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Ping-Pong Repentance

Sunday, April 14th, 2013 | Author:

“Come, let us return to the LORD, for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.”  Hosea 6:1  ESV

Return – “Although ‘in their distress’ (5:15) the Israelites do indeed resolve ‘come, let us return to Yahweh’ (6:1), the people are not really transformed.  Israel continues to lack insight into its own guilt (cf. 6:2-3 with 14:2-3[1-2]) and does not exhibit constancy (6:4b), steadfast love, or knowledge of God (6:6).”[1]

Not much has changed since the time of Hosea, has it?  Distress leads to a form of repentance.  When things get bad, God comes to mind.  Like the fertility cults of the ancient past, we turn to God in order to improve our lives.  We make promises.  We offer sacrifices (bigger tithes, more services, whatever it takes).  We show penance.  But just like the Israelites, we lack insight into our own guilt.  We think like pagans.  “If we just do this, then God will be happy with us again and life will return to normal,” we say to ourselves.  Perhaps we aren’t even aware of the implicit selfishness of our actions.  Perhaps we don’t see that our motives are not based on God’s perspective but rather on our own desires to remove the pain.  But the result is no different.  We move toward God only long enough to reduce our distress.  But there is no long-term consistency, no abiding faithful loyalty, no true understanding of His heart.  When the pain is gone, so are the vows.

The sad pattern of sincere capriciousness is evident for both corporate and individual.  A nation turns to God in a time of crisis.  Ten years later no one notices any difference.  A man or woman, struck by anxiety and guilt, pleads and prays.  A month later nothing has changed.  It took one thousand years of waiting before God sent Hosea to warn the people about their fickle faith.  I am afraid that we have also used up the clock.  The long-nose of deferred wrath is shortened by our lack of compassion for God.  As the parable of the great debtor clearly shows us, having proven ourselves unworthy of His grace, He may withdraw the benefit and require us to pay.

Hosea’s summary is fitting:  “they turn . . . to powerlessness.”  We turn back to our plans, our attempts to control our destiny, our beliefs that power and money will make us free.  We follow the path of Ba’al, with the same result.  And, by the way, Hosea also makes it clear that the proof of our pagan Christianity is not in our theological constructs but rather in our actions.  If God can describe what it means to be in His image in His self-definition of Exodus 34:6-7, are we compelled to ask ourselves if we can be described by the same terms.  Where is our compassion as intense as the care of an unborn child?  Where is our patient endurance?  Where is unmerited favor poured out?  Where is hesed?  If you made journal entries into your spiritual account based on the characteristics of God’s declaration to Moses, how would you fare?  Are you like Hosea’s Israel or are you like Yeshua’s servants?

Topical Index:  shuv, return, Exodus 34:6-7, Hosea 6:1, Matthew 18:21-35


[1] M. Graupner, shuv, TDOT, Vol. XIV, p. 487.

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Once More Only

Saturday, April 13th, 2013 | Author:

For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved,
 in quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing, . .  Isaiah 30:15  NASB

Repentance – Once before we looked at this verse, but we didn’t mention that the Hebrew word shuva is a hapax legomenon.  That means this word occurs only one time in all the Scripture.  It is still a derivative of the underlying verb shuv, but in this occurrence it is quite unusual.  Perhaps that’s why various English translations choose different words to try to explain the meaning.  Regardless of the English choice, the idea is clear.  Salvation (deliverance) comes from a change in direction.  It could be understood as turning to God.  It might be turning back.  It could even be turning around.  But somewhere, somehow, things must be different.  Life must change.  Goals must change.  Preferences must change.

The important point about shuv and its derivatives is that it is not primarily cognitive.  Shuv is about movement, not mentality.  It simply is not possible to experience YHWH’s deliverance by changing your thoughts alone.  Unless walking follows talking, there is no change in direction.  So when I proclaim that I have been set free from my guilt by the grace of the Lord, anyone should be able to tell the difference between my former ways of walking and my current ways of walking.  The promise of salvation comes after course correction!  “In changing direction (shuva) and rest (nahat) you will be saved” (Niphal, imperfect).  The verb tense indicates that the action (deliverance) happens to us (we are passive recipients) in continuing occurrence.  In other words, deliverance (salvation) is the continuous experience of the presence of YHWH.  It’s not being transported to heaven.  It’s not the momentary relief of guilt.  It’s not the confident assurance that our sins have been forgiven.  It is fellowship with the Father.  And if that isn’t a present reality in your life, then perhaps you need to examine yourself in light of shuva’ and nahat.

Some Hebrew terms like shuv are almost bi-polar.  They contain both positive and negative components.  So shuv can mean “to turn to God” and it can also mean “to withdraw from God.”  It isn’t the action that matters.  It is the direction.  It is possible to demonstrate all the apparently religious actions but be going in the wrong direction.  That is a very scary thought.  Perhaps this is what Yeshua had in mind when He addressed those who claimed such religious fervor but still heard the words, “I never knew you.”  Don’t examine your religious behavior and think you have settled the issue.  Inspect your direction.  Look where you are going by making sure it isn’t where you have already been.  Then you will understand that the sign of repentance is only visible when you are confronted by the same circumstances but you act differently.

Topical Index:  repentance, shuv, shuva, return, withdraw, Isaiah 30:15

 

 

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The Return of Reason

Friday, April 12th, 2013 | Author:

“But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
 And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.”  Daniel 4:34  NASB

Returned – Nebuchadnezzar experienced a degradation of life that we can only imagine in some sort of science-fiction movie.  He became like an animal in the field.  After God’s chastisement, he made a statement that reveals just how typical the reality of his experience really is.  “My reason returned,” says the king.  But we should not think of this as the return of rationality.  The words are not Greek.  They are Aramaic (mandei yetuv).  We are familiar with the verb in Hebrew (shuv), meaning “to turn around, to return.”  But what is it that returns to Nebuchadnezzar?  It is manda, not reasoning ability but rather knowledge and understanding.  The word is derived from yada’, “to know.”  In fact, the ancient Mandaeans who were Aramaic Gnostics got their name from this word.  So it is not about the ability to think logically.  It is about understanding the true foundation of life.  Nebuchadnezzar’s understanding of the sovereignty of God returned to him and he saw how the world really is.  That’s why the result of this return is his declaration of praise!  “I blessed the Most High,” says Nebuchadnezzar, because when he understood, he knew who God is – the Sovereign of the Universe.

It took animal existence for Nebuchadnezzar to come to his senses.  It appears to me that most of the world’s population is still waiting for that day.  Most of the world’s population are grass-eaters.  They just don’t know it because their “reason” has not returned.  They don’t understand that there is only One True God – YHWH – melech ha’olam.  They are still mindlessly chewing like cattle, consuming the earth without acknowledging its Creator.  It’s pretty much what Paul said in Romans 1.  Failure to acknowledge sovereignty results in darkened minds.  The fact is that very few return to reason in spite of the fact that most claim to be thinkers.

Nebuchadnezzar’s insight is important for each of us.  He had to become an animal in order to understand what it means to be human.  So do we.  We might not spend seven years in the field, but we can easily spend a lifetime chewing.  To be human is to be able to praise the Creator and to praise the Creator requires manda – yada’.  Don’t be fooled by thinking.  Thinking is not the sign of being human.  Submission to the King is the sign of being human.  Choose your Sovereign today.  Start by praising His benevolence and grace.  Your mind will improve.

Topical Index:  mind, reason, manda, yada’, return, shuv, Daniel 4:34

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What Should I Do With You?

Thursday, April 11th, 2013 | Author:

“You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD: When men fall, do they not rise again?  If one turns away, does he not return?”  Jeremiah 8:4  ESV

Turns away/return – Doesn’t God’s broken heart ache for His children?  It’s difficult for us to imagine what that pain must be.  The perfect Father who wishes only to provide shalom to those He loves with an intensity that is the very foundation of the universe watches us turn away again and again.  A thousand years of patient hope and yet we rebel.  And it’s not as if we don’t know what we are doing.  Yes, Yeshua asked for forgiveness for those who were involved in the crucifixion, but they were ignorant of the cosmic implications of their hatred.   Can we claim the same ignorance?  Hardly!  To us it has been revealed, that marvelous disclosure of God’s handiwork in preparation for the coming world of joyful obedience.  What excuse do we have?

Israel’s obstinacy continues in our own history,  both corporate and individual.  I am not like Joshua, capable of vowing, “As for my house, we shall serve . . .”  I know his path.  I see his path.  I hear his path, and yet, I falter.  “If a man falls, will he not get up?”  Yes, but how many times, Lord, must one fall before he can not fall again?  The assumption in God’s question is that we will get up, but the reality is that falling damages our chances.  Yes, we can get up.  Yes, the Father of lights wishes us to get up.  Yes, the Spirit hovers over us with anticipation.  But bones break.  Minds ache.  And the reality is that getting up hurts more the one-hundredth time than it did the second time.

Perhaps that’s why this common Semitic word is of such enormous importance.  Shuv isn’t particular to Hebrew.  It is found throughout the languages of the ancient world, and what is particularly important about this word and all its cognates is that it is a word of the will.  It always means, “Get up and turn around again.”  In this verse, the verb is used twice in the second question.  Shuv is both “to turn away” and “to return.”  Both verbs are Qal imperfects.  They describe a simple, continuing action.  Fall down – get up!  Turn away – turn back!  The implication is obvious:  sin is not supposed to permanently derail you!  If you find you are going in the wrong direction, turn around!  It doesn’t matter how many times you have to make this course correction.  Do it – again!

In other ancient cultures of the Middle East, this action was usually associated with returning to the worship of the pagan gods.  Appeasement was required.  It was necessary to get the god to turn back toward you.  But YHWH is different.  He isn’t looking for appeasement.  He is looking for the joy of embracing the child who has turned home.  It isn’t God who needs to turn around.  It’s us!  The signpost for a U turn is already in the ground.  The RSVP has been sent.  All that is required is the will to walk a different way.  And one step in reverse is enough to get started.

Ready?  About face!  March!

Topical Index:  return, shuv, repent, teshuvah, Jeremiah 8:4

 

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Double Deal

Sunday, July 08th, 2012 | Author:

Thus Naomi returned from the country of Moab; she returned with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabite.  Ruth 1:22  JPS

Returned – Did you ask, “Why is this verb repeated?”  Isn’t it enough to say, “Thus Naomi returned”?  Why say it twice – unless there is something for us to learn from this reoccurrence?  The literal translation would read, “Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, the one returning . . .”  Perhaps the second occurrence isn’t about Naomi at all.  Perhaps “the one returning” describes Ruth.  Eskenazi notes that this awkward construction caused the rabbis to ask, “In what way does Ruth return?”  After all, Ruth had never been to Bethlehem.  Ruth was an outsider, a prohibited stranger.  How can she be returning to Israel?  The rabbis suggested several explanations.  Some thought that this construction described Ruth’s repentance and conversion.  Others thought that this alluded to the turn around in the history between Moab and Israel represented in Ruth.  Let’s examine both of these and see what we discover in the deeper levels of this text.

First, suppose that this really describes Ruth’s turn from pagan Moab to faithful Israel.  We would usually report this as a “conversion” experience.  But with the verb shuv we see something a little deeper.  Conversion is return to the Lord.  That implies that we were once in His company and, with conversion, are returning to that place.  How can this be for pagans?  Perhaps our return is really a statement about how He designed us, how we strayed from His purposes built into us in the womb, and how we are not returning to that original design.  Perhaps the use of shuv brings to mind an even bigger picture; a picture that takes us all the way back to Genesis 2.

Secondly, suppose that this Hebrew construction is about Ruth’s role in turning around the schism between Moab and Israel.  That would take us back to Abraham and Lot (Genesis 13).  The rabbis noticed that Ruth’s hesed heals a broken relationship between family members; a broken relationship of generations of tribal animosity.  Perhaps Ruth’s “return” to Bethlehem is really a pilgrimage of reconciliation, although even she doesn’t understand all the consequences at the time.  But God understands what is transpiring.  His invisible hand is mending fragmented lives and restoring unity.  Naomi returns to a life she once knew.  Ruth “returns” to a life she never knew.  Both women return to God His lost people.

Now we must ask, “What restoration do we initiate when we ‘return’ to the Lord?”  Are we aware of the healing of generations?  Do we see how our individual actions become a part of the bigger reconciliation God desires?  Did you even imagine that when you came back to God you were bringing unity to history?

Topical Index: return, shuv, reconciliation, conversion, Ruth 1:22

 

If you have enjoyed these studies in Ruth, you might consider listening to the audio files about Ruth on the web site.

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The Partial Future

Monday, July 02nd, 2012 | Author:

But Naomi replied, “Turn back, my daughters!  Why should you go with me?  Have I more sons in my body who might be husbands for you?”   Ruth 1:11

Turn back – Once again we encounter the verb shuv in this story.  One commentator points out that shuv in Jeremiah has seventeen different nuances.  We should not be surprised to discover several in this story.  Naomi has implored her daughters-in-law to return to their mothers’ homes.  Now she uses a stronger metaphor.  Since she is unable to have more sons, if the women accompany her they will be relegated to the life of a childless widow.  It seems like a very good reason not to go to Bethlehem.

But Naomi isn’t telling the whole truth.  In fact, one of the undercurrents in this story is how much information Naomi does not reveal to Ruth.  The question is why she leaves out certain crucial pieces.  For example, at this very point Naomi leaves out the fact that there is a kinsman-redeemer in Bethlehem.  She leaves out the fact that her late husband has property in Bethlehem.  She conveniently forgets to mention the levirate obligation.  Later she “forgets” to mention who Boaz is or the fact that Ruth may be in danger in the fields.  As we shall see, at crucial junctures Naomi reveals only part of the future.  There are invisible forces working in Ruth’s life, at least they are invisible to Ruth.  This makes Ruth’s demonstration of hesed all the more powerful.  She acts with compassionate benevolence even when she doesn’t know all the facts.

Now we need to try to answer the question, “Why would Naomi leave this out?”  The answer, although only speculation, implies something about human behavior even among the most spiritual of us.  Is it possible that Naomi, who truly loves her daughters-in-law, is really trying to protect her reputation and status in the community of Bethlehem?  At this point, no one from her Israelite village knows that her sons married Moabite women.  No one knows that the commandment of Deuteronomy 23:4-9 has been violated.  If Naomi returns alone, she can simply report that her husband and sons died in Moab.  No scandal needs to come to the surface.  But if she comes back with Moabites who claim to be relatives, even by marriage, Naomi’s status in the community will diminish.  Her husband’s name will suffer.  She will have to explain things.

How many times have we “returned” without providing the full explanation of our “away from home” events?  How many times have we conveniently left out a bit of crucial information that might encourage someone else to make a different decision, one not necessarily favorable to us?  How many times have we “blessed” someone else but really hoped that he or she would just go away?  Maybe we know Naomi far better than we thought.

When God asks us to return to Him, do you suppose He leaves out a bit of information crucial for the decision?  Do you suppose He welcomes us back but really doesn’t want to hear the whole story?  Oh, but God isn’t like a man, is He?

Topical Index:  shuv, return, Naomi, Ruth 1:11

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Personal Shuv

Saturday, June 30th, 2012 | Author:

 They broke into weeping and said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.”  Ruth 1:9-10  JPS

Return – Literally this verse reads, “No, it is with you that we return to your people.”  Eskenazi points out that the focus of the women’s concern is Naomi, not their personal plight nor their potential rescue.  They are committed to the relationship, not the results.

This is a good place for us to pause and ask ourselves if we have the same personal relationship burden.  Why do we pursue interaction with others?  What is the motivation behind our reaching out?  These two Moabite women are the paradigm of true hesed.  They are committed to the person.  If we have other motives, perhaps “winning souls” or “bringing them to the truth,” we might need to re-examine our focus.  Even the loftiest spiritual motives fall flat if they are not the result of complete commitment to the other person.  The relationship always comes first.

It’s easy for us to think that we have the other person’s best interests at heart.  With so much spiritual language in the evangelical air, we often think that the primary purpose of relating to others is to make sure they know Jesus and will find their way to heaven.  But I wonder if that actually demonstrates the character of God’s hesed.  Orpah and Ruth have nothing to gain by committing themselves to Naomi.  In fact, their commitment carries considerable risk.  They will be outsiders in Bethlehem.  They will be rejected and possibly abused.  After all, they are the “cursed” Moabites.  The chances of them ever finding a husband, and the accompanying security necessary for survival, are slim.  To go with Naomi is to accept a life of destitution and distress.  But it doesn’t matter.  Why?  Because they love Naomi.  They are not thinking of themselves.  They are not even thinking about normal precautions, about weighing the options, about projecting outcomes.  They are concerned only for this other woman.  What happens to them has no consequence.

Is that the kind of commitment you and I make toward loved ones?  Are we ready to be exposed, abused, rejected or distressed in order to demonstrate unfailing love toward another person?  I suggest that if we begin calculating the pros and cons, we no longer exhibit hesed, and if we do this with another human being, I doubt we can demonstrate hesed toward a being we cannot see.  The test of hesed shel emet (true hesed) is its demonstration here and now, among those like us.  If we fail with our fellow travelers, we can be assured we fail with the Holy One of Israel.

“It is with you that we return,” say Ruth and Orpah.  What do we say?

Topical Index:  return, hesed, Ruth 1:10

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In and Out

Wednesday, June 20th, 2012 | Author:

 So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.  Ruth 1:7  NASB

Departed from/ to return – Doesn’t this verse seem redundant?  Doesn’t it say the same thing too many times?  You’ve probably never asked why the author bothered with these two verbs in the same sentence.  If we were grading his short story in Creative Writing class today, we would probably point out this stylistic error and suggest he delete one of the words.  But this is Scripture and things work a little differently in God’s Word.

The first verb is yatsa’.  It is just a bit strange.  Yes, it means “to go out, to come out or to come in,” but its use in Scripture is often modified by the context, rendering meanings such as the birth of the child, the fruitfulness of vegetation, to descend (in death), to escape free and to take away.  Perhaps some of those meanings, including the ironic ones, find their way into this story.  Naomi doesn’t just pack up and leave.  She departs.  Ironically, her actions are motivated by the opposite of birth and fruitfulness.  Furthermore, there is a sense in which she is escaping the grip of death on her life (although she in not aware of it at the time).  In fact, in its noun form (yotse’t) the word means “captivity.”  With this linguistically nuanced background, perhaps the author wishes us to ask, “How is Naomi leaving captivity behind?”

But that isn’t the end of the verbal story.  The redundant verb isn’t yatsa’.  It is lashuv.  As Eskenazi and Frymer-Kensky point out, “Technically, only Naomi is ‘returning,’ whereas the other women are actually leaving their homeland.  Yet, the narrator paints all three as setting out to return, showing their unity of purpose.”[1]  While shuv is a major theme in Ruth (the idea of return), it is perhaps most poignantly used here to distinguish between going out (of captivity) and returning to (security).  Doesn’t Naomi have to leave behind the land of her trials, the place of her pain, in order to find the peace and security she seeks?  Doesn’t she actually have to be rescued, even if she is the one walking the path, from the place of the dead in order to encounter the God of the living?  Maybe the two verbs aren’t really redundant after all.  Maybe they express a necessary transition.  Maybe we all must leave the dead past and go out to a place God will show us if we are to return to Him and to His people.  Ten years in the wilderness was enough for Naomi.  Ten years in a place where she and her husband and sons sought to provide for themselves.  Ten years that disintegrated into nothing but graves.

And now she must go out in order to return.

What about you?  How long will you stay by the graveside instead of returning to the land you left?

Topical Index:  return, depart, yatsa’, shuv, Ruth 1:7


[1] Tamara Eskenazi and Tikva Frymer-Kensky, Ruth: The JPS Bible Commentary, p. 9.

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Perfection Perfected

Friday, January 14th, 2011 | Author:

The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. Psalm 19:7

Restoring the Soul – How is my soul restored?  The answer is obvious as soon as I recognize the consonant root of this word, meshivat.  It is shuv, used more than 1000 times in Scripture.  To return, to go back, to turn, to do again, to bring back, to reestablish, to answer, to restore, to recompense and even more nuances.  How do I restore my soul?  I turn back to the Lord.  I return to His instruction.  I go back to the beginning, to the garden where I delight in Him.

Notice the implication here.  The use of shuv indicates that the writer is not already in a restored condition.  Change is needed.  When I am dried up, when I am exhausted, when my spirit flags, I need restoration.  The psalmist tells me where to find this vital nourishment – in the law of the Lord, in Torah YHWH.  Two facts are crucial here.  The first is that “soul” is the Hebrew word nephesh, the whole person, not simply my “spiritual” existence.  When I need full-person restoration, I must turn to Torah YHWH.  Torah is not just for my heavenly direction or my spirituality.  It is for restoration between my brother and me, between my world and me.  It provides emotional stability, physical direction, mental agility and moral guidance.  It is what Peter would call “the words of life.”  Perhaps our contemporary existence lacks resilience and foundation because we don’t know Torah as the source of living.

The second crucial fact is the Torah is not simply the rules, rituals and regulations of the believing community.  Torah is everything from Genesis 1:1 to Deuteronomy 34:12.  Torah is the narrative, the poetry, the prophecies, the commandments, the genealogies.  It’s all part of God’s instruction and it’s all capable of meshivat nephesh (restoring me).  If we read Torah with an eye toward identification and restoration, we will find the hand of YHWH touching us as He touched the men and women of Torah.  We are not so different from them.  The real needs of men have not changed since we were expelled from the Garden.

Perhaps it’s important to reflect on our attitude toward Torah.  Perhaps we run too quickly to the gospels, the letters of Paul or the comforting words of Peter.  The authors of our Messianic Scriptures knew where to find restoration – in Torah.  If those Newer Testament authors found solace, comfort, nourishment and renewal in Torah, don’t you think they would have expected us to look there too?  Perhaps poring over the Scriptures, absorbing God’s point of view on our world and responding to His ultimate concern for us requires far more than knowing a handful of Sunday school stories.   The Torah YHWH is perfect (tamiym), then it is perfection perfected in application, and the application of Torah YHWH is to bring us back to life.

Topical Index:  Torah, restoring, meshivat, shuv, return, Psalm 19:7

A small aside:  those of you who have “Lessons From Israel” might look at the last lesson on the eight disc and enjoy Moshe’s description of Torah as an orthodox Jew.

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Return To Me

Sunday, September 20th, 2009 | Author:

. . . remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Ephesians 2:12

Covenants Of Promise – “Come back to Me,” says the Lord. The Hebrew verb, shuv, is used more than one thousand times in the Scriptures. God must be serious about this. He made a promise and He intends to keep it, no matter how long it takes or what He must do. That promise is found in the covenants. There is more than one covenant. There’s the covenant with Noah, with Abraham, with Moses and the people, with David and with Phinehas. God makes promises. Lift up your hands in thanksgiving. What would it be like if God didn’t make promises? Furthermore, God makes promises He keeps. Rejoice!

Of course, not all covenants are unconditional. The covenant with Noah is unconditional. The sign of that covenant is still with us today. When you see the rainbow, you can think of the unfailing promise of God. That’s much better than a pot of gold. The covenant with Abraham is unconditional. God made the promise to Himself. It can never be broken, abrogated or annulled. Israel will be His chosen people forever and He will bring about the blessing for the entire world through Abraham’s descendents.

Then there’s the covenant with Moses. At Sinai, God establishes His covenant with the people. This covenant is really the constitution of the nation. In other words, it is not a promise to be chosen as God’s people if you do such-and-such. That promise was already made with Abraham. The covenant with Moses is a promise that if the people obey the commandments and instructions (Torah) establishing the nation, then God would bless them in such a way that they would fulfill the purpose of His choosing. God wanted to turn the people into a blessing magnet so that the nations of the earth would see the great works of God through the children of Jacob and return to Him. The purpose of the Mosaic covenant is evangelism. “I will bless you,” says the Lord, “so that others will come back to Me.”

Sha’ul just gives us a history lesson here. The purposes of God haven’t changed. The method of God hasn’t changed. The goal has always been to bring the alienated nations back to the covenant of obedience so they might enjoy peace with God, hope and fulfillment. Sha’ul reminds his Gentile readers that once they were outside Israel, but now they are no longer strangers. They have returned to the covenants of promise. The conclusion is obvious. God’s intention is to bring the strangers into the house of Israel. That means He fully expects those who come back to live under the same constitution He established with His children at Sinai. “Return to Me” is the same as “Return to the instructions that I gave you.”

Topical Index: Torah, return, shuv, constitution, covenant, Ephesians 2:12, promise

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