The Long Drive Home

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I work far away from home.  70 miles roundtrip.  50 minutes each way.  At least to me this is a long drive to work. Driving home after a 12 hour night shift (7p-7a) can be a challenge.  The purr of the engine, warmth of the heater, and tiredness of the middle-aged body tends to lead to sleepiness.  I have veered off the road more times than I like to admit.  Fortunately, I have a companion that makes the trip with me every time.  His name is Nano . . .Ipod for short.  This trusty companion holds a valuable key to keeping me alert on the long drive home . . .concentration.  You see, my playlist is full of mp3 teachings from a Messianic perspective, which I have found online (and for free).  I’m likely the only person in the universe who has nothing but bible teachings/lectures on my ipod, not even one song. . .I know . .. I’m weird.   But listening to lectures and teachings on the long drive home forces me to listen and concentrate and stay awake.

 

During the past week I have been listening to Shabbat messages downloaded from the website of a Torah observant congregation in Colorado.  The website includes a couple of pictures of the pastor/teacher of the congregation, a slight little guy with a crocheted kippah.  It didn’t take long to realize that this little man is a stick of dynamite!  There’s no getting sleepy or veering off the road when listening to him.  More than once this week my tired eyes have snapped awake and my ears have crackled as this man gets to the points of his teaching . . .his voice booms and explodes . . .”listen up people!” . . . “I’m warning you!” . . . “He who has ears let him hear!”.  But God has used my long drive and this booming Messianic pastor from Colorado in profound ways this week.  

 

With this upcoming Shemini Atzeret I will begin studying through the Torah cycle for the 3^rd time. But this year I am doing something different.  I’m going to read through the entire Apostolic Scriptures in 52 portions (along with my weekly Torah study).  Over the past months I have felt the need to get back into the Scriptures that use to be the all-consuming focus of my faith. For the last two years I have reveled in learning the Torah and discovering the ancient paths of blessing and holiness. But lately, I’ve felt a nudging from the Lord to examine the Apostolic writings in order to grasp the fullness of the Torah through my master Yeshua, the greatest teacher and prophet of all time. 

 

I guess this need comes on the heels of getting beat up, chewed up and spit out on more than one occasion on “messianic” forums I participate in.  It didn’t take long for me to realize that there are Torah observant believers out there who will defend rabbinic Judaism at all costs.  Instead of finding haven with other like-minded people who are eager to discuss and study the Torah in light of Messiah, I have found these forums very often consumed with the minutiae of rabbinic halacha.  Where is Yeshua in all of this?? Basically many assume that rabbinic Judaism is the purest and most accurate form of Torah observance that has been preserved down through the ages, and that Yeshua would follow and agree with everything it teaches.  I’m not so sure.  That’s why I’m intent to focus more on Yeshua’s halacha this year.

 

And that is where the long sleepy drives home with a booming Messianic pastor from
Colorado comes in.  God used this little man with a big voice to confirm the nudgings and concerns I have had.  Through a three part series on “Prayer and Sacrifice” the Lord helped me to revisit and clarify some crucial points regarding Torah observance.  It all centers around two basic points 1.)  The Torah was the shadow of the good things to come, the genuine article of which is Yeshua.  2.)  Modern Rabbinic Judaism is a reinterpretation of the Torah in light of the destruction of the Temple.  Without the
Temple there is no sacrifice and no way to draw near to God and find atonement for sin (based on the central teachings of the Torah itself).  This is a serious dilemma.  So, the Rabbi’s taught that prayer, good works and charity are equal to sacrifice and are the ways that one now draws near to God and finds atonement for sin, this belief is at the very center of what we call Rabbinic Judaism today.   

 

One light bulb after another was going off in my head as the voice coming from my ipod boomed:

 

“There are only two Judaism’s today; the Judaism of Messiah and the Judaism of the Rabbi’s in it’s various forms”

 

“Believer’s are a part of the Judaism of Messiah . . we need to understand what that is . . .if we don’t’ we will be seduced . . .we will find ourselves in the desperate place of relying on our own good works and disciplines to gain the acceptance of God . . . and it’s futility!!”

 

“Let’s not deemphasize the genuine and emphasize the shadow!”

 

Could it be that Rabbinic Judaism has interpretational flaws similar to westernized Christianity?? Yes, Christianity has taught that the Torah is annulled in Yeshua , which undoubtedly is a direct affront against what the Scriptures teach . . .but . . .wait a minute . . .

 

Rabbinic Judaism teaches that good works, prayer and charity are equal to sacrifice and that is a direct affront against what the Scriptures teach too. 

 

Now, I believe that many of the teachings of Rabbinic Judaism are helpful tools for Torah observance and reflect the ancient ways of separation and holiness.  But, the core Rabbinic beliefs regarding sacrifice and atonement would never be advocated by Yeshua or God Himself.

 

I have a passion to learn the Judaism of Messiah through studying the Torah and the Apostolic scriptures this year.  Thank you Adonai, that you have kept me from veering off the road both physically and spiritually as I desire to follow your ways and your Son!

 

Next week I start a new job. . . it’s an answer to prayer.  Full time days (no more swinging between days and nights each month), limited weekends, and . . . 2.8 miles from my house.  A 7 minute drive.  Everything I could ask for.  But somehow I know I’m going to miss the long drives home with my friendly ipod at my side. . .

 

Postscript:

 

The Messianic teachings referred to in this post can be accessed at www.graftedin.com under free downloadable Shabbat sermons entitled “Prayer and Sacrifice I, II & III”

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