Shabbat Bible Study for 13 October 2018
©2018 Mark Pitrone and Fulfilling Torah Ministries
Year 3 Sabbath 31
Deuteronomy 10:1 – 11:25 – 2 Kings 13:23 – Psalm 128 – Colossians 3:1-4:6
Links:
Devarim 10.1-11.25 – In ch.9, Moshe recounted the sin of the golden calf and Y’hovah’s displeasure at Israel. The prefatory note to the recount of the golden calf in 9.7-29 would be well to recount here, as Schottenstein’s Chumash has a an important observation on pp.63-65. Y’hovah had proposed wiping out rebellious Israel and replacing them with a new nation out of Moshe’s seed. I think that was a test of Moshe, to see if he was as rebellious as Israel had been. Moshe passed the test; pleading with Y’hovah that he bring no reproach to his Name in the minds of the Canaanites, who would have thought that they were at LEAST all that AND a bag of chips; that Y’hovah could defeat Egypt, but NOT Canaan. When Moshe saw the idol, he was so incensed at Israel that, by way of an object lesson, he broke the tables of testimony that Y’hovah himself had made and inscribed: Israel had broken all 10 commandments so inscribed, so Moshe broke the stone tablets before our eyes.
The original tablets were entirely the work of Y’hovah, who had both hewn the stone and inscribed the commandments upon them. Now, Y’hovah commanded Moshe to hew two tables of stone like the originals and bring them up the mountain to be inscribed with the commandments. Before the transgression, the work was all Y’hovah’s. But after the transgression I think we had to provide the medium on which Y’hovah would inscribe his Word: the medium of our hearts and minds, after we surrender them to him. The ark that Moshe made to contain the tablets represents our physical bodies. I do not believe that this is the Ark of the Kodesh Kadashim, but a temporary residence of the tables until Betzalel and Aholiav could construct the Ark. These tables, which were placed in this ark of wood without gold overlay, then resided in Moshe’s tent until the Mishkan was completed and dedicated to Y’hovah. The Mishkan in this metaphor, then, represented the resurrected bodies of believers in Y’hovah Yeshua haMashiyach. We see the original narrative in Ex.34,
27 And Y’hovah said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. 28 And he was there with Y’hovah forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. (Ex.34.27-28)
The way that comes out in KJV English, it can be taken to mean that Moshe actually inscribed the commandments on the stone tablets, while the narrative in Dt.10 is much less ambiguous, that Y’hovah did the actual writing. But regardless the actual hand that inscribed the commandments on the stone, the words were actually the work of Y’hovah – Y’hovah was the author, even if Moshe chiseled the words into the stone. To continue the metaphor, even our works of Torah that evidentially set us apart from the world system are not our own; they are the work of Y’hovah Yeshua in us, as the words that Moshe metaphorically inscribed in the tables were not his own, but Y’hovah Yeshua’s through him.
The time that Y’hovah separated Levi was the same time that Moshe came down off the mount with the original tables that he broke. I think Moshe is engaging in midrash to make a point, as the sequence of encampments is different here than in Num.33, which I think is the actual sequence. Here he is making a midrashic point by inverting the sequence of a couple of encampments
31 And they departed from Moseroth, and pitched in Benejaakan. 32 And they removed from Benejaakan, and encamped at Horhagidgad. 33 And they went from Horhagidgad, and pitched in Jotbathah. (Num.33.31-33)
Ja’akan means ‘twisting’ and Moserah means ‘correction’. Gudgodah means self-inflicted cuts and Jothbath means ‘pleasantness’. Aharon did not die until they got to Mount Hor, so I think the point that Moshe makes here is that when Aharon made the golden calf, which was both a twisting of what he knew to be right and a self-inflicted cut, his fate was to not enter the Promised land. It was as if he’d died and transferred his mantle to Elezar right there at the foot of Horeb, not 39 years later on Mount Hor. Y’hovah brought correction that was pleasant in his eyes. Aharon had known better than to fashion a calf, but did so because he allowed his eyes to dictate his actions rather than what he knew was right in Y’hovah’s eyes. Please understand that Aharon’s eternity was not affected by his sin in the golden calf incident, but he had to ‘bear his iniquity’, i.e.; the physical consequence of his sin; and not see the land of promise in his earthly life.
In vv.12-18 Moshe comes back to the pashat and admonishes Israel to not slip into the flesh, as Aharon had, and think about our inadequacy to defeat the Anakim and other Canaanites, but to circumcise our heart and show our love of Y’hovah by obeying him in all that Yehoshua would command us in Y’hovah’s Name. Shlomo condensed vv.12-16 into 6 English words (4 in Hebrew et-haElohim yare v’et-hamitzvotain sh’mor) in
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear Eloha, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
We do this because Y’hovah is who he is. He is not a man, who can be bribed or bought, but the Creator of all that is. How can Y’hovah, who already owns everything, be bought by someone he owns with what only he truly owns? Does anyone actually think he can buy Y’hovah’s favor and indulgence? Does anyone think that Y’hovah will not hold men accountable for their oppression of the widows, the fatherless and the stranger who follows him?
We are to remember that we were strangers in Egypt; people of another nation who wished to live peacefully among them; and how they treated us. We are NOT to do to strangers as Egypt did to us. Y’hovah didn’t like the duplicitous treatment of his people in Egypt and taught us a lesson of how to NOT treat others, which we quickly forgot. America LEARNED this lesson and practiced it. Now we have extended this to even those who are bent on our subjugation to their foreign laws – to our soon destruction. We took away from this commandment in Israel and were exiled as a result: we added to this commandment in America, and are about to be exiled as a result.
When will we learn that we need to shomer Y’hovah’s word and quit adding to or taking away from it? Q&C
11.1-25 – Vv.1 gives us a succinct definition of ‘Love Y’hovah’ – shamarta mishmarto; guard with guarding; his chukim, mishpatim and mitzvotim. Remember that his chukim are those commands that don’t make any apparent sense to us, his mishpatim are his judgments made in answer to our questions about his commandments and his commandments themselves. So we show that we love him by always and habitually obeying him in all these things; we guard ourselves by guarding his Word in our own lives. And in vv.2-7, Moshe told us that he was not telling this to those who did not experience the Wilderness Adventure, but to us who had and that we are to teach them; both the history of the Adventure and the statutes, judgments and commandments; to our children who would follow after us in haAretz, of which we were about to take possession.
Moshe then promises us that if we will love Y’hovah as he desires, then he will prosper, preserve and protect us in haAretz in vv.8-9. This land, in vv.10-12, is not a desert, like Egypt, but is watered by rain in its season, where water will literally spring up from the places where our feet scrape the surface of the earth. The land is a place from whence Eloha never allows his eyes to wander. It is HIS land that he was giving us to provide our needs. If we would only obey his Word in vv.13-15, he would protect us and take care of us. But if we turn our backs on his Word, he would do the same to us; first removing the rain in due season, which would affect the crops and cause hunger, and finally he would exile us from the land he had given us (v.17).
So in vv.18-25, Moshe advises that if we want to stay indefinitely in the land that will quite literally flow with milk and honey, we need to observe to do all that Y’hovah commands, and he will see to it for us. We will remember to do what Y’hovah commands. We will teach all his Toroth to our children, we will model this obedience in all that we do and everywhere we go, whether in our homes, on our property or in our dealings with people everywhere else. If we demonstrate our love for Y’hovah in everything we do and say, he will either make other people want what we have and ask us to teach them of his ways, or he will make them want to kill us and then he will drive them out or wipe them out before us. Then he said that, IF we would do what he said, every place the sole of an Israelite foot would tread would be ours; that no man would be able to stand in our presence to harm us.
Has this been true of Israel or Yehudah since the days of David or Shlomo? Was it true after the land was conquered? Even in Yehoshua’s latter days, some had begun to forget these promises and within years of his death the Canaanites they failed to drive out came against them and subjugated them until Israel called out for a judge to deliver them. Y’hovah was true to his promises, though, and as long as we obeyed the judge, we were delivered. But soon we went our ways again and he would allow the heathen to subjugate us. The reason that Israel has been persecuted, I think, is because they have gone their own way and held to traditions of men as if they were the Word of Y’hovah, as well as holding to the Word of Y’hovah. It is this mixing of obedience with the additions that we were commanded to eschew that has caused all the trouble in both the Hebrew and the Xian-led countries. Israel and all the Xian led nations were founded by faithful men who wanted to follow Y’hovah to the best of their knowledge and ability, but then went their own ways until Y’hovah exiled them from their land. Exile is his final warning, and if his people, who are called by his Name will humble themselves and pray to him, seeking to observes his way and turn from our wicked ways, he will STILL hear from heaven, forgive our wickedness and heal our lands. It will not be long before we will reach the furthest extent of our forbearance of haSatan’s tyranny, and call out for deliverance. We will eventually get our fill of the wickedness of the wicked Egyptian/Babylonian system and call out for Y’hovah’s deliverance – Yehoshua Moshienu – and that he will answer with his strong right arm and Melech Mashiyach Yeshua. The question is this: How long before we get our fill?
Melachim Bet 13.23 – Need I say more? Even the northern tribes of Israel, who had never kept the pureness of Y’hovah’s Toroth, were delivered in the days of her kings to honor their patriarch’s Avraham, Yitzhak and Ya’acov. It is because of the faithfulness of the Patriarchs that Y’hovah was patient with Israel and Yehudah; not sending them into exile immediately upon their rebellion, hoping they would turn back to him. Y’hovah is long-suffering towards us for the father’s sakes. Q&C
Tehellim 128 – See the amplification of what the fear of Y’hovah is in v.1? Walking in, or obeying, his Ways. The promise to us in v.2 and throughout scripture is that if we will obey him, we will eat the produce of our land by our own hands.
17 Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear Elohecha: for I Y’hovah Elohechem. 18 Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. 19 And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. (Lev.25.17-19)
And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. (Lev.26:5)
The opposite is true if we fail to obey him and walk in his ways.
27 And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; 28 Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins… 38 And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. (Lev.26.27-28, 38)
The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: (Deut.28:33)
Not only will our land produce abundantly if we obey and walk in his ways, but in vv.3-4 our own offspring will also multiply from generation to generation. A man who fears Y’hovah will see all this physical multiplicity. We’ve said before that fear is a 2-edged sword. It speaks of abject terror of Elohim and how he will judge us when we turn from Y’hovah’s ways. But it also speaks of our awe and reverence for him when he delivers on his promises to us by blessing us for our obedience and walking according to his ways. PLEASE keep in mind that Israel NEVER had to obey the Torah in order to be saved, regardless the false teaching of the Xian churches. And neither do we. We and Yisrael, as brethren, obey Torah for the same reason Yisrael was to obey Torah – to receive His manifold blessings. In vv.5-6, Y’hovah will bless us from Zion and we shall see Shalom l’Yerushalayim, the Peace of Jerusalem, all the days of our lives. THAT speaks ultimately of the Kingdom and eternity future, when Yerushalayim SHALL see Shalom. But it can also be seen in our day, if Yerushalayim and Y’hovah’s people will just turn from our own ways and to Y’hovah’s. When we do that, and we WILL before long, for the persecution that is coming is going to make us either despair (if we see only with our physical eyes) or call out to Y’hovah for his Yeshua (turn to Y’hovah for deliverance). As long as we rely on our own strength, we will suffer ever greater condemnation from Y’hovah, and our enemies will overpower us. But when we humble ourselves and turn to Y’hovah Yeshua, he will answer according to his rachamim v’emet (mercy and truth). Q&C
Colossians 3.1-4.6 – Vv.1-5 begins to speak of our life in Mashiyach, and not in the traditions of men, as was said in the last verses of ch.2
20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Mashiyach from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not; 22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh. (Col.2.20-23)
(See the use of the word ‘ordinances’ in Paul’s other letters in juxtaposition to Torah;:1Cor.11.2, these ordinances are the judgments of the Beit Din in Acts 15; Eph.2.15, these are the oral Toroth of the Pharisees and/or the wild ultra-spiritual imaginings of the Gnostics, as are those in Col.2.14, 20.)
If we are IN Mashiyach, we are seated IN him at the right hand of Elohim and we have at our disposal the POWER of Y’hovah’s right hand, Yeshua haMashiyach, to empower us to live IN his Torah. If we are IN Mashiyach, dead and resurrected, we are, in spiritual reality, dead and resurrected in him, as well. We CAN live righteously and in obedience to His Torah, as we allow Yeshua to live in us. In v.3, we are hid IN Mashiyach. But in v.4, we see that when Mashiyach appears in his glory (Yom Kippur, some year soon? I think), WE shall appear WITH him
I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. (Dan.7:13)
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Mat.24:30)
Then we which are alive remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Master in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Master. (1Thes.4:17)
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. (Rev.1:7)
And then we see the ultimate fulfillment in Rev.19:
5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Hallel Elohenu, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. 6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for Y’hovah Eloha omnipotent reigneth. 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of Eloha. 10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Yeshua: worship Eloha: for the testimony of Yeshua is the spirit of prophecy. 11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes as a flame of fire, and on his head many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called haD’var l’Eloha. 14 And the armies in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty Eloha. 16 And he hath on vesture and on his thigh a name written, Melech l’Malachim, v’Rebbe l’Rabbim.
I think we will by then have our minds fully renewed (Rom.12.1-2 – throughly versed in Torah? Jer.31.31ff?) and, while still spiritually IN Messiah, we will also personally be fully in the Renewed Covenant as Yeshua’s vice-regents; walking it out and faithfully making mishpat before men as to their Torah obedience according to the beauty (tifereth) of Yeshua’s righteousness and compassion. ALL resurrected saints will have the wisdom in judgment of Solomon and the righteous walk of Yeshua.
V.5 – Because this is true, we ought to consider our flesh to be dead, not fulfilling the lusts thereof, but walking in the Ruach haKodesh’s power, blameless. Mortify means to treat as if dead. And the specifics are the deeds of the flesh; fornication, etc; all of which is idolatry. Idolatry is allowing anything to be more important than Elohim; job, family, self, stuff. Q&C
In v.6, the reference in KJV to the ‘children of disobedience’ is an exercise in anti-Semitism, as was the normal thinking of the Medieval and Renaissance church. The translators from Aramaic to Greek chose to use ‘sons’ rather than ‘deeds’. In light of that thought, look at note 12 of the AENT (pg.605) on the wordplay between ‘son/children’ and ‘deeds’, which is how AENT translates the verse. Aramaic can be translated both ways. What one does is the ‘son’ of what he thinks, as thoughts give birth to actions. Y’hovah does not judge the children by anything but their actions/deeds, because
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also Torah: for sin is the transgression of Torah. (I John 3:4)
Because Torah worketh wrath: for where no Torah is, no transgression. (Romans 4:15)
3:4 πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καὶ τὴν ἀνομίαν ποιεῖ καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐστὶν ἡ ἀνομία
Anomia = Torahlessness. A literal translation of 1Jn.3.4 is
Whoever performs the sin performs the Torahlessness; and the sin is the Torahlessness.
Where Torah exists, Torahlessness follows, not as a matter of course, but because we are not able to obey Torah fully as long as we are in our fallen flesh [most perform some Torah because society expects it; you shall not murder, for example]. We have generally developed a habit of Torahlessness long before we meet and begin to follow Y’hovah Yeshua haMashiyach. But as we yield to Ruach haKodesh and live our lives in obedience to Torah truth, it becomes more habitual to obey than not and we overcome our Torahlessness. This is an overcomer.
All men are judged according to their obedience to Y’hovah’s Torah instructions. Those who live a lifestyle of sin and have not trusted the finished work/performance (ποιῶν) of Yeshua on the tree, are lost and Torahless without remedy; those who have trusted Yeshua’s finished ποιῶν/performance and yield to Ruach haKodesh begin to live IN Yeshua, who IS Torah – the 2 being inseparable. The lost are judged on their failure to obey and are therefore condemned to eternal death by Torah; the found and engrafted are judged on our obedience to Torah and rewarded, our Torahlessness having been and being placed on Y’hovah Yeshua and the debt paid through his finished (ποιῶν) work.
When we ‘mortify’ (v.5) what have become our ‘members’; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affections, evil concupiscence (one of my favorite KJVisms – concupiscence = strong desire/lust) and covetousness, we are able to put off the ‘deeds of disobedience’ (v.6), IN which we walked (v.7) and which are specified in vv.8-9. It is ‘things’ and not people that bring the wrath of Elohim. So, treat those things as dead by ‘putting off’ the ‘old man’ and its ‘deeds’; live in Torah obedience, which is the proof that you have ‘put on’ the ‘new man’. Q&C
Vv.10-17 are general instructions to TorahFULLness; living in obedience to Y’hovah’s Word. After putting off the ‘old man’, we are admonished to ‘put on’ the ‘new man’. Just putting off the old does not finish the deal. What did Yeshua say about leaving a spiritual job ½ done?
43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. (Mat.12.43-45)
When we put off the old man we need to immediately replace it with the new. We do that by applying Rom.12.1-2; renewing our minds with Y’hovah’s Torah, Neviim, Kethuvim and Brit Chadasha. Just being born of the Spirit does NOT mean we are without demonic and fleshly influences – or even outright demonic infestation. We need to read and study all of Torah, from ּבראשית to Ἀμήν – 1st word to last and allow Y’hovah to use it to literally renew our minds.
V.11 has a couple of major differences between the Greek redaction and the Aramaic original. Aramaic does not have “Jew or Greek”, but “Jew or Aramean”. This is partly due to Sha’ul’s knowledge of the Israelite descent of the Colossian ‘gentile’ population and that Aramaic was the lingua franca of Asia minor and the rest of western Asia for over 600 years by this time (cf. Aramaic lingua franca 1st paragraph in AENT pg.715). Another difference is ‘Barbarian, Scythian’ in KJV/TR, but ‘Greek, barbarian’ in Aramaic. The note here says that the Greek redactor was trying to use a barbarian/oriental tongue, but the redactor didn’t understand that, in Aramaic, ‘bar bar’ means ‘son son’. I think Sha’ul’s point is not missed in either case that Mashiyach is all and in all. AENT is just trying to show the originality of Aramaic v. Greek.
Once again, in vv.12-14, we are instructed to ‘put on’ our Master Y’hovah Yeshua’s attitude as we ‘put on’ the ‘new man’. We need to clothe ourselves in his love and compassion, one forgiving another for slights or sins and not holding grudges against our brethren as our minds are made new in and by Mashiyach. It says to forgive others ‘AS Mashiyach forgave you’. The word ‘as’ points to a simile (from W1828)
“… similitude; a comparison of two things, which, no matter how different in other respects, have some strong point or points of resemblance; by which comparison the character or qualities of a thing are illustrated or presented in an impressive light…”
In this case, we are to so mimic Mashiyach in our attitude of forgiveness that the difference between us and the world system is readily evident. The natural man is NOT inherently forgiving; just drive in a city’s rush-hour traffic for a few minutes and it is likely that you will PERSONALLY demonstrate what the natural man is like. I do. I am not very forgiving when someone tries to move into my lane when my front bumper and fender can be easily seen in the corner of the other driver’s eye. (Indianapolis is famous for drivers who forget to put their ‘eyes on’ before entering a freeway. SOME forget to put their ‘ears on’, as well, since they fail to react to a loud 2-tone horn only 2-3 feet to their left. Damn cell phones and radios! Of course, it COULD be a government initiative to give the blind and deaf minorities the same rights and privileges as the majority.) I get a little ticked when stupid people try to kill my wife, my dog and me in order to save a second or 2 at 70 mph; not very Messiah-like of me, I know. But that’s how it is.
Meanwhile, just to make me feel even worse about my personal witness, Paul adds v.14, where, perhaps properly since the whole passage is about unclothing ourselves of the natural man and clothing ourselves with Mashiyach, KJV adds, “‘put on’ charity”; agapayn– ἀγάπην. Agape is the self-effacing love that Y’hovah Yeshua haMashiyach has for all of us, including the unbeliever.
In the Aramaic, the word ‘perfection’ in v.14 is followed immediately by the word peace in v.15. AENT’s note shows that though the words are different, they have very similar meanings (cf.note 15 on pg. 606).
Thou (that is Y’hovah, as v.4 makes VERY plain) wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. (Isaiah 26:3↑-4↓)
בטחו ביהוה עדי־עד כי ביה יהוה צור עולמים׃
That last is v.4, which begins with the word ‘trust’ (batach) and then names Y’hovah 3 times. It’s very plain that if we trust Y’hovah he keeps us in perfect peace, and Sha’ul seems to making that midrashic point in Col.3.14-15 (remember that there are no chapters or verse numbers in the originals), that all the things he’s said, from mortifying our fleshly nature to putting off the deeds of disobedience to putting on obedience in Mashiyach, come as a result of our trusting Y’hovah Yeshua.
In vv.15-17, the Shalom of Y’hovah, the object of our deliverance and the gospel in a nut-shell, should go forth from us to all our brethren in Mashiyach. When we are angrily at odds with our brethren, we are not manifesting Shalom, are we? If our brother in Mashiyach doesn’t want to live in peace, we are better off just eschewing contact with him, for he will break our peace. If he wants to discuss our differences, we can learn from each other. We may not come to agreement, but we can discuss differences in shalom and love each other. It’s about having Messiah’s attitude of meekness, quiet strength. The body of Mashiyach is one, as Y’hovah is one. We ought to display that.
We need to model a Torah lifestyle, which can only be done by assimilating Torah. To do this we need to ingest it, read and study Torah to show ourselves approved workmen that need not be ashamed by interpreting it correctly; not twisting numbered sound-bytes to make it seem to agree with us.
Study to shew thyself approved unto Eloha, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (II Timothy 2:15)
“Rightly dividing” = cut straight. Q&C
Vv.18-25 deal with personal relationships within families. These are general instructions on how to live in the home, not carte blanche for the leadership of the kahal to rule our homes. That is Nicolaitanism (conquerors of the people); a thing Y’hovah Yeshua HATES.
But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.
So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. (Rev.2:6, 15)
Wives! You are to be in subjection to your own husbands (NOT Nicolaitan pastors or rabbis), as the kahal is in subjection to Mashiyach. It doesn’t seem to differentiate between believing and unbelieving husbands and Kefa is pretty explicit that the wife ought to be subject to her unbelieving husband as a matter of witness to him,
1 Likewise, ye wives, in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; 2 While they behold your chaste conversation with fear. (1Kefa 3.1-2)
Imagine the wife’s witness to her husband when he sees how his buddies’ wives are with them! There may be no greater witness to the love of Y’hovah than the believing wife’s subjection to her unbelieving husband. And I don’t think this applies only to wives of unbelievers. She should also be a good example of what a godly wife is to her children, so that they will practice what their mother’s model for them. The godly husband will make this easy for her, as she will see Mashiyach in the character of her husband’s rule of the home and actually WANT to be his subject, as his yoke is easy and his burden light.
Get it, guys?! If you are having trouble with a rebellious wife, guess whose probably at fault. Hint: It ain’t HER! If you love your wife like Mashiyach does the kahal, she is going to willingly be subject to you and you are golden. And you also will probably have your children in subjection, as well.
Kids! That 5th Commandment comes in here.
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land Y’hovah Elohecha giveth thee. (Exodus 20:12)
That is not just long personal life that is promised to you, but a long possession of property so that you can pass it on to your descendants and so that THEY can hold it as long as THEY honour their parents. As the generational curse is broken when a child repents and loves Y’hovah (which means that he obeys his commandments), so the generational blessing can be broken when a child turns and despises Y’hovah (which means that he counts Y’hovah’s commandments as dung or useless). So, even if your father ISN’T godly, you are to live in subjection to him as the same type of witness your mother is to be.
Fathers! You are to NOT provoke the anger of your children. This will likely only come into play if the father repents and his children do not. Believing parents should be raising their children in the nurture and admonition of Y’hovah, so this should not be an issue. But men who convert when the children are already trained to be pagans will need to walk a fine line, showing the love of Y’hovah through wisdom and understanding while not condoning a lifestyle of sin.
Employees/servants! Give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay – anything less is theft!
Everyone! Whatever you do, do it as unto Y’hovah Yeshua (cf. AENT note at Lk.2.11 on pg.148), for ultimately, THAT is who you are serving; not your husband, father, wife, child, or master/employer. Do your best and do it honestly. If you don’t, you will ‘bear your iniquity’, the physical consequences of your actions.
4.1-6 – Employers/masters! Don’t oppress your servants/employees by shorting them what wages they are due.
13 In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession. 14 And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest of thy neighbour’ hand, ye shall not oppress one another: 15 According to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour; according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee: 16 According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for to the number of the fruits doth he sell unto thee. 17 Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear Elohecha: for I Y’hovah Elohechem. (Lev.25.13-17)
14 Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant poor and needy, of thy brethren, or of thy strangers in thy land within thy gates: 15 At his day thou shalt give his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto Y’hovah, and it be sin unto thee. (Deut.24.14-15)
Y’hovah is not pleased or amused when one brother oppresses another, OR when a Yisraelite oppresses a stranger who lives and works ‘in the land’.
Prayer is a sign of a believer. We all ought to pray more than we do, I suppose. I ought to pray more than I do, anyway. We have a source of abundant power and resources – more abundant than we could possibly imagine, for there is no limit to the power of Y’hovah. Sha’ul covets the prayers of the saints for him, that Y’hovah would open his mouth to spread the besorah that Y’hovah wants to live in perfect peace with his creatures; us!
The mystery of Mashiyach that Sha’ul speaks of is the revelation of Mashiyach in the Tanakh that the rabbis either missed or ignored. They didn’t recognize it, anyway, for they did to Paul what he was sent to Damascus to do with the people of the Way – shut him up in prison. Yeah! THAT worked well for them didn’t it? He wrote 2/3 of the Brith Chadashah from prison. He wants to ‘unfold’ the mystery of Mashiyach, I think for the Jews of the diaspora, as well as the Ephraimites in the world. He may or may not have known how much influence he would have over future history. But he certainly did, and therefore we know that Y’hovah answered the prayers of the Colossian kahal.
End of Midrashic Bible Study.
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