Truth! We are living in a day and age when truth is constantly being questioned and it is difficult at times to know who or what to believe. We hear voices through the TV, social media, and messages on our cell phones that are forwarded to us on a daily basis from any person found in our contacts. How do we know what to believe and to whom we should listen? The truth matters because the truth can make the difference between life and death. The importance of truth and the voices we hear is emphasized in this week’s Torah Portion reading; בראשית – Beresheit – “In the beginning”!
The First Commandment
After God had established the first garden on earth, He took Adam and placed him in the garden to work and maintain it. Outside of Adam’s responsibilities in this garden, which was located in Eden, God gave Adam just one command:
The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” – Gen. 2:16-17
Adam was given full authority in the garden and total freedom to eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden except one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The Voice That Leads To Death
Through the course of time, God created Eve from Adam’s rib and gave her to Adam as his wife. It was Eve who was first deceived by the serpent to eat from the forbidden tree:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” – Gen. 3:1-5
The serpent first posed a question which casted doubt on the truth of God’s commandment and then plainly denied the truth of what God had said, telling Eve that she and her husband would not die by eating the fruit from the forbidden tree but rather, that they would be enlightened knowing good and evil like God.
We all know how the story ends; Eve took from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, ate it, and gave it to Adam to eat as well. In partaking of the fruit they showed through their actions that they did not believe the truth which God had spoken to Adam but rather, they believed the lie and followed the voice of the serpent. As a result of their disobedience and rejection of God’s truth, spiritual and physical death were ascribed to the human race.
In The Shadow Of The Garden
There is an aspect of truth in the Garden of Eden that is still as true today as it was thousands of years ago. Everyday we have the choice to know and obey the truth of God’s word or to doubt it and deny it. In order to obey God’s truth we must know God’s truth and we must be careful to not allow the lies and deception of the evil one to deceive us.
Although there is and will be diversity in various aspects of our faith in God, God’s truth is as true today as it was in the Garden of Eden. Yeshua spoke of this truth before He was formally sentenced to death on the cross.
What Is Truth?
On that first day of Passover, approximately 2000 years ago, Yeshua stood before Pilate as the mob chanted for Him to be crucified. Pilate dialogued with Yeshua and asked Him several questions about His status as a king and his actions. We then read the following recorded conversation between the two of them in the book of John:
Yeshua answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Yeshua answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in Him…” – John 18:36-38
On that very day, Pilate was confronted with the truth of God. Yeshua told him directly that He is a King, that He came into this world to bear witness to the truth, and that anyone who is of the truth hears His voice. Pilate responded by questioning the truth.
Although Pilate tried to set Yeshua free on that day, he eventually gave into the demand of the crowd and within hours sentenced Yeshua to death. The complete irony in this situation is that while he was standing before Yeshua, who is God in the flesh and truth personified, Pilate denied the truth that he heard by condemning the Author of truth to death.
Yeshua Is The Truth
Yeshua told Pilate that He came into this world to testify to the truth. The historical record of Yeshua on this earth is a declaration of the truth of God. While Yeshua walked this earth He replied to one of His disciples with the following statement:
Yeshua said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. – John 14:6
Yeshua is not just one of many good spiritual teachers in the world of religion. Yeshua is the Son of God and He is the Living Truth of God. When anyone rejects Yeshua he or she is rejecting the very essence of God, for Yeshua is the Truth!
Whose Voice Are You Hearing?
The noise in this world is getting louder and louder by the second. Now more than ever before we need to have spiritual discernment regarding the voices that we hear and the words that we allow to guide our daily lives. There is life-giving power when we walk in the truth as confirmed by our Messiah:
So Yeshua was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” – John 8:31-32
We must drown out the evil voices in this world by being excellent disciples of Yeshua, continuing daily in His word, and listening to His voice above all other voices!
Shabbat Shalom!
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*All Scripture take from NASB Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
**The Hebrew name “Yeshua” is used in the biblical quotations in place of the English name “Jesus” to give emphasis to the meaning of this name, salvation. The word “Messiah” is also used in place of the word “Christ” to bring clarity to the office of Yeshua.