Boker Tov! I hope all is well in your world. A friend of ours went to be with the Lord this past Saturday, and his funeral was yesterday. We rejoice that he is no longer suffering and that he is in Heaven.
Now, this morning, we are going to finish chapter 12 and then begin taking a look at Romans chapter 13.
When we stopped last week, we were about to explore verse 19, which enjoins us to live in peace with every man, insofar as that is possible. If an evil person is threatening your family with bodily harm, you have every right to protect yourself and your loved ones, of course. However, in lesser conflicts, Yeshua’s example of “walking away” from the clash, His strategy of “turning the other cheek” applies. We don’t have to prove we are right all the time. We likewise don’t have to make everything right, in every situation. Sometimes, it’s best to let Elohim work, to let Him “handle it.” That’s what verses 19 and 20 are about - - not taking matters into our own hands immorally, in order to get justice or vengeance. Let’s read these two verses together.
19 And do not seek vengeance for yourselves, my beloved: but give a place to contain wrath. For it is written: “If you do not execute judgment for yourself, I will execute judgment for you, says Elohim.
20 And if your adversary is hungry, feed him: and if he is thirsty, give him drink. For if you do these things, you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
AGR has a text footnote on verse 19, concerning the phrase “give a place to contain wrath.” And I quote from his footnote: “While the words ‘to contain’ are not in the text, the context is that one is making emotional space to temporarily store one’s sense of outrage, rather than “access” that rage into an act of vengeance. When Father YAH then sees that the injured party is practicing restraint, Paul here teaches that He will then act positively on that person’s behalf.”
Verse 20 reminds me of Yeshua’s words in Matthew 10:42, where He promises that giving even a cup of cold water to “one of these little ones” will cause a believer to not lose his or her reward. That verse is familiar to me, but I had not realized until preparing for this lesson that He was taking those words from the Tanakh, specifically, Deuteronomy 32:35 and Proverbs 25:21-22. Paul did the same. Here are those two verses.
Vengeance is mine, and recompense,[a]
for the time when their foot shall slip;
for the day of their calamity is at hand,
and their doom comes swiftly.’
Deuteronomy 32:35 CJB
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat,
and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,
22 for you will heap burning coals on his head,
and the Lord will reward you.
Proverbs 25:31-32 CJB
As I was preparing this lesson, I came across a letter from Henri Nouwen to Fred Rogers - - you know, “Mister Rogers”? You may not be familiar, though, with Henri Nouwen, a Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian. The two men were good friends. Fred had been deeply wounded by a pejorative article that had been written, impugning his motives and intentions toward children. Fred sent it to Henri, who wrote this in response.
“I read the article you sent me and can very well understand how much that must have hurt you. It must be really painful to be confronted with a total misunderstanding of your mission and your spiritual intentions.
It is these little persecutions within the church that hurt the most. I simply hope that you are not too surprised by them. They come and will keep coming precisely when you do something significant for the Kingdom. It has always struck me that the real pain comes often from the people from whom we expected real support. It was Jesus’ experience and the eperience of all the great visionaries in the Church, and it continues to be the experience of many who are committed to Jesus.
I don’t think it makes much sense to argue with the writer of this article. He speaks from a very different plane and will not be open to your explanations. Some of the criticisms we simply have to suffer and see as invitations to enter deeper into the heart of Jesus.
{farther on down}
Let us pray for each other, that we remain faithful and not become bitter and that we continue to return to the center where we can find the joy and peace that is not of this world.”
Of course, while this slander was hurtful to Fred Rogers, it pales in comparison to experiencing the death of a dearly loved one at the hands of a demon-possessed person, or some other horrific loss. Yet, in every case, we are to allow our Elohim to execute judgment for us. He knows the entire situation so much better than we do. No matter the injustice, the pain, the loss, He does not push us aside, declare our pain to be irrelevant. He does not forget us, reject or abandon us. He is ever with us, His constant presence surrounding us, through it all.
Will we trust Him to make it right, to “get it right”? That’s the decision we face.
Our last verse of this chapter is verse 21, which sums all the preceding admonitions up quite broadly. Here it is:
21 Don’t be overcome by evil; but, overcome evil with good.
What is our natural, fleshly inclination here? Of course it is to do what children do, and that is to strike back with equal force. One child bites another, and that often gets a bite returned. Have you been wronged lately? What has been your response?
About a year ago, I was wronged by an acquaintance, who I thought was moving into the friend category. Didn’t happen. And, not only did it not happen for us to become friends, even acquaintance is a stretch now. I was so tempted to bad-mouth her behind her back, to punish her by avoiding her, etc. But, what would that have served? Nothing good. What I chose to do is to treat her kindly, even though I don’t enjoy it. Notice that the verse does not say you have to like it.
Yeshua reminded us in Matthew 12:26 that Satan cannot drive out Satan. When we act like Satan in our relationships with others, we are furthering a kingdom on earth, but it’s not God’s kingdom we are building.
My favorite quote of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is as follows:
“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
Dr. King got it, didn’t he? He understood these last few verses of Romans 12. He had some other great quotes along this line too. For instance, he said:
“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”
and
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
Allright, let’s move on now to chapter 13, looking at the first two verses, to begin.
1 Every soul should be subject to the greater authorities. For there is no authority which is not from Elohim: and the authorities which exist are established by Elohim.
2 He therefore who opposes the authority, opposes the commandment of Elohim; those who stand against them will receive judgment.
AGR has some insight about which “greater authorities” might be referenced here. According to Philippians 4:11, some of the members of this Roman ecclesia, congregation, were members of the Roman Emperor’s own household. Paul’s point was that the Roman believers had to tread carefully in balancing how they fulfilled the commandments of Scripture, while also submitting to the governmental authorities around them. It was quite literally a tightrope walk that could end in death. Rome did not have full religious liberty, in the first century CE. Believers today are faced with a similar challenge in many parts of the world.
The apostle Paul tells us that we should be obedient to our government "rulers", insofar as we are able, without denying or abrogating our faith in Yeshua. Obviously (due to the weight of other scriptures), our first loyalty is to Elohim's heavenly kingdom, when the earthly "kingdom" stands in direct conflict. But, otherwise, we are to pay our taxes, obey the civil and criminal laws, AND work to create a country that reflects our biblical values in ways that do not bring dishonor on the name of our Savior, Yeshua. In Mark 12:14-17, the religious leaders in power at the time came to Yeshua in an attempt to trip Him up. The subject of that trap was paying taxes to Caesar, the so called “head tax”. Yeshua’s response basically was that we should cough up to Caesar that which belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to Him.
Paul not only makes the point that "authority" is a godly concept, given by God Himself to bring order to our world, but that He places "rulers" into positions of authority. Recently, we were in the midst of a highly contentious presidential election season. As citizens, we are required to, as Paul mentions, adhere to and protect our rights of citizenship. This means exercising our right to campaign for a candidate and then to vote for him or her. If you are a follower of Yeshua but you don't vote, you are violating scripture by committing a sin of omission. This refusal to fight for the liberties you have been given goes against Romans 13. By contrast, if you are a believer and you break the law, you are guilty of a sin of "commission".
A few years ago I read part of Erick Erickson's book, You Will Be Made to Care. It's a pretty horrifying and damning book, if you are a follower of Yeshua. His basic point, from what I've read was that we as Yeshua’s talmudim have not followed Romans 13:1-7. Oh, we have probably obeyed the speed limit and the seatbelt laws, most of the time. The traffic laws are ones we generally obey, since ignoring them can be costly, or even deadly. Most of us citizens pay our taxes, because to not do so will land us in jail. But, the American Church has sat back and let a godless minority, "a small and arrogant oligarchy" as Erick puts it, take over our country. We've done this in the name of "live and let live", forgetting that a representative republic (which is our American government type) not firmly anchored in a biblical morality cannot survive. John Adams, our nation's 2nd president, wisely recognized this and said the following: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."2
Now, we are seeing the disastrous results of our collective Christian complacency over the last 60 years. Fortunately, God-fearing people have begun to wake up and speak out, both at the ballot box, on social media outlets and in other forums. If we don’t keep this type of civic engagement up, our freedoms will continue to disappear until the country we older citizens inherited will be unrecognizable. It is already happening. The question is whether or not God's people will stem the tide.
Members of Yeshua’s body who interpret Romans 13 with a sniveling, hand-wringing "Oh, well, there's nothing I can do" type of response or a "Someone else will take care of that" response disgust me. Hundreds of thousands of men and women have given their lives so that we could enjoy the liberties accorded to us citizens in the greatest nation of the past 240 years. What great debtors we are to their sacrifices! Despite that, many pampered, cocooned Christians today will further disengage from the culture, will do nothing to stem the tide of godlessness, in the name of "being subject to the governing authorities". What a gross misinterpretation of this scripture!
American government was designed from its very birth to be steered by "We the People" (Preamble to the U.S. Constitution). Abraham Lincoln famously referred to this government "of the people, by the people, for the people" in his Gettysburg Address. It might have been better phrased as "for those people who care enough to not lose it". As Benjamin Franklin said upon leaving the Constitutional Convention of 1787 - - - {We have} "a republic...if you can keep it."2
If you adhere to a Christian worldview and the belief that this country's best hope is to return to the God-given principles on which it was founded, then the question is: "What is God calling you to do about the current abysmal "state of affairs"? The remedy is going to require more from God's people than merely paying taxes.
Speaking of taxes, let’s read verses 3-6, where Paul mentions a second kind of tax.
3 For judges are not a menace to good deeds, but to evil deeds. So, do not be afraid of authority. Do good, and you will have praise from him.
4 For he is the minister of Elohim; but it is to you for good. But, if you do evil, be afraid; for he is not equipped with the sword in vain; for he is a minister of Elohim and an avenger of wrath to them that do evil.
5 And therefore, it is necessary for us to be obedient, not only on account of wrath, but likewise on account of our consciences.
6 Because of this, also you should pay head-tax (for the Temple); for they are the ministers of Elohim, established for these same reasons.
Most of these verses have referred to governmental authorities. However, judges could either be civic judges or ecclesiastical judges, that is, men who were in positions of authority within Judaism or The Way. For instance, we read in Acts 15 that although the so-called “church” was young, a hierarchy of authority was already being established. The ecclesia at Jerusalem was the headquarters of the wider body of Yeshua’s followers, both Jewish and Gentile, until 70 CE, when the Temple was destroyed. Paul indicates here in this passage that we are to be in obedience to both civic and religious leaders who are in authority over us.
In my faith background, tithing was exhorted and commended. But, there were no church “taxes” per se. However, as I mentioned in a recent lesson from the Signposts on the Road to Glory series here at Mishkan Katan, (I believe it was in session 4...) Yeshua paid the annual Temple Tax, referred to here as the “Temple tax”. This is mentioned in Matthew 17:24. It was an annual tax paid by every Jewish man, twenty years old and up, with those funds used for the upkeep and operation of the Jewish Temple.
On to verses 7 and 8:
7 Repay therefore to everyone as is owed to him; head tax, to whomever it is due; and whomever taxes are due (to the Romans); and respect, to whom respect is due; and honor, to whom honor is due.
8 And owe nothing to anyone; but to love one another. For he that loves his neighbor, has properly understood Torah.
My father told me years ago that if you make a loan to a family member, you had might as well think of it as a gift. The reason for that is family members will often not repay the loan, because they figure you won’t sue them. They assume you will still love them, regardless. And, you, the lender, will spare yourself heartache to just look at the loan as a gift. Then, if they do repay you, it will be a pleasant surprise.
Whether this is the correct attitude or not is up to you. But, the Scriptures here admonish us to pay our debts. Paying our debts is a form of honoring our word. When our character is free from stains and blemishes, this brings honor where it is due, and that is to Elohim.
It is challenging to honor and respect an evil ruler. No matter which end of the political spectrum you are on, you have felt this chafe against you at one time or another. I remember a relatively recent US presidential election when a friend of mine went into a deep depression for years because her candidate lost. While I could sympathize, what a waste of time and life to do that!
I was reading in my devotional time in the book of Isaiah, where the prophet was speaking of Cyrus, prophesying about home hundreds of years before Cyrus’ birth! Cyrus was a pagan ruler, but the Lord of Hosts had designated that man, Cyrus, hundreds of years earlier to be a king who would influence the Jewish people profoundly. The same is true today. It is our El Elyon, our God Almighty, who places people into positions of authority and takes them down. Some, like kings Solomon and Jeroboam, began their rules with the full backing of Elohim, although He told them that He would continue to bless them if they followed His Torah ways. Both of these rulers wandered off the righteous path, however, and accordingly God’s blessings and protections were then removed.
Verses 8 is interesting in the original Aramaic, because the root word for khob (which means “owe”) and khab (love) is the same. So, it is a very clear wordplay or pun. Some theologians have used this verse as a prooftext to say that we should not go into debt for any reason. However, I don’t agree with that. If we lived that way, practically no one would ever be able to own a home, for example. And, with the cost of a vehicle, don’t get me started, we would be walking more. As with some other things, you can get dragged into an addiction pit by spending money you don’t have, buying on credit. It is more of a pitfall for some of us than for others. Naturally, extreme and unwise debt should be avoided. I think the point Paul is trying to make is that more than anything else, we owe our fellow man love, in the biblical sense. This is a Torah command, written in Leviticus 19:18.
Here’s what that verse says:
Don’t take vengeance on or bear a grudge against any of your people; rather, love your neighbor as yourself; I am Adonai.
You thought that idea was original with Yeshua, didn’t you? I did too! But, He was quoting the Torah in Matthew 22:39. And, the apostle Paul, here, certainly intends these Roman believers (and others) to observe Torah in their daily lives.
Verse 9 goes on in the same manner, just “putting it another way”, we might say. Let’s read it as well as verse 10.
9 Likewise, it is said, “You know not kill, nor commit adultery, nor steal, nor covet;” and if there is any other commandment, it is completed in this saying: “You will love your neighbor as yourself.”
10 Love does no evil to one’s neighbor because love is the complete understanding of and obedience to Torah.
These two verses are again quoting Leviticus 19:18, plus also Exodus 20:13-15, 17 and Deuteronomy 5:17-19, 21. Aren’t you marveling at the alignment here between the Tanakh, Paul’s words and Yeshua’s words? I certainly am! The Aramaic and the Greek for the last part of verse 10 mean “fill full with proper understanding.” Unless we love our neighbors as Scripture commands, we are not fulfilling Torah.
Paul then adds in verse 11 that the readers, the believers, should wake up! The Nicene Church Father Aph echoed this same sentiment when he said “Let us now awake from our sleep.” But, how was the Roman Church “sleeping”?
Well, Yeshua told the parable of the five wise and the five foolish virgins in Matthew chapter 25. In the parable, five of the young ladies were vigilant, ever-watchful for the arrival of the Bridegroom. The other five were lackadaisical, thinking they had plenty of time, “asleep”, basically. Paul goes on in the latter part of verse 11 to say that with every day that passes, the Life (capital L) is nearer than ever before. Well, let’s look at verse 11. I’m getting the commentary before the verse here.
11 And this also you should know, that it is the time and the hour that we should be awakened from our sleep. For now our Life has come nearer to us than when we believed.
Have you ever heard of something called the “Doomsday Clock”? It is a creation of modern atomic scientists, something they came up with in 1947, after two unprecedented atomic explosions ended the Pacific theater of war with Japan in 1945. At the time this philosophical “device” was created, it was set at 7 minutes to midnight. -The Doomsday Clock represents the opinion of nuclear scientists as to the possibility of global catastrophic by nuclear war.
-In 2015, the Science and Security Board moved the Doomsday
Clock to three (3) minutes to midnight.
-These nine (9) nations possess 16,300 nuclear weapons
-Five (5) other nations share nuclear weapons through NATO
(Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Turkey)
-Twenty four (24) nations have nuclear power, the raw material
for nuclear weapons.
-Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. May already have them.
-Iran is the world’s foremost sponsor of terrorism.
But, notice also that this is a personal call, here in verse 11. We are told that our Life, our salvation, has come nearer to us than when we first believed.
-There is nothing more uncertain than our supply of time.
-We can’t store time in a safety deposit box.
-Life expectancy for a man in Georgia has increased to
approximately 78
-Life expectancy for a woman in Georgia is slightly higher
As I mentioned at the beginning of this broadcast, yesterday, my husband and I attended the funeral of a man who, along with his wife, has been in our small group bible study for over 10 years. For most of those years, he suffered from a degenerative disease of the brain. He would have been 79 years old in about three weeks.
Time’s a-wastin! As the old Appalachian expression goes. Paul expands on this admonition in the next two verses, verses 12 and 13, by employing the concepts of light and darkness to make his point.
12 The night now passes away and the day draws near. Let us therefore cast aside from us the works of darkness; but rather, we should put on the armor of light.
13 And as in the daytime, let us walk decently, not in reveling, nor in drunkenness, nor in a defiled bed, nor in envy and strife.
By contrast, Isaiah 50:11 speaks of those who, instead of putting on the armor of light, light their own fires and walk in the flame of their own fire. Here’s what that verse says, in the CJB:
But all of you who are lighting fires
and arming yourselves with firebrands:
go, walk in the flame of your own fire,
among the firebrands you lit!
From my hands this [fate] awaits you:
you will lie down in torment.
We certainly don’t want to walk like that!
The phrase “walk decently” in Romans 13:13 intrigued me, and so I googled it, with some hilarious results totally not pertinent to our study - - things like, how to walk with good posture, how to develop a good walking technique, how to walk like a man, etc. It gave me a pretty good chuckle.
But, seriously, how DO we walk decently, in the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, to bring glory to the Name of our Elohim? How do we do that? Well, we must be properly clothed, according to verse 14.
At that funeral yesterday, I was COLD. It was in the low 40s here and raining off and on. Miserable weather. I had chosen a lovely black dress to wear, but even with a short coat on top of it, I was cold. Basically, I was not properly attired for the weather, despite my best efforts.
In these verses, we start by taking off our old, stinky, ragged, rotten clothes - - the garments of the unregenerate person, garments that stink of sin. Then what next? Paul tells us the next step in the final verse of this chapter. Our next step is to clothe ourselves in the ways of our Master. Let me emphasize - - you have to take something off before you put something better on!
14 But clothe yourselves with our Master Yeshua the Mashiyach, and do not have regard for the desires that are in your flesh.
In your copy of the Scriptures, it may say “put on” Christ, but the better, more accurate translation is to figuratively clothe oneself in Yeshua HaMashiach, as TAW correctly puts it. Elsewhere, the apostle Paul echoes this same truth in Colossians 3:10, where he enjoins the believers at Colosse to put on the new nature. Why should we do this? Because not only do we then reveal the glory of God to the world, we also find our faith renewed as we embrace Yeshua over and over, day after day, allowing the Ruach HaKodesh to mold us more and more into His image.
If you take a look at Ephesians 4:21-24, you’ll find that Paul gave a very similar exhortation to the congregation at Ephesus. Here are those verses from TAW.
21 If you have truly heard Him and by Him have learned, as truthfulness in Yeshua,
22 that you should strip off your former practices of the old man that is corrupted with the lusts of deceit;
23 And you should be renewed in the spirit of your minds;
24 And you should put on the new man who is created by Elohim in righteousness and in the pardoning of the truth.
The church father, Aph, makes the point that once we take off those old clothes we should not return to them. Have you ever thrown away something that you knew was a stumbling block to you? I have! I had to put it beyond my reach. For instance, I am constantly trying to watch my weight, for instance, and so when I make a batch of some delectable baked good, I will enjoy one (or two) and then I’ll give the rest away. I know that if they are hanging around the house taunting me, tempting me, I will eat them.
We need to spiritually “burn” our old, stinky, nasty clothes, figuratively speaking, so that we don’t go back to them, in moments of temptation, of weakness.
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