"Yonah the Prophet had to suffer a tempest at sea and three subsequent days in the belly of a whale before he woke up and returned to Hashem with all his heart. Must we also, Heaven forbid?
As I'm writing this article, flood waters are rising in New York City despite the fact that Hurricane Irene has been degraded to a tropical storm. And, on the other side of the Atlantic, rockets fired from Gaza are still falling in the South of Israel, despite the fact that there's supposed to be a ceasefire.
Despite the fact... Are we starting to understand that we don't run the show? Is anyone foolish enough to see that our fate is not in our own hands?"
8.31.2011
8.25.2011
8.21.2011
Raise Your Hand.
This is what the L-RD G-D said, "Look, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles and raise my sign to all the people. They will bring your sons, carrying them close and they will lift up your daughters upon their shoulders and carry them. Kings will be your caring fathers and queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down their faces at the sight of you and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will all know that I AM the L-RD. Those who wait for Me will not be ashamed." ~ Isaiah 49:22-23
Yeshayahu 49:22,23 graphically illustrates how the nations will, because of a miracle (nes) that is raised before them by the hand of G-d, carry Israel back to her land – and humbly nurture the People of G-d in that place. Then, and this is important, "you will all know that I Am the L-RD”. Who is “you”? “You” refers to Israel, of course. When will Israel know who the L-rd is? We can see from the sequence - only after this event takes place is His identity revealed. After G-d raises a miracle in the sight of the nations, they will be motivated to care for the Jewish People, carrying them back to their land. After which, they, Israel, will know who the L-rd truly is. Since the nations have, in effect, been carrying Israel back to her land for decades, are we to believe that the sign raised by the hand of G-d to the nations is Messiah Yeshua? I certainly believe so. But is there more to this prophecy? The humility described here on the part of the nations is rarely seen today. Is there yet another miracle G-d will work before gentile eyes? One that will humble them even more? One that will make the truth of G-d's plan for world redemption an inescapable reality for all? Or have the nations simply missed what was already shown to them? I believe that there may be more shown to the nations. With the current state of world markets and global turmoil, it would be absolutely nothing for G-d to raise His hand and unleash a series of eye-opening events. Perhaps this "hand raising" is a multi-faceted revelation spanning an unknown number of years. At any rate, there are already gentiles who would love nothing more than to humble themselves and assist Am Yisrael any way that they could. Many have been for decades.
Yeshayahu 49:22,23 graphically illustrates how the nations will, because of a miracle (nes) that is raised before them by the hand of G-d, carry Israel back to her land – and humbly nurture the People of G-d in that place. Then, and this is important, "you will all know that I Am the L-RD”. Who is “you”? “You” refers to Israel, of course. When will Israel know who the L-rd is? We can see from the sequence - only after this event takes place is His identity revealed. After G-d raises a miracle in the sight of the nations, they will be motivated to care for the Jewish People, carrying them back to their land. After which, they, Israel, will know who the L-rd truly is. Since the nations have, in effect, been carrying Israel back to her land for decades, are we to believe that the sign raised by the hand of G-d to the nations is Messiah Yeshua? I certainly believe so. But is there more to this prophecy? The humility described here on the part of the nations is rarely seen today. Is there yet another miracle G-d will work before gentile eyes? One that will humble them even more? One that will make the truth of G-d's plan for world redemption an inescapable reality for all? Or have the nations simply missed what was already shown to them? I believe that there may be more shown to the nations. With the current state of world markets and global turmoil, it would be absolutely nothing for G-d to raise His hand and unleash a series of eye-opening events. Perhaps this "hand raising" is a multi-faceted revelation spanning an unknown number of years. At any rate, there are already gentiles who would love nothing more than to humble themselves and assist Am Yisrael any way that they could. Many have been for decades.
8.15.2011
Five
"Five things brought about the redemption of the Israelites from Egypt:
(1) The sufferings of the people
(2) their repentance;
(3) the merits of their ancestors
(4) the expiration of the time fixed for their captivity
(5) the mercy of their G-d.
These same causes will operate towards the realization of Israel's Messianic hopes and lead to the last redemption through Messiah." ~ Deuteronomy Rabba 2
(1) The sufferings of the people
(2) their repentance;
(3) the merits of their ancestors
(4) the expiration of the time fixed for their captivity
(5) the mercy of their G-d.
These same causes will operate towards the realization of Israel's Messianic hopes and lead to the last redemption through Messiah." ~ Deuteronomy Rabba 2
8.09.2011
Three
"Here is the secret of two names combined which are completed by a third and become one again. 'And G-d said Let us make Man.' It is written, 'The secret of the L-rd is to them that fear him.' (Psalm 25:34). That most reverend Elder opened an exposition of this verse by saying '"Simeon Simeon, who is it that said: 'Let us make man?' Who is this Elohim?"' With these words the most reverend Elder vanished before anyone saw him... Truly, now is the time to expound this mystery, because certainly there is here a mystery which hitherto it was not permitted to divulge, but now we perceive that permission is given."
8.04.2011
One
"Hear, O Israel: The L-RD our G-d is one L-RD." Deuteronomy 6:4
Rabbi Menachem of Recanati (1250-1310), in writing his commentary on the Shema, describes, in a similar fashion to some of the other writings we've looked at recently, the mysterious Unity of the G-dhead. In writing about this mystery, he concludes, "These are secrets which are revealed only to those who are reaping upon the holy field, as it is written 'The secret of the L-rd is with them that fear Him.'" (Psalms 25:14).
Rabbi Menachem then wrote:
"Hear, O Israel, the L-RD our G-d is one L-RD." This verse is the root of our faith, therefore Moses records it after the ten commandments. The reason (that there is said YHWH, Lord, Elohim, our God, and YHWH, Lord) is, because the word Shema does not here signify "Hear;" but "to gather together, to unite," as in 1 Samuel 15:4, "Saul gathered together the people." The meaning implied is; The Inherent-Ones are so united together, one in the other without end, they being the exalted G-d. He mentions the three names mystically to indicate the three exalted original Ones."
Rabbi Menachem of Recanati (1250-1310), in writing his commentary on the Shema, describes, in a similar fashion to some of the other writings we've looked at recently, the mysterious Unity of the G-dhead. In writing about this mystery, he concludes, "These are secrets which are revealed only to those who are reaping upon the holy field, as it is written 'The secret of the L-rd is with them that fear Him.'" (Psalms 25:14).
Rabbi Menachem then wrote:
"Hear, O Israel, the L-RD our G-d is one L-RD." This verse is the root of our faith, therefore Moses records it after the ten commandments. The reason (that there is said YHWH, Lord, Elohim, our God, and YHWH, Lord) is, because the word Shema does not here signify "Hear;" but "to gather together, to unite," as in 1 Samuel 15:4, "Saul gathered together the people." The meaning implied is; The Inherent-Ones are so united together, one in the other without end, they being the exalted G-d. He mentions the three names mystically to indicate the three exalted original Ones."
8.02.2011
One, Three, Five
When they encountered the textual oddity of the plural word Elohim, which is used thousands of times in Tanakh to refer to HaShem, the Sages seemed well aware of the divine revelation of the unified G-d. This mysterious moniker has long been understood by the Sages, as evidenced particularly in the Zohar, to express the various faces of G-d.
The Zohar utilizes five different expressions to refer to the principle of the Unified G-d, or Adonai Echad. They are the tlat rishin or three heads, the tlat ruhin or three spirits, the tlat havayot or three forms of revelation, the tlat shmehin or three names and the talta gvanin, or three shades of interpretation. These Aramaic terms are understood as G-d’s “being”, just as some might use the terms g-dhead, Unity or Trinity in English.
The Zohar (pt.II) asks: “How can these three be One? Are they One only because we call them One? How they are One we can know only by the urging of the Ruach Ha Kodesh and then even with closed eyes.”
The humility expressed here in approaching this mystery “with closed eyes”, or in humble faith, is beautiful, and something of which we would do well to take note.
The Zohar utilizes five different expressions to refer to the principle of the Unified G-d, or Adonai Echad. They are the tlat rishin or three heads, the tlat ruhin or three spirits, the tlat havayot or three forms of revelation, the tlat shmehin or three names and the talta gvanin, or three shades of interpretation. These Aramaic terms are understood as G-d’s “being”, just as some might use the terms g-dhead, Unity or Trinity in English.
The Zohar (pt.II) asks: “How can these three be One? Are they One only because we call them One? How they are One we can know only by the urging of the Ruach Ha Kodesh and then even with closed eyes.”
The humility expressed here in approaching this mystery “with closed eyes”, or in humble faith, is beautiful, and something of which we would do well to take note.
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