Overcoming Obstacles to Belief–Part 1: Learning From Ancient Israel’s Mistakes

by | Dec 4, 2020 | Blog, Podcasts

Goal:

 

What I intend to address in my message today is something that I believe is crucial for our (1) making it into the Kingdom of Yah; (2) successfully walking out our Faith in Spirit and in Truth; and (3) living the life abundant that Yeshua our Master taught and preached about.

 

And what is this crucial thing I’m talking about?

 

We’re going to be talking about overcoming the obstacles to our Faith—obstacles to our belief.

 

Now I recognize that I’m somewhat in the minority here as it relates to my understanding of belief: For I contend, as I stated in my previous message on belief, that biblical belief and biblical faith are essentially the same thing. The ancients did not make a real distinction between the two.

 

But the only reason I’m bringing this up here in this message is because I will throughout this message use the terms faith and belief interchangeably.

 

And pretty much the level of belief or faith I’m going to be talking about today is the Kingdom entering level of belief: The level of belief/faith that the “Heroes of Faith” possessed. That level of faith or belief that gets Abba’s attention and that puts you into the “friend” zone with the Creator of the Universe; that level of belief of faith that gets you into the Kingdom.

 

Speaking of the Heroes of Faith, before I get into the message, I want to ask you a set of questions regarding your level of faith or belief. And when you receive these questions, I need for you to think about your answers to these questions in as honest and truthful way as you possibly can, because how you answer these questions will determine how much you’ll get out of the messages here today and next time.

 

And my question are as follows:

 

  • Do you believe YHVH to the degree/level that Abraham, Moses, Joshua and the other heroes of faith believed YHVH?
  • If so, how did you arrive at their level of believing YHVH? How did you overcome your unbelief? How do you maintain that supreme level of belief-trust-faith?
  • If no, why are you not at their level of believing-trusting YHVH? What is keeping you from reaching heroes of faith-belief status? Is reaching their level of belief-faith important enough to move you to take action to get to their level of belief?

 

Attention:

 

Now I’m asking these questions with the big assumption that most of us do not believe or trust YHVH at the heroes of faith level—Kingdom level belief–or let’s say, at the level that YHVH needs us to be at.

 

And I’m sure that a great many folks within and without our Faith would reject these questions because the Church Triumphant has indoctrinated millions of folks that they are guaranteed entry into heaven or the kingdom simply by virtue of having simple, basic belief IN Jesus Christ; believing the God the Father exists; saying the sinners prayer; getting dunked in water; getting your name on the church rolls; and maybe giving an offering from time to time. This level of belief-trusting-faith is a level that man-the Church-the denominations have established for their members.

 

But what about the level of belief-trust-faith that Father has established for His elect? Shouldn’t we be striving to get to that level?

 

Folks, the Church-the denominations-the preachers and teachers-the Nicholaitan system that is behind much of organized religion today, really don’t care whether you get into the Kingdom or not or if you are living the life abundant that Master Yeshua taught and preached about. These care only about the system; the organization that they operate under. These organizations are in fact a religion unto themselves. So these organizations are requiring you and me to belief and trust in them—in their organizations—in their systems. Period. They’re not interested in you believing YHVH. In most cases, they don’t really want you to believe YHVH at the Kingdom level. Because they know that if you believe YHVH at the Kingdom level, then you wouldn’t need them. So their ministries teach and preach doctrines that are designed to keep you at a set level of belief-trust-faith; just enough to keep you coming back each week and dropping some coins into their offering plates.

 

This my friends is not the level or even type of belief Father needs from His people. For He, in His Word, has established the level of believing and trusting Him that He requires of His chosen ones. And any level of Faith that falls below Father’s established level displeases Him. What did the writer of Hebrew say regarding this:

 

“Without Faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to YHVH must believe that He is and that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

 

I submit to you here today that the reason most of us fall short in our level of belief and trust and faith is because life—human life and existence—comes with a whole lot of baggage that I like to refer to as “obstacles to belief or faith.”

 

You see, as far as scripture is concerned, the thing that distinguishes one believer from another believer is whether he or she simply believes IN the things of Yah or whether he/she believes-trust the things of Yah. Don’t be fooled, these are two entirely distinct—different levels of belief that have salvific weight attached to them and we all need to know and respond appropriately to the difference between them.

 

One’s belief IN Yah can be altered/shaken/shifted by various sets of life circumstances. When you believe in something you are investing in a concept or idea that seems good to you at the time you’re deciding to believe in the things of Yah. But that belief in YHVH can be changed if needed: It can be changed to suit us; it can be changed to fit into our preferred way of life. Belief in Yah leaves a lot a room for doubt and even disobedience?

 

Why would I say such a thing?

 

Because belief IN Yah is nothing more than a simple acknowledgment that Yah exists and that he may be able to do some of the things He says in His Word that He will and can do.

 

But the problem with simply believing IN Yah is that it doesn’t take much for that belief to go bye-bye.

 

 

I don’t think anyone here on this line today would doubt that all of the people that left Egypt in the Exodus believed in YHVH. Why wouldn’t they: They saw for themselves one wonder/miracle after another transpire before them—things that we’ve not seen repeated to very day. Yet, these same folks that witnessed and experienced the greatest miracles any generation of humans have ever witnessed and experienced had no problem doubting

 

 

These could not take that critical next step of believing YHVH. And why couldn’t they take that next step? Because they could not and would not overcome the obstacles that existed in their lives that prevented them believing Yah.

 

 

You see, believing Yah is drastically different than believing IN Yah. Believing IN Yah gets you very little if anything at all. In fact, I’d go so far as to suggest that simply believing IN Yah causes more harm than good. Why? Because when you believe in Yah you are only partially invested in the things of Yah—you’re only going through the motions related to the things of Faith. Think I’m lying or making a big to do about nothing? Well, riddle me this Batman: What did the generation that came out of Egypt get out of their leaving Egypt? They got death—they died in the wilderness. Why did they die in the wilderness: Because they accepted the terms of the marriage covenant which YHVH made with them; and that marriage covenant required them to believe Him—to Trust Him:

 

“Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation….And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which YHVH commanded him. And all the people answered together and said, ‘All that YHVH hath spoken we will do…’” (Exodus 19:5-8).

 

It was right after the spies returned from spying out the Land of Canaan and preached a message of hopelessness and not believing Yah to the people while just Caleb and Yashua preached a message of hope and believing Yah, that the people rebelled one too many times against Yah and Moshe. Yah, in seeing the people rebelling against Him and His man Moshe, purposed in His heart to disinherit and destroy the people (Numbers 14:20) that Moshe stood in the gap and pleaded with Yah to spare the lives of the people. And Yah relents, but still passes righteous judgment against the people:

 

“And YHVH’s anger was kindled the same time and He sware, saying, ‘Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from 20-years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed YHVH. And YHVH’s anger was kindled against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness 40-years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of YHVH was consumed” (Numbers 32:10-13).

 

As we can see, all of Israel perished in the wilderness—including Moshe—with the exception of Yahshua and Caleb. Why? Because the nation chose not to believe Yah. Choosing to not believe Yah will prevent you from entering the Kingdom as we see in the example of the wandering Israelites. Choosing to not believe Yah only leads to an unfulfilled life and ultimately death.

 

 

And folks, we’re all facing the same miserable end that the ancient Israelites faced if we fail to believe Yah. If the example of the ancient Israelites wandering in the wilderness is to be any example to us, it’s safe to say that the overwhelming majority of people in this world will not enter the Kingdom of Yah. Just a small, precious remnant who have chosen to believe Yah.

 

It was as Yeshua was making His way to Jerusalem to be crucified that He asks the Pharisees who had gathered to challenge Him on when the Kingdom of Yah would come, that Master asked a rather rhetorical question:

 

“…will the Son of Man find any real faith remaining on the earth when He comes” (Luke 18:8)?

 

And of course we know the answer to that rhetorical question is “very little?”

 

 

 Need:

 

We all stand to repeat the same tragic mistakes the ancient Israelites made and that is failing, and in many respects, refusing to believe Yah.

 

You know, Father intends that the lives of the ancients as recorded in scripture, serve as an ensample and warning to us so that we may avoid death and destruction that comes as a result of refusing to believe Yah (2 Peter 2:6).

 

Now, we know that it is impossible to make it into the Kingdom without true, biblical belief or faith:

 

“Without Faith (”pisteo” = belief) it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to Yah must believe (”pisteuo” = trust; believe) that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

 

So, it should be commonsense to all of us that if Yah is not pleased with us, we ain’t getting into the Kingdom. And we know from Hebrews 11:6 that the only way to please Yah is to believe Him (not believe in Him, but believe Him). And that life of belief leads to rewards: folks, not just in the world tomorrow, but also in the here and now.

 

Master was quite clear in His parable teaching that He had come in order that we may have abundant life (John 10:10). Unfortunately, many in our Faith believe that abundant life is coming to Yah’s elect once they get into the Kingdom. Until that time, however, Yah’s elect must endure suffering.

 

But we must look at this passage within the context in which it was given. Yeshua was using the life example of shepherding in order to illustrate the principle that He was the only way to the Father as He was the “door of the sheepfold.” And the only path to true, abundant life. Those that propose a different path other than the path that Yeshua has laid out for us, are thieves and robbers—they are as wolves come to harm the flock. And it is a well-known truth that thieves come to steal, kill and destroy.

 

The life that Yeshua came to bring us is a lifestyle (as we’ve mentioned countless times on this platform) that is supposed to be filled with “joy and peace in believing” such that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we may walk out this faith with overflowing hope (Romans 15:13).

 

 

Satisfaction of the need:

 

So the abundant life begins the moment we choose to place our trust in YHVH. We don’t have to wait till that great getting up morning before we can have an amazing life that Master promised. Folks, an amazing life can be had by all of in the here and now: if we indeed want that life.

 

As I mentioned several messages ago: The Kingdom of Yah is not just the coming, physical Kingdom that all will see when Yeshua returns. The Kingdom of Yah is a continuous strain of reality that begins with the Kingdom of Yah dwelling within us the moment we choose to believe Yah. And that Kingdom of Yah expands within our lives and it progresses up to and into the physical Kingdom of Yah that Yeshua will install in Jerusalem and throughout the earth upon His return (Luke 17:21).

 

Looking back to the ancient Israelites, Father instructed the people to walk in all His ways so that things would go well with them and thereby live prolong days in the promised land (Deuteronomy 5:33).

 

You see, believing Yah leads to an abundant and meaningful life. But many of us cannot bring ourselves to believing Yah for a great many reasons.

 

 Visualization:

 

I suggest that the story of the ancient Israelites provides us numerous example of obstacles that caused the people to not believe Yah and that also prevented them from entering the promised land.

 

If we identify some of those obstacles that prevented the ancient Israelites from believing Yah, and we then identify similar obstacles in our lives today that stand way of our believing Yah, we may then be able to identify ways to overcome those obstacles, believe Yah, and start living the life Father has always intended for us to have.

 

I’ve identified 6 obstacles blocked or impeded or stood in the way of Israel believing Yah. This is in no way meant to be an exhaustive list of obstacles. I’m certain you’ll be able to identify several more obstacles on your own. But these obstacles are just a small handful of the more obvious ones that many of us today are contending with in our Faith walks.

 

Today I’m only going to cover 2 of those obstacles and when I return in a few weeks, I’ll cover the remaining 4 obstacles.

 

So let’s look at obstacle 1:

 

Obstacle #1. They did not have the desire to believe Yah. (The beginning). Father described the Israelites as a stiffnecked people (Exodus 32:9; 33:3; 33:5; 34:9; Deuteronomy 9:6, 13; 10:16). “Stiffnecked” is qahsheh which means to be “obstinate.” To be obstinate means to be stubborn. And in being stubborn, one refuses to give in to a proper course or way of doing things. In this case, we’re talking about refusing to trust Yah; refusing to believe Yah and His Word; refusing to obey Yah and His servant Moshe.

 

Being stubbornness is in many ways being rebellious. And we know from Torah that stubbornness and rebellion can get you killed:

 

18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:

19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;

20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.

21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear. (Deu 21:18-21 KJV)

 

 

Verse 21 tells us that stubbornness and rebellion is evil  which means it’s a sin. And Yah’s way of dealing with this sin and evil is to kill the stubborn and rebellious soul.

 

A stubborn and rebellious nature creates for the would-be Child of Yah (I believe) an impenetrable obstacle believing Yah. Why? There are a number of reasons. The one that comes to mind above the rest is that rebellion and stubbornness stands in the way of anyone having a true and substantive relationship with the Almighty. Why? Because stubbornness and rebellion within a person says to the Almighty and to the world that things are going to my way, NOT Yah’s Way. And I’m here to tell you: Yah don’t play that. Lucifier tried that  and look where it got him:

 

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. (Isa 14:12-15 KJV)

 

Rebellion and stubbornness is straight up “humanism.” What is humanism? Let me read the definition to you:

 

“Humanism is an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings (remember Yeshua said that no one is good except Yah alone), emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems” (Microsoft Dictionary).

 

In other words, “humanism” is a fancy word for “it’s all about me…it’s about what I want…we’re going to do things my way and God is going to have to be okay with that. But I’m here to tell you folks, YHVH is NOT okay with stubbornness and rebellion; He’s not okay with “humanism.”

 

 

Stubbornness and rebellion is all about the “me.” The “I will” of Lucifer. There is NO room for Father, therefore there’s no believing Yah. Oh, there’s room for believing IN Yah as we saw demonstrated by the ancient Israelites, but there’s NO believing Yah.

 

The only remedy or solution to stubbornness and rebellion is “death?” What do you mean Rod by the only remedy or solution to stubbornness and rebellion is death? As we saw in  Deuteronomy 21, rebellion and stubbornness is evil that requires the death of the offender. But fortunate for us today, the death that I’m talking about will open the door to believing Yah. And that death is a death to self and that death must be on a daily basis.

 

The opposite of stubbornness is open-mindedness, reasonability, acceptance and receptive and the opposite of rebellion is obedience, peace and alliance. All of which is the basis of one dying to self.

 

While traveling to Caesarea Philippi, Master Yeshua in a down to earth, in your face manner described what it meant to die to self to His disciples:

 

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? (Luk 9:23-25 KJV)

 

 

Dying to self takes courage, strength and character. Dying to self is not something the average person is willing to do.

 

Dying to self is saying to Father as our Master said to His Father:

 

“…Nevertheless not my will, but thine be done” (Luke 22:42).

 

Dying to self is a progressive, evolutionary process that is deeply connected to and drives our Way of Life. It’s determining within ourselves that we’re going to do things Yah’s Way. It’s being 21st century Joshua’s such that when someone in your life challenges you for keeping Yah’s Ways and they threaten to disown or disavow you or something worse, that you can stand firm and state without flinching:

 

“If it seem evil unto you to serve YHVH, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve YHVH” (Joshua 24:15).

 

For some, dying to self may seem an impossible task. But Yah recognizes the stubbornness in each of us. And He is willing to make a deal with us: If we are willing to meet Him at least part of the way, Father will make up the rest of the way. What do I mean by this: Well, Master taught about this very thing as He taught His disciples about the Kingdom of Yah from the Temple Mount just before His crucifixion:

 

 20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.

23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. (Mat 25:20-23 KJV)

 

So for some, dying to self may start off with something simple as not working on the Sabbath or eating clean foods. And then over time, that giving over to the Will and Ways of Yah, which is essentially dying to the old self and walking in the newness of life, the dying to self will take on even greater things such as toppling strongholds in our lives such as eliminating bad habits; exchanging a nasty, selfish disposition for a loving and caring disposition; stop gossiping; tithing and giving offering; etc.

 

The dying to self process is NOT a give and take agreement between us and YHVH, such that we give Yah this area of our lives but we think we can bargain with Him and keep other areas of our lives. No. This is an all or nothing at all proposition. Again, it’s starting off with baby steps, which will ultimately lead to our full surrender: mind-body-soul—to YHVH. This is what Paul was talking about when he wrote about becoming a new man/new woman:

 

 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

27 Neither give place to the devil.

28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. (Eph 4:23-5:1 KJV)

 

And once we can get past our stubbornness and rebellion, believing Yah is within our grasp.

 

Obstacle #2: They couldn’t nor wouldn’t shake the Babylon that was inside them.

 

Part of the reason the Children of Israel were so stubborn and rebellious was because they could not nor would not shake Egypt out of their system. Despite being freed from bitter slavery by hand of the Almighty, the people kept looking back and desiring their former lives back in Egypt.

 

5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:

6 But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes. (Num 11:5-6 KJV)

 

And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. (Exo 16:3 KJV)

 

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

 2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.

6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

7 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. (Exo 32:1-8 KJV)

 

Now there’s a lot to unpack here. But what we see clearly demonstrated in just these 3-passages is that the Children of Israel had no thought—no desire to shake Egypt out of their system. What Israel was experiencing throughout their wilderness journey was like a bad breakup : they knew that the Egyptian slavery they endured for 400-years was not a good thing for them; they wanted a better life for themselves; they were being offered a better life by YHVH, but when that better life was given to them and that better life had somewhat of a challenging transition attached to it, they immediately looked back to Egypt. You see, despite Egypt being a bad situation for them, they had grown accustomed to it. Their lives had become quite settled in Egypt. And because the Israelites had become familiar and comfortable with Egypt, despite the hardships they endured there, they reasoned within themselves that the hardship was worth it. In fact, the Egyptian hardship was better than the temporary hardships they were enduring in their travels and transition to the promised land.

 

Biblically speaking, Egypt along with Babylon represents hasatan’s and man’s way of life—the world system.  Consequently, hasatan was the creator or author of the world system that came out of Egypt and Babylon and that world system opposes YHVH and His Way of life. In addition, both Egypt and Babylon enslaved the Children of Israel a couple of times in Israel’s history. And in both cases, the Children of Israel grew comfortable with their overlords’ way of life. And when they would be delivered or freed by the hand of YHVH, the people would bring Egypt and Babylon with them.

 

Now, Egypt and Babylon are often viewed by biblical writers as one and the same nation. But it’s not that Egypt and Babylon are the same nation, because they are actually two separate nations in human history. However, Egypt and Babylon are treated as identical in scripture because we get from these nations this huge, dominating world system that has persisted from biblical days to our present day.

 

The anti-Yah system that has emerged from Babylon and Egypt controls all areas of human existence:

 

  • Arts and Entertainment
  • Science
  • Commerce
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Religion/Faith

 

And this world system that controls all these areas of human life seeks to overthrow Yah, Yah’s Way of Life, and Yah’s Elect. Thus hasatan’s way of life which is the Babylon—the world system—in controlling all these critical areas of human life, effectively enslaves people, just like ancient Egypt and ancient Babylon did back in the day. The Babylonian system is deceptive and blasphemous. It leads people to live lives of sin and reject the abundant life that Yeshua Messiah mentioned in His teachings.

 

In principle, one could safely say that there are two  systems or ways of life in this world: Yah’s Way of Life and the Babylonian Way of Life. The Babylonian Way of life leads to death, while Yah’s way of life leads to life eternal and abundant. Yes, the Babylonian Way of life is enticing and it appeals to the carnal nature of man. It’s very difficult to shake because we humans find it virtually impossible to live outside this flesh. Everything we humans do in this life is meant to satisfy the flesh. Well, Yah’s way of life appeals primarily to the spirit part of humans. Unfortunately, as I just said, humans resist the spiritual—those things that appeal to righteousness; peace; love; prosperity; truth; holiness; etc. The spiritual things make no sense to the dense minds and hearts of people as the Apostle Paul wrote:

 

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of Yah: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of YHVH, that  he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Messiah” (1 Corinthians 2:14-16).

 

One of the big reasons the Children of Israel did not believe Yah was because they still carried Egypt—Babylon–within them. Egypt controlled their thoughts, hearts  and dreams: it wasn’t the hope and dream of reaching the land of promise that drove the Children of Israel; it wasn’t the many miracles and deliverance on eagles wings that put a pep in Israel’s step; it was their memories and longings of their time in Egypt that controlled virtually every area of their lives. And when you have something from the past that has such a tight grip on you that it controls most of the things you do, then there’s no room Yah in your life. You have no need to believe Yah when you  have Egypt living within you. In fact, Yah will not share space with Babylon/Egypt. He just won’t. Either Egypt/Babylon has to leave, or Yah will leave.

 

What did we see happen with the Temple in Ezekiel’s vision? After Father showed the prophet Ezekiel the abominations that were happening in His House—the Temple—He did the unthinkable:

 

18 Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims.

19 And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD’S house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

(Eze 10:18-19 KJV)

 

Folks, if Babylon lives in us, believing Yah is going to be nearly impossible to achieve. Because Babylon is flesh-centered, our flesh is always going to get in the way of our belief. You see, when it comes time for you to decide who or what to obey, are you going to to obey Yah or are you going to obey your flesh.

 

Like obstacle 1, getting Babylon out of us as Yah’s elect takes a lot of courage and determination; prayer; discipline; etc. It’s not something that most people can successfully accomplish. For Babylon, as Egypt was with ancient Israel, is ingrained in the lives of the people of this planet.

 

So in order for the elect of Yah to believe Yah—trust Yah—they have to divest themselves of all things Babylonian. And what does that look like?

 

It may require:

 

  • Eliminating some of the music we listen to.
  • Getting ride of our Netflix—Hulu—Cable—Movie subscriptions—giving up going to movies.
  • Drugs and alcohol are often used to numb our minds to the things going on around us. In reality, drugs and alcohol numb us to truth and the things of Yah.
  • Stop consuming Babylonian mystery religion content.
  • Turn away from occultism of every sort.
  • Flee from pornography.
  • Do not entertain homosexuality.
  • Fight against abuses against the innocents of this world: our precious children
  • Be judicious in the articles and books we read.
  • Abhor the love of money, power and notoriety.
  • Be not involved in politics—the governments of this world are Luciferian and Nicolaitan.

 

You see, all these, and so much more, find their origin in Babylon.

 

When we choose Yah’s way of life and our focus turns away from this world’s Luciferian—Babylonian way of life, Yah fills the void. You know, the drastic changes we make in our day-to-day lives may away from Babylon will seem at first difficult. Most of us remember when we first came to Faith and we turned our attentions away from Babylon how challenging it was at times: I’m not talking just about missing the leeks and cucumbers and melons that we enjoyed back in Egypt, but I’m talking about the challenges that come with family, friends, work and society. When we begin to walk in Yah’s Way of Life, society does not take well to our rejection of Babylon. And Babylon will often remind us that we came from Babylon and that Babylon is where we belong.

 

But when we remove Babylon from our lives, we can believe Yah and live the life abundant that Yeshua promised we’d live.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Action:

 

I’ll pick-up where we’re leaving off next time.

 

Should Messianic Torah Observers Keep Thanksgiving? The Re-Broadcast

by | Nov 25, 2020 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

Should Messianic Torah Observers Keep Thanksgiving?

In this installment, we reflect upon Torah-Keeping Believers in Yeshua celebrating Thanksgiving: Is it a terrible reminder of genocide that New World Settlers brought upon Native American Indigenous Peoples, or a day that believers should simply not keep, but instead just stick to the Torah mandated Feasts of the LORD? We discuss this controversial topic with the example and teachings of Yeshua Messiah fully in mind. Shalom and Welcome.

Perusing Facebook

This week while perusing one of my Facebook streams, I came across what I felt to be a very good question posed by one of my friends and followers. The gentleman, who is renown for asking simple but often controversial questions to our Facebook group, simply asked if we celebrate Thanksgiving or not. Interestingly, he did not ask for a reason for our yes or no answers.

A Question About Thanksgiving

I typically gloss over his questions because they garner so many varied and often weird responses, but this go-round, I was interested in reading what the responses would be. I was shocked to see that he had accumulated some 70+ responses. Curious to see why so many folks responded to what seemed to me to be an innocuous question, I clicked comments to see why so many folks had answered. To me, I couldn’t imagine why anyone would have a problem with Thanksgiving. I mean, of all the American holidays, why would any Hebrew Rooter/Messianic scoff at any day dedicated to giving thanks (ideally to the Creator) for all that He’s provided and done for us?

Opposed to Thanksgiving

Turns out, it did not take me very long to find a flurry of negative responses to this gentleman’s simple question. Some respondents took to a vitriolic rant against the celebration of Thanksgiving, while a few folks actually stuck to the gentleman’s question and simply answered yes or no.

Now bear in mind that most, if not all, of the respondents appeared to be self-professing Hebrew Rooters/Messianics; so the negative responses were primarily posted from a Faith perspective.

What do I mean by the negative responses to the question were posted from a Faith perspective?

Although I did not read all 70-some-odd responses, I read a great many of them before I, frankly, got fed up with the insanity of some of the negative answers. Some of the responses were laced with a sense of self-righteous indignation over the celebration of the holiday, while others were infused with an obsessively legalistic-draconian perspective that tied their position directly to Torah.

Two Negative Perspectives on Thanksgiving

The negative responses related to whether Hebrew Rooters/Messianics should celebrate Thanksgiving tended to fall into two-general categories:

  1. An expressed indignation over the genocide of Native American Indigenous Peoples by the early American settlers, which they tied to Thanksgiving holiday.
  2. A “if it’s not one of the 7-mandated Feasts of the LORD then I don’t celebrate or observe it” attitude.

Judging Thanksgiving and Those Who Observe It

Now, the tenor of those expressing these negative attitudes towards Thanksgiving carried with them one of harshness and exclusivity. In all honesty, the judgmental and self-righteous naysayers were outnumbered by the pro-Thanksgiving crowd. Those who expressed harshness and exclusivity in their responses against Thanksgiving, seemed to be coming from a self-righteous and judgmental place. They came across as, “how can or why should any well knowing and well meaning believer celebrate a holiday that is tainted with the blood of murdered Native American Indigenous people; and how can you observe anything other than the Torah instructed Feasts of the LORD?”

I have to tell you, at first I was somewhat taken aback by some of these negative responses. However, after a couple days of reflection, I pulled back on my uneasiness over their negative responses.

I Support Believers Celebrating Thanksgiving

You’ve probably figured out where I stand as it relates to members of our Faith Community celebrating or observing Thanksgiving, but in case you haven’t, plainly stated: we (i.e., my family and I) celebrate and observe Thanksgiving and have happily done so throughout our time in the Faith. My attitude towards the keeping of Thanksgiving did not change when I transitioned into Hebrew Roots. In fact, my attitude regarding the relevance of Thanksgiving has only strengthened during my time in the Faith. The way I see it, dear friend, is: if the world has set aside a day to give thanks for all that we have; that the nations’ leaders at some point saw fit to set aside a day of the year where we somehow acknowledge that our increase and sustenance comes from a greater, higher power; for the love of God and country, why would we NOT celebrate Thanksgiving? The Apostle Paul admonished that we should in everything give thanks…(I Thessalonians 5:18) Besides, what better time than Thanksgiving to be with family and friends and to give thanks to our Father in Heaven for all that He’s done for us?

Let me just say that my family and I do not keep or celebrate Thanksgiving as a memorial to the Pilgrims and Puritans who supposedly landed in Plymouth Rock Massachusetts and celebrated a bountiful harvest in 1621. Truth be told, the true origins of Thanksgiving are not all based upon that legendary feast that was held by the Pilgrims and the Native American Indians who aided them through a harsh period of time during their settlement here in the New World. The first Pilgrim-Native American Thanksgiving may or may not be factual. However, most Americans may be shocked to learn that Thanksgiving had been observed by peoples of Faith throughout much of Europe, well before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. It is clear that the Pilgrim and Puritans brought their Faith-based tradition of Days of Fasting and Days of Thanksgiving with them and then continued those traditions upon their settling into the New World.

Thanksgiving—A Historic Perspective

Nevertheless, Thanksgiving is NOT specific to the United States and the Pilgrim settlers and the ensuing genocide of Native American Indians. Thanksgiving has always been a holiday that is celebrated and observed among many nations of the world, to include Australia, Canada, Grenada, Liberia, The Netherlands, the Philippines, Saint Lucia, Judaism (seen more as secular than religious), Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Granted, the dates for these various regional celebrations fall outside the United State’s tradition of the 4th Thursday of every November, but the fact remains that Thanksgiving is NOT an American invention.

The Truth About Thanksgiving

So the argument that Thanksgiving pays tribute to the genocide of Native American Indians is baseless and is set on a principle that falls well outside the true meaning of the day. Indeed, this nation’s genocide of her Native-Indigenous population, like slavery and other such atrocities, is a sorrowful dark mark in her history. There’s no doubt about it. Regardless, such terrible periods in this nation’s history should not cause us to lose sight of truth, reason and reality. Such attitudes are bred in the autoclaves of liberal thinking that serves only to dissuade others from the Truth, informed and honest thought.

Bottom Line: the Thanksgiving holiday we celebrate in this country has nothing to do with the genocide of Native Americans.

What about the celebration of holidays and traditions that fall outside the 7-mandated Feasts of Yahovah: should Torah-Keeping Believers in Yeshua Messiah avail themselves to celebrating such holidays as Thanksgiving? The simple response to that question is: where in Torah did Father instruct us to NOT celebrate such holidays? The instructions were that we must never follow after the ways of pagan nations; not to imitate or seek after the worship of pagan deities; nor to speak about these false gods.

Now, when we consider secular and quasi-religious holidays such as Thanksgiving, the litmus test that we employ should rule out any associated paganism. I honestly cannot find any associated paganism in Thanksgiving. Again, it’s just that simple.

Thanksgiving vs. Christmas and Easter

Some might interject into this discussion: well, why is it not okay to celebrate and keep Christmas and Easter; aren’t they celebrations and memorials of the birth, death and resurrection, respectively speaking, of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? My response to that question is a question: says who? Who says that Christmas and Easter are true commemorations and memorials to the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?

Well, maybe these holidays commemorate those things for their Christ, but not my Messiah. And we could spend many additional hours discussing reasons why Christmas and Easter are not valid memorials and holidays that honor our Messiah, but I’m not going to torture you with that today. Bottom line my friends, Christmas and Easter have, and will forever, be intricately linked to paganism; plain and simple. And as hard as some might try, I don’t see Thanksgiving in the same light that I see Christmas and Easter.

My position as it relates to Torah Observant Believers in Yeshua Messiah celebrating Christmas and Easter is that doing so would constitute a violation of Torah in a very strong sense. Nevertheless, if any believer chooses to keep Christmas and Easter, that’s entirely between them and Father. As the old folks used to say when I was growing up: “I don’t have a heaven or hell to put them in.” So who am, then, to judge any who chooses to celebrate any one or all of these holidays?

A Change in My Internal Perspective

I have to say that I have, over the last year or so, undergone a rather significant internal shift in my perspective of the people of Yahovah. I will confess that I was throughout much of my time in Hebrew Roots, quite judgmental and I did not tolerate those who lived and operated outside my preconceived, defined righteousness box that I had erected in my pea brain, early on in my walk with Messiah.

I’ve come to learn, painfully so I might add, that it’s a full time job just keeping my own behind in line and walk this walk as best I can, with a lot of help from the Holy Spirit. I don’t have time to focus on what you might or might not be doing.

This Faith Community of ours is filled with a huge variety of understandings, practices and teachings, many of which I do not at all agree with. And if I were to keep slicing away at every conceivable connection I could have with members of our community on the basis that I don’t agree with their brand of Hebrew Roots, then at some point down the road, I’ll be standing alone; because I’ll tell you, if we are honest with ourselves and with one another, we are never going to agree on every single issue and aspect of our Faith. It’s just not going to happen.

Some Fundamentals Can’t Be Set Aside

Indeed, there are certain fundamental elements of the Hebrew Roots Faith that we must all agree with in order for this thing to operate as Father has established:

  • Yeshua is our Master and the Messiah—He is the Son of the Living God. We must obey His instruction and follow His example. We are saved by the blood of His sacrifice on the execution stake and the grace of Almighty Yahovah.
  • Yahovah/Yahuah/Yahweh is our Creator and the architect of our redemption and salvation.
  • Torah is our constitution that we must obey and keep to the best of our ability. The keeping of Torah would include honoring the weekly Sabbath, the 7-mandated Feasts of Yahovah and the food laws. We follow Torah, not because it provides for our salvation, but we do so because Father requires that we live our lives the way He desires of us to live our lives. Torah is Father’s house rules. If we want to live in His house, then we must abide by His rules.
  • The Bible is Truth and contains the Word of our Creator.

These and a few others are essential elements of our Faith that define who we are as a unique Faith Community. Those deeper aspects of our Faith that include how we are to keep the Feast Days and questions on the divinity of Master Yeshua are certainly topics and issues that at some point must be discussed in the Body, but they are not foundational to Hebrew Roots and the Messianic Community; and if we differ in how we go about dealing with these, not-so essential elements, we certainly can still fellowship and glorify Father together.

The Plank in my Own Eye

And this is what I’ve come to learn and understand and embrace in my walk with Messiah. I have no authority to judge anyone as it relates to how they walk out this Faith of ours. First and foremost, I just need to worry about me and my walk. Secondarily, I also need to be of ready-help to any who would come to me for assistance or guidance. I will always avail myself to give any who asks a reason for the hope that is in me with meekness and fear (I Peter 3:15). This is one of the main reasons I do this podcast program. We put content out as it relates to our understanding of the Faith, and then it’s up to the body of listeners to determine what to do with that content.

Where Do You Fall Out on this Issue?

The lesson to be had with this whole discussion around whether Torah Observant Believers in Yeshua should celebrate or observe Thanksgiving, is one of: what does the Holy Spirit tell us (as a Body and as individuals) to do about Thanksgiving, and other such holidays? Is our perspective and practices related to Thanksgiving based upon what Father has spoken to us about it; or is it based upon our own personal convictions and sense of righteousness? If we are opposed to the observance of Thanksgiving and we’re a Torah Observant Believer, how do we view our brothers and sisters who do keep Thanksgiving? How do we see them? Do we see them as having not reached our level of understanding? Or maybe we simply see them as Yeshua would see them: as brothers and sisters who choose to keep Thanksgiving?

A Spirit of Judgment

A spirit of judgment can be a terrible things to possess, and a most difficult thing to dispossess oneself of.

The biological brother of our Master, James, brilliantly wrote of this type of thing:

Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another (James 4:11,12; KJV)?

In his addressing the overbearing Judaizers of the Roman Assembly of Messianic Believers on the divisive issue of meats that may (or may not have) been sacrificed to pagan gods and idols, the Apostle Paul expounded in great length on the whole issue of judging one another. The entire chapter of Romans 14 addresses this issue of judging, so I will just condense the chapter and highlight the pertinent parts. It reads:

Now as for a person whose trust (i.e., faith) is weak, welcome him—but not to get into arguments over opinions. One person has the trust that will allow him to eat anything, while another whose trust is weak eats only vegetables. The one who eats anything must not look down on the one who abstains (bear in mind this is not Paul condoning the eating of foods that are forbidden by Torah—only those foods that are potential foods sacrificed to idols); CONTINUING–and the abstainer must not pass judgment on the one who eats anything, because God has accepted him…One person considers some days more holy than others, while someone else regards them as being all alike. What is important is for each to be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes a day as special does so to honor the Lord. Also he who eats anything, eats to honor the Lord, since he gives thanks to God…You then, why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For all of us will stand before God’s judgment seat; since it is written in the Tanakh, “As I live, says Adonai, every knee will bend before me, and every tongue will publicly acknowledge God.” So then, every one of us will have to give an account of himself to God. Therefore, let’s stop passing judgment on each other! Instead, make this one judgment-not to put a stumbling block or a snare in a brother’s way. So then, let us pursue the things that make for shalom and mutual upbuilding. Don’t tear down God’s work for the sake of food. True enough, all things are clean; but it is wrong for anybody by his eating to cause someone to fall away. What is good is not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The belief you hold about such things, keep between yourself and God. Happy the person who is free of self-condemnation when he approves of something! But the doubter comes under condemnation if he eats, because his action is not based on trust. And anything not based on trust is a sin (Romans 14:1-23; CJB).

Bottom Line

So none of us should be ashamed to keep Thanksgiving if we are so led by the Holy Spirit to do so. Likewise, if the Spirit has led us to abstain from the keeping of Thanksgiving, then it behooves us to not squander the day, but to use the day, as we would any day that Father gives us that we do not work, but glorify and honor Him. He alone deserves our praise and our thanksgiving. For we serve a great God who has blessed and kept us.

In closing, let me just say that, regardless what position each of us takes on the issue of Thanksgiving, let us base our position in Spirit and in Truth and give our God the glory. And regardless which side of the coin we land upon, let us have warm and blessed feelings towards one another and look forward to the next opportunity where we may fellowship and worship our Elohim.

Blessings to you. If you are observing a day of Thanks this week, have a blessed Thanksgiving. If you are not, have a wonderful day off in Yeshua Messiah. Take care, until next time.

Lashon Hara-The Sin You Never Knew You Were Committing-Torah Reading Numbers 12:1-15

by | Nov 19, 2020 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

Verse-by-Verse Discussion

 

Miriam and Aharon Engage in Subversive Conversation

Verse 1—Two of Moshe’s family members, Miriam and Aharon, engaged in some subversive conversation against Moshe. Moshe apparently married an Ethiopian woman which seemed to outrage the Miriam and Aharon. Now, depending on the translation you’re reading, the woman the two are referencing is labeled as either an Ethiopian or a Cushite (I.e., a descendant of Cush). And the billion dollar question screaming for an answer regarding this woman is: “Is Zipporah, wife of Moshe (at least one of his wives assuming he had another wife), mother of Moshe’s son Gershom, the daughter of Jethro who was the Priest of Midian, this so-called Ethiopian/Cushite woman that Mirian and Aharon were so beside themselves over?


Jethro: A Midianite/Kenite or a Cushite/Ethiopian?

 

Torah tells us that Jethro was a “Kenite” who resided in and served as a priest in the Land of Midian. It appears that the Kenites were a nomadic tribe that dwelt primarily in the Land of Midian, which supports most bible student’s understanding of Moshe’s Father-in-Law’s origins. It should be mentioned also that other names given to Jethro include Raguel and Reuel.

 

Regarding Jethro being a Kenite as expressed in the KJV, LEE, NET, NLT or rather a descendant of Kain according to ASV, CJB, CSB, ESV, NAB, NAS, NKJV, NRS and NRS, in order to resolve this mystery of who this Ethiopian or Cushite woman is, we must figure out if a Cushite/Ethiopian is also a Kenite or Midianite. It is apparent (despite the absence of the written word to this effect) that Moshe married another woman who happened to be an Ethiopian or Cushite. For it would seem as far as my research can uncover, Tzipporah was not an Ethiopian. The Midianites were actually descended from Avraham and of course Moshe was also a descendant of Avraham.

 

Midian was one of Avraham’s sons through Keturah, one of Avraham’s other wives (Genesis 25:1-4).

 

 

The Mystery of the Ethiopian/Cushite Wife of Moshe Discussed

 

The Book of Jasher and the Queen of Cush

Now, we know from Exodus 2:21 that Moshe was given Tzipporah as a wife by her father Jethro and the couple ended up having a son by the name of Gershom.

 

And so, that’s the skinny on Tzipporah and her background. But we still haven’t answered that billion dollar question that we all are biting at the bit to have answered: Is Tzipporah this mystery Ethiopian/Cushite woman that Moshe is supposed to have married and to have ignited a firestorm with Miriam and Aharon? I guess it’s possible that Tzipporah’s mother may have been a Cushite or Ethiopian and that’s how the writer of Numbers accounts for her Cushite or Ethiopian lineage. But of course the writer of Numbers (believed of course to be Moshe) did not mention Tzipporah’s mother at all in his write-up. So the chances of Tzipporah being this mystery Cushite/Ethiopian woman that Moshe married is somewhat unlikely.

 

Well, the Book of Jasher (one of the apocryphal books of the Tanach that was once embraced by both Jews and Romans Catholics) does support the thinking that Moshe had another wife. Jasher 73:30-31 thus reads:

 

“So Moses took the city by his wisdom, and the children of Cush placed him on the throne instead of Kikianus king of Cush. And they placed the royal crown upon his (Moshe’s) head, and they gave him for a wife Adoniah the Cushite queen, wife if Kikianus.”

 

Now the problem with this story is at least two-fold:

 

(1) For the most part, the Book of Jasher is no longer considered inspired or authoritative by most members of the Judeo-Christian faiths. And thus, with the exception of a small minority of open-minded scriptural-enthusiasts within and without our Faith, the overwhelming majority of people of faith would not entertain anything the Book of Jasher has to say on any subject.

 

 

(2) The Jasher story puts Moshe marrying this Ethiopian/Cushite queen in the Land of Cush some 40-years before his meeting and marrying Tzipporah in Midian. You see, the Book of Jasher details an enormous story around the life of Moshe after his fleeing Mitzriam, such that he leads the Cushites into a number of battles against their enemies and the Cushites in gratitude make Moshe their king. As King, Moshe is given this Ethiopian or Cushite queen to marry, but apparently, Moshe never consummates the marriage. And then 40-years later, Moshe leaves the Land of Cush, apparently without his queen-wife, and ends up in the Land of Midian where he takes up residence in Jethro’s home, ultimately marrying Jethro’s daughter Tzipporah.

 

Of course, none of this is covered in the Torah narrative. Interestingly, Jasher gives only a passing mention of the story that is contained in our Reading: only mentioning YHVH’s wrath being kindled upon “Miriam on account of Moshe” resulting in her “becoming leprous” and her being confined outside of the camp for 7-days (83:31-32). Absolutely no mention given of this mysterious Ethiopian/Cushite wife of Moshe. And given Jasher’s sparse acceptance as a credible historical text, we can only take the book’s explanation of who this Ethiopian/Cushite wife of Moshe was with prayerful and meditative caution.

 

The last thing I’ll say about Jasher and it’s treatment of the Moshe story is: I think we must be cautious when dealing with some of these types of stories such as Moshe ruling over the Cushite nation for 40 years. I’m not rejecting Jasher as a credible extra-biblical source. I personally believe the book is credible in many respects, as are the books of Jubilees and Enoch. I’m just cautious when studying them, knowing that men had this tendency to inserting themselves into the things of Yah. Yes, I’m talking about altering and manipulating the original texts, as they’ve done with our present canon of scripture, in order to further an agenda.

 

Moshe being such a giant in Jewish history, like revered leaders throughout the world over the centuries, legends and myths tend to develop around them and their life stories: those legends and myths are of course designed to make these leaders bigger than life. And certainly Moshe was bigger than life in many respects. But his bigness, if you will, didn’t come from his persona or from anything he personally did in his life and in the history of Israel. His bigness came from and because of YHVH, period. Thus, there was no need to make the man bigger than life as some of the sages have sought to do in developing their stories about Moshe. Yah must get the glory, not Moshe.

 

Josephus and the Ethiopian King’s Daughter

 

Josephus also provides somewhat of an explanation of who this mystery wife of Moshe may be by recording a story that Moshe led an Ethiopian army into some battle where he was victorious over their enemies. And because Moshe proved to be such a great leader to the Ethiopian military, the daughter of the king of the Ethiopians became so enamored with Moshe that she married him (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 2, Chapter 10).

 

Granted, Josephus does enjoy a bit more credibility and authority in and around Judeo-Christian circles than the Book of Jasher. But there appears to be mounting evidence that maybe, just maybe, this mystery woman is in fact Moshe’s first or second wife.

 

Targum’s Treatment of the Moshe’s Mystery Wife

 

Another perspective on Moshe’s Ethiopian or Cushite wife can be found in the Okelos Targum’s translation of Numbers 12:1. The Okelos translates the Kuwshiyth to mean “fair” or “beautiful,” such that this verse reads:

 

“And Miriam and Aharon spake against Moshe, because of the fair woman whom he had taken, because the fair woman who had been sent away he had taken” (12:1; OKE).

 

In this case, there are some orthodox Jews who contend that Tzipporah was indeed beautiful and that the term Cushite that was used to describe her was in fact a complimentary description of her. As such, it suggests that Miriam and Aharon took issue to the attractiveness of Moshe’s wife. Crazy huh? And this I have a problem with: Why would Moshe’s family have an issue with Moshe having an attractive wife? It makes absolutely no sense. But I guess it’s not outside the realm of possibility, presuming there’d be something more than just her looks to cause such dissension within the leadership.

 

Hebrew Orthodoxy and Moshe’s Mystery Wife

 

The last explanation I came across regarding Moshe’s mystery wife comes to us from Orthodox Judaism which contends that Midian is a synonym of Cushan. These cite Habakkuk 3:7 which reads:

 

“In affliction I saw the tents of Cushan: they trembled–the curtains of the land of Midian” (12:1; LEE).

 

J.H. Hertz, Torah and Haftorah author, states that Cushan is the home of the North Arabian people called Kusi. So, Hertz and others that follow after his line of reasoning, contend that this Cushite or Ethiopian woman was indeed the one and only Tzipporah.

 

My Personal Take on Moshe’s Mystery Wife

 

From my perspective, I have taken a more conservative view on the identity of Moshe’s Ethiopian/Cushite wife. I contend that Moshe likely did marry an Ethiopian or Cushite woman who was not the Midianite Tzipporah. Clearly, the event that is recorded here in Numbers 12:1 occurred some time after Moshe married Tzipporah. And here’s my argument in favor of Moshe having another wife:

 

Given that some time had by now passed since Moshe had married Tzipporah in the Land of Midian—years before Moshe was sent by Yah to lead the people out of Mitzriam, would it make any sense that Miriam and Aharon would criticize Moshe for marrying Tzipporah? Absolutely not. So, it would seem more than reasonable to conclude that this Ethiopian/Cushite woman was another unnamed woman whom Moshe married. Furthermore, is it possible that maybe even Tzipporah had died by this time, leaving Moshe a widower and primed to marry again? Exodus does not record what happened to Tzipporah. So I say that we cannot reject Tzipporah dying and Moshe remarrying. And it is this scenario that I lean towards in my understanding of this verse. Of course, if this matters to you, you’ll have to decide which scenario makes the most sense to you given the available information.

 

Lashon Hara (Evil Speech)

 

Okay, so having gotten that elephant in the room cleared out, we can now move on to the bigger issue surrounding Moshe and this Cushite wife of his, and that has to do with Miriam’s and Aharon’s criticism of Moshe over his Ethiopian/Cushite wife. And it is here that we learn about the concept of “Lashon Hara,” in English, “Evil Speech.”

 

We should be able to see a clear connection between the act of “Lashon Hara” and the act of “Murmuring.” We discussed murmuring quite a bit in our previous post, that being on Numbers 11:1-35. If you read or listened to that post, you will recall that the people “murmured” against Moshe (in reality they were murmuring against YHVH), and they were murmuring because they desired meat to eat. The people were bitterly discontent about their food situation, complaining about having just manna to eat. And these, in their murmuring longed for their former lives where they ate an abundance of food items, despite them being in bitter Egyptian servitude. And in response to their murmuring, YHVH’s wrath was poured out upon those residing in the outskirts of the camp in the form of a fire. Upon receiving word that Father’s fiery wrath had broken out in the camp among the people, Moshe petitioned YHVH to have mercy upon the people, which prompted Yah to cease the death and destruction. Furthermore, YHVH heard the frustrations of Moshe regarding his inability to fulfill the desires of the people for meat and YHVH provided the people with quail for a month: So much quail that the people quickly got sick of it.

 

The distinction between “Lashon Hara” that we see taking place here in our reading today, and the “murmuring” we saw in last week’s reading is that “Lashon Hara” leans more towards the act of “slander.” As we see portrayed in our reading, slander (lashon hara) is being directed towards Yah’s appointed leader: Moshe. And because Yah appointed Moshe to be leader over the people, Miriam’s and Aharon’s slander was in effect directed towards YHVH Himself. The bigger issue related to this slander in our focus passage today is that Moshe’s sister and brother were behind it. Miriam and Aharon, for all intents and purposes, by virtue of their close relationship with Moshe and their offices, Miriam a prophetess (Exodus 15:20) and Aharon the Levitical High Priest, were second and third in command. So it’s safe to say that there was dissension within the leadership ranks of the nation. And this dissension was in part over something as petty and foolish as Moshe’s wife’s heritage. And we’ll find out here shortly that Miriam’s and Aharon’s issue with Moshe went beyond Moshe’s wife. These also took issue with Moshe’s relationship with YHVH and his appointed and anointed position as the sole leader of the nation.

 

Now, like murmuring or complaining, slander/gossip/”lashon hara” is also a sin.And quite frankly, lashon hara, or slander, is a sin that many within and without our faith community commit on a frequent basis and they don’t even realize that they are in fact sinning when they engage in it. But we’ll talk more about this as we progress through the remainder of this discussion.


Questioning Moshe’s Authority and Leadership

 

 

Verse 2–Aharon and Miriam questioned Moshe’s authority and leadership, suggesting that YHVH had also spoken through them to the people. And somehow, the pair connected Moshe’s marriage to this Cushite/Ethiopian woman to Moshe’s authority as leader over the nation. There’s absolutely no way to tell exactly why Miriam and Aharon tied Moshe’s Cushite/Ethiopian wife to Moshe’s leadership/authority over the nation. And in my understanding of the story, it doesn’t seem too much of a stretch to recognize the real issue at at work here: Miriam and Aharon felt because they were Moshe’s siblings, they were authoritatively equal to Moshe. It’s likely that they were not “content” with their privileged status in the nation: they desired or coveted more power and authority than they presently possessed. They desired to share control over the nation and I believe they were having a difficult time coming to terms with the close and unshakable relationship YHVH had with Moshe.

The problem here is that Aharon and Miriam did not understand how YHVH works, nor did they “believe YHVH.” What do I mean by these two points?

  1. They did not recognize that YHVH was the One running the show and that it was YHVH who called the shots in terms of who would lead the nation. Neither they nor anyone else called the shots here. The buck stopped at YHVH. Family affiliations mattered in this situation only to the extent that Miriam and Aharon had rank and privilege within the nation: Aharon was the appointed High Priest and Miriam was an anointed prophetess. Yah is always sovereign and He can appoint whomsoever He chooses to lead His people.
  2. They did not believe YHVH when He stated and demonstrated to the nation that Moshe was His man to lead the nation (Exodus 19:20). And as we progress further along in our study here this evening, we will see even more evidence that Moshe was Yah’s man of the hour. There would be no other.

 

Verse 3–All indications are that this verse was added by Hebrew scribes at some point in history as evidenced by the brackets around the whole verse. Nevertheless, this verse serves as an editorial on the person of Moshe: that Moshe was the humblest person on this planet. It’s hard to imagine Moshe wrote this of himself.

 

And of course, the other person to whom this level of humility can be applied to is Yahoshua HaMashiyach:

 

“Take My yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29).

 

There is indeed some scholarly debate as to whether or not Moshe actually wrote verse 3 or not. But it could be safely determined that Moshe was aware of Miriam’s and Aharon’s badmouthing of him. Yet Moshe took no action to stave their slandering or evil speech against him. But in that same vein, it is a certainty that YHVH was fully aware of Miriam’s and Aharon’s slanderous conversation.

 

Report to My Office Immediately

Verse 4-5-Suddenly, as the text expresses, YHVH calls Moshe, Aharon and Miriam out to the front of the Tabernacle. Hebraist and Messianic Torah teacher Tim Hegg describes what happened here in a most profound way:

 

“In the secret rooms of slander, God’s ear is attentive.”

 

Hegg also adds something quite interesting to the discussion here that I’d not given much thought to prior to reading his commentary on this passage. And what he proposes is that YHVH was responding to Miriam’s slander and to Aharon’s entertaining of Miriam’s slander. For there’s no indication that Aharon actually verbalized his thoughts during his subversive conversation with Miriam. And I would have to agree with Mr. Hegg on this nuance as it seems to bear some weight on how Yah will mete out punishment for their actions later on in the story.

 

But as the story goes, Yah descends down from heaven in the form of a “pillar of cloud” and He stood before the entrance to the Tabernacle. Yah then summons Aharon and Miriam to step forward towards Him. And both no doubt being extremely terrified of the prospects facing them, they do as they are commanded.

 

In Case You Did Not Know

 

Verse-6-8-So Father proceeds to inform Aharon and Miriam that Moshe is unique in His calling. In pointing out why Moshe is unique in his calling, Father distinguishes Moshe from, on the one hand, a prophet who YHVH reveals Himself to, primarily in visions, dreams, even parables from time-to-time. On the other hand, according to YHVH, He speaks to Moshe directly, “mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles,” and Moshe also physically sees a manifestation of the Almighty  during His interactions with YHVH. In fact, Moshe WAS privy to direct, one on one conversations with the Almighty, unlike prophets who would receive communications from Yah via dreams or visions. Thus in the case of prophets, there is generally no two way direct communication. In Moshe’s case he’s certainly fully conscious and fully engaged in conversation with YHVH. Father considered Moshe alone as “trustworthy” in all YHVH’s household (cf. Hebrews 3:2, 5).In other words, Moshe was found worthy of the Creator’s confidence in everything pertaining to his leadership of the nation of Israel.

 

Why Did You Slander Your Brother?

 

So with all this said, Father asks the pair the simple question: Knowing the difference in how Yah works and interacts and communicates with Moshe and other servants of YHVH such as prophets, why in the world would you think to speak evil against your brother Moshe?

 

What Father is saying to Miriam and Aharon, and by extension us today, is that the instructions and commandments that come to the nation from Moshe is the prototype and test by which all other revelations of YHVH is to be judged. In fact, whatever comes out of Moshe’s mouth can be taken as coming directly from YHVH. Unlike prophets that receive revelation from Yah in a vision or dream and their messages are to be scrutinized accordingly, the revelation that Moshe passes on to the nation is not to be questioned nor scrutinized.

 

Torah: The Foundation of our Faith

 

This is the foundation of our Faith: Torah–the Word of Yah-which was delivered to us by Moshe and it is to stand without question. Those who choose to question Moshe’s authority stand to be judged without mercy. How many people have taken the dangerous position of teaching and preaching a message that Moshe and Torah no longer have any authority in the life of Yah’s people (reference Hebrews 10:28). Are these, in a sense, like Miriam and Aharon: subject to some form of punishment to be meted out by the Almighty? I would say, yeah, probably.

 

Punishment is Coming

 

Verse 9-10-After delivering this sobering edict to Miriam and Aharon, the record shows that Yah angrily departed their presence. And at this point in the story my imagination is drawn to those movies where something terrible is about to happen, but the perpetrator of that terrible thing is not visible to the viewers at that moment. So ominous and terrifying music usually puts forth a sense of tense anticipation of what is about to happen; anticipation of the shoe dropping any moment and someone(s) end up dead. I can imagine that Miriam and Aharon may have been literally peeing on themselves in utter terror of what was about to happen: you know, that “Oh Snap” moment.

 

But once YHVH’s presence had left the scene, Aharon turns to Miriam, no doubt in complete terror of what is going to happen to them; and he sees his sister leprous. The text described Miriam’s body as appearing “white as snow.” And no doubt, the extent of her leprosy communicated to anyone in eyesight of her, a death sentence. Conversely, Miriam would have been utterly mortified over her appearance. No doubt Aharon was confused as to why he had not been stricken with the leprosy as well. No doubt Moshe, who was close by was filled with a variety of thoughts and emotions. I would imagine that Moshe thought his sister was a “dead woman walking.” It’s possible Moshe felt responsible for what had happened to his sister. There’s just so much to imagine here as it relates to the possible emotions and thoughts of the three.


Leprosy—A Terrible Disease

 

Generally, leprosy itself would not cause immediate, direct death. Leprosy was one of those opportunistic diseases that in many cases leads to a complete breakdown of the body after a prolonged period of painful sores and nerve damage over the victims’ entire body (www.healthtap.com). Probably the most bitter part of leprosy was that, because leprosy is relatively contagious and if not checked and quarantine could decimate an entire community of people. So victims of this disease in ancient times were ejected from and abandoned by their communities. And certainly, Miriam would be facing all of what we just mentioned unless she would be delivered through some miraculous intervention by the Almighty.You see, there was and is to this day, no cure for leprosy. But in order for that to happen, Moshe would be required to interceded on her behalf.

 

Begging For Miriam’s Life

 

Verse 11-12-Aharon turns to Moshe and pleads for the life of his sister in what we could say is a strange twist of fortune. For it was just shortly before the trio was called out to the Tabernacle by YHVH that Miriam and Aharon were engaged in the sin of “lashon hara” or slander/evil speech against Moshe. And that “lashon hara” (aka subversion; evil speak; slander against Yah and His man) consisted of challenges to Moshe’s authority and personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe. And what Yah has set up here in sight of not just the trio (that being Aharon, Miriam and Moshe), but even those of the nation who may have been nearby, is a full endorsement of Moshe’s leadership and certification of all that Father had said to Miriam and Aharon. For this incident would serve as a terrible example and reminder for the people that when you seek to undermine Yah and the authority that He has given to His servant Moshe, you transgress Yah’s Word and you are subject to the penalty and condemnation of Torah which is death. And this is what Miriam was facing here at this juncture of our story.

 

One of the big points to be gleaned here is that Aharon, in his pleading with Moshe to intercede on behalf of their sister, brilliantly demonstrated Aharon’s total and complete submission to Moshe’s God-given authority over not just the nation, but over him (Aharon) as well.

 

Verse 13–And of course true to Moshe’s humble and caring nature, Moshe cries out to YHVH:

 

“Oh God, please heal her–please” (ESV).

 

Surely Moshe could have shied away from petitioning Yah for the healing of his sister, but he could not bear to see her suffer one second longer, despite what she’d done in an attempt to undermine His authority through her committing “lashon hara.” So with much agony Moshe pleaded with the Almighty to heal Miriam as evidenced by the double use of the word “please” in the one verse.

 

Obviously Moshe had forgiven Miriam and Aharon as evidenced in his petitioning Yah for Miriam’s healing. Clearly Moshe demonstrated for us all, proper Kingdom behavior. In fact, Moshe imaged Yeshua-focused Torah Living and he did so some 1,500 or more years before Yeshua taught the following:

 

“Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smitheth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:28-31; KJV)

 

There’s a Lesson to be Learned Here by Miriam

Verse 14-16-In response to Moshe’s desperate petition, YHVH responds with something akin to Miriam needing to be taught a lesson. And interestingly, Yah uses the example and comparison of a parent who sets out to shame his daughter for something she did to disgrace her family, whereby the parent puts the daughter into a 7-day “time out” as a rebuke. Thus, Miriam’s crime/sin is significantly more serious than, let’s say, a daughter disrespecting her parents. Miriam’s sin was subversive in nature, and because of the severity of this sin, Miriam most certainly could have been subject to death.

 

So, YHVH extended grace towards Miriam. And thus Miriam’s punishment for her “lashon hara” was spending a miserable 7-days in shame outside the camp. Some may see this punishment as being a bit too harsh. But the truth of the matter is that Miriam deserved death in exchange for her evil speech. Indeed, the wages of sin is always going to be death, but the gift of YHVH is life eternal through Yeshua Messiah (Romans 6:23). We live today under the Law of Grace.” We have grace extended to us and thus we are not subject to the condemnation of Torah. However, just because we are saved from eternal death as a result of Yah’s grace through the workings of Yeshua Messiah, when we sin—when we offend Yah—when we transgress His Torah–we, like Miriam, may be subject to some form of punishment. Scripture is clear that we reap what we sow. And reaping what we sow is not just about reaping blessings because of the good things we do, but also reaping punishments for the sins that we commit (Job 4:8). And here’s the spiritual dilemma that a great many of us find ourselves facing from time-to-time: we commit sins, some of those sins unwittingly, and as a result we receive punishment for those sins. Ignorance of Torah does not insulate us from punishment. Father was clear: “…your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:20). Aharon, in pleading for the life of his sister said to Moshe that what he and Miriam were doing in their conversation was a foolish act. And it was because of the severity of Miriam’s punishment that Aharon recognized that his and Miriam’s foolish action was actually a sin (verse 11). In their badmouthing and slandering of their brother, Miriam and Aharon were sinning. They had no clue they were sinning.

 

Folks, let this Torah Reading serve as a lesson to us all that the unwitting sins we commit subject us to punishment. And it behooves us to seek Yeshua Messiah’s intercession to petition Father’s forgiveness for the foolish things we do that are in reality sinful acts. In my prayers I make it a point to always ask Father to forgive me for the things I’ve done to offend Him and transgress His Torah and to reveal those sinful things that I’ve done unknowingly to me so that I may not repeat them in the future. And this reading proved to be a revelation to me for I have been known from time-to-time to engage in critical conversations about people in leadership positions. For there’s nothing wrong about disagreeing with another person’s position on certain things. That’s not sinful to articulate your disagreement of another’s position on an issue. However, it is sinful when we cast judgments, slanders and other hateful and evil speech towards those we disagree with. Why? Because such speech serves only to diminish the object of our slanders in the eyes of others. And boy do we see a lot of this being played out today in the political landscape: not just by so-called journalists and political pundits, but more so by everyday people like you and me. Terrible and slanderous things are being uttered and written by folks from all walks of life against those who are in leadership positions over us. Yah put those folks in the positions they’re in, whether we choose to believe it or not.

 

Regarding this very thing, Shaul wrote:

 

“Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work…” (Titus 3:1; KJV).

 

“Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of Yah; and the powers that be are ordained of Yah” (Romans 13:1; ASV).

 

The Apostle Peter also wrote:

 

“Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Master’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of Yah, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men” (1 Peter 2:13-15; KJV).

Back to our verses:

 

So Miriam was confined or quarantined to the outside of the camp in accordance with Torah–Leviticus 13:46. And again, as a result of Yah’s grace, Yah held off moving the nation from their present location until the end of the 7-days when Miriam was permitted back into the camp. (Yah’s grace must never be overlooked or marginalized in Torah). The passage doesn’t address it directly, but we can safely presume that Miriam was fully restored to her former health and vitality. Given that the Levitical quarantine for leprosy was 14-days and Miriam was quarantined for only 7-days supports the assumption that Miriam was fully healed. And the camp moved out from Hazeroth, on to the wilderness of Paran.

 

Why Not Aharon?

 

The logical question to be asked here is, why didn’t Aharon receive the same or equal punishment to that of Miriam? Wasn’t this the second biggest screw-up of Aharon where he escapes punishment: the first being the golden calf incident back in Exodus 32?

 

Well, Tim Hegg suggests that Aharon was not the one who committed the slander, but was simply the one listening and possibly agreeing to Miriam’s slander of Moshe. Thus, Aharon’s role in the “lashon hara” was one of being “guilty by association” or as “one who invited the slander” to take place in his/her presence. Aharon, in his begging Moshe for the life of his sister, stated that he and Miriam’s slanderous actions was foolishness, absent malice or ill-intent. But as Hegg points out, “lashon hara is not judged on the basis of the ill-intentions of the offenders. Lashon hara is sin and it must be dealt with one way or another. There can be no emotion attached to the sin problem.

 

I don’t necessarily agree nor disagree with Mr. Hegg’s position on Aharon here. All we know for certain is Yah is always playing 4-D chess so to speak whenever He is dealing with His human creation. And Yah knew exactly what He was doing and what the outcome would be as a result of His response to the slandering by Miriam with Aharon’s participation.

Bottom Line

 

As it relates to us today, all sin, including the sin of slander requires the work of an intercessor to address that sin issue. Like we saw brilliantly demonstrated in our Torah Reading today, Miriam and Aharon desperately needed an intercessor, otherwise Miriam would die a lonely, miserable death outside the nation. And their intercessor turned out to be the very one who they slandered: Moshe.

 

Of course, for us today, our intercessor is none other than our Master, Yahoshua HaMashiyach. And in a great sense, we can safely say from our reading here today that Moshe served as a type of Mashiyach since he effectively rendered unto Miriam intercession unto Yah to commute her death sentence. Like Miriam, we receive forgiveness of our sins when we seek Yah’s forgiveness through the intercessory work of Master Yeshua and upon forgiveness, we are graciously accepted back into the royal priesthood.

 

Whether we realize it or not, we all are guilty of some form of “lashon hara” throughout our lives. And the simple fact of the matter is that many of us are committing the act of “lashon hara” at various and sundry times (some multiple times throughout the day, and we don’t even realize it.) We all must be on guard of this pervasive sin that has the potential of spiritually grounding each of us if we don’t take needed spiritual precautions.

 

Well, some of you may disagree with my position on such things as badmouthing (slandering) politicians is a sin, citing that politicians or public officials do not fall within the category of God’s people. And that is definitely true that politicians do not generally fall within the category of YHVH’s elect. But again we must remember that YHVH places into positions of power those who He chooses to fulfill His Will in the earth. So for us to slander any person in leadership—whether they be within or without our Faith Community (yes, I’m also talking about the leaders in our Faith Community), for whatever reason, is tantamount to committing the very sin that Miriam was punished for committing. So we have to be very careful when engaging in dialogue against individuals in leadership positions, regardless who they may be. It’s better to exercise Godly wisdom and control over our tongues whenever we speak. For Master Himself certified that:

 

“…every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36; KJV).

 

Folks, this is exactly why we need to diligently study Torah and the teachings and example of Master Yahoshua HaMashiyach. For ignorance of such things as “lashon hara” may lead to consequences in our lives. That’s why when we pray, it is important that we ask Yah to reveal to us those areas–those habits–those unwitting sins that we commit in our lives that offend Him and transgress His Torah. And the great thing about Yeshua-focused Torah Living is that we have in Torah and in the teachings of Yeshua “ensample unto us” such that we may not live ungodly lives (2 Peter 2:6).

 

The other thing we have to be conscious of us is our motives when engaging in potentially controversial discussions about other people. Do we possess a right heart about the matter in question? Or do we seek to diminish the target  of our slander before the eyes and minds of others? These are what I would call “check point questions” that we must ask ourselves before engaging in certain conversations.

 

I often peruse various online news sites for my news each day, and at times I find myself vehemently disagreeing with something that perhaps someone says regarding an issue. And at the very bottom of most of these online articles, the sites provide the means for leaving comments. And in those times when I am compelled to respond to an issue that may be somewhat controversial, I have come to learn that I must always check my intentions before entering a comment. For I have found that at times my frustrations and ire over the things that the article may have addressed is motivating me to respond in a potentially slanderous way. And if I recognize that my heart ain’t right during those times, I back away and not write anything and move on to the next article or whatever.

 

We should know ourselves and know the state of our hearts at all times. And in order to do that, we have the help of the Ruach HaKodesh to convict us of our ill-intentions and darkened hearts (1 John 3:20).

 

Yah is on our side. And He certainly does not want to see us fall into the sin of “lashon hara” and risk incurring His wrath. Yah wants to see us succeed. We just have to play the game of life according to His rules and open ourselves to self-examination at all times. We have the victory over sin in our lives already in our grasp. We simply have to walk in that victory.

 

I pray you got something out of this study today. If you have any questions or comments of an edifying nature, please feel free to leave them in the comment boxes below this post on our website themessianictorahobserver.

 

Until next time, may you be most blessed, fellow saints in training.

 

Shalom and blessings to you.

Finding Contentment in our Faith–Torah Reading-Numbers 11:1-35

by | Nov 12, 2020 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

 

 
 

Finding Contentment in our Faith–Torah Reading–Numbers 11:1-35

Verse 1–-The peoples’ complaining or murmuring (complaining about their hardships openly in Taberah or The Place of Burning) displeased Yah which led to His wrath coming down upon the people in the form of fire that consumed those in the extreme parts of the camp. The LXX suggests that the complaining was sinful in nature. Why would complaining be considered sinful in the sight of YHVH? Well, quite simply this: the bitter complaining that can take place within and among smaller disgruntled groups of individuals has the potential of creating and then spreading subversion, uprising, chaos and confusion throughout the whole organization. And if there’s anything our Father hates as much as He hates sin, it’s chaos and confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). And generally speaking, those that initiate such harmful complaints do so with clear ill-intent. In other words, these are often looking to stir up trouble within the organization in the hope of getting their way. Furthermore, when we drill down to the basis of the malcontents’ complaints or murmurs, we find that their problem was not with Moshe as many would conclude from a simple cursory reading of our focus passage, but their issue was actually with YHVH. 

 

We find in Exodus 16: 8 confirmation of this which reads:

 

“Moshe added, ‘What I have said will happen when YHVH gives you meat to eat this evening and your fill of bread tomorrow morning. YHVH has listened to your complaints and grumblings against Him–what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against YHVH'” (CJB).

 

 

Now, in all fairness, it would appear that some of the malcontents brought their complaints of not having meat to eat directly to Moshe and possibly the Levites (which is the right thing to do), while the remaining members grumbled and created contention throughout the fringe areas of the camp. 

 

Verses 2-3–-In response to the fiery wrath that was wrought upon the people residing in the fringe areas of the camp, the people cried out to Moshe for help. Moshe responded to the people’s cry for help by praying unto YHVH for His intervention in this dire situation. And in response to Moshe’s prayer, the fire that broke out upon those residing in the fringe areas of the camp abated. (cf. Num. 21:7) 

 

Father’s Harsh Response to Murmuring

 

Why did Father respond so harshly to the murmurings of the people, especially to the murmurings of those residing in the fringe areas of the camp. Well, Abba does not take well to those that express ungratefulness.  And certainly we have our share of such individuals within and without our community even today. Furthermore I would add, the hearts of those who were behind the murmuring, I would guess in particular those in the fringe areas of the camp, were evil. And the evil that resides in people’s hearts often lead to evil speech. Master addressed this very issue when Prushim (aka Pharisees) out of Yerushalayim accused Him of casting demons out of people by the power of ba’al zevuv, the prince of demons:

 

“You brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the treasure of a good heart brings forth good things; and an evil man out of an evil treasure brings forth evil things. Therefore I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall give account in the day of judgment. By your own words you shall be justified, and by your own words you shall be condemned” (Matthew 12:24; Rood). 

 

And certainly, those who murmured in the outer areas of the camp were condemned to a fiery end were they not?

 

Difference of Opinion

 

Now, at least one commentator that I highly respect somewhat sympathizes with the complainers and their lot, suggesting that we ourselves would likely have complained if faced with the same situation and prospects as the ancients were; and that we must put ourselves in their shoes before casting critical stones at them and their sad story. But I take a little issue with that stance/position. I strongly believe what we have here in this passage is something much greater than just simple whining or complaining over having to eat manna for breakfast, lunch and dinner for an indeterminable amount of time. Rather, I believe Yah was more concerned and upset with the intensity and form of complaints put forth by members of the mixed multitude. Abba clearly recognized that the level and type of complaining that was taking place, especially in the outskirts of the camp, were potentially dangerous and possibly bordering on being subversive (Prov. 6:19). 

 

Could Father Have Been Testing the Mixed Multitude?

 

This is just me: Father has this propensity to test His people. Look for example at the life-walk of Avraham and how YHVH tested him a number of times to see whether Avraham believed Yah or not. And Avraham passed all of Yah’s tests, the most powerful test he passed being Avraham offering up his son Yitchaq to Yah. In that testing Yah said unto Avraham:

 

“…Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest Yah, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me” (Genesis 22:12; KJV).

 

And so it was because of Avraham’s steadfast belief in Yah and passing Yah’s tests that Abba credited his belief–Avraham’s trust in Yah as “righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). 

 

As it relates to our Torah Reading here this evening, I highly suspect this was another iteration of testing that Father was putting the nation through. And certainly forcing folks to eat manna for all three of their daily meals for an indeterminable period of time is a very trying challenging thing for anyone to endure. But it would ultimately come down to how each of those who were being tested responded to the test: Would they endure the test and overcome the challenge, or would they push back at the test and rebel? And I believe that those residing in the outskirts of the camp responded to the testing in a rebellious manner and Father stemmed the rebellion by consuming those who complained the worse with His consuming fire. 

 

Now, I have no proof that this was some form of a test. Nevertheless, how Yah’s people respond to situations that Father places them in is very telling of the state of the people’s heart. For our Elohim (aka our God) does not shy away from testing his peoples’ hearts:

 

Jeremiah 17:10–“I, Yehovah, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings” (ASV). 

 

Nevertheless, I believe if the members of the mixed multitude were in a proper spiritual place, such that their hearts were right towards YHVH; such that they would have taken to heart the many wonders they’d witnessed in the course of their wilderness journey, knowing that their Elohim (their God) would ultimately be true to His words and promises and provide for all of their needs and concerns. What was it that Shaul wrote to the Messianic Assembly in Philippi concerning this very thing:

 

“Moreover, my God will fill every need of yours according to His glorious wealth, in union with the Messiah Yeshua” (4:19). 

 

I will say, however, that the bigger lesson to draw from this dynamic story is the fact that Yah’s people are not to live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of YHVH (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4). This is not saying that Yah’s elect are to ignore their nutritional needs. Humans require food in order to live. But what Father was trying to get across to His people, and by extension us today, is that Yah has sovereignty over the entire universe, especially over His Children. For when one gives their life over to the full control of Yah, Yah takes care of their overall well-being and sustenance. Real life emerges not from the food we desire and crave, but from every Word that proceeds from Yah’s mouth. Thus focusing our efforts and attentions in this life solely upon Yah’s eternal Will and Word leads to life. The life of the elect is effectively sustained by Yah’s Word. Do we still need to eat in order to stay alive in this body? Yes, of course we do. However, when we give ourselves over completely to Yah, He in turn provides for all our needs as Yeshua our Master promised: 

 

“Seek ye first the Kingdom of Yah and His righteousness,” and all these things (every need and care of life) will be given to you” (Matthew 6:33). 

 

And let me just put this out there as it relates to this issue of living by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of YHVH. Yah has the ability to defy all reason and sustain His people physically if He so chooses. Think about Moshe who would go up into the Mount of Yah without any food or water that we know of for 40-days and nights to meet with the Almighty. How was Moshe sustained during those times? Only by the Word of Yah. So I ask you, why couldn’t the Almighty sustain His people today in the same manner as He did Moshe if Yah so willed. He most certainly could and likely would of course. We have no idea what Yah has in store for His people in the days and years ahead do we? Yah’s elect in the End Times for instance, may find themselves being entirely sustained by the Word of YHVH in accordance with His eternal Will.

 

It’s a matter of belief and trust in the Almighty that He will do what He promised He’d do. And obviously, the naysayers in our Torah Reading here today failed to recognize this critical truth.

 

The other important thing I must add to this discussion is that what Moshe did here in his expressing frustrations directly to Yah was not a sin. Murmuring in and of itself is NOT of Yah. Murmuring for all intents and purposes has NO place in the lives of Yah’s people. 

 

Rav Shaul directed the Messianic Assemblies in Corinth and Philippi respectively concerning murmuring:

 

“Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer” (1 Corinthians 10:10; KJV).

 

“Do all things without murmurings and disputing…” (Philipiians 2:14).

 

Murmuring is complaining of one’s situation to someone(s) else for the express purposes of getting what one wants. Murmuring is a direct affront to the Almighty. It’s not the way to get Yah to heed and positively respond to your concerns and needs. The proper way to get Yah to positively respond to one’s needs is to go to yah with the right attitude and heart. The writer of Psalms wrote concerning this the following:

 

“Yehovah is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as are of a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:18; cf. 51:17; Isaiah 57:15; KJV). 

 

 

What Moshe did in response to the situation recorded in our Torah Reading here today was to go directly to Yah with the problem. Moshe did not pour out his frustrations and concerns to Aharon for instance. He went to Yah and pour out his heart to Him. And despite Moshe’s words being somewhat hard hitting; maybe bordering on the disrespectful even. And we see from this outpouring from Moshe that our God is a big Elohim and He can more than take it when His elect express the frustrations they have with Him. Clearly Moshe was being transparent with the Almighty here and Yah saw the purity in Moshe’s heart towards Yah. It’s when Yah’s people hide their concerns from Yah and instead murmur and vent the frustrations they have with Yah to others is when things get a bit dicey. As I’ve mentioned numerous times throughout this post, Yah doesn’t like acts of murmuring and ungratefulness. And this is the contrast that we see between the way the mixed multitude handled their situation and the way Moshe handled the same situation. Abba took to heart the things Moshe was saying and He set out to address Moshe’s problem immediately. That’s the way our Elohim works. 

 

Verses 4-6–The mixed multitude was behind much of the complaining, although the children of Israel are recorded to have also  “wept” about their food situation. This mixed multitude consisted of what I like to refer to as “hangers on” that latched-on to the Hebrews as they departed out of Mitzraim, aka Egypt (Exo. 12:38). These once again started looking back at what they now portrayed as a life of leisure during their time of bitter servitude in Mitzraim. In comparison they described their present situation as them being famished without any hope for the future (cf. Numbers 21:5). But the truth of the matter was that they had grown tired of the manna which Yah provided as food for them. They were not hungry. Yah was true to His Word and He provided them more than enough food (albeit in the form of manna) to live.

 

Verses 7-9-These verses describe the appearance of the manna which Yah used to feed the people. Its appearance was similar to that of the “coriander seed.” Coriander seed is an eastern herb used today in traditional recipes. Furthermore, coriander has natural medicinal benefits. (Assuming the manna that Father provided the ancient was anything thing like coriander, let’s just say, we can safely conclude that their nutritional needs were well taken care of.) 

 

Now, as to how the manna would be consumed, the people upon gathering the manna would routinely grind it and bake it into cakes. It was said to have the sweet taste of oil. It was also described as being round in shape. It fell with the early morning dew each day. It would be gathered each morning before the sun melted it away. Yah’s manna was quite tasty and it must have contained sufficient nutrients to sustain a person throughout their day-to-day activities.

 

What you’ll find as you research manna in scripture is that scholars have gone out of their way to undermine the astoundingly miraculous nature of manna as recorded in Torah. They’ve attempted to tell the world that Yah’s manna was actually derived from the tarfa tree, which is a type of tamarisk, and that manna exudes from the trunks of this tree and forms small, round white grains” (Fausset’s Bible Dictionary). They’ve even gone so far as to suggest time frames in which manna would appear; the amounts of manna that one could expect from a crop of manna; and locations where such manna would be found, all the while ignoring the miraculous nature of this food as recorded in the books of Numbers and in Exodus. 

 

But Genesius (19th century Christian Hebraist, Lutheran theologian, biblical scholar and critic) gave great credence to the miraculous regarding manna:

  • It was not found under any tamarisk but on the surface of the desert.
  • The quantity of manna needed to sustain the multitude cannot be overlooked. (We’re talking upwards of 2 or so million souls by some estimates.)
  • The manna ceased each Shabbat for 40-straight years, ending permanently when Israel conquered Canaan.
  • Yah’s manna could be ground and baked into cakes. The tamarisk droppings were condiment in nature and could not be ground and baked as Yah’s manna could.
  • It sustained Israel throughout their wanderings in whatever place their feet touched.

 

Verses 10-15-Moshe hears the weeping of the families, apparently of those who were killed as a result of Yah’s fiery wrath. This weeping angers both the Almighty and Moshe. And In his ire, Moshe turns to Yah and calls Yah to task for the immense burden the Almighty placed upon Moshe in leading this people. This is not the only time Moshe finds himself at wits’ end regarding the people, as we see a similar complaint from him towards Yah in Exodus 5:22 and Deuteronomy 1:12. 

 

In desperation, Moshe takes Yah to task, questioning and castigating Yah’s unreasonableness in placing oversight of the people on him as if he, Moshe, was their parent or something. And obviously Moshe’s frustration is a reflection of his fearful concerns over what was to happen to him and the people he was leading. He questions where he is going to find meat to feed the hundreds of thousands of people in that desolate desert, all the while overlooking (whether intentionally or not) that Yah had previously provided, miraculously so, for the nation, from their time in Mitzraim till that present time. Moshe felt tremendous pressure from the people and that pressure trumped the belief/faith he should have had that YHVH would provide for the needs, and even the demands of the people. 

 

Yes, it’s quite easy for me to sit here and criticize Moshe’s deportment before Yah when I’ve personally never been in such a dire situation as this. However, looking back in my past as a manager and administrator, I have gone through periods of time of terrible pressure and frustration and fear that I would not be able to deliver the things my employees needed or demanded for various reasons. Unlike Moshe however, during those tense days, I rarely thought to turn those pressing situations over to Yah and let Him take care of it. I’ve since come to terms with my lack of trust in Yah during those years of oversight and have repented for my lack of trust in Yah to take care of my situation. Moshe did what he was supposed to do. Yes, Moshe was not elegant or polished or perfect in terms of how he communicated his concerns to Yah, but He knew which side his spiritual bread (no pun intended) was buttered. He knew that he personally had no ability nor resource to provide the meat that the nation was demanding. The only thing one can say against Moshe in this case is that he did not recognize from the start that it wasn’t his place to provide for the needs of the people: it was entirely YHVH’s responsibility. And I’m not sure that Moshe realized this truth fully. 

 

But in Moshe’s unloading on Yah here, he reveals to Yah a central truth that says it all: 

 

“I can’t carry this entire people by myself alone–it’s too much for me!” (verse 14; CJB). 

 

Boy, no truer words have ever been spoken heh? Moshe realized, although I’m not fully convinced that he fully recognized, that Father never ever put the burden of providing for the mixed multitude’s material and food needs upon Moshe’s shoulders. That was Abba’s concern. Not to mention that Moshe was a mere man and he possessed no ability to provide for the people at a level that they desired. And that’s what each of us must come to terms with whenever faced with difficult and seemingly impossible situations in our lives: Take it to YHVH and let Him take care of our problems. 

 

 

Folks, we don’t possess the wherewithal to change most circumstances that occur in our lives. Oh, many of us believe that we have the smarts and some of us believe that we even have the material resources to affect the changes we believe are necessary to fix many of our life’s problems. But after we fall flat on our faces enough times and see that we really can’t fix many of the problems that crop up in our lives on our own, we are forced to turn to Yah and place the burden upon Him. Sadly many of us, even when faced with this sobering reality, still refuse to take our burdens to Yah and leave them before His Throne of Grace. Why? For many of us, it’s a matter of belief: We most certainly believe in Yah, but we don’t believe Yah. We don’t believe Yah will deliver on our situation. And truth be told, we simply can’t stand the thought that maybe Yah will fix our situation in a way that doesn’t quite match the way we want the problem fixed. We’re afraid to allow Yah to take complete control of our situation just as many of us are afraid to allow Yah to completely take over and rule our lives. 

 

It was during a meal that our Master shared with some friends of His that He commented on this very issue of trusting Yah to take care of our life’s needs:

 

“I say to you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat; neither for the body, what you shall put on. The life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; neither do they have storehouse nor barn; and YHVH feeds them. How much more are you better than the birds? Which of you with anxious thought can add to his stature one cubit? If you are not able to do that thing which is least, why be anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow: they do not toil, they do not spin fabric; and yet I say to you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Then if YHVH clothes the grass, which is in the field today, and is cast into the oven tomorrow; how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? Seek not what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, neither be of a doubtful mind. All these things the worldly gentiles pursue: but your Father knows that you need these things. But rather pursue the kingdom of YHVH and all these things  shall be added to you” (Luke 12:22-31; Rood). 

 

Continuing: Moshe pours it on pretty heavy in verse 15 and Stern’s CJB gives what I believe is a very heartfelt interpretation of what Moshe was going through as he aired his grievances to YHVH. Moshe tells Father: 

 

“If you are going to treat me this way, then just kill me outright! Please, if you have any mercy toward me! And don’t let me go on being this miserable.”

 

This verse provides an excellent synopsis of the level of frustration Moshe had over the demands of the people: would you agree? We see this level of internal struggle and agony in other patriarchs of the Faith:

 

Job 7:15—“So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.”

 

Jonah 4:3—“Therefore now, O’ YHVH, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.” 

 

Indeed, true service to Yah is not easy. Sometimes I feel as though most of us who are of Faith who reside in the United States, are uber spoiled. Most of us go throughout our day-to-day walk with Mashiyach and the worse thing we have to sort out is what we’re going to tweet or facebook out that day; what are we going to eat for breakfast or dinner; what teaching we’re going to watch on YouTube; and so forth. We aren’t in the trenches enough to find ourselves in difficult positions such as we see here in the story of Moshe, Jonah and even Job. Yes, there are believers throughout the world that are enduring unimaginable challenges and situations that are directly connected to their respective Faith professions and walks, many facing death in the process. But at some point, if Master tarries, most of us will have our Moshe moment, in some form or fashion. And the question that we must ask ourselves in preparation for such a time is: How will we handle it? Are there things in the here and now that I can do to prepare for those difficult times ahead? For folks, difficult times are just around the corner for most of us. The hosts of evil are amassing and preparing to persecute Yah’s people for various and sundry reasons. And we’re going to have to be ready for such times. Thus, Abba in His unfathomable grace has given us these Torah examples to help prepare us for the challenges that are certain to emerge in our lives (Phi. 3:17; 2 Peter 2:6).

 

Verses 16-17–So Abba instructs Moshe to assemble the nation’s 70-elders and officers in front of the Tabernacle. These elders are no doubt the same ones that met with Moshe on the Mount just after the confirmation and ratification of the covenant back in Exodus 24. And Father tells Moshe that the Ruach HaKodesh (aka the Holy Spirit) that rested upon him, He, Abba, would place it upon those assembled leaders. Those assembled leaders would afterwards be tasked with taking some of the oversight burden off the tired shoulders of Moshe. And what we see in these 2-verses is Yah in action, responding decisively to Moshe’s concerns. 

 

Verses 18-20-Furthermore, Abba addressed the concerns of the people that they’d been denied meat and had only been given manna to eat. Thus Father tells Moshe to announce to the nation that Abba heard their murmurings and that He would give them the meat they so desired. The people in anticipation of receiving this meat were instructed to consecrate or sanctify themselves to receive the promised gift of YHVH. 

 

When we are set to receive Abba’s promises, do we set ourselves apart; sanctify ourselves; dedicate ourselves to Father in anticipation of receiving His promises and gifts? Doing so shows forth our gratefulness and appreciation, in advance, for his provisions. It’s a principle and practice that we are wise to imitate in our lives as YHVH’s elect.

 

Father heard their whining and He affirmed that He will give them what they desired. In fact, Father was giving them the meat they craved for a month’s time and to such an extent that they would ultimately loathe it because it was going to be so much of it (verse 20). 

 

 

Verses 21-22–So Moshe still does not understand just how much Abba had his back. Moshe questions how such an immense multitude would be fed meat for an entire month in the middle of a desert. And this is a sobering reality to be grasped here. Despite all that Yah had miraculously done for the nation, Moshe still doubted Yah or he simply hadn’t made the connection that Yah was the nation’s ultimate provider and sustainer. 

 

Moshe goes on to question Yah about how he was supposed to provide meat for the multitude for a month: were they supposed to slaughter the domesticated animals they brought with them out of Mitzraim? You do know that the people were not permitted to eat their domesticated animals? These were to be used solely for sacrifices. Which meant that Yah would have to provide all of the nutritional needs of the nation. But somehow, Moshe did not recognize that providing the food for the nation was not Moshe’s job or problem: but YHVH’s. And this is the lesson that we must learn from this reading: there are some things that we are responsible for such as seeking first the kingdom of Yah and His righteousness, and then there are things that Yah has declared and promised that He would take care of according to His riches in glory (Matthew 6:33-34). We saw a similar thing, on a much smaller scale mind you, in the story and miracle of the fish and barley loaves, recorded in Matthew 15:33. 

 

Verse-23-YHVH responds to Moshe’s expressed frustrations by throwing a concise but profound question back at Moshe: 

 

“Is YHVH’s power limited?” 

 

And then, in the next sentence, Abba extends forth his loving kindness and grace towards Moshe, despite Moshe’s obvious lack of understanding, belief and faith: 

 

“You will see whether or not what I have promised will happen to you” (HCSB). 

 

Yes, Yah does not punish Moshe for his lack of faith and belief. Instead, Father steps back and says to Moshe, I know you don’t trust Me to do that which I have promised I’d do. So, I’m going to earn your trust by doing exactly that which I’ve promised I would do.

 

Israel had a sordid history of not believing Yah, as can be said for many of us even today (Isa. 50:2; 59:1). We simply do not believe Yah. Yes, we believe IN Yah, but we don’t believe Yah. Yes, we know Yah exists and so did Moshe and no doubt the multitude. But none of them believed that Yah could or would provide for them. Despite seeing all the great wonders Father wrought on Israel’s behalf up this point in the nation’s history, they saw only that which they saw: manna for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but NO meat. We had everything our hearts desired back in Mitzraim, but now, we have just manna. This YHVH talked a big talk about taking them to a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8, 17; 13:5; 33:3; Jeremiah 11:5; 32:22), and certainly He did some amazing stuff that brought them safely to this point in their journey. But what had He done for them lately apart from giving them manna to eat each day? So they belly-ached before Yah, including Moshe.

 

Yah has asserted in His Word that He is not a liar and that He is more than capable to provide and sustain and deliver His people:

 

“YHVH is not a man that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? Or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good” (Num. 23:19).

 

“I YHVH have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith YHVH Elohim” (Eze. 24:14).

 

Verses 24-25-So Moshe does what he was instructed to do and gathered the leaders of Israel before the Tabernacle as well as prepared the people to receive their meat. And true to Yah’s declaration, His presence descended and Yah spoke to Moshe and then placed His Ruach upon the leaders. And as a result of Yah’s Ruach coming to rest upon the leaders of the nation standing before the Tabernacle, these began to prophesy. I don’t believe these men were foretelling (i.e., the type of prophesying that we see done by certain evangelicals related to End Times events these days), but forth-telling (i.e., extolling the greatness of the Almighty in Words that came from their inner beings) (John 7:38; Acts 2). I certainly could be mistaken and maybe they were forth-telling. But we have no record of the content of these elders’ prophesies. All we know is that their prophesying was spontaneous and organic. But their prophesying occurred only for that moment and then it ceased (verse 25). 

 

Verses 26-29-It turns out that two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, did not join their fellow brethren at the Tabernacle but instead remained within the camp. Despite Eldad and Medad not being among their fellow elders at the Tabernacle, the Ruach HaKodesh also rested upon them and they too prophesied. Interestingly, an unidentified gentleman witnessed Eldad and Medad prophesying within the camp and he took it upon himself to run and tell Moshe about this “travesty” that was taking place in the camp. Yahoshua (aka Joshua), Moshe’s young assistant, upon receiving this news, counseled Moshe to shut Eldad and Medad down. And in response, Moshe calls out Yahoshua’s jealousy and corrects his thinking, suggesting that all of Yah’s people should have Yah’s Spirit resting and operating upon them and they too should prophesy as Yah’s Ruach gives them utterance (verse 29). 

 

But isn’t this petty jealousy still evident in our Faith Community even today? Someone in the Faith sees someone doing something great in the Faith and they, acting out their jealousy, steps up to criticize them in the insane hope of somehow shutting them down. I personally have been challenged by people who question my authority to do what I do with this podcast. And you have to wonder at the time why what you do should matter to the naysayers in the Faith. What business is it of theirs? 

 

But we know what the issue really is: there’s obvious jealousy at work here. And I’ll be honest with you: from time-to-time I have to keep my heart in check of such jealousy as well. I have come across individuals who are doing phenomenal things in our Faith Community and they’re leading great ministries that make this ministry pale in comparison. And there have been times, although just a few, when I find certain things that these leaders are doing that annoys me to the point that I have to question who gave them the authority to do what they are doing. And thank Yah for His convicting Spirit (aka Ruach) that reveals to me that jealousy is behind my criticisms. 

 

Jealousy has no place in the work of the Gospel and of the Kingdom. Yet jealousy runs rampant in our Faith. Just look at some of the conversations and comments that take place on your social media feeds. Instead of going out and doing that which Master Yeshua gave them to do, many brothers and sister make a habit of sitting back and critically attacking those who are doing what they are supposed to be doing in the Faith. 

 

Verses 31-35-And true to Yah’s Word, quail, brought in by a wind, descended around the people and the camp. Unfortunately, the people lost their minds over the quail. They gave in to their greed and lack of faith that Father would keep His Word and provide them the meat they desired for an entire month. Instead, these gathered large sums of quail and stored them throughout the camp. And the peoples’ dark hearts and actions led to another bout of YHVH’s wrath to fall upon the people: this time in the form of a great plague (Verse 33). Verse 34 in the CJB reads that the name of the place where this all occurred was Kivrot-HaTa’avah, otherwise known as the “Graves of Greed.” And it was called this for obvious reasons: “Therefore that place was named Kivrot-HaTa’avah, because there they buried the people who were so greedy.” 

 

Contentment of Faith

The issue at hand here in this spiritually rich Torah Reading is that of contentment and the question surrounding this issue is: Can Yah’s people learn to be content with that which Yah gives them in the midst of them trusting Him to provide for all their needs? For each of us, the issue of contentment affects many areas of our lives: 

  • Material possessions

  • Careers

  • Station in life (i.e., being rich versus being poor; being well-to-do versus just scraping by; etc)

  • Notoriety and fame

  • Family and other social relationships

  • Food

  • Personal health

Here in our Torah Reading, the central thing that the mixed multitude longed for that they strongly felt would bring them contentment at that period of time in their journey, was food: let’s just say something other than manna. As Father fulfilled their craving by granting them an over abundance of quail, the people’s greed could not be contained and they sought to stock up on the quail that was delivered by Yah to the nation by hoarding it in and around the camp. What they thought would make them content turned out to not be the thing that would bring them contentment. In fact, their search to fulfill their cravings and make them content in the form of meat led to a display of greed, which is a sin. And the lesson that this story must convey to any with eyes to see and ears to hear is that true contentment comes only when one gives over their hearts and lives to Yah and His Way of Life. Then and only then can one find true contentment. For desires and cravings cannot truly be fulfilled without Yah being the central focus of one’s life. 

Outside of Yah, in time, one will grow tired of that thing that they thought would bring them contentment. And eventually one who has grown tired of the thing that thought would make them content will seek out something more or even greater to satisfy their cravings or desires. And in the process of searching to fulfill those cravings and desires, they end up violating Yah’s principles and ways–such as we see displayed here in our Reading. 

When one turns their full attention to Yah and His Ways, he or she will find ultimate contentment. And when one finds their contentment in Yah, he or she will in turn glorify and image YHVH in all the earth. 

When we talk about contentment of Faith or contentment in YHVH and His Way of life, we find it to be a heart thing. For when one’s whole heart is given over to YHVH, such that they place their trust in Him, trusting that He will do all that He says he’ll do; and he or she falls in loves YHVH with every fiber of their being, they find true contentment. How you may ask? Because all of their cravings and desires will be overtaken by the things and provisions of Yah. And those once carnal cravings and desires become nothing more than fading memories and passing thoughts in the mind of the elect. 

A well known Jewish prayer captures this idea of contentment in the Ways and Person of Yah quite well:

“Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, Who has given me everything I need” (Hegg). 

Shaul echoed this same sentiment when he wrote to the Philippian Assembly of Messianics:

“My El will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Mashiyach Yeshua” (4:19).

You see, this is the entire point behind Master’s instruction to His disciples that they seek first the Kingdom of Yah and His righteousness; and then while in the midst of doing that very thing, Yah will fulfill all His elects’ needs (Matt. 6:33). Prior to this direct instruction by our Master to his loyal disciples (most believe that Yeshua gave this message to a throng of 1,000’s from a mount or hill, but in reality, Master gave this message only to those disciples of His that were willing to climb to the top of the mount and hear the eternal words of the Son of the Most High), He instructed them to:

“Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on…take no thought, saying, ‘What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? for your heavenly Father knows that you  have need of all these things” (verses 25-32). 

And the billion dollar question facing each of us is, can we bring ourselves in this day and age and within our respective life-situations to do this very thing: Trust in Yah to do what He says He will do and be content in Yah?

Had the ancients done that very thing–turning their eyes, hearts, minds and souls to Yah, being fully committed to Yah’s plan for them, Yah’s daily supply of manna would have more than satisfied them as they sojourned in the wilderness. How? Because they would find contentment in Yah and His Ways: their focus in life would shift entirely from that of their stomachs to that of Yah and his Ways. This same principle certainly can and should apply to each of us today: as we give our all to Yah and Walk in Yah’s Ways, all of the stuff we craved in our former lives will have (or should have) no power over us. We will come to the  inevitable conclusion that Abba has attended to all our needs, and thus, we find ourselves in a state of true contentment and peace in Yah’s eternal provision. That contentment and peace must come with thanksgiving and praise from the contented soul. 

The writer of Psalm 37:4 provides us clarity on this issue:

“Delight thyself also in YHVH; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto YHVH; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass” (KJV).

This contentment in Yah is the thing that orders our steps in everyday life. It directs how we deal with challenges in our lives. Thus, we are able to handle the bad things that come along in our lives in such a way that we are not anxious for our own well-being, but our concern is to please and bring glory and honor to YHVH. Father takes over and makes things work the way they’re supposed to work, in accordance with His perfect will. 

 

Closing and Call to Action

 

In closing my friends, I simply want to encourage you to be content in your life through your living by every Word that proceeds from the Mouth of YHVH, our Elohim.

 

This is not an option I’m afraid. As the End Times descend upon us and we begin to face challenges and persecutions because of our Faith, we will not be able to endure to the end unless we are content in the lives that YHVH gives us as a result of our commitment to Him and His Ways. I’m not talking about being content with the terrible or difficult things that life often brings such as caustic relationships and addictions. For these and all the other terrible things that come into our lives and beset us in our walk with Mashiyach must be dealt with. And in all cases, those things must be turned over to YHVH.

 

That means giving up everything to Yah and trusting Him to take care of every aspect and area of our lives as we Walk in Mashiyach. Then and only then will we find contentment in life: that contentment comes as a byproduct of our Faith. 

 

Thus, we’re going to need contentment when our lives are turned upside down. But Yah will provide and deliver as He has so promised in His Word.

 

Until next time, May you be most blessed, fellow saints in Training.

 

Blessings!

 

What Did Paul Mean by Being Under the Law–Part 1

by | Nov 6, 2020 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

Goal of this Post 

“For Yah shows no partiality (that is, Yah shows no favoritism). For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.” 

In this installment of the Messianic Torah Observer we continue with our survey and discussion on some of the Apostle Paul’s (aka Shaul’s) difficult and hard to interpret writings. Today, we are going to delve into the Pauline phrase “under the law”, which is not just found in our focus passage of Romans 2:11-13, but also in some other half-dozen  Pauline passages. 

You don’t want to miss this discussion as it is foundational Truth that will solidify in your mind, heart and soul the role Torah is supposed to play in your life.

 Attention

We are going to discuss what Shaul meant by one being “under the Law/Torah,” which he uses at least a half-dozen times throughout the course of his writings. This is evergreen and foundational information that you want to take to heart. 

Now, because Shaul mentions being under the Law/Torah several times throughout his writings, I’m going to break this discussion into at least two, maybe three posts. There’s simply too much content to present to you within the allotted time we have for today. So for today, we’re going to focus on Romans 2:11-13 as it relates to being under the Law/Torah and then in succeeding posts we’ll break those other mentions of being under the Law/Torah down as well.

Need 

This is: “What Did Paul Mean by Being Under the Law? Part 1.” This is part 26 of our Paul and Hebrew Roots Series. If you’re new to this podcast, I would encourage you to go on over to the Messianic Torah Observer website and check out the previous 25 post in this series so that you can lay a foundation in understanding some of the apostle’s more difficult and challenging writings. 

Folks, this is one of the most important Yeshua-focused Torah living posts we’ve done since beginning our Paul and Hebrew Roots series back in 2018. 

Each of us must accurately understand what Shaul meant by someone being “under Torah.” 

You may be asking why this is so important that I elected to do an entire post on what it means for one to be “under the Law/Torah. It’s not just important my friends; it’s crucially important that each of us understands exactly what Shaul means by the phrase “under the Law/Torah.” There are at least two reasons why it’s important for us to understand what the phrase means:

 

  1. Many fundamentalists erroneously point to the various Pauline passages where the apostle uses the phrase “under the Law/Torah as scriptural proof that Torah has been done away with. Now, these same fundamentalists will also use these same passages to promote their perverted grace doctrines (that being, all you need to do is say the sinners’ prayer, give your heart to Jesus and viola you’re saved…no if ands or bugs…you don’t have to do anything beyond these administrative items: no turning away from your previous sin filled life; no obedience to Yah’s Way of life and His commandments and instructions; simply do what you feel like doing because you are saved by grace). And what we will find as we go through this study is that their understanding of “grace” (grace being the term “karis” in the Greek and which is often described as Yah’s unmerited favor) is exactly that: their understanding of God’s grace is perverted. Which circles back to their dangerous misunderstanding that Yah’s commandments which are contained in His Torah are no longer relevant and applicable to believers in Yeshua Messiah. Misinterpretations of scripture often lead to the creation of false doctrines that in turn lead the many who choose to accept and follow those doctrines down a path towards destruction. We’re here to try and prevent that as much as we possibly can.

 

  1. Misunderstanding of what Shaul meant by one being “under the Law/Torah” further perpetuates the sharp division that exists between Jews and non-Jews. Look, I’m not talking about the sharp doctrinal divisions that exists between us and our cousins in Judaism. I’m talking about the antisemitism that flows from such a misunderstanding of the phrase; I’m talking about the erroneous replacement theology that so many Christians adhere to so tightly; I’m talking about erroneously perpetuating an identity spirituality that says to the world that their simple profession of their Christian faith makes them immune to the wrath of God that is prophesied to be coming for those who reject Yah’s Ways and His Word.

 

  1. It is important for each of us to understand what Shaul meant by one being “under the Law/Torah” because when Christians challenge our keeping of Torah as believers in Yahoshua Messiah using Shaul’s passages where this phrase is used, we must be ready to defend why we believe what we believe and do what we do (1 Peter 3:15; Colossians 4:6). Our testimony to a deceived and disobedient world means everything: it means everything to us because by our testifying to the Truth of the Gospel and Yah’s eternal Word, we image Him on the earth (that is we magnify His Name on the earth: Romans 9:17; Philippians 2:10; Luke 11:2). And more so, we put to shame their lies and misunderstanding and hopefully lay the seeds for their eventual repentance and turning to Yah and His Way of Life for mankind.

 

And lastly, 4., each of us must fully understand the actual role Torah is supposed to play in every disciple of Yeshua’s life. I hate to break it to you my friends, but Torah should not be the focus of our Faith. Our keeping of Torah is not going to get us into the Kingdom. And each of us must fully understand this because so many of us in Hebrew Roots and the Messianic Faith Communities place all of our focus on Torah-keeping. And as much as Torah-keeping is important, we must recognize that Torah is secondary in the life of Yah’s elect. (You heard me, Torah is actually secondary…Torah keeping, as we will see, ain’t going to save anyone.)

 

Understanding What Shaul Meant by Being Under the Law is Withing our Grasp

 

When it comes to understanding some of Shaul’s more difficult and challenging passages, such as the passages where the apostle uses the phrase “under the Law/Torah,” we must resist the urge to rely on the accuracy of the English wording in our bibles. Furthermore, we must push to the side the teachings of the Christian Church on this crucial topic. For both of these concerns will invariably lead one to misinterpret and or misunderstand what the apostle means by the phrase “under the Law/Torah.”

Folks, I’ve repeated myself throughout the many installments of the Messianic Torah Observer I’ve done over the years, in particular the posts in our Paul and Hebrew Roots Series, that in order to accurately interpret Paul’s challenging and hard to understand passages, it is vitally important that we study those passages within their proper context (that is within the chapter, book, testament and whole of bible that they are found in). And that contextual study must include things like history, culture, language, the Holy Spirit’s (I.e., the Ruach HaKodesh’s) guidance and revelation.

Now, as it relates to our arriving at a proper or accurate understanding or interpretation of what being “under the Law/Torah” means, we really need to employ not just biblical context, but also culture/ethnicity, a little bit of history and language (in particular and in this case, ancient Greek). All these play a part in our final understanding of what this phrase means. Because I’ll tell you now, Shaul’s use of the phrase “under the Law/Torah” does not mean the same thing in every verse and passage it’s used. In other words, depending on the context and our understanding of the Greek manuscripts and the history and ANE culture, the meaning of the phrase “under the Law/Torah” in one passage differs from that in another  passage. 

The reason I’m discussing the phrase “under the Law/Torah” with you today is because this happens to be the next challenging or hard to understand Pauline passage in our survey of the Book of Romans. And the first mention of anyone being “under the law/Torah is found in our focus passage of Romans 2:12 which reads: “For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law” (ESV). 

So what we’re going to do now is look at each mention of the phrase “under the Law/Torah” using context, language, history and culture as our principle guides, while allowing the Ruach HaKodesh to put it all together for us.

 

Competing Biblical Renderings on “Under the Law”

 

Now, in all fairness, the KJV doesn’t render the phrase as one having sinned “under the law,” but instead, as one having sinned “in the law.” The interesting thing is that while most other English translations (ESV, ASV, CSB, NAB, NAS, NET, NRS and the RSV) all go with the phrase “under the law,” the KJV’s translation of one sinning “in the law” is actually the most accurate rendering of the phrase (believe it or not). The CJB and the NKJV come very close to the KJV’s rendering of being “in the law.” The CJB renders the phrase as “have sinned within the framework of Torah,” which happens to be contextually the best and most accurate interpretation of the phrase “under the Law/Torah.” Let’s look at this thing a little closer. But let’s first step back one verse to verse 11 and then on over one to verse 13 so as to gain a fuller picture of what Shaul is talking about in this passage.

 

Necessary Background to Have Regarding the Roman Church of Shaul’s Day

 

You need to remember that Shaul is writing to Roman Messianics in an assembly that consisted of converted Jews and converted non-Jews. And we also must keep in mind the history that surrounds this passage. The Roman Messianic Assembly was likely founded by Jews who returned from that Great Day of Pentecost 10-days after Yeshua ascended to His Father in heaven from the Mount of Olives. It was on that day that the Ruach HaKodesh fell upon the 120 disciples on the Temple Mount, leading to the conversion of 3,000 Jews from all over the Roman Empire (Acts 2). It seems reasonable to conclude that some of those 3,000 converted Jews were from Rome, and upon their return back to Rome, introduced the True Faith (Yeshua focused Torah living) to their families and fellow Jews and no doubt the synagogue(s) that provided those orthodox Roman Jews their center(s) for worship and study became Messianic Assemblies. Of course in time, non-Jewish Romans came to the knowledge of Yahoshua Messiah and affiliated themselves with their converted Roman Jewish counterparts, meeting, worshiping and learning together in Rome’s Jewish synagogues. Remember, at the earliest history of the True Faith once delivered, there were no Christian Churches or assemblies, at least not in Rome. Converts—believers—fellowshipped, worshiped and learned in Jewish synagogues.

 

Converted Roman Jews and Proselytizing the Converted Roman Gentiles

 

If you recall at the outset of this study of Paul and the Book of Romans, we discussed the fact that Shaul had not founded or establish the Roman Church/Kehila/Assembly. As we just mentioned a moment ago, the so-called Church at Rome was likely founded by those returning Jewish converts. Consequently, it would seem reasonable to conclude, based upon the overall context of the Book of Romans, that many of the converted Jews, despite them being believers in Yahoshua as their Messiah, were still holding on to their ethnicity and heritage as sort of a “badge of honor” and  or pride in the assembly. And many of these converted, yet prideful Jews, believed that in order for one to be a part of the Way Movement (that is, the true Faith once delivered), one had to convert to Judaism. These truly believed that the true Faith once delivered was an exclusive Jewish religion or Faith if you will. So to these converted Jews, if you were a non-Jewish person coming to Faith, you had to first and foremost convert to Judaism (that is, you had to become a proselyte). We won’t go into what the requirements are or were to become a proselyte in this installment, but suffice to say, these converted Jews believed every believer in Yeshua Messiah had to be a Jew above all else. Being Jewish meant you were Yah’s chosen one; that you were guaranteed entry into the Kingdom of Yah; that Yah favored you over the non-Jew, who they saw as being condemned  and destined to destruction. 

Thus, many of these converted Jews sought to proselytize many of the newly converted/incoming non-Jewish converts to the Faith. Needless to say, this created quite a bit of confusion in the assemblies throughout the Roman Empire of Shaul’s day. And Shaul found himself having to put a lid on so-called Jewish proselytizing, especially curbing the influence of those converted Jews who put more faith in their ethnicity and Jewish religion and traditions than faith in Yeshua and His atoning sacrifice. Shaul recognized that these proselytizing Jews were also trying to influence the non-Jewish converts to obey various elements and commandments of Torah (and Torah in context here refers to both Mosaic Torah and the Talmud), while they themselves were personally lawless in their behavior and lifestyles.

So Shaul starts off our focus passage with verse 11 which I believe to be a wake up call to these proselytizing, hypocritical Jews.

 

“For Yah does not show favoritism.”

 

Yah Is No Respecter of Person When It Comes to Judgment

 

“Respect of person,” (as in most English translations), or in the CJB translation, “show favoritism” in the Greek is “prosopolempsia,” which is a compound word made up of the word for “face” and “to receive.” Thus, when we factor the Greek wording back into this verse (verse 11), we get something akin to: “For there is not receiving of face in the presence of Yah.” Or we can look at it from a raw Greek perspective that “Yah does not receive any body’s face.” In other words, we have to look at Yah’s acceptance of people from a legalistic perspective. It’s as if we are in a court setting, let’s say. And we find YHVH acting as the righteous judge He is such that His righteous judgments against every person is based, not upon their individual “intrinsic” merits, but is based on their outward circumstances. Yah does not care which side of the railroad tracks one was born; or whose child you are; whether you’re a Jew or a Gentile, male or female; slave or freeman (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11; Romans 10:12). Every unconverted human is viewed the same: a sinner. Nothing else matters to Yah. And Yah is going to judge all by what is written in certain unnamed books as well as what is written in the Book of life, all based according to each one’s works while they lived on this earth (Revelation 20:12). There will be absolutely no favoritism; no partiality. Only righteous judgment. 

We find that verse 11 here serves as a transition to what follows in succeeding verses. And what follows is a comparing and contrasting between the Jew and Gentile for purposes of revealing the righteousness of Yah in His ultimate judging of both groups of people. When read in context, one does get a sense that Shaul is acknowledging here the advantage the Jew possesses (that is Shaul’s repeated phrase “the Jew first”). That advantage is simply their possession and knowledge of Torah. That being said, the Jew is ultimately held accountable for any squandering of that advantage in their life. 

Romans 2:12—Sin Within the Framework of Torah Versus Sin Under the Law 

Moving on to verse 12:

 

“For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law” (ESV)

 

Young’s Literal Translation renders verse 12 as follows:

 

“…As many as did sin in law, through law shall be judged.”

 

The Greek here is “anomos” for “lacking the law” or “being outside the law.” “En nomo” here means “in law” (YLT) or “within the law” (Lattimore Kingdom NT). You must understand that most English translations incorrectly render “en nomo” as being “under the law.” “Under the law” accurately in the Greek is rendered by “hupo nomon,” which is found in Romans 6:14-15; 1 Corinthians 9:20 [4X]; Galatians 3:23; 4:4-5, 21; 5:18. (Don’t worry, we’ll look at each of these and arrive at an contextually accurate interpretation of “hupo nomon” for each.) 

Now that we established that “en nomo” does not mean “under the law,” but instead “within the law” or “in law,” let’s now attempt to interpret what Shaul meant by “within the law” or “in law.” 

So we have a couple ways to interpret what Shaul means here, neither interpretation excludes the possibility of the other. The terms “anomos” and “en nomo” are used by Shaul to compare two types or groups of individuals: those who sin “without the law” facing condemnation absent or without the law to those who sin being in or within the law facing condemnation by that same law.

I will say here at this point that despite the Greek term “nomo” (law) not having the definite article attached to it (such that “en nomo” does not have “the” attached to it), we can safely interpret “nomo” here to be “Torah.” I personally often refer to Torah in my discussions without attaching a definite article to it. So it’s not difficult for me to rationalize the fact that Shaul is talking about those who do not possess Torah versus those who are somehow within Torah, whatever that means. We’ll get to that in just a moment. 

Clearly, Shaul is attempting to get his Roman readers to understand that “both Jewish and non-Jewish people are equally accountable before Yah because of the propensity of human sin.” And the proof of this is found in verses 9-11 which reads: Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; but glory, honour, and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: for there is no respect of persons with Yah” (KJV). And he makes the sobering statement that without repentance, no person will escape Yah’s wrath (verses 4-6). 

Because of Yah’s holy and righteous character and nature, YHVH will always deal fairly and justly with each according to his/her deeds. And what we’re seeing laid before us here in verse 12 is a frank discussion on what happens to those individuals (specifically Gentiles/non-Jews) who have not received the Revelation of Torah. And the likely question that the converted Roman Gentiles had for Shaul in this discussion, especially in light of the heavy proselytizing they were going through at the hands of the converted Roman Jews was: Will all Gentile be condemned? 

Now, this hearkens back to the last installment of this program entitled “Paul on the LGBTQ Community.” In that post we discussed that all rational human beings are going to be held accountable for their behavior, regardless whether they possess the Revelation of Torah or not. In that post we learned that Yah’s revelation of Himself to mankind; His Ways and His character extends beyond the framework (to borrow Stern’s keyword in the text) of Torah; for, according to Shaul, Yah is revealed in virtually every aspect of His creation (Romans 1:19) and people intrinsically know Yah exists and they also know right from wrong and so forth (Romans 1:20). That being said, all will have to give an account of their deeds and the life they lived and be judged accordingly. 

Consequently, those who know and have received Torah throughout all of human history (such as were Hebrews, Jews and Christians), but who have rejected Torah’s message on a faith basis (that being a Yeshua-focused Torah lifestyle), will be judged accordingly. Conversely, those who’ve never received Torah will be judged by the revelation which they received through Father’s natural creation and intrinsic (internal, natural) understanding of Yah’s existence and character. Consider as a prime example Matthew 10:15 which reads:

 

”Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town (that town being the one that rejected the Gospel).” 

 

A Discussion About Jews and Gentiles in Light of Torah 

So what Shaul is describing in verse 12 are two distinct groups of individuals: essentially we’re talking about Jews and non-Jews. 

The Jews possessed Yah’s Torah and the historical records of their ancestors’ obedience and disobedience. However, the Gentiles/pagans did not possess Yah’s Torah. Thus, those who possess Torah along with its ancestral history, but reject them will not only be held accountable for their rejection and disobedience, but they will also be held accountable more so than their pagan counterparts who have been given over to their sins because they’ve rejected and ignored their Creator (1:26). 

You should be aware that Jews of Shaul’s day (both orthodox and Messianic) believed that by them being of Jewish ethnicity, they were all but guaranteed a place in Yah’s Kingdom. For to the Jew, all Israelites possess a share in the world to come…” (m. Shanhedrin 10:1; Jacob Neusner, “The Mishnah: A New Translation.” ). Thus, one’s Jewishness, which included possessing (having knowledge of) Torah had become (1) a badge of privilege; (2) a talisman; (3) a sign that Israel or Jews were Yah’s exclusive people; and (4) a get-out-of-jail-free card from Yah’s wrath. 

So Shaul’s position on Jews being exempt from Yah’s wrath on the basis of their ethnicity and possession of Torah would have been absolutely ground-breaking and controversial to any Jewish group at that time, including the converted Roman, proselytizing Jews. Obviously Shaul did not see Torah the same way His kinsmen viewed Torah. In fact, to Shaul, Torah defined sin:

 

Romans 3:20—”For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

 

To Shaul, the nations of this world are “very much accountable to their Creator for violating His law and covenant” because they “do have a conscience and they do have a basic sense of right and wrong impressed upon them” (Isa. 24:5—”The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.” ). 

Shaul, in verses 17-29, challenges the Roman assembly of converted Jews on their relationship with Torah: were they being judgmental and hard on their Gentiles brethren who were not keeping specific Torah (be it either or both written or so-called oral Torah such as circumcision and various purity traditions) commandments while they themselves violated those same Torah commandments? And Shaul had to assert to his readers:

 

Verse 23—”You who boast in the law dishonor Yah by breaking the law.”

 

And the conclusion Shaul arrives at is that Jewish possession of Torah means little if not acted upon in obedience and faith:

 

Verse 17, 28—”But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in Yah…For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.”

 

Scripture is clear: Those who possess Torah, yet do not properly walk it out are to be especially judged on matters of morality such as found in verses 21-24; cf. Isa. 52:5; Eze. 36:20). 

Since “all are sinners and have fallen short of the glory of Yah,” it is foolish for any to boast of their possession of Torah (verse 17). On the contrary, Shaul encourages boasting only in YHVH and the work of His Son (Jer. 9:24; 1 Cor. 1:31; cf. 2 Cor. 10:17). 

“En nomo” today not only involves Jews but also Christians since they possess general knowledge of Torah. Thus, those who sin with an appreciable degree of knowledge of Yah’s Torah will be held righteously accountable by Yah. These will be judged at a higher degree than those who are “anomos”. 

Under Torah Really Means Within the Framework of Torah 

So what is Shaul saying here regarding “en nomo,” those that sin within Torah will be judged by Torah, while those that sin “anomos” or outside Torah will die outside of Torah. 

Stern in his CJB renders this verse best:

 

“All who have sinned outside the framework of Torah will die outside the framework of Torah; and all who have sinned within the framework of Torah will be judged by Torah” (CJB).

 

Shaul here is simply saying that those that have never received the revelation of Torah but who die in their sins will be judged righteously apart from Torah. Their deeds will be judged in light of the natural revelation they’d received of Yah in their lives. Those, on the other hand, who had the advantage of Torah in their lives but transgressed Torah, will be judged within the framework of Torah. This would of course be speaking to those with knowledge of Torah such as Orthodox Jews, Christians, Catholics and even Messianics. Yah expects those that know better to do better in their lives. Thus, those who had any knowledge and or revelation of Torah will face a higher level of judgment than those who will be judged by Yah’s natural revelation. 

I guess the natural question that one would have regarding this verse is this: If all will be judged according to their deeds, be it within the framework of Torah or without the framework of Torah, what good then is Torah? Shaul answers this question by simply stating: “…the function of the Torah was that without it, I would not have known what sin is. For example, I would not have become conscious of what greed is if the Torah had not said, ‘Thou shalt not covet.” (Romans 7:7). 

So Torah serves to enlighten and educate people in the Ways of Yah. It also serves to define what sin is and to describe the penalty for sins. Thus, the one that receives Torah and Yeshua’s sacrifice, along with the help of the Ruach HaKodesh and with a circumcised heart, walk in Torah, they escape the wrath of Yah. In their obedience of Torah, these also please Yah and image Yah here on the earth. 

Father stated:

 

“You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them…” (Leviticus 18:5).

 

Despite all that we have discussed here thus far, most will reject any notion that believers in Yeshua Messiah should keep Torah. Despite all that Shaul has written here, most reject Torah keeping by believers. 

This should not be too hard to understand. Yeshua Himself made it clear that any who would be His disciple would be required to keep Torah:

 

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-20).

 

And from here, Yeshua goes on to expound on the level of Torah His disciples would be required to walk in. That elevated or advanced level of Torah-keeping that Master was teaching His disciples about was not new nor did it originate with Yeshua. In fact, the advanced level of Torah-keeping that Master taught in this chapter of Matthew was the original intention of the Torah that Father passed down to Moshe. The original intent of the Mosaic Torah, when properly walked by Yah’s elect, transcended simple, rote, mechanical obedience to Torah. The proper walking out of Yah’s Torah required the elect having their heart circumcised and their will being entirely given over to the Will of YHVH.

 

The Conclusion of the Matter Regarding Torah Keeping 

In verse 13 Shaul gives us the conclusion of the matter:

 

2:13—”for not the hearers of Torah are just before Yah, but the doers of Torah will be justified.”

 

 What is Shaul truly saying here. Again, he’s comparing and contrasting two groups of people: those “hearing Torah” to those “doing Torah.” And for me, it appears that the apostle is speaking more directly to his Roman Messianic Jewish readers in this passage than to his converted non-Jewish readers. Why? Because he recognized that, like his orthodox rabbinic kinsmen, the Roman Messianic Jews were wearing their Jewishness as a guarantee for salvation and chosen status and they were engaging in proselytizing of their non-Jewish brethren. 

Now, this has to be one of the clearest pro-Torah passages the apostle has ever written. For he clearly certifies the importance of Torah to Yah’s elect: “The Doers of Torah will be justified or rendered righteous before the Holy Creator.” It doesn’t get any clearer than that. 

Contextually speaking, the “hearing” that Shaul is writing about here is not the “shema” hearing that Moshe spoke of in Deuteronomy 6:4, which we know takes on a fuller sense that involves “hearing with the intent to obey” (cf. Gen. 3:17; Exo. 15:26; Deu. 4:30; 6:4; Jos. 1:18; Isa. 1:19; Jer. 11:3; 12:17; Mic. 5:15(14)). The Jews that Shaul is alluding to, as I mentioned previously, placed a great deal of attention on simple receiving of Torah that was being taught to them in their synagogues by their rabbinic leaders each Shabbat. And many Jews at that time, and most certainly many orthodox and Messianic Jews today feel it’s sufficient to simply hear Torah read and taught to them each Shabbat and so forth. 

But we find here Shaul contrasting “hearing Torah” with actual “doing Torah”. The hearing of Torah that Shaul is referencing here has no salvific value, since receipt of Torah by hearing does not result in one’s salvation. 

The “Just before Yah” that the apostle mentions here means to be “in right standing before Yah.” To be in right standing before Yah means one is no longer considered “guilty” in Yah’s “court of Law.” Yah thus declares doers of Torah who are reliant upon Yeshua’s sacrifice as just. 

Now, it must be mentioned that none of what Shaul writes here originated with him. In fact, what he wrote was common knowledge among first century Jewish sages (cf. Avot 1.17, Rabban Simeon, son of Gamaliel). So you’re probably wondering, why then did Jews of Shaul’s day ignore the doing aspect of Torah while putting greater emphasis on hearing Torah? 

The Talmud, which reflects ancient rabbinic Jewish thinking regarding all things Torah related, in order to make Torah more practical for everyday Jews, suggested Jewish adherents at the very least “appear” to be Torah observant; that is, give the impression they are Torah observant. Thus the natural emphasis on hearing emerged from Talmudic influence in everyday Jewish life. This, of course, led to the erroneous belief that hearing results in the Jew being justified before Yah. Thus, it can be safely concluded that the Talmud messed with Torah to the point that Torah became of no effect to the Jew (Mark 7:13).  Yahoshua railed against this very fact and He labeled Talmudic tampering with Torah as “traditions of men” (Mark 7:8).  

Shaul is teaching an obedience that flows from one’s Faith (Romans 1:5; 16:26). That faith-based obedience is the expression of sincere trust in Yah which pleases Yah (Hebrews 11:6). Let’s not get confused here: Salvation comes by faith alone as it is a gift of Yah (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9)). So where does Torah-keeping come in to play in a believer’s life  since one is not saved by their works? Well, it comes in to play in the disciple’s life because of their Faith. Because of our Faith, we intentionally do what Yah requires: Yah’s house rules. And we keep Yah’s house rules willingly and joyfully because it is the right thing to do and because it pleases Abba. 

Thus Shaul declares that the doers of Torah (Greek of “poietes” which means one who obeys and or fulfills Torah) are justified (that is, these are being made righteous in Yah’s sight—CJB).

Compare this to what Master Yeshua taught regarding doers of Torah:

 

“…whosoever obeys them (the commandments of Yah) and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:19).

 

 It should be clear to all that obedience over knowledge of Torah is what matters most to Yah. 

But what about the places in Paul’s writings where he downplays the role of works in one’s salvation such as Ephesians 2:8-9?:

 

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of Yah, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (ESV).

 

Folks, I need you to get this, because it is so important that you be able to understand and defend the role Torah-keeping places in lives of Yah’s elect. When 2:13 is studied within its proper context alongside verses 17-28 which reads in abbreviated fashion:

 

“But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God…for as it is written, ‘The Name of Yah is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you’ (ref. Isaiah 52:5), for no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical…”

 

We see Shaul taking the Roman Messianic Jews to task here. For those were willfully disobedient to Torah, and their blatant disobedience was bringing shame upon them as a nation among the pagan nations of the known world at that time. It would appear that what it truly meant to be a Jew had become long forgotten by the Jewish people, the Talmud being one of the chief reasons for this falling away and adherence to traditions instead of adherence to Torah. And what Shaul was saying here in verse 2:13 as it relates to Torah-keeping and justification is that proper Torah obedience must reflect the true “character” of the Jew. Torah-keeping does not save one, but instead it legitimizes; it marks; it shows the Hebrew as being right. The doers of Torah are a reflection of their covenant relationship with the Most High. 

Call to Action and Closing Remarks 

Well, we’ll stop here for today and pick up where we’ve left off in our next discussion on being under the Law/Torah.

Folks, there’s no better time than now to get prayed up, studied up, fasted up. With all the chaos that going on around us these days, we really need to become laser focused in our walking out of this Faith. Things are not going to get better. In fact, I truly believe things are going to get significantly worse as we begin, what I believe to be, the end times. 

We don’t have a lot of time to waste. We must work while it is still day for the night cometh when no man may work.

Friends, we have work to do. And Yah is going to use this time to test His elect; to sift His elect. He’s going to separate out the wheat from the chaff. For years now He’s allowed the chaff to grow with the wheat. Now comes a time of winnowing and purging and only the elect will remain.

We must be ready and proactive in everything we do. Our relationship with the Almighty must be spot on at all times. Sin must be purged from our lives. We must be obedient to Yah’s Word. And we must make disciples for Yahoshua Messiah. All this must be done before things get so bad that we can’t do any of it. And I pray that this program will be instrumental in at least pointing us in the right direction and promoting Yeshua-focused Torah Living.

Until next time my brothers and sisters, may you be most blessed, fellow saints in training.

Shalom. Take Care.