Guest blog: Passover, Easter, and the Seal of God

Today I’m honored to have my older brother Jesse guest-blog something the Lord has put on his heart during this Passover season. Thanks, bro!

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It's that time of year again, a time when YHVH (God) always puts some things on my heart! It’s a great time to look at Scripture and see what it has to say about the holidays that are going on. Studying the Scriptures to find truth is a mark of a disciple: In John 8:32 Yeshua (Jesus) says "If you obey what I say, then you are really my talmidim (disciples), you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." Here we see that Yeshua says the truth will set you free. Free from what? What are we slave to that we must be set free from? ..... SIN! We’re all slaves to sin and if we know and follow the truth we will be free of sin. David, a shadow of the Messiah, says in Psalm 119 that truth is Torah.

At the time of the Exodus, Passover was about freedom from bondage of Egyptian slavery. The blood of the lamb redeems the firstborn (Exodus 12:12-13) out of bondage, on a journey into the Land of promise. Note the blood covering the firstborn for later reference. Paul talks about Passover in 1st Corinthians 5:7-8 "Get rid of the old leaven so that you can be a new batch of dough, because in reality you are unleavened. For the Messiah, our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed. So let us celebrate the Seder not with old leaven, the leaven of wickedness and evil, but with matzah of purity and truth." We see here some of the symbols of the Passover: Leaven = sin, Lamb = Messiah, Blood of the Lamb = Messiah's death (Isaiah 53). As believers in Messiah, Passover takes on a deeper meaning for us; it becomes more than remembering the slavery in Egypt.

Yet for many Christians, Passover is a foreign thing. Its modern replacement in Christianity does away with these symbols of Passover, replacing them with things not from God. Easter has its origins in ancient eastern fertility rites: in the ancient Babylonian religion, Easter, or Ishtar, is the wife of Nimrod, a king of Babylon. King Nimrod ruled a mighty empire and was viewed as deity. When Nimrod died, Easter became “miraculously” pregnant. The son born to her was named Tammuz, a supposed reincarnation of his deceased father, Nimrod. A religion was built around her, with Easter as the moon and Tammuz as the sun. She was worshiped as the goddess of fertility who brought in the spring. During the winter when the sun was at its weakest, they would say Tammuz is dead and they would weep for 40 days for him to resurrect himself. The day before the spring equinox they would worship in the dark all night long, then face east at dawn to see the sun rise, the resurrection of Tammuz.

While the Ishtar festival was initially limited to pagan religions, it eventually spread to Christianity in the 4^th century. In 325 AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine, an anti-Jewish sun-worshipper, officially replaced Passover with Easter, saying in anti-Semitic tirade,

“When the question relative to the sacred festival of Easter arose, it was thought particularly unworthy to follow the customs of the Jews who had soiled their hands with the most fearful of crimes, and whose minds were blinded. In rejecting their custom we may transmit to our descendants the legitimate mode of celebrating Easter.

We ought not therefore to have anything in common with the Jew. And consequently in unanimously adopting this mode, we desire, dearest brethren, to separate ourselves from the detestable company of the Jew. For it is truly shameful for us to hear them boast that without their direction we could not keep this feast. How can they be in the right, they who, after the death of the Saviour, have no longer been led by reason but by wild violence, as their delusion may urge them They do not possess the truth in this Easter question, for in their blindness and repugnance to all improvements they frequently celebrate two Passovers in the same year.

But even if this were not so it would still be your duty not to tarnish your soul by communication with such wicked people, the Jews. You should consider not only that the number of churches in these provinces make a majority, but also that it is right to demand what our reason approves, and that we should have nothing in common with the Jew.”

-Edict at Nicea

With this anti-Jewish ruling, it was no difficult matter to cause the existing pagan peoples in the Roman Empire adopt Catholic (universal) Christianity, using existing festivals and repainting them with Christian elements. Thus, Easter found its way into Christianity, with the Roman Catholic Church officially requiring of all Christians the celebration of Easter. Centuries later, Easter was passed down to the Church’s Protestant offspring; celebrating Easter remains a staple of worldwide Christianity to this day, despite no such commandment in Scripture.

This Easter/Tammuz religion is mentioned in Scripture, however, in the book of Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 8:

1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.

2 Then I beheld, I saw a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the color of amber.

3 And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looks toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.

4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.
[Bible scholars suggest that this is the statue of Ishtar being referred to here.]

5 Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

6 And he said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the house of Israel is doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable." [This is what Israel is practicing; they later are sent into exile because of their love of sin & paganism.]

7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, I saw a hole in the wall.

8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had dug in the wall, behold a door.

9And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.

10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about.

11 And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.

12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, have you seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? They say, the LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the earth.
[They are weeping for Tammuz before Easter.]

13 He said also to me, Turn again, and you shall see greater abominations yet.

14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.

15 Then said he unto me, have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, and you shall see greater abominations than these.

16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east.
[They were waiting for the resurrection of Tammuz, the sunrise on Sunday.]

17 Then he said unto me, have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations here? They have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: they put the branch to their nose.
[Tammuz was considered a branch, the false branch, a kind of anti-messiah. We know Yeshua the Messiah is the true branch.]

Wow! Heavy stuff.

Paul talks about how we no longer wrestle in the flesh but in the spirit in Romans 8. We see the mark YHVH puts on our heads by keeping the feasts (Passover in particular) Exodus 13:9 " It will serve you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder between your eyes (forehead), so that YHVH's Torah may be on your lips; because with a strong hand YHVH brought you out of Egypt."

Now let’s look at what YHVH shows Ezekiel about the punishment of those who worshipped the Easter & Tammuz gods:

Ezekiel 9:4 YHVH said to him, "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it."
[We, those disgusted by the Easter & Tammuz worship are marked.]

5 As I listened, he said to the others, "Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary." So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.

[We see that even children aren't spared in the punishment. Good reason not to partake in Easter at the sake of "children feeling left out of our culture".]

7 Then he said to them, "Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!" So they went out and began killing throughout the city. 8 While they were killing and I was left alone, I fell face down, crying out, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?"

9 He answered me, "The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say, 'The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.' 10 So I will not look on them with pity or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done."

11 Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, "I have done as you commanded."

18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

So a quick recap, Passover = mark on forehead. Those who are disgusted at the weeping for Tammuz = mark on forehead. Weeping for Tammuz up to Easter sunrise = YHVH's judgment.

Why is this so important? Let’s see what John says in Revelations 7:1-8:

1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.

2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:

3 "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."

4Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,

6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,

7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,

8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

Also, in Revelations 9:4-6, we read:

4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

5 They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man.

6 During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

And again in Revelations 14:1-12:

1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.

2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps.

3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as first fruits to God and the Lamb.

5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

This is the final fulfillment of Passover! The woman in verse 4 is the whore of Babylon, Ishtar. Continuing into verse 6:

6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people.

7 He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."

8 A second angel followed and said, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries."

9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand,

Notice that this is the exact opposite of Exodus 13:9-10.

10 he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.

11And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name."

12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.

The ones persecuted are those who follow God’s commandments and remain faithful to Yeshua!

As believers in Messiah, we ought to keep His feasts, rather than the traditions of men that have both anti-Jewish and false-religion backgrounds. When Messiah said, “Do this in remembrance of Me”, he was not talking about an oyster cracker and a thimble of grape juice. He was commanding us to celebrate the Passover in remembrance of Him. Paul tells the Corinthians to keep the Passover, and rightly so, as it is Messiah who delivered us from the bondage to sin. And we know from our study of the Scriptures that keeping His feasts marks us with God’s seal.

I hope this helps you understand what the mark of the Firstborn/Forehead is.

Paul encourages us to be holy by separating ourselves from the profane, "Therefore YHVH says go out from their midst; separate yourselves; don't even touch what is unclean. Then I myself will receive you. In fact, I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters." 2 Corinthians 6:17-18

May those who have eyes to see, SEE! And ears to hear, HEAR! The one who is testifying to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon!" Amen! Come, Master Yeshua! May the grace of the Master Yeshua be with you all!

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Thanks, Jesse!

I hope you fine blog readers learn from this and our encouraged to keep the Passover this year, a feast of the Lord that our Messiah, his disciples, and even Paul found good to keep and celebrate and remember the things God has done through Israel and through Israel’s Messiah. This year, Passover will fall the evening of April 10th (April 9th on the Jewish calendar). Messianic congregations as well as some churches will be celebrating the Passover this year. I encourage you all to find a place and keep this feast.

Shalom.

Dancing In Jerusalem!

Last week for shabbat, on the guitar I learned to play one of my favorite classic Messianic Jewish music songs, a blast from the past straight from the 1980s, Lamb – Dancing In Jerusalem

I had a lot of fun playing this one last week, great song to praise the Lord to!

Who is the king?

Let the King of Glory come in!

Yeshua is coming, he'll come to Jerusalem

I know all of the nations will pray in Jerusalem

We'll stand in His glory, rejoicing in His name

We'll dance in Jerusalem!

Can you imagine what this would look like? Nations coming to Jerusalem before the King of glory, Yeshua, the King Messiah in the flesh. Ah. What a time to look forward to. Shabbat shalom, fine blog readers. May we live to dance before Messiah in Jerusalem!

Happy Biblical New Year!

On the 1st month of the year, on the 14th day of the month, the LORD's Passover begins at twilight.

-Moses to the children of Israel

Fine blog readers, since Passover is the 14th day of the 1st month of the Biblical year, and since Passover falls on April 9th this year (April 10th on the agricultural calendar), that means today, March 26th 2009, marks the first day of the first month in the calendar God used in the Scripture to mark times and seasons – a new year according to Scripture.

The Jewish calendar will call this day Nisan 1, 5769.

Happy Biblical New Year!

Saved by Grace - Aaron Eby’s Boundary Stones, Part 1

Last week I promised to review a book that I now consider one of the most important books for Christians to read, Aaron Eby’s Boundary Stones. It’s a simple, short book detailing why the Law is important for Christians, and why Christians should consider keeping the Law.

Before we start, I must confess something to you, dear blog reader. As a Messianic Jewish believer in Messiah, I have trouble relating some of these passages to you because Eby deliberately uses Christian terminology and Church-speak, language that now feels foreign and even sometimes cliché to me, phrases that have been used against me when talking about God’s Law. But I figure I can swallow my discomfort in using this same terminology if only to relate to you things of a greater and more important nature.

The opening chapter addresses a subject very dear to Christians: saved by grace through faith alone. (Saved by grace means that you’re saved from sin because of God’s forgiveness, not by good works or other human acts.)

Throughout the book, Aaron Eby works diligently to find common ground between Messianics and Christians; the idea that one is saved by God through faith, rather than through human works, is one such piece of common ground.

I’m glad Eby addressed this issue right off the bat! If there is one recurring argument from Christians against keeping the Law it is this: “You’re not saved by works!”

As a Law-keeper, I quickly retort, “I agree!”

And then everybody walks away in confusion.

Towards resolution, Aaron starts off addressing an issue many Christians are confused about, the idea that the Law’s purpose was to bring about salvation, thus making one saved by the Law, saved by works. Eby addresses this misconception,

People received forgiveness by faith in the Messiah even before He came. Nonetheless, these people faithfully and lovingly continued to observe God’s revealed Law. The Law never served as a means of gaining salvation, but as an eternal guide to a life of faith.

The Law never served as a means of gaining salvation. The purpose of the Law was, and remains, something entirely different.

Eby asks a follow-up question some Christians find difficult,

What about people who died before Jesus came? Have they all gone to hell because their sins were not yet paid for on the cross? Think about the great heroes of the past: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Elijah. None of these great men obeyed every written commandment, yet in some ways, they must have been forgiven of their faults, even before Jesus’ sacrifice.

What is your response, fine blog reader? Obviously, these men didn’t go to hell. So how did they get to heaven, since Christ hadn’t arrived yet?

A common response from some Christians is that these great men of the past gained forgiveness through animal sacrifices in the Tabernacle and obedience to commandments in the Law. However, this argument is faulty because the book of Hebrews in the New Testament confirms that sacrifices could never make the worshipper clean. The intent of sacrifices was not to take away the sin of the worshipper. The heroes of the faith didn’t obey every commandment, nor were they able to take away their sin through sacrifices.

Think about it for a moment: surely David, Abraham, Moses were all saved by faith, not through keeping the Law, right? The Law never served as a way to save you, otherwise Christ died for no reason. Nor did sacrifices serve to take away sin, otherwise Christ’s sacrifice was pointless. The purpose of the Law is something different entirely.

Eby quotes from Romans, Galatians, and other letters from Paul to support this: righteousness is received by grace through faith. Even the great heroes of the past received their heavenly reward through this same faith, not by doing the works in the Law.

So what’s the point of the Law?

We know what isn’t the point of the Law: it isn’t to take away sin. And it isn’t to save you. So then, why would anyone ever care about doing all these works in the Law? Aaron Eby writes,

In some ways, addressing how pre-Jesus saints were saved raises more questions than it answers. For example, if Moses received grace through faith, why did he also receive the Law on Mt. Sinai?

And if grace was already around in Abraham’s day, why did God dole out all the commandments hundreds of years later?

And if Paul was correct in saying that King David understood forgiveness by grace, why does David write the longest chapter in the Bible as an ode to God’s Law?

This form of questioning to bring about truth…music to my ears!

Eby puts our own theologies aside for a moment and, through asking these honest questions, causes us to dig for understanding. Reading through these questions, I found myself jumping up, demanding an answer, “Yeah! Why *did* David write that whole big ode to the Law; he was already saved by grace! And why did God give Moses the Law in the first place if Moses was already saved by faith? Hey, we’re onto something here!”

Eby proposes an answer:

Perhaps we have misunderstood the reason for the Law. I propose the Law was not given to help people become perfect, nor to merit eternal salvation. The ancient people of Israel obeyed the commandments not as a means to earn right standing before God. They knew they could not keep the commandments perfectly, so they turned to Him in repentance, trusting God for forgiveness. They began to obey the Law in faith because it’s God’s revealed will. They kept the Law because they loved God, and because it’s what God asked of them.

Eby tenderly plants the seed: Do you have a heart of faith? Then keeping God’s holy, good, and righteous Law is a natural result of such a heart, a heart that trusts God to know what’s best for us, what kind of life we should live. A person that loves Christ should keep God’s commandments, not out of a misguided attempt to become righteous or be saved by them, but instead he should keep God’s Law simply because he loves God, and because God asks His people to do so.

Conclusions

As Eby reached his conclusions in the first chapter, I was overflowing with joy at this point: happy to hear such a beautiful, simple explanation of something deep inside of me that, for so long, I’ve been unable to articulate. I was overflowing with positive emotion because of this new understanding that is so simple and yet so empirically true: the Law wasn’t meant to save, wasn’t meant to take away sin. We keep God’s Law because we love Him!

Eby summarizes it succinctly, joining Scriptures from Hebrews to prove it: What saved the heroes of the faith long ago saves us still today. Those heroes sinned – failing to keep the Law perfectly – and they needed forgiveness of that sin, just as we do today. Neither observance of commandments nor sacrifices could save them; it was only through faith in the future redemption and the promise of Messiah that God granted them forgiveness. Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David: all of these men were saved by grace, not through keeping the Law.

God didn’t give the Law as a way to earn salvation. Instead, the Law was meant to be a guide for living a life of faith. People kept God’s Law because they loved Him and desired to obey Him.

As the chapter concludes, Eby emphatically suggests action given this new understanding: we as believers in Messiah can learn from these same heroes, this “great cloud of witnesses that has gone before us”. They lived out lives of faith, putting their love for God into practice as they followed the commandments in God’s Law. They were saved by grace through faith. They kept God’s Law.

Whew.

Saved by grace and keeping God’s Law.

I can’t help but think back to Revelation 12, where the people who overcome are those who hold to the testimony of Christ and keep God’s commandments. It makes sense, doesn’t it? That’s how it’s been all along. All the heroes of the faith were saved by grace and kept the commandments.

In the next chapter, Eby tackles another doozie: the New Testament states that sin is defined by the Law. While many Christians have no issues with this statement, its implications are vast and shaking and life-changing. We’ll discuss this in a future post.

Aaron Eby’s Boundary Stones: Introduction

Earlier this week, we read the psalmist’s answer to the question, “How can a man keep his way pure?” In what became the longest chapter in the whole of Scripture, the psalmist gives a clear, repeated answer: God’s Law! The Law: the first 5 books of the Jewish and Christian Bibles. We are told that keeping God’s Law gives understanding, is sweeter than honey, is more valuable than riches. The psalmist tells us: keep the Law, weep when it’s disobeyed, call on God to act when it’s broken, learn the commandments from your youth, and your way will remain pure.

In spite of this, some in Christianity today consider keeping the Law to be a dangerous idea and practice, one that cancels Christ’s work on the cross. The validity of the Law is perhaps the single-most dividing point between Messianics like myself and our Christian brothers. While Messianics see God’s Law as His perpetual instructions to His people for living a holy life, Christians view the Law as old superfluous rules that passed away with the coming of Christ.

To address this discord, Messianic organization First Fruits of Zion comes to the rescue with a book that is, in truth, a must-have book for Christians: Boundary Stones, authored by Aaron Eby.

Oh, if only every Christian could get his hand on this book! As I finished reading it myself, my only thoughts were, “How can we get this message out? Christians need to read this!”

Boundary Stones is written for Christians:

1. It uses Church language to discuss Jesus and why disciples of Jesus would consider the Law, avoiding rabbinical material and Hebrew terms that may be foreign to gentile Christians.
   
   
2. It’s non-condemning in nature. It doesn’t delegitimize or belittle Christians or Christianity in any way.
   
   
3. It uses Jesus’ style of teaching through questioning that challenges the Christian reader, reaching out to Christians graciously without condemnation.
   
   
4. It’s basic and to-the-point. It’s short (~100 pages), uses simple plain language, it’s easy to read. Through this simple manner, Aaron Eby presents to Christians the case for keeping God’s Law.

The title “Boundary Stones”, aptly enough, comes from the Law itself:

Do not move your neighbor's boundary stone set up by your ancestors in the inheritance you receive in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess.

-Deuteronomy 19:14

In the coming weeks, fine blog readers, we’ll take an in-depth look at Boundary Stones as Aaron Eby addresses the modern Christian objections to the Law.

Shalom to you fine blog readers on this shabbat.

How can a man keep his way pure?

The psalmist gives the answer. In what is the longest chapter in the entire Scriptures, whether Jewish or Christian, the psalmist answers the question, “How can a man keep his way pure?”. His answer? Take a deep breath, fine blog readers…

• By seeking God with all his heart,
• By guarding his ways according to God’s word,
• By not straying from God’s commandments in the Law,
• By learning God’s decrees in the Law,
• By reciting all the Law with his mouth,
• By rejoicing in the Law,
• By delighting in the Law,
• By living his life according to God’s Law,
• By obeying the decrees in the Law,
• By opening his eyes to see the wonderful things in the Law,
• By consuming his time and energy with the Law,
• By rebuking those who have strayed from the Law,
• By meditating on the Law,
• By receiving God’s grace through the Law,
• By having the Law written on his heart,
• By holding fast to God’s rulings in the Law,
• By running in the path of the commandments,
• By keeping the Law to the very end,
• By gaining understanding through the Law,
• By seeing all the goodness in God’s Law,
• By longing for His Law,
• By trusting God’s Law,
• By obeying the Law perpetually and eternally,
• By putting his hope in the Law,
• By loving the Law with delight,
• By lifting up his hands to the commandments,
• By not turning from the Law,
• By remembering the Law,
• By making the Law his practice,
• By considering the commandments in his life,
• By being a friend to all who follow the Law,
• By being filled with the love of God through the Law,
• By making the Law more precious than gold or silver,
• By believing in the commandments,
• By asking for understanding of the Law from the One who formed you,
• By acknowledging the righteous nature of God’s Law,
• By being blameless according to the commandments,
• By not forgetting God’s decrees,
• By acknowledging the trustworthy nature of all the commandments,
• By acknowledging the eternal nature of the Law,
• By relying on the Law for the preservation of his own life,
• By seeking out God’s precepts,
• By acknowledging the boundless nature of the commandments,
• By meditating on the commandments all day long,
• By considering the Law sweeter than honey,
• By not departing from the Law,
• By making the Law a lamp and light in the darkness,
• By taking an oath and confirming he will follow God’s righteous laws,
• By making the commandments his heritage,
• By making the commandments the joy of his heart,
• By loving the Law,
• By holding God’s Law in high regard,
• By standing in awe of all God’s Law,
• By being humble in observing the Law,
• By calling on the Lord to act when His Law is being broken,
• By calling God’s commandments wonderful,
• By understanding that God’s commandments give illuminating light,
• By weeping when the Law is disobeyed,
• By speaking of the righteousness of the Law,
• By making enemies those who ignore the Law,
• By speaking the Law as truth,
• By calling out to the Lord for understanding of the Law,
• By meditating on God’s promises in the Law through the night,
• By drawing closer to the Lord through His Law,
• By learning the commandments from his youth,
• By knowing salvation comes to those close to God’s Law,
• By acknowledging God’s compassion in the Law,
• By telling others that God’s Law is eternal,
• By trembling at God’s Law,
• By rejoicing in the promises of the Law,
• By abhorring falsehood and loving the Law,
• By praising God 7 times a day for His Law,
• By partaking in the great peace abiding in those who know God’s Law,
• By waiting for his salvation through following the commandments,
• By loving God’s statutes greatly,
• By receiving God’s deliverance through the promises in His commandments,
• By singing of God’s commandments,
• By overflowing with praise to God for teaching us His Law!

It’s so tough to understand what the psalmist is getting at. Can you see it? I sure can’t. There’s absolutely no pattern here, none at all.

(Preach it, God-fearing Psalmist! )

Thoughts on my first visit to an Orthodox Jewish synagogue

Last night, my older brother picked up some food at a kosher meat market. The Jewish guy behind the counter told my brother, “We’re having a Purim service tonight – why don’t you come?”

Purim, for those fine blog readers who don’t know, is the Jewish holiday remembering the story of Hadassah (Esther) in the Jewish and Christian bibles. Unlike the Feasts of Leviticus 23, Purim is not commanded by God; it’s truly a Jewish feast. It is a celebratory festival where Jews celebrate how Hadassah and Mordechai saved the Jews of Persia from an evil Persian politician, Haman, who attempted to exterminate Jews through political means.

So, back to our story last night:

My brother called me up, and off we went to a Chabad Orthodox Jewish synagogue for the Purim holiday. I wanted to record the experience here while it’s still fresh in my mind.

Heading there, I wasn’t sure what to expect. A little nervous, knowing that if anyone knew me to be a believer in Yeshua, I’d probably be unwelcomed. I knew for sure I wasn’t going as a means to convert Jews to another religion; I’m not a salesman out to sell Christianity. I certainly didn’t want to offend or cause discord; knowing full well the Chabadniks practice a very strict form of Judaism, I came decked out with my talit koton and tzitzit. (Still knowing I wouldn’t quite fit in – no beard, no big black hat or yarmulke!) I brought my Tenakh only. I didn’t come with any hidden agenda, I went to celebrate the fact that God saved his people, and to mingle with others doing the same.

When we arrived, the small building was packed to overflowing. We had no place to sit, so we stood in the doorways of the sanctuary where the book of Esther was being sung in Hebrew chant.

Looking around, many of the men were decked out in Orthodox Jewish garb: bearded men with big black hats, black suit, black pants:

But these weren’t the only folks there. A number of men, perhaps not as strict in their halakah, would wear only yarmulke and wear plain secular clothes. Others wore Purim costumes as is often the custom for this celebratory holiday.

During the reading of Esther, each time the evil Haman was mentioned, the crowd would boo, jeer, shoot children’s cap guns and swing their noise makers, as is customary.

During the reading, a Jewish man and his family came up behind us. Seeing our fringes, he asked if we would like some yarmulkes. Yes, we said. The man returned with 2 kippas for us. We talked with him during the service; he asked about our families, where we were from, where we attend congregation. That’s one clear thing I got during the whole time there – a strong sense of family. “Is your family here with you?”, the man asked. “No, it’s just me and my brother”, I replied. “You should bring them.” said the man without hesitation.

I got the sense that the Orthodox understand Judaism has helped preserve the Jewish people, and that to be Jewish, one ought to have his whole family part of the synagogue. It’s unlike a church, where there’s this underlying optional feeling to attending; for Judaism, it’s meant to be part of life, part of being Jewish. You’re Jewish, so you attend the synagogue. Doesn’t matter if you’re “secular”. You’re a son of Israel, so you’re there and welcomed.

The man asked about our family name, I assume in hopes to discover whether we’re Jewish or just goyim decked out in Jewish garb. I explained our last name, and my partial Jewish ancestry. We continued to talk until a man came up to us, “Guys, this will be a fun party tonight, but now we’re reading and ask you to be quiet, OK?”

Hushed we were, and a little embarrassed. Oh well.

The service ended. My brother recognized the cantor who was chanting the book of Esther, remembered the cantor as a customer in his store. We went up and talked to him. He said, “Oh yes, I remember you. And I saw you guys talking during my chanting.” Woops.

Food was served free of charge for everyone. That’s another thing about Chabad, I hear they never charge for their Passover services or other feasts. This was no different – a buffet of Chicken, rice, salad, pastries, and beverages for all attending, free of charge.

We got in line for the food and another Jewish guy started talking to us. While I was a little uncomfortable talking to the first guy when we arrived, this guy in the food line was really friendly and cool. “Where do you go to congregation?”, he asked. We replied, “A small group of us meets in homes on shabbat and studies the Scriptures.” “Cool,” he says, “Is it run by Chabad?” “No, it’s just family and friends. My dad runs the study.” He was cool with that. Nice guy, friendly. I could get along with him. We talked with him for awhile as the food line was long with so many people there.

Once we got our food, we had no place to sit as the place was overflowing with people. We started to eat our food standing, but one of the men from the congregation saw us, and without us asking, grabbed a man and setup another table with chairs right there in the walkway. That’s another thing I’ve heard about Chabad, they meet the need immediately without hesitation. I like that.

Par-tay!

We sat down to eat at our newly-provided table. We were approached by a gray-bearded rabbi, decked out in fanciful costume for Purim, wearing a big pink hair wig. He came up to us, holding a bottle of Crown Royal whisky. I had to laugh to myself, imagining what a foreign thing this would be to Christians, seeing a veteran gray-bearded religious man in a pink hair wig going table to table with a bottle of celebratory alcohol.

He came up to us and asked, “A little shot?”

Sure, why not.

“But first, I will say a bracha. And then you must say one to me.”

He proceeded to pour us shot cups of hard stuff, and of course one for himself. His blessing was,

“May you always get everything you need, but not everything you want.”

I fumbled for a quick return blessing. “May God always have his hand on you!”

“L’chaim!”

Ok, shoot back the Crown Royal. Youch, that’s strong.

A Russian family came to our table and sat with us. Really kind folks. A man and his wife and their 20 something year old son Greg. They came from a Reform Jewish background, not strict religious at all, but very kind people. Greg told us about his adventures to Israel, joining the military for 2 years. “It’s the greatest thing a Jew can do for his country”, he said to us. We chimed in agreement.

Another religious leader came by with a cart full of whisky and various liquors. Really is a celebration feast! I had a tiny bit of Irish whisky. Not nearly as hard as the Crown Royal.

We talked more with the Russian Jewish family about life, religion, Israel, aliyah. It was good. They were really nice people. The son Greg was especially nice, a very real guy. Too many religious people I know are so, um, religious and awkward. Greg wasn’t like that. Good kid. Greg explained that in order to prove his Jewish ancestry and join the IDF, he had to fill out 40 papers. “Makes filing your taxes look like a job application.” He had to get an Orthodox rabbi to investigate his family ancestry, seeing if his ancestors were buried in Jewish cemeteries, in order to move to Israel and join the military there. We talked more with them about our families and background. Explaining our partial Jewish ancestry, our gentile wives, all kinds of things, being pretty open with them. They were accepting of it all.

After all the mingling and food, we decided it was time to go. We wanted to talk one last time with our pink-haired friend before leaving. He was completely drunk now. I pulled out my phone and took a snapshot:

Too funny.

On the way out, we talked with Greg again. The cantor came up to me and talked for a few minutes. Then another Jewish guy talked with me for a few minutes more on my way out the door.

We had a good time. It’s hard to judge the religious nature of people at such a weird time. Purim is definitely a weird time to visit a Chabad Orthodox Jewish synagogue. It’s strange to see people who are so strict in their religious observance be all…crazy and partying.

Relaying all this to my wife when I got home, she said, “Um, aren’t they supposed to be religious? Isn’t drinking against the Bible?”

Heh.

I suspect the picture I’ve painted of Chabad for you, fine blog readers, is one of a rowdy gang of Jews. Don’t be fooled. I think I caught them on the one day of the year the Chabad just let loose and party like this. I’d like to attend a shabbat service and see how they worship and pray in their normal form to get a better picture of them.

My closing thoughts is that the people were friendly and opened. Chabad, strict as they are, were accepting of even the least religious Reform Jews, all the way to awkward, partially Jewish guys like myself.

Turn them Jews into Christians!

A recent article by the Christian Post details a growing call on Christian Zionist groups to state publicly whether they support evangelizing Jews. A task force on Jewish Evangelism issued a statement,

“We believe that calling the Jewish people to accept Jesus (Y’shua) as the Messiah both of Israel and all nations is the biblical mandate and natural loving response to the belief that there is salvation only through personal faith in Jesus Christ. Yet, we recognize that some aspects of Christian Zionism as practiced today, work to the detriment of the Jewish people inasmuch as they undermine Jewish evangelism. We believe they can dilute the gospel message by offering comfort apart from Christ, discourage evangelical Christians from witnessing to their Jewish friends and divert gospel resources which could be channeled toward Jewish evangelism.”

-Resolution passed at the 26th annual meeting of the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism (LCJE) – North America.

I have mixed feelings about this resolution.

Yes, Messiah is the only way to God

On the one hand, I wholeheartedly and without hesitation say that Messiah is the only way to God. I feel strongly about this because of Messiah’s own statement in the gospel,

I am the way, truth, and life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.

-Messiah to his disciples

Let me say first, I love Judaism. I love my Jewish brothers, yes, the non-Christian ones. To tell the truth, I envy their zeal and good works. The good done through Judaism is something to thank God for. The innumerable good works done in the name of HaShem through various streams of Judaism, such as Chabad, are a testament to the righteous, hands-on nature of God’s Torah. Thinking to myself, I’ll contrast these good works of the synagogue with the evil works done by the Church of the Middle Ages in the name of Christ, such as the expulsion of Jews from Spain or the various pogroms and persecution and murders of Jews, and I think that unbelieving Jews have been doing the job of Messiah-followers for the last 2000 years.

But despite all the failures of the Church, we must concede that no one – from the devout, righteous rabbi to the zealous Chabnik – none of these comes to HaShem without Yeshua, the Messiah. That is why we call Messiah, “Hope of Israel”, Yeshua is the only hope for God’s people Israel.

In this sense, I applaud the resolution when it encourages us to be open about faith in Messiah. I also applaud it for speaking out against the few organizations that claim Jews are OK with God as-is, no Messiah required; the Scriptures tell us otherwise.

Problems with this resolution

On the other hand, I am uncomfortable with this resolution because it feels like it’s asking all who love Messiah and love Israel to go out on the streets and start preaching on a soapbox. Maybe that’s not the intent, but it’s the feeling one gets when chided, “Why aren’t you being more open about Jesus?”

Then Jesus the Christ rose early Sunday morning and went to the synagogues in all of Palestine, proclaiming to the Jews, “Are you SAAAAAAVED, brother???!!! You’re going to hell without me! Can I get an amen?!” He then handed out tracts which were promptly thrown in the trash.

-Imaginary gospel, this didn’t happen

The language of the resolution seems to suggest we should not offer comfort to Jews without first offering the message of Christ. This is a problem. The idea of conversion to Christianity as a prerequisite to offering comfort and aide to God’s people is something that goes against the gospel, goes against pure religion. As one believer in Messiah wrote in the Scriptures,

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

-James, in his letter to all 12 tribes of Israel

James did not say, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure is this: convert the widows and orphans to Christianity, then help them in their distress.”

I’m extremely uncomfortable with the idea of Jewish conversion to Christianity, truth be told. I prefer to think Jews need not change religions to believe in our own Jewish Messiah. I’m a Jew, I believe in Messiah, and I don’t consider myself part of the Church.

Christian salesmen

I have a general, overall negative attitude towards all this because it feels like that old salesman version of Christianity. You know, that one where it feels like you’re trying to sell something, in this case, eternal salvation. I’m peddling Jesus, you heathen Jews!

It further suggests a feeling that Messianics and other Messiah-loving Zionists exist only to convert Jews to Christianity. By contrast, we see Messianic Judaism as a larger part of God’s move to restore Israel. We do not see this move of God as a Jewish-flavored version of Christianity that exists only to bring in more converts to the Church.

While a novice idealist might say, “Just go preach the gospel! Tell them about Jesus! John 3:16, brother!”, the experienced pragmatists among us know this really doesn’t work, especially for Jews. Too many are burnt out on religious clichés.

Some would go farther and say such an approach isn’t right at all, as it omits crucial parts of the gospel and the special Jewish relation to it: how does God’s eternal commandments in the Torah factor in? Does this “preaching Jesus” allow for the Jewish culture and special Jewish relation to God; are they going to become pork-eating gentiles within a generation? Where does this leave discipleship, following the Master’s example of Torah observance? Or are you just trying to win someone over to your religion?

Messianic rabbi Derek Leman writes,

With great apology to Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses everywhere, we have to remember the Jewish community is about as enthusiastic about mingling with Messianic Jews as most Christians are about mingling with Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses.

We are perceived as people with a sales agenda. As long as we are feared as having the socializing motives of a local Amway distributor, we are going to be unwelcome ("hi, nice to meet you...we're having a party at my house next month and you're invited...").

I do participate in the Jewish community. I do not wear my faith on my sleeve. I do not come with an agenda. I do not think that it is effective or helpful to bring up controversial matters with mere acquaintances in Jewish space. Those who befriend me discover my faith easily enough. And the only people who care to listen to my ideas are those who know me or know enough about me to care what I think.

On a few occasions I joined a minyan (prayer group) and let the rabbi know in advance I was Messianic but had no intention of conversing with those in the minyan. I came to talk to God with the community and not to sell a message. I don't believe any good would come from attending minyan and meeting people to talk with them about Yeshua. To talk with them about Yeshua, I would need to meet them through another venue.

Some will say I should be more open about my faith and try harder. I have lived that life before. I did it for 5 1/2 years and it never produced anything but discord. By contrast, in meeting Jewish friends on more neutral ground or on Messianic ground, I have found very little discord.

Our primary purpose is not to be door-to-door Christianity peddlers, folks. I’m not a religious salesman. Yes, Messiah told us to “Go into the world and preach the gospel”, but the traditional Christian ideas of standing on a soapbox and preaching in the streets isn’t very helpful in this case. What’s more, the Christian definition of the gospel is lacking and partial and very Church-oriented.

When my younger brother left last year to live permanently in Israel, all of our Christian family members and friends mistakenly thought he did so in order to missionize and convert Jews to Christianity, offering him missionary how-to’s and books and other materials. Why is it that Christians assume a believer going to another country automatically means he’s going to missionize? We’ve been so conditioned to believe missionizing is the only purpose of Messiah-lovers abroad; why is it hard to understand this idea of service? To live a life of service to the Lord and servitude toward others, without any prerequisites or gotchas, – no strings attached – why is this so foreign to our faith in Messiah? Have we become mere religious salesmen, where we love, offer comfort to, and aide only those who’ve bought our product?

As one Jew put it, what this world really needs is for men to wash one another’s feet, to serve each other. More servants, fewer masters. Ideally, only one Master.

We are called to be servants of God, disciples of Messiah, imitators of the Master and teacher HaMoshiach Yeshua. Perhaps a pragmatic approach to spreading Messiah’s Good News is living by example. As Derek said,

Those who befriend me discover my faith easily enough. And the only people who care to listen to my ideas are those who know me or know enough about me to care what I think.

I’m a disciple of the Master Yeshua, which means following God best as I can, according to the way he told us in Torah and showed us through his Torah-observant life. I want my life and actions, not just my cheap words, to be the thing that causes people to see, many to trust that Yeshua is indeed the Messiah of Israel.

The sweetness of her mouth

In the year 1572, an intellectual Spainard and Augustine monk by the name of Fray Luis de León was arrested by the Spanish Inquisition and imprisoned for 4 years.

His crime?

Translating into Spanish the Song of Solomon, an erotic poetry book ascribed to King Solomon and his lover. The Song of Solomon, also called the Song of Songs or the Canticle of Canticles, is now considered part of both Jewish and Christian Bibles.

In modern times, Christianity has often shunned this book of the Bible due to its sexual nature. Some prudish theologians have even attempted to spiritualize-away the Song of Solomon’s romance and love and eroticism, portraying it only as “Christ’s love for the Church”. This is more than a small stretch. By all means, physical love and sex are the real theme of this book; all the spiritualizing in the world can’t stifle this reality.

This past week, as a collector of classic Messianic Jewish music, I was pleasantly surprised to get my hands on an un-spiritualized Song of Solomon put to acoustic music on Avner & Rachel Boskey’s 1993 album, Old & New.



Their Song of Solomon medley intertwines beautiful Hebrew and English lyrics together as Avner Boskey sings the part of Lover, Solomon, and Avner's wife Rachel sings the part of Beloved, Solomon’s lover.

For your enjoyment, fine blog readers, the Song of Solomon put to Hebrew and English song by Messianic Jewish couple Avner & Rachel Boskey:

Arise, My Love!

Tentative agricultural dates for the Feasts

There are a lot of Messianics who use the traditional Jewish calendar, created in the 4th century AD.

There are also a select few of us who use a calendar based off the agricultural seasons in Israel, as described in the Torah.

I don’t condemn people for using the traditional Jewish rabbinical calendar; this post isn’t meant to start a flame war about trivial calendar issues.

Rather, I’ve had some Messianics and Christians approach me about the agricultural dates for 2009: when does the Biblical new year start? When is Passover? And so on. This post addresses these questions. Provided abib barley is found as expected before the next new moon, these are the dates for the Feasts of the Lord:

Feast	Western calendar date for 2009	Rest?	Messianic fulfillment
Biblical New Year, 1st day of month of Abib	Sundown March 27th
Passover	Twilight, April 10th		Messiah, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed.
Unleavened Bread	Sundown April 10th through sundown April 17th	God commanded rest on the first and last days of Unleavened Bread.	Messiah was in the tomb during the week of this feast.
First Fruits	Sundown April 11th		Messiah rises from the dead on this feast. While Messiah rose on the first day of the week, many mistake this to be Sunday; because Hebrew days end at sundown, rather than midnight, the first day of the week begins Saturday at sundown, not Sunday morning.
Shavu’ot (Feast of Pentecost)	Sundown May 30th	God commanded rest on Shavu’ot.	Messiah sent his spirit to the apostles on this feast. They began speaking in foreign languages and were filled with God’s spirit.
Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets)	Sundown September 20th	God commanded rest on Yom Teruah.	Possible future Messianic fulfillment: the great shofar will sound, signaling the coming of the Messiah.
Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).	Sundown September 29th	God commanded rest on Yom Kippur.	Possible future Messianic fulfillment: Messiah will judge the world on this feast.
Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles)	Sundown October 4th through sundown October 12th.	God commanded rest on the first and last days of this Sukkot.	Possible future Messianic fulfillment: Messiah will dwell/tabernacle with us during this feast.

Most often, there’s a few days in between Passover and First Fruits. (Indeed, Messiah was in the tomb 3 days and 3 days nights before rising on First Fruits.) However, this year First Fruits falls the day after due to the commandment to celebrate it the “day after the Sabbath following Passover”. This happens to be only a day apart this year.

There you have it, fine blog readers. Shalom.