Elul 21
ALL Evil
“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and
displeasure, and uproar, and slander be put away from you, ALONG WITH ALL EVIL.” (Eph 4:31 ISR, emphasis mine)
The Greek word that
has been translated as ‘along with’ is the word sun (Strong’s G4862), and has an interesting
definition that paints a more thorough picture of what is going on in this
verse. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines sun as a word that “denotes accompaniment and fellowship, whether of action, or of belief, or of condition and
experience”[1]. In other words, the list of negative behavior
that we find in the first part of this verse is in fellowship – and is a
companion - of “all evil”. That is
certainly something to ponder.
The Scriptures define ‘evil’ as everything that
is against and in opposition to all of Torah (see 2Kin 17:13; Jer 6:19; Rom
13:10). It would stand to reason, then,
that as we continue to live our lives according to the teachings and
instructions that are laid out for us in the pages of the Torah, we banish ‘all
evil’ far away from us. In spite of this,
what happens to those times when we fall
into that ‘stinking thinking’, and allow it to bleed through to influence
our actions? This season of teshuvah, of repentance and restoration,
is the answer to this dilemma.
This month of Elul is also known as the time
when ‘the King is in the field’, meaning that Elohim is closer and more
accessible than at any other time of the year.
Yes, He is always with us, and always available. However, Jewish tradition believes that it is
at this time, when “ani ledodi vedodi li” – I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine (see
SOS 6:3) – that our Creator reaches out with His heart in response to us
reaching out to Him with ours, in sincerity and truth[2]. Again, there is the need for teshuvah,
for turning away from all of those things that are in violation of
Torah, and for turning to Him, the One who fashioned and formed
us, and knows us better than we know ourselves.
Though I cannot accurately prove and pinpoint this, I have often
wondered if it was not during the month of Elul that our Messiah Yeshua gave
his ‘Sermon on the Mount’ (Mat 5), with the admonition of “Blessed are the
clean in heart, because they shall
see Elohim” (Mat 5:8).
Yom Teruah,
the Feast of Trumpets, is rapidly approaching, as well as Yom Kippur, the day when our King sits upon His throne, no longer
in the field. Are we ready? Have we been faithful to engage in the
self-examination, the internal auditing, that we all periodically need to go through? And can we all stand, clean in heart, before
our King, on that day?
“Examine yourselves whether you are in the belief – prove yourselves. Or do you not know yourselves,
that יהושע Messiah is in you, unless you are disapproved.” (2Cor 13:5 ISR)
©2018
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