Darash Chai - Seek Life!

What is the Law? What is the Torah? How are we to view the instructions that are presented in the Bible? How did Ancient people view the instructions of the Bible? The Torah is not what most of us think it to be. That is a bold claim, but the Bible backs this claim. For many of us, the Torah is a Law. A legal code that defines life. For others the Torah is wisdom literature. Simply a list of wise principles but in no way binding. But if we read scripture neither claim can be the whole truth. And so, just as always, we must consider what the Bible has to say about itself before we can arrive at some semblance of the truth.

The word covenant is thrown around a lot in relation to the Bible. But in the Torah there are two primary types of covenant used to describe the relationship between YHVH and His people. One is a covenant that existed between kings. That is not this covenant. The other is a covenant of shared intimacy. A covenant of marriage that bound two parties together, and put then in a mutually supportive roles towards each other. Beginning in Exodus 19, the language of Exodus takes becomes saturated with this type of language. A covenant of marriage. Between God and man. What can this possibly mean for us?

At the base of Mt. Sinai Moses receives a gift. His bride and children return to him from their place in Midian. Along with them comes his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. But Moses is not able to enjoy time with his newly returned family because he is occupied with responsibility. And so counsel is given on how to address this situation. But, who is Jethro? What do we know about him? Where does his advice originate from? And the most important question, what is the point of this story? Is it just a story about how to organize a community, or is there something more happening just beneath the surface?

Throughout Scripture the events at Massah and Meribah are used as a byword to describe a faithless people. But as we examine this story in the context of those around it, we find that this story does not stand on its own. Faithless Israel is a repeated theme throughout the pages of the Bible. But these stories are told for a purpose. They are told to increase our own faith. These stories become pointers to something greater. Something that we can each discover in our own lives if we look hard enough. And as we will discover, it is these stories that provide our greatest weapon in times of uncertainty.

There are times in our lives when God asks difficult things of us. When He asks us to trust Him implicitly. When the path forward doesn't make sense to our mortal minds. These occasions are especially hard when we find ourselves in one of life's wildernesses. The question comes at these times. Can you trust the Plan? Can you trust the path that God has you on? Can you trust God?

There is not another story in all of literature that is recounted more than the crossing of the Red Sea. It has been recounted for millennia, it has been the subject of countless movies and books. We are all familiar with the story. And that might be a problem. Are we so familiar with the story that we have lost sight of the text? Because there is something amazing that is occurring in the text of this story when we pay close attention to the text.

In the midst of this epic story about the escape of Israel from the clutches of their Egyptian Overlords, comes a curious example of two instructions that break up the flow of the story. Why are these instructions, one or the festival of unleavened bread and the other for the sanctification of the firstborn, inserted here? What can we learn from these commands that means anything at all for us today?

At the Passover, all of Israel was saved out of Egypt and led into the wilderness. But if we examine the text we discover that "All Israel" includes some who were not blood sons of Abraham. A "Mixed Multitude" left Egypt alongside those that the world considered Israel. But the division of who is part of Israel and who is not does not stop here. The text defines for us where that line lays for future generations.

We often hear about what it cost God to redeem mankind. The cost in blood and mortal existence. But there is another cost to redemption that we don't often acknowledge. The cost of personal sacrifice. But what all does that entail, this personal sacrifice?

We often hear that God loves everyone. That all mankind are His children and that He cares for us all as a loving father. But just how accurate is this idea Biblically? The idea that God loves ALL people? If there is one thing that the plagues of Egypt teach us, it is that there are those who will fall under God's judgment and those whom He will protect from Judgment. We already looked at the fact that God creates some for the purpose of demonstrating His justice. Let's take that idea one step further.

If there is one thing that we can count on to be revealed in the plagues on Egypt it is that these acts of God are in judgment. But is it simply judgment of the people, or is there a greater judgment going on? And if this is judgment, then when was the trial? Perhaps, if we look at the plagues in a certain light, we can catch a glimpse of the trial occurring in the course of the plagues. So join us as we consider the trial of the ages. The people of Israel vs. the People of Egypt.

The plagues of Egypt is one of the most iconic sequences in all of scripture. This series of judgments on the actions of Pharaoh and the people of the Egypt. But the plagues teach us a lot more about God than simply being acts of judgment. This week we begin a three part series on what these plagues reveal about the God of Israel on various levels.

We all want to hear from God. We cry out, "God, where are you?" and when we hear nothing we can become despondent. But the fact is that when God does talk to His people, the message is rarely one that is easy to hear. Especially when the messenger looks nothing like you expect.

Throughout Scripture we read of men who were the chosen vessel to accomplish part of God's plan. Men like Moses, David, Jeremiah, Paul and more. These are men who were chosen to be vessels for honor. But when we consider this topic, we gloss over that there were more men chosen in Scripture than these. Men chosen as Vessels for destruction.

In the Bible we are told to speak the name of God. We are to call upon His name and to not take His name in vain. The Name of God is something that has a lot of importance connected to it throughout scripture. But what is that name? Is it something that can be pronounced, or is it something more than that?

When we come to the book of Exouds, we read the name "Exodus" and so that is what we expect to find in this book, and we are not disappointed. But when we examine the entirety of the book, the events of the Exodus end in chapter 20. And yet there are 20 more chapters after this point. The exodus is only half of this story. Is there something more? A greater topic in play in this book?

As we close out the book of Genesis, one idea is readdressed. The concepts of Good and Evil. And if we look at scripture as a whole, we may discover that we have some ideas about God and about good that are not quite accurate. What does it mean to know good and evil and to live our lives according to these definitions?

Here at the end of the story of Genesis Jacob is near death. His life has been blessed and he has lived 17 years in the land of plenty. But upon his deathbed he calls all of his sons before him and does something unexpected to everyone. First an adoption. Then a blessing. Many blessings in fact. What can we pull from this without getting distracted?

What do the stages of grief have to do with Christmas? How can going through a significant life change cause a person to jump to conclusions and hurt those closest to them? Is it possible that a lie has been perpetrated on the people of God, and that both sides of the Christmas debate suffer from this lie? To discover the truth, we must go to the sources.

Unity has been achieved. The family of Jacob is reunited once again and finally, Jacob has found peace. His lost son has been returned, he has been granted security, not just physically, but financially, and all is well! But the famine still rages around them. The rest of the world is not yet safe. There is a transaction that must take place. The cost? Your life.