A Leaning Lady

I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my myrrh along with my balsam.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk.
Eat, friends; drink and imbibe deeply, O lovers.”

Of all the righteous ones of Scripture, Avraham and Sarah were the best known for the hospitality to strangers, especially when they received the three angels. (So 5:1)

Good gardening is good hospitality to the voice of Adonai, His holy Presence. Because human beings, particularly believers walking in the Way of Yeshua, are in His image, practicing hospitality toward people of faith is an especially sweet fruit of the Ruach HaKodesh.

“Given to hospitality” is not a light characteristic to the righteous. It is integral. It was incorporated into the believers’ daily habits in the Books of Acts, and it is a vital quality for an elderwoman of the congregation…

The number 60 is signified by the Hebrew letter samekh, which means to support, sustain, to lean upon, ordain:

• “Moses did just as the LORD commanded him; and he took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.” (Nu 27:22-23)
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The appearance of the letter samekh is round, like a wheel. A burden may be moved more easily in a wheeled cart than dragged or carried, and to ordain someone for ministry is to infuse them with the spiritual strength to be that person who eases the burdens that others must carry for the Kingdom. The anointing of the ordination is to help that servant bear the suffering for that ministry in the Kingdom. As those who ordain must lean their hands upon the one receiving the ordination, so others will lean upon him or her to ease their suffering.

Those who plead for an anointing may not understand exactly what they’re asking for. With the anointing comes the suffering!

By the age of 60, the individual is considered to have committed his or her best physical years to the royal priesthood, slightly different from the Levites, who formally served from ages 25 to 50 (Nu 8:23-26). This did not preclude them from assisting their younger brothers, serving as mentors. The holy Mishkan/Mikdash work was physically demanding as well as exacting.

At the age of 60, a righteous woman has achieved an age where she needs physical support as her due for devoting her life as a royal priestess to the support of the righteous community and her family. She is still a teacher and mentor to the younger, but as others have leaned upon her, now she must lean upon others for physical support:

• “A widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than sixty years old, having been the wife of one man, having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work.” (1 Ti 5:9-10)

The age of 60 suggests that she has fulfilled the days of her ordination to every good work. Just as Levites were still entitld to portions from the Temple gifts after retirement, so a righteous elderwoman is entitled to eat from the common fund of the congregation she’s served.

Paul defines for Timothy the behaviors that are elderwoman good works according to the Word:

1 bringing up children
2 showing hospitality to righteous strangers
3 washing the feet of the righteous (extended hospitality as in #2)
4 recognizing and assisting those in distress

A reputation is a “name,” and Ruach-filled women who demonstrated this vital attribute of a good name were entitled to full benefits from their congregations in old age. It was NOT the responsibility of the government, but her congregation if her family was unable to provide.

Hospitality is that vital in doing good works, both to relieve the distress of the righteous as well one’s own family. Through her hospitable good works, the elder woman has offered aromatic spices as a royal priestess, making the Holy Name famous. Those aromatic spices are those of good reputation that the Bridegroom Messiah Yeshua will gather into the Garden.

Honoring other believers with hospitality is not just an old lady fruit of the Ruach. It is expected of EVERY believer as an outworking of love.

Remember, love is not always an emotion. Love can be a preference for one thing over another or one person over another in a specific situation. This does not negate Peter and James’ admonitions that “God is not a respecter of persons.” It explains it:

• “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?” (Mt 22:44 KJV)
• ‘Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet and make them know that I have loved you.” (Re 3:9)

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• Opening his mouth, Peter said:“I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.” (Acts 10:34-35)

For context, the “synagogue of Satan” or “seed of Satan” meant something specific in the First Century. It meant someone who misapplied the Words of Scripture, twisting them like a serpent. The Hillel Pharisees, with whom Yeshua’s teaching frequently aligned, welcomed converts to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, seeing them as children of Abraham, the person who first came to YHVH in faith from a house of idolatry.

The Shammai Pharisees, Sadducees, and other sects rejected Gentile converts. In fact, they did not believe the Gentiles had a place in the World to Come, so they took advantage of the Gentiles who came to the Temple to purchase a sacrifice. If the Gentile did not know to designate his coins to the person at the moneytable, the moneychanger (who exchanged tokens for the sacrifice) would divert the money to the Temple fund for repairs and upkeep, not the sacrifice the Gentile believed he/she had purchased with the money. This infuriated Yeshua! This was not the purpose of the Temple! This was the synagogue of Satan, twisting the Torah to exclude unsuspecting Gentiles. The Shammai Pharisees looked the other way when this happened.

The House of Prayer for all nations was for the “man who fears what is right.” He was welcome there, no matter his lineage or economic situation. This is what the Hillel Pharisees taught, which is what Peter and Paul (a Hillel Pharisee) later affirm, and which John establishes as the norm in his “synagogue of Satan” reference. A righteous Gentile will find himself assigned a higher place in the Kingdom than those who sought to exclude him.

Yet, it is not “right” for the visitor to desecrate the sanctuary in which he is a guest, for to do so would be inhospitable to that very relationship he seeks in the House. Both those who serve and those who visit are obligated to bless one another, which brings down the blessing of peace from the Voice of Elohim, especially through the Birkhat HaKohanim (Aaronic Benediction). One new man.

• “Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS’? But you have made it a ROBBERS’ DEN.” (Mk 11:15-17)

Inhospitality to those seeking the Voice of Adonai is inhospitality to the Presence of Adonai Himself.

Those who are judged and sentenced to the Kingdom “footstool” by Adonai are enemies of the faith, whether through hostility to Him and His holy ones or unrepentant hypocrisy. A fellow believer should be honored, loved [preferred], and judged according to his active faith, not his bank account. We judge our own assemblies with righteousness according to our brotherhood:

• “My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,’ have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?” (Ja 2:1-4)

The key is that both visitors to the synagogue were righteous men seeking to worship and hear the Word read on Shabbat. To look at two righteous men and show favoritism to the rich one IS wicked. Since we are to judge within our own communities, James says we are evil judges to do such a thing. Favoritism is to be shown the righteous over the wicked, not to set a fellow-believer in a lower place because he lacks money, power, or fine appearance.

• “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.” (Ro 12:6-13)

Practicing hospitality to fellow believers is “incense,” spices fit for the Mishkan.

• Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. (He 13:1-2)

Hospitality to the “brethren,” the righteous guest, signifies one’s willingness to welcome back the Presence of Elohim on earth. The Hebrew cognate to xenos, the Greek word for guest, stranger, visitor, is oreach, (the Sept. for ??????)

The best food, drink, and resting accommodations were prepared for the visitor. Footwashing was a mandatory courtesy:

• “Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree…” (Ge 18:4) Also Ge 24:32; 43:24

Even entering the Holy Land, the feet of the priests were supernaturally and hospitably “washed” as they crossed over.

• “…and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest)…” (Josh 3:15)

And finally, Yeshua demonstrated the righeousness required of the elderwoman:

• “Then He poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded… If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.” (Jo 13:5;14-15)

Yeshua did not wash the feet of the wicked, nor did he seek out those just looking for miracles or a feel-good sermon at his appointed time. He washed the feet of those who were committed to serving him both in this world and the World to Come. We should do good to all people, but ESPECIALLY to those of the household of faith. Yeshua was not interested in ordaining Lady Liberties, but the Leaning Ladies.

And Gentlemen.