the God of Israel has transformed the lives of people the world over. Entire cultures have been transformed by the truth of God's Word as people from almost every nation have realized that the ways they inherited from their ancestors were worthless and that the God of Israel is the only God.

Notice the two aspects of this. Not only do the nations realize the truth of the God of Israel, but they completely reject the worthless lies that they inherited from the past. Just because we claim to believe in the true God doesn't automatically mean that we have cast off everything that is not of him. We have a tendency to retain or incorporate aspects of ungodly thought and practice with our worship and service of the true God. We may not always recognize this, but anything that is not of God's Truth is a lie and is worthless. True faith in the Messiah includes both embracing everything he stands for and rejecting all that he rejects. Why hold on to worthless lies?

TorahBytes: Waiting for Clarity (Emor)

Now an Israelite woman’s son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought in the camp, and the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. Then they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. And they put him in custody, till the will of the LORD should be clear to them. (Vayikra / Leviticus 24:10-12; ESV)

There are two important areas of life that this portion of the Torah speaks to: one specific, one general. The specific area of life has to do with establishing a godly justice system. In this instance the community knew that the blasphemer did something worthy of punishment, but was not clear about what it should be. Instead of thrashing out at him based on their assumptions, they put him in custody "till the will of the LORD should be clear to them." Once they received clear direction from God, they enacted justice. I don't know enough about the history of law to say that this is where Western Civilization got the idea of holding a suspect in custody before determining his guilt, but it is likely it did. This allows for protection of the suspect and a rational, clear-headed determination of guilt.

This is a specific application of a more general principle of life, which is when God's will is not clear, we need to patiently wait until it is, before we act. It is not only in justice situations that we know we need to do something, but are unclear as to exactly what that something is. Too often we assume we know what is best in a situation, when we haven't given enough time to seek God for clarification.

Joshua, Moses' successor, brought Israel into an ungodly alliance with another nation, because he didn't wait for clarification from God (see Joshua 9:1-27). When David attempted to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, a man died because they neglected to follow God's instructions regarding how to transport it (1 Divrei Hayyamim / Chronicles 13:1-14; 15:1,2). Relying on God in this way was one of the prime lessons that God wanted to teach the people of Israel in leading them through the wilderness (see Devarim / Deuteronomy 8:3). And the Messiah himself said, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33; ESV). Unless we consider God and his ways first in everything, we will find ourselves going about life the wrong way. This is what Solomon was referring to when he wrote, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths" (Mishlei / Proverbs 3:5,6; ESV).

I am concerned that many followers of the Messiah assume that they do this, but don't. Either we assume we know God's mind on things or we don't realize that he has something to say about it. We tend not to be aware of how we can be driven more by tradition, peer pressure, and personal desire than God's Word. This would explain why there often appears to be little distinction between those who profess to follow the Messiah and the general population.

In the incident we read about at the beginning, the people were faced with a situation where they had not yet received clear direction from God. So they waited on him for clarity. In that case they didn't know what to do, so they didn't take action until they knew. That's a great example for us to follow. It's best to wait on God when we don't have clarity. But what about when we realize that we have already done the wrong thing? That was the case with David and the Ark. Yet he and the people had the humility to accept what they had failed to do and adjusted their course of action for their second attempt, which was successful. Whether we failed to be attentive to God in the last minute or generations ago, it is not too late to seek clarity and to do things God's way.

TorahBytes: Love Your Neighbor (Aharei & Kedoshim)

You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. (Vayikra / Leviticus 19:17,18; ESV)

The Messiah was asked the question, "What is the greatest commandment?" (See Matthew 22:35-40; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-37). It was popular among Jewish religious leaders to attempt to summarize the Torah. Here is Yeshua's answer:

The most important is, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." The second is this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." There is no other commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:29-31; ESV)

Some people take this to mean that unlike the people living under the Old Covenant, followers of Yeshua have only these minimal requirements to follow. But that completely misses the point. Yeshua's summary statement is intended as a perspective by which to view God's requirements, not a recipe by which to ignore them. Yeshua was reminding a people who had become obsessed with the Torah as an end in itself that its directives were intended as the means of loving God and other people. Losing sight of these primary commands results in the failure to properly keep the others. Loving God and loving people is what God's commands are all about.

Hearing Yeshua highlight "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," should draw us to the context of what he was quoting, some of which we read at the beginning. Loving our neighbor is not a vague sentimental concept based on emotion. It has very practical and far reaching implications. For example we read, "You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him." This tells us first that when difficulties arise with someone with whom we have relationship, we are not to hate them. Hate is not simply negative and angry thoughts toward another person. It is the tendency to disregard them or not care about them. This may occur with very little emotion. God instructs us that instead of ignoring issues we have with others we need to deal with them through open and honest discussion and thereby avoid even greater issues arising between one other. This is what "love your neighbor" is all about or it is at least one example.

It could be that "but you shall love your neighbor as yourself" sums up a larger Torah section (see Vayikra / Leviticus 19:9-18) that includes being mindful of the poor among us, not stealing, having fair business dealings, not lying to others, not using God's name to justify wrong, not oppressing others or robbing them, paying wages on time, showing respect toward the physically handicapped, demonstrating justice in court without partiality, not slandering, and not taking vengeance or bearing grudges against others. This is not a complete list, though it makes it clear that loving our neighbor is far more and much deeper than what we may normally think it is.

Loving our neighbor is not just having warm affection toward others or showing kindness to them, though it may include those things. God's version of loving others involves a deep understanding of his ways and how they relate to how we are to treat others. To love is to be true to our God-given responsibilities towards those with whom we have personal and work relationships, business and legal dealings, as well as the needy and vulnerable around us. Let's not cheapen God's Word by reducing it to anything less.

TorahBytes: Worth Investigating (Tazri'a & Mezora)

So they took two horsemen, and the king sent them after the army of the Syrians, saying, "Go and see." (2 Melachim / 2 Kings 7:14; ESV)

This week's Haftarah is part of a slightly longer story that begins in the previous chapter. In those days the land of Israel was divided into two kingdoms. The northern kingdom was called Israel or Ephraim with its capital in Samaria; the southern kingdom was called Judah with its capital in Jerusalem. Samaria was in the midst of a great famine due to its being under siege by the Syrian army. The siege and famine came to a miraculous end because God caused the Syrians to think they were under attack, prompting them to flee, leaving all their provisions behind.

This surprising turn of events was discovered by four outcasts who were lepers. They had decided to surrender to the Syrians, thinking that it was worth taking that chance, since the situation in the city was so desperate. When they came to the Syrian camp they found it deserted. So they began to feast and to help themselves to the goods that had been left behind. Eventually, they realized it was wrong of them to keep this all to themselves. So they announced the good news of their discovery to the gatekeepers of the city. When the news got to the king, his immediate reaction was to think that the Syrians were trying to trick them in order to lure them into an ambush. A servant suggested, therefore, that some men should be sent to investigate. As they surveyed the area it became clear to them that everything was as the lepers said, and so the people of Samaria plundered the Syrian camp.

It was right for the king to be cautious. It was his responsibility to care for his people. It would not have been wise for him to send his people out into what could have easily been a trap. At the same time, the lepers' claim was suffciently reasonable and the situation desperate enough to, at least, check things out. Once the report arrived, confirming the claim of the lepers, the people ran to take hold of God's miraculous provision.

Sometimes good news is too good to be true. When we are presented with extraordinary offers for little or no money, and without effort or time spent, it is wise to be cautious. This is not to say that such things don't exist, but they should be carefully investigated before accepting them.

The good news of Yeshua the Messiah, like the claim of the lepers, also may seem too good to be true. Through Yeshua, God offers forgiveness of every wrong we ever committed, direct continual access to him, his commitment to actively work for our good forever, empowerment by his Spirit so that we can live blessed and effective lives, his joy, his peace, and an eternity free of pain and sorrow. All this can be ours in response to our turning from our sins and trusting in Yeshua as Messiah and Lord.

People find many reasons to reject God's offer. They, like the king of Israel, may think that there is a good chance that it isn't as it seems to be. They may think that people who present the claims of Yeshua may have ulterior motives or be deluded. After all, some things are too good to be true.

But is not Yeshua's offer worth investigating? What many people don't realize is that it can be investigated. What convinced the investigators in our story was that they found all sorts of items scattered over a large area and this fit the lepers' claim. Similarly history is strewn with evidence of Yeshua's reality. Most of the good in the world over the past two thousand years is due to the transformed lives of Yeshua's followers. Yet most people refuse to leave the city of their preconceived ideas and take the time to examine the abundance of evidence. There is no reason to continue in the desperation of spiritual famine when the abundant provision of God is available to all who put their trust in Yeshua the Messiah.

TorahBytes: The Basis of Acceptance (Shemini)

And Moses said, "This is the thing that the LORD commanded you to do, that the glory of the LORD may appear to you." Then Moses said to Aaron, "Draw near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people, and bring the offering of the people and make atonement for them, as the LORD has commanded." (Vayikra / Leviticus 9:6,7; ESV)

This section of this week's Torah portion describes the rituals that were to be performed as part of the commencement of the service of the Mishkan (English: Tabernacle). The Mishkan was the large tent-like structure that was to be the sole place where sacrifices were to be offered. Moses told the people what was to be done in preparation for an extraordinary manifestation of God. After everything was done as prescribed, we read

And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. (Vayikra / Leviticus 9:23,24; ESV)

One of the striking aspects of the preparation is the person doing them - Aaron. We know why Aaron had a leadership role; God chose him for that. But it wasn't too long before the above passage that he was in the middle of misleading the people in the worship of a cow statue, which he claimed was the God who delivered them from Egypt. Should not such behavior disqualify him from being the Chief Priest? It could not be that God simply overlooked this. Many people died as a result of that sin. Was it that Aaron was given preferential treatment just because he was Moses' brother? There is no indication that this was the case. God makes himself clear that he doesn't treat people that way. So how could it be that such a person could continue to play such a crucial role in the service of God?

We are told how. Aaron had to make atonement for both himself and the people through certain sacrificial offerings. Acceptance by God depended on the poured out blood of these offerings.

Whenever I refer to biblical sacrifices, I am conscious of how such a concept is completely foreign to most contemporary societies. Many people find the slaughter of animals for any reason distasteful, not to mention doing so for some religious purpose. But what it really comes down to is that we don't understand the implications of sin. If we could only grasp God's original intention for the world and the devastating effect of sin upon it, then we might be more able to accept what it takes to deal with sin. The death of innocent, helpless animals served to dramatically illustrate the sacrifice of God himself. The shedding of the blood of animals as prescribed in the Torah foreshadowed the shedding of the blood of the Messiah, through which we can be made right with God.

Notice Aaron's acceptance by God was dependent on Aaron's personal involvement in the offering of the sacrifices. Aaron could not just offer sacrifices for the people without doing so for himself as well. True sacrifices require intimate identification with the sacrifice offered. This is why later on God would chastise the people for offering meaningless sacrifices. Unless a person grasps the seriousness of their sin and looks to God for mercy, humbly regarding that the animal is dying in place of their own life, the ritual would do them no good.

The same is true with regard to the Messiah's sacrifice. I get the impression that some people think that since Yeshua paid the price for our sins, that God now accepts all people and that our alienation from God only has to do with our ignorance regarding his acceptance. According to this view, the sharing of the Good News of the Messiah's coming is about informing people that they are already forgiven and accepted. But the Bible teaches no such thing. While what Yeshua did is sufficient for all people to be forgiven for their sins and be restored to right relationship with God, receiving the benefits of his sacrifice requires an acknowledgement of our sin and an acceptance of Yeshua's death as the substitute for our own.