In about two hours from now, I’ll be done with all of my finals.
Done with studying and memorizing every major city and geographical feature of Israel on a satellite map, as well as their connection to biblical events, and all of the ancient geographical routes used in biblical times…
Done with studying Rabbinic literature and levitical festivals. The intricacies of a synagogue service. The Holocaust. The Jewish view of eschatology and the Messiah…
Done with studying Hebrew verb tenses and vocab. Semitic sentence structure and syntax..
Done with studying the entire chronology of Christ’s life and ministry, from the early Judean ministry to the Passion Week and resurrection…
Done with writing a 15 page paper on Elisha’s impact on the foreign nations of Aram and Moab and on the Omride and Jehuide dynasties…
Done with studying the various time periods of the history of ancient Israel. The battles, and the psalms and prophecies in context. The kings with names I can’t even pronounce. The local and international situation during the exile…
Done, done, done…
Or am I?
I hope I’ll never be deceived into thinking that I’m “done” studying the Bible. “Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end.” (Ps. 119:33) That verse implies that I will always be a student- always learning the way of God’s statutes, always striving to keep them to the very end.
I am fully aware that I’ve only begun to scratch the surface during my time in Israel. I have a professor back at Master’s who always points out that the more you learn, the more you realize how much you DON'T know.
And that’s exactly how I feel right now. The more I study, the more I realize how much there is to learn, how ignorant and biblically-illiterate I am. There’s no room for laziness or complacency when it comes to learning God’s Word.
I’m not done. Not done studying, not done learning, not done applying. Praise God I’m not.
Finals week won't be over in two hours- not really.
I pray that my whole lifetime will be one long "finals week" spent pursuing God through His Word. And I pray the same for each of you.
"He only is my rock and my salvation... I shall not be shaken." Psalm 62:5
About Me
There are so many passages in Scripture which speak of our need to remain unshakable at all times, with a deeply rooted joy and unwavering confidence in God alone. These are the meditations of a college student living in Israel for three months, experiencing and learning from God's Word while striving to find delight and satisfaction in the "rock that is higher than I."
4 comments:
Way to finish strong, sis!
Appreciate that prayer and the frame of mind you shared with all of us! I pray too that we never grow complacent in what we know but press on to know Him more. Love you Joey and praise God for what He is doing in your life!!
Looks like you keep up your blog as well as I do. ;) And, yes, I have ways of finding people's blog (I came across yours via Dan Warne's).
Not sure if you even read comments any more, judging by how old this thing is. See you back in class. :D
Hello! I found your website. My name is Anders Branderud, I am 23 years and I am from Sweden.
By practising Torah non-selectively, just like the historical Jesus did, we make the world a better place to live in!
To realize that one can follow two polar-opposite masters — the authentic, historical, PRO-Torah 1st-century Ribi from Nazareth – the Messiah - and the 4th-century (post-135 C.E.), arch-antithesis ANTI-Torah apostasy developed by the Hellenists (namely the Sadducees and Roman pagans who conspired to kill Ribi Yәhoshua, displaced his original followers (the Netzarim) and redacted the NT); is a step in that direction!
So who then was the historical Jesus? His name was Ribi Yehoshua.
The research of world-recognized authorities (for example Barrie Wilson; www.barriewilson.com) in this area implies that Ribi Yehoshua was a Pharisee (a Torah-practising Jewish group - who according to 4Q MMT (a Scroll found in the Qumran-caves) practised both written and oral Torah (oral Torah in an unbroken chain since Mosheh (Moses); commanded by Mosheh in Torah; oral Torah is recorded Beit-Din (Jewish Court)-decisions of how Torah shall be applied).. As the earliest church historians, most eminent modern university historians, our web site (www.netzarim.co.il) and our Khavruta (Distance Learning) texts confirm, the original teachings of Ribi Yehoshua were not only accepted by most of the Pharisaic Jewish community, he had hoards of Jewish students.
For words that you don’t understand; se www.netzarim.co.il ; the link to Glossaries at the first page.
Ribi Yehoshua warned for false prophets who don’t produce good fruit = defined as don’t practise the commandments in Torah according to Halakhah (oral Torah; see the above definition). See Devarim (Deuteronomy) 13:1-6.
The research of Scholars in leading universities which implies that Ribi Yehoshua was a Pharisee necessarily implies that if you want to follow him you need to practise his Torah-teachings.
So you need to start follow the historical Ribi Yehoshua – the Messiah – by practising Torah (including oral Torah)!
Finding the historical Jew, who was a Pharisee Ribi and following him brings you into Torah, which gives you a rich and meaningful life here on earth and great rewards in life after death (“heaven”)!
From Anders Branderud
Geir Toshav, Netzarim in Ra’anana in Israel (www.netzarim.co.il) who is followers of Ribi Yehoshua – the Messiah – in Orthodox Judaism
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