Va’Etchanan,And I pleaded

Deuteronomy 3:23 to 7:11                                                                                   

Haftarah: Isaiah 40:1 to 26

Psalm 138                                                                                                                            

Apostolic Writings/Newer Testament/B’rit HaChadashah: Luke 11:1 to 13

In our Parsha we read some of the details of the “choosing” of the Jewish people. Beginning with verse 7 of chapter 7 we read:


“The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.  Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.”

If we do not take care to follow His rules, then our part of the bargain has not been fulfilled. A key part of “our part” is to love The L-RD our G-d with everything that makes us, us; also to love our neighbours as ourselves.

I was told by a Jewish man recently that he considered this to be “too easy”. Then I asked him if he really did follow these 2 rules. . . . . . . . . . . . we then prayed the Teshuvah prayer. I reminded him that Teshuvah (repentance) is not a prayer; it is not even an action; it is a way of living, as it involves a change of direction and then a determination to walk in the right way, in the direction of The Almighty; this must be followed by actually walking in His direction.

This week we also start to read the “Haftarot of Consolation”. These are special passages which are read between Tisha B’Av and Rosh HaShanah, which this year falls on September 8th. So the flavour of the Haftarah readings for the next 7 weeks is consolation for the Jewish people.

Some translations have, “Comfort, comfort My people. . .”. More accurately it should read, “Console, console My people. . .” We (as those who are called to speak the very Words of The Almighty, to speak on His behalf) are to announce to the Jewish people that the time of exile is over, and that it is time for sins to be forgiven. Today is the day of Yeshuah! (salvation; not very different from Yeshua, which is the Name of our King)!

The Newer Testament passage is essentially the Messiah’s simplified Kaddish. The very make-up of the prayer is Rabbinic, and it is very similar to other versions and forms of Kaddish prayers.

It also echoes our Torah portion, in that it says that we can only expect to be forgiven to the same extent that we forgive others. I remember having my jaw broken in 1981. As I prayed the next morning, “the Voice” asked me how I could expect to be forgiven, if I myself would not forgive my attackers.

So to the end of this (slightly shortened) Parsha. The reason for the brevity is that the CMJ Staff Conference starts tomorrow, and the main Conference begins on Friday.

Could I ask you, please, to pray for us all? The staff at Eagle Lodge have been working their socks off; Richard Gibson is the main speaker, so he’s been putting himself into it (Rita and Nathan are coming, too!); Steve Goodall is leading the sung worship; quite a few folks have come over from Israel, Ireland & other places; there will be stuff for youngsters, prayers will be led. . . .

The LORD will make good his purpose for me;
O LORD, your love endures for ever;
do not abandon the works of your hands.

As ever, this will be posted on cmjparsha.wordpress.com for debate

 

Shabbat Shalom!!