Adam J. Bernay, the host of "Beyond Salvation," which airs at noon on Saturdays (also other times throughout the weekend), is the rabbi of Beit Tefillah Messianic Fellowship of Fresno, the international Director of Youth, Education, & Singles Ministries for the Coaliton of Torah Observant Messianic Congregations, the author of the book "BEYOND SALVATION: Why Believers in Jesus Should Keep the Torah," and works at KRDU in production. He is also pursuing a Masters in Counseling at the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary.
Today's Scripture Insight -- The Definition of Insanity
Wednesday 06-23-2010 9:53am PT
Reading: Numbers
Chapter 23
In our last episode, Balak, the
king of Moab,
called upon Balaam to curse Israel
for him.Interestingly enough, it
appears the Balaam is some sort of priest of God, not a priest of a foreign
god, at least in the sense that he prays to God, has some sort of relationship
with God, and expects certain things out of God.The relationship is apparently strong enough
that Jesus came to warn Balaam off of his disastrous course, as we read on
Monday.Balaam seems to understand this,
as he told Balak towards the end of that reading, “I can utter only the word
that God puts into my mouth.”Balak is
apparently willing to take that chance, as we see in verses 1-13:
Then Balaam said to Balak,
"Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams
for me here."Balak did just as
Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each
altar. Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand beside your burnt offering, and I
will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will
tell you." So he went to a bare hill. Now God met Balaam, and he said to
Him, "I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a
ram on each altar." Then the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth and said,
"Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus."So he returned to him, and behold, he was
standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab.He took up his discourse and said, "From
Aram
Balak has brought me, Moab's
king from the mountains of the East, 'Come curse Jacob for me, And come,
denounce Israel!'How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?
And how can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?As I see him from the top of the rocks, and I
look at him from the hills; behold, a people who dwells apart, And will not be
reckoned among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the
fourth part of Israel? Let
me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!"Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have
you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually
blessed them!"He replied,
"Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?" Then
Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from where * you
may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not
see all of them; and curse them for me from there."
And so, the cycle repeats itself
twice more (in this chapter): Balak sets up seven altars with seven offerings
to God, tries to get Balaam to curse Israel, and Balaam – speaking the Word God
gives him – blesses Israel.So, three
times in this chapter, people who seem to actually want to serve God – or they
say they do – try to get God to curse Israel,
and He won’t… and they keep trying!It
is said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over,
expecting different results.It just
doesn’t work that way.
But hold on, Christian friends,
before you scoff at Balaam and Balak!How much do we see leaders of the Church do the exact same thing?It’s called Replacement Theology – they want
to be God’s Chosen People, they want all the covenant blessings with almost
none of the covenant responsibilities, and so they teach that the Church has
replaced or superseded Israel
as God’s People, as God’s Bride!In
effect, they erect altars to God, pray to Him, and ask Him to curse Israel, to
abandon them, by saying they are the “New Israel,” the “Spiritual Israel,” but
mostly divorced from the Chosen People and the Word God gave them!These Replacementists / Supersessionists want
a different Word, an easier Word… but it’s just not GOD’S WORD!
If you truly want to be Israel in
the fullest sense, if you want to receive the blessings God gave Israel, you
have to do what Jesus said (Matthew 5:18-19):
"For truly I say to you,
until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass
from the Law until all is accomplished.Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches
others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but
whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of
heaven.”
To try it any other way is the definition of insanity.
Today's Scripture Insight -- Encounters with Messiah
Monday 06-21-2010 10:08am PT
Reading: Numbers Chapter 22
In today's reading, Balaam is having a hard time. First, he resists the inducement to come curse Israel. Then God says, according to our translation, "If the men have come to call you, rise up and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you shall you do." (v.20) But then we read in verse 22, that "God was angry because he was going." What is the problem now?
Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky writes on Torah.org:
Billam, at first is refused permission to go with Balak's advisors. He seems to be reluctant to even consider the offer, claiming that even if he is offered a houseful of the gold and silver he can't go. Yet Balak perseveres, Bila'am re-requests and HaShem [a title for God, literally "The Name"] finally agrees, caveats attached. But instead of Billam using his new-found permission to reluctantly trudge along, he develops a whole new attitude. He is up at the crack of dawn, he passionately saddles his own donkey, a chore normally delegated to his servants, HaShem sees that Billam is not being coerced, nor schlepped, rather, "He is going." Then His ire flares. HaShem's reluctant approval turned into Bila'ams enthusiastic accompaniment.
So, God is not happy with Balaam's changed attitude. And we see that unhappiness expressed by an appearance of "the angel of the LORD" in verses 22-35. But this is no ordinary angel. We read in verses 31-35:
Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed all the way to the ground. The angel of the LORD said to him, "Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way was contrary to me. But the donkey saw me and turned aside from me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, I would surely have killed you just now, and let her live." Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the way against me. Now then, if it is displeasing to you, I will turn back." But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but you shall speak only the word which I tell you."
Who is this "angel of the LORD," whom men bow to in worship, and who is going to speak when God said it was only He Who would be speaking (verse 20)? In Exodus 24, we read of this "angel of the LORD":
Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank. (vv. 9-11)
It is also this "angel of the LORD" who appears to Abraham to stop the sacrifice of Isaac, who wrestles with Jacob, who brings the news of the forthcoming birth of Samson... and in all of these cases, like in the two situations above, this "angel of the LORD" is worshipped as God Himself, and "the angel of the LORD" does not correct them. Therefore, we know that this "angel of the LORD" is actually Jesus, the human manifestation of God in the world.
And just as with Abraham, in today's reading Jesus appears to halt a man before he does something he should not (although Abraham had the best of motives -- serving God -- and Balaam had the worst of motives -- serving himself). How often do we leap into action for what we think is the right thing, and don't look to see if our Messiah is standing in the road with the Sword of the Spirit, warning us off? Or maybe He's there to give us guidance, to go on ahead of us in the taking of new ground for God, as He was promised to do for the Israelites in Exodus 23:20-22:
"Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him. But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries."
We must recognize in which role He appears -- as the guard to stop you from going or the guard to your path -- and accept His Word in all matters, whenever we encounter Him.
Today's Scripture Insight -- Once Bitten, Twice Cried
Thursday 06-17-2010 10:07am PT
Reading: Numbers 21:4-18
Yet again, we read about the Israelites crying, moaning, and kvetching about not having water on their schedule and because they're tired of the manna God is providing for them. Well, naturally, God is not happy with this, so He sends a plague of serpents who bite the people and they die.Then Moses is commanded to make a serpent and put it on a standard -- used for carrying flags -- and the people are to look at it and be healed.
Of course, we know that we read in John 3:14-15:
"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life."
Indeed, the standard on which their flags were raised were very similar to the Roman crucifixion crosses -- which looked more like a capital T than it is depicted, like a + or a lower case t -- and so we see here a type of Messiah. But why serpents in the first place?
There's a wonderful rabbinic commentary from Torah.org that gives us this explanation: In Gan Eden, the Garden of Eden, life was blissful. Adam and Chava [Eve] had all they could have wanted, except for one type of fruit -- The Eitz Hada'as, The Fruit of Knowledge. It was the snake that taught his human cohort, the concept of total self-indulgence, rendering them powerless to say, "No!"
The desert dwellers did not fare much differently. Their celestial fare adapted to almost any flavor in the world. Water flowed freely from the rock. But they were not content. They wanted more. The unfulfilled flavors that the Manna refused to replicate were on their minds. They felt that Manna was only a mere simulacrum of the luscious cuisine that they desired. Their craving for everything, manifested itself in punishment through the animal that has his most favored fare, anytime anywhere -- the snake. To a snake, all dust is desirous!
When the Jewish nation were both led and fed, through a hostile environment, yet complained that their miraculous bread is insubstantial, then the only correlation, powerful enough to make them mend their thoughtless ways was the bite of the very being who gains no enjoyment from what he bites, while having all he desires.
Our goal in life is to revel in the blessing, rejoice in all the good that we have, despite the shortcomings of a limited world, and the trivial amenities we may lack.
Pics From Around the Station -- As Seen on 1130AM
Wednesday 06-16-2010 1:35pm PT
Today's Scripture Insight -- To ME Be the Glory?!?
Wednesday 06-16-2010 9:38am PT
Reading: Numbers 20:2-12
This is one of the passages that confuses a lot of people. First, we are told there is no water, and the people are complaining. A legitimate concern, but the way they bring it is not legitimate, as we read in verses 2-5:
There was no water for the congregation, and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron. The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, "If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD! Why then have you brought the LORD'S assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die here? Why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us in to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink."
Moses then does the right thing -- he takes the problem to God, as we read in verses 6-7. God's answer (verse 8) is a simple and basic instruction:
"Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink."
Then we read what Moses did, in verses 9-11:
So Moses took the rod from before the LORD, just as He had commanded him; and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, "Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?" Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank.
Doesn't that sound like what God said? So, why does God say, in verse 12:
But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."
Huh? How does that work? That's the reaction of most people. But let's examine the instruction and how it was carried out. God said, "Take the rod; and
you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the
rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water." What did Moses do? He started okay -- he and Aaron gathered the people, they took the rod, and they went to the rock. But then Moses spoke not to the rock, but to the people, saying, "Listen now, you
rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?" Then
we read that "Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod."
So, instead of just speaking to the rock -- an act of faith that puts all the action in God's hands -- Moses spoke to the people and asked them if we (which includes himself and Aaron) should bring them water from the rock. Then he struck the rock. So, it looks like Moses (and to a lesser extent Aaron) is bringing them water, and maybe God is involved somewhere. The upshot: to Moses be the glory, for great things he has done, to rewrite a classic hymn.
Did God decide not to honor the necessity for water for His people? No, we are told, "and
water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts
drank." But Moses lost himself the right to enter the Promised Land. You will note, all of a sudden, the rod is called Moses' rod. Previously, this is referred to as the rod or staff of God (for example, in Exodus 17:9). But now, it's Moses' rod. When you take up the symbols or mantle of God's authority but do it for your glory, those cease to be God's symbols or God's mantle and become yours, in the same way in Isaiah Chapter 1, the Sabbaths and new moon festivals are suddenly the people's, not God's. It's not that God no longer has Sabbaths or new moon festivals... it's that when you do them in iniquity, they aren't God's but yours.
No ego trips, people. To God be the glory, not man.
Today's Scripture Insight -- Spring Cleaning of the Heart
Tuesday 06-15-2010 10:00am PT
Reading: Numbers 19:1-22
The following is excerpted from a teaching I give on this passage every year before Passover. We go through portions of the reading (follow in your Bible) and then look at a corrolary reading in Ezekiel:
Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you an unblemished red heifer in which is no defect and on which a yoke has never been placed.
It is symbolic of being without sin.
You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence. Next Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its hide and its flesh and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned. The priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet material and cast it into the midst of the burning heifer. The priest shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward come into the camp, but the priest shall be unclean until evening. The one who burns it shall also wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water, and shall be unclean until evening. Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as water to remove impurity; it is purification from sin. The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening; and it shall be a perpetual statute to the sons of Israel and to the alien who sojourns among them.
The priests sacrifice the red heifer, but it makes them unclean… and another man must gather the remains for its eventual use. Here we see a type of the crucifixion of Yeshua: the corrupt priesthood arranged for His sacrifice, but it merely pointed up their uncleanness, losing them the true priesthood. Other men – the Apostles – were faithful and became the new leaders in the passing of the authority from the priesthood and mainstream rabbis to the rabbis trained by Yeshua, leading the Sect of the Nazarene.
The one who touches the corpse of any person shall be unclean for seven days. That one shall purify himself from uncleanness with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and then he will be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean. Anyone who touches a corpse, the body of a man who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from Israel.
Again, we see the symbolism here: sin is death, and if you do not cleanse yourself of sin, you will be cut off from Israel and consigned to eternal punishment in She’ol. Jumping to the end of the reading, we read:
But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself from uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD; the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean. So it shall be a perpetual statute for them. And he who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening. Furthermore, anything that the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening.
Sin is contagious; we become unclean from it simply by living in the world. We may live in the world, but we should not become of the world and its uncleanness, or else… what is described in Ezekiel 36:16-38 happens to us:
Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Son of man, when the house of Israel was living in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds …
The House of Israel had done precisely what God had ordered them not to do: adopt the pagan practices of their neighbors.
Therefore I poured out my fury on them, because of the blood they had shed in the land and because they defiled it with their idols.
The Israelites had even been keeping the practices of human sacrifice, particularly child sacrifice. They had begun to keep deviant practices, including deviant sexual practices.
Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them. When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD; yet they have come out of His land.’ But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.
When our unclean ways cause us to become of the world, we are not just causing our own destruction if unchecked, we cause God’s very Name to be profaned, because we are the people called by God’s Name, and this is the way in which we are behaving! We return to the Haftarah:
Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD," declares the Lord GOD, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."
God can bring us back around to cleanness, but only when we allow Him to work in our lives, to live according to His Torah and as a Redeemed Child of Israel should! God didn’t bring back all the Israelites – some would not allow themselves to be redeemed, preferring to live their paganized lives in their Dispersion. However, many of these even turned back to God, forming the Jewish communities outside Israel that would one day be visited and written to by the Apostles!
"You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations."
God makes this promise again and again, because it is the promise of the covenant: that we will one day live in Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel, an abundant life free of iniquities and abhorrent practices, so free that we will look back at who we were and hate our old selves! In fact, He begins doing this last part even now.
© 2012
