Our Father 2: Language and Title

As we turn our attention to the words of the Our Father, keep in mind that the tradition of the time was to pray in Hebrew—“the holy language.” Both prayers and parables were always said in Hebrew, even if day-to-day language was in Aramaic. As Matthew (6:9-13) records it, Yeshua (Jesus) said,

Pray then like this:  “Our Father in heaven,  hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come,  your will be done,  on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread,  and forgive us our debts,  as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation,  but deliver us from evil.”

Ancient Jewish tradition names a prayer or reading from its first word or two it contains. Thus, the Lord’s prayer is often suitably called the Our Father, or Avinu (one word in Hebrew). It’s not uncommon to find this word in Jewish literature, e.g. Avinu Malkaynu (our Father, our King) or Avinu Shebashamayim (Our Father who is in Heaven). Its usage continues even in our day. In fact, the same address was used in 1948 by Rabbi Isaac Hertzog when he composed a prayer for the new state of Israel. It starts like this:

“Our Father, who is in Heaven,
Rock of Israel and his Redeemer,
bless the State of Israel,
the first flowering of our redemption.”

Our Father 1: How and how not to pray

As we approach a study on prayer, we should consider Matthew's approach to the Our Father (or the Lord's Prayer): he first recorded some of Yeshua's instructions on prayer, including both negative mitzvot and positive mitzvot. We read them in Matthew 6:5-8:

And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, in order that they may be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full! But whenever you pray, enter into your inner room and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. But when you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the pagans, for they think that because of their many words they will be heard. Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Who are the hypocrites?

The Greek word used in Matthew 6 is hypokrites. To some extent it is what linguists call a “false friend;” we should not presume to know what it means because of the similar word, hypocrite, in English—even though it derives from the Greek hypokrites! In modern English, “hypocrite” indicates a person who tells others how to behave and live rightly, but does not do so himself. In the first century, the word primarily denoted a pretender, an actor or stageplayer: someone who puts on a performance by faking particular behaviour.

We see this in Matthew 6:2, where the hypocrites make a public fanfare of their giving; in Matthew 6:5, where they stand in prominent places (both in houses of worship and on street corners) to pray where they can be noticed; and in Matthew 6:16, where they deliberately look somber and  unkept to show they are fasting. It’s all an act! Even if they are giving, praying and fasting, they are doing it for human recognition, not to magnify the Father in heaven.

How should we pray?

We should pray:

1. Not like hypocrites—like actors, “in order that they may be seen by people.”
2. In private—in secret! (This does not prohibit public, communal prayer, as the Bible clearly demonstrates. However, private prayer is commanded.)
3. Without repetitious babbling (like the pagans)—“because your Father knows your needs before you ask.”

Book review: Converging Destinies

Earlier this year, Stuart Dauermann published Converging Destinies: Jews, Christians, and the Mission of God. I reviewed it in Conspectus 24 and came to this conclusion:

Converging Destinies is a stimulating read and a valuable addition to several fields, including missiology, Jewish-Christian relations, postsupersessionism and Messianic Judaism. Dauermann prompts theological thought and praxis in his own idiosyncratic way, and he deserves to be read by the Evangelical audience targeted by this journal. Though the book has its flaws, they do not detract from the validity of the message itself—the convergence of Jews and Christians in the mission of God. May it come speedily and soon, and in our day!

Click this link to download the full review from SATS.

Kiddush: Sanctification of Shabbat

Every erev Shabbat (Sabbath eve) is sanctified (made holy) with the recital of kiddush (sanctification): a piece of liturgy that includes a few verses of B'resheet; a blessing recited over the wine; and a blessing for Israel's sanctification, inheritance of Shabbat, and election (chosenness).

Traditionally, the biblical quote often includes B'resheet/Genesis 1:31b-2:3. The narrative tells of the original Shabbat observed by HaShem upon completion of creation. At this point of the text, the creator is still anonymous; he is simply referred to as Elohim (God). The quote says that God shavat (he rested) from his work of creation. In Hebrew, the letter v is the same as the letter b, so it is easy to see that the word Shabbat is related to shavat. It was on account of this rest that God "blessed the seventh day and made it holy"—the first time anything (or anyone) in the Bible is referred to as holy.

Rosh chodesh: New moon

Rosh chodesh means new moon (lit. beginning of the month). Isaiah 66:23:

“Every month on Rosh-Hodesh and every week on Shabbat, everyone living will come to worship in my presence,” says Adonai.

In Colossians 2:16-17, Sha’ul/Paul wrote,

“So don’t let anyone pass judgment on you in connection with eating and drinking, or in regard to a Jewish festival or Rosh-Hodesh or Shabbat. These are a shadow of things that are coming, but the body is of the Messiah.”

Key texts used to interpret this in Christian tradition are Isa 1:13-14 (with no regard for the context) and Gal 4:10 (which speaks of the Galatians’ former pagan practices). So, participation in rosh chodesh is widely viewed by Christians as wicked. But Sha’ul was warning his readers about asceticism; see Col 2:20-23. Ascetic disciplines have no value in restraining indulgence of the flesh (Col 2:16-17; also see 1 Tim 4:1-9). Does Sha’ul’s instruction in Col 2:16 suggest his readers were or were not engaging in these things? They were! What does the Torah prohibit on rosh chodesh? Nothing!

A shadow leads us to the body that casts it—the body of Messiah. As shadow helps us to picture what the body is like, the festivals help us to foresee the age of Messiah. Shadows don’t fill in the details of depth, colour and texture; festivals are just a foretaste of the “things that are coming”. Things that have not come yet! What things? The Messianic era!

Gen 1:14 tells us that God made the sun and the moon for the purpose of setting up a calendar for signs and appointed times (mo’edim). Similarly, Ps 104:19 says, “You made the moon to mark the mo’edim.” Signs for what? Times appointed for what?

The Bible and Apocrypha present people who celebrated rosh chodesh as righteous (e.g. the anonymous woman from Shunem and Judith). Those who despise rosh chodesh are presented in Amos 8 as wicked. Worse are those who do evil but superficially observe Shabbat and rosh chodesh just to make a good impression (Isa 1). But worst of all are those who seek to annul the mitzvot altogether and to prohibit others from keeping them (1 Maccabees).

Now that there is no temple, Jews may not offer animal sacrifices; they can only offer t'fillim/t’fillin: prayers in place/remembrance of the offerings. Messianic Jews and Messianic Gentiles can participate in Jewish customs regarding rosh chodesh, and even develop new ones.

When the temple is rebuilt, offerings for rosh chodesh will continue (Eze 45:17). The Prince of Israel—Yeshua—and all the people of the land will give special devotion to HaShem each rosh chodesh (Eze 46:1-3).

Why observe rosh chodesh now?

1.    Eze 45:17 tells us that the offerings atone for the house of Israel.

2.    In observing rosh chodesh, we celebrate God’s covenant faithfulness to Israel—see Jer 31:35-36.

3.    Rosh chodesh speaks of the renewal! Isa 66:22-23 speaks first of the renewal of creation (tikkun olam), and then worldwide observance of rosh chodesh and Shabbat. Peter stated explicitly that Messiah’s return will bring about the renewal, (Acts 3:21).

Usually, Col 2:16 is read backwards, as though the Colossians were being judged for abstaining from the festivals, Shabbat and rosh chodesh. But Sha’ul’s wording implies the opposite: believers were being judged for keeping these practices. Sha’ul forbad such judgement; non-Jews are free to participate in them. They are a shadow of what has not come yet! Though the reality is Christ, Sh’aul does not say they are obsolete; they point to a future fulfilment. The Bible presents those who keep rosh chodesh rightly as righteous, and provides good reason to celebrate it—including eager anticipation of Messiah’s return to renew all things.

The Way of Life (approbation)

In The Way of Life, Toby Janicki has authored a unique commentary on the Didache. Like the Didache itself, The Way of Life is written primarily for Messianic Gentiles and focuses on the practical application of Torah in their everyday lives. The Way of Life expounds the Didache’s instructions on how to demonstrate one’s love for Yeshua by keeping his commandments. The book is packed with precious gems selected from the recent surge in Didache studies as well as ancient Jewish sources and early Christian history, yet Janicki excels at making this academic material accessible for all practitioners of the faith. Moreover, the bulk of the book is commentary, much like a comprehensive study Bible. And Janicki looks beyond the Greek text of the Didache, relating key terms to the Hebrew words and concepts from which they were probably derived.

I found myself eagerly skipping ahead to problematic verses, seeking an explanation. What does water temperature matter for baptism? What is “the whole yoke of the Lord”? Why are some weekdays preferred to others for fasting? Why should believers offer ransom for their sins, since Yeshua has already done so? Why is the blessing for the wine given before that for the bread? What is “the day of the Lord”? Janicki has expertly provided answers to all these questions, and countless others, in The Way of Life.

I expect this book is going to reach many people who would never otherwise have read the Didache, and change their lives forever. I strongly recommend it for all Christians wanting a deeper grounding of their faith, and especially for Evangelicals pondering the Jewish Roots movement. Certainly every seminarian should read it. It’s also essential reading for informal churches in the developing world, where the instruction of Chapter 11 (on teachers, emissaries and prophets) is desperately needed to protect them from false apostles, teachers and prophets.

The Way of Life is beautifully formatted, with helpful navigational aids in the margins of the commentary sections. Each chapter has a convenient overview, a thoughtful section on practical application, and a detailed commentary.

(Published in Messiah Journal 127, 2017.)

Prayer for the removal of the Wittenberg Judensau

Father in Heaven,

You created people of every nation, and set Israel apart from all other nations for your purpose of world redemption. From Israel, you brought forth Jesus the Messiah for the salvation of all, Jew and Gentile, who entrust themselves to him. He is our shalom, having removed the hostility between us and united us in himself.

Therefore, we call upon you, O God, to bring about the removal of the Judensau in Wittenberg, and others like it in Europe, by the hand of Protestant Christians as an act of repentance. We ask for forgiveness for the severe offence which the Protestant church has committed in the name of Christ against the Jewish people. As belonging to Messiah, we are humbly grateful to be counted as descendants of Abraham, and we sincerely pray for reconciliation with the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: the Jewish people, whose divine election is irrevocable and who have yet a particular, noble purpose to fulfil in the age to come.

Blessed are you, O LORD our God, who reconciles Israel and the nations in Jesus the Messiah.

Amen

(Originally written on 11 January 2017 and shared on a petition to remove the Wittenberg Judensau; updated post here.)