Zion's Voice

Torah Portion for 12th December - 19th December

Torah portion                    Genesis 44: 18 to 47:27

Haftarah portion              Ezekiel 37: 15 – 28

"He approached"

Hallelujah, what a Saviour !

Joseph’s plan to keep Benjamin in Egypt and leave his brothers go back without him was a bit too clever. On the face of it, there was no harm in it for Benjamin or his brothers. But a revelation quite unexpected was to unfold before Joseph’s eyes.

Judah stepped forward and spoke privately to Joseph. It was Judah who had persuaded his brothers to spare Joseph’s life. It was Judah who offered himself as surety for the young Benjamin to his father. And it was Judah who spoke so lovingly of his father that tore into the very fabric of Joseph’s heart.

We move on to Genesis 45 in the moment that he revealed himself to all his brothers. He cleared the room of his courtiers, advisers, servants. Everyone who was not ‘family’, and when he was alone with them, he showed himself for who he was. And he wept aloud. Nothing held back. An outpouring of love, and sincerity and joy, at this moment of real re-union with his brothers.

Dear friends, this is the future Zechariah 12:10 moment.  This foretells the time when Yeshua Ha’Mashiach will open the eyes of His brothers, the Jews. There will not be a Torah denying Gentile in sight. They will all be invited to ‘leave the room’. Can you imagine the feelings these brothers of Joseph had on being re-united with him? The brother they had mocked, reviled, taunted, plotted to kill, sold to an enemy. And now they see him as their saviour. Try to imagine it if you can.  And then see Joseph...weeping with joy and compassion and love.

The day Yeshua reveals himself to His brothers ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED. That is why they will mourn, Not for Him, but for their centuries of blindness and unbelief. Hallelujah, what a Saviour! He will welcome them with open arms, NEVER will they be sent away again. They will be given a New Covenant, just as Jeremiah prophesied.

“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah – not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts: and I will be their God, and they shall by My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD, ‘for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

We have seen how Joseph is a “type” of Messiah. But as we continue in the story of God’s amazing provision for these people, we can see even more of God’s plan for those who are “His special treasure”.

Read Genesis chapter 47, and marvel.

Just as God made such bountiful provision for the family of Jacob in the land of Goshen, He has promised to make the Israelites prosper in the Land of Promise. The sceptics will look at the situation today and see a people who have little or no respect for their God. But what did God say to Ezekiel in chapter 36? PLEASE read it for yourself. God’s amazing plan for Israel is unfolding before our eyes today. But there is more! Again in Ezekiel chapter 34 He speaks of the time when He will establish “One Shepherd” over them. That speaks of the time when Messiah has been revealed to them.

Just as Joseph was able to lead his family into a land of plenty in the midst of drought, so Yeshua Ha’Mashiach will reign as King over a people who will live as sons of the King in the Land of Israel when He reveals Himself to them.

This passage of Scripture is full of meaning to those willing to learn.

Hallelujah, what a Saviour !

Shabbat Shalom

RS

Torah Portion for 6th December - 12th December

Torah portion              Genesis 41 : 1  to  44 : 17

Haftarah portion        Isaiah  66 : 1 - 24

“At the end”

A day of great re-union

No-one knows exactly how long Joseph spent in the Pharoah’s prison in Egypt. We know it was long enough to be put in charge of all the other prisoners, and it was a full two years after the Pharoah’s butler was released. He was about 17 when he was sold into slavery, and he was 30 when he was released.  It has been calculated by some that he might have spent as much as eleven of those years in prison. However, what we do know for certain is “the Lord was with him, and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper”  Genesis 39 : 23.

We also know that whilst in prison, God extended his gift in the interpretation of dreams. It was this God given gift that gained his release.

We should be cognisant of the fact that with this amazing gift, at no time did Joseph seek gain or glory for himself. He was VERY quick to give Almighty God the glory and the praise for his gifting. So much so, that the Pharoah immediately recognised ‘the Spirit of God’ in Joseph. Pharoah counted it as wisdom and discernment in Joseph  .. and so it was.

Read Proverbs 26 : 12.  The lesson we can learn from Joseph is to give God the glory for any gifting we might possess  and utilize. Much too often glory is given to the person exercising the gift, rather than to the Giver.

God blessed Joseph with more power and authority than he could ever have dreamed about!  … but wait a minute .. he DID dream about it didn’t he?  And he was just a lad when he had that dream. I wonder if Joseph, busy as he became with the affairs of State and managing the economy, ever pondered the detail of the dream he had more than 13 years earlier. Did he ever imagine a future meeting with his family. What would he say? How would he react? How would they react? At that stage many more questions than answers I suspect.

Well, the text of the story is so well known to anyone who had a modicum of Christian up-bringing that we need not go through it here. But there are elements within the story that we should ‘reflect’ upon.

Judah, the fourth son of Leah, who had taken such a decisive role in preserving Joseph’s life, now puts his own life on the line as he volunteers to be surety for the life of Benjamin, Joseph’s full brother. Simeon had remained behind in Egypt and Jacob (with Joseph’s disappearance still in his mind) was reluctant to risk the life of yet another son, Benjamin. But with starvation a realistic option, Jacob consented to Benjamin going to satisfy the demands of the “saviour’ in Egypt.

We now look at Joseph as the “type” of messiah. We note that he was not recognized by his brothers. His dress, his language, his situation, his authority, all conspired to hide him from their eyes. For the remainder of this reflection we discover the things about Joseph which are prophetic of the coming of Messiah Yeshua to His own brothers in Israel. Today, we have similarly camouflaged the Jesus we worship as Christians in a way that makes Him unrecognizable to His own Jewish brothers. (please read Deuteronomy 13 to understand why).  How can they worship a Messiah who, we tell them, abandoned the Torah of Moses?

When Joseph met his own full brother Benjamin, Genesis 43:30 tells us that he “yearned for his brother”. His heart was  full … and he wept. But he was not yet ready for a full disclosure of himself. He ordered his servants to serve a meal. The brothers were astonished. He’s not with us, he’s not with them, what is happening here?  Perhaps it was then that Joseph worked out the plan to keep his brother Benjamin with him. He was not going to risk losing him again. But there was still some drama ahead of those brothers before they came to know the truth.

Almighty God has already declared His plan for His people. He is already taking them back to their own land. In the fullness of His perfect timing, Yeshua will be revealed. But it seems that there are still some more events to take place in this world before that “great and terrible day of the Lord”. But it will also be a day of great enlightenment for Israel. A day of great re-union .. but not yet.

Shabbat Shalom

RS

Torah Portion for 29th Novermber - 5th December

Torah portion             Genesis 37 : 1  to  40 : 23

Haftarah portion      Amos 2 : 6 to 3 : 8

“He continued living”

Almighty God has a perfect plan

Jacob and his extensive family had returned to live in the land of Canaan.

Young Joseph, now 17 years old, was out in the fields with four of his older step-brothers, who obviously did something amiss, because Joseph “dobbed” them in!!  Joseph had become a favoured son, he was evidently very close to his Dad, and for that reason Jacob made him an especially attractive coat, which became the envy of the other brothers. The result was that Joseph did not enjoy a good relationship with his brothers.

Because we have the advantage of knowing the rest of the story of Joseph’s life, it has been universally accepted that Joseph is a “type” of the Messiah (Yeshua). I see this brotherly relationship as an early indication of that typology. The envy, the jealousy, the malice, and eventually the intended demise of Joseph, are all characteristics of the way in which Joseph became, in “type”, a forerunner of Messiah Yeshua. Even the coat, the mantle, which he wore was typical of the reason for the division that separated him from his brothers. It spoke of his special relationship with his father.

But it was not only the coat was it? Joseph had a dream, two dreams in fact, which he shared with his family. These dreams were prophetic of both the real life future events in Joseph’s life, but also were prophetic of Yeshua Ha’Maschiach. They were prophetic too of an event still in the future, when “every knee shall bow” in the presence of Messiah. And then, as indeed now, his family had great difficulty in accepting the idea that their future “Messiah” was there living amongst them.

(We know from the Scriptures, that the present day “blindness” to Yeshua, which is characteristic of Jews in general, is a “blindness” which has been put there by God Himself. That “blindness” being for the eternal benefit of Gentiles who have come to faith. (Read Isaiah 29 and Romans 11). I strongly recommend the CD’s of the combined Derek Prince / Operation Exodus conference in Sydney August 15 2015  for an excellent exposition on this topic).

Our ‘reflection’ continues as we see the young Joseph, sent by his father to his brothers, who were tending the family flocks in a distant part of the land. Genesis 37 : 13,14, (my paraphrase), records the conversation between father and son. “I want you to go and see how your brothers are getting along looking after the herds” says Jacob. “OK Dad, glad to go” replies Joseph. “Bring back word to me soon, I want to know how they are coping and where they’ve got to” Jacob concludes.

Can you sense, as I can, how this conversation typifies a father’s concern for his family? His children have been given a task, he senses they could be in danger and now he has temporarily lost touch with them. Can you imagine how this conversation is so typical of how Almighty God might have agonised over sending His beloved Son to go and seek out His brothers, whom He could see were getting lost?

In NO way do I intend levity, or irreverence here. I just sense the Father’s heart as He knows what is in store for the Son, whom He is sending on a dangerous, necessary mission.

As the story unfolds, it gets worse. The brothers decide to get rid of Joseph once and for all time. They plot to kill him. Then Judah comes to his rescue and persuades the others that there is some profit to be made by selling him (30 pieces of silver!!) into slavery. They are well aware of the enmity between their grandfather Isaac and his older brother Ishmael. So they determine to sell him to Ishmaelites. (“We’ll never hear of him again!” they thought). In the event, he was sold to a band of Midianite traders. These are descendants of another group of people with a dislike for the Israelites. Midian was the fourth son of Abraham’s wife Keturah. Midian was one of those who the scriptures tell us was given a “gift” by Abraham, whereas the substance of Abraham’s inheritance went to Isaac. Hence the enmity there. Then begins Josephs sojourn in Egypt.

As is the case every week, there is so much more to be learned by study of the weekly Torah portion. The Lord will show you things I haven’t even mentioned. But for me, the outstanding message is the way we see Joseph’s life increasingly typify the role God gave him, as a lesson and example, in type, of the coming Messiah.  Revelations that will surely strike a chord in minds of Jewish friends we may seek to introduce to their Messiah.  Almighty God has a perfect plan.

Shabbat Shalom

RS

Torah Portion for 22nd Novermber - 28th November 

Torah portion               Genesis 32 : 3  to  36 : 43

Haftarah portion        Hosea 11 : 7 to 12 : 12

“He sent”

God’s mighty hand on a life

Just when Jacob thinks all in the garden is rosy, he gets the worst news he could ever imagine. Esau is on his way to greet him!! And he has four hundred men with him !  Jacob did the only sensible thing he could. Remembering his dream, wherein God made promises to protect him, to prosper him, and to take him safely back to his own country, he turned to God in prayer, talking to God about those promises. In Genesis 32 : 11 he confessed his fear of his brother before the Lord.

So here is a lesson for us. Like Jacob, we should make our confessions honestly before God, remembering His promise never to leave us nor forsake us. Then as we turn to Him in prayer, recall the Scriptures which God has Himself provided for our instruction and benefit. It is an undeniable fact that God will not act in any way that is counter to His own Word. We cannot pray outside of the will of God when we are praying the Scriptures, as Jacob did, but if we wax lyrical in our own thoughts and demands, we can soon find ourselves on shaky ground, even wondering why God seems slow to answer our prayer !!

Having said that, it did not stop Jacob being his “tricky” self. The story is told in the balance of Genesis 33, in which we see the ‘tricky’ Jacob put as much distance as he possibly can between himself and his brother Esau, who resided in Biblical Edom. (a place eventually destined to become a perpetual wasteland).

Jacob went northwards, away from Esau, and came to a place called “Succoth”, before eventually settling his family in the city of Shechem (modern day Nablus). There he bought the piece of land where Joseph was eventually buried. (Joshua 24:32)  We remind ourselves again that this is the second of three parcels of land which were actually BOUGHT for a full price by the descendants of Abraham.

Genesis chapter 34 contains a story of great infamy. It has truth and error mingled together which culminates in the death of Hamor’s family. Read it for yourself. The lesson which comes from it is that there is no place in society for revenge outside of the law, because that merely exacerbates an issue to a point where compromise is impossible. In our day, we have seen the spectacle of countless deaths arising from such a situation in Ireland. We see an endless round of ‘honour’ killing in some communities. On a broader level we have the whole situation in the Middle East.

Simeon and Levi, the principal culprits in our story, were dealt with in a very different way to their brothers when it came to the time of Jacob’s blessings for his sons.  (Jacob enjoined Simeon and Levi together in his blessing to the boys in Genesis 49. Jacob proclaimed that they would be divided and scattered in Israel. The Levites, of course, had no Land possession, and the Simeonites, being the smallest and weakest of the tribes, was apportioned land, near Beersheva, within the boundaries of the larger territory allotted to Judah. There is also evidence (2 Chron. 15:9) that they wandered about, as Jacob had prophesied, and at least some of them moved up to the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the reign of Asa and Josiah).

 In addition, when Moses declared a series of blessings on ELEVEN of the tribes which were about to go in to possess the Land in Deuteronomy 33, Moses did not mention the tribe of SIMEON in his blessings.

I am not sure how appropriate it is but I am reminded of something my mother taught me many years ago .“be sure your sins will find you out !”

My final reflection on this passage is from Chapter 35. We find Jacob taking firm leadership within his family. It is how God expects men to behave in families.  (And sometimes it is very difficult for strong women in families to honour that). Jacob recognised the hand of God on his life and he led from the front. Out with idolatry. “As for me and my house, we will worship the Lord”.

God was pleased with Jacob. So pleased that He did TWO very important things. Firstly, He changed Jacob’s name to ISRAEL. No more “supplanter” but now “triumphant with God” or “prince with God” (or similar). Secondly, in Genesis 35:12, God tells “Israel” that the land promise made to Abraham and Isaac before him He also now affirms to him. Then Israel named the place of his encounter “Bethel” … House of God.  It is amazing what happens with God’s mighty hand on a life.

Shabbat Shalom

RS

Torah Portion for 15th Novermber - 21st November 

Torah portion              Genesis 28 : 10  to  32 : 2

Haftarah portion       Hosea 12 : 12 to 14 : 10

“He went out”

God’s promises are trustworthy

Isaac and Rebekah had seen Esau marry Hittite wives. The Scripture tells us it was a “grief of mind” to them. Rebekah had conspired with Jacob to have Isaac confer the ‘firstborn’ blessings on Jacob. Esau was furious. She was also “worried sick” that Jacob might also take a wife from the  Canaanite people. Rebekah told Jacob to go to Haran to stay awhile with her brother Laban. Jacob agreed with his mother and “went out”.

It is a long way from Beersheva to Haran. At nightfall, Jacob lay his head on a stone and fell asleep. What a night that was!! He dreamed. With the thoughts of the ‘firstborn blessing’ of Isaac still in his mind, with the knowledge of the promise of God to his grandfather, Abram, those words became real as the Lord confirmed them to him in the dream.

Most of us, reminded of this event, recall the picture of the angels ascending and descending up and down the ladder, don’t we? But the real message of this story is in the astounding affect it had on Jacob for the rest of his life. Just look at the things he exclaims when he wakes up from his sleep.

“Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it. How awesome is this place This is the House of God. This is the gate of heaven. If God be with me and keep me in this way that I am going  … then the Lord shall be my God. Of all that You give me, I will surely give a tenth to You”

For Jacob it was a real encounter with the living God. He never forgot it. We also can experience such an encounter, and the memory of exactly what happened remains with us for the rest of our lives. It is NEVER trivial. Most of us have probably heard people claim “God told me to … “  when it is quite obviously not the case (it is a cliché, a “holier than thou’ manner of speaking)  I am aware of THREE gifted, popular, internationally known Bible teachers who declared that God told them to divorce their wives (so that they could co-habit with a younger model!) God will not be mocked in this manner!  Trust me on this. A God encounter is not something we can ‘drum up’. When He desires our attention He finds the means to get it. The evidence is always that the action is in complete accord with His word. And we never forget it.

(The very well-known leader of Sydney’s largest mega church recently encouraged his congregation to become dreamers and  “have dreams like Jacob” and branch out into ‘whatever’ follows.)  Friends, this is a gross misrepresentation of what this event means, and it is symptomatic of deceptive teaching in our churches today.

Read Ezekiel 13 and Ezekiel 22 for a reality check on this.

Genesis chapter 29 tells of Jacob’s ‘love at first sight’ encounter with Rachel. It continues with the ‘tricky’ Jacob meeting his match in the ‘trickier’ Uncle Laban. But in Genesis 29:31 we have a short statement about Rachel’s inability to bear children. Then in Genesis 30:1, the devastating effect of this on her mental state. (We focussed a little on this last week, and saw how God seemed to require the SIX barren women of the Scriptures to rely solely upon Him for the gift of children. In each case those children were important in God’s plan for mankind).

It seems that God, in His infinite love and grace, sometimes uses our despair to bring us to a place where we have NO option but to rely totally on Him. It is painful, it is uncomfortable, it is frustrating .. but it is effective. And it is life changing. His promises are trustworthy. He is a very present help in times of trouble.

In Genesis Chapter 31, we have a most interesting dialogue between two very ‘tricky’ people. Laban had deceived Jacob in relation to his marriage to Rachel. It cost Jacob an EXTRA seven years work, but for his trouble he ended up with TWO wives (Leah, the mother of the tribes of Judah, and Rachel, the mother of the tribes of Israel), Jacob was a very successful breeder of sheep and goats, and he used his skill, knowledge and trickery to enrich himself at Laban’s expense (albeit at a cost of another six years work).

Our parashah concludes this week with Jacob leaving the household of Laban after 20 years, complete with his TWO wives, lots of sheep and goats, and although he did not know it, Laban’s household idols. Eventually they part company with an agreement not to oppose each other in the future.  Finally, Laban left to go home, without his daughters, without the sheep and goats he believed Jacob had swindled him of, and without his household idols. Then an amazing thing happens. As Jacob begins his journey back to his own homeland, he is met on the way by the angels of God. All this time in the foreign country, God had His hand on Jacob for good. God’s promises are always trustworthy. Blessed be His Name.              

Shabbat Shalom

RS

Torah Portion for 8th Novermber - 14th November 

Torah portion              Genesis 25 : 19  to  28 : 9

Haftarah portion       Malachi 1 : 1  to 2 : 7

“History”

Our ways are not God’s ways

Last week we noted the care with which Abraham sought a wife for Isaac, who incidentally was 40 years old at that time!

In our frail humanity, it is somewhat difficult to understand why Almighty God, in his infinite love, mercy and grace, so perfectly provided the beautiful Rebekah as a wife for Isaac the son of promise, through whom all the nations of the earth are to be blessed, and through whom God intended to produce a people for Himself, His own special treasure, whose numbers were to be counted as the ‘stars of heaven’. Then the ‘bombshell’, Rebekah was infertile. Barren is the word used in the Scriptures.(Genesis 25:21) . The nearest fertility clinic was thousands of years away !!

Did you know that there are at least six women in the Scriptures who were mightily used by God, having also been described as ‘barren’ initially?   I’ll provide the names, you do the investigation !!

Sarah (mother of Isaac), Rebekah (mother of Jacob), Rachel (mother of Joseph and Benjamin), Manoah’s wife (mother of Samson), Hannah (mother of Samuel), Elizabeth (mother of John the Baptizer)

It seems that God, in order to fulfil His purposes in them, required that these ladies be completely dependent on Him for the gift of children. They had to call on him in prayer, anguished prayer, committed prayer, believing prayer .. because there was NO other way.

Do we have a lesson for ourselves here? Do we want God to use us to fulfil His purposes in us? Read the paragraph above again, take out the words “gift of children”, and substitute that which you are seeking from God.

There is yet another parallel feature common to these ladies. God alone miraculously made it possible for these ladies to bear children, all of which had life changing work to fulfil in His Name. So too with our Messiah Yeshua. God alone was able to bring His birth to fruition, but this time in a quite unique intervention in the life of the virgin Miriam (Mary).

Chapter 26 opens with the news of famine in the land. Abraham had earlier found much favour with Abimelech, the King of the Philistines, in the region called Gerar. Isaac went to Gerar (the region of the Northern Negev today alongside Gaza) where Abraham had found water and dug wells. Later in a dispute over the water wells, Isaac moved a little further north and found more water at Beersheva.

Some years ago, I visited Kibbutz Nir Am which had been established in the 1930’s close to the Gaza border where there was a ‘water museum’. It was a barren area where there appeared to be a good supply of ground water and a reservoir. “How did you find water here?” I asked innocently. “We found it by reading the Bible” was the quick reply!!    It is, of course, the site of Biblical Gerar.

Gerar is also the place where Both Abraham and Isaac tried to pass off their wives as their “sisters”.

The ‘history’ in this week’s parashah continues with an event which has caused conflict for Israel ever since. In chapter 25 we read about the birth of the twins Esau and Jacob. The Lord had told Rebekah that the ‘older would serve the younger’. Very soon we also read that Esau had sold his firstborn birthright to Jacob. In Genesis 26 : 34,35 we have more sad news that Esau had married two Hittite women and this was “a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah”. (He later also married a daughter of Ishmael. There’s a combination for you!! (Genesis 28:9))

This was possibly ‘the last straw’ for Rebekah, and in her grief she conspired with Jacob (Genesis 27) to deceive Isaac into giving the ‘firstborn’ blessing to Jacob. Once given, it could not be retracted.

There are many people today who have no understanding of the implications of that event. Initially, Jacob fled from his home and went to live with Rebekah’s family. But Esau’s resentment continues to this day in the offspring which have been born down through the centuries. Our modern day relational conflicts with Islam are shaped by it.

God’s purposes are being fulfilled, but as is so often the case, not always in ways we might have planned things ourselves. The history is most interesting, but we need to remember, that God’s purposes will be fulfilled, with us, or in spite of us.   God’s ways are not our ways.

Shabbat Shalom

RS

Torah Portion for 1st Novermber - 7th November

Torah portion                  Genesis 23 : 1  to  25 : 18

Haftarah portion          1 Kings 1 : 1- 31

“Sarah’s life”

Trust and obey

Even though this portion is titled "Sarah's life", it opens with the announcement of Sarah’s death at 127 years old. Abraham looks for a suitable place to bury his beloved wife. He bought a field with a cave.

The detail of the story is well known. Today, that site is revered by Jews and Moslems alike. That which was a field with a cave in it, is today an extremely large Herodian building which was built over 2,000 years ago. (plus some additions built by the Crusaders in the 12th century) The site is managed by the Moslems, but the Jews have a fairly small area assigned to them where they have a synagogue and reading room. On just TEN days each year, the Jews are allowed to enter the larger room (normally used as a Mosque) in which the 1 metre square small entry to the actual cave below is situated. (The cave area was explored by a 12 year old girl, acting on the instructions of Moshe Dayan, when the area was captured by the Israelis in the 1967 six day war).

The “cave” became the final resting place of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. It is also significant for the fact that it is one of THREE major pieces of “real estate” which were purchased from their owners for the FULL market price. The other two are the Temple Mount (threshing floor) and Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem (present day Nablus).

Chapter 24 of our parashah deals with the provision of a wife for Isaac. This is an extremely important selection because we know that Isaac was God’s ‘child of promise’ given to Abraham, through whom all the Nations of the Earth would be blessed. It is worth reading the detail with which Abraham specified the selection process for his son.

TWO things stand out. Firstly, Abraham was careful to ensure that Isaac should not marry a Canaanite woman. The Canaanites were idolaters. Abraham had been ‘saved’ from idolatrous worship many years earlier. Secondly, whilst he thought that a suitable wife could be found amongst his brother’s family, knowing that Nahor, his brother, had been brought up with values similar to his own, never-the-less, he did not permit Isaac to leave God’s ‘promised land’ to go to Mesopotamia himself. Abraham was, in a sense, ‘working with God’ to ensure that Isaac continued in the path that God had shown Abraham. It was a path of blessing which Abraham had experienced by being faithful to the call God had given him. And he wanted the best possible outcome for Isaac.

Now to the extent that we can use Abraham as an example, there is a salutary lesson there for us. God had given Abraham a convincing call to service. God had abundantly blessed Abraham in that calling. Abraham’s response was both obedient and co-operative. Abraham was not even prepared to take the slightest chance of stepping outside the boundaries where he knew God’s blessing prevailed.

O that we should be so protective of our children’s welfare. There is a lovely verse of Scripture in Jude verse 21. The NKJV translates it “..keep yourselves in the love of God …” But the Living Bible paraphrases it this way:- “stay always within the boundaries where God’s love can reach and protect you”. It is a verse of scripture that was quoted to my own teenage daughters (several years ago) so often that they could not forget it even if they wanted to !!  It expresses the love that Abraham showed for his son Isaac.

This part of the story has a beautiful ending. Read it for yourself in Genesis 24: 61 – 67. There can be no doubt that God had again blessed Abraham in this provision of a loving wife for Isaac. A lady whom God had chosen to be the mother of Jacob, and, if you will, the grandmother of the TWELVE tribes of Israel.

There is another element to the later life of Abraham. He had already had a son, Ishmael, by Hagar. After Sarah’s death he married Keturah and had other sons, one of whom was Midian. The truth is that those two sons of Abraham, in particular, became enemies of Israel and provided hostile obstacles to the peaceful settlement of the land. One might go so far as to say that they continue to do so to this very day.

The main lesson from this parasha however, is that through the obedient trust of Abraham, God was able to advance His plan for mankind. Whenever God finds willing, obedient disciples, He is able to advance His plans for mankind. His invitation is ongoing.

Do you remember the old hymn?  “ Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey”

Shabbat Shalom

RS

Torah Portion for 25th October - 31st October

Torah portion                Genesis 18 : 1  to  22 : 24

Haftarah portion         2 Kings 4 : 1- 37

“He appeared”

Our trustworthy God

We have read, in Genesis 15, the detail of the unconditional covenant which God cut with Abram. In Genesis 17 we read about Abram’s name change. He is now Abraham “father of many nations”, and God re-states the scope of that covenant and announces the sign for those who voluntarily join themselves to that covenant. It is a personal sign between God and man.

Abraham, and all the male members of his family entered into that covenant in a place called Mamre (modern day Kiryat Arba, just a few kilometres from Hebron). Abraham was resting in the door of his tent during the heat of the day, I presume recovering from his recent surgery, when the Lord appeared to him.

There was another occasion, in Genesis 12 when the Lord appeared to Abram, at the teberinth trees of Moreh (today’s Elon Moreh high above Nablus (biblical Shechem)). On that occasion God had shown Abram the land that was to be given to his descendants. That was an amazing, almost unthinkable promise for Abram to be given. It is also a fact that like many other faithful servants of God, Abram never actually saw that promise fulfilled. Read Hebrews 11 : 13.

Now, in our Torah portion today, God’s emissaries announced to the 100 year old Abraham. “Your 90 year old wife is going to have a baby !!!!). Sarah overheard that conversation and could not contain herself from laughing. Read the story. About 25 years earlier it was Abram’s faith that God would fulfil this promise in him that was “counted for righteousness” to him. (Genesis 15:6)

What an example of living faith Abraham is. Some of us are just awestruck at the faith exhibited by these early Patriarchs. But do you know what, our God has not changed. The same God who made those seemingly unlikely promises to Abram, is the God who provided the means of our salvation in Yeshua.

Encourage yourself today by reading Paul’s prayer for the church at Ephesus. (Ephesians 1 : 1-15)  Ask the Lord to give you that “spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him” and you WILL be blessed.  I am sure that it was this “spirit” that dwelt in ‘Our Father Abraham’

We are left wondering how and why Abraham recognized that the three men who visited him at his tent were from the Lord. But he did. It then becomes evident from the conversation which ensued that these men were there to proclaim the fulfilment of the promise God made to Abram about all those years earlier.

Following this discourse, the three men leave to go about more of the Lord’s business in Sodom, the city where Abraham’s nephew Lot lived. Abraham walked with the men as they left, then Abraham discovered why they were travelling to Sodom. God had decided to destroy the city because of the rampant wickedness there.

(I never read this story without wondering how much longer the Lord will stay His mighty hand of judgment against the rampant wickedness and overt Godlessness we see in this world today).

Then follows one of the most amazing conversations recorded in the Scriptures. Almighty God, in love and grace, enters into a discussion with this faithful man Abraham, (obviously concerned for the safety of his nephew Lot), as he intercedes on behalf of any righteous men who may be found living in Sodom.

The ‘negotiations’ ended at ‘ten righteous men’. It is this passage of scripture which caused the Rabbi’s to eventually decide that this would be the minimum number of men, forming a ‘minyan’ of members, which are required to form a synagogue congregation.

If anyone doubts the power of the prayerful intercession of a righteous man before our trustworthy God, this Torah portion this week must provide substantial encouragement.

Shabbat Shalom

RS

Torah Portion for 18th October - 24th October

Torah portion            Genesis 12 : 1  to  17 : 27

Haftarah portion     Isaiah 40 : 27 – 41 : 16

“Get yourself out”

God’s faithful promises

The first eleven chapters of Genesis have occupied a time frame from antiquity to approx. 4,000 years ago. We have seen glimpses of the preparation God had made for what, in theatrical terms, would be called “The Main Event”.

In all the world, God chose a man called ABRAM, first born son of Terah, who lived in Ur of the Chaldeans (in modern day southern Iraq) to be the father of His chosen people. We do not know too much about Abram’s past, except that he ordered his life in a way that pleased God. The indications from Joshua 24:2  are that Abram’s father, Terah, not only worshipped “other gods” but may also have been an “idol maker”.

(There is a legend told about a time when Abram was left in charge of the shop whilst his father was away on some business. Abram smashed all the idols in the shop except the largest of them, in whose hand he placed a big stick. When Terah returned he was very angry at the scene before him. Abram explained that the largest idol had smashed the others with the stick that was in his hand. Terah exploded. “That’s nonsense” he said, “ you know it is impossible for that clay idol to do anything”. Yes, I do, said Abram, that’s why I am not having anything more to do with them !!)

    That story is just illustrative of the fact that Abram was not an idolator. Terah had already taken his family, Abram, Sarah and his grandson Lot on a journey to Haran (in present day Syria). Now, after Terah had died, God tells Abram that He has further plans for him.

Just recalling that well known story tells us that with God, nothing is left to chance. Every step was carefully arranged, so that Abram, having left Ur of the Chaldeans with his Dad, was now able to take on another challenge of relocating yet again, but this time without the covering of his own father .God had already shown him that it could be done.

It is in these early verses of Genesis 12 that God reveals the extent of His plan to Abram. The true scope of Abram’s faith is illustrated in the fact that God did not tell Abram where He was taking him, just that He would show him the way. We have the advantage of seeing the elements of blessing which came Abram’s way as a result of his obedience. Abram himself did not have that luxury. God said “trust Me”, and Abram did.

It is worth pondering the thought of how we might react today to such an invitation from God. It is a monumental act of faith. We can look at Abram with some degree of detachment can’t we?  We can view the situation hypothetically, from a distance, and make all sorts of “high moral ground” decisions about how we would have done the same. I am amazed at the faith of this man. But God knew him … just as He knows us.

It is not widely known that there are TWO different Hebrew words, which are both translated into English as “curse” in our Bibles in Genesis 12:3. The first ‘curse’ is “a’rar”, which means ‘bitterly curse’. The second ‘curse’ is “qalal”, which means ‘to treat lightly’ or ‘treat with contempt’.  The difference is substantial.

I am in amazement that there are many Christian churches today, who have placed themselves in a position of being ‘bitterly cursed’ by God Himself because of their open contempt for Israel, that ‘ great nation’ promised by God to flow from Abram.

It is noteworthy, that Great Britain, probably the world’s leading Nation in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, has declined in world influence and global importance since 1948. The record is there for all to see. 1948 was the year that Great Britain openly treated Israel with contempt. The European Union is as anti-Israel as it is possible to be. It is having enormous economic issues and appears to be crumbling before our very eyes.  America has been a champion of Israel for many years. Under the present administration, America is openly showing contempt for Israel. Watch this space!!   “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”

In Deuteronomy 11 : 12 we read of Israel:-

“ …..  a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.”

God is faithful and true to the promises He gave to Abram. 

The promise God gave in Genesis 12 :3, whilst given specifically to  Abram, is  effective and applicable to all who read it.

Shabbat Shalom

RS

Torah Portion for 11th October - 17th October

Torah portion           Genesis 6 : 9  to  11 : 32

Haftarah portion     Isaiah 54 : 1 – 55 : 5

“Noah”

God’s timing is not our timing

Our parashah this week starts off with a bang. We are first of all introduced to Noah. He was a just man, AND in the mould of Enoch last week, he “walked with God”. I am reminded of that rhetorical answer given by the prophet Micah years later when pondering the issue of “What does the Lord require of you?  Noah seems to have provided the model for that answer. “To do justly and to walk humbly before your God”.  It is worthy of our notice that Noah’s walk with God was in a world, which, verse 11 tells us “was corrupt and filled with violence”.   How up to date is that?

Those of us who keep an eye on the news from around the world at this time can identify many similarities between the world of Noah and our world today, can’t we?  Jonathan Cahn, in his excellent book “The Harbinger”, has identified several prophetic warning signs which he believes God to be giving to America in particular at this time of violence and Godlessness there.

Noah, in his close walk with God became privy to God’s counsel, in that God explains to Noah what is about to happen in the world. No-one knows how long Noah spent actually building the Ark, but some have surmised that the reference to 120 years in verse 3 indicates that God provided plenty of warning time. We also know that Noah is introduced to us as a 500 year old, and that he entered the Ark when he was 600 years old. Now what that says to me is that Noah was a very faithful servant of Almighty God.

It also says something else to me. God’s timing is very different to man’s timing. Just think how often we utter some words of prayer, or make a request, or intercede on some issue before Almighty God, and then expect to find the answer we have pre-determined that we want, that very afternoon!!!  Surely we need to remind ourselves that God’s timing is perfect. His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts. Our Haftarah portion this week ends at Isaiah 55;5. If we go a little bit further into Isaiah 55 we will get Scriptural confirmation of that.

In Genesis 7 : 2 we find  a most interesting reference to “clean animals” This is the first time we meet this phrase in the Scriptures. Commentators agree that the purpose of this instruction was to ensure that there would be a plentiful supply of good breeding stock of animals which are acceptable for both eating (the world was vegetarian prior to the flood) and for sacrificial needs.

Genesis 9 contains the detail of God’s unconditional covenant with Noah and the perpetual sign of that covenant. The rainbow in the sky. We are also informed of the circumstances which led to God pronouncing a curse on Canaan. It was for this reason that much later, Moses instructed the Children of Israel not to enter into any agreement with the Canaanites (Deuteronomy 7). We begin to see the very foundational elements of God’s preparation for His grand plan for Israel .. hundreds of years before there is any mention of Israel … but coming from, not His original created beings, but from that faithful man Noah, who in a world full of violence and wickedness, walked with God.

For those interested in seeing the establishment of “Nations” after the flood, Chapters 10 and 11 provide fertile ground for study and investigation. However, there is too much ground to cover in a short ‘reflection’ such as this.

Notwithstanding that, it worthy of note that the first 11 chapters of our Scriptures cover a time period from antiquity up to 4,000 years ago. That is most interesting because, whilst those first 11 chapters are informative and foundational, the real essence of God’s plan for His relationship with humanity is contained in the remaining 39 chapters of Genesis and the other 38 books of the Hebrew Scriptures.

God’s timing is not our timing

Next week we will come face to face with “Our Father Abraham”.

Shabbat Shalom

RS