Monthly Archives: May 2022

REVENGE REDEFINED

Christian Life, ,

REVENGE REDEFINED

You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth . . .’ (Matt 5: 38)

Where does this statement appear in the Torah and what is the context? On the three occasions where this phrase “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” appears in the Old Testament – Ex. 21: 24; Lev. 24:20 and Deut. 19:21 – they all relate to civil situations, cases that were judged by a duly constituted civil authority, and never to an individual to exact vengeance upon another individual. However, the Pharisees had taken what was a divine principle for the courts and turned it into a licence for personal revenge.

How did Jesus address this issue in the spirit of Torah?

But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your coat, give him your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go with him one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Matt. 5: 39-42)

Wait a minute! Is Jesus advocating that we become doormats and allow unscrupulous people to abuse us? Is this the spirit of Torah? Does Jesus want His disciples to be spineless pawns in the hands of wicked people?

First of all, we must distinguish between what is civil authority’s right to protect the citizens of a country from criminals, and personal offences which we do not have the right to judge. Jesus is dealing purely with personal matters here. In the kingdom of God, the right thing to do is to give up our right to avenge personal offences because God is the perfect judge.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil . . . Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. (Rom. 12: 17a, 19)

Before we are offended by the thought that Jesus permits people to treat us how they like, there is another side to this issue which will bring balance to Jesus’s words. For a third way of responding to injustice, the New Testament scholar, Walter Wink, in his books, Engaging the Powers and The Powers that Be, suggests the following explanation of Jesus’s words:

Jesus specifically stated that, if one is struck on the right cheek, he is to turn the other cheek. There are two ways to strike a person on the right cheek – a backhanded slap with the right hand or a flat-handed slap with the left hand. In the culture of that day, one did not slap another with the left hand because it was used for “unclean” purposes. To receive a left-handed slap was the height of insult. A backhanded blow was the way a superior treated an inferior. Either way, Jesus implied that a superior was beating an inferior.

Jesus came down hard on the Pharisees because they thought they were better than other people. He taught His disciples never to despise other people or think themselves better. His yoke was humility – viewing themselves in their rightful place in God’s world. However, at the same time, He did not allow socially inferior people to be treated with contempt.

A non-violent way to protest such treatment would be to “turn the other cheek”, forcing the assailant either to stop the abuse or to admit that the one he treated as inferior was actually his equal. The only way he could continue beating him was to admit that they were equals.

The following two examples emphasize the same point:

A Roman soldier was permitted to force a civilian to carry his pack for one mile. To prevent abuse, more than one mile was prohibited. Jesus advocated that, rather than to protest or refuse, the soldier be put in a difficult situation by carrying his pack for two. He would be forced to take it from you or face retribution, making him appear like the oppressor.

It was lawful to confiscate a peasant’s tunic for non-payment of debt. His only other garment was his cloak which doubled as a blanket at night. If he gave away his cloak as well, he would be left naked and cold. Jesus said, “Give him your cloak,” which would force his creditor to leave the peasant naked. Nakedness was not a sin but to look at a naked person was regarded as sinful. Hence, the poor person would expect to be treated with dignity and mercy by returning his clothing.

http://dharmagates.org/other_cheek.html (from the article, “The True Meaning of Turn the Other Cheek”, by Marcus Borg, retrieved March 2015)

How, then, should we redefine revenge? God’s way is to turn the tables on one’s “enemy” by requiring him to treat one with dignity, and by treating him with kindness instead of perpetuating the wrong. God is the just and final judge. We can safely leave all judgment to Him because He will always see that we get justice. Sometimes the justice we expect is not always the justice we receive because God knows, not only the circumstances but the heart.

Our judgement is one-sided, in our favour and according to our standards. God judges according to His perfect knowledge and His standard, His Word which is an expression of His character. Unfortunately, our judgement will also backfire because Jesus promised that the same measure we use to judge others will be used against us. How would we like to sit under our own judgment and receive the same punishment we want to mete out to our offenders? 

Better to forgive and to drop our offenses and allow God to set things right in His time and way.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

TRUTHFULNESS REDEFINED

Bible Study, ,

TRUTHFULNESS REDEFINED

 ‘Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep your oaths you have made to the Lord.’

‘But I tell you, do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No”; anything beyond that comes from the evil one.’ (Matt. 5: 33-37)

The Greek word poneros – here translated “evil one” –indicates that this kind of thinking comes from what is morally culpable rather than from the evil one.

The Torah had clear instructions regarding oaths and vows.

Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. (Lev. 19: 12)

When a man makes a vow to the LORD to take an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said. (Num. 30: 2)

If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the LORD your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. (Deut. 23: 21)

In the above passages, the Torah teaches three things about taking an oath:

  1. A person must not profane the name of the Lord by making a dishonest vow in His name.
  2. A person must be faithful to honour his vow to the Lord.
  3. A person who makes a vow to the Lord must honour his word speedily or it will be counted against him as sin.

Making a vow was permissible as a pledge to fulfil a promise, but it was not to be made lightly and it was to be honoured in full.

The prophets and Psalms emphasised the importance of heart attitudes. Truthfulness and faithfulness were to be the attitude of the heart, which would make the taking of vows and swearing of oaths unnecessary.

Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. (Psa. 51: 6)

However, when we read Jesus’s correction regarding the swearing of oaths, it indicates that abuse had crept in so that people’s word meant little unless it was accompanied by an oath. We do this today with a qualifying statement like “I promise you . . .” as though everything else we say is questionable.

The emphasis had shifted from truthfulness in everything to honouring only those vows that were sworn in the name of the Lord. Jesus exposed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees by showing how foolish their distinctions were.

Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? (Matt. 23: 16-17)

Their arbitrary decisions about what was binding and what was not binding led them to pepper their conversations with all kinds of meaningless oaths just to make an impression. They had shifted the emphasis from being truthful to honouring only those vows made to the Lord and, in this way, they justified their use of empty vows.

Jesus said, “Don’t do it!” No amount of vow-taking can change anything. How much better to be a person of your word without having to back everything up by an oath! A simple “Yes” or “No” should be sufficient. How phoney for the Pharisees to think that making distinctions between the temple and the things in the temple would make their vow more binding! He exposed their wicked hearts by pointing out that everything relating to the temple was the same as invoking God Himself.

LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks truth from his heart . . . (Psa. 15: 1-2)

If one is always truthful, there is no need to take an oath to vouch for the trustworthiness of one’s word.

What about making impulsive vows? People sometimes make impulsive vows after a bad experience, for example, “I will never trust that person again; or” I will never get married”; or “I will never… “ How binding are these vows? These kinds of vows are often spoken in a moment of emotional pain. Some counsellors believe that the counselee needs to renounce vows taken in haste to be free from their consequences.

Vows based on bad experiences are not undone by renunciation but by repentance. What do I mean by repentance? Repentance is not about being sorry for doing something wrong, for example, making a vow during an emotional moment which one regards as binding for the rest of one’s life. Repentance is about returning to the way of Yahweh when one has made a bad decision and left the path.

A vow made in haste is usually a way of managing emotional pain. “I will never…” is often the result of misinterpreting one’s circumstances. Let’s use the example of a young girl who is raped. She may respond by vowing something like this: “I will never get married,” or “I will never trust a man,” because she feels responsible, guilty, and defiled; or because she feels unworthy of a good man’s love; or because what one man did to her represents what all men think of her. How does she repent of these emotions that feel true because they arise from her beliefs about what happened to her?

Repentance is a response to what is the truth as opposed to what feels true. Repentance is essentially a change of mind. An encounter with Jesus in those memories allows Him to reveal the truth. It takes a willingness to acknowledge one’s feelings and open oneself to Jesus to be set free from the emotional pain which spawned the vow in the first place. Once the issue has been resolved, the vow becomes irrelevant.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

DIVORCE REDEFINED

Christian Life, ,

DIVORCE REDEFINED

It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery. (Matt 5:31-32)

The issue of divorce was a thorny one in first-century Jewish society. Opinions were divided between those of rabbis Hillel and Shammai

“Hillel and Shammai were two leading sages of the last century BCE and the early 1st century CE who founded opposing schools of Jewish thought, known as the House of Hillel and the House of Shammai. The debate between these schools on matters of ritual practice, ethics, and theology was critical for the shaping of the Oral Law and Judaism as it is today.

“The House of Shammai held that a man may only divorce his wife for a serious transgression, but the House of Hillel allowed divorce for even trivial offenses, such as burning a meal.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillel_and_Shammai (from the article on “Hillel and Shammai”, retrieved March 2015).

Jesus expanded and clarified His teaching on divorce on one occasion when some Pharisees questioned Him on His opinion because they wanted to know which of the sages He supported. As always, He did not base His view on what other rabbis taught, but on Torah, applying His yoke based on the spirit of Torah.

Some Pharisees came to Him to test Him. They asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?’

‘Haven’t you read,’ He replied, ‘that at the beginning the Creator “made them male and female”, and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate.’ (Matt. 19: 3-6)

Jesus did not dally with the rabbis’ opinions. He went back to the beginning – to God’s instruction in the Torah. Divorce was not in God’s equation in the beginning. It was an addition because of men’s hardness of heart.

‘Why, then,’ they asked, ‘did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?’

Jesus replied, ‘Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman, commits adultery.’ (Matt 19: 7-9)

How we have fouled this one up in Jesus’s name! What is “marital unfaithfulness”!

The opinion of Christian theologians and preachers is that this refers to adultery on the part of the wife. However, marital unfaithfulness was much wider than adultery.

Before a Hebrew couple was formally engaged and began their betrothal period, they entered into a ketubah, aprenuptial marriage contract which stated the conditions of their relationship as husband and wife.  If either party willfully broke the ketubah and refused to repent after the other party had followed the correct procedure of intervention (Matt. 18: 15-17), the offended husband or wife was permitted to divorce his or her spouse on the grounds of marital unfaithfulness.

Jesus was dealing here with the abuse of the reason for divorce. Since the House of Hillel was more lenient on the grounds for divorce, men were finding an excuse to divorce their wives if they found someone more to their liking. Women were sent away and left destitute, based on a flimsy excuse, while their husbands married someone else. Jesus declared that these men were committing adultery because they had already lusted after other women in their hearts.

Divorce only became an option because of the hardness of men’s hearts. Once again, when mercy prevailed in a marriage relationship, it formed the basis on which echad could be built. Without mercy, husbands felt they were free to dump their marriage partner for one they thought more suitable on the Halakhah that “Hillel said it was okay.”

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ADULTERY REDEFINED

Christian Life, ,

ADULTERY REDEFINED

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matt. 5:27)

This is another halakhaic statement. Once again, Halakhah, or the way of life regarded as the acceptable norm of behaviour, focused on outward conformity to the Law but said nothing about the attitude of the heart.

This commandment also sounds simple on the surface but, like murder, it has a much deeper root. Let’s go back to the Torah to unpack its meaning. The roots of this command come from who God is.

The most well-known part of the Sh’mah prayer recited in the synagogue in the morning and evening services and at bedtime is found in Deut. 6:4-5:

Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength . . .

God created man in His own image and likeness,

. . . In the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them. (Gen. 1:27b)

What is the image of God? Theologians enter long and involved discussions about the image of God and differ widely in their interpretations. What does Torah say?

The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (Deut. 6:4)

God is one (echad), not one person, but three in one, unity in diversity.  God created the entire universe to be interactive and interdependent as a reflection of who He is. Everything God put into human beings that resembles Him – self-awareness, self-determination, morality, love, and the ability to commune with Him – all flow into God’s purpose that we should be one with Him, one with humanity and one with creation.

The world is echad – everything functions as a unit, e.g., the ocean currents affect the climate of the earth, the pull of the moon causes the tides, etc. God’s creation reflects His image. Therefore, we find our fulfilment in pursuing wholeness – echad – and anything that sabotages echad brings destruction.

The deepest cry in our heart is to be connected in oneness because God is one. A hypocrite is one who divided inside of himself.

For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. (Gen. 2:24)

Marriage is not just companionship for life, a cure for loneliness, or legalised sex.  At its core is a picture of God’s echad.

Sexuality is much more than just a physical act. To a Hebrew person, having sex constituted marriage. To rape a woman meant you were married to her. There is no sex in heaven because we won’t need the picture any more. Our sex drive is strong because of our need to be connected in an echad relationship.  Marriage is supposed to be a demonstration, not just an announcement of God’s oneness.

When Adam disobeyed God, he destroyed the unity between himself and God and threw the universe out of sync with Him, affecting all creation. This is evident in the natural world where creatures prey on creatures and the plant world is invaded by weeds and toxic plants. The whole creation awaits restoration as does redeemed mankind.

For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. (Rom. 8:20-21)

God is one and He keeps everything together in unity The force that holds the universe together is called echad – oneness.  If we do anything that sabotages unity, we go against the very power that holds the universe together. Since we are part of the universe, we are a part of what is tearing the universe apart.

Adultery leaves a person disjointed and fractured. Sex is only a part of adultery. Anything we do that sabotages unityis adultery. Division in the church is the opposite of echad. Whatever is in the atmosphere that destroys unity is adultery.

Therefore, to look lustfully at a woman is a symptom of echad already disrupted. Adultery does not break a marriage. It is a sign of a marriage relationship already broken. It has serious consequences because it is part of the force that tears lives, families, communities, and nations apart.

Adultery is contrary to the spirit of Torah. It is also evidence that the marriage relationship is devoid of mercy. Where mercy functions within a family, that which is weightiest in God is at work, uniting and holding relationships together and contributing to the echad-ness of the family.  

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

MURDER REDEFINED

Christian Life, ,

MURDER REDEFINED

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ (Matt 5: 21).

“This is a “halakhaic” formula.

By making this statement Jesus was asserting that there is more to the requirements of Torah than meets the eye.

What is halakhah?

The word “halakhah” is usually translated “Jewish Law” although it should more accurately be translated as “the path that one walks”.

Judaism is much more than a set of beliefs about God, man and the universe. It is a comprehensive way of life governed by rules and practices that affect one’s whole life from morning until night and from life to death and, more especially it is about how you treat God, man, animals and the earth. This set of rules and practices is known as the halakhah. Halakhah came from three sources; the Torah; laws instituted by the rabbi; and long-standing customs.

The ancient rabbis had made many pronouncements additional to the 613 laws of Torah in an attempt to interpret what Yahweh meant by His instructions. The result was a confusing conglomeration of rules and prohibitions which focused on external behaviour, but which often ignored the spirit of Torah or what Jesus called “the more important (or weightier) matters of Torah” (Matt. 23:23). 

When an “expert” in the law asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life, Jesus threw the question back at him.

‘What is written in the Law?’ He replied. ‘How do you read it?’ (Luke 10:26)

The man responded by quoting from Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18.

Love the LORD you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength . . . Love your neighbour as yourself.

Jesus commended him for his answer and counselled him to do as the Torah said. But what was Torah saying?

The essence of the Torah was threefold: to protect love; to preserve unity; and to promote contentment.

All the regulations written in the Torah were detailed instructions for working out these three principles in their everyday circumstances. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus highlighted six areas where “halakhah” pronouncements had clouded the issues and made them problems of behaviour and not of attitude.”

(Quoted from “Learning to be a Disciple” © 2104, Luella Campbell, Partridge Publishing, page 111-112)

The first area of concern was the issue of murder. According to halakhah, the commandment not to murder had only to do with the actual act. However, Jesus examined the attitude which led to the act. If the attitude of the heart was wrong, it was as though the person had already committed murder even if he had not actually done the deed.

But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca’, is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool,’ will be in danger of the fire of hell (Gehenna).(Matt. 5:22)

“The issue is the dignity of another person. The question is not about taking someone else’s life. It’s about stripping the dignity off of someone else, looking down on him, treating him with contempt.  Jesus deals with this.

Since anger is the start of the slide towards murder, the anger must be dealt with before it goes any further. Anger, a sustained feeling of anger, is as much a reason for judgment as the act itself.  To say raca replicates the sound of someone who is about to spit, indicating a feeling of contempt. To call someone a fool is to judge him as a morally corrupt person, someone whose life is completely dysfunctional and therefore not worth anything, and must be exterminated.

Jesus said that we are just as guilty if we do it in our heart as if we had done it with our hand. If something is true in your imagination it might as well as be true. Once you want someone dead, or believe they are worthless or degrade them by slander or sarcasm or make fun of them, you are guilty of murder.

The antidote to murder is to apply the “weightier matters of the law” – justice, mercy and faithfulness. The answer is to keep on the path, with our eyes fastened on the “landmark” – Jesus, whom we are to follow because He is God’s light, the shining of the star that shows us the path. He is the words of Elohim.

By applying His yoke of mercy, Jesus swept aside all the irrelevant provisions of halakhah, and revealed the spirit of Torah. In Him, we see mercy in action. There is no need to clutter God’s Torah with intricate details of interpretation because Jesus is the model of mercy and, by imitating Him, we will fulfil His requirements.”

(“Learning to be a Disciple,” page123-124)

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.