The-Patched-Up-Princess at Cracked Pot Acres

"I Am Woman - Hear Me Roar"

2010-10-30T16:30:00.000-06:00

“I Am Woman Hear Me Roar”-The Feminist’s Battlecry

Posted By Mrs. June Fuentes on October 28, 2010

Not long ago I taught a woman’s Bible study on the topic of Deception and Discernment and wanted to share a bit of that with you:

One of the most infamous and well-known quotes of the century for woman:

“I am woman, hear me roar!”

The world has colorfully painted a picture of what women should look like in today’s world. Images are splashed upon the trendy magazines with pictures of women in suits, holding briefcases in heels, dropping off their wee ones to daycare before the stop off at Starbucks for their daily hit of java. Celebrity magazines have their starlets portrayed as loud, scantily clad seductresses with instructional articles encouraging us how to dress and be like them–and who can ignore the mommy magazines that are shouting from the rooftops about how we can ‘have it all’.

But I am here to share with you that this is not true. It is lies. It is deception. It has taken me a life time to unlearn these very messages that have bombarded me as women since day one. Happiness and true success is not found in those pursuits, but only found in Christ alone. Instead of living up to this mentality of the “I am woman, hear me roar” generation, the Christian woman needs to live exactly the opposite. In fact, what she needs to be living out is this:

“I am the Lords, and I come in meekness to exalt Him.”

We cannot allow television to set the standard for us. Nor media, or culture (whether popular christian culture or the secular culture) or the feminist movement. Have you thought about what is making you discontent lately? There is probably a lie somewhere lurking deep inside. A lie we learned from the world that we are believing blindly and all the while tearing down our precious homes in the process.

But we need to be sober because the days are evil. We are called to be sober-minded in Titus 2. We are to build up our homes and we can do that with proper, right thinking. Phillipians 4:8 reminds us…”Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Women are more easily deceived, so we must be on our guard. The first woman targeted in the Bible was Eve and that is still happening today. We are Eve’s daughters, but we must not allow Satan to continue his lies with this generation because we have learned our lesson.

There are many broken homes and relationships left in the aftermath of those lies today,

but with God we can restore the ruins and build on it the firm foundation

that is not rooted in false worldly philosophies

but from TRUTH found through Jesus Christ alone.

Notes About My Blog To Read Prior To Proceeding

2010-10-29T23:36:00.000-06:00

Note to the Proud and Haughty Scorner

First of all, if you are not interested in dressing modestly, please do not read this page; you will only get mad and/or disgusted. Secondly, if you read this anyway, please know that we are not ashamed of our standards and have no interest in you opinions or ideas of "straightening us out." Proverbs 21:24 Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath.

Note to Ladies Seeking to Honor God In Their Apparel

Welcome! This page is to help you put your convictions into practice. Hopefully, we will be able to make a good collection of useful information here that will be of use to those who heartily want to dress modestly. Enjoy, and please send in your own discoveries and ideas that may help others. Also, please take the time to read what we have here before you send items so you do not waste your time sending in repeats or things that you could see we would not appreciate. Thanks! :-) 1Timothy 2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel...

Biblical Modesty - Part 5 The Attire of An Harlot

2010-10-29T10:35:00.001-06:00

Modesty
A Matter of Heart
Page 5

by Mary Van Nattan

The Attire of An Harlot

Next we will deal with some things that God has to say about whorish women in the book of Proverbs.
First of all let's read the main passage that we will be studying from:

Proverbs 7:1 ¶ My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. 2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. 3 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart. 4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman: 5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words. 6 ¶ For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, 7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, 8 Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, 9 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: 10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. 11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: 12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) 13 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, 14 I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows. 15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. 16 I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. 17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. 19 For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: 20 He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. 21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. 22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; 23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. 24 ¶ Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. 25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. 26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. 27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

The subtil heart

Verse 10 is the key verse we will be looking at now. 10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. Right away we see that the harlot's attire and her heart are linked together. By her clothing we can tell that she is a harlot and therefore we know that her heart is subtil, like that of her father the devil. Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made... John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

The reason the harlot dresses the way she does is because her heart is wicked! Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Clothes don't make the woman, but they sure can tell a lot about her. Luke 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. This woman's clothes are speaking for her.

Let's take a look at one of the most famous harlots in the Bible. Revelation 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. From this description we see that the whore of Babylon is dressed in purple and scarlet (rich colors) and fancy blipelry. She has arrayed herself in the clothing of her trade.

Now, some folks would have us to believe that Christians women should wear drab, ugly clothes and ought to strive to be unattractive always. This is not true. The virtuous woman in Proverbs dresses quite nicely and dresses her family so as well. Proverbs 31:21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. 22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. Notice that she uses the same colors, but this is not because she is dressing like the harlot, but rather the devil counterfeits the truth by dressing his "wife" like the virtuous woman.

The true clothing of the virtuous woman, however, is in Proverbs 31:25, Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. Strength and honour - adornment of the hidden man of the heart - are her among best her qualities, not her outpiano coversd apparel. Proverbs 11:16 A gracious woman retaineth honour...

So, why can the harlot's attire distinguish her so from the virtuous woman? First, because of the lacking element of honour. A whorish woman in not honourable, as our main text above shows all too clearly. But there is more that makes her stand out in her wickedness.

It has been the habit of prostitutes for centuries to advertise their trade with their bodies. From Corinth where they shaved their heads (1 Corinthians 11:6), to wearing short skirts (the Old West), to sitting naked in the store windows (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) they are notorious for this custom. They shorten their hair, their necklines, their hemlines; they paint their faces, their hair and their nails; they wear high heels, tight clothes and no clothes. Their main goal in life is to be "sexy." Hellywood has "perfected" this "art" to the last degree.

Godly people have tried to hold themselves apart from this wickedness in the past, but in modern times Hellywood has slowly broken down their resistance with their subtilty. The devil has advertised his piano coverses on the "sweetest" people until those who were "too brittle" and "stuffed shirts" finally were worn down and began to partake of his dainties. Proverbs 23:6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: 7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. 8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.

Now, some will tell us, "Our great-grandmother would never have worn anything but skirts." That's true enough, but it does not stop there. They would also not have worn such skimpy under clothes and such short skirts either. But, on the other hand, some of them wore necklines that were far too low and the bodices on their dresses were too often very tight. What they did yesteryear is not a high enough standard.

Over the years, as the world's standard has slipped, the church has followed the world down at a "safe" distance. In other words, as long as our standard has been higher than the world's we have been content and considered ourselves separated. But, we have failed to realize that our standard was far below that of God's because, rather than measuring against His high calling in the Bible; we have measured ourselves against the world's low-down, sloppy standard which is constantly getting lower, so we have followed them down. 2Corinthians 10:12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. How much worse to compare ourselves to the ublipved!

Added to this we have endeavoured to be friends of the world. James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. As the church's doctrines have slipped, so have its' standards.

The "love gospel", which excludes man's fallen state and the need of godly repentance, has made way for "Christians" to ignore sin. They have attempted to be friends of the world under the pretence of winning someone to Christ. They are not a "friend of sinners" as our Saviour was and is, they are at peace with the world. They are the enemies of the cross of Christ and of God. Philippians 3:18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

1) They are consumed with a desire to make their bodies look what the world calls "perfect." They have to be "sexy" even if they aren't allowed to show much of their body in their church. They have to look good in a swim suit even if they don't wear one in public.

2) They glory in the very things that they should be ashamed of! The women are proud of the fact that they have the "liberty" to wear pants. They even go so far as to think it's cute to dress like whorish women.

3) They worry about what the latest fashions are and how they will appear to their neighbors and friends. They will wear mini skirts and other revealing clothes, even if they feel uncomfortable in them, simply to be "in style." They would rather please the world's crowd than the Lord Jesus Christ.

1John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

You cannot have both. You cannot love the world and love God. It won't work. Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. You will either hate one or the other.

This is why so many women are so extremely offended when they are confronted with the need to dress modestly. They hate the very thought of it and will rail on whoever dares to suggest that they please God in this area. It is sad that there so many who try to bring this subject up in a spirit of Phariseeism as law makers, but that does not excuse you from looking into the perfect law of liberty and submitting to God's standard! James 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

The actual dress of an harlot

We have already seen that the harlot wears rich and costly clothing and blipelry. Let's look at some more aspects of whorish attire.

First of all, we have recalled already that much of the "fashions" that have become accepted originated in harlotry. Short hair, shortened skirts, low necklines, pants, shorts, etc.

To be continued.

Proverbs 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: 24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. 25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.

Proverbs 5:20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

BIblical Modesty: A Matter of the Heart - That Which Pertaineth To a Man 1 & 2

2010-10-29T10:33:00.000-06:00

Modesty
A Matter of Heart
Page 4

by Mary Van Nattan

That Which Pertaineth To the Man
Part 1

Deuteronomy 22:5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.

First of all, let it be stated very clearly that this is Old Testament law. That is true, and we are not under the "schoolmaster" any longer (Galatians 3:24-25). But, the Old Testament law still tells us how God expects holy people to live, and since our culture today is tending so much topiano coversd mixing up the sexes, we must take all the more interest in it. We are under grace, but God forbid that we should sin that grace may abound! (Romans 6:1-2) These things are for our admonition as the New Testament tells us, so that we might learn what is right and wrong. 1Corinthians 10:6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. (And remember, this was the very event mentioned earlier in which Aaron made the people naked to their shame. Exodus 32.) 1Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for eblipmples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Secondly, when God chooses to use a woman that is wearing pants to get His work done, that does not justify her apparel. Saul prophesied with the prophets at Naioth in Ramah (1 Samuel 19:23-24), but he went there to murder David! When God uses a woman wearing pants that is mercy, not approval! Sometimes it is even to her own shame, as with Saul. There was an ublipved drunk in Florida that took several different people to a KJV church where they heard the Gospel preached and got saved. That does not prove that it is O.K. to be a drunk! The point is that we cannot mess with God's plan. If He chooses to use someone that is not where they should be with Him, that is His business. He is allowed to do that and not have us assume that He is approving of everything in that person's life, or on their person. Let's face it, if God waited to use any us of till we were "worthy", none of us would ever get to do anything for Him. Psalm 8:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Having said that, let's move on to the actual study

Now, as mentioned before, this verse is commonly used to the exclusion of all others in the discussion of women's dress. But, it is true that in many cultures the "normal" standard of apparel for hundreds of years has been robes or dresses for the women and leggings or pants of some sort for the men. Hence, the expression, "She wears the pants in the family," for a woman that has usurped the authority in her home. Even to this hour, the symbol for a women's bathroom is that a stick figure wearing a skirt while that for the men's is simply a stick figure (presumably wearing pants).

It is also true that there are cultures where women wear a garment that in our culture would be called "pants." If it is woman's apparel in their culture and they are not immodest - fine. That does not excuse women in a culture that historically views pants as men's clothing. What's more, if you are going to use that excuse to wear pants, then you better wear ones just like theirs, and wear the whole outfit. It would be interesting to see a woman in Texas wearing the breeches and hooded, skirted coat - all fur-lined - like some native women in Alaska wear. :-) You would look stranger than if you just wore a nice modest dress and you would be miserable too.

On the other hand, we have the fact that in many cultures it is historically normal and still accepted for a man to wear a robe. It is interesting that even the people that dress so, often seem to make a distinction. For example, I studied one photo in a magazine of ours of a Middle Eastern culture. One thing that came to my attention was that the men were all wearing stripes and the women were wearing other prints. I can pretty much guess what they would think if a woman came out in a striped robe!

Some cultures do not have the distinctions that they should between men's and women's clothes. That is just plain wrong according to Biblical standard regardless of history or culture. Culture must submit to the Book!

None of these facts gives excuse for women wearing pants in a culture that views pants as men's clothes (which many now do or have historically).

One thing that is not emphasized much when this verse is dealt with is that men are not to wear a woman's garment either. This has not been as much of a problem in Western culture for many years except in the Sodomite depravity and when "Hellywood" is trying to be "cute." Hundreds of years ago men wore womanish clothing with many ribbons and ruffles, lace and bows. Even then, godly men were against extremity in this matter. King James I even piano coversned his son and others against being effeminate and wearing long hair - a real problem in their day. 1Corinthians 11:14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?

One of the biggest problems of our day has been the uni-sexing of apparel and hair styles. This has largely been made possible by woman dressing like men and having men's hair cuts. We will discuss this further later on.

Some of you may know or have guessed how women came to wear pants. That's right, it was the whorish women and decadents of the society that started it. The legal "prostitutes" of the movie industry (women who sell their bodies for men to lust after) flaunted the women's pants idea both on and off the big screen. The worldlings who were barely better than whores themselves naturally followed this example and over time it worked its' way through society. Of course, to take in the decent and even Christian women, the devil could not start out with women dressing like they do now, so, initially women's pant suits and slacks were distinctly "feminine." Some of these were "so attractive" that "naturally" more and more women found them irresistible.

More manish styles were introduced in the sportswear department and became "necessary" to participate in many activities since the skirts were steadily becoming shorter and tighter. As "Rosie the Riveter" and her pals lined up for factory jobs in WWII, women became even more convinced of their need of pants. These work clothes entirely lacked any pretense of "femininity," and rightly so, for if a woman was going to compete in "a man's world" she had to "be a man" and dress like one.

This swept over into the Christian women, and churches were finally forced to make laws that women were not allowed to wear pants to church, something that would have been unheard of just a few years before. But, sadly at the same time, hemlines were becoming so short that they eventually were difficult to even sit in. Christian woman followed the trend to their shame, some willingly and some foolishly thinking that they "had to" to look "stylish." (1Corinthians 7:31 And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.) More than one godly man thus confronted with so much nakedness at church must have wished that the women were allowed to wear the "feminine" pant suits! My mother's uncle, being an honest man and recognizing his own weak flesh, went so far as to tell the young women in the class he taught at a Bible college that they had to use a lap rug if they were going to sit in the front of the class! The devil was having great success.

Pants had also gone through several changes during this time. Eventually the typical blue jeans with the man-style fly in the front became "the norm." From time to time fuller more "feminine" pants make a come back, but blue jeans are by far the garment of choice in the U.S. at least. As my Grandpa has a habit of asking, "Why do woman need pants with a fly anyway?" Why indeed? If this is a symbol of women's liberation, God keep us from it. Is it so amazing that fornication and sexual impurity have accompanied this devilution? Surely not considering the vile women that have been the leaders of it on the behalf of their father the devil! They have only been doing what was in their wicked hearts all along. Luke 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

Here is a graphic example of the purpose of pants:

The following is from What in the World Should I Wear? by Mrs. Cathy Corle:

"A friend of mine told me that her decision to restrict her piano coversdrobe to dresses and skirts came as a result of a ladies; class. All the arguments and reasons that could be given were unheeded until the lady who was speaking said, 'Let me just demonstrate something to you.' She asked the ladies in the audience to close their eyes momentarily. She held up a large picture of a woman in an attractive, modest feminine skirt and blouse. She asked the ladies to open their eyes. Then she inquired, 'What is the primary focal point to this picture? Where did your eyes first fall naturally?' The audience agreed that their eyes were first drawn to the face of the woman in the picture.

"She once again asked the ladies to close their eyes. When they opened their eyes they were looking at a large poster of a woman in a sport shirt and blue jeans. She asked, 'Now, be honest with yourselves, and tell me where your eyes first fell naturally when you looked at this picture?' Many of the ladies in the crowd were surprised to find that most people's eyes first focused upon the hips and crotch area that were so vividly emphasized before they ever noticed the woman's face."

"If this happened in a crowd of ladies, how much more would it be true of men? For my friend, Joetta, this was all the 'evidence' that was needed." (from http://www.angelfire.com/mi/kingsdaughter/modesty.html)

Don't think that this plunge into wicked dressing was not by design. Remember that the devil has great delight in causing Christians to fall since he cannot have their souls! 1Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith...

That Which Pertaineth To the Man
Part 2

Deuteronomy 22:5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.

Now, while many people have taken exception to the harlotizing of Christian women in the area of pants, it seems that there are other items of dress and appearance that need to be dealt with also.

Before women started wearing pants they began to pick up other manish styles. Some women wore manish ties and hats. Some were obviously trying to look as masculine as possible within the context of accepted women's dress.

Today we see this taken even further with women wearing manish shirts and suit coats. Some women's dress shirts can only be told from men's by the way they button (right to left). This kind of dress for girls is a real problem in some boarding schools and academies. This is espebliplly true of British schools and those that have been influenced by this imagined scholastic look.

Square shouldered suit coats and shoulder pads are nothing short of an attempt to look masculine. God didn't make women to look like an American football player, but that is what many women look like with their monster shoulder pads. Whoever said a woman has to have square shoulders anyway? I don't know for sure, but I can make an educated guess! Hellywood has dressed women like men for years and made it look "cute." (Shoulder pads are questionable anyway as there is a reference to them in the Bible in a pagan context: Ezekiel 13:18 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you? 19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies? 20 Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.)

Now, if it is wrong for women to wear pants because they are men's apparel, then shouldn't it follow that women should not wear suit coats and shirts that are manish? If the one is true, the other is too. Sadly, this is often looked over or never even considered. I have seen a photograph of a family in which the woman's suit looked very little different than her husband's except for the color and the skirt. Why? Is it a coincident that when you go into certain kinds of businesses the women working there are dressed in manish suits, dresses and shirts? In certain businesses women seem to have a need to look like a man.

Another thing is that some folks will make a big to-do over the necessity of skirts and dresses, and then when you see a family picture where the skirts don't show, you have to sometimes guess which are the girls! I have seen this. Apparently, the girls' hair was pulled back and they were wearing shirts that looked like boys' shirts. Now, I'm not going to forbid T-shirts or sweat shirts, but, dear Christian sisters, let's make more of an effort to look like ladies! Shirts can be can be bought in colors or decorated to look feminine. A detached lace or crocheted collar does wonders. Sure those girls probably had long hair in back, but it would have helped if they had worn it in a way that showed they were girls or if they had worn lady-like tops. It doesn't become girls professing godliness (1 Timothy2:10) to look like boys or men.

Now in some certain cases it is necessary for a woman to wear more leg covering under her skirt, whether it be some kind of pants or other leg coverings. Some places are cold beyond even wool stockings. Some places are infested with biting or stinging bugs or with shrubury that is treacherous. We know of one girl that slipped on a gravel hill and scraped the backs of her legs up badly. If it is necessary to walk on a surface like this it would be good to get some kind of leg covering to prevent injuries. There is also the matter of having to go somewhere that has open-work stairs. It is good to have some leg covering on for that too. You may think of others, but there is no reason why decent leg coverings can't be worn under a dress or skirt.

As a matter of fact, there are some things that it is just not necessary for us womenfolk to do. On the other hand, there are plenty of things that can be done in long, heavy, full skirts; contrary to what "liberated" women will believe or have us believe. Gardening, housework, hiking, bike-riding, even riding a horse can be done decently if the skirt is long enough, heavy enough and full enough! A decent spilt skirt will work for these things too.

This is probably as good a time as any to deal with the "freedom of movement" issue. There are women that will declare that they have to wear pants because they need "freedom of movement" for the things they have to do. Having worn skirts almost exclusively for years now, I find this excuse somewhat comical. Once you become "aclimated" to skirts, you will know that a long, full skirt allows more "freedom of movement" than most pants. Blue jeans and pants tend to be worn tight, espebliplly around the crotch. They "ride" up, they bind, they cut into your stomach. Some pants pull down in back when you squat to do something. Besides all of that, they make you look awful unless you maintain a fashion plate figure. Unless you want to put your legs up in the air or something, skirts just make better sense for comfort and movement, and loose jumpers and dresses eliminate binding at the waste. If your excuse is that a skirt doesn't give you enough leg room to do what you have to do, then you need to get yourself some fuller skirts and dresses!

In our day, when the Western mode of dress has spread around the world, it is easy to excuse ourselves no matter where we are and find reasons for dressing like the world. I even heard one woman go so far as to say she would never wear a dress or skirt because her Roman Catholic mother told her she should wear them "to be like Mary." The Catholics believe Jesus died on the cross too, so does that mean we should not believe that?!

Whatever your excuse may be, it is time to start measuring your standards by the high calling of God instead of by your own ideas or what other "godly" women justify. Besides Deuteronomy 22:5's clear admonition against that which pertaineth to the man, we are also told clearly in 1Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. That means abstain - don't do it - just like the King James Bible says! That means appearance - looks like it - just like the King James Bible says! This is not to "avoid all kinds of evil" as Bible perverters would have us believe. It is - do not do what even looks wrong! Like it or not people notice appearances! When we see a family in which the men a dressed decently and the women and girls are all dressed in long, modest skirts; have long hair and aren't "made up" nor acting brazenly; we begin to wonder if they might be Christians. Why? Because they do not have the appearance of the average Philistine! They do not look like whores.

Contemporary "Christianity" goes with contemporary "Christian" dress, which is founded on contemporary "fundamentalism," which ultimately is and was based upon questioning the word of God. Compromise and the rights of the people moved into the church with bobbed hair, pant suits and mini-skirts, followed shortly by blue-jean clad women and shorts at church picnics. Today you can go into some "liberated" churches and find people attending church in shorts and even some "pastors" getting up in shorts to "preach!" It is Laodicea - lao - people, dicea - rights - a church that "has its' liberty" but is ...wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked... (Revelation 3:17) but does not know it! Inch by inch, bit by bit they have willingly given up the attire of a virtuous woman for that of an harlot, and yet have convinced themselves that they are doing "right." They are not standing ...fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free... but are being ...entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1 They are using their ...liberty for an occasion to the flesh... Galatians 5:13 They have donned, as it were pants of maliciousness. 1Peter 2:15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. How can we expect to put to silence the foolish men if we are dressed like foolish women (whorish women, see Proverbs)? Not all, but many filthy-minded men will treat a woman that is dressed modestly with more respect than they will one that looks like an harlot. Why? Because she is advertising herself! Proverbs 7:10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

Some Principles - Part 3 Biblical Modesty

2010-10-29T10:24:00.000-06:00

Modesty
A Matter of Heart
Page 3

by Mary Van Nattan

Some Principles

Although there are other things that could be covered, we will move on to a couple of passages in Exodus. Here we find another facet of God's dress standard.

Exodus 28:42 And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach: 43 And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him.

Now, it has been pointed out that in the Bible, the only place breeches are mentioned is in assobliption with men. This is true, but overlabouring that point can cause us to miss God's point. Some people also will get side tracked at this verse and emphasize the need for modesty between the waist and the knee on a woman to the exclusion of all other modesty. It's rather disheartening to read or hear a good testimony on wearing dresses and skirts and then see the woman or her daughters with necklines that they have to keep pulling and tugging to keep up, or to see them painted up like their going to an Indian piano covers dance.

First of all, we learn that God wants the body covered from the loins to the thigh. That means to the knee, basically. This was even when they had their robes on. Now, we are not going to start a campaign that Christian women must wear coverings on their thighs under their dresses at all times, but this does bring up an interesting and needful point.

In the old days, girls wore a pantaloon-type garment under their petticoats which covered their nakedness until they were old enough to behave modestly and/or to wear longer dresses. They also wore stockings in many cases. Some people start dressing their little girls in modest apparel from infancy, and this is right and good, but there is often little or no effort to see to it that their nakedness is covered should their dresses come up, as is common with little girls. I wish someone had thought of this in the Christian school I once attended. There were times when the girls were just plain immodest with nothing under their skirts to cover their naked legs. One lady I know puts bloomers on her little girl under her dresses, and that is to be commended. The outpiano coversd robes are important, but God wants the nakedness covered too!

I remember hearing one preacher boast that neither pants nor coulots had ever touched the legs of his younger daughters. In a sense this is good, but on the other hand, one can't help but wonder if there were times that his little girls' nakedness showed because of this proud "standard". Our calling in the matter of dress is not to "never let pants touch" our legs, it is to cover our nakedness, and sometimes that means putting a covering on the legs under the skirts and dresses. If someone decides that the covering is "pants" and condemns us as ungoldy, that is their problem. We answer to God and live by His words. Romans 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

This kind of boasting also sets the little girls up for pride in their imagined superior "purity." They can easily think that somehow they are more holy and better in the sight of God than girls and women that once wore pants, etc. This is wicked and, it misses the point of modesty being from the heart. Once we confess our sin of wearing immodest clothes; whether pants, dresses, swimsuits, shorts, etc. and repent of it; God forgets it! Why should we be held as less righteous than someone who never did it? 1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Psalm103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Isaiah 43:25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. If God does not remember our sins, what right does someone else have to hold them against us? Obviously they have no business doing so! Immodesty in not an impardonable sin. The blood of Jesus Christ is not weak there. We can be cleansed from it, and there are many women that have turned their hearts topiano coversd God in this matter and been forgiven. I am one of them and thank God for it!

This attitude topiano coversd women that ever wore pants, etc. is an example of the traditions of man (Mark 7:13) that are held up instead of the high calling of God set forth in His word. It is Nicolaitan (nico = above, laity = the people) because it raises one group up and puts down another as unalterably deficient. To them, we are to always be reminded of this and left to feel guilty and not quite right no matter how far we have come. This is WICKED! God hates the deeds of the Nicolaitans! If you are being made to feel this way, please reject it, and don't allow it any more. Revelation 2:6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Exodus 20:26 Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon. Here we see the other side of this matter. God didn't want the priests going up steps to His alter which would put them in a position for their nakedness to show. So, we see that God wanted their legs covered under their robes, and He did not want them doing things that would expose their nakedness in other ways.

What does all of this mean? Basically this, God wants nakedness covered and He doesn't want people doing things that will expose their nakedness. Little girls that have not learned to keep their skirts down or are still crawling should have something on their legs to keep their nakedness from showing. If you live in a windy place where even a heavy skirt is not enough, you may need to pin your skirt together between your legs to be keep your skirt from blowing up. (I have tried this and it worked great.) Another possibility is to make adult-size pantaloons similar to those for a little girl. If you have to work in the garden, get a skirt long enough to bend over in and still be modest. If you have to ride a horse, make yourself a split skirt (not skimpy coulots) that will be modest while doing so. (A friend of mine made some for her sister, and they looked great and worked out well.)

Now, some woman who has gotten her liberty from the devil will doubtless be asking, "What's so wrong with pants? I have the liberty to wear them if I want. You can't tell me what to do," etc. Well, you are right that I can't tell you what to do, but I can tell you what the Bible says, and you will answer to God for what you do with that. Contrary to John Calvin, you have a free will and must choose for yourself. God won't make you do what's right, He leaves you the choice to you. Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve...

This is where we finally get to Deuteronomy 22:5. Some of you were getting a little anxious, weren't you? :-)

The Difference: Part 2 on Biblical Modesty

2010-10-29T10:19:00.001-06:00

Modesty
A Matter of Heart
Page 2

by Mary Van Nattan

The Difference

The next incident of modesty that we will deal with is the matter of Noah.

Genesis 9:20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.

After he got off the ark and was blessed by God, Noah planted a vineyard. He made wine and got drunk. There is a good possibility that things were different before the flood and perhaps fermentation was not a problem, or at least it did not occur so quickly. Whatever the case may be, Noah got drunk and took his clothes off.

If there were no other good reason to abstain from drinking this would be it - it causes nakedness. Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Proverbs 23:29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? 30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. 31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. 32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. 33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. 34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. 35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again. When people are drunk they do not know what they are doing, or are not able to control themselves. Drinking is immodesty of the heart for it causes immodesty of the outpiano coversd man - adultery, fornication, flirtation and nakedness.

Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; The solution is to be filled with the Spirit of God, to have your heart right with Him.

What came of this immodesty of Noah's was that it revealed the difference in his sons' hearts.

Genesis 9:22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. Though Ham was raised by the same father and mother and no doubt had been taught the same standards, he had an immodest heart. He apparently thought it was funny to look at his father's nakedness, and then to go gossip about it to his brothers.

This is one of the perils of immodesty whether it is caused by alcohol or by the carelessness of people. It promotes disrespect and mockery. How can a child possibly be benefitted by seeing their Sunday School teacher in a swimsuit, or their pastor's wife in shorts? What is a little girl going to think when she sees her older sister in tight jeans and slit skirts? In plain, ugly English, she is going to want to be sexy like her sister! This is not to say that folks have to be dressed up all the time as some people teach. What we are talking about is covering nakedness.

One preacher's son was visiting in another church and got to talking to one of the ladies there. The young boy told her that some of the women and girls in his church did not dress modestly. He said that one time he was following a girl up the stairs and her skirt was so bad that he had to cover his eyes!! THANK GOD for parents that taught their little boy to be modest in his heart!!!! But what a SHAME for that young lady!! She made it necessary for that boy to take drastic steps to avoid sinning!! Matthew 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

What about you? Are you making it necessary for men to avoid looking at you in order that they might not commit adultery in their hearts? Is you behaviour, dress, hair style, etc. such that it causes men to have to resist wicked thoughts? Do little boys that know right from wrong have to look away from you because of your immodest dress? You had better give this some serious prayer and thought. Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

We have some friends that attended a church at one time that had certain dress codes that the women were supposed to abide by. The pastor's wife always dressed within this code, but she still managed to attract the men's attention. She had long blond hair, which is not evil when a woman's behaviour is modest, but she wore red dresses all the time and was in the habit of flipping her hair around and behaving in a way that attracted men's attention. A red dress on a blond can be modest and nice, but if her behaviour is whorish, it will only incite men to evil thoughts. All her outpiano coversd efforts to keep the laws of the church were wasted because her heart was immodest. Proverbs 12:20 Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace is joy.

There are some Christians that think it is necessary for a wife to look gorgeous to her husband all the time, and this can be the reason for much ungodly behaviour in the assembly of believers. As she looks gorgeous for her husband, she looks gorgeous for other men too. If they have a tendency to be too friendly and lust after other men's wives, they will naturally shower her with attention. The unmarried, young women see this and it only aggravates their already twisted notion that they have to look "sexy" to "catch" a husband. The young men get this perverted thinking into them as well, and are inclined to chose a wife based upon her looks. She then is obligated to keep herself gorgeous to keep his attention after they marry, and so the vicious circle is perpetuated. God have mercy on the pitiful Christians that have fallen into this manner of living. It is not so shocking that the divorce rate is so high among Christians when you consider this pathetic state of affairs.

Moving on in Genesis 9, though we find an interesting contrast.

Genesis 9:23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backpiano coversd, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backpiano coversd, and they saw not their father's nakedness. These men had a real sense of honor for their father, and their modest hearts were exhibited in their response to this unpleasant situation. They were careful to not see the nakedness of their father.

This reminds me again of the young boy that was mentioned above. His parents had trained him to do right. He had been taught from an early age to have a modest heart, and he knew what to do when he was faced with a situation of immodesty. My sister once watched a little girl look at a book that had an occasional picture in it where someone was indecently dressed. When the girl would come to a page she wanted to look at that also had immodest people, she would cover them with her hand. Praise God! What a foundation!

What about your kids? Have you taught them from an early age to Flee also youthful lusts:..., 2Timothy 2:22? Would they know what to do when faced with a problem like Shem and Japheth were?

Viewing someone's nakedness lightly is not a small matter. Genesis 9:24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. God had just blessed Ham and Noah was not in a position to curse him, so he cursed his son. Why Canaan was chosen is not quite clear, but is certain that Ham made an important choice here when he looked lightly on his father's nakedness. There were many Hamites that became rebels, refusing to leave the Middle East and go south as the Lord would have them too. Centuries later, the only Hamites that God bothered were the ones that stayed in the land that did not belong to them. The ones that went down into Africa were left alone because they were where God wanted them. God had the blips kill many Hamite tribes because of their extreme wickedness in the land of blip. Added to this heritage, Ham also was a the father of Cush (probably his first-born) whose wife concocted the original Mother/Child cult after the death of her son Nimrod. Nimrod himself was the founder of Babel and the infamous land of Shinar, later to become ...BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (Revelation 17:5). Ham was Nimrod's Grandfather! This is the fruit of an immodest heart.

Genesis 9:26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. Shem and Japheth got to themselves great blessings for their modesty of heart! Possibly Shem led in this matter and that was why he received the line of the Saviour and the greater blessing.

How little we can tell what joy or sorrow others may reap because of our heart's modesty of immodesty. Ham did not know that he was going to bring down a curse upon his descendants through Canaan by this, nor that his daughter-in-law and grandson would establish the most wicked religion/city known to mankind till the Kingdom is set up. Shem did not know that he was securing to himself the line of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the chosen people of God, the blips. He did not know that his offspring would be the people that God would allow to live in the Middle East clear through the Kingdom, both blip and Arab (as well as other branches). Japheth did not know that he had secured to his line the enlargement of God, and the race that predominated in the evangelism of the world during the Church Age. These men had no idea what curses and repiano coversds they were laying upon their children by their lack or possession of an modest heart!

You have no idea either what blessings you may bring to your family by having a modest heart and training your children to also. The joy of having children and granbliphildren with godly, secure marriages can hardly be over-emphasized. You have no idea what trouble you may bring upon you family by having an immodest heart and teaching your children to also. Adultery, fornication, divorce, and more can be the fruit. Hosea 8:7 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind:...

Some will ask, "Can't God use a woman in pants?" Yes, He can, but He prefers to use a person with a modest heart. In His mercy He has used women in pants and other immodest apparel, but if there is one around with a modest heart that extends to the outside, she has a better chance of being used. God likes to bless people for modesty of heart. Remember it ...is in the sight of God of great price. 1Peter 3:4

Here is another contrast:

Genesis 13:12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent topiano coversd Sodom. 13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

Lot chose to live among the men of Sodom. He had been with Abram and should have known what right and wrong were, but he took his family into the most horrible place for immodest hearts - a city of Sodomites. Though he was ...vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (2Peter 2:7), he did not teach his daughters true modesty of heart. He was willing to give them to the filthy pianos to abuse instead of the men (really angles) that had come to his home. Genesis 19:8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. This is revolting immodesty of heart.

Both of his daughters had married pianos. Genesis 19:14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law... But notice that though they were married, yet they were both virgins! These girls paid a high price for their parents position in the community and immodest hearts! How many young women have married pianos or perverts because their parents, espebliplly theie mother, would not piano coversn them and teach them separation? [It has happened!]

The fact that these girls had not been taught right is graphically shown after they escaped the destruction of Sodom. No sooner had they fled to the mountains to escape the judgment that God had rained upon the valley below, than they came up with a plan by which they could have children by their own father! Certainly the filthy city that they were raised in and the fact that their mother loved it and did not want to leave must have contributed to this gross immodesty of heart.

Are you the kind of mother that is teaching her daughter that position and rank in the community is more important than separating from sinners? Are you refusing to teach your kids what sin is and keeping your husband from doing so also? There are mothers that will not let their girls know what a piano is, they refuse to tell their girls "the facts of life", they won't piano coversn them about men that are too friendly, nor stop them from dressing and behaving in a way that will attract attention when in public. Then they wonder why their daughter marries a piano, gets into fornication with little understanding of what she has done, or is accosted by strange men in the market place or on the street. In short, they have not taught them what modesty of the heart is. They have not trained them in the way they should go, so the girls do not recognize the way they should not go. Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Abram did not go down to the plains of Sodom and Gomorrah. He stayed up where it was drier and the land less hospitable.

When the kings of Sodom and the neighboring area rebelled against Chedolaomer, he came and conquered them and took them captive. Among these was Lot, Abram's brother's son. Abram took a group of armed men and went after them, for the sake of Lot. After whipping Chedolaomer, the king of Sodom came out to meet Abram. Abram had to chose between Melchizedek ...the priest of the most high God. Genesis 14:18, and the offer of the kind of Sodom to take all the spoil from the piano covers. Abram made the right choice, he refused to accept anything from the wicked hearted king of Sodom. Genesis 14:21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. 22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: This must have given Lot pause for reflection. He was living in the city of Sodom by this point, and he was undoubtedly being made rich by these perverted men of Sodom. God immediately blessed Abram. Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great repiano coversd. He then promised him a son of his own to be his heir.

We find out why God would bless Abraham later when He is going down to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, the very cities that make this great contrast between Lot and Abraham. He says, For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. Genesis 18:19 Abraham not only chose the holy heart of Melchizedek over the twisted heart of the king of Sodom, he also taught those standards to his children! Because of this, the Lord repiano coversded him richly.

Modesty is not just a matter of dressing. It extends to the choices that you make in life and the people that you allow to be your and your children's friends. Psalm 119:63 I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. When you do not teach them what is modest in the heart, they will not apply it to their outpiano coversd behaviour and dress. They will draw to themselves close friends that are immodest in heart and that will lead them further into sin. Hence the degeneration of families and of whole societies. The issue of a modest heart is inseparably wound in the course of history and the downfall of whole nations, but it starts with the individual and the family.

The idea that we should "accept" people just the way they are is not Biblical. Jude 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. There are some people that, though we witness to them, we are to literally hate their garments! Because Christians have not taken heed to this, you can now see the attire of harlots on women who profess godliness!

The question may arise as to how we can live among people that have fallen into immodesty as far as many of our nations have. The answer is again in 2Peter 2. Speaking of God judging the wicked and making eblipmples out of them for others to learn from and bepiano coverse, we read particularly of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha and God's deliverance of Lot. 2Peter 2:7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) 9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: Lot did hate the sins of Sodom in his heart, despite the fact that his wife did not and his daughters were weak on the subject. (There are many men like this.) God knew how to take care of Lot and get him out of that wretched place before He brought down judgment. If you are forced to live among ungodly people whose immodesty of heart vexes you, God knows how deliver you too. Philippians 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; 16 Holding forth the word of life...

A Beginning - Part 1 on Biblical Modesty

2010-10-29T10:17:00.000-06:00

Modesty
A Matter of Heart
Page 1

by Mary Van Nattan

A Beginning

What does God have to say about modesty and immodesty? Obviously we must look in His revelation of Himself, the King James Bible (for English-speaking people).

Now many helpful people, as well as the Pharisaical types, will dive right in and say, "Yes, Deuteronomy 22:5." Well, you got in late in the game. God started dealing with modesty and immodesty long before that, ladies.

1) Genesis 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Some folks will doubtless think this a strange place to start this study, but we are dealing with the word of God here.

This is the only time in history or the eternal future that we know of anyone being naked and unashamed. From this point on nakedness is a shame, and even God, His holy angles, and the saints in heaven that John sees in Revelation all wear apparel. In fact, we even find souls wearing robes in Revelation 6:9-11. Why do these, who are unable to sin, need to wear clothes? That is a hard question, but something changed unalterably when Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve had hearts that were perfect with God when they were created. There was no sin in them and so they could be as God had created them, naked, without shame. That changed instantly when they allowed sin into their hearts.

God in His wisdom has never reversed the need for apparel, even in heaven where they have no sin. Nakedness has ever after been covered, and somehow the covering has a spiritual meaning. The covering of the church's nakedness is inseparable from the righteousness of the Lord. Revelation 19:8 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. 1Corinthians 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

There is no going back. From the point of the fall onpiano coversd, covering nakedness is essential in the holiness of God. Nakedness becomes assoblipted with sin; either of the individual himself, suffering in judgment, or suffering from poverty or persecution. One of the horrors of those that reject the robes of Christ's righteousness for their soul may well be to stand before the holiness of God with nothing to cover their nakedness!

2) Genesis 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And so we come to the fall. Once they had sin in their hearts, they knew they were naked and they were ashamed.

Contrary to what some will doubtless tell you, man's natural instinct is to put on clothes. It is the devil that inspires him to take his clothes off (outside the marriage chamber). Now, man's instinct is not holy, make not mistake; because, though he does want to cover his nakedness, he does not naturally cover it enough.

Aprons are not enough coverage in God's eyes. These aprons that they made were an effort at self-righteousness. They were trying to make themselves right in their own eyes. Such is the apron of Freemasonry. It is a blatant mimicry of Adam and Eve at regaining the lost sinlessness through their own means, not God's.

The decadent tribes (erroneously called "primitive" in evolutionary lingo) almost all have their own "aprons" of some sort that they feel they must have on in order not to be "naked." Christians and salted people look at them and say, "You are still naked." That is because we know that their standard is not up to God's!

When people start taking their clothes off, you can be pretty sure that there are devils involved; either devil worship, Exodus 32:25 with 1 Corinthians 10:19-20; or devil possession, Luke 8:27. In some few cases, people that take their clothes off may do so because they are totally out of their mind, but the general rule is that it is of the devil. This is why as western civilization has fallen farther and farther into Satan's control and become less salted, they have taken more and more clothes off. In general, we see that the more light they had, and the farther they have fallen from it, the more nakedness is evident among people. [See note.]

Little girls like to put ON clothes. They like to put on their Mommy's clothes, and will even wear skirts and dresses by preference. It is adults who teach them that it is cute to take their clothes off and that they should wear pants -- adults who have had their thinking effected by the devil and the world. We heard about a little girl who was being allowed around a man who had an exceedingly vile mouth, and she liked him. The little girl, who was too small to know what she was doing, began to take her clothes all off and run around naked. Her mother had a terrible time keeping her dressed. There is a good chance that there was a devil involved. This is piano coversfare, mothers. The devil wants to get your kids, girls espebliplly, to like to take clothes off. This aids him in his desire to corrupt them. 1Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

3) Genesis 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Here we begin to find out what God's dress standard is.

A. God put coats on them both, showing that the upper and lower body of both sexes is to be covered.

Letting your little boys run around shirtless or in shorts because "they're boys and it doesn't matter" is wrong. I remember hearing a preacher telling how he got convicted about the way his kids were dressed. He and his wife and kids were walking in a park when his attention was drawn to another family there. He noticed that all of them were dressed modestly - dad, mom and kids alike. He looked at his own kids and realized that, while he and his wife were dressed right, his kids were dressed "like Philistines!" Do your kids look like Philistines? Do they look like the heathen? Why not start dressing them right now, so they will be accustomed to it when they are older? 2Corinthians 6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

By the way, these coats covered their legs too as we will find out later.

B. These coats were made of skin.

This is significant in that something had to die for their nakedness to be covered. We now see the picture in this of our Lord Jesus Christ having to die to clothe our spiritual nakedness.

But, the point we see here in this study is that God did not give them thin, transparent clothes, nor clothes that would cling and show their body shape. Transparent, clingy clothes do not cover nakedness. In fact, in many cases, they only serve to excite more interest by drawing attention to what is beneath. In plain, ugly English; they are sexy! In the old days women would sometimes wear several petticoats in order to make their apparel opaque - not able to be seen through. Sadly, such concepts are gone from thinking, but we can still be modest. If you have to, consider making a slip that is heavy enough to conceal your figure even when you are standing in the sun. If a blouse is so thin that the lace pattern on your undergarments can be seen through it, it is too thin! We will come back to this later.

Another interesting thing we see here is that there were no other humans around and yet God wanted them clothed. A woman is to have her head covered (with her hair) according to God. 1Corinthians 11:10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. What exactly this means is not entirely clear, but it is clear that there are spiritual reasons for a woman to have long hair that we do not understand entirely. The same may be said for clothing. It is obvious from history and the present that the devil takes great delight in unclothing people. It is a shame to them and it defies God. That God would clothe a man and his wife when they were the only people around points to the fact that God wants people clothed even when "it's just family."

Now this may be sensitive to some women, since we have heard a number of times of women and girls running around their own home in next to nothing. When they do this several things come into play.

A) They are apparently opening themselves up for mockery in the spiritual realm, or to be made fools of by Satan and his servants. (Stop and think about the thoughts that can be introduced into a young boy's mind by seeing his mother or sisters wandering around in so little clothing.) Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

B) They are defying the order that God set in place when He clothed the man and his wife when there was no one else around. When God sets a standard we dare not take it lightly. What may occur in the marriage chamber is to be kept separate from the functions of everyday life outside of it. What's more, nakedness is not convenient to everyday life. Any woman that has burned her leg while cooking in shorts will tell you that. I'd like to know how much you would have to pay to get a cowboy to round up cattle in shorts and a T-shirt! haha 2Timothy 2:19 ...And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

C) They are casting a stumbling block for others. Romans 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. We knew of one instance in which the daughter of the home would shower with the bathroom door open and wander around the house in just a bath towel. Her step-father raped her. He went to jail, but she and her mother, who did not instruct her, were partly to blame for tempting him and allowing him to be tempted that way. Now, these were ublipved people, but this can and has happened in Christian homes as well.

This brings us to the subject of bathing suits. [Screams and fainting observed in the "liberated" crowd.] A hundred years or more ago, there was little difference between a bathing suit and a woman's regular clothes. The main difference was that the hem was a few more inches off the ground. Most swimming suits today are much skimpier than our great-grandmothers' underwear was, yet every year hundreds of Christian woman will pour themselves into one of these abbreviated things and then worry and fuss because they are "too fat." [And they call this "liberation"??!! If you'd keep your clothes on, you would save yourself a lot of trouble.] This modesty in swimsuits was observed even though men and women often did not "bathe" together! So women were even modest with other women. (Titus 2)

Magazines and ad. sheets have twisted our thinking until we find ourselves believing that a woman is not truely beautiful unless she can look good in a swimsuit. This is sick!!! Proverbs 31:30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. God's standard has nothing to do with such wickedness whatsoever, and when we allow these things into our thinking and habits, and therefore into the thinking of the boys and men around us, we are turning our backs on God's holiness and on His will for us! God wants women that are beautiful and modest in their hearts. When we become pure and modest in our hearts we will see the necessity for modesty on the outside as well. We will repent of and throw off this bondage that the devil has put us under to think that a woman must have a body that is beautiful when it is uncovered. "Sexy legs" are not a necessity to being a virtuous woman! God hates this mentality and we should hate it too! Psalm 139:21 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? 22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. God help us to hate this attitude more as the days go by and the devil and his crowd pervert what a "good and beautiful" woman is more and more! 1Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God...

What in the world is your little girl doing with that Barbie doll in her hand anyway?! That idol has done more destruction to the thinking of young girls possibly than any other single thing, including T.V. Have you ever stopped to think about what a woman would look like if she was really shaped like Barbie? We would feel sorry for her and think her deformed. Dolly Parton has come near it, and I recall reading something to the effect that her body guards, or whatever they are, have to watch out for her because she is so top heavy she is inclined to fall easily!! Is that what you want your little girl growing up to think is normal?!?! Normal women do not usually have hips that are narrower than their shoulders, nor such a waspish waist. What is so appealing about Barbie anyway? In plain, ugly English; she's sexy! Since when does a little girl need a sexy doll? Whatever happened to baby dolls, rag dolls and childlike paper dolls? Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

Now, someone may be wondering, "Why do we need to HATE this image that Satan has painted of women? Isn't that a little too strong?" Let me explain:

Satan's first piano help was on woman and her place in the home. This occurred before the promise of the Saviour was even made. Once that promise was made the devil began to twist and deform what a woman of God is supposed to be. This was in gross contrast of what the woman would be that would bare the Saviour, and to the image that God wanted for the bride of His Son. Starting with the Mother/Child cult of Semeramis and Nimrod, Satan, through ...BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (Revelation 17:5), has presented for nearly 6000 years an image of womanhood that is the worst - the whore. This is his counterfeit "bride," and you may be sure that he will do everything possible to make you look like one of his.

In the Bible we find 3 basic kinds of women 1) the virtuous (wise); 2) the foolish; and 3) the whorish. The foolish tends to be like the whorish and hence often is classed with them. It is black a white. You are either one kind or the other, whether you like it or not. God wants all the saved women to be the virtuous kind, and the reason is that He wants women that show the standards and inner beauty that are characteristic of a pure and lovely bride - His Son's wife. Proverbs 31:10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

Having said that -
What does God thinks when He sees one of us running around our home in nothing but under clothes? Can you picture us doing that in heaven? If you can, you are sick.
What does God thinks when He sees one of us in a swimsuit? How about in an off-the-shoulder evening gown, or a pair of shorts? Do you know where those things came from? Sure they did, they came from the prostitutes! Is that what God wants people to think of His Son's betrothed wife?
What does God thinks when He sees your little girl with a Barbie in her hand? Is that helping your little girl to grow up with a pure idea of womanhood as God intends it?

What's more, look at the fruit these attitudes have lead to through their "liberation" of dress and actions. Fornication is rampant among even the "Fundamental" kids. Children are molested by their own pastors and Sunday School teachers. One preacher we heard of insisted on his "right" to spank teenage girls in his "Christian" school and then turned around and invited one of them to cuddle against him at a ball game!! Another Christian man admitted to a pastor that he had been led to molesting his own daughter when he started handling her in the family swimming pool! Matthew 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. While this is describing false prophets, it can surely be said about the "liberation" of mind and heart that claims the "right" to be naked. The fruit is evil because the tree (Satan's ideals) is corrupt!! Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

Dear Christian women, these ideals of the "perfect" woman; these "liberties" of dress; these attitudes of what's "beautiful" are not from God!! They are from the heart of Satan!!! Oh, do not take them into your heart, lest they corrupt you and make you to look like the "wife" of the devil - an harlot! If you have them in your heart already, REPENT for you are shaming your LORD!!! 2Corinthians 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. Let us be zealous and clear ourselves of this stronghold that Satan has desired to erect in the Lord's church that he might shame the name of Christ! 2Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not piano covers after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our piano coversfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. It is our "right," it is our true liberty in Christ Jesus to be clothed with ROBES that picture the covering He purchased at such tremendous price for His lovely bride! We are free from the bondage of Satan that says that a woman must show her nakedness to be beautiful! Let us Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1

Are you noticing that modesty is not just a matter of dress? It is a matter of spiritual piano coversfare in the heart, and everyone of us must fight this battle in the Lord's strength or surrender to Satan. Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Psalm 119:9 BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. 10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. 11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Note: In some few instances the devil will actually inspire people to put on too many clothes. Occasionally you might see this in someone that is possessed of a devil, but the most graphic example was where my parents were missionaries in Ethiopia. The group of people they worked among had decided, with the devils' help that, and to show their family wealth, that a woman should wear all her clothes at once. These were liberally "perfumed" with rancid butter. To complete the crime, the devil convinced them that there were devils in the lake that they lived by, which was one of the few really safe lakes in Africa. So, they did not bathe. You can only imagine the results of a woman wearing this combination in a hot, humid climate and then never bathing. The devil made a real mess of them, and not surprisingly disease was a real problem. Some of the extreme clothes of history (they were sometime sewed into their clothes) may have also been a result of the devil's inspiration since not bathing, filth, and disease went with them. Hence, Queen Elisabeth I's famous "little mouse under her chair." I am told that Catholic farmers in the Republic of Ireland go to their fields in a suit and tie which is utterly filthy. This again is a result of the Romish doctrines from hell.

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BIblical Modesty: A Matter of the Heart

2010-10-29T10:12:00.000-06:00

I am posting a series of excellent articles upon this subject from a dear woman friend. She so aptly brings out G_d's heart in this matter that to write anything else would be a waste of my time as she wrote so effectively upon this subject.

Here is note from Mary's husband before we begin in the series of articles:

Steve Van Nattan-- I want to add a note here. This article is as much for Fundamental Bible believing pastors as for the ladies. A lot of you preachers have clothing standards and heaps of chivalry in your churches. Yet, like the guru from Hammond, Indiana, you have filthy hearts. Read this article and repent. I knew Mary would not add this kind of note, so I added it myself. Ladies, if this page indicates that your local church's standards are not truly biblical, print this, hand it to your husband, and ask him if would hand it to your pastor. To the pastor's wife reading here, I have to ask YOU, "How is YOUR heart?" Is your husband bound and gagged by the behaviour and dress of you and your daughters?

by Mary Van Nattan

1Peter 3:3 Whose adorning let it not be that outpiano coversd adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

Introduction

There several different subjects that are very sensitive, even volatile, in the Lord's church these days. The KJV-Only position, courtship, and women being in submission to their own husbands are some of them. The matter of modesty is one such subject, and in some cases may be the most volatile of them all.

On the one side we hear: "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man..." (Deuteronomy 22:5); "God can't use a woman in pants;" "You have to dress by our standards to be right with God;" "If you don't wear the proper clothes, you can't be spiritual;" etc. All right, maybe most don't come right out and say most of these things in so many words, but it's implied.

On the other side we hear: "I have my liberty! I'm free to wear pants if I want to;" "You can't tell me what to do!" "You are just a bunch of hypocrites anyway!" "I need freedom of movement that I can only get in pants;" "We're under grace;" etc. [Please note the glaring lack of scripture in these arguments.]

So, who is right anyway?
By the grace of God, we are going to take a look at what the Bible has to say about this. God does not leave us without answers, but sometimes human nature gets in the way Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered... Mark 7:13
First off, it must be pointed out that modesty is not a way of dressing! It is a way of life, a matter of the heart. 1Peter 3:3 Whose adorning let it not be that outpiano coversd adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. The point of this verse has been mistakenly thought to mean a woman should not plait (1) her hair, nor wear blipelry. If this was true, however, then she also should not wear apparel, and since we know that is not what God would say, we must look for what He is saying. The whole point here is that the outpiano coversd things a woman does to herself or puts on, are not the ornaments that God finds of great price. He looks for what is in the heart. 1Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outpiano coversd appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. The heart is where modesty begins and therefore, if the heart is not right topiano coversd God, all the outpiano coversd efforts at modesty will not add the value that God finds so precious. Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

(1) According to Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language, this means to fold or double, to weave or braid, to entangle[sic]. This pretty much takes care of almost all hair styles if we mistakenly take it mean that a woman is not allowed to do these things. In which case, she would also have to stop wearing apparel, as pointed out.

Please read the series of studies from Mary that delve into this sensitive subject matter.

Shalom,
Wanita

The Rise and Fall and Rise of Motherhood in America

2010-10-28T13:40:00.000-06:00

Only women can be mothers. Have we forgotten this fundamental?

Only a woman can carry in her body an eternal being which bears the very image of God. Only she is the recipient of the miracle of life. Only a woman can conceive and nurture this life using her own flesh and blood, and then deliver a living soul into the world. God has bestowed upon her alone a genuine miracle — the creation of life, and the fusing of an eternal soul with mortal flesh. This fact alone establishes the glory of motherhood.
Despite the most creative plans of humanist scientists and lawmakers to redefine the sexes, no man will ever conceive and give birth to a child. The fruitful womb is a holy gift given by God to women alone. This is one reason why the office of wife and mother is the highest calling to which a woman can aspire.
This is the reason why nations that fear the Lord esteem and protect mothers. They glory in the distinctions between men and women, and attempt to build cultures in which motherhood is honored and protected.
In his famous commentary on early American life, Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville explained:

Thus the Americans do not think that man and woman have either the duty or the right to perform the same offices, but they show an equal regard for both their respective parts; and though their lot is different, they consider both of them as beings of equal value. They do not give to the courage of woman the same form or the same direction as to that of man, but they never doubt her courage; and if they hold that man and his partner ought not always to exercise their intellect and understanding in the same manner, they at least believe the understanding of the one to be as sound as that of the other, and her intellect to be as clear. Thus, then, while they have allowed the social inferiority of woman to continue, they have done all they could to raise her morally and intellectually to the level of man; and in this respect they appear to me to have excellently understood the true principle of democratic improvement.

De Tocqueville contrasted the American understanding of women, with European sentiments:

There are people in Europe who, confounding together the different characteristics of the sexes, would make man and woman into beings not only equal but alike. They could give to both the same functions, impose on both the same duties, and grant to both the same rights; they would mix them in all things — their occupations, their pleasures, their business. It may readily be conceived that by thus attempting to make one sex equal to the other, both are degraded, and from so preposterous a medley of the works of nature nothing could ever result but weak men and disorderly women.

The War on Motherhood

America’s glory was her women. de Tocqueville believed this when he wrote:

As for myself, I do not hesitate to avow that although the women of the United States are confined within the narrow circle of domestic life, and their situation is in some respects one of extreme dependence, I have nowhere seen woman occupying a loftier position; and if I were asked, now that I am drawing to the close of this work, in which I have spoken of so many important things done by the Americans, to what the singular prosperity and growing strength of that people ought mainly to be attributed, I should reply: To the superiority of their women.

But this birthright would be exchanged during the last century for a mess of pottage. Perhaps the greatest legacy of the 20th century has been the war on motherhood and biblical patriarchy. Feminists, Marxists, and liberal theologians have made it their aim to target the institution of the family and divest it from its biblical structure and priorities. The results are androgyny, a radical decline in birthrate, abortion, fatherless families, and social confusion.
Incredibly, the biggest story of the 20th century never made headline news [i]. Somehow we missed it. It was the mass exodus of women from the home, and the consequent decline of motherhood. For the first time in recorded history of the West, more mothers left their homes than stayed in them. By leaving the home, the experience and reality of childhood, family life and femininity were fundamentally redefined, and the results have been so bad that if this one trend is not reversed, our grandchildren may live in a world where the both the true culture of Christian family life and the historic definition of marriage are the stuff of fairy tales.
Many “isms” have influenced these trends-evolutionism, feminism, statism, eugenicism, Marxism, and more. But in the end, the philosophical gap between the presuppositions of the Atheists, eugenicists, and Marxists of the early 20th century, and the presuppositions of the professing Church in the 21st century, have narrowed dramatically. The goals of the state and the goals of the mainstream church have so merged, that the biblical family with its emphasis on male headship, generational succession, and prolific motherhood are a threat to the social order of both institutions.
Less than one hundred years ago, the architects of the atheistic communist Soviet state anticipated the death of the Christian family. They explained the need for destroying the Christian family with its emphasis on motherhood, and replacing it with a vision for a “new family.” Lenin wrote:

Lenin

We must now say proudly and without any exaggeration that part from Soviet Russia, there is not a country in the world where women enjoy full equality and where women are not placed in the humiliating position felt particularly in day-to-day family life. This is one of our first and most important tasks...Housework is the most unproductive, the most barbarous and the most arduous work a woman can do. It is exceptionally petty and does not include anything that would in any way promote the development of the woman...The building of socialism will begin only when we have achieved the complete equality of women and when we undertake the new work together with women who have been emancipated from that petty stultifying, unproductive work...We are setting up model institutions, dining-rooms and nurseries, that will emancipate women from housework...These institutions that liberate women from their position as household slaves are springing up where it is in any way possible...Our task is to make politics available to every working woman.

In his 1920 International Working Women's Day Speech, Lenin emphasized:

The chief thing is to get women to take part in socially productive labor, to liberate them from 'domestic slavery,' to free them from their stupefying [idiotic] and humiliating subjugation to the eternal drudgery of the kitchen and the nursery. This struggle will be a long one, and it demands a radical reconstruction, both of social technique and of morale. But it will end in the complete triumph of Communism.

Lenin’s comrade Trotsky played a key role in communicating the Marxist vision of what he called the “new family.” Lenin and Trotsky believed in the overthrow of Christianity by destroying the biblical family. They sought to build a new state, free from historic Christian presuppositions concerning the family. This meant denigrating the biblical notion of male headship and hierarchy within the family. It meant eliminating any sense that there should be a division of labor between man and wife. This required delivering women from the burdens of childbirth and childcare. It meant adopting tools like birth control as guarantors that women could be free to remain in the workforce. Trotsky said this:

Lenin’s comrade Trotsky

Socialization of family housekeeping and public education of children are unthinkable without a marked improvement in our economics as a whole. We need more socialist economic forms. Only under such conditions can we free the family from the functions and cares that now oppress and disintegrate it. Washing must be done by a public laundry, catering by a public restaurant, sewing by a public workshop. Children must be educated by good public teachers who have a real vocation for the work. Then the bond between husband and wife would be freed from everything external and accidental, and the one would cease to absorb the life of the other. Genuine equality would at last be established...

The most disturbing part of quotes like those above is how similar they sound in sentiment and spirit to voices today from individuals who claim to be a part of the Church of Jesus Christ. Even more disturbing is how many of the anti-family social reforms are presuppositions of modern Christians in America. Presuppositions which have been fully accepted.

How America’s Conscience Was Seared Toward Motherhood

But motherhood is not easily defeated. It was here from the beginning and it has always carried the Church and civilization forward. Motherhood not only perpetuates civilization, it defines it.
At first Jamestown was a bachelor society struggling for survival. But she became a civilization when the women arrived. Plymouth, on the other hand, began as a civilization-families of faith committed to fruitfulness and multiplication for the glory of God, an impossibility without motherhood.
Motherhood is not easily defeated because God has placed reminders of its importance in the very bodies of the women He created. To defeat motherhood, the enemies of the biblical family must do more than make it a social inconvenience, they must teach women to despise themselves by viewing their own wombs as the enemy of self-fulfillment. This means minimizing the glorious gift of life which is only given to womankind. It means redefining what it means to be a woman.
But even this is not enough. To defeat motherhood the enemies of the biblical family must sear the conscience of an entire generation of women. This is done through the doctrines of social emancipation from the home, sexual liberation, birth control, and abortion — all four of which cause a woman to war against her created nature. Instead of being the blessed guardian of domesticity for society, she is taught that contentment can only be found by acting, dressing, and competing with men. Instead of being an object of respect, protection, and virtue, she sells herself cheaply, thus devaluing her womanhood. Instead of glorying in a fruitful womb she cuts off the very seed of life. Sometimes she even kills the life.
Years of playing the part of a man hardens a woman. It trains women to find identity in the corporation, not the home. It teaches them to be uncomfortable around children and large families---the mere presence of which is a reminder of the antithesis between God’s design for womankind and the norms of post-Christian societies.
But women are not the only ones with seared consciences. Men have them too. Consider that fifty years ago a man would have winced to think of female soldiers heading into combat while stay-at-home dads are left behind changing diapers. Today’s man has a seared conscience. He no longer thinks of himself as a protector of motherhood, and a defender of womankind. He comforts himself by repeating the mantras of modern feminism, and by assuring himself of how reasonable and enlightened he is — how different he is from his intolerant and oppressive fathers. But in his heart, modern man knows that he has lost something. He has lost his manhood.
To be a man, you must care about women. And you must care about them in the right way. You must care about them as creatures worthy of protection, honor, and love. This means genuinely appreciating them for their uniqueness as women. It means recognizing the preciousness of femininity over glamour, of homemaking over careerism, and of mature motherhood over perpetual youth. But when women are reduced to soldiers, sexual objects, and social competitors, it is not merely the women who lose the identity given to them by the Creator, but the men as well. This is why the attack on motherhood has produced a nation of eunuchs---socially and spiritually impotent men who have little capacity to lead, let alone love women as God intended man to love woman--as mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters.

Motherhood Will Triumph

There is an important reason why motherhood will not be defeated — The Church is her guardian. As long as she perseveres — and persevere she will — motherhood will prevail.
The Church is the ultimate vanguard of that which is most precious and most holy. She holds the oracles of God which dare to proclaim to a selfish, self-centered nation: “Children are a blessing and the fruit of the womb is His reward.” Psalm 127:3.
The Church stands at the very gates of the city, willing to receive the railing complaints of feminists, atheists, and the legions arrayed against the biblical family, and she reminds the people of God: “Let the older women teach the young to love their children, to guide the homes.” Titus 2:3-5.
It is this very love of the life of children, this passion for femininity and motherhood which may be God’s instrument of blessing on America in the days to come. As the birth rate continues to plummet, divorce rates rise, and family life in America dissipates to the point of extinction, life-loving families will not only have an important message to share, but thy will have an army of children to help them share it.

The Question:

Teacher: Susie what do you want to be when you grow up?
Susie: I want to be a doctor.
Teacher: How wonderful! And what about you Julie?
Julie: I want to be a soldier.
Teacher: How commendable! And what about you Hannah?
Hannah: When I grow up I want to be a wife and mother!
Teacher: [dead silence]...
After years of society belittling the calling of motherhood, something wonderful is happening — something wonderfully counter-cultural! In the midst of the anti-life, anti-motherhood philosophies which pervade the culture, there is a new generation of young ladies emerging whose priorities are not determined by the world’s expectations of them. They have grown up in homes where fathers shepherd them, where children are not merely welcome, but where they are deeply loved. Some of these women have been home educated, which means that many of them have grown up around babies and their mothers. They have learned to see motherhood as a joy and a high calling, because their parents see it that way.
And when asked about their future, these girls know their own minds. These are the future mothers of the Church. Young women who are not afraid to say that the goal of all of their education and training is to equip them to pursue the highest calling of womanhood, the office of wife and mother.

The Cost of Motherhood

Once a lady went to visit her friend. During the visit the children of the friend entered the room and began to play with each other. As the lady and her friend visited, the lady turned to her friend and said eagerly and yet with evidently no thought of the meaning of her words: “Oh, I’d give my life to have such children.” The mother replied with a subdued earnestness whose quiet told of the depth of experience out of which her words came: “That’s exactly what it costs.”
There is a cost of motherhood. And the price is no small sum. And if you are not willing to pay this price, no amount of encouragement about the joys of motherhood will satisfy.
But the price of motherhood is not fundamentally different from the price of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. In fact, Christian mothers see their duty as mothers flowing from their calling to Jesus Christ. And what is this cost?
Christian motherhood means dedicating your entire life in service of others. It means standing beside your husband, following him, and investing in the lives of children whom you hope will both survive you and surpass you. It means forgoing present satisfaction for eternal rewards. It means investing in the lives of others who may never fully appreciate your sacrifice or comprehend the depth of your love. And it means doing all these things, not because you will receive the praise of man — for you will not — but because God made you to be a woman and a mother, and there is great contentment in that biblical calling.
In other words, Motherhood requires vision. It requires living by faith and not by sight.
These are some of the reasons why Motherhood is both the most biblically noble and the most socially unappreciated role to which a young woman can aspire. There are many people who ask the question: Does my life matter? But a mother that fears the Lord need never ask such a question. Upon her faithful obedience hinges the future of the church and the hope of the nation.
In 1950, the great Scottish American preacher Peter Marshall stood before the United States Senate and he explained it this way:

The modern challenge to motherhood is the eternal challenge — that of being a godly woman. The very phrase sounds strange in our ears. We never hear it now. We hear about every other kind of women — beautiful women, smart women, sophisticated women, career woman, talented women, divorced women, but so seldom do we hear of a godly woman — or of a godly man either, for that matter.

I believe women come nearer fulfilling their God-given function in the home than anywhere else. It is a much nobler thing to be a good wife than to be Miss America. It is a greater achievement to establish a Christian home than it is to produce a second-rate novel filled with filth. It is a far, far better thing in the realm of morals to be old-fashioned than to be ultramodern. The world has enough women who know how to hold their cocktails, who have lost all their illusions and their faith. The world has enough women who know how to be smart.

It needs women who are willing to be simple. The world has enough women who know how to be brilliant. It needs some who will be brave. The world has enough women who are popular. It needs more who are pure. We need women, and men, too, who would rather be morally right that socially correct

As we approach America’s national Mother’s Day celebration, lets remember that we are fighting for the Lord, and it is He who prioritizes motherhood and home as the highest calling and domain of womanhood “that the word of God be not blasphemed.” Titus 2:5.
May the Lord fill our churches with faithful mothers.

By Vision Forum Ministries
May 9, 2008

Defining Courtship and Dating

2010-05-30T20:42:00.001-06:00

Courtship vs. Dating

Let's begin by defining courtship. Courtship ordinarily begins when a single man approaches a
single woman by going through the woman's father, and then conducts his relationship with the
woman under the authority of her father, family, or church, whichever is most appropriate.
Courtship always has marriage as its direct goal.
What then is dating? Dating, a more modern approach, begins when either the man or the
woman initiates a more- than-friends relationship with the other, and then they conduct that
relationship outside of any oversight or authority. Dating may or may not have marriage as its
goal.
The Differences Between Courtship and Dating
What are the differences in these two systems? For our purposes, there are three broad
differences between what has been called “biblical courtship” and “modern dating.”
1. The Difference in Motive
The first difference lies with the man's motive in pursuing the relationship. Biblical courtship has
one motive — to find a spouse. A man will court a particular woman because he believes it is
possible that he could marry her, and the courtship is the process of discerning whether that
belief is correct. To the extent that the Bible addresses premarital relationships at all, it uses the
language of men marrying and women being given in marriage (see Matt. 24:38; Luke 20:34-
35).
Numbers 30:3-16 talks about a transfer of authority from the father to the husband when a
woman leaves her father's house and is united to her husband. The Song of Solomon
showcases the meeting, courtship, and marriage of a couple — always with marriage in view. I
am not advocating arranged marriages; rather, I am pointing toward the biblical purpose for why
young men and women associate with one another. These passages do not argue that marriage
should be the direct goal of such relationships so much as they assume it.
Modern dating, on the other hand, need not have marriage as a goal at all. Dating can be
recreational. Not only is "dating for fun" acceptable, it is assumed that "practice" and learning by
"trial and error" are necessary, even advisable, before finding the person that is just right for
you. The fact that individuals will be emotionally and probably physically intimate with many
people before settling down with the "right person" is just part of the deal. Yet where is the
biblical support for such an approach to marriage? There is none. How many examples of
"recreational dating" do we see among God's people in the Bible? Zero. The category of
premarital intimacy does not exist, other than in the context of grievous sexual sin.
The motive for dating or courting is marriage. The practical advice I give the singles at
our church is, if you cannot happily see yourself as a married man (or woman) in less
than one year, then you are not ready to date.
“What Does a Biblical Relationship Look Like?” – Boundless webzine, Focus on the Family, Oct. 2006
2
2. The Difference in Mind-set
The second major difference between biblical courtship and modern dating is the mind-set
couples have when interacting with one another. What do I mean by that? Modern dating is
essentially a selfish endeavor. I do not mean maliciously selfish, as in "I'm going to try to hurt
you for my benefit." I mean an oblivious self-centeredness that treats the whole process as
ultimately about me. After all, what is the main question everyone asks about dating, falling in
love, and getting married? "How do I know if I've found the one?" What is the unspoken ending
to that question? "For me." Will this person make me happy? Will this relationship meet my
needs? How does she look? What is the chemistry like? Have I done as well as I can do?
I cannot tell you how many men I have counseled who are terrified to commit, worrying that as
soon as they do, "something better will come walking around the corner."
Selfishness is not what drives a biblical marriage, and therefore should not be what drives a
biblical courtship. Biblical courtship recognizes the general call to "do nothing out of selfish
ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves" (Phil. 2:3, NIV).
It also recognizes the specific call that Ephesians 5:25 gives men in marriage, where our main
role is sacrificial service. We are to love our wives as Christ loved the church, giving himself up
for her. That means loving sacrificially every day. Biblical courtship means that a man does not
look for a laundry list of characteristics that comprise his fantasy woman so that his every desire
can be fulfilled, but he looks for a godly woman as Scripture defines her — a woman he can
love and, yes, be attracted to, but a woman whom he can serve and love as a godly husband.
In other words, modern dating asks, "How can I find the one for me?" Biblical courtship
asks, "How can I be the one for her?"
3. The Difference in Methods
Third, and most practically, modern dating and biblical courtship are different in their methods.
And this is where the rubber really meets the road. In modern dating, intimacy precedes
commitment. In biblical courtship, commitment precedes intimacy.
According to the current school of thought, the best way to figure out whether you want to marry
a particular person is to act as if you are married and see if you like it. Spend large amounts of
time alone together. Become each other's primary emotional confidantes. Share your deepest
secrets and desires. Get to know that person better than anyone else in your life. Grow your
physical intimacy and intensity on the same track as your emotional intimacy. What you do and
say together is private and is no one else's business, and since the relationship is private, you
need not submit to anyone else's authority or be accountable. And if this pseudo-marriage
works for both of you, then get married. But if one or both of you do not like how it is going, go
ahead and break up even if it means going through something like an emotional and probably
physical divorce.
Such is the process of finding "the one," and this can happen with several different people
before one finally marries. In the self-centered world of secular dating, we want as much
information as possible to ensure that the right decision is being made. And if we can enjoy a
little physical or emotional comfort along the way, great.
“What Does a Biblical Relationship Look Like?” – Boundless webzine, Focus on the Family, Oct. 2006
3
Clearly, this is not the biblical picture. The process just described is hurtful to the woman that
the man purports to care about, not to mention to himself. And it clearly violates the command of
1 Thessalonians 4:6 not to wrong or defraud our sisters in Christ by implying a marriage-level
commitment where one does not exist. It will have a damaging effect on the man's marriage and
hers, whether they marry each other or not.
In Biblical relationship, commitment precedes intimacy. Within this model, the man should follow
the admonition in 1 Timothy 5:1-2 to treat all young women to whom he is not married as
sisters, with absolute purity. The man should show leadership and willingness to bear the
risk of rejection by defining the nature and the pace of the relationship. He should do this
before spending significant time alone with her in order to avoid hurting or confusing her.
He should also seek to ensure that a significant amount of time is spent with other couples or
friends rather than alone. The topics, manner, and frequency of conversations should be
characterized by the desire to become acquainted with each other more deeply, but not in a way
that defrauds each other. There should be no physical intimacy outside the context of marriage,
and the couple should seek accountability for the spiritual health and progress of the
relationship, as well as for their physical and emotional intimacy.
Within this model, both parties should seek to find out, before God, whether they should be
married, and whether they can service and honor God better together than apart. The man
should take care not to treat any woman like his wife who is not his wife. Of course he must get
to know his courting partner well enough to make a decision on marriage. However, prior to
the decision to marry, he should always engage with her emotionally in a way he would
be happy for other men to engage with her.
In all these ways, a biblical relationship looks different from a worldly relationship. If this is done
well, Christian women will be honored, even as they are pursued. Christian wives will be
honored. And God will be glorified.

Shemini Commentary by The Parker's

2009-04-17T09:35:00.002-06:00

Written by Carl & Julie Parker
Thursday, 16 April 2009 22:09

Scriptures
Leviticus 9:1 to 11:47
Numbers 19:1-22
Ezekiel 36:16-38
Mark 7:1-23,
Acts 5:1-11; 10:1-35,
2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1
Galatians 2:11-16,
1 Peter 1:14-16

Review: We have been following the teaching and instruction in the Torah of the Betrothal Covenant that YHVH gave Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Exodus saw the completion of the shadow of YHVH’s bridal chamber, the Mishkan/Tabernacle, which was prepared in the wilderness. As we are studying in the book of Leviticus, the Israelites then received instruction on how to live with their Bridegroom in the Mishkan/Tabernacle. The last two parshiyot/lessons have primarily taught about the offerings and the priesthood preparations. YHVH now shares how the priests were to begin their ministry and what food to have in the "temple" to keep it clean and operational. The Temple today is our body and these food instructions in Leviticus are for our health and wellbeing. They are part of God’s principles (keys to the kingdom) that govern the earth and are for those who believe and walk in the ways of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. These directives are for the royal priesthood, the Bride of Yeshua. They are her preparation instructions to help her get ready for the day of the Bridegroom’s return.

Leviticus 9:1-20
Priestly Ministry Begins

On the eighth day, after the consecration of Aaron as high priest and his four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, as priests, the ministry of the priesthood began. It is commonly understood in the Hebrew language that eight signifies both new beginnings and life beyond. The newly appointed priests first presented the offerings for themselves then made offerings for the whole community of Israel. After, Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and pronounced this blessing over them, "YHVH bless you and keep you; YHVH make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; YHVH turn his face toward you and give you Shalom/peace." This blessing is still spoken over Israel today (Numbers 6:24-26).

Leviticus 10
The Death of Nadab and Abihu

In the midst of the inauguration of the priests, awesome festivities and the appearance of YHVH’s Presence in the form of fire, we see Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu erred in offering strange fire in their censors before YHVH. Nadab and Abihu mixed the profane with the holy and proceeded to present this as an “acceptable” offering to a holy God. They offered what looked good in their own eyes, a mixture that seemed right to them. In doing this they ignored YHVH’s Divine order of the Tabernacle not to mix clean with unclean, and as a result died instantly.

Nadab and Abihu where taught by Moses and Aaron very well, so it was not a matter of not knowing or understanding the correct procedure. It was a matter of the heart and choosing what they wanted to offer versus what YHVH asked them to offer. The issue was obedience.

The profane does not survive in the Presence of YHVH. Interpreting "The Law" through their own human opinion brought death upon themselves. Hidden in Nadab and Abihu’s hearts were pride and self-righteousness. Rebellious and religious spirits cannot survive in holiness, and priests are to represent the holiness of YHVH. The sinful nature cannot remain in what is to be His kingdom of priests and holy nation. Aaron’s sons had uncircumcised hearts, hearts that had not surrendered to the redemptive work of Yeshua’s blood. Torah without the Spirit (of Messiah) brings death; we need Yeshua in Torah to have chai (life). We cannot separate Yeshua from the Torah, as Yeshua is the Living Torah! (John 1:1, 14)

Aaron’s remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, took the positions vacated by their brothers, Nadab and Abihu, becoming heirs in the ministerial roles of the Tabernacle before YHVH.

Leviticus 11
Life in Your Tabernacle: Clean and Unclean Food

We understand the Mishkan/Tabernacle is a "shadow" of what is already in place in Heaven (Hebrews 8:2). The Mishkan is a prophetic, living representation for us today of the Messiah and His kingdom and is a picture of what is in our heart. As we are learning how to build the Tabernacle, we are beginning to understand more fully through progressive revelation how this Tabernacle is all about us and how we may walk in a redeemed sanctified lifestyle through YHVH’s teaching and instruction - Yeshua.

This week’s teaching is how to keep our Tabernacles clean and running smoothly. As stated earlier, our bodies represent the Mishkan/Tabernacle. If Yeshua has chosen us, then we have also been invited by His Holy Spirit to come into and be a part of the Tabernacle and dwell with Him. YHVH has given us the correct instruction of how to care for our Tabernacles and keep them healthy.

Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Ruach Ha Kodesh/ Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from YHVH, and you are not your own; you were bought at a price; therefore glorify YHVH in your BODY (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).

After the inauguration of the priests, YHVH gave His first commandment. It was about food. A closer examination reveals many interesting facts about food. YHVH is very concerned about the heart attitude of those who serve Him. Those who are called to be priests are called to serve him with their whole body, soul and spirit. If we are a royal priesthood then these instructions from YHVH are very important for us today (Exodus 19:5-6; 1 Peter 2:9). The vow we made, "We hear and we will obey," was an act of our obedience to His call in our lives. These are the words we pronounced at Mount Sinai through our ancestors that are for us today who embrace Yeshua (Deuteronomy 29:14-15). Among the instructions we promised to keep were the food laws. Food is very important to YHVH because what we put into our body governs every area of our lives. Our bodies are His Temple today and the food (spiritual and physical) that we put into our bodies will govern the state of our heart and mind and whether we will be obedient to Him (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).

YHVH desires that we prepare a place in which He may dwell (Isaiah 66:1). If our body is the Temple today, what does YHVH ask us to offer on His altar? Would we offer meat with blood in it? Blood is for atonement and was not to be sacrificed on the altar, but was instead to be poured out on the ground. Does it matter what we place on the altar and does it really matter what we eat? What does God consider authorized and unauthorized food? These questions have as much a physical application as they do a spiritual application to our body.

To keep our temple clean and healthy today, YHVH said these were to be food for us:

Animals that have both a split hoof and chew their cud (avoiding their blood and fat).

Sea or water life that has both scales and fins.

Birds of a non-aggressive or non-scavenger nature.

Insects that fly which have jointed legs for hopping on the ground.

YHVH did not consider anything else of the animal kingdom to be food for us (Leviticus 11:2-47).

As mentioned earlier, animal life also represent people. Clean foods are about people in Godly order and in good association. Unclean entities represent people out of God’s order and association. The mention of clean food and unclean things were the difference between the realm of life and realm of death. The torah portion mentions people can be contaminated by what they eat, which includes association. We can be contaminated by the lust of the eye, lust of the flesh and pride of life.

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law [of sin and death] (Galatians 5:16-18).

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7).

God gave his first commandment to mankind; it was about food. The Garden of Eden had clean fruit and unclean/unauthorized fruit. The Tree of Life had edible fruit with seed in it that produced life; the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil had non-edible fruit, which meant that it had no seed or life-supporting qualities in the fruit. The fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was not considered to be food according to YHVH. Adam and Eve were deceived into eating unauthorized fruit: lust of the eye, lust of the flesh and pride of life. This made them unclean and brought death upon them, physically and spiritually (Genesis 3:1-13).

Those eating from the Tree of Life magnified its fruit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law (of sin and death). And those who are Messiah’s have crucified the flesh (sinful nature) with its passions and desires.” Galatians 5:22-24

On the other hand, those who eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil also manifest its fruit, that of the sinful nature.

Now the works of the flesh [sinful nature] are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:18-21).

For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law [of sin and death] were at work in our members to bear fruit to death (Romans 7:5).

What caused Adam and Eve to consider going against YHVH by doubting His word to them? The lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life had influenced them. This led to spiritual death that eventually brought them to a physical death before their time. They had not guarded over their hearts and let doubt led them into what seemed right in their own eyes. These three areas of lust constitute the primary strategy used by the enemy to draw YHVH’s people away from Him by appealing to their weak areas and presenting temptations that are hard to resist.

What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man (Mark 7:20-23).

YHVH’s laws governing food are still in effect today. Growing up we had watermelon, grapes and other produce with seeds in them. Today they are hard to find. We see more seedless watermelon, grapes and cucumbers than we do the seed varieties. Genetically altered food comes when seeds from different sources are mixed with God’s original design - this is changing God’s order upon the earth. Though man may regard a hybrid seed a better variety, genetically altered food is actually considered a poison by the medical society. Do God’s laws change just because man’s laws have? No. We are not to eat genetically altered foods today; this is called mixed seed and is forbidden (Leviticus19:19).

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world-- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-- comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2:15-17).

YHVH put on the earth specific clean food for human consumption and specific unclean varieties not for human consumption. The unclean varieties are in the world to keep it clean. They are YHVH’s cleaning crew of “vacuum cleaners”, “garbage disposals” and “water purifiers” designed to keep our environment clean. The unclean varieties were never considered fit for human consumption and are not called "food" in any scripture, Genesis to Revelation. If we were to eat them, it would be as if we were eating the contents of vacuum cleaners, garbage bags and water filters full of contaminants, chemicals, urine, feces, dead tissue and bacteria and whatever else these things were created to clean up in the zones they were designed for. The scavengers are full of parasites, worms and diseases. If eaten, this is what we put into our bodies. So why put all that into our bodies? Ever wonder why people get sick? First check out the diet (physically and spiritually).

When scripture mentions food, it always refers to what YHVH considers food. Any "thing" else was not to be eaten, regardless of what man determines. The reason God taught us His guidelines was to make sure we would always know the way to life and what would sustain that life and keep us healthy. The unclean animals, birds, insects and sea life are living disguised garbage; putting these into our bodies will make us sick physically and spiritually.

Leviticus 3:17; 7:22-27
Keeping Your Tabernacle Clean: Eating Fat and Blood Forbidden

Animal fat is “bad” fat that, when eaten, clogs arteries, which is the number one cause of heart disease and heart failure in the world today. Fat causes high blood pressure, high cholesterol, strokes, diabetes, obesity and various cancers. Over time, continual consumption of animal fat we will cause our bodies to fail before we’ve reached a full life span.

YHVH told Moses to say to the Israelites: "Do not eat any of the fat of cattle, sheep or goats [Biblically clean animals]. The fat of an animal found dead or torn by wild animals may be used for any other purpose, but you must not eat it [i.e. road kill]. Anyone who eats the fat of an animal from which an offering by fire may be made to YHVH must be cut off from his people. And wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal. If anyone eats blood, that person must be cut off from his people" (Leviticus 7:22-27).

We repeat what was written in the last study, as this is such an important issue for the priesthood of Yeshua to follow. Fat and blood mentioned together in Leviticus represent not only physical fat but also what produces fat in our body spiritually. Our thoughts can poison our bodies by producing over-secretions of chemicals in us that can harm us and lead to an imbalance in our bodies, which in turn can produce fat. In the same way, fear, stress and anxiety may result in obesity in our bodies. So when Scripture instructs us not to “eat” fat or blood, it is not only speaking of the physical abstinence of fat and blood, but the spiritual - and therefore emotional, psychological and verbal – avoidance of that which produces fat. Improper thoughts and emotions can translate as fat, presenting a potential killer in our bodies.

The issue of fat and blood is very important to YHVH and they must not be put into our bodies. Our bodies are living temples of YHVH that we are responsible to keep clean and keep defilement far from. This instruction is to bless us and give us a long life. If we bring contamination into our temples, sickness, disease and even death may result. The choice is ours. Obedience brings the blessings.

YHVH’s instruction to abstain from fat also speaks of the physical products that produced fat in us that were listed in this category. Therefore fat in scripture can represent disobedience to YHVH’s Word that can lead to our death if we continue to disregard and neglect God’s ways for our lives. What we put in our bodies is the key to the priesthood of Yeshua. Yeshua’s priesthood will be a holy priesthood that serves Him in His Holy Temple. If the bride of Yeshua disregards the teaching of a fat and blood devoid diet, is this the bride the Groom will return for? To see how important this is to YHVH as we continue through Leviticus, it is significant to note that every time fat and blood are mentioned, the instructions for the priesthood are mentioned directly following. There should be no distinction between what we physically or spiritually put into us that might defile us. As the priesthood of Yeshua, every aspect of us is to be clean, holy and pure before YHVH.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Yeshua. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:4-9).

The life of the animal is in the “lifeblood.” Blood is both life-giving and a part of the body’s cleaning system at the same time; it not only takes the life source to the animal, but also works like a vacuum cleaner taking out toxins and garbage from the kidneys, skin, bowels, and lungs, along with the garbage that makes up the waste products. Thus the blood is rendered unclean for human consumption. If we eat meat with the lifeblood in it, we are eating – also called drinking – the very life of that animal along with the animal’s characteristic fears and mindset, including its sexual behavior. If we eat an unauthorized animal we can take on its very nature. When we eat an aggressive type of animal, we may take on its aggressive behavior also. If the animal has been raised in an inhumane environment, as many are, any subsequent characteristics, viruses or diseases the animal may have picked up are also in the meat. Many hormones and chemicals are given to the animals when they are young that stay with them for life, and therefore also in the meat. We literally consume all of this and more when we eat unauthorized meat or meat with blood still in it.

Eating unauthorized food can open the door to the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. Today pornography is rampant, and with the help of Internet, television, movies, magazines and more, it seems to be gaining acceptable status in a society without Torah, God’s teaching and instruction. In a past report from Focus on the Family, Dr. James Dobson reported that when the popular Christian conference comes to town the hotels report a surge of X-rated movies viewed during that time period. One speaker shared that of the 25,000 men at one conference, approximately half the men came forward to repent for cheating on their wives. Blood in the meat directly affects a person’s sexual drive and appetite. Sexual sin passes on to the third and fourth generations through the sins of iniquities and is considered a community sin in the Bible that affects all Israel. Lust is not love. Check out the diet, this may be one of the entry points for lust of the flesh.

Unclean foods were considered to be the food of idols in pagan worship. Pig was especially common as we see in the story of the Maccabees (1 and 2 Maccabees; Numbers 25:1-3). Pagan cults use blood in their feasts to get the desired effect they want.

What agreement is there between the temple of YHVH and idols? For we are the temple of the living Elohim (2 Corinthians 6:16).

When blood is consumed it can open the door to the occult realm and unclean practices. Eyes linger a little longer on unclean subjects; aggressive behavior and anger become acceptable; defensive attitudes enter, depressive and unclean thoughts are entertained; along with these, quality of life and associations change. Entering the unclean realm can eventually lead to occult involvement. A weakened spiritual walk can lose its passion and enthusiasm for YHVH. Distractions and loss of interest will eventually separate a person from Yeshua. Touching the unclean realm makes us unclean. Do we desire to have a deeper walk and glean deeper revelations in His Word? Look into the diet; our diet reflects our spiritual condition. We are what we eat.

Son of man, they who inhabit those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, "Abraham was only one, and he inherited the land. But we are many; the land has been given to us as a possession." Therefore say to them, "Thus says the Master YHVH: 'You eat meat with blood, you lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood. Should you then possess the land? You rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and you defile one another's wives. Should you then possess the land?'" (Ezekiel 33:24-26).

Therefore come out from them and be separate. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters. Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for YHVH (2 Corinthians 6:17 to 7:1).

Leviticus 11:9-12
Clean and Unclean Sea/Water Life

Only fish with both fins and scales are to be food for us. All other sea and water life YHVH says is to be an abomination to us. Shellfish and fish without scales and fins are the scavengers and cleaners of YHVH’s waterways. They are cesspools of filth and contaminants, containing high levels of cholesterol, mercury, disease, worms, chemicals, and parasites. Their job is to clean all urine, feces and scum from the water. Shrimp, prawns and other mid water swimmers like squid and octopus are vacuum cleaners. Whales are big surface filters. The shark and other aggressive cleaners remove larger debris. Eating these will introduce their aggressive, scavenger natures. Clams, oysters and mussels are immobile filter feeders that contain bacteria, viruses, and can also harbor hepatitis, bringing all the contaminants they hold into our bodies when consumed. God says we are not to do this. It will cause our lives to be shortened.

Question: Do these dietary laws apply to us today?

Malachi 3:6 says “I, YHVH, do not change.” And according to Hebrews 13:8, “Yeshua is the same yesterday and today and forever.” So YHVH’s Word does not change either.

Mark 7:1-23 records a discussion between the Pharisees and the teachers of the law in which Yeshua is correcting them. The men did not understand the difference between the law (legalistic observance) and Torah (Spirit led lifestyle) (see teaching from parsha Mishpatim). Yeshua was not sharing about unclean foods becoming clean; this was an added text to the Scriptures. Yeshua is YHVH in the flesh and would not contradict Himself. These teachers of the law had added the traditions of man to the Word of YHVH. They had set aside YHVH’s teaching and instruction in order to observe their own traditions. Yeshua was correcting their religious spirits and pointing to the real contaminants in their hearts. "What comes out of a man is what makes him unclean."

Acts 10:1 to 11:18 details a vision Peter received from YHVH in which a tallit descended from heaven and ascended again three times. In this holy garment were four-footed clean animals with unclean animals, reptiles, as well as birds. YHVH told Peter to kill and eat! Peter said to YHVH that he had never eaten unauthorized food before. YHVH showed him that the animals represented PEOPLE. "But YHVH has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean" (Acts 10:28). The House of Israel had lived among the pagans and taken up their ways. They were the redeemed, returning to YHVH’s teaching and instruction and were no longer thought of as unclean! These were the people YHVH was speaking of, the same people Peter was sent to minister to.

Understanding the realms of the Kingdom of YHVH was to be simple. Man’s laws had cluttered YHVH’s teaching and instruction by adding to them exceedingly. People coming from the nations saw truth and Torah as a strange thing at first as the worldly ways were more familiar to them. But Scripture points out the harm that came from the worldly ways. Learning the difference between clean and unclean, holy and unholy keeps us in the realm of life. In this we receive YHVH’s abundant provision and blessing and keeps curses far from us.

I have written for him the great things of My law/Torah, But they were considered a strange thing (Hosea 8:12).

Sinning or missing the mark (Torah) is like a little boy all dressed in his good clothes who goes out (outside of Torah/realm of death) and jumps in a puddle, covering him with mud. Returning to the house (Torah/realm of life), he removes his dirty clothes (his sinful nature), has a bath (Mikvah), and puts on clean clothes (fruit of repentance reflected in the gifts of the Spirit/priestly garments) before he can re-join his family again. In Hebrew this is called the ritual application of the Torah. You want to apply God’s teaching and instruction in your life; this will sanctify us, make us clean and holy, and lead to life, called the walk of redemption.

Yeshua said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father" (John 14:12).

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (James 1:22).

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (James 2:26).

The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:9).

The teaching of clean and unclean food is called Kashrut in Hebrew. Kashrut is just one of the realms in the Kingdom of YHVH’s teaching and instruction for life. How to move from one realm, unclean, to the other realm, clean, is the ritual application of Torah. For dinner, instead of choosing unclean meat like pork, choose clean meat like lamb. Instead of prawns choose salmon and other clean varieties of fish. A change of status by repenting, turning and going from the realm of death to the realm of life brings blessings! We were innocent to these laws and did not know His ways before, but now we are learning to return to God’s teaching and instruction and learning what is right according to Him. We are always in His Presence, but staying in His provision is what His instruction is all about. Obedience brings the blessings! Food can be an entry point for clean or unclean realms. This is not a salvation issue, but a redemption issue, which can stain or soil us spiritually and physically. Once we understand, we repent and turn. The choice is ours.

A short list of clean flesh foods that YHVH considers food to eat:

Clean Meats: Antelope, buffalo, cattle, deer, goat, oxen, sheep and other animals with a hoof completely divided and which chews the cud (with no lifeblood or fat).

Clean Fish: Bass, cod, grouper, haddock, halibut, herring, mackerel, orange roughy, perch, salmon, snapper, trout, and any other finned and scaled fish.

Clean Birds: Chicken, Cornish hen, quail, turkey and any other non-flesh-eating birds. Web footed birds are considered unclean.

As you can see, the Biblical dietary laws are not hard to follow and the choices are wide. To perform a kosher kill the animal is placed in a slaughter trough, head down. The main arteries on both sides of the neck and esophagus are severed quickly and cleanly with a knife, allowing the heart to continue to pump as the lifeblood of the animal drains out and the animal dies a painless death. Today in regular slaughterhouses, they stun-slaughter the animals causing the blood to lock into the meat. If a kosher butcher is not available, soaking the meat in salted water, rinsing and repeating until all the blood is out, is acceptable. Meat is made of blood, and some blood will still be in the meat, but what you want out of the meat is the lifeblood of the animal.

The following is a quote from Dr. Tessler, a well known doctor who wrote in the book The Genesis Diet:

Pigs are known to carry up to two hundred diseases and eighteen different parasites and worms, including the deadly worm called trichinella spiralis. This worm is commonly called trichinosis and there is no known cure for these spiral worms. The trichinae worms are so small and transparent that only trained inspectors using high-powered microscopes can detect their existence. Trichinosis can cripple or even kill anyone that eats as little as a forkful of contaminated food! Trichinosis can mimic other diseases such as arthritis, rheumatism, or typhoid fever.

Pigs have more incidences of arthritis than any other known animals in the world. Arthritis may be a virus or a parasite that is transmitted from pigs to humans as a direct result of eating the flesh and blood of hogs or pigs. Perhaps many other diseases are misdiagnosed and their real cause is roundworm, gullet worms, hookworms, thorn-headed worms, trichina worms, stomach worms, nodular worms, tapeworms, as well as many other parasites found in the flesh of the unclean swine. A person may be committing slow suicide when they eat bacon, ham, sausage, or pork chops.

The American Cancer Society considers the pig and pork products like bacon, salami and hot dogs to be the number one cancer-producing agent in the world today as noted by their questionnaire. The body tries to fight the trichinosis worm by forming tumors around them. Sadly a whole industry has been built around eating Biblically unauthorized, unclean food. Doctors, pharmaceuticals, medical related support and hospitals testify to the results of not eating clean foods physically and spiritually by what we eat and think. Of interest, one pastor noted that churches have many prayer line-ups and healing crusades for people in need, but synagogues have very few – if any – prayer lines at all. Those who are returning and learning God’s food laws and learning to keep their temples clean and healthy physically and spiritually will not need a prayer line-up. May we be a people who return with joy to YHVH’s way for heath and long life. It starts in the heart first.

Life Is In the Blood - What’s in Your Blood?
In the Bible, it does not mention "processed" foods because there was no such thing at the time the Ketubah was given to Israel at Mount Sinai. Today we have these so-called "foods" available, that really are not foods our bodies can process. Our bodies can only process natural food, the food God created for us and said was safe to eat. When we put "unauthorized" food like fat or any foods that produce fat into our bodies, this can begin to “gum up” the system. Our arteries and organs may feel the effects in a few years and we may even reap the consequence through disease or early death. God has outlined what we are allowed to eat, both warning us of negative results when wrong choices are made, and promising us a long and healthy life if we stay in His guidelines. The Covenant we agreed to with YHVH stipulates: Only authorized food (physical and spiritual) please!

What happens when we innocently cross the protective barrier YHVH set up for our health? As mentioned earlier, this is not limited to the physical level only but also speaks of the spiritual level as well, while in no way detracting from the literal, physical import. We need to maintain a healthy attitude and clean thinking, keeping unclean thoughts far from us. Our minds need to remain on the things YHVH taught us, just as we physically continue to eat solely what YHVH considers food for us. If we have contaminated our bodies, turning back to Him through repentance will keep “His” dwelling place clean.

The body is balanced and so is our blood. If our body temperature rises even slightly, we know it, as we feel sick. It is the same case with our blood; when the pH balance of our body is a little off, it becomes too acidic and the whole body suffers. First our bodies gather calcium and other minerals from the organs to buffer the over acidic state of our body. When this is depleted the body begins to store fat to protect the organs. This can cause disease and sickness that in turn can lead to more serious illnesses and even death. Fat is a sign of an over acidic body.

Where do acids come from? When there is an imbalance of pH in our blood caused by us eating what God says is not healthy, or by our unclean thoughts and speech, our bodies begin to crave sugars and carbohydrates, making us listless, out of focus, tired and sick. Reaching for a chocolate bar, soda pop or ice cream for a quick energy or “soul” fix will not help the problem. In an over acidic climate, microorganisms are encouraged to grow. It is these microorganisms that are hungry causing us to "crave" sweets. They deplete all our energy and cause us to become sick and tired. Additive personalities have spiritual roots.

An over acidic body is a climate where bacteria grows and can become a yeast forming fungus, which, when left unattended, may later develop into mold in us. This is a breeding ground for microorganisms. When they are in the bloodstream they go wherever the blood goes - to the brain, to the heart, to the muscles - causing major diseases like arthritis, heart problems, diabetes and cancers. Just because you don’t feel badly does not mean that the damage has not started. Eating properly from a healthy, biblically based diet (physical and spiritual) can eliminate unhealthy things from our body, bringing life and vitality back, clearing the mind, memory, muscles, bones and organs and ridding us of life-threatening diseases (Deuteronomy 28). To do this we need to keep our hearts and minds healthy and stay away from unauthorized ways.

Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished (Deuteronomy 34:7).

For I am YHVH your Elohim. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. For I am YHVH, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; thus you shall be holy for I am holy. This is the law regarding the animal, and the bird, and every living thing that moves in the waters, and everything that swarms on the earth, to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten (Leviticus 11:44-47).

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:14-16; the parallel passage to Leviticus 11:44-47).

I, YHVH, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doing (Jeremiah 17:10).

Shabbat Shalom,
Carl and Julie Parker

References:
Parsha Mishpatim: www.sheepfoldgleanings.com

The Shadow of Heavenly Things: Revealing the Body of Messiah in the Tabernacle by Brad Scott www.wildbranch.org

A More Excellent Way by Henry W. Wright www.beinhealth.com

God’s Key to Health and Happiness by Elmer A. Josephson

The Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin

What the Bible Says About Healthy Living by Dr. Rex Russell

The Genesis Diet by Dr.Gordon Tessler

HOLY COW! Does God Care about What We Eat? First Fruits of Zion: www.ffoz.org

STBM: Leviticus 2002-03 series; Torah 301 www.torah.tv

More information: Genetically altered foods: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNezTsrCY0Q

Past Parshot: www.messianicisrael.com/sheepfold-gleanings/
Sheepfold Gleanings written by Carl and Julie Parker: www.sheepfoldgleanings.com
Parsha Email: sheephear@yahoo.ca
© Copyright 2003-2009 Sheepfold Gleanings Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Shemini

2009-04-17T09:20:00.003-06:00

I am posting several commentaries on this week's parash (Torah Reading) and comments. Please feel free to read all of them. I will post my own commentaries upon what I am reading throughout the week.

Shemini

Waters in the Wilderness - 2008-2009
Written by Ya'acov Natan Lawrence
Thursday, 16 April 2009 22:06

Scriptures
Leviticus 9:1-11:47

Haftorah Reading
2 Samuel 6:1-7:17

B’rit Chadashah
On Yeshua our great High Priest: Hebrews 8:1–6
On the Altar of Incense: Luke 1:8–11
On YHVH’s judgment against unfaithful servants: Acts 5:1–11
On the qualifications for leadership with in the congregation of the righteous: 1 Timothy 3:1–13; Titus 1:5–9
On clean and unclean meats: 1 Timothy 4:3–5
On being holy (set-apart) vessesls of YHVH’s Spirit: 2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1; 1 Peter 1:14–16

Etz Chayeem Hoo (He Is a Tree of Life)
Yeshua is a tree of life to those who take hold of Him, and those who support Him are praiseworthy. His ways are ways of pleasantness and all of His paths are shalom. Bring us back YHVH to You, and we shall come, renew our days as of old.

As we begin to study the Torah let us never forget that YESHUA THE MESSIAH is the Living Torah, the Torah-Word of Elohim made flesh. He is the way, the truth and the life — the Living Manna sent from heaven. Without Him living in our lives through the indwelling Presence of his Set-Apart/Kadosh Spirit (Who leads us into all truth and revelation) the Written Torah can become the dead letter of the law!

Outline of This Week’s Parashah (Torah Portion):
9:1 The Priestly Service Begins: Sin, Elevation and Peace Offerings Performed

9:24 The Fire of YHVH Consumes the Elevation Offering

10:1 YHVH Executes Nadab and Abihu for Offering up Strange Fire upon the Altar

10:8 The Prohibition Against Drinking Intoxicants While Ministering in the Tabernacle

10:12 The Priest and His Family Permitted to Eat the Remainder of the Day’s Elevation and Peace Offerings

10:17 The Dispute Between Moses and Aaron

11:1 The Laws of Kashrut (Clean and Unclean Meats)

Etz Chayeem Hoo (He Is a Tree of Life)
Yeshua is a tree of life to those who take hold of Him, and those who support Him are praiseworthy. His ways are ways of pleasantness and all of His paths are shalom. Bring us back YHVH to You, and we shall come, renew our days as of old.

As we begin to study the Torah let us never forget that YESHUA THE MESSIAH is the Living Torah, the Torah-Word of Elohim made flesh. He is the way, the truth and the life — the Living Manna sent from heaven. Without Him living in our lives through the indwelling Presence of his Set-Apart/Kadosh Spirit (Who leads us into all truth and revelation) the Written Torah can become the dead letter of the law!

Study Questions For This Week’s Midrash (Torah Discussion):
10:1–7 Nadab and Abihu were executed by the fire of YHVH for not following his commandments. Likewise, at the end of the Messianic Age (Millennium) unrepentant sinners will be executed by the fire of YHVH in the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:15). We are now living in an age where, thankfully, most of our sinful actions are not met with instant divine judgment (the case of Ananias and Sapphira in the Book of Acts would be a noted exception!). Does knowing that YHVH will not instantly “zap” us with the proverbial lightning bolt from heaven when we sin cause us to become lax and even calloused toward sin in our lives? Do we truly walk in the fear of YHVH? Do we fear the consequences of sin even though the results may not be immediate? How loose is your spiritual walk? How many hidden sins that no one knows about do you have that you are failing to deal with? The path of righteousness is becoming narrower and narrower. Not everyone is going to be “the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”. Some will be the least, and many will not even be there (Matt 5:19).

11:1–47 Let’s briefly discuss the subject of clean and unclean meats. There are many issues here that need to be explored. How serious are you about obedience? Is your god your belly? (Phil 3:19; Rom 16:18) Do your taste buds or the Word of YHVH rule your life? Remember, Torah covers all aspects of life: physical, spiritual, emotional, relational, civil, agricultural, political, jurisprudence, religious, and economic. Torah is a very holistic handbook on life. Are you one who takes the (humanistic) pick-and-choose approach to Torah-obedience? “I’ll obey only the biblical laws that suit me.” Such an approach is akin to what the serpent told Adam and Eve when he said, “You can have it your way … YHVH didn’t really mean what he said when it comes to obedience.”

The biblical kosher (or kasher [Strong’s H3787] meaning “to be straight, right, acceptable”) laws involve many areas: health issues, holiness (not defiling the body, the temple of YHVH’s Set-Apart Spirit), separation issues—we’re to act, live, eat, worship, think, dress and talk differently than the heathens around us. We’re a called-out and sanctified (set-apart) people. Therefore, we do not have the liberty to act, speak, dress, eat and live the way the heathens do. We can’t expect to be called the children of the Most High, yet live like the children of the world. We must choose whom we are going to serve (Josh 24:15): YHVH or mammon and this world (Matt 6:24).

11:4,47 The word unclean is the Hebrew word tameh meaning “defiled, impure, polluted ethically, ritually or religiously” and the word clean is the Hebrew word tahor meaning “pure physically, ceremonially, morally, ethically.” In verse 43, YHVH says that in eating unclean meats one becomes abominable (or detestable, filthy). In Ezekiel 22:26, YHVH rebukes his people because, “Her priests have violated my Torah-law, and have profaned my set-apart/kadosh things: they have put no difference between the set-apart/kadosh and profane/polluted/common, neither have they shown difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.” In Leviticus 11:45, the Torah states, “For I am YHVH that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your Elohim. You shall therefore be set apart, for I am set apart/holy.” What is YHVH trying to tell us here about the foods we eat? Is this more than just an issue of physical health? Why the mention of leaving Egypt here?

In 2 Corinthians 6:16–17, we read:

And what agreement does the temple of Elohim have with idols? For you are the temple of the living Elohim; as Elohim has said, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be you separate,” says the Master, “and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” (emphasis added)

The issue of clean/pure and unclean/polluted/abominable meats is not simply a dietary/health consideration, but a spiritual issue with YHVH. Both Moses (Lev 19:2) and the apostolic writers had a clear sense of the fact that without holiness no one will see YHVH (Heb 12:14), and that holiness or being kadosh or set-apart from the ways, lifestyles, ideologies of this world (i.e., from spiritual Egypt) is an absolute requirement of YHVH for his people. Is it possible to spiritualize away the concept of set apartness and still be true to Scripture? Can one be spiritually sanctified (set-apart) through the atoning work of Yeshua at the cross, but then have a polluted lifestyle? In other words, can one follow the spirit of the law and violate the letter and still be acceptable to YHVH? What did James say about faith without works (Jas 2:20)? What did Yeshua teach at the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5–7) about uniting the letter and the spirit of the law and practicing both? (Specifically read Matt 5:21–48 for the answer.)

How do we initially become kadosh/set-apart? This occurs only through the blood of Yeshua, the Lamb of Elohim at the time of our salvation.

And from Yeshua Messiah, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. (Rev 1:5)

“Come now, and let us reason together,” says YHVH. “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isa 1:18).

How does one stay set-apart/sanctified and stay in fellowship with a kadosh Elohim? This is accomplished by staying under the blood of Yeshua the Lamb and confessing and forsaking sin (i.e., violation of the Torah-law of Elohim—1 John 3:4) on a regular basis:

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness [sin or Torahlessness], we lie, and do not the truth [i.e., Torah/YHVH’s instructions in righteousness], but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Messiah Yeshua his Son cleans us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:6–9).

What are some other ways we can defile/pollute/destroy the spiritual temple of our bodies? Examples could be alcoholism, nicotine, suicide (self-murder), eating junk food, pornography, illicit sex, watching immoral and unrighteous movies and television, gossip/slander, entertaining wrong thoughts (lust, bitterness, pride, etc.), desecrating the Sabbath and YHVH’s feasts to name a few.

YHVH cares about our entire person: body, soul and spirit (1 Thess 5:23). We are to worship and serve him with the totality of our being (with all our heart, soul and might—Deut 6:5; Mark 12:30). Isn’t obeying the commandments concerning clean and unclean meats a way to love YHVH with not only the mind, but the body, as well? What did Yeshua say in John 14:15? Isn’t it about love for our Heavenly Father and a desire to be kadosh like him? When YHVH created man, he made us in his very own likeness/image (Gen 1:26). Is not YHVH transforming and renewing us by the washing of the water of his word (Eph 5:26), and the work of the Set-Apart Spirit in our lives and conforming us into the image of his Son who is both the Written and Living Torah-Word of Elohim (Rom 8:29; 12:2; John 1:1–14)?

Did YHVH ever change his standards of holiness and righteousness? What do Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8 say? Does he have one set of standards for the “Jews” and another for the “Gentiles?” Is he a respecter of persons? (See Acts 10:34.)

There is a saying, you are what you eat. Adam and Eve sinned when they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That which is pure and set-apart/clean is good while that which is polluted, defiled or unclean is evil in the eyes of YHVH. The word Babylon means “mixture” or “confusion”and in the last days YHVH is calling his people out of spiritual Babylon (Rev 18:4). Are you feeding from the Tree of Knowledge by eating both clean (good) and unclean (evil) meats, or from the Tree of Life by eating only food that is pure/sanctified by the Word of Elohim (1 Tim 4:5)? Have you turned away from eating abominable food physically and polluted food spiritually (traditions of men which nullify the Word of Elohim, encouraging Torahlessness, lies, false doctrines, false teachings, false prophets and false messiahs)?

A Brief Explanation of Controversial Apostolic Scripture Passages as They Relate to the Biblical Kosher Laws
Excerpted from “Food for Thought—The Heart & Spirit Behind the Biblical Kosher Laws” by Natan Lawrence
http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/food_for_thought.pdf

Let’s first establish some facts.

YHVH’s character is perfect and righteous. What was right and righteous for him in the past will remain so in the future. His standards of righteousness and perfection do not change. (Ps 100:5; Mal 3:6; Jas 1:17). They are immutable. He is not a man that he should lie (Num 23:19).

YHVH does not have one set of rules for one group of people and another set of rules and standards of righteousness for another group of people. YHVH is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34; Deut 10:17; Rom 2:11; Eph 6:9; 1 Pet 1:17). His ways are straight and narrow (Matt 7:14). His Torah–ways are truth (Ps 119:142, 151; John 17:17). Yeshua, the Word of Elohim made flesh (John 1:1–14), is truth and light. Truth is light (Ps 119:105; Prov 6:23). A law of physics declares that free of outside influences light always travels in a straight line. Similarly, free of the influences of the traditions of men by which the Word of Elohim is made of non-effect (according to Yeshua in Matt 15:6), the truth of YHVH’s Word remains straight, true and unchanged.

Since Yeshua was the Word of Elohim in flesh-form and in him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col 2:9), then his physical life on earth was a reflection of the perfect will and character of YHVH Elohim (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; Matt 26:39). As such, all of his words, thoughts and deeds lined up perfectly with the Torah.

Because Yeshua was the Torah-law of Elohim made flesh, he in no way would have abrogated or nullified it (rendered it inoperative and non-binding, see John 1:1–14; Matt 5:16–17).

The apostles were commanded to be faithful to the teachings of Yeshua and to carry them forth, teaching their disciples to observe all that Yeshua had commanded them (Matt 28:20).

Paul was a follower or imitator of Yeshua and urged believers to follow him in this (1 Cor 11:1).

Paul, the one who many claim freed us from the Torah-law actually spoke favorably of the Torah-law (Rom 7:12,14) and remained obedient to it until his dying day (Acts 24:14; 25:8; 28:17,23).

For an explanation of controversial Scriptures from a pro-Torah perspective, please read the teaching article by Ya’acov Natan Lawrence entitled "Food for Thought—The Heart and Spirit Behind the Biblical Kosher Laws," which is located at http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/food_for_thought.pdf.

The following difficult Scriptures are explained:

Matthew 15:11 and Mark 7:18–19. Is Yeshua declaring all foods, both clean and unclean, to be edible in contradiction of the Torah?

Acts 10. What about Peter’s vision?

Luke 10:8 and 1 Corinthians 10:27. Do these Scriptures command us to eat whatever someone places before us in order not to offend them?

Romans 14:2. Is this Scripture saying that those who are spiritually weak or immature keep the biblical dietary laws, while those who are spiritually strong or mature can eat anything?

Romans 14:14. Is Paul saying that laws of clean and unclean meats are irrelevant?

Colossians 2:16. Is Paul saying here that we can break YHVH’s Torah, including his biblical food laws, for all was fulfilled in Yeshua?

1 Timothy 4:3–5. Is Paul saying here that all we have to do is say a prayer over our food and unclean food suddenly becomes clean?

Haftorah Reading — 2 Samuel 6:1-7:17
Despise Not the Anointing of YHVH
6:1–2, 16–23 Some purveyors of dead, stale and fossilized religious systems may turn their noses airward in diffidence at the tokens or symbols of YHVH’s Presence. On the opposite side of the fence, there are those of equally petrified and lifeless religious systems that look to religious icons and tokens to somehow breathe life into that which is spiritually dead. Such can easily become nothing more than thinly veiled idolatry and relic worship. Neither was the case with David when he sought the return of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. The Ark was, for the Israelites, the symbol of Elohim’s blessed Presence among them. With passionate zeal from a heart of worship, David longed for the Ark’s placement in Jerusalem in a place of honor, and YHVH honored David’s desire.

As physical humans, YHVH knows that we need points of contact to aid us in connecting to the deeper things of life—especially to those things of the heavenly realm. In the physical realm, a cherished photo of a loved one, a wedding ring, a souvenir from a trip, a gift from a friend or a family heirloom may serve to refresh our memories and to stir the emotions reminding us of the people, places or events behind the keepsakes. A souvenir is something we purchase while on a trip to remind us of that trip when we return home. The word souvenir is a direct borrowing from the French word of the same spelling meaning “to remember.” The power of keepsakes, heirlooms or souvenirs over one’s mind and emotions can be so strong that they can cause us to shed a tear, go into a depression, or bring us great joy. Our emotional attachments are so strong to them that often they will be the things that we will retrieve before anything else from our burning home. These things serve as points of contact with important events that have happened in our lives.

In our spiritual lives, we have similar points of contact. It could be a favorite Bible or other token of our faith and devotion to YHVH. The Bible shows us that anointing oil or an anointed cloth is a point of contact with YHVH the Healer. Communion and baptism are both points of contact to higher spiritual truths. It is heresy, possibly even idolatry, to say that the water of baptism actually spiritually cleanses the sinner, or the bread and wine become the actual the body and blood of the Savior. But they are important in that they are a physical representation of deeper spiritual truths or realities.

Perhaps now we can appreciate David’s zeal over the Ark of the Covenant’s return to Jerusalem. Embodied in that box was the very heritage and future of Israel, for it represented YHVH’s divine Presence in the midst of his people. David recognized this and knew that like Moses, unless YHVH was with him (Exod 33:14–15), the future looked bleak and he despaired about going forward without YHVH’s Presence among them.

What are the points of contact in your spiritual life that serve as points of reference, contacts, milestones, road signs, or souvenirs either reminding you of or pointing you toward YHVH’s grace in your life? David literally danced for joy before the people when the Ark came to Jerusalem. Do we have such tenderness of emotions, enthusiasm and exuberance about anything spiritual that we, like David, can worship him with total abandon? Or do we criticize others, like Michal did of David, who are able to do so? Everything in that Ark points to Yeshua—the Living Word of Elohim. Do we still possess our first love for Yeshua, or have we lost it? (Read Rev 2:4–5.) What did YHVH-Yeshua threaten to do to the assembly at Ephesus if they did not reignite the passions of their first love for him?

6:3–7 While in the house of Abinadab, the Ark’s presence had become so commonplace such that, as Matthew Henry states in his commentary, the familiarity of it engendered contempt (or at least a casual disregard) for it. Perhaps an irreverence for YHVH’s set-apart things had gripped Uzzah’s heart prompting him to touch that which was forbidden to do so. In our modern culture, and Christianity is no exception, there is very little respect for authority, one’s elders, the law or other’s property, much less holy or set-apart things. In YHVH’s order of things, this is unacceptable behavior. Scripture draws strict lines of demarcation between that which is holy (kadosh or set-apart) and that which is commonplace or profane. YHVH has designated certain times, places, things and even people to be honored and respected—even revered. Are we in danger of incurring Elohim’s wrath, as Uzzah did, for not properly recognizing this?

6:16 [Michal] despised [David] in her heart. In reality, what was Michal despising—David or the Ark itself? Often humans in actuality despise the things of YHVH though they misdirect their disregard and spite toward his human agents. Scripture reveals that the Children of Israel’s rebellion against Moses was really against YHVH himself. If the Ark was a prophetic picture of Yeshua, then for whom was Michal really showing contempt? Yeshua is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to many. Many claim to follow Yeshua, yet they despise his Word and messengers. They also despise those who are passionate devotees and worshipers of Yeshua calling them right-wing fanatics, extremists, unbalanced, Bible-thumpers, Jesus freaks, etc. How passionate for Yeshua and his ways are you? What does YHVH say about this attitude? (Read Rev 3:15–19.)

7:2–3 This is one of the few examples in Scripture where a prophet of YHVH “missed” the Word of Elohim and delivered an inaccurate prophetic word represented as being from YHVH. Unlike many modern “prophets” who deliver “words” from “the Lord” that are inaccurate or fail to come to pass, Nathan quickly recognized his mistake and corrected it. Nathan heard a word from YHVH, but he “missed” it in that YHVH wanted to raise up the House of David instead of David raising up the House of Elohim, which the following verses go on to show us was the accurate word YHVH wanted delivered. This is an important point to which our attention needs to be called.

The office of a prophet is a valid one—even in our day. (See Eph 4:11.)

Because many in religious circles today wrongly teach a cessationist view pertaining to gifts of the Spirit and the commonly-called five-fold ministry offices of Ephesians 4:11, the office of the prophet is often demeaned in an effort to invalidate its present legitimacy. Furthermore, in light of the fact that the church-system has produced so many self-proclaimed “prophets” who are no more than prophets for hire seeking financial profit—giving all the more fuel to the fires of those claiming the prophetic gifts are passé—what must our view be toward those who have prophetic giftings? What does the Bible say? (Read Joel 2:28.) What should be our view of prophecy in our assemblies? (Read 1 Thess 5:19–20; 1 Cor 14:1 and 39.) If anyone gives forth a prophetic word what should be our response to it? (Read 1 Cor 14:28–31.) Note what verse 29 says about prophets judging the words of other prophets. This is something that seldom occurs in the church system. How does the Scripture define a false prophet? (Read Deut 13:1–11; Jer 23:9ff; Ezek 13 and 22:25ff.)

Understanding the Ministry of the Prophet In Its Hebraic Context
Transmitting the Oracles of YHVH Elohim Accurately
The Prophetic Ministry Within the Congregational Setting
The operation of the genuine gift of prophecy is to be encouraged in the congregational setting for the edification, exhortation and comfort of the individual members of the body of Messiah (1 Cor 12–14). But YHVH is not the author of confusion. It is the duty of wise and discerning spiritual leadership to protect the local congregation of saints against confusion and manifestations of the flesh and the devil. When the genuine Spirit-led prophetic gifts are allowed to function within the congregation, the body of Yeshua is built up, comforted and exhorted (1 Cor 14:3), and even sometimes corrected. When counterfeit prophetic words come forth masquerading themselves as the genuine thing, the opposite occurs. Into the body of believers is injected confusion, strife, division, contention and conflict. These are the fruits of the flesh or demonic activity and are not from the Spirit of Elohim.

In order that spiritual life and not confusion occur, the building up of the body of Yeshua and not its tearing down, and the genuine Spirit-led gifts occur and not manifestations of the flesh or demonic counterfeit gifts, it is imperative that we understand what Scripture says about the office of a prophet and the gift of prophecy. The purpose of this teaching, therefore, is to bring clarity to these issues and to do so in light of the Hebrew roots of our faith. We also hope to offer some guidelines that will allow the genuine prophetic gifts to be able to function unhindered within the body. At the same time, we will offer some guidelines that will help leaders to discern those manifestations that are not from the Spirit of Elohim.

A Scriptural Overview on Prophets and the Gift of Prophecy
A Prophet Knows the Heart of YHVH
A prophet is one who hears the word, heart and will—or oracles—of YHVH and accurately transmits what he has heard only to those to whom YHVH has told him to go, and only when and where he has been told to go. If that prophet does not follow YHVH’s specific instructions in this regard, then YHVH will hold him accountable. If he repents for his disobedience (like Nathan the prophet did when he told David to build the Temple, 2 Sam 7:3–17) then he will still remain a prophet before YHVH. If he does not repent, then YHVH considers him to be a false prophet and YHVH’s judgment will come against that false prophet (e.g. Jer 23:9–40)...

To continue reading this article “Understanding the Ministry of the Prophet” by Ya’acov Natan Lawrence, go to http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/propheticmin.pdf.

Past Parshot: www.messianicisrael.com/waters-in-the-wilderness/

Natan Lawrence is pastor of Hoshana Rabbah in Portland, Oregon. He and his wife homeschool four children and he is a Bible teacher and prolific writer on the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith. His teachings can be found at: http://www.hoshanarabbah.org

Courtship vs. Dating

2009-04-13T17:43:00.002-06:00

Puberty is the time of life when a child's body begins to turn into an adult body. It is a very dramatic and exciting time of life. As your body matures and you come of age, you will be attracted to the opposite sex. In many cases, this attraction will be compelling and you will have to deal with it. How you deal with it will make a major difference in the quality of your life and your service for the Lord as long as you live. The Biblical convictions, or lack of them, which you develop now to deal with the opposite sex will have far-reaching consequences. Believe it or not, they will reach through you to the next generation, to your children and eventually to your grandchildren.

A STANDARD MUST BE SET

You must realize that as you come of age, someone or something (a group or philosophy) is going to set a standard or lack of one for how you deal with the opposite sex. A standard does not mean a legalistic system or a social straight jacket. A standard is a set of moral and social guidelines that you go by. You could have a very low standard or a very high one. When you go out socially or romantically with someone, some set of moral and social guidelines will guide your conduct. Everyone has standards, some low and some high.

For example, I knew of a local public school superintendent that once challenged our Christian school dress code. He said, "You have no right to dictate to your students how they dress. " I replied that I had not only the right, but the responsibility as well, and that he had a dress code in his school as well. He denied that ! So I said, "Well, I guess a female student could go to class topless ?" He said, "She certainly could not!" Therefore, I said, "See, you do have a dress code." It is just not a very high one. Everyone has some standards no matter how low they are. If you are going to have some standards, they might as well be God's standards for yourself according to the Word of God.

Like the public school dress code, the world has low standards and expectations for dating and marriage. The truth is that some of the world's standards are down right immoral. When I use the term world, let me explain to you what I mean in a Biblical context.

THE WORLD

When something is not of God, that is, it is not approved in the Bible by word, principle or example, it is of the world. Therefore, it is either of the flesh or the Devil. When I say "world " I mean the fallen, social system governed by Satan "The god of this world..." (II Cor. 4:4), which appeals to the flesh and works on principles that are opposed to God. When I say something is "worldly, " I want you to know exactly what I mean. Here is my definition of the word world as in: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.,." John 2:15).

1.Worldly is that which is sinful, that which breaks the commandments of God.
2.Worldly is that which is satanic or evil such as satanic rock music (much of which is dedicated to Satan and also uses many satanic symbols and signs, not just rock music), spook and evil movies, New Age music, drugs and occult.

Worldly is that which is sensual, that which stimulates, titillates or inflames the flesh. This includes many dating activities such as kissing, touching (forerunners to sex), petting (sex with your clothes on), or dancing seductively (basically, sex with your clothes on standing up). It also includes how you dress. Certain dress and hairstyles are sensual because they make a sexual statement and stimulate the flesh. Christian young ladies need to understand that certain sensual dress and hairstyles say to a boy, "Try me, I might. " They are a subtle offer of sex. That is what makes them popular and exciting, isn't it? 4. Worldly is that which is selfish. It is worldly to use someone to gratify yourself, or ruin your testimony or someone else's just to satisfy yourself. It is worldly to dishonor God, your family, and your church, just to enjoy some sensual pleasure.

THE WORLD'S STANDARDS ARE A FAILURE

Here are the latest figures for the U.S.A. that I copied out of The Word of Life Annual for 1989 ( years ago!) that proves the world's standards for the relationship between unmarried teens and young adults is not only wrong, but also a tragic failure. 1. By age 14, 30,000 girls become pregnant. 2. By age 15, 1 in 5 girls admits having sex. 3. By age 16, 1 in 3 girls admits having sex. 4. By age 17, almost 60% of boys and girls have had intimate relations. 5. By age 18, 40% of the teen-age girls, who attend conservative, evangelical churches admit to having lost their virginity (Our personal experience has been that it is no longer uncommon for girls, who graduated from a Christian School, to conceive out of wedlock). 6. By age 20, 4 out of 5 unmarried males, and 3 out of 5 unmarried females admit to having premarital sex. 7. By adulthood, 1 out of 4 will seek treatment for a sexually transmitted disease.

Here is more. In 1986 the Cincinnati public school board reported that I out of ll girls in the public school was pregnant and that in the next three school years, 1 out of 4 would be. That means that I out of 4 girls who started school in 1986 will be pregnant by 1989.

Although dating may eventually lead to marriage, it is not intended to lead directly to marriage. The main motive behind dating is some kind of sexual stimulation and satisfaction. If someone would argue that point, I would say, "If it is just the company of the opposite sex you are after and not sexual stimulation, hold your sister's hand " Dating, as I have defined and described it, is not in the Bible in word, principle or example.

Therefore, It is Worldly.

2.Courting= Courting is young men and women seeking each other out, under their parents' or guardians' supervision, for the purpose of finding a spouse. Christian courting is the same, except I would add, finding a spouse in the will of God. This is scriptural. It is found in the Bible in word, principle and example.

Doctrinal Basis For This Study

Worldly people like to deny any absolute authority and leave all matters of religion and morals up to personal opinion. They say things like: "Different strokes for different folks," "That's just your opinion, " "That's your interpretation," or "You can't legislate morality. " When the truth is all legislation is morality.

This post no doubt contains opinions and interpretations. However, it is a Biblical study and a doctrinal statement. Every place this post is Biblical, it is doctrinal and authoritative. Doctrine is not opinion, it is truth. God made us and He made us male and female. God created sex and marriage. He has a lot to say about both. What he says in word, principle and example is doctrinal truth.

THE FALL OF ALL MANKIND IN ADAM
God made us; however, we are not as God made us. All mankind has fallen into sin in Adam.(Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Rom. 5:12)

Mankind is no longer innocent or naturally obedient to God. He is sinful and naturally disobedient to God. The sin nature of all men and women, boys and girls, has a great bearing upon the subject of dating or courting.

THE FLESH

Man was created in the image and likeness of God. Therefore, man is essentially a spiritual being. However, unlike God, we live in mortal bodies of flesh. The fall affected man's whole being, spirit, soul and body. Salvation "quickens " or regenerates the spirit, saves the soul, but it does not regenerate or save the flesh, The flesh is the seat of sin. Paul said: "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing:..." (Rom, 7:18)

Even after we are saved, the flesh is still the seat of sin and lust in our lives. The flesh "is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts..."(Eph. 4:22) When we are not in the spirit, that is in submission to Christ, we are in the flesh or in submission to sin. If dating is worldly and not of God, it can not be governed by the spirit. Therefore, it will be governed by the flesh and:The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness..." (Gal. 5:19)

The first four sins of the flesh are sexual sins, and if we let nature take its course, it will sin. When healthy young people of the opposite sex are put together unsupervised in a romantic situation, sooner or later, there will be serious problems. God asked this question on the subject: 'Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one go on hot coals, and his feet not be burned?" (Prov, 6:27,28) Can a boy and a girl, ,t the peek of their sexual development touch, embrace, kiss and not be sexually aroused? When we address the problems of dating or courting, we must consider our fallen, sinful natures.

DATING
Dating, as I have defined it, is not Biblical. That is, it is not found in the Bible in word, principle or example. Many young men and women in the Bible got married, but none of them dated. Therefore, any lesson on dating, from a Biblical point of view, always ends up being a lesson on sexual purity. That is, we try to sanctify a worldly practice with some good Bible teaching. That is a lot better than nothing, but Bible lessons on dating do not exist, because dating, as a subject, is not found in the Bible.

And what is with religious publications and even CHURCHES that seem to approve the contemporary custom of dating and write guidelines for it. Christian articles on dating usually are not on dating at all, but are almost always lessons on sexual purity. How can you write Bible lessons for something that is not on dating at all, but are almost always lessons on sexual purity. How can you write Bible lessons for something that is not in the Bible in word, principle or example? These religious publications take it for granted that all Christian teens are going to date. A funndamental publication said, "Dating is not wrong." It does not give one Bible example why it is right, but it says that it is all right to date and to build relation-ships with the opposite sex, but not commitments. Commitments, according to the article, lead to sex. In other words it is all right to go swimming, but do not get wet. The authors of the article also know it is. Therefore, the article on dating is actually an article on purity because dating leads to intimacy. That is the purpose of dating!

COURTING

The Biblical basis for courting is found in the Bible in word, principle, and example.

1. In word: "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord." (Prov. 18:22) Clearly the word "findeth" implies a purposeful seekin & looking process.
2. In principle: "Neither shalt thou make marriages with them (that is, the nations); thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son...n (Deut. 7:3) Parents are to be involved in supervising their children's marriages.
3.In examples: Adam and Eve, Isaac and Rebekah, Christ and the Church.

Because the Principle and example of courting is found in the Bible, a Biblical doctrine of courting can be discovered, revealed and taught just like any other Biblical doctrine.

THE BIBLICAL MODEL FOR MARRIAGE
God created us male and female and by so doing He created sex. He not only created sex, but He commanded its employment when He said, "Be fruitful, multiply and replenish the earth." Therefore, sex is not only part of God's creative plan and purpose, it is part of the very nature of man. Man is a sexual being. God instituted marriage as His righteous answer to man's sexual nature and need.
"Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge," (Heb. 13:4)

After God created Adam and placed him in the garden to tend and dress it, He said: "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." (Gen.2:18)

Therefore, God made Eve and brought her to Adam. This is the first marriage· God instituted marriage for man's good and God's glory. I think it is clear that marriage is the normal estate for healthy young men and women. It is natural that YOUNG men and women will be drawn to each other, and it is only right that this attraction should be governed by some principle in the Word of God.

Our Lord gave us the basic doctrine of marriage when He quoted what Adam had said in Genesis 2:24: "And he answered them and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?"(Matt, 19:4,5)If we thoughtfully follow our Lord's statement, we can reason like this:

1. God created us male and female, or sexual beings. 2. God instituted marriage as His righteous answer to man's sexual nature and need.
3. Courtship is the process that brings men and women together for marriage.
4. Therefore, courtship is part of the doctrine of marriage, and we can find principles and guidelines for courtship in our Lord's doctrinal statement about marriage.

THE BIBLICAL MODEL FOR COURTSHIP
We will construct some basic guidelines for courtship from our Lord's doctrinal statement on marriage.

"For this cause shall a man leave Father and mother, and shall cleave to a wife..." ~Matt. 19:5)

"A MAN..," OR MATURITY

It is a "man" who is to leave his father and mother for a wife and not a boy going out with a girl. Think with me for a moment. Why did God wait to create Eve? Why did not God create Eve at the same time He created Adam? A wise Bible teacher said the delay was for Adam to prove himself in the garden by dressing it and naming the animals. Adam had both a proven vocation and an education before God gave him a wife. Adam and Eve were spiritually adults when God joined them husband and wife. Dating is almost always done too much too young.

Today, we often see children going out with each other on dates. It is not uncommon for 12 year olds to be pushed into some kind of a dating situation by public schools or parents. Dating is almost always too much too young. When children start to date in the early teens, innocence is exhausted too soon. Dating is intimacy and soon creates familiarity and sexual pressure. When children start kissing and petting at 11 or 12, what are they going to do at 17 or 18? When pediatricians start diagnosing pregnancy, dating was started too young.

At what age should young people be allowed to go out with each other on dates? I guess the age many very conservative people set is 15 or 16. However, 1 do not think that I have ever met a 16 year old that was ready for "dating." I know what some people think, but they are wrong and the figures on teen morality prove that they are wrong, Where did dating come from? I think it came about as a result of the industrial revolution which pushed the age of adolescence up from 16-18 to 21-25. This happened solely because of the "juvenelization" of this nation's youth! Adolescence is the period of a child's life that he spends in an adult body without having adult maturity or responsibilities.

Adolescence ends when a child is able to support himself independently of his parents, family or society. As this age increased with the complexity of society, pressure for some kind of sexual stimulation and satisfaction outside of marriage became a way to provide teens with some sexual cutlet. Dating is sexual. I do not see how that truth can be successfully argued against. Just take almost any dating teens and try to restrict them to dating situations where there is no possibility of any kind of sexual intimacy and see what you run in to.

When young people ask, "When will I be grown up enough to be treated like an adult?" I answer that there are some reliable indicators. Young people start to show some real maturity, not when they can operate an automobile, earn spending money or look down and see the top of mom's head, but when:

1. They begin to seek; respect and value the counsel of their parents and other godly adults, who love them. As long as you think adults are, "out of it," and that poor old dad just does not understand, and mom is not "with it " YOU are still in the junior department. The day you begin to seek and value the advice and counsel of mom, dad and the pastor is the day you take your first steps as a man or woman.
2. You are on the path to maturity when you begin to pick your friends by their character and not their looks, excitement or popularity.
3. You have your hand on the doorknob of maturity when you begin to take responsibility for your own mistakes, and begin to see your own character faults with a view to doing something about them.
4. You are putting your key in the lock of adulthood when you begin to see that you are responsible to others, and that there is more give than take to life, Suffering and sacrifice are part of life.
5. You are turning that key when you begin to set your ,, life goals and start working toward them without being pushed or reminded.
6. You are pushing the door to maturity open when you are ready to take the responsibility for your own life and upkeep.
7. When you are ready to accept the responsibility for someone else's life, like a wife or child, you are an adult.

Parent's are the best people, if they are serving the Lord, to determine this age.

If you see some wisdom and logic in these seven guidelines, I think you can also see that there is no set age to consider a young person to be an adult. Some young people would begin to demonstrate these attributes at the end of the teen years, and others do not until the end of the twenties or beyond. Mental, emotional and spiritual maturity is a very personal thing. Usually it is like holiness. When you think you have it you do not!

Because dating is almost always too much too young, It is a serious mistake for churches and Christian Schools to have dating activities like "Sweetheart" banquets and hay rides where dating is required or encouraged. Church will not sanctify a worldly activity. Churches and Christian Schools should stick to group activities for their teens and refuse any worldly compromise with dating.

When children and young people are loved and appreciated at home, at school and at church, and when they are away from the peer pressures of public school, they are not as eager to date as their worldly counterparts, who do not have these blessings. Children and young people from a loving, Christian environment that meet their needs are almost always older than their counterparts in the world when they do get serious about the opposite sex.

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Study Course

2009-04-13T17:39:00.000-06:00

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Study Course

Youth Discipleship Training Course in the Hebrew Roots of the Christian Faith

This Bar/Bat Mitzvah study guide is, in reality, a youth discipleship training course in the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith. Its purpose is to help get pre-teens and teens grounded in the truth of the Torah and the gospel, get them saved/born again, and filled with the Spirit of Elohim. We want to help them establish a daily discipline of prayer and Bible study that will hopefully last a lifetime, and to have the ability to boldly and publicly confess their faith in Yeshua.

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." It is our duty as parents, pastors, teachers and congregates to do this. We all must share in this serious responsibility. Ministry to our young people is the greatest ministry a congregation can have, since they are our future and our legacy, for they, and they alone, will carry YHVH's kingdom forward when the older generation is gone.
Please use the study guide below to accomplish this. I have designed this course with my own four children in mind to train them to be torch-bears for YHVH-Yeshua. I pray that you will do the same with the young people in your life.
Ya'acov Natan Lawrence, Pastor, Congregation Elim and HRMDR
Chuck and Wanita Panza, The Ezekiel Company
Pastors Ron and Susan Smith
General Guidelines for Bar/Bat Mitzvah 
The Bar/Bat Mitzvah tradition within Judaism, though an excellent concept, is not explicitly commanded in Scripture. In a sense, it is a rite marking the passage from childhood to pre-adulthood, and from innocence to moral and spiritual accountability. The Bar/Bat Mitzvah age of 13 for a boy and 12 for a girl corresponds with the arrival of puberty and the awakening within the young person of the fuller meaning of life, responsibility and character. At this age, spiritual and moral choices are being made that will chart a course for the rest of one’s life. A wise and discerning parent will recognize this crucial time in a young person’s life and will seize the opportunity to establish a spiritual and moral foundation that will act as a compass to guide their child for the rest of his or her life. This is a main purpose behind the bar/bat mitzvah ritual. Not only that, but upon accomplishing the program, it gives the young person a sense of great accomplishment and self confidence as he or she prepares to exercise a greater role within the spiritual community. A similar ritual exists in certain Christian denominations where there are catechism or confirmation classes that a young person goes through for several years. In reality, this is a type of spiritual indoctrination in the denomination’s beliefs, resulting in confirmation of one’s faith and full recognition into the spiritual community.
Bar (Son) or Bat (Daughter) Mitzvah (of the Commandment) is an honor or status conferred upon any one of the minimum age requirement who has completed the requirements below. It is up to the leaders and elders of each Torah community to establish their own requirements since there are no universal guidelines established in Judaism. When a child has achieved this status, they are viewed by the community as being fully established in covenantal relationship with YHVH Elohim and the religious community of which they are a part. They are to be viewed by the members of the community with the honor and respect such a status entails.
The earliest age, according to Jewish tradition, for attaining Bar/Bat Mitzvah status is 13 years old for a boy and 12 years old for a girl (the age of puberty). Adults are encouraged to obtain the Bar/Bat Mitzvah honor, as well. There is no maximum age for receiving this honor. We strongly urge the parents of youth still at home to be senstive to their own child's maturity and spiritual, emotional and mental “readiness” to start preparing for their Bar/Bat Mitzvah. With one child they may be fully mature and prepared by Ruach ha Codesh (Holy Spirit) by age 13 while another may not be at that age until the age of 16. We ask that you be in prayer, watchfulness and preparation regarding the correct timing for each child as each individual child has their heart's times and seasons in the hands of YHVH.
The bar/bat mitzvah candidate must spend an entire Torah cycle and keep YHVH’s annual moedim (set-apart times) in community with The Ezekiel Company and their local church under the spiritual oversight of a pastor/elder and The Ezekiel Company in order for The Ezekiel Company to grant Bar/Bat Mitzvah status to a person. We will not accept a youth leader as a spiritual substitute for proper spiritual mentoring. We are training our children to walk begin to walk in responsibility that comes with adulthood spiritually and we view much of what happens in typical youth ministries as counter-productive to that training; as much in these ministries tend to foster an enterainment-centered and peer-centered worldview rather than one that is centered upon YHVH and serving others as we are called to do.
It is required that bar/bat mitzvah candidates maintain a three-ring notebook chronicling all they have done toward earning their bar/bat mitzvah including writing assignments. A written record must be kept of all articles and books read including the date read and a brief summary or report on each item read. This record can then be presented to the officiants and witnesses at the bar/bat mitzvah ceremony.
Priot to Bar/Bat Mitzvah the candidate will have an oral interview with Chuck and Wanita Panza and a presiding Elder of the Board of the Ezekiel Company, the pastor/elder of their local Torah community/local church, and their parents. At that time they must present the three-ring binder containing proof of their written work (this also may be done prior to this date according to time and logistic demands). They must pass a written and an oral exam and undergo an explanation of what Bar/Bat Mitzvah responsibilities are in their local Torah community/church with their spiritual elders or pastors. They may take they opportunity at this time to discuss any questions they have, any on-going issues with relationships, sin issues they have struggled with previously, or simply feel free to share their heart regarding what they have learned during this time. This is a very serious and meaningful time of interchange between a disciple and mentors! The written test will be graded while the candidate is having this interchange and the oral tests are given. We are not looking for a “pass/fail” and will not design this test as such. We are looking for a basic foundation of Biblical knowledge that is vital to functioning as an adult. It will be up to the elders of The Ezekiel Company and the overseers of the candidates local church whether or not they all feel this candidate is able to shoulder the responsibility of making Bar/Bat Mitzvah or not. The parents have input, but do not “hold a vote.” This is done to provide an objective ruling on whether or not a child is mature and ready spiritually to make Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Too often we have observed the parents viewing their child from a vantage point that is not objective enough to be beneficial in the spiritual growth process at this time in a child's life. Very often, it is at this time when sin issues start surfacing and parent's will “smooth them over” so the child can be percieved as being spiritually sound when this is anything but the case. It is, at this time, when sin issues can often best be addressed very dispassionately and in a godly manner by those who can see through the issues without being being emotionally “tied-in.”

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Requirements for Children and Adults Seeking Their Bar/Bat Mitzvah

Read the entire Bible. Memorize the order of the books of the Bible.
Learn how to use a Bible lexicon, concordance, Bible dictionary, and biblical word dictionary.
Be able to read biblical Hebrew and pronounce words correctly. Know the Hebrew alphabet, vowel points and be able to write the Hebrew letters with ease. Also know the Greek alphabet and be able to read basic biblical Greek.
Choose and memorize certain key Scripture passages: e.g.: Exod 20:1–17; Pss 1, 23, 103, 145; Matt 5:3–20; 1; John 3:14–21; 1 Cor 13; 1 John 1 and 2; etc. (each month memorize a new Scripture passage).
For male students: be a able to conduct a Torah Service.
For females students: Understand the importance of the role of women in Torah and the Gospels. Knowing the lives of the Martriarchs.
For male or female students: conduct an Erev Shabbat Service, Havdallah Service and say the B’rakhah.
Write your own salvation testimony and statement of faith about your view of the Written Torah and Yeshua the Living Torah.
Keep a journal of what you have read and write a short summary or book report on each one.
Be born again, make public confession of Yeshua as Lord and Savior and be fully immersed in water for the remission of sins with a full understanding of Romans 6; 7:14–25; 8 and 12.
Watch the entire 14-week HaYesod video course from FFOZ and fill out the notebook.
Take Hoshana Rabbah’s Statement of Faith or that of your local church/congregation or the Ezekiel Company's Statement of Faith and understand what each point means and how to explain each point in a basic way to someone, This is simply done to enhance the attitude of service in a local body or in the Body of Yeshua at large.
To understand who Yeshua is, read the book, More Than a Carpenter, by Josh McDowell.
To understand who Yeshua was in his historical context, read The Hebrew Vs. the Greek Jesus, by Nehemiah Gordon.
To understand what Yeshua’s (and his disciple’s) view of the Torah was, read They Loved the Torah, by David Friedman.
Read Natan Lawrence’s teaching article: Salvation, What Is It and Do You Have It?
Demonstrate that you have established in your life a daily discipline of devotion and worship. Understand the importance of the following in the life of the Believer:
Worship
Prayer
Daily devotions
Go through an entire one-year Torah cycle. Available from The Ezekiel Company in print or on-line.
Read and study Natan Lawrence’s five volume Torah and Haftorah commentary, Torah Is Life! YHVH’s Instructions in Righteousness—A Commentary and Study Guide on the Torah (on-line).
Be committed to keeping the weekly, seventh day Sabbath.
Read Natan Lawrence’s teaching article, The Sabbath (Shabbat): Spirit and Truth
Be committed to keeping YHVH’s seven annual appointed feasts.
Read Natan Lawrence’s teaching article, The Seven Feasts of YHVH: A Glorious Template of YHVH’s Plan of Redemption for Humanity.
Adult candidates: in addition, read all of Natan’s feast day articles.
Be able to diagram out the Tabernacle, explain each of the furnishings of the Tabernacle and relate each aspect of the Tabernacle furnishing and main service to the redemptive work of Yeshua from memory.
Read Natan Lawrence’s teaching article, The Tabernacle of Moses: YHVH’s Pattern of Salvation for Mankind.
Understand and abide by the biblical dietary laws.
Read Natan Lawrence’s teaching article, Food for Thought—The Heart and Spirit Behind the Biblical Kosher Laws
Understand what it is to be righteous, give a report either oral or written to the examiner on the difference between self-righteousness and the righteousness spoken of in all of Torah and the Gospels.
Read Natan Lawrence’s teaching article, If Yeshua Calls You a Priest, Then Act Like One!
Read (female cadidates), Mama's Torah, The Role of Women by Batya Wooten
Have a basic understanding of the restoration of the two houses of Israel.
Read Redeemed Israel—Reunited and Restored, by Batya Wooten. (for adult candidates)
Read One Nation Under God—A Family Study of Biblical Israel, by Crystal Lenhardt. (for youth candidates)
Have a basic understanding of Messianic/biblical customs.
Read God’s Appointed Customs, by Barney Kasdan.
Have a basic understanding of the pagan influences in Christianity.
Read, Too Long In the Sun, by Richard M. Rives or Come Out of Her My People, by C.J. Koster or watch the DVD series on this available to rent at The Ezekiel Company.
Read Natan Lawrence’s teaching article, Secular Humanism: The Devil’s Original Lie and the Religion of the New World Order
Read a book on the Land of Israel and Jerusalem—its history, geography, etc. and do a report on what you have learned. You may Scrapbook on this. (this is preferred as it is chronicled in a timeline format)
Read a book on the History of the Jewish People and the Land of Israel:
Read Introduction to Jewish History—Abraham to the Sages, by Seymour Rossel
Read Journey Through Jewish History—The Age of Faith and The Age of Freedom, by Seymour Rossel
Read The Young Reader's Encyclopedia of Jewish History, Ilana Shamir, General Editor, and Dr. Shlomo Shavit, Editor (highly recommended but not required as this book is no longer in print. It is available through library or used book sellers)
Read The Hem of His Garment, by John Garr Ph.D
Read Our Lost Legacy, by John Garr Ph.D

The Bar/Bat Mitzvah candidate must be willing to:
Read Natan Lawrence’s teaching article, The Law of the Fringes (Tzitzit).
Learn to tie tzitzits and wear tzitzits (males students) all the time as a sign of your devotion to YHVH. This is individual according to each Torah community/local church and family. The same with female head coverings. Some Messianic Torah Congregations choose to have women wear head coverings, this is according to family and churches.
Learn to wrap and demonstrate the teffelin simply as a teaching symbol and to understand what the symbols foreshadow.
Be willing to use a prayer shawl or talit at the appropriate times.
Be able to explain the use and symbolism of the talit or prayer shawl and appropriate manner in which to use it in differing Jewish/Torah observant communities. (Which is for males/females, how to “hold the wings,” when NOT to wear a prayer shawl, etc.)

Recommended Books for a Bar/Bat Mitzvah to purchase and use as part of their daily spiritual walk:
The Complete Jewish Bible by David Stern
The ArtScroll Series Stone Edition Chumash, by Mesorah Publications Ltd.
The Jewish New Testament Commentary, by David Stern
Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, by Thomas Nelson Publisher
Messianic Shabbat Siddur, by Jeremiah Greenberg or a similar siddur.

Please note that all of Ya’acov Natan Lawrence’s teaching articles are available for free download from this website. All books listed are readily available from many Christian book stores or via the internet by typing in the title and author of the book in your web browser’s search engine and then ordering it online. For your convenience, in the near future we will be providing links to where you can purchase these books as well as a printable pdf version with checkboxes so you can keep track of your progress.
Honors/Benefits Conveyed Upon Successful Bar/Bat Mitzvah Candidates 
Upon completion of the prescribed course the Messianic community will honor the successful candidate in the following manner:
Provide the candidate with a framed certificate of Bar/Bat Mitzvah completion.
Will have a special ceremony and reception afterward to honor the successful candidate. This includes reading from the Torah scroll in English and in Hebrew during a Torah service, as well as giving a short drash (teaching/discussion) on the Torah-portion the candidate has just read.
Lead the congregation in the praying and singing of the Shema.
Explain what Bar/Bar Mitvah means and talk about their experience what they had to accomplish this past year/years, what they have learned.
The community will present the successful candidate with special gifts.

Courtship

2009-04-13T17:11:00.002-06:00

Recently we announced that our daughter Kayli, in August, would go through her Messianic Bat Mitzah. We have given an extreme amount of prayer to the timing of this. We announced that at the time of her Bat Mitzvah she would be an adult in the Messianic and local congregation. We have had so many inquiries regarding this process that we decided to answer them up front so we could educate others in this process as well.

In another article/post I will deal with the requirements of Bat Mitzvah, but in this post I will post very general guidelines for "Biblical Courtship."

What Is Courtship?

Courtship is experiencing the blessing of God by loving the Lord Jesus Christ and honoring both sets of parents. The purpose of courtship is to determine a couple’s readiness and calling for marriage and to discern the will of God for a covenant marriage that will benefit the world.

While the actual manifestation of a courtship relationship will vary because no two couples are alike, one of the primary motivations behind courtship (as opposed to dating) is the protection of the emotions of those involved until the time when it is clearly God’s will to proceed into marriage.

Foundational Principles of Courtship

1. Ensure the blessing of God

The greatest asset of any person or marriage is God’s blessing. “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it” (Proverbs 10:22).

No couple will have a happy or prosperous marriage without the blessing of the Lord. If God does not bless them, the devourer will damage and destroy their present and future joy and potential.

A blessed marriage is described in the following passage: “Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table” (Psalm 128).

2. Love the Lord Jesus Christ

Every believer is in a covenant relationship with the Lord and with all other believers. Therefore, the decisions of one believer affect every member of the Body of Christ. If we say we love the Lord, we must realize how our actions demonstrate our love for Him and others.

One way of loving God and others is to keep the commands of Christ, especially as they relate to marriage. Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments…. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:15, 21).

“Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him” (I John 2:3–5).

3. Honor parents

The foundational command for the happiness and success of any marriage is “Honour thy father and thy mother” (Exodus 20:12). God emphasized the seriousness of this command by giving the following penalty for breaking it: “For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him” (Leviticus 20:9).

There are more than ten Hebrew words describing various degrees of cursing, from a “violent assigning to eternal condemnation” to a “mild disrespect.” The word used in this command is the milder term qalal, which simply means “to make light of ” and “to bring into contempt.”

Jesus singled out this command and reaffirmed it as well as the judgment that went with it. “For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death” (Matthew 15:4).

He went on to condemn the Pharisees for giving lip service to this commandment, but then making it null and void by man-made traditions. (See Matthew 15:6.) It is impossible for a couple—regardless of their age—to keep this commandment if they refuse to listen to the counsel and cautions of their parents on the matter of marriage.

If we say that a person over eighteen years of age has the legal right to make his own marriage decisions, regardless of whether those decisions please his parents or not, we are making the Law of God of no effect by our traditions. Kayli is a very emotionally and spiritually mature maiden before the Lord. We feel the time will be correct, as her parents, to proceed at her Bat Mitzvah. This is a decision that was reached by much prayer and seeking G-d. We feel (for her individually) that it would be godly and proper to enter into a courtship for the period of time that we determine before HaShem. We do not get all "hung up" with ages, as each person is an individual and each person reached readiness at varied times. One girl may be ready for marriage at 17 and another not ready until 40!! Kayli has been very sweet-spirited and submissive in yielding herself to our authority and to the authority of HaShem. She understands and functions in the role into which she was created. Her strong desire is to be a wife and mother in Israel. (A picture!) She does not have a strong drive/desire to attend college or have a career outside of the home which would remove her from the home. She will happily serve the Lord under her Father's authority, making the best of her time, until her Father in Heaven brings her the mate He desires for her. She will continue to pursue her national competition with Irish Step for her eventual goal of a TCRG teacher/coach and to open a small studio to teach dance.

The commandment does not say “Honor parents only if they are believers,” nor does it mean that to honor is always to obey. If parents command a son or daughter to marry outside of God’s will, that son or daughter must respectfully refuse to carry out their wishes.

To violate this command is to experience generations of grief and iniquity. “The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it” (Proverbs 30:17).

Paul pointed out that although this is the fifth commandment in the Decalogue, it is the first command to have a promise attached to it: “Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth [good health and prosperity]” (Ephesians 6:2–3).

God has entrusted to the parents, and especially to the father, the responsibility to give the daughter in marriage. Most wedding ceremonies affirm this fact when the minister asks, “Who gives this woman to this man?” (See also Exodus 22:16–17; I Corinthians 7:38.)

4. Determine marriage readiness

There are many practical considerations that parents need to evaluate before giving their blessing to a marriage.

Does the young man have moral purity and victory over lust? (Involvement in pornography will make it impossible for him to love his wife.)
Does the young man realize that in marriage he must give control of his body to his wife and she must submit to him? (See I Corinthians 7:4.)
Is the young man sanctifying himself by engrafting Scripture into his heart and soul, so that he can cleanse his wife by the Word? (See Ephesians 5:25–26.)
Does the young man have the character and the skills to support a marriage and family? What proof does he have of this?
Are both parties free of bitterness and guilt so they can “leave father and mother” and cleave to each other?
Does the young man have a clear purpose in life that his wife can support?
Are both parties living in total openness and in genuine love? (See I John 2:10.)
We are far more concerned about the heart and readiness of the young man to court our daughter than his status, age or even outward appearance! We are mostly concerned with the will of our Father in heaven.
5. Discern God’s will

Since God has given the father of the girl the responsibility to protect her purity (see Deuteronomy 22:15) and the father of the young man the responsibility to evaluate his son’s wisdom (see Proverbs 10:1), God’s first line of direction will be through them.

However, even though all of the parents give their blessing, the marriage may still not be God’s will. For example, if one party is an unbeliever, marriage to that person would violate Scripture. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (II Corinthians 6:14).

Also, if the son or daughter has been called by God to more years of single service, an appeal should be made to their parents for their blessing. In any case, the parents cannot force a marriage, because the individual has the final say. (See Genesis 24:58, Matthew 19:10–12, I Corinthians 7:25–37, and Isaiah 56:1–8.)

6. Establish a covenant marriage

Marriage is not a contract between two people; it is a sacred covenant between two people, two families, and God, with witnesses to the vows. We believe the families themselves will be compatible and walk together in agreement!

A covenant marriage is joined by God and continues “till death do us part.” In a covenant relationship, there is no tolerance of competing affections in either party. God has serious consequences for those who violate their covenant vows. (See Ecclesiastes 5:1–7, Proverbs 6:23–35, Romans 7:1–3, Romans 1:31–32, etc.)

7. Benefit the world

Paul points out that all believers are of the spiritual seed of Abraham. God blessed Abraham and said, through “thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 28:14).

Jesus said to His disciples, “Ye are the salt of the earth… Ye are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13–14). Paul also instructed us, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).

Those who are married with the blessing of God and their parents are “heirs together of the grace of life” (I Peter 3:7) and can raise up sons and daughters who are mighty in God’s Spirit.

“Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed” (Psalm 112:1–2).

Conclusion

The actual pattern of a courtship relationship will vary from one couple to another, because no two couples or situations are the same. However, any courtship would benefit by incorporating the principles listed above.

One of the valuable rewards of courtship is the protection of emotions that are stirred up by physical and emotional interaction, until the time when it is clearly God’s will to proceed into marriage.

If, during the time of courtship, one party realizes that this is not God’s will and ends the relationship, it can still be regarded as a successful courtship, because God directed and the individuals were not damaged.

Gnosticism. Hellenism and Legalism

2009-04-11T20:10:00.002-06:00

Why is it necessary for present-day Messianic believers to have an basic understanding of Gnosticism,
Hellenism and Jewish religious legalism? There are several reasons how not understanding these concepts could lead the serious student of the Apostolic Writings (New Testament) to have an incomplete view of the writings of the Apostles which could further lead to false theological (antisemitic and anomian [lit. antiTorah-law]) conclusions as has to a large degree in the historic Christian faith.

One cannot have a complete understanding of the writings of the early Messianic Believers without under-
standing the historical context in which they wrote. The Epistles, for example, were more often than not, addressing specific issues in specific congregations. The Epistles are answers to the questions, but we can only infer what the questions were, since the written record of these is lacking. So we see the Apostolic writers addressing Gnosticism, Hellenism and Jewish, non-Scriptural, traditions as enemies of the Gospel. So understanding these issues will help us to not only understand the forces at work in the first century to undermine the Gospel message, but may help us to understand the forces attacking the Gospel truth in our day. For example, Gnosticism of the first century is no different than the New Age Movement of our day. So such a study is very relevant to us.

Additionally, we see a giant theological and spiritual shift occurring between the time the last Apostolic
writers penned their last letters (in the early AD 90s) and by the first third to half of the second century. By this time a decided shift or departure had occurred within the Church away from its Jewish or Hebraic roots. In many places Sabbath observance gave way to Sunday worship, eventually Easter replaced Passover. By the very early part of the second century we see in the writings of the “Early Church Fathers” a noticeable antisemitic bias and little-by-little a rejection of anything “Jewish”; i.e., a total rejection of the Torah-laws found in the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament).

This rejection of the Jewish roots of the Church by the Early Church Fathers did not happen spontaneously. It
was a gradual process brought about by antisemitic (nonreligious) political forces occurring in the Roman Empire at the time, as well as the pressure for Christianity to syncretize with some pagan practices in order to facilitate the assimilation of new converts from paganism into Christianity. The seeds of the shift of Messianism to paganized- Christianity can be seen clearly in the writings of the Apostolic Writers as they, even as early as the AD 50s and 60s, are mounting a vigorous defense against those forces which would undermine the purity of the Gospel truths. But as the Apostolic defenders, who were the stalwarts of the faith once and for all delivered, died off, and the focus of the Church shifted geographically from Jerusalem to Gentile Asia, numerically from a majority of Jewish converts to a majority of non-Jewish converts and theologically from an adherence to a Torah and Hebraic beliefs and practices to a more cosmopolitan and politically correct theology which was more tolerant of pagan philosophical and religious practices and more accepting of diversity. Why and did this occur? It was the natural course of things, the path of least resistance. What happened to the early church spiritually is the analogous to the principle in physics called the law of entropy which states that elements within the universe tend to devolve rather than evolve.

GNOSTICISM AND SORCERY
“In Yeshua’s time the ‘mystery religions’ included the cult of Dionysius and the Orphic Mysteries, as well as
various Gnostic approaches (Gnostic, from Greek gnosis, knowledge, means that these religions claimed to offer a body of secret knowledge which would lead to salvation)... A number of religions, both then and now, claim to make available special knowledge or mysteries to an inner circle. Biblical religion is not so. Its truths are available to all who read and believe the Bible. While Yeshua walked the earth there was an inner circle of disciples who received precisely the knowledge necessary to disseminate God’s truth to all men throughout all generations” (Jewish New Testament Commentary by David Stern, pp. 47-48).
“Gnosticism itself was a philosophically oriented system of self-perfection through knowledge which offered
a cheap substitute for both Judaism and Christianity—cheap in that, like many New Age and other modern variants, it skirted and minimized the issue of sin” (Stern, p. 579).

—Acts 8:10 The Great Power of God.

Simon the Sorcerer, or Simon Magus (the Magician) first mentioned here. An early Jewish or Samaritan magician or Gnostic. Early church fathers attribute to him as being one the leaders of Gnostic Christianity and of having a great following and of possessing great demonic powers.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia (Vol. 13) in its article entitled Simon Magus we read, “In morals
Simon was probably Antinomian [or anomian; i.e., anitTorah-law], an enemy of Old Testament law. His magical arts were continued by his disciples; these led unbridled, licentious lives, in accordance with the principles which they had learned from their master. At any rate they called themselves Simonians, giving Simon Magus as their founder.”

The Jewish Encyclopedia says of Simon Magus in an article by that name, “Simon was…regarded by all the
Church Fathers as the great heretic from whose school and teaching sprang all the later motley heresies of Christian- ity; and inasmuch as his system contained Gnostic teaching, Gnosticism itself was ascribed to him…”
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (published in 1915) in an article entitled Simon Magus says of
Sorcerers in general during the first century and Simon in particular, “It is not strange to find the gospel brought into direct conflict with magicians, for in the 1st and 2nd centuries there were a multitude of such persons who pretended to possess supernatural powers by which they endeavored to deceive men. They flattered the sinful inclinations of the human heart, and fell in with men's current ways of thinking, and required no self-renunciation at all. For these reasons the magicians found a ready belief on the part of many. The emperor Tiberius, in his later years, had a host of magicians in constant attendance upon him. Elymas, with whom Paul came in contact in Cyprus "was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man" (Acts 13:7 the King James Version). Elymas was one of those magicians, and he endeavored to turn away the deputy from
the faith. Luke expressly calls this man "magus", Elymas the magus (Acts 13:6,8 margin).

“The influence of such persons presented an obstacle to the progress of the Christian faith, which had
to force its way through the delusions with which these sorcerers had surrounded the hearts of those
whom they deceived. When the gospel came in contact with these magicians and with their works, it
was necessary that there should be striking facts, works of supernatural power strongly appealing to
men's outward senses, in order to bring them out of the bewilderment and deception in which they
were involved, and to make them able to receive the impression of spiritual truth. Such miracles were
wrought both in Cyprus and in Samaria, the spheres of influence of the magicians Elymas and Simon.
These divine works first arrested men's attention, and then dispelled the delusive influence of the
sorcerers.”

Was Simon the Originator of Gnosticism? In answer to this question The International Standard Bible Ency-
clopedia says: “Irenaeus also has much to say regarding Simon and his followers. He makes the legendary Simon identical with the magician of Acts 8, makes him also the first in the list which he gives of heretics,
and also says that it was from him that Gnosticism sprang. The account which he gives of the
Simonians shows that by the time when Irenaeus lived, their system had developed into Gnosticism;
but this fact does not justify Irenaeus in the assertion that Simon of Acts 8 is the originator of the
Gnostic system. The early Christian writers took this view, and regarded Simon Magus as the founder
of Gnosticism. Perhaps they were right, "but from the very little authentic information we possess, it
is impossible to ascertain how far he was identified with their tenets" (Alford, New Testament, II, 86).
In the midst of the various legends regarding Simon, it may be that there is a substratum of fact, of
such a nature that future investigation and discovery will justify these early Christian writers in their
judgment, and will show that Simon Magus is not to be overlooked as one of the sources from which
Gnosticism sprang. The exact origin of Gnosticism is certainly difficult to trace, but there is little or
no indication that it arose from the incidents narrated in Acts 8. It cannot be denied that a connection
is possible, and may have existed between the two, that is between Simon Magus and some of the
Gnostic heresies; but the facts of history show widespread tendencies at work, during and even before
the Apostolic age, which amply account for the rise of Gnosticism. These are found e.g. in the
Alexandrian philosophy, and in the tenets of the false teachers at Colosse and in other places. These
philosophical and theosophical ideas commingled with the influences of Zoroastrianism from Persia,
and of Buddhism from India, and these tendencies and influences, taken in conjunction, were the
sources of the various heresies known by the name of Gnosticism.”

—1 Cor. 1:22 Greeks try to find wisdom. “[T]he presumption that God can be contacted, sin forgiven or ultimate meaning attained through wisdom is itself an act of faith and a misplaced one at that; known as gnosticism, it is targeted in the NT as the enemy of the Gospel.
“Today there is a recrudescence of gnosticism in what is loosely called the New Age Movement” (Stern, p. 443).

—Eph. 1:23 The full expression of him fills all created (CJB) or In him the fullness of the godhead dwells bodily (KJV). Stern says, Fullness is the Greek word pleroma which was a technical term used by Gnostics to refer to the totality of angels or aeons that supposedly mediated between God and humanity. He continues, “In Ephesians and Colosians Sha’ul counters the Gnostic heresy by co-opting its jargon to express biblical truth. We learn in these letters that Sha’ul prays for the believers in Ephesus to be “filled with the pleroma of God” (3:19); that “it pleased God to have his pleroma live in his Son (Col. 1:19); and that believers, corporately as the Messianic Community, constitute the Messiah’s body and thus the pleroma of him who fills all creation (this verse)—but unlike Gnostics, Sha’ul discusses sin in the very next sentence...Sha’ul takes the wind out of Gnosticism’s sails by proclaiming that its aim of attaining the pleroma cannot be reached by its means, but only by biblical means, only by joining the Body of Messiah through trusting and being faithful to Yeshua” (Stern, pp. 579-580).

—Col. 1:19 It pleased God to have his full being (Greek pleroma) live in his Son. “Pleroma was a technical term used by the Gnostics...to refer to the totality of various spiritual “levels” and the beings or entities presumed to exist there...Sha’ul uses the method of seizing on a characteristic distinctive of the heresy he is fighting and showing how it relates to and supports the Gospel. Thus he follows the pattern he described at 2 Cor. 10:4-5: We demolish arguments and every arrogance that raises itself up against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey the Messiah” (Stern, p. 605).

—Col. 2:2-3 Understanding...fully knowing...secret truth...wisdom...knowledge... “All are Gnostic technical
terms.

—Col. 2:8 Philosophy “Here the word stands for heretical Gnostic or pre-Gnostic alternatives to the true understanding of who the Messiah is” (Stern, p. 606).

—1 Tim. 1:3 3b-4 As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith. Probably referring to both Jewish (Talmudic) and pre-Gnostic teachings (Stern, p. 632).

—1 Tim. 2: 5-6 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Messiah Yeshua, Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. “This idea resisted by non-Messianic Jews who argue that no human mediator is needed between God and mankind. The two-covenant theorists mentioned in Jn. 14:6, where Yeshua said, No one comes to the Father except through me, would offer the variant that Jews come to God without a mediator but Gentiles approach him through Jesus. Some, taking for granted that the very idea of a mediator is in principle un-Jewish, think Sha’ul brought it in from Gnosticism in order to make his Gospel more palatable to Gentiles.

“Although Gnosticism posits various beings between God and man, the idea of a mediator between God and
mankind is not only Jewish but inseparable from the history of Israel recorded throughout the Tanakh. Quite apart from the Jewish tradition that angels mediated at the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, Yeshua’s role as Mediator was foreshadowed by Moses, who is described as mediator for the Torah not only at Gal. 3:19, but also in the fourth- century Midrash Rabbah (Deut. Rabbah 3:12) and the 9th-century midrash (Pestikta Rabbati 15:3)” (Stern, pp. 637- 638).

—1 Tim. 6:20-21 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen. More references to Gnostic concepts circulating among the called out ones, according to Stern (Stern, p. 647).

—Heb. 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. According to Stern this is a counter to the non-biblical and Gnostic notion that only the soul is pure while the body is unclean, inferior and unworthy of being immortal necessitating that the body be reborn again and again until it is perfected (reincarnation).

—1 Jn. 1:5-10 Stern says, In Yochanan’s day it was especially the Gnostics who, misusing Romans 6 and 8, said that since the Messianic believer has the Spirit of Messiah in him, he cannot sin any more. Yochanan agrees that the Spirit of Messiah cleanses us and gives us strength to overcome sin...nevertheless, we still commit sin as v. 10 reminds us.
Jer. 31:30 says that everyone will die for his own iniquity. Isa. 65:20 speaks of sinners in the Messianic Era (Millen-
nium) and Mt. 6:12 speaking to believers says, Forgive us our trespasses...” (Stern, pp. 768-769).
—1 Jn. 5:6 He is the one who came by means of water and blood, Yeshua the Messiah. “Contrary to Gnostic [and New Age] teachings, he did not ‘receive the heavenly Christ [consciousness]’ upon emerging from the Jordan; rather, it was Yeshua, already the Messiah, who was immersed; and his immersion in water symbolized his death and resurrection. Likewise, he did not imitate being human but died a real death on the execution-stake; otherwise he would not have atoned for our sin” (Stern, p. 776).

—Jude 3-4 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Yeshua Messiah. In stating the need to contend for the faith once delivered is implied that the faith once delivered was under attack by those who were attempting to corrupt the simple Gospel message and turn it into a licentious or libertine message—where one can have salvation and still live a sinful life. This was the basic message behind Gnosticism, as we saw earlier.

—Rev. 2:24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which
have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. “Various Gnostic philosophies appealed to people’s pride by promising spiritual knowledge deeper than that available to ordinary mortals. Many modern cults and movements make the same empty promises” (Stern, p. 798).

HEDONSIM/LIBERTINISM/NICOLAITINISM

—Acts 15:20 Abstain from fornication. Sexual immorality was rampant in Greek culture whether it was fornication, adultery, homosexuality, sodomy, or male and female temple prostitution.
—Rom. 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How
shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? This was a common libertine belief, that the more we sin the more YHWH will pour out his grace. Jude addresses this very heresy in Jude 4 where he says that these unrighteous rebels creep into the congregation and espouse licentiousness. See also:
—Rom. 3: 8 And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just. (See also 6:15)

—1 Cor. 6:12 You say, [supplied] For me everything is permitted, Maybe, but not everything is helpful...(CJB).
Stern writes, “You say, are not in the Greek text but are added to show that this was not a central principle of Sha’ul’s teaching but a saying in use among a group of Corinthians who would later have been called Gnostic libertines” (Stern, p. 451).

—2 Tim. 3:2-5
2 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
3 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent,
fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led
away with divers lusts... Here is a apt description of libertinism.
—Jude (entire book) (written before AD 70) is a defense against heretical doctrines making inroads in the Messianic community such as libertinism. Here are some quoted excerpts which show this:
-4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation,
ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness [license to do evil]...
6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in
everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to
fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of
eternal fire.
8 ¶ Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great
swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.
18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own
ungodly lusts.
19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

—Rev. 2:6, 15 Doctrine of the Nicolaitans. A heretical sect which encouraged idolatry and sexual sin who, according to second century Church father, Iranaeus (Against Heresies, Book 1, Chap. 26), encouraged believers to “lead lives of unrestrained indulgence.” In Rev. 2:14-15 those who held to this doctrine were equated with Balaam both of whom promoted sexual immorality and the eating things sacrificed to idols.

ASCETICISM
Asceticism is the theory and practice of bodily abstinence and self-mortification, generally in a religious
sense. The aspects of this philosophy which affected the early Messianic Jewish believers of the first century, to which Sha’ul makes allusions in several places in his epistles, originates from the philosophers of ancient Greece. It was from their philosophic speculations that the concept of dualism originated; namely, the idea that the pure, divine and immortal soul of man is trapped in an evil and mortal body and that for the soul to return to where it came the body must be mortified, tortured, deprived of needs and care and abstinence of pleasure is required. Therefore, fasting, celibacy, vegetarianism, wearing of drab clothing, the forgoing of personal hygiene and other such flesh sublimating practices were encouraged in order to help free or release the imprisoned soul from the evil body so that spirituality might be obtained.

The Jewish Encyclopedia say in an article entitled, Asceticism, “It is thus seen that both the term and the idea
which the term expresses are of non-Jewish origin and implications. Judaism can not be said to encourage Asceticism, even in the restricted sense of discipline…Judaism is of a temper which is fatal to asceticism; and the history of both Judaism and the Jews is, on the whole, free from ascetic aberrations. Fundamental to the teachings of Judaism is the thought that the world is good. Pessimism has no standing-ground. Life is not under the curse. The doctrine of original sin, the depravity of man, has never had foothold within the theology of the synagogue. It never held sway over the
mind and the religious imagination of the Jews. In consequence of this the body and the flesh were never regarded by them as contaminated, and the appetites and passions were not suspected of being rooted in evil. The appeal to mortify the flesh for the sake of pleasing Heaven could not find voice in the synagogue.”
In line with his Jewish heritage, Rabbi Sha’ul vigorously opposed the encroachments of the Hellenistic
concepts of dualism and asceticism (as we cite below). Despite this, asceticism made inroads early on in the Christian church and what later evolved into the Catholic Church. We likely see the influences of dualism and asceticism in the monastic life of the monks and nuns, the wearing of monochromatic clothing, abstaining from fish on Fridays, penance, the idea that marital relations should be for procreative purposes only and other such practices.

—Rom. 14:1-15:6 The issue in this passage of Scripture is not the calling into question of whether certain Torah feast days (Sabbaths) or dietary laws are still binding upon believers today or not but rather about “weak believers, either Gentile or Jewish, who have no yet grown sufficiently in their faith to have given up attachment to various ascetic practices and [tradition of men, not YHWH-ordained and instituted] calendar observances” (Stern, P. 433).

—1 Cor. 7:3-9 “Apparently there was in Corinth a movement toward celibacy within marriage—extremes spawn extremes, so where libertinism flourishes one often finds asceticism as a reaction. Therefore, in v. 5 Sha’ul finds it necessary to advise married couples against such sexual abstinence, except by mutual agreement for a limited time” (Stern, p. 453).

—Col. 2:18-23
18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a false humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into
those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment minis-
tered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ 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. [They do indeed have the outward appearance of
wisdom, with their self-imposed religious obsrvances, false humility and asceticism; but they have no
value at all in restraining people from indulging their old nature. — CJB]

Here Sha’ul lists a number of ascetic and other Greek religious attributes and practices: false humility, wor-
shipping of angles, touch not, taste not, handle not, will worship and neglecting the body. The Apostle here is clearly referring to Hellenistic religious practices and not to Torah commandments since Torah does not prohibit the neglecting of the body and is nowhere referred to in Scripture as “the commandments and doctrines of men.”

—1 Tim. 4:2-3 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience
seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
Stern says, “Sha’ul favors self-discipline for the sake of the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 9:24-27), but not for asceticism. His own attitude toward marriage (1 Cor. 7:1-40) and eating (Rom. 14:5-6, 14-17, 20; 1 Cor. 8:8, 13; 10:23-11:1; Col. 2:16-23) is eminently sensible, avoiding both self-indulgence and self-denial.

“Abstinence from foods does not mean observing kashrut [the Jewish (biblical) dietary or kosher laws],
although false teachers probably did incorporate elements of the Jewish dietary laws into their ascetic practices”
(Stern, p. 644).

LEGALISM/JUDAIZING

Legalism Defined: We define legalism here not as obedience of the Torah commandments from a heart of
love for the Father (Yeshua said in Jn. 14:14, “If you love me, keep my [Torah] commandments.”) realizing that you are saved not by your works, but by faith in Yeshua and through his grace, but as a mechanistic, letter-of-the-law, earn-your-salvation approach to obedience.

Stern defines legalism as “actions stemming from a boastful, self-righteous belief that by [keeping YHWH’s
Torah-commandments], by following a set of rules in one’s own strength, without trust in God or faithfulness towards him, one can earn God’s praise and applause and obligate him to grant one birth in heaven” (Stern, pp. 345-346). He goes on to say that a legalistic, works-based approach to the Torah-commandments of YHWH is “bad-self strength works produced when sinful people misuse and pervert the Torah, so that instead of regarding it as God’s precious gift intended both to orient people toward righteous, God-motivated behavior and at the same time to show them how far short they fall of achieving it, they regard the Torah as a rulebook containing requirements they can meet mechanically, without trusting God or even caring about him, and can therefore take great pride in their own achievements and have great self-satisfaction over how much they have pleased God” (Stern, p. 346).

Numerous Scriptural references in the Sha’ul’s Writings could be given to show where he was combatting
legalism. Much of the Books of Romans, Galatians and Colosians are dealing with this issue. It is not the scope of this present paper to deal with this immense subject here other than to only mention it.

MISC. CONCEPTS

— Tit. 1:14 Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. Jewish
fables could refer to Jewish Gnostic concepts which were very prevalent at the time, or to various non-Scriptural
Pharisaic pre-Talmudic oral traditions which could be termed as “commandments of men” or as Yeshua said in Mt. 15:6 and again in Mk. 7:7 “traditions of men by which the word of God is made of non-effect.” Nowhere does Scripture refer to the Torah-commandments of YHWH as being “commandments of men.”

Is The Hebrew-Roots Movement Cultic or Is Traditional Christianity Cultic?

2009-04-11T19:43:00.004-06:00

In recent year there has been great awareness brought upon the subject of non-Christian cults by Christian
apologetic organizations whose mission it is to defend the “historic Christian faith” against teachings they consider
to be contrary to the Bible and to traditional or normative Christian theology and tradition.
Many well-meaning and sometimes misguided Christians in their zeal to protect Christian beliefs from the
onslaught of cult groups who are attempting to missionize those around them including Christians have developed a
fortress-like mentality where they deem everything a cult that does not agree with their understanding of the “his-
toric Christian faith”. Yet many of these same Christians would be hard-pressed to give a dictionary definition of the
term cult or to define it in terms of the sociological, psychological and theological perimeters laid out by those
Christian theologians who have been pioneers in the area of cult awareness, Christian apologetics to cultists and
defining what a cult is.

The author has a unique perspective on the subject of cultism having been born and raised in a name-brand cult
till age 30 where upon leaving the cult he became an ordained Christian evangelist in a major Christian (Protestant)
denomination where he evangelized those bound up in cultism.

Let us first define from Webster’s Dictionary the word cult:
1) a particular system of religious worship;
2) an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing;
3) the object of such devotion;
4) a group or sect bound together by devotion to or veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc...
5) religion that is considered or held to be false or unorthodox (Webster’s Encyclopedia of the English
Language, Random House, 1983).

How does the late Dr. Walter Martin, author of the famous book, The Kingdom of the Cults and founder of
the anti-cult, Christian apologetic organization, The Christian Research Institute in southern California define a
cult.
In the above-named book on page 11, quoting a Dr. Braden, Martin writes: “A cult...is any religious group which
differs significantly in some one or more respects as to belief or practice from those religious groups which are
regarded as the normative expression of religion in our total culture [emphasis added].”

To properly answer the question stated in the title of this article, Is the Hebrew Roots (or Messianic) Movement
cultic or is Christianity a cult? We must ask and explore the following questions: What is normative? No doubt,
whatever the majority is believing at a particular point in time could be called normative. Is the majority always
right? Who is the majority now? Was it always the majority? Basically, what Martin is talking about in is book is the
idea of “consensus theology”: whatever the majority believes at a particular historical point in time must be right.
But honest truth-seekers must ask the question; is the truth of today the truth of yesterday? How do we even know
what truth is?

These are dangerous and tough questions to ask. Most people, in the face of such question, will retreat into the
safe comfort zones of organized religion refusing to deal with these challenging and potentially life-changing and
religious icon threatening (iconoclastic) issues. But the answers to these questions are amazingly simple and can
have spiritually revolutionary effect on one’s life.

— 2 —
First, we must ask the following question: what is truth? As Believers in the Bible, the Word of YHWH-
Elohim, our premise is simple: the Bible (the inspired Word of Elohim) is truth.
As seen by the dictionary definitions cited above, all religious groups, by strict definition, are a cult in a non- pejorative sense of the word. The Christian cult-watching groups, however, use the term in a pejorative sense, as is
noted and used above and for them the dictionary’s fifth definition of the word has become their primary definition
and usage of the word cult.
Again, in light of Christian apologists’ (such as Dr. Walter Martin) use of the word cult (in its negative sense) to
mean a religious system that is aberrant from the normative and original group, is the Christian religion, in a sense,
and by their own definition a cult?

Let us answer this question by asking another question? Christianity irrefutably traces its roots back to the
Messianic Jew Believers in Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah as chronicled in the Apostolic Writings or what Christianity
calls the New Testament. A thorough, and unbiased review of the lives and religious practices of not only Yeshua
himself, but of his followers based on the biblical record will reveal that they were Jews who observed an orthodox
Jewish lifestyle and who practiced the Jewish religion of the first century A.D., yet who were Spirit-filled followers
of Yeshua the Messiah and preached the Gospel (Good News of the kingdom of heaven). Please read the author’s
following articles available on his website: Torah: What Parts Fulfilled In Yeshua, If Any?; What Was Yeshua’s
(Jesus’) View of the Torah-Law ? —A Study of the Sermon On the Mount How Paul Viewed the Torah; Paul: An
Orthodox, Messianic, Spirit-filled Jewish Rabbi; From AD 70 to AD 135—How the Church Lost Its Roots; The
Roots and Branches of Our Messianic Faith.

Are these the author’s ideas? No. Please read what Hebrew roots scholar, Dr. Ron Moseley has part of the
answer to this question in his book, published in 1996, entitled, Yeshua—A Guide to the Real Jesus of the Original
Church. He says, “After the Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, two new religious organizations grew out of the
Judaism of Jesus’ and Paul’s day. The Pharisees had fled Jerusalem to Yavneh and were spared, while the Jewish
followers of Jesus had fled to the mountains of Pella and also survived (Matthew 24:16). From these two groups
came two separate religions known as Rabbinic Judaism and the Christian Church. Today, neither Rabbinic Judaism
nor the Church, which formed much of its theology from fourth-century Roman ideas, hold the same views as the
pre-70 Judaism of Jesus’ and Paul’s day” (p. 69).

Christian Hebrew roots scholar, professor and theologian Marvin Wilson argues the same points in his 1989
book, Our Father Abraham—Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith. He writes, “A cursory look at the beginnings of
Christianity reveals a Church that was made up exclusively of Jews. Indeed, the Church was viewed as a sect within
Judaism, as the book of Acts makes clear in referring to early followers of Jesus as the ‘sect of the Nazarenes’ (Acts
24:5). They seemed to function easily within Judaism in that they were described as ‘enjoying the favor of all the
people’ (2:47)” (p. 47). Wilson then goes on to write that between 70 AD when the Roman army destroyed the
Temple in Jerusalem and 135 AD when the Second Jewish revolt against Roman occupation of their country occurred the first-century Messianic congregation began to leave its Jewish roots. Let’s take a quick look at the
time-line of events that led to the Christian church leaving its Hebrew roots as chronicled by Wilson (ibid. pp. 74ff).

Assuming as correct the Jewishness of the Book of Acts first-century Messianic Believers – that is, they
adhered to the commandments YHWH Elohim gave to Moses and the Israelites at Mt. Sinai including the seventh-
day Sabbath, the Holy Days, dietary laws and the rest of the Torah-law – it is only logical for us to ask the question:
who has veered from the original Hebraic, first century, Torah-observant foundation of their faith? Is it not the
Christian religion that has divorced itself from its Hebrew or Jewish roots? By dictionary definition, is not “tradi-
tional” or “normative” Christianity a cult? A tough question, to be sure, but using the dictionary’s definition of the
word cult (“religion that is considered or held to be false or unorthodox”) coupled with how Dr Walter Martin
defines the word cult in his cornerstone book on the subject (“A cult...is any religious group which differs significantly in some one or more respects as to belief or practice from those religious groups which are regarded as
the normative expression of religion in our total culture.”) truth-seekers can hardly come to any other conclusion than to apply, in love and respect, the moniker cult to the Christian church.

This is in no way to imply that born-again Believers within the Christian church are not saved, nor to imply
that all that the Christian church teaches is false. This author strongly affirms the basic message of the Gospel as
taught in the Christian church including the deity of Yeshua, the incarnation, the redemptive work he accomplished
at the cross, his death burial and resurrection, his second coming and salvation by grace through faith in Yeshua the
Messiah only. What we take exception with is areas within Christian theology which have strayed from the truth of
the Bible as taught and practiced by the first century Messianic Jewish Apostles.

If indeed Christianity has veered from its Hebrew roots and by its own definition has become a cult why
shouldn't we boldly proclaim the reality of this truth?...in love, humility, meekness and under the leading of the
Ruach HaKadosh (Holy Spirit), of course!! Why be afraid of the truth? It is the light of truth that exposes the dark-
ness and in the light of that truth will not some be set free as our Savior and Messiah declared in John 8:31-32?
So why do some Christians consider Messianism or the Hebrew Roots Movement to be cultic. Other than their
being ignorant of the definitions of the word cult and of the historical and spiritual Jewish roots of the Christian faith
we put forth the following reasons why Messianism could be considered a cultic movement:

—Messianism is different from traditional Christianity in some areas and can be viewed as strange or a
threat.
—Ignorance exists on the part of Christians labeling Messianism as a cult as to what a cult really is.
—Messianic Jews are not labeled as cultists. Why should Christians returning to the Hebraic roots of the
Christian faith be labeled as cultists?
—When Christians discover the Hebrew roots of their faith and suddenly find that many Christian traditions are pagan and non-biblical in origination (e.g., Christmas, Easter, Sunday observance) and that not
only is the Messianic Believer forsaking these Christian “sacred cows” or icons, but coupled with this the
Messianic Believer’s lifestyle is changing dramatically in response to their new belief system (Sabbath,
Feast Days, dietary laws, beards, tzitziot, etc.), the Christian could easily view the Messianic as a cultist
since this type of behavior is often typical of those joining cults. Returning to the truth of the Bible,
returning to obedience to the biblical prescriptions of holiness and righteousness is often misconstrued by
Christians as cultic activity (1 Pet. 4:1-4; Mt. 10:34-39). Messianics must be extremely careful how they
present their new beliefs to their Christian friends.

Now let us review some psychological, sociological and some additional theological characteristics of tightly
controlled religious groups which according. Martin can be defined as cults to see if any of these apply to your basic
Hebrew Roots or Messianic congregation or organization (ibid. p. 22-28):

—Cults change biblical/Christian terminologies and add their own meanings. This often involves the spiritual-
ization or allegorization of biblical texts or Christian doctrines to change their meanings. This is done
through skewed, improper or dishonest biblical exegesis.
—Concepts or terms such as the deity of Yeshua (Jesus), the virgin birth, sin, salvation (by grace and faith),
born again, atonement, the bodily resurrection of Yeshua, etc. take on a whole new meaning, though the
terms remain the same.
—Cults often found their beliefs on unsound theology and doctrinal interpretations and nebulous phrase
“interpretations” thinking that the power of Christianity is in terminology rather than in the personal
relationship of the individual with Yeshua and the truth of the Gospel message.
—Cultists lift Scripture passages out of context ignoring rules of biblical interpretation and logic and without
regard to the historical and linguistic context of the text and will wrest or twist their meanings (2 Pet.
3:16) to fit the peculiar doctrines unique to the cult.
Here are some other characteristics of cults worthy of note:
(a) All cults have a belief system or theology. That belief system may vary widely, little, or almost not all
from Bible truth.
(b) All cults have socio-psychological dimension. Most cults have a central authoritative figure who may
be dead or alive and who was/is typically the founder or chief spokesman of the cult. This individual, in
essence, becomes YHWH’s vicar on earth, or like the pope in the Catholic Church, YHWH’s chief or
main revelator of divine truth. Examples of such a leader would include well-known religious figures as
Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, Charles Taze Russel, Rev. Sun Moon, Ellen G. White or L. Ron
Hubbard. Typically, the word of the leader within the cult is considered to be God’s word and law on
earth. Any individual or religion who counters the word of the leader is demonic, deceived or flat-out wrong.

(c) An authoritarian administrative structure is often in place to keep cultists “in line” with the “party
line” . Cultists are expected to follow the teachings of the cult organization. Little or no contrary opinion
is tolerated. Those who have differing opinions are reprimanded and expected to reorient beliefs with the
party line. Those who refuse to are typically punished by excommunication and shunning.

(d) Spiritual salvation is deemed to exist only for cult-members who are in good standing in the organization. Great pressure is brought to bear socially and authoritatively upon those who question cult leader-
ship and theological beliefs.

(e) In cults leaders will often micro-manage the lives of cultists: how much to tithe, how to dress, where
to live, what eat, who to marry, what to read, who to associate with, who to talk to and what to say.

(f) The belief systems of cults are characterized by close-mindedness and bigotry.

(g) Cultic belief systems are characterized by genuine antagonism against those with dissimilar beliefs.

(h) Acceptance and love within a cult is usually conditional. Those who believe as the cultist believes are
loved and helped, while those with differing beliefs and who are outside the cult are not helped or loved.

(i) Often those in cults are discouraged from reading the materials or attending the meeting of those with
opposing viewpoints or beliefs.

(j) Cultists often express outward hostility to those who oppose their beliefs. Instead of agreeing to
disagree in love, there will be rejection. Cultists have a hard time tolerating doctrinal variations within the
group. Those with opposing viewpoints, even on minor issues, are regarded as a threat and must be
exposed and expunged from the group. Cultist groups will find it hard to coexist in love with others in a
community where there are divergent beliefs.

(k) Cultists typically engage in blind prejudice or bigotry and outright intolerance toward others of
opposing viewpoints.

(k) Cultic groups are known for exclusivism, isolationism which at times can be extreme.

This author challenges the reader of this paper who may be predisposed to broad-brush the Hebrew Roots
Movement as cultic to prove his point on the basis of what Christian leaders define as a cult. While, no doubt, there
are Messianic groups that may have cultic tendencies characterized by authoritarianism, legalism, control,
exclusivism, aberrant theology, fear and so on, it would be dishonest and illogical to characterize the whole Hebrew
Roots Movement on this basis any more than to characterize the Christian church in terms of those cultic-type
groups within its ranks.

Furthermore, in our earlier characterization of Christianity as a cult we were doing so on the basis of the
dictionary’s strict definition of the word cult and not on the basis of the sociological and psychological paradigm of a
cult as listed above and as defined by Christian leaders such as Walter Martin. We generally agree with their definition of the word cult and equally share their concerns about the rise of cultism anywhere it may appear. Furthermore,
it behooves leaders in the Hebrew Roots Movement to thoroughly understand what cultism is, as defined by leaders
like Martin, to ensure that they do not allow its insidious tentacles to grab hold within their own congregation or
organization.

The only point where we would disagree with Martin and others with regard to the subject of cultism would be,
as noted earlier, their application of the term “the historic Christian faith” or “normative Christianity.” We simply
believe, and can prove our point from Scripture and the historical writings of the ante-Nicene (pre- A.D. 323-325)
Church fathers, that the early Christian church did indeed divorce itself from its Hebrew or Jewish roots – a track it
has stayed on to this day – and that the original “historic Christian faith” is not necessarily what originated out of the
Council of Nicea (A.D. 323-325) nor from the highly anti-semitic Catholic Church (from which most of Protestant
theology derives), but that which originated from the writings of the Apostles in first century.
It is this historic and original faith to which those in the Hebrew Roots Movement are returning.
Labeling such activity as cultism shows bigotry, naivete and ignorance on the part of such accusers and does
not serve to advance the cause of the truth of the Bible in the least. Such attacks are akin to the treatment of Martin
Luther and the other Protestant reformers of nearly 500 years ago at the hands of the Catholic Church which was
then the organization which defined what was “normative Christianity” and what was “the historic Christian faith.”

The papal persecution of the reformers ignored the fundamental biblical truths (sola Scriptura [the Word of God only
as opposed to anti-biblical Catholic traditions] and salvation by grace and faith alone [as opposed to works]) the
reformers were putting forth, truths which we today take for granted, but for which many reformers were martyred.
Let us not repeat the mistakes of the past!

By Ya’acov N’tan Lawrence of Hoshana Rabbah Messianic Congregation
PHONE: (503) 570-3376 • EMAIL: hoshanarabbah@earthlink.net
WEBSITE: http://home.earthlink.net/~hoshanarabbah/

The Tallit in the 2nd Testament

2009-04-11T16:44:00.002-06:00

The Tallit in the 2nd Testament
Introduction

Since I’ve come to believe and invest my life in Yahshua the Messiah, the promised One of Israel, I have progressively been concerned with the Gentile Churches lack of understanding, missed opportunities, and poverty of knowledge because of their reluctance to examine Jewish concepts extant at the time of Yahshua's visitation.
It is the duty of all believer’s to seek competent, full, and as complete knowledge of G-d as each is individually capable of acquiring, however we cannot obtain such a lofty goal unless we study and rightly divide the Word of G-d. To do this we must go to the source, G-d’s Torah, in order to fully comprehend Yahshua, His work, the early assemblies agenda, and all through a Jewish perspective.
For that reason it is my desire to encourage each believer to invest time and energy in an in depth investigation of Scripture. Excitement about the Scriptures and the study of foundational Jewish concepts needs to be encouraged if every believer's life is to become enriched through expanded knowledge. But more than that, each believer needs to be fully aware of our Lord Yahshua's Jewish roots.
Think of the impact a thoroughly armed army in G-d’s Word would make if we but thirsted after the knowledge of G-d as exhibited by the early Believer's with its Jewish constituency. Instead of detective or romance novels we would read the Bible constantly applying it teachings to our lives. Let us put down all the Christian self-help books as well and absorb the whole Bible. Deliverance comes from our mind-set being changed not in self-help techniques.
Judaism and the Jewish roots of Christianity have been neglected until this time. More and more we observe that as more Jews become converted new facets of the Holy Writ is opening up other avenues of inquiry for Christians, and as a by-product to unbelieving Jews as well. The Christian Church has become complacent, predictable, and believers need a challenge to inspire, to become excited about their faith again. I see Jewish concepts underlying the Messianic Scriptures (Second Testament) as part of that excitement, and as a way to a better understanding of our Lord Yahshua HaMashiach. Furthermore, I don’t believe we can have a complete understanding of the Old or New Testament without understanding the subtleties of Judaism. Knowledge of Judaism also demonstrates the continuity of the testaments as well. Having sincerely declared this I prayerfully undertake to present one concept found in both the Old and New Testament to illustrate my point. Open your mind and accompany me on a wonderful journey into fuller knowledge of the Scriptures and a better understanding of Yahshua's daily life as a practicing observant Jew. You be the judge as to whether enrichment and a fuller understanding and love of our Messiah don't result.

Heenay Ayl Yshuatee evtach velo efchad,
(Behold, G-d is my Salvation)

To build a foundation let me start with what the Bible teaches about Israel: Israel is the wife of God and "Christians" who are true Believers better defined as the Ecclesia (Called Out Ones-Jew, Ephraim or Gentiles) are the Bride of Christ. Logically, we know that you can’t be a wife and bride at the same time. The moment you become a wife you are no longer a bride. We also know a wife is subject to more responsibilities, duties, and discipline than a bride. The bride enjoys a period of grace before entering into and accepting the responsibilities of marriage. The Christian "Church" regards themselves as the bride of Christ who according to this description are betrothed, but not yet married, the marriage supper has not taken place and want take place until the tribulation period, which we know is (7) years. A Jewish wedding takes (7) days see the correlation. To my way of thinking it would be advantageous for Christians to understand and learn from the mother/wife, their Jewish roots. The same way we all learn from our natural mother who is mature and experienced. After all, isn’t it customary for the bride to learn from the mother regarding her duties and responsibilities in marriage? Her counsel for the bride is invaluable, and if Christians are too truly understand G-d, they must examine earnestly what He has decreed for His wife Israel as to her responsibilities and duties toward Him through the Torah the Ketubah, the wedding contract.
All scripture is given for correction and reproof, and G-d’s instruction to His wife Israel transcends time. Given for all eternity and we would do well to listen. Being fully cognizance of that fact my goal is simply to instill in the listener the importance of the Hebrew bible and Judaism to the New Testament. If it’s in the new, and is to be valid, it has to be in the old. In many cases a clear understanding of the new cannot be had without a complete understanding of the old, and the heritage connected with it through Judaism.
I’m constantly amazed at how many Christians do not even think of Yahshua as Jewish or for that matter the Apostles, the early "Church" or the writers of the New Testament. Jewish roots have been obscured over time by neglect or intention. The Old Testament is ignored and understanding is sacrificed because of it. There is evidence today that even Luke, the so-called token Gentile may have been Jewish. In fact, he had to be for the Oracles of God were given to the Jews. Some how Yahshua has lost His Jewish identity, when in fact he was and is the “ Super-Jew.” The Old Testament is ignored and understanding and loss of opportunity is sacrificed because of it. This is not some sort of cultural pride or identity, for without knowing the basis of a belief no one can come to a full knowledge or defend that belief.

Yahshua and The Tallit

Our journey has brought us into the time of Yahshua or as he would more commonly have been called Yehu. (I prefer the name of our Lord as Yahshua because the name Jesus is translated from “Iesous” and “Iesus” which come from the Greek healing goddess “Ieso.” “IHS” is the abbreviated form and is the mystery surname of Bacchus: also known as Tammuz and Ichtus the Fish. All these variants of the same name are “son of Zeus.”) [1] True believers and those professing belief already know that Yahshua responded to, and fulfilled all of G-d’s commandments found in the Old Testament. In the New He even expanded on them by making spiritual applications that would be even harder to observe if possible. Except for the help of the Ruach (HS). So, we ask, what relevance does that have to us today? Why is important to understand the Jewishness behind the scripture?”
To answer this question we are going to examine only one Judaic concept: the TALLIT, or TALLIS of which the TZITZIT is an integral part, and is what is known to English speaking persons as the prayer shawl.
To proceed with our study a brief description of the tzitzit and tallit is in order. The tzitzit are ritual fringes that are attached to any four-cornered garment worn by a male and scripturally is not denied to females. During prayer services, the tzitzit are affixed to a large prayer shawl and is known as a tallit. The fringes themselves are attached to two different kinds of garments. During the day, OT Jews wore them as an outer garment called a Tallit katan and modern Jews wear under their shirt a garment called arba kanfot (four corners). This garment is placed over the head like a poncho. At religious services the tallit is used.[2] The law concerning the ritual fringes known as tzitzit is one of relatively few biblical laws for which the Torah offers a reason: “ And you shall see (the fringes at the corner of the garment) and remember all the commandments of the Lord and observe them” (Numbers 15.39) [3] Yahshua wore one of these every day of His life. And every day of His life he donned Telfillin, [4] and prayed toward the direction of Jerusalem three times, morning, noon, and dusk. I believe even the early believer's assemblies wore the Tallit because it would certainly have been the custom since the early assemblies were predominantly Jewish, which prevailed until after 100 AD.
How can we be sure that Yahshua wore the Tallit daily? Because He was an observant Jew, perfect in the law. No other proof is necessary. Since the Law was given on Sinai observant Jews have worn Tallit every waking moment, for at least 3000 years. I cannot but believe Yahshua wore and used a Tallit to pray in the synagogue, as was the custom then and now. Furthermore, I believe He will be wearing a Tallit when He comes at His second appearing and we will examine scripture to support this later on.
Some scholars have also suggested that when the scriptures identify Paul as a “tent-maker,” they were actually referring to his being a Tallit maker. A tallit being likened to a tent. I am also inclined to believe this because Paul had been an observant Jew, dedicated, highly educated, and the scriptures infers he continued being observant when it did not pose a stumbling block to his gentile converts. However, I have been unable to conclusively prove this by any concrete evidence. The Greek texts do not seem to have a proper word for Tallit and the Greek word denoting tentmaker[5] when addressed to believers may have been something understood in that day as representing the Tallit, but is lost to us now. We also have to think who were his customers, the early believers. Primarily urbane and to my thinking without the need of a tent, but very much in need of a Tallit for the Hebrew congregations.

Why is this Garment Special?

Why is this garment special? The purpose, beauty and holiness surrounding this garment have been lost to most followers of Yahshua and many wonderful truths have been lost in the process. To rediscover these truths we first need to explore the scriptural basis for the Tallit and the spiritual significance found in it.
We must start with God’s commandments to begin discovering the origin of the Tallit, to wear Tsitsiot, (fringes or tassels) which literally means “great things.” First, there are two passages that command us to wear fringes or tassels. In Numbers 15:37-40. we read:
37 The LORD said to Moses,
38 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel.
39 You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes.
40 Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God.[6]
Secondly we also read in Deut. 22:11-12
11 Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.
12 Make tassels ( g’dilium) on the four corners of the cloak you wear. (New Int’l Version)

These two commandments together command G-d’s people to remind themselves of His commandments and keep holy by placing a fringe or tassel on each corner of their garments, especially to place a blue thread with each fringe, an especially to place them on a four-cornered cloak or covering. Apparently, G-d did not feel compelled to reveal the complete truth to the Hebrews regarding the tzizitot as we shall see. That’s why it's so important to have a complete understanding of the OT and the NT.
We also understand by the text that when the tzitziot is combined with the blue thread as commanded in Numbers 15:38 and joined to the four cornered cloak they become “tassels of greatness” or G’dilim (Deut. 22:12). This four-corned cloak, which bears the special tassels, is the garment that has come to be called the Tallit. Note however, a garment is not a Tallit without the special tassels connected to the corners.
We’ve already discussed that wearing of the tallit with tiztzitot was the usual practice in Yahshua's time and with this in mind it is easily seen how Yahshua an observant Jew daily put on telfilin and prayed as he placed the Tallit on His head (going into His closet). He was careful not to cover the telfelin, which had seven wrappings up the left arm on the side of the heart and two wrappings on the fingers to signify the (7) days of creation and the individual's marriage to G-d. This is a picture of the Messiah that few Christians contemplate, but nonetheless one that is extremely relevant if we are to clearly see a pure portrait of our Lord. And without examining their Jewish roots they may never see this portrait until the millennium.
We also should be aware that in the command for Tallit found in Deuteronomy 22:11, is that it is to be a “cloak (k’sut) that covers (k’sut) you. A picture of the Holy Spirit, it also identifies the mantels referred to in the prophets as Tallit.
Now let’s look at some of the scriptures in the New Testament[7] that relate to the Tallit. In Matthew 23: 5 Yahshua mentions the Tzitzit concerning a moral matter.

Mat. 23:5 "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;
Yahshua was speaking about the wrong reasons hypocrites wore Tefillin (which is translated Phylacteries here) and Tzitzit or as translated tassels on the four corners of the Tallit which men wore.
The very mention of the Tzitzit by Yahshua confirms the common use in His day. As I said, Yahshua Himself wore the Tallit simply because he was obedient to every commandment of the Torah or Law and without sin. And we read in 1 John 3:4-5 that sin is the transgression of the Law.

And …Is There Biblical Evidence Confirming the Tallit for New Testament Believers?

Last week after one of the songs we sung employing the words arise to my wings it prompted me to bring this message about the Tallit and how it is considered a Holy Garment in Judaism.
In Matthew 23:5 we see Yahshua warned about wearing the Tallit as a source of pride. He says:

“But all their works they do to be seen of men: they enlarge the borders (Kaspedon) of their garments (Himation).” Kraspedon is the Greek word for Tzitzit and himation is the Greek for a cloak or covering, in other words a Tallit. Contrary to criticizing the use of Tzitzit or Tallit, Yahshua spoke out to guard the holy use of these things. He was speaking against people trying to look holy while their motives were unholy. They had no moral integrity with their outward obedience. It must not be a thing of selfish pride.
In Matthew 9:20 we read where the woman with the issue of blood touched the “hem of His garment” and was healed. Hem here is the Greek word Kraspedon and garment is himation. The woman literally touched the Tzitzit of his Tallit. Yahshua asked, “Who touched me?” (Luke 8:44) She touched no part of his body which would have been against Jewish custom, no Rabbi may be touched by a woman, so Yahshua must have been considering the Tzitzit as Himself.
This episode of healing by touching the Tzitzit of the Tallit is the only one recorded in detail, but it is not the only occurrence. In Mark 6:56 we read: “And whenever He entered into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought Him that they might touch only the Tzitzit of His Tallit: and as many as touched Him were made whole.” Once again they touched Him when they touched the Tzitzit. Yahshua never rebuked anyone for touching His Tzitzit.
In Mark 5:35-43 we read: Then Yahshua “took the child by the hand, and said to her, “Tallita kumi.” The text says this Hebrew phrase is to be interpreted, “Damsel, I say to you arise.” It seems this interpreting phrase may have been added to the gospel at a later time in an attempt to interpret “Tallita kumi.” The reason for believing this is that Tallita is not Hebrew for damsel or young girl. A more accurate translation of Tallita kumi is “ Arise to my Tallit or Arise even as my Tallit. A dramatic picture of Yahshua lifting her up with one hand and raising his Tallit heavenward with the other which is a customary way of prayer.
What about the seamless garment Yahshua wore that the Romans cast lots for. Could this have been the Tallit? The tali kata? [8]
A rather obscure commandment given in two places is important in making the Tallit. “You shall keep my statutes...a garment of mingled linen and wool shall not come upon you” (Lev. 19:19) and you shall not wear a garment of different kinds, as both wool and linen.”(Deu. 22:11) A TALLIT being a holy garment had to be made of one kind of cloth. This made the Tallit a seamless garment because no two different kinds of materials are sewn together. By making a Tallit of one cloth without seams, no accidental mixing of materials can be made. This symbolizes the unity of G-d. Yahshua’s Tallit was seamless. A priestly garment, as HE is our High priest. The Tallit also points to Yahshua as the Lamb of G-d. One word for lamb is Hebrew is Taleh, from which Tallit derives. Yahshua as the Lamb is like the perfect unmingled woolen Tallit. The Spotless Lamb through His death covered and does cover our sins.
In Malichi 4:2 we read: 2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun (meaning brilliance) of righteousness arise with healing in his wings;....“The Righteous Morning Star” (Yahshua) will cause you who fear My Name to arise through healing found in the corners of His Tallit.” Hebrew for wings is kanfort, which means corners. Corners of the Tallit
There are many more illustrations in the Tanakh and Messianic Scriptures. In Rev. 19:11-16 in the King James we read and as I have said before it is why I believe Yahshua will be wearing a Tallit when he comes at His second coming:
11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.
12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.
13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of G-d.
14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of G-d Almighty.
16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Himation (vesture), used two times in this passage, is the Greek word, which refers to the Hebrew Tallit. He is clothed with this vesture. Clothed here is the Greek word periballo, meaning cast or thrown about, like a shawl is worn which is how a Tallit is put on. A Tallit also rests upon the thighs and there is writing upon it.
Today it is traditional for Tallit to have stripes on each end. The stripes are usually blue and this is associated with the blue strand of the Tzitzit. Black is for mourning for the temple. The number and meaning of the stripes may vary but to believers the stripes symbolize that we are healed by the Messiah’s stripes.
One last application we see in the Messianic Scriptures (New Testament) is the spirit of G-d descending on Yahshua as a Dove. Doves have wings or kanfort as does a TALLIT. The dove descended upon him as a Tallit on His shoulders. This began Yahshua's ministry.

Shalom v’ Brachas

[1] A Study in Ancient Religion, Odedipus Aegypticus, et al.)
[2] Jewish Literacy, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1988, Pg. 659
[3] “How does the mere act of looking upon tzitzit serve to remind one of God’s commandments? I suggest that it’s like a uniform worn by soldiers in the army. When wearing a uniform, one is especially mindful to whom one owes one’s allegiance” ( To Pray as a Jew, pg. 155, Rabbi hayim Donin)
[4] Tefillin are two small black boxes with black straps attached to them: Jewish men are required to place one box on their head and tie the other one on their arm three times a day. Tefillin are biblical in origin, and are commanded within the context of several laws outlining Jew”s relationship to God. “ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let serve as a frontlet between your eyes” (Deu. 6:5-8)
[5] Strong’s Concordance: 4635. skenopoios, skay-nop-oy-os'; from G4633 and G4160; a manufacturer of tents:--tentmaker.
[6] New International Version
[7]Interestingly enought the B’rit Chadashah or New Testament isues no prohibitions or any instructions against the use of the Tzitzit, G’dilim, or Tallit.

[8] Little prayershawl , made much lighter and smaller to be worn with the Tzitzit exposed

The Tallit (Prayer Shawl)

2009-04-11T16:28:00.002-06:00

The tallit is a prayer shawl, worn by Jewish men as a covering during prayer. The
fringes, or "tzitziyot" on the four corners of the tallit are required dress for Jewish
men according to Numbers 15:37-41. They remind each Jewish man of his
responsibility to fulfill God's commandments. "You will have these tassels to look at
and so will remember all the commands of the Lord... "

These tzitziyot are tied into 613 knots to constantly remind the wearer of the 613
laws of Moses, of which there are 248 prohibitions and 365 affirmations. Historically,
these tassels also came to be associated with a person in authority.

For example:
• In the caves of En Gedi, David cut off the fringe of King Saul's garment taking
his authority. He then gave it back to Saul in humility (1 Samuel 24).

• Ruth said to Boaz, "Spread the corner of your garment over me since you are a
kinsman-redeemer," indicating she was placing herself under his authority.
(Ruth 3)

• In Matthew 9:20, Mark 5:25, Luke 8:43 the hemorrhaging woman, touches
"the hem" of Yeshua's garment and is completely healed. She had a revelation
that Yeshua was the Messiah. and knew she just needed to touch the tzitziyot,
of the Sun of Righteousness. As it was the will and desire of Messiah to heal
this woman who pushed through the crowd, so He desires all of us who fear His
Name to touch and take hold of His tzitziyot, (This represents the Covenant
we have through the Blood of Yeshua) and to push through our illnesses, our
past hurts, our sins, our fears, our doubt, our unbelief, our worldly even
scientific teachings, the lies from the enemy, etc., and stand on His Word and
His Promises, resisting all the lies, and receive salvation, healing, deliverance,
peace, wholeness, protection, mercy and all the blessings and fullness that He
has for us. Jesus said ''Your faith has made you whole". (Matthew 9:22,
Hebrews 11 :1) It was not her faith in his healing powers that healed her, by the very act of touching His tzitziyot she was putting her faith in Yeshua as the MESSIAH of ISRAEL. (Read the article on the tzit-tzit of G-d I posted.

• Later, in Mark 6:53-56, we see others who had heard of this miracle coming
from all over Galilee and "they begged Him to let them touch even the hem of
His garment, and all who touched Him were healed." The hem of His garment
refers to the tzitziyot (tassels) on His tallit (prayer shawl). This is not just a hem on a robe as so many believe! By touching his tzitziyot the people were putting their faith in the MESSIAH of Yisrael. This is what is meant by this act!

In making the tzitziyot (tassels) there is a precise way to do the windings between
the knots. The first 3 windings signify the numerical equivalent of the Hebrew letters
of THE HOLY UNSPEAKABLENAME, YHVH. The 4th winding signifies the numerical
equivalent of Echad (One) in Hebrew. (The Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4) The total number
of windings is 39. The 39 stripes are equal to the 39 diseases of which all illnesses
are rooted from.

Yahweh’s Tallit and the Two Houses

2009-04-11T16:08:00.001-06:00

Yahweh’s Tallit and the Two Houses
By Rabbi Edward "Levi" Nydle B’nai Avraham Messianic Congregation

Speak to the children (b’nai) of Yisrael, and you shall say to them to make tzittziot on the corners (kanaf) of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue (tekelet) cord (patiyl) in the tzittzit of the corners." Bemidbar (Numbers) 15:38 The Scriptures
Make tassels (gedalim) on the FOUR CORNERS (kanaf) of the garment with which you cover yourself." Devarim (Deut.) 22:12 The Scriptures
Covering Yourself (YAHWEH) with light as with a garment…" Tehillim (Psalm) 104:2a
This article is not intended to be an in-depth article on the tallit (prayer shawl) and the halakah concerning it. With Yahweh’s help, I pray it will be a fresh revelation of how it relates to the Two houses of Yisrael and the prophetic regathering from the nations to which they have scattered.
Yahweh Wears a Tallit
Our sages teach that from Dani’el 7:9 and Tehillim 104:2 that Yahweh wears a tallit. In the Talmud in Rosh Hashanah 17b it says, Rabbi Yochanan said," If it were not written it would be impossible to say. But we are taught that [Yahweh] wrapped Himself [in a tallit] like a prayer leader and showed Moses the order of prayer..". By teaching this truth from Tehillim 104:2, they (the sages) are revealing to us a deep truth concerning Yahweh’s relationship to Yisrael. Let us look at another Scripture that clarifies this truth of Yahweh’s tallit.

Yechezqel 1:1-14: We need to look at two words in verse 4: BRIGHTNESS #5051 NOGAH and GLOWING METAL #2830 CHASHMAL. Note that this was a vision of Yahweh and His throne in heaven .The first thing the prophet sees is a " a great cloud with fire (eish) flashing itself". The sages teach that this represents the forces of evil that Yahweh allows to exist to bring about His will on the earth. The prophet Yechezqel had to first break through these forces to see the throne of YAH!
The next thing the prophet sees in this vision is a "brightness" or a "glowing light", nogah in Hebrew.The sages say this alludes to the element of Yahweh’s providence that sustains evil. It is a glimmering light like an afterglow after the sun has set. Some call this the klipat nogah, or glowing husks.
Yechezqel sees the "glowing metal" or the "likes of bronze", chashmal in Hebrew.This word is literally untranslatable into English. Chashmal means ‘electrum, brilliant WHITENESS with colors of fire, spectrum of colors; red, yellow, blue, etc." This represents the barrier that stands between good and evil, or a type of "force field’ in modern terms. In Revelation it is called a "rainbow".
The last things the prophet then sees are the four living creatures before Yahweh’s throne, the Chayot. The sages call them the tzittzit of Yahweh’s tallit, but more on the Four later in the teaching.
We know in Scriptural interpretation that we are dealing with the idea of anthropomorphism here concerning Yahweh and Him wearing a tallit. The function of clothing to create a barrier against passion and evil. A garment therefore functions as a protection from evil (remember the command of tzittzit was so our eyes would not look upon other things and lust after them). A garment also functions to protect us from the elements-to keep us warm and dry, etc. So, we can say that Yahweh’s tallit is the element of His providence that protects us from evil. Therefore the sages teach us that Yahweh’s garment protects us and is equal to the chashmal (brilliant light) around Yahweh (it stood between Him and the forces of evil and the nogah). Also, the gemetria or numerical value of CHASHMAL (378) is equal to the gemetria of MALBUSH or garment (378).
The Tallit is equal to the Torah
Now, we know the Torah contains 248 do’s and 365 don’ts for a total of 613 commandments. The commandments of Torah serve to protect us from sin and evil or a BARRIER between us and the Evil One. The gemetria of tzittzit is 600. When we add the five knots and eight strings we have 13. Then we add 600+ 13= 613! By using the method of interpretation (sod) we conclude that the tzittzit is equal to the Torah! This is why the sages say," He who keeps the commandments grabs the Divine presence. This is the meaning of Tzittzit.." Zohar 1:23b.They also teach that, "The command of tzittzit is equal to all the commandments." The command of the tzittzit then alludes to Yahweh’s tallit, which in turn, represents the whole Torah, that stand as a barrier against sin and evil, or the chashmal in Hebrew!
There is a Midrash that tells us the first time Yahweh appeared wearing His tallit was to Moshe, when He gave him the commandment concerning the calendar. When He started teaching Moshe the calendar, He showed Moshe His tallit that alludes to them all (the commands). Mishle (Proverbs) 6:23 says, "A commandment is a LAMP, and the Torah is LIGHT." We can therefore see that Yahweh wraps Himself in the Torah (light or chashmal) as a garment! You should now begin to understand the meaning behind all the priesthood garments Yahweh gave to Yisrael in Shemot! They are the armor (protection) that Yahweh gave His priests against sin and evil and are equal to the light He wraps Himself in –the Torah (you need to hear the tape set of "The Whole Armor of Yahweh" based on Ephesians chapter six).
We see then that Yahweh wears a "tallit" or a garment, that he in turn gave to Yisrael to wear to protect them from sin and evil. Remember that He told Moshe to make EVERYTHING AFTER THE PATTERN SEEN IN HEAVEN! When we put on the tallit, we are putting on the Torah and the chashmal that Yechezqel saw around Yahweh Himself!
The Four Corners (kanaf) and the Living Creatures (Chayot)
Scripture tells us that the tallit is to have four corners on it, so we know it has to be a square or rectangular piece of cloth (wool or linen) with the tzittzit attached to the four corners (with a cord of blue in them). The tzittzit are to be tied in a chainlike (gedalim) manner consisting of knots and windings. The pattern is NOT given in the Torah but comes from rabbinical tradition. There are several ways of tying the tzittzit (Ashkanazi, Sephardic, and Karaite). The important thing is that they are tied with knots like a "chain" and have a cord or ribbon of blue (techlet) in them. But, the traditional way of tying them does teach us many truths concerning the Name of Yahweh and the Torah. For example the 39 windings teach us "Yahweh Echad" through the gemetria of Yahweh=26 Echad=13 /26+13=39! The first three groups of windings (7+8+11=26) give us the gemetria of YAHWEH! The last group of 13 windings is equal to ECHAD. ECHAD is the ALEF – CHET- DALET.Alef=1 the tallit, the Chet=8 the eight strings (four doubled) and the Dalet=4 alluding to the FOUR CORNERS of the tallit! The 4 tzittzit have 8 strings or a total of 32.The number 32 is written in Hebrew as LV or LEV=heart in English!
We know want to examine the final part of Yechezqel"s vision of Yahweh and His "Garment" by looking at the four Chayot, or living creatures! This is where we begin to see the truth of the tallit and the Two House of Yisrael!

In Yechezqel 1:5-28 tells of this vision of the Chayot. Let us look at them in detail.

The were FOUR living creatures

They had the likeness of man or human shape

FOUR FACES

FOUR WINGS or KANAF (corners)

One face of a MAN (South)

One face of a LION (East) right

One face of a OX (West) left

One face of an EAGLE (North)

Two wings (corners up) and two down (corners down)
As we look at these "creatures’ we can see a picture of the encampment around the TABERNACLE (Dwelling Place) of Yahweh found in Bemidbar 2! Around the tabernacle (or Dwelling Place) or we can say "throne" of Yahweh, we have the following:

Yahudah/Judah the LION on the EAST side of the Tabernacle

Ephrayim/Ephraim the OX on the WEST side of the tabernacle

Reuven/Reuben the MAN on the SOUTH side of the tabernacle

Dan the EAGLE on the NORTH side of the tabernacle
So the four CHAYOT standing at the Four Corners of the CHASHMAL or Yahweh’s tallit are symbolic of the 12 tribes of Yisrael encamped around the Tabernacle of Yahweh! The four corners of the tallit therefore are representations of the Four Corners of the encampment of the WHOLE House of Yisrael! When we put on the tallit we are putting on our identity as Yisrael and declaring the reuniting of the Two Houses into ONE Nation again (the tallit being ONE garment)! EVERYTHING ACCORDING TO PATTERN! The Chayot had the appearance or likeness of MEN! This is Yisrael!
Not only this but the Chayot are symbolic of Yahshua the Moshiach of KOL Yisrael! The FOUR glad-tidings follow this pattern, also: Mattithyahu –the LION or KING, Mark-the OX or Yahshua the SERVANT, Luke-the MAN or Yahshua the MAN from Natsaret- and Yochanan the EAGLE or Yahshua the SON of YAH! Therefore, when we put on the tallit, we are clothing ourselves with YAHSHUA!
It is traditional when we recite the SHEMA that we LIFT UP TWO corners (or wings) of the tallit to cover our eyes or face, and let the other corners (wings) hang down. After we finish saying "ECHAD-ONE" we drop the corners to SEE the 13 attributes found in Shemot 3:46 and Mikah 7:18-20(the last winding is 13 the value of ECHAD) of Yahweh in a fresh revelation! We can only declare as the Chayot-"Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh"! You need to read Revelation 4:6-11 and you will see the Chayot there representing ALL Yisrael saying the very same thing around the throne of Yahweh.
The four corners also represent the four corners of the earth from which Yahweh will gather ALL the House of Yisrael –Yeshayahu 11:12;Yermiyahu 49:36.The word for the four corners in these verses is KANAF or WING, the very same word used for the CORNERS OF THE GARMENT/TALLIT! So, the tallit is a declaration to the world that Yahweh will fulfill His Word to Yisrael and gather them from the FOUR CORNERS where they were scattered! When we put on the tallit we are declaring we believe in Yechezqel 37!
We also can see that the tallit is a symbol of the Tabernacle (Mishkan) with the Tribes of Yisrael on the Four Corners!
The Tallit and Acts Chapter 10 (the vision of Kepha)
To end this teaching, I want to look quickly at the vision of Kepha in Acts 10 concerning the so-called Gentiles coming into the congregations of Messianic Yisrael. First, you must understand that this vision has NOTHING to do with Kashrut or clean foods. It is a symbolic vision concerning MEN (see verses 34-35) being accepted by Yahweh. With that understanding let us look at a few words.
In Acts 10:11- the word SHEET #3607 –othone in Greek meaning "a sail, CLOTH, a LINEN CLOTH.
And "being BOUND [#1210 –deo meaning "to bind, knitted, or WIND, to TIE"] at the FOUR CORNERS..". I am convinced that what Kepha saw in this vision is a tallit (Yahweh’s?) being lowered down to the earth by its tzittzit on the corners. The tzittzit represent the bond between Yahweh and man (the Torah), and hang down from Yahweh’s tallit. The tzittzit have 5 knots that are symbolic of the Torah.These knots bind the tzittzit to the tallit, just as Torah binds man to Yahweh. The eight strings are symbolic of "new beginnings" and can also be symbolic of the covenant of circumcision which is done on the eighth day! So, the eight strings bind us to Yahweh through the covenant of Brit Milah. The four corners here represent the Four Corners of the EARTH and ALL the HOUSE of YISRAEL!
What do we have? We have a tallit being lowered from heaven by the tzittzit filled with common and unclean animals. We are told there were ALL KINDS of creatures in then tallit (the tabernacle). These represent the ones in the "nations" or the goyim, whom the Yahudim thought to be common [#2839/4862 profane, ceremonial unclean, defiled, unholy] and unclean [#169 impure, demonic, foul, unclean or not cleansed]. What then is Yahweh saying to Kepha in this vision?
Yahweh is telling Kepha that the common and unclean animals represent the Ephraimites (the House of Yisrael or the ten lost tribes). They are in the "House of Yahweh" or the Tabernacle.Yahweh is about to cleanse them through believe in Moshiach Yahshua and they will be bound to him by the covenant of Avraham (circumcision), Moshe (Torah), and the Renewed Covenant through the blood of Yahshua, that will cleanse the "common" and "unclean" GOYIM [Ephraimites]. It is a NEW BEGINNING- He is beginning to GATHER THE 12 TRIBES OF YISRAEL FROM THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE EARTH AND BRING THEM INTO ONE NATION THROUGH YAHSHUA THE MESSIAH OF KOL YISRAEL! Otherwise-Yechezqel 37 is beginning to be fulfilled!
Kepha then exclaims in verse 35," but in EVERY NATION, he who fears Yahweh (a Hebrew idiom for he who loves Yahweh and obeys Him), and works righteousness (meaning Torah observance) is accepted by Him." You see Cornelius was not just a "Gentile". He is called a DEVOUT [#2152 pious, from #2095 and #4576 to do right or well, and reverent, worship, devout] man who gave ALMS [#1654 in Greek meaning TZEDAQAH or righteousness in English.To the Hebrew mind it means Torah observance!] I believe that Cornelius was an Ephraimite! Yahweh was opening the door of His House (the Mikrah of Yisrael) for him to reenter! Yisrael was coming home!
SUMMARY
A NEW BEGINNING-the eight strings of the tzittzit! A return to Torah –the 5 knots! A return to Shabbat-the 7 windings! The 13 windings –THE WHOLE HOUSE OF YISRAEL (Mannashah and Ephrayim together as Yosef). All this held together by the BLUE SHAMASH (SERVANT) YAHSHUA THE MESSIAH! And all Yisrael gathered from the Four corners (the KANAF). The tzittzit equal 600 in gemetria. If we add the 13 Principals of Faith or the 13 Attributes of Yahweh, we have 613. When we put on the tallit –we put on Torah! We also are reminded of Yahweh’s Name and His ONENESS.So, we are placing His Name upon us as Yisrael every time we put on a tallit. We remember also that Yisrael is ONE-Echad in the Master Yahshua’s (the Servant) hand! And, as the sages have taught, when we grab the tzittzit-we are grabbing the presence of Yahweh.
Thus said Yahweh of hosts, "In those days [the latter-days] TEN [representing the 10 lost tribes] men from ALL LANGUAGES of the NATIONS take hold, yea, they shall take hold of the edge (KANAF) of the garment [tallit] of a man, a Yehudite, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that Yahweh (Elohim) is with you." Zekaryah 8:23
Here Yahweh has Zekaryah prophesy that the 10 Lost Tribes (Ephraim) from the nations will take hold of the tzittzit of a Yahudim (Yahshua/Yahweh) or Yahweh’s tallit and return to their heritage of worship as Yisrael! Hallelu-YAH!
What a wonderful symbolic picture and remembrance Yahweh has given us in the tallit! Hear O Yisrael-wear them!
May Yahweh bless your understanding of this teaching! Rabbi Edward "Levi" Nydle

The Training of Joseph

2009-02-13T16:02:00.000-07:00

Are some of you discouraged? Does it seem like you are not accomplishing anything, and the Lord, Yahweh has forgotten you and His promises?

When the patriarch Joseph was a young man of 17, he received prophetic dreams which indicated he would someday be in a position of authority over his brothers. At his age, it must have been exhilarating to consider this possibility, and Joseph couldn’t restrain himself from sharing the revelation with his family. We all know that Joseph’s dreams were truly prophetic and did indeed come to pass; however, the path to their fulfillment took some twists and turns that Joseph could never have imagined. It exposed within his brothers a jealousy and competition that actually swayed all of Israel's future history!

Let Joseph’s experiences speak to you. Maybe you’ve received personal prophecies or you hold dreams in your heart about how you will be used in the Kingdom; yet, like Joseph, you are in a season of your life when it appears you are going in the opposite direction. Possibly, you were used at one point in your life and you seem to be on a shelf of isolation now. Don’t forget these all-important words in the book of Genesis: “But the Lord was with Joseph.” The Lord was with Joseph in the midst of his betrayal, slavery, false accusation, and imprisonment. He was with him in his hopelessness. He’s with you as well. You just need to recognize God’s methods for raising up sons and daughters. I have been through the terrible heartbreak of betrayal, human treachery and false accusation...yet, through it all, I have seen the mighty hand of the Lord, Yahweh, move mightily in building my character.

Some people say that trials strengthen every believer’s faith. Quite simply, that is not true. Trials only strengthen the faith of some believers. To be accurate, trials cause some believers to become bitter and resentful. Others become fearful, unforgiving, or hard-hearted. Still others lose their faith entirely. The world is full of people whose faith has been shipwrecked because they were unable to deal with a loss, disappointment, or shattered dream. Don’t let this be you. The key to success is how you view your circumstances, and how you choose to react to them.

Certainly, Joseph had a lot of time to think when he was in that Egyptian prison. He could have let the apparent hopelessness of his situation overwhelm him. He could have given up and let bitterness, envy, or thoughts of revenge against his brothers consume his life. He could have become manipulative and tried within his own strength and cunning to arrange his circumstances, as Jacob clearly did early in his life! But instead he chose to cling to the promises of God. He chose to see with the eyes of faith and submit to God’s refining and maturing process.

Our Heavenly Father is not the author of evil. Yet in His genius He is able to use evil and difficult circumstances to accomplish His purposes and desires. Romans 8:28 is a familiar verse: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Please notice that this verse is not telling us that all things are good. There are many things that, quite simply, are very bad. And bad things can happen to the righteous and unrighteous alike. But this verse is telling us that for those who truly love God—those who are the called according to His purpose—God enters into all things to work His good. Is this not what Joseph discovered? Is this not what God is trying to teach you?

Joseph needed to become a man with the maturity and responsibility necessary to wield great power and authority in a responsible way. As a young man, Joseph was a good person, but he wasn’t refined. He was full of undeveloped potential. Many of us fail to realize that in order to be vessels of honor in the Father’s house, we must be prepared to handle spiritual authority and anointing. There can be tragic results when an immature person is placed in a position of spiritual authority and influence over others. This is why the Apostolic Writings emphasize the importance of elders in leadership. An elder is a mature person, someone who has been around, someone who has been seasoned in the flames of adversity. The importance of making sure a person was properly seasoned in the faith before they qualified for leadership was such that Paul advised Timothy to “Not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin” (1 Tim. 5:22). In other words, make sure you know a person well, and firmly believe that his spiritual maturity is tried and true, before you ordain them into leadership. The standard of the Word is so crystal clear...if a man's house is not in order, how can one possibly think they can manage a church? When my older children were growing up, I paid very close attention to their behavior, I also served in the church as a leader. The minute I sensed my children were struggling with a sin issue or behavior issue, I stepped out of all (repeat ALL) ministry in which I was involved in to focus my attention upon that one straying child! Today, I am joyful in reporting that my children all serve God without pretense! It was because God's standard was upheld! To this day, my children will tell you that if I sense any amount of family issues on the horizon, I turn my full attention to the need at home. I am blessed with a husband who believes the same thing in this area. We have no second thought of dropping participation in programs, social groups, or church groups to "shore-up" our family. I not only did this with my own children, nonnegotiably but I see my own children following this pattern with their own children. You see, we have a generational vision!!

Our Heavenly Father practices what He preaches. He wasn’t hasty in appointing Joseph to a position second only to Pharaoh. The pride and self-centeredness inherent in all of us had to be removed from Joseph. Does this happen in a Bible school? No! Over time, Joseph agreed and participated in this process of death to his old nature. Essentially, this is what Yeshua was referring to when He said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Lk. 9:23). We must be willing to bring to God all desires, attitudes, emotions, and false understandings (including the one's we caught from religion!) which are opposed to His Kingdom. They must be eliminated. We do this in the understanding that we are already sons and daughters who want to walk in grateful submission to our Savior and Master.

Every truth found in scripture is not automatically beneficial. Yeshua said you must “continue” in His word in order to be His disciples; and then “you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (Jn. 8:32). A disciple must first agree with the truth, and then they must act upon it—they must walk it out by faith in their own lives. Are we agreeing with the truth or our opinions of the truth of God? A period of testing often occurs wherein circumstances come about that seem to deny the truth that is embraced. Only after the disciple hangs onto that truth by faith, is it truly established in their lives. If a truth is never tested or challenged, it will always remain in the theoretical realm. It will stay an abstract concept with no practical value.

Let’s take that idea a step further. We know the most important of all the commandments is to “love the Lord thy God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mk. 12:30). I suppose one could make a case that a trouble-free life would bring about love for God. Yet, a person who has never been a slave cannot truly understand freedom. One who has not known despair cannot fully appreciate joy. And one who has never fought a battle does not truly grasp the significance of victory. It is one of the great mysteries of this creation how, through the existence of evil and great adversity, we come to love our Heavenly Father and value His righteousness and blessing.

In this journey it is easy to become impatient in our spiritual walk. It is easy to apply platitudes regarding Yaweh, to really think we know His ways because we know the Word theorhetically. We want everything to change today. We want to see progress right now. We want our families to be blessed and our congregations to flourish. We, essentially, want to see the kingdom restored to Israel in our time. So did the apostles in the time of Yeshua and he rebuked them for not understaning the ways of the Father. Don’t lose heart. Our Heavenly Father has it under control and He is ordering our steps. He doesn’t reward impatience. He only rewards those who learn His ways, and come into agreement with them in their personal lives. We must discern the Father’s discipline, training, and timing in our own lives as righteous and holy. Only then do we become one with the author of all life; and only then do we realize that He is never late, but never early.

Chuck and Levi

2007-10-05T10:15:00.003-06:00

I take so much pleasure in looking at this picture of two men that I love deeply! My wonderful husband and my dear, precious son.

New Day

2007-09-13T15:21:00.001-06:00

Our Wedding Day!

Although the weather was unseasonably warm, we knew it was the perfect weekend to finally get married. We bought our home on Sunday morning (we have the best Realtor!)in Interlaken, Midway, we packed the luggage, made all of the reservations and drove away early on that Monday Sept. 3. Charlie had business in Callabasas, California on Tuesday and Wednesday, so it all worked out. We knew it was a wide open door for us when every hotel we wanted all along the way had plenty of rooms for the right prices during that weekend! (Especially the Inn on Summerhill in Monticeto, California.) We got married in a little chapel on Monday, Sept. 3, by a woman minister in Las Vegas, Nevada. We stayed at the MGM Grand that night and the next day drove to the Hilton Garden Inn in Callabasas, California for two days.

In many, many ways he is so much my soul mate and I his! It was obvious God brought us together for such a time as this. Now we begin our journey together. We have each changed so much and had so much deep inner healing since this time last year that we wonder what we must look like to old friends.....we wonder if we are even recognizable. Then we know that in some metamorphasis's you move on and you no longer need nor even want those old relationships if they anchor you downward. We look foward to moving ahead!

Religous Colored Glasses Part 2

2007-09-13T14:41:00.000-06:00

‘In the beginning, God…’ This phrase signals the beginning of the written account of our story. This is the fundamental element of the glasses that someone puts on when joining the movement. This explains why two scientists can see the same data but reach different conclusions. Why nature can to some speak of the mysteries of the universe while to others it can say nothing at all. I used to sit in nature's scape with a certian person and wonder why he had no wonder and no awe of anything...then it dawned upon me, he had no starting point with which to have wonder at all! He never "put the glasses on" the Creator had given him with which to wear to behold wonder!

The written account continues. The story, which is at the same time familiar and mysterious, unfolds. Part of this story is God showing his people how to live, teaching them how to be who they were created to be. This theme appears throughout the story and ultimately in the story of the God-man who made reconciliation possible. It is through this story, told in the bible, that we can see the glasses that we are meant to wear. ( Nor is all truth written in the Bible either; you will not find math theories or the the law of gravity written there) The true glasses that show reality, that reveal truth. Paul put it this way ‘Don’t be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you will know the will of your father’.

Who are you truly created to be? See who you are truly created to be and not what some person wearing religious formalism is telling you are "created" to be! See the world for what it is, what is really is. See who you truly are, not what some people with vested religious interests are telling you that you are! That is the invitation that Jesus gives us. That is exactly why He angered so many people in the religious structures of his day....the religious power-brokers stood to lose their authority! But it doesn’t always seem that simple, does it? The glasses we wear are the product of our childhood, our culture, our decisions, and our education. Can we really see the world through Jesus’ eyes? Indeed, lessons from apartheid, the slave trade, and the Spanish inquisition show that people have often read the bible with their own glasses intact. Thereby formulating theology that has supported the status quo of slavery and racism, gender inequality, church laity/clergy instead of challenging it. So are we destined always to follow culture, to support the social reality of the day?

Martin Luther King. Steve Biko. Luther. Wilberforce. Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubmann, Ghandi. Mandela. Wesley. Mother Theresa… Individuals called by God to stand against society, to be a force for massive social change. Individuals who managed to remove the cultural glasses of the day to see enough of truth, enough of Jesus, to make them want to change the world. In a very real way they did. How do we emulate these men and women that changed society?

The bible is not a dead book but is alive and sharper than a two edged sword. We’ve all had those times when we finally have understood a part of the Story after reading it for the hundredth time, those light bulb moments that remind us that this is no ordinary book, no ordinary story. I agree with Brian Mclaren who thinks we need to stop reading the bible and start letting the bible read us. We might never be able to fully remove the glasses we wear but we can begin to understand what kind of glasses they are, and I think that is the key. Those of us in the west need to realise that we read the bible through western eyes. In the same way as I need my friends to tell me of my weaknesses that I am blind to, so does the church in the west need the church in China, India, South America, Africa and from the uttermost parts of the earth to show us the areas we have forgotten or perhaps never seen. We need to repent of our arrogance! To see the same story from another cultures eyes is often to read a different story. As well as looking out for an awareness of the glasses that we wear, we can also look back – at history. Many have walked this journey before us, and we can learn from their successes and failures, and perhaps see areas we are blind to, and begin to change.

The war in Iraq. National healthcare. Gun control. HIV/AIDS. Israel and Palestine. Homosexuality. Abusive relationships in the church and divorce issues, gender equality issues, racial equality issues, poverty. All areas where the church needs to see as Jesus sees, to think as he thinks. Areas where we might need to try to change our glasses and see what the bible really says. The church can again influence culture; can again change society. It is the Holy Spirit that will lead us into all truth, the Holy Spirit that can both reveal the glasses we wear and begin to change them to the glasses through which we see God, ourselves and the world in the way we were always meant to.

Religious Colored Glasses.part 1

2007-09-13T14:10:00.000-06:00

Christianity has at some time in her not too distant past history supported slavery, the oppression and rape of women, apartheid, genocide based upon skin color and religion, and more. We all too easily judge from the "superior" position of our twenty-first century intellect and deem that those partaking in such oppressive behaviour were not really Christians, perhaps following religion but certainly not following Jesus. We judge these people to be barbaric and unloving...and that seems to certainly be a valid point, as the moral argument against the mentioned atrocities is found throughout the written Scriptures, the Bible. But is it at least possible that some of these "barbaric crusaders" went into their chosen battles firmly believing that they were extending the kingdom of God?

Do you think that maybe John Newton really meant what he wrote as he penned the words to ‘Amazing Grace’ despite his then occupation as a slave trader? Is it possible that Calvin had good intentions when he had those who opposed him burnt alive in the midst of the messy birth of the protestant church? He did have those who expressed opposing views to him torched alive you do know? You do understand church history do you not?! To deem that all the wrong done in the name of God was the result of evil intentions is at best a generalisation. Instead maybe part of the problem was the kind of glasses that the church was wearing. I believe those glasses that many in the church, including myself if I am not so very careful, are glasses that are well-intentioned but inspired by the pit of hell itself! Those religion colored glasses that inspired the Pharisees to throw an adulterous woman at his feet and demand to be done to to her what the Law wrote what was to be done and that very evil demon spirit that inspirit that inspired the cowd to yell in a mob-fury, "crucify him!" That same evil thinking inspired by the fires of hell inspires men to think they are more superior than women, one color of skinned people to think they need to reign over another race, adults to think they must be far more important than a child so they can steal the innocence of a child, and on and on.....................ad infinitum.

We all wear glasses. Perhaps not the kind that you can sit on and break but definitely the kind that change the way we see the world. We all have glasses on our minds. Everything that we see (including God, ourselves and the world around us) is filtered through these glasses.

A Hindu farmer in Northeast India can’t feed his children because a rat is devouring his precious rice. When he sees the rat, he sees a being that is part of the cycle of reincarnation, and therefore does not kill it. Perhaps the rat is even a relative. Now if I were in that situation, I would see the rat as a pest and would promptly take ‘dominion’ over the rodent in question or delegate the responsibility to the nearest feline. In that story, the rat didn’t change but there were two opposite responses to the rodent, with potentially life and death consequences. It was the different glasses that produced the different responses.

The only way we know if we are making the right conclusions is when we are wearing the right glasses.

2007-08-30T11:29:00.000-06:00

The following lists are from Pat Springle's excellent book Trusting, in which he helps us learn who and how to trust again.

It is foolish to:

* Trust people who consistently wound you
* Believe people who consistently give double messages
* Think that intimidating people have your best interests in mind
* See people as all good or all bad
* Withdraw from all people because some have hurt you
* Try to figure things out by yourself
* Seek advice from foolish people
* Avoid conflict at all costs
* Stir up conflict
* Be too self-disclosing in order to earn others' love or pity

It is wise to:

* Call on God and wise people for help
* Be cautious about trusting people
* Slowly elevate your level of trust in others as they prove their trustworthiness
* Be honest with most people about your feelings and desires
* Withhold your feelings and desires from abusive people
* Be realistic about the growth process of learning to trust perceptively
* Forgive and love, but not necessarily trust, others
* Expect conflict when you are honest
* Learn to communicate clearly and calmly with all kinds of people who mistrust
* Realize that even trustworthy people will sometimes fail you

The writer of Hebrews tells us that it's important to "...forsake not the assembling of ourselves together." This is not about the ritual of going to a certain geographical location with a certain group of people at certain times during the week. This is about relationships that build God's people and spread his kingdom. My goal in this article has been to present some things to remember when looking for a safe church, one that is building the right kingdom.

Resisting Pretense

2007-07-28T16:10:00.000-06:00

The Ongoing Struggle To Resist Religion and Become A Spiritually Honest People

The Message Bible: Matthew 23: 25:28

25. "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You burnish the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony.

26. Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something.

27. "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You're like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it's all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh.

28. People look at you and think you're saints, but beneath the skin you're total frauds.

In the New American Standard Version with Numbers linked to the Strong’s Concordance, this same passage reads as follows:

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.

"You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.

"So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

The transliterated word for blind here in this verse that Jesus used was Tuphlos. It actually means “mentally blind.” To be a Pharisee in Jesus’ day we must examine to catch the impact today. They were the morally correct religious party. They were the people who we would consider religiously righteous. They were the “fundamentalists,” if you will, of that time. If they lived today they would assuredly have attended the most prestigious Bible Seminaries, been home schooled, courted and not dated, they would know scriptures well, they would vote Republican, be solidly right-wing and Caucasian, probably upper-middle income, tithing good ol’ boys who upheld the standard of the law, their submissive wives would have worn denim jumpers and they could easily boast of many righteous religious acts I am sure. Nothing wrong with any of this. Yet, they were the very ones who Jesus had the most problem with! Why? He tells us over and over and over and over again in Scripture, yet we (yes US) continually fall into the same trap of religiosity and self-righteousness that they did! We so easily allow that same religious mental blindness to crust over our own eyes!

The word for “righteous” is transliterated thusly; Dikaios, and means the following according to the Strong’s Concordance:

1.
righteous, observing divine laws
a. in a wide sense, upright, righteous, virtuous, keeping the commands of God
1.) of those who seem to themselves to be righteous, who pride themselves to be righteous, who pride themselves in their virtues, whether real or imagined
2.) innocent, faultless, guiltless
3.) used of him whose way of thinking, feeling, and acting is wholly conformed to the will of God, and who therefore needs no rectification in the heart or life

1a
only Christ truly
approved of or acceptable of God
1.)in a narrower sense, rendering to each his due and that in a judicial sense, passing just judgment on others, whether expressed in words or shown by the manner of dealing with them

The word hypocrisy here is a word that needs to be mined out to see the fullness that Jesus intended it to mean. It is the transliterated word; Hupokrisis. It means thus:

an answering
an answer
the acting of a stage player
dissimulation, hypocrisy

Yet, I desire that you delve deeper into what that word, Hupokrisis, means by going into the root meaning of it. The root meaning in the Greek is # 5271 in the Strong’s Concordance for those of you who want to check it out. It means as follows:

to take up another's statements in reference to what one has decided for one's self
a.)
to reply, answer
to make answer (speak) on the stage
a.)
to impersonate anyone, play a part
to simulate, feign, pretend

How many times have we already made up our minds regarding a subject, a person, a circumstance or a situation before hearing the facts and before even speaking to a person to hear their heart and pray about what really was going on? We quickly jumped to judgment with what “we thought” was going on! That is actually being a hypocrite ! If our intent was to ascertain, in love, what was truthfully happening in a situation we would have gone to those involved and sat down with them, prayed with them for God's view, asked questions, told them our concerns and sought to spiritually restore such a one. Kind of like the Lord commands us to do in scripture! You know the one….”you who are spiritual restore such a one.” I never read yet where Jesus said, “Gossip about such a one.”

In recent events in my own life, a lady in our own church continually went to other people both inside of our church and outside of our church to “explain” her concerns with my divorce and future remarriage. This fact was proven out by several people coming forward to the elders, the pastor and myself and explaining she had gone to them with bits if inaccurate information (slander and gossip!) regarding my divorce and my future spouse’s divorce and the details regarding it all. I had phoned this woman, at least three times, to invite her to sit with myself, the elders of our church and our pastor who all have supported me in my decision to divorce and in my later courtship and plans to remarry. I had very painfully laid my life open before these spiritual authorities long before any decisions were ever made and I was accountable to them in this matter months prior to her even becoming aware a problem existed. It did not matter to her that the pastor, my former pastors and the elders all determined I had scriptural grounds for a divorce.

This woman refused to meet with me on the grounds that she was “too busy,” that she had “too much on her plate,” that “it was no longer any of her business,” etc. Yet she clearly had plenty of time to contact a growing list people both within and without of our local church, including my ex-husband, to express her opinion and she did not even know the details of the events leading to this for ten years prior! I was simply appalled by the spiritual arrogance she was showing and walking out! When I went before the Lord, He gave me several scriptures and lessons, including this scripture I just listed. I, at first, did not understand the word hypocrite in what God gave me, until I delved into the root meaning of that word. She had simply made up her mind about the situation and refused to hear anything that contradicted her opinion. Meanwhile, her own marriage suffered badly and yet she firmly held onto the spiritual pretense of superiority. I point this out, not to show this woman’s sin, as she will remain anonymous. Yet, the lessons I learned from her pitiable life, while she busied herself in a flurry of activity involving so much to distract her from her true need, is that she had caused me to take tremendous caution for my own life! We must be ever so careful to never make up our religious minds and thus be blinded by our own deceits.

Honesty is the Solution!

James 5:16 in the New American Standard Version

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

The transliterated word for “confess” is Exomologeo. It means the following in the Greek:

to confess
to profess

a.) acknowledge openly and joyfully
b.) to one's honour: to celebrate, give praise to
c.) to profess that one will do something, to promise, agree, engage

The Message Bible brings this passage of scripture out in this manner:

James 5:16

Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.

Jesus confronted the religious leaders of his day because they had replaced honesty with pretense and encouraged others to do the same. According to James and Jesus (remember Him?) from the study of these scriptures and other scriptures, pretense leads to unclean “insides” and “dead” insides. Could this be why we struggle so greatly to evangelize and have vibrant churches? Do we have pews full of people who look nice and shiny on the outside but are dead and unclean on the insides? I venture to say, “Oh Yeah!!!”

That may offend a whole lot of people but many, many Sundays the last thing I want to do is sit in church with these people I have come to know (just that verbal few who make it seem seem like hundreds actually)! I would rather puke blood! I asked my son recently to "do church" and his expression told me all I needed to know. Yet, he loves Jesus Christ! When I delved into the reasons… his reasons were valid. No, I am not giving excuses for people to be critical and lone-ranger Christians who are unaccountable to leaders, but maybe it is high time for a good dose of reality and honesty here folks! Spending time with people who are critical, judgmental, self-righteous and act like Pharisees is the last thing on my agenda for optimum spirituality! Why should we expect the world to flock to us? Why is what we have to offer any different than simple, vengeful office politics?

According to Jesus Christ – the God/man, pretense leads to death. Honesty leads to healing. Look carefully at the text in James and ask the Lord just what about honesty leads to healing? While you are there … ask what is it about pretense leads to death?

Some Biblical Thoughts on Physical, Sexual, and Verbal Abuse

2007-07-27T22:38:00.000-06:00

Some Biblical Thoughts on Physical, Sexual, and Verbal Abuse

The Law of Israel on Household Violence

"If a man hits a manservant or maidservant in the eye and destroys it, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the eye. And if he knocks out the tooth of a manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the tooth." Exodus 21:26-27 NIV

The Prophets on Violence

"I hate a man's covering his wife with violence, as well as with his garment." says the Lord Almighty...."You have wearied the Lord with your words."

"How have we wearied him?" you ask. By saying, "all who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them," or "Where is the God of justice?" Malachi 2:16-17. (NIV alternate translation)

"Give up your violence and oppression and do what is just and right." Ezekiel 45:9 NIV

Religious people can be abusive as well:

"Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. (1).... Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?" Isaiah 58:4-6 NIV

The Destructive Effects of Violence on the Batterer

"The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head." Psalm 7:16 NIV

"The violence of the wicked will drag them away, for they refuse to do what is right." Proverbs 21:7 NIV

Violence Associated with Wrong Choices, Injustice, Lying, Evil, and Satan

"The violent devise injustice." Psalm 58:2 (2)

"Their hearts plot violence." Proverbs 24:2 NIV

The violent bear false witness.

Psalm 27:12; 140:11; Proverbs 10:6,11; Hosea 12:1; Micah 6:12; Zephaniah 1:9

Associated with Satan. Ezekiel 28:16

"Do not envy a violent man or choose any of his ways." Proverbs 3:31 NIV

Stalking and Verbal Abuse Condemned

"All day long they twist my words; they are always plotting to harm me. They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, eager to take my life." Psalm 56:5-6 NIV

"They have tracked me down, they now surround me, with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground." Psalm 17:11 NIV

"In his arrogance, the wicked man hunts down the weak...He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent, watching in secret for his victims. He lies in wait like a lion in cover, he lies in wait to catch the helpless, he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net." Psalm 10:2,8-9 NIV

See also Psalm 37:33; 59:3; Jeremiah 5:26; Micah 7:2

"God will judge the violent" Psalm 11:5 "and deliver the oppressed who cry out to him." II Samuel 22:3

"Rescue me, O Lord, from evil men; protect me from men of violence. Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from men of violence who plan to trip my feet.... May disaster hunt down men of violence." Psalm 140:1-11 NIV

"You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more." Psalm 10:17-18 NIV

Jesus on Child Abuse

"In that hour, the disciples came to Jesus saying, "Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Calling a little child, Jesus set her in their midst and said "Truly, truly I say to you, unless you repent and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble themselves as this little child, that man or woman is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such little child in my name, receives me. Whosoever shall give offense to (cause to sin, shock) one of these little ones who believe on me, it would be better for the offender that a millstone would be hung about his neck and he were sunk into the sea." Matthew 18:1-6

"Whoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe on me, it would be good for the abuser rather if a millstone lay about his neck and he were cast into the sea." Mark 9:42

"It is unavoidable that offenses (literally that which causes revulsion) should come; but woe to him by whom they come. It would be better for him if a millstone lay about his neck and he were thrown into the sea rather than that he should offend one of these little ones." Luke 17:1-2

Jesus on Verbal Abuse

"You have heard that it was said in the olden days "Do not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be liable for judgment." But I say to you that anyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable for judgment. And whoever shall say to his brother "You numbskull" shall be liable to the council. Whoever shall say "You imbecile" shall be in danger of hell fire." Matthew 5:21-22

"How are you able to speak good things when you yourselves are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Good persons bring forth good things out of the good treasure within themselves, while evil persons bring forth evil things from the evil storehouse within themselves. I say to you that for every evil word which people speak they must give an accounting on the Day of Judgment. You shall be justified by your words, and you shall be condemned by your words." Matthew 12:34-37

"It is not what goes into the mouth which defiles a person but what proceeds out of the mouth - this defiles a person...The things which proceed forth out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile a person, for out of the heart come forth disputes, evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual exploitation, robberies, false witness, abuse and blasphemy. These are the things which defile the person." Matthew 15:18-20

The Epistles on Sexual Abuse

"I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with those whose sexual conduct is improper - but by no means with the immoral of this world, or the exploitive or the rapists (3) or idolaters, since then you would be obliged to leave the world. But now I write to you not to associate with any who, though they call themselves sister or brother, yet engage in sexually inappropriate behavior (4) or are exploitive or idolatrous (5) or verbally abusive or drunken or rapists. Do not share the fellowship of the Lord's supper with such persons. (6) Why should I judge those who are without? Rather judge those who are within, (7) and God will judge those who are without. Cast out the evil person from among you." (8) I Corinthians 5:9-13

The Conversion of Rapists

"Neither slaves nor the exploitive nor drunkards nor those who are verbally abusive nor rapists shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you; but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God." I Corinthians 6:10-11

The Apostle Paul Calls Upon the Church to Assume Responsibility in a Known Case of Incest

"It is commonly reported that there is inappropriate sexual behavior among you, and of such a kind as is abhorred by the heathen, that a man should have his father's wife. And have you not been arrogant when you ought rather to have mourned, so that the one who did this deed may be removed from your midst? But I, though absent as to my body and yet present in my spirit, have already come to a judgment against the one who committed this outrage. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together with my spirit, in the power of our Lord Jesus, I decree that you give such an individual over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Your smug complacency is not good. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all of the dough? Purge out the old yeast so that you may be a new dough without leaven. For Christ has been sacrificed as our Passover, so that we may keep the feast not with the old leaven of wickedness and guile, but with unleavened sincerity and truth." (9) I Corinthians 5:1-8

The Epistles on Verbal Abuse

"If any consider themselves to be religious while their tongues are unbridled, they deceive their own hearts, and their religion is at this point an idle sham...If anyone does not sin in their speech, this is a fully mature individual, able as well to bring his or her entire body under control. We put bits into the mouths of horses in order to make them obey us, and we can turn their whole bodies. Behold how great ships are driven by strong winds, and yet are guided by the smallest rudder wherever the impulse of the helmsman wills, and just so the tongue is a small member and yet has great things whereof to boast. Behold how small a fire sets a whole wood ablaze, and the tongue is a fire. The tongue constitutes a world of wickedness among our members, polluting the whole body and inflaming the cycle of existence, and is set on flame by hell. For every sort of beast and bird and reptile and sea creature is tamed and has been controlled by humanity. But no one can tame the human tongue, an unruly evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we pour invective upon people who have been made in God's likeness. From the same mouth comes forth both blessing and abusive cursing. Brother and sister, this ought not to be so." James 3:2-10

"Let no evil communication come forth out of your mouth but rather that which upbuilds in a helpful way, so that it may give grace to the hearer." Ephesians 4:29

The Epistles on Sexual Harassment

"All filthiness and foolish jesting - let it not be named among you as befits the saints." Ephesians 5:4

"Now put away all wrath, venom, evil, blasphemy, dirty jokes from out of your mouth." Colossians 3:8

Batterers Disqualified from Church Leadership

"A bishop should be above reproach, the husband of one wife, (10) sober, discreet, honorable, hospitable, apt to teach, not given to wine, nor a batterer, but meek, peaceable, handling the affairs of his own household well, with children who behave in a responsible fashion." I Timothy 3:2-3

"It is necessary for a bishop to be of irreproachable character, as the steward of God, not arrogant nor quick-tempered, nor given to strong drink, nor a batterer, nor greedy for financial gain." Titus 1:6-7

"The servant of the Lord should not become embroiled in fighting." II Timothy 2:24

Biblical Antidotes

"Thy gentleness hath made me great." II Samuel 22:36; Psalm 18:35

"Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it." Psalm 34:14

"There is a future for the man of peace." Psalm 37:37

"There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace." Proverbs 12:20

"Be devoted to one another with kindly affection, in honor advancing one another." Romans 12:10

"As much as it is possible for you, be at peace with everyone." Romans 12:18

"Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification." Romans 14:9

"Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down upon your angry mood, lest you give an opportunity to the devil." Ephesians 4:26-27

"Let all bitterness and anger and rage and angry shouting and blasphemy be put away from you, along with all wickedness. Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another just as God in Christ has forgiven you." Ephesians 4:31-32

"Let your forbearing spirit be known to all people." Philippians 4:5

"Seek peace with everyone and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord." Hebrews 12:14

"Make your souls holy in obedience to the truth, and with unfeigned affection love one another steadfastly with a pure heart." I Peter 1:22

The Call for God's People to Deliver the Oppressed From Violent Oppressors

"Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed - and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors - and they have no comforter." Ecclesiastes 4:1 NIV

"The righteous king will defend the afflicted and crush the oppressor." Psalm 72:1-4

"He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight." Psalm 72:14 NIV

"Thus says the Lord: Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place." Jeremiah 22:3 NRSV

"He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and the needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me? declares the Lord." Jeremiah 22:15-16 NIV

"Thus says the Lord: Execute justice in the morning, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed, or else my wrath will go forth like fire, and burn, with no one to quench it, because of your evil doings." Jeremiah 21:12 NRSV

The Need for Believing Communities to Deal with the Problems Associated with Abuse

Matthew 18:15-17

James 5:19-20

Titus 3:2-11

I Thessalonians 5:14

II Thessalonians 3:14-15

I Timothy 4:20

Submission should not be given to individuals whose behavior or communication is wrong, even though they pretend to be very pious. Galatians 2:5-6

(1) The concept of abuse as nullifying the prayers of the abuser is also found in I Peter 3:7.

(2) Unless otherwise indicated, all translations are those of Catherine C. Kroeger.

(3) The word used here harpax can refer to anyone who seizes by force against the will of another. Translators usually render this "robber" or "rapacious" but the term is used specifically of rapists. In a passage on sexual immorality, this is the most appropriate meaning.

(4) The Greek adjective used here pornos and the related noun porneia, cover a wide range of sexually inappropriate and exploitive behaviors, such as obscenity, prostitution, indecent exposure, rape, fornication, incest, and pederasty. No one English word implies the whole cluster of activities. This means that we often fail to understand the strength of the biblical condemnation of abuse.

(5) Idolatry in the ancient world was frequently associated with explicitly sexual behavior.

(6) Such behavior is unacceptable within the believing community.

(7) Here the church is specifically charged to deal with sexual misbehavior within the congregation. The believing community is responsible not only to protect the victim but to condemn the perpetrator.

(8) This is an Old Testament quotation.

See Deuteronomy 17:7; 19:19; 22:21, 24; 24:7.

(9) In this extended passage the sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb unblemished with evil or hypocrisy, is specifically set against the wickedness and deceit of incest.

(10) During the New Testament period, it was legal for a Jewish man to have more than one wife. A series of documents discovered in the Dead Sea area reveal that the practice was more widespread than previously thought. Bigamy was certainly not acceptable for leaders within the Christian community.
© 2003 Catherine C. Kroeger. Reprinted by permission

The-Patched-Up-Princess at Cracked Pot Acres

"I Am Woman - Hear Me Roar"

“I Am Woman Hear Me Roar”-The Feminist’s Battlecry

Notes About My Blog To Read Prior To Proceeding

Note to the Proud and Haughty Scorner

Note to Ladies Seeking to Honor God In Their Apparel

Biblical Modesty - Part 5 The Attire of An Harlot

ModestyA Matter of HeartPage 5

by Mary Van Nattan

The Attire of An Harlot

The subtil heart

The actual dress of an harlot

BIblical Modesty: A Matter of the Heart - That Which Pertaineth To a Man 1 & 2

ModestyA Matter of HeartPage 4

by Mary Van Nattan

That Which Pertaineth To the ManPart 1

That Which Pertaineth To the ManPart 2

Some Principles - Part 3 Biblical Modesty

ModestyA Matter of HeartPage 3

by Mary Van Nattan

Some Principles

The Difference: Part 2 on Biblical Modesty

ModestyA Matter of HeartPage 2

by Mary Van Nattan

The Difference

Here is another contrast:

A Beginning - Part 1 on Biblical Modesty

ModestyA Matter of HeartPage 1

by Mary Van NattanA Beginning

BIblical Modesty: A Matter of the Heart

by Mary Van Nattan

Introduction

The Rise and Fall and Rise of Motherhood in America

Only women can be mothers. Have we forgotten this fundamental?

The War on Motherhood

How America’s Conscience Was Seared Toward Motherhood

Motherhood Will Triumph

The Question:

The Cost of Motherhood

Defining Courtship and Dating

Shemini Commentary by The Parker's

Shemini

Courtship vs. Dating

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Study Course

Courtship

Gnosticism. Hellenism and Legalism

Is The Hebrew-Roots Movement Cultic or Is Traditional Christianity Cultic?

The Tallit in the 2nd Testament

The Tallit (Prayer Shawl)

Yahweh’s Tallit and the Two Houses

The Training of Joseph

Chuck and Levi

New Day

Religous Colored Glasses Part 2

Religious Colored Glasses.part 1

Resisting Pretense

Some Biblical Thoughts on Physical, Sexual, and Verbal Abuse

Modesty
A Matter of Heart
Page 5

Modesty
A Matter of Heart
Page 4

That Which Pertaineth To the Man
Part 1

That Which Pertaineth To the Man
Part 2

Modesty
A Matter of Heart
Page 3

Modesty
A Matter of Heart
Page 2

Modesty
A Matter of Heart
Page 1

by Mary Van Nattan

A Beginning