All or Nothing
If one can excuse and explain away (Saturday) Sabbath, observance, the
Feast of the LORD, circumcision, kosher eating, etc., what’s keeping one from
using Scriptural acrobatics (taking Scripture out of context) to excuse oneself
for not keeping any of the Commandments standing in ones way of fulfilling ones
fleshly carnal desires? We have seen
this done in our day with the ordination of homosexual and lesbian clergy.
After all, some of the commandments have no apparent reason such as eating
kosher and not mixing cotton with wool (Deut.22:11). Laws like these are called “Chukim,” a law
with no known logical reason. We keep them anyway because we trust, love and
fear God supremely, and we recognize He is Infinite, His ways are above ours, and
His reasoning beyond ours. It is just
like being a parent. You ask a 4 year
old to do something and they ask, “Why?” You know that since they are so
little, even if you did take the time to explain it to them, they may not fully
understand the reasoning behind your command.
To save time, confusion and more questions, you say to the child,
“Because I said so.” Knowing when they
get older and become parents themselves they may understand why. It is the same with our Heavenly Father.
“Father knows best” and we keep the Chukim because He said so. Even after the Chukim commands He says, “I am
The LORD your God.” That is His way of
saying, “Because I said so.” We cannot just pick and choose which Commandments
to follow. We cannot just decide to
follow only the ones with moral implications.
I have heard as of
late many Christians attempt to defend themselves in regards to their
non-compliance of the Torah when I purpose that they believe it has been done
away with. “No, I never believed the Torah has been done away with. I believe
it has been “fulfilled” (totally misunderstanding and taking out of context the
words meaning in the Hebrew and Greek) in Messiah (meaning fulfilled so we
don’t have to).” Hmmm, Okay, isn’t that another way of saying it has been done
away with?
Or, they seem to
think that God has one rulebook and or expectations for the Jews and another
for the Gentiles. That is not what the Torah says (Exd. 12:49 , Lev. 24:22, Num. 15:16 . Acts 15:19-21).
I have also heard
that because Yeshua did not bring up all 613 commandments within the Renewed
Covenant (“New Testament”) it must mean we do not have to keep the commandments
not mentioned, such as the Feasts of Leviticus 23 and so on. Or, that since He
only really brought up the ten that that is the exhaustive version of the two
laws they hang upon (Mt. 22:40). What!? As I have said before, the “New
Testament” is not “new”; there is nothing new about it! It is simply renewed.
In addition, why would Yeshua have to reemphasize what was regarded as
established, what was taken and known as a given, since He did not come to
change Judaism or start a new religion? He came to fulfill (bring into its
fullness in meaning, understanding and practice) the old one. In addition, the
commandments He did reemphasize, He only did so to bring greater clarity to
them, to give His Halachah ruling (way of practicing them) on them because some
of the Pharisees were trying to find loopholes in the commandments to justify
their inner disobedience. It is as if you built a new model of a car and
introduced it to the world. The body may look different, yet it still runs and
operates for the most part like all the other cars before it, and showing it to
an experienced driver, you would go over the “givens” about the car, such as,
you put the key in the ignition, you press the gas peddle to make it go, etc.
No, you would emphasize the deeper details to established ideas and standards.
For example, on this new car you do not roll down the windows manually, they
are not even power operated by a switch; now, it rolls up or down by voice
command! The concept of the car has not changed, though greater detail and
innovations have been made on a standard feature. The car has not been turned
into something new; the car has just been renewed.
Granted, as I have
established on many occasion, not all 613 commandments apply to one person,
some apply to Levites, some to Israeli kings, some to farmers in the Land of
Israel, some to only men, some to only women, etc. But still, many are universal
that are not followed by Modern Christianity today, such as, kosher laws, the
wearing of tzitzit, celebrating the Feasts mentioned in Leviticus Chapter 23,
and the like.
I cannot seem to
get Modern-day Christians to understand that keeping Torah (Law) is not a
salvation issue, but an issue of love and obedience (sanctification). Salvation
is not and never has been the point of the Torah (Law); it is one of obedience
out of love and holy living. I can’t seem to get them to see that God is the
same yesterday, today and forever, I can’t seem to get them to see that Yeshua
and God is One, and that Yeshua’s commandments are no different than that of
God the Father’s. I cannot get them to see how they have been viewed and
understood for 4000 years, that they are more than just “laws”, that they are
more akin to marriage vows to a Holy God. Law is a loose translation of the
word Torah; Instructions would fit more appropriately. So why would anyone want
to knowingly and purposely disobey God’s Instructions?
We are navigating
through 2000 years of history, linguistics, western thought, culture and
re-interpretation layered on the Scriptures to get back to the eternal meaning
conveyed by its Jewish and Jewish Converted writers and followers of the 1st
century.
How often I forget
that I can only relay the message, and I cannot be the Holy Spirit to anyone. I
cannot tug on their hearts, or convince them as the Ruach Ha Kodesh (Holy
Spirit) can. I often forget that seeds take time to grow, and they might grow, be
suffocated out or several other scenarios (Matt.13). All I can do is plant and
walk away, and perhaps water every now and again. Ultimately, the choice lies
with the individual receiving the message.
