The Biblical Path Toward Your Best Self - Jeremy Gimpel: The Land of Israel Fellowship

the story of the tabernacle is in fact the guide of how we can bring god into our lives how we can express the godly potential we have in our life with this pitfall of the golden calf right in the middle it's like the overwhelming judge the excruciating 60 miles we have in front of us that story is placed right in the middle of the tabernacle for us somehow the tabernacle is the cure for the failure of the golden calf and the goal of biblical living is to transform our lives from where we are now slowly but surely into becoming the best versions of ourselves and the tabernacle is the map so what does the tabernacle represent and so you know it's not maybe it's human nature maybe it's western civilization maybe it's hollywood but people want to believe that transformation happens in once-in-a-lifetime events it's like bruce wayne's parents are murdered as a child and because of that he becomes batman the fearless brave warrior that once in a lifetime event is what inspired him and changed him forever and that's not what the torah teaches at all it's like one moment of inspiration one decision one revelation israel experienced the greatest revelation recorded in human history and what that led to was an absolute failure of the golden calf and so in comes the tabernacle the lesson and map for true personal transformation you would think the moment of inspiration of sinai would have been the ultimate transformation no no that way that's not going to lead you toward anywhere else other than probably failure and despair the one thing that stands out more than any other thing in the chapters about the tabernacle is the incredible detail it's like oh my god there are so many details it's like details and rituals details and rituals it's as if the message here if the tabernacle represents our inner world that success and i'm defining success now is being the best version of ourselves that's the true blessing success then is the product of small daily habits and rituals small daily habits and rituals not once in a lifetime moments of transformation success in biblical living isn't determined by what you do in your job what you have but it's in who you become and the torah's map guiding us to become the best version of ourselves it's telling us it's small unimportant seemingly details rituals let's call rituals habits that's it routines rituals habits small details when i realized that that's what the tabernacle is representing in our inner world it's so routine it's so detailed it's so small that's incredible the tabernacle was built with the smallest details and operated with ritual after ritual that's the map it's the small details in daily rituals which we would call habits nowadays that's the inside of how we go from where we are now all the way up to who we possibly could be we're not trying to get all the way there now it's like small small steps of internal work that's incredible so i was like all right if that's true then i want to understand a little bit more about the science of habits and so i started studying the modern science of habits for the last two weeks one researcher named james clear he defined habits like this he said like this this is a direct quote habits are the compound interest of self-improvement i'm like wow that's just beautiful it's like one small thing after another after another after another here's what he says small tiny changes in habits create massive results he ran the numbers and he said that one percent better if you take your life or you take an aspect of your life and you say you know what i'm just gonna be one percent better today that's like really small but you do that every day every day just one percent better by the end of the year you're 37 times better than where you were at at the very beginning of the year that's incredible it's not giant transformation that makes changes it's small tiny changes habits and rituals that transform us small details and rituals are the cornerstone of self-improvement i find it amazing that self-improvement it's like you know it's an entire genre of books in the world today but in the pagan mind you knew i had to honor the gods and there were some it just you know appease the gods the torah brought the idea as self-improvement as a way of life as the ultimate purpose of expressing the godly potential within us it's like we created the genre of self-improvement in the world and the tabernacle was built with a plan an architectural plan it's like a vision of the complete building and so first you need to think about like what area of my life do i want to improve if this is the guidance that i'm being given excellent so now you just gotta choose all right well let's take a section of the tabernacle of my life and choice is gonna lead to an action and then our actions make habits and our habits they create our character and our character is who we become that's what we're aiming towards now who we become is our ultimate destiny the foundation of life the center of the map the center of the camp is the tabernacle of habit and so all of us have habits and i didn't even like realize this like i have a cup of coffee every day so that's a habit it's like some of us have habits and we don't even know that those are our habits but if we're doing them that's what's happening and we've just been doing it that way for so long we don't even recognize that that's not like a purposeful habit that's just what's happening but those habits are forming our future they're creating our lives i mean just reading the scientific literature if you tell me your habits you can pretty much predict your future do you smoke cigarettes do you drink too much alcohol that'll give me a pretty good picture of your future health do you invest so much time at work that you forget to invest in your marriage and your children that habit will give me a pretty good picture of your future happiness and so every day and every moment their choices and that choice is either gonna bring us closer or farther away from our best self and is that choice gonna bring you happiness that's a good question if it's bringing you closer to your better self the answer is yes is that choice drawing you away from your best self that's gonna bring you misery and it's like the lifestyle of the secular today this hedonistic lifestyle it's like come on it's like it's been exposed as an absolute failure people that are just looking for the immediate pleasure in life people in the western world are surrounded it's just constantly surrounded by a culture that says well if it feels good you should do it work to amass as many things as you can that's produced a generation of miserable sad depressed and anxious people and the eternal covenant of israel the wisdom of the torah is as true today as it was thousands of years ago and that's what eternal means it's a truth that transcends time and so look at the covenant in the book of deuteronomy chapter 30 verse 19 and 20. i've called heaven and earth today to bear witness against you i have placed life and death before you blessing and curse and you shall choose life so that you will live you and your offspring to love hashem your god to listen to his voice and to cleave to him for he is your life it's like we have a choice and where should that power of choice be directed choose to be the best version of yourself that's not a once in a lifetime opportunity that's a choice we make throughout the day who should you marry marry someone who wants to be the best version of yourself that's what they want for you marry someone who you'll help bring the best version of them encourage them inspire them someone that will challenge you to be your best self marry someone with the commitment that your commitment is to inspire each other encourage each other help each other become the best version of themselves you know the hebrew language is so beautiful if you look at the word ish and isha man and woman so you can see there's the letters are almost identical except for two you didn't hey you doesn't each hay is an isha that makes god's name and if you take the you didn't hey out it's like we go all the way back to the purpose of our creation it's to express ourselves as the image of god when men and women come together they must have a higher aspiration that they're working toward together if they have god's name within their relationship they'll be blessed if not they'll be left with fire that will devour them that's like an ancient teaching of the sages of israel and here's the difference between the torah and the other books the torah is a verb it's a living god it's a guide to be implemented into our lives it's embodied knowledge the torah is constantly trying to give us embodied knowledge that's what the tabernacle is what is embodied knowledge is anyone that plays the guitar knows what embodied knowledge is it's like you're playing g d and c you're not even thinking about the chords that's just what's happening so you can be thinking about praying you can be thinking about the words and the the embodied knowledge is just there the actions of the tabernacle over and over again it's embodying a knowledge into our very being it's to take the torah and implement it into our lives the heroes of the bible they weren't monks they were warriors a warrior in the bible is someone who takes the principles and goes out into the world and the bible is like his sword and his shield biblical faith is manifest in action it's like thinking about these ideas and categorizing them in a library in a monastery that's not the way of the bible these ideas were meant to be embodied and then lived out practiced as we go out into the battlefield of life and what is the guidance small incremental progress small details small habits that's the way to choose day to day grow closer and closer to the best version of yourselves that's how to bring god into your lives it's like what you'll discover when you take that first step toward that destiny you'll be met with i don't know what else to call it other than divine love you'll find the greatest coach is hashem speaking to you in the silence of your heart you take one step and all of a sudden you find strength and inspiration to take the next one it's like where did that come from i just you know i thought maybe i would take just a few moments today after my cup of coffee and just be in silence and all of a sudden now i'm inspired to go and do another good act it's somehow like one action you're meant with the blessing and inspiration to another one it's like you remember the ultra marathon runner so in mile 40 all he was thinking about is the very next rest stop and the next water station the other guy was just looking at the next telephone pole he's like he's not thinking about the miles ahead that'll just crush him just the very next small step in front of him the next water stop the next telephone pole and after the next telephone pole i'll go to the next telephone pole one pull after another it's like but amazing after one pole you find the strength to go to the next pole it's like what i thought i could never achieve in 60 miles one step somehow you're graced with the ability to take the next one it's like an amazing spiritual gift as you grow closer to your best self somehow more light enters into your life to help you grow even closer that's the promise of the bible that's the promise if you do good you will be blessed shalom my name is jeremy gempel a few months ago we started an online seminar teaching life-changing biblical wisdom revealed from the original hebrew and straight from the mountains of judea with global instability on the rise more and more people are turning to god realizing now they don't exactly know where to look for guidance the bible says the guidance will come from the land of israel what started as an online seminar has grown into a global fellowship with hundreds of members from over 30 countries we are participating in fulfilling prophecy as we learn the bible through the eyes of prophecy with a focus on what it's telling about us in our lives today what you will discover is that the wisdom transmitted thousands of years ago is speaking directly to us in our time right now instead of learning the bible as a religion it's the torah of israel the living guidance of god so please join us for our next online gathering and get access to the full library of teachings that the land of israel fellowship is offering join now and get an audio series on the prophecy encoded in the book of joshua absolutely for free just click on the link below or email fellowship at the land of israel.com i don't know how you found this video or what compelled you to click on that link but i don't believe in coincidence and i would encourage you to take the next step on your journey toward the land of israel i hope to see you at the land of israel fellowship shalom