Tag Archives: The Torah

Galatians Chapters 4 to 6 Explained Hebraically

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Gal 4:1–5, When we were in the world, we were spiritual slaves to the elements (rudiments or principles) of the world. As worldly sinners (Torah violators, 1 John 3:4), we came under the death penalty, for the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). We needed the Torah as a guardian or steward to tell us what sin was and to lead us to repentance and to the Messiah, who came to redeem us from being under the curse or penalty for violating the law, which is sin. This is him showing sinners his grace. If, as the mainstream church teaches, Yeshua came to set us free from the law, so that we no longer have to obey the law, then we are turning the grace of Elohim into lasciviousness (lewdness, licentiousness or licence to sin or to violate the Torah), which as Jude says, only ungodly men do (Jude 4). Or as Paul asks in Romans, do we make the law void through grace? Elohim forbid, may it never be, is his response (Rom 3:31).

Gal 4:8–20, This passage is difficult to understand. Are the “weak and beggarly elements” (v. 9) speaking about “the elements, rudiments or principles of the world” to which Paul makes reference earlier (in v. 3) and to which the Gentiles had been in bondage (v. 3) before coming to salvation—before they knew Elohim (vv. 8–9)? Or are the “weak and beggarly elements” referring to the Torah? The latter interpretation is what the mainstream church teaches; however, this doesn’t seem to be what Paul is saying here. How could the Gentiles return again to something they never had in the first place—which they had done “when you did not know Elohim” as Paul states in verse 8? They never had the Torah before coming to faith in Messiah. They did, however follow the pagan, Torahless customs of the world. This is what the “weak and beggarly elements” are. Not the Torah!

Gal 4:10, Are these days, months seasons and years referring to pagan holidays and observances, which are aspects of the weak and beggarly elements of pagan worship? If so, why should we think it strange that the Galatian believers were still observing pagan holidays? In our day, hasn’t the mainstream church replaced YHVH’s feasts and Sabbath with pagan festivals? On the other hand, the mainstream church teaches that in this verse not only is Paul referring to the biblical feasts and Sabbath, but that he is here abrogating the biblical Sabbath and feasts. Is this the case? If Paul is referring to the biblical feasts and Sabbath, let’s bring into this discussion 1 Corinthians 13—the Bible’s well-known “Love Chapter.” There Paul states that without love, everything a saint does is merely a clanging gong and tinkling cymbal to YHVH. In other words, it means nothing to YHVH. Similarly, if we obey the Torah out of Continue reading →

 

Galatians Explained Simply from a Hebraic Perspective (Pt 1)

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An Important Question

Let us first ask an important question that has far-reaching implication including whether you can trust the Bible and whether you are saved or not. In the Epistle to the Galatians, is Paul advocating the abrogation of the Torah-law as mainstream Christianity teaches?

This is the lens through which most Christians view Galatians. For example, the chapter subheadings in my NKJV Bible reveal the antitorah bias of mainstream Christianity. The heading above Galatians 2:11 reads, “No Return to the Law,” and the heading over Gal 3:10 reads, “ The Law Brings a Curse.” When Christians study their Bibles and encounter these subheadings that are written by men and not inspired by the Spirit, what are they to think? Most don’t questions the scholars who translate the Bible or the publishers sell the Bibles. Most readers will automatically thinks to themselves, “After all, these translators and publishers are Bible experts, they know more than I do, so who am I to question them?”

Interestingly, the same author of Galatians elsewhere admonishes us to, “Prove/test all things; hold fast to that which is good” (1 Thess 5:21). This is the responsibility of each saint as he studies the word of Elohim. Therefore, it behooves us to have a touch of intellectual scepticism when studying the Scriptures to insure that we’re not unwittingly putting our faith in the traditions and doctrines of men by which the word of Elohim has been made of none-effect (Mark 7:9, 13), and that we haven’t inherited lies that have been passed on down to us from our spiritual fathers (Jer 16:19). Let us instead be like the righteous Bereans who “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

Instead of looking at Galatians as a stand-alone book, let’s view it in the broader context of all the New Testament writers’ and Yeshua’s view of the Torah. After all, the Scriptures cannot contradict themselves. The Bible doesn’t lie, Elohim doesn’t change, and Yeshua declared that the Scriptures can’t be broken (or loosened, untied, dissolved, annulled, John 10:35).

In 1 Cor 11:1, Paul instructed us to imitate him as he imitated Messiah. So let’s follow Paul’s advice.

What did Yeshua teach and do vis-à-vis the Torah?

He never violated the Torah (or sinned), or else he couldn’t have been our sin-free Savior and taken upon himself the consequences or penalty of our sins, which is death.

Yeshua advocated Torah-obedience for his followers (Matt 5:17–19; John 14:15).

Paul goes on to tell us to imitate him as he imitates Yeshua. This includes obedience to the Torah.

Elsewhere, in many places, Paul advocates Torah obedience as we will see next.

How Did Paul View the Torah (“Law”)?

In answering this question, let us allow Paul to speak for himself in order to establish his predisposition with regard to the Torah-law. Was he a proponent or opponent of it? Several Scriptural quotations from his own pen should suffice in answering this question:

Wherefore the law [Torah] is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. (Rom 7:12)

For we know that the law [Torah] is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. (Rom 7:14)

For I delight in the law [Torah] of Elohim after the inward man… (Rom 7:22)

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin [i.e., violation of the laws/Torah of YHVH, see 1 John 3:4], that grace may abound? Elohim forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (Rom 6:1–2)

Do we then make void the law through faith? Elohim forbid: yea, we establish the law. (Rom 3:31, Romans was written in about A.D. 56)

But we know that the law [Torah] is good, if a man use it lawfully…(1 Tim 1:8, First Timothy was written just before Paul’s martyrdom in about A.D. 66)

But if, while we seek to be justified by Messiah, we ourselves also are found sinners [i.e., violators of the law/Torah], is therefore Messiah the minister of sin [lawlessness/Torahlessness]? Elohim forbid. (Gal 2:17, Galatians was written between A.D. 55 to 56)

Toward the end of Paul’s life and ministry when, according to many Christian theologians, Paul was supposed to have already liberated the first-century believers from the “shackles and bondage” of the Torah-law, yet in the Book of Acts we read the following:

And when they heard it, they glorified YHVH, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe [in Yeshua the Messiah]; and they are all zealous of the law [Torah]: And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? The multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law [Torah]. (Acts 20:20–24, written in about A.D. 58 to 60)

While he answered for himself, neither against the law [Torah] of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any thing at all. (Acts 25: 8; Paul made this statement in a court of law about A.D. 62.)

And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, [i.e., the Torah] yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. (Acts 28:17, written about A.D. 63)

Viewing Galatians Through a Different Lens

In view of the fact that Paul instructed us to imitate him as imitated Yeshua, who was Torah observant, and in light of the fact in numerous places in Paul’s own writings and in the Book of Acts we see that Paul was Torah observant to the end of his life, what conclusion can we come to in light of these facts? Either the Bible is consistent, and the Torah is for all people for all time, or Paul was an inconsistent liar in telling us, on the one hand, to follow the Torah, and on the other hand, telling us not to obey it. Which is it? If Paul is inconsistent, then the truth of the Bible is inconsistent, the Scripture is broken, Yeshua is a liar and the Bible is a lie. Which one is it?

There is another answer to this dilemma. Perhaps the mainstream church has misinterpreted Paul in the Book of Galatians and has come to a skewed view in believing that Paul abrogates the Torah in Galatians. We take the position of the inerrancy of Scripture, that it can’t be broken, that Elohim and Yeshua don’t lie, and that Paul wasn’t a duplicitous schizophrenic. Instead of viewing Galatians as an antitorah tirade courtesy of  Paul, maybe there is something else going on here that needs to be discovered—the real message of Galatians that in no way contradicts the rest of the Bible.

Stay tuned. There is more to follow on this subject…

 

The Pillar of Fire—Who, What and Why?

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Numbers 9:22–23, Abode … rested … journeyed. How do these concepts relate to our spiritual walk? How do we know when to rest or abide, and when to journey? How does YHVH show us his will for our lives? Matthew Henry in his commentary on this passage says, “Thus we are taught to see [Elohim] always near us, both night and day. As long as the cloud rested on the tabernacle, so long as they continued in the same place. There is no time lost, while we are waiting for [Elohim’s] time. When the cloud was taken up, they removed, however comfortably they were encamped. We are kept at uncertainty concerning the time of our putting off the earthly house of this tabernacle, that we may be always ready to remove at the command of [YHVH]. It is very safe and pleasant going when we see [Elohim] before us, and resting where he appoints us to rest. The leading of this cloud is spoken of as signifying the guidance of the blessed Spirit.” (Read Pss 37: 3–7, 23–24; 73:24; Prov 3:6; Rom 8:14.) Are we ready to lay our lives down, die to self, and to follow YHVH’s perfect will for our lives no matter how much it may stretch our faith?

Some Additional Insights on the Pillar of Fire That Guided the Israelites

In Exodus 13:21 we read,

And YHVH went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.

Then in Exodus 14:19 it is written,

And the Angel of Elohim, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them.

Who is this “Angel” of Elohim (in other places he is called “the Angel of YHVH”)? Angel is an unfortunate translation. The Hebrew word for angel is palak and simply means “a heavenly or a human messenger.” Prophetically this word can refer to human messengers such as the one coming in the spirit of Elijah prior to Messiah’s Continue reading →

 

The Ten Commandments—The Torah’s Great Cornerstone

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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.

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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 →

 

New Video: Is the Torah the Ministry of Death & the Letter That Kills?

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Many in the mainstream church have been led to believe that the Torah or law of Moses is the ministry of death and the letter that kills, and now that we’re under grace, we are free from haveing to obey the letter of the law as 2 Corinthians 3:7–17 would seem to suggest. Is this a correct understanding of these verses? What is the truth? This video explains this difficult Bible passage.

 

What Does the Phrase “Under the Law” Mean?

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Is Paul Affirming or Abolishing the Torah-Law of Moses?

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What is the meaning of the phrase “under the law” as used by Paul in some of his epistles? There is much confusion in the church on this subject. Like a drive-by shooter who has only one bullet in his gun, this phrase is often fired in a disparaging manner against the Torah-law of Moses and its advocates by those who believe “the law” has been “done away with” and “is against us,” and thus is no longer binding on Christians. Sadly, in such exchanges, these spiritual drive-by shooters reveal their ignorance about this phrase’s true Hebraic meaning, not to mention its contextual background.

So what is the truth?

In this brief work, we’ll examine every place where the phrase “under the law” is found in the Testimony of Yeshua (the New Testament) including the scriptural context in which it is found. We’ll also discover what spiritual heresies Paul is really warning the first century believers about. The truth will prove both surprising and enlightening.

Romans 3:19

Now we know that what things soever the law [Torah] says, it says to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before Elohim.

Simple Explanation: Without delving into the context of the surrounding verses (which we do below) in which Paul uses the phrase “under the law,” let’s just analyze verse 19 by itself. Sometimes the simplest explanations are the best. For Paul, what does this phrase really mean?

When he says “under the law,” is he referring to the Jews who were legally bound to follow the law of Moses (or the Torah), as the mainstream Christian church teaches? If this is the case, then why does he speak about the whole world becoming guilty before Elohim? The whole world wasn’t Jewish, so how could Paul be referring to the whole world being “under the law” as in being obligated to obey the law of Moses? Furthermore, how is it that the whole world is “guilty before Elohim”?

The answer is simple. The whole world, including the Jews, is guilty of breaking the laws of Elohim (e.g., idolatry, violating the Sabbath, murder, adultery, stealing, lying, eating unclean meats, failing to keep YHVH’s holidays, witchcraft, etc.). In other words, the whole world has sinned, for sin is the violation of the Torah (1 John 3:4). Paul states this four verses later in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of Elohim.” All men are guilty before Elohim of sinning. What is YHVH’s punishment for sin? Paul answers that question too in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of Elohim is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.”

Therefore, when Paul uses the phrase “under the law” and applies it all humans becoming guilty before Elohim, he is saying that all are under the Elohim’s death penalty for violating the Torah-law of Moses because all have sinned. He is not saying that the Jews are under obligation to keep the Torah, while the rest of the world (i.e., the Gentiles) are free to disregard the Torah, yet this is what the mainstream churches teach.

Going Deeper: When Paul uses the term “under the law” is he referring to those who are keepers of the law (like the Jews were)? Is he further implying that if one isn’t “under the law” one is free to break the law? This is a viewpoint many people in the church have been led to believe that Paul is advocating. Let’s analyze what Paul is really saying here and see it if lines up with what the mainstream churches teach.

First, if Paul is saying that those who aren’t under the law (because they’re under grace instead) are no longer under any obligation to adhere to the law’s tenets, then this means that it’s permissible to violate the law in regards to the Sabbath, the biblical dietary laws, the feasts, idolatry, murder, lying, theft, rape, incest, witchcraft, homosexuality and the like. This line of reasoning crumbles when we realize that from the Bible’s viewpoint, the Torah-law of Elohim is indivisible: it stands or falls as a unit. James says that if one violates one commandment he is guilty of breaking them all (Jas 2:8–10).

Second, if “under the law” means that believers are now free to disregard the Torah, then how do we explain all the scriptures that show us that Paul and the other apostles (and even Yeshua himself) upheld the validity of the Torah as a rule for the saint’s life? (See Matt 5:17–19; John 14:15; Rom 3:31; 6:14, 15; 7:12, 14, 22; Acts 21:24; 24:14; 25:8; 1 Cor 7:19; 1 John 2:3–6; 3:4.) It is evident that Paul can’t, at the same time, be both teaching against and advocating Torah-obedience. This would make Paul into a duplicitous liar and hypocrite, and call into question the validity and divine inspiration of the Scriptures as well. The fact is, the problem isn’t with Paul or the Bible, but with man’s interpretation of YHVH’s Scriptures.

So when we strip away the layers of men’s church doctrines and traditions, what is Paul really saying in Romans 3:19?

Paul is exposing the Jews for being over-confident in their special relationship with YHVH because (a) they were Jews and the seed of Abraham, (b) because YHVH had given them the Torah, and (c) because they were circumcised. Yet despite these facts, many Jews Continue reading →