Old Dog I
Yom Kippur and the Book of Life
Bob Neumann
“May your name be written in the Book of Life for another prosperous year.”, was a declaration I had never heard until I moved down to Miami Beach in 1975. It surprised me as much as hearing “Happy New Year” in September. Being invited to a random Seder dinner or Hanukkah brunch, a Purim Celebration gives you a sense that there are more than one way of looking at the world. But it takes Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement to force you to realize that YHVH has His own “PERSONAL Calendar”, and agenda for mankind.
Funny in a way, but I have not heard this greeting this year as Rosh Ha SHANAH came and went. Funny also that HIS YEAR has been completely overshadowed by the circumstantial situations that seem to have mesmerized the American Media. I really do not believe the American Populace really care much about what their president says or does unless it begins to infringe upon their personal comfort zones. In reality the Secular AMERICA and the Religious AMERICA have the same comfort zone. Their money. “Touch my money and you get my attention…FAST.”, seems to be the most common characteristic between the WORLD and the CHURCH.
In other words, there is no difference.
In past years this last week would have been a time of quiet prayer and meditation. A time as King David wrote Psalm 32:5-7:
5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
6 For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. (KJV)
Then again I have found myself in that place of “hiding” in the midst of the storm. As Georges moves off into the Gulf of Mexico my ‘prayers’ were weak and exhausted as I tried to give thanks once again. Without even understanding I found myself interceding for those whom Hurricane Georges will make final landfall in the next two days. The awareness that there is no escape for someone farther down the line is a sober and chilling thought. One would have to wonder was such thoughts going through David’s mind when he wrote Psalm 8:1-9 :
1 To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! (KJV)
Maybe in the utter exhaustion and awareness of my reality I can finally understand David. That time of prayer I thought stolen from me was not. Instead I finally began to comprehend that little matters about me, but what I do. My words and thoughts have little value if not matched by deeds and actions. Only then I can look upward and know that the promises and blessings we hold so closely to shall be manifest.
Isaiah 43:1-5
1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
3 For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.
5 Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; (KJV)
So now I sit and ponder the visions in my spirit and the storms that batter my house. Is there a difference? Or has a final revelation come forward because of the WORDS not said? Have we forgotten ABBA’S YEAR and HIS AGENDA because it is not fitting into our comfort zones. Or maybe a “prosperous year” is not dependent on YHVH and HIS MERCIES that endure forever. Why does everything wind up with a price tag when it comes to both the church and the world? For a long time I wondered if I had missed it until the TRUTH spoke once again into my life. And as usual THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT used LOGOS before HE hammered me with RHEMA.
3 John 1-14
1 The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
3 For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.
4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
5 Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers;
6 Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well:
7 Because that for his name’s sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.
8 We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.
9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.
11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
12 Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true.
13 I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee:
14 But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name. (KJV)
Outside of verse 2 whoever hears anything of 3 John. Poor old John did not see dollar signs when he prayed “prosperity” over the sheep he had stood guard over for so long and so well. Maturity, Wisdom, Fruitfulness in the SPIRIT and THE KINGDOM of GOD is where our wealth and health originates….
Matthew 6:19-21
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (KJV)
So I ponder where my heart is knowing that my end at this season of TESHUVAH is exactly where it began, in Psalm 27:
1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.
7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.
9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
11 Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. (KJV)
So in HIS PAVILION and HIS TABERNACLE I have worshipped, prayed and interceded, given unto HIM songs of Thanksgiving. Knowing that HE has not stricken me from the BOOK OF LIFE I do not need others wishing me well for the “NEW YEAR” for like David I have numbered my days and am aware of the GREATEST TRUTH.
Psalm 1:1-6
1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. (KJV)
So when I asked ABBA what is wrong in all I see around me HE gave me this ‘selah’ to ponder. “JUSTIFIED”….and immediately in my mind and spirit one image came clearly.
Luke 18:9-17
9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
And I understood the true difference between the wheat and the tares, and the harvest that now begins. but the story did not end with verse 14. Sometime we cut JESUS off just before HE gets to the critical stuff. and I wonder why we ”miss it”?
15 And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
16 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
17 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. (KJV)
So there are only two choices. To ‘prosper’ as the world defines it and to stand proudly before THE THRONE oblivious to the KINGDOM and THE FATHER. Or to come as a child without guile, abased and humble as we call out for HIS MERCY aware of our sin. Trusting in HIM and not ourselves. Coming as worthless ragamuffins and beggars unto THE KING OF GLORY and be received as beloved Children of GOD, Heirs of the Kingdom, and a FRIEND of THE KING.
As I finish these thoughts THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT asks: “IF THEY FORGET TO GIVE THANKS FOR THE BLESSINGS THEY NOW HAVE, WILL THEY REMEMBER TO DO SO IF GIVEN ANY MORE?”.
In response I hear a faint whisper in my spirit that will soon echo across this land.
“the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away;”; but few will remember how the quote really ends.
Job 1:20-22
20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. (KJV)
THE DAY OF ATONEMENT is coming shortly and many hearts have not sought HIM. Again a reality seeps through to my spirit that was there when I began to write this piece. “For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
In a time when you may be found implies a point in time GOD will not be found by sinners, and prodigals. Then maybe there is a time where “Thou art my hiding place” also implies a physical reality many will not appreciate because of sitting too long in their comfort zones. AND it all ties in with being in covenant and being ”justified”. And that only comes from THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB. And being known by THE LAMB….for your name is inscribed in HIS BOOK….THE BOOK OF LIFE.
SELAH MARANATHA
bob in goshen