31 July 2005

Tanakh Study for 31 July 31, 2005

Do not steel.

This commandment seems obvious, and truly it is. If it does not belong to you, do not take it. It is only in modern times that this commandment has become more difficult.

For example, we are now told that a woman’s body, and hence any children within that body are the property of the woman, and no one else’s business, which completely cancels out what St. Paul tells us in the New Testament. When we marry, the woman’s body now belongs to the man, and the man’s body belongs to the woman. Hence if we violate commandment number VII, we are also violating commandment number VIII. This is not the way society thinks today, and so it means as in the first century that Christians and the church are way out of step with modern culture. In fact, after Constantine, one of the struggles of the church was to Christianise culture, without the church being salted by the culture itself. For the most part the church succeeded until the Enlightenment at which time society began salting the church. It is important therefore for us to remember that the church did it once and can succeed again.

Time is another area. When you work and are paid a salary or by the hour to do truly give your boss your time, or do you spend a lot (or even a little) time taking care of personal business. I know personally, I do my best to see that my personal affairs take place during the lunch hour when I am off the clock, not when I am trying to make money for my boss. It is very easy in these situations to say, “Everyone else is doing it.” So what, if everyone else chopped their head off, would you do it too? We not only rob our boss of time and money, but of the respect that he deserves as the man (woman) who provides the paycheque. In my opinion, not to give God a significant part of Sunday (or Saturday if you are Sabbatarian) is also to rob God. It is also important to pray during the day. Daniel prayed thrice per day. The Psalmist says “Seven times a day shall I praise you.” Paul tells us to pray without ceasing. Time comes from God, we need to give some back to him to continue growing in our relationship to him.

We also need to balance our lives and give our spouses and children a certain amount of our time. To not do so would be robbing them.

Income taxes are a sore subject in the USA. Many do not agree with them. Does that give us a right to cheat? I think not. When a Christian cheats, because he bears the name Christian, he is dishonouring our Lord and Saviour, and robbing the honour due his name. Are we not showing God that we do not rust him to provide for us? On the other hand for those of you who vote, is it correct for the government to take from the rich and give to the poor?

There are differences of opinion too on the Biblical tithe. I do not have figures for the USA, but the Church times shows the average offering in the UK is about 2.7%, I suspect in the USA, it is slightly higher. Imagine if all our parishioners tithed the things we could do for the downtrodden. Malachi addresses the tithe. It states that not to tithe is to rob God. I know that when I actively and fully tithe, I do not have money problems, not that I become rich (I do not believe in prosperity Gospel teaching), but that it focuses how I spend my money. It also allows God to bless me in areas, which help my spiritual growth, and helps me to accomplish my mission.

There are other areas, which for us church people are more problematic. I am of course referring to plagiarism and copy write. The church has to spend a fair amount of time making sure that they have permission to use songs and hymns. Now, if the church can afford hymnbooks for the entire congregation this isn’t too much of a problem. If they don’t then it becomes time consuming to track down copy writes and obtain permission. I personally address this problem by using Cyberhymnal for most of our hymns. I mention cyberhymnal and give their URL, plus the name of the composers of the hymn with no further worries because everything on cyberhymnal is in the public domain (http://www.cyberhymnal.org/). Does this mean, that we have to identify the source for our sermons? I think we are safe as long as we identify which thoughts are ours, and which come from other sources. I am not always good about displaying my exact sources, but I do try to at least give the book of the Bible mention it came from someone else besides me.

I might mention anyone is free to use my materials as they wish, just if you print them, acknowledge where they came from.

Other than that, when we display that we are Christians, we should be careful not to walk in sin, for to do so is to rob God of the honour due his name. If you have trouble with his sin, confess it to him, discuss it with a good spiritual friend or presbyter, deacon or bishop, and allow God to deal with it. He is happy to help you conquer sin in your life.

The icon at the upper right is from the Ethiopian Coptic Church. It is a favourite of mine. Unfortunatley I do not have the URL from where it came.

Shalom and blessings in the Name of Yeshua

+Mar Michael Abportus

mjthan@quik.com

23 July 2005

Tanakh Study for 23 July 2005

“You shall not commit adultery.” On the face of it, a very simple commandment, but a commandment which has far reaching consequences, as it refers to marriage, which institution is central for the stability of society. The word adultery also has a strong context for Jews in the time of Jesus. In the Tanakh (Old Testament), adultery is frequently used as meaning being unfaithful to God. This meaning would have been understood by almost any Jew after the exile.

But back to marriage. This is one of the commandments which has the death penalty attached. Both the man and the woman were to be stoned. I am one of those who feel that in the case of the adulterous woman, that Jesus wrote, “where is the man” in the sand,” as she had been caught in the act. This is also the commandment of which Jesus specifically said, “if a man looks at a women lustfully, he has already committed adultery in his heart.”

This commandment highlights the institution of marriage. Marriage is important, not only because of being a cornerstone of society, but because marriage is an icon of our relationship with God. In the Tanakh, Israel is frequently referred to as the bride, and YHWH as the bridegroom. Likewise in the New Testament, the Church is referred to as the bride, and Yeshua as the bridegroom, in other words marriage is not only a foundation of society, but an institution which directs us in our relationship with God. One of the difficulties the church has today, is a marriage deteriorates, fewer and fewer people understand that relationship.

Marriage and sex are also important in a purely spiritual sense. In Genesis, we are told that man and woman become one flesh in marriage. St. Paul extends this even further, when he tells us that a Christian should not have sex with a prostitute, because she becomes one flesh with the body of Christ.

In Exodus, we are told that if a man and woman have sex, then they are to be married, unless the girls father forbids it. The man has an obligation to the woman, because they are now one flesh, as they have been united in sex. This is why the whole marriage, divorce, and sexual problem of today is such a problem. We have forgotten the underlying principles.

Now from Ephesians, “Wives should be subject to their husbands as to the Lord, since as Christ is head of the Church and saves the whole body, so is a husband he head of his wife; and as the Church is subject to Christ, so should wives be to their husbands, in everything. Husbands should love their wives, just as Christ loved the Church, and sacrificed himself for her to make her holy by washing her in cleansing water with a form of words, so that when he took the Church to himself she would be glorious, without no speck nor wrinkle, nor anything like that, but holy and faultless. In the same way, husbands must love their woves as they love their own bodies, for a man is to love his wife is a way for him to love himself…” (Ephesians 5:21-29 New Jerusalem Bible).

Two emphases are prime here, wives are subject to their husbands (i.e. the husband is the ultimate authority in the house), and the husband is to love his wife, and sacrifice himself for her as Christ gave himself for the church. There is a reference to baptism which we will leave for now, but let us concentrate on the duties. Love is very much an action word here, referring to those things which the husband must do for the benefit and comfort of his wife, not related to material, or sexual, but including spiritual and emotional as well. If all husbands loved their wives as we are called to in this passage, there would be no need for divorce. It is also called for the wife to respect her husband. This is more and more difficult to do in our society, where commercials, movies and television programmes make the husband/father look to be the biggest dufus while wife and children solve all the problems. Many cases of marital discord are because wives no longer know how to respect their husbands. The media would have mutual respect between men and women be thing of the past.

Yeshua, himself, gave marriage a very high calling. To marry a divorced person is equivalent to adultery. I do not know, but it seems that there is a very large number of people living in adultery today, which is one reason why children have such a difficult time in understanding God’s faithfulness.

What to do? First let us not commit spiritual adultery with false Gods. Secondly, those of us who are pastors need to commit not to marry people in haste. Check with
http://www.marriagesavers.com/. Make sure that people that are getting married realise it is to be a life long commitment. Be sure we are only marrying Christian couples, as the Bible tells us we are to be unequally yoked, (which by the way means not only both Christians, but somewhere close to each other in their walk). It is very frustrating for Christian parents to raise children when they are not on the same page. We also need to be sure we deal with any baggage, whether mental, sexual, material etc. that is brought into the marriage. Get the pastors in your area to work with you on this, so the couple doesn’t just move down the street. Those of you who want to marry, think about it. Read the passage from Ephesians, and see if you really mean it. Learn in your heart that Jesus says marriage is to be permanent. Discuss marriage issues. Who will run the finance. How many children will you have? Will you both be working? Is the wife able to accept that hubby has the final word. Hubby, are you willing to do things you don’t really want to for the well being of your wife? Hubby, are you prepared to continue your spiritual growth, help your wife grow spiritually as well and be the spiritual leader in your household (many wives are the spiritual leader because the gentleman defaulted).

It is time the church took a stand on these issues. The church has been slack on these issues, and many Biblically based laws have been done away with, leading to a weakening of the high view of marriage. This is one reason for some of the troubles today. Recognition of homosexual marriage will not destroy the high Christian view of marriage. It is a recognition that it no longer exists. Rampant and easy divorce, but more so, cohabiting without benefit of marriage is something that the church must deal with, and yes, outright adultery and pornography must be addressed and dealt with. The gay people just want what we have, a legal recognition of a union that has no commitment. The church must also deal with internal issues such as divorced and remarried Bishops, and priests, and clerical sexual abuse.

Now, I am against gay marriage because it will further destroy our society. I have watched many changes because of homosexuals being out of the closet. In high school, most kids no longer shower at school, because some gay person might be watching them. Coaches are afraid to make kids shower because they might be accused of wanting to watch the kids naked. Younger kids now know a lot more about sex (probably more than is appropriate). I know my youngest has some ideas about homosexuals, an idea that I was not really familiar with until I was about thirteen or fourteen. I might add I am very upset about the homosexual use of television and schools to sexualise our children. Children and parents need to talk, but not at such young ages. Enough soap box.

Let us all learn to have a high view of marriage so we may truly obey the 7th commandment.


Shalom and blessings in the Name of Yeshua

+Mar Michael Abportus
mjthan@quik.com

16 July 2005, Thou Shalt not Kill

16 July 2005
Now we enter firmly into the “Thou shalt nots.” “Do not murder is pretty straight forward, but can lead into exploration of other subjects.

First, the commandment read, “do not murder,” not as some would have it, “do not kill.” The Torah, as a whole demands justice, and evening up the scales so to speak. There are five crimes for which the penalty was death. They were murder, rape, working on the Sabbath, homosexual acts and adultery. Why these particular acts and not others? I believe to some extent, because each of these acts truly desecrates the image of God, of whom we are made in his image. Punishments in the Bible were not placed to keep people from committing crime. Note, prisons in the Bible are usually used for what we would call political prisoners, not for punishment. Not once in the Torah (or anywhere else in the Bible for that matter) does it suggest that people should be punished by being sent to gaol. Punishment is a matter of retribution and justice. Death penalty for the rapist or murderer. The thief had to return the stolen property (or its monetary value) and then some.

This is something in our “modern” society that we have forgotten, is that the scales must be balanced. Yes we are saved through grace and the blood of Jesus, but we must make amends for our wrong doings. We must learn to apologise, to admit our wrong doings, and when we hurt someone make amends.

Indeed, for Christians, it is even tougher. Jesus tells us that to hate someone is equivalent to murder. In fact to paraphrase what Jesus says about adultery, if anyone should kill someone in his heart, then he has already killed them. That is bad news for us. Sometimes we hate, thinking we are doing the right thing. It is popular today to say, “hate the sin, but love the sinner,” but this is not always easy to accomplish. Here we must rely on the grace of God. Love your enemy, feed him and give him drink and clothe him are instructions not only found from the New Testament, but in the Tanakh as well. We must not be guided by our feelings (as Obeywon Kanobe tells Luke Skywalker), but by faith and the word of God. Loving our neighbour is not a warm fuzzy feeling in our heart. It is seeing to his or her needs when they are in need, as did the “Good Samaritan.” God will honour our actions and give us the feelings at the appropriate time.

Worse today in our society we kill through kindness. There are many in our society who are doomed to an eternity of Hell, because we say naught. And why don’t we. Well, it might be embarrassing, or everyone has the right to believe the way they wish, or the Bible doesn’t really mean that that is sin, after all we live in modern times. We through our inaction condemn many to death. Do we tell the adulterer, the active homosexual, the drunk, the glutton, the dainty eater, the idolater, that Jesus can make them into a new creation, or do we take the political correct stance and say nothing, or even worse incorporate their sin into church. Many of us are responsible for sending many to hell, to eternal death because of our silence.

For those of us from Anglican backgrounds, especially English, this kind of murder is quite easy because religion is such a private thing, something not to be shared or discussed. As I recall the rules from West Point, a gentleman cadet and officer does not discuss religion or politics, but what more important thing to discuss than the prospect of eternal life?

My friends, I encourage you to ask God to send his Holy Spirit into your heart so that you may lead people to life, and not leave them to death.

Shalom and blessings in the Name of Yeshua

+Mar Michael Abportus
mjthan@quik.com

Tanakh Portion 2 July 2005

Honour your father and mother , so that you may live long in the land which YHWH your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:12, Complete Jewish Bible).

A simple commandment, but one that often is lost in the translation. This is the first commandment with a promise. Many times we interpret this as a children’s commandment, commanding to obey and respect parents, but this is actually a commandment for adults. The Hebrew word here has more the sense of giving adults respect and honour by looking out and caring for them. It is true, that if we as parents teach our children to honour us, then they will be more likely to look out for us once they are grown up.

How does one do this? Several cans of worms must be opened here. For children to honour their parents, the parents must honour one another. The onus in this case is on the mother who is commanded to respect the father. The father, on the other hand is called to love the wife, as Christ loves the church, being ready to lay his life down for her. In other words, women, honour and respect your husbands. Do this in all ways, and you will gain your children’s respect (By the way, if your husband is not a believer, you might even win him to Christ this way). I have seen many a woman lose her children’s respect because she did not honour her husband.

Husband’s too gain their children’s respect by truly loving their wives and sacrificing for them. Men, we must look out and meet or see that our wives needs are met. Women are not just one of the boys. They have different emotional and other needs than men have. Be aware of this, and be ready to make sacrifices.

Part of the secret to keeping this commandment is by not being yoked unequally. It is very important when you marry, that you marry another believer. If you do not, then there will be tremendous tensions in raising your children if you attempt to raise them in a Godly manner. You will end up in conflict with your spouse, with your children and with your God. Now maybe you have become a believer since being married, but your spouse has not. Just follow Paul’s instructions, women respect you husband, men love your wife. Do not preach, but get your spouse to attend a good Bible preaching church, where God’s word can work on them. Listen to Christian radio, fill your family with God’s word.

Another important way to teach your children the importance of this commandment is by fulfilling it yourself. Do you visit your parents? Do you constantly criticise them in front of your children? What you sow, so shall you reap.

How important is the commandment? It seems that every centenarian I have known had a deep love and respect for his or her parents (and cared for them). In addition, if children respect the authority of parents, and parents take care of their parents, then children will respect their teacher and the policeman on the street, and the adult will try and help those in authority to do their job. As we learn to seek to honour and care for our parents, we learn to honour and care for the society in which we live, and for those in authority in it, instead of criticising and allowing them to do all the work.

As I draw to a close, it appears that I have left out an important part. In and of myself I cannot do it. All of us hold something against parents. Some of us have hurt our children. But there is always grace. If you have truly asked Jesus into your heart, he will send his Holy Spirit to give you the desire and the strength to truly honour our parents and authorities. Indeed we will want to honour them, because in honouring them, we honour HIM.

Shalom and blessings in the Name of Yeshua

+Mar Michael Abportus

mjthan@quik.com