Listen to What the Father Says

Part 5 of Parashah 47

The third aspect of Moshe’s direction to us as it relates to Yahovah preparing us to enter the Land of Promise (verse 5 of the 13th chapter of Deuteronomy—it is the 4th verse in the NAS, KJV DBY, NLT, ASV, YLT, ESV, NIV and NRS) was for us to “listen to what He says” (CJB). And as I read this, I wondered to myself, what does “listening to what the Father says” look like to us living in the 21st century?

This was somewhat puzzling to me as I recalled that day that was recorded in the 19th and 20th chapters of Exodus, where we stood at the base of Mount Sinai and witnessed and heard our Creator speak directly to us, His Torah and establish His covenant with us. This day was the precursor for the Day of Pentecost and Yom Teruah (aka The Day of Trumpets). This day was unlike any in history. This day the Creator of all that is revealed Himself to us as a nation; a people; His possession. But we fretted at the wonders and the sight of His majesty, power and might. It was recorded:

15 ¶ All the people experienced the thunder, the lightning, the sound of the shofar, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled. Standing at a distance, 16 they said to Moshe, “You, speak with us; and we will listen. But don’t let God speak with us, or we will die.”17 Moshe answered the people, “Don’t be afraid, because God has come only to test you and make you fear him, so that you won’t commit sins.”18 ¶ So the people stood at a distance, but Moshe approached the thick darkness where God was. (Exo 20:15-18 CJB)

Just a quick note here: you’ll often hear or see me reference instances in Israel’s ancient history in the first person–such as “when  we stood at the foot of Mount Sinai.” I am not channeling any spirits from that time. I am not insane thinking that I am reincarnated from that time. I am simply putting into perspective the history of ancient Israel in relation to our heritage. Let me explain: Shaul wrote to the Roman assembly of believers: “But it is to you Gentiles, I am speaking: as I am a Shaliach to the Gentiles (i.e., a Hebrew sent to the Gentiles) I honor my ministry; if, perhaps, I provoke emulation in the children of my flesh and may revive some of them. For if the rejection of them was a reconciliation of the world, what will their conversion be but life from the dead? For, if the first-fruits are set apart, then the rest of the dough (it came from is) also: and if the root is set apart, then also the branches. And if some of the branches were plucked off; and you, an olive from the desert, were in-grafted in their place and have become an heir of the root and fatness of the olive-tree; do not boast over the branches. For if you boast, you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you. And should you say “the branches were plucked off that I might be grafted into their place.” Very true. They were plucked off because they disbelieved; and you stand by faith. But do not be uplifted in your mind, but fear. For if Elohim spared not the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. Behold now the goodness and the severity of Elohim…” Rom. 11:13-22–AENT. Thus, when I refer to incidents that occurred to ancient Israel, I will often reference those events in the first person as I seek to put into perspective our new identity in Messiah and Israel. I’ve found that once I embraced our spiritual heritage, everything associated with the Faith became more real to me and I hope and trust that by you understanding this about me, my writings and recordings, you will gain a greater appreciation of who we truly are in Y’shua Messiah. And I will say with some caution so as to not offend those who might disagree with me: I truly believe that most of us who have come in to the Hebraic Roots of the Christian Faith are not just spiritual Israel, but possibly even of the lineage of physical Ephraim. This will be something I explore in future episodes of Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections. But for now, let’s continue with the topic at hand.

So we chose to have Father speak to us through Moshe as opposed to having Him speak to us directly. We gave up a most auspicious opportunity to hear directly from the Creator of the universe as to what it is He expects from us as His own treasured possession among all peoples of the earth; His kingdom of priests; His holy nation. (Reference Exodus 19:5-6) And then today, Father does not speak to us audibly as He did on that day at the foot of Mount Sinai; although some might take exception to that. I realize that Yah’s Spirit will at time speak to us directly as I believe He has spoken to my spirit on several occasions by His Ruach HaKodesh. I’m talking more about audibly speaking to us: like our spouses, children, bosses, friends, neighbors, etc., speak to us such that we hear them with the use of our ears and we can understand them. This is how we humans communicate with one another—one party speaks and the other party receives/hears/listens to the message, and if necessary, the receiving party responds. But in all honesty, Yahovah/Yahweh does not, with the exception of the rarest of occasions, speak to us in an audible fashion. So then we in the 21st century find ourselves in the same boat as we were in the Sinai Desert—requiring the Father to speak to us through His chosen vessels—be it His written word; His chosen teachers; via the move of His Spirit around and in us; or by our general observations of the world around us.

The problem I find with NOT hearing directly from Yahovah/Yahweh as He originally intended His communications to us to be heard, is the risk of Father’s Word being distorted or not reaching us accurately and precisely as He originally transmitted it. We see this evident in so many ways. Take for example our Bibles—we are learning more and more these days how various passages in our bibles have been tampered with by unnamed men who took it upon themselves, for whatever reason or personal or group agenda, to alter the original message. Despite the many disagreements to this by certain segments of the Christian community, it is an established fact that many passages in our bibles have been tampered with over the centuries. How do we know this: manuscript comparisons—Hebrew and Greek scholars comparing the thousands of existing manuscripts of the books of the bible have confirmed variations between those manuscripts. Certainly, one could question the validity of any of those manuscripts being used in the comparisons, but the scholar looks to the oldest existing manuscripts to see what was recorded and the oldest manuscripts will by default become the “standard,” so to speak, whereby the more recent manuscripts are judged. The scrolls found in the Qumran caves have proved to be of greatest value in setting the bar as it relates to determining what the original message was. Scholars have placed the age of the scrolls/manuscripts recovered from the Qumran caves to have been copied by the Essenes between 200 BCE and 68 CE. (Reference: http://www.centuryone.com/25dssfacts.html) Many of these Qumran manuscripts make up some of the oldest manuscripts in existence and as a result, these have become the standard by which many of the later manuscripts are judged.

Thus, we are faced with a dilemma as it relates to hearing from Father through the reading of His Word. If scrupulous men have taken upon themselves to tamper with God’s Word throughout the centuries, how do we know that we are hearing exactly what Father has intended for us to hear? Or is it important for us to hear or listen to Yahovah? Well, that question is easy to answer—indeed it is important for us to listen to the instructions of our Creator and more importantly, obey those instructions. Thus we have been commanded to “listen to what Father says.”

Michael Rood touches upon this issue in the introduction to his Chronological Gospels. (Please note: I realize that many who will hear this audioblog or read this blog may not agree with many of Mr. Rood’s teachings. I realize and accept that fact. However, I am a firm believer that Mr. Rood has taught and teaches today a great deal that is true. I reference that of Mr. Rood’s teachings that I have affirmed for myself to be of sound truth through my personal research and study. That which he teaches that is controversial and has limited biblical or extra-biblical support, I try to avoid making any substantive reference to in this or any of our postings.) According to Rood, “a fatal error has been introduced into an otherwise flawless mathematical system (speaking to the time frame that the feeding of the 5,000). In the 4th verse of John chapter six, eight words were inserted into later copies of the Greek text in order to artificially lengthen the ministry of Y’shua. It is the pinnacle of intrigue that these eight words were appended to the very section of Scripture that guaranteed that the forgery would eventually be exposed. And it was revealed by the one miraculous event recorded by all four Gospel authors: the feeding of the 5,000.“ Rood goes on to identify those inserted words as “And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.” (John 6:4) Apart from other sighted discrepancies which makes this sentence suspect of forgery, we in the Hebrew Roots of the Christian Faith should be able to identify a glaring problem with this sentence and that is the phrase, “…a feast of the Jews.” For we know that the annual holy days—the moedim—are Yahovah’s Feasts (also described as the Feasts of the Lord); so clearly it would be evident that Yochanan, the writer of this gospel record, a Jew, would not have used this phrase “a feast of the Jews” to describe one of the annual feast days that he no doubt would have been very familiar with. The other glaring problem with this passage is that bread was served to the 5,000, and if it was indeed Passover–more precisely the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread, then serving the bread would have been in direct violation of Torah as the time of Passover required us to eat “unleavened bread.” As an investigator by career choice and trade, these issues surrounding this passage of John, are quite suspect to me as it should be to any who are familiar with the Hebraic Roots of our Faith. It would clearly seem to me that someone, other than the Apostle Yochanan (aka John), wrote or appended this Johannine passage.

The research Rood conducted in putting together The Chronological Gospels, especially as it relates to this crucial event—the feeding of the 5,000–led to him coming across manuscripts that predated the manuscripts that most of our English bibles are based upon. Those earlier texts DID NOT have the phrase or sentence, “And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.” This is prima fascie that forgers have taken hold of our bibles and for whatever reason, altered the original writings.

Now, as insignificant as this specific example of the bible being altered in places might seem to most self-professing Christians throughout the world, it should be of tremendous importance to us in the Hebrew Roots of the Faith. This example is a clear indicator that the brother of our Master, who penned the epistle of Jude, was right in his assessment that “…certain men [have] crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” (Jude 1:4 NAS) For we’ve established without any uncertainty, the absolute importance of hearing or listening to what Father has to say to us. For any distortion or error in Father’s Word could lead many of us astray, as so many in churchianity find themselves today.

Now, I don’t believe all is lost, despite what the naysayers will throw at us regarding the perceived unreliability of the biblical text. Father has, throughout the centuries, preserved His Word in many sundry ways. He has sent us His anointed teachers and His Spirit to ensure that His Word is delivered in as pristine a state as we, the receivers of the Word, are willing to receive. I truly believe Father is committed to our understanding what it is He has for us to know about Him and His expectations for us as His people. Oh, the Word of Yah is so wonderful, despite the attacks it has suffered at the hands of men who have personal and organizational agendas. When we fall in love with the Creator of the universe and we hunger and thirst after Him and His righteousness, and seek to know and please Him, nothing will prevent us from hearing His voice accurately.

Father spoke to the Prophet Isaiah in this regard and what Isaiah recorded—in my humble opinion–is one of the most profound and assuring verses to be found in the whole of Scripture in regards to the Word of Yahovah reaching its intended audience unsullied:

CJB Isaiah 55:1 ¶ “All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You without money, come, buy, and eat! Yes, come! Buy wine and milk without money – it’s free! 2 Why spend money for what isn’t food, your wages for what doesn’t satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and you will eat well, you will enjoy the fat of the land. 3 Open your ears, and come to me; listen well, and you will live – I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the grace I assured David. 4 I have given him as a witness to the peoples, a leader and lawgiver for the peoples. 5 You will summon a nation you do not know, and a nation that doesn’t know you will run to you, for the sake of ADONAI your God, the Holy One of Isra’el, who will glorify you.” 6 Seek ADONAI while he is available, call on him while he is still nearby. 7 Let the wicked person abandon his way and the evil person his thoughts; let him return to ADONAI, and he will have mercy on him; let him return to our God, for he will freely forgive. 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says ADONAI. 9 “As high as the sky is above the earth are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For just as rain and snow fall from the sky and do not return there, but water the earth, causing it to bud and produce, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater; 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth – it will not return to me unfulfilled; but it will accomplish what I intend, and cause to succeed what I sent it to do.” (Isa 55:1-11 CJB)

When we gave up that opportunity to hear directly from Yah on that fateful day at the foot of the mountain, from that point on Father spoke to us through His chosen vessels—first Moshe; then Joshua; then His appointed Judges; then His prophets; the righteous Kings of Israel (as well as the evil kings of Israel who rejected Yahovah’s Torah and led us away from Father, the actions of which resulted in our punishment and destruction as a nation); then Y’shua and His chosen Apostles. After Master left us, He sent us His Ruach HaKodesh (aka the Holy Spirit). The Ruach Kodesh also reveals and delivers Yahovah’s word to us. After the Apostles left us, we were left with the following means by which we today can accurately hear/can listen to what the Father says:

• His recorded Word or as popularly known, the Bible–utilizing consistent, sound bible study practices and referencing a wide range of bible resources that Father in his providence and infinite wisdom has made available to us
• His Ruach HaKodesh–His Holy Spirit–His voice that speaks to our hearts, minds and spirit
• His anointed teachers–those who teach the truth and who do not compromise the Word for personal or denominational agendas
• Our personal and collective life experiences
• The people and situations that we come into contact with on a frequent and infrequent basis

These mediums by which the Father speaks to us are readily accessible to most of us in one form or another. However, and this is a huge problem that we face in our Faith as well as in all of Christianity, we tragically fail to optimize the opportunities to hear from Father. What I mean by this is that many of us fail to even pick up and study our bibles at any appreciable frequency. Many of us would prefer to have someone tell us what “thus sayeth the Lord.” This is one of the biggest reasons why Christianity is in the terrible rut it’s currently in. For centuries, many of us have sat under the teachings and doctrines and rules and laws of churches and denominations. Instead of hearing what Father has to say to us, we’ve given ourselves over to hearing what the church or a denomination has to say to us. By our not consulting and eating up our bibles each and every day, we leave ourselves open to missing vital information that we need to properly function as ambassadors of the Most High to this evil and perverted world. I discuss this very issue in my multi-episodic series entitled “Understanding the Bible” and I would humbly encourage you to take the time and listen to or read those postings. In those postings I discuss the tragedy of biblical illiteracy in the Hebraic Roots and Christian Faiths. The Bible, for all intents and purposes, is the primary means whereby Father speaks to us. Most of us are acutely aware of this. Being self-professing children of the Most High, we require constant instruction in order to live and fulfill the Creator’s will for us in this world. Yet our laziness and fear of reading and studying the bible prevents us from properly functioning as children of the Most High. The only way to fix this is to resist the enemy’s efforts that prevent us from delving into the riches of our bibles each and every day.

Which brings me to the next problem: the cares of life. The cares of life get in the way of our listening to and hearing from Yahovah/Yahweh. When we were in the Sinai desert under the leadership of Moshe, we didn’t have anything to distract us or take our attention away from hearing what Father had to say to us. The only reason we failed to obey what Father instructed us to do was because of our inclination as human beings to resist and even oppose the ways of our Creator. Shaul wrote this to the Roman assembly:

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

  ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

  ³ For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:¹

  ⁴ That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

  ⁵ For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

  ⁶ For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.¹

  ⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.¹

  ⁸ So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Rom 8:1-8 KJV)

Today, with all the things constantly ongoing in our lives: careers, families, bills, current events, television and the internet, we are faced with rationing out time in a cramped life for Yahovah. This should never be the case for any of us. But for the vast majority of us, it sadly is. The cares of life drown out the quiet, small voice of the Ruach (Spirit) as it attempts to get our attention and communicate with us the will and commandments and love of the Father. How many of us go through an average, busy, hectic day, and at the end of that day, realize that we made no time for the Father. We find that we did not receive a Word from Father for that day. Instead, we received word(s) from children, husband/wives, bosses, co-workers, the television, the radio; everyone and anything but Father. This is the absolute best scenario for the enemy to have and it serves their purposes and goals to a “t.” Listening to Yahovah takes some work. It’s not something that we naturally do–it’s a foreign-alien practice to us as humans. We cannot entirely rely upon preachers, teachers or church-leaders to deliver the spiritual goods to us, although Father certainly speaks to us through his anointed teachers. But beyond that the teachers and preachers, we must listen and hear from Yahovah through fervent, heart-felt, meditative prayer. We must listen/hear from Yahovah through the reading of Yah’s Word and allowing the Ruach to reveal His truths to us. We must listen/hear Yah by quietly and observantly taking the time to appreciate Father’s creation. I realize this may seem completely unconventional to most, but when we take the time to experience and appreciate Yahovah’s creation, the Ruach uses those rare moments to reveal many things about the Creator of the Universe to us and that is another opportunity to listen and hear Father.

Sometimes it comes down to simply turning off the electronics, getting in to our closets, putting our bibles on the desk in front of us, clearing our minds of all the stuff that it has been filled with the day prior, and availing ourselves to the infilling, leading and revelation of the Ruach Kodesh. We make room for everything else in our lives, but we tend to place Yahovah at the bottom of each day’s to-do and personal appointment lists. If we find that we’ve run out of time, we may give Father an obligatory nod of the our spirit and promise to do better the next day and move on with our lives. Father demands more from us. He demands to be first in our lives. He purchased us with the blood of His Son and has branded us with His Ruach Ha Kodesh. ( 19 Or don’t you know that your body is a temple for the Ruach HaKodesh who lives inside you, whom you received from God? The fact is, you don’t belong to yourselves; 20 for you were bought at a price. So use your bodies to glorify God. (1Co 6:19-20 CJB) Thus we are to become and exist in this world as His loyal servants. Not as “robots” or some form of automatons, but exercising the unique gifts and character in the service of His Kingdom. Once we realize what the “real deal” is, we can hear and listen to Yahovah. And when those impediments to hearing and listening to Yahovah have been done away with, we can live that life abundant that Master provides. Master said,

“ 7 ¶ Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (Joh 10:7-10 KJV)

Lastly, we can learn and hear from Yahovah through a recall of our individual life experiences, as well as through the life experiences of others whom we may come into contact with. How many times have we come into contact with someone and hear their testimony and have been profoundly affected by their testimony or their story? How many times have we, conversely, looked back and have seen the path we’ve taken and have learned something so profound that it literally changes our lives and the direction of our walk with Messiah right then and there? It’s happened to me on a number of occasions. That which profoundly affects and changes our lives may seem to others as insignificant. But that seeming insignificant thing can be used by the Spirit (Ruach Kodesh) to teach us something about Father; about ourselves; and about the world around us, through that simple reflection. We often tend to devalue our own experiences and interactions with others. However, it’s these varied and seeming insignificant (as well as the significant) life-experiences that have played such a great role in my spiritual development—looking back over an experience or interaction, and seeing something there of a critical spiritual nature, and then internalizing and acting upon that revelation. These times offer opportunities for Yahovah to communicate to us His will for our lives and His commandments of us as His chosen ones.

Listening to and hearing from Yahovah comes to us by many obvious and not-so obvious means. It’s not from just reading our bibles, although the greatest messages from Father come directly from our study and reading of the bible. But Yah’s Word comes to us from virtually every aspect of our lives; some obvious and some not so obvious. Thus, we must shut up, crank up our hearing (be it physically or spiritually), and just avail ourselves to hear what Father has to say to us. We don’t have Father speaking His Word directly in to our ears as He did on that fateful day at the foot of the mountain. We forfeited that opportunity. We don’t have Moshe, the prophets or the apostles to provide us direct instruction from Father. But what we do have is the written Word, the Ruach Kodesh, Yahovah’s anointed teachers and the many life-experiences that provide us endless opportunities to hear from our Creator. That is our Torah Challenge for today fellow saints-in-training: to listen to and hear from Yahovah by whatever means He chooses to deliver His Word to us. How we go about listening to and receiving that Word is entirely up to us as individuals. But we better damn well figure out and get it done—sooner than later.

 

Shalom and may you walk in the power and might of His Ruach Kodesh. Sincerest blessings to you all.