HE ALWAYS HAS THE LAST WORD

Proverbs 15:28
The heart of the righteous studieth to answer:
But the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.

I think it is important to notice the contrast properties of this proverb:

Heart versus mouth;

Righteous versus wicked;

Studieth (waiting) versus poureth.

In such an information age as we presently live in, we need all the help we can get to sift through the spiritual, theological, philosophical and spiritual garbage that is constantly poured upon us through the airwaves. The contrasts in this proverb provide us with useful evaluation guidelines.

These guidelines are very simple: righteous Godly wisdom requires deliberation before deciding whether to speak and even what to say; while ignorant foolishness spouts slander and heresy without control.

This proverb therefore teaches how to easily spot those who speak when spoken ‘through’ from the Godly abundance of their heart, from those who just ‘speak’, from an uncontrolled over-active brain, who wants to make sure to have the first word before God has a chance to do it. Sadly though for these latter ones, they may have the first word, but God always has the last one.

A WISE PRAYER

Proverbs 15:27
He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.

Oh, the deceitfulness of riches. While they promise rest, peace and quiet, they bring trouble arrogance and vexation of spirit. He who sings, ‘If I were a rich man’, does not know that his penury is the spiritual lifeline of his sanity.

Wealth can be the result of God’s blessing, but it is also part and parcel with worry, troubles, buy-ness and corruption of character. Jabez (The Devil and Daniel Webster) who prayed for prosperity was not able to handle the blessing of wealth and almost lost everything. In the end, he wished his former poverty over his present wealth.

For the poor, the only way is up, so the outlook is always bright. The rich live near the precipice and live in the constant fear of falling. Let us therefore pray the following wise prayer: God, supply all my needs according to your marvelous bounty. 'Keep from me extreme poverty that I may not blaspheme your name, and from the deceit of riches that I may not curse those made in your image.'

ADONAI; OR GOLDEN CALF? CHOOSE YE.

Proverbs 15:26
The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord:
But the words of the pure are pleasant words.

I would like to present here a vernacular literal translation of this proverb. ‘The abomination of God is thoughts of evil; words of pleasantness should be pure’. This proverbs tries to point out the evil of clothing ungodly ideas in mellow seemingly spiritual language. This is an abomination to God because the righteous, who is sometimes simple, often falls for the deception.

This age of relativism is dangerous. In ancient cultures, faith was more easily defined. You believed in the God who made the Heavens and the earth, or you believed in some idol. The two represented opposite concepts; it was one or the other and never the twain shall meet. (There was no such thing as ‘atheism’. Even today, atheism is really only the creed of man worshipping himself called: humanism)

Today we live in different times. The devil has used the Almighty’s seeming invisibility and muteness to be a sight and voice for Him. For now about two centuries, we have taken upon ourselves the liberty to define the Creator. Modern preachers tell us what He likes and doesn’t like. They establish on Him a character according to ‘modern’ man’s own definition of righteousness. What our ‘modern’ civilization has done is akin to Aaron in the desert who formed and carved a golden calf and called it by the Name of the Almighty. Today, we don’t need a golden calf; all we need is smart semantics.

Paul advised his leaders to speak as the ‘Oracles’ of the God; meaning, ‘don’t speak unless you are spoken through’. It is blasphemous to say that God doesn’t mind that we do or don’t do certain things about which he was very specific in His Words about. It is lie and deceit to cloak Him with a cover of free everlasting forgiveness that does not involve any retribution for sin.

The character of the Father is easily revealed to us though His deeds. It is by His story in His Book that we know how He is. Let us therefore be true and pure in our presentation of Him to others, to our children, and most importantly, to ourselves.

JERUSALEM: THE FIRST WIDOW

Proverbs 15:25
The Lord will destroy the house of the proud:
But he will establish the border of the widow.

As a believer in the Creator of Heaven and earth and in His Mashiach, I have noticed that, whoever is the perpetrator of evil, the Almighty is on the side of the victim. The problem is that His version of who is the victim may be different than ours.

The civilizations of every generation seem to always be thoroughly entrenched in their own world. They sadly make all political and financial decisions according to the selfish concerns of their time. Doing so, they omit to fully weigh the consequences their actions will have on the world of their children. It is the same today as it has always been.

The Divine Author of the Holy Book knows how to get mileage out of His Words. Each Oracle from the Father deserves Pandora’s box of limitless possibilities to be opened. There is more to this proverb than a sound bite to plead the case of poor widows.

I personally like to judge the dynamics of history as per the Word of God. Our present time is witnessing the dawning of the shadows of a new age. Changes are is in the air. Economic and political realities are shifting to bring the world to its final pre-arranged state. In our times, in front of our eyes the Father, the Creator and Perpetrator of history, brings the world to labor and contractions. The proud nations of the world who have oppressed the poor for hundreds of years receive their due, while the borders of the widow are being established. The establishing of the widows though starts with the First Widow, the Widow of all Widows: Jerusalem. How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! How is she become as a widow! She that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!Lamentations 1:1

OF LIFE AND DEATH

Proverbs 15:24
The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.

The sheol (the Hebrew word used for ‘hell’ in this text) is the appointed final place for all those made of flesh. Even Yeshua did not escape passing through it, ever so quickly, as He did not see corruption.

Death did not have any hold on the Master. As soon as it hit Him, the Master’s body, revived in incorruptibility by the Spirit of Life. He became life in the very corners of sheol and preached salvation to the spirits in disobedience from the days of Noah. Like Joseph in his Egyptian prison, the Master was elevated to the care of the prisoners and eventually became their Master, even above the jailer. When the devil thought that he had caught the ‘catch’ of his ‘death’ (not to say life), he actually 'shot himself in the foot' and lost all his captives.

The Master is resurrection and life; He is the Firstfruit of all those who rise from the dead. Such is the way of the followers of Messiah; the sheol cannot hold them. It is a known fact that the ungodly die in fear and agony while those who have a connection with the Creator of their soul die more peacefully. As an unbeliever, it must be a fearful thing to be suddenly faced with death; to feel taken, beyond your control, to an entirely unknown and fearful future.

Believers do not have to worry about that for their way is above.

Their way escapes the sheol beneath; it does not even have a chance to touch them.

Praise the Son and blessed be the Father.

GOOD ADVICE

Proverbs 15:23

A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!

I heard it said once, ‘do not speak unless spoken through’. When we are asked for godly counsel, it is very important that we speak ‘as the Oracle of God’, (emphasis mine), meaning through the inspiration of the Spirit of the Creator which will then make us speak in the same Words in the same perspective as the already given Word.

One thing particular to the written Word is that it does not speak to us unless we are ready to receive it. The minute we begin to listen to Adonai’s already recorded Words, immediately we put ourselves in the position of being willing to listen. We actually, have to make all the steps towards it if we want to hear it. First, we have to determine in our hearts to read it. We also have to schedule a priority, (sometimes against other ‘priorities’) to read it. Then we go and open the book and even choose what we will read. Once we read it, it never changes its tone of voice nor alters what it said. It is just there available to us whenever we are ready for it. There are times though when The Almighty may also barge into our busy un-prioritized lives though a Scripture on a billboard at a cross-road, but we still decided to read that billboard

This is an example of how to have joy, and not grief by the answer of our mouth, of how we should communicate and offer counsel to others as a word spoken in ‘due season’: Godly counsel should only be given when someone is ready to listen to it. Somewhere else, our author compares unsolicited advice to ‘pearls cast before swines’.

A MAN AND HIS WIFE

Proverbs 15:22
Without counsel purposes are disappointed:
But in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

Due to carnal pride, it is easy for a man (or a woman for that matter) to feel sufficient in himself. God, in His great wisdom, has seen to perfectly balance each of His creatures. He blessed each one of them with some sort of handicap, ballast, a weakness or oppositional force which bring them to a more humble perspective about themselves.

In the case of man, God gave him a wife.

It is easy to point out certain verses in the Bible that lead a man to become the little dictator of his household. The favorites are that it is woman who initiated sin in Eden, another one is Proverbs 31, which some use to reduce the wife status as that of a servant. All these are twisted perspective of Scriptures. The story outlined in the Bible is of a Bridegroom who rescues is beloved beautiful but at times foolish Bride from the clutches of a demonic dragon by utterly humbling Himself to the lowest of level. The story is of a man who decks his wife with all honor and glory; of a man who respects his wife too much to accept her mere servitude, and who will be satisfied with nothing less than her sincere loving devotion. This is mystery, but I speak of Messiah and His Bride. As far as Proverbs 31, it’s author’s analogy is of the same caliber as Paul’s in Ephesians 5: 21-32: he uses marriage to teach about the ideal attitude of the Church in the world (Church: the corporate body of believers).

The Hebrew wording of Genesis gives us a clue of the wife’s role. The text literally says, ‘ . . . it is not good for man to be by himself; I will make him a helper to be AGAINST him’ (emphasis mine). Here we have the ballast of a man. As a result, Jewish sages taught not to trust the counsel of a man who is not married, because he does not have a wife at home to argue with him and ‘balance’ him in his opinions. A good and wise woman will learn how to do that without ‘vexing’ the masculinity of her husband.

A man who uses his masculine position to dominate his wife is ungodly, and a woman who uses her position as counselor to divert her husband to do her bidding instead of God’s is blasphemous. A godly man wants to serve God and he does it in harmony with his wife. A godly woman helps her husband to find what it is God’s wants him to do and helps him to refine the idea.

I will end this devotional with an old Jewish legend which says that when God wanted to choose a bone from Adam to create his future wife,. He did not take it from the head so he would not dominate her; He did not take it from the foot so he would not trample her, but he took a rib, near to the heart, so he would love her.

MIND OVER MATTER

Proverbs 15:21
Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom:
But a man of understanding walketh uprightly.

I heard it said once that we can tell much about people in what gives them pleasure, what makes them laugh, by what they like to do with their free time, and how they spend their money.

An abundance of time and money are the test of man’s character; they try the soul of humankind. Money corrupts and idleness is the devil’s workshop. These two proverbs are so true, not that money and time are evil in themselves, but because they provoke the inner corruption of our sinful state.

“A man of understanding’ walks uprightly. Notice that the author did not say ‘a man of faith’. That is because faith comes from the heart. Our human nature is such that the free will of our mind is stronger than the loyalties of heart. It is good because our heart can be easily influenced and the enemy knows it. It is therefore by the strength of our intellect, our mind that we compel our heart to submit to the right path, but our mind must be given to understanding. This is why the main prayer in Judaism is the ‘Shema’ from Deuteronomy 6:4 which quotes, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is One, . . . And thou shalt love the Lord with all thine heart …’ Love cannot be commanded, but if we ‘shema’ (hear), the Words of God in our mind will cause us to love Him from our hearts.

Understanding though is something obtained through inquisitiveness of spirit, through a haunting desire to completely know, which of course can never be achieved. That is why Yeshua says, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6

Foolishness is the devil’s counterfeit for the joy of Adonai.

Let us therefore vehemently discard the fake joy that is obtained through foolishness.

Let us desire to know and properly understand Him, so we can love Him in the way that He desires.

A FATHER’S DREAM

Proverbs 15:20
A wise son maketh a glad father:
But a foolish man despiseth his mother.

Once he was in control of his kingdom having conquered Jerusalem, David, the Father of our author, spent the rest of his life preparing for his greatest ambition: the building of the first Jewish Temple. He designed the building plans, wrote the liturgy, organized the priesthood and even financed the whole project. Before he died, David merely passed everything on to his wise son Solomon. The building of this temple was David’s dream and passion. It was the physical expression of his love for God. As a father of five sons, I can understand the peace and gladness of heart David must have experienced at the moment of death, knowing that his own son would bring to fruition the passion of his life’s efforts.

A wayward child can never imagine nor understand the grief he causes to his parents. They invest years in the building of his character and in his education without getting any dividends. A father cannot find more pride anywhere or in anything else than in the knowledge that his children walk in his footsteps. Such is our inborn nature given to us by the God who also enjoyed His Own Son executing His good pleasure. A mother trains her child to be a support to the household and to her husband, so when that child become a lazy game-playing loafer, she feels despised; she feels all her good words of wisdom washed away by a flood of indifference.

We have a spiritual heritage today because for 6,000 years of generations, children have endorsed the dreams of the promises God made to their fathers. Today, we have a generation that seems to rejects the steady ancient faith and wisdom paths of their fathers; a generation that prefers to look forward[1] into the uncertain future of novel ideas.

Will faith die with this generation?

Is it what the Master meant when he said,

. . . Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Luke 18:8


[1] In our Greek mind, we say that we look ‘forward’ into the future, and ‘backward’ into the past. The ancient Semites knew that what we see in front of us is ‘forward’. What we don’t see, is what’s behind us. Because in life we can only see our past, which helps us in turn define our future steps, the ancients understood that therefore, it is the past that is in front of us and that we can see; the future is behind us because we cannot see it.

FIND YOUR CALLING

Proverbs 15:19
The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns:
But the way of the righteous is made plain.

The contrast property of Proverbs should help us again clarify this saying. If ‘sluggard’ is to contrast with ‘righteous’, ‘sluggard’ is defined as one who is too lethargic, passive, and lazy to fulfill his godly destiny. He makes excuses for himself. Obstacles surround him like a thorny hedge. On the other hand, one who is diligent to want to accomplish his calling in life seems to be totally oblivious to any obstacles. His way is as paved before him. Then, a literal Hebrew reading would say: The way of the sluggard is as hedged with thorns, but the path of the upright is paved.

How many reach their prime and have not found what their true calling is. How many die without fulfilling their mission. It is pathetic to see the potential of a God-given life wasted on ‘husky’ excuses. It is hard to lead an accomplished life. It requires sacrifices; but it is a lot easier than experiencing the depressive state of mind, and even the addictions that come as a result of frustration.

The Almighty Creator of our soul has given us so much potential. So much is in our power to make positive changes around us, if only we would stop believing the thorny hedges the devil lets us imagine are around us.

They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy,

the fleeing prophet said.

Jonas 2:8.

Yes, the world is getting darker and darker and it is ordained to do so. There is nothing we can do to change that. It is God’s plan to let us know that we cannot run our own world; that we need His Messiah to help us get back to His original plan. What we can do though, is to be faithful to find our calling from Him so we can shine His Light around us, a light that which will shine brighter and brighter as the darkness sets in.

With that said, may we live each day as if it were the last one.

Who knows; it may be . . .

THE ROADMAP TO PEACE IN THE M.E.

Proverbs 15:18
A wrathful man stirreth up strife:
But he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.

There is a man in the Bible who is described as an angry man. Here what was is said about him from the womb of his conception, And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren (Genesis 16:12).

His name?

Ishmael, Abraham’s firstborn.

How would you deal with such a man in your midst? His very nature is commanded by God to be wild and adversarial. In the Bible, the children of Ishmael inter-marry with the children of Esau, Jacob’s brother and archenemy. They all also intermarried with the Canaanites, the cursed section of the sons of Ham, son of Noah. God had told Abraham to favor his second-born Isaac. God also tells Rebecca to favor her second-born Jacob. Later, Ishmael and Esau, the two ignored brothers, along with the Canaanites, compound into a synergy of hatred for the other side of their family.

When Jacob uses deception to obtain the birthright already given to him from the womb, Esau’s passions lashed out against his brother and he desire to kill him. Jacob therefore flees the country of Canaan for 21 years and gives birth to the tribes that would later consist of the nation of Israel established in Canaan.

Jacob knew that eventually he needed to return from exile. His home was not Mesopotamia, but the Promised Land of Canaan. He also knew that he would have to face Esau who had sworn to kill him, but nothing could keep Jacob from performing his destiny. Upon entering the eastern borders of the Land, Esau, armed with 400 men, set himself to pursue Jacob’s traveling family of nomads. Jacob then started a piece of diplomatic strategy which I believe is going to be the blue-print for the road-map to peace in the M.E. Today, the story is very similar: Jacob (the Jews) has to return home, but Esau (the Arab world) is antagonistic to the idea.

Jacob sent seven caravans of gifts to Esau to appease his wrath. On the night before Jacob met Esau, Jacob had a wrestling match, but with an angel. This angel was the spirit of Messiah with whom Jacob had to struggle. At the end of the strife, Messiah blesses Jacob and changes his name to: Israel. Only after Jacob reckons with his Messiah does he receive his new name of Israel. The next day he meets with Esau and both are changed people. They kiss and each one goes to the inheritance given to them by their grandfather Abraham. Today, only after the people of Israel reckons with their Messiah, will their inherit the Promised Land in peace.

Peace will only be accomplished through universal forgiveness.

The Master taught us to pray:

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

The Messiah will come back and forgive the world who, by God’s own permission sent Him to a cruel death.

Like Joseph of old, Messiah will not blame His brothers for what they did to him, but He expects us also to forgive also those who, also by God’s permission caused us the anguish and pain of a long exile.

The only ‘roadmap to peace’ for the M.E. is the returning of Messiah.

May He return soon!
.

DID HE TAKE YOU CAMPING?

Proverbs 15:17
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.

A teacher friend of mine related the counsel she gave a young wealthy man in trying to prove the sincerity of the many girls who wanted to marry him. My friend told him, “Take them for a week-end of wild hiking and camping; once away from the wining and dining paint-deep glitter of city-life, you will see their true motives, and mainly, their personality.” This actually proved to be good counsel as several girls only wanted to be with him only to enjoy the benefit of his wealth. I think he married the girl who went camping with him, the girl who was happy to enjoy a simple ‘dinner of herb’, such a dinner as is eaten on the road somewhere when traveling, with the sole joy of being in the presence of the person she loved.

In the same manner, we are traveling. We are ‘camping on this earth as ‘pilgrims and strangers’ the Bible says. During our earthly travels, Yeshua, our traveling companion and leader sometimes takes us to a restaurant, but most often we have to make-do with simple sandwiches or a pre-made camping dish warmed up on a camping stove. We do not mind though, because the foundation of the joy and fulfillment of our souls is solely to be with our Beloved Messiah: Yeshua.

Yeshua is the owner of everything. He can lavish wealth upon wealth on our lives and this He will do in the world to come. For now, we need to be content with what He has, in His great wisdom, chosen to give us. We need to be content when in need the same we are when we are in abundance. It shouldn’t matter. Some think it unfair and the devil knows it, so he tempts people with the wealth of this world. He tries to make them think that they are an absolute and inherent sign of God’s blessing and thereby deceives them.

Are our times of distress, poverty and need His way to test the motives of our relationship with Him? Do we only want Him for the provision and protection he can give us? Do we only want Him for what we can get out of Him, or do we truly love Him for Him, even if it involves only a ‘dinner of herb’ sitting on log in a forest with clouds warning of rain, but in His blessed Presence?

TRAINING FOR THE NEXT LIFE

Proverbs 15:16
Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.

Earth’s wealth lies before mankind to gather into treasure. The Father has also put within man the desire to always better himself, to strive and be more prominent than his fellow earthlings.

Our Creator has set all wealth in front of us and He said to Himself, “I know that man is not able to resist His carnal instincts, but this makes for a good trial run.” He has promised us all wealth and every desire of our hearts, but before this is to be accomplished in the millennium, he wants to train our hearts. Our Heavenly Trainer may ask Himself the following questions, “Will man just go and grab these riches instead of waiting for Me, their actual Owner, to give them to Him? Will man become an animal and trample others on his way to this wealth? Will he blotch his soul by using unrighteous means to obtain them? Will he neglect Me, the Word, and even his social obligations in gathering them?

All of the above?"

Many promises of wealth and comfort are made to the righteous, but their fulfillment is mostly reserved for the messianic age. Talmudic sages have often imagined God asking Himself,

“ So many wonderful things are reserved for the righteous in the world to come; how is it that he also complains about the problems of life on earth?"

Teaching His disciples about the uses and misuses of earthly wealth, the Master told a parable and asked the rhetorical question that should also confront our soul today:

If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

Luke 16:11.

VICTORY IS STATE OF MIND

Proverbs 15:15
All the days of the afflicted are evil:
But he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.

I used to sing a little song as a teenager, a song called, “Victory is a State of Mind”. It is quite a true fact that our attitude determines our altitude. External and internal pressures may try to dictate our moods and thereby confuse our lives, but stability of spirit belongs to he who does not yield to emotions dictates. Peace comes by keeping our eyes stay set on the Spirit of Messiah.

Jewish sages were aware of emotions’ unreliability. They determined that the influence of the intellect is stronger than that of the heart, and therefore levels it. They believed in ‘Mind over Matter’. They derive that concept from the main prayer in Judaism called the ‘Shema’. It is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. The prayer starts with, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might (Punctuation emphasis mine)”. Love is a reaction of the heart. Dictated, it is not love. How then can we be commanded to love God? The text teaches us, ‘Hearing God will cause us to love Him’. We hear the voice of the mighty Creator of our soul in our hearts, and like a woman being wooed with tender words we fall in love with Him. The intellect leads the heart.

In the same way, our proverb does not indicate that happiness is the emotional reaction to the demands of our environment. It rather teaches us that happiness comes with the leveling of our passions with the imposition of God’s Spirit on all that would dictate the ups and downs of our emotions. Making decisions solely on an intellectual basis may sound cold, but to indiscriminately react out of emotions is foolish. The two need to work together. The dangerous emotional fire needs to furnace to control it; we can all then enjoy its warmth.

“YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT”

Proverbs 15:14

The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge:
But the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.

“You are what you eat” the proverb affirms. This does not only mean that we take on the nature of what we eat; it also means that people are revealed by their diet. A wealthy man eats refined rich foods while an athlete sticks to a special regimen. A model eats hardly anything; a common person indulges in junk foods, and a child of God subjects himself to the biblical diet. So whatever the verbal confession of any person, whatever they claim to be, their appetite tells who they are.

Many of us want to believe people; we want to believe that they tell us the truth about themselves. The problem is that modern industrial society has people live in the media realm of what they want and would like to be. Religion also has them live in the ideal realm of what they should be. In the end, they are only deceived about themselves; they do not know who they are.

This proverb today gives us a clue. The heart is fed through the eyes and the ears. If therefore a person claims to love God and to be spiritual, we will see them be careful of what they listen to and watch. If that same person enjoys the exposure to worldliness but considers the study of God’s Word a chore, he lies and /or is deceived about his personal confession. Such a person would make sure their social environment does not feed them ‘foolishness”.

On the other hand, there are those who claim not to care about God, but their spirit is hungry. They are not satisfied with the spiritual starchy fatty protein lacking junk food of the spirit they are given. Like Moses, they have all of ‘Egypt’, but they are looking for something better, something that feeds their spirit. They seek the knowledge and understanding that comes from the Creator of their souls.

Let us not be deceived. It is good sometimes to, as a means of metaphor I would say: to come out of our person and look at ourselves with the eyes of a second-party observer. Let us replay the ‘film’ of our daily life, and check our spiritual and social diet. We may learn something about ourselves that will help us make some important corrections.

THE LEARNINGS OF MOURNING

December 29

Proverbs 15:13
A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance:
But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.

Biblical narration tells us about the patriarch Jacob when he falsely concluded that his favored son, the one in whom were set all of his expectations, had been devoured by a wild beast on his way to his brothers. The text tells us that Jacob’s heart would not be comforted. We would say today that he did not have closure. In a way, the messianic interpretations of this are monumental. Jacob never had closure over Joseph’s supposed death, but Joseph hadn’t died. Like Messiah, he was raised from the pit his brother put him in after 3 days, to be set to rule over the gentile world until such a day that his brothers would recognize him.

Jacob was not a spiritual dwarf. His time in the ‘school of Laban’ had certainly exercised his spiritual knowledge great maturity and discernment. The Biblical narration reveals him as a man in touch with God through visions and prophecies and yet, he was not able to consciously discern that Joseph was still alive.

Jewish sages who have pondered on this question for many years before we did tell us that the answer lies in the words of our proverb of today. Sorrow of the heart, uncomforted unresolved sorrow breaks our spirit and steals our spiritual faculties from us. A priest was forbidden to serve in the temple in a spirit of sadness. We even see Aaron who was not permitted to mourn the death of his two sons while he was in the service of the High priesthood. This principle is also echoed in ancient Semitic cultures where a servant was not allowed to show sadness in front of the king whom he served. We remember this in the story of Nehemiah who was afraid of having shown sadness in front of his king.

This may sound cruel and cold, but therein lies a very important principle: it is close to blasphemy to be sad in the presence of Him from Whom all blessings and comforts flow, in front of He Who does all things well and to our benefit, even those things that sadden us. The Hebrew word used here for sorrow is actually synonymous with the word ‘idol’, which shows us that even though God understands our human sorrow, it becomes idolatrous when it morphs into rebellious bitterness of the Father’s doings in our lives.

The Father certainly has a heart to understand the frailties of our human nature, but in the end, He expects us to have closure through the understanding that:

All things world together for good to them who God.

Romans 8:28.

CAN GOD BE 'MOCKED'?

Proverbs 15:12
A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him:
Neither will he go unto the wise.

The Hebrew word used for scorner in the text is ‘lets’, a very interesting word which takes us deeper into the meaning of the verse. This word ‘lets’ refers to the original sense of the verb to ‘mock’. It means to ‘imitate in a condescending way’. ‘to make fun with exaggerated acting’, and also ‘counterfeiting.

In this deeper meaning of the verse, we can almost see the person of Jeroboam who in order to bring the people of Israel’ Northern Kingdom to himself created a religion similar the one the people were used to but just changed the festival days and the places of worship. The episode of the Golden Calf smacks of the same in the fact that Aaron formed and fashioned the statue and then named it by the Name, and establish its own Feast day.

Sad to say, as we can see in the development of post-resurrection believers practices, history does repeat itself. Less than 200 years after the resurrection of the Master, people had already taken things in their own hands, and ‘synchretized’ the Jewish Messiah’s teachings with that of the Sun-god of Rome. As a result, they changed the Sabbath day to Sun-day, the worship day of the sun god, instead of Saturday; they celebrated the birth of the Messiah on the 25th of December, birthday of sun-god of Rome instead of in the Feast of tabernacles; and they synchronized the Resurrection from Passover to Easter, the celebration of the goddess of fertility also called in the Bible: the queen of heaven. This is the ultimate in mockery and blasphemy. If the Bible is in any way shape or form a book teaching us about the Almighty’s sense of right and wrong and justice, it would do good to remember the ends of both the people who worshipped the Golden calf and of Northern Israel.

In our generation, many of these things are done in ignorance, and the Master knows it. There is one thing though for which we are responsible: to not blindly follow man’s traditions. We need to know what it is we believe and practice and mostly why; and we are accountable to the Creator for what we teach the children He lends us.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Galatians 6:7

WHEREVER WE ARE, HE IS.

Proverbs 15:11
Hell and destruction are before the LORD:
How much more then the hearts of the children of men?

The Almighty is perfect in light and purity. He is unadulterated Rectitude to its utmost degree. Nothing in Him is foul, vile, or corrupt. Yet in the vilest place in creation, the lowest region of Hades where the bodies of men putrefy; in the place where the worm does not die, the inner place of the earth which receives the body of the dead and lying deeper does the soul; in the place of deepest descent, of uttermost destruction, in the realm of the dead, He is present.

If now the Creator has this basest of regions in its whole compass wide open before Him, if it is visible and thoroughly cognizable to Him, how much more then are the hearts of the children of man fully open to Him?

King David acknowledged these facts in the following simple words, If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. Psalms 139:8

This acknowledgment of God’s omnipresence should fill us with fear, awe and security. Fear because there is no escape from His all-encompassing eyes. Awe because He can fill even the vilest of places while not Himself being defiled. Security because wherever we are, the Father has us in his mire. He may not agree with our decisions sometimes, but He stays our Father. He watches us always ready, waiting for that moment when we will finally have our full of husks, and are ready to climb the Ladder that only He sends.

Friend, there is no place that He cannot reach down to influence. This should make us want to pray for our spouses, our children, our friends, and many of those we don’t know in far-flung countries where brethren are persecuted, because where they are at in their lives, he is.

Let me end this devotional with an example of prayers in action to turn an evil tide. We are all familiar with the recent Mumbay tragedy. We remember the Jewish victims from the Chabad House outreach. The only reason why they were targeted was because they were Jewish. What I remember the most is the godly un-vengeful response from the Chabad American representative in Brooklyn. Also, the Chabad web site showed the response of Jewish people worldwide. As opposed to cries of outrage and revenge, their response was in prayers acted in deeds of kindness and piety in the name of the victims. Such an example of what the (former Rabbi) Apostle Paul said,

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

THE DOOR IS STILL AJAR

Proverbs 15:10
Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way:
And he that hateth reproof shall die.

Herein is the stern judgment for those who will not hear. As the result of sin/disobedience, the punishment of death has already been promised to us as early as in the days of Eden. God also appealed His own judgment by giving us a way of redemption: a blood payment for the sin, coupled with a lifestyle. But if we hate this reproof and healing correction; if we despise it by our words or inaction towards it, there is no other way to avoid the lethal punishment.

We still seem to live in a time when we have the possibility to learn. There is a possibility to turn back, from our ways to His, in which case the Father awaits us at the top of the hill with open arms and crying for joy at our return. The door of redemption is still open, or maybe ajar? Will this door someday close, leaving the rebellious behind?

As days move forward, both iniquity and righteousness polarize in their own camp. Eventually, the grey area will vanish away. Time will stand as Moses did upon entering the Promised Land demanding a decision. It will say: I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: (Deuteronomy 30:19). Then, just as it did before the incredulous world of Noah’s days, the Ark’s door or opportunity will close transporting the faithful to their renewed world of higher virtues.

Hear, even now,
Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?
She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.
She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.
Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.
O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things.
For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.
They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.
Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
Proverbs 8:1-11

THE WORKS OF LOVE

Proverbs 15:9
The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD:
But He loveth him that followeth after righteousness.

Our Master, as a true Son of His Father, defined discipleship in the same manner: love of the Master which provokes obedience. He said, If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in His love (John 15:10).

This may sound legalistic, but whereas the Master shunned what we have today coined as ‘legalism’ (legalism: man’s ways and interpretation of applying God’s commandments), he certainly advocated obedience to His Almighty Father. The sad thing is that today any form of faithful obedience to the specific commandments of God is shunned as ‘legalism’. It’s almost like we agree to love God, but we certainly don’t want Him to infringe on our freedom and lifestyle; that would sound politically incorrect of Him. Can you imagine God interfering with our sex and emotional life? With what we do in our free time and when we do it? Even more unimaginable, God trying to tell us what to eat and what not to eat. How dare He! What does He know about life on earth anyways? (Sarcasm intended)

It is funny though, but the Greek concept of deity was of a spiritual being who didn’t interfere too much in our lives as long as people gave them recognition as gods. The Greeks felt that God’s business was above, but that that of below was theirs. The apostle Paul had to deal quite a bit with this “separation of earth and heaven” Greek concept in the Book of Corinthians. Our God is not solely ethereal. He cares about what we do and don’t do. He cares about what we eat and don’t eat. He even cares about how we manage our free time and finances.

When we find it inconvenient to do our Master’s command, the problem is neither with the Master nor His commands. The problem is with us, and our lack of love for Him. To say we love Him, but we don’t want Him to control our lifestyle, is like the girl who is happy to enjoy the fun of dating a rich guy, but doesn’t want to marry him, even less move in with him. Poet Hazel Hartwell Simon expressed it in these words:
“Love makes obedience a thing of joy!
To do the will of one we like to please
Is never hardship, though it tax our strength;
Each privilege of service love will seize!”
Paul expressed it by saying,

For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

Galatians 5:6

THE FINAL TEST

Proverbs 15:8
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD:
But the prayer of the upright is his delight.

Human nature is such that it always tries to establish a peck order. It is a sub-conscious reaction of both man and animal kind to define themselves in some sort of preferential order according to a given set of parameters. In the animal world, this peck order is generally (though not always) established by physical strength. In human, parameters can very, but sad to say, the idea has not escaped the religious domain.

Knowing that He lives in the spiritual realm and we in the physical realm, in His oracles the Almighty teaches us how to connect with Him, how to express our needs and gratitude to Him. The sacrificial system is an education on the principles of prayer and communication with Him. The gifts and sacrifices made to the Temple were also part of the social structure for the care of the poor, which teaches us that everybody benefits from one person’s devotion to the Father.

Sad to say though, as happened in ancient times, today’s prayers, services and sacrifices are often rather used for pride, cover-ups, self-righteousness, and personal validation in the eyes of others, rather than for a pure, undistracted communication with our Maker. Such can be qualified as blasphemous, abominable, and could be the reason for so many unanswered prayers.

We cannot judge a person’s the pure sincerity in spiritual matters, but we can certainly assess the fruits in their life. A person of obvious prayer, service and sacrifice should own the peace, the emotional stability and spiritual maturity and clarity that pervade such people who are in touch with the Almighty. But if that person is confused, unstable, arrogant and unable to maturely manage the many blows life generously offers, their prayer life is probably merely a boast.

In the end though, the coming Messiah will be the final judge. The day is coming when all will be revealed; when Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. 1 Corinthians 3:13-15.

TAKE A STAND AND RESIST THE ENEMY

Proverbs 15:7
The lips of the wise disperse knowledge:
But the heart of the foolish doeth not so.

The heart of the fool (fool: one who is devoid or ignorant of the rectitude that is from God) wants for wisdom. He lacks everything that generates from God. It is good to recognize these factors because in the same manner and for the same reasons, the heart of the fool is arrogant.

A fool comes in and appears to know right and thereby can be very deceiving to the believer who is not strongly founded in the principles of the Word. It is important therefore that before any personal endorsement, any would-be speaker, preacher or teacher goes through the test required by the Word of our contract. Paul was very strong on the subject keeping theology pure, clean and singular. He said,

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all

(Ephesians 4:4-6).

He also affirms that ,

though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed

(Galatians 1:8).

Paul undoubtedly took his model from Moses who by the inspiration of God admonishes that any would-be teacher, priest or prophet; may he be acquaintance, kinsman or stranger, who declares and teaches to do the things that are abominable and contrary to the Spirit of God, should be put to death.

We certainly cannot practice this commandment today (Biblical death sentence was Land related. It requires a Sanhedrin of Levites elected by the people and who serve in front of the Ark, and even Paul recommended excommunication for such cases.), but its principles are not nevertheless abrogated. The God who found abominable the idolatry of the fool is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

So because we live as foreigners and strangersin an ungodly world , it behooves us to regularly check that our lifestyle hasn’t been subtly polluted by the doctrines and traditions of man. We are not under penalty of death when we are found guilty, but we simply discover the reason why we feel out of fellowship (excommunicated) with Messiah and therefore, with the Father.

This year, Christmas falls right in the middle of the Feast of Chanukah. Chanukah is the Feast that commemorates the time when Israel compromised with Hellenist idolatry. Israel realized its error, repented, and decided to take a stand. As Israel resisted the Greek enemy, spiritual and physical, it won against Antiochus Epiphanes, a foreshadow of the Antichrist.

This story can be found in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd chapters of the Book of 1 Maccabees, and describes a spiritual situation not unlike that of today.

I hope you read it.

THE AUDITOR CAME

Proverbs 15:6
In the house of the righteous is much treasure:
But in the revenues of the wicked is trouble.

How could we read this proverb and fail to contemplate this world’s present-day economic troubles?

The God who in His Word advised us towards a greed-proof economic system must be looking with disgust at how we got ourselves in such a mess to start with. We are like young adults who considered our cautious parents old-fashioned and not in ‘sync’ with the times. We thought that we had better ideas, but now, as it has before, the whole system is unraveling leaving many people without even some of the basic necessities, while a few line their pockets with gold. There is no better recipe for abuse than an economic system independent from God’s paremeters.

It is when the ‘stock’ of Egypt, the supply afforded us by the world fails, that our faith is tested. Then the question pops up. ‘Is our faith in ‘Egypt’ or is it in the Almighty God? Are we dependable to this world’s unreliable granaries, or to the God owns the cattle on a thousand hills?’ Whatever may the hand that brings the paycheck home, believers may do well to always remember that the original Giver is our Father Which is in Heaven. He is the only reliable Giver, the only dependable source of supply. Any other one will fail when the bell counts midnight and the books are open for review and scrutiny.

In that day, every penny earned, lost, wasted, given, invested and received will be accounted for. Questions will be asked. The Auditor of all auditors will come and require that we turn in the books. He will ask hard questions; demand explanations. Payments will be required for His investments in us; He will require seeing tangible returns.

All revenues will go through the fires of His scrutiny.

Only silver and gold will remain.

Everything else will burn.

Can we stand the final audit of our lives?

LEAD BY EXAMPLE

Proverbs 15:5
A fool despiseth his father's instruction:
But he that regardeth reproof is prudent.

I have spent many years working with dysfunctional families. I have seen and heard of many a father unworthy of the title. Such is the iniquitous world in which we live. I therefore could not expound on this proverb solely towards the submission to earthly fathers. It would be abuse. Only a husband who submits in love to the Almighty can earn a wife who submits in love to him. Only a father who yields to his own Heavenly Father is worthy of children who in turn yield to him.

The Hebrew word used for ‘father’ is ‘ahv’. Each Hebrew letter has a meaning. The first letter of the word father is ‘strength’, the second is ‘house’: the strength of the house. The Semitic nomads did not live in houses but in tents. The word ‘ahv’ therefore refers to the strength and stability of the main pole holding the tent up. The ancient meaning therefore of the word father was: ‘the tent-pole’. He holds the structure of the house together.

Not every father is a spiritual giant, but such a father who holds his family together, who works hard, loves his wife, spends time with the children has accomplished a lot and deserves to be looked upon. One who has done all that is the ultimate Father and Creator of us all.

Our Almighty Father is the ultimate example to follow. His wife cheats on Him but He does His best to preserve the marriage. His children stray but if they only but look back in His direction he runs towards them crying. He is just, but merciful. He is merciful, but not lenient. He is not lenient but He still takes upon Himself the price of our backsliding. A tough act to follow.

It is the Instruction of such a Father that we should not despise. It is the regard of His reproof that is birthed of prudence, and His Word is to submit to our earthly fathers as much as we can. On this issue the apostle which Yeshua sent to us wrote in these terms,

. . . we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

Hebrews 12:9-10.

If we expect our children to mind our ‘torah’, let us make sure that we ourselves mind the ‘Torah’ of our Father.

A FATHER’S TONGUE IS HEALTH TO HIS CHILDREN

Proverbs 15:4
A wholesome tongue is a tree of life:
But perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.

The Hebrew word used for ‘wholesome’ in this proverb is ‘healing’. Let us remember here that in the World to Come the Tree of Life will be accessible again for the healing of the nations.

The Hebrew word for a ‘breach’ is a ‘breaking’, not as beneficial breaking that provokes goodness, but as a breaking provoking insalubrities.

This proverb tells us that a godly tongue procures health while the ungodly tongue, sickness of the spirit.

I had to use my tongue to correct my son last night. He has bad habits concerning his school assignments, so I had to give him a tongue-lash. I had to use the weapon of speech to convict his spirit and demand that he fulfills his responsibilities. My sermonizing, haranguing, yelling and demanding were not for the mere purpose of exercising power and authority over him. Just as we attach a rod by a seedling to help it grow straight, my words were for the purpose of creating a rod that will keep my son grow upright. My tongue became the ‘rod of correction’, which hopes to force on him upright growth.

This is healthy.

This is tree of life for my son’s spirit.

On the contrary, the tongue that would allow leniency, deny retribution for sin and unfaithfulness is guilty of false pity. It applies a cicatrizing balm on a dirty untended wound. Later on, this wound may become an infected sore festering with puss.

A son may resent the temporary discomfort of the tongue-lash, but it is nevertheless health to his soul. May we, as mature Sons and Daughters of the Almighty, learn to appreciate the ‘tongue-lashes’ we receive from our Father in whatever form they come. May we learn to know that these are only premises of the Tree of Life which will eventually fully heal our spirits in the World to Come. May we, though them, learn to grow as upright citizens of the Creator’s Kingdom.

THE EYES OF THE PRESENCE

Proverbs 15:3
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

The eyes of the Almighty are everywhere: within our innermost intimacy, as well as over the whole earth.

The eyes of Adonai, behold with a penetrating look the evil and the good.

They observe; they examine men whether they are good or evil, keeping them closely before His eyes, so that nothing escapes Him.
This is an awesome reality, but do we walk in such a fear and respect of The Presence that we feel His eyes are over us at all times?

Driving the many roads that cross this city, I often notice how orderly every vehicle behaves, exactly at the speed limit, when around a police car. These drivers drive differently than they normally would; they clean up their act because at that moment, they feel the presence of the authority of the road.

Would we walk differently and would we clean up our act if we could see the Master right by our side wherever we went?

Whatever we did?

At every moment of the day?

Not seeking to over spiritualize the proverb, I still acknowledge that each and every word, their spelling and even their order within the Sacred Writs are not random but have a reason. By the order of the words, I see that the author of this proverb must have had a good handle in the knowledge and understanding of the program of the salvation of mankind. It would not be surprising, since this program has been written from before the foundations of the world, in the Scriptures as well as in the stars.

Our author here presents the fact that the Almighty first looks at the evil and then the good. In His redemptive program, in the same manner that Moses came down twice from the mountain, Yeshua comes twice. The first time, He saw the evil. He paid the price for our evil and even left us with a ‘Comforter’ to teach us: The Spirit of Truth. (John 14). The second time will be different. Having made the evil responsible for itself, He will be able to concentrate on the good, and extend rewards to those who deserve it. He does truly behold the evil, then the good. Let us therefore conduct our lives with the knowledge that like the police car on the road, His eyes are upon us at all times, beholding the evil, and the good in our daily walk.

WHO IS THE ‘HARPIST’?

Proverbs 15:2
The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright:
But the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.

The Hebrew text in this verse offers a beautiful poetry. The Hebraic word used for ‘useth’ is the word ‘etiv’, which means ‘to strikes the harp well’. We consequently understand that the tongue of the wise has the ability to ‘play’ ‘wisdom’, harmoniously; to use it in way that inspires people towards the Almighty, just as a man who elegantly plays the harp. Let us not forget that the father of our author, King David, was himself a harpist who was employed at the Israeli court to sooth King’s Saul tormented spirit.

On the other hand, (and sad to say, there is always another hand), the wisdom which has been made available for mankind’s own good is not always ‘played’ wisely. Satan, our archenemy, was the right-hand man of the Almighty. Ezekiel prophesied about him, By thy wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches: Ezekiel 28:5

The same wisdom used to lead people to their Creator, can be used to lead them towards false leadership. The same wisdom we employ to impart the knowledge of the Father can also be used to proclaim heresies. The same wisdom that will teach a man the ways of God, can also be used to teach him the foolishness of ungodliness and of life without His Instruction.

When we hear the music, before we dance to it, we need to learn to recognize who plays the ‘fiddler’, or to continue the poetic analogy of this proverb, who is the ‘harpist’. Our Rabbi and Master Yeshua has taught us how to recognize the prophetic harpists that fill this world. He said, ‘by their fruits ye shall know them’.

Let us remember that the word use for foolishness tells us of someone who is devoid of desire to follow in then ways of his Creator. He is his own ‘self-made’ man, if there can be such a thing.

In this day when the world seems to titter back and forth like a drunken man trying to find its place in a history that seems to repeat the same foolishness of its past, let us not be mused by the tender words of smooth tongue preachers, politicians, motivators or to-good-to-be-true financial deals. Let us not allow our God-given desire for peace and tranquility to make us settle for the heresies of untruth and the glitter of false peace and security. Let us always learn to unveil the ‘harpist’.

THE BALM OF GILEAD

Proverbs 15:1
A soft answer turneth away wrath:
But grievous words stir up anger.

How difficult this is. How many times do we find ourselves having to rub shoulders with people who rub us the wrong way; of whom we feel unjustly abused or tormented by;

Our dear Rabbi, Lord and King Yeshua echoed this proverb with the following words:

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

He equated this attitude with perfection by terminating this sermon with:

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Critics of Scriptures have often taken these words to the extreme portraying someone passively allowing an enemy to hurt him or his family. This was not the vision. We need to remember that any truth taken to an extreme becomes error. What is eluded in these Words spoken by our Master is more concerning the position of our heart towards that enemy. A careful Scriptural study on the subject reveals that the Father has nothing against self-defense and the preservation and protection of what He has given us. He has issues though with revenge; with gloating over an enemy’s loss and demise; as well as with the unjust treatment of even the belongings of an enemy. We are allowed to defend and protect land and goods; we are allowed to hate evil; but we are not allowed to give way to hatred of people.

Whereas like the patriarchs we may find ourselves in need to defend land, kin and well, let us never indulge in the practice of revengeful hatred. Let us be perfect and not let our heart slide to such low-levels as practiced by the ungodly. May we instead, always allow the Balm of Gilead to heal our wounds and our hurts. Joseph, the son of Jacob, whose life is an early representation of the life of Messiah, never hated his brothers for what they did to him.

He wanted them to learn, but he never hated them.

The caravan he was sold to traded Balm of Gilead.

REPORT CARDS

Proverbs 14:35
The king's favour is toward a wise servant:
But his wrath is against him that causeth shame.

Through the prophet Ezekiel, Our Father and King tells us of the disappointment He experienced because of his unfaithful servants: the Shepherds of Israel. Those pastors were self-serving and used the flock of God as some sort of income. They did not serve the flock as they should. They used to spoil the pure God-given waters of the word with their personal doctrines thus rendering them toxic for the flock. They would flee at the sight of the wolf so not to endanger their lives protecting the flock. They were more mercenaries than shepherds. Their poor representation of the King cause shame to His name and procured them His wrath.

The situation was so bad that the king sent His Son, His ability to be gentle even in deep indignation; to be true while remaining merciful; to be unselfish even to last ounce of Himself; all these became part of the Son’s damage-repair mission of declaring unto us the character and nature of the Father towards us. For this mission, He had to demote Himself from Son to Servant. He then became known as the ‘Suffering Servant’. This reminds me of the story of Joseph the son of Jacob, who unbeknownst to him at the time, had to become a slave and a servant in order to accomplish the future redemption of his people. As a ‘faithful servant’, Yeshua incurred the favor of His Father who then, like Abraham bestowed his kingdom on Isaac His son, also bestowed His whole kingdom upon Him.

The Son is now our King. This king came to conquer the world in a way no earthly king would dream of doing so, but Yeshua won. He will return very soon and will judge between servant and servant. Our vindication before Him will not come from erudite sermon but from lives lived in loving attention to his Commandments. We are promised to rule and reign with Him. Even now in His absence, His Spirit watches us evaluating our sense of responsibility towards His Commandments and His flock.

His standard of obedience was pretty simple He said: if you love Me keep My commandments. What will our report card day when His comes?

THE JUST WEIGHTS THAT EXALT A NATION

Proverbs 14:34
Righteousness exalteth a nation:
But sin is a reproach to any people.

It is difficult to render an exposition of this proverb as whereas in English the meaning seems pretty straightforward, the Hebrew original, especially for the second part of the verse, leaves us with different options, noticed even by various translators and commentators. The Stone Edition of the Old Testament translates the second part of the verse as, ’…the kindness of regimes is a sin.’ and is commentated by Rashi as: “…regimes that steal from one group in order to dispense ‘kindness’ to others…’ The idea given to us here is of regimes using favoritism in judgment, which in an Hebraic world view would be seen as using ‘unjust weights’, and therefore constitute a good definition of unrighteousness.

This view of the verse also works with the contrast properties of the book of Proverbs, so in a way it could be translated as, (my translation) “Just weights in judgment exalts a nation, but favoritism destroys even a small community.” Favoritism has a way of leaving people bitter against their rulers, may it be in a family, the work place; in a political or religious organization. We should always use just weights and judgments, establishing the same standards of righteousness and retribution to all straight from the Scriptures, and fear to deviate from them. Only then will the Father bless our nation and the communities that compose it.

Franz Delitzsh, the 19th century Lutheran Hebraist theologian mostly famous for his faithful rendition of the Hebrew New Testament comments about this verse in this manner:

“History everywhere confirms the principle, that not the numerical, nor the warlike, nor the political, nor yet the intellectual and the so-called civilized greatness, is the true greatness of a nation, and determines the condition of its future as one of progress; but this is its true greatness, that in its private, public, and international life, conduct directed by the will of God, according to the norm of moral rectitude and rules prevails.”

WISDOM AND TRUTH CRY

Proverbs 14:33
Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding:
But that which is in the midst of fools is made known.

The syntax of this proverb tries to stay faithful to its Hebrew original, but as a result becomes a confusing English sentence. The Renaissance commentator Rashi rewrites it in the following terms: ‘Wise men keep their virtues private, but fools rush to publicize whatever little bit of wisdom they may have.’

One who has truly found Wisdom and Truth (not as compared virtues but as incarnate persons) obtains a certain quietness of mind, heart and spirit. He knows that the ‘persons’ of Wisdom and Truth are at work in the world, so he doesn’t feel that he has to go on ‘crusades’ to immediately ‘convert’ the whole world to his mode of thinking and operation. He is at peace even in the midst of conflict. He can quietly wait for people to themselves, in their own time, come to the identification of Wisdom and Truth in their lives. He has immersed himself (‘immerse’ is the proper translation for the Greek word ‘baptize’) in this Wisdom and truth. Their current lead his life which then becomes a silent quiet testimony in the plain view of all.

But there lies on the sidelines those who merely dabbled in Wisdom and truth. They have only dipped their toes or sprinkled their foreheads in them, but did not immerse in them nor let themselves be taken away by their current. In guilt, they have to justify themselves to themselves by trying to prove to others how wise and knowledgeable they are, so they go on crusades to change others and call it ‘witnessing’. They are on a constant warfare with themselves and others. They constantly feel that they have to school people. They even feel

themselves as ‘essential’ in others lives. They can’t be at peace anywhere at anytime.

When Pilate asked Yeshua, What is the Truth?’ Yeshua stayed silent. But to His disciples Yeshua identified the Truth as himself. He also said that the Torah (the Word) is the Truth, Himself being identified with it. The King narrates in the Proverbs and says:

Doth not wisdom cry? And understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.

Proverbs 8.

My humble suggestion is to let Him do His job while we quietly go about ours of supporting Him living a Torah-based/Words based life.

DEATH: RELEASING THE CONTROLS

Proverbs 14:32
The wicked is driven away in his wickedness:
But the righteous hath hope in his death.

Thus the apostle concurs:

For to me, to live is Messiah, and to die is gain.

Phillippians 1:21.

Ah, the sweet mystery of death! The days of our living can profess the greatest of faith. We may have climbed heights of theology; conquered mountains of faith; crossed oceans of charitable accomplishments but herein is the final test none can escape. We can claim trust in the ways of the Father during our living, but herein is the litmus test of our faith: our reaction towards death. Those who truly have trusted God for their lives, can also trust Him for their death. Others freak out.

I mean not to be so morbid this morning, but some of us are more consciously faced with death than others: soldiers for examples even though statistically speaking, driving a car is no less dangerous than going to war. We may have fought it all our lives, but death teaches us the main lesson the father tries to get through to us all throughout our pilgrimage on this earth: we are not essential. On our deathbed, we finally have to yield to the possibility that the world will get along fine without us. We finally come to the point when we release the controls and realize God was all along in the driver-seat. What peace must be felt then.

Releasing the controls brings peace; why don’t we do it before? In France I learned to drive in a car where the instructor had brake and acceleration controls on the rider side of the car. I was so worried in my driving, but the instructor is the one who really had the controls. We so worried about things, and we forget that the Instructor has the controls.

As the world goes its own way, may we be able to trust Him in joy and sadness; in health and sickness; in abundance and poverty; as well as in life and in death.

TO HAVE MERCY ON THE POOR IS TO HONOR GOD

Proverbs 14:31
He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker:
But he that honoureth Him hath mercy on the poor.

Careful studies of toratic Instructions unveil a very sound financial system that reflects the heart of the Creator concerning the poor. The Maker of the universe knows the world in which we live. He is aware of weather catastrophes; He is not in denial of family tragedies; but most of all, He knows the selfishness of man. The Torah actually teaches us a financial system with pre-emptive built-in elements to counteract the effects of bankruptcy.

Tithes were designated for the support of Levites who were disseminated within the country as Word teachers. Tithes were also to be welfare system for the orphan, the widow and the stranger who did not have a possession in the land. Every seven years there was a jubilee year when every debt was forgiven. The whole financial system rebooted for the sole reason that the rich would not become too rich and the poor would not become too poor. You could not refuse to lend just because you knew the jubilee year was soon coming. On that year also fields were not cultivated. This allowed for people to have less work; to spend more time interacting with each other and get off the daily ‘money’ grind. When someone faced bankruptcy, he was to be bailed out by his relatives. The family would take ownership of the land and house of their bankrupt relative to guard it for him. They were then supposed to give him a job in their household until he got back on his feet, at which time he could regain his land and house. I believe that this will be our financial system during the millennium.

With so much food production, our contemporary world should not know hunger yet, W.H.O statistics estimate that 1/3 of the world is over-fed; 1/3 of the world is under-fed; and 1/3 is starving. The culprit for this modern-day famine is not the weather or any tragedy other than the selfishness of man reflected in today’s global financial system.

Many financial experts agree that the present financial debacle is due to greed.

Could it be that the God who is the side of the poor is judging man for not honoring Him through having mercy on the poor?

Could it be that many today just reap the financial whirlwind cause by the wind they have sown?

A HEALTHY HEART

Proverbs 14:30
A sound heart is the life of the flesh:
But envy the rottenness of the bones.

The word ‘sound’ is very generic, but again the contrast properties of these proverbs reveal the original intent of the author. In this case, the word ‘sound’ contrasts with the word ‘envy’. Further etymological research also show that the Hebrew roots for the word ‘sound’ come the words ‘healing; health’, and that the Hebrew word ‘envy’ comes from the words ‘jealous; jealousy’. A ‘raw’ literal reading of this proverb then teaches us that jealousy and envy causes sickness, and that health is to get rid of our spirit of envy.

Maybe this is why the last of the ten basic commandments the Father gave to Moses to pass on to the people warns us about covetousness. Actually, it seems that the root of breaking the nine others stems from covetousness, envy and jealousy, so it is a good closing.

If we look at it, we acknowledge other Gods because they entice us with the things God in his wisdom keeps away from us. We then bow to them in thanks and honor them with images. We refrain from keeping the Sabbath because we either want to keep making money or do our own lucrative pleasure. The inherent meaning of ‘honor your mother and father’ is to financially support them, especially in their old age. In this day and age, it cramps our lifestyle and keeps us from making enough money to live with the necessities of the 21st century. We kill to take what belongs to another. We commit adultery and steal because we want what we don’t have or what the neighbor has. And finally, we lie when it is to our advantage. No wonder we are not only morally sick, but also psychologically and physically.

Many illnesses such as asthma, stomach ulcers and depression are psychosomatic. They are cuased by an internal mental or spiritual condition. The good news is that a return to a proper mental and spiritual attitude has the reverse effect. Our same author proclaims,

Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear Adonai, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. Proverbs 3:7-8

May we live healthy as we respect the health advice given to by the greatest Physician of all, the very One who created every single intricate cell of our body and of the universe. He knows how it all works.

THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE WISE

Proverbs 14:29
He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding:
But he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.

The same is true of all passions: anger; love; discouragement; frustration; elations: these are all emotions. They are therefore unreliable and cannot be used as sole foundation for important decisions and actions. The apostle who extensively wrote about the evils of uncontrolled speech referred to this verse when he said:

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. James 119-20.

Jewish sages taught that a strong man is not he who conquers a city, but rather he who controls his passions. Many a warrior has failed to conquer his most dangerous enemy: himself. Many an exhorting preacher has passed by the most dangerous demons: his own. To paraphrase the apostle Paul: I can conquer the whole world but if I conquer not my own spirit, I am but a boasting hypocrite. I can bring masses to repentance with the most eloquent sermon, but if I fail to bring my own sprit to its knees, I failed in my mission.

There are many programs today such as ‘Anger management’ and others to help us control he effects of our attitudes, but it is not enough to control the ‘hands’, we need to control the inside. Our proverb to day tells us that the ‘inside’ of being slow to wrath Is ‘great understanding’. This contrasts with the ‘hasty of spirit’, which exalts folly (lack of understanding). Leaders especially must learn to react slowly; maybe even not to react at all, but to respond.

May the Father of all Wisdom help us to inherit the comprehension that we need to make levelheaded decisions and act with understanding instead of with folly.

IDENTITY THEFT

Proverbs 14:28
In the multitude of people is the king's honour:
But in the want of people is the destruction of the prince.

Yeshua haMashiach also knows this, but He will not compromise standards for numbers.

Believers in Yeshua today are in great numbers in the world. One could almost conclude that they are the majority. It seems to me though that our beloved King is a victim of identity theft. Imposters use His name. It started right at Mt Sinai when Aaron formed and carved the golden calf at people’s requests. When he was done he said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. Right then, God’s credit was given to something else: an idol. That is identity theft.

Don’t we have the same situation today? The words of Yeshua our King are specifically recorded in our Bibles; His apostles also give account of His practices and ways but many today, just as happened at Mt Sinai, have succeeded to create their own form of righteousness and call it by His name. That is probably why Yeshua projected the following endtime scenario of His return: Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (the Greek word for ‘iniquity’ means: lawlessness). Matthew 7:22-23. He said, shall Hhe find faith on the earth? Luke 18:8

He knows His own and even though His present true followers may be few, His devotees will be as the sand of the sea and as the stars of the heavens. Not lukewarm adulterated devotees, but red-hot with the Truth of the Word that created the universe.

THE FEAR OF DEATH

Proverbs 14:27

The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

Our beloved Master told the woman by the well of Samaria, But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

The fear of death is worst that the knowledge of death. There is peace in the knowledge and acceptance of coming death. But the fear of death traps us in its snares: it causes us to be unnecessarily agitated; to do things we otherwise would not do; to not obey God. Without an intimate knowledge of the Master, death is the day when all our humanist theology crumbles and when we are faced with either the empty nothing that defines our origins, or with a God which will require accounts from us. When we intimately know the Master, death is simply the day He has chosen from the foundation of the world for us to come meet Him. It is the day we will finally behold His loving face; the day He will wipe our tears away; the day all will finally become clear.

The book of Hebrews speaks of those who all their lives live in the fear of death. There is more that biological death that keeps us in fear. There is the fear of death to self; of death to our own dreams and desires; death to our reputation; death to our pride. The fear of those is also a snare that keeps us from serving God in the joy that belongs to the believer.

The only antidote against these unhealthy fears is the fear of God. Instead of our reactions being controlled by the fear of death, they need to be controlled by the fear of Adonai. The ‘fear’ of Adonai, in other words, the loving respect that we have for Him causes us to do good things; good things of course as defined by Him. It gives us the peaceful assurance that we can go about the business of serving him; that he holds us in His arms. As we only desire to do His will, we are spared the traps of worry (which is fear) and of self-preservation.

John, the beloved apostle teaches us, There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. Let us not allow fear of the enemy to bully us out of our responsibility for the Master. Let us not give him the victory of defining our attitude and lifestyle. Pray today to be delivered from this fear and regain the joy of Adonai which is your strength, and even your health.

COME HOME

Proverbs 14:26
In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence:
And his children shall have a place of refuge.

There is something about coming home. We are doing the right thing and we know it. It may be a bumpy road but we have the protection of the Father. We walk in His Instruction and in spite of the world crumbling around us we know that we have His blessing. Even now with the economico-political framework of the world is in the balance; even with morals thrown out door in favor of the promises of more advantageous economic reforms, we can have peace if we come home.

The world has to go its way, but God’s children need to come home. Only in coming home there is peace. One of my sons came home recently. He came home for peace, security, growth, and as an attempt to secure foundations for his life. As he comes home he also knows that house-rules still apply, but under those, peace ill be found, security, provision and growth.

Coming home with God is coming under the jurisdictions of His home rules expressed in His Instruction book. When we finally say ‘uncle’ to His advice on life for us, we’ve come home; we’ve come to the place of refuge.

I know an Indian fable about a reed that grew by an oak. Though the reed itself was weak, it lived under the protection of the oak. If the wind blew from the West, the oak protected the reed from its futy. But if the wind blew from the East, the tempest pressed the reed against the oat. Come and grow by the mighty oak of His presence. Let the wind blow; it will either protect you or bring you closer to Him.

TORAH: THE BOOK OF GRACE

Proverbs 14:25
A true witness delivereth souls:
But a deceitful witness speaketh lies.

Here is a little lesson in ancient pictographic Hebrew. Each Hebrew letter has a meaning. The word witness is ‘ed’ composed of two letters: the ‘ayin’ meaning ‘eye’, and the ‘daleth’ meaning ‘door’. The word ‘witness therefore has the meaning of one who saw as he peaked through the door of someone’s tent.

The witness tells the story of what he saw.

This same word is used to describe the two witnesses who have to appear in a court of Jewish Elders to give account of a crime. In John 8 of the Messianic Scriptures, legalistic rabbis try to catch Yeshua in a disobedience to the Torah, which of course He would never dream of doing, and never did (see footnote). To test Him, they bring to Him a woman caught in adultery. Yeshua in full knowledge of Torah goes through the regular toratic judicial process and asks the woman where are her witnesses; He says, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Of course, through His wisdom, he had beforehand convicted the conscience of her accusers/witnesses who left, and without witnesses, according to Torah, no judgment could be held. He then proceeded to forgive her advising her to sin no more. The Master was wise. He wanted to show everyone, including those who would read this story through the ages, that the Torah is actually a book about the grace and mercy of God. He wanted to expose the wrong legalistic attitude of the religious leaders of His day, showing that the intended application of Torah was grace, mercy and justice and that this could be done only though an appropriate understanding of Torah obedience. In his Torah teaching in the Book of Romans and Galatians, Paul is very specific about the grace application of Torah.

Yeshua is our true witness to how the Torah (the Instruction book Moses received from Mt Sinai) is to be applied. He Himself is the Living Torah, the Beginning of the Creation of God as is mentioned in Proverbs 8 and John 1, so He should know. And being this true witness, he is able to deliver souls as our proverb tells us today. Yeshua delivers souls, while those with a distorted perspective of the Word of God create death.

It is sad that today’s dispensationalists and replacement theology advocates have created this fictional concept that the “Old Testament’ is about ‘Law’ and the ‘New Testament’ is about ‘grace’. No bigger lie has ever been taught to deceive humanity. It is strange that those who promote this lie have either never seriously studied the Old Testament cause they find it dry and boring, or if they did, they did it through the lens of already preconceived seminarian ideas. The whole book from Genesis to Revelation is one book all about the grace of the Eternal God who does everything in His power to reach out to us.


Footnote: Yeshua broke the legalistic traditional rabbinic interpretation of Torah obedience, which he defined as, ‘commandments of men’, but He never broke the commandments of Torah as outlined by Moses.

FREEDOM IN KNOWLEDGE

Proverbs 14:24
The crown of the wise is their riches:
But the foolishness of fools is folly.

A crown is defined as an encircling of the head marking authority. It marks an authority which is displayed to all; riches and accomplishments we are proud of.

We will go ‘double-dip’ for this one. I always believe that the ‘Book’ provide the interpretation for the ‘Book’. Let us then compare this proverb with the following one, The simple inherit folly: but the prudent are crowned with knowledge. Proverbs 14:18 I think that it is more appropriate to associate the riches of the wise with his intelligent knowledge of the Word rather than with an excess of personal abundance. The contrast of the second stanza also confirms the interpretation.

In the Revelation that Yeshua gave to John at the end of the Messianic Scriptures, it is written that we shall reign with the Messiah in the Millennium. This ‘reigning’ though is not a ‘given’. It is conditional. The Messianic Scriptures specify that it is he that ‘suffers with Him’ who shall also ‘reign’ with Him. It is those who were beheaded resisting the beast’s government who inherit that crown (Rev 20:4).

The prophet Hoseah proclaims under the inspiration of the Most High, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: He then explains what he means in the following words: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Hoseah 4:6. Many believers today swallow an uninformed form of godliness without the power thereof while rejecting an honest and sincere form and though it, their faith is destroyed. We need to each one of us be responsible for our knowledge of Scripture. Our intelligent knowledge of Scripture is what keeps the sneaky hands of the ‘beast’ off of us, and is the crown of our ruling.

Our Master did say, Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free.

Let us therefore not be lazy, just satisfied with other’s re-ingurgitations of the Word.

Let us take responsibility to know It so we escape the oppression of bondage as well as the lies of bigotry.

THE PROOF IN THE PUDDING

Proverbs 14:23
In all labour there is profit:
But the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.

Therein lies one of the big differences between the Greek culture that influences our society and the Hebraic mind that permeates the Jewish Scriptures. It is easy to love and praise God, to proclaim His Name and truth, to be sorry and repentant, to confess to new life and rebirth, all with the talk of the lips. People will listen to an emotional speech and confession and cry wondering how one could express such truths and not be real. Words will lure them into false doctrines and financial scams and in the end they will wonder how they could have been so dumb.

Words are cheap! Words fool us for action. Words rob us from the reality of action.

Greek grammar, like ours, revolves around the noun of the sentence. We talk about things. Hebrew grammar revolves around the verb: the action. We actually know very little about what the Hebrew Bible heroes looked like, but we know what they did. We know that because that’s what matters.

Who cares what they looked like?

I told one of my students yesterday, “you can express repentance all you want, but until you have been faced with the same type of situation and made a different choice, it’s all just words”. The Hebrew mind believes that we praise and love God by our actions and decisions; that we proclaim His Name and Truth by our daily walk and attitudes; that we confess to new life and rebirth by showing ‘fruits meet for repentance’. Maybe this is why there was no revival in Jerusalem until Yeshua actually resurrected from the dead. Until them, as far as they were concerned, it was just words and tricks. But the resurrection was the action that sealed Yeshua’s words into Truth and verity, and that is when there was a revival in Jerusalem which eventually got flooded with disciples.

Let us not fool others, and especially not ourselves into ‘faith’ because of words easily and quickly spoken.

The ‘proof’, is in the proverbial ‘pudding’:

a life lived by His commandments:

And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, that, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

2 John 1:6

WE END UP WHERE WE LEAD OTHERS

Proverbs 14:22
Do they not err that devise evil? But mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good.

We live in a world where good and evil would want to blur together in a single deceitful falsity. Constantly devising evil, the spirit of antichrist has finally succeeded to deceive nation after nation, individual after individual to endorse the confusion (Confusion in Hebrew: Babel, or Babylon) of his evil ways thereby causing many to go astray as himself is astray.

Many desire to tell us what to do and what to believe. Many call us to their cause. Having no valuable truth to help them shed light, they have to try to outshine others by attempting to blow out their candle. Nothing seems to be ‘off the table’ when it comes to convincing others of the evil ways of their opponent. Oh yes by the way, they all proclaim to believe. Believe in what?

We can be thankful that we have the inspired Words of the Almighty to help us make the difference between their words and their actions. We are told in our passage today that those who devise evil err. This kingly advice does not include a motivation. It doesn’t tell us that the end justifies the means. It does not tell us that erring is a result of devising evil. It merely tells us that we err when we devise evil.

Paul, our Jewish messianic Rabbi concurs the point. Himself the victim of evil plots fomented by those who would wish to silence him he said, Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21.) This Pauline statement was not conceived from a so-called new found Christian doctrine of love as many would believe, but is simply a reflection of his training in applying the principles outlined in the following sort of Scripture: If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again (Exodus 23:4.)

It is so tempting to want to repay evil; to devise plots to the demise of those we have issues and problems with. But when we do so, we lower ourselves to their ethics; we become like them; we end up where we desire to lead them. Let us who believe therefore represent well the One in whom we believe and not stoop down to such low-blows as devising evil against our ‘should-not-be’ enemies. If we do, we will find ourselves in the same pit where we wish our enemies to fall.

THE IMAGE OF THE KING

Proverbs 14:21
He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth:
But he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.

This passage is so rich I don’t know if I can give it justice in my daily few words.

We are created in the image of the Creator. We are the representation of the King on earth. Being created by the commandment of His mouth, we literally are the ‘spitting’ image of our Father. When we see out brother (sister), the fear of God should enter in us as if it were someone bearing the seal and authority of the King.

When a king of flesh and blood conquers a country he puts up portraits and statues of himself. He mints coins with his image. After a while, when the people of the country are not happy with him anymore, they overturn his portraits, break his statues and invalidate his coins. They show their contempt by breaking, spoiling and defacing anything that bears the image of the King.

We see it happen around the world. People who hate the U.S.A. vent their anger by burning ephygies (images) of the President or of our flag. That is man’s way to reduce his enemies. So, too, one who sheds blood, he reduces the image of the King as it is written (Genesis 9:6): "One who spills a man's blood... for in the image of G-d He made man."

One thing I have noticed while studying biblical history and principles is that the Father is always on the side of the victim. The conflict may involve a righteous person against another righteous person. It may involve a righteous person against an unrighteous person. Maybe it is about an unrighteous person against a righteous person. It may also involve an unrighteous person against another unrighteous persons. Whatever the elements are, the Father is always on the side of the victim.

These principles should create the fear of God in us about despising, spoiling, defacing and reducing another human being made in the image of the King in any way shape or form.

No human being is accountable to another, but we are all accountable to God.