Cleanliness Is Next to Godliness

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Open toilet bowl isolated. File contains a path to isolation.

Deuteronomy 23:10–15, When the army goes out. With regard to the sanctity of the camp, the Jewish sages teach that whereas other armies triumph by force of numbers and arms, Israel’s success is in the hands of Elohim, and, therefore, its army’s most potent weapon is its righteous behavior (The ArtScroll Stone Edition Chumash, p. 1055).

Holiness and righteousness (i.e., obedience to YHVH’s commands coupled with trusting faith in Yeshua and in his blood atonement) can help us defeat our enemies (see Rev 1:5; 12:11, 17; 14:12).

Though the phrase, “Cleanliness is next to godliness” is not found in the Scriptures, it is nevertheless a true statement in light of this Torah passage.

 

Incest Versus Fornication

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Deuteronomy 23:2, A child of incest shall not. Mamzer (translated in the KJV as bastard; NKJV one of illegitimate birth) means “a child of a prohibited marriage.” Contrary to popular opinion, this is not referring to one born out of wedlock (the result of fornication or premarital relations), but rather the fruit of an incestuous or adulterous relationship (The ArtScroll Stone Edition Chumash, p. 1054).

According to S. R. Hirsch, a Jewish Torah scholar, a mamzer was disadvantaged legally in no other way except that he was excluded from the assembly or congregation (qahal) of YHVH. According to The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, the Hebrew word qahal is equivalent to the Greek word ecclesia, which is commonly translated as church in the NT (ibid., vol. 2, p. 790).

What does Torah’s treatment of a mamzer say about YHVH’s view of the sanctity of marriage and the family and the upholding of such as a cornerstone institution within the assembly of the saints? Hirsch comments on this verse, “[A] mamzer accordingly represents, by his existence, a sin against those laws by which God wishes marriage in His qahal to be elevated out of the sphere of simply physical association by that which [the Talmud in] Kiddushin [73a] expresses” (Judaica Press The Pentateuch/Deuteronomy, p. 456).

In the Torah, premarital sex isn’t a capital offense. When it happened, the man was either to marry the young lady, or he was to pay a fine to her father. Incest, however, like homosexuality, was an abomination in YHVH’s eyes (Lev 18), thus it would stand to reason that YHVH would take a harder stand on the product of such a sexual union. The point is to teach his people not to get involved in such sinful sexual practices in the first place.

Would excluding certain individuals who oppose traditional marriage and define it in ways contrary to biblical definition now be politically correct in our society? Discuss the implications and what the saints can do to protect the sanctity of the congregation of the believers from those who would thumb their noses at the Word of the Creator of the universe, the very Author of the marriage institution.

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 9-11 Through 9-17-16

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THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat Ki Tetze — Deuteronomy 21:10 – 25:19
Haftarah — Isaiah 54:1-10
Prophets — Amos 9:1-15; Obadiah; Jonah; Micah 1:1-16
Writings — 1 Chronicles 24:1 – 29:30; 2 Chronicles 1:1-17
Testimony — Titus 2:1 – 3:15; Philemon; Hebrews 1:1 – 4:16

Most of this week’s blog discussion points will be on these passages. If you have general comments or questions on the weekly Scripture readings not addressed in a blog post, here’s a place for you to post those. Just use the “leave a reply” link below.

The full “Read Through The Scriptures In A Year” schedule, broken down by each day, can be found on the right sidebar under “Helpful Links.” There are 4 sections of scripture to read each day. One each from the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings, and from the Testimony of Yeshua. Each week, the Torah and haftarah readings will follow the traditional one-year reading cycle.

Weekly Blog Scripture Readings for 9/11 through 9/17/16.

 

Shabbat Shalom from “the Garden of Eden!”

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What are “Jewish fables?”

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Many people in churchianity are content to dismiss the Torah merely as Jewish fables having little or no relevance to Christians. Yet, the same preachers will passionately promote Christmas trees, Santa Claus and Easter bunnies. So what’s wrong with this picture?

Titus 1:14, Jewish fables. Many Bible teachers in the mainstream church teach that this verse refers to the Torah. They use it in attempting to prove that the commandments of the Torah are no longer valid for believers. Is this correct? In reality, Paul can’t be referring to the Torah here without contradicting himself elsewhere. In numerous places, he strongly upholds and defends obedience to the Torah (Rom 3:31; 7:7, 12, 14; 13:8–10; 1 Cor 7:19; 9:21; Gal 3:10; 6:2; 2 Tim 6:14; Tit 2:14) and even claims to follow it himself (Acts 21:24; 24:1425:8; 28:17; 1 Cor 9:21). He must be talking about the Jewish traditions of men, which Yeshua said in Matthew 15:3–9 and Mark 7:7–9 make of non-effect the word of Elohim.

In fact, this is exactly what Paul is referring to here in this verse when he says “Jewish fables and commandments of men.” This is not a reference to the Torah the commandments of which came from YHVH Elohim, and not from men. In the same verse, Paul contrasts these commandments of men with “the truth” from which men have turned away. What is this truth? The Bible defines its own terms. Elohim is the source of truth (Deut 32:4 cp. Pss 86:11; 89:14; 117:2), he is truth (Ps 25:10; 31:5; 33:4), and his Torah is truth (Ps 119:142, 151).

One example of a Jewish fable and a commandment of men would be the idea that one can’t be saved unless they’re first circumcised, which was the subject of the Acts 15 council. Paul vehemently fought this Jewish fable, and the whole Book of Galatians, for example, largely deals with this issue. If Paul had meant the Torah when mentioning “Jewish fables” then this makes Paul into a schizophrenic liar (since he promotes and lauds the Torah and claims to follow it elsewhere), and it makes the word of Elohim contradict itself, and it puts Paul at odds with Yeshua who upheld the Torah (Matt 5:17–19) and with himself when he said to imitate Yeshua the Torah-keeper as he himself did (1 Cor 11:1).

 

72 Commandments in Five Chapters

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Deuteronomy 21–25

This section of the Torah (Deut 21:10–25:19) contains 72 commandments, which is more than in any other Torah portion. In this passage there are rules pertaining to all aspects of human relations showing that the “Torah deals with the real world. It does not present a world where all people get along with one another or rush to take care of one another’s property. Instead, it ‘takes into account the grim reality that people do not achieve the desired observance of “you shall not hate others in your heart”’” (A Torah Commentary For Our Times, vol. 3, p. 150). In studying this portion, one can easily miss the point of a particular command if one views it strictly in its pashat (most literal) meaning. For these commands to have relevance in our day, one must view them as principles that have a broad range of application. The specific examples Torah gives are merely representative of one of but many life situations to which the principle behind the example could apply. Keeping this in mind, this Torah portion will give you much to ponder pertaining to your day-to-day walk (or halakhah).

In these chapters we see a plethora of laws concerning many seemingly small details regarding human life. Many people in the church have the tendency to broadly sweep away these commandments with such dismissive cliches as, “We’re now under grace …” or “We’re not under the law anymore …..” But please observe how many of the civil laws of our nation regulating actions between various members of society are based upon YHVH’s laws found in the Torah. As we make our way back to a more biblically-based lifestyle and orientation, we begin to see that (a) YHVH cares about the details of our lives and (b) these laws, while sometimes hard to understand, are for our own well-being and blessing. Do you still nurse a “pick and choose” or “have it your own way” mentality with regard to YHVH’s biblical commandments choosing to follow the ones you want and making excuses why you can’t (or don’t want to) follow the rest? By doing so, what blessings are you depriving yourself of, and how are you hindering your love relationship with YHVH?

Some of the laws in these chapters may be hard to observe nowadays. With others, due to our church background, we may have the tendency to spiritualize them away, thus, in essence, rendering them of non‑effect in our lives and thereby placing ourselves above YHVH’s Torah-law and thus becoming a law unto ourselves. Is this not humanism: every man doing what is right in his own eyes instead of obeying YHVH whatever the cost? Who is the Master of your life? You or YHVH?

How do you view laws about women wearing men-type clothing, wearing fringes on the corners of your garments, mixed certain types of fibers in clothing, lending without interest, caring for the widows and orphans, personal hygiene, family purity laws (e.g. men not having sexual relations with their wives during their monthly cycles), removing blood from all meat before eating it, men wearing beards, faithfully tithing, following the biblical dietary laws, and observing YHVH’s Sabbaths (weekly and annual), etc.? These are lifestyle-changing laws, many of which go contrary to the mores of our society.

Are we not called to be a kadosh, set-apart, special and peculiar (i.e., treasured) people before YHVH? What progress are you making to bring your life into conformity to his standards of righteousness?

 

We’re in an End Times Spiritual Famine

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Can you hear me?

Many people hear the word of Elohim, but few do the word of Elohim. There is a big difference between the two. In Hebraic thought, if you don’t do it, you didn’t really hear it!

Amos 8:11, A famine…of hearing. Hearing is the Hebrew word shema, which has the compound meaning of both hearing and doing. In our modern world, the word of Elohim is more proliferated than ever before, especially with the advent of the internet. Many people have access to Elohim’s word and hear it, but very few actually do it. There are many people who are religiously active following the traditions and doctrines of men, but very few who actually read, study and then actually bring their lives into conformity with the actual word of Elohim. To do so is the biblical definition of hearing.

Amos 8:12, Run to and fro. Not only is there a famine “of hearing the words” of YHVH, but the prophetic word of Elohim is also scarce, and people are running to and fro seeking it.

Earlier in the Book of Amos, YHVH promises to do nothing except that he reveals it first to his servants the prophets (Amos 3:7). The prophet throughout his little book rebukes the people of his day for their greed, idolatry, injustice, pride and their refusal to repent of their errant spiritual ways. Perhaps it was because of Israel’s state of spiritual apostasy that prophets were so scarce in that day, which is why people were having to run to and fro over long distances seeking a true prophetic word from Elohim.

We read in Proverbs that without a prophetic vision from Elohim that is based on a solid foundation of Torah, YHVH’s people perish or become spiritual unloosened or unrestrained (Prov 29:18). There are plenty of carnal or profane prophets in the modern church who prophesy out of the dictates of their own hearts without any understanding of the Torah and do little good for the spiritual well-being of YHVH’s people (see Jer 23; Isa 28; Ezek 13; 28).

In addition to that, when a true prophet would speak, Amos complained that the people hated hearing such a prophet (Amos 5:10). The same is true today. People are people. Why should YHVH send one of his prophets to such people? The people won’t hear him anyway.

It’s ironic how YHVH’s people have this strong yearning to hear a prophetic word from YHVH (probably because of the human yearning to divine the future), but when he sends one of his true prophets to deliver it, the people refuse to hear it (because with future predictions of YHVH’s prophets comes the message of repenting of sin,which people don’t want to hear).

Ezekiel noted this proclivity of YHVH’s people and complained about the problem (Ezek 33:30–33). The people want to hear the prophet’s words, but they don’t want to obey the word of YHVH because it goes against their carnal desires (Ezek 33:31). Ezekiel goes on to predict that eventually, though each generation tends to reject the prophets YHVH sends to them, once the prophets are dead, subsequent generations would recognize them as true prophets (Ezek 33:33).

Indeed this was the case, for later generations of Jews accepted those rejected prophets as divinely sent and put their writings into the canon of Scripture. Yeshua noted this phenomenon in the Gospels (Luke 112:46–51 cp. Matt 23:31–36). That generation now accepted the prophets of old that their forefathers had rejected, but following in the same path as their forefathers,and in their own day, they rejected Yeshua — the greatest Prophet of all.