Second Touch (44 page)

—Mosheh (p. 94) All these things are written not simply as stories. . . . These are prophecies . . . which speak of the One yet to come. Written so this generation and those yet to be born will read and know the true identity of Messiah. —Mosheh (p. 94) Ask What would you expect the Messiah of the world to look like?

What character qualities do you think this Messiah would have?

Does the first quote from Mosheh change your perspective about what to expect from the Messiah? If so, how?

Numerous Old Testament references are made to the coming Messiah (many in Isaiah 53). Do you believe the Messiah has come to earth yet? Why or why not?

Read The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. —Psalm 19:1-2 Peniel needed no miracles in order to believe He Was and He Is and He Will Be and He Can and He Wants To! Nothing is impossible with God! Peniel sensed the stars glistening on the night wind when the city was silent, and he knew. Peniel heard the echo of creation in his heart and he knew. The Great Timekeeper lived outside of time. Stepped into time. Just for a moment. Dwelt in our time! And Peniel knew! Peniel needed no miracle in order to believe these things. And so, like an unbidden wind, the great miracle had caressed him, stirred him, root and branch, and he knew! —p. 6 Ask How does seeing creation or nature affect your thoughts about God’s involvement in the world? What do each of the following phrases mean to you in your day-to-day life? • He Was • He Is • He Will Be • He Can • He Wants To Read

Yeshua! Joshua, the Greeks call him. Some call him ¬Jesus. . . . Yeshua! God is Salvation! . . . Listen to Him and be saved! —Mosheh (p. 265) I am the way and the truth and the life. —John 14:6 He is the WHO, the Messiah! He is also the WHAT, the Bread of Life sent from heaven! He is also the WORD, the OMER, the full measure of truth that feeds men’s souls. There is always enough to meet our needs and to satisfy the hunger of our hearts. —Mosheh (p. 202) The Great Potter! He who made eyes had seen! He who made ears had heard! Wonder Worker. Origin of First Light. Knower of Secrets. He who sang galaxies and crickets into existence with equal delight! Yeshua! He had stepped from eternity into time and stooped to make Peniel’s eyes out of red clay. Paused to finish the creation of an unfinished life! To show one born blind . . . The Face! —p. 6 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. —John 10:11 Ask Consider the names of God. How has each directly impacted your life? • Messiah, “God is Salvation!” • The Way • The Omer of Truth • The Bread of Life • The Great Potter • The Wonder Worker • The Origin of First Light • Knower of Secrets • The Face • The Good Shepherd • Note: There are so many names used for God throughout Scripture. If you want to grow deeper in the knowledge of who Messiah is, why not explore one of His names each day? Read Adonai said, “It’s not who you are . . . it’s who I AM! Fear not!” —Mosheh (p. 94) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and ¬only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. —John 3:16 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and ¬only a few find it.”

—Yeshua, Matthew 7:13-14 What a relief to know that it is not who we are or what we do that can “make or break” our entrance into heaven! Yeshua, the ¬only true Messiah, has provided a way. Ask Why would the gate to heaven be narrow? Wouldn’t a loving God want to let as many people as possible into heaven? Read If you believe it, then why doubt? Nothing . . . nothing . . . is too hard for God. “No one else seems to believe it.” You find this discouraging. “Yes. Honestly. Well? Who ¬wouldn’t?”. . . Why should it matter what others believe? You’ve met Him. You know the truth. Is creation wiser than the Creator? Why does it matter what they think? —Mosheh and Peniel (p. 93) “Our ‘bread of life.’ Y’ heard Yeshua apply that name to himself. Has he not proved the truth of it by the Omer, the measurement of his words and deeds? Anyone who calls himself ‘the bread of heaven’ must be measured, judged, by the Omer, the standard of God’s Word. . . . In ¬every¬ way, Yeshua measures up! Yeshua is truly the bread sent down from heaven. His words spoken to us are the daily Omer, the exact measure that feeds our souls.” —Zadok (p. 217) Ask In what ways do others’ beliefs or doubts about God affect you?

Today’s headlines are rife with those who claim to be “the Messiah.” What “measurement” can you always use when you are in doubt about whether someone’s claims are true? Wonder . . . The answer to our questions is found within the Omer, like gathering a container of miraculous bread. More than just a measurement of man’s physical need, the Omer—the Word, the Answer—is the daily ration of Yahweh’s voice, revealing eternal answers to our souls. The Omer of Yahweh’s revelation never runs dry. There is always truth to nourish us! —Mosheh (p. 203) One is coming—no, He’s already here living among you—He is the true bread sent down from heaven! He is the WHAT! He is the WHO! Those who eat this bread will have eternal life. —Mosheh (p. 203) Yeshua is the true bread sent down from heaven. But is He the WHAT? the WHO? your very existence? How can you bring Him into the epicenter of your life?

4 Standing Steadfast Between the Alef and the Tav of eternity, our life on earth is the Mem, the forty years of trials and testing. —Mosheh (p. 264) Whom do you know personally who is going through trials and testing right now? (Perhaps it’s yourself.) What is that person’s current situation? How has that person responded outwardly to those trials? Does that response make you respect and trust the person more—or break down your respect and trust for him/her? What makes the difference?

Mosheh was right. All of us go through trials and testing. If not in the present, we have in the past or we will in the future. Trials have been part of the human condition since the Fall, when Adam and Eve chose to go their own way. Each character in this book faced his or her own trials. And each dealt with the stress of the testing differently. Peniel caved ¬under¬ it . . . and lived with intense regret that plagued his ¬every¬ waking moment. Deborah grew bitter and questioned God’s love. Simon hoped that if he acted “religious enough,” God would simply make the situation go away. Lily struggled to continue believing . . . yet went on comforting others, even when she felt little comfort herself. Zadok was a rock who refused to be moved by any of his circumstances. What made the difference for these characters? The genuineness of their beliefs . . . and their ability to act on those beliefs even when all around them seemed dark. What does this say to us today? Trials and testing will come. But we need not be consumed or destroyed by them. We can stay steadfast, even when our world is shifting ¬under¬ our feet. Read Peniel huddled in the doorway of the shoemaker’s shop. Even though darkness concealed him, closed around him, sleep would not come. He felt shattered, like one of Papa’s clay lamps thrown against a stone wall. Despite Peniel’s new eyes, Mama and Papa could not accept him. Nor would they hear the good news he had returned to share. Fear of being separated from all that was familiar prevented them from embracing him. Messiah had come at last . . . and there was no one he could tell! All his life Peniel believed blindness had separated him from his family. He imagined that if he had vision ¬every¬thing would be different. Mama and Papa would love him. Accept him. They would be a family, whole and happy. And now that he could see? Now that he could prove his worth? Ah, well. What difference did it make? Nothing changed. Mama was still Mama, hating him. Papa was too afraid of her to argue. So. Having sight made no difference to the one thing in the world that mattered to Peniel. He was useless. No one listened to him when he was blind; no one would listen to him now that he had eyes. Why not lie down here and . . . wait to

die? He could never, ¬ever go home again. In all the years Peniel had been blind he’d felt grief, yes. Sorrow, in plenty. Aching loneliness, often. But never despair. Not like this. The miracle had been wasted. —p. 90 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. —Psalm 51:10-12 Ask What one thing matters the most to you in this world? How would you respond if that one thing was taken from you? Would any of your responses be similar to Peniel’s ? Which ones?

Peniel is feeling low, and it’s no wonder. His biggest fear is that he will be cast forever from Yeshua’s presence, just as he had been cast away from his family. Even though he has walked and talked face-to-face with The Face, Peniel still ¬isn’t immune to the troubles of life on earth. Nor are we. But will we choose to respond like Peniel . . . or a different way? Read “Everyone who lives anywhere dies. Everywhere. It’s just that the people Outside ¬aren’t smart enough to know they’re going to end up the same as us. Rabbi says we’re God’s reminder, so they hate us.” “They have a life before they die.” “So do we. It’s what you make of it, Cantor says.” Deborah snapped. “Stop!” What do you know about it? You ¬weren’t even grown when you came here? What do you know about living? I had a real life Outside. . . . Pleasant. Other people. People with hands. People with human faces.” Deborah touched her deformed face with her claw. “What can you know about it?” —Deborah and Lily (p. 35) Ask Deborah is living in “what if?” land. Her “what if this had never happened?” questions are destroying her. And her ¬I’m so miserable that I might as well make somebody else miserable too thoughts are affecting her relationships. Whom do you know who lives their present in the light of “what if?” questions and the ¬I’m so miserable thinking? In what tangible ways can you see these questions and thoughts affecting their attitude? their relationships? their decisions?

Do you agree with Lily’s statement: Life is “what you make of it”? Why or

why not? Read Step into Simon ben Zeraim’s world . . . and his thoughts for a minute. “Blessed are you, O Lord, King of the world, who forms the light and creates the darkness, and in your goodness day by day and ¬every¬ day renews the works of creation.” He spoke the words, though he no longer believed them. No longer believed in God’s goodness. Now ¬only the formula remained. —p. 15 Each terrible new day he said the prayers and clung desperately to the outward image of what he was. Proud, arrogant, rich, an expert in the law and in the enactment of Pharisaic ritual, Simon ben Zeraim was among the most respected men of Israel. No man imagined Simon’s terror at what lay ahead. —p. 15 Ask Now that you’re wearing Simon’s shoes, answer these questions:

• • •

What would your greatest fear be? What would you want to say to God? What plans (if any) would you make for the future?

Simon ben Zeraim is a self-righteous man, a man who is indignant that “a notorious sinner, a true harlot, a jezebel of scandalous reputation for her loose living” (p. 54) would dare to enter his home in order to kiss Yeshua’s feet. He spends ¬every¬ possible moment trying to be spotless, “Hoping . . . hoping . . . the Eternal took note of his piety” (p. 14). He worries about the leprous sore on his hand. “How long could he keep his secret? How long before he became an object of public humiliation and condemnation?” (p. 13). And yet his soul is far more leprous. Do you know someone who looks good on the outside, and yet is leprous in soul? who treats others with disdain and contempt, similar to how Simon treats Yeshua? Why do you think this person responds as he/she does? Read For an instant, an image threatened to overwhelm Zadok. He gazed solemnly around the room where they had lived together. Where their little sons had died at the hands of Herod’s soldiers. Where Zadok and Rachel, after they had wept together, had somehow rebuilt a life. How to capture a lifetime in one last, long look? —p. 121 The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. —1 Peter 5:10 “It is not for me to show the justice of my cause or complain how I am

abused. The sheep are his, my life is his, and what he chooses to do with either is for him to say. My ¬only concern is to commit my way and trust. All else is up to him.” —Zadok (p. 123) Ask What was Zadok’s first response when he was told he’d be turned out of his position as Chief Shepherd of the flocks of Israel? (See p. 47.) If your job was on the line because someone had unjustly accused you, and then you’d been judged and sentenced by a partial jury, how would you respond?

Zadok is a wonderful example of one who stood steadfast in his beliefs in spite of dire circumstances. Was his life easy? Certainly not! His young sons had been murdered by Herod’s soldiers, he lost an eye and gained scars, his wife died, and then he lost his job because he claimed that Yeshua was the Messiah. But when he is told that he will be turned out of his position as Chief Shepherd of the flocks, he shows no fear, ¬only resignation. Zadok could easily have responded with the “Woe is me” speech. Even Job, the Old Testament man known for being godly and righteous, did so after he lost his entire family (with the exception of a nagging, bitter wife) and all his possessions. (If you think you have something to complain to God about, read the entire book of Job. It will give you a soul mate for your own journey . . . and an eternal perspective.) But instead, Zadok chose to stand steadfast, even if that meant he was jobless and homeless—with three orphan boys to take care of. Read Commit your way to the Lord; Trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. —Psalm 37:5-6 Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. —Joshua 10:25 Ask What makes the difference in how Peniel, Deborah, Simon, and Zadok responded to their life trials? (Hint: Look for key words in the verses above.)