Light In Torah

When Yeshua was asked the question, "What is the greatest commandment?" He responded with an introductory statement of the  Shema : "Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself..." In the passage, Yeshua is quoting from Deuteronomy 6:5. Moses continues: "And these words which I command you this day shall be in your heart, and you shall teach ( shinan ) them diligently to your sons, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up" (Deuteronomy 6:4–7). We are five weeks into our studies in the book of Genesis, and for husbands toward their wives and parents toward their children, it is a good reminder that God commands us—specifically parents—to teach His instructions to our children. Let me say that again. God comman...

Sarah said, "God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me." (Genesis 21:6) Have you ever considered why Peter lists Sarah as a heroine of the faith (1 Peter 3:6)? With all that we have learned about her, it seems that her life of "grim realism" is more accurate than Peter's praise. Betrayal, abuse, vengeance, revenge, anger, frustration, misunderstanding, and humiliation seem to be the proper words to describe her—certainly not submissive, dutiful, or a role model of godly obedience. But perhaps we have not really heard the story. Perhaps we are so familiar with the narrative that we did not hear the cry inside—the deeper reality beneath the common human reactions to the situations Sarah had to endure. When God finally addresses her concern—not having a child of her own—the famous "laughter" passage is engraved on our recollection of Sarah. But what we need to do is enter into Sarah's thought if we are going to really know wh...

Jeremiah commanded the Israelites to build houses, plant gardens, eat their fruit, marry, and have children and grandchildren while they were exiled in Babylon (Jer. 29:5–7). Obviously, no one is in the Land under the visible authority of Messiah Yeshua today, but regardless of where people live physically, they are in exile—or a form of exile—under the spiritual, political, and financial Babylonian system. Finding the right spouse in a Babylonian environment is not impossible, and it is very likely, based on Jeremiah's exhortation. The virtuous woman of Proverbs 31 is most frequently associated with the Moabite woman Ruth; there is more. She personifies wisdom, and she makes an incredible wife, even with her pagan background and cursed nation. Her life has both a physical and a spiritual reality. Those who become the bride of Messiah display these characteristics. These characteristics summarize the great women and men scattered through Scripture, giving us a collective picture of...

Whether you see things in Scripture from a Hebrew perspective or from a Greek perspective... it is true in your eyes. The lenses, like glasses, will determine how you view God, life, and its circumstances. Recently I was visiting with a person, and our discussion took us to how God works all things out for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Rom. 8:28; Gen. 50:20). No matter which perspective or lenses you wear (Hebrew or Greek), this statement rings true. Understanding how God "causes" us to go astray from His ways (Isa. 63:17) is one of those realities. "Why, Lord, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes that are your inheritance" (Isa. 63:17). You may want to read that verse again :-) Your viewpoint will determine a lot about how you read Scripture and how you understand the workings of God. Our first reaction to a statement like this ...

  In a woke world of "anything goes," if we get away from the purity of our roots and GMO our existence with new terminology to guide us, we will find that the fruit of our lives will not reproduce generation after generation. And before you know it, our existence will be no more. Hence, the concept of the seed and its fruit was established on the third day of the creation story (Gen. 1:11–12). The origin of an established word is the foundational bedrock of everything that is built on it. If the foundation shifts or is destroyed, so too will everything that is built on top. Yeshua, the Word made flesh (John 1:14), reminds us that the seed is the Word of God (Luke 8:11). Since the time of Adam's expulsion from the Garden of Eden, the battle between the flesh and the spirit—God's people and the enemy—has always been about the seed (Gen. 3:15). And though the fruit of the seed may look slightly different growing in different types of soil, in different areas of the worl...

Election season is upon us. Who will run our country for the coming years? Democrats? Republicans? Hopefully, the people who shine light on the path of the just (Prov. 4:18). The mudslinging is at an all-time high. It is not just at the candidates, but now, from the left, it is at all the Trump supporters. Wow. What will we get for the next season? I do not know, but I know I am focused on Jeremiah 33:25–26, John 8:39, and Psalm 1, while surrendering to Daniel 2:21! If we have learned anything these past months of political rhetoric, we have seen that life is complicated! Family can be even more complicated! Have you ever noticed that the entire book of Genesis, the foundation of our faith, is about broken, dysfunctional families and the attempt to restore them over time? Unfortunately, in the process, most failed. Some kept it at bay. Others made progress, all the way to Joseph. Challenged families... I do not think anyone is exempt from this reality. However, if you are from the ...

As we head into the Torah portion  Vayera  (Gen. 18–22), I want to give you something else to consider for your own edification and motivation. In Leviticus 26, the section that deals with the blessings that come upon those who keep God's Sabbaths, verse 8 tells us: "...if five of you chase a hundred, and a hundred shall put ten thousand to flight, and your enemies shall fall before you by your sword." Hebrews 11:34 emphasizes the same thing with individuals whose value was much greater than this world. If we took the time to look through every story where a single person—like Samson, Phinehas, or the Apostle Paul—won victories over enemies physically or spiritually, we might be shocked at how often one person made a difference in this world! Later, in the second thematic chapter of blessings and curses that come as a result of obeying His commandments, in the curses section: "How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had ...

Over the past seven studies, we have examined the emotional mindset of Sarah. Now, on the eighth day of this study, we come to her death. Ironically, she is the only woman in Scripture whose age is mentioned at her death: one hundred years and twenty years and seven years (Gen. 23:1). Fortunately, for our sake, Sarah's death is not the end. Twice in the Apostolic Writings (the New Testament), she is referenced as being obedient, holy, and trusting of God (1 Pet. 3:5–6; Heb. 11:11). We can certainly find the first of these attributes in her relationship with Abraham. She follows him obediently into the desert to a land God will show them. She obeys Abraham even when it requires her to submit her body to another man (twice). Personally, I cannot imagine that level of obedience. In Peter's description of holy ( hagios ) women, Sarah is the standard (1 Pet. 3:5): a woman of obedience and hope. Obedience and hope. Peter is arguing that a wife with a disobedient husband must take a n...

Sarah's life has been an emotional and spiritual roller coaster of highs and lows. And with the climax of Sarah giving birth to Isaac (Gen. 21:2) and the covenant of circumcision complete (Gen. 21:4), Sarah has only one thing to say: "God has made a joke ( tzakhak ) of me, and whoever hears will laugh ( tzakhak ) at me" (Gen. 21:6). I know what some of you are thinking... that is not the way the verse reads in my Bible. So, in defense of this translation, if we look closely at laughter ( tzakhak ), we will find sarcasm (Gen. 17:17; 18:12–15; 21:9). There is also a play on words with Isaac's name ( Yitzchak ), since his name comes from the same root word,  tzakhak . Ironically, everyone who hears of the story of Isaac will mock the claim that he came from her (Heb. 11:11). Fast forward a few thousand years to the supernatural birth of Yeshua, and we will find the same. And, if we spiritualize your birth from above, taking into consideration the past, many mock ( tzakha...

Have you ever stopped to consider how many times God has intervened in your life to keep you from committing a devastating sin against yourself, others, and Himself? Abraham and his family are on the way to Gerar (Gen. 20:1). He is about to get a chance at being perfect ( tamim ) (Gen. 17:1). Once again, we have a royal individual who prizes Sarah's beauty. This time it is Abimelech (Gen. 20:2). And once again, she will take on the identity of Abraham's sister. Yes, old habits die hard. Instead of claiming Sarah as his wife, Abraham pawns her off as his sister... what worked in the past should work again. Fortunately, God intervenes in a dream before any hoochie-koo PG-13 action takes place (Gen. 20:3–7). Once again, it appears in this  lekh lekha  journey of Abraham that Sarah is the pawn and another has moral integrity. After the life-threatening dream (Gen. 20:8), Abimelech takes action and confronts Abraham, demanding the truth about Sarah, which Abraham really never gives...

Over the past week, we have been peeling back the layers of the Genesis story. Our focus has been on the emotional and psychological state of Sarai's mind and how she handles life's circumstances in lieu of God's will. The next event within our Abram-Sarai narrative: God visits Abram and renews His covenant promise. To mark the occasion, God changes the names of both Abram and Sarai. Abraham and Sarah now carry God's name in their new names, given by God Himself. And, on top of that landmark event, God leaves another permanent mark of His covenant: circumcision (Gen. 17). It is private and intimate. Once done, it cannot be reversed. With this, Abraham obediently acts, despite the painful process. Sarah re-enters the story during God's next encounter with Abraham. Accompanied by two angels who will soon rescue Lot from the destruction of Sodom, God accepts the hospitality of Abraham and eats a meal near Abraham's tent (Gen. 18:1–8). God tells Abraham that He will...