This is probably the most disconcerting issue. No the answer is not 42!
Wait! That is the problem, we just don’t like the answer. So we keep looking for another answer.
Maybe we should start with a Written Torah example, where a man named Balak does not like the answer. So he tells Balaam to look at them(Children of Jacob) from here!
Well the story is in Numbers 22 thru 24. Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. He sees what the Israelites have done to the Amorites, and is afraid. He sends representatives to Balaam the son of Beor, to come curse this people for me.Why: “for I know that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.” When Balaam does arrive; Balak said unto Balaam: ‘Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?’ So, Balaam must answer, and does so with: “And Balaam said unto Balak: ‘Lo, I am come unto thee; have I now any power at all to speak any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.’”
That last is the answer. All that Balak should have needed to hear. Only “the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.’” From here on Balak seems to think that if he can just convince Balaam of how bad this people are, how dangerous, that Balaam will change his mind and curse them. We know that nothing changes for the better, in the view of Balak the son of Zippor. The Israelites are blessed, and Balak is informed; of the ‘in that day’ prophecies for all the nations round about.
This is not a happy story. The answer was given before Balaam arrived and then face-to-face with Balak. Balak did not like the answer, so attempted to get a different answer continually.
The Tribe of Judah does no better. Don’t like that answer? Let us take a look.
The Book of Jeremiah, when the Northern Kingdom of Israel has been taken away. Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, has conquered The Southern Kingdom of Judah, and taken away in waves, the people. Only a few(remnant) remain. From the beginning of Jeremiah, Jeremiah has spoken of changing the heart of the people and returning to Hashem, in fact so have all the prophets that spoke in the Name of the LIVING GOD OF ISRAEL. It is seemingly to late to change our ways. Although the Temple has fallen, and most of the people have been taken away into captivity as punishment for not keeping the Covenants and Shabbat. Now to the Story:
Jeremiah 42: 1 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near, 2 and said unto Jeremiah the prophet: ‘Let, we pray thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us; 3 that the LORD thy God may tell us the way wherein we should walk, and the thing that we should do.’
A commitment that; What ever the LORD GOD says We Will Do.
4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them: ‘I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.’
5 Then they said to Jeremiah: ‘The LORD be a true and faithful witness against us, if we do not even according to all the word wherewith the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
6 Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will hearken to the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we hearken to the voice of the LORD our God.’
They committed again to DO.
Jeremiah reports: “’Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before Him: 10 If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I repent Me of the evil that I have done unto you. 11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD; for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. 12 And I will grant you compassion, that he may have compassion upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
But the LORD Knows Their Hearts. And says:
13 But if ye say: We will not abide in this land; so that ye hearken not to the voice of the LORD your God; 14 saying: No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the horn, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we abide; 15 now therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah: Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there; 16 then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye are afraid, shall follow hard after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die. . . .
(The declaration gets worse.) To the point that when Jeremiah has finished declaring the WORD.
“Jeremiah 43: 2. . . Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah: ‘Thou speakest falsely; the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say: Ye shall not go into Egypt to sojourn there; 3 but Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death, and carry us away captives to Babylon.’”
So here again we just did not want to hear something other than what we want to hear. There is already something going on, which is declared in Ezekiel about the Cost to the King of Babylon and repayment with Egypt. We can stay here and see what is happening.
Jeremiah 46: 25 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith: Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods, and her kings; even Pharaoh, and them that trust in him; 26 and I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants; and afterwards it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD.
But the LORD is not done! He says:
27 But fear not thou, O Jacob My servant, neither be dismayed, O Israel; for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall again be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. 28 Fear not thou, O Jacob My servant, saith the LORD, for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee, but I will not make a full end of thee; and I will correct thee in measure, but will not utterly destroy thee.
Is this last about the “End Of Days”?
There we have it, reassurances that we will be saved at another time. We reject the Word Of The ALMIGHTY, spoken by Jeremiah, to our hurt. We fight against the Good and strive for that which harms us.
We don’t like the answers.
Why do I bring this up? I am a seeker of Truth and have been most of my life. Trying to find the Righteous path to the ALMIGHTY. Being more like a scientist, than a wondering nomad. As I define a scientist, as a seeker of truth, who uses the observed evidence to define a hypothesis, which must be confirmed with two or more sources(evidenced events). The theory now formed must withstand every test. (A Test is an event where the theory is called into question, evaluated against all evidence.) Or if the theory does not remain valid, then theory must be modified or remade to cover all the evidence now available.
One of these Theories is: The WRITTEN TORAH IS TRUE! No evidence has been found nor proof provided, demonstrating that any piece of those WORDS are false. Logic and personal opinion are not evidence, they are faith based, which require no evidence to be upheld. Many things discovered, give confirmation to the WORD. Not everything has been proven, yet! But, for me, for my soul, there is enough proven, that demands I pay attention and perform those words. If I am interested in Saving My Soul and going to the world to come, or even just Honoring My Creator, My FATHER, MY GOD for the blessings I have already received. Those are my answers and my evidence, which I acknowledge. Enough truth, to know that doing anything else would be stupid on my part.
Real life story; When I was in the U.S. Navy, working as a flight deck director, I received new sailors where, this was their first duty station. Often asked, how do you stand all of this?; All of what?, I would return.
The response: How do you put up with all these rules and regulations? My answer was something like this: For me it is simple. I can stay inside the rules, and get liberty, pay, time off, good will from those above me, and when I want something extra, it is no problem to ask. Yet, if I fight the system, break the rules, decide that I don’t care. These will be the results; I will loose pay, loose rank, loose liberty, loose time, loose privilege, in short, It will cost me to rebel. Where is the benefit of fighting this system? No it is not morally corrupt. No, it is not wrong to support the country that gave me the freedoms I enjoy. And I volunteered. Yes, I knew those that were drafted, yet the same outcomes apply.
So why should I fight the system, when it is much more fun to do things inside the rules?
SO, now I put it to you. Why would you fight against the Creator of Your Soul, Your only hope of salvation, because HE simply made a set of rules, HE Demands you follow? The benefit is unbelievably great to keep the Covenants and Teachings, while the cost of not doing so, is everything to you.
Shouldn’t you just do what HE SAID, instead of fighting what you can not win?
Too many of us just do not like the answer. More precisely, the answers HE Gave Us(Instructions). They are not unpleasant. They are not unkind. They are about having a Great Life and being able to enjoy all of the LOVE HE HAS for each of us, as HIS CHILDREN. Time is running out. Decide your outcome and act accordingly.
Don’t have a Written Torah or Tanakh, try this one: JPS 1917 Version
IT is to your benefit to HEARKEN until the LIVING GOD OF ISHRAEL, and to your pain and shame to do otherwise.
If it is not already true, then My prayer is that The LORD grant you eyes that see, ears that hear and an understanding heart, then you return unto HIM soon!(Isaiah 6: 9 And He said: ‘Go, and tell this people: hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they, seeing with their eyes, and hearing with their ears, and understanding with their heart, return, and be healed.’)
My prayer is that The LORD grant you eyes that see, ears that hear and an understanding heart, then you return unto HIM soon!
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Shalom,
Yaakov