# Cutting-off (kareth)



## Peairtach (Jun 20, 2013)

What is "cutting-off" (kareth) in the OT administration?

I know I've got my own views on this, but want to see if I'm thinking along the right lines, or if I've missed something.


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## Jerusalem Blade (Jun 20, 2013)

Richard, I’ll answer by way of quoting a piece I wrote (SPIRITUAL IDENTITY THEFT: Stealing God’s Gift) with pertinent material to your question. This is in the context of God removing the name Israel from some who were among His people through the “cutting off” of them; it also talks of a similar term, "I will require . . ." :

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The name was conceived and bestowed by God to designate a blessed state of being; it was passed on to his descendants as well, _and the name was also removed from some of them by the same Bestower, for serious violations of the covenant_, as seen in Exodus 12:15, 19; 30:33, 38, and Isaiah 9:13-17; 48:16-19,[SUP]2[/SUP] and shown in the expressions, “that soul shall be cut off from Israel,” “…shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel,” “…shall even be cut off from his people,” “…destroyed from among you,” and “…destroyed from before Me.” 

It should be clear that this is not a name to be bestowed by men,[SUP]3[/SUP] as God has created and reserved it for His own special use. It should also be clear He retains the right to strip the name from whom He will, and specifies when this is to be done.

To use this name when it has not been given, or after it has been removed, is to steal a prerogative reserved by God to Himself. It is stealing the right to confer an identity from the Almighty God!

We will . . . first look at a warning to the people of Israel given by God through Moses in his Fifth Book, which bears directly on this:
I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put My words in His mouth; and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him.

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of him. (Deut. 18:18, 19)​ 
This is a warning to heed the words of those appointed to the prophetic office, and in particular Him who is the culmination and fulfillment of that office, the Messiah, whom New Covenant believers know as Jesus of Nazareth. The phrase, “I will require it of him,” means in this instance, “I will require his place among My people and his life.” Consider the destruction to be visited on those who with wicked hearts refused to “hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all His commandments…” (Deut 28:15), which promised destruction is shown in the verses following, so you may comprehend the dread import of the words “I will require it…” [SUP]4[/SUP] to the Jewish nation after Messiah appeared among them.

Messiah’s apostle, Peter, in quoting from this passage[SUP]5[/SUP] as he spoke to the people of Israel, rendered it, “And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:22, 23)

We have looked at the pertinent Biblical data, and have seen the name Israel given by God and taken away by Him (from those who did not warrant it). We have seen it specifically taken away from those in the Jewish nation who, in the time of Christ and the apostles, refused to “hear that Prophet,” who would not “hearken unto My words which He shall speak in My name.” Simply put, God openly cleft all those who refused His word through Messiah from the people of Israel, like a butcher cuts away gristle. As with a great cleaver He divided the nation, those who were His, and those who were not, even as aged Simeon prophesied over the infant Jesus in the temple, “Behold, this child is set for the falling and rising again of many in Israel…” (Luke 2:34; Cf. Isaiah 8:14, 15)

From this point on, the people of Israel gathered around their King, Messiah Jesus. Those who did not were “cut off” from the people by the judicial decree of God. Jesus Himself foretold this event when He announced to the chief priests and elders of Israel, “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” (Matthew 21:43) Immediately prior to that statement He told them the same thing in the parable of the vineyard, there holding up a mirror to their motives and actions (verses 33-41). Many of the priests, and some Pharisees, did turn to Him . . . .

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[SUP]2[/SUP] Further references on this wise: Deut. 4:2, 3; Lev. 7:21, 25, 27; 18:29; 19:8; 20:6; 23:29, 30; Num. 9:13; 15:30, 31; 19:13; Psalm 94:23; 101:8; etc.
[SUP]3[/SUP] This is not referring to parents who name their children after Biblical characters, even such as Israel, Jesus, Moses, etc., which may be a way of honoring heroes of the Faith, and seeking the blessing of their children.
[SUP]4[/SUP] It is the same usage as in Genesis 9:5; 42:22; and 2 Chron. 24:22.
[SUP]5[/SUP] Deuteronomy 18:15, 19.


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## Peairtach (Jun 23, 2013)

Thanks for that, Steve. It got me thinking again on the exact status of "Israel after the flesh" (I Cor 10:18) in this era, and her relationship to "the Israel of God." (Gal 6:16).

We could maybe do more on that in another thread.

I was more interested in people's thoughts about kareth as a covenantal concept in the life of OT Israel; how it was administered, and what it meant?


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## Peairtach (Jul 1, 2013)

Bump.

Sent from my HTC Wildfire using Tapatalk 2


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