Setting the Table for our Discussion Here Today

This is “Did the Apostle Paul Sanction/Permit the Eating of all Meats? A Messianic Examination of 1 Timothy 4:1-5.”

Our discussion here today will serve as another installment to our massive Paul and Hebrew Roots series that is designed to address those hard-to understand and challenging Pauline passages that many in denominationalism have twisted, misinterpreted, and misrepresented to further their anti-Torah gospel and agenda (2 Peter 3:15-16).

Now, some of you who have been following our Paul and Hebrew Roots series for any appreciable length of time may be wondering why we are so abruptly shifting our focus away from the Book of Romans to today’s discussion of a passage in 1 Timothy.

Well, here’s why.

A very dear brother and long-time supporter of this ministry asked me to clarify for him the actual meaning of 1 Timothy 4:1-5, which I was happy to do. But after responding to him, it occurred to me that maybe it was time that I shared my thoughts and understanding of this passage with you all as well, here on TMTO.

And just so you’re aware beloved, we will return to our examination of Romans, Abba willing, in our next installment to this series.

Our Focus Passage of 1 Timothy 4:1-5

But in case you’re not familiar with this key Pauline passage, it reads as follows:

 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.  ⁴ For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: ⁵ For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. (1Ti 4:1-5 KJV)

This passage is often saddled with Peter’s/Kefa’s Joppa rooftop vision of a sheet descending from heaven with all sorts of unclean animals. And an unnamed voice instructs Kefa to rise, kill, and eat the creatures on the sheet, with the admonishment of “what Yah has made clean, he must not consider as unclean” any longer (Acts 10:11-13). And of course, the anti-Torah crowd has chosen to ignore the full context of Kefa’s vision here by insisting that the dietary laws along with the rest of Torah has been done away with. But the one with eyes to see and ears to hear will find Kefa later in this same chapter of Acts 10 interpreting his own vision. And that interpretation had absolutely nothing to do with Yah’s people being permitted to consume unclean meats or whatever foods they so choose outside of Torah’s instructions.

But as we all are aware, expressed truth, even when its right out in the open, is rarely enough to sway one who is hell-bent on disobeying his or her Creator’s instructions to them at all costs.

Now, if you recall our very last TMTO discussion entitled “Does Torah Cause Someone to Sin More? A Messianic Examination of Romans 5:20”, we identified that focus passage as another one of those challenging Pauline passages (at least challenging to us Messianics/Netzarim) that on the surface appears to be anti-Torah in meaning. That is, these difficult passages appear on the surface to be that of Paul telling his readers that the Torah has been done away with.

In today’s focus passage, a standard, rote, mechanical reading of the text, outside the framework of all reasonable contextual understanding (i.e.., taking into consideration the previous verses of Ephesians leading up to our focus passage; taking into account the apostle’s entire body of writings; taking into account the teachings of Master Yahoshua Messiah; taking into account the cultural, historical, situation-on-the-ground prompting the apostle to write the passage in the first place; not taking the passage in question as a stand-alone-scriptural soundbite), that when read outside the contextual framework, the focus passage would seem to support an understanding that the apostle was affirming to Timothy, in particular verses 4 and 5, that the consumption of all meats—whether clean or unclean—was henceforth and forevermore permissible. Amen…

But is this indeed the case? Was the apostle affirming to Timothy, who was well versed in Torah and the Gospel that Yahoshua taught through his mentor Paul: Was the apostle affirming here in this and other similar passages, that the mitzvot/the commandments regulating the consumption of meats by Yah’s set-apart people had become null and void? Well, the denominationalists, anti-Torah crowd certainly believe and teach that this was what the Apostle to the Gentiles was advocating.

So, today beloved, we will delve into 1 Timothy 4:1-5 and determine whether the denominationalists are correct in their understanding of this passage.

The Necessity of Employing a Pro-Torah Mindset in our Examination of 1 Timothy 4:1-5

Now, as I mentioned in our last installment, before we go any further in our discussion, I need you to first put on your pro-Torah-glasses and recall all that we’ve discussed about the apostle’s hard to understand, difficult to interpret passages, and apply those principles to the examination of our focus passage here today.

For if we approach this passage outside the contextual-framework of the whole of scripture—and the context of the whole of scripture is that it is pro-Torah—from Genesis/Beresheit through to Revelation—from the original covenant to the renewed covenant—if we reject the contextual-framework of scripture, we will be easy prey for the manipulators/twisters of scripture.

For our bible and our Faith were in fact founded upon Yah’s eternal, holy, and righteous ways, which are inextricably linked to His Torah, and which forms the basis upon which a substantive, covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe rest.

We Need Not Be Fooled by the Anti-Torah Crowd

Brethren, with 100% certainty I can tell you that the Apostle Paul was NOT doing an about-face on the Torah-prohibition against consuming unclean meats (as stipulated in Leviticus/Vayiqra 11 and Deuteronomy/Devarim 14) here in our focus passage.  And for anti-Torah denominationalists who have made it their mission in life to take our focus passage and others like it, and promote a lawless, grace-perverted gospel, they are in danger of finding themselves and those whom they’ve tricked into believing their false teachings, named among the “children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2; 5:6; Colossians 3:6) and “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3) and being called “least in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:19). But rather, the apostle is advocating Torah-living for Yah’s people by challenging and confronting the anti-Torah false teachings of the proto-Jewish-Gnostics of his day:

(5) But the aim of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. (6) Some have strayed from these and turned away to empty discussion. (7) They want to be teachers of the law (ie., of Torah), but they do n ot understand what they are saying or the things they insist on so confidently. (8) But we know that the law is good if someone uses it legitimately (1 Timothy 1:5-8; NET).

And so, here are a few things to keep in mind as we proceed along in our discussion:

1. Neither Yahoshua Messiah, or for that matter, the Apostle Paul, had the authority to reverse Yah’s Torah-provisions, including those provisions regulating clean and unclean foods.

2. To falsely accuse the apostle of being the face of the denominationalist’s anti-Torah agenda, rejects everything that the apostle taught and professed as it relates to his unshakable loyalty and adherence to Yah’s Torah and the Faith once delivered.

3. The circumstances prompting the apostle to write what he wrote in our focus passage is pretty evident throughout the body of his writings, in particular what he wrote in the first-two-verses leading to our focus passage. And that has to do with teachers within the Body of Messiah causing people to err from the tenets of the faith once delivered by way of “seducing spirits and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

Therefore, it is my hope, trust, and prayer that by the time we leave here today, we will all be in a better position to accurately explain our focus passage, as well as earnestly contend for the true faith once delivered (Jude 1:3).

So, let’s get into this.

Examining 1 Timothy 4:1-5

Prerequisites to Truly Understanding our Focus Passage

In order to accurately understand our focus passage, it is vitally important to first gain as clear an understanding of the contextual framework of this letter as possible. That means understanding who wrote the letter and to whom it was written. As well as it is important to gain as much of an understanding of what may have prompted the writing of the letter in the first place: the issues; the events; the circumstances; and the situation on the ground in Ephesus at the time Shaul wrote this letter to Timothy.

Therefore, I am a staunch advocate for reading the entire letter of First Timothy to gain this contextual understanding of all the moving parts associated with our focus passage. Because if we don’t survey the whole letter (which by the way, we’ll only be doing a cursory survey of the letter here in our discussion today for the sake of time), if we don’t survey the whole letter beforehand we will be forced to interpret our focus passage in isolation—as a scriptural soundbite–not having all the whys and wherefores needed to piece together the puzzle which is our passage. And so, our aim is to reduce the chance or eliminate the likelihood of misunderstanding and misinterpreting our passage.

We must always remember beloved, that this, as well as all the other Pauline letters, were not written to us as individuals, nor were they written to the general Body of Messiah. Contrary to denominational-conventional wisdom, these letters were never intended to be church operational and doctrinal manuals. In the case of these three-letters—first and second Timothy and Titus, they were originally written as personal, although professional correspondences, that the apostle wrote to two very important individuals on his evangelistic team; both of whom the apostle had tasked with overseeing key regional Messianic Assemblies. And these assemblies were experiencing challenges and problems and the negative influences of various religious cooks, all of which needed to be aggressively addressed to not cause the work that the apostle had put into developing these assemblies to naught. And so, these letters provide us, some 2,000-years removed, a snapshot of the apostle’s struggles to keep the Messianic Assemblies he oversaw from failing or entirely succumbing to the evils of false teachers and their teachings.

So, the apostle was insistent on these two men—Timothy and Titus–staying true to the doctrines and truths that he’d taught them and basically, imitate his boldness and zeal for the Faith and their offices.

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First Timothy, along with the two other Pastoral Letters of Second Timothy and Titus, were written by the apostle Shaul (aka Paul), with Luke possibly acting as the apostle’s secretary or scribe.

It is believed by some New Testament scholars that the apostle wrote his first letter to Timothy while traveling to or evangelizing Macedonia. And His target audience was not the Body of Messiah as Denominationalists assert, but rather His partner in ministry, Timothy, whom he’d previously placed over the Messianic Assembly in Ephesus.

We find in the opening verses of First Timothy chapter one that the apostle had left Timothy to oversee the Ephesian Assembly:

(1) From Paul, an apostle of Messiah Yahoshua by the command of Yah our Savior and of Messiah Yeshua our hope, (2) to Timothy, my genuine child in the faith. Grace, mercy, and peace from Yah the Father and Messiah Yahoshua our Master! (3) As I urged you when I was leaving for Macedonia, stay on in Ephesus to instruct certain people not to spread false teachings, (4) nor occupy themselves with myths and interminable genealogies. Such things promote useless speculations rather than Yah’s redemptive plan that operates by faith (NET).

We also learn in the same chapter that Shaul viewed Timothy as his “child” in the Faith (1 Timothy 1:18).

We also learn that Timothy hailed from Lystra in Asia Minor (Acts 20:4). Shaul informs that Timothy was the son of a Greek father and a Jewish mother:

“I (Paul) recall your (Timothy) sincere faith that was alive first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and I am sure is in you” (2 Timothy 1:15; NET).

So then, Shaul establishes Timothy as the overseer of the Messianic Assembly in Ephesus. And in so doing, the apostle gives Timothy some marching orders moving forward:

(1) Instruct certain people not to spread false teachings (1 Timothy 1:3).

An example of such nefarious individuals is found in the apostle’s mention of Hymenaeus and Alexander, who he described as having shipwrecked their faith and who he personally handed over to hasatan to be taught not to blaspheme (1 Timothy 1:19-20).

(2) Instruct the members of the Assembly in Ephesus to not occupy themselves with myths and “interminable genealogies” (1 Timothy 1:4).

(3) Fight the good fight (1 Timothy 1:18).

(4) That petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people during assembly gatherings and fellowships (1 Timothy 2:1-4). And he includes both men and women participating in these community prayers exercising appropriate deportment and appearance (1 Timothy 2:8-15).

In this letter, Shaul seems keen on reaffirming in Timothy’s mind the central doctrines of his ministry, which was Yah’s redemptive plan, and a trusting faith in Yahoshua Messiah (1 Timothy 1:4b). But to this end, the apostle asserts the relevancy and efficacy of Torah when properly employed and lived/walked out in a believer’s life (1 Timothy 1:8).

And besides the obvious, why was the apostle so keen on getting Ephesus back on track in terms of the assembly adhering to the doctrines taught them by Shaul? Because of the influence that false teachers such as Hymenaeus and Alexander were and would later have over Yah’s Assemblies (1 Timothy 4:1-2). And it would seem that such false teachings were originating from a twisting of Torah by certain Jewish converts to the faith: Possibly Jewish Gnostics.

Here’s Shaul’s assessment of these influencers:

(7) They (that is, these false teachers/influencers) want to be teachers of the law (presuming Torah, possibly aspects of the Talmud, but more than not, the written Torah), but they do not understand what they are saying or the things they insist on so confidently. (8) But we know that the law is good if someone uses it legitimately, (9) realizing that law/Torah is not intended for a righteous person, but for lawless and rebellious people, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, (10) sexually immoral people, practicing homosexuals, kidnappers, liars, perjurers—in fact, for any who live contrary to sound teaching (1 Timothy 1; NET modified).

Also, in question here in this letter are those who were involved in promoting various genealogies and speculations (1 Timothy 1:4).

Now, for the sake of time and avoiding going down rabbi-holes that are not tied to our focus passage, we will not delve into this particular passage. Suffice to say, the apostle is laying out a case against such false teachers that were operating in the Ephesian Assembly to Timothy.

The best background information as it relates to the Ephesian Assembly that Timothy was set to oversee, besides the Book of Ephesians itself, can be found in the Book of Acts. And in the Book of Acts, we find that Shaul left the nascent assembly in the care of Priscilla and Aquila. Priscilla and Aquila were a Roman Jewish couple who were expelled from Rome during Emperor Claudius’ purge of the Jews from Italy. It’s a fair guess that this couple were members of the Roman Messianic Assembly that endured some significant persecution under Emperor Nero. Shaul meets this couple in Corinth and recruits them to be members of his evangelistic team. They travel with Shaul to Ephesus and the apostle leaves them there to oversee the nascent Ephesian Assembly (Acts 18).

The budding Ephesian Assembly could not have been in better hands under the watchful eyes of Aquila and Priscilla as they were well versed in the Faith once delivered. This is evidenced by the couple educating the visiting evangelist Apollos—described by Luke as an eloquent speaker with a thorough knowledge of the Tanach. The limits of his understanding of the Faith once delivered were derived from him being a disciple of Yochanan (aka John) the Immerser (Acts 18:24-28).

But it appears that after the departure of Priscilla and Aquila (seemingly back to their hometown of Rome) and Apollos, the Ephesian Assembly sort of dissolved: possibly as a result of her not having competent leadership. Luke’s narration does not provide us any clear explanation as to why the Ephesian Assembly faded out in its first iteration. But we do know that Shaul returned to Ephesus and established another foothold in that city. He was successful in locating and ministering to a handful of disciples; in addition to his preaching in the city’s synagogue for three-months, “disputing and persuading the things concerning the Kingdom of Yah” (Acts 19:8). Unfortunately, it would appear, the synagogue members were not very accepting of the Apostle’s Gospel Message, prompting Shaul to move his evangelical operations to the “School of Tyrannus” and refocus his efforts on making disciples of Ephesian Gentiles (Acts 19:9). And it appears that this School of Tyrannus was a center for various forms of Greek learning. It was clearly open to accommodating and facilitating the Apostle’s work in Ephesus. And the apostle worked out of that facility for the better part of two-years (Acts 19:9-10).

It turns out that Ephesus and the School of Tyrannus became the central hub of Shaul’s global evangelistic operations (Acts 19:10b). Consequently, the apostle’s influence was greatly felt in the city during those two years. And we find in verses 11-19 a situation that may help us understand our focus passage a little better. For we find in these two verses that the Apostle’s influence—the delivering of the Word of Truth with power, and the miraculous being manifested through him and his team—led to many of the city’s Jewish mystics (or Gnostics) converting to the Faith and becoming members of into the assembly.

Now, it’s these so-called Jewish mystics or Jewish Gnostics (if you will) who continued to practice their religion even after coming into Faith, that likely caused the Ephesian Assembly to, in some degree, fall into the morass of “syncretism.” Syncretism is the merging of belief-systems into a single religion. Thus, these Jewish magicians/mystics–some have referred to them as nascent or proto-Jewish Gnostics–likely infused their Jewish mystic beliefs—possibly early-early Kabbalistic beliefs—into the True Faith once delivered. These New Age Jews taught heretical doctrines such as the ones mentioned in our focus passage, whereby members of the assembly were encouraged to not marry and to abstain from the consumption of all meats. These Gnostics seemed to practice some form of asceticism.

Asceticism is defined as “a severe self-discipline and avoidance of all forms of indulgences” for purposes of getting closer to God or to achieve some religious purpose (Oxford Dictionary). And despite these mystics or magicians or proto-Gnostics being Jewish in terms of their culture, biology, and basic Hebrew/Jewish beliefs, their pagan, gnostic beliefs, and practices betrayed their Hebraic Roots. These taught principles and doctrines that were contrary to Torah.

J.K. McKee, author of “A Survey of the Apostolic Scriptures for the Practical Messianic” described the negative impact that these proto-Gnostic influencers’ posed on Shaul’s work in the region:

“…Paul and Timothy were increasingly endangered by a Judaizing-gnostic counter mission which was likely quite akin to some of the false ideas present in Colossae” (Colossians 2:8-3:4).

The Colossae Parallel

So, what was happening in Colossae that would parallel what was happening in Ephesus?

Well:

• There appeared to exist a significant focus on empty, deceitful philosophies that were consistent with various human traditions related to fallen spirit beings. These hot topics had gripped the imaginations of the members of the Colossae Assembly, all but overshadowing all teachings of and about Yahoshua Messiah.

• The members of the assembly were having to endure criticisms and judgments from outsiders regarding the basic elements of their Faith, such as the food laws, the weekly Sabbath, New Moon celebrations, and the Feasts of Yah. Those passing judgment on those who were Torah-honoring in the Assembly were heavily distracted by gnostic-beliefs and pagan-infused-worship, such as a syncretized religion focusing on angels.

• Members of the Colossian Assembly, even after being converted to the True Faith Once Delivered, were in many cases still clinging to the pagan ways of the world from which they originally came, with a focus on the evil spirits of this world. It’s not clear, but it’s conceivable that these individuals were still communicating and reacting to the natural elements of this world from a pagan-rich, spiritual perspective. Remember the Jewish Gnostics in Ephesus and their books of magic? Witchcraft. Soothsaying. Fortune-telling. Necromancy. And the like (Acts 19:19).

• Many members remained focused on the carnal and things of the flesh, and not so much spiritual things.

And so, it’s all this background knowledge that helps form the basis of understanding what the apostle was truly saying in our focus passage. It’s not what the Denominationalists and their anti-Torah machine have been putting out to the world all these many centuries. Just because Shaul was the Great Apostle to the Gentiles, he was not granted any special powers and authority to do away with Torah. Not even Yahoshua was granted such authority:

(17) Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. (18) For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (19) Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:17-20; KJV).

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Our Focus Passage is an Indication of the Insidious and Pervasive Nature of False Teachings and Teachers in the Early Assemblies

Our focus passage is clearly another indication of the pervasiveness of false teachers and their teachings that were infiltrating the first-century assemblies. And all indications are that many of these false teachers were proto-Jewish-Gnostics, although in Shaul’s day, Gnosticism had not fully come into its own. And please don’t get me wrong beloved, converted Gentiles were not to be excluded from this group of false teachers and their false teachings. For these too brought into the Faith once delivered, the pagan-rich-baggage of their former lives. The apostle makes mention of such things with his phrase “philosophy, vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world…the rudiments (or elemental spirits) of the world… (Colossians 2:8, 20; KJV).

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So, with all this background information that we’ve accumulated, we can now move forward and directly examine our focus passage and see if we can accurately interpret or decipher what the apostle was writing to Timothy.

4:1-2.    The latter time departing from the faith

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; (1Ti 4:1-2 KJV)

In these two verses, the apostle mentions that in the later days, brethren would depart from the fundamental elements and understanding, and teachings of the true Faith once delivered. And if you read this particular verse carefully, it’s not so much that people will “leave” the faith, as some have interpreted. But rather, folks will occupy themselves with false and misguided teachings that the apostle describes as originating with “deceiving spirits and demonic teachings.”

We see evidence strewn throughout the apostle’s body of writings that he truly believed he and the assemblies were living in the last days. And certainly, here in verse one, we see an example of this belief:

“Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times (ie., the “acharit-hayamim”) some will desert the faith…” and so forth.

And so, the apostle, having this ominous perception that the end times were right upon him and his evangelistic work. Consequently, this ominous belief that the apostle possessed gave rise to this constant feeling that the “obedience of faith” that he’d preached and taught the assemblies he oversaw could conceivably be supplanted by “grievous wolves” (Acts 20:28-31). These “grievous wolves would prey upon the members of the Body of Messiah and draw them away from the truth of the Gospel.

But as far as Shaul was concerned, the “acharit-hayamim” (aka the end times) had already descended upon the Body of Messiah:

“…the ends of the world are come” he writes (1 Corinthians 10:11b).

Shaul was acutely aware that many members of the Body of Messiah, even in some of the assemblies he oversaw, were falling away from the original, pure faith once delivered. Their substitute for the true faith being a syncretized religion that originated from deceiving spirits and demons. In this case, the members of the Ephesian Assembly were being drawn into a proto-or nascent-Jewish Gnosticism that could not have come from anyplace other than the pit of hell.

And so, this verse forms sort of an introduction to that which will come in the remaining three-verses of our focus passage regarding the consumption of meats by Yah’s people. For if we understand that Shaul’s focus was on the Ephesian Messianics being influenced by false teachings coming from deceiving spirits and demonic teachings, we can better understand what the apostle meant when he wrote that “every creature of God is good, and nothing should be refused if it’s received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4).

So then, in verse 2, Shaul mentions that there were hypocritical liars in the Body of Mashiyach who were putting forth these false teachings that were occupying the minds of the brethren. These Shaul describes as having their minds so desensitized to the Truth of Yah’s Word—including the Truth of Yah’s Torah which Shaul taught to the assemblies he oversaw—that they were no longer capable of recognizing the Truth even if it were to bite them in their behinds.  

And so, the apostle’s focus becomes that of these lying, hypocritical false teachers and in the following verses, he is going to expound—highlight—some of their false teachings.

4:3-5. The False Teachings of the Ephesian Gnostics that Timothy was Instructed to be on the Look-out For

³ Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.  ⁴ For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: ⁵ For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. (1Ti 4:3-5 KJV)

Here the apostle mentions that these false, lying, hypocritical teachers were (1) prohibiting marriage, an institution that Yah sanctified. And (2) these false teachers were requiring the brethren to “abstain from foods that Yah created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth” (NET).  

What are those foods that the apostle is saying these false teachers are prohibiting the brethren from consuming? Well, the Hebraic understanding of what we ARE TO consume as food and what we are NOT to consume is spelled out in Leviticus/Vayiqra 11 and Deuteronomy/Devarim 14:1-21. Yah had Moshe write down for us what He considers to be food and what He considers not to be food.

Contrary to denominationalists’ conventional wisdom, the apostle here in in these three verses was confronting the issue of “asceticism.” As pious and admirable as asceticism may appear to many people around the world today and throughout history, it is not of Yah, but of man. Yah established the institution of marriage for several reasons, which we won’t get into in this discussion. (But I would recommend that you check out our discussion on Biblical Marriage if you are led to do so.) And for someone to teach against the institution of marriage, outside of one’s own personal conviction to not marry, such as with Shaul (Romans 14:5-6, 14-17, 20; 1 Corinthians 8:8, 13; 10:23-11:1; Colossians 2:16-23), is presumptuous and it serves only to second guess Yah.

The Catholic Church for instance, has erroneously used the apostle as their priestly role model, forbidding their priests from marrying. Which I’ve always found curious, especially given the fact that even the Levitical High Priests were expected to marry. Why would Catholic Priests have an alternative expectation?

Now, the abstinence of foods that Yah created to be received with thanksgiving as Shaul referenced here is not at all related to “kashrut,” or the orthodox Jewish dietary laws. Which is in and of itself interesting, given that the dietary asceticism the apostle is referring to here, was being taught and likely enforced upon certain Ephesian Assembly members by Messianic Jews. For these proto-nascent-Gnostic Jews were twisting Yah’s food laws to such a degree that the one coming into their syncretized religion would view the consumption of sanctioned and sanctified meats as evil or carnal.    

So, Shaul here is basically telling Timothy that these shysters—these bootleg preachers so to speak—are preaching and teaching against Torah precepts. Not, however, against Torah precepts as the denominationalists-anti-Torah crowd would have us believe. But rather, they were preaching and teaching that the brethren should abstain from those meats that Father Yah has sanctioned as food. These false teachers were seemingly teaching a full abstinence from all meats—both clean and unclean. And it seems that these folks were somehow teaching that these clean foods were not clean—that they were not to be eaten by Yah’s set-apart people. It appears they were teaching and preaching some form of veganism, which Yah never required his people to engage in. Yah deemed that certain animals were clean and should and could be eaten by his people.  

And since Yah provided these animals for our consumption—the clean animals that is—we as Yah’s elect are to receive them with thanksgiving.  

Therefore, in verse 4, the apostle makes a definitive statement that any clean food that Yah has permitted in His Torah may be eaten by His people, and that Yah’s people are not to be hesitant in receiving and consuming these foods, but to receive and consume them with thanksgiving. For Yah provided and set these foods apart for His people to eat. And He set them apart for us to eat by stating it in His Torah and we give thanks for that food when we bless the Eternal with our thanksgiving prayers each time we sit down to eat.  

Yes, the denominationalists—the anti-Torah folks—have taken our focus passage well out of its contextual framework. And they’ve done so by leaving out ignoring or simply reading over verses 1 and 2, which I stated earlier, sets the stage for what the apostle was confronting in his message to the Evangelist Timothy. Shaul, a Torah-loving “emissary” of Yahoshua Messiah, would never advocate any of Yah’s people consuming forbidden, unsanctioned, unclean meats or foods. He taught Torah and he stood by Torah through and through.  

Therefore, we really must take everything the apostle writes in context. And yes, sometimes his writings are extremely challenging to understand. But once we know what the apostle truly stood for, his writings are not all that difficult to understand.

The Bottom Line Regarding the Yah’s People Keeping the Food Laws

So, when we take into consideration all that we’ve discussed relating to our focus passage, we can safely conclude that the apostle was strictly addressing false teachings that targeted Torah-instructions related to (1) marriage and (2) meat consumption by Yah’s people.

It was clear that these false teachings, which I believe were tied to a growing Jewish Gnostic influence (1 Timothy 1:7—those who the apostle described as wanting to be teachers of Torah even though they did not understand either what they were saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions); this threat not only happening in Ephesus, but in other assemblies that Shaul oversaw. Shaul was obviously concerned about the negative influence these Gnostics were having on assembly members, and thus he sought to not only make his young protege aware of the threat, but to also instruct him to act against the false teachers’ influences in the assemblies.

Now, I get that these false Torah-teachers weren’t proposing an outright violation of Torah as the denominationalists have made this passage out to be. But rather, these proto-Gnostics (if you will) were imposing upon the Ephesian Assembly, a form of syncretized, “austerity” or “asceticism”—that was meant to deprive or deny oneself of Yah-sanctioned things such as marriage and meats—as a means of ascending and communing with God. But the uniquely packaged, syncretized message/religion of these proto-Gnostics conflicted with the Gospel that Yahoshua and Shaul preached and taught. The Gospel that Yahoshua and Shaul preached and taught made provision for the only Way (no pun intended) to Yah. And the only Way to Yah was through a trusting faith in the Person and Ministry of our glorious Master Yahoshua Messiah (Ephesians 2:8; 2 Timothy 1:9).

So, this is really what this passage is about. It has nothing to do with Paul somehow overriding and doing away with Torah for Christians. But rather, it was about Shaul and his evangelistic team’s ongoing war against a hasatan-demon-created belief-system that the false-teachers and their teachings promised would bring one closer to the Creator of the Universe. It was about the ongoing efforts by Shaul to contend for the true faith once delivered and to push back on those who sought to cause members of the Body to essentially deny the cross—the execution stake—i.e.., the cross of Yahoshua and His atoning sacrifice and spilled blood to repair the breach that has existed between Yah and His human creation since the fall.

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Ephesus cleaned up the false-teaching problem that the apostle was concerned about in our focus passage today by the time Yochanan/John the Just wrote the Book of Revelation:

“I know your works as well as your labor and steadfast endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil. You have even put to the test those who refer to themselves as apostles (but are not) and have discovered that they are false” (2:2).

And that is certainly a good thing.

However, Master did tell the Ephesian Assembly that He was upset over their forsaking their first love amid their cleaning up the false teachings and ridden themselves of false teachers (Revelation 2:4-5).

Now, many have surmised and speculated as to what Master meant by the Ephesians having left their first love. But what we can probably safely decipher from this statement is that the Assemblies had in general become cold towards their Master and quite possibly towards one another. These no longer possessed the zeal and love they once had when they first came to Faith in Mashiyach. We know that Ephesus was a wealthy Greco-Roman city. And it is quite possible that many of the Assembly members had grown complacent as it related to the required love for Mashiyach and for one another.

I will, at the risk of taking liberties with an unsubstantiated interpretation of this passage, that the Ephesian Assembly’s loss of love may even have involved them being disobedient to the teachings of Master Yeshua. Master counsels the Ephesians to assess how far they’d fallen from that first love, and to “do the deeds you did at the first” (Revelation 2:5).

As it related to that first-love that the Ephesians had seemingly lost, Master made it a point to say to His disciples:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John/Yochanan 14:15; NKJV).

“He who does not love Me does not keep My words…” (John/Yochanan 14:24; NKJV).

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John/Yochanan 13:34; NKJV).

You see, it’s one thing to rid ourselves of false teachings and heretical false teachers (which we absolutely need to be on guard for and make sure we don’t tolerate them in our midst). But it’s another thing to lose the very love that we had for the things of the Faith that we received when we came to Faith. It’s vitally important to maintain that first love. For the consequences of one not maintaining that first love is for Master Yahoshua Messiah Himself, as He cautioned the Ephesians, removing our lampstand from its place (Revelation 2:5).

Specifically, what is meant by Master removing the Ephesians’ lampstand is not entirely clear. But it sure sounds as though Yeshua Himself is suggesting that He will separate those who’ve lost their first love, from His True Body and from any opportunity to enter and be a part of His coming Kingdom:

(22) On that day, many will say to Me, ‘Master, Master, didn’t we prophesy in your Name, and in your Name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’ (23) Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away (depart) from Me, you lawbreakers (ie., you workers of iniquity)” (Matthew 7; NET modified). 

Action:

So then beloved, it falls upon each of us to stay the course as it relates to our walking out this faith. Yah requires us, as He did with the righteous remnant of Judah just before the Babylonian invasion:

“…the just (i.e.., the Tzedek; the righteous) shall live by [his] faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).

Indeed, there are several difficult passages in scripture that the enemy has twisted and misinterpreted and misrepresented to coax and bamboozle Yah’s people to transgress His Torah.

But Master stated to His disciples back in the day:

(19) Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (20) For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19-20; KJV).

Beloved, the leaders and teachers and preachers of this world do not have a heaven nor hell to place any of us in. They themselves are subject to Yah’s wrath and righteous judgment if they are not rightly dividing His “Word of truth.” And that’s exactly why I don’t take what I do here each week on TMTO lightly. I have a huge responsibility on my shoulders to tell you the Truth as Yah has made provision for me to do so. Otherwise, if I take liberties with Yah’s Truth, I stand to reap His wrath. And I’ll be frank with you: I absolutely gotta make it into the Kingdom. And so, I don’t want to do anything that will compromise or prevent that.

I said all this because I want you to be acutely aware of what the Truth is, and to not be ensnared in the false teachings—the anti-Torah—grace perversion of the Church Triumphant. As well as I want us all to be ready and capable of giving every person an answer who asks us for a reason of the hope that is in us (1 Peter/Kefa 3:15).  This is all part and parcel of our contending earnestly for the faith once delivered (Jude 1:3).

We answer to Yah, not the Church Triumphant. Which means, contrary to denominationalist-conventional wisdom, we have freedom in Messiah (2 Corinthians 3:17). Torah-living frees us from the bondage of sin and of men. We are married to a new Master and are now to live under His house-rules. And those house-rules are His Torah.

The apostle Shaul told his Colossian readers to not allow any individual judge them in meat, or in drink, or in respect to a moedim or set-apart day-or feast-day, or a new moon, or a sabbath day, as these are all shadows of good things to come; the reality of which is our glorious Messiah, Yahoshua (Colossians 2:16-17).

Besides, why would we want to defile these temples with that which is not food (1 Corinthians 6:19)? Yah’s presence deserves a holy place in which to dwell. So, let us not defile these temples of ours with that which is not food, but only that which leads to a healthy and sound body, mind, and spirit, so that Yah gets the glory and honor He so justly deserves.

And lastly, let us not get tangled up and misled by extreme religious practices that promise a closer relationship with the Creator of the Universe. Our covenant relationship with Yah is based entirely upon our trusting Faith in the Person and Ministries of Yeshua Messiah. And we please our Father in Heaven when we walk before Him perfectly and obey His Torah.

Shabbat Shalom.

Shavuatov.

Take care.