My Torah studies has taken me to Deut. 4:41-5:18
Passage Outline:
* vss 41-43–Moshe establishes 3 cities of refuge (love of neighbor)
* vss 44-49–Taking and marking of the boundaries of the land of promise
* 5:1-4–Moshe reminds the people of the covenant that Yehovah made with Israel at Horeb
* vs 5-18–Moshe recites for Israel the 10-commandments
*
1. Yehovah is the only true God (love of God)
2. Prohibition against idolatry (love of God)
3. Prohibition against the misuse of Yehovah’s name (love of God)
4. Command to observe the Shabbat (love of God)
5. Command to honor one’s mother and father (love of neighbor)
6. Prohibition against murder (love of neighbor)
7. Prohibition against adultery (love of neighbor)
8. Prohibition against stealing (love of neighbor)
9. Prohibition against bearing false witness against a neighbor (love of neighbor)
10. Prohibition against coveteousness (love of neighbor)
Commentary
As a Torah observing believer in Messiah, I occasionally run into challenges as it relates to the applicability or even the prudence of believers observing and obeying Torah. In other words, the Torah is not for us today; or the Torah was nailed to the cross with Jesus and thus it is not applicable to the Christian believer today; or Jesus’ sacrifice paid the price for us so we are free from the burden of the Torah.
I recall earlier this year we Hilary and I were visited in our home by 3-Jehovah’s Witnesses. I knew from past experience that these folks would have an agenda and that agenda would be to convert us to their religion through their perspective on the Bible. (Interestingly, in times past, the JW’s would allow you to use your own Bible when they would speak to you, but this last time, they insisted on using only their Bible.) I guess by virtue of us inviting them in to our home to discuss the Bible, we too had an agenda and that was to reason with them and show them the error of their ways and the truth of Yehovah’s Word through the pages of their Bibles, devoid of religiosity. Well, that interaction did not go as planned. Sadly, by the end of our time together, we had all gotten on one another’s nerves so to speak. As I said, we each had agendas and we each were eternally and internally bent on not giving an ounce of ground to the other side in the very spirited debate that ensued. The harder they pitched their doctrine, the harder I refuted their doctrine and vice versa. So we parted with an unspoken agreement to simply go our separate ways in disagreement.
The one thing that struck me the most out of that event was the JW’s utter insistence that believers in Jehovah (oh, and you better not even say Yehovah or Yahweh or they gave you an evil glare, despite them having absolutely no idea where they actually got the name Jehovah from in the first place) must NOT ever follow the Law. The reason: because Jesus kept the Law perfectly and upon His death on the cross, believers are no longer required to keep the Law. In fact, any believer who would keep the Law would actually be violating their belief and trust in the sacrifice that Jesus made for them.
They went on to explain to me that there actually are two commandments which believers are to keep and those two are: to love the Lord God with all one’s heart, soul and mind and the second is to love one’s neighbor as one would love themselves. (ref. Matt. 22:37-29). They were adamant that these were the only commandments we were to obey since these were given to us directly by Jesus Christ. When I asked them to explain to me specifically how one is love God and neighbor (since Yeshua said that all the Law and the prophets hung or were suspended from these two commandments), all I got in return was that all you got to do is love God and neighbor. Despite my multiple attempts to get them to realize that these two commandments were simply summary commandments of the whole of the Law and that Torah went in to detail about the requirements Yehovah provided in terms of how we must show Him love, the JW’s remained deeply entrenched in the “talking points” of their religion. There was no room in their play book for rationale, reason or discussion. There was no getting from under the teachings of their religion. There was no: “hey, this is you and me talking here: what does this passage mean as you understand it, absent your religion’s talking points and teachings?” In fact, as I was reaching the pinnacle of my frustrations with the group, I pleaded with the leader of the three, that if he and his two-supporters would simply admit that their rhetoric was their denomination’s rhetoric and not of their own derived understanding, then I would respect their positions must better than I was at the time. Of course, I received no such admission. In fact, the conversation took a most bizarre turn when the leader of the group turned to a passage in one of the prophets and began to read essentially the entire chapter. The passage he read had absolutely nothing to do with anything that we’d discussed that whole time. It was strange. And when I asked him what that was all about, he could provide me no explanation.
This is what we’re up against Saints. We are a small band of individuals who have decided to abandon churchianity (i.e., the act of being churched; indoctrinated into an organization’s doctrine, belief and tradition structure–such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and every other mainstream Christian denomination) for the true Faith once delivered. The so-call Christian world knows nothing apart from being churched, being indoctrinated into a religion that Messiah nor His chosen Apostles ever sanctioned. We, however, have been freed from the bondage of religion. Each morning that I rise from bed and enter into prayer and my Torah studies, I do so with joy and peace, knowing that I can allow Ruach HaKodesh to speak to me and reveal to me the deep things about my Father and the way of life that He desires for His chosen. I know also that His Torah is not in the least a burden. In fact, Torah is a joy. It is a challenge! It is wonderful. When I read the above noted passage, I challenged myself in terms of meeting the tenets of the commandments that were given to the people via Moshe from Yehovah. I know that in order to enter the Kingdom of Yehovah, my righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees (ref. Matt. 5:20). Their attempts at righteousness was aimed at strict adherence to the tenets of their religion, Judaism. They were masters at keeping the tenets of their religion. So meticulous were they in keeping even the most negligible of laws, they even devised work-arounds to ensure that they did not break any of the rules. We Messianics have been called to a higher standard of living. It’s not enough to obey the commandments and observe the applicable ordinances that are contained in the first five-books of the original covenant (i.e., old testament); it’s really about living those commandments and observing those ordinances at a level beyond simple mindless obedience. Sure, I can observe the Sabbath by simply not performing any work and reverencing the day. But it’s more about squeezing as much out of the day spiritually that I can. Am I learning about Father and what He desires of me, His child? Am I open and available to do good for someone in need on the Sabbath? Do I permit my attention to become distracted from Father by watching television or embarking on other forms of entertainment? Sure, I can not fathom ever murdering someone. But each day that I go to work and one of my employees does something to upset me, how do I respond to them; how do I feel about them; what do I think about them? Is my response Godly; my feelings about them honorable; my thoughts of them forgiving and even loving? This is what I love about the true Faith. I’m challenged to walk according to the spirit of Torah each and every day of my life.
We’ve been given a most precious gift from our Father that far exceeds anything that has ever been gifted to anyone. It will never tarnish, wear or tear. It will always be viable and relevant to our lives. It will always be there for us. It will always bring us joy and peace if we abide by its tenets. It will bring us ever closer to our Creator. Torah is that gift. May you never allow anyone to convince you that Torah is not for believers of Messiah. Devote your life to the study of Torah and the commandments of Yeshua. I have and my life has forever changed. I love Torah. More so, we as Messianics know that Yeshua HaMaschiyach took that gift that is Torah and made it even better. If all those who have come to a crossroads in their Christian lives would simply give the Hebraic Roots of the Faith a look and see for themselves the relevancy of Torah for their lives, they would never wander aimless about in their walk with Messiah ever again. We are most blessed to be Messianics. Praise Yehovah dear Saints! Shalom.