Chag Shavuot Sameach (Joyful Feast of Weeks/Pentecost),
Words!
The month of June is all about WORDS, especially God’s words—the “Ten Words” or “Ten Commandments.” Words are powerful. The Hebrew word for word is d’var דבר (deh-VAHR). The plural is d’varim דברים (deh-vahr-EEM). D’varim can also mean “things,” as if words have physical substance. For example, when God entered into covenant with Abram, we see the word d’var used for the first time in the Holy Scriptures: “After these things (had’varim) the word (d’var) of the LORD came to Abram in a vision saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward” (Gen. 15:1).
The Lash family has always been immersed in words. Neil had a huge vocabulary, so our sons always wanted him on their team when we played Scrabble. Our son Jonathan was on the radio singing God Bless America when he was two. Jesse admonished me for using “girl speak” when he was about eight years old. At our Passover seder this year, our friend Mark was trying to explain gefilte fish to my grandson Liam who, at age seven, loves words. He said, “Oh, it’s Jewish sushi.”
Not long ago, at a temple prayer meeting, we were encouraged to ask the Lord how we should pray for someone. I asked God how I should pray for Jonathan, now a pastor of a congregation. The thought came to me to pray for Jonathan to have “perspicacity.” What? I couldn’t wait to get home
to Google that word—if indeed it was a word. It is! Perspicacity means “the quality of having ready insight into things, perceptiveness, discernment, keen intelligence, and spiritual acumen.” I smiled, looked up, and said: “Lord, You have such a great vocabulary!” I’m sure He laughed. Yeshua is, after all, THE WORD. The Lashes love words, especially the WORD of God.
From Passover to Pentecost
When the rabbis calculated the time between the exodus from Egypt and the arrival of the Israelites at Mt. Sinai, there were fifty days. That meant that the Torah was given on the Jewish feast day that occurs fifty days after Passover called Shavuot (Hebrew for weeks), seven weeks plus one day. God said, “Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord” (Lev. 23:16). This counting is a practice still followed today by both traditional and Messianic Jews. It is called “counting the omer.” The omer was an ancient biblical unit of dry measure for grains, a “sheaf.” It has symbolically taken on the meaning of counting the days, from the redemption until the giving of the Law, in anticipation of another moed (moh-EHD)—appointment with God. Shavuot is also known as an atzeret, עצרת (ah-TSEH-reht), the completion of Passover. Why? Because Israel was not truly free until a formerly enslaved people received God’s instructions for living, by embracing His Torah. (This reminds me of John 8:32, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”)
God’s Word sets men free. Each day of counting the omer, many Jewish people read a portion of Psalm 119, an acrostic poem about the WORD OF GOD. They focus on His Word as they prepare to celebrate the Giving of His Torah at Mt. Sinai. The emphasis is on transforming words into concrete, personal changes. Some of my favorite Bible verses are found in Psalm 119: “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law” (v.18). “I will run the course of Your commandments, for You shall
enlarge my heart” (v.32). “This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life” (v.50).
The Ten Words
The Ten Commandments were given to Israel—and the world—at Shavuot. They are also re- referred to as the “Ten Words,” even though they include more than ten words. They are ten utterances that formed, for centuries, the moral foundations of Western civilization, including the United States
of America. The Ten Words are known in Greek as the “Decalogue,” deka being the Greek word for “ten” and logos for “word.” In Hebrew: עשרת הדבים aseret ha d’varim (ah-SEH-reht ha-deh-vahr- EEM), literally “Ten Words.” When the Lord had finished giving His words to Moses, He said, “…’Write
these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.’ So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments” (Ex. 34:27-28). Then Moses came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand.
Why “10” Words? The number ten in Scripture signifies the perfection of Divine order, the completeness of order, the entire round of anything. Nothing is wanting. The number and order are perfect. Perhaps this is why, over the centuries, the Ten Commandments have been called “The Perfect Ten.” A thought came to me about our fingers. We have ten. God used one finger to write the Perfect Ten: “And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God” (Ex. 31:18). What if our ten fingers are meant to help us remember what God gave us with His one powerful finger?
God’s Words have stood the test of time. A fragment of a scroll containing the Ten Commandments was found in Cave #4 near the Qumran ruins in the Judean Desert in Israel. The scrolls had been there, preserved for over 2,000 years in darkness and the dry desert air (from a display at the Israel Museum in May 2015). These Ten Words were the only part of God’s revelation to Moses at Mt. Sinai given in the direct hearing of the people. “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven'” (Ex. 20:22).
The editors of ArtScroll Mesorah Series on the Ten Words note that in all the commandments, God addresses Israel in the second person singular form, as if He were speaking to only one individual. “This usage teaches every Jew to feel: ‘The Ten Commandments and the entire Torah were addressed directly to me’…” A beautiful statement on the personal nature of God’s Words was made by a Messianic believer, Joseph Defina, in torahbytes.org (1/25/16): “Israel was to obey God’s commands on the basis of their having been rescued from Egypt, something which no other nation can claim. Note that Israel’s salvation and relationship to God were established by God first before He gave them directions to live by. Biblical morality was never intended to be a pathway to God, but rather a response of God’s people to His love and faithfulness.” SELAH. Neil would love that—relationship, then action.
Kissed by God
The words given by God at Mt. Sinai were words of covenant and faithfulness, given by a God who had purchased a people (a wife) for Himself (see Psalm 74:2). What the ancient rabbis said happened at that time has become the foundation of my life in Yeshua. What was it? They said that
when God gave His Word to His people, it was as if He was face to face with them, panim el panim, (פנים אל פנים). He was, in fact, KISSING THEM, speaking intimately with them. This led me to some- thing that both Moses and Yeshua said, “…’Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word [kiss]
that proceeds from the mouth of God'” (Matt. 4:4; see also Deut. 8:3). My conclusion: we are to live by the kisses of God’s mouth—His Word spoken to us. Our Messiah promised us that this is not only possible, but necessary: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (Jn. 10:27). This understanding birthed two books, A Kiss a Day and Kiss Me Again. The Final Kiss has yet to be birthed, since I am trying to finish writing another book first, The Making of a Shell Lady—my God- stories over the years. Prayer is appreciated for help in transcribing and editing. I am trying to “redeem the time” (Eph. 5:15-16).
The Perfect Ten (Paraphrased)
- You shall have no other gods before Me
- You shall not worship idols
- You shall not take God’s Name in vain
- Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy
- Honor your father and mother
- You shall not murder
- You shall not commit adultery
- You shall not steal
- You shall not bear false witness
- You shall not covet
The God of Israel revealed not only His character in the Perfect Ten, but what things are against His character and His will. In other words, He defined SIN. Romans 3:20 states clearly that, “…by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Danny Shelton and Shelley Quinn express the sin/morality issue as it relates to the Ten Commandments in their book Ten Commandments Twice Removed: “Sin must be defined for us to recognize we’re trapped in a snare. God gave us a clear definition of sin in His Ten Commandments. Without this, people can’t recognize their pitiful condition or their need for a Savior. Where there is no moral law, there is no law of decency to break. People are free to function without restraints.” The authors also emphasize the dangerous consequences of rejecting God’s righteous standards: “But where there is no recognition of sin, there is no repentance and no forgiveness. People separated from God are without hope, and hopeless people become harmful people. Desperation breeds dangerous behavior.”
Rabbi Saul (Paul) also explains that the Law is the means by which we know what sin is. He writes in Romans 7:7, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.'” Sin is lawlessness. It is breaking God’s Law. It is rejecting His Perfect Ten. It is what we are seeing in our society today—most recently on college campuses in the U.S. and throughout the world.
The Ten Commandments Today
We are living in the days of Matthew 24:12 where lawlessness abounds at the end of the age (the acharit hayamim). The Law of God, including the Ten Commandments, is spurned. Posting the Ten Commandments on classroom walls was common in American schools before the Supreme Court decision of 1980 declared the practice unconstitutional. Now we have idolatry. Cruelty. Violent crime. Adultery. Disrespect for parents and authority in general. Blasphemy. Lack of love. What about bearing false witness (Commandment #9)? This means to knowingly state as fact that which is untrue, to begin or perpetuate a rumor by lying about a person, thing, or event. WOW. That applies to
all the lies being told about Israel, about the war in Gaza, about babies in the womb, about our nation and its beginnings, about believers who are taking a stand for the truth and much more. So many lies. We must always remember that we are in a war for the truth. God’s WORD is the truth, but His enemy, HaSatan, is a liar and the father of lying. Yeshua made that clear: “…He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (Jn. 8:44).
While lying and bearing false witness is an obvious present-day breaking of Commandment #9, Commandment #1, in my opinion, is the deeper source of today’s spiritual conflict. Who is the one, true God, and does He have the right to rule over us? Commandment #1: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ‘You shall have no other gods before Me'” (Ex. 20:2-3). Clearly, this God is a God who had made a covenant with a people—the Jewish people. He saved them. He bought them. He promised them a land and a future. But is He THE SUPREME GOD? Is He the Creator? Yes, He is, and the Bible is the true account of this God, His choosing of a people, and His interaction with mankind. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Great I AM, the Sovereign God, who loved the world so much that He sent His only Son here to die for everyone. This God has an age-old enemy, the devil (or Satan).
We are in the midst of an end-time battle: God vs. Satan. Good vs. evil. God’s truth vs. Satan’s
lies. For example, abortion is “murder” but the world, prey to Satan’s lies, calls it “choice.” Thus, Commandment #6 is violated thousands of times daily. God invented marriage, therefore He has the right to define what it is or is not. Human reasoning, man’s opinion, has become an idol (Commandment #2) and has redefined marriage. God chose a people for Himself who have been caught in the middle of the God/Satan battle. Why the Jews, so many ask? Because God chose them. Because the Jews gave the world the Messiah. Because the Jews still have a role to play in His second coming. Because God keeps His covenants.
The battle taking place in the Middle East this month is not just about Israel. It is about Commandment #1. Israel’s God is the One True God. Since 1979, the Shia theocracy in Iran has called Israel “the little satan.” The U.S.A. is called “the great satan.” Why? Because both are considered “heretics” based on our mutual belief in the God of the Perfect Ten who made eternal promises to the House of Israel.
The two enemies engaged in war in 2024 are not nations, but spiritual forces: the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob vs. the god of radical Islam. When Jews are killed in bombings today, the shout that resounds is “Allahu akbar (God is great!).” This is the cry of those engaged in Jihad—radical Islam’s holy war against non-Muslims, who are all considered infidels. According to numerous sources, millions of dollars from those with a radical agenda have flowed into our universities, helping to brainwash our students with lies, not only about Israel and the Jews but about our country as well. American as well as Israeli flags have been burned in recent protests!
Even brilliant scholars from our most prestigious universities (founded originally to train ministers of the Gospel), have succumbed to baseless hatred, violence, and the devil’s lies. Somehow they don’t realize that to be pro-Hamas is to be pro-evil. (“Abba, please strengthen and anoint believers, Your children on our college campuses, to take a stand for the truth of Your Word. Give them favor and success in winning souls for Yeshua. Expose the lies of HaSatan and conquer darkness with Your Light.”)
The God of the Bible is the Eternal God whose glory will one day illuminate the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:22-23). He will be victorious over every false god.
Yeshua and the Ten Commandments
Rabbinic writings before the time of Yeshua refer to a new Torah that is related to the Torah given at Sinai but different in some respects. King Messiah would one day give His people this new Torah. That is exactly what Yeshua the Messiah did. As the initiator of the B’rit Hadashah, the New Covenant, He made it possible for the Torah to move from the outside (on tablets of stone) to the inside (the human heart). (See Jeremiah 31:31-34.) In that sense it was “new.” Yeshua said, “‘Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill'” (Matt. 5:17). “‘You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment'” (Matt. 5:21-22a). This is Commandment #6 elevated to a deeper, heart level. Another one: “‘You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart'” (Matt. 5:27-28). Yeshua not only did not do away with Commandment #7, He elevated it to a much more spiritually demanding level.
Finally, Yeshua condensed Commandments 1-5 and 6-10 into two great commandments which, if followed today, would result in what is known as tikkun olam, the repairing of the world: “Yeshua said to him, ”You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself'” (Matt. 22:37-39).
Love is the perfect fulfillment of the Perfect Ten,
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