This week the United States and other countries around the world have continued to urge Prime Minister Netanyahu to accept a peace deal to end the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The Prime Minister’s response has been a definitive “no” until he gets everything he wants out of the conflict. His corrupt heart has been hardened.
The corruption has led him from God’s call for His people to be peaceful down a Hell-bent worldly path.
- Revenge
- Pride
- Anger
While anger isn’t a sin, it can blind us to our sin, just like pride can. Although he clings to a God of justice, Netanyahu’s justice has been twisted into an ungodly evil revenge.
All of us are fallen and sinful humans (Isaiah 53: 6.) Only God is perfect in His ways and is just. That is why it is better for us to simply let go and let God get justice.
Let Go
Letting go is a healthy and necessary practice for God’s people since we live in a fallen world, a world that tempts us every day to choose between God’s way and our sinful nature.
Our sinful nature runs deep, deep into the pits of our corrupt hearts (Proverbs 21: 4, Jeremiah 17:9.) We want to believe we are in control and can solve our problems, instead of trusting God.
If we truly do trust God, then we must let go of this world and even our own selfish desires. The Bible constantly reminds God’s people they have to let go of this world, the past, and their selfish desires (Romans 1:32, 1 Corinthians 6:9, Ephesians 4:25, Colossians 3:7-8, 2 Timothy 4:3.)
As a former Jewish Pharisee, the Apostle Paul understood the importance of letting go of the old to make room for the new (Ephesians 4:22-25.)
Šālaḥ
Judaism teaches God’s people a lot about letting go; because God called His people out of the world to make them holy (Leviticus 11:44, Deuteronomy 34:1-12, Isaiah 40:25.) As God’s chosen people we must let go of this world and our selfish desires.
The Hebrew word in the Old Testament for letting go is šālaḥ and it can also mean, “Send away, let loose, or put away, “depending on the context it is used in. We cannot move on to new life until we let go of the old life.
During Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, the Jewish people perform the Tashlich to cast off and let go of the sins of the previous year. Below are the steps of the process Jewish people follow to let go of their old sins.
- Find a body of water to be cleansed in.
- Take a meditation walk to think about your previous actions.
- Read the passages of
- Collect your sins in your pockets.
- Walk through the water.
- Chant if you feel it is appropriate.
- Say a small prayer about your previous struggles and your hope for the new year.
- Cast your sins into the body of water
Jesus continued this basic Jewish teaching of letting go with His followers. He emphasized the need for His followers to be born again (John 3: 3.) The New Testament writers continued teaching the importance of having a new life through Jesus (John 3:16, Romans 6:4, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 2:20, 1 Peter 1:3.)
As God’s people we are called to let go of our lives and trust God completely so that we may have new life and forget the old. We trust God to fight for us and not take revenge into our own hands (Matthew 5 38-39, Romans 12:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:15, 1 Peter 3:9.)
The new man of God lets go and trusts Him, the old fallen man of this world seeks revenge.
Trump’s Revenge
Over the weekend and most of this week, criminal Trump has been making his rounds on the news and talk shows to continue making threats to his political opponents and the country for his guilty verdict.
He and his supporters are out for revenge because they don’t like being held accountable for their crimes. We shouldn’t be surprised because he and his cult following have been threatening violence for four years since criminal Trump lost the last presidential election.
What is surprising is that he is the GOP’s choice for president despite not being a Christian or conservative, only proving repeatedly he is a criminal.
His actions and words contradict those of Jesus who taught his disciples not to use violence to accomplish God’s will (Matthew 26:50-52, Luke 9:54-55.)
Even Jesus’ closest followers had a problem with letting go of their corrupt ways.
- Pride
- Anger
- Unforgiveness
Our human nature wants to be in control and to fix things ourselves. But we are fallen beings with corrupt perspectives. God’s ways are perfect and He wants to give His people rest, we think we can achieve rest by doing things ourselves and we fool ourselves.
The late Billy Graham said, “Forgiveness is a deliberate act of letting go.” We all have things in our lives we need to let go of.
Recently I’ve had numerous disagreements with a friend who is a Maga extremist and I had to humble myself to let it go. One day I was so upset, that I accidentally hit my head on my fireplace mantel and needed to get stitches.
While sitting in the doctor’s office, in the pit of my stomach I knew I just needed to šālaḥ!
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