Matthew 12
Sabbath
Yeshua taught and abided by Torah. He was the most Torah compliant man that ever lived because he was sinless. Sin by definition is deviating from the instructions of God. The fourth commandment is to Keep the Sabbath holy (Ex 20:8-11; Deut 5:12). This is by far the longest and most specific of the Commandments. The Pharisees sought to attack Yeshua on this front:
Matthew 12:1–7 (NLT) 1 At about that time Jesus was walking through some grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them. 2 But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, “Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.” 3 Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He went into the house of God, and he and his companions broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. 5 And haven’t you read in the law of Moses that the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath? 6 I tell you, there is one here who is even greater than the Temple! 7 But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’
Matthew 12:1-2 The question: Sabbath instructions are not very clear in Torah. Keeping the Sabbath was very clear! The first instruction that is given is the definition of the Sabbath in the Ten Commandments:
Exodus 20:8–11 (NLT) 8 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
Exodus 35:2–3 (NLT) 2 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the Lord. Anyone who works on that day must be put to death. 3 You must not even light a fire in any of your homes on the Sabbath.”
It is easy to see why the Rabbi’s wanted to make sure that the Sabbath was kept holy. A complete rest indicated no work at all. Scripture even commands that they were not to light a fire on the Sabbath. That meant that the fire had better be going prior to the Sabbath! The Rabbi’s took the view that prevention of violation was much better than stumbling into sin. This resulted in very strict regulations on the Sabbath.
Original Sabbath instructions were given during the Exodus. When the Manna fell, the people gathered enough on the sixth day (Thursday sundown through Friday sundown) for two days. They baked and cooked twice as much on the sixth day than they did the rest of the week. Normally if they tried to save food overnight it became foul and had worms in it. This did not happen on the Sabbath. Some tried to gather on the Sabbath and found that no manna was available. They were chided for this (Ex 16:23-30). Here we are given the specific instructions that on the Sabbath everyone is to remain home so they can rest (Ex 16:29-30).
Let’s return to the Passage: The Pharisees were obviously watching Yeshua and His disciples closely. No mention is made of the journey that they were on, so most likely the journey was to or from the Temple or Synagogue. The Pharisees felt that the disciples were harvesting wheat which is a violation according to their rules since that would be ordinary work. On the other hand, eating a snack is not violating Torah. God gave instructions that the travelers in the Exodus were to prepare enough food for two days. Placing a head of wheat between the hands, rubbing it and blowing out the chaff so you can have a snack is not ordinary work. Therefore, Yeshua did not even address this at all. Rather He went for the root of the problem
The Rabbi’s interpreted God’s law, they made rules to protect it that were impossible to follow. This created more work than it prevented, not to mention building condemnation and false guilt into the hearts of the people. Jesus points out in the next few verses three illustrations that demonstrate that Torah (God’s instruction) was wrongly interpreted. When man tries to add to God’s Torah, he always messes it up. The result of adding to Torah is evident in most churches, it results in broken people who are attempting to hold to unrealistic religious requirements rather than leaning upon the guidance and direction of God. It is clear from Jesus’ words that He considered adding unrealistic burdens to people to be adding to His word. Yet He did not condemn the well-meaning Pharisees, rather He sought to gently correct them.
Yeshua’s Response: Matthew 12:3-4 is referring to 1 Samuel 21:1-9: David was on the run from Saul. He had just verified from Jonathan that Saul was aggressively intent upon killing David. On his way out of town, David went to Ahimelech and asked bread from the altar and the sword of Goliath. The priest made sure that David and his men were keeping Torah and were not unclean in any way because the bread was holy bread (Lev 24:5-9). Warriors who fought for Israel, and the ones still fighting for Israel today keep themselves holy because they consider war to be a holy ordinance from God. When they enter battle, they make sure that they are ceremonial pure so that God will give them victory. David’s men were apparently aware that a major battle was impending, therefore they were pure according to Torah. David feared for his life, was on the run and out of necessity asked for the bread. By referring to this example, Jesus is inferring that the gathering of grain by His disciples was out of necessity, they were hungry. He was also inferring by using this story that His disciples are holy warriors who are traveling with the Son of David on a critical mission.
Second Example the Priests Matthew 12:5: The priest is another example of breaking the law. In performing priestly duties, it required him to work on the Sabbath. If you consider the sacrifices that were required for each day, there was a lot of work involved. For example, two lambs were to be sacrificed daily, that included the Sabbath. Along with sacrificing them, came the work of building the fire, hauling the wood, removing the ashes, and cleaning the utensils which were used in the performance of their duties. That is pointing to just one of the sacrifices that were offered in the temple. Look at a note from the commentaries:
“and are blameless? —The double offerings required on the Sabbath day ( Nu 28:9 ) could not be presented, and the new-baked showbread ( Le 24:5 ; 1Ch 9:32 ) could not be prepared and presented every Sabbath morning, without a good deal of servile work on the part of the priests; not to speak of circumcision, which, when the child’s eighth day happened to fall on a Sabbath, had to be performed by the priests on that day.” [1]
With all of this work the priests were considered to be exempted from the Sabbath restrictions since their job required them to work on the Sabbath. This Job was in keeping the wheels turning in the Temple so that Torah could be followed as it was written. Today many ministers will take the day following the Sabbath as their day of rest simply because they labor intensely on the Sabbath.
Application of Teaching with a final example, Matt 12:6-7: Jesus tells them that first they don’t understand the intent behind Torah (God’s instructions). He also prods them by stating that something greater than the Temple is present, thus referring to Himself as Messiah. They did not understand that God is a merciful God. He is concerned with the hearts of men and the wellbeing of men. The Sabbath was not designed to be a burdensome day, it was designed to be a day of rest. The theme of mercy rather than sacrifice runs through the Tanakh (Old Testament). Yeshua seems to be quoting from the prophet Hosea (1 Samuel 15:22-23; Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:6-8; Hebrews 13:16).
The Pharisees were intently focused upon their law instead of Torah so they missed the point completely. Torah points people toward God, it is a constant guide think and act in ways that mirror God’s work. They saw the law as an end in itself, containing all that they needed for life, a strict set of rules that allowed no deviation. This view was a view of death, Torah was meant to bring life and freedom.
Yeshua, Son of Man, is Lord of the Sabbath:
Yeshua was rather frustrated with the Pharisees. Look at what happens directly after this:
Matthew 12:8–14 (NLT) 8 For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!” 9 Then Jesus went over to their synagogue, 10 where he noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?” (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.) 11 And he answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would. 12 And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one! 14 Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus.
Matthew 12:8: First Jesus claims to be the Lord of the Sabbath. God established the Sabbath rest after creation (Genesis 2:3). Yeshua is noted to be the creator in several places in the New Testament and therefore He is claiming His rightful place as Lord of the Sabbath (John 1:3, 10). Following God’s example, God required the people to rest on the Sabbath just as God did after creation, this is built into the fourth commandment (above). This is another of the claims where Jesus is claiming to be the God of the Old Testament.
Matthew 12:9-12: The Pharisees set him up by presenting a man with a withered hand. Jesus responded to them with questions regarding Torah. The only instruction given in Torah regarding healing is when a man is injured because of a quarrel. The one who injured is required to pay lost time and take care of him until he is completely healed (Ex 21:19). This would certainly include taking care of the injured man on the Sabbath. This statement regarding healing is given in Torah:
Deuteronomy 32:39 (NLT) 39 Look now; I myself am he! There is no other god but me! I am the one who kills and gives life; I am the one who wounds and heals; no one can be rescued from my powerful hand!
Therefore, according to Torah, healing does not take place unless God ordains it. The rabbi’s taught that it was acceptable to take care of sheep and animals when they become distressed on the Sabbath (Ex 23:4-5; Dt 22:4). This command came straight out of Torah.
Matthew 12:13-14: Yeshua deliberately healed the man with the withered hand. He proved His claim to be Lord of the Sabbath and the God of healing from the Old Testament. Take careful note that in the scripture, the man never asked to be healed, he never approached Jesus and demonstrated healing faith, he was merely present at the end of the discussion about the grain. This man was a plant for the purpose of bringing accusation against Yeshua.
The problem the Pharisee’s faced with Jesus healing the man in the synagogue was simple, to say that it was not God behind the healing meant that the synagogue was not holy and that the devil resided in the synagogue. The evidence of Jesus healing within the synagogue verified that God was behind Him. The second problem that the Pharisees faced was that Jesus’ arguments made sense scripturally. The third problem that they had was that Jesus claimed to be God, and immediately after making the claim miraculously healed a man with a withered hand. In their situation, if they said that He was not God, then they would have to say that the devil was greater than God since the healing took place in the synagogue. They were stumped as to what to say, so they said nothing, rather they conspired together how to get rid of Jesus.
The purpose of the questioning was not to learn the truth about Torah regarding the Sabbath. The Pharisees from the start entered into the discussion with one purpose in mind. They wanted to trap Yeshua with a man who needed healing. They wanted to accuse Yeshua of being a Sabbath breaker. At the end of the discussion, their hearts and purpose had not changed. This was after a miracle that would still stagger the imagination today. The miracle was on such a spectacular scale that it could not go unnoticed. Yet, the hatred that was developing in the hearts of the Pharisees darkened their senses so much that they did not notice. They forgot Torah and sought to destroy the Messiah.
Before we get too hard on them: Religious people refuse to deal with Biblical truth that challenges their position. It is really quite simple; as men we desire to fit God in a box. If God fits in a box then we can understand how to deal with Him, and what to expect out of Him. If God will not fit in a box, then we have a problem because we cannot understand Him, in other words, we cannot control God. We also have boxes for all of our other church doctrines and teachings. These church boxes are only so big and they all have set parameters which they fit into. With God fit nicely into His box, we also fit all the teachings of God and the church into neat boxes, so everything works well and is manageable.
If someone challenges our system, then we have a real problem. We have to admit that we are wrong and God will not fit in a box, or we have to find a way to deal with the threat toward our established system. We are not that much different from the Pharisee’s, we have changed the religion from Judaism to Christianity, and still try to mold God to fit into our boxes rather than listening to Him and following His instruction. It is a trap that is easily fallen into. It results from taking what other people tell you and not digging into the Bible to establish the truth through careful study.
For example, in this study we have seen that Yeshua is the Lord of the Sabbath. The Jewish Sabbath takes place from Friday at sundown to Saturday at sundown. This is the seventh day of the week on the Jewish calendar and is the only day designated as “Sabbath”. I have tried to justify a Sunday Sabbath by looking at scriptures in the New Testament. It simply cannot be done. No scripture taken in context in the New or Old Testaments condone or make a case for a Sunday Sabbath. We have effectively thrown out the fourth commandment. At best we have changed God’s word to move the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the week. There was a warning in the scriptures about what will happen if man added to God’s Word (Leviticus 26:14-46; Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Proverbs 30:6).
Yet, many will readily pick up stones to stone me for this statement. I have already had people leave the study because they do not agree with God’s explicit word on this subject. We are no different than the Pharisees on this subject. Our God-box is built with a Sunday Sabbath and even if it is proven wrong according to the scriptures, we refuse to accept it. On the same token, we say that we follow Yeshua, the Lord of the Sabbath…
Messianic prophecies:
Matthew 12:15–21 (NASB95)
15 But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, 16 and warned them not to tell who He was. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: 18 “Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen; My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased; I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. 19 “He will not quarrel, nor cry out; Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 20 “A battered reed He will not break off, And a smoldering wick He will not put out, Until He leads justice to victory. 21 “And in His name the Gentiles will hope.”
Matthew 12:14-16: The Sabbath question drew the wrath of the Pharisees. They sought to take the life of Yeshua for violating Torah according to their instructions. We discussed this in the previous section. Yeshua did not stop His ministry. He went into almost a hidden ministry. It stands to reason that since persecution was being increased, the ministry went underground as much as possible. Of the multitudes that followed Him, all were healed. They were firmly instructed to tell no one about their healings or to divulge His location.
Matthew 12:17-21: Matthew helps us understand the reason behind this sudden twist in Yeshua’s ministry. He quotes from Isaiah 42 regarding the Messiah. Let’s discuss the context of Isaiah 42 for a moment. The entire earth is trembling at the feet of the Mighty YHVH God, who was the first and with the last (Isa 41:4). The nations of the earth attempt to meet God by building idols (Isa 41:5-7). Yet God chose the Hebrews to be His witnesses to the world (Isa 41:8-16). He chose to befriend the descendants of His friend Abraham. They were to carry the message of the creator God to the world (Isa 41:17-20). His people chose to follow the ways of the world rather than the true God, they were tried according to their actions and fell short (Isa 41:21-24). God was let down by the messengers that He sent since they refused to carry or deliver the message so He sent a destroyer from the north (Isa 41:25-29). The descendants of Abraham became infected with the disease of idol worship. They not only blended Torah with idol worship, they preferred idol worship, all of their works were counted as worthless (Isa 41:29).
Cyrus: God sent Cyrus to press the Jewish people into Babylonian captivity. By the way, it was prophesied that Cyrus would be the appointed one who would deliver the people into captivity about 200 years before he was born (Isa 44:28; 45). There they abandoned idol worship and returned to Torah as history progressed. They returned to the letter of the Torah, but did not return to the point where God had designed them to be an evangelistic outreach to the surrounding nations (Isa 41:27). Instead the people of YHVH developed a religion that was a closed shop focusing only on the people that were Jewish. The Hebrew relationship with God digressed to the point of a staunch religion loaded with rules and regulations imposed by their Rabbi’s. This was not God’s design. Therefore, God sent another deliverer which would deliver the Jewish people from religion. This is where Matthew picks up the quote from Isaiah 42, I will quote through verse 9:
Isaiah 42:1–9 (NLT) 1 “Look at my servant, whom I strengthen. He is my chosen one, who pleases me. I have put my Spirit upon him. He will bring justice to the nations. 2 He will not shout or raise his voice in public. 3 He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. He will bring justice to all who have been wronged. 4 He will not falter or lose heart until justice prevails throughout the earth. Even distant lands beyond the sea will wait for his instruction.” 5 God, the Lord, created the heavens and stretched them out. He created the earth and everything in it. He gives breath to everyone, life to everyone who walks the earth. And it is he who says, 6 “I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will take you by the hand and guard you, and I will give you to my people, Israel, as a symbol of my covenant with them. And you will be a light to guide the nations. 7 You will open the eyes of the blind. You will free the captives from prison, releasing those who sit in dark dungeons. 8 “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols. 9 Everything I prophesied has come true, and now I will prophesy again. I will tell you the future before it happens.”
In the passage above, “justice” is mentioned three times in the first five verses. The English does a discredit to this word because even though “justice” good translation: customs, rights, or procedures may be a better translation. It speaks of a good rule that is followed, a correct path toward the “mishpah” of the Lord. This word pops up all through scriptures designating the correct pathway to righteousness by following Torah. Incidentally, the word for “instruction” in the NLT and “law” in the NASB is the word Torah (Isa 42:4). The “fresh” Torah that will be given to the earth is the truth of God’s instruction (Isa 42:10). The Jewish people are still designated to be a light to the nations.
Messiah, deliverer: Just as Cyrus came to deliver the Jewish people into captivity, Messiah came to free the Jewish people from captivity to Torah made into religion. Matthew takes Isaiah 42:1-4 to explain the plan of Yeshua and His personality. He gives us a picture of who the Messiah truly was according to prophecy. Jesus came to the Hebrew people as the Messiah. He came to be a catalyst to return the Hebrew people back to Torah so that they could become a light to the nations. This was God’s original design! God wanted the Jewish people to be an evangelistic outreach to the world… Matthew points out that the Messiah is extremely interested in the Gentile nations. When God established His instruction in Torah, it was not designed to be only for the Jews. It was designed as an outreach to draw all men to salvation. Somehow, this simple truth was missed. The Jewish leaders of the system sought to kill Jesus and still abandoned the design of YHVH.
On the same token, most of the early church consisted of Hebrew people who found their Messiah. The birth of the “church” that we have today took place because these people evangelized the known world with the truth of Torah that had been refreshed through the Messiah.
Yeshua instructed His followers to be a light shining to the world (Matt 5:14). We take this to mean that if men follow Yeshua, then the difference in their life will draw people to the Messiah. In that exact manner the Jewish people were supposed to follow Torah in the Old Testament times and when the nations saw the prosperity that came from following the Lord, they would come to the light of the Torah. Once Hebrew people embraced the true Messiah, they carried out the original intent of Torah by reaching out to the nations.
Let’s talk context for a moment. One of the basic rules of Bible interpretation is context. Anyone who has studied the scriptures knows that if you keep verses in context it avoids misinterpretation of the verses. Matthew quoted from Isaiah knowing full well the context of the passage that he was quoting. He was not concerned with chapter breaks since verse and chapter breaks were added about 1400 years after his death. Matthew was saying that this passage in context of the original writing applied to Yeshua the Messiah.
The Hebrew people of old didn’t follow instructions well. They never stepped into the evangelistic mode. Paul picked up on this exact same concept by stating that he came to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Ro 1:16). When the Jewish people finally embrace their Messiah, we will see evangelism to the world that will cause the evangelism of the Gentile church to pale by comparison.
Let’s return to Matthew 12:18-21: Matthew takes a radical turn by explaining to his readers that Yeshua has come to proclaim the ways of Torah to the Gentiles. His application of Isaiah’s prophecy clearly notes that the Messiah will be embraced by the Gentile nations. With the last 2,000 years of church history we can certainly agree with His insight.
Matthew quoted from a passage that noted that the Jewish people were to bring the practices of Torah to the Gentile nations. This way the Gentiles would embrace God’s original design in their worship of Him. Matthew noted that hope will be built in following the “justice” of the servant. We have already seen that the original Hebrew word for Justice from Isaiah indicated God’s way of putting Torah into practice. Jewish people started the church, it was started as a Hebrew church that followed the customs of Torah.
During the persecution of the Roman empire, Jewish Christian and Gentile Christian were separated. Constantine made “Sunday laws” that prohibited the Jewish Christians from following the teachings of Torah by pain of death around 325 AD. The resulting church that followed was paganized by blending Torah with pagan traditions. For the following years until now have been paganized to where the refreshed Torah has once again been infiltrated with pagan gods. This is exactly what happened in Isaiah 41.
Until now the Hebrew people have not embraced their Messiah. Once they do, they will spread the truth of the Messiah to Jew as well as Gentile nations. We will see Torah taught and adhered to as never before. This has already started in the Messianic movement that is currently sweeping the world. Today we see multitudes of Jews and Christians embrace the Messiah and are renewing the view of Torah to build a foundation similar to the one that God originally designed when He gave instructions to Moses. Many Jews are throwing off the chains of religious Torah to replace it with the original Torah refreshed by Messiah. Many Gentile Christians are throwing off the chains of paganism that have polluted our understanding to embrace the true Torah that Yeshua (Jesus) taught.
Many will struggle with what I have said in this study. I encourage you to read the scriptures carefully, in context, and prayerfully consider them. Mark my words, True Torah will eventually become the way of life for all believers. It may take some time but biblical history proves that when God’s people blend paganism with Torah, God will eventually bring a correction. More often than not this correction is very painful. I contend that we move toward correction on our own and avoid the pain of correction.
Yeshua accused of being in league with Satan
When God starts moving those in positions of church authority either have to acknowledge the movement or make an excuse as to the reason that the movement is not of God. Let’s start with that statement. This was taking place during the days that Yeshua lived on the earth. Today it is still taking place. Recently, in the church that I attend, a blind man was healed. He could not see and now he does. This took place in a matter of minutes. This man went to a doctor to have his eyes looked at afterwards, the doctor simply stated that for some reason the blood supply was being restored to the eyes. The doctor ignored the idea of a physical healing as if it was not even worth considering. Why? Other Christians that I have told the story to respond in different ways, most of which are along the line of “that’s interesting” and go no further. Why? Why is it surprising that our God can heal? Why does it bring questions and cause people to shut out the situation as if it does not exist or as if it is a threat? What is it that causes people to shy away from the miraculous? These questions dig at the back of my thoughts as I look at the following story.
Matthew 12:22–29 (NASB95) 22 Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. 23 All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” 25 And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? 27 “If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 28 “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 “Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
Jesus heals the blind and mute man. This passage may be similar to the one we studied earlier (Matthew 12:13-14). The Pharisee’s may have brought this man to Jesus as well in order to test Him further, we know that they were aware of the healing. The blind man had a demon, and being mute, it was probably difficult to communicate with him. So this man was brought to Yeshua probably without full knowledge that Yeshua could heal him. I would also wager that the ones bringing him did not know he had a demon. It is not recorded that the man asked to be healed, or indicated in any way that he wished to be delivered from the demon. Yet He was healed.
If he was a plant from the Pharisees, this event certainly backfired on them because of the people’s reaction. They started realizing that Jesus was fulfilling the prophecies of old, referring to Him being the “Son of David”. David was promised to have a son on the throne forever (2 Samuel 7:12-16). This was a clear prophecy that pointed to the Messiah.
Perhaps the reason that Yeshua entertained the attempts of the Pharisees toward entrapment was because of the end result that came about. For example, many who study Jacob’s family are stunned at the games and shenanigans that were taking place. It causes you to wonder why such a deceitful family could be the birthplace of the favorite people of God. In Hebrew thinking, the end result is what is important, not the path that gets you there. God has the right to use any way that He sees fit to bring about His perfect plan. With the blind and mute man in this situation, God used the cunning of the Pharisees to bring one of His people to freedom and healing. Our God excels in Grace.
Matthew 12:24; 9:34; 10:25: We saw this accusation twice earlier when Yeshua was accused of being in league with the lord of the flies. I made the following comment in the Matthew 10 study:
“The Pharisees claimed that Jesus cast out demons because He was prince of demons (Matt 9:34). Jesus knew what they were thinking, and went one step further with this reference. The word for “Beelzebul” in the Greek is “beezeboul” translated it means the Lord of the high places. The Hebrew was “beezebul” which is probably carries the correct meaning. This means lord of the flies, as in flies that are generated from dung in essence the god of dung. King Ahaziah sought the help from Baal-zebub, the dung god, when he fell through a lattice (2 Kings 1:2-6). This is the same god that Yeshua says his accusers think of him as. The message is that He is full of bologna and so is his disciples.”
The Pharisees used this lie to incite the people against Him. As they were in danger of losing the religious status that they had in the community, they were also compelled to offer Jesus as a sacrifice for the preservation of the religious system they had created. Using the name Beelzebul was a direct accusation that Yeshua was in league with not only Satan but with the false gods of the Old Testament times. The gravity of this accusation was astounding. Beelzebul was so viscous that he came to represent the worst-case scenario of false gods. This would mean that Yeshua was blending Torah with paganism…
What we do not realize as New Testament Christians is that the name “Satan” was never translated. It was transliterated. The name actually carries only the characteristics of the opponent. In the modern understanding, the name indicates “deceiver”. Old Testament usage of the word carried the meaning of “accuser”. He is still referred to as the accuser as the major characteristic of his personality in the New Testament (Rev 12:10). It appears that he still has the ability to accuse believers before God since he was requesting to sift Simon Peter like wheat (Lk 22:31-34). What is interesting in this scenario is that just like Job, God granted the request to test Peter. When you boil down the name of “satan”, it becomes readily evident that this is not his actual name. His name was lost somewhere in time, probably for the betterment of mankind. There are some good guesses made from extra-biblical books, but nothing worth mentioning. Satan is the evil force that accuses the people of God. With that in mind, let’s return to the Passage.
Satan: Matthew 12:26: Jesus turns their words against them with simple logic. A kingdom that is divided against itself will surely fall, and Satan is too crafty to make such a mistake. If the word “Satan” is addressed in this verse as the understanding as “accuser”, then his accusations become negated by his own accusations. It becomes a ridiculous move into illogical thought. There is no way that the accuser will be able to accuse people before God if his own credibility becomes challenged. By dividing his kingdom, he would effectively negate his own accusations. Truthfully, He would become a cosmic joke that would eliminate his own position. If he is seen as a deceiver, then the deception that he would give would certainly confuse the very demons that are in force with him.
Beelzebul: Matthew 12:27: Beelzebul is a different personality. He is not “Satan”, so Yeshua treats him as a different entity. Yeshua turns this argument into a simple question that challenged the authority of the Pharisees: “by whom do your sons cast them out?” Their sons being their disciples, or their followers also cast out demons. The problem that they faced was if they accused Yeshua of casting out demons by Beelzebul, then the logical progression of thought was to bring into question who the Pharisees cast out demons by. When you start questioning one set of source material, you must question the source material of the control group.
Jesus made a cryptic statement with “for this reason they will be your judges.” Who will be the judges? It seems logical that the sons will bring accusation since the works of Yeshua point to glorify God. It could be the works themselves that bring accusation. This would also seem to fit. It would seem to point to depending on one’s own righteousness rather than the grace of God. The Hebrew people believed heavily in grace, it underscored the entire Torah of God.
Holy Spirit: Matthew 12:28-29: The last possibility: Jesus cast out demons by the Spirit of God. The strong man’s house could point to two interpretations: It could refer to the authority of Satan. In this scenario, Satan is bound by a greater authority and Yeshua is walking through his house freeing the captives. I favor this idea. This looks forward to the cross, where the final sacrifice would be made redeeming man from the price and penalty of sin. It also looks forward to the end of the story where Satan is bound and thrown into the deepest hell.
The second scenario could be an accusation against the Pharisees. Can the Spirit of God be bound by the Satan or Beelzebub? The answer is absolutely not! Jesus was warning the Pharisees that their logic placed them in league with the devil. Their accusation stated that God was able to be bound and controlled by Satan or Beelzebub.
Yeshua most likely was speaking about binding the devil since He notes that “the kingdom of God has come upon you.” He came to establish God’s Kingdom as the Messiah. Anyone who stands against Him is standing against the very Kingdom of God.
The unpardonable sin:
I have heard several takes on blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. The one that I am going to focus on is the one that is consistent with context. Let’s review what was happening at that time. Yeshua (Jesus) had healed the man who had a withered hand. This man was a plant to see if Yeshua would violate the Sabbath according to the rules of the Pharisees. He then went into hiding healing and restoring all who came to Him. Lastly, Yeshua casts a demon out of a blind, mute man and completely restores him. The Pharisees are present and are teaching that Yeshua is casting out demons by Satan and the false god Beelzebub. Yeshua rebukes them for their faulty logic by putting the work of the Holy Spirt on the adversary. Now, let’s look at the passage of the Unpardonable Sin:
Matthew 12:30–32 (NLT) 30 “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me. 31 “So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.
I quoted from the New Living Translation because it removes some of the cryptic language that is often associated with this verse.
Matthew 12:30: In this verse we have the first clue as to who is guilty of the unpardonable sin. Remember, there were no paragraph breaks in the Greek manuscripts. The break put here was put by the translators who either felt that a thought shift had taken place or because this passage always is translated with a break here. The thought carries on from the previous verse where someone is plundering the strong man’s house.
I noted in the previous study that there are two ways of looking at the strong man’s house, first it could be the house of Satan since Yeshua binds him to set the captives free. The second take is that it is the house of the kingdom of God where God is being bound by Satan. I believe Yeshua is playing both sides of His illustration. It is clear that He is binding Satan and delivering people from demon possession and from sickness. The second avenue that He is warning the Pharisees about is that they are standing against the work of the Holy Spirit by claiming that the Holy Spirit is bound by the devil.
He sent a firm warning to the Pharisees in this verse that if they were not with Him, they were actively against Him. There is no middle ground. Since they are not gathering with Him, they are purposefully scattering what has been gathered. The point is very clear, they are actively working against everything that He is doing.
Follow the logical progression of thought through the passage now. The Pharisees were accusing Yeshua of being in league with the devil and with Beelzebub. He placed the argument as to why this was not true. The context of the passage spins the blame for being in league with Satan back on the Pharisees. Since they do not choose to participate in the movement of God, they are by default taking part in the movement of the devil.
This is pretty subtle when you think about it. A great man of God that I know once told me a story. We were trying to get together a bunch of military men to go to the Promise Keepers conference. I had arranged with Promise Keepers for a special discount for all military men that wanted to attend. My friend was against it at first because he did not agree with the Promise Keepers on different subjects. God worked on his heart by telling him that many men had their lives changed through this conference, why was he fighting against it. Inadvertently by fighting against a move of God, my friend had taken the opposing side. He corrected this and joined the military men at the conference.
Stories like this are not uncommon. At every great move of God through history there has been an element of religious, well-meaning people who say that it is not God’s move. When I think back on this, the Protestant Reformation, Azusa Street, and currently the Messianic movement come to mind. These are three of the most radical changes to Christian thought, but certainly not all of them. People stood against God changing the venue historically and are still standing against it today. We have to decide personally, are we going to get on board to follow God or are we going to find reasons to discount His work?
In this passage Jesus is warning the Pharisees: to stand against Him is to stand with the devil. Not a popular message then, and still not one now. People don’t realize that by turning their backs on God they are actually actively in league with the devil in attempting to destroy the Kingdom of God. In effect they are fighting against the Holy Spirit as He moves.
Matthew 12:31-32: The unpardonable sin is the most frightening sin of all. When you think of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, it brings to mind cursing the Holy Spirit. That is not what is spoken of here. The Pharisee’s were receiving evidence after evidence that Jesus was the Messiah, the people were convicted of the truth of Jesus being the Messiah, and yet they claimed that He was in league with the devil in casting out demons. Jesus was warning them that they were very close to the ultimate blasphemy. The Pharisees were accusing Yeshua of blasphemy when they were putting into practice blasphemy by denying the work of God.
I have thought for years that the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit was the rejection of His work by bringing all men to repentance and thereby to Salvation in Yeshua. This has some pretty significant arguments. Unfortunately, most of them are based on Replacement Theology. The idea is that before Messiah, Torah was a broken system that could not bring any man to salvation. This is not true. Prior to Messiah, all men gained salvation through grace just like we gain salvation through grace. To explain this let’s take a walk back to the Psalms for a moment:
Psalm 103:1–14 (NLT) 1 Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. 2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. 3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. 5 He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s! 6 The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly. 7 He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel. 8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. 10 He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. 11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. 12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. 13 The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. 14 For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.
The entire Psalm is focused on the “lovingkindness” of the Lord. “Lovingkindness” when translated into English is “grace”, or as the NLT translates as different aspects of grace, “tender mercies, unfailing love, merciful, and compassionate”. These are all different faces of grace. Therefore, the administration of Grace began at the creation of man. God has always redeemed man through favor that man does not deserve (see Psalm 103:14 above).
The Holy Spirit has always been the gentle word of God that has directed the hearts of men back to God’s instruction. We know today that Yeshua was the final Passover Lamb that was slain that sealed the redemption of man. The work of the Holy Spirit in this case is to bring all men to repentance. When the Holy Spirit was working through Messiah, there were tremendous healings, casting out of demons, and deep teaching on Torah. This is not a new teaching, it has always been written into the Torah.
Yeshua stated that if the Pharisees stood against the work of the Holy Spirit by degrading His work to the movement of demons, then they were certainly in danger of blasphemy. In one respect, rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit through a lifetime culminates into the ultimate blasphemy of the Holy Spirit because that man decided to reject the work of the Holy Spirit until death. This sin of rejecting God’s way of doing things is the very sin that always sends man to hell. Man is not sent to hell because he stubs his toe and utters a curse word. Man is sent to Hell because he refuses to acknowledge and follow God’s way. Yeshua was warning the Pharisees that if they continued to harden their hearts toward God’s movement, they were in danger of dying with the sin of fighting against God on their hearts.
Let’s discuss doctrinal misconceptions for a moment: Blasphemy is rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit the ultimate rejection is dying without turning to God. Today we have received a deeper revelation than the Old Testament believers had. Previously they placed their hope in the sacrifices of animals to cover the violations of Torah. These sacrifices looked forward to the final perfect sacrifice of Yeshua, our Salvation on the cross. This does not end all the sacrifices; many will be resumed during the Millennial reign of Messiah. Yet it does provide for a firm and final path that believers can turn to Messiah for salvation. I would wager that almost everyone in America has heard the message of salvation through Jesus Messiah and are accountable for what they have heard.
The rejection of this message until death is the ultimate blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Face it, God became man, lived and died in our place so that we can have the assurance of salvation. This never happened in Torah, so the renewed covenant that we have which was put in play by Yeshua is the design and work of God through the ages (Jer 31:31-34). Although Torah was based upon grace, it did not offer a hard and fast assurance of salvation. This did not come until the Renewed or “Fresh” Covenant that Jesus put into play. This is the reason that many believe the Old Covenant which they refer to as “Old Testament Law” has been done away with. Nothing could be further from the truth. The “fresh” covenant that Jeremiah talks about was built upon the foundation of all the previous covenants and works in conjunction with them. Otherwise, Yeshua dying on the cross would be pointless. If God were to do an entirely new thing and cast off the old way entirely, then there would be no point for a Passover Lamb.
There are many who point to verses that seem to point toward the “torah” or “law” was unable to offer salvation. For example, look at this verse from Acts:
Acts 13:38–39 (NLT) 38 “Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. 39 Everyone who believes in him is declared right with God—something the law of Moses could never do.
Simply putting faith and trust in Yeshua results in Salvation. The Law of Moses or Torah was not able to give this assurance. Yet by placing trust in Yeshua, Torah is written on the heart and soul of man (Jer 31:31-34). Even though Torah was unable to offer salvation, it was still significant enough that God writes it as the way of doing things on the heart of every believer who takes Yeshua as Savior.
Romans 3:19–24 (NASB95) 19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. 21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
Paul teaches that the Law or Torah brings us the knowledge of sin. The definition of sin is failing to follow Torah… If we remove Torah or consider it done away with, then there is no sin because the definition of sin has been done away with. Torah could not offer permanent forgiveness. This only took place in the New or Fresh Covenant.
1 John 1:7–9 (NASB95) 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
This statement is puzzling if we remove Torah from the equation. Sin by definition comes from Torah. Salvation or permanent cleansing from sin is based upon the sacrificial lamb being slain according to Torah. Therefore, Yeshua is our perfect sacrifice that came to bring salvation to all mankind.
2 Corinthians 5:14–17 (NASB95) 14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. 16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
The Christian Church for the most part has hammered home the necessity for rebirth and acceptance of Jesus as Messiah. Even though we have a faulty understanding of Torah our basic belief agrees with Torah. Yeshua is the Savior that every man needs since every man needs forgiveness of sin.
Let’s return to the scripture now. The Holy Spirit moves men toward the place where they embrace God’s way of doing things. Torah is by definition God’s instruction for living. God gave us another way of doing things by providing the sacrificial lamb that took away our sin. Yeshua is our salvation. He began His work on earth by establishing that He is the prophesied Messiah. This was done through signs and wonders as well as teaching. The Pharisees placed his teaching at the doorpost of the devil instead of recognizing it as a move of God. This was blasphemy of the Holy Spirit because it took the work of the Spirit and applied it to the devil.
Today the Holy Spirit moves men toward repentance in Yeshua for salvation, rejection of that calling until death is rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit. The failure to accept Yeshua’s sacrifice is a failure to have Torah written on the heart, therefore turning to God’s way of doing things never takes place. In this manner the one who rejects the message puts himself in authority over God, just as the devil has tried to do. Being in company with the devil is not a good place to live out eternity. On a practical note concerning the rebuke of the Pharisees, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit also includes taking His movement and attributing it to the devil. Therefore, when God is working it may be better to suck up our conventions and check out the movement. If God is certainly moving in an area, as believers we need to be there.
Rebuking the Pharisees:
Yeshua rebukes the Pharisees severely in the next section with four rebukes directly pointed toward them. It is intriguing that the Pharisees were bold enough to stand against both the “anointed one” or “messiah” and an obvious prophet of God:
Matthew 12:33–37 (NASB95) 33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. 35 “The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. 36 “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. 37 “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Psalm 105:15 (NASB95) 15 “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.”
Trees and fruit: The prophets have several illustrations on fruit. Probably the biggest illustration from Isaiah is when God planted a branch, the works of His very hands and it resulted in the smallest of clans becoming a mighty nation (Isa 60:21-22). Righteous people planted in the house of the Lord will produce good fruit even until old age (Ps 92:10). The one who focuses his life on Torah will yield good fruit (Ps 1:3). These are basic truths that are taught in the Tanakh (Old Testament). It is clear that the evidence of the root of the tree is the fruit that the tree produces. Yeshua taught and lived Torah perfectly, His fruit established Torah. The Pharisees were blinded by their own preconceptions. Failing to know the Tanakh was Yeshua’s first direct rebuke to the Pharisees.
Brood of vipers: This is the second rebuke. Yeshua gives one of the most cutting statements that is made in scripture. The ultimately wicked person stops up their ears so that they cannot hear and become like a deaf cobra that bites its charmer (Ps 58:1). Yeshua was rebuking them by saying that they were certainly not following the God of Torah and had taken on the characteristics of those who are the very enemies of Torah (Deut 32:33). Evil and violent men are typified in the Psalms as poisonous vipers who purposely circumvent the will of God (Ps 140:1-3). The clear implication from the Tanakh is simply that pure evilness cannot speak forth what is good.
Yeshua is saying that their hearts are completely and utterly wicked therefore they are unable to speak anything that is good. An utterly wicked heart cannot produce good (Jer 17:9). By the way, many do not understand Jeremiah’s illustration. They claim that every man’s heart is completely deceitful and utterly sick. They do not realize that Jeremiah is comparing and contrasting a tree (person) who is totally sold out to the Lord and produces good fruit in his life is being compared to a wicked, sick person (Jer 17:7-10). The Lord searches out the hearts to see who is following Him, a wicked heart is not following the Lord, while a heart focused on Him is following the Lord (Jer 17:10). Therefore, the condemnation that is put on people is hindering the work of God by giving an excuse to sin. (This is a “tulip” lie from Calvinism, it degrades Gods people to become the people of the wicked heart.) David stated that out of the wicked heart comes forth wickedness when he rebuked Saul for trying to kill him (1 Sam 24:13). A fool has inclined his heart toward wickedness and the resulting practice is to speak out against the working of the Lord (Isa 34:6). Yeshua was not just quoting a simple proverb, He was stating a scriptural principle that is evident throughout the Tanakh (Old Testament).
Good man brings forth good treasure: This is the third rebuke. Yeshua is referring to truths that permeate the Tanakh. For example, the righteous man utters wisdom and speaks out justice, with the Torah of God guiding his heart, His steps do not slip (Ps 37:30). This is contrasted with the wicked who seek to destroy and kill the righteous (Ps 37:31).
Proverbs 10:20–21 (NLT) 20 The words of the godly are like sterling silver; the heart of a fool is worthless. 21 The words of the godly encourage many, but fools are destroyed by their lack of common sense.
Are you starting to see a pattern here? Yeshua is not just rebuking the Pharisees lightly. He is bringing heavy judgement against this group of men. They have stopped up their ears and have become evil in nature.
Careless words will be judged: The fourth rebuke. The essence of this is demonstrated through the discussion of the wicked through Psalms and Proverbs. Solomon is the boldest on this statement in the summation of the book of Ecclesiastes:
Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 (NLT) 13 That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. 14 God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.
The Greek word for “careless” carries the connotation of an idiot, to put it nicely. This word indicates an act so blatantly stupid that it has no point whatsoever. Yeshua tells them in summary of the entire section that they are being the ultimate fools to speak out against Him (Matt 12:9-37). He is also warning them that by their words they will be judged on judgment day. In today’s terms, they have stepped on extremely thin ice. Just as Solomon summed up his book, Yeshua sums up his statement with the same warning.
I will beat to death context due to its extreme importance. These proverbs that Yeshua taught in these short verses were not simple statements at random. They were explicit rebukes to the Pharisees for their foolish words that they had spoken. It was a rebuke for the actions and evil pathways that they were starting to travel down. These men were warned that if they continued to ignore the obvious work of God that they are standing in the place of judgment.
Let’s think on this for a moment. The group of Pharisees that we see in this section did not mean all the Pharisees that existed in Israel at the time. We have a tendency to demonize the Pharisees because of these New Testament accounts and fail to realize that this group was not the entire population of Pharisees. This group may have been a localized group that gave in to the leading of the devil (accuser) who was bringing accusation against the Messiah. We do not know how big or how far spread this group went. What we do know is that they were personally responsible for their actions. They were also held accountable for the truth that was written in the Tanakh that we discussed above. These men spent their very lives studying the scripture. They knew it inside and out. When Yeshua warned them of their actions, every word that He gave should have set off alarms in their heads that they were violating the teaching of God’s word. Yet, they were so blinded by their mission that they seem to ignore his words. We will see this as they switch subjects in the following passage.
Signs: Days of Jonah
The “teachers of religious law” and Pharisees approached Yeshua for a sign. The scenario gets interesting here since they seem to forget the heavy rebuke that He gave them and move on to the next subject. They are trying to divert Yeshua to a different path by appealing to His pride. If He has such authority to rebuke them, then they are demanding a sign from Him. In modern day lingo, “If you claim to be the Messiah, prove it!” Let’s examine three responses to this demand. First, here is the scripture for the first one:
Matthew 12:38–40 (NLT) 38 One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.” 39 But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.
Yeshua called them a “evil, adulterous generation”. As modern thinkers we think literally regarding these accusations. Yeshua may have been saying that the religious leaders were spending time in adultery. We think of this accusation as if all the religious leaders were having sexual affairs with illicit women. This would be a literal interpretation. If you watch the news long enough you will certainly see great men of God taken down by sexual sin. We relate this to the religious leaders of Yeshua’s day thereby forgetting to look at the deeper meaning of the word. The spiritual application of the word adultery fits best here since Yeshua was teaching Torah and was coming under fire because of the application of Torah to life.
In Old Testament (Tanakh) times, when God’s people deserted him to follow false gods or to combine false gods with Him: God referred to His people as being in spiritual adultery. For example, let’s look at when God instructed His people to wear the tzitzit (tassels) on the four corners of their garments. The reason that they were instructed to wear the tassels was because they allowed their eyes to wander and they committed spiritual adultery by having a harlot like relationships with their hearts and eyes. In other words, their words became greater than God’s words and were considered to be a higher authority than God’s (Num 15:37-41). We have good reason to believe that the adulterous relationship extended to false gods as well (Deut 4:23; 6:12; 8:11-19). Think about it this way, God is a jealous husband. His bride was not staying home to have an intimate relationship with Him, she was going out to other gods in order to experience their benefits as well. When God delivered the Hebrews from bondage, He required that they wear the tzitzit to remind them that their opinions meant nothing, only God’s Torah (instruction) is what counts. The focus of the Numbers text indicated that they followed their own hearts, this led to having an adulterous relationship with false gods.
The first thing that happens is compromise. God’s people abandon His instruction to follow what is right according to their own hearts and eyes. In Old Testament times, this led directly to idol worship (Ps 106:38-43). God accused the Hebrew nation of playing harlot with the Egyptians (spiritual). This was the reason that God handed them over to slavery. God sentenced them to slavery because they chose to leave him for the purpose of following their own way (Eze 16:24-37). Unlike a paid harlot, God’s people paid others to corrupt them. The accusation of spiritual adultery brings to mind the judgment of God on Israel because they purposely defiled themselves in order to follow the gods of the nations (Eze 23:27-33). Spiritual adultery is compromising God’s instruction for our instruction. Remember, the very last verse of the Book of Judges delivered the sentence “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).
As modern day readers we miss all of this since we are focused upon the literal sense of the word. We simply are not aware of the context of spiritual adultery that runs through the scriptures. In many cases we do not care about the spiritual adultery since by condemning it we must bring our own practices into question. Spiritual adultery first starts taking place when we leave God’s instruction and start following our own hearts and eyes. Spirituality that looks good to us is not a spirituality that looks good to God.
The same was true of the Old Testament (Tanakh) believers. They saw the false gods of other nations and wanted to have the benefits that came with following the false gods. This was not just in the religious sense. Balaam’s sin was to entice Israel to blend Torah with the false gods of his land. The benefit of this to Israel was the men had sexual relations with the temple prostitutes and gained acceptance from the pagans (Numbers 25:1-5; 31:16). Peter warns his readers against becoming involved in the “way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness” (2 Pet 2:15 b NASB). Jude warns that those who are self-serving are following the error of Balaam (Jude 11). When John wrote the message to Pergamum, he warned that the church had become involved in the “teaching of Balaam” which was blending Judaism with paganism (Rev 2:14).
So we can see that when Yeshua comes hard against the teachers of His day, He was responding to an age old tendency of the Jewish people to put their interest above God’s interest even if it meant buying the world system. This has not gone away. Christians have blended paganism with Judaism since Constantine’s establishment of the catholic church in about 325 AD. The promise that they had was if they blended religion, they would not be persecuted. That blending has carried forth to today and has not been dealt with at all. It is so acceptable in the church that we build doctrines around it and justify the sin of Balaam with scripture. This is exactly what was happening with the teachers of that day. They bought into the teachings of their Rabbi’s more than in the actual teachings of Torah. Yeshua was calling for a cleansing and a return to Torah. He wanted the spiritual adultery to stop, yet was faced with an adulterous generation that was bent heavily toward religion.
The implication of the request for a “sign” follows this exact argument. The religious leaders were demanding a sign that would qualify Yeshua to be the Messiah. They were effectively challenging God to demonstrate that Yeshua was the Messiah. If God did not perform, the work performed through Yeshua was called into question. They were looking to see if what Yeshua did was right according to their own eyes and according to their own understanding. They were not looking to see if Yeshua was teaching actual Torah! They were looking to see if Yeshua was teaching “rabbinical” Torah. This placed them in the same league of their forefathers who abandoned Torah to follow their own understanding. Think this trough. Suppose Yeshua was a false god. His demonstrating a sign to them would have bought their loyalty and they would have followed Him based on that event. By controlling Yeshua, they would have effectively controlled their idea of “god”. The true God would have been reduced to a heathen god that they could choose to follow in their own way. They would have abandoned the true God and had an adulterous relationship with a god who followed their demands. In effect the religious system would have the upper hand and become greater than God since God would have to fit into the box that the system developed.
Yeshua was having nothing to do with this. His first answer to their demand is very revealing:
Sign of Jonah: The book of Jonah is considered to be a farfetched story by many today. People argue that a man staying alive in a “whale” is simply not reasonable. One problem that we have is it wasn’t a whale at all! The “sea monster” or “whale” as English Bible’s love to translate is actually a “fish”. When you look at the Hebrew, there are two fish mentioned, male and female (Hebrew: dag and dagah). They seem to work as a tag team to deliver Jonah to destination. We do not know whether or not Jonah stayed alive the entire time he was in the fish’s belly. It seems evident that Jonah died and was brought back to life at the end. God designed a fish that was able to swallow a man whole and deliver him to the intended destination. This seems consistent with what Yeshua is teaching.
Jesus considered Jonah to have been a real person. He gave the story complete credibility and pointed to it as an example of how He was going to die and rise from the dead. Whether or not Jonah died is a question we will never know. Imagine how incredibly horrible it would be to have been swallowed by a fish and spend three days under water. I believe God in His mercy let Jonah die and brought him back to life at the end. In the same manner Yeshua died a horrific death and was completely restored upon resurrection.
There were several important issues that are addressed by Jonah. First Issue: Jonah wanted to do things his way. Jonah heard God’s instruction and chose to board a ship in the opposite direction (Jonah 1:3). Rather than return when the sailors found out he was running from God, Jonah told them to throw him overboard. It was better to commit suicide than to follow the instructions of God. At this point the sailors tried to turn the ship around only to find that the waves increased in intensity (Jonah 1:12-13). They threw him overboard, and God took over (Jonah 1:15). The sailors came to know the Lord (Jonah 1:16). Jonah repented of his obedience it seems while he was in the process of drowning (Jonah 2). He did not repent of hating the Ninivites even to the end. The important issue that we see is Jonah wanted to follow God according to the way that he saw with his eyes and understood with his heart.
Second issue: Jonah was going to a pagan nation that did not follow the Lord. God reached out to Nineveh prior to destroying it to give grace toward them. This is one of the examples of how God designed the Jews to reach out to the Gentiles for evangelism. The story is quite interesting since the people heard the message of God, and a nationwide repentance immediately took place. These people felt that if God sent a prophet, his message must be true. They repented. Nineveh was one of the largest cities in the world at that time. Scripture is clear that they repented of their sin (Jonah 3:5-10). Yeshua came teaching Torah leading both Jew and Gentile to repentance.
Third issue, signs: Imagine asking for a sign when two signs of healing and restoration were already given. This does not even take into account the storm of healing, restoration and caring for the people as they flocked to Yeshua! This demonstrates that the spiritual leaders were so spiritually blind that they could not see a sign even when it was staring them right in the face. They saw the sign of healing as defiance against the law that they felt compelled to protect, thereby missing the entire point.
In Jonah’s day, the only sign that they had was a furious prophet preaching a message that he did not want to preach as he made a grudging fast trip through town preaching. He made a three-day walk in a single day preaching one message, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (Jonah 3:1-6). Where was the “sign” or “attesting miracle” as the Pharisees were asking for? The Ninevites heard the message, were convicted of the truth of the message, and repented of their wrong doing in spite of the attitude of the prophet. Jonah did not go to Nineveh healing the sick and casting out demons to verify his message. His only attesting miracle was that he may have stunk real bad after being in the belly of a fish for three days, talk about bad body odor! Jesus was much greater than Jonah, teaching and preaching, healing, casting out demons, and raising the dead. The Pharisees missed the point.
Fourth Issue: Jonah was a type of Messiah: Jesus related to them that when they killed him, He would only spend three days in the earth. Jonah spent three days in the fish and was vomited up on shore. Imagine how unbelievably disgusting that was, God placed him in the belly of the fish, surrounded by stomach acid and tons of dead fish in the process of digestion. If he did not die, he remained rational, living in a literal grave for three days until he was puked up on the shore. If he drowned, God brought him back to life and completely restored him three days later. Jesus died a literal death, His body being completely mutilated and drained of blood, only to rise from the dead three days after being put in the ground.
Queen of the South: The Queen of Sheba came to visit with Solomon in order to see if he was as true as the stories she had heard (1 Kings 10:1-13; 2 Ch 9:1-12). She realized after meeting with him that she had only heard half the truth. All Solomon did was to share from his heart about what God had revealed to him, and showed her around. Jesus had greater wisdom than Solomon as he demonstated by teaching Torah. He validated it with acts of wonder. Both illustrations were used to demonstrate that the Gentile nations of Nineveh and Sheba were more willing to listen to the word of God than the Jews were. They listened to the truth and responded the message. Only the Queen of Sheba looked for evidence of truth, and then was satisfied with wisdom and the etiquette that Solomon had in place. Yeshua stated that this Gentile would certainly stand in judgment against the Teachers of Yeshua’s day. She responded without miracles.
Both of these rebukes were cutting rebukes because they dealt strictly with Gentile nations who heard the word of the Lord and responded to the Message. We looked at the gentile sailors repenting at the evidence of the storm. The gentile Ninevites responding to the angry prophet with no evidence. We looked at the gentile Queen of Shebah who believed. This message was directed to demonstrate that the Gentiles of the Tanakh required little to believe while these Jewish leaders were faced with abundant evidence.
Demons on the run: Unclean spirits were a huge issue.
Matthew 12:43–45 (NLT) 43 “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. 45 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.”
During the time that Yeshua was on the earth, He cast out many demons. He gives us insight into the spiritual realm to show what happens when a demon is cast out. If the person continues to live as normal, but does not fill his house with any other occupant, the demons will return sevenfold. This truth is an illustration; it is not the point that Yeshua was making! Remember, context rules!
Yeshua cast out the demons, healed the sick, and raised the dead. One time in history, the Jewish nation experienced phenomonal health, both spiritually and physically. Jesus cleaned the house, drove out the evil spirits and left the Jewish nation in the unique position of being receptive, primed for the Messiah. They accepted the house cleaning, but rejected the Messiah. He offered Torah in condensed form that was explained and demonstrated by practical application. The Hebrew nation and many individual Hebrew people had demons cast out. They were standing at a fork in the road. They could accept the Messiah and fill their clean house with the truth of Torah or reject the cleaning. Yeshua was warning the Teachers of the Hebrews that if they did not fill that clean house with a new occupant, the old one would return seven fold.
History demonstrates that the rejection of the Messiah was a drastic mistake for the Jews of that generation. They went from being a nation to a scattered people. The Gentiles similar to the ones Yeshua was teaching about accepted the Messiah that the Jews rejected and to this day dominate the scene. Biblical prophecy indicates that this is a temporary situation. Eventually the Hebrew people are going to clean out those seven demons by returning to the Messiah. Once that happens we will see marvelous wonders and Torah taught from a new perspective.
God desire intimacy in His relationship with people:
Matthew 12:46–50 (NLT) 46 As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 47 Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, and they want to speak to you.” 48 Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 49 Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. 50 Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”
For those who still hold to Mary being an eternal virgin, I’m sorry, this verse must be hard for you. This set of verses is speaking of Jesus’ family, His siblings and mother; the inner circle of relationships in His life up to His starting the ministry. Mark 3:20-21 gives us additional light on this subject, His earthly family had come to “take custody of Him”, and they had thought that he went nuts. Mary was included in the crowd that came to take custody of Him, they did not understand that He was the Messiah even given the family history (John 7:5).
The point of these verses is simple, the Pharisees rejected Jesus, trying to place Him in league with the devil, the Jewish nation was being swayed to turn against him, and His own family rejected Him, thinking that he had gone crazy. In fairness to His earthly family, the story is not complete in these verses, after His resurrection, His entire family came to believe in Him, and to recognize Him as Messiah (Acts 1:14).
God’s original plan was to draw all men into an intimate relationship with Him that was similar to the relationship that Adam and Eve had in the Garden of Eden. Yeshua was teaching in context that once that spiritual house is cleaned out, it is time to fill the house with a new relationship with the God. That new relationship was one born similar to the intimacy of family relationships.
The “will of” God is simply that we follow His instructions and put them in action. This is a compare and contrast point to wrap up the war He just had with the Teachers of the Hebrews. They had a choice to follow God’s instruction and accept the Messiah or to reject the Messiah and leave their house swept and empty. Accepting Messiah meant a brand new relationship of intimacy with the Father. Rejecting the Messiah had dire consequences.
Father, as we consider this magnificent chapter, draw all readers to hear and understand Your word. Let us accept Your word and the Messiah that You sent for the redemption of mankind.
On Yeshua’s journey,
Joe Turner.
[1] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. On spine: Critical and explanatory commentary. (Mt 12:5). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
