Tolerance Tolerance and acceptance are words that we hear often in our culture and society. We are encouraged to be tolerant and accepting of different lifestyles, different beliefs, different behaviors and different ways of thinking. Whenever we encounter anything that is outside of the bounds that would be considered normal, we are expected to make allowances and to have tolerance and to be accepting, and in many instances it is not only expected it is demanded of us! Over a period of time, our society and culture has been changed forever by the loosening of values, a rejection of morals and the redefinition of what is acceptable behavior. A major transformation has taken place. Things that would have been considered completely unacceptable, just a short time ago, are now embraced and promoted as a normal part of our society. Those who are in conflict with what society now deems acceptable, are considered to be misguided, misinformed and unwilling to accept change. When there are no longer any boundaries, a society and culture will implode upon itself. YHVH brought Yisrael out of Mitsrayim (Egypt, the world) and set them apart He gave them standards to live by. He wanted them to be different then all of those people around them. They were to be special and a set-apart people to Him not a set-apart people unto themselves, but to HIM! YHVH gave them His instruction, His Torah and all of Yisrael were to walk in it and set themselves apart. There was to be a distinction between them and the rest of the people of the world. They were NOT to tolerate, or be accepting of the practices of those around them, because they were living in opposition to YHVH. Deuteronomy 7:1-6 1 When יהוה your Elohim brings you into the land which you go to possess, He shall also clear away many nations before you: the Ḥittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Kena anites and the Perizzites and the Ḥiwwites and the Yeḇusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you. 2 And when יהוה your Elohim gives them over to you, you shall smite them and put them under the ban, completely. Make no covenant with them, and show them no favor. 3 And do not intermarry with them you do not give your daughter to his son, and you do not take his daughter for your son, 4 for he turns your sons away from following Me, to serve other mighty ones. Then the displeasure of יהוה shall burn against you and promptly destroy you. 5 But this is what you do to them: Break down their altars, and smash their pillars, and cut down their Ashĕrim, and burn their carved images with fire. 6 For you are a set-apart people to יהוה your Elohim. יהוה your Elohim
has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a treasured possession above all the peoples on the face of the earth. First they needed to be cleaned up they had been in Egypt so long that they had been affected by that society and culture. When they went out of Egypt they took unleavened bread with them and earlier they had eaten the Passover with unleavened bread. They were to be purged and cleansed from those things that they had been leavened with, while living in Egypt. They had tolerated and accepted the practices of those around them. YHVH had plans for Yisrael; they were going to serve Him in a very special way. They were going to be an example to everyone else around them. Through them, the world was to see the blessings that living by the way of YHVH brings. YHVH would provide everything for them as long as they kept up their part of the covenant that they made with Him. Exodus 19:4-6 4 You have seen what I did to the Mitsrites, and how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you to Myself. 5 And now, if you diligently obey My voice, and shall guard My covenant, then you shall be My treasured possession above all the peoples for all the earth is Mine 6 and you shall be to Me a reign of priests and a set-apart nation. Those are the words which you are to speak to the children of Yisra ĕl. Does YHVH require any less of us now? We are called, chosen and set-apart to serve Him! We are to do His will and live to His purpose. YHVH expects certain things from us and He will NOT tolerate anything less then what He instructs us to do. We are NOT to accept, or take part in anything that is in opposition to the Word of YHVH. It does not matter what man accepts and puts into place, we are held to the standards of YHVH s Word and Torah. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 6 And these Words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart, 7 and you shall impress them upon your children, and shall speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up, 8 and shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. There is a standard that we are required to meet and then as we grow and mature in the spirit, in understanding and in faith, we are expected to go above and beyond just the minimum standards. Yeshua made it clear that just meeting the letter, or standard, was not enough. More is required of us.
Matt 5:27-30 27 You heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not commit adultery. 28 But I say to you that everyone looking at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 And if your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is better for you that one of your members perish, than for your entire body to be thrown into Gehenna. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you. For it is better for you that one of your members perish, than for your entire body to be thrown into Gehenna. We are not to entertain, or tolerate sinful thoughts within our own selves. How can we be set-apart (kadosh) if we constantly harbor impure thoughts? We cannot tolerate sin within our own lives and still be pleasing to YHVH. It requires a change in our minds and in our behavior. We are to be kadosh, as our Father is kadosh. If we continue on in the same lifestyle and tolerate and accept those things in our lives that are not pleasing to Him, then He cannot dwell within us. We cannot conquer sin on our own, but we can overcome with the Ruach dwelling within us. The Ruach will NOT do everything for us; we have to desire to remove the sin out of our lives. There has to be a conscious decision and effort on our part first. The things that we allow and tolerate in our lives, say a lot about our character and who we are. Some people do not like to stand out and be different from everyone else. If you are going to TRULY live by the Word of YHVH, you WILL be noticeably different from everyone else. We are to be lights, we are to be examples and we are to grow and bear fruit. It takes courage and it takes commitment to be willing to live by the Word of YHVH, especially when it is in opposition to what the rest of society considers normal and tolerates! You cannot be a light and an example if you look just like the rest of the world around you. There is a price to pay for not being tolerant and for not agreeing with what everyone else considers acceptable and normal. This is NOT a popularity contest, it is about the TRUE people of YHVH following and obeying Him; following the example of Yeshua and living out our lives like we mean it! Matthew 5:13-16 13 You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt becomes tasteless, how shall it be seasoned? For it is no longer of any use but to be thrown out and to be trodden down by men. 14 You are the light of the world. It is impossible for a city to be hidden on a mountain. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it shines to all those in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, so that they see your good works and praise your Father who is in the heavens.
Our environment has a great effect on our lives. The things that we allow into our homes, the things we allow our eyes to see and our ears to hear the words we speak, the example we set in our own homes it all should be to the glory of YHVH and should reflect in all that we do no matter where we are at. We also have to be mindful, discerning and pay attention to those whom we associate ourselves with. Are you a different person when you are away from other believers? Are you a different person when you are away from home? Why? Do you tolerate and accept things just to fit in with your co-workers? With your friends? With your family? Do you have one foot on either side of the fence, or are you trying to stand on the fence? Eventually you are going to fall to one side or the other and it may not be the side that you want to be on! 1 John 2:1-6 1 My little children, I write this to you, so that you do not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Intercessor with the Father, יהושע Messiah, a righteous One. 2 And He Himself is an atoning offering for our sins, and not for ours only but also for all the world. 3 And by this we know that we know Him, if we guard His commands. 4 The one who says, I know Him, and does not guard His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever guards His Word, truly the love of Elohim has been perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6 The one who says he stays in Him ought himself also to walk, even as He walked. Yochanan lays out some very important things for us to think about here and some things that we can use to gauge ourselves, to see where we are spiritually. Not only are we to guard the commands, that is the requirement, he says that we must walk as He (Yeshua) walked. Yeshua magnified Torah and tried to show those around Him that it was much more than physical obedience it is a spiritual condition that we must reach! He came as the living Word of YHVH, the Torah in the flesh to show us how to walk out Torah spiritually! If we tolerate and accept things that are against the Word of YHVH, then we will NOT be able to get to that spiritual condition that we should be in! Because of replacement theology, people are taught that they must love above all and be accepting and tolerant, and that they are not to judge anyone. That is a false teaching and a very serious error! We are to know the people of YHVH by their fruits; we can certainly judge the fruits of people to know where they stand. People make the mistake of believing that everyone who professes to be a believer is of like mind and unfortunately that is not the case. Matthew 7:15-20 15 But beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep s clothing,
but inwardly they are savage wolves. 16 By their fruits you shall know them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 So every good tree yields good fruit, but a rotten tree yields wicked fruit. 18 A good tree is unable to yield wicked fruit, and a rotten tree to yield good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, by their fruits you shall know them We are to exercise discernment, we are to use the Word of YHVH as the standard and we are to examine the fruits of an individual for evidence of the spiritual condition. We are never told to tolerate and accept sin, or error in scripture. We are told to separate ourselves and there is a good reason for that. If we continue to be unequally yoked, we will be pulled in the wrong direction. We must be discerning when it comes to the Word of YHVH and reject false teaching and doctrine and those who bring it. But, that does not mean that we are not to be forgiving and accepting of those who repent of their actions. We must understand that not everyone has good intentions and there are those who seek to divide and cause discord, knowingly or unknowingly. The people of Corinth had a serious problem with being tolerant and accepting to the point that sin was openly being committed in their midst and they were allowing it to continue. Not only that, but Shaul says that they are puffed up, so they were proud of the fact that they were being tolerant and accepting! Shaul rebuked them for their attitude. 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 1 It is commonly reported that there is whoring among you, and such whoring as is not even named among the gentiles, so as one to have his father s wife! 2 And you have been puffed up, and did not rather mourn, so that he who has done this deed, be removed from among you! 3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged the one who did this, as though I were present. 4 In the Name of our Master יהושע Messiah, when you are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Master Messiah, 5 deliver such a one to Satan for destruction of the flesh, in יהושע.יהושע order that his spirit be saved in the day of the Master The people at Corinth also showed themselves willing to receive and entertain false doctrine and accept it! When Shaul speaks about the Corinthians receiving a different Yeshua, whom the sent-out ones had not proclaimed, he means through the false doctrines and teaching that are being brought to them and accepted by them, that it is a different Yeshua they are receiving! 2 Corinthians 11:1-4 1 I wish that you would bear with me in a little folly. But indeed, you are bearing with me. 2 For I am jealous for you with a jealousy according to
Elohim. For I gave you in marriage to one husband, to present you as an innocent maiden to Messiah. 3 But I am afraid, lest, as the serpent deceived Ḥawwah by his trickery, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Messiah. 4 For, indeed, if he who is coming proclaims another,יהושע whom we have not proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different Good News which you have not accepted, you put up with it well enough! We have also been leavened by the society and culture around us. We need to sharpen our discernment and be wary. We need to recognize and see when there is error being mixed with truth and reject it. The things that we tolerate in the name of love and acceptance can be very destructive and have serious consequences. Not only for ourselves, but also for our families and others around us that we love. You cannot mix truth with error. Kefa (Peter) describes those who appear to be like-minded within the body, who bring false doctrine and teaching. 2 Peter 2:10-15 10 and most of all those walking after the flesh in filthy lust and despising authority bold, headstrong, speaking evil of esteemed ones, 11 whereas messengers who are greater in strength and power do not bring a slanderous accusation against them before the Master. 12 But these, like natural unreasoning beasts, having been born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheme that which they do not know, shall be destroyed in their destruction, 13 being about to receive the wages of unrighteousness, deeming indulgence in the day of pleasure, spots and blemishes, revelling in their own deceptions while they feast with you, 14 having eyes filled with an adulteress, and unable to cease from sin, enticing unstable beings, having a heart trained in greed, children of a curse, 15 having left the right way they went astray, having followed the way of Bil am the son of Be or, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, We are to be separate and that means in every way and in every aspect of our lives. It is not only coming out physically from the world around us, but also from everything that is false and that is in error and does not line up with the Word of YHVH. Just like Yisrael coming out of Egypt, when we come out of the world, the society and culture that surrounds us, we have to be cleaned up too! We have to remove the leaven from our lives and come out of the mindset that accepts and tolerates anything and everything! We are to be kadosh to YHVH pure, undefiled, set-apart and sanctified. If you are mixing what is clean with that which is unclean, then the clean becomes defiled. The body of believers is supposed to be pure and chaste, undefiled and a fitting bride for Yeshua.
Being tolerant and accepting of that which is not in accordance with the Word of YHVH, is mixing with that which is unclean. The people of YHVH have to hold themselves to a higher standard. Ultimately we all have to answer to YHVH. None of us are perfect and we never will be we are all in a process of growth and continue to learn, but there is a time when we move from milk to strong meat and we need to learn to separate ourselves from those things which defile us physically and spiritually. If we do not become wise and discerning and allow the Ruach to lead us we are in serious trouble. Yeshua said the Ruach would lead us into all truth and we can completely trust in His Word. John 14:15-20 15 If you love Me, you shall guard My commands. 16 And I shall ask the Father, and He shall give you another Helper, to stay with you forever 17 the Spirit of the Truth, whom the world is unable to receive, because it does not see Him or know Him. But you know Him, for He stays with you and shall be in you. 18 I shall not leave you orphans I am coming to you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world no longer sees Me, but you shall see Me, because I live, and you shall live. 20 In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. Without exception, everything must be in accord and in agreement with the Word of YHVH. We have to use the wisdom and discernment that we are given through the Ruach and prove all things. We cannot be tolerant and accepting, of those things that are in opposition to the Word of YHVH. Copyright 2011 Jeff L Mills www.haemet.org