In Search of the Ancient Ways
Return
to the Ancient Ways
Ken
Graydon
Read
your daily newspaper or watch television news. Could you imagine that our
current ways of life are pleasing the CREATOR of the Universe?
We
begin with the story of Noah and his family. Noah stood against the prevailing
evil ways of his generation. Among a nation that had never experienced rain he
built a boat. A very large boat and it took a very long time to build. You can
imagine how his neighbours laughed and laughed.
Those
same neighbours were not laughing when they were beating on the hull of the ark
as the waters rose around them trying to get inside with Noah and his family.
Noah
built the ark because the ETERNAL told him to.
Noah’s
son Shem was an honourable man and we must remember that these Patriarchs lived
very long lives and they overlapped. Shem was alive for the first fifty years of
Abraham’s life and would have told him first hand about the flood and the
ETERNALs dealing with the family. Noah was obedient but not perfect. He grew
grapes, made some wine, got drunk and showed himself up. In spite of this
ETERNAL made a covenant with Noah which was to [and does] last for all time.
This is the covenant of the rainbow {Genesis 9:12-17} which is
a sign that the ETERNAL will never again flood the whole earth as a
punishment. Of course many people have polluted the rainbow symbol to promote
evil when ETERNAL means it for good. They will not get away with it!
It’s
encouraging to know that the ETERNAL can accept our obedience and see past our
imperfections. Shem was honoured and a prophecy was spoken over him that
he would grow and prosper, as he did. Abraham was a direct descendant of
Shem. The ETERNAL spoke to Abraham telling him to get out of town and away from
all the influences of his family and environment. Abraham left straight away.
Although Abraham was told to leave his family he took along his nephew Lot. The
consequences of that decision are part of the news in our daily papers. Lot’s
descendants born out of his relationship with his daughters became the Moabites
and Ammonites who even today are among the Arabs and ‘palestinians’ who
oppose Israel. [Palestine is a name coined
by the Romans for an area that is a part of the Promised Land which the ETERNAL
gave the Israelites, not only Judah, the Jews of today, but all the tribes of
Israel. There are no Palestinian people as a distinct race, no Palestinian state
and no history of any claim to Jerusalem. To misquote Benjamin Disraeli ‘there
are lies, damned lies and propaganda!’]
The ETERNAL, in establishing the earth and HIS developing relationship with us, set in motion a series of beliefs and practices – the ancient ways – which have not changed. The ETERNAL does not change. Certainly HE changes HIS mind, HE calls on us to keep HIM in remembrance of HIS words (not because HE forgets them – but because HE wants us to study them, know them and live them.)
Deuteronomy
32:7-9 Remember the days of old,
consider the years of ages past; ask your father, he will inform you, your
elders, they will tell you: When the ETERNAL gave nations their homes and set
the divisions of man, HE fixed the boundaries of peoples in relation to
Israel’s numbers. For the ETERNAL’s portion is HIS people, Jacob HIS own
allotment.
The ETERNAL had set people apart, this is why family ties are so important, for specific responsibilities. HIS plan was that they should not be mixed up. Read, for example, the Book of Ezra and see the trouble a number of mixed marriages caused. In these latter days the ETERNAL will be calling the people of Israel back to the Land – not just the Jewish people.
Deuteronomy
33:13-16 And of Joseph he said
(Moses is speaking here),
Blessed of the ETERNAL be his land with the bounty of dew from heaven, and of the deep that couches below; with the bounteous yield of the sun, and the bounteous crop of the moons; with the best from the ancient mountains, and the bounty of hills immemorial; with the bounty of earth and its fullness, and the favour of the Presence in the Bush. May these rest on the head of Joseph, On the crown of the elect of his brothers.
Joseph
is the father of Ephraim and Manasseh who were promised to be a community (or
commonwealth) of nations and a mighty nation – the current home of many of the
Lost Tribes of Israel.
This blessing, spoken by Moses and honoured by the ETERNAL, speaks of the ancient blessings in place for the descendants of Joseph if they are obedient and open to the ‘Presence in the Bush’ which refers to the time Moses was drawn into the presence of the ETERNAL by the burning bush. Moses was following the ancient ways and was obedient so he was able to be blessed and called to the work of the ETERNAL.
Isaiah
44:7-8 Who like ME can announce,
can foretell it – and match ME thereby? Even as I told the future to an
ancient people, so let him foretell coming events to them. Do not be frightened,
do not be shaken, Have I not from of old predicted to you? I foretold and you
are MY witnesses. Is there any god then, but ME?
“There is no other rock; I know none!”
The ETERNAL, who does not share HIS glory with any other g-d or pretender, has made it very clear from the beginning of days in the book of Genesis – what is, what will be – and the penalties for going against HIS will. HE also makes it abundantly clear what the blessings are for obedience.
Isaiah
58: 8-14 Then
shall your light burst through like the dawn and your healing spring up quickly;
[have you ever wanted to be healed quickly?] Your
Vindicator shall march before you, the Presence of the ETERNAL shall be your
rear guard.
Then,
when you call, the ETERNAL will answer; when you cry, HE will say: Here I am. If
you banish the yoke from your midst, the menacing hand, and evil speech, and you
offer your compassion to the hungry and satisfy the famished creature – then
shall your light shine in darkness, and your gloom shall be like noonday. [Your
life will be an example to others of the blessings of the ETERNAL – and your
worst days will be like their very best days!]
The ETERNAL will guide you always; HE will slake your thirst in parched places
and give strength to your bones. [I can testify to this – five
years ago I had osteo-arthritis so badly I walked with a walking stick and had
to stop working. Since being called into this truth of the Ancient Ways of the
ETERNAL I am fully recovered and am blessed with lucrative work] You
shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose waters do not fail. Men from
your midst shall rebuild ancient ruins, you shall restore foundations laid long
ago, and you shall be called “Repairer of fallen walls, restorer of lanes for
habitation.” [this is a calling from the ETERNAL to restore the
ancient ways bring back, by example and by teaching, the original
methods and purposes of the CREATOR of the Universe – to do this work for
HIM!] If
you refrain from trampling the
Sabbath, from pursuing your affairs on MY holy day; if you call the Sabbath
“delight”, the ETERNAL’s holy day “honoured”; and if you honour it and
go not your ways nor look to your affairs, nor strike bargains – then you can
seek the favour of the ETERNAL.
I will set you astride the heights of the earth, and let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob – for the mouth of the ETERNAL has spoken. [It is not hard, or unreasonable, for the ETERNAL to ask you to keep the Sabbath and to keep it properly. HE set the pattern by resting on the seventh day of Creation and HE has insisted it should be kept ever since. You will find that keeping the Sabbath as the ETERNAL directs is an oasis of blessing and refreshment in your life.]
Hosea 13: 4-6 Only I the CREATOR have been your ETERNAL ever since the land of Egypt; you have never known a true ETERNAL but ME, you have never had a helper other than ME. I looked after you in the desert, in a thirsty land. When they grazed, they were sated; when they were sated they grew haughty; and so they forgot ME.
Can you understand the pain and disappointment of the ETERNAL? HIS love, blessings and protection have been, and are now, available for us in return for some simple obedience. Some honesty, compassion and true justice will bring about a lifestyle of unimaginable blessings both now and in the World to Come. Yet we object, we wander off into pagan beliefs, we think we know better, we decide HE meant something other than HIS words in the Tanakh.
There would be no better time than “right now” to return to the ancient ways of the ETERNAL. Seek HIS forgiveness – repent of our waywardness and move forward into a blessed life with ETERNAL’s community.
The pattern which the ETERNAL established in HIS communication with us is simple and direct. If we are not being blessed abundantly we need to come before HIM in repentance. If we are under attack by natural events such as weather patterns, earthquakes and fires we need to come before HIM in repentance. If we are under attack through wars and terror we need to come before HIM in repentance. If we are under attack through diseases and anxiety we need to come before HIM in repentance.
The ETERNAL has simple ways to attract our attention – they are occasions of prayer! When events take place that cause people in the world to say “If there was a G-d He wouldn’t let that happen” – that’s when the ETERNAL is moving to attract us to repentance. HE wants us to realise we need HIM.
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