What is good (tov)?
Matthew 12:33 “If you make a tree good, its fruit will be good; and if you make a tree bad, its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 You snakes! How can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what overflows from the heart. 35 The good person brings forth good things from his store of good, and the evil person brings forth evil things from his store of evil. 36 Moreover, I tell you this: on the Day of Judgment people will have to give account for every careless word they have spoken; 37 for by your own words you will be acquitted, and by your own words you will be condemned.”
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Matthew 19:16 A man approached Yeshua and said, “Rabbi, what good thing should I do in order to have eternal life?” He said to him, 17 “Why are you asking me about good? There is One who is good! But if you want to obtain eternal life, observe the mitzvot.” 18 The man asked him, “Which ones?” and Yeshua said, “Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t give false testimony 19 honor father and mother and love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “I have kept all these; where do I still fall short?” 21 Yeshua said to him, “If you are serious about reaching the goal, go and sell your possessions, give to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come, follow me!” 22 But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he was wealthy.
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3 John 1:11 Dear friend, don’t imitate the bad, but the good. Those who do what is good are from God; those who do what is bad are not from God.
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Micah 6:6 “With what can I come before YHVH to bow down before God on high? Should I come before him with burnt offerings? with calves in their first year? 7 Would YHVH take delight in thousands of rams with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Could I give my firstborn to pay for my crimes, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 Human being, you have already been told what is good, what YHVH demands of you — no more than to act justly, love grace and walk in purity with your God.
“Act justly”
Justly - mishpat = judgment
“Love grace”
Grace - chesed = kindness (mercy)
“Walk in purity”
Purity - tzanah = low
While this makes for a nice shirt quote or art in your home, there is a mountain of life-giving truth wrapped up in this one verse. So let’s take a little time to unpack it so that perhaps we can find the objective of our existence.
I’ll go ahead and give you the punchline here so you’ll have your bearing along the way. Yeshua told us that Abba and other people are all that really matters:
Matthew 22:33 When the crowds heard how he taught, they were astounded; 34 but when the P’rushim learned that he had silenced the Tz’dukim, they got together, 35 and one of them who was a Torah expert asked a sh’eilah to trap him: 36 “Rabbi, which of the mitzvot in the Torah is the most important?” 37 He told him, “‘You are to love YHVH your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’ 38 This is the greatest and most important mitzvah. 39 And a second is similar to it, ‘You are to love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All of the Torah and the Prophets are dependent on these two mitzvot.”
This should sum up just about everything we need to live a good life. Despite all of the other things that occupy our minds and life, these two are all that matters.
Loving Abba and loving people. Act justly, love mercy, walk in purity with your God.
But how do we actually do that?
It turns out both Moses and Yeshua spoke to these very things so we can use their own words to round out a more clear understanding.
Moses
Deuteronomy 10:12 “So now, Isra’el, all that YHVH your God asks from you is to fear YHVH your God, follow all his ways, love him and serve YHVH your God with all your heart and all your being; 13 to obey, for your own good, the mitzvot and regulations of YHVH which I am giving you today.
Fear YHVH your God.
Follow all His ways.
Love Him.
Serve YHVH your God with all your heart and all your being.
Obey, for your own good, the mitzvot and regulations of YHVH.
Yeshua
John 3:19 “Now this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness rather than the light. Why? Because their actions were wicked. 20 For everyone who does evil things hates the light and avoids it, so that his actions won’t be exposed. 21 But everyone who does what is true comes to the light, so that all may see that his actions are accomplished through God.”
John 5:30 I can’t do a thing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is right; because I don’t seek my own desire, but the desire of the one who sent me.
My opinions don’t matter. Yeshua is Abba’s judgment and we are to walk as He walked.
Micah sums it up as Act Justly.
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Moses
Deuteronomy 10:17 For YHVH your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty and awesome God, who has no favorites and accepts no bribes. 18 He secures justice for the orphan and the widow; he loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing. 19 Therefore you are to love the foreigner, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
He has no favorites.
He accepts no bribes.
He secures justice for the orphan and the widow;
He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.
Therefore you are to love the foreigner since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Yeshua
Matt 25:37 Then the people who have done what God wants will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and make you our guest, or needing clothes and provide them? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ 40 The King will say to them, ‘Yes! I tell you that whenever you did these things for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did them for me!’
Everyone is important.
Micah sums it up as Love Kindness/Mercy.
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Moses
Deuteronomy 10:14 See, the sky, the heaven beyond the sky, the earth and everything on it all belong to YHVH your God. 15 Only YHVH took enough pleasure in your ancestors to love them and choose their descendants after them — yourselves — above all peoples, as he still does today. 16 Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart; and don’t be stiffnecked any longer!
None of this is yours. It’s all His. But His desire is towards you and you have been chosen to walk with a circumcised heart.
Yeshua
Matthew 20:25 But Yeshua called them and said, “You know that among the Goyim, those who are supposed to rule them become tyrants, and their superiors become dictators. 26 Among you, it must not be like that. On the contrary, whoever among you wants to be a leader must become your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave! 28 For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve — and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
None of this is yours. Do not become prideful.
Micah sums it up as Walk Lowly.
An offering?
A better offering?
A larger offering?
A giant offering?
My firstborn?
No, these are all bribes if you believe this is what He wants from you.
Stuff and money and things are what cause our own personal world to go around, but not God’s world. These are things that are important to us and things that we would like to receive to convince us someone else was repentant.
If someone sins against you, you want them to have to “pay” for what they’ve done to you, right? We want justice. Which means we would like to see pain come upon them quickly and an added financial settlement in the end is only fair. This way we feel restored and the other person will be punished. Simple justice.
But is this how Abba deals with you?
When you sin against Him, does He instantly bring pain and take your money? Sometimes maybe, but usually He extends grace to you hoping you will repent. He wants a repentant heart. Which is why your “offering” to get back in good standing with Him is rejected. If you are giving an offering to be in good standing with God, you don’t understand the offering. So don’t give it.
It’s time we learn what the currency of the Kingdom is and how to build Biblical wealth. (hint: this isn’t money, land, stuff, etc)
This is your treasure.
Matthew 6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves wealth here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and burglars break in and steal. 20 Instead, store up for yourselves wealth in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and burglars do not break in or steal. 21 For where your wealth is, there your heart will be also. 22 ‘The eye is the lamp of the body.’ So if you have a ‘good eye’ [that is, if you are generous] your whole body will be full of light; 23 but if you have an ‘evil eye’ [if you are stingy] your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No one can be slave to two masters; for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You can’t be a slave to both God and money (mammon).
If you feel others should have to pay for their errors against you, perhaps you are serving mammon instead of God. The world lives and dies by the spirit of mammon. Judicial systems are modeled by it.
But Abba wants you to treat OTHERS differently to show you are repentant.
He doesn’t need your stuff (as Moses plainly says here in Deuteronomy 10).
He needs your heart.
If one of your children does something that wrongs one of their siblings, do you have them clean the kitchen to show they are sorry? Or do you have them treat their siblings differently?
Do not demand that others serve you to show their sincerity. Forgive them and extend grace. Give them time to have Abba work on them. Let Him secure your justice.
Besides, this isn’t about you…it never was.
It is time to circumcise the foreskin of your heart.
What does this even mean?
Definition: Circumcise - Front: The front of a long series of the same. The past is seen as "in front" in ancient Hebrew thought because the past can be seen while the future is unseen and therefore behind. AHLB
We are to cut off the past. Repent for what you have done and accept forgiveness. Cut if off. That’s part of the old you but the new you is a new creation.
This is critical to understand if you have a living legacy you are leaving behind you.
Your heart WILL be duplicated in future generations. Do not demand from your children what you have not done yourself. I can look at my children and see my own heart. Sure, they listened to what I said but they became who I am.
If my heart was uncircumcised, they will continue to walk in that uncircumcision all the days of their lives. Unless THEY decide to cut off the past themselves. We all must do this to varying degrees depending on how our parents walked in this circumcision (or lack thereof).
The greatest inheritance you can leave your children and grandchildren is an uncircumcised heart.
Moses, Yeshua, and Micah have given us the path: act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.
What if you decided to act justly?
You would no longer fear being exposed as a fraud.
You would instead be known as genuine and true.
You would no longer have to hide your life from others.
You would instead walk in the fullness of the light.
You would no longer have to hide your life from yourself.
You would instead love that person in the mirror.
What if you decided to love mercy?
You would no longer desire judgment to come upon the transgressors.
You would instead want them to live as long as possible so there is more time for repentance.
You would no longer sit in judgment of others.
You would instead finally set them free.
You would no longer sit in judgment of yourself.
You would instead finally set yourself free.
What if you decided to walk humbly with Abba?
You would no longer fear the wolves.
You would instead fear the only One that has power over you.
You would no longer need to wonder whether you should adhere to His schedule or yours.
You would instead drop everything to be with Him.
You would no longer have to guess your way through life.
You would instead walk boldly day after day with no shame.
Life’s markers disappear. We can ignore those things we use to make sure we’re on the “right” path in life: money, power, comfort.
You would no longer wonder if tomorrow would have the riches you need to live.
You would instead live in pure shalom.
This means His ways would ALWAYS supersede yours…and things will go well with you ALL the days of your life.
Recall,
Matthew 6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves wealth here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and burglars break in and steal. 20 Instead, store up for yourselves wealth in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and burglars do not break in or steal. 21 For where your wealth is, there your heart will be also.
What is this treasure we’re tasked with amassing? Love for people and love for Abba.
Real Wealth = People and Abba
Kingdom Currency = Relationships with people and intimacy with our Creator.
Once your heart is there, your treasure in Heaven will begin to grow. And no one can steal that from you.
Act justly
Love mercy
Walk humbly with Abba
Yeshua walked in the fullness of this reality and we are called to do the same.