Passover 2012

And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. Exodus 12:11-14

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. 1 Corinthians 5:7

This Friday, at sunset, begins passover. It is known as פֶּסַח pesach, which comes from “pretermission, that is, exemption; used. . .of the Jewish Passover (the festival of the victim), passover (offering).”

The weeks preceding pesach are spent in much house cleaning in search for bread crumbs. It is quite an activity in which all members of each household are involved—young to old. I hadn’t realized Christians from some denominations also follow this part of the Law, too.

What does leaven symbolize? It has long been thought of as a metaphor for sin. Just as we’ve spoken of, before communion, we search ourselves looking for any sin in our lives. Passover and Resurrection Day are forever linked to communion. Y’shuaJesus is the Lamb of G-d—the Lamb slain whose blood covers us, keeping us from the Angel of Death. We celebrate communion to remember Y’shuaJesus, that His body and blood were given for us. It seems appropriate that we should, before Resurrection Day, which also called by the pagen name of Easter, search for bread crumbs containing leaven, not only in our lives but throughout our homes.

While this is all good, I wonder if there is a deeper meaning to leaven than that of sin only. In Luke 13:21 Y’shuaJesus says of the Kingdom of Heaven: “It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.” I read that many reconcile this as being the one time in a hundred where leaven isn’t a metaphor for sin. Yet it just doesn’t seem reasonable to me. Matthew Henry comments on Luke 13:21: “You expect [the Kingdom of Heaven] will make its way by external means, by subduing nations and vanquishing armies, though it shall work like leaven, silently and insensibly, and without any force or violence. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump; so the doctrine of Christ will strangely diffuse its relish into the world of mankind: in this it triumphs, that the savour of the knowledge of it is unaccountably made manifest in every place, beyond what one could have expected, 2Co_2:14. But you must give it time, wait for the issue of the preaching of the gospel to the world, and you will find it does wonders, and alters the property of the souls of men. By degrees the whole will be leavened, even as many as are, like the meal to the leaven, prepared to receive the savour of it.”

So to speak of leaven, one is speaking of something that is silent, working almost mysteriously within—sin does that, doesn’t it? Y’shuaJesus warned of the leaven of the Pharisees. Their doctrines, traditions, interpretations of the Law, and even their hypocris, that would all work within those that adhere to their leadership. Leaven. Y’shuaJesus said to seek first the Kingdom of G-d. It will also work within us, slowly, silently, mysteriously. The Word of G-d, made flesh in Y’shua, made flesh in us.

Yet go back to the woman hiding the leaven in three measures of flour. There’s a view that even here leaven is sin hidden within the ingredients that the loaf is made from. There is a belief that the loaf is symbolic of the church, which is G-d’s Kingdom on Earth, and that the leaven is false beliefs and false doctrine hidden withing the ingredients so that these deceptions are passed on to all who partake of the loaf. An extreme example of the way an entire nation can become captive to a bizzare notion is the propaganda machine developed by Hitler prior to World War II. The leaven of his deception grew slowly, silently, until it permeated most all in the nation of Germany. The German people were mentally poisoned to hate the Jewish people, gypsies, virtually anyone that did not adhere to their Aryan cultural view of themselves. Extreme nationalism gave rise to the Hitler youth movement. No one questioned the authority of the Third Reich, of Hitler, of his agents, until too late. When they did, they were eliminated. The world, it seemed, went crazy. Sixty million people died as a result of Hitler’s leaven. Two atomic explosions rocked Japan.

Could the church of the twenty-first Century become permeated by false beliefs? The Apostle Paul said: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) It’s not that there may be evil lurking in heavenly places, it’s that THERE IS evil lurking. It is leaven in the church. Sin!

Proceeding pesach, we rid the leaven within our homes. We celebrate the feast of passover with the knowledge of Y’shuaJesus as the pesach lamb. On Sunday we celebrate the empty tomb, the resurrected Lord. And we rejoice!

Hadassah (continued)

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Psalm 26
A Psalm of David. Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide. Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth. I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked. I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD: That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth. Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men: In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes. But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me. My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the LORD.

C.S. Lewis, in his “Reflections on the Psalms,” writes of connivance pointing to Psalm 26:4 , “the good man is not only free from ‘vanity’ (falsehood) but has not even ‘dwelled with,’ been on intimate terms with, those who are ‘vain.’ ”

One of the things I enjoy about Mr. Lewis’s writings on connivance is that he often states, “. . .I do not know the answer.” He explores the life we are to live based upon the the Word of G-d through the Bible. In one place he writes, “How ought we to behave in the presence of very bad people?” Mr. Lewis then writes about how “Christ [spoke] to the Samaritan woman at the well, [how] Christ [dealt] with the woman taken in adultery, [how] Christ dined with publicans, [this] is our example.” Yet Mr. Lewis also writes, “But I am inclined to think a Christian would be wise to avoid, where he decently can, any meeting with people who are bullies, lascivious, cruel, dishonest, spiteful and so forth. Not because we are ‘too good’ for them. In a sense because we are not good enough. We are not good enough to cope with all the temptations, nor clever enough to cope with all the problems, which an evening spent in such society produces. The temptation is to condone, to connive at: by our words, looks and laughter, to ‘consent.’ ”

When we are around those who do not conduct their lives in accordance with Biblical principles, do not look to the Lord our G-d as their Lord, their Savior, we may inadvertently condone their practices. Thus, as Mr. Lewis states, “By implication we are denying our Master; behaving as if we ‘no not the Man.’ ”

We cannot avoid all contact with non-believers, though. But we don’t need to join in, giving the appearance of approval. Neither, as Mr. Lewis points out, do we continually need to be contentious and interrupt with ‘I don’t agree.’ Silence is our refuge, Mr. Lewis states. But at some point, as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, there is a time to disagree, to point out the truth. Mr. Lewis puts it this way: “There comes of course a degree of evil against which a protest will have to be made, however little chance it has of success. There are cheery agreements in cynicism or brutality which one must contract out of unambiguously. If it can’t be done without seeming priggish, then priggish we must seem.”

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Hadassah (continued)

Psalm One

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

The military academy cadet. His counselor told him it was only a game, he could bow to the homecoming football, it was okay. He dried his tears and the next time the ball, carried on a silk pillow, came down the hallway, he joined the other freshmen and bowed low. Trivial example as it is, and with no real intent to actually worship the football, I suppose it didn’t hurt to go along. Or was there? What’s the difference between bowing to the homecoming football and kissing a rabbit’s foot for good luck? And what of the counselor that spoke to the cadet? Was he a wise counselor? What if a counselor had spoken to Mordecai in the same manner? Is paying homage to the king’s representative, Haman in the Book of Esther, just a game and not serious worship?

What about “Sieg Heil,” the German salute during the Nazi years prior to, and during, WWII? Read what Wikipedea says about this salute:

“Sieg Heil was a ritualistic chant used at mass rallies, where enthusiastic crowds answered Heil to the call of Sieg (“victory”). For example, at the 1934 Nuremberg Rally, Rudolf Hess ends his climactic speech with, “The Party is Hitler. But Hitler is Germany, just as Germany is Hitler. Hitler! Sieg Heil!” At his total war speech delivered in 1943, audiences shouted Sieg Heil as Joseph Goebbels solicited from them “a kind of plebiscitary ‘Ja’ to self destruction in a war which Germany could by now neither win nor end through negotiated peace”. In correspondence with high-ranking nazi officials, letters were usually signed with “Heil Hitler”.

“On 11 March 1945, less than two months before the capitulation of Nazi Germany, a memorial for the dead of the war was held in Marktschellenberg, a small town near Hitler’s Berghof residence. The historian Ian Kershaw reports, “When the leader of the Wehrmacht unit at the end of his speech called for a Sieg Heil for the Führer, it was returned neither by the Wehrmacht present, nor by the Volkssturm, nor by the spectators of the civilian population who had turned up. This silence of the masses… probably reflects better than anything else, the attitudes of the population.” ”

Perhaps it is harmless to bow to a silly game football, but if we take seriously Psalm One, then by going along on this instance leads down another path, a path that does not lead to the Victory of Y’shuaJesus. Going along with wrongdoing is connivance. Walking with sinners. Sinners. We are now judging people, saying they are sinners? Yes. And no. Yes, we are judging them as sinners if they walk not according to the Word of G-d. No, we are not the judges, but the Word of G-d judges and we are in accord and obedience to the Word of G-d. In fact, Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said All Are Sinners. All Fall Short of the Glory of G-d.

Covered in the Blood. Isn’t that an expression once used in Baptist churches across America? We are covered in the blood of Y’shuaJesus, our sins atoned by His death on the Cross. We are sinners saved by grace. But not all are saved. All are offered redemption, but not all accept it.

C.S. Lewis has some things to say about connivance, too. Let’s take a look on Wednesday.

Until then, Lord Bless, Keep, Shine upon you and through you to this hurting, challenging world in which we reside as visitors, strangers. . .

A Foolish Hope?

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“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18

The Cross. A powerful symbol. And in recent years the Cross has become quite controversial. I’ve lamented in the past at the growing number of churches that do not display a cross on their buildings. I’ve also shared my growing excitement at the number of large crosses placed near highways. Even as the church seems to be growing colder and colder, there are still numbers of people committed to the Cross as an expression of their faith. It reminds me of Elijah telling G-d, “Hey, I’m that last of the good guys here, and they want to kill me!” Pardon my paraphrasing. How did G-d reply? Yup. Elijah isn’t alone, there are true-born followers of G-d, hidden, cared for. . .

But in all this, do you ever wonder why we seem to be the losers here? When Paul tells of his successes he always says he was persecuted, beaten, rejected. And all for he cause of preaching the cross. In order to move on, to live in this world, there is a constant battle engaging the human senses. There are distractions. We seem to get beat down and begin to lose our hope. And often it comes in the form of an offer for help.

The other day a man took his son to the doctor. The boy complained of an ear ache, which the doctor said was only congestion. What the doctor did then was to tell the father and son all about a particular series of shots that will prevent a sexually transmitted disease. Among the various statistics that the doctor cited was one that said without the shots there was a 70% chance of contracting cancer or other nasty diseases related this human papillomavirus (HPV). The doctor said that even if the boy were to actually find a virgin to marry, the chance the girl was free of HPV was very slim. No hope in this world. No hope for a virus-free girl. No hope.

Our hope is in the Lord Y’shuaJesus. We are the losers of this world. We don’t go along with the world. We really don’t fit in it. The world doesn’t like that, either. The world doesn’t like the Cross, for it is a powerful symbol of resurrection from the dead, of life after death to G-d’s people, to G-d’s chosen ones. Paul says the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. They are dying. The will stay eternally out of the presence of G-d the Father, Y’shuaJesus, Holy Spirit. To us, the true-born believers, the saved, the Cross is the power of G-d to redeem our lives, to give us crowns of His Joy and His Peace. And this happens in His time.

Does that mean there is no hope during our lives on Earth? I think with our hope in our Lord, with our relationship with Him, we have struggles and temptations and trouble, yes, but we certainly also have blessings from Him. We are to seek first the Kingdom of G-d. Then let G-d’s Kingdom bless us.

Lord, have mercy upon us! Amen.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Purge from these

“If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:21)

Paul wrote these words while a prisoner in Rome, to Timothy. He seems to say that there are in the church vessels of gold and silver, as well as vessels wood and of earth. Vessels of gold and silver. The good guys and gals. The true-born believers. The honourable vessels. Then there are the vessels of wood and earth. Worldly men and women within the church. Dishonourable vessels or people. So what is Paul saying here? Is he telling Timothy to purge dishonourable men and women from the church?

There are many occasions when I’m concerned about how easily the Word of G-d might be misunderstood, even misused, by others. Mostly, though, I’m very concerned how I may misunderstand and misuse a particular passage. It goes back to “rightly dividing the Word of Truth.” It’s not just about immediate context and initial readings; it’s about stepping away for the passage to view the the entire chapter and perhaps even a view of the entire book (or letter). Consideration must be made even to the entire breadth of G-d’s Word. Because G-d doesn’t contradict Himself, He provides guidance and support for each individual passage in other places. Make sense?

Okay. Back to purging. I quoted one scripture. I began to write about this scripture. If you were not prayed up and fasted up, not discerning, couldn’t I perhaps have led you to believe Paul was telling Timothy to purge people that aren’t rigtheous, like us, from among the true people of G-d? May G-d forbid me to do such a thing. May G-d give you the discernment that keeps you following in the footsteps of Messiah, even if it means to Golgotha, to the hill, to the cross.

So look here. Early in the chapter, in verse 19, Paul states: “Let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity.” And in verse 16, “But shun profane and vain babblings. . .” And back in the beginning of the Chapter, Paul wrote: “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”

So now, from what or from whom are we purging ourselves? What are “these” of verse 21? Are they not the things that entangle, vain discourse anb babblings, iniquity? I’m pretty sure that’s what “these” are.

And if we purge ourselves of entanglements, vain babblings, iniquity, we shall be vessels of gold and silver, of honour.*

Lord, grant us Your peace, and enable us to be unstained by this world in which we live, for we are of You. Amen.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

* I like the English spelling of Saviour, too. It contains “our” not “or.” The Lord Y’shuaJesus is our Saviour.

The Lord Knows His Own

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” 2Timothy 2:19

The Lord knows His own. Like the true Shepherd that He is, He knows each one of us, and we have a seal. Yet do we know one another? How can be be sure the person to whom we speak is a true-born believer in the Lord Y’shuaJesus?

It’s a valid question, especially today with deception seeming lurking at our own house. A few years ago I spent the weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada. I’d hauled a load of heavy equipment into the city, unloading on Friday, but had to wait until Monday to get another load going out. So on Sunday I went to a small, non-denominational church that was a short walk from the truck stop. It seemed nice inside, though it was what we call a store-front church, located in a shopping center. The service began with praise songs intended to lead toward worship. Before worship approached, the pastor began his talk. And toward the end of the sermon, I realized that there was something missing. Not once in the praise songs was the Name of Jesus spoken. Not once during the sermon was the Name of Jesus spoken. I think Y’shuaJesus had been left out of this church.

On the other hand, I’ve met people that seemed to radiate a Spiritual warmth. Their eyes light up, and they easily speak of The Lord. Occasionally I hear people say, “Have a blessed day.” I think it’s code for G-d Bless you. [which increasingly is becoming a sort of taboo in these United States of America. While we say we have freedom of speech, hard won and maintained for two hundred years, over the last few years political correctness has taken a heavy toll on our liberties.] Once, many years ago, I met a pastor I just knew was a great general in the Lord’s Army. There was something about him. Perhaps it was the way the Lord had sealed him that it just exuded The Spirit.

If you watch a sporting event, there is an announcer that gives the names of the players. There are often programs with players’ names and numbers listed. But we, as Christians, don’t have a program to look at in which the names of The Sealed of G-d are listed. As I pondered this all earlier today, I recalled a song from my days with Calvary Chapel in Susanville, California. One line of the song is, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”

There must, therefore, be a unique form of love expressed only by those who are true-born believers, sealed by The Lord Y’shuaJesus. Let us apprehend this love. Let us express this love. Let us be known as disciples of the One Lord, Savior, Y’shuaJesus, by this love.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Who’s the Deceiver

“Amid honor and dishonor; in defaming and evil report and in praise and good report. We are branded] as deceivers impostors, and yet vindicated as truthful and honest.” 2Co 6:8

“For there are many disorderly and unruly men who are idle vain, empty and misleading talkers and self-deceivers and deceivers of others. This is true especially of those of the circumcision party who have come over from Judaism.” Tit 1:10

“For many imposters seducers, deceivers, and false leaders have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge confess, admit the coming of Jesus Christ the Messiah in bodily form. Such a one is the imposter the seducer, the deceiver, the false leader, the antagonist of Christ and the antichrist.” 2Jn 1:7

Here in America, shortwave radio isn’t too popular. While many cars in other parts of the world are able to receive shortwave broadcasts, most cars in America only receive “AM” and “FM” bands. There are a lot of good broadcasts on shortwave, too. There is a shortwave broadcast around 9 MHz that I listened to the other day on my ham radio that I’m not too sure is good, however.

The “pastor” spoke about deception. He called Mr. Scofield and Mr. Ryrie liars and deceivers. He quoted from Acts 2:38: “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” He then “explained” how the Mr. Ryrie in the Ryrie Study Bible mistranslated a word from the Greek, and that he used that to say that Baptism wasn’t necessary for the remission or rolling back of sin. This “pastor” then quoted Mr. Ryrie as saying: “[the word] for [in the scripture] may here mean “because of,” as in Matthew 12:24.” Again this “pastor” called Mr. Ryrie a liar.

This “pastor” spoke about the false belief that we need not be baptised to remove our sins. He spoke about Christian sects that believe that way, and that it is so wrong. He said baptism is for the forgiveness of sins.

Okay, so I got home in the afternoon and dug out my Ryrie Study Bible to have a look. The complete comment on Acts 2:38 is as follows:

Repent. To change one’s mind; specifically, here, about Jesus of Nazareth, and to acknowledge Him as Lord (= G-d) and Christ (=Messiah). Such repentance brings salvation. There is also a repentance needed in the Christian life in relation to specific sins (2 Cor. 7:9; Rev. 2.5). be baptised. . . for the forgiveness of sins On baptism see note on Matt. 3:11. Water baptism is the outward sign of repentance and forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness is through faith in Christ, not through the act of baptism (for may here mean “because of,”. . .

So, this “pastor” crying out about deception and liars took a small piece of Mr. Ryrie’s comment on Acts 2:38 to run off about. What I hear happening is this: Tear down the work of such people as Mr. Scofield and Mr. Ryrie and substitute a dependence upon themselves for the “correct” interpretation of the scriptures. This, I believe, is happening all over today. Little by little, earlier work is being denigrated, maligned, abused. Eventually these pastors and leaders and teachers gain a foothold in the minds of G-d’s people and will lead them astray. Y’shuaJesus said this was going to happen. And so it is.

What I “hear” Mr. Ryrie saying is that we are forgiven by Lord Y’shua and this is a work within us; We then outwardly display our faith and forgiveness through baptism. Don’t you see the difference?

Let us beware. Let us take all things in devout prayer to our only Savior, our Lord Y’shuaJesus. Let us be gentle yet also wise. Let us investigate what we hear, what we read, what we are encouraged to believe. If we were to be asked by our Lord, “Why did you. . .” What would we reply. Would we say, “Well, the pastor said this was the truth.” Would Y’shua just say, “Oh, sure, okay, no problem.” If we are questioned, we must be able to give answers based upon what we believe, and what we believe must come from our faith, and our faith must come from our Lord.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .