23 – Taxes, Yokes, and Lessons from King Rehoboam
Apr 09, 2023
Taxes, Yokes, and Lessons from Rehoboam
Hey Friends, this is David Evans your host and teacher. I hope that today finds you filled with joy and sunshine, and that this day will be the best day of your life.
As Tax Day approaches I thought that it would be appropriate for Todays Minute in the Word to be “Taxes, Yokes and Lessons from King Rehoboam”
In the year 931 BC, in the land of Israel, a young man named Rehoboam became king over all the land of Israel. He inherited the throne from his father, King Solomon, when he died.
The people of Israel approached their new king with a sincere request, they wanted Rehoboam to lower the taxes that his father had put in place. King Solomon’s taxes had forced the people into hard labor, and made it difficult for them to even survive.
Rehoboam was not sure what to do, concerning their request, so he consulted with his advisers.
In 1 Kings 12:6-8, the elder advisers, who had been around during Solomon’s reign, advised Rehoboam to show goodwill to the people. They assured him that this would strengthen his kingdom. They said, “If you will be a servant to these people today and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”
On the other hand, Rehoboam’s closest friends and allies, the young advisers, told him that if he gave in to the request of the people it would make him look weak and powerless. Their advice was to enact even harsher taxes.
King Rehoboam was in a dilemma. Should he lower the tax rates and decrease the weight being carried by the people, or increase the taxes and show the people that he is completely in control.
Eventually, Rehoboam chose to follow the advice of the young men. He rejected the advice of the elder advisers, which proved to be a disastrous decision.
In 1 Kings 12:10-11, it is recorded that Rehoboam said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” This choice ultimately split the kingdom, the tribes of Benjamin and Judah in the South, and the Northern Kingdom with the other 10 tribes of Israel.
Out of rebellion the northern tribes crowned Jeroboam as their king, while Rehoboam remained king over the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
In looking at Rehoboam’s leadership a few things become very clear.
Wise leadership, whether for a king or at your work, at home, or in a classroom, must be grounded in love.
Which means being sensitive to those we are privileged to lead.
We must remember to lead with empathy, compassion, and wisdom.
The Bible teaches us in 1 Corinthians 16:14, “Do everything in love.” Constantly looking to the teachings of Jesus for guidance on how to lead, as he did, with love and compassion.
Jesus shows us that true leadership is not about controlling others for your personal gain, but about serving and loving them and in doing so showing them the Love of God.
Philippians 2:3-4 says “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
As followers of Jesus Christ, whether in our personal or professional lives, we must remember that our responsibility is to care for those we lead. We must act with love, compassion, and empathy towards them, seeking their best interests, even if it means sacrificing our own personal desires and wishes.
Let us remember the example of King Rehoboam and seek to lead with love, compassion, and wisdom, following the teachings of Scripture.
The Evil One, cursed be he, has one central way of attack. First, it is to tempt a person to sin, and then once he or she sins, is to push that individual deep into depression and sadness. If the Evil One gets us to commit sin, he then wants us to feel so terrible about sinning that in our minds we think it is impossible for us to ever repair the break of relationship that we had with God.
The whole goal of the Evil One is to create distance between us and God. Or if he can, make us think that God has pushed us a way. However, this is far from the truth. God will ALWAYS be next to us, even when we sin.
In Leviticus chapter 16 we read, “In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for the tent of meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness.”
In this verse, we know that God himself dwells in the Most Holy place, even when the children of Israel were actively rebelling against God and living in a state of uncleanness. No matter how far the people tried to run away from God, God was still dwelling in the Holy Place, waiting for them to cry out to him and repent.
It is hard for us to imagine how deep the love of God is toward us even when we turn our faces away from him. It is so easy to fall into a spiritual depression thinking that God is angry at us and that our relationship with him is beyond repair. Many times in these cases we walk further away from God and not towards him. While we are responsible for our sins, and we will be held accountable, God always loves us and is always close to us. He is dwelling among us as the verse states in the “midst of their uncleanness.”
If we find ourselves away from God today, remember that the Evil One is wanting us to walk further and further away from God, but don’t ever think that God has walked away from us because we have sinned. God will always be there, loving us, and ready to cleanse us from all sinfulness. It is up to us to turn around and walk towards God again. He will always be there ready and willing to forgive.
In Proverbs chapter 3, we read this powerful truth: “Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart.”
King Solomon is writing about the extreme importance of kindness, too.
This simple command to bind truth and kindness to our necks and write the on our hears, he is teaching us that these two life giving principles need to be a focal point of who we are.
When you were younger you probably heard the phrase, “Kill them with kindness.” The focus of this advice may sound a bit harsh, but I believe that it tells us how powerful kindness can be.
In Romans 2:4 Paul says that “God’s kindness leads you to repentance.”Paul knew that kindness can soften even the hardest hearts.
See, most people go through life asking themselves, “What is in it for me?”
However, this leads them to live a shallow, and empty life. Life lived “all about me” can be a very lonely existence.
Instead of asking “What about me?” we should start asking, “What about we?”
In other words, how can I truly help others?
How can I bring joy and comfort to someone else’s day?
How can I make the world a better place for the people around me?
Only through giving can you receive the joy of helping others. But don’t just take my word for it. Go out and try it!
Each one of us has experienced difficult times in our lives, and some of us may be going through a painful time right now. But God himself hears our cries for help and he knows and understands our weaknesses.
In Isaiah 54, the Lord says, “It is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flames and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc; no weapon forged against you will prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.”
Not only is the person that forges weapons under Gods control, the one who uses the weapons against us is as well. God knows everything that can possibly be known about the weapons being made and how they will be used against us. There is nothing outside of his ability to control.
We do know that there is an enemy that is actively scheming to destroy us, this fight is not one of flesh and blood but against powers, and against the darkness of this world. We cannot sit back and relax, the evil one is plotting to destroy our relationship with God.
Right now, the evil one is crafting and forging weapons against each one of us. Our weaknesses are being studied and mapped, our vulnerabilities are being observed. The evil one is looking for activities that can shake our faith and bring us down to our knees. He is designing weapons that are best fitted to destroy our defenses and spiral us into confusion and defeat.
But God!
But when God does not desire something to be, it simply can not be. It doesn’t matter how the evil one huffs and puffs, or what the doctor tells you, or what your financial report says. It does not matter how much evil surrounds you, the only thing that matters is what God has ordained.
If God says that nothing evil will harm you, than nothing will.
A few chapters earlier in Isaiah 43:2, we read these empowering words, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”
So if you are facing deep water, rivers, or fires this week, rest in knowing that you have the best life insurance policy in the world. You are covered completely by the power of God.
A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.” — Isaiah 40:3–4
The book of Isaiah is full of verses that are calling us to repent and to be healed.
Isaiah 40 begins with some of the most well-known words in the Bible: “Comfort, comfort, my people, saith my God.”
Two verses later we read: “A voice of one crying: ‘In the wilderness; prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’”
Have you ever wondered how to find your way back to God?
When you are in the desert the life-giving waters of God have evaporated into the deathly dryness of the wilderness.
Any time that we turn our backs on God and act in a sinful way, we are creating a barren desert all around us. Void of all of Gods goodness and living water, before long we are empty, dry and alone.
However, being that God is a loving God, he has given us a way of return. It is as if he is standing at the edge of our lives shouting, “Don’t turn away, please make a space for me in your life!”
“Prepare the way!” “Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
If you want God to dwell in your life, you must make a way for him to come.
The rocky, cavernous landscape of our lives filled with the impediments and boulders of despair and brokenness can block the path.
If we want to turn our wilderness into a highway that can be traveled quickly and easily to God we must remove the boulders and make a straight path. Bridges must be built over canyons, and the high places must be torn down.
For God to have complete access into our lives, we need to create a straight path.
We must destroy the things that cause us to stray off of the path. Create guardrails that keep us from deviating off the road and causing ourselves to return to the desert.
We need to walk the straight path so that God can work miracles in our lives, and lead us to the springs of living water that never run dry.
If we want to drink of that living water, we need to develop Godly ways, Godly habits, Godly consistency, and practices.
Today, lets make our path a straight one and clear the way for God, and he will be there waiting for you.
“Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.”
This verse picks up the story of the Children of Israel after they have spent 40 years in the desert. They are now in the land of Moab, soon to be crossing the Jordan River into the promised land.
Moses has just been told by God that he will not be able to go into the promised land and his life would soon be over.
God wants him to do a few things to help the children of Israel remember the years that they have spent in the wilderness learning to follow God with all their hearts, soul, mind and strength.
God says that when you die “these people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.”
Then God gives Moses an odd command. He tells him to “Write a song.” Now God gives him what the song is going to be, but God composes a song that the Children of Israel will sing.
The question is why? Why does God want them to have a theme song when they enter the promised land?
You can see them marching into the promised land flowing with milk and honey and you can here the underlying score being played with a full orchestra and choir pounding home the emotion and triumph of this journey.
Andrew Lloyd Weber or Rogers and Hammerstein are nothing compared to the closing number that God and Moses arrange at Horeb.
Can you picture it. In the closing act of this 40 year epic God says…Hey I want you to remember this tune, this melody, this theme as you enter into the promised land.
So the song begins.
“When you enter into the promised land. The land that I have promised to you and your father Abraham.
It will be flowing with Milk and Honey, and you will eat. And you will be full. And you will become fat.”
(I am liking this song already.) What a song!
It continues.
“When you have done this, THEN WILL YOU TURN FROM ME AND SERVE OTHER GODS, AND PROVOKE ME AND BREAK MY COVENANT.”
Wow…this song took a turn in an unexpected direction.
But it goes on.
“Than it shall come to pass, that many evils and troubles will befall you, THAN THIS SONG SHALL TESTIFY AGAINST YOU AS A WITNESS.
For it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of your children; for i know your imagination, even now, before I have brought you into the land which I promised.”
As human beings there is something in us that loves a life of ease and plenty. This promised land would be the greatest test the Children of Israel would face in understanding their desire to love God. God knows the “imaginations” of his children and already recognizes a tendency in them to be drawn to the gods of the land.
He sees how easily that people forget about the God that has brought them into the land of plenty when they have eaten their fill and are getting fat. This is identical to one of their first tests in the desert when they desired to “eat to the full around the flesh pots of Egypt.”
God doesn’t want them to enter into another form of slavery in the promised land. God knows “thy rebellion and thy stiff neck.”
Have you ever thought about your own theme song? That song that keeps popping up in all major scenes of your life? What song is God writing about you to warn you about the things that allure you? When you are entering into the promised land what crescendo of music will be playing?
Your song will be a witness against you, just as the children of Israel’s song was was a witness against them.
God wants you to remember this song. This song of warning. Sing it to your children so they understand. Don’t forget it.
“Everybody line-up!” I can still hear the PE teacher yell that early spring morning, as all of us kids scrambled to line up along the kickball field base line. “Today we are playing kickball.”
“Tim; Aaron, you are the team captains, you get to select the players.” You quickly look down the baseline as everybody is trying to get into line, the great kickball players are the cool ones, just standing relaxed, confident and have begun to try to get the captains attention to be picked first. Others are just standing there without much thought, but knowing that soon they would be picked. But there are a few, that are trying to hide. The ones that know they will be picked last. The ones that don’t have many friends and have limited skills in kickball.
The captains begin naming off players, typically choosing their best friends and the best players first, and before long there are only two or three people remaining. The captains begin struggling on which person to pick, and trying to remember what each persons name is.
Each one of us at some point has been the last person standing. The one viewed as being the least valuable, the one that everybody is staring at.
Inside of us we feel the shame of being the last person chosen. That moment in time where nobody had any faith in us.
Having people believe in us is one of the greatest life giving moments of our lives. The simple, but powerful words of “I believe in you” are some of the most significant and powerful words that you or I may speak. Just from that simple phrase, you are telling someone that they are significant, they have value, and that someone has faith in them.
Belief in people brings the best out of them. As a parent, telling your child that you believe in them, will arm them with a confidence to face all of life’s hardships.
Many times in our spiritual walk we feel like that last person standing on the kickball field. What can I possibly bring of value to God. With all my faults and failures, shortcomings and scars, how can I be of value to the God that created all things.
In John 15, Christ is teaching his disciples a few hours before he is arrested and crucified on the cross and was teaching them about love.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you… I am telling you this so that my joy may be in you… There is no greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends… You did not choose me, but I chose you…”
“But I chose you.” These words of Christ are some of the most important words that he spoke to us. Christ has chosen us to be on his team. Christ was looking down the baseline, and pointed his finger directly at you, and selected you for his team. It was his choice, not choosing you as the last person standing, but as a valued and valuable member of his team.
All of the times in our life where we want to give up, when life is tough and we feel defeated, or worse – worthless, we must remember that everyday that we are alive, God has chosen us for a purpose. God himself believes in us.
God has said, I believe in you! If God has said that he believes in us, shouldn’t we, too?
Everybody goes through tough times in their lives. Circumstances that are beyond our control impact each one of us, and in the chaos we find ourself in a deep, dark valley. Some people through their own choices bring trials into their lives, but many times difficulties cross our pathway that was completely outside of our control.
In Psalm 55:6, you can hear the desperate cry of King David, “My heart is in anguish within me, the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.”
King David had just been betrayed by his close friend and counsellor, Ahithophel. The significance of that would have been enough for anybody to cry out to God, but the betrayal was deeper. Davids own son Absalom had plotted with King Davids closest friend and advisor to kick David off the throne. Ahithophel joined with Absalom in destroying Davids reign as king.
In the Psalm, you can hear the extreme anguish of David’s heart after this bitter betrayal.
During this dark period of David’s life, he cries out and says. “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.
When we go through these dark times, it is very tempting to wish that our troubles would melt away, or that we could magically fly away.
But David provides his response in the end of the chapter.
“As for me, I will call upon the God; and the LORD shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice…
…Cast they burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”
The Bible goes into great detail concerning how the Tabernacle should be built. In very fine detail it explains each specific vessel that should be constructed and sanctified for service. The details are so precise that here in Jerusalem at the Temple Institute there are scholars that have begun to reconstruct the vessels of the Temple.
In Exodus 25, God gives the details on how the Ark of the Covenant should be built.i
And they shall make an ark of ACACIA wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length, and a cubit and a half the breadth, and a cubit and a half the height.
And thou shall overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about..” — Exodus 25:10–11
It is easy to read these dimensions and only consider what the ark of the covenant would have looked like. But is there more to these descriptions than just design and beauty?
If you look at the plans to this beautiful ark you will see that God commanded them to cover the ark INSIDE and OUT in Gold. Why would God want Gold on the inside? Nobody would ever see the inside?
Some scholars say that this tell us that what a person is on the inside must match what is on the outside. Who you are on the inside must match what is seen on the outside. Even though people will never be able to see what is truly inside of you, the thoughts and character beneath the surface must match what people see.
God says in 1 Samuel 16:7 “People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
These temple vessels had to be filled with God’s purity to be able to be used for his service. For God to be able to use a vessel both the INSIDE and the OUTSIDE must be of Gold.
You could ask, Why didn’t God just command that the entire ark be made out of solid Gold?
But, the use of the acacia wood shows us that we as humans are of earthly substance, created by God, but only by God’s perfecting work covering us can we be used for his service.
Remember, only being purified on the inside and the outside can God’s presence dwell in his vessel.
People should be able to look at the outward appearance and know that God is living in the heart.
One of the teachers of Torah came to Jesus while he was discussing the text and noticed that Jesus was giving great answers, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
The most important one,” said Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Jesus in answering this teacher of Torah, combined two commandments out of Torah. The Shema, from Deuteronomy chapter 6 and the second part from Leviticus 19:18 where is says, ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.’
Most of us are extremely blessed to be surrounded with people who make it easy for us to love and to keep this commandment. But then there are people in our lives – you know the ones. They are the type of people that God allows to cross our paths, who make keeping this commandment very difficult.
How can we love these people who make our lives so difficult?
See, the secret of love is hidden within the Hebrew word for love, אַהֲבָה AHAVA. At the very center of the word אַהֲבָה AHAVA, is the word havwhich means “to give.”
The secret of love is to give. Not just in words, but in actions as well.
If we reflect on our lives, we soon realize that we don’t love those who give us the most, but we love those the most who we give to the most. If you are a parent you understand the depth of love for you son or daughter, but also the tremendous sacrifice and giving involved.
When we are able to give to someone, we are giving to that person a small piece of who we are. The more we are able to give, the greater we become a part of that person. By loving our neighbors, the stranger, or that person who is causing us the most trouble, the goodness of giving begins to show in their lives.
To love your neighbor requires for you to give. The more you give, the more capacity you will have to love more. And before long, you will see the reflection of your love shining through their lives.
One of the great experiences as a father is to take your kids on a tremendous mountain hike. To be able to stand at the base of a mountain and to look up at the peak that seems so far away and insurmountable, and have your kids wonder how they will ever make it to the top.
In the Bible, Pslam 121 is known as the psalm of Ascent that begins, “I will lift up my eyes unto the mountains – but where does my help come from?” The psalmist is gazing at the distant mountain peaks and wondering where his strength will come. How will he ever climb the mountains. But just as a wise dad assures his kids at the beginning of a mountain hike, the psalmist exclaims: “My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
Many times in life we are presented with mountains that we must overcome. Mountains that seem so high, so far, and so exhausting that we stand looking at the distant peaks crying out and wondering where our help will come. Financial mountains, relationship mountains, physical mountains, obstacles that are so difficult that we have no idea on how we will ever climb over them.
Around 520 BCE, Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah was responsible for the rebuilding of Jerusalem after bring the first wave of exiles back from Babylon after the 70 year exile.
Cyrus, the Persian King, had already agreed in helping the Jewish people return home, but the Jews that were already living in Jerusalem were not happy about all of the returning Israelites. So the citizens of Jerusalem began to make up stories and created serious obstacles to the Syrian appointed King Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel had begun plans to rebuild the Temple built by Solomon and to restore Jerusalem but there were major challenges and mountains facing him, and even before he began, it seemed that hope had already been lost.
Zechariah 4:7 recounts the story: “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a level plain; and when he sets the capstone of the Temple in place, the people will shout: ‘God bless it, God bless it.’
Sometimes in our lives, we face impossible mountains. But in these impossible situations God wants to show us that with Him, all things are possible. Just as God leveled the mountains for Zerubbabel, he will do the same for you. Every challenge and obstacle that you face today, God is there to help and support you.
We must remember that when we look at the mountains in our lives that, “Our help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s; the poison of vipers is on their lips. — Psalm 140:3
Everybody has heard the saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” However, anybody that has been the victim of slander or bullying can confirm that words can be as harmful as physical trauma and deadly as a vipers venom.
Speaking slander, לשון הרע (lashon hara) in hebrew, is a serious violation of the Biblical commands. There are at least 31 biblical commandments that address the issue of slandering.
When Miriam spoke negatively about her brother, Moses, God immediately rebuked her and she was afflicted with a skin disease as punishment. The punishment was very similar to the punishment for leprosy. For seven days she had to remain outside the camp because of her slanderous tongue.
Lashon Hara, or slander, literally means “bad language.” This even includes talking bad about somebody even if what is being said is true. Establishing the command of only speaking what is honest, and of a good report is at the core of the christian life.
There is a Jewish story that illustrates the dangers of a slanderous tongue: A man went around his community telling malicious lies about the local rabbi. Later, he realized the wrong he had done, and began to feel remorse. He went to the rabbi and begged for his forgiveness, saying he would do anything he could to make amends. The rabbi told the man, “Take a feather pillow, cut it open, and scatter it to the winds.” The man thought this was a very strange request, but it was a simple enough task, and he did it gladly. When he returned to tell the rabbi that he had done it, the rabbi said, “Now, go and gather the feathers. Because you can no more make amends for the damage your words have done than you can recollect all the feathers.
The Psalmist says that, “Whoever of you desires life…guard your tongue from evil.”
The words that you speak are like arrows shot from a bow. Once released, like an arrow, they cannot be stopped, the harm and destruction they cause cannot be halted.
In Psalm 140, there is a psalm entirely around the topic of slander.
In it, the psalmist desires protection from slanders who have “made their tongues as sharp as serpents, the poison of vipers is on their lips.” The slanderer is described as being “violent” and wicked.” Their words are as a trap set to destroy him.
God in his goodness has given us two gates for our words – our teeth and our lips – to keep our tongue from slander. We need to only speak words that are truthful, helpful, necessary and kind and in doing so, we speak pleasant words that are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the body.
Isaiah 46:4: “And even to your old age I am he; and even to grey hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.”
Around 600 BC the Babylonians conquered the Southern Kingdom of Judah. In this captivity, Nebuchadnezzar removed the gold and treasures from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace. All the beauty of the temple built by Solomon was destroyed. He also carried all Jerusalem into exile: all the officers and fighting men, and all the skilled workers and artisans—a total of ten thousand. Only the sick, lame, and the elderly were left behind.
Archeologist have found clay tablets, from ancient Babylon, called the Babylonian Chronicles, providing a short synopsis of Nebuchadnezzars siege on Jerusalem that reinforce the story told in 2 Kings 24.
Among the group of slaves that Nebuchadnezzar took as captives were Daniel and his 3 friends, but those that were left behind were the elderly, the weak, the diseased, and those who were unable to do any significant work.
Imagine the separation that would have happened across every part of the kingdom. Families ripped apart, parents from children, grandparents from grandchildren, friend from friend, neighbor from neighbor.
Our verse today reminds us that HE is the creator of you, and HE will carry you and will deliver you.
Do you sometimes feel like you have been abandoned. Do you feel left behind and separated from family and friends
Deuteronomy 1:31 says: “and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, all the way which you have walked.”
Just as a father carries his son, he will carry you. Even down to old age.
The last command that God speaks to Moses is to tell him to “Write down this song and teach it and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me…”
The early Jewish teachers explained that the song that God told Moses to write down and to teach was the Bible itself.
They else taught that every person in each generation is required to write his or her own copy of the Torah.
You may wonder why the ancient Torah teachers required this intense and lengthly project of copying your very own Torah Scroll. Is it not possible to learn Gods song by just studying or reading books about Gods story?
But by writing and copying your personal copy of the Torah, you will internalize each word that you have copied. God asks all of use to learn his song: the story of His Word. Not just to read the text, but to breathe in the breath of life and to exhale it from your very being.
Proverbs says “Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem In the sight of God and man.”
The very words of God need to become the core of who you are. You need to know it, live it and to love every word of it.
This intense passion for the text is impossible without personally spending time building a personal relationship with the Word of God.
In the Gospel of Luke it is written that: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks”
We must ask ourselves what is the song that is emitting from our heart. What is in our heart is displayed in every action that we take. The people around us will be able to tell exactly what is in our heart by seeing what consumes us. What are the things that we spend the most time doing. What is controlling our every behavior.
If we write the words of God on the tablets of our hearts, it will change our every behavior. The result of having his word in our hearts is that His name is lifted up, and a testimony for him.
What are you writing on the tablets of your heart? Is it the song of God? Or one written by the desires of man.
But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God;I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever. — Psalm 52:8
Temple Mount is one of the most hotly contested religious sites in the world. Currently the Muslim Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock stands where the Jewish temples of Solomon, and Nehemiah once stood. The Dome of the Rock with its ornate marble and stone with Golden dome is built over the place of the temple itself. Over and over again, there are clashes between the Palestinians and jewish people on who has authority over the area.
Every time I walk on Temple Mount, I stop and am amazed at the beautiful olive trees peacefully growing in the breeze. Amid the tension and continual upheaval, the olive tree, the long standing symbol of peace and triumph calmly thrives.
In Psalm 52, David finds himself in the midst of turmoil and desperation. David writes the psalm when Doeg (Do-ayg), an Edomite, and one of King Saul’s officers, has run to King Saul and informed him that David has found refuge in the city of Nob under the protection of Ahimelek. David has become hated by King Saul, and Saul sends his men with Doeg, and his men slaughter the entire city. Innocent men, women and children are destroyed because of providing protection to David. David in his psalm is wondering how Doeg can be so passionate about his evil actions and deceit. How this man filled with hatred grew strong by destroying others.
David finishes the psalm by writing, “But I am like an olive tree.” An olive tree, a symbol of peace and victory, is firmly rooted in its place, quietly providing shade, fruit for nourishment. It also produces oil, that when burned gives off warmth and light.
To David, it didn’t matter how corrupt and evil the people around David became, he was committed to remain rooted in the unfailing love of God. In spite of the evil, David would offer the olive branch of peace and treat others with friendship and love.
Just like the olive tree that flourishes in the house of the Lord, we must also stand with humility and kindness. No matter what is happening in the world around us, our continual focus must be to provide shade, sustenance, warmth, and light to those around us.
In Matthew 22:37 A student of the law came to Jesus and asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.
Jesus was quoting what is known in Hebrew as the Shema (Hear).
Shema is pulled from Deuteronomy chapter 6 of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. It is the oldest fixed daily prayer in Judaism, recited morning and night since before the time of Christ.
In September 1942, Jewish psychiatrist Victor Frankl was arrested by the Nazis during World War II, everything of value was killed or destroyed: property, family, his pregnant wife, Tilly, his possessions, everything.
When he arrived in Auschwitz, the infamous death camp, even his most treasured manuscripts, which he had hidden in the lining of his coat, was taken away.
“I had to surrender my clothes and in turn inherited the worn-out rags of an inmate who had been sent to the gas chamber,” said Frankl. “Instead of the many pages of my manuscript, I found in the pocket of the newly acquired coat a single page torn out of a Hebrew prayer book, which contained the main Jewish prayer, SHEMA YISRAEL (Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one God. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.)
“How should I have interpreted such a ‘coincidence’ other than as a challenge to LIVE my thoughts instead of merely putting them on paper?”
After the lose of his manuscripts he writes: “I had to undergo and overcome the loss of my spiritual child, “ Frankl wrote. “Now it seemed as if nothing and no one would survive me; neither a physical nor a spiritual child of my own! I found myself confronted with the question of whether under such circumstances my life was ultimately void of any meaning.”
He recalls the first days at Auschwitz:
“We stumbled on in the darkness, over big stones and through large puddles, along the one road leading from the camp. The accompanying guards kept shouting at us and driving us with the butts of their rifles. Anyone with very sore feet supported himself on his neighbor’s arm. Hardly a word was spoken; the icy wind did not encourage talk. Hiding his mouth behind his upturned collar, the man marching next to me whispered suddenly: “If our wives could see us now! I do hope they are better off in their camps and don’t know what is happening to us.”
That brought thoughts of my own wife to mind. And as we stumbled on for miles, slipping on icy spots, supporting each other time and again, dragging one another up and onward, nothing was said, but we both knew: each of us was thinking of his wife. Occasionally I looked at the sky, where the stars were fading and the pink light of the morning was beginning to spread behind a dark bank of clouds. But my mind clung to my wife’s image, imagining it with an uncanny acuteness. I heard her answering me, saw her smile, her frank and encouraging look. Real or not, her look was then more luminous than the sun which was beginning to rise.
Before the war, he had bought his wife a pendant, a small golden globe with blue enamel oceans. On a gold band wrapping around the globe were engraved the words, “The whole world turns on love.” As Frankl marched, the sun began to rise, and it dawned in him how, “Love goes very far beyond the physical person of the beloved. It finds its deepest meaning in his spiritual being, his inner self.”
A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth — that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.
I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way — an honorable way — in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment.”
Later, as Frankl reflected on his ordeal, in his book MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING, he writes: ‘There is nothing in the world that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions, as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life…He who has a WHY to live for can bear almost any HOW.’”
And Jesus said, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.
One of the most overlooked topics in christian living is the concept of maturing as a Christian.
Our verse today is 2 Corinthians 7:1
“Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
This verse should make us all sit up and pay attention. Do we live our lives in such a way that is focused on “perfecting holiness out of a reverence or fear of God?
Are all of our decisions in life made out of reverence of Him? If Christ was walking at all times directly beside us, would we act any differently?
Would we visit the same places? Would we watch the same shows? Or listen to the same music?
Would our attitudes be different?
The other part of this verse gives us a significant question. What contaminates our spirit or our flesh?
What activities do we do that brings a separation between God and us?
Our relationship with Christ is as a Bride and a Groom. This love relationship requires complete and total abandonment of anything that would defile this relationship.
Paul in writing to the church in Corinth goes through a list of activities that the church was actively doing He is very concerned about the faith of the church.
He gets to Chapter 13 and He writes: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; test yourselves. Know ye not that Jesus Christ is in you”
“Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will proclaim your praise.” Psalm 79:13
When you read the Psalms, you quickly notice that most of the psalms focus on the need for a miracle. Each psalm goes back and forth from a sincere call to God for a miracle, and the joyful response of a miracle realized.
However, what should the response be after we receive a miracle?
Are we quick to forget the impact of that miracle? Do we remember how desperate we were when we cried out to God and continue to live our lives as a response to that miracle?
The end of Psalm 79 says. “Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generations we will proclaim your praise.”
When we receive a miracle, we must remember and express our gratitude by praising God.
Captain Rickenbacker teaches us that not only should we praise God with our lips but to also praise God with our actions.
When we remember the miracles that God has done for us and give back to His purpose, we not only bring glory to His name, but we contribute to his Kingdom as well.
Deuteronomy 2:3: “You have circled this mountain long enough, turn yourself north.”
Do you feel like your life is one endless walk around and around a mountain. No matter how hard you try or how fast you walk you end up at the same place.
Maybe you woke up this morning and said, “It is another day. Time for another lap around the mountain.”
It just doesn’t feel like you are getting anywhere or accomplishing anything.
Maybe this morning you will hear God say: “Enough of the walking in circles around the mountain, turn yourself north.”
Turn yourself towards the promised land
In Hebrew the word for “north” is SEPANAH. Another root meaning of SEPANAH is “Hidden Treasure.”
Even though you have spent days circling the mountain there is a “treasure” awaiting you if you but set out for it.
Enough of the circling of the mountain, turn yourself to the treasure God has in store for you.
Isaiah 45:3 says: “And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden treasures, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.”
Deuteronomy 4:39 says, “Know this day, and lay it to thy heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is none else.”
There once was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “ Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.
“Maybe,” the farmer replied.
The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.
“Maybe,” replied the old man.
The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.
“Maybe,” answered the farmer.
The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.
“Maybe,” said the farmer.
I once heard the following quote:
“Relax. Nothing is under control.”
Of course, one would expect to hear, “Relax. Everything is under control,” and that’s what many of us hope for in our own lives – to have it all under control. But as our verse states there is only one GOD in heaven on earth. There can be no other. That means that neither you nor I are in control.
Even better, this means that no political party, candidate, or evil purpose in this world is in control. Relax! Nothing is in Control. That is because our God in heaven controls all things.
We need to stop carrying all of the worries and cares of this life. Instead “Cast your burden on the LORD and he will sustain you” (Psalm 55:22).
“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.” Isaiah 54:2
The prophet Isaiah is writing to the people of Jerusalem about 700 years before the time of Christ. His message is that soon their exile would be over, and their people would soon be coming home and they needed to prepare for the homecoming.
The prophet is telling its people to “ENLARGE.” Stretch your tents, don’t hold back…do what you must. Grow, expand, become bigger and better than ever before. Jerusalem, expand your homes because your lost family is coming home. Today, the words of Isaiah should penetrate our lives. He is urging us to enlarge our homes, broaden our minds, lengthen the cords of our hearts to become better people so that we can extend greater love to others.
We must open our hearts and allow our hearts to enlarge with love, so that we can reach out our hands more often. We need to continually develop our love for people that drives our life to be filled with love and giving.
Imagine a community that would enact this tradition today! Imagine a world where followers of Christ would “Enlarge their tent, stretch their tent curtains wide, not hold back; lengthen their cords” and reach out with a heart of love.
In Numbers 13, the children of Israel are being commanded by God to send men into the land of Canaan. God says to send a man from each of the tribes to spy out the land.
Moses quickly gathers 12 men out of the twelve tribes and commands Joshua the son of Nun from the tribe of Benjamin and his men to depart from the Wilderness of Paran.
Moses tells them to “go up to the mountains and see what the land is like; whether the people who dwelling in it are strong or weak, few or many; whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land.
So they spied out the land from the Wilderness of Tzin to Rehob, through the South to Hebron and up to the valley of Eshcol.”
There in the valley of Eshcol they cut a cluster of grapes and tied it to a pole because of how large the cluster was so that two men could carry it between them.
40 days they spent spying out the land.
When they get back to the tribes they began to tell the people what they saw and showed them the fruit of the land.
They said, “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.”
But then the story begins to take a turn.
“Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.
The Amalekites are in the South, the Hittites, Jebusites and the Amorites are in the mountains and the Canaanites are by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.”
Than the men said “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than us.” And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land.
“The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we SAW in it are men of great stature.
There we SAW giants, the descendants of Anak, and we were like grasshoppers in OUR OWN SIGHT, and so we were in their site.”
Did you catch that?
“We were like grasshoppers in our OWN site, and so we were in their site.”
Throughout this entire story, there is no mention of the spies talking with the inhabitants of the land. There is no discussion on how these inhabitants of the land actually viewed these spies.
The children of Israel had just left Egypt and in doing so God had a great victory over the largest nation in the world. Pharaoh and his men had drowned in the sea. The world I am sure was shocked by the greatest world power being brought to its knees.
Standing on the other side of the sea, Moses and the Children of Israel sang. “You stretch out your right hand, and the earth swallows your enemies. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling. The chiefs of Edom will be terrified, the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away; terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of your arm they will be as still as a stone.
See with God the children of Israel had the greatest power to boldly march into the land and claim the promised land.
However, the children of Israel still viewed themselves as slaves. Not in physical chains, but they had spent so many years being abused and beaten that when they looked in the mirror they saw themselves as grasshoppers.
The children of Israel assumed that because they saw themselves as insignificant that their enemies would see them that way as well.
It took them 40 years in the desert for God to truly teach them that if they only trust in God, then they are truly conquerers.
One of the greatest come-back verses of the Bible is in Joshua 5. “Now when the kings of the Amorites, which were on the other side of the Jordan heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel, their hears melted, neither was there spirit in them any more.”
When the children of Israel finally saw themselves as God saw them, they were conquerers, and their enemies, that once were viewed as giants in the land, melted before them.
Only when we see ourselves through God’s eyes and understand that we are sons and daughters of the living God can we realize that we can be more than conquers as well.
Imagine with me if you can that you are one of the children of Israel as you stand together at the base of Mount Sinai, anxiously awaiting to hear the Word of God. In an amazing display of power, God himself descends on the mountain in a cacophony of thunder, lightning, smoke and the sound of voices (trumpets).
This awesome display of power stunned the people, and they trembled in fear, fearing the judgement of God.
Moses stands before the people and says,
“Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.”– Exodus 20:20-21
Just imagine standing their in the full presence of God, being told that the presence of God is there for our own good, to prove you, so that you will fear Him and not sin. But the because of the presence of God the people stood afar off.
Moses however, recognized that God was there to once again be in fellowship with his people. “Moses drew near unto the thick darkness.” The higher Moses climbed the mountain the darker it became. Moses walked towards the thick darkness. The closer that Moses got to God, the darker and thicker the darkness became. Moses knew that he would find God in the darkness.
Each one of us go through periods of extreme darkness in our lives. Physical difficulties, financial ruin and sometimes poverty. Relationship darkness, or the passing of a loved one. All of us find ourselves walking in darkness. Many times the darkness is overwhelming and frightening.
Our response to these times of extreme darkness shows us our heart towards God. Is our response like the children of Israel where we “stand a far off.” Putting yourself as far away as possible to the presence of God, or are we like Moses, who climbs the mountain and pushes into the thick darkness?
See God has come to prove you. These times of darkness can seem that God has abandoned us and pushed us away from the presence of God, but Moses shows us that you will find God in the darkness.
The darkness is not an indicator that it is time to turn away from God, it is the best opportunity to find him in the darkness.
Jeremiah 29:13 says: “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
If you seek God with all of you heart, you will Find God in the Darkness.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
Stay Connected
