"LOOKING THROUGH GREEK EYES"

By Yochanan ben Yisrael

“I’m not a Greek,” one might say. So, why do we find it difficult to embrace the supremacy of the Most High? Whenever someone comes along and tells us to follow the commandments, we resist, usually stating, “The Law does not apply to us, because we are under grace.” We also use the excuse that we do not FEEL convicted to follow the Torah, or are not LED to do so by the Ruach Haqodesh. Where do these ideas come from? Why do we feel justified in deciding which blessings and curses we feel are acceptable and which ones we will not accept? How can we justify thinking that the Spirit of the Most-High would lead us to do anything contrary to His written Word? How is it that we can interpret the New Covenant based on the Greek writings and refuse to acknowledge the relevance of the Hebrew writings of the Torah and the prophets? How is it that we can claim to keep the Ten Commandments, yet we reject the fourth – the seventh day Sabbath – by stating that “Jesus” is our Sabbath, thus in essence negating one of the ten? How is it that we can read in the Torah and the Prophets and the Writings of the Apostles’ about the prohibition of idols, yet we have no conscience against carrying, kissing, and enshrining crosses? We see little wrong with pictures of “Jesus” hanging on our walls, but we would not dare write the Torah upon our doorposts, as commanded by the Most High? Why do we claim to love YHWH and yet continue in deliberate sin? These are a few of the contradictions that we seem to think nothing of and have found normal and acceptable in our culture. Why?

We speak Greek everyday in the common English language. “Pandemic” is derived from Greek and includes the name of Pan. According to [wikipedia.org](https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u....=https%3A%2F%2Fwikip this is the name of a Greek deity in the form of a hybrid of a goat and a man. We speak this name and many other words contrary to the command of the Most High to “not let the names of false elohym depart from our mouths,” and we usually don’t even consider that doing so is an offense to the Most High. We easily dismiss it by saying something like, “It is English, and we cannot communicate without it.” This is a fair assessment, and the point of this document is not to point fingers at others, because all of us are guilty. It is also not the point of this document to enter into a linguistics debate. The point is to expose the fact that we look at the world through Greek eyes, and we do it every day, from the moment we wake until we lay down at night. We need to be frank with ourselves and admit this, so we can correct it insofar as is possible.

Our democracy is based on Greek government political structures claiming representation of the masses. Our capitol buildings were built with Greek architecture. We have erected spires replicating phallic symbols of power on our churches and other places of worship. We have memorial statues all over the place, raising historical figures onto pedestals. We create epic tales of chivalry and heroic deeds perpetrated by them. We entertain ourselves with our addictions to sports and theater, thriving on fictional and contrived histories, glamorizing the common and deifying the entertainers by calling them “superstars” and immortalizing them in sidewalk plaques – just as the Greeks did.

As a society, we are becoming more and more immune to moral absolutes, and we tolerate those things that YHWH hates as they creep into the things that occupy our time, like tabloids and the daily news. We seek to always learn something new, and feel under-informed if we do not have that - usually ugly news about other people; gossip and slander have become our staples of daily entertainment. Entertainment, itself has to be sensational, and if it helps us to escape the daily life in emotional highs and lows, then we feel like we have accomplished something worthwhile. The stories, fact or fiction or both, mixed and mashed together into a soup of feelings which guides our thinking, teach that morality is based on how we feel at a given moment, rather than teaching that which is laid down by a supreme Elohym.

Even in our religious lives, we accept lies and sin as inevitable and normal. We excuse our lack of obedience by claiming that we are not responsible for our behavior, as if powers beyond our control are working on us to force us to do things we ought not do. We define the Most High in terms that we describe ourselves. Instead of holding ourselves to His standard, we bring Him down to our standard, stating that He “knows our hearts,” and “our hearts love Him” while our bodies do evil. We do this as if He will look upon our rebellion with tenderness and favor, even though He said, “The soul that sins will die.” We have viewed a righteous Elohym as just like one of us, driven by emotion and swayed by human reasoning.

In our thinking, we have an easy time of saying one thing but doing another. This is called Cognitive Dissonance, and we do it without a second thought, believing that we are somehow justified in doing so. We make promises we do not intend to keep, or carelessly break them later because we think we can claim unforeseen circumstances later. We think that we are entitled to what we did not work for and we expect the government to provide for our welfare, even if we do not work. We also expect others to tolerate our behaviors, even though they are incorrect, changing the definitions of terms to make them more acceptable. As an example, instead of saying the one “stole money,” we might say that one “appropriated funds,” or instead of “I lied,” it is I just “stretched the truth.”

In our holidays, we readily accept traditions and activities without really seeing or seeking out the meanings behind them. Our heathen understanding of days are divided into 24 hours starting at midnight, instead of sunset to sunset, as the scriptures show they should be. Our calendars, with the names of foreign elohym and exalted men raise in us no objection. Our year starts in the middle of winter, according to foreign ancient religious practices, yet we reject the calendar laid out in the Torah by YHWH. The common names of the days of the week are those of foreign deities, and we utter them without hesitation, because this is ingrained into our minds from the time we were tiny babies, and because we wish to be like and appease those around us.

Greek philosophy has no room for moral absolutes, but is purely derived by relativism. In relativism, there is no single Truth, but many subjective “truths” are possible. It is based on human logic and the premise that humanity is all there is, and it’s deities are contrived by men to explain our universe. We still act as though the Creator of the universe feels like we feel and is swayed by our human emotions and reasoning, while the real Truth is that we do not understand His ways - though we certainly act and behave as if we think we do.

The real Truth is, I see through Greek eyes every day, from the time I open my eyes until I close them at night, and so do you. I do not want to, but it is really the only way I know. It is how I was raised from birth and taught to think, and it won’t go away easily or quietly. It certainly won’t go away without a lot of effort and change on my part. My best hope is to immerse myself into the ways of YHWH, study His Torah, and to follow Yeshua as he walks in the light according to the will of the Father.

On Chanukkah, we read about a struggle between those who desire to please and obey the Most High, and those who despise and eschew the things of the Most High. It is essentially a battle between a Hebrew mindset or Greek mindset. In fact, we see similar struggles throughout the scriptures and in world history which show that there is “nothing new under the sun.” In a Greek mindset, the Most High is as fickle and emotional as we are and can be put into a box, so that mankind can do whatever it feels is “nice” without fear of accountability or punishment. It is our goal as true believer’s and followers of The Way to grasp and admit this fact - that we see with Greek eyes and think with Greek minds, so that we can adjust our ways of seeing and thinking to The Way in which our Creator sees and thinks, and not the other way around.

The struggle of the Maccabees and others, in scripture and in history, show us that our struggle is not a new one - it is the same old struggle of survival and Life of those who belong to YHWH; those who dare to question their own eyes and minds about the world’s ‘truths,’ then seek a return to perceiving real Life and Truth through His eyes alone. Like Yehudah Maccabee and his family, we should determine to refuse compromise with this evil world and remove all rebelliousness, idol worship and Greek mindset in our lives, then replace those old defiled Temple stones with new ones that are aligned with the will and Word of our Father in heaven. This is the true message of Chanukkah and the book of Maccabees.

May our eyes be sensitive and obedient to His Way and His will alone, casting out those of the world around us without compromise. May we heed the call of Yeshua Hamashiach who said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness.” Amein!

Now, light the candles and let the celebration begin!

Thought for Today: Sunday December 01

Do you love life? Then do not squander time on earthly stuff, because time is the stuff that life is made of, and life is given to us by Elohiym.

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and teach men so, he shall be called
the least
in the Kingdom of Heaven

Mt 5

FIRST MACCABEES

CHAPTER 8

Yehudah had heard of the reputation of the Romans. They were valiant fighters and acted amiably to all who took their side. They established a friendly alliance with all who applied to them. He was also told of their battles and the brave deeds that they performed against the Gauls, conquering them and forcing them to pay tribute; and what they did in Spain to get possession of the silver and gold mines there. By planning and persistence they subjugated the whole region, although it was very remote from their own. They also subjugated the kings who had come against them from the far corners of the earth until they crushed them and inflicted on them severe defeat. The rest paid tribute to them every year. Philip and Perseus, king of the Macedonians, and the others who opposed them in battle they overwhelmed and subjugated. Antiochus the Great, king of Asia, who fought against them with a hundred and twenty elephants and with cavalry and chariots and a very great army, was defeated by them. They took him alive and obliged him and the kings who succeeded him to pay a heavy tribute, to give hostages and to cede Lycia, Mysia, and Lydiafrom among their best provinces. The Romans took these from him and gave them to King Eumenes. When the Greeks planned to come and destroy them, the Romans discovered it, and sent against the Greeks a single general who made war on them. Many were wounded and fell, and the Romans took their wives and children captive. They plundered them, took possession of their land, tore down their strongholds and reduced them to slavery even to this day. All the other kingdoms and islands that had ever opposed them they destroyed and enslaved; with their friends, however, and those who relied on them, they maintained friendship. They subjugated kings both near and far, and all who heard of their fame were afraid of them. Those whom they wish to help and to make kings, they make kings; and those whom they wish, they depose; and they were greatly exalted. Yet with all this, none of them put on a diadem or wore purple as a display of grandeur. But they made for themselves a senate chamber, and every day three hundred and twenty men took counsel, deliberating on all that concerned the people and their well-being. They entrust their government to one man every year, to rule over their entire land, and they all obey that one, and there is no envy or jealousy among them.

So Yehudah chose Eupolemus, son of Yochanan, son of Akkos, and Yason, son of Eleazar, and sent them to Rome to establish friendship and alliance with them. He did this to lift the yoke from Yisrael, for it was obvious that the kingdom of the Greeks was subjecting them to slavery. After making a very long journey to Rome, the envoys entered the senate chamber and spoke as follows: “Yehudah, called Maccabeus, and his brothers, with the Yehudy people, have sent us to you to establish alliance and peace with you, and to be enrolled among your allies and friends.” The proposal pleased the Romans, and this is a copy of the reply they inscribed on bronze tablets and sent to Yerushalayim, to remain there with the Yehudym as a record of peace and alliance:

“May it be well with the Romans and the Yehudy nation at sea and on land forever; may sword and enemy be far from them. But if war is first made on Rome, or any of its allies in any of their dominions, the Yehudy nation will fight along with them wholeheartedly, as the occasion shall demand; and to those who wage war they shall not give or provide grain, weapons, money, or ships, as seems best to Rome. They shall fulfill their obligations without receiving any recompense. In the same way, if war is made first on the Yehudy nation, the Romans will fight along with them willingly, as the occasion shall demand, and to those who attack them there shall not be given grain, weapons, money, or ships, as seems best to Rome. They shall fulfill their obligations without deception. On these terms the Romans have made an agreement with the Yehudy people. But if both parties hereafter agree to add or take away anything, they shall do as they choose, and whatever they shall add or take away shall be valid.

“Moreover, concerning the wrongs that King Demetrius is doing to them, we have written to him thus: ‘Why have you made your yoke heavy upon our friends and allies the Yehudym? If they petition against you again, we will enforce justice and make war on you by sea and land.’”

FIRST MACCABEES

CHAPTER 7

In the one hundred and fifty-first year, Demetrius, son of Seleucus, set out from Rome, arrived with a few men at a coastal city, and began to rule there. As he was entering the royal palace of his ancestors, the soldiers seized Antiochus and Lysias to bring them to him. When he was informed of this, he said, “Do not show me their faces.” So the soldiers killed them, and Demetrius assumed the royal throne.

Then all the lawless men and renegades of Yisrael came to him. They were led by Alcimus, who desired to be Koheyn Gadol. They made this accusation to the king against the people: “Yehudah and his brothers have destroyed all your friends and have driven us out of our land. So now, send a man whom you trust to go and see all the destruction Yehudah has wrought on us and on the king’s territory, and let him punish them and all their supporters.”

So the king chose Bacchides, one of the King’s friends, who ruled the province of West-of-Ephrath, a great man in the kingdom, and faithful to the king. He sent him and the renegade Alcimus, to whom he granted the Kehunnah, with orders to take revenge on the Yisraeli. They set out and, on arriving in the land of Yehudah with a great army, sent messengers who spoke deceitfully to Yehudah and his brothers in peaceful terms. But these paid no attention to their words, seeing that they had come with a great army.

A group of scribes, however, gathered about Alcimus and Bacchides to ask for a just agreement. The Chassidym were the first among the Yisraeli to seek peace with them, for they said, “A koheyn of the line of Aharon has come with the army, and he will not do us any wrong.” He spoke with them peacefully and swore to them, “We will not seek to injure you or your friends.” So they trusted him. But he arrested sixty of them and killed them in one day, according to the words that he wrote:

“The flesh of your faithful, and their blood they have spilled all around about Yerushalayim, and no one was left to bury them.” Then fear and dread of them came upon all the people, who said: “There is no truth or justice among them; they violated the agreement and the oath that they swore.”

Bacchides withdrew from Yerushalayim and camped in Beth-zaith. He had many of the men who deserted to him arrested and some of the people. He killed them and threw them into a great cistern. He handed the province over to Alcimus, leaving troops to help him, while he himself returned to the king.

Alcimus struggled to maintain his Kehunnah, and all those who were troubling the people gathered about him. They took possession of the land of Yehudah and caused great distress in Yisrael. When Yehudah saw all the evils that Alcimus and those with him were bringing upon the Yisraeli, even more than the gentiles had, he went about all the borders of Yehudah and took revenge on the men who had deserted, preventing them from going out into the country. But when Alcimus saw that Yehudah and his followers were gaining strength and realized that he could not resist them, he returned to the king and accused them of grave crimes.

Then the king sent Nikanor, one of his honored officers, who was a bitter enemy of Yisrael, with orders to destroy the people. Nikanor came to Yerushalayim with a large force and deceitfully sent to Yehudah and his brothers this peaceable message: “Let there be no fight between me and you. I will come with a few men to meet you face to face in peace.”

So he came to Yehudah, and they greeted one another peaceably. But Yehudah's enemies were prepared to seize him. When he became aware that Nikanor had come to him with deceit in mind, Yehudah was afraid of him and would not meet him again. When Nikanor saw that his plan had been discovered, he went out to fight Yehudah near Capharsalama. About five hundred men of Nikanor’s army fell; the rest fled to the City of David.

After this, Nikanor went up to Mount Tzion. Some of the kohanym from the sanctuary and some of the elders of the people came out to greet him peaceably and to show him the burnt offering that was being sacrificed for the king. But he mocked and ridiculed them, defiled them, and spoke arrogantly. In a rage he swore: “If Yehudah and his army are not delivered to me at once, when I return victorious I will burn this Temple down.” He went away in great anger. The kohanym, however, went in and stood before the altar and the sanctuary. They wept and said: “You have chosen this house to bear your name, to be a house of prayer and supplication for your people. Take revenge on this man and his army, and let them fall by the sword. Remember their blasphemies, and do not let them continue.”

Nikanor left Yerushalayim and camped at Beth-horon, where the Syrian army joined him. But Yehudah camped in Adasa with three thousand men. Here Yehudah uttered this prayer: “When they who were sent by the king blasphemed, your angel went out and killed a hundred and eighty-five thousand of them. In the same way, crush this army before us today, and let the rest know that Nikanor spoke wickedly against your sanctuary; judge him according to his wickedness.”

The armies met in battle on the thirteenth day of the month Adar. Nikanor’s army was crushed, and he himself was the first to fall in the battle. When his army saw that Nikanor had fallen, they threw down their weapons and fled. The Yehudym pursued them a day’s journey from Adasa to near Gazara, blowing the trumpets behind them as signals. From all the surrounding villages of Yehudah people came out and outflanked them. They turned them back, and all the enemies fell by the sword; not a single one escaped.

Then the Yehudym collected the spoils and the plunder; they cut off Nikanor’s head and his right arm, which he had lifted up so arrogantly. These they brought and displayed in the sight of Yerushalayim. The people rejoiced greatly, and observed that day as a day of much joy. They decreed that it should be observed every year on the thirteenth of Adar. And so for a few days the land of Yehudah was at rest.

Kindle your lights after sunset on 11-30-2024.