Under His Wings

 The following passage of Scripture has meant a lot to me recently.  It is the first haftarah portion of the new cycle of this Biblical calendar year.  Isaiah 42:5-43:10.  The portion talks about God's creative and redemtive works and also about His covenant faithfulness toward His people Israel.  It also talks about bringing the nations into that covenant.  It was a wonderful message of hope to the people living in exile over 2,000 years ago and likewise to those of us who are grafted into the commonwealth of Israel today.  For His Name's Sake.

"Thus says God the LORD,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and its offspring,
Who gives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it,
"I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness,
I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You,
And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the nations,
To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.
"I am the LORD, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another,
Nor My praise to graven images.
"Behold, the former things have come to pass,
Now I declare new things;
Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you."
Sing to the LORD a new song,
Sing His praise from the end of the earth!
You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it
You islands, and those who dwell on them.
Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices,
The settlements where Kedar inhabits
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing aloud,
Let them shout for joy from the tops of the mountains.
Let them give glory to the LORD
And declare His praise in the coastlands.
The LORD will go forth like a warrior,
He will arouse His zeal like a man of war
He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry
He will prevail against His enemies."I have kept silent for a long time,
I have kept still and restrained Myself.
Now like a woman in labor I will groan,
I will both gasp and pant.
"I will lay waste the mountains and hills
And wither all their vegetation;
I will make the rivers into coastlands
And dry up the ponds.
"I will lead the blind by a way they do not know,
In paths they do not know I will guide them
I will make darkness into light before them
And rugged places into plains
These are the things I will do,
And I will not leave them undone."
They will be turned back and be utterly put to shame,
Who trust in idols,
Who say to molten images,
"You are our gods."
Hear, you deaf!
And look, you blind, that you may see.
Who is blind but My servant,
Or so deaf as My messenger whom I send?
Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me,
Or so blind as the servant of the LORD?
You have seen many things, but you do not observe them;
Your ears are open, but none hears.
The LORD was pleased for His righteousness' sake
To make the Torah great and glorious.
But this is a people plundered and despoiled;
All of them are trapped in caves,
Or are hidden away in prisons;
They have become a prey with none to deliver them,
And a spoil, with none to say, "Give them back!"
Who among you will give ear to this?
Who will give heed and listen hereafter?
Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers?
Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned,
And in whose ways they were not willing to walk,
And whose Torah they did not obey?
So He poured out on him the heat of His anger
And the fierceness of battle;
And it set him aflame all around,
Yet he did not recognize it;
And it burned him, but he paid no attention.But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel,
"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
  I have called you by name; you are Mine! 
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.
"For I am the LORD your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your place.
  "Since you are precious in My sight,
Since you are honored and I love you,
I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.
"Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
And gather you from the west.
"I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'
And to the south, 'Do not hold them back '
Bring My sons from afar
And My daughters from the ends of the earth,
Everyone who is called by My name,
And whom I have created for My glory,
Whom I have formed, even whom I have made."
Israel Is God's Witness
Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,
And the deaf, even though they have ears.
All the nations have gathered together
So that the peoples may be assembled
Who among them can declare this
And proclaim to us the former things?
Let them present their witnesses that they may be justified,
Or let them hear and say, "It is true."
"You are My witnesses," declares the LORD,
"And My servant whom I have chosen,
So that you may know and believe Me
And understand that I am He
Before Me there was no God formed,
And there will be none after Me.

Two more weeks of Bible study have gone past since my last blog post.  Where has the summer gone?  Last week we talked about repentance and forgiveness.  We need to walk in repentance....even moment by moment.  The Biblical concept of repentance is not a one time event as is so many times seen today in evangelistic crusades.  John the Baptist talked about bearing fruit in keeping with repentance.  The Prophets, the Jesus and Paul, yes even the Torah all talk about turning back to God.  Jesus told those in His hearing to repent for the Kingdom of God was at hand.  In the 2nd Temple period in which Jesus lived the Kingdom of God was the place in which God was King. When we allow God to reign and rule in our lives then the Kingdom of God is here in us.  We need to repent and give up our way and seek to do things according to God's agenda.

I was talking with a young lady this afternoon, a very driven young lady, who has suddenly stopped reading her Bible because she thinks she has done something that cannot be forgiven.  I told her that there is only One perfect Lamb of God and that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.  We have to trust in His authority to forgive us.  We need Him to wash our feet, so to speak.  This takes humility and repentance.

Today's Bible study was on walking with God in Joy.  We looked at the passages in Galatians 5, Psalm 16, Psalm 30 and James 2:1.  Since joy is a fruit of the Spirit, God's Spirit. It is supernaturally obtained when we rest in Him.  We rest in Him by being obedient to what He asks us to do.  Elisabeth Elliot once said that joy is not the absence of suffering, but the presence of God in the midst of the suffering.  So many times we allow the suffering or the trial that we are going through to be blown up like a balloon before our eyes so that we cannot see anything be the trial before us.  God, in comparison, looks small.  We need to pop that balloon so that we can see God for who He truly is.  He is able to accomplish what concerns us.  He is greater that anything thing that we are facing here on earth and He is good.  We don't necessarily have any guarantees as to how our circumstances are going to turn out, but we can count on the ROCK of our salvation and on His character because He never changes.  In His presence is fullness of joy.

For His Name's Sake.

Covenant obligation.  What is it and where does it begin?  These are the things I have been pondering and confused about in the last couple of weeks.  What is our obligation before God?  Most of the world lives like we do not have an obligation to Him, but that He is obligated to us.

In our Western mindset we tend to think in a linear thought.  We want things to be black and white, either this way or that way.   We don't like the tension that is at times inevitable in both Biblical thinking, as well as, in relationships.  For example,  the arguments that have gone on through the ages regarding free will or predestination.  We want it to be one or the other, but Middle eastern thought would accept a kind of tension.  Remember the movie, "Fiddler on the Roof" where Tevye says, "On the other hand".  One can look at both sides of the situation equally.

Growing up in Evangelicalism I was taught that we are saved and then we make Jesus our Lord.  The model that I always pictured was the Israelites coming out of Egypt......a linear progression.  God saved them from slavery, then He "baptized" them in the Red Sea, then He made a covenant with them at Sinai.  While this is a model of what happens to us spiritually, it is not quite as linear as this in reality.  When God does a work in us it is relational and not necessarily a nice and tidy, step by step account.  We can't necessarily say that He will do this first and next He will do this, etc.  But,  we can say that He saves His own and brings them into covenant with Himself.

So I guess those who are saved are obligated to God since we are in covenant with Him.  But, what are our obligations?  What is the covenant?  Each covenant has to have at least three things: 1) the parties 2) the stipulations 3) the promises.  The covenant we, as Gentiles, are a part of would be the New Covenant which can be found in Jeremiah 31:31-33 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."

Who are the parties to this covenant?  God and His people which are here stated as Israel and Judah (and in the same passage, all of Israel) In the gospels, Jesus said that His blood was part of the New Covenant and in the Apostolic Scriptures, Paul says that the Gentiles are grafted into Israel.  So this covenant includes us when we are In Messiah.

What are the promises?  In verse 34 God says that He will forgive their iniquity.  He also says that He would write the Torah on their heart and that they would be His people and He would be their God.

Writing the Torah on their heart would enable the people to keep the stipulations, or obligations of the covenant which they could not keep in the flesh.  God made this possible when the Holy Spirit was given at the Feast of Shavuot or Pentecost in Acts 2.   There are obligations to obey the covenant.  God gives us the ability to obey.  It is only by His faithfulness that we are able to walk in His ways.

This quote is from a forum I am on and it encouraged me so much when the woman wrote it that I want to share it with you in the hopes that it will encourage you also.   For His Name's Sake.

"Ultimately, however, our faith is a gift from God, and likewise our faithfulness to Him is guaranteed by His faithfulness to complete His work in us.  Even though we must cooperate, if we are truly His we will do so, even though not always perfectly. Thus while I think such a distinction is very important to understand as clearly as possible, ultimately we must rest in His faithfulness to us, and we strive to be faithful to Him because He has given us the heart to do so. To God be the glory!"

We are in the fourth chapter of the book of Romans in my Sunday evening Bible study.   It has taken me quite some time to write about this because I have been mulling over the the concepts of this study for the past several weeks.   It is, at times, difficult to wrap my brain around Paul in his Hebraic context when my 21st century evangelical mind has been taught so differently.   Such is the case in the concept of righteousness.

"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1) God takes us from having no ability to seek him, from doing nothing good, and He does the work in me. "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit"(1 Peter 3:18)

What is Righteousness?  " ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." (Romans 4:3)  Abraham's faith was credited to his account as righteousness.  Righteousness.......acting in accord with moral law, free from guilt or sin.  This is the idea that we have of righteousness and we think that it means that we have a ticket to heaven.  In one aspect righteousness does mean to act in accord with moral law; to be upright, to do what is right.

If we talk about the righteousness of God.......for example in Romans 1:16-17 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."  In the gospel, the good news of God sending Messiah as He promised, His doing what is right is revealed from faith to faith.  God's righteousness is His doing what is right.  Faith is the idea of faithfulness.  God's faithfulness and our faithfulness which He enables.

Another aspect of righteousness is in the context of a law court.  You see this especially in the book of Psalms where you read of the righteous and the wicked.  God will judge the righteous and the wicked.  The righteous will one day be vindicated.  The wicked will be punished.  "Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish. " Psalm 1:5-6

One final way righteousness is used is covenant membership.  In the first few chapters of Romans, Paul is addressing Jews and Gentiles as to who should be covenant members of God's household.  He is using Abraham as an example and the sign of circumcision which was the seal of the covenant.  By the time of the Second Temple period, in which Paul was writing, the Jewish elders had made circumcision a requirement to come into the covenant.  Paul is making a case that this doesn't need to happen.  "Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness."(Genesis 15:6) ""And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you."(Genesis 17:11)  God declares Abraham righteous and then makes him a covenant partner.

Now, there are ramifications of being a covenant partner.  Covenant partners have obligations.  If you look back in Genesis 15 there are three things that God promised Abraham that he would do: give him land, give him descendants, and give him a seed that would bless the nations (Messiah) .  But, what were Abraham's obligations to the covenant?  This is where my thoughts have been dwelling these last several days.  Since this post is getting long and I have to do final preparations on the two studies that I am leading today, I will come back to this topic of covenant obligation later.   Please share any thoughts that you have.

For His Name's Sake.

I have never even heard of the word before and now here I am in week three of a class studying, "The Biblical Doctrine of Salvation" with Tim Hegg at Torah Resource. I have learned many things from Mr. Hegg in the last five years and have gone to see him give a lecture on "What's so New about the New Covenant" in St. Paul, Minnesota a few years ago.  There have been many times when I thought that I would like to take one of the classes that he offered online but finances did not permit me to do so.  Well, here I am.  I am really hoping that I am not in over my head.  I am learning so much from the class, but the things that are unnerving me just a bit are the midterm, the final and the 10-12 page research paper that are required should I decide to take the full track of the course.  I have no idea right now what to do the paper on.  Mr. Hegg made a suggestion this week in his lecture for a topic and that topic was to look at the later rabbinic writings on nature of man or the evil inclination and see if they were possibly reacting to the emerging Christian Church.

You see Rabbinic Judiasm believes in the yetzer 'ra (evil inclination) and the yetzer tov (good inclination) and that man was born with the capacity to choose either.  If man has the Torah and studies Torah, this will feed the yetzer tov and man can basically pull himself up by the bootstraps thereby saving himself.

Biblically, however, man is born with a sin nature which was imputed to us because of Adam's sin.  The Bible says, beginning in Gen. 6:5 "Then Adonai saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."  To the Hebrew way of thinking the heart is where we think and where we make choices.  In Jeremiah 17:9 it says, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and "anush"(which is what it is in the Hebrew) meaning incurable."  The only possible cure is to get a new heart.

In the New Testament there are many images used to describe the way this is done in our lives: resurrection, new birth, and creation.  Paul says, "You were dead in your trespasses and sins...But God made us alive together with Messiah...." Eph. 2:1-5  "If anyone is in Messiah he is a new creation....."(2 Cor. 5:17)  and Jesus told Nicodemus that we must be born again (John 3)

There have been so many other things that have been mentioned so far such as the Order of Decrees which is the way the Christian church has been teaching soteriology for the past 2,000 years.   But, this is different than studying Biblical theology.

There are many things to think about: "Did God create evil?", "Did God allow evil?",  "Do we have a sin nature or not?",  "Was Adam's sin imputed to us?",   "Do we have free will?"

Every week has encouraged me and caused me to praise my Creator and my Redeemer.  He is Faithful and He will bring to completion what He began in me.

For His Name's Sake.

Blessed are you Lord our God, King of the Universe, who desires to dwell with Your People.

My Bible study group recently had the opportunity to celebrate the Biblical Feast of Tabernacles together.  This is a picture of the booth that we made together.   Yes, it looks a lot like our sukkah from last year.   I love all of the Biblical Holidays, but this one has a special meaning.  Sukkot is a time of rejoicing and celebrating.  We are commanded to rejoice because God desires to dwell with His people.

The flimsy sukkah is a symbol of the tents in which the Israelites traveled in the wilderness.  It is also a symbol of our temporary dwellings here on earth.  Even though the world would clamor round about us, we can rest securely because through the open roof of the sukkah we can see the heavens and our God is there.  We are safe in His care.  We are His people.  He is in covenant with us.  He is a covenant keeping God.

"You have today declared the LORD to be your God, and that you would walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments and His ordinances, and listen to His voice.        The LORD has today declared you to be His people, a treasured possession, as He promised you, and that you should keep all His commandments; and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a consecrated people to the LORD your God, as He has spoken." Deut. 26:17-19

It is a covenant relationship.  He chose us and sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world.  We must choose to walk in His ways, to be set apart for Him.  He gives us the grace to do that.

For His Name's Sake.

(The pictures on this post were taken by my daughter.  You can see more of her pictures here. )

"The Torah of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.
They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward." Psalm 19:7-11

Though I have not mentioned it, this week on the Biblical calendar is the Lord's appointed time of the Feast of Booths or Sukkot.  You can read about the Feast of Booths in Leviticus 23:34-36.  But, it is the day that comes shortly after Sukkot that I want to write about today.  This is the day called Simchat Torah or "Rejoicing in the Torah".   Simchat Torah comes on the 23rd of the 7th month of the Hebrew calendar which is the month of Tishrei (the current month) and will be on Friday.  Remember that the Word Torah means "teaching" and it is God's way of showing us the path to Life.  We cannot understand the whole of the Scriptures unless we understand the foundation of the Torah.

I have read, in a number of places, this Nine-fold purpose of the Torah which I want to share here.  God is a wonderful Father and Teacher who wants only the best for those who choose to walk in His ways.

• The Torah reveals the good, holy, just and perfect nature of God and serves as the universal standard of His will for man.  Romans 2:17-18, 7:12; 2 Peter 1:4.
• The Torah gives us the knowledge of sin and reveals the depth of our own sin. Romans 3:20, 4:15, 7:7-12; Luke 20:46-47
• The Torah is our schoolmaster, showing us that we are guilty before God and leading us to Jesus, our Messianic justification. Romans 10:4; Gal. 3:21-24; Romans 3:19
• The Torah is the measure of our deeds toward both God and his fellow man, guiding the way in all matters of life and doctrine.  1 Tim. 8-10; 2 Tim. 2:5; 1 Cor. 3:13; 6:1-12; Rom 2:12-16; Rev. 20: 12-13
• The Torah teaches believers how to serve, worship and please God. Psalms 19: 7-9; Acts 18:13-15.
• The Torah is written in our hearts by the indwelling Spirit of God whose work in us is to cause us to delight in and desire to live in obedience to God's desires.  Jer. 31:33; Rom. 7:6-25; Heb. 10:15-16.
• The Torah teaches believers the true path to happiness and prosperity, spiritually, emotionally, physically, and materially, by explaining the rewards of obedience to the rule and reign of God in our lives and the penalty of disobedience when His Lordship is rejected/ignored. Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:1-3; Luke 12:31-32.
• The Torah teaches us that only by grace and faith in the power of God at work in us do we fulfill its principles and instructions; hence, called the Law of Faith, Romans 3:27, 31.
• Torah teaches us how to treat our fellowman. Lev. 19:18; Gal. 5:4; Gal 6:2

"They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb"

For His Name's Sake

This weekend was a weekend of refreshment.  I was able to hear a series of short talks on the Fatherhood of God.    I was impressed again this weekend with the fact that God wants to dwell with His people.  Now, lest I sound like a broken record, this touches me so deeply, I think, because I had a father who did not live in our home, nor did he desire to change his lifestyle to do so.  So the fact that the Holy God, the King of the universe, should desire to dwell among and have a relationship with His people is an awesome thing indeed.   It is not because we are anything special, not because of any righteousness on our account, but because He is love and has a Father heart.   Every person on the earth will know Him as Creator and as Judge, but we can choose to know Him as Father.

As a Father, God instructs us, He blesses us, He disciplines us, He gives us His Name, He defends us, and He sent His Son to represent Himself.  When we decide to go our own way we tarnish His Name.  But, He is a humble God who forgives.   He wants us to become like Him.

"See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God ...And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure"1 John1:1,3

For His Name's Sake

Today, like the past several Tuesdays for months now, I spent the afternoon and early evening hours at our local crisis pregnancy center. Because I have been willing to fill in hours where they need people, I am there for about three hours alone with the director each week. She was able to share with me about the conference that she and the other paid staff were able to attend last week which sounds like it was a wonderful opportunity for them. They were so encouraged that God is doing things at our center which is are not being seen at other centers i.e. the number of volunteers, the number of clients we have had even having been open so early, the meals we make available for the girls, etc. We are thankful for those blessings.

I had the opportunity today to spend time with one of our clients. She usually meets with one of the other advocates, but this other advocate had to work today. I was able to talk to her about forgiveness and changing things for the sake of her daughter. I also was able to pray with her. She may not take what I had to say to heart, but I pray that the Lord will use what I said.

My heart goes out to these girls. They so much enjoy coming to the center and having someone listen to them. They love the meals where they can connect with others who are in the same situation that they are. We have one girl scheduled to come in who is 20 years old and has 4 children. Most of these girls have to take there babies for paternity testing to get the fathers to help support the children. Think of trying to be a new mom and having to deal with high school graduation, algebra, and driver's ed. And not being able to relate to any of your peers anymore because now you are a mom. All the other girls are talking about the prom and you are talking about diapers and teething.

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them [the people] from one another as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats; And He will cause the sheep to stand at His right hand, but the goats at His left.

Then the King will say to those at His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you brought Me together with yourselves and welcomed and entertained and lodged Me, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me with help and ministering care, I was in prison and you came to see Me.'

Then the just and upright will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and gave You food, or thirsty and gave You something to drink?

And when did we see You a stranger and welcomed and entertained You, or naked and clothed You?

And when did we see You sick or in prison and came to visit You?'

And the King will reply to them, 'Truly I tell you, in so far as you did it for one of the least [in the estimation of men] of these My brethren, you did it for Me.'" (Matt. 25:31-40)

For His Name's Sake

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." Romans 1:16-17

My Sunday evening Bible study group has been meeting for about six years. Through those years we have studied the Torah, the Gospels, the Book of Acts and we have at last come to the book of Romans. We have been in Romans for about a month, maybe a month and a half and have gotten as far as chapter one verse 17 because we have been talking about background information on Paul and his perspective and culture.

Verses 16 and 17 of chapter one took on new meaning for me tonight. I remember saying these verses over and over with 1st through 3rd graders in AWANA many times and trying hand signals or whatever it took to help them learn. But, now I see so much more.

For Paul the good news would not be just a little tract similar to what is used so often today to try to get someone to pray a prayer to get to heaven. Paul came from a very different mindset. Paul's gospel is a gospel about the One True God, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who keeps His promises to His people, which was told through the prophets of old. It is a gospel concerning His Son, Yeshua the Messiah through whose death we have forgiveness of sins and who was raised from the dead as the first fruits of those who believe. This Messiah has become Lord and King.

Paul says in Romans 1:17 that in this gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "But the righteous man shall live by faith." In verse 5 of the same chapter he says he has received apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His Name's Sake.

Let's see. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. The righteous shall live by faith. In the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith..... obedience of faith among the Gentiles. Do you see? God's faithfulness in doing what is right leads to our faithfulness which magnifies God's righteousness which leads others to faith.....from faith to faith. The Hebrew word for faith is "emunah" which is "faithfulness". It is the idea of walking out our trust in who God is/obeying Him.

For His Name's Sake