The Ten Commandments—The Torah’s Great Cornerstone

Exodus 20:1–17, An Overview of the Ten Words (Commandments)

The Ten Words or Ten Commandments by which they are more commonly known are but the mighty cornerstone of the 613 commandments of the Torah.

Torah scroll open 2

The Jewish sages teach that all 613 are implied in the Ten; or that the Ten can be expanded into 613. The Tanakh (Old Testament) and Jewish writings contain a number of phrases that express the quintessential essence of the Torah. One of these best-known passages naming several of these phrases is in the Jewish Talmud: “[R.] Simlai said, ‘613 commandments were given to Moses—365 negative mitzvot (commandments), the same as the number of days in the year, and 248 positive mitzvot, the same as the number of parts in a man’s body. David came and reduced them to eleven (Ps 15), Isaiah to six (Isa 33:15), Micah to three (Mic 6:8), Isaiah again to two—“Observe and do righteousness” (Isa 56:1). Then Amos came and reduced them to one, “Seek me and you shall live” (Amos 5:4)—as did Habakkuk, “The righteous one will attain life by his trusting [or by faith] faithfulness (Hab 2:4)”’ (Makkot 23b–24a, abridged, from the Jewish New Testament Commentary, by David Stern, p. 565).

We see some of these same Torah summation-type statements in the Testimony of Yeshua. For example, the phrase, “the just shall live by faith” is found in three passages of the Testimony of Yeshua (Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38); In Leviticus 19:18, we find the phrase, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself,” which is the summation of the last five of the famous Ten Commandments. This in itself is a summation of all of the 613 Torah commandments that relate to human relationships, which we see in Yeshua’s Continue reading

 

Do we have to keep all 613 Torah commands?

Got this email question today:

Nat[e], are you saying that christians are required to keep all 613 Torah commandments? I understood that Yeshua was the only one who followed these perfectly and met the requirement.

To all anti-Torah Christians theologians: Put his in our pipe and smoke it!

To all anti-Torah Christians theologians: Put his in our pipe and smoke it!

My answer:

Yes. This is affirmed again and again in the NT. Start by reading John 14:15 and 1 John 2:3–6. The NT defines sin as the violation of the law (1 John 3:4). Paul over and over affirmed the need to keep the Torah (Rom 3:31; Act 21:24; 25:8; 1 Cor 7:18). The end time saints are Torah-obedient (Rev 12:17 and 14:12). Those who make it to the New Jerusalem, which is heaven on earth, are Torah-law keepers (Rev 22:14). I could give hundreds more examples out of the NT alone, but hopefully, the point is made.

Why is it that Christians overlook these clear Scripture verses and come up with a theology that is totally opposite? It’s because of what is said in Rom 8:7. The carnal mind hates Elohim’s laws and being told what to do. Bottom line: It’s because of human pride and rebellion agains the Almighty.

Did Yeshua keep all 613 perfectly? No! The ones he could keep, he did so without ever sinning. He never broke one commandment or sinned even once, but he didn’t keep every single one. How is this? Some Torah commands apply to farmers, to priests. to Levites, to aliens, to slaves, to taking care of animals, to the high priest, to those who had certain types diseases or physical disabilities and to women. Yeshua, for example, didn’t keep the laws that pertained to a person with the skin diseases that the Bible colloquially calls leprosy. He didn’t keep the laws pertaining to farming or animal husbandry or to women since he wasn’t a farmer or a woman. Get the point? He did, however, keep perfectly all the laws that pertained to him. Likewise, we should keep all the laws that pertain to us. That’s all that YHVH requires of us. Certain laws, for example pertain to everyone equally across the board like the Sabbath laws, the dietary laws, keeping the biblical feasts, honoring parents, not stealing, not murdering, not coveting, not lying, not taken YHVH’s name in vain or worshipping idols.

By the way, there are more affirmative commands in the NT than in the Torah. According to one biblical researcher there are 1050! Therefore, it would seem that the NT requirements are more stringent than the those found in the Torah. Put that in your pipe and smoke it all you anti-Torah Christian theologians!

 

What is the biblical definition of legalism?

Most people in the mainstream church have heard of the term “legalism.” Many think they know what it means. Some even lob this term at others like a verbal missle who they think are heretics. They’re certain they have solid biblical justification for doing so. Yet very few know what the biblical definition of legalism really is. This video reveals the surprising and enlightening answer.

 

The Inter-Connectedness of YHVH’s Torah Commandments

Deuteronomy 27:15–18, The commandments are all inter-conected. To the casual reader, the admonitions contained in these verses may seem to be arranged in a random order, but this is not the case. Consider the following: The prohibition against idolatry (verse 15) is juxtaposed with that of degrading one’s parents (i.e., not honoring one’s parents, or as S. R. Hirsch states in his commentary, “who outwardly is respectful to his parents but inwardly considers himself vastly superior to them”) along with trespassing against one’s neighbor’s property by removing his neighbor’s boundary markers or landmarks.

YHVH's Torah commandments are all inter-related and one is connected to another. You break one, your break them all.

YHVH’s Torah commandments are all inter-related and one is connected to another. You break one, your break them all.

Now consider this: One who does not honor and fear YHVH but turns to idolatry (the second commandments) will not honor one’s parents (the fifth commandment) (and vice versa) will likewise not honor the property of one’s neighbor (including his neighbor’s wife). Juxtaposed next to these commands is the prohibition against misleading a blind person (verse 18). This means that we should not take advantage of his blindness by advising him in a way beneficial to us and to his disadvantage. Juxtaposed to that is one who steals justice from another by perverting judgment against one who is weaker socially or financially or who is less informed at law than another thereby giving the advantage to the stronger (The ArtScroll Davis Edition Baal HaTurim Chumash/Devarim, pp. 2126–2127).

Can you see how each command is interrelated with all the others? Does this give one insight into the curious statement found in James 2:10? We can see that in one way or the other, all of YHVH’s commandments are inter-related, all depend on each other, and they all stand or fall together. Now relate James 2:10 back to verse eight where the entire Torah-law can be summarized as the “royal law of love.”

As you review YHVH’s list of prohibitions in Deuteronomy 27 can you see any other relationships between these juxtaposed concepts?

Learning to exegete (draw truth out of) Scripture in this manner will yield a whole new level of spiritual revelation to the reader.

 

The 15 Enemies of Torah Obedience

Almost the whole world and nearly the entire Christian church has fallen under the control of the 15 enemies of Torah-obedience. Who and what are these enemies and what lies do they use to keep people from obeying the Word of Elohim in the Bible? This video pulls the veil back and exposes men’s archenemies for the liars and deceivers they are.

 

What Are the 15 Enemies of Torah-Obedience?

In the Book of Deuteronomy, YHVH through Moses lays out the wonderful blessings that will come when YHVH’s people obey his Torah commandments. In stark terms, he also lays out the curses that will come as a  result of disobedience. Throughout Deuteronomy, it’s almost as if YHVH is pleading with his people to choose to obey him, so he can outrageously bless them. What a deal for the people! At the same time, he clearly shows that ultimately it is the choice of each person to choose which path they will follow: the path of obedience and righteousness that leads to blessings and life, or the path of disobedience and sin that leads to curses and death (Deut 30:15–20).

Monstruo en la oscuridad

With the two paths so clearly laid out before men, you’d think that men would choose the path of blessings and life. Yet this isn’t the case. Most men will choose the path of sin and rebellion. Why is this? This is because man has several enemies that are working against YHVH to draw men away from him into a path of sin and rebellion. Who and what are these enemies?

Enemy Number One: Our Flesh Nature

The fallen nature, carnal heart of man (Jer 17:9; Rom 8:7). Man’s heart is naturally rebellious, stiffnecked and hard-hearted toward anyone or anything that tells it to do something it doesn’t want to do. The rebellious pride and stubborn hard-heartedness of the human mind, will and emotions is the greatest force working against one to obey YHVH’s commandments. What makes this enemy so lethal is that he’s inside of us — in our heart (how we feel) and in our mind (what we think). This enemy is very hard to detect, since it is so well camouflaged within each of us.

Enemy Number Two: The World

The influences of the world are a snare to us (Exod 34:12; Deut 7:16). The allurements of the pagan practices of the surrounding nations was ancient Israel’s downfall. The ways of the heathen are enticing because they appeal to and satiate the carnal nature within each man. This is why it is so hard for us to resist. The enemy outside of us is seducing the enemy within us and together they are warring against word or truth of Elohim in our spirit man (our conscience).

Enemy Number Three: Satan

Satan the devil, the adversary, is YHVH’s arch-rebel and is seeking to undermine everything that is good, true and righteous (1 Pet 5:8). He’ll use the world to draw man away from Elohim. He’ll use demonic, and lying spirits to tempt man to sin against YHVH. He’ll shoot fiery darts into man’s thinking (Eph 6:16) to deceive man and to lead him astray spiritually (Rev 12:9). He is the original sinner (1 John 3:8). He is the father of all lies (John 8:44) and he lies about and rebels against the truth of Elohim.

Enemy Number Four: Church Traditions

Church traditions or doctrines of men by which make the word of Elohim is made of non-effect is a major force keeping man from obeying all of YHVH’s Word including his Torah-commandments (Matt 15:6–9; Mark 7:8–9).

Enemy Number Five: Family and Friends

Family members and friends who are opposed to obedience to the Word of Elohim is a strong deterrent to one’s keeping YHVH’s commandments. After all, what will they think? How will that affect my relationship with them?

Other Reasons Why People Refuse to Obey YHVH’s Torah

  • They think it’s too difficult to do.
  • It requires lifestyle changes.
  • They’re afraid of what others may think.
  • They’re afraid they might lose their friends.
  • People have become a victim of spiritual complacency. They don’t want to leave their spiritual comfort zones.
  • They’re too busy with the cares of this life to want to make any major spiritual changes.
  • They’re really not in love with YHVH enough to want to obey his Word.
  • They lack the fear of YHVH, and therefore obeying his Word isn’t really that important.
  • They don’t take the Word of Elohim seriously enough.
  • They have succumbed to a faith of easy-believism when it comes to obeying YHVH’s Word where actions don’t have to back up one’s belief or fatih.

Does one really think that any of these reasons and excuses will pass muster with YHVH Elohim on judgment day when he’s determining a persons level of rewards in his kingdom?

Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 5:19)

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Messiah, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. (2 Cor 5:10)

And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. (Rev 22:12)

 

New Video: Deuteronomy — the Heart and Spirit of Torah

This video explains how the Book of Deuteronomy reveals our loving Heavenly Father’s heart for his people, and his desire for them to follow his instructions in righteousness, so they will abide in his river of life and experience great blessings.