Paul’s Summation (5)
“I tell you that He will bring about justice for them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8 NASB
Faith – Recently we examined Paul’s citation of Habakkuk 2:4. We discovered among other things that the Hebrew word for faith, ‘emunah, is a far cry from our usual ideas of creeds, theological statements and doctrines. What we learned is that ‘emunah really means faithfulness or fidelity. That ties this word to hesed, the voluntary, mutual commitment to well-being that entails obligations in both directions (remember?). Once we realize that this verse in Luke should have been translated according to the Hebrew words Yeshua spoke and not the Greek words that were written, we see that Yeshua is asking a very straightforward question. But it isn’t a question about whether or not He will find people who claim to be Christians. I am quite sure He would find millions who say that they believe. That isn’t His question. His question is whether He will find faithfulness! Will He find people who consistently and persistently live according to God’s instructions as they follow the Messiah? Will He find people to carry out the commandments? Will He find people who do what they say?
Now this becomes a completely understandable and critically important question. This question implies that it is absolutely insufficient to simply proclaim “Jesus is Lord.” It is useless to say, “I accept His forgiveness.” It doesn’t matter if you joined the Church, signed the Statement of Faith or took an evangelism class. Read the text in its context! Yeshua is speaking Hebrew to Hebrew-speaking men and women and they knew exactly what ‘emunah meant. It meant keeping Torah. There was no other sign of faithfulness to God than this – keeping Torah. No one in that audience thought anything about church membership, the sinner’s prayer, raising your hand, the Westminster Confession, the Apostles’ Creed or any systematic theology. They thought Torah! Period. Yeshua is simply asking if He will find Torah observers when He returns. He is asking if people will be living on the basis of the utter reliability and trustworthiness of God’s Word – the Tanakh. That’s it. That’s all.
Did you notice that this question follows a statement about speedy justice? What is the connection? Do you suppose that when He returns He will make allowances for those who aren’t living according to God’s instructions? Do you think He will give them a second chance? Do you imagine He will delay separating the sheep from the goats so that we can all try again? I don’t think so. I think the impact of this statement is that when He returns there will be some, not many, who will have lived a life of faithfulness. They will have demonstrated their fidelity to God by fulfilling their hesed obligations. They will be welcomed in. Justice will be done.
But what about the rest? What about all those who thought it was only about “being saved” or “getting to heaven”? What happens to them? Will they be found ‘emunah?
Topical Index: Luke 18:8, faith, faithfulness, ‘emunah, pistin
That is my question too…what about the rest? What about my 85 year old father who has angrily rejected God his whole life and now has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer? He is out of time. Is there no hope for him? Used to be that I clung to the hope that a deathbed prayer would “save” him but now I wonder.
erek apayim
God has a very long nose. His patience is beyond our understanding. He works with all of our deficiencies. His hand is found invisibly active in all Man’s puny efforts.
I have no idea how He is able to reach those who seem beyond the pale. But He does, even after we can’t imagine any further hope.
I believe that the thief on the cross made a death bed conversion. I wonder what Skip means by keeping Torah? Torah required stonings and an eye for an eye? Faithfulness is a daily cross bearing a trust in Messiah that may be tested but in the end does not waiver.
I suggest we who are His, define for all the world to know, exactly, precisely, with no spin at all- what “Torah” is. If “Torah” is the God-breathed, God-given word of God, – count me in, for Torah is instruction. ~ The instructions of the LORD are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple ~ (Psalm 19.7)
Faith is our right-response to the word of the LORD (Torah?). Are we saying the same thing but from two different approaches? And quickly may I add this.. What is our right-response to the word of God, His Instructions (Torah?) It is (according to the life of Christ) obedience. We do what He says or as His own mother instructed the servants, (us) “whatever He says unto you- do it.”
Who is the LORD that we should obey Him? (Pharaoh’s own question repacked and recycled for today) The LORD, He is God. It is He who has made us and not we ourselves. I am not a “self-made” man-everything (including my next breath) is the gift of God. Everything. Every good gift and every perfect gift comes from Above. My brain, my body, my blood, my breath- everything. Everything. And furthermore, everything I have been given (faith included) is on loan, for I am not the Owner but a Steward of what rightfully belongs to Him and I will one day soon- give an accounting to Him of how I have used (or abused) the gifts given to me. Responsibility? In spades.. Heavy? very. Does this include the “time” of my life? Only twenty four hours. And the clock continues to tick, -how am I redeeming the time?
Abraham believed God and it was counted (reckoned) unto Him as righteousness. He was made righteous in the eyes of God when he believed. Wonderful. But Abraham didn’t just hear God’s Instructions/Words (Torah?) and then sit on his hands.. He followed the instructions of YHVH and the next morning saddled his donkey, took his only son Isaac and (yes, physically) headed for the place of sacrifice. He obeyed the instructions of ADONAI.
~ For I inform you of this: there is no man who speaks by The Spirit of God and says, “Yeshua is damned”, neither can a man say, “Yeshua is THE LORD JEHOVAH”, except by The Spirit of Holiness.” (1 Corinthians 12.3) Messiah Yeshuah is YHVH.
~For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
~ The sign that was placed above the tslav of the Messiah read “Yeshua of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” In Hebrew it read “Yeshua HaNatzerat VaMalech HaYehudim” The first letter of each of those words are Yod, Hey, Vav, Hey. YHVH. Messiah Yeshua is God.
~For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we proclaim Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, “both” Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ~
~for of Him and through Him and to Him are all things; to Him would be praises and blessings to the eternity of eternities ~ Amen.
~Therefore if “any man” be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new ~ Yes. “it is written” Amen. (2 Corinthians 5.17)
Carl please forgive me for ‘copy and paste’ of your response. I did not include your name but I let it be known that this was borrowed without permission. Your letter really cut through the fog for me and I wanted to share it with both Messianic and Christian fb friends.
Shalom Carl,
The sign that was placed above the tslav of the Messiah read “Yeshua of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” In Hebrew it read “Yeshua HaNatzerat VaMalech HaYehudim” The first letter of each of those words are Yod, Hey, Vav, Hey. YHVH. Messiah Yeshua is God.
I have never heard that before -where did you get the exact words that were written above Our Lord
on the cross? I would like to repeat this awesome statement to people, but I need to be sure of the facts.
Todah Rabah
I’m not answering for Carl, he does quite excellent on his own, but I have seen this:
http://facingjerusalem.blogspot.com/2011/02/virtually-unknown-mysteries-of-gods.html
I speak no Hebrew, I manage English, basic Spanish, and understand my cat fairly well, but no more.
lol
This is a great example of a truth I am scared of. It is sobering. It puts me at a cross-road — I can’t deny it, but it means putting tangible, anti-cultural actions into practice. This is a big test for those like me – who have always thought, “I’d do anything for God.”
Strange how I always imagined some sort of medieval martyrdom as an “extreme testing” of my faith — but in many ways living for God is more difficult than what imagined dying for him would be like.
Amen Gabe.
Sandra, as long as your father is breathing- there is hope. Trials and afflictions of this life, which are common to us all, seem somehow to make us either bitter or better, in your father’s case- “bitter.”
Talk to your father if you have opportunity and as him “why?” Why are you angry with God? Perhaps he has been wounded deeply by a crisis long ago and it has festered ever since.
I had a close friend who drank himself to death because of this “root of bitterness.” He had no idea of how much he was loved.
Maybe this would be a help to you:
http://www.sermonnotebook.org/old%20testament/2%20Samuel%2017_23.htm
Some are only scared once in a while. You scare ME every single day.
It even seems like you read a different Bible than I do!
Help.
I always thought this verse was about what was being said previously,– about the unjust judge finally being moved to undertake on behalf of the widow, because she continually asked.
But God is NOT an unjust judge and we are to ask Him in faith, not acting like He is unjust, not thinking Him unfair, but with faith that He will move on our behalf even if its a long time coming.
And that when He moves it will be ‘speedily’ and He is asking/reminding us He ‘hopes’ He finds some of us faithfully believing in His love and power and that we haven’t given up on Him really hearing our prayers.
I am probably not the only one who thought this.
I’m sorry to always need more instruction and more time.
Shalom Dorothy,
I sympathize with what you are feeling, I think. When you cite being “scared”, do you mean like finding yourself being in an EARTHQUAKE? What once appeared stable and sure, SUDDENLY is moving beneath you and causing your equilibrium to upset everything your mind can process at the moment?
Is it like being shown the front side of the tapestry and seeing an amazing picture that is so different and unfamiliar from how we formerly saw it, and then it SUDDENLY comes together?
Don’t feel obligated to respond. I am somewhat voicing the fears I used to have when my “faith” was being challenged. And to be even more honest, I still encounter those moments. The more instruction I receive, the more I need! And thankfully, YHWH is willing and able to supply!
Yeshua’s words in Matthew 7 are revealing:
21 “Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, only those who do what my Father in heaven wants.
22 On that Day, many will say to me, `Lord, Lord! Didn’t we prophesy in your name? Didn’t we expel demons in your name? Didn’t we perform many miracles in your name?’
23 Then I will tell them to their faces, `I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’
There is no dispute that these people did not do what they claimed to have done – prophesy, expel demons, and perform miracles. But these are not the tests of fidelity.
“I will tell them to their faces, “I never knew you! Get away from, you workers of lawlessness!”
Workers of lawlessness – disobeying Torah. And in most churches, you wont get a sermon from the Old Testament, and those that do, tend to keep away from Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. So the congregation in the pew have no idea what Yeshua means when he uses the phrase, “workers of lawlessness.”
When you say that we are to keep the Torah, do you mean that we are to keep the Kashrut and other Mizvot like an orthodox jew?
Of course, what does “keeping Torah” mean if it doesn’t include these things? Of course, it you aren’t JEWISH, then a great number of Torah commandments don’t apply to you, do they?
I suppose I should respond to my own response by saying that just because we are expected to keep Torah does not mean that we are now legalists. The fact is that if you examine the 613 Torah commandments (on 101 Judaism for example), you will quickly discover that the ones that actually do apply to you are probably ones that you are already keeping. And the ones that don’t apply far outweigh the ones that do apply. And after you sort out what’s left, there are many 10-12 that you actually don’t do but that you could do quite easily. So, the mythology that somehow Torah is the huge list of RULES if just nonsense. If you viewed each of these as an opportunity to show God hesed, why wouldn’t you want to do them?
Gavriela, “keeping Torah” does not mean that we necessarily accept all of the rabbinic interpretations, interpolations and additions to the written commandments given by Moshe (they have over 1500 “commandments” just concerning what you can and can’t do on Shabbat). What is biblically kosher and what is “rabbinically kosher” aren’t necessarily the same thing sometimes. Caution and wisdom is required. Abba’s instructions aren’t complicated, but men have made them out to be.
So if this is saying that only those who obey Torah, and Yeshua as Messiah are the faithful (’emunah), then the road is narrow indeed (Mt 7:14).
YEAH, IT’S LIKE A LITTLE NARROW PATH…
I believe that the thief on the cross was a death bed conversion,and apparently Messiah regarded his heart as worthy of paradise. I would suggest that faithfulness is a daily taking of the cross and being trustworthy in our wAlk with Messiah. Jesus is the word (all of it) not just Torah. Sorry but boxing God in is not the way to faithfulness.