LIFE OR FOLLY?

Proverbs 16:22
Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it:
But the instruction of fools is folly.

It is like the Master said, For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath. The good that knowledge and understanding can do is dependant on our personal predisposition.

When knowledge and understanding is given to those of a ‘good and honest heart’, it becomes a wellspring to them. The Hebraic idea of the term ‘wellspring’, ‘makor’, is that of a heart from which all vessels, tissues and organs of a body are nurtured and edified. May we all be granted from the Father of all grants the gift of such a disposition.

On the other hand, if the disposition of a man is that of contention, dispute and schism, knowledge and understanding will only fuel his foolish pride to create more falsities in order to promoite himself.

The Torah is the most beautiful legal, social, and spiritual document ever given to man. It is meant for life. An intelligent attempt to live by Its social principles would solve our urban problems. Following its financial advice would solve our economy, our rural issues; benefit ecology and solve animal abuse. It is the saddest thing to me I see this beautiful intricate Treatise of life granted us from the mouth of the Creator on Mt Sinai used in ways to provoke dissensions divisions, and death.

The question we are left to ask ourselves is: Are we like those for whom understanding is a wellspring of life, or are we like the fool to whom knowledge is just another avenue for folly?

BLESS THE OMNISCIENT GOD

Proverbs 16:21
The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning.

The biblical definition of wisdom is to apply and obey the knowledge of the Word that we have been given. This principle is very well illustrated in Yeshua’s parable of the wise and foolish men building their house. The wise built his house upon the rock, and it withstood the storms. Yeshua tells us that such a man is one who hears the Word of Truth and lives/obeys it. A wise man is called ‘prudent’. Both these words refer to obedience of the Word.

While knowledge of the Word and its application are great virtues, the apostle Paul also tells us that knowledge ‘puffeth up’, or causes us to sin by becoming proud and vain. In this case it is no the acquisition of knowledge which is wrong (and of course I am referring to knowledge of the things of God), but rather our proud human-like reaction to it. In our weak human state, knowledge tends to make us reactionary, self-righteous, unbending, proud and lifted up towards those who don’t seem to know as much. Very often this attitude spills over on those who are closest to us such as our immediate families.

Our proverb today points out to the virtues of knowledge, but in a progressive tone, also tells that the sweet exposition of this knowledge to others causes us to increase in knowledge. In perfect comparative Semitic contrast, this also means that the inability to impart our knowledge in a sweet and humble way may actually decrease it. This shows us that the acquisition of the true knowledge of God carries in itself a spirit of humility because the more we know, the more we should realize that we don’t know.

May we learn like Moses and Yeshua to come down from our lofty positions and impart what has been entrusted unto us in the Spirit of His love and humility. May all of us who are called to expound the Word unto others bless and honor the Omniscient God by representing His Knowledge in a sweet and humble way.

COSTLY ENDEAVORS

Proverbs 16:20
He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.

In the Hebrew text, the word for ‘matter’ is the word: ‘Davar’, meaning ‘thing’, ‘subject’ or ‘matter’, but also ‘The Word’.

One wonders about the connection between the two clauses in this Proverb. Let us remember the two preceding Proverbs about pride and humility, rich and poor. Following in the vein of pride and humility connected with rich and poor, the Renaissance Jewish commentator Rashi paraphrases this Proverb in the following words:
‘If one’s analysis of a subject (Davar) shows that performance of a particular commandment may involve danger or financial loss, yet he trusts in God and does it, he is praiseworthy.”

The Master indeed has advised us to be wise in all our dealings, and to ‘count the cost’ of our endeavors. Yet, the grim realistic possible outcome of obedience to God should not deter us from it. Wise realization should only lead us to greater desperation.

As believers, we should never be lured into thinking that our entrance into the covenant of Israel through Yeshua means the end of our problems. Indeed, it could be the beginning of very great distresses, trials and tribulations.

Yet, in this very realization, let us take wholeheartedly endorse every endeavor He has for us for the sake of the world, just as he wholeheartedly endorsed the costly endeavor of our redemption.

GOD’S ECONOMIC SOLUTION

Proverbs 16:19
Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

The Hebrew translates that, “It is better to be of a lowly spirit among the poor than…’

Didn’t the Master say, Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . Blessed are the meek? Didn’t the apostle James honor those of our congregation with lesser means by mentioning their faith wealth?

Success in the eyes of the Master is not always measured in dollars and cents. Wealth is not an indicator of God’s blessing, just as poverty doesn’t prove His faithlessness towards us. The faithful apostle even says that he has learned to be content in whatever state he is, whether he abounds or whether he is in lack. Elijah, the great prophet of Israel honored the poorest of the poor, a starving widow who was not even from Israel, and came to rest his blessing on her household. In a way, that’s were God chose to rest; he came hang out and share what He had with the poor.

Of course, God also promised to supply all of our needs, and we do need to have faith to have enough. The problem is that in the Western industrialized world, the notion of ‘enough’ and of basic living requirements have become out of proportion. A trip to some of our poorer neighbor countries always sets us back into proper perspectives. The Master really only offered us food and clothing. He Himself did not have a place to live, but of course, He also didn’t raise a family of small children, which definitely requires a ‘nest’.

The idea of the proverb today is really not about rich or poor. It is about our spirit’s natural tendency to bigotry. Even as affluent people, we should not feel uncomfortable to ‘hang’ around those of lower means.

The Master exemplified our day’s proverb very well. Just as Moses left the Pharaoh’s palace to go be with his brethren, the slaves, from the Mighty domains of the Father’s Kingdom, Yeshua came to hang with us.

The apostle puts it in the following words, For ye know the grace of our Master, Yeshua haMashiach, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich ( 2 Corinthians 8:9).

Proverbs 16:18
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

This proverb is placed at the very center of the book of proverbs and is followed by one on the virtues of humility.

When a man carries his head high, his tendency is to look upward and not to be careful about where he is going. Not noticing what he may stumble against (and the people he walks upon), he falls. As they say, ‘The bigger they are, the harder they fall’. The bigger a person or thing is, the greater they fall.

We see today all those great financial institutions and magnates who in their pride and arrogance thought that they were above the retributive system of God. For it is not man’s policing who caught them, it is God’s retributive system; the system which declares that what a man saws he will also reap; the established principle that our judgment is meted to us in the same way we judge others; that our plate ends up being composed of what we dished to others.

Here is the heart of he who is ripe for the destructive fall of those who walk in pride: like the unrepentant king Saul, he walks head and shoulder above his brethren. He challenges the commandment of God trough the prophet; he is justified in his disobedience; he deserves forgiveness: (1 Samuel 15). God has established life’s retributive systems, and we are judged the way we judge others. We are also forgiven as we forgive others. Others, and even God at times, are with us the way we are with them. Pride challenges and wants to be above these principles.

May we live our lives as open books. May we open ourselves to Him. May we realize the pride of our way when yet small; the fall will be more bearable. It is humility which helps us hear the soft warnings He sends our way.

FOLLOW THE LIGHT

Proverbs 16:17
The highway of the upright is to depart from evil:
He that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.

Once we have been told the way, like in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim, it is our responsibility to stay in the way. Once we have been shown the Light, it is our part to follow that Light, keep It straight before us; to follow It through whatever It takes us.

Oh, but the way of the Light is not always paved with ease; so we try shortcuts. Somehow though, these shortcuts always seem to take us through ‘evil’: through what is not approved of God. We need to trust that He knows why the Light leads where it leads, and not try to tell the Father that another way would be better or more efficient to His purposes. We see these shortcuts when we don’t keep our eyes focused on the central Light. This Light does not blind us, but it can blind all around us. This helps us walk in ‘ignorance’ of the tempting options around us, keeping us on our main highway.

This is the way to preserve our soul; to depart from evil: to keep that Light in front of us. This is the strongest light we’ll ever see; yet it doesn’t blind. The hottest fire; yet it doesn’t consume. Yeshua haMashiach, the Image of the Almighty Everlasting Father come in the flesh to bring us the Presence of God in a way our mortal flesh can process.

Oh, that we may learn to preserve our souls; that we may learn to forever keep that Light of the World in the central point of our focus.

That we may always stay on His straight and narrow road, avoiding the pitfalls that lead to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and therefore to perdition.

PRIORITIES

Proverbs 16:16
How much better is it to get wisdom than gold!
And to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!

Herein we are taught a sense of priorities. The gain of worldly wealth may sometimes be the blessing of the Almighty on our lives, but not if it required the neglecting of His priorities.

Wisdom in the Bible is described as a Person, not a virtue. In Proverbs eight, our author introduces us to Wisdom. In fact, in the writing of the book, the person of Wisdom speaks to us in the first person. This Wisdom tells us how He was with the Creator from the beginning of times when He established foundations on the seas and the mountains. He also tells how all things were made through Him. In this person of Wisdom, we recognize John’s ‘Word’, which the Targum (an Aramaic narration of the pre-messianic Scriptures) calls the ‘Mimrah’: Yeshua haMashiach Himself.

How much more is obtaining a close relationship with this ‘Mimrah’ better than all the gold of the world. Our author should know. He was blessed with all the riches of the world because when the Father met him to make him an offer of whatever he wanted, King Solomon simply asked for the wisdom and understanding to do a good job as king of Israel.

May we take sample after King Solomon. May we above all, desire this relationship with the ‘Mimrah’, Yeshua haMashiach Himself. As we do, let us have the assurance that He will bless us with the wisdom and understanding to accomplish our mission in life, which is much better than all the gold and silver in the world. And who knows, we may even get some of that too!

BLESSED RAINS

Proverbs 16:15
In the light of the king's countenance is life; and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain.

What better pleasure can we desire than a light of approval on the face of our King. To hear His Well done thou good and faithful servant: enter into the joy of thy Lord. These words are life to our spirit and water to our soul.

The clouds of the later rain represent Israel’s spring rains. They are mentioned as opposed to the early rains of fall. The early rains represent the plowing and seeding of the fields while the later rain represent the beginning of the summer harvest until fall. These are also related to the first and second coming of Messiah.

Yeshua was born at or around the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall; at the time of the early rain. He also started His ministry on jubilee year at the time of Yom Kippur, just before the early rains of fall. He did his spiritual plowing of the land for three and half years and started His harvest of resurrected souls at the time of the later rains of Passover. In His rendition of the Gospel, Matthew tells us how at the time Yeshua died, the spirits of departed patriarchs appeared in the city of Jerusalem. According to Scripture, His flesh could not see corruption, so He must have resurrected right away provoking the resurrection of these saints. Peter tells us that until that time when Yeshua was seen again on earth in His resurrected body, He went to preach to the disobedient spirits in hell.

Since then, Yeshua has been gathering his harvest. The final harvest happens in the fall. This is the time Ruth and Boaz committed to each other. Boaz represented Messiah; Ruth, the nations of the world.

Messiah also returns in the fall, at the end of the harvest. There He meets with His Bride made up of all nations who endorse His Torah. He returns on the Day of Trumpets/Yom Kippur when He finally establishes his kingdom on earth, just before the time of the early rain for a new harvest.

May we be in the Favor of His enlightened contenance.

ATONING FOR THE ‘KING’S’ ANGER

Proverbs 16:14
The wrath of a king is as messengers of death:
But a wise man will pacify it.

The Hebrew word used in the place of ‘pacify’ has a much deeper meaning. It is the word ‘kaphahr’, coming from its lexical root: atonement. This word is also used when Jacob, returning from exile at Laban’s house prepares to enter the Promised Land. Jacob knows that Esau his brother waits for him to kill him. Jacob then wisely decides to send his kingly brother caravans of gifts in order to appease or ‘atone’ for his anger. Jacob succeeds.

The idea is also illustrated as David confronts Saul. Saul desires David’s death. Saul pursues David with an army in hopes to catch and kill him. During the night, David sneaks in Saul’s camp, but instead of killing him, he takes a token of his nocturnal presence. The next day, David displays these tokens to Saul on a nearby hill; and Saul sees David a more merciful man than he, he is convicted and goes home.

We need to recognize the ‘kings’ in our lives: those who are in authority over us. Such are government offices, and even people to whom we have to be subjects in business or social ventures. Retailers say, ‘The customer is king’, and this policy, motivated of course by profit, provokes wise retailers to serve all customers well and wisely in spite of their sometimes-capricious anger.

When challenged by authority, to challenge that authority is not wise. In such cases, wisdom dictates to bring resolution by finding a way to atone for that challenge. May we, like Jacob and David of old, be wise. Though we may not agree with the ‘kings’ in our lives, may we at least recognize them as God’s pattern for us, and find the wisdom to address them with kingly respect. May we offer the gifts of atonement that provoke love instead of anger, peace instead of war, life instead of death.

RIGHTEOUS ENDORSEMENTS

Proverbs 16:13
Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right.

A man is his endorsements. It is a sad thing that too many times we endorse what we please to hear. We have forgotten that God’s rule of law is absolute and unchangeable. That it doesn’t adapt to culture, times and situation. That it is the same yesterday, today and forever. We also have forgotten that God’s idea of justice is not relative to our way of thinking nor to how we feel about it, but that it is singular in its dogma. That it is the straight trainer stick to which our seedling is attached so we grow straight.

Those of us in the world who carry some form of responsibility towards others; those of us who are parents, teachers, religious and community leaders, we are types of kings. It is imperative therefore that we learn to endorse righteousness according to God’s Book. We have to delight in those who speak the truth and righteousness of God; we have to love, endorse and encourage those who speak the truth of God in His spirit of wisdom.

Our King Yeshua pleases in those who have righteous lips and who speak right. Let us therefore be found ‘guilty’ of righteous lips speaking right. Let us endorse King Yeshua so He in turn can also endorse us before men and before His Father.

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS TO COME

Proverbs 16:12
It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness:
For the throne is established by righteousness.

As the old saying goes, “Others may, but you can’t!” From older sibling to king, any form of leadership demands the same. ‘Others’ may indulge in vengeance, retaliation, selfishness, self-pity, pride, self-vindication, anger and all the likes, but leaders, especially those who are supposed to and even claim to represent God, can’t. Their example must remain steady, sometimes almost cold and unshakable. Such things were required of Biblical kings and priests, and are still required of those who claim to follow Messiah. We are to be a ‘nation of ‘priests’ as was promised us at Mt Sinai.

Each, priest, each king, each lawyer of the Word in the pre-messianic Scriptures of the Bible was to foreshadow Messiah. King David, who exercised the three messianic functions of Priest, King and Lawyer, was the quintessential type of the Savior to come.

Even now, messiah establishes His throne on earth. He establishes it by righteousness; not by man’s righteousness, but by the Righteousness of God. He presently exercises the righteousness of Priest by atoning for our sins in front of the throne of the Creator of heaven and earth. He will in a little time return as a conquering King, snatching the controls of the world from the ‘ungodlies’ and from the ‘ungodly’. Then for 1,000 years, he will exercise, as the greatest Lawyer the world has ever known restoring justice to every man woman, child and ethnic group. This will be a time when He will vindicate the righteous, punish the wicked, and wipe all our tears away.

May He come quickly, even in our time.

RIGHT SCALES AND BALANCES

Proverbs 16:11
A just weight and balance are the LORD'S:
All the weights of the bag are his work.

A literal translation would read: ‘A scale and just balances are Gods’; His deeds are like weights in a pouch’.

Here is Rashi’s reflection on this proverb: ‘Just as each item weighed on a balance sale offsets a different combination of weight, depending on its mass, so God deals with everyone individually, depending on their deeds.’

How beautiful is the Creator’s sense of justice. There one Commandment, one Torah and one rule of law for all men, but yet, He knows how to apply it on a personal basis according to our individual parameters. Only the God who has created and personally knows each one of us could do that. It is so easy to resort to the uniform ‘cookie-maker’ type of justice, and it certainly simplifies things. Actually, our author was known for his extreme wisdom in judging matters between people.

We have a God of love, a God of peace, harmony, truth, as well as of justice mixed with mercy. The end of all matters should rest in these virtues if they are to be found in Him. But only He has the right weights that belong to each person; we as humans are poor judges and need to rely on His determinations.

In our judgments and determinations, may we borrow from God’s scales; may we let His spirit weight on our hearts to influence us so we can judge not by the seeing of the eye, nor by the hearing of the ears, but judge righteous judgments.

KEEP QUIET AND LET GO

Proverbs 16:10
A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment.

Oh for the beauty of God’s Word; for the infallibility of His judgments, truth and justice on earth. Soon, by His grace, they will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas.

This proverb has often been interpreted as describing a King or Pope’s infallibility when in the judgment seat. Religious leaders also borrow from it to claim authority on their pulpit declarations. History though, testifies to the fallibility of humankind, even when in office. This verse therefore can only be testifying of the infallibility in judgment of the great King of kings Agent of creation, who will soon come and restore all things to their original state: Yeshua Hamashiach. Hebrew doesn’t have capital letters, but the English should have probably been written as ‘. . . the lips of the King;’

The Messiah/King of the universe is the only One whose lips are clean because He is the only One whose heart is sinless. Our human state would love to emulate that spiritual cleanliness but we seem to always be bound to the sins of our lips. The apostle James actually states that only the perfectly pure in heart doesn’t sin with his lips. Most of the time on this earth, we are left with reaping the results of our blabbering mouth, getting ourselves deeper and deeper into the sinking sands of verbal offense even as we try to keep control of seemingly runaway situations around us. And the more responsibility we have the worse it gets. Most of the time the best policy for us human beings is to ‘keep quiet and let go’. Sad to say, we often come to that wise realization after the damage is done.

May we learn to speak like and by the King. May we learn to let the only One who doesn’t sin be the mover of our lips through the clean motions of His heart within us. Like the Ark of old, let the space of our hearts be filled with the Table of the Testimony, so it can emanate its quiet verbal powers unto the people.

HE’S AT THE CONTROLS

Proverbs 16:9
A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.

How many times do we plan for thus and thus; we are sure of what’s best but things seem never work out the way we planned them. Things do work out, but differently, and on a different timetable. It can certainly lead to frustration when the best of our laid plans seem to be shelved in favor of another’s: God’s.

We calculate how we will carry out this or that but it seems that our shortsightedness leaves out much in view, which God sees. Our calculations do not always include many contingencies which the Almighty disposes but that we cannot foresee. Also, in God’s world, the shortest way from A to B is not always a straight shot.

The results and issues of any given plan are thus from God. In all our deliberations, we should give ourselves, and without self-confidence and arrogance, to the guidance of the Father. We should do our duty in our preliminary planning, but leave the rest, trust the executing of the purpose, to God with humility and confidence.

Oh, what peace is found once we have surrendered the futile exercise of control and domination. Oh, what joy is obtained when we’ve laid foremanship at the feet of the Chief Laborer.

Oh, what joy is regained once we’ve yielded ourselves in the very Words of the Master and said: Not my will, but thine be done.

THE ‘LITTLE’ FROM THE KING

Proverbs 16:8
Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.

Better be the Church in the wilderness, of low-esteem, poor, not having a place where to lay its head, but gently lead by Messiah, than having a crystal cathedral in the midst of the richest country on earth, and be without the closeness of His Presence.

If sin and disobedience separated us from the Almighty, it goes without saying that obedience brings us back in His Presence. But to find Him, we have to leave rich Egypt behind; we have to leave our comfort zone, the place of our establishment, our ‘father’s’ house He said to Abraham. We have to let Him take us by the hand to an unknown place, giving Him all the controls in total trust and confidence.

The Ark of the Covenant symbols each one of us. It was kept away from the rest of the camp in total seclusion. It sat alone with God in the Holy of Holies. It had to be ready to move and fulfill Its purpose at all times so Its carrying poles were to never be taken out. So our soul should constantly sit secluded in the Presence of the Almighty, always be ready to leave our special place in order to fulfill our mission, but never to settle in the world. We are always to leave behind the world and its glitter and come back to the simple solitude of His Presence.

There with him, He strips us from our outer garments of pride and pretence. He cleans from us this world’s sinful stench. He then dresses us in a robe of simplicity and humility, and brings us to Him.

After we have let go of everything, after we have taken the ‘little’ He offers, we realize that even His ‘little’, is more than this world’s seeming abundance.

PEACE THROUGH HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS

Proverbs 16:7
When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

When the ways of a man harmonizes with the Spirit of the Creator, the music is heard in the heart of all who surround him. They may not know it; they may not realize it; but a transcendent appeasing force emanates from such a man. It flows as a quiet strength, a silent authority, a commanding reverence. This person doesn’t need to make great references to his spirituality as if to impress people. This person doesn’t need bumper stickers or T-shirts to proclaim his reverence. This person doesn’t need theological formulas, jargon or ‘Name-dropping’ from the throne to prove their status. It flows straight from their being, and everyone knows it. Even their enemies are ‘disarmed at their presence.

It was Yeshua’s destiny to be delivered to the justice of man and to be executed in the lot of common outlaws, but because He was the Righteous and Just Man, neither the Jewish leaders of His day nor Pilate had the ‘guts’ to want to face full responsibility for His execution. They kept ‘passing the buck’ to each other.

Sin, initiated in Eden and accomplished at Calvary, proclaims us enemies of God (Romans 5:10). From Eden, our sin estranged us from the Presence of the almighty. This estrangement and enmity find reversal and the beginning of a healing process 2600 years ago during a banquet between God and the leaders of the newborn nation of Israel on a lonely mountain of Saudi Arabia. Representatives of the world will soon emulate this desert banquet. At the return of Yeshua, God will set a table in the presence of us, His enemies, also brought to peace and reconciliation Psalms 23:5).

As estranged and banished children, we were enemies to God. But the ways of Yeshua the Righteous and Just One pleased the Father so He made peace between Him (Yeshua) and His enemies (us) and brought reconciliation. Come to think of it; should also our righteousness (which is only through Yeshua) bring peace between us and our enemies?

THE PERSON OF TRUTH AND MERCY

Proverbs 16:6
By mercy and truth iniquity is purged:
And by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.

The English in this proverb leaves some ambiguity. Can virtues, such as mercy and truth purge iniquity? This ambiguity has led some to draw either one of the two following conclusions: someone’s iniquities can be purged by first facing them with the truth of the Word, and then giving them the benefits of mercy; or like Catholics interpret it, that by being truthful and merciful, one can atone for his own iniquities.

I would like now to turn your eyes towards a Hebrew understanding of a literal translation of this verse: ‘By Mercy and Truth, He shall atone for iniquity’ (capitalization mine).

When Pilate asked Yeshua, ‘What is the truth?’ Yeshua did not reply. Is it because Yeshua was ignorant of the answer? Why would He be? He had already made His speech to His disciples about the nature of Truth when He said, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life’. Truth is not ‘something’; it is ‘Somebody’. The same goes with mercy and other virtues. Writings reveal that the ancient Hebrews did not see the virtues of the Almighty as abstract concepts (as is brought us from Greek civilization), but as living entities such as angelic beings. Texts tell us about the angel of mercy who approached God at the creation of man, and in Proverbs eight, Wisdom speaks as a person.

Also, the Hebrew text of the Proverb does not tell us about iniquities purged by virtues, but of iniquities ‘atoned’ by the Person of Mercy and Truth. We now get a much different image. Instead of telling us about virtuous works purging our iniquity, the King teaches us in this proverb about His King, the Messiah, as the only One who can atone for it. Through their sacrificial system, Jews have always believed that it is the Messiah that purges iniquities, not works.

Yeshua is both Truth and Mercy. Let us not be afraid to go to Him.

He is our Covering Atonement.

PEACE IN HIS WILL

Proverbs 16:5
Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord:
Though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

Who is the proud one but he who measures himself against God?

Who is he that joins hands in a coalition against the Almighty?

After the big flood, God commanded the people of the earth to scatter all over the world. Much of human kind did not want to do it. King Nimrod also did not like God having such control in the world that he could drown it at will. So he gathered the people in one place in Mesopotamia where they joined hands to build a tower that will defy God. Nimrod’s reasoning was to build a tower so high that he could take refuge in it in case God decided to do His ‘water trick’ again.

It is in the nature of mankind to be proud. We want to establish that which is right and true according to our own parameters; we naturally want to be our own god. Whereas we need to stand in the world as a light that shines in darkness, unmovable and unshakable; never caving to the demands of man’s society, when it comes to our relationship with God we are to be as malleable as clay yielding to the gentle pressures of our Maker.

It is true that just yielding to the flow of God in our lives may make us vulnerable. It is also true that such parameters bring a certain level of uncertainty; that probably, life will not go according to our plans. But what certainty is there in our own planning and resisting? All that does not originate from the Almighty will not stand in the big Day of Restoration. It will crumble and remains ruins testifying of the end result of man’s rebellion. When He comes, He needs to see our lives reflect what He had created it for, not our own doings.

May we have enough faith to yield to the plan He has decided for our lives.

May we live it without complaints.

May we work it with joy and assertive certainty.

May we humble ourselves to His Divine will;

never trying to dodge its temporary unpleasant demands.

In the Name of Yeshua haMashiach.

THE PURPOSE OF ALL THINGS

Proverbs 16:4
The Lord hath made all things for himself:
Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Being invisible to our eyes, The Father created each element of the universe for the purpose of revealing His greatness to our senses. Sounds ring at their destined time and place adding to His magnificent symphony. Colors and shades bring each other’s glory in the ocular feast that is His creation.

As each sound in a symphony, as each color in a painting, none are wasted. Each are calculated to bring the desired effect. In this case, the effect is to bring out God’s glory, to tell us of His Majesty.

We could argue that some of the things God created are ugly and vile; that some of the people who inhabit our planet are repulsive. How could the Mighty One create such people as the ancient Pharaoh of Moses, Hitler, or all the people who are oblivious to the suffering of others as long as they further their own agendas? But as light is glorified by darkness, beauty and virtue are glorified by that which is ugly and vile. Even in life, the measure of our times of happiness and joy only contrasts with our times of descent to the abysses of trials and affliction. The arrow only flies as high as the archer pressurizes it below.

Time is ticking towards the ‘World to Come’. By God’s grace, He will soon establish His kingdom on earth. This will be a time of ultimate joy and happiness that will contrast the horrors unleashed by the preceding Antichrist that is also to come. Even though this may sound like poor consolation, we can glory that this wicked man was created for the day of retribution, only to help us appreciate more the millennial beauty and virtue the ‘World to Come’ has to offer us. May we keep our eyes, mind and spirit on this goal.

WORKING IN HARMONY WITH THE ALMIGHTY

Proverbs 16:3
Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

A beautiful conclusion to the two previous proverbs. As our heart meditates what we deem to be pure thoughts, Elohim weights our response. The conclusion is therefore that it is imperative that our thoughts, being the source of our responses, should be established by God.

Our same author tells us somewhere else, As a man thinketh in his heart so is he. James the apostle adds that a double-minded man cannot receive anything from the Almighty. When our thoughts are not established, we live in constant uncertainty and confusion and separated from the orderly beauty Elohim has for us.

We are told that for our thoughts to be established, our works need to be committed unto God. The Hebrew word for ‘commit’ is also ‘turn’; ‘roll over’. We are to turn our works towards Him. We are to roll over our business, our daily occupation towards Him for our thought to be certain in themselves, which in itself creates faith.

As we think of our coming day, let us commit it to Him. Let us ask: Is what I do a response to His commandments? Yeshua based the commandments of Torah on two statements from the Old Testament: to love Elohim with all of our heart mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Our love for Elohim is shown by following His commandments and by representing His love to those made in His image. How do we do that? To most of us adults that means to be responsible faithful parents working hard to supply for our families; to be responsible members of our communities; to study His Words and do our best to obey them and teach them to our children by beiang a good sample of them. For younger folks, that would mean to be obedient and helpful in their homes, thereby showing gratitude for their parents’ efforts; to prepare themselves for their future responsibilities of parenthood by applying themselves to their schooling; and to keep away the garbage that is hurled on them daily by the media.

If we harmonize all our works with His command, our thoughts become aligned, and therefore established with His divine will.

LEAN ON THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE OF ALL THINGS

Proverbs 16:2
All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.

Man, being what he is, lies victim to relativism. At any given time, consciously or subconsciously we measure and judge the various elements of our life in a manner solely relating to our own influenced sense of goodness and justice. No matter how hard we try not too, we cannot help but act as the god of our own sphere of influence. We claim to be able to be the judges and juries of life around us.

That is why we need to thank our Heavenly Father for these times when we are faced with issues that are bigger than us. If we truly have our eyes opened and are completely honest with ourselves, we see that most of the time, life demands of us decisions that are bigger than ourselves. Whether they are domestic, political, emotional or spiritual, life’s demands on us dwarf us.

Our natural pride doesn’t like to feel dwarfed, so at such times we may rely on psychological crutches that help us cope and not feel so small. But whatever we do, whether we want to acknowledge it or not, the facts of our smallness still remain.

We may be small; we may only be able to see life solely from our time-bound, earth-bound perspective; but in spite of it, let us remember that we have a big God Who righteous and uninfluenced by man. He is able to weigh all things right, and even to help us see things from His pure undefiled perspective. In our world of uncertainty, may we fully lean on Him and trust. May we make sure to learn to be able to judge with His unlimited eternal perspective which sees-all and knows-all.

HE RULES MAN’S TONGUE

Proverbs 16:1
The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord.

A famous Jewish luminary expressed this proverb in the following words: “Man has ideas, but God gives speech which will either cause him to stumble with his words or speak eloquently”. Rashi.

There was one man in the Bible; his name was Herod. He gave an eloquent speech but did not give glory to God. We are told that because of it, at the end of his speech he gave up the ghost and that he was eaten by worms.

Acts 12:21-23.

When it comes to politicians and leaders, we need to realize that God ultimately remains sovereign over history. He decides who reigns, governs and rules each country. He also decides each country’s sphere of influence in the world at any given times of history. All the eloquent rhetoric in the world will not promote a leader in the eyes of its people, or a nation in the eyes of the world if God wills it not. On the other hand, no one can contain the growing influence of a leader or of a nation if God has a plan for it, be it good or evil.

The most eloquent of speeches can be prepared but in the end, the answer from the tongue comes from God. When a speaker successfully convinces his audience, with good or with bad, ultimately God is responsible for inspiring him or allowed his influence to be spread.

What is true of world leaders and politics is also true on a personal and domestic level. Teachers, counselors, parents and pastors need to prayerfully prepare their notes on what they need to convey to their audiences, but in the end, once they have done their best, they need to acknowledge and realize that the ultimate results belong to God.

In a certain sense, with the knowledge of this principle, we can see the signs of the times. A careful study of current moral and political influences give us and idea of which direction God is allowing the world to take, and therefore a window into the future.

Let us then be smart. Let us rely on the Almighty Spirit of God for the delivery of our own speeches, and may we have discernment about the growing influences around us.

MOLDED BY HARD KNOCKS

Proverbs 15:33
The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.

The Hebrew word used for instruction is ‘musar’: discipline; thus reading in is Hebrew text: “The fear of the Adonai is the discipline of wisdom”.

Many look for wisdom just like many honor the virtue of humility, but these two each require going through a particular path.

When the natural man studies wisdom but doesn’t own within himself a healthy ‘fear’ and reverence for God, His Instruction (Torah) and His retribution system, wisdom and knowledge will only serve to inflate this man’s ego. It will only be used to promote his personal agenda and will do more damage than good. Ancient Greeks just about worshipped wisdom, but it was the wisdom of man through which they could not even find the knowledge of God. Their kind of wisdom did much damage to mankind and is still the cornerstone philosophy of humanist secularism in the western world today; a philosophy diametrically opposite to the Hebraic Judean culture from whence our faith birthed.

It is the same thing with honor. If a man receives honor before he has been humbled through life’s school of ‘hard knocks’, he becomes proud, arrogant, demanding and dictatorial, wherefrom stems the wise comparison.

Let us therefore not put the cart before the horses. Before we honor someone’s wisdom, let us make sure he has gone through the ‘whole course’. We must ask ourselves, ‘Has that person’s character only been molded by wise rhetoric, or has it gone through the humbling hard knocks that shape the character of a man?

GO THROUGH THE COURSE

Proverbs 15:32
He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul:
But he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.

The Hebrew text of this proverb reveals much more of its contrast. It tells us:

' He who negates discipline despises his soul; and he that heareth (obeys) reproof buys (values) an understanding heart.’

Life is a school. It is a school to prepare us for the World to Come. Courses are made available to us and we can sign up for them. We can sign up for them or we can let them go by. When we sign up for them, we can either apply ourselves to the lessons at hand, or we can be distracted by the many cares of this life. We are handled as mature free people but the cost of maturity and freedom is that we are and remain responsible for our own actions. We become the full result of the sum of our own decisions.

This proverb tells us that to refuse the discipline of life set in front of us by the Father is similar to despising our own soul. It is close to spiritual suicide. We sometimes cannot relate to people committing physical suicide, but what about people committing spiritual suicide? How many of us are guilty of knowing the discipline of life and yet despise it by excusing ourselves from it?

From the days of Moses we have been promised to become a nation of Priests and kings. Exodus and Leviticus teach us about the particular discipline of Hebrew kings and priests. They were held to different standards than that of the other people. The Mosaic promise is fulfilled in the Messiah. Anyone therefore under the atonement of Messiah has the potential to be a recipient of this promise. They can become a king or a priest among people, but they need to go through the course and learn the discipline.

The course is paid for in full. How would we feel now if we paid for our child the full price for the greatest of higher education in the grandest of all universities, but all he would do is waste his time partying? Wouldn’t he be despising his own soul? The same goes with us with the course the Messiah paid for us with His own blood at Calvary.

READ THE FULL STORY

Proverbs 15:31

The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.

We are all, each one of us prone to mistakes. It is normal for humans to err at times. In His great wisdom, our Creator Who certainly knows our frame, gave us one tongue to lead us, as the words of our tongue do lead us as the rudder of a ship. He gave us one tongue but two ears that we may do twice as much listening than talking. Yet, the great Almighty left it to us to decide who and what we listen to.

We have our destiny in our hands. Will we live among the wise? We must hear the reproof of life. And what are the reproofs of life? Our author wrote these proverbs to teach us about the life-giving virtues of the Word of Instruction contained in the Torah.

Our generation has concluded that the ancient words of the Torah are passé. That they have served their time and that now we are grown up. It is taught today by wise preachers that these ancient precepts have by some magic been written in our heart. We are taught that as in the famous movie The Matrix, we have been programmed, like a computer, with the Words of God inside of us and that now, we are wise. We have been given the Book, but we don’t need to study it. Lo and behold, we have been transubstantiated (sarcasm intended) If this idea were to objectively be judged by its results, it would come out as the greatest of all hoaxes.

I am a teacher of teenagers; I wish it were that easy but whereas we are given the Book, our God has desired for us to go through the full lesson. He wants our whole being, mind, soul, spirit and body to go though the learning process of each of His Word. We may have been given a ‘scholarship’ at the University of Wisdom, but we still need to go through the course if we want the diploma. We still need to learn if we want the privilege of hanging around with the wise.

Let us not fool ourselves. Let us apply ourselves to the study of the full Word of God. How can we come to the right conclusions of the lessons of a book if we only read the last chapter?

THE JOY OF GOOD NEWS

Proverbs 15:30

The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: and a good report maketh the bones fat.

Incredulity is a plague of modern times. Everyone is a judge; everyone wants to establish truth. We deny what has already been found and proven; we do away with the milestone established by the ancient and boastfully pride of being wise. In the end, our eyes become dim of knowledge as we find ourselves doubting the very foundations of the world and of our lives.

The Word of God is said to be the Light (Psalms 119:105), The lack of It then is certainly darkness. As our spirit denies the Truths of the Word, our eyes dim of intelligent knowledge. This darkness of the eyes becomes the rot of our very bones. On the other hand, the Good News enlightens us again. The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple (Psa 119:130) says this King’s father, and oh, how good news can put a new spring in our steps.

In this world where bad news seem to be more profitable to media corporations than good news, may our spirit never be darkened by their lack of proper ‘intelligence’.

May we not let their lack of Word-based knowledge pollute our spirit, darken our eyes, and rot our bones.

May we keep our eyes on Yeshua, the Light of our eyes, the glory of Israel.

He anoints our eyes and hearts with the oil of gladness that is the health of our bones.

PATIENCE IN JUDGMENT

Proverbs 15:29
The Lord is far from the wicked:
But he heareth the prayer of the righteous.

I have a believer friend who is very confused at the present seeming reality of answered and unanswered prayers. He sees people who really love God in all sincerity and truth, people who put themselves out for His name, and yet seem to be denied the realization of deep yearnings or even of daily needs. On the other hand, he sees people who don’t seem to care about God spread themselves like a green bay tree and seeming successful in every way.

My friend has a hard time realizing that the blessings of God are not measured in dollars and cents but even more, I would say he is guilty of impatience. In the early chapters of the book of Revelations we are shown the martyred people of the Almighty tucked under His altar pleading with Him for the vindication of their lives and for the vengeance of their spilled blood. He told them to wait. The Father of all those who live in Him told them to wait until all is done, suggesting that soon though there will be a time of universal retribution.

It is like in court: the sentence is not given until the sentence is given. In our case, the final and ultimate answering of all our prayers will also be accomplished at the sound of the gavel, at the time of His return. Some things He accords us now as an earnest of His Goodness towards us, but the bulk of answers to our prayers is reserved for the Word to come.

Then and only then we will be able to see with our eyes who God vindicates and who He rejects and I, for one, think that many of us will be surprised. Those whom we say He rejected in this age (and He may have in times past) may be found near His bosom if not but for the sole sake of the promises He made to their fathers; while those whom seeming acceptance led to arrogance towards the first, may find themselves with the judgment with which they judged others meted unto them.

Whereas we certainly are meant to assess each other if not we would not be able to exhort each other, Yeshua advised us not to judge (condemn with final sentencing) each other. He knows that our means of judgment are incomplete and that we need to wait for the world to come for all things to be established.

In the meantime, we still know that,

Adonai is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

Psalms 145:18

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.