Category: Opinion

As I showered in preparation for our last day of sightseeing, I reflected on many of the places we’ve visited. A list with a one- or two-sentence description would fill the rest of this blog. While each now holds a special place in my heart, and many brought the Bible to life and me to tears, one common thing connects them—fear. Rather, the lack of it.

I’ve realized how much we live in fear in the United States. With crime, murder and rape rates at mindboggling levels, we’re forced to bolt our doors at home, keep our cars locked while in the driveway, and be always mindful of our surroundings. Despite these safety precautions, robbery, theft, murder and rape dominate the nightly news.

Believers are often confronted by skeptics who bark out their opposition to our present translation of Scriptures, charging that the translation is not the same as the original Word God gave to Moses, the prophets, and the apostles.

However, an event in 1948 helped settle the controversy of the authenticity of the 1611 translation of the English Scriptures as it relates to the Old Testament.

Israel. The mere mention of the word conjures up a favorite memory for those who’ve been, and a longing for those who haven’t. After being here three days, it’s difficult to pinpoint that one “a-ha” moment. It might be because those enlightening moments have been nearly nonstop since stepping off the plane in Tel Aviv.

Our group of seven has stood in the river bed where David picked his stones to slay Goliath, spent time in the Dead Sea, climbed the hills where David hid from Saul, explored the ruins of Masada (Herrod’s palaces) and had a special military escort take us to the Jordan River where we baptized each other at the spot where it is believed John baptized Jesus.

Perhaps there is no other portion of the Torah so filled with vital stories than the section in Genesis 18:1-22, 24. Called Vayera, it includes the stories of three men who visited Abraham; of God’s promising to give him and his wife, Sarah, a son; and of angels visiting Lot and urging him to leave Sodom—fast—since judgment was coming.

Unlike some characters we read about in Scripture, Abraham was a good man. He cared about his nephew. According to the Torah, the future patriarch of the Jews talked with God about His decision to destroy Sodom, pleading with Him to spare the city for the sake of the righteous.

Richard Land, director of the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) Ethics & Religion Liberty Commission, has joined with Jewish and Evangelical leaders in calling for immediate economic sanctions against Iran.

Land issued a statement Nov. 2 with Paul de Vries, president of the New York Divinity School and Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis. The men called for economic sanctions that would specifically target banks working even indirectly with Iranian financial institutions, firms and governments that export refined petroleum to Iran.

There was a song in the late fifties called “Hearts Made of Stone.” I’m sure the writer of this song had no idea he was quoting Scripture. The promise to Israel in Ezekiel 11:19 is, “Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh.”

When we were in Israel we walked along the shore in Natanya. As we were walking on the beach we noticed hundreds of smooth pebbles shaped like hearts. We collected as many as we could carry back with us to the States. Many in our tour put these hearts in baskets, and as they prayed for the peace of Jerusalem daily, they lifted up the basket to the Lord and proclaimed this Scripture promise: “I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh.”

Although the entire civilized world recognizes the teaching of Messiah, His promise of blessing extends beyond the spiritual realm into everyday life. In fact, if you have a cell phone, a huge company in Israel probably made your antenna.

In the reading this week drawn from Genesis 12: 1 17: 27, the Creator tells Abram He is going to bless the world through his descendants. In case you’re thinking He’s talking about all people, including biological and even spiritual descendents, He’s really not. He’s talking about Jews.

Journeying to the isolated state of Mizoram in northeastern India, Rabbi Jonathan Bernis and his team offer food and medical care to 5,000 Bnei Menashe—a starving community believed to be descended from one of the lost tribes of Israel, the Manasseh. Taken into captivity when Assyria conquered Israel 2,700 years ago, the tribe’s oral histories suggest that a remnant migrated to India, where they continued Jewish traditions.

It was a passage in Zechariah 14 that clinched it for Susan Jones, a Christian supporter of Israel from the United Kingdom. Immediately after reading the passage, Susan knew the time was right to plan her first trip to Israel.

“I was reading the book of Zechariah where it says that the nations will come up to Jerusalem after Jesus comes back,” she said. “I thought, ‘I need to do this now, before Messiah comes back. I need to come up to Jerusalem on behalf of my nation and worship Jesus.”

Torah-observant Jews are extremely respectful of the Torah scroll. In each synagogue, the Torah scroll is placed in a special case called an ark. The scroll is rolled up, and a beautiful, embroidered cover is placed over the scroll to keep dust from collecting on it. When the time comes to remove the scroll for reading, a man is appointed to carefully remove the scroll from the ark and uncover it, placing it on the platform for the speaker.

The speaker actually never places his finger on the scroll itself but will use a metal or wooden instrument about eight inches long, called a yad, which resembles a small hand with a single index finger pointing upward. Called the finger of God, this object is used by the reader and speaker to follow the lines of the text. This serves a dual purpose: it preserves the sanctity of the scroll, and it prevents oily, human fingers from eventually erasing the black-inked letters on the parchment.

In the second weekly reading of the Torah, Noach (Noah), we meet a man of God building an ark at his Master’s direction. This ark, built in a dry desert must have seemed so strange to the neighbors. “Hey, look at that nut, Noah; his god told him to build a huge boat, far from water, and he is doing just that. How odd, they must have thought. But Noah persisted because he was “righteous, wholehearted and walked with God.”

Yet, as godly as this man was, one of his sons didn’t inherit much of that spirit. In fact, Ham, one of three sons, was cursed through his son, Canaan. What would cause a godly man like Noah to curse the descendents of one of his own sons, his actual grandchildren? Did he have a bad temper? Was he given to fits of anger? Was he just hung over from his drinking bout the night before? All this might be possible, but there’s a greater meaning to this curse.

Last week, Simchat Torah was celebrated in synagogues all over the world. Immediately upon reading the last portion of Deuteronomy, the Torah scroll containing the Five Books of Moses, is rolled back to the beginning, to B’resheet and Genesis 1:1-5 is read.

This way we remember that the Torah is God’s never-ending teaching for right living. It’s a handbook for how to obtain blessings in our lives. This is a fun time, when we actually “dance” around the ark or building, holding the scroll in our arms. It’s always exciting to have a new beginning, which is why we enjoy Simchat Torah so much.