The topic of the tongue is a serious one that needs to be addressed especially among the Body of Messiah. We will be discussing idle words, gossiping, profanity, taming the tongue, and the war of words amongst believers because of disagreements.
Mathew 12:36-37
“And I say to you that for every idle WORD men speak, they shall give an account of it in the Day of Judgment. For by your WORDS you shall be declared righteous, and by your WORDS you shall be declared unrighteous.”
YESHUA said that we will be held accountable for every idle word that we speak. Idle defined by vocabulary.com can mean having no value or purpose: idle rumors are rumors that people make up when bored, but have no grounding in fact. This is a serious question to ask yourself, how many times have you spoken words that have no value or purpose at all? Does celebrity gossip or sports have any value at all? This just a small example of what the word means. We have to keep this in mind about being held accountable for every idle word we speak because Enoch confirms that every sin is being recorded in heaven in the presence of YAHWEH.
Enoch 98:7
“And do not think in your spirit nor say in your heart that you do not know, and that you do not see that every sin is recorded in the heavens EVERY DAY till the day of your judgment.”
Beware of dirty jokes and some form of jokes Proverbs 26:19 “So is a man who deceived his neighbor, and says, “I was only joking!” Meaning that someone will say or do something to harm someone else and then play it off by saying it was just a joke. Sometimes people will do this and then gauge the reaction of the person and if it is not well received they will say “I was just joking!” Our thoughts and our words should be on advancing the Kingdom ELOHIM and keeping His commandments.
Sirach 9:15-16
“Let your WORDS be with the wise, and ALL your talk in the Law of the Most High.”
Joshua 1:8
“Do not let this Book of the Torah depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you guard to do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous and act wisely.”
Exodus 13:9
“And it shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a reminder between your eyes, that the Torah of YAHWEH is to be in your mouth, for with a strong hand YAHWEH has brought you out of Egypt.”
We have all heard the saying that sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you, right? We all know that this is a lie because words cut deep and once you say it you can never take it back. Solomon disagrees that words don’t hurt:
Proverbs 15:4
“The tongue of the wise makes knowledge good, but the mouth of fools pours out foolishness. The eyes of YAHWEH are in every place, watching the evil and good. A healing tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness (or cruel tongue) in it crushes the spirit.”
Mathew 15:18
“But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and these defile a man.”
Luke 6:45
“The good man brings forth what is good out of the good treasure of his heart, and the wicked man brings forth what is wicked out of the wicked treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart his mouth speaks.”
When someone starts calling names or spewing off from the mouth all they are doing is speaking what was hidden in their heart. Reprove your brother in kindness, but don’t let it fester into a hatred and speak words that cannot ever been taken back.
Proverbs 18:21-23
“Death and life are in the power of the TONGUE, and those loving it eat its fruit.”
We have to remember that ELOHIM spoke the world into existence, so words are powerful. YAHWEH even told Moses to speak to the rock in Numbers 20:8
“Take the rod and assemble the congregation, you and your brother Aaron. And you shall SPEAK to the rock before their eyes, and it shall give its water. And you shall bring water for them out of the rock and give drink to the congregation and their livestock.”
So words do not just fall to the ground they manifest either for the good or evil. So with that said let us choose our words wisely.
Curse words/Profanity
There are many in this world including Pastors and many within the Hebrew Israelite camps who use profanity which are also known as curse words or swear words, and they are all called curse words for a reason.
Wikipedia defines profanity as: Profanity is socially offensive language,[1] WHICH MAY ALSO BE CALLED cursing, cussing or swearing, cuss words (American English vernacular), curse words, swear words, bad words, or expletives. Used in this sense, profanity is language that is sometimes considered by certain parts of a culture to be strongly impolite, rude, or offensive. It can show a debasement of someone or something,[2] or be considered as an expression of strong feeling towards something.
In its OLDER, more LITERAL SENSE, "profanity" refers to a lack of respect for things that are held to be SACRED, which implies anything inspiring or deserving of reverence, as well as behavior showing similar disrespect or causing religious offense.[3]
Swearing/curse words which is included in the definition of profanity is defined by the New York Times article titled “A case for cursing” as a swear word which suggests BLASPHEMY — invoking a deity to empower your words.
The oxford dictionary defines curse words as a swear word, an offensive word, used especially as an expression of anger. Some synonyms are expletive, obscenity, oath, CURSE, dirty word, and four-letter word.
As we can see there is nothing righteous about using these words. I remember when I was growing up that these curse words were prevented from being played on TV or on the radio, but now they are accepted by society. If these words were once not accepted for the reasons that I outline above no more than a few years ago, then that should be further evidence that these words were not allowed to be aired for a reason. This world is moving towards more lawlessness with each passing day. These foul words can also be used to PROFANE things that are held sacred hence the word PROFAN-ITY. Profane is literally built right into the word, so if you are using these words especially as a follower of YESHUA please go to Him and repent.
Colossians 3:8
“But now, also put off all these: displeasure, wrath, evil, BLASPHEMY (included in definition), FILTHY TALK FROM YOUR MOUTH.”
Sirach 23:13
“Do not use your mouth to SWEAR rashly, for in these words there is sin”
Psalms 59:12
“The sin of their mouth is the words of their lips, and they are captured in their pride, and for the CURSING and lying they utter.”
Ecclesiastes 10:20
“Do not CURSE the king, even in your thought; do not CURSE the rich, even in your bedroom; for a bird of the heavens conveys the VOICE, and a bird in flight makes the matter known.”
Enoch 95:4
“Woe to you who speak out CURSES which cannot be reversed: healing shall therefore be far from you because of your sins.”
Proverbs 4:24
“Turn away from you a crooked mouth, and put perverse lips from you.”
Proverbs 17:20
“He who has a crooked heart finds no good, and he who has a perverse tongue falls into evil.”
Verses concerning the tongue and fighting amongst believers
Sirach 5:12-15
“Esteem and shame is in speech; and the tongue of man is his downfall. Do not be a whisper, and do not lie in wait with your tongue; for foul shame is upon the thief, and an evil condemnation upon the double-tongued. Do not be ignorant of any matter, small or great.”
Job 2:10
“But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Indeed, should we accept good from ELOHIM, and not accept evil? In all this Job did not sin with his LIPS.”
James 3:3-10
“Look, we put bits in the mouths of horses, for them to obey us, and we turn their body. Look at the ships too: although they are so big and are driven by strong winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot intends. So too the tongue is a little member, yet boasts greatly. See how a little fire kindles a great forest! And the tongue is a fire, the world of unrighteousness. Like a forest among our members the tongue is placed, the one defiling the ENTIRE BODY, and lighting on fire the course of generations, rolling from the beginning and in the end is lit on fire itself. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man is able to tame the tongue. It is unruly evil, filled with deadly poison. With it we bless our ELOHIM and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of ELOHIM. Out of the same mouth proceed blessings and cursing.”
Sadly within the Body of Messiah this is what is happening. Many say they are living for YESHUA and bless His Name and then turn around and curse their fellow brother made in the image of ELOHIM, simply because they disagreed with you about how YAHWEH or YESHUA’s Name is pronounced. I personally have many brothers and sisters who call our Creator by different Names whether it be Yahuah, Yahava, Yehovah for the Father and Yahshua, Yahushua for the Son, yet we all have the same like mind when it comes to doctrine, which is based on the Torah and belief in YESHUA being the Son of YAHWEH who died for our sins and rose on the third day and being led by the RUACH HA’KODESH who leads us into all truth.
Yet, many will still fight over His Name despite the same foundation of truth and start calling each other names and belittling them over the disagreement or which calendar to follow. And I have even seen many go as far as saying “They don’t have the Spirit in them!” This is done through verbal words or typed words through texts or message boards. This is exactly what James was referring to and I highly encourage ALL within in the Body of Messiah to stop this ASAP! This does nothing but cause division and you are cutting your brethren with words.
Ephesians 4:29
“Let no corrupt word come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for the use of building up, so as to impart what is pleasant to the hearers.”
We are supposed to be building each other up in love and not tearing each other down with hate and corrupt words.
Proverbs 11:9
“The defiled one destroys his neighbor with his mouth, but the righteous is delivered by knowledge.”
1 John 4:20
“If someone says, “I love ELOHIM,” and hates his brother, he is a liar. For the one not loving his brother whom he has seen, how is he able to love YAHWEH whom he has not seen?”
Guard your mouth
Sirach 28:25
“Weigh your words in a balance, and make a door and bar for your mouth.”
Psalms 141:3
“O YAHWEH, place a guard for my mouth; watch over the door of my lips.”
Proverbs 10:19
“When words are many, transgression is not absent, but he who restrains his lips is wise.”
Proverbs 21:23
“Whoever guards his mouth and tongue guards his life from distresses.
Proverbs 17:27-28
“He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is cool of spirit.”
Sirach 14:1-2
“Blessed is the man that has not slipped with his mouth, and is not pierced with the great number of sins.”
Sirach 4:29
“Do not be hasty with your tongue, or slack and negligent in your deeds.”
Sirach 9:18
“A man of an evil tongue is dangerous in his city; and he who is hasty with his words shall be hated.”
Psalms 52:2-4
“Your tongue devises destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceit. You loved evil more than good, lying more than speaking righteousness. Selah. You loved all devouring words, O tongue of deceit.”
Psalms 34:13
“Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.”
Proverbs 15:1
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up displeasure.
Ever heard someone say it isn’t’ what you say, but how you say it? This is what Solomon is saying, is that you can choose the proper words and tone to deliver a message, it will change the outcome. However, the same message spoke in a condescending, matter of fact, belittling tongue can put someone on the defensive.
Sirach 23:15
“The man who is accustomed to insulting words shall never be instructed all the days of his life.”
Sadly some people are so used to insulting others that it becomes natural to them and they don’t even realize they are doing it. No one should ever become accustomed to putting down others.
Gossiping words
Gossip is defined as a person who habitually spreads intimate (personal) or private rumors or facts, also trivial chatty talk or writing. We know this is someone who is talking about someone else and most of the time it’s based off of heresy, which others will accept as factual information. People whisper these words because they don’t want others to hear what they are saying because it’s improper speech.
1 Timothy 5:13
“Moreover, they learn to be idle, going about from house to house, and not only idle but also GOSSIPS and busybodies, speaking what is IMPROPER.”
Sirach 19:6-10
“And he who hates gossip shall have less evil. Do not repeat to another that which is told to you, and you shall not suffer harm. Whether to friend or enemy, do not speak of another’s life; and if you may without offense, do not reveal them. For if he hears and sees you, so in time to come he shall hate you. If you have a word, let it die with you…”
Wisdom 1:11
“Therefore beware of grumbling, which is useless, and keep your tongue from secrecy. For no secret word is without evil, and a lying mouth destroys the being.”
I pray this helps anyone who is struggling with the words they speak, cursing, insulting others, or gossiping. Repent if this applies to you and ask our ELOHIM to help you bridle your tongue for the tongue is the smallest part of body, but yet it can do a lot of damage, so let us be careful! As always may YAHWEH bless you in YESHUA’s Name!