Teaching (no posting) The Book of Matthew

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Book of Matthew​

Peanut Gallery

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[SpiritPsalmist]

The Birth of Y'shua Messiah
Matthew 1:18-25 (One New Man Bible)

1:18. And Y'shua Messiah was born in this manner. While His mother Miriam was betrothed* to Joseph, before they came together she was found to have been made pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19. And Joseph, her husband, being righteous and not wanting to expose her publicly, wanted to secretly divorce her. 20. And when he was considering these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, "Joseph, son of David, you must not be afraid to take Miriam to yourself for your wife: for the One being formed in her is by the Holy Spirit. 21. And she will give birth to a Son, and you will call his name Y'shua;* for He will save His people from their sins." 22. And all this had happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,

1:23. "Behold the virgin will be pregnant and will bear a son, and they will call His name Emanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)
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which is translated "God with us." 24. And after Joseph rose from his sleep he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and he took his wife, 25. but he did not know her until she gave birth to a son: and he called His name Y'shua.

* (v. 18) The Jewish marriage began when the ketubah, the marriage contract, was signed. Later the ceremony would be performed and the marriage consummated. In Jewish law they were married, not betrothed. at the signing of the ketubah.

The wedding in Y'shua's day began with an agreement between the bride and groom, like engagement today. At the time of this agreement a formal document, called a Ketubah, was signed. The Ketubah included a price to be paid for the bride. At that time the couple was considered to be married, even though the marriage was not consummated. The groom then prepared a place, usually on family property, for the couple and when his father approved of the apartment or house, the son would come for his bride and the wedding ceremony would take place. Neither bride nor groom knew when the father would say it was good enough, so they both needed to be ready as the finishing was about done. Then the groom would go for the bride, often at night, and she would have to be ready.

The guests too would be notified at the last minute. The party began with the ceremony, and then the party lasted a whole week. Immediately after the ceremony, the bride and groom retired to the place he had prepared, and the friend of the groom, the best man, stood by the door. When the marriage had been consummated, the groom would shout in his joy and the friend of the groom would relay the good news to the guests. (John 3:29)

Do you see the connection here
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* (v. 21) Y'shua is His Hebrew name, which means Deliverer or Savior.

Y'shua is the English spelling of His Hebrew name. Jesus is the English spelling of the Latin Iesus. This spelling, like most if not all of the "J"s in the English Bibles, came into English from the German language. The German language pronounces the "J" as a "Y" which is why in German Y'shua would be pronounced the same as the Greek Iesous and Latin Iesus. English introduced the "J" sound we use. His Hebrew name was Y'shua, the Galilean pronunciation of Yeshu. The root word of Yeshu is Y-Sh-A, the Galilean pronounciation of Yeshu, a verb meaning deliver from, or save. Since Greek has no "sh" sound, that was changed to s in Iesous. The final s in Greek is there for what is called the declension of the noun, and in the first use in the New Testament of the name Y'shua, in Matthew 1:1, Y'shua is spelled Iesou in Greek, as close as Greek can come to Yeshua. In the 1970's a burial box was found in Jerusalem bearing the inscription "Jacob, son of Joseph, brother of Y'shua." The burial box, made of stone, has been authenticated, reported in the Nov.-Dec. 2002 issue of Biblical Archeology Review, as thet box that held the bones of Jacob, Y'shua's half-brother. This is the first object known to refer directly to Y'shua.
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[SpiritPsalmist]

The Visit of the Astrologers
Matthew 2:1-12 (One New Man Bible)

2:1. And after Y'shua was born in Bethlehem* of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold astrologers from the east arrived in Jerusalem 2. saying, "Where is the One Who has been born King of the Jewish People? For we saw His star in the east and we came to pay homage to Him." 3. And when King Herod heard, he was disturbed and all Jerusalem* with him, 4. and gathering all the high priests and scribes of the people he inquired from them where the Messiah was to be born. 5. And they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it has been written through the prophet:

6. 'And you Bethlehem,' country of Judea, 'you are' by no means least among the princes of Judea: for out of you will come a ruler, who will shepherd My people Israel.'" (Micah 5:1)
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2:7. Then Herod, having secretly called the astrologers, ascertained from them the time of the revealing of the star, 8. and sending them into Bethlehem he said, "When you go you must inquire carefully concerning the child: as soon as you would find Him, you must report to me right away, then when I come I shall pay homage to Him." 9. And those who heard the king went. And lo! The star, which they saw in the east, led them forth, until it came and stood over where the child was. 10. And when they saw the star they rejoiced with extremely great joy. 11. Then when they came into the house they saw the child with Miriam His mother, and having fallen to their knees they paid homage to Him, then, having opened their treasure boxes, they brought gifts to Him, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12. And since they had been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they returned to their country by another way.


* (v. 1) Bethlehem is the Greek spelling of the Hebrew name, Beit-Lehem, meaning House of Bread, in what more appropriate place could He have been born, the One Who said, "for the bread of God is that which descends from heaven and gives life to the world." (John 6:33)

* (v. 2) To pay homage meant to kneel on one knee, bowing down to the ground.

Pay Homage is the translation of the Greek word Proskuneo, which is frequently translated worship. The meaning is to get on one knee and touch the forehead to the ground at the feet of someone of royal rank. Y'shua was frequently greeted this way. Often it is not clear whether to translate it pay homage or worship, so here the standard was to use pay homage if it was a greeting, whether to Y'shua or someone else. When John greeted the angel this way in Rev. 19:10, the angel told him to get up. A place where worship is the obvious meaning is John 4:20.
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* (v. 3) Herod and many in Jerusalem were Hellenists, whose power and wealth was based on Roman authority.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Flight to Egypt
Matthew 2:13-15 (One New Man Bible)

2:13. And after they went away, behold, an angel of the Lord revealed to Joseph in a dream saying, "When you get up, you must immediately take the child and His mother and flee into Egypt and you must be there until whenever I tell you: for Herod is going to seek the child to kill Him." 14. Then after he got up he took the child and His mother in the night and he went away into Egypt, 15. and he was there until the death of Herod: so that the word of the Lord by the prophet would be fulfilled saying, "I called My Son out of Egypt." (Hos. 11:1)

God is faithful. We see here how He used a dream (and it was not the first time) to warn Joseph of impending danger. God gave Joseph exact instructions.

This happened no more than 2 years after Yeshua was born. How long did they live in Egypt?

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Slaying of the Infants
Matthew 2:16-18 (One New Man Bible)

2:16. Then after Herod saw that he was tricked by the astrologers he became exceedingly angry, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all the regions of it from two years old and below, according to the time which he ascertained from the astrologers. 17. Then that spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled saying,

18. "A voice was heard in Rama, weeping and" much "mourning: Rachel weeping for her children, and she was not to be comforted, because they were not."* (Jer. 31:15)​

The astrologers had been warned in a dream not to return to Herod so they returned to their country by another way. Of course when Herod realized they were not returning to tell him where to find the new King he was quite angry. He did not want to pay homage as he had said, he wanted to murder the child. So, because Harod did not know the exact date of the birth of the new king he figured out that it had been at least 2 years or so, so he ordered the murder of all male children in Bethlehem and all it's regions.

* (v.18) "They were not" is an idiom meaning they were dead.


The slaughter of the innocents is unattested in secular records, but the historical plausibility of this event happening is consistent with the character and actions of Herod the Great. Besides killing his enemies, he had no qualms in killing family members and friends as well. Herod would not have given a second thought about killing a handful of babies in a small, obscure village south of Jerusalem in order to keep his throne secure for himself, or his sons, even if it was one of the last dastardly deeds he committed before he died. As Herod lay dying, raked in pain and agony, the men of God and those with special wisdom opined that Herod was suffering these things because it was “the penalty that God was exacting of the king for his great impiety” (Antiquities 17:170; LCL 8:449-451). ~Gordon Franz MA~

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Return from Egypt
Matthew 2:19-23
(Notes in orange and scripture from One New Man Bible)

2:19. Then, after Herod died, behold an angel of the Lord revealed by a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20. saying, "When you get up you must immediately take the child and His mother and go to Israel: for those who were seeking the life of the child have died." 21. And when he got up he took the child and His mother and entered the land of Israel. 22. Then, when he heard that Archelos was reigning in Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there: and because he was warned in a dream he returned to the region of Galilee, 23. and when he came he dwelt in a city called Nazareth: thus was the word through the prophet fulfilled that He will be called of Nazareth. (Isa. 11:1*)

*(v.23) The connection to Galilee is from the word netzar, referring to the shoot, branch of Jesse. Nazareth is Natsrat in Hebrew.

After Herod died Joseph had another dream from God telling him to leave Egypt and go to Israel. Joseph did as God instructed in the dream.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Preaching of John the Immerser*
Matthew 3:1-12 (Also recorded in Matt. 1:1-8, Luke 3:1-9, 15-17, John 1:19-28)
(Notes in orange and scripture from One New Man Bible)

3:1. And in those days John the Immerser was coming forth, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2. and saying, "You must continually repent: for the Kingdom of the Heavens* has come near." 3. For this is what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet saying,

"A voice crying in the wilderness: 'You must right now prepare the way of the Lord, you must continually make His paths straight.'" (Isa. 40:3)

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4. And this John was wearing his cloak made from camel hairs and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locust beans and wild honey. 5. At that time Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him, 6. and, as they were confessing their sins, they were being immersed by him* in the Jordan River.

3:7. When he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his immersion he said to them, "Offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8. Therefore you must immediately make fruit worthy of repentance 9. and you must now not think to say among yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father. 'For I say to you that God is able to raise children for Abraham from these stones. 10. And now the ax is laid to the root of the trees: therefore every tree that does not produce good fruit is being cut down and cast into a fire. 11. I am indeed immersing* you in water for repentance, but One Who is coming after me is stronger than I, I am not worthy to carry away His sandals: this One will immerse you in the Holy Spirit and in fire: 12. Whose winnowing fork is in His hand and He will clean out His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff in an inextinguishable fire."

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* (Caption) The word Immerser is usually translated Baptist, from the Greek word baptidzo, meaning to immerse.

Immerse is the translation of teh Hebrew R-H-Ts and the Greek word, baptidzo, both meaning to immerse. The Jewish people had practiced immersion for purification after repentance for more than 1,000 years before the birth of Y'shua. All the people that John the Immerser and Y'shua's disciples immersed were thoroughly familiar with immersion, which we call baptism. We do not see immersion in translations of the Hebrew Scriptures because the Hebrew word that would appropriately be translated Immerse is translated with some other word. Often our Christian translators, as in Lev. 16:4 NIV, say ..so he must bathe himself.. The word translated bathe is rahats, meaning immerse, the same meaning as the Greek word baptidzo. Flowing water had to be used for immersion so it would come from sources such as a stream, spring, or rainwater caught in a cistern. Dunking completely under water seven times is called a mikveh, which is for purification, as Naaman was told in 2 Kings 5:10.

As in modern Judaism, most immersions in the New Testament were self-immersion. John and the disciples who immersed by the Jordan River would stand on the bank preaching, then as people became repentant, they would wade into the river and immerse, with the one preaching still standing on the bank. The same would be true of Peter's messages at the Temple, where there were many mikvehs. See Acts 2:14-42​

* (v.2) Kingdom of the Heavens was an expression that often, as in this case, referred to God. The plural heavens was used because heavens is always plural in Hebrew, having seven levels.

Heavens is always plural in Hebrew, with seven levels of heaven noted in Scripture. The names are: Dok, Rakia, Shechakim, Zevul, Maon, Machon, and Aravot.

1. Dok is Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain (Dok) and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in (Isa. 40:22) Dok retires in the morning and comes out in the evening, and renews the work of creation daily. Dok is the entire universe, going beyond what we can see with telescopes. * Dok pronounced like coke, is the word used in Isa. 40:22, but the Talmud uses a synonym, Vilon.
2. Rakia is where God set them in the firmament (Rakia) of the heavens. (Gen. 1:17) This is reference to the stars, sun, moon, and planets: outer space where the various heavenly bodies move in their prescribed orbits and/or maintain relationships in constellations, solar systems, galaxies, etc. Rakia is the part of the heavens that can be seen with the naked eye.
3. Shechakim is from Though He had commanded the skies (Shechakim) from above and opened the doors of heaven, and had rained down manna on them to eat and had given them of the grain of heaven. (Ps. 78:23-24) This is where the millstones are located that grind manna for the righteous. His Word is still miraculously feeding us. Shechakim is the atmosphere.
4. Zevul is the location for I have surely built you a house of habitation (Zevul), a place for you to dwell in forever. (1 Ki. 8:13) This is the location of celestial Jerusalem and the Temple with the heavenly altar where Michael offers a sacrifice. How do we know that Zevul is this place? Because, Look down from heaven and behold from the habitation (Zevul) of Your holiness and Your glory. (Isa. 63:15)
5. Maon is where the LORD will command His loving kindness in the daytime and in the night His song will be with me. (Ps. 42:8) This is wheer His ministering angels stay, singing in the night. We know that this is the heaven because of Look down from Your Holy Habitation (Maon) from heaven. (Deut. 26:15)
6. Machon is the location of the storehouses of snow, rain, hail, whirlwinds, storms, etc. The LORD will open unto you His good treasure..(Deut. 28:12) We know that this is heaven because ..then hear in heaven Your dwelling place (Machon)..(1 Kings 8:39)
7. Aravot is that in which are righteousness, judgment, and charity, the storehouses of life, of peace and of blessing, the spirits of the righteous, with which the LORD will hereafter revive the dead. Those living here include the Ophannim, Seraphim, holy Chayyot, the ministering angels, the Throne of Glory, and the King of the Universe. Extol Him Who rides upon the clouds (Aravot), by His name, Yah! (Ps. 68:4) The storehouse of life contains the force of life for all those yet to be born because when God finished creation (Gen. 2:1) He had made everything that would ever be - including your descendants. The spirits of the righteous are the dead who are sleeping with their fathers. .

Notice that the first three represent the universe, the visible night sky and sun, and the atmosphere. These are natural, physical things even when beyond the range of telescopes.

Each of the other four levels is both physical and spiritual. Three levels are translated Habitation, but that is not the clue we need. Three levels are populated: Zevul, with the celestial Jerusalem; Maon, with bands of ministering angels; and Aravot, with various heavenly beings, the Throne, and the spirits of the saints. that is probably the level Paul referred to, the third of the populated levels, in 2 Cor. 12:2)
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*(v.6) John stood on the bank preaching and those who repented went into the river for self-immersion.

*(v.11) Immersing was translated into Greek with the word baptidzo. Immersion had been a Jewish custom for purification for more than 1,000 years.

My apologies, I have run out of time and I will have to come back later to finish. After looking up all the links there is a lot to mull over from just what is here. Something to think about for when I come back: Why was John preaching and immersing? IOW how was it his place to be doing such a thing?

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[SpiritPsalmist]

So John is in the wilderness preaching. He's wearing rugged clothing and he's existing off of locust bean and wild honey. I'd never heard of the locust bean before but I found a link for it. Whether he was eating a bean or the actual insect, both are kosher.

Jerusalem, Judea, and all the region around Jordan were coming out to him to be immersed. As mentioned above, immersion was a sign of repentance of sin. The definition of repentance is turning around and stopping the sin. When the Pharisees and Saducees showed John called them a brood of vipers....They would have understood the comparison of snake’s venom being compared to slanderous and evil talk, and that is something that they had probably accused the Gentiles of many times before. He told them to immediately start producing fruit that showed they had repented. He told them that being Abraham's children would not save them for if God wanted he could make children of Abraham out of stone. They had to repent, be immersed as a sign of repentance, then bear fruit that proved repentance.

Here is an article that I found interesting. It is the answer to my question of "who was John" that he was doing what he was doing.
http://www.randywhiteministries.org/2012/12/21/john-the-baptist-the-last-priest/

John the Baptist: The Last Priest


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[SpiritPsalmist]

The Immersion of Yeshua
Matthew 3:13-17
Also found in Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

13 Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” 15 But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him. 16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

The way most churches baptize today (dunking or sprinkling and neither are Biblical) is not at all how it was done in Yeshuas day.

The purpose of baptism (ritual immersion), according to Jewish Law even to this day, was for the forgiveness of sins and spiritual cleansing into a right relationship with God. Yeshua had a need to be baptized, but it was not because He had sin in His life. In Malachi 4:2 the Messiah is called “the sun of righteousness who would come with healing in His wings.” According to Ezekiel 34:11-16, the salvation that Messiah would bring was in four ways: (1) He would seek out the lost: (2) return them to the fold; (3) heal the sick; and (4) strengthen the weak. In other words, He would usher in the Kingdom of God. The reason that Yeshua was so insistent on being baptized was “to fulfill all righteousness” so that He might be the “sun of righteousness.”

The mode of baptism as explained in the Mishnah shows the candidate squatted down alone without anyone touching him and then coming straightway out of the water. Ancient sages taught that the word mikveh has the same root in the Hebrew as the word for “rising” or “standing tall,” as we see in the term “straightway as used in the N.T. The earliest drawing of Christian baptism was found on the wall of a Roman catacomb in the second century showing Yochanan (John) standing on the bank of the Jordan helping Yeshua back to the shore after self-immersion.

In Jewish literature the dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Babylonian Chagigah 15a commentary on Genesis 1:2, where the Spirit of the Lord moved upon the waters, says the Spirit of God hovered like a dove over her young without touching them. The Babylonian Berakoth 3b connects the Bat Kol from heaven with the Holy Spirit.

In Rabbinic literature a reference is made to a voice from heaven called Bat Kol, which literally means a “daughter of a voice.” This is understood to be an oracle, a declaration of the Divine Will. These verses are used by many people to establish the doctrine of the Trinity, but this has absolutely nothing to do with that. Perhaps an over simplification of its description is to say that the Bat Kol is heaven’s public address system. It is important to remember that the people witnessing these events were Jews, and things were being done so that they would understand what was happening. It was not written for our Hellenistic mind set. If we want to understand these things, we have to learn to think like a first century Jew.
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If you desire to know more about the Biblical method and meanings behind the Baptism of Jesus click here.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Temptation of Yeshua
Matthew 4:1-11
See also Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

1. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil*. 2. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He a then became hungry. 3. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4. But He answered and said, “It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’” (Deut. 8:3)

5. Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6. and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,

He will command His angels concerning You’;

and

‘On their hands they will bear You up,
So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’” (Ps. 91:11, 12)

7. Jesus said to him, On the other hand, it is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Deut. 6:16)

8. Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9. and he said to Him, All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10. Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” (Deut. 6:13) 11. Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.


* (V.1)Satan: Slanderer, accuser. Adversary, archenemy, devil, the Evil One, and hinderer. Satan hates, denounces, condemns, and speaks against us. He is actively pursuing evil ends.


In order to save the world, Jesus had to succeed where Adam and Israel had failed. Jesus was led by God into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights in order for Him to go through what Israel had experienced in the wilderness throughout 40 years. The evidence for this is seen in the response of Jesus to the first temptation.

The First Temptation:​

In quoting from Deut 8, Jesus was referring back to Israel’s wilderness experience. (See Deut 8:1-6) He was pointing to the similarities between His and Israels experience. Israel failed, Jesus succeeded.

With Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the whole world fell into sin over appetite. It was more than Adam and Eve just being hungry though. The serpent tempted them to doubt God's Word. God had told them if they ate of the forbidden fruit they would die. Satan contradicted God. (Gen 3:4) Satan also convinced them they could become their own gods. (Gen 3:5)

After escaping Egypt, Israel refused to trust God for their daily bread.

In the wilderness, Satan was tempting Jesus to take care of His own needs, to provide His own food miraculously because He was hungry rather than allowing God to supply Jesus' needs in God’s own time and in God’s own way. Satan was tempting Jesus to doubt His Father’s sufficiency just like Adam, and the Israelites, doubted God’s sufficiency.

The nature of this temptation is lust. Lust is wanting what you want when you want it. Lust means you can't wait. It includes but is not exclusive to sex. It's a drive for fame or fortune and excluding the more important aspects of life. It's living beyond one's means, wanting what you want when you can't afford it.

In the First Temptation, Satan was tempting Jesus to,

1. doubt He was the Son of God,
2. to distrust His Father’s promise to “supply all His needs,”
3. to lust for something that He wanted before God was willing to give it to Him and in doing so, to become His own “God.”

Adam and Eve, and the Israelites, failed on the sin of life’s necessities, specifically appetite. Jesus succeeded where they failed. And He made very clear that spiritual food, devouring God’s Word, is just as important to life as is physical food

The Second Temptation:​

The devil took Him up to a holy city and set Him up on a pinnacle of the temple.

Satan said, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, He will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, On the other hand, it is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
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Satan is attempting to put doubt into the heart of Jesus that he really is the Son of God.

The second temptation is one of trying to control and manipulate God. If Jesus had jumped God would be forced to protect him.

Scripture tells us that God is sovereign, God is in charge, and we are not. We cannot manipulate or control God, He controls us. (Eph 1:11) Jesus did not have to jump to prove God's word, He demonstrated it.

How many times do Christians say, "If you do this for me God, then I'll know that you love me"?

Satan was seeking to disqualify Jesus as Messiah. Had Jesus put God to the test it would have been sin and He would be disqualified as Messiah.

Satan was tempting Jesus to try to manipulate God, to save Jesus unnecessarily, almost to perform a trick, or magic. This is the sin of presumption. Often Christians say about a particular problem, “Well, it’s in God’s hands” yet they have not spent the time and energy to do what needs to be done so the outcome will be appropriate. Somehow they think God will work it out for them without them having to do anything.

Others take unnecessary risks, that put the person’s life in danger with the remark, “Well, if it’s my time to go, then I can’t do anything about it.” That is the sin of presumption – purposely putting oneself in harm’s way with the response, “Whatever will be, will be.”

Living recklessly, whether financially recklessly or physically recklessly, puts God to the test, and becomes the sin of presumption. We want God to save us from ourselves. But He will not do it. We will have to reap what we have sown.

Jesus’ answer to Satan, “Thou shalt not tempt (or force a test) on the Lord, thy God” was a quote from Deut 6:16 which referred to the test at Massah. The word Massah means testing, whereas Meribah means quarrel, provocation, strife. In Hebrews, God refers to Israel’s time in the wilderness as the rebellion or provocation. Obviously, God was not happy with Israel’s attitude.

In Hebrews 3:7-11 God says "do not provoke me as they did in the wilderness" How did Israel put God to the test? See Ex 17:1-7.

1. They saw God provide for them continually, yet when they did not see it immediately they moaned and groaned and complained and cried and wailed in fear.

They did not know God's ways and He swore to them they would not enter into His rest. The same as He does in Hebrews 3:7-11.​

Putting God to the test is wanting now what God has planned for us later. Impatience and demanding that God "hurry up". (Isaiah 5:18-19)

It is often in times of adversity that our tendency to put God to the test becomes evident. We may very well place conditions on God, things that He must do for us in order for us to acknowledge that He is present with us, and for us to worship Him.

Following God and His Word can lead us into danger as it did for Daniel (in the lions’ den) and his three friends (in the fiery furnace). But faith is not foolishness attributed to trusting God, it is trusting God and forsaking folly.

The Third Temptation:​

Satan said, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”

Satan was tempting Jesus to “save the world” in an easier, far less humiliating way than death on a cross. Satan was offering the Lord a “Quick Fix.” If Jesus would just bow down to Satan He would not have to go through the severe beating and blood loss, the crown of thorns on His head, being nailed to the cross as a common criminal, being ridiculed and abused by the Roman soldiers, or the derision and mockery of the crowd. Jesus would not have to die! But the price for Christ would be, to sell His soul to the devil, and lose the authority to save the world. It would appear to be a benefit for the short term, but in the long term it would be a complete failure. Jesus answered "“Go, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”

What did Israel do?

In the wilderness, when Moses was on Mt. Sinai getting the Ten Commandments and other instructions for worship, the Israelites became impatient.

“Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him,

“Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” Exodus 32:1.

So Aaron told them to bring their gold earrings and other jewelry and he fashioned it with an engraving tool and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt.” Exodus 32:4​

Why was the golden idol made in the form of a calf?

The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years. “The Egyptian Apis and the Phoenician Baal were both pictured as bulls, a common representation among many peoples of that day for fertility and strength. And Idolatry was accompanied by sensual, lewd dances that formed a part of the fertility cult” (The Wycliffe Bible Commentary) probably much like the lewd music and lewd dances that are so plentiful today.

The Israelites had left Egypt, but Egypt had not left their hearts. “The Egyptians had a bewildering conglomeration of deities. It is impossible to list all the gods sacred to this people. Every aspect of nature, every object looked at, animate as well as inanimate, was viewed as indwelt by a spirit that could select its own form, occupying the body of a cow, a crocodile, a fish, a human being, a tree, a hawk, etc. In their hieroglyphic inscriptions and their tomb paintings ancient Egyptian artists have left impressions of literally thousands of deities. The Pyramid Texts mention some 200. The Book of the Dead catalogs 120.” (Unger’s Bible Dictionary)

The response of Jesus at that time is just as accurate today, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.”

Jesus told satan to leave and he did. Then angels came and begin to minister to Him.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry
Matthew 4:12-17 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Also found in Mark 1:14-15 and Luke 4:14-15

12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; 13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum*, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

15 "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light,
And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death,
Upon them a Light dawned.” (Isaiah 9:1-2)​

17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent*, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

* (V.13) Capernaum is the Latin spelling of the Hebrew name Kafer Nahum. Kafer means town or village and Nahum means comfort, consolation. ~One New Man Bible~

* (V.17) The tense used in the Greek tells us to walk in repentance every day, even though we know we have been sanctified and made righteous by the blood of the Lamb, This is because we have not been perfected, but are to strive to be better today than we were yesterday, as we become more like Him. See Eph. 5.1. ~One New Man Bible~

​

Repentance: The idea of repentance - the word, whether in Hebrew and Greek refers simply to change; the Hebrew means "to turn" and the Greek "to change one's mind" - but in biblical usage it refers to change, a change of heart and of life, a turning away from sin and toward the will of God, a change that is characteristic of those who are born again. One of the best biblical descriptions of repentance is found in Solomon's prayer of dedication at the Temple, in 2 Chronicles 6:37-38. There we read in Solomon's prayer:

"When they sin against you - for there is no one who does not sin - and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, 'We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly; and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their fathers, toward the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your Name; then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas and uphold their cause. And forgive your people who have sinned against you." ~Transformed Lives~
​

Peanut Gallery...your thoughts are welcome

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Calling of Four Fishermen
Matthew 4:18-22
Also recorded in Mark 1:16-20, Luke 5:1-11
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

18. Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter*, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20. Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 21. Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James* the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. 22. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

* (V.18) Rock in Greek is a feminine word, Petra. Peter's name, Petros, is masculine, meaning a piece of a rock. In the New Testament the masculine form is used only for Peter's name. ~One New Man Bible~

* (V.21) The Greek text has lakob, which is written Jacob in English. ~One New Man Bible~

Mark 1:16-20

16. As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. 17. And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me*, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18. Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 19. Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. 20. Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him*.

* (V17) Yeshua is not only a Jew but He was a Rabbi. There were hundreds of Rabbis in Israel during His time. These Rabbis were always wondering from place to place. If one wanted to study with a Rabbi, you had to follow after him. They called the ones who were studying with them their talmidim (disciples or students). The call of the Rabbi to come and study with him was, "come, follow me." This actually meant, "come, study with me." This call was heard the length and breadth of Eretz Ysrael during the first century and before. ~Saltshakers Messianic Community~

* (V.20) Literally, went after Him, which is an idiom meaning they became His disciples. ~One New Man Bible~

Luke 5:1-11

1. Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret*; 2. and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing* their nets*. 3. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. 4. “When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5. Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.”* 6. When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; 7. so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. 8. But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!*” 9. For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; 10. and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” 11. When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

* (V.1) This lake is called Kinneret in Hebrew, and sometimes lake of Tiberius or of Galilee.

Sea of Galilee is the phrase we are used to. However it is a lake, a body of fresh water that supplies most of Israel's drinking water, about 15 miles long by 7 miles wide. The Greek word thalassa is translated sea in the traditional English translations. Thalassa was used by the Jewish translators of the Septuagint, from Hebrew to Greek, to translate lake. Since the first New Testament translations into English were made from the Latin text, Sea was the proper translation of the Latin Mare. In the New Testament four names, Galilee, Kinneret, Tiberias, and Genesseret refer to the lake. ~One New Man Bible~​

* (V.2) Washing. Fishing was done in deeper water, not up next to the shore. Casting or throwing their nets into the water was a way of washing them. ~Saltshakers Messianic Community~

* (V.2) This net is the small, round net normally used by one person. At twenty feet in diameter it is easy to see why they needed help.

Fish Nets. The Greek word for net in Matt. 13:47 is Sag'ene, referring to the large net used in commercial fishing, which was done at night. For weights this net used round stones, each stone having a hole drilled through the middle, resembling a doughnut or bagel. The stones were usually flint, which is very hard and how the holes were drilled is not known. Thousands of these 2,000 - 2,500 year old stones have been found around the lake we call Galilee. Sag'ene is used only once in the New Testament, but there are other references to this net, referred to by the Greek word diktuon, which is a generic reference to nets, not specifying the type of net used. The twenty-first chapter of John describes the use of a large net that would have been a sag'ene, because only the commercial net would have held 153 fish. Mark 1 and Luke 5 also have descriptions of nets, but those cannot be identified with certainty as to type.

The other type of net was used by one person for daytime fishing. It was round, about twenty feet in diameter, and had lead weights. This type was used until the 1950's when nylon nets replaced it. It is not directly referred to in the New Testament, but probably was used by some of the New Testament fishermen, either in Mark or Luke. A Galilean fisherman named Mendel Nun has for years studied the fishing on Galilee. He believes that the nets described in Luke 5 are the small casting nets, so while it cannot be proven from the Greek text, the net used could well have been the smaller net. A net 20 feet in diameter can hold quite a few fish. ~One New Man Bible~​

* (V.5) The implication of Peter's initial statement, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing," is that Peter is telling Him that He is a carpenter and not a fisherman. Peter and the others were fishermen know more about fishing than He does. But also, a very important quality of Peter is demonstrated here. Peter does recognize that, when it comes to Yeshua, obedience must overrule experience.

* (V.8) At this point, Peter recognizes that there is something going on here that is beyond him. Peter has been told by others several times that Yeshua is the long-awaited Messiah. But, this is the first time he has been confronted by Yeshua's Deity. His reaction is probably the same as any of ours today. We compare ourselves to the One before us and we come up wanting. This is Peter's reaction. But, there will come another time when Peter will see Yeshua in similar circumstances. The next time his reaction will be different.

As with any three people telling about the same event, we have different things with each account. For a fuller view I've included all three. We have Jesus' first call-out for followers and He starts with two sets of brothers. Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, and James and John the son's of Zebedee. First, He comes upon Peter and Andrew cleaning their nets. There is a crowd of people following Him and pressing Him so He apparently just walks up to Peter and Andrews boat and gets in and asks Peter to push the boat out a ways so that He could have some space. Peter does so then Jesus speaks for awhile (it's not recorded what He said), then when He's finished tells Peter to push the boat out to deeper water, and cast their nets to fish. Peter makes it clear that they've already been fishing all night long and caught nothing, but Peter complies with the request. When they cast their nets there was such a load of fish that they had to call out to their partners, James and John and ask them to come help them bring in the haul. All four of them were overwhelmed by what had just happened and Peter immediately fell to his knees and proclaimed his unworthiness for him to even be near Jesus. Jesus responded to them telling them to not be afraid but to follow Him and He would make them fishers of men.

In saying "I will make you fishers of men" Jesus is alluding to Jeremiah 16:16-17 but He's doing it in a positive manner rather than a negative. Instead of bringing their catch "into" captivity, they will bring them back from exile...spiritual exile. He ties the terminology to both it's proper context (by contrast) and to the previous statement by Jeremiah, verses 14-15. He turns it to read:

14 “Therefore behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 15 but, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.’ For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers.

16 “Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will fish for them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks.
​

He connects the fishermen with the "return of the exiles", rather than the drawing away. He's not out to kill the "those caught" but to set them free. No longer are the "fishers of men" those who would take Israel captive, but those who would end the exile through bringing the Good News of the Kingdom.


Peanut Gallery...your thoughts are welcome

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Ministering to a Great Multitude
Matthew 4:23-25 (also Luke 6:17-19)
New American Standard Bible

23 Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.


24 The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them. 25 Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis * and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.

(V.23) Yeshua came to preach the Kingdom of God (see Luke 4:43). The preaching of Yeshua fulfilled the function of an O.T. prophet. Keep in mind that He holds three offices eternally: Prophet, Priest and King. But, He does not function in all three offices simultaneously. During the 3 ½ years of His earthly ministry He functioned in His office as Prophet. In the course of the last week there was a transition from the office of Prophet to the office of High Priest. He continues to function in that office today in Heaven. At His Second Coming, He will function as King of Kings. ~Saltshakers Messianic Community~

Vs. 24, 25: As a result of this preaching tour He attracts great attention. These verses are also evidence of the common people's acceptance of His Messiahship. Never before, nor ever again, would any Rabbi have this type of effect upon the common people of Israel. The Am haEretz (people of the land) overwhelmingly accepted Him time and time again. ~Saltshakers Messianic Community~​

* (V.25) Ten cities, nine east of the Jordan plus Beit-Sh'an west of the Jordan, were declared "Free Cities" by Rome. Beit-Sh'an is still a thriving city, just west of the Jordan River, about twenty-five miles south of Tiberias.

Dekapolis is a Greek word meaning Ten Cities. Nine of these cities are east of the Jordan, south of Galilee and north of the Dead Sea. The tenth is Beit-Sh'an, a few miles west of the Jordan, south of the Lake of Galilee. These ten were declared "Free Cities" by Rome, after the Romans conquered Israel in 63 BC. It was a great honor for each city that was chosen to be a free city. ~One New Man Bible~​

17 Jesus came down* with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured*. 19 And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.

*(V.17) Notice that Y'shua went down from the hill, that this is a different time and place for this teaching and not another description of the Sermon on the Mount. ~One New Man Bible~
*(V.18) The word used here is therapeuo, (with the primary meaning to serve) nearly always translated to heal, strengthening the connection between deliverance and healing. ~One New Man Bible~​

Obviously, the healings Yeshua did made a great impression. The stir Jesus created was such that people came from all over, even from a significant distance to hear him and to bring their sick to be healed by him. A summary of his activity: teaching, preaching, and healing. His disciples, his teaching, and his miracles, especially of healing, is what the Lord's ministry consisted of.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Sermon on the Mount; The Beatitudes
Matthew 5:1-12
New American Standard Bible

1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,


3 Blessed* are the poor in spirit*, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Isaiah 61:1)


4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (Isaiah 61:2-3)


5 “Blessed are the gentle*, for they shall inherit the earth. (Ps 37:11)


6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness*, for they shall be satisfied (Hosea 10:12).


7 “Blessed are the merciful*, for they shall receive mercy. (2 Sam 22:26)


8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (2 Sam 22:27, Ps 24:3-4)


9 “Blessed are the peacemakers (Ps 37:37, Isaiah 32:17), for they shall be called sons of God.


10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven*. (Proverbs 21:21


11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. (2 Chr. 36:16) 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.


* (V.3) Blessed. The Greek word translated Blessed throughout the Beatitudes is Makarios, blessed and happy.
* (V.3) Poor in spirit. Literally this is poor in spirit which is a Hebrew idiom for repentant.
* (V.5) A better word would be "humble". Humble refers to the faithful remnant.

Humble when used collectively, refers to a group. The Hebrew Scriptures frequently use Himble to indicate the faithful minority remaining Godly through all their trials, not giving in to the temptations of the world. This remnant is referred to in 1 Kings 19:18 when God spoke of the 7,000 who had not bowed a knee to Baal. There are about two dozen verses referring to the remnant, but they are hidden in most English translations because the Hebrew word, Anav, is translated by different English words, such as poor, meek, or lowly, in addition to humble. Some of the verses where anav refers to the remnant are: Isaiah 29:19, Isaiah 61:1, Zephaniah 2:3, Ps 25:9, Ps 37:11, Ps 76:10, Proverbs 3:34.

In past years humble and meek may have been synonyms, but in modern English humble denotes a lack of pride but not a lack of confidence, while meek speaks of low self-esteem and lacking confidence. ​

* (V.6) Righteousness is action, doing the perfect will of God, so this is hungering to do His perfect will.

We are made righteous by faith and grace, but righteousness is action. The word righteousness is the noun form of the Hebrew root Ts-d-k. Ts-d-k and the Greek verb Dikaio both mean to do right, to be just. They are verbs that require action by the subject of the verb. When we are made righteous by our faith our behavior has to change. If it does not, see what John says: 1 John 2:3-6.

There are many times in the New Testament that we have references like Acts 16:31. To Paul, Luke, and all New Testament authors, the word "believe" required action, as in Acts 26:19-20.

This change in behavior comes from above, as evidenced by Paul's reference to "the gift of righteousness" in Rom 5:17; 6:18. There is a lot each one can do to be a better person, but we can do so much more when faith and commitment to God bring us the gift of righteousness.

Paul says in 1 Cor 6:9-10, "or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Stop being deceived: neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor homosexuals nor thieves nor covetous people, nor drunkards, nor abusive people, nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God.

Righteousness and Holiness are the foundation of relationships for all of humanity. Each of us has a relationship with God, with other people, even with animals. We are to do right, to be just in every endeavor, and we are to keep ourselves pure. That is our minimum standard. Although none of us will be perfected while in this earthly body, each of us must strive to do right and to keep pure. God knows none of us is perfect, but He also knows our hearts and sees our faith and the blood of the Lamb. So long as we acknowledge Him, do right, and keep ourselves pure, we know that we have eternal life. This righteousness is our minimum standard. To go beyond that minimum is a great blessing that our Heavenly Father rewards. Going beyond righteousness is called Ts'dukah in Hebrew, translated "Acts of Loving Kindness".​

* (V.7) Merciful. Literally this says to be merciful , which is a Hebrew idiom meaning to be forgiving.

While many Hebrew Scriptures proclaim forgiveness of sins, there is an order, a formula to obtaining forgiveness.

1. Forgiveness of others. There is one precondition, without which no amount of repentance can bring forgiveness. That is, the sinner must forgive everyone of every little thing before God will accept the sinner's repentant heart. Y'shua taught in the Lord's Prayer, You must right now forgive our sins for us, in the same manner as we have completed forgiving everyone of everything, big and little, against us: (Matt 6:12) Verses 14 and 15 then continue this theme, "For if you would forgive all other people their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if you would not forgive all other people, neither will your Father forgive your sins. Mark 11:25 and Col 3:13 reaffirm this principle.
2. Forgive yourself. As you forgive others be sure to include yourself among those you forgive, to remember God's great miracle of erasing your sin. You cannot make things right with God until you make things right with everyone, and until you make things right with yourself. Do not beat yourself over past mistakes, but forgive yourself. It is not possible for you to give your love to other people if you do not love yourself. A parent who does not love himself or herself is not able to give love to spouse or children. Forgive yourself and love yourself, then, with repentance, all of God's love and forgiveness can flow through you. See Eph 5:28.
3. Seek forgiveness from others. Y'shua says "And I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be guilty in the judgment. And whoever would say to his brother "Empty-headed," that one is guilty to the Sanhedrin: whoever would say, 'Stupid' is guilty in the Gehenna of the fire. 23. If therefore you would present your gift at the altar and there you would remember that your brother has something against you, 24. you must right away leave your gift there in front of the altar and go. You must first become reconciled with your brother, and then, after you come back, present your gift. (Matt. 5:22-24)
4. Repent. Repentance requires action, much more than just regretting something. Without action, a change in behavior, there is not true repentance. The sinner must resolve not to repeat the mistake. See Psalm 51 for a model prayer of repentance.
5. Forgiveness from God. There are three verses that clearly state God's position: Exodus 34:7, Isaiah 43:25, Jeremiah 31:33.
6. Clean slate. See Ezek 18:20-23, Ezek 33:11, Isa 43:25. A rabbi wrote many years ago that the greatest miracle of all happens when a sinner repents; because then God takes that person back in time to when the sin was committed - only this time the person does not commit the sin. Therefore the sin was never committed. So each of us needs to know that any remorse over past sin is not from God, but from the accuser. Satan is the one who wants you to wallow in guilt. God says that any repented sin was never committed. Accept God's forgiveness, knowing that you are never again to dwell on that past mistake. That sin's being erased is the greatest of all miracles.

* (V.10) This means to walk in all the promises of God. The word heaven is always plural (heavens) in Hebrew because there are seven levels of heaven in the Tanach, the Hebrew Scriptures.

~One New Man Bible~​

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Sermon on the Mount; Salt and Light
New American Standard Bible

13 “You are the salt of the earth*; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.


14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works*, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

* (V.13) Salt is a preservative and speaks of preservation and permanence. Lev 2:13 & Num 18:19

* (V.16) Mitsvot.

Mitsvah, the plural is mitsvot, means religious and moral obligations. These obligations include all commandments, statutes, ordinances, observances, teachings and testimonies. Rabbi Eliezer Ben-Yehuda wrote "The Hebrew word 'Mitzvah' - which has no exact translation, and is rendered in different contexts as 'good deed,' 'law' or 'command,'can also be taken to mean 'duty' or 'obligation' - a concept which becomes the key to Jewish law."

The expression in the Greek is normally translated either good deeds or good works, but can include righteousness, because doing righteousness is common usage. Charitable giving, as in Matthew 6:2, in the Hebrew language is either Ts'dakah or Mitsvah. Ts'dakah is from the root ts'd'k, to do right, to be just, and today often refers to charitable giving, going beyond the tithe. In Biblical Hebrew Ts'dakah is translated Acts of Loving Kindness, meaning going beyond what is required (righteousness) by God. Our salvation is not the result of our works, but it is the cause of our works. You are not made righteous by your works, but you do good works because you are righteous. Mitsvot are evidence that you have been made righteous by faith (Gen. 15:6). Good deeds are the evidence of our relationship with God. Y'shua said, You will recognize people by their fruit (Matt. 7:16). Paul said, defending himself in Acts 26:19-20, "For which reason, King Agrippa, I have not been disobedient to the heavenly vision but first to those in Damascus and then in Jerusalem, and in every region of Judea and to the heathens, bringing a call to repent and to turn back to God, doing works worthy of repentance." See Matt 7:21; 16:27, Luke 3:8, John 5:29, Acts 26:20, Romans 2:10, 13, 1 Cor 3:8, Eph 2:10, 2 Tim 4:14, Titus 1:16; 2:14; 3:8, Hebrews 10:24, James 2:14-26, 2 Peter 1:5, 3:10, 1 John 2:4; 3:16-18, 22; 5:2-3, Rev 2:5; 19:8; 20:12-13; 22:12. (I'm sorry, not all the scriptures are quoting like I set them to. You'll just need to look them up for yourself to see what is said)

​

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men". To understand this a little better let's review the back story:

• Yeshua was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness and was tempted by the devil.
• He withdraws into the region of the Galilee after John is taken into custody.
• He then takes up John's message and preaches, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
• He selects and calls disciples.
• He goes throughout Galilee, teaching in synagogues and healing the sick.
• Large crowds from all over the region follow Him.

It is in this context that Yeshua goes up to the mountain and begins teaching. In Matt 5:1 it says "after he sat down His disciples came to Him". In the parallel version (Luke 6:20) it says, "and turning His gaze toward His disciples". When He was speaking, His focus was on them. What meaning did His message convey to them as Jewish men? "You (plural), are the salt (singular). First, He was addressing them as a group of individuals [plural] with a [singular] shared purpose.

"Salt" is well known as a "preservative": something that preserves. Salt was also used for medical purposes as a disinfectant and skin conditioner. Salt was used in Jerusalem in the Temple, not only as part of the daily sacrifices, but also during icy or wet weather on the Temple steps and ramps to keep people from slipping. Salt was a widely used and highly valuable commodity!


What else did "salt" bring to mind for Jesus' Jewish disciples?

One incident, known to Jesus' audiences, dramatically acknowledged the life-giving and preservative qualities of salt. The inhabitants of Jericho had complained bitterly to Elisha that their water was tainted. As a result, they could grow no crops. The prophet tossed salt into the spring, made the water wholesome, and prevented further "death and miscarriage". [2 Kings 2:19-22]

Jesus taught his listeners that, like salt, their influence would bring healing and hope to the communities in which they lived. By their behavior in their homes and along the streets of their villages, those who followed Jewish teachings could affect life-giving changes in the lives of their contemporaries. Those in his audiences who believed were "the salt of the earth." Like the prophet Elisha, Jesus was tossing them into the world to make it wholesome. ~Frank Stern, A Rabbi Looks at Jesus' Parables~
​

This passage literally reads "You are the salt of the land" [Greek: γης - gis (sounds like geese)]. When you say "the land" to a Jewish man, he immediately thinks of the Land of Israel: the nation. Yeshua was telling His disciples, "you faithful, believing men will serve to preserve this nation". Recall the story of Abraham beseeching God to spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah if only ten righteous men could be found there (Gen 18:16-33). The faith and righteousness of the disciples would stay the Almighty's hand of judgment against the entire nation of Israel.

This saltiness began in Numbers 18 with the covenant of salt (see notes above), made between God and the Israelites. When Jeroboam rebels against the king Rehoboam, Abijah rebukes him and reminds him that this "covenant of salt" had been given to David and his descendants (i.e. Messiah) forever! (2 Chron 13:5) As a descendant of King David, Yeshua, the Messiah, had a Covenant of Salt. These Jewish believers in Messiah are the "righteous remnant" (Romans 11) for whose sake God preserves Israel and the world. What is the responsibility of the king? The king should rule justly and act mercifully and bring forth God's holiness from the nation.

"...but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again?"

This phrase is generally understood as "if the preservative no longer preserves, how can it be serve its function again?" but the word "tasteless" doesn't really mean "lacking in taste or flavor". The phrase literally says "but if the salt has become foolish" [Greek: μωρανθη - moranthee - foolish, dull, or stupid]. If the salt becomes foolish then it isn't doing its job. So we find that the opposite of "salty" is "foolish"... being "salty" means "being wise". The Proverbs frequently speak of the opposites of "the wise" and "the fool" but they aren't speaking of someone who is a fool in the sense of being "goofy or awkward". The Proverbs use "fool" in the sense of someone who is ethically corrupt. Indeed, we often see Messiah condemning the leaders of His day for their hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy: See Matthew 23:14. The leaders and rulers of His day were corrupt and unfit to lead the nation of Israel.

"It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men."


What gets thrown out and trampled under foot? Dirt. Garbage. Refuse. Something that is utterly worthless. Luke's account of the message reiterates this meaning: Luke 14:34-35

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven".

The apostles are to be like a light set on a lampstand. So what do people see? The light. What is the light? Their good works.

"Let your light shine so they may see your good works". By doing so, you are glorifying the Father in Heaven.

​

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Sermon on the Mount; Teaching about the Torah*
Matthew 5:17-20

5:17. "Do not think that I came to do away with, or to bring an incorrect interpretation to, the Torah or the Prophets*, I did not come to do away with but to bring spiritual abundance*, for the Torah to be obeyed as it should be and God's promises to receive fulfillment. 18. For truly I say to you: until the sky and the Earth would pass away, not one yod* or vav* could ever pass away from the Torah, until everything would come to pass. (Luke 16:17) 19. Therefore, whoever would break one of the least of these commandments*, and would teach people this way, will be called least in the Kingdom of the Heavens. 20. For I say to you that unless your righteousness would be present in abundance more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you could not enter the Kingdom of the Heavens."

* Caption: Torah, This is a reference to the first five books of the Bible.
* (V.17) The Prophetic books are Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Isaiah through Malachi excluding Daniel, which is one of the Writings in the Tanach (The whole of what we call the Old Testament).
* (V.17) The abundance must be spiritual because Y'shua said "You must continually understand and guard yourselves from all covetousness, because someone's life is not abundant from his possessions." (Matt 6:19-21, Luke 12:15)
* (V.18) The yod is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
* (V.18) The vav is the second smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The yod and the vav are called "soft letters" because they can be left out of a word and the word not be considered misspelled.

We know that every Temple and synagogue service was in the Hebrew language from the earliest days in Israel all the way up to modern times. The Hebrew language was preserved because Scripture was in Hebrew and Hebrew was and still is the language of the synagogue. Y'shua would have used the Hebrew letter yod, which was recorded in Greek using the comparable Greek letter, iota. A number of modern English translations translate iota as yod.

The Hebrew letter vav has no comparable Greek letter since there is no "v" sound in Greek. Both Matthew and Luke overcame the problem with the Greek word keraia, which some say refers to decoration of the Torah manuscript, but it actually means little horn or little hook. The Hebrew word vav, the name of the letter, means hook, so this is how we know that Y'shua was speaking of the letter vav. It could not have referred to decoration because the Dead Sea Torah scrolls, dating from the days of Y'shua, show that scrolls of that era were not decorated. Besides being the two smallest letters in the Hebrew alphabet, the yod and the vav are also called soft letters because under some circumstances either letter can be left out of a word and the word would still be spelled correctly. So Y'shua was saying that even the letters that can properly be left out of a word would not be omitted from the Torah as long as the Earth exists. We need to learn more about the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. ​

* (V.19) Commandments. It is important to know what Y'shua meant by 'commandments.' In Matt 25:35-40 He gives us His priorities, which involve ministry to others: for instance, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and those in prison. We are not to be judging others (Matt 7:1-6), but showing love to our neighbors by truly caring about them.


So we last see Yeshua telling His disciples to be salt and light then after that He says, "do not think that I've come to abolish the law". I believe that Yeshua is affirming the fact that being salt is obeying the commandments wisely, and being light is obeying the commandments publicly, and that the commandments are not something new, different, or changed. We are to follow God's teachings, not Jewish teachings.

Furthermore, Yeshua then goes on to emphasize in verse 18, that not even the tiniest part of the Torah (the "Law") is done away with, and won't be until the heavens and the earth are no more. And we're still heeeeere. How can we miss something so obvious? At least to me it's obvious.

He then takes it even further, and issues a warning to anyone who "breaks" any of the Torah, or teaches anyone to do the same. The Greek word for "break" is luo, meaning; "to infringe upon, loosen the force of, or render not binding." Yeshua is teaching that His work in no way diminishes the authority or continuation of the Torah. The warning is that those who would break the least of God's instructions AND teach others to do the same, they will be considered the least in the Kingdom of the Heavens. I know I don't want to be the least, how about you? Again, it's not about following Jewish laws, it's about following God's laws. I'm not proclaiming to be perfect at it and I don't know anyone who is or does but it's what is in your heart. Is your intent to do what God says but circumstances get in the way, God knows. It's not the keeping of God's instructions that save us, it is grace through faith...and faith is action. We do what we know to do to the best of our ability.

Yeshua the Messiah makes fuller the understanding of his disciples concerning the Torah and Prophets, so they can more fully express what being God’s people is all about. One of the Messiah's main functions would be to complete our understanding of the Torah & Prophets. The "evidence" for Yeshua being the true Messiah is that He meet the criteria set forth in the Tenakh (Old Testament), which in turn says the Torah is eternal.

Verse 20 He says, unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees we could not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Vs. 20: The term "sopherim," or scribes, was used two ways in the Mishnah: (1) teachers or expounders of the Law (Yadayim 3:2); and (2) clerks of the Sanhedrin (Sanhedrin 4:13, 5:5). The Mishnah says the Sanhedrin was like a half circle of a threshing floor in order that the members might see each other. Two scribes stood before them, one on the right and the other on the left, to record the votes of the not-guilty and guilty. The term Yeshua used referred to the most well-qualified individuals in both the Written and Oral Law.

The original Old Testament definition of "tzedakah" (righteousness) meant deliverance or salvation. By the time of Yeshua it had come to have a more restricted meaning - almsgiving. In the eyes of the Pharisees almsgiving, prayer and fasting were the three most important components of righteous living - almsgiving being the most important. Many Jews believed they could work out their own salvation instead of submitting to the righteousness of God. But, Yeshua told them that if their righteousness was reduced to the almsgiving of the Pharisees, they would not enter the Kingdom of God. "Unless your concept of tzedakah exceeds that of the hypocrites, you will in no wise enter the Kingdom of God." The reason for the use of the word "hypocrite" is that not all Pharisees are hypocrites. Only a small percentage were. In fact, if Yeshua Himself was not a card-carrying Pharisee, He did espouse just about all of their doctrines. The Pharisees represented the mainstream of Jewish thought for centuries. Most of them, by far, were great, honorable, righteous men. But, they were all sarcastic. There was no one who was more critical of a Pharisee than another Pharisee. Babylonian Sotah 22b tells us of the seven different types of Pharisees. If we don't understand this, we are not going to understand many of the things that Yeshua says. ~Saltshakers Messianic Community~
​

We know that we are unable to work out our own salvation, we are saved by grace through faith. We are however, able to submit to the righteousness of God. It's my/our choice, and I/we "have strength to overcome all things in the One Who strengthens" me/us. (Philippians 4:13)

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Sermon on the Mount; Teaching about Anger

21 You have heard that the ancients were told, 'You shall not commit murder’* (Exod. 20:13)and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, "You good-for-nothing,’* shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’* shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell*. 23 Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother**, and then come and present your offering. 25 Make friends quickly* with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

* (V.21) Murder:

Yeshua here is alluding to one of the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20:13. It is from this verse, and others, that we have developed a doctrine of passivism. It does not say, "Thou shall not kill," but "Thou shall not commit premeditated murder." It doesn't have anything to do with justifiable homicide, such as killing an enemy in battle, or self-defense.

Anger can become the first step of committing premeditated murder. Whoever nurses anger of a grudge against his brother for no good cause may be brought before the Bet Din, or House of Judgment. In Yeshua's day, all the synagogues had their own congregational courts called the Bet Din. It consisted of three judges and they were qualified to judge certain matters. A matter such as being angry with a brother for no cause would be brought before this court. ~Saltshakers Messianic Community~​

* (V.22) Good for nothing and/or Fool.

The Hebrew word "racah" used here means "empty-headed" or incompetent. One who uses this term against another has slandered that person, which was a serious offense in those days that was judged before the Sanhedrin.

The Hebrew word for "fool" used here has a very serious connotation (Psalms 14:1; 53:1-3). This is a very corrupt person who has turned completely away from God. It refers to a fool who is empty of knowledge. It was used in Rabbinic literature as an expression of scorn and contempt, as if the life of the addressee was of little worth. To make this statement containing this kind of judgment assumes a place reserved only for God. Only God knows a man's heart. We may be able to see actions and hear words, but we can't look inside a man. The emphasis here is we cannot usurp the position and authority of God. When we do that, we stand in danger of eternal judgment ourselves.

Here, probably more than any other place in the Gospels, Yeshua is stressing proper relationships between believers. We are so used to judgment and hard words falling on unbelievers that when the Lord turns the table it is hard for us to grasp. It is so important to the Lord that we treat each other right that He puts in His word this very stern warning. Can our actions towards our fellow man take us out of a right relationship with God and put our souls in eternal danger, even though we have professed to be believers? According to the words of Yeshua this is very possible. When will we ever learn that our relationship with God is on par with our relationship with our brothers and sisters? You cannot do your brother wrong and still expect God to bless you. It just doesn't work that way. ~Saltshakers Messianic Community~​

* (V.23-24) Forgiveness from your brother.

Vs. 23, 24: These two verses concern getting forgiveness from others before offering to God. Mishnah Yoma 8:9 says, "The transgression a man commits against God on the Day of Atonement are atoned, but the one against his neighbor is only atoned when his neighbor is satisfied." Mishnah Baba Kamma 8:7 states that although he made compensation the other party must be fully reconciled, and as sought his forgiveness. If you are not in fellowship with your brother, you are not in relationship with your God, and He will not accept your offering. The emphasis of Yeshua's teaching was not praise and worship to God, but the relationship of believers to his fellow man. He almost never says anything about "vertical relationship" (man's relationship with God). His focus was mostly "horizontal relationship (man's relationship with his fellow man). ~Saltshakers Messianic Community~​

* (V.25-26) Make friends quickly.

Eccl. 8:2 says, "Do not quarrel with a rich man, lest his resources outweigh yours." I do not believe that the Lord is teaching here that we are never to stand up for ourselves when we are right. What He is saying is that when you are wrong, admit it, pay the penalty and go on. Prolonged argument can only cost you more in the long run, and hinder any further work in the Kingdom of God. Also, you need to use a little common sense. Sometimes arguing a situation against overwhelming odds can only make you "dead right," which accomplishes nothing. Because of the way circumstance come about in this world, you are going to lose no matter how right you are. If it comes to a choice between your ego, and going on to serve God, don't make the wrong choice. ~Saltshakers Messianic Community~​

​

* (V.22) The text has Raka, a Hebrew word meaning empty-headed. ~One New Man Bible~
* (V.22) The Greek spelling of the Hebrew term is Gehenna.

Ge Hinnom, for valley of Hinnom, the place outside Jerusalem where garbage, trash, dead animals, and even executed criminals were disposed of. Fires burned continuously to get rid of the trash and also the bodies. Worms lived in whatever had not been consumed by the fires. The smoke, fires, and worms were a constant reminder tro the residents and visitors to Jerusalem of the description of Sheol, so Gehenna was used as a synonym for Sheol. From early in the history of Israel this valley was used for human sacrifices, offerings of babies to the heathen god, Molock. Josh 15:8, Jer. 7:32; 19:2-6; 32:35, and 2 Chron. 28:3, 2 Kings 23:10 uses the full name of the valley, Valley of the Sons of Hinnom. Hinnom means wailing, lamentation. ~One New Man Bible~​

* (V.24) Reconciled to your brother.

While many Hebrew Scriptures proclaim forgiveness of sins, there is an order, a formula to obtaining forgiveness.

1. Forgiveness of others.
2. Forgive yourself.
3. Seek forgiveness from others (which is what we're looking at here). In seeking forgiveness from someone you are automatically confessing to that person. Confession her is to the injured party.
4. Repent.
5. Forgiveness from God.
6. Clean slate. A rabbi wrote many years ago that the greatest miracle of all happens when a sinner repents; because then God takes that person back in time to when the sin was committed - only this time the person does not commit the sin. Therefore the sin was never committed. So each of us needs to know that any remorse over past sin is not from God, but from the Accuser. Satan is the one who wants you to wallow in guilt. God says that any repented sin was never committed. (Isa. 43:25, et al.) Accept God's forgiveness, knowing that you are never again to dwell on that past mistake. That sin's being erased is the greatest of all miracles. ~One New Man Bible~

Being at peace with our brothers and sisters in the Lord is important. Our words toward each other are important. I know God has dealt with me about how I even refer to other people when I'm talking to myself and no other person can hear me (come on, we all do it while we're typing here) or how I think of them in my head. When we actually speak it to the person where they hear it or we speak it about them to others, we are to not even offer gifts to God because He won't accept them, without us first going to the one we have offended and seeking their forgiveness.

Being at peace with our brothers and sisters in the Lord is important. God does not accept our gifts until we are, at least from our end. If they refuse to forgive, that is not your fault. We cannot force others to do what they should. It's difficult and hurtful when that happens. When we have done what we should do then we can walk in confidence that all is well between us and Him and He gladly receives our offerings to Him.

​

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Sermon on the Mount; Teaching about Adultery

27. You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery’( Exodus 20:13); 28. but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

I thought this sermon outline from Sermon Central covered the subject pretty good. I've put it here so it could be on one page and I've also included the link at the end. Hope you enjoy

Introduction
1. Illustration: There are warning signs that we can be aware of when we are being led away by our lust. These signs begin to surface as we begin to give in to temptation and if not checked will lead us to betray those we love. In C.S. Lewis’ classic, “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe”, we have a prime example of a young man named Edmund who’s lust for Turkish Delight leads him into an allegiance to the white witch, betraying those he loves. Just like Edmund, we all are being seduced to lead a life away from the Lord, and if left unchecked we will betray those we love for something artificial and brief.
2. Jesus teaches us that adultery, like murder, begins in the heart. In his teaching on adultery, Jesus stresses that it is:
a. An affair of the heart, and to avoid it we must...
b. Perform Stumbling Block Surgery.
3. Read Matt. 5:27-30

Proposition: If lust is not dealt with, it can ruin our lives completely.

Transition: First, Jesus tells us the dangers of an...

I. Affair of the Heart (27-28)

A. Adultery With Her In His Heart
1. Just as we did last week, we see Jesus, as a good Rabbi, quotes Scripture and then explains it. Jesus moves from the sixth to the seventh commandment, developing the OT teaching on adultery (Turner, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, 89).
2. He says, “You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’"
a. Jesus, of course, is quoting from the Ten Commandments found in Exod. 20:14.
b. Adultery in the Old Testament involved sexual intercourse with mutual consent between a man, married or unmarried, and the wife of another man.
c. The term and the penalty (death) applied equally to both the man and the woman (Wilkins, NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Matthew, 244).
d. Adultery was considered one of the most serious offenses because it broke the relationship that was a reflection of God and his people.
e. Adultery was often used to describe the way in which the people of Israel went after gods other than Yahweh (Wilkins, 244).
3. However, Jesus again deals with the heart of the law and not merely the letter. He says, "But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
a. Just as anger is the beginning of murder, lust is the beginning of adultery.
b. The word that Jesus uses for lust means "to strongly desire to have what belongs to someone else and/or to engage in an activity which is morally wrong" (Louw and Nidda, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Symantic Domains).
c. Jesus does not, of course, refer here to passing attraction. The Greek tense probably suggests "the deliberate harboring of desire for illicit relationship (Keener, 117).
d. There is a difference between admiring the beauty of another, and in doing so acknowledging the handiwork of God, and lust.
4. By stressing the lustful intention over the act, Jesus seems to be interpreting the seventh commandment by the tenth commandment.
a. Exodus 20:17 (NLT) “You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”
b. In the popular Greek version of the OT used in Jesus day the tenth commandment began, "You shall not covet your neighbors wife," and used the same word for "covet" that Jesus uses for "lust" (Keener, 116).
c. In other words, in lusting after another, we are taking what belongs to someone else.
d. We are violating not only that person, but also their spouse and your spouse.
e. Proverbs 5:15-17 (NLT) Drink water from your own well— share your love only with your wife. Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone? You should reserve it for yourselves. Never share it with strangers.
5. Furthermore, this standard applies not only to those who are married, but to those who are single as well.
a. From this warning, we learn the value that God places on marital and premarital fidelity (Keener, 117).
b. Lust if just as sinful if you are single as it is for those who are married.
c. 1 Peter 1:15-16 (NLT) But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
d. Lust is far removed from true love: it dehumanizes another person into an object of passion, leading us to act as if the other were a visual or emotional prostitute for our use (Keener, 118).
B. Out of Control Passions
1. Illustration: Let me tell you about two demon worshippers. A young woman in the New Port Beach Marriott Hotel woke up alone. Her lover, Dave, was gone and all that was left was a note saying, “It’s been fun! Dave.” She had met Dave at a health club, fell in love and left her job, her husband and her two preschool children to be with him, and this was what she got. She went over to the desk, pulled a gun from her purse and ended her life. The note she left said, “Don’t weep for me. I am no longer human.” She worshiped Satan’s altar of LUST.
2. God created sexual passion.
a. Sexual passion, in and of itself is not evil.
b. However, God created it with a purpose and with limitations.
c. It is to be confined to a husband and wife within the context of marriage.
d. It is never to be indulged outside of the marriage commitment.
e. Anything outside of the bonds of marriage between a man and a woman is sin.
3. God’s intent is for us to control our sexual passions.
a. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 (NLT) God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways.
b. Used within the context of marriage sexual passion is blessed by God.
c. However, if not controlled, it becomes sinful and appalling to God.
4. Out of control, sexual passions are destructive.
a. Proverbs 6:27-29 (NLT) Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire? Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished.
b. Lust destroys lives.
c. Lust destroys marriages.
d. Lust destroys families.
e. Lust destroys our relationship with God.

Transition: Jesus tells us that the way to control our desires is to perform...

II. Stumbling Block Surgery (29-30)

A. Better to Lose One Part
1. Like a good teacher, Jesus not only tells us to avoid lust, but also gives us practical advice on how to avoid it.
2. He says, "So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell."
a. Jesus is declaring in a graphic manner that by whatever means necessary, one should cast off this sin (Keener, 117).
b. Jesus uses a similar metaphor in Matt. 18:8-9, but here he alters it slightly to fit the context of what he is talking about.
c. Notice that since the topic at hand is lust that the eye comes first, and in chp. 18 he uses the foot whereas here he uses the hand.
d. The "eye" is the member of the body most commonly blamed for leading us astray, especially in sexual sins (Carson, Expositor’s Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM).
e. The phrase "causes you to lust" refers to "a person or thing which gets in the way of God’s saving purpose" (France, NICNT: The Gospel of Matthew, 205).
3. He continues the metaphor by saying, "And if your hand—even your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell."
a. Sin must be avoided even if radical surgery is required. Lust must be treated with the utmost seriousness because it can cause a person to be thrown into hell.
b. If these bring one into occasion of sin, they must be dealt with by radical surgery.
4. What is Jesus suggesting we do?
a. Since evil arises in the heart, amputation cannot cure it. But the hyperbole shocks the reader with the real point: it is better to deal with the lust than to be thrown into hell because of it (Turner, 89).
b. Jesus is not advocating physical self-mutilation, but through dramatic figures of speech indicates the kind of rigorous self-discipline that committed disciples will display (Wilkins, 245).
c. Colossians 3:5-6 (NLT) So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires.
d. To put it in simple terms: if it leads you into temptation, get rid of it!
B. Eliminating Temptations
1. Illustration: Joshua Harris- Lust is always a desire for the forbidden. Though lust longs for an object or a person, ultimately this object is not its prize; its goal is the very act of desiring. The result is that lust can never be quenched. As soon as the object of lust is attained, lust wants something more.
2. 2 Timothy 2:22 (NLT) Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.
3. Dealing with lust requires making difficult choices.
a. If a person causes you to sin, stay away from them.
b. If a place causes you to sin, avoid it.
c. If an activity causes you to sin, find something else to do.
4. Dealing with lust can also require putting on your spiritual track shoes.
a. Sometimes we don’t look for temptation, but it seeks us out.
b. We learn this from the story of the Patriarch Joseph.
c. Genesis 39:10-12 (NLT) She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. One day, however, no one else was around when he went in to do his work. She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with me!” Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house.
d. There are times where the only thing left to do is run.
5. God will assist us if we ask Him.
a. Zechariah 4:6 (NLT) It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
b. God is there to help us in times of temptation, but need to ask.
c. We need to desire him more than our lusts.

Transition: Lust is powerful, but our God is all-powerful!

Conclusion
1. Jesus teaches us that adultery:
a. Is still a sin today.
b. Doesn’t begin with the act, but with the heart.
c. Destroys
2. Jesus dispels certain myths about lust.
a. The devil doesn’t make us do it; we choose to do it.
b. We can help ourselves.
c. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t make it right.
3. Are you struggling with lust?
a. Are you ready to stop struggling?
b. Are you ready to do some radical spiritual surgery?
c. Do you have on your spiritual track shoes?
d. Are you relying on the Spirit’s power?
4. If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed.

~Adultery of the Heart, by Mark Schaeufele, Assembly of God, Mt. Gilead, OH~

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Sermon on The Mount; Teaching about Divorce

31 “It was said, Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; 32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

11 And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; 12 if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

18 “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.

Here is another good outline from the same person as yesterday.

Honoring Marriage by Mark Schaeufele

1. Introduction: Another major contributing factor in our problems as a nation is the decline of the family. In a recent Barna Research study, we find that among those who have said their wedding vows, one out of three have been divorced at least once. Among adults who have been married, the study discovered that one-third (33%) have experienced at least one divorce. That means that among all Americans 18 years of age or older, whether they have been married or not, 25% have gone through a marital split (http://www.barna.org/barna-update/a...-new-marriage-and-divorce-statistics-released).
2. An even more troubling fact is that the divorce rate in the church is almost as high as outside the church, and let's be honest, we have not always been kind to those who have gone through a divorce in the church.
3. In considering Jesus teaching concerning divorce, we must consider:

a. What Jesus said about divorce
b. what Jesus meant about divorce.​

4. Read Matt. 5:31-32
Transition: First, let's take at face value...

I. What Jesus Said About Divorce (31-32)

A. A Man Can Divorce His Wife

1. Once again, we see that Jesus is dealing with misconceptions or erroneous interpretations of the law.
2. Jesus says, "You have heard the law that says, 'A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce.'"

a. The text that Jesus is referring to is found in Deut. 24:1-4
b. However, a closer look shows that Jesus is not actually quoting the text, but misquoting based on an erroneous teaching by some of the teachers of his day.
c. The actual text of that passage actually reads more like "Suppose a man marries a woman but she does not pleas him. Having discovered something wrong with her, he writes her a letter of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house."
d. These false teachers where saying that this is a command, and that in fact, God is giving them permission to divorce their wife for any reason.
e. However, what the Lord is saying is more like "what if."​

3. In fact, they didn't even need a legitimate reason for divorce.

a. Notice that what Jesus quotes actually says, "by merely giving her a written notice of divorce."
b. Palestinian Jewish husbands could divorce for virtually any reason, explicitly including their wives disobedience, and even burning the toast (Keener, 123).
c. Divorce required no legal hearing, merely the husband's decision (France, 207).
d. In other words, if a husband was just tired of his wife, or found someone he would rather have, he just gave his wife a letter that said they were divorced and she was out on the street.
e. The ease of divorce made it possible to avoid open adultery. Only a little paperwork was required to legalize their lust.​

4. We must also keep in mind that being a divorced woman in Jesus day was a tremendous hardship.

a. Women generally did not work outside the home and were dependent upon their husband for their very existence.
b. In addition, being a divorced woman made further prospects of marriage unlikely.
c. This limited a woman's options to prostitution, being a beggar, or not surviving at all.​

5. However, Jesus says, "But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery."

a. Why does Jesus say that to divorce and then remarry is adultery?
b. The reason that it is considered adultery is that God never approved of the divorce and sees it as invalid (France, 211)
c. In other words, they may have been divorced in their eyes, but not in God's eyes.
d. To the legalistic, self-righteous scribes and Pharisees Jesus was saying, "You consider yourselves to be great teachers and keepers of the law but by allowing no-fault divorce you have caused a great blight of adultery to contaminate God's people.
e. By lowering God's standards to meet your own, you have led many people into sin and judgment."
​

B. The Problem With Divorce
1. Illustration: A recent study by the University of Chicago showed couples who stay in an unhappy marriage and endure it are more likely to be happy 5 years later than those who decide to divorce. The study noted that even if no work is done on the marriage, ongoing problems were often viewed in new perspective over time. And when both spouse s worked on the marriage, many problems were solved and communication improved. Finally, if only one spouse worked on the marriage, there was improved happiness in thte one spouse despite a mediocre marriage.
2. One reason that divorce is a problem is that it cheapens marriage.

a. Marriage is supposed to e a life-long commitment between two people.
b. Marriage is supposed to be for better or worse.
c. Marriage is supposed to only be ended by death.
d. Divorce says I didn't really mean what I said that day.​

3. Another reason that divorce is a problem is because it has become too easy.

a. It's easier to break up than to make up.
b. It's easier to give up than to give in.
c. It's easier to break a vow than to keep a commitment.
d. It's easier to pay a lawyer than to work on our problems.​

4. However, the biggest reason that divorce is a problem is that it destroys.

a. Divorce destroys relationships.
b. Divorce destroys families.
c. Divorce destroys children.
d. Ultimately, divorce destroys societies.​

Transition: Now that we have looked at what Jesus said, let's discuss...

II. What Jesus Meant About Divorce (31-32)

A. What He Didn't Mean
1. Before we consider what Jesus did mean, let's first examine what Jesus didn't mean.
2. Those who have been divorced and remarried should divorce their present spouse and return to their previous one.

a. Some churches today take this literally and demand that remarried partners break up and return to their original spouses.
b. I this passage did not employ rhetorical overstatement, their interpretation would be right; but their interpretation does not square with the rest of biblical teaching (Keener, 120).
c. The passage that Jesus is quoting is from Deut. 24:1-4, which in it's original context prohibits a man from remarrying a woman he has previous ly been married to and divorced (Turner, 89).
d. Deuteronomy 24:1-4 (NLT) "Suppose a man marries a woman but she does not please him. Having discovered something wrong with her, he writes her a letter of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house. When she leaves his house, she is free to marry another man. But if the second husband also turns against her and divorces her, or if he dies, the first husband may not marry her again, for she has been defiled. That would be detestable to the Lord. You must not bring guilt upon the land the Lord your God is giving you a special possession."
e. This passage actually forbids a man from returning to his previous wife. For Jesus to be advocating this would require His going against Scripture.
f. Furthermore, this only leads to more divorce, which certainly is not approved by God (Keener, 120).​

3. We should judge those who have been divorced and remarried.

• It is unfortunate that many divorced people have been made to feel as if they are second class Christians.
• This text in no way indicates that we should look down upon or pass judgment on those who have gone through a divorce.
• It was not concerned with the rightness or wrongness of divorce, but with the aftermath of divorce (France, 206)
• It was a means of protecting those who had been divorced.
• Matthew 7:1 (NLT) "Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.
• Instead of judging those who have been divorced we should be loving those who have been divorced.

4. There are good reasons to get divorced.

a. Some people think that Jesus is saying that if your spouse is unfaithful you should divorce them.
b. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
c. The word translated "unfaithful" is the Greek word inappropriate contenteias. inappropriate contenteias literally denotes "Prostitution, habitual immorality," and it has a broader meaning than adultery. It particularly concerns illegal extramarital sexual relations of any kind (Horton, 93).
d. Illustration: "At last I understood: In the final analysis, forgiveness is an act of faith. By forgiving another, I am trusting that God is a better justice-maker than I am. By forgiving, I release my own right to get even and leave all issues of fairness for God to work out. I leave in God's hands the scales that must balance justice and mercy. Yancey, "What's So Amazing About Grace?" p.93
e. Adultery doesn't necessarily mean that a marriage is over, because with the Lord their is always hope.
​

B. What He Did Mean
1. Now let's talk about what Jesus did mean.
2. Marriage is sacred.

a. It is ordained by God.
b. It is an illustration of the relationship of God to His church.
c. It must never be entered into lightly or rushed into.
d. Although Matthew does not qualify the force of the saying, he wants us to hear it's demand: marriage is sacred and must not be betrayed (Keener, 119).​

3. Marriage should never be seen as disposable.

a. In our society, marriage is often treated as if it were a fast food joint: If you don't like McDonald's go to Wendy's.
b. In God's eyes there is no such thing as a no-fault divorce.
c. Divorce should only be considered after every other option has been explored.
d. 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT) "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
e. Illustration: When Tina and I got married we made a commitment to one another that divorce was not in our vocabulary, and by the grace of God, twenty-five years later, it still isn't.​

4. Successful marriages are Christ-centered.

a. Marriage is not easy, and it requires work and compromise from both parties.
b. There will always be challenges to face and overcome.
c. Love is not a feeling you fall out of, but a commitment that you live out.
d. Illustration: My Mom used to say, "love flies out the window when the bills come through the door."
​

Conclusion
1. So where do we go from here?
2. If you are married, thank God for your spouse and remain faithful to the vow you made to them on the day of your wedding.
3. If you have been divorced, kknow that god still loves you and wants good things fro you.
4. If you have been divorced and remarried, lern from your mistakes so that you do not repeat them the second time around.

Proposition: Marriage is a sacred institution, ordained and instituted by God, and is to be treated as sacred.

Let me add that I believe the context of his sermon is for those marriages where both spouses are committed to the Lord. There is never, as far as I'm concerned, an expectation for a woman or man to stay in an abusive relationship, where your life and the lives of your children are in danger. I believe that in that situation it is advisable to take advantage of all available help from your church family, your real flesh and blood family, and the law of the land and get away from the situation as quickly as possible. Remember the Lord is your Rock and your Salvation. He is there in your time of need. You just call on Him and He will be there.

This is not a Christian song per se but the words are good. Jesus is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Be blessed.