From Abraham Cohen’s excellent scholarly work, “Everymans’ Talmud,” we read that in Judaism today and in the days of Jesus, one’s death was more important than one’s birth. Jews will rejoice at a person’s death if they were righteous and live a life living according to the ways of the Lord. Don’t rejoice at a person’ birth. One being born is just beginning their life. Will they live righteously? Will do amazing things by the power of the hand of the Lord? Or, will...
From Abraham Cohen’s excellent scholarly work, “Everymans’ Talmud,” we read that in Judaism today and in the days of Jesus, one’s death was more important than one’s birth. Jews will rejoice at a person’s death if they were righteous and live a life living according to the ways of the Lord. Don’t rejoice at a person’ birth. One being born is just beginning their life. Will they live righteously? Will do amazing things by the power of the hand of the Lord? Or, will they live sinful lives, unrighteous before God and man? We don’t know. So, thus, we celebrate the death of a righteous person.
This idea of the importance of the death of a person over the birth of a person is shown in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There are only 41 verses or so relating to the birth of Christ in Matthew and Luke. But there are over 400 verses in the four gospels reporting on the death of Jesus. Of course! The gospels are books written by Jews in their Jewish Middle Eastern mindset 2000 years ago. The death of Jesus and the sacrifice of the cross is critically important to those Jewish gospel writers. Far different than Christians today in how we emphasize His birth that we call Christmas.
In lesson 57 we will continue to study Abraham and his life from the Jewish perspective. He first appears in Genesis 12 and the Torah is silent as to why Abraham was chosen by Adonai. But, at his passing, we are now able to go back and study Abraham’s life. We are able to consider ways God may have looked upon this man and chose Abraham to be our father in the faith as Paul teaches us in Rom. 4:13-16.
Abraham was given the gospel! So, in the Torah, the books of Moses, we first read of the gospel, the gospel according to Moses, as Paul shows us in Gal. 3:8. Now as we study the life of Abraham at his death, we will see Jesus. Just like Jesus said in John 5:39.
How is Abraham our father? How does all this relate to us today in the 21st century? We will find that Abraham put all things in his life below his love of God and his commitment to obey Him. One might say Abraham "hated" everything in his life as compared to his love of God. But, it isn't hate. The Hebrew word is שׂנא SANAY H8130 - can mean hate but equally can mean loved less, held in lower esteem, second place. Yes. Abraham put all in a lower position as compared to his love and faithfulness to the Lord. He is the epitome of Jesus was talking about in Luke 14:26 when Jesus taught ...
"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate (not hate but SANAY - put all things in a lower position that our love and faith in Jesus) his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. (Luk 14:26)
How can we come to have our understanding expanded and enriched as we understand that through Abraham’s seed (his descendants) that all will be blessed? How do we grasp that we are Abraham’s seed along with Jesus? Jesus is the blessing to all nations and we are to bring Him to all nations. Abraham was sent and he went. Jesus was sent and He went. Jesus sends us. Are we ready to go and be like our daddy, Abraham?
Rev. Ferret - who is this guy? What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0
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