7
Nov 2015 ~ 25 Cheshvan 5776
Torah
Parashah Chayei Sarah - The life of Sarah
B’re’shiyt
23:1- 25:18 RSTNE p 23
Beatitudes
- study from Skip Moen “The Lucky Life - The Backwards Beatitudes”
Torah
Parashah:
Avraham just back from Akedah and
Sarah has died.
Avraham purchases the field with the
cave of Machpelah in it - for an exorbitant amount of money... giving all that Ephron asked... so there
could be no questions that Avraham owns it.
Avraham sends his oldest eved
(servant) to his people - and his family to get a wife for Yitzchak.
Servant went to Mesopotamia to the
city of Nachor and there finds Rivkah - the daughter of Bethu-El, son of
Milcah, the wife of Nachor, Avraham’s brother - and brings her back. Rivkah is the sister of Lavan (who would
become the father of Jacob’s wives).
The Servant takes Rivkah back to
Yitzchak and he makes her his wife.
**
Great information on 15 thingsScripture says about Shabbat.
**
Beatitudes.... based on Moen’s book...
{I know the title is “the lucky life” and i know that “luck” is
from Lucifer - but we are going to ignore that meaning - and assume that he is
coming from something other than lucifer - and had to find something besides
“blessed” (you will see why).}
I’ve
been studying much about brain physiology and what I believe is the Romans 12:2
“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” and
recentlygot Moen’s book on Beatitudes and something caught my eye...
he
says...
“When
life smacks you in the face, when the only kind of luck you have is bad luck,
it’s time to change your point of view.”
As
with so many things in the Scriptures - we have come from a place of ‘what
someone said - or what we were taught’ in another faith - so to speak... and I
think we’ve missed much of what Y’shua was saying.
I
know I didn’t understand. In fact, I asked a lot of questions about this teaching of Y’shua’s for a LONG
time....
“The
beatitudes are not about how to become more virtuous. The Beatitudes are about
responding to life as it is. They are
YHWH’s view of what it means to be lucky.”
(again - not blessed)
Many
of us have had some challenging times lately and i think we need a better
perspective!
Moen
goes on to say....
“When
life throws you curve balls or hits below the belt, Y’shua says, “Now you are
playing in YHWH’s lottery. Now you are
the lucky one. Jump for joy. You win.”
( I don’t like lottery either
but we are going to ignore that too for the sake of understanding something
that is not “blessed”.)
Oswald
Chambers, in “My Utmost For His Highest” said...
“The danger with
us is that we want to water down the things that Jesus (Y’shua) says and make
them mean something in accordance with common sense; if it were only common sense, it was not
worthwhile for Him to say it.” !!!!
Moen
goes on to say in his introduction:
“When I study these short sentences carefully, when I begin to understand the deeper
meanings of the (words) I find something very different than contemporary
treatments of the Beatitudes as “religious” blessings. I find a radical, upside down, backwards
thinking about life that says that my usual commonsense view is not even close
to what YHWH thinks.”
Macarisms
= a particular pattern of sayings that come from the first word of each
statement in the Greek "makarios."
Mattityahu
5:1-12
p 679
We
can read that and decide what we think it means... as we used to do -
but
what if we read it and focus on not just what the original words meant but on
what the original audience - the people that heard them first - would have
thought about Y’shua’s words!....
The
first word of each statement in our text is “Blessed”... but the first word in
Greek is “makarios”.
BUT
- as Moen says - “really means something quite different than “blessed”.
The
New Testament Greek to Hebrew Dictionary by Jeff Benner says this word
makarios, which is G-3107 in Strong’s - is H-835 = aleph shin resh = asheyr =
happy - a feeling of joy or satisfaction.
Etymological
Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew
aleph
shin resh = “being in successful progress”, “walking straight forward”
Moen
says - the pattern of these Beatitudes... “Blessed are...” or
“Makarios”.... is important... “this pattern” is about “good fortune and release from the
worlds’ troubles, either though earthly gains or inner peace and piety.”
“Macarisms
offered general advice about living by pointing out those who would receive favorable
status in this life. Macarisms are the
Greek equivalent of sayings that describe the paradoxes of life.”
This
same pattern is of course - found in the Tanakh
(Old Testament):
Yirmeyahu
(Jer) 17:7
“Blessed is the man that trusts in YHWH, and whose trust is in YHWH.”
Tehillim
40:4
“Blessed is that man that makes YHWH his trust,”
“Blessed”
is used in English for two different Hebrew words:
1.
Baruch = “to bless, kneel, salute or greet” This includes the concept of passing a favor
from one person to another, and particularly from YHWH to man.
2.
Ashrei
= ( a noun, not a verb) that describes a persons state of being. Often used to describe the inner state of a
man or an entire nation that enjoys fellowship with YHWH. It is never used to describe YHWH’s state of
being. This word announces good
fortune or congratulations to a man whose inner state is blissful.
“In Hebrew, this is not the
result of a “blessing”, a gift granted by someone in authority. It is the result of actions that i take on my
own. My decisions and behavior determine
whether I enjoy inner bliss or not.”
“This is fundamental to” what Y’shua
is talking about in the Beatitudes.
“...this is not the result of a
“blessing”, a gift granted by someone in authority. It is the result of actions that I take on my
own. My decisions and behavior determine
whether I enjoy inner bliss or not.”
“Y’shua is describing those people
whose lives are characterized by an internal bliss, a psychic state that
demonstrates contentment and harmony with YHWH”s greater purposes. These are the people who understand the human
dynamic of a relationship with YHWH!
They are not strangers to YHWH’s
will. They are not pagans. They are not the “unsaved”. They enjoy YHWH’s grace because they have
some inner qualities that allow YHWH to demonstrate His presence in their
lives”
“The
only problem with Y’shua’s description is - he picks the people who seem to be
the LEAST likely candidates for bliss.
Everything
about them says that they should be very unhappy.
Common
sense tells us that these people are the most miserable of all people... but
Y’shua turns this upside down!
So
here in this list of things we call the Beatitudes... things spoken in a sermon on a hill....
Y’shua
is explaining who is really joy-filled!
“He is pointing to those whose lives are candidates for
happiness because of WHAT and WHO THEY ARE.
in other words, these people are happy, lucky and even “blessed” because
of who they are, not (because) of what they have done.”
This
is classic Hebrew instruction... “Unpacking the meaning of simple
life situations to demonstrate that something sacred hangs in the balance of
every moment” (Abraham Heschel)
“Y’shua
announces happiness to exactly those whom the world considers the unhappiest of
all.”
Look
at the list of things in the Beatitudes:
poor in ruach
mourning
meek
hunger and thirst after tzedakah
mercy givers
pure in heart
shalom-makers
those persecuted
Wow... these are things the world rejects or at
least attempts to avoid!!
Y’shua
invites us to “think backwards”....
So
let’s do that and see what He shows us...
First,
In
Mattityahu 5:2 “And He opened His mouth, and taught them, saying...”
Did
you ever catch this is an “odd phrase?”
“He
opened his mouth and said...” is a
Hebrew IDIOM.
This
is like the structure in the Tanakh in the vocabulary of the prophets and
rabbis.
This
isn’t just - “well of course he had to open his mouth to talk”...
... This is....Y’shua opened His mouth
- but YHWH did the speaking... just like when a prophet from the Tanakh did
....
Or
when a prophet of today - hears the words - for the first time - as they come
out of their mouth.
Mattityahu
5:3 "'Blessed are the poor in ruach (spirit)
for theirs is the malchut ha shamayim (the kingdom of heaven)."
- “Blessed are the
poor in spirit”... that is what we learned... and we had NO idea of what Y’shua
was saying!...
When
we say or read “blessed” we think we are
going to be given something from YHWH.
Like
we are “entitled”.... somehow “marked as
special” - you know, set
apart - Moen says - what
a perfect word for the church to “conveniently reinterpreted to express the
granting of a gift or favor.” “Used
effectively, it keeps everyone in the hierarchy in line.”
BUT
if “blessed” actually meant “HAPPY”.... that brings no hierarchy..
“Blessing
is directional and regulated.
Happiness
is dispersed and unregulated”
“What
we miss in English is the sense of the statement is PASSIVE. YHWH is the active agent”
(just
like in the covenant making when Avram was in a tardame/ trance!!!)
Moen
says...
“The
action described in each of the Beatitudes is brought upon these people. They are the passive recipients of this
bliss. They have won the lottery without
even buying a ticket.
“Blessed
are the poor in spirit”
Literally
reads: “Those lucky poor in
spirit.”
If
it was really “blessed” the implication would be “they” have to do something to
earn it....but they don’t have to do anything to earn it... they just ARE.
The
state of bliss can’t be earned... it is a GIFT
- just simply a gift.
and
that is how it is for all the Beatitudes!! - a gift!!
“Those
happy poor in spirit”
Poor has to Greek
words:
“Penes” = poor person who lives
day-to-day on the labor of the day.
Ptochoi = the ones totally
bankrupt. They are NOT surviving.
They are dying, right here, right
now.
They cannot provide for themselves,
even a subsistence living.
They live lives characterized by one
thing - to be without.
These are the people we don’t want to
know about.
These are the ones we like to ignore
or not look at as we pass by.
Yet, Y’shua said they are the luckiest
people alive!!
But hear this... WE are ptochoi - we
are destitute - homeless, totally bankrupt, DYING - without YHWH.
And those who will not beg, can not
receive the kingdom of heaven.
Those who think that there is
something they can DO to receive the kingdom of heaven.... and/or those who think that they DESERVE....
“Well, I have been a believer, for
____ long. I have given up many
things........ I have earned my spot.”
Nobody
deserves. Nobody can EARN their spot....
Y’shua
is saying only those who know they are literally DYING - can have the kingdom
of heaven....
People
there in that day on the hill actually hearing the voice of the Mashiach...
some of them got it.. some of them had ears to hear....
but
probably not most people... because most people are not willing to be humble
and bend their knees.
Those
who are willing to be on their knees - knowing that LIFE ONLY COMES FROM YHWH -
and there is NOTHING I can do to earn it...
those people are dancing in JOY - because they are the luckiest people
alive.
And
what about “the kingdom of heaven”?
What
is the relationship between the beggars and the Kingdom of Heaven??!!
“Why
should those who apparently have NOTHING except their absolute desperation for
YHWH be so happy??”
=“These are the people who look to YHWH for everything, but who also receive
from YHWH the gift of the Spirit and the faith to look to Him for everything!!
Those
who know they MUST look to YHWH for absolutely everything - including their
very lives - are the very reason that the Kingdom of Heaven can come onto the
scene.
“Their
destitution, their desperation, their begging for heavenly alms causes the most
fundamental shift int he entire history of everything. The Kingdom arrives.”
The
Greek text reads “Makarioi oi ptochoi ot pneumati hoti” = “Happy the poor in
spirit because”
“because”
/ “hoti” - yields = “because of them the
kingdom of YHWH is.”
The
kingdom of heaven is “totally dependent on whether or not we submit to this
reign as servants to the King.”
“The
concept of “kingdom of heaven” contains within it the idea that we are desperately
in need. Citizens of the Kingdom are
citizens precisely because they have nothing of their own.”
“YHWH’s
Kingdom is nothing more or less than His miraculous rule arriving for me. Because I am bankrupt, I am able to receive
YHWH’s arrival.”
Only
those who get the fact that they are ptochoi in spirit will experience YHWH’s
Kingdom.
“Those
who discover the joy of the Kingdom are beggars for YHWH.”
Y’shua
is saying - “Shout for JOY if you get the idea that you have nothing but YHWH!!
- and that is all you need!!”
This
is NOT a blessing!!
It
is NOT a reward!
Y’shua
is saying that in the “recognition of my spiritual destitution is the sign that
YHWH is coming!!”
Halleluyah!
I
am lucky b/c I can not make this (my desperation causing this) happen and i can
not earn it!
Mattityahu
5:4 “Blessed are they that mourn; for
they shall be comforted.”
“The
crowds that followed Y’shua were not the noble, well fed, educated or
protected. They were the poor, the lame,
the beggars. They knew sorrow. Sick bodies, broken hearts. They knew grief. Starving children, anguished mothers. They knew fear. And they knew death.”
-Y’shua
is talking directly to those mourning right now.
-The verb is actually present tense.
They
are, right now, at this moment, in the midst of grief.
“Listen,
says Y’shua, in the center of your anguish is a promise - a promise that you
are the lucky one, for something amazing is going to happen.
YOU
WILL BE COMFORTED.”
“Mourning
means they have given up their self-delusions about control,power, and
protection. They know that life is
fragile, and that they are not in charge.”
They
are lucky because “they are no longer able to cope by themselves.”
If
we go about in the delusion that we have control - we will not see the Kingdom
at hand!!!
This
is “the guarantee that no matter what crisis comes upon us, YHWH is here. YHWH is in control. Our lives are not adrift on a stormy sea of
emotional trauma. The Ruach HaKodesh
(Holy Spirit) will stand as our Advocate when we fall. He will intercede. All of His unfathomable power, care and love
will be ours because YHWH hears our cry.”
“They
will be comforted” - is a promise about here and now - not just someday when we
are in eternity!!
YHWH
is present with me in my miserableness!!
JUMP
for JOY!! I am lucky - because there is
nothing that I can do to earn this!!
Mattityahu
5:5 “Blessed are the meek: for they
shall inherit the Land.”
This
comes from
Tehillim/Mizmor
(Psalm) 37:11 “But the meek shall inherit the earth.”
The
Hebrew word for “meek” = anaw.
“This
is about one who lives in both internal emotional affliction and external pain
and suffering.”
“The
afflicted will find protection in His power and grace and they will follow His
instructions!”
Y’shua
refers to Tehillim (Psalms) because “He wants his audience to know that
affliction is not the result of an occupying army or evil men or blind
catastrophe. Affliction is a mark of
YHWH’s hand on life.
Y’shua
says - “precisely because YHWH is involved in this affliction, you have reason to
rejoice!!!”
“You
are not simply the victim of happenstance.
YHWH is at work in your life, remolding it to suit His goals. Life is a fabric of troubles because YHWH uses
troubles to shape his Vessels.”
YHWH
disciplines those he loves. “The Word
teaches us that evil is not ultimately in charge. Your present affliction has purpose and
meaning. YHWH is working through you.”
Romans
8:28 p 844 “All things work together for the tov
to them that love YHWH, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
What
Y’shua is saying is that YHWH can turn evil into a vehicle for His
purposes.
“Evil
doesn’t triumph no matter what appearances suggest.”
So
rejoice, even in the hard places because YHWH is going to bring GOOD.!
**
Mattityahu
5:6 “Blessed are they that do hunger and
thirst after tzedakah: for they shall be
filled.”
Yeshayahu
(Isaiah) 55 - “foretold that YHWH would restore Yisra’el where none would go
hungry or thirsty.”
Those
who are hungry and thirsty are both inwardly and outwardly clearly deficient in
things they need for life!
These
are the ones who know there must be more - and haven’t found it yet.
“They
are the people who are singled out by their own internal, keen awareness of the
need for something essential. They are
the ones who know that life is missing something vital, something that can only
be supplied by YHWH Himself. They are
the ones who recognize that the elements needed to make life what YHWH intended
life to be are painfully absent. They
know something very important. They know
that they cannot provide whatever it is.
They are helpless to rectify this situation.”
Y’shua
is saying:
“O,
how lucky those of you who know that you cannot provide what you need by
yourselves, who know that life is not giving you what you must have, who know
that you are dying without what only YHWH can provide. JUMP FOR JOY!! Your day has arrived!
Those
who “hunger and thirst” - this is right now, present tense... knowing that I am
not getting enough and I can’t provide it myself!
Moen
says - “Y’shua is the answer” for that hunger and thirsty...
He
is “the bread of life” (Yochanan (John) 6:35.)
and
HE is...
BUT
i believe there is MORE.
This
is also about that starvation place where we have been where we know that we
know there is more - and have NO IDEA where to find it!....
The
ONLY place there is to look is to YHWH!
“When
we are starving for YHWH, HE arrives.”
“The
only ones who are going to be blessed in this macarism (the lucky ones) are
those who have nothing to show for themselves except their need.”
Mattityahu
5:7 “Blessed are the rachamim
givers: for they shall obtain rachamim.”
This is not conditional. Y’shua is not saying - if I offer mercy i
will get mercy!
He is saying - “those who are
practicing mercy are lucky.”
This
mercy is not the courtroom scene and somehow the guilty aren’t given what they
deserve...
This
rachamim (mercy) is “the act of giving help to one who is in need.”
This
is what covenant promise is made of... the stronger one always comes and helps
the weaker one.
“Lucky
are those merciful” - he is addressing the one who gives mercy.
The
people Y’shua has in mind are the ones who have been the victims of
crimes. They are the ones who deserve
justice.”
“People
who show mercy have put aside their just reward.”
“It
is about giving up my right to justice.
Only those who deserve justice can show mercy because mercy means that
the rightful consequence of justice is no longer applied.”
“Mercy
produces personal psychological freedom.
I place my right to justice in the hands of YHWH. Is no longer a weight that i carry. I am free.
YHWH can do what he wishes with the situation. It is no longer mine.”
Mattityahu
5:8 “Blessed are the pure in lev: for they shall see YHWH.”
One
of the consistent messages of Y’shua was the “need of the believer to
understand that purity does not come from outer observance.”
He
literally says: “Lucky are the
cleansed.”
“The
distinction between clean and unclean was so important that it was inseparable
from the belief in YHWH.”
The
religious people of Y’shua’s day (and still today) - worked very hard to be
sure the outside of the cup was clean... you know, ... that they did all the
rituals...and hoped upon hope that they didn’t miss something....
King
David talked about a “pure heart” - in Tehillim 24:3-4
Y’shua
is saying - the ones with no guilt are free to SEE YHWH.
Now
this must have been a huge problem - because every Hebrew knew that Moshe has asked
to see His face...
People
have focused on the outside of the cup because it is “much easier to have a
checklist rather than a moral inventory.”
In
this Beatitude - Y’shua is saying “something even more amazing... that the
lucky people are those with clean hearts.”
He
stood up and said... “Lucky are those with clean hearts - in a world where
every person is dirty.”
This
put “the fear of judgment in everyone.”
He
was really saying “Lucky those who have experienced the creation of a new,
clean heart” - you will see YHWH in your lives”
Most
people read this verse and think it means - “some day ...in eternity.”
But
it is about seeing YHWH in the now all around us... having “eyes to see”!!!
“Only
a man whose life has been made righteous by YHWH (pure in heart) has the eyes
to see YHWH’s hand in the world today.”
Mattityahu
5:9 “Blessed are the shalom-makers: for they shall be called b’nai YHWH.”
“This
is not for those who want peace, but for those who MAKE peace.”
“If
you are going to be a peacemaker, someone is going to shoot at you.”
“Only
those who are presently giving up this hoped-for reality reflect YHWH’s
character and YHWH’s peace.
“Everyone
wants to experience life where they themselves enjoy peace. But not the peacemaker. The peacemaker is one who actually gives up
personal harmony and tranquility in order to put himself at risk for the sake
of peace. He stands in harm’s way because he
attempts to bring someone else’s conflict to an end. You can’t be a peacemaker without stepping
into a war.”
-”Y’shua
says Lucky those who give up their peace for the sake of someone else’s peace.”
Matityahu
5:10-11 “Blessed are those who are
persecuted for tzedakah’s sake: for
theirs is the malchut ha shamayim. 11 “Blessed are you, when men shall revile you,
and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My
sake.”
We
have read this - as though there were tortured people in the crowd - and maybe
they had been.... but this Beatitude is
not about past tense - but present tense....
“Lucky
those being persecuted.”
Y’shua
is talking to those whose lives are at this very moment characterized by
oppression and persecution. Especially
those under accusation.
He
“makes it clear that the persecuted are not only those who are beaten and
tortured for their proclamation” (Y’shua is Mashiach). The persecuted are those who have been denied
access to YHWH’s grace because of religious legalism.”
Keeping
the Instructions / Torah is not about
earning salvation. “It is about making
myself as available as possible so that YHWH might use me for His purposes in
any way He chooses - and ultimately it is about living differently so that my
demonstration of His instructions becomes an attraction to others.”
“Where
ever men insert ANY REQUIREMENT between desperation and grace, persecution
occurs. And the persecutor is ALWAYS
GUILTY.”
“If I am desperate for YHWH, many men will attempt to drive me away from Him. But YHWH answers. OH, happy day! How lucky can a man be?!!”
“Y’shua
announced that the only condition of salvation was repentance.”
Oh happy day!!
Mattityahu
5:12 “Gilah, and be in great
simcha: for great is your reward in the
shamayim: for so persecuted they the
neviim who were before you.”
***
“The
destitute in spirit are the reason YHWH’s kingdom has arrived.”
“Those
who grieve are the open doors for YHWH’s comfort to the world.”
“Those
afflicted under YHWH’s sovereignty discover YHWH’s promised allotment.”
“Those
who are chronically deficient in righteousness are given the righteousness they
lack.”
“Those
who give up justice discover the basis of their own pardon.”
“Those
who have received a clean heart have eyes to see YHWH.”
“Those
who relinquish peace discover they reflect YHWH’s character.”
“Those
who stand for grace no matter what, call for the Kingdom’s arrival.”
“Each
of these points to YHWH’s bedrock values.
They are nothing like the values we prize in this world. In YHWH’s world the things that matter most
are; desperateness, brokenness
affliction, emptiness, losing, insufficiency, sacrifice, perseverance. These are the values of the new Kingdom. These are the ways that YHWH conducts His
affairs with me. Insofar as we avoid
these values, we turn our backs on YHWH’s ethics.”
“But
there is one more paradox. It is found
in the entire collage of adjectives about these “lucky ones”.
Let’s
look again at the results of makarios:
YHWH’s
kingdom arrives
YHWH’s
comfort reaches us
YHWH’s
order prevails
YHWH’s
righteousness is provided
YHWH’s
pardon is given
YHWH’s
hand is seen
YHWH’s
peace reigns
YHWH’s
instructions are followed.
“Desperate
before YHWH
Mourning
life’s brokenness
Trusting
in YHWH’s sovereign control
Accepting
the gift of righteousness
Rejoicing
in YHWH’s pardon
Looking
for YHWH’s handiwork
Making
peace on YHWH’s behalf
Standing
for His grace.”
REJOICE,
JUMP FOR JOY
YOU
ARE A LUCKY ONE!!
Recognize
you can’t earn it... it is a gift!
Rejoice
all of you who realize you having nothing without YHWH.... that you are not in control... that the world
will not be fair and they will persecute you...
His
kingdom can come - because of your willingness to go to HIM on your knees... crying
out for cleansing and HIS hand in your life!!
THEN
you will SEE HIM.
“Be
transformed by the renewing of your mind!!!”
AMEIN
and AMEIN.
