One of the most challenging aspects of jobs in the Midwest is dealing with winter weather, but I think over the next couple days, that’ll be nothing unique as this monster winter storm system seems to be affecting everyone.

Of course, one advantage of being from Minnesota is, at least we know how to prepare in advance. Over the first three days of the week, Julie and I got everything done that needed to be done for services this weekend. That means that today, we don’t have to hazard our luck on the ill-plowed roads while heavy snow is still falling.

Fortunately, the forecast is for the snow to die off overnight on Friday into Saturday, so the snow should let up and the plows should have cleared the roads off in time for Shabbat services. The L-RD will protect his Shabbat!

But for now? Let it snow!

While there are many informative sites about drug rehab, and there are even government resources to help educate people on the issue, that’s not what MessianicMusings.com focuses on. Go elsewhere for that stuff; come here for solid Torah teaching. Here’s my sermon on the Parable of the Talents. Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

You know, usually when I’m asked to give a message, it’s a Torah commentary and my subject matter is determined by the weekly Torah reading. Today I was given more freedom to choose, and I finally settled on a parable of Yeshua that has always had some elements that puzzled me. So I leaped at the opportunity to study it more closely.

This parable is usually referred to as the “parable of the talents,” and I’ve heard teachers teach this parable many different ways. But before we get into analyzing it, let’s read through this parable now so that we all have a common frame of reference. Yeshua is speaking as we read this in:

Matthew 25:14-30
“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Now, one of the most common ways that this parable of Yeshua is mistaught, and I believe it can lead us down a wrong path, is to look past the cultural context of this parable and interpret talents to mean the giftedness with which the L-RD has blessed each of us. So there are teachers who will go on and on about using your talents in the service of the L-RD, whether it be singing, dancing, writing, teaching, organizing, working with numbers, or whatever it may be that God has given you as a special talent.

Now, using your God-given talents in service to God is a good thing. I agree with it. We can and should all strive to live closer to that ideal. However … that’s not what this parable is about, and I believe Yeshua’s real point here has been missed by those who teach this parable in this way.

I believe the root of this misunderstand starts with simply misunderstanding what Yeshua means by “talent” here. So what is a talent? Well, it’s actually a unit of measurement, one that is used for measuring precious metals, primarily. The Greek word used is talanton, and we find this definition in:

STRONG’S G5007 talanton
• 2) that which is weighed, a talent 2a) a weight varying in different places and times 2b) a sum of money weighing a talent and varying in different states and according to the changes in the laws regulating currency 2b2) a talent of silver in Israel weighed about 100 pounds (45 kg) 2b3) a talent of gold in Israel weighed about 200 pounds (91 kg).

In addition to this, we are offered this insight by:

Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary, p. 59
In Roman times one talent equaled 6,000 denarii, a denarius being roughly a day’s wages for a common laborer … Haman offered King Achashverosh of Persia 10,000 talents of silver to destroy the Jews (Esther 3:9).

So, a talent is a measurement of money used in the ancient world, and it’s a significant amount of money. In fact, if a talent is equal to 6,000 denarii, and a denarii is roughly one day’s wages for the common working person, then it would take the average person, taking only Shabbats off, around 19 years to earn a single talent. Add in the festivals of the L-RD and it’s probably closer to 21 years or more, just to earn a single talent of money.

Stern elaborates on this to give us an idea of just how much money we’re talking about; I’ve updated the amounts in the following quote to reflect today’s precious metal prices, as of this week:

Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary, p. 59
If a day’s wages today is in the neighborhood of $80, 10,000 talents would be $4.8 billion! In the Tanakh a talent weighs 75.6 avoirdupois pounds. This amount of gold, at $1120/troy ounce, is worth nearly $13.54 billion; the same amount of silver, at $17.37/troy ounce, comes to over $210 million.

Now, applying this to the current parable, assuming it is speaking of talents of gold, the man with the five talents was entrusted with the equivalent of – in today’s prices – $6.8 million, the man with two talents with $2.7 million, and the man with one talent, $1.35 million.

So, what can we draw from this? Well, first and foremost, I think it should help us realize that even the man given a single talent by his master was given a vast fortune, not a limited resource. While his share may seem small in comparison to the other two, he in fact has been given much more than most people would ever have access to all at once in their lifetimes.

By now, I think it’s clear that this parable does concern itself with financial resources; this is supported by the text itself, when it mentions that the servants of the master are given “talents of money.”

So now that we know Yeshua is teaching us something about our financial resources, let’s take a step back and take note of the greater context of this parable. Without understanding the context of what Yeshua’s teaching here, it would be too easy to fall into misinterpreting what he means.

Remember the very first word of this parable? What is it? It begins, “Again.” The first few words, in fact, are, “Again, it will be like…” So the next questions we must answer are, why is the word “again” here, and to what is the word “it” referring?

Well, if we take a look at the first half of Matthew 25, we see that Yeshua is teaching another parable there, the parable of the ten virgins. The word “again,” therefore, means that whatever Yeshua is about to tell us is linked to what he’s already taught. This is done for emphasis, or to get a point across. Yeshua is telling us that he’s about to make the same point – again – and he’s hoping that if we didn’t get it the first time, we’ll grasp it the second time.

This teaching style is often used by parents teaching their younger children. It would be similar to telling a child, “Right now, it’s time for the dog to sleep,” and then saying, “Again, do not play with the dog right now.”

I’m making the same point each time, but saying it in different ways to emphasize the point. This teaching style can also be used to help eliminate the possibility of misunderstanding. So one thing we gain from the context immediately is the insight that, whatever point Yeshua is making with the parable of the talents, it must be congruent with the point he’s making in the parable of the ten virgins.

Now let’s read how the parable of the ten virgins begins. We read this in:

Matthew 25:1
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.”

Well, this answers what the “it” refers to in the parable of the talents. The “it” is “the kingdom of heaven.” Yet we have a new question arising from this verse as well. Yeshua starts the parable of the ten virgins with the phrase, “At that time.” Since he’s making the same point in both parables, we need to understand what he means by, “At that time,” in the parable of the ten virgins, in order to understand the parable of the talents properly, don’t we?

So, if we back up to chapter 24, what well see is that both of these parables are building off of an earlier discussion with his disciples, as we read in:

Matthew 24:3
As Yeshua was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Since this point, Yeshua has been teaching the twelve about this period of time – the sign of his coming, the end of the age – without interruption. Each thing he teaches is designed to add another layer of understanding to what he’s already taught. And throughout these few chapters, to remind us that he’s still responding to his talmudim’s questions about the end of the age and His coming, he begins to use this phrase, “At that time,” as we read in:

Matthew 24:10
At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,

And again in:

Matthew 24:23
At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.

And again in:

Matthew 24:30
“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.

And this pattern simply continues until Yeshua is done teaching on this topic, and we know that both parables are part of this teaching because it is not concluded until we read, in:

Matthew 26:1-2
When Yeshua had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away–and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

So now, with confidence, we can pinpoint the time Yeshua is teaching about with both of these parables, when he uses the phrase, “at that time.” The parable of the talents is a teaching about the return of Yeshua.

Now, Rabbi Stan has often taught on the parable of the ten virgins. And from his teaching, we know that the thing which separated the five wise virgins from the five foolish virgins was what? The oil in their lamps. And what does the oil symbolize? Well, it does not symbolize the presence of the Holy Spirit – the Ruach haKodesh – as some teachers suggest, does it? No, it represents our acts of giving, of charity, our good deeds, our mitzvahs, our kindness shown to others, the way in which we treat those who are in need. And we know this is Yeshua’s message because it is stated even more implicitly later in chapter 25, which we’ll look at in a moment.

But before we do, let’s apply this insight to our understanding of the parable of the talents. Yeshua has been teaching us of his return, of the Day of Judgment. So this is a teaching related to which fall festival of the L-RD? Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement! What do we know about the Day of Atonement? We read this in:

Leviticus 16:29-31
“This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work–whether native-born or an alien living among you–because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the L-RD, you will be clean from all your sins. It is a sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance.

And again, in:

Numbers 29:7-11
“‘On the tenth day of this seventh month hold a sacred assembly. You must deny yourselves and do no work. Present as an aroma pleasing to the L-RD a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. With the bull prepare a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths; and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth. Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the sin offering for atonement and the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

So the Day of Atonement is the day when our sins are paid for and the books between ourselves and the L-RD are brought into balance. This insight is reflected in the parable when Yeshua teaches, “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.” This settling of accounts alludes to the Day of Judgment. It is the day Yeshua has been speaking of, the day referred to in the parable of the ten virgins and now the day he’s referring to here.

And this makes sense, doesn’t it? I mean, if the oil in the lamps in the ten virgins parable represented the Holy Spirit, how long could it take to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Not long, right? But if the time for the wedding supper has come and the oil represents our good deeds – what we did with what we were given by the L-RD – then how long would it take to make up for a lifetime of neglecting the needs of those around us? A pretty long time, right? And too long for them to be ready for the wedding supper once the bridegroom’s return is imminent.

So, if Yeshua’s point about our mitzvahs – our good deeds – being significant at the Day of Judgment is unclear in the parable of the ten virgins, it becomes clearer in the parable of the talents. Remember, all three servants have been entrusted with different resources according to their abilities, but each is still entrusted with plenty, right? I mean, sure, servant with five talents may have more – about $6.8 million, remember – but even one talent is $1.35 million in assets, and if someone can’t figure out how to bless others with those kinds of resources, well, they need a deeper prayer life.

But now we’re getting to the heart of what used to confuse me about this parable. At the master’s return, on the Day of Atonement, at the settling of books, the servant given five talents has doubled what he was given and so has the servant with two talents. Yet the servant with one talent was afraid and instead of putting that talent to work, he hid it and returns to his master exactly what was given him.

Now, the master’s reaction is what used to confuse me, because it doesn’t appear that the servant with one talent did anything wrong. I mean, he didn’t sneak off with his master’s money, or spend it on himself, did he? And yet he’s called wicked and lazy and is tossed outside of His master’s presence!

Yet what I have realized as I have studied this parable over and over again is this: my understanding of this parable had been influenced for many years by yet another off-target way of looking at this parable. Too often, people approach this parable like it is the secret to financial success in this life. They interpret it by fleshly definitions, when in fact Yeshua is offering a deep teaching of the Spirit. Does it make sense, then, to treat this parable like “God’s Secret to Earning Quick Cash Now!”?

Of course not. That’s not what Yeshua is teaching here. He’s not instructing us on how to invest in Wall Street; he’s instructing us on how to invest in the streets of gold in the kingdom of God! You see, the talents each servant is given represent our earthly treasures, all that the L-RD will bless us with over the course of our lives. This is a teaching about how we use the resources we already have to advance the kingdom of the L-RD. Will we be like the faithful servants, who “put their money to work” and doubled what they were originally given? Or will we fear our L-RD and hide all that we have so that it cannot grow beyond us?

Again, this is not about gaining riches in this life, but storing up for ourselves treasures that cannot perish in the World to Come. As we read in:

Matthew 6:19-21
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

So in light of this, what is Yeshua teaching here? Do we want to keep all that the L-RD has blessed us with in this life to ourselves, and go before Him on the Day of Atonement to offer it all back, but with nothing beyond what he’s given us to show for it? Or do we want to expand His kingdom? If our heart is focused on His kingdom, then we’ll invest our treasure beyond ourselves. We’ll put food in front of the hungry, clothes on the backs of the needy, offer shelter to those without homes. We’ll treat others with the same unearned kindness the L-RD has shown us, won’t we?

You see, the key to handling our treasures in this life is not to tithe, is not to give away no more than twenty percent lest we become destitute ourselves as the rabbis teach, but to realize that all we have belongs to God; it’s not even ours to begin with, but the L-RD’s and we’re to do His work with it.

We find out just exactly what Yeshua is driving at as we read beyond the parable of the talents, in:

Matthew 25:41-46
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Could it be any clearer? By the end of chapter 25, Yeshua is being about as unveiled as possible. Our faithfulness to our master, Yeshua, is measured by our deeds!

So is Yeshua teaching that it is our deeds that are our salvation? No! Yeshua alone saves us. He is offering us a deeper teaching, a teaching about how to pursue righteousness, holy living. He is speaking to his disciples, his talmudim, to those of us who have already been saved and he’s asking us, “OK, now what are you going to do with it?”

Now, some might object and claim this is putting us back under the idea of works. But this is not so; even James, the very brother of our Messiah Yeshua, agrees on this point, as we read in:

James 1: 22, 27
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says … Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

And also:

James 2:14-18
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

So one question remains, one passage that for a long time has eluded me. In the master’s rebuke of the lazy servant, he says, “So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.”

The meaning of this passage eluded me until preparing this sermon. Then the pieces started to fall into place.
If the talents of money are about using our earthly resources to store up treasure in the World to Come, then what’s this about putting it on deposit with bankers and having the master get it back with interest?

Now, clearly, the wicked servant is operating out of fear. Perhaps he was afraid he’d lose his master’s fortune. But how can you lose a fortune if your job is to give it away to those in need? You can’t. But another fear paradigm is this: perhaps the servant feared he’d invest it poorly; like the person who means to help a homeless person by giving them money, only to find out those funds bought the last bottle of whiskey that left them dying in an abandoned alley.

So, using the fear explanation, could one understand the concerns of a person who is afraid of using what they’ve been given in ways that don’t advance the kingdom? Possibly, but is that an excuse not to give, not to help? No. That’s why I think the comment about the bankers is here. Could it be that Yeshua is telling us, “If you’re afraid to invest your earthly treasures yourself, then entrust them to those with experience.”

Again, this is not about banking in this life! This is about spreading the kingdom of the L-RD. If you don’t know how best to invest in spreading the kingdom of the L-RD yourself, then give to those who do; there are many ministries that help the needy. It can be as close to home as your local community of believers, or as global as giving to ministries that help poor Jewish people return to the land of Israel, or anything in between. And I’d suggest this; if you pray long enough and hard enough, the L-RD will not return vacant anything you give in faith. Your treasures in heaven will accumulate.

The bottom line on the parable of the talents is this; we all have more than we think we’ve been given, and we should use it prayerfully and wisely, putting it to work to advance the kingdom of heaven, rather than invest in our comfort and convenience in this world. While none of us are complete works in this regard, all of us – I’m including myself – can do better in trusting the L-RD enough to turn our treasures, our finances, over to Him. For it is far better to enter into the World to Come hearing Yeshua say, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” than it is to hear, “Throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

May we all live toward, and earn, that “Well done” praise from Messiah Yeshua, our master, on the Day of Judgment and in the World to Come.

Shabbat Shalom.

The new month of Tevet is coming; we’ll be celebrating it at our Saint Paul congregation on Thursday at 6:30 PM. New moon celebrations are part of what the L-RD commanded when he said, “‘from one Shabbat to another, from one new moon to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,’ says the L-RD.”

Yet because the rabbis didn’t emphasize it, little remains from those early Jewish traditions. But at Sar Shalom and Beth Yeshua, Rabbi Stan’s doing his best to restore us to first-century Jewish worship of the L-RD as Yeshua and his talmidim would have done.

May the new month of Tevet come to us, and to all Israel, for goodness… and for blessing!

And thankfully, there’s no phone check needed to observe that!

Mazel tov! Hanukkah is here!

Anyone who’s not on social security disability, and in fact, many who are, may not appreciate the true meaning of this holiday. The festival of lights? Sure, the temple oil burned for eight days – so what, right?

It goes deeper than that, though. For me, my favorite thing about Hanukkah is the aspect of it known as the Feast of Dedication. It is a time to rededicate ourselves to HaShem, as well as his promised Messiah – the Messiah Yeshua.

See, at the time of the Maccabees, there was pressure on all Israel to bow to Greek gods and integrate their Judaism to fit in to Greek society. Boldly, the Maccabees stood up and refused to change how they worshiped the L-RD to fit in with and mirror the way others worshiped their false gods. It was a victory for staying true to haShem that kept the doorway open for Messiah’s appearance.

Unfortunately, once history moved beyond the first century of the Common Era, the Messianic movement lost its way, divorced itself from its Jewish roots, adopted anti-Judaic replacement theology, and, most importantly – when the pressure came to change worship of Messiah Yeshua in spirit and in truth to better fit in to Roman society, Christianity willingly abandoned the truth of the L-RD in exchange for celebrating the birth of Mithras – deciding that it was enough to change Mithras’ name to Jesus.

I’m not so sure Yeshua the Messiah approves. To say the least.

That’s why we’re celebrating Hanukkah in our house, and have ever since we got married; if it was good enough for Messiah Yeshua, it’s good enough for us.

We may come up short on equestrian apparel here at MessianicMusings.com, but we lead the way in Torah appeal! Here’s my 2009 VaYeshev Commentary! Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashah for today is VaYeshev, a Hebrew word that means “And he settled.” It covers Genesis chapters 37 through 40.

Now, a lot happens in this week’s portion and one could do at least four commentaries with the material, but what I’ve decided to focus on this week is chapter 39. As this chapter opens, we see that from the moment Joseph is sold as a slave in Egypt, the L-RD proves His faithfulness by blessing Joseph in all he does. In fact, he becomes such a worthwhile worker for his first owner, Potipher, that Joseph is placed in charge of everything Potipher is responsible for. We read this in:

Genesis 39:6-7
So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”

Keep in mind that at this time, it is believed that Joseph is a young man still in his late teens – perhaps eighteen or so. As anyone who is the parent of a teenager, or at least has watched teen comedies, can tell you, this is not a time in a young man’s life when he is necessarily at his most mature and self-controlled, especially in the area of sexual temptation. And the danger of this situation is already hinted at in these very verses. As we read in:

Weekly Midrash, vol. 1, pg 193:
Ramban writes: Why does the verse call her here the wife of his master (39:7)? To show us that even though she was his master’s wife, and Joseph ought to have been afraid to disobey her, yet in this matter he was unafraid and feared God alone.

So it is clear that Joseph, despite his hardships, is made of sterner stuff that many young men his age; he fears the L-RD more than he desires to give in to temptation, for he turns down Potipher’s wife. But I believe there’s more than a “Just Say No To Temptation” message in this tale about this period in Joseph’s life, so let’s examine how he says no. We read this in:

Genesis 39:8-10
But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

Did you catch that? Not only did he refuse to go to bed with her, but he refused to even “be with her.” The Hebrew here suggests that this means not only did Joseph refuse to have sex with her, but he avoided situations of even being alone with her.

How could a young man show such restraint? Was it as shallow a reason as he didn’t find Potipher’s wife attractive? I don’t think so.

But perhaps it’s this. Perhaps it is because our current culture is incorrect when they suggest that one cannot expect obedience and restraint from young people. Some have called this “the soft bigotry of low expectations” and too often, I believe, we don’t expect enough from young men and women when it comes to restraint and a willingness to obey the L-RD. The Sages also suggest an additional motive, as we read in:

Weekly Midrash, vol. 1, pg 193:
Joseph did not want to lie with her in This World, and then again be her companion in the World to Come. For he who lies with another man’s wife goes to Gehinnom together with her.

Now, Gehinnom is a Hebrew word that has the same connotative meaning as the word, “hell.” It is a place of suffering and complete separation from the L-RD. And unlike the popular Hollywood images of hell today, there is no aspect of Gehinnom that is desirable or fun. It’s not a party.

Yet is a fear of hell or punishment enough to banish temptation from anyone’s minds, young or old? In all honesty, that seldom works. If it did work, no child would ever grab a cookie from the cookie jar without permission – at least, they would not grab one the second time.

Could it be that Joseph’s ability to resist Potipher’s wife comes because of his deeply-rooted belief in the promises of the L-RD for his life? Let’s remember that from an early age, Joseph has received prophetic promises from the L-RD, dreams that depict him at being destined for great things. These are the dreams that caused his brothers to be so jealous of him that they sold him into slavery in the first place. Yet despite being sold into slavery, being moved to Egypt against his will, and serving in the house of a man who did not worship the same God Joseph worshipped, he does not allow bitterness and disillusionment to overcome him. He clings to the promises of the L-RD on his life, even when his life circumstances seem to be leading him further away from fulfillment of those promises.

So the question is, can promises of a desirable future motivate young people to put aside distracting influences in order to achieve a goal? I believe so.

In fact, the examples are many. One need only study the lives of dedicated Olympic and professional athletes to find examples of sacrificing the pleasures of the moment to achieve a desirable goal. The top achievers in athletics seldom have prolific romantic and social lives; they seldom have additional hobbies and outside interests; they remained focused on achieving their goal to the exclusion of such distractions.

Certainly, not all athletes pull this off. Tales of those who get in trouble with drugs or sex and other distractions abound. You can read about it on just about any sports page. And yet, these distractions either are not found in the lives of the top athletes, or such distractions creep in after they’ve achieved the top level of success and they no longer feel challenged.

In a similar way, one could view Joseph’s focus on God’s promises for his life as being analogous to the young woman who practices for hours on end, each day, in order to make the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team; or the young man who “doesn’t have time for parties and girlfriends” because he’s so focused in making it to the NFL or the NBA.

God has set lofty promises before Joseph and, like a dedicated athlete, when the distraction of sexual temptation comes to him in the form of Potipher’s wife, Joseph so desires the goal God has promised him, he has no time for, nor interest in, the distraction that could keep him from achieving that goal.

I believe this focus on God’s promises is what gives even a young man like Joseph the ability to say no to temptation. And he doesn’t just say no once, does he? No, the Torah teaches that Potipher’s wife sought him out daily, trying to tempt him, hoping to catch him in a weak moment.

You know, much is made of “weak moments.” They are a frequent excuse given by those who give in to temptation. “Oh, I wouldn’t normally do that, but I was caught in a weak moment.” Joseph avoids such a weak moment, but how?

I believe a lot of it has to do with how he avoids temptation. Already we’ve read that Joseph avoided even “being with her.” He tried to avoid being alone with her, even though she was his master’s wife. And there’s more to his strategy of resistance. Let’s read on in:

Genesis 39:11-12
One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

So there we have it, the moment in this entire episode during which even well-intentioned young people could fall back into the excuse of having a weak moment, and allow themselves to give in to temptation. The Torah tells us Joseph was on the job and none of the other servants were there that day. In all the other circumstances, Potipher’s wife had approached him while others were around, and the fear of discovery could have been a sobering factor.

But now, that excuse is gone. There is no one else to see them, no one who could discover them; it’s just Joseph and Potipher’s wife, all alone in the house. And she doesn’t merely proposition him, but grabs him by his clothing, an aggressive gesture meant to control Joseph.

So does he surrender to temptation? No, Joseph is still valuing the promises of the L-RD over a temporary moment of pleasure with another man’s wife. So what’s his response?

Does he spend time sharing about the plan of God for her life out of the Torah?

Does he offer to pray with her?

Does he say no, but stick around and allow her to continue grabbing at him?

No! He does none of these things! What does he do? He flees! He runs! He gets himself out of the house entirely!

And he flees so eagerly, he doesn’t even care when Potipher’s wife doesn’t let go of his cloak! In fact, we’re told his cloak is ripped off his body and he still runs away!

You see, too often people resist sin only half-heartedly. They say they want to choose the path of righteousness, but they keep themselves in the path of temptation, rather than getting out of its way. In fact, some believers consider it a form of proving their character to plunge themselves right into the middle of temptation and then try to resist it.

In the middle of the third century of the Common Era, one Byzantine community of believers was discovered testing their level of purity by having single men and women, including a bishop, sleep and cohabit together without having sex. Cyprian condemned the practice and put an end to it, but it is still considered an ideal in the minds of some ascetic-minded people, even though the results of such a foolish test is often out-of-wedlock pregnancies, rather than spiritual growth.

And we see a similar lack of wisdom today? New believers are often rescued by the L-RD out of habitual sins, such as drinking, and yet, in their zeal to share their newfound faith, where is the first place they want to go? Back to the bars to share their faith, when that’s the last place they should be!

That’s not the Torah’s advice for avoiding temptation, is it? What does the Bible say?

1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee sexual immorality.

In the L-RD’s Prayer, Yeshua tells us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation.” Does God lead us into temptation? No, but he does lead us out! We either lead ourselves into temptation, or we flee it. That’s how Joseph avoided sexual immorality with Potipher’s wife. He didn’t stick around to prove he was super-spiritual or especially holy. He knew he was as prone to temptation as anyone… so he ran the other way.

Of course, choosing righteousness rarely is rewarded by the world, and we all know how Joseph’s story plays out. Despite doing the right thing, a false accusation is made against him by the spurned wife of Potipher, and he’s jailed for doing the very thing he made sure not to do!

Some would say his comfort is in knowing this accusation is false, but does Joseph alone know the truth, apart from God? Perhaps not. The crime Joseph was accused of was usually punishable by death, yet Joseph is only jailed. Why?

Here’s a clue from the:

Weekly Midrash, vol. 1, pg 194:
Chizkuni writes: Why did they not put him to death? Because there were no witnesses.

Had Joseph given into temptation, none of the promises the L-RD had made to him would have been fulfilled through Joseph. The L-RD would have found another way. By fleeing temptation, Joseph proves even a hormonal teenage male can obey the L-RD and not submit to temptation. By obeying the L-RD, his life became a shining example, and indeed, our best shadow of the promised Messiah – the Messiah Yeshua.

Shabbat Shalom.

While I have been saying for a while that I believe the theme for my upcoming two-part sermon (and the other than that will be a condensed form of the same message) might be Making It Real, I’m not closing in on writing time for these messages and I now believe my topic, while still thematically linked to that idea, will revolve around a pair of parables from Rabbi Yeshua himself.

Of course, parables are tricky things, so this is no small undertaking, but I like the idea of drawing the message out of these parables, rather than imposing a theme and searching for support. So unless some TV wall mount falls and hits me on the noggin with a better idea, this is probably the way I’ll be going.

Here’s a preview: one of my messages will focus in on the parable of the talents; the other may focus on the parable of the debtor. Unless the Ru’ach haKodesh guides me otherwise, of course.