Kindness of Your Youth
The Talmud describes the Book of Jeremiah as “kulei churbena” – it is all about the destruction (Bava Batra 14b). In light of this description Jeremiah’s first prophecy to Israel seems out of place. “Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying: So says the Lord, I remember for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your nuptials, when you followed me into the wilderness, into an unsown land. Israel is holy to the Lord, the first of His crop; all who devour them will be held guilty; evil shall come upon them.” (Jeremiah 2:2,3).
Visions of destruction and pain fill the Book of Jeremiah. At the same time, throughout the book, the prophet provides words of comfort and reassurance with the vision of the final redemption. But this introductory prophecy, a prophecy about Israel’s past, still calls for an explanation. Why is this prophecy chosen to introduce the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile from the Land of Israel?
Perhaps we can better understand this prophecy when we consider the concept of exile. When God punishes us He is not merely taking revenge or expressing anger. Each punishment is planned out as a path to correct us and to help us accomplish the purpose for which we were created.
When Israel sinned they lost the ability to accomplish their purpose in their own land. Therefore, Israel needed to wander in the spiritual wilderness of exile. Instead of testifying to the oneness of God in the light of Divine favor, Israel will need to fulfill this task in the darkness of exile.
Before we set out on this new aspect of our mission, God reminds us of our original commitment to Him. When we followed Him that first time we weren’t expecting anything. Our love for God was so complete that we followed Him out into the desert without knowing how we would be sustained.
This prophecy is the appropriate introduction to exile. God is declaring that Israel is indeed capable and fit for the task of exile. Their love for God runs so deep that all of the persecutions and suffering of exile will never extinguish it (Song of Solomon 8:7). The fire in Israel’s heart for God, which we showed when we followed Him into the desert, has the strength to remain loyal to Him even in the darkest depths of exile.
Isaiah prophesied that we will yet emerge from this exile with our loyalty to God intact. We will yet enter the gates as the nation that remained faithful to the God who we followed when we left the land of Egypt (Isaiah 26:2).
May it happen speedily in our days.
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Thank You
Yisroel C. Blumenthal
1000 Verses - a project of Judaism Resources 
Amein. And every blessing.
Dear Friend;
Life is full of + and – situations, even with those we love and love us. What is needed it to learn from our experiences so we can do better, and have a good life with our fellow family and friends, and with HaShem.
Reblogged this on 1000 Verses – a project of Judaism Resources.
Test
Thinking of Jeremiah makes me want to cry. His only crime was his love for God and love for his people. This put him in a most impossible position. It was for love that God sent Jeremiah to speak to His bride. If she had loved God as much, she would of listened and Jeremiah would not had to suffer.
It is hard to know why the bride refused to heed God’s message through Jeremiah. Over the years had she begun to rely on her special status with God, forgetting her covenant was conditional? Did she refuse to admit her infidelity? Did she have the attitude Jeremiah was butting into something that was none of his business? Insisting on her own way did she accuse Jeremiah of being a false prophet, lying, and not sent by God? Whatever the reason, it was a Jezabel moment. Refusing to honor her Husband’s advice given through Jeremiah, she refused to humble herself to accept her Husband’s instructions.
What if the Bride accepted Jeremiah’s words as from her Husband? Perhaps God would of relented of the coming discipline or cut it short? Even if not, at least she would of went into exile and endured her discipline with honor as exemplified by King David. Surely Jeremiah would of chose exile with the bride to be a help and support, to comfort her with her Husband’s words in her time of trouble.
But it didn’t go that way. Jeremiah was persecuted and God’s message went unheeded and disrespected. The bride choosing her own path resulted in many gruesome deaths, a destroyed Temple, a destroyed Jerusalem infrastructure, a forced full term exile, a modified Religion and the Samaritans.
Yet there is hope! Even though our Husband divorced Israel, He promised to bring her back. How much more will He bring back Judah who He did not divorce! It has never been our continuous unbroken love for our Husband which kept us from a permanent divorce. Generally speaking; our love has neither been continuous or unbroken. It is only our Husband’s enduring love that saves us from being cast out forever.
———————————–
Thinking of Jesus makes me want to cry. His only crime was his love for God and love for his people. This put him in a most impossible position. It was for love that God sent Jesus to speak to His bride. If she had loved God as much, she would of listened and Jesus would not had to suffer.
It is hard to know why the bride refused to heed God’s message through Jesus. Over the years had she begun to rely on her special status with God, forgetting her covenant was conditional? Did she refuse to admit her infidelity? Did she have the attitude Jesus was butting into something that was none of his business? Insisting on her own way did she accuse Jesus of being a false prophet, lying, and not sent by God? Whatever the reason, it was a Jezabel moment. Refusing to honor her Husband’s advice given through Jesus, she refused to humble herself to accept her Husband’s instructions.
What if the Bride accepted Jesus’s words as from her Husband? Perhaps God would of relented of the coming discipline or cut it short? Even if not, at least she would of went into exile and endured her discipline with honor as exemplified by King David. Surely Jesus would of chose exile with the bride to be a help and support, to comfort her with her Husband’s words in her time of trouble.
But it didn’t go that way. Jesus was persecuted and God’s message went unheeded and disrespected. The bride choosing her own path resulted in many gruesome deaths, a destroyed Temple, a destroyed Jerusalem infrastructure, a forced full term exile, a modified Religion and the Palestinians.
Yet there is hope! Even though our Husband divorced Israel, He promised to bring her back. How much more will He bring back Judah who He did not divorce! It has never been our continuous unbroken love for our Husband which kept us from a permanent divorce. Generally speaking; our love has neither been continuous or unbroken. It is only our Husband’s enduring love that saves us from being cast out forever.
Lamp Jesus’ message is the polar opposite of Jeremiah’s message. Jeremiah’s message is; see God as your only hope and the One in whom all goodness resides. Jesus’ message is that we see Jesus as the only hope and the one in whom all goodness resides. It is either one or the other it can’t be both. Jesus is the thing that Jeremiah warned us to avoid.
1000 Verses – a project of Judaism Resources wrote: >
Yourphariseefriend:
“Jesus’ message is the polar opposite of Jeremiah’s message”
Scripture:
Jeremiah 1:9
Then ADONAI put out his hand and touched my mouth, and ADONAI said to me, There! I have put my words in your mouth.
John 12:49-50
For I have not spoken on my own initiative, but the Father who sent me has given me a command, namely, what to say and how to say it. And I know that his command is eternal life. So what I say is simply what the Father has told me to say.
Yourphariseefriend:
“Jesus’ message is that we see Jesus as the only hope and the one in whom all goodness resides.”
Scripture:
Mark 10:18
Yeshua said to him, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good except God!
Lamp:
A messiah one cannot put hope in is no Messiah at all.
Yourphariseefriend:
“It is either one or the other it can’t be both”
Lamp:
It can be both if the difference is rank; messiah holding a higher rank than prophet.
Yourphariseefriend:
“Jesus is the thing that Jeremiah warned us to avoid”
Scripture:
Jeremiah 23:1-4
Oh no! The shepherds are destroying and scattering the sheep in my pasture!” says ADONAI. Therefore this is what ADONAI, the God of Isra’el, says against the shepherds who shepherd my people: “You have scattered my flock, driven them away and not taken care of them. So I will ‘take care of’ you because of your evil deeds,” says ADONAI. “I myself will gather what remains of my flock from all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their homes, and they will be fruitful and increase their numbers. I will appoint shepherds over them who will shepherd them; then they will no longer be afraid or disgraced; and none will be missing,” says ADONAI.
John 10:11-18
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, since he isn’t a shepherd and the sheep aren’t his own, sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf drags them off and scatters them. The hired worker behaves like this because that’s all he is, a hired worker; so it doesn’t matter to him what happens to the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own, and my own know me — just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father — and I lay down my life on behalf of the sheep. Also I have other sheep which are not from this pen; I need to bring them, and they will hear my voice; and there will be one flock, one shepherd. “This is why the Father loves me: because I lay down my life — in order to take it up again! No one takes it away from me; on the contrary, I lay it down of my own free will. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again. This is what my Father commanded me to do.”
Zechariah 13:7-9
7″Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me,” says ADONAI-Tzva’ot. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the young ones. 8 In time, throughout that land,” says ADONAI, “two-thirds of those in it will be destroyed – they will die, but one-third will remain.9 That third part I will bring through the fire; I will refine them as silver is refined, I will test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is my people’ and they will say, ‘ADONAI is my God.'”
Jeremiah 16:15-18
As ADONAI lives, who brought the people of Isra’el out of the land to the north and out of all the countries where he drove them”; for I will bring them back to their own land, which I gave to their ancestors. “‘Look,’ says ADONAI, ‘I will send for many fishermen, and they will fish for them……First, I will pay them back double for their crimes and sins; because they have defiled the land.
Matthew 4:19
Yeshua said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men!”
Matthew 23:37-39
“Yerushalayim! Yerushalayim! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused! Look! God is abandoning your house to you, leaving it desolate For I tell you, from now on, you will not see me again until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of ADONAI.'”
Lamp The verse you quote from Mark in which Jesus acknowledges that he is not God is ignored by those who believe in the Christian Scriptures. For 2000 years those who followed Jesus, deified him to one degree or another ignoring those words quoted by Mark. Therefore, those who heed the warnings of Jeremiah and cherish Jeremiah’s words cannot also accept Jesus’ message of self-deification. Furthermore, Jesus’ claim that his path is the better moral path has been proven false for the vast majority of those who believed him.
1000 Verses – a project of Judaism Resources wrote: >
Yourphariseefriend:
The verse you quote from Mark in which Jesus acknowledges that he is not God is ignored by those who believe in the Christian Scriptures.
Lamp:
Then these you speak of do not really believe in the Christian Scriptures, but rather in various forms of systematic theology. If I was to find fault with Moses, would you allow me to quote what Reform Judaism doctrine accepts or ignores as supporting evidence?
Yourphariseefriend:
“….cannot also accept Jesus’ message of self-deification”
Scripture:
Mark 12:29-30
Yeshua answered, “The most important is, `Sh’ma Yisra’el, ADONAI Eloheinu, ADONAI echad [Hear, O Isra’el, the LORD our God, the LORD is one], and you are to love ADONAI your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your understanding and with all your strength.’
John 14:28
You heard me tell you, `I am leaving, and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would have been glad that I am going to the Father; because the Father is greater than I.
John 20:17
“Stop holding onto me,” Yeshua said to her, “because I haven’t yet gone back to the Father. But go to my brothers, and tell them that I am going back to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.
Yourphariseefriend:
“Furthermore, Jesus’ claim that his path is the better moral path has been proven false for the vast majority of those who believed him.”
Lamp:
When looking at the totality of Jews you are able to see the remnant among them. Is there a reason you seem unwilling to spot a remnant among the Christians?
Curious to see the remnant among Jews and Christians?
Here, have a look:
https://www.google.com/amp/www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2017/november/israel-partners-with-christian-ministry-on-secret-medical-mission-to-save-lives-deep-in-syria%3famp
Lamp The difference between those who believe in the Christian Scriptures and still deify Jesus vs Reform Judaism is that Reform theologians will acknowledge that their theology does not reflect Moses’ beliefs (if they believe that he existed). They will admit that they are “picking and choosing” as opposed to those who deify Jesus read the Christian Scriptures every day and believe that they are following Jesus’ heart. Either Jesus was a terrible communicator or he was like the parent who admonishes his/her children every once in a while telling them not to smoke and drink but setting a bad example him/herself – in other words Jesus gave conflicting messages with the weight and emphasis on the “direct your attention towards me.”
And I truly affirm that Love the Lord your God and Love your neighbor as yourself are the hub of all the commandments – it is these commandments that encourage me to stand far from a community that deifies one of God’s subjects and which persecuted His firstborn son.
And I have no problem recognizing remnants amongst Christians. Muslims, Buddhists and atheists. There are truly good people in each of these communities. However for the most part of history, the loudest mouthpieces of people who believed they were truly following Jesus was not something any of us should want to be a part of.
1000 Verses – a project of Judaism Resources wrote: >
Yourphariseefriend, the point is whether it is a Reform Jew picking and choosing, or a Christian reinterpreting, the error is the fault of the Reform Jew and Christian, not the fault of Moses or Jesus. I’m merely advocating we judge Moses for Moses and judge Jesus for Jesus.
Yourphariseefriend:
“Either Jesus was a terrible communicator…..
…..in other words Jesus gave conflicting messages with the weight and emphasis on the “direct your attention towards me.”
Scripture:
John 4:25-26
“The woman replied, “I know that Mashiach is coming” (that is, “the one who has been anointed”). “When he comes, he will tell us everything.” 26 Yeshua said to her, “I, the person speaking to you, am he.”
Matthew 11:27
My Father has handed over everything to me. Indeed, no one fully knows the Son except the Father, and no one fully knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.
John 8:58
“Yeshua said to them, “Yes, indeed! Before Avraham came into being, I am”
John 14:10
Don’t you believe that I am united with the Father, and the Father united with me? What I am telling you, I am not saying on my own initiative; the Father living in me is doing his own works.
Lamp:
What is unclear? Jesus said he is a messiah and that the Father handed over everything to him, that no one knows him except the Father, he was before Abraham and the Father lives in him. Is it always the fault of the communicator or does the listener bear some responsibility?
In summary: The Father lives in an only known to Him spiritual being who manifested as a man and is now in charge of things. To reject the one He put in charge is to reject God himself. Just as Jeremiah was not listened to was a rejection of God himself. Just as “ADONAI said to Sh’mu’el, “Listen to the people, to everything they say to you; for it is not you they are rejecting; they are rejecting me; they don’t want me to be king over them.”
Jacob not wanting Leah for a wife, instead having his heart set on Rachel, is a fractal, but at least he accepted her as a wife as he waited for Rachel.
Lamp Now it is you who are giving conflicting messages – do you or do you not support Christendom’s obsession with Jesus?
Jesus is not only the polar opposite of someone like Jeremiah but even more so he is the polar opposite of the Messiah of the Jewish Scriptures. The Messiah of Tanach directs all attention to God – that is his essential definition. The Tanach teaches us this truth by calling the Messiah by the name “David”
1000 Verses – a project of Judaism Resources wrote: >
Yourphariseefriend:
“Lamp Now it is you who are giving conflicting messages – do you or do you not support Christendom’s obsession with Jesus?”
Lamp:
This is like someone asking you – do you or do you not support Orthodox Judaism’s obsession with Talmud?
I think you might respond by saying; ‘it is to broad a question, exactly what do you mean?’
Before continuing, Let us both be fair and agree to dismiss fringe doctrines.
Would you agree Talmud is a further revelation of Tanach and of God Himself? Would you agree the Tanach and God are viewed through the lens of the Talmud?
I am assuming the answers are yes & yes.
In the same way to Christendom, Jesus the messiah is a further revelation of Tanach and of God Himself. Christians believe the Tanach and God are to be viewed through the lens of Jesus the messiah.
I assume it might be at this point you are thinking; Okay, but what about the worship of Jesus?
It is fair for me to ask you the same. Haven’t you spent hours upon hours, days up on days, weeks upon weeks, months upon months, years upon years, decades upon decades sitting before, bowing to, and worshiping a text which is not God?
Being intellectually honest, I know you don’t think the Talmud is God, but rather a revelation or teaching of God’s character and instructions.
I merely ask you to be equally intellectually honest and not think Jesus himself is God, but rather a revelation and teaching of God’s character and instructions.
To answer your question; in light of the above, I support Christendom’s obsession with Jesus as much as you support Orthodox Judaism’s obsession with Talmud.
Yourphariseefriend:
“The Messiah of Tanach directs all attention to God – that is his essential definition.”
Lamp:
I am unfamiliar with this “essential definition”. Do you have something more concrete the name David? I am curious. Would you be kind enough to share?
Lamp The Talmud is Israel’s obsession with God’s will. We study God’s will through the Talmud because God did not express His Law to us as individuals but He taught it to us as a nation and told us to observe it as a nation. We need to read the Law as a united nation and that is why we are obsessed with the Talmud.
I do not see Christians obsessed with Jesus as part of an effort to discover God’s will. Their obsession is to connect to Jesus.
And “David” is pretty concrete for me. How do you see David? What is it about David that makes him God’s anointed? Why do you think the Messiah is described as “David” by Hosea, Jeremiah and Ezekiel?
1000 Verses – a project of Judaism Resources wrote: >
My Pharisee friend and rabbi, the writers of the NT epistles who were obsessed with Jesus did not spend much pages to tell who Jesus was and what he has done. They spent much spaces to tell us how we should live in this world according to God’s will.
For example, the writer of Ephesians reveals the purpose of God’s salvation through Jesus. ” For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto GOOD WORKS, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) The purpose was not to advertise or to dignify Jesus, it was to do GOOD WORKS which was already ordained in the Torah!
What is GOOD WORKS?
1. To love neighbors in obedience to the Torah (Mt 19:16-19)
2. Gentiles’ financial support for the Jews because they have received the greatest spiritual gift from them- the truth, the word of God (2 Corinthians 9:8)
3. To escape from lawlessness, rather to fulfill God’s calling in families and workplaces (Titus 2:14)
4. Not to steal, rather to work by his own hands to feed the poor (Ephesians 4:28)
5. To respect authority and to serve faithfully (Ephesians 6:5-8)
6. To set free from the demon and to heal people (Acts 10:38)
Now, please tell me if this teaching from the NT contradicts the Torah or Micah 6:8.
“Lamp The Talmud is Israel’s obsession with God’s will. We study God’s will through the Talmud because God did not express His Law to us as individuals but He taught it to us as a nation and told us to observe it as a nation. We need to read the Law as a united nation and that is why we are obsessed with the Talmud.”
when a christian is worshipping the “father in heaven” lets see if he can worship “father in heaven” without involving “jesus the compounded god” in his worship.
the christian always needs to involve pagan compounded “man-god” IN his worship otherwise his worship would be INCOMPLETE. notice that “father in heaven” is not viewed as a compounded god, but jesus is viewed as “man-god” ? notice how christians NEED to mix in their worship visible with invisible?
mr.sonic:
“…compounded god”
Lamp:
If God was not compounded from the perspective of humanity there would of been no reason to have a doctrine declaring; “God is one”. A doctrine Christianity richly affirms.
mr.sonic
“the christian always needs to involve pagan compounded “man-god” IN his worship…”
Lamp:
People have many different ways of explaining what they do not understand. Some explanations are better or worse. Even ancient Israel espoused poor explanations for a compound God before turning hyper monotheistic.
I think your “pagan compound man-god” is an extremely poor explanation. Here is what I think is a good explanation:
Jesus, spiritually pre-existent, sent by God, born as a man and was filled with God’s Spirit.
mr.sonic:
“…..otherwise his worship would be INCOMPLETE”
Lamp:
Not incomplete. It could be very complete but never get to its destination.
John 14:6
“Yeshua said, “I am the Way — and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”‘
If you define Jesus as only a man from Nazareth then you will be confused and reject this passage.
mr.sonic:
“notice how christians NEED to mix in their worship visible with invisible?”
Lamp:
I’m surprised you’d say this. Do you mean mixing the visible Temple and rituals with the invisible God. Or visible sacrifices with invisible forgiveness? Even today Judaism looks back and claims the visible lighting and dark clouds as their right of passage to the invisible God.
human mind can create compounded gods in their minds. people can create “man-god”
“star-god”
“moon-god”
“sun-god”
they can create these compounded gods and put their trustand reliance in them, like you are doing with “man-god” or “preexistent spirit-god”
you seem to be saying that even jews were not 100% monotheists.
“Yeshua said, “I am the Way — and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”‘
says who ? some pagan compounded god? where did the father say that ONE NEEDS worship of pagan compounded “man-god” before father guides ? what was the father saying in ot days when he said he was close to those who call to him sincerely? why one needs to worship some pagan compounded god just to connect with father ? father is too far ? he doesn’t hear? he needs a pagan compounded god?
Yourphariseefriend:
“Lamp The Talmud is Israel’s obsession with God’s will. We study God’s will through the Talmud because God did not express His Law to us as individuals but He taught it to us as a nation and told us to observe it as a nation. We need to read the Law as a united nation and that is why we are obsessed with the Talmud.”
Lamp:
Jesus is Christendom’s obsession with God’s will. We study God’s will through the teachings of Jesus because God expresses His Law to us as individuals:
“says ADONAI: ‘I will put my Torah on their hearts, and write it on their minds”
-Hebrews 10:16
but He taught it to us as a people who are called out and told us to observe it as a nation: “But you are a chosen people, the King’s cohanim, a holy nation, a people for God to possess……Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people”
-1Peter 2:9-10
We need to read Jesus’s teachings on the Law as a united nation and that is why we are obsessed with Jesus. Because Jesus prayed to the Father on our behalf:
“I united with them and you with me, so that they may be completely one, and the world thus realize that you sent me, and that you have loved them just as you have loved me”
John 17:23
Yourphariseefriend:
“I do not see Christians obsessed with Jesus as part of an effort to discover God’s will. Their obsession is to connect to Jesus”
Lamp:
Then you must be looking at some Christian extremist fringe. ALL the Christians I know embrace Jesus – ONLY because he reveals the Fathers heart. Take God out of the equation and Jesus is nothing.
“Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?”
-Malachi 2:10
Yourphariseefriend:
“And “David” is pretty concrete for me. How do you see David? What is it about David that makes him God’s anointed? Why do you think the Messiah is described as “David” by Hosea, Jeremiah and Ezekiel?”
Lamp:
Both David and Jesus were at first overlooked as King material. Both overcame an enemy no one else in all Israel could overcome; David overcame Goliath, Jesus overcame Death. Neither David or Jesus took the throne by force, but only received what God gave. When both David and Jesus were rejected, both accepted it as God’s will and refused to retaliate. Both David and Jesus enlarged the Kingdom greater than any before them. Both David and Jesus were promised their bodies would not see decay. Both David and Jesus were promised a eternal Kingdom. Both David and Jesus were men after God’s own heart.
The Messiah is termed David, for he is an ancestor of David and will unite God’s people under one throne as David did.
Lamp,
Are you not the one that called himself CP/10th Man/Shema under another pseudonym, because you have been asked not to return?
Jim
Lamp If Christians want to find God’s will they do not need to speak of Jesus’ personality. The Christians I know focus on the man and not on his teachings (starting with the authors of the Christians Scriptures). Those Christians who are interested in God’s will have better things to do than to try to take people who are seeking God’s will without Jesus – and encourage them to direct attention to Jesus.
It is hard to think of a person more diametrically opposed to David than the Christian Jesus David directed attention to God – highlighting his own helplessness before God. Jesus did the very opposite. David destroyed Israel’s enemies, Jesus created them David brought Israel’s heart to God, Jesus brought hearts to himself. David brought gentiles to respect Israel, Jesus brought gentiles to hate Israel David spoke of the sufficiency of God’s Law, Jesus spoke of the supposed “insufficiency” of God’s Law
1000 Verses – a project of Judaism Resources wrote: >
” spiritually pre-existent,”