7.4.26 – Beautiful Zeal

 This week's Torah portion teaches us a lot about Pinchas, legacy, and inheritance. The lessons will continue to come as long as we keep pressing into the functional, practical, and purposeful lifestyle of pursuing the Almighty God of all creation!

This morning I got up at my usual early-thirty and reviewed the story of Pinchas and the oddities found in the text—the broken vav in the word shalom (Num. 25:12), the unusually small yud in Pinchas' name, and the connection between his selfless, sacrificial zeal for God and God's zeal for mankind, as well as the prophetic connections to Him who is known as the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6; John 2:15ff).

Pinchas was not an Isaiah 29:13 man; for God's glory, may I not be either! Speaking of an Isaiah 29:13 man, our favorite character Ruth is the antithesis of the Isaiah 29:13 man—the person who keeps the instructions of God out of habit rather than humility of heart and devotion to His Word:

"These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught" (Isa. 29:13).

Upon deeper reflection, Pinchas' zealous action of stopping Zimri and Cozbi from carrying out the hoochie-koo (PG-13) at the opening of the Tabernacle not only took guts (considering the possible political ramifications), but also incredible humility—which is always at the heart of pure sacrificial love.

Let us go back to a familiar character: Ruth, someone who would have known of Pinchas' valiant zealousness. We find that her humility in laboring during the harvest is a classic Philippians 2:2, where Paul states:

"Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose" (Phil. 2:2).

Can you see how Ruth accomplished all of that toward Naomi? Toward Boaz? Toward those she gleaned after? Toward the One whose wings she found refuge? Can you see, by focusing on the redemptive work at hand in the harvest, how she would bring such joy into everyone's lives?

I have been asked, "Why so much time on Ruth?" The answer is easy! We live in a ruthless world, and her life lessons need to be employed during these ruthless days :-).

How are you doing in mind, love, spirit, and intention in your life? Is Paul's Philippians 2 wish being fulfilled in you? Would his joy be made complete by your actions and attitudes? Yeshua expressed the same reality in John 10:10, where He offered us the opportunity for life and life more abundantly. This abundance is accomplished when we maintain the same mind, love, spirit, and purpose. You cannot have the abundant life by yourself; it is impossible. Abundance is a cooperative, communal concept.

How would I know if I am living an abundant life? Ask yourself: Are the people in my life blessed and/or challenged by my spirit, my purpose, or my benevolence? Naomi was blessed by Ruth! Boaz was captivated by the devoted spirit inside Ruth! Boaz's servant could only sing her praise! Her fellow harvesters were blessed because they got to see Scripture fulfilled as they left behind the gleanings.

Ruth's mind (phroneo) is not about knowledge or intellect! It is about the insights she received from the Spirit. It is about her godly approach to life. It is about a longing for true community and the willingness to stretch hard to attain it! It is about hospitality and compassion toward others. It is a commitment to the way you live, the things you hope for, and the dreams you share. It has very little to do with intellect alone.

When Ruth demonstrated the same love, she was revealing the love that God (Elohim) had demonstrated on her behalf. She showed benevolence toward others at a cost to herself. Maintaining this same love is relational. It is about being, not having. It is not something you own; it is something that only exists in action as you give it to others. Without the action, it is not there. She loved because He loved (1 John 4:19). She mimicked Him, which led to having the same love (1 John 3:16).

Ruth had a unified spirit (sympsychoi)! Unity is not about agreeing on every nuance of doctrine; it is about sharing the same hunger to see God's Kingdom come on earth. It is having the same goal, the same hope, and the same passion. I am sure Ruth was not a carbon copy of those main harvesters who lived in Jerusalem! She probably dressed a little differently. She probably had a different way of expressing herself. She may have prayed differently. She may even have pronounced His name differently. But despite the differences, did they really affect the outcome of her actions? Not at all! Her one purpose (phronountes), her one thinking, is a reiteration and second witness of her one mind (phroneo).

When you and I live out Paul's words—like Ruth, like Pinchas, like Yeshua—we are going to be part of an incredible redemptive process for these last days. Keep working to display the heart of God with your bold and servant-like actions.

Shalom (no broken vav).

Alan

P.S. Amalek was the mindset behind the Holocaust in World War II. Will he rear his ugly head again?

Enjoy your freedom and be careful not to take it for granted.

Happy 4th of July!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

4.4.26 ~ Can You Count to Three?

Image
Today, Saturday 4/4/26, many will celebrate the day that Yeshua was visibly seen risen from the grave (John 20:1; Matt. 28:1–10; Luke 24:1–10)! The day after His resurrection, Yeshua would be out ministering to the doubts of His disciples, helping them realize that He is alive and that the purpose of His resurrection would be catalyzed by their lives. For the disciples closest to Yeshua and those who stood at a safe distance away, it was a time of doubt. The enemy was in hot pursuit. They were fearful for their lives, but just at the God-appointed time, their salvation appeared.  Does that sound vaguely familiar? It should. Earlier this week, on the day after Passover—the 15th of the first month—the natural-born Israelites and those who joined them through the blood of the Lamb exited Egypt and headed toward the sea. In just a few days, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Pharaoh would not be happy that he let the Israelites go; he felt betrayed, and he was hot (Ex. 14:5–9). Mose...
Read more

3.20.25 ~ Pray for Boldness, Not Escape

Good morning! Yesterday, we learned some essential truths about how to 'be still and know that He is God (Psa. 46:10). Today, I want to ask you a different question based on life's ability to throw a wide variety of circumstances at us!  One of the most difficult situations is when we are threatened by someone or some circumstance. Have you ever been threatened?  Oh, maybe no one came up to you with a gun, or shouted at you with malice, or told you that you were going to be tortured or punished.  Maybe all the threat you ever had was the innuendo of rejection, or the social snub or something much less violent than jail time.  But my guess is that if you are traveling the road with Yeshua, living a Torah lifestyle, you know what it means to be threatened. Every time the circumstances of your life look as though they are about to cave in, you are threatened.  It might not be a threat from a physical enemy, then again...but we all know that in one form or another t...
Read more

3.22.25 ~ Zeal Without Boundaries: The Sabbath and the Golden Calf

Shabbat shalom! Although the portion of Vayakhel/and he assembled is almost entirely focused on the construction of the tabernacle, it begins by reminding the children of Israel that no work may be done on the Sabbath (Ex. 35:2,3). Why does it begin here rather than jumping right into how to construct the Tabernacle? Enquiring minds want to know :-) By placing the topic of the Sabbath against the construction of the Tabernacle it's God's way of defining the boundaries of the Sabbath...that even the most intimate work for the Lord needs to be put aside for His 'Date Day'. However, upon further investigation, there’s another layer to understand that connects us back to the golden calf (Ex. 32). As we know, while Moses was up on the mount getting the instructions from God the children of Israel decided to make an object that would replace Moses, their deliverer; The object, later known as the golden calf, originally intended as a 'necessary' means to have God in th...
Read more