Weekly E-mail Reminder

	HIDDEN LDS/JEWISH INSIGHTS #35 New Testament Gospel Doctrine Supplement by Daniel Rona Weekly E-mail Reminder << Be Ye Reconciled to God >> 2 Corinthians ------------------------------------------------------------- (1.) "HOW ODD OF GOD, TO CHOOSE THE JEWS." ------------------------------------------------------------- "W.N. Ewer, who wrote this jingle, could not understand why Israel is God's Chosen People. Moses, in Deuteronomy 7:7--8, explains: `The Lord did not set His love upon you because you were more in number than any people . . . but because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn to your fathers." ". . . Israel . . . voluntarily accepted the Torah . . . other nations would not. Mercy and forgiveness . . . are distinguishing characteristics of Abraham and his seed, and these characteristics motivated God to choose Israel as His people." (Encyclopedia Judaica  Jr.) Reconciliation is thus two-way: We must recognize God and He chooses us to represent Him. Both Jews and Latter-day Saints consider themselves of the House of Israel and thereby, chosen – with characteristics of mercy and forgiveness. ------------------------------------------------------------- (2.) FORGIVING AND BEING FORGIVEN AFFECTS A PERSON'S HEALTH: ------------------------------------------------------------- "Asaph . . . a religious doctor . . . believed that since many diseases came (from) sins, a patient could be cured only by praying hard, asking forgiveness and giving charity, because God was the true healer, only God could give doctors the power to use properly all the medicine they had learnt. He also taught that forbidden food was a cause of disease, while kosher food prevented it." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.) ------------------------------------------------------------- (3.) MISTAKEN IDEA – "IF ONE TRULY REPENTS AND TRULY FORGIVES, HE WILL FORGET." ------------------------------------------------------------- We need to have memory, because it is from our memory of good and bad that we learn. As we remember our sins and the sins of our forefathers, we can prevent repeating the same mistakes. ". . . from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jeremiah 31:33-34) ------------------------------------------------------------- (4.) JOG YOUR MEMORY: ------------------------------------------------------------- ". . . Fulfill(ing) the biblical verse, `If I forget thee, O Jerusalem . . .' (Psalm 137) . . . (Rabbis) decreed that a corner of every house, a part of every meal, even some of every woman's jewelry, be set aside --- in memory of the Temple. Special prayers were formulated . . . and the words `Next year in Jerusalem' were recited on Passover and at the end of the Day of Atonement --- all in memory of the Temple . . . these prayers, customs, and hopes helped to unite the Jewish people and kept alive the hope of returning to Zion, a hope fulfilled in our days." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.) ------------------------------------------------------------- (5.) ADDING MERCY TO FORGIVENESS: ------------------------------------------------------------- "In addition to belief in God, one of the important (thirteen) Articles of Faith of the Jew is that God is good. A unique aspect of the Jewish faith is that although God rules . . . with absolute justice, He is also merciful and forgives sins against Him. The doctrine of repentance is based on this belief." ". . . mercy is an obligation for all Jews . . . they must act with compassion and forgiveness towards all mankind, and perform deeds of charity and kindness. This quality is an essential characteristic of God who is known as `Rahum' (`Merciful'). . . `As He is merciful, so be you merciful.' Just as God is bound by His covenant of mercy with His people, so is the Jew bound by specific commandments to act mercifully to the oppressed, the alien, the orphan, the widow, and indeed, every living creature." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.) ------------------------------------------------------------- (6.) CHOSEN TO SUFFER? ------------------------------------------------------------- On one occasion, a professor of religion went to the Western (wailing) Wall, microphone in hand, and began asking religious Jews why they were chosen. One responded, "We are chosen to suffer." Later, in making a point about the Savior's suffering, the professor said, "No one is chosen to suffer other than the Lord." However, let us consider that the calamities and sufferings of the Jews will ultimately bring them closer to the Lord who covenanted to remember and save His people. Sufferings bring us closer to Him and those having the highest responsibilities of serving Him often suffer greatly. They "sink to new heights." ". . . all these things . . . shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?" (Doctrine & Covenants 122:7-8) ------------------------------------------------------------- (7.) RECONCILIATION BRINGS "SHALOM": ------------------------------------------------------------- Once reconciled to God, the adversity in life brings His peace, resulting in a spirit of fulfillment, completeness and serenity that enable us to comfort and bless others in their difficulties. " It is generally thought that the Hebrew word `shalom' means peace, but it is really much more than that. The main problem in understanding `shalom' is that there is no single word for it in English and even many words when they are strung into deep philosophical theories, cannot capture the full meaning of the simple Hebrew. `Shalom' in Jewish thought has a positive connotation and, as such, is central to Judaism. Peace, on the other hand, is a negative concept; the absence of war, strife, and fighting. `Shalom' is more like fulfillment, completeness, serenity, or security. Its opposite is not only war and strife, but adversity, injustice, fragmentation or disunity." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)
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