The American Wisdom Series 
 http://www.americanwisdomseries.com

Presents 

MARK

Chapter 7

Caution to students of God's Word - Please remember two things when using our studies: #1. Our commentary is not God's Word. It is only our interpretation or understanding of "His Word" and even though we try our best to be accurate we may or may not be correct. #2. The King James translation, or any other translation, of the original Hebrew text has some words which were given different translations at different places probably because of the interpreters preconceived ideas of what they think God meant to say. For example: According to the notes in the "Dake's Annotated Reference Bible" the Hebrew word hayah in the KJV is Trans. (became) 67 times, (becamest or came to pass) 505 times, (become) 66 times, and (come to pass) 131 times, but for some reason in Genesis 1:2 it is translated (was)! That sure changes the way a person perceives the original creation of the earth, doesn't it?  Gen. 1:2 And the earth was (became) without form, ... Having said that, let us continue with our "Key Knowledge" lessons. These are pamphlets containing knowledge, we believe, you must have to fully and accurately unlock and understand the Word of God.

John 15:26
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

John 16:13-14
[13] Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. [14] He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

This Bible Study was originally written by Roger Christopherson,
 published at http://www.theseason.org/ 

You can view it at the season`s web site (address above) as originally published
or here, as now edited by people at
 
The American Wisdom Series  

Without the leading by the Holy Spirit, there is no understanding of the truths, for all the truth of the Scriptures are revealed to us by God's Spirit.

 Now here is our revised study of:

MARK

Chapter 7

"Teaching of the Pharisees, Their Condemnation [1-23]."
"The Miracle, the Syrophenicain Woman [25-30]."
"Miracle, Deaf and Dumb Man [32-37]."

Mark 7:1 "Then came together unto Him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem."

These men that are coming to Jesus are not local Pharisees, but they came from Jerusalem. The religious leaders of the church sent them up to Galilee to find out what Jesus was all about.

Mark 7:2 "And when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with the defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault."

When they arrived and went to eat with Jesus disciples, the first thing they noticed was that the disciples did not wash in the ritual fashion that was common amongst the Jewish tradition. They found fault with them. It doesn't mean that the disciples didn't wash their hands before they ate, but they didn't go through the ceremonial washing, from the hands to the elbow, over the shoulder and to all of the parts that were required under their ritual. This was a great religious ceremony that was performed at the time of eating to demonstrate just how religious of a person you were.

Though this ceremony is not recorded in God's Word, the traditions are well recorded, and it was this ceremony that the Kenites had created for their traditions that Jesus disciples did not partake in. The disciples practiced what we call normal hygiene, but not the traditions of the elders. This is because it is not in the Word of God, nor of God, but it was of the church, man's traditions.

Mark 7:3 "For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders."

These traditions concerning ritual are not of God, nor of God's Word, but of the church elders. These elders or leaders of the Temple in Jerusalem were the offspring of those Kenites, i.e. descendants of Cain, spoken of in I Chronicles 2:55, they were of the families of the Kenites. They were from those Nethinims that took control over the priesthood when the house of Judah was in Babylon in captivity. The Prophet Ezra tells us in Ezra, that upon taking account of the people that were returning to Jerusalem with him, there was not one Levitical priest amongst them. It was the Levitical priest that was to go before them before God, and into the holy of holies.

Editor's Note: Yes Cain's descendants survived Noah's flood! Did your church tell you they didn't? Stick around. We'll come across a lot of cases where;What I learned in my church was wrong!

Live Link to-Noah's Flood

Ezra 8:15 "And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the People, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi."

The Levitical ministry had been either turned over or taken over to Nethinim. These Kenite oriental strangers stepped in to do the work of the priest before God, and handle the affairs of the scribes. Those duties were assigned, by God, to Aaron and his sons and the tribe of Levi, yet here the Jews were returning to Jerusalem to set up the Temple worship with a pack of strangers and laymen assuming the role that God gave to the tribe of Levi. It is noted from the first two chapters of Ezra that of the forty three thousand returning to Jerusalem claiming to be of the house of Judah, less than half of them were of Judah or Benjamin. There were no men of Levi, so that left the rest of the group, these Nethinims or strangers and their families. We know from I Chronicles 2:55 that the ones that were keeping God's record, and that of the house of Judah were Kenites, people not of Abraham, nor of Jacob, but of the lineage of Rechab of the lineage of Cain.

I Chronicles 2:55 "And the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez [Jerusalem as an unclean city]; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and Suchathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hamath, the father of the house of Rechab."

Editor's memo:I Chronicles 2:55 was written a long, long time after Noah's Flood! 

These Kenites are sons of Cain, the offspring of the sexual union between Satan and Eve in the garden of Eden. They had worked themselves into a position of taking over God's priesthood some five hundred years prior to the coming of Jesus. These Kenites were sitting in the seat of Moses, the seat that God had assigned to Aaron and the tribe of Levi, through Moses. It is not the traditions and rituals of Moses that these Pharisees, scribes and Sadducees are promoting, but the traditions of their people, the Kenities. The Temple was occupied by these "Nethinims", "strangers" to God's ways, and their Kenite rituals and ways were being substituted in temple worship, and in their homes at the time of Jesus.

So the rituals that these Pharisees from Jerusalem were doing and judging Jesus' disciples were not of God, nor in any part of the Bible, but they were "holding [practicing] the traditions of the elders [of Zion]."

Mark 7:4 "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, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.)"

This word used for "wash" in the Greek is "baptizo" and it means a "ceremonial cleansing to where water is used". This is practicing religion to the point to where baptism is implied every time they returned from the market. The ceremonial ritual that these Kenites followed went far beyond the ritual of washing of hands and the body, but even to the ceremonial baptizing of their cups that they would use. They had a ceremony for the pots and pans, the dishes that it was served on, and even the table that sat before. It all had to be sprinkled and dedicated before you took one bite. Though this was what these sons of Cain are doing, it is not in God's law, nor does it apply to any Christian, or any part of the tribes of Israel. It is all part of the Kenite [Oriental] traditions of their elders. It is what is called "the traditions of men".

What it really involves is a bunch of preachers playing games in God's house, playing one-up-mans-ship with one another: The big boys play games in God's house, and God doesn't like it. They are trying to prove to each other which is closest to God, and today this takes on many forms of doing just the same thing. One is telling how he or she talked to God today and he told me to tell you such and such, when plain common sense tells you that this person is playing games with your mind. God doesn't use people that play games with His Word, and can't uses plain common sense in the conduct of their lives.

We are to pray and talk to God, but most of the time it is best to keep those conversations to yourself. It is a sin to use prayer to play religious games for out-doing one another.

Mark 7:5 "Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why walk not Thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?"

These Pharisees just don't understand what was of God, and what is the traditions of men. It is easy to give the answer to you outright but lets go through Jesus Christ's answer to these Kenites.

Quite frankly, the disciples didn't give one thought about what the Kenite elders back in the Temple thought, for their traditions had no part in the worshipping of God. The traditions of their elders was nothing but man's ideas being formed into an idol for himself. It was created by one man to control another man, and God had nothing to do with those traditions at any point. Those traditions were created in the Temple that had come under the control of these Kenites so far back that most people of the house of Judah had no idea where they came from. Why? Moses law had long been substituted for, by their traditions.

Editor's Note: It no diferent today in our Christian churches.

So now we see Christ's answer to these Pharisees.

Mark 7:6 "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, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.' "

Jesus is using a lot of strong words here. Jesus is quoting what Esais or Isaiah called them in his prophecies. Jesus called them a bunch of hypocrites, or play actors. Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 29:13.

Isaiah 29:13 "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:"

Editor's Note: You name the denomination, some more so than others but it applies to all I've been around.

This is what the word hypocrites means, pretending to be something that they are not. They play games and make their traditions to be something that they are not, and even contrary to the Word of God.

Isaiah 29:14 "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."

Mark 7:7 "Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

Lets go back to the last chapter; what was the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, when the loaves of bread that were served? We went to Matthew 16:11, 12 to understand it.

Matthew 16:11 "How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees:"

Matthew 16:12 "Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."

"The doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees", are the traditions of the Kenites that had slipped in amongs our brother Judah by these sons of Cain through the house of Rechab, and they brought in a bunch of heresy. This heresy makes a mockery out of the serving of the living God. When you listen to those traditions they void the Word of God from your mind. This is why Jesus called them hypocrites.

Editor's Note: I can't help but wonder what Jesus would think of our churches today? Oh! Wait a minute He did tell us what He think of out 20th. century churches. Live Link to- Revelation 1 through 3  Pay especial attention to 2:9 & 3:9 They have something in common!

Mark 7:8 "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."

God is telling them that they are laying God's Word aside, and taking up their little quarterlies, their traditional thought that has been formed by their elders that go against God's Word. Jesus is holding all their rituals and traditions up to show just how stupid and foolish their have become. Their elders' traditions have been placed in a higher position than God's holy Word.

Mark 7:9 "And He said unto them. "Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition."

In fact, "full well", you have rejected the commandments of God, so that you can follow your own church traditions. Stop and look at some of the reasons that many of the rituals practices today got started in many churches. They all tie back to what father, mother, grandparents, and generations of the past substituted for any reason into their worship. Some super preacher of the past generation thought up some easy way to circumvent God's Word, and the family has been doing it ever since. Their thought was, "It doesn't matter if it goes against God's Word for it has always been done this way, and that is the way it will be done." This is the attitude of these Kenites Pharisees and religious leaders in Jesus day, and it is the same stupidity used today.

Old king Solomon hit the nail right on the head in Ecclesiastes 1:9; "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." In short what this is saying is that anything that has happened in the past, expect it to reappear in the future. There is nothing new under the sun. Because great great grandpa believed this, it gives me the right to be as he was. If it was passed down through the generation, it is tradition, and mankind today gives their traditions priority over God's Word and His commandments.

Editor's Note: "Give me that old time religion" Do they sing that in your church?

Live Link to-Church is not Christianity. God's Word is Christianity

Today we've got all sorts of creative ways to worship God and get religious and holy, as if somehow, as long as we call it Christian, our Father will give it His approval.

This attitude has spread not just within families but within church systems and denominations. They have come down to the dictation that their members be specifically baptized in their church, and it be done in such a way that their own rituals can be met. Many even require a letter to be on file in the pastor's office, or Communion is refused. How stupid and child's play in the house of God.

Jesus Christ paid the price and opened baptism and communion to all that believe in Jesus and repented of their sins in Jesus name. The records are kept in heaven and not in your church house as to whether a man, woman or child has the right to approach the throne of God. The traditionalist are making a mockery of God's Word before the non-believers, and the freedom that we have as a child of the living God, through His Son Jesus Christ. Traditions of men of the elders and deacons, and the men that peddle those traditions that go against God's Word will be held accountable for every word they speak, and action that they do. Christ called these people that substitute their traditions for His Word hypocrites, and you know that He knows who they are regardless what generation they live in.

Mark 7:10 "For Moses said, `Honour thy father and thy mother;' and 'Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:' "

Jesus is quoting to these Pharisees Scripture that came direct from the mouth of Moses, by the commandment of God. Exodus 20:12; "Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

Mark 7:11 "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.' "

That is what Moses said in the Scriptures, but this is what your traditions teach, this is what you say. What Jesus is stating in this verse takes a bit of explanation. "Corbin" is a gift that is given to the elders of a church. When "Corban" is given to an elder it is by free will when there is no responsibility or requirement that it be given. So what Christ is saying in this verse is: You throw your old mom and dad out into the street, through your tradition, and you dedicate their land and all their money and goods to the church and let them starve.

You say, that is okay that mom and dad starve, because I have given it all to the church. You say God smiles on that and that make it all right. Jesus Christ is saying, "it doesn't make it all right." If you do this to your mom and dad, you are going to die the death, and it is a serious thing. "Corbin", the reasoning away your actions of doing something that is wrong, and trying to make it appear to be right when it goes against what God's Word clearly states is wrong.

For a pastor to bless any act that goes against God's Word, is Corbin, and it is as much a sin as anything that is listed in God's Word. If God's Word doesn't say it is right, then it is wrong, and even the pastor that blesses the act becomes part of the Corbin. These are part of the traditions of men that Christ warned us about when He was feeding the multitude. When you are stumbling in your life, even in your church, be careful what you pick up along the way in your so-called worship.

Christianity is not a religion, but it is a reality. The commandments of God are real and will stand the test of time. They are of God and not of men

Move up 7 paragraphs and read it again.

Mark 7:12 "And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother."

Jesus is saying, after you give all their money to the church to improve your right stand before the church, then you forget your mother and father and their needs, it causes you to be concerned only for your wants.

Editor's Note: When your pastor uses Malachi 3:7 to lay a quilt trip on you, remind him or her that you know what Malachi says and it wasn't written to you! It was written to him! Live Link to-Malachi






Mark 7:13 "Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye."



Jesus is telling these Kenite scribes and Pharisees that this is just one example of how your tradition make to none effect the Word of God. There are many other such things that you do that is just as bad in making void the Word of God. You can see now why Jesus has warned His disciples of the religious customs and practices of these Pharisees that crept in as leaven to make void the truth of God's Word.

If you wonder how your church stacks up in accordance to the Word of God, a child can answer that for you. Is the Word of God taught in your church chapter by chapter and verse by verse. line upon line and precept upon precept with understanding? Or do you have some preacher that demonstrates his knowledge of the world and their traditions, standing Sunday after Sunday and never really getting around to a complete in-depth study of God's Word. He may pick up the Bible, but if it is not taught as God instructs, he is nothing but a hireling. The wolf in sheep's' clothing, standing before the flock, and leading the sheep into another pasture. When you leave the service, ask yourself, What did he talk about? what was the subject, and how did he apply it to the Word? Is your teacher teaching so that you will understand, or is he putting on a show to entertain your mind. Is the Subject Christ and what is in the Word, or is it something of this world?

Editor's Note: As you leave the service does your wife turn to you and say, "Wasn't than a nice service Pastor so and so gave today?" Then you get into your car, drive away, never again thinking about what he preached on or even caring! In fact you don't think about church again until next Sunday when she says, "Honey, better hurry up, we'll be late for church." Then one hour later she again says, as you leave the church, 'Wasn't that a nice service Pastor so and so gave today?" IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT!

Stop and look at our communities today, most every corner in the community has a little church house, and the question that comes to mind is what is being taught there? Traditions or the Word of God? God looks at adultery in the same light as idolatry. Jesus bride is supposed to be faithful to Him, and when they go chasing after all the things of their tradition. they become unfaithful brides, they become nothing but whores in the eyes of God. This is said to educate you in the feelings of God's love and devotion to His own.

Mark 7:14 "And when He had called all the people unto him, He said unto them, "Hearken unto Me every one of you, and understand:"

Jesus is telling all the people that are standing by, and witnessing the conversation between Himself and these Pharisees from Jerusalem, "Hearken to what I am about to say, and listen real good."

Mark 7:15 "There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man."

Mark 7:16 "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear."

When Jesus says; "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear;" He is telling us to pay attention to what He is saying. It means that there is a deeper meaning to what He is saying. What this means is, no matter what you have taken into your mind, repent and come out of those traditions. You don't have to be ashamed by what any of those that are slaves to their traditions might say. Their words and thoughts will perish with them, if they don't repent.

We are witnessing today an underlining concern over the morals that are slipping and being removed from our land. At first people were proud to remove the things of the Bible from their school rooms, and government offices, until the results of that void have become a out of control generation. Kids killing kids, and all sorts of evil running in the streets of our land. Some government leaders, but not nearly enough, are starting to understand that when morals and the commandments of God are removed from the minds of the people, chaos and destruction will fill that void. Our laws and constitution are made up from the Word of God, and that is why it works when it is followed. It is also why godless men are trying to remove it from the land. That is the purpose of these Kenite leaders that have taken the controls through their hidden dynasties. Our leaders have so twisted the laws of the land that they have gained control of the organization of the church and how it should be run. They control the establishing of churches through their taxing laws.

Here at the American Wisdom Series our goal is to make you think about and question the wisdom of the current:
doctrine of many of our Christian churches, (The Man on a White Horse)
political direction of our country, (The Man on a Red Horse)
economic direction our country has taken, (The Man on a Black Horse)
 and teaching of our schools and media, (The Man on a Pale Horse)

The Four Hidden Dynasties of the New World Order Revelation 6:1-8
"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"
Did you know all four are being ridden by Satan?

Live Link to- "Mystery Babylon"

They allow prayer before the sessions of congress, yet remove the right of prayer in schools. You remove the morals of the people by shaping the morals of the new generation within their schools. They have taken away what is good and obvious, and in its place, they have placed traditional theories that can't be proven, yet want us to have faith and accept their fairy-tales. Theories and doctrines are just plain unnatural, and anytime something is unnatural it doesn't matter what religion you are, for it is human nature to accept that which is strange.

The Kenites established their traditions of Jesus day much the same way that our traditions of today are established. The people take the words of man over the Word of God, and suppress what God had to say on the matter. This is human nature, because man likes to place his own reasoning capacity over taking God's Word by faith.

Our Heavenly Father has written in His Word that things would grow worse in the final generation, and they have. We are the chief nation of the free world today and it is no accident, yet even with all the blessings that God has given to us, major trouble still exists. However the thing that defiles each individual is what is in their mind, it is what they believe to be true. That is what defiles you, or allows you to see the truth. It is what you accept as the truth that causes you to do the things that you do. And from your understanding within your mind, you either have the eyes to see and the ears to hear the truth with understanding, or you do not. The defiling you your self and body comes from your mind and what you believe, and not by what you eat and goes into your mouth. That is what God will hold you accountable for.

Mark 7:17 "And when He was entered into the house from the people, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable."

After Jesus had said what He said to these Pharisees, Jesus and His disciples went into a house and the disciples asked Him to explain what He had just said. This parable is important for you and me to understand also.

Mark 7:18 "And He saith unto them, "Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into a man, it cannot defile him;"

It doesn't matter what man allows to enter his physical body, that doesn't defile his soul. Somebody can hang all sorts of computer chips, and other things all over your body, and it will not defile your soul. Consider the "mark of the beast" that all people will accept in the time of the Antichrist. If you were forced by strong men to receive a computer chip in your head, would that have any sway over what you knew to be true? Of course not. You believe what you know to be true in your mind. No matter what man does to your physical body, your mind is private to you and God only. That is what counts. The "mark of the beast", and taking Satan's number 6-6-6 is to accept as truth in your mind the things of Satan. It is to think in your mind that Satan, the one that comes first at the sixth trump, to be the True Christ. When you think that Satan is Christ because of your doctrines, such as the rapture doctrine, then you will worship Satan, when he comes to earth in person, even if in ignorance. That is the taking of the mark of the beast. It has nothing to do with anything ON your forehead; It is what's IN your forehead God cares about!

Revelation 13:17 "And that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."

Revelation 13:18 "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred three score and six."

The taking of the number 6-6-6, in the Greek is "stigma", an old Greek word drawing attention to its use for "counting". It is # 5585 in the Strong's Greek dictionary; "phephizo, psay-fid-zo; form 5586, to use pebbles in enumeration, i.e., to compute; count." We read in # 5586; "Psephos, psay'-fos; from the same as 5584, a pebble (as worn smooth by handling, i.e.(used as a counter or ballot) a verdict or acquittal or ticket of admission; b vote, by stone or voice." Then in # 5584 we read; "to manipulate, to verify by contract, to search for handle or touch." Their methods have come down over many years, and these Kenites have worn their doctrines and traditions smooth over thousands of years. We are not talking about a actual number here, but a method of identifying these Kenites and their traditions, and the accepting those traditions as being truth. That is what is taken or sealed in your mind as being truth and forces you to either accept Satan as the Christ an worshipped, or rejecting him as the fake he is.

It is the using of stones over and over for a long period of time making them smooth, has gagged the accuracy of what you are doing or going to do. Those stones are the "Kenites" and their doctrines, and when you use their doctrines in gagging truth of these end times you will be deceived and taken by Satan who is the false christ, the Antichrist.

Some of the most silliest teaching and ideas are formed right here in this end generation, and men and women eat it up as the truth. God doesn't judge anyone by their high technology. He doesn't judge you by what somebody else paints on your body, but God judges you by what you think in your mind and act on as being the truth. God judges you by whether you love Him, and worship Him, or worship Satan and the things of this world and yourself.

You're not judged by what you hear, by what goes into your mind, but you are judged by what part of what you hear that you hang on to and act upon. It is what is in your mind that causes you to worship the way that you do, and when it goes against God's Word, then you will be accountable and you judged by those things.

Mark 7:19 "Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught," purging all meats?"

Jesus is comparing their words to what you eat through your mouth. Their words enter your mind, just like the meat that you eat enters into your belly and in time passes right through you as body waste. You had better be able to discard their words as waste also, just as your physical body discards its waste, that which is unacceptable to its use. Words and thoughts do mean something, and are just as real as the meat that you eat. When something goes against God's Word, God expects you to discard it from your mind, and find it just as repugnant as the waste from your body.

Mark 7:20 "And He said, "That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man."

It is what you allow your mind to think and believe is what will defile you, in the eyes of God. Those words in your mind will take for in the words that you say and the way that you worship. You don't have to talk to a person very long to tell what is in their mind. For every thing that a person finds important will be formed around his conversation. God doesn't have to wait until you speak to find out what is in your mind, for He knows what you are thinking before the words are formed in your mouth.

Now stop and think for a moment, What was in the mind of these Pharisees that came down from Jerusalem to question Jesus? The big boys from the main church wanted to know if what they had heard of Jesus was true. They wanted to know if Jesus' teachings were against their traditions, and Jesus told them to their face exactly what He thought of their traditions. He told them that they allowed their church to create traditions that went against the teaching of the prophets and God's Word. He referred to this as "Corban" in verse eleven. Jesus knew that these Pharisees and high priests were trying to kill him for teaching God's Word, and pointing out the error of their teaching. What Jesus taught was love towards one another, and the central theme of these Kenites was to murder and kill those that went against their traditions.

Mark 7:21 "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,"

All of the evil that comes from the actions of any man, starts in the heart which is the mind a that person. When Jesus spoke of murder, He knew that this was in the mind of these wicked Pharisees from Jerusalem.

Mark 7:22 "Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:"

"An evil eye" is envy, while "foolishness" is "senselessness", the acting without thought of what you are doing.

Mark 7:23 "All these evil things come from within, and defile the man."

It is through the traditions of men that people are convicted. Their own traditions cause them to defile themselves, and cause condemnation on their own souls. Many of these so called preachers that love to accuse others of all sorts of sins, never get around to teaching the truths in-depth of God's Word. As they accuse others, they in turn are condemning themselves. Many church systems formulate their traditions as a method of binding their people to their system, and making them feel special to be associated with their system. They do this through their forms of baptism, the requirements for communion, the requirements for accepting their letter of membership, and many other things to bind them to their group.

These church systems use their traditions to focus the attention to themselves and away from God's Word, and the importance becomes the belonging to their society, and not the membership to the body of Christ, and the Word of God. The church leaders want the tithe flowing into the group, for it becomes their security blanket, their pension funds and the building of monuments to themselves. They do this to imprison people
rather than teaching the freedom that we have in Chris
t
. So it is not what goes into the mind but what comes out of it. This has nothing to do with the health laws, but it is worded in such a way that people think that is what is being referred to. It is a spiritual parable and not a physical parable.

Mark 7:24 "And from thence He arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but He could not be hid."

Jesus got up and walked fifty miles to the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and went into this certain man's house. Jesus did not advertise His coming but when He arrived He simply could not hid the fact that He was there. Jesus came to this house for a purpose, to accomplish one thing. After Jesus completes this act, He will walk the fifty miles right back to where He came from. It is important that we know this thing that Jesus did. Jesus is not doing this to bring the attention to the multitudes, but to make a certain point.

Mark 7:25 "For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of Him, and came and fell at His feet:"

This woman most likely heard that Jesus was coming from this supernatural evil spirit that possessed her daughter. The spirit world knows who Jesus is, that He is the Son of God.

Mark 7:26 "The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought Him that He would cast forth the devil out of her daughter."

Syrophenician
#4949 Surophoinissa (soo-rof-oy'-nis-sah);
feminine of a compound of 4948 and the same as 5403; a Syro-phoenician woman, i.e. a female native of Phoenicia in Syria: 
KJV-- Syrophenician.

The word "Greek", should read "Gentile", meaning she was not of the twelve tribes of Israel; neither of the house of Israel nor of the house of Judah. "Syrophenician", meant that she was from "Phoenicia in Syria", rather than an Phoenician from north Africa. It was from the evil spirit within the child that let her know that Jesus had the power to cast that spirit out of the girl. The spirit probably spouted out that He was come to send me back to where I came from. This woman heard the words, and went to get Jesus to dispatch the demon back to where he belonged.

The point to remember here is that this woman and her daughter were Gentiles, and until Christ died on the cross, salvation was not opened to Gentiles yet. The gifts were not open but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. This is why Jesus said of this same record in Matthew 15:24; "But He answered and said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." " Those lost sheep of the house of Israel are the offspring of the ten tribes that made up the old House of Israel that was scattered by the Assyrians between 745 and 723 B.C., and the lost house of Israel had lost their identity through their migrations. [These are the descendants of those 10 tribes who eventually settled in Western Europe and on into the Americas; They make up the Christian nations of our world, today] Salvation did not apply to this Gentile woman at this time because she was not of the house of Israel.

Live Link to-"Do you know who you really are?"  Are you a Israelite?
Live Link to-
"Israel's Lost Tribes"

Mark 7:27 "But Jesus said unto her, "Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs."

The term used here for "dogs" is a figure of speech, and don't let it bother you. Jesus is not calling this woman a dog, because Christ loves all people including this Gentile woman. Jesus is teaching here and trying to make a point. That point is that it is not yet time for salvation to come to the Gentile peoples.

Mark 7:28 "And she answered and said unto Him, "Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs."

You can see this woman's faith within this statement. This woman humbled herself before the living God.

Mark 7:29 "And He said unto her, "For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter."

The reason that Jesus cast the evil demon out of this woman's daughter was because of a covenant by faith of this woman. Jesus did not see the child, nor did He go to her presence. However He drove the evil spirit from her. Jesus had the power to do this, and He gave that same power to us living today, if you have the faith and the knowledge to use that faith. We learn how to use that faith from His Word.

Mark 7:30 "And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed."

She had the faith to believe that Jesus had already cast out the devil, and she went home to witness it for herself. Jesus had walked one hundred miles just to do this one act and upon completion of that act, he returned out of Tyre and Sidon, and went back home to Galilee.

Mark 7:31 "And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, He came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis."

"Tyre" means "rock" and this is one of the names for Satan. When the Kenites are referred to as the "stones worn smooth over a long period of time", they are the chip off their rock, their father Satan, through Cain. This is what Ezekiel 28 is all about, for their [the Kenites'] rock is not like our Rock who is Christ. So this is telling us that Jesus went right into the camp of Satan, to cast out one of Satan's demons right under his nose. Jesus did not do one other thing other than cleansing this one child, this was an advance notice that the kingdom of God would be open to all very shortly, for all those that would believe on Him, and repent in His name. Even if it were a Kenite, and offspring of Cain, if he or she would believe in Jesus and repent of their sins there would be forgiven at the cross of Christ.

It was for this reason that while Christ was in the tomb, He went to those that had passed away of all races and peoples, and preached to them and brought many of them with him to their salvation. Many accepted Christ and became overcomers.

I Peter 3:18 "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit."

I Peter 3:19 "By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison,"

I Peter 3:20 "Which sometimes were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, where few, that is, eight souls were saved. "

When Christ was in the tomb, He went to the prisoners, which is to say those that had passed away prior to Jesus' death. Christ preached salvation to them there in the prison that held their soul. Then they were allow to hear and accept and become over comers at that time. God is fair in all of the things that He says or does, for in time all of the children of God are offered salvation for their soul.

Mark 7:32 "And they bring unto Him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech Him to put His hand upon him."

We have a man that is deaf and dumb here, he cannot speak nor can he hear.

Mark 7:33 "And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers into his ears, and He spit, and touched his tongue;"

Mark 7:34 "And looking up to heaven, He sighed, and saith unto him, "Ephphatha, that is, "Be opened."

Jesus looked up into heaven and He groaned, and asked in Aramic Hebrew, that this man's mouth and mind be opened.

Mark 7:35 "And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain."

Mark 7:36 "And He charged them that they should tell no man: but the more He charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;"

The reason that Jesus groaned was that these people that stood by, watched and while they observed they did not have the eyes to see what was happening, nor the ears to hear what Jesus was telling them. Even Jesus' own disciples could see what was happening, they heard the explanation that was given them, yet as these healings took place they were blind to the lessons that Jesus was teaching them. Jesus' disciples saw all these things happening many times over, yet they just didn't get what Jesus is telling them. In the next chapter Jesus is going to feed a multitude of people again, just to demonstrate the parable of the sower. Yet again they just can't seem to get what He is telling them. There is a deeper truth in this saying "Ephphatha", "be opened" than this man receiving his tongue and mind, for it goes into the spiritual understanding that comes with it.

Mark 7:37 "And were beyond measure astonished, saying, "He hath done all things well: He maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak."

An evil spirit can reach the heart and mind of a person and poison that person. However Jesus gave you and me the gift, even under the captivity to have power over those evil spirits, and free those that are bound by those evil spirits.

Jesus expects us to read His word and pay attention to even the little things, for those with eyes to see and ears to hear with understanding will pick up on the in-depth meanings of His parables and warnings. If you get to the point that you think that you know all that there is about God's Word, the only one that is deceived is yourself. That is why we must stay in God's Word and beware of the traditions of men.

God can take any person, no matter what their past, and make a teacher out of him, and give him or her the gift of pastor-teacher. God can do anything with anybody if you pick yourself up, and make yourself somebody. The first step starts with you, not God for He has already done His part, now He is waiting for you to do your part. There is no person in this world that can take that first step for you. It starts with your commitment in your mind when you call out to Him in repentance in Jesus name, He will help you to take the rest of the steps. He is asking you to let Him Help you, but you are the one to make that decision. A yoke is used to shift your burdens off your shoulders and place your burden on Christ.

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heaven laden, and I will give you rest." [28] "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." [29] "For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." [30]

Only you yourself can make that decision for yourself, with the help of Christ. Open your eyes and ears to make a stand; and say; "Today I will be a child of God, and put a purpose in my life." You put the purpose there and God will put a destiny to your life.

                        
To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.  We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.


The American Wisdom Series

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