Kollel Korach

Kollel Korach

First Timothy chapters 1 & 2

Introduction

We must always remember the warning of Peter when we start a new Pauline epistle – that false teachers distort Shaul’s words to make it appear he was teaching Torahlessness.

2Pe 3:15  Regard the patience of Adonai as salvation; even as our beloved brother Sha’ul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you;   2Pe 3:16  as also in all of his letters, speaking in them of these things. In those, there are some things that are hard understand, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.   2Pe 3:17  You therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware, lest being carried away with the error of the Torahless, you fall from your own steadfastness.   2Pe 3:18  But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Adonai and Savior Yeshua the Messiah. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amein.

“Athesmos,” of course, is a greek word that means “lawless,” – to us, “Torahlessness.”

If Shaul had been teaching Torahlessness, that would make him a false prophet, according to Yeshua, as YHWH Incarnate, made quite clear – so we can be sure he did not.

Deu 13:1 If there arise in the midst of you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give you a sign or a wonder,   Deu 13:2  and the sign or the wonder come to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them;   Deu 13:3  you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams: for YHWH your Elohim proves you, to know whether you love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul.   Deu 13:4  You shall walk after YHWH your Elohim, and fear him, and keep his mitzvot, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cleave to him.   Deu 13:5  That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which YHWH your Elohim commanded you to walk in. So shall you put away the evil from the midst of you.

That means there is an  interpretation of every one of Shaul’s teachings that is consistent with Torah, if we look at the texts from a Hebraic point of view and using clues from Hebrew language.  The early church father Jerome stated that all of Shaul’s authentic epistles had originally been written in Hebrew, and that must be our guide for proper understanding of Shaul’s teachings.  He was not a false prophet, he taught the Written Torah – much to the chagrin of the Pharisees and their Oral Law, and much to the chagrin of modern pastors and preachers who teach Torahlessness.

First Timothy, continued:

First Tim 1:1 Sha’ul, an emissary of Messiah Yeshua according to the mitzvah of Elohim our Savior, and Messiah Yeshua our hope;

First Tim 1:2  to Timothy, my true child in faith: Grace, mercy, and shalom, from Elohim our Father and Messiah Yeshua Adonai.

First Tim 1:3  As I urged you when I was going into Macedonia, stay at Ephesus that you might charge certain men not to teach a different doctrine,

First Tim 1:4  neither to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which cause disputes, rather than Elohim’s stewardship, which is in faith—

The “endless geneologies” are two things – one, Rabbinic teachings are all given “in the name of Rabbi X, who obtained it from Rabbi Y, who learned it from Rabbi Z, all the way back as far as they can. It’s a mythology of sorts, since they claim the Oral Law was given by Moses, in secret, along with the publicly given Written Torah.  Two, the Rabbis themselves often claim their authority to teach based on their own personal geneologies, as if they were real priests and Levites, which most of them are not.  The disputes occur because the teachings in the Talmud are all contradictory to each other and often to the real Written Torah itself.

That doesn’t mean there is nothing written by the Sages of old that has value.  Certainly many pondered issues of good and evil, prophecy, cosmology, and such that are clearly inspired by the Ruach HaKodesh, just as the Spirit has inspired many Christian writers through the ages even though they were not Torah observant (or didn’t call it that).

Timothy, continued:

First Tim 1:5  but the end of the charge [of Elohim’s stewardship] is love, out of a pure heart and a good conscience and unfeigned faith;

First Tim 1:6  from which things some, having missed the mark, have turned aside to vain talking;

First Tim 1:7  desiring to be teachers of the Torah, though they understand neither what they say, nor about what they strongly affirm.

Such are most Christian ministers today, teaching replacement theology and Torahlessness in complete opposition to YHWH’s will.

Timothy, continued:

First Tim 1:8  But we know that the Torah is good, if a man uses it lawfully,

First Tim 1:9  as knowing this, that Torah is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

First Tim 1:10  for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave-traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for any other thing contrary to the sound doctrine;

First Tim 1:11  according to the Good News of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

The Torah teaches sinners what sin is.  And once they have learned what sin is, they are responsible for repenting from their sins and, as Yeshua commanded, they must “go and sin no more.”   Torah is the plumbline by which we judge all things, even here in the modern world.  It is our eternal standard.

Timothy, continued:

First Tim 1:12  And I thank him who enabled me, Messiah Yeshua Adonai, because he counted me faithful, appointing me to service;

First Tim 1:13  although I was before a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent. However, I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

And, obviously, repented of his sins and commits these sins no longer.

Timothy, continued:

First Tim 1:14  The grace of Adonai abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in Messiah Yeshua.

First Tim 1:15  The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Messiah Yeshua came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

First Tim 1:16  However, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Yeshua the Messiah might display all his patience, for an example of those who were going to believe in him for eternal life.

First Tim 1:17  Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to Elohim who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amein.

First Tim 1:18  This charge I commit to you, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which led the way to you, that by them you may wage the good warfare;

First Tim 1:19  holding faith and a good conscience; which some having thrust away made a shipwreck concerning the faith;

First Tim 1:20  of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I delivered to Hasatan, that they might be taught not to blaspheme.

A person who is truly gifted with the Ruach HaKodesh’s gift of prophecy (perhaps Paul himself) apparently made predictions concerning Timothy’s life which Paul relies on as authentic.

On the issues of Hymenaeus and Alexander, they are apparently guilty of NOT having “faith and a good conscience.”  What exactly they did is not described, but we can infer from the preceeding verses that it might have had something to do with continuing to live in sin and teaching others to continue to live in sin.

Timothy, continued:

First Tim 2:1 I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks, be made for all men:

First Tim 2:2  for kings and all who are in high places; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and reverence.

We must not curse or be disobedient (within the bounds of Torah) toward our leaders, whether they are elected leaders or hereditary leaders.  Instead, we should pray when they are ruling badly.

Timothy, continued:

First Tim 2:3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of Elohim our Savior;

First Tim 2:4  who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth.

This should be obvious but for some reason there are still people who endorse strict Calvinism, teaching Elohim only wants select people to be saved.  Clearly, He wants everyone to be saved, therefore it is possible for everyone to be saved – Elohim would not want something that could not come to be.  Sadly, many will choose a life of sin and debauchery, but that was NOT Elohim’s will for their life.  It was their own free will.

Timothy, continued:

First Tim 2:5  For there is one Elohim, and one mediator between Elohim and men, the man Messiah Yeshua,

First Tim 2:6  who gave himself as a ransom for all; the testimony in its own times;

First Tim 2:7  to which I was appointed a preacher and an emissary (I am telling the truth in Messiah, not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

First Tim 2:8  I desire therefore that the men in every place pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting.

First Tim 2:9  In the same way, that women also adorn themselves in decent clothing, with modesty and propriety; not just with braided hair, gold, pearls, or expensive clothing;

First Tim 2:10  but (which becomes women professing godliness) with good works.

Modest clothing is a requirement of Obedient Believers.  This does not mean one has to dress like an extra on Little House on the Prarie or like someone from the Middle Ages.  It does mean that certain areas of the body need to be fully covered.  Women in the Near and Far East, from about 800n BCE forward, wore pants (turkish trousers) or a skirt with a long tunic that did not allow men to directly view their rear end or front area (you know).  The tunics has sleeves at least the elbow and did not have a plunging neckline.  When going to the Temple, they wore a scarf to cover their hair, and a veil over their faces.  We don’t veil today, of course, but at a minimum some sort of headcovering is required (as discussed previously in the Pauline Epistles).   This passage and others does not say that a woman should not wear ANY jewelry, but it should be tasteful and not obnoxious or intended to show off wealth.  Certainly a righteous woman has better uses for her money than to buy name-brand designer shoes and clothes at inflated prices, as Paul here alludes.

Men, too, usually wore long robes with long tunics.   Today, the “style” is pants with no other covering, but during prayer and worship a large Tallit should be wrapped around a man.   Priests were required to wear turbans, today a kippah will suffice – though all male Obedient Believers are “kings and priests,” unless one is actually on the Temple mount a turban is not necessary.

Timothy, continued:

First Tim 2:11  Let a woman learn in quietness with all subjection.

First Tim 2:12  But I don’t permit a woman to teach, nor to exercise authority over a man, but to be in quietness.

This does not mean a woman can’t teach at all or lead prayer or worshop services – she can teach and lead other women, children, or the unsaved.  In the absence of an Obedient Believing circumcised man being present, she may certainly assume whatever authority is necessary.  But like the Priesthood of the Firstborn and the Priesthood of the Levites, the leadership of any congregation is under normal circumstances assigned by Elohim to men.

Timothy, continued:

First Tim 2:13  For Adam was first formed, then Chavah.

First Tim 2:14  Adam wasn’t deceived, but the woman, being deceived, has fallen into disobedience;

First Tim 2:15  but she will be saved through her childbearing, if they continue in faith, love, and sanctification with sobriety.

Since we’re not sure how the original Hebrew read, we might consider some variants of “saved” for this verse:

G4982 σώζω sōzō sode’-zo

From a primary word σῶς sōs̄ (contraction for the obsolete σάος saos, “safe”); to save, that is, deliver or protect (literally or figuratively): – heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole.

Since the context is what women should be doing, as opposed to what they should not be doing, (like teaching men), the meaning clearly suggests she should be content teaching children – preferably her own.  “Do well” may be the best choice here.  This, of course, will make many feminists unhappy, who believe they need a career to be “made whole,” but even the “woman of valor” in Proverbs worked at home and didn’t dump her kids in daycare just so they could be perceived as successful by the outside world.  The world’s standards should not be our standards.

Next week:  Parashat Chukat.