Choosing Life

by Rabbi

Deuteronomy 30:19

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So, choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants.”

The only way to know Eternal Father is through life. He is the One and only source of all life. Everything we seek must emulate life. Obedience is the pathway by which believers in Yeshua come to know eternal life now. When a person follows the Lord’s way they are choosing life. The daily choices we make grant us the ability to either emulate our Creator or imitate the fabricator. Choice is a consequence. The first family of creation in the Garden of Genesis 3 made a choice resulting in having to choose between good and evil; this became mankind’s curse. Knowing what is good and what is evil took us far away from our original intent. In all our glory as the only image of God and created after His likeness we settle for something far less.

You see, in the beginning man (both male and female) walked with God. You and I as the image of the Creator validate He exists. That is what an image does. When you do a selfie, you validate that you exist because there is a picture “image” that says so. At our most creative point in our existence knowledge of what is good and what is evil as we know it today was totally nonexistent. Can you imagine what Adam contained and what they reflected without sin nature? It astonishes the mind.

Life is more that our physical senses, aspirations, hopes and personal desires. Life is the reality of our original intent. It is the experience of Eternal Father’s love in such a way that we become comfortable not in our own skin but comfortable without the need for it. Now let me qualify “skin.” “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.(Genesis 3:21) Skin is a garment that covers. It says the Lord made. In some cases, this is taught the garments were animal in nature. therefore God killed one. While this would be a good symbolic parallel to man’s “animal” nature there is nothing written in scripture that God kills an animal to cover the male and the female. So, could there be another possibility? Maybe there is another way of seeing the Lord’s initial covering.

For life to mean being comfortable outside or without “skin” we must look at what truly covers. The key is in one of the most quoted scriptures in the Bible. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Yeshua - God’s only begotten Son is the covering for all creation. God loved everything He created but man is the greatest demonstration of this love. Salvation is the Lord’s garment for everyone who believes and receives the gift of Yeshua.Salvation is the garment every person is gifted to wear once they come into the Lord’s Way. The I AM returns to the first image. The garment used for covering is the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. It is this Word that is redeemed in the earth. John the says in John 1:29 “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Do you see it? “the Lamb of God.”

“All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. Revelation 13:8-9

Did you hear that? Let’s hear it this way

“If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” I Peter 1:17-23

Yeshua as the Word of God is with God in the beginning. (John 1:1) As the Lamb of God, Yeshua’s death establishes God’s love before creation by becoming the covering for sin. The Lord is the garment of salvation for life eternal. Choosing Yeshua is choosing life which removes the garment of sin nature.

T’oma said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going; so how can we know the way?” Yeshua said, “I AM the Way — and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me. Because you have known me, you will also know my Father; from now on, you do know him — in fact, you have seen him.” John 14:5-6 (CJB)

Looking at the biblical text skin is “or” עוֹר in Hebrew spelled right to left (ayin – vav – reish). The Hebrew letters tell a deeper story for skin. Ayin by functional definition is watch, know or shade. In ancient pictographic Hebrew the letter looks like an eye. Ayin has the Semitic meaning eye. Ayin is usually a silent letter, so keep that in mind.

Next the letter vav by functional definition is add, hook, secure. The ancient Hebrew pictograph is a tent peg. A peg represents to add or to secure something. Vav is used as a prefix to words representing “and” as if to bring together. Vav can be considered a mediator letter.

The final Hebrew letter is reish. By functional definition reish translates as chief, top, first, beginning as the head of a thing. The ancient Hebrew pictograph is that of a man’s head. The A good example of reish’s meaning is the new moon or the civil Jewish new year. In Hebrew, it is “Rosh Chodesh” and “Rosh Hashanah.” Both represent the head or beginning of the month or year.

Skin as a garment in which man is “stuck” or secure in what is seen. Knowledge of good and evil was off limits by God and was never to be life for man. ( Genesis 2:17) Later in Genesis 3:7 speaks how "their eyes were opened." Eye (ayin) caused sight. Sight caused captivity (vav). Captivity (reish) caused slavery to knowing something that was not to be. Together we see man becoming a slave to sin because the eyes were opened and instead of seeing more male and female saw less. Knowing good and evil has a garment affect that covers with the purpose to imprison. As believers we are not to walk by sight but by faith. A faith that is faithful.

Faithfulness is to remain in the Lord’s position. Even to the point of death Yeshua maintained His position in the earth and this restored His position in God. It is important that we are more than just a hearer of the Word of God. It is critical to believe in the restorative power of the resurrection of Yeshua. Peter says “To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. II Peter 1:1-4 This again is choosing life knowing not according to the flesh “skin,” but through the nature of the true covering Yeshua HaMashiach. The corruption of flesh no longer is the head of life.

As a side note the Hebrew word for light is also “or” ( אוֹר ); though skin and light sound the same the spelling is not the same. There is one letter that changes, and this change is a big deal and should not be ignored. Light in Hebrew is spelled right to left aleph – vav – reish. The one letter difference is instead of ayin (eye) as we see in skin, light begins with aleph the first letter of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet. Aleph by functional definition translates to mean power, authority, strength. The pictograph is represented by the head of an ox. The ox was considered strength because of the power an ox had to perform work. Ancient biblical culture had regard for the order of elder or first leading the younger much like how oxen are yoked. The experienced and the inexperienced. The family had a chief usually the father as the elder yoked with his tribe or clan. The elder was the authority over a household and served as the experienced teacher leader.

Aleph being the first or the beginning of the Hebrew Aleph Bet represents our Eternal Father, Master and Creator. Yeshua says “I am Aleph and Tav, the first and the last. though the Bible quotes the Greek in English translation. This truth makes Yeshua the way to life as the resurrection. He is life and this is the first, chief, head, beginning as the elder of whom man truly is. Adam (male/female before choice resulting in the dark garment of knowledge are now living beings of light; the revealing of God Himself. Life is the light of God. Salvation is the garment of light that reveals who Eternal Father is. In the nature of the Lord’s salvation every day life is the gift of seeing the more beyond the skin of your lifetime including those generations that were before you. You must ask the question “I am living from the revelation of my Creator? Or am I living trying to be comfortable in my skin? “Manking” is created to live breath to breath without the limitations flesh.

Standing up, Yeshua said to her, “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” Yeshua said, “Neither do I condemn you. Now go, and don’t sin anymore.” Yeshua spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light which gives life.” John 8:10-12

What is so wonderful about the passage above is Yeshua specifically asks “where are your accusers?” Then he declares himself as the light of the world. Life comes where there is no condemnation. Where there is no condemnation there is no darkness. Light constantly expands even in darkness as it moves through it and around it only to be the demonstration and manifestation to what makes seeing God possible. Every believer goes from faithfulness to faithfulness becoming the brightest light in some of the darkest places.

I encourage you to grow in the salvation that clothes you, it’s a BIG garment – it covers all creation. To step into it requires that you step out of your own garment of knowing good and evil. There is an invitation to go with God as your spirit grows in Him who has called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light. Yeshua is the way therefore reflect the who He is. Yeshua is the truth – in the words of Rebbe Nachman “truth is the light, by which you find your way out of darkness. Turn it on ” Yeshua is the life - so live to see what He is becoming in and through you. In choosing life make sure the life you are choosing is all His – because salvation is the garment that covers the world and bears the light.

His,

R’Yisrael

Quote fromThe Empty Chair - Finding Hope and Joy - Timeless Wisdom from a Hasidic Master Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

Pictograph reference from Jeff Benner - http://www.ancient-hebrew.org