A
friend has posted that the name of the President's nominee for Supreme
Court Justice, Brett Kavanaugh, made her jump when she heard the
announcement. She said it was because it is the same pronunciation as a
Hebrew word that she knows: "I don't speak Hebrew!! just happened to
know that is the word which Jesus used to rebuke the Pharisees after
calling them white washed tombs." כוונה kavana = intent, intentions
Even though the name of (K)Cavanaugh is Gaelic Irish, there seems to me to be a message from God in this appointment. For one thing, from the legal experts I follow on social media, Brett Kavanaugh is above all else a person who believes in judicial fidelity to the INTENT of the Constitution.
The fight between the Republicans and Democrats on Supreme Court appointments boils down to judicial fidelity to the intent of the framers of the Constitution, or to (dis)regarding the framers' intent and treating the Constitution as a "Living Document" that can be re-written to change with the times.
This, of course is a concept borrowed from rabbinic tradition that the Torah is a living document, which the rabbis are allowed to re-interpret according to their times. Now here is where I will get extremely controversial, because even though God's Word and the US Constitution are documents that are completely different, I do believe that even in rabbinic interpretations of God's Word, where they failed to uphold the INTENT of the Framer, they got it all wrong. This is precisely why the word כוונה kavana = intent came out of Yeshua's mouth (MT 23:27-28)
27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every impurity. 28 In the same way, you appear to be righteous on the outside, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.…
So the message of INTENT is critical in this hour - politically and spiritually. Above all we must be holding to the INTENT of the FRAMER. The Framer of God's Word is God. His do's and don'ts in the Torah are not merely legalistic rules God is imposing upon man, because His INTENT is to protect mankind. As a Supreme Court Judge looks deed into the wording of the Constitution seeking the intent of framers of this nation, so we are to look deep into the Word of God, especially in the books of the Torah, to see the intent of the framework God gave us to live in.
Now in the Liberal Left today, they embrace the idea that the Constitution is just an old document that must be reinterpreted by modern minds to be just. They think the same thing about the Bible, God's Word. That is why so many Christian denominations have thrown off fidelity to the Framer's INTENT. They see it as outdated that God defines marriage as between a man and a woman, and condemns homosexuality, and other things. They think this is a "legalistic" and "judgmental" view in modern times.
If they reject God's INTENT in these matters, then it means little to them to carry that through to the Constitution of the United States as well. They feel free to change the INTENT of the Constitution because they have already stepped across the Rubicon of dismissing God's INTENT in the very same matters. They do not understand the INTENT is to protect, not merely to restrict.
So I said I was entering into something that would seem controversial to some and here it is: The concept of a "Living Torah" can be a bogus as viewing the Constitution as a living document to be reinterpreted in modern viewpoints at the expense of dismissing the framer's INTENT. I believe many of the rabbinic interpretations have abandoned God's INTENT and I believe that the Liberal Left have dismissed the INTENT of the Founding Fathers who framed our Constitution at the feet of the LORD in prayer.
Our fidelity is not to legalism, but to INTENT. The departure of fidelity to the INTENT of the Constitution began when Americans dismissed God's Word as an outdated body of mere restrictions on their lives. God's INTENT was never that.
This is not to say that all rabbinic interpretations are devoid of God's intent, but I am not going to live my life by rabbinic interpretations anymore than I am going to live my life by what the Liberal Left deems perfectly legal. I do not dismiss the INTENT of the Framer of God's Word or the framers of our Constitution. In my eyes, this is a battle of Light against the Darkness.
My friend who heard the Hebrew word kavana in the judge's name said that this intent also carried a meaning related to worship of God: that "you engage all of your senses as you worship God with kavenah". Worship is not just singing to God, it is also choosing to live with intention toward God - living with godly intention is also worship. If we are to engage all of our senses in this kind of living, it will color every part of lives - not just the times within our congregations, but also the times in our workplace, our family life, our politics.
To live within God's INTENT for man is not outdated and it will also be reflected in even our political choices. I believe this naming of Kavanaugh (kavana/INTENT) to the Supreme Court is calling us up higher, to examine our own intent both political and spiritual.
Let us not be content with a mere legalistic fidelity to *our own* intention toward God - it is HIS INTENT for us that matters. If we align ourselves with God's INTENT that will keep us from aligning ourselves with those who have first dismissed God's will for their lives who now pursue making US law to be at odds with God's will. This is precisely the pursuit of so much social justice in the USA - a declaration that their human justice is higher than God's and the founding fathers who framed the constitution within the bounds of God's will for mankind.
Let our fidelity to God's INTENT guide us through these treacherous times.
Even though the name of (K)Cavanaugh is Gaelic Irish, there seems to me to be a message from God in this appointment. For one thing, from the legal experts I follow on social media, Brett Kavanaugh is above all else a person who believes in judicial fidelity to the INTENT of the Constitution.
The fight between the Republicans and Democrats on Supreme Court appointments boils down to judicial fidelity to the intent of the framers of the Constitution, or to (dis)regarding the framers' intent and treating the Constitution as a "Living Document" that can be re-written to change with the times.
This, of course is a concept borrowed from rabbinic tradition that the Torah is a living document, which the rabbis are allowed to re-interpret according to their times. Now here is where I will get extremely controversial, because even though God's Word and the US Constitution are documents that are completely different, I do believe that even in rabbinic interpretations of God's Word, where they failed to uphold the INTENT of the Framer, they got it all wrong. This is precisely why the word כוונה kavana = intent came out of Yeshua's mouth (MT 23:27-28)
27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every impurity. 28 In the same way, you appear to be righteous on the outside, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.…
So the message of INTENT is critical in this hour - politically and spiritually. Above all we must be holding to the INTENT of the FRAMER. The Framer of God's Word is God. His do's and don'ts in the Torah are not merely legalistic rules God is imposing upon man, because His INTENT is to protect mankind. As a Supreme Court Judge looks deed into the wording of the Constitution seeking the intent of framers of this nation, so we are to look deep into the Word of God, especially in the books of the Torah, to see the intent of the framework God gave us to live in.
Now in the Liberal Left today, they embrace the idea that the Constitution is just an old document that must be reinterpreted by modern minds to be just. They think the same thing about the Bible, God's Word. That is why so many Christian denominations have thrown off fidelity to the Framer's INTENT. They see it as outdated that God defines marriage as between a man and a woman, and condemns homosexuality, and other things. They think this is a "legalistic" and "judgmental" view in modern times.
If they reject God's INTENT in these matters, then it means little to them to carry that through to the Constitution of the United States as well. They feel free to change the INTENT of the Constitution because they have already stepped across the Rubicon of dismissing God's INTENT in the very same matters. They do not understand the INTENT is to protect, not merely to restrict.
So I said I was entering into something that would seem controversial to some and here it is: The concept of a "Living Torah" can be a bogus as viewing the Constitution as a living document to be reinterpreted in modern viewpoints at the expense of dismissing the framer's INTENT. I believe many of the rabbinic interpretations have abandoned God's INTENT and I believe that the Liberal Left have dismissed the INTENT of the Founding Fathers who framed our Constitution at the feet of the LORD in prayer.
Our fidelity is not to legalism, but to INTENT. The departure of fidelity to the INTENT of the Constitution began when Americans dismissed God's Word as an outdated body of mere restrictions on their lives. God's INTENT was never that.
This is not to say that all rabbinic interpretations are devoid of God's intent, but I am not going to live my life by rabbinic interpretations anymore than I am going to live my life by what the Liberal Left deems perfectly legal. I do not dismiss the INTENT of the Framer of God's Word or the framers of our Constitution. In my eyes, this is a battle of Light against the Darkness.
My friend who heard the Hebrew word kavana in the judge's name said that this intent also carried a meaning related to worship of God: that "you engage all of your senses as you worship God with kavenah". Worship is not just singing to God, it is also choosing to live with intention toward God - living with godly intention is also worship. If we are to engage all of our senses in this kind of living, it will color every part of lives - not just the times within our congregations, but also the times in our workplace, our family life, our politics.
To live within God's INTENT for man is not outdated and it will also be reflected in even our political choices. I believe this naming of Kavanaugh (kavana/INTENT) to the Supreme Court is calling us up higher, to examine our own intent both political and spiritual.
Let us not be content with a mere legalistic fidelity to *our own* intention toward God - it is HIS INTENT for us that matters. If we align ourselves with God's INTENT that will keep us from aligning ourselves with those who have first dismissed God's will for their lives who now pursue making US law to be at odds with God's will. This is precisely the pursuit of so much social justice in the USA - a declaration that their human justice is higher than God's and the founding fathers who framed the constitution within the bounds of God's will for mankind.
Let our fidelity to God's INTENT guide us through these treacherous times.
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