Musing – Are we doing it again?

Hebraic Musing – Are we doing it again?

I stumbled on verses in Isaiah that shook me, made me reflect on current times.   Isaiah heard the lord say:  "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.  Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."   Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, "Who sees us? Who will know?"   You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!  Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,  "He did not make me"?  Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"?   Isa. 29:13-16  NIV  

Why was I shook, this sounded like Isaiah was preaching to us today!!!   Are we in America corporately guilty of these same things?  Are we like the peoples that Isaiah saw, worshippers of rules instead of God?  Isaiah identified a problem and tried to warn them.  Are we on a similar “slippery slope” with hard times ahead of us as those nations had to experience?   Is this the fourth time?  What do I mean by “fourth time”?

First time: “Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, ‘I am going to put an end to all people,…’” Gen 6:11-13 And we all know what happened.

Second time: Isaiah was one of the earlier prophets to point out the sins of the Israelites and the nations around them in the 700’s BC.  He foresaw the coming devastation or punishment that the Lord was ready to bring upon them.  The devastation and exile to Babylon did come to pass.

Third time: In Jesus’ days He found himself on many occasions pointed out the grievous sins of His people, their unjust rulers and their nation.  One example: His tirade to the cities in the “Evangelical Triangle” --   "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  ….  And you, Capernaum, … you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. " Matt. 11:21-24     And he did not have kind things to say to the Sanhedrin rulers, who ultimately crucified Him.

Fourth time: We are seeing growing apostasy* today – (a) sins of thoughts, deeds and actions, (b) apathy, (c) disrespect for marriage, life and elders, (d) outright rejection of God’s role in the world and (e) rejection of the role of His Son and His followers.  There is no “Moral Majority” anymore!

And when the nations were destroyed after Isaiah’s prophetic warnings, both the righteous and unrighteous incurred and suffered from the discipline.  Is God the same yesterday, today and forever?  

 Points to ponder

Is there any reason why the Lord will spare our nation
when we compare our apostasy with that of Biblical times?

What’s next?

Shalom 

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd,                                  February 23, 2016

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”  “Biblical Marriage”
“Musings v.1 – A Victorious Life”   “Musings v.2 – The Torah and New Testament”
Weekly “Hebraic Musings”      www.InsightsByYosef.com

* Definition of “apostasy”:  
   1:  renunciation of a religious faith       2:  abandonment of a previous loyalty:  defection

Musing – God already told us how to pick our King

Hebraic Musing – God already told us how to pick our King

Does it apply today?  Do we have candidates running for President of our country who meet the criteria which our loving Father God gave to us?   Well first, do you agree with this God given criteria?  And how does it apply in today’s age?

In Deuteronomy 17:14-20 Moses conveyed the Word of God as advice to the people before they enter the Promised land -- When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you …  and you say, "Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,"  be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses.  He must be from among your own brothers.  Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite.  The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, "You are not to go back that way again."  He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

And …18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites.  It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.   NIV

I’m not sure Saul paid attention.  David did!  Solomon broke the rules and the nation was divided, then exiled!

I could not help but reflect on these criteria while agonizingly watching the presidential debates.

Points to ponder

Do you agree with the criteria God gave us in Deuteronomy?

Do the voters care about these criteria?

How can we provide voters with these criteria? 
And provide them with the reasons why these criteria are important?

Shalom 

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd,                                  February 16, 2016

Musing – How do you treat your servants?

Hebraic Musing – How do you treat your servants?

At first blush that question of treatment of servants seems strange when slavery has been abolished in the U.S.  However, do we still have servants?  Over the years, those who serve us have sometimes been viewed as lower-class people.  In the USA we preach that all are created equal, but feelings of inequality or even superiority creep into our thought process when dealing with, for example, store clerks, waiters/waitresses, employees, laborers, inmates, those on welfare, those who don’t dress or look or speak like us, etc.

In Jeremiah 34:16 God found His people were not releasing their slaves in the Sabbath, seventh, year as commanded.  So he accused them as follows “each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again.” NIV     This was an especially grievous charge against His people because in every annual Passover Seder they re-remember and thank God for releasing them from slavery in Egypt.  Of all people, they should have wanted to treat slaves fairly.  Similarly, we too need to remind ourselves of how God arranged for us to be freed from our slavery to sin.

Jeremiah continues with the Lord’s charge and decision in 34:17-18  "Therefore, this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom for your fellow countrymen. So I now proclaim 'freedom' for you, declares the Lord — 'freedom' to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth.”   Exile was to be the discipline God will be imposing on His people.

In Jewish tradition, the first question we’ll be asked when we get to heaven is not “How much time did you spend studying the Scriptures/Bible?” It is not, “How much did you pray?”  It is not “What ministries did you do for me?”  What God really wants to know, first and foremost, is “Were you an honest person?”  That word “Honest” is a big, many faceted word!

For example, God wants to know if we were honest in business dealings.  I like to call it “taking Sunday into Monday.”  Most important to God, He wants to know how you treated other people honestly – people like those listed in the opening paragraph. Do we treat all those who serve us with kindness, dignity and respect?

Irene and I have had some really precious moments in restaurants.  When our food is set before us by the server they typically ask “Is there anything else?”  We respond with “We are going to pray for our meal. Would you like to join us?  What do you need?”  Most often we wind up holding hands and praying for and blessing our server and …!!!  

How we treat all others is of heavenly importance.

Points to ponder

What happens when we realize that God loves and cares for
that other person just as much as He loves us!

How can we leave the employee, cashier, sales clerk or waitress/waiter smiling?

God loves a cheerful giver. 

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd,                                  February 9, 2016

Musing – Is it okay to observe Torah?

Hebraic Musing – Is it okay to observe Torah?

When I share with someone that I observe Torah, the overwhelming response I get is that I am trying to earn my salvation.  This response tells me much more about the other person than it does about me.

My first concern is that the person has limited their faith to their salvation.  What about the empowerment and the gifts of the spirit that flow from living according to our loving Father God’s guidelines for a victorious life?  I find myself asking “how Yehovah is working in their lives?”** 

Unfortunately many churches and their congregants focus so much on salvation they fail to develop mature believers.  All too many are still drinking milk.  Let's see what Paul/Saul says in the Bible about drinking milk.  “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ.  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.  Indeed, you are still not ready.  You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?  ” 1 Cor. 3:1-3     And  “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5:12-14 NIV

Four different reasons why I try to identify and follow the applicable* instructions in the Torah:

1.   Obedience to Yeshua's word, "if you love Me, you will keep my commands"

2.   I want to be blessed, according to Deuteronomy 28 “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.  All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:  You will be blessed……..”   NIV

3.   I have been convicted by the Holy Spirit to do so,

4.   I claim the Messianic promise of a New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:33, that the Torah was to be written on my heart and I will want to obey it. “I will put my law (Torah) in their minds and write it on their hearts.” 

There you have my four reasons for observing the applicable guidelines in Torah; and note that none of the reasons are about my salvation.  I have chosen to eat not only solid Spiritual food; but also healthy physical food!

My salvation testimony was published on September 15, 2015.  (Let me know if you want me to send it to you)  When I said “Jesus, you are real and I need to learn more about you” my life changed.  I am now trying to do what my loving Father God tells me to do in order to live a holy life. 

Points to ponder

Truism – Whatever a good parent tells his child to do is for the child’s own good.

So, what has our loving Father God told us to do?

Shalom Aleichem.  Peace to you, a child of God

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd,                                  February 2, 2016

Author: “Hebraic Insights”  “Biblical Marriage” “Musings v.1 – A Victorious Life”
“Musings v.2 – The Torah and New Testament” Weekly “Hebraic Musings”   www.InsightsByYosef.com

Notes:
 *   “Applicable” Torah commands are explained in Hebraic Insights, Ch. 22 “ What are the 613 Mitzvot?”
          We can and should obey some of the Mitzvot/Commands; but Yeshua did make some no longer applicable.
 **  Musing inspired by Johanna Hocker’s e-mail of December 31, 2015 - behockers@bevcomm.net