Category: Inspiration

The Vine and Branches

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

From a distance, the Tabernacle of the Lord appeared to be a rather ordinary tent surrounded by a linen fence and a camp of people. To the passerby the glory of the Tabernacle was hidden, but to those who drew near, the glory was awesome. Beneath the covering of goat skins and linen, behind embroidered curtains, a room of communion was created. In this small room, called the Holy Place, a table of bread and an altar of incense sat positioned for their respective ministry. Illuminating the room was a single lamp of seven lights – the Menorah.

 

“He made the menorah of pure gold. He made it of hammered work; its base, shaft, cups, rings of outer leaves and flowers were a single unit. There were six branches extending from its sides, three branches of the menorah on one side of it and three on the other. On one branch were three cups shaped like almond blossoms, a ring of outer leaves and petals; likewise, on the opposite branch three cups shaped like almond blossoms, a ring of outer leaves and petals; and similarly for all six branches extending from the menorah.” (Ex. 28:1-3).

 The Holy Place symbolized the inner life of man in communion with God, both his prayer life and his daily need for food. The ever-present bread upon the Table of Shewbread (the table of the sent one), in the presence of the Golden Altar, represented the Lord’s promised provision of sustenance and man’s need for unceasing prayer. Lighting this room, symbolizing the inner man, was a golden lampstand of seven lights burning the purest of olive oil. This light was the only light in the Tabernacle, and it brought to light, thereby making it possible, the communion between man and God.

 As we read above, the Menorah was of a hammered work. Its appearance was that of an almond tree, which is known for its beauty when in bloom. Unlike some of the other furnishings of the Tabernacle, the Menorah had no inner support structure, it should collapse, yet it stood. This silent source of light stood under the weight and heat of burning olive oil. It stood as a miraculous testimony of the power and resurrection found with the Lord and symbolized the anointed one and his complete congregation (Rev. 1:13, Ch. 2-3).

 The almond tree, or a branch of it, was a symbol of power and authority, but also resurrection. The staff of the high priest Aaron was made from an almond branch. As Moses and Aaron led Israel out of Egypt, and they witnessed the miracles of heaven, it was an almond staff in Aaron’s hand. When the children of Israel revolted against the high priest, the Lord caused Aaron’s staff to sprout “not only buds but flowers and ripe almonds as well” (Num. 17:8). This dead branch brought forth buds, flowers and fruit; and resurrection would then come to signify the appointed high priest of the Lord. 

 The apostle John writes of Messiah (anointed one), “In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not suppressed it” (Jn. 1:4-5). As life came to be through Him (Jn. 1:3), the inner life of the regenerate is illuminated and nourished by connection to Him – much like a branch. In John 15:5-6 Messiah says, “I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who stay united with me, and I with them, are the ones who bear much fruit; because apart from me you can’t do a thing. Unless a person remains united with me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up. Such branches are gathered and thrown into the fire, where they are burned up.”

 The picture that Messiah is utilizing here is like the Menorah. In ancient times, the central shaft of the Menorah was known as “the vine,” from which the branches sprouted. Messiah is the light of the world, and while He is preparing a place for His bride, the betrothed remains as a light in the world. John records this picture in the first chapter of Revelation, as Messiah stands amid “seven gold menorahs; and among the menorahs was someone like a Son of Man, wearing a robe down to his feet and a gold band around his chest” (Rev. 1:12-13, cf. Rev. 1:20). Yeshua/Jesus, standing among forty-nine lights, is showing Himself to be the jubilee (the fiftieth light), the source of freedom for those in him. 

 Still, the Menorah and its illuminating oil, bring forth beautiful light after they have endured pressure. The Menorah was a hammered work, meaning that it was shaped by pounding, and its beauty was brought forth by this process. The olive oil for the lamps, being the purest quality, was brought forth by the pressure of the fingers holding the olive, very light pressure. Yet, in this we see the transformative power of pressure applied by the hand of God. Messiah as He prayed on the night of his betrayal, in the place of Gethsemane (olive press), sweat blood because of the strain He was enduring (Lk. 22:44). And in His resurrection, He would fulfill the type of the almond branch of resurrection, signifying His anointed position, as those who shared in His death and resurrection are joined supernaturally to His body, sharing in His anointing, and giving forth light as they burn with the fire of the Holy Spirit. 

 As believers, we often endure terrible trial and tribulation in life. We are refined by this process, shaped for His purpose, and set to live as witnesses to the glory of God. Recognizing that we are joined to the Messiah, as branches on His vine, we will share in His sufferings to illuminate the inner life of those receiving the Gospel. While this process may seem to be a hammering on us, Christ endured the hammering, while we experience the merciful fingers of God, as opposed to His wrath (Ro. 8:1). As we begin to burn brighter, we must always remember that we shine because we abide in Him, and He in us.   

 “When you truly know the holiness of God, you’ll burn and burn and burn and not be consumed only because of the merits of your savior.” Dr. Timothy Keller

 Maranatha. Shalom. 

A Pedagogue

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

“Moses came and told the people everything the Lord had said, including all the rulings. The people answered with one voice: ‘We will obey every word the Lord has spoken,” (Ex. 24:3).

 The portion of the Torah traditionally called מִּשְׁפָּטִים/Mishpatim, meaning rulings/judgments, (Ex. 21:1 – 24:18) contains a wide range of ethical, civil, and religious laws; so many in fact, that it is difficult to find a unifying thread from the beginning to the end of the portion. The portion immediately follows the Sinai Revelation, with its resulting Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are apodictic in nature – that is to say they are firm divine commands, either you will do, or you will not do. The commands of Mishpatim are understood to be casuistic in nature – meaning they address a wide range of situational case law that may be necessary for communal life. Casuistic laws are conditional statements, if/then statements, as an example, “If someone steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, then he is to pay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep” (Ex. 22:1, 21:37 in a Hebrew Bible). If the act is confirmed, the “if” statement, the necessary resulting action is defined for those overseeing the case by the conclusion, the “then” statement. 

 In Christian theology, much of the Torah is classified in three categories: moral, civil, and ceremonial. While these categories can generally be helpful, they can also be restricting for a proper application of God’s instruction in the life of faith. It is commonly accepted that all ceremonial laws have been set aside (Col. 2:14), yet in these laws we discover the tithe. While I will not specifically address the issue of tithing in this context, the principal of tithing speaks directly to charity and giving as developed in the New Covenant (Lk. 21:1-4; cf. 2 Cor. 8—9). Moreover, the commands of the Torah remain normative to the Lord’s covenant people, even when they may not be literally normative during a specific period. 

 Still, in Mishpatim the common thread that links these moral, civil, and ceremonial laws together is the fallen nature of humanity. The children of Israel, as a nation of newly freed slaves from Egypt, needed their hearts, minds and communal relationships reformed. The Lord directed them away from the self-satisfying motives that often influence the human dynamic. He set limitations on the actions of humanity: you could not take something because your desired that something; you could not take someone because you desired them; you could not kill because you were angry; you could not steal because of need; you could not pervert justice because of wealth or poverty.

 The commands recorded in Mishpatim were to reform and disciple the Lord’s people. The apostle Paul speaks to this in his Epistle to the Galatians. The Torah was to be a guardian, a custodian until the Messiah came (Gal. 3:24-25). Upon the Messiah’s arrival, it was time to walk in faith-obedience to the lessons learned from the pedagogue (the Torah as teacher of God’s way), in the freedom provided by Messiah Yeshua/Jesus by grace through faith. I have often framed Paul’s teaching in this way. When we are children our mother and father teach us basic principles for living: look both ways before crossing the street; don’t put your hand in the fire; treat others with kindness. When we mature, while we may not consciously think of those lessons, they are still engrained in our hearts and minds, and we apply them to life. 

 The heart is not changed, however, by the Law. The heart recognizes its need for change by the Law when it beholds the Lawgiver and seeks forgiveness. Deuteronomy 30:6 recognizes the change of heart, and the receipt of the Lord’s sovereign grace, as the circumcision of the heart – a change only He can accomplish. The apostle Paul notes in Romans 2:29b, “and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter …” We can attempt, by our own self-righteous attitudes, to keep the Law perfectly – a type of self-circumcision – and still fall short of the glory of God (Ro. 3:23); or we can rely on His sovereign grace to forgive, transform, and guide us by His Word as we, in union with Christ, seek to hear and obey. 

Mishpatim can cause confusion, and even frustration, with its numerous commands (some fifty-three commands, 23 positive and 30 negative); but for those in Christ, these commands help us to walk in, and apply correctly, the great commandment “to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul and strength,” and “to love our neighbor as ourselves.” As our minds are transformed by the pedagogue (the Word of God by the Holy Spirit), we begin to recognize the deep wisdom of these numerous conditional statements found in Exodus 21:1 – 24:18, and how they can guide us in communal life among not only our brethren in Messiah, but also the surrounding community as well.

Maranatha. Shalom. 

Starving Bitterness

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

The children of Israel have crossed the Red Sea by the way of escape provided by the Lord. They celebrated this rescue with song and shouts of praise. Yet, three days later they began murmuring against Moses: “What shall we drink?” They had arrived at a place called Marah. The waters there, however, were undrinkable (Ex. 15:23), as they were bitter. 

 Have you ever found yourself in such a mood that even your favorite tastes seem tasteless, your favorite foods dis not satisfy, and those distracting comforts no longer distracted? It is amazing how our psychological disposition or even distress can impact how we experience so much in life. Perhaps this was at the heart of what the children of Israel were experiencing. 

Dov Ber ben Avraham, the Maggid of Mezeritch commenting on Exodus 15:23 focuses on the heart of the matter: כִּי מָרִים הֵם, “because they were bitter.” He turns our understand of Exodus 13:23 on its head, as he taught that it was not the water that was bitter, but the Israelites themselves. The taste of what they so desperately needed was embittered by their murmuring disposition after three days of no water. The bitterness bubbled up from within them, and now the Lord would address it. 

 In Exodus 15:25-26 we read, “So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”

 To heal the bitterness, of the water and the Israelites, the Lord shows Moses a tree. Yet, the words “showed him a tree,” according to rabbinic sources, could also be read, the Lord “taught him a tree.” What tree? The tree of life, or the written Torah. Exodus 15:26 is reminiscent to earlier words spoken to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Words that promised blessing as they obediently walked before Him. In the Torah, the Lord gives promises of goodness, blessing, peace, and generational longevity that are attached to positive commandments. Amid the traditional 613 commandments of the Torah are commandments about forgiveness. Unforgiveness left unattended can send a bitter root deep into the heart. 

 The Torah teaches in Leviticus 19:18, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” Bearing a grudge churns the remembrance of a hurt over and over again in our heart and mind. In Proverbs 17:9 we read, “Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.” That churning is a repetition of “a matter” that separates often leading to bitterness. We dwell on the matter, we talk about it to others, and ultimately, we seek vindication in the sight of man, even the one with whom we have had the issue. 

 In Exodus 15, Moses was the target of a deep-seated bitterness among the children of Israel that needed to be healed. After the tree taught to Moses was “cast into the waters,” into or applied to the bitterness, that which they desperately needed was potable again.

 What does this mean for us in messianic faith? The apostle Paul teaches us, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:31-32). Put it away! What? All bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice. How? The forgiveness we have received by Messiah Yeshua/Jesus. How do we follow His example? 

 On the Cross Messiah was offered a drink when He became thirsty, as we read, “they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it” (Matt. 27:34). The wine, a symbol of blessing and peace, was mixed with gall, a bitter substance (sometimes wormwood) used to ease pain. What did Messiah do? He refused to drink it. He would not drink the bitterness. He would not take it in. As difficult as it may seem to us, right from the start, by the Holy Spirit through prayer and faith, we must not drink in the bittering agents that sometimes come in life. We must turn to the Word, especially the Word made flesh.

 As disciples of Messiah, just as the Lord showed/taught Moses a tree of His promises in the wilderness, Messiah showed us on His tree just what it looks like to follow Him. Enduring and sharing in the sufferings of Christ, enduring the hurt and the embittering agents that seek to find their own rest in us. Walking in His grace and His forgiveness, especially when it is the most painful, will allow us to taste of the goodness of God, and starve the bitterness of the human experience before it takes root. 

 David wrote in Psalm 34:8, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” Taste and see that your healer is good. Amen. 

 Maranatha. Shalom.