Tag Archives: Torah

The Feast of Shavuot/Pentecost Is Coming—Are YOU Ready to Meet YOUR Bridegroom?

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Celebrating a (Re)New(ed) Covenant Involving YHVH Writing Torah on Our Hearts

Long ago Jeremiah prophesied that YHVH would make a new (or renewed) covenant with his people Israel, which would involve both houses of Israel (Judah and Ephraim, or, prophetically speaking, the Jews and the Christians), and that he would write his Torah-law on their hearts.

Behold, the days come, saith YHVH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith YHVH: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith YHVH, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know YHVH: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith YHVH: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jer 31:31–34)

Contextually, in the verses surrounding this prophecy, we discover some other important details.

Verse 27, The houses of Judah and Israel were to be mingled throughout the beast (or heathen) nations of the world as punishment for breaking their covenant with YHVH that they made with him on Shavuot (the Feast of Pentecost) at Mount Sinai (Exod 19–20, 24).

Verse 28, At some point in the future, YHVH’s punishment of Israel for breaking their covenant and their resulting exile among the gentile nations will come to the end. He will rebuild and restore the nation of Israel.

Verses 29–30, Whereas in times past, Israel was punished as a collective nation for their sins when they disobeyed YHVH, and conversely were blessed when they obeyed him, in our day each person will be cursed or blessed for his own sins. Salvation is more of an individual matter now.

Verses 31–33, YHVH promises to make a new or renewed covenant with the two houses of Israel at some time in the future (from Jeremiah’s perspective). It will be different from the covenant he made with Israel at Mount Sinai in two major ways:

Though it will be a covenant with Israel collectively (both houses of Israel), it also will be made with individuals.

At that time, he will deal with the heart of each individual Israelite when he writes his Torah-law on their hearts.

Verse 34, This renewed covenant will involve mercy and forgiveness (or grace). It will involve a personal relationship between each person and YHVH (i.e., “they shall all know me…”).

Verses 35 and 37, As the sun, moon, stars, the sea, and expanse of the heavens and the earth exist, so YHVH will renew his Torah covenant with Israel. The words of Yeshua in Matthew 5:18 are reminiscent of the this prophecy. Not one jot or tittle (in Heb. yud or tag, which are the smallest elements of the Hebrew alphabet) of YHVH’s Torah will pass as long heaven and earth still exist.

Verse 36, The very survival of the nation and people of Israel (and hence the fulfillment of the covenants YHVH made with Abraham), is dependent on YHVH regathering and restoring  both houses of Israel. If YHVH doesn’t bring this to pass, then YHVH is a liar and his Word is a lie and there is no hope for the world! This cannot be! Our future hope and YHVH’s reputation and character depend on it.

Jeremiah’s prophecy begin to be fulfilled during the time of the writing of the Testimony of Yeshua (New Testament). The author of Hebrews talks about this in Hebrews 8.

But now, Yeshua the Messiah has attained a more excellent public service, since He is the Mediator of a more excellent covenant, one that was legislated with better promises than the former. (Heb 8:6)

The “better promises” is everything that Yeshua taught about salvation and eternal life as a person puts their trust in him. These better promises he taught during his life and ministry, and formalized this at his last supper through the communion elements. It is all these glorious promises to which the whole Levitical and sacrificial system pointed, which, as the author of Hebrews makes clear, was fulfilled in Yeshua.

If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one. Finding fault with THEM He said, “Look, the days are coming, says Yehovah, when I’ll enact a New Covenant with the descendants of Israel, and with the descendants of Judah. It wont be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors during the time when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt, because they didn’t remain loyal to My covenant, and I rejected them, declared Yehovah. But this is the covenant that I’ll enter into with the descendants of Israel after that time, says Yehovah; I’ll put My Torah in their minds—inscribing it on their innermost thoughts. I’ll be their Aloha, and they’ll be My people. No one will teach doctrine to their fellow citizens [evangelize], or a friend, or ask: “Do you know Yehovah” [witness to anyone], because they’ll all know Me, from the youngest of them to the oldest. I’ll be merciful regarding their wrongful behavior; and I’ll no longer remember their sins.” When He [Yeshua] mentioned, a New Covenant, He was saying that the first one was old and about to be repealed; and what was then old and failing, was about to disappear. (Heb 8:7–13, GV)

Other Scriptures Relating to the Renewed Covenant and the Heart of Man

The Tanakh is full of scriptures that speak of the renewed covenant where YHVH will write his Torah on the hearts of men. For example, in Jeremiah 32:40, YHVH reiterates his promise to make an everlasting promise with Israel. This new covenant will also involve him putting his fear in their hearts. As a result, they will no longer depart from him.

And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

The following is a list of other scriptures that talk about the Torah being written on men’s hearts.

Deut 30:6, And YHVH thy Elohim will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love YHVH thy Elohim with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

Ps 37:31, The law of his Elohim is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.

Ps 40:8, I delight to do thy will, O my Elohim: yea, thy law is within my heart.

Isa 51:7, Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

Ezek 11:19, And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

Ezek 36:25, Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

Eze 36:26, A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Ezek 36:27, And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

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From Messy Antics to the Dance of Lovers — The Eight Phases of Coming Out of Spiritual Babylon of the Church

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Alone in a Dark, Strange House

Have you ever found yourself groping and stumbling around in a totally dark, strange room without a light? You’re running into walls and furniture, stubbing your toes on things looking for a light switch or the door? Similarly but on a spiritual level, many people have left the comforts and familiar surroundings of the mainstream church system with some vague notion of returning to the Hebrew roots of their faith only to find themselves in such a dark house. Welcome to the house of the so-called Messianic or the Hebrew roots movement!

Many of us have been in this new spiritual house asking ourselves questions like: Where are we? Where are we going? What’s next? Who’s out there? Am I alone? 

Shifting from a traditional church-system paradigm and lifestyle to that of that of a more first century or Hebraic one as modelled by the early believers in the Book of Acts and apostolic leaders isn’t an easy to do. There are a lot of questions and unfamiliar territory to traverse. Am I moving into cultism? Legalism? Too much Jewishness? Or some bizarre new religion or what? 

Perhaps knowing the transition zones or spiritual growth stages that you will likely go through, as most of us have, might be like someone handing you a flashlight in that dark house. Even a little light on the subject might save your toe from getting stubbed and keep you from doing a nose plant on the floor! Not only that, knowing the stages most people inevitably go through when making the transition from a traditional Sunday Christian orientation to a Torah-pursuant one just might…

help us to stay on course spiritually, so that we won’t get stuck in one stage of spiritual development and fail to move to the next stage.

help leaders to see where people are at in their path to spiritual maturity, and help them to move to the next level.

help those who have advanced through these stages to be gracious and helpful to those who have not yet done so.

Here are the stages, as I see them. Each one’s personal experiences may vary a little, and the order of the steps may be slightly different for each person, but I think that most of us can relate to these steps of spiritual transformation to one degree or another. I know, because I’ve been through these steps myself!

The Eight Stages of Coming Out of Spiritual Babylon

1– Awakening Stage: Hearing the Sound of the Shofar and the Call of the Bridegroom

At this stage, we begin to awaken to our spiritual heritage—to the Jewish or Hebraic roots of the Christian faith.

We begin to develop a love for the land of Israel, the Jewish people as well as the Hebrew Scriptures.

We become aware of our need to return to YHVH’s ancient and good spiritual (Torah) paths (Jer 6:16), which predate Constantine Christianity and the traditions of men that are contrary to the Word of Elohim that often characterize much of what has been associated with our past church involvements. We realize that we have strayed spiritually from YHVH’s biblical paths of Torah-Truth and bought into many lying doctrines and traditions of men (Jer 16:19) that were taught in our Christian church experience.

2 – Anger Stage: Our Fathers Have Inherited Lies

We become aware that our spiritual fathers have inherited lies (Jer 16:19). Namely, we discover that the church has lied to us about our Hebraic heritage and YHVH’s Torah-instructions that he revealed to Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and the patriarchs and then to Moses and the children of Israel. We come to realize that the mainstream church has withheld much in the way of YHVH revealed biblical Truth from us, and has substituted for that Truth man traditions of men and pagan ideas. If not careful, anger against the Christian church—our brothers in the faith—can set in and overtake us.

Some people, at this point, will begin to despise, denigrate and even hate the Christian church and Christians. Some don’t even believe that there are any Christians who are saved. In the process, many Hebraic-minded people become judgmental and bigoted toward Christians who still adhere to anti-Torah belief systems. In anger and bitterness, some people will even turn away from what correct Truth the church does have (e.g., the message of Yeshua, the cross, the basic gospel message, the message of love, etc.) and toss out the proverbial baby with the bath water. Sadly, some people will turn away from belief in the New Testament, the gospel message and the truth about the deity and messiahship of Yeshua.

3 — Exploratory Stage: Learning About the Roots of Our Faith

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The Dynamics of Divine Revelation

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Exodus 21–23, Basic principles of morality and righteousness. After having given the ten statements (or “ten commandments”), which forms the basic cornerstone of the whole Torah and out of which all the other Torah commands branch, Elohim now expands on these ten basic principles in chapters 21 to 23. This passage contains the basics of how to love YHVH Elohim and one’s neighbor as oneself (the golden rule). Exodus chapters 20 to 23 contain the basic laws and principles for a society to function smoothly at a high level spiritually. They form the foundation of societal governance, which the new nation of Israel needed in order to survive spiritually (in right relationship with Elohim) and to survive physically and morally as a holy or set-apart nation surrounded by heathen nations.

It is also interesting to note that YHVH didn’t give Israel all 613 Torah laws at once, but introduced them to Israel little-by-little on an as-need basis and so as not to overwhelm them all at once. It was like a parent teaching a child one step at a time on how to act like an adult. YHVH started with the ten statements of Exodus 20, then expanded these ten into the basic laws of chapters 21 through 23, and he then goes from there instructing the Israelites in ways of righteous living. This teaches us another truth about how YHVH operates with men: He reveals himself to those who seek him slowly, methodically over time. He and his ways are too transcendently great and expansive for the mind of man to encompass all at once.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith YHVH. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa 58:8–9)

This measured method of divine revelation is exactly how the apostles chose to reveal YHVH’s truth to the new Gentile converts in Acts 15—little by little. First they heard the gospel message and came to Messiah, then they were given basic rules to follow in order to enter into the fellowship of the saints, then they would learn the laws of Moses over time each Shabbat.

Learning the divinely revealed truths of Elohim and his ways of righteousness as found in the Bible is a step-by-step process that will last a lifetime.

 

How Love I Thy Torah!—Exploring Psalm 119

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Spiritual Insights from the Hebrew Language

If you were to open your King James Bible (or any other similar Bible, e.g. the NAS, NIV, NKJV, etc.) to the exact middle of the Bible, where would you land? Somewhere in the Book of Psalms at or near Psalm 119. Actually, by chapters, either Psalm 117 or 118 is the exact center of the Bible—so Psalm 119 isn’t too far off. 

Interestingly, Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible with only two verses, while Psalm 119 is the longest. In this chapter, David exuberantly declares that all people everywhere should be praising YHVH because of his merciful kindness (or his grace) toward us, and for his truth (i.e., his Word or Torah, which is the biblical definition for truth, see Ps 119:142,151).

The mercy of YHVH and having faith in him is the theme of the first part of Psalm 118. The latter half of the chapter goes on to teach about the salvation of YHVH, and many understand this to be a messianic prophecy pointing to Yeshua, our heaven-sent Savior and Redeemer, who is the Living Torah–Word (John 1:1,14).

Then we come to Psalm 119, which, for 176 verses divided into 22 sections (one for each of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet), extols the supreme and inimitable virtues of the Word of Elohim (i.e., the Torah). David treats the Torah as if he were a jeweler who, after discovering the world’s rarest, largest and most beautiful diamond, carefully and in awe scrutinizes its every facet and all of its unique qualities, and then expresses his unspeakable delight over its supreme virtues.

In Psalm 119, David discusses Torah in all of its ramifications, and he uses many different terms for Torah. The most common is the word law, which in most cases is the Hebrew word Torah meaning “teaching, instruction, precept or law” of Elohim, which are his instructions in righteousness that when followed lead man to life, blessings, peace, joy, favor with Elohim and deliverance from evil. Beside the word law, Psalm 119 contains many other words that are synonymous with the Torah. They include:

  • your way
  • your testimonies
  • your precepts
  • your statutes
  • your commandments
  • your righteous judgments
  • your word
  • your wondrous works
  • the path of your commandments
  • the word of truth
  • your ordinances
  • everlasting righteousness
  • the truth

Overview of Psalm 119

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An Overview of the Ten Words or Commandments

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Exodus 20:1–17,

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. 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 famous “Golden Rule” passage of Matthew 7:12, “Therefore all things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets.” Paul echoes this concept in Romans 13:8, “Love does not do harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fullness of the Torah.” Love is the foundation and quintessential concept behind the Torah-law of Elohim. Yeshua states this in Mark 12:29–31, 

“And Yeshua answered him, ‘The first of all the [Torah] commandments is, Hear, O Israel; YHVH our Elohim is one Master: And you shall love YHVH your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is none other commandment greater than these.’”

Love must be the motive behind all our righteous deeds or else our actions count for nothing (1 Cor 13:1–13). The concept of love and the keeping of YHVH’s Torah-law are codependent actions. One cannot exist without the other. John, in his epistle, discusses this idea at length in 1 John 2:7–11; 3:11–24; 4:7–21 where he states that “Elohim is love” (1 John 4:8, 16), and that one’s love of Elohim and man is linked to obedience to the Torah commandments (1 John 2:3–11; 3:11–18). As YHVH first loved us, we should love our fellow man (1 John 4:7–11), in word, deed and in (Torah) truth (1 John 3:18). This relates to Yeshua’s admonition to his disciples in John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my Torah-commandments.”

Lest one recoil at the thought of having to keep 613 commandments of the Torah please be advised of the fact that there are approximately 1050 commandments in the Testimony of Yeshua!

The 18 Benefits of Studying and Obeying YHVH’s Torah

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What does, “the law and prophets were until John” mean?

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Luke 16:16, The Torah and the Prophets. Many people in the mainstream church view this passage as drawing a defining line between the so-called age or dispensations of law (in the Old Testament or Tanakh) and the age or dispensation of grace (in the New Testament or the Testimony of Yeshua). This in turn, in their minds, sets the Tanakh (which reveals the law or Torah) and Testimony of Yeshua (which supposedly reveals the concept of grace) at odds with each other. Is this a correct interpretation of this passage? 

The evidence within the Testimony of Yeshua itself doesn’t support this common Christian interpretation, however. In no way is Yeshua annulling the Torah here, or else he would be contradicting what he clearly taught in Matthew 5:17–19. Furthermore, Yeshua’s statement here can’t possibly mean that the Torah was now obsolete in the Testimony of Yeshua, since the apostles and early believers adhered to the Torah long after the passing of John the Baptist (Yeshua, p. 41, by Ron Mosely). Additionally, Paul’s statement in Romans 3:31 that the Torah is not voided by grace should dispel any notions that Luke 16:16 implies that the Torah would pass from the scene in the life of believers.

There are a couple of ways to understand this passage without doing violence to the Torah. First, it could be understood that Yeshua is saying that the Law and the Prophets were the only Scriptures in existence up to the time that John came on the scene. The implication is that more would soon come (ibid.).

A second way to view this passage is that Yeshua is stating that the Torah and the Prophets prophesied or pointed to the time when John would come thus ushering in the Messiah at which time there would be a change in the focus of the message of YHVH’s servants. Instead of just preaching about the Torah or that the Messiah is coming, now the message of “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (see Matt 3:2; 4:17) would be preached. This is a more expansive message that focuses now more on the salvation message centered on the death, burial and resurrection of Yeshua. This message also includes obedience to the Torah (e.g. Yeshua said, “If you love me, keep my Torah commandments” in John 14:15, also 1 John 2:2–6). Moreover, Paul clearly affirms the validity of the Torah for the New Testament believer in his forceful declarative statement in Romans 3:31,

Do we then make void the law through faith? Elohim forbid: yea, we establish the law.

The data found in the actual writings of the apostles confirms what Yeshua predicted in this verse. Of the some 8,000 verses in the Testimony of Yeshua, well over one-fourth of those verses contain direct references to the Person of Yeshua, while there are only about 260 direct references to the Torah. Yeshua himself confirms his own words as recorded by the Gospel writers. In the Gospels of Matthew and John, Yeshua spoke on 136 different subjects. The number one subject he talked about was himself (316 references), followed by his Father (184 references), then hypocritical leaders (177 references). The kingdom of Elohim comes in fourth place (77 references) and the Torah is in seventh place with 44 references. 

 

The Law of YHVH or the Law of Moses?

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Luke 2:24, Law of the Lord/YHVH. This phrase is found only three times in the Testimony of Yeshua—here and in vv. 24 and 39. The same phrase is additionally found 18 times in the Tanakh and obviously refers to the Torah (e.g. Pss 1:1; 19:7; 119:1). Meanwhile, the phrase the law of Moses is found a similar number of times in the Bible: 15 times in the Tanakh and seven times in the Testimony of Yeshua. Obviously the phrases the law of YHVH and the law of Moses are synonymous terms in that they refer to the same thing: the Written Torah. 

From the obvious meanings of these two terms, we learn that YHVH Elohim is the divine source or origination of the Torah, while Moses was merely the one who first wrote it down or codified it, and as the leader of the nation of Israel, he administered it. 

In light of these facts, it is interesting, if not ironic, how the mainstream church chronically refers to the Torah as “the law of Moses,” when Scripture refers to the Torah as “the Torah of YHVH” the same number of times less one. The mainstream church’s choice of one term over the other seems to reveal, sadly, its apathy, if not, at times, its outright antipathy, toward YHVH’s Torah. To justify this ungodly attitude, it has chosen to use the term that casts the Torah-law of Elohim in the most negative light possible by inferring that its source is man and not Elohim. This furthermore underscores the truth of Paul’s words in Romans 8:7 about the carnal mind of man being at enmity with the laws of Elohim in that it refuses to be subject to them.