Your Daily Slice

Elul 20

Put Away

“Let all … WRATH, and DISPLEASURE, and UPROAR … be put away from you.” (Eph 4:30 ISR, emphasis mine)

Every one of the three words emphasized in our opening verse carries with it a strong implication of violence.  ‘Wrath’ is translated from the Greek word thumos (Strong’s G2372), and carries with it the picture of a strong, passionate anger, in that the face and ears are reddened.  ‘Displeasure’ – some translations use the word anger here – comes from the word orgē (Strong’s G3709), and is kin to the word used in Eph 4:26, which we have already looked at.  The word orgē means an intense anger, one that finds its release in punishment and vengeance. ‘Uproar’ – again, other translations use clamour or evil speaking – is from the Greek word kraugē (Strong’s G2906), and means a strong, loud cry or wail, as coming from one who is in distress.

Chapter 4 of Ephesians begins with a call to unity, with words denoting the Fruit of the Ruach as being required to perform this call to unity (see Eph 4:1-6).  The verse that we opened with is close to the end of this chapter, and is still being directed to the ones who are being called to walk in unity.  That is also us, brethren.  If we have committed ourselves to walking this walk called Torah, to loving our neighbor as ourselves, then there are certain prerequisites that we must adhere to.  Negative, violent, carnal emotions must be done away with.

We cannot love our neighbor and, at the same time, desire to punish him for some perceived ill that was done us twenty years ago.  We cannot allow ourselves to become so angry at any individual that our voice is heard, loud and clear, mouthing slander in our distress.  And we cannot allow ourselves to be so overcome with rage that we are completely unrecognizable.  This is not exemplifying the character and person of our Messiah Yeshua, which should always be our goal.

When the dust settles, it truthfully doesn’t matter all of the ills and wrongs that have been done to us; what is of importance, and what we will be judged on, is how we chose to react to the words and actions of others.  Yes, our Elohim has promised that ‘He will repay’, but that will never happen until such time as our heart attitude is in the right place, and we have released the care of it all to the One whose shoulders can carry it.

“And flee from the lusts of youth, but pursue righteousness, belief, love, peace with those calling on the Master out of a clean heart.” (2Tim 2:22 ISR)

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