Bosses and Employees
6: 5-9

Bosses and employees DIG: Does the Bible condone slavery? In what ways do Rabbi Sha’ul’s instructions to slaves (to work with integrity whether the master is watching or not) apply to employees today? Paul reminds masters that they are their slaves and are both serving the same Master (God). In what ways does this truth apply to bosses or managers?

REFLECT: In what way is ADONAI honored by your diligent work in your job? How do you think God will reward those who do good work? What is the proper way to handle a problem you might have with a person in authority – whether a parent, employee, or anyone else? Do co-workers appreciate your work? More vitally, is Yeshua happy with it?

Servant leadership is the best leadership and the easiest to follow.

Sha’ul’s use of the word slave should not be confined with the oppressive version of slavery that plagued some societies (like in America). In Judaism, slavery was an acceptable form of servitude, used by a person to voluntarily pay off some debt. Instead of contemporary bankruptcy laws, a Jewish slave could choose a master that suited him as he sought to improve his life situation. Jewish slaves were even guaranteed many rights from their Jewish master (see the commentary on Deuteronomy, to see link click Cz – The Hebrew Slave). Among these rights would be just treatment and even a limited time of servitude of seven years, until he was set free at the Sabbatical Year (see the commentary on Leviticus El – The Sabbath Year).

To illustrate the positive nature of slaves within Isra’el, the Torah even states that sometimes a slave would not want to leave his benevolent master! To prove his allegiance, the slave in such cases was commanded to have his ear pierced on the door of the house (see the commentary on Exodus Dz – If You Buy a Hebrew Servant). Roman slavery of the first century was significantly different but also included some protective rights. A modern reader of Ephesians would better understand this passage, if the terms slaves and masters were replaced by employees and bosses.

The right submission of employees (6:5-8): With this context in mind, the apostle gives the following recommendations: Slaves (Employees), obey your human masters (bosses) with the same fear, trembling and single-heartedness with which you obey the Messiah (6:5). The idea is to do the work we are assigned to do, without complaining, bragging, criticizing the work of others, or being disruptive in any way. Such obedience does not imply inferiority, but is in keeping with the idea of biblical submission, that is, fitting into God’s order (see Bu – The Necessary Foundation). Bosses and workers may stand as equals before ADONAI, but it would wreak havoc in the workplace if there were no order. In fact, the writer points out that the employees are to obey with the same kind of respect they have toward Messiah. Believers should be known as some of the best workers, which may open up some good discussions about perspectives on life.²⁴⁴

Rabbi Sha’ul reminds the Ephesian believers that their work ethic has a direct impact on their future blessing in the Kingdom of God. Slaves had a responsibility to work hard. Like the Ephesians, we are to work diligently with no ulterior motive. We should be excellent employees because it is the right thing to do in the sight of our true Boss. Consequently, our good work ethic is not just on display when people are watching us. Don’t obey just to win their favor, serving only when they are watching you (or eyeservice); but serve as slaves of the Messiah, doing what God wants with all your heart (Ephesians 6:6).²⁴⁵

Paul exposed the kind of service that appears to be spiritual but is really just a put-on, a show, an act to get approval. He called it eyeservice – serving others just to impress people with how spiritual they are. This was the main sin of the Pharisees. They turned helping others, giving, and even prayer into a performance for others. Yeshua hated their attitude and warned: Be careful not to parade your acts of tzedakah in front of people in order to be seen by them! If you do, you have no reward from your Father in heaven (Mt 6:1).²⁴⁶

The true believer understands that he or she is really serving Yeshua. Like Paul told the believers in Colossae: Whatever work you do, put yourself into it, as those who are serving not merely other people, but the Lord (Colossians 3:23). And again his consistent message to the believers in Ephesus was to work willingly as slaves (employees), as people do who are serving not merely human beings but the Lord (6:7). This repeats and reinforces what Paul had just said. Thus, the labor is sincere from the heart. One definition of integrity is “being righteous when no one is watching.” But the reality is that our King Messiah is always watching so we should have the highest motivation for the best work ethic.

Remember that whoever does good work, whether he be a slave or a free man, will be rewarded by the Lord (6:8). ADONAI credits and rewards are always dependable and always appropriate. A boss may not appreciate or even be aware of the good work done, perhaps because he is indifferent or because someone else takes the credit for what is done. But God knows and God rewards. No good thing done in His Name and for His glory can pass His notice or fail to receive His blessing.²⁴⁷

The submission of employers (6:9): The overall context of the entire passage applies here as well. Masters (bosses) might be tempted to abuse their employees, as was often the case in Roman society. But such is not the case in the community of Messiah. Bosses are warned not to threaten their employees, as is so common in the world. And bosses, treat your employees the same way. Don’t threaten them (6:9a). Servant leadership is the best leadership and the easiest to follow. The book of Nehemiah is one of the great teaching and example of leadership, both in a positive sense (see the commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah Bt – The Third Return: Nehemiah – A Manual for Leaders), and a negative sense (see Ezra-Nehemiah Ch – The Completion of the Walls Despite Opposition: Ten fatal flaws that derail leaders). Bosses should keep a balanced approach as they remember that they actually work for the same boss as their employees. Remember that in heaven both you and they have the same Master, and he has no favorites (6:9b). Such a work environment will actually decrease stress and help build a positive atmosphere that will often help the business prosper especially under God’s loving conditions.²⁴⁸

The impartiality of ADONAI is the closing truth in Paul’s discussion on submitting to one another. Spirit-filled believers – whether husbands or wives, parents or children, bosses or employees – are to be mutually submissive because they are equally loved, equally cared for, and equally subservient to a common Master, their Savior and Lord, Yeshua Messiah.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that You are such a wonderful Father! It is so much easier for Your children to honor their hard boss when they realize that all that they do is seen by You and You will reward them according by their heart attitude in all they do. Whatever you do, work at it from the soul, as for the Lord and not for people.  For you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as a reward. It is to the Lord Messiah you are giving service.  For the one doing wrong will be paid back for what he did wrong, and there is no favoritism (Colossians 3:23-25). Though there are always trials and problems and life may seem unfair, when Your children lift their eyes to behold your steadfast love (Psalms 63:3), then life and work seem so much easier. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18).

How wonderful that You bless Your children, those who love and worship You (John 1:12) as their Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9-10), with the promise of eternal rewards when they serve You with loving hearts.  For no one can lay any other foundation than what is already laid – which is Yeshua the Messiah.  Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear. For the Day will show it, because it is to be revealed by fire; and the fire itself will test each one’s work – what sort it is. If anyone’s work built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward (First Corinthians 3:11-14). 

Wow! an eternal reward is worth living for! Please help bosses and employees to view each other through Your eyes, to act kindly toward each other for Your sake and to pray for each other so that by their loving example, their boss/employees may come to love You as their Lord and Savior. Then they will be brothers in Messiah and someday both boss and employees would be able to joyfully greet each other in heaven, as part of the family of God (John 1:12). In the holy Name of Messiah and by the power of His resurrection. Amen

The Responsibilities of Children and Parents
6: 1-4

The responsibilities of children and parents DIG: God’s standard is that children are to obey their parents in keeping with their commitment to follow Messiah. How would you describe this kind of obedience? What are some of the benefits of children obeying their parents? How can dad’s keep from provoking their children? How does this relate to the fact that children often times get upset when they are corrected?

REFLECT: What did it mean to obey your parents as a child? In what ways can you honor your parents now? What does it mean to honor your parents as an adult? What makes honoring your parents difficult in your life? Is disregarding your parents the same as dishonoring them? Why or why not? How can fathers nurture and instruct their children instead? How much time and energy does it take for fathers to do this?

Children are to obey their parents,
and parents are to lovingly raise their children with godly discipline and guidance.

The experiment is often recounted of placing a frog in a pan of room-temperature water on a stove and of slowly increasing the heat. Because the rise in temperature is so gradual, it is imperceptible to the frog, and he remains in the pan even when the water begins to boil. He adjusts to the heat as it rises and eventually boils to death. That process illustrates what has happened to the American family, including many families of faith. The changed values in our society have been so gradual that most people have hardly noticed them. Each small change in standards and values seems insignificant in itself. And because adjustments are gradually made to those lowered standards, the danger is not noticed even when the family and society start to disintegrate and crumble. Moral and spiritual standards have gradually eroded until countless families have been literally destroyed.

When the divorce rate among believers is almost as high as that in the rest of society, it is clear that many believers should have jumped out of the pan long ago. It is high time we leave the evil system that is engulfing and destroying us and reestablish ourselves in God’s revealed standards of fidelity and purity. We have long lost the luxury of living in a society that gives some nominal support of the Church and biblical values.

The first step in transmitting God’s truth is to pass it on to our children. God’s Word declares: These words, which I am ordering you today, are to be on your heart, and you are to teach them carefully to your children. You are to talk about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). Parents are to continually speak about the things of the Lord, so that knowledge and love of Him would become a matter of life and breath for the family. It is God’s plan for His Word to be passed on from one generation to the next.

And His primary means in doing so is the family.

Parents who do not fully and tirelessly commit themselves to the godly teaching and training of their children are likely to wake up one day and find their sons and daughters intimately ensnared in the ungodly and immoral philosophies and practices of the world. If you have a wayward child see my commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Hu – The Parable of the Lost Son and His Jealous Brother. Despite what the world would say, children are to obey their parents. They are not to be liberated from their parents and enabled to choose whatever they want to do, when they want to do it, and the way they want to do it.

In God’s Word, parents have every truth and every guideline necessary for raising their children in righteousness and godliness. And what a child needs to know about how he should relate and respond to his parents is also there. The Bible was completed over two thousand years ago, but mankind has not changed since then . . . and neither has YHVH. What Scripture has to say is timeless and up-to-date. No human discovery, philosophy, or attitude is new or surprising to ADONAI or outside the scope and judgment of His revealed Word.²⁴¹

The submission of children (6:1-3): Children, obey your parents . . . (6:1a). The Greek word Tekna (children) does not refer particularly to young children, but to all offspring. Sons and daughters still under their parents’ roof are to obey and honor them. Although, Paul has just mentioned, men and women are no longer under the authority of their parents once they themselves marry (5:31), special respect and concern for their parents should continue as long as they live. The child who is brought up to obey and honor his parents will always be sensitive to their wisdom, counsel, and welfare.

Parents stand in the gap, so to speak, between children and YHVH while the children are too young to have a full and mature relationship with Him themselves. Parents are God’s stewards, His proxy authority, for their children, who are simply loaned to them in trust by their own heavenly Father. That is why children are commanded: Be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord (Colossians 3:20). The only exception to that obedience is in the matter of doing what is wrong. Every believer should refuse to do anything that is clearly against God’s will as taught in Scripture. He should say with Peter and John: Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking of what we have seen and heard (see the commentary on Acts Ar – Peter and John Stand before the Sanhedrin). Otherwise, the child of God is to obey his or her parents in all things.

. . . in the Lord, for this is right (6:1b). The basic reason for children to obey and honor their parents is simply that it is right. The rightness is not based on psychological case studies or other human evidence or theory, but on God’s standard of right. The declaration of ADONAI makes it right. Children are to honor both their father and mother, to hold them in the highest possible respect. When ADONAI first introduced His written Torah in the form of the Ten Words (see Deuteronomy Bk – The Ten Words), the first mitzvah relating to human relationships was Honor your father and your mother, so you may live long in the Land ADONAI your God is giving you (Exodus 20:12). And this is the mitzvah that Paul repeats here. It is the only mitzvah of the ten that relates to the family, because that one principle alone, when obeyed, is enough to secure the right relationship of children to their parents. Not only that, but it is the key principle behind all right human relationships in society. A person who grows up with a sense of respect for and obedience to their parents will have the necessary foundation (see Bu – The Necessary Foundation) for respecting the authority of other leaders and the rights of other people in general.

The mitzvah to honor your father and mother is twofold. So that it may go well with you relates to the quality of life, and that you may live long in the earth (Greek: ges, meaning the earth or land) relates to the quantity of life promised (6:2-3). Sha’ul’s original promise was to Isra’el and involved many tangible, physical, earthly blessings. But Paul’s reference to it here shows that it also extends to believers today. Though its blessings may not always be tangible, a family where children and parents live in mutual love and submission will have a rich, God-given harmony and satisfaction that other families can never know. As for the promise of living long on the earth, the believer who honors his parents (see Deuteronomy Bp – Honor Your Parents), can know that his or her lifetime will be the full measure that God intends, rather than cut short like the death of Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1-11), Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:5-10) and certain members of the Corinthian church (First Corinthians 11:30).²⁴²

The submission of parents (6:4): After the exhortation to the Ephesian children, the Rabbi addresses the responsibilities facing fathers. For discipline to take place in the home, necessary in the raising of children, fathers need to be strong leaders. This is especially true with teenage boys who can simply overwhelm their mother physically. But some fathers go overboard with this and are too aggressive. Therefore, Paul wisely condemns irritating or provoking children, saying: Fathers, don’t provoke your children and make them resentful (6:4a). Children or teenagers may not perfectly live up to God’s standards, but it is also a sobering reminder that fathers can stumble as well. They may act out or be inappropriate. But a deeper analysis looks at the environment of the home, in which fathers play a crucial role. They can even be a source of the provocation of their sons and daughters, and for that, Ha’Shem holds them accountable.

Instead of provoking his children, the believing father is to raise them with the Lord’s kind of discipline and guidance (6:4b). Sha’ul says that this includes godly discipline, which will include boundaries for acceptable behavior. This discipline is related to the word “disciple” and a father’s first disciples must be in his own home. We would like to believe that our children will naturally behave, but world history proves otherwise! Children, when left to their own devices, often make the wrong choices. It is hard to blame them too much since they lack life experience. That is why Solomon encourages the parents of his day to train up a child in the way he should go (Proverbs 22:6). Fathers must be concerned enough about their children to correct their bad behavior and give them proper boundaries to have a chance for a successful life.

Therefore, the father should be the servant leader of his family, especially in regards to taking his family to their Messianic congregation or church, teaching at home, and reading the Word. The Sh’ma reminds fathers that they are to talk of godly values all the time (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). The implication is that the fathers are not merely to speak the Torah, but more importantly, to model the Torah. In fact, a great deal of spiritual damage can be done if fathers speak the Torah without walking in the Torah.

There is another way in Jewish tradition for fathers to bless their children . . . literally! At every Shabbat dinner, after the blessings over the candles and challah, there is a blessing over the children. For the boys it is the biblical blessing found in Genesis 48:20: May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh. Over the daughters the Jews say: May God make you like Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah. Not only do the children receive the benefits of these powerful words, but every Shabbat the fathers get to show their appreciation for them. Instead of provoking the children, fathers can encourage them in the ways of Messiah. Fathers, are we living up to our sacred duties?²⁴³

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that loving and obeying You is the wisest way to obtain eternal joy! Parents who love You will want to teach their children to obey You for then the children will be happiest both now and for all eternity. How wonderful for parents to be able to encourage and train their children that God will always give them the very best, when they follow him for God is love (First John 4:8c).

Comforting for children is when their parents teach them that they are never alone, even when their parents are not with them, for God is with all who love Him and have become His children. Yeshua answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him (John 14:23).

Please help each parent who is reading this to know how to guide their children lovingly. It is hard to train children now, for the world wrongly teaches them that what you call wrong is right. Please give wisdom to parents to be sure to teach their children that obeying You will bring the greatest happiness that will last through all eternity. Help parents to teach about how You are holy and cannot let people into heaven who do whatever they want, for Your standard of holiness is heaven’s standard of holiness. Suffering is sure to come, but the hard times will soon be over and replaced with joy and peace for all eternity! For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18).

Many parents also teach that saying I love You God as a child and then living to please yourself does Not qualify for salvation. What someone does speaks louder than a few words that were said a long time ago. A heart of love and repentance, turning from sins to God is so important. I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner than over the ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance (Luke 15:7). Turning to You in humble love, believing in you as Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9-10) and continuing in the faith (Colossians 1:23, First John 2:19) brings eternal joy! To love and to follow You, You so graciously bestow the right to become Your child (John 1:12) and thereby receive redemption (Ephesians 1:7) and Messiah’s righteousness thru His blood sacrifice. He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21). Your children love to teach their children to love and follow You so they may live eternally in heaven with You, our wonderful holy and loving heavenly Father. In the Holy Messiah’s Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The Role and Priorities of the Husband
5: 25-33

The role and priorities of the husband DIG: How did Messiah love the Church? Was there anything he wouldn’t do for her? Did He lord over her, or serve her? Did He even suffer and die for her? How hard would it be for a wife to submit to her husband if he truly exhibited servant leadership? What would cause a husband not to have his prayers heard? How does the Jewish wedding ceremony foreshadow Messiah’s return? Why the mystery?

REFLECT: Should the husband be a dictator to his wife? Should she be a doormat? Explain your thinking? How do you serve your wife? In what ways do you sacrifice your wants and desires for your wife? Do you know her wants, needs, and desires for the future? What are you doing to make her dreams come true? Are you her number one fan? The real question men should be asking is, “How did Messiah love the Church?”

Messiah’s sacrifice on the cross is the barometer for a husband’s love for his wife.

Sacrificial love (5:25b): The Torah model is a husband who loves his wife. Rabbi Sha’ul tells us that men are to emulate Messiah in their love for their wives. He says: Husbands, love your wives, just as the Messiah loved the Church, and gave Himself up for her (5:25 NIV). This is a sacrificial love. There is no bullying, there is no forced submission. Instead the biblical husband is to nourish and cherish his wife. To be her number one fan. One cannot cherish a person and at the same time disregard their wishes and opinions. Messiah-like headship is defined as servant-hood. Lording it over another person is something that the Master attributes to the ways of pagans. His disciples are to demonstrate leadership through their humble service: Yeshua said, “You know that among the Goyim, those who are supposed to rule them become tyrants, and their superiors’ become dictators. Among you, it must not be like that. On the contrary, whoever among you wants to be a leader must become your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave! For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve – and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28). And Paul charges married men to love their wives and do not be embittered against them (Colossians 3:19). Again the key word is love (First Corinthians 13:4-7).

It is particularly important that we notice that the apostle never commands husbands to “make your wives submit to you.” The mitzvah of submitting to one’s husband belongs solely to the woman. It is the wife’s mitzvah, not the husbands. A husband need not worry that his wife is not submitting to him. That is her business, not his. The Bible does not give a man license to force his wife to obey him. Rather, he is to love her and treat her as a fellow heir. She is his partner, not his servant. A man who does not show his wife the dignity of being his fellow heir will not even be heard in heaven. Husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered (First Peter 3:7). An insensitive man or harsh authoritarian that does not live with his wife in an understanding way is not worthy of even having his prayers answered. After all, he does not listen to his wife’s entreaties, so why should God listen to his? Thus, we learn that the biblical principles of submission and authority within the home depend upon a godly man who conducts himself according to the highest standards of Torah. A home ruled by the iron fist of harsh authoritarian is not worthy of the name of Messiah.²³⁶

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for being the perfect model for how a husband should love his wife. Because You are the Creator and Almighty Sovereign of the universe, You definitely have the right to be heavy handed and make sure all obey You. Instead, You chose the role of being the loving Savior (Romans 10:9-10) and Father of all who love You, male or female (Galatians 3:28), rich or poor, young or old, Jew or Gentile Ephesians 1:5-13). But whoever did receive Him, those trusting in His name, to these He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12).

When husbands follow the example of Messiah Yeshua’s so gracious love, their kind behavior encourages their wives to desire to be close to them and to follow and love their gracious husbands. Have this attitude in yourselves, which also was in Messiah Yeshua, Who, though existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal to God a thing to be grasped. But He emptied Himself – taking on the form of a slave (Philippians 2:5-7a).

When a husband and wife both lovingly submit to you, it brings peace and joy into the home. Thank You for giving all who love You, both men and women, Your Ruach to live within them and to guide how each is to follow the role guidelines that You have set up for their happiness. Yeshua answered and said to him: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him (John 14:23).

Though life seems hard at times, and it may seem easier to ignore the role guidelines that You have given, the truth is this life is but a blink. It is always wisest for me to follow all You say for I will be rewarded for serving You with a loving and obedient heart (First Corinthians 3:11-15). The joy You have for those who lay aside selfish ways to follow You will be rewarded for all eternity. An eternal reward is worth living for. I cannot even imagine how long one thousand years is, let alone ten thousand times ten thousand years; but even that is only scratching the surface of how long I will enjoy living with You in your wonderful and peaceful home of heaven (John 14:1-3 and Revelation 21:1-3). It is so well worth it to love and to follow all you say about husband-and-wife roles. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18). In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

We have proven that YHVH is decidedly patriarchal. Wives do not have free-agency. They are to submit to their husbands as to the Lord (to see link click Bw – The Role and Priorities of the Wife). And husbands are to love their wives, just as the Messiah loved the Church. The critical question is how did Messiah love the Church? Was there anything He would not do for the Church? What was his attitude toward the Church?

Mark answers these questions like this: For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). So if the husband puts his wife first in everything, thinking of her first, making sure all her needs are met by serving her, then that is much easier to submit to. But this kind of a relationship seems a lot different from: he shall rule over you (see the commentary on Genesis Bf – Your Desire Will Be For Your Husband, and He Will Rule Over You), doesn’t it? That sounds pretty harsh, not like a servant at all. Which is it? Does he come to serve or rule? Moreover, how is he to rule over her? If you think this is confusing, just look at the state of marital roles. It is one of the most confused areas in and out of the Church today. The main problem is confusion between man’s relationship with his wife, and his responsibility with what goes on in the marriage.

Let’s look at relationships first. The Bible clearly teaches that men and women are equals socially, psychologically, and spiritually. In other words, they are equals in their relationship with each other. God created us as equals (1:27-28), and we are to be one when married (2:24). We are equally sinful (Romans 3:23), and equally saved (John 1:12-13; Second Corinthians 5:17). Husbands and wives are to submit to each other sexually (First Corinthians 7:2-5), and socially (Ephesians 5:21). Furthermore, the Bible teaches that there shall be no sexual discrimination (Galatians 3:28). Men and women are equally dependent on God (First Corinthians 11:11-12), accepted equally as believers (Acts 5:14), and co-laborers for Him (Romans 16:1, 3-6; Philippians 4:3). So in their relationship, men and women are equals. There is no doubt about that. But there is another area that we need to look at.

The second area the Bible teaches us about is responsibility. Even though men and women are equal in their relationship to one another, men are ultimately held responsible for what goes on in the marriage. The Bible tells us that when Abram lied about Sarai being his wife, Pharaoh held Abram responsible (Genesis 12:17-20). Later, after God changed their names, Abraham and Sarah did the same thing again and Abimelech held Abraham responsible (Genesis 20:9). And it seems the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree, as Abraham’s son Isaac was held responsible for the lie about Rebekah (Genesis 26:9). Much later, God held David responsible for his sin with Bathsheba and sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke him. In Genesis, Adam and Eve both ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; in fact Eve led the way, but God held Adam responsible (Genesis 3:9). This principle is not only taught in the TaNaKh, but also in the B’rit Chadashah where Paul tells us that through one man sin entered the world (Romans 5:12, 14 and 17). Responsibility begs for accountability, and God held Adam responsible. Not only was the responsibility not the same for Adam and Eve, neither were their consequences. With the leader following and the follower leading, God declared that Adam would rule over Eve.

So with this understanding, we come back to the question: How shall the husband rule over his wife? Husbands and wives should make important decisions together as a team, but if they cannot agree, he has to make the call because he is responsible before God. How he handles the situation, how he listens to his wife and takes her feelings and opinions into consideration are important. She needs to be heard. Husbands who do not listen to their wives are fools, because Elohim made her a helper suitable for him (Genesis 2:18). If the wife does not feel like she is being heard or has any input in the marriage, it will crush her spirit and/or drive her away (physically and/or emotionally).

Purifying love (5:26-27): In order to set it apart for God . . . The Rabbi is no doubt alluding to the Jewish name of the marriage covenant – kiddushin (sanctified marriage). It is an illustration that every Jew would understand. As biblical marriage is a consecration of a woman to a man, so, too, it reminds every Jew of being set apart as a people for God. In fact, the phrasing of 5:26-27 (and the broader context of Ephesians) is reminiscent of the entire Jewish wedding ceremony . . . making it clean through immersion in the mikveh, so to speak (5:26). Here, the Rabbi makes another reference to the mikveh as he discusses family purity mitzvot, specifically in the Jewish wedding traditions. It was and still is a common practice for a Jewish groom and bride to separately take a ritual immersion in water at a mikveh just before the final step of their wedding. Rabbinic law dictates that a kosher (acceptable) mikveh must have at least 200 gallons of rainwater funneled into a pool. Each natural body of water (oceans, rivers, or lakes) is already considered acceptable. We find immersions in Scripture (Second Kings 5 and Matthew 3).

It should be noted that a person must be thoroughly clean before being totally immersed, thereby showing that the waters of the mikveh are not for physical cleansing, but for a spiritual purpose. In Jewish sources, the act of tevilah (immersion or baptism) is akin to being born again. The person who has sinned and becomes impure is transformed; he dies and is resurrected and becomes a new creation.

Rabbi Sha’ul makes an important point here by alluding to the custom of a mikveh on one’s wedding day. It is the responsibility of the new husband to make sure both he and his bride take this symbolic immersion as they start their lives together. This beautifully parallels the immersion of the Ruach that makes all believers clean as we become new creatures in Messiah (see the commentary on Second Corinthians Bd – A New Creation). Sha’ul emphasizes both aspects within the Jewish wedding customs. In a literal sense, Messianic husbands are to mentor their wives spiritually so that they are clean and without defect. Similarly, we believers are called to live as faithful brides and to participate in this mikveh in anticipation of our wedding day with Messiah. In order to present the Church to Himself as a bride to be proud of, without a spot, wrinkle or any such thing (Song of Songs 4:7), but holy and without defect (5:27). In so doing, we will be a spiritual bride this is holy, cleansed, without defect and waiting for Him.²³⁷

Caring love (5:28-30): For a husband’s love for his wife to be like Messiah’s love for His Body, the Church, it must also be affectionately caring. This is how husband’s ought to love their wives – like their own bodies; for the man who loves his wife is loving himself. When she needs strength, he gives her strength. When she needs encouragement, he gives her that. And so with every other need she has. Why, no one ever hated his own flesh! On the contrary, he feeds it well and takes care of it, just as the Messiah does the Church, because we are parts of his Body.²³⁸

Unbreakable love (5:31): Therefore a man will leave his father and mother and remain with his wife, and the two will become one flesh. Rabbi Sha’ul again refers back to the early verses of the Torah and God’s design for marriage. Yet, he takes it a step further in reminding the husbands to be godly leaders in their marriages. It is all illustrated in the Jewish understanding of marriage and the final step of the Jewish wedding ceremony. As the one-year engagement time draws to a close, the father of the groom initiates the last part of the ceremony with the sounding of the shofar. The general community, and even the bridal party, was never sure of the exact time, so they needed to be ready (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Jw – The Parable of the Ten Virgins). At the sound of the shofar, the wedding procession would begin from the groom’s home to pick up the bride to bring her to the huppah (wedding canopy). There, the ketubah (written contract) would be signed and vows exchanged. The second cup of wine would be shared along with the seven blessings over the couple. At the completion of the ceremony, the couple would then be fully married and could live together with full conjugal rights.

Today, almost all the above elements are included in one ceremony in the modern Jewish wedding. They still speak volumes about our relationship with God and His plan for the future. Messianic Jews and Gentiles have become “engaged to Yeshua.” We currently await the sound of the shofar announcing the return of the groom, Yeshua Messiah (see the commentary on Leviticus Ee – Rosh ha’Shanah – Trumpets), to start the final wedding processional, and be reunited with Him to live together for the thousand-year Messianic Kingdom centered in Jerusalem. What a time of rejoicing that will be!²³⁹

Mysterious love (5:32-33): The final step of the Jewish wedding ceremony contains symbolism about our personal relationship with God. There is a profound mystery – but I am talking about Messiah and the Church. A mystery in the bible is something once hidden, but now revealed (Colossians 1:26-27)? The sacred relationship between believing husbands and wives is indistinguishably related to the sacred relationship between Messiah and His Church. However, the text also applies to each of you individually: let each man love his wife as he does himself, and see that the wife respects her husband. Husbands, are we fulfilling our roles as servant leaders to our wives and family? Wives, are you living up to your high calling of being a suitable complement to your husband? We have all sent out our RSVPs by receiving Yeshua as our Redeemer. He desires for all people to attend this great Jewish wedding (see The Life of Christ Hp – The Parable of the Great Banquet).²⁴⁰

The Role and Priorities of the Wife
5: 22-24

The role and priorities of the wife DIG: What makes it difficult to yield to someone else’s wants and needs instead of your own? Is the term submit an absolutely negative term for you? When might it be positive? How can wives honor their husbands as the Church honors Messiah? What is the relationship between love and respect in marriage?

REFLECT: What does it mean to be submissive? Is it scary or comforting? Is it a sacrifice for you to submit to your husband or is it a joy? Why is that? If you have children, how are you submitting to your husband modeling godly behavior for them? What is one area of your relationship you need to submit to your husband this week?

A woman who properly submits to her husband also submits to the Lord.

Because so much of the Church has long disregarded the full teaching of the Scriptures, many believers find some of its truths to be unfamiliar and even hard to accept. And because the Church has been so engulfed in, identified with, and victimized by worldly standards, God’s standards seem to be out-of-date, irrelevant, and offensive to modern thinking. His way is so high and contrary to the way of the world that it is incomprehensible to many in and out of the Church. Over and over again the B’rit Chadashah calls us to another dimension of existence, a new way of thinking, acting and living. To walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called . . . and clothe yourselves with the new nature created to be godly, which expresses itself in the righteousness and holiness that flow from the truth (4:1 and 24), is to fulfill the high calling to which we were called in a completely new life and in a completely new, Spirit-filled way.²²⁸

The matter of submission: Wives should submit to their husbands (Ephesians 5:22a; Colossians 3:18; Titus 2:4-5). With an understanding of submission in mind, it must be noted that this command does not place the wife in an inferior position. All people, regardless of their position in life, are equal in standing before God through Messiah (Galatians 3:28). The world may place a greater or lesser value on persons as was true in the first century Roman Empire. In that world (and still in some places today), wives were considered as property and also greatly inferior to their husbands. The Rabbi encourages the wives to be in correct biblical submission – not subservient, but as a complement, an equal, to her husband.

Wives are always given great social status in Judaism as illustrated in the following rabbinic quote: Honor your wife, for thereby you enrich yourself. A man should be ever careful about the honor due to his wife, because no blessing is expected in his house except on her account (Tractate Bava Metzia 59a). It is therefore logical that the B’rit Chadashah affirms their distinctive role in marriage. Women have many gifts. The mothering instinct not seen in most men is something unique to women. In a connected theme, Sha’ul also encourages the Messianic wives to respect their husbands. Men often look for this in the marriage relationship and women should be motivated as they realize they are actually showing respect to Messiah in the process (5:33).²²⁹ But what are women to do if they are married to an unbeliever?

Guidelines for believers married to unbelievers who want to stay married: Yeshua, in the course of His ministry, had never addressed this issue. But Paul, with no less authority did. With two sets of perfectly balanced sentences, he says that believers are not to initiate divorce proceedings: To the rest I say – I, not the Lord: if any brother has a wife who is not a believer, and she is satisfied to go on living with him, he should not leave her. Also, if any woman has an unbelieving husband who is satisfied to go on living with her, she is not to leave him (First Corinthians 7:12-14). Indeed, Peter also instructs married women that they should submit to their husbands, so that even if some of them do not believe the Word, they will be won over by your conduct (First Peter 3:1a). While Paul does not reflect on this here, it certainly must have been difficult for a woman in Corinth to stand out alone in a marriage and to accept Yeshua Messiah as her Lord and Savior. In most cases in Greco-Roman society, the religion of the father in the family was the religion of the whole household (Acts 16:33-34). Undoubtedly, then, for a wife to go against the religion of the household and become a believer must have, in some cases at least, led to intense friction in the home.²³⁰

Believers married to unbelievers were not to worry that they, themselves, their marriage, or their children would be defiled by the unbelieving spouse. On the contrary, just the opposite is true. Divorce was to be avoided because the believing spouse was, and is, a channel of God’s grace in the marriage. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Being unequally yoked (see the commentary on Second Corinthians, to see link click Bi – Do Not Be Unequally Yoked with Unbelievers), one flesh with an unbeliever, can be frustrating, discouraging, and even costly. But it need not be defiling because one believer can sanctify a home. Sanctified here refers to being set apart. Sanctification in this context is matrimonial and familial, not personal or spiritual.

Furthermore, God looks on the family as a unit. Even if it is divided spiritually, and most of its members are unbelieving and immoral, the entire family is sanctified by the believer among them. Therefore, if an unbelieving spouse is willing to stay, the believer is not to seek a divorce. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy (First Corinthians 7:14 NIV). Just the presence of one believer will protect the children. It is not that their salvation is assured, but that they are protected from undue spiritual harm and that they will receive spiritual blessing because they share the spiritual benefits of the believing parent. Often the testimony of the believing parent in this situation is especially effective, because the children see a clear contrast to the unbelieving parent’s life, and that leads them to salvation.²³¹

Guidelines for believers married to unbelievers who want to leave (First Corinthians 7:15-16): Paul now moves to the next step; there is an exception to the rule of no divorce. But if the unbelieving spouse leaves (Greek: chorizo, meaning separate), let him leave. In keeping with the whole argument, Paul once more qualifies the ideal with an exception. The believer may not pursue divorce, but if the pagan wants to leave, let them do so. This verse does not say, “If the pagan begins divorce proceedings.” Words mean something, and chorizo simply means to separate, or to leave. If a wife had to rely on a vindictive fleeing pagan husband to begin divorce proceedings, she would be left in a state of slavery. Her only crime was faith in Messiah. However, in circumstances like these, the brother or sister is not enslaved, and is able to divorce and remarry. God has called you to a life of peace, not slavery (First Corinthians 7:15).

Marriage was not designed for an evangelistic tool. Missionary dating is a bad idea; and missionary marriages are bad if the unbelieving spouse leaves. Far too many young brides or grooms have been led away from Messiah as a result of the influence of the unbelieving spouse. For the wife has no assurance that she will save her husband, and the husband has no assurance that he will save his wife (First Corinthians 7:16)? To cling to a marriage in which the pagan is determined to end would inevitably lead to frustration and tension. The certain strain is not justified by the uncertain result. The guiding principle must be peace.²³²

The manner of submission: The manner or attitude of submission is to be as they do to the Lord (5:22b). This does not mean that a wife is to submit to her husband in the same way she submits to the Lord, but rather that her submission to her husband is her service to the Lord. Everything we do in obedience to the Lord should also be done first of all for His glory and to please Him. A woman who properly submits to her husband also submits to the Lord. This explains why a believer should marry a believer and not become unequally yoked together with an unbeliever (see Second Corinthians Bi – Do Not be Unequally Yoked with Unbelievers). Such a home invites civil war from the beginning.

The motive of submission: For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church (5:23a). Sha’ul will have more to say about this with regards to the role of the husband (see Bx – The Role and Priorities of the Husband), but the overriding principle is stated here. God’s directions are clear. The wife is called upon to place herself under the authority and leadership of her husband, and the husband is to love his wife as Messiah loved the Church. This does not mean that the husband should be a dictator or that the wife should be a doormat. The husband is to lead through sacrifice and love, and the wife is to submit with sincerity and respect.²³³

The fact that the husband is to serve as the head of the family as a servant leader, exemplifies Yeshua Himself. He came as a leader by serving others, even to the point of self-sacrificing death on the Roman cross. This is clearly the greatest example husbands have and clearly defines the biblical idea of headship in marriage. Hence, the Rabbi encourages the wives to submit to their husbands even as they submit to Yeshua.²³⁴

The model of submission: He Himself being the Savior of the Body (5:23b). The supreme and ultimate model of submission is Yeshua Messiah Himself, who performed the supreme act of submission by giving His own sinless life to save a sinful world. Messiah is the Savior of the Body, His Church, for whom He died on a Roman cross. He is the perfect Provider, Protector, and Head of His Church, which is His Body. He is the divine role model for husbands, who should provide for, protect, preserve, love, and lead their wives and families in the same way that Messiah cares for His Church. Wives are no more to be co-providers, co-protectors, or co-leaders with their husbands than the Church is to have such roles with Yeshua Messiah. But just as the Church submits to Messiah, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything (5:24). To follow God’s plan for the family not only is pleasing to Him, but is the only way to godlier, happier, and more secure homes. His plan is neither for the exaltation of men and the suppression of women, nor for the exaltation of women and the suppression of men, but for the perfection and fulfillment of both men and women as He has ordained them to be. Such perfection and fulfillment can only be made possible by the filling of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh (see Bt – Be Filled with the Ruach).²³⁵

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your great love that always wants the best for me. Thank You that You love both men and women – not men more than women, nor women more than men. In Your great wisdom, You gave both men and women the physical characteristics and emotional characteristics that would help both function best in the roles you have assigned to them. More important than being male or female, is the heart of each that loves God back for His gracious mercy and kindness.  And He said to him: You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37-38).

You are so gracious to be willing to live in all, both men and women, who love and obey You. Yeshua answered and said to him: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him (John 14:23). Both men and women will be in heaven. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female – for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua (Galatians 3:28, John 14:1-3). Both men and women will be rewarded according to their heart attitude. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear. For the Day will show it, because it is to be revealed by fire; and the fire itself will test each one’s work – what sort it is.  If anyone’s work built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward (First Corinthians 3:12-14). Thank You for Your great love that makes those who love You, both male and female, Your children. But whoever did receive Him, those trusting in His name, to these He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12). It is a joy to love and to follow Your guidelines for our lives and roles. In Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The Messianic Marriage
5: 22-33

Rabbi Sha’ul now turns his attention to a most practical application of his teaching about the Spirit-filled believer – the covenant of marriage. Unlike the ancient pagan societies, the Ephesus believers were part of Judaism, and the Torah has always held the highest regard for this holy relationship. It is said in the earliest verses of the Torah that it is not good for man to be alone. This is magnified in importance when one remembers that Adam was in a perfect paradise created by God. Nevertheless, something essential was missing, so ADONAI said: I will make him a companion suitable for helping him (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Ax – Then LORD God Made a Woman from the Rib of Adam). Ezer kenegdo is the Hebrew phrase that literally means a helper against him. Certainly, it is not desirable for the wife to be in total opposition to her husband, but it seems true that God’s companion for man will be one very different from himself. Is it often true that opposites attract. We don’t need a spouse who is exactly like us (because then one of us would be unnecessary), but one who fills our shortcomings. Ultimately, the religious definition of marriage is spelled out this way: A man is to leave his father and mother and stick to his wife, and they are to be one flesh (Genesis 2:24). By the way, this is the wedding picture of your author and his wife in 1984. We do our best to have a Messianic marriage.

It must be noted that the biblical marriage relationship is more than a mere convenience of secular society, but it is actually a binding spiritual agreement with stipulations. It was in the dark days of the Prophets that many of Isra’el’s sins were listed. Among them was this: ADONAI is witness between you and the wife of your youth, that you have broken faith with her, though she is your companion, your wife of the covenant (Malachi 2:14). In Talmudic Judaism, the covenant of marriage is considered so holy that it is actually called by the name Kiddushin, or Sanctified Marriage. An entire tractate of the Talmud, Kiddushin, deals with the important mitzvot pertaining to marriage and the responsibilities of the husband and the wife.²²⁷

The Necessary Foundation
5: 21

The necessary foundation DIG: Why is submission to one another important to harmony? Why is submission so hard for many people? Rabbi Sha’ul addresses the issue of harmony among believers in general and the home specifically. What role does the Ruach Ha’Kodesh play in enabling us to live in harmony with others? Do you see it practiced?

REFLECT: Everyone is to submit to someone. Who are you in submission to? Is it hard or easy right now to be submissive to your government? To your place of worship? At work? Why is that? How can you change? What is one challenge to harmony that you face in your relationships? What is one thing you can do this week to promote harmony in your family?

Families are the building blocks of human society.

This verse is a transition to Paul’s extensive discussion of relationships that continues through 6:9. The general principle of mutual submission, submit to one another (5:21a), not only is a product of the filling of the Ruach (to see link click Bt – Be Filled with the Ruach) but it is also the foundation of the more specific principles of authority and submission – in relation to wives (see Bw – The Role and Priorities of the Wife), and husbands (see Bx – The Role and Priorities of the Husband), parents and children (see By – The Responsibilities of Children and Parents), and bosses and employees (see Bz – Bosses and Employees) – with which 5:22 to 6:9 deals.

Among the worst tragedies of our day is the progressive death of the family as it has been traditionally known. Marital infidelity, exaltation of sexual sin, homosexuality, abortion, so-called women’s liberation, delinquency, and the sexual revolution in general have all contributed to the family’s demise. Each one is a strand in the cord that is rapidly strangling marriage and the family.

Homosexuals are demanding the right to be married to each other, and many states as well as a growing number of church groups are recognizing that as a right. Lesbian couples, and even some gay couples, are bringing together the children they have had by various partners of the opposite sex and calling the resulting conglomerate a family (see the commentary on Leviticus Ae – The Bible and Homosexual Practice). Many unmarried women elect to keep and raise children to whom they have given birth. In such situations, single-parent families are becoming a matter of choice as of necessity. And if that were not enough, now the Alphabet Mafia contends, contrary to biology 101, the Bible, and common sense, that men can give birth to babies! Satan’s fingerprints are all over this.

Families are the building blocks of human society, and a society that does not protect the family undermines its very existence. And make no mistake, the family is under attack. And when the family goes, everything else of value soon goes with it. When the cohesiveness, meaningfulness, and discipline of the family are lost, anarchy will flourish. And where anarchy flourishes, law and order, justice and safety cannot. The family nourishes and binds society together, whereas the anarchy that results from its absence only depletes, disrupts, and destroys. Without the necessary foundation of authority in relationships, people grope for meaningful, harmonious, fulfilling, relationships by whatever means they can find or devise. Experimentation is their only recourse, and the disintegration of the family – and ultimately the society in general – can be seen as the only, and inevitable, result.

It is time for believers to declare and live what the Bible has always declared and what the Church has always taught until recent years. God’s standard for marriage and the family produces meaning, happiness, blessedness, reward and fulfillment – and it is the only standard that can produce those results.²²⁴

Sha’ul warned the believers in Ephesus to live in total contrast to the corrupt, vile, self-centered, and immoral standards around them. The relationship between husband and wife was to be modeled on that between Messiah and His Church. For the husband is the head of the wife as Messiah is the head of the Church, His Body, of which He is the Savior. Now as the Church submits to Messiah, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Messiah loved the Church and gave Himself up for her (5:23-25). The relationship between believing husbands and wives is to be holy and unbreakable, just as that between Messiah and His Church is holy and unbreakable.

The marriages and families of believers are to be radically different from those of the world (1 Jn 2:15-16). The relationships between husbands and wives and parents and children is to be bathed in humility, love, and mutual submission that the authority of husbands and parents, though exercised when necessary, becomes almost invisible and the submission of wives and children is no more acting in the spirit of gracious love.

But this basic principle of submitting to one another only finds its power and effectiveness in Messiah. The family can only be what God has designed it to be when the members of the family are what God has designed it to be . . . conformed to the image of Messiah (Romans 8:29). Just as an individual can only find fulfillment in a right relationship with God, so the family can only find complete fulfillment as believing parents and children follow His design for the family in the continuous control and power of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh (5:18b). People who do not know or even recognize the existence of authority of YHVH are not motivated to accept God’s standard for marriage and the family or for anything else for that matter. They do not have the new nature or inner resources to fully follow those standards even if they wanted to.²²⁵

Submit is from the Greek word hupotasso, originally a military term meaning to arrange or rank under. Spirit-filled believers rank themselves under one another (see the commentary on Romans Af – The List of “one another” Commands). The main idea is that of relinquishing one’s rights to another person. Paul counseled the Corinthian believers to submit to their faithful ministers (see the commentary on First Corinthians Ec – Signs of Love in the Fellowship: Submission). Peter commands us to submit ourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by Him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God (1 Pet 2:13-15; also see Rom 13:1-7). A nation cannot function without the authority of its rulers, soldiers, police, judges, and so on. Such people do not hold their own authority because they are inherently extremely important because without the appointment and exercise of orderly authority the nation would disintegrate in anarchy.

In the family, the smallest unit of human society, the same principle applies. Even a small household cannot function if each member fully demands and expresses his or her own will and goes their own way. The system of the authority of ADONAI has ordained for the family is the headship of husbands over wives and of parents over children. That is the necessary foundation that society must be built upon.²²⁶

Dear Heavenly Father, praise You for modeling the father’s role of loving authority in a family. You so greatly love me by the huge sacrifice of shame and pain that You gave for my salvation (Hebrews 12:2). How wonderful that Your love is so tender that I can always count on You. Your love is greater than any situation that can try to separate us. But in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord (Romans 8:37-39). Even greater than being a child of Abraham physically, is to be a spiritual child of Abraham (Romans 4:2-5), by having faith in You. For one is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something visible in the flesh.  Rather, the Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart – in Spirit not in letter. His praise is not from men, but from God (Romans 2:28-29). I rejoice by submitting to such a wonderful Heavenly Father as You. I trust You, I can count on You to always do what is best for me because You love me so much. In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Be Filled with the Ruach
5: 18b-20

Be filled with the Ruach DIG: We probably all know some signs of being “drunk on wine.” What are some signs of being filled with the Spirit? Why was the inclusion of verse 18 so important to the whole book of Ephesians? Without it? Why do you think the apostle associates gratitude and thankfulness with being filled with the Ruach Ha’Kodesh.

REFLECT: Being filled with the Spirit on a continual basis doesn’t happen automatically; that’s why Rabbi Sha’ul tells his readers to do it. What can we do to open ourselves to being filled with the Ruach? What evidence is there that you are a grateful person? How often do you call upon the Ruach Ha’Kodesh to fill you? Why not fill up your tank daily?

We can be imitators of God, as His dear children, only as we are filled with the Ruach.

Apart from the truth in verse 18b, which is the heart of Rabbi Sha’ul’s message, the book of Ephesians would appear to be legalistic. Every encouragement he gives would have to be fulfilled through the power of the flesh. Believers would need to rely on their own resources and strength to follow the great road map of the life of a believer that the apostle presents in Chapters 4 through 6 . . . and would, of course, find themselves completely deficient. Believers cannot walk in humility, unity, separation from the world, light, love, and wisdom apart from the energizing of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. To walk without the Spirit is to walk unwisely and foolishly (5:15-17). We can be imitators of God, as His dear children (5:1), only as we are filled with the Ruach. For Yeshua said: I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who stay united with Me, and I with them, are the ones who bear much fruit; because apart from Me, you can do nothing (John 15:5).²¹⁹

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that You came for more than just a rescue mission of saving and delivering Your children from sin’s dreadful grips. You came to fulfill Your purpose of a living and vital relation, so Your adopted children (Ephesians 1:5, John 1:12) could live united in union with You. Making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:9-10).

Last words are important and your final prayer, shortly before You were to be crucified, stressed the importance of Your children living in a united union with You.  That they all may be one. Just as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You, so also may they be one in Us, so the world may believe that You sent Me . . . I in them and You in Me – that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them as You loved Me (John 17:21 and 23).

What a comfort the thought of being united with You, as children are united into a family. There is also the responsibility of children needing to listen to and obey their father. It is a great joy to spend time reading and meditating on Your Word daily so as to know how to live. Your steadfast love (Psalms 136, 33:18, 36:5, 42:8, 63:3) endures forever and is coupled with Your great wisdom so when we wonder what path to take, the wisest and best path to take, is to pray, read Your Word and follow it as best as humanly possible.

Thank You for not just saving me from sin and leaving, but also for staying and living within me to always be there to love and to guide. Yeshua answered and said to him: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him (John 14:23). I love You and want to grow closer to You so that I follow You. In Messiah Yeshua’s Holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The command: The Rabbi makes both a comparison and a contrast in the same verse. In contrast to being drunk (to see link click Bs – Do Not Get Drunk with Wine), Messianic believers should seek to be filled with the Spirit. Why turn to artificial stimuli like alcohol or drugs when we can tap into the very power of YHVH? There is also a comparison to the Ruach and drunkenness in that both speak of something controlling a person.

Keep on being filled (Greek: pleroo, meaning filled as the wind fills a sail) with the Spirit (5:18b). It is a perfect picture, as the word for wind and spirit is the same Hebrew word ruach. It is also an apt description, as a boat must go where its sail captures the wind. Instead of a one-time action, the filling of the Ruach must be a continuous, daily event. Those of us who trust Yeshua must always seek to walk in the power that already resides in us. As has been said, “We don’t need more of the Spirit but the Spirit needs more of us!²²⁰

In Acts 6:15 we have Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. Faith filled Stephen in the sense that it controlled him. The Spirit filled Stephen in the sense that He controlled him. Therefore, the fulness of the Spirit has reference to His control over the believer yielded to Him. The verb is in the present imperative, “Be constantly, moment by moment, filled with the Spirit.”²²¹

The consequences: Sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to each other (5:19a). When the believer allows the Ruach to take control of his or her life, several other things will become obvious. Most notably the person will have a new love and appreciation for worship. Rabbi Sha’ul underscores this fact as he connects the filling of the Spirit with one who loves the various forms of worship. The Psalms are in essence the first Jewish prayer book. Many were joyfully expressed through instrumental music and even dance (Psalm 150). The Greek translation of psalms even means striking fingers on a string. The term hymns means a song of praise about God. The term spiritual songs has a slightly different emphasis as it forces on the believers experience and personal testimony. Since the apostle is writing before the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, he knew firsthand the beauty of the Jewish worship service. It wasn’t until 70 AD that music and dancing ceased, as a sign of mourning the Temple’s destruction. Many modern Jewish synagogue services are slowly reinstating some of these ancient forms. How appropriate that the Messianic Jewish synagogue movement should be leading the way in joyous music and dance. Since the Messiah has come, we cannot help but be joyful in our worship service! This is truly the fruit of the Ruach in our heart.

Sing to the Lord and make music in your heart to Him (5:19b). This new appreciation of worship starts in the heart of the Spirit-filled believer, but must overflow beyond that. From the earliest times, the Jewish expression of faith has taken place within the larger community. It is that larger group that makes it possible for us to fulfill many of the mitzvot of the Torah. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to live Jewish biblical faith in isolation. Sha’ul alludes to this here as he exhorts the Messianic believers to express their worship to each other. It is true, of course, that ADONAI is always with His children, even in isolation (Hebrews 13:5-6). But it is the same God who says it greatly pleases Him to see His children come together for this holy purpose.²²²

Always give thanks for everything (5:20a). Another natural fruit of the Ruach is thankfulness. As the Ruach reveals more and more of what God has done, we are filled with thanks. Talmudic rabbis encouraged every person to say a minimum of 100 blessings each day (Tractate Menachot 43b). This would have a positive impact on our thinking and perspective. The apostle takes it to an even higher level, as we are to give thanks for everything. By keeping our eyes on Yeshua, the Ephesians (and us today) should be the most positive people on God’s earth.

Once again the Rabbi states his theology in a very Jewish way. God is addressed as our Father in heaven numerous times within Jewish liturgy (Avinu Malkeynu, Av Ha’Rachamim, etc). Sha’ul does not change this format but adds a vital element, the name of Yeshua, the divine Mediator (2:18). To God the Father in the name of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah (5:20b). In the Semitic world, a name was more than a mere ID tag. It is often descriptive and even prophetic of a person. Therefore, to pray in the name of Yeshua is to call on the Father through the work of His Son. The Messiah can be the source of our prayers at times, but He Himself emphasized that He came to bridge the gap between us and our Father in Heaven (John 14:6). Yeshua is, of course, the expression and divine essence of YHVH, but His role is primarily to bridge the gap that normally divides us from ADONAI.²²³

Do Not Get Drunk with Wine
5: 18a

Do not get drunk with wine DIG: How does being controlled by the Ruach Ha’Kodesh compare to, and contradict, being controlled by alcohol? What was the alcohol content during biblical times? What is the alcohol content of beer, wine, or hard liquor today? What does that mean to you? Where does your freedom in Messiah end? Why?

REFLECT: Do you drink alcoholic beverages? Why? Did your parents drink? Are you pressured to drink socially? Are you expected to drink as part of your work environment? Do you find yourself drinking to relieve stress? Do you drink alone? Do you hide your drinking from others? Do you have children? Do you drink in front of your children? Why?

The Bible does not prohibit drinking wine, it prohibits getting drunk.

This verse is one of the most crucial texts relating to the life of a believer, to walking in a manner worthy of the calling with which we have been called (4:1). Being controlled by the Ruach Ha’Kodesh is absolutely essential for living a godly life by God’s standards. ADONAI’s ways cannot be properly understood or faithfully followed apart from the working of the Spirit in the life of a believer.

But before the Rabbi commanded us to be filled with the Spirit and gave the characteristics of the Spirit-filled life (to see link click Bt – Be Filled with the Ruach), he first gave a contrasting and negative command: Do not get drunk with wine (Greek: oinos), because it makes you lose control (5:18a). Getting drunk with wine not only is a hindrance to, but a counterfeit of, being filled with the Ruach. In light of the apostle’s preceding contrasts between light and darkness (see Bq – Living in Light), and between wisdom and foolishness (see Br – Walking in Wisdom), his point here is that getting drunk is a mark of darkness and foolishness and that being filled with the Spirit is the source of a believer’s ability to walk in light and wisdom.

There have been few periods of church history in which the drinking of alcoholic beverages has not been an issue of disagreement and debate. Messianic congregations and churches in our own day have widely differing views on the subject. Denominations and missions’ organizations sometimes have differing views even within their constituencies from country to country. We must be clear that drinking or not drinking is not in itself a mark, and certainly not a measure, of spirituality. Spirituality is determined by what we are inside, of which what we do on the outside is merely a reflection.²¹⁵

Scripture always condemns drunkenness: Both the TaNaKh and the B’rit Chadashah unequivocally condemn drunkenness. Scripture shows it in its full ugliness and tragedy, as always being associated with immorality, termination, unrestrained behavior, wild, reckless behavior, and every other form of corrupt living (Genesis 9:20-27, 19:23-29; First Kings 20:16-34, Dan’el 5; and First Corinthians 5:11, 6:9-10, 11:27-30; First Thessalonians 5:6-8; Romans 13:13; First Peter 4:3). The book of Proverbs has many warnings about drinking (20:1, 23:19-21, 32-33 and 35). It is one of the sinful deeds of the flesh that are in opposition to the righteous fruit of the Ruach HaKodesh (Galatians 5:19-23). Drunkenness is first of all a sin. It develops attendant disease as it ravages the mind and body, but it is basically a sin, a manifestation of depravity. So, it must be confessed and dealt with as a sin.

The Roman pantheon in Ephesus caused the believers living there no small amount of trouble regarding getting drunk. The god known as either Zeus to the Greeks or Jupiter to the Romans was the center of a mystical religious system. His son, Dionysius, had a religion consisting of wild music, frenzied dancing, sexual perversion, bodily mutilation, eating raw flesh of sacrificial animals, and drunkenness. Dionysius became known as the god of wine, the intoxicating drink that was integral to the immoral religion that centered around him. This was exactly the type of pagan “worship” with which the Ephesians were well acquainted and in which many believers had once been involved. Here, in Ephesians 5:18a, Rabbi Sha’ul was therefore not simply making a moral, but also a theological, contrast. He was not only speaking of the moral and social evils of drunkenness, but of the spiritually perverted use of drunkenness as a means of worship.

Scripture sometimes commends drinking: The Bible does not prohibit drinking wine; it prohibits getting drunk. Wine is a symbol of joy in the Jewish community. Drink offerings of wine accompanied many of the Levitical sacrifices (Exodus 29:40-41, 30:9; Leviticus 23:13, 18 and 37; Numbers 15:26, 6:15-20, 15:5-10 and 24, and 28:7-10, 14-15, 24, 31, and 29:6). There was a royal winery in Herod’s Temple for that purpose. The psalmist spoke of wine which makes man’s heart glad (Psalm 104:15) and, the writer of Proverbs advised giving strong drink to him who is perishing and wine to him whose life is bitter (Proverb 31:6). Paul advised Timothy, “Stop drinking water; instead, use a little wine for the sake of your digestion and because of your frequent illnesses” (First Timothy 5:23). Yeshua’s first miracle was turning water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bq – Jesus Changes Water into Wine). He also spoke favorably of wine in the parable of the good Samaritan, who poured oil and wine on the wounds of the man he found beaten by the roadside (see The Life of Christ Gw – The Parable of the Good Samaritan).²¹⁶

Is today’s wine the same as that in Bible times? Naturally fermented wine has an alcoholic content of nine to eleven percent. Since the strongest wine normally drunk was mixed with three parts water to one part of wine, its alcohol content would range no higher than 2.25 to 2.75 percent. Today, regular beer has 5 percent alcohol content, five ounces of wine, typically has about 12 percent alcohol content, and an ounce-and-a-half of hard liquor has about 40 percent alcohol content. It is clear, then, that in order to get drunk with wine during Bible times, a person would have to drink a large quantity – as is suggested in other passages in the B’rit Chadashah. Therefore, the wine of the first century was not the same as the wine of our day. Even the more civilized pagans of Bible times would have considered the drinking of modern wines to be barbaric and irresponsible.

Will it stumble other believers? But like many other things, wine has the potential for either doing good or doing evil. The Ephesian believers had the freedom in Messiah to drink, just like the Corinthian believers had the freedom in Messiah to eat meat sacrificed to idols. But the believers in both cities had a choice to make when eating or drinking socially or in public. And the apostle’s admonition to be careful that the exercise of your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble is still important for us to remember today (see the commentary on First Corinthians Bm – The Weaker Brother or Sister). Our freedom in Messiah stops where it begins to harm others, especially fellow believers. Paul said: Do not, by your eating (or drinking) habits, destroy (Greek: apollumi, meaning to cause pain or grief) someone for whom the Messiah died (Romans 14:15)! We are to do those things which make for peace and the building up of one another (Romans 4:19).²¹⁷

In deciding about whether or not to participate in any behavior that is doubtful, the following principles make a good checklist to follow:

Excess: Is the activity or habit necessary, or is it merely an extra that is not really important? Is it perhaps only an encumbrance that you should willingly give up. So then, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us, too, put aside every impediment – that is, the sin which easily hampers our forward movement – and keep running with endurance in the contest set before us (Hebrews 12:1).

Expediency: Is what I want to do helpful or useful, or only desirable? You say, “For me, everything is permitted.” Maybe, but not everything is helpful (First Corinthians 6:12).

Emulation: If we are doing what Messiah would do, our action is not only permissible, but good and right. Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Yeshua did (First John 2:6).

Example: Are we setting the right example for others, especially for weaker brothers and sisters? If we emulate Messiah, others will be able to emulate us, to follow our example. Set the believers an example in your speech, behavior, love, trust and purity (First Timothy 4:12).

Evangelism: Is my testimony going to be helped or hindered? Will unbelievers be drawn to Messiah or turned away from Him by what I am doing? Will it help me conduct myself with wisdom towards outsiders, making the most of the opportunity (Colossians 4:5 NASB).

Edification: Will I be built up and matured in Messiah; will I become spiritually stronger? You say, “Everything is permitted.” Maybe, but not everything is edifying (First Corinthians 10:23).

Exaltation: Will the Lord be lifted up and glorified in what I do? God’s glory and exaltation should be the supreme purpose behind everything we do. Whatever you do, whether it’s eating or drinking or anything else, do it all so as to bring glory to God (First Corinthians 10:31).²¹⁸

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for the joy of knowing You as our Awesome Father! When I think of all Your magnificent attributes my heart is full of great joy. Meditating on You brings a deep and long-lasting joy, unlike the quick and temporary euphoria brought on by an alcoholic drink. There is such peace in our souls as we think about and meditate on Your great and steadfast love. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you (Psalms 63:3).  What a comfort and peace that You are always with me.  For God Himself has said: I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Your grace and mercy caused Messiah to lovingly and willingly pay the penalty for our sins, so you can fill those who have faith in You (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 4:5) with Messiah’s righteousness (Second Corinthians 5:21). You not only removed sin’s eternal and terrible punishment from me, but how fantastic that Messiah is preparing a wonderful eternal home (John 14:1-3) full of peace and joy for all who love and worship You as their Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9-10).

I choose to live my life filled with joy in Messiah (Ephesians 1:10, John 17:21, 23). Even when life is hard and lonely, I can rejoice for I know with absolute certainty that You have already won the last battle for control of earth (Revelation 19:11-21, 20:9-10). You will reign as King of Kings forever with Your children living with You in Your perfect heaven.  I also heard a loud voice from the throne, saying: Behold, the dwelling of God is among men, and He shall tabernacle among them. They shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them and be their God. He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Nor shall there be mourning or crying or pain any longer, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:3-4). Heaven will be a place of true and lasting eternal joy! In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Walking in Wisdom
5: 15-17

Walking in wisdom DIG: How is walking in wisdom related to being filled with the Ruach Ha’Kodesh? Why is it important for believers to walk in wisdom? Specifically, how can we walk wisely? What is the difference between knowing God’s will and understanding it?

REFLECT: Who do you need to start spending more time with? Describe the difference between spending your time and investing your time? Are you asking ADONAI daily for wisdom? If not, why not? In what ways are you to love the Lord? Who can you tell?

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, and it will be given to him (James 1:5).

The word fool commonly refers to a person who acts unintelligently and irresponsibly. But Scripture defies a fool as a person who says in his heart. There is no God and who is morally corrupt, doing abominable deeds (Psalm 14:1). The fool is the person who lives apart from ADONAI – either as a theological or practical atheist or as both, denying God by his actions as well as His words. The fool is the person who rebels against God.

Because mankind is born separated from YHVH and with hearts that are naturally against Him (Romans 5:8 and 10; Ephesians 2:3; Colossians 1:21), we are born spiritually foolish. Because, although they know who God is, they do not glorify him as God or thank him. On the contrary, they have become futile in their thinking; and their undiscerning hearts have become darkened. Claiming to be wise, they have become fools (Romans 1:21-22)! Now the natural man does not receive the things from the Spirit of God – to him they are nonsense! Moreover, he is unable to grasp them, because they are evaluated through the Spirit (First Corinthians 2:14). The natural man has the most important things in life exactly reversed. Consequently, he thinks foolishness is wisdom and wisdom is foolishness (see the commentary on First Corinthians, to see link click An – The Foolishness of Worldly Wisdom).²⁰⁸

Live wisely: Therefore, walk in wisdom, not unwisely (5:15). The word therefore immediately takes us back to the apostle’s call for believers to walk as those who have been raised from the dead and are living in Messiah’s light (5:14). It also reaches back even further to build upon his call for believers to be imitators of their heavenly father (5:1). Believers are to walk wisely, rather than unwisely because we are God’s beloved children (5:1-2). Speaking to believers, James said: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all mankind generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him (James 1:5). Paul prayed that the Colossian believers would be filled with wisdom and understanding and that they would let the word of Messiah richly dwell within them, with all wisdom and teaching and admonishing one another (Colossians 1:9 and 3:16). Instead of letting the world mold us, we will then be able to lie the Ruach and the Word renew our minds for walking in the blessings of Yeshua (see the commentary on Romans Dc – Responding to the Mercies of ADONAI).

If it had not been written centuries before the time of Paul, Proverbs 2 would appear to be a commentary on Ephesians 5:15. Throughout the chapter the writer of Proverbs speaks of walking in the wise path and the wise way and of not going into the way of the wicked or straying into the company of evil people. Similarly, Psalm 1 speaks of the blessed man as the one who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, not stand in the path of sinners nor sit in the seat of scoffers. His delight is in ADONAI’s Torah and on it he meditates day and night (Psalm 1:1-2). The best way for believers to have the wisdom of God is to saturate ourselves in His Word and separate ourselves from the world, not setting our hearts on the wrong things. Paul told Timothy, for example, that those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge them into ruin and destruction (First Timothy 6:9).

No one can live without a god of some sort, and the spiritual fool inevitably substitutes a false god for the true God. He creates gods of his own making (see the commentary on Isaiah Hy – Worship the LORD, Not Idols), and, in effect, becomes his own god, his own authority in all matters. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes (Proverbs 12:5), and therefore he determines right and wrong and truth and falsehood entirely by his own fallen thinking and sinful inclination.²⁰⁹

Because life is short: Use your time well. The word time, here, is not chronos, meaning an orderly account, but kairos, meaning time as regarded in its strategic, seasonable and opportunistic seasons. The idea is not to make the best use of time, as such, but of taking advantage of the opportunities as they present themselves.²¹⁰ Sometimes procrastination is a legitimate response to a trivial task. But because love is what matters most, it takes top priority and use your time well. Why is now the best time to express love? Because you don’t know how long you will have the opportunity. Circumstances change. People die. Children grow up. You have no guarantee of tomorrow. If you want to express love, you had better do it now. Knowing that one day you will stand before God, here are some questions we all need to consider: How will you explain those times when projects or things were more important to you than people? Who do you need to start spending more time with? What do you need to cut out of your schedule to make that possible? What sacrifices do you need to make? The best use of life is love, the best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now.²¹¹

And the days are evil: for these are evil days (5:16). The word evil, here, is not kakos, evil in the abstract, but poneros, evil in active opposition to good. We have little time and much opposition. Our opportunities for freely doing righteousness are getting limited. When we have the opportunity to do something in God’s Name and glory, we should do so with all that we have. Paul may have specifically had in mind the corrupt and depraved living that characterized the city of Ephesus. The believers there were surrounded by paganism and infiltrated by heresy (4:14). Greediness, dishonesty, and immorality were a way of life in Ephesus, a way of life in which most of the believers themselves had once been involved and to which they were tempted to return (4:19-32 and 5:3-8). Sound a lot like today, doesn’t it.²¹²

Try to understand: So don’t be foolish, but try to understand (5:17a). Understanding suggests using our minds to discover and do the will of God. Too many believers have the idea that discovering God’s will is a mystical experience that rules out clear thinking. But this idea is wrong . . . and dangerous. We discover the will of God as He transforms the mind (Romans 12:1-2); and this transformation is the result of the Word of God, prayer, meditation, and worship. Since YHVH gave you a mind, He expects you to use it. This means that learning His will involves gathering facts, examining them, weighing them, and then praying for His wisdom (James 1:5). ADONAI doesn’t merely want us to know His will; He wants us to understand His will.²¹³

The plan of God for your life: What the Lord wants you to do (5:17b NLT). The Father has certain hopes and aspirations for his children, most notably that we would all walk in His good plan for our lives. The will of God should include all the areas discussed by Sha’ul, such as our speech, our thoughts, and our actions. We have a basic choice every day; will it be the values of the world or the will of the Lord that we follow? The Rabbi has already discussed many important details in regards to our personal walk with YHVH. He will now address the implications of the Messianic life in such areas as marriage, family, and our work.

Biblical faith is not just meant to be a religion expressed only in a house of worship. It is also extremely practical as we apply the wisdom of God to every aspect of our existence. Not surprisingly, the B’rit Chadashah, follows the Jewish approach. It takes a holistic perspective of life and faith. The first century Greek philosophies compartmentalized aspects of life into separate categories. For example, religion was distinct from work. The Gnostics even drew the division so strongly as say that the soul is good, but anything material is innately evil. Unfortunately, many “religious” people today have the same Greek attitude of not mixing their spiritual faith with their everyday life. The biblical view is that everything comes from ADONAI and we are stewards of His gifts. It is summarized in the Sh’ma (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Bw – Sh’ma Isra’el) prayed three times daily by observant Jews: You shall love ADONAI your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.²¹⁴

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that You are totally wise in all ways, about everything including what will happen in the future (Daniel 2 and 7, Revelation 19). You even can see into people’s hearts to understand the motives behind someone’s actions. For ADONAI does not see a man as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but He looks into the heart (First Samuel 16:7).

True wisdom says that loving you with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my strength is the wisest thing to do! Your great wisdom is guided by Your steadfast love (Psalms 63:3). All that You tell me to do or not to do, is the wisest and best advice. Your wisdom comes from the wise and loving heart of our omniscient, Almighty Father who loves His children so much that He knowing gave His own son to suffer immense shame and pain that Meshiach Yeshua might redeem thru His blood (Ephesians 1:3-7) those who love Him. He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things (Romans 8:32)? In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Living in Light
5: 8-14

Living in Light DIG: Who were the Essenes? How do believers serve as light in the world? What is the relationship between walking in love and living as children of light? What is the difference between a life that is full of darkness and a life that is full of light?

REFLECT: What preparation do you need in order to be used by God to expose the works of darkness? Has the darkness of this world lulled you into a spiritual slumber from which you need to awaken? How can you become more aware of opportunities to be light?

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5).

This passage continues the emphasis on believer’s being imitators of God, as His dear children (5:1). The first way we are to imitate God is in His love, which Paul shows both in its true and in its counterfeit forms, with Messiah Himself being our divine pattern (to see link click Bp – Walking in Love). In verses 5:8-14 the focus is on our imitating God in relation to light.¹⁹⁹

The Rabbi now switches to a common analogy of the first century Jewish community. For you used to be darkness; but now, united with the Lord, you are light. Live like children of light (5:8). The order of creation takes an unusual turn as it states: so there was evening and there was morning, the first day (Genesis 1:5). The pagan orientation started with the light of day and then proceeded into the darkness of night. So the sun itself became a focus of pagan religions. In contrast, the Jewish people were told that the day starts in the darkness, but moves into the light. The Jewish tradition is that a new day begins when three stars can be seen in the sky. This is an apt spiritual analogy as ADONAI is moving the dark world to the light of His Kingdom.

The first century sectarian Judaism, the Qumran Community called the Essenes (to see Essenes in Judaean Society click here), perceived themselves as “sons of light” in the midst of a spiritual battle with the “sons of darkness” (War Scroll 1QM). It would be natural for Sha’ul to refer to the Messianic believers of Ephesus in a similar fashion. Although they were formerly associated with darkness, they were now filled with light as they were in Messiah (see An – The Basis of Spiritual Blessing in Messiah). Consequently, their walk should reflect the light of ADONAI.²⁰⁰

In Second Corinthians Paul explains the contrasts that exist between a child of God and an unbeliever, between the light and darkness (see the commentary on Second Corinthians Bi – Do Not be Unequally Yoked with Unbelievers). After all, light produces good fruit, but the works of darkness are unfruitful as far as spiritual things are concerned. For the fruit of the light is in every kind of goodness, rightness and truth (5:9). That light produces goodness, one manifestation of the fruit of the Ruach (see the commentary on Galatians Cb – The Fruit of the Ruach is Goodness). Goodness is “love in action.” Righteousness means rightness of characters before ADONAI and rightness of actions before men. Both of these qualities are based on truth, which is conformity to the Word and will of God. Yeshua had much to say about light and darkness: Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God (John 3:19-21). Moreover, Yeshua said: I Am the Light of the World (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Gr – I AM the Light of the World).²⁰¹

As a result, the life of a believer, just like every other kind of life, is only healthy when it is growing. And as far as the life of a believer is concerned, the primary focus is to try to determine what will please the Lord (5:10). As we are obedient to what we know, our knowledge of the Lord and of His will increases and deepens. As we are faithful to the light, we are given more of this light.²⁰² But living as children of the light also means revealing God’s light in our daily lives. By our character and conduct, we bring God’s light into a dark world (see The Life of Christ Df – You are the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World). As God’s “lights” we help others find their way to Messiah. The mind of the unsaved person is blinded by Satan (Second Corinthians 4:3-4), and by sin (see Bl – The Pagan Lifestyle). Only as a witness and shared Messiah can the light enter in. Just as a healthy person can assist the sickly, so a child of God can lead the lost out of the darkness into the Lord’s wonderful light.²⁰³

But then the apostle gives the Ephesians, and us, a warning. The child of God should have nothing to do with the deeds produced by darkness, but instead expose them (5:11a). We cannot witness to the world before coming in contact with all sorts of wickedness. But we are never to identify with that wickedness or give it the opportunity to take hold in our own life. To compromise the standards of ADONAI is to weaken our witness as well as our own character. No act of unrighteousness is acceptable or permissible. Our responsibility goes further than not participating in the sinful ways of the world, but instead, we are to expose them. To ignore evil is to encourage it; to keep quiet about it is to help promote it. The root of the verb here translated expose (Greek: elegcho) can also carry the idea of reproof, correction, punishment, or discipline.

We are to confront sin with intolerance. But many believers don’t expose the evil because they don’t take it seriously enough. They laugh and joke about things that are pure wickedness, that are immoral and extremely ungodly. They recognize the sinfulness of those things and would likely never participate in them; but they enjoy them vicariously from a distance. In doing so, they not only fail to be an influence against evil but are instead influenced by it – contaminated by it to the full extent that they think and talk about it by exposing it or rebuking it. The Rabbi goes on to say that it is shameful even to speak of the things these people do in secret (5:11b-12). Some things are so vile that they should be discussed in as little detail as possible, because even describing them is morally and spiritually dangerous.

Our recourse for exposing evil is Scripture, which is the light (Psalm 119:105, 130; Proverbs 6:23; Hebrews 4:12-13) and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness (Second Timothy 3:16). All things become visible when they are exposed by the light of God’s Word (5:13). Our commission as children of light is to hold everything up to the light of Scripture, to expose and seek to remedy whatever is evil.²⁰⁴

The Rabbi then offers an invitation, a call for those who are not children of light to come into the light and be saved. This is why it says, “Get up, sleeper! Arise from the dead!” The Rabbi quotes this principle from a compilation of verses in the TaNaKh to prove his point. In Isaiah 52:1a, the prophet calls on Tziyon to awake and put on holy clothing; likewise, in Isaiah 60:1a, he calls on Jerusalem to arise for your light has come.²⁰⁵ Get up, sleeper describes the sinner who is asleep in the darkness of sin and unaware of his lost condition and tragic destiny. Like a spiritual Rip Van Winkle, he will sleep through God’s time of grace unless someone wakes him up to his spiritual need. Arise from the dead is a summons to repentance, an appeal to turn away from the darkness of sin, and into the light of Messiah. “And the Messiah will shine on you” is the Good News that YHVH has provided a remedy for every sinful person who will come to Him through His blessed Son, the Savior of Mankind (5:14)!²⁰⁶

Here’s an interesting exchange on the subject of light and darkness in a classroom between an atheist college professor and a student.

Professor: You are a Christian, aren’t you, son?

Student: Yes, sir.

Professor: So, you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Professor: Is God good?

Student: Sure.

Professor: Is God all powerful?

Student: Yes.

Professor: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn’t. How is this God good then? Hmm?

(Student was silent.)

Professor: You can’t answer, can you? Let’s start again, young fella. Is God good?

Student: Yes.

Professor: Is Satan good?

Student: No.

Professor: Where does Satan come from?

Student: From . . . God . . .

Professor: That’s right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student: Yes.

Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything. Correct?

Student: Yes.

Professor: So who created evil?

(Student did not answer.)

Professor: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don’t they?

Student: Yes, sir.

Professor: So, who created them?

(Student had no answer.)

Professor: Science says you have 5 Senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son, have you ever seen God?

Student: No, sir.

Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?

Student: No, sir.

Professor: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?

Student: No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.

Professor: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student: Yes.

Professor: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.

Professor: Yes, faith. And that is the problem science has.

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Professor: Yes.

Student: And is there such a thing as cold?

Professor: Yes.

Student: No, sir. There isn’t.

(The lecture theater became very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There was pin-drop silence in the lecture theater.)

Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness?

Student: You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light. But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it’s called darkness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it is, well you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?

Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Professor: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.

Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Professor: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument was going.)

Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor. Are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

(The class was in uproar.)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor’s brain?

(The class broke out into laughter.)

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable.)

Professor: I guess you’ll have to take them on faith, son.

Student: That is it sir . . . Exactly! The link between mankind and God is faith. That is all that keeps things alive and moving.

By the way, that student was Albert Einstein.²⁰⁷

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that You are real and that in Your love, You planned an eternal home in heaven (John 14:1-3) for those who love You (John 14:23, John 1:12). Thank You that Your grace offers salvation to all, and it is faith that we open our hearts to receive it. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves—it is the gift of God.  It is not based on deeds, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Life in heaven will be greater than anything we can imagine on earth.
Things no eye has seen and no ear has heard, that have not entered the heart of mankind – these things God has prepared for those who love Him (First Corinthians 2:9).

Our earthly trials, though many are long and hard, will soon be over. Our earthly problems are like a blink of an eye compared to the forever length of time we will spend enjoying life with You in heaven, Your peaceful and perfect home for all eternity. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18). We love to serve You now and look forward to praising You for all eternity. In Messiah Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Walking in Love
5: 1-7

Walking in love DIG: Does walking in love define what it means to be an imitator of God? Explain. How do we become God’s children? What are some ways a child imitates their parents? In 4:1, Paul urges us to model our lives in accordance with our high calling as God’s grace. In 5:1, what is the model he holds up for us? How does love fulfill the Torah?

REFLECT: How might you lovingly excuse yourself from a gossipy conversation? How can partnerships (business, social, recreational) impact your spiritual life? What are some practical ways we can imitate God’s love? What are the positive and/or negative motivations which prompt you to live a godly life? Who can you tell about Him this week?

In this passage, Sha’ul first presents the positive truths about true godly love,
and then the negative truths about Satan’s counterfeit love and its consequences.

The plea (5:1-2a): Therefore . . . Paul begins Ephesians 5 in the same way as he did the previous chapter – with the word therefore. This word refers back to the forgiveness believers have found in Messiah (4:32). In Ephesians, the concept of forgiveness is connected to two vital biblical themes: redemption and grace (1:7).¹⁹⁴ . . . imitate God, as His dear children (5:1). To know what God is like we must study His Word. Yet, the more we learn of God’s character, the more we learn how far above us He is and how impossible it is to fulfill the command to imitate Him in ourselves, to be absolutely perfect, just as He is. That is why we need to be empowered with the inner strength of His Spirit so that we will know the love of Messiah is beyond all comprehension (3:16 and 19a). The only way we can imitate God is for the Lord Yeshua Messiah to live His perfect life through us. We are totally dependent on His Spirit to imitate Him (see the commentary on Galatians, to see link click Bv – Walk by the Ruach, and Not the Desires of the Flesh).

And walk in the way of love (5:2a). The walk of the believer is a key matter to Paul. He has introduced the fact that ours is a worthy walk (4:1c), and a walk different from the pagan Gentiles (4:17a). He will also call for a walk in the light (see Bq – Living in Light), and a walk in wisdom (5:15). In this verse, the apostle pleads with believers to walk in such a way that daily life is characterized by love. Growing in love is a continual need for every believer, since love fulfills all of God’s Torah (see the commentary on Romans De – Respecting Civil Authority: Love fulfills the Torah). As we grow in love we also see the need to be even more loving. And since biblically defined love is so contrary to the flesh, we are always in need of reminders and encouragement to love.¹⁹⁵

The pattern (5:2b): A young child often learns to draw by tracing. The more carefully he traces, the truer the likeness of his copy is to the original. The pattern for believers to follow in Yeshua Messiah Himself. The difference between this tracing and that of a young child learning to draw is that we will never have a time when Messiah will cease to be our pattern. In other words, we will never be “on our own,” sufficiently skilled in ourselves to live as He lived. In fact, we must allow the Ruach Ha’Kodesh to pattern us after Messiah.

Our ultimate goal for us is to imitate Yeshua’s love, just the way He loved us (5:2b). Giving oneself to others is the epitome of agape love. Biblical love is not a pleasant emotion or good feeling about someone, but the giving of oneself for his or her welfare (First John 3:16). Divine love is unconditional love, love that depends entirely on the one who loves and not on the merit, attractiveness, or response of the one loved. Messiah did not merely have a deep feeling or emotional concern for us. Nor did He sacrifice Himself for us because we were deserving. While we were still sinners (Romans 5:8), He gave Himself for us purely out of His sovereign, gracious love, taking our sin upon Himself and paying its penalty on our behalf. God’s love, and all love that is like His, loves for the sake of giving, not getting. With conditional love, if the conditions are not met there is no obligation to love. If we do not get, we do not give. Romantic, emotional “love” ebbs and flows. Therefore, to love as God loves is to love sacrificially, to love by the giving of ourselves and He gave Himself.

Messiah’s giving of Himself as an offering, as a slaughtered sacrifice was a pleasing fragrance to His heavenly Father. The first five chapters of Leviticus describe five offerings commanded by YHVH to the Israelites (see the commentary on Leviticus Ah – The Offerings from the People’s Perspective). The burnt offering (see Leviticus Ai – The Burnt Offering: Accepted by God) was fulfilled by Messiah’s total devotion to YHVH in giving His very life to obey and please His Father; the grain offering (see Leviticus Aj – The Grain Offerings: Dedicated to God) was fulfilled by the sinlessness of His sacrifice; the peace offering (see Leviticus Ak – The Peace Offerings: At Peace with God) was fulfilled by His making peace between God and mankind. All of those offerings obviously spoke of what was pleasing to ADONAI. Each of those offerings provided an aroma pleasing to the LORD. Philippians 4:18 explains that the fragrant aroma meant the sacrifice was acceptable . . . well pleasing to God.

But the other two offerings – the purification offering (see Leviticus Al – The Purification Offering: Purified by the Blood) and the guilt offering (see Leviticus Am – The Guild Offering: Evidence of Repentance) – were different because they were fulfilled by Messiah’s bearing the sin of mankind. They depicted the Father’s turning His back on the Son, when He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf (Second Corinthians 5:21), at which time Yeshua cried out from the cross: My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me (Matthew 27:46)? While Messiah was the sin-bearer, Ha’Shem could not look upon Him or rejoice in Him or be pleased with Him. But when the Father raised Messiah from the dead, the sacrifice that caused Him to become sin became the sacrifice that conquered sin. The sin that put Him to death was itself put to death, and that great act of love was to ADONAI as a fragrant aroma. And today that fragrant aroma spreads its fragrance to everyone on earth who will place themselves under the grace of that sacrifice, and it will spread its fragrance throughout heaven for all eternity. In all aspects, our lives should please God (see the commentary on Second Corinthians At – A Sweet-Smelling Aroma).¹⁹⁶

The perversion (5:3-4): Whatever ADONAI establishes, the Adversary will counterfeit. Where God establishes true love, Satan produces counterfeit “love.” This counterfeit “love” characterizes Satan’s children, those who are of the world, just as true love characterizes God’s children, those who are citizens of heaven. Among you there should not even be mentioned sexual immorality (Greek: porneia, and refers to all sexual sin), or any kind of impurity (Greek: akatharsia, and refers to anything that is unclean), or greed, which by its very nature is contrary to true love (5:3). What was acceptable in the pagan Roman Empire had, and has, no place in the life of a believer. Therefore, Paul reminded the Ephesians that these are utterly inappropriate for God’s holy people.

Also out of place are obscenity and stupid talk or coarse language; instead, you should be giving thanks (5:4). Our words are a reflection of the thoughts of our heart. Vulgar words and coarse language do not reflect the light of YHVH. As Messianic Jews and Gentiles, the Ephesians were called to use edifying speech and to give thanks. It is important to note that all the forbidden actions are verbs that are present tense, indicating an ongoing and habitual lifestyle, not merely a slip of the tongue once in a while. Such people use stupid talk and coarse language all the time, unlike the followers of Yeshua who at least battles to stay on the narrow path of righteousness. Sha’ul reminded his disciples elsewhere that many of them came out of such lifestyles, being transformed by the power of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh (First Corinthians 6:9-11).¹⁹⁷

The punishment (5:5-7): It is clear that the Rabbi was restating a truth that he had taught the Ephesians many times while he lived among them. For he said: Of this you can be sure. There should have been no doubt or confusion in their minds about what he was about to say, because it was nothing new. Ha’Shem does not tolerate sin, and perverted “love” leads to punishment. Every sexually immoral, impure or greedy person – that is, every idol-worshiper – has no share in the Kingdom of the Messiah and of God (5:5). This is a sobering statement that needs serious reflection. The Torah and the whole Bible not only have an impact on this life, but in the world to come. While Judaism has placed great value on the concept of Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World), neglecting the world to come can have catastrophic consequences. It is such an integral part of our relationship with YHVH that the apostle warns us not to let anyone deceive us by telling us that sin is tolerable and that God will not exclude unrepentant sinners from His Kingdom. Because of these things, that is the sins listed here and the lies of empty words that God’s judgment is coming on those who disobey Him. In a final warning, Paul says: Therefore, don’t become partners with them (5:6-7)! He says, “Don’t join the world in its evil; don’t be partners with it in wickedness. Instead, be partners with Messiah and His righteousness. Don’t imitate the world (First John 2:15-17), but rather be imitators of God, as His dear children” (5:1).¹⁹⁸

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that Your great love is wrapped in total wisdom, including even knowing the future (Dani’el 2,7, Revelation 19) and the thoughts and intents (Hebrews 4:12, Matthew 9:4) of the hearts of everyone (First Samuel 16:7, Luke 16:15, Acts 15:8). How wonderful that Your love and wisdom work together to always desire what is best for me. For ADONAI Elohim is a sun and a shield. ADONAI gives grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly (Psalms 84:11). Your love is guided by Your all-knowing omniscience, so when you give me wisdom, it brings me eternal joy to follow Your leading.

I love You and long to live to please You while I am still on earth. It cost You so very much to buy my redemption (Hebrews 12:2). I want to thank You by listening to Your Ruach Ha’Kodesh so that I will not fall into any sin, and can conquer any temptations (First Corinthians 10:11, John 14:23). I set my joy on living for You. As I praise You, I am encouraged to remember how short life on earth is and how long eternity will be with You. I remember Your steadfast love for me. Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You (Psalms 63:3). It is a delight in loving You, even in hard times. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). May my life reflect Your holy goodness. In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Filled with the Spirit
5: 1-21

Paul begins Ephesians 5 in the same way as he did the previous chapter – with the word therefore. This word refers back to the forgiveness believers have found in Messiah (4:32). In Ephesians, the concept of forgiveness is connected to two vital biblical themes: redemption and grace (1:7). The concept of redemption can be clearly seen in the Torah (see the commentary on Leviticus, to see link click Ek – The Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee). What prompted this magnanimous gesture of redemption and forgiveness, this restoration of lost status before ADONAI? Without question, the source of our forgiveness is the marvelous grace of God. Mentioned eleven times in Ephesians prior to Chapter 5, grace is the source through which we are given new life in Messiah: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast (2:8-9 NIV). The word used for forgiveness in 4:32 (Greek: echarisato) is not the typical word used. In this verse, the Rabbi used a rarer word meaning to show favor, or to give freely. It could be translated to graciously forgive. These two great concepts – redemption and grace – illuminate the beauty and depth of God’s forgiveness.

A key characteristic of the doctrine of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh is His divine Name and personal nature. He is not merely an impersonal force like energy. Ephesians 4:30 speaks of grieving the Spirit. The Ruach is the Third Person of the Trinity, and is to be revered and worshiped in that manner. His work is to make clear the active presence of YHVH. In the TaNaKh, there is a frequent connection between the Spirit of God and wisdom (Exodus 31:3; 35:31; Isaiah 11:2). In Ephesians 5, the work of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh is to provide wisdom for the performance of practical tasks in the service of our Lord. God doesn’t simply give us a little taste of wisdom; He pours it out on us in abundance (1:8) as a part of a new life found in Yeshua Messiah. In some way that is beyond our complete understanding, believers even declare this wisdom to rulers and authorities in the heavens (3:10). It seems reasonable to conclude that this communication is modeled through wise living that is observed by the angels. A wise walk, filled with the Ruach, is part of God’s eternal purpose and glory.¹⁹³

Principles of New Life
4: 25-32

Principles of new life DIG: According to Rabbi Sha’ul, what specific actions distinguish the life of a believer from the life of a pagan? What does he mean when he says don’t leave room for the Adversary? Why do believers in Messiah often say things to hurt others – even though God clearly instructs them not to do so? Anger, in and of itself, is not a sin. However, what are some ways it can quickly lead to sin?

REFLECT: What is one way you have seen the contrast of the “old” and the “new” in your life? What does Paul say we are to do with our words and actions? What are some ways you have learned to redirect a conversation when a friend wants to gossip or speak badly about another person who is not present? What are some ways that you seek to build others up with your words? How does it make you feel when you can build them up?

How does remembering the way God has been compassionate with me,
help me to extend that same compassion to others through my words and actions?

The only reliable evidence of a person’s being saved is not past experience of receiving the Messiah, but a present life that reflects Him. Anyone who says, “I know Him,” but isn’t obeying His commands is a liar and the truth is not in him (First John 2:4). New creatures act like new creatures. If anyone is in Messiah, they are a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, everything has become new (Second Corinthians 5:17). However, because of our old sin nature, we are still very human. So, the Rabbi commands us in the strength of the Ruach to subdue our unredeemed humanness (First Corinthians 9:27), and to live as new creatures in submission to Messiah as our new Master. After showing what believers are and have positionally in Messiah (Chapters 1-3), Paul first gives us some general instruction for the practicality of living the new life (4:1-24), and then continues throughout the rest of the letter to give specific commands for the conduct of that life. Here, in 4:25-32, Sha’ul gives a mitzvot reflecting several contrasts between the old life and the new one, from being lost, to being found. From lying to speaking the truth (4:25): Liars will not inherit the Kingdom of God (Revelation 21:8; First Corinthians 6:9). A believer can fall into lying just as he can fall into any sin, but if his life is a habitual flow of lies that proceed from a heart that seeks to deceive, he has no biblical basis for believing that he is saved. The person who continually lies as a regular part of his daily living shows himself to be a child of the Adversary, not of YHVH (John 8:44). The believer should not be a habitual liar. He is to be characterized by stripping off falsehood, because falsehood is incompatible with his new nature and unacceptable to his new Lord. Quoting Zechariah 8:16, Paul goes from the negative mitzvot on to the positive command: let everyone speak truth with his neighbor (4:25a). Messiah Himself is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6); the Ruach Ha’Kodesh is the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17), and God’s Word is truth (John 17:17). When a person is saved, he steps out of the dominion of falsehood into the dominion of truth, and every form of lying therefore is utterly inconsistent with his new self.¹⁸⁴

We are to speak the truth with other believers because we are intimately related to each other as parts of a body (4:25b). Real fellowship, whether in a marriage, a friendship, where you worship, depends on speaking the truth. In fact, the tunnel of conflict is the passageway to intimacy in any relationship. Until you care enough to confront and resolve underlying barriers, you will never grow closer to each other. But when conflict is handled correctly, we grow closer to each other by facing and resolving our differences. The Bible says: In the end, people appreciate frankness more than flattery (Proverbs 28:23 NLT).¹⁸⁵

From unrighteous anger to righteous anger (4:26-27): Be angry, but don’t sin (4:26a). It is commendable to be angry in the right situation. Anger is not always a sin; there is a righteous anger. This quote is actually from the words of King David as he spoke of righteous indignation (Psalm 4:5). Yeshua Himself expressed anger but never sinned. He displayed zealous anger over the injustice in the Temple courts (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Bs – Jesus’ First Cleansing of the Temple at the Passover). It is indeed right to oppose all forms of injustice. The problem is that we mortals often confuse righteous indignation for the unrighteous anger of our fallen nature. Hence, there is the encouragement to refrain from sin despite an expression of anger.

But how do we do that? The simplest answer is to be angry at the things that God is angry about, and to hate what God hates? So, what does God hate? Once again, the Word of God gives us guidance. There are six things ADONAI hates, seven which he detests: a haughty look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet swift in running to do evil, a false witness who lies with every breath, and him who sows strife among brothers (Proverbs 6:16-19). Moreover, Paul counsels believers not to let the sun go down before you have dealt with the cause of your anger (4:26b). This is wise advice. Unforgiveness has a terribly destructive effect on one’s soul. It has been said that holding onto a grudge is similar to taking a poison pill and waiting for the other person to die! Unforgiveness can be devastating to one’s spiritual life, but that is not the worst of it. Such sin opens the door for the Adversary to maximize the damage.¹⁸⁶

There are certain situations that make you more vulnerable to being angry than others. Some circumstances will cause you to stumble almost immediately, while others don’t bother you much. These situations are unique to your weaknesses, and you need to identify them because Satan surely knows them. He knows exactly what trips you up, and he is constantly working to get you into those situations (First Peter 5:8). Therefore, you should identify your typical pattern of temptation and prepare to avoid those situations as much as possible. The Bible repeatedly tells us to anticipate and be ready to face temptation, otherwise you leave room for the Adversary (4:27). Wise planning reduces temptation. Follow godly advice: Plan carefully what you do . . . avoid evil and walk straight ahead. Don’t go one step off the right path (Proverbs 4:26-27 ). God’s people avoid evil ways, and they protect themselves by watching where they go (Proverbs 16:17 ).¹⁸⁷

From stealing to sharing (4:28): The thief must stop stealing. Instead, he should make an honest living by his own efforts (4:28a). The grammar of this verse suggests that some of the Ephesians struggled with this sin in the past. Believers in Yeshua are to turn from any such behavior and make an honest living by their own efforts. There are to be no thieves in the community of Messiah. Each individual is to perform an honest job to provide for themselves and their family. This way he will be able to share with those in need (4:28b). Instead of the previous life of thievery, and taking advantage of other people, the new believers in Ephesus are told to even share with those in need. It is reminiscent of the Torah mitzvot to leave the corners of their field in order to share their blessings with the less fortunate (see the commentary on Leviticus Dh – Be Holy because ADONAI is Holy). It should not surprise us that the Body of Messiah is to conduct itself with many of the same principles already given to Isra’el in the Torah of Moshe.¹⁸⁸

From harmful words to good words (4:29-30): The tongue is exceedingly difficult to control (Jam 3:6-8). But it only speaks what the heart tells it to say (Mt 12:34; Mk 7:14-23). Thus, a foul mouth comes from a foul heart, and the only way for ADONAI to cleanse our tongue is through His Word, which fills the heart with whatever is true, noble, righteous, pure, loveable or admirable, on some virtue or on something praiseworthy (Phi 4:8).¹⁸⁹ Let no harmful language come from your mouth, only good words that are helpful in meeting the need, words that will benefit those who hear them (4:29). But, since most of the Ephesian believers originally came from the pagan world (see Bl – The Pagan Lifestyle), this would be a timely reminder. Fallen society usually does not think twice about the use of inappropriate or harmful words. In many places it is actually part of the accepted culture or even considered a sign of strength. In Judaism, and now in the Messianic community, it is to be otherwise. Our words reflect the real condition of our spirit and we are to use them wisely. For example, what is considered one of the worst sins in the TaNaKh is speaking evil of others. A graphic reminder is the account of Miriam and Aaron speaking against Moshe along with the resulting judgment (see the commentary on Numbers Bu – The Rebellion of Aaron and Miryam).

Even if there is some truth to a statement, one is encouraged to hold back his or her words if they are not edifying. The Talmud (see The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law) even takes it further in an interesting discussion of this topic. It is said that we should even be wary of negative, non-verbal communication. It is called avak lashon ha’ra (the dust of evil speaking) and includes such actions as rolling the eyes, nodding in approval to negative comments or spreading innuendos. How interesting that we can be influenced by the negative dust of evil speaking or by the positive dust of our rabbi (see 4:21).

The principle of avoiding evil speech obviously carries over to the listener as well. The Talmud sums up its perspective in the following, “Why do human fingers resemble pegs? So that if one hears something harmful, one can plug one’s fingers in one’s ears (Tractate Ketuvot 5b). Rabbi Sha’ul’s command is not only to avoid that which is harmful, but also to speak words that will benefit others. Such language will not be destructive or even neutral, but will build up those who hear it. In short, we have enough negativity in the pagan world. We certainly don’t need it in the community of Messiah. Is our language uplifting or negative? Are people encouraged or discouraged when they are around us?

It’s bad enough that hurtful language has a negative impact on others. But such behavior also hurts the Ruach who lives within the believers. If we aren’t motivated to give better speech on account of those around us, then we should give thought to the fact that God Himself might be hurt in the process.¹⁹⁰ Don’t cause grief to God’s Ruach Ha’Kodesh (4:30a). All sin is painful to God, but sin in His children breaks His heart. When His children refuse to change the ways of the old life for the ways of the new, God grieves. The Spirit of God weeps, as it were, when He sees believers lying instead of speaking the truth, becoming unrighteously angry rather than having a zealous anger over injustice, stealing instead of sharing, and speaking hurtful words instead of good, uplifting and gracious words.

Whatever violates the will of ADONAI and the holiness of the heart will grieve the third Person of the Trinity. Grieving can lead to quenching or extinguishing (First Thess 5:19), and therefore to a forfeiture of power and blessing. It should also be noted that such responses by the Ruach indicate that He is a Person, which can be seen in the use of personal pronouns referring to Him (John 14:17, 16:13, and so on). His identity as a Comforter, or Helper (John 16:16 and 26, 15:26, 16:7), indicates that He is like Messiah, who is a Person. The Ruach Ha’Kodesh has intellect (First Cor 2:11), feelings (Rom 8;27, 15:30), and will (First Cor 12:11). He works (First Cor 12:11), searches (First Cor 2;10), speaks (Acts 13:2), testifies (John 15:26), teaches (John 14:26), convicts (John 6:8-11), regenerates (John 3:5), intercedes (Acts 8:26), guides (John 16:13), glorifies Messiah (John 16:14), and directs service to God (Acts 16:6-7). And specifically in light of this portion of Scripture pertaining to the Ephesians, the Spirit can be tested (Acts 5:9), lied to (Acts 5:3), resisted (Acts 7:51), insulted (Heb 10:29), and blasphemed (see The Life of Messiah Em – Whoever Blasphemes Against the Holy Spirit Will Never be Forgiven). Therefore, Sha’ul asks, in effect, “How can you do what is so displeasing to the One who has sealed you as His property until the day of final redemption” (see Aq – Sealed with the Ruach)? The Spirit is God’s personal mark of authenticity on us, His stamp of divine approval. How could we grieve the One who is our Helper, Comforter, Teacher, Advocate, Divine Resident of our hearts, and sponsor of our eternal redemption (4:30b). Paul is not saying that we should avoid sin in order to keep our salvation; but rather, that we should be eternally grateful to the Ruach Ha’Kodesh for His making it impossible for us to lose it (see The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer).¹⁹¹

From natural vices to supernatural virtues (4:31-32): The apostle ties this appeal to the fact of the Ruach’s presence in our lives. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, violent assertiveness and slander, along with all spitefulness (4:31). The renewed life includes all facets: words, thoughts, and actions. Whatever is ungodly and produces negative fruit, we are told to get rid of it. These things not only hurt others, but they greatly hinder our own spiritual journey. Don’t we have enough challenges without dragging an extra backpack filled with cement? We are cautioned to get rid of the extra weight so we may more fully enjoy ADONAI’s blessing in our life.

Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted; and forgive each other, just as in the Messiah God has also forgiven you (4:32). In contrast to the problematic attitudes of our old sin nature, the Messianic believers are encouraged to put on that which makes for edification. Instead of tearing down, we are to build up. Despite the temptation to hang onto negative attitudes, we are to let them go in the spirit of forgiveness. Some may object to this high standard, as it seems virtually impossible within our own strength. That is why the Rabbi immediately ties these positive attitudes to the work of Yeshua on our behalf. Since YHVH has shown such great kindness to us, how can we not treat others the same way? If the Father, through Yeshua, had forgiven us of our own transgressions, do we have any legitimate basis not to show sincere forgiveness to those around us? Those who understand the grace of Messiah are the ones who find it easy to extend that same kind of grace to others. We should ask, “How is my own personal spiritual journey progressing? Am I having more and more victory over the old sin nature? Do people see in me the good fruit of a life submitted to the Ruach?” May we continue to walk in the abundant life provided for us through Messiah.¹⁹²

Dear Heavenly Father, what a wonderful Father You are! It is a joy to please You. Life’s short times of happiness will soon be over; but as I live to please You, there is an eternal joy in my heart. I bow before You in humble worship, recognizing how glorious and how wise You are. Your love is so amazingly great and Your omniscience of knowing all is so wonderful. It is wise to follow Your Word. All that You loving tell me to do is for my best. It is foolish to think that real joy could be found by going my own way. Thank You so much for not only redeeming those who love You from sin’s power and punishment; but also living within your children (John 14:23), always being there (Hebrews 13:5c) in a loving relationship to help and to guide. There are many problems in this world, but they will be over soon and heaven’s joys will last forever and ever (Romans 8:18)! It is a comfort to know that you, my Holy Almighty Father, are sovereign overall and you will bring those who love You to Your eternal home of joy and peace. For all eternity I know that I will have the wonderful privilege to live with You, praising You forever for how fantastic You are! In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen