Elul: A Time of
Repairing and Creating Shalom
One
of the most important teachings of Yeshua isn’t taught in most churches, but
you will find it in most Twelve-Step programs. Pay close attention to the words
of Yeshua (highlighting added to stress specific words):
Therefore if you bring your QORBAN to the ALTAR, and THERE you REMEMBER that your brother has
something AGAINST you, leave your QORBAN there, before the altar, and FIRST be reconciled to your brother,
and THEN come and offer your QORBAN. (Matthew 5:23-24)
Yeshua
was clearly addressing people who understood what he was talking about because
it was something they and everyone they knew did. The Temple’s sacrificial
rituals were part of Jewish life. QORBAN
is usually translated as "sacrifice"
or "offering.” In 21st
century America, both words are understood to be an act in which the one
presenting the QORBAN losses or gives up something.
But,
in Yeshua’s world, the meaning of the root of QORBAN was understood -- QRB
means "to draw near." Yeshua,
and those listening to him that day, brought their QORBAN to the Temple to “draw
near Yahweh.” The closest ritual that we have to that experience is prayer -- it is an act that seems to bring us closer nearer to the presence of God.
Put
yourself in the shoes of the people listening to Yeshua that day. Picture what
they must have thought when they heard his words. They knew all of the steps it
took to just get to the altar – buying or
taking a sacrifice to the Temple, having priests inspect it, going through the ritual
immersion process before entering the Temple, waiting in line to approach the
altar, and telling the priests at the altar what they wanted to do.
But,
it is important to consider something that is often overlooked by many Bible
readers. The Holy of Holies was
viewed as the place where Yahweh’s
presence dwelled. When one brought QORBAN,
every step the person took brought them one step
closer to the presence of Yahweh. The final step, the one Yeshua focused on
in the above verse but did not explain to his audience, because they knew it
very well, was self-examination. If, during
that self-examination, one remembered that his
brother has something against him because he had committed an offense
against him, Yeshua said: “STOP! Leave
your QORBAN right THERE. Go find that person. Be reconciled with him! THEN
comeback and present your QORBAN to Yahweh.”
Why
did Yeshua teach this? Everyone listening to him knew two things that most of
us have never been taught:
QORBAN has no expiating effect unless the
person making the offering does
TESHUVAH BEFORE presenting
the offering.[i]
God’s
forgiveness,
however extensive, only encompasses
those sins which man commits directly against Him. Sins against one’s fellow man are not forgiven until the injured
party forgives the perpetrator. The sinner must not only ask for
forgiveness; he must also make the required restitution to repair the damage he
caused.
God
will not pardon a person unconditionally, but waits for him or her to do TESHUVAH.
When Yeshua said, “Be reconciled with him,”
he was telling the audience – “Do TESHUVAH!” How does a person “do” TESHUVAH?
(1) cease doing the sin
(2) experience genuine remorse for the wrong committed
(3) make restitution to repair the damage done
to others
(4) do acts of TOV (protect life, preserve life, make life more functional and/or
improve the quality of life) [ii]
Yeshua
wasn’t revealing something new to them. He was simply reminding them of
something they already knew. The new thing in his message was “why” they were
told to do it -- when they were ANGRY
with someone! There is little doubt
that everyone recognized the link between Yeshua’s message and the story of Cain
and Abel. Yeshua simply repeated the instructions Yahweh gave Cain:
And Yahweh said
to Cain, "Why are you burning? And why has your face fallen? Surely, if
you do TOV, you shall be
upstanding; but if you do not do TOV,
sin will be a wild animal crouching at your door. Its desire shall be for you,
but you will be able to master it. (Genesis 4:6-7)
Cain
was also bringing an offering to Yahweh when he became angry. The key point in
this lesson, as well as in many other lessons he taught is about this -- Which of the following do you believe God
wants?
(1) A
nation of individuals who bring him slaughtered and burnt animals.
(2) A
nation of individuals who are the keepers and guardians of their brothers’
lives.
If
you answered “#2” you are correct. Yeshua was surrounded by other teachers who
focused on doing religious rituals correctly (by their standards). As with many
religions, when the focus becomes “the religion” instead of the people, bad
things usually happen.
Some
people seem to think that after he was executed by the Romans, Yeshua created a
brand new religion and reversed his position on many of the things he taught
before – like the lesson above. He
didn’t. People from other cultures and religions became leaders of new religious
groups in which he was cast as the central character. Today, a growing number
of people are discovering the importance and richness of the teachings of the
Real Yeshua and implementing them in their lives – and some in their churches.
So, what does
this teaching have to do with today, August 14, 2015? At sundown
today the Jewish month of Elul begins.
The month of Elul is
a time of repentance in preparation for the High Holidays of Rosh
Hashanah and Yom
Kippur. Elul is a TIME OF SELF-EXAMINATION
in which one searches his or her heart before DRAWING CLOSE TO GOD during Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur.
Elul is a time to do TESHUVAH -- to repair the damage
of the wrongs
done to others and restore harmed or broken
relationships.
The forty-day period that
begins with the first day of Elul and ends with Yom Kippur is often compared to
the forty-day periods Yeshua spent in the wilderness after his immersion
(baptism) and the time Moses spent on Mt. Sinai.
The
Real Yeshua 40-Day Challenge
The teachings of Yeshua, as you
saw above, are linked to Core Principles revealed in the opening chapters of
Genesis – universal principles for all
people, not just Jewish people. One of the foundational principles is
usually translated -- “God created
mankind (all people) in His image.” However, we believe there is another
translation – “God created mankind (all
people) with His Spirit.” One of the
ways to acknowledge the presence of His Spirit in our lives is by guarding and
protecting what the Creator valued the most – human life.
We
would like to challenge followers of Yeshua
to remember the importance of this during the
forty-day period that begins at sundown today and end at sundown Wednesday,
September 23rd. Make the next 40 days a time of repairing
harmed or broken relationships – a period
of creating SHALOM (completeness,
totality and wholeness) in your world.
As pointed out above, the
principle taught by Yeshua is found in most Twelve-Step programs:
Step 8: Made
a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them
all.
Step 9: Made
direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would
injure them or others.
It is very important to keep the
lesson of Step 9 in mind at all times. The transformative power of doing the
above steps has been witnessed many times by those who did them.
Praying for God to forgive us for
harming others, but never accepting the responsibility for the act or repairing
the damage done to the other person was not what Yeshua taught. Today, the
message we hear all the time is -- “God
loves ME!” But, that’s not all of the story –
“God loves THE PERSON YOU HARM TOO!”
“Being saved” isn’t a “Free Pass to Hurt Other People” card. Take
the Real Yeshua 40-Day Challenge.
Reveal the image and spirit of the
Creator through your actions in your part of the world.
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you like this article and/or will take the Real Yeshua 40-Day Challenge – go to
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Shalom,
Jim Myers
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