Shabbat Shalom, everyone. Open your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 7, and we read from verse 1 in this ministry meeting, verses 1 to verse 20. 23. And so, I'm reading, "Then came together unto Him," this is unto Yeshua, "the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes which came from Jerusalem. 23. And when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashed hands, they found fault. 24. For the Pharisees and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not holding the traditions of the elders. 25. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not; and many other things there be which they have received to hold, 25.

As the washings of cups and pots and brazen vessels and of tables." 25. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why walk not thy disciples according to the traditions of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?" 26. He answered and said unto them, "Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites: 26. As it is written, these people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts is far from Me. 27. How bit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men, 27. For laying aside the commandments of God, ye hold the tradition of men, 28. As the washing of pots and cups, and many other such like things ye do?" 28.

And He said unto them, "Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." 29. For Moses said, "Honor thy father and thy mother, and whosoever curses father or mother, let him die the death." 29. But ye say, "If a man shall say to his father or mother, it is korban," 29. That is to say a gift, "By whatsoever thou mightest be profited by Me, he shall be free." 29. And ye suffer him no more to do aught for his father or his mother, 30. "Making the word of God of none effect, through your tradition, 30. Which ye have delivered, and many such like things ye do." 30.

And when He had called all the people unto Him, He said unto them, 30. "And unto Me, every one of you, and understand, there is nothing from without a man 30. that entering into him can defile him. 31. But the things which come out of him, those are they which defile a man. 31. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear." 31. And when He was entering into the house from the people, 32. His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. 32. And He saith unto them, "Are ye so without understanding also? 32. Do ye not perceive that whatsoever thing from without entereth into men it cannot defile him? 33. Because it entereth not into his heart, but into his belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats." 33.

And He said, "That which cometh out of the men, that defileth the men. 34. For from within, out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, murderers, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness." 34. All these evil things come from within, and defile the men." 35. And I'm stopping here with verse 23. 35. This passage, found in Mark chapter 7, continues on from the previous chapter, that is chapter 6 of the Gospel of Mark, 35. In which we have learned how Yeshua, the Messiah fed multitude of our people of old in the land of Galilee, there in the north of Israel. 35. We read, of course, in chapter 6, that there were 5,000 men alone, which were fed by Yeshua the Messiah, 35.

When he multiplied the five loaves and the two small fishes. 35. Imagine, beloved brothers and sisters, how the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus the Messiah, 35. fed multitude of people in the northern part of Israel, in the Galil. 35. 5,000 men. We read in Matthew later on that beside the 5,000 men, there were women and children. 35. We might say at least 10,000 to 20,000 individual Jewish people were fed there in the north of Galilee. 35. And if the Lord Jesus the Messiah will come today, he is able to do the very same things right here in the midst here of this town and this city. 36. He is able to create food to meet the need of the multitude wherever he may go.

36. And thank God for this because of who he is. He is the Messiah. He is the servant of the Lord who came from heaven in order to accomplish the work of redemption. 37. So now, of course, that information about the multitude who were fed and the multitude who were healed have gone beyond the area of the Galil, even unto the city of Jerusalem. 37. And in the city of Jerusalem, who is there? The spiritual leaders of Israel. 37. There we have the temple. There we have the temple. There you have the priesthood. There you have, you might say, the system that God has given to our people of old.

37. The sacrificial system. All the things that were given to Israel by God. 37. And these spiritual leaders in the city of Jerusalem from Judea heard what had occurred in the Galil. 37. Multitude were blessed. Multitude were fed and healed by this man whose name is Yeshua the Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach. 38. And so we see, as we continue on in the study of the Gospel of Mark, that Yeshua is heading on now into, you might say, to the time that eventually he will become the Lamb of God, 38. Which will take away the sin of this world. 39. So you can see the confrontation between him, namely Jesus, Yeshua, and the spiritual leaders of Israel, which did not accept him at his first coming.

39. Though he loved them, he came for Israel and for the nations of the world. 39. He expressed himself, the purpose of his coming. 40. If you remember in Mark chapter 1, as later on, he said to them, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. 41. Repent and believe the Gospel. 41. That's what's the preaching of Yeshua the Messiah. 41. Will they repent? 41. Will they turn around and accept him? 41. Will the kingdom be established? 41. Well, we realize as time passes by that the spiritual leaders of Israel did not acknowledge the Messiahship of Yeshua. 41. And therefore, the kingdom has been postponed to the future day when the kingdom will be established at the end of the age.

42. The church age will end. The church will be taken to heaven, the assembly that is, and the Messiah will come at his second coming. 42. And he will surely establish the kingdom for which he came and predicted at his first coming. 42. So now we can see in chapter 7 how there was the charging of Yeshua by the spiritual leaders of Israel. 42. You might say that they would be so happy because many people who were sick, they became healed. 42. Many people who were blind, they received their sight. 43. Many people who were demon-possessed, their demons had been taken away from them. 43. Many people who were hungry, they were fed.

44. And you would think they would be so happy that the Messiah has come and they would accept him. 44. But you see, beloved brothers and sisters, in chapter 7, you find out that they charged him and that they accused him of doing something that is wrong. 44. They always seem to try to find some fault in Yeshua, the Messiah. 44. And I want to say that now that 2,000 years pass by, you notice that it is the same everywhere in the world today. 45. People try to find fault in Yeshua and in the ones that are following after him. 45. So the first five verses of Mark chapter 7, we see the charging of Yeshua by the spiritual leaders of our own nation, the nation of Israel.

45. And so we begin, of course, with verse 1, where we find out, "Then came together unto him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes which came from Jerusalem." 45. You notice that? 45. All the way from Yerushalayim to the Galil, to the Kinneret, we have about, you might say, a three-hour drive today by car. 45. Years ago, if you ride on a donkey or a camel, whatever you ride on, it will take days to come all the way to the north of Israel. 45. But they come all the way from Yerushalayim to the Kinneret, to the Galil, because they want to see what is going on. 45. The rumors have been all around.

45. This is the Mashiach. He came. Look what he is accomplishing there in the land of Galil. 45. Look what's going on. Is not this the Mashiach? 45. So they come to investigate. They come to check it out. What's going on? 45. How come so many people are being fed? Is he a miracle man? What does he do? 45. How can he take five loaves and two fishes and he multiply them? 45. And he brings and he feeds so many individuals. How is it possible? 45. So they come to investigate. 45. So as they come, you notice, beloved brothers and sisters, they try to find something wrong. 45. And so we read in verse 2, the Pharisees observed the disciples doing something and they immediately find fault in them.

46. Notice that those disciples, of course, Galilean, most of them, it says in verse 2, 47. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, in Hebrew we say tameh or tumah, being defiled or not having their hand washed. That is to say, in order to clarify, with unwashed hands, they found fault. 47. Now let me tell you, beloved brothers and sisters, this eating without washed hands or with defiled hands is simply saying that they did not go through the ceremony of the washing of the hands. 48. Now to remind you that when God have instructed our people Israel of old years before, when Israel came out of the land of Egypt and when the tabernacle was built in the wilderness, 48.

God did say to Moshe in the law that if Aaron and his sons are going to approach the sanctuary, they have to wash their hands. 48. It was not only washing their hands for hygienic to be clean, but there was a ceremonial way whereby they will have to wash their hands. 48. Let me just read you the verse in Exodus chapter 30 and verse 18, the instruction given by God to Moses for Aaron and his sons who are serving in the tabernacle. 49. I'll read verse 17. 49. I'll read verse 17, Exodus 30, 17. 49. And the Lord speak unto Moshe saying, 50. Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal.

50. And thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. 50. Listen to that verse 19. 50. For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat. 51. When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water that they die not. 51. Or when they come near to the altar to minister to burn offering made by fire unto the Lord, so they shall wash their hands and their hands. 51. And their feet that they die not, and it shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generation. 52. You see, brothers and sisters, God demanded from the priests of Israel to wash their hands and their feet before they approach the ministry there in the tabernacle.

52. They are entering into the holy place, you wash your hands. 53. You are going to offer a sacrifice, you wash your hands and your feet. 53. And God gave warning to Aaron and to his sons that if you will not do it, you will die. 53. Now, of course, we realized that there was a, you might say, a ceremonial type of washing. 53. It was not only merely washing for being clean, hygienic, but it was also a ceremony. 54. It has a symbol to it. What is a symbol? If you are going to serve the people of Israel, and if you are going to approach the presence of God, you have to have a clean hands and a clean feet.

54. The hands and the feet represent the life of God's servants. 55. If they are going to serve God, if they are going to minister to God and to minister to the people of God, they are to have a clean life. 55. A life, morally speaking, that is pleasing to the Lord. 55. It was only a symbol. But it was an important symbol. 55. And of course, God wanted them to learn from that, that it's not only that they are to have a clean hands and clean feet symbolically, but that their heart will be a heart that is tuned with God. 55. After all, we are dealing with the ministry of the Lord, the Lord, the God of Israel.

55. We are serving God's people. 55. And symbolically, they ought to have their hands and their feet washed. 55. So that's passed from generation to generation. 55. And if you will notice, beloved brothers and sisters, if you look at the history of our people, Israel, especially among the conservative Jewish people, the washing of the hands and the feet, but specifically the hands, is something that we do all the time. 55. In fact, if you will go to a home of the conservative Jewish people today, like in my grandfather's day, none of them will do anything during the morning before they wash their hands. 55. And that's a symbolical washing of the hands.

55. I mentioned that many times years ago at my grandfather's place, when I would be staying with my grandfather, my grandfather will wash my hands. 56. As I was a little boy, he will hold behind me my hands and he will put it under the tap and he will wash my hands more than even three times in various customs that we have. 56. In our case, Yemenite Jewish people, he washed my hands seven times. 56. One time each hand. One time, two times, three times, four times, seven times. 56. It has nothing to do now with cleaning the hand because you are going to eat and to have hygienic, clean hands.

57. But it is symbolically. And initially, it was beautiful because the purpose behind it was we are going to start a new day. We are going to serve our God. And if we are going to serve our God symbolically, we are going to have clean hands that we can serve our God with the right attitude, in the right way. 57. But you see, as everywhere tradition creeps in, we are inclined to take these things which God had given and go beyond what God had actually intended it to be. 57. The Lord had already dealt with them in Mark chapter 2 and he spoke about the Shabbat day. 57. He said to Israel, our people, he said the Shabbat was made for men and not men for the Shabbat.

57. He says, I, the son of man, is the Lord of the Shabbat. 57. He already dealt with them. He says, listen, the Shabbat was made for men and not men for the Shabbat. 57. But now he's dealing with something else. He's dealing with the washing. 57. He's trying to teach a very important lesson that religion, you might say tradition, cannot supersede the commandments of God. 57. And that is the danger that our people of old have in past. 57. And we see it in the present day dispensation of the church age in a very same way throughout the last 2,000 years of the church history. 57. And so you notice they're coming there and they notice that the disciples was eating bread without their hands washed.

57. So immediately you notice that in the next verses 3 and 4 of Mark chapter 7, there is a clause. 57. And a clause is almost like the Spirit of God. 57. Pause here for a moment and give us a description of the Jewish lifestyle. 57. It says, notice that in verses 3 and 4. 57. For the Pharisees and all the Jewish people, except they wash their hands often, they eat not, holding the traditions of the elders. 58. Verse 4 now. 59. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not, and many other things there be which they have received, received to hold as the washing of the cups and pots and brazen vessels and of tables.

In other words, the Holy Spirit of God give us this clause in verses 3 and 4 that describe before the reader what is the lifestyle of our own people Israel with respect to washing. 58. And he says, listen, all the Jewish people, except they wash their hands, they don't eat. 58. Of course, beloved brothers and sisters, here it has nothing to do with washing their hands for the cleansingness. 58. Of course they would do so. 59. But he speaks about ceremonially. 59. One, one, two, two, three, three, that the hands will be symbolically representing a clean hand that are ready to serve. 59. So this is the customs, the tradition that have been given to our forefathers.

And we understand that it already began long time ago from Exodus chapter 30, where Aaron and his sons were commended to wash their feet and their hands at the level before they are ministering unto the Lord. 59. So while it is initially had a good purpose and a good meaning, it developed to become as a tradition of men. And then there start to be all sorts of customs that involve in this. And so we read in verse 5 now, you notice that they charge him, notice it says in verse 5, And the Pharisees and the scribes ask him, they ask Yeshua, why walk not thy disciples according to the traditions of the elders, but they eat bread with an unwashed hand.

And here it is, beloved brothers and sisters, the accusation against Yeshua because his disciples were eating bread and they were not in a ceremonial way washing their hands as the traditions of the elders were given unto our fathers. Now let me pause here for a moment and just to remind us that traditions are not bad always. Traditions can be very good if the traditions do not violate the word of God. I'm sure you have watched the movie Fiddler on the Roof. And the Fiddler on the Roof in that particular movie, we read Tuvia says, it is a tradition. We have tradition and the traditions are being violated by my own family.

He was so burdened with that tradition that the elders have given to our people throughout the generation. In Hebrew we call it Masoret. And Masoret, tradition is something that we all have in our lives. If you will check your life here, those of us who are not coming from a Jewish background, you will notice very carefully that you also have tradition in your life. And you will notice that you have certain customs and certain things that you do. And you're doing it because you have developed a tradition in your life. So I'm saying this and I'm repeating this. Traditions by themselves are not bad. They can be very good if we do not violate the word of God.

Let me just read you a verse or two in the Brit HaChadasha. If you read with me 1 Corinthians for a moment. Chapter 11. Notice how the apostle Shaul Paul wrote the same things to the believers at Corinth. He said to them in 1 Corinthians, chapter 11. And I'm reading these verses. Verses 1 and 2. Look what Shaul Paul said to the Corinthians. He said to them, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also follow Christ of the Messiah." And notice what he said in verse 2. "Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things, and you keep the traditions or the ordinances as I deliver them unto you." You notice that?

Shaul Paul, using that expression tradition, when he wrote to the believers at Corinth, and he's saying to them that he really acknowledged the Corinthians when they remember all the things that he had taught them, and that they kept the traditions or the ordinances that he had delivered unto them. He must have communicated with them certain things that they have done in the early days of the assembly or the church in the city of Jerusalem. He shared this with the brothers and sisters at Corinth. And he charged them and he challenged them and commended them when they have kept faithfully the traditions which he himself delivered unto them." Look at another verse in 2 Thessalonians now.

Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. And I want you to notice what he says to the Thessalonian believers. To them he said in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 15. To them he says, "Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the tradition which ye have been taught whether by word or through our letter or epistle." Brethren of Thessalonica, he's saying to them, "Stand fast, hold the tradition which you have been taught by me all through the word of God." Hold on to that. Now again, the tradition that the apostle Paul had passed to the Thessalonians was a godly tradition. It was not violating the word of God, but it was tradition that will help them in their spiritual life together.

If you turn to chapter 3 of 2 Thessalonians, notice what he said to them in verse 6, "Now we commend you, brethren, in the name of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, that ye withdraw yourself from every brother that walketh disorderly and not after the tradition which he received of us." Here, Shaul, Paul, is instructing the believers, whether it is in Corinth or in Thessalonica, that they will follow the tradition that he have instructed them. Now, of course, to remind you that those traditions were not violating the word of God. It was good and godly traditions which helped them in their spiritual progress. So you notice that there are many traditions.

It happened historically to our people, happened today in this church age in which we live in. Men have developed some sort of tradition that each one have in his or her life, and they, of course, influence their community in local assemblies, local churches, local congregation. And everyone has a certain things that they develop in order to help them to move along with the things of the Lord. But, beloved brothers and sisters, traditions should never violate the word of God. The moment tradition takes the place of God's word, then tradition has to be immediately removed and God's word has to take its place. And that's the lesson that we learn here in these seventh chapters.

So, in verses one to five, the Pharisees and the elders who came from Jerusalem to Galilee charge Yeshua the Messiah that he allows his disciples to eat bread without going through what the traditions of the elders have been over the years given to the people of Israel. And now, Yeshua responds to that. And he responds to that in such a way that he exposed the heart. See, brothers and sisters, God is interested not in the merely external things that we do, but he wants our hearts to be right with him. And here the Lord is now exposing all that which was, you might say, given by men as a contradiction of the word of God.

And now he responds to the charges of the spiritual leaders in verses six to verse 13. And I want you to see how he does that. First of all, in verses six and seven, Yeshua points to what God said to our people of Israel through the prophet Isaiah. And then what God said to our people of Israel through the law, through the Torah, which he gave to the people of Israel through Moses. You notice, by the way, that he's mentioning in this passage, the name of Isaiah. You notice in verse six, he said, He answered and he said unto them, Well, has Isaiah prophesied of you, hypocrite?

As it is written, these people honor me with their lips, but with their heart, their heart is far away from me. However, he said in verse seven, in vain, do they worship me teaching not as for the doctrine, the commandments of men. You notice that he's now going back, first of all, to the past history of Israel. You see, here we are at about 30 AD. He's taking them back about 750 years before, when Isaiah, we read today Isaiah chapter one, where Isaiah charged our forefathers with the charge that they, you notice as he says here, These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

You see, that's what tradition and religion does to us. And you can include yourself, and I can include myself here. A time we are merely lip servant of God, rather than a heart servant of God. A time we can become like that, when we are not checking ourselves regularly as before the Lord. We can be those that just talk about serving God and praising God with our lips. But our hearts are far away from enjoying the Lord and seeking truly to honor Him. And that's why, beloved brothers and sisters, He used this word, He answered and He said unto them, "Well hath Isaiah prophesied." Isaiah, Yeshayahu, He was speaking to our forefathers Israel, before Israel was getting ready to be taken by the Assyrians, and then later on by the Babylonians.

This is the reason that God had to remove them from the land of Israel, because of hypocrisy. Speaking in word to the Lord, but with the heart far away from God. Don't you feel sometime in your life and in my life that we can be very much the same? This is a lesson for us all. Sometime, beloved brothers and sisters, we are only speaking with our lips about God, but our hearts are so far away from God. And that's why Isaiah had exposed Israel. And you notice, He said to them, "Well has Isaiah prophesied of you?" And He used the word, "hypocrites." The word "hypocrites" comes from the Hebrew word, "Tzvu'im." "Liyot to be tzavua." It means that one time you have this color, and another time you have another color.

You are colored in a different color. In the plays, in the shows, the actors used to have one mask for one show, and another mask for another show. And what He's really doing is exposing the spiritual leaders of Israel. He's exposing what Israel had been about 750 years before, and He's exposing us, beloved brothers and sisters. He shows us that this is the heart of men. By the way, hypocrisy began already in the Garden of Eden. Began Eden. When Adam and Eve sinned against God. So in order to cover their wrongdoing, they put upon themselves fig leaves. And it looks good. They are covered. But God knows that.

That their covering could not help them because it was fig leaves. It didn't cover their sins. It didn't deal with their problems. It didn't deal with their heart. That's why God had to kill an innocent animal. To shed its blood. And to cover Adam and Chava with the garment of skin. Then they can receive forgiveness from the Lord. And you see, what the Lord is teaching us. He says, "These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." I mean, imagine how it must be sad for God when people come to him with lip service. But the heart is not there.

It's a religion. It's not reality. See, Cain was a religious man. He did not come to God the way God had intended him to come. He came with the fruit of the land. He worked very hard. And God rejected it. And that's why he was angry. And he killed his brother, Abel. Who came in the right way. Through the blood of the atoning of an animal that really dealt with his sin. He knew I was a sinner. God, I'm a sinner. I need forgiveness of sins. And here is the bloodshed of an animal as you requested it. So here the Lord is exposing them. And of course he's quoting Isaiah 29:13.

And I'll read that verse because it is an important verse to read. And I want you to see the Lord Yeshua knew his Bible. He knew the Torah, the Nevi'im, the Ketuvim. He knew the whole scripture very well. And he said in chapter 29 of the prophet Isaiah. Notice verse 13. Wherefore the Lord said, For as much as these people draw near me with their mouth and with their lips, do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me. And their fear towards me is taught by the precepts of men. Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do marvelous works among these people. Even a marvelous work and a wonder.

For the wisdom of the wise men shall perish. And the understanding of the prudent men shall be heath. In other words, God says, listen. Israel, you were not right with me. Your heart was far from me while your lips were speaking as if you honor me. And brothers and sisters, we oftentimes do the same thing. We cannot look at Israel and point that they're wrong. And neglect to look at our very own heart. And when we are honest with the Lord, we can say, Oh, Lord, you know my heart. You know my failure in this. And so these fallacies, spiritual leaders of Israel came all the way from Jerusalem.

Instead of being happy with the fact that he met the need of so many people. Healed the sick. Fed the multitude. They find a fault. Oh, why they don't wash their hands before they eat? And so, beloved brothers and sisters, Yeshua is answering them. And he's really exposing them. He responds to them. And he's charging the spiritual leaders. Notice what now he says in verses 8 to 13. And this is very important, beloved brothers and sisters. In verses 8 to verse 13 of Mark chapter 7, Yeshua is saying to the spiritual leaders of Israel that they departed from the written word of God by developing human tradition. And they have departed, you might say, in three steps.

He's going here in those verses. The first one is found in verse 8. Notice what he says in verse 8. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the traditions of men as the washing of pots, cups, and many other such like things ye do. The first thing, look what you're doing. He's saying to them, you lay aside the commandment of God. How can you lay aside God's word? I received a text a few days ago by a dear brother who said that he heard somebody on the television, on the radio, I'm not sure. And this person said that the Old Testament and the Jewish scripture are not valid for us today.

In other words, we believers in Yeshua the Messiah in the church. They do not need the Old Testament, the Tanakh, what it says there, as if it is invalid and only the Brit HaChadashah. But you don't have the Brit HaChadashah, the New Testament, if you don't have the Tanakh, the Old Testament. How would you know who is the Messiah unless you have it written in the Tanakh? How would you know what he's going to do unless it's written in the Tanakh? In the Old Testament. And you see what happens is when you denounce the word of God, notice he calls it in verse 8, you laying it aside.

Laying aside the commandments of God in Hebrew, mitzvot ha'elohim. And what you do, you replace it, verse 8, the tradition of men. And he began to tell them washing of pots and cups and many other like things as you do. In other words, they went beyond what God had given to our forefathers in the law, in the Torah. We might say today as well, how far we who are part of the assembly, the ecclesia, the church, are doing the very same thing. How far we are with what initially the Lord had given to us in the Brit HaChadashah, in the scripture. Same thing. The tradition of men supersedes the commandments that God had given.

That's why they lay it aside. That tells us a lot, beloved brothers and sisters, that we have to be extremely careful not to depart from the word of God. You know, there is a program that used to be on the radio called Back to the Bible. We got to go back to the Bible. The Bible is God's word. It will never change. We may change, but God's word will never change. We may go astray, but God's word remain the same. Yeshua said heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will remain the same. And so by living or laying aside the commandments of God, what's happened?

They started to hold the traditions of men. And then customs began. Let's do this and let's do that and let's do this. And it's become like Bible, like it is the authority of God. And that was the sad thing that have evolved over the years in our own history, the history of Israel and also in the history of the church in the last 2000 years of church history. But not only that, beloved brothers and sisters, notice that in verse nine, there's another thing that happened when you lay aside the commandments of God. Then secondly, notice in verse nine, not only that you lay aside, but now you began to reject God's word.

And that's why it says in verse nine, and he said unto them, full well you reject, listen to that, the commandments of God that ye may keep your own tradition. So you see what happened? So you see what happened? When you first of all lay aside God's commandment, then the next step in that is not only that you lay it aside for a while, you might say, then you start to reject it. And when you reject the word of God, the scripture, then you start to keep your very own tradition. And what happened? The tradition becomes superior than the commandments of God. And you see, beloved brothers and sisters, that is the step.

Number one, laying aside the commandments of God. Number two, rejecting the commandments of God that lead you now into developing more and more tradition, which eventually you become like a religious man and your heart is turning away from the Lord. And what happened? And we know it as well in a practical way. We can come to a church meeting or to a congregation meeting, or we can go to certain things that we do. We have our custom and we feel, wow, we have really have been right with God. We really please God. But in reality, the Lord want the heart. He wants us to worship Him, to adore Him, to have a love relationship with Him, which is pleasing unto the Lord.

I would like to remind you of the verse that we often read in scripture. In the book of Deuteronomy chapter 6, what God said to Israel. Hear, O Israel, Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might. God wants us to love Him. God wants us to love Him. Yeshua wants His people to love Him. It's a love relationship. It's not a religion. It's a relationship. Ve'ahavta et Adonai Elohecha. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God.

And so, it began by laying aside the commandments of the Lord. It continued by rejecting the commandment of God. But now notice, beloved brothers and sisters, in verses 10 to 13, the next step is coming. And that's, you might say, the third step. And what is the third step? Is making the word of God of none effect. You see what we read here? Let me read verse 13. I'll jump for a moment. It says, "Making the word of God of none effect through your traditions which ye have delivered, and many such like things ye do." You notice that? When you lay aside God's commandment, eventually, after rejecting God's commandment, all of a sudden, you make the word of God of none effect.

No power. No authority. No authority. And how did they do so? Verse 10 to verse 13 described it. He's mentioning. Notice now, he's not only quoting Yeshayahu, which he mentioned in this chapter. You notice that in verse 6. Now he's mentioning another man by the name of Moshe. Moses, the law-giver. Whom our people love so much. Moshe Rabbeinu. Moses, our law-giver. Torat Moshe. The law of Moses. The law of Moses. The law of Moses. Well, so what we read. Moses said, listen, verse 10. "Honor thy father and thy mother, and whosoever curses his father or mother, let him die the death." But you said, listen to that. But ye say, if a man shall say to his father or mother, it is korban, that is to say, it is a gift, by whatsoever you might be profited by me, he shall be free.

And ye, verse 12. And ye allow him no more to do art or to do anything for his father and for his mother. You notice what he does here? He's going back all the way to Torat Moshe, to the law of Moses. In the law of Moses, in Exodus chapter 20 and verse 12, Moses gave a very clear instruction. Your honor, your father, and your mother. In the next chapter, chapter 21, Moses also said that if anyone does not treat his father and mother well, that person will be punished. In chapter 21, he mentioned it. So you know what they develop over the generation? So, okay, we need to honor our fathers and our mothers, but there are some times we don't want to help them with their need that they have.

So, whatever we possess, we say, we call it korban. Korban comes from the Hebrew word sacrifice. I devoted this thing for God, and therefore I cannot use it to help you, Abba and Ima, mother and father. And you see, but God said, honor thy father and your mother. God said, whosoever curses father or mother or doesn't treat well and doesn't honor and doesn't help and doesn't respect them, let him die the death. Chapter 21 and verse 17 of the book of Exodus. But ye say, you notice that? They've developed a system whereby, wow, wait a minute. If I do not want to assist my father and my mother in their old age, they may have a need, and I might have the means to help them, but I don't want to do so.

So, what I'm going to do, I'm going to dedicate it or claim that it is dedicated to God. I will call it korban. The Hebrew word korban simply means a gift, a sacrifice. I have devoted it to God. So now, Abba and Ima, mother and father, I'm not able to help you right now because it is devoted to God. So, can't touch it. And you see what happened. By doing so, they became hypocrites. If one is supposed to honor his parents by assisting them in their need in a time of difficulties and honoring them, but not helping them, they become violating of the word of God.

By the way, the apostle Paul said the same thing. Whoever does not take care of his own house should not even eat. Paul said, if someone doesn't take care of his own family and so on, first of all, the responsibility that they have, a believer ought to behave in a right way to please the Lord in taking care of his own family. But to call it korban is wrong. And because God knows the heart, he exposes the heart. So, you see what he's saying in verse 13, making the word of God of none effect through your tradition which he have delivered and many such like as this.

How sad, beloved brothers and sisters, it is when, first of all, we lay aside the word of God, then we reject the word of God, then eventually making the word of God of none effect. No, you might say no power. Oh yeah, I know what God said, but here is a tradition. We call it korban and therefore we don't need any more to help our mother and father in a time of need because we devoted something for God. And then we make the word of God of none effect. Now, what an amazing thing that the Lord Yeshua had mentioned there, those threefold. And you know, brothers and sisters, at about between the third and the sixth century, after the death of the Messiah, over the generation, our people of old developed something that's called the Talmud.

The Talmud is the commentary on the Torah. It is a Mishnah and Gemara, which together compose what we call the Talmud. The Talmud is really a collection of writings that involve or develop the Jewish law and Jewish tradition. That is called the Talmud. And the Talmud came later on. And that's why we see there are so many traditions that our forefathers, that our people have even today. But even before the third and the sixth century, there were already traditions that have evolved during the time between the prophet Malachi and the time when the Messiah Yeshua came to give his life as the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of this world.

Tradition, tradition, tradition, tradition. And I can assure you that in these 2,000 years of church history, there are many traditions of men have evolved during these last 2,000 years, which we are under today. And we need to sift things and to learn from the Lord. Lord, take us back to the Bible, back to the scripture, so the tradition of men will not take the place of God's word. And so now let's move along now. In the last portion here in verses 14, 15, and 16, Yeshua now explaining or declaring publicly to the people in Galilee what he meant. Notice what he says, verses 14, 15, and 16, Yeshua now called to all the people.

He called them unto him and he said unto them, Hearken. Hearken unto me, every one of you. And understand, there is nothing from without a man that entering into him can defile him. But the things which come out of him, those are the things which defile a man. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. So he's gathering the people in Galilee, those that follow after him. And he's gathering them together. He called them to come. He said he wants them. I want you to listen. Watch what the Pharisees and the scribes said unto me because of the disciples eating bread without to wash their hands.

Here, let me teach you something. And he gave a principle. And we need to really appropriate this to our hearts. He says to them, there is nothing from without a man that entering into him can defile him. Nothing that you and I may eat today will defile us. He's giving a principle. But the problem is what actually defile the man is the things that come out of him. The things that come out of him, they are the things which defile a man. It's not what we bring into our bodies that defile us. Morally, you might say. Spiritually. But all that which come out of man defile him.

You know, he's teaching something here. You might say he's preparing the disciples, you might say, for the present day age which we live in today. Of course, God said to our people of Israel in Leviticus chapter 11, there are certain things that you should not eat. You should not eat pig. You should not eat certain shellfish. You should not eat certain animals. Israel, you are a distinct nation separated from all the nations of the world. Israel, these things, as far as you as a nation in a testimony to the world, should not participate. Don't take it in because it will defile you and you are called to be a separated nation from all the nations of the world.

But he's speaking also spiritually and morally. And he wanted them to understand that actually what truly defile a man is not what comes in, but what comes out. And he will develop it here in a moment. So he's saying to them in those three verses. He's calling them. He's explaining to them. And he challenged them. He said, do you have an ear to heal? I want you to listen to what I say. Ponder that in your mind. Ponder that in your mind. In our relationship to God. It's not what comes into our bodies that defiles us, but what comes out of our hearts defiles us.

And so now he concludes. When he goes into the house. Notice that. Beloved brothers and sisters. Here you notice that in the last verses of our ministry for today. Verse 17 to 23. He's not now speaking publicly to all the multitude. But he's speaking privately to his disciples alone in the house. Because we read in verse 17 to verse 23. And when he was entered into the house. Most likely it's the house of Simon Peter in Kfar Nachum. We mentioned the house already in chapter 1 verse 29. Chapter 2 and verse 1. Chapter 3 and verse 19. That house that he often went with his disciples. And he talked with them privately. He went into this house.

Notice that according to verse 17. From all the people and his disciples. Ask him concerning the parable. You can see the 12 disciples coming to him saying. Yeshua. What did you mean when you said to the people there. There is nothing from without a man that enters into him can defile him. But the things which come out of him. Those are the things which defile a man. What did you mean by that? Could you explain this to us? And so the Lord went ahead. Yeshua the Messiah went ahead. And he began to explain to the disciples in verses 18 and 19. You notice that. He explaining to the disciples that will help them in their spiritual walk with the Lord.

He explaining to them. And he said to them. Are you without understanding? Verse 18. Don't you understand? Don't you understand? Do you not perceive? To remind you. Those disciples are Jewish disciples. They lived all their lives with the commandment that God had given. But also the tradition that the leaders of Israel have developed over the years. Over the years. And so they were struggling themselves. They were men just like you and I. Just the same. Like anybody that was there in Galilee. And they themselves needed help to understand what he meant. And to understand the word of God. And he said. Don't you understand? Don't you perceive?

Then he developed. Notice that. As he speaks to them. He says. For whatsoever thing from without enters into man. It cannot defile him. Why? In verse 19. Because it enters not into his heart. But it enters into his stomach. Into his belly. And then what happens? It goes out of his belly in elimination. And eventually. He purged all the food out. It comes in. Into the body. And it goes out through the process of elimination. That's what he explained. He explained to them. Whatever you eat. You have eaten bread earlier. They accuse you of not washing your hands. Well. Whatever came into your body. Only meet your physical need.

It comes eventually. It's eliminated. And it goes out. But here is what really defile a man. He continued. And he said to them. And he said. That which cometh out of the man. This is what defile the man. Not what comes into man defile the man. But what come out of a person defile the man. And he gave us a list of the things that comes out of our hearts. Out of our hearts. And you notice he says here. In verse 21. For from within. Out of the heart of men proceed. Dead. Evil thoughts. Adulteries. Fornication. Murderers. Thifts. Covetousness. Wickedness. Deceit. Lasciviousness. Evil eye. Blasphemy. Pride.

Foolishness. Look at the list. Ask yourself this question. Did that ever come out of your heart? Maybe nobody heard it from you. Maybe nobody even saw. And even discerned this. But isn't it true beloved brothers and sisters. That which come out of our hearts like evil thoughts. Imagine. The evil thoughts that somehow rises out of our hearts. To our mind. That cause us to think evil of someone. Or do evil. And listing them. Adulteries. We may not commit adultery physically. But in our hearts. In our mind. The thoughts that come into our mind. In our heart. Delication. Murderers. Thefts. And covetousness. Wickedness. Deceit. Lying. Any continual lasciviousness.

Even an evil eye. Having an evil eye against someone. And blasphemy. And what about pride? The pride that we have in our own hearts. That cause us to stumble in our lives as mankind. And then foolishness. Every time. We were foolishly thinking. And foolishly acting. All this comes from the heart. That's defiled us. That's defiled the unbeliever. And that's also defiled the believers. We have the same thing. When we became believers in Yeshua. This old nature sinful heart. Is still here. And we are struggling with it every day. Every morning. We are struggling with it. The lust of the flesh against the spirit. And they are contrary to each other.

We are struggling with it all the time. That's why we needed forgiveness. The blood of Yeshua. The Messiah had to be shed. So you and I will not be judged by God. But have the forgiveness of sins. And so beloved brothers and sisters. And so beloved brothers and sisters. That is exactly what the Messiah Yeshua. Is mentioning here to his own disciples. He says listen. I want you to understand. That out of the abundance of the heart. The mouth speak. And the action of us all. That's why I had to come. That's why I had to come. Yeshua might say to them. In order to take away the sin.

That we all have been for. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life. And that's why the Messiah came. He said you don't understand. They don't understand. But you disciples don't understand. Don't you understand. That what comes into the belly. Eventually is being eliminated. But what comes out of the heart. Is death which really defiles us all. What an amazing lesson. God's commandments versus man's tradition. Traditions of men never. Never will bring one into a relationship with God. If tradition of men violating the word of God. Man will find himself outside of a relationship with the Lord.

And he concludes in verse 23. Where he says all these evil things come from within. And death is that which defiles a man. So beloved brothers and sisters. You see what Yeshua did here? He exposed the heart. He teaches us an important lesson. That we are to be focusing on our internal relationship with God. And not merely with our external relationship with God. Tradition can be very good if they do not violate the word of God. But the moment they violate the word of God. They go beyond what God has intended. Then one has to learn to leave the tradition aside. And to embrace the word of God.

And so may the Lord help us to grasp this. And I want to close with one verse found in the book of Colossians. If you turn with me and I'm closing with that. Colossians chapter 2. And I'm going to just close with that. That's what the apostle Shaul Paul said to the Colossians. Warning them. Be well. Colossians 2 verse 8. Lest any man spoil you through philosophy. And vain deceit. After the tradition of men. After the rudiments of the world. And not after God. Be well. He is saying. Paul later on. Years later. He says. Be well. Lest any man spoil you. Through philosophy. Vain deceit. After the tradition of men.

After the rudiments of this world. And not. After. Christ. The Messiah. The Messiah. Following after Yeshua. The Messiah. And after the word of God. Is the safest place. For God's people to be. And may the Lord help us. To find ourselves. With his help. With a heart. That is in tune. With the will of the Lord. And to have his word. Set before us. Rather. Than. The tradition. Of men. May. The Lord. Bless. His word. We say amen to that. History.