Pomegranates, the Star of David and Shavuot (aka Pentecost)

whole-and-sliced-pomegranatesThis weekend I will be celebrating my sixth Feast of Shavuot, and I am very blessed to be spending it with a family of Messianics who just happen to be some of the foremost Temple experts alive today. Am I excited? You have no idea! Okay, I just started crying, darnit. Let’s talk about one of the seven species that are traditionally eaten during Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) because they are very representative of God’s blessings and the lives we are commanded to live. The traditions of the Feasts, I have come to find, are very much focused on (1) praising God through Scripture and Song, (2) honoring Him by recalling the glory of His Temple and those things which were done in order to worship Him there as an entire Nation, and (3) honoring Him by praising the blessings of the Land of Promise. Pomegranates definitely fall into all three categories–from the pomegranate imagery in the Song of Solomon to the remembrance of the adornment of the Temple and High Priestly garments with pomegranates and with the traditional eating of pomegranate during the Feasts. (I am blessed to be the one bringing pomegranate to the celebration this weekend)

Generally, if one wants to know what a certain symbol means, listen to the people who use it and if they happened to write the Bible, check that out as well. Oftentimes the reasons are straightforward, simple, right out in the open, and self-evident.

If the golden altar [the layer] on which was only of the thickness of a denar lasted for many years and the fire had no power over it, how much more would that be the case with the transgressors in Israel who are as full of good deeds as a pomegranate [with seed], as it is said in Scripture: Thy temples are like a pomegranate, and R. Simeon b. Lakish remarked, `Read not, `Thy temples` but `Thy empty ones` [signifying] that even the worthless among you are as full of good deeds as a pomegranate [with seed]`. Eruvin 2.1-3

This commentary on the Song of Solomon might seem a bit confusing because it is written in what I like to call “ivory tower intellectual” but the gist of it is that the altar of incense was regarded as if it was composed of solid gold, even though it was only gold-plated. In the same way, even though all of Israel is not doing righteousness, the Nation is like that altar, gilded, and holy because God has set the people apart through Covenant. Israel, even counting the transgressors, is still filled with the “good deeds” of the Torah, like the pomegranate which is filled with seeds able to bring forth life and goodness.

Why does the Song of Solomon speak of pomegranates? Because the Song of Solomon is filled with Temple imagery–and Temple imagery is filled with Gan Eden (Garden in Eden) symbolism. Gan Eden was where man lived in harmony with God, and so the Temple was made to resemble God’s Garden. We know from II Chron 28:19 that David received all of the revelation of how to build and adorn the Temple from God, by the Spirit in writing–if only we still had that document it would be glorious.

“All this he made clear to me in writing from the hand of the Lord, all the work to be done according to the plan.”

I Kings 7, II Kings 25, II Chron 3, and 4 contain descriptions of the use of pomegranates in the adornment of the Temple (as does Jeremiah 52:22-23). Solomon did all of the work according to the plan, the tavnit, given to him by his father David.

In Exodus 28, we first see reference to the pomegranates embroidered into the hem of the high priest’s garment:

 31-35 “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. It shall have an opening for the head in the middle of it, with a woven binding around the opening, like the opening in a garment, so that it may not tear. On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, around its hem, with bells of gold between them, a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.

pomegranate sceptreOne of the most striking and beautiful artifacts ever uncovered is the probable top of the scepter carried by the High Priest, which dates to the 13th or 14th century BCE–to the time of the Exodus. Although once called a forgery, it has now been verified as authentic [1]. It carries the inscription “Holy to the Priest of the House of God” in Paleo Hebrew. It is representative of a pomegranate in an early stage of growth.

We see this scepter alluded to in Numbers 24:17.

I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.

Yeshua, our High Priest in the Heavenlies, is that star who now bears the pomegranate scepter in the Heavenly Temple.

So why pomegranates? Well, pomegranates are one of the seven species listed in Deuteronomy 8:8, one of the seven agricultural blessings of the Promised Land. Each one of these species has a special place in Biblical symbolism, for example, the bowing over of wheat at the harvest represents humility, and I hardly need to mention the constant references to grapes and wine in Scripture! But pomegranates are a unique fruit, as anyone who has eaten one knows. It is chock full of seeds–and in ancient writings is symbolic of good deeds or in New Testament language, good fruit. When Paul was speaking of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23, there is little doubt that he was referencing the pomegranate.

 22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

The blessings, or lack thereof, in Scripture are also tied to the fecundity (fruitfulness, or fertility) of pomegranates.

pom flowerJoel 1:12 The vine dries up; the fig tree languishes. Pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up, and gladness dries up from the children of man.

Haggai 2:19 Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”

Interestingly, the Haggai verse was specifically spoken as a blessing to the people because on that day they had finally laid the foundation for the new Temple building as per God’s command in Haggai 1:7-11.

pom necklacePomegranates, unlike the Menorah, were visible to the non-priestly Israelites and was therefore associated with the glory of God’s Temple far more than the Menorah, which they were never able to look at. Nowadays, that imagery is stylistically represented in the Star of David, the Magen David, the symbol of Israel, by a people fervently hoping for the Messiah to return – it is also a symbol of faith that one day the pomegranate would again be seen by all Israelites, once more adorning a Temple upon Mt Moriah, on the Temple Mount. (pendant can be purchased here since I used their pic it’s only fair I let you know where you can buy one)

 

[1]http://web.archive.org/web/20100115025132/http://www.bib-arch.org:80/news/news-ivory-pomegranate.asp

 



Kids Left Behind: A Wake-up Call For Grown Ups

mustangAlmost six months ago I wrote a blog explaining that I was partially transitioning to children’s ministry and this is the blog explaining that the transition is over–and I want to share with you a dream I had back in January that should be sobering for every parent, grandparent, and minister of the gospel.

The dream was jarring. I was at the home of a relative, one known for her good works fostering and adopting kids in crisis, which they undertook once their kids were grown. It’s important that you know this because I want everyone to see themselves in this dream, and not to think that these are the types of people who were somehow purposefully neglecting kids–these are the kinds of people that other people admire. Very few people reading this are going to measure up just to the baseline on this, myself included. And this dream isn’t about this relative–she was used because to me she represented this life of giving oneself in good works to kids.

I arrived at their house on a bicycle and pulled up in the driveway to see a big van for the entire family and also a cherry red classic 1967 mustang convertible. Now in real life, this family has never owned such a frivolous vehicle, but dreams often employ excessively liberal standards of creative license. I walked into the house and saw four children of various ages from about 8 to 15 and I had no impression whatsoever whether they were adopted, fostered, or biological so that didn’t play into what followed.  At this point, the dream abruptly shifted and I was aware that I was traveling to a big family reunion, and in fact, all the adults were going and I saw nothing wrong with this.

At one point, however, I noticed it was getting dark and my bicycle was not equipped to operate in the darkness so I turned around and went back to my relative’s house. As I walked up to the house I noticed that the van was still there, but the Mustang was gone. I walked in the house, expecting to find no one–but the kids were all still there.

Not only were they there but they had been intentionally left behind–not out of callousness, but because no one had thought seriously about taking them. No one was coming back for them–there was food in the house, television, books, entertainment (even though in real life this family has no television and live very much the kind of life out in the country that many of my friends would consider ideal)–but these kids had been abandoned when the parents went off on their pilgrimage with other adults. The adults had made great preparations for their journey, but the kids were hardly an afterthought. The kids were left with everything they would need to survive, and enough to keep them busy.

One was absolutely heartbroken because he had desperately wanted to go with the adults. The others were simply resigned and accepting of having been abandoned.

I decided then and there to ditch my bike and take the kids in the van to where everyone else was going.

Suddenly, my husband came up alongside me. I said to him, “Everyone is already expecting you, you’re late.”

He turned to me and replied, “I’m not late. I am just not going to be there when they expect me. I am lingering for the children.”

I realized then that he had a big enough vehicle for everyone and that, more importantly, it was not really my husband to whom I was speaking. I have seen Messiah in my dreams many times, and I never know Him by sight–it isn’t until He speaks that I know Him.

********************

Are we preparing to go and meet Yeshua (Jesus) while leaving our kids behind? Are they nothing but an afterthought? Are we not “indoctrinating” them because we want them to be able to make their own faith decisions objectively? Do we think they are too young to learn to be discipled? Are we writing them off and hoping that Yeshua will come so quickly that it just won’t matter? Are we so impressed with the example we are setting that we presume they will simply follow us? Or are we just pounding the commandments into them without actively nurturing the fruit needed to sustain them in the lifestyle they are called to live? Did we even have any of the fruit ourselves to give them?

I guess we came by it honestly–many grew up with the attitude that as long as you read the Bible to your kids and take them to church, that’s it and you’ve done your duty. We teach them the commandments and think that we’ve done our jobs–although in all honesty, we ourselves are struggling since coming to the faith. We believe and teach the Bible as a list of do’s and don’ts that we often secretly resent. We aren’t doing a good enough job of raising our kids within a culture of faith where we are communicating clearly that it isn’t about “do and do not.” We aren’t telling them, “we have a culture where we do these things and don’t do these other things because God’s family behaves differently.” We present God’s culture as a laundry list of ultimatums, as though He is a dictator because that is how the Gentile nations do things and we never made the paradigm shift. We never impart the heart of why we live the way we do because most of us don’t even really have a clue. We spend more time talking about what other people are doing wrong than we do in celebrating this culture that we should be humbled to have been grafted into. Where is our gratitude? We have gone searching for knowledge, and we obsess with being “against” the world but we haven’t taught our kids (or learned ourselves) how to be “for” God’s culture without the ways of the world constantly being mentioned, disparaged, and thrown in their faces. We focus on how terrible the world is instead of directing our attention to how wonderful God’s ways are. No wonder our kids don’t get it–no one can live a life of being simply “against” without wallowing in negativity, bitterness, and contempt. To live a life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control means that we need to be really positive!

We have stuffed our own heads with knowledge, teachings, and conspiracy theories that, in the end, do nothing to prepare our kids to be the generation who will fight the big battles.  But what good is it if I know everything about the Bible, spend thousands on books and conferences if I am just keeping it to myself or blabbing about it on Facebook to other adults but don’t impart that information to my children? Did you think we were the generation who would be THE GENERATION? No way, we spend all our time acting like Lot’s wife, who I think had just taken a selfie of herself with the destruction and was turning around to say, “Ha! I told you so!” so that she could post it to Twitter (but I only say that because I believe that behavior never really changes). When we aren’t doing that, we are acting like the Israelites in the wilderness–wanting to stone our leaders, or assume leadership for ourselves like Korah, or do things our own way like Nadab and Abihu, or continually whine about Egypt like the mixed multitude.

You know, in the end, the only thing Moses’ generation was good for was to gird up their loins and buckle down to teach the generation who would end up going into the Land. Everyone twenty and older had been passed over because they were too self-absorbed–except for Joshua and Caleb (who everyone thinks they would be, everyone except me, anyway). We’re being passed over, and if, when I said that, you were more concerned with whether you are a Joshua or Caleb than you were with steeling yourself to make sure our kids aren’t passed over as well, then that is a problem. We’re too concerned with us, and not focused on the community, not even our kids.

It doesn’t matter if you or I are a Joshua or Caleb–I don’t deserve to be considered either, and I really don’t even care at this point. My concern is for those kids who got left behind. My passion is that they understand their Bibles and not just learn to accept, once they are adults, whatever nonsense is being taught out of context. I want them to understand the character that will be needed in order to be disciples and servants of our King.  I don’t want them to be anything like we are. I want them to be focused on Biblical culture more and focused on being disgusted with the world a whole lot less. I want their focus to be ahead, and not behind–like our focus has tragically been. I don’t want them looking for reasons to hate and fear the world, I want them to discover the reasons for loving God and cherishing His ways. I want them to be like Moses, Daniel, and John. I don’t want them to be like us. They deserve to be Kingdom-minded, and forward-facing so that they can preach a pure gospel.

We never know how much time is allotted to us in this life. I am finishing up my second curriculum book this week and have nine more books I want to get written for kids and their families, and more videos I want to get made. I think we all need to stop fussing so much with the adults and all of our messed up priorities and character flaws and drama and distractions. If Yeshua is lingering for this generation, then I will be staying behind as well. They need to be ready, and I believe with all my heart that we will be needing to help them and then get the heck out of their way.

So check out my new blog www.contextforkids.com.



Most Abused Verses (and Memes) in the New Testament Pt 3: The Blind Leading the Blind

blindHave you seen the memes calling anyone who disagrees with the person who made the meme blind? Or accusing them of leading blind people around? There are a lot of them, but who were the blind Pharisees in context? Well, lemme tell ya, it’s a funny story.

Matt 15:14 “Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

First, the context of the story: Yeshua had just rebuked the Pharisees because some of them were more concerned with external washings which were not commanded, than with the correction of their internal character flaws. Is washing bad? Heck no, it kept the Jews alive during the Black Plague; in fact, they were so healthy that they got accused of starting it all through witchcraft just to kill off the Gentiles. I will say though, that you would not want to stand downwind from their accusers because European non-Jews almost never bathed. #bathingisagoodthing

Now the washings wouldn’t normally have been a problem (in fact, given a choice of who to hang around with, I choose people who like to wash their hands and feet as opposed to those who don’t), but they were symbolic of a bigger issue–righteousness that is merely superficial in nature.

And here we come to the crux of the issue–what made one a blind guide?  Protestants say that the Catholics are the blind guides (and vice versa), many Hebrew Roots people say that everyone is a blind guide (except for themselves, of course) who does not accept Torah, but is that an accurate assessment? Did Yeshua simply introduce a foreign concept or did it mean something to that first-century audience? Well of course it meant something, we just have to find out the answer from their own writings (the best way to learn context is to learn it from the people themselves). Here it is from Sotah 22b of the B Talmud:

Our Rabbis have taught: There are seven types of Pharisees: the shikmi Pharisee, the nikpi Pharisee, the kizai Pharisee, the ‘pestle’ Pharisee, the Pharisee [who constantly exclaims] ‘What is my duty that I may perform it?’, the Pharisee from love [of God] and the Pharisee from fear. The shikmi Pharisee — he is one who performs the action of Shechem. The nikpi Pharisee — he is one who knocks his feet together.  The kizai Pharisee — R. Nahman b. Isaac said: He is one who makes his blood to flow against walls.6  The ‘pestle’ Pharisee — Rabbah b. Shila said: [His head] is bowed like [a pestle in] a mortar. The Pharisee [who constantly exclaims] ‘What is my duty that I may perform it?’ — but that is a virtue! — Nay, what he says is, ‘What further duty is for me that I may perform it?’  The Pharisee from love and the Pharisee from fear — Abaye and Raba said to the tanna [who was reciting this passage], Do not mention ‘the Pharisee from love and the Pharisee from fear’; for Rab Judah has said in the name of Rab: A man should always engage himself in Torah and the commandments even though it be not for their own sake,  because from [engaging in them] not for their own sake, he will come [to engage in them] for their own sake. R. Nahman b. Isaac said: What is hidden is hidden, and what is revealed is revealed; the Great Tribunal will exact punishment from those who rub themselves against the walls.

King Jannai  said to his wife’, ‘Fear not the Pharisees and the non-Pharisees but the hypocrites who ape the Pharisees; because their deeds are the deeds of Zimri12  but they expect a reward like Phineas’.

Now each of the five unrighteous Pharisees had a different reason they were called unrighteous. Specifically turn your attention to the “kizai” Pharisee – why does his blood flow against walls? Because he has blinded himself by covering his eyes and “in his anxiety to avoid looking upon a woman he dashes his face against the wall.” (click on reference 6 above for this explanation) The blind Pharisee wasn’t really blind – he was simply a man with no self-restraint and he was unable to look at a beautiful woman. He covered his eyes and thus did not have to face his sinful nature and overcome his evil inclination. Kizai means “bloody-browed.” In effect, he was cleaning the outside of the vessel while leaving the insides filthy.

External washings, when used as a substitute for internal refining, are just a charade, like covering one’s eyes to avoid being lustful. They were teaching others to do likewise, making them “blind guides.” The Rabbis wisely called such men unrighteous and lumped them among the five unrighteous kinds of Pharisees – like those who made sure that people saw their good works or who walked with exaggerated holiness, and not among the two righteous kinds of Pharisees who loved and feared God (of whom Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea and Gamaliel would most certainly qualify).

It is, of course, very tempting to point to those with a lack (or supposed lack) of knowledge or revelation and call them blind, but this verse is clearly talking about character. After all, the Pharisees He was talking about not only knew the Torah but were keeping it so this can’t be about a lack of knowledge. Are we blind guides ourselves? Are we going through the motions according to our own best judgment while criticizing others who are doing the exact same thing? Would someone further along the path have a right to look back at us and call us blind? If we are more concerned with looking righteous than with being conformed to the character of Yeshua, then we are nothing but blind guides ourselves. If we simply call people without knowledge blind, then do I get to call people who don’t know what I know blind? Do my teachers get to call me blind? In that case – are we not all headed for the ditch?

As with many verses, this wasn’t spoken in a vacuum and we can’t just say, “Well, that’s not what it means to me.” It doesn’t remotely matter what it means to us – it matters what it meant to the audience. And that audience would have snickered, thinking of an honored yet unrighteous Pharisee walking past a woman with his eyes covered, with all of his buddies following him as they topple shamefully into a ditch together.

This is just one of many cases where you can’t interpret Scripture by googling what the Urban Dictionary has to say.

#contextmatters

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Mt 15:14). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.



Covenant Loyalty Through Gratitude: Dayenu in the Context of the Everyday

covenant loyaltySo this year we did our first actual Passover Seder, really felt we were supposed to do it, and totally messed it up because generally that’s what happens the first time people do something. When people ask me why I don’t teach the Feasts of the Lord, this would be why – I am not yet experienced enough to have a really good grasp on them yet and I hate teaching things that I don’t understand well enough to teach to a child. I also hate dismissing anything that I have not studied out, as I had been too quick to do in years past.

But last week, even though we kept it weeks ago – something about the dinner just *clicked* in my heart and mind.

(EDIT: My kid version of this teaching is here)

For those of you unfamiliar with it or who are fearing rituals and such – know that 98% of the Passover Seder is about gratitude and praise – speaking scripture verses, reciting Psalms, and then there is the Dayenu. 2% involves drinking wine and covering and uncovering unleavened bread (okay, maybe it’s a bit more involved than that, but not much). So what is the Dayenu?

Dayenu kinda means “it would have been enough,” and it is spoken (or sung) over and over and over again – let me give you an example:

If He had brought us out from Egypt,

Ilu hotzianu mimitzrayim,

אִלּוּ הוֹצִיאָנוּ מִמִּצְרָיִם

and had not carried out judgments against them

v’lo asah bahem sh’fatim,

וְלֹא עָשָׂה בָּהֶם שְׁפָטִים

— Dayenu, it would have been enough!

dayeinu! (click here for entire version)

Repeatedly, we speak of one of His mighty works in Egypt and then proclaim, in essence, “Even if that was all He had done, and not gone further, it would have been enough!” There are fifteen stanzas, each building on the fact that the Lord went above and beyond – it is the ultimate prayer of gratitude. But what’s the big deal?

The big deal is that all my life I have been told that “it can never be enough.” There can’t be enough success, enough wealth, enough beauty, enough anything! The American dream says to keep pushing and pressing for more – it wasn’t enough to be able to eat yesterday and to have enough today and have all your bills paid unless you also have enough for tomorrow as well, and next year, and ten years from now. It isn’t enough to have all you need, you also have to have all you want. It isn’t enough to be alive, and have eternal life to boot, you have to be beautiful and prosperous in worldly ways in this life. And want to talk about success? Success in politics isn’t really success unless you are the President of the United States. Success in ministry isn’t really success unless everyone hears you and is influenced by you, to the exclusion of all other voices. And you need a private jet.

The American Dream is ingratitude. Nothing is ever enough and it will never ever be enough because the American Dream precludes being happy and satisfied with what we have already been given. We wake up every morning thinking, “What have You done for me lately and why don’t I have more than I had yesterday?” But we don’t need more – what we need is to recognize that what we already have, if every basic need is met, is enough.

In a way, Yeshua preached the Dayenu in Matthew 6 – the concept of not worrying about tomorrow, about being satisfied with the fact that today, our needs are met –

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

We are told not to fear for tomorrow because God took care of us yesterday, and that would have been sufficient. And I need to tell you that He preached this to an audience who wasn’t sulking because they don’t have enough money to take the family to the movies and buy soda and popcorn and have to wait for the movie to come out on Redbox instead and play it on their television with their DVD player while eating popcorn made in their microwave, He was speaking this to an audience of Judeans and Galileans in Roman-occupied Palestine. Most Jews in the first century were living in abject poverty – the lucky were subsistence farmers and slaves. Almost no one in the Roman Empire owned land and multitudes were just trying to get by day to day. Yeshua wasn’t speaking these words to a bunch of people with internet access, or who could get government assistance when times were hard – He was speaking to people who often had no other hope but God’s daily provision. We can’t even begin to comprehend a basic survival-level lifestyle.

But on Pesach, Passover, they would pour out their thanks to God for delivering them from slavery in Egypt, even though they were now – for all intents and purposes – less than slaves in the Roman Empire (where slaves actually had it pretty good and could become wealthy). On Pesach in modern times, we are denied the worship of the Lord that went on at the Temple, millions of voices united in a day of praise – singing Psalms and proclaiming His works. What’s the solution? Millions of voice all over the planet praying the prayers and singing the songs with one voice, in unity. You see, we don’t have the Temple, but He still deserves all the worship that went on there.

What does Dayenu look like today? What has been my prayer this week? Dayenu is a paradigm shift away from 21st Century Western values – so I pray a very anti-American, and definitely anti-Pentecostal prosperity message prayer because yesterday my needs got met, and that would have been enough, but He is already meeting my needs today as well.

If you had fed my family yesterday, and not given us the means to pay our bills as well, it would have been enough. Dayenu.

If you had given us the means to pay our bills this month but had not provided the extra to replace the range, it would have been enough. Dayenu.

**

If you had allowed us to adopt one child and had not allowed us to adopt twins, it would have been enough. Dayenu.

If you had allowed me to be a mother for one day and had not allowed me to be a mother for 15 years, it would have been enough.  Dayenu.

**

If you had simply allowed us to adopt Andrew but had not healed him so that he could walk, it would have been enough. Dayenu.

If you had only made it possible for him to walk without leg braces, without allowing him to run as well, it would have been enough. Dayenu.

If you had only made it possible for him to run but had not given him the healing required to jump and skip, it would have been enough. Dayenu.

**

If you had simply given me salvation, but not a ministry, it would have been enough. Dayenu.

If you had only given me a ministry, without giving me even a small audience, it would have been enough. Dayenu.

**

You get the idea – I take my worries and potential gripes (my ministry isn’t big enough, I don’t have enough stuff, blah, blah, blah) and turn them into reasons for gratitude. In the past, the fact that my son is still disabled was an incredible stress in my life but why? Because the healing miracles we had received WERE NOT ENOUGH. That’s ingratitude – we didn’t even deserve the healing he got and I am whining and nagging for more? The things that God does for us have to be enough – Dayenu. Dayenu to whatever he gives us, each and every moment – it would have been enough if He gave us everything in the past and gave us nothing more for the rest of our lives because HE DOESN’T OWE ME ANYTHING. He keeps His promises made through the Covenant, but it isn’t as though He owes me. No matter how hard I work for Him, I am simply expressing my gratitude for knowing Him in this life and having the eternal life to come. I am not working for eternal rewards, I am working out of gratitude for what He has already given me.

Even if You had just allowed me to know You in this life, but had not changed me, it would have been enough. Dayenu

Even if You had only changed me, but had not allowed me to help others, it would have been enough. Dayenu.

Even if You had allowed me to help others, but I had no place in the world to come, it would have been enough. Dayenu.

**

I can find things to “dayenu” about all day and all night long and often do. I have enough, and enough would have been enough, but I always have more than enough. The things I don’t have, well – I don’t really need them. I might think I need them, they may make my life more comfortable or pleasant, but I am surviving nicely without them.

The key to Covenant Loyalty is dayenu, an attitude of being satisfied with what needs have been met and in awe of everything that was received on top of that. Adam and Eve fell because what they had was not enough. They heard that something else was available and they wanted it. They didn’t even bother asking for it, they just took it. That kind of thinking is rampant in the Body of Messiah today – ingratitude is a form of covetousness. Ingratitude drove David to seek out the wife of another man. Perhaps we can say the same thing about Alexander the coppersmith, who undermined Paul’s ministry – maybe he wasn’t satisfied with his own level of influence. And need we mention the fall of Solomon, always wanting more when he had absolutely everything?

Everything we have has to be enough, and we need to be truly grateful and delighted with it – or we will never have true Covenant loyalty to our King.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Mt 6:25–34). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

 

 



New WIT Talmidim *FREE TEACHING* Live on Youtube, Wednesday May 11, @ 8pm EST – Corinth, Ephesus, Rome, Galatia and the cities of Revelation!

wit-newHey all, we’re back again for another WIT hangout – we’ll be talking about the context of the Mediterranean world.

Last I heard, Rico Cortes will be talking about Corinth, Matthew Vander Els about Ephesus, I will be talking about Galatia, I imagine Ryan White will be talking about Rome, and Dinah Dye will be wrapping everything up by talking about the seven cities of Revelation. Should be a great time!

Here’s the link to our youtube channel, be there live or catch it later when it gets posted.

Here’s the final show – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uXIXgnEY3k