The Creator asks us to choose life.
10 Tammuz 5776
If we examine the creeds of many of the religions today we see that most have an obsession with death, placing it upon a pedestal. People are in a hurry to die because life after death is so much better than this one. Many believe today that the body is the prison of the soul and in order to be free, one needs to die. This is a very Greek concept coming from older civilizations. Israel had been living in Egypt with its gigantic pyramids which were basically tombs. Our Creator was slowly removing this brainwashing from the Israelites changing the idea that death was something to be worshiped. Once the neshama (soul) has departed the body it is no longer important. It needs to be treated with respect and buried but that’s all. Necromancy was normal in cultures that worshiped the dead but the Torah prohibits this. We all know what happened to King Saul when he had the Prophet Samuel brought back from the dead. Our Creator separated us from this concept of exalting the dead by giving us the regulations of what to do if we are touched by a corpse.
Our Creator wanted us to know that He made us in His likeness and image, with His essence which is eternal. For this reason our essence as well is eternal and life then takes on a new perspective. In Deuteronomy 30:15 He offers us life and opportunity or death and disaster. If we obey His commandments and love Him, we would live and grow numerous. He would bless us in the land. He gives us the choice but asks us to choose life. In Matthew 22:32 Yeshua tells the Sadducees who didn’t believe in the resurrection that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the God of the living. With that he was telling us that our forefathers are still alive. He is the God of the living not of the dead. This is very important for us to know. We don’t need to elevate death but instead we are to elevate life.
Do not follow any religion that will tell you that they alone possess truth, follow the Creator instead. Our Messiah Yeshua told us “You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free.” Yeshua knew and followed the traditions of our people. He understood that Emet or Truth was a euphemistic way of saying the Creator. The Hebrew word for know is “yodeah” which means to know someone intimately as a man knows his wife. He was an itinerant teacher, a rabbi and he was telling us that as we have an intimate relationship with the Creator, He will set us free from everything holding us back from having this relationship with Him. What more do we need? He was telling us that the mere Presence of the Creator in us changes us from within. In the parable of the prodigal son, Yeshua was teaching us about teshuva, coming back to the Creator as the son came home to his father. Our God revealed Himself to all those who stood at Mount Sinai, Israelite and Gentile alike. The message that the Creator cannot die; that death is not part of Him is a universal message for all people. Question any religion that glorifies the afterlife and doesn’t allow you to enjoy this one.