Abuse: How do We Solve It? – Part 1/5

And we are going to move forward into sharing a new study here on EliYah Live, and I want to say first of all that I’ve noticed as Torah-observant believers in Yahushua the Messiah we are often, I don’t want to say sidetracked, but sometimes we don’t put enough emphasis on areas that Scripture puts emphasis on.

We’re called to be in pursuit of righteousness. We’re called to have this ultimate goal of having Messiah-like character, having Messiah-like walk and being filled with His Spirit and manifesting the fruits of His Spirit.

And in our efforts to walk as Yahushua did, of course we do believe in observing the same commands Yahushua kept. We know He kept the Sabbath and so we do also. We know He ate clean. He observed the feast days, and so we seek to do the same. We know that He kept Torah. We seek to keep Torah.

However, I’ve noticed that sometimes as people begin to practice the Torah or begin to go through the Torah and maybe teach from the Torah, there is, okay, Hebrew words are emphasized, finding little gems in Scripture where different things connect with each other are emphasized and bringing the cultural context into our understanding of Scripture. That’s all mentioned. Of course, that’s all well and good, I’m not putting that down at all.

But in all of our seeking, the main emphasis needs to be hungering and thirsting for righteous conduct. The entire reason for reading the Torah is so that we might be instructed on how to love Yahweh more effectively and love one another more effectively.

If we are not more loving today than before we came to understand Torah observance, we are missing the entire point—we are emphasizing Hebrew roots without the fruits. We can learn Hebrew all we want, but if in the end all we have is a bunch of head knowledge that doesn’t really have any effect on our ability or the quality of our walking in love, then we’re really nothing more than Greeks, not Hebrews. Greeks were the ones that pursued empty knowledge rather than true Israelites who were seeking to apply wisdom.

So as part of this ministry here, I want to put proper emphasis on the pursuit of Messiah-like character. I want us to intentionally look for things in Scriptures that will convict us and will challenge us, not just wow us and entertain us.

Ministers who put emphasis in this area may not win the personality or popularity contest. But for those who are only in pursuit of knowledge, they don’t really care anything but that kind of thing. So for us to actually find things that may convict us, it may actually feel, some of you may feel uncomfortable. And so you might want to avoid this kind of a teaching I want to share today and maybe return to pursuing knowledge.

I say let’s avoid that mentality and seek to be both hearers and doers of the Word. I’ve heard it said, “The sign of a false prophet is he never rains on your parade. And the sign of a false believer, he doesn’t want to listen to anybody that rains on his parade.”

I’m not a prophet, not claiming to be. But we’re going to look into the Prophets, we’re going to look into the Scriptures. And may Yahweh help us to be doers as we pursue an understanding of Scripture that is identical to that of the Messiah Himself.

And so in light of this for today’s broadcast, I’m going to begin sharing a multi-part series on the topic of abuse. How do we solve it?

I’m here to tell you as one who has been in this walk of keeping Torah, observing Shabbat, calling on the true names, you might think, “What do we need this for? We’re beyond this.” Not everyone, it’s happening.

And we’re going to let Yahweh’s Word be our teacher on this topic even though it may be uncomfortable. We’re going to look at the Torah which has a lot to say about it. And we’re going to look at the words of Yahushua, we’re going to look at the words of the apostles.

And we’re going to examine the three main areas of abuse—verbal abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. I would like to say there’s no reason to share a study like this, because among believers there aren’t these things going on. But the truth be told, anyone who’s ever been a family counselor among us, knows that sometimes there is.

Even among people who claim to be Torah-observant believers in Yahushua. And so I would say that even, depending on how one chooses to define the word “abuse,” it may even be likely that most of us have been guilty of at least the verbal abuse at one time or another. If we actually look at things the way Yahweh defines it.

So we’re going to look at this topic and we’re also going to talk about how to solve it. A lot of our problems that we have among us as believers, division and the issues, have come from people who’ve had backgrounds with either parents who were abusive, or church leaders who were abusive, or even brothers and sisters in the Torah-observant walk who were abusive.

And so, I think that we do need to tackle the topic. I do think we need to look at it, I do think we need to look at what Scripture says about what it is and how to resolve it.

Now what’s interesting is the term “abuse” actually is not used very much in Scripture. But the English definition of abuse, as far as how it’s defined, you do find that, you know, the things that constitute abuse are things that are sometimes seen in the Scriptures.

The dictionary, English dictionary, defines abuse as “to treat a person or an animal with cruelty or violence, especially regularly or repeatedly. To speak in an insulting and offensive way to or about someone.” (Oxford English Dictionary)

Now I think probably all of us at one time or another have had people speak to us in insulting and offensive ways. And maybe even some of us have done the same to others, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Notice it’s to a man or an animal. Actually, Scripture talks about Proverbs 12:10 – A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

Now it’s interesting, because if a person is willing to abuse an animal, which is an innocent being, they even found that people who engage in this are more likely to become murderers. Because animals are largely innocent beings. If one lacks compassion for an innocent animal, they’re probably also going to lack compassion for people as well.

And so, the same mentality kind of covers animals and people. And so we have to be compassionate toward any creature of Yahweh that can’t help what they are, or what they’re doing, or are largely innocent in what they’re doing.

So now there’s a Scripture here in Deuteronomy 25 verse 4, it says – You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. – That’s interesting because if you shouldn’t even muzzle an ox while it’s treading out the grain, so it does not have to endure this mental anguish of hunger while it’s working to reap it.

I would say that’s a pretty high standard of animal care that Yahweh is expecting us to abide by. It’s not just precepts we look at, brothers and sisters, it’s principles. And if you’re not to muzzle an ox while it’s treading out the grain, then, I mean, there’s a lot of other things you shouldn’t be doing as well.

So getting back to our definition. It means, “To treat a person or animal with cruelty or violence, especially regularly or repeatedly, to speak in an insulting and offensive way to or about someone.” Cruelty, violence, insulting people, offending people, these are all forms of abuse.

And Scripture actually has a lot to say about these matters. In fact, Scripture talks about parents abusing children, talks about husbands abusing wives, it talks about wives abusing husbands, even speaks of children abusing their own parents. Some of us have been scarred by it. Some of us have been actually the walking wounded because of it. It speaks of employers abusing their laborers and governments abusing believers.

In any circumstance where people are given power, there is also the propensity for abuse to take place. And so if you want to know the true character of a person, it’s not necessarily revealed by opposition or by trials or by tribulation. If you want to really, really know the true character of a person, see what happens when he’s given power.

We’re going to talk about the antidote to power and abuse, and that is accountability.

Accountability is Scriptural, accountability is important.

Now Yahweh gave man the freedom to govern himself and the planet in Genesis chapter 1. It says – Then Elohim blessed them, and Elohim said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” – So He gave man the ability to subdue, the ability to have dominion, basically to be the one in control. And that’s true even today, we are the ones in control of the earth.

However, He has given certain guidelines that He expects us to follow as human beings who have this power over the earth.

Now power is not necessarily bad, if used correctly. If men are loving and gentle and upright, and yet also firm when justice is needed, this is where we manifest the image of Elohim that we were created to exhibit.

But if men are cruel, abusive, and hateful and angry, and look to take advantage of those who are in their care, this is where man manifests the image of Satan the devil.

Which image will we manifest?

Each of us, both men and women, have a choice as to what we will do with the power and the freedom that Yahweh has given to us. How we conduct ourselves in this area right here will ultimately determine our eternal destiny. It’s that important. What we’re doing with this—have dominion, subdue.

It has been said that, “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Now that’s not true when it comes to Yahweh. Or to the King of kings, Yahushua the Messiah. However, for men, it does seem to be a problem. Even David, as righteous as he was, used his power to take advantage and take a man’s wife and murder her husband.

The avoidance of absolute power is why most modern governments are set up the way they are, with checks and balances. Trying to keep individuals from gaining too much power. It is also why corporations have a board to keep the CEO accountable. And why non-profit organizations give everyone on the board an equal vote.

Actually, that’s also why there are sheriffs in every county, to keep citizens from getting too much power over each other. And using force to abuse one another in some way and take advantage of one another. And it’s also why sheriffs themselves are elected officials, chosen by the people. It’s all to avoid the possibility of abuse.

Now, none of this works if the entire community of people are wicked. Liberty, as much celebrated as it is, is not really effective if the general population wills to do evil. And we’re seeing that more and more in our generation.

I believe one of the reasons why Yahweh allowed a democratic and republic form of government in the latter days, is so that fewer men would have an excuse for the disastrous outcome of rejecting His authority in their lives. In time past, even in Scripture, we see a king was wicked and he becomes a stumbling block to the people, turning them toward wickedness. But then if a king is righteous, the people are also more likely to be righteous.

But there will be little to no excuse in our generation—the masses themselves have more power.

And so among believers, it seems to me that whenever men try to gain absolute power over their church, their family, and therefore refuse to be accountable to anyone other than themselves in their arrogance, this is where abuse is more likely to take place.

In fact, when someone does this and acts this way, maybe tucking their families away in some remote area so no one will ever be around to know how abusive they are, and they seem to have no interest in fellowship, and they seem to be angry, have an angry spirit and controlling spirit, it can be a sign you’ve got an abusive situation. Not always, but it can be a sign you have an abusive situation and they’re trying to hide it.

Now, an assembly, a congregation is supposed to be governed by elders. It says in 1 Timothy 5:17 – Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, – Elders actually rule, they have authority, they make decisions, they decide how things will go. Everything must meet the approval of elders. And so those who rule well should be counted worthy of double honor, – especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. –

However, elders themselves are accountable, they are appointed by the people. Titus (1:5) says – I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you. – And so the elders who must meet certain qualifications to be an elder, have certain spiritual gifts to function in that role as an elder, they themselves have checks and balances; actually not all that much different than seen in modern forms of government.

This is how the first century believers governed themselves. An elder, if he was out of line, he could be removed. Any religious leader who functions in a way he has no accountability to anyone else, he’s prone to becoming a controlling and abusive individual.

And that’s how cults get started. One man wants to have the power and the control. He supposes maybe at first his control will result in something good. He may even have had good intentions to begin with.

But we were not created to take dominion over each other. We were not created to subdue the people of Yahweh. 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 2, it says – Shepherd the flock of Elohim which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion, but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly;
³ nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;
⁴ and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. – This problem of lording it over is how cults get started. That’s not what we’re called to walk in.

The Greek word translated “lords” in this verse is actually the same Greek word translated “subdue” in the Septuagint of Genesis 1:28, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. This word translated “subdue” is the same Greek word translated “being lords” over those entrusted to you in 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 2. And the same word is also found here in Matthew 20 verse 25-28, it says – Yahushua called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles – What do they do? Subdue it, subdue it over, – lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.
²⁶ “Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.
²⁷ “Whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave–
²⁸ “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.”

This is the context of how we as people of Yahweh govern ourselves. We don’t subdue each other, we don’t lord it over each other. Rather, like Yahushua taught us, those who are in authority are actually the ones who do the serving, a lot of the serving.

I’m pretty sure this is the reason why Yahushua, I should say Yahweh, was not particularly favorable to the idea of Israel having a king. In 1 Samuel 8 verse 7 it says – And Yahweh said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.” – I should not reign over them, by asking for a king? Yahweh’s original thought was for them to have just by the Holy Spirit, Him reign over each individual. But they wanted this king to reign over them, and
⁸ “According to all the works which they have done since the day I brought them out of Egypt, even to this day– with which they have forsaken Me and served other mighty ones– so they are doing to you also.” – Samuel was a prophet and a priest. He wasn’t a king, he provided advice, he provided justice in the land. But they wanted a king. They wanted someone to lord it over.
⁹ “Now therefore,” – He says – “Heed their voice. However, you should solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”
¹⁰ So Samuel told all the words of Yahweh to the people who asked him for a king.
¹¹ And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots.
¹² “He will appoint captains over thousands and captains over his fifties, and set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.
¹³ “He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers.
¹⁴ “He will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, your olive groves, and give them to his servants.
¹⁵ “He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants.
¹⁶ “He will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys and put them to his work.
¹⁷ “He will take a tenth of your sheep and you will be his servants.” – Like his slaves.
¹⁸ “And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and Yahweh will not hear you in that day.”
¹⁹ Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us,
²⁰ “that we may be like all the nations,” – be like the world – “and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

So, thus the problem with giving one man absolute power. He warned them about the selfishness that would ensue, and they did pay for it dearly. It was not until Yahushua the Messiah came that a one hundred percent trustworthy King took the throne.

And now we are all called to willingly yield ourselves to Yahushua’s righteous rule, and thereby have once again Yahweh ruling over us.

When man was created to rule the earth in Genesis, Yahweh’s plan was for man to do it the right way, not a corrupted and selfish way. He actually said, “Take dominion over the earth and subdue the earth,” but within the boundaries and guidelines He set. Thus being in submission to His rulership.

Adam was created and had no knowledge of evil, and so he took dominion over the earth, he subdued it in a righteous way, at least until the day the tempter came, right? And thereby he used that freedom to try and make himself equal with Elohim.

And so in our current state, I do believe that the form of government, that includes a lot of accountability, is indeed the will of Elohim. It’s actually closer to the way Yahweh Himself set things up when He brought Israel into the land; basically a system of self-government. Judges were put in place to create law enforcement, to perhaps lead wars if necessary, but there were no kings with absolute power in Israel until Israel demanded it.

Now at the ministry here, Eliyah Ministries, I have three elders I lean on for counsel and direction in ministry. I don’t do anything significant in my life, or in the ministry Yahweh has given me, unless I have an elder’s approval. And I would hope that others who venture out into ministry would choose to do the same. I can say it saved me from making a lot of mistakes over the years.

Now I’ve said all these things because it’s very important for us to understand. When it comes to abuse, there is no environment where accountability is least likely to be exercised, where accountability is least likely to be in place, than in the context of family. And there is also no other environment where individuals have a higher level of control over other individuals than the environment of parents and children.

Now Yahweh has given men and women the ability to be able to control their children who are innocent, unable to defend themselves. If you think about it, it sounds a little crazy. But many things can go on behind the four walls of a home that are not good. Because home can provide this environment of secrecy, and therefore less accountability. And for that reason, home is often a proving ground and testing ground of our character.

Now family is at the very core of our existence. It’s the place where we can become a hypocrite or a light to all nations. It’s a place where men are given the position of headship and are tested to see whether or not they will abuse that position of headship. It’s also a place where some women will seek to take that headship from their husbands, and rule over them with various methods of control; we’ll be talking about that too. Women who have been abused in the past are most prone to wanting to take control so that they are not the ones hurt in the future.

And so home is where the true character of men and women are often revealed.

It’s also why it’s important as believers that we as fathers, as mothers, as husbands, as wives, willingly choose to be accountable to elders and to wise men who set a good example. None of us know everything.

And Scripture says (Proverbs 24:6) – “that it’s only by wise counsel that we will wage our war. And in a multitude of counselors there is safety.” Safety, safety.

You know, Yahweh even set judges for men to be accountable over tens. Exodus chapter 18 verse 25, it says – Moshe chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

Now if there were rulers in place even over ten families, it’s evident to me accountability was a part of the plan.

In ancient times now, I would say it was a lot harder for men to abuse their families. During the Second Temple period there were up to 200,000 people living on a piece of property that’s less than one square mile. Now if someone’s abusing their families, other people are going to know about it, they’re going to hear it, right?

Now that’s not true today, especially in America, we’re all spread out. Americans place value on individual freedoms, each man having his own castle. With that freedom comes accountability, or I should say lack of accountability.

And therefore, believers, we need to choose to be willingly open and willingly accountable. And those who are accountable also need to be accountable. Those who we are accountable to should also seek to be accountable.

And we see it over and over again in Scripture. We see it in government, we see it in corporations, we see it in life. Accountability is a great deterrent to abuse ever being a problem among us.

Accountability is also a way for us who are not abusive to our families to improve our family life as we learn from others how to be a father, how to be a husband, how to be a mother, how to be a wife.

And so accountability and getting wise counsel from many, it says there is what? Safety, right? Shalom, there’s peace, there’s safety.

Therefore, the lack of a multitude of counselors and the lack of counsel puts us not in a place of safety, but a place of potential compromise, a place of potential danger.

And this is why I truly believe there is a lot of abuse going on in the United States of America and other countries where everyone’s kind of spread out.

And really, the technology has kind of brought us to this place. You notice ancient towns, especially back east, all the houses are like within five, ten feet of each other. Because if you spread everybody out, you’re in a horse and buggy. It’s going to take you a long time to get you anywhere because all the houses are all spread out so far, okay? So they built their houses all close together. And Scripture talks about Jerusalem being a city compact together. And they needed to be, you know, compact together because they had to build a city wall and it had to be, you can only make it so big, and so there you go.

Now, for there to be proper accountability, we need to come to some common ground as to defining what abuse actually is, what proper behavior actually is; what may be abuse for one person may not seem to be abuse for another person.

But there are some people among us, and some of you are probably listening to this program today, who are thinking, “Accountability, huh? It’s my family. I choose, I’m the man in the house. No one has authority over me to tell me what to do. And I’m going to do what I think is right. It’s my family. No one can come in and tell me what to do with my family.”

You’re right in one respect. You’re the one responsible for how your family turns out. You’re the one responsible for how you lead your family.

But it’s also true that if someone is repeatedly sinning against anyone, whether it be a child, or an adult, their own wife, whoever it might be, regardless of who it is, Yahweh has willed that there be judges in the assembly and that they judge between man and man, between men and women. They judge, and they bring people who are choosing to be wicked, who are choosing to sin against anyone, to a place of accountability.

That’s why Matthew chapter 18 says, “If your brother sins against you, go between you and him alone. If he doesn’t hear you, take one or two with you. If he doesn’t hear you, bring the whole assembly against him.”

We are all called to accountability. And if someone is unwilling to be accountable to anyone, or unwilling to hear the counsel of anyone who may counsel them to do what is right and just and holy and good, then an assembly, I do believe, may have to be brought in to bring the person to accountability. And if they’re not accountable, it says, “let them be to you as a heathen and a tax collector.” They’re not believers. Scripture says so.

Now, I understand that the term “abuse” can be very subjective. And what may be abuse for one person may not be abuse for another person. And so we’re going to look at the Scriptures to inform us what the truth actually is.

In John 17:17 it says – Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. – And so Yahweh’s truth is found in His Word. His Word will sanctify us. That is, set us apart from the world. So there’s no abuse among us. Just love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control.

So I want to take a journey through the Scriptures and see if we can clearly identify what abuse actually is, as the Hebrew language itself would define it. And thereby learn from Yahweh how He wants each of us to conduct ourselves. And you’re going to probably find a few surprises.

But I want to say first of all, we shouldn’t really need accountability. We shouldn’t need it, although we do. We shouldn’t need it, if we recognize our accountability starts with our own personal relationship with Yahweh. He is the One that we will ultimately answer to in the end. And that’s true. And the more accountable and the higher the quality of a relationship you have with the Most High, the less accountability you really even need.

But we’re dealing with a lot of different kinds of individuals. A lot of people claiming to have a great personal relationship with Yahweh, and yet their actions are not showing so.

And so therefore, as a group, as an assembly, as a congregation, it’s necessary for us to have accountability. And if we really are living the way we should, what’s the big deal being accountable? What’s the problem? It shouldn’t be a problem. If your conduct is right, you should have nothing to hide, right? Okay.

So what is the Hebraic definition of abuse? The Hebraic definition. I have found that while the English word “abuse” is not seen very often in modern translations, there are actually several words in Hebrew that would align themselves with the English definition of abuse.

The first one we’re going to look at here is Strong’s number H3905 “lâchats” {law-khats’} meaning “to squeeze or press, or oppress.” Translated “oppress 13 times, afflict, crushed, fast, forced, oppressors, thrusts,” these are all basically translations of this particular Hebrew word.

Now notice that “oppress” is the one most often chosen as a translation. I would say that “abuse” and “oppress” might even be considered to be synonyms. To abuse someone is to oppress them, and to oppress them is to abuse them. It has to do with applying pressure or control.

One example would be, actually you might remember that Balaam’s donkey took his foot and crushed his foot up against the wall. That word was coming from the word “lâchats” meaning “to pressure or to force.” In this case, actually abused him, hurt him, harmed him.

Another word is the Hebrew word (H3238) “yânâh” {yaw-naw’} meaning “to oppress, suppress, treat violently, maltreat, vex, do wrong.” It’s translated again, “oppress 11 times, vex four times.” And so there’s different words.

And then there’s another word (H6031) “ʻânâh” {aw-naw’} meaning “to be busy with or occupied,” but also can mean “to afflict, oppress, humble, or be afflicted, be bowed down.” And you see here, it’s translated “afflict” 50 times. And so it has the idea of looking down or browbeating. Looking down or browbeating. It’s mostly translated “afflict.”

To afflict someone is similar to oppressing them. It can be used actually in a positive or a negative form of being lowered, to be lowered. In the intensive or the piel form, it can be speaking of humiliating or demeaning someone, either through words or through actions, bringing them down.

The word “ʻânâh” has been used to describe verbal abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse.

Another word that’s actually translated “abuse,” at least in the New King James Version, is the Hebrew word (H5953) “ʻâlal” {aw-lal’} “to act severely, to deal with severely, to make a fool of someone.” So, and we see here, “abuse” is one of those translations. It’s actually translated “abuse” three times; “to mock” twice. And so it’s a pretty broad word, but we do see this idea of abuse being included in the definitions.

Our next word is (H6231) “ʻâshaq” {aw-shak’} meaning “to press upon, oppress, violate, defraud, do violence, get deceitfully,” and again translated “oppress 23 times, oppressor four times,” being the predominant translations of this Hebrew word. It can mean “to extort,” and actually the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament makes a statement that the verbal root “ʻâshaq” is concerned with acts of abuse of power or authority, and the burdening or trampling or crushing those who are lower in station, is how it actually reads in the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament.

Now, that’s interesting because to take advantage of someone in their position of power, in order to burden them, to trample them, or to crush them who are at lesser status, is really the only way abuse can happen, is if someone forces it on another person, because the other person happens to be at some kind of disadvantage being unable to adequately defend themselves.

The word can be found here in Psalm chapter 103 verse 6. It says – Yahweh executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
⁷ He made known His ways to Moshe, His acts to the children of Israel.

Actually, this is what happened, because if you realize that He made His ways known to Moshe, He made His acts known to the children of Israel, it’s because He says He executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.

So, we have this promise of justice being served. It may be in this life, and it may be in the life to come. But I’ve noticed that there seems to be, you know, at least my own observation, an unusually high number of Torah-observant people who’ve had backgrounds where they were marginalized, oppressed, teased, mistreated, abused, at some point in their lives. And could this possibly be a reason why? Because Yahweh, as He did for the children of Israel, He’s seen the oppression.

Exodus chapter 3 verse 7 says – “…I have surely seen the oppression or the abuse of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.” – He says “I know their sorrows.” Interesting. Now, the Hebrew word here is (H6040) “ʻŏnîy” {on-ee’} which is rooted in (H6031) “ʻânâh”; it has to do with forcing someone to be lowered.

As we look at the Scriptures, there will be a common theme that typically is present that would keep and produce an environment for abuse to take place.

And that theme is “men having power over others, and thereby using that power to abuse those who are in their care or at disadvantage,” okay? That is the recurring theme.

In this case, the Egyptians had power over the children of Israel, and they chose to use that power to abuse the children of Israel through the use of taskmasters. That was forced laborers. And I am sure physical abuse and verbal abuse were both present. Maybe even other forms of abuse.

But, the one thing I want you to notice here is He said, “I know their sorrows.” How does He know our sorrows? How can He know, He is in heaven or on earth? How can He know? Isaiah 53 verse 3 says – He is despised – talking about Yahushua, despised – and rejected by man, a Man of sorrows – a Man of sorrows – and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
⁴ Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by Elohim, and afflicted.

Now Yahushua was certainly on the receiving end of abuse. And it says here, “He carried our sorrows.” Same Hebrew word translated “sorrows” here in Isaiah 53 as the one where He says, “I know their sorrows” back in the book of Exodus. And for that reason He delivered them by the blood of the Lamb, and He showed them His Torah.

And maybe brothers and sisters, if you have been one who has experienced abuse, Yahweh looked upon your affliction, and He knew your sorrows. And therefore He chose to deliver you by the blood of the Lamb, and show you His Torah. Blessed be His name.

Over and over again we see in the Scriptures, there is one thing that Yahweh consistently hates. And that is people taking advantage of each other for personal or self-centered gain. In fact, Yahweh even hates it when we take advantage of another person’s physical inability, physical disability. He says (Leviticus 19:14) – You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your Mighty One.

The deaf cannot hear. Don’t take advantage of that and speak evil of them. Fear Yahweh, Yahweh will notice.

And if we take advantage of people who are at disadvantage, He says He even will take it personally. In Proverbs chapter 14 in verse 31 it says – He who oppresses the poor – does something else too, he – reproaches his Maker, – Wow, wow! – But he who honors Him has mercy on the needy. –

See, the unrighteous will see someone at disadvantage and take advantage of them. The righteous will see someone at disadvantage and take care of them. One reproaches his Maker, the other honors Him.

The word in Hebrew here is to (H6231) “ʻâshaq” {aw-shak’}, in Hebrew meaning “people oppressing those who are in lower station.” Yahweh takes it personally. If you reproach the poor, if you oppress the poor, you reproach Yahweh Himself, He says so! That’s serious. You don’t want to be guilty of reproaching Yahweh, right? You want to be found honoring Him.

And so, taking advantage of those who are at disadvantage is wicked, seriously wicked in Yahweh’s eyes. In fact, Yahushua said in Matthew 25 verse 44, talking about the parable of the goats and the sheep, when the goats said, “Master, when did we see You hungry? When did we see You thirsty? When were You a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and we didn’t minister to You?” He will answer them saying, – ‘Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’

Now Yahweh is an Elohim of love. He created us in His image. And so He wants us to walk in that image of love. He does allow there to be abuse in the world today, He does. But it’s very important to understand He’s called us to do something about it. He wants us to do something about it. He wants us to deliver the oppressors, those being oppressed, I should say.

And so Yahweh had given man free will. If He didn’t give man free will we wouldn’t really have a choice to demonstrate true love. If you took your son or daughter by the arms and you forced them to hug you, forced them to say, “I love you,” would that mean anything to you? No.

But what if they, of their own free will and volition, came up to you and hugged you and said, “I love you daddy, I love you mommy.” That would be an indication of true and genuine love.

And so it is with Yahweh. He doesn’t want us to force love on– He doesn’t want to force us to love each other or force us to love Him, He wants us to do it out of free will. Not because we’re programmed to be a bunch of robots going around loving the way He tells us to, but really out of free choice. He wants us to do it not because He’s, you know, going to jump in and stop us from doing everything unloving, but because He wants to give us the opportunity to truly demonstrate genuine love.

And those who do are those who He will want to spend eternity with. And that’s the kind of people I want to spend eternity with. I don’t want to spend eternity with a bunch of people who don’t want to be there, who don’t want to love each other. And so everyone will be tested.

And we can really see how He feels about people who are being at disadvantage, being oppressed and being abused. Because He took an entire nation of Israel out of Egypt. Partly because of that.

And Yahushua came to the earth and allowed Himself to be hated and abused. Just so He could carry our sorrows. Just so He could deliver us from that state of being abused by others.

Nobody can now say, “Oh Yahweh can’t relate to us.” He can. Even the Heavenly Father.

I know it would be more hurtful for me to watch people abuse my son than if I had been the one abused myself. If you understand that, you understand why Yahweh hates abuse. We are His children. We are created in His image. It was when the earth was lost cause, Yahweh says, “It’s enough. They are hurting each other too much. Everyone is hurting each other. No one is guiltless.” In Genesis chapter 6 it says – Yahweh was sorry that He had made man on the earth, He was grieved in His heart.

Now it’s not like Yahweh didn’t have the foresight. But He expresses His sorrow and His grief over man’s choices to hurt one another. And actually the word translated “grieved” is the Hebrew word (H6087) “ʻâtsab” {aw-tsab’} which means “to hurt, pain, to be in pain.” It’s the Hebrew word for “pain.”

So I hope we understand that if we choose to cause pain to another person, we’re choosing to cause pain to Yahweh Himself. Inasmuch as we’ve done it to others, we’ve done it to Him. That serious. And therefore we need to take it seriously.

And so, what was so hurtful to Yahweh He was willing to destroy all living things in the flood. All living things in the flood except for Noah and the animals in the ark. What was so hurtful to Him?

Genesis chapter 6 verse 11-13 it says, – The earth also was corrupt before Elohim, and the earth was filled with violence. – With violence. –
¹² So Elohim looked upon the earth, indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
¹³ And Elohim said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” – Now the Hebrew word translated “violence” is the Hebrew word (H2555) “châmâç” {khaw-mawce’} meaning “violence or wrong or cruelty or injustice.” Translated “violence” 39 times. Interesting. It’s actually the same word “hamas” as the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas over in Israel. Same word. It means “violent.”

Now physical abuse is violence. And it’s because of this violence that Yahweh was hurt. He was grieved. He was sorrowful.

And there’s also a verbal violence that can take place as well. Biblically speaking, there is a verbal violence that can take place. And Proverbs chapter 10 in verse 6 it says – Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

You may not hurt someone with your hands, but you can hurt them with your tongue. It may not show a physical bruise, but it can damage the heart. Proverbs chapter 10 verse 11 says – The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

This is the Hebrew word “hamas,” we just looked at it. Verbal violence and physical violence, verbal abuse and physical abuse are why Yahweh chose to send the flood to destroy what grieved His heart so badly, He says it hurt Him so badly, He had to wipe them out and start over again.

Does that not give us an indication, you know, where it actually says, “As in the days of Noah, so it will be when the Son of Man comes.” I don’t know if that would be part of it, it does say, “Because lawlessness is abounding, Torahlessness is abounding, the love of many will grow cold.” Wow.

Another example of this word “hamas,” Psalm 35 verse 11 says – (Fierce)Hamas witnesses rise up; They ask me of things I do not know. – False witnesses. –
¹² They reward me evil for good, to the sorrow of my soul.

Actually to be a false witness against someone is to oppress them and to be violent against them with your mouth. And so here is this psalmist saying, “They’re asking me things I don’t even know what they’re talking about. They think I’m guilty of something. They think that they are a witness of something I’ve done wrong and I don’t even know what they’re talking about.” You’ve ever felt that way before? Someone’s accusing you of something and you’re like, “What? What’s he saying?” And so the Hebrew word translated “fierce” here in this Scripture is the Hebrew word “hamas,” false witness. Bearing false witness is an act of hamas, of violence against someone.

Again we see it in Deuteronomy chapter 19 verse 16 – “If a hamas witness – a violent, a malicious witness – rises against any man to testify against him of any wrongdoing,
¹⁷ “then both men in the controversy shall stand before Yahweh, both before the priests and the judges that serve in those days.
¹⁸ “And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother,
¹⁹ “then” – what? – “you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away” – so you shall put away, put away – “the evil from among you.”

And so this term “putting away the evil from among you” is actually found in 1 Corinthians 5, we’ll talk about that later. But a false witness is a violent person. May not physically violent but they are verbally violent. I hope that gets your attention. Because bearing false witness against someone is an act of abuse. It’s that serious.

And surely why Yahweh concluded this command against bearing false witness in the Ten Commandments. Exodus chapter 23 verse 1 says – You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be a hamas (unrighteous) witness. – A hamas witness.

How many times have I seen it? Over and over and over again. Information being circulated that’s not true, that’s not true. About some government officials, some presidents, some person and it gets forwarded around on Facebook, through email, through social media—you are committing an act of violence. Scripturally speaking you’re committing an act of violence against the one to whom you’re speaking false information about.

So even carelessly forwarding harmfully false information about another person is considered to be an act of verbal abuse against that person. In some ways spreading harmfully false information about another person can actually do more harm to them than if you come up to them and punch them in the face.

It’s very serious in the eyes of Yahweh according to Scripture. It hurts Him when we do so.

It hurts Him, if you are choosing to repeat that which you don’t know to be true. And thereby committing slander, being a false accuser, and circulating false reports—things that aren’t true. And putting your hand with wicked men to be an unrighteous, a hamas witness. Every word that proceeds from our mouth must be true.

Scripture says, Scripture says, “No deceit in our mouth.” Once again, look at Deuteronomy chapter 19. The correct judgment in this instance when someone does this, is actually for them to receive what they thought to give. Wow! You know, if this precept was followed, if this was followed in Scripture, if this was actually followed there would be a whole lot more righteous court systems able to find things. And by the way, this is actually not “hamas” down here, I didn’t mean to put that in there, it’s wrong. But it is “hamas” here, okay? To be a malicious, to be a violent witness.

And the 144,000 it says, “No deceit, no guile, nothing but truth came out of their mouth. And they followed the Lamb wherever He goes.” You want to be part of the 144,000? You got to pay real close attention to this one right here.

If you’re going to talk about someone and it’s negative, it better be true. That’s Yahweh’s standard for abuse. What abuse is to Him. Very serious brothers and sisters, very serious. And we’re just getting started, okay?

In our next segment, our next segment we’re going to be talking more about this topic of verbal abuse. And we’re also going to talk about other forms of abuse. But we’re going to talk about the verbal. I don’t think we really understand how harmful it really is. And how offended Yahweh is when we allow things to come out of our mouths that we should not.

In some cases we don’t even know what He considers to be abuse. And as far as I’m concerned that’s the only thing that matters—is what He calls abuse. And so I’m looking forward to sharing this next segment. And as I said earlier—accountability is a great deterrent to abuse ever being a problem among us.

And so we need to allow the Scriptures to bring us to some common ground here, in defining what abuse really is in the eyes of Yahweh. So that we will turn from it. So that we will walk in love the way Yahushua walked in love.

Let’s pray. Father Yahweh in the name of Yahushua Ha-Mashiach we praise You. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for seeing our oppression in our life and bringing deliverance. Bringing us to the Messiah Yahushua. Bringing us to the truth of Your awesome Torah.

We give You praise and we give You honor and we love You Father. We thank You for watching over us. We thank You Father that even in what You have allowed to take place in our lives, it only caused us to see our need for You.

We pray Father that You would, in the name of Yahushua Ha-Mashiach, that You would help each one of us, as Your people, to let no guile come forth from our mouth. No corrupt word, no rotten fruit come forth from our mouth, but only that which imparts grace, only that which imparts righteousness and holiness and goodness and truth.

And if there are any in the sound of my voice who do not know You Father Yahweh, I pray that You would bring them to a place where they turn away from their own ways and turn toward the way of righteousness that You have given us to live. And that they put their trust in the Messiah Yahushua for forgiveness of sin. And enter into a place of refuge, as You promised to deliver all of us who are oppressed. And You promised to care.

You don’t always promise to intervene Father, for You do give man the ability to take dominion on the earth. To fill the earth and to subdue it and to make our choice. But Father we want to make the right choice.

And if there are generations and cycles and generational abuse taking place, it is we Father Yahweh who want to break it. In the name of Yahushua, let it be broken, so that we don’t repeat the sins of our fathers, but we confess them as sin.

And we seek Your face Yahweh, our great Mighty One, our rock, our redeemer, our Savior, our friend, our Father, our everything.

For truly Yours is the Kingdom and power, Yours is the glory, Yours is the majesty, forever and ever. In Yahushua’s great name we pray these things, amein.