Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old. (Micah 7:18-20)
The Eighth Attribute – He suppresses Sin
Although it would be fair to say that we have all been subject to an abuse of the process that I am about to set out, the basic principle behind it is sound.
We have all experienced in the last few years the isolation of lockdown. The thinking behind this originally was based on, if we are charitable with our assessment, that isolating those with the virus, until we were sure of how lethal, was the best way of protecting the general population from infection, hence “two weeks to flatten the curve”.
Whenever there is a lethal outbreak, the policy is always to isolate those who are affected and to seek a cure that then fixes the problem.
Within the Christian doctrine exists the teaching of how, before the death and resurrection of Messiah, there was a gulf that existed between man and HaShem that could not be breached. This was true to a point in that the previous relationship that existed in the Garden was no longer in operation. But through the introduction of the Torah and the creation of the Tabernacle, it is clear the extent of this gulf was not so dramatic, that it could be bridged if HaShem wished it to be. In fact, the very fact of the giving of the Torah at Sinai was evidence of the ability to bridge the gap.
At the heart of the issue is not HaShem’s inability to bridge the gap, but our inability to maintain the bridge. If it is reliant upon us to resolve the issue, then the issue is unresolvable, because there is no amount of good works, no number of mitzvot which resolve this.
We remain in an isolation bubble, which we seek to make as comfortable as possible so that we forget what the problem at the core is. However, a solution has been granted.
Death has lost its sting
The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven. People born of dust are like the man of dust, and people born from heaven are like the man from heaven; and just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so also we will bear the image of the man from heaven. Let me say this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot share in the Kingdom of God, nor can something that decays share in what does not decay. Look, I will tell you a secret — not all of us will die! But we will all be changed! It will take but a moment, the blink of an eye, at the final shofar. For the shofar will sound, and the dead will be raised to live forever, and we too will be changed. For this material which can decay must be clothed with imperishability, this which is mortal must be clothed with immortality. When what decays puts on imperishability and what is mortal puts on immortality, then this passage in the Tanakh will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. “Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin; and sin draws its power from the Torah; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah! So, my dear brothers, stand firm and immovable, always doing the Lord’s work as vigorously as you can, knowing that united with the Lord your efforts are not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:47-58
The current world that we find ourselves born into allows us to operate in a way that can reflect the Kingdom of Heaven (as in heaven so on earth) whilst remaining physically separated from it.
For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. Psalms 5:4
The isolation tent of the earth contains all the death and disease that can be generated in the Universe.
C.S. Lewis, in his novel Out of the Silent Planet, seeks to investigate the concept of what the consequences of man travelling to another planet, Mars in this instance, and taking the “disease” of the knowledge of good and evil with him. The story climaxes with an encounter with the ruling angels of the Universe informing the main character Ransom of how the Earth is silent amongst the heavenly realms because of the nature of the ruling angel and is therefore isolated from the other realms.
Lewis may well have been influenced by the following statement that Yeshua makes in the gospel of Luke.
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:17-20
Yeshua answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” John 12:30-32
The person who keeps on sinning is from the Adversary, because from the very beginning the Adversary has kept on sinning. It was for this very reason that the Son of God appeared, to destroy these doings of the Adversary. No one who has God as his Father keeps on sinning, because the seed planted by God remains in him. That is, he cannot continue sinning, because he has God as his Father. Here is how one can distinguish clearly between God’s children and those of the Adversary: everyone who does not continue doing what is right is not from God.
Likewise, anyone who fails to keep loving his brother is not from God. 1 John 3:8-10
So where do the commandments fit in?
Torah is the scan which shows the abnormality or not of the patient; it is the perfect image for comparison. Just as the scan does not provide the treatment, neither does the Torah.
Torah provides the recipes for healthy living and maintenance, but the only cure for the problem is repentance “teshuvah” and the death of oneself.
MBM UK Family 