Proverbs 29:1 CJB
He (she) who remains stiffnecked after much rebuke
will be suddenly and incurably broken.
Hollisa Alewine Ph.D. says in The Creation Gospel Vol. 4 Workbook 5 pg154-155
” Thinking only an unbeliever can be deceived is self-deception, for believers in Messiah Yeshua are not exempt from self-deception. However, a true disciple of Messiah Yeshua is one who is in the transformational process of removing the veils of self-deception in order to find truth. ”
Well, by now, if you have been keeping up with the Torah Portion blogs here on SSS, you know that I like to venture off the beaten path and look at the weekly T.P. in a bit of a different way than most people do. As a person in recovery from addictions, trauma, and being human, well, I just see things a bit different…so, come join me this week on a trip down a road less traveled!
Last week we explored being unqualified to run the race, let alone win the Prize…this week we are going to continue down that rabbit trail, meandering around a few bends and peer into our own stuff…cuz we all got junk in our trunk…that junk that weighs us down, those sins that so easily beset us as The Word says in…
Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Therefore, we also, who have all of these witnesses who surround us like clouds, let us throw off from us all the weights of the sin which is always ready for us, and let us run with patience this race that is set for us.
So…this week’s Torah portion is a continuation of last week’s…if you missed last week’s blog, I encourage you to back up and go check it out~
Every Torah cycle, this one gets my “goat”…I cannot believe this guy’s blatant rebellion against Yahweh. He did not only go against Yah’s warning of mixing with the pagan nations, but he brought into the camp one of the pagan women, and paraded her before the people, taking her into a place that was to be a safe sanctified holy place in order to do the “dirty deed”…
Dr. Alewine says on pg 155
Zimri defiantly had intercourse with Cozbi right under the noses of Moses and the priests, forcing Pinchas to slay them both to check the plague. When we self-deceive, we lose our inhibitions and force righteous leaders to take drastic action to keep the plague of self-deceit from spreading through the Camp.
OUTRAGEOUS!
Not being there, we can draw our conclusions regarding this man and the woman involved…it makes me go down many rabbit trails of thoughts…of my own past lifestyle, clients I have worked with in the past while employed as a credentialed substance abuse counselor, along with the stories I have heard from those I have sponsored in Narcotics Anonymous 12 step support meetings.
I get this…driven by an insatiable need to be wanted..to be needed, to be accepted…to feel love…driven by a thousand different kinds of lusts dwelling in the fallen flesh…
This man, Zimri, in our Torah portion was overtaken by his flesh…was blinded by the insanity of lust…such as the nature of lust…it is raw, animalistic and can do untold damage…and lead to death…eternal death.
Hence, Isreal cursing themselves…the enemy is stealth! Witchcraft and divination IS real! And, it IS being used against us, more now than ever in my humble opinion~
Whoa! No tolerance for sin in the camp there!
So…last week, we discussed disqualifying ourselves due to toxic coping skills…one of the ways people relieve stress is through sexual release…this blog is not about sex… it’s about getting honest about our coping skills…or lack of them…when one is not self-aware, one is ripe for all sorts of traps…
Not being there, we can draw our conclusions regarding this man and the woman involved…it makes me go down many rabbit trails of thoughts…of my own past lifestyle, clients I have worked with in the past while employed as a credentialed substance abuse counselor, along with the stories I have heard from those I have sponsored in Narcotics Anonymous 12 step support meetings. The inmates in the jails and prisons where I went had their own sad horror stories that drive them to commit the crimes landing them in the criminal justice system…but, do we not have our own stories that have created our own prisons? I know I have my own horror stories, committed my own crimes that should have brought the death penalty…but for the grace and the blood of Yeshua!
So, yeah, I get this…driven by an insatiable need to be wanted..to be needed, to be accepted…to feel love…driven by a thousand different kinds of lusts dwelling in the fallen flesh…
The Art of Self-Deception
Scott Peck wrote in The Road Less Traveled that “Mental health is the ongoing process of dedication to reality at all costs.” People struggling with addictive sexual behavior have lost touch with reality. They are in the land of self-deception. In fact, the sex addiction cycle is such that
the preoccupation stage and the ritualization stage actually loosen one’s grip on reality. The imagined pleasure of acting out disables rational thinking. That resolve to refrain from acting out because you know you can’t act out and live up to your full potential suddenly loses its importance. That hard-earned realization that you hurt others and yourself when you act out just doesn’t seem to matter in the heat of the moment.
If people were actually tuned into the reality of the behavior, the undeniable truth, then it becomes much harder to engage in repetitive and destructive behaviors. That’s why it’s important to become familiar with your rationalizations and work hard in tempting situations to be as honest with yourself as possible to avoid self-deception.
5 Common Ways of Practicing Self-Deception
1. Denial: rejecting the meaning of one’s actions to avoid some painful aspect of reality.
2. Minimization: admitting the reality of a situation but denying the seriousness of it.
3. Rationalization: A process by which an individual employs “plausible, but untrue” reasons or explanations to justify certain actions or attitudes.
4. Projection: admitting both the reality and seriousness but denying responsibility by blaming somebody or something else.
5. Compartmentalization: process whereby two conflicting ideas or values are allowed to co-exist by prohibiting the acknowledgment of their inherent contradiction.
What are the things that you tell yourself, if not consciously, then unconsciously, in order to maintain your sex addiction?
Oh, the webs we weave when we first set out to deceive…
Does this look familiar? Ever see this on the bumpers of vehicles? When I first started seeing them a few years ago, I thought, “oh, how lovely, people are wanting to get along and just love one another!”
I was naive about the symbolism and the brainwashing that is behind this…the message is loud and clear ….tolerance…now, do not get me wrong…we need a level of tolerance…we are all in different cultures, languages, customs, etc. What is alarming is the message is to tolerate those things Yah said in His word was evil and destructive…
And then there is Yeshua…compassionate, kind, loving, forgiving to those caught in a sin…like the woman caught in adultery…she was set up…by men…the religious leaders set her up in order to set Him up…Yeshua knew their hearts, and He knew hers…He knew her history, what led up to that humiliating moment in time…
A vast difference in how these sexual sins are handled…
The blatant rebellion of Zimri, dragging/parading Cozbi into the sinful act and Yeshua with the woman caught in the act of adultery…
Yeshua…Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor…Everlasting Father…the great I am that I am…He is all that we need in these last days…He is our covering…
English Language Learners Definition of tolerate
Another rabbit trail I jaunted down was the passage in 2 Samuel…King David’s own son raped his half-sister, King David was furious but did not hold his son accountable…so, the other son, Tamar’s brother killed the rapist brother…
The Rape of Tamar
13 Now David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar. And Amnon, her half-brother, fell desperately in love with her. 2 Amnon became so obsessed with Tamar that he became ill. She was a virgin, and Amnon thought he could never have her.
3 But Amnon had a very crafty friend—his cousin Jonadab. He was the son of David’s brother Shimea.[a] 4 One day Jonadab said to Amnon, “What’s the trouble? Why should the son of a king look so dejected morning after morning?”
So Amnon told him, “I am in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”
5 “Well,” Jonadab said, “I’ll tell you what to do. Go back to bed and pretend you are ill. When your father comes to see you, ask him to let Tamar come and prepare some food for you. Tell him you’ll feel better if she prepares it as you watch and feeds you with her own hands.”
6 So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick. And when the king came to see him, Amnon asked him, “Please let my sister Tamar come and cook my favorite dish[b] as I watch. Then I can eat it from her own hands.” 7 So David agreed and sent Tamar to Amnon’s house to prepare some food for him.
8 When Tamar arrived at Amnon’s house, she went to the place where he was lying down so he could watch her mix some dough. Then she baked his favorite dish for him. 9 But when she set the serving tray before him, he refused to eat. “Everyone get out of here,” Amnon told his servants. So they all left.
10 Then he said to Tamar, “Now bring the food into my bedroom and feed it to me here.” So Tamar took his favorite dish to him. 11 But as she was feeding him, he grabbed her and demanded, “Come to bed with me, my darling sister.”
12 “No, my brother!” she cried. “Don’t be foolish! Don’t do this to me! Such wicked things aren’t done in Israel. 13 Where could I go in my shame? And you would be called one of the greatest fools in Israel. Please, just speak to the king about it, and he will let you marry me.”
14 But Amnon wouldn’t listen to her, and since he was stronger than she was, he raped her. 15 Then suddenly Amnon’s love turned to hate, and he hated her even more than he had loved her. “Get out of here!” he snarled at her.
16 “No, no!” Tamar cried. “Sending me away now is worse than what you’ve already done to me.”
But Amnon wouldn’t listen to her. 17 He shouted for his servant and demanded, “Throw this woman out, and lock the door behind her!”
18 So the servant put her out and locked the door behind her. She was wearing a long, beautiful robe,[c] as was the custom in those days for the king’s virgin daughters. 19 But now Tamar tore her robe and put ashes on her head. And then, with her face in her hands, she went away crying.
20 Her brother Absalom saw her and asked, “Is it true that Amnon has been with you? Well, my sister, keep quiet for now, since he’s your brother. Don’t you worry about it.” So Tamar lived as a desolate woman in her brother Absalom’s house.
21 When King David heard what had happened, he was very angry.[d] 22 And though Absalom never spoke to Amnon about this, he hated Amnon deeply because of what he had done to his sister.
Absalom’s Revenge on Amnon
23 Two years later, when Absalom’s sheep were being sheared at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, Absalom invited all the king’s sons to come to a feast. 24 He went to the king and said, “My sheep-shearers are now at work. Would the king and his servants please come to celebrate the occasion with me?”
25 The king replied, “No, my son. If we all came, we would be too much of a burden on you.” Absalom pressed him, but the king would not come, though he gave Absalom his blessing.
26 “Well, then,” Absalom said, “if you can’t come, how about sending my brother Amnon with us?”
“Why Amnon?” the king asked. 27 But Absalom kept on pressing the king until he finally agreed to let all his sons attend, including Amnon. So Absalom prepared a feast fit for a king.[e]
28 Absalom told his men, “Wait until Amnon gets drunk; then at my signal, kill him! Don’t be afraid. I’m the one who has given the command. Take courage and do it!” 29 So at Absalom’s signal they murdered Amnon. Then the other sons of the king jumped on their mules and fled.
30 As they were on the way back to Jerusalem, this report reached David: “Absalom has killed all the king’s sons; not one is left alive!” 31 The king got up, tore his robe, and threw himself on the ground. His advisers also tore their clothes in horror and sorrow.
32 But just then Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimea, arrived and said, “No, don’t believe that all the king’s sons have been killed! It was only Amnon! Absalom has been plotting this ever since Amnon raped his sister Tamar. 33 No, my lord the king, your sons aren’t all dead! It was only Amnon.” 34 Meanwhile Absalom escaped.
Then the watchman on the Jerusalem wall saw a great crowd coming down the hill on the road from the west. He ran to tell the king, “I see a crowd of people coming from the Horonaim road along the side of the hill.”[f]
35 “Look!” Jonadab told the king. “There they are now! The king’s sons are coming, just as I said.”
36 They soon arrived, weeping and sobbing, and the king and all his servants wept bitterly with them. 37 And David mourned many days for his son Amnon.
Absalom fled to his grandfather, Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. 38 He stayed there in Geshur for three years. 39 And King David,[g] now reconciled to Amnon’s death, longed to be reunited with his son Absalom.[h]
so…all sorts of fall out in that dysfunctional family…not dealing with a major sin within his own family led to many deaths…you can read all about it in 2 Samuel 19
Joab Scolds David
19 People told Joab, “Look, the king is sad and crying because of Absalom.” 2 David’s army had won the battle that day. But it became a very sad day for all the people, because they heard that the king was very sad for his son. 3 The people came into the city quietly that day. They were like an army that had been defeated in battle and had run away. 4 The king covered his face and cried loudly, “My son Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!”
5 Joab went into the king’s house and said, “Today you have shamed all your men. They saved your life and the lives of your sons, daughters, wives, and slave women. 6 You have shamed them because you love those who hate you, and you hate those who love you. Today you have made it clear that your commanders and men mean nothing to you. What if Absalom had lived and all of us were dead? I can see you would be pleased. 7 Now go out and encourage your servants. I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out, no man will be left with you by tonight! That will be worse than all the troubles you have had from your youth until today.”
So, what’s the point of all of these rabbit trails? To show us that there is nothing new under the sun, that we are not alone in our struggle with our flesh…and that straying off the narrow pathway of His instructions leads to much grief, shame, and suffering. We are not an island…our sins impact those not just in our own families, but it impacts those in our communities…remember, He that began a good work in you, He WILL be faithful till the day of His return! Phil 1:6…
I wanted to share this EXCELLENT teaching on this week’s Torah Portion by Dr. Hollisa Alewine…also, I wanted to share with you a recent interview with her that aired on Hebrew Nations Radio…see the top of the page!
And!!! Here is another great article on this topic from a recovery point of view from a Jewish Rabbi….please…keep what applies and throw out the rest! We CAN learn from Big Brother Judah!!!!
Till next week, shalom!
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/701712/jewish/Give-Gd-Your-Present-Pinchas.htm