In the month of June I
plan to do a lot of walking. This just comes with the terrain you might say of
our HaDerekh
Youth Israel Aliyah as we will be literally walking all over the Land
of Israel from June 12 to July 2. I have high expectations for our Team when we
walk through the Land together: we represent our Messiah Yeshua, we represent
the American Messianic Jewish Community, and we represent Americans in general.
I expect our group to way worthy of these important representations!!
I would like to define a
Hebrew term which makes many Jews uncomfortable, the word Halakhah. It’s
traditional meaning is understood to be “Jewish Law”, but the actual core of
its meaning is the phrase “the way to walk”. In other words, halakh is the
Hebrew word “to walk”, and halakhah summarizes the age old Jewish communal
expectation for how individual Jews are expected to walk out their lives as
part of the greater Jewish community. It’s similar to our traditional
understanding of American values: hard
work, rugged individualism, baseball, apple pie, etc.…
G-d of course laid down
within the Scriptures his basic understanding of how he expected all people to
live, including Israel his Chosen people. One example of how he expected Israel
to walk was to keep the Shabbat as a sign of his unique relationship with
Israel:
Leviticus 23:3 “Work may be done for six days, but the
seventh day is a Shabbat of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You are to do no
work—it is a Shabbat to Adonai in all your dwellings. (TLV)
G-d has provided all of
Scripture for all of mankind so that we all might know how we are supposed to
walk out our lives for Him. Paul wrote that if we study G-d’s instructions and
on a daily basis apply them through G-d’s Spirit we won’t walk off the Spirit’s
path and into sinful activities:
Galatians 5:16 – “But I say, walk by the Ruach, and
you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.” (TLV)
G-d’s expectations are
actually quite simple and reasonable; they just demand our submission and
personal desire. Are you committed to walking G-d’s way?
Forward for Messiah,
Rabbi Kirk Gliebe
