2nd of the 10th month 2016/2017
Shalom all,
Timotiyos Bět/2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For there shall be a time when they shall not bear sound teaching, but according to their own desires, they shall heap up for themselves teachers tickling the ear, 4 and they shall indeed turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to myths.”
The time that Sha’ul was speaking of is certainly upon us as we take note of how true his words to Timotiyos are, especially as we are able to easily recognise how sound teaching is scoffed at and most are turning their ears to that which feeds their own fleshly desires and causes them to vainly justify their lawlessness and compromised lifestyles as something that they deem acceptable according to their own standards, while the clear standards of Elohim are set aside or excused away as being something irrelevant and inconvenient!
As I pondered on this letter to Timotiyos and stopped to consider the time that we are living in, I was caught by the term ‘sound teaching’ and recognised how so many are stubbornly refusing to bear sound teaching as they would prefer to hear whatever makes them feel good in the moment, without any concern for proper discernment, wisdom or true understanding. In the process they are filling their ears with that which is not good and so are being steered away from the Truth with such ease! This is a frightening reality that is clearly evident in these last days! In a brief message called, ‘SOUND WORDS!’ I want to share with you more on this word that is translated as ‘sound’ so that we are able to assess the urgency of our need to make sure that we, as true ambassadors of our coming Master and Elohim, יהושע Messiah, have ears to hear and not just ears that are being turned to tickling myths that deafen the call to come out and be separate!
Let us therefore take a look at this Greek word that is translated as ‘sound’ and explore it usage in the Scriptures.
In the Greek text the word that is translated as ‘sound’ is ὑγιαίνω hugiainō – Strong’s G5198 which is a verb that means, ‘to be sound, to be safe and sound, to be whole, to be healthy’, and is also used in the Greek as a metaphor for believers whose opinions are free from any mixture of error. In other words, it is used as a metaphor to describe how pure, clean, healthy and sound the witness and speech of true believers are! True believers listen to sound teachings and speak sound words as they do not lie or twist truths to satisfy the desires of the flesh and, in a sense, do not speak with a ‘fork-tongue’!
One’s speech can often give away what they have been listening to! How is your speech? What are you allowing your ears to hear?
This Greek word for ‘sound’ – ὑγιαίνω hugiainō – Strong’s G5198 – comes from the primitive root word ὑγιής hugiēs – Strong’s G5199 which means, ‘sound, whole, healthy, restored, normal’.
The word ὑγιαίνω hugiainō – Strong’s G5198 can be understood as describing something that is healthy and physically well. It is from this word that we are able to recognise the English word ‘hygiene’ which was derived in the 1670s from the French word hygiène , but ultimately comes from these Greek words that we are discussing.
According to the Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, the English word ‘hygiene’ is defined as follows:
1) A science of the establishment and maintenance of health
2) Conditions or practices (as of cleanliness) conducive to health
I think that the meaning of this word is very clear as it represents that which is good for your health and includes the necessary practices required to stay healthy!
With this understanding we are able to get better insight into the words of Sha’ul as we consider how sick most are today and are in need of good health! While this may be literally true, what I am talking about is how sick most are when it comes to their knowledge and application of the Truth!
The Greek word ὑγιαίνω hugiainō – Strong’s G5198 is used 12 times in the Renewed Writings and I would therefore like to take a look at some of these occurrences in order to grasp our need to be people who are bearing sound teachings and not falling away to poisoning myths and man-made doctrines that are killing people rather than giving the life giving words of our Master!
The first times that we see this word ὑγιαίνω hugiainō – Strong’s G5198 being used is in:
Luqas/Luke 5:31-32 “And יהושע answering, said to them, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
In these recorded words of our Master, the Greek word ὑγιαίνω hugiainō – Strong’s G5198 is translated here as ‘well’ and as we can see from these words, our Master makes it clear who is well and sound/healthy and who is not. From this passage it is clear that the righteous are the ‘well’ ones and the sinners are the sick!
Those who guard righteousness are healthy and well, whereas sinners are sick and in need of our Master’s ‘sound words’ of healing!
When looking at these two verses we must recognise what being righteous entails; and we can see a clear definition of what righteousness is for us in the following verse:
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.’”
This verse could not be clearer!!! Guarding the commands of Elohim is righteousness for us and by doing so it keeps us healthy and well.
The Greek word that is used here for ‘sick’ is κακῶς kakōs – Strong’s G2560 which means, ‘be sick, be diseased, miserable, sick people’, and comes from the root word κακός kakos – Strong’s G2556 meaning, ‘evil, wicked, bad things, loathsome, wrong’.
This Greek word κακῶς kakōs – Strong’s G2560 can have the meaning of being physically ill as well as describing, morally, the evil, reviling and improper words or speech of the unrighteous.
Sin has corrupted mankind and has caused the life of man to be drained out through a decaying process, as we understand the words of Elohim to Aḏam, when He said that in the day that he would eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which he was commanded not to, he would die (Berěshith/Genesis 2:17)! In the Hebrew we see this phrase in Berěshith/Genesis 2:17: “you shall certainly die” written as – מוֹת תָּמוּת – ‘moth tamuth’ and is a phrase that contains the repetition of the same root word מוּת muth – Strong’s H4191 which means, ‘to die, surely be put to death, perished, dying’; and the literal translation of these two words being repeated are best rendered as, “dying you shall die”. So what we see from this is that sin causes a process of death to be started as the ‘life’ begins to depart from man over a process of time. It is not that when you sin you die straight away but rather the body or life you have begins on a path to death because of sin!
Sin has left man in a state of decay and headed for death and in desperate need of a physician to heal and restore health and life, which can only be done by our Master, Elohim, Saviour and Kinsman Redeemer, יהושע Messiah!
He makes it clear that He came for the sick and call sinners to repentance. Our Master’s sacrifice satisfies, once for all, the required blood for all who turn away from wickedness and sin and call upon His Name and then guard to do what He commands and guard righteousness and walk in the healthy and sound word of His Torah!
With His sound word we cannot walk well and be healthy and therefore to turn away from His sound teachings is simply a foolish thing to do and fools are headed for death, not life!
In Luqas/Luke 7 we are given the account a certain captain’s servant, who was valuable to him, was sick and was about to die. This captain sent elders of the Yehuḏim to Messiah, asking Him to come and heal his servant. While יהושע was on His way to the captain’s house, the captain sent his friends to Messiah to tell the Master that he was not worthy to have יהושע come under his roof and that if He only just spoke the word then his servant would be healed and said that he too was a man appointed under authority with soldiers under him. יהושע marvelled at his belief and said to the crowd that even in Yisra’ĕl He had not found such belief! Then we see the following:
Luqas/Luke 7:10 “And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant who had been sick in good health.”
Here we see the Greek word ὑγιαίνω hugiainō – Strong’s G5198 being translated as ‘good health’!
The ‘sound Word’ of our Master, יהושע Messiah, healed the sick servant and caused Him to be in good health.
In the parable of the prodigal son we again see this word ὑγιαίνω hugiainō – Strong’s G5198 being used to describe the renewed state of the son that had returned home:
Luqas/Luke 15:27 “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he received him back in health.’”
The prodigal son had been received back in health… he was no longer riddled with the filth of the world and eating in the pigs pen, he had been clothed in the best robe (picture of righteousness) and restored to being in a sound state!
In Sha’ul’s first letter to Timotiyos we see the following:
Timotiyos Aleph/1 Timothy 1:8-10 “And we know that the Torah is good if one uses it legitimately, 9 knowing this: that Torah is not laid down for a righteous being, but for the lawless and unruly, for the wicked and for sinners, for the wrong-doers and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for those who whore, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and for whatever else that is contrary to sound teaching”
Many have twisted Sha’ul’s words that are written here and claim that the Torah is no longer of any use for a righteous being. What Sha’ul is using here is court style language where he makes it clear that with the Torah not being laid down for the righteous, he was basically saying that for the righteous there is no sentence of punishment that can be enforced upon the righteous, because the righteous guard the commands and ‘keep the law’. The Torah IS laid down for the unrighteous and here Sha’ul expands the list of who is deemed to be unrighteous and ends the list with making it clear that whatever else is contrary to sound teaching can be added to this list!
He is basically saying that the ‘punishment of the Torah’ is not applied to the righteous!
Another way to express this is basically to say the following: When you keep the Torah you are free form the Torah, or, when you keep the law you are free from the law! What does that mean? A simple example that can best explain this is as follows: if you are driving along the road and keep the required speed limit and obey the rules of the road then the police have no authority over you and cannot charge you or fine you for you have not broken any laws but kept them as you should; however if you go over the speed limit or break any of the rules of the road then you have broken the law and may be liable to the required punishment being laid down/applied upon you!
As we have said, ‘sound teaching’ refers to the proper healthy teaching of our Master’s Word and anything that runs contrary to that will have the punishment of the Torah being laid down and enforced! Sha’ul warned Timotiyos to withdraw from those do not agree with the “sound” (ὑγιαίνω hugiainō – Strong’s G5198) words of our Master:
Timotiyos Aleph/1 Timothy 6:3-5 “If anyone teaches differently and does not agree to the sound words, those of our Master יהושע Messiah, and to the teaching which is according to reverence, 4 he is puffed up, understanding none at all, but is sick about questionings and verbal battles from which come envy, strife, slander, wicked suspicions, 5 worthless disputes of men of corrupt minds and deprived of the truth, who think that reverence is a means of gain – withdraw from such.”
We are to ‘hold fast’ to the ‘sound words’:
Timotiyos Bět/2 Timothy 1:13 “Hold the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in belief and love which are in Messiah יהושע.”
Hold the pattern!
The Greek word used here for ‘hold’ is – ἔχω echo – Strong’s G2192 which means, ‘to have, hold, consider, obtain, possess’ and expresses an active verb which can render the meaning, ‘to have (hold) in the hand, in the sense of wearing, to have (hold) possession of the mind (refers to alarm, agitating emotions, etc.), to hold fast keep’.
We are also told in:
Yoḥanan/John 14:21 “He who possesses My commands and guards them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I shall love him and manifest Myself to him.”
Yoḥanan/John 15:10 “If you guard My commands, you shall stay in My love, even as I have guarded My Father’s commands and stay in His love.”
Therefore, to ‘stay’ in the love of Elohim, we must ‘possess’ His commands and that means having a firm grip on the commands, and when we do this by belief in the Master we shall also ‘possess’ and have a firm grip on everlasting life!
Yehuḏah/Jude 1:21 “keep yourselves in the love of Elohim, looking for the compassion of our Master יהושע Messiah unto everlasting life.”
Among the requirements for an overseer we see the following in Sha’ul’s letter to Titos:
Titos/Titus 1:9 “clinging to the trustworthy word, according to the teaching, in order to be able both to encourage by sound teaching, and to reprove those who oppose it.”
Clinging to the trustworthy word of our Master is a vital requirement for any believer and in doing so we are to encourage others with sound teaching as well as be ready to reprove those who oppose sound teaching!
We are to speak what is fitting for ‘sound teaching’!
This Greek word that we are looking at – ὑγιαίνω hugiainō – Strong’s G5198 – is used 8 times in the LXX (Septuagint – Greek translation of the Tanak – O.T.) and is used to translate the Hebrew word שָׁלוֹם shalom – Strong’s H7965 which means, ‘wholeness, completeness, soundness, welfare, peace, health, prosperity, well-being, safety, protection’, which comes from the primitive root verb שָׁלֵם shalem – Strong’s H7999 which means, ‘to be complete or sound, rewarded, make full restitution’.
I find this extremely interesting and powerful in teaching us how important the Word of Elohim is for our lives as it ‘completes us’ in Messiah and keeps us healthy and secure in Him – as long as we stay in Him that is!
In this short overview of this word that is translated as ‘sound, good health’ I hope that you are able to carefully consider how important it is to bear sound teachings and not be deceived by ear tickling teachings that run contrary to the Word of Elohim, especially as we consider the time of year that the world is gearing up for in their worship of mammon and the many corrupt teachings that are being proclaimed by false teachers who are tickling the ears of many with myths that lead to death! As we also consider the need to guard the sound words of Truth we must also guard our mouths from speaking that which is not sound! How is your speech? What are you listening to?
SOUND WORDS!
יהוה bless you and guard you; יהוה make His face shine upon you and show favour to you; יהוה lift up His face to you and give you Shalom!!!