Musing – Should We Meet God and our Neighbors Halfway?

Hebraic Musing – Should We Meet God and our Neighbors Halfway?

How do I, or how do we, reconcile with God the Father and/or His Son Jesus?  The problem of sin and uncleanliness existed way back in Biblical times and the book of Leviticus describes the prescribed reconciliation process.  “These are the regulations for the diseased person at the time of his ceremonial cleansing, when he is brought to the priest:  The priest is to go outside the camp and examine him….”  Leviticus 14:2–3 NIV    What are the symbolic messages?

In the first few verses of Leviticus, Chapter 14, we read about the healing process of a diseased individual who had been forced to live in isolation until he or she was completely cured.  Could a “diseased person” symbolize someone living in sin, or with a sin?  God’s prescribed reconciliation process begins with a procedure for cleansing when the diseased person was to be “brought to the priest”.  However, verse three begins, “The priest is to go outside the camp and examine him . . .”   Did you catch the contradiction?  Which is it?  Does the diseased person go to the priest?  Or does the priest go to the afflicted person?  The answer is both.   And who brings the diseased person to the priest?

And in the NT, the role of “priest” clearly belongs to Jesus Christ as declared in Heb.7:17 "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."

A similar contradiction is found in the book of Lamentations: “Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may return…” Lam. 5:21.  Are we asking for God to return us to Him by changing us from the inside out so that repentance is easy and natural for us?  Or are we saying that we will return to God on our own, no matter how difficult that may be?  Again the answer is both.  We ask that God both help us return to Him, AND we also promise to make an effort to repent on our own.  In the case of the diseased person, the afflicted went toward the priest AND the priest also went out to the diseased.  They met halfway.

The message in both situations is the same: In the quest for healing our souls, we don’t have to do it alone. Yes, we must put in the effort and do our very best, but we will also receive plenty of spiritual help along the way.  He is always calling out to us – “I am beckoning to the nations, raising my banner for the peoples.” Isa. 49:22  CJB    

Sometimes we feel so overwhelmed by our shortcomings and past mistakes that we feel stuck, unable to move closer to God.  How can we begin a journey that seems so long and so difficult?  To quote Martin Luther King Jr. – “Take the first step in faith.  You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”  These words hold true for many situations, and they are especially helpful when we take the first step in repentance.  We don’t have to know how we will succeed or when, and we don’t need to worry about how far up we have to climb.

We need to take the first steps toward God; and God is already coming out to greet us and meet us halfway.

 Points to ponder

Does this message apply to those initially putting their faith in Jesus?
Or to “mature” Christians when they have erred in some way?
(In agriculture, “mature” means over-ripe, almost rotten.)

Are we called to be the priest, intercessor, when we approach
our neighbor who is caught up in a sinful life-style?
And how should we meet them half-way?

Be a blessing in the New Year!

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                                  January 9, 2018

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

Note – Inspired by and excerpted from Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein’s “Meeting Halfway”  April 27, 2017