Corban by PM

Corban Newsletter #174 - April 1993

Corban may he defined as a religious offering. It might mean a special gift to the Father and may be anything, even yourself. In it's proper form Corban means to give and expect nothing in return. Let's turn to the Book of Matthew. Matt 15:1-3 1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, 2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? Man's traditions at times go 180 degrees away from God's Word. Those traditions, in some cases, become more important to men than the Word itself. The sad part is when men don't know the difference. There are people that believe too much in what men say; but, you must understand no man will stand between you and God on judgment day. You are accountable. He gave you a mind to understand His Word. Matt 15:4-6 4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Christ is telling the scribes and Pharisees that making gifts, or corban, to the church at the expense of your father and mother contradicts God's Law. Don't listen to the traditions of man when they contradict God's Word. How do you know if the traditions of man violate God's Word? Check it out in the Bible and use common sense.

Matt 15:7-8 7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,

8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. Why is their heart, or better translated their mind, far from Christ? Because they have not been taught the Word of God. They did not know when the traditions of man differed from the Word of God. If an act, such as not honoring you father and mother, lacks common sense, it most likely is contradictory to God's Word. Matt 15:9 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. The traditions of man won't buy you one thing in the Father's House. Beware of teachings that build a religion around man's traditions. Matt 15:10-11 10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. This is one reason I teach the health laws of the Bible are intended for physical health only. Christ declares that eating with dirty hands will not spiritually impact a person; but, not honoring your mother and father as well as following the other commandments of the Bible surely will. What did Isaiah have to say on this subject? Isa 29:11 11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: How many times have you asked a supposedly biblically learned person questions about Revelation only to be told Revelation is not to be understood. They say, "this book is sealed." This is very disturbing, especially when you understand the word Revelation means unsealed, or to reveal. Why does this upset me? Because these supposedly learned people are doing this to my Christian brothers and sisters. It stirs up my righteous indignation when I see my spiritual family treated this way. Isa 29:12-13

12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. 13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Again, the word heart may be translated mind. Isa 29:14 14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. In other words they are going to be fooled. Look at our generation, beloved. What are the supposedly wise men saying, doing and acting upon? To a student of God's Word it is folly.

Isa 29:15 15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?

"Don't worry, God is not real and it doesn't matter what we do." Those that speak in this manner forget the next verse.

Isa 29:16 16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding? God created man. God gave us a set of commandments to live by. Our leadership of today is taking those commandments and making a mockery of them. I want to give you an example of the use of corban in the Hebrew language. But first allow me to lay a little ground work for you before we go to Numbers Ch. 9. Aaron's sons had been appointed priests. It was

time for a religious ceremony just prior to Passover. But, Aaron's sons had let the fire in the altar lamps, or sensors, go out. This was a very serious matter as this fire was never to be extinguished. Realizing they had messed up and were late, they took some embers from a cooking oven to relight the sensors. God struck them dead. To take burning camel chips that they had been cooking with to light the altar sensors was an abomination before God; and, He struck them dead. Moses instructed certain priests to go and bury the dead. Now this created a problem. During this period of liturgical duties, if you touched a dead body you were not to come before the altar for seven days. This would keep these priests from celebrating Passover. We are going to see corban has meaning even with your Passover offering. Let's go to the book of Numbers. Num 9:5-6 5 And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel. 6 And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the Passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day: Now remember, these priests were only following orders. They had handled the bodies of those that had played with strange fire. You may liken it, whether you are comfortable with it or not, to your handling someone that is spiritually dead today. I am not attacking any church, but you either follow Christ or the traditions of men. Unfortunately, some are unable to differentiate between the two. But you must try to help the spiritually dead. That is what we were sent here for. Num 9:7-8 7 And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the LORD in his appointed season among the children of Israel? 8 And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you. The word offering in verse seven may be translated corban. When was the appointed season? The fourteenth day of the first month was the appointed Passover for the children of Israel. Num 9:9-10 9 10 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of

your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the Passover unto the LORD. The lord did not instruct Moses concerning only the two men in question. The lord told Moses to tell all of the children of Israel Num 9:11 11 The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Think about it. Passover was the fourteenth day of the first month. But, God said for these spoken of in verse ten Passover will be the fourteenth day of the second month. God allotted a waiting period of thirty days for those required to perform liturgical duties that prevented them from approaching the altar at Passover. Num 9:12 12 They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it. Does that sound familiar? Do you remember Christ on the cross? Not one bone was broken in His body. He would not have been a perfect offering, or corban if bones had been broken. What is your Passover today? I Corinthians 5:7 documents the fact. Num 9:13 13 But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the LORD in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin. Again, offering may be translated corban. If you do not participate in your Passover which is Jesus Christ, you shall bear your sin. Anytime you are thinking about God's Judgment, remember Numbers 9:5-13. God was fair. He did not keep the priests who were following orders to bury the dead from participating in Passover. He made an allowance of time for them. Perhaps He will make an allowance of time for the biblically illiterate. I do not believe God will condemn anyone to hell in ignorance. In closing let us turn to Mark. The first verses of Mark Ch. 7 repeat Matthew Ch. 15 so we won't cover them in detail. But the scribes and Pharisees are asking Jesus again why His disciples don't wash their hands before eating according to the traditions of the elders. Mark 7:6-8

6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. Why did Christ use the word vain which means emptiness? If you are following the traditions of men rather than Jesus Christ, your religion is one of emptiness. Don't ever lay aside the commandment of God for the traditions of men. Christ told them that is exactly what they were doing. Mark 7:9-11 9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 10 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: 11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. Christ points out the hypocrisy of asking men to make corban, or gifts, to the church at the expense of honoring their parents to the point of their deprivation. Watch out for the traditions of man beloved, especially when they lay aside the commandments of God. Follow God's commandments. He will never leave you or forsake you. In His Service,