Dec 2, 1999
This morning as my son and I went out for our morning walk, the dawn was just breaking over the Mount Garazim (Blessing) and Mount Eval (Curse). The clouds were beginning to reflect the deep purple and violet colors of the morning’s glory. As we continued walking, these hues and colors were lending a greater measure of brightness to the clouds, until the light they were emitting illumined the earth below. It was a spectacular sight. But as soon as the sun’s orange rays peaked over the horizon, shining directly on the earth, the clouds began to change and turn a dark gray. Within a few minutes these same clouds actually blocked the sun’s light, casting only their shadow upon the landscape.
My thoughts focused on the Scripture’s description of us, humans, as a mist that appears like these morning clouds; the “cloud of witnesses” (Heb.12:1), so to speak, that for a few fleeting moments embody the incredible testimony of the dawning day. Some of you may recall, from a previous letter, the meanings of the Hebrew words for evening and morning - erev and boker. The meanings of "boker", like "erev", can point to conditions, or interactions between light and darkness. Some of these means are: split, penetrate, rip, divide, reflect, inquire, seek, visit, consider. "Boker" brings with it the joy of the end of the darkness, and the full expression of the light (ref. letter a-39).
In these days of extreme drought here in Israel, clouds are welcome. But if their sole function is to paint the morning sky with glorious colors, they will be of no benefit to the earth, which will remain parched and barren. These are clouds that hold no rain, and have no water (Prov.25:14; Jude 1:12), and while they may be a precursor to the coming day, that day will be none the better for them. In fact, they may even block the “Son’s” light.
Many of us who have seen the dawning of the kingdom in our earthen vessels, glow with the excitement of the new creation life within, but at the same time can become so heavenly minded, or spiritual, that we are no earthly good, as the saying goes. Yes, we are the people of faith, but without works (rain), we will produce no fruit. Just as James, “a bond servant of the Lord”, writes to the twelve tribes: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces or works patience [a fruit]. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing…. Therefore lay aside all filthiness and wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; but he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed [fruitful] in what he does” (James1:2-4, 21-25). “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17). What are these works and how are they connected to “Torah”?
Since the multiple mercies of the Creator and sustainer of life work within the creation, especially in man, and as “He is working all things out after the counsel of His own will” (Eph. 1:11), we must take heed to His “word” that He laid down in the Torah. The statutes, laws, commandments, ordinances and principles are all part of His “judicial” system. His kingdom is governed by “law”, it is not a lawless kingdom. Ignorance of His legal order is certainly no substitute for an ‘anything-goes grace’. “Those whom he loves he disciplines” (Heb. 12:6). Disciplining is a result of disobedience. Disobedience to what? Had there not been any standards or commandments, there would have been no need for discipline. The Kingdom of His beloved Son is a place of divine righteousness, divine justices, peace and divine order.
The great controversy over “grace versus law” mushroomed into religious doctrines that have left the redeemed community impotent, like clouds without rain. It is very easy to be deceived by the religious spirits of this world, as they lead the way into the rational knowledge of good and evil, where axioms such as ‘grace is good and law is evil’, are believed. If we are to know our God, through Yeshua, we must learn of “Him” and “His ways”. He is not only full of grace and truth, but also of justice. The judgments that have come, and are coming upon the earth are a consequence of law (God’s judicial order) and known as the “wrath of the Lamb” (see Rev. 6:16-17). A waving of the proverbial magic wand, of so-called grace, will not make His justice (laws) disappear. Yeshua spent a great deal of His time teaching us about these laws; reaping and sowing, forgiving and being forgiven, being merciful and receiving mercy, etc. For He said: "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one title will pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:17-19). Many are trying to live today as if heaven and earth have passed away. But by keeping, doing and becoming God’s commandments “word” in the earth, is a matter of “LOVE”. “To love YHVH with all your heart and with all your soul and all your strength and your neighbor as yourself”(see Deut. 6:5, Matt.22:37-39), is no small commandment to be ignored and covered over by religious clichés. “If you love Me you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.” (1 John 5:2).
The words for grace in Hebrew are “chen“ and chesed”. The latter is translated mercy or loving-kindness. Mercy cannot be understood without law or justice. Grace and law go hand in hand. This is why we pray: “in wrath (which is a result of God’s judgments) remember mercy.” (Hab.3: 2). This has been the case throughout history, as the Torah records. “Remember, YHVH, Thy compassions and Thy mercies; for they have been from of old” (Psalms 25:6). The Tanach introduces us to a beautiful inseparable blend of “law and grace” in the lives of our forefathers, and especially in “their seed”; Israel, as a nation which continues to be the testimony of this dynamic duality. “But let him that glory, glory in this, that he understands, and knows Me, that I am YHVH who exercise mercy, justice, and righteousness, in the earth; for in these things I delight, says YHVH” (Jer. 9:24).
If we view ourselves as these high and lofty beautiful colored clouds and forget that our true nature is more like that of a mist, we might also forget why we are here. The purpose of a mist is to water the earth, so that the seed can grow. “A mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground” (Gen. 2:6). Let us pray that we be not clouds without rain, but a mist that becomes the morning dew or an afternoon shower. “And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, as dew from YHVH as showers upon the grass, that are not looked for from man, nor awaited at the hands of the sons of men” (Micah 5:7). “Your dead shall live, their dead bodies shall arise--awake and sing, you that dwell in the dust--for your dew is as the dew of light, and the earth shall bring to life its shades” (Isaiah 26:19). May we be, “like the dew of Hermon, that comes down upon the mountains of Zion; for there, YHVH commanded the blessing, even life forever” (Psalms 133:3).
Ephraim
“Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity, IT IS LIKE THE DEW”(Ps. 133).
This morning as my son and I went out for our morning walk, the dawn was just breaking over the Mount Garazim (Blessing) and Mount Eval (Curse). The clouds were beginning to reflect the deep purple and violet colors of the morning’s glory. As we continued walking, these hues and colors were lending a greater measure of brightness to the clouds, until the light they were emitting illumined the earth below. It was a spectacular sight. But as soon as the sun’s orange rays peaked over the horizon, shining directly on the earth, the clouds began to change and turn a dark gray. Within a few minutes these same clouds actually blocked the sun’s light, casting only their shadow upon the landscape.
My thoughts focused on the Scripture’s description of us, humans, as a mist that appears like these morning clouds; the “cloud of witnesses” (Heb.12:1), so to speak, that for a few fleeting moments embody the incredible testimony of the dawning day. Some of you may recall, from a previous letter, the meanings of the Hebrew words for evening and morning - erev and boker. The meanings of "boker", like "erev", can point to conditions, or interactions between light and darkness. Some of these means are: split, penetrate, rip, divide, reflect, inquire, seek, visit, consider. "Boker" brings with it the joy of the end of the darkness, and the full expression of the light (ref. letter a-39).
In these days of extreme drought here in Israel, clouds are welcome. But if their sole function is to paint the morning sky with glorious colors, they will be of no benefit to the earth, which will remain parched and barren. These are clouds that hold no rain, and have no water (Prov.25:14; Jude 1:12), and while they may be a precursor to the coming day, that day will be none the better for them. In fact, they may even block the “Son’s” light.
Many of us who have seen the dawning of the kingdom in our earthen vessels, glow with the excitement of the new creation life within, but at the same time can become so heavenly minded, or spiritual, that we are no earthly good, as the saying goes. Yes, we are the people of faith, but without works (rain), we will produce no fruit. Just as James, “a bond servant of the Lord”, writes to the twelve tribes: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces or works patience [a fruit]. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing…. Therefore lay aside all filthiness and wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; but he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed [fruitful] in what he does” (James1:2-4, 21-25). “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17). What are these works and how are they connected to “Torah”?
Since the multiple mercies of the Creator and sustainer of life work within the creation, especially in man, and as “He is working all things out after the counsel of His own will” (Eph. 1:11), we must take heed to His “word” that He laid down in the Torah. The statutes, laws, commandments, ordinances and principles are all part of His “judicial” system. His kingdom is governed by “law”, it is not a lawless kingdom. Ignorance of His legal order is certainly no substitute for an ‘anything-goes grace’. “Those whom he loves he disciplines” (Heb. 12:6). Disciplining is a result of disobedience. Disobedience to what? Had there not been any standards or commandments, there would have been no need for discipline. The Kingdom of His beloved Son is a place of divine righteousness, divine justices, peace and divine order.
The great controversy over “grace versus law” mushroomed into religious doctrines that have left the redeemed community impotent, like clouds without rain. It is very easy to be deceived by the religious spirits of this world, as they lead the way into the rational knowledge of good and evil, where axioms such as ‘grace is good and law is evil’, are believed. If we are to know our God, through Yeshua, we must learn of “Him” and “His ways”. He is not only full of grace and truth, but also of justice. The judgments that have come, and are coming upon the earth are a consequence of law (God’s judicial order) and known as the “wrath of the Lamb” (see Rev. 6:16-17). A waving of the proverbial magic wand, of so-called grace, will not make His justice (laws) disappear. Yeshua spent a great deal of His time teaching us about these laws; reaping and sowing, forgiving and being forgiven, being merciful and receiving mercy, etc. For He said: "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one title will pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:17-19). Many are trying to live today as if heaven and earth have passed away. But by keeping, doing and becoming God’s commandments “word” in the earth, is a matter of “LOVE”. “To love YHVH with all your heart and with all your soul and all your strength and your neighbor as yourself”(see Deut. 6:5, Matt.22:37-39), is no small commandment to be ignored and covered over by religious clichés. “If you love Me you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.” (1 John 5:2).
The words for grace in Hebrew are “chen“ and chesed”. The latter is translated mercy or loving-kindness. Mercy cannot be understood without law or justice. Grace and law go hand in hand. This is why we pray: “in wrath (which is a result of God’s judgments) remember mercy.” (Hab.3: 2). This has been the case throughout history, as the Torah records. “Remember, YHVH, Thy compassions and Thy mercies; for they have been from of old” (Psalms 25:6). The Tanach introduces us to a beautiful inseparable blend of “law and grace” in the lives of our forefathers, and especially in “their seed”; Israel, as a nation which continues to be the testimony of this dynamic duality. “But let him that glory, glory in this, that he understands, and knows Me, that I am YHVH who exercise mercy, justice, and righteousness, in the earth; for in these things I delight, says YHVH” (Jer. 9:24).
If we view ourselves as these high and lofty beautiful colored clouds and forget that our true nature is more like that of a mist, we might also forget why we are here. The purpose of a mist is to water the earth, so that the seed can grow. “A mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground” (Gen. 2:6). Let us pray that we be not clouds without rain, but a mist that becomes the morning dew or an afternoon shower. “And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, as dew from YHVH as showers upon the grass, that are not looked for from man, nor awaited at the hands of the sons of men” (Micah 5:7). “Your dead shall live, their dead bodies shall arise--awake and sing, you that dwell in the dust--for your dew is as the dew of light, and the earth shall bring to life its shades” (Isaiah 26:19). May we be, “like the dew of Hermon, that comes down upon the mountains of Zion; for there, YHVH commanded the blessing, even life forever” (Psalms 133:3).
Ephraim
“Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity, IT IS LIKE THE DEW”(Ps. 133).
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