Shabbat Shalom

Candace Long: Good morning, and welcome to Shabbat Shalom. I'm Candace Long, your host and producer. Before Pastor Matt comes to teach today's Torah portion, let me make a few comments. I am delighted to report that our streaming audience on oneplace.com has grown by 522% since the beginning of the year, with listeners writing to say how much they look forward to our intimate times together each Sabbath.

Just this morning, a listener wrote, "I cherish the work done on Shabbat Shalom that has so nourished my soul." If you are new to studying the Torah, welcome. I encourage you to download our Torah schedule, which is found at the top of our main page at shabbatshalomradio.com. Today's episode marks the 45th week of our year-long Torah study.

I want to remind you and put everybody on the same page. I began Shabbat Shalom on August 9th, 2025, which was the second Torah portion in Deuteronomy. I didn't begin at Genesis 1, which was October 18th, for a very specific reason. According to my 35-year research into the biblical prophecies of the end of days before the day of the Lord, I did not believe we would be able to complete a year's worth of Torah study before Jesus comes at the first resurrection.

Now, please take note of what I'm about to say next because it was revelatory for me when I learned it. According to the Torah and the teachings of our sages, when a Gentile woman marries a Torah-observant Jew, she must undergo a year's worth of Torah study to learn the basics and experience all of the appointed feasts and festivals throughout the year. Only then is she qualified to be a Gentile bride and welcomed as part of the Commonwealth of Israel.

To say, "I stand with Israel" is not sufficient. If one is truly considered part of God's house and worthy to be married to a Jewish bridegroom, God looks for His Gentile bride who meets with Him each Sabbath to be instructed in the Torah, who shows up at the festivals to learn about His kingdom and the coming Messiah. Oh, and by the way, He records who shows up.

So, what I was led to do was to provide one year of Torah study for Gentiles to prepare us as His bride entering a Jewish kingdom. Now, after today, there will be five more programs to produce in our year-long study. What this means for you is that once we reach the end of this schedule, the programming will roll back to page one. So, every week you can continue to receive Torah instruction.

This rollback will be reflected with no interruption on oneplace.com. Just be sure and put "Shabbat Shalom" in the search bar. I'm currently working on a new website platform where Shabbat Shalom will be archived permanently and accessible even if the resurrection does come on September 12th this year at Rosh Hashanah or should the Lord take me early. I will keep you updated week by week.

Now, because of my findings, I have to live out what my present understanding is as a chronicler. If my timing is off, then I will be hunkered down, studying to see what I may not have seen before. Regardless, my commitment to you is to provide a year's worth of Torah study because we all need to be rebuilding our spiritual foundation as God intended. Let's recite the Shema together.

Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad. Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one. Baruch shem kovod malchuto l'olam va'ed. Blessed is the name of His glorious kingdom for all eternity. And the last section: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words which I set up for you this day shall be upon your heart, and you shall teach them diligently to your children. You shall speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the way, when you lie down, and when you rise. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your arm and as frontlets between your eyes, and you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and in your gates.

Pastor Matt McKeown: Good morning, my friends, and welcome back to Shabbat Shalom, where we explore the Jewish roots of our faith and discover how the Torah still speaks into our lives today. This week, we come to one of the most dramatic and sobering portions in the entire Torah: Parashat Korach. This is not a quiet passage. This is not a subtle moment. This is a confrontation, a rebellion, a challenge to leadership, and ultimately, a revelation of the heart.

The portion begins with these words: "Korah took." Now, in Hebrew, that phrase is interesting because it doesn't tell us exactly what he took. Now, the sages and rabbis of Israel, they point out that he took himself. In other words, he separated himself. He pulled away. And that's often where rebellion begins—not with an action, but with a shift in the heart. Korah is not just anyone. He's a Levite, which means he already has a position, a calling, a role connected to the Tabernacle.

But somehow, that's not enough. And this, unfortunately, is where the issue begins. Korah gathers with him a group, 250 leaders, influential men, recognized leaders in the community. And they come to Moses and Aaron and say, "You have gone too far. All the congregation is holy. Why do you exalt yourselves?" Now, on the surface, that sounds spiritual. "All the congregation is holy." Well, that's true. God did set apart Israel. He did call them to be holy.

But here's the problem. They're using a true statement to justify a wrong motive because underneath this argument is something deeper: comparison, jealousy, ambition. Korah is essentially saying, "Why you? Why not me?" And this is something that we need to understand because rebellion, it's rarely about theology. It's about identity. Korah is not struggling with what God said. He's struggling with what God assigned.

And that's where things can get dangerous. Because when you're not secure in your calling, you begin to compare it to someone else's. And comparison always leads to one of two things: pride or insecurity. And in Korah's case, it led to rebellion. I was told one time by someone I really look up to that comparison is the thief of joy.

Now, here's something important. Korah is not rejecting God. He's challenging how God is working through the leadership. And that is subtle. Because sometimes it can sound like, "I'm not against God, I just don't agree with how things are being done." But in reality, he's rejecting God's order. Now, let's look at Moses' response. The text says, "When Moses heard it, he fell on his face." That is powerful.

He doesn't argue. He doesn't defend himself. He doesn't try to prove his authority. He falls on his face. Why? Because Moses understands something that Korah doesn't. This is not his battle. This is God's. And that's a key lesson for us. When God places you somewhere, you don't have to fight to defend it. God will defend what He established.

Now, Moses proposes a test. He tells Korah and his followers to take censors, the incense burners, and present them before the Lord, and God will show who He has chosen. This is significant because incense in the Tabernacle represents prayer, worship, approach to God. In other words, they are stepping into a role that was not assigned to them. Moses is essentially saying, "Let God decide."

Now, let's bring this into our lives because this is incredibly relevant to us. We live in a culture that constantly compares. We compare callings, platforms, influence, visibility. And it's easy to start thinking, "Why them? Why not me? I could do that." And if we're not careful, that thought can grow. It can move from curiosity to dissatisfaction and then to resentment, eventually to rebellion.

Now, here's the truth. God assigns roles, not randomly, but intentionally. And all roles are not the same. Korah had a role, but he was not satisfied with it. This does not mean when God assigns one role to one person and one to another that one is more valuable than another. It simply means different assignment, different responsibility. Now, here's the key. Calling is not something you take. It's something you receive. Korah, as we saw in the first verse here, took. He tried to take what was not given.

And that, brother and sister, is where things begin to unravel. Now, as we move on to the next section, we're going to see how this confrontation escalates. This is not just a disagreement. This becomes a moment where God responds directly. And we're going to see what happens when rebellion is allowed to fully express itself. As we continue in Parashat Korach, the tension that began as a challenge now escalates to a direct confrontation, not just between Korah and Moses, but between the rebellion and God Himself.

Korah and his followers have made their accusation. They have challenged Moses. They've questioned Aaron. They've attempted to redefine what leadership should look like. And now, the moment of testing arrives. Moses instructs Korah and the 250 leaders to take their censors, their incense burners, to place fire in them, and present them before the Lord. Aaron will do the same. And God will reveal who He has chosen.

Now, this isn't just symbolic. This is dangerous. This is life and death because offering incense was not a casual act. It's sacred, restricted, assigned specifically to the priesthood. And we've already seen what happens when someone approaches God in a way that is not authorized. Nadab and Abihu, Aaron's sons, offered strange fire before the Lord, and it cost them their lives. So, this moment carries weight. Korah and his followers are not just making a statement. They're stepping into a role that was never given to them.

And here's the deeper issue. They're confusing access with authority. Yes, all Israel was called to be holy. Yes, all Israel had a relationship with God, but not everyone had the same assignment. And this is where things get blurred because it's possible to have access to God and still not be assigned to a specific role. Korah believed that because everyone is holy, everyone should function the same way. But God doesn't operate like that. He creates distinction within unity. Remember, unity, not uniformity. Different roles, different responsibilities, and different callings.

And when those distinctions are rejected, chaos follows. Now, the next morning comes. Korah and his followers stand with their censors. Aaron stands as well. The congregation gathers. And then something happens that should stop everything in its tracks. The glory of the Lord appears. God speaks and says, "Separate yourself from this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment." That is intense. This is no longer about Korah. This is about the entire community being influenced by rebellion.

Because rebellion doesn't stay contained. It spreads. It influences. It pulls others in. And now, the whole congregation is at risk. But once again, we see something remarkable in Moses and Aaron. They fall on their faces, and they intercede. They say, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin and You will be angry with the whole congregation?" This is leadership at its highest level. They're not defending themselves. They're not saying, "See, we're right." They are pleading for the people, even the people who just accused them. That's humility. That's compassion. That's leadership that is shaped by God.

And now, God responds. He tells the people to separate from Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. In other words, distance yourself from the rebellion. That in itself is a powerful principle because who you stand with determines what you stand under. If you align yourself with rebellion, you will share in its consequences. I have a dear friend that likes to say your friends are like elevators: they will either take you up or down. With rebellion, if you step away from it, you step out from under its weight.

Now, Moses makes a final declaration. He says, "If these men die a natural death, then the Lord has not sent me." And folks, this is the statement that always gets me, how specific it is. Moses says, "But if the Lord does something new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, then you will know that these men have rejected the Lord." And as soon as he's finished speaking, it happens. The ground splits open. The earth swallows Korah, Dathan, and Abiram and their households. And fire comes out from the Lord and consumes the 250 men offering incense.

This is one of the most dramatic judgments in all of scripture. It's immediate. It shows something very clearly to us. God takes rebellion seriously, not because He's insecure, but because rebellion disrupts His order. It distorts His design, and it leads people away from life. Now, this can feel heavy, but it's meant to be a warning, a revelation of what happens when people step outside of what God has established.

Now, here's the deeper lesson. Korah thought he was stepping into something greater, but in reality, he was just stepping out of alignment. And that's the danger, because sometimes what looks like more is actually less. Sometimes what looks like promotion is actually misplacement. And when you're out of place, you're exposed.

Now, let's bring this into our lives. Where has God placed you? Where has He assigned you? And are you content in that? Or are you looking at someone else's role and thinking, "That should be mine"? Because the moment you begin to reach for something that God has not given you, you step out of alignment. And alignment is everything. God's blessing flows in alignment. His protection flows in alignment. His purpose is fulfilled in alignment. And when you step out of that, you lose more than you gain.

This moment in Parashat Korach is not just about judgment, though. It's about clarity. Clarity that God establishes leadership. Clarity that calling is assigned, not taken. Clarity that humility keeps you in the right place. And clarity that rebellion always carries a cost. As we continue in Parashat Korach, we see that we've just witnessed one of the most dramatic moments in the Torah. The earth has opened. Korah and his followers have been swallowed. Fire has consumed the 250 men offering unauthorized incense. It's unmistakable. It's undeniable. God has made His position clear.

And you would think that would be the end of it. But it's not. Because the next verse reveals something shocking. Numbers 16:41 says, "The next day all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, saying, 'You have killed the people of the Lord.'" Let that sink in. After everything they just saw, after the ground literally opened, fire came down, the people still complain. And not only that, they accuse Moses and Aaron. "You have killed the people of the Lord."

This reveals something very important. The issue was never just external. It was internal. Because even in the presence of clear evidence, their hearts don't change. Clear evidence doesn't change a hardened heart. And this is something we need to understand. You can witness powerful moments. You can see undeniable things. You can experience God in real ways and still choose to resist Him because transformation is not about what you see. It's about what you surrender.

Now, the situation escalates again. The congregation gathers against Moses and Aaron, and the presence of the Lord appears. And God says, "Get away from this assembly so that I can put an end to them at once." And again, judgment is ready to fall. But once again, Moses and Aaron respond the same way. They fall on their faces. They intercede. They stand in the gap. Now, watch what happens next. Moses tells Aaron, "Take your censor, put fire from the altar in it, add incense, and go quickly to the assembly to make atonement for them."

And Aaron runs. Now, picture this moment. The plague has already begun. People are dying. It's God's judgment. And Aaron takes the censor, the symbol of priestly intercession, and he runs into the middle of the people. And the text says something powerful. "He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped." This is one of the most profound images in the Torah: a man standing in the gap between life and death, between judgment and mercy. And because of that position, the destruction stops.

This isn't just a historical moment. This is a prophetic picture because it points forward to something greater. It points to our Messiah, the one who stands between the living and the dead, the one who steps into the gap, the one who brings atonement. Yeshua does not just observe the brokenness. He enters it. He stands in the middle of it. And through Him, life overcomes death.

Now, let's bring this back to what we're seeing in Parashat Korach. Even after rebellion, even after judgment, even after resistance, God still makes a way for mercy. And that's His heart. He's just. He deals with sin. He establishes order. But He also provides a way back. And here's something important. Not everyone is saved in that moment. The Bible tells us that thousands die in this plague. But it also tells us that it stops because someone was willing to stand in the gap.

And that's a powerful lesson because God is still looking for people who will stand in the gap. People who will intercede, pray, carry the burden, step into difficult places, not just for themselves but for the sake of others. Let's bring this into our lives. How do we respond when things go wrong? When people resist? When situations become difficult? When others make choices that bring consequences? Do we step back? Do we point fingers? Do we say, "They deserve it"? Or do we step in? Do we pray? Do we intercede? Do we ask God for mercy?

Because Moses and Aaron could have said, "This is what happens when you rebel." But they didn't. They ran toward the problem, not away from it. And that's the heart of true leadership. Now, here's the deeper issue revealed in this part of the story. Rebellion, when left unchecked, hardens. It doesn't soften on its own. It grows. It spreads. It distorts reality. The people actually believe that Moses and Aaron are responsible for what God has done. That's how far the perspective has shifted. And this is the danger of persistent rebellion. It eventually redefines truth.

Now, as we move into the next part of the Torah portion, we're going to see how God brings final clarity to the issue of leadership. Because after all this, God establishes something undeniable, a sign that removes all confusion. And it involves something unexpected: a staff, a rod, something lifeless. But it becomes a symbol of life. After everything that has happened, there's still confusion among the people. Questions remain. Doubt lingers. And so God establishes a sign.

He tells Moses to take 12 staffs, one from each tribe. And from the tribe of Levi, the staff of Aaron. Each leader's name is written on their staff. And these staffs are placed before the Lord in the tent of meeting. Now, here's the instruction. "The staff of the man I choose will sprout." Now, think about what a staff is. It's a piece of wood, cut off, dead, separated from its source, lifeless. And God says, "I will cause life to come from something that is dead." That is the sign.

Now, imagine the anticipation. 12 staffs, all identical in nature, all lifeless, all placed in the same place. And overnight, something happens. And when Moses returns, he finds that Aaron's staff has done something impossible. It has sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced almonds, all at once. Now, don't miss this. This is not a small change. This is full life: from dead wood to fruit-bearing branch. And this is God's declaration. "This is the one that I have chosen."

Now, this is powerful on multiple levels. First of all, it removes all doubt. No more arguments, no more comparisons, no more questioning. God has spoken. But secondly, and even deeper, it reveals how God confirms His calling. Not through force, not through argument, not through human effort, but through life. God's calling produces life. That's the evidence. Not position, not title, not influence: life.

Now, let's take this deeper. Why almonds? In Hebrew, the almond tree is called shaked. And it's connected to the word shoked, which means to watch or to be alert. The almond tree is the first to bloom in Israel. It's a sign that something new is beginning, a sign of awakening, a sign that God is watching over His word to perform it. And that's exactly what this moment represents. God is saying, "I am watching over what I have established."

Now, let's connect this to the New Testament because this image of life coming from something dead is, of course, at the center of the gospel. The cross, an instrument of death, becomes the place of life. Yeshua is laid in a tomb and then rises. Life from death. And not just life, but fruit. This is the pattern of God. He brings life where there was none.

Now, let's bring this back to leadership. Korah wanted to take a position. Aaron was given one. Korah tried to assert authority. Aaron was confirmed by God. And the difference is clear. What God establishes, He sustains. What man takes, he must defend. Now, here's the key for us. You don't have to prove or defend your calling. You don't have to force your way into a position. You don't have to fight for recognition. If God has called you, He will confirm it. And when He does, it will produce life.

Now, there's one more detail that we can't miss. God tells Moses to place Aaron's rod back in the Tabernacle to be kept as a sign, a reminder, proof. Why? Because people forget. They forget what God has done. They forget what God has established. And when they forget, they start questioning again. So, God gives them something visible, something they can look at and remember. God has already chosen.

What are you trying to prove? What are you trying to force? What are you striving to establish in your own strength? Because if it's from God, you don't have to force it. You just have to walk in it and trust Him to bring it to life. Parashat Korach is not just about rebellion. It's about identity, calling, authority, and trust. It's about alignment. It's about what happens when people step out of alignment with what God has established and what happens when they remain in it.

We began with Korah, a man who was already called, already positioned, already part of something sacred. But instead of embracing his particular calling, he compared it to someone else's. And that comparison led to dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction led to ambition, and ambition led to rebellion. Now, my friends, may you walk this week in alignment, in humility, in trust, and may your life bear the kind of fruit that only comes from what God has established. Be confident and comfortable in the role that God has given you. Shabbat Shalom.

Candace Long: You will hear Pastor Matt teach the Torah portion every Saturday morning from 6:00 to 6:30. He always begins hour one. Coming up next is Families Under Attack with Rejan Morrison. And for the next two weeks, we're going to be dealing with two of the biggest disruptors that are facing families today: trauma this week, followed by addiction next week. Today you're going to learn what trauma is and how it affects us. It could be something as common as the death of a family dog to a school shooting where now the kids are terrified to go to school. Our goal today is to help you minister to the trauma in your life or in your family.

I'm Candace Long. I want to welcome you to Families Under Attack with mental health counselor Rejan Morrison, helping you make sense of what you may be going through in your family. Today's topic is trauma. And my guess is, Rejan, we're going to see a lot more of this the closer that we come to the day of the Lord. And this is a huge topic and could refer to a child losing the family dog to a veteran coming home struggling with PTSD, to the sudden death of a spouse, or in today's world, a school shooting where the kids are terrified to go to school. So, what exactly is trauma, and what effect does it have on a person?

Rejan Morrison: Well, trauma is a word that literally means a wound, shock, injury, experience of distress. And those examples you gave, I mean, think about it. They are real-life things that happen. People we love die. In this crazy world, we don't know what is going to come next. So, there's a level of distress that we experience in trauma that is really about this "this shouldn't be happening" mindset that we have. It creates a deep sense of fear, and we know who the author of fear is. So, of course, the enemy is going to come in anyway he can to try to disrupt, discourage, bring despair, depression, ignite anger, and pull us away from the peace of the Lord when these things happen. So, when trauma happens, there's a battle that occurs, and it's designed to overwhelm us so we lose our anchor in the Lord. That's the enemy's design. So, overall, it's a real sense of "I am not safe. This is not safe."

Candace Long: Are there particular types of people that are more prone to trauma? I mean, I was asking you before we went on, and you said that you've been extremely busy and that your practice has been extremely busy. And I said, "Well, what are you dealing with mostly?" And what was your answer to that?

Rejan Morrison: Well, there's a lot of lack of patience and love right now. There's an unsettledness. So, as I work with couples who are married, they don't have that patience with one another. They are quick to use cutting words. And my husband and I also went through that. He said, "You know what? We're not practicing what we teach with other people, and I don't want to live in this." There's almost this enemy agitation in the atmosphere. Think about all of the stressors that are hitting us.

In fact, yesterday we went to the mall, one of the malls that's still hanging on in our area. And there were probably 20 or 30 police cars, all with lights on. They had roped off an area. Clearly, something terrible was happening right there where we're going. And we weren't involved in that trauma, but just seeing something really terrible and we don't know what it is brought a sense of alertness and fear and anxiety. And I think we're all living in that space in a spiritually charged environment of what's going to happen next. So, in that sense, we're all vulnerable. And I see it in couples where there's no resiliency. It's like the fuse is blown. And so, this is a wonderful time, Lord, we, as my husband challenged me, we've got to get recentered in You, Your peace, Your love, who we are in You, and that in the midst of—and this is the tension—in a way, we're not safe, right?

Candace Long: We're not.

Rejan Morrison: Unsafe world. How do we find that peace and strength and resiliency to have our anchor in the Lord in the way that we can deal with and work through very real things that are happening?

Candace Long: I had to go into your section of the city yesterday. And that's new to me, and it was an area that I was unfamiliar with. And I was calling a friend on the way home, and she was saying she was getting ready to go down into that area. And the Lord specifically said, "Do not go." We have to be very, very tuned to the voice of the Lord and practice His presence all the time.

Rejan Morrison: Absolutely. And you know what? He will, as we grow in our maturity with Him, our relationship with Him through the word, understanding His character in the midst of—that voice, we can feel it in our bodies. He's saying, "No, there's something, pay attention to that."

Candace Long: So, tell us what trauma does. When does trauma become needing a counselor?

Rejan Morrison: In that question, let's talk about the types of trauma, okay? Because there's acute trauma. That's a trauma that is like—last year we were in Hawaii, and suddenly, in the midst of our beautiful beach time, this horrible siren goes off. There is a tsunami coming. That's when the big earthquake happened in Japan. And that created an urgency to evacuate the hotel, and that created fear. When you see somebody running down the hall, sweating, beating on your door, "You have to get out now, we have 15 minutes," that's fear, and we need to react.

So, there is a real trauma that happens just in the world with crazy things happening. A car accident. I was in a terrible car accident. My son ended up with—probably should have—I mean, it was a whole God story around the Lord just wrapping His arms around me and keeping me from going through the windshield and chucking him out the window. This was a long time ago when we didn't have four seatbelts and all those things. So, acute trauma, you have flashbacks. For a while, I couldn't drive, and I had to work through that with the Lord. And I also went to see a counselor. That happened when my brother died with cancer, my younger brother, and I had been a caregiver for him. I had a lot of flashbacks of how he was suffering and I couldn't help. So, in both of these examples, there's a powerlessness that we have that's very real. "I'm powerless."

And the enemy can really come in and bring so much fear around that that it begins to affect our lives. If you see a shooting, if you're involved in something like that, I had a client who had someone in—and he's very successful. And he had, in the middle of the night, about 3:00 in the morning, somebody actually broke into their home. And he grabbed his gun and shot the person, got him in the knees and then called the police, so he didn't kill him. But he came to a retreat because of that trauma and all of the—we've talked about stronghold lies. "I'm responsible. How could I be a Christian and almost kill somebody? Am I really safe?" They had to, he and his wife, did a lot of work on "Are we safe in our home?" because they were not, and it happened suddenly. So, those are examples of acute trauma.

Candace Long: What happens to us physically in trauma?

Rejan Morrison: Well, the body keeps the score, I think that was a book a while back. But our nervous system, our vagus nerve is wired for fight, flight, freeze. Okay, those are the basics. There are some new thoughts around what can happen.

Candace Long: All right, let's go through that slowly. Flight.

Rejan Morrison: Flight, like "I gotta get out of here, this isn't safe."

Candace Long: Okay.

Rejan Morrison: Fight. "I'm going to stay in here and I'm going to win this." Or freeze. I become totally in shock. And when that happens, some of us—and I've done some research that says you have to be pretty bright to do this, I guess there's something good in that—but you dissociate. And I spent a lot of my young life dissociating, meaning "I'm powerless, freeze, I'm not going to be here, I'm going to check out." And we can even do that physically where we don't feel what's happening. We can do it emotionally. I primarily did it emotionally, but I also did it physically. I'm just checking out.

Candace Long: And is that where denial comes in?

Rejan Morrison: It is denial, but it's a particular form of protection that we can do for ourselves. "I'm so unsafe, I cannot be here."

Candace Long: I got you. I know for sexual abuse victims, they check out and go somewhere else and...

Rejan Morrison: And I've worked with one of my clients, and this is an example of talking about what happens to your body. As we began to get closer to the event and we were praying into it, she actually had carpet burns show up on her leg that you could see physically as if it had just happened. And her incident happened on a carpet and being drug around, and you could actually see those things happening. When I went through some of my trauma in a marriage—we've talked about being divorced—and my body presented with migraines. My migraines were the beginning signs of "Something is wrong, why am I having these headaches?" And that was the process of me beginning to wake up and accept this is not a healthy relationship.

Candace Long: Toxic.

Rejan Morrison: Very toxic and very wounding and hurtful. And that was an example of chronic ongoing emotional abuse, physical abuse that I was in in that marriage.

Candace Long: So, when you're counseling someone like this, several things come to mind. Number one, do you talk someone through it as if you're trying to coach them and say, "It's okay, you're safe now" kind of a thing? And is that something that we then need to learn to do for ourselves because we have various ego states that we can—the adult me can talk to the child me that may be freaking out about something and saying, "Now wait a minute, Candace, you're okay, the Lord is with you"? So, we can minister to ourselves.

Rejan Morrison: That's one strategy. But we're talking about something very, very deep. And we could spend a lot of time on this, but let me speak to it this way. There's a process in working with trauma, and the most important thing is to create safety for the person, which means listening to them, and sometimes that can be really interesting because they can go all over the place because they don't want to get to that deeper wound and hurt, right? So, developing that safety, that relationship, not pressing them too quickly because the Lord is a gentleman. He honors our yes and our no. And with that, I'm not—I think there's some counseling techniques that are really powerful like EMDR, but what that can do is it can stimulate a memory that we might not be ready for.

And so, as the pastoral counselor, whatever the level of training, when you're working with somebody like that, the caution, the sensitivity—and what I do is I'm always working on where are they with the Lord, safety with the Lord, how strong is that? How fragmented are they from their trauma? And that's when I'm working with the woman right now who has many parts, I'll call it. There was a lot of complex trauma in her life over a number of years. And complex is sexual abuse, physical, emotional—it's a lot of things chronically going on that really wounded her. And we've been doing some work and she's realizing that what her strategy has been through her therapist prior to what I've been doing with her is she's done a lot of self-talk to those parts, reassuring, which is fine. But I said, "There's more. There's more. I don't want you to have to talk to those parts. I want us to see the Lord bring you into a place of wholeness. Are you up for that?" And she said yes. And that's what we're working on right now is building on all the previous work she's done because she's done some good work, but this is a season for what I'm going to call real integration so that she can be free and breathe.

Candace Long: How would someone recognize if they have that level of trauma? I mean, because I can look at my life—I listed five major traumas that were in my life. How would you define that person?

Rejan Morrison: This is a very silly, simplistic way of answering that, but think about how we're all uniquely wired. What bothers you might not bother me. So, I'm going to use the example of a mug and a teacup. Some of us have mug souls. We can be dropped and we can go through a lot, and there's a resiliency there. Some of us are teacups, and if those things happen, we break a lot easier, especially—it's a wiring thing. And where is the Lord in all of that? I mean, one of the things that this woman I'm working with, she said, "I have generational"—we're looking at generational sin affecting her because she's got four family generations on her mother's side of sexual abuse and also death. Just a real—I mean, every firstborn son over about 12 people in the family has died.

So, not only does she have complex trauma, but she's got a lot of history there that would open the door. And so she's been a teacup that tries to be a mug. And I explained that to her. I said, "And that's why she's had ages kind of being stuck in different like child, teenager personas that have tried to help her survive." And now, really, she's on the brink of real freedom and knowing better how—she went from no emotions to now she's had a lot of emotions, a lot of anger. And just as we continue to work, her sense of self, who she is in the Lord—one of her challenges is she's really grown in who she is in the Lord, but let's say her trauma—there's some trauma work around a six-year-old that is like, "God let this happen to me and I don't want him in my life."

So, we're doing work to help that child feel safe enough to come and let Jesus work with her. And one of the things I've talked to this woman about is it doesn't mean that she has to relive the trauma to be healed. That's really important for people to understand. God is so kind. He knows exactly what we need. And with the right person working—and this is where in counseling, hearing from the Lord and letting Him direct that, the sensitivity of when to push and when to let go—and just me telling her that God is a gentleman, there was such relief of "one of her blockages was, 'in order to be healed I have to relive this, and I don't have the strength to do that.'" That little girl doesn't either. So, do you hear the safety, the gentleness, the patience, and yet the equipping, working with those beliefs that have come in that have become so strong? The enemy has a lot of, "I'm not safe, I'm a victim, I'll never be safe, I have to protect myself."

Candace Long: Well, you're bringing up some wonderful points about the generational sin because this is very much alive in Torah study. When you see patterns, especially of firstborns in families that are dying, that is because there is a curse that is alive in there that has to be dealt with. So, you have to get in there and deal with that generational...

Rejan Morrison: That's one of the first as we talked about our plan. And it was really interesting, again, this is the Holy Spirit at work. She's never shared that with me about the firstborn and how many. First time, it just—it was the first thing she came in sharing. And my prayer is always, "Lord, help them voice whether they realize it or not what You know we need to hear and work with." And so before we move on with this little girl that's trapped, let's say, I said, "We have to do some generational sin work." She's done some in the past, but not at this level. And one of the things that I do that is different is not only do we identify what the curse or the area is, I have people work on what is the stronghold negative belief that came from that that is kind of over them. And as we work with that, also, what is the blessing you want to take hold of? So, in sexual abuse, there's a being used, "I'm used, I'm powerless, I don't matter." The blessing is, "I have value, I matter, I can have boundaries, I can use my voice and say no, I can have power in You, Lord. Help me know now how to do that and experience safe, loving relationships." So, it's claiming the blessing while as a result of doing work on that negative force that's come in.

Candace Long: Let me give a minute of instruction here on why God designates the firstborn, because the firstborn is the first issue of strength, of genetic strength of that family line. And so, when a family—because families have destiny as well as individuals—if this woman did not have a powerful destiny, the enemy would not bother with her. And so, and I'm sure you have sown that seed into her life. But that should give people a sense of, "Oh, well, there must be something very, very valuable in me for the enemy to be spending so much time trying to destroy me." It's like there's a mark that's on a person that identifies them as their chief bait because something happened in the past and a spirit will recognize that and go right for them. It's awful to think about it like that, but I mean, when you see how profound this was in her family. And what's so interesting: the abuse, the strong addiction—we're going to do a session on addiction—in her family line, she is the only one that did not succumb to addictive behaviors and destruction.

Rejan Morrison: And that is a wonderful testimony that we can stand in the gap for a mess that has gone on in our families. You know, I look back and I've had to deal with a lot of generational stuff. So, that is the privilege that we have when we do make it through our own traumas and we can stand in the gap for that family. What would you say to someone who's listening who may be going through trauma? How would they know that it's time to get help, to seek help?

Guest (Female): Well, I think that's—dare to be aware. It's a process. So, for me with the dissociation, I had those headaches. Pay attention to your body. Give yourself a—many of us as Christians believe we're being selfish if we do that. No, the Lord wants us to care for and love ourselves. What's happening? Give God permission to help you wake up. And as you do that, for me, the first step was, "I have these headaches and I don't know what's going on, but I look at—I can see that I'm being treated horribly and I'm believing that I'm the problem." I need to go. I actually went to a psychiatrist. Had four sessions and they changed my life. That was a beginning. Wasn't a believer or we didn't talk about the Lord. She just helped be that objective voice into that unhealthy relationship that empowered me then to better go to the Lord. So, we either get it from the Lord first or we can get it from wise counsel. And thank God I had a really good experience, but that was the catalyst. There has to be a catalyst that starts us on that journey. There were two things: my headaches and then I realized I was just kind of somehow—didn't call it dissociation—but I was checking out.

Candace Long: Thank you. If you have a question or a situation going on in your family, please go to shabbatshalomradio.com and look for the button at the top that says "Email the show." Now, if you want to reach out to Rejan directly, you'll find her contact information included in her handout that's on our main page. I'm Candace Long, and you've been listening to Families Under Attack with Rejan Morrison. Join us next Saturday morning from 6:30 to 7:00. Shabbat Shalom. Coming up in the next hour is Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Michael Washer. Following him, I'll bring you one of my latest episodes to help you find your place in the kingdom. Stay tuned for the second hour on WEZE AM 590, our media partner for shabbatshalomradio.com.