Opposites
“Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith.” Habakkuk 2:4 NASB
Proud one – The NASB translation attempts to capture the idiomatic meaning of a phrase that literally says, “behold, swollen not straight his nephesh (person).” “Not straight” is the Hebrew lo yoshra’, that is, not level, not upright, not just, not lawful. All of these images are about living according to Torah. The “proud one” is someone whose arrogance blocks Torah obedience. Thinking he knows the truth, he denies the Mosaic revelation and lives according to something other than God’s instructions. He is “not upright,” the equivalent of saying that he has no interest in living in compliance with God’s view.
Why do we need to take the time to understand who this person is? Why isn’t it sufficient to simply pay attention to the last part of the verse, the part that Paul quotes in Romans as the seminal idea of faith? We are all quite familiar with “The just shall live by faith,” but we rarely recognize that the polar opposite of the justified man is the one who is swollen in his own way, living apart from the only upright path. In other words, anyone who replaces what God has revealed as the straight path does not live by faith. It matters little what the person claims. The opposite of faith is Torah disobedience. Quoting the entire verse makes it quite clear. It is not faith that Habakkuk wishes to describe. It is the contrast between pride and faith.
What does this mean for us? Habakkuk suggests that the lynchpin of faithfulness is obedience. Faith is not found in the absence of Torah. Faith is a direct product of trusting that the revelation of God’s instructions is the correct way to conduct myself in the world. Anything else hints at a swollen ego; one that asserts that Habakkuk’s description of opposites no longer applies, that Torah has been set aside in a “new” dispensation of grace. Of course, breaking the sentence into two pieces and claiming one while denying the other seems a bit difficult. But since Augustine tens of thousands have successfully unhooked what the prophet was unwilling to do. It is amazing that readers of Romans don’t pay attention to the context of Habakkuk’s condensation of faith. Apparently they believe that Paul wasn’t concerned about the first half of this verse either.
The implications are discomforting. If faith is really faithfulness to God’s instructions, what do we say about all those people who thought they were following YHVH by adopting an anti-Torah theology taught by men who disconnected the Tanakh from the apostles? Are they eternally condemned due to ignorance? What are we to say about the unmistakable evidence that God was involved in their lives? Was it all a sham? What do we do about a Church that continues to divide the prophet’s words? Just hope for the best? The way to obedience is often long and arduous. It is fraught with confusion and re-learning. But it appears that God is willing to take such a twisted path with us.
Topical Index: faith, pride, yoshra’, nephesh, obedience, Torah, Habakkuk 2:4
SOUL LIFTED UP is explained in the vision as:
He transgresseth by wine, He is a proud man, He gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people: etc.
THE WARNING FOR BEING LIFTED UP
Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men’s blood, and for the
violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
THE TRUTH WE NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE
But the LORD is in his holy temple (those filled with the holy ghost): let all the earth keep silence before him.
If this vision has not yet been fulfilled we need to maybe ask when will this happen first.
Reading the warning we find some “curses” for those that transgress by making others weak for their own impurities.
Looking at the political wars initiated by governments one would like to claim that the incidents in the vision are playing out… But would that be right as these things play out with every generations political power…
Yes I have to acknowledge that the warnings are clear and it is against pride that results in power which per se corrupts.
To live by faith is guided by the unchanged Torah which is the fullness of following the ten commandments. Or as Yeshua said “Love God above all and thy neighbour as thy self.”
Interesting fact is that the complete vision is about self love and how it corrupts. Which makes Yeshua’ statement very relevant and the walk of faith more like a closely entwined walk of love, mutual respect, support, empowerment and protection – this sounds like salvation on earth…
This is one thing that I tried to work out mentally for a while but really don’t know. The fact is, most Christians actually do Torah. There are some major things that they wouldn’t do because they are meant for ‘setting us apart’ and without knowing them you wouldn’t naturally wouldn’t do it (eating biblically kosher, feast days to name two off the top of my head) but for the most part can argue until their face is blue that Torah is bondage yet they do it. Mentally they may disagree with Torah but action wise they do it. How does one make sense with that? Does it, ‘count for you’ if you do it and you didn’t even know its a command? Or is He more concerned that mitzvots just gets done?
Um, Seeker, the short answer is yes, of course. I think that the details are the hangup for most, because we have been taught so wrong.
Order of operations:
– look to Torah to show the Way (schoolmaster)
-ask to be shown what in my life is not lining up
-repent (hand that part of my life over and resign from rebellion and self will)
-submit my heart to be open to the Holy Spirit to accomplish the will of the Father, as per my Example (they all work together)
-allow all of Elohim to work through me to actually DO Torah (love). This is the yoke. I do not accomplish love ‘on my own’. There is a mysterious blending of wills involved that I have not the foggiest idea of how. All I know is that when love is successful in my life, it wasn’t me! I was out of the way. Halleluah! Through that humility lies my true freedom. From myself, of course. The yoke is light because I am only along for the ride of love. My Lover is supposed to be actually accomplishing that love.
The older I get, the more suspicious I get that Torah is a force all its own. I cannot invent it, manufacture it, manipulate it, replace it, or do it. Why? Those things have already been done. Torah is the inexorable expression of the glue that holds reality together. What arrogance for us to think that we can do that! Torah is what Israel consented to, but their mistake was to imagine that, because it was obvious, they would be able to accomplish it alone. Torah does not come without its Giver. Its a package deal. To attempt to reinvent Torah is to, in actuality, reinvent its Giver, for Torah is the expression of God’s character, and that does not exist without Him. Idolatry is where we think we can start over with any aspect of love whatsoever. Our wills were set free for the sole purpose of willing His. They don’t work for any other purpose – they only fail when we try to make them. We do not ‘do’ Torah. The way I see it, we choose to allow Torah to do itself by the act (repentance) of getting out of its way, which was why it wasn’t able to already be working in that particular area in the first place. The problem is not so much that I wasn’t DOING Torah as much as I was in the WAY OF Torah. Love works just fine whenever and wherever the wicked hearts of mankind aren’t breaking the connections already by getting in the way (thinking we ‘know better’). We are truly arrogant.
the dietary laws are there for our well-being, whatever exact purpose or function they serve we may not fully understand but we can extract their intended relevance accordingly. Likewise the Holy days are there to help develop our belief and understanding thereof, they are in essence psychologically but nonetheless germane spiritually. All of these aforesaid examples of the Torah guidelines are in place to serve our development of fulfilling the essential principles – namely to be genuinely and seriously good and kind
it is very interesting and worthwhile to note there is a distinction made in the Tanakh (the ‘Old Testament’) between following the Holy days, the Sabbath and that of learning goodness:
Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
(Isaiah 1:13 – 17)
I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.
Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
(Amos 5:21 – 24)
and there are many other verses found throughout the Tanakh (before the Messiah’s elucidations) which emphasise the importance of goodness before Holy days, before the Sabbath and certainly before animal ‘sacrifices’
I like what you said, Seeker.
Any thought of mine that assumes that I can determine what righteousness is – much less supply it in my life – is pure arrogance (pride). The coin of love, or, right-connectness, can only be minted (determined) in heaven, and I can only spend it (obedience) when I have traded my understanding and effort (repentance), when it comes to love, for heaven’s. We are hardwired for love, and sin can only have dominion over us when we are deluded into thinking that love can be found by sinning (leaning unto our own understanding).
The mysterious imputed righteousness of Christ has everything to do with His connections (Torah obedience), but I cannot say that I am connected when I have not accepted His. How do I do that? Trade in my own efforts to define and do love, for His. The Author and Finisher of our faith IS the Author and Finisher of Torah. The One Who thundered the Way from on high at Sinai is the One Who came to pave it on Calvary. I cannot obey in my own strength, I have learned to my sorrow, but that does not let me off the hook of those commands. To live by faith is the act of repentance for my own understanding and attempts, which opens the Way for Him to impart His understanding and His obedience through my submission to (faith in) His will actually lived through my life. My effort should consist of doing everything in my power (will) to line up with His. How do I know God’s will for my life?, so many people like to ask. The answer is the same for all: Torah.
Yes, Skip, we are as busy persuading the Aarons of today to fashion for us the golden calves of our comfort as we ever were – heaping to ourselves teachers for our itching ears – and we are swallowing the dust of those idols in the form of the curses that were also agreed to on that mountain, too, and wondering why we are sick and full of sores and have not entered into that promised rest.
To quote Seeker (hopefully not out of context), we all start out thinking that we can determine WHAT “love, mutual respect, support, empowerment and protection” is, and then, somehow, accomplish it, too. Therein lies the arrogance of that golden calf. The people thought that they were still worshiping YHVH by means of their own interpretation of what that worship ‘should’ look like, but heaven claims the only definitions, as well as the only Way to accomplish them. Jesus can only take my sins away when I learn that the biggest one is thinking I know what love is, much less can manufacture it with sparks of my own kindling. All the sorrow of the world is tied up in the failure to accomplish either.
Laurita may I then deduce that to love God is to sacrifice myself to do Torah. In doing Torah we learn what the love of God through Yeshua is… As you said in an earlier post The Way of the Cross…
“Why do we need to take the time to understand who this Person is?” This “Person”is the Living “Torah” and if, as Habakkuk suggests “the lynchpin of faithfulness is obedience to Torah” (or the written instructions of YHWH), can we find anyone other than Yeshua who has obeyed (in totality) ALL of the Torah?
Are the words of Paul (formerly known as Saul), true? “ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of G-d?”
Or, which of us would dare to say — I have never sinned, or been (at all) disobedient to the Torah? I am looking desperately (still) for one Perfect Man. Is it you? Which of us (sinners) would qualify to have it said of us, upon closer examination, “I find no fault in him?”
Friend, I only know of One who meets this standard of perfect, complete an toaobedience to Torah. He is (both) the Author and the Completer of Torah obedience, and if we look for an Example of humility, where (sumdumguy inquired) else can we look other than the Lamb of God??
“This is the New(er) Covenant in my blood,” is either embraced or worse yet, ignored. Were His words “before Abraham was — I AM” too telling? too convicting? What do the Scriptures say concerning this (willingly ignored) Man?
Will we hold our hands over our ears to prevent us from hearing G-d speak?
“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. ”
These are the very Scriptures that testify about Me..”
LORD, haste the day..
~ And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on Me, the One they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son ~
~ He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed ~
Yes, Carl Roberts; Amen! When we have this “saving faith” in Him, He gives us the power to become the sons of God; to live sanctified lives; set apart; to deny ourselves, take up our cross, daily, and follow Him. God sanctifies all whom He has justified! All other teaching is getting the cart before the horse. A cart cannot lead a horse! We yoke up with Jesus daily! He is the LIVING WORD and He has given us His WRITTEN WORD! And THE HOLY SPIRIT. FAITH TO WALK THIS LIFE COMES FROM HEARING THE WORDS OF CHRIST! HE IS THE MESSAGE; HE IS THE LORD, HE IS THE SACRIFICES; HE IS THE ILLUSTRATIONS AND FORESHADOWING OF ALL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT! THE NEW TESTAMENT WAS CONCEALED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE OLD TESTAMENT IS REVEALED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT…IT IS ONE GOD; ONE STORY AND ONE WAY! JESUS…THE SON OF GOD! HEAR AND FOLLOW HIM AND YOU WILL NOT FULFILL THE LUSTS OF THE FLESH! After His resurrection, as He walked along with the two puzzled and disturbed disciples, Jesus expounded on all the Scriptures pertaining to Him; and their eyes were opened! Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost and all the men with Peter were speaking the Gospel story in other languages so men could see WHO JESUS IS AND RECEIVE HIM!
Hi Rachel,
You have provided the standard Christian interpretation of the Old Testament message coupled with the idea that Acts 2 is about “receiving Jesus.” Of course, this is what the Church has taught for generations. It is, unfortunately, not what the text says or what the culture of the first century would have believed. That’s why I write about these things. I hope you will take some time to read the thousands of pages here that try to illuminate the original cultural setting of these important verses.
Reading this as I am working through “The Beast Within” excerpt is a powerful bucket of cold water in my face. Thank you, Skip, for your vulnerability and your straightforwardness.
Carl do I understand correct that if we keep his words He and the I AM make their Abode in us… or rather we become their vessels of love. As Laurita said we become sinless for that incredible moment of a set apart activity. How and when we will never know. We cannot live or be sinless except when I Am locks our sins away when He calls and equips us. Keep doing Torah to show we are seriously trying…. And the Torah took on flesh and dwells amongst us… To experience it we must permit it… For He could do no miracles as they had no faith…
Or am I out of line here…
those ideas seems reasonably accurate to me yet some will combine ‘cannot be sinless’ with not trying whatsoever, we can try, and insomuch as sacrifices to Torah are concerned we amend ourselves by learning to be good with others
Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
(Zechariah 7:9)
I take “cannot be sinless” as a qualified statement, Teth. Qualified as in “I cannot get there on my own” – but, then, who ever asked me to? The animal sacrifices for sin were immediately instituted after the Fall; not as a way of sticking that Fall in our eye, but providing us a way to return to sinlessness. They were a reminder that we cannot get there on our own, but also a reminder that heaven was involved in getting us there. Enoch was an early example of what sinlessness looked like, and what the reward was.
We are told that, in the end of time, there will be 144,000 who will walk without sin on this earth, too. Sinlessness is a reasonable expectation, given our cooperation with heaven. After all, Yeshua went to a lot of effort to come show us what that looked like, and how to do it. Wasted effort, if we are going to ignore what His LIFE was about, which was that sinless EXAMPLE. All those who say that they cannot be sinless if they have to get there themselves are just acknowledging the truth (which no one has ever been able to deny) but also exhibiting their continuing rebellion in the exclusion of heaven from their efforts. Who ever said we had to ‘be good’ on our own, anyway? The record is clear. The sinless Enoch “walked with God, and God took him”. It is the walking part that is the important part. Walking without God IS the sin! Nuff said, and I am sure, with you, Teth, I am preaching to the choir and I am also irritated with you at all those people who are following Adam’s example in blaming God for their own choices – to exclude Him, no less.
Thanks for pointing out a real sore spot. I hate it when people go blaming God for wrong stuff.
the commonality of the attitude, or rather, how blatantly it has come to be expressed is exasperating, but I find that the more I explain to others the guidelines of the Scriptures, which in my view are not onerous and develop our well-being, the more also I discover my own weaknesses and flaws. There is more to it than that, besides being flawed my heart feels really ‘strange’ these days, and whilst shocked and dismayed, it is useful to curtail and even inform my interactions with others. I’ve been stood up and kept standing, one way or the other, so I am not going to judge others, even as these misleading ideas about not learning through the principles Jesus taught are pernicious and vitiate our spirituality, there is still a difference I can affect in my communication and interactions between discussing the meaning of the Scriptures and still somewhat avoiding insinuation or fault (in an imperfect fashion all the same)
I actually stopped my more systematic reading of the Gospel of Matthew now going on about three months after reading Matthew 20:25 – 28, I guess one could stop at any point of the outline of directions found in Matthew and reflect for most of their life, but this particular passage warrants careful consideration for me. If I’m to serve in my own capacity then this passage warranted more than one Sabbath to the next for further reflection and even just recently the stopping of more formal study has basically stopped whilst I wrestle with my flaws in this matter, I’m too hasty, too ready to vicarious smite by proxy through select verses (this is a terrible habit for many believers, I consider my example relatively tame but nonetheless crucial as an area of improvement)
at the same time, there is no end of asking believers to better consider whether the Gospels apply to them or ‘only the Jews’ etc etc And even from my first Passover it seemed my first objective was to somehow better address the issue with Paul or more temperately the interpretation thereof. But the Scriptures are surprisingly influential, people will listen to the Scriptures and related explanations to carefully reflect on whether they might be at least partly mistaken in the ideas they have been taught and since internalised.
really if I judged others although conceited I would be a in a special place of judgement myself, so I’m fortunate, and fortunate to know better and need to reprimand myself to somehow try and curtail this need to challenge and become increasingly vindictive. Even the most subtlest and carefully worded expressions can prove all too sharp, when the words are intuitive it does not matter how politely or otherwise innocuous they might seem. Part of my duty is to condition myself to be a kinder and more understanding person, and it is very difficult, the more it seems one tell others this is a good idea and how the Scriptures tell us to learn to live, the more apparent it becomes there is room for improvement in one’s personal life
The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.
(Proverbs 15:31)
Such good questions. There is no doubt in my mind that God works in the Christian churches despite what many believe. Although Christians do not observe all of God’s commandments, they do try to love God and others as themselves. I think God can work with that until they see where they are falling short and make serious corrections. At this point, I don’t believe that are condemned due to ignorance. I can see how God worked in my life to bring me to where I am today and I am sure there were times when God was speaking to me and working through me to accomplish His purposes. I’ve had to deal with people who wanted to boot me out due to my “unorthodox” beliefs and for sharing what the Scriptures really seem to say. I decided it was best to put things out on a blog and pray God would lead people to search for truth and trust they’d find it. Even with all of my re-learning, I often re-learn again in layers. Even those who seem or attempt to be well-learned, people often read the same Scriptures and reference material, and come to different conclusions. Still others acknowledge truth but prefer to hang on to their pagan Christian traditions. It’s their choice, although I think it is a poor one.
Beth, I can so relate to what you are saying. After 60 years of very involved Catholic Christianity I had enough but…. then what? It took more than 10 years of wild questing to find Skip and this community to really make some sense and I am still working on it! But most importantly now at 75 I am very comfortable with where I am at for the first time. Does anything else matter? Not for me. Ultimately as you say, it is all about choice but we do need some h…EL…p to find it, don’t we?
Hello Skip and others,
First, I resonate with the comments made by Beth and George in my life experience of “catholic Christianity.” More holes are found nowadays with that experience, and my expectations of what to expect from church have changed considerably over the past few years.
I find myself basically asking those same questions appearing near the end of today’s Word over and over and over. Thanks be to YHVH for the desire within to look further into what is espoused by one minister who is shall we say “pro-grace” and “anti-Torah,” aligned with Augustine and Luther. Recent example, the commandments of God are not rules but invitations. Not according to M Webster and my referral to the definition of mitzvah. More questions similar to yours:
Could the bottom line be that we are each responsible for what we take in, and prayerfully ask for the ability to keep the instructions summed up in The Great Commandment every day?
Also, are my reasons for obeying Torah pleasing to YHVH?
Is it easy to sit in judgment over others and doctrines or lifestyles chosen, there may be a place for that, but to make that our life vocation in Messiah is too, concerning. Thanks!
David R
“Are they eternally condemned due to ignorance? What are we to say about the unmistakable evidence that God was involved in their lives? Was it all a sham?”
This is THE question that haunts us as Messianics and Hebrew Rooters. For moderates, it is the disquieting frontier of “us and them” “saved and unsaved.” For the extremists, it is the infuriating hint that the prodigal son might yet be favored, that Nineveh might not be destroyed. But what does Paul say?
Romans 2
…For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Messiah Yeshua.
There is an awful lot about the conscience in the Book. The goal of the commandment is a good conscience, pure heart, and faithfulness unpretended.
“Faith is a direct product of trusting that the revelation of God’s instructions is the correct way to conduct myself in the world.”
Question then is- If we indeed have received the revelation of God, and His instructions, WHY aren’t we conducting ourselves right in the world?
YES, Drew, in your above comment, I have often wondered how/why believers can read the Book and yet does not seem to have a good clear “conscience, a pure heart, and faithfulness unpretended”?
YET, I have friends whose conscience/s are well above the ones I know are Torah “observant” (non critical here, just very disappointed, when we are reaching out to those outside, but the Insiders are NOT there either.)
“…what do we say about all those people who thought they were following YHVH by adopting an anti-Torah theology taught by men who disconnected the Tanakh from the apostles?” These would not be Hungry-for-Truth people, nor are they “led by the Spirit of Truth”. No denying these facts! For those who are thirsty and hungry WILL seek and FIND as the many who are here at this blog!
Shalom.
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