Understanding FAITH as Emunah (Faithfulness)!

[Music] good morning in shabbat shalom let's give a warm one that she shabbat shalom' to everyone who's watching on facebook and youtube everybody say shabbat shalom we send our love and blessings of the Father and we are excited that you are learning along with us this morning and this morning's Torah portion is called lake lake ha and lake means go and ha is like you go so it's repeated lake lake ha God told Abram to go out from Earth he's calling him out I like to call Abraham the first called out believer because he believed in what Hashem said and he was called out and because he believed and that belief was not just a serial belief in God but a faith that was accompanied by works and action that led him out to a place that God didn't even tell him where he was going and he didn't tell him the blessing of that faith until Abraham had already entered the land and God said this land I'm going to give to you and to your descendants and I'm going to make your seed as numerous as the sands of the sea and as the stars of the heaven so it's literally this act of him not just being called out but actually coming out of the fall systems of the world religions of that day remember Nimrod was building the Tower of Babel in this time ander was full of idolatry and he had to come out of her my people in order to receive this blessing and my message for you today is you are being called out revelation 18 says come out of her my people that you participate not of her sins and receive not of the plagues that are coming God desires to protect you and bless you but it requires on your part it requires not just a faith that believes but a true faith in Hebrew is called Emunah everybody say a Munna and that means faithfulness so just as God is faithful to the children of Israel and his covenant that he made with our forefathers and he promised that he would not only scatter us amongst the nations to be a light to the nation's but in the last days he would gather us back he is faithful to his word and when we take his name and when we call ourselves his children we need to be faithful to him because this faithfulness has a connotation of loyalty trustworthiness with what you've been entrusted and so today I thought rather than go through the whole of the Torah portion like we have in the past we're gonna keep with this theme of expounding upon certain principles that are brought out through the different core portions and what greater principle to explore today then faith because we are all told about the faith of Abraham but we want to have that same faith we want to have that emunah and experience the journey of faith that Abraham was able to experience and the blessings that he was able to receive as a byproduct of walking in a moona our parsha opens up in genesis Bereshit chapter 12 and right off the bat it says now the Lord said to Abram lick lick ha go you go from your country and from your kindred and from your father's house so right off the bat there's an element of him being called out but he is being asked to do something that's not easy how many of you would like to be told it's time for you to not just leave Wenatchee but to leave your country go someplace where the people aren't that friendly go someplace where you don't know the language I'm not even gonna tell you where to go just get out of this country go can you imagine what Abraham had to go through in living out this Emunah trusting God do you know it said of Abraham that he never questioned God he never grumbled he never thought negative and he never spoke doubt this is a good lesson for us in anything and he was tested many different times which we'll look at today but the first test that he had to do was to leave his country and his kindred and this would be tough because it would be easy to justify my father's dependent on me you know my brother just recently died in the fire then of Nimrod and I've got to take care of his son and I can't just be wandering around if I'm going to plus I have 300 families that I'm responsible for they're like my servants but he's adopted them as family so there's so many ways that we could justify oh no I can't do that I've got too many responsibilities but when God calls you and you hear his voice go by faith the blessing is to come God tells him I will make of thee a great nation and I will bless thee and I will make your name great and you will be a blessing I'll bless those that bless you but I'll also remove those blessings for those that curse you and you shall all the families of the earth be blessed now imagine Abraham at this time is about 75 years old when he gets this call to come out of her and he has no children and he thinking how can I be a blessing to the nations of the world let alone how can I have blessings in my own family but Abraham didn't question the word of the Lord and he went as the Lord had spoken to him and this is so important for us we know God's Word we know he's calling us out of Babylon how do we start coming out first it's a spiritual aspect of coming out mentally spiritually be long before we ever come out physically from the false systems of the world Abraham had been prepared for such time as this he was persecuted from a young age because in the Stars there was a prophecy at his birth that someone great was about to be born and Nimrod feared that he would his and his throne and his rulership would be usurped by this great prince who was prophesied in the stars to be born and so Abraham had to be hid in a cave for ten years and imagine that kind of faithfulness that he would have experienced while hid in the cave from Nimrod very similar to what happened at Yeshua's birth with Herod killing all the children two years and younger the same thing happened previously with Nimrod going through the land and Moses yeah we've seen many parallels in the word and then he would have been sent away to study under Shem Noah's son who was known as a king of righteousness in Salem ancient Jerusalem and to learn the priestly lineage and so Abraham through his Torah study had been prepared to not question God but to just have faithfulness to God to be faithful in all that God called him to this is actually the first mention of faith in the Torah and it's in reference to Abram this is before his name has even changed to Abraham Genesis 15 verse 6 later in the poro poro says and he Yuna in yo Dave Ave and God counted it to him as righteousness so Abraham's faithfulness in believing the word of the Lord even though it seemed impossible was attributed to him just as righteousness and righteousness is right doing it requires action abraham acted with this faith and it was accounted to him as right doing on the screen you'll see the hebrew root word of the word for emunah it is a moon and a moon you can see the noon so feet here is the same root that we get many other words such as amen from it means it is confirmed or its faithful as well as omen and other words but it means trustworthy faithful it is truth accompanied by action it's more than belief you know James 2:19 says you believe that there is one God good even the demons believe and shudder so believing in the Almighty in the divine source isn't enough are we going to believe enough that we are faithful to his word and that we live it out in our lives that's a faith that works and this is why James is the same one that says faith without works is dead it's not real Emunah it's always going to be accompanied by action by doing just like the Shema doesn't just mean here but here and do it's always about our response to really believing in God is always going to be seen in our life and manifest in the fruits of the spirit the word emunah is defined as stable and steadfast something done in a trustworthy manner do you want to live out a life of amou know where God looks at you and in that great day he can say well done thou good and faithful servant because you were steadfast you were stable you were entrusted with his Oracles and you handled them in a trustworthy manner not only living them out in your life by sharing them with others being a good steward of his word and his ways even his holy MOA deem this is all part of faithfulness we in Israel when we're talking about a group of loyal people they're called Emma mean and so this word comes from a muna this means they're faithful they're loyal so there's this relationship an intimate aspect as well just like a bride is faithful to her husband Israel when God made covenant with her as a bride she was true remain in a muna being faithful to him and to all that he had entrusted to her about his character of love through the mitzvot through the Torah and the commandments there's another word in hebrew called Uman and it's the word we use for a skilled artesian because one who is a skilled artesian has practiced his craft repeatedly over and over and over it's like the first time a kid carves a little statue it doesn't turn out perfect but if he keeps doing that and you see these old men who are carving these beautiful animals and they're so perfect that's years of practice this is what God intends for us in our faithfulness it takes practice just like when you're tempted or tested - maybe not honor God's Sabbath if you will put your foot down and if you will honor it each time it gets easier and easier because the practice of Emunah actually strengthens you and this is what God intends just like a skilled artesian your sanctification will be honed and perfected over time through a lifetime emunah grows taller and deeper as you custom yourself to seen all the phenomenon of life as manifestations of the creator's presence and glory all the more so is Emunah enriched by being tested and withstanding those tests and by making sacrifices in life for the sake of your Emunah for your faith so if you really have faith you're gonna make sacrifices to live for God there's no doubt about it we're going to look later at some of the sacrifices that Abraham made and some of the tests God will test but he never attempts there's a big difference there but all of us go through trials and tribulation that God allows and that's for our character development and for our Emunah to really be tested just like with Jobe hasta Tom went before the throne room and said look at Jobe of course God said look at my servant job isn't he righteous isn't he worthy and Satan says yeah but that's just because you bless him so let me take away those blessings let me test him and you'll see that he isn't faithful any longer but we know the rest of the story that job was faithful even though he didn't understand what was happening and that's the way we have to be in life there's gonna be many things that happen to us that God allows that are for our character development we're not going to understand always why they're happening to us but like Abraham we shouldn't question why and we shouldn't be moaning or grumble under our breath as to whoa is me because God intends for us to be overcomers and we have these examples like Abraham and job of immense omona that we can follow the word emunah does not mean simply to have faith but it is a faith that works and has a much broader meaning that has implications for what God calls us to as people of faith who are to be faithful to him in every situation in Exodus 17 many don't realize because they're reading it in English that when Moses was raising his hands and Israel was in the battlefield below as long as his hands were raised up remember Israel was victorious and if his hands would start to draw the other team I mean the other not team we're not playing sports here Heather the enemy would start to gain the advantage and so we're told that caleb and her helped hold up his hands and it says that his hands remained steady in english but you know that word is he muna and that beautiful he was steady he was faithful he was an implement of God's blessing to Israel in the sense it means steadfast God is also described in Deuteronomy 7:9 as being faithful being full of a Munna so God would never ask us to do anything that he doesn't already exemplify because we're created in His image and so he's just revealing who he is so that by beholding we can become change vacuum to that same likeness Deuteronomy 7:9 says know therefore that the Lord your God he is the Emunah God he is the faithful God keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands now you know generation is roughly 40 years imagine 40 thousand years now we're only on the cusp of 6,000 years now so is God faithful he's like what's a thousand generations I'll never forget my love for your forefathers and for you as their children if we look back at the verse about abraham's Emunah it tells us that abraham believed God's promises and had a persistent commitment to God even in the difficult trials and tribulations which showed his faithful life there's an old saying that a man is only as good as he is in his worst hour have you ever heard that you know many people can be friendly to you when they see you once a week or if you don't ask anything of them but see a man tested and then see can he hold his tongue can he show kindness any have patience of the Saints only in a man's worst hour do you really see his character revealed we want to be like Abraham that in his first hour it didn't matter and we'll go through a list of the different ways that Abraham was tested he stayed positive he stayed faithful to God he never wavered and he never spoke or thought negatively over ham was steadfast and faithful bless you full of omona in many ways abram and sarai before their names were changed and a name change always denotes a character change or character development because a name is like a self-fulfilling prophecy they had dedicated their lives to Hashem service it was said that of all those 300 families when he left her and he was called out do you know he was such an example that so many other men and women dedicated their lives to his service and he adopted them in as children and he taught the men even though they were from the idol-worshipping country of ur he taught them Torah what he had learned from Melchizedek and the sir I taught the women and so they were faithful even with whatever God had given them up to that point which wasn't riches yet which wasn't Fame which wasn't children which wasn't a nation all they had was a little knowledge of him and look at what good stewards they were sharing it with others this is a good example for us today in love we can share what God has in love shared with us freely you've been given so freely give to others this is what it means to be a true steward we have two hands one to receive from the Almighty Creator and then to pass on to others we're never to hold on to anything because it's not for the self alone it's always to share to be a conduit but Abraham on this journey of Emunah was tested and we say in Judaism that he was tested ten times because that's how many things that we know that God actually allowed for him but he went through many more than ten trials and tribulations and I'll share some of them with you first is he had to stand up against the idolatry when he came home from his learning do you know that his father was Nimrods number-one idol maker and he had to tell his dad his dad is in the lineage of the priestly lineage from Shem dad what are you doing you're making these idols and you know God has said we shall not worship any image or create anything in the heavens above or the earth beneath but Terah succumbed to fear and because of Nimrods power he was the main Idol producer and he had all of these idols in his Idol making shop and so Abraham couldn't reach him with basic pleas to quit this Idol worship and so one day when his father was out he took a large stick and he smashed all of the smaller idols that they used to place food in front of and then he placed that stick in the hands of the big Idol that was very central you know and one of the biggest ones and his father came back in since what has happened and he said father this big Idol saw the food you'd given the other ones and he was jealous and he smashed he took this stick and smashed them all he says you fool don't you know idols cannot think or speak or act and he's like exactly dad gotcha why are you worshiping them they didn't create heaven and earth they can't think they can't speak he had to not only stand up to the idol worship in the nation with strangers but to his own father and this had to be very difficult because he knew the commandment to honor your father and your mother so he didn't want to dishonor his father but he had to once again stand in faithfulness for what God had revealed to him he was brought before Nimrod because of this act and Nimrod says don't you know that I am the creator of the Sun and the moon and the stars and Abraham with all the wise men listening said then if you are you know how the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west tomorrow make it rise in the West and set in the east and all the wise men thought oh I can't believe you just said that what's gonna happen and Nimrod didn't have an answer for that and so Abraham said better yet since you know everything why don't you tell me what I'm thinking and what I'm about to do next and Nimrod was stupefied he could not even answer these wise quips of Abraham and all the wise men saw this so this infuriated Nimrod so Nimrod put him in prison and he remained in prison for ten years and this is what we get from the other scriptures that tell us about the story of Abraham in earth that have been taken out of the scriptures today but this was common knowledge in Yeshua's day and the disciples knew these stories so he had to be faithful just like Joseph in prison being falsely accused how would you handle that God I stood up for you to help to get rid of idol worship and look at what's happened to me would you start to grumble why have you let this happen is this what happens when I serve you forget it then I'm not gonna serve you anymore all the different things that people say when they're immature in the Lord but Abraham was faithful ten years he was just that piece in the prison and like Joseph taught others and finally he was brought before Nimrod and Nimrod said don't you know that I control all of these things and I worship the god of fire and long story short he threw Abraham into a fiery furnace now this is long before Daniel and his three Hebrew friends so they knew these stories imagine their Emunah their faith being built by hearing a father Abraham and how he had come through the fire unscathed Abraham of course was not burnt up God protected him but he was tested he went willingly just like Joshua without grumbling without fear that's another huge element that we'll look at you can't have any fear and true emunah the Scriptures tell us perfect love casts out all fear so he endured the trials and tests of prison and then being placed in a furnace of fire his brother was not so holy and he was put in there as well because of course you know you make an example out of family members as well his brother was burned up her on and this is Lots father and this is one of the reasons why Abraham felt responsible for taking care of lot all of his days adopted him as his own son she was even faithful in that taking care of his family he was faithful when God called him out of her to actually leave the country and if any of you have ever left the u.s. you know how difficult it is if it's not just a vacation for you to really go as God calls you to not know if you'll ever be back it takes emunah you don't know how you're gonna make ends meet in another country there's no way to go and just get an easy job because there's laws against foreigners working in other countries you can't speak the language it's a complete act of faith to leave your country and to go into another country and then imagine Abraham once he came into the land of Canaan as it was called in that day before I was known as the Land of Israel Eretz Israel all of a sudden you get to this so-called Promised Land and there's a huge famine one of the worst famines that's ever occurred in all of Abraham's life and you worry for not just your own life but for the lives of those you're responsible 300 men 300 women your own wife would you have a tendency to grumble would you have a tendency to lose faith maybe I didn't hear God right maybe I read into that maybe I am I'm gonna go back to her it would've been so easy for him to go back to her at that time but he didn't he was faithful and then God and trust him he goes down into Egypt and the Pharaoh finds Sarah to be very beautiful how much faith would it take to trust God and to allow her to be taken instead of taking up arms and fighting against it but in that act God was doing something because when the Pharaoh got impressed the Pharaoh that Sarai was a taken woman and not just Abraham's sister as they were promoting when they were in this foreign land he sent her back to Abraham untouched unscathed but with huge hoards of wealth from Egypt which was the world power at that day second only to the Assyrian world power under Nimrod tons of gold and servants so his household increased and his wealth increased and this is when Sarah got Hagar ha gar gar means foreigner ha means tha they literally called her the foreigner or the gare and so this is what her name became she was her handmaiden and Ishmael's mother but he was faithful with that wealth he used it for God's kingdom and for his children and not selfishly for himself in fact Abraham was known as one of the kindest men in all of the Torah said he had an open door policy his tent was always open and whenever there was a stranger walking through the desert lands Sarah he would always invite them in and Sarah always had food ready to give to complete strangers God knowing that she followed her husband's example in what we call sadaqa/charity to others he blessed the bread of Sarai when she would make her Shabbat challah you know usually we eat it up before Shabbat Sivan over with but just like the miracle of feeding the 5000 her challah would just keep going and going and going all through Shabbat and then into the first day of the week and all through until the sixth day of the week the end of the sixth day all the visitors that had come through her tent she always had enough bread to give to in kindness this is how God blessed her tent and he is Shekinah would always dwell on Sarah's tent this is the feminine essence of God beautiful attributes of her righteousness and how God left more you give you can't outgive the Lord God's going to bless you it's the principle because he's got to see that you're a good steward sometimes you might be tested in giving all but be faithful and however he calls you they were faithful even with their wealth he was faithful in knowing that God would protect his family and his wife even when Pharaoh took her by force sometimes we have to let go of a spouse or of children trusting that God will take care of them God is the greater father you know if we think of ourselves as protectors as good husbands or as fathers how much more is he a good father how much more can we entrust our children and our families to him and then once again he's tested with Abimelech who is the king of Gerar which is ancient Philistia it's where Gaza the Gaza Strip is today and he takes Sarah hearing that Abraham's got this beautiful sister it said that when she was 20 she had the purity of a seven-year-old in her heart and that purity of heart kept her young all the days of her life it said when she was a hundred she looked like she was twenty and so this is why the Torah when it describes her age at the age of death 120 and seven it breaks it down as individual numbers saying that when she was a hundred she was as beautiful as she was when she was twenty when she was twenty she was as pure as a seven year old very beautiful because of her a Munna her faithfulness imagine when God told Abraham at ninety you old to circumcise himself to symbolize that God would circumcise the hearts of his offspring that they would have like baby skin on their heart they would be sensitive to his Torah this was a symbol but he's 90 years old and not to just circumcised himself but to circumcise his thirteen-year-old son Ishmael and his 300 men in his household how much a muna would it take to actually follow through with that I've known men as they've come to understand the Covenant that God made with Abraham and for whatever reasons their mothers didn't circumcise them when they come to that realization how special that covenant is do you know there are in their 70s and 80s who go through the circumcision process much like Abraham late in life but it's better late than never to be faithful to God there's many things that we grow up not knowing because of the family that we grew up in we can't control a family or religion or country we were born into but God is faithful to lead us into the truth lead us out of the darkness into the light once we receive that light we're responsible to live up to all the light that we have and that's re Munna back to him and so it's this beautiful mirror of a Munna of faithfulness that God is faithful to us and we're faithful to him imagine them having to give up your firstborn son when God tells you to give up can you trust him even though it defies logic and then after giving up your firstborn son and sending them out into the desert he tells you to sacrifice your only other son imagine how hard that would have been to swallow I heard he gave up one for you father now you want me to kill and you tell me not to kill and I know that human sacrifice is totally against your ways this is the pagan way of Molech child sacrifice how could he have been faithful to what God called him to do even though it defied logic and seemingly you know Abraham didn't know that it was a test at that time seemingly went against everything he had learned he had to give up agar and then the last test of Abraham's life where the Angels were keenly watching each one of these things through Abraham's life it is said that the angels were watching to see how he would respond in each case and when his wife died he loved his wife so dearly and yet he didn't grumble against God why did you take her before you took me why sometimes we say why God why he never uttered any doubt or any discontent or any negativity he was faithful even in losing the very last and closest person to his life imagine a life of constantly giving up certain things but this is how God develops us back into his character because his character is selfless even the offerings we have to give up something of ourselves to learn his ways if we don't we're gonna be like selfish children hoarding things for ourselves the whole issue of even Abel and Cain was not whether somebody sacrifices a lamb or gives their fruit but it was are you willing to give the best that you have Abel was that's why God counted his offering as righteous turned down canes because cane kept the best for himself the best fruit probably gave something slightly bruised or damaged which we're not supposed to do and we give an offering to the Lord all of these are elements of selfless love in our Emunah in our faithfulness are we faithful when we are surrounded by gossipers if somebody tells you something about somebody else are you gonna listen and nod your head or just not say anything and allow them to keep gossiping or are you going to say I'm sorry but I don't believe in Lashon Hara I don't want to be engaged in any evil tongue that person's not here to defend themselves and stand up for truth or what if you're surrounded by godless people and they're encouraging you to do something that you know maybe it's go to a restaurant on Shabbat maybe it's buying and selling you know there's so many different ways that we can lack in our faithfulness to God just because of the influences around us and the peer pressure are we willing to be faithful would we be faithful if we were falsely accused by somebody you know Isaiah 53 says he sure was led like a lamb to the slaughter yet he openeth not his mouth that means he didn't even defend you the truth he didn't have to defend himself and most of the time we defend ourselves because we fear what's coming we fear what somebody's gonna believe or we fear the wrong punishment that's gonna come upon us the perfect love casts out fear there is no fear in faithfulness if we were wrongly imprisoned would we be able to follow that example and still be faithful if that's what God called us to maybe there's somebody in prison for us to share the light with would we be faithful even without fear unto death for our faith Abraham was what if somebody told you you know if you keep following this Torah thing we're gonna put you in a pit or in a fiery furnace or chop off your head would you think about recanting you know most of the assimilation of Israel through the last two thousand seven hundred and thirty years has been due to that kind of pressure and if it's not enough that we're gonna kill you we're gonna kill your family now that really puts the pinch on you so many of Israel and the Jews would falsely assimilate they would go ahead and say okay we'll believed in your belief system whether it was Islam or the Roman Catholicism Christianity whenever there was a persecuting power Israel it's kind of like crossing your fingers behind your back okay yeah we'll adopt your religion and then at Yom Kippur they would repent and recant those oaths false oaths that they had taken you know to assimilate but God wants us to be faithful and if it wasn't for fear Israel would have never done that they would have never assimilated and we be perfected enough in his love that we're faithful even unto death will we be faithfully will we faithfully go wherever the heavenly father calls us even if it's inconvenient or not where we want to go think about this for your own life this is kind of like a litmus test this is not to point the finger at anybody but for us to you can kind of do a self check and say you know are we really willing to stand for what we believe in and stand for him well we faithfully keep your Commandments and observe his holy days instead of the counterfeit holidays will we stay faithfully positive even if we were tested by hunger a lot of times people can endure great tests but when the person gets hungry and you start to see the little attitude change people blame it on low blood sugar oh I've got to go get something to eat yeah speaking of which you know this is why God calls us to fast and to pray to separate this connection with the physical vessel and to really live and thrive in the spirit and to know what we're capable of in the spirit will we be faithful stewards with all the finances that God has given us it doesn't mean that you have to be rich let's say you have a little bit are you faithful to using that for the kingdom work or are you holding it back for yourselves for your future for your retirement these are questions that y'all will ask us in the day of judgment will we remain faithful even if we lose a child or a spouse without thinking any negativity or questioning God or losing our faith and backsliding will we be examples of Emunah even as Abraham was he is a great example to us because he endured all of these things and passed beautifully the heavenly angels were watching as I mentioned before and saw in every way he glorified God never back slid never lost his faith never spoke negative Hebrews 11 verse 8 says by emunah Abraham when he was called out to go into a place which he should after receive an inheritance obeyed so obedience is hand in hand with true faith and he went out not even knowing where he was going that's how quick he was to obey and that's another attribute of Abraham that I almost forgot to mention it is said of him that he never hesitated when God told him to do something he did it immediately and this is why even with the sacrifice of Isaac he says come son it's time to go make a sacrifice to the Lord Isaac's carrying the wood for the sacrifice he's 25 years old according to the book of Jasher he could have easily overpowered his father if he wanted to but father where's the lamb for the sacrifice imagine how Abraham would choke up not being able to tell him that you're gonna be the sacrifice he just trusted God he knew that God didn't call for human sacrifice but this is what he was called to do and so he just said the Lord will provide son and a little bit further down their journey walking side by side they leave Ishmael and his servant Eliezer and they ascend start ascending Mount Moriah which is the Temple Mount and Isaac asks again father where's the lamb for the sacrifice and all Abraham can choke out is God will provide son he had complete belief complete unwavering faith that God would provide and God did provide remember the RAM and the thicket and he stayed his hand from harming his son but he had to pass that test he had to be allowed to even go right down to the last moment to see and as a witness not just to God but to all the angelic hosts and to the enemy and to anyone who might ever accuse Abraham of just following God because he was blessed like Jobe you know Israel is supposed to follow the example of her father Abraham we're all seed of Abraham but Israel hasn't been so faithful through the years sorry to tell ya our forefathers have wavered and that's why they were expelled from the land Exodus 14 verse 31 God prophetically foresees this and well it's actually in Deuteronomy that he calls them a faithless nation but Israel a lot of what they proclaim to believe was just due to what they see and I want to warn you against just believing something because you've seen it God tells us to worship Him in spirit and truth because he is spirit and he has no farm and we're not to make any form or to have an image in our mind of what he looks like he manifests himself from many different forms and many different ways but we're not supposed to worship any of those forms Israel coming out of Egypt saw all this wonderful mighty deeds that God did in their deliverance they saw the work but then they turned right around and as soon as they were in the desert built a golden calf because they wanted something to see Ezekiel I mean Exodus 14 31 says and Israel saw the great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians and the people feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses why just because of the great miracles they didn't really have deep Emunah like we're talking about otherwise it would have been faithful those 40 days that Moses went up onto the Mount they couldn't even wait 40 days they're already fidgeting something must have happened to Moses Aaron make us a golden calf so that we can worship it no true emunah they were just all wrapped up in signs and wonders and this is why you schewe says it's a wicked and perverse generation that's looking for signs and wonders we should be able to believe in the invisible God the way our father Abraham did in John 2029 yahushua says because you have seen me is this why you believe because it was prophesied thousands of years before that god would send somebody humble and meek like Moses in Deuteronomy 18 God says I will send a servant like unto Moshe from your brethren so he had to come from the lineage of Israel and I will put my words in his mouth and the people were ready to for this prophet to come on the scene this is why they're asking John the Baptist are you the Prophet and asking every other prophet are you the Prophet and they would say no I'm not the one because they knew what they were speaking of the prophet of Deuteronomy 18 when Yeshua comes on the scene they see that he is humble and meek he is a great teacher like Moses was a great leader and the people followed but it's because they saw the miracles he did and they are in even with those miracles from healing the sick and the blind and raising the dead they kept coming to him and say can you show us a sign to prove that you're the one you're the prophet that God prophesied and he says blessed are they who didn't see and yet believed speaking of a future generation of sentence of Israel which is us it is necessary to believe in Hashem not the implement of his salvation not anything he's created to believe in him by way of faith and not by proof Deuteronomy 30 to 20 says I will hide my face from them speaking of Israel they're right on the cusp of entering into the Promised Land after two hundred and ten years in Egypt and forty years wandering in the wilderness and God sees they're not gonna be faithful to me even though I'm fulfilling my end of the Covenant and giving them this land I promised their forefather Abraham they're gonna wander after the false gods of the Canaanites they're gonna not have the true emunah of their forefather Abraham Isaac and Jacob so he says prophetically I will hide my face from them I will see what therein shall be he knows the end from the beginning for they are a wayward generation they keep falling backsliding they keep going astray children in whom there is no emunah we want to repent for the sins of our forefathers and their faithlessness and we want to be overcomers in the areas where our forefathers failed may we have the Emunah the faith that Abraham exemplified the faith that God will see and send Messiah to return all the X aisles of Israel scattered throughout the world back to the land now the land can receive us if we're faithful it spewed out our forefathers because they weren't faithful numbers 12 over six talks about Moses just like Abraham was faithful God is letting Israel know here's another example for you if Abraham was too far back in your past that you forgot what his faithfulness looked like look at the leader I've given you Moshe and he said hear now my words if there be a prophet among you I the Lord will make myself known to him in a vision or I'll speak to him in a dream but my servant Moshe I'm not gonna speak to him that way just in visions and dreams he is full of Emunah he's totally faithful in all my house with him I will speak mouth to mouth a knee melpomene even apparently and not in dark speeches and the simul tude of the lord shall he behold so Moses is another great example of faithfulness imagine he all the different trials that he went through from the time he was laid in that basket to the time that he had to leave Egypt to the time that he ruled over the Kushites to the time that he went to the land of Midian to the time that he kept all the Oracles of God that he knew even though he was raised in an Indian household his mother had taught him about the Hebrew God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all that God called him to do even though he felt inadequate that's another area of our faithfulness how many times is God called you to do something that you don't feel worthy to do or you don't feel the gifting to do God's calling you to step out in faith he will provide the giftings he will provide the lack just follow his voice and do whatever he's calling you to do Moses didn't feel like he could speak and yet look at what a great orator he is Paul actually says he was a great orator in acts denying what Moses said about himself being a stammering tongue so God will come through for us if we will be faithful and he'll give us new giftings and develop our characters in areas that we never believed could be developed but the good news is even though our forefathers were wayward and lacked in great Emunah even though they had these great examples like Abraham and Moses it is prophesied through the prophets that in the last days there will be descendants of Israel scattered all around the world who will exemplify the faith of Abraham and in our haftorah what's interesting there's a correlation in the prophets section reading for today from Isaiah 40 verse 27 through Isaiah 41 16 that draws a future prophetic parallel with the whole house of Israel as the seed of Abraham and Isaiah even mentions Abraham he says but you Israel you're my servants remember he had just said that Moses is his servant and he'll speak to him directly because he's faithful with all his house now he's calling Israel the descendents of Israel his faithful servants and he's going to entrust his Oracles to us if we will be faithful with all that he has revealed to us you Israel are my servant Yaakov whom I have chosen the seed of Abraham my friend beautiful prophetic word God's reminding the children about the Covenant he has made with our forefather and he doesn't just call him our forefather Avinu / hum but he says my friend ha there this is where the word he or the name in Spanish Javier which means friend it comes from the Hebrew word for friend ha ver Abraham is considered God's friend very intimate language you whom I have taken from the ends of the earth and called you out from the most distant parts this is speaking of you he's calling you out from all the different places where your forefathers were scattered where you were born and he says to you you are my servants I have chosen you and I have not cast you away fear not for I am with you be not dismayed for I am your God I will strengthen you yea I will help you I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness this is a beautiful promise to you if you will be faithful as his servants and all that he's called you to do and what has he called you to do do you know what he's called you to do the first step is understanding your identity in Israel that this pertains to you then when you realize that he called Israel to all these remote parts of the earth to be a light to the nation's to be an implement of salvation even so that others through understanding his great love would want to be grafted into the family of Israel this is your purpose and you will fulfill this purpose and he'll give you everything to help you when you are faithful to that calling do you want to be found faithful amen then follow Abraham's example of true Emunah we learned from Abraham's example of Emunah certain actions that proved to have the power to change his fate do you know he would have never fulfilled or become this great nation if he had remained in earth if he hadn't taken that first baby step of faith out of his comfort zone but even before he took the baby step out of the land he had to for 40 years he studied with Shem did you know that 10 years in the cave in 40 years studying under Shem so that he would be prepared as a type of priest if Shem would die in his lifetime but Jim didn't die Melchizedek went on you know Abraham's ten generations after and then you have Isaac and he doesn't die there in Isaac's lifetime and then you have Jacob and Melchizedek finally dies during jacob's time and this is when the Oracles of the priesthood were passed on to shake up and he split them amongst three sons the priesthood to Levi the rulership to Yehuda and the double portion blessing of the firstborn to Joseph's two sons Ephraim and Manasseh but specifically Ephraim but so you've got fifty years there ten years in the cave forty years studying under Shem and then another ten years remember he was imprisoned so there's covering 60 years of Abraham's life The Lost years in a nutshell forty years he was faithful you know sometimes we start school but we don't complete it and we say oh I wish I would have completed that degree or I wish we have to be faithful steadfast he was steadfast so his Torah study is the first example for us this is what prepared him to be a light to the nation's and this is what you're preparing as you're coming back to Torah the other implement of power that changed his fate and will change yours as well is sadaqa which is his kind act of giving charity wherever he was at he was known for his kindness so I want you to think about father Abraham and I want you to think of yourself as his children and know that what made him great and and his name became renowned all around the world not just in his generation but for thousands of years to come and it will always be is these these different actions that he did in his life that we're gonna be meditating on Torah study sadaqa tefillah what is tefillah prayer the Book of Psalms is called to Filan or even the when used have the flattery strapped onto your hand in fulfillment of the Shema that's called to Finland also it means prayer and he was known for his dedication just like Daniel to praying regularly to Hashem we need to have an active prayer life if we're going to be connected to the divine source any relationship is built on communication and we can't just go through life on feelings and not interacting intimately with our God our Creator the fourth action that proves to have power to change our fate is teshuva when you see that something has wrong in your life even if it wasn't by your choice he was raised in an idolatrous nation his father was making idols facilitating this idolatry sometimes we have to stand up for change we have to be the change we want to see in the world we have to be the love we want to see in the world we have to be the steadfastness the faithfulness to God and that sometimes comes through repentance and that's what teshuva is repent means to go back to the source and teaching others how to do that as well then there's something called Shenmue II shame which is the change of your name when your character develops God is going to give you a new name you know in Revelation it says that each one is going to be given a new name in the kingdom that only you will know Abraham offer him was named Abraham because he added that hey into the name the hay is a window meaning there's something more to reveal about this person we should really look into his life in his character and learn from him same thing with Sarai she was given a hay at the end of her name and it became Sarah from Sarai and so they both got a hay meaning there's something more to reveal about both of these people as examples for men and women their descendants then there's also something in hebrew called sh nui hama comb my home means place so this is a change in your residence sometimes to change your paradigm God has to shake things up in your life such that you change residences and then you start breaking free of the old paradigms can you relate to that I can too I've seen how he's done this through my life as well and each time there's new light to receive wherever he calls us to if we will be faithful don't hold on to anything your name your place of residence your religion your nationality these are all things that divide people but God wants us to be unified one family as children of Abraham and then last but not least is he never doubted or grumbled are spoken negative in any way let's make sure that our thoughts and our words are reflective of total faithfulness totally trusting a Shem and his word in every thought word and deed Isaiah 60 verse 4 says lift up thine eyes round about and see all of them that gather themselves together they come to thee thy son shall come from afar thy daughters shall be faithful at thy side this is a prophecy that Israel will be faithful in the last days and come back to her home in Israel come back to a knowledge of Torah come back to brother Judah and be unified in Hosea even goes further speaking of our reunification with Judah and needing to learn from the very brother who preserved the Torah Hosea 11 verse 12 says Ephraim encompass me with lies this is God speaking the whole house of Israel the Northern Kingdom that was dispersed and became our forefathers they're known as Ephraim this is in prophetic imagery the firstborn the one who got the firstborn blessing often was the one that gets identified with for all of the ten tribes so think of the ten tribes as ephraim and ephraim was rebellious they rebelled against Judah the king of Judah they rebelled in the land against God they spewed out they've continued this rebellion and their surrounding God with lies why because God loves them he's always taken care of them in all the lands of their dispersion but we've continued to speak falsehood to promote false religions and false religious systems and so this is what he means when he says ephraim has encompassed me with lies and the house of israel with deceit so just in case you miss it you don't know that ephraim is talking about the house of israel he's clarifying your forefathers have been full of deception and they followed wayward systems but Judah has Authority with God and is faithful with the code a shame this means the Holy Ones this means they preserved a knowledge of Torah so when the house of Israel truly is repentant and they want to relearn God's ways and re-enter into Emunah faithfulness with him who are they supposed to turn to just like the prodigal son came back home and the older brother was there but not too sure of his intentions coming back home that's brother Judah the prodigal son is the house of Israel and that's the whole house of Israel in all of the Christian world as they start to repent from the paganism that's been mixed in with them they need to take off that pagan garb leave the idol worship behind and come back to brother Judah and teach us your ways and this is why it's prophesied that tin from a nation will take hold of a choose eat seat because ten is symbolic of the ten tribes of the house of Israel it's all saying the same thing in the beautiful gospel story it's time for Israel to come home and to be reconciled with brother Judah and to be one family again in the kingdom of mashiac this is another aspect of faithfulness that we don't often think about and he's saying Judah was faithful with his word and Ephraim was not so we need to be humble we need to recognize the sins of our forefathers and repent and start relearning God's ways now there's quite a few Jewish sayings that we tell our children about different aspects of our spiritual growth characteristics if you will or character traits just like you have a book of characteristics that you teach children from about 200 years ago there was this great rabbi who decided to put together in alphabetical order from olive to top all the different traits so that children could learn you know if all of that gimel dog anything that dealt with it so he moon of course would be something that comes right off the bat with because it says you can see here a moon faith is actually with an Allah first letter in the Hebrew alphabet just like a hava so the first things we're teaching our children is love and faithfulness in this book of traits it's actually called supper I think it's hung out and it means the book of traits so if some of these sayings are from these compilations through the years of different things that our sages have said it is necessary to believe in how mido that's the word Zephyr Hamid ode is the name of the book in case you want to get it it is necessary to believe in Hashem by way of faith and not by proof so everybody's looking for proof in things and this is evolutionist always talk about well you have to really have faith to believe in God and we've got proof but they don't have any proof and it takes as much faith to believe in evolution as it does to believe in God but it's so important God wants us to trust him not because of all the signs and wonders but because we have an intimate connection with him because we know him as our daddy through the Emunah through faithfulness one is blessed so we know that lessons are going to come just like they did to father Abraham if we will remain faithful no matter how difficult that is another saying is through faithfulness one is beloved to Hashem would you like to be called his beloved everyone would like to be known as the bride was through true faithfulness that one is beloved to Hashem may he be blessed as a wife is to her husband another Sain of sages is that faith comes through silence sometimes we don't need to have a quick reaction or a quick rebuttal it's not about me it's about glorifying him sometimes I just need to be faithful in silence there's another time where he will ask us to be faithful by speaking and teaching faith comes also through charity that means those acts of kindness that you see in Abraham through faith one becomes wise so when the Scriptures tell us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom this tells you that that holy awe that gets translated as fear has something to do with being faithful to God true faithfulness another saying on faithfulness is someone who does not have faith it is certain that he will be little the words of the Torah now how many people have you heard in the church or pastors that try to justify not doing Torah not keeping the seventh-day Sabbath they say oh it was nailed to the cross you don't need to keep that as if God changes or as if he who sees the in from the beginning created a bad plan and then he had to recant and say well I'm sorry I thought you could keep Torah I thought I'd be a blessing but no I was wrong that's what we're saying when we say that God is undoing his word where Malachi says he doesn't change he's the same yesterday today and tomorrow so someone who doesn't have true faith they might claim to have faith oh yeah I believe in God but even the demons believe if they don't have real faith they're gonna be little Torah and through Torah one comes to faithfulness so just like I talked about practicing your Emunah it's through torah study that one comes to have stronger faithfulness to God and through faith one comes to sanctify the Holy One of Israel to make him holy when we talk about being sanctified we talk about being set apart for holy use how do we bless God and how do we set him apart as Holy if we have no faith it's impossible so one of the most famous chapters in the New Testament instead of the hall-of-fame I like to call it the Hall of faith it's Hebrews 11 and Paul was going through the history of men talking about different great examples for the children of Israel to meditate on in having goody munna he says now faith is the hypothesis of things hope for we have a hypothesis it's like a theory I believe that this is a fact but I can't prove it yet right this Greek word is who boasts Hoopoe TASIS and it's where we get the word hypothesis from and he's literally saying if you really believe something even though you can't prove it if god's revealed it to you and your heart and spirit or in your mind then hold on to it don't let it go because faith is like a hypothesis of things hoped for the evidence the proof then so he's using a scientific language here you have a hypothesis and then you have to prove that hypothesis he's saying faith is like the hypothesis we believe something's gonna happen in accordance with God's Word it's the evidence of things not seen for bayi muna the men of old gained approval and now he's gonna start talking about our forefathers these men of old by Emunah we understand that the world were prepared by the Word of God so that what is seen all sudden these universes was not made out of things which are visible so the very first act of Emunah is seen in the divine creator creating something out of nothing and this is the way our faith is if we believe it enough and we speak it into existence we will manifest amazing miracles the problem is we don't believe enough we have a lack of faith this is why you should says oh oh you a little faith but to other people he says according to your faith that you'll be done unto you and you're there healed immediately so you see this this polarization between those with Grady muna and those without but we've got to keep our eyes on the source of emunah God thinks something and it speaks it into existence and something comes out of nothing faith is always the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things unseen by faith Abel giving the best he had offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous he didn't see God he trusted in God in accordance with what his parents had told him and he brought an offering and he brought the best now if you don't believe that he's really in existence if it's just an idol why bring your best just go through the ritual so this shows that's proved even his act of giving the best he had and this is the way we should be with dedicating all that we've been entrusted to God's kingdom work it was accounted to him as righteousness God was testifying about his gifts and through faith though he is dead it still speaks volumes it's still teaching us by faith pinoke was taken up so that he would not see death he believed in the vision that God had given him about eternal life and he believed it so much that he walked with God right into that dimension without seeing death he's an amazing example for us and it says he obtained the witness that before his being taken up that he was pleasing to God without faith it's impossible to please God so it's so wonderful to have this example of Enoch who even before he was translated it he was given this witness that he had please God by his immense faith everything that God had revealed to him even down through the end of the age he believed it wholeheartedly it says we need to have faith to please God for he who comes to God must believe that he is a rewarder of those who seek Him and that reward has to do with eternal life once again you're gonna see this theme of eternal life keep being hinted at in Hebrews 11 by faith Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household are we preparing for the salvation of our household do we really believe what we're claiming to believe by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which is in accordance with faith so our faith is going to lead us into right action and that right action is going to lead us to salvation by faith Abraham when he was called obeyed by going out to a place which she was to receive for an inheritance and he went out not knowing where he was going by faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise and in a foreign land dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob why did he live in tents this is what Paul is hinting at he's so focused on the eternal kingdom to come and the permanent dwelling places in that kingdom that he's he's totally living his faith out saying I'm just a temporary Sojourner here this is not where I'm putting my treasure you know where a man's heart is there Abel his treasure be also Abraham was sold out for the Lord and living out that he munna in staying humbly in a tent even though he was one of the most wealthy and powerful men of the world he was looking for the city which has foundations whose architect and builder is God beautiful this is the way we should be so sold out for the eternal Kingdom principles by faith even Sara herself received ability to conceive even beyond the proper time of life since she considered him faithful who had promised that's amazing faith God didn't just force the birth of Isaac on her she had to believe it otherwise that promise wouldn't have been fulfilled either there is no element of force in the kingdom of God or in his character there's true power but not force he's always waiting for us through our free will to live out our faithfulness to truly believe his word therefore there was born even of one man and him as good as dead at that point as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number of which you are one of those descendants and innumerable as the sands which is by the seashore but all these great people of faith they died without receiving the promise what's the promise eternal life but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles here on this earth this is how we should live not building up our treasure here on this earth but totally sold out looking for the kingdom to come for those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own people that are just talkers but not doers of the word and indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out they would have had opportunity to return like we mentioned earlier Abraham could have gone back to the land of her if he had lacked even one ounce of faith when there was a famine he would have just retreated back just like Israel wanted to when they cried out to Moses take us back to Egypt why have you brought us out here it's a land full of leeks and garlic's and good meats and all how we miss what we used to indulge ourselves with there who cares about the oppression that would render let's just gorge ourselves talk about money but when you have faith you're willing to endure even if you have to fast and pray but as it is they desire a better country speaking of those that have this immense emunah that is I heavenly or other dimensional spiritual Kingdom to come this is what we're looking forward to where the spirit can really thrive and where it can outlive the vessel and it can live on and perpetuity forever and ever with the beloved with the one that we are so connected with and that's a faith is that as we meditate on the invisible God we need to realize that his Spirit is inside of us and we need to be so connected with that that if he is eternal then I am eternal if he is love I am love do you see how you start to identify with him instead of something separate from him and then you can walk like Enoch right into eternal life therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God people who think like this for he has prepared a city for them by faith Abraham when he was tested even offered up Isaac and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son it was he to whom it was said in Isaac your descendants shall be called he considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead from which he also received him back as a type Isaac was a type of Yeshua Abraham was like the father he willingly laid down his life and it was raised back up Abraham who thought he had lost his son forever was given back this son and so we see these amazing parallels by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau even regarding things to come by faith Jacob when he was dying blessed each of the sons of Joseph remember he crossed his hands over ephraim and manasseh and gave ephraim the firstborn blessing and he worshipped as he was blessing seeing what God had promised in his mind knowing that it would come to fruition even the act of what he was doing in that moment he was worshiping God praising him for what he was going to do through Ephraim and how Ephraim would lead the house of Israel and all the lands of their dispersion and how God would create a place for Ephraim to be preserved until the day that he could restore him back to the land he saw all of this by faith so this is why he could worship God for all he was going to do even while he's placing this blessing leaning on top of his staff and by faith Yosef when he was dying made mention of the Exodus why because God had told Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in foreign land but that he would return them back to the land just like he's made that promise to us so by faith Joseph even when he's dying in Egypt he's saying you're gonna be delivered at some point long after my death and when you do take my bones with you that's how much he was focused on going back to the land that's the way we should be looking forward to being returned to the land because that's our inheritance our promise in the Messianic age by faith Moshe when he was born was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king's edict once again there's no fear in faithfulness there's no fear in love by faith in Moshe when he had grown up refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to endure ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin in Egypt this is a good call for us Egypt represents the world were being called out of the pleasures of this world keeping our eyes by faith on the kingdom to come considering the reproach of the anointing that he had been given by God greater riches than the Treasuries of Egypt and this is the way we should look at our nineteen and our giftings not fearing the wrath of the king for he endured as seeing him who is unseen by faith he kept the holy days in the Passover and the sprinkling of blood so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them by faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land and the Egyptians when they attempted it were drowned and then it goes on to Joshua because Moses has found the Oracles of God and the leadership and the anointing on to Joshua by faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled seven days by faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient because she believed that God would save her for her faithfulness to Israel when the spies were spying out Jericho after she had welcomed them in peace and what more shall I say Paul says for time will fail me if I tell of everybody else who has been a great example of faithfulness Gideon Barak Barak is the scribe of the prophet Jeremiah he had to have mint faith to go on the journeys that Jeremiah took him on that's a whole nother story jephta and david and samuel in the profits look at some of their writings and what they say about faithfulness who by faith conquered kingdoms and performed acts of righteousness obtained promises shut the mouths of lions quenched the power of fire escaped the edge of the sword from weakness were made strong became mighty in war all through faith but foreign armies to flight women received back their dead by resurrection and others were tortured not accepting their release so that they might obtain a better resurrection and others experienced mockings and scourgings yes also chains and imprisonment they were stoned they were sawn in two they were tempted they were put to death with the sword they went about in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute afflicted nil treated all because they were connecting their identity in the invisible God instead of this vessel this is what we have to do to really be willing to lay down our life we have to be so connected with our true identity in his spirit these are men of whom the world was not even worthy wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground and all of these having gained approval through their Emunah their faith did not even receive what was promised yet that's how much they were focused on the future they believe in the resurrection and they know that God has promised eternal life to them but you know what's amazing God had provided something better for us we are living in a time that our forefathers look forward to and yet did not see we are privileged to be the final generation that will see mushiya come and raise the dead and enter into eternal life when mortality will turn to immortality in the twinkling of an eye this is what our forefathers looked forward to and believed by faith yet they did not see in their lifetime but they will be resurrected to see it we are truly privileged but will we live up to our high calling as a final generation we need to be Vindicator z' of god's character in our life and we need to live out that faithfulness in order to do that because his character is selfless love and we may be called to lay down our life before it's all over as well david says in Psalms 119 I have chosen the way of faithfulness thy judgments have I laid before me so God's judgments His commandments are part and parcel of our faithfulness he says later in that same chapter all thy Commandments are faithful and then by testimonies that thou has commanded our righteous and very faithful he says in verse 138 and Hosea 2:20 God prophesies about RIBA trevean Israel back to himself he says I will even betrothed thee unto myself in faithfulness so God is the one that is exhibiting the true emunah that we're just emulating just like we don't have any light of our own it said that everyone is given a measure of faith so even our faith we can't take credit for but what we are responsible for is building it and developing it he gives the initial faith and we see that in his faithfulness to fulfill his covenant that he made with our forefathers we see faith in the Apostolic writings mentioned in context to fear Yeshua says why are you fearful oh you of little faith if we truly have faith we're not going to fear anything that God has promised us we know he's going to fulfill it the author and finisher of our faith he who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it we don't need to have any fear another time he touched a blind man's eyes and they received their sight immediately and he said according to your faith be it unto you that person believed that when they would see the one that God prophesied would come that he would bring healing just as I said prophesied he would and according to his faith he was healed Romans 1:17 says for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith that means one opportunity after another is an opportunity for us to exhibit our faith one trial one temptation one testing one whatever it is we always say it's all for my good gamsu late ovo whenever you have an obstacle or a trial guess what it's an opportunity for you to live out your true faithfulness to God so from faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by faith and then in chapter 3 of Romans he says but just in case you misunderstand all this talk about faith does it void the Torah god forbid he says not at all so just because we get excited about living out this amazing grace and faith in no way does it negate the application of a faithfulness that is faithful to God's Word and that acts in accordance with it he says it doesn't void the Torah it establishes the Torah because the more faithful we are the more we're gonna live out Torah and so this is what has really been twisted in the Christian world they think it does away with Torah oh do you believe when were you saved all this kind of language if you're truly saved you're gonna be faithful and if you really have faith you're gonna be living out taurah and that taurah not burdensome its laws of love it all goes back to just being in love with our Heavenly Father and we manifest that with each other by realizing that he's in each one and we show that love that we have for him to each other Paul goes on in Romans 4 saying therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end of the promise might be sure to all the seed of Abraham not only to that which is of the Torah but also to that which is of the faith of Abraham so there's some people that do want race with Torah or they might not be exposed to Torah but they're gonna have a certain amount of light if they live up to that light in accordance with the faith of Abraham it will be rendered to them as righteousness and they will be saved Abraham who is the father of us all as it is written I have made thee a father of many nations before him who he believed even God who quickens the dead see his whole focus was on that resurrection and the eternal life and calleth those things which be not as though they were who against hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations according to that which was spoken so shall thy seed be and be not weak in faith he considered not his own body now dead when he was about a hundred years old neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb and he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief that means there was no doubting in his mind whatsoever we have to be so solidified in God's Word that there's no doubting in our mind whatsoever just like Abraham but he was strong in his Emunah giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that what God had promised him he was able also to perform and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him but for us also the story of Abraham is for us so that we can emulate it to whom it shall be imputed he's going to impute this as righteousness to you as well if we believe on him the very one that raises the dead and that raised yoshua from the dead so faithfulness without any doubt in our mind no staggering or wavering fusions 6:16 says above all take the shield of faith wherewith you'll be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one so think about those fiery darts that the adversary is shooting your way they're really darts of doubt if you can get you to doubt he's got you because you have let go of your faith and you're not walking in faithfulness to what God has promised that he will complete in you and so those darts the real attacks are doubt and where does doubt creep in in the mind and where does it come from from the self the lower self that we think is separate from God's Spirit so this is really telling us that we need to take a Shield of true Emunah of faithfulness to quench all doubt in our mind whatsoever never say I'm not good enough to do this or I'm not talented in this area only speak positive because God has created you perfect for his purpose to shine through you the light of his love to the nations in which you live Paul writing to Titus says but now old man of God follow after righteousness godliness emunah faith love patience meekness fight the good fight of the Munna that means every day sometimes it's a struggle we have to overcome that doubt and we have to fight the good fight of faith laying hold to what's to come eternal life just like our forefathers we're looking forward to yet did not see we're unto you have been called if we're so focused on eternal life every day through faith we're gonna not be gratifying the flesh we're not gonna be living in the flesh we're not gonna be holding back the flesh and we'll be willing to lay it down someday if we're called to be martyrs true faith is all about our faithfulness to the Almighty's Word and accompanied by action believing without a doubt what he says and never reacting negatively when we are tested through trials and tribulation this is true emunah so let us become true sons of Abraham by revealing the same Emunah in every situation leading to our sanctification please stand Abba Father we thank you for revealing such a beautiful example of true faith yamuna faithfulness in our father Abraham and in Rabbeinu Moshe and in yahushua and in all of those father that lived righteously in accordance with their faithfulness to your word may this be our experience as well may we be the generation that brings mashiac because of our faithfulness because of our unity because of our love and our righteousness may we be found as a bride without spot or blemish and may there never be any doubt that creeps in our mind that allows anything of this world to ever hold a candle to all the riches and glory of what you have promised us Father for I is not seen nor ear heard all that you have prepared for those with emunah we love you we thank you for your Shabbat we thank you for giving us your word that encourages us and sets us on the straight and narrow path and now father as we are going to fellowship over the physical food we ask for your blessings of fellowship and love and blessings upon the food that we are about to receive in your holy name we pray amen you you

Channel: Assembly of Called-Out Believers

Views: 15,259

Rating: 4.8868685 out of 5

Keywords: Torah, Haftarah, Childlike faith, Faith, faith that works, Righteousness of Yah, Parashah, Lech-Lecha, Faithfulness, Emunah, Christian Principles, Topical Bible Studies

Id: iCGZ0ZBCHDA

Length: 90min 38sec (5438 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 10 2019