Gluttony and Abstinence…

We tend to regard “gluttony” as overindulgence in food or drink, but it can also be regarded as any preoccupation that leads to excess. Hence we can become “theologically obese,” we can “binge” on religious self-righteousness; we can feed on resentment and be consumed by inner anger; we can bask in apathy, relish greed, lust for the approval of others, wallow in self-pity, obsess over our health, and so on. Similarly, we tend to regard “abstinence” as refraining from feeding our appetites, though it can also be regarded as withholding what we need, denying ourselves tolerance, refusing to forgive ourselves, living under the slavery of perfectionism, legalism, and so on… “We fall not because we are weak, but because we believe ourselves strong.”

 

The Friend of Sinners…

“The Son of Man came … and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'” (Matt. 11:19). People, especially the religious people, were scandalized by Yeshua because he was a “friend of tax collectors and sinners!” Yet what sickness of heart is this, to despise those who are sick? It is a sorrow of heart to realize that religion often creates an “in-group” mentality that attains its status at the expense of the “outsider,” the “stranger,” the “sinner,” and so on… The prayer of the self-righteous is always: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unrighteous people, adulterers – or even like this tax collector” (Luke 18:11).

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Comfort from our Shepherd…

The Spirit of the Lord comforts and reassures those who trust in Him: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life (חַיֵּי עוֹלָם), and they will never perish – no, never! – and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28). Note that the Greek grammar in this verse uses a “double negation,” which is the strongest way to deny something. In other words, if the question were asked, “Will one of these sheep perish?” the answer is emphatic: “No, no, it will never happen! It is unthinkable!” Indeed all those who belong to Messiah “shall never, ever perish – not into eternity (εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα).” It is an eternal certainty that you who are trusting in Yeshua will never perish, and no power in heaven or earth will be able to take you out of God’s hand… “Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue you all the days of your life, and you shall dwell in the Presence of the Lord forever (Psalm 23:6).

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Root of Sin and Death…

The commandment prohibiting eating from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil (עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע) contained all other Torah commandments by implication (Gen. 2:17). The commandments not to worship idols, not to curse God, not to steal, not to kill, not to commit adultery, not to covet, and to enforce justice all derive from this primary commandment given in the garden. After all, Adam lost awareness of God by focusing on himself (idolatry) and failed to express love and reverence for God (profanity); he took from the Tree what was forbidden (coveting/stealing) which led to his own death (killing) and his own inner promiscuity (adultery). He failed to be vigilant and exercise justice by removing the presence of the tempting snake… Notice how these implications form the basic categories of the Ten Commandments, as well as the 613 commandments given later at Sinai. Looked at the other way, all of the commandments of Torah were concentrated into this single prohibition, since had Adam refrained from eating, he likewise would have refrained from all the other sins derived from this first great transgression. Moreover, since the essence of Torah is to trust God (i.e., “the righteous shall live by his faith”), when Adam sinned, he lost faith and the exile began… The Tree of Knowledge of good and evil is really the tree of the knowledge of sin and death. Just as the law defined sin to reveal our lethal spiritual condition, so the Tree of Knowledge led to the consequence of death and the revelation of our need for healing and deliverance given by Yeshua. “The law of the Spirit of life sets you free in Yeshua the Messiah from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2).

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As the days of Noah…

“For as were the Days of Noah (ימֵי נחַ), so shall be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away (οὐκ ἔγνωσαν ἕως ἦλθεν ὁ κατακλυσμὸς καὶ ἦρεν ἅπαντας). Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot – they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all – so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed” (Matt. 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-30).

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Our Daily Deliverance…

Just as we are to ask God for daily bread (לֶחֶם חֻקֵּנוּ), so we are to ask for daily deliverance: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us (חַלְּצֵנוּ) from evil” (Matt 6:13). Note that the term translated “evil” in many translations (“deliver us from evil”) is a substantive rather than an adjective: τοῦ πονηροῦ, the evil one… “Give us this day our daily deliverance from the evil one….” Our daily bread and our daily deliverance are connected with our decision to “choose life” (בַּחַרְתָּ בַּחַיִּים) — and to always choose life — even in moments we find difficult, distressing, and even when we might wish that we were no longer living… Choosing life means refusing to escape reality by evading the significance of our choices; it means finding the will to regard life as worthy; it implies that we will eat our bread in trust that the Lord is at work even in the darkest of hours (Passover occurred at midnight)… Choosing life means refusing to eat the fruit of death and to seek Yeshua, the Tree of Life. We live one day at a time; we only have today. We are given daily bread for this hour of our need. Today is the day of your deliverance – if you are willing to walk in it. Therefore, the Spirit of the Living God cries out, “Choose life and live!”

The Greatness of Noah….

Despite the fact that Torah plainly describes Noach as אִישׁ צַדִּיק / ish tzaddik: “a righteous man,” “blameless in his generation” (תָּמִים הָיָה בְּדרתָיו), and a man who “walked with God” (אֶת־הָאֱלהִים הִתְהַלֶּךְ־נחַ), Jewish tradition takes a somewhat ambiguous view of him, especially when he’s compared to Abraham, the father of the Jewish people… In the Midrash Tanchuma (מדרש תנחומא), for example, it is said that Noach was righteous “in his generation” — though he would not be so regarded in other generations. In other words, Noah was “relatively righteous” compared to the world at large, at least according to sages like Rashi, Maimonides, etc. However such an assessment is surely unfair, lashon ha’ra, and even chillul HaShem! After all, is not Noah ben Lamech perhaps one of the greatest examples of a person of faith given in the Torah? He was a descendant of the godly line of Seth who lived in a world filled with rampant and unbridled wickedness (Gen. 6:5), and yet he found grace in the eyes of the LORD (מָצָא חֵן בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה) because of his faith as he walked with God (Gen. 6:8-9).  Indeed the very first time the word “grace” (חֵן) appears in the Torah concerns Noah: “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (ונח מצא חן בעיני יהוה) — a phrase later ascribed to Moses himself (Exod. 33:12, 17).

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Idolatry and Rage…

We are warned not to destroy ourselves by allowing bitterness, anger, or fear to consume our hearts. In the Torah we read: “And you shall not bring an abominable thing (תּוֹעֵבָה) into your house and become devoted to destruction like it” (Deut. 7:26). The sages of the Mishnah said that yielding to rage is equivalent to idol worship and should never be brought into the home. Indeed, rage is linked with avodah zarah – idolatry – because it exalts the ego and claims that God can’t (or won’t) help you in your moment of testing or need. Being quick to anger reveals the presence of foolishness within the heart:

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Seeing the yet-unseen…

Just as Noah foresaw the great cataclysm to come, so we are to understand that the world above our heads and under our feet is destined to destruction, as we likewise await the promised world to come: “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever (וישׁוּעָתִי לְעוֹלָם תִּהְיֶה), and my righteousness will never be dismayed” (Isa. 51:6).

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The Call to Faith…

An implication of genuine faith in the LORD is the realization that your life is a sacred trust and therefore everything matters… Nothing is trivial; nothing is inconsequential. In the world to come you will be shocked to understand that everything you thought, everything you said, and everything you did was given to you from above, and therefore has tremendous significance (Matt. 12:36-37). Indeed, your entire life is on loan from heaven itself. Therefore “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…” (Matt. 6:33). Faith invests all of the heart to the journey at hand; it seeks God’s presence in all things and trusts God in all its ways (Prov. 3:5-6). “The present form (τὸ σχῆμα) of this world is passing away” (1 Cor. 7:31), and the heart of faith looks for a city whose designer and builder is God Himself (Heb. 11:10). “So we do not lose heart… For the things that are seen are turning to dust, but the things that are unseen endure forever” (2 Cor. 4:16-18).

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