Spiritual Pride

We read it in the newspaper/online, or hear it on the news shows all too often; "Prominent, well respected, conservative Christian (whether political, spiritual, business person, etc.) is caught cheating on their spouse of a number of years". We wonder how this could happen; could this happen to me, or my friends. How did they 'slip'? Where did they go wrong? Too often, the 'slip' started years before as an innocent, well meaning gesture that 'got out of hand'.

We Christians, especially those of us who have been saved for a 'time', sometimes become comfortable in our salvation. This in itself can be dangerous, because the 'evil one' is always looking for a 'way in'. "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8)(the emphasis is mine). The Israelites knew about lions, they also knew that the roaring male lion was not the one to worry about as he was the decoy; the female was the patient silent one, looking for the easy quick kill while your attention was diverted to the noisy one making all the fuss.

Now you may be wondering how a blog about understanding the Word by understanding the culture of the people of the time of Christ has to do with the promiscuity of the people in the news; believe it or not, history repeats itself. The devil doesn't have all that many different tools to work with, so he dusts off some of his most useful ones and reemploys them time, and time again. Spiritual Pride seems to be one of his most effective, because it can affect more than just the person getting caught metaphorically 'with his pants down' (not saying this affects just men). It can affect all of those who have come in contact with that person on a regular basis because of the opinion they have of the culprit. Also, it doesn't just have to be a sexual situation, though it seems this is the situation more often than not, to show up as Spiritual Pride.

John Parsons (Hebrew4Christians.com) in his blog of Sivan 10, 5770 (05/23/2010)

"Spiritual pride is inherently self-flattering, self exalting, and therefore antithetical to spiritual life. Indeed, the term itself is an oxymoron (eg., like 'bittersweet'), since genuine spirituality is always rooted in humility (anavah). The humble soul understands it finitude and radical contingency – and therefore understands its absolute need for Gods help."

Mr. Parsons goes on to point out that through this state we can develop to a point of negation toward others, become impatient with others questions, refuse to accept uncertainty about some of life's deepest questions. We see these people pretend to have 'all the answers', yet we can discern that there is something lacking. Humility, true humility, confesses that it does not always know and is not always sure. It is a state of openness, of listening, of being teachable. It is aware of our insufficiency, our frailties, and our limitations.

When Moses was receiving the instructions for the Mishkan (Tabernacle), he was given the instruction about the lighting of The Golden Lampstand (Ha'Menoverah) in the Tent of Meeting. Aaron and his sons had to light the lamps every evening, and keep the lamps lit until morning (Exodus 27:21). Every evening, all night, every night. How boring, tedious. This lighting didn't just mean flip a switch. The wicks had to be trimmed just so, special oil had to be used, make sure that each lamp was filled, don't spill it! It was so tall, the priest had to stand on a special three step stool in order to reach it (according to the Talmud it was 17 handbreadths tall), and weighted close to 75 pounds (Exodus 25:39). Not only that, the priest had to burn special incense (Exodus 30:34) on the Altar of Incense while he was lighting The Golden Lamp stand. In a closed tent.

Aaron remained completely humble in his office as the first Kohen HaGedolah (High Priest). The midrash (other writings) stated that his daily tasks to light the lamps and burn the incense never became routine to him, but he remained completely focused every time he performed his avodah. Remember, the lamps were never lit outside the Tent of Meeting, or the incense burned with the curtain drawn back, no one else saw the light or smelled the fragrance. But by his seemingly modest act of faithful service again indicates that what man esteems and what God wants are very often two entirely different things.

In the eyes of the Israelites, the priests (Levites) were their mediators between them and God. They had been chosen by God (Exodus 32:29, Numbers 1:47-54) to be the only ones that could offer sacrifices and offerings on the altar, they led the prayers, and maintained the Mishkan. They were held in high esteem. Yet, what were they to God? These high, holy priests served God ! They were His servants; you know, they ones you never notice? At least not until they goof up.

From Gods perspective, that which is considered great in the eyes of man is considered of little account (Luke 9:48). The wisdom of the world is regarded as foolishness by God (1 Cor. 1:20, 2:19). Jesus, though He is our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14) took the task of servant hood upon himself in the last supper (John 4:3-17) when he performed the most despised task of washing another persons feet, and told the disciples that they were to continue doing this in the future.

Yes, chaverim, we are to continue to be 'alert' for that spark of Spiritual Pride that the devil is always watching for, through the continued knowledge and understanding that we are called to be servants. Servants of who, you might ask; of each other (Luke 13:13-17). We are called to be servants/priests one to another (Luke 13:15) by example of our Savior Jesus, our Kohen Gadol.

How is your avodah, chaverim? Are your lamp wicks trimmed, your lamps filled with oil ready for the lighting? Are we humbly searching for that chance of service, one to another?

 

Baruch HaShem

 

The Intent of the Law

Did Jesus come to replace the covenant of God with Israel or renew it? Did He come to give us a new and better covenant that would supersede the old (Heb 8:6), or did He come to die on the cross so that we could be forgiven and just start all over by keeping the law (the Covenant with Israel and all 613 of its commandments) again? What really was Gods intent of the Law?

 

In Matthew (5:17-20) Jesus proclaimed, "Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets, I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.". Here he was actually amplifying the message of both Moses and the prophets, though His interpretation was contrary to various 'traditional' views of the day. Many times He would be recorded as saying "You have heard that it was said [in the law or by the sages…]; but I say to you …

When the Pharisees questioned Jesus about the Law, He responded not about the letter of the law but the inner meaning of the Torah (Matt 22:34-40). Through this, His doctrine was a continuance of the Torah's foundational message; however, Jesus clearly extended the reach of the Torah to include the 'inner heart attitude' of the person. Observing the law was not a matter of adhering to various external codes of conduct, but clearly involved the rigorous self-examination of the heart and soul.

The Jews are commanded to teach the Law …"to their children, talking about them when you get up. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers… (Deut 11:19-21)." There, they were to be continually reminded of the words that the Lord spoke to them, giving them rituals, prayers, blessings that they had to remember and devices that helped them remember. And if they forgot, or sinned they had to provide sacrifice (korbanot) to God for those missteps. Whether great or small, sin required sacrifice.

But how can we gain eternal life, if we have to live our lives according to the law, when we know our fleshly desires sabotage us at every turn? The Disciples themselves questioned this when the rich young ruler asked what else he needed to do to gain eternal life (Matt. 19:16-26). They were astonished at Jesus response because according to tradition of the times, the more you gave to the Temple the more 'good' you were (you could essentially buy your way into heaven). The one thing missing in this young man's observance of the law was the heart; Jesus requires a radical change of heart (teshuvah – repentance). When Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor, it wasn't the act Jesus was looking for; it was the inner change of true compassion and love for those less fortunate. It's the inner intent of the commandments that matter, not the mere conformity to an external ideal.

God's law in His Covenant with Israel is a flawless mirror, reflecting the stark truth of our moral and spiritual depravity; revealing our need for salvation. As we stand looking into this mirror we view the law as too harsh, unforgiving, and living righteously (tzadick), within it as totally unattainable.

From the beginning God had our salvation planned, a 'New Covenant' (Heb 8:6-13, Jer. 31:31-34). This is the ultimate gospel message itself—that God sent His Son (John 3:16), as the final sacrifice to save us from the just verdict of Gods law (John 3:17) and to provide our hearts the means to live righteously within it (1 Peter 2:24). This provision is Holy Spirit. He writes the laws in our minds and on our hearts, serves as counselor (John 14:26), and helps to remind us that we do not have to participate in the sacrificial rituals that never saw an endpoint. "IT IS FINISHED" (John 19:30)

Preparing for Shavu’ot II

The following is part of an article written by John Parsons found on Hebrew4christians.com called Preparing for Shavu'ot – Getting the point of your Redemption. In reading this article I found myself substituting Torah with Bible. As this is a time of preparation for the celebration of Shavu'ot, which is also the Birthday of the Christian Church, I felt that we too could follow some of the Jewish traditions eg., spend time studying the Bible (both Old and New Testament), contemplating the scriptures, teaching our children Bible stories. One Jewish tradition I like, before studying Torah, children are given something sweet (like dates, figs, honey, or sweet rolls) to make the studying of Torah 'sweet on the tongue'.


"On Shavu'ot Jews are commanded to remember the revelation given at Sinai (Deut. 4:9)
and to spiritually reenact kabbalat ha-Torah (the receiving of the Torah). Shavu'ot begins on Sivan 6 (May 18^th, 2010). The Jewish day begins at nightfall and on Erev Shavu'ot (Sivan 6) it is customary to stay up all night studying the Torah in order to instill a deep longing for God's revelation to be given. Since Shavu'ot recalls the momentous time when Israel received revelation from God at Sinai, at daybreak additional prayers and blessings are recited at the synagogue for the gift of the Torah (Mattan Torah). However, since ignoring the Torah leads to ruin, admonition to pursue the study of Torah is also made during this time.

'Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? And the Lord says: "Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with It'. (Jer. 9:12-13)

Studying God's revelation is a prelude to re-experiencing the joy of His Presence, though this requires diligence and hard work. In order to understand what God requires of us, we must make effort to study the Torah. We therefore ask God to make Torah sweet on our tongues and to help us be 'engrossed' in the words of the Scriptures.
All of this, obviously enough, indicates that Shavu'ot is a time when we are called to engage ourselves in the study of God's revelation and Torah. But how is this possible if we are not properly educated to do so? In Hebrew the word chinukh means 'education,' a word that shares the same root as the 'chanukah' (dedication). Unlike the ancient Greek view that pragmatically says education is a humanistic means of escaping from 'the cave of ignorance' to better one's personal power of happiness, the Jewish idea of education implies dedication to God and His concrete purposes on the earth. Rambam (Maimonides) notes that the word chinukh is borrowed from the Torah's description of dedicating a tool for use with the Holy Altar, 'habituating the tool for its work'. In other words, godly education is a process of being made a 'fit vessel' for the service of God in the world. All other ends of knowledge ultimately exist for this purpose, and rightly understood, education is a form of worship.
Hence the Jewish value of teaching children the words of Torah and their obligation to live as Jews. Torah learning is not an individual act. When we learn to 'talk Torah' with each other as members of a community, we share the greater message of redemptive love the Yeshua gave to the world. . . . Chaverim, pursue Talmud Torah".


This call for a greater study of the Word of God could not come at a greater time; as Christians we need to be a 'light unto the world' (John 9:5). How can we be that light if we do not know of what we speak? Jesus quoted the Torah (our Old Testament) extensively, especially when debating with the Pharisees, who were the learned of the synagogue, how can we then ignore our study of the Scriptures; are we not called to be Christians (Christ like)?
How can I do this, you might ask; join a Bible study, the Jews were taught from little on to study in pairs, that way you always had a friend to encourage you on in your study and to 'talk Torah'. Ask somebody you trust to be your Biblical mentor (Paul (Saul) was a student of Gamaliel the Elder, one of the great teachers of the first half of the first century) and meet with them on a regular basis.
Some points of reference; The Jewish
day begins at sundown the evening before (eg., Sabbath begins Friday evening at sundown and runs to sundown Saturday), the term Erev means before. Mattan Torah is the celebration of the giving of the Torah at Sinai. Chanukah is the Hebrew word for Dedication, which the festival of 'Hanukah' is. Rambam is the universal name of one of the great sages of all times, the Rabi Moshi ben Maimon (1135-1204), known to the world as Maimonides. Chaverim = Friends, Talmud although used as the name of writings on the Torah, it really means study.

She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed.
(Proverbs 3:18)

Again Chaverim pursue Talmud Torah

Shavu’ot – Feast of Weeks/Pentacost

On May 23, 2010 we will celebrate Pentecost Sunday. This is a Christian Church celebration based on the same day as a Jewish Temple Feast called Shavu'ot. The Feast of Weeks is the last of the Spring Celebrations for the Temple. It is sometimes called Atzaret Pesach – The Conclusion of Passover, it is connected to Passover in that the People of Israel were told (Deut. 16:9-11) to count the days from the Celebration of First Fruits (the day after Passover), 49 days. On the 50^th day, as a tribute and freewill offering, they would harvest the wheat grain, grind it into fine flour, mix it into yeast bread and bake it. Two loaves of the bread were offered to the Lord as a wave offering, concluding the service. This is the only time leavened bread was used by the priests for the avodah (service).

Shavu'ot stands in contrast to Passover which requires unleavened bread (Exodus 12:14-15), since the two loaves made from the first fruit of the wheat harvest were baked with chametz (yeast) before being 'waved before the Lord' (Lev. 23:15-20). Prophetically the bread is a picture of the 'one new man' (composed of both the Jew and the Gentile) before the altar of the Lord (Eph 2:14-15).

While the Temple was still standing, Shavu'ot (along with Passover and Sukkot) was one of the three pilgrimage holidays (shalosh regalim) when the People of Israel would come to Jerusalem to make a sacrifice of their crop's first fruits. After the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., the agricultural aspect of Shavu'ot could no longer be observed, and the Talmudic sages later re-connected this festival with the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai during the month of Sivan (Ex 19:1). There is a connection between Passover, the Omer Count (counting of the days) and the holiday of Shavu'ot that is rooted in the redemptive actions of the Lord, that we will explore some other time. There is another aspect of the holidays that I would like to explore, the aspect of marriage.

According to my source, John Parsons of Hebrew4Christians.com, in the Talmud, Shavu'ot is referred to as the 'marriage day' between God and the People of Israel, between heaven and earth (Passover is considered the time of Israel's 'betrothal' or engagement to God). The Ten Commandments represent the Marriage Contract and the People of Israel represent the beloved bride. In like manner, I look at Pentecost as the time when Christ asked the Church (believers) to be His Kallat Mashiach (the Bride of the Messiah).

In Jewish tradition a man offers his 'intended' a cup of wine in asking her to 'be mine'. If the young lady finds the offering acceptable, she will accept the cup and drink of it. He then goes to prepare their home and a Wedding Feast, while she gathers her clothes dons here wedding gown and waits for him to come and get her. Sometimes she will have friends (bridesmaids) sit with her while she waits; because they never knew when the groom would come (quite often they would come at midnight). To show that she was ready, the young lady would have a lamp with her that was lit all the time she was waiting, so would her bridesmaids.

In the same manner Christ has offered us a cup (the new covenant (Luke 22:20)), all we have to do is accept the cup offered. He has already gone to prepare our wedding suite (John 14:1-3), now all we have to do is gather our clothes, don our wedding gowns, light our lamps and wait.

On that fateful betrothal day almost 2000 years ago, Christ sent His own Fire down to light our wedding lamps. When the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) came and rested on each of the Disciples and other followers of Jesus (Acts 2:1-4), He 'lit the lamp' of each of those First Christians. Our 'lamp' is our spirit filled life, let not the cares of the world lead us to sleepy lives to where we let our lamps go out like the foolish bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13), but be prepared with the extra oil of the Word of God to keep that spirit burning bright.

"You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light" Psalms 18:28

Shalom