Category: Applied Theology

Return (שוב)

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn Applied Theology, InspirationLeave a comment

In Amos 5:4, the Lord says, “Seek Me, and live.” Yet, the message of Amos 4:6-11 is, “you have not returned to Me.” The month of Elul begins a time of reflection; and now as we approach Rosh Hashanah, we enter a time of return in order to gather in unity (Ps. 133:1) before the Lord.

Rosh Hashanah begins the fall festival season, as the “head of the year.” This is a feast entirely dedicated to fulfilling one mitzvah/commandment: hearing the sound of the Shofar. It prepares us to listen for a greater trumpet.

The trumpet (shofar) plays an important role in the lives of God’s people, as it calls us to assembly, to movement, to war and to attention. It is also a sound of victory and joy. It is used by men and angels. It is, at its heart, a primal sound.

Yom Teruah, now known as Rosh Hashanah, is called “The Day of the Broken Sound.” Teruah comes from the root, רוּעָ , which means “to mar” or “to break down” or “brokenness.” The shofar is a sound of victory, of gathering in joy; but at its very root it is a broken sound, the cry of a wounded or lost lamb. The ram’s horn from which the Shofar is made is called the glory, or beauty of the ram. It is their crown; yet, with this broken crown we cry out with a sigh, a deep moan and a primal yell from the very depths of our souls unto the Lord: a cry for change and renewal by seeking Him.

Messiah will return in the fullness of the shofars meaning: attention, gathering, movement, joy and victory. The season of Rosh Hashanah draws our attention to brokenness, the result of sin, and opens our heart to the work of the Holy Spirit in anticipation of the day of His return.

This brings us to Amos. According to Amos 3:6, the people of Israel trembled when they heard the sound of the Shofar, because of its power and corrective reminder. But even in trembling, “you have not returned to Me.” The word translated “returned” in this verse is from the Hebrew שוב, meaning repent, return, or turn back. The oracles, or prophecies of Amos were spoken in years of peace, splendor, and prosperity. In peace, however, the people of God pursued their own good pleasure, and false gods. They continued in their injustice, with a lack of concern for their neighbor, and continued to offer sacrifices that were unacceptable before the Lord, at feasts He abhorred.

Calamity would come upon these people (Amos 1:1), but would they harken to the sound of the shofar? The sound of the shofar, the ram’s horn, when the heart is open to the voice and presence of God, makes one turn away from to – the definition of repentance.

Amos (עמוס), meaning burdensome or to impose a load, was called by God, but he says, “I am no prophet, nor am I a son of a prophet. Rather, I am a shepherd tending fig trees. But the Lord took me from following the flock and the Lord said to me: ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel’” (Amos 7:14-15). The Lord imposed a burden on Amos, to call the people of Israel to repentance, to hear the sound of the Shofar, to recognize by the vision of the plumb line that their righteousness was not measuring up (7:8), as it was apart from faith-ing to the Lord. Without repentance, judgment was coming.

He would lay waste in order to restore.

Still, with such messages, there is the thread of hope, as Amos writes, “In that day I will raise up David’s fallen sukkah (tabernacle), I will restore its breaches, raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old – so they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations called by My Name” (9:11-12). This is pointing us in a direction: Israel’s Hope – Messiah. The restoration of the house, or dynasty of David begun with the birth of Yeshua/Jesus.

In John’s Gospel, the birth statement in chapter 1 reads, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (1:14). John’s language describes Jesus as “tenting” among us, translated differently, “And the Word became flesh, and fixed his tent among us.” The restoration, Israel’s Hope, began with the “tenting” of Yeshua in the flesh, and it ends, with those having been blood washed, atoned for by His cross (Yom Kippur), gathering together at the feast of Tabernacles in Revelation 7:9:

“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all the nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.”

And in Him, we now lay hold of God’s promises, which are caught up in the Messiah, Israel’s Hope, and we depend on His “yes,” and “amen,” as we continue faithing to Him until He returns at the sound of the Ram’s Horn, or He calls us home. Glory to God.

Be well. Shalom.

As the Lord, Not Pharaoh

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn Applied Theology, Inspiration2 Comments

In the Lord’s Prayer, or the Disciple’s Prayer, there is a difficult verse that many struggle with: “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.” This is the familiar rendering, but more correctly: “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

The heart of what Messiah is teaching us, obviously, is forgiveness. Needless to say, forgiveness is something we all wrestle with from time to time. Still, forgiveness is commanded (cf. Matt. 6:14-15). Why?

In Torah portion וַיֵּלֶךְ/Vayelech, “and he went,” at the feast of Sukkot, Tabernacles, during the public reading of the Torah, debts accumulated during the previous six years were canceled: forgiven. Those who had incurred a debt, due to whatever circumstance, would be released from the debt. This debt was often repaid by indentured servanthood. As the Lord commands:

“At the end of every seven years you are to cancel debts. This is how you are to cancel debts: every creditor is to release what he has loaned to his neighbor. He must not force his neighbor or his brother to repay, the the Lord’s debt cancellation has been proclaimed” (Deut. 15:1-2).

There is a subtle, but profound clue as to the heart of forgiveness, taught my Messiah, and revealed by the release of Shmita. As we know from Scripture, the destruction the first Temple, Solomon’s Temple, was connected to Israel’s failure to observe the Jubilee and, therefore, the Shmita (1 Chron. 36:20-21) since they entered the Promised Land. Why? This raises the question: Who are we to example?

In Deuteronomy 15:2, the Hebrew word for creditor is בַּעַל/ba’al, meaning master, husband, ruler, creditor, and when referring to a foreign god, “lord.” Forgiveness of debt, and the release of the servants/slaves allows for the individual covenant member to reenact the exodus, the release of Israel from Egypt. The Lord is revealing that we cannot remain a בַּעַל/ba’al, or lord of the debt, forever. Why? Israel was to be light to the nations by shining the goodness of God. The commands of release, from Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Matthew 6:12, 14-15 train us to imitate, or follow after, Messiah Yeshua/Jesus.

Just who are we to model to the community and broader society around us? Messiah or pharaoh? The One Who is Lord forever commanded, and exampled release for us. Pharaoh wants to hold in bondage forever.

As Paul teaches us, “For freedom, Messiah set us free – so stand firm, and do not be burdened by a yoke of slavery again” (Gal. 5:1). This is not a freedom to do anything you but, but it is freedom in Messiah to do what you ought. And in keeping with His Word, He equips us to do just that with the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12).

In Deuteronomy 15:13-15 the Torah records, “When you set him free, you are not to send him away empty-handed. You are to surely provide for him from your flocks and threshing floor and winepress. As the Lord your God has blessed you, you are to give to him. You will remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you this thing today.”

These gifts allowed the released servant to reenter society, not impoverished, but with dignity. Most importantly, it permitted the newly released servant to appear before the Lord as part of Israel’s ceremonial worship. To appear before the covenant Lord, you had to appear with offering. The one releasing, the former “lord of the debt,” releases them back into the social community and back into the covenant faith community. Restoration.

As difficult as it is to write, when, as the redeemed of the Lord, we hold onto the debt owed us, rather than following Messiah, we are acting as pharaoh, the “lord of the debt.” Then, we set ourselves in bondage to a debt held by the enemy himself.

When we walk out the prayer taught to us by Messiah, we release our debtors, as offense was reckoned as a debt, to reenter the faith community with a clear heart with the Lord.

Friends, we cannot remain a “lord of the debt” forever, but in Him, we will rest in the Lord of exodus forever. Easy? No. Does the debtor always want or ask for the release? No. But we can provide for the cure before the diagnosis of their illness, and walk in the liberty secured by Christ.

Be well. Shalom.