Contingent Destiny
I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds. Jeremiah 17:10 NASB
Results – Frankly, this verse scares me. There are a few others that give me equal fright, but this one might be at the top of that list. Jeremiah, speaking for God, tells me that God rewards according to results. Oh, my! I so want God to reward on the basis of His benevolence, His mercy and His compassion. To be rewarded on the basis of my results is terrifying. I think of all the times when I have not lived up to expectations, when my efforts or lack thereof did not produce the results God wanted. In fact, I am quite sure my résumé of failures is much more extensive than my résumé of success. If God rewards “according to the fruit of” my deeds, I am surely lost. I will arrive in His presence empty-handed at best, but more likely with thorns and thistles rather than olive branches or grapes.
What’s worse is that God searches my heart. It really doesn’t matter if I show well on the outside. Does God care about the size of my bank account, the number of Bibles I have on the shelf, the record of my charitable gifts? If He searches my heart, He may find that those “successes” were motivated by pride or appeasement. Failures! The “fruit” isn’t just the observable result. Paul makes this abundantly clear. Heart and hand must go together if it’s going to be counted by the Lord. Perhaps that’s why this verse does not say, “I search the tax record or the theological statement or even the mind.” (By the way, the word “mind” in this verse is a Greek mistranslation of the Hebrew kilya’ which means “kidneys.” It’s the Hebrew way of saying “the innermost secret parts of a man.” It has nothing to do with cognitive functions.)
In Hebrew, the word translated “results” is peri. You might recall this word from the blessing of the wine during the Shabbat meal. It is the word for “fruit,” not “results.” The “fruit of his deeds” is the produce of his practice. Notice it is singular. Just like Paul’s comment on the fruit (singular) of the Spirit. It isn’t the deeds that are measured. It is what the deeds produce. We scramble around trying to do all the deeds perfectly, but that isn’t what God is counting. It is the fruit of those deeds that matters. In other words, it’s not the practice of Shabbat. It is the fruit that the practice produces. If you do everything properly during Shabbat but the fruit is dissension in the household, anxiety over responsibility, concern about social expectations or legalistic separation from others, then the fruit is a failure. The actual practice may be in accordance with the traditions of Shabbat, but the net result is ungodly.
If you attend services, say the prayers, study the Scriptures, follow Torah as best you can, but the produce from your labors drives others away from the Lord, causes family members to dread your theology, disrupts your compassion toward strangers or creates animosity, then the fruit is sour no matter how sweetly planted the vine.
Oh, and by the way, you are not the measure of the quality of your fruit. Only the fruit tasters, the ones who are supposed to benefit from your produce, are the rightful judges of your labor.
So I suppose I should take a confidential survey. I should be asking, “Have my efforts had a positive impact on you?” After everyone has answered I might feel a bit better but I will still need to ask the same question to God. Then I will know what I probably can already guess.
It’s still scary.
Topical Index: results, ma’alal, deed, practice, fruit, peri, Jeremiah 17:10
“Have my efforts had a positive impact on you?”
Yes, very much so
Reading your word has brought me closer to the Lord, so add a few grapes and a fig or two to your branch and keep at it.
“If you attend services, say the prayers, study the Scriptures, follow Torah as best you can, but the produce from your labors drives others away from the Lord, causes family members to dread your theology, disrupts your compassion toward strangers or creates animosity, then the fruit is sour no matter how sweetly planted the vine.”
I know what you are trying to say with this statement, but on the other hand, anytime we do things according to YHVH’s design, we are going to be “different” and this difference is going to cause the symptoms listed above. So, do I “try to get along” with my family and friends just so they feel more comfortable? Usually, this means I do the things they consider “right.” Interesting dilemma.
Glad to hear that you “know” what I meant. Of course, Torah observance in a pagan culture will cause difficulties (consider Daniel), but I had in mind my observations of those who use Torah as a wedge and basically turn others away (and off) by their legalism with Torah. What a shame!
I think the term is “Torah Terrorist” (TT)! Yes, I have had my bout with being a TT. However, in my defense, it wasn’t so much that I was trying to prove I was “right” as much as it was that I was SO excited about the newness/freshness of His word in my life. I wanted everyone else to see the new treasure I had found! Only to be told that I was becoming a heretic. My enthusiasm unfortunately, in many instances came across as TT. That was not my intent. Now, I am understanding that everyone is at a different place on their walk with the Father. If someone isn’t as far along in their walk as I am (and I am a mere beginner as well), do I discard them–or do I continue to teach them and hopefully, they too will start to understand? At what point do we simply tell people they are not worth it? Sad to say, I know of those who preach/teach to help others on their walk even if they aren’t as far along as they are, but then criticize you for not being as far along on the walk as they are. Kind of dumbfounding.
TT, great! Never thought of that (but I might claim it as my own someday 🙂 ). I think we keep on being friendly and open to dialogue and encouraging until the OTHER person walks away.
To give credit where it is due, I picked the term up from David Johnson, House of David Fellowship, Richmond.
I say yes Skip. I began with the community 4 years ago to increase my understanding of Hebrew and have received many bonuses Along the way.
We would love to meet up with you in Phoenix. Palo word pictures have been a most important part of our fascination with Hebrew and encouragement to press on. I personally think in pictures so it has helped me immensely in applying God’s Word in practical ways.
But it appears at the moment that we are needed here for now. Maybe next time.
Must agree with you about the fruit. It’s been very difficult to walk this path without causing a riot every where we go. It’s a huge lesson in humility.
After 22 years I feel like an utter failure much of the time.
As my grandson Brian would say when he was little “that’s the scawy pawt!”
And my dear husband Ron would punctuate that with “BOY HOWDY”
YHVH bless you. Press on brother!
Yes, I wish I could meet you and Ron too. But all my material on Paleo-Hebrew with the Commandments will be made available after the conference.
🙂
YEAH! 🙂 Still trying to process everything you shared with us in Sedalia, MO! Wish I could come to Phoenix, too! Thank you for blessing us with your research!!!!!
Yes, thank you Skip, the fruit of your labors is having an impact on my life, I am repeatedly challenged to actually do the Masters will, not always succeeding but my failures are no reflection on the challenges you put before me. Paul advises his readers to follow him as he follows Messiah, many claim to follow and lead with faulty doctrine and miss readings, while I can no more see your private life when no one else is looking than you can see mine, from what is available to examine the fruit of your life is food for my soul and water to my sprit. Please do not give up the work you do. Thank you for the hours spent studying and the time to make simple and clear the treasures you discover.
I think there is a line where are actions, as salt, are as naturally corrosive as what Jesus preached. I think of Matthew 10:34+…..that sounds like dissension. I don’t think we can avoid that and stay true. In fact dissension is nessesary to create the polarity to discuss translation errors as you do.
Disagreement is intended to lead to dialogue and a genuine attempt to hear what the other person says, not to “I right. You’re wrong. You need to repent.” delivery. I have seen so many Torah groups split apart because the leaders did not agree over what amounts to traditions and practice. Ego is always behind the scenes somewhere. How can we be poured out wine and wish ourselves cursed to save our brothers if our opening posture is still “you have to agree with me before we can share a meal.” We may have adopted Hebrew vocabulary but so many of us still live in the world of Greek confessional agreement.
We have been greatly blessed (instructed in truth, enlightened, encouraged in some of the “strange” things we think) and have had opportunities to share with others. Just a little concerned that you still believe we are required to keep the rules of the Torah. But blessings upon your life.
Ellen, my wife and I also feel greatly blessed by Skip’s work. And here is another way of looking at Torah observance: if we want to really get to know someone, studying how that person lives is the best way. To get to know Yeshua, we look at how He lived. And He kept God’s law marvelously. If we want to be like Him, we should live like Him.
We used to attend a church that followed a lot of the Old Testament laws. That church has since splintered into innumerable little groups. For far too many of the members, their cornerstone was not the Messiah, but a doctrine, a teaching, a leader, an idea.
Skip, THIS message has probably impacted me the most of all that I have been able to read of yours so far. I DO thank God for you, and may He continue to bless you with understanding, (which I “understand” to mean as walking out His Torah in love), with joy in Him, and with His shalom. Thanks for all you do and please, keep sharing with us as you are led by Him 🙂
Skip, I know many that have been blessed by your peri. (: I loved this post and believe it is one we need to keep at the forefronts of our minds as we pursue a deeper walk with YHWH. Sometimes in our zeal, we cause others to become “causalities of truth” and this should not be so. Are we gathering or scattering? Often there is a fine line between those two and our heart motivation is the key to getting the answer. Is being right more important than loving those who “just aren’t there yet/ or who just can’t see”? I’m not calling for compromise, but for sacrificial love. And it’s my pride that must be laid on the altar. I’ve learned this the hard way. Hopefully, the causalities in my wake will be far less; and those gathered will be far more.
Thank you pressing on! Your work is a great encouragement to many!
Skip,
The fact that we still learn and apply what we learn in our communities, must be an indication of the fruit of your works.
Thanks for giving us the tools to also by doing bear good fruit
A great pleasure to consider all of you friends. See you in October.
You’re a blessing in my life Skip! I love your honesty and how you wrestle with Scripture to pull out it’s ‘rich’ nuggets of Truth … and to challenge us to do the same.
Recently, my daughter and I were at a camp together. The last day of the camp was a Saturday. I tried my best to be observant away from home. By the blessing of YHVH, we ended up having an impromptu Erev Shabbat worship service Friday, in the forest with an somewhat Orthodox Jewish camper whom we had overheard looking for a service in the area and couldn’t find one. He found out we were Torah observant believers in Messiah Y’shua and we had interesting conversation on the Talmud, misconceptions of Y’shua by Christianity, and his time living in Israel. Most edifying!
But on the other hand, we did not go to the cafeteria for breakfast or lunch so we would not buy/sell/cause others to work for us. When I informed him we would not be joining them for meals because of Sabbath, this caused the leader of the camp to then accuse me of starving my child for the day, in front of others, whaaat??? We had plenty to eat. I was soo embarrassed, I wanted to crawl into a hole.
We strive to get along in this world observing Torah while simultaneously trying to be in the world, not of the world, a light, salt of the earth, loving, compassionate, patient, kind, unwaivering, etc..whew! Sometimes there are successes and sometimes failures, but we press on.
When you and your children may very well be the only believers of Y’shua keeping Torah in a 50 mile radius, you feel much pressure and responsibility, but we press on.
I need to constantly remind myself we may be the only example many people will encounter their entire lives and as a result, have a strong urgency never to compromise, no matter how embarrassed the adversary tries to make us feel for remaining true to the Word, even if no one else does.
Some like to argue, some like to accuse, some respect you, some hate you. We won’t please most people, we will convict them by our good deeds. But we press on toward the finish line and hold to the hope of the promise of YHVH that He WILL give to us according to our WAYS and the RESULTS of our DEEDS. He searches our hearts and tests us, why? To see if we will keep His commands or not (Deut 8:2).
You are a blessing, Skip, and I thank you for your efforts toward pleasing YHVH! We have learned much from your perspective.
It is terrifying so. Just today, I chatted with a good friend from the State I have moved from. We were sharing that the only way to know someone truly is to stay in close contact perhaps on a daily basis with them for a season- it’s not the practice of keeping Torah, Shabbat etc.,……. It is the fruit that the practice produces”.
פְּרִי pĕriy
fruit, produce (of the ground), offspring, children, progeny (of the womb)
fruit (of actions) (fig.)
Clearly it is not the results, but the fruit.
Going back to Chinese pictographs in TW -“Let The Courts Decide”
Luis R. Santos July 8, 2014 at 11:38 am
I have an old book in my library of Genesis in Chinese pictographs. The one that has stuck with me is the pic for salvation/deliverance, 8 people in a boat.
“Mind” in Chinese pictograph is written in connection of the heart!
And I was trying to recollect some other words, and this came to my memory-
the pictograph of “righteousness” is written as LAMB over ME! That means He is above me, and as I submit to Him, that is righteousness! Wow!
I would be most grateful if you could point me to the book on Chinese pictographs. I am really curious how “lamb” would ever enter into the Chinese mind.
http://www.yutopian.com/religion/words/
Ancient Emperor Huang Di (2697 – 2597 B.C.) ordered his historian Can Ji to establish a writing system for China. Can Ji invented a system of Chinese characters based on pictographs, representing each word by the physical appearance of the object. A few of the pictographs or ideograms invented by Can Ji are listed in the following table. Note how the characters evolved with time to the present characters that are familiar to most Chinese nowadays.
dust + (breath of) life + (from God’s) mouth + motion = Creation
boat + eight + mouth (family member) = Ship
sun + moon = bright
https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wwu/chinese/lamb_chineseChars.pdf
The spiritual symbolisation of sheep-
The Chinese have recognised the spiritual symbolisation
of a sheep in their society for centuries. For example, the
filial act of a young sheep to kneel down in order to suck
milk from its mother’s udder is used even today as a
reminder that the Chinese people are supposed to humble
themselves and respect their parents. There are general
agreements among Chinese scholars that the sheep
represents truthfulness, kindness and beauty. Besides these
attributes, the sheep or the bull (representing loyalty) were
the sacrificial animals to be offered to ShangDi. Emperor
Tang, the founder of the Xia dynasty (1787 BC) disguised
himself as the white unblemished sacrificial animal to take
upon himself the sins of his people such that ShangDi would
forgive them and send rain to stop the seven years of
drought. The rain came in response to Emperor Tang’s
humble actions on behalf of his people. Thus, the ancient
Chinese understood that the sacrifice of the unblemished
sheep and bull would take away their sins.
Did the ancient Chinese believe that the way back to
heaven was through the sacrifice of the unblemished and
kind sheep? In this paper we show that the ancient Chinese
comprehended the importance of atoning for their personal
sin, before a just and righteous Creator, through the act of
sacrificing an unblemished lamb or sheep.
Sheep as a means of righteousness
It is apparent that the ancient Chinese understood the
concept of sin and the need to resolve the resulting conflict
between God and themselves. The use of sheep as a
reconciliation for sin is dramatically revealed in the
character ( Figure 6) meaning righteousness
.
The Chinese character for righteousness contains broad inner meaning, including moral values such as justice, honesty, loyalty, and trustworthiness. (Epoch Times) http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/topic/learning-chinese/
Chinese Character for Righteousness: Yì (義)
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/topic/learning-chinese/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tSD49zRZxg
“The Discovery of Genesis – How the Truths of Genesis Were Found Hidden in the Chinese Language”, by C.H. Kang and Ether R. Nelson, Concordia Press, 1979.
Such an interesting topic, Skip.
Sadly, similar to Paleo Hebrew, Chinese has been simplified in schools, losing many of the beautiful pictographic Scriptural meanings.
Ester, thank you so much! This is beautiful and wonderful!
When I was homeschooling my children, I found a book titled After The Flood, by Bill Cooper, who had set out to verify the veracity (sorry, thought I would try a bit of a Hebrew sentence!) of the Table of Nations in Genesis 10. What he ended up with is a book nothing short of amazing. He found EVERY NAME and every nation, independently authenticated. What other ancient document dropping names can claim such?
He also researched the King Lists; those documents that named the lineage of all the recorded royal houses, not only of Europe and the Middle East, but even China, and, laid side by side, found that they ALL traced their lineage back through a son of Noah; some of them even back to Adam. One of the tribes of China, who claimed Shem as their first Emporer, had the coolest name for Adam: “Dirt”.
I wish I could find where Bill Cooper’s work has been critiqued. The whole book is too cool for words. He meticulously lays out the ancient kings of Great Britain, for example, all the way back to Brutus of Troy, and back, again, through Japheth, Noah, and Adam, thus exposing a lot of the background material for the characters of Shakespeare. And I thought he had made them up! Silly me!
He also points out that the royal houses were ALL well established by the time the Israelites exited Egypt, and by that, I could readily see why they were complaining that everybody else had a king but them.
“Have my efforts had a positive impact on you?”
YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
(I think you get my point?)
You keep us thinking & studying & getting out the dictionary!
One of my favorite things you say..
“IN OTHER WORDS”!!!
Praise YAH! Keep breaking it down for the simple like me!
I REALLY appreciate it! Really!
Your mishpocha on the mountain!
Chari 🙂