TorahBytes: Is God Stirring You? (Naso)

And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. (Shoftim / Judges 13:25; ESV)

This week's Haftarah tells the story of the birth of Samson. Samson is a most difficult Bible character, due to the fact that his behavior doesn't seem to always be in line with the divine inspiration under which he apparently operated. His life is an example of a biblical interpretive principle referred to as "descriptive, not prescriptive", meaning that just because something is mentioned in the Scriptures doesn't mean that it is to be taken as an example for us to follow. Samson's foibles are confusing to the reader, but at the same time it reminds us that the reality of God in a person's life doesn't justify their bad behavior. I am mentioning this because I wanted to discuss an aspect of God's reality in Samson's life without justifying everything he did.

God had definite plans for Samson and his role among his people for deliverance from their enemies. God gifted Samson with extraordinary strength and the courage to take on the enemy in great numbers. This week's portion concludes with the statement that at a certain time God's Spirit began to "stir him."

Samson was born with a calling, but there was a point in his life where God began to prod him to begin to do that for which he was called. At times in the Bible we read of people to whom God spoke, giving them specific direction as to a certain course of action. But this is not always the case, as we see here with Samson. Something was going on in his heart that urged him to do something about the dire circumstances of his day. This perhaps is similar to David when he heard Goliath's challenge to Israel and saw the fear prevalent among his own people. Without a specific directive from God, as far as we know, something happened inside of David that motivated him to take on the challenge.

Have you ever been stirred? You were living your normal life and something began to brew inside you? It might have been an all-of-a-sudden thing or it grew over a period of time. But the sense of stirring got to the point that you could in no way ignore it. You knew you had to do something - exactly what it was may not have been clear - but you had to do something. Whatever it was most likely had to do with change - changing the way things were to the way things should be. The thought of things continuing as they were was unbearable.

Of course not all stirrings we experience are of God. We can be stirred by anything from human pity to evil passions. Advertising, for example, depends on our being stirred to action, usually by making a purchase.

How then do we know when it is God who is stirring us? That's a question not always easy to answer. In Samson's case, he was called by God to "save Israel from the hand of the Philistines" (Shoftim / Judges 13:5; ESV). So when God began to prod him to fight against the Philistines, he knew it was in keeping with God's plan. You and I may not have received such a clear blueprint for our lives as did Samson, but the Scriptures are a general blueprint for our lives. As God prods us to confront the sub-standard situations in which we find ourselves, in order to subject them to his rule, we would be well-advised to heed that prodding. As to the exact course of action, we should seek God for wisdom and direction before doing anything. But as God gives that wisdom, we need to begin to act upon his stirrings.

TorahBytes: Depth (Shavuot 2)

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. (Habakkuk 3:17-19; ESV)

When I first came to know the reality of God through the Messiah over thirty years ago, it was pretty much me-centered. I was told that if I believed in Yeshua then I would be happy for the rest of my life. There was much more to it at the time. Yet while the person who shared this with me also explained my need of forgiveness before God and how the Hebrew Scriptures pointed to Yeshua as the Messiah, the motive for accepting what was presented to me was for the most part how it would make me happy.

Thankfully, God made himself known to me in spite of this inaccurate information. Don't get me wrong, it is not as if knowing God has no personal benefit. It's that knowing him is not primarily about me, my personal needs and my happiness. I would eventually learn that I would not be happy all the time, even though through Yeshua I have indeed experienced a depth of happiness that I never dreamed possible, but I also have experienced a type of peace and security in the midst of difficulties I never thought possible.

The depth of reality that comes from truly knowing the God of Israel is well-expressed through the words I read from this week's Haftarah. It is striking that this portion is a special reading for the festival of Shavuot (English: Pentecost or Weeks). Shavuot is a harvest festival, a time to rejoice over God's provision. But Habakkuk says that he will rejoice in God even when the harvest produces nothing. This is a difficult concept if we think, as I originally did, that following God is all about what we get out of it.

Habakkuk's words remind me of the Jewish men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who, in exile in Babylon, faced excruciating death due to their unwillingness to commit idolatry. Just before being thrown into the fiery furnace, they said to the king of Bablyon, "...our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up" (Daniel 3:17,18; ESV).

This understanding of God and life went far beyond their own selves, their personal welfare, comfort, and prosperity. They knew that there is a reality of life through knowing God that is far deeper than what many of us normally experience.

Habukkuk could rejoice in God even in the face of starvation. His strength and ability to face dire circumstances was not based on normal material prosperity but in God himself. This is no abstract spirituality detached from the realities of life, but a strength that enables us to live this life in the midst of enormous challenges.

In order to begin to grasp the depths of this reality we need to first turn away from our obsession with self and our desire to please self. It is as we submit ourselves to God and his will for our lives, whatever that may be, that we can find a joy and a strength beyond our wildest dreams.

TorahBytes: Guard the Truth (Bemidbar)

But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony. (Bemidbar / Numbers 1:53; ESV)

The tribe of Levi was set apart by God for the work of the Mishkan (English: Tabernacle) and later in Israel's history, the Temple. The cohanim (English: "priests") were a subset of the tribe of Levi as they were the sons of Aaron, Moses' brother, both of whom themselves were Levites. The cohanim were responsible for the sacrifices, while the rest of the Levites looked after all sorts of other things regarding the Mishkan. One of the Levites' responsibilities was to guard the Mishkan. According to the verse above, the reason for this was "...so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel." The protection of true religion with its priesthood and rituals was for the welfare of the people.

Religious leaders need to stand guard on behalf of the things of God. The preservation of true religion is necessary to ensure that people relate to God according to his reality. Otherwise it is not really God they are encountering. And if it is not really God whom people encounter, they will suffer harm through delusion, demonic influence, and immorality.

In order to effectively stand guard for God's Truth, we must first understand that God isn't the one who needs protecting. God is God and his truth is eternal. He will show himself to be who he is and his truth will prevail. We are the ones who suffer when God's Truth is perverted. We protect God's Truth, not because God needs us to, but rather because people need us to.

Second, religious leaders don't stand guard for God's Truth to protect themselves. Too often religious leaders are threatened by perceived attacks on the things they espouse. But if their motive is to protect self and position, they will not be able to discern the difference between an attack on the Truth or a necessary correction to their own errors,

What does need to be protected is the Truth of God as given to us in the Scriptures. Too many people who otherwise claim to uphold the revelation of God through the Bible have become careless in preserving an accurate understanding of God's Truth. In most cases this carelessness is due to one of three things. The first one is a commitment to one's tradition over and against the Truth of Scripture. In this case what is being protected is something other than the Truth itself. As a result the Truth of God is neglected and/or made inaccessible to others.

The second cause of carelessness stems from an outright denial of God's Truth. These are leaders who remain part of traditions that at one time carefully guarded the things of God, but now have turned their backs on the Truth, purposely redefining it due to their denial of Scripture.

The third cause comes from a desire to make God's reality accessible to as many people as possible. These leaders tend to think of the notion of guarding God's Truth as harmfully restrictive. They fail to see that preserving an accurate revelation of God is necessary for people to truly know the God they are anxious to make known. By not insisting that the God they claim to offer people is in strict accordance to the truth of Scripture, they are actually doing people far more harm than good.

When leaders are careful to stand guard for God's Truth, insisting that he is accurately represented to the world around us, then people will have the opportunity to really know him and be effectively equipped to live life the way God designed us to.

TorahBytes: Are You Well Rooted? (Be-Har & Be-Hukkotai)

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. (Jeremiah 17:7,8; ESV)

Most of the time you can't tell how people are doing just by looking at them. While some people are better at hiding their struggles than others, it seems that most people are pretty good at it. I continue to be surprised at some of the horrific things people go through in life and the amount of unresolved trauma that haunts them. Perhaps it shouldn't surprise me due to my own hardships, but like many others, I have tended to think that my negative experiences have been unique to me rather than seeing them as the common plight of human beings. I know that not everyone goes through extreme traumatic experiences, but they are far more common than we may admit.

While trouble and trauma are common human experiences, God did not design us to face such things on our own. Rather he has availed himself to us by providing sustenance for those times when our own resources are completely depleted. The picture painted through the prophet Jeremiah is that of a tree whose roots are driven down deep into a fresh water source. Whatever might be going on above ground, the tree's nourishment is derived from that rich underground source. That which determines the health and strength of the tree is hidden from view, yet it is the tree's secure connection to this life source that enables it to withstand the harsh realities above the surface.

So it is for those who trust in God. Trusting in God is not simply fulfilling religious rituals or spouting a creed. It isn't based on your parents' supposed faith or some decision or experience you have had in the past. Trusting in God is a continuous giving of one's life to God in such a way that you accept his forgiveness and salvation through his provision of the Messiah, and allow him to determine the course of your life by following his directives. Trusting in God is not a passive state of non-engagement with the realities of life. On the contrary, it is a cooperation with God as he desires to drive your roots deep down into himself so that you will be able to withstand all that he is leading you to face in life.

The picture of the healthy tree flourishing in the midst of harsh circumstances is contrasted to those who trust in people, whether themselves or others (see 17:5,6). With no connection to a nourishing life source, like a shrub in the desert, this person is blown away when hardships come.

Though we often try, we cannot control our circumstances. Harsh circumstance are common to the human experience. Yet, we were not designed to face these things alone, left to our own meager resources. God intends that we should live our lives dependent on him. Moreover, the person who trusts in God is called "blessed." This is not about mere survival in hard times, it is about flourishing - even being a resource to others - when everything around us seeks to suck us dry.

Access to God's nourishing resources is available to anyone who puts their trust in him through Yeshua the Messiah. But perhaps this is something that you have done, yet you seem to be more like the dry shrub than the flourishing tree. Your willingness to admit it is your first step to effectively connecting with God's life-giving resources. Perhaps you have been trusting in yourself and others more than in him. Ask God to drive your roots down deep until you know his refreshing, life-giving nourishment.

TorahBytes: Holiness Matters (Emor)

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to Aaron and his sons so that they abstain from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they dedicate to me, so that they do not profane my holy name: I am the LORD." (Vayikra / Leviticus 22:1,2; ESV)

I don't imagine that the subject of holiness matters to most people. I would guess that most people don't even know what holiness is. So let's start there. The world "holy" is the English translation of the Hebrew word "kadosh", which has to do with something being set apart from common use and given over to God. The priests, for example, were considered holy, not because there was anything special about them in and of themselves, but rather because their lives were dedicated to God's service. The sacrificial system itself included the use of items such as pots, pans, knives, forks, and so on. And just like the priests, what made these items holy was that they were to be used only for God.

It is interesting that God himself is called holy. This likely refers to God's absolute otherliness in contrast to human beings. When we call God, "holy", we are making a statement that he is completely otherly, absolutely separated unto himself. This is in contrast to the prevailing spirit of paganism that confuses God with his creation.

The third book of the Torah of which we are in the midst deals quite a bit with the subject of holiness. The verses I read at the beginning refer to how the priest had to make sure that they did not handle holy things when they, for one reason or another, were not fit to do so. It was a very serious matter to mistreat holy things. It could have cost someone their life to transgress one of God's holiness directives.

The seriousness of the holiness laws stem from the holiness of God himself, which as I said relates to who he is. To belittle God's holiness is to misrepresent him. To misrepresent God is not just some little inaccuracy that could be easily overlooked. To misrepresent him is to deny him entirely and fabricate a false god.

One of the greatest things that the Messiah accomplished for us through his sacrificial death and resurrection is that he made us holy. Like the priests of old, if we truly entrust our lives to Yeshua, we are set apart to God's service. Like the priests we are not special in and of ourselves, we have been made distinct because we have been dedicated to God.

Since God has made us holy, we need to understand the importance of holiness. Some may think that because our holiness is solely based on what God has done for us through Yeshua, we needn't be concerned about it anymore as if holiness no longer mattered. But since holiness is about who God is, then our holiness, just like that of the ancient priests, is to be a reflection of who God really is.

Holiness requires that God be represented accurately according to his own self-disclosure. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - the one who sent Moses and Aaron to free us from bondage in Egypt. He is the God of Joshua through whom the Promised Land was conquered. He is the God of King David through whom the Kingdom of Israel was established. He is the God of the Hebrew prophets, who prophesied both exile and restoration - a restoration of Israel to God through the Messiah, Yeshua of Nazareth.

God is not just a god of concept and spirituality. While he is indeed a God of love and forgiveness, these are some of his attributes, not the essence of his being. To reformulate God's self disclosure into images contrary to that which he himself has chosen is to misrepresent him; it is to disregard his holiness.

We must avoid the temptation to make the God of Israel more appealing to people. God's revelation of himself may be offensive to some, but recasting the true God into something other than himself is deceptive, which is of no benefit to anyone, not to mention the disdain it shows towards the true God.

As God's holy people we must be the set-apart people we are called to be. For it is only through our commitment to holiness that God will be seen for who he really is.

TorahBytes:Pragmatism Doesn't Work (Aharei Mot & Kedoshim)

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD." (Vayikra / Leviticus 18:1-5; ESV)

I was having a discussion with one of my son's politically savvy friends who was defending pragmatism as a foundational value for society. Merriam-Webster defines pragmatism as "a practical approach to problems and affairs," which commonly is taken to mean making decisions based upon what works rather than upon principle. This carries a subtle or not- so-subtle critique of idealists, who seem to want to stick to a set of ideals whether or not those ideals produce anything.

The pragmatist's criticism of the idealist is at times well warranted. Idealists can tend to so consume themselves with their grand theoretical notions that they don't allow their ideals to be proven in the real world. At the same time the pragmatist's commitment to "what works" tends to suffer from short-sightedness. Their supposed expertise in getting the job done doesn't easily embrace a long-term view. The pragmatist's apparent short-term gain rarely takes into account associated long-term losses.

One of the reasons for the dominance of pragmatism is un-pragmatic idealism. Understandably when a society's ideals don't seem to work, they will be challenged. While this critique of society's ideals is valid, the solution to ineffective ideals is not necessarily the giving up of those ideals. In fact, it is possible that the ineffectiveness of our ideals may have more to do with our failure to truly adhere to them, rather than an inherent weakness in the ideals themselves. There is nothing that renders grand ideals more ineffective than when we who claim to abide by them, actually deny them by our actions. That's called hypocrisy.

What the pragmatist fails to recognize and the hypocrite knows nothing about is that God's ideals are pragmatic; they really work! They may not deliver the kinds of immediate results that many of us prefer. Following God's ways can be inconvenient, difficult, painful, even embarrassing at times, but they produce long-lasting benefits. Note that following God's ways is also exhilarating, joyful, meaningful, and rewarding, but a focus on short-term results can rob us of these blessings even in the shorter term.

Is it that difficult to see that a good part of the reason for the current economic crisis, the breakdown of the family, and the sexually-transmitted-disease epidemic is due to the rejection of God's ideals in favor of short-sighted pragmatism? And yet I wonder how many of us think that this current crisis will be fixed with the very pragmatism that helped create the crisis in the first place. Pragmatism is not really pragmatic. If our so-called solutions just create more problems, they are not solutions. Pragmatism doesn't work.

It is only as we return to God's ways that we as individuals and communities will find real solutions to today's problems. Real commitment to God's ideals is the only thing that will truly work.

TorahBytes: We Cannot Contain God (Tazri'a & Mezorah)

Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word." (Isaiah 66:1,2; ESV)

One of the themes of the book of the prophet Isaiah is the contrast between the futility of idols and the reality of God. An idol is made by human hands, has no inherent ability, and is simply an object that exists within the normal confines of time and space. God, on the other hand, is the creator of all things, does whatever pleases him, and is not limited nor contained by the material world. In the beginning of the last chapter of Isaiah, God himself speaks of the irony regarding his own temple in Jerusalem. While he decided in some sense to dwell within this man-made structure, did people really think that this was his true home? Did they think that they possessed a building that was actually God's resting place? Did they really think that the God of Israel, the Creator and Master of the Universe, was contained within his temple in the same way idols of the pagan world were contained within theirs?

The answer is obviously "No!" God is beyond our comprehension and control. That he would allow himself to have anything to do with human beings is based solely upon his own self determination. There is nothing we can do to manipulate him into action. Yet throughout history it has been so easy to misinterpret his desire to bless us with the notion that he is putting himself under our control. His presence among us is wrongly taken to mean that we now somehow possess him. His prior blessings become the justification of current wrongdoing. What was meant to represent the reality of God in our midst to remind us to submit to his will becomes a trophy to which we appeal in order to justify our own desires.

The temple was to demonstrate God's desire to dwell among his beloved creatures. He chose Abraham and the nation of Israel as part of his plan to restore our right relationship with him which was lost in the Garden of Eden. That the temple like just about every other token of blessing God bestowed upon us would become our focus instead of God himself served to show our inability to properly relate to God. This was all in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, who, through his sacrificial death and his resurrection, would provide all that was necessary to restore us to God.

Yet, those of us who have come to know God through Yeshua the Messiah repeat the same mistake of God's people of old. We mistakenly confuse his expressions of mercy, kindness, and love to think that he is now under our control. We somehow think we have him under lock and key within our definitions, denominations, and ministries.

Isaiah's words are clear that God does give his attention to people, but to whom exactly? God says through him, "But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word." God doesn't dwell within man-made structures, whether they be physical buildings or theological and philosophical ideologies. God regards humble people who fear his every word. This is not to say that physical buildings and theology have no place as some people think. Just because knowing God is first and foremost a matter of the heart doesn't negate the need for the effective use of facilities nor does it undermine the importance of theological truth. For any man-made system, whether they are ancient traditions or post-modern apparently unorganized chat sessions, easily degenerate into idols of human control, unless we remain in a posture of humble submission to God's word.

TorahBytes: Pay Attention to Detail (Shemini)

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. (Vayikra / Leviticus 10:1,2; ESV)

Both this week's Torah and Haftarah portions speak of the dire consequences of neglecting to carefully pay attention to how we relate to God. Following a most dramatic revelation of God to the people in response to their adherence to his word, Aaron's sons offer what the Torah calls "unauthorized fire". Exactly what it was they did, we do not know, but that is not the point. What is clear is that they approached God in a way that was wrong, and it cost them their lives.

I have mentioned on other occasions that there are things I read in the Scriptures that I don't like; this being one of them. That these two men would be burned to death sounds extreme. Perhaps it is, but that's what God did. That's how serious it was. The reader of the story is supposed to understand that. The story is meant to impact us, to shock us, to instill within us the fear of God.

King David should have known this. As a man "after God's own heart", he knew that his directives were meant to be followed. Why he neglected God's word on the occasion of bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, we don't know, but he did. As we read in this week's Haftarah, his neglect resulted in another unnecessary death:

And David and all the house of Israel were making merry before the LORD, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. (2 Samuel 6:5-7; ESV)

In the case of Nadab and Abihu, we don't know their motive, but in David's case his heart was for God. He and those with him were so happy about restoring the precious Ark to a place of honor. Yet, David failed to do this wonderful thing in the way God had prescribed. Instead of having Levites carry the Ark on their shoulders, they transported it on an ox cart. When this unauthorized mode of transportation malfunctioned, Uzzah did what seemed right to him. He grabbed the Ark and God killed him.

Again, you and I may not like this story. David didn't. Aaron didn't like that God killed his two sons (see Vayikra / Leviticus 10:19). But how we feel about God and his ways is beside the point. God, the Creator of the universe and Lord of all, sees many things very differently from you and me. What we need to accept is that the way life works has nothing to do with how you and I feel about it. We may not like or appreciate how God does things, but seeing that he is God, he may do whatever he wishes.

Neglecting God's directives is killing us today. It may not be as dramatic as these stories, but no less real. Broken relationships, dysfunctional families, disease, lack of purpose and meaning, and addictions are just some of the consequences of our failure to pay careful attention to God's word. That people who have never read the Scriptures don't live according to God's ways is one thing, but that those who claim to know and honor the Scriptures fail to pay attention to its details is another.

We need to learn the lessons of these terrible stories. We need to make sure we know God's directives and follow them carefully. His word may seem to be inconvenient, unreasonable or irrelevant at times. But they are still his ways and to neglect them will result in negative consequences, whereas to abide by them is life.

TorahBytes: Tell the Story (Pesach)

You shall tell your son on that day, "It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt." (Shemot / Exodus 13:8; ESV)

Pesach (English: Passover) starts this year the evening of April 8. At Pesach we gather together for a Seder (pronounced say'-der) - a ceremonial meal designed to retell the story of our deliverance from being slaves in Egypt many centuries ago. For Jewish people Pesach reinforces this crucial part of our history as our defining moment. Our beginnings are in the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but our peoplehood is defined as those whom God himself delivered from bondage in Egypt.

The events of the past, both good and bad, are what shape us as individuals and communities. Knowing our history provides us with understanding of who we are. Today's overemphasis on the individual gives us the impression that we can define ourselves apart from our history, but that is plain nonsense. Just as we cannot define our own genetic code, but have inherited it from our past through our parents, so we enter this life with our historical background pre-defined, setting the stage for whatever part each one of us will play.

Pesach reminds us that we have a story to tell, a story that reaches far back in time. At Pesach we recite these words verbatim to our children: "It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt." Even though we were not literally in Egypt at the time of the deliverance, these words intimately connect us to this past event. We are the children of the Great Deliverance. We are the descendants of the slaves set free. We are the benefactors of God's rescuing power. We tell the story of Pesach so as not to forget. We tell the story so our children would know who they are.

However, to effectively tell the story, we must do more than simply go through the motions. We may recite the Seder much in the same way as our parents and grandparents did, but do we really grasp that this story really is our story? Whether we do or not doesn't change the reality of our past, nor does it change our true identity. Yet failure to effectively tell the story cuts us off from the impact of that reality. We are slaves set free. More than that! We are slaves set free not due to our own ingenuity, strength, or popularity, but rather we are slaves set free by the hand of God. What a story to tell!

But there's more! This story, however wonderful it is, is the backdrop of an even greater story of deliverance. What God did by rescuing us from slavery in Egypt foreshadows our deliverance from slavery to sin and death. What we as a people experienced in Egypt is a taste of what all people may experience through the Messiah.

Just as we need to retell the story of our deliverance from slavery in Egypt, so we need to retell the story of our greater deliverance in the Messiah. It is fitting that Yeshua directed us to do just that when he celebrated his last Pesach with his disciples. The matza (English: unleavened bread), the wine and the other elements of the Seder, which were designed to be part of the retelling of the earlier deliverance, now also retell the story of the greater deliverance.

Through the Messiah these stories of deliverance can become the stories of everyone, Jew and non-Jew alike, who trusts in him. God invites us to make these stories our stories. And once these stories are truly our stories, then we will truly have a story to tell.

TorahBytes: Preparation (Zav)

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. (Malachi 3:24 [English 4:5]; ESV)

According to the synagogue calendar, the Sabbath before Passover (Passover this year begins the evening of April 8) is a special Sabbath called "Shabbat Hagadol" (the Great Sabbath). Shabbat Hagadol commemorates God's command four days before the first Passover in which all Israelite households were to take into their homes the lamb they would slaughter.

Effectively fulfilling a task often requires significant preparation. Whether it be a meal, a trip, a test, or a meeting, neglecting sufficient preparation almost certainly guarantees failure. Good preparation, on the other hand, is basic to success. Note that preparation is not just about being aware of the future task. Worry requires awareness, but produces nothing of value. Similarly just busying oneself in the name of preparation doesn't do any good. Effective preparation requires appropriate and thorough attention to whatever might be required in advance of the future task.

The chapter in which this week's special Haftarah reading for Shabbat Hagadol is found speaks of preparation. It tells of how God would send a messenger, Elijah, who will prepare the way before him. This is like when a dignitary or celebrity sends an advance team prior to his arrival to ensure that everything is ready before he arrives, so that when he does arrive he is able to most effectively accomplish the desired outcome.

Effective preparation puts us in a state of readiness. In this passage, God whose way was to be prepared before him, would arrive suddenly. This suggests that even though preparations would be made, God's arrival would still be somewhat unexpected. This makes the preparations that much more important. In order to receive God's coming properly the people would need to be prepared and remain prepared. A picture that comes to mind is of getting a fancy dinner ready for very important guests and then having to wait for their arrival. We know they are coming, but we don't know exactly when. As the minutes go by, we wonder if something may have gone wrong. At that point we have the choice to either keep everything prepared as is, so that everything will be as it should be when they arrive, or we can go on with the dinner without them and risk the embarrassment of their arrival, no longer prepared as we should be. Worse than that, we may give up on waiting altogether and miss their arrival.

Celebrating Passover is the reminder of God's provision of a lamb so that his people could escape his judgment and be set free to journey to the Promised Land. Sufficient preparation was absolutely necessary to ensure the people's participation in their deliverance. Passover is also the reminder of God's provision of another Lamb - the Messiah - whose preparation was spoken of by the prophet. Sadly many were not prepared for his sudden arrival. Now we prepare for his return. The words of the prophet remain relevant, but how long before he returns, we don't know. Yeshua is coming again, let's be prepared.

TorahBytes: Idolatry (Vayikra)

Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, "Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!" And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god!" (Isaiah 44:16,17; ESV)

In this passage, God through the prophet is mocking the practice of idolatry. The picture is of a person taking a piece of wood, using some of it to meet his personal needs (cooking and heating) and constructing a god from what's left over. It is possible that people in Isaiah's day wouldn't really use the exact same piece of wood for idols, cooking and heating, but rather this may be a humorous way to challenge people to realize that wood is just wood. How could anyone consider worshipping something made with their own hands? That the same material out of which idols are made is also used to meet basic human needs just makes the whole idea appear that much more ridiculous.

I would assume that even people who would consider themselves atheist or agnostic would agree with Bible believers on this one. Bowing before a statue and asking it for help is truly ridiculous. For sophisticated thinkers, we look at such religious practices from an enlightened perspective. Unlike people of old who believed that they had to perform all sorts of rituals to appease the gods in order to prevent disaster and ensure prosperity, we think that we possess the correct understanding of the forces of nature and have learned to effectively manipulate them to our advantage.

The scientifically minded person, especially of the agnostic or atheistic sort, looks at the natural universe and says, "That's all there is!" For these people living life is about interacting with the natural forces and that's all.

Bible believers disagree, since the Bible clearly teaches that there is more to the universe than what can be perceived by our senses. Besides God himself, the Bible speaks of such creatures as angels and demons. Supernatural spiritual forces affect life on earth. The Bible also teaches us how to properly relate to these spiritual forces, not in the manner common in many counterfeit religions, but through the humble service of the God of Israel in the name of the Messiah.

If we accept the Bible's view of life, then the natural universe is not "all there is". In fact, the natural universe is just one part - although a highly significant part - of something of great purpose and meaning. For the atheistic or agnostic naturalist on the other hand, meaning is completely arbitrary based on personal preferences, which is the same as saying there is no meaning at all. Instead of meaning and purpose, material things are all there is.

Since the Bible teaches that material things are only one part of God's plans and purposes in the universe, stuff should be kept in balance with other areas of life and should be regarded as tools in the service of God. Material things should never be our focus.

While we don't literally bow down to material things, once we grasp the reality of God and the true meaning of life, then our obsession with things begins to look as ridiculous as the idol worshipper Isaiah describes. The idol worshipper uses some of his stuff for his basic needs of cooking and heat and then he pleads to the stuff left over for help. Is that so very different from us? Even if we don't actually plead with our stuff to deliver us, in what do we find our security and well being? Are they based on our relationship to God or on material things?

What would Isaiah say to us today? Perhaps something like this: "With some of his income he buys food for himself and his family and pays the heating bill. With the rest he fills his home with all sorts of things to which he gives his heart and soul, saying, 'Thank you for delivering me.'"

TorahBytes: The Manifest Presence of God (Va-Yakhel & Pekudei)

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (Shemot / Exodus 40:34,35; ESV)

An important teaching of the Scriptures is the omnipresence of God, which is another way to say that the God of Israel is everywhere. As King David wrote, "Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!" (Psalm 139:7,8; ESV)

Even though God is everywhere, that doesn't mean that he makes himself known everywhere in the exact same way. This is what we see at the completion of the Mishkan (English: Tabernacle). The cloud was a visible and powerful expression or manifestation of God. The overwhelming nature of God's presence in the cloud was such that Moses could not enter the Mishkan while the cloud was there. This didn't mean that the Creator of the Universe was exclusively contained within this cloud. It is that this was a special and tangible way in which God revealed himself. This type of expression of God's presence is often called "the manifest presence of God."

Some Bible believers deny that God still manifests himself in this way today. They think that legitimate, biblical spirituality is exclusively conceptual, something of thought and faith only. While it is good to celebrate God's tangible reality among people in ancient times, they think we should be satisfied with the Bible stories alone. When we do this we may not realize that we are denying the very stories we claim to hold dear. The Bible attests that God makes his presence known in various tangible ways. To claim that his manifest presence was a reality in Bible times only is to set an arbitrary limit on what God is free to do.

Other people confuse God's manifest presence with his omnipresence. While we should acknowledge that God is everywhere, his manifest presence is special. Yet for some it seems that their awareness of God must always be highly dramatic, emotional and tangible. But since God's manifest presence is not actually evident to the extent they claim, they unknowingly belittle the very reality they seek to affirm.

Having said that, it appears that God does want to make himself known in very tangible ways far more than most of us realize. Just as the cloud filled the Mishkan, so he fills people individually and corporately today. Yeshua said, referring to both his followers of his day and all who would believe in him later, "The glory that you have given me I have given to them..." (John 17:22). The manifest presence of God that was revealed through the Messiah has been given to his people. Note that he didn't say "The glory that you have given me I will give to them", but rather, "The glory that you have given me I have given to them." Just as the glory of the Lord filled the Mishkan, so the glory of the Lord has filled Yeshua's followers. Therefore the manifest presence of God is to be found in and through Yeshua's followers.

God is indeed everywhere, but he wants to makes himself known through his people in very special ways. The more we realize that his manifest presence lives in us, the more his presence will be manifested through us.

TorahBytes: Free Will (Ki Tissa)

Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, "Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:13,14; ESV)

Some of you may understand this sort of thing better than I, but I was really surprised recently when I heard an atheistic scientist claim that his rejection of God or any other supernatural forces led him to conclude that there was no such thing as human free will. I had thought that if someone didn't believe in God, then objective morality didn't exist, thus giving people freedom to do whatever they liked. But if I understand the scientist correctly, he was saying that since we live in an exclusively naturalistic universe, everything is the product of physical forces. Human activity on Earth may appear to be self determining, but that is only an illusion. The whole universe is like a highly complex arrangement of dominos where the falling of one domino causes another one to fall. The patterns and beauty of life are simply the result of absolute randomization.

Until I heard this I had thought that determinism, that is the concept that all of life's outcomes are preset, required the belief in a supernatural force, who asserts sovereign control of the universe. But now I see with the help of this scientist's statement that the existence of human free will is due to God.

There is a lot of confusion among Bible believers over the issue of free will. For some free will is regarded as absolute as if God never takes the upper hand in human affairs. For others free will is made to be nonsense similar to the way atheists understand it. For these people it only looks as if we have free will, when in fact God is working behind the scenes like a puppeteer controlling our every word and action.

One of the problems with all this is the word, "free". It is obvious that humans don't have free will in an absolute sense. We cannot will to do absolutely anything we want. We are limited by all sorts of factors. While most of us can learn to perform well beyond our perceived limitations, on our own we cannot do anything beyond our actual limitations.

The question that remains is if God has given free will to people, how free are we? I don't know if we can say for sure, but the Bible provides us with significant insight.

Purim (the Festival of Esther; see the Book of Esther for details) is a one-day festival that begins this Monday evening (March 9). Purim commemorates the turning of the tables on the Jewish people's enemies in the face of destruction. The story of Esther is a wonderful weaving together of the sovereign work of God and human free will.

As the story goes, the Jewish people were in trouble yet again. The resolution to their predicament came about by a fascinating set of events and the purposeful actions of Mordecai and Esther. One of the unique features of the book of Esther is that it is the only book of the Bible to not have a single explicit reference to God. God's supposed silence is often legitimately interpreted as an emphasis on how God often works on his people's behalf behind the scenes, so to speak.

The effective, yet hidden, working of God doesn't mean that the people involved had no actual part to play. Mordecai's encouragement to Esther to speak on behalf of their people well expresses the interweaving of God's sovereignty and human free will. Mordecai was certain that God would take care of his people. Esther's refusal to be involved would not prevent God's plan for the Jewish people from succeeding. But her refusal would have dire consequences for her and her own family.

There is no sense in this story that every aspect of the outcome of the situation was preset by God and thus could not be affected by people's decisions. At the same time the overall outcome was not dependant on Esther or any other human being. While Esther was God's chosen instrument to save her people, she was free to decide to accept or refuse the challenge.

To think that the outcome of history is dependent on human decisions is ridiculous. Yet God in his sovereignty created human beings whom he calls to freely respond to his will. While we can never force his hand, let us not expect him to twist our arms before we do what's right.

TorahBytes: Putting It On (Tezavveh & Zakhor)

For Aaron’s sons you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them for glory and beauty. And you shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the hips to the thighs; and they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they bear guilt and die. This shall be a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him. (Shemot / Exodus 28:40-43; ESV)

My wife and I were recently treated to a two-night getaway at a lovely manor in the country. The high-quality restaurant had a dress code for the evening meal. It has always struck me how the putting on of nicer clothes makes such a difference in how we feel about ourselves and our surroundings, as well as on how others relate to us.

Years ago I had a friend who was a taxi driver. The company he worked for didn't impose a particular standard of dress, but when he started wearing suits; his customers began to treat him differently, calling him "Sir" for example.

I don't think that the wearing of nice clothes made my wife and I or my friend different people. Wearing nice clothes or a uniform doesn't transform a person into something he or she is not. At the same time how we present ourselves does communicate something about ourselves. It could be anything from our economic situation, the people group to which we belong, our likes and preferences, or our desires and intentions. Of course it is possible that what we wear may not be consistent with who we really are. If I wore a police uniform in public, I would be giving the false impression that I was a police officer. On the other hand, when a police officer wears a uniform, it not only communicates to others his authority, but reminds him to behave accordingly. The uniform communicates something whether it be true or false.

In the days of the Mishkan and the Temple, the priests were required to wear special clothing whenever they performed their duties. To fail to do so would have resulted in dire circumstances. It is not as if they were priests on the basis of their clothing. Not wearing their priestly garments would not make them less of who they were. Still, their clothing was a necessary part of their performing their priestly duty. Priests not only played a special role in the community, they had to look the part as well. They physically and mentally could have performed their duties in regular clothing, but they could not truly represent their position if they didn't take the time to put on their special priestly clothes.

One of the contrasts between the Old and New Covenants is a shift of emphasis from external forms to internal reality. Under both covenants what God is seeking to communicate both to and through us is very much the same, but how he does so is quite different. With the coming of the Messiah and the loss of the Levitical priesthood due to the destruction of the Temple, the external elements of worship and service to God have been internalized in those who trust and follow the Messiah. What was at one time necessary through things such as clothing and other objects is now experienced in and through the living out of our day-to-day lives.

As the priests had to purposely put on special clothing to fulfill their special role in the world, so we too must do the same, but not literally. Rather we are to purposely apply the elements of a godly lifestyle to our behavior (see Colossians 3:1-17). While it is not our deeds that make us God's children, godly living requires decisive, purposeful actions similar to the putting on of special clothing.

At times purposely putting on godly behavior can feel like play acting - more like a costume than a uniform. Being kind, generous, disciplined, and merciful - to name a few godly traits - may not seem natural to us. But we shouldn't think that just because we possess the inner reality of God's presence in our lives that godly behavior will automatically spring forth without our participation. It is similar to dressing up to eat in a fancy restaurant. If it is something we haven't done before or only done on rare occasions, it could feel quite strange. But it's not about feelings. Once we realize that we, like the priests of old, have a special place in the world, then we also realize that it requires our putting on special behavior.

TorahBytes: Voluntary Giving (Terumah)

The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me." (Shemot / Exodus 25:1,2; ESV)

Through Moses God initiated a national building project. By voluntary contributions materials were to be collected for the building of the mishkan (English: tabernacle). The mishkan was a large tent-like structure where the sacrifices were performed. It was to be the focal point for the entire nation and the place where, in some sense, God's presence was to reside.

Giving to this project was absolutely voluntary. This is in contrast to the great many obligations God laid upon the Israelites. We are not told why contributing to the mishkan was not compulsory, it just wasn't. What we do know is that this project was so successful, Moses had to tell the people to stop giving (See Shemot / Exodus 36:6).

It is a wonderful thing when God initiates something and his people respond so positively. I don't know what would have happened if the people would not have contributed as they did. Would Moses have given additional appeals? Would God, who originally called for voluntary contributions, oblige the people after all?

I tend to think that since God had determined that this project was to be funded voluntarily that he knew the risk and would not change course. Now, being God he knew how the people would respond, but that brings up the issue of God's foreknowledge, which I don't want to discuss at the moment.

What I do want to discuss is our need to know the difference between obligatory and voluntary giving. These two kinds of giving exist throughout the entire Bible. There are some things to which God obliges us and other things to which he invites us to be involved without obligation.

Caring for our families is obligatory (Matthew 15:1-6; 1 Timothy 5:8). Providing for our leaders both governmental and congregational is part of our God-given duty (Romans 13;6,7; 1 Timothy 5:17). But not all giving is obligatory. While the Bible encourages us to be generous toward those in need, it is wrong to oblige people or attempt to manipulate them in order to extract funds from them (1 Corinthians 9:7). If God's own building project was funded by voluntary contributions, how much more should our projects be?

I wish more congregations would be upfront with their real needs, especially when it comes to the welfare of those who legitimately serve its members. Active congregational members should be adequately informed about the needs of those who serve them and encouraged to do their duty as members to help meet their needs. But when congregational leadership have visions (perhaps from God) to attempt major projects, whether it be for buildings or other things, we would do well to follow God's example: lay out the vision before the people and let those give whose hearts move them in this way. If God hasn't obligated the people to give, who are we to so burden them? God loves a cheerful giver. Those who don't want to give should not give.

Don't get me wrong. As I have already mentioned, in situations when we are truly obliged to give, we must give. I also understand that people need to be taught the value of generosity. But that is not the same as extracting funds from unwilling hearts.

If you are on the receiving end of endless appeals for funds, I suggest you seek to discern if it is really God who is calling you to give. If it is, then you would do well to be generous. Otherwise don't be pressured.

TorahBytes: God's Rules (Mishpatim)

Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. (Shemot / Exodus 21:1; ESV)

This week's Torah portion includes rules regarding personal property liability, the penalties for causing bodily harm, parent-child relationships, behavior towards handicapped persons, equity of the law with regard to non-citizens, the consequences for engaging in certain kinds of illegitimate religious activities, and so on. The wisdom in many of these rules is self evident and can be found in the law codes of many societies throughout the world today.

Those desiring to take the Scriptures seriously typically ask the question, "How do we know which rules still apply in our day?" Traditional Judaism asserts that everything in the Torah (five books of Moses) that was directed to the people of Israel still applies to the people of Israel. The exception would be the elements of the sacrificial system. Some traditionalists look forward to the day when a new Temple will be built and the sacrificial system will be reinstated.

There are some New Covenant believers who have a similar understanding of Torah precepts. They see that the Torah as given at Mt. Sinai is eternal. They may or may not look forward to the reestablishment of the sacrificial system due to their understanding of Yeshua's role in fulfilling that particular aspect of the Torah. They tend to see that one of the purposes (if not the prime purpose) of the Gospel is to bring the Torah to the nations.

This view of the Torah doesn't jive with the teaching of the New Covenant Scriptures, however. In fact, it doesn't jive with the anticipation of the Old Covenant Scriptures either. The Torah as given to the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai was more than a law code. It was a covenant, something similar to a national constitution. It governed more than behavior; it established the relationship between Israel and God. When Israel broke the covenant, God determined to establish a new covenant, not like the old one (see Jeremiah 31:31-34).

This New Covenant was established by the Messiah Yeshua. The New Covenant's foundational difference from the Old Covenant was the basis through which right relationship with God was established and maintained. Under the Old Covenant this was founded on the Levitical priesthood and the Temple and was fundamentally for the people of Israel during the years of preparation until the Messiah's coming. Under the New Covenant right relationship with God is founded upon the person and work of Yeshua and is freely open to the full participation of all people regardless of nationality.

While there is wonderful continuity between the Old and New Covenants, the Old Covenant as a system of regulations is incompatible with the New. Since the basis of relationship with God has been transformed because of what the Messiah has done, the Old Covenant system is obsolete.

This understanding of Torah is actually similar to that of traditional Judaism. The absence of a temple with its priesthood and sacrifices along with the rejection of Yeshua as the Messiah forced a complete overhaul of Judaism. Some may think that Judaism upholds the Torah when the fact is it cannot without its Levitical foundation in place. Attempts by some messianics to make Yeshua the new foundation of the old system is misguided and uninformed.

This leaves us with the question of what do we do with Torah regulations such as many of the ones listed in this week's portion? Just because the system within which these regulations were communicated is transformed doesn't mean that every detail is irrelevant. Certainly when God communicated his ways to Israel of old, while there were elements unique to that covenant, there were also a great many things that apply to all people of all times. Determining which ones those are require humility, spiritual sensitivity, and much study. The New Covenant emphasis of love of God and neighbor should drive us to delve into the Scriptures to discover God's heart for the specifics on how we should live our lives.

TorahBytes: God Is Who He Is (Yitro)

And the LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: 'You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.'" (Shemot / Exodus 20:22,23; ESV)

One of the most basic truths in the Torah that we have difficulty accepting is that God is who he is. That God is who he is and not something else may sound like a simple and reasonable concept, but I am not sure how easy it is to grasp.

Throughout the Hebrew Bible, idolatry was common. The wrongness of idolatry is expressed in two ways. One way is through the creation of false gods. In much of the ancient world and in many places today people worship all sorts of gods in the form of an idol. The idol may either be a god or represent a god other than the one true God. When God said to Israel, "You shall have no other gods before me" (Shemot / Exodus 20:30), he was most likely referring to this kind of idolatry.

The second way idolatry is expressed is by representing the true God in the form of an idol. This is what Moses' brother Aaron did when he crafted the golden calf at Mt. Sinai (see Shemot / Exodus 32). He claimed that the God who delivered them from Egypt was being represented by means of the statue he made.

While both forms of idolatry are evil and dangerous, it's this second form that is more difficult to detect and avoid. It is a form of idolatry that we don't readily notice and when we do, we are slow to reject it. It is this form of idolatry that is being addressed in the verses I read at the beginning. Because God revealed himself to the people, they were not to represent him in ways contrary to who he really was.

It will be quickly apparent that I am using the term "idolatry" not exclusively in the sense of statue or statue-like objects, but in the broader sense of anything that serves the purpose of replacing God. This is especially applicable when dealing with this second form of idolatry. We may not create a physical representation of the true God, but we may conceive of him in all sorts of ways contrary to who he really is. So while we may not bow down to literal statues, we claim to know the true God when we actually don't.

Does this mean to truly know God we need to understand him perfectly? Of course not! As imperfect and finite human beings we don't have the ability to perfectly conceive of the infinite God. But this is no excuse to allow ourselves to introduce false notions about God, when he has adequately revealed himself to us through the Scriptures.

It seems to me that it is has become more and more popular today for those who claim to accept the Bible's authority to mold the God of the Bible into an image with which they feel most comfortable. How we feel about God has replaced who God really is. Perception trumps reality. Preference is valued over truth. We fail to realize that the filters through which we understand God serve to blind us as to who he really is. We pick and choose from the Bible what we like about God and add a sprinkling of pop culture and politically correct ideology in an attempt to make him acceptable and less embarrassing.

God has adequately revealed himself through the Scriptures. Allowing him to dictate to us who he really is and strip away false notions about him - no matter how uncomfortable that may be - is the only way to truly know the one true God.

TorahBytes: Cause and Effect (Be-Shallah)

If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer. (Shemot / Exodus 15:26; ESV)

Through Moses, God promised that if the people of Israel would obey his commandments, they would not be afflicted with the diseases experienced by the Egyptians. I don't know if the reference to disease is limited to the ten plagues or to diseases in general. Either way begs the question: what is the relationship between obedience to God and personal health?

Some think that there is a direct correlation between keeping the commandments and health as if God's regulations are healthy in and of themselves. For example, it is generally agreed that pork is far more prone to certain kinds of harmful bacteria than beef, especially in a culture in which modern hygiene was unknown. Eating biblically defined clean animals would have been healthier than eating biblically defined unclean animals regardless of whether the eater was aware that this distinction had anything to do with God's commandments.

There are other Old Covenant regulations that seem to have a direct correlation to health, such as the handling of human waste. There are still places in the world that don't manage sewage properly and suffer from easily avoidable disease. Also, if societies would follow the biblical sexual laws, they would avoid a great deal (if not all) of sexually transmitted diseases.

It is difficult to deny that at least in some cases a direct correlation between God's regulations and personal health does exist, but there is something about trying to understand God's Word in this way that undermines God's own intention in communicating his will to us.

There is something curious about the verse I quoted. While on one hand it sounds as if keeping God's commandments is the way to avoid disease, the basis of health according to this verse is not adherence to a healthy lifestyle per se, but the activity of God in response to the people's obedience: "I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer." The Torah doesn't say that keeping God's commands will keep the people healthy, but rather that God himself will prevent disease in response to obedience. Moreover, it is instructive that in this context God calls himself "the LORD, your healer," indicating that it is God who makes and keeps his obedient people healthy, not their lifestyle.

Scientifically oriented people (which I believe includes most people reading or listening to this) have difficulty grasping such a concept, since we have been conditioned to look at life through a lens of strict physical cause and effect. Again, I am not saying that direct correlations between God's commands and human health do not exist, but rather that the true basis of how all this works is spiritual, not physical. Therefore a scientific analysis of God's commandments is not the key to health and is certainly not what the Torah is teaching here. What God was seeking to impress upon the people was their need to obey him. It was not an encouragement to discover effective techniques in the achieving of physical health.

This is not to say that we should neglect God's Word. Far from it! As we have read, we should be diligent to listen to God's voice and to do what is right in his eyes, being attentive to his commandments and keeping his statutes. Exactly what this entails under the New Covenant is a different issue, but let's not reduce God's Word to simple practical advice detached from the One who has spoken them. Instead, let us obey God's Word, because we love him who loves us and knows what is best for us.

TorahBytes: Violence (Bo)

So Moses said, "Thus says the LORD: About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle." (Shemot / Exodus 11:4,5; ESV)

I don't like violence. I certainly don't condone it as entertainment and I dissuade my children from playing violent games. I advocate the use of peaceful means in the resolving of conflict on both personal and broader scales.

This is all to say that for me the subject of violence is an uncomfortable one. I take no delight when anyone, friend or foe, is hurt or killed.

I am also uncomfortable with the violence I encounter in the Bible. Death and destruction are found throughout it pages. In fact, according to the Bible, God himself resolves issues with violence. I know that some people think that this depiction of God is confined to the Hebrew Scriptures as if he is characterized there as a God of wrath, while the New Covenant writings depict a God of love. I won't take the time here to debunk that misconception. Let it suffice to say that the depiction of God in both the Old and New Covenant writings is consistent. The God of the whole Bible is a complex, integrated character expressing himself in a great variety of ways. His motive toward his creation is always love, but this does not preclude his resorting to violence to accomplish his purposes.

God's use of violence seems to have become a major stumbling block for many people today. That God would resolve a situation through violent means is sufficient cause to prevent these people from considering the possibility that the God of the Bible might be real.

This extreme distaste for violence also appears to be what influences some people in their approach to societal and international justice. They deplore capital punishment even for the most heinous crimes and seem to think that military action should always be avoided. During the recent crisis in Gaza, I got the impression that some people would have preferred that Israel should have remained passive while bombs indiscriminately fell on their citizens. I am not saying that we should not be grieved over the devastation experienced by the Gazan people, but simplistic, pacifist solutions to conflicts of this nature are no solutions at all. Certain situations call for violent responses. I cannot say whether Israel's tactics in this case were the correct ones, but to completely reject violence as a legitimate means of conflict resolution is certainly not biblical.

I have the impression that the extreme pacifists reject the legitimate use of violence simply because it bothers them. They don't like violence, so they reject it. They fail to see that violence is at times necessary in a world gone wrong. They may accept pain, suffering, and death as part of the human dilemma, but they refuse to accept it as a legitimate aspect of God's justice. That we might struggle with our imperfections is one thing, but that we may be accountable for our sin is too much for them to take. Human evil, if not reckoned with on God's terms, will face a violent end. The violence of our day foreshadows the final judgement for all humankind. Great injustice requires extreme - and at times - violent responses from people of justice. In the same way our sin requires a violent response from the God of justice, unless, of course, we submit to his mercy offered to us in the Messiah.

TorahBytes: Self-Disclosure (Va-Era)

God spoke to Moses and said to him, "I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them." (Shemot / Exodus 6:2,3; ESV)

According to these verses it appears that God is revealing himself to Moses by a name different from the one revealed to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This name in Hebrew is represented by the Hebrew consonants "Yod-Hey-Vav-Heh" (most commonly represented in English Bibles as "the LORD" in full caps) and is a form of the verb "to be." These verses sound as if this name for God is being made known for the very first time. But if we look back to the Torah's accounts of the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we discover that this name is used regularly.

This supposed contradiction is resolved when we understand that the Bible's use of the concept of name is primarily one of the essence of a person's character, not that of a label. This is contrary to how names are used in contemporary English, whereby the name given to a person is one that tends to suit their parents. They may like the sound of that name or want to honor someone else who has that name. But the function of the name is simply to distinguish them from others.

In Bible times and perhaps in other cultures today, while names do have this function, they do far more. A name was meant to describe something of a person. So when God tells Moses that he had not revealed himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as "the LORD", he doesn't mean that they had no awareness of this label, but rather that there were aspects of God that were not known until revealed to Moses.

This is not to say that God had changed or that the forefathers' understanding of God was wrong. It's that God chose not to fully reveal himself previously. God, being God, is far greater than anything we can imagine. He carefully chooses the times and circumstances in which to make aspects of himself known.

Comparing how God dealt with the forefathers with how he dealt with Moses and the people of Israel later on, we do see a fuller revelation of himself. God's involvement with the patriarchs was far more personal and somewhat hidden. There were situations that had a significant effect on others, but, for the most part, the essence of God's reality was experienced by a very few. Based on the workings of God in this earlier time, I don't know what the people of Moses' day may have expected. But what they got was very different from what they had heard of. The God of the Exodus was a God of power, judgement, and law. While this new revelation was consistent with what they had known about God until then, it was much much more.

Could you imagine what would have happened if God's fuller revelation of himself would have been rejected on the basis of how different it was? It was partly the people's acceptance of the fact that the God of their fathers was also the God of their deliverance that was the basis of their following Moses.

Many generations later the people's understanding of God would become so solidified that they would not as easily receive God's coming to them with a new name and fuller revelation. God would come to deliver his people again, but with a name that they had not yet known. The day would come when God would reveal himself in the name of "Yeshua" (salvation). All that the Messiah taught and represented was in keeping with God's revelation of himself up to that point. Yet it was a new day similar to that of Moses' time in that a time of oppression was coming to an end. And just like in the time of Moses, God's salvation through Yeshua would reveal aspects of his character that were not yet known. Sadly, many today continue in their refusal to accept God's fuller revelation of himself in Yeshua, but it is not too late to do so.

Then there are others who, for some reason, believe that God has in recent times revealed himself in a fuller sense again, thinking that he wants us to know him is such ways as "Multi-Faith God", "Mother God", or "God of Absolute Acceptance". But God's names are never based on our own perception of him. This is one of the things we learn from how he revealed himself to Moses. The name "Yod-Hey-Vav-Heh" is derived from "I AM WHO I AM" (Shemot / Exodus 3:14; ESV). God is the self-defining one, whose being and character is beyond human analysis. Accurately understanding God must be based on his self-disclosure, not upon our preferences.