Know No Evil

Why do good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people? If God exists and is all-good, why does evil exist?

When I look at the scripture, I see all kinds of evil within, because of people, but for some reason after reading the scripture, all I see is His goodness! Why is this a thing? Some may know the explanation by Hume in regards to why he thinks God doesn’t exist, but there is a problem that lies in his explanation… in Hume’s writing, I find, there is no logical problem of/for evil. I love how educated this man can be, but as I have studied and learned, I find it quite interesting that I am not knowledgable as some of you. Some of you might be asking why is this young gentleman standing in front of me when I probably have more knowledge than him? Others may think, let’s see what this young man has to say so that I can encourage him afterward…. Trust me, I get that a lot, and, while I would gladly receive positive criticism, some criticism is quite “letting-down” sometimes as some people put their knowledge before them - now I am only saying this, because I have done this before too… especially on Facebook. Then I think about Yeshua at His assumed to be Bar-Mitzvah age as He was speaking in the temple. Now I am not Yeshua, so I know I do not have His knowledge… yet, at the same time, I rely on His knowledge, because mine is at many times of no benefit. Knowledge is a very tricky thing, because I have always wondered about what knowledge really is. Then I asked, if knowledge is what it takes to know, then what am I knowing?

Let us Pray - Yeshua, we call upon Your Name that You would open all understanding needed to know who You are and what You have done for us. May you instill us with Your Shalom/completeness; may You draw us near to You, and may Your Word and only Your Word be spoken and understood in this place. Finally, may the House of Israel be restored, so that the Jewish people would know that You are our Messiah, and that the nations would know that You are our God rebuilding the temple of praise that all who believe would enter in. In Yeshua’s Name - Amen.

The title of this class is Know no evil. I gave a message in my congregation, and many were stumped by a question I asked. You see I love doing activities with friends and family, and don’t get me wrong there are moments when I am with my friends that I see some trouble coming along. It is not big trouble though… it’s like… I had friends in my workplace that made “funny” outbursts that some of your co-workers in your workplace(s) would make. You know things that have sexual connotations and/or other bad language. You guys know… the basic stuff that I hope many here find absurd. I found it interesting looking back to middle school, that I found myself wanting to join in on the absurdity, because… why not! … I knew (or I thought I knew) that I was not doing anyone any harm, and that these were my friends, this is who they are, and in order to build a positive relationship, I must know what they like, and in knowing what they like… doing it with them would give me the knowledge to know them in a more personal way. The more personal I became with my friends, the more I abstained from being with those I should’ve been with and the more I saw my actions change to be like this group of “friends”. What would have taken place in middle-school would change a little in highschool as I was growing in the knowledge that Yeshua is my Salvation. And that’s where this challenge to understand what it means to know God and who He has made me to be took place.

During my search and in reading the whole scripture, I was stumped as many of my congregants were stumped, because I was asked by the Spirit…. Where in My Word do you see Know Evil? Does anyone here know where? I have another question for you, and it’s even better…. Where in the Bible does it say… Know your enemy? Now I am not saying do not love your enemy, I am saying do not know them. I am not saying let down your guard when your enemies approach you… no, I am saying do not know them. Lastly I am not saying do not know that they are against you, I am saying do not know them.

Knowledge is defined as two different thing - awareness of something;… and Information, understanding, or skill that you get from experience or education

Know is defined as two different things also - awareness through (knowledge) observation, inquiry, or information;…. and having developed a relationship with (someone) through meeting and spending time with them; be familiar or friendly with.

We can go real deep with those words if we were to get the Hebrew and Greek, but I want to keep it simple here today. How many here came to know God more? How many here came to understand what it means to know no evil… well good thing is that knowing no evil means knowing God’s mighty right arm - the beginning of knowledge is fearing / being in awe of who He is! You see, I may not know much about you or the dreams and ambitions that you have, but My God will answer for you.

Proverbs 1:7 (TLV)

The fear of Adonai

is the beginning of knowledge,

but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Proverbs 9:10 (TLV)

The fear of Adonai

is the beginning of wisdom

and knowledge of the Holy One

is understanding.

I love Joseph, and I love that he has no need to know pharaoh and even so Potiphar’s babe, because God already knows them. Joseph know’s that God knows pharaoh, and that pharaoh’s dreams were ordained by God. Because Joseph was obedient through faith, God caused much to happen in order to show His goodness to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and now Joseph. Remember Joseph’s words in this week’s parsha… you have planned it for evil, but God planned it for good, in order to bring about what it is this day — to preserve the lives of many people Gen. 50:19-20. Though Joseph could have seen his brothers for the evil they have done, Joseph spoke by saying… I myself will provide food for you and your little ones, and he spoke kindly to them (Gen. 50: 21). Isn’t this what God asks for? If your enemy is thristy, give him a drink… It’s quite different from, hey let’s get drinks together and talk about how Potiphar’s wife stripped me down. Where’s God in that? No, Joseph was very clear… This is what God did, and this is what He is doing… and because this is what He is doing, I will do exactly what He has called me to do… to provide for you and speak kindly to you.

Last week I had gone to eat out with my brother for his birthday, and I had a situation in which I couldn’t decide what to wear, but I put something on nice anyway, and my brother thought… that looks good and is suitable to dine. As I was leaving the house, my mother caught me and said… change the shirt… change it to something else. And I thought, why should I change… I mean I looked good in those clothes… then I remembered, I look good anyway, so why disobey? The Reality was though it was my brothers birthday and though I knew that he wouldn’t really like the style of the other set of dress clothes I was about to wear because of a shirt my mom told me to change, I knew God’s promise that comes from obedience. So on the way to the dinner with my brother, my brother asked… Jacob, why did you change, and I told him… it’s because I need to be obedient to God and honor mom. My brother was baffled, and in that I spoke to him saying… watch, because I listened and am obedient to God… watch the restaurant make a mistake and give me a free meal and maybe even a gift card! He looked at me as if I was crazy, but at the same time, he knew I was right in that Obedience to God was more important than his desire. Guess what happened next? I was the first one to order, and they forgot to put my order in… Yes, God allowed our waitress to forget my meal, and He allowed the kitchen to go a little bit crazy to show that my order wasn’t placed all for me to have a free $20 meal! …. That’s the God I serve!

So basically, if you want free food at a nice restaurant, believe and know who God is in your life!

While this is a laughable truth, it is the truth. If I chose to know what would make my brother happy so that I did what he liked… I don’t think I would have not gotten a free meal! The whole idea of knowing God is understanding that He is faithful to His promise. When you substitute understanding who He is in your life with who someone or something else is in your life… you have already broken the first commandment. It’s interesting to see how a very small situation determines who and what you know. Do you know good, good and evil, or just evil?

It’s funny how I could have thought that getting or staying dressed in the way my brother liked on his birthday would not be a bad thing, and you must know that it wasn’t a good thing because it would have caused me to be disobedient. This allows us to understand the thought process of Adam and Eve, and it allows us to see the thought process of the 12 spies and how of them Caleb and Joshua stood out. It allows us to see many examples in scripture and all that point towards fear God and He will reveal Himself to you. Know Him & build that relationship with Him, and He will show you everything you ask for! Speak in Faith through obedience and you will get free food! No but even more, Romans 1:5-6

Romans 1:5–6 TLV

Through Him we have received grace and the office of emissary, to bring about obedience of faith among all the nations on behalf of His name. And you also are called to Yeshua the Messiah.

Let us remember what God said about the way he takes care of creation… how much more would He care for you? Oh, and you bet I told all those around me about what God just did, and told them the same thing… know God, be obedient, and watch what God does!

So let's pin down these basic questions… What is evil? What is good? What is knowledge without God, and what is good without evil? It is not that God created evil, but God was and is good and all things He does and knows is good. A part of His knowing is us, this part of creation where living beings with a will, desire, and the ability to reflect the power of Messiah Yeshua. Satan chose not to obey, and in opposition to God, he disobeyed God and thus became the father of disobedience or the one against the will of God. So while God made for good, Satan stands against too corrupt. Evil is not necessarily a thing for itself as in it cannot exist by itself whereas good can. If there was no opposition, everything would be simply good. Darkness does not exist for itself, but it is indeed the absence of light. Dr. Einstein did not come up with this Himself, but when He was in awe of what God was doing… the more He saw the goodness of God - the more He saw the math, science, and all that is possible around him. The same happened to Noah, Abraham, Esther, Daniel, Bezalel and Oholiab, Job, and even Jonah (though) we don’t know what happened to Jonah lol. Light cannot be the absence of darkness, because even the darkness night is as light to God (Psalm 139:12). And if there is only light, then there is no true darkness where God is. And where there is light…. You cannot create darkness. Darkness is in direct opposition to light, and, light cannot be overcome less it is completely taken away, and God is not going anywhere, because He is already there… Therefore it would be sufficient to say that the point where light is darkness isn’t, and the point where darkness is, the light is not made evident. Where there is evil, the good is not made evident. Satan chose not to make good evident in his being, and thus he was evil.

When the Israelites chose to do their own thing instead of follow God’s word… they knew not good, thus they knew evil. This is why so many are baffled to see what is written in the Bible. There was a commentary by Norbert Lohfink on Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) in which he shows how the person who loses themself “in the description and analysis of a society characterized by evil, they end it all with the full grounded denial of the law of deed-consequence relationship.” Where as someone who fears God basically has a faithful observance of the rules of conduct for society that God has provided in advance. Lohfink continues to say, “it claims a clear casual link between the fear of God and well-being and long life.

Check out 2 Peter 2:20

2 Peter 2:20 TLV

For if—after escaping the world’s pollutions through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Yeshua the Messiah—they again become entangled in these things and are overcome, the end for them has become worse than the beginning.

Basically, God is trying to show us today is… know no evil! Flee from, abstain from it, resist it, run from it, stand up against it, rebuke it, cast it out, remove it from your midst, purge it out, and more… like how many more words do you want?

So we know that evil is anything that opposes God, and all that is good comes from God. Knowledge without God… there is no such thing. However, knowledge without God being made evident… that’s a real thing and a dangerous place to be. Knowledge of God not being made evident allows people to have their own “truth” that everyone else knows is not the truth at all. This is what is wrong with the world today, many have become like pharaoh’s magicians running rampant with what the truth probably is in regards to a dream and in trying to get an understanding of what it actually is and how it would bring this good for all, we are stumped at the fact that we have no peace in our understanding. And in doing their good by chasing after their truth, they actually hurt the others - including themselves. It was not until Joseph came in and made God evident that the real truth was made evident, and that pharaoh had Shalom. So much to say that Pharaoh himself saw God’s Spirit in this young man. The same with Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar was ready to tear the limbs of the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, the Chaldeans, and put an end to all the wise man in Babylon. When their lives were at stake, what did Daniel and the Jewish wise men do… Do you remember what happened? What did Daniel do? Daniel 2:17-23

Daniel 2:17–23 (TLV)

Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah about the matter so they would request mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not perish along with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven and answered, saying:

“Blessed be the Name of God

forever and ever,

for wisdom and might are His.

He changes times and seasons.

He removes kings and installs kings.

He gives wisdom to the wise

and knowledge to the discerning.

He reveals deep and hidden things.

He knows what lies in darkness

and light dwells with Him.

To You, O God of my fathers,

I give thanks and praise!

For You gave me wisdom and power.

You have made known to me

what we asked of You.

You revealed to us the word of the

king.”

My last question above was, what is good without evil? … It’s perfection, it is holiness, perfect Shalom, all that you could ever want/need. Many times we forget that there are others around us that choose to not know God and thus bring in evil… we used to do that. And when we received Messiah, that doesn’t stop others from trying to bring evil, but that allows us to bring forth His light. The whole idea for Yeshua stepping in is to save us from our evil, but it must be in our desire to not just desire good, but to know good and not evil.

1 Peter 1:5 we see that by trusting, we are being protected by God’s power for a salvation to be ready to be revealed in the last time. We continue in verse 6 and 7 by understanding that true faith…

1 Peter 1:5 TLV

By trusting, you are being protected by God’s power for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Peter 1:6–7 TLV

You rejoice in this greatly, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. These trials are so that the true metal of your faith (far more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire) may come to light in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Messiah Yeshua.

true hope in what is unseen May come to light in praise and glory and honor….At the revelation of Messiah Yeshua.

Without the revelation of Yeshua, there is no Salvation no matter how saved you feel. We see that in verse 9 when we read that we receive the outcome of our faith - the Salvation of our souls.

1 Peter 1:9 TLV

receiving the outcome of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

in 1 Peter 1:13

1 Peter 1:13 TLV

So brace your minds for action. Keep your balance. And set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Yeshua the Messiah.

we read… brace your minds for action. Keep your balance. And set your hope on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Yeshua the Messiah.

Know no evil? What does that mean to you now? When I was in college, I remember taking those terrible final exams… I had two choices: 1. Drown in the misery of what I had forgotten or 2. Brace myself to learn what I had forgotten knowing that I will succeed and should I fail I can do it again and again until I am brought to that passing grade. Thanks be to God I passed them the first time! But there are more situations to life than that, and I want you guys to point it out. What are moments in life where you faced knowing evil and/or knowing good?

I remember being in the hospital bed given a very unpleasant situation. And I am not going to tell you wether what the doctor said is good or evil. No, I had to sit there and I had to submit all to God asking Him… God I know you will answer me, why am I here? Though I didn’t hear from God I knew…. I knew Him! I knew His promise, and I knew His righteous acts…. I knew without a doubt that He was going to do…. something! And that something was for my own good, but as well for the good of my father and mother sitting next to me for all those long hours that went on to be days and weeks. It was in this that the hospital was going crazy. A dozen medications were brought to me, and it was all so that I would have a chance to be made complete, but I looked at the doctor to show him that I was already complete. And because I was already complete, my doctor fought the hospital to get everything I needed… yes, Like I said, I knew only God and who He was in me that it didn’t matter what I could lose or gain from what was happening to me. It was in my suffering that I hoped and prayed for the salvation of my soul and the salvation of all those around me. The more I knew God, the more I began to feel the atmosphere change and the lives of those around me change by the testimony of who God is in me….. I was just turning 13 years, and God was showing me that the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge. Because, when you know God… there is nothing else that needs to be known, because His goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and surely, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. All of this in middle school to show me in high school who He is in me. I know not to know evil, because I know the One who is good and could make all things possible. What is knowledge if it means that I cannot see God’s Salvation? Why read Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, watch Disney when I can read and act on Yeshua the Messiah and see real miracles? Why listen to secular music when I can be in Worship? Why do anything that brings out only evil, when God is try to show us in here what is good? And Why do what they are doing to know them when I can do what God has established within me to bring all souls to salvation? The problem we face today is that we have gotten so accustomed to enslavement that we continue to enslave ourselves to the idea that this is normal…. Today it’s “normal” to see evil, do evil, know evil, but what happened with all that was good? Today we are happy with seeing a glimpse of His goodness instead of being in the reality of who He has made us to be… in the presence of His mighty power.

And we hear, but this is for the kids, as to make this something that the kids would enjoy… do you hear yourself? This is how it sound to me… Let’s make known evil to the kids, and they will do whatever they want about it when they grow up… Nooo! For crying out loud, I hear young adults who have gown with such things want to be witches and wizards, young adults bringing in energy rocks for exams, and people literally becoming insane, because they can’t figure out their purpose. Then I also hear… this brings no harm, as in, this isn’t bad because it brings no harm… but let me tell you… if God isn’t evident, then it is evil. A young man spoke to me about how difficult his life was so he was given yoga meditation, and at first he felt peace, but then one day found himself in a tunnel by himself falling deep into utter darkness… with no control, he couldn’t get out, and if it wasn’t for letting a small cry for God he would have never been able to open his eyes. My friend is alive and he was so moved by the evidence of who God is that he took down everything in his place in regards to meditation not founded in God’s Word. And it was in rebuilding himself in the Lord that just like Gideon, he found Adonai Shalom. It was in the revelation of Messiah Yeshua that I found Shalom! And today, if you choose to see and know Yeshua the son of God who came to take away the sins of the world, to separate you from all that is evil, then do not know evil.

Fear God, know He is awesome. Know He is in every situation. Know that He will bring justice. Know that He will bring love, know He will bring completeness. And you will see as Gideon saw, you will see as David saw, as Deborah saw, and you will see as the prophets have seen… the Salvation of Adonai is at hand! Know no evil… Seek first the kingdom of God and His…. Righteousness…. Seek His Righteousness! Seek His holiness, seek His purity, seek Yeshua! And He will make Himself known…. to and through you!

Matthew 6:33 TLV

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Know no evil or evil will be made known through you. Know Yeshua and He will be made known through you. The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge… that all things are possible for healing, for restoration, and for Rebirth… and free food!

Let us pray!

Chazak, chazak, V’nitchazek