Where There is No Vision…

Where There is No Vision The People Perish
Letters from the MIA Shepherd's Council

By John Conrad

Where there is no vision, the people perish. (Proverbs 29:18 KJV) Pastors often hurl this verse at their congregations to stimulate people to identify goals and faithfully pursue them. The proclamation of this verse galvanizes congregants to build new buildings, send missionaries to Africa, feed the poor, and expand the choir. While setting goals and implementing plans to accomplish them can be beneficial, this is not the primary meaning of the verse.

Let’s look at the entire verse. Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law (Torah), happy is he. What does Torah have to do with goals and objectives? The word translated “vision” in this verse is chazown. It more properly speaks of revelation or vision in the sense of a dream. It is the word translated vision in 1 Samuel 3:1 (NASB) Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD before Eli. And word from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent. Here the passage associates vision with a word from the Lord or a message from YHWH.

A classic Hebrew language technique to create emphasis is repetition or doubling--saying the same thing twice. For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:3 NASB) The Ruach speaking through Isaiah emphasizes the power of the word of YHWH in the last days by stating it twice and equating the terms “Torah” (instruction or teaching) and “dabar” (word) and also Zion and Jerusalem.  Similarly in Proverbs 29:18 the same idea is expressed twice. Thus the foremost meaning of the passage in Proverbs revolves around receiving the instruction of Torah and keeping its dictates. Without Torah the people perish—when the Torah is kept and obeyed the people are happy or blessed.

Let’s examine the word perish. In this text it is parah. It means to expose, make bare or naked, perish, set at naught, to loosen. In the story of the golden calf it is the word used in Exodus 32:25 And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) (KJV) The same verse in the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control — for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies -- provides new insight into the word. Note the translators translated parah as out of control—to be exposed or made bare is to be “out of control” or to break through the boundaries. A quick check of other translations reveals that many render parah in this way. It is termed “unrestrained,” “out of control,” “out of hand,” etc.

Biblically, Torah prescribes the limits of our practice or halacha. Inside the boundaries of Torah we are safe and experience YHWH’s blessing. When we force our way out of His defined boundaries we expose ourselves or become naked before him and become vulnerable to judgment and cursing. In Lamentations 2:8-9 Israel falls into this trap. The LORD determined to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out a line, He has not restrained His hand from destroying; and He has caused rampart and wall to lament; they have languished together.  Her gates have sunk into the ground, He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations; the law(Torah)  is no more; also, her prophets find no vision (chazown) from the LORD. (NASB)

Our example in Exodus 32 forcefully reminds us we must obey His words. YHWH had come to his people and spoken audibly his ten words or Ten Commandments. Approximately 40 days later the people threw off the yoke of Torah and became unrestrained and out of control. It is necessary to combine the word of Torah with faith—i.e. belief will always evidence as obedience. In the New Covenant Yeshua gives us new hearts and new spirits. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. (Ezekiel 36:26-27 NASB) The purpose of the new heart and new spirit is to produce obedience to His Word. As so many instances in scripture attest, the old nature cannot please God. “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;  All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one." (Romans 3:10-12 NASB)

In Israel we have the freedom to live and prosper. Yeshua has saved us from the penalty of Torah through his death and resurrection. But we do not have the freedom to abandon Torah. Rejecting YHWH’s instruction would be similar to a group of astronauts hurtling through space on their way to the moon deciding that their space ship is too confining and limiting. In their yearning for liberty they escape their “prison” and are free in space. They are also dead—they have perished because they were out of control. There is a parallel between the Torah and the oxygen delivery system. They are both necessary to deliver spirit or oxygen to the traveler. In a similar way Israel threw off the bonds of Torah. For long ago you broke your yoke and burst your bonds, and you said, "I will not serve!" On every high hill and under every green tree you sprawled and played the whore. (Jeremiah 2:20 NASB)

Nature furnishes many examples of the devastation produced when something good breaks out of boundaries or channels. A flood results when a river escapes its banks and randomly destroys homes, cars and other property. A forest fire can consume millions of acres and rob thousands of animals of life and habitat. Yet we cannot live without water, it is the single most important nutrient necessary to sustain life. And fire under control runs our automobiles and heats our homes.

Our Father has blessed us with his Holy Spirit, the Ruach Ha Kodesh, and a physical body full of life and energy to serve Him. When our behavior escapes the banks of Torah, and breaks out of the hedge of His instruction, our unrestrained actions lead to annihilation. We become naked and exposed to judgment. In this day of restoration the full meaning of Proverbs 29:18 is becoming evident. Truly, Where there is no revelation of Torah from YHWH, the people run amok, they are unrestrained. But happy and blessed are those people who obey and keep Torah. Together we can join our voices with King David and proclaim: The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. (Psalm 16:6 NASB)

Thoughts…

Living on a farm often furnishes us with valuable life lessons. Yesterday as I was checking the maternity group (pen where cows within 3 weeks of calving are kept) I discovered an old cow that couldn't get up. She was obviously very close to calving but because of milk fever (low blood calcium) she not only was not able to get up but could not initiate parturition.

So I went to the dairy office and got some calcium solution. We administer this intravenously in the jugular vein. This requires restraining the head (usually with nose tongs fastened to a hind leg) and inserting a large 14 gauge needle into the jugular vein. Usually 500 ml (about 1/2 a quart) of 23% calcium solution is given over a period of a few minutes.

Even though this therapy was critical not only for the calf but for the cow's life, she wanted no part of it. Even though weakened by the hypocalcemia she fought me every inch of the way. When I tried to introduce the nose tongs she forcefully emptied her nasal passages of assorted mucopolysaccharide secretions (snot) all over my shirt. Supplemented by loud bellows she swung her head and attempted to rearrange my rib cage. I finally succeeded in getting her head secured to her back leg. However, even restrained like this, when I tried to pop the needle in her vein she bowed her neck and tried to commit mayhem on my person.

I finally was able to get the calcium solution into the cow and released her head. I left her alone while she continued to say uncomplimentary things about me and my family. Not long after she was able to stand and then a few hours later successfully delivered a healthy bull calf. Both she and the calf would have died without my intervention but she was not grateful.

Many times we shake our fist at God and denounce his methods and his ways as harmful and dangerous to us. We are convinced he doesn't know what he is doing and fight everything that life throws at us. Later when the storm settles down we usually fail to see that what God administered was just what we needed and what the situation demanded. As the late Brad Scott was so fond of saying, "God is smarter than us."

Cherry Picking

In 1 Corinthians 7: 1 the apostle Paul states "Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman." This is a bizarre statement especially if it is shorn of its context and not viewed within the entire corpus of the Bible. And yet entire theological systems have been built upon the concept and the idea of love between man and woman condemned or at least disparaged. St. Jerome was reputed to have stated that the form of a woman was repulsive and disgusting. The fact that this point of view does not fit the Biblical narrative at all is discounted or ignored.

I offer this example as representative of something we call "cherry picking." Finding a statement and pulling it out of context to either discredit someone or to substantiate our belief system. If you find a statement shared and repeated over and over by people who oppose the one who made the statement be aware that you may be viewing an example of this very "cherry picking."
We are most vulnerable to the toxicity of "cherry picking" when we don't know the field or have a scant knowledge of the topic. Ignorance is fertile soil for planting the seeds of slander and character assassination. This tendency is also seen in the fervent search for damning material regardless of date, context or accuracy.

Something that follows the "cherry picking" is the willingness to believe scandalous purported statements without checking to see if they are true. I don't know how many quotes I have seen recently on FB that the person never said. It is so easy to check up on it and verify whether there is any chance the person said it. What is so horrifying about all this, is that the body of believers, who are called to "cast down the accuser of the brethren," have become his greatest fighting force.

Our biggest enemy right now is not Trump, Bill Gates or Dr. Fauci. The gifts of the Spirit were given so that we could edify, exhort and comfort. I have to remind myself of this all the time.

Thoughts

​Last Friday I had a busy day. Traveled to Beaver, UT, which is about 120 miles from home and transferred 4 embryos into Angus cows and then another 60 miles to Centerville to put 56 Braunvieh embryos into Jersey and Jersey cross cows. What are Braunvieh cows? Glad you asked--Braunvieh means "brown cow." It is a breed originating from Switzerland that was originally a triple-purpose breed--milk, beef, and draft animals. I knew nothing of the breed. Always love working with farmers, definitely the salt of the earth, so I enjoyed my day albeit my left arm needed therapy afterward.🙂

I had an interesting experience when I filled up with gas in Beaver after putting in the Angus embryos. It was about 8 in the morning and I had already put in a half day's work so I was hungry. I bought a pint of milk (pasteurized but excellent) and two granola bars. Carefully keeping my distance I set the goods up on the counter so the clerk could total up my bill. When the amount flashed on the screen she gasped. The total read $6.66. She huffed that nowadays no one is Biblically literate so they don't know what that number means and who Satan is. Her foreboding look kind of scared me so I grabbed my food before she threw it in the trash. I thanked her and made my exit. The milk and granola bars were delicious.

In many ways many of us seem to be afraid. Revelation definitely talks about a mark of the Beast and his number being 666. However, it connects the mark to the worship of the Beast and ties it to the hand and the forehead--what you do and what you think. It is clearly harking back to the tefillin which are bound on the arm and the forehead. They contain scriptures one of which is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength."

I am just reminding all of us today that you are not going to accidentally take the mark of the Beast. It involves worship and is clearly intentional. Remind yourself today how much better you live than your parents and grandparents. There is a lot of bad stuff in this world but it doesn't define us--God does. Take time to enjoy your day

Thoughts While Running

I went for a run this morning early. Sky pitch black with the stars in such great abundance it was difficult to make out the individual stars. In 40 minutes there is a lot of time for thinking and so I indulged.

The tragedy of Kobe Bryant has been on my mind and those who were wary of eulogizing his memory because of some very unsavory events in his past. I can't comment upon these events other than to say his behavior was awful and he betrayed those dear to him. However, he appeared to work very hard to patch things up with his family and move on with his life. With his passing numerous stories have sprung up showing his tendency to help others especially in cases where no one knew what he was doing.

One of the things we struggle with is letting go of the past--either ours or others. Sometimes you just have to let it go. Also just heard this week about someone hurt over 20 years ago that is not ready to move on. They are still not ready to give the other person a chance.
I can't really judge other people I have a hard enough time taking care of myself. In our Triennial Torah cycle we are reading the story of Joseph. An amazing story of betrayal, treachery and yet ultimately redemption.

The proud and arrogant Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers led by his older brother Judah. Joseph goes through incredible pain and unfair treatment before finally becoming the viceroy of Egypt. In this capacity he receives his brothers who are looking for the grain that only Egypt has.

Joseph tricks them into bringing his brother Benjamin to Egypt on their next trip and then plants his silver cup in Benjamin's grain sack to test his brothers and see if they will abandon Benjamin the way they abandoned him so long ago. Joseph has made a break with his past. He has two sons and he has named them specifically to cut off his history. He named the first Manasseh which means "forgetting" because he has forgotten his father's household. He names the next one, Ephraim, meaning fruitful because he has been made fruitful in the land of his affliction. In other words he is done with home.

Seeing his brothers is a wake up call and excruciating. God is forcing him to face his past and his home. When he sets Benjamin up and threatens to imprison him, Judah makes a valiant plea for Benjamin's freedom saying he can't watch his father die in grief after losing another son. He pleads with Joseph to imprison him instead and let Benjamin go. This breaks Joseph and he reveals himself to his brothers.

What we often miss in the story is the breaking of Judah. After Joseph's being sold into slavery, Judah departs from his brothers and marries a Canaanitess name Shua. She bears him three sons. Heartbreakingly the two oldest sons die and then Shua dies. Finally Judah has a moral failure when he fails to offer the widow of his sons, Tamar, to his son Shela to maintain the family name and then ends up getting Tamar pregnant himself. When Judah comes to Egypt he is a different man. He knows the anguish of a Father who loses his son, a man who loses his wife and the deep sense of shame and loss that accompanies moral failure. His speech to Joseph is genuine and Joseph knows it.

In the end, they both had to let go of the past and move on. In a beautiful twist, Joseph, the man who wanted to forget his family and the land of his inheritance, instructs his family to bury his bones in the land of Canaan.At least sometimes, it pays to let go of the past and just move on.