Post by alon on May 10, 2019 1:52:20 GMT -8
This week’s readings: Par’shah 32
Date of reading: 12 May 2018/27 Iyyar 5778
Name of Par’shah: B’har (On Mount)
Par’shah: Leviticus 25:1-26:2
Haftara: Jeremiah 32:6-27
Brit Chadashah: Luke 4:16-21; 1 Corinthians 7:21-24; Galatians 6:7-10
D’rash: Bill Engvall is the common thread I see in our readings this week; probably because I was thinking of this par’shah and Bill’s trademark routine “Here’s Your Sign” given to foolish people while painting my living room at about 2:30 AM. It was looking like I was going to run short, and nothing was open to get more paint at that time of the morning. So I prayed, then I noticed the strip behind the door was not painted yet either. Crud! But I kept going and lo and behold, by brushing out all the paint from the tray I got all of that coat done! Well, I did pray, and I knew God likes to bring home the victory just under the wire, but still I had despaired. “Here’s Your Sign.”
There were times when God asked His people to trust Him to provide, as in our par’shah:
Leviticus 25:2b-7 (ESV) the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. The Sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you, and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food.
When the Hebrew people trusted and obeyed, things went very well for them:
Leviticus 25:20-22 (ESV) And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives.
But of course they did not do as commanded in all their generations, and so were carried off to captivity. Yet while there they were given a sign of a different sort:
Jeremiah 32:6-8 (ESV) Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ Then Hanamel my cousin came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.
El Elohe Yisroel, still faithful to His people was telling them through the prophet Yirmeyah that they would be returned to Ha’eretz. He was given a word from God, and that word was confirmed. Now that’s the kind of sign we all want! But it is not usually so dramatic. On the other hand, at times it is. And at those times we are usually given a very clear choice: submit to His will and follow, or perish. Here is another very clear sign in our B’rith Chadashah reading. The religious leaders and the people themselves had been waiting for Yeshua to declare Himself Messiah and lead a rebellion against Rome. He came close to saying it on a few occasions, and this is one of those:
Luke 4:16-21 (ESV) And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Of course, they wanted Moshiach Ben Dovid, the One who would defeat the Romans. What they got was Moshiach Ben Yoseph, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53:
Luke 4:22-28 (ESV) And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?” And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath
“Here’s Your Sign.” They knew of His miracles, knew Him to be the Crown Prince of Israel, but they wanted Him to do His job their way, not as God had commanded Him. These people had a clear calling to follow HaShem’s Moshiach, and they failed to do so. “Let’s go to the Burger King Church and we can have it our way!” There was no Burger King nor any church in Yisroel at the time, but there was a Messiah, in the flesh! So “Here’s Your Sign.”
Now the question we all face is what sign will we wear? Because we are all called to something. We may not understand what it is or why we were put where we are, but there is a purpose. We must just trust HaShem that He will be faithful to us and in the end we will be vindicated, our efforts rewarded..
Dan C
Mekorot: Bill Engval onYou Tube, my Dad, Rav S, and others
Date of reading: 12 May 2018/27 Iyyar 5778
Name of Par’shah: B’har (On Mount)
Par’shah: Leviticus 25:1-26:2
Haftara: Jeremiah 32:6-27
Brit Chadashah: Luke 4:16-21; 1 Corinthians 7:21-24; Galatians 6:7-10
D’rash: Bill Engvall is the common thread I see in our readings this week; probably because I was thinking of this par’shah and Bill’s trademark routine “Here’s Your Sign” given to foolish people while painting my living room at about 2:30 AM. It was looking like I was going to run short, and nothing was open to get more paint at that time of the morning. So I prayed, then I noticed the strip behind the door was not painted yet either. Crud! But I kept going and lo and behold, by brushing out all the paint from the tray I got all of that coat done! Well, I did pray, and I knew God likes to bring home the victory just under the wire, but still I had despaired. “Here’s Your Sign.”
There were times when God asked His people to trust Him to provide, as in our par’shah:
Leviticus 25:2b-7 (ESV) the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. The Sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you, and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food.
When the Hebrew people trusted and obeyed, things went very well for them:
Leviticus 25:20-22 (ESV) And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives.
But of course they did not do as commanded in all their generations, and so were carried off to captivity. Yet while there they were given a sign of a different sort:
Jeremiah 32:6-8 (ESV) Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ Then Hanamel my cousin came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.
El Elohe Yisroel, still faithful to His people was telling them through the prophet Yirmeyah that they would be returned to Ha’eretz. He was given a word from God, and that word was confirmed. Now that’s the kind of sign we all want! But it is not usually so dramatic. On the other hand, at times it is. And at those times we are usually given a very clear choice: submit to His will and follow, or perish. Here is another very clear sign in our B’rith Chadashah reading. The religious leaders and the people themselves had been waiting for Yeshua to declare Himself Messiah and lead a rebellion against Rome. He came close to saying it on a few occasions, and this is one of those:
Luke 4:16-21 (ESV) And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Of course, they wanted Moshiach Ben Dovid, the One who would defeat the Romans. What they got was Moshiach Ben Yoseph, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53:
Luke 4:22-28 (ESV) And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?” And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath
“Here’s Your Sign.” They knew of His miracles, knew Him to be the Crown Prince of Israel, but they wanted Him to do His job their way, not as God had commanded Him. These people had a clear calling to follow HaShem’s Moshiach, and they failed to do so. “Let’s go to the Burger King Church and we can have it our way!” There was no Burger King nor any church in Yisroel at the time, but there was a Messiah, in the flesh! So “Here’s Your Sign.”
Now the question we all face is what sign will we wear? Because we are all called to something. We may not understand what it is or why we were put where we are, but there is a purpose. We must just trust HaShem that He will be faithful to us and in the end we will be vindicated, our efforts rewarded..
Dan C
Mekorot: Bill Engval onYou Tube, my Dad, Rav S, and others