You can be in a space, and yet not be there. This is a common issue when it comes to corporate worship. We need to refocus. So often we carry our external concerns into worship space as an unintentional barrier, leading to disconnection; or we bring an impenetrable wall of expectation.

What can we do?

There is a teaching from the Talmud, Berakhot 28b, that is inscribed at the front of some synagogues on the Torah Ark (see picture below):

דע לפני מי אתה עומד

“Know before Whom you stand.”

Rashi comments that knowing before who you stand induces awe and concentration. On the highest level this is speaking of the Lord; but it can also be applied to those we stand among. How so?

Physical. Emotional. Spiritual.

In the congregation:

1. Physical: you are there.

2. Emotional: who is the other there with you?

3. Spiritual: He is there.

This speaks on the level of the soul, and the tripartite nature of men, and it directs away from self-awareness – self-centeredness – to corporate awareness and the Lord’s Presence. When we note the other in the space with us, those known or unknown to us, the refocusing mentioned above takes shape:

We are here. They are here. He is here.

Physically we note our presence in worship space. Emotionally we note the other, and their joys and concerns. Spiritually, we know that He is here, as Yeshua promised to be in our midst as Emmanuel:

“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20).

Here we stand before heaven and brethren, in awe of the heavenly reality, and the power of redemption witnessed among the saints of God. We can now concentrate, and enter in the dimension of worship, bringing others with us.

What do we do?

When entering the congregation, we must remember that it is one thing to enter the building; being present, however, is quite another.

1. When crossing the threshold recognize the change in space and dimension, between the common space and holy space.

2. Leave expectations before the outer door.

3. Attune to the dynamic of the congregation at the moment of arrival.

4. Enter in.

5. Then take it with you when you go.

6. But leave the bag of expectation where you dropped it, thanks.

I acknowledge this is not easy, especially in this age and season. Yet, when we change our thinking, perspective, and purpose by noting “before whom we stand,” the worship experience is freer, more meaningful, and life transformative because we have praised and worshipped in Spirit and truth (Jn. 4:23).

Be well. Shalom.

In Genesis 28:12, Jacob has a vision of the heavens open, as we read:

וַיַּחֲלֹם, וְהִנֵּה סֻלָּם מֻצָּב אַרְצָה, וְרֹאשׁוֹ, מַגִּיעַ הַשָּׁמָיְמָה; וְהִנֵּה מַלְאֲכֵי אֱלֹהִים, עֹלִים וְיֹרְדִים בּוֹ

“And he dreamed; and a ladder was set up on the earth; and the top of it reached the heavens, and behold, the angels of God ascended and descended on it.”

In John 1:51 Messiah references this dream, and identifies Himself as the ladder.

What is the message here? Why the word order of ascending and descending? Wouldn’t it make sense to reverse the order?

The message is rather simple, but profound. Ascending spiritually is relatively easy; coming back down, is another story. The desire would be to stay in that heavenly dimension, free from the distractions of natural life, remaining in the presence of God.

Yet, that is the point. We ascend to the heights of heaven in order to bring the fruit of that journey back to the natural world, so that others will taste and see that He is good (Ps. 34:8).

Biblical faith is not meant to be a cloistered enterprise untroubled by the turbulence of life; but rather, walking upon life’s turbulence in faith with Messiah, the Ladder.

So we go up, in order to come back down; and we do so in Yeshua.

Be well. Shalom.

Where the Two Meet.

Countenance. We are all familiar with the word; but what exactly does it mean? A dictionary would say: a persons face or facial expression, indicating emotion, mood and even character. Satisfactory I suppose, but what of it’s usage in biblical verse?

In Numbers 6:24-26:

יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה, וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ

יָאֵר יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וִיחֻנֶּךָּ

יִשָּׂא יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם

“The Lord bless and protect you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord lift His face to you, and give you peace.”

The word “his face,” פָּנָיו/panav, sometimes translated as “countenance,” appears twice in this blessing. Why?

The first instance, in the second line, is connected to the gift of grace found in His presence. The second, in the third line, is the lifting of His face to you, as in a fatherly embrace. Both instances expressing His looking to you in relationship: the first as King, the second as Father.

In some schools of Jewish thought the face is where the body and soul meet – the face, then, is the interface between the physical and spiritual, the timeless within the realm of time.

How so? Face in Hebrew is פָּנִים/panim, is a plural word, not singular. With regard to Moses in Exodus 33:11, the Lord said that He speaks to him, פָּנִים אֶל־פָּנִים, face to face. Again, plural in both instances, literally “faces to faces.”

When we speak together, we are not only speaking to the physical substance of the person before us, but also the soul of the person – the completeness of who they are. To behold the face is to behold the fullness of the life before you. When we seek His face, it is not only to the idea of face that we are familiar, but to behold the radiance of His loving being (I Jn. 4:16).

Countenance, then, in biblical language is not just facial expression, but a manifestation of the soul in the physical realm.

And when we behold Yeshua, we behold the presence of the Father within the realm of time (Jn. 12:45; 14:9).

Panim, the face, is the meeting place of the two: the physical face, and the face of the soul.

Be well. Shalom.