Musing – Why is Keeping the Sabbath so Important?

Hebraic Musing – Why is Keeping the Sabbath so Important?

 “These are the things the Lord has commanded you to do:  For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of Sabbath rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death.”  NIV  Exodus 35:1-2   What possessed Moses to say such a harsh command to the children of Israel?

And the original command was from Exod. 31:14-15 in which the death penalty is mentioned twice!   “Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people.  For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.”

Why would breaking the Sabbath command justify a death penalty?!?!  The Sabbath was one of the first ways that God tested His people.  The LORD told Moses in Exodus 16:4 “I will rain down bread from heaven for you.  The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day.  In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.  On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

The LORD explained the purpose of a test later in Deuteronomy 8:2-3  “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.  He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

And Matthew remembered Jesus reciting that verse in Matthew 4:4  “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

We get all caught up in debates over which day is the Sabbath day and how much work one can or should do on our Sabbath.  More important -- is it a sin to not trust in the LORD?   And what are the wages of sin?

What does it mean to work six days and then trusting His provision and promises for the seventh day?  How much faith was/is required?  How much faith do we have in God’s provision?

 Points to ponder

Our creator has asked us for one day out of seven, is that too much?

If we work seven days a week, are we trusting God or ourselves for provision?

♫   Trust and obey, For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey…  ♫ 

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                      June 26, 2018

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

Note – Inspired by Ardelle Brody’s Commentaries – Vayakhel/Pekudei  March 7, 2018

Musing – Do We Really Want to Know God?

Hebraic Musing – Do We Really Want to Know God?

Remember the Julie Andrews song in “The King & I”?  ♫ Getting to know you Getting to feel free and easy.  When I am with you   Getting to know what to say.   Haven't you noticed Suddenly I'm bright and breezy?  Because of all the beautiful and new Things I'm learning about you …Day by day ♫

After our Sunday school class shared their weekly litany of Prayers and Praises, it was clear to me that everyone in the class was getting to know each other’s hearts.  Later that same day, Rabbi Eckstein’s blog “God is renowned in Judah”* really explained how we get to know one another, and getting to know God.  Here is how he explained it.

Psalm 76 begins “In Judah God is known; his name is great in Israel.” NIV    The literal translation from the Hebrew is “God is known in Judah,” but what does it mean to really know God?   In the Jewish tradition, there are three types of wisdom.

The first, chochma, is pure knowledge.  It’s knowing facts and figures.

The second, binah, is understanding.  This kind of wisdom goes beyond simple facts into understanding the reason why the facts exist.  Example, knowing that four times eight is 32 is knowledge.  Knowing why four multiplied eight times becomes 32 is understanding.

Finally, there is da’at, or knowing – truly knowing something to the point where it affects the way a person lives.  Example, a person can know that eating too much cake makes you overweight and sick, and might even understand the science behind weight gain.  But da’at is using that knowledge to adopt and live a healthy lifestyle.  Da’at is knowing something so deeply that it directs every thought and action in your life.

This psalm is generally thought to refer to a time in the reign of King Hezekiah when he was threatened by the Assyrian King Sennacherib (2 Kings 18—19).  Assyria was the superpower of its time and had already captured many countries, including the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  And it was clear that Jerusalem and the Kingdom were to be the next conquests.  From all appearances, Judah was doomed.  But Judah had a God-fearing king who prayed, acted with righteousness, and trusted in God.  King Hezekiah’s prayers were answered, and God caused a great miracle.  The entire Assyrian army was destroyed by God’s angel of death.  Sennacherib had no choice but to retreat home – where he was promptly assassinated by his own sons.

This is how Judah came to know God – to really know God to the point where their lives were profoundly changed.  They had seen firsthand how God was present in their lives, how He loved them, and how He would do anything for them.  How could they not be permanently and fundamentally changed?

Applying this to us -- we may not experience miracles on the magnitude of Hezekiah’s time, but God shows us other experiences that make it clear He is present and lovingly involved in our lives.  If we take the time to seek God, we will find Him and come to truly know Him – in a way that profoundly affects our lives.

 Points to ponder

How well do you know your God?

When we experience answers to prayers, how does that help us to know God?

♫   Getting to know you, Getting to know all about you.  Getting to like you, Getting to hope you like me…
Because of all the beautiful and new Things I'm learning about you… Day by day.  ♫

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                          June 19, 2018

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

*    Excerpted from Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein’s God is renowned in Judah dated June 3, 2018.

Note – Similarly, in Spanish, there are two words for the concept “to Know”.  Saber - "To Know” is used to talk about a facts or learned skills. You can use it to talk about information you've memorized or to say you know how to swim, draw, speak a language, etc.  Conocer - “To Know”  is used to express familiarity or acquaintance (or lack thereof) with a person, place, or thing. This distinction  is important because life changes are seldom accomplished by knowledge of facts.  Rather effective change in life is almost always established by a relationship with someone. 
Thus “conociendo”, knowing  the person of Jesus is by far more important than sabiendo, knowing about Him.

Musing – What does it mean to be “Cursed”?

Hebraic Musing – What does it mean to be “Cursed”?

How should we understand the LORD’s use of the word “Curse” in Gen. 12:1-3 when He says to Abram "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.  I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."  NIV

I always thought that to be cursed is to have evil put on you.  And coming from a Greek-think culture, the dictionary definition fits – “a prayer or invocation for harm or injury to come upon one”.  However, our Bible was written in the Hebrew-think culture and is a Hebrew book.  What was the LORD’s intention when He promises to "bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse"?  Could the Hebrew meaning of “Curse” mean to make insignificant or we might say, minimize or do without.  In the honor-shame culture of the East, it would mean to dishonor.  There is nothing in the meaning having to do with imposing evil or wanting to wish harm on the person; rather, it is the withholding of the good that comes with blessings.  Let’s see how that might help us understand other classic “curses” we find in the Hebrew Scripture.

When the LORD dealt with Cain He said “Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground,  …. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you."  Gen 4:11-12  Cain lost the benefit of blessed ground.

The clearest example of blessings and curses is found in chapter 28 of Deuteronomy.  Conditional blessings are promised “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands … All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:”  Thirteen verses of blessings are promised.  But verse 15 starts ominously.  “However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:”  And the next 50 verses describe life without those blessings.  Note that the LORD said “all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.”  He did not need to put them upon the disobedient peoples; they happen naturally as a result of disobedience. 

Greek-think deals with contrasts – Yes or No; Good or Evil; Holy or Satanic; Religious or Secular; either Law or Grace; Either/Or…    Whereas Hebrew-think does not deal with contrasts, but rather with “is or ain’t”; Holy or Unholy; Have or Have Not; Good or not good;…   The Hebrew mind asks “What must I do?”, but the Greek mind asks “Why must I do it?”  The Hebrew mind thinks of the Beauty of holiness, while the Greek mind seeks the holiness of beauty.

 Points to ponder

Try reading Deuteronomy 28 with a Hebrew mind-set.

Is being deprived of a privilege a punishment enough without need for the rod?

Is disciplining with a “Time-out” Hebrew or Greek think?

Greek-think vs. Hebrew-think is a topic of its own, worthy of study!

“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, …
         But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”  Josh 24:15

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                      June 5, 2018

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

Note – Inspired by Johanna Shager Hocker’ blog “The Power of the Spoken Word, …” May 29, 2018