“Of his father and mother he said,
‘I don’t know them’;
he didn’t acknowledge
his brothers or children.
For he observed your word,
and he kept your covenant.”
-Deuteronomy 33:9
The last time we met we were dealing with Moses’ blessing upon the priestly tribe of Levi.
I contrasted Deuteronomy 33:9 where Hashem praises the Levites for paying no heed to their rebellious mothers and fathers to Yeshua’s words in Luke 14:25 where he made it clear that if one didn’t hate his mother and father, they had no business being his follower.
I also stated that verse 9 was hearkening back to the Golden Calf tragedy depicted in Exodus 32 when Moses came back down from the peak of Mount Sinai carrying the 10 Commandments only to find the Israelites dancing and worshipping around a Golden Calf.
What made matters worse was that Aaron, the man who would become Israel’s High Priest, was the very person who let himself be pressured by the people to create the golden calf idol.
In response, an enraged Moses destroyed the two stone tablets containing the 10 commandments and then told the people that those who were with him and Hashem were to come over and stand with him.
Upon hearing Moses’ ultimatum, Aaron, his sons and a good portion of the tribe of Levi rushed over to Moses’ side.
Since Moses was a Levite, it wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that many of the Levites joined him simply out of tribal loyalty.
Yet, many of them also understood that this was a momentous point of decision where Hashem was going to be separating the sheep from the goats so to speak.
What happened next was shocking but it speaks volumes in terms of how Hashem operates.
Our Father in Heaven commanded those Levites loyal to Him to kill the thousands of rebellious Israelites who had refused to turn away from their idolatry.
And this meant in many cases that the Levites loyal to Hashem had to literally thrust their swords and daggers into their very own mothers, fathers and even there very own children.
This explains the meaning of verse 9 when it says…“Of his father and mother he said, ‘I don’t know them’; he didn’t acknowledge his brothers or children”.
I can’t imagine the deep torment those Levites must have felt when they were thrusting their weapons into their own family members.
Yet that was Hashem’s order and they did it out of allegiance to Him.
Understand these Levites didn’t take joy in killing their rebellious relatives.
They didn’t hate their parents.
For them it was just a matter of obedience.
This situation also teaches us how the Lord metes out justice upon other human beings.
In other words, He uses His followers (you and me!) to carry out justice.
I then mentioned this situation served as the backdrop to Yeshua’s harsh words when he said…
…If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, his mother, his wife, his children, his brothers and his sisters, yes, and his own life besides, he cannot be my talmid.'”-Luke 14:25-26
Again, these verses are widely misunderstood, especially in the church.
Yeshua was not telling us to harbor a pathological sense of animosity towards our parents nor was he suggesting we go off and kill our relatives.
The word “hate” doesn’t mean then what it means to us today.
The real Hebrew sense of the word means to reject or have no regard for rather than possessing an intense degree of emotional dislike for someone.
Yeshua was saying if your parents (or any other human being for that matter) gets in the way of your 100% devotion to God and it comes down to making a choice between God or your parents, well then you are to disregard your parents and stand with God AND His chosen mediator just as the Levites did so many years ago.
If you ever wanted divine permission from on high to NOT listen to your parents, well here it is.
If your parents insist that you are not to give loyalty to God and His chosen mediator Yeshua, then your parents have got to go.
I know what you’re thinking.
You’re thinking…
“what about the commandment to ‘honor your mother and father'”, right?
Again, Yeshua’s words in Luke 14 are wrongly held up against the 5th Commandment.
Yeshua is not speaking a new command and abolishing a former one.
If if he was he would instantly be a false Messiah.
I’ve heard of a ton of cases where a Jewish person would not accept Yeshua because to do so would be to dishonor their parents.
Look, the pattern established right here in the Torah is to stand with God and His chosen mediator, period.
If Yeshua is indeed the Messiah, then you’ve got a very serious decision to make.
And I know it can be tough.
I was reading the biography of Moishe Rosen, the founder of Jews for Jesus and in the intro to his book, we’re told the tragic story of how Moishe Rosen’s mother’s last words to her son when she was on her deathbed were…
…”If you’ve come to tell me about Jesus, you can go to hell!”
Yeshua even predicted this would happen.
“Don’t suppose that I have come
to bring peace to the Land.
It is not peace I have come to bring,
but a sword!
For I have come to set
a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,
so that a man’s enemies will be the members
of his own household.”
-Matthew 10:34-36
Anyway, I’m not here to debate who was theologically correct in that final confrontation between Moishe Rosen and his mother or if his mother died and went to hell because she didn’t accept “Jesus as her personal savior”.
Personally, I find Jews for Jesus way too evangelical Christian in theology and practice for my taste.
Remember Yeshua’s faith was Torah-based Judaism.
He said…
…“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”-Matthew 23:1-3
Read that last verse carefully.
Yeshua is speaking for the Torah and not against it.
He never came to start a new religion.
Anyways, I digress.
The point I wanted to make is that Yeshua’s controversial statement in Luke 14 is NOT to be held up in contrast to the Torah command to “honor our mother and father”.
Rather Luke 14:25-26 is to be held up in contrast to the Golden Calf incident that occurred at the foot of Mount Sinai.
Oh and by the way, don’t ever assume that what God required of the Levites when they killed their close relatives was a thing of the past.
At the battle of Armageddon, that same line of demarcation will again be drawn between those who stand with Hashem and those who don’t…
…and they’re ain’t gonna be any middle ground.
The pattern we see in Torah is that all the Israelites were participating in the idolatry of the Golden Calf, yet when God’s chosen mediator made the call, those who decided to repent stood up and went to the side of Hashem and His chosen mediator…
…and those who didn’t were destroyed.
Along similar lines, all gentiles are born in a state of hostile opposition to Hashem just like those Hebrews who bowed down to the Golden Calf.
And if we don’t make a decision to repent of our worldly sinful ways and stand with Hashem and His chosen mediator (in this case Yeshua), we too will be destroyed.
Another interesting question is destroyed by whom?
Directly by God?
Nope, the Book of Revelation tells us in no uncertain terms that it will be job of those who stand with Hashem and His Chosen mediator to go out and kill all those who stand against Israel and everything the Lord stands for.
And just as was the case with the Levites, this may involve killing former family members.
Heck, if you ever wanted motivation to share the Gospel with your family members before it’s too late this should be it.
Because consider that God may put a sword in your hand and use you as His agent to end your former father or mother’s existence and send their unrepentant souls into Gehinnom or hell during that great and terrible day of the Lord.
This is the unfortunate and fallen state of mankind from which the Lord is in the process of saving us.
Let’s close by looking at verse 10.
“He teaches your precepts to Jacob
and your law to Israel.
He offers incense before you
and whole burnt offerings on your altar.”
So what was the reward for those Levites who had no regard for their mother and father and struck them down at Hashem’s command?
The answer is they were given the great privilege and honor of becoming Torah instructors for the children of Israel and serving Hashem directly via the many rituals set down in the Law of Moses.
I’m done.
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