Roots of Faith

Today marks 10 years since the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in the heart of Manhattan in the early morning hours of September 11, 2001. This event is one of those life-changing moments. People for years to come will ask one another what they were doing when they heard the news that planes slammed into the Twin Towers.

Thousands of innocent lives were lost. Lives of people who knew nothing of a hate filled group known as Al Qaeda. All I can think of this morning as I watch the news coverage of various ceremonies is that Al Qaeda looks familiar to me. I cannot help but recognize the resemblance between the hate filled group Al Qaeda and an ancient enemy mentioned in the Biblical text. Yesterday, the Torah reading ended with mention of Amalek.

“Remember what Amalek did unto you by the way as you came forth out of Egypt; how he met you by the way, and smote the hindmost of you, all that were enfeebled in your rear, when you were faint and weary; and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when Yehovah your God hath given you rest from all your enemies round about, in the land which Yehovah your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it, that you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget.”

Amalek is also mentioned in the book of Exodus. In the 17th chapter, we read of a battle between the Israelites – led by Joshua, and Amalek (Exodus 17:8-16). The battle went in the favor of Israel when the hands of Moses were lifted up and in the favor of Amalek when “he let down his hand”. Aaron and Hur got on either side of Moses and held up his arms. The battle went in favor of Israelites. But according to the account in Exodus 17, the story of Amalek does not end there.

“And Yehovah said unto Moses: ‘Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the ears of Jsohua: for I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.’ And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it, Yehovah-Nissi. And he said; “Because a hand is against the throne of Yah – War to Yehovah with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Rabbi Hertz says in his comment on this verse – “Amalek has disappeared from under heaven, but his spirit still walks the earth. In the battle of Yehovah against the Amalekites in the realm of the spirit, the only successful weapons are courage and conviction, truth and righteousness.”

Since the beginning of time there has been a war between good and bad. The faces and names of our enemies may change, but the spirit remains the same. When we see evil manifested such as the attack on the Twin Towers, we must recognize that the spirit of Amalek drives the enemy. Our weapons are courage, conviction, truth and righteousness. We look forward to a day when the remembrance of Amalek will be blotted out and with it the name and memory of America’s Amalek. May the memory of our Amalek be blotted out from under heaven!

Several years ago, while searching the web for the phrase “Preaching Moses”, I came across an old sermon entitled, How Christians Should Regard Moses. I have slightly revised it for republication. The sermon was delivered by a now famous preacher on August 27, 1525 – 486 years ago. How should Christians regard Moses? I hope that this article helps answer that question.

The Sermon
In this sermon, the preacher declares that in history there were only two occasions in which God gave a public sermon from heaven.  The first, he declared, is found in Exodus 19 and 20.  The second public sermon given by God, according to this preacher is described in the New Testament’s book of Acts in the second chapter.  Though not recorded by the preacher of this sermon, both of these events are reported to have taken place during the third month of the Hebrew year, 50 days after the Hebrew Festival of Passover, at the Feast of Shavuoth or Pentecost..

The author of the sermon was not interested however in finding correlation between the two events, but rather in pointing out the distinctions between the sermons designated by him; (1) the Law and (2) the Gospel.  His sermon was intended to declare once and for all that “these two sermons are not the same”.  Note the language of the sermon on this very point from the text of the preacher’s sermon.

“Now the first sermon, and doctrine, is the law of God. The second is the Gospel. These two sermons are not the same. Therefore we must have a good grasp of the matter in order to know how to differentiate between them. We must know what the Law is, and what the gospel is. The Law commands and requires us to do certain things. The Law is thus directed solely to our behavior and consists in making requirements. For God speaks through the Law, saying, “Do this, avoid that, this is what I expect of you.” The Gospel, however, does not preach what we are to do or to avoid. It sets up no requirements but reverses the approach of the Law, does the very opposite and says, “this is what God has done for you; he has let his Son be made of flesh for you, has let him be put to death for your sake.” So, then, there are two kinds of doctrine and two kinds of works, those of God and those of men. Just as we and God are separated from one another. So also these two doctrines are widely separated from one another. For the gospel teaches exclusively what has been given us by God and not – as in the case of the Law – what we are to do and give to God.”

The preacher continues in his sermon by comparing the two sermons to two kingdoms; (1) the temporal and (2) the Spiritual – where the temporal equates to the Law and the Spiritual to the gospel.

He then identifies yet another kingdom that resides between the temporal and the spiritual – one that is half and half as it were.  According to the preacher, it is constituted by the Jews, with commandments and outward ceremonies which prescribe their conduct toward God and men.

From this platform, he goes on to attempt to show that “here the Law of Moses has its place.”  While admitting some good within this middle kingdom, he is clear to show that those things which apply to Gentiles are only those which are “written by nature into their hearts”.  He is preaching this on behalf of a group he refers to as enthusiasts.  This group “reads Moses (the Law), extol him and bring up the way he ruled the people with commandments.  They try to be clever, and think they know something more than is presented in the gospel; so they minimize faith, contrive something new, and boastfully claim that it comes from the Old Testament. They desire to govern people according to the letter of the Law of Moses, as if no one had ever read it before.”

He sees no way to reconcile the two sermons. In fact he places them against one another using very strong language.  Notice the following quote from his sermon.

“We would rather not preach again for the rest of our life than to let Moses return and to let Christ be torn out of our hearts.  We will not have Moses as ruler or Lawgiver any longer. Indeed God himself will not have it either.”

He further tells those present at his sermon to tell those who would preach Moses to simply respond with the statement that “Moses has nothing to do with us”.

The sermon goes on to state that the Sabbath is abolished and in fact he goes so far as to say that “not one little period in Moses pertains to us”.

Finally he seeks to set the record straight and inform the laity of why we should even keep Moses at all and not as he puts it, “sweep him under the rug”. He identifies three things “to notice in Moses”.

• Certain commandments are good for Christians.  Not, says he, because Moses gave them, but “because they have been implanted in me by nature” and “Moses agrees exactly with nature”. He goes on to share which commandments he gladly and willingly accepts.
• He says that he also accepts those things in Moses that he calls “the promises and pledges of God about Christ” – promises that as he puts it, “sustain faith”.
• The third thing to be seen in Moses as worth keeping it around are “beautiful examples of faith, of love and of the cross, as shown in the fathers, Adam, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and all the rest”.

The sermon discussed above was delivered on this very date (August 27, 1525), 486 years ago by a preacher named Martin Luther as part of a series of seventy-seven sermons on Exodus preached between October 2, 1524 and February 2, 1527.

I could not let the day pass without taking notice that I stand with Jesus against Martin Luther on the anniversary of his sermon and declare that NOT one jot or one tittle will in no way pass from the Law until all be fulfilled – stating further that whoever breaks one of the least of the commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven, but whoever does and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

This gives me more reason than ever to Preach Moses Every Sabbath in the Synagogue – for those that abide in Christ ought to walk even as Jesus did.