Musing – Principles of Parenting from Our Loving Father God

Hebraic Musing – Principles of Parenting from Our Loving Father God

Here is a piece of wisdom from Jodi, mother of 13 children:   “Another aspect of parenthood is that good parents don't make rules that are arbitrary or meaningless.  They make them for the good of the child, out of love for the child.  If we reject God's laws, we are rejecting His wisdom, and questioning His motives--doubting His love and purposes.  What an insult! Of course, if we then say, ‘That was for the Jews,’ we open that same can of worms.  Did he give the Jews laws that were arbitrary, meaningless, too hard, or unjust?  Was he unloving and unreasonable toward them but more merciful toward us? No, God does not change, and God IS love.  It is only our perspective that needs some adjusting.”   -- Jodi     That about says it all.

As I’ve often said “Everything a good parent tells their child is for the child’s own good.”

Concern – Christians often categorically refer to the laws, decrees, commands, mitzvot, etc. in the OT as "That was for the Jews" and therefore does not apply to us.  That issue was addressed in a 2014 Hebraic Musing –  Why Did God Bless Our Father Abraham?   The answer is in Gen 26:5  “…because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws”  Why did God use four different words?  What can we learn about parenting by defining those four words using Hebrew think?

Requirements: Trmvm Mishmaret—watch, sentry, post; preservation, safe; observance, duty …”

Commands: Moishe told the people: “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.”
Dt.6:6   However, the KJV, NKJV and the CJB use the word words instead of commandments.  In Hebrew it is <yrbd h HaDav’rim, which we recognize as the Hebrew title for the book we call Deuteronomy and the direct translation is “the words.”  So when we read that “commandments are to be on our hearts,” that is saying that our loving Father God wants all His Word(s) to be on the hearts of His children.  “Do what Daddy says…”

Decrees (Statutes, Judgments) — are verdicts (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree, human or divine law, … including a participant's right or privilege…   The NIV translates <yxpvm  (mish-pawtim)  in Exodus 21:1 as “law” instead of “judgments”; ESV translates it as “rules”; NASB as “ordinances.”  All three versions miss the real meaning – Decrees, Statutes, Judgments.

Laws: ytrwt  Towrotaay — a precept or statute, especially the Decalogue (Ten Words) and Pentateuch (Torah). The Root word for Torah is “yarah” to flow as water; to lay or throw (i.e. to shoot); figuratively, to point out (as if aiming the finger), to teach. (Strong’s Concordance excerpts)

Jews did have an advantage reading the OT Scripture with full understanding of the Hebrew language.

Having raised six children, I can safely say I have specified requirements, spoke a lot of wordy commands, laid down judgements (followed by consequences), and spent a lot of time guiding, teaching and pointing them in the right direction for life. 

Points to ponder

Do our children always know why we ask them to do something?

How do you feel when they disobey and then they get hurt as a result?

Is God’s Word everlasting?   “For the word of God is living and active…” Heb. 4:12 

 “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  …  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”  Deut. 6:6-9  NIV

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                               October 30, 2018  

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”   Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

Note - Excerpted from Johanna Hocker’s– “More on the topic of Holiness and Justice or Legalism” Sept.11, 2018

Musing – Do we need to preach the book of Jude again?

Hebraic Musing – Do we need to preach the book of Jude again?

Is the book of Jude relevant today?  Although it is short, how does it apply today?

Can we personally relate to Jude’s opening and humble description of himself in v.1 – “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:” NIV   What do you and I and Jude have in common?

In vs.2-3 he feels compelled to share with loved ones – “Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.  Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith … entrusted to the saints.”  Do you have friends who need to hear this?

KEY:  In v.4 Jude tells his purpose for writing.  “For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you.  They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”  How does this apply today? 

He gives a quick history lesson in vs.5-7 – “… I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.  And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home — these he has … bound with everlasting chains for judgment … Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.”

What did man do that so offended their Creator God?  vs.8-10 “In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings.  But even … Michael, when he was disputing with the devil …, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation …, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"    Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, … — these are the very things that destroy them.”   

And the consequences are spelled out in v.11 “Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion.” by a “Natural Disaster”!

How bad is the situation?  vs.12-16 “These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm — shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, ….  They are wild waves of the sea, … for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.  Enoch … prophesied about these men: ‘See, the Lord is coming … to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts … and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’  These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires….”  God saw this coming! Do people care about God anymore?

Jude, as an Apostle, saw this coming in vs.17-19 “But, dear friends, remember what the apostles … foretold. … ‘In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.’  These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.”

Jude gave us the SOLUTION in vs.20-23 “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.  Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for… Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.  Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear ….”  Catch the evangelistic challenge?  How far are they from the fire?

He closes by reminding us it is all about Jesus.  “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ …, now and forevermore! Amen.” vs.24-25

Points to ponder

Jude describes the problem, but also the solutions – “Build…, pray…, snatch others…”

Is there a reason the book of Jude is just before Revelation?

I dare you to read Jude again, prayerfully.

♫  Go tell it on the mountain over the hills and everywhere … that Jesus Christ is born… ♫

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                      October 23, 2018

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”   Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

Musing – What can we Learn from David’s Domestic Squabble?

Hebraic Musing – What can we Learn from David’s Domestic Squabble?

 

Remember the story of “David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might,…” as the Ark of the Covenant came into Jerusalem?  2 Sam 6:14-20 NIV    And then the trouble began – “…, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.”  Then a tragic confrontation – “When David returned home to bless his household, Michal … said, ‘How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!’"

How should David have reacted?  Let’s dig a deeper, who is Michal?  A – David’s first wife, Saul’s daughter.

Now let’s take a closer look at the confrontation.  Bible versions leave the impression David was indecently exposed – Doubtful!  He was wearing a priestly linen ephod.  He was NOT half-naked, but in Michal’s eyes it was not dignified for a king; and she would know since she grew up in royalty.  Here is how Ron Cantor described Michal’s reaction – “She was also probably judging David for acting as if he were a priest. He is making sacrifices.  David is not a Levite. He is from the tribe of Judah. Where does he get off dressing like a priest and making sacrifices?  What Michal could not understand is that, prophetically, David, the father of Yeshua, is a priest, ‘in the order of Melchizedek.’” (Ps. 110:4)

BUT here is how David goes off on his wife “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord's people Israel — I will celebrate before the Lord.  I will become even more undignified than this, …" 2 Sam 6:21-22   I am ashamed to admit it, but I can relate to David’s response.  It hurts to be accused of evil, especially from your wife, when you are doing what you thought was good.

Why is Michal responding this way?  What did she hear?  David criticized her father and speaks boastfully of being chosen above her brother Jonathan.  Let’s look at what this poor girl, Michal, has been through:
 - Michal probably loved David, a rugged, handsome hero of Israel and a fierce fighter, but…
 - She was raised by a psychopath, Saul.
 - Saul gave her to David for the foreskins of 100 Philistines in hopes “she may be a snare to him and … the Philistines may be against him.”  Gross, yes!  Saul hoed that difficult bride-price that David would get killed.
 - Her husband has to abandon her, to flee for his life.  Saul was trying to kill him.
 - She is given to another man while still married to David.
 - Saul died and David is made king, comes back to find his wife, Michal, had been given to another.  David tells his general to bring him his wife.  She is taken forcibly back to David from her second husband, Paltiel, who follows her, weeping.  (Maybe she grew out of her love for David and grew to love Paltiel and resented being taken away?  Did she have to leave children behind?  She never forgot this traumatic experience.)  
 - When David returns from exile, he has got new wives and takes on even more wives.

His wife, Michal, had been through the emotional mill, trauma, abused, a broken woman.  David could only see that she was criticizing him; but he couldn’t see she was crying out for love and stability. 

A lesson for us men –  Even though we love our wives, we can so easily go completely in the flesh. 
And wives – Michal used criticism instead of communication to convey what she was really feeling.  She assumed her husband would figure her out.  No way!  You will be disappointed.  We men are not that sharp! 

Points to ponder

How many times do you now wish you had “Stopped, Looked and Listened”?

Can we men learn to ignore the words, and figure what’s going on inside?

“My sheep listen to my voice…”   John 10:27

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                      October 16, 2018

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”   Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

Note – Inspired by and excerpted from Ron Cantor’s “How David Destroyed His Marriage!” Sept. 20, 2018
     For the original post - http://messiahsmandate.org/how-david-destroyed-his-marriage/

And Ron Cantor’s conclusions:

What did Michal really want to say?  “I’m hurt! I’m broken. I don’t know who I am. I don’t feel that you love me. I can’t rejoice like you. I’m mad at you! My father and my brothers are dead! I need someone to hold me!” 

And let’s imagine that David had walked over to her (even though he was super busy with kingdom work!) and put his arms around her and said:  “Sweetheart, I can’t imagine what you are feeling. I know you are hurting and broken, but I want you to know, even your criticism will not keep me from loving you. You are not just the Queen of Israel. You are my queen. I will never leave you again…”  

They both acted childishly. If she could have simply been honest and shared what she was really feeling and if he could have been there to love her, instead of reacting to the verbal attack, the story would have ended differently.  “I don’t know, but something tells me that if he had been the man he was supposed to be, and loved her like she needed to be loved, she would have repented of her judgment and she would have been mother to the next King of Israel, not Bathsheba.”