Torahbytes: Trusting in the God Who Is (Ha'azinu)

The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he. (Devarim / Deuteronomy 32:4; ESV)

I think that understanding this verse and its implications is key to truly knowing God and understanding how life really works. First, let me muse over what the words here are saying. The God of Israel is "the Rock" - absolutely dependable and stable. He is who he is and he does what he says. "His work is perfect" - what he does, he does exactly as it should be done. It is never incomplete and lacking in any way. "For all his ways are justice" - whatever he does is right for everyone everywhere. He sets the standard for justice and meets that standard every time. "A God of faithfulness" - He is consistent and loyal to all of his commitments. You can count on him. "And without iniquity" - there is no evil, weakness, or decay in God nor in anything he does. "Just and upright is he" - he is always in the right and is honest and forthright.

For this verse to be the key I contend it is, it needs to be grasped within the reality of living life as we know it. If the Torah portrayed God as disconnected from human activity, then it would be relatively easy to accept these attributes. If God was a distant cosmic power who existed to fuel our spiritual fantasies, then what difference does it make how our holy book describes him. We might even be inspired by stories of other worldly exploits of divine super powers. But the Torah creates a problem for us, because it claims that this amazing Supreme Being is involved in our day-to-day lives. If God as described by these attributes is truly involved in human affairs, how do we reconcile his attributes with the prevalence of tragedy and suffering?

The Torah reveals to us that the reason for the invasion of evil is our first parents' rebellion against God's command. Since then life on earth has been out of whack. While retaining so much of God's original design, humans, animals, and the environment are tainted through and through, which is the effect of sin.

But this does not change God, nor his dealings with us. Our predicament is not a reflection upon God, except in the sense that his oversight of our predicament is an example of his wonderful attributes discussed earlier.

The reason the verse I read is the key to knowing God and understanding how life really works is that something happens when a person is able to fully accept the reality of the goodness and power of God in a world as broken as ours. This is not spiritual escapism. In fact it is when we grasp the reality of the attributes of God and are willing to face the state of the world as it is that we can begin to live life to its fullest.

The Bible gives us examples of many people who understood this. Noah knew that God called him to prepare the rescue mission for his family and the animals in the face of impending doom. The evil of his day and the resulting judgment were as real as God's word to him to build the ark. Moses trusted God to do the impossible in the freeing of his people from the tyranny of foreign control. David did the same, not only in his slaying of the giant, but throughout his entire life. In the midst of all sorts of difficulties he lived his life based on the belief that God was greater than anything.

Noah, Moses, and David lived as they did not because God was somewhat powerful and sometimes gets involved in our affairs. They knew he was altogether trustworthy and all powerful, which freed them to do his will in their day regardless of their circumstances. No other example is as vivid as the Messiah's conquering of death. His entrusting of himself to the will of God even in the face of execution and his resulting vindication through his resurrection is proof positive that God can be trusted no matter what.

One day, we will no longer have to live with the tension between the attributes of God and life as we know it. But for now if we are willing to do so, we can know him as he is and live life as we were meant to. Let me quote the verse again: "The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he."

Torahbytes: The Best Is Yet To Come (Nizzavim & Va-Yelekh)

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations. (Isaiah 61:11; ESV)

Last week I made the claim that the biblical perspective of history, especially regarding the centuries since Yeshua's coming, is a positive one. I contrasted the traditional Jewish view of Messiah's coming with how it plays out within the pages of the New Covenant Scriptures. In many ways the rabbinic view and the New Covenant view are similar. The major difference is that instead of the Messiah's coming immediately bringing history as we know it to an end, it is actually the beginning of a long process over time.

Also last week I corrected a popular notion among some Christians that the outplaying of the time between the Messiah's first and second coming is a fundamentally negative one, whereby history goes from bad to worse. The truth of the matter is that the messianic mission that began with Yeshua's coming has been bringing the truth and reality of the God of Israel to the whole world. In these last two thousand years, Yeshua's followers have impacted cultures for good the world over.

Some may accept that this is true, but assert that the time period we are in right now is worse than ever morally, politically, and environmentally and that this is a sign that Yeshua's return is at hand. This view is problematic for several reasons. First, it is debatable that we are in the worst time in history. Sure, there are bad things happening, but worse than ever? That would be difficult to prove. There are significant wars occurring and violent situations in the world, but more than in the days of the First and Second World Wars? There are terrible diseases affecting large populations, but worse than the Black Plague of the Dark Ages? I admit that it does seem that there is an increase of earthquakes and extreme weather in the past few years, but do we have a way of knowing that this is the worst ever?

The reason why some people look to these types of events as signs of the end of the age is due to these words of Yeshua:

And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains (Matthew 24:6-8; ESV).

What Yeshua is describing here has been going on throughout history. It is more reasonable to understand his words as meaning that his followers should not be put off by the continuation of war, famines, and earthquakes. This is simply the state of the human story in the midst of a creation that is anticipating the final redemption of God (compare with Romans 8:19-21).

Regardless of whether or not our time is worse than any other, I contend that this is beside the point. Yeshua said "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33; ESV). He clearly states here that his followers would have troubles during the time between his comings, but we are to view life, not through the lens of trouble, but with the understanding that we follow the one who has overcome the world. Yeshua's followers have been demonstrating this for two thousand years. It is through the messianic mission that God has caused, in the words of Isaiah, "righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations." Whatever negative events occur, we need to remember that we are following the Overcoming One. The age in which we live will culminate in his return to fully establish God's absolute reign over the creation. In the meantime we are called to continue the messianic mission and guard against any notion that it's hopeless to serve God since life is just going to get worse and worse (whether that will be the case or not). As we anticipate the Messiah's return we can be confident that the best is yet to come!

Torahbytes: Half Empty or Half Full? (Ki Tavo)

And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. (Isaiah 60:3; ESV)

I have been accused of being a "half-empty" kind of guy. Personally I think of myself as a realist, but I admit that I do have trouble seeing silver linings around clouds. It doesn't help that God has brought people into my life that don't even see the clouds or that to them it's not that the glass is half full, it's overflowing! I know...it actually does help that these people are in my life.

Whatever the reasons for my psychological or spiritual deficiencies (or strengths!), I mention this to say that I don't tend to put a positive slant on things. This means that I usually need some pretty good reasons to see things in a positive light. One of those things is the impact of the coming of the Messiah into the world.

The human experience since creation has been mixed. Life is full of ecstatic pleasures and agonizing suffering. Dreams come true beyond expectations; hopes dashed and hearts crushed. Goodness, kindness, and sacrifice abound amidst evils beyond comprehension. Half-full or half empty? How do you see human history?

The Torah sees history as a process. Creation was deemed "very good" by God himself (Bereshit / Genesis 1:31), but due to our first parents' disobedience, the human experience was thrust into a negative trajectory. Yet not without hope as God promised the eventual destruction of evil (see Bereshit / Genesis 3:15). The rest of the Hebrew Bible lays out for us the outworking of this promise culminating in the expectation of the coming of the Messiah (see Isaiah 9:6; 11:1-10; 53:1-12; Micah 5:1 [English: 5:2], Zechariah 12:10; Daniel 9:24-27; etc.). The Messiah's coming would mark a major positive transition in history. In fact in Jewish tradition, the Messiah's coming would put an end to evil once and for all. What our ancient teachers failed to see was that the Messiah's coming would initiate a new stage in the process, rather than the final transformation itself.

The claim of the New Covenant Scriptures is that the Messiah has come and has set history on a new course. The evil that first entered the human heart in Eden has been dealt a substantial blow. The followers of the Messiah are called to extend his rule throughout the world and in all of life.

What has been happening since Yeshua's coming two thousand years ago is that the glass has been filling up. So while life has included both negative and positive aspects, the process which God has been developing over time is a positive one.

Many followers of the Messiah don't see it this way, however. To them the evil still prevalent in the world colors the whole picture. The glass is not only half empty, it is emptying at an ever increasing rate. The culmination of history will occur when the glass is completely empty. While grateful for whatever positive effects the messianic mission has on the world, to them the world is going down the drain.

This way of looking at history fails to understand what really happened when Yeshua came. Until that time the hope of the world had been kept under a bushel, so to speak. The nation of Israel had hope that God's rule would prevail, but their hope was faint and for the most part kept to themselves. But with the coming of the Messiah the message of salvation and restoration burst onto the world's stage and has been transforming individuals, communities, and cultures ever since. No matter how dismal life seems, God through the Messiah is triumphing the world over.

The glass is definitely half full (maybe a lot more than half).

Torahbytes: Living Right Doesn’t Come Naturally (Ki Teze)

Because the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you. (Devarim / Deuteronomy 23:14; ESV)

My eldest daughter has been working as a missionary in Haiti for two years. I find her stories of life there overwhelming. Haiti is not like most places on earth. Its level of dysfunction is hard to believe at times. In fact, she has told us that many Haitians don’t know the difference between drinking water and waste water. If your response to that fact is “How can that be?” then you possess a misconception about how it is our society came to grasp this most fundamental principle of hygiene.

Our presuppositions are based on the traditions of past generations. These traditions are so ingrained we don’t realize that they are learned. We think that they are innately part of us just like our ability to breathe. But ways of living are not naturally acquired. Our understanding of the difference between drinking and waste water did not arise from our genes but from other people. Even though we most likely didn’t learn this in school, it is possible that when we were very young, we may have attempted to drink from a puddle or other unclean source only to be sternly prevented by an elder who had learned this same thing from an elder of his and so on going back centuries.

The Torah’s directive to store human waste away from the community was a necessary lesson to be learned to ensure health. The verse we read suggests that there was more than just physical health at stake. Like so many of God’s directives it has a spiritual foundation and a physical benefit. Tolerating indecency in the community first and foremost threatens the people’s relationship with God, which in turn negatively affects our health.

It might be difficult for us to imagine how a society can neglect so foundational and simple a concept as keeping drinking and waste water separate, but we forget how for centuries in Europe people unnecessarily died due to ignorance about simple hygiene. Simple perhaps, but not natural. Our natural inclination is to do our own thing in our own way to our peril. Without careful adherence to God’s revelation as laid out in the Scriptures, we naturally find ourselves on the road to destruction. It doesn’t matter if we claim to love God or not. No matter how spiritual you think you are, drinking waste water may very well kill you. No matter how much you say you love God, ignoring his directives will destroy you. This applies to moral issues as much as it does hygiene. We may not be drinking waste water, but might we be neglecting others of God’s directives?

Those of us who live in countries that emerged from strong biblical roots need to take note of the abundant blessings we take for granted. So much of what is truly good is due to rightly applying the principles found in God’s Word. It is easy to bemoan how society is losing touch with these ancient principles while missing how we ourselves may be failing in the same way regarding our personal, family, and congregational lives. Having faith or being good hearted or sincere doesn’t automatically separate waste water from drinking water. The only way to live the kind of good and blessed lives God desires for us is by our paying close attention to his instructions and applying them accordingly.

Torahbytes: Intersections (Devarim)

The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, "You have stayed long enough at this mountain." (Devarim / Deuteronomy 1:6; ESV)

We recently bought our first GPS unit. As many of you are aware, a GPS is a pretty useful device. I like the way it gives you a real-time dynamic map as you drive. It's so nice to allow intersection after intersection to pass by without any worry that I will miss my turn. Then as I approach my intersection, the voice kindly, but firmly informs me that my turn is coming up. Then it repeats the prompt just before the turn itself.

I get a bit of a kick out of how the GPS recalculates whenever I don't listen to its directions. It has a destination in mind and its own way of determining how I should get there. Call me stubborn, but at times I really do think I know better. And at times I have. Other times, not so much. Sometimes I miss my turn because I didn't hear it properly. I may have been distracted or perhaps I misunderstood the prompt.

Trusting in the Messiah is like having a GPS. He has a direction for our lives in mind and has determined how best to get there. When we allow him to guide us, he doesn't shout incessantly in our ear that we are going the right way. The intersections of life - those things that can send our lives in a completely different direction - simply pass by. As they do, we needn't be concerned, because they are not for us. But from time to time, as we approach a turn we need to take, he whispers firmly that it's time to turn.

As God calls us to make these turns, we sometimes ignore his directions. Sometimes it's because we think we know better, other times we are distracted and don't hear him. Sometimes we are forced to turn as the circumstances of life block us from continuing on our preferred course. When we don't follow his directions, like the GPS, he recalculates our course and prompts us accordingly in order to takes us where he wants us to go.

The people of Israel were on a forty-year journey to the Promised Land. It should have been only two years, but because they wouldn't listen to God's instructions, they had a much longer journey to take. The destination was always the same, but the turns were different due to their stubborn lack of faith. They really didn't like the turn God was telling them to take the first time he directed them to enter the Promised Land. So he recalculated their trip, which added an additional 38 years. They still got there, but it was a lot more bother, plus the fact that the whole adult generation who thought they knew better died during that time.

I know that no matter how good my GPS might be, it's not perfect. In fact, because of that I need to be careful not to fully depend on it. But God is different. His sense of direction and his determined plan for our lives are without error. That said, I am not always careful to follow his every prompt as I should. Sometimes I think I know better. Other times, for one reason or another, I am distracted and I don't hear him as I should.

You might be uncomfortable with my comparing God to a GPS. I don't blame you. Besides his perfect accuracy, it can be a lot harder to hear his directions than those given by these little devices. At the same time, however, God is determined to direct us. He is constantly at work to take us in the direction that he knows is best for us. He also knows we don't hear him that well most of the time. But, thankfully, he has far more methods at his disposal to get us where he wants us to go than the best GPS units.

How he communicates those prompts is his business. The less stubborn we are regarding the direction of our lives and the more we pay attention to his leading the more likely we will hear them and the more our lives will be a blessing - both to ourselves and to others.

TorahBytes: Changing Times (Masei)

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. And I will do to you as I thought to do to them. (Bemidbar / Numbers 34:55, 56; ESV)

Recently I saw a report from Israel about how a group of so-called ultra-orthodox were aggressively demonstrating against the presence of Messianic Jews in various towns. I refer to the ultra-orthodox as "so-called" because contrary to the popular understanding that they are more orthodox than the orthodox, many of their beliefs and practices are very different from those held by traditional orthodox Jewish people. The "ultra" descriptor actually emphasizes their tendency to be extreme, not their greater commitment to Judaism.

I think a lot of people would be shocked to hear of some of the things that they were saying against Jewish followers of Yeshua. It is one thing to disagree, to discuss, even to argue, but accusing Jewish Believers of being Hitlers and calling them infections that must leave Israel is extreme to say the least.

To give these religionists the benefit of the doubt, one might connect their stand to what is included in this week's Torah portion (parsha). Prior to entering the Land of Israel, God told the people through Moses that they must drive out the previous inhabitants. If not, then not only would these people be problematic to them, but God himself would bring the judgments that the previous inhabitants deserved on the people of Israel instead.

That's a pretty heavy duty directive and warning. Since the ultra-orthodox protesters regard Messianic Jews as apostates and idolaters, they lump them together with the wicked among the Gentiles, and just like the ancient inhabitants of the Land, they must be driven out.

Besides the fact that the ultra-orthodox don't represent mainstream Judaism - let alone a biblically derived Judaism, which even mainstream Judaism doesn't represent, I wonder if there are some people who respect their commitment to their understanding of truth and their lack of tolerance toward those who differ from them. Are they not being true to their understanding of God? In fact, is not their aggressive stance in keeping with the aggression of God himself against the ungodly?

While it is true that God commanded Israel of old to drive out the inhabitants of the land, we are under a very different mandate today. It's not that God has changed or that our understanding of God has changed. It is that the time of preparation, of which the conquest of the land was one aspect, ended long ago. The days of Moses and Joshua are not the same as the days of David and Solomon, or as the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, or as the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, or as the days of the Maccabees and Herod's Temple, or as the days of Yeshua and the apostles, which are the days we are in today. While God himself doesn't change and there is much of what he has decreed that is also unchanging, there is much that has changed. The protesters don't understand that.

While we live among people of differing viewpoints and faith, some of which we may even regard as dangerous and destructive, whether we live in Israel or anywhere else, we are under no directive to drive them out. Far from it! Instead, we are called to teach God's truth to all nations, including Israel. Yeshua through his followers fulfill the prophet Isaiah's words: "From Zion will go forth Torah and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3; see Matthew 28:18-20).

This is not a day of conquest, but the day of salvation for not only the people of Israel, but for all nations through the proclaiming of the good news of the Messiah's coming. Sadly the ultra-orthodox want to rid the Land of the very source of their own salvation, healing and help.

TorahBytes: Are You a Deist? (Mattot)

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5; ESV)

Years ago, I was sitting in the lunch room at my place of work, and my colleague, who claimed to be a believer in God, was eating an apple. For a reason I can't remember I said that God made that apple. I was surprised at how he didn't share my perspective. He believed that while God created the original apple tree, all apple trees and apples since then were only the result of the natural processes that God put in place at creation.

That viewpoint is called "deism." Deism affirms the existence of God and his role as Creator, but denies his direct ongoing involvement with the laws of nature he established. God, according to deists, is likened to a watchmaker who, having set the creation in motion at the beginning has simply let it run on its own since then.

A deist doesn't necessary believe that God is irrelevant as far as our day-to-day lives are concerned. As the Master Watchmaker, deists may accept that he knows best as to how his invention should be handled and maintained. Therefore we would do well to follow his instructions. Deists may feel pretty close to God as they study and obey the Scriptures and derive great benefit in following God's moral code as defined by the Bible. This would include experiencing his blessings and curses, since they are the God-ordained results of adhering to or neglecting his instructions. Deists have a lot in common with true Bible believers, but they're not.

Jeremiah, for example, was no deist. He claimed that God personally formed him in his mother's womb. Some, like my colleague with the apple, may respond with a "yes, but," saying that this is a metaphorical way to refer to God as the first cause in creation. He therefore can be credited as the creator of all humans without personally forming each and every human being.

The problem with that interpretation is that it doesn't take into account everything that Jeremiah says in the verse I quoted. Not only did God form him, God personally knew him and set him apart for a particular purpose from before he was born. This kind of intentional purposeful language which fills the pages of Scripture contradicts any notion that God might simply be an impersonal first cause. Our existence and the outworking of our lives are not like dominoes tipping over in sequence based on a single act of God at the beginning of human history. Rather, God has been actively and personally involved with his creation and people all this time.

There may be people who agree with this last statement and yet still be deists. You may have agreed with me about my friend's apple and yet not fully accept how much God is intimately involved in your life. Your sense of loneliness, your lack of direction, your fear and anxiety, or your bitterness may be symptomatic of your being a deist. You may believe in God and acknowledge him in many ways. You might love him and seek to obey him. You might believe that he is involved in his creation and even with people. And yet you fail to recognize his presence and involvement in your own life. Your deism might be evident in how you make decisions or your refusal to submit your lifestyle to God. You might think that God and business shouldn't mix. You might think that your addiction is beyond God's ability to help you. If that's so, you're a deist.

We are all deists to some extent as we need to grow in our understanding of how intimately God is involved in our lives and how much more involved he wants to be. The sooner we realize and accept this truth the better.

TorahBytes: When You're Right You're Right (Pinhas)

Moses brought their case before the LORD. And the LORD said to Moses, "The daughters of Zelophehad are right." (Bemidbar / Numbers 27:5-7; ESV)

This week's parsha (Torah reading portion) contains an incident where the orphaned daughters of a man by the name of Zelophehad came to Moses and other leaders to make a claim on their father's estate. It appeared that up to that time God's directives regarding inheritances did not include their particular situation. When Moses brought their case to God, God said that they were right and established a precedent for future generations.

Before we deal with the issue of God's response itself, I want to point out that these women had a voice. It seems to me that many people think that women in biblical times were allotted no respect whatsoever to the extent that the leaders would not have given them the time of day let alone consider their legal claim. The biblical record indicates something very different from the picture of complete repression that is commonly painted of the past.

Whatever this incident reveals about women in biblical times, note that God had no issue with accepting that their situation was not fully covered by his earlier stipulations. What they said was right, so God was fine with acknowledging that and making it a statute for future generations.

If God has no problem acknowledging that someone else was right, how much more should we be open to the input of others? If the God of the Universe - the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-wise, self-sufficient God - is humble enough to admit that his directives required input from others, then should not we - imperfect, finite, limited human beings - be more then glad when people point out gaps in our thinking.

It is instructive that Moses knew the difference between a legitimate issue that required going to God for clarification as opposed to dealing with yet another rebellious complaint. Perhaps he was able to pick up something in the attitude of the women or, more likely, he was quick to understand that this was an issue that needed to be addressed. We would do well to follow Moses' example. Not every concern is legitimate, but some are. We need God's wisdom and to have a thorough understanding of his Word to know when people are bringing legitimate concerns to us that might require going to God for clarification. We shouldn't feel threatened by legitimate issues that expose gaps in our thinking.

We should also be encouraged to go to God with legitimate concerns ourselves. Whether we simply haven't discovered what God's Word already says about a certain issue or we have encountered a life situation that is not directly addressed by the Scriptures, God is glad to hear us and will clarify our issues.

TorahBytes: Requirements (Balak)

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 6:8; ESV)

For the past several years I have been fulfilling various roles for a high-tech firm. More recently I have been working in the area of software testing. An essential aspect of software development is the establishment of requirements. Without requirements it is impossible to determine if the finished product is what was truly desired by the company. This is especially evident at the testing phase, since in order to determine whether something passes or fails necessarily implies that the item is sufficiently defined. One cannot claim something works or doesn't work if requirements were never clarified.

One of the interesting elements about this issue is that regardless of whether or not a project has clearly defined requirements, requirements always exist. They may be few; they may be many. They may be reasonably achievable or not. However difficult it might be for the initiators of a project to articulate their requirements, they will have - however vague they may be - expectations for that project. Expectations are requirements.

What's true in business is also true in every other aspect of life. All of us live each day with a sense of requirements. From determining what to wear, the route we take to work or school, how we interact with family, friends, colleagues, and the public - even though we do so unconsciously most of the time - we are constantly fulfilling requirements.

For some reason many of us - both in our personal and business lives - hesitate to determine requirements. Even though the clarification of requirements is key to successful business and living, we tend to prefer them to be vague. Perhaps this is due to the desire to keep every option open in case something better comes along. Or sometimes we so fear failure that we think that as long as we don't define our requirements, we cannot be held accountable for failure. I think it is evident that the fear of failure is, therefore, one of the greatest causes of lack of success. Unless we clarify requirements, we will never know if we are truly successful.

Thankfully, God, through the Scriptures, has provided us with clearly defined requirements. This week's Haftarah includes a high-level requirements statement. This statement is not designed to be understood as a simplistic list as if God expects us to only do these few things. Rather it is a summary that embodies the detail of God's extensive requirements.

The prophet Micah summaries God's requirements as, "to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God." If we are careful to fulfill these requirements, we can be confident that we are living life exactly the way God designed it. Any other agenda, goal, or desire is contrary to God's requirements. Even those of us who claim to be keen to do God's will have a tendency to ignore his requirements in favor of our own. We may imagine that God wants us to fill our lives with religious rituals, money, or grand projects, but if our efforts fail to stay within the confines of Micah's words, we will fail to meet God's requirements.

It is remarkable how much is covered by this requirement statement. God calls us "to do justice." This means we must be careful to always do what God has determined is right - both in our personal lives and unto others. We are "to love kindness." The word for kindness can also be translated "mercy". It's a way to speak of God-inspired love. As we strive to always do right, we must do so with an attitude of kindness, mercy and love. Justice and mercy are not contradictory. It's that neither are ever fully achieved unless they are held in balance. The final statement, "to walk humbly with your God," gives us proper context within which we do justice and mercy. The justice and mercy we are called to do is not a humanistic one which we determine on our own. Rather it must be that which has been defined by the God of Israel. This includes both our need to be in right relationship with him through trusting in the Messiah and to adhere to the abundant practical life directives we read throughout the Scriptures.

God in his graciousness has not left us with vague, undefined requirements. Rather he has told us what is good and what he requires of us. Therefore, let us be sure to pay close attention to his requirements and live.

In last week's TorahBytes message I got out of my comfort zone and posted an original song on YouTube. This week, I would like to share with you a song by Steven Curtis Chapman on this week's theme. It's a well-produced live version of his song The Walk. He is backed up by his two sons.

TorahBytes: Sing About It! (Hukkat / Rosh Hodesh)

Therefore the ballad singers say... (Bemidbar / Numbers 21:27; ESV)

The Bible has several examples of songs that were written to commemorate significant events in the lives of the people. The main purpose of singing such songs was to help the community remember the character and power of God. The retelling of the details of the event helps us to get in touch with very specific elements of God's character and power. It is one thing to proclaim that God is good and strong; it's another to recount specific good things he did and exactly how he did it. While it is good to be aware of God's characteristics in an abstract way, we connect with those abstract realities more effectively when we have examples to remember.

Retelling events through song has several other advantages over merely speaking or reading them. The process of writing the song provides the opportunity for the writer or writers to carefully ponder the details of the event and their significance to others. This results in more than the cold recalling of facts, but also allows for the retention of the meaning of the event for generations to come. Songs are a lot easier to remember and have the tendency to get passed on to future generations. The poetic nature of songs, especially well-written ones, give future generations the opportunity to not only relive the original event, but ponder its significance all over again and reflect upon how past lessons can be applied to the present. Due to the nature of song, some of this happens unconsciously.

In most cultures throughout history song has held a very important place. Our own day is no exception. In fact, there may have never been a time when song has been as prevalent as it is today. Radios, portable music players, and music in stores and other venues provide a constant stream of song. Never before have we had such easy access to a countless number of songs as we do today.

But when I think of the content of most songs, very few are of the nature of those which we find in the Scripture. Most songs (and there are exceptions) are about feelings and desires of the moment. These songs are highly emotional and subjective. This is not to say that there is no place for this kind of song - the Psalms include examples of such, though the perspective of the Psalms is very different from most contemporary songs. The tendency of much of today's songs reveals the current state of most people, which is obsessed with self and the pursuit of pleasure. This tendency has spilled over into much of what is considered as spiritually minded songs as well.

But wouldn't it be wonderful if we began to write and sing songs about the great works of God happening in our lives today? Have you, your family, or community gone through some significant event the recounting of which would benefit generations to come? Perhaps you or your loved ones have survived an ordeal of some kind? Did God see you through financial hardships, serious illness or accident? Maybe you are part of a congregation that almost dissolved but has seen a remarkable rejuvenation. Maybe your community is recuperating from a natural disaster. Maybe something terrible has happened to you or your loved ones, but there are some important lessons that should never be forgotten. Whatever it might be, it deserves a song. It might be sad or happy or both, but it needs to be sung.

Since it is always important to be true to one's own words, I thought I would take my own advice and write a song. You Broke Through expresses an aspect of the reality of God in my own life.

TorahBytes: Go to God (Korah)

They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD's assembly?" When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. Then he said to Korah and all his followers: "In the morning the LORD will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him." (Bemidbar / Numbers 16:3-5).

Moses went through a lot. He didn't want this job in the first place. Sure – originally, years earlier he thought he would try to help his people and took matters into his own hands. But now that he was older and wiser, the desire to be the Great Deliverer had been purged from his soul. It was God's idea to send him back to Egypt, and although he resisted, God prevailed and Moses became a leader.

I have heard it said that part of Moses’ time, being a shepherd in the wilderness, was to prepare him for leading the people through there. That is probably true, but not in the way some people think. It wasn't his knowledge of the wilderness itself that made him adequate for the job. It wasn't the day in and day out of sheep herding that taught him the necessary group dynamics of how to lead two million ex-slaves from bondage to conquest. The primary lesson he learned during those forty years prior to God's call was one of dependency upon God.

Moses had gone from status in Pharaoh's palace to the life of a fugitive, running for his life. Cut off from everything he knew, at age forty he had to start life over so to speak, and work a menial job.

This week's portion shows us how he dealt with the predicaments he faced. When challenged by Korah and those with him, the Torah says, "When Moses heard this, he fell facedown" (Bemidbar / Numbers 16:4). Then he spoke to them. Over and over again whether Moses was confronting Pharaoh, speaking to the leaders of Israel, or dealing with the people's grumbling, he looked to God.

What a way to react to being confronted! He got on his face! I don't think this was his way of showing reverence to Korah, or that Moses was completely overwhelmed. This was Moses' leadership posture. He looked to God. Then he dealt with the situation.

We don't find Moses finding guidance based on his vast learning acquired in Pharaoh's court, or from his own years of wilderness wanderings. Whenever he faced a situation he went to God, who gave him the wisdom he needed.

Isn't this what we all should do?

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him (James 1:5).

So the next time you are in a situation you cannot handle, maybe you should do what Moses did.

TorahBytes: Enter In (Shela Lekha)

...The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land... (Bemidbar / Numbers 13:7-9; ESV)

Last week I mentioned how the people of Israel missed their original opportunity to enter the Promised Land, then called Canaan, later called the Land of Israel. The failure of the people to trust God resulted in a delay of 38 years in which they wandered in the wilderness while almost that entire generation died out. While in the long run God's purposes were not thwarted and Israel eventually acquired the land promised to their forefathers, the generation that was delivered from slavery in Egypt failed to enter into God's purposes for their own lives.

This incident is referred to centuries later in Psalm 95, where the writer warns the people of his day to not be like the people who, in his words, hardened their hearts and failed to enter God's rest (see Tehillim / Psalm 95:7-11).

The mention of "rest" is interesting, since the conquest of Canaan was anything but restful. This leads us to see that rest is being used here, not in its most common sense of, in Webster's words, "a bodily state characterized by minimal functional and metabolic activities", but instead it is referring to the arrival to their destination, the receiving of their God-given inheritance.

This portion of Psalm 95 is quoted by the author of the New Covenant book of Hebrews, which is a letter written to a community of Jewish followers of Yeshua living most likely a short time before the destruction of the temple in the year 70 (see Hebrews 3:7-19). The reason for Hebrews was that this community was beginning to succumb to societal pressure and pull back from a clear, public expression of their messianic faith. As a result they were in danger of a plight similar to the people of Israel on the border of Canaan.

But what were they really in danger of? The Israelites in our Torah portion were standing at the border of the Promised Land and had to turn away from realizing their dream of acquiring their God-given home. What were the recipients of the book of Hebrews in danger of missing out on? They were at risk of losing their grasp of the greater inheritance of Israel found only in the Messiah. According to the book of Hebrews this included unrestricted access to God and participation in God's messianic mandate.

With both groups, the thing that threatened to prevent the people from entering into God's fullness for them was the fear of suffering and death. In both cases the pursuit of God's purposes would necessarily entail the encountering of great trouble and hardship. Acquiring the Promised Land meant war. Truly following Yeshua meant persecution and possible death. In both cases the intimidation of these hardships was sufficient to dissuade the majority of people from experiencing, each in their own day, the blessing and reality of God.

However, to be intimidated by these hardships reveals a great lack of understanding with regard to the reality of God. That is why Joshua and Caleb tried to persuade the people to not give into their fear. Because they truly knew God, they could trust him to take care of them even in the face of mortal challenges.

No different for the Messianic Jews centuries later and no different for all who follow Yeshua today. God has so much for his people to enter into, but it requires a confident trust in him in spite of the possible dangers.

TorahBytes: Delay (Be-Ha'alotkha)

In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran. (Bemidbar / Numbers 10:11, 12; ESV)

About 13 months after Israel left Egypt, they broke camp at Mt. Sinai and began the next stage of their journey to the Promised Land. The time spent at Sinai was one of the most essential periods in the history of Israel as God established his covenant and its directives with them. The Sinai covenant was the greatest revelation of God to this point and was necessary in the life of Israel for subsequent centuries until the time of the coming of the Messiah.

It would be about another year before God would lead the nation to the border of Canaan. They would then have the opportunity to acquire it, an opportunity they would lose as a result of unbelief. This is described in next week's Torah portion. The point I want make here is that it was God's will that Israel not acquire the Promised Land immediately. He designed a particular two-year process before there was any possibility of entering Canaan.

There are many good things that God wants us to experience, but he not only desires to bless us in this way, he knows the best process through which to bring us into these blessings. When I stop to think about it, why would I want to rush the Master of the Universe when he knows what is best for me and everyone else? Yet, so often I presume to be a better expert on timing than he is. It would be far better if I would accept his sense of timing and submit to his leading.

God's timing is not always due to his preferred process for us, however. We can actually delay what God wants to accomplish in our lives and the lives of those close to us. I already referred to how Israel's unbelief delayed their acquiring Canaan - a delay of thirty-eight years. In this week's portion we read of another, though shorter, delay that took place due to Aaron and Miriam's (Moses' brother and sister) challenge to Moses' leadership (12:1-16).

It may be difficult to understand how our actions could disrupt God's processes in our lives. But we can. The mismanagement of our lives can undermine God's will and set us back in our growth in God. Attempting to comfort ourselves with "God is in control" fails to grasp our God-given need to lovingly submit to his will. God doesn't overlook our disobedience. Through the Messiah we are forgiven, but actions still have consequences.

Miriam didn't have to be arrogant towards Moses and hold up the whole nation for a week. And we don't have to be like Miriam, holding up the plan of God in our own lives either.

If you have a sense that God's process in your life is taking too long, it would be good to see if it might just be your fault. It does no good to think that God will do whatever he will do regardless of how we live. On the other hand, you may be going through a God-designed process that will take as long as it takes. The sooner you recognize that, the more beneficial that process will be to you.