Nor Sit in the Seat of the Scornful

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." (Psalm 1: 1)

I was surprised by the full translation of the word "scornful" in the original Hebrew:

luts: ambassador, have in derision, interpreter, make a mock, mocker

Original Word: לִיץ
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: luts
Phonetic Spelling: (loots)
Short Definition: ambassador

Imagine that. The concept of mockery or scorn carries with it a sense of separation, of distance.

When people shame us, they give off the impression that we are separated, that we cannot understand them, or that they cannot understand us.

The truth is, furthermore, that people today who claim that we cannot receive God's grace and presence in our lives without them is also mocking us, as well as God Himself, for He now lives in us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Alcoholics Anonymous, like many cults, and all too many traditional churches, has communicated the evil lie that men and women still must go through a church official, a priest, or someone who has more knowledge of the Bible than other people.

That was precisely the scam which the Pharisees had been perpetrating against the Jewish people during Jesus' day:

"47Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. 48If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. " (John 11: 47-48)

How evil is that?! The religious leaders of Jesus's day wanted to keep God in the Temple, in the Holy of Holies, while God in the Flesh went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed by the devil (Acts 10: 38)

When I took another look at this verse, I began to realize that I endured a great deal of mockery in  my life, in that I kept thinking that I had to go through someone else, in many cases my own mother, in order to get to God, in order that nothing would prevent me from Him.

Alcoholics Anonymous blocks people from the gracious truth of God in Christ by slamming on members a false identity. How can anyone come boldly to the throne of grace if they believe that they have to work Twelve Steps in order to maintain themselves in spiritual fitness?