The Measuring Stick
I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perserverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first. Revelation 2:19 NASB
Deeds – Yeshua has eyes of fire. He sees right through us. What does He look for? “I know your deeds,” says the visionary Christ. If you read the next few verses, you will discover that even though this assembly was recognized for their love, faith and perseverance, they still fell down in one area. They listened and followed the teaching of a false prophetess. What did she teach? Ah, now we have a problem. She taught that the assembly should practice acts of sexual immorality and eat food sacrificed to idols.
Here we encounter the same two descriptions used in Acts and previously in Revelation. These two things are unacceptable because they are associated with pagan worship. Of course, this implies that there was still a requirement about what we can and cannot eat and that the discussion in Acts 15 was about the same issue, that is, pagan worship, not a separate Torah for Gentiles. Once again we are confronted with the food issue. Obviously, it was a concern of the risen Lord in John’s vision. That makes you wonder if it shouldn’t be a concern for us.
You might say, “But I don’t eat food sacrificed to idols. This is only about those ancient pagan practices, so it doesn’t apply to me.” First, let’s admit that the pagan practice is still very much alive today. Come to India or Indonesia or Ghana or the Congo. Come to South Africa where pagan rituals are practiced outside the doors of the Christian church before the people go in to worship. Paganism still prevails all over the world. But even if this is true, it’s not my problem, right?
Yes, I am sure that you aren’t offering your hamburger to a pagan god before you eat it, but that isn’t really the issue here. The issue is that long after the resurrection, long after the assembly of Messianic believers began in Jerusalem, food was still a sign of faithfulness. The fact that the Christ with eyes of fire brings up this issue implies that there are expectations about what we eat. If Martin Luther’s interpretation of grace were correct, this concern would be unnecessary. Who cares what you eat if you’re under grace! Apparently, the Christ with eyes of fire cares. He knows that these people have love, faith and good deeds but He still expects them to follow the correct teaching about food. I’ll grant you that the verse doesn’t specify kosher requirements, but it does imply that what we eat still matters. And if that is the case, how do we know what we should eat? Do we simply assume that anything not offered to idols is acceptable? Would Yohanan (John) agree? Would Peter agree after his vision on the rooftop? I don’t think so. Both men continued to follow Torah. In fact, Peter had to be reminded about the distinction between clean and unclean when it came to people, not food. It seems to me that the risen Messiah with eyes of fire still expects His followers to uphold the instructions He gave on Sinai.
Topical Index: food, idols, kosher, Revelation 2:19
Skip,
Two quick reactions to this expounding: one, there is obviously also a spiritual context to both practices, as in other god worship is referred to as adultery with another woman, and, two, with the food: Jesus is our Bread of Life. When we turn to other sources of spiritual nourishment, we are not eating His flesh and drinking His blood. His flesh was given to us to heal us: His blood was given to us to separate us from our sin. When we turn to modalities to heal us, instead of relying on obedience to separate us from the curses of disease, etc., we are outside His flesh. When we turn, again, to other methods of separation from the sin which doth so easily beset us, instead of repentance before God, we also are outside His blood. Not downplaying Torah, but I believe Torah was given to us also as a symbol of what our relationship with the Godhead, ourselves and others should look like. It is our schoolmaster, through which we learn what the Ten Commands looks like in practice toward God, self and others. In my mind, Torah is best employed as a signpost, not as a destination. The righteousness of Christ, imputed in my life through the practice of sanctification, is my destination. He works out Torah in me, and it is going to be in my heart that He looks to see if I have gotten it. A much severer standard than eating kosher, for sure, although the dietary laws are a sure guide to physical health. It is certain that no matter how kosher I eat, if I am committing spiritual adultery and turning to other sources of healing and love, I am eventually going to be getting physically unsound, (which has happened to me in the past), and no amount of kosher is going to fix it (it didn’t). What I learned was that physical obedience was not enough: I had to pay attention to obedience of the heart, too.
P.S. He healed me. Halleluah!
Thanks! I love reacting to you every morn!
I too think this passage has greater exegetical implication than eating kosher. Paganism is a pretty sophisticated system of deception that requires a deeper look than the simple or literal.
Would you care to elaborate?
To whom are the deeds dedicated?
The false prophetess is a narcissist. A clue to her character is given in the definition of her name: Jezebel = chaste. Even though she may be a married woman or a confessed believer, that is a veil of subterfuge. This woman is “chaste” or dedicated to service of her own false god, and not submitted or subject to the authority of an earthy or spiritual Husband. Her heart is given to the worship of her idol…that intertwined with her own self-absorbed fixation.
She is adept at seducing others to worship the same false god – commit spiritual fornication. Many of this assembly committed “adultery” with her this way. The food sacrificed to idols could be any number of activities that appeal to the flesh, even those that appear to be works.
The reproof to the assembly is that they tolerate Jezebel whose focus is to feed the need to be in control. Pagan religion often masquerades it’s works in a similar sophisticated manner. The objective is to achieve dominance over an individual subtlety or otherwise through intimidation and manipulation.
Lots of mixed paradigms here. The idea of imputed righteousness comes from Luther and others. The idea that the blood is a means of healing finds roots in pagan practices. The idea that Torah is a signpost contradicts the Jewish paradigm that Torah is a clear expression of the character of the divine. The idea that Torah is a schoolmaster overlooks the expectation that it be applied eternally. Yes, there are many metaphors (adultery is one) but they must be understood within the paradigm, not as a means for excusing the paradigm. If Heschel is correct, and a Jewish without Torah is obsolete, then what does that make a Christian who finds all kinds of reasons not to live by Torah. Not Jewish, of course, but YHWH is the God of the Jews, not the pagans. How will I know what a pagan is if there is only the standard that I MAKE for myself?
” Not Jewish, of course, but YHWH is the God of the Jews, not the pagans.”
English Standard Version
Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
Ah, so clever. Of course He is the GOD (elohim) of the Gentiles but He is not the God (YHWH) of the pagans. The assumption behind the verse is that God is the creator and therefore the sovereign over all men, but that doesn’t mean that all men follow Him. A pagan (as opposed to a Gentile) is one who chooses not to embrace the God of Israel but rather to serve a god of his own making. YHWH is the God of Israel and for me to serve Him I must come into the fellowship of Israel as understood in biblical terms. YHWH is not the same as Zeus, Marduk, Zoroaster, Astarte or even Allah. He is the God who chose Israel, not the nations, to reveal Himself so in that sense He is the God of the biblical Jews. You could hardly argue that the golden idols of biblical pagans are just another expression of YHWH. Gentiles are merely those who are not born Jews. Pagans are those who chose NOT to become followers.
Skip, I understand your play on words and appreciate it. But to me your quote, ” Not Jewish, of course, but YHWH is the God of the Jews, not the pagans.”, follows a pattern from the pages of TW. Where to begin? I have debated whether or not to reply to this post and my heart is heavy because of it.
To me your comment brought to conclusion thoughts I have had for awhile. It is difficult to portray feelings via messages, but know I do not type this with any animosity. The big picture is not one of whether I eat this or don’t eat that, but rather am I doing all for the glory of God. There has been a perceived notion of alienation and separation coming from these posts. As much as you fault “Christians” with the separation from Jews (and I agree) the perception is that you are doing the same thing, just from the other side, so to speak. With the comment ” Not Jewish, of course, but YHWH is the God of the Jews, not the pagans.”, you brought this perception full circle. While you did distinguish between pagan and gentile, following the play on words, these two terms, pagan and gentile, are often interchanged. To my understanding they simply mean anyone who is not Jewish, does not believe as a Jew. With that said, the meaning becomes God is only your God (YHWH) if you are in that circle.
By now you know I am neither Jewish nor do I speak Hebrew and rather than classify myself as “Christian, I prefer, follower of Christ. I follow TW and these post because I have a genuine desire to say with Paul, “That I might know him”. With that said I am also aware that to know God, you must know Him as He is and how He relates to us. That comes from seeing how he revealed Himself to the Jewish people. I am also aware that before revealing Himself to a nation He revealed Himself to a person, Abraham and the righteousness of Abraham came before the Law.
To conclude this rant (please forgive that I did not use Hebrew terminology) it seems to me that the context of the NT with maybe the exception of the gospels, was to figure out how to merge two people, Jews and Gentiles, into one group of believers. I guess that is still the challenge today.
“But there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus..”
Galatians 3:28
I see that David has already raised one serious issue with your approach, so I won’t say more other than to concur. Nothing in the NT suggests that the authors had a separate religion in mind. That comes much later, after Marcion. The NT sees ONE community, as you suggest, but it is not a community of Jew and Gentile. It is a community where Jew and Gentile become followers of Yeshua HaMashiach and insofar as that happens, Gentiles are graphed into the commonwealth of Israel, not added to a new religion. Israel is the root. Gentiles are the branches.
Now let me comment again on the “play on words.” My comment isn’t just farcical. While Gentile means anyone not born Jewish, it does not mean pagan. There were thousand of God-fearers who were Gentiles but worshipped YHWH. They were Gentiles who were NOT pagans. To be pagan is to reject in word and deed the way of YHWH. In this sense, Jew and Gentile are ethnic distinctions, but pagan and follower cut across ethnic divides. A lot of Jewish (Israelite) kings were pagans. Birth has nothing to do with it.
So, I am not advocating, and never have advocated, that we need to become Jewish. I have plenty of reasons for believing that contemporary Jewish options are not what is represented in the Tanakh or the NT. But I do recognize that the men and women who followed Yeshua were culturally Jewish (as of the first century) and their worldview is first century Jewish (not Judaism), so it is difficult for me to believe that they intended us to make up a new religion later and claim it is what they taught and practiced. If you mean “Christian” as a follower of the Christ (not his name), then we are on the same page, but then I ask you, how can you reconcile how he lived as a Torah observant Jew and NOT do what he did? The BIG picture is the DETAILS. That’s the way God chose to reveal Himself. Who are we to say, “Well, OK Lord, but you know my heart is in the right place even if I don’t think I need to do what You tell me to do. After all, I am sure You will overlook it in the end.” Shades of Job?
Thanks, Skip for another very helpful post!
The posts from the last couple of days bring up a question I have been meaning to ask. Have you published, or are you aware of a published piece that systematically goes through the New Testament and confronts all of the texts that appear to teach that Jesus, and the other writers of the New Testament did not live by Torah? These things run the gamut . . . Kosher eating, doing good works on the Sabbath, etc. The way I found you in the first place was after my first trip to Israel in 2011, I returned with a really deep seated belief that if we don’t understand the lifestyles, culture and beliefs of the people who wrote the scripture, then we will not properly understand the scripture. In talking with friends I find that if they believe Jesus or Paul or whoever lived apart from Torah, then they are free to as well. As I come across objections I use your archives as a place to start, but it would be great to find a compilation.
” it seems to me that the context of the NT with maybe the exception of the gospels, was to figure out how to merge two people, Jews and Gentiles, into one group of believers.”
I would think this is a false statement. The context of the Scripture (including the NT) has never been to “merge” two people, Jews and Gentiles. into a group of believers. Way to much pre-conceived paradigm being read into the text. Never do I see a merging of two people/nations……I see a grafting of a people into the nation of Israel. We are grated in, never merged.
Maybe I am overemphasizing one part of your post and if so I apologize. But “merging” makes it sound like gentiles merge their beliefs with the nation of Israel’s beliefs and whalla…….Once this merging takes place you have a new nation called “believers”. This is forbidden from the mouth of YHWH over and over again. (Deuteronomy 12:30-31, 20:18, Jeremiah 10, etc….)
I agree with what you are saying, perhaps I misused the word merge. The idea I was trying to convey was one people.
Ephesians 2:13-16 (ESV)
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.
15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,
16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
Thank you Skip for further explanation of the “play on words”.
On this comment;
” But I do recognize that the men and women who followed Yeshua were culturally Jewish”
Was this not the reason for the council? To clarify that the Gentiles coming to Christ did not need to become Jewish, culturally or ethnically?
I find I become just as concerned about the different denominations represented in the “Christian” community. I sincerely think we have created dividing lines that turn away people from Christ rather than attract them to Him.
Ethnically rather than ethically. 🙂
Sorry. I will fix it.
“Yes, I am sure that you aren’t offering your hamburger to a pagan god before you eat it, …” but what if it has already been “Muslim “koshered” and offered to the pagan god, Allah”? This is no hypothetical question as more and more of our meat supply is of this sort.
Yes, a bigger and bigger problem now that the world domination of Islam is well under way.
Well, now that you have mentioned it, what about the (fact) that much of our food is now halal, and by that i mean that slaughter houses are using methods that render the meat halal for the benefit of other religions.
Does this make it unclean for us?
I didn’t see where this was addressed, but i might have jumped the gun as i haven’t read everything yet….tnx
Exactly. Both Sam’s Club and Costco sell halal, there’s a seal on the package. That has concerned me for a while.
Sorry, i’m at work, on break and just skimming.
Hi Skip,
While I’ve chosen not to eat foods forbidden in the Torah since meeting you and reading TW, (6 years ago) I’m aware that most believers are dumbfounded at the mere suggestion that they should refrain for eating shrimp, pork, etc etc. I’m also aware that the Scriptural admonition to gentiles is to “not eat meat sacrificed to idols.” The New Testament doesn’t mention specific foods…just meat sacrificed to idols, along with blood, strangulation, and sexual impurity. And now, after reading the article in the above link, I’m wonder how often we all eat meat sacrificed to idols (Halal) without even knowing it?
I’m hoping G-d understands our hearts and intentions to follow and obey, knowing that SO MANY are totally ignorant to the fact that we might be displeasing Him. Perhaps this would fall under the category of “unintentional sin?” We’re accountable for what we know????
Sorry…forgot to include the link. Here it is.
http://www.wnd.com/2011/01/255825/
Thanks for the link Judi. I found that I have actually eaten at one of the restaurants that serve halal meats in Kansas City! 🙁
i see i didn’t read far enough!
Thank you for the clarification about mixed paradigms. I am no scholar, and so I appreciate very much all who are. To answer the clarifications: to me, the imputed righteousness of Christ has to do with Him writing His character, and yes, Torah is a transcript of His character, in my heart, which makes it possible for me to want, and to do, right. I cannot do any of that. What remains still, I find, is the choice of whether I agree to have that rightness manifest through me at any given point. I did not say, nor do I find in scripture or believe, that the blood is healing. Christ bled for my sins, but was beaten for my healing.
Torah to me is a picture of the character of God. It is not God Himself. He is not divisible from His law, but that does not mean that I am not divisible from His law. Torah was given to me from my position of separation. I know I tried to follow what I knew was right in my flesh, without Him doing Himself through me. I failed, and got sick to boot. I like the clarification of Torah being applied eternally, but I am also quite sure when Adam and Eve got their first lessons of right in the Garden, they were not taught with any of the typology that pointed them to Jesus the Lamb of God. That was not needed yet. In eternity, I am sure Torah will be statements in the positive, applicable to the new situation with no more affliction rising up a second time. Have no idea what it would look like, though. I think that even though God is the same always, our view of Him right now, even through the Torah, even though it is the best we can see Him, is still pretty skewed. Not saying Torah is, but that it was clearly scripted around our screwy eyesight.