TEVET 12
Reprobate
“In whose eyes
a reprobate one is despised …” (Ps 15:4)
Dictionary.com
defines a ‘reprobate’ as “a person rejected by God and beyond hope of
salvation.”[1]
The implications of this are terrifying – to be rejected by the One who created
me. And does this not go along with an
individual who has no ‘fear of Elohim’, does not care if he/she disappoints,
rebels against, and rejects our Creator?
The Hebrew word mâ'as (Strong’s H3988) is the word that has been translated as ‘reprobate’,
and in other translations, it reads as ‘vile’.
However, mâ'as is a verb, requiring an action, and it
loosely means to strongly reject, to despise and abhor. Most of the time mâ'as is
used in reference to the nation of Israel turning away from Elohim, and His
Torah (see Num 11:20; 2Kin 17:14-15).
There are, however, other references that are the reverse, where our
Elohim is rejecting His people, ultimately for their disobedience to Torah
(2Kin 17:20; Jer 6:19).
The most well-known example we have from the Scriptures of one who was
rejected by Elohim is that of King Saul, Israel’s first king. In 1Samuel chapter 13, we find Saul offering
up an illegal and invalid burnt offering.
Saul was not Levite, and it was against Torah for him to even
make this sacrifice in the first place (see 1Sam 13:8-14; Num 18:1-7). Chapter 15 of 1Samuel relates to us Saul’s
final fall from esteem. Given the command
to completely destroy all of the Amalekites, including all their livestock,
Saul disobeyed, leaving the king of the Amalekites alive, as well as the
livestock. The prophet Samuel pronounces
the final sentence upon Saul:
“Then Shemu’ĕl
said, “Does יהוה delight
in burnt offerings and slaughterings, as in obeying the voice of יהוה? Look, TO
OBEY is better than an offering, TO HEED is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and
stubbornness is as wickedness and idolatry. Because you have rejected (mâ'as) the word of יהוה, He also does reject (mâ'as) you as sovereign.” (1Sam
15:22-23, emphasis and insert mine)
The
words “to obey” are the necessary key to never being part of the group called ‘reprobate’. When we reach the place of treating the kadosh
– holy – words of our Elohim as something common and ordinary, and only to
be acted upon when we feel like it, we are headed toward the quicksand called mâ'as, or a rejected reprobate. May these
words that I have written here by the exhortation needed for all of us to stay
on the path called Torah, and may we totally despise the idea of rejecting the
words and person of Yahweh our Elohim.
“My
people have perished for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected (mâ'as)
knowledge, I reject (mâ'as) you
from being priest for Me. Since you have forgotten the Torah of your Elohim, I
also forget your children.” (Hos
4:6, insert mine)
“My son, do not despise (mâ'as)
the discipline of יהוה, And do
not loathe His reproof; For whom יהוה loves He reproves, As a father the son
whom he delights in.”
(Pro 3:11-12,
insert mine)
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