2018-12-21
Good Morning Dear Ones,
It is very helpful to look at some of the ancient Jewish customs to better understand today’s more modern ones. For example, we had been looking into the issue of rules and regulations, which governed the lives of legalistic Jews. Many of those rules from ancient times are no longer required of us today. COL 2: 9-10, “For the full content of divine nature lives in Christ, in His humanity, and you have been given full life in union with Him. He is supreme over every spiritual ruler and authority.” Later, in verse 16, “So, let no one make rules about what you eat or drink or about holy days or the New Moon Festival or Sabbath.” The idea here is that God’s commands, unless He says otherwise, are eternal. The Kosher (Kashrut) regime was set in place because pork was originally riddled with Trichinosis organisms and thus, was unsafe to eat. There was no refrigeration, and foods like shellfish couldn’t be preserved in those days. Eating rodents and other animals was also unsafe. Consuming the blood of animals was unnecessarily taking life, “for the life is in the blood…” [LV 17: 11; HE 9: 22]. Blood poured out can forgive sins. That is why Orthodox Jews today feel the need to buy meat from a Kosher butcher, because the blood is drained before the meat is sold. Yet another regulation of a Kosher regime is the separation of meat and milk dishes, requiring two sets of dishes, even separate dish towels. The rationale for that is one doesn’t know which came first, the chicken or the egg. Of course, most of today’s Jews-Conservative and Reform-don’t require keeping a Kosher regime in the home. However, Orthodox and Chasidic Jews do. As for followers of Jesus Christ, we are reminded of the vision that Peter saw on Cornelius’ roof discussed in AC 10: 9-16. The basic message was that keeping the Kosher regime is now a matter of conscience and not a requirement. In the modern world, anything sold in a market is okay to eat. The only things barred are those to which an individual is allergic. 1COR 10: 25, “You are free to eat anything sold in the meat market, without asking any questions because of your conscience.”
The New Moon Festival [mentioned in EX 40: 2; NU 10: 10, 11-15; 29: 1; 1 K 8: 2; PS 104: 19] was a series of animal and grain offerings given to the priests to bring forgiveness of sins committed in the previous month. The shofar (only one trumpet) is to be blown. Tishri (the 7th month, also called Ethanim, usually in Sept.) is the time of Rosh Hashana. It begins the annual cycles of the Jewish New Year and begins the Hebrew calendar. Rosh Hashana is the beginning of the High Holy Days, the Jewish New Year. This is followed by the 10 Days of Awe, both are times of reflection about the individual’s relationship over the previous year with God. That is followed by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, also the holiest day of the Jewish year. As for the moon, it marks the months of the Hebrew year. The ritual of the New Moon Festival is no longer required among believers, even though we should, without evoking guilt, keep on top of our relationship with God and confess our sins to Him regularly.
It helps for us to understand these Jewish customs, which gave rise to the lifestyle that Christ still wants us to live. COL 3: 9-10, “For you have put off the old self with its habits and have put on the new self. This is the new being, which God its Creator, is constantly renewing in His own images to bring you to a full knowledge of Himself.” This means that our reality is Christ, as His Holy Spirit dwells in our souls. We are to “be tolerant of one another and forgive one another whenever any of you has a complaint against someone else. You must forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven you” [COL 3: 13; EPH 4: 2, 22-24]. Holding grudges is not in keeping with God’s will. COL 3: 17 tells us that everything we do, we should do in Christ’s name, as you give thanks to God, the Father. In this new life in Christ, the attitude taught in EPH 5: 21-25 should be practiced in the home. That is “wives submit to your husbands, and husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the church and gave His life for it.” There is no need for the “battle of the sexes” to happen in the home. Children are to obey their parents, and parents are not to bring their children to the kind of unhappiness/discouragement that abuse, or neglect would cause [COL 3: 18-21; 1 PET 3: 1-2, 7; EPH 6: 1, 4]. COL 3: 23-25 reveals our Lord’s fairness and equity. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as though you were working for the Lord and not for people. Remember that the Lord will give you as a reward what He has kept for His people. For Christ is the real Master you serve. And all wrongdoers will be repaid for the wrong they do, because God judges everyone with the same standard.” See also EPH 6: 5-9; DT 10: 17.
PRAYER: O Lord, today we’ve looked at how eternal Your standards are. Despite the fact that we were born with sin, and still can sin, You teach us how we can avoid sin and deal with those sins we’ve committed. HE 9: 12 describes how Christ, by His Atonement, opened the heavenly Holy of Holies for us all. It is through faith in Him and obedience to His teaching that we are purified from past sin and invited to participate in the Covenant of Grace. Repeatedly, You have shown us that through the giving of the Law, You have revealed what pleases You and what doesn’t. However, until Your Son, Jesus, gave His life on the cross and was resurrected, no one could access eternal forgiveness, justification, and salvation. Now that He has obeyed You, we make the choice to believe in Him and to obey to You. We thank and praise You for all the goodness You bring to our lives. We are not perfect, and we pledge to confess sins we discover and to stop the behavior that is sinful. In the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: As we continue presenting supporting Scriptures for the book of Colossians, we will look at why Paul was so concerned about the Colossian Heresy in his time. We will also see how its presence impacted relationships with Christ. We learn more about how wrongful teaching can impact our own relationship with the Trinity and record of obedience. I personally came from a Conservative Jewish upbringing and had to learn the difference between living by the written Law and living by the Spirit. It took a while, as you can imagine. To truly understand the Covenant of Grace, I had to first understand what I had been believing from my Jewish background. Then, it was necessary for me to make a huge decision, which was to walk away from the traditionally Jewish refusal to accept the deity of Christ, as well as His humanity. It was not an easy decision, and there is a certain amount of ostracism from some traditionally Jewish people toward anyone who makes it. When one is born Jewish, he will always be a Jew. So, the question is: will he be a “completed, Messianic Jewish person” or not? After several years of investigation and learning about the NT, I walked through that door marked “FAITH” and have never regretted it. I was given direction for my life and have long ago entered into the Covenant of Grace. I live with thankfulness, praise, and reverence for the Lord. In addition, I have fallen deeply in love with His word and with the lifestyle my faith gives me. He can do the same for anyone who genuinely seeks Him out. Praise and thanks be to the Lord!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2018. All Rights Reserved.
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