Crushed by the Weight of Glory
and now Israel, what does the LORD require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, . . . Deuteronomy 10:12 ESV
Fear the LORD – Moses Luzzatto explores the term yirat ha-Shem in his 18th Century book, Mesillat Yesharim. Ira Stone’s commentary of Luzzatto’s description draws an astounding conclusion. “It should by now be clear that the term yirat Ha-Shem cannot simply be translated as ‘fear of God.’ Rather, yirat ha-Shem is wisdom as expressed in worship . . . Nor is it any better understood simply as awe, a tactic that contemporary English speakers often take. Instead, I understand yirat ha-Shem as the overwhelming weight we take on when we recognize the infinite nature of our responsibility for others; ahavah is the infinite potential for joy we experience by our choices to implement the yetzer ha-tov. . . . our relationship to God is a living rather than a thinking relationship. It is not speculation on the being of God, or even on how we can speculate about God, that claims the attention of Jewish intellectual effort. Rather, it is living in the mode of God as we have experienced it in both our personal and communal histories.”[1]
We have examined Stone’s insight before, but this awareness is so important that I want to add one more implication. Mesillat Yesharim is a very difficult book to read, not because of its vocabulary or its 18th Century style. It is difficult, perhaps daunting, because it confronts us with our self-centeredness and our lack of courage with respect to God’s ways. On virtually every page we are called to God’s court and asked to judge our actions. What we find is humiliating. With a few notable exceptions, most human beings, believers or not, simply do not take seriously the terrible weight of glory that accompanies the call of God. We do not consider the fact that our actions, our simplest choices, determine the fate of humanity. We ignore the immensity of our unholiness and the audacity of our insults to the Creator. We stand when we should fall on our faces in front of the one true God. We stand because we presume on His righteousness and forgiveness. We think that because Yeshua died to atone for sin we are somehow excused from our deliberate subversion of His instructions. And in particular, as Luzzatto notes, we do not believe that we are responsible for others. Our Greek paradigm of the supremacy of the individual allows us to shift responsibility from our shoulders to the other person. We are absolved by the culture – but not by the Scriptures.
When I reached this point in Luzzatto’s book, on the tenth page of 276 pages, I put the book down. It took me several months to have the strength to pick it up again. Without grace, who can live under such a burden? But even with grace, who can deny that we are essentially a community? God help us!
Topical Index: responsibility, yirat ha-Shem, fear of God, Mesillat Yesharim
Today is Yom Kippur. Today our need for grace is most evident. And God gives it.
[1] Ira Stone commentary to Moses Luzzatto, Mesillat Yesharim, pp. 10-11.
And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered [him] with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused [it] to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, “Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water.” But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that [is] in their hands. Who can tell [if] God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did [it] not. – Jonah 3:4-10
Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement.
~ He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as One from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not ~ (Isaiah 53.3)
~But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed ~ (Isaiah 53.5)
~ For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:but we proclaim Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;but to those who are the called-out assembly, “both” Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God ~
(1 Corinthians 1.23,24)
Would you like to see it in writing?
For “it is written:”
~ Above His head they placed the written charge against Him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS ~ (Matthew 27.37)
Israel, – who is this Man? Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Yes. He is. And more..much more, for this, this is Jesus, King of the Jews, Savior of the world, LORD of lords, and King of kings.
Israel, today- behold your King and (with the ones who now belong to Him) “bow the knee.”
For The Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus (who is the) Christ: ~ humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on the tslav, the execution stake, the cross ~ (Philippians 2.8) – Why?
~ Because God “SO LOVED” the world.. He gave.. the Supreme Sacrifice, a Glorious Gift, the Gift that keeps on giving, -God provided a Perfect Lamb, the propitiating, atoning Lamb of God Who takes away (atones for) the sins of the world, the LORD Jesus (who is the) Christ, the Anointed.~
His words to His talmudim prior to the tslav were these:
~This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is being poured out for you ~ (Matthew 26.28)
Moses also took blood ~ sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.” (Exodus 24.8) ~
A blood sacrifice was still required to atone for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 9.22)
~ But this Man, (this Priest after the order of Melchizedek), after He had offered one Sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; ~ (Hebrews 10.12) Why?
He finished/fulfilled/accomplished (completely) the work He came to do. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but He can’t save Himself! So He is the King of Israel, is He? Let Him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in Him!
No, (my scoffing friends).. God had a better idea, even from the beginning.. let Him rise from the dead after three days and completely/totally conquer sin, hasatan, the grave and death. And Israel, this Man, this Priest after the order of Melchizekek (My God is King) ever lives to make intercession for you.
Do you, on this Day of Atonement, know Him? Have you received the ONE who was pierced? the ONE who was wounded for our transgressions? the ONE whose name is the Name above all names?
~ But those that received Him, to them He gave authority to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name, children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God ~
(John 1.13,14)
~ This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son (the Sent ONE) as an atoning Sacrifice for our sins ~ (1 John 4.10)
Full atonement, can it be? Hallelujah!- what a Savior!
Man of Sorrows! what a Name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement!” – can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Lifted up was He to die;
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in Heav’n exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then today tHis song we’ll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
There is a Fountain filled with blood
drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
lose all their guilty stains.
I don’t agree with everything this man says, but this little talk about living together in community is special to me so I thought I would share it.
http://www.henrinouwen.org/Video_Audio/Videos/Earlham_College_Honorary.aspx
Lois,
Thank you for posting this. It is just the reminder I need!
Blessings!
It hardly seems fair to blame the Greeks for what started in Eden – shifting the blame.
Lol !
Yes, but it is convenient.
Like!
” We ignore the immensity of our unholiness and the audacity of our insults to the Creator. We stand when we should fall on our faces in front of the one true God. We stand because we presume on His righteousness and forgiveness. We think that because Yeshua died to atone for sin we are somehow excused from our deliberate subversion of His instructions”
Oh Well
Written by peter green. Flleetwood Mac 1969
I cant help about the shape Im in
I cant sing, I ain’t pretty and my legs are thin
But don’t ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to
Oh well
Now, when I talked to God I knew he’d understand
He said, stick by my side and Ill be your guiding hand
But don’t ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8RhZDGLEXM