I am so excited about today as every time I get to talk to Rabbi, I'm just enthralled by how God shows up in the discussion and how God is showing up in the times that we live in. Uh uh in Israel and so Uh, it's fascinating to me. We talked about Joel chapter 2 last week. We're going to move to Jeremiah, but all these things that. They're not only there in the Bible, in the Torah, but they're part of our life.
Like we're in this right now, it's happening. Absolutely. It really is. And that's why, of course. We call these prophecies more current than today's newspapers because they so vividly are.
So Moving on. As Pastor Robbie expressed it to Jeremiah. We have three chapters in Jeremiah that Really develop this theme of renewal of the holy land to such an extraordinary degree, I'm focusing on Jeremiah chapters 31, 32, and 33.
So in Jeremiah Chapter thirty one I'm going to accentuate Beginning of the chapter in verse 3. Again. Will I build you? And you will be built. O Virgin of Israel Again shall you be adorned with your tabrets, and shall go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
Again, Shall you plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria? The planters shall plant and redeem them. Of course. Once again, I'm going to emphasize the vineyards. Yeah that um Israel Of such a desolate land And Now gets first prize in contests for vintage wines.
Which is really just extraordinary. And in the wake of that If I will skip the skipping to verse 11, they shall come and sing in the height of Zion. And shall stream unto the goodness of the Lord, the corn, the wine, the oil. To the younger, the fucking the herd. And their souls shall be as a watered garden, and they shall not pine any more at all.
And really, perhaps the culmination, verse 27, it shall come to pass. That, like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to overthrow, and to destroy, and to afflict.
So will I watch over them to build and to plant. says the Lord. And when you consider the the implications of that last verse. What it's telling you is You consider Nearly two millennia of utter destruction and desolation. And the destruction of desolation are testimonials.
Because God says. As I did that, I'm doing this.
So you saw the destruction, you saw the desolation.
So will I watch over to build and to plant. says the Lord. Jeremiah chapter 31. Surprise. Can I have it?
Shall we go on to chapter thirty-two?
Well As you say, the The idea of planting You know, for me, I always like to look at it, okay. We're seeing the physical aspect of that. In Israel? And that is coming true. But The vineyard has often been described as a metaphor for you guys.
Yes. Right. For better and for worse. Right. There's also, of course, Isaiah chapter 5, which is pretty scary.
And it's also a vineyard. Right. So we also see some 80. This The vineyard is a metaphor in both directions. Look, of course, what I'm going to inevitably state.
The prophets No their audience. And If the audience An audience of farmers and vinters and people who are working the land, then there's no more meaningful metaphor than talking about beards. It really is. Oh, I but obviously there's a spiritual overtone to all that. Absolutely.
And you said something last week, and I hope if you haven't listened to last week's episode, you go back and listen. You talked about how when Some of the hostages were, one of the hostages was released. One of the first things they wanted to do was to go get a prayer shawl. Yeah. I I um from outside or looking in.
that you guys are actually that Israel is moving more towards God-fearing, more more towards. Absolutely. God, I guess that's the best way I put it. Spiritually, those vineyards are being planted too, and spiritually. they're going to begin to bear more fruit, which would obviously be wonderful for the whole world.
I I can't agree more. You know, actually. I must admit Yeah. I'm not much of a newspaper reader because after all, we have the Bible, we have prophecies. But my wife Showed me a an article and a feature supplement in.
one of the religious newspapers that gets this distributed in the in the neighborhood. And um there was An amazing multi-page feature. about this very subject. How These last Two years of war. have been a dynamo generating A Renaissance, a returning to God.
That In a survey One third Of the Jews of Israel. said that over the last two years since the war began. their connection with God has deepened. But that's A general statistic. The article also broke it down.
By age.
So How would you expect the gradient to work in terms of age? The younger the age, the greater the move towards God. That is, unfortunately, have. I guess the older generation and they're they made more. sadly in some ways stuck in their ways and they're not going to change that much.
And this is just a transformative movement. among the youth. What are the hostages? This best Friday just buggles the mind. He um He hosted I could in a very Simplistic way describe this as A party.
A party of putting on the tefilin, the phylacteries that show our devotion to God. Thousands came. Extraordinary. Awakening that's taking place. And Of course, it would be the epitome of obtuseness for someone to think Oh, this is just some kind of societal phenomenon.
This is the hand of God. This is the day the Lord has made. We rejoice and exult in it, as we read in Psalm 118. Just an extraordinary phenomenon. And I can only completely agree with you.
Thousands came. To join with him. And I would imagine as you're describing, those thousands were young people. Yes, yes. You see the pictures, all young people.
And there you have it. There, you know. The God's hand in this so clearly as certainly the hostage would have Right. Right. It's just.
I get choked up even talking about it because it's just so so inspiring to see. And then you've noticed it before. The same thing is happening in the United States. that on our college campuses. There's all these kids moving back towards God, and they're holding what we call revival, and they are.
You know, the whole Charlie Kirk. assassination, which a lot of people thought would go one way, and certainly cause people to go the other way. Um Mm-hmm.
So, and it sure looks like the hand of God as well, there, too.
So, you know, it's kind of a fascinating. time that we live in as we see this.
So as you say, Jeremiah Is certainly giving us this promise that we've had a destiny. It's been dry. It's been dry. and destruction and unfruitfulness, however you want to call that. But it's kind of amazing to see the hand of God.
Yeah, well. It just And so many things that I've seen recently. Even in our own church, right? We had an event a week ago Sunday, over three, we live, our church is in the middle of. Hey.
Cabbage field. It's like way out in the country, right? Farmers, that's where we are. Collards is what they're actually growing right at this minute. And we had over 300 people, kids everywhere, kids.
Like Some of them three, four, five months old, like, you know, and we're hearing the voice of children again. And it's an amazing thing to hear the voice of children come to worship God, right? Absolutely. That's uh with ultimately the the children of the future. Right.
So I love it. But feel free to go on to our next verse, but I just.
Okay, no, like, look, inevitably, of course, I'm going to. I know we discussed this last time, so I don't want to spend time on it again, but. But the words Of Joel. That is When Joel uses this metaphor of pouring out his spirit. God pouring out his spirit at the beginning of chapter three, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.
So, um God's pouring. We just need to prepare the vessels. But when people start preparing vessels, then those vessels get filled to overflowing. Because Scott is pouring. Amen.
Amen. Okay, so we'll move on to Jeremiah chapter 32. Um Uh of course, context. is central here. That is, the context in Jeremiah chapter 32 is God.
says to Jeremiah that His cousin is going to come. to have him buy the field. And Jeremiah. Buys the field. And He turns to God and he says, I don't understand.
Yeah. Buying this field. And Signing the witnesses But the whole land is being overrun by the Babylonians. And It is Precisely in that vein. That we appreciate God's promise.
First, God's promise that Jeremiah expresses. as he's buying the field. In verse 15, For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: houses and fields and vineyards shall yet again be bought in this land. But in particular Gods Response. to Jeremiah's earnest question.
What are you doing here? What's going on? And I'll read in particular Verse 37: Behold, I will gather them. Out of All of the lands where I've driven them in my anger and my fury and my great wrath, and I will bring them back unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. Verse 40, I'm abridging because I don't want to take up too much time.
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good. Following verse. And this is significant. This is Yeah, I always need to To take a couple of steps backward before reading verse 41. Ask the question and I know you know the answer.
I don't know how many people listening are going to know this answer at the outset, but. How many places in the Bible? Does God Himself say? With all of my heart. Question number one.
Question number two. How many places the whole Bible? Does God Himself say with all my soul, And of course, the answer to both those questions is. Once. Verse forty one.
I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land. In truth, With all my heart. and with all my soul. God is swearing with all of my heart, with all of my soul. only once the Bible.
About planting. His children Israel. back in their land. And He goes on to stress this point in the following verse. For thus says the Lord, Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have.
Spoken. Concerning them. And of course, again, I emphasize just as. Just as All that evil is a testimonial. The good is coming.
And of course The following person fields shall be bought in this land. It won't be desolation. And you know culminating in in verse 44 Men shall buy fields for money and subscribe the deeds and sign them and call witnesses in the land of Benjamin and in the place about Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah and the cities of the hill country and the cities of the lowland and the cities of the south. For I will cause their captivity to return. Says the Lord.
So of course this is simultaneously. I promise Of in-gathering and a promise of renewal. Right now, we're focusing upon the renewal aspect, but that's really central. There is this promise. Of Renewal.
Yeah, isn't it fascinating that You know, from my standpoint, Jeremiah. himself We have He was hard put. I mean, he went through some absolute misery. Yeah. Phenomenal Rejection.
You're not even talking about the fact they almost killed him. Yeah, I mean it just You're right. Right. Well, they did end up.
So, in any way. He's drowning at a pit of mire. Right. And yet You know, I guess Compassion, whatever word you want. God would use those words, all my heart and all my soul, with Jeremiah, because Jeremiah needed to hear them more.
Perhaps. based on his anguish. Um I don't know, but I do from my own experience in life, and I guess just the whole thing you just talked about, the war. That You know, God is with you through whatever in the world you are going through. And his heart is raking.
That It requires this to get your attention. But it doesn't change the fact that he's right there with you in that mire, and he is laying. If you have ears to hear, as Jeremiah had. Um That man, it's going to be great, Jeremiah. It is.
It is. And it certainly was. And you got to love his transparency. What are you doing to me on the field? But oh man.
To see it where it is today, when you look at those. That was a wonderful. Um Obviously, a real estate investment because that land's worth a whole bunch of money today, isn't it? Aggressive way. But you know When you're talking about the transparency, something else also comes to mind.
And I think it's. It's a little bit accessory to This discussion of the prophecies of renewal. But it's a a really profound thought to consider. And I'm going to share this with you. A juxtaposition of verses.
That we have in our tradition. And it pertains To What we read. In the words of Moses in Deuteronomy. The words of Jeremiah In chapter 32. The words of Daniel And the words of Nehemiah.
I'm referring In particular, To the formulation that we read in the words of Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse 17. Moses says. God, your Lord is the God of all. Forces Sources of power. literally gods, but of course it doesn't mean that they're actually gods.
And the Lord of all lords. And Moses employs A formula of sorts. It's four words in the Hebrew. Ha'el Haggadol Hagibor Behanora. God Great.
Mighty And awesome. And I emphasize this formula because And this is something that Is essentially emergent in the words of Nehemiah that we'll be getting to at the end of this progression. This Four. word pithy formulation is central. In The formula For prayer That was instituted.
Roughly 2500 years ago. A group known in our tradition as the Men of the Great Assembly. Who established the formula for prayer, which until that point. had been, if you will, more improvisational Because when The Jews returned from the Babylonian exile. Their language had become manualized.
They weren't able to express themselves coherently, respectfully. And they need guidance. in order to be able to express themselves in prayer. And that becomes It's a core expression in prayer. God, great, mighty, and awesome, to this very day.
Of course, I'm sure I need to point out. That There can be not one shred of doubt. That that's the way Jesus and all the apostles are praying. Because that was the essential core. of all Jewish prayer.
But now here's where The story gets complex. In Jeremiah chapter 32. In verse 18. Jeremiah ostensibly refers to this formula. But he drops awesome.
He refers to God. As God Great. Maybe. The Lord of hosts is his name. And it's kind of conspicuous here.
that he is very deliberately omitting And awesome. 'Cause he doesn't say and mighty. As if there's a truncation here. God great. Also right made mighty and E No and wasn't.
And Daniel Who is after all A contemporary of Jeremiah, and like Jeremiah, is living through the devastation of the Babylonian exile. He is exiled. Before The Greater Exile. But he's in Babylon. And In Daniel In chapter nine Verse four Daniel recounts I prayed to God, my Lord, and confessed.
and said Please And He's clearly referring to the same formula. O Lord. God Great. Mm. And awesome.
And of course He deletes mighty. But clearly referring to the same formula. Jeremiah deletes awesome. Daniel Deletes might. And In our tradition.
Each did so. Very deliberately. Jeremiah is doing so. In the context of He's watching how The Heathen in their debauchery Letting loose. In God's sanctuary.
So they're croaking in the sanctuary. In the holy temple. Where is God's awesomeness? He couldn't see us. Daniel Sees His people.
His fellow Jews. Being subjugated. In the Babylonian exile. The heathen are subjugating his children. Where is God's mightiness?
And Daniel couldn't bring himself to say mighty. Wow. But in Nehemiah. In Amaya chapter 9, verse 32. We read Now, our God.
God Great. Mighty And awesome. And the whole formula is back. The one who keeps The covenant and the kindness.
Now in our tradition in Amaya, Like Ezra. It's part of the Great Assembly. And the invocation of this Full formula, God, great, mighty, and awesome, intimates. The inclusion of the entire formula in The formula of prayer that that they Institute that they ordain. But inevitably the question.
What's the deal? What's the deal with Jeremiah and Daniel on the one hand? What's the deal with Nehemiah? and his contemporaries on the other and Putting the whole formula back in. And The answer In our tradition.
is that Nemayan has Contemporaries Ezra and all the men of the great assembly. Say as it were. To Jeremiah and Daniel. Of course. long after they are gone.
You ask where is his mightiness? And where is his awesomeness? His mightiness is manifest In God's self-restraint. He's long-tempered not just to the good, but also to the bad. to the wicked.
He forbears and He lets them Do what they do. And where is God's awesomeness? Were it not for God's awesomeness. How could One small people endure. among all the nations.
So you might note here There's an interesting inversion. That is In our tradition, Jeremiah. Was the one who made it awesomeness. Because He beheld the heathens in their debauchery in the temple courts. In the sanctuary.
And um Ezra and Hemiah, men of the great assembly, are saying That wasn't awesomeness. That was mightiness. That was the mightiness of self-restraint. Daniel Witnessed the subjugation of his people. And he said Where's God's mightiness?
And they said, that wasn't mindiness, actually, that was awesomeness. To enable his children to persevere despite all the challenges to their very existence. But now After having stated all this, So you do to this day. Use that formula. God.
Great. mighty and awesome. But going back to Jeremiah and Daniel. They couldn't have figured this out. How could they?
In effect. Uproot the formula that had already been instituted so many centuries earlier by Moses. And The answer In our tradition. Is it a very Fraught. Phrase Well, you know, they do that.
God represents truth. After all, we read in Jeremiah chapter 10, verse 10. God the Lord is truth. And therefore They weren't about to lie. They weren't about to lie.
But we do believe that God is great, mighty, and awesome. Yes, but That's not what they were experiencing. You have to be faithful. Honest. Even if that means What you have to say to God.
Is a cry. Even if it's a challenge. Even if it's scream. The the foundation Of our relationship with God. Again, God the Lord is truth.
Be honest. He can take it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, the more I um You may know in a lot of our Prophecies in the New Testament.
They talk about the spirit of Antichrist. Um Since we also hold that Jesus is the truth. And as you say, God is the truth, but from my perspective, always. And I work for the Truth Network on my path here.
So I definitely. Yeah. You know, can't even plumb the depths of the word Emmett. Like, oh my goodness. But when you see People not being authentic, or you people, people not being transparent, or you see some.
attempt to hide the truth. That to me is that spirit of Antichrist. That is anti-God, however you want to put it. That if God is truth, then anything that's not truth is clearly. not of God and You know, not of any benefit.
And I love, love, love the 119 Psalm. It makes it so clear. Right. that anything that's not truth It will not stand. It cannot stand.
It has no foundation, and it may take. Millennia to break down, but it will break down. If it's a lie, it can't stand. Absolutely. Absolutely.
The Spirit of falsity is indeed The antithesis of being with God. Surprise. And you know, we all just note in that in that vein. Perhaps the most explicit statement. Psalm 101, verse 7.
One who speaks lies shall not stand before my eyes. That's the And and um In our tradition, that verse. Um enunciates That Lawyers are among those groups that can never receive God's presence. He's just not there. God the Lord is truth.
Someone Hmm. speaks lies. is someplace else. He cannot be in God's presence. There's not that he can never be.
But he has stopped lying. To see the value of. of what God set out and repent. I love all that you teach. It I've gone back to that passage and Samuel, several times to To look at him making his circuit there in Ramah and going, yeah, there it is.
You've come in home. And and and And you want to come home to the truth, you don't want to come home to some lie. Right. Right. And really ultimately that there really is The most foundational thing that we could say God the Lord is truth.
That means That's The gauge. for everything in this world. If it is false It is antithetical to God. That's uh It's a very powerful antiseptic. for getting rid of a lot of garbage out there.
Yes, I agree. I couldn't agree more. Yeah. So wow, I can't believe Well, we could go a bit a bit more.
So, inevitably, I'll just continue this progression since we're talking about Jeremiah. About Again, the renewal of the Holy Land. in Jeremiah chapter 33. And Yeah, Jeremiah chapter 33 is just This is In some sense, the utmost combination of this. Um Beginning in verse six.
Behold, I will bring it, referring to Jerusalem, I will bring it healing and cure. I will cure them, and I will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth. By the way, that pairing together of peace and truth is something we also find in many passages. Consider likewise in Zachariah chapter 8, we got that pairing together of peace and truth as well. Um And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and I will build them.
as at the first. Continuing with verse nine, this city. shall be to me for a name of joy. for praise and for glory. Before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them, and shall fear and quake for all the good and for all the peace that I do unto it.
Thus says the Lord, yet again. there shall be heard in this place whereof you say it is waste, Without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate without man. And without inhabitant and without beast, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that say, Give thanks. the Lord of hosts. For the Lord is good, for his kindness endures forever.
Even of them that bring offerings of thanksgiving into the house of the Lord, for I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first. Says the Lord And continuing, thus says the Lord of hosts: yet again shall there be in this place which is waste without man and without beast. And all the cities thereof, a habitation of shepherds, causing their flocks to lie down. In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the south, in the land of Benjamin, in the places about Jerusalem, and in the land the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass. Again.
Under the hands of him that counts them. says the Lord. this promise of Renewal and everything. I feel compelled to share with you a little story from Last week actually. Our friend Pastor Mark Wilts.
It was just here with a Large group of pilgrims. Um we had arranged that One evening I was going to be Speaking with them. at their hotel and we were talking about prophecies more current than today's newspapers. And all of a sudden, there was this noisy commotion. Outside the hall where we were meeting.
And Someone went to close the doors and said, Oh, wait, we just realized. This is also A prophecy more current than today's newspapers. The commotion was. There was a bridal procession heading to a wedding that was taking place in the hotel. And then of course I read this Words from Jeremiah chapter 33.
And um And you know, this is something that's so integral. The last of The blessings That is Uttered Under the wedding canopy. Is precisely based upon this theme. Based upon This message From Jeremiah. Praying to God.
for the fulfillment of his promise. But again One once more shall be heard in Jerusalem The voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
So, it's something that is still so integral, so foundational.
So central. In our Experiencing. The renewal. That's taking place before our very eyes. Can that be?
Um Because right israel is the bride of god Right, and so you extrapolate that out. to say Is this a picture of that? Undoubtedly, that's part of the part of that, unequivocally. I just do that. The other thing that just grips my heart as I listen to those words and I think about it is.
Through the horrible, horrible, horrible times. And I don't think. Most people in America, I know I don't fathom it, although I have a little bit of an understanding of it. How horrible The Jews were treated for centuries and centuries. The Spanish Inquisition, the The what went on in Russia, what went on in all through Europe, and all you know, just Horrific.
laws, horrific things that were done to him, yet. They kept The Torah. Yep. They kept their faith. Yet.
Good. You know, ethically. Here we are. right in this position where god is doing this but they came from some place that i don't think we really fathom I know we don't fathom. What?
What The desolation and all that has happened to. The Jewish people, right? I'm choking up because I of course I I can't agree more and And it moves me so, so very, very much. you to say this. Yeah, it's You know, I've heard enough stories.
Um Of what went on in Russia, what went on in other countries. Of Just unthinkable acts. that were done to human beings. Um And yeah. Like you said, God is.
Oh, so mighty, and oh, so awesome that somehow or another. Those people had such faith. Those people had such I don't know what you'd call it, that God was clearly with them to.
Somehow or another, keep this to the place where now they can come into the land and now. They can be returned, you know, it's just it's it's It's such a miracle that if you don't see God's hand in it, it's just unbelievable. But I guess. That part of the story is Um For the world to have some understanding of. How you could go from this to this.
and still have what you have.
Well, again, on some level, I'm going to say. The We see in the words of the prophets, we saw this in Jeremiah. It's testimonial. As this, so this. The magnitude of the destruction and devastation.
testifies to the magnitude of the consolation. They're all in reconstruction. It's beautiful. Yeah, I think it's um I I'm so grateful for. this opportunity that you gave our audience to get some fathom of what you're describing.
Um The depths of it is Is really, really tremendous, and I am. Just Sitting here when you read those and you really think. Like man. We are just beginning to taste, just this is a little taste. of something that's going to be so spectacular.
So in the in the end the And the idea that you say of peace and truth. Right. Yeah. That quite honestly is where we both sit here. You know You have a different truth in some areas than I have, and I have a different truth in some areas than you do.
And so, the honest is: I don't know the truth.
Okay, I mean it it will come. that we will know the truth. And the whole truth. And maybe I know some, maybe you know some, but the beauty of it is to me, this whole idea of this podcast. The sharing what fundamentally we can agree on And say, oh, that's clearly truth right there.
You can just hang your hat on that, and you can see it. It's manifested in what God has done in Jerusalem. and what God has done in Israel. And as we celebrate that, you know, we can push all closer to God, and as we all get closer to God, Clearly we get closer together, right? Absolutely.
It well again, when it's real. That is Um If Someone thinks he's coming closer to God. But he's not loving. They Truth and the Peace. God ordains it.
And again, maybe I'll just do um To express it, in the words that we read. Likewise in Zechariah chapter 8. This is um This is precisely in the context of Of the prophecy of restoration. That God gives to Zachariah. you know the question of what will be with the days that had been observed As fast days.
during the years of the Babylonian exile. In Chapter 8 Verse 19. Thus says the Lord of hosts: the fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth. shall become times of joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts, The house of Judah. And love with the truth.
and the peace. How do you get to That Redemptive moment. You love the truth and you love the peace. And um Very much I reproport what you just said, Pastor Robbie.
sometimes there could seem to be a tension between them. Because we are at the same truth. I'll go one step further and say When we appreciate that God the Lord is truth. That's a true. That's completely beyond.
bounds of this world. And that means that whatever we have in this world. isn't really on that level. V. transcendent Truth.
Yeah, we have an idiomatic expression. of referring to the world of truth. In Hebrew, Olam Haemet. But ever into this world, that's looking at the world to come. That's the world of truth.
And so there's We have Midrash. In more than one place, it is referring to this world as the world of falsity because. We aren't connecting on that level with the truth. If God says To Moses, mankind cannot see me while alive. then the bounds of this world are just too limited.
But we have this. Deeply rooted conviction. It's not about being there, it's about striving to get there. Love. The truth and the peace.
Love doesn't mean it's in my back pocket. Love means something that. animates me. than striving toward. And truth is That is um talk about Truth and Peace.
And you're on some level, I'll say. To the extent that in this world We each have a different truth as a reflection of who we are. Because the truth in this world Inevitably, inexorably subjective, not because it's a matter of opinion. Because we're coming from different places. We have different starting points, we have different experiences.
So, truth means different things to different people. And that's not because. One slide. Is corrupt or lying, it's because, again, there's an irreducible level of subjectivity in this world. Uh I always Expressed it in Descartes' formulation.
I think, therefore, I am cogitorial ghost. That means then that. For every human being, I am. The final parameter of things. Is that true?
The truth is, God the Lord is true.
So if I view the world. through the prism of I think different I am. They are not seeing things straight.
Well Indeed. That Precisely. The message. That God conveys Moses. In Exodus chapter 33.
Mankind cannot see me while alive. Because we see things skewed. But love the truth and the peace. Even though truth will be elusive, and as a result, on some level, peace will be elusive, because if we each have a different truth, then we're not really going to be seeing things the same way.
So there'll always be strife on some level. But if you love the truth and the peace, You'll get there. No, not in this world. This world isn't great enough. Or perhaps I should say we're not going to be able to be great enough.
in this world. But through that loving the truth and the peace striving to come there. We will ultimately graduate from this world. And we will be there. With God.
In the world of truth and peace. Amen. Emmett, right? That's beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
That's a great place to. Close off today's episode. To love the truth and the peace. Yeah. And to do that, you're clearly.
You know, loving God, but I like the emphasis that you put on it. Love, like. And and I You know, maybe just another little side note. That word in English falls so short. Yeah.
That word in Hebrew. Um Thought of it in Hebrew, God is at the center of it, and the beginning of it, and the end of it. And so. Like you said, love in English, it seems like a very subjective idea. Um Right?
I'll go on a step further and note.
So again, with respect to truth, we have that explicit, of course, in Jeremiah chapter. 10 verse 10. That God the Lord is truth. With respect to peace. You know, in our tradition Shalom is the name of God.
Say the word Shalom. With the reverence due to uttering God's name. And of course, Just that analogically we recognize. Shalom comes from the same root as shalem complete. because true shalom is utter completeness.
So we're never going to get that into this world. And Indeed. The utmost blessing. That We can give one another as we take leave of one another. Any time in this world The blessing.
That Jethro gives his Son-in-law Moses When Moses asks For His license to go back to Egypt. And obviously, it's going to be a very fraught enterprise and Jethro says to Moses. in Exodus chapter four verse eighteen Leich Lishalon. I don't know to what extent translations get that literally, but let's go toward. Peace.
Not in peace. Go toward peace. As opposed to What we never use. As A greeting. when we take leave of Our friends In This world.
You never say go in peace. Indeed, um There is one instance in which someone Says to someone else go in peace. And I don't know if it was A Freudian slip or not? But This is what King David says to his son Absalom. When Absalom asks For License.
So Go forth. Um King David says to Absalom. With Bit Shalom in The second book of Samuel. In chapter 15. In verse 9.
That didn't lead to a very successful enterprise there. What's the difference between saying to someone go toward peace and go in peace? Simply this. In this world. You'll never be in peace.
In this world. What we Pray, what we wish is to go toward peace. Because peace is only beyond this world. There's only one context. In our tradition.
in which you do. wish someone Go In peace. I'm sure you can guess where that is. Yeah. It's at the cemetery when you are burying someone.
And a wish, a prayer. When We bury the deceased. is to go in peace based upon What God says to Abraham. In Genesis chapter 15, verse 15, when God says to Abraham, You will be gathered to your forefathers in peace. In peace is resting in peace.
That's not compatible with being alive in this world. And this world is only going toward. We're not finished yet.
Well in saying that To close this. It's been so awesome. My dear friend, go toward peace. And you too. Everyone who's listening in on our conversation, Lech, Leh Shalom.
Yes. Go toward peace, from the city of peace. From Jerusalem. Amen. All right.
