Grow Up

The Finding Emet radio program is focused on understanding and living the truth of the Bible from a Hebrew perspective. It features the teaching ministry of Brother Daniel Rendleman of Emet Ministries. The program provides audio lessons and teaching articles on their website, where visitors can also access a free online Bible search program and submit prayer requests. CD copies of teachings are available upon request. The host shares personal experiences of going through different stages as a child, transitioning from toy stages to more mature interests. He also discusses the concept of bar mitzvah in Judaism, where children are recognized as adults and expected to be well-versed in the commandments of the scriptures. The bar mitzvah ceremony is an important milestone and signifies becoming a son or daughter of the commandment. Hello and welcome to the Finding Emet radio program. Emet is the Hebrew word for truth. This program will help you understand and live the truth of the Bible from a Hebrew perspective. The Finding Emet radio program features the teaching ministry of Brother Daniel Rendleman of Emet Ministries. Prepare your heart to receive the Emet, the truth of the scriptures. More audio lessons and teaching articles are available at the www.emetministries.com website. Please visit our site to find all things spiritual, including a free online Bible search program, or submit your prayer request. That's www.emetministries.com or www.findemet.com. CD copies of this teaching are available for free by submitting a request at the website. Let's welcome our teacher Daniel Rendleman as he helps us find the Emet. I remember as a child that I went through these stages. You know children go through stages. Well my stages as a child were stages of toys, not just developmental stages like you know I cut my teeth and then learned to you know crawl and then walk. I went through toy stages. I grew up and my family loved antiques and they started out with Roy Rogers. My room from top to bottom was Roy Rogers. Everything. I had the guitars. I had the cowboy hats. It was cowboys and Indians really and Roy Rogers everywhere. A lot of fun, a lot of fun. We had to cap guns and everything but then I kind of got out of Roy Rogers and as I began to grow a little bit more I liked G.I. Joe because there's a real American hero. I mean I wanted to be like G.I. Joe. So we rearranged the room. My mother painted the room and it was now it went from being like a muddy red to being a dark green like G.I. Joe army green and I would watch on TV and I would see the television program of G.I. Joe and I'd play with the, remember the big tall ones from old you know back in the 70s? Yeah, yeah I used to get those at yard sales and I'd play with those and I'd get the little small ones. It'd be like David and Goliath kind of playing together. It was a lot of fun and yet I kind of got tired of that and then I moved into, brace yourself, Masters of the Universe which come to find out, not good for you, okay? But I moved into that and I didn't paint my room like you know Skeletor's Castle, thank goodness, but you know I kept the green but I really got into those toys and then it moved on and just kept kind of going. When I was growing up though I kind of had a weird thought. I don't know if you've ever seen the horror movie with Chucky, what's that called? A child's play or something like that. I've never seen it but the premise of that movie is a doll comes to life and starts killing people. I didn't have this weird thought when I was growing up that my toys had feelings, okay? I'm just being honest here. My toys had feelings, you know? You know what I'm talking about? Okay, you need help, okay? You need help. I did. Okay, I did. I felt like my toys had feelings and if I played with G.I. Joe a little more than I did with the other guys or He-Man more with She-Ra or whatever it was that I was playing with at that time. I had this musical doll called Bucky. You would press on its legs and arms and belly and I still have it by the way, okay? Sleep with it every night. Sleep with it every night. So that's a joke. Don't sleep with it. The boys have it. My boys have it. But I would feel bad if I played with some more than the other. Like they, I'd be letting them down. I'd be letting them down. I don't know if it was a guilt trip for my mother that always just kind of, I started thinking the kids had guilt, you know? The toys had guilt trips on me, you know? It was like bondage or so. Anyway, when I turned 11, 12, 13, somewhere around that, I got my own room because I've been rooming with my brother, my sister, other siblings. I got my own room upstairs and boy, it was like a whole other world. No toys in there for me. I was a preteen, almost a teen. I just called myself a teen. You know, you talk to a ten-year-old, but how old are you? I'm almost 13, you know? You got three years to go, but I'm almost 13, you know? You don't know what I'm talking about, do you? Okay, all right, almost 13. That's right, you know? And so, when I got this room, I was kind of an odd child, believe it or not. I like art deco and I kind of decorated it with art deco and I had like this, I collected Coca-Cola memorabilia and I even had a record player in my room and I would play songs or whatever and I was, you know, old school, I guess. But I really liked, I liked to collect Coca-Cola memorabilia, bottles, things like that and there would be no toys in my new room. I got really nice furniture, no bunk bed anymore. I had, you know, I have really gone up now and I've got a nice bedroom suit and nice fancy room. Something happened there. I left the toys in the toy box. You can go to my mother's house today, the toy box is in the closet with the same toys. For many, many years ago. My new room, though, was, it was cool, it was hip, it was nice. Had posters of Elvis. I was a cool teenager. I had Elvis and Coca-Cola memorabilia. Something was wrong then, but I didn't want to associate with childish things anymore. You know, I didn't want Bucky anymore. I didn't want, you know, my G.I. Joes. I had kind of grown up. Now, it's interesting because at this age, there are changes that do take place. Developmental changes, not just toy changes, but developmental changes in children. When they turn 12, 13 or so, it takes place inside all children where they want to be an adult. No longer are they just playing with, happy playing with the keys. Now, what do they want to do? Oh, they want to drive, you know, and this one that you wouldn't even let go out of the house by themselves. Now, they want to get behind this thousand-dollar vehicle or, you know, this car and get on the highways and byways and they're not going out to proclaim the gospel. They're going out to drive and who knows doing what, right? And here they are, you know, changing and this change does take place. Now, the rabbis teach us that 12, 13 is actually an age of accountability for a lot of children and that at this age, at this time, that a child should be well-versed in the commandments of the scriptures in the Bible, should be well-versed and be recognized as an adult by other adults. Not that this 12 or 13 year old is going to go out and have children or be responsible for raising their own family. They say that's age 18 for getting married and 20 for raising their own family. They actually have said this in the Talmud. It's just good commentary, you know. But at this time, if something that happens in the synagogue today called a bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah. Bar mitzvah meaning son, bar, mitzvah meaning commandment. So, there's a ceremony that takes place called the bar mitzvah ceremony. For the female, it is the bat mitzvah ceremony. We've heard the song Rony Rony Bat Zion. That means, you know, rejoice, rejoice, daughter of Zion. Interesting, we'll talk about later, there's another meaning to the word bar. But in reality, this bar mitzvah ceremony or this bat mitzvah ceremony means that you are a son or a daughter of the commandment. And in reality, whether you have the ceremony or not, the rabbis teach us that the bar mitzvah is something that you become. It's not something that you experience or do. And that's different for us because we know of, I mean, even if you watch The Simpsons, you know, The Simpsons say that every Jew has to go through bar mitzvah. I mean, that's pretty common. We know bar mitzvahs, and if you watch TV or you see this on, you know, Hollywood talks about it, oh, they got a bar mitzvah, and it's very popular in the synagogues today that at the bar mitzvah, the child is learned of Torah, can read some Hebrew, and they have the pleasure and they have this great ability now to come up during the Torah portion of the synagogue service. They usually read from the half Torah, and they're able to stand up to make aliyah, to read from the Torah scroll a portion of the scripture in Hebrew. Now, this is a very prestigious time for them, and it's usually followed after that time or during that week by a big party where they get money and gifts and money, and it's lavish. I mean, you know, they bring in, like, some really big singers, like Vanilla Ice comes in, and, I mean, it's a big thing, you know, for bar mitzvahs, especially if somebody's rich. I mean, it's a huge part of their life. And at this point in traditional Judaism, that's when that child is considered to be accountable for their sins and their actions. In reality, we all know that children are accountable much earlier than that, yes? I mean, even at six months, the child knows the difference between yes or no. At that point, they make a decision, many times, to do whatever the opposite that you say, right? However, at 12 or 13, that child is viewed in the Jewish society differently. This is a son of the commandment now. This person should be able to follow the mitzvot and not have to be schooled on everything. They shouldn't have to be spoon-fed the Torah. They shouldn't have to be spoon-fed how to read Hebrew. They should be able to do so without much problem. In reality, though, it's something that automatically happens to people as we age. And the bar mitzvah is not the end of Jewish education because it's kind of viewed as that by secular Jews today, that once you get the bar mitzvah, pull you out of Hebrew school or what they call Sunday school. It's a different version of Sunday school. You know, for most of us, Sunday school was an hour before the sermon. You went in and had doughnuts and orange juice and made paper airplanes and threw them at people, right? Remember that, okay? That was part of our Sunday school. That was what it was. But in Judaism, even today, Sunday school is children go, they learn the precepts of Torah. They learn to read and write Hebrew in preparation for the bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah. And sadly, it's kind of seen as the end of Jewish education, which it shouldn't be. It shouldn't be because it's not. It's actually part of it. And it's not something, you know, the service commemorates it. But if you've never had a service, if you've reached that age, technically, you've been bar mitzvahed. You've been bat mitzvahed. And you didn't even get the cash. Isn't that bad? You know, come on. I want the cash. I want the presents. So turn with me real quick to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2, because in Luke chapter 2 is one of the choice scripture passages where you can take your friends and you can show them the Jewish roots or the Hebrew roots of our Messiah, our Savior. Anyone that questions, anyone that said, well, I don't know about all this stuff. It looks too Jewish or it looks too this or too Hebrew. You take them to Luke chapter 2. How many know Yeshua is our example? Amen. Praise Yahweh. He's our example. And if He did it, He put a seal of approval on it for us. Yeshua had many times that He could have said, worship on Sunday, not Saturday. But I don't read anywhere where He did that. Yeshua had many times where He could have said, you know, you know, go grab me a bag of pork skins from that end mark down the road. While you're getting gas, give me some pork skins. He didn't do that. He had plenty of time where He could have said, put up a Christmas tree when December comes around, you know, and celebrate my birth then. But He didn't do that. Let's look and see what He did do. All right. Now that I've offended everybody already, look at Luke chapter 2, starting in verse 41. Let's start in verse 40. Verse 40, reading from the Restoration Scriptures version, it's got a lot of Hebrews, so bear with us. It says, And the child grew and became strong in the ruach, in the spirit, filled with chokmah, wisdom. And the rakamim, or the mercies of Yahweh, was upon him. Now, his parents went to Jerusalem, Yerushalayim, every year at the Moed of Pesach, or at the Feast of Passover, which, by the way, is a commandment to do. Verse 42, And when he was twelve years old, how old? Twelve years old, they went up to Yerushalayim for the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days of chagmatzot, or the Feast of Unleavened Bread, as they returned, the child Yahshua stayed behind in Jerusalem. And Yosef and his mother did not know it. But thinking he was in the company, they went a day's journey. They sought him among the relatives and acquaintances. And when they found him not, they returned back to Yerushalayim, back to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass that after three days, three days, they found him in the Beit HaMikdash, in the tabernacle, in the temple, and he was there playing the PlayStation 3 latest version of Halo. No! It says he was sitting in the midst of the Torah teachers, both hearing them and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and his answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed. And his mother said to him, Son, why have you dealt with us like this? See, your father and I sought you anxiously. It's been three days. Can you imagine being separated from your twelve-year-old for three days, not knowing where they were? And look here at verse 49. Here, in Luke chapter 2, is very much considered to be a time, or could be the time, of Yeshua's bar mitzvah. It says he was twelve. He was twelve or thirteen, which being the age of long time considered of the bar bat mitzvah. Nowadays, girls are at twelve, boys are at thirteen, but for a long time it was either or, twelve or thirteen. And they go to Jerusalem to keep the feast. So, what are they doing? They're keeping Torah, because it tells us in Leviticus 23 that you are to come before Yahweh during the feast of Passover. And they were keeping the feast. And, you know, I've got four children. I understand. I could be twenty miles down the road and forget one. I understand how that could happen, right? I'm not going to confess. I've not quite done that bad. But that's what happened here, is that they got down the road thinking he was with maybe the neighbors, maybe with their cousin or so. And in reality, he was there, and he was sitting at their feet. That is a Hebraic idiom. To sit at the feet of a Torah teacher is a great thing to be able to do. Because you're sitting at their feet. Remember it says that they sat at Yeshua's feet and he taught them? He sat down and he taught them? It says he stood when he read, but he sat when he taught. And what do most preachers do? Jump up and down, back flips, side flips, front flips, jumping jacks? Now, I'm not against standing up. My point is, Yeshua sat when he taught them. Why is that? Because we're at the same level. We're at the same level, and we're learning, we're teaching, we're understanding. And Yeshua sat, and he taught them, and here it says he sat at their feet. He was soaking up what they had to say. And it says they were amazed at what they heard, what his questions and what his answers were. You see it says he was questioning them? That's another Hebraic part of our lifestyle we've got to learn. You know, many times when they came to Yeshua and they would ask him a question, what would he do? He would ask them a question back. His answer would be a question. That's a great way to learn. That's a great way politicians have put the cloaks over our faces too. You know, we'll ask them a question during a debate, they'll say something else. But it brings greater understanding. And here, this gives us a picture of what happened. And in Exodus chapter 15, verse 2, it talks about exalting Yahweh and extolling him. This is what Yeshua was doing. He was exalting him. He was getting ready for his Bar Mitzvah. Whether he had the ceremony or not, whether he had the pre-printed invitations that he sent out two weeks in advance or not, he had his Bar Mitzvah because it's something that naturally occurs when you reach that age or so. And what's interesting with the Bar Mitzvah is part of the ceremony there talks about when the person is Bar Mitzvahed, they are decreeing or proclaiming that they are going to have their halakha with Yahweh. Halakha meaning they're going to walk with Yahweh. They're going to have their walk with him. You see, when Adam and Eve lost the relationship with Yahweh when they sinned, what happened? They couldn't walk with Yahweh anymore because of their sin. It separated them. So, when Jews have their Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah, they're saying, Yahweh, I'm going to walk with you. I want to get back to the way it was with the dhamma and kava. In Yeshua's time, children had three teachers. Three teachers. I'm not talking about primary or, you know, a primary teacher and an elementary teacher and a high school teacher. They had number one teacher was their mother, their ima. Their mother taught them life. Mother taught them life in that the mother would teach them how to walk, how to talk, how to eat, how to behave. That was the mother's primary responsibility. The second teacher the child would have would be the father, the abba. So, you have the ima, the mother, and the abba, the father. And the father would teach, same thing, life. Specifically, though, life lessons. Life lessons. Not how to walk and talk, but how to act while they're out in the market. A skill to learn so that when the child grows, they have something that they can do to earn a living. An education and obedience. And the third teacher, so the first was the ima, the second teacher was the abba, and the third teacher was the Torah. The Torah. What we could even say is the rabbis or the leaders of the congregations. It was the Torah was actually their teacher, teaching them the precepts of Abba Yahweh. So, the first teacher being the mother, the father, and then the precepts of Yahweh. Now, how many know that during all of this, they still learn the precepts of Torah? Because they learn to walk it and talk it and live it. However, once that father had taught the child these issues and these items, he left that child to begin to learn and study Torah by themselves. You know, there needs to come a time where we see our children getting into the word themselves and begin studying and reading the word themselves. A bar mitzvah and a bat mitzvah, the word bar is an interesting Hebrew word because there's another word for son in Hebrew, ben. Right? People are, Yeshua was, his name was not Jesus of Nazareth, by the way. It was not Jesus Christ. It was not even Yeshua Hamashiach. His name was Yeshua ben Yosef. That's how his friends knew him. Yeshua, son of Joseph. In reality, it would be what? Yeshua ben Yahweh, you know. However, he was known as ben Yosef, just as I would be Daniel ben Shmuel, son of Samuel or Lester. Whatever name you'd like to use of my father, you know. Daniel ben Lester. That just doesn't sound very Hebrew. Anyway, I'll take the Shmuel part. So, you know, you would be, you know, Hadassah bat Donaldo or Don or so, whatever that would be. All right. April or Esther, the daughter of Don. Bar mitzvah, because we're not saying ben mitzvah, are we? Have you ever heard ben?