Here are all the scriptures shared during worship at Beth Israel Messianic Synagogue on May 11-12, either from the parshoyot (scripture readings) or connected to the songs' themes. Enjoy!

Psalm 103:20-22

Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do His word, obying the voice of His word! Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! Bless the Lord, all His works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Psalm 96:1

Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!

Matthew 21:5

Say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to you!

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Psalm 43:3-4

Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will priase you with thelyre, O God, my God.

Psalm 113:2-3

Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!

Shalom!

-Eric Painter

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Here are all the scriptures shared during worship at Beth Israel Messianic Synagogue on May 4-5, either from the parshoyot (scripture readings) or connected to the songs' themes. Enjoy!

Psalm 35:18

I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you!

Psalm 36:5-7

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep… How precious is your steadfast love, O God!

Psalm 47:6-7

Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!

Micah 4:1-2

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it,

And many nations shall come, and say: “Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of God of Jacob…”

Amos 9:10

All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, 'Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.'

Psalm 7:8

… judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.

Ezekiel 22:14-15

Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I, Adonai, have spoken and I will do it. I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of you.

Psalm 7:11,17

God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.

Hebrews 12:28-29

Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

1 Chronicles 16:25

For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be held in awe above all gods.

Psalm 33:8

Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him!

Shalom!

-Eric Painter

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Study from Parshat "Tzav" (Command) - Leviticus 6:8 - 8:36

While reading this week's portion, I was taking copious notes on all the details of the sacrifices described in chapters six and seven of Leviticus. Towards the end of chapter seven, once again I came across the word "consecrations" (Lev 7:37). I've always wondered, "What exactly does consecration mean?" So, I finally decided to examine the Hebrew word. I discovered the Hebrew word to be "milloo", and reading its meaning opened a whole world of insight, encouragement and admonition.

The Hebrew word "milloo" is used 15 times in all of scripture. Eleven times it is used in the context of ceremonially setting Aaron and His sons in their priestly roles, and it is translated to English in these verses as "consecration." The other four times, it is used in its literal sense, meaning "a setting of gemstones" or "to be set as a gemstone." Three of these four literal uses describe setting the stones in the ephod and breastplate of Aaron, the high priest; the fourth describes the precious stones King David set aside for the building of the temple (and presumably the fashioning of the priestly garments) by Solomon.

It is so interesting the Lord would describe setting Aaron and his sons in their place as High Priest and priests using a word that literally means to be set as a gemstone. 

To me, this conveys the value God has in setting us in roles he has designed for us. To Him, setting us in the roles He designed for us--the roles He designed us for and called us to--is like setting gemstones in a perfect setting. This beautiful picture shows that God's design and purpose for us, and the roles we play in service to Him, are not merely purpose-driven functions, tasks to accomplish in an organizational strategy; to Him it is a creative work, a work of art that places valuable, precious, and unique gems in a setting that is a perfect fit and the perfect complement to that gemstone.

In these scriptures, "milloo" desribes the setting of precious stones that are worn by the priests as beautiful ornamentation, an expression and demonstration of glory and honor. Likewise, when we are set in the settings the Lord designed for us, He can work through us and the gifts, experiences and desires that uniquely make us who we are, in ways that bring glory and honor to Him and draw adoring and awe-filled eyes to Him; He wears our service to Him as ornaments of beauty and glory. 

How fitting it is that the priests wore the very gemstones "milloo" references in those 11 verses, a physical representation and reminder of the Lord's perspective and heart for our service to Him. It is also worth noting these stones "milloo" references were worn only by priests, those whose work is dedicated to Israel's relationship with God and continually restoring Israel to Him. With this in mind, it is amazing to read Exodus 19:5-6, "Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel." 

I'm sure we all want to find ourselves set in the perfect place by the Lord and to experience the blessings of the Lord working through us. How do we let God set us in these perfect roles? 

The Lord gives us the foundational step in Exodus 19:5, "...if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples..." To hear from the Lord in a personal way, we must be willing to listen to Him, to what He has already made clear to us by the scriptures, and be led by obedient hearts to take the kind of actions he treasures; and He will treasure us. It all begins with having repentant hearts which pursue His heart. As we pursue His heart, our eyes are directed towards Him, and He speaks to us as if face-to-face, in a personal and intimate way. 

Another important step is found in a hidden detail within the beautiful picture "milloo" is painting. Exodus 35:27, "The leaders brought the onyx stones and the stones to be set, for the ritual vest and the breasplate." 

As it was the leaders of Israel who brought the precious stones to Moshe to be set in the ephod and breastplate, it is also our leaders today who bring us before Adonai as an offering of precious stones to be set in his artistic work of congregational and community life and service. Adonai shared His creative plan for the tabernacle with Moshe, who then filled the hands of the people with their various assignments and roles. To the Lord, I think the creative work of the tabernacle included not only the tabernacle itself, but also the community it took to build it, sanctify it, and to serve the Lord and one another through it. 

It is a beautiful thing to behold when an entire community--in this case, a whole nation--works together in harmony--as we can imagine Jewish harmony--to accomplish a vision and purpose of the Lord. It required, however, that the people had willing hearts to give and to serve according to the commands and direction Moshe received from Adonai. We must have such hearts to become gemstones the Lord can set through the vision and wisdom He speaks to our leaders. 

As we are doing these two things through our lifetimes--pursuing God's heart, and receiving our leaders' direction and the work they put in our hands--the Holy Spirit builds important skills and experiences in us, using them together with our unique makeup of talents and desires to bring us into roles we are created for and called to. It's important to understand these roles may or may not be "positions"; by “roles” I simply mean ways that God uniquely uses us according to His plan and creative inspiration for setting us and fulfilling us with His purposes. In fact, "milloo" used in a plural sense expands the concept "to be set" to mean "a fulfilling." As God continually sets us in our many roles from one season to the next, He is bringing us through His artistic process of fulfilling our hearts, our purposes, and His redemptive plan for His people and all mankind. 

Let Adonai set you as a precious stone in His garments of glory, as you ask Him to fill your heart with His words and desires, and as you ask your leaders to fill your hands with what God has shown them to give you; and you will be His treasured possession. 

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Where to find "milloo"...

Exodus 25:7; 29:22, 26-27, 31, 34; 35:9; 35:27 (8 verses)

Leviticus 7:37; 8:22, 28-29, 31, 33 (6 verses)

1 Chronicles 29:2 (1 verse)

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Scriptural Observations

• The first night after Jacob leaves Beersheba for Haran, God appears at the top of the ladder from Earth to Heaven, on which angels ascend and descend. This night is when God first promises to Jacob the promises of Avraham and Yitzchak. He inherits the promises to Avraham. These are expanded and more personal.
  • The land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendnats.
  • They shall be as the dust of the earth.
  • You shall spread from west to east, to north and to the south.
  • In you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
  • I am with you and will keep you wherever you go.
  • I will bring you back to this land.
  • I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.
  • [How are these promises similar to and different from the promises made to Isaac and Avraham? How are they specific to Jacob's situation?]
• Jacob's response
  • Commemorated the place: anointed it and named it.
  • Made a vow (first vow to God in scripture): if God will be with me and keep me in the way way I am going and provide for me, and I come back to His fathers house in peace (with his brother), then...
  • The Lord shall be my God,
  • This stone shall be God's house,
  • I will give a tenth of all you give me.
• Despite all that God promised, Jacob's desire is to be at peace with his brother. It seems he inherited his father, Isaac's, propensity for peace. Also, he knows how his father pursued peace with the nations (Abimelech) and the price he continually paid for it; but now he feels he is the instigator of conflict (and warring nations) within his father's own house. Perhaps he perceives that God's promises will always be plagued with strife should the conflict with his brother endure.
• v16-Jacob was unaware that God was "in this place." Every spot on earth may be for man the gate of heaven; God's revelation is not restricted to sacred places or places he's already been. God can appear, reveal, and bless in any place and in any situation.
• Interesting how Jacob is now the nephew who departs, as Lot was the nephew of Avraham. But this time the nephew is the righteous one, and Laban is the devious one.
• As Jacob plans to depart from Laban and shares his intent with Leah and Rachel, they explain they will go with him because they have no reason to stay; they have no inheritance left from Laban because God has taken all his wealth from him and given it to Jacob, despite Laban's intent to exploit him. What is interesting is how this shows that these women who were joined to Jacob and God's covenant had their original inheritance vanish, to be replaced by the inheritance of Jacob. It is like this for we who join ourselves to Jacob today.

Directional Thoughts

• Even when part of God's plan and seeking to serve His will, sometimes the timing of the reward for our faithfulness can seem unfair or even hopeless.
• While we are waiting and working for the reward God has for us, we can experience "fringe" rewards now if we allow ourselves to trade urgency (or impatience) for trust in God's faithfulness and content in God's provision, even while exercising diligence. If we don't, we may miss part of the blessing God intends for us to experience.
• Sometimes even perfect faithfulness to and exceeding blessing on those we serve is not enough to receive the reward we have earned, because their heart is set to exploit rather than to bless; however, because it is God who we are truly serving, He is our reward, and the giver of our reward; and He will be faithful to reward us according to His grace and perfect and sovereign will.
• Jacob was unaware that God was "in this place." Every place on earth and every situation in life may be for man the gate of heaven. God's revelation is not restricted to sacred places or places he's already been; nor to holy moments or to patterns of life. God can appear, reveal, and bless in any place and in any situation. Knowing this gives us hope, strength, and confidence in times and places when it seems God could never be present.

Worship Responses

• When it seems our rewards are being withheld seek God's help to replace resent with content in what He has provided and confidence in what He has promised.
• Treat God as your reward, and treat His rewards as His expressions of love.
• Seek God's strength to pursue diligence and seek God's presence in every situation; even in times and places where it seems he would never appear.

Theme Words: reward, diligence, presence, service

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• Jacob leaves Beersheba for Haran, and God appears in a dream beside him and speaks to him the promises he made to Avraham; but these are expanded and more personal.
• Jacob commemorates the place by anointing it and naming it (Beit El / Bethel), then makes a vow to the Lord. If God will return him to his father's house in peace, the Lord will be his God, and he will give a tenth of all that is given him.

B'resheet 29 - Jacob Loves Rachel

• Jacob journeys to the land of the East (Arabic lands) and finds Rachel at the well when inquiring about Laban.
• Jacob determines to work for his place in Laban's home so he is not indebted to him. He also offers to work seven years to earn Rachel (the younger daughter) as his wife.
• v20 So Jacob served seen years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.
• Laban deceives Jacob and he marries Leah to him. After fulfilling her marriage week, he then gives Rachel to him, for whom he works another seven years.
• The Lord saw Leah was unloved so he opened her womb. She bore Rueben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.

B'resheet 30 - Jacob's Family Grows

• Bilhah, Rachel's maid bears on her behalf Dan and Naphtali.
• Leah gives Zilpah her maid to Jacob and she bore Gad and Asher.
• Reuben finds mandrakes in the field and gives them to Leah his mother. Rachel asks for them. She agrees to let Jacob lie with Leah for the mandrakes. Leah bears Issachar. She conceives again and bears Zebulun; and again and bears a daughter, Dinah.
• God remembers Rachel and and she conceived and bore Joseph, saying "God has taken away my reproach."
• When Rachel bore Joseph, Jacob tells Laban to send him away to go to his own place and his own country. He has earned his wives and children, and is ready to make provision for their future.
• He works another six years to earn and raise a flock, and though Laban tries to defraud Jacob again, Jacob is strategic in thwarting Laban's intents. He increased exceedingly.

B'resheet 31 - Departing From Laban

• Laban and his sons become envious of Jacob's success. The Lord tell sJacob to return to the land of his fathers, and He will be with him.
• He shares his dream in which the Lord spoke to him with Rachel and Leah; they do not protest leaving since they have no inheritance through their father Laban; God has taken it and given it to them through Jacob.
• Jacob and his house steals away while Laban is in the fields; Rachel steals his idols.
• On the third day, Laban learns of their departure and pursues. They catch up on the seventh day, but God has spoken him and warned him not to speak good or bad of Jacob. Laban was not to entice him by offers of kindness, nor force him to return by threats.
• Laban accuses him of stealing all that he has, including his gods. Jacob allows him to search everywhere for the idols, but Rachel cleverly sits on them to conceal them.
• Jacob rebukes Laban for pursuing him despite the 20 years he worked for all he has earned, and how he was blessed while Jacob was in his service; for unjustly changing his wages ten times.
• Jacob says were it not for God and the Fear of Isaac being with him, surely Laban would have sent him away empty-handed. But God has seen his affliction and the labor of his hands, and rebuked Laban the night before.
• Laban still sees everything of Jacob's as his own, but understands he can do nothing. He makes a covenant with Jacob that they will not cross the boundary to do harm to one another. Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.

B'resheet 32:1-2 - Meeting With Angels

• Laban departs, and Jacob continues on. The angels of God met him and he said this is God's camp. He called the place Mahanaim, "two camps".

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It's often difficult to conjure in the moment of need, yet so frequently it strikes when you least expect it--which often means it's at an inconvenient time or place. It is a fleeting and seeming uncontrollable thing, with an ebb and flow as changing as the ocean tides.

Creative impulse. It's truly a perplexing phenomenon.

We have all had the experience of true inspiration, which came from an unexpected source, experience, or stimulus that triggers a new perception or emotion. We can see the perfect expression in completion in our minds--but alas, where is my pen? --or, typing on my iPhone is such a pain! Or maybe you document your idea on the closest thing at hand--a napkin, or on your hand--but when you need it you can't find it or remember it to save your life. 

What strikes me about great artists and composers is they not only had the innate ability to have great ideas form in their minds, they were also somehow able to capture or retain their inspiration until they could develop it. Making the most of creative impulse and inspiration is largely dependent on our ability to be artists disciplined in the art of "idea capture."

Creative Motivation Requires Great Ideas

After completing the "Ruth" ballet this past May, I knew I was going to need to take creative time-off to give my brain a break and let my creative impulse recharge. I didn't know it was going to take months to start feeling the urge to create again, but it did. Here I am, the day after Thanksgiving, and only now have I had the right idea for the worship album--that so many people have been asking me for so long to make--that excites me, and is continually giving rise to more related ideas.

Reflecting on this, I have these thoughts and observations:

1) What excites and motivates me to create is not the demand for what I can create, it's not the creative process, nor is it the satisfaction of completion; it's the idea itself.

2) I know it's the right idea to invest in creatively when I see how it lines up with the things I value. For me, those values are uniqueness, impact, and the opportunity to use skills unique to me--and even to challenge and stretch them more.

3) Great art is great because once viewers or listeners are exposed to it, it can't escape their mind, and they can't escape the idea or emotion completely. Great ideas are the same for the artists; if it's truly great, you can't shake it. You don't have to capture great ideas, because they capture you.

Listen to Your Motivation

In the past six months, I've had many creative ideas for music. I knew, though, when I had them, that they were just ideas to put on a list of possible experiments, and as interesting as many of them were for me, they didn't even motivate me enough to write them down.

When I caught this idea for a worship album, my creative motivation went from zero to...something--enough to write it down and more as they came to me, and to test them by sharing them with those closest to me, and with those who can give objective feedback. I'm applying patience in parallel to my motivation to see how well the idea endures.

My cat is snoring. Good grief.

I think even more important than "idea capture" is to "idea filter." If we can develop our own unique way to filter good ideas from the great ideas at the moment of incidence, we can simplify and streamline our creative processes to make the most of the great ideas that capture our imagination and inspiration. Let motivation be your filter, and your creative process won't be a pressured one, but a peaceful and exciting one!

In a future post, I'll share practical approaches and principles for getting and making the most of great ideas.

Shalom.

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My music production company.

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