Spiritual Reminders

By Dani’el Rendelman
www.findemet.com

Ananova News reports, “An elderly German motorist didn't realize he'd left his wife at a service station until he completed his journey an hour later.

The 75-year-old carried on driving down the motorway in Rhineland-Pfalz after he had stopped for a quick break at one of the country's motorway rest areas.

He only realized his wife was missing from the passenger seat as he arrived at home.

The abandoned woman was found by a passing motorist walking up and down the empty roadside car park in Platten trying to flag down help. She was taken to a local police station,” www.ananovanews.com.

From leaving the wife behind to just misplacing the car keys, it seems we are forgetful people. We forget phone numbers and overlook due dates of important bills. Perhaps the Creator knew this, because throughout the Scriptures are many admonishments to remember -- "forget not" eight times, "remember" 214 times. He’s not telling us to recall our spouse’s social security number or our anniversary, though. We are to “forget not all His benefits” and to “remember the Sabbath day”. We are to live in constant awareness of the Almighty and all His ways, “forget not my Torah (instructions); but let thine heart keep my mitzvot (commandments)” -- Mishlei / Proverbs 3:1.

The Hebrew term for remember, is “zakar.” Zakar is a verb that means “to mark (so as to be recognized), i.e. to remember; to mention; to burn incense, earnestly, be mindful, recount, record, make to be remembered, bring (re)call, come, keep, put (in) to remembrance.” This phrase is used many times, all in connection with us turning our thoughts and deeds towards the Light.

Remembering the Almighty can-and-should become an important dynamic, an habitual behavior in the life of every Bible believer. This idea is repeated over and over again by the Biblical authors, to help us to develop the habit, as they instruct readers on how to live. Yet, we are not to just mentally meditate about heaven. We are told to actually do certain things, actions that will develop habits, to bring about remembrance. To grasp this concept, just realize that Zakar is a verb. Verbs in speech promote action. To Zakar is to turn our thoughts towards Heaven, which will bring about earthly actions. These actions will bring us out of this physical realm and guide us onto a spiritual plane.

For example, we are not to just mentally think about the Sabbath day, but deliberately do what will keep our mind focused on rest and on the Creator. This is part of the Ten Commandments. To remember and to keep the Sabbath, is actually two-commandments-in-one. We are to first Zakar, or remember the Shabbat day. We do this by accomplishing the second part of the commandment, guarding or keeping it as set apart. “Remember Yom Ha-Shabbat, to shomer (keep or guard) it as kadosh (set apart). Six days shall you labor, and do all your work: But the seventh day is the Shabbat of YHWH your Elohim: in it you shall not do any work” – Shemot / Exodus 20: 8.

The goal of this teaching is to “stir up your sincere minds by way of a reminder: That you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the kadosh neviim (set apart prophets), and by the directions from us the shlichim (sent ones) of the Master and Savior,” – Kefa Bet / 2 Peter 3: 1, 2.

We need this teaching because we are so much like the two elderly ladies who were enjoying the sunshine on a park bench in Maine. They had been meeting at that park every sunny day for over 12 years... chatting, and enjoying each other’s friendship.

One day, the younger of the two ladies, turns to the other and says, "Please don’t be angry with me, dear, but I am embarrassed, after all these years. . .What is your name? I am trying to remember, but I just can't."

The older friend stares at her, looking very distressed. Saying nothing for two full minutes, finally with tearful eyes, she asks, "How soon do you have to know?"

Remember the Spiritual Side
The problem is that we remember what we should forget, and we forget what we should remember.

We keep in mind all the evil that has been done to us, and how we’ve been hurt in the past. We live in the rear view mirror of regret. We seem to forget the countless verses that we’ve read from the Scriptures that have ministered to our spirit. We even forget we have a spirit. We forget that we are spiritual beings.

Why? Well, we live in this fallen world where good has become evil and evil has become good. Our society has fallen from truth and is filled with evil. The physical fills our every minute. The darkness of desire tries to overcome our lives with greed. Our society tells us that happiness is found in what we have: the most money, the newest clothes, the fastest cars, or the nicest house.

The truth is, we are strangers or aliens in this land. “Do not love the olam hazeh (this world), or the things in the olam hazeh. If anyone loves the olam hazeh, the ahava of Abba (love of the Father) is not in him” - Alef Yochannan / I John 2: 15.

We have been created in the image of our Maker. Our true home is with Him. We have a spiritual side that seeks to be addressed and cries out for fulfillment. YHWH, the Creator, has a divine plan for each of our lives. However, the magnetic pull of modern life is difficult to resist.

We are like the patient who keeps visiting the hospital, in spite of his doctor telling him many times, "We don’t treat amnesia cases at this hospital."

Information, like directions or passwords, sometimes go in one ear and out the other. Even important items are quit easy to forget. It takes effort, though, to remember. Loosing the car keys is effortless, while finding them sometimes can be a chore! It requires energy, time, and most of all, concentration to remember what is most important. Just think about how we struggle to recall a friend’s name that slips our memory. Point made. It is a task sometimes just to memorize a few items like milk and bread, that we should pick up from the corner store. Our brains work just fine, but we seem to overload them with information, and therefore don’t retain all of what is necessary. We forget YHWH and his word. We forget what is most important.

Like a Mirror
Sadly, we have forgotten so much. We have lost our heritage as believers and we have overlooked our position as Yisra’el. Let's decide to be different. Today, let us remember. Let’s recall that ‘at that time you were without Moshiach, being excluded, aliens from the Commonwealth of Yisra'el, as gerim (foreigners) from the covenants of promise, having no tikvah (hope), and without Elohim in the olam hazeh (world): But now in Moshiach Yahshua you who sometimes were far off are made near by the dahm (blood) of Moshiach,” Ephesians - Ephsiyah 2:12. Let’s exert ourselves to bring to mind that this world is really just like a reflection in a mirror.

With a mirror we can look at the sight in the glass and see an exact reflection. A mirror is a one-dimensional image of our three dimensional world. Unless it’s a fun house at the carnival, what is seen in the mirror is an accurate reflection of our world. Like a mirror, this world echoes the deeper, hidden world of the Spirit. What we see and experience in the natural is a reflection of the supernatural. And vica-versa

We live in the physical world of what we perceive. Yet, this is only 1% of reality. There remains 99% of the unseen.

What we do in the one percent affects the whole ninety-nine percent. To aid our struggle against forgetfulness, we have been given several mitzvot that will bridge the gap between recognition and our memory shortfalls. As we recall and heed these reminders, we are connecting to the supernatural; we are operating in the shadow of the 99%. “Let no one therefore judge you in eating or in drinking, or in respect of a Festival or a new moon or Sabbaths – which are a shadow of what is (yet) to come – but the Body of Messiah,” -- Qolesayah / Colossians 2: 16-17. The true reality is in HaShamayim (the Heavens,) while the earth is merely a shadow of how life is supposed to be.

Our actions are a reflection of our attitudes and motives. Our obedience of YHWH's mitzvot reflects our love of Him.

YHWH’s reminders can literally fill our day, repeatedly calling us back to our Spiritual senses…while we touch the mezuzah on our doorposts and repeat the Shema daily, we are actually making a divine connection to the Almighty. As we eat of the bread and wine on Shabbat, we are uniting with the Holy One.

These links are the mitzvot / commandments. An entire list of reminders is coming up! Spiritually speaking, when we keep the mitzvot, as habitually as wearing tzittzit, we are bridging the gap between the 1% and the 99%. From the moment we wake up in the morning to the time close our eyes as we lie in bed, these emblems turn our thoughts Heavenward. These reminders help us to fulfill, “From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, YHWH's Name is to be praised” – Tehillim / Psalm 113: 3.

Here’s the point, in the spirit realm closeness is determined by similarity. So, the more we act like YHWH, the more we think upon YHWH, the closer we are to YHWH. As we follow His word, we are actually moving as His shadow.

We are to walk in the shadow of the 99%, to walk in the Spirit, through the reminders YHWH has given us. These set apart items of this physical world, like the tabernacle, are actual copies of heavenly patterns. “Make all these things according to the pattern you have seen in Heaven,” says Shemot / Exodus 25: 40. These items have been prescribed to us in the written Torah, the first five books of Moshe.

They can be made of the simplest materials; nonetheless they can harness the power of YHWH and show forth his Tiferet (glory). Some may say that these actions are not “necessary” for salvation, therefore shouldn’t be made “mandatory” upon believers. Well, do we only do what is mandatory to live? Do we only eat, sleep, and breathe all the days of our lives? Certainly not. We fill our days with events, actions, and much more than just what is mandatory to continue life. We do things that bring benefit to our happiness and pleasure to our soul. These “fillers” are what brings meaning to existence. These reminders are what bring meaning to our faith. Some of them are direct commandments of things “to do,” while others point to the actions of the priests or certain individuals, that when repeated bring blessing.

The List
Yes, it is these reminders and the actions associated with them that define who we are as a people, that make up our day, our life, our heritage, and our culture as Yisraelites. They set us apart and proclaim to the world that we are different. Many reminders may seem strange or new. Others are already part of the everyday life of most believers. All of YHWH’s prompts though, are of benefit. What are they?

Well, these reminders include:

keeping the feasts (Leviticus 23)

looking at and wearing tzittzit (Numbers 15: 38-40)

resting on the Sabbath (Exodus 20: 8)

speaking Hebrew (Zephaniah 3: 13)

blowing or hearing the shofar (Psalm 47: 5, Numbers 10: 10)

experiencing mikvah (immersion) (Acts 2: 38)

wearing head coverings (Leviticus 21: 10, 1 Corinthians 11: 5)

reckoning the day as beginning at night (Genesis 1: 5)

eating bread and wine at special times (Genesis 14: 18)

binding tefillin (Deuteronomy 11: 18)

giving tithes and free-will offerings (Leviticus 27: 30)

having a beard (Leviticus 21: 5)

touching mezuzah (Deuteronomy 4: 6-9)

studying the Torah (2 Timothy 2: 15)

eating kosher (clean) foods (Leviticus 11)

repeating the Shema twice a day (Deuteronomy 6: 7)

counting the Omer (Leviticus 23: 15,16)

praying to YHWH (1 Thessalonians 5: 17)

anointing with oil (James 5: 14)

dwelling in a sukkah (Leviticus 23: 42)

lighting candles or a menorah (Exodus 25: 37)

being circumcised (Leviticus 12: 3)

enjoying a festive meal during certain Holy Days (Leviticus 23)

eating certain foods at certain Holy Times (Exodus 12 & Leviticus 23)

afflicting ourselves on Yom Kippur (Leviticus 23: 27,32)

teaching our children the instructions of YHWH (Deuteronomy 6: 7)

hand washing before a meal (Exodus 30: 19)

giving thanks after a meal (Deuteronomy 8: 10)

reading the Torah out loud (Romans 10: 17, Exodus 24: 7)

meditating upon Torah (Psalm 1)

fleeing from evil (Proverbs 4: 27)

Like spiritual ‘post it’ notes, these items remind us of who we are and Whose we are. They are constant visual reminders of being YHWH’s chosen people. “And you shall remember that you were an eved (slave) in Mitzrayim (Egypt): and you shall shomer (guard) and do these chukim (ordinances)” – Devarim / Deuteronomy 16: 12, Restoration Scriptures.

When we keep the mitzvot (the reminders of YHWH), our obedience in the physical has profound impact upon the spiritual. Our submission to YHWH’s word sends ripple affects within our souls and puts into motion the divine will of Elohim. The Talmud teaches that these living emblems are the insignia of a believing Hebrew. “Whosoever has the tefillin on his head, the tefillin on his arm, the tzittzit on his garment, and the mezuzah on his doorpost is secure against the commission of sin. Beloved is Yisrael, for the Holy One, blessed be he, surrounded it with mitzvot,” -- Menachot 43b. What we do in the natural realm is a direct reflection of our spiritual walk and beliefs.

More to come
As we have the reminders of YHWH present around our daily activities, we live in constant awareness of the Almighty and our mind will rest in Him. “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in YHWH forever, for YHWH, the Master, is the Rock eternal,” -- Yesha’yahu / Isaiah 26: 3, 4.

In part two of this teaching we will discuss exactly how everyday objects can be empowered by the Shekinah of YHWH. We’ll also discuss the Spiritual impact that remembering can make. With life running at such a busy speed, it’s easy to forget that we have been called out for a purpose. Let’s surrender to learn more about these reminders that Elohim has given us. Let’s incorporate these mementos into our lives. Let’s not forget to remember.