Category: Inspiration

Kindle the Legacy

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

The section of Deuteronomy called וָאֶתְחַנַּן/Va’etchanan (3:23-7:11) is precious to my heart, as it is my youngest sons bar mitzvah portion. As I mentioned in my previous devotional on Deuteronomy, Moses is speaking to the next generation as well as those following. At the heart of Va’etchanan, “And I pleaded,” is the legacy of the covenant family. Earlier this year, family legacy became even more real to me when I witnessed the above-mentioned son stand under the Chuppah, the marriage canopy, with his bride. Incidentally, her grandfather performed the ceremony.

We parents sat and watched. While I cannot speak for them, I considered all the twists and turns, those ordained steps of the Lord (Ps. 37:23), that brought these two together. It seems improbable, yet it is. When I gave my short word of exhortation at the reception to the new couple, I told to my daughter in law that from the time my son was an infant I had been praying for his future bride. Twenty-six years of prayer realized in a single moment; and in that moment, what seemed improbable proved to be ordained of the Lord.

It would be easy to focus solely on the theological matter of Va’etchanan. After all, it warns of the dangers of idolatry, reminds them of the continuing battle with “Ba’al Peor” who represents the broad way, records the ten commandments, and has the foundational proclamation of biblical faith: “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” But in all this, Moses is speaking to the generations: “that you may live,” “Make them known to your children and your children’s children,” and “When your son asks you in time to come.” It is during those monumental life moments that we pray, “Lord, I hope I testified enough.”

In Deuteronomy 4:9-10 we read, “Only be watchful and watch over your soul closely, so you do not forget the things your eyes have seen and they slip from your heart all the days of your life. You are to make them known to your children and your children’s children. The day that you stood before your God in Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me and I will make them hear My words, so that they learn to fear Me all the days that they live on the earth, and so that they teach their children.”

The older you get the more meaningful time with family, and friends, becomes. Inevitably, gatherings become a time of stories and memories, while creating new ones. The laughter, smiles, and recollections of departed family members at our gatherings keep the family connections meaningful and strong and keeps the memories alive. I have personally told the same stories so many times at family gatherings that my siblings and sons can tell them in the same vivid detail, as if they themselves had lived them.

In our text above, it is this living memory that Moses is warning the children of Israel to kindle, remember, honor, and guard. The language that Moses uses is striking, “Only be watchful and watch over your soul closely…do not forget…lest they slip from your heart all the days of your life.” Moses is warning the community of Israel to continually refresh, not only their collective memory, but also the memory of what their eyes have seen: their testimony.

Their testimony, and the communal testimony collected in the Torah, is entrusted to future generations, but it must be living. Testimony without living memory becomes history, something preserved only in books. The Lord desires Israel to remember her experience before Mt. Sinai as a living memory, not solely preserved memory.

This requires us to personally share our memory, our experience and the wisdom received from our textual history and faith tradition (1 Cor. 11:1; 2 Thess. 2:15, 3:6). This sharing is called “discipleship” in the Apostolic Scriptures, as Messiah said, “Go out and make disciples…teaching them to observe all I have commanded you…” (Matt. 28:19-20). Messiah Yeshua/Jesus is commanding us to not only teach, but to build relationships and pass to these precious people the collective memory/testimony to which they have been born-again. Moses is telling us to disciple our children, our grandchildren (Deut. 4:9), and all those coming behind us.

In Deuteronomy, Moses is passing to the next generation, not only a book of laws as some might imagine, but covenant legacy, as if to say: “Israel, this is your history, even you who did not see the Sinai revelation, you were there in promise, and this legacy is yours.” Excuse the poetic license, but this personalization of a history that we did not directly experience, but in which we were included, personalizes the totality of the testimony that we now share.

This testimony is the living chain of redemptive history from creation to eternity. It is the working of our Father in Heaven. It is a work that neither depends on us nor is it completed in us, as it is finished in Messiah. Nonetheless, it is a work, that by his grace, we are included in (Eph. 2:8-10). Pirkei Avot explains, “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it (2:21).”

Moses and Yeshua/Jesus are admonishing us to “watch over our soul closely” to ensure that what really matters in this life is not lost in the busyness of this life. They are instructing us to take time, sit, share, and pass on to the next generation just what the Lord has done for us, for our forefathers, and what he will do in their lives as well. By this we share with them the legacy they are now included in, the legacy of covenant secured by the Blood of the Lamb, Yeshua.

Of course the theology of Va’etchanan matters, but when we rightly kindle the legacy of faith, the theology will be caught up in the living, and exampled for the next generations. 

Maranatha. Shalom.

The Giants Bed

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn Applied Theology, Inspiration2 Comments

Scholars tell us that David wrote Psalm 144, and Psalm 8 for that matter, after he slayed Goliath (גָּלְיַת/gālyaṯ, from a root meaning: to uncover or remove). Psalm 144 opens, “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle” (Ps. 144:1). Goliath was the champion of the Philistines. He was a giant of a man; some suggest nearly ten feet tall; giant indeed. Yet, by faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, David faced the giant while others hid (1 Sam. 17:48-51). The Lord had prepared David’s hands for war.

As giant as Goliath was, in this week’s opening Torah portion of Devarim (Deuteronomy), Moses, in his first discourse, reminds his people of their history and trials. Trials including the fear of giants. In the Torah, we find three words that are sometimes translated as “giant”: Anakim, Rephaim and Nephilim. In Deuteronomy 3:11, the Torah references a giant larger than Goliath: Og, King of Bashan.

In Deuteronomy 3:11 we read, “For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.” Og was the sole survivor of a remnant of giants called רְפָאִים/Rephaim. Rephaim comes from a root meaning to “heal” but in this usage, vigorous or invigorated is probably meant.

As I studied this portion, the detail about Og’s bed struck me. I mean, 3500 years later, why do I care about the size of Og’s bed and that it was made of Iron? The Torah suggests that Og’s bed was around 14 ½ feet long. Some rabbinic commentators suggest that Og was at least ten feet tall, making him taller than Goliath. Yet, by Deuteronomy 3:11 Moses has already told Israel that Og was defeated, as the Lord delivered him into their hand (3:3). Why this later reminder?

The children of Israel wrestled with the idea of giants. In Numbers 13, Moses sends twelve spies into the Promised Land to “spy out the land” (Num. 13:21). They reported that the land was as the Lord promised, but the people are Nephilim, descendants of Anak, a giant (Num. 13:33/Deut. 1:28). Their cities are big and fortified, the land is hard, and the fruit is proportional to the size of the giants, as it is carried between two men (Num. 13:23). To ten of the spies, in sight of this large landscape, they looked as grasshoppers (Num 13:33) in their eyes. As we know, this report led to a rebellion, and a judgment leading to the death of the exodus generation in the wilderness.

With all that Israel had seen and experienced in the wilderness, the provision, the victories and the grace of the covenant Lord, deep down, somewhere in their hearts, the bed of Og was still occupied. The giants were still out there, but where?

Og is long deceased, but giants yet remain. At least from our perspective. The giants that we face in life today speak to our feeling of insignificance, but more precisely, smallness. Smallness, especially in light of what we cannot name or control. The giants we face in life have many names, and yes, in most cases they are very serious. Nevertheless, in order to defeat the giants of today we must know who we are in Messiah Yeshua/Jesus. We must rely on how we are described in God’s unchanging Word to rely, as David did, on those skilled hands that sent the stone into Goliath’s head, killing him. David slew his giant, and so can we.

Dear readers, many of you have giants out there, just beyond your sight, your grasp, bumping around in the forest that have either been named or they possess a potential name that brings dread into your heart. In Psalm 8, the other psalm penned by David after facing Goliath, he writes, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens” (Ps. 8:1). The name of the giant “out there” is not above the name of the King of glory. Goliath was not greater than David, and neither were greater than the Lord.

The apostle Paul encourages us, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11). Where can our giants hide?

In His name, through Messiah, what have we become? Again, to Paul, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Ro. 8:37). Beloved, more than conquerors. David praised the Lord for the skill to face Goliath, again meaning uncover or remove. David took the stone and skillfully used it. But dear friends, our Stone has taken us and He now skillfully uses us to stand against the darkness of this age, including our own giants (Eph. 6:10-20).   

Where are you giants sleeping? Where has your giant rested? In Messiah those giants are uncovered (Goliath), and they are slain. They are no more. As we have died in Messiah, those giants are now dead, we are raised in His life now to live in Him as the promise (1 Cor. 1:20). He has brought you out of the darkness of the giants and into His marvelous light. No matter how strong Og’s bed might be, even as iron, it cannot overcome the One Who has slain the giant called “death,” as Christ is the King of all kings.

Maranatha. Shalom.

We Are a People Who Wait

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

We wait, but not as those without hope. We wait precisely because of the hope found in Messiah Yeshua/Jesus (1 Pet. 1:3-6). We wait, but not in nothingness. We wait in His promise (1 Cor. 1:20), as the author of Hebrews encourages us, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23). Amen.

For forty-seven years I never thought of the thyroid gland, until mine demanded that I consider it. For forty-nine years I never really considered my knees, until, one day, they spoke through extreme pain. Through hypo and hyper thyroid issues, and eventual treatment, to shots into my knees to possibly help them make it a few more years, I waited. In the wait and through the trials I gained weight, lost fitness, but grew in ways unimaginable by the wait.

When one considers the dramatic change from running in the mountains to barely climbing the stairs, unimaginable growth probably would not leap to mind. But there, in the wait, He moved. Sometimes the setbacks are a setup for rescue. I was scheduled for a total knee replacement this Friday, but an issue arose that could have had a devastating impact on my recovery. This delay was by the grace of God. I wanted the extreme joint pain of the last year over, but His kindness once again rescued. Now, I wait.

Those of us in the covenant family of God wait. We learn to wait, and the fruit of the Spirit aids in this endeavor (Gal. 5:22-23). Those of the hall of faith (Heb. 11) provide examples of waiting on the Lord, at times not seeing the fulfillment of the promise in their days. Yet, He remained faithful. Abraham waited. Isaac and Jacob also waited. Moses waited. Joshua waited. David waited, and penned some of the deepest reflections on waiting. Then, the prophets waited. And the people of Israel waited. Even the Messiah waited.

In Proverbs 13:12 we read: תּוֹחֶלֶת מְמֻשָּׁכָה מַחֲלָה־לֵב וְעֵץ חַיִּים תַּאֲוָה בָאָה, “Hope/wait prolonged makes the heart sick/weak; but when the desire of the heart comes, it is a tree of life.” I’m not going to hide the despair that I felt when I realized that I would have to wait for surgery. But then the Holy Spirit reminded me of what He has accomplished in the previous two years of waiting. In the despair, weakness. In faith, strength.

In the past two years of largely being in a “holding pattern” the Lord has developed, deepened and cultivated relationships, opened wide the doors of ministry I had previously not considered, and above all, He brought me deeper into relationship with Him. All, in my mind, while I was “sidelined.”

It is the power of the wait that transforms us by His grace. He knew when to let the dam of living water spill over into my dry wilderness, every time. Waters that ripened fruit I had not considered or noticed. There were times when the silence was deafening, yet He was surely present. But more often than not, the Lord spoke with a shout through the voices of those around me. This morning I was considering Moses, Aaron and Hur. When Moses grew weary, Aaron and Hur supported his hands, and when they did, the Torah tells us: וַיְהִי יָדָיו אֱמוּנָה עַד־בֹּא הַשָּׁמֶשׁ, “and his hands remained faithful/firm/soild/steady until the going down of the sun.”

See friends, in His wait, we relate to and identity with our forebears, while learning to be supported by brethren in faith. The past our example, the present our active support. There in the wait the blessing of well watered fruit hangs on the branches of the Tree of Life so that we “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8). The thing, moment or desire of our heart may have yet to arrive, but we know He is still faithfully working. Nevertheless, for those of us in Apostolic faith there is a change.

The apostle Paul writes, “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9). The apostle is reflecting on Isaiah 64:4, but with one significant change. Paul, a precise and faithful student of God’s Word, would know that Isaiah said “wait” and not “love.” Isaiah through several chapters was anticipating the One to come, Paul is proclaiming the hope that has arrived in that One: Messiah. The “wait” of Isaiah is the piercing pain of hope deferred, while Paul proclaims the love of God that now soothes us in Christ while the eternal promise is working out redemptive history.

Why do I tap out these words today? I use myself, not to glory in the pain or delay, but in the Lord. I know many of you are waiting as well, for all sorts of rescue. I merely desire to remind us all to keep looking to Him, or more precisely, keep digging into Him. We know that our help comes not from the mountains, but when we want our mountains to be moved and the circumstances of life changed, we need to keep digging into His faithfulness, evidenced in our lives by His Word, supernaturally and through the presence of the Aaron’s and Hur’s around us. His promise is never accomplished in our strength, or in our time. We are human, and in our despair our hearts may grow faint, but remember that the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit will reinflate the faint heart with the breath of life.

But what of this desire? This desire of the heart? The oft quoted Psalm says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (37:4). This is not a magic formula for prosperity. It is a correction. What is the object of our delight (our softness), and our desire? David, who waited upon the Lord, knew that the Lord is to be the desire of our heart; and when He is the desire of our heart, He will supply our need (Ps. 23:1). Then the wait is over.

The Lord could have delivered the promised son to Abraham earlier, or He could have announced the promise later, closer to the fulfillment, and we could say this about example in every example above. The waiting set a hope in Abraham, our forebears, and in us. The hope causes us to look higher than the mountains, the sky and even the heavens, to the One in Whom every promise of God is wrapped up: Messiah Yeshua/Jesus. As Paul reminds us, there is yet a preparation happening, but we have the love of God in us and with us in the person of Christ, and He is all we need (Phil. 4:19).

So I wait, but I wait in the hope of the One Who has redeemed me from death, given me life, and freely allows me to taste of His fruitful tree in the Spirit, and see the goodness that He has cultivated even in the waiting. For we wait, not as those without hope, for we wait in the hope of Yeshua/Jesus.

Maranatha. Shalom.