Just last night I was praying and I asked God to send me a Word on a particular subject. I must say that every time I ask for a Word, He gives an answer. It is interesting that this particular prayer request has come to be associated with Abraham in my life. When God first answered me a year-and-a-half ago, the answer came in the story of Abraham and EVERY time He's answered me since, the answer has always come as a lesson about Abraham. You know what that says to me? It says God is consistent. His answer hasn't changed. Yet He is so creative that He finds a billion different ways to say it, but all pointing to Abraham. I've come to know that when I'm praying about _____ , God is somehow going to say, "I promised. Have faith. Remember Abraham."
So, that being said, last night's answer came as an email from the Rabbi and his wife, Dr. Elias and Mrs. Ari Hidalgo. The subject was "A Blessing and a Curse." When God first called Abram, now Abraham, and made a promise to him, God told him in Genesis 12:2-3 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." To summarize the email, they thanked me for supporting their ministry as a gentile believer and reminded me that God has PROMISED to bless those who bless Abraham.
We are commanded to pray for Israel, for the Jewish people, and for the peace of Jerusalem. That's why every Friday at Shabbat we say, "Sha-alu shalom Yerushalyim, Yish lai-u Oh-hava-ich" which is the Hebrew pronunciation of God's command in Psalm 122:6 "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper that love thee." We are so blessed. Yes, Jesus OUR Messiah came for the sins of the entire world, but He was first promised to God's people, Israel. He's their's first and we need to love them and pray for them and share the gospel with them! Romans 1:16 "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the gentile."
God has truly blessed me since I've started learning Hebrew. Not that it is some magical language or that there are any language barriers with God. But a few things started happening as I learned. First of all, there was a great peace and joy that came over me when I first said Psalm 23 in Hebrew from memory. As the words that David used rolled off of my tongue it was as if God leaned in closer and whispered, "You're speaking my language." The more I learned Hebrew the more I loved Israel. Fact. Can't explain it, but I'm not the only one who has experienced that connection. Others at Hebrew say the exact same thing. And again, since learning Hebrew and growing to love Abraham, God has kept His promise in His Word and has truly blessed me. My prayer life has changed dramatically since I started integrating some Hebrew. It is always more alive when you use Scripture in your prayers, but then to add some Hebrew Psalms? Woo-Hoo!
Am I becoming Jewish? Heavens no! I like bacon. HAHA! I'm Southern Baptist, Faith and Message and all. But, I sure do love Israel and Hebrew is such a pure language and there definitely is something very special about it.
Today's Scripture Reading: Leviticus 5-19
Again, the priests had a nasty job. They slaughtered the sacrificial animals, removed the blood, cleaned the parts, dipped their fingers in the blood and sprinkled the altar and annointed the horns of the altar, placed the parts on the altar, burned them, and then ate the sin offerings. The point that gets me in this reading is that they then ate the sin offering. Wait up! They ate it? But, you know what? God is so consistent in His Word and Christ fulfilled the law in complete detail. You know what? We eat the sin offering, too. As I read in Leviticus I suddenly pictured Christ instituting the Last Supper. In Leviticus, atonement was made and then the priests ate the grain offering and the sin offering. The grain offering was always unleavened. Y'all! That's huge! I then see Christ, our atonement and sin sacrifice offer Himself as the sin offering and the bread of life and command us to eat of it! How awesome is our God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever! True to His Word which is eternal and stands firm in the heavens! Truth. Fulfillment. Hallelujah! And to think, I was dreading the reading of Leviticus. Later in Leviticus an interesting lesson is where the term "scapegoat" originates. It is right there in Leviticus 16. Two goats are presented as a sin offering on the day of Atonement. By lot, the priest selects one goat to be slaughtered as the sacrifice. The other goat not chosen is the "scapegoat" and all of the sins of the people are confessed and placed upon that goat which is then banished to the desert. Scapegoat. It's in the Bible. Cool stuff.
Today's Memory Verse:
"Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving."--Ephesians 5:4
Love it, except I LOL'd at the "I like bacon" part ;)
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