Return&Reward

                                                                    Blowing the Shofar 

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      This week's Sabbath reading is a continuance of last week's title Va-yelech, meaning "Then he went out" from Deuteronomy 31, as well as being the time of Shuvah, meaning "Repent/Return." It is Shuvah because this Sabbath is also the Feast of Trumpets, in Hebrew: Yom Teruah, also know as Rosh Hashanah. This Feast of the LORD is known for the blowing of the shofar trumpet. This date of the Feast this year also coincides with the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, which impacted not only one nation, but the world.

     In Deuteronomy 31, the LORD gives Moses a song which he must teach to the Israelites who are about to enter the Promised Land. The LORD told Moses that the purpose of the song is to lead the people back to Him because, the LORD prophesies, "Behold, you (Moses) will rest with your fathers; and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake Me and break (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-My-covenant which I made with them. Then My anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured...Now therefore, write down this (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-song for yourselves, and teach it to (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the children-of-Israel; put it in their mouths, that this (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel...Therefore Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel." (v. 16-22, excerpt).

     This song was an *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega son for the *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega children of Israel. It is a song that calls upon heaven and earth to testify of the truth that the LORD found Jacob/Israel in the wilderness, taught him, encircled him, instructed him, kept him as the apple of His eye. The LORD carried them on His wings to the heights of the earth and supplied them with every good thing. Then they forsook the LORD and scorned the Rock of their salvation. They worshipped demon gods. The LORD turned away from them and hid Himself because they were children of no faith. They would suffer disasters: arrows, hunger, pestilence, beasts, serpents, the sword. Their vine was of the vine of Sodom and Gomorrah. However, the LORD will judge His people with compassion. He will turn His anger on their enemies instead. Then there will be rejoicing instead of calamity: "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement (kapar - atonement, reconciliation, forgive, purge away, merciful, cleansed, pardon, to cover over) for His land ('adama - ground, land, whole inhabited earth/red/blood) and His people." (Deut. 32:1-43, excerpt).

     We can see that the purpose of this *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega-song is to cause the *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega-children-of-Israel to return to the LORD, even from the most corrupt sins, where the LORD provides His merciful atonement (see kapar above) healing and restoration. We understand that Jesus Messiah/Christ is the blood Atonement covering that purges, cleanses and pardons us of sin and causes us to return to the Shepherd of our souls. (see 1 John 2:2 and 1 Pet. 2:24-25). John wrote: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." (1 Jn. 1:9-10).

     As part of this Shuvah (Return/Repentance) Sabbath, the reading portion includes the Word of the LORD from the prophets Hosea and Micah. From Hosea 14: "O Israel, return (sub - return again, turn back, revive, restore, refresh, recover, deliver, recompense) to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity; Take words with you and return to the LORD." (v. 1-2). As a result, the LORD promises to heal them, to love them, to make them fruitful and beautiful. Also: "Those who dwell under His shadow shall return; they shall be revived like grain, and grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon." (v. 7).

     From Micah 7, the prophet proclaims that he will arise out of darkness and the LORD will be a light to him. Even though the prophet has sinned against the LORD, the LORD will plead his case for him and execute justice for him. Also: "He will bring me forth to the light; I will see His righteousness." (V. 8-9).

     As we can see in the Hebrew word sub above, meaning "return", the return is directly connected to reward: miraculous revival and the restoration. The concepts cannot be separated. One must follow the other. There is a reward received upon the sub return to the LORD.

     We can see from the presence of *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega above that the provision for return and reward is not limited to the "Old Testament", also called the Tanakh. Jesus applies the same concept to His Churches in the Book of Revelation, Chapters 2 and 3 as He calls those Churches to return to Him and repent and promises the rewards they will receive as a result of following the voice of repentance and the voice of the Holy Spirit.

     There are several interpretations as to what these seven churches of Revelation mean or represent, but, at face value, we can perhaps agree that Jesus chose to speak to these churches because the challenges, successes and failures that had beset them also besets many churches and believers today. He reminds several that they are sitting in the middle of the place of Satan's throne. These churches were in danger of falling under the challenge of evil and darkness rather than standing against it in Christ and in His works, His Name, His Word and the Spirit. This same challenge is eternal and present with us today. This time of the holy fall Feasts of the LORD is accompanied by the call of the shofar trumpet to repentance, return to the LORD and the receiving of His rewards for us if we will hear and obey.

     According to articles written by rabbis, the sound of the shofar trumpet calls to God's people as a loud voice - a prophetic voice and the voice of the LORD Himself. (see Isa. 58:1, Rev. 1:10, Rev. 4:1-2). It's a call of warning and judgment, of gathering together, of return to the LORD and repentance. The sound of the shofar, the rabbis wrote, is the voice of heaven forming a bridge between heaven and earth. The voice of the shofar leads to revelation and causes closed hearts to be opened and repentant. The sound of the shofar stirs God's compassion and mercy. The sound of the shofar stirs Jewish hearts to call for the appearance of Messiah/Christ. The shofar proclaims the birth of creation and man and is the sound of rebirth and new life that comes forth from repentance and a changed or transformed heart. The breath of the shofar joins with the breath of the Spirit of God bringing forth divine breath into the world. The breath going forth from the shofar becomes spirals of light in the world, and darkness flees.

     In the Book of Acts, the disciples said that they were compelled to speak forth (laleo - to utter a voice or to emit a sound) the Name of Jesus when religious leaders tried to silence them. They were compelled to make the sound. (Acts 4:18-20).

     If you would like to learn more about the return to the LORD and His awaiting rewards, you can join my prayer: "Heavenly Father and Great King above all the earth, Your voice goes forth like a trumpet summoning me to return to You and to repent through Your Son of Atonement and Forgiveness, Jesus. Lord Jesus, Your voice as a trumpet is calling me to return to my first love - a love and devotion to You. I hear the shofar trumpet of Your Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus, please give me a heart to obey what the Spirit is saying to me. Although You are a Rewarder of those who diligently seek You, Lord, I return to You because You are worthy. I return to You because You have not forsaken me, nor lost me out of Your Good Shepherd's hand. Even when I have been in the darkness of iniquity and worldly cares, You have been a Light to me, showing me the way back to You and beckoning me into Your Presence. Especially in this season, I pray that the whole earth would hear the voice of the shofar trumpet and would return to their Creator, to their Savior, because this is the season of great harvest. I ask this in the Name of Jesus. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13. 

Balak

This week's Sabbath reading is titled, Balak, and refers to the name of an enemy king of Israel. His name in Hebrew means "devastator, empty, void, to lay waste, annihilate, make empty". These meanings make me think of the character and identity of Satan immediately, and I also think of the condition of the earth before the creation as described in Gen. 1:2: "The earth was without form and void...". God alleviated this condition of devastation by speaking to it as we read the account of creation. In our Sabbath reading from Numbers 22, Balak is the name of the king of Moab who sought a man, Balaam (bal/am - foreigner, not of the people; nothing, not, else, become old, wear out like a garment, to fall away; grow dark; not of the people, not of the flock) to speak a curse against the vast number of the children of Israel, who were encamped by his land. King Balak sent messengers from the elders of Moab (meaning seed, progeny of a father) and Midian (meaning strife, contention, quarrel, brawling, discord), to bring this request to Balaam: "Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed." (Num. 22:6). We can see that King Balak, who represents the qualities of Satan, needs someone to speak the words of cursing over Israel. He can't do it himself. He has to find a man who is gifted in this prophetic speech. Both nations of Moab and Midian are familiar with God. Moab is descended, through an act of incest, from Abraham's nephew, Lot. Moses' father-in-law, who provided him with godly counsel, came from Midian. He was a priest of Midian, in fact (see Ex. 2:15-21, Ex. 18:6-24). So both of these nations had a relationship by blood or marriage to the Israelites, and had been at least familiar with God. Now both nations sought to have a curse spoken over the Israelites. Balaam, whom King Balak sought to hire in order to speak the curse, had a known skill in divination (Num. 22:7), and was paid with the rewards of divination. Divination here is the Hebrew word qesem, meaning "witchcraft, false prophet, to determine by using a magical scroll"). He also operated in sorcery (Num. 24:1). In addition, Balaam lived in Pethor meaning "soothsayer". Although Balaam used divination and sorcery, he was also familiar with the God of Israel, and understood that the Word of Israel's God was greater than any words of witchcraft, and His Words would prevail in any situation. So Balaam answered King Balak's request saying: "Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less, or more." (Num. 22:18). However, God had already told Balaam: "You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed." (v. 12). As King Balak continued to send more impressive messengers to Balaam, the soothsayer finally told them: "Now therefore, please, you also stay here tonight, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me." (v. 19). Balaam already knew what the LORD had commanded him, but he intended to press the LORD into saying something "more". As Balaam agreed to go to King Balak against the command of the LORD, the LORD even sent the Angel of the LORD to stand in the narrow path in order to obstruct Balaam (v. 24-27). Balaam had to strike his donkey to try to force the animal to continue. Again we see the will of a man trying to force its way past God. The capitalization of the words "Angel of the LORD" in my version of the Bible would indicate that the Angel is a pre-incarnate form of Christ, especially as the Angel confronted Balaam on an increasingly narrowing path (see Mt. 7:13-15). As Balaam accompanied King Balak to three different locations from which to try to curse God's people, he was shown, instead, the prophetic presence of the Messiah to be born among them: "The LORD his God is with him (Jacob), and the shout of a King is among them...a people rises like a lioness, and lifts itself up like a lion..." (Num. 23:20-24), and "...his King shall be higher than Agag (meaning "I will overtop", and future king of the Amalekites), and His Kingdom shall be exalted...he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who shall rouse him?" (Num. 24:7-9). Balaam also prophesied concerning the latter days and the Messiah saying: "I see Him. but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel...Out of Jacob, One shall have dominion..." (Num. 24:14-19). As Balaam looked upon the Israelites camped by tribes, the Spirit of God came upon him, rather than the usual spirit of sorcery, he pronounced the third blessing of God over Israel. Seeing Israel camped by tribes around the tabernacle in the order commanded by God, Balaam would have seen the shape of a cross formed by the encampment. Balaam was not able to curse the Israelites as King Balak had requested, and said: "God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" (Num. 23:19-20). Later, the Apostle Peter wrote of those who are like Balaam: "...those who walk according to the flesh...have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness." (2 Pet. 2:15). Balaam got involved and tried to force the Word of God to change, because there would be great rewards to him from King Balak for doing so. This also applies today. There is still, like King Balak, a "devastator, waster, and annihilator" among men, Satan, who is looking for someone to curse God's people for him, because, although he can lie and accuse, he cannot curse the people of God himself. Where better to find such a Balaam to do it than among those of whom Jesus said: "Assuredly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth, will be loosed in heaven" (Mt. 18:18), and "...whoever...believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says...whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them..." (Mk. 11:23-24). Because we are part of Him, Jesus gave this authority to believers. It is a great blessing in the earth, but has it been misused as a cursing by those who name themselves after Jesus? Jesus also said this: "...I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you." (Lk. 6:27-28). The Apostle Paul wrote: "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." (Rom. 12:14). The Apostle James wrote that this was a serious problem among believers: "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity...it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell...every kind of beast...has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude (likeness) of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so." (James 3:6-10). Perhaps if King Balak were alive today, he would not have to look too far or too long to find his willing Balaam. If you would like to know more about speaking by the Spirit of God, rather than by the soul of man, you can pray with me: "Heavenly Father, forgive me when I have spoken in an unrighteous manner towards anyone. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit who will teach me how to correctly use the authority that Jesus has put in my mouth and prayers. Teach me how to bless and not curse, so that I may be trusted with the Words and thoughts of God. Isaiah said that he was a man of unclean lips, and that the lived among a people of unclean lips. I ask in Jesus' name that my lips, and the heart from which they speak, would be cleansed. AMEN."