Continued from Jewish? Non-Jewish? What’s the big deal?

In Romans 11, Paul is talking to the believers and explaining that the branches of Israel who rejected Messiah were cut off.  It is important to note that they lay on the ground beneath the tree – they are not attached to one of the trees of the nations – not grafted into a wild tree – and not burned as in the analogy of John 15:6.

The branches of the non-Jews who were growing on the wild trees have been transformed by Messiah and moved, through no effort of their own, onto the domestic tree of Israel where they are now grafted into the Kingdom of God.

BUT, Paul cautions, they should not become arrogant – they should not think they are better than the branches that were cut off.  Not only are they not on the domestic tree because of anything they did in their own effort – there is no room for pride – but if they do not stay in Messiah they can be cut off just as the domestic branches were.

AND . . . the domestic branches that were cut off, who were removed and made space for the wild branches to come in, can embrace Messiah and be re-grafted on to the tree of Israel!  Paul even notes that the domestic branches, when they are back on their tree, will flourish with even better fruit than the wild branches can produce.

In fact, one of the purposes that the grafted in wild branches serve is that they will provoke those domestic, cut off branches to envy so that they will want to be back on their tree.

Who’s better?

Paul is giving this teaching to a community of believers that comprised of Jews and non-Jews.  They are arguing about who is more special. Paul’s answer is that the non-Jews who are grafted in are part of the tree, just like the Jews by birth, because the Tree isn’t about nationality — it’s about being God’s Kingdom in the world. It’s about being God’s presence in the world. It’s about being God’s message to the world.

There is Torah. The Jewish community was charged with living it out and showing the world, to quote Tevye, “Who he is and what God expects him to do.”  They were to “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.” (Prov 3:3, NIV)  And then there was the Living Torah, Yeshua, who came to properly interpret and live out Torah.  He blew open the minds and hearts of Jews and non-Jews. He was writing Torah on their hearts and they were living it out.

Jeremiah foretold it: “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Jer 31:33, NIV)

Paul recognized it: “They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.” (Rom 2:15, NIV)

So fast forward from Jeremiah, skim over the top of Paul, and land in the Messianic community. Many people found themselves in communities that considered people to be of different status depending on whether they were Jew or non-Jew.

In many communities, if you were Jewish by birth and had come to understand that Yeshua is Messiah then you were special, completed, fulfilling your destiny! If you were a non-Jew who had come to realize that Yeshua was the Jewish Messiah and you had attached yourself to the Jewish community, then you were less valued.

**Please note I am not discussing theological understandings of the Olive Tree as “Israel” or Paul’s message that non-Jews who embrace Messiah are attached to “Israel.”  Rather, I am trying to express a way of treating non-Jews who were being viewed as “latecomers to the party” and the segregation that was going on in many communities.**

Any time you develop a class system within a church you are asking for trouble.  Sure enough, trouble came in the form of the Ephraimite Movement/Two House Theology.

In a very rough summary, this doctrinal idea is a response to the message that those with Jewish blood were the “in-group.” This led to those who weren’t raised Jewish trying to find a way to “be” Jewish for real.  We all want to join the “in-group,” don’t we?

To create their own “in-group” went something like this: the Bible says that the firstborn blessing was given to Ephraim and not Manasseh.  It also tell us that Ephraim was the seeds that were sown to the nations when the Northern Kingdom was scattered.  If we are living today, so many years after that, and are being drawn to Messianic worship . . that must mean we are descended from Ephraim!  Right?!?

Ephraim got the firstborn blessing, over Manassah, and there is that passage in Ezekiel 37:16

“Son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’

So, the reasoning followed: HA, the non-Jews, who are clearly children of Ephraim, are actually MORE special than the Jews!

Except that isn’t true, or sound, and is merely another form of Replacement Theology.  I wanted nothing to do with it.

In response to dealing with this idea on a regular basis, it was very important to me NOT to find out if I was Jewish by ancestry.  It became very important to me to do nothing that looked like I might be endorsing this hierarchical approach to the Kingdom. I wanted to stay out of the mess altogether as a statement that it just doesn’t matter.

Then I left the community where I was encountering this idea rather regularly, and started a new community.  My reason for not knowing was gone.  My desire to know where I came from – Jewish or not! – kept growing.  Since I no longer had a reason not to find out, I decided it was time.

That’s what I’ll talk about next time!

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Change leads to awareness, leads to acceptance

So we’re watching IEW’s High School Symposium as part of our schooling today, and he is talking about critical thinking as it relates to SAT Essay prep.  He asked the question, “What is thinking?” It is, essentially, having a conversation with yourself – and you start conversations with questions.

The education model I grew up with is the model of teachers giving students information and then asking them questions to elicit the information back as a way of measuring how much of the information they learned. If the child knows the information, they get the points.  He explained that critical thinking is *not* about having the right answers, but about asking the right questions.

This is the model that the Israelites embraced.

In Yeshua’s day, the Masters (so called because they were Torah Masters – they knew their Scripture) and Rabbis (Torah Teachers) would share what they knew, and the disciples were responsible for listening.  They learned to ask questions that would elicit this wisdom sharing exchange.  Their questions would show the Rabbi where they were in their understanding because the more they understood, the wiser the question would be, and the Rabbi would respond with the goal of provoking their thinking to the next level.  The better the question – the better the answer.  The goal was not knowledge, it was understanding.  In other words, critical thinking.

When Yeshua was asked questions, he wouldn’t always answer the literal question he was asked, but would instead answer the real question being put before him – the answer that acknolwedged the wisdom shown to already be possessed by the very phrasing of the question. This would provoke the questioner to think and/or ask the next questions – who, what, where, why, when and how?

Let’s take, for example, the rich young ruler of Mark 10 and Luke 18.

He starts by asking Yeshua what he must do to inherit eternal life (be saved, live a rich life as promised to believers) .  Yeshua begins his answer by pointing out to the young man that he has declared Yeshua’s teaching to be worthy – to be profitable, helpful, true – and reminds him that all good things come from the Lord for it is the Lord who is good.  He is acknowledging to this young man, before he answers, that the man has asked because he sees the worth in heeding whatever the answer will be.  It’s like Yeshua knew the answer was going to be hard for him and acknowledged that up front.  Then he answered and reminded him what the Torah already taught – to fulfill God’s commands.  The young man’s answer reveals that he knows all of this.  He doesn’t understand the simple answer because he has grown fulfilling the commands and was seeking wisdom to go to the next level.   He gets the basics, why is this wise teacher speaking something so remedial to him?

From the next statement recorded we see why – Yeshua loved him and knew that he really wanted to serve the Lord. He knew that the young man had truly devoted himself to these obedient choices.  He saw that this young man was ready to go to the next level.  So He told him the answer that went to a deeper level of the real issue for this young man – sell all you have and give to the poor, and come, follow Him.  By saying that he spoke to the heart of the matter for this man – your money is holding you back.

I love that Yeshua’s answer starts with the commands and then moves to the thing God always says is the point of them – taking care of the poor and the needy.

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.  James 1:27

The young man leaves saddened and grieving.

Beyond that, so many assumptions have been taught about this man.  I’ve even heard preachers go so far as to say, “Because he knew he couldn’t/wouldn’t do it.”  But the text doesn’t say that.

This man knew that Yeshua had spoken to his soul. He knew that Yeshua saw into this man and had just revealed the hidden struggle.

In question and answer format, he tells Yeshua, “I see that you speak wisdom from God. God promised us eternal life as His people so what must I do to receive that?”  Yeshua says, “You acknowledge that I speak with wisdom from the Lord, and the Lord has given you instructions on how to live and behave.”  To which the man  expresses, “Yes, I know all of that, I have lived these commands since I was a child.  I was asking for a deeper level answer – what must *I* do?”  And Yeshua acknowledges this by saying, “You love your money too much – it’s holding you back.  Break it’s chain on you and be freed to move into that deeper level of relationship with God that you are seeking!”  But this is a hard thing – because he has a lot of money and it has a big hold on him – and he knows it.

If he really wants that deeper relationship with God, he will go home and wrestle with this, and do it. It will be hard, but not impossible.

This is how we’re advised to talk to our children about sex.  Answer the questions they are asking because their questions reveal where they are in their understanding.  “Where do babies come from?” “From mommy’s uterus. She grows the baby and then it comes out.”  “How does the baby get there?” is the next level and requires more information and explanation, etc.

The Shema calls those who respond to God to hear, understand, and obey – not just hear and obey. There is a lot going on in the Christian world, and in the Messianic groups, that reflects hearing and obedience, but not always understanding.  This is often where we start – but it is not supposed to be where we stay.  In order to understand, we need to embrace critical thinking and ask the right questions.

Some people seem to think that questions reflect lack of faith, but I would suggest they express growing faith.  Some people seem to think that God is angry when we ask questions, but I would suggest it is only earthly teachers who are angry with this and only if they don’t know the answer.

If your experience with religion is that the teacher gives you information, and you are expected to give back the proper answer when asked, you will find this inadequate.  When you do, please know that this is you growing – and if you are growing beyond the teacher who got you this far, it’s time to find a teacher who can take you to the next level.  Be wise!  Do not seek a teacher who is willing to answer your questions but is not in a place you want to go.  Too many people begin asking anyone their questions, and encounter atheists or those who have walked away from faith because they are often willing to talk about the questions. But if their pursuit of answers resulted in them being atheists, they can only guide you towards being an atheist. If their pursuit of answers resulted in them rejecting God, they can only guide you to a place of rejecting God.  Instead, seek those who have asked these questions and retained their faith – ideally those who have asked these questions and grown in their faith.  They can guide you through these questions with a sensitivity towards keeping your faith intact.

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Being a woman in our culture is a very different experience from being a man.  I recently heard a story about a man who created an online dating profile as a woman to prove his theory that women have an easier time of it than men in dating. After all, men have to put themselves out there to be rejected by women.  Within two hours he had received so many lude and sexual and harrassing comments from men that he pulled the profile.  You can read about it yourself if you are interested.    It is a reality that men and women live in different worlds.  Most men don’t have to give more thought to where they park their vehicle than how far they will have to walk to get where they are going, whereas women have to think about the distance they will walk, the time of day and whether they park near a light, how exposed and vulnerable they might be to anyone who wants to harm them.  For example, there have been times I chose to park farther away from a mall entrance because the closer spot would have my door opening next to a large work van with no windows.  We’ve all heard the differences in how women and men are viewed in the business world all too often.  As a female pastor in our culture, there have been many times in the last year that I’ve asked, or considered asking,  “Would you ask that question/use that tone/make that suggestion to a man?”  

Anyone who knows me for any length of time knows I don’t require people to call me Pastor or Rabbi or Reverend the way some do. I think that often times titles put a barrier between people that defines the relationship along lines that I think are purely cultural and not always Biblical.  I don’t view being a pastor as a position of power so much as one of being called to greater servanthood.  I don’t expect special privilege because I’m a pastor.  I don’t think I’m more important than anyone else because I serve in this position.  I don’t think this role means that I am somehow more holy than a lay person.

I do believe this title and position should communicate is a certain level of proficiency and qualification in my field.

What I continue to encounter, however, is that special status, value, worth and power are too often conveyed on male pastors in a way that they are not automatically conveyed on female pastors.  Ideally I believe the answer is to stop assuming these things about pastors whether they are male or female!  Since I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for that, I find myself considering the implications of this current reality.  And, truth be told, I am beginning to think that more of my response to these things is rooted in personal fears and insecurities than I have wanted to admit to myself.

I have talked to male pastors who have shared criticism they get about their view of some issue, or their teaching about some topic.  Generally it is considered the problem of the person sending the criticism and rarely is there any question about whether he should continue in his calling or his career choice.  On the other hand, I have received emails declaring me to have the spirit of Jezebel and to be leading women astray (by people who think my only ministry role is to women – I cannot imagine what they would say if they understood I teach men too!  The scandal!).  I have been challenged on why I think I’m called to something that everyone knows God doesn’t call women to.  I have been accused of being a feminist who has disregarded Scripture in an effort to force change in the church. Men are questioned about how they do their job; women are questioned about whether they should even have the job.

The physical appearance of male pastors is rarely an issue.  People feel free to point out if they are attractive without concern for whether women (or men) will lust after them.  Many people are, however, concerned about female pastors and whether the men in their churches will lust after them.

I could offer more examples, but I won’t.  Those who are able to see the problem can already see it; those who are unable or unwilling to see the problem won’t be convinced by my experience.

So back to the question I asked above.  I really want to know if people are comfortable talking to male pastors in the way they often talk to me.  There are men and women who, whether pastors or not, whether they hold any degree in theology or not, whether they have studied beyond the level I have or not, whether they know anything about me or not, speak to me with the clear intent of educating me.  I generally choose to let it go and, in part, it is because I take seriously the calls to turn the other cheek and do not to view being a pastor as a position of power.

When I’m being totally honest, it is also because I am afraid of being labeled with even more stereotypes.  There is a part of me that worries whether standing up to men who bully through condescension will be proof to someone that I really am a feminist who hates men.  There are so many messages I don’t want to send that sometimes I don’t know how to respond to things that are wrong and should not happen within the Kingdom.  Male pastors are free to serve God without the burden of our culture’s diminishment of their gender.  I’m no longer comfortable carrying that extra burden either. 

As a final thought, I’m trying to find that balance where I’m comfortable expecting the level of respect that my education and title warrant in our society, while I still not thinking more highly of myself than I do of anyone else.  I am trying to be comfortable being called by the titles I hold while still not expecting it is something anyone has to do.  I just want efforts of humble servanthood toward others to be because that is what I believe it means to be a pastor, not because that is what I know is expected from a woman.

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Last year I blogged each day through Sukkot and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to make it a tradition.  I will be camping this weekend so there will be a delay before I can post this weekend’s entries, but I wanted to get started while I could.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

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A large majority of the church understands Peter’s Vision in Acts 10 to be God telling Peter that Christians didn’t have to obey the kosher laws and could eat anything they want.  Except, that isn’t what the text says, or even suggests.  In fact, you can’t get that message from the story unless you isolate only the vision and don’t consider the meaning of a very key word in the text.

So let’s start with examining the telling of the vision.

9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up  on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

So we have Peter, around noon, heading up to the roof to pray.  God brings him a vision where he sees a sheet descending from heaven, being let down by the four corners of the earth onto the earth.  Inside the sheet are all sorts of animals, including unkosher ones, and God says he should take them, kill them, and eat them.  How could there be any confusion here?  Except Peter’s response to God is very specific.  He says that he has never eaten anything “common or unclean.”

We all know what unclean means – God’s Torah says that it’s not food for man. But what does common mean?

Most often you see the illustrations for this story involving a sheet filled with unkosher animals.  That isn’t what Peter saw.  The vision Peter saw had unkosher AND kosher animals in the sheet.  I know this because “common” is part of the hedge that the Jewish community had put in place to prevent anyone from violating the kosher laws.  Essentially it works like this:  You are a Gentile and you are in the market and sit down at a table with your plate of pork and veggies.  I’m a devout Jew who has my kosher steak and veggies on a plate, and yet the moment both of our plates touch the same table, my steak is considered common and unfit for consumption? Why? Because I’m not allowed to touch pig, and my plate of food touched a table that is also containing a plate with pig.  It’s “common” – meaning “no longer holy and fit for consumption.”

As you can imagine, this would create a real problem for anyone wanting to fellowship with those who don’t share the same faith.  Evangelism efforts would be awkward and rife with pitfalls for the faithful.  Except, at this point in Acts, the Gospel is just within the Jewish community, so there’s no problem!  Peter would not have found himself in a situation where he wasn’t at least eating with a Jewish person so nothing he ate would be at risk for becoming common.

Verse 17 goes on to tell us that Peter was perplexed about the meaning of this dream.  I find this very interesting in light of how quickly some people are ready to tell us exactly what it means.  It seems of God was saying that all food is now clean, Peter would have gone out and had himself a ham sandwich that day!  But he didn’t.  I suspect Peter was meditating on what God might mean by this statement – God’s response to him when Peter said that he had never eaten anything common or unclean:

“What God has made clean, do not call common.”

God did not say anything about the unkosher animals.  This dream was not about eating unkosher animals.  God is making it very clear to Peter (3 times clear, in fact) that if God says something is clean, nothing we do will make it common.  A kosher steak stays a kosher steak, even if it sits on the table of a plate with pig.  Just like Peter didn’t become unclean by staying in the home of a tanner who was very often unclean himself, Peter’s kosher food would not become unclean if he ate with Gentiles who had their plates filled with unclean things.

Or, to put it another way, “Peter, go take the Gospel to the Gentiles!”

Which is a very very different meaning from, “Peter, I’ve done away with kosher and you can eat anything you want now.”

But how can we know which understanding is correct.  Isn’t this just something that is an area of Christian liberty? Isn’t this just something that you have to trust the Lord to guide you in personally?

When visions are given in Scripture it is important to first look to see if they are interpreted within the text.  If God sees fit to tell us what a vision means, I don’t believe we are wise enough to reinterpret the dream differently.  And when we continue reading in this section of Acts we find that Cornelius, a God-fearer, has been told by God to find Peter and has dispatched two soldiers to Simon’s house to bring him back.

This is when Peter has his vision – while these soldiers are on their way to fetch him.  Peter is perplexed about the meaning of the vision when these men appear at the door and ask for him.  The Spirit tells him that there are men downstairs who have been dispatched by Him and he is not to hesitate going with them.  Sure enough, they confirm to him that a God-fearing Centurion was told directly by an angel to send for him.  This is all aligning so beautifully it could only be God!

The next day Peter and some other believers went with the soldiers to Caesarea. Cornelius had faith that they were coming and had called his family and friends together and fell down at Peter’s feet to worship him.  Peter assures him he is not God, but only a man sent by God, and they start their visit. At this point let’s return to the text to see what God is going to do.

28And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew  z to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but  a God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. 29So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”

34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for he word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of  peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on  the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

As Peter was speaking the Holy Spirit affirmed this message by falling on everyone who was listening and the Jews who had gone with Peter were amazed because God had poured out the Holy Spirit on Gentiles.  And Peter baptized them right there!  Peter realized that the sign of circumcision of the flesh was a forerunner that set someone apart to be part of Israel – a position he would later need to affirm for himself with the circumcision of the heart.  If God was pouring out the Holy Spirit on those whose hearts had been circumcised without that pre-sign, who was Peter to stand in the way?

Just to make sure we’re not getting the story mixed up, if you keep reading, Peter returned to Jerusalem to face this charge,

3 “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.

In response to which Peter tells them about his vision and his realization that if God was telling him these people were clean, who was he to say otherwise?  God gave the same gift to them that He had previously given to the Jews, and Peter wanted to be where God was and a part of what God was doing.  And to the Gentiles, God had also granted repentance that leads to life!

At this point I feel the need to be clear that my purpose in putting this forth is not to discuss diet, though I do hope that being confronted with this explanation will cause at least some to prayerfully reconsider this issue with the Lord.  My purpose is to challenge a very popular and faulty interpretation of a very key portion of Scripture.  If we trivialize Peter’s Vision by declaring it God’s declaration to the world that we can eat whatever we want, we have missed the very point in history when God made the Gospel available to the Gentile nations!  This “new thing” that God did is powerful, and the reason that most who are reading this are able to cry out to God, and I believe it should be given the attention it deserves.

Praise God that the Gospel is available to all!

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For those of you who have been trying to figure out how Yeshua (Jesus) died on a Friday and rose on a Sunday and was 3 days in the tomb . . . . he wasn’t.  This was one of the things that always confused me until I learned about the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Sabbaths contained within it.  And for those who don’t realize why that would matter, according to Yeshua in Matthew 12:40

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

To start with, you have to remember that the Hebrew calendar is fixed, but it is not fixed with the Gregorian calendar so it seems to move around on our modern calendar.

The months of the Hebrew calendar begin with the sighting of the new moon – though in modern times this has been predicted and pre-sanctified, I have found that, with very rare exception, it is spot on for when the new moon is sighted from my backyard.

Passover is used to refer to a bunch of things, but it’s really one meal/day. There is an 8 day Feast of Unleavened Bread. There is a Day of Preparation (the day the lambs were slaughtered FOR the Passover). Then there is Passover – the meal eaten by the Israelites.  It all takes place in the month of Nissan.

On the 14th of Nissan was the Day of Preparation.   Since days on the Hebrew calendar go from sundown to sundown, this is the evening that Jesus ate dinner with his disciples and then went into the Garden and then was crucified *at the same time that everything was happening with the Passover Lambs*.  On the 15th of Nissan is the eating of the Passover meal – after the Lamb has been sacrificed. Everyone was rushing to get Jesus into the ground before sundown so that they would be ritually clean to eat the Passover meal. In the week of Yeshua’s crucifixion, he had his meal with his disciples on Tuesday night, meaning that Tuesday to Wednesday was the 14th of Nissan.  He was crucified on the same day as the lambs were sacrificed, then the meal was eaten by the rest of Israel on Wednesday night as Yeshua spent his first night in the tomb.

Wednesday night/Thursday day = 1 day and night

Thursday night/Friday day = 2 days and nights

Friday night / Saturday day = 3 days and nights

After sundown on Saturday Yeshua was raised

Saturday sundown to Sunday sundown is First Fruits

Now it gets a little tricky at this point . . . Firstfruits is supposed to be dated this way,

From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks.. (Lev 23:10)

Modern Judaism says that this is to be done on the 2nd day of Passover.  But the command does not specify this.  Rather, this command comes after the section on the specifics of honoring Passover, but it begins with this

Lev 23: 9 The LORD said to Moses, 10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. 11 He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12 On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the LORD a lamb a year old without defect, 13 together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the LORD, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hinof wine. 14 You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live (NIV from blb.org)

And this begins the counting of the Omer. Since Shavuot (Pentecost) is on Sunday, counting 49 days (7 weeks) after First Fruits only aligns if it is on Sunday.  Also, as a Messianic Believer, I believe that Yeshua came to properly interpret Torah and according to Matthew 28:1

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

We know this is connected to First Fruits because Paul declares in 1 Cor 15:20

But  Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruitsof those who have fallen asleep.

So whether Passover is on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, First Fruits is the following Sunday.

*This week* Sunday evening to Monday was the day of Preparation, and Monday evening to Tuesday was the Passover, so tomorrow, Sunday, will be First Fruits.

And as the first sheaves from the barley harvest were raised be the priest as a wave offering before the Lord, Yeshua has  truly been lifted up!  Happy Resurrection Day! Happy First Fruits!

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There are two major Garden stories in Scripture, and they have a lot in common. As we approach the Passover/Firstfruits season, and many people prepare to celebrate Easter, I thought it was a good time to discuss the Hebraic picture we are given in the Gardens.

Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, which is described in the Hebrew with Temple language, including the presence of the Trees in the Holy of Holies (in the middle of the Garden). They were charged with “worshipping and serving”, using language that we find to describe the functions of the Levitical Priests in the Tabernacle/Temple. And when given a choice between aligning with God’s instructions and choosing for themselves what they thought was best, well, we know what choice they made. When their unity with God was broken and they found themselves exposed and vulnerable before God, they had to be removed from the Garden for their own protection. They could no longer stand in the presence of God, and God put a plan in motion to correct this before they did something that would cause them to have to remain in that state forever. That plan involved their redemption, and that leads us to the second Garden.

Yeshua in the Garden of Gethsemene is a story that is taught at this time of year.  A friend and member of our congregation recently summed up the story as she had learned it over the years.

The standard re-telling of the Easter story: Jesus goes to garden and is overcome with sorrow and grief and asks God to take the cup from Him because it’s too much for Him and He’d like a way out. HIs friends let him down. He sweats blood. Even though He doesn’t want to do it, He submits Himself to God’s will. The worst part of the garden is *knowing* that when He takes on the sins of the world, He will be separated from God for the first time ever and that’s why he’s so sorrowful, that’s what he wants God to take from Him. And not only will being separate from God hurt Jesus, but it will also hurt God to turn His face away from Him for the 3 days Jesus spends in the grave.

This is not at all what I believe happened.

To put it simply, I believe that Paul teaches us that Yeshua, as the Bridegroom, was entering into an engagement with the disciples who represent the Bride.  At the “Last Supper”, or the Passover seder where Yeshua was teaching his disciples about the prophetic messages in the seder that pointed to Him and what He was about to do, Yeshua shared a glass of wine with His disciples. This is part of a traditional engagement ceremony according to Jewish custom.

This is important to note because of what Yeshua says in the Garden. In a traditional engagement ceremony, the step before the brideprice was paid was for the Son to turn to the Father and declare, “If it be your will, let this cup (the shared cup of engagement) pass from my hand. Not my will, but thine be done.” This was a declaration that if the Father did not agree with the terms of the engagement, did not approve of the brideprice, or for some reason did not approve of the bride, the Son would not go forward with the union. When the Father did not remove the cup, the Son would complete the covenant ceremony and pay the brideprice. Adonai approved of the union between the Son and the Bride, and He went on to pay the brideprice for redeeming the Bride.

Yes, Yeshua’s friends let him down. They showed their frailty, they acted in a way that reflected their need for redemption. “Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:44). Apparently this is something that happens to people sometimes when they face extreme stress.  It may be related to Hematadrosis. Regardless, I do believe his body showed the signs of the extreme reality of what was about to occur.  I do believe there was great anguish involved in the reality of what was going to happen. I don’t think Yeshua skipped to the cross, but I do believe He went willingly and laid down His life as Scripture says.

I believe the most dangerous aspect of the traditional Easter teaching is the idea that Yeshua was separated from God. This is rooted in the idea that “God cannot be in the presence of sin, so when Yeshua took all sin upon Himself, God had to look away.” This is completely unbiblical! God can absolutely be in the presence of sin. There is nowhere God cannot be, and sin is not His kryptonite. Rather, it is sin that cannot be in the presence of God! The reason for this is that God is a Holy Fire and when sin enters the presence of the Refiner’s Fire, it is burned up. It is sin that is destroyed in the presence of God. And this creates a dilemma for man! If we were to attempt to stand in the presence of God while still clothed in our sin, it would burn up, and we would burn up with it. This is the state of nakedness in which Adam and Eve found themselves – they were no longer clothed in righteousness. This is why we have a need for redemption.

Likewise, the words Yeshua spoke on the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” is typically used to support the idea that God turned His face from Yeshua and was separate from Him in that moment. But, that is not the case at all!  To those who stood around the cross, the words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” would have brought to mind the Psalm that it is quoted from.  The practice of speaking a line from Scripture and trusting that your audience knew the text (or would seek it out to understand what you were saying) was common in Yeshua’s day.  Yeshua’s words would have brought to mind the entire text of Psalm 22:

My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?

​​Why are You so far from helping Me,

​​And from the words of My groaning?

2 ​​O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;

​​And in the night season, and am not silent.

​

3 ​​But You are holy,

​​Enthroned in the praises of Israel.

4 ​​Our fathers trusted in You;

​​They trusted, and You delivered them.

5 ​​They cried to You, and were delivered;

​​They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.

​

6 ​​But I am a worm, and no man;

​​A reproach of men, and despised by the people.

7 ​​All those who see Me ridicule Me;

​​They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

8 ​​“He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him;

​​Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”

​

9 ​​But You are He who took Me out of the womb;

​​You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.

10 ​​I was cast upon You from birth.

​​From My mother’s womb

​​You have been My God.

11 ​​Be not far from Me,

​​For trouble is near;

​​For there is none to help.

​

12 ​​Many bulls have surrounded Me;

​​Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.

13 ​​They gape at Me with their mouths,

​​Like a raging and roaring lion.

​

14 ​​I am poured out like water,

​​And all My bones are out of joint;

​​My heart is like wax;

​​It has melted within Me.

15 ​​My strength is dried up like a potsherd,

​​And My tongue clings to My jaws;

​​You have brought Me to the dust of death.

​

16 ​​For dogs have surrounded Me;

​​The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.

​​They pierced My hands and My feet;

17 ​​I can count all My bones.

​​They look and stare at Me.

18 ​​They divide My garments among them,

​​And for My clothing they cast lots.

​

19 ​​But You, O LORD, do not be far from Me;

​​O My Strength, hasten to help Me!

20 ​​Deliver Me from the sword,

​​My precious life from the power of the dog.

21 ​​Save Me from the lion’s mouth

​​And from the horns of the wild oxen!

​​​You have answered Me.

​

22 ​​I will declare Your name to My brethren;

​​In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.

23 ​​You who fear the LORD, praise Him!

​​All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,

​​And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!

24 ​​For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;

​​Nor has He hidden His face from Him;

​​But when He cried to Him, He heard.

​

25 ​​My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;

​​I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.

26 ​​The poor shall eat and be satisfied;

​​Those who seek Him will praise the LORD.

​​Let your heart live forever!

​

27 ​​All the ends of the world

​​Shall remember and turn to the LORD,

​​And all the families of the nations

​​Shall worship before You.

28 ​​For the kingdom is the LORD’s,

​​And He rules over the nations.

​

29 ​​All the prosperous of the earth

​​Shall eat and worship;

​​All those who go down to the dust

​​Shall bow before Him,

​​Even he who cannot keep himself alive.

​

30 ​​A posterity shall serve Him.

​​It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,

31 ​​They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,

​​That He has done this.

This Psalm speaks to the reality of what Yeshua was enduring.  Just as the author of the Psalm is not expressing the idea that God has literally forsaken him, neither is Yeshua suggesting that this has occurred.  Rather, this entire Psalm is being fulfilled in the presence of those witnessing Yeshua’s suffering.  I know that the audience present did not imagine that Yeshua was saying God had literally forsaken Him because in Matthew 27:47 the response of someone present was this, “When some of those standing there heard this, they said, ‘He’s calling Elijah.'”

Yeshua, without His own sin, was able to take our sins upon Himself and stand in the presence of God, the Holy Fire, without burning up. The sin was burned up in the fire, but Yeshua remained, unscathed, and became the Firstfruits of the Resurrection. As we accept that our sin was carried before the Lord by Him, we come to understand that we can be clothed in His righteousness. We can be given the white garments of righteousness that are spoken of in Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Revelation. We can move towards God with such love and devotion that we can enter boldly into the throneroom of God and stand in His presence without fear of the Refiner’s Fire. It will not destroy us.

During the 3 days that Yeshua was in the grave He accomplished several things. He went to the abode of the dead, Abraham’s Bosom, and took the souls of the righteous, who had been awaiting Him, with Him to be in the presence of the Father. And He sat down on the Throne of God with the Father. Paul speaks of Him sitting at the Right Hand, but this speaks to His role as the Right Arm of God, the extension of Mercy to the world. In Revelation we learn that He is seated ON the throne WITH His Father. (See Rev. 3:21) And because He was in the ground for a Sabbath, we know that He joined the Father in Rest – that Sabbath Rest we are invited to join them in.

We all await the Wedding Supper of the Lamb – The day that Yeshua spoke of often in parables about weddings. The day that we finally realize what our own marriages are supposed to be a picture of according to Paul in Ephesians – the union of “Messiah and the Bride.”

We do not worship a God of limitations who had to look away while his son was murdered in order to appease some debt that could only be appeased through blood lust. We worship a multi-faceted God who began a plan for the redemption of mankind that involved laying down His own life, by dwelling among mankind in the form of Yeshua, who, like Isaac, was willing to be sacrificed for the redemption of mankind. He took upon Himself our sins. He stood in the presence of God’s Holy Fire and He withstood the burning of our sins. He came out not smelling like fire and He became the Firstfruits of the Resurrection of the Flesh. Because of Him we are redeemed. Because of what He did we are able to move from the state of Adam and Eve, naked and ashamed without garments of righteousness, and be clothed in the white garments that are reserved for the saints. We can walk boldly into the Throneroom of God because we are able to stand in the presence of the Lord without burning up.

This is what happened with the Second Adam stood in the Garden and made the right choice. THIS is Good News! This is the story of Redemption.

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I get so frustrated with ideas like this being propagated.

If God orchestrates everything (as opposed to making it happen, orchestrating allows for our free will to be part of the picture) then isn’t it just possible that God gives us the command at the moment it will start our response so that it ultimately goes the way it is supposed to – That because He knows who we are, He brings us into the process so that we’re where we need to be just in time?

I mean, Jonah was supposed to get where he got *when* he got there. So since God knew he was going to flee and go the other way, and need to be brought back, he told him when he did and provided that time.

This is how I work things with my children. If I know this child needs to be told right before we leave that it’s time to go, I give no warning. If I know this child needs a warning, I provide it. And, especially with special needs and/or certain ages, I tell them “it is time to do X” with enough time built in for them to melt down or run away or do what I know they are going to do. When we know our children, we can interact with them in the way they need. Isn’t God capable of doing that with us?

When this topic comes up I’m always reminded of Yeshua’s parable in Matthew 21

28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
29 “ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

(quoted from blb.org using NIV but all the versions have the same parable 😉 )

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For one thing we don’t view life and death the way it was viewed in ancient times. There was an understanding that you carry the spiritual seed of your people and you are corrupted to the level of your society. The choices of the fathers are the experiences of the children and lead to a path for your people–choices become habits that become your culture. Every person within a society is corrupted by that society. This is true today but we don’t seem to have an awareness of it. I am a product of my society as a whole and my family specifically and I cannot be who I am not–I can only make the best choices that I can make based on where I stand. And my children were born at my level of righteousness and/or debauchery–and shot from our bow in the direction we are headed. So a child born into a pagan culture that hates God and sacrifices children in the fire and all sorts of horrible things that you can read about being done by the pagan communities in Biblical times  was born into a spiritual level of evil that would be a lot to overcome. It would be one thing to redeem them from that, but it is another thing to try and save all the children and they grow up knowing all of the adults were put to death. It doesn’t really set anyone up for success to be “saved” in that scenario.

But with the belief that those who die move into the spiritual realm where they are able to attain levels of righteousness unhindered by the physical body . . . then children can be set free of the cultural trappings that would hold them back from righteousness. The children would be able to rise above the level of spiritual existence that they were born into–freed from it before they embraced it for their own.

And there were some communities that were just so evil that God said, Israelites or not, they were not going to be allowed to continue. The story of the Exodus involves God declaring that it was time to rid the evil people groups from Canaan. One belief is that Job had remained alive until that time and it was only after his death that God was willing to cleanse the Land. That, for Job’s sake, God had held back His hand.

So the Israelites, who had been promised the Land, are in slavery and crying out to God and the time is right–right Pharoah in place to accomplish everything, the Israelites ready to go in and take the Land (well, almost  ), the Land ready to be cleansed of the evil being done on it . . . and God tells them that HE will drive the people out ahead of them. And for the most part that is what happens!

Jericho was not a battle–it was a worship service. The events of the 7th day would have been on the Sabbath and did not involve “fighting” or blowing the call to arms, but the shofar is the call to worship. And when they all blew their shofars the walls fell down and everyone who wasn’t injured in the collapse of the wall ran off.  The city was “utterly destroyed” which is also a way to say set apart for the Lord. Nothing found in the city was for the people–nothing was to be spoils of war.  I believe that by the time they burned the city in Joshua 6:24, there were no people in the city.  Of ourse that is just my personal belief–I wasn’t there to know for sure but neither was anyone else who might have a different opinion.

There were battles that the Israelites initiated–and they almost always lost them. God didn’t go into battle with them when they went off all half-cocked thinking they were great military victors 

There were some battles that were initiated by the other society and sometimes it was despite their best efforts to give the people space and go around them–and there were times that God told them to destroy everyone. And while I would never suggest that we should accept God doing evil to accomplish good (something I was reading someone argue for recently ) I will say that we cannot see the big picture and our limited perspective is truly that–limited.

For instance, Saul lost the throne for, among other things, not destroying all of the Amelekites. His choice to allow anyone to live led to the book of Esther. Haman was an Amelekite and Mordechai was a descendant of Saul.

I think it’s important to remember that within the stories there is a lot going on. There are some people who went off on their own, there are some people who did not behave in righteous ways, there are some people who blundered it, and there are some things that it’s okay to sit down at the end of the day and say, “I just don’t understand.” But when we condemn, we are saying we DO understand. When we pass judgment we are making very big statements about things we have limited perspective on. I don’t think a judgment that something we don’t understand is “evil” is any different than a judgment that it’s “righteous”. I think the humility to say, “That hurts my modern heart and sensibilities but I trust God and I have to believe there is a bigger picture I can’t see” is needed in very healthy doses with these things 

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