By their Fruits You Shall Know Them
By their Fruits You Shall Know Them
By
James Scott Trimm
Recently, while studying tractate Baba Metzia (in the Talmud) I saw something in this tractate that I had not seen before. I was studying the Torah regulations concerning the liability of a guardian of property, and I came across a precept which is actually oft repeated in the Talmud which says “One cannot transfer ownership of that which has not come into the world.” (b.Gittin 43a; b.Baba Metzia 33b and 63a). This precept tells us that under Jewish law, one cannot, for example, sell a crop that has not yet grown to fruition. One cannot sell fruit that has not yet grown. This time the precept spoke to me in a way that it never had before. I suddenly had a flash of insight about this precept that I would like to share with you.
It is important to realize that sometimes when we study Torah we may seem to be studying something very mundane. For example about who can transfer property to whom under what conditions, and what that person’s liability is.
But we must always remember that the Torah is the very expression of the mind of YHWH. As we read in the Tanya:
…the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are one. The meaning of this is that the Torah, which is the wisdom and will of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His glorious Essence are one, since He is both the Knower and the Knowledge,…
(Tanya Chapter 4)
And as the Tanya also says:
For the Holy One, blessed be He, has compressed His will and wisdom within the 613 commandments of the Torah, and in their laws, as well as within the combination of the letters of the Torah, the books of the Prophets and the Hagiographa, and in the exposition thereof which are to be found in the Agadot and Midrashim of our Rabbis of blessed memory.
(Tanya Chapter 4)
So when we study the Torah, however mundane we might think the material we are studying is, the Torah gives us direct insight into the very mind of YHWH.
Our Messiah Yeshua said:
16 But by their fruits you will recognize them. Are grape clusters gathered from
thorns, or figs from thistles?
17 Even so every good tree yields good fruit, but every bad tree yields bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot yield bad fruit; neither can a bad tree yield good fruit.
19 But indeed, every tree that yields not good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire.
20 And you, by their fruit, you will know them.
21 Not everyone that says to Me, Adonai, Adonai, will enter into the Kingdom of
Heaven. But he that does the will of My Father, which is in heaven--the same will enter
with Me, into the Kingdom of Heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, Adonai, Adonai! Did we not eat and drink in your
Name: and have we not prophesied in your Name, and in your Name have cast out
shadim: and in your Name done many powerful works?
23 And then will I profess to them, that I know them not. Depart from Me, all you
workers of Torah-less-ness.
(Matt. 7:16-23 HRV)
Some Greek manuscripts contain a marginal note to Mt. 7:21-23 which reads “The Judaikon [Jewish version] has here:
“If you are in my bosom and do not the will of my Father which is in heaven, out of my bosom will I cast you away.”
The “Church Father” Clement (early 2nd cent.) seems to support such a reading. He writes:
“The Lord has said ‘Though you should be joined to me, even in my very bosom and keep not my commandments, I would cast you off, and say to you, ‘Depart from me; I know not who you are, you workers of iniquity.’’”
(2Clement 4:5 (2:15 some editions))
But why are these workers of Torah-less-ness rejected to strongly by Messiah?
The answer lies in the very precept that “One cannot transfer ownership of that which has not come into the world.”
Do not get me wrong, our salvation is free, there is nothing we must do to earn salivation. The price has already been paid by the Messiah. However before the transfer of property can take place, there must be fruits. When the seed of Torah is planted in our wisdom understanding and knowledge, it will naturally sprout forth and produce fruits in our speech and in our actions.
These Torah-less-ones believed they had been acquired by Messiah… they believed they had been redeemed from the enemy. But they had never been acquired by Messiah, ownership was never transferred because they had never produced any fruit. Just as a non-existent crop cannot be redeemed under Jewish law, their non-existent fruits could not be redeemed. Thus we are told “by their fruits you shall know them.”
By
James Scott Trimm
Recently, while studying tractate Baba Metzia (in the Talmud) I saw something in this tractate that I had not seen before. I was studying the Torah regulations concerning the liability of a guardian of property, and I came across a precept which is actually oft repeated in the Talmud which says “One cannot transfer ownership of that which has not come into the world.” (b.Gittin 43a; b.Baba Metzia 33b and 63a). This precept tells us that under Jewish law, one cannot, for example, sell a crop that has not yet grown to fruition. One cannot sell fruit that has not yet grown. This time the precept spoke to me in a way that it never had before. I suddenly had a flash of insight about this precept that I would like to share with you.
It is important to realize that sometimes when we study Torah we may seem to be studying something very mundane. For example about who can transfer property to whom under what conditions, and what that person’s liability is.
But we must always remember that the Torah is the very expression of the mind of YHWH. As we read in the Tanya:
…the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are one. The meaning of this is that the Torah, which is the wisdom and will of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His glorious Essence are one, since He is both the Knower and the Knowledge,…
(Tanya Chapter 4)
And as the Tanya also says:
For the Holy One, blessed be He, has compressed His will and wisdom within the 613 commandments of the Torah, and in their laws, as well as within the combination of the letters of the Torah, the books of the Prophets and the Hagiographa, and in the exposition thereof which are to be found in the Agadot and Midrashim of our Rabbis of blessed memory.
(Tanya Chapter 4)
So when we study the Torah, however mundane we might think the material we are studying is, the Torah gives us direct insight into the very mind of YHWH.
Our Messiah Yeshua said:
16 But by their fruits you will recognize them. Are grape clusters gathered from
thorns, or figs from thistles?
17 Even so every good tree yields good fruit, but every bad tree yields bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot yield bad fruit; neither can a bad tree yield good fruit.
19 But indeed, every tree that yields not good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire.
20 And you, by their fruit, you will know them.
21 Not everyone that says to Me, Adonai, Adonai, will enter into the Kingdom of
Heaven. But he that does the will of My Father, which is in heaven--the same will enter
with Me, into the Kingdom of Heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, Adonai, Adonai! Did we not eat and drink in your
Name: and have we not prophesied in your Name, and in your Name have cast out
shadim: and in your Name done many powerful works?
23 And then will I profess to them, that I know them not. Depart from Me, all you
workers of Torah-less-ness.
(Matt. 7:16-23 HRV)
Some Greek manuscripts contain a marginal note to Mt. 7:21-23 which reads “The Judaikon [Jewish version] has here:
“If you are in my bosom and do not the will of my Father which is in heaven, out of my bosom will I cast you away.”
The “Church Father” Clement (early 2nd cent.) seems to support such a reading. He writes:
“The Lord has said ‘Though you should be joined to me, even in my very bosom and keep not my commandments, I would cast you off, and say to you, ‘Depart from me; I know not who you are, you workers of iniquity.’’”
(2Clement 4:5 (2:15 some editions))
But why are these workers of Torah-less-ness rejected to strongly by Messiah?
The answer lies in the very precept that “One cannot transfer ownership of that which has not come into the world.”
Do not get me wrong, our salvation is free, there is nothing we must do to earn salivation. The price has already been paid by the Messiah. However before the transfer of property can take place, there must be fruits. When the seed of Torah is planted in our wisdom understanding and knowledge, it will naturally sprout forth and produce fruits in our speech and in our actions.
These Torah-less-ones believed they had been acquired by Messiah… they believed they had been redeemed from the enemy. But they had never been acquired by Messiah, ownership was never transferred because they had never produced any fruit. Just as a non-existent crop cannot be redeemed under Jewish law, their non-existent fruits could not be redeemed. Thus we are told “by their fruits you shall know them.”
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