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From: Dean and Susan Wheelock
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Preparing the Bride: Sin and Leprosy (Part 2 of 2)
Dean and Susan Wheelock have a ministry called Hebrew
roots. They produce a quarterly magazine called Hebrew roots. If
you
would like to receive the magazine, please send an e-mail to Dean
and
Susan at: (dewheelock@aol.com)
or write them at the following address:
Hebrew Roots
P.O. Box 98
Lakewood, WI 54138
1-715-757-2775
Preparing the Bride: The Sin of Leprosy
(Part 2 of 2)
From the website:
http://www.geocities.com/hebrew_roots/html/hr-2-4-01.html#Leprosy
~ Robbing the Public ~
(Sin #5)
"You shall not steal." (Ex. 20:15)
While any kind of stealing is abhorrent
to those who abide by the
laws of God, there is one particular kind of stealing which, in
Jewish tradition, was punishable by tzara'at (leprosy). This was
the
merchant or businessman who made a practice of robbing the
public by overcharging for his merchandise or service.
Sometimes a person will steal because he
is poor and needs food
for himself or his family. Such a situation may occur because the
society in which the individual lives is unwilling to provide the
assistance needed to help the individual through times of
difficulty
and back into productive work. The Torah makes it clear that it
is
every man's obligation to help his brother or sister who is in
actual
need. This does not excuse able bodied men from working, if
work is available.
However, for a merchant (who is already
making a living by
charging fair prices for his commodities) to overcharge, so that
he
can gain more money from his customers, is abhorrent to the
Jewish community.
"A false balance is an abomination to the
LORD, But a lust weight
is His delight." (Prov. 11:1)
"`You shall have just balances, just
weights, a just ephah, and a
just hin I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land
of
Egypt. Therefore you shall observe all My statutes and all My
judgments, and perform them: I am the LORD.'" (Lev.
19:36-37)
Are there any members of the Bride of
Messiah today who stand
guilty of robbing the public? If so, complete repentance and a
change
of business habits is required.
~ Acting in a Capacity ~
~ Not Permitted to Him ~
(Sin #6)
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall
not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his
maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is
your
neighbor's." (Ex. 20:17)
Of all the commandments listed in the
`ten words,' the one on
coveting is the most difficult to understand from a strictly
human
standpoint. The apostle Paul said:
"What shall we say then? Is the law
sin? Certainly not! On the
contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For
I
would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, `You
shall
not covet.'" (Rom. 7:7)
One of the ways in which a person covets
is to desire the
position or prestige that another person enjoys. This affliction
of
the heart can take thousands of forms. It might be the desire of
a
person to be of the opposite sex. It might be the desire of a
person
to be a leader when they possess no natural leadership skills. It
might be the desire of a person to be rich and influential in
their
community when they have not earned that position. Look at
the example of King Uzziah:
"And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD,
according to all that his father Amaziah had done. He sought God
in
the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of
God;
and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper."
(II
Chron. 26:4-5)
Now one would think that a king would
have no desire to covet,
since he would probably have all the physical items his heart
desired. However, once King Uzziah's mentor, the prophet
Zechariah, died, Uzziah began to drift away from his study of the
Torah and took up farming. In fact, farming became his passion.
"Also he built towers in the desert. He dug many wells,
for he had much livestock, both in the lowlands and in the
plains; he
also had farmers and vinedressers in the mountains and in Carmel,
for he loved the soil." (II Chron. 26:10)
Now there is nothing wrong with loving
the soil, if you are
called to work the soil. However, Uzziah was called to be king of
Judah. One of the requirements to be king was to study Torah
on a daily basis, so that righteous rulership would exist in the
nation. As a result of his drift from Torah study, Uzziah became
proud
in his heart and desired yet another position that was not his,
that
of priest in the Temple.
"But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his
destruction, for he transgressed against the LORD his God by
entering
the temple of the LORD to bum incense on the altar of
incense. "So
Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him were eighty
priests of the LORD, who were valiant men. And they withstood
King
Uzziah, and said to him, `It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn
incense
to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are
consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you
have
trespassed! You shall have no honor from the LORD God.'
"Then Uzziah
became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to bum incense.
And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his
forehead, before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the
incense altar. And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests
looked at him, and there, on his forehead, he was leprous; so
they
thrust him out of that place. Indeed he also hurried to get out,
because the LORD had struck him. "King Uzziah was a leper
until the
day of his death. He dwelt in an isolated house, because he was a
leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD. Then Jotham
his
son was over the king's house, judging the people of the
land." (II
Chron. 26:16-21)
The apostle Paul made it very clear that
the Bride of Messiah is
a body, tidy framed together by God Himself.
"For as the body is one and has many members, but all
the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also
is
Christ. "If the foot should say, `Because I am not an
eye, I am not
of the body,' is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body
were
an eye, where would be the hearing: If the whole were hearing,
where
would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each
one of them in the body just as He pleased. ... "Now you are
the body
of Christ, and members individually. And God has appointed these
in
the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after
that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations,
varieties of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all
teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of
healings?
Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire
the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way." (I
Cor.
12:12,15-18,27-31)
That more `excellent way' is not
positions of power and prestige
within the Church, but a humble attitude of love and respect for
all
the members of the Bride of Messiah. Are there any members of the
Bride of Messiah today who stand guilty of coveting by acting in
a
capacity not permitted to them? If so, complete repentance and a
change of attitude is required.
~ Conceit ~
(Sin #7)
"`You shall have no other gods before Me." (Ex.
20:3)
In effect, all of the sins that caused
the biblical form of
leprosy came from an attitude of conceit. Anytime a person puts
himself above others, he is setting himself up for a fall into
sin.
Conceit is the exact
opposite of humbleness. Like leaven (a type
of sin), it puffs one up. But the Bride of Messiah must learn to
walk
in "...the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." (I
Cor. 5:8).
"`For
whoever exalts himself will be abased, and he who
humbles himself will be exalted.'" Luke 14:11)
Conceit is never far from the heart of
any human being. It was in
the hearts of the disciples when they came to Yeshua and asked:
"...`Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?'
"And Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the
midst of
them, and said, `Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are
converted and
become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom
of
heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is
the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one
little
child like this in My name receives Me.'" (Matt. 18:1-5)
It is the natural instinct of the carnal
mind to want to put
one's self above other people, for this is the attitude from
where the world's form of self esteem comes. But it is a false
form of
self respect, and one into which the members of the Bride must
not
fall.
Are there any members of the Bride of
Messiah today who stand
guilty of conceit? If so, complete repentance and a humbleness of
heart is required.
~ Lashon Hara ~
(Sin #8)
"You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor." (Ex. 20:16)
The most extreme forms of tzara'at
(leprosy) were said to have
come forth upon those individuals who committed the sin of lashon
hara (lah-shone hah-rah = evil tongue). It is said that one who
speaks lashon hara denies the basic concepts of the Torah. If
this is true, then the Bride of Messiah is in deep, deep trouble,
for
the evil tongue; the slanderous tongue; the tongue that has
little
good to say about anyone (be they Believer or non-believer), is
rampant within the Believing community. It is important to note
that
lashon hara is more than just speaking lies about other people.
Telling the truth about someone can also fall into the category
of
lashon hara if the results of one's statement inflicts injury
upon
another individual. All kinds of injury are included in lashon
hara;
physical, monetary, mental, spiritual or emotional.
Let us again examine the case of Miriam,
the sister of Moshe, in
this regard:
"Then Miriam and Aaron spoke
against Moses because of the
Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an
Ethiopian
woman." (Num. 12:1)
There are a couple of different ways of
looking at this verse.
The most frequent understanding is that Miriam and Ahron
criticized
Moshe because he had married outside of his racial group.
Ethiopians
were understood to be descendants of Noah's son Ham, as they were
not
of Semitic (descendants of Shem) origin.
Another way of looking at this, is that
they may have been
critical of the troubles that Moshe and Zipporah had during their
trek from Midian to Egypt, and the fact that Zipporah seems to
have
spoken disrespectfully to Moshe over the issue of circumcision.
"And it came to pass on the way, at
the encampment, that the
LORD met him and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp
stone
and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses' feet,
and
said, `Surely you are a husband of blood to me!' "So
He let him go.
Then she said, `You are a husband of blood!' -- because of
the
circumcision." (Ex. 4:24-26)
After the Exodus we find that Moshe and
Zipporah are not living
together, for Zipporah's father, Jethro, brings her back to
Moshe.
"Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law,
took Zipporah, Moses' wife,
after he had sent her back, with her two sons, ... and Jethro,
Moses'
father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the
wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of
God." (Ex. 18:2-3,5)
This passage has led some to speculate
that Moshe and Zipporah
were divorced, and that the Ethiopian woman mentioned in Numbers
12
is a different woman altogether. This theory also seems plausible
when one considers the fact that it is difficult to draw a
connection
between the people called Midianites and the
Ethiopians.
Jewish tradition has a different view.
They teach that Moshe had
stopped living with Zipporah as a husband. The reason given for
this
decision was because of the command that God had given to the
children Israel prior to His revelation on Mt. Sinai. At that
time
God had said:
"The Moses went down from the
mountain to the people and
sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes. And he said
to
the people, `Be ready for the third. day; do not come near your
wives.'" (Ex. 19:14-15)
Since Moshe was in constant
communication with God, he apparently
felt it was necessary to remain apart from his wife so that he
would
never be in an unclean state due to having sexual relations with
her.
Since God had not rebuked him on this point, Moshe felt he was
doing
the correct thing by staying apart.
Whatever the reason for the criticism,
the simple fact remains
that Miriam spoke against Moshe concerning his marriage, and
Ahron
listened to her without rebuking her testimony. This sin would
have
been great enough but it was compounded by the next statement:
"And they said, `Has the LORD
indeed spoken only through Moses?
Has He not spoken through us also?' And the LORD heard it."
(Num. 12:2)
In this case, it would have been bad
enough for Miriam and Ahron
to express their displeasure over Moses marital relationship
(whatever the problem might have been), but they compounded their
sin
by putting themselves on an equal status with Moshe. This makes
them
also guilty of the sin of coveting; `Acting in a Capacity Not
Permitted Them.'
In the above example we can see that
once lashon hara has been
expressed, it often leads the speaker (or those who hear it) to
commit other sins that would not have occurred had the evil words
never been spoken in the first place.
Are there any members of the Bride of
Messiah today who stand
guilty of lashon hara? If so, complete repentance and a change of
speech habits is required.
~ An Evil Eye ~
(Sin #9)
"You shall not steal" (Ex. 20:15)
In Jewish teaching, the term `evil eye
characterizes someone who
is miserly, who is not willing to share his things with those in
need, or is not willing to give generously to the poor. It is
said
that the punishment for this type of sin is to have one's house
stricken with leprosy. Thus, if an individual refused to loan a
needy
neighbor some food by saying that he did not have what was
requested
(when in actual fact he did have it), all of the belongings of
his
house would be put out in the street, when the house was vacated
because of it's leprous condition. That way, everyone could see
that
the man not only had an `evil eye,' he also was a liar.
A miserly attitude is indicative of a
greater problem that exists
within the personality of the individual so afflicted. It is the
outward manifestation of an inward tendency to disrespect or to
even hate others.
"The lamp of the body is the eye. If
therefore your eye is good,
your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad,
(KJV =
evil'), your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore
the
light that is in you is darkness, how great is that
darkness." (Matt.
6:22-23)
Yeshua equated the `evil eye' with the
laborer who was angry
because he received the same amount of pay for working a full day
as
did the laborers who only worked for one hour, even though the
full-day laborer had agreed to the given wage ahead of time. In
other
words, he wanted more than he had bargained for.
"`Take what is yours and go your way. I
wish to give to this last
man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish
with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?'
"So the
last will be first, and the first last. for many are called, but
few
chosen."
(Matt. 20:14-16)
The early laborer should have been
pleased that the man who was
unable to find work all day long was blessed by the landowner in
such
a generous way. Certainly this late laborer would have been happy
to
work all day long had he been able to find work the first thing
in
the morning. To condemn the landowners generosity to this needy
laborer is to have the inherent spirit of an `evil eye.'
Are there any members of the Bride of
Messiah today who have an
`evil eye?' If so, complete repentance and a change of these
miserly
habits is required.
~ Taking a Vain Oath ~
(Sin #10)
"You shall not bear false witness against
your neighbor." (Ex. 20:16
To stand up in court and take an oath to
tell "the truth, the
whole truth and nothing but the truth," and then perjure
one's self,
is indeed the `taking of a vain oath.' But it is also a `vain
oath'
to tell someone (whether in a court of law or not) that something
is
true, when you know for a fact that it is false.
As Believers we are cautioned by our
Savior and Husband, Yeshua
HaMashiach, that we are not to swear at all.
"`Again you have heard that it was
said to those of old, "You
shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the
Lord." But I
say to you, do not swear at all neither by heaven, for it is
God's
throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; not by
Jerusalem,
for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your
head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let
your
"Yes" by "Yes," and your "No,"
"No." For whatever is more than these
is from the evil one.'" (Matt. 5:34-37)
There is a classic example in Scripture
where a man took a `vain
oath' (one he knew was not true) and was plagued with leprosy as
a
result. It is the story of Gehazi, the servant of the prophet of
God,
Elisha.
Naaman was the commander of the army of
the nation of Syria and
he was afflicted with leprosy. A captured servant girl from
Israel
suggested to Naaman's wife that he contact a prophet of God in
Samaria for possible healing of his affliction.
So the king of Syria composed a letter
to the king of Israel
asking him to heal Naaman of his leprosy. The king of
Israel was extremely upset be-cause he had no power to heal
leprosy or
any other disease. The king of Israel was afraid that when the
king of
Syria learned that he was powerless to perform the required
healing
that war would ensue.
However, Elisha the prophet heard about
the problem and asked
that Naaman be sent to him. Naaman came to Elisha, but Elisha did
not
even go out to see him. He merely told Gehazi, his servant, to
tell
Naaman to immerse himself seven times in the Jordan
river and his leprosy would disappear.
Naaman was angry that Elisha did not
come out to see him, but was
finally persuaded by his attendants to try out the cure anyway.
Sure
enough, the leprosy disappeared immediately and
completely.
Naaman returned to Elisha to thank him
and to offer him valuable
gifts. But Elisha declined the gifts:
"But he said, `As the LORD lives,
before whom I stand, I will
receive nothing.' And he urged him to take it but he
refused." (II
Kings 5:16)
Naaman left with his entourage to return
to Syria. However,
Gehazi, Elisha's servant, had overheard the conversation and
became
greedy. He followed after Naaman and intercepted him on the
road:
"So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When
Naaman saw him running after
him, he got down from the chariot to meet him, and said, `Is all
well?'
"And he said, `All is well. My master has sent me, saying,
"Indeed,
just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to
me
from the mountains of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of
silver
and two changes of garments.'" "So Naaman said,
`Please, take two
talents.' And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in
two
bags, with two changes of garments, and handed them to two of his
servants; and they carried them on ahead of him. "Now he
went in and
stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, `Where did
you go Gehazi?' and he said, `Your servant did not go anywhere.'
"Then he said to him, `Did not my heart go with you when the
man
turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it time to receive
money
and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and
oxen,
male and female servants: Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall
cling
to you and your descendants forever.' "And he went out
from his
presence leprous, as white as snow." (II Kings 5:21-27)
Are there any members of the Bride of
Messiah today who have
taken a `vain oath?' If so, complete repentance and a
determination
never to do so again is required.
~ The Leprosy of the Bride ~
What do all these stories about the
punishment of sin through
leprosy have to do with the twentieth century Bride of Messiah?
After
all, the biblical form of leprosy no longer exists, and sin is no
longer punished in this manner.
Well, there is a reason for all of this
instruction, for a great
deal of Scripture is taken up teaching us about how leprosy
was used as an immediate punishment for very grave sin. It was
all
recorded so that those upon whom the end of the age has come
might
read, understand and come to a righteous fear of our Creator God.
For:
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for
every good work." (II Tim. 3:16)
But how does all of this apply to us
today?
Simple: Sin still exists in the Body of
Messiah, the Bride of
Christ; for the Church still lives in the house of her evil
earthly
father, HaSatan, the adversary. Like a leprous cancer, sin in
all of its forms has invaded the Body of the Bride of Messiah. It
appears in various forms of spiritual sickness that we see taking
hold
of the Believing community. Yes, false doctrines are a part of
it, but
the real leprosy is one of the spirit, not of the mind. An
inability
to truly love one another; the willingness of so many to believe
the
worst about other Believers; the lack of concern for those who
are in
need or suffer from physical aliments, and the list goes on and
on.
"But know this, that in the last days perilous times
will come: for
men shall be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters,
proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
unloving,
unforgiving, slanders, without self-control, brutal, despisers of
good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather
than
lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.
And
from such people turn away!" (II Tim. 3:1-5)
~ What Must We Do? ~
Today the orthodox Jews believe the
entirety of the world is in a
state of ritual uncleanness, for there are no ashes of the Red
Heifer
by which a person may be ritually cleansed. Certainly, in
relationship to Temple worship that is true.
But there is a way for an individual,
who is called by God, to be
spiritually cleansed of these terrible sins and of the spiritual
leprosy that grips the world. That way is through complete
trust and confidence in our Husband and Savior, Yeshua
HaMashiach.
Yeshua is now our High Priest, He is the one who is able to
cleanse us
from our spiritual uncleanness. He is the one through whom
forgiveness of those sins (which cause our spiritual uncleanness)
comes.
"If we confess our sins, He
is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (I
John 1:9)
But it requires more than just asking
Him to forgive us of our
sins. We must be prepared to do the obedient work of
the Spirit that is required to shut the door to future sins. As
Yeshua
said to the woman caught in adultery, we are to "...go and
sin no
more." (John 8:11).
In the Old Testament examples we have
just studied, what good
would it have done to be cleansed of one's leprosy only to turn
around and commit the same sin and fall again into a leprous
state?
Surely, Miriam and Ahron must have learned a very great
lesson from their experience with the immediate effects of the
sin of
lashon hara.
One of the problems we face as Believers
in these last days, is
that God does not usually take immediate action with
us in punishing us for our sins. Does this mean that punishment
for
sin will never come? Of course not. Judgment will come if there
is not
true repentance and a firm commitment to not perpetrate that
particular sin again.
"For the time has come for judgment
to begin at the house of
God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of
those
who do not obey the gospel of God? "Now `If the
righteous one is
scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner
appear?'"
(I Peter 4:17-18)
"But if we walk in the light as He
is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His
Son
cleanses us from all sin. "If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He
is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from
all
unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a
liar, and His word is not in us." (I John 1:7-10)
"What shall we say then? Shall we
continue in sin that grace may
abound? "Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live
any longer
in it?" (Rom. 6:1-2)
Sin is a spiritual disease, and the
punishment for unrepented sin
is spiritual leprosy.
~ The Unrepentant Bride ~
So why is the Bride unrepentant? In
large part it is because most
of the members of the Bride are at least partially ignorant of
what
constitutes sin. Why is this? Because the Bride has forsaken the
instruction of God, the Torah, the law of Moses which defines
sin.
It is `written:
"Whosoever commits sin also commits
lawlessness, and sin is
lawlessness." (I John 3:4)
The Torah (the first five books of the
Bible) defines sin. That is how
the Bride comes to know when she has done something that does not
please her Husband, Yeshua. Now, when she discovers these errors,
it
is necessary for her to go before the throne of grace and ask
forgiveness. But it is also necessary that she determine in her
heart
to not make that mistake again. As this process continues, the
Bride
will eventually come to the place where she begins to look at the
law
(Torah) as her friend, not her enemy. For this is the source that
shows the Bride how not to sin; the source from which she learns
the
kind of behavior that will please her Husband and make for a
happy
marriage.
It is written:
"Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk
in the law of the LORD!
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the
whole heart! They also do no iniquity; They walk in His
ways." (Psalm
119:1-3)
It is time that the Bride of Messiah be
cleansed of her leprosy
so that the wedding can go forth as planned. Each of us, as
members
(or cells) of the Bride, must take the initiative to cleanse
ourselves of sin through the agency of the blood of Messiah, and
determine to live according to the Torah of Truth.
"`Let us be glad and rejoice and
give Him glory, for the
marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself
ready.'
"And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and
bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the
saints."
(Rev. 19:7-8)
~ Sources ~
Hastings, James, ed., Dictionary of the Bible, Charles Scribners
Sons,
New York, 1963.
The Jewish Encyclopedia 12 vols., Funk & Wagnalls Co.,
New York & London, 1901.
The Open Bible, The New King James Version,
Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1985.
Strong, James, S.T.D.,
L.L.D., Strong's New Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, World
Bible
Publishers, Inc., Iowa Falls, 1986.
Weissman, Moshe, The Midrash Says,
5 vols. Kenei Yakov Publications, Brooklyn, 1982.
(End Part 2 of 2)
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