The Milk and the Meat of the Word / April 2007
- Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
- I Corinthians 2:12-13
- And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Messiah. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?
- I Corinthians 3:1-3
- For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
- Hebrews 5:12-13
- Therefore, putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,
- I Peter 2:1-2
- And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
- Genesis 12:3
Contents
What teaching from the scripture should be given first to a believer coming into the Messianic movement? The Bible uses parables, stories, word pictures, and metaphors to teach and explain spiritual things. Paul described it this way.
One particular metaphor (word picture) given in the Scripture to explain how we learn the principles of Scripture is called the “Milk of the Word.” Conversely, there is a metaphor called the “Meat of the Word.” Here are several Scriptures that use these metaphors.
The metaphor is simple. A baby can not eat solid food nor meat when it first begins to take nourishment. Instead, milk is the only acceptable food source until the child matures enough to eat more solid food. Even then, baby food must be pureed to a liquid texture. The Scripture is saying the same. New believers in the faith (this includes new brethren in the Messianic Movement) need the “Milk of the Word” initially to grow in strength and faith. The Meat of the Word does not nourish nor strengthen a new believer; they just “choke” on it.
But let's ask an obvious question at this point. What exactly is the “Milk of the Word?” And for that matter, what is the “Meat of the Word?”
A child's needs are very basic. When a newborn baby first arrives the major activities are care and feeding. The key to success here is timeliness and attention. Feedings are small but frequent provided in a timely fashion. Mom will be up and down, even at night to change diapers and to provide the feedings. Even bottled milk assisted by Dad will require the right amount, very clean bottles, and the right temperature. Therefore, consistent and timely care and feeding is essential from the very beginning.
The first relationship the child generally comes to know is of his parents. Many English speaking babies learn “ma-ma” and “da-da” as their first words. Babies learn to recognize their father and mother along with their siblings first. The world comes later.
The first lessons of discerning and making judgments come when the child can begin to access other things in his world, such as the stove in the kitchen. It is a simple lesson but most parents are familiar with the lesson of “hot.” This is where you get at floor level with the child and you clearly pronounce and point to the stove, “HOT – HOT – HOT, hurt the baby. Do not touch. Hurt the Baby. HOT.” Then the baby says the word “HOT” and everything in their world is either “HOT” or is not. These first steps are equipping the child to help protect himself.
As the child grows, care and feeding turns into the meal routine and the house rules of behavior. Relationships expand to other family members and friends of the family. Discerning what is good or bad, what is true or false, what is right or wrong precedes reading or writing.
Consider our metaphor again about how we grow and learn the faith. There is a distinct pattern to the metaphor of life, and it tracks with the Torah (the teaching) given in Scripture.
Consistent Care and Feeding by the Torah
We all know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The Word of God already has a built-in schedule for routine and consistent feeding of the brethren. They are called Torah portions. Each Sabbath and the corresponding days within that week have a portion of Scripture to be read or heard. Each Sabbath leads to God's Appointed Times throughout the year. Each year leads to the Sabbatical year and ultimately to the Jubilee year. There is a clear and consistent pattern and cycle to the teaching of the Scriptures.
Babies begin with mother's milk and bottles but they grow to three squares a day. They also learn about birthdays and holidays with cakes and feasting.
A new believer finds the first teaching with substance in the Scripture is the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with the mothers. Abraham is called the “Father of Faith.” His faith was counted for righteousness. The book of Genesis (In the beginning) is dominated by the relationship between God and the Fathers and defined for us as promises from God and covenants (agreements with God). In fact, these agreements exist to this day and are beneficial to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is the basis for our spiritual inheritance and heritage.
The initial lessons of “HOT” are the first steps of the child's learning to discern. Frequently, children don't get it with just knowledge (my mother and father told me). They supplement their learning with touching the hot things to discover experiential truth with which they gain understanding. Wisdom takes shape when the child remembers the knowledge of “hot,” recounts the horrific experience of touching the “hot thing,” and then decides not to stick the small spoon into the electrical outlet.
Knowledge, understanding, and wisdom are the lessons of the Torah. They are the lessons of light and darkness, holy and profane, clean and unclean, pure and impure, kosher and treif (non-kosher). All of these lessons are for one purpose – to discern truth. In discerning truth, one comes to know God – the Creator, Redeemer, and Restorer of all things.
The Milk of the Word is the metaphor of learning. It is the Torah – consistently taught, the teachings of our spiritual Fathers and heritage, and the ingredients necessary to discern and know truth.
Let's look at this definition from another side, from the side of not being given the milk. There are a lot of children that grow up in the world without a home, parents, or anyone to teach them. There are also a lot of brethren in the faith who know nothing of the Torah portions, Sabbath, or festivals. They have heard of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob but have no heritage or identity with them. They are only historical characters to them. They also do not know the truth nor how to discern it. Their knowledge is incomplete, their understanding is limited, and their wisdom is flawed. Yet, they are resilient and survive by the grace of God, as spiritual orphans. But this not what we should be desiring.
Maybe you've already asked the question in your mind, but let's ask it now: Where does the Messiah fit into all of this? Is the Messiah part of the Milk of the Word?
Well, not exactly, but yes He is there. Let me explain. The Messiah liked to use the metaphor of bread, that He is the “bread of life;” He is the “true bread from heaven.” Have you ever heard of “milk toast?” The Torah has numerous places where the Messiah is being introduced to us in the midst of the milk. “Milk toast” is the original baby food of the world. But trying to eat bread without milk leads to a lack of critical nourishment and “digestive problems” for little ones. Milk is essential to proper growth, even the Messiah (the true bread from Heaven) asserts this in His own teaching.
Let's expand the three paths I have outlined so far: (1) The Teaching of the Torah, (2) The Relationships of Fathers and Mothers, and (3) Discerning the Truth. Each of these paths lead to serious topics of learning in the Scripture.
In Genesis 12, the story of the Abram (Abraham) and our fathers and mothers of the faith begins with a profound announcement of blessings and curses.
This is a milk principle in the Scripture. A believer learns from the earliest point of instruction by the Torah that obedience produces blessing and disobedience brings on curses. A child needs more than care and feeding; a child also requires training and discipline. A parent who does not discipline a child is guilty of neglect and abuse. The teaching of the Torah leads to a proper understanding of blessings and curses.
The Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob story is all about who gets the blessing. It wasn't Ishmael, the natural firstborn of Abraham, but Isaac who got the blessing. It wasn't Isaac's firstborn Esau who got the blessing, but Jacob. It was not Jacob's firstborn Reuben, but Joseph who received the favor of Jacob. And finally, it was not Joseph's firstborn, Manasses, but instead, it was Ephraim. The Torah teaches that the one who is promised, prophesied, favored, and chosen is the one who gets the blessing.
Human beings like to assert the principle of free men, always striving for equality where everything has to be fair. How many squabbles have you heard where children want what is fair among them. At the same time every child is unique and special in their own way. Wise parents learn to value every child based on who they are and not always on what is fair. In fact, parents who treat every child the same (fair is fair) actually devalue their children, relegating them to one of many.
The teachings of the Torah addresses the value of every individual and also charts a path for family, community, and national relationships that work. They are all part of the blessing and curse package.
The Torah teaches that blessings are powerful enough to affect 1,000 generations, whereas curses can reach to three and possibly four generations. The Torah teaches that the fatherly blessing on his children is key to living a peaceful and satisfying life. Truly unhappy people all suffer one common thing – they never received a blessing from their father.
People who follow the teaching of Torah gather at the Sabbath table each week, first blessing the Lord, then their spouses and their children.
Since blessings and curses have a direct relationship to the keeping of commandments and instructions of life, the teaching of Torah includes exactly that – the commandments of God. Maturity in the faith is directly dependent upon knowing what is a commandment and what is a tradition. One of the greatest mistakes in the faith is substituting a man-made precept or tradition in place of a commandment. This was part of Yeshua's definition of learning the Torah. “If anyone teaches another so as to annul the least of these commandments, he shall be least in the kingdom.” (Matthew 5:19a)
Have you ever asked yourself why some men, even unbelievers, seem to have a lot of blessings, whereas the righteous seem to not have the blessings? This is a milk teaching of the Scripture. Whether you believe the Lord or not, if you obey His commandments, you get the blessing. And even if you are a believer, if you disobey, you get the curses.
Righteousness is directly related to the blessings–obedience produces blessings. Many believers do not understand this principle because they are malnourished. They have not been fed the Milk of the Word. Their definition of blessings and curses is distorted, similar to a child who is vitamin deficient with weak bones and no hair.
Relationships of Fathers and Mothers
A child eventually learns that having a father and mother they receive promises, protection, family, inheritance, and heritage. As a believer grows in faith, he also learns that he is part of something bigger than just himself. He learns about Israel and God's covenants with His people. He learns the story of creation and redemption. Messianic believers also learn about our future restoration. This is how the Messiah is explained to us along with the concepts of grace, mercy, redemption, and salvation.
The Milk of the Word includes the story of Joseph – the story of redemption. It tells how Joseph was chosen by his father Jacob but rejected by his brothers. He was cast in a pit and sold into slavery. But God raised Joseph up to a position of authority to provide food to his starving brethren. Eventually, those brethren will live with Joseph in safety. But, then another Pharaoh came to power who did not remember Joseph. The children of Israel (Jacob) became oppressed. God intervened on their behalf and redeemed them out of Egypt. A great salvation took place and God established them as a free nation with His rules as law.
It is from the Torah that we learn about grace (unmerited favor) from God. God promised Abraham that He would bring his descendants back to the land from Egypt. Faith is believing the promises of God and is counted for righteousness. Righteousness has an intimate relationship with justice. Justice demands payment (sacrifices) for wrongs or damages done. But once payment (propitiation) is made, salvation is received. The simple teaching is “salvation is by faith,” not salvation by works nor the keeping commandments. Paul's teaching of justification by faith and not obedience is the teaching of the Torah.
Our salvation is provided by our loving Heavenly Father. Children learn that a loving father has very strong arms. They can reach down and lift you out danger very quickly. Our Heavenly Father did the same when He delivered Israel out of Egypt.
Where is the Messiah in this? What happened in Egypt can be seen as a word picture of sorts for all men. All men are slaves to their sins, stuck in Egypt. But the Messiah, like Moses, brings the message of deliverance. The Exodus story is the “milk” teaching of when the Messiah will gather all of the exiles scattered throughout the world from all generations. If we are to grow into the Messiah and understand His great work of redemption, then we must learn the Milk of the Word for the same teaching.
Children have a natural instinct to learn; they want to explore and experience the world they were born into. Gaining knowledge is crucial to having a productive and successful life. This is why we establish schools for children. Elementary education is just for children, however, the learning reaches to our final days of life. When a person stops learning, he essentially stops growing and living.
The gaining of knowledge is an important component to finding and grasping the truth. It is a “milk” teaching of the Word that truth is determined (established) by the evidence of two or three. In other words, no one piece of evidence, no one eyewitness can establish the truth; there must be confirmation.
We have seen it many times. A believer will jump on one topic of interest and project forward into a controversial (different) teaching and unsettle a whole community of brethren. Knowledge is power, and some brethren (immature in the faith) can cause great harm.
The same goes for children. We don't let children play with matches or fire. We definitely do not let small children around a blow torch. The reason is simple. They will burn the place down, hurt themselves, and many others around them.
Understanding is gained by experience. A man of understanding is simply a man with many experiences (both good and bad). Most fathers will say to their children, “Do what I say so you won't make the same mistakes I made.” Young men and women in their teen years challenge the ground rules simply because they want to learn by experience and gain understanding.
The proper way to gain experience is to be taught as a disciple or apprentice. A teacher, one with knowledge and experience, is the path to mastery and skill. The very act of teaching the Torah is to mentor one in the faith. Actually participating in keeping the commandments is where understanding takes shape. It is one thing to speak of the commandment of Sabbath; it is another to actually cease from your labor and rest. Many Christians have participated in “communion services,” but until they sit at a Passover Seder, eat the Afikoman, and drink the cup of Redemption they do not understand.
Keeping the commandments is not a ‘knowledge thing,’ it is experiential. The “keep” in keeping the commandments is the same Hebrew word as in “keeping” a garden. “Keeping” a garden means planning, cultivating, planting, watering, weeding, and harvesting the garden. The experience of each activity is what gives the gardener understanding. It is a lot different from reading a book about gardening.
Wisdom is what you decide to do with your knowledge and understanding. Children are not expected to be wise. They don't have enough knowledge or understanding yet. But wisdom is the goal of education and experience. The ability to make good judgments is the skill of maturity. This is why wise men are associated with older men rather than younger men.
The foremost literary work on wisdom is the Scriptures. There is no other document that parallels or rises to the standard of the Torah. One could argue that the Bible is so smart because the Torah is in the Bible and the other books of the Bible refer to the Torah.
So, what is the great benefit of gaining knowledge, understanding, and wisdom? The answer is part of the Milk of the Word. It is so you can know God. God is truth. Discerning the truth is gaining the capacity to know the Lord.
When Moses departed up the mountain to die, he prophesied that the children of Israel would not obey the Lord in the future and would ultimately be scattered in the nations as punishment. He said this would happen because the people had “small souls.” What Moses was referring to was that they lacked the heart (desire) to gain the knowledge, understanding, and the wisdom of God (Deuteronomy 29:4, 31:29).
People who have a heritage can tell you all about their ancestors (their fathers). People with no inheritance don't know their fathers back more than three or more generations. Believers who don't know their spiritual fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob also don't know the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They also don't the Messiah very well. (Abraham and the Messiah know each other very well.) They also don't know their future in the Messianic kingdom very well either. Paradise is named after Abraham (Abraham's bosom). Israel is the name of the kingdom. Most Christians have been told and believe that the next stop after the mortal life is Heaven. But the Milk of the Word teaches us about the Messianic kingdom with Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem (our future) has foundation stones and gates named after our predecessors. For example, the gates are named after the twelve tribes of Israel. It is noteworthy that there are no church gates such as Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic, or Independent Bible Believing Fundamentalists, etc. In fact, there is no Gentile gate. If you are planning to be a part of New Jerusalem, to know and dwell with God, then you must use the names and definitions He has selected.
How is it that so many Christians do not even know the name of the kingdom of God? It is for the same reason that they do not know the God of Moses and the Messiah. They have not been fed the Milk of the Word. They have been fed candy and are still hungry for real food. The average Christian will tell you that they are not satisfied properly. They know there must be something more and better for spiritual food.
The Milk of the Word is the teaching of God's commandments and understanding the blessings and curses. The Milk of the Word is learning about our spiritual fathers and mothers, understanding our spiritual family and the covenants God made with our fathers. It is participating in the redemption of God and knowing His salvation. The Milk of the Word is grasping the foundational elements to discern truth, to grow up spiritually, to know God and the things of God, and to have a relationship with God to produces life. The Milk of the Word is found in the Torah. This is what Peter and others were referring to when he said that new believers in the faith desire the sincere Milk of the Word.
But what do most new believers try to eat first in the faith? Bread with no milk.
Trying to feed a baby pieces of bread is a sure way to choke the kid to death. But bread soaked in milk is possible. That is why teaching the Messiah (the bread) in the midst of the Torah (the milk) produces amazing growth results in the faith. This is the primary diet of many Messianic believers in the movement today. This is also why some Messianic congregations grow more than others – teaching both Moses and the Messiah versus one or the other.
So, let's address the Meat of the Word. First, let's examine the metaphor a bit more closely. Milk is provided for the believers, but meat must be sought out by the believer. Consider the steps that must be taken before the first piece of meat can be chewed. The animal must be selected and slain. It must be butchered with a meal size piece as the result. A method of cooking must be established. The meat is seasoned and cooked. Then a knife and fork is used to select a bite-sized piece. The chewing process brings out the flavor and taste. Finally, it is swallowed and nourishes the eater.
There are many meaty portions in the word. Most of them deal with one particular area of Scripture – the Prophetic. The vast majority of believers today cannot understand nor do they wade into the Prophets of Israel or the book of The Revelation for that matter. In fact, most Christians do not want anything to do with the prophetic in the Bible.
This is why some passages in Revelations say, “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding…” or “Here is the mind that has wisdom…” The book of Daniel clearly says that the understanding of some prophecies are sealed and concealed to the end. Only then will men of insight give the understanding to others.
These are meaty subjects, not the food of babes. Understanding these things is not given to those just weaned from the milk.
There is much more to say about the metaphors of the milk and Meat of the Word. Let me conclude with my own experience as a Torah teacher. I have had many men approach me in times past after being under my teaching for awhile. They have shared very nearly the same comment.
“It is so good to finally get into a teaching of the meat.”
I always correct them. “Brother, I have only been teaching the milk. I have not yet started on the meat.” They are like children jumping and playing with glee. They are excited about life and are filled with hope for the future. They are children who are being fed and cared for. They have a home and a family. They are learning and growing every day.
I am always reminded of Yeshua's final emphatic instruction to Peter: “Feed My sheep.” The first food of sheep is not grass; it is milk. Grass comes later.
So what is the Milk of the Word? What should be taught to new brethren coming into the Messianic Movement? The answer is obvious. It is the Torah beginning with each Sabbath's portion. Teachings about language, liturgy, and the Last Days should come later.
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