12 14 25 – The Grand Illusion of Life

Today is the eve of the traditional date of Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication. No, Hanukkah is not one of the seven feasts of the Lord (Gen. 1:14; Lev. 23). And no, traditionally, Hanukkah's miracle of the oil burning for eight days cannot be validated. So why am I starting out with thoughts on a holiday that is not commanded and has traditions that are not validated? Because there is much more to the story, and over the next eight days—using the new computer that was provided for me by a wonderfully generous lady here in Michigan, and by the hand of the Lord—I want to take you on a journey that Yeshua may or may not have been keeping in John chapter 10:22–31:

And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.
(Jn. 10:22–23)

But for today, I want to reiterate something from yesterday's Torah portion, which I did not get to teach you because I was in Jackson, Michigan, listening to the best presentation on the birth of our Messiah that I have ever experienced. If you have a WhatsApp address, I can send you the transcript and pictures (thanks, Suzanne, for recording everything).

I don't know anybody who doesn't enjoy watching a good illusionist. They appear to do what seems impossible. Although they can entertain people for hours on end, the craft of an illusionist is based on misdirection. They draw your attention to one thing in order to distract you from another. If they want you to watch what one hand is doing, it is usually the other hand that is performing the real illusion. If they point to an object, that is usually where the misdirection takes place.

Strangely enough, we don't mind this. In fact, we pay money to be misguided and have our point of view misled. The Scriptures are continually focused on altering our perspective of reality as well. In every narrative, we can choose the perspective of God or the perspective of the adversary. Life is perspective! What we see all depends on what we are focused on. Are we focused on the good or the bad? The blessings or the curses?

In this past week's study, Vayeshev ("And he settled"), Genesis 37–40 is filled with many different scenarios that can be interpreted differently based on one's perspective of the situation. For instance, Joseph's entire ordeal—being betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, thrown into prison for a crime he didn't commit, etc.—would have been horrible to most people and would certainly be the cause for distress and complaining. But Joseph kept the proper perspective and saw everything as God's plan being fulfilled in his life. Although this truth of choosing to view things through spiritual eyes rather than fleshly eyes is found throughout the Torah, we usually see only what we want to see through our own life perspective. For instance, when Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites, the Torah records that they were

"...bearing gum, balsam, and myrrh..."
(Gen. 37:25)

Why do we need to know what merchandise they were carrying? Don't we just need to know that it was an awful situation for Joseph? But, as is always true with everything within God's Word, we are told these little details for a purpose. Normally, these traders would have been carrying foul, smelly merchandise like animal skins and tar. Therefore, within this sweet, odoriferous detail, the Torah wants us to know that the Lord always cares for His own, even in the worst circumstances. There is always a silver lining to the clouds above if we only but look diligently enough. Joseph was not only attentive but also entirely focused on these minor details in his life.

On the flip side of the coin, we see the opposite perspective when Jacob was shown the blood on Joseph's garment and assumed the worst. At that moment, Jacob filtered his reality through his past experience of pain and suffering, including the loss of Joseph's own mother. His perspective was that of hopelessness. He could do nothing other than mourn deeply.

In chapter 38, Judah perceived his daughter-in-law as a black widow, then a harlot, and then an adulteress, but his perspective eventually changed, and he realized that she was not the enemy but was acting even more righteous than he had done himself.

It seems, however, that Joseph was more perceptive than his entire family. He could have very well felt that the Lord had abandoned him, as most would, but he saw the good in every situation. How did he do this? That is why I gave you Ruben's vase—to remind you that life is always about perspective. When you look at the picture of Ruben's face, do you see the vase? Do you see the faces? Do you see the two profiles facing each other? Nothing has to be changed—only the perspective.

Joseph chose to look beyond the surface and see God's other hand at work in the background of the story. We see this clearly with God's involvement in Joseph's life on several occasions:

"The Lord was with Joseph"
(Gen. 39:3, 23)

Joseph recognized and maintained his joy in the midst of the most difficult circumstances. He could have easily given up if he didn't keep his eye on what God was doing in the background. This is the grand illusion of life. Blessings and curses are contained in the same events. It all depends on how we perceive them. Was it the Lord or Satan? Who did that? It all depends on whose perspective we are seeing from.

What perspective do you usually have when faced with difficult circumstances? What steps will you take to adopt a different perspective and see things more like God sees them in your life and situations? Life is a grand illusion, isn't it?

Shalom!
Happy Hanukkah season! May we be more dedicated (hanukkah) than ever before!