05-09-26 Message to Roeh Israel Abilene
Torah Portion: Lev 25:1-26:2 BeHar (on the mountain), and Lev 26:3-27:34 Bechukotai (in My statutes).
Haftarah: Jeremiah 16:19-17:14
Suggested Brit Chadeshah: Matt 25:1-28:20
The Pleasure and Pain of Being one of G-d’s
People.
Central questions: Have you felt the blessing and the
persecution that flows from your faith in G-d?
We have yet again a double portion, as we finish the book of VaYikra (Leviticus). The first of the double portions is entitled B’Har, which means, “on the mountain.” Its name comes from the eighth word in the English, and the fifth word in the original Hebrew.
Lev 25:1-4
25 The Lord then spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai,
saying, 2 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you come into the land which I shall give you,
then the land shall have a sabbath to the Lord. 3 'Six
years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop,
There is a popular doctrine advance by some of the sweet ones in the normative Christian church which says that if we love G-d, then bad things won’t happen to us, but only good things will happen.
That doctrine is very destructive of true faith. It promises something that G-d Himself said would not be. I suggest that the ones who advance such a doctrine might fit the definition of a “false prophet.”
I do know that G-d has watched over me for many years, and many calamities have not befallen me because of His protection. But I do not think that Satan has chosen to leave me alone, either. In fact, as I serve G-d in greater ways, I find the attacks against me grow only stronger, not weaker nor more infrequent.
Dare I say that I believe there are significant adverse consequences to being part of G-d’s people. That’s what I want to focus on today.
These come in two types –
1. Adverse consequences against us for disobeying G-d. These are punishments from G-d.
2. Adverse consequences against us for obeying G-d. These are punishments from men who are aligned with Satan.
Punishment from G-d.
Have you noticed that when you turned your life over to G-d, and even chosen to begin the grafting-in process to became one of His people, you no longer could get away with evil things?
I began to notice it even as a youth. I couldn’t even steal a pack of gum from the corner store without serious consequences. My friends would get away with lots of bad things, but I didn’t. Either I would get caught, or a calamity would fall on me later that I could directly relate to that sinful event. It seems that I have had “no slack” in my spiritual rope.
I began to connect the dots. It was probably because from birth I belonged to the L-rd. My mother prayed for me to be born, just as Samuel’s mother Hannah did in 1 Sam 1:9. My mother also dedicated me to the L-rd as Hannah did in 1 Sam 1:28. The hand of the L-rd has been on me since my youth, and He has not allowed me to stumble so as to fall, all these years. If had been caught and prosecuted for all the evil deeds I have done, I would never have been able to graduate from High School, College, or Law School. I most certainly would not have been able to pass the character test to be admitted to the Bar of Texas and Colorado so as to stand in courts of law. I would have never been able to pass a Top Secret clearance so as to serve in higher levels in the Army. It seems that most of the three-letter agencies of our government have my finger prints and my photo on file, but I am not only free … I am trusted.
There were for me blessings and curses of being dedicated to G-d, and walking in His ways.
The curse: All the freedoms that my unbelieving friends enjoyed to sin as they desired without consequence were not mine.
The blessing: I gradually learned that sin didn’t profit me. I learned that righteousness is what provided gain.
I also learned a more valuable lesson: the gain that righteousness provides has nothing to do with what goes into my pocket, my wallet, my house, or even my garage.
The benefits and blessings have everything to do with the peace that is in my heart, even when the circumstances weren’t all that fun.
In parasha B’Chukotai, we find only 11 verses of blessings. But there are 36 verses of curses!
Here’s an important question that some in the normative church are missing: When G-d punishes us, is it because He doesn’t love us?
We can answer that question easily if we relate it to our understanding as parents.
When one of our children does wrong. We don’t stop loving them.
When we must give them a punishment, it gives us no joy. But sometimes there is only one way to bring the lesson home to them.
G-d does the same for us. We see it in Scripture.
Prov 3:11-12
11 My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord,
Or loathe His reproof,
12 For whom the Lord loves He reproves,
Even as a father, the son in whom he delights.
Ps 94:10
10 He who chastens the nations, will He not rebuke,
Even He who teaches man knowledge?
Maybe the most overlooked passage on this lesson is found in Psalm 23.
Ps 23
23 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death,
I fear no evil; for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my
enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
“Rod and staff?” These aren’t normally words of comfort. Why not “bed and pillows?” Because when we stray, His correction is not proof of His displeasure… it is proof of His love. If He did not love you, he would allow you to go off the edge of the cliff.
Punishment from men
Yeshua told us it would come.
Matt 5:10-12
10 "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the
sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when men cast insults at
you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. 12 "Rejoice, and be
glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they
persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Do you have trouble associating the word “blessed” with “persecution”? You are not alone.
John 16:1-4
"These things I have spoken to you, that you may be kept from stumbling. 2 "They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. 3 "And these things they will do, because they have not known
the Father, or Me. 4 "But these things I have spoken to
you, that when their hour comes, you may remember that
I told you of them.
I have been persecuted by those in the synagogue. I have been persecuted by those in the church. It was for the same reason in both instances… that I am a Jewish believer in Yeshua who will not turn his back on the commandments of G-d, nor the Jewish people.
Many years ago I was invited to join a Bible study group which has its main gathering in Idaho, but which has a few members which engage in the discussion by email.
This was a unique Bible study group – in the church – because they are studying the Torah and trying to find out more of their roots. I was asked to contribute to that group’s study, as they went through the Torah. They really didn’t trust the notes in the Stone’s Chumash, and they wanted more depth – and some correct understanding.
I sent materials when I was able do so. Back then, they were studying Exodus 31. I sent some questions for them to answer on the Sabbath, which is discussed in some detail in the last half of that chapter.
That action on my part sparked an angry response from a member of that group, who is seminary-trained. He often submits rebuttal papers with high-sounding language to refute my suggestions regarding what Scripture might mean.
I chose to ignore them a couple of times, but there was one time that I simply could not tolerated them further. I engaged him in a fairly detailed discussion on whether the Sabbath is for Christians or not.
I will give you a few excerpts from that communication with me.
As you review his statements, please notice the lack of Scriptural support for most of his statements. And you will see that he combines some very good theological concepts with some very bad ones. My comments for your consideration are in brackets.
“The Truth being revealed in Scripture is all about God and His Glory! Who He is; what He is like; why His way
is the only way, etc.? [He was quoting something I wrote, and will now attempt torefute it.]
The message is NOT about Israel, but He used Israel and now also the Church to speak of Him! He speaks to both
man and Angels, powers and principalities through the
unfolding events (Eph 3:10) of Israel and now the
Church. [Can you see Replacement Theology as his
cornerstone?]
Events and prophecies fulfilled but speak to a higher
meaning. Lost in the Foreshadows! [Calling the Tanach
nothing more than “foreshadows” is the same as saying
it is now done away with.]
I am amazed that you continue to quote Old Testament
prophecies that were later literally fulfilled in the Second Temple Era, as if they were not. They were fulfilled! [His ignorance of prophecy is revealed.] Read the Revelation of Jesus Christ – Note the eternal place of God’s people is with Him in a whole new created Heaven . [He omits
the kingdom on earth during the millennium, when
Yeshua will reign with His people on the Earth.]
Why would one take prophecies that were fulfilled and
assume they are going to be repeated and not look for the higher meaning? God will and did deliver us from the
Pharaoh Satan – the higher meaning!
Jesus said He was the temple. His Bride makes up the
temple blocks. Why do you continue to look for a temple of stones? [Because Ezekiel, and other prophets,
describe such a Temple of stones which has yet to be
created upon the Earth.]
I Response (sic) with our call is to point all the True Temple – the Lord Jesus Christ- not a temple of stones.
[He doesn’t understand rabbinic phrasing and similes, so he interprets figurative language literally.]
The Law of Moses was a wall between Jew and Gentile;
the Sabbath, Kosher foods, the dress, the rituals and
festivals, etc. [He confuses the concept of “set apart” and sanctified with some sort of wall. If it is a wall, it is porous, allowing many to come to faith and be grafted-
into Israel from the nations.] Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses. [He doesn’t understand the Hebraic idiom which
is “fulfilled” in English.] He broke down the separating wall between Israel and Gentiles. [The sacrifice of
Yeshua paid the price for all, and the “wall” he speaks of did become more porous than before, but that was a
change, not a different paradigm altogether.] Jesus
changed the rituals for the New Age now upon us – the
Final days. [Actually, the Catholic church changed the
rituals, which are now being followed by the majority of normative Christians.] Why go back into slavery to the
old ways? [This is a perversion of the teaching found in Galatians.] Gone is the circumcision and the Sabbath,
and the sacrifices – the Higher meaning is Here now!
[He thus dismisses major portions of Isaiah and Ezekiel, and even parts of Revelation.]
Gone is Circumcision. Now women are no longer barred
from the male oriented sign of the covenant - the
Circumcision - but can now take the Lord’s Supper and
Baptism – the new rites. Gentiles and Jews are no longer separated. [He supposes that normative Judaism was
sexist, and that the separation of those who embrace G-d and His ways from those who revile G-d has been
removed.]
Jesus is the Fulfillment of Israel. He is Real Israel; He is the Suffering Servant; all in Him is the people of God.
[He thus denies much of what Paul, John and Yeshua
taught about the permanence of G-d’s covenant
relationship with the Jewish people – real Israel – and he disregards the levels of covenant relationship between
G-d and those who worship Him.]
The death of self is the higher fulfillment of the animal sacrifices. The Replacement of all sacrifices for All
times has come. He destroyed the Temple of Stones and
thus did away with animal sacrifices. The Jews long for its rebuilding ignoring the True Temple. [He denies the prophecies of Isaiah and Ezekiel regarding the new
priesthood, the millennial Temple, and the sacrifices
which remain.]
The replacement of all Priests has been fulfilled in that all Christians are presently Priests to the world.
[Replacement theology.]
Failing to enter the Sabbath rest carried the death penalty in the Law of Moses. [Note that he never refers to it as the “Law of G-d” which I think tells us much.] That was fulfilled. Jesus was crucified for His disrespect for the Sabbath as judged by the Jewish Leaders of His day:
“This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but
he was even calling God his own Father, making himself
equal with God.” Jn 5:18 [He shows his ignorance of
how Yeshua taught us to properly keep Sabbath, and he
buys-into the false charges by some of the leaders as
reported by John.]
Jesus is the Sabbath Rest – enter and rest in His
Righteousness, or one faces death. That’s why we are
encouraged not to forsake the assembling of ourselves
together – not commanded that our lives are forfeit if we do not gather on the Sabbath. You cannot even tell me
what day is truly the seventh day. [He defends replacing Sunday for Sabbath by challenging me to show I have
the right day. I can prove it by 5000+ years of continual observance, and a midstream endorsement by Yeshua
Himself. But he fails to support his Sunday worship
because he knows he cannot do so.]
Our morality is no longer commandments of the Law
which were our tutors but we now must image the heart
and character of our Lord and Master. The do-nots of
Moses law are a far cry from what Jesus now requires of His Bride! [How does he get around Mat 5:17-21, or the
clear teachings of Paul supporting the Torah? How does
he get around the clear prophecies that Torah will be the standard for life in the millennial age as found in Ezekiel 44-45?]
The Lord’s Day testifies to this New Covenant. [He
adheres to Catholic theology which replaced the Sabbath with Sunday without knowing the evil cornerstone upon
which that change was made.] Why do you want to stay
in foreshadows? Again, you attempt to take Christians
and lead them back into Egypt. Can you not see the
higher meaning that God has been telling us over the
ages? [I think this last question is better answered by Scripture, which opposes his premise.]
If you are living a holy lifestyle consistent with how Yeshua taught us to walk, then you can expect to hear many of these arguments thrown into your face by some sweet people who are only repeating what they have been taught since their youth.
As a youth, I was beaten often – in my young mind it seemed as every single day, but it must have been somewhat less frequent – and I never understood why. It took many years for me to understand that Satan took an intense dislike to who I was, and who I was destined to be in faith.
Those beatings, and the open attacks to my theology are nothing compared to the persecution of others who were bent under the whip of tormentors in Nazi Germany.
Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky tells a story which speaks of the curses of mankind, toward the Jewish people keeping G-d’s commandments.
The Germans took great pleasure in identifying and then tormenting the rabbis who served us even in the camps
as teachers. The most offensive thing they did was to
give the people hope, and to renew their faith in G-d.
So, a number of Nazi officers beat the Klausenberger
Rebbe almost to death. After tiring from their lengthy
beating, they asked the semi-conscious Rebbe if he still believed that the Jews are God's chosen people. He
responded without hesitation that such was true.
The Nazis were amazed at what they considered a foolish faith, and demanded he explain his obvious ignorance.
The Rebbe is reported to have said, "As long as I am not the cruel oppressor of innocent victims, and as long as I am the one down here on the ground maintaining my
unwavering faith in my principles and traditions, I am
still able to raise my head proudly and know that God
chose our people."
If you are being grafted-into the Jewish nation - the people of G-d – then He chose you as well. Either as a natural branch, or a grafted-in branch, you are nourished by the rich root of the cultivated olive tree.
Don’t fear the rebukes – or even the beatings – of men. For in them is the very proof that you are on the right path, and are being grafted-into the chosen people.
Matt 10:26-29
"Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be
known. 27 "What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the
light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. 28 "And do not fear those who kill
the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Keep your witness strong. Even now some famous Rabbis are coming to faith.
In January 2006, Rabbi Kaduri was hospitalized with pneumonia in the Bikur Holim hospital in Jerusalem, at around 10 p.m. on January 28, 2006 (29 Tevet 5766). He was alert and lucid until his last day.
An estimated 300,000 people took part in his funeral procession on January 29, which started from the Nachalat Yitzchak Yeshivah and wound its way through the streets of Jerusalem to the Givat Shaul cemetery near the entrance to the city of Jerusalem.
On 9 Cheshvan 5764 (4 November 2003) in a mystical vision Kaduri spoke with the Messiah and the Messiah revealed His name to Kaduri. Kaduri later told his disciples that the revealed name of the Messiah would be found hidden among his writings.
Shortly before his death Rabbi Kaduri wrote a short note with instructions that the envelope not be opened until one year after his death. The note was penned in Hebrew and signed in the Rabbi's own handwriting. It read:
בעניין הר"ת ]ראשי תיבות, ע.י.[ של משיח. ירים העם ויוכיח שדברו ותורתו עומדים. באתי על החתום בחודש הרחמים ]אלול, ע.י[ התשס"ה,
יצחק כדורי
“Concerning the letter abbreviation of the Messiah’s
name, He will lift the people and prove that His Word
and His Torah are valid.
This I have signed in the month of mercy (Elul),”
Yitzhak Kaduri
I have seen a photo of that letter. Taking only the first Hebrew letter of each word of each of the phrases in his short letter, you see it spells Yahushua or in modern pronunciation Yehoshua, the long form of the name Yeshua. It means “G-d He is Salvation.”
So, be strong and courageous. Obey G-d, and keep His
commandments. May it be for you as described to Daniel.
Dan 12:2-4
2 "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the
ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the
others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. 3 "And
those who have insight will shine brightly like the
brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and
ever.
James 1:2-4
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter
various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its
perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Chazak! Chazak! Chazak! V’Nischazek!
