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What Walking With God and His Kingdom Means

 


I introduced the Story of TESHUVAH (Ezekiel 18) in my last email. I pointed out that TESHUVAH is usually translated “repentance.” TESHUVAH is one of those important Hebrew words that do not have an English word with the same meaning. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz wrote a book called Teshuvah, in it he said, “Teshuvah occupies a central place in Judaism and has many facets. As individuals differ from one another, so too do their modes of teshuvah, in both motive and form of expression.” Based on an individual’s relationship with God, TESHUVAH has two different meanings.

 

1. TESHUVAH means “Return!” for people that have been in a conscious relationship with the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth in the Jewish culture.

 

2. TESHUVAH means “Turn Around!” for people who have not been in a conscious relationship with the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth in the Jewish culture.

 

Below are ideas related to the meanings above.

 

1. There is a path that the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth follows -- walk on that path with Him.”

 

2. The people in the two examples above are going the wrong way on that path. They need to turn around and walk in the opposite direction. The people in the first example were walking with God in the past. For them, TESHUVAH means “Return to walking with God, like you used to do.”

 

3. The people in the second example were not walking with God in the past. For them, TESHUVAH means “Turn around and learn something new!”

 

4. Walking with God is a group activity. It’s not just “you and God walking on the path alone.” God is walking with His Kingdom.  Therefore, the people in His Kingdom must also learn how to walk together.

 

The Story of TESHUVAH (Ezekiel 18) was written to people who belonged to the Tribes of Israel. Their relationship to God and relationships to each other were defined by covenants, instructions, and commandments. It was not a Gentile thing.

 

However, the opening chapters of Genesis, before the Story of Abraham, contains a blessing, a Shabbat, instructions, and a covenant that the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth gave to all people. Those things applied to the Tribes of Israel, too. It is important to understand that neither Judaism nor Christianity existed at that time.

 

Ezekiel 18 opens by listing things that people who walk with God either do or do not do. Remember that God views people as being either innocent or guilty. The following lists describe “innocent people walking with God.” Remember, some of these apply to all people, while others apply only to the Tribes of Israel and Judaism. It will be important for people with Christian Biblical Heritages to understand which of these apply to them. I will discuss those differences in a future email too.

 

Things That Innocent People Do

 

● MISHPAT (justice)

● TZEDAQAH (will be defined in future emails)

● Gives food to the hungry.

● Provides clothing for the naked.

● Withholds his hand from doing evil.

● Returns what he takes as a pledge for a loan.

● Judges fairly between two parties.

● Follows my decrees.
● Faithfully keeps my laws.

 

Things That Innocent People Do Not Do

 

● Eat at the mountain shrines.

● Look to idols.

● Defile his neighbor’s wife.

● Have sexual relations with a woman during her period.

● Oppress anyone.

● Commit robbery.

● Lend at interest.
● Take a profit.

 

In closing, I want to remind you of something I have written about many times before. The Creator of the Heavens and the Earth measures His actions and those of humans by the TOV Standard. Actions of innocent people meet the four requirements of TOV Standard.

 

1. They protect lives.

2. They preserve lives.

3. They make lives more functional.

4. They increase the quality of life.

 

Take another look at the two lists above and consider each of those actions in light of what the TOV Standard revealed. I will continue this discussion in my next email.

 

Shalom,

Jim Myers

 

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