Post by R' Y'hoshua Moshe on May 4, 2007 14:47:22 GMT -8
On Earth As It Is In Heaven
[/u]Parashah Emor
By Reuel D.[/center]
In Mattityahu (Matthew) 6:9 our Rabbi Yeshua said the following Hebrew prayer,
“Avinu shebashamayim, yitkadesh shimkhah.
Tavo malkhutekha, ye’aseh retzonekha,
Ba’aretz ka’asher na’asah va’shamayim.
Ten-lanu haiyom lechem chukeinu.
U’selach lanu et ashmateinu,
Ka’asher solechim anachnu la’asher ashemu lanu.
Ve’al-tevieinu lidei massah, ki-‘im hatzileinu min-hara.
Ki lekha ha-mamelakha ve-hagevurah veha-tiferet,
Le’olemei ‘olamim amein.”
Translated into English this Hebrew prayer reads,
“Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amein.'
The first part of this special prayer that our Master teaches us to pray starts with, “Avinu shebashamayim” (our Father in Heaven). So, the first and most important thing that we need to establish is that our Father is the Elohim of Heaven. Are we His child in which we owe Him our love and obedience? Have we entered into a relationship with the Father through His Son, Yeshua The Messiah? If the answer is “Yes”, than the words of parashah Emor and all of
have authority in our life.Yeshua goes on to teach us to pray, “yitkadesh shimkhah” (may your name be kept holy). Keep in mind that this is our prayer to Adonai for us and our community. So, we are praying that through our lives and conduct we are able to keep Adonai’s name holy. How does one do this? Some believe if they simply don’t use the name Adonai in vain or in a curse they are keeping this command. Of course, we don’t want to use the name of God or even titles referring to our God lightly. These names and titles should not be used loosely in regular every day conversation. Names and titles for the Elohim Of Yisrael should only be used in set-apart and holy circumstances, and not for evil purposes. We see that Adonai takes this seriously at the end of the parashah as a man is stoned to death for misusing the name of the God Of Yisrael. Let us take heed and remember to keep Adonai’s name holy in our daily conversation.
There is another way that we can misuse the name of our God, especially if we claim to be His children. In Vayikra (Lev.) 21:6 our parashah states,
“They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the offerings of YHVH made by fire, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.”
This text is surrounded by various mitzvot (commands) concerning the cohenim (priests). The scriptures say that those whom have been joined to Messiah and have become apart of the commonwealth of Yisrael have also become apart of a Kingdom of Kings and Priests. Therefore, as we see in our previous passage, just as this command of being holy is surrounded by the instruction to keep Adonai’s mitzvot, so too being holy in one’s life includes being surrounded by Adonai’s mitzvot. Keeping the commands of our God is the way to avoid profaning His name. Again, in our parashah Adonai tells us the following in Vayikra 22:31-32,
“Therefore you shall keep my mitzvot, and do them. I am YHVH. You shall not profane my holy name, but I will be made holy among the children of Yisra'el. I am YHVH who makes you holy”
Here we see clearly in scripture that Adonai ties the keeping of His commandments with keeping His name holy and the way to avoid profaning His name. Not only are we keeping His name holy by doing this, but He says that He will also make us Holy. Thus, we will be sanctified by His name and His word will sanctify us. Some things to think about…When we pray what our Master Yeshua taught us, are we really seeking to be empowered to keep our Heavenly Father’s
more and more every day? Are we hungering and thirsting for righteousness in our walk with Adonai? Or, is the just an appetizer to us instead of the main dish? Are we more concerned with being entertained than growing in our walk with Adonai? Do we get more excited about favorite T.V. shows and our hobbies than we do about serving the God of the Universe? Do we invest more of our lives on worldly pursuits than we do sanctifying the name of Adonai in our lives? Before the next time we pray the “Avinu” (Our Father) we should meditate upon these things.We are taught to pray, “Tavo malkhutekha, ye’aseh retzonekha, Ba’aretz ka’asher na’asah va’shamayim.” (Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.). We are taught to pray for the future Kingdom of God to come and that His Kingdom will would be done on Earth here just as it is done in Heaven. When we pray this we are praying for Mashiach ben David, the Messiah whom will come and subdue all Kingdoms to come and establish Yisrael and Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) as a praise in the Earth. We are praying that Yeshua The Messiah would come and set up His Kingdom in which the will of His Father will be established on the Earth. Notice how the prayer teaches us that standards of Adonia’s Kingdom (as it is in Heaven) should be done here on Earth. In other words, in the future, Heaven is coming to us, and not us to it. We will enjoy Heaven on Earth, especially when we are living out it’s will here on Earth. The Prophet Yeshayahu (Isaiah) clearly describes this time in which we are instructed to pray for. In Yeshayahu (Isai.) chapter 2:2-4 it says,
“It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of YHVH’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many peoples shall go and say, "Come, let's go up to the mountain of YHVH, to the house of the God of Ya`akov; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths." For out of Tziyon
shall go forth, and the word of YHVH from Yerushalayim. He will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”This time we are praying for is a time where
will saturate the Earth. This is a time when the House (Temple) of Adonai will be established above all other things lifted up on the Earth. It says that all the Nations will flow to the coming Temple of Adonai and they will be learning the ways of . The Prophet Zekharyah (Zechariah) also prophesies of this event. In the book of Zekharyah 8:20-23 it states,“Thus says YHVH of Armies: "Many peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come; and the inhabitants of one shall go to another, saying, 'Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of YHVH, and to seek YHVH of Armies. I will go also.' Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek YHVH of Armies in Yerushalayim, and to entreat the favor of YHVH." Thus says YHVH of Armies: "In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, 'We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'"
It says that ten men out of all the languages of the nations will take hold of one Jew to learn the way of Adonai. But, there will have to be a lot of pride swallowed for Christian churches and Pastors to leave behind many of their anti-
and anti-Semitic doctrines to actually take hold of the Jewish people, and start learning . But, this is what the God Of Yisrael tell us is the future for the end of days! This is the will of Heaven that we are supposed to be living out now here on Earth as we wait for this coming Kingdom. Both Jewish and Gentile believers in Messiah don’t have to wait until the end of days to do this. They can take hold right now and today! In fact Vayikra (Lev.) 24:22 (found in our parashah), communicates the following admonition regarding both Jew and Gentile. It says,“You shall have one kind of law, for the foreigner as well as the native-born: for I am YHVH your Elohim.'"
It also says the same in the book of B’midbar (Num.) 15:15-16,
“For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner, a statute forever throughout your generations: as you are, so shall the foreigner be before YHVH. One law and one ordinance shall be for you, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner with you.”
All throughout our reading of parashah Emor we see Adonai proclaiming that these are His commands, His appointed times, ect…They are His! In other words, the
does not belong to the Jewish people alone! It belongs to anybody whom serves the God of Yisrael. And, most assuredly, for those who choose to live and pursue a observant life here and now, such people will bring the Kingdom of Heaven with them were ever they are. Yeshua continues to teach us to pray,
“Ten-lanu haiyom lechem chukeinu.” (Give us today our daily bread.). If we are first seeking the Malchut Shamayim (The Kingdom Of Heaven) by serving God our Father, by sanctifying His name and making it Holy, and if we are praying for His will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven, than He will be happy to gives us our daily needs. The Shaliach (Apostle) Yochanan/John writes the following in 1Yochanan 3:22,
“And whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments, and we do the things pleasing before Him.”
We are taught to pray, “U’selach lanu et ashmateinu, Ka’asher solechim anachnu la’asher ashemu lanu.” (Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.). This means that the forgiveness that we extend to others is the measure in which Adonai will forgive us. In Luke 3:6-8 Yeshua says,
“For the same measure which you measure, it will be measured back to you.”
Therefore, whenever possible, it is best to error on the side of grace and mercy than it is to consistently fall on the side of judgment and non-forgiveness. If we apply this wisdom in our relationships it will bear much pleasant fruit. In our reading Vayikra (Lev.) 24:19-20 states,
“If anyone injures his neighbor; as he has done, so shall it be done to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has injured someone, so shall it be done to him.”
We must remember that judgment is in the hands of Adonai and whenever possible we should show grace and mercy. In fact, believe it or not, this mitzvah in our previous passage here was actually a manifestation of God’s grace. One may ask, “How so?”. This instruction actually limited the lengths to which others could go when getting vengeance upon someone whom had wronged them. In some cases if someone had fractured another’s bone, injured an eye, broke a tooth, or whatever it was, the vengeance would be much greater than the original offense. In many cases the party seeking vengeance would injure the other much more if not in some cases kill the person. As we remember the first murder in the Garden of Eden, this proves to be true. But, we also must remember something that the Emissary Sha’ul (Paul) taught. In the book of 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 he stated,
"All things are lawful for me," but not all things are profitable. "All things are lawful for me," but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own, but each one his neighbor's good.”
In other words, even though something may be technically lawful for you to do, it does not mean you have to issue the judgment. You may choose to let mercy triumph over judgment in some cases. Does not Adonai practice this with those of us whom have sought refuge in His Son? Therefore, Yeshua our Rabbi teaches the following in the book of Mattityahu (Matt.) 5:38-41,
"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you, don't resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.”
We are taught to pray, “Ve’al-tevieinu lidei massah, ki-‘im hatzileinu min-hara.” (Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.). 1Kefa (1Pe) 5:8 states the following,
“Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
We are not to be careless in this world and we need the help of Adonai in our lives to stay pure and resist what in Hebrew is called the “yetzer hara”, the “evil inclination”. We find this concept first spoken of in Bereshit (Gen.) 6:5 where is says, “every imagination (yetzer) of the thoughts of his heart was only evil (ra). In the writings of the Brit Chadashah (New Covenant), “yetzer hara” is described as the “carnal mind”, “the natural man”, or the “old nature”. At times, we have a tendency to cave into our carnal nature and commit sin. And, the roaring lion that we read about earlier seeks out the week sheep in Messiah, that it may devour them. But, notice how the problem is two-fold. We both have to resist temptation and pray that we are delivered from the tempter. From the very beginning of creation mankind has been given a positive mitzvah. In the book of Bereshit (Gen.) 4:7 Adonai says,
“If you do well, will you not be lifted up? If you don't do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it."
Let us pray that our Father in Heaven helps us to rule over the sin in our lives, for it crouches at our doorway and it longs to devour us. Finally, if we successfully pray everything that Yeshua taught us, the last part of this special prayer will take on special significance. Our Rabbi taught us to pray the following,
“Ki lekha ha-mamelakha ve-hagevurah veha-tiferet, Le’olemei ‘olamim amein.”
(For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amein.) If we pray and practice the things found in this prayer that many know as the “Our Father”, we will truly know what it means when we say that “the Kingdom, the power, and the glory” belongs to our God forever. The prayer ends with an “amein”. What does this mean, when we say “amein”? It can mean “truly”, or “surely”. The Hebrew word “amein” comes from the root “aman”, meaning to nourish, to support, and to make sure and strong. It is taught that the Jewish sages thought that “amein” could be thought of us an acronym for “el melekh ne’eman” which means, “God is a faithful King”.
As we read about our upcoming feast of Shavuot in this week’s parashah and we are counting the omer leading up to this next appointed time of Adonai, let us prepare ourselves for the imparting of His
in our lives. For our King is faithful and true, and He will bring all things spoken of in scripture to pass. Through the power of the Ruach Hakodesh (Holy Spirit), may each one of us reflect the will of Avinu Melchenu (our Father and King) here - on Earth as it is in Heaven. Amein!
