Awe of God
Traditionally, the Jewish month of “Elul” starts a very reverent time of year for repentance and the “Awe of God.”
Today, August 29, 2017, is the 12th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina: Aug. 29, 2015.
Similarly, Hurricane Harvey has destroyed houses and personal property of thousands. If one good thing has come out of Hurricane Harvey, it is the charity and compassion conferred upon Texan residents by complete strangers. An engaging thought is that concern for the safety of fellow Americans is an answered prayer request.
The Bible speaks of frightful conditions on the earth and many believe that some of the events this week are pointing to those times. While destruction in the Gulf of Mexico continues, the love and merciful acts of kindness by complete strangers are bigger news than the destruction.
The Church should be able to explain the core beliefs surrounding the characteristics of God since He is our Savior and Protector, in Whom we trust. The Bible forewarns us of calamities in the earth and these prophetic events will take place. When we see these signs occurring before our eyes, just remember that God is waiting to rescue anyone who calls upon His saving Grace. This may be a time when the Church will have to step in and assist the government in restoring homes that have been destroyed by Hurricane Harvey.
The Thirteen Attributes of mercy
- I, the LORD, am the merciful Source of Life.
- The repetition of God’s name indicates that God is merciful to a person after he has sinned and shown repentance.
- God the Mighty: God is the rightful Judge.
- God the compassionate, merciful to the poor and downtrodden.
- God is gracious and generous even to the undeserving.
- God is slow to anger and patient in waiting for our repentance.
- God is abundant in kindness to both the righteous and the wicked.
- God is truthful and faithful in carrying out promises.
- God extends kindness for a thousand generations, taking into account the merits of our ancestors.
- God forgives iniquity, defined in the tradition as wrongful deeds committed with premeditation.
- God forgives transgression, defined as wrongful deeds committed in a rebellious spirit.
- God forgives sin, those wrongful deeds that were inadvertent.
- God will cancel all punishment for those who are truly repentant.
The threat of Nuclear War has risen to new levels
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Sadly, nuclear war threats are still current issues. The word last night was that Hamas and Iran are joining forces again. Just a few weeks ago, Iran announced a separation from the recent nuclear treaty with the United States and will pursue their evil ambitions.
The last solar eclipse was called “American’s Eclipse” by some because the eclipse appeared only above the United States. This latest eclipse drew many comments from religious leaders because of its appearance at the time of High Holy days on the Jewish Calendar.
As catastrophic weather events have developed over the southern states surrounding the Gulf of Mexico, a significant portion of America’s oil production will be affected. Conversations around Washington indicate that the nation can not afford to repair Houston’s devastation without additional taxes (MSNBC).
The cost of living tends to rise when oil production stops. Also, gas, food, shipment of goods and other services including airline travel become more expensive after a shortage of oil.
What is interesting about all these current events is their alignment
with the Jewish High Holy Days, 21 days of prayer and repentance before the Jewish Rosh Hashana (New Year). Traditionally, the month of “Elul” starts this very reverent time of the “Awe of God.” While most Christians may already know this, some might find it interesting that Jesus kept this event when He was on earth and long after He arose, the Jews and non-Jews continued to attend synagogue together. Afterward, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans, many Jews were killed, but some escaped. To the Jews, this is a time to repent and return to Adonai with the doxology of exalting His Name. Doxology through the hymns are words ascribing greatness to God.
For instance, singing a Christian hymn is doxology or reading the Psalms. Even when believers say the universal expression “Hallelujah,” it is the dogma or doctrine ascribing greatness to our Heavenly Father’s name.
When Yeshua (Jesus Christ of Nazareth), said
“Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God”, Jesus is referring to our Heavenly Father. All Glory to He Who sits on the throne of Heaven is due to Him only. Mark 10:18
Whenever a nation ceases to ascribe greatness to Adonai (God of Jews and Believers), that government will lose its prosperity and prominence.
Some Christians might argue, “We don’t have to attend Jewish Feasts.” They would be surprised to learn that the God-fearers (the Christian Church) of the New Testament continued observing Feast days until 70 AD.
Elul Observances
As the last month of the Jewish year, Elul is traditionally a time of introspection and stocktaking — a time to review one’s deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming “Days of Awe” of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
As the month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness (see “Today in Jewish History” for Elul 1) it is a most opportune time for teshuvah (“return” to God), prayer, charity, and increased Ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew) in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to God. Chassidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi likens the month of Elul to a time when “the king is in the field” and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, “everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all.”http://www.chabad.org/calendar/view/day.htm
On the early morning of the 1st of Elul of the year 2448 from creation (1313 BCE) Moses ascended Mount Sinai, taking with him the stone tablets he had hewn by divine command (see “Today in Jewish History” for yesterday, Av 30), for God to reinscribe the Ten Commandments.
On the mountain, God allowed Moses to “see My back, but not My face” (which Maimonides interprets as a perception of God’s reality but not His essence) — the closest any human being ever came to knowing God — and taught him the secret of His “Thirteen Attributes of Mercy” (Exodus 33:18-34:8). http://www.chabad.org/calendar/view/day.asp?tdate=8/23/2017
Believers are like managers. They have been entrusted by God, their Master, with gifts to be used to glorify Him.
4:10: charisma (5486) Rom 1:11
4:10: cf: Rom 12:6-8
4:11: All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen: Doxologies in the NT do appear at the end of letters (Rom 16:25-27; Phil 4:20; Heb 13:21; 2 Pet 3:18; Jude 1:24-25), but also at the end of sections within letters (Rom 11:36; Gal 1:5; Eph 3:21; 1 Tim 1:17). Since there is no textual evidence for the existence of two separate letters, it is better to assume that this doxology marks the end of a major section of the letter.
1 Peter 4:7-11
Lifting up the Name of the Lord is so important that any words or actions of an individual that brings reproach to the Holy One are in danger of a form of blasphemy.
Please take a look at the definition of the Greek word, “blasphēmia.”
(New Living Translation (NLT) Study Bible Notes)
Blasphēmia (0988), blasphēme (0987), blasphēmos (0989): blaspheme, blasphemy. These words refer to abusive, slanderous, insulting, or otherwise untrue speech about someone activities harm their reputation. In many NT contexts, the focus is on such talk about God and its disastrous consequences.
see Matt 15:19; Mark 2:7; 3:28; 7:22; Luke 12:10; John 10:33; Eph 4:31; Col 3:8; 1 Tim 1:20; 2 Tim 3:2; Jude 1:8; Rev 13:1
Revelation 22:21(NLT)
The God of the Bible is Holy, and as much as it is only possible with God, the LORD bestows gifts upon a man with the ability to reveal God’s power. His power changes lifestyles of people who are self-serving to those who serve God. When we teach God’s people that unconditional acceptance by God has replaced the Word of God, we cause extensive damage to what the LORD is trying to accomplish in their lives. Indeed, God is love. He is Love Personified. However, God requires repentance and some messages of today’s churches have become more about God’s kindness without God’s instructions for living holy.
(NLT Study Bible Text,)
Romans 11:22-24 Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who have disobeyed His commandments, but He is kind to those who continue to trust in His kindness. But, if you stop believing, you also will be cut off.
23 And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree. 24 You, by nature, were a branch cut from a wild olive tree. So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature by grafting you into his cultivated tree, he would be far more eager to graft the original branches back into the tree where they belong.
Romans 11:22-24
The Message Bible:
(MSG)
Behind and underneath all this there is a holy, God-planted, God-tended root. If the primary root of the tree is holy, there’s bound to be some holy fruit. 17 Some of the tree’s branches were pruned and you wild olive shoots were grafted in. Yet the fact that you are now fed by that rich and holy root 18 gives you no cause to crow over the pruned branches. Remember, you aren’t feeding the root; the root is feeding you.
19 It’s certainly possible to say, “Other branches were pruned so that I could be grafted in!” 20 Well and good. But they were pruned because they were deadwood, no longer connected by belief and commitment to the root.
The only reason you’re on the tree is because your graft “took” when you believed, and because you’re connected to that belief-nurturing root. So don’t get cocky and strut your branch. Be humbly mindful of the root that keeps you lithe and green.
21 If God didn’t think twice about taking pruning shears to the natural branches, why would he hesitate over you? He wouldn’t give it a second thought. 22 Make sure you stay alert to these qualities of gentle kindness and ruthless severity that exist side by side in God—ruthless with the deadwood, gentle with the grafted shoot. But don’t presume on this gentleness. The moment you become deadwood, you’re out of there.
Romans 11:16-22
The Song of Moses and the Lamb
They were all holding harps that God had given them. 3 And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:
“Great and marvelous are your works,
O Lord God, the Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
O King of the nations.
4 Who will not fear you, Lord,
and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come and worship before you,
for your righteous deeds have been revealed.”
The Seven Bowls of the Seven Plagues
10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. His subjects ground their teeth in anguish, 11 and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they did not repent of their evil deeds and turn to God.
21 There was a terrible hailstorm, and hailstones weighing as much as seventy-five pounds fell from the sky onto the people below. They cursed God because of the terrible plague of the hailstorm.
Revelation 14:8 – 16:21(NLT)