6.4.25 ~ Double Checking My Behavior
Good morning!
Thanks to those of you who have RSVP'd for staying on the daily prayer and study list. If you haven't responded and you want to stay on, let me know by Friday or you won't have to worry about your email box or phone filling up with messages :-)
Numbers 5 & 6 have two stories connected to one another. At first blush they have nothing to do with one another. Upon deeper contemplation, knowing that nothing in the Torah is randomly placed, the 'jealous husband' and the 'nazarite vow' have more in common than we might imagine. And what's even more ominous is the warning it shouts out to all of us within our covenant relationship to our bridegroom king...more on Friday night's zoom call: Behavior from a covenant partner that promotes jealousy, not only causes loss of respect, but can end in tragedy and emptiness for both partners.
Paul tells us:
"that in the last days, (which I think we are living in), men will be lovers of self, proud, boasters, covetous, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of good, traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof" (2 Tim. 3:2-5)
What's sad about this list is he's addressing believers. On the flipside, in another of his letters to another pastor, Paul reminds us of how we were before coming to the Lord.
"For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our living/diago in malice/kakia and envy/phthonos, hateful/stygetos, hating/miseo one another." (Tit. 3:3)
Paul's speaking about our lifestyle/diego, a constant behavior, a way of conducting our life. He's telling those under Titus' leadership, these individuals are living by SOP (the Standard Operating Procedure) of living.
But this raises an issue. Look at the list again...he's suggesting that when we were foolish, disobedient, and enslaved, our typical way of living was filled with malice and envy. We were typically hateful and hating others. I don't know about you, but that doesn't describe my previous life or does it? Let's put on our Sherlock Holmes glasses and take a closer look as we continue counting towards the 1st fruit of the vine (day 4).
Do you see the word for malice/Kakía? It is the equivalent of the Hebrew word for evil/ra; it is anything that opposes God’s will, in particular, moral behavior. Malice is “the intention or desire to do evil,” while kakía, the word Paul uses, includes the activity of doing evil. It’s not just what I want to do. It’s also doing it. Reminds me of Yeshua’s comments about adultery or hatred...it's one thing to think about it and completely different to do it...but Paul's implication is that we were doing it all the time as an active lifestyle??
In order to get a good handle on the jealous husband in Numbers 5, we need to distinguish “envy” from “jealousy.” Envy is wishing that I had something like what you have. I envy the rich and famous because I would like a lifestyle like them. Jealousy is wishing that what you have was mine. Not something like what you have, but actually exactly what you have. I am jealous when I think that what you have really belongs to me.
God, let's His bride to be during the Pentecost revelation, that He is jealous (Ex. 20:5; Because Israel really belongs to Him and anything that takes Israel away from Him is evil. But God is not envious. He doesn’t wish that He had a relationship with Israel like someone else does. Nor does He wish He had your devotion like the devotion you devote your time to (whatever they may be). He is your Creator and therefore He is the rightful Master of your life (1 Cor. 6:19,20; 7:23; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 1:18).
When we consider both of these words in their wider context, maybe we have to admit that our former lives were, in fact, fundamentally committed to ourselves. Maybe we didn’t exhibit this all the time, but underneath our behavior was the thought of taking care of ourselves first—and foremost...guilty as charged!
When I was younger I had a very competitive anger. I didn't like to lose. When I think of my past, do I really believe that I constantly hated others? No, not really. But then I look a little deeper. “to have a strong dislike for someone or something, implying repulsion and desire for avoidance.” Ah, that’s a bit closer to home. I did have a strong dislike for some. I did avoid some. I was repulsed by some. Undeservedly. I had prejudices. I was biased. I was intolerant, unfair, showing partiality, and discriminating. Maybe not always. Certainly not in situations where I might be embarrassed. But underneath, yes, it was there/stygetos.
I’m not a hateful person. A little stygetos might creep in now and then, but miseo—pure hatred—no, oh, no, not me. Just when I thought I was off the hook, Sherlock Holmes and Watson reveal the misery in my miseo: Hating God means ignoring his commands and persecuting his people. Those who hate God may be strong, and they show their hatred by repaying evil for good, but in the long run their opposition to God is doomed to failure (Psa. 34:21; 35:19; 38:19–20; 69:4; 86:17).
The foundation of miseo is opposition to God’s commands and maltreatment of His people. Oh, my! Isn’t the history of the West filled with miseo? Replacement theology. Pogroms. Anti-Semitism. Christian “manifest destiny.” Luther’s rejection of the Mosaic code (Ex. 19:9). It’s all there—and I was part of it, perhaps unknowingly, but nevertheless, a proponent, an adherent, an evangelist for the “truth.” Yes, miseo.
Maybe Paul was right. Maybe diago fits. I didn’t know it, but fundamentally I was behaving in ways that opposed God even if I thought I was doing the right thing. The wake-up call is a painful realization.
The question that my past begs to ask is: Am I still ignoring His commandments? Is my lifestyle all about me (2 Tim. 3:1-6)? Ever learning, but never walking in the truth (2 Tim. 3:7)? Forgetting the primary reason why God came down upon Mt. Sinai on the 1st recorded Pentecost (Ex. 19:9)? And have I forgotten what testifies to those around me that I'm in love with God (1 Jn. 5:2)? Or who the enemy will attack in the last days (Rev. 12:17; 14:12)? Or, who will and who will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9,10; Gal. 5:19-21; Rev. 22:14,15; etc.)?
As I head into this 4th day, moving towards the 1st fruit of the vine, I want my lifestyle to make sure my current behavior isn't making my Bridegroom King jealous (Eph. 5:1-4).
Shalom!
Alan
Youtube live stream tonight at 6:30 p.m. Grace Church FWB "One body, working together and eating the right food so we can grow up and maturing into the head" (Eph. 4:12-16)
Numbers 5 & 6 have two stories connected to one another. At first blush they have nothing to do with one another. Upon deeper contemplation, knowing that nothing in the Torah is randomly placed, the 'jealous husband' and the 'nazarite vow' have more in common than we might imagine. And what's even more ominous is the warning it shouts out to all of us within our covenant relationship to our bridegroom king...more on Friday night's zoom call: Behavior from a covenant partner that promotes jealousy, not only causes loss of respect, but can end in tragedy and emptiness for both partners.
Paul tells us:
"that in the last days, (which I think we are living in), men will be lovers of self, proud, boasters, covetous, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of good, traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof" (2 Tim. 3:2-5)
What's sad about this list is he's addressing believers. On the flipside, in another of his letters to another pastor, Paul reminds us of how we were before coming to the Lord.
"For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our living/diago in malice/kakia and envy/phthonos, hateful/stygetos, hating/miseo one another." (Tit. 3:3)
Paul's speaking about our lifestyle/diego, a constant behavior, a way of conducting our life. He's telling those under Titus' leadership, these individuals are living by SOP (the Standard Operating Procedure) of living.
But this raises an issue. Look at the list again...he's suggesting that when we were foolish, disobedient, and enslaved, our typical way of living was filled with malice and envy. We were typically hateful and hating others. I don't know about you, but that doesn't describe my previous life or does it? Let's put on our Sherlock Holmes glasses and take a closer look as we continue counting towards the 1st fruit of the vine (day 4).
Do you see the word for malice/Kakía? It is the equivalent of the Hebrew word for evil/ra; it is anything that opposes God’s will, in particular, moral behavior. Malice is “the intention or desire to do evil,” while kakía, the word Paul uses, includes the activity of doing evil. It’s not just what I want to do. It’s also doing it. Reminds me of Yeshua’s comments about adultery or hatred...it's one thing to think about it and completely different to do it...but Paul's implication is that we were doing it all the time as an active lifestyle??
In order to get a good handle on the jealous husband in Numbers 5, we need to distinguish “envy” from “jealousy.” Envy is wishing that I had something like what you have. I envy the rich and famous because I would like a lifestyle like them. Jealousy is wishing that what you have was mine. Not something like what you have, but actually exactly what you have. I am jealous when I think that what you have really belongs to me.
God, let's His bride to be during the Pentecost revelation, that He is jealous (Ex. 20:5; Because Israel really belongs to Him and anything that takes Israel away from Him is evil. But God is not envious. He doesn’t wish that He had a relationship with Israel like someone else does. Nor does He wish He had your devotion like the devotion you devote your time to (whatever they may be). He is your Creator and therefore He is the rightful Master of your life (1 Cor. 6:19,20; 7:23; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 1:18).
When we consider both of these words in their wider context, maybe we have to admit that our former lives were, in fact, fundamentally committed to ourselves. Maybe we didn’t exhibit this all the time, but underneath our behavior was the thought of taking care of ourselves first—and foremost...guilty as charged!
When I was younger I had a very competitive anger. I didn't like to lose. When I think of my past, do I really believe that I constantly hated others? No, not really. But then I look a little deeper. “to have a strong dislike for someone or something, implying repulsion and desire for avoidance.” Ah, that’s a bit closer to home. I did have a strong dislike for some. I did avoid some. I was repulsed by some. Undeservedly. I had prejudices. I was biased. I was intolerant, unfair, showing partiality, and discriminating. Maybe not always. Certainly not in situations where I might be embarrassed. But underneath, yes, it was there/stygetos.
I’m not a hateful person. A little stygetos might creep in now and then, but miseo—pure hatred—no, oh, no, not me. Just when I thought I was off the hook, Sherlock Holmes and Watson reveal the misery in my miseo: Hating God means ignoring his commands and persecuting his people. Those who hate God may be strong, and they show their hatred by repaying evil for good, but in the long run their opposition to God is doomed to failure (Psa. 34:21; 35:19; 38:19–20; 69:4; 86:17).
The foundation of miseo is opposition to God’s commands and maltreatment of His people. Oh, my! Isn’t the history of the West filled with miseo? Replacement theology. Pogroms. Anti-Semitism. Christian “manifest destiny.” Luther’s rejection of the Mosaic code (Ex. 19:9). It’s all there—and I was part of it, perhaps unknowingly, but nevertheless, a proponent, an adherent, an evangelist for the “truth.” Yes, miseo.
Maybe Paul was right. Maybe diago fits. I didn’t know it, but fundamentally I was behaving in ways that opposed God even if I thought I was doing the right thing. The wake-up call is a painful realization.
The question that my past begs to ask is: Am I still ignoring His commandments? Is my lifestyle all about me (2 Tim. 3:1-6)? Ever learning, but never walking in the truth (2 Tim. 3:7)? Forgetting the primary reason why God came down upon Mt. Sinai on the 1st recorded Pentecost (Ex. 19:9)? And have I forgotten what testifies to those around me that I'm in love with God (1 Jn. 5:2)? Or who the enemy will attack in the last days (Rev. 12:17; 14:12)? Or, who will and who will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9,10; Gal. 5:19-21; Rev. 22:14,15; etc.)?
As I head into this 4th day, moving towards the 1st fruit of the vine, I want my lifestyle to make sure my current behavior isn't making my Bridegroom King jealous (Eph. 5:1-4).
Shalom!
Alan
Youtube live stream tonight at 6:30 p.m. Grace Church FWB "One body, working together and eating the right food so we can grow up and maturing into the head" (Eph. 4:12-16)
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