Mercy

This is a radio program called Finding Emet, which means truth in Hebrew. It aims to help people understand and live the truth of the Bible from a Hebrew perspective. The program is hosted by Brother Daniel Rintleman and is associated with Emet Ministries. They provide audio lessons, teaching articles, a free online Bible search program, and a platform to submit prayer requests on their website. The program emphasizes the importance of adjectives in communication and encourages listeners to think about how they would describe themselves and the Creator. It also highlights the need to understand Yahweh's character accurately to avoid rebellion and build an intimate relationship with Him. The program promotes imitating Yahweh and developing a deeper understanding of the Father's heart, as demonstrated through Yeshua. Hello, and welcome to the Finding Emet radio program. Emet is the Hebrew word for truth. This program will help you understand and live the truth of the Bible from a Hebrew perspective. The Finding Emet radio program features the teaching ministry of Brother Daniel Rintleman of Emet Ministries. Prepare your heart to receive the Emet, the truth of the scriptures. More audio lessons and teaching articles are available at the www.emetministries.com website. Please visit our site to find all things spiritual, including a free online Bible search program or submit your prayer request. That's www.emetministries.com or www.findemet.com. CD copies of this teaching are available for free by submitting a request at the website. Let's welcome our teacher, Daniel Rintleman, as he helps us find the Emet. When I was in school, I enjoyed my years in high school, let's just put it like that. I was a little bit of a practical joker, a little bit of a class clown when I did show up to class. I would do things like the teacher would leave to go out of his class, you know, maybe to check on something or take a smoke or something. He'd come in and our class would rearrange the whole room and have it pointing towards the back door. I was on the newspaper staff and I planted some strange words in some of our articles there. I'll have to confess that. I won't tell you the details, but it was definitely fun, some of the things that I did. One day I just had a wild hair and I took a radio with batteries in it, cranked it up, put a CD in it and I put it in my locker and it played all day long. It drove. Do you remember this? It drove the people in the hallway crazy because they couldn't tell where the music was coming from. They finally got it down to the locker, getting ready to bust in it and I knew what was going on so the next changer just cut it off, but it was so much fun to be able to do that. When I showed up to graduate and got in line at graduation, everybody looked at me and said, what are you doing here? I mean, they really didn't think I'd be there, but I made it, praise Yahweh, so made it through high school. But in high school, my favorite class was not recess or PE, I did pretty good in those, but my favorite class was like writing, journalism, you know, I like Latin, believe it or not. You know why? Because my beautiful bride was in the Latin class with me. So that was the only reason why I took Latin was so we could have a class together and we had that, we showed up for a couple of days for that. But that was the reason why I took Latin. But I really like journalism and I like to write, but I never knew what I was writing. I'm one of these guys, I can't tell the difference between a pronoun and a personal pronoun and a noun and an adjective and verbs, that all gets beyond me, it gets past me a little bit. You know, just give me a piece of paper and a pen and I can write a sentence, but I cannot diagram it. Do you remember diagramming sentences in school? It was like calculus or algebra to me, never understood it, I just, you know, hoped to make it through the class. That was the best I did. I crawled my way through algebra as well. You know, I remember my freshman year, best 12 years of my life. Anyway, that was supposed to be a joke. I did find out in preparing for the study today what an adjective is. An adjective is a word that describes a noun and it describes it by answering one of three questions. What kind is it? How many are there? Or which one is it? That's what an adjective is. An adjective can be a single word or a group of words that qualify the attributes of the subject. And when I began to look at this, I found out that it's the adjectives in our sentences that make conversations meaningful and interesting. Without adjectives, it'd be pretty dry. It would be pretty dry, kind of like listening to your English teacher or algebra teacher back in high school. So it's one thing to say, the girl walked across the street. Yet when we add adjectives, it's a whole other thing to say, a whole other story to say, the little girl walked slowly across the busy street. New meaning, new understanding there. Adjectives, you could say they color our thoughts and our words and clarify our statements. You know, if you look at the personals of a newspaper or online, you'll see things like, you know, single white female or single white male or, you know, married white male or whatever it happens to be. If it's looking for someone and they're kind of describing themselves, I'm outgoing, I like, you know, pina coladas, I like dancing in the rain, okay? Some people do that and they describe themselves. And so when you describe something, you use adjectives. So let me ask you something to think about. What adjectives would you use to describe yourself? What adjectives, and I'm not talking, you know, shape or size necessarily, but what adjectives would you use to describe yourself? Now, so what adjectives would you use to describe yourself? Think about that. Are you, you know, sweet, loving, obnoxious? Maybe we should ask our spouses to do that for us. Maybe that would be better. What adjectives would you use to describe yourself? What adjectives would you use to describe the almighty creator of the universe? Think about that for just a minute. If you were to describe him, and let's say someone came to you and said, describe your God in five words or less, boy, that'd be a conversation. Would you say that the creator is graceful, judgmental, fierce, caring, stern, strict, forgiving, compassionate? I don't know. What words would you use? Think about that. Now, most Christians and even most Jews would agree that the recipient of their worship is loving and kind and compassionate. Yet both Christians and Jews would add their own doctrines, their own ideas, and their own teachings to their being that's being worshipped. Now, to best understand the creator of the universe as revealed his name Yahweh in our Bibles, Amen, he revealed his name hidden behind the capital letters L-O-R-D and G-O-D throughout the scriptures, the Elohim or the God of the Bible. The Hebrew word for that is Elohim, the mighty one of the Bible. To best understand him, the mighty one, the Elohim of the Christians and the Jews, we need to look directly at the word and see what it says and see how Yahweh describes himself. Now, we know one thing that he said, Amen. He said he was who was, who is, and who is to come. That means that Yahweh does not change. Agree? That's how Yahweh describes himself. Yahweh is not like a moody man that changes his mind every other day. We know some of these. We are some of these, yes. Yahweh is not like a drugged up deity that's high on antidepressants and lets anything go either. It's not the idea of God on Prozac. Many read the Old Testament, then they read the New Testament, and they think that something has changed. They think that the Almighty has got a new opinion or a new way of doing things. But we know this is not the case. Yahweh is the same today as he was yesterday. Amen? And we need to see and grasp Yahweh as he describes himself. Let's not allow religion to block our view of him. And I guarantee you, if you've been involved in any type of religious institution, if you have any type of belief about Yahweh, that it's affected you. I guarantee you that those around you have affected your view on Yahweh. So let's today put aside self and sin and not allow that to distort Yahweh's greatness. The Hebrews call him Ein Sof, which means the indescribable one. Yahweh's that great. If we say he's great, that doesn't describe it. He's greater than great. He's better than better. Any word we use to describe him does not make it. Like think of your favorite past experience in life and multiply it by ten billion. That doesn't describe his greatness. Now here's a truthful statement. When we misunderstand Yahweh's character, it leads to rebellion and a lack of intimacy in our relationship with him. If you misunderstand someone, you may build a wall up to that person. You may not talk with them and spend time with them because of what you think they think or what you think they said or what you think they did. It was Pharaoh in Egypt in Exodus chapter 5 verse 2, Exodus 5-2, who said, Who is Yahweh that I should obey him? Who is Yahweh that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I do not know Yahweh and besides, I will not let Israel go. Many people say that. They say, Who is Yahweh that I should obey him? They have an understanding of him that is not biblical and it leads them to rebel against his word. Now the more we know Yahweh through his Torah, which is the what? First five books of the Bible, his loving instructions, the more we will walk in his ways. Exodus 5-1 says to be imitators of Yahweh like dear children. Just like a child, my next youngest, Isaiah, will put on my shoes when I get home. He wants to imitate daddy. He'll put on my tie. He wants to be like me. He imitates me. That's what we're supposed to do with Abba Yahweh. We are to imitate him. And as we build our relationship with him and we better know him, the more of his glory we will show in the world. Now how many know that the church teaches a lot about the Savior? We hear lots of sermons, sermon after sermon about the miracles and parables revealed about Yeshua and his life. Now we also, there are a lot of ministries that focus on the Spirit. The Spirit, the Spirit, the Spirit, Holy Ghost goosebumps, falling on the floor and all that stuff. But what about the Father? Getting to know the Father's heart. Really knowing him. Now we've been talking about his name. We've been talking about his plan for man. Yeshua said in John 14, 9, Yochanan 14, 9, he said, if you have seen me, then you have seen the Father. Yochanan 14, 9. This means that Yeshua was an exact representation of Father Yahweh. And when we discover the truth about Yeshua and we build our relationship with the Father, Yeshua also said, you don't understand me or know me because you didn't know and really understand Moshe or Moses and the prophets. Now it's in the Torah of Moshe, in this first five books of the Bible, that we have the most accurate description of Yahweh. He describes himself. So let's turn together to Exodus 33. And in the book of Exodus, which in Hebrew is Shemot, Exodus 33, Moshe or Moses cries out to Yahweh. He says, I want to know you. I want to have a greater revelation of you. I want to see you. And guess what? Yahweh answers with a bunch of adjectives. Yahweh knows what adjectives are. Praise Yahweh. He's smarter than me. A lot smarter. A lot smarter. I'm supposed to get a resounding amen to that. OK, hallelujah. In Exodus 33, starting in verse 18 through 23, Moshe said, I beg you, show me your glory. And Yahweh said, I will make all of my goodness to pass before you. I will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you and will show unmerited favor to whom I will. And I will show mercy to whom I will. And Yahweh said, you cannot see my face for there shall no man see me and live. And Yahweh said, see, this is a place by me and you shall stand upon a rock and it shall come to pass that while my glory passes by, I will put you in the cleft of the rock. I will cover you with my hand while I pass by and I will take away my hand and you shall see my back. But my face shall not be seen. And now in Exodus 34, 6 through 9, Exodus 34, 6 through 9, Yahweh passed by before him and proclaimed, Yahweh, Yahweh and El, full of mercy and favor, long suffering and abundant in grace and truth, keeping grace or kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, and will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the children's children to the third and fourth generation. And Moshe hurried and bowed his head towards the earth and worshiped. This is the only passage in Scripture that it says Moshe bowed his head and worshiped when Yahweh passed by. Now, notice that Yahweh says no man can see me and live. This corresponds exactly to when Yeshua said, pick up your execution stake, your cross daily and follow me. To follow Yahweh, we are to die to ourselves daily. When we really see him, it kills us. Amen? It kills us. And the more we know of him, the more we see him, the more we die. As Yahweh passes by Moshe, he calls out his name and he describes himself in some surprising terms. Now, this section of Scripture, especially verses 6 and 7 in Exodus chapter 34, is something special in Judaism. It has a special name. They like to name things. It's called the Shalosh Esrei Medot, Shalosh Esrei Medot. Now Shalosh is the number three in Hebrew, Achstein, Shalosh, Arbach, Humash, anyway. Shalosh is number three. If you're counting, one, two, three, Achstein, Shalosh. Three, Esrei is similar to ten, which is Eser. So thirteen. Shalosh Esrei is thirteen in Hebrew. And Medot means attributes. The Shalosh Esrei Medot, or the thirteen attributes of Yahweh. This is Yahweh listing his adjectives. This is him describing himself. Notice that the terms are all about mercy, and love, and forgiveness. Notice very few words about judgment and anger and such. These attributes teach us about Yahweh from his perspective. Now I asked you earlier to describe Yahweh in a couple of adjectives. Did you say graceful? Did you say merciful? Did you say forgiving? In Hebrew, this phrase of the Shalosh Esrei Medot says this. Yahweh Yahweh El Racham Chanun Erek Payim Ra Chesed Ve'emet Notzer Chesed La'alafim Nosei Avon Nosei Pasha Nosei Chata V'nekel That's Hebrew for what we just read. Let's talk about this for a few minutes. First of all, it tells us in Exodus 34, verse 6, And Yahweh passed by before him and proclaimed, Yahweh, Yahweh. How many Yahwehs? Two Yahwehs. I thought the Torah says Yahweh is one. Yahweh, Yahweh. This is prophetic to show us Yahweh the Father, Yahweh the Son. For the Son, Yahshua came in what? The Father's name. Yahweh's name is listed twice to show us his compassion before we sin and his compassion after we sin. He is the same no matter what mankind does. He's full of mercy. Everybody say mercy. Have mercy. That's right. Next, he's called El. In English, it may say God. The term literally means mighty one or mighty. Yahweh is a mighty El who is willing to judge with mercy. He is full of loving kindness. He is full of the word rachum or rachamim, which is mercy. The Hebrew term for mercy, rachum or rachamim. He is merciful that mankind would not be distressed. Next, it tells us he's full of rachamim, mercy and favor. The Hebrew word here is chanun, chanun, like ten, like favor, similar to the word chesed or grace. This is to comfort us when we are in distress. The Torah then calls him Erech Apayim, slow to anger. Many times we are quick to judge and cast out. It says Yahweh is Erech Apayim. Aren't you glad Yahweh is slow to anger? I amane to that. I amane to that. Yahweh is patient and he is kind. He's rav chesed. That means abundant in kindness, abundant in grace. His mercy knows no end. It endures forever. Then it says Yahweh is truth, emet, truthful. Yahweh has truthful and instructive consequences in place that push us closer to his love. The Torah then says that he is a preserver of kindness for thousands of generations. The Hebrew notes there chesed la'alafim. And then it lists three types of sin that it says Yahweh forgives. It says Yahweh is the forgiver of iniquity, transgression and sin, iniquity, transgression and sin. And finally he offers vanachel or cleansing or pardon. That is Yahweh. If Yahweh was to describe himself, I'm not going to say put an ad in the personals, but if he were to describe himself, he would say Yahweh, Yahweh, an elf full of mercy and kindness and full of truth, forgiving iniquities for the thousandth generation, giving pardon. If you've been praying to or serving or thinking about a different God, then it's time to confess and move on. It's time to see him in this new light. But this is the overwhelming theme of mercy and forgiveness. If we were to title this teaching, it would be called Have Mercy. Everybody say Have Mercy. Come on, a little more. Have Mercy. Okay, Have Mercy, that's right. The overwhelming theme here is merciful and forgiving. Now in Hebrew, there are three key concepts that are used in this passage. And these words reveal a lot about Yahweh. It says Rachamim, Chanu, and Chesed, Rachamim, Chanu, and Chesed. And each of these are translated mercy in the King James Version Bible. Many times if we're reading it, you know, in the King James, it will say Yahweh is full of mercy. It will say Rachamim or Chanu or Chesed. Yahweh is merciful. Now many times we gloss over that idea of Yahweh being merciful. We kind of see it as a weakness. But that's not the case. The truth is, it's through Yahweh's mercy that the universe exists, amen? Psalm 103.8, Tehillim 103.8 says, Yahweh is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Now in this verse, as in many, many others, the words merciful and gracious appear. In Hebrew, this is the phrase Rachum V'Chanun, Rachum V'Chanun, merciful and gracious. This is Yahweh. Psalm 103.8. Yahweh has compassion towards us and patience with us. He's merciful. He's full of Rachamim. Everybody say Rachamim. Rachamim. To be merciful is to show empathy for someone. To empathize with someone is the ability to recognize what they're going through, to walk a mile in their shoes, you could say. Now I'm not very good at this. I'm not very good at this. This is something I'm learning. I'm teaching to you because I'm learning myself to have mercy, to have mercy, to walk a mile in their shoes. Let me give you a good example of what empathy is. Empathy is, let's say we're out on a boat, and Henrietta, let's say we're on the boat, and we're on the ocean, and you get sick. And you're just sick. You're hanging your head over the side of the boat. You're very sick to your stomach, okay? Well if I'm going to empathize with you, I'm going to come beside you, and I'm going to maybe get a washcloth and some cool water, and I'm going to put it on your head, and I'm going to make sure you're okay. I'm going to watch over you, make sure you don't fall over, you know? And I'm going to give you some medicine, and I'm going to maybe take you to the doctor there on the boat to make sure that you're taken care of. That's empathy. That's empathy. I'm going to say, what if this was me? That's what mercy says. It says, what if this was me? Now to sympathize with someone is to get sick with them. So if I was being sympathetic to Henrietta, I'd say, oh, I've got to get sick too, and I'd start going over the side of the boat. What good would that be? We'd both be sick. How many know that Yahweh has empathy towards us? He empathizes with us. Yahweh is merciful and gracious. It's been said that mercy is not getting what you deserve. Well that's just a small part, a small portion of the truth. Rahamim, or mercy, is much, much, much more. Yahweh's mercy is the force that sustains creation. Now many describe the quote-unquote God of the Old Testament as an angry judge that is sent to save mankind from his religion of Judaism. You know, he sent his son to save man from the religion of Judaism. That's not the case. The idea of a bearded man with a lightning bolt sitting on a throne has much more to do with Greek mythology than it does with the Bible, the Torah. The Scriptures state, John 3, 17, Yahweh did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. Notice the word might. That's mercy. John 3, 17. Part of Yeshua's ministry on earth was to restore the mercy and grace of Torah. He did not come to start a new religion or write a second portion of the Bible called the New Testament. John 1, 17 says, which is good. John 1, 17, Yohannan 1, 17 says the Torah was given by Moshe. Its unmerited favor and truth were revealed by Yeshua. Now, you might read that in the King James and guess what it says. It says the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus. The word but does not appear in the Greek text or in the Hebrew text. That is a mistranslation. You got to get rid of that. But. And it should read. The Torah was given by Moshe, its unmerited favor and truth by Yeshua. Yeshua did not come to do away with the law and replace it with grace. Our choice today, hallelujah, is not mercy or Torah. Many people think, well, why would I go back under that? I've got grace. Our choice today is not mercy or Torah, but it is mercy and grace in the Torah, through the Torah. This is a message we need to know and understand and share with others because the Torah is Yahweh's instruction book for life on planet Earth, guidelines for us. And they were given for us to walk the straight and narrow path. Did you know that the Torah reveals our need for Yahweh's mercy and grace? The more Torah you keep, the more of Yahweh's grace you need. It is impossible to keep the commandments found in the scriptures. What does it say? If you've broken one, then you're guilty of them all, right? Our Torah observance should build our mercy dependence to greater levels. The more we strive to walk in his ways, the more we should realize that we are sinful and we need Yeshua. Yeshua's mercy and forgiveness are administered through Torah. How about this? If there had been no Torah, then there could be no mercy and forgiveness. Again, the Torah is the divine will of Yahweh. When we obey Torah, we walk in what? According to his word, we walk in blessings. When we disobey Torah, 1 John calls that sin, we allow the enemy to have an inroad into our lives. One purpose of the Torah was to show us sin. So turn to Romans chapter 7. Romiah 7 verses 7 through 16 clarifies this for us. It shows us this. Not that the Torah is sinful, not that the Torah is bad, but the Torah defines sin for us. Romans 7, starting in verse 7. What shall we say then? Is the Torah sinful or sin causing? Let it not be. No. I had not known about sin except by the Torah, for if I had not known lust except the Torah had said, you shall not covet. But sin by means of the commandment provoked in me all the manner of desire, for without the Torah, sin was dead, for I was alive without the full Torah once. But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. Romans 7 verse 10. And the commandments which were ordained to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking opportunity by the commandments, deceived me, and it killed me. Let's stop right there. Sin takes the opportunity against the commandments to kill you. The wages of sin is death. It tells us in verse 10, it says the commandments were ordained to bring life brought death. Do you know why? When we trust in ourselves, it brings death because we can't do it. Imagine Torah obedience being, Judah, you've got to jump to the moon. Now Melanie might be able to jump higher than you. She's taller. She's more athletic. Michael Jordan, not Michael Jackson. Michael Jordan could probably jump higher than Judah, right? Michael Jackson can, you know, moonwalk higher, I guess, but Michael Jordan. But let me ask you, can you jump to the moon, Judah? No you can't. Can you jump to the moon? Can Michael Jordan jump to the moon? Can Melanie jump to the moon? Even though they can jump higher than you can, they still miss the mark. Even though others may be more holy, they still miss the mark. Because when we sin, that commandment that was meant to bring life brings death. Verse 12, the Torah is holy and the mitzvot are holy. Commandments are holy and just and good. And what was that is good that is made unto death for me. Let it not be. But sin, that it might appear to be sin, work death in me by that which is good. So that sin by the commandments might become exceedingly sinful. Verse 14, for we know that the Torah is full of the Spirit, but I am the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not know what is going on. For what I purpose to do in obeying Torah, I do not do. But what I hate in the world, that's what I wind up doing. And if then I do that which I do not want to do, I consent to the Torah that it is good. Wow. Wow. The more Torah we know, the more accountable we are to it and the more our sins are clear to us. Yahweh has physical and spiritual laws in place that administer justice on his behalf. He also has laws, spiritual and physical laws, that bring blessings to the person who obeys. He is a perfect, balanced judge. Now this is something that the religious leaders of Yeshua's day did not understand. They had Torah. They obeyed to the exact detail. They tithed to the nth degree. They lived by the letter of the law. But their hearts, many times, were far from him. Yeshua called them a brood of vipers, a group of whitewashed tombs, you could say. They kept the Torah, but had forsaken the heart of the Torah, which is what? Mercy. Micah 6.8 What does Yahweh require of you? But to do justly, tzedakah, love mercy, rachamim, and to have a humble walk, halakha, with your Elohim. That doesn't mean the rest isn't important. But it means these are the weightier matters of the Torah. Mercy, justice, forgiveness, being humble. Turn to Luke chapter 10 for a story that illustrates this, as we read a parable of Yeshua. Luke chapter 10, verse 30. And in Luke 10, verse 30. A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. And he fell among thieves who stripped him of his garment. And they wounded him and departed, leaving him for dead. And by chance, there came down a certain Kohen, a priest, that way. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise, a Levi. When he was at that place, came and looked at him, and he passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, Shomrite, a dog, you could say, a Gentile, you could say, Luke 10. As he journeyed, he came to where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion on him. He went to him. He bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine. He set him on his own beast. He brought him to an inn and took care of him. And in the morning, when he departed, he took out his own beast.