Divine Affliction
I am the man who has seen affliction because of the rod of His wrath. He has driven me and made me walk in darkness and not in light. Lamentations 3:1-2 NASB
Life Without Filters – What is the affliction that results from the rod of God’s wrath? We don’t have to look much beyond Exodus to grasp the answer. Pharaoh experienced the rod of God’s wrath. In fact, the plagues of Egypt are perhaps the paradigm case of God’s rod. Notice something important about this Hebrew word, ‘oni. Its root is ‘ana. You will recognize this word in many psalms. It is the verb “to afflict, to oppress, to humble.” Its derivative ‘ani is a noun used to describe those who have come under affliction as a result of oppression. It is one of the four words for “poor.” We are familiar with this word.
But perhaps we haven’t made all the connections that we should. We recognize the word as a mark of those poor people who find themselves in dire straits because of war or famine or some other catastrophe. We even imagine God’s final anger expressed toward those who refuse His compassion, resulting in terrible trouble. But maybe we haven’t noticed that ‘oni is simply life without God’s mercy. All that was necessary for Pharaoh to experience the full wrath of YHWH was for YHWH to lift away His hand of mercy. Then chaos reigned. Perhaps we need to recognize that God does not have to bring wrath upon us. All He has to do is remove the filters of compassion and mercy and let life become what it already is without Him. To be the man who has seen affliction is to be the man who has experienced what it means to live without God. Nothing more is needed to know the rod of His wrath. When Exodus 34:6-7 is gone, life becomes hell.
For those who are followers of the Way, life without God is hopefully a distant memory. We have experienced His grace, mercy and compassion in good times and bad times. Even in the dark, we know that God is there. But for those who do not know this God, life can be pointless waste. The Greek poet Theognis was right. “Better that man not be born at all, but if he is, to die as quickly as possible.” To live is to know pain, sorrow and hopelessness. If we are really honest about it, only God provides meaning amidst the chaos. A man without God is a man sorely acquainted with grief. Abraham Heschel said, “A Jew without Torah is obsolete.” Once I added, “A Christian without Torah is irrelevant.” Now we can add, “A man without God is pointless.”
Jeremiah’s statement suggests something a bit more uncomfortable. Perhaps as followers of the Way, we are actually called to enter into the chaos and know life without Him in order to offer life with Him. Jeremiah identifies with the people, a people who are in fact Jews without Torah, “followers” without God. Jeremiah puts himself in those shoes and suddenly he knows what that means – and then he can understand their pain. Jeremiah was never a man without God – until God made him a man of his people. I wonder if God isn’t waiting for us to be willing to do the same.
Topical Index: ‘oni, affliction, call, identification, Jeremiah, Lamentations 3:1-2
2 Corinthians 1:3&4 Blessed be the Elohim and Father of our Master Yeshua Messiah, the Father of compassion and the Elohim of all comfort, who is comforting us in all our pressure, enabling us to comfort those who are in every pressure, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by Elohim.
Such a timely word today. This has been a weekend where I have gotten this lesson first hand. Thank you, it is comforting.
Before I met Jesus, I was like Paul.
I could have easily been credited with his infamous line:
” . . . Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,
of whom I am chief.”
If sin was there, I committed it.
Did I endure God’s wrath? Horrendously.
Did I try to keep His commandments?
Absolutely. I knew them. I believed them.
But keep them? I didn’t have the capacity.
So, can I relate to a life without God? You bet.
Those memories and dark insights have been
essential in my “new” life in Christ, as I encounter
lost souls virtually everyday.
I know what being a slave to sin is.
And I know what being a slave to God is.
I can explain it glibbly from my head.
But it’s my life, the heart truth, that changes people.
Jesus changed my heart. Major transplant surgery!!!
My mind soon followed, but with considerable kicking
and screaming. Still to this day, the process unfolds.
Yet, by His grace, I am able to follow Jesus.
“Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”
Note: “I will make you.”
He changed me. He continues to change me.
I just die daily.
I can now love, because He first loved me.
Truly loving lost people, or any people, only
happens through knowing and following Him.
Jesus once said about Himself as a man:
” . . . and that I do nothing of Myself; but as
My Father taught Me, I speak these things.” Jn 8:28
Jesus is the Way.
How well I know!
I’m starting to think that the many things I have gone through and am continuing to go through are for this reason. So that I can identify with and relate to the people God has me ministering to. Not easy but for his glory. Thanks for this word, Skip.
This song I have not sung for a long while came into my head when I woke up this morning-
If olives are not crushed to dregs
they cannot produce oil
If grapes are not thrown to the press,
they will never become wine,
If the spikenard is not refined
its fragrance can’t come out
YHWH, it is needful that I have
the affliction that You give (!!!)
This affliction hopefully leads to compassion and understanding the needs of others who are in some form of suffering, illness or trial.
Sadly, some folks can’t take the afflictions, become embittered and unforgiving, missing the blessings that come with that.
“All He has to do is remove the filters of compassion and mercy and let life become what it already is without Him.”
How terrifying that would be. Without YHWH’s compassion and mercy upon us or mankind, we would all be cast into the pits of eternal damnation.
Thank You, ABBA for never taking off Your filters of compassion and mercies from us. Amein!
This is my life! I was raised knowing a lot of the common bible stories for children and taught right from wrong. My family was a typical working middle class family while I grew up in the 70’s.
We did not attend any church although I roamed around in various churches with my friends for youth group stuff. Hated the sermon part. 🙂
I still ended up with a life full of chaos in varying ways. For some reason, I believe Y-H kept His hand of mercy in my life as there were many things that should have left me dead or seriously brain injured. The things I have been through have put me in a unique position to understand people today. Thing is, I have to chose to remember this so that I am not condemning people for the very things I once participated in!
Simply being able to minister a kind word and or a timely thought-provoking question is a gift. I have learned that a smile is a precious thing these days.
I would not choose to walk in the footsteps of sin and evil doing any longer but they were once the bigger part of my life. Having been there makes the way ahead of me more sure and has taught me patience and to be steadfast although that patience thing seems to be never-ending!! lol
This has also helped to banish fear as I know what fear is from my previous Y-H less life. I cannot say godless because I had many gods in my life but none that mattered. It was quite empty and frustrating.
Anyways, as the old saying goes…there is more than one way to skin a cat and I believe that Y-H has many ways to get our attention and we have to choose then whom we will follow. Thus the real journey begins….
Happy trails to you!
Skip or anyone else who knows….
Where does that saying, hate the sin but love the sinner come from?
I don’t think this is biblical but sounds more like Greek stuff to me but I would like to know more about its origins.
Thanks
Dawn,
It seems to me, although I may be missing it, but I don’t think so, that Yeshua does not separate the sin from the person committing the sin as the expression demands. No one is forced to sin, they choose to sin and thus chose to bring His judgement as it opposes Torah in their life, willingly.
Separating the sin from the person artificially simply abrogates responsibility. If justice is real then a persons actions revert to their own choice if indeed we have free will. It is tied to the fallacy of the so called “sin nature” inherited from Adam. If that is so, then we have no choice to sin and cannot justly be condemned. But, if we do have true free will, we simply choose the yetzer hara’s logic and revolt against Torah, Yeshua’s clear and unambiguous instructions on how to live in life as opposed to death, off the path of Torah, or sin, as we call it, missing the mark or path of Torah.
I did a Google search on this question and the first several results link to pretty much the same source. But you are right, I don’t see any way it is a biblical principle. Look at the seven things the Lord hates. It’s obvious He hates sin, but sin is bodiless until occupied by a person’s actions. It then resides in the things the Lord hates: someONE who does this . . . or this . . . or this . . . all things contrary to His clear instructions in Torah. And by the way, not just up until the time Yeshua walked the earth, but even until this very day.
Anyway, my two cents.
I guess I’m a sucker for punishment:)
Since I have posted this question more than once and so far have not gotten an answer either in a TW or directly. Was the Lamb that was slain also resurrected before the foundation of the world?
So to think in the whole paradigm, as Skip suggests, we must determine whether this dot is connected or not.
I read in Hebrews that there remains a veil that has kept some from entering His rest. This seems to be the purpose of the veil being torn (the resurrection) that we might cease from our labors and live in Christ (in rest) Please don’t think I am referring to not obeying Torah, that is simple thinking at best. I am seeing a priesthood of communion that is a new thing, an invitation to intimacy with our High priest and Lover of our souls. I believe the veil was torn by individuals such as David, Enoch, Job, mystics, all who longed for Him and reached into the promise and obtained rest for their souls. This is my point, Torah alone does not provide rest, and that is why your conversations keep going round and round and round. Since God is after your heart, circumcision of the penis falls short of the glory. Torah has been CHANGED under the priestly order of Melchizedek requiring circumcision of the heart. JESUS the Firstborn Priest and King over His church of the Firstborn . Obedience of the Torah is lacking because it did not bring the desired result-rest for their weary souls, union, communion with their Father, intimacy with their Bridegroom. The Torah is a sign, a good sign, pointing forward toward a better way, His name is Jesus.
I honestly wonder what makes Jews want to hang onto the “P” plan? Maybe it’s less painful?
Just wondering.
Much that needs comment.
Sorry I have been remiss in answering. No time to do so, really.
1. Resurrection is about LIFE and DEATH. Atonement is about GUILT. Separating the two makes a big difference.
2. Tearing of the veil? What does this mean TO A JEW? That’s what we need to know first. Priesthood of the believer is a Lutheran idea. Remember that God called ALL Israel to be priests. When was it ever not possible to have deep intimacy with the Father prior to the DEATH/LIFE resurrection? Did David not have this? Enoch? Isaiah?
3. Torah – which includes the REST of Shabbat – seems to be sufficient for REST. Otherwise, why the commandment and the offer to enter in?
4. Circumcision of the heart (that is, devotion of will, emotion and mind) has been part of the Shema always. The outward sign is taken from a pagan ritual for a reason. Can you imagine why? What was the pagan ritual of circumcision about?
5. Why do you think Torah has been changed under Melchizedek? His order is not the same at the Levites? Does this mean CHANGE?
6. If Torah is a sign pointing to a “better way,” than why did Yeshua keep it? And why did Paul, James and Peter?
Those who keep Torah do so because God asks AND it is His instructions for living here. Yeshua kept it too. What makes anyone who follows Him think it is no longer needed when He asks us to follow in His footsteps?
http://www.gotquestions.org/Hebrew-roots.html
http://www.sameoldrecord.com/sayitenoughtimesandsomeonewillbelieveit.html
http://www.forgetactualhistory.com/whocandenysomethingthatsbeentaughtforhundredsofyears.html
Oh dear Michael! You made my night!!
Still laughing….
You know, it is kinda funny, but, on the other hand, not really considering those that are stuck in one and ONLY one paradigm.
Still praying. Trying to make the best of it all.
Praying with you too.
You know, Y-H opens eyes and ears to hear and we have to be willing. Both of those parts were missing in me for years.
What is hard for me is the how it seems that someone new to this site who is asking questions gets almost ambushed with that particular old paradigm.
Once you see the error in one part of the paradigm, others areas begin to come apart and it can be pretty scary I’m told. I was pretty outraged at the lies that have been pushed by the church for ages.
Anyways, I suspect many are praying for some here and that is what Y-H’s people do.
Shalom brother.
Hi Dawn,
I am concerned about your comment that new readers get ambushed. That bothers me because I don’t want to have new readers turn away due to the harshness of some comments. But the other side of the coin is that many here have worked through a lot of things over many years, and new readers tend to ask questions that have been settled years ago without first reading what is actually on the web site (there are now 4600 word studies, for example). I find that often the questions could have been resolved if the person first read what has already been written.
Nevertheless, I realize that most people do not do research before they express their views. And most of us need gentle answers before we can dare to look deeper. I apologize if I have been too harsh or exhibited frustration. I want people to search and to not be afraid to examine their beliefs.
Ditto, Dawn.
Thanks.
http://www.arewesmaterthanYHWH.com/hebrewroots?toforget-searchrootsofxmasandeaster.html
My link is better, Michael C?
🙂
You have 1700 years to advertise it, Ester!
All come to LinkFest 2013! Potlink dinner for all, Wednesday night only.
Please refrain from bringing kosher cabbage. Thank you. We don’t do that.
🙂
I will answer all your questions after you answer mine. Fair? Or not. I really don’t have a problem believing differently, I am actually trying to follow these TW’s with understanding.
Truth is next to Love in it’s capacity for giving life to the Royal Priesthood. I wasn’t asking for a definition of resurrection, I was asking whether you know if it occurred along with the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world?
P.S. Dorothy, thank you for the link! I am loving it.
And Michael C, you have contributed sarcasm and mockery, I forgive you, because I’m sure you are in need of friends that agree with you, as we all do.
Sharon, I’m glad you are enjoying the link. Lots of good stuff there.
The Lord will guide you as you fully know and trust.
Some blessings come from friends, some from enemies, but its still a blessing.
Persecution is in the Christian vocation. We are predestinated to be thus conformed to the image of the Son of God (Rom. 8:18-39; 1 Thess. 3:3; 2 Tim. 3:12).
It comes in various forms. The reviling tongue, insulting to the face. The persecuting hand. The evil speech uttered in your absence where you cannot contradict it.
Little men do no touch the joy I have in Christ Jesus!
“Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.” Phil. 3: 1
Lol
As far as I can see, the idea of resurrection as expressed in Scripture is about the issue of life and death. The demonstration of God’s power over life and death, seen in both the Passover and the resurrection of Yeshua, is essential for followers of the Way. It is the clear demonstration that obedience leads to life and that YHWH is the sole authority in the cosmos. It establishes the truth of the eternal Kingdom.
Atonement, on the other hand, is about the issue of defilement and the removal of that defilement. Scripture, it seems to me, indicates that the foundation of atonement is the sacrifice of the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. But what this means is terms of resurrection is not disclosed. Three authors mention the atonement before the world began. None speak of more than that. It seems to me that whatever happened with regard to this sacrifice, it meant that all who come to YHWH find favor in the same way, through Yeshua.
Sharon, wondering if you would like to swap some books and links, and maybe testimonies, off this blog?
If so, go to http://www.bigrigtravels.com and on the bar near the top where it says ‘home, browse, search’, etc. click on “contact” and in the subject line say “Hi Dorothy” and send.
I’ll see it and get back to you.
If you’d rather not, — I completely understand! and I won’t be at all offended. (Not even a little.) *smile*
Sharon,
Please try to think of my response not as sarcasm and mockery, but levity and jocularity. From your paradigm you apparently must see it as sarcasm, but it truly is not. Skip addresses the many questions on here quite well, clearly and solidly, yet it seems to bounce off the walls with some repeatedly. He can address the questions as well as anyone, over and over and over again, to no avail in some arenas.
As the music plays, it is quite fine to make a tune of humor out of it.
I mean no harm, just punctuating the obvious through apparently futile attempts of humor to you. I’ve had the same response from others around my neighborhood stuck in their paradigms as well. Perhaps if there was more willingness to listen and ponder and make room for even the slightest possibility that there might be another reasonable explanation things might not seem so sarcastic and mocking. Perhaps. You sound as if that is the case with you. Superb! Keep going. My humor was nothing more than stating a couple of truths in an unconventional way.
I do apologize that those made up links don’t really connect to an actual web site, but give me at least 1700 years and I am fairly certain I can make them good working links. (Not sarcasm, just illustrating the absurdity of what has actually happened.)
Again, please don’t take it personally. It’s the ideas and search for truth based on the Scriptures that is at the point of focus here. Intensity of study and focus can always use some humor relief, right?
And actually I’d rather settle in understanding truth than collect a group of people that agree with me. I was in that situation for decades and finally bucked against the trend of all those friends that I agreed with.
I’d rather have a group of people around me that challenge my thinking, right and/or wrong, in a concerted effort to seek out the depths of truth. There are some in this blog that divert answering except for the cacophony of aged dogma that’s been unjustly preached for centuries. It’s just plain wrong. I find humor in it after several dozen renditions of the same old responses, like the one above.
In the end, I’m sorry to have upset you, but sometimes, getting upset about something is a good thing. It moves one to step outside the fence that has been constructed never to be breached. But, sometimes not.
I, for one, was devastated initially, when I first began to contemplate much that is discussed in this blog. It was the humor and teaching of those in the conversation that convinced me to give enjoy some calm in realizing I could be wrong and there are other possibilities.
Thanks for forgiveness. I’m confident it does us both some good.
But please, I hope you can relax a little in this challenge of understanding. It takes time to digest so much stuff. I know, I’m still digesting.
Oh, and Sharon, if you don’t like sarcasm, you’d better stay away from reading about Elijah and the books of Amos and Job!
Also, Galatians 5:12. Just what was Paul’s sarcasm about there?
I hear your heart, all is well.
Great, Sharon.
I’ve been reading Skip’s book about God, Time and the Limits of Omniscience. My brain is taxed, but in a good way!
Guess I just need some humor to relax my brain thingys so I can dive back in for some more mind stretching! Whew, what a ride!
Years ago reading this book would have been considered punishment in my thinking. Now it is intense delight!
So glad to hear you are enjoying it. That’s 10 years of work on a very small subject with enormous implications. Most people simply can’t get through it because the arguments are quite complicated.
Well, it just may take me ten years to get through it, lol.
But I’m pacing it through. I’ve got a 4′ x 5′ white board covered with philosophers names from BC to AD just to keep the chronology of their contributions straight as I read!
I think I’ll need God, plenty of time and unlimited omniscience to digest it all, but I’m stepping through it steadily. Thanks for your tremendous efforts in writing it.
This comment is to Dorothy and Sharon. I had a son in prison who was in deep turmoil about what he had been raised to believe in the church. He began to question the things he had learned and even if there was a God. Over a period of time he had a friendship develops with another inmate who was a Muslim. This man was a real influence on him in many ways and one of them was what caused him to question all of his beliefs to the very core of who he was. He began a fast and praying for many days wanting and desired the truth. He was out in the yard as they call it one day and a young man who he didn’t know came up to him and he experienced a feeling of being unable to move or speak and was told about being heard on high and a message was delivered to him about what you will never guess Torah. He began to attend a Messianic service where the truth was presented and he shared these things with me and when I would go to our visits. I was sceptical and afraid and then curious because I on my own personal walk had always felt like there was something more that I was missing. Because of my search my son introduced me to some books that changed my life my world and everything I ever thought was true. The book was Restoration by Todd Bennett, which by the way is on Skips suggested reading list. You can actually download this to your kindle or another device for about $10 and I would suggest you get and read it. Take the time and really asks the questions and really search out the sources of the church’s birth. I for one nor my family will never be the same. By the way, Skip I really appreciate your time and work poured into this website, I have grown I have pondered and I use this daily in my personal devotion time.
And how is your son now?
Hi Babs,
This is the same journey most of us here went through, feeling something amiss in our spiritual lives when we were not back to the ancient paths of the Torah, we were ‘growing’, we presumed, as in my home gathering not in any church denominations, we had meaty Words,but I somehow sense we were not complete.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful amazing testimony of your son, ABBA’s continous direction upon him, may he continue to hunger for Him to grow in leaps and bounds. Amein. How great is YHWH, Who hears the cries of your son who sought and found!
Shalom!
My son is one of the most inspiring people I know! Truly what the enemy meant for destruction Yaweh has used for good. He is married to a young women who also came to the Torah and they are a delight. Both of them are an inspiration to my family. They actually spend a lot of time with the folks who started the Messianic gathering at the prison. Actually Larry was the one who preformed their marriage ceremony complete With the hoopa and blowing of the shofar and they were married on the feasts of trumpets!
Hi Babs,
That is so beautiful! Thank you for sharing! HalleluYAH!