For the week of July 18, 2026 / 4 Av 5786

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D’varim
Torah: D’varim/Deuteronomy 1:1 – 3:22
Haftarah: Isaiah 1:1-27
Originally posted the week of August 10, 2019 / 9 Av 5779 (updated)

And the LORD said to me, “Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the people of Lot for a possession.” (D’varim/Deuteronomy 2:9)

This is an excellent follow-up to last week’s message, Ideological Warfare, where I explained that understanding the current Middle East conflict is almost entirely about how the different sides view the world we live in. God’s call on the Jewish people has led us, often without realizing it, into a biblical worldview. Israel’s enemies and their official and unofficial allies often fail to grasp the actual framework within which the current conflict is being fought. This week’s message shows that Israel operates in a way very different from that of most people groups throughout history, a way, if heeded, could bring peace and prosperity to all.

Throughout the years of doing TorahBytes, I have sought to demonstrate the ongoing relevance of the Hebrew Scriptures, which are built on the foundation of the Torah, the Books of Moses. At times, I have done that by noting a specific principle found in one of God’s commandments or a lesson derived from a story. We might explore an aspect of the character of God, the nature of human beings, or the dynamics of how humans are to relate to God and to each other. But there’s more to learn from Scripture than principles and lessons. In fact, the principles and lessons of Scripture are deeply rooted in its general perspective on life. It’s in the soil of the Bible’s worldview that we discover how to navigate our complex existence.

It’s tragic when belief in Yeshua as Messiah results in the collapse of the breadth and depth of Truth as revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures into a detached, spiritualized, overly personal experience. There is almost nothing in life, big or small, that isn’t effectively addressed by Scripture. We’re going to look at something big this week.

I think it’s an astounding insight. It was brought to my attention while reading the book, The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture by Yoram Hazony, and it is reflected in this week’s parsha (weekly Torah reading portion). Israel was preparing to enter the Promised Land and needed to journey through inhabited territory. They were given specific instructions on which territory they could take and which to leave alone. In this case, they were told not to “harass Moab,” because God allotted their land to these descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot. Israel’s acquisition of land was to be under God’s direction. We can look elsewhere in the Torah to see that God was very specific about Israel’s borders. They were given no mandate to expand beyond what was allotted to them.

Think about that. God made clear to Israel that they were not to build an empire but were to be satisfied with the geographical limitations imposed upon them by God. This is all the more astounding when we realize that Israel understood their God, rightly so, not as some sort of regional deity, but the God of the whole world. The Bible begins with God creating the “heavens and the earth” (Bereshit/Genesis 1:1); God declares at Mt. Sinai, “all the earth is mine” (Shemot/Exodus 19:5); and Psalm 47 proclaims him as the king of all the earth and ruler of the nations. Be that as it may, instead of this “God of all the earth” commissioning his people to take over the whole world, he teaches them to respect national boundaries. And that was in spite of the imperialistic tendencies of world powers both then and now.

This respect for nationality was firmly grasped by the leadership of Yeshua’s early community. In those first decades, some attempted to centralize control of the emergent New Covenant community within an exclusively Jewish context. In the Book of Acts, chapter fifteen, as the leaders thrashed out the implications of how the Messiah’s message was reaching the non-Jewish peoples of their day, they realized that God was indicating that while the good news was for everyone, each people-group would be free through the direction of God’s Spirit to work out how God’s kingship in the Messiah would be expressed within their cultural setting.

Centuries later, when messianic faith was co-opted by the Roman government, respect for national and cultural differences faded away and was replaced by age-old ungodly imperialistic tendencies. Instead of continuing a decentralized mosaic of nationalities, who were to find their way in God’s Truth with God’s help, the church government aligned with political power to homogenize the nations under God.

Despite this, God continues to regard the diversity of people groups while valuing national distinctions. We would do well to do the same.

Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version

For the week of July 11, 2026 / 26 Tammuz 5786

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Mattot & Masei
Torah: B’midbar/Numbers 30:2 – 36:13 (English 30:1 – 36:13)
Haftarah: Jeremiah 2:4–28, 3:4
Originally posted the week of July 26, 2014 / 28 Tammuz 5774 (updated)

Special note: July 2, 2026, marked the 1000th day since the October 7, 2023, massacre, the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Despite endless political deals and promises, this conflict, rooted in centuries-old animosity, seems destined never to end. My impression is that relatively few truly understand what is really going on. I posted the original version of the following message during the 2014 Gaza war. Reading it over again, including the article and the video mentioned, made me feel as if nothing had changed in twelve years. I contend that the only way any of us can effectively deal with these matters is by confronting the ideological battle with the truth of Scripture.

* * *

When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. (B’midbar/Numbers 33:51-52)

Like many others, I continue to be caught up in the tragic situation between Israel and its neighbors. The number of articles and videos is overwhelming. As you may know, if the issue includes Israel, we end up with an inordinate amount of emotionally charged attention and opinions.

Now and then, I come across an article or report that, in my opinion, stands out from the others for how the author avoids narrow definitions and simplistic conclusions. Richard Landes’s “Why the Arab World Is Lost in an Emotional Nakba, and How We Keep It There” examines the conflict through a worldview lens. Whether or not Landes’s evaluation is fully correct, he is right that the problem at hand is fundamentally ideological. How people see the world controls how they live life. Failure to accept that will undermine any attempt to resolve conflict, whether it be interpersonal or international.

But this is not the way many of us look at life. Instead, we prefer simplistic, superficial analysis along with quick, thoughtless solutions. A great example of this, as it relates to the current crisis, is Nina Paley’s three-and-a-half-minute animation, This Land Is Mine—a satirical retelling of the history of the region that features each people group being killed off by the next people group as their cartoon representatives seamlessly lip synch the song “This Land Is Mine” from the 1960 film, “Exodus.”

The appeal of Paley’s animation, apart from its humor, is its simplicity. But it’s a misguided simplicity that completely ignores the region’s historical reality. This version is stripped of any historical context whatsoever. The bigger picture that might inform and affect the behavior of the people involved is completely neglected, as if it were irrelevant. There is no consideration whatsoever for the various factions’ history, values, and aspirations. All the viewer is offered is a story of meaningless killing, along with the implied resolution being that if only the fighting stopped, everything would be okay. A cry of “why can’t we all get along!” may sound good, but it is devoid of any sense of authentic, not to mention lasting, justice.

What does this have to do with this week’s parsha (weekly Torah reading portion)? Everything. First, so much of the Bible is devoted to issues pertaining to the region in question. The backdrop to much of what is going on in Scripture can be termed “Middle East crisis.” By the Bible’s twelfth chapter, the claim to the Land of Israel is already a key theme. While many people are quick to draw personal spiritual lessons from the Bible’s stories, the context of both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Covenant Writings primarily concerns the region’s geopolitical issues. Yet many readers of Scripture treat this context in the same way as Paley’s animation. The bigger story becomes irrelevant in our attempt to distill the meaning we wish to derive.

The verses I quoted from this week’s parsha demonstrate what the conflict in the region is really all about. When God called the people of Israel to take the Land, they were not only to drive out its inhabitants, but also to destroy the objects of their religions. They were not simply a migrant people looking for territory and annihilating anybody who stood in their way. Their God-given objective was to establish a godly community of truth and righteousness, while, at the same time, displacing the previous inhabitants. This was not indiscriminate, but was rather the God-ordained judgment on peoples whose evil behavior had become irreversible (see Bereshit/Genesis 15:16).

I am not proposing that the modern State of Israel should follow the same directions today that God gave through Moses over three thousand years ago. I don’t believe that the Bible supports that at all. Still, this reminds us that all conflict is fundamentally ideological. This is why Landes’s article is so helpful. He understands that the two sides differ in how they see the world. Additionally, Paley’s animation offers a more contemporary perspective that effectively skirts the real issues, while (hopefully unintentionally) insulting the people involved by belittling their concerns.

The Bible is God’s revelation of the way the world really is and calls us to make that truth known in the name of the Messiah. The players in the current conflict are caught up in this ideological battle, whether they know it or not. The only way we will ever find lasting resolutions to this and every other conflict is by gaining a better understanding of God’s perspective through his written Word.

Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version

For the week of July 4, 2026 / 19 Tammuz 5786

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Pinchas
Torah: B’midbar/Numbers 25:10 – 30:1 (English 25:10 – 29:40)
Haftarah: Jeremiah 1:1 – 2:3
Originally posted the week of July 26, 2008 / 23 Tammuz 5768 (updated)

Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 1:6-8)

A saying I have often heard is “You can do anything you want, as long as you set your mind to it.” However, this only works when it does; otherwise, it doesn’t. It seems to me the purpose of this saying is usually to motivate someone to do something they really want to do but fear they can’t. Fear is certainly an obstacle to accomplishing something, and difficult tasks require that we do our best to see them through to the end. But it is ridiculous to think that setting one’s mind on something is in itself a guarantee of success.

The prophet Jeremiah faced the difficult task of being God’s spokesman at a crucial time in the nation’s history. When God called him to this task, we don’t know if he understood the implications of his vocation, but what we do know is that he didn’t feel up to the job.

God’s response to him was not in the form of the kind of motivational speeches common in our day. God didn’t tell Jeremiah that if he would set his mind on being a prophet, he would be a prophet. Nor did God challenge him to visualize success and strive for greatness.

What God did do was first, he told him not to put himself down. Jeremiah felt that his youth somehow undermined his ability to accomplish the task at hand. This may sound like a “don’t be negative” pep talk, but it is deeper than that. It wasn’t as if a positive frame of mind would automatically enable him to do what God was calling him to do. It was simply that when God calls us to do something it doesn’t matter how old we are. Young people can be prophets too, if God so calls them.

Second, God said that Jeremiah would go where God would tell him to go and he would speak to those whom God would command him to speak. That may sound like, “You are going to do it, because you’re going to do it.” But that’s not really what God said to him. God said that Jeremiah would go where God sends him and speak what God commands. God determined that he would take charge of Jeremiah’s life, directing him and inspiring him. There is nothing we can’t do when God takes charge like that.

Third, God told him not to be afraid. But this wasn’t God just telling him to calm down as if he had no reason to be afraid. What God was telling him to do was truly intimidating. The reason Jeremiah was not to be afraid, was because God promised to personally take care of him.

God was not challenging Jeremiah to find power within himself to overcome the obstacles to his personal dream. Rather, because God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, God would also enable him to do it.

Whenever God calls us to do something, he enables us to do it. That doesn’t mean that everything God calls us to do will be easy as we see from the rest of Jeremiah’s life. Still, no matter how difficult a God-given task may be, we can do it.

Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version

For the week of June 27, 2026 / 12 Tammuz 5786

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Hukat-Balak
Torah: B’midbar/Numbers 19:1 – 25:9
Haftarah: Micah 5:6 – 6:8
Originally posted the week of June 27, 2015 / 10 Tammuz 5775 (updated)

Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” (B’midbar/Numbers 20:10-12)

Moses is one of the greatest people to have ever lived. It’s hard to believe that after trying so hard to avoid God’s call on his life, he successfully led his people out of Egypt and right up to the border of the Promised Land. Once he was on board, he remained faithful until the end of his life. He boldly confronted Pharaoh with God’s demand for the release of his people from slavery, even though he knew that Pharaoh could have imprisoned, tortured, or killed. He also faced severe criticism from his own people, both before and after the exodus, all the while settling their disputes. Moreover, he bore the burden of waiting upon God for direction step by step and was responsible for receiving and transmitting the Torah.

One of the remarkable things about the Bible is how it doesn’t gloss over the failings and foibles of its key characters, and Moses is no exception. Long before God spoke to him at the burning bush, he tried to stand up for his people with disastrous results, having murdered an Egyptian and then running away for fear of his life. There were also two other negative incidents that occurred during his leadership. Both appear to stem from uncontrolled anger. The first is when he came down Mt. Sinai and saw the people engaging in great immorality. He reacted by smashing the two tablets upon which were written the Ten Words (see Shemot/Exodus 32:15-20).

The other incident is recounted in this week’s parsha. It’s a confusing story about the people complaining about not having water. God instructs Moses to take his staff, but unlike the previous time a similar thing occurred (see Shemot/Exodus 17:1-7), he was not to strike the rock but rather speak to it. Why God specifically told him to take the staff, but not use it, we don’t know. It’s also difficult to discern what Moses did that was so wrong. What we have is God saying, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel” (B’midbar/Numbers 20:12), but note that God doesn’t say that the error was the striking of the rock. It could have been the way Moses talked to the people, by distancing himself from them and overly associating Aaron and himself with God. This might explain the reference to not upholding God as holy. Whatever he did precisely, he lost it. After decades of patiently putting up with the people, he lost it.

Moses lost control and let his anger get the better of him.  Note that I said his anger got the better of him. The emotion of anger is so misunderstood. Moses’ anger itself was not the problem; it was that he lost control of it. Moses had been in similar situations many times before. Whenever the people complained about something, he went to God; God told him what to do, and he did it. That we are not told how he felt doesn’t mean he had no feelings. In those forty years in the wilderness, there was so much to have feelings about—not good feelings, I am sure. That Moses might have felt angry at times is to be expected. But for the vast majority of those forty years, he controlled his anger. Not this time, however. This time, his loss of control cost him. It cost him the privilege of entering the Promised Land.

It’s too easy to dismiss the seriousness of this. When we look at all Moses accomplished, not entering the Land might seem like a small thing. He was probably going to die soon anyway. Readers of the New Covenant Writings might point out that he eventually made it in when he appeared to Yeshua along with Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration (see Matthew 17:1-8), but that misses the point.

Put yourself in Moses’s sandals. To go through all that he did and not be allowed to reach the God-ordained goal is devastating. If you don’t believe me that this is how Moses saw it, check out what he told the people later on – how he pleaded with God to permit him to even briefly enter the Land (see D’varim/Deuteronomy 23:26). Most of us would feel the same way. That is why it’s so important not to lose it. In the grand scheme of things, our loss of control may not completely undermine God’s plan for our lives, but it can cause considerable damage to ourselves and others.

Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version

For the week of June 20, 2026 / 5 Tammuz 5786

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Korach
Torah: B’midbar/Numbers 16:1 – 18:32
Haftarah: 2 Shmuel/2 Samuel 11:14 – 12:22

David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child who is born to you shall die” (2 Shmuel/ 2 Samuel 12:13-14)

The biblical story of David and Bathsheba is one of the most troubling, grievous, complex, and profound in the entire Bible. Within the overall biblical narrative, David plays a central role. No one else in Scripture is described as a man after God’s own heart (see 1 Shmuel/1 Samuel 13:14). It is David who is established as God’s model king, with whom other kings are compared. It is he who is the eternal reflection of the Messiah, known as “Ben David,” the son of David. It is his songs that serve as the core examples of godly prayer and worship for literally billions of people from his time until today.

And yet, it is this same man who takes advantage of his royal position to sexually violate a woman, resulting in pregnancy. Then, following his failed attempt to cover up the affair, he directs his general to create a situation whereby the husband, a most loyal member of David’s army, is placed in an extremely vulnerable situation, making his death in battle inevitable.

People seem to like to try to figure out the various factors that led to all this, including why David was hanging out in his palace at that time. Why was Bathsheba exposed like she was? But these questions miss the main point: what David did was horrible, which is why he was confronted by God through the prophet Natan/Nathan.

What happens next is astounding, given the abundance of immorality and deception that preceded it. David confesses his wrongdoing without qualification, saying to Natan: “I have sinned against the Lord.” But even more astounding is Natan’s response to David’s confession: “The Lord also has put away your sin”. I would suspect that people familiar with the Bible are very aware that the God of Israel is a forgiving God. Did he not reveal himself to Moses, saying he is a God, “forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Shemot/Exodus 34:7)? We must not miss the depth of such undeserved love that is available not only to David, but to us, by our Creator, the Master of the Universe.

Now, I know that a lot of biblically literate folks have the forgiveness thing down pat, not that we don’t need regular reminders or could ever plunge the depths of such a remarkable act of grace on God’s part.

At the same time, I wonder whether our understanding of God’s amazing forgiveness is missing something. Check out what Natan says next. In Hebrew, the very strong contrastive word “efes” is used, which is difficult to fully convey in English. It marks a very hard line between what is said before and what comes after, which explains why, among a great variety of English versions, two common translations are “nevertheless” and “however.” While both capture a sense of a change of direction in what is being said, they lack the sharpness of simply saying, as many translations do, “but.”

God forgives you, but? Does that bother you? Does that go against your certainty that faith in Yeshua completely obliterates in every way anything and everything you have ever done wrong? Do you think that faith in Yeshua provides you with the ultimate “get out of jail free card”? If so, you don’t understand biblically based forgiveness. You are actually missing the profound depth of God’s forgiveness as reflected in this story.

Biblical forgiveness is about establishing and maintaining a right relationship with God. For about a year, David was out of sorts with God, but once he confessed his wrong, he was forgiven. But God’s forgiveness doesn’t necessarily annul the consequences of our wrongs. Fines must be paid; restitution must be made; time must be served. Thankfully, God’s mercy may reduce the severity of the consequences but not necessarily annul them as it was in David’s case.

Tragically, we often confuse personal forgiveness with societal justice. If I wrong someone, it’s wonderful to maintain a good relationship by being personally forgiven by them, but that doesn’t get us off the hook for whatever we may be liable for due to our misdeeds. It’s the same with God. Because of all that Yeshua has done, we can be assured of his forgiveness, but there still may be consequences to deal with.

I know a person to whom someone confided that he had committed several acts of child abuse. After helping the confidant find forgiveness in God for his heinous acts, he lovingly walked him over to the police station to turn himself in.

“God forgives you, but” isn’t a way to say that God doesn’t really forgive you, but rather that God’s forgiveness is just the beginning of discovering the fullness of restoration God desires for us all.

Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version

For the week of June 13, 2026 / 28 Sivan 5786

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Shela Lekha
Torah: B’midbar / Numbers 13:1 – 15:41
Haftarah: Joshua 2:1-24
Originally posted the week of July 1, 2000/28 Sivan 5760 (updated)

Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” (B’midbar/Numbers 14:3)

Is it possible to believe in God and yet not really believe in him? That’s exactly what it was like for the vast majority of the people of Israel who came out of Egypt. These people had seen God act and heard him speak. Whether or not God existed and whether he was involved in their lives was not an issue for them. What they had difficulty with was whether he could do what he said he would do.

The same God who delivered the people from bondage in Egypt also planned to bring them into the Promised Land. But when the people heard the report of those who went ahead to scout out the Land, they lost heart. Ten out of the twelve scouts said, regarding the Land’s inhabitants: “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are” (B’midbar/Numbers 13:31). The people responded as follows:

And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” (B’midbar/Numbers 14:2-4).

Notice they didn’t doubt that God had brought them thus far. What they feared was that he could not take them any further. This just goes to show that experiencing the reality of God does not ensure that we will have faith. These people had experienced God far more than most of us ever will. Yet they couldn’t trust him for their current circumstances.

We see in this story that faith in God is not just about believing in his existence. These people may have accepted the concepts of the reality of God, that he is the Creator, and that he interacts with our lives. It looks like they even believed that he was in control of the situation. We can surmise this from their statement: “Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword?” Moses later quotes them as saying, “Because the LORD hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.” (D’varim/Deuteronomy 1:27). It appears that they thought that God was doing this to them out of spite or something. So we see that even though they believed in God, what they believed about God was all messed up.

I wonder how many of us have a belief in God that is messed up. Or there may be aspects of our faith that are messed up.

What was it that warped their view of God? It appears that what led them to begin thinking of God in the wrong terms was their overwhelming sense of the great opposition they faced. The scouts’ bad report was mostly true. Naturally speaking, the people of Israel had no chance of taking the Land. They couldn’t do it without supernatural assistance. But instead of focusing on God and who he really is, they were fixated on the difficult circumstances they faced.

Caleb and Joshua, who alone trusted God in spite of these circumstances, did so because what they knew of God was derived from God himself and not from the obstacles. It was not that they were out of touch with reality; they were just not going to allow anything to contradict what they already knew of God.

I suggest we take a good look at how we have allowed circumstances to shape our understanding of God rather than knowing him for who he really is.

Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version

For the week of June 6, 2026 / 21 Sivan 5786

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B’ha‘alotkha
Torah: B’midbar/Numbers 8:1 – 12:16
Haftarah: Zechariah 2:14 – 4:7 (English 2:10 – 4:7)
Originally posted the week of June 22, 2019 / 19 Sivan 5779 (Updated)

If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness. (B’midbar/Numbers 11:15)

Some time ago, I was chatting with a waitress at a restaurant about some weaknesses in the overall service there. It was exactly what I had read in an online review and thought she should know. She wholeheartedly agreed with me, but felt she could do little about it since she was new at her job. So, I suggested she pray. She looked at me funny for a moment. So I repeated myself, having no idea what she thought of the subject. I told her that praying was simply talking to God and that not only does he have infinite resources at his disposal, he is also generous. She made it clear to me that I gave her something to think about.

As believers in Yeshua, we know this (though I imagine some may want to discuss the theology of prayer and whether it is appropriate to describe prayer as I did to this stranger). Be that as it may, what I shared with her included an essential dynamic. I offered no formulas, and I didn’t tell her exactly what to say. I also gave no guarantee as to what God’s answer might be. All I did was encourage her to start the conversation. The conversation would be on a particular topic, in this case, helping her resolve a need she could not resolve on her own. Since right at the beginning I defined prayer as talking to God, the conversation had to start with her personally and purposely talking to him. There’s so much more we can say about prayer, of course, but without this dynamic, I don’t know if much of what we call prayer is actually prayer at all.

Moses knew how to pray. That he did is vividly illustrated in the brief verse I quoted from this week’s parsha (Torah reading portion). Moses found himself being a waiter extreme. The whole nation of Israel whined like children for food. He had seen God do so much, yet the pressure of the people’s demands had completely overwhelmed him. He was done, and he told God so in no uncertain terms. Talk about a prayer from the heart! Moses held nothing back and told God exactly what he thought and how he felt. Thankfully, however, answered prayer isn’t always about getting all the items on our list. It’s about God meaningfully engaging us in response to our requests and desires.

I don’t know about you, but the best way I can describe some of my prayers is muddled. Even though I set aside some time each day to pray, am I really praying? To be honest, it’s not too unusual for me to do some sort of combination of wondering, thinking, wishing, and muttering. I’ll catch myself daydreaming about who knows what before I realize what I am doing. At that point, I try to focus and really pray, which sometimes I do. When I do, it’s as if I shift from muddled to clear. I know who I am talking to and what I am trying to say.

This is why I remind myself what I encourage others to do: pray out loud. While I cannot discount all silent prayer, there is very little Scriptural basis for it. Even if there were, attempting to project thoughts to God from our heads is very difficult, if not impossible. How do we differentiate thinking from praying when attempting silent communication? Praying out loud reminds us that we are truly speaking to another being who is not us.

Many years ago, when I was in Bible college. I had a roommate from Africa. He would wake up before me and have a time with the Lord at his desk. I would hear him whispering in prayer. I thought he really believes he is talking to someone! That encouraged me to do the same.

Realizing we are truly talking to God makes all the difference. And that’s just the beginning. Unless we intentionally do so, then whatever else we may be doing, we are not praying. Why not start right now?

Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version

For the week of May 30, 2026 / 14 Sivan 5786

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Nasso
Torah: B’midbar/Numbers 4:21 – 7:89
Haftarah: Shoftim/Judges 13:2-25
Originally posted the week of June 3, 2023 / 14 Sivan 5783 (updated)

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” (B’midbar/Numbers 6:22-27)

It was three years ago, at the beginning of a special global initiative to pray for Israel. My wife and I, both Messianic Jews, were in a small prayer group (the others weren’t Jewish). We were praying for Israel. We have rarely been in the presence of such precious prayers. One of the people had it on his heart to pray the priestly blessing from B’midbar/Numbers chapter six, which I just read, over the Jewish people worldwide.

You may or may not be aware how common it is for Christian leaders to recite this blessing, usually at the end of a service, over their congregations. The words are wonderful. The sentiment is great. It is certainly a blessing! You might remember the musical rendition of these ancient words released around the beginning of COVID. It warmed my heart to hear God’s word through Moses sung over and over again in a multitude of languages by the peoples of the world, amidst the fear that had gripped so many.

Let me unpack why I was so touched by this blessing being prayed over our people that Sunday evening. First, in my experience, most people who call themselves Christians see themselves as the new or true Israel. Whatever their personal feelings toward Jewish people might be, there is a tendency to view us as having been God’s chosen people at one time, but with the coming of the Messiah, that identity was transferred to the community of Yeshua followers, the “Church” in other words. This idea is technically termed “supersessionism,” or more popularly “replacement theology.” Yet, even among those who claim to reject such an idea and accept God’s ongoing faithfulness to the Jewish people, there is still a tendency to directly apply elements of Scripture that are particularly given to the people of Israel to themselves. In many cases, this is legitimate, at least to some extent.

Let me explain. Through the Jewish Messiah, the peoples of the nations are offered the opportunity to have a personal relationship with the one true God, the God of Israel. While there are ongoing distinctives between Jews and Gentiles, the way that non-Jews learn the truth of God and life is via sacred writings that are fundamentally Jewish. All people, Jews and Gentiles, learn about trusting God through Abraham’s willingness to follow God into the unknown. We learn to pray by reading David’s psalms. We understand God’s faithfulness through his commitment to the people of Israel. And on it goes.

While it is, as I said, legitimate for non-Jews to apply scriptural truth to themselves, it is tragic that it is often done without ever acknowledging its original context or how it has come about that Jewish Scripture can become God’s Word for all, or the Jewish Messiah can be anyone’s Messiah. The result is the replacement theology I referred to, which regards the Church as the new or true Israel, even among those who deny such a concept.

With all this in mind, let’s return to the prayer group I mentioned. Against the backdrop of layers and layers of historic misrepresentation of and arrogance toward Jewish people, a most meaningful and powerful blessing which the Church has appropriated for two thousand years was being returned to its rightful place as this precious man prayed for God’s favor to once more be poured out upon Israel.

You might think, “So what?” What difference does such a sentiment make? It’s because this gesture functions as a symbol of what I believe is the general change of direction that must occur among our non-Jewish fellow Messiah followers. One day, we might finally reckon with the untold damage the Church has done both to the Jewish people and to itself for not heeding Paul’s words from Romans, chapter eleven, verse eighteen: “do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.”

It is time for the Church worldwide to recognize not only the primacy of Israel in God’s plans and purposes but also his ongoing faithfulness to the Jewish people, regardless of our spiritual condition throughout history until now. Great blessings have come to the Gentiles through not only the Jewish Messiah but also through the early Jewish believers who broke through incredible barriers to bring God’s blessings to the nations.

God’s heart of love and concern for the Jewish people has never changed. Therefore, let those among the nations who have been richly blessed by the God of Israel in the name of the Jewish Messiah rise up and declare to the people of Israel, “The Lord bless you and keep you!”

All scriptures, English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible

For the week of May 23, 2026 / 7 Sivan 5786

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Shavuot
Torah: D’varim/Deuteronomy 14:22 – 16:17
Haftarah: Habakkuk 3:1–19
Originally posted the week of May 30, 2009 / 7 Sivan 5769 (updated)

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. (Habakkuk 3:17-19)

When I first came to know the reality of God through the Messiah almost fifty years ago, it was pretty much me-centered. I had been told that if I believed in Yeshua, then I would be happy for the rest of my life. To be clear, there was much more to it than that at the time. The happiness promise may have been a hook, but the person who shared this with me powerfully demonstrated how the Jewish Bible pointed to Yeshua as the Messiah and clearly explained my need for forgiveness before God.

Thankfully, despite any misguided motives on my part, God indeed made himself known to me. Don’t get me wrong. It is not as if knowing God has no personal benefit. It’s that knowing him is not primarily about me, my personal needs, and my happiness. That’s not to say that I haven’t experienced a happiness I never dreamed possible, not to mention peace and security in the midst of great difficulty.

The depth of reality that comes from truly knowing the God of Israel is vividly expressed in the words I read from this week’s Haftarah (weekly reading portion from the Hebrew Prophets). It is striking that this portion is a special reading for the festival of Shavuot (English: Pentecost or Weeks; beginning this year, Friday evening, May 22). Shavuot is a harvest festival, a time to rejoice over God’s provision. But Habakkuk says that he will rejoice in God even when the harvest produces nothing. This is a most difficult concept if we think, as I originally did, that following God is all about what we get out of it.

Habakkuk’s words remind me of the Jewish men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who, while in exile in Babylon, faced the possibility of excruciating death due to their unwillingness to commit idolatry. Just before being thrown into the fiery furnace, they said to the king of Babylon, “…our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:17–18).

This kind of understanding of God and life goes far beyond self, our personal welfare, comfort, and prosperity. These men knew that there is a reality of life that comes from knowing God, far deeper than what many of us normally experience.

Habukkuk could rejoice in God even in the face of starvation. His strength and ability to face dire circumstances were not based on normal material prosperity but in God himself. This is no abstract spirituality detached from the realities of life, but a strength that enables us to live life amidst enormous challenges.

To begin to grasp the depths of this reality, we need to turn away from our obsession with self and our desire to please self. It’s as we submit ourselves to God and his will for our lives, whatever that may be, that we can find a joy and a strength beyond our wildest dreams.

All scriptures, English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible

For the week of May 16, 2026 / 29 Iyar 5786

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B’midbar
Torah: B’midbar/Numbers 1:1 – 4:20
Haftarah: 1 Samuel 20:18–42
Originally posted the week of May 24, 2014 / 24 Iyar 5774 (revised)

But they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die. (B’midbar/Numbers 4:20)

A friend once asked me how we can reconcile what appear to be two very different depictions of God in the Bible. He had just read the incident in the Torah where a man was executed for gathering sticks on Shabbat (see B’midbar/Numbers 15:32-36). To my friend, the God who would mete out such a harsh consequence for a seemingly insignificant act is contrary to the God revealed to us through Yeshua. How could the one who tenderly embraced children (see Mark 10:13-16) and called the weary to find rest in him (see Matthew 11:28-30) tolerate capital punishment for carrying sticks?

This is the age-old false dichotomy that claims the Bible portrays two different gods: The god of the Hebrew Bible being a god of wrath and judgment; the god of the New Covenant Writings, a god of love and mercy (I am using a lowercase “g” for “god” here because I am referring to false gods who don’t exist). While my friend didn’t accept such a two-god theory, the difficulty he was having is all too common.

The God of the Bible is a complex being. Throughout Scripture, he is revealed to us as a God of love and mercy, of wrath and judgment. He who cursed the world due to sin immediately determined to rescue it. In his dealings with human beings, his heart’s longing for restoration and relationship pours forth from the Bible’s pages. Yet his intense intolerance of evil, both its source and its outworkings are clear. God longs for his goodness to be experienced by his beloved creatures, but will in no way lightly put up with wrongdoing. The tension between God’s determination to rescue his beloved creatures and the necessity to judge evil is found throughout. The Gospels’ portrayal of God, as demonstrated through Yeshua’s actions and teachings, is consistent with this. Yeshua, who can be so tender and welcoming, is also at times severely confrontational. Contrary to some people’s perceptions, he didn’t reserve his harsher statements for religious leaders alone; he had some pretty hard things to say to his followers as well. In the book of Acts, we read of the early experiences of the messianic community following Yeshua’s return to heaven after his resurrection. God’s plan of salvation is in full swing, yet in one case, we see a married couple struck dead due to their deceit (see Acts 5:1-11) and, in another, a man struck blind for opposing the preaching of the Gospel (see Acts 13:6-12).

So, we shouldn’t be surprised when we read in this week’s parsha (English: Torah reading portion) the dire warning given to the Kohathites, one of the Levitical clans. They were responsible for the transportation of the sacred furniture of the Mishkan (English: Tabernacle). While they were to carry these items, if by any chance they looked at them, they’d die.

While, as I have tried to explain, harsh consequences for trespassing a God-given directive are found throughout Scripture, we may still have trouble with God treating people this way. Why is he so harsh at times? That he might punish the wicked, we may be okay with, but this kind of thing? That he has rules regarding the holy items, no problem. His property, his rules; but death? And just for looking? Even by accident?

The truth is, God is dangerous. I know we’d rather not think like that. We would rather stick with the image of Yeshua and the children. But when we insist on solely focusing on one aspect of God’s character, no matter how true and wonderful it might be, we turn him into a caricature, perverting the reality of his complexity into an idol of our own making.

God is dangerous because he is the most powerful being in the entire universe. Have you ever seen one of those high-voltage signs that are common around power stations-the signs with the lightning bolt and the falling man? The Mishkan should have had one of those signs. Every synagogue and church should have one too. Bible covers as well.

The God who forbade the Kohathites from looking at the holy articles hasn’t changed. He is still dangerous. We still can’t approach him on our terms without risking death. But he has made a way. Through the forgiveness available to all who put their trust in Yeshua, we can approach God in a way the Kohathites could not. Still, as we approach the dangerous, all-powerful God, let’s remember who it is we are dealing with.

All scriptures, English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible