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அமேசன் காட்டில் கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்ட விசித்திர உருவம்!
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Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Monday, June 15, 2015
How to be a Help to Your Church
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By Dr. Dale A. Robbins
 1. Be faithful to attend and participate — Commit yourself to the church and let them know they can count on you. Obviously you can’t be of much help if you don’t show up or take part. Some people underestimate their value of simply being present. Joining together with others adds to their encouragement, and it encourages the leaders and the pastor who have prayed and prepared all week to minister to you (Heb. 10:24-25). It helps your pastor and the whole church for you to come faithfully and on time. And don’t merely sit there like a bump on a log. Be friendly, put a smile on your face, and enter into the service by singing and worshiping. You can even utter an audible Amen or two when the pastor makes a good point. Go ahead, it’ll make his day!2. Commit yourself to love the Lord and your brethren — The Bible teaches that all the desires of God are condensed into only two cardinal commandments that Jesus gave to His followers. He said, “...You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). By clothing ourselves in God’s love, we help the church to reinforce this objective for every believer, and we also help to eliminate the elements of conflict and division which can hinder the unity of the church. “I... beseech you to have a walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:1-3). 3. Pray for your church, its pastors and leaders — The Apostle Paul explained that it is the duty of Christians to pray for all who are in authority, especially those in spiritual authority. “I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence” (1 Tim. 2:1-2). Your church leaders are on the cutting edge of the battle with Satan, and will face temptations and spiritual conflict unlike anything you could imagine. The devil knows that if he can topple a spiritual leader or get him discouraged enough to quit, it will have a domino effect on the rest of the church. You can be a tremendous help by praying fervently for your church, and especially for the pastor and his family. Especially helpful, attend the church prayer meetings, where you can come into agreement with others, and where the pastors and leaders can see and feel your prayer support for them and the church. God promised special strength through the combined prayer of His children. “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven” (Matt. 18:19). 4. Get to know your spiritual leaders and cooperate with them — The more you get to know them and their Godly life-style, the more you will likely come to trust their leadership. You will have a greater credibility in their teaching and counsel (1 Thes. 5:12). Show respect and cooperate with their authority. Avoid challenging their right or worthiness to serve in their position, but accept that God has seen fit to place them in this role (Rom. 13:1). Belligerence or antagonism toward leadership may be acceptable in secular society, but there is no place for it in the Lord’s church. “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account...” (Heb. 13:17). 5. Help shoulder the load of responsibility — Pastors and leaders of the church often feel much like Moses did when Israel fought with Amelek. Their arms become weary under the weight of so many responsibilities and they need brothers and sisters to stand beside them and help distribute the load. “But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun” (Ex. 17:12). The Lord never intended for the whole ministry of the church to be carried solely by the pastor or a mere handful of people. It’s said that 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people, and sadly, this has caused the “burnout” of its many outstanding workers. If everyone would simply pitch in and do their fair share in helping, serving, and giving, all the needs would be met and no one would be overburdened. Be willing to volunteer with whatever needs done and don’t be finicky about what you will or will not do. Do as the scripture says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might...” (Ecl. 9:10). And don’t help out just for strokes of attention, but do it for God’s glory. A church is like any other organization with human resources. No one ever starts out at the top. Everyone knows that we have to start at the “entry level.” But if a believer continues to grow strong in Christian character and proves faithful and responsible to the basic tasks given to them in the church, they will likely be promoted to greater responsibility and ministry. “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much” (Luke 16:10). 6. Apply the teaching and ministry to your life — There’s not much that a pastor loves more than to see his flock practicing what he has preached, living a Godly, holy life, and on their knees seeking the Lord. Learn to appreciate the spiritual values they try to instill in you and the congregation. “Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern” (Phil. 3:17). It helps your church when you live and conduct yourself in a Christ-like manner. Whether you realize it or, you’re a walking billboard for your church. Whatever the people of your community see in your life, they will tend to identify with your pastor and his flock. Behave yourself and speak well of the church and your pastor. Eyes and ears are always open to the things you say and do. 7. Seek out and use your gifts — According to the scriptures, the Lord distributes gifts to each in the body as it pleases Him. Spiritual gifts are not provided to you merely for your own gratification, but so the church would be edified or built up. God has given you gifts that will be a help to your church -- it is up to you to discover them, develop and utilize them under the direction and cooperation with your spiritual leaders. By doing so, you will glorify God and be a great help to your church. “Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel” (1 Cor. 14:12). 8. Contribute to solutions and not to problems — Every pastor would be thrilled if each of his flock got involved and helped the church in some way. However, they would rejoice if certain ones simply stopped being a pain in the neck! It’s a shame that pastors spend so much time “putting out fires,” that is, squelching problems that could have a negative influence on the whole body, such as gossip, rumors, complaining, misunderstandings, hurt feelings, discontent and so forth. Regrettably, it has been said that 90% of these kinds of problems are generated among the same 10% of the people. Spiritually mature persons who wish to help their church don’t become a part of such problems -- instead, they contribute to solutions. They avoid divisive people (Rom. 16:17) and don’t get caught up in the mischief or grievances of others (1 Tim. 5:13). If they are aware of spreading problems in the fellowship, they will try to bring a resolution, or else they bring matters to the attention of spiritual leadership so that they can bring an end to it (Matt. 18:15-17). People who wish to be an asset to their church don’t participate with or spread problems -- they help spiritual leadership resolve them. |
Friday, June 12, 2015
Please pray for peace in Jerusalem,
The handwritten text of the Torah scroll
Carrying the Torah scrolls at the Western Wall
Israeli Orthodox Jewish mothers and children
Ancient mikvah in Israel
Qasr el Yahud (lit. Castle of the Jews), an immersion site in the Jordan
River Valley, is the traditional spot where Yeshua's mikvah took place
(Matthew 3:13–17). According to tradition, it is at this very spot the
Israelites crossed the Jordan River and the prophet Elijah ascended
to heaven.
A page from a Passover Haggadah with
colorful art.
Are you blessed Senadheera, by our weekly Shabbat Torah teaching?
Help Share God's Word this Shabbat, click now
A Jewish boy wearing tefillin (phylacteries)
carries the Torah.
The Four Questions in an English Haggadah.
Dear All Please pray for peace in Jerusalem.
Torah scroll and a wooden yad (Torah pointer)
Israeli grapes
The Animals Entering Noah's Ark, by Jacopo Bassano
A dairy farm in Israel (Photo by Luz Prieto)
A Jewish woman buys fruit from a Druze Muslim in the Golan Heights.
Moses Intercedes for the People
A Jewish teen wearing a tallit (prayer shawl) and a kippah (head
covering) prays using a siddur (prayer book).
Torah ark at the Western (Wailing) Wall (Photo by
James Emery)
Two ultra-Orthodox Jewish men have a conversation in Jerusalem.
An Ethiopian Jewish man and a Kes, a religious leader of the
Ethiopian Jews, carry the Torah.
A mother and daughter share a moment at the Dead Sea in Israel.
The handwritten text of the Torah scroll
Shabbat Shalom,
Welcome to Metzora (Infected One), this week’s Torah portion.
Because this Shabbat is just before Passover, which starts next Friday evening, it is called Shabbat HaGadol (Great Shabbat), and a special Haftarah portion from Malachi is read that speaks of the coming of Messiah.
Please read along with us. We know you will be blessed!
METZORA (Infected One)
Leviticus 14:1–15:33; Malachi 3:4–24; Matthew 8:1–4, 11:2–6; John 1:19–34
“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “This will be the law of the leper [metzora] for the day of his cleansing.” (Leviticus 14:1)
Carrying the Torah scrolls at the Western Wall
Last week in Parasha Tazria, God gave the laws pertaining to ritual purity and impurity for childbirth. It also identified tzara'at, skin afflictions that caused a person to be ritually impure.
This week, Parasha Metzora continues with the theme of Tazria. In it, God gives Moses the law for the recovered metzora (commonly mistranslated as leper) and the ritual purification of the metzora by the kohen (priest).
If the kohen determined that the metzora had healed, he or she underwent a process of ritual cleansing that began with the offering of two birds, one which was sacrificed and the other which was set free.
Then the healed metzora washed his clothes, shaved his body, and entered the mikvah(ritual bath) before being allowed back into the camp. Though he could enter the general camp, for seven days he had to remain outside his home.
On the eighth day (eight being a number that symbolizes new beginnings), the healed person brought a grain and a guilt offering (minchah and asham).
As part of the cleansing ceremony, the kohen would put some of the blood of the offering on the tip of the right ear of the person to be cleansed, and on the thumb of the right hand and on the big toe of the right foot (Leviticus 14:14).
This represents cleansing of the total person from everything we hear, everything we do, and every path we take.
For those serious about remaining in the community as whole, healed people, it also represents a determination to remain holy by being careful about what one hears, deliberate in what one does, and mindful of where one goes.
Israeli Orthodox Jewish mothers and children
On this Holy Shabbat you can bless God's work, and receive blessings according to His riches in Heaven
Not only did people need to be healed and ritually cleaned of tzara'at — even houses could be infected.
When such an affliction invaded a home, just like a malignant cancer, it had to be cut out and removed. Even the stones and timber would be removed from the house and carried off to a designated “unclean place.”
Sometimes, however, the only remedy for the infection was the total destruction of the entire house (Leviticus 14:43–45).
King Solomon, in all his wisdom, wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes that there is a time to build up but also a time to tear down.
Likewise, sometimes we find ourselves in environments that are toxic. When that environment resists the cure, and nothing we do can cleanse the situation so that it becomes beneficial to human life, health, and growth, we must move from this situation and start over, despite the heavy cost and losses involved.
Although some may encounter such times when a relationship has become so defiled and unhealthy that they must move on, trusting that God will help them begin anew, most certainly, discernment from the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) is necessary to know when to keep holding on in faith and when to move on.
Ancient mikvah in Israel
The Mikvah’s Cleansing Waters
Parasha Metzora also deals with cleansing from bodily secretions, the laws of niddah (a woman’s menstrual cycle), and sexual relations within marriage.
The law of niddah calls upon a woman to be separated from the community for a period of seven days during her menstrual cycle (Leviticus 15:19–31).
Sexual relations are forbidden at this time between a husband and his wife, and may only be resumed after the woman has properly immersed herself in the mikvah (ritual water immersion).
Complete immersion (tevilah) is one of the primary Biblical ways of effecting ritual purification, and it is essential to purity and holiness in Judaism. In fact, in Temple times, anyone who entered the Temple, including priests, first immersed in a mikvah.
Qasr el Yahud (lit. Castle of the Jews), an immersion site in the Jordan
River Valley, is the traditional spot where Yeshua's mikvah took place
(Matthew 3:13–17). According to tradition, it is at this very spot the
Israelites crossed the Jordan River and the prophet Elijah ascended
to heaven.
Although Temple sacrifices have been interrupted, the ritual use of the mikvah has continued to this day.
The mikvah in Israel and around the world is a private affair, usually maintained in an inconspicuous building.
Women immerse themselves without clothing, with only a female attendant present to witness her full immersion. Sometimes the facility provides cosmetics, creams, and lotions for the woman to beautify herself before returning home to resume relations with her husband.
The mikvah, however, is not only for Family Purity. It is used for the conversion of Gentiles to Judaism. As well, some pious Jews immerse before Shabbat and some special Holy Days.
The mikvah is seen to symbolize spiritual rebirth, and the Christian ceremony of baptism has its roots in this Jewish rite. Indeed, the immersion of Yeshua by Yochanan (John) was actually a mikvah (John 1:19–28).
“Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)
A page from a Passover Haggadah with
colorful art.
Shabbat HaGadol
“For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all that work wickedness, shall be stubble; and the day that comes shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” (Malachi 4:1)
This year, Parasha Metzora is read on the Sabbath that precedes Pesach (Passover). That's right! Pesach begins next week!
It is a special Sabbath called Shabbat HaGadol (the Great Sabbath). For the Haftarah (prophetic portion), Malachi 3:4–24 is read. This prophecy references the coming of the Messiah — the Day of the Lord!
Hearing that the Day of the Lord is coming soon is good news for those of us who look to Yeshua’s (Jesus) return for our redemption; but for those who reject the Lord and work wickedness, it will be a terrible day of judgment.
A Jewish boy wearing tefillin (phylacteries)
carries the Torah.
In this chapter of Malachi, the way of teshuvah (repentance) back to the Lord is described in terms of giving. The whole nation of Israel was under a curse because they had robbed God by not bringing their tithes and offerings; but great blessings were promised to those who would obey God’s command to give.
“Bring the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall be more than sufficiency.” (Malachi 3:10)
Before the coming of this day, however, it is traditionally believed that God will send Elijah the prophet — the one who never died but went up to heaven alive in a fiery chariot. For this reason, a place is set at every Passover Seder (ritual meal) for Eliyahu HaNavi (Elijah the Prophet) in the hopes that this will be the year he arrives, signaling the imminent coming of the Messiah.
"Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord." (Malachi 4:5)
The Four Questions in an English Haggadah.
On Shabbat HaGadol, the Haggadah (The Telling) is read in preparation for Pesach. Specifically, the Four Questions are read.
The first question is, "Why is this night different from all other nights?"
The word haggadah is derived from lehagid, which means to tell.
The Zohar (Jewish mystical book) states that lehagid has the connotation of revealing a secret. Furthermore, it states that the word Pesach (Passover) comes from Peh Sakh, which means the mouth opens and speaks.
As Believers, we understand that Passover does indeed contain a great secret; it looks forward to the redemption of mankind through the coming of the Messiah.
Indeed, Yeshua fulfilled Passover perfectly by becoming our Paschal lamb, our perfect guilt offering once and for all (Genesis 22:7–8; Isaiah 53:10; John 1:29; Hebrews 10:10; Romans 6:10).
In this Passover season, may we open our mouths and boldly speak of why this night is different than all other nights!
You can help Bibles For Israel bring the Good News of Yeshua to the Jewish People this Pesach (Passover).
Dear All Please pray for peace in Jerusalem.
Shabbat shalom,
Welcome to our study for this week’s Torah portion, which is called Shelach Lecha(Send Forth).
This is the portion of Scripture that will be read in synagogues around the world this Saturday
(Shabbat) morning. We are certain you will be blessed as you read along with us!
(Shabbat) morning. We are certain you will be blessed as you read along with us!
Parasha Shelach Lecha (Send Forth)
Numbers 13:1–15:41; Joshua 2:1–24; Romans 4:1–25
“Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, ‘Send out for yourself (shelach lecha שְׁלַח-לְך)men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers' tribes, every one a leader among them.’" (Numbers 13:1–2)
Last week in Parasha Behaalotecha, God commanded Aaron to light the lamps of the Menorah, and the tribe of Levi was initiated into the service of the Sanctuary.
This week’s Parasha (Scripture portion) describes how God tests the Israelites by sending out 12 meraglim (spies) to check out the situation in the Promised Land (as God had commanded them) before going in to take possession of it.
Torah scroll and a wooden yad (Torah pointer)
The Promised Land Is Bountiful
“‘Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land.’ Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.” (Numbers 13:20)
God instructed Moses to send one chieftain from each of the 12 tribes of Israel to scout out the land of Canaan. Among the spies were Caleb, son of Jephunneh from the Tribe of Judah and Hosea (Hoshea), son of Nun from the Tribe of Ephraim. Later, Moses changed Hosea’s name to Joshua.
When Moses sent out the spies, it was the season of the first ripe grapes. They were to go in with courage and bring back a sample of the fruit of the Land. They were also to assess the characteristics of the inhabitants, the fortification of the cities, and the existence of any trees.
After 40 days, they returned with a cluster of grapes from the Valley of Eshkol(cluster), which was so bountiful that they had to tie the cluster to a pole and carry it on their shoulders. Here in Israel, the grapes are still tiny at the beginning of June. They will begin to ripen around mid-July in the heat of summer. So it is likely that the spies went into the Promised Land around the end of July.
The spies also brought back pomegranates and figs. These fruits grow in abundance today in the Land of Israel—a miracle since this land lay barren and lifeless for about 2,000 years. The fact that the Land of Israel is fruitful again is evidence of God’s great mercy and grace, as well as His faithfulness to His covenant promises.
Israeli grapes
The Number 40
Why were the spies scouting the land of Canaan for 40 days? Why not a month or two weeks?
The number 40 is significant in the Bible as it is the number of testing, preparation and leadership, as well as the harbinger of something new. (Jewish Wisdom in the Numbers)
We see this pattern many times in the Scriptures:
- In a dramatic new beginning, rain fell for 40 days and nights during the Flood before the waters stopped and the world was repopulated. (Genesis 7:4)
- Moses lived in Egypt for 40 years, was prepared for leadership in Midian for 40 years; and finally led the children of Israel in the wilderness for 40 years as a new nation.
- Moses fasted on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights before he went down the mountain with the Ten Commandments.
“Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.” (Exodus 34:28)
- Goliath challenged the Israelites twice a day for 40 days before David defeated him, which began a great following by the people. (1 Samuel 17:16)
- Yeshua was tested by the devil in the wilderness for 40 days before He began His public ministry.
“Then Yeshua was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’” (Matthew 4:1–3)
- The period from the resurrection of Yeshua to His ascension was 40 days, a period of preparing the disciples for the work that lay ahead. (Acts 1:3)
The Animals Entering Noah's Ark, by Jacopo Bassano
10 Spies Inspire Fear Rather Than Faith
“There we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” (Numbers 13:33)
After 40 days, all 12 spies essentially testified to the entire Israelite community and Moses that the land “does flow with milk and honey!” just as God had promised. Despite that, they also saw that the cities were fortified and that giants live in the Land.
Rather than focusing on the great fruitfulness of the Land, they focus, instead, on the great size of the inhabitants in contrast to their own smallness.
Caleb tried to counter their defeatist attitude by assuring the people, “We are well able to overcome it” with God’s help. He urged them, “Let us go up at once and occupy it.” (Numbers 13:30)
The other 10 spies, however, instilled such fear in the people that the whole Israelite community began to cry and shout, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness!” (Numbers 14:1–2)
A dairy farm in Israel (Photo by Luz Prieto)
In their apprehension, they forgot how the Lord had sent ten plagues and even parted a sea for them, so they cried more: “Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. ... We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” (Numbers 14:3–4)
Of course, this is not the first time the people wanted to go back to Egypt.
In Parasha Beshalach, the people stood trapped between an advancing Egyptian army and the Red Sea. Terrified, they told Moses, “Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (Exodus 14:12)
Then God parted the Red Sea and crushed the Egyptian army.
When they reached the other side of the sea in safety, they were already craving the food back in bondage: “If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death." (Exodus 16:3)
Then God sent manna every morning for them to eat.
In Parasha Behaalotecha last week, we saw that they got tired of the manna and remembered the fish they “ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.” (Numbers 11:5)
Then God sent quail, along with judgment for their continual complaining.
Throughout their wilderness journey, they complained to Moses and about Moses for many reasons. Each time, they witnessed God’s judgments and mercy. Yet, they still did not fully apprehend His love for them, nor His ability to keep His promise to give them a land of their own.
God said it best: “How long will these people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?” (Numbers 14:11)
A Jewish woman buys fruit from a Druze Muslim in the Golan Heights.
“I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” (Numbers 14:12)
Because of their rebellion and unbelief during this test of faith, God threatened to destroy the entire community of Israel instantly and start all over again with Moses.
God gave Moses this same opportunity in Parasha Ki Tisa when the people He had just delivered from bondage worshiped a Golden Calf instead of Him. (Exodus 32:9–10)
Being the most humble man on the face of the earth, however, Moses refused to accept God’s offer to replace Israel then and now.
Instead, he appealed to the Lord’s merciful nature, asking to forgive the people—the same people who railed against Moses and Aaron and threatened to stone Caleb and Joshua just a short time earlier. Moses reminded the Lord:
“The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, ... Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” (Numbers 14:18–19)
A Jewish teen wearing a tallit (prayer shawl) and a kippah (head
covering) prays using a siddur (prayer book).
Moses also appealed to the Lord’s reputation as a God of integrity who is able to do all that He promises: Moses told Him:
“They [the Egyptians] have heard that you, O LORD, are in the midst of this people. ... if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, ‘It is because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’” (Numbers 14:14–16)
Because of Moses’ intercession and his appeal to God’s reputation and merciful nature, God relented from completely destroying the entire nation of Israel; nevertheless, He decreed judgment on those who refused to trust in God the way Joshua and Caleb trusted in God.
“I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times—not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.” (Numbers 14:20–24)
The entire generation (ages 20 and up) who had just been counted in the census would not enter the Promised Land they so feared; instead, they would die in the wilderness. But Joshua and Caleb would live to enter the Land.
Torah ark at the Western (Wailing) Wall (Photo by
James Emery)
The Lessons for Us Today
What lessons may we learn from this account of Israel in the wilderness?
First, we need to be people of faith, seeing ourselves as sons and daughters of the King of kings and Lord of lords—and not tiny grasshoppers to be crushed under some giant’s foot. We need to believe that no matter what challenge we face today, we are “well able to overcome it” with God’s help.
This is the kind of faith that pleases God. Without it, it is impossible to please Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
Second, as people of faith, we need to guard our speech and speak forth faith-filled words.
Why did the whole community of Israel die in the wilderness? They reaped the fruit of their faithless, fearful words.
The people said many times, “We will surely die in this wilderness,” and God allowed them to speak their own future into existence.
“Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above.” (Numbers 14:28–29)
Two ultra-Orthodox Jewish men have a conversation in Jerusalem.
For each of the 40 days that the Israelites spied out the land of Canaan, the Israelites would wander in the wilderness a year until that generation died—40 years. Only Joshua and Caleb, who had a different spirit and wholly trusted in the Lord would enter the Promised Land along with the next generation.
“According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection. I the LORD have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’” (Numbers 14:34)
Third, we need to repent of our unbelief and begin trusting in God or else we cannot move forward. And sometimes, our lack of faith may prevent us from moving forward in a particular area even after we repent.
In this reading, the Israelites were suddenly remorseful for their behavior and gathered up the courage to go up and take the Land, but it was too late.
Moses warned them, “Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies,” but they rebelled again, went up in presumption and were, therefore, defeated by the Amalekites and Canaanites.
Also, the ten spies who had brought back the evil report of the Land were struck down by the Lord in a plague; but Joshua and Caleb were left alive.
God had rendered His final decision and they were now “not able” as they had spoken over themselves.
Fourth, we should be a humble people given to intercession for others—from family members to complete strangers. May we all be like Moses, who pleaded for mercy on behalf of his people.
An Ethiopian Jewish man and a Kes, a religious leader of the
Ethiopian Jews, carry the Torah.
Our faith matters to God!
The Word of God says that the power of life and death is in our tongues and we shall, in a sense, eat our words. (Proverbs 18:21)
Yeshua said that it is by our words that we will be acquitted and by our words we will be condemned. (Matthew 12:37)
May we be careful and deliberate in the words that we speak over ourselves and others, since faith comes by hearing.
May our words and actions be a testimony of the goodness and greatness of the God of Israel, and may we take hold of His promises by faith.
“May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)
A mother and daughter share a moment at the Dead Sea in Israel.
Haftarah (Prophetic Reading): Faith Moves Us into His Promises
In Haftarah Shelach Lecha (Joshua 2:1–24), we see that Joshua, Moses’ assistant and one of the two spies who trusted God, has been appointed by the Lord to lead the next generation of Israelites into the Promised Land.
As Abraham’s faith moved Him forward into the role of the Patriarch of the Chosen People and recipient of the covenant, so did Joshua’s faith move him forward into his role of a leader who, with God’s help, was “well able to overcome” all the obstacles before him and take possession of the Promised Land.
In this Haftarah, Joshua sends out two of his own spies into Jericho, in preparation for battle. Although Jericho is a well-fortified city with a well-equipped army and great walls surrounding it, the spies tell Joshua, “The LORD has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.” (Joshua 2:24)
Now in the land that their parents so feared, the next generation of Israelites witness God move and have great faith, being “fully convinced that God is able to do whatever He promises.” (Romans 4:21)
May we be fully convinced of that truth as well.
You can play a role in God's plan for the Jewish People in these Last Day by helping Bibles for Israel bring the Good News of Yeshua to the Holy Land.
"Hear the word of the LORD, you nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands: 'He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over His flock like a shepherd." (Jeremiah 31:10)
"You will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea." (Micah 7:19)
Shabbat Shalom from the Entire Bibles For Israel Family!
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