Hi all,
Metting and teaching many groups of people here in South Africa. There is a great hunger for God’s word that is truly inspiring. But I must tell you that internet is terrible, so it takes many days between my comments and replies. Please be patient.
I will do my best to offer more when I find a really good connection – which might be in London on the way home.
Thank you for supporting this work as it really means a lot to these people.
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“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
“But seek first His kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33 NASB
Seek - The word used in this quotation from Yeshua means “to deliberately strive and desire something as an act of the will.” It is the Greek verb zeteo. Here the context implies putting your whole life at the disposal of God’s rule and will so that nothing takes greater priority. This meaning carries over the Old Testament idea that seeking God is an activity of the whole being, not simply an intellectual pursuit. Everything that comprises who we are is to be offered as a living sign of complete surrender to the pursuit of God and His kingdom. God-consciousness must be the ethos of life.
This verse tells us that whenever we consciously commit ourselves in utter abandonment to God’s will, He faithfully cares for our needs. In the previous verse, Yeshua simply says that God knows exactly what we need and we can have every confidence that He will provide for us when we surrender to Him. This is the essence of life in Christ. We could never do it alone, and we could never do it by just giving up. We had to surrender something to someone. We had to give ourselves completely to our powerlessness and let God do what only He could do. We didn’t know we could change until we gave up trying.
Most people who are able to recognize the element of denial in their own lives clearly understand the need to surrender to the care of someone else. But we still don’t. We don’t do what we intellectually know must be done because we are not intellectual robots. We are emotionally driven, embodied persons and most of the time it is our emotions that have the last word in our decisions. We don’t surrender because we are afraid. First, we are afraid because we are unsure about what will happen. We want control (isn’t that what addictive behavior is really all about?). Surrendering means giving up that control, even if it is illusory. Secondly, we are afraid because our emotional lives hunger for care and contentment and we don’t trust God to give these. He might forgive us, but forgiveness is little comfort if it leaves me in the valley of agonizing toil and hopelessness. I need to feel His love, not simply know it as some theological construct.
Seeking is a very strong word. It isn’t just “looking around” or “checking it out”. It is fervent hunting. Every parent knows what this word means. It is the intensity of looking for a lost child. Nothing else matters until that child is found. We are consumed with looking.
When your life is consumed with looking for God, God will find you. And you will be completely cared for. Jesus said it another way. “Happy the ones who are desperate for God because God arrives for them”.
Topical Index: seek, zeteo, God-consciousness, Matthew 6:33
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls” Matthew 11:29 NASB
Rest – One measure of the integrity of your life is the tranquility of your sleep. To sleep without anxiety, without fear, without the restlessness of compulsive desire is a reflection of the purity of your relationships with God and others. For many of us, such a sleep is but a dream. Our waking moments are dimly lit nightmares that shine with searchlight intensity when we close our eyes. But it doesn’t have to be like this.
Matthew’s Greek translator uses the word anapuasis. It is a combination of two Greek words – ana (a prefix that means “again”) and pauo (a root word meaning “to give rest”). This word describes inward tranquility while performing necessary labor. The emphasis is on the inner life, not on the outward activity. Synonyms are recovery of breath or relaxing of chords or strings drawn too tight, a restful, natural sleep or an inner peace. In this verse, Yeshua promises the one thing that people in recovery seek most – inner peace. Think of the times you have watched a child sleep. There is an undisturbed tranquility in that rest – a peacefulness that comes from letting go of all cares and concerns. It is the sleep of trusting dependence.
We know all too well the torment in our souls. We know the constant turmoil of compulsion and white-knuckled struggle. But here Yeshua promises rest, the gentle rest of a sleep without nightmares, the rest of deep-seated serenity and calm. He does not promise that the necessary labor will be removed. He promises that we will be able to go about living with peace of mind and tranquil hearts. It is an offer that sounds almost too good to be true. But it is true. Real spirituality leads us to peace of heart and tranquility of mind. We know that this is a gift because no matter how hard we tried to find it when the compulsions of life ruled us, we never knew serenity. What an unbelievable joy to know that our surrender will bring us rest, not struggle. The pathway to serenity is not a Herculean fight but a gentle submission.
In a world where everything is too busy, too worried and too chaotic, Yeshua promises us a center of restful retreat. How can he make this promise? Because he knows that life is not in our hands but in the hands of his Father. Relax. God is in charge. Depend entirely on Him. You can sleep tonight.
Topical Index: rest, sleep, anapuasis, surrender, Matthew 11:29
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are expedient, 1 Corinthians 10:23 NASB
Are lawful – The Greek word (sumphero) is a combination word. It comes from sum (which means “together”) and phero (which means “to bring”). We get the English word “sum” – adding up things – from this Greek prefix. The idea is bringing things together in one place. The objective is to profit by adding something. Paul is saying that some things just don’t add up. Some things aren’t profitable when they are added to our lives.
Few people have any problem with this idea. We all know that some things just aren’t good additions to life. Paul’s statement seems to be ordinary common sense. But it isn’t! The problem is the opening of the verse. Paul starts this verse with “all things are lawful,” but obviously all things are not lawful. The Torah gives us clear instructions about those things that are not lawful. Our governments and society put restrictions on behavior. Even conscience tells us that some things are harmful. Paul’s opening claim seem to be patently absurd. How can Paul be so deluded?
The problem is our English translation and cultural understanding of the Greek panta exestin. The verb has three related meanings in New Testament Greek. The first is the power that decides. In opposition to an intrinsic ability (like the power to decide), exousia describes choice that causes change. Thus the word is used to describe the invisible power of God’s word, a declaration that makes things happen. Secondly, the word implies that “this power of decision is active in a legally-ordered whole, especially in the state and in all the authoritarian relationships supported by it.”[1] Finally, the word describes freedom allowed within a community. These last two definitions are crucial. Think about it. Paul chooses a word that has the idea of an ordered structure built into it. exestin is not freedom to do whatever I want to do. That would be license, not freedom. Paul’s idea of freedom is the power to choose whatever is permitted within the structure of the community or granted under community authority. In his choice of this Greek term, Paul is saying that he has the power that brings about whatever falls within the category of permitted actions. There are no inhibitions preventing Paul from acting in any way that his recognized authority allows. For Paul, this means that anything permitted under Torah is permissible for him.
We read this verse and think of freedom as the ability to do whatever we wish. In our culture, freedom does not imply a structured, pre-existing order that provides authority over the community. But in Paul’s world, that’s exactly what freedom means. Freedom is the opportunity to do what is expected based on accepted authority. For Paul and all of the observant Jews of the first century, this idea of freedom means being able to do what Torah allows and requires without hindrance.
But . . . even if it is permissible under the authority of Torah, Paul says he will still choose not to exercise this power that decides because of other constraints, namely, the constraints placed upon him by his love for his brothers in the Messiah. From the perspective of Torah, Paul is “free” to do whatever a Torah-observant life allows. But Paul recognizes that some of those actions are not profitable for his greater purpose – the proclamation of Yeshua HaMashiach. Paul will not do anything that would jeopardize his assignment even though there are no prohibitions against what he might do.
An example helps us see Paul’s argument. Suppose Paul wanted to observe the Sabbath but he was in a city that prohibited meetings on Friday. Paul would not be “free” to observe what Torah requires. But where there is no such prohibition, Paul is free. He is not free to do whatever he feels like on Friday evening. He is “free” to celebrate the Sabbath without restrictions.
When Paul says that all things are lawful, he means that in the ordered community of Torah, there are no obstacles which would keep him from observing all that is expected of him. He is free to obey. But there is an even greater obligation on his life, the obligation of faithfulness to his calling. Therefore, even though he has no obstacles before him that prevent his observance of Torah, he will still hold himself to a higher standard and he will not do anything that diminishes his mission.
We can see the application of this principle in the life of Yeshua. In the passage in John 8, Yeshua confronts a woman caught in adultery. Under Torah, He is permitted to sentence her (in fact, He is probably the only one who has this permission given the circumstances). So He is free to act according to Torah. But He doesn’t do so. Why not? Because there is a higher principle at work here, the principle of forgiveness and restoration. The Torah is not set aside. But grace overrides Torah permission. If Paul were in that audience, he would say, “All these things are lawful, but they do not all add up to the greater purpose.”
Topical Index: lawful, exestin, free, 1 Corinthians 10:23
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:6 NASB
Straight – The root word (yashar) means to be level, straight, just or lawful. In its derivations, it is often connected with the idea of law keeping and uprightness. It frequently means to make a straight and level path, free of obstacles. This is the kind of path made for a king. Some translations of this verse read “he shall direct your path” but that isn’t quite the right sense. God doesn’t push you out on your way without making the road ahead straight, level and clear. He doesn’t hand you a map and tell you to check in with Him when you reach the destination. He levels the path for you. It is both the work of God for man, as in this verse, and also the work of man for God (Isaiah 40:3). Uprightness is a lifestyle characterized by being blameless and blamelessness is a determination based on God’s standards.
It is common in military training to run an obstacle course. The intention is to develop agility, strength and perseverance. Too often we think of our lives in those military terms, as if God sets us out on an obstacle course to see if we have the stamina to remain faithful. But that’s not what this verse suggests. God is actively engaged in our path, like the man on the Olympic curling team who sweeps the ice as the stone moves toward its target. His job is to make sure nothing impedes the progress of the stone. God takes on the same role. He makes sure nothing impedes our progress toward His objective.
Of course, we often think that He isn’t doing His job very well because from our perspective it doesn’t seem as if the stone is heading straight for the target. But our view is defective. The only thing that stands in the way of God achieving His objective is us! That’s right, the Accuser has no ability to block God’s purposes without God’s permission. There aren’t any evil demons who are able to divert God’s plans unless they are allowed to do so. As long as we are obedient, God’s objective is achieved without interference. And when we are disobedient, we delay God, we do not defeat Him.
God grants us the ability to recognize His law and to walk in it. In one important derivative, this word is an attributive adjective of God Himself, emphasizing His righteousness and His reign over all people. The person who is judged to have straight paths from God’s viewpoint is said to have that quality of heart that enables him to be obedient to God’s will. This promise claims that our dependence (trust) on God will allow Him to straighten out our lives. We do not need to struggle with the mechanics of how this will be done. We are asked only to trust Him and not ourselves, and He will do the rest. Of course, trust in Hebrew is an action word. We don’t wait passively for God to “fix” everything. We do what He asks, as soon as He asks it, in the confidence that this action will move us down the path He has made for us. It is a blessing for us to know that God is willing and able to repair what we have damaged if we only surrender ourselves to Him in all our endeavors. After years of struggling, it is a wonderful promise of grace to realize that our lives can be characterized by blamelessness and discernment. God does work miracles. This verse makes it clear. All of the crooked paths, all of the bends and curves, all of the mess that we have made, He will straighten. It is going to be painful, but the result will be a life of blameless freedom.
Topical Index: straight, yashar, path, Proverbs 3:6
See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. 1 John 3:1 NASB
Bestowed – In the New Testament this Greek word (dedoken) belongs to the same cognate group as the word for gift. It could be translated as giving, granting, presenting or bestowing. It is particularly important because it indicates that the ultimate gift-giver is God Himself and the ultimate gift given is peace with God through His Son.
In this verse, John expresses how unimaginably wonderful it is to know that God the Father loved us so much that He chose to favor us by calling us His children. Adoption, especially adoption of those who were once enemies, is an amazing display of the divine desire for reconciliation. We are the children of God because He says we are, not because we did anything to deserve being His children but simply because we were favored with His gift to us. For everyone seeking recovery from a history of disobedience, this proclamation of God’s love towards us tells us something very important about who we are. It tells us that we matter to God. In fact, God places so high a value on us that He gave us the best gift He could – the gift that would bring us back to Him. When we are trapped in destructive lives, we are often faced with the despair of self-worthlessness. But God says “No!” to this inner degradation. God says that we are worthy of His love.
I am sure you’ve seen lots of self-help books claiming to help you create a “new” you, but the only book that can create a completely new you is the one God wrote. It is the only book that lets God rewrite your life. And that’s what we need. When we try to make a new person of ourselves, we must always build on the existing foundation. We are only able to remodel the mess we’ve made. But God is able to do re-construction. He is able to create a foundation and build from there. Anyone who has ever struggles with an addiction knows that we didn’t need self-help. It was our “self” that was causing the problems. We needed God to give us a new “self.” We needed God to remake the human being in us.
Of course, there is effort involved in this reconstruction, but from the human side of the equation, our effort is to allow God to set the foundation and then follow His instructions for building the temple on that foundation. God lays the groundwork. We cannot do that, but we can put aside all our twisted plans and build straight walls of obedience after the foundation is in place. The great gift is His declaration that we can be trusted to do what He asks. The great gift is His declaration that we belong to Him. The great gift is “peace on earth and good will toward men.” He has provided for our reconciliation. The great gift isn’t forgiveness. It is fellowship. Forgiveness is simply the by-product of God’s determination to include us in His family.
Topical Index: gift, dedoken, forgiveness, family, 1 John 3:1
As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us, Psalm 103:12 NASB
Removed - The word rahaq appears more than 50 times in the Old Testament. Its primary meaning is to indicate a physical distance between someone or something. In its ethical connotation it can be used to express God’s desire for His people to keep themselves far away from wicked and evil people and idols.
In this verse, the word is actually used twice; once for removing our sins and once for the distance that the East is from the West. The verse might be translated, “As far as the East is from the West, that’s the distance God has put between us and our transgressions.” Of course, East and West are infinitely far apart, so the image is that God has absolutely and completely separated us from our past sins. East and West also have spiritual implications in the ancient Near East. The East is associated with life, especially with new life as the sun rises in the East. And the West, of course, has the opposite association. So God has not only separated our sins at an infinite distance, He has also put them as far away as new life is to death.
There is great consolation for us in this picture. All of our lives we had to live within the presence of our sin. It was so much a part of us that we were never at any distance from our self-loathing. In fact, the power of sin is kept alive by the proximity of our guilt and shame. Since we could not remove ourselves from the self we had become, we were surely in the hell of self-recrimination. But God’s act of forgiveness puts so great a distance between who we are and what we have done that the gap is infinite. Our sins disappear over the horizon of God’s grace. They die in the West just as we are born in the East. If they are so far away that there is no way to measure how far He has removed us from them, then we are free to live without them. We can be new because we are separated from the old.
Next time you see the horizon, remember that God pushes all your sins right over the edge. They are forever out of His sight. When you look ahead, you will not see them. When you look behind, they are gone. Without them, you are free to live differently. No one can bring them back – except you. But why would you do so? As long as you don’t provide an avenue for their return, they are completely forgotten. The Accuser attempts to get you provide them a map for their return. But even he cannot bring them back without your permission. Don’t grant it to him. Send him over the hill too.
Topical Index: forgiveness, East-West, Psalm 103:12, rahaq
Well, I am on the way to South Africa today. Thank you for your prayers and prayers for all those who will be engaged in the teaching sessions. It means a lot to have all of your support.
Please note that my interaction on the blog will undoubtedly be very limited. Today’s Word will continue as usual with Patrick’s supervision but I will probably not say much in the next few weeks. Lots to do.
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[The Lord] Who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion. Psalm 103:4 NASB
Lovingkindness – This Hebrew word (hesed) has a great deal more in its full meaning than we can capture in an English word. Our studies in the past have shown us its richer character. It is the paradigm word surrounding the bond between God and His people. Yet it does not mean that God shows kindness toward His people simply because they have a covenant with Him. Rather, it indicates that behind God’s promise to any of His children lies God’s love for His own creation. God loved us before He made promises to us. He loved us because we were made to enjoy Him and glorify Him. In fact, His help toward us is not dependent on our keeping the terms of the relationship outlined in the Law. That is something none of us have done. Instead, God desires to rain His love and compassion on us when we need it most, after we have broken our relationship with Him. This verse contains a wonderful promise for each of us. It promises that God is the One Who will rescue us from the pit of our disobedience and rebellion. Not only will He rescue us but He will heap His mercy, love and compassion upon us precisely because we need Him. For God, hesed begins because He chooses to obligate Himself to us. None of us in recovery could be more aware of our desperate plight to escape the hell of our lives. But God knows all about us. He will bring us back to ourselves and to Him so that we too may show hesed and compassion (notice that they are not the same).
The great Psalm of hesed is Psalm 136. David considers the intervention of God in the history of His people as a remarkable sign of loving loyalty. He describes God’s character and actions with the same term. When you want to see the full scope of God’s hesed for you, take a moment to read this Psalm. It is a look back at the way God demonstrated His care for Israel, and it is a look forward to the way God will continue to care for us. Yeshua once asked this question: “When a child asks his father for bread, will the father give him a stone?” If you human parents know how to respond to the needs of your children, how much more do you think God wants to respond to the needs of His children?
It is far too easy for us to ignore the gift of God’s hesed. We judge ourselves unworthy. We confront our own failures and mistakes. We recognize our sins. And we think, “God could never love such a man as me.” We know we don’t deserve kindness even though we are desperate for it. Hesed teaches us that God doesn’t wait for our self-improvement efforts. Nor does He delay His faithfulness because we have faltered. Hesed is essential for life and the God of life provides it abundantly.
Look for hesed today. My guess is that you will find it.
Topical Index: hesed, lovingkindness, loyalty, Psalm 103:4
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