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LASHON HARA
PREPARING THE BRIDE: GUARDING THE TONGUE
He who guards his mouth preserves his life,
Do you desire life? Would you like to see many ‘good’ days? Of course you would. Everyone wants to live a good life, and there is a way to do it no matter what may be your age, gender, health, financial status or position in life, for it is written:
“Who is the man who desires life,
The way to achieve the ‘good life’ is really very simple. However, that does not mean it is easy. In fact, one of the chief requirements for reaching the ‘good life’ is that we bring into submission that member of our body which is most difficult to control~ our tongue. To do this means that we must also learn to control another part of our body, our mind, for our tongue only speaks what is in our mind and heart. As Yeshua said:
“‘Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matt. 12:34)
You may ask, just how can I bring my mind (and tongue) under control? Well, take heart, for if you are one of those people who truly believes in the Creator God (the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), and who looks to the Scriptures for guidance, and if you are diligently seeking to follow the instructions found in the Torah, then you are already tuned into the manner of living that produces the ‘good life.’
In addition to learning to follow the Torah, one who ‘desires life’ must also allow themselves to be led by the Ruach HaKodesh (Rue-ahk Hah Koh-desh = The Holy Spirit). For the Ruach (Spirit) will always lead us in a way of life that is in total harmony with the Torah, and will help us to manifest righteous characteristics in our lives. These characteristics are likened in Scripture to ‘good fruit:’
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no Law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
While living the ‘good life’ may not be easy, it really is very clear and quite simple what we must do to achieve it. If we truly are Believers in, and followers of, Yeshua HaMashiach (Yeh-shohe-ah Hah Mah-she-ach = Jesus the Messiah), we will desire to live righteously before the Father, just as He did, although we will continue in our struggle against our carnal sinful nature even as did the Apostle Paul (Shaul = Shaw-ool or Saul) wrote of his struggle with sin:
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.”
"O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.”
There are usually many changes that new Believers must make in order to bring their life into compliance with the instructions found in the Torah. Such changes may involve things like ridding our lives of idols, cleaning up our speech habits, and learning to be truthful and kind. These (and many others) are very real and necessary areas where change must be made, as Shaul made clear when he wrote to the Thessalonians:
"Therefore brothers, just as you learned from us how you had to live in order to please God, and just as you are living this way now, we ask you -- indeed, united with the Lord Yeshua, we urge you -- to keep doing so more and more. What God wants is that you be holy... For God did not call us to live an unclean life but a holy one.”
As we learn to live holy lives there is one area which often does not get changed along with the others. That has to do with the manner in which we talk about other people. It appears that Shaul also addressed this issue as he continued his letter to the Thessalonians:
"Concerning love for the brothers we do not need to write you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other; and you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do it even more.
"Also, make it your ambition to live quietly, to mind your own business and to earn your living by your own efforts -- just as we told you. Then your daily life will gain the respect of outsiders, and you will not be dependent on anyone.” (I Thess. 4:9-12 CJB)
The apostle Peter, also addressed this issue:
"Therefore, laying aside all malice, all guile, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
(I Pet. 2:1-3)
The 97-5 issue of Hebrew Roots contained an article entitled; Sin and Leprosy (write for a free copy). In it we discussed the ten sins which tradition and scripture say were punishable (in the days of the Tabernacle and the Temple) by the disease of leprosy. While God does not currently punish sinners through the agency of physical leprosy, it is our contention that sin does manifest itself today in the form of ‘spiritual leprosy,’ and that the Bride of Messiah (the church of called out ones) is currently in a spiritually leprous state due to the sins which still beset her, especially the sin of speaking evil of others. This may be one of the primary reasons why the spiritual gifts found in Romans 12 and I Corinthians 12 are so lacking in today’s church. One of the main objectives of Hebrew Roots is to assist the Bride in identifying those areas in which she has need for spiritual cleansing, so she can properly prepare for her soon coming wedding to her long awaited Messiah, Yeshua.
With this in mind we will now zero in on the one specific sin (of the ten mentioned in the previous article) which is said to have been always punishable by leprosy during ‘Bible times.’
The sin in question is called, in Hebrew, Lashon Hara (Lah-shown' Hah-rah' = the evil tongue). It is said that if a person can overcome the carnal tendency to speak lashon hara it proves that he is able to control all of his other sinful appetites, for the tongue is the most difficult of all body members to control and is the quickest to rise up in a sinful manner.
Whoever guards his mouth and tongue
While the scriptures abound with passages and verses that warn us about the tendency of the tongue to speak evil and get us into trouble, they also tell us that if a person can control the tongue, so that he only speaks good, his speech can become a veritable ‘tree of life’ to them:
A wholesome tongue is a tree of life,
The tongue then, is a most powerful weapon that can be used for either good or for evil. Since the Bride of Messiah still resides in the home (this world) of her evil former father, HaSatan (Hah' Sah-tahn' = Satan the Devil), she is still prone to use her tongue in the evil manner she learned before she became betrothed to her Husband, Yeshua. However, now that the Bride has been brought into the family of HaShem (Hah Shem' = ‘the name,’ or YHVH) , she should no longer be using her tongue in the old evil way, even though she still resides in this evil world among unconverted people.
It was James, the half brother of Yeshua (his real name was Ya'acov or Jacob), who made the definitive scriptural statement about the difficulties encountered when dealing with the tongue:
"For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths, that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at the ships, although they are so large and are driven of fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.
"Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. Behold, how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
"For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
"Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring can yield both salt water and fresh. (James 3:2-12)
Ya'acov is telling us that our tongues can be used for either good or evil, but should not be used for both. Therefore, when one does succumb to speaking evil, those words, by nature, negate all the good that may have been previously spoken. Just as the murderer is powerless to bring his victim back to life, so also the one who murders with his tongue can never erase the loveless words that were spoken, or resurrect the righteous reputation that they have maimed or destroyed.
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This page created August 6th, 2003
But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.
--Proverbs 13:3
And loves many days, that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking guile.
Depart from evil, and do good;
Seek peace, and pursue it.” (Psalm 34:12-14)
(Gal. 5:22-26)
(Rom. 7:14-15)
(Rom. 7:24-25)
(I Thess. 4:1-3,7 CJB)
~ SIN AND LEPROSY ~
~ LASHON HARA ~
Keeps his soul from troubles. Prov. 21:23)
But perverseness in it
breaks the spirit. (Prov. 15:4)
This article has been used with permission from Dean and Susan Wheelock. This study is also available in pamphlet form. The Wheelocks have an excellent, in-depth newsletter that I encourage you to subscribe to as well. While they do offer their materials for free, they are so meaty I would encourage you to send in a donation to help them in their ministry work.
Hebrew Roots
P.O. Box 400
Lakewood, WI 54138
1-715-757-2775
E-mail: HebrewRoots@czo.net
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