Your Daily Slice
- Mette Marx
- Sep 13, 2025
- 2 min read
ELUL 21
ALL Evil
“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and displeasure, and uproar, and slander be put away from you, ALONG WITH ALL EVIL.” (Eph 4:31, emphasis mine)
The Greek word that has been translated as ‘along with’ is the word sun (Strong’s G4862), and has an interesting definition that paints a more thorough picture of what is going on in this verse. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines sun as a word that “denotes accompaniment and fellowship, whether of action, or of belief, or of condition and experience”[1]. In other words, the list of negative behavior that we find in the first part of this verse (bitterness, wrath, displeasure, uproar, slander) is in fellowship – and is a companion - of “all evil.” That is certainly something to ponder.
The Scriptures define ‘evil’ as everything that is against and in opposition to all of Torah (see 2Kin 17:13; Jer 6:19; Rom 13:10). It would stand to reason, then, that as we continue to live our lives according to the teachings and instructions that are laid out for us in the Torah, we must banish ‘all evil’ far from us. Nonetheless, what happens to those times when we fall into that ‘stinking thinking,’ and allow it to bleed through to influence our actions? This season of teshuvah, of repentance and restoration, is the answer to this dilemma.
This month of Elul is also known as the time when ‘the King is in the field,’ meaning that Elohim is closer and more accessible than at any other time of the year. Yes, He is always with us, and always available. However, Jewish tradition believes that it is at this time – the month of Elul - that our Creator reaches out with His heart in response to us reaching out to Him with ours, in sincerity and truth[2]. Again, there is the need for teshuvah, for turning away from all those things that are in violation of Torah, and for turning to Him, the One who fashioned and formed us, and knows us better than we know ourselves. Though I cannot accurately prove and pinpoint this, I have often wondered if it was not during the month of Elul that our Messiah Yeshua gave his ‘Sermon on the Mount’ (Mat 5), with the admonition of “Blessed are the clean in heart, because they shall see Elohim” (Mat 5:8).
Yom Teruah, also known as Rosh Hashanah or the Feast of Trumpets, is rapidly approaching, as well as Yom HaKippurim (the Day of Atonements), the day when our King sits upon His throne, and is no longer in the field. Are we ready? Have we been faithful to engage in the self-examination, the internal auditing, that we all periodically need to go through? And can we all stand, clean in heart, before our King, on that day?
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are living the life of trust. Test yourselves. Don't you realize that Yeshua the Messiah is in you?—unless you fail to pass the test.” (2Cor 13:5 CJB)
©2025
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