Letter from a Judaizer

 

(Well, honesty, I am not. However that is the perception...... so let’s go with it for a while.)

Dear Friend,

First let me express my love for you, my brother and my sister. It was so good to see you. I have truly missed you! I mean that from the bottom of my heart. We went through so much together over the years and I really thought of you as family. I just knew when things got tough you’d have my back no matter what! Through all the church splits, controversy, drama and general difficulties of life I thought we’d always be in one another’s corner through good times and bad….

When we ran into each other in the parking lot at the grocery store recently and you asked me what was going on and how everyone was I could feel the tension in your voice. I knew you didn’t really want an answer to that question. At least not an honest one. The rumor mill had made its rounds and you’d already formed an opinion of me and of my family. I hesitated and chose my words carefully to protect your comfort. Your comfort is what you wanted right? In the past when I have run into old church friends they seem a little shocked and possibly appalled by what I have excitedly shared with them. I have learned honesty is not necessarily what they are looking for. I suppose I cannot blame them. So I know why you were nervous as we spoke. The truth demands an examination and who wants that?! Our lives have radically changed over the last 4 years and it has become very obvious to anyone who knows us. You seemed worried that what I have, and what my family has, might be contagious! So rather than give you details you did not want to hear I politely answered and generalized for your benefit. Or was it for your benefit? I have to admit I am little confused by that.

I am fine. My husband and children are fine. The sky is blue…………etc., etc. We used to share our hearts and now we are sharing the weather report with one another. As we depart and go our separate ways you say, “I will call you” and “We will get together sometime”. The thing is, you have said that the last 5 times I have ran into you here. I really wish you would tell the truth. I think that would be easier to handle than the façade.

The truth has become pretty important to us. I guess you could say He has become everything to us. You see we don’t go to “church” anymore. We realized we are the church and we assemble with others from time to time and especially on the Feast days (in Leviticus). We keep the Sabbath because our Messiah did and nowhere in scripture was that changed. In fact the Catholic Church admits to changing it.  (I really respect their honesty, don’t you ☺) We don’t have a pastor anymore because we learned we have only have one Teacher, one Head, and one Shepherd and we are all brethren and are to serve one another in humility. (1 Cor. 11, Mat. 23, 1 John 2 etc.) We don’t keep Christmas or other popular “Holidays” anymore as we learned of their disturbing pagan origins and it seems God really doesn’t like that! (Jeremiah 10,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZAL80TMLaE&feature=youtu.be etc., etc.)  Christmas is not in scripture and it’s easy to find out that Messiah wasn’t born on December 25^th. Nowhere in scripture are we told to celebrate the birthday of Jesus, but we are commanded to remember his death and resurrection in the Passover. Don't even get me started on Easter.

We have found such rich blessing in our marriage and family in keeping The Feasts of the Lord and His commands. There is nothing in scripture that tells us not to. On the contrary we have found that keeping His commandments demonstrates our love for Him and He has asked us to keep them in Scripture…..even in the red words! (John 14)

So a lot has changed with us. It has been wonderful and difficult at the same time. Wonderful because we have grown so much closer to our God and have seen His hand in our lives like never before! Difficult because just being “us” and walking this out has made us Judaizers in your book. The thing is we have never answered a question you didn’t ask. Regardless we are seen as having some sort of contagious disease that you might contract if you come in contact with us. Some who are a little bolder than you have actually asked us if we have become Jewish. No, we don’t practice Judaism but perhaps a sect of it called “the Way”. We are just trying to be obedient.

I often wonder, if I am that lost and have “fallen from grace”, why are you not discussing it with me? Why are you not trying to get me “saved”? Where have you gone? Am I not worth the effort? If I am deceived can you show me how? I have to wonder if you really love me. I love you and I miss you. I think as hard as it would be to not agree with one another it’s harder still to not have relationship with you. Can we understand one another, not agree and still maintain fellowship? I don’t need you to agree with me to love you.

I am sorry that I make you uncomfortable. That isn’t my intention. My intention is to be like my Messiah and live and walk as He did. I guess that makes me pretty unattractive to you.

Well, stay comfortable friend. It’s hard on this side and the road is really narrow!

 

More than a Conqueror

Unleavened

 

This seems like a strange topic to write about during the fall feasts. As I write this we are celebrating Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets. Yesterday was Shabbat and my husband and I were discussing what it means to be unleavened.

 

Every year since embarking on this journey we have participated in the act of ridding our house of leaven before the Feast of Unleavened bread. It’s my job, and sometimes my kids’ help, to locate and eradicate every crumb of bread that is in the house. It’s quite a laborious task. The toaster is the absolute worst! We were taught that doing this was symbolic and would remind up to get sin out of our lives. It really isn’t that simple. We recently learned that leaven isn’t what we thought it was. Someone very wise brought it to our attention, thankfully!

 

Leaven is not sin as we have always been taught. If it is sin then why did Yeshua compare the Kingdom of Heaven to Leaven in Matthew 13:33? That doesn’t make any sense. Really think about that. If leaven were sin then Yeshua was calling the Kingdom of Heaven sin and we know that is not true.  Right? The bread Yeshua shared at His Passover was leavened bread, "artos" in Greek. Why would He do this if leaven is sin and call it "His body"? Besides those examples there are multiple instances in the New Testament that give us more clues about this. Another is when Yeshua warns his followers to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. He gives this warning in three of the gospels, Mathew 16:6, Mark 8:15 and Luke 12:1. So, I am thinking it might be really important that we understand what “the leaven of the Pharisees” is.  Yeshua goes on to explain that this leaven, the leaven of the Pharisee’s, is hypocrisy. The word Hypocrisy comes from the Greek (transliterated) word "hypokrisis". It gives us a picture of an actor on a stage trying to appear to be what he is not. John 12:42 indicates that some of the rulers believed in Yeshua, but because they feared the impression of the people and other rulers, they did not confess Him. They “acted” or performed differently for acceptance and popularity. They feared the opinion of man. This is hypocrisy and is the leaven of the Pharisees. It is a snare! This is politics folks! It’s everywhere and not just in our government. It’s in our everyday lives and in our places of worship. And it has an uncanny ability to spread!

 

So leaven, just like it is in the physical, is simply an agent that causes things to spread and grow. It’s not bad, it’s not good, it is a conduit. It transports whatever you put in it. I am a baker, so this makes complete sense to me. I have made artisan breads for years. I have made some very good loaves and unfortunately some very bad ones. Most of them have risen because of the yeast I introduce. If something unpleasant somehow makes its way into the dough, the entire loaf takes on the unpleasant taste of that ingredient and it is the same if something pleasant is introduced to the dough. Hypocrisy is a bad ingredient. It is something we must avoid. Hypocrisy is living a lie and we all know who the Father of lies is. We must guard ourselves and not live a lie! We must love truth. We must seek to be honest with others and ourselves. So having finally begun to understand leaven, especially the unsavory ingredient of hypocrisy, and how it has affected our lives and the lives of others around us, we began to ask ourselves what does it mean to be unleavened? Perhaps this is the more important question?

 

So sitting at our kitchen table yesterday morning, with hot cocoa, my laptop and our scriptures spread out before us, we decided to look at every instance of the word “unleavened” in scripture in an attempt to understand the meaning of that word and what it means to be “unleavened.”  The first mention of the word unleavened surprisingly occurs in Genesis 19:3. Lot prepares unleavened bread to feed the messengers of Elohim before he is taken out of Sodom. Next occurrence is in Exodus 12:8 when the Israelites are commanded to prepare unleavened bread before they are taken out of Egypt. This same account is repeated over and over again throughout scripture and they are commanded to continue to remember Father taking them out of Egypt every year by preparing and only eating unleavened bread for 7 days. Other instances of unleavened bread being used occur in burnt offerings to YHVH except in the ordination of priests and in the Nazarite vow where leavened bread is used as well. I don’t begin to understand that, so if you know, please let me know.  So as far as I can tell unleavened bread seems to always be a paired with being taken out or being set apart from the world. Being Holy as He is Holy perhaps? Yes, yes, yes …..without sin, sure, but so much more! It’s deeper than that. I like what Paul said:

 

1 Corinthians 5:6-8

 

 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed, therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

 

Here Paul is calling this kind of leaven pride. He is warning them to empty themselves of pride which is wicked and malicious. These are people that obviously keep the feasts. Outwardly they are doing the right things. Here he is reminding them to clean up and be changed! Being an "unleavened batch" is about being changed on the inside and not just about what you do on the outside.  “Regeneration, not behavior modification.” (Don Harris) Unleavened bread is dead. No life of its own is in it. We are to be dead to our own plans, agenda and ideas and go with Him and be set apart! All the things we “do” will not make a difference if what is on the inside is not right. All the things we do will not change who we are!

 

In other words….I can outwardly keep the commandments. I can keep the feasts. I can learn Hebrew and Greek. I can learn to recite the Shema. I can wear a prayer shawl or scarf over my head and I can memorize the Kiddush and study till my eye balls fall out of my head! I can go to church, synagogue or bible study faithfully. I can attend every conference there is. I can do all these things and not be right on the inside. We must be regenerated or born again to enter the Kingdom of God. The only way to be regenerated is to die and that is a process. Paul said he did this “daily”! Perhaps I am over simplifying this, but I really don't think Father's truths are so complicated that we cannot understand them.

 

So soon it will be the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. This is a time to examine ourselves and prepare for the coming of our King. We are rehearsing the actual event before it happens. Before that happens do you think maybe we need to be “unleavended"? Perhaps this isn’t such a strange topic to explore in preparation for the fall feasts? What do you think?

 

 

Blessings to you in Messiah,

 

More than a conqueror.

 

 

 

 

 

Repent....Return....

Making Bricks Without Straw

Exodus 5:4 But the king of Egypt said, "Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!" 5 Then Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working."

6 That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: 7 "You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. 8 But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies."

For most of us there are times in life when you come to the conclusion that you don't have the inner resources to complete or even cope with the task or tasks put before you. You come to a dead end. This is a place where your efforts seem fruitless and in vain. You shape, mold, sweat and toil and it's to no avail. None the less you have to keep on going. Quitting isn't an option. You are committed and invested. You intend to keep your word and press through. And...you do. Every day. The alarm goes off and it begins again. There is no turning back. It can be frustrating, extremely discouraging, you can feel trapped and tapped of all your energy. You try all the formulas to the equation and it dawns on you that you are missing a key component and you are not the one that can produce it. Pharaoh has played a cruel joke and commanded you to proceed without what you need. You find that you in and of yourself are helpless to remedy the situation. The sun beats down on your head. Your neck and back are tight and fatigued from the strain. You look around and all you see is "Egyptians" that just don't get it! Pharaoh mocks you and laughs at your pain. The days are long and the nights even longer. It can feel like a very lonely place.

You might be facing what seems impossible. There seems to be no remedy or solution for what you are walking through. Well meaning friends try to help you but they don't have any straw either and they don't know where you can get any. You just don't have the materials to "build your bricks." You might be asking, "what I am I going to do?" You might be asking, "why,  Father have you allowed this trouble to come?" Moses asked the same question (which makes me feel a little better, LOL).

Exodus 5:22 Moses returned to the Lord and said, "Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? 23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all."6:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."

And He did it! He will do it for us too! If patterns repeat, and they do, it might be a while before we reach the promise land. Maybe not 40 years, but none the less we are going to have to brave the plagues and some serious lessons in the wilderness. That being said, the good news is, minus a few plagues, we are almost out of Egypt! In the wilderness He will give us what we need (not always what we want). He will teach us, grow us and deliver us.

Exodus 14:13 But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.

Sometimes my emotions get the best of me. My circumstances can feel like they just might swallow me whole, a lot like that Reed Sea. It is amazing how simple things can become in the center of it all when you finally get worn out from building bricks.

I don't have all the answers and it seems like I have less and less the more I learn, but I will share with you what little I do know: (Although, honestly, I don't always act like I know.)

Do not fear.

He is who He says He is. He does what He says He will. He changes not.

He doesn't promise that life will be perfect. It wasn't for Him when He was here. He doesn't promise there won't be loss, pain, suffering or very difficult situations. He doesn't promise others will do what they are supposed to. He doesn't promise that our situations will turn out how we'd like them to. He said we'd have trials and tribulations. That is a promise that we don't always want to remember.

He doesn't promise we won't have regrets or make mistakes. He promises to forgive us when we do when we confess and repent.

He will abide in you when you abide in Him, that's a promise. He does promise to walk with you through it all as He will never leave you or forsake you.

2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light and transient troubles are achieving for us an everlasting glory whose weight is beyond description. 18 We concentrate not on what is seen but on what is not seen, since things seen are temporary, but things not seen are eternal.

So I have to get back to my brick building. I know that without straw there will be no bricks. It's not looking like I am going to get any straw. It's OK.  It's just what I have to do until I leave Egypt. One day the bricks will just be a distant memory, if I remember them at all.
He is about the eternal, not the temporal, the heavenly, not the earthly, the spiritual, not the physical (thank you Andrea).

There are so many promises in that.

Chazak, chazak v’nitchazek! Be strong, be strong and may we be strengthened.

Many blessings to you in Messiah,

More than a Conqueror