Weekly Parasha: Parasha Bamidbar (Numbers)

From Rabbi Jack...

Being thankful is the cornerstone of a Believer's life. As part of our Shabbat liturgy, we recite a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving that I would like to share with you:

"We gratefully thank You, for it is You Who are the Lord, our God and the God of our forefathers for all eternity. Rock of our lives, Shield of our salvation are You from generation to generation. We shall thank You and relate Your praise for our lives, which are committed to Your hand and for our souls that are entrusted to You; for Your miracles that are with us every day; and for Your wonders and favors in every season – evening, morning, and afternoon. The Beneficent One, for Your compassions were never exhausted, and the Compassionate One, for Your kindness never ended. We have always put our hope in You. Everything alive will gratefully acknowledge You, Selah! And praise Your Name sincerely, O God of our salvation and help, Selah! Blessed are You, O Lord, Your Name is 'The Beneficent One' and to You it is fitting to give thanks. For all these, may Your Name be blessed and exalted, our King, continually forever and ever.

Psalms {119:71} "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes."

In this psalm David is expressing thanks to God in his affliction. Normally, in our affliction we tend to question God. However, David recognized that in comparison to his good times, He learned more about God and His statutes when experiencing affliction.

1 Thessalonians {5:18} "in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Messiah Yeshua for you."

Notice that the Apostle Paul wrote, "in everything give thanks" and not "for everything give thanks." This relates to what David was saying in his psalm. Affliction will come into all of our lives, but we are not to be thankful "for" them, rather we are to be thankful "in" them because in them we too will learn more about God and His statutes.

From Ellen...

Hi Ellen here…Well it was no coincidence, in my opinion, that the Rabbi spoke about marriage last Shabbat. The Holy Spirit moves in our lives very gently and very lovingly. I say this because we are soon to celebrate Shavuot, also known as Pentecost in Church circles. We have an opportunity to reaffirm our relationship, commitment and dedication to our God Most High on this festival. What is Shavuot? Briefly Shavuot is the giving of the Torah and the giving of the Holy Spirit to His people. Shavuot is also a marriage, a marriage between the Lord and you and me!!! How glorious this is. I implore all of us to search back in our memories to the time we first said, "YES LORD!" That incredible day when the Lord changed you and me from the old self to the renewed self…for me firstly I went from frantic to peaceful and yes, He miraculously delivered me from smoking that very same day. Let us all come before our bridegroom this Shavuot and renew our marriage vow to our God Most High!

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King.

Rabbi Jack & Ellen