2014-08-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, I was led to begin writing about ritual meals that are reminders of the covenant one is in, as the “Covenant Meal” segment of this “Our Covenant” series of messages began. Any believer in Christianity is familiar with the taking of Communion [called Eucharist in Catholic churches], but there is more that leads up to this ritual meal that we should cover. [And yes, I will eventually return to the taking of Communion-1 COR 11: 23-25]. God loves for us to rehearse our history with Him, because He knows it will help us to understand our place with Him and recognize what He is and does for us. Several years ago, I wrote an entire series of messages on the Passover, which rehearses the history of the Jewish exodus from Egyptian slavery. Back in GN 15: 13, a prophecy was made that is germane to the story of the exodus found in EX 12: 1-42 and the instruction to hold a Passover ritual meal [which Jewish people refer to as a Pesach seder] every year. GN 15: 13, “Then the Lord said to him (Abram), ‘Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.’” The Passover, which was the Angel of the Lord passing over any Jewish household that had painted the blood of a sacrificial lamb on the lintels and door posts, when God made the killing of all Egyptian firstborn sons (the tenth plague) so. Last week, I gave a capsule description of that covenant meal. It is also a reminder of the Abrahamic covenant already in place [found in GN 12: 1-3; GN 15: 17]. It is no accident that the Passover happened exactly 430 years from the beginning of Jewish enslavement in Egypt.
Previously, I pledged to share my own experiences from my traditionally Jewish background and mean to make good on that. It will give you a picture of how God executes changes in a person “by inward renewal by the transformation of his mind” [RO 12: 2]. In our conservatively Jewish home and at the synagogue, the actual Passover meal takes about three hours in each place. As a child who didn’t feel God was real, I remember thinking that it was an awfully long wait before we could really eat! I squirmed in my seat, yawned frequently, wished I could have a conversation with those around me instead of reciting prayers in a language I didn’t speak or understand, and had to drink wine (which I didn’t like at the time). When we finally did get to eat, they would serve Gefilte fish (a ball made from boiled white fish and carp), which was accompanied with hot red horseradish—something I still won’t eat. The best part of the meal was home-made Matzo Ball Soup. This was followed by grilled chicken, something called Tzimmes (a mixture of sweet potato, carrots, and cinnamon), and a dessert of Prune/Pear/Apricot Compote. Had I understood what I do now, my first question would have been, “where’s the lamb!?” Both the seder at the synagogue and the one the next day at home included a memorial for those killed in the Holocaust. At home, it was more specific, since a portion of my own family had met this fate. These remembrances of them still lead me to deep sadness. Jewish wisdom drove the recognition that children needed to have a part in this ritual meal, but it was always the boys only, who were honored with this opportunity. The youngest one would ask the Four Questions, and another boy would “steal” the Afikomen (the middle board of matzo from the head table) of the three there wrapped in a napkin. Later the Afikomen would be “found,” and the lad would bargain with the leader (father) for it’s return in exchange for candy or some other gift. As for the girls, they were all but ignored. These rather negative childish memories would not be allowed to stand in my own life. Much later I would read the OT, study it, do the same with the NT, and eventually accept the Lord Jesus as not only the Messiah for whom the Jewish people still search, but also as my own personal Savior.
The Jewish High Holy Days services were another negative set of memories with much the same response from me as a child, who wasn’t interested and didn’t believe God was real. My three older brothers and myself were not given a choice about taking days off school to attend long, arduous services for commemorating the Jewish New Year [Rosh Hashanna], the ten days of awe which followed, and the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, the Day of Atonement [Yom Kippur]. These, like the Passover, are outlined in great detail in the Scriptures. Rosh HaShannah is in LV 23: 23-25 and NU 29: 1-6; Yom Kippur is in LV 16, LV 23: 23, 26-32, and NU 29: 7-11. Unlike the secular New Year celebration, the Jewish New Year is practiced as a reminder of our need to contemplate our relationship with God over the previous year, and this serious contemplation is carried out in the Ten Days of Awe that follow it. This time culminates with the Yom Kippur services, which arose from God’s covenant to forgive one’s sinfulness for one year (until the next Day of Atonement). A whole day is spent in the synagogue with one ritual after another to work out the commemoration of that one day of the year when the Jewish high priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies to offer an animal blood sacrifice on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant in ancient times. We can only offer praise and thanks to our God, who updates childish foolishness, misunderstanding, and even lack of understanding, replacing it with their opposites. Even the hardest of hearts can be “transformed inwardly by the renewal of the mind” by the power of our God, Who keeps His promises. EZK 36: 26-27, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees, and be careful to keep My laws.”
PRAYER: O Lord, what great power You have to be present, watching over people who don’t know and understand You! Your power is built in them to allow them to mature, to learn, and to have access to Your word. Their prayers, often delayed to when they reach the end of themselves, are still heard and answered with Your wisdom and compassion. You love little children, as evidenced by MK 10: 13-15, “People were bringing little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw them, He was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’” There is a long road to travel between the teaching of traditional Judaism and receiving Your Son, as He really is—the Messiah. The road is long enough from immaturity to maturity in the faith, even for those born to Christianity. But You call to each person to come to a knowledge of Yourself as You really are, to acknowledge Your supremacy in all areas, to learn and submit to Your will, and to mimic Your loving heart [PS 31: 3-5; PS 86: 9-10; JER 29: 11-13; MT 11: 28-30; JN 5: 24; 2 TIM 1: 7]. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, You give people faith, and You bless them. For that and so much more, we offer You our heartfelt thanks and praise. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The Holy Spirit directs me to continue with some childhood memories of the Jewish holidays of Shavuot (the giving of the Law) and Sukkot (the harvest time Festival of Booths). Later all these rituals of Judaism will be shown to be archetypes foreshadowing familiar covenant meals we eat. The sharing of a meal, especially with our brothers and sisters in the covenant, is a precious heartfelt tradition. Even a wedding, which itself is the sealing of a covenant before God, is followed by a feast. The breaking of bread together with others can be a very special and important act. This author has deep concern for our society, in part because families are getting out of the habit of eating at least one meal a day (usually dinner) together. Dinner together after a day with family members, each dealing his separate challenges, is a chance to share, to get parental wisdom, and to discuss whatever has happened that day as it relates to one’s life. It’s a time to cement the family together as a unit. Even this venerable practice can be used for wrongful purposes, as it was in my own past, but most of the time it is a positive influence on children’s lives and the lives of adults as well. One of the strengths of a program on TV, “Blue Bloods,” are the scenes of the Regan family (whose adults are police and lawyers) sharing a weekly intergenerational dinner together, which begins with prayer. Can we imagine what our Covenant Partner thinks about our family lives and our experiences sharing ritual meals with our human covenant partners? These are the times we are changed for the better by our understanding and interaction with the Lord Jesus and with our families in His presence [RO 8: 14-16, 26-27; 2 COR 5: 17; COL 3: 10]. Praise and thanks be to God for His power and will to give us profound faith!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24:15
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