Weekend Meditation--The Silent Tongue, Is Silence Really Golden?

Ecclesiastes 3:1-10; Isaiah 62:1; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Ephesians 4:26-27; 1 Corinthians 13; Matthew 7:2, 18:35

We are walking in today:  Weekend Meditation--The Silent Tongue, Is Silence Really Golden?

Witness silent throughout the Bible: H1826 damam to be silent, be still, wait, be dumb, grow dumb, to be silent, to be still, die, to be struck dumb, to be silenced, be made silent, destroyed

Leviticus 10:3; Isaiah 26:16, 42:14. 62:1, 62:6; Amos 5:12-14; Habakkuk 1:3, 2:20; Zephaniah 1:7, 2:17; Psalm 32:3, 39:10, 50:3; Mark 14:61; Luke 20:26 

This arrangement of the 613 principles, the law of our Lord God Almighty, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is from the book by Rabbi Ralph Messer, Torah: Law Or Grace? Kingdom Principles For Kingdom Living.  This book can be ordered online here or in the store if you are in the Denver area here.  



The Fourth Commandment Exodus 20:8-11 Remember the Sabbath day, to sanctify it .  Six days you shall work and accomplish all your work; the seventh day is Sabbath to the Lord, your God; you shall not do any work--you, your son, your daughter, your slave, your maidservant, your animal, and your convert within your gates--for in six day the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and He rested the seventh day.  Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it. 
373. You may demand payment of debts from a gentile--debts not remitted in the 7th year --Deuteronomy 15:3

374. You shall not refuse to lend to your destitute brother because the year of remission is near --Deuteronomy 15:9 Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee.

375. You shall not send your Hebrew bondservant away empty-handed --Deuteronomy 15:13 And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty:

376. You shall adorn your Hebrew bondservant generously from your flocks, from your threshing floor, and from your wine cellar --Deuteronomy 15:14 Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.

377. You shall not eat leavened bread with the Passover --Deuteronomy 16:3
Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.

378. You shall rejoice on your Festivals --Deuteronomy 16:14 And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.

379. You shall observe the requirements for taking a woman captured in war as a wife --Deuteronomy 21:11 And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;

380. You shall not sell a woman captured in war --Deuteronomy 21:14 And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.

381. You shall not enslave a woman captured in war --Deuteronomy 21:14
382. You shall not turn over a slave who is rescued from his master to you --Deuteronomy 23:15 Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee:
383. You shall not taunt a slave who is rescued from his master to you --Deuteronomy 23:16 He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him.

384. You shall observe the laws of marriage and divorce --Deuteronomy 24:1 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.

385. A husband shall be free for his home for the first year --Deuteronomy 24:5 When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken.

386. You shall read the Torah to all of Israel during Sukkot in each Sabbatical year --Deuteronomy 31:12 Gather the people together, men and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:
While we close out the taming of the tongue today, we may have thought that we were able to bypass any harm by being silent.  Hold on, that is not always the answer!   There is a time to be quiet, yet we are not to abuse this.  Can that be possible?  Ok how about giving someone the silent treatment?  Ignoring them outright.  This is more than an cooling off period for both people to settle down to able to speak and be heard clearly.  This is the holding on to this silence and not seeking to resolve the issue.  We are not to allow things to fester and set into bitterness and hardened anger.  Some of us may have thought, in our error, that not responding was the right response.  Try again!  We are to resolve the issues we have with each other for the well being of the relationship, family and community.  We have seen when issues go unresolved that many others become involved that have no actual say nor were they harmed but have now gathered with their opinion!  The longer the 'conversation' is delayed it can take that much longer to restore the relationship.  We have to understand that the silent treatment is actually abuse--with holding attention for the sake of punishment when we should be working to resolve the issue and not allowing it to drag on and become a worst situation.  We have come through all the 30 different tongues in the taming of our tongue--now we will be aware of that which causes division and is in conflict with His directions for our lives.  To hear more of this teaching click here.