29TH OF THE 5TH MONTH 2015/2016
Shabbat Shalom all,
Ya’aqoḇ/James 1:25 “But he that looked into the perfect Torah, that of freedom, and continues in it, not becoming a hearer that forgets, but a doer of work, this one shall be blessed in his doing of the Torah.”
Ya’aqoḇ makes it very clear to us that we are to ‘continue’ in the perfect Torah, that of freedom and in our doing of the Torah we shall be blessed! The Greek word used for ‘continue’ is παραμένω paramenō – Strong’s G3887 which means, ‘abide, to remain beside or near, continuing’, and comes from two words: 1) παρά para – Strong’s G3844 which is used as a primitive participle meaning, ‘from beside, by the side of, by, besides, near’, and 2) μένω menō – Strong’s G3306 which means, ‘to stay, abide, remain, stand’, which is also the word used in Yoḥanan/John 15 where we are told to ‘stay in, remain in’ Messiah!
To ‘continue in the Torah’ and the ‘doing of the Torah’ is the ‘how to’ of ‘staying in Messiah’, yet the sad reality we see today is that many who claim to be ‘in Messiah’ are not continuing in the Torah as they forsake the Torah by walking in a falsely taught freedom of lawlessness!
We certainly have been set free from the Torah of sin and death, meaning that the death sentence over our lives has been satisfied by the blood of our Master and Elohim, and those who remain in Him, by the doing of the Torah, are assured that the second death shall have no power over them!
Romiyim/Romans 6:18 “And having been set free from sin, you became servants of righteousness.”
We have been set free from sin, which we know is lawlessness:
Yoḥanan Aleph/1 John 3:4 “Everyone doing sin also does lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.”
Having been set free from sin/lawlessness, we have become servants of righteousness, and the Torah is very clear on what righteousness is for us:
Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 6:25 “And it is righteousness for us when we guard to do all this command before יהוה our Elohim, as He has commanded us.”
Everything that I am saying we all know, or rather should certainly know by now! So why, you may ask, am I stating that which has been made so very clear to all of us who have been set free from the bondage of sin and the destructive lies, false dogmas and vain traditions of man? I am reminding us of these things simply because we must always be on guard against any form of complacency or compromise settling in to our daily walk of righteousness! We must guard ourselves from constructing substitutes that deviate our ability in continually giving our all and our best unto Elohim, and therefore we must guard to make sure that we never find ourselves forsaking our need to stay in Him and continue with steadfastness in His Torah! In a message tonight called, ‘FORSAKE NOT THE TORAH OF יהוה’, may we all take heed to this clear caution being proclaimed as we do our utmost to be a people who lovingly hear, guard and do all He commands us to and stay in our Master and Elohim in order that He stays in us!
Sha’ul tells us that our life of faith can be likened to a race in which we compete and in:
Qorintiyim Aleph/1 Corinthians 9:24-25 “Do you not know that those who run in a race indeed all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes controls himself in every way. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we for an incorruptible crown.”
Running to receive the prize – giving your all that requires discipline and complete control – how is your spiritual race going at the moment? As we all know – to be a top athlete today requires total commitment and dedication – hours and hours a day of high pressured training and strict regimes in preparation and hope for an event that may only last seconds to obtain gold, and any substitution in the preparation for the ultimate prize may hinder their success! Now Sha’ul tells us that we are to run in this way – spiritually that is – giving our all for the true prize that does not perish. In other words, in our pursuit for excellence in seeking after and running the race set before us with perseverance, we are told in Iḇ’rim/Hebrews 12:1 to lay aside every weight and sin in order to give our best unto יהוה, and in doing so making sure that we in no way find ourselves forsaking His Torah in the slightest!
I would like us to learn the vital need for us to guard against forsaking the Torah of יהוה by looking at some problems that marked the life of a wicked king who forsook the Torah of יהוה, so that we can be sober, alert and watchful against being marked by similar problems in our own lives. In order to do that we will look into the wonderful mirror of the Word of Elohim and allow His Word to teach, correct, reproof and train us in righteousness in order to ensure that we are in fact giving our best and allowing no substitute, compromise or complacency to defile our complete set-apartness in Him!
Please turn with me to Diḇre haYamim Bět/2 Chronicles 12 (Read).
Each and every day we need to be continually assessing our lives and asking ourselves whether we are giving our best or do we often find that we quickly slip into a mode of substituting the enduring perseverance of living set-apart lives for compromised standards that the pressures of wrong relationships and the fleshly standards of the world that lure us into being conformed to its falsely labelled substitutes for acceptable living.
In the chapter we have just read, we read of Reḥaḇ’am – the son of Shelomoh and grandson of Dawiḏ.
The name רְחַבְעָם Reḥaḇ’am – Strong’s H7346 means, ‘people are enlarged, extended to an open space’.
His name comes from two words: 1) רָחַב raḥaḇ – Strong’s H7337 which means, ‘to be or grow wide or large, extend, make room, open wide’, and 2) עָם am – Strong’s H5971 meaning, ‘people, nation, citizens’.
His name, in many ways, is a picture of setting free, or having been set free, and when we look at what is said about him in verse 1, we are able to identify with many who so easily forsake the need to guard the Torah of יהוה under an assumed freedom that has been erroneously taught in falsehood to the masses! Bringing it a little closer to home we also recognise how many believers who have come out of falsified worship systems and have been set free from the bondage of man-made traditions that are taught as truth, are being marked by the very same problems that we see marking this evil king!
You would think that Reḥaḇ’am would have understood how he should have lived unto יהוה, yet as we know he was, in essence, a phony and a hypocrite! He tried to have the appearance of being a righteous king but failed miserably. He had inherited power, position, wealth and prestige, yet it all went to his head and it cost him as he failed to give his best to יהוה, as he did all he could do give his best unto himself – and boy isn’t that so real for so many today!!!
When so many get caught up in their own little world of ‘self’, they couldn’t care who gets hurt along the way as long as what they do benefits only ‘self’!
The setting for this chapter is as follows:
5 years had passed since the death of Shelomoh and Reḥaḇ’am had become king over Yisra’ĕl, and in this short time so much had already happened under his wicked rule. Yisra’ĕl had officially become divided into 2 houses/nations, and Reḥaḇ’am had forsaken the Torah of יהוה and caused Yisra’ĕl to follow his lead as idolatry was firmly established. We also read in Melaḵim Aleph/ 1 Kings 14 that Yehuḏah had done evil in the eyes of יהוה and had provoked Him to jealousy by all their sins they had committed – more than all their fathers! High places had been established, and every abomination that the nations were doing they were doing, including having cult prostitutes! Reḥaḇ’am, through his wickedness and pride, had caused a huge division and the rapid decline of a nation who was called to be set-apart and supposed to be a light to the nations!
One of the major lessons we can take from these events is simply this: sin and division brings an easy open door for the enemy into one’s life. Shishaq, the sovereign of Mitsrayim, was given an open door, so to speak, to invade the land because of sin and division.
What is interesting to me and worth taking note of is that the name שִׁישַׁק Shishaq – Strong’s H7895, which is of foreign origin, means, ‘greedy of fine linen’. How fitting is this? In Scripture we recognise the metaphor of fine linen representing the righteousness of the set-apart ones, as we see that which is spoken of the Bride of Messiah, in:
Ḥazon/Revelation 19:8 “And to her it was given to be dressed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the set-apart ones.”
Shishaq was the sovereign of Mitsrayim during the reign of Shelomoh and Reḥaḇ’am and he came and took away all the treasures of the House of יהוה and the house of the sovereign! He certainly pictures for me the enemy who seeks to destroy the righteous and is greedy for that which they have!!! The world is greedy for our fine linen and seeks to steal away our righteousness, and when we do not follow יהוה with our all, He will allow the enemy to do so! When one is enticed or tempted to compromise, even in the slightest, they are drawn away by their own desires:
Ya’aqoḇ/James 1:14 “But each one is enticed when he is drawn away by his own desires and trapped.”
When one has idolatry in their heart and is like Reḥaḇ’am who only did what was best for himself, goes to seek יהוה, then we see in Yeḥezqěl that יהוה makes it clear that He will answer that person according to the idols in his heart:
Yeḥezqěl/Ezekiel 14:4-5 “Therefore speak to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “Everyone of the house of Yisra’ĕl who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts the stumbling-block of his crookedness before his face, and shall come to the prophet – I יהוה shall answer him who comes, according to his many idols, 5 in order to lay hold of the house of Yisra’ĕl by their heart, for they have become estranged from Me by their idols, all of them.”
When you go with a heart filled with idolatry to inquire of יהוה, He will answer you according to your idolatry!! This is a very sobering reality indeed!
Reḥaḇ’am had established idolatry, through a compromised platform of mixed worship, as being acceptable under his reign and therefore opened up the door for some much needed rebuke and discipline, in which יהוה would use their enemy to bring it about in order to humble them and cause them to return to obedience.
Reḥaḇ’am really enjoyed having the Temple of יהוה that was built by his father and was happy to ‘worship’ the Elohim of his father and grandfather, while at the same time indulged in worshipping the false and pagan mighty ones of the nations! Mixed worship is not worship in the eyes of יהוה. Reḥaḇ’am rested on his assumed security based on the promise to Dawiḏ that there will always be a king on the throne of Dawiḏ making way for Messiah and he presumed to be untouchable thinking that he was able to rule as he pleased and the account of his life is certainly a great lesson for us on privilege, pride and the judgement of יהוה.
The record of these events are written as examples for us in order to warn us, so that he who thinks he stands should take heed lest he fall. Reḥaḇ’am only listened to himself, and we take note that only two chapters back we are able to read of how he refused the advice of the elders and then went and asked those of his own age! He never sought for true and proper sound advice, but rather he just sought for someone to agree with him and confirm his own will and therefore would only ‘take advice’ from those who matched his will. There are many today who do just that as they will quickly and easily discard the truth if it hurts or if it is requires something of them that they are uncomfortable with!
Reḥaḇ’am did not serve יהוה like Dawiḏ! After all he was a son of an ammonite, a woman that Shelomoh should not have married!
This was a man who simply refused to give his best unto יהוה, by so quickly and easily forsaking the Torah of יהוה.
And so I would like to briefly look at some of the problems that marked his life and that which marks the life of one who substitute set-apart living with complacency and compromise due to the serving of self and being filled with lustful pride.
A – PROBLEM OF HIS CHARACTER (verse 1)
Verse 1 tells us straight away that this guy’s character was seriously flawed! He operated in selfish pride, disregarded the Word of Elohim and led others astray and so revealed some serious heart issues as he believed that neither he nor the nation needed יהוה’s presence, instructions or involvement in their lives. It was as if he was saying by his corrupted living standards, “Thanks for bringing me this far, I do not need you anymore, I can handle it from here…”, and is therefore a perfect example for us of a life that cannot walk in the blessing of יהוה.
Tehillah/Psalm 1:1-2 “Blessed is the man who shall not walk in the counsel of the wrong, and shall not stand in the path of sinners, and shall not sit in the seat of scoffers, 2 but his delight is in the Torah of יהוה, and he meditates in His Torah day and night.”
Reḥaḇ’am is the exact opposite of the blessed man being described for us in this tehillah. He walked, stood and sat in the wrong ways and with the wrong people and engaged in wrong practices with no time to even think on the Torah, never mind meditate on it, for that would have been way too much ‘work’ for a man who lacked the pure character of a true set-apart child of the Living Elohim, who gives their best and takes serious the need to be transformed daily, renewing their minds by meditating on the Torah!
Reḥaḇ’am thought or assumed that he didn’t need the Torah יהוה, while still assuming he could have the benefits of the protection and provision of יהוה – major mistake! He thought he could go it in his own and still be blessed! After all, he had seemingly been given everything – the reign, the riches etc. What he did not realise is that without the Torah of יהוה he could do nothing! When one forsakes the Torah of יהוה then you are forsaking Him and without Him and His Torah we are able to do nought!
Yoḥanan/John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who stays in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit. Because without Me you are able to do naught!”
In Yoḥanan/John 14:15 יהושע clearly tells us that if we love Him we will guard His commands.
Mattithyahu/Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, so that they see your good works and praise your Father who is in the heavens.”
Eph’siyim/Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Messiah יהושע unto good works, which Elohim prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Miḵah/Micah 6:8 “He has declared to you, O man, what is good. And what does יהוה require of you but to do right, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your Elohim?”
These verses tell us how we are to stand, sit and walk in Messiah – and Reḥaḇ’am displayed none of the above!
The pure character of Messiah is built up in us through endurance and perseverance through trials as opposed to the world’s comfort of fitting in or keeping up with the joneses, so to speak! Reḥaḇ’am wanted to be like the world. How about you? Are you giving your best or do you find yourself slacking, in conformity to worldly pleasures or even your own fleshly pleasures and desires? Are you giving your utmost or are you experiencing the crippling effect of the influence of compromise that is fuelled by those who are not? Bad company corrupts good character!!!
B – PROBLEM OF HIS INABILITY TO HEED DISCIPLINE (verses 2-9)
Reḥaḇ’am’s sin/lawlessness resulted in the discipline of יהוה upon him and the nation and so יהוה sends Shishaq, the sovereign of Mitsrayim, as a method of discipline! What is interesting to note here when you compare verse 9 to the account of the exodus in Shemoth/Exodus 12:35-36 in that we see a clear contrast of events.
In Shemoth/Exodus 12, Yisra’ĕl plundered the Mitsrites and now here, when in the Promised Land under the corrupt reign of Reḥaḇ’am, Mitsrayim were plundering Yisra’ĕl!!!
יהוה used the world out of which they were delivered to discipline them!
In verse 5 יהוה makes it clear – “You have forsaken Me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishaq.”!
All who call upon the Name of יהוה shall be delivered, and all who forsake יהוה are left in the hand of that which they seek out!
The Hebrew word for ‘forsook/forsaken’ is עָזַב azaḇ – Strong’s H5800 which means, ‘to leave, forsake, loose, loosen, abandon, leave behind, neglect’.
Mishlĕ/Proverbs 3:3 “Let not loving-commitment and truth forsake you – bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart”
Anyone who claims to serve יהוה without walking in and giving heed to follow His Torah, commands and instructions are not serving in Truth and have by default of their lawlessness, they have forsaken Him. And those who claim that the Torah/Law of Elohim has been done away with are sadly riddled with the leaven of the hypocrisy of man’s theologies and dogmas that seeks only to serve self rather than the Giver of Life, while claiming the opposite!
Seek יהוה and live!
Amos 5:4-6 “For thus said יהוה to the house of Yisra’ĕl, “Seek Me and live, 5 but do not seek Bĕyth Ěl, nor enter Gilgal, nor pass over to Be’ĕrsheḇa. For Gilgal shall certainly go into exile, and Bĕyth Ěl become a non-entity. 6 “Seek יהוה and live, lest He break out like fire upon the house of Yosĕph, and shall consume it, with no one to quench it in Bĕyth Ěl.”
Reḥaḇ’am sought what the world had to offer and therefore יהוה used the world to discipline and humble them!
In speaking of those who lusted in the Wilderness, we see in:
Tehillah/Psalm 106:15 “And He gave them their request, but sent leanness within their being.”
Many who forsake the Torah of יהוה for the sake of the flesh, even if just for a small or slight compromise for self, find a leanness develop within their soul!
The leaders and Reḥaḇ’am did humble themselves and declared that יהוה is righteous, which tells us that under the leadership of Reḥaḇ’am the righteousness of יהוה was proudly rejected. They repented of this and יהוה declared that He wouldn’t destroy them and He would give them some deliverance. They still would be disciplined but they would not be destroyed! However, Reḥaḇ’am would not learn from the discipline and would only humble himself as a means of seeking an escape from the hardships he was facing so that he could set himself up again to walk after his own ways. He did not heed the discipline of יהוה and so by definition of Scripture he was a fool and did not fear Him who could destroy the soul!
Mishlĕ/Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of יהוה is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.”
He despised the Torah and the discipline that is as a result of despising the Torah and the sad reality of a fool is simply this – he is never stable! And this was the cause of his next problem:
C – PROBLEM OF HIS OBVIOUS CONFUSION
In verse 1 we are told he is full of himself – full of pride; then in verse 6 he humbles himself before יהוה, after which he resorted back to making his own plans which we will look at shortly, then in verse 12 he humbled himself again; yet in verse 14 we are told that he did evil! This was a confused and unstable man – unable to stand firmly on the Rock!
He was up and down and did whatever he had to in order to ‘get out of jail free’, so to speak, and then returned to his own vomit!
Mishlĕ/Proverbs 26:11 “As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.”
This is a picture of a man who clearly would never give his best unto יהוה, but only thought of himself and would therefore mimic the appearance of reverence in order to escape judgement, abusing the mercy and favour of Elohim! What we must remember is that יהוה sees the heart and he did not seek יהוה with his heart! Today there are many who display this characteristic of confused living, for one day they will be so amped and on fire (in appearance at least) for the Truth and be ready to take on the world while it is seemingly going well, only to change their stance very quickly and the next day be so full of pride, self-pity and lustful desires, that they forsake the fleeting fire of commitment they vainly confessed to. Confused people are they who forsake the Torah and think they can do it on their own! How many times have you found yourself confused? The Torah in not confusing at all! What is confusing is the mixing of the Torah of יהוה with worldly standards, as one never knows what the right standard for the circumstance they find themselves in is. Listen, there is only one way – no matter the circumstances – be not double-minded but rather be focused as you diligently prepare your hearts daily to seek יהוה, aměn!
Poor character, lack of discipline and confusion lead to the next problem:
D – PROBLEM OF HIS CULTIVATED COMPROMISES
Shishaq came and plundered Yisra’ĕl and he took away the treasures of the House of יהוה, including the gold shields which Shelomoh had made. These shields were worth a lot and symbolised the very esteem of the Temple that Shelomoh had made. 200 large shields and 300 shields – all of gold – which in today’s terms is well over a billion rand worth of gold. These shields were not used for battle – they were brought out when the king would go in to the Temple, and I am sure we can all grasp a picture of what this must have looked like. Think about it for a moment: all this shimmering gold would be quite a sight as it made a great huge statement of the status of the Temple Shelomoh had built for יהוה. And now all the shields among other treasures were gone!!!
What does Reḥaḇ’am do? He substitutes the lost shields for bronze ones that he made in an attempt at trying to make it seem as if all was still ok!
Bronze also shines and can look very spectacular, especially from a distance, but it was not gold! Gold represented and spoke of power and prosperity and was expensive and hard to acquire in large quantities and it does not tarnish and is durable. Brass/bronze on the other hand is not pure – it is an alloy of copper and zinc – it is much cheaper and easier to acquire, however it must be constantly polished as it tarnishes very easily.
Gold in the Hebrew is the word זָהָב zahaḇ – Strong’s H2091 – and is from a root word that means to shimmer and is often figuratively used to describe something that is yellow as oil or clear and pure, and free of dirt.
It is also used to describe ‘fair weather’ or clear skies and figuratively it speaks of ‘brilliance and splendour’, coming from an unused root meaning ‘to shimmer/shine’, which paints a wonderful contrast between gold and bronze.
Bronze in Hebrew is the word נְחשֶׁת neḥosheth – Strong’s H5178 and bronze is also used as a picture of obstinacy – that is being stubborn or difficult or hard headed:
Yeshayahu/Isaiah 18:4 “Because I knew that you were hard, and your neck was an iron sinew, and your forehead bronze,”
This was the word of יהוה to Yisra’ĕl who had professed to swear by יהוה, yet not in truth or righteousness!
Reḥaḇ’am exhibited the clear character of being a hard headed fool by the fact that he had replaced the plundered gold shields with whatever he could get his hands on instead of waiting upon יהוה to show him what to do. He replaced what was now missing with that which was inferior and we are only told that he made the shields – what about all the other treasures that were plundered? Reḥaḇ’am was only interested in what the outward appearance was all about – he wanted it to appear that the same brilliance and power was still there while the inside was empty!!! In Scripture the word for bronze is also used to describe the opposite of clear skies and fair weather as we see in references to the curses for disobedience in:
Deḇarim/Deuteronomy 28:23 “And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you iron.”
The word for bronze is also used in Scripture to describe filthiness, lust and harlotry – the opposite of that which is pure and clean.
Yeḥezqěl/Ezekiel 16:36 “Thus said the Master יהוה, “Because your copper was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whorings with your lovers, and with the idols of your abominations, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them,”
In the 1611 KJV the word for copper here was translated as ‘filthiness’ – as we see that יהוה will expose the filthiness of those who claim to live in Him yet have their lives so mixed with too much junk!
The contrast of brass and gold carries great lessons for us as many today are giving brass instead of gold, or rather they are running for brass instead of gold as they offer up their lives, not as daily living sacrifices, but rather are offering up an inferior substitute for total set-apart living and are therefore operating in pride instead of humility; walking in the flesh instead of the spirit; compromising instead of committing to set-apart living! Those who are like Reḥaḇ’am are satisfied with a substituted life that fits them instead of the genuine walk of faith that has its many troubles and persecutions; and many make excuses rather than simply bow in humble obedience and so easily say things like, “I would but…”, or, “I know I should but…”, and will often have many frustrations that express unhealthy criticisms for what they do not have as opposed to rendering a proper thanksgiving for all that the blessing of יהוה provides to those who meditate on and walk in His Torah day and night!
Brass or gold… what describes your life best – is it a brass that constantly needs polishing as the mixed/double standards continually tarnish and reveal the reality of the substance of your worship? Or is it gold that is pure, clean, refined and durable, always ready and able to stand the tests with great joy and faith in the Master and Elohim, our Rock and King, יהושע Messiah?
What we can take from Reḥaḇ’am is this – it is one thing to try and look right in appearance and another to be right in your heart!
We must be a people who prepare our hearts to seek יהוה.
Shemuʼĕl Aleph/1 Samuel 7:3 “And Shemuʼĕl spoke to all the house of Yisra’ĕl, saying, “If you return to יהוה with all your hearts, then put away the foreign mighty ones and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts for יהוה, and serve Him only, so that He delivers you from the hand of the Philistines.”
Can you declare the words of Dawiḏ – a man after the heart of יהוה?
Tehillah/Psalm 57:7 “My heart is firm, O Elohim, my heart is firm; I sing and praise.”
Tehillah/Psalm 105:3-4 “Make your boast in His set-apart Name; let the hearts rejoice of those seeking יהוה. 4 Seek יהוה and His strength; seek His face always.”
We are to seek Him while he is to be found, call on Him while He is near, continually having hearts prepared to seek Him, while we forsake all wrong thoughts and ways.
When one fails to prepare their hearts to seek יהוה they will find themselves trying to strengthen themselves and end up falling into a self-sufficient attitude of no need or desire for the Word or fellowship in community and when this happens the doors are opened for the Shishaq’s to come and raid us of all the treasures that יהוה has given us! The enemy will steal away joy and peace and when you allow that to happen and try to substitute the very resurrection power of Elohim that ought to be at work in you for mere human effort – you will crash and burn!
In walking in Him we cannot give substitutes – we are to give our best! I am sure that we all can recognise times in our lives where we have not given our all but have rather substituted surrender and true humility for selfish pride. Perhaps you have been polishing that mixed lifestyle of bronze so much that it is tiring you out as evidences of tarnish tend to show up in the most inopportune and unprepared moments that reveal the true character of what is going on inside!!!
How short is your fuse when you are ‘ticked off’ because things did not go your way? How joyous are you when you find yourself in the place of lack and in despair? How much do you prepare your heart to seek יהוה? If you are seeking Him simply just to get you out of the hotspots and bring quick fixes to your imminent problems that are at large as a result of sin, stubbornness and pride, then your heart is not truly prepared to seek Him!
Let us not make the first mistake Reḥaḇ’am had made – and that is to try to establish himself, strengthen himself and in the process forsake the Torah of יהוה.
יהוה sees each of our hearts – He knows all that is going on – some may be pretty good at polishing the brass shields up to a brilliant shine not allowing any to come close enough into their lives to recognise and realise that it is not gold but polished bronze. It is time for us as His Bride to discard the substitutes and give Him our Best and run with great perseverance as we see יהוה Himself restoring and establishing the tabernacle of Dawiḏ, which pours out and expresses a pure and undefiled worship that brings esteem unto יהוה our Elohim.
It is evil to not prepare our hearts to seek Him, and we take note that this is why Reḥaḇ’am did evil, as we see in verse 14 this being the case because he did not prepare is his heart to seek יהוה! We know the days in which we now live are wicked and we are to redeem the time – all the more reason for us to discard the bronze substitutes and take up the golden shields of pure set-apart faith shining His wonderful light before all, in order that our Father in Heaven receives all the praise!
Eph’siyim/Ephesians 5:14-17 “That is why He says, “Wake up, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Messiah shall shine on you.” 15 See then that you walk exactly, not as unwise, but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are wicked. 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the desire of יהוה is.”
Mattithyahu/Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, so that they see your good works and praise your Father who is in the heavens.”
These were the words of our Master…. And do you know what He said in the next verse that follows?
Mattithyahu/Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to complete.”
Our Master’s message is clear – in order to shine your light before men you must not forsake the Torah of יהוה!!!
Mishlĕ/Proverbs 28:4-5 “Those who forsake the Torah praise the wrong, those who guard the Torah strive with them. 5 Evil men do not understand right-ruling, but those who seek יהוה understand all.”
Continuing in the Torah gives us understanding in all matters and we must take heed to not be like Reḥaḇ’am who pictures for us those who are walking under a false freedom that forsakes the Torah of יהוה and does not prepare their hearts to seek יהוה. Do not be found forsaking the Torah of יהוה through neglecting to do what is commanded for true set-apart living and the clear responsibility we have as a body together in proclaiming the Good News of the reign of our Master and Elohim!
May each of our lives be an encouragement to one another as we guard righteousness in all we do, as we strive to be the true remnant faithful bride that is able to comfort others by our ways and deeds of righteousness, and hear the words of our Master and Elohim:
Yeshayahu/Isaiah 56:1 “Thus said יהוה, “Guard right-ruling, and do righteousness, for near is My deliverance to come, and My righteousness to be revealed.”
יהוה bless you and guard you; יהוה make His face shine upon you and show you favour; יהוה lift up His face to you and give you Shalom!