Days of Awe

We are in the Days of Awe--the 10 days starting at Rosh Hashana (Yom Teruah--Feast of Trumpets) to the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. This is a time of introspection, repentance, reconciliation. Something we forget but still all know is that when we have no peace with people we have no peace with God. So preparing to come before our Maker always involves straightening things out with people.

We betray our priorities by what "hill" we are willing to die on. In 155 CE, Polycarp the bishop of Smyrna traveled to Rome to meet with Anicetus the bishop of Rome to resolve an important controversy. Polycarp, who said he was following his mentor the apostle John, believed the resurrection should be celebrated on the 14th day of Nisan. Anicetus believed that since the resurrection occurred on Sunday that the resurrection should always be celebrated on the Sunday during the Passover week. They discussed and debated at length but neither could convince the other of the error of their position. To display what their top priority was, they celebrated the "Lord's Supper" together publicly to show their unity in the Messiah and parted in peace.

Sadly a few decades later Victor excommunicated Polycrates for his Quartodeciman (Polycarp's) views. This exemplifies a trend that grew in the early church--hating and separating from "heretics" and finally killing them. The Jews bore the brunt of this misguided zeal. In the 5th century a group of Christians burned down a synagogue. The emperor Theodosius ordered the Christians to rebuild the synagogue out of their own funds. The Roman bishop of the time rebuked Theodosius and refused to allow him to take Communion until he had rescinded his order.

Most of us are aware of the barbarity of the Inquisition and the murderous treatment of Jews, infidels and Protestants. But we don't look for the root. Can there be a worse heresy than a willingness to kill those we disagree with? Augustine called for the death of heretics, as did Calvin, Luther, Cromwell and other reformers.

Perhaps it's time to admit that there is no worse heresy than the willingness to destroy our opponents and wipe out our opponents. That's the way the world operates--not the Kingdom.

These 10 days afford us an opportunity to look deeply inside ourselves and ask "Do my actions reveal me as a follower of Yeshua (Jesus)? While I think doctrine, liturgy, dogma, ceremony are all vital they are not the most important aspect of the Christian life. "By this will ALL men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another."

There may be a reason the world doesn't know who we are yet.

— John Conrad

Passover / Pesach

It is the time of year for the Biblical celebration of Passover. Since memes seem to be the way we communicate and teach now, I thought I might clear up some confusion for many of you. Many are sharing erroneous information about this season. I have no interest in telling you how to think or what to believe. But facts can be helpful.

In the Tanach (Old Testament) the word translated Passover is the Hebrew פֶּסחַ (pesach.) In the New Testament the word translated as Passover is the Greek πάσχα (pascha.) In the King James Version "pascha" is translated once as Easter but most Bible versions use only the term Passover to translate pascha.

Pesach refers to not only the ritual celebrated on the evening of the 14th day of Nisan (Aviv) but often to the entire 7 day Feast also known as Unleavened Bread. In the New Testament there is a clear link between Yeshua's (Jesus's) crucifixion, burial and resurrection and the Passover and Unleavened Bread observances.

Yeshua arguably was crucified on the evening of the 14 or 15th day of Nisan, was buried and then rose from the dead on the first day of the week which corresponded to the waving of the barley sheaf performed during the week of Unleavened Bread. Since Yeshua said he would give the sign of Jonah by being buried 3 days and 3 nights but many more places say he would be raised on the third day there is not general consensus on what day of the week he was buried. Some believe he was resurrected on the night after the Sabbath but by Jewish reckoning that would still be Sunday the first day of the week. In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul clearly states that Yeshua is our Passover. (Some versions say "our Passover Lamb" which is not wrong but does add a word.)

The earliest Christians (Messianics) kept Passover like their Jewish neighbors with the major difference being their emphasis on the celebration of Yeshua's resurrection. As Jewish influence waned in the early church the crucifixion and resurrection themes dominated and the exodus and unleavened bread themes retreated. Less than 200 years after Yeshua's death and resurrection a controversy arose in the church now known as the quartodeciman controversy. Basically the quartodecimans believed that the resurrection should be celebrated on the 14th day of Nisan and their opponents believed the resurrection should be celebrated on the Sunday during the week of Passover. The martyr Polycarp subscribed to the quartodeciman theory and claimed he had been taught this by the apostle John. The opponents of the quartodecimans also claimed apostolic authority.

By the time of the Nicean Council 325AD where the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity was established, an effort was made to establish a uniform date for celebrating the resurrection but this effort failed. Constantine and the Council made clear however that they felt it was an error to be dependent upon the Jewish/Biblical lunar calendar and that they wished for the church to set the date for this important celebration and not the Jews. The calculation favored by the Nicean bishops eventually became the Christian practice which was to set the celebration on the first Sunday following the first full moon occurring on or after the Spring Equinox. Thus the dating for Passover as observed by Jews and the dating for the Resurrection became independent of each other.

Around 600 AD the word Easter became the word to describe the Christian celebration of the resurrection for people who spoke English, German and Dutch. Its origin is thought to be from a German goddess, Ostara or Eostre, or some believe it came from a word describing the direction of the rising sun, the East. Regardless of its origin it became the word to describe the resurrection in these languages. The word became so entrenched that even English Jews used Oester to describe their Passover celebrations in England in the 14th and 15th century. When Tyndale translated the Bible into old English he felt that the word "Easter" was too sacred and special to use to translate the Hebrew pesach of the Old Testament. He is the one to invent the English word Passover so it is actually a much younger word than Easter. It was an excellent term that fit the Biblical pesach very well as it had the connotation of passing or leaping over.

The ancient historical churches have always used the Biblical term pascha to describe their observances--Latin, Greek, Aramaic and Syriac. The word Easter is not a part of Catholic, Orthodox, and Maronite worship in their original languages. It is a purely Germanic term and thus has only impacted those cultures using the English, German and Dutch languages.

Ancillary activities that many Christians observe on Easter/Pascha had nothing to do with the name of the festivity. They were cultural practices that gradually became a part of Pascha celebrations in many groups--Easter bunnies, colored eggs, etc. Particularly the bunnies are a rather modern innovation only emphasized in the last 200 years.

Finally in the Old Testament the Biblical term translated Passover is pesach. In the New Testament the Biblical term translated Passover is pascha. The term Passover is never used in either testament. It is a great term coined by Tyndale to translate the Hebrew and Greek terms, pesach and pascha.

A Word

Many things that are helpful as we are growing up become limitations as we mature. Specifically I am speaking of the ability we have to label things and place them in categories. It is very helpful for a child to discover that Dad is a man, Mom is a woman, my dog is an animal, my cat is an animal but not a dog, etc. Knowing where particular things fit help us make sense of the world.

Unfortunately, many of us don't progress past the state of putting things in categories and then realizing more fine-tuning is necessary. In 2 Chronicles 35 King Josiah, easily one of the best kings in the Southern Kingdom's history, dies when he refuses to hear God's voice coming through Israel's historical enemy, Pharaoh Neco, the ruler of Egypt. His experience, his DNA, told him that Egypt was the enemy and must be resisted. In this case, God was telling him through Pharaoh Neco to just let Pharaoh through the kingdom's territory and nothing amiss would occur. He couldn't hear and so he was killed.

An absolute essential for a grown-up is to be able to detect nuance and shades of meaning or function. We laugh at memes on Facebook but they often are bastions of stupidity. Jews don't all act alike, neither do blacks, Mormons, Catholics, Muslims, you name it. I don't always act the same in similar situations. Communism is generally thought to be a dictatorial type of socialism. There are many types of socialism that are not communist. Equating all socialists as communists or communists in embryo makes us look stupid and ill-informed.

The richest thing I am now beholding is people using Putin as a force against socialism and communism. I like Putin a lot better when he is far from me and I am not doing something he doesn't like. His enemies seems to have abbreviated life-spans. I don't measure Putin by his politics--I don't care for his behavior.

We need to learn to know people for who they really are. Not their group, their political party nor their religion. All of these contribute to the identity of the person but none determine who he or she actually is. It is lazy thinking to place people in boxes we detest so we don't have to think about them or learn to know them. The political rhetoric in this country right now is a great example of what to avoid. Because a person is a never-Trumper or an always-Trumper doesn't tell you much about that person except what Presidential candidate they will likely vote for. I am amazed how many people I truly like if I just make the effort to get to know them and jettison my labels and boxes. I have a list of names  I would love to eliminate but I don't need everyone mad at me at once. (The "names" I would like to eliminate are not people--they are the names and labels we use to marginalize and demonize those we disagree with.) When the "right" and the "left" continually scream that the other side is ruining the country I sadly agree. Because after the "right" has eliminated the "left" and the "left" has eliminated the "right" we have all achieved a pyrrhic victory. The final blessing in the Aaronic benediction from Numbers 6 proclaims "the Lord lift up his face toward you and grant you shalom (peace.) May you enjoy a blessed Shabbat.

written February 29, 2020

Spirit versus the Flesh/Reality versus Shadows

A subject I have been thinking about for some time. Not an exhaustive treatment but pretty long. Nevertheless, many important points left out or not sufficiently covered.

Spirit versus the Flesh/Reality versus Shadows

1 Corinthians 15: 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. 47 The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.

There is an age old debate—what is more important—the physical or the spiritual? Does one replace the other? Once the spiritual has come is the physical no longer needed? What are the consequences of abandoning one in favor of the other?

Yeshua (Jesus) made strong statements concerning intent versus deed. In Matthew 5:28 when discussing the command prohibiting adultery he said that looking at a woman with lust in your heart is committing adultery. Furthermore the prohibition against murder makes one “liable to the court” but he stated that being angry with your brother also makes one “guilty” before the court. These statements remind us that the intent to sin is comparable to committing the actual sin.

For most Christians the physical commands of the Old Testament are considered unnecessary and non-binding. The vision of Peter where he is instructed to rise, kill and eat unclean animals is cited as evidence that God has changed his mind and no longer cares about such ceremonial law but only about moral laws such as murder and stealing. Even though in Acts 10 the text makes clear that the vision was about people and not food we can eat.

Even the Sabbath is seen as something you can keep every day or in your heart or on a convenient day. If the intent is good, then no sin is committed. I have read excellent Christian commentaries on Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 which speak of clean and unclean food. These all say that the problem is not eating swine but eating what swine represents. Thus the letter of the law is seen as the actual physical obedience to the law but the spirit of the law is seen as keeping the spiritual “intent” of the law.

This thinking also figures in another current hot topic among both Christians and Messianics. Will a 3rd temple be built? If so, will it be sanctioned by God? Many are saying that since we are the temple (1 Cor 6:19) that the body of the Messiah is the third temple.[The first temple is Solomon’s temple and the second the one built by Zerubbabel and refurbished by Herod.] Paul says in Ephesians 2: 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Messiah Yeshua Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

In the same vein Peter proclaims in 1 Peter 2:9b “you also, as living stones, 10 are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Yeshua the Messiah.” Similarly in Revelation 3 Yeshua speaking to the church of Philadelphia says “12 ‘He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.”

Based upon these passages many are saying that the temple prophesied in Ezekiel is a spiritual one, a structure of people, not an actual building. Many also say that the 2nd exodus forecast in Jeremiah 16: 14 is a description of people coming to the Messiah and not an actual physical event. “Therefore behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 15 but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.’ For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers.”
In the last few years many in the church are backing away from this dichotomy when it comes to the people of Israel. For years most of the church taught that we are spiritual Israel and that we have replaced literal Israel (in this case, the Jews.) Much of the reason for abandoning this teaching stems from the horrible consequences of replacement theology. First we replaced the Jews as Israel and then we started down a slippery slope that ended with us calling Jews an accursed race that wasn’t fit to live. To say our theology contradicted scripture puts it rather mildly.

There are some important ideas to consider when we view the idea of the physical versus the spiritual. First, metaphors and similes are not literal. Yeshua is not a lamb with wool that chews the cud—he is the Messiah, the King who is likened to a lamb. In Romans 11 Paul makes an impassioned claim that Israel is the domestic olive tree and the Gentiles coming in are branches of wild olive trees being grafted into the root that Israel rests on. It is an apt metaphor but it is a metaphor. We are talking about people here and not trees. Certainly not a dicot tree that grows from the ground and produces a fruit that can only be eaten after processing. Regardless of the number of parallels this tree may have to Israel, it remains a tree and Israel a people. In my thinking this also applies to us being the temple. It is a wonderful metaphor with striking reality but we are not really a building. We are people--not sticks and stones.

Second, exaggeration is useful in making a point but it remains exaggeration. Lusting after a woman can certainly lead to sin but in no way does it create the damage that actual commission of the sin does. A person dealing with illicit lust can repent and confess his/her sin and go through a process of transformation and restoration. A person who has committed adultery can also go through this same process in obedience to Biblical instruction. However, the aftermath of committing adultery is infinitely more damaging and life-altering than the consequences of lust even though if left unchecked it may lead to committing adultery. The same is true of murder and being angry with your brother. They may be sins on the same downward path but physical implementation of the temptation carries a much greater weight of consequential damage than the temptation not acted upon.

Third, saying that the spiritual principle is binding and true but the physical principle unimportant, can be foolhardy. The Bible testifies in several places that the worst adultery that people commit is in following other gods and being unfaithful to the true God. No one would ever argue that as long as one remains a believer in the God of the Bible that physical adultery is unimportant as it is the spiritual principle that carries priority.

Another thing we can do is look at history. What has resulted when people spiritualize the Bible and emphasize the moral code at the expense of literal and physical commands contained therein?

For over a thousand years most of the Christian church believed that God’s covenant with the Jews (Israel) had been replaced by a new covenant with the church. All scriptures throughout the Tanach (Old Testament) spelling out God’s promises to Israel were co-opted by the Church but we generously let them keep the judgments and disasters meted out to them in passages like Deuteronomy 28.

The Torah (Pentateuch) repeats the promise 100 times that the children of Abraham will have the land of Canaan as an earthly inheritance. In the prophets God strengthens this promise by saying his covenant with Israel and her land will last as long as day follows night. Yet you can go on Christian radio today and find well-known Bible teachers and authors proclaiming that the Jews have no claim to the Land and that God no longer has an active specific covenant with them. Furthermore, Jerusalem no longer has any significance as a place God chose for a specific purpose.

What happened as a result of spiritualizing the promises to Israel? 1- The church became the stronghold of Anti-Semitism in the world. 2- Pogroms, holocausts, unthinkable horrors were visited upon Jews at the hands of the church or with at least their approval. 3- Scriptures in the New Testament that promoted loving Jews were ignored or completely overlooked i.e. Romans 3:1-2 “What advantage then has the Jew?.. Much in every way.” Romans 11:28 From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

If you doubt this analysis, consider this: why did Casper Ten Boom and his family hide Jews from the Nazis and endanger their lives to protect Jews? Of course, they believed it was their Christian duty. But why did they represent such a tiny fraction of the Christian population? Because they also believed that God’s covenant with Israel was still in effect and that the Jews were God’s chosen people. What we believe dictates our actions.

Where do we hear the statement that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” in our churches? Generally in regard to the charismatic gifts. That interpretation may be true but its primary meaning is that God’s covenant with Israel stands and cannot be abrogated.

Another serious consequence of minimizing the literal meanings of scripture is the forgetting of the city of Jerusalem. If you study the rupture between the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom many factors operated together to impel the split. But the Achilles’ heel that drove the Northern Kingdom’s headlong descent into idolatry was the decision made by King Jeroboam to abandon the city of Jerusalem and build his own houses of worship at Bethel and Dan. Making the golden calves, instituting his own feasts and creating his own priesthood all stemmed from his abandoning Jerusalem and the House of God there.

Reading the New Testament we see scripture that speaks of the Jerusalem that is above, the New Jerusalem, and the Jerusalem that is our mother. While recognizing the validity of these descriptions I think it is dangerous to think this abrogates God’s covenant with Israel and the city of Jerusalem. One of the hallmarks of Biblical thinking is its circular or cyclical nature. There can be an earthly Jerusalem and a heavenly Jerusalem and both can be an indispensable part of God’s plan for mankind. The fact that John sees the New Jerusalem as a metaphor for the bride doesn’t require us to throw out all of God’s promises to the place, the real estate, the mountains of Jerusalem. He proclaims in Zechariah “that once more I will choose Jerusalem” and I suspect he means exactly that.

My comments clearly reveal my bias. I suspect that an earthly temple will be rebuilt. I may be wrong but I think it is important to recognize that the temple and tabernacle are metaphors of the body of Messiah and its individual members. The temple itself is a pattern of something structural in the heavenly places as the books of Hebrews and Revelation so aptly point out. The temple is a picture or pattern of our approach to His Majesty, our King. Granted we are all temples of the Holy Spirit and when we relate to each other properly we provide a corporate structure where the presence of God dwells.

This is an important discussion but one that need not divide us. We can all admit that we don’t know all the answers nor exactly what the future holds. My concern is that we not fall into historical pitfalls that cause us to denigrate or castigate others of God’s children. Does God fill the heavens and the earth? Certainly. But does he choose particular places? Absolutely. Deuteronomy 12: 5 But you shall seek the LORD at the place which the LORD your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come.

There is a place where Abraham offered Isaac—where David offered sacrifice to atone for his sin in counting the people—where after Solomon built a temple the presence of God drove the priests out of the temple because the presence was so heavy and powerful. This same place God sent his Ruach (Holy Spirit) upon Yeshua’s disciples and transformed their world and ours. I suspect this place has not stopped being important and essential to our lives. The validity of spiritual truth is not abrogated by recognition of the physical basis of that spiritual truth but is, in fact, substantiated.

Tending the Lamps

Tending the Lamps

by Dr. John M. Conrad

The Lord bless you and keep you, The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you, The Lord turn His countenance toward you and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26).  In the name of Yeshua (Jesus) our Lord, Amen.

An applicable analogy? There lived in India six friends who were all blind. One day as they sat together talking they heard a great trumpeting roar.

"I believe that is an elephant in the street," one said. "Now is our chance to find out what kind of creature the elephant is." Being blind none had ever seen an elephant. Eagerly, they filed out into the street.

The first blind man reached out and touched the elephant's ear. "Ah," he said to himself, "the elephant is a rough, wide thing like a rug."

The second blind man felt the elephant's trunk. Understanding dawned upon him. "An elephant is a long, round thing, like a snake."

The third blind man gingerly patted the leg of the elephant. "Well, well," he muttered. "An elephant is large and stout like a tree."

The fourth man walked up to the elephant's side. Fanning his hands out to feel the vast expanse he pondered, "Mmm, an elephant is wide and smooth, like a wall."

The fifth man grasped the elephant's tusk. "My goodness," he thought. "An elephant is a hard, sharp animal resembling a spear."

The sixth man seized the elephant's tail. "Amazing," he opined. "It gives a mighty roar but an elephant is very like a long, thin rope."

After their investigation they sat down to discuss the elephant.

"It is rough and wide, like a rug," said the first.

"No, it is long and round, like a snake," said the second.

"Don't be silly," laughed the third. "It is large and stout, like a tree."

"No, it is not," growled the fourth. "It is wide and smooth, like a wall."

"Hard and sharp, like a spear!" shouted the fifth. "Idiots! Long and thin, like a rope!" yelled the sixth.

Utter chaos ensued. Each one insisted he was right. After all, each had touched the elephant with his own hands, hadn't he?

Sadly, those of us who believe in the Messiah and his word, reenact this scenario when we attempt to describe the Kingdom. When it comes to spiritual realities our eyes are blinded—we do not accurately perceive the unseen world around us. 

Kingdom lessons In this day God has promised to restore everything spoken through the mouths of his holy prophets. The history of God's people reveals the greatest opposition to new truth comes from the guardians of the previously revealed truth. Thus the Sadducees and Pharisees fought the truth of the Messiah.

The established church resisted the Reformation message of justification by faith, the evangelicals fought the wave of the Holy Spirit birthed by Charismatic Movement, and now many Christians and Messianic Jews find themselves struggling with the truth of a restored Israel.

Sadly, in much of modem Christianity, the most coveted position is not to be great in the kingdom, or to be the servant of all. No, most seem intent on being least in the kingdom.  Yeshua stated clearly in Matthew 5:17-19 that anyone who breaks the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. 

Touchstones and signposts of Israel’s Restoration Too many of us have seized a single portion of the kingdom and in our blindness we are hanging on to our position with a death grip. As God restores Israel many truths or principles will be restored. There are particular areas of blindness in the modern church and even, in some measure, in Messianic Israel. God describes these concepts or principles as being everlasting, forever, perpetual, throughout your generations, and eternal. Examples of these are the 7th day Sabbath, the Law or Torah (Israel’s Constitution), the Feasts of the Lord, and the priesthood covenant with Levi.

Even in Messianic Israel many are hanging on to truths they have discovered, but are neglecting the perpetual covenants to the tribe of Levi. There can be no restoration of Israel without a concomitant restoration of the tribe of Levi. In Hebrews 7 the writer states that there is a change of the Law and the priesthood. Yeshua declared I came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.   Change does not equal abolition nor does the word fulfillment. God made numerous perpetual covenants to the House of Aaron and Levi. If He can cancel these covenants capriciously, what confidence can we as Gentile believers and Messianic Israelites have in the efficacy of the death and resurrection of our Messiah?

Our trust and confidence rests solely on God's unchanging faithfulness to his word! As we venture forth in this day of restoration let us send out a new call—to be great in the kingdom. Whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. With unflinching faith in our Messiah and a yearning for the Holy Spirit to open our eyes and ears we can be a part of this great restoration of all things! May God grant us revelation to see his coming kingdom in its fullness.