This phrase taken from Matthew chapter 5 has been thrown at me quite a lot lately. For those who follow me on Facebook you know I post on controversial subjects. I’m a watchman. Watchmen learn the truth about something then watchmen sound the warning. They want to wake people up to the truth. I’ve found lately that those who say they follow Yahweh and those who don’t both like to use the Bible and certain phrases within it to try and get me to think the way they do. The problem for them is that when one of those phrases is thrown at me to attempt to control me and the way I think or feel, I stop and ask myself a question. What does that phrase really mean? Seems so simple, right? Nope.
Milk or meat?
The title of this article is one of those phrases that I’ve heard several times over the past couple of weeks. Yesterday I was pondering it and wrote out a list of questions regarding it. I want to understand everything about that phrase. In effect, I want the meat of it. Not just the milk.
Hebrews 5:12 – 13 For indeed, although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first elements of the Words of Yahweh. And you have become such as need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone partaking of milk is inexperienced in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
Meat, or solid food as the Bible calls it, is not taking something just at face value but instead digging for the truth of the matter. Many take one verse, or even one phrase from a verse, and they base their entire belief system on it. It may not even mean what they think it does because people have a tendency to put their own definition on what something means from their own belief system or what they have heard others say. In this study we are going to get down to the nitty gritty, or meat of it.
Let’s look at the passage about loving our enemies. It is from what is titled the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew which covers Matthew chapters 5 through 7. Yahshua had gone up onto the mountain to address the people who were following Him and asking Him questions. We are going to look at Matthew 5:43 – 48. (The Scriptures 1998 version)
Matthew 5:43-48 You heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ (Footnote: hate your enemy was said, not written.) 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those cursing you, do good to those hating you, and pray for those insulting you and persecuting you, 45 so that you become sons of your Father in the heavens. Because He makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those loving you, what reward have you? Are the tax collectors not doing the same too? 47 And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Are the tax collectors not doing so too? 48 Therefore, be perfect, as your Father in the heavens is perfect.
Questions
Who is Yahshua speaking to in this passage?
Who is the enemy Yahshua is referring to?
What is the context of the passage?
Does Yahweh, in His Word, differentiate between different people groups and how to interact with them?
Are there different types of “enemies” in the Word?
What exactly are we praying for? Good? Justice? What?
What are some examples of the people of Yahweh praying about justice for those who mean to harm Israel or themselves?
Does what we pray depend on which enemy we are talking about?
Should we pray blessings for people Yahweh hates?
Does Yahweh ever tell us not to pray for something or someone? When? Is that still relevant today?
Where in the Bible is it said there will be enmity (hatred) between two groups? Is that still relevant today?
Should we pray blessings for the seed of Satan?
Does the Bible ever say not to pray?
These are some heavy duty questions we need to answer. This is what getting to the meat is all about. It’s not just a quick answer but questions that lead to more questions. That is where the truth is found.
The Foundation of the Entire Bible
The first thing we need is a foundation. If you haven’t read any of my other articles on Bible History might I suggest you read the article Esau vs. Jacob – It Matters Today under the Bible and Bible History tab on the site. It will give you the foundation of who is who in the Bible and why it matters to understanding phrases such as ‘love your enemies’.
In a nutshell the Bible is a history book written about a people group called the Israelites. These are not to be confused with the current people who live in the land of Israel today – the Israeli’s. They are not the same. In fact they are two completely different people groups.
Who are the Israelites?
The Israelite’s consist of twelve tribes or nations of Israel. Yahweh made a covenant with this people group and set them apart for a special purpose. He made for them a Law to keep them set apart or different from the other people groups of the world. You can read more about the Law and keeping it in my article Grace vs. Law. In the New Testament, or New Covenant, Yahweh came to this world as Yahshua to become the sacrifice for the nations of Israel. This was in place of animal sacrifice. Yahshua is the KINSMAN REDEEMER for Israel. The Covenant was to the same people – the twelve tribes or nations of Israel – as the Old or Original Covenant. Both Covenants work together in harmony. This is not what people are taught today. They are taught that one supersedes the other. From cover to cover, Genesis to Revelation, this book is about the history of the twelve tribes or nations of Israel – the Israelites. And about their redemption by their Kinsman Redeemer.
If you are not from one of the twelve tribes or nations, this book does not apply to you. Shocker! Yup. But, but, but… Nope. I know all of the things you are going to say to this. Nope. It is not the history of the Chinese people, or the people of India or Africa. It is the history of the Israelites. The only time it mentions any other people group is when they come into contact with the Israelites. The only one a Kinsman Redeemer can redeem is someone who is a kinsman, a close relative.
Now, that being said, if one of those other people groups wants to pick up the Bible and learn wisdom from it, or keep the Law, that is all good. Israel was set apart to be an example to the world. The basis of the Law is that it set Israel apart from the world and showed the other people groups that by keeping this Law they were blessed in their lives. Perhaps when the other people groups kept the Law they would be blessed, too, and the world would be a better place.
Answering the Questions
Who is Yahshua speaking to? What is the context of the passage? Does Yahweh in His Word differentiate between different people groups and how to interact with them? Are there different “enemies” in the Word?
Let’s go to Matthew 15:24 And He answering, said, I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In Matthew 15: 22 – 23 Yahshua is ignoring a Canaanite woman who is asking for His help for her daughter and He refuses her telling her that He is only there for Israel. Again, Yahshua was and is the Kinsman Redeemer only for Israel.
Kinsman Redeemer
A kinsman-redeemer is a close male relative who has the responsibility to help a relative in need or danger. Boaz and Yahshua are the best examples of kinsman redeemers in Scripture. You can only be a kinsman redeemer for a close relative. Kinsman means a blood relative, especially a male. A relative by marriage. A person of the same nationality or ethnic group. This means that Yahshua came as a blood relative – kinsman redeemer – for the twelve tribes or nations of Israel. Yahshua cannot be a kinsman redeemer for any other people group.
I have stated this in other articles but will re-state it here that in the Bible bloodlines matter. That is the reason for all the genealogies. Satan has his 13 bloodline families. He is a copycat. He has no original thought. He has copied Yahweh’s bloodline families of the twelve tribes. Blood and bloodlines are incredibly important. If you are an Israelite from one of the twelve tribes then the Bible is a book of your ancestors. It’s your family history.
If you throw away the twelve tribes of Israel from the Bible you may as well junk the entire thing. It has zero meaning without knowing who the people are it is talking about. None whatsoever. And for those of you who say that some church has replaced the twelve tribes of Israel, well, plain and simple you have been lied to by that same church with something called replacement theology. Is much of the church really part of the twelve tribes. Most likely. If you have a yearning for Yahweh and His truths you are probably one of His. You may belong to a church but you are by blood an Israelite.
Who is the enemy Yahshua is referring to?
In the Bible there are enemies and then there are enemies. Same as in real life today. There are people in this world who are evil and who want to do harm to Israelites. Yahshua called some the seed of Satan. (By the way when He said this He meant it. It was not just a saying, but the truth.)
There are people groups which He commanded the Israelites destroy out of the land of Canaan due to their evil practices; the Canaanites, Hittites, and Jebusites, to name just a few. They were, are, and always will be enemies of Israel. Then there are enemies or adversaries between Israelites. There have been many wars fought between “brothers” both in the Bible and in more recent history. Fellow Israelite brethren are the enemies who Yahshua is speaking about in this passage. I think of both World War I and II and think of the Israelite bloodline families who fought each other in them. When learning what a word means it is critically important to know the context and who the passage is speaking about. Yahshua was telling His followers that if they have an enemy within their Israelite brethren how to handle the situation.
What exactly are we praying for?
What exactly are we praying for? Good? Or justice? What are some examples of the people of Yahweh praying (talking with Yahweh) about justice for those who mean to harm Israel or themselves? Does what we pray depend on which enemy we are talking about? Oh boy it sure does. I was reading Psalms 139 and 140 yesterday. Here are a few lines from them.
139:19 Oh, that You would slay the wrong, O Yahweh! Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed!
139:20 They speak against You wickedly. Bring Your enemies to naught!
139:21 O Yahweh, do I not hate them, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
139:22 With a complete hatred I hate them; they have become my enemies.
140:8 Do not grant the desires of the wrong, O Yahweh; do not promote his scheme. Selah.
140:10 Let burning coals fall on them; let them be made to fall into the fire, into deep pits, let them not rise again.
140:11 Let not a slanderer be established in the earth; let evil hunt the man of violence speedily.
And that is just in two of the Psalms. To those who say that is the Old Testament and Yahweh has changed into a loving God since then I say this. Fine. Then if you don’t like those verses in Psalms 139 then you can’t have these verses in Psalms 139 either.
Psalms 139:1 – 18
O Yahweh, You have searched me And know me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought from afar.
You sift my path and my lying down, And know well all my ways.
For there is not a word on my tongue, But see, O Yahweh, You know it all!
You have closed me in, behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me –
Knowledge too wondrous for me, It is high, I am unable to reach it.
Where would I go from Your Spirit? Or where would I flee from Your face?
If I go up into the heavens, You are there; If I make my bed in the grave, see, You are there.
I take the wings of the morning, I dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
There, too, Your hand would lead me, And Your right hand hold me.
If I say, “Darkness shall cover me,” Then night would be light to me;
Even darkness is not dark for You, But night shines as the day – As is darkness, so is light.
For You, You possessed my heart, You have covered me in my mothers womb.
I give thanks to You, For I am awesomely and wondrously made! Wondrous are Your works, And my being knows it well.
My bones was not concealed from You, When I was shaped in a hidden place, Knit together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body. And in Your book all of them were written, The days they were formed, While none was among them.
And how precious are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great has been the sum of them!
If I should count them, They would be more than the sand; When I wake up, I am still with You.
Unless you believe in a rolodex religion then you have to take the whole Bible, not just pick and choose the verses which suit you.
People Yahweh hates
Should we pray blessings for people Yahweh hates? Does Yahweh ever tell us not to pray for something or someone? When? Is that still relevant today? Where in the Bible is it said there will be enmity (hatred) between two groups? Is that still relevant today? Should we pray blessings for the seed of Satan?
I know this is opening a can of worms. This is another trigger subject for most Christians who think that Yahweh doesn’t hate anyone. That’s called secular humanism and is not Biblical one bit. This is another subject I tackle in the study of Esau vs. Jacob – It Matters Today. I won’t belabor the point here except to write a key verse. Again, if you want more meat click on the link and go to that study.
Malachi 1:1 – 5
The message of the word of Yahweh to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, said Yahweh. But you asked, in what way have You loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? declares Yahweh. And I love Jacob, but I have hated Esau, and have laid waste his mountains and his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness. If Edom says, we have been beaten down, let us return and build the ruins, Yahweh of hosts said thus: Let them build, but I tear down. and they shall be called the land of wickedness and the people against whom Yahweh is enraged forever. And your eyes shall see, and you shall say, great is Yahweh beyond the border of Israel.
And then here is the verse that starts it all. Genesis 3:15. And I put enmity (hatred) between you and the woman, between your seed and her Seed. He shall crush your head, and you shall crush His heel.
Yahweh put hatred, or enmity, between two people groups right here at the very beginning. Those two people groups are the entire basis of the Bible. Without that verse, the story doesn’t make sense. In my opinion there is no way we are supposed to love, or pray, for the people Yahweh tells us we have hatred for in Genesis 3:15.
Who is the seed of Satan?
Would it be prudent of us to know exactly who the seed of Satan people are? Here is a good research paper on the subject:
Do not pray for this people
Should I pray blessings upon a people that Yahweh says He hates and that He will be enraged by forever? Does the Bible ever say not to pray?
Isaiah 1:15 And when you spread out your hands, I hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I do not hear. Your hands have become filled with blood.
Jeremiah 7:16 And you, do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me, for I do not hear you.
Jeremiah 11:14 And you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, for I do not hear them in the time that they cry out to Me because of their evil.
These are examples of two great men of Yahweh being told by Him that He would not listen to their prayers about His own set-apart people because of their evil ways. How much more then are the people whom Yahweh hates or those He tells us we will have hatred between us forever.
Wake up Israelites!
The Israelite people of the world need to wake up to the truth of who they are, who the enemy is, and the actual truth of this amazing book we have been blessed with. It is a roadmap to understanding the world we live in right now today. We are fighting a 10,000 year old satanic evil and until we understand that we have no power.
Proverbs 1:22 How long, you simple ones, would you love simplicity, and shall scoffers delight in their scoffing, and fools hate knowldge?
Proverbs 2:6 For Yahweh gives wisdom; out of His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
These are just two of over a hundred verses about knowledge. Every day I ask Yahweh to fill me up with His knowledge. Teach me everything! No matter how hard something is to hear I want to hear it anyway. My motto is…
I’d rather hear a hard truth than an easy lie.
If you want to know more about the glorious history of the Israelites and how it applies to us today CLICK HERE for the Watchman Teaching Series by Clifton A. Emahiser.
This has been Simply My Opinion,
Kathe
www.adoptioncombatzone.com