TORAH: All for One, and One for All
To say that the
Torah (Law) is bondage, as many Christians so readily and easily do; then what
sense does it make for God to deliver Israel from physical Egyptian bondage
only to put them into a spiritual type of bondage called the Law! It makes
absolutely no sense! That would make God out to be cruel and sadistic. It would
be equally as cruel for God to lay upon them rules they in no conceivable way
could keep. It would mean God set them up for failure. “I’m going to give you a
set of Laws that is impossible for you to keep, and yet when you fail
miserably, I will punish you for something you can’t help.” That’s insane and
illogical. That’s not God. Again, that would make God out to be cruel, sadistic
and twisted.
Deuteronomy
10:12-13 (KJV)
12 And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear
the Lord thy God, to
walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with
all thy soul,
13 To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee
this day for thy good?
ADOANI told Israel that these Laws were
good, not a bondage.
Deuteronomy
30:10-14 (KJV)
10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of
the Lord thy God, to
keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the
law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
11 For this commandment which I command thee
this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest
say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear
it, and do it?
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou
shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we
may hear it, and do it?
14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in
thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
Nor did God say it was impossible for Israel to keep His Laws.
Will they? No. Why? Because they, like us, are fallen human beings, fallible
and prone to sin. And what is sin? I John 3:4 tells us that sin is disobedience
to the Law. Together all this simply means that we will fail to always obey the
Law, but it does not in any way mean it is impossible to keep and preform it.
To say the Torah
is only for the Jews is ridiculous. When
the Torah was given, yes, it was given to the Children of Israel, but remember,
there was the mixed multitude that went out with them during the Exodus. (Exd.
12:38) The mixed multitude was there
when the Torah was given. And they, like
Israel
It is in my
opinion (and some Sages will agree with me) that in the mixed multitude there was
a representative from all seventy nations of the world at that time. For everyone present, even the mixed
multitude, said, “Yes, we will obey!” (Exd. 19:8), Even BEFORE they
heard all that was expected of
them! In
essence, God said to the people, “I want you to become my Bride.” And before He
could tell them what the marital vows were they said, “I do!” And this is
exactly how Jews view the Torah, not as a burdensome load of rules and
regulations to follow, but as marital vows one is more than happy to keep
because they love the Groom so much.
“…Christians said they loved their Husband, but yet
they rejoiced at the thought that they had been set free from doing those
things He had said would please Him.”- Norman B. Willis, Nazarene Israel: The
Original Faith of the Apostles, pg.53
Marriage and its
vows are founded and based on love, and so too the Torah, because they express
God’s best for us physically, spiritually and mentally if we obey them. And
like with any marriage we keep our vows because we love and are dedicated to
our spouse. When one keeps ones marital vows and doesn’t sleep around, they are
considered, “faithful” to their marriage. Likewise, when we obey the Torah we
are being, “faithful” to our God.
“When properly understood, the Torah should be viewed
not as some negative legal system, but as God’s instructions for living a life
blessed by Him...” Barney Kasdan, Voice of the Lord, Tishri 23
In Exodus 19:16 it
speaks of “thunders” which comes from the Hebrew word “kol” which also means,
“voice,” and the Rabbinic writings say that the thunders was God speaking the
Torah in the 70 voices or languages of the world so that all present, Israelite
and mixed multitude could hear and understand and accept the Torah, His Laws,
in their own language. Mankind agreed to obey the Torah through those ancestors
who were at Sinai when the Torah was given.
One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for
the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your
generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the
stranger that sojourneth with you. – Numbers 15:15-16
The nations are to
keep Torah if they choose to submit to and worship the God of Israel.
1. Because their ancestral representatives, in
guise of the “mixed multitude,” symbolizing the 70 root nations from which the
world sprang, accepted the Torah on their behalf along with Israel.
2. Because of exiles and the diaspora of
Israel, you never know who of them that come to God through Yeshua today is
actually a descendant of a Lost Tribe of Israel, who is obligated to submit to
and obey Torah.
3. Repeatedly in the Scripture it says there
is, ONE LAW for you (Israel) and the stranger (70 nations) that are among you.
God only has ONE standard of LAW for ALL peoples. It’s just that Israel is the
primary recipient and caretaker of the such a covenant and is why:
A.
Yeshua
first sent His disciples to the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel (Matthew
10:6, 15:24) and then to the rest of the nations.
B.
Paul
reaffirms this when he said, “to the Jew first then also to the Greek/Gentile”
(Romans 1:6, 2:10).
Paul said in
Romans 2:13 “For not the hearers of
the Law (Torah) are just before God, but the doers of the Law (Torah) shall be
justified.” He was speaking to Gentiles here. One Law for Jew and Gentile.
Romans 11 Paul talks about the Gentiles provoking the Jews to
Jealousy. How can this be done unless they not only kept the spirit of the Law
but the letter of the Law as well? Jews couldn’t care less about Gentiles who
are not Torah obedient and therefore would have no reason for jealously!
It is said of the
Torah in Scriptures (too numerous to mention) that it is forever, for all
generations. Nowhere does it say that
one day it will be done away with or annulled by the coming of the Messiah. On the contrary, Yeshua, our Messiah, said in
Matthew 5:17-20 “Think not…” Some people
stop there and fail to read on “…that I’ve come to destroy the Torah (Law) and
the prophets, I didn’t come to abolish, but to fulfill.” The Greek and Hebrew word for fulfill does not
mean to complete or stop, but to fill up, to bring it to full and complete meaning
and understanding. Yeshua showed us how
to live Torah appropriately. Some say
that the “Law of Christ” supercedes the Law of ADONAI. When has it ever been proper for a son to
tell a father what to do, or the command of a son to overrule the command of a
father? Since when did sons make the
rules to be followed and obeyed? What
sense does it make for Yeshua, the Living manifestation of the Written Torah,
and God in human form to say, “You know all the Rules my Father laid out for
you to obey? Well, forget about ‘em. I’m
calling the shots now; it’s a whole new ballgame.” That would make ADONAI:
1. A Liar – It is impossible for God to lie.
(Num.23:19, Titus 1:2) He is always and forever the same. (Mal.3:6, Heb.
13:8)
2. Double minded. The Scriptures talk about
one who is double minded is unstable in all he does. (James 1:8)
Is our God a liar?
Double minded? Unstable? If I may use an old catch phrase, “NOT!” ADOANI and Yeshua are “Echad” one in
plurality (John 10:30, John 17) and Yeshua said, “If you love me, you will keep
my commandments (John 14:15).” He is referring to the Torah. Yeshua’s commandments
are no different from the LORD’s. A
couple of my personal mottos are, “If you don’t have Torah, you don’t have
Messiah.” And, “A Messiah without Torah is no Messiah at all.” Yeshua the Messiah is the Living Torah, the
Light of the world. A Messiah without
the Torah is like a flashlight without batteries.
“The Christian doctrine that Yeshua was sent to
abolish the Law is confusing, when one considers that it directly violates His
own Words…
Ironically when confronted with Yeshua’s Words, many
Christians will search through Shaul’s (Paul’s) letters, searching for
something that can be used to explain Him away. When asked why they would use
the words of a mere mortal to explain away the Words of the Son of Man, they
don’t have an answer; but still they believe Shaul’s (Paul’s) words to be
superior to Yeshua’s.” – Norman B. Willis, Nazarene Israel: The Original Faith
of the Apostles, pg.46
Interesting, I’ve
seen this very thing too; Christians using Paul to explain away the plain words
of Messiah Himself. If Paul’s words contradict Messiah’s, either Paul is a
heretic or we are misunderstanding Paul’s words, which Peter said that that is
exactly what people do!
2 Peter
3:15-17
15 And account that the longsuffering of our
Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the
wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in
them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which
they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other
scriptures, unto their own destruction.
17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know
these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the
wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.
The word “Torah”
has been translated “Law”, and rightly so, but the root meaning is “Teachings” and
“Instructions”. Therefore, does it make any sense to say that Yeshua came to do
away with ADONAI’s Teachings and Instructions!?
Absolutely not! If you went
through survival training you would not get out there and say, “I’m not going
to obey my survival instructor’s teachings, I’m going to pick and choose what I
like that he taught and wing the rest.”
NO! Survival instructions are as LAW to you, it is your life! You obey and live, or you ignore and
die! Didn’t God say to Israel that the
Torah was their life (Deut. 32:47)!?
Some may not be
aware of there being a list of seven laws that Jews claim are the only ones
that Gentiles must follow. They are called the Noachide Laws, claiming that God
gave these laws to Noah after he departed from the ark but such a listing is
not found anywhere in Canonical Scripture. These laws are a Rabbinic invention
to keep Gentiles away from keeping Torah too, because they, like Christians,
claim that the Torah is only for the Jews, which we clearly established that it
is for all mankind.
“The
Torah (as explained in the Talmud - Sanhedrin 58b) presents seven mitzvot for
non-Jews to observe. These seven laws are the pillars of human civilization,
and are named the "Seven Laws of Noah," since all humans are
descended from Noah. They are:
1. Do not murder.
2. Do not steal.
3. Do not worship false gods.
4. Do not be sexually immoral.
5. Do not eat a limb removed from a live animal.
6. Do not curse God.
7. Set up courts and bring offenders to
justice.”
-
http://www.aish.com/jl/jnj/nj/The-7-Noachide-Laws.html
There is no
evidence that such laws, as a means for Gentiles to be righteous before God,
were recognized in the pre-destruction Temple era or in very early Rabbinic
literature. Again, these Noachide laws were a Rabbinic invention to keep Torah
exclusively for the Jews.
Yes, God chose
Israel to covenant with and be the primary receivers and caretakers of His
Laws, but this does not mean that His Laws are exclusively for physical
descendants of Israel and no one else. Are we going to believe what man says of
what God Himself has said?
“There
is ONE TORAH (LAW) for the native-born (Israelite) AND for the stranger
(Gentile/Mixed Multitude) who sojourns among you.” (Exd. 12:49) (emphasis added)
There is a Christian in name only group who think that belief alone is
enough. If I got bit by a venomous snake and held the vial with the antidote in
my hand and yet didn’t use it, but I sincerely believed it would save me, I’d
still die. Why? Because belief is not enough. I have to take the antidote in
order to survive the poisonous snake bite, In other words, I have to back up my
belief with actions that prove I believe.
These “in name only” Christians who claim they are Christians because
they believe in Jesus, but do not live according to His teachings
(Instructions, Laws, Torah), which is what he heard from the Father (John 5:19,
12:49-50) and as we’ve established, God does no change and is the same
yesterday today and forever (Mal. 3:6, Heb. 13:8) and that his Torah is forever
and that He and the Father are One (John 17).
This means Yeshua’s teachings are Torah. These “in name only” Christians
who believe Jesus is the Christ but does not live obedient to His teachings
(Torah) will hear those fateful words from this Jesus whom they claim to
believer in.
21 Not everyone that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth
the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that
day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast
out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Didn’t we believe in You!?
23 And then will I profess
unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
No, because you didn’t do what I said. – Matt. 7:21-23 (italics mine)
