Clearing the way

I am a person who believes the best way to handle any task is to get the hardest part done first and then the rest is smooth sailing.  In keeping with that, I have decided the easiest route along this journey will require the removal of one of the greatest obstacles to having or finding a relationship with God.  Look at the example of the Hebrews as Moses led them out of Egypt.  They knew who God was, but as of yet had no personal relationship with Him.  Whether they fully desired an intimate relationship with God we don’t know, but He deeply desired one with them and had created a plan for one.  That was the point of beginning and He brought them out of Egypt where He would enter into that intimate, blessed relationship with them. 

The first obstacle they faced after fleeing Egypt was the Red Sea. There the Hebrews stood with the Egyptians pursuing them from behind and the sea in front of them.  To the people, the sea was an obstacle, but to God it was just a way for Him to show His love.  He provided a connection for those who had accepted his invitation for a relationship with Him.  The Egyptians however, had chosen to disregard the instructions on the invitation and they paid a high price for not being connected properly.  (I guess you could go all the way back to Egypt on that one!)  Once the Hebrews crossed over the sea, the biggest obstacle, (not of their own making), to a relationship with the one and only God was over.

One of the greatest obstacles for many non-Jews seems to be The Ten Commandments or the Law, as they just can't get past this point.  Many who have heard these words preached have come away from the hearing with a viewpoint of God as a selfish ogre who sits on a throne condemning and throwing lightning bolts down upon us if we don’t cross every t and dot every i.  They, and you may be one of those, have read about God speaking to Moses from a cloud that the people saw as lightning and heard as thunder and were afraid, and they don’t want a relationship with a god like that and believe me, neither do I. 

If I can help you to understand these words from the Hebrew perspective, this understanding will clear the path for the understanding of many other scriptures and concepts throughout the entire Bible.   Remember, the Hebrew people were the ones who were actually there when all these events took place and the recounting of these events have been documented among their people and passed down for centuries with almost no change to the re-telling even when documents were destroyed.  I apologize for this one, but it will be a bit lengthy. Take it in two parts if you have to, but it is necessary for it to be this long.  My intention with this blog is to get you to look closely at scripture you have probably just skimmed over before.  Don’t just read the words, look intently at them, question them, study them, investigate them and let them change you.  Don’t just take my word for it, check out what I am saying with any number of websites that give this information from a Jewish perspective.  If you find that what I have said is not coming from a Jewish perspective, question me and we will discuss, for I may have mistakenly typed something without proofing.  Now, why don’t we get down to business.

A Western World misbelief is when Moses ascended Mt. Sinai to meet with God, he received only the Ten Commandments listed in the first 17 verses of the 20th chapter of Exodus. The truth which has been taught for 4000+ years by the Jews is that Moses received the entire Torah, and the instructions for building the Tabernacle, from God while on that mountain.  If you look closely at Exodus 24:18 you read where Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.  Continue reading Exodus 25:1 through 31:18 and you will see that God gave Moses verbal instructions for the Tabernacle, the Priest’s vestments, Priest’s duties and instructions for the Sabbath along with the tablets of stone.  Moses received all this directly from the mouth of God while in His presence.

Another small obstacle to us as western thinkers is the way scripture is broken down by chapter and verse which in turn encourages us to NOT think in terms of context and a complete storyline. We read a small section and STOP without going further or we take one verse which sometimes is not even a complete sentence and use it out of context. You see, between Exodus 20:1 and 25:1 there are five entire chapters. Everything in them is also a part of the commandments, 613 of them to be exact; 365 negative and 248 positive (365 days in a year and 248 important organs and muscles in our body!  We will be going there at a later date.). Why do we not teach all 613 of those in the Church?  Why do we teach only 10?  Why do we call them commandments?  Is commandment the correct interpretation?  I will answer these one at a time, but in reverse order so my answers make the most sense.

The Hebrew word from Exodus 20:1 is Dabar which generally means speech, words or statements.  Even most English translations will say, "Then God spoke all these words, saying,". The Jews generally refer to them as "The 10 Words".  What difference does it make?  Think about the difference in the sound of the two. Which would you prefer to have from someone, words or commands? It really does matter, because the people who were there when the words were given have passed down for centuries, without fail, the same interpretation; They were 10 Words and God's 10 Words were ways to "connect" with Him, not commands. There is an even greater, more wonderful concept, but I will save that for the parashat (lesson) on this section of scripture.

There are many basic concepts that help a person understand the Hebraic mindset in the scriptures and I am giving you one of these here; connection.  As my Rabbi, Dr. Chad Foster has stated numerous times, think of it in the sense of an electrical outlet.  If I want my computer to give me good information, the first thing I have to do is be connected to power.  My computer may be connected to the internet and have tons of files on the hard drive, but without electricity or a well-charged battery (from electricity) it is rendered absolutely powerless.  I have a laptop that will run on battery power for a while, but when the battery gets low I must plug into a power source or my screen goes black and no more computer. The end of my cord which goes into my laptop has a small round plug and the other end has three prongs and connects into a power outlet.  I have found that I can not go to my Mother-in-law's house and use my computer unless the battery is fully charged, because all the electrical outlets in her house only accept two prongs. I could cut the third prong off of my cord and I would have power, but I know (from an electrical class a few years ago) that eventually my cord would overheat, possibly cause a power surge and could cause either my computer or her house to catch fire. I would connect, but not properly and oh the problems it could cause! Would the power outlet be punishing me?  Of course not, but I would reap the consequences of not connecting in the proper way.  Then again, connect properly and oh the things my computer can do for me.  Is the power outlet rewarding me?  Absolutely not, but I am reaping the rewards of connecting properly to the power source.

 

 

 



 



If you look at all 613 of these "commands" as connections, then you will see them in a different light. They are suddenly not do's and don'ts with a God sitting on a throne ready to throw lightning bolts down on us when we mess up, but ways to have a wonderful relationship with the almighty Creator of the universe.  
One other way to see the receiving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai is as a wedding ceremony between God and His people and the 10 Words are His vows with His Bride.  Think about those connections in light of a marriage.  A marriage relationship is ALWAYS at its best when both parties are connecting properly.  If I want to make my husband happy I will do things for him that he has asked me to do and if he wants to make me happy then he will do the same for me.  If I know that my husband has said that he doesn’t like something and then I say I don’t care and do it any way, we are still married, but now the relationship is strained and something has to be done in order to right the relationship.  Have you ever looked at them in that light?  One other thought on those 10 Words;  If you look closely at all 613 you will see that the first 10 are actually a heading for a section of those connections.  Does that river (or sea) seem like such an obstacle now?

Okay, what about all of these 613 connections?  Why doesn't the Church teach all of them?  Good question.  There are probably many possibilities, but most likely due to our misinterpretation of them as commandments and in our human nature of not wanting to be “controlled” we try to explain them away, so we say they are antiquated.  As humans we don't particularly like being told what to do, so if we think we are being commanded to do something, we balk. We even kind of pick and choose which of the first 10 we obey, do we not?  There are also many that believe Jesus did away with the Law, but did He?  Well, let's look at it through this concept, every time you see "the Law" in the New Testament, replace it with "Torah" and see how much one word can change your perspective on that scripture.

For an answer to the dilemma of whether the Torah was done away with at the coming of (or resurrection of) Jesus look to the words and life of Jesus, himself.  Did Jesus observe the Torah while on earth?  Did He encourage His disciples to observe Torah?  Did He tell His disciples to stop observing Torah?  Look to His words as He makes these statements during His time on earth:

Luke 16:16-17

            “The Torah and the Prophets were proclaimed until John.  Since then it is the Kingdom of God that is being preached as the Good News and anyone entering it must strive to do so.  But it is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for one stroke of the Torah to fail.”

 

Matthew 5:17-19

“Do not think that I came to violate the Torah or the words of the Prophets; I did not come to violate but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter (jot) or stroke (title) shall pass from the Torah until all has been established.  Therefore the man who violates one of these small mitzvots (connections), and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven”

 

Matthew5:23-24

            “Therefore, if you are offering your sacrifice at the altar and remember that your brother has a dispute with you, leave your sacrifice there in front of the altar, and go atone before the face of your brother, then afterward com and offer your sacrifice.”  Would He tell them to offer a sacrifice if He came to do away with the Torah and it’s connections?

 

Matthew 6:16

            “And when you fast…”  fasting is a part of the connections

 

Matthew 8:1-4

            Jesus heals a man with a skin disease and then tells the man to go to the priest and show himself which is in keeping with the connections.

 

           If you read, really read the Gospels with an open eye, searching for the clues, you will see that Jesus kept all the feasts and Holy days and Sabbaths and upheld the Torah.  It’s quite possible that you, like I before beginning my Torah studies, had no clue what the Torah, or even the Gospels for that matter, really said.  Stay with me  over the next weeks and you will probably begin to read things in the scriptures you never saw before.  You do not have to wait until heaven to receive your treasures.  You can receive many of them here and they are grand and glorious.  Our GOD is an awesome GOD!!!!