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1Timothy 3:2-6
Therefore an overseer must be above reproach,. … He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil Pharaoh and the Exodus is a test-tube to show the world not only what happens in the days preceding the return of Messiah, but also the results of hardening our heart. Whereas while the plagues unfold, the narrative tells us that God Himself hardens Pharaoh’s heart, it is his own idea to challenge Moses and his God ((Exodus 7). It’s like the little boy who receives a scolding from his Mom, “Johnny, why did you punch your brother in the face and kick him in the shin? Don’t you know the devil made you do that?” “Oh no Mom," Johnny answered, "The devil may have made me punch him in the face, but kicking him in the shin was my very own idea!” In a sense, Hashem is like a parent who after giving us a stern warning, let's us learn by allowing us out own choices, and even setting before us the fruits of our own thinking. He then allows us to go the full length that we may learn by experience that He was right in the first place. It’s a scary thought but there was no other choice for Pharaoh. One may say that he was victim of his own environment and ignorant of the facts, but the remembrance of Joseph and of the famine was not so far in the annals of Egypt. This Pharaoh though belonged to another dynasty, a dynasty who did not recognize the works of Joseph in saving Egypt (Exodus 1:8). Rashi notes that for the first five plagues God did not harden Pharaoh’s heart; the biblical text tells us that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. What Pharaoh was, is a victim of his pride; he thought he was God. Spiritual pride, the notion that we are something special is the worst of all prides. It causes us to have a narrow worldview where the world revolves solely around what’s happening in our realm. As a result we step on everybody else's toes and then wonder why in the world they should be hurting. Pride makes a person very vulnerable to the devil’s devices. There is a saying in whaling, “Don’t harpoon until she blows!” Sad to say, spiritual pride is a very rampant and contagious disease in the body of Messiah. Even though Peter, the close disciple of Rabbi Yeshua, strongly advised against autocratic oppressive leadership in the congregations in favor of team-works of co-workers (1 Peter 5:3; Acts 6:2-3), people naturally fall back on their past habits and training. In his pride, man is naturally wickedly ambitious, always desiring to establish himself in a position of power and authority over others, which is forbidden. It is even sicklier when spirituality is used as a vehicle to establish oneself above others. Soon Messiah will return and help us establish leaders who are meek, not victims of the devil’s pride in being desirous of authority and power in leadership. He Himself chose meek man from Israel’s working class instead of the pompous religious circles, and told them that they will sit upon thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. May we take notice and live by their example.
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Titus 2:14
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. The story of Pinchas in the text of Numbers 25 has dangerous ramifications. People read the story and too easily decide that they are to exercise Pinchas-like zeal and start excommunicating people whom they defined as 'idolaters in the land'. Sad to say in the end, more people and families are broken due to ignorance and spiritual pride rather than by the type of zeal God would have us display. God may have vindicated Matthias' the Priest efforts (1 Maccabees 2:26), but on the other hand, Paul's zeal to persecute and destroy the followers of the Rabbi from Nazareth was evidently misplaced (Philippians 3:6). It is important to remember the context of the actions reported to us in Numbers 25. This judgment was executed on someone who was totally aware of their Torah responsibility, which cannot be said of most people today, even Israelites. These actions were also done in public by a leader of Israel. Thus it represented not only an act of total arrogance, rebellion, defiance, and disobedience, but also of negative influence on the people. The context of the time Israel spent in the desert was that of boot camp training of our nation, a training experience that was to become a reference point all the way to us believers today (1 Corinthians 10:6). In the military for example, boot camp training is hard, tough, and merciless. Whereas boot camp doesn't represent the exact 100% lifestyle of a soldier, it is a time to strengthen, train, and teach, as well as establish proper reference point in a soldier's life. In the same manner, in the desert, Israel was a nation in spiritual boot camp to establish reference points for the generations to come, even for us today. Reading through the text, we are told of a man stoned to death for breaking the Sabbath, of the earth swallowing thousands for challenging God ordained and appointed leadership, and of invasions of snakes for people murmuring and complaining for lack of basic needs such as food and water in a dry and desertic place. I doubt any of us would do better under the same conditions. The actions of that prince of Israel represented a total challenge to Moses' leadership and to God, and that in full view of everyone. Whereas challenging Moses' leadership carried the same repercussion as challenging Messiah, it is certainly not the same as challenging the leadership and teaching of any other congregational leader, especially when self-appointed, which seems to often be the case. We are to show zeal for God, but may we follow the example of those early believers in Jerusalem. At a time when God seemed to increase the congregation of believers both in numbers and influence, James reports that they were all zealous for the Torah (Acts 21:20). May live according to the wishes of our beloved Rabbi, Yeshua from Nazareth, who wants nothing more that we be zealous in our obedience to His commandments (Philippians 2:14). Finally. May we follow the example of the zealousness of the One who exceeded Pinchas' zealousness and died for us that we may live. 1Timothy 3:2-6
Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. … He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil Pharaoh and the Exodus is a test-tube to show the world what happens in the days preceding the return of Messiah, but also of what happens when we harden our heart. Whereas as the plagues unfold the text mentions that God Himself hardens Pharaoh’s heart, it’s his own idea to challenge Moses and his God ((Exodus 7). It’s like the little boy who receives a scolding from his Mom, “Johnny, why did you punch your brother and then kick him? Don’t you know the devil made you do that?” “Oh no Mom," Johnny answered, "The devil may have made me punch him, but kicking him was my own idea!” In a sense also, God is like a parent who after warning us teaches us by allowing us our mind frame, and even setting before us the fruits of our thinking. He then allows us to go the full length that we may learn by experience that He was right in the first place. It’s a scary thought but there was no other choice for Pharaoh. One may say that he was victim of his own environment and ignorant of the facts, but Joseph and the whole famine was not so far in the annals of Egypt. This Pharaoh though belonged to another dynasty, a dynasty who did not recognize the works of Joseph in saving Egypt (Exodus 1:8). Rashi notes that for the first five plagues God did not harden Pharaoh’s heart; the biblical text tells us that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. What Pharaoh was, is a victim of his pride. He thought he was God. Spiritual pride, the notion that we are something special is the worst of all prides. It causes us to have a narrow worldview where the world revolves solely around what’s happening in our realm. As a result we step on everybody’s toes and then wonder why in the world they should be hurting. Pride makes a person very vulnerable to the devil’s weapons. There is a saying in whaling, “Don’t harpoon until she blows!” Sad to say, spiritual pride is a very rampant and contagious disease in the body of Messiah. Even though Peter, the very disciple of Messiah strongly advised against autocratic oppressive leadership in the congregations in favor of team-works of co-workers (1 Peter 5:3; Acts 6:2-3), people naturally fall back on their past habits and training. In his pride, man is naturally wickedly ambitious always desiring to establish himself in a position of power and authority over others, which is forbidden. It is all the more sickly when spirituality is used as a vehicle to establish oneself as something. Soon Messiah will return and help us establish leaders who are meek, not victims of the devil’s pride in being desirous of authority and leadership. He himself chose meek working man from Israel’s populace not from the proud religious circles, and told them that they will sit upon thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. May we take notice and live by their example. 1Peter 5:5
Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." When the Children of Israel entered Canaan, their Almighty God asked them to sanctify the land from all forms of idolatry. They were to ruthlessly and zealously destroy temples, shrines and groves; even sacred trees were to be cut down and burned. If there is anything God is intolerant of, it is idolatry. He is indeed a jealous God who does not allow us to have divided loyalties. It is important to notice though that this commandment specifies ‘In the Land’ and ‘in that place’ (Deuteronomy 12:1-3). It is therefore not incumbent on us to start destroying and defacing idolatrous structures that are not in Israel The only other place where it is pertinent for us to rid ourselves of idols and idolatrous practices is our hearts, and by extension, our homes. The difficulty with that is that it is often much easier to see the idolatry on others that it is in ourselves. Our nature is such that we have a natural tendency to mercifully analyze and rationalize ourselves to ourselves. To see our own lifestyle in its proper perspective requires the same instrument as the one we use to see if our face is clean: a mirror. And in the case of our lifestyle, the ‘mirror’ is the Torah (James 1:23-24). Religion defined by Torah lifestyle is clean from idolatry, but religion away from Torah becomes idolatrous. The other problem is that Torah today is in the form of a written text. One’s culture usually defines his worldview and perspective, which in turn defines his understanding of any written text. To see ourselves as we truly are therefore takes the ‘mirror’ of Torah, but in the form of a brother or a sister (Proverbs 27:17). This brother or sister whom the Holy Spirit will use and speak through in the same manner it spoke through Balaam’s donkey (Numbers 22:28) is usually someone just like ourselves who sees the wrong in us more than in himself. This alls makes for a perfect match because it also requires us to learn submissive humility, which in itself is a pertinent exercise against stubborn and prideful and therefore idolatrous rebellion (1 Samuel 15:23). Many of us don’t mind if God descends from His Great Place to talk to us in a vision or a dream about our problems (that actually feeds our pride), but He usually doesn’t do that; most of the time, He likes to use the agency of an imperfect brother or sister. This reminds me of Naaman, the leprous Syrian general. First, his wife’s young Jewish slave advised him to seek healing from Elisha, the prophet in enemy country. When he arrived there (having first tried to see the king), Elisha would not even see him; he just sent his servant to tell him to go bathe in the dirty Jordan River. Proud Naaman took offense to the whole thing. It is again his own servant who had to bring him to his senses (2 Kings 5). May we learn to look in the Torah in our brothers and sisters. May we, as the apostle says, ‘be quick to hear, slow to speak (James 1:19). James 4:6
"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." At a time when Elishah was prophet in Israel Naaman, a proud general of the Assyrian Empire, was afflicted with leprosy. A young Israelite girl in the service of his wife told him about the prophet in Israel that could heal him. The Assyrians looked down at Israel and at what seemed to them their backward religion, so this must have been a hard saying for this proud general. If that was not enough, Naaman also had to ask permission from his enemy the King of Israel before approaching Elishah. But Naaman, desperately seeking healing decided to give it a try. He took with him monies and rewards and set himself to visit the prophet in Israel but to the general's great humiliation, Elisha did not even come and see him, but rather sent Gehazi his servant. Here is how the story goes, 'And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean." But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, "Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?"' Somehow it seems that Naaman's leprosy was related to his pride. What leprosy does to the flesh, pride certainly does to virtue. The story continues and says, 'So he turned and went away in a rage. But his servants came near and said to him, "My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?" So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean (2 Kings 5:10-14).' What a miracle! But the greatest miracle of all is that Naaman 'returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, "Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel (2 (Kings 5:15)." God always seems to get good mileage out of things, and these are just a few 'miles' He got associated with that event. God did heal the general of his sickness, He addressed the pride issue that created the disease, and he got the Naaman toi recognize the God of Israel. That my friend is complete healing! |
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