Abstaining from all kinds of evil…

THE WORD COMMANDS US TO ABSTAIN FROM EVIL OF ALL KINDS. We've all experienced what happens when we've been introduced to, invaded by, and/or overtaken by "evil" at some point - and it's usually (but not always) because we've ALLOWED it to enter.

(A personal example is that I’ve belonged to at least three congregations over the course of the last 25 years, which ultimately fell apart because the leaders allowed “evil” to enter. YHWH is always watching and, while He does give us time to “set things right,” He will eventually cause a congregation to implode if the evil is not expelled, and/or the perpetrator(s) causing the problems are not properly dealt with. We cannot be a light to the world if we are behaving “like the world!”)

As you know, evil” includes all manner of willful, deliberate sins. It includes acts that are morally reprehensible, offensive, sinful and wicked, causing discomfort or repulsion. It often consists of something that brings sorrow, distress, or calamity. (The scripture passages below will include many examples of what God considers “evil.”)

Be that as it may, those who truly know ADONAI, His Divine Messiah and His Word - from Genesis to Revelation - are better able to discern evil whenever they encounter it, and will squash it, or at least confront the person(s) causing it; thus stopping evil in its tracks.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the Bible amply instructs us to ABSTAIN from evil. The following (presented in no particular order) are some passages that perfectly outline things our Heavenly Father views as “evil”:

Jonah 2:8 "Those who worship vain idols give up their source of mercy… (CJB)

1 Corinthians 10:14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. (CJB)

Galatians 5:19. For you know the works of the flesh, which are these: adultery, impurity and lasciviousness, 20. idolatry, witchcraft, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, stubbornness, treacheries, heresies, 21. Envy, murder, drunkenness, revelry and all like things. Those who do things like these, they will not inherit the Kingdom of Elohim. (AENT)

Colossians 3:5 Therefore, put to death the earthly parts of your nature - sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed (which is a form of idolatry); 6 for it is because of these things that God's anger is coming on those who disobey him. (CJB)

1 Thessalonians 4:3: For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality.... (CJB)

1 Corinthians 6: 9 Don’t you know that unrighteous people will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t delude yourselves — people who engage in sex before marriage, who worship idols, who engage in sex after marriage with someone other than their spouse, who engage in active or passive homosexuality, 10 who steal, who are greedy, who get drunk, who assail people with contemptuous language, who rob — none of them will share in the Kingdom of God. (CJB)

1 Timothy 1: 8 We know that the Torah is good, provided one uses it in the way the Torah itself intends. 9 We are aware that Torah is not for a person who is righteous, but for those who are heedless of Torah and rebellious, ungodly and sinful, wicked and worldly, for people who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral — both heterosexual and homosexual — slave dealers, liars, perjurers, and anyone who acts contrary to the sound teaching 11 that accords with the Good News of the glorious and blessed God. (CJB)

1 Timothy 1:28 In other words, since they have not considered God worth knowing, God has given them up to worthless ways of thinking; so that they do improper things. 29 They are filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and vice; stuffed with jealousy, murder, quarreling, dishonesty and ill-will; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God; they are insolent, arrogant and boastful; they plan evil schemes; they disobey their parents; 31 they are brainless, faithless, heartless and ruthless. 32 They know well enough God's righteous decree that people who do such things deserve to die; yet not only do they keep doing them, but they applaud others who do the same. (CJB)

YHWH has always been very adamant about unholy (evil) behavior. Unholy behavior has consequences, as we see right from the beginning in Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden for their disobedience to His Divine Instruction to not “eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And by Genesis 6, He destroyed the entire earth (except for Noah and his family, who were the only “righteous” people) via a flood BECAUSE of their evil ways!

The bottom line is that YHWH expects HOLINESS – always has! We can see this in passages such as the following:

Leviticus 19: 1 ADONAI said to Moshe, 2 "Speak to the entire community of Isra'el; tell them, 'You people are to be holy because I, ADONAI your God, am holy. (CJB)

Leviticus 19: 19 "'Observe my regulations.... (CJB)

Leviticus 19: 37 Observe all my regulations and rulings, and do them; I am ADONAI.'" (CJB)

Leviticus 20: 7 Therefore consecrate yourselves -you people must be holy, because I am ADONAI your God. 8 Observe my regulations, and obey them; I am ADONAI, who sets you apart to be holy. (CJB)

We are to be holy because HE is holy, and come Judgment Day, there will be no “halfhearted” people entering into Eternity! EVIL DOES NOT EXIST IN YHWH’s REALM!

WHENEVER WE ENCOUNTER EVIL OF ANY KIND, we need to pray for the guidance lovingly provided by the Holy One of Israel who gave us His Torah to live by – a divine set of rules for moral, holy living that echo into the “New Testament” and our very souls; and can heal not only individual lives, but entire congregations of set apart people who understand the need for HOLY living in this lost and doomed world …

Galatians 5:16. I say then: you should walk through the Spirit and the lust of the flesh will not subdue you.  17. For flesh desires a thing that is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires a thing that is against the flesh, and both of these are opposed to one another so that you are not able to do as you wish. 

18. If, then, you are led by the Spirit, you are not under Torah; [1] 19. For you know the works of the flesh, which are these: adultery, impurity and lasciviousness,  20. idolatry, witchcraft, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, stubbornness, treacheries, heresies,  21. Envy, murder, drunkenness, revelry and all like things.  Those who do things like these, they will not inherit the Kingdom of Elohim.

22. The fruits then of the Spirit are these: Love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faith,  23. Meekness, self-control.  Against these there is no instruction [2] put in place.  24. And those who are of Mashiyach have put to death their flesh with all its passions and lusts.  25. Let us therefore live by the Spirit and surrender to the Spirit.  26. And let us not be of vacant glories that cause us to ridicule one another and envy one another. (AENT)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The idiomatic expression “under the Torah” refers to a false teaching that has never been true.  The Dead Sea Scrolls confirm that this phrase “under the Torah” refers to strict religious halacha, not obedience to Torah itself.  Torah has not at any time saved anyone! YHWH saves when His people demonstrate a sincere obedience to His Righteous Instructions (Torah).  Blind ritual (or religion) alone without the love of YHWH profits nothing.  YHWH is “the Spirit” of the Renewed Covenant that writes Torah upon the heart. 

[2]  In this context, namusa, the Aramaic cognate for torah, is better understood at its root level, meaning “to instruct,” rather than as a formalized title.  Otherwise, Rav Shaul might be construed as saying that these “Fruits of the Spirit” are not taught in Torah, when (the fact is) they are.  His point is that there is no instruction against fulfilling these fruits of the spirit.

MAY ABBA RICHLY BLESS ALL OF YOU as you continue to learn and grow in His Word!