Faithful Being-ness

Doing what? Love and serve God. Yep. What's the most important thing we do here? Receive the Lord's communion. What's the most important thing we do here? Pray.

Do what? Worshiping worshiping is the most important thing we do here. The weird thing is, when you think about it, there's nothing we do. That's not the most important thing here, except maybe giving sermons.

Call said this.

Okay. it's maybe not the most important thing we do here, but it's one of the most important things I do here, and I I feel a real bird 12. Hear from the Lord.

As I'm attempting to put things together this week, I was in a real quandary. I miss is one of the hardest. satyrs to, to teach it's less hard than if you doing a partial which is a three-year of one year cycling through 3, 1/2 year cycle mentioning that by the way,

I have been greatly blessed this week because I did not realize I did not schedule. I did not put it on the schedule because when we created this schedule, Middleton had not committed. So, if you're keeping with the reading schedule, it shifts, one week, So we're not, we don't need two weeks before this runs out. We have three now because so next week, There's No Torah reading auteur class. It's meeting. We're just going to be hearing Richard and he's, he's well worth come and hearing. I've heard him speak. A number of times, I've talked to him on the phone with conversed an email. Either piece of real blessing to hear teach so say to this week,

I couldn't figure out what I was going to do, what do? What does the test for an adulterous woman? That's not the right term for it. What what does? husbands extreme jealousy to the point that you can't trust his wife and

a Nazarite vow have to do with each other.

Don't know.

So that began my week and then I read all the all the verses and there is some really good verses this week, but if you try to go into all that, it's too much, there's just too much to cover. So I thought, what's the essence of the most important thing? That's what got me off on the what's the most important thing? Question? What's the essence of the most important thing in the in the, in the teachings of God is trying to communicate through me to me and threw me. And I came up with this title faithful being nest. Weird title. We don't often talk about being. We talked a lot about doing, we think a lot about doing,

We don't think a lot of that, being the first time that I ever came in touch, with this whole idea of beingness.

Was I would guess I was maybe twelve. Someone says, God is

He doesn't have to do anything. He does things but he's God, he is his essential nature, is that he is? my understanding of him from the very earliest age was he is God is

What's my response to that? That's a whole other question. We're going to spend your whole life trying to figure that out, but God is Jesus is the spirit is he's our realities for us as Christians. So the question of doing is not the main thing. The question of being now, the wife Was she faithful? We don't know. We know the husband didn't trust her because he couldn't rid himself of the spirit of jealousy. But the wife may have been completely faithful. The nazirite attempts to be faithful, but even in being faithful. if he comes in contact with the Dead, Even a close relative. His Val is nullified and if he wants to be an as ready as to start over. Kind of crazy stuff. But at the core of all of it is not what he's doing. It's who he is. Is he? Not doing Faithful. Is he in essence? Faithful. Is His person is being faithful. So, that's why I came across this faithful being messed. I wasn't happy with that. So, I looked it up. Online Merriam-Webster has a dictionary online where they give this suck definition, it's the quality state or condition of having existence. The. Right.

right, beating us has a crystal and heartbreaking Purity, that ontological being ontological means being That being beauty is beauty of each object resonating and it's being Ness, philippot, slate magazine. And now, that's kind of what that is, I thought? Yeah, there's something in me. That is me there. There's something in me that resonates with who I am. And that thing that, whatever it is deep down, Within Me, will always be I'll always be robbed. In the world to come, I'll be Rob. I don't believe I'll be a monkey. I don't believe I'll be a cricket. I don't believe I'll be a grasshopper. I think I will always be robbed and that's what the Bible teaches beingness. Amen. We are. Okay. So using the schedule that we usually use, we have these link words and I thought, maybe I can get some help from the link words this week. That'd be cool. I did get help from the link words. The first word is Rue are like the ruach hakodesh, the Holy Spirit. It it's it's it means a spirit or a wind. In the reading this week. It also has a nuanced. Meaning a smell. An odor. Sometimes things can smell good. Wonderful. Sometimes things can really not smell good. And I think that's part of what's going on in the, in the seder, this week. So I thought about doing a sermon based on that kind of idea and then I know it's a Hebrew word. It means jealous. which is not always a good thing, but it also means zealous which is it Rob zealous or jealous?

In Hebrew, it is the same thing. So God is zealous for his for his body. For us, he's jealous, he's jealous, but he doesn't exhibit destructive jealousness. So in English, we had this idea of not so good aspect to this word rather than just the good aspect to this word, but I can tell you right now, A husband needs to be zealous for his wife.

that incredible love and devotion that desire to help her and make her do what she did not do now, it's it's not about doing To help her to be who she is made to be is an essential quality of of husbands. So today is celebrating tomorrow, Father's day. But if, if you think about it, Father's Day is really husband today. I mean, the husband marries the wife and it's a while later that he becomes a dad. And, and, and, and that, that nature of being a husband is really important for us as human beings.

I love my wife. I'm jealous for my wife. I care for my wife. I'm jealous of her to the point that I don't trust her. No.

If my wife told me, I'm not Why aren't you? I'm faithful to you. I should trust her.

This husband didn't. And therein lies the rub SEPTA to deviate or to go astray. The woman is called a Sota or a maybe so top because we don't know if she's up so tired or not. Yet I'm, she might not be and my all to be untrue or to break faith. To be untrue or break Faith. Hints faithful beingness. We don't want to break truth. We don't want to break Faith. Taurus, seder. I told you there's two parts test for adultery in The nazirite, Vow numbers 5. So you've already heard most of this, but I've rephrased it in a compact form. When a man is the specs, his wife of adultery with no evidence and no Witnesses and is filled with a spirit of jealousy. He's to bring his wife to the priest with a jealousy grain offering Chelsea, Green offering and it's got some specific requirements. Why doesn't the wife bring the jealousy grain offering?

In the first place, she's not jealous. It's not her problem. You might say in the second place, if she's guilty, she's not allowed to bring an offering.

If she's guilty, this is intentional sin. And she would be disqualified from bringing an offering. So the husband has to bring the offering for the wife to offer.

Sounds like a job of a husband, doesn't it? Interesting. Complicated reading. And the reason that he's to bring the jealousy grain offering us to bring iniquity to remembrance. Now, doesn't say whose iniquity, it just says to bring iniquity to remembrance. I think the husband has some iniquity here because he doesn't trust his wife.

And she might be very trustworthy. The wife may have some in the equity here, if there's any iniquity here, there's always an equity here.

So I I'm not sure what the Lord is trying to tell us in this to bring iniquity route to remembrance. Anyway, the priest and Briggs the women before the Lord. No, case of the woman is, there is the man there or is he down the hall somewhere?

He's got to be there. Don't say that, but he's got to be there. He's there with her. He's watching this trial by ordeal or whatever you want to call it. And the priest has her take an oath before. God. This is an oath before the freeze. This is an oath before. God. This is, I think in front of the Tabernacle the priest writes, the curses writes, the curse is out, but what's going to happen in ink And he washes them into the holy water and Tabernacle. Ford Dirt, a mixture of ink, holy water, and Tabernacle Ford Dirt, and the causes the woman to drink this water of bitterness. If she's guilty, bad things will happen not going to go into them because it's too bad to talk about if she's innocent she's free and will conceive. Children know. This is very interesting if she's innocent Phil conceive children.

This is not a ruin marriage.

This is a wife who's been exonerated in the eyes of God than the eyes of the priests in the eyes of the nation. And in the eyes of her husband, and still could see children, who is she to children by her husband. This is kind of a no-brainer, but it's not said there. The underlying meaning here is the marriage has survived and will succeed. With me, you never read that in that first. Before I don't think we read it like a male chauvinist, God messing with, I don't know. Anyway, one more interesting thing. I learned, I have to give credit to Doug. Do this Doug came across an article in an engineering magazine that they have finally figured out what ink they used in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Nicole. They use India ink from China? No, they did not use in James Version.

They use Paper, Mate pens, erasable ink.

For the Dead Sea Scrolls, the ground up and the ground up charcoal. And mixed it with gum arabic Arabic gum. What else is the called? Arabica, son. That's a couple different things. It's called Gum arabic. It's, it's if you want to know what it is, it's in your salad dressings. Look on the back of the bottle. And it's got a xanthan gum or Gum arabic or something like that on the back. It's the thing that puts all the stuff in the suspension. So it says able to mix things in suspension and hold them and suspension in this in this liquid mixture. So now it makes sense that he can wash the ink off its charcoal with some gum in it. And it's still wet and he writes the Madden ink. And then he watches the the the the parchment or whatever it is in the water and its water from the labor apparently, because it's holy water is called holy water. There is no other holy water in the temple. I mean, you know, you don't, you don't stop at the door before you go in and there's a little bottles of holy water there This is from the labor or or the or the or the see if you're in the temple and Tabernacle floored dirt and causes the woman to drink this water of bitterness. He writes it out. In ink. Important thing to remember, he writes it out in ink. Recorded not Augustine. One of the great fathers of the church years and years and years and years and years ago. Thought this was incredible that he's using. Charcoal and dirt. In this, in this water and Augustine says it. It's it's very important because when God wrote out his law, With the finger, with his finger, black flower on white bar, when he wrote out his law, it was written on Stone.

and as it is written out with dirt, what's the difference between dirt and Stone? Are we made out of stone? Are we made out of dirt? We're made out of dirt. Does the fruit trees grow in stone, or do they grow in dirt? Do the first fruits grow in stone or in dirt? So he's using an agent of life.

I did never thought that.

Later on, we're going to read John Jesus. In what? Dirt. An agent of life.

To do a whole sermon on that.

Moving on.

I tried to find a picture depicting this event, but I couldn't and the closest I could come was this woman caught in the act of adultery where they were accusing the woman and asking Jesus for judgment will get more and more on that later. But I thought I need a picture here. So I put this one up. I think it's I think it's very relevant. In the context of what I'm saying. So, here's John also collapsed. Usually scribes and Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus. They brought the woman before the Lord. They brought the woman before Jesus. DC parallel. Kind of Moses commanded us to Stone such women. Yeah. I read that. Right. What do you say Jesus and the reason they asked him that is they wanted to charge him with something. They put him in a difficult spot. They delivered to him. The Dilemma They gave him a room, they insisted on that. He make a ruling on this, and if he ruled one way, He's in trouble with the authorities. If he rules the other way, he's in trouble with the authorities. So I can truly their way and and, and and, and not and not have charges brought against them by the religious leaders. So he stood, he's writing in the dirt is leaning over and stands up. Looks the crowd. Let him without sin. Be the first to throw a stone at her. And I'm imagining.

It's an offering that brings iniquity to remembrance. Let him who is without sin.

Sort of the same thing.

And then he bent over again and continue to write on the ground. They left the Elvis first. Jesus said woman where are they has no one condemned you she said no one. Lord Jesus said I don't either go and sin. No more. So Moses commanded us to Stone such women. Where is that verse?

Stop there. Where is the verse Leviticus 20 if a man commits adultery, not if a woman commits adultery of a man commits adultery.

This is interesting because women can't technically commit adultery in the Old Testament. Adultery was determined by the marital status of the woman. The man is the one who committed adultery, and the woman is the adult rest, but she know she cannot be the one who

Commit adultery because she's if she's married.

Then she's in an adulterous relationship. Yes. And she commits adultery of it, if she's not married, it's not called adultery. It's called something completely different. So her matter, marital status determines, whether it's adultery or something else. If a man commits adultery, doesn't say if a woman commits adultery in Leviticus says a man, commits adultery both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death. So this woman was caught in the very Act of adultery Moses says, she has to be stoned. We have two Stoner. What do you think this is going? I know it doesn't say that you guys are supposed to be teachers. What's the matter? You

I actually had it and I didn't never mind. I did not know you had one, but what's the matter? You had a t-shirt.

Clara.

He knew she send no question but he said I don't condemn you. Who does? Yeah.

God. Yeah. People people making their me that's not condemnation. Don't be worried about that.

Maybe the husband was guilty of something.

Yeah, if he's guilty if if, if he's guilty and he thinks he's going to get rid of his wife and she's exonerated, his his marriage is over.

the drink it all before the Lord, when you do something before the Lord, if you even believe he exists, God is

His existence is his being Ness is ontological proof, he is, if they believe that at all, he's he's got to be an idiot. Think he's, he's going to get rid of his wife, I don't buy that at all. Sorry, but I just disagree with you Clara on this point.

Enough on that. Here to pictures by 2. So we like to show there was Jesus writing in the in the dirt James to sew a French painter. He does a great job on some of the biblical scenes and he does almost all of them really like to use his stuff. And there's Jesus looking at the woman and a woman is No one Lord, go and sin. No more.

So I'm going to bring in a person. You maybe don't know that, but she's relevant here. It's kind of a crazy crazy connection Queen Helena of heard of her. Yeah, maybe a few people not too many huh. How many raise your hands again? Cool we got more people than I thought. There we go. Queen Helena was in body ebene and this is This is obvious been a, it's kind of between Iraq and Iran and Syria, and Etc, and it's a parthian kingdom. It's a small Kingdom that that the reported to a larger Kingdom the parthian, but they were extremely wealthy because of their trade. And it's kind of far from Jerusalem. but the, the Jews and the Christians had spread kind of far and wide and And queen Helena was so impressed with the moral and morale.

with the monotheistic electrical.

Framework. Beliefs practices. She was so impressed with a Jewish and maybe Christian Traditions that she converted to Judaism sometime around. 30C. Sounds real interesting. In a Christian sense, doesn't it? She vowed that if her son returned from War and Peace, she being nuts. Not see ran as a right which is the second part of the reading this week for 7 years and she was she was wonderful. Nazarite in idea vene where she was rich and famous and Rule the Kingdom. Pretty much. Her son was King is Otis. The second who became king and he was King for quite a while. I think he lived 1254 CEO know when he was King. But but that she moved to Jerusalem after she was a Nazarite for 7 years and she's talking with the sages there. And Hillel says, you know what you you you made this vow to God and and, and now you've changed and you come here you need to start over again. You need to redo it. So she was a Nazarite for another seven years. This is well known in history. And and Jewish tradition. And some of the statements in the talmud says that she was actually in that certain that it has not sit here and has a right for 21 years, and I can't imagine that. And then some of the sages say, no, she wasn't, she was just in there Nazarite for 14 years, but she was a Nazarite for a heck of a long time. And she was very rich, and she was very generous and she loves Judaism and she converted. And she gave generously during the Jerusalem famine. She bought massive amounts of grain from Alexandria and figs from Cyprus and gave them to the starving people in Jerusalem, and they were very grateful for that. And she also had made a beautiful golden lamp. Made of 24-karat gold and crystals. So the crystals would shine and send forth, brightness of light and everything. And when, when the Sun would rise in the morning, it was glint off of Queen. Helene Helene has golden lamp. And then everyone in Jerusalem in this is very well known until mudak discussions everyone in Jerusalem. That's when they said the Shema. When the light hits the lamp and the light shines out and everyone Praises God by reciting the smile. Interesting.

Very interesting. And it hung over the sanctuary door. She also gave a golden tablet, a tablet. A golden tablet. 24 Karat golden tablet on which was inscribed. The accused wife pericope. Is that weird or what?

Huh. What was the accused wife recipe? That's what we were just discussing the test for an adulterous wife.

Why would she write that? I don't know. And and sometimes the people who are quoting, what happened with, with her doing all this confused, the golden lamp also, called the Golden candle-stick with the golden tablet. But this is an Incredible Gift that she gave to

The Jewish Community both of them were considered an Incredible Gift and her son king is not taste very, very unique situation. He's king of a pagan Kingdom who reports to another Pagan Kingdom and he converted to Judaism. And it was great discussion among the sages of the day as to whether he would have to be circumcised or not, because that's what you had to do to convert to Judaism and the stages of the day around 30 ad 30C. Decided he did not have to circumcise. He could convert to Judaism without circumcising. This is crazy. If you think you know what's going on, you don't?

Circumcision was not essential around the time of the early churches formation. To be Jewish.

And we read about this in detail in Paul within Judaism. We spent about a year going through that book here is a book study once a month book study, we might have another. One thing is that he's converted that was not circumcised. At the beginning. Right? About the same time as Christianity deciding that circumcision wasn't necessary. The Jerusalem Council, not insisting on it, it was consistent. This is the thing that I think is really important, it was consistent with Jewish belief, around the time of Christ. And the early church. Very important point. so,

You can see how she relates to this, in some way.

So here's a golden Crystal.

Golden lamp the temple Institute. That's recreating the

Furnishings of the Tabernacle, when the Tabernacle is rebuilt is crafting this right now. They think it's a very, very important thing to have because this to them. Most significantly is a light to the Nations.

That comes from Jews. Not from Christians. And if you want to donate to the giving of this isn't making of this thing, you can hear is a picture of it. You can see that it's pretty big. It's not a small lamp, it's a big, big thing made out of solid gold and Crystal. When I saw this, the first time, I thought it looks like the New Year's Eve ball.

Every year, was it Waterford? Waterford Crystal makes new panels for the New Year's Eve ball. So the New Year's Eve ball is yes, a bright light but it's very expensive. Crystal. Also, Beautiful, beautiful. Beautiful. Do I understand this? Now, I do not do understand the lights of the Nations. Yes, I do. Do, do do, I understand the importance of the recreation of the temple? Yes, I do. Do I think it's necessary.

I don't know. Bible says. Kind of there will be. So if there's a life that this is a light, the nation's, if this has anything to do with salvation, the nation's, it definitely has to do with the gospel of God, bring all nations in which we've been hearing about for about a month. Now, I think praise the Lord, praise the Lord. How to bend the end of the end of the idea of any parallels, when the priests rights of the accused wife passages, he looks at the tablet, according to the talmud. He looks that I think Queen Helen has tablet And writes the words from the tablet.

Nice doesn't make sense because we know that this was terminated around the time of the second temple, but we also know that Queen Helena. Gave this incredible lamp and this golden tablet with his verse on it. So it's not completely undone. Maybe, when the temple was destroyed, they decided it wasn't going to be done anymore. But apparently around the time that this is all happening. There was some tradition that this was an important first

Jesus wrote on the ground, continue to read on the ground and we talked about the the dirt. I got soon as I understanding, they brought the woman before the Lord numbers before Jesus. John no condemnation, neither Council gave condemnation.

Neither one. Interesting. This is the other verse that comes to mind. This is the Samaritan woman. She didn't confess while she kind of did. He said no? You don't have a husband, you have five husbands, I think and the one you have now is not your own, and she said this man is a profit and she went and told everyone what a great man, he was and that he was the savior of the world and everything else and became according to history, actually history, not tradition, she became a great, great evangelist of the early church. So this up this confrontation of the woman and adultery and and the all that is very, very intricately woven into Evangelism.

She said no one. Lord Jesus said, neither do I condemn you go and from here from now on and send? No more. I've already said that but I just like this picture so I included it. A few ideas to consider. First of all, when we try to read these verses as a West Western, or we cannot understand them. We cannot wear 2020 21st century westerners and they make no sense to us. We can't imagine how God could be such a male chauvinist that he allowed a man to expose a woman to this ridiculous. Test doesn't make any sense at all, unless you put yourself into the culture.

So I try to put myself into the culture, I don't try to put myself into the role of God. I put myself into the role of the priests into the role of the man into the role of the woman. If I think my wife has cheated on me. And she says she hasn't and I cannot overcome this spirit of jealousy in me.

On the one hand.

That's good. I should be jealous for my wife. But I shouldn't be destructive jealous my wife if I love my wife. At all. even if I didn't trust her what Isis subject her to this test,

a husband who really loves his wife would be extremely circumspect before exposing his wife to something that seems to me even worse than death. So I think this kind of flips itself on its head. It says, when a man has this fruit of jealousy, he's to do this, take her to take, take take take it to the priest and the priest makes the wife do all this stuff and if she's guilty she's basically going to be. .I she's going to be childless is going to be really feel. She's going to be hated. She says, I mean I mean if if I value my marriage at all my marriage is over, if she's guilty.

if I value my marriage at all and she's subject yourself to this trial and lives. In my opinion. With my brain, my marriage is over. Cuz I didn't trust my wife but I'm thinking like a twenty-first-century Westerner.

I'm not thinking like a whatever Century this is. I know he would be very circumspect. So the only way I can understand this is if you have a spirit of jealousy that you can't deal with it, you can't grab a hold of it and inappropriately work with, for the good of your family. This is what you have to do and anyone who's thinking about this would go. I'm not going to do that, that's nuts. I'm not going to subject my wife to that. I'm going to try to love her more. I'm going to try to demonstrate my love for her so she's not, she's not. Seeking other affection. Or affirmation or whatever it is, I'm going to try to demonstrate my love for her even more. I think that's it. Turns it on its head. The ruling maybe never happened. But for the thinking, man, it turns it on his head and the husband is is, is having to deal with I need to deal with this appropriately. I need to be careful about what I accuse, my wife of to a priest to anyone. I need to be very circumspect. On the other hand in this, you get, if you're in another culture and I've seen it in other cultures. I've actually seen it some women in other cultures, not so much for America. But some women in other cultures and even sometimes in America are extremely proud, that their husband is so jealous. It's like a badge of honor, my husband so jealous for me. He won't let me go shopping by myself. He insists on buying groceries with me, my husband is so jealous, I can't even go to the laundromat. My husband washes, the clothes. My husband is so jealous and you can see women going. My husband is jealous of me. That's a good thing. I'm honored. Have you ever met anyone like that? No. It's different cultures. If you haven't met anybody like anybody has met somebody like that. Different cultures. What are you from different cultures?

Is this at all true? This idea. What? Is that it? Is that all true?

That these is a jealousy of the woman, liking her husband being jealous.

That's what?

It's kind of. Acceptable, for a woman to be proud of her husband's jealousy. At least that.

Interesting, we hadn't thought about that before. An innocent wife might be willing to submit herself to a test, the fruit for faithfulness and demonstrates her husband's deep affection. Are you really that? Stupid that you don't trust me? Yeah, I'll drink some dirty water. I'll Stand before God for the good of our marriage. And if I'm innocent, I'll have children. Our marriage Will Survive. What's it on its head? What we think it says when we read it with as westerners, we don't understand when we plug ourselves into the possibilities of other cultures, particularly ancient cultures it becomes understandable to some degree. She'll have children. Marriage survive. How great is that? Watson's, adultery is a terrible sin that destroys marriages and affects many generations to come. I'm not trying to minimize that. The truth of the Bible. It is terrible sin. It affects many generations to come. The Bible in a relaxed in a relates adultery, adultery and idolatry. The Bible says, if your adulterous it's as if you are idolatrous, if your idolatrous your adult restored, your relationship with me in your relationship with me, this emphasizes, the concept that God is extremely zealous for his bride, the church, but it's very easy for us to confuse jealousness and zealousness and Hebrew at the same word in English, it's not it take significant maturity to appreciate the difference in distinction between the two I say that because I'm only now beginning to learn. That.

I trust my wife.

I'm learning better.

She loves me. I love her.

I guess that might be maturity.

Jesus neither condemn nor condone the woman's adultery, but he respected her being, he didn't treat her like a terrible sinner. He just said, go and sin. No more. He spoke unquestionable truth, he didn't speak confusion into the situation. He spoke truth, which he knew was from God.

Her beating who she was heard what he said. He's simply said, send no more and appealed to her faithful being Ness. Actions are very important, but perhaps it's more important to consider who we are in him in him. We have bee nest.

That's greater than who we were without him.

God is. With me. I have beating this. You have penis. Actions are very important but perhaps it's more important to consider who we are in him more than what we do for him. If you're if you're looking at what we do for God as your metric. You're not going deep enough. You just have a checklist of God things. And I said a few weeks ago, maybe maybe maybe more than that. I have known marriages, who are doing great, godly things and the marriage didn't survive. And I have to ask myself.

Were they really doing Godly things? If the marriage didn't survive? And I can think of a number of evangelists who are well, thought of But who fall into that category and I don't know what to say. Other than maybe, maybe their priorities weren't quite in order.

Let's pray. Holy God, we thank you for being a God who allows us to enter into a truly wonderful relationship with you. We thank you for being a God who guides us and leads us and who actually gives us I don't have a better word being this in you help our faithful being this speak to the fact that we follow Jesus, our lord and savior. For our good, for the good of our families, for the good of our body here and for the good of the church. And for the world, we ask this in Jesus name. Amen and amen.

Related Media

Related Sermons