Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded!
—James 4:8 (TLV)
For several years now I have been consumed in my spirit with the fact that Christianity takes words and phrases from The Bible and completely redefines them to something different than how Scripture defines them. Now, I do believe for the most part this is done unintentionally, at least in modern Christian religion. Most people are just repeating what they have been taught and it has been this way for so long that truth sounds strange and even blasphemous to the modern-day Christian.
As I have been pondering on these things, I came across the biblical concept of clean hands and a pure heart. With this most turn to Psalm 24:3-4, which we will look at in a moment. But as I was looking at various passages that deal directly with this biblical phrase I was reminded of the words of James, his strong tone directed at sinners and hypocrites.
The Bible defines sin as breaking, transgressing, violating The Torah (1 John 3:4). I know I point this out a lot, but I do not think it can be over-emphasized enough in today’s religious landscape. Thus a sinner would be someone who breaks, transgresses, violates The Torah. This would tell us that the declaration by James to “cleanse your hands” is a call to stop breaking, transgressing, violating The Torah.
Then we come to a call to double-minded ones to purify their hearts. Psalm 119:113 sheds some light on this, stating from the TLV: “I hate double-minded ones, but Your Torah I love.” The term double-minded is also used by James in the opening statements of his letter:
…for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord—he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
—James 1:6-8 (TLV)
When I read this I am also reminded of Paul’s words in Ephesians 4:14 about those who are tossed around by the waves and blown all over by every wind of teaching, by the trickery of men with cunning in deceitful scheming. You see, being double-minded is contrasted with loving The Torah and harmonized with those who are drawn to whatever the popular yet unbiblical teaching of the day is in the world of modern “Christianity”.
Psalm 24:3 poses two questions: Who may go up on the mountain of Adonai? Who may stand in His holy place? These questions are then answered in verse 4, saying: One with clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully. As we have seen, the references to sinners and the double-minded is a reference to those who live in general defiance to The Torah. Likewise, the call to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts is a call to follow The Torah. With these things in mind I want to take a deeper look at what Scripture says about having clean hands and a pure heart.
Touch No Unclean Thing!
Therefore, come out from among them, and be separate, says Adonai. Touch no unclean thing. Then I will take you in.
—2 Corinthians 6:17 (TLV)
When it comes to having clean hands, the first Scripture my mind turns to is actually not Psalm 24:3-4 or James 4:8, but to this passage in Paul’s letter to the community of Yeshua followers in the region of Corinth. Here he makes some profound prerequisite statements to being received by The Father, one of them being to touch no unclean thing.
This would beg the question: What is the unclean thing?
While modern “Christian” religion is often quick to say that the word unclean is associated with demonic spirits (or unclean spirits)—and it is true that there are unclean spirits—what the word unclean seems most associated with in Scripture are animals deemed unclean as food. The word is linked with these unclean animals first in Genesis 7:8, before the flood, and last in Revelation 18:2. Incidentally, these are also the first and last uses of the word unclean in The Bible The word is used 183 times in The Bible and of that 55 times it is used directly about not eating unclean animals. That is close to one-third of the time this word is used on top of the fact that the first and last use of it in Scripture is referencing unclean animals.
To add to this, the statement made by Paul to the Corinthian Believers was actually a quote from the Prophet Isaiah:
Leave, leave! Get out of there! Touch no unclean thing. Go out of her midst. Purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of Adonai.
—Isaiah 52:11 (TLV)
Now, I find this particularly interesting—that it is Isaiah who originally made this statement to touch no unclean thing. You see, Isaiah has some particularly interesting things to say about those who do not follow the biblical food laws.
These people provoke Me continually to My face, sacrificing in gardens, burning incense on bricks, sitting among graves, spending the night in cave-tombs; eating swine’s flesh, and the broth of detestable things is in their pots, who say, ‘Keep to yourself, don’t come to me, for I am holier than you!’ These are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day.
—Isaiah 65:3-5 (TLV)
Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves, following after one in the midst, who eat swine’s flesh, vermin and mice, will come to an end altogether.
—Isaiah 66:17 (TLV)
Of particular interest here is the passage from Isaiah 66, as the most popular views of the passage regardless of eschatological leanings are that the entire chapter is a portrayal of the Second Coming of Messiah Yeshua. This would indicate that when He returns one of the primary criteria for those He will destroy (as many English Bibles say it) will be the eating of unclean animals. Isaiah portrays the eating of unclean things as a fire in God’s nostrils that provokes Him to wrath and then in the very next chapter indicates that Messiah Yeshua will annihilate those who eat these things when He returns. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of “Christians” today disregard these food laws and even host picnics, pot-lucks, and numerous other food events at their “churches” replete with unclean swine and shellfish items.
The plain reality is that God does not approve of this. If God overlooked these people eating what He commanded not to eat then the testimony of Scripture would be false. If God held a disregard for these “Christians” eating all of their unclean things, He would have to apologize to Adam and Eve for banishing them from Eden after they ate what He said not to eat.
“Christians” love to go around quoting passages like Psalm 24:3-4, acting as if they have clean hands and a pure heart because they live a “good Christian life”, and yet their life is consumed with touching—AND EATING—the unclean thing. These are not people with clean hands. These are people whose hands are stained with the blood of the souls they have led to believe that God’s Laws can be tossed out and they can do, and eat, whatever they want to.
“Christians” who live out of the little sliver of The Bible they call the “New Testament”—which would be more properly called The Apostolic Writings—tend to associate the word “unclean” solely with unclean spirits. This is understandable as the word is used 32 times in this latter portion of The Bible, 22 of those times referring to unclean spirits and 18 of those times used by Yeshua Himself regarding unclean spirits. The word is used only once in The Tanakh (“Old Testament”) in reference to unclean spirits—Zechariah 13:2. While it is significant that Yeshua used this word primarily as a reference to demons, it should be noted that this means the word is used twice as much throughout the whole Bible in regard to unclean animals prohibited for use as human food than it is used in reference to unclean spirits.
Perhaps it is an odd coincidence, or perhaps it is of prophetic significance, but I find it interesting that Revelation 18:2—that final use of the word “unclean”—uses the word once for unclean spirits and twice for unclean animals, referencing both unclean beasts and unclean birds. I also find it interesting that this last use of the word refers to both of these uses of the word, listing both unclean spirits and unclean animals as equally evil aspects of Babylon.
Is it possible that “Christianity” has gotten the whole concept of “touch no unclean thing” completely wrong? Most “Christians” I have encountered believe the passage is talking about not touching unclean spirits. But we are told to cast out unclean spirits, often done through laying on of hands in prayer and what is sometimes referred to as spiritual warfare, which would seem contrary to a call to “not touch” them. Yet we are told quite emphatically in The Torah not to eat or even touch the carcasses of unclean animals. I find things like this quite fascinating.
Now, let me note real quickly here that there is some leniency on touching carcasses as this is sometimes necessary. For example, if you have a pet like a dog or a cat or a service animal like a horse or a donkey, all of which are unclean according to The Torah, and the animal dies, you would likely have to handle the carcass. Additionally, when people die, as they too for the purposes of the clean and unclean animal regulations are unclean—humans are primates just like monkeys and apes, we’re just a lot more advanced—someone has to handle the body. It is for this reason that protocols are given to purify yourself after these things happen. But there is nothing in Scripture that offers any sort of loopholes or leniency to eating unclean things. To this The Bible only gives the promise of the outpouring of God’s wrath to the unrepentant.
One thing I have noticed over the years is that if you believe and teach obedience to the Leviticus 11 food laws most “Christians” will label you as some kind of a fanatic and say that’s all you ever talk about. Yet here we have by the very testimony of Scripture that when it comes to “touch no unclean thing”—a phrase used by Paul in the “New Testament”—it seems the most emphasis in Scripture is placed on obeying the food laws. So I would ask: Is the religious fanatic the person who is following what The Bible emphasizes, or is it the person who wrongly labels that person a ‘fanatic’ and seeks to make up ‘reasons’ as to why we no longer have to follow any particular commandments?
In case you are not aware, a fanatic is a person who takes an extreme position in regard to a particular matter, generally in regard to religious or political beliefs. It seems those who are dwelling in the extreme would be those who claim a religion that does not have to follow the commandments of their “god” as opposed to those who believe in following them because they truly believe their God is God. People who claim to be followers of Yeshua are not fanatics or extremists when they follow the whole counsel of Scripture—THAT’S WHAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING!!!
A New Heart, A Pure Heart
Moreover I will give you a new heart. I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the stony heart from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.I will put My Ruach within you. Then I will cause you to walk in My laws, so you will keep My rulings and do them.
—Ezekiel 36:26-27 (TLV)
This is another passage of Scripture I reference quite often, and with good reason. Today a lot of people believe the “evidence” of being filled with The Spirit is “speaking in tongues”. While this is certainly listed among the gifts of The Spirit, nothing in Scripture directly indicates that it is the “evidence” that a person is filled with The Spirit—this idea is read into several testimonies recorded in the Book of Acts, but none of these passages nor anything else in Scripture indicates that being filled with The Spirit will always result in speaking in tongues.
The fact of the matter is that the only thing in The Bible that can be a unanimous “evidence” of being Spirit-filled under the new covenant is this passage from the prophet Ezekiel, where it tells us a Spirit-filled person will be CAUSED to walk in God’s Laws, which is The Torah. And this makes perfect sense when you weigh the matter against the whole counsel of Scripture. The more appropriate rendering of the Hebrew Ruach haKodesh is not “Holy Spirit”, but “Spirit of Holiness”. It is The Spirit of Yah that leads us to walk in holiness, and as we see in Revelation 14:12 true holiness involves both keeping the commandments of God (The Torah) and the faith of Yeshua.
In contrast, Satan is called the lawless one in Scripture. He is, according to Revelation 12:9, the ancient serpent from Genesis 3 who sets out to deceive the whole world. Being as he is the lawless one the only thing that is impossible for him to do is to CAUSE anyone to walk in The Torah of God. He may convince you that some commandments are to be kept in order to lead you to more easily accept that some are not. But he cannot lead you into true covenant obedience to The Torah. Additionally, he has the capability of causing people to experience all sorts of miraculous and supernatural things like divine healing, deliverance, and imitations of spiritual gifts like tongues and prophecy. This is important because if you are unaware of this you can be deceived in churches where these things manifest but The Torah is rejected. Where this happens, it is very possible and perhaps even probable that it is the work of Satan.
Now, I want to issue a word of caution here, because The Bible does say that attributing the work of The Spirit to Satan is the one thing that cannot be forgiven. However, The Bible is also clear that where The Spirit is at work there will be a CAUSING to follow The Torah. So without directing a conclusion to any specific event or ministry, I think we can safely say that if there are miracles, signs, and wonders taking place but there is not a CAUSING to walk in The Torah, then it’s at least possible it is not the work of The Spirit. And we also need to be careful not to attribute the work of Satan to being the work of The Spirit.
Everyone wants to warn against blaspheming The Spirit today. If a so-called “revival” breaks out somewhere and some people do as the Bereans did, testing all things against Scripture, then they accuse them of blaspheming The Spirit. If someone hypes up some kind of “deliverance ministry” and others question it because they are not teaching The Torah, they say you are blaspheming The Spirit. I actually saw someone recently go so far as to say that it grieves The Spirit when people do “too much” testing against Scripture instead of just blindly accepting that something is a move of The Spirit. This is literally how deceived some people are, smitten with the hype of manifestations, miracles, signs, and wonders instead of covenant obedience to The Torah. I assure you that you cannot over-evaluate anything against The Bible and The Spirit of Yah will NEVER be grieved by someone testing all things all things against the whole counsel of Scripture.
Matthew 7:21-23 tells us very clearly that there will be “many” who will work these miracles, signs, and wonders, claiming to be doing them in the name of Messiah, who will be turned away because of their lawlessness. They don’t follow The Torah. Revelation 12:9 says that Satan deceives the whole world. Matthew 7:13-14 says there will be “few” who will find the truth. “Christianity” today makes up one-third of the worlds population and while heavily focused on the miracles, signs and wonders often teaches that there are at least some aspects of The Torah that do not need to be followed. One-third of the world’s population does not match with the word “few”, it seems more like a significant chunk of “the whole world” that The Bible says Satan will deceive.
So much of the time “Christianity” is driven by what attracts the masses. From concepts like “revival” to what people call “deliverance ministry”, there is a lot of hype toward these things that aren’t all that biblical when you really think about it. The reason is because these are things that attract the masses regardless of whether or not there is a focus on living according to The Torah.
In contrast, The Bible speaks a lot about a remnant who are always the minority of the world but are truly sold out to living according to the terms of the covenant. While it is true that certain signs and wonders will follow those who believe, it is also true that Satan creates counterfeits to these very same signs and wonders. The proof is in the openly Satanic manifestations of these things such as “prophesies” given through psychic mediums or “divine healing” through witch doctors. The fact that these things exist in the occult and pagan religion proves that Satan can manifest these types of miracles, signs, and wonders as well. And if he can do it through these vessels, you best believe he can do it through counterfeit forms of “Christianity” that stand against The Torah of God.
Who will go up to the mountain of Yah? Who may stand in His holy place? One with clean hands and a pure heart. And if we continue to verse 5 of Psalm 24 it says, “He will receive a blessing from Yah, righteousness from God his salvation.” The Bible definition for righteousness is from Deuteronomy 6:25, where it says, “It will be righteousness to us, if we take care to do all this commandment before Adonai our God, just as He has commanded us.” Those who have clean hands and a pure heart are those who live according to His Torah. The masses of “Christian” religion live in deception and the delusional force of lawlessness—that’s what The Bible says, read 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12. This is the way of church people, but the true remnant stands resolute in the ways of Yah, following His Torah faithfully through their commitment to The Messiah.
Blessings and Shalom
©2023 Truth Ignited Ministry
