3.24.25

Good morning!

Besides being a state filled with trees, lakes, rivers and pure beauty, Michigan is hunting territory. The majority have guns and/or bows with arrows for hunting. There is a rumor, and easily proven, that a roaring lion is loose devouring its prey, as a result of not knowing God's ways (Psa. 22:13; Eze. 22:25; 1 Pet. 5:8).

2 Kings 17 describes the same reality that too many of us face on a daily basis (2 Kings 17:25-27). The Lions were eating people and wreaking havoc; not a very pleasant thought.  Are we really talking 'lions and tigers and bears oh my'? Fangs and claws, most likely not. But lions of offense, yes. Huh? When God's offended, the lion(s) are turned loose (Matt. 11:6).

What is the solution?  Build a reinforced 12 gauge fence?  No.  Double bolt your door? No. Work on our rifle or bow marksmanship skills?  No.  The solution that the King of Assyria came up with, is to send for a priest to instruct them how to learn, to be taught/moreh how to shoot straight/yaraw (2 Kings 17:28).

"So one of the priests whom they had carried away into exile from Samaria came and lived at Bethel, and taught/moreh/yaraw them how they should fear/yare" (2 Kings 17:28)

There is always a goal in being taught/moreh. It's about shooting straight or throwing straight/yaraw to hit the bullseye of a target. The people who had walked away from the Lord were up a creek without a paddle and didn't know what to do about their dilemma, until...The priest taught them the proper way to worship, the way that was acceptable to God, the way that shot the arrow right into the bull’s eye (Lev. 10:10).

Ironically, the word moreh comes from the same word as Torah/yaraw/God's instructions. If sin is to miss the mark (1 Jn. 3:4), to shoot straight/yaraw is to practice Torah.  To hit the mark is to follow Torah.  If you want to be spiritually accurate in your life, line up with Torah.

Torah/God's instructions <-- yaraw/shoot or throw straight --> moreh/to learn, be taught
VS
Sin/chatat/miss the mark

What an amazing story here in 2 Kings...A priest is sent to foreigners in order to instruct them in the Torah so that the danger to their lives will pass; evangelism at its best! What makes it strange is the foreign king of Assyria is 'the fish' asking for 'the fisherman' to come catch him...bizarre (2 Kings 17:27)!   The priest lives with the people and the people are given Torah-based instruction.  Each one of these actions is unexpected.   Foreign kings don’t send for Godly priests.  God's priests don’t live with Gentiles.  And too many don’t accept/moreh or practice/yaraw God's instructions/torah.

With the lions stopped, we'd think that the people wholeheartedly served the Lord...nope. These guys appear to have set the lukewarm pattern for the church of Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22).
"they feared the Lord and set up the lowest priests in the high places...(2 Kgs. 17:32)
"they feared the Lord and served their own gods..." (2 Kgs. 17:33)
"until this day they do after their former manners...not after the commandments of the Lord..." (2 Kgs. 17:34)
After correct instruction...
"howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after the former manner. They feared the Lord and served their graven images...so do they to this day."  (2 Kgs 17:40)

Sometimes it takes a priest to show us how.  BTW: Isn't that we're called to be (Ex. 19:3-6; 1 Pet. 2:5-9; Rev. 5:10)? I don’t know anyone who learned archery or shooting a gun by reading a book or listening to a seminar.  They had to go into the field with their guns and bullets or, string the bow, pull the line and practice many, many times before they could hit the target.  Torah is an art that requires experiential involvement.  It's not mastered through a sermon, Sunday School, a Shabbat study, a bible conference or watching videos. It's mastered through participation!

The question on this 2nd day of the week, with Passover 2 weeks away, how’s your aim/yaraw?  Do you need some help from an instructor/moreh or have you gotten used to the beasts (1 Cor. 15:32)?

If you need some motivation to defeat the lions, tune into the zoom call tonight at 8:00 p.m. EST, 699 858 9149, as we finalize the book of Exodus, the book of names, we will identify the finished product of the Tabernacle; the bride (Ex. 40; Rev. 21:1-3).

Passover's coming!
Shalom!

p.s. If you're ordering a Passover/Unleavened Bread T-shirt, I need to turn in orders today.

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