Tammuz 11
Evil
“Who does dwell in
Your set-apart mountain? … He who
…has not done EVIL to
his neighbour” (Ps 15:1-3 ISR,
emphasis mine)
The
Hebrew word râ‛âh (Strong’s
H7451) is what has been translated as ‘evil’ in our opening passages, and I
have heard this word described as everything that is against the precepts of
Torah. However, I discovered another
definition of râ‛âh that I perceived to be very interesting: “Dysfunctional;
Impaired or abnormal action other than that for which a
person or thing is intended. Something
that does not function within its intended purpose.”[1]
We, as
children of the Living Elohim, were never intended to function in an evil
capacity. For the most part, these are associated actions of the yetzer
hara, or the evil persona and inclination that resides within us. When we again consider that everything evil
is that which is in opposition to Torah, we can better understand that Torah
was designed as guidelines for community living, how to deal with each other,
and how to live with respect and honor for one another. And if we study Torah in depth, we can see
that those who operated from an evil standpoint were most often “cut off’, and
removed from the camp (see Num 15:30-31; Deu 17:2-6; 19:16-19).
When
we have deliberately and maliciously done something to cause harm and injury to
one who lives in peace with us, we are in open defiance and rebellion to the
One who created us. Such an individual
will, by their actions, have cancelled any reservation they might have had in
the olam haba, the world to
come. Such a one would never dwell in
the ‘set-apart mountain’ of Elohim.
“Do not follow a
crowd to do EVIL, nor bear witness in a strife so as to turn aside after many,
to turn aside what is right.” (Ex 23:2 ISR, emphasis mine)
“See, I have set
before you today life and good, and DEATH AND EVIL, in that I am commanding you today to love יהוה your Elohim, to walk in His
ways, and to guard His commands, and His laws, and His right-rulings.” (Deu 30:15-16 ISR, emphasis mine)
“And He said, “What comes out of a
man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed EVIL
REASONINGS, adulteries, whorings, murders, thefts, greedy
desires, wickednesses, deceit, indecency, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride,
foolishness. All these wicked matters come from within and
defile a man.” (Mark 7:20-23 ISR, emphasis mine)
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