Missing God – Wrong Response

 

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Sometimes, you can make it worse, rather than getting the point.

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On Shavuot, a Jewish holiday where they celebrate receiving the 10 commandments, Orthodox Jews meet at midnight and “study Torah” until morning, THEN they stay and have services until noon.

This, to me, is a highly self abusive schedule.

This is also an abnormal pattern of pursuing God, so I asked why they don’t just have the Torah study during the day, while people are actually awake. That way, more people could participate.

It was explained to me that Moses was supposed to come down at 6 am, but all the Jews were late.

So, now, as an act of penance, they come 6 hours early, at midnight, to be sure they are there on time.

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For one thing, the bible does not say Moses came at 6 am. They did not have clocks, so how would they know the time?

Second, Moses did not set up an appointment for them to meet him when he was finished, and establish an exact time.

Third, when he did come down after 40 days, he found them there, but they were dancing around the golden calf, at least the first time.

He broke the tablets out of anger, and had to go back up for another 40 days.

For all we know, Moses arrived in the middle of the afternoon.

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Jesus spoke about man’s traditions, and how they encumbered men, inflicting heavy burdens.

I think this 6 am missed meeting is a fantasy, even if it is established oral tradition.

The Torah says nothing about 6 am.

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What we have here is that Jews missed the point.

Instead of realizing they “missed God” by resorting to pagan ways with the golden calf, they decide they “missed God” by arriving after 6 am.

So, for 3,328 years they have been showing up at midnight so they won’t miss God?

Crazy…..!

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Missing God

God does not hold a grudge.

All we have to do is repent, and mean it, and then life goes on again.

We do not have to do penance for 3,328 + years.

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People miss God more when they show they do not understand Him or His ways.

They miss the opportunity of being with Him, and fellowshipping with Him.

They are so bound up in routines, that they have no time to receive anything intimate.

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In the Shavuot situation, it would have been better to get a good night’s sleep, then come in at a normal hour, and discuss the 10 commandments, so that everyone could listen, and participate.

The way they were doing it, only a handful would benefit, and after 6 am, they would all be brain dead from lack of sleep, and not appreciate anything else during the morning service.

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We have to learn to accept God’s forgiveness and get on with our lives.

We should not let the past keep us bound in repeated acts of compensation and repentance.

It is like denying God’s forgiveness.

And we should not be so consumed about trivial aspects of the past.

If we ARE concerned about a past mistake, we should focus on the main issue, and learn from it, not get sidetracked on some inconsequential aspect.

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