deuteronomy 16:18 to 21:9.....isaiah 51:12-52:12

15-September-2017

Shoftim

Haftarah reflections   47

Torah portion                    Deuteronomy 16:18 to 21:9

Haftarah portion             Isaiah 51:12 – 52:12

                

Listen to the Prophets

The first ‘consolation’ prophecy in this series opened with the words “Comfort, yes comfort My people”. In the fourth of these seven words of ‘consolation’ brought by Isaiah, which is our parashah study this week, the Lord plainly declares that it is He Himself who is the ‘Comforter’.

In the midst of all their desolation and harassment, God says “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and the son of a man who will be made like grass”.

This is a ‘comfort’ for all who believe. Isaiah is making a prophetic announcement which is still to come. It is a prophecy about the Messianic Kingdom. Regardless of the circumstance we may see in the world of today, widespread apathy, Islam in rampant militancy and murderous hatred, erosion of morality both in the populace and globally in the political class. We are being reminded here that these matters are in the hands of mere men. Men will die. Sons of men will fade like grass fades. Our God is in control, nothing is out of His control, and He will bring the change that is necessary, but in His own perfect timing.

But the prophet reminds us too that the calamitous situation which Jerusalem then experienced, (and which we see happening in our fallen world today) was because of their disregard of God’s instructions. “You have drunk of the cup of trembling” he says “and drained it out”. In paraphrase, he goes on to tell them that they have lost direction, they have no-one to guide them. He asks the questions “Who will be sorry for you?” and “By whom will I comfort you?” They are hard questions, because the prophet was perfectly aware of the plight they were in, and that their plight would continue.

The questions are the same for us today. The arrogant disregard shown by the vast majority of nations and individuals to the commands of a Holy God is appalling. Even nations which are basically, but nominally, Christian, show scant regard for the authority of the Scriptures which is the ‘guide book’ of Christian living. The boundaries of secularism are extending beyond belief. God is treated like some fairy tale Santa Claus who is there to do our bidding. And to be blamed for every catastrophe that man is powerless to prevent.

But there is good news.

There will be change. Jerusalem will be a praise in the world again. “Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city!”  In paraphrase again, the Lord says that when He allowed them to experience the calamity of dispersion, He did not sell them. They were not traded off for anything or anyone else. So He does not have to buy them back, they are His to restore at any time of His choosing. And when He does, they will again be free to worship Him as he has instructed them. “For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you”, He says.

This raises a question about Gentiles, doesn’t it?  Lamentations 1:10 tells us “For she has seen the nations enter the sanctuary. Those whom You commanded not to enter Your assembly”. And Ezekiel 44:9, speaking about the Temple in the Messianic Age says “No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter My sanctuary”. Well, the Apostle Paul comes to the rescue here. He teaches in Colossians 2:11 that Gentile believers are circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands. And in Romans 2:26 that the uncircumcised man who keeps the requirements of Torah, then his uncircumcision will be regarded as circumcision. In Revelation 21 and 22 we read of the salvation of those whose names are written in the Book of Life. That includes many Gentile believers of course. It is the time when Jew and Gentile will be One New Man before the Lord. The One New Man who will worship before the Throne in the Messianic Kingdom to come. Hallelujah!

“For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all he ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God”

What greater ‘comfort’ could there be than that. Blessed be His name.

Shabbat Shalom

RS

COMFORT CHAPTERS ......from Zion reflections

Va’etchanan

Haftarah reflections 44  

Torah portion                    Deuteronomy 3:23 to 7:11

Haftarah portion             Isaiah 40: 1-26    

             

Listen to the Prophets

The Haftarah studies in Isaiah, which commenced last week, continue for the next seven weeks. Chapter and verse additions are a relatively modern convenience, and it has been observed that the 66 chapters of Isaiah appear to mirror the structure of our complete Bible, which has 66 books. The Hebrew Scriptures have 39 books, the Apostolic Scriptures 27, and Isaiah seems to have messages which appear to follow that kind of division. Our parashah today, Isaiah 40, begins a succession of, what are called, ‘comfort’ chapters. It certainly has the Messianic tone with which the Apostolic Scriptures commence..

“’Comfort, yes comfort My people’ says your God.”  Many Christian organizations working in Israel today use these words as a command of God to provide material assistance to those in need in the land. A noble work, and certainly well received by the needy there, and a work which has verifying authority in other Scriptures. But that is not the primary message of this exhortation of Isaiah. God has instructed Isaiah to “speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”  That is the message of comfort which Israel receives from Isaiah. And it is a message which has its fulfilment in the coming of Messiah.

Prophetic Scripture often has multiple fulfilment, and that is true of our parashah today. Messiah Yeshua came to this earth almost 700 years after this prophecy was given. History records that many tens of thousands of Jews came to faith in the first century c.e. (Acts 21). John the baptizer was that ‘voice crying in the wilderness’ of verse 3, and he was definitely one who said to the cities of Judah “Behold your God!” But this prophecy has elements which have yet to be fulfilled. Isaiah sees the time when “her iniquity is pardoned” completely. That could not be the case, when in the second century, Israel was completely banished from the Land of Israel by the Romans. That could not be the case when history records the pogroms and mistreatment Jews received at the hands of many nations to which they fled. And often, during the period known as ‘the inquisition’ given the option of abandoning their faith or being put to death. Being banished from Britain in 1290 by King Edward 1, a ban which remained until Oliver Cromwell in 1665. Banished from Spain in 1492, one day before ‘tisha b’av’, by Ferdinand and Isabella. Six million Jews put to death in the holocaust. If that does not constitute receiving “double for all her sins”, I am at a loss to explain it.

The prophet continues, “Behold the Lord God shall come with a strong hand”. One of the reasons many Jews could not see Yeshua as Messiah was that they did not see Him as the ‘strong man’ Messiah they expected, and still expect. They were, at that time, looking for a Messiah who would overthrow the tyrannical Roman rule to which they were subject. Isaiah describes such a Messiah in this parashah. All powerful, all mighty, all conquering, all caring, all protecting, all forgiving.

In praise of Almighty God, Creator of the Universe, the prophet writes eloquently “To whom then will you liken God?” Then in comparison to the most skilled artisans they could imagine, he describes, in simple language, the attributes of the One who is their redeemer.

“It is He who sits above the circle of the earth.”

“Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created all these things’”

It is He who created all things, He who put all things in right order, He who has the power of life and death, it is He, and He alone, who has the power to ‘pardon iniquity’.

What greater comfort can anyone receive than to know that one is pardoned of all iniquity? To have the barrier to communion with a Holy God swept away, cast into the depths of the sea, forgotten, as though that iniquity never existed.  There is NO greater comfort.

Isaiah is describing the conditions which are the hallmark of “The New Covenant”. He sees the time when men will live righteously before our Holy Creator, and with each other. “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” says Jeremiah 31:34

It is the time when Messiah Yeshua returns to rule and reign in Jerusalem. It is the time, of which, the Apostle Paul declares “All Israel will be saved”. It is the time when Israel will recognize Him, with eyes now opened.  And it is a time of joy for all Gentiles who are ‘grafted in’ to that ‘natural Olive Tree’, which is Israel.

Shabbat Shalom

RS

“But if you refuse and rebel ………”zion-voice refection

Torah portion                    Deuteronomy 1:1 to 3:22

Haftarah portion             Isaiah 1: 1-27 

                    

Listen to the Prophets

Isaiah was from a respected family. He grew up in Jerusalem, and in addition to being well educated, was both familiar and maintained contact with, the royal court.

Isaiah’s prophetic writings extend for about 60 years from 740 b.c.e. He wrote at a time of great testing for his fellow Judeans. And Israel, their ‘cousins’ and Northern neighbours, were in desperate trouble due to idolatry and their wanton disregard of their covenantal responsibilities.

Our parashah opens with a tirade of judgment against Judah. There is not a comforting word on his lips. (well, perhaps one!) His education and his royal contacts ensured that he was well versed in the situation in the broader community in which he lived. He was certainly aware of the calamity about to visit Israel in the form of their Assyrian enemies. He also knew, from God, why these things were happening, and was commissioned by God to bring the warning voice to his own people, Judah.

The Temple which Solomon had built was now about 200 years old and was being seriously neglected. It was as though no-one cared. The priests were slack in their responsibilities, both to the people and to their care for the Temple. There was an outward appearance of ‘religiosity’ but inwardly they were self-seeking and neglectful. Then God visited Isaiah with a remarkable vision. He saw it all clearly. The light of God’s Spirit shone in to the dark corners of their life. Everything was exposed. God spoke, and still speaks, powerfully through this faithful man Isaiah.

“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” And more, “When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear, your hands are full of blood.”

Such devastating condemnation from the Lord God Himself.

“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away your evil doings from before My eyes, cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, defend the fatherless, plead for the widow”.

Then, for any with a modicum of decency, the words which may bring comfort. These words could be spoken by the Apostle Paul in the course of his evangelical missions to the Gentile nations, three quarters of a century later, but they were penned by Isaiah.

“Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord, “though your sins be like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

 “But if you refuse and rebel ………”

The message contained in this Scripture for us today?

God was inviting His chosen ones to review their lifestyle. Over many years, they had slipped into bad practices. There was a lackadaisical familiarity to their pretence at worship. O, they turned up alright, they brought the sacrifices, even going through the motions of praying. So what was the problem? They had lost sight of the basics of God’s intent when He gave them those instructions on how to live righteously with each other and before Him. They were selfish and self-centred, even self-seeking. They lacked sincerity in their worship. God saw it as a sham.

Their attitudes had become a barrier to communion with a Holy God. Is it possible that we may be similarly found wanting? The call of God, through the prophet is as relevant today as it was then. 

“Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord, “though your sins be like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

It is a precious characteristic of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that He does not cast us away. We may choose to leave Him, but He does not leave us. He gives us opportunity, as He did these Israelites in Isaiah’s day, to turn around so as once again to head in the right direction.

Moses said in Deuteronomy 30:19,                                                                  

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life”

Shabbat Shalom

from:

ZION-VOICE REFECTIONS

Rut 1:1-22 Noemi reflejos de una buena madre 2/part

Rut 1:1-22 Noemi reflejos de buena madre 1/part

lucas 24:50-52 Ascension 2part

lucas 2:50-53...la Ascension 1parte