Double the Volume
“Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My commandments, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine.” Exodus 19:5 NASB
Indeed Obey – How loud does God need to speak for you to hear him? If you are like those Israelites who came out of bondage, who were previously victims of a completely pagan culture, then it just might be that God needs to speak doubly loud. That’s what we find when we look at the Hebrew text of this verse. The Hebrew is shamoa tishmeoo. It is the verb shama’ repeated twice. With a thunderous voice, God proclaims the conditional covenant with Israel. “If you hear-hear My voice.” Of course, we know that the verb shama’ also means “to obey.” Therefore, God is also saying, “If you obey-obey,” or perhaps He has both definitions in mind at once. “If you hear-obey.” The repetition of the verb also acts like an exclamation point in a language without punctuation. If we add it all together, we should read this verse as:
“If you hear-hear (obey-obey)! My voice.”
Those of us who come out of cultures of disobedience are deaf to God’s words. We need spiritual hearing aids. God provides just such needed equipment, but He doesn’t call it a “hearing aid.” He calls it a shamoa tishmeoo. Obedience is the antidote for bad hearing.
Did you notice the other crucial points in this verse? The first is the tiny Hebrew word ‘m (pronounced eem). It is the essential if. “If you hear-hear (obey-obey).” This covenant is not absolute. It is not a covenant established by God and God alone. This covenant depends on human cooperation. God establishes a nation of His own, a people of His choosing. But in order to maintain that status, hearing and obeying is required. If you are so deaf to God’s voice that you do not hear and you do not obey, then how can you claim to be included in His covenant. Shama’ precedes active citizenship. (What does that say about most sincere Christian believers who no longer listen to Torah?)
The second crucial word is shamar (to keep). Hearing and obeying whatever you like isn’t part of the covenant agreement. In order to be included among God’s people, you must hear and obey what He says. In other words, you must keep His commandments. The Hebrew text literally says, “keep my covenant,” “my berit.” The term berit means “agreement, contract, treaty, pledge, obligation or constitution.” God sets the rules of engagement. We are to follow them – completely. We enter into a declared treaty, a sacred pledge, a solemn vow with God. He promises to be our God, to make us His special people if we do as He asks. There isn’t any other alternative. There isn’t a third option called “hearing but deciding.” Hear and obey always come together and they always imply following exactly what God asks. Now that we’ve settled this one, I’d love to have bacon and eggs for breakfast, thanks.
Topical Index: shama’, hear, obey, if, ‘m, shamar, keep, Exodus 19:5
Folks, this is an urgent request for prayer. [Skip/Patrick – I sent this in via the contact form but it really can’t wait.]
We have just had some very disturbing news. A friend of my wife’s family, the mother of two young (pre-school-age) children, had a massive heart attack at work today. Paramedics worked on her for more than 20 minutes at the scene before transporting her to hospital (with continual CPR en-route). She is now in intensive care and the doctors are not optimistic, fearing permanent brain damage due to oxygen starvation even if she does survive.
This is obviously devastating to her family and friends and especially tragic for the boys, neither of whom are old enough to understand what is going on (Daniel is only 18 months old or thereabouts).
Please pray for Elena and her family, that they will be strengthened and that God’s will and purpose will be accomplished. In our (human) eyes a full recovery would be the best possible outcome. Nevertheless, may God’s will be done.
Thankyou all for your faithfulness in prayer.
I just read this now since my internet in South Africa is very poor. I will pray and ask others here to do so.
Rodney, i just got on line, and immediately started praying for your family’s loved ones. —- I am such a believer in God’s healing– He has healed me and my family and our friends,acquaintances supernaturally, naturally, and in obedience to living according to His directions during our long years of marriage. Coming up on 60 yr. in July. and I will continue to pray for them with the God given faith g to me knowing that He is able; but that He does do all things well! And in the immediate time, or later, we may get glimpses of why He did not answer the way we asked, or sometimes we never have much of a glimpse.
i have read all of what you have written now for several years, and even in a short personal communication in a time of need for one of our daughter’s friends-seemingly needing a new country. I KNOW THAT YOU ARE A TURE BELIEVER OF GOD’S WORD, A WORTHY MINISTER, PRECIOUS SAINT OF THE HEAVENLY FATHER–CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE–
Now with that may I say:
if in my lifetime, in our once wonderful nation ( always with its faults–but the best one ever to exist in contemporay history–helping, caring–allowing religious freedom, providing well for ourselves and families– we have had those blessings over and over!) But now, recently, we have been unindated with early seemingly needless deaths among those that are truly followers of THE WAY. –FOR US
COMPUTER acted on its own!)—- but Dec. 26, this year the 62 yr old , wife of a minister–friends of ours since the early 1970’s— such an extrmemly talented & educated musician, with a great gift of Praise and Worship, truly called and anointed by God! Entered the ER( ICU0 with seemingly cold, chest congestion, etc. We were in Houston area at one of our daughter’s home, she got the prayer request on the night of Ded. 26th, and we prayed at once, not know that she actually died before the prayer request was sent out.—- Yes, a grieving family, church, all who knew them, are all in shock, trying to figure out what went wrong.–
Ed and I just started three weeks ago walking beside a 39 year old minister here , who lost his wife suddenly a few years ago, leaving two young children. He is trying to start a Non-denominational Fellowship here. These are just two examples of many other “seemingly too early deaths.” We have several in this Cyber group that have also lost family members.
BUT WE ALSO WILL GIVE PRAISE FOR ALL THOSE WHOSE FAMILY MEMBER WERE HEALED BECAUSE WE DO KNOW THAT GOD IS ABLE AND DOES HEAL TODAY! WE WILL PRAY AND BELIEVE THIS LADY WILL BE LISTED WITH THEM! SINCERELY, LaVaye Billings–“deep in the heart of TX “
Rodney…I’ll be praying for your friend and her family.
Skip…I don’t understand your last sentence. Does it mean that you’d LIKE to have bacon but WON’T?? Or does it mean you’d LIKE to have bacon and WILL??
It’s sarcasm. The sentence is designed to get you to think about Torah obedience. And since it forced you to think about it, it was successful.
Skip, Judi Baldwin, Helen Cameron,
When I read the teaching above, and got to the last line, I also had to stop a few seconds and reread it. But i personaly have been reading Skip for several years, and knew it was what he called sarcasm.
Please, may I say, Skip, that I personally think in a Cyber teaching, writing, where we can not see the facial expressions of the writer, that sarcasm in a serious teaching is certainly not the best method of communicating such a great teaching.-
— If we were regularly sitting in front of you, looking at your eyes and facial expressions; then we would immediately glean what you meant.
I would agree that humor is a valid expression when it is a natural outflow of the writing, but I personally think sarcasm equals- irony, satire,ridicule, contempt, ambiguity.
NOW I KNOW YOU SKIP ARE THE SCHOLAR–AND YOU CAN USE PLENTY OF WORDS, THOUGHTS TO PEN ME DOWN, BUT I AM EXPLAINING A LAY PERSON’S OPINION.
THANKS FOR READING THIS. TO ALL THAT WERE HONEST ENOUGH TO WRITE AND STATE, & QUESTION, I JUST WANTED TO SIDE WITH YOU. BE BLESSED AND KEEP READING AND STUDYING. I STILL DO EVEN IN MY OLD AGE! L.B.
I GOT IT. Next time I’ll be more serious. Sometimes I just want to humor myself.
Rodney,
I will be praying for her and those so intimately involved.
Ok all was great until I came to the bacon part. I am new to these types of teachings. The law says don’t eat pork, the grace crowd says eat whatever you want, it is all good in moderation. You confused me with your last line. Please explain.
Sincerely,
Helen
see reply to Judi. Humor often communicates as effectively as declaration.
Skip,
Thank you for your teaching today. I have been in recent debate with a person from a differnt Web site. We were discussing whether Paul was still a Pharasaic Jewish rabbi after his encounter and call and commission from the Risen King, and whether God’s commandsments revealed in His teachings and instructions were still valid for him and the believers of his day. The person responded that there was no way in hell that he would believe this.
I have deleted the person name in the response I gave.
I realize that I am not going to convince you! Pretty funny reference to hell. I am assuming that you do not want your paradigm to be challenged. When one starts from the perspective that Paul was anti-torah and that that the commandments of God are no longer valid for today, it is hard to challenge this paradigm that one continually refers to and denies any other is possible. When one has been taught all their life that they do not have to worry about His ways because they have been abolished or fulfilled, then the one who would challenge that is in hard battle of a myopic vision that refuses to surrender their prism for a moment and take a renewed look through a different one.
Why are these ones so frightened of our compassionate and gracious Father’s ways? Why is that we have been brought into the commonwealth of Israel and yet refuse the very ways of that commonwealth? These question cannot simply be swept away with the simple answer of always turning to Paul. Did Paul’s gracious compassionate heart bring you into the family of Israel? Did Paul redeem you and call you by name? Of course not!
Your foundation and understanding of the Law, the Prophets and Writings must begin and end with Jesus. Surely Paul would have the same view of his Master who called and commissioned him on the Damascus road. Paul never trumps and he never will the view of his King! Please do not play the card that this all changed after the death and resurrection of Messiah. This is built on a theology of Paul and not of Christ. This dog will not hunt and it will definitely will not tree a coon! Remember the words of the risen King at the end of Matthew. These are His last words before He ascends.
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching to observe ALL that I have commanded you (except the one about law. . I have abolished and done away with it). And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (ESV – Emphasis is mine and words in parenthesis is also). I going to bank on the Risen King’s authority and not the Apostle Paul every time. I think He has the first and last word on everything! Do you not think so?!
How about the Risen unabashed King of Revelations and the view we get about those who have the testimony of Jesus and keep the commandments of God. How the about the Song of Moses and the Lamb. . . they are singing as one voice and not two.
We make Paul’s letters the beginning and final word on the Law. This my dear brother is idolatry of the highest order. We make him the final authority and not the risen King! We must see Paul in line and continuity of the One who got his attention on the road to Damascus and put his feet on the right path, and called and commissioned him on the street that is called, Straight. May both of us be found plodding on the street of Straight.
In His Care, Brian
I have found unless the Holy Spirit turns on the light, there is nobody home and for sure they will not let you in and share anything that might challenge their perspective!
Hello, . . . is anyone home? 🙂
Hi Skip,
I appreciate your articles and perspective.
Instructions like not eating unclean foods and resting on the Sabbath seem to get the biggest attention in the Torah-observant crowd. I have been convicted in these things and want to follow them out of love for YHWH. I want to follow all of which I am capable. This leaves many questions in my mind: how do I go about laws regarding menstruation (leaving the house, sitting in public chairs etc), laws of tzitzit, and laws about mixing wool and flax in a garment?
Could you explain your opinion of these? Their importance, meaning, and how to honor God in these ways?
Thank you, and shalom in Yeshua,
~Sarah
Sarah, with Skip being in South Africa and suffering poor internet access, perhaps (without wanting to put words into his mouth) I might offer some observations.
Regarding the instructions of Niddah (menstruation), whilst there is the matter of personal hygiene which is something that every woman must deal with, these instructions have more to do with ritual purity i.e. ones acceptability to enter the temple to worship or bring a sacrifice. Since we do not have an altar, temple or functioning Levitical priesthood in Jerusalem, the ritual purity aspect is not such a concern (until such time as the temple is rebuilt). Exactly how one applies these instructions, then, is a matter between the individual and our Father.
The tzitzit were given as a reminder to each individual to follow God’s instructions for the best way to live (a.k.a. keep the commandments). In some circles I think they have almost become a popular “fashion statement” which is not their purpose. Different sects of Judaism have specific traditions regarding how they are to be tied (how many knots, how many threads etc) but scripture gives no such detail (that I can find). Again, like other Torah instructions there is a level of freedom in how one applies it – as long as they serve the purpose to remind us of our need to follow God’s instructions. If publicly visible they can also be a conversation starter and give opportunities to bear witness of our faith.
Regarding mixing of threads, I trust God that He has his reasons for this, even though I don’t understand why. Some say that there are definite health benefits to wearing clothing of only natural fibre (e.g. wool, flax or cotton) and not mixed fibre, but the “science” (or perhaps, pseudo-science) used to justify this seems a little to close to quackery for me (but, perhaps there might be something in it). I think it serves another purpose though – to remind us that God does not like us mixing good and evil, man’s “wisdom” and God’s teaching, pagan rituals and God’s festivals. This is the same reason as the instruction not to sow fields with mixed seed. It goes right back to the garden.
There is much freedom built into the Torah – many instructions are general rather than over-prescriptive. As Skip has written in the past, obedience begins with a willing heart. A heart ready and willing to obey and be used. My advice is to be honest with God; express your willingness (which He knows, but likes us to express anyway) and ask Him to teach you. One step at a time.
It can be both a help and a hindrance to have other like-minded believers around you. Helpful because you have support and encouragement, but a hindrance because we all like to criticize people who don’t do things exactly our way. Take encouragement on board but let the criticism fall to the side. Easy to say, hard to do. I trust that you will always find an encouraging word and supportive friends here.
Thank you Rodney. I greatly appreciate your comments and encouragement.
Prayers for your wife’s friend,
~Sarah
~For the kingdom of G-d is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Ruach HaKodesh~ (Romans 14.17)
~..food does not bring us near to G-d; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do ~ (1 Corinthians
~ Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day ~ (Colossians 2:16)
~ For everything G-d created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, ~ ( 1 Timothy 4.4)
~ And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. Again a voice came to him a second time, “What G-d has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” (Acts 10.13-15)
~ It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man ~ Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?” He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. ~ (Matthew 15.11-14)
The word “shema” is fast becoming a favorite of mine. As we have learned, it is to listen and it is to obey! Who are we listening to? ~ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me ~ (John 10.27) We are to “shema” the Savior!
~ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” ~ (John 2.5)
Abraham believed G-d and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Amein! (and as a result..) ~ The next morning Abraham got up early (and) he saddled his donkey (and)
Faith is our right-response to what G-d says. And what is our (only) right-response to those of us who call Him LORD? “obedience” Listen and obey. Shema. (selah!)
In defense of Skip’s wonderful humor and sarcasm — When I was doing my Master’s at U of SC, I took courses in continuing and adult education. One of the most outstanding principles that I never forgot, proven by volumes of controlled studies, was that people actually abosorb almost 4 times as much information when it is presented with humor. Our minds become like open channels at that time, and test scores prove it.
Encouraged by that information, I went to a Bible study on the symbolism of the garmets of the priests. When we came to the high priest’s robe, with bells and pomegranates along the hem, I said that I thought they symbolized Christians — a fruit and a ding-a-ling, a fruit and a ding-a-ling. I was asked not to come back. Durn… It doesn’t always work.
Oh Donna,
THAT is hilarious!! I’m sorry that group could not appreciate the humor. They may have done you a great service anyway.
“Shema precedes active citizenship”, just a little problem with that, isn’t that what Galatians is all about, maybe I’m confused. All that were redeemed out of Egypt were part of the assembly, those that had applied the blood at the very least. Isn’t it more appropriate that emunah precedes shema(I think emunah is faith). Citizenship then maturity, I certainly hope this is right for my sake. I am not saying we do not need to keep the commandments, only that faith comes first. And I do understand that even faith is a product of shema. That phrase just seems to say that works are what establish our citizenship. Just hit me wrong. Maybe I just am not focusing or seeing it the right way. Those who have ears to hear don’t always hear the same thing.
As I have taught before, faith IS doing. Emunah is DOING the commandments, not thinking about them. Emunah is TRUST. Trust is what? That God’s word is true, which means that I am required (hesed) to follow it. Obedience is the crucial act. Faith, the expression of God’s truth, follows my willingness to DO what He says even if I do not understand it. The Greek mind believes that faith is some ethereal internal component that I must have BEFORE I can obey. The Hebrew mind says, “Hear- obey – then you will have demonstrated faith.”
Not to be contrary but what obedience could be observed by the thief on the cross, the Syrophoenician woman, the Roman centurion? A re-birth would be just that and the resulting child would live by trust in the parent, the parent would teach the child and the child would mature. I believe God gives us patterns and pictures to be able to understand His purposes, how much obedience is required for active citizenship? Acts 15 there are only four requirements for fellowship with the Jewish believers then Gentiles would learn Moses each sabbath. But before these requirements were placed on them I would argue Paul would say that they were active citizens in the Kingdom. Citizenship and maturity two things we should be aware of lest we want second class citizens, comparing our obedience to another. Who are we to judge another man’s servant. I’m just afraid that is what comes across in that statement. Wouldn’t it be better to say without shema active citizenship is in peril, who knows at what point the Father would cut someone off. I see believers everyday that God is working through but they are not exactly keeping all the commandments, a great many but not all they could, are they not active citizens? It just seems that this erects a wall that Yeshua died to bring down. I just believe the analogy of the baby, child, adult is important, especially for Gentiles of whom most of the commands are a little foreign at first, but to equate active citizenship to full obedience is not loving or compassionate, God chose those that are His and He will bring them to full maturity. Thankfully we have a very patient Father and we should be equally patient with our brothers and sisters and not have the thought of them being second class citizens. When have most sincere believers been told that Torah is for today? They haven’t, and we need to to be skillful and patient in bringing this message, repairing not tearing, this movement is fairly new and it is the Father who is bringing it to us but we need kindness in winning over our brothers and sisters. I would hate to shatter the faith of a believer by telling them they are not in the kingdom because they don’t eat kosher or they worship on Sunday. Is that what we want, to shipwreck our brothers, may it never be, I know God heard me in my sin and brought me out, and Yeshua was not the name I used, it was Jesus, I didn’t keep many of the commandments but He kept me, should I now tell others He won’t do the same for them. That seed that is planted in a believer doesn’t always grow on the same timetable as others but all that was required was trust like a child and to wait for the Father to bring rain and light but harvests don’t come overnight, let’s be patient. Good works should follow but they don’t bring you in, trust does that. The missionary work that has been done all over the world for the last 200 yrs was it all in vain, I would bet not many of them taught Torah, but all of them taught Jesus Christ death and resurrection and trust in Him as the key to salvation. I’m rambling but I think sometimes we think too highly of ourselves and believe the Church contains no truth what so ever, we have to be very careful not to alienate our brothers and sisters and putting up a wall instead of tearing that wall down to bring them the full message of the Book.
Your point is a good one. God ultimately determines citizenship. He is patient. Just a technical adjustment. Acts 15 doesn’t lay only 4 requirements of Gentiles. You can read about what it is really about on my web site. And the thief on the cross, the Roman centurion and the Canaanite woman all demonstrate something required by torah and revealed in the Beatitudes – desperate need. Got to go now. Off to Cape Town, but I appreciated your addition to the TW. Thanks
AMEIN!
MICHAEL, OH MICHAEL, WHERE ARE YOU? YOU NEED TO REPLY TO DONNA!
YOU ALWAYS COME UP WITH SOMETHING GOOD!
—- “THE MICE WILL PLAY WHEN THE CAT IS AWAY–OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT”– not a quote from the Bible, though—
DONNA, actually this 78 year, old lady did laugh out loud at your honest story. Imagine getting asked to not come back to a Bible study? I am starting one for women next week. I must have needed to be reminded that not everyone takes Bible study serious.— Hopefully, I will never ask someone not to come back though! Life has a way of settling all of us down.
Wasn’t it John Milton the British poet, that wrote in “Paradise Lost and Paradise Found”: ‘Fools rush in where angels fear to tread’ ?
“I’d love to have bacon and eggs for breakfast, thanks.”
“Croque-Monsieur, the French version of a toasted ham and Swiss sandwich…. loaded with butter and cheese, and absolutely the most delicious sandwich in the world”
Hi Skip,
Well the next time you’re in France I would recommend not eating a Croque-Monsieur before bedtime 🙂
Folks, thankyou all for your prayers for Elena and her family. An update is in order, with much praise and thanksgiving to YHVH for his intervention.
First, some more details about what happened (and some pertinent background information). Apparently, some years ago, a witch in Romania (Elena’s home country) told Elena that she would die at age 43. She is now 43. After the heart attack, Elena’s heart was stopped for over 20 minutes. She was originally pronounced dead at the scene by the paramedics. No heartbeat was detectable by their defibrillator. Then, for reasons that cannot be explained by medical science, her heart began to beat (faintly) again. They continued to work on her during transport to the ED. Once in ICU, being concerned about permanent brain damage, they lowered her body temp to 34 deg C and kept her “on ice”, so to speak.
Praise God, He has miraculously intervened! 24 hours or so after the heart attack, Elena is now conscious (although unable to speak because of the tube down her throat). She shows no sign of memory loss and has recognised everyone who has visited. The swelling has subsided and she is smiling and in good spirits. The doctors have no explanation – according to them, she should be dead (or at least severely and permanently disabled). All they can say is, “This is a miracle – there is no scientific or medical explanation for her recovery so far”.
They are being (rightly) cautious – the last thing they want is a relapse. Nevertheless, it is clear that God has intervened on her behalf. I am reminded of Yeshua’s answer to the disciples question regarding the man born blind; “Satan meant this for evil, but God will turn it for good!”. Truly, God will be glorified in this!
Furthermore, Elena was not rostered to be working that day – she was called in to cover someone else. She was able to arrange child-minding at short notice and this was clearly in God’s plan. If she had been at home, she likely would have been found dead with 2 young children by her side. Praise God for his protection of his children!
Please, brothers and sisters, continue to pray for Elena and the family – for continued recovery and for God’s provision. They are struggling financially and with Elena unable to work for a period of time it will get even harder. Their local church community is getting behind them to support them so they are not on their own, but it still won’t be easy. Most of all, pray that God will be glorified and that His Name will be proclaimed far and wide because of this!
I will continue to keep you updated with progress as news comes to hand.
from Rodney’s explantion and update:”MOST OF ALL, PRAY THAT GOD WILL BE GLORIFIED AND THAT HIS NAME WILL BE PROCLAIMED FAR AND WIDE BECAUSE OF THIS.———–YES, YES, AND A THOUSAND ECHOES—-
As i interceeded for Elena and all of the family in the early hours of this a.m. Central Time Zone; i was so impressed to pray this way– and really with little faith that it would happen–but in the power of the Holy Spirit i got fairly loud and vocal during the prayer. God is still in the healing business–and although we do not know very much about the why’s & when; I am certainly one that can testify to the fact that “OUR GOD HEALS IN MANY WAYS TODAY, INCLUDING MIRACULOUSLY & PHYSICALLY. I personally have been so blessed; with many that I know have, too. Certainly not all though.
LaVaye Billings,
How are you doing?
Thank you for childlike response and faith toward the Father and Messiah! May our lives be immersed inside and out with the compassion, grace, faithfulness and ways of our beautiful Father.
May we move toward this world in childlike wonder and hunger over the breaking through kingdom of our King. Here are some of the reasons I believe we do not see His redemptive presence.
The loss of awe and wonder in the already saving acts of King that have already experienced in our own lives.
We are complaining more than proclaiming.
Simple obedience to the revealed instructions and teachings of our Father would clothe our lives with humility, God could not resist and He would lift us up in His time. This speaks to me of a renewing power of His life and love.
Rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep! Learning this precious truth is a sign of maturity, and I believe will allow our lives to be vessels of His healing presence and power. This is not an exhaustive list by any means, and I know that it is never about formulas, but about being in right relationship with God and others. Lord, hasten the day when we walk togerher as One body in obedience toward You, so, the world can see how compassionate, loving, redemptive, healing and desirable, You really are!
Thank you again sister for your childlike wonder that causes you to cling to His trustworthiness, and then you are willing to share in the same childlike manner with us. Be honored and blessed this day in Yeshua’s name!
Praying that Elena will be fully healed and restored to good health, and her family have the assurance of ABBA’s love and security around them. Amein!
HAHA, Skip, enjoy your bacon and eggs! Yucks! I did enjoy that occasionally a while back, but no more, keeping Biblical kosher these days and feeling so blessed and clean. :- ))
What should be our relationship with those who do not love the instructions and teachings of Yah? They love King Yeshua but do not embrace His ways.
Please know what I wrote above was in relationship with someone that I have had relationship with and not some stranger off the street. When there is no paradigm for them to understand where you are coming from, it does make the journey of fellowship quite difficult.
Honestly, I feel like I am always fighting upstream to share the simplicity of embracing Messiah and His ways! When people make a mockery of the God of Israel who so compasssionately and graciously gives us His instructions and teachings, I can get quite animated and outspoken. It is one thing when someone is making honest inquiry into the ways of the Father, but it is another when they caricature the God of Israel and make statements that are bogus and full of nonsense.
This person I wrote to above. . I know that Messiah loves and is in active engagement with this person by His Holy Spirit.
When one does not have a community of likeminded believers around them, and, at the same time, trying to recover from long-term sickness, the journey becomes very difficult with others who do not live with the same priorities. We are actively pursuing a community of like-minded believers and would appreciate any prayers for us!
When will the body of Messiah become bold enough to confront the idolatry of grace, without the reciprocity of voluntarily submission to the covenant of Abraham, expressed in fullness of the Messiah? When will we confront those who lift up the Apostle Paul’s words over the Messiah’s?
We must be wise with with words and flavor them with kindness and understanding. In my dialogue with others, I always encourage them to call me to account with correction, reproof, instructions, and training for righteous living. I do not want to live an isolated life and want to be part of a larger community that embraces Messiah and His Father’s ways. I am part of a small fellowship that does not take Torah seriously (active obedience) and this leaves my family feeling isolated and trying to be successful/blessed in the field of life without the supporting team to engage the game/life in fullness.
Isolation because of long-term sickness and isolation because of wanting to embrace a Torah obedient life style. This is extremely difficult and sometimes leaves me very impatient with those who have no clue of my life, and then make statements about Torah and my desire to voluntarily embrace this life style because of the ONE whose love has redeemed me.
I stand in the absolute need of His grace and love every day and have by no means arrived in obedience to the Father, but I do desire to walk out His ways in the fullness of hope and joy. I must admit, I get upset at those who make statements about my family who are not actively involved with us in our struggle for life and living out the implications of belonging to Messiah. Please read above from that perspective.
In His Care, Brian
Hello Brian,
I hear the heartache in your writing, while at the same time I also hear your love for our Father. I must say that I can identify with what you say. Living in the Bible belt and attempting to live Biblically can be difficult, to say the least. I cannot cast aspersions since it took me many years to come to what little understanding I have of YHWH’s Word. I am surrounded by good Sunday church goers and even go on occasion when I visit my daughter who lives in SC. But my heart is not there when I hear the preaching that seems overly simplistic concerning the believers’ obligations for obedience. It seems so confusing to hear that salvation is not a result of works but these are the works that will demonstrate your faith according to the New Testament. She attends a mega church in Columbia and I when I see the crowd of happy faces, I also perceive a huge degree of spiritual darkness hidden behind glitz, affluence and an overabundance of Lawless grace-filled teaching that is void of covenant relationship. It really is a pick and choose what one thinks is OK doctrinally and the finer points of the Law such as dietary and Sabbath are merely subjectively defined. All foods are clean…every day is a day to worship…the arguments abound and without the “Light” of Torah, we are left on our own to decide how compromising/tolerant we will be and how syncretistic we can be and still be holy.
I don’t want to say that misery loves company, but I want to let you know that I am praying for you and your family to find the fellowship you desire. I am also looking for a community of like-minded believers who will challenge my paradigms with fresh in sight from YHWH’s Word. Within the community of Messianic/Hebrew Roots community, there are varieties of focus, as in the standard Christian world and this is the crux to me…how tolerant of what “I” think is right am I to be with regard to what other “I’s” consider at their point in their journey?? This is a burden to me now since my husband and all other family members think I am kinda kooky since my “conversion”!! We continue to love one another, in fact, in some strange way I love them more because now I am more sensitive to the Law and convicted of “sin”. I think that once we are in the Land, this will no longer be an issue. With that, I am…
Pressing on…
I must admit, I get upset at those who make statements about my family who are not actively involved with us in our struggle for life and living out the implications of belonging to Messiah.
Brian, I doubt that anyone in this community isn’t or hasn’t felt that same way. I write this in hope of encouraging you and if it will help you understand some of the reasons we have to go through this, all the better. In the previous’ weeks portion I was allowed to see something just under the surface of the text that clarified some things for me and if you’ll bear with me, I’ll attempt to share it with you as well. Here goes!! 🙂
The portion started in Ex. 13:17 and goes like this: (Green’s interlinear bible) “and it was when sent pharoh the people, (and) not did lead them God THE WAY of the land of the philistines, although (kaf-yod, because) NEAR it [was] for (or because) said God lest repent the people when they see war and return to egypt.
There’s a lot going on in this passage, but just for the sake of space I’ll concentrate on the emboldened words. First we see that God has a purpose in selecting the route that He would lead His people by, and as we see, it’s not an easy one. God purposefully lead them to a place of want. (food, water, etc.) It’s interesting to me that one can turn back from the wilderness just as he can turn back from the way of the philistines, but God has (perhaps) an additional reason behind the first one. The first word emboldened is (way) derek ( a course or road) and it comes from a root of the same spelling (darak) which means to tread on or travel on. However, darak also means to STRING a bow, ie; by treading or stepping on it. (see Ps. 7:2, 25:9) So, it could be read that God lead the people in the WAY He did to string them as a bow is strung, why? look at the word TORAH. To enable them to CAST His word to the nations. He chose the way He did to ENABLE the people to do His work.
The other term is interesting as well. “although (because) NEAR it (was)….” the word is qarowb and it’s a term of kinship. It can mean ALLIED or close to in kind.
He didn’t chose to “string them up” with the philistines because they were “allied” or of close kind with the egyptians. They weren’t the same people, but close. Think on that one a little bit!!
Anyway, I’ve taken enough of your time already so I’ll end with this. It’s encouraging to me that God Himself has designed the circumstances of my life, even the isolation and sometimes gut cringing instances, not only to teach me dependence on Him, but in the meanwhile He’s “stringing” me up to be able to cast His Word (Truth) to those in my sphere of influence, both in word and deed. There was a book out sometime ago that addressed Jabez’ prayer. One of the things that Jabez asked was, “that thou would bless me indeed (double the volume) and enlarge my coasts..” Whats the blessing? Money, land, or any number of other things? No. It’s to increase the distance of my borders. Can you make me shoot your arrows a little further, to even more people, those outside my previous boundries? Perhaps then they’ll see, and turn to You, and live. What a blessing indeed (double the volume!!)
YHWH bless you and keep you Brian, in Yeshua’s Name
Great reply, Robert, and great insight into B’shalach too. Might have to borrow that. 🙂
Shavua Tov, everyone. My wife, Laura, visited with Elena in hospital today. She has asked me to pass on the following. Elena has now been moved from ICU to the Cardiac unit (praise God!) but is still a long way from being well. The doctors estimate that approximately 80% brain function has returned – physical coordination is a problem (she cannot yet walk unassisted) and there are some involuntary muscle movements going on too.
Short term memory is also a problem at the moment, so she gets confused easily and this is rather frightening and frustrating for her. Her long term memory appears to be fine and she is now conversing in both English (her second language) and Romanian – for the first day or two she could not converse in English (another source of frustration for her and the medical staff).
She is really struggling with not being able to go home to her kids (who are 2 1/2 and about 14 months) and gets quite distressed at times (which does not help her recovery and puts her at risk of another heart attack). This is also an extremely distressing and stressful time for her husband (who now finds himself caring for 2 completely dependent young children on his own) and the boys.
Added to all of that, they are now in difficult financial circumstances as well, with medical bills to pay and Elena unable to work (at least until she is fully recovered). Their local church community will do what they can, but the church is small and their resources are limited. Praise God, our Father’s resources are not limited and He is fully able to provide for them (and we, as believers and servants of the Most High, have the privilege of being part of His provision for those in need in our communities).
Most importantly, please continue to pray for Elena and her family (ask God to guide you as to how to pray). Thankyou, faithful brothers and sisters – you’re all such a blessing. Shalom.
Mary,
Thank you for your prayers and your kind and encouraging words.
I have come to realize over the last few days that the battle of trying to convince others of the validity of His teaching and instructions is not mine but His. I can only be faithful to what He has revealed and called me into, and the convincing of others will have to come within His timing and season. As the Father revealed to me years ago, all I need to do is take care of what is right in front of me and He would take care of the details. I am convinced that He is able to turn the lights on for others too, so my reponse needs to be one of humility and joy knowing that He is more than able. YHWH is the true defender of our lives! Obedience is ours and the revelation part is the Ruach HaKodesh.
He will have a people that are true demonstrators of who He is and they in turn will be a light for others and the world He has called them into. May the King of all Kings bless you and yours abudantly today!
In His Care, Brian
Robert lafoy,
Greetings my dear brother. How are you doing? Thank you for your impactful words that you shared above. They were pertinent and spoke very loudly to me today. Please do not feel you have to shorten what you have to say and what the Father has revealed. 🙂 I definitely want to hear what you have to write and share. My tendency is one of long writing and sharing and I am looking for feedback and response. Conversations over the blog that are iniated by a desire to walk in the fullness of the Father’s ways is painful and delightful. Painful that we are so seperated and far from home and delightful because we are still longing and moving back toward the garden. These are the real journeys that conforms us to His image. Longing, moving, and pressing these are signs of life in the Kingdom. Many blessings to your family!
In His Care, Brian