MessianicMusings.com

Recently, I was given the honor and opportunity to update the Web site of my messianic kehilat, RabbiYeshua.com. It was a considerable task. I had helped my rabbi, Stan Farr, build the first version of the site back in 2001, and although the code had been tweaked by some folks since then to keep it up to date, the design had gone unchanged since then.

A lot has changed in the past seven years. When I built the site, we were not yet delivering audio sermons over the site, nor were we delivering some lessons via PDF. All those functions had been added on in the intervening period. A Web store had also been added, allowing folks a way to order Rabbi Farr’s sermons online. Also, back, then, the height of Web browsing technology was MSIE 3.0 and Netscape 3.0. These days, it’s MSIE 7.0 and Foxfire 2.0. Back then, 640×480 was standard resolution and 1024×768 was considered cutting-edge high resolution; these days, 1024×768 is considered the lowest most would want to go, while the majority of monitors are operating at either 1280×1024, 1600×1200, or 1400×900, depending on whether one is using XP or Vista, and whether one has an HD or non-HD monitor. Heck, some monitors these days are so big, they require TV wall mounts.

In other words, building a Web site these days is a lot more complex than it used to be, so when invited to take on the redesign task, I honestly wasn’t sure I was up to it. But after the first week of coding customization and design specs, it all started flowing naturally again and within about three weeks, we had the new site up and running; it took about an extra week to debug, and now we’re moving forward with adding more photos and content.

I’m pleased with the outcome and glad that we managed to avoid breaking links in all but one case in which we consciously decided to do so. The feedback so far has been positive, and I’m happy to have played a role into bringing my church’s Web presence up-to-date. Mazel tov!

The teaching I’ve been sharing here recently, originating with my rabbi, Stan Farr, that Torah is G-d’s minimum standard - the point at which we fall short - should not be considered new or revolutionary to careful students of Torah and the teachings of messiah Yeshua. Whether young or old, healthy or in need of Medicare insurance, this is a teaching anyone can understand if they simply read what G-d’s Word has to say.

Let’s look at a relevant passage:

For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P’rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven! You have heard that our fathers were told, ‘Do not murder,’ and that anyone who commits murder will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who nurses anger against his brother will be subject to judgment; that whoever calls his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing!’ will be brought before the Sanhedrin; that whoever says, ‘Fool!’ incurs the penalty of burning in the fire of Gei-Hinnom!
Matthew 5:20-22 (CJB / Stern)

Does this not make it clear that the Torah is but a minimum standard compared to G-d’s perfect standard of righteousness? Here, Yeshua references a simple commandment: You shall not murder. Does this mean that as long as we do not murder, we are living to G-d’s perfect standard of righteousness?

There are all manner of things, short of murder, that one can indulge in and steer clear of the letter of this commandment. One can sneer, despise, hate, plot against, assault, batter, disrespect and more - all without crossing the line into murder. Murder is the point at which we fail even G-d’s minimum standard, but a person who does not murder but indulges all that I have just named here is certainly not a master over their anger, are they?

That is Yeshua’s point. It is not merely rhetorical, to make a point, that Yeshua says that even saying, “Fool!” will put one in danger of the fires of hell. It is a real and serious communication by our messiah, from Adonai’s mouth to our ears. Yeshua is our perfect mediator between Adonai and us; we must listen to him and not write off such a serious message as hyperbole to make a point.

Our call is to love one another. Anything short of that is short of Adonai’s perfect standard for righteousness. The Torah, through valuable beyond words, is merely where the compromise between Adonai and us as to what the least we could do and still be within his favor is defined.

The feast of Sukkot is the week-long observance that caps the Jewish fall festival season that Adonai established as an eternal covenant and observance for all who fear the G-d of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. It points also to the return of messiah Yeshua and the period of rest we all will enter after the final judgment is complete.

So what will eternity with Yeshua be like? Will we sit around trading golf cart parts and working the back nine at Augusta National?

Well, we really don’t know that, but what we do know is that this is not a concept that initiated with first-century messianic followers of Yeshua.

As RabbiYeshua.com writes:

The Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 31a) contains another tradition that relates to our discussion. The Sages noted that in Psalm 90:4, Moses stated that ‘one thousand years’ in God’s sight ‘is as yesterday when it has passed.’ That is, one-thousand years is like a day. So they speculated that, just as God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, the world would endure in its present condition for six-thousand years. This would be followed by one-thousand years of rest (Sanhedrin 97a-b.) This ‘rest’ was typified by the weekly Sabbath, an idea also found in Hebrews chapters 3 and 4. The idea of a thousand-year day is affirmed by the Apostle Peter:

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (2 Peter 3:8)

That is why the tent is built; that is why it is tradition during Sukkot to sleep out in such tents; because when Yeshua returns and calls us to this thousand-year banquet, we do not want to be like the foolish brides of the parable, who did not trim their wicks, missed the coming of the bridegroom, and were now allowed in late to the celebration.

Or, in simpler terms: the day of the kingdom of heaven is not merely near, it is NOW. And Sukkot is a reminder of that truth.

One thing that is as trustworthy as Samsonite is that time marches on, at least in this life. That’s why the celebration of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, is so important to messianic life. Rosh HaShana literally means “head of the year” and, in essence, is a remembrance of things that have not yet happened.

For the messianic believer, one of the key things that Rosh HaShana is a remembrance of is the future return of Y’shua the Messiah and all that will follow with that event. That include the resurrection of the dead, some to glory and others to judgment, as well as the reconciliation of the Jewish people to Messiah.

Yet this is not an occasion where I want to venture too far into eschatology. Just keep in mind that the trumpets that blow on Rosh HaShana are a shadow of the trumpets that will sound to mark the return of Yeshua.