by Rod Thomas | Dec 3, 2015 | Podcasts
When you have come unto the land which Yahovah your God gives you, and shall possess it, and shall dwell therein; and shall say: I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me; you shall in any wise set him king over you, whom Yahovah your God shall choose; one from among your brethren shall you set king over you;…And it shall be, when he sits upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites. And it shall be with him and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Yahovah his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left; to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel. (Deu. 17:14-20)
Torah and Politics
Torah Living Daily Challenge 31
This Torah portion section–parashah 48 section 1–defines for us how a king—a human king—would be selected and placed to rule over us. According to Hertz’ Pentateuch and Haftorahs, “It is legitimate to have a king, but he must be a native Israelite and be a constitutional monarch who governs in accordance with Torah. He was to have no standing cavalry to keep his people in subjection, nor establish a harem; and he was himself to study and obey the laws of the realm.” As with divorce or the dissolution of a marriage union, Yahovah would permit the appointment of a king over us, but with stipulations and governing rules to that effect. In fact we saw earlier that Yahovah required that we have judges to properly dispense justice and the rule of law over us. But at the end of the day, Yahovah was to be our King—that was Father’s preference from the beginning. History bears out that the surrounding nations all had monarchies governing and controlling the peoples of their nations. This set up of having a man over us was never a good idea and Yahovah knew that. But again, like divorce, because of the hardness of our hearts, Father permitted a monarchical system to exist over our nation. (cf. 1 Sam. 8) But again, there was to be stipulations related to the selection of the king, the foremost requirement was of course, that Yahovah would select our king for us and the most brilliant example of this coming to fruition can be seen in the selection of the first king placed over us, Saul, as recorded in 1 Samuel 10:24. In this particular case, Yahovah used Samuel as the agent by which the selection of Saul as king over Israel would be made. Of course, this practice of king selection did not remain in accordance with Torah and it all pretty much came to a bad end, so to speak, especially when the Romans made Herod and his kinsman—”who were of Edomite descent”—kings over Judea. (Reference Hertz) And continuing with Hertz’ treatment of this Torah-based kingly selection process, he notes that the Talmud records an incident involving Herod Agrippa I, who as king over Judea, read this Torah portion and is recorded to have wept and “deemed himself unworthy of kinghood on account of his alien ancestry; whereupon the people reassured him with the words, ‘Thou art our brother, thou art our brother.’” And certainly the books of Kings and Chronicles document how the various kings of Israel and Judah failed to properly adhere to the Torah-based stipulations of kinghood, many of these kings being deemed as evil in the sight of Yahovah. Again, Yahovah knew the problems associated with having men placed over us as rulers while abandoning Father’s perfect rule over us.
The timing of this portion is not entirely spot-on, but timely enough. In the United States, we have entered the 2016 presidential race. Already we’ve endured a number of debates between the candidates of both parties. I’ve heard many commentators and talking heads in and around the national discourse about the 2016 presidential race thus far, bemoan the selection and caliber of candidates we have to choose from this election cycle, with the exception of the democratic party which seems to be bent not only upon ensuring a Hilary Clinton democratic nomination victory; but also ensuring that Hilary Clinton becomes the next president of the United States.
Prior to coming into Hebrew Roots, I was a staunch Republican who consistently voted during each election cycle, regardless if it was a national-general election or just a state or local election. I felt it was my civic responsibility/duty to vote. Granted, even at that low spiritual juncture of my life, I was under no illusion that my single vote would ever make a difference and I always had this sneaky suspicion at the back of my mind that the American election system was rigged; I felt that the powers-that-be set the rules and selected the president and most of our elected officials for us and for purposes of fulfilling those powers’ agendas and purposes. No, I wasn’t a conspiracy theorist at the time—although I tend at this late juncture of my life to lean more than not to the side of conspiracy theorist. I was simply not convinced in my heart and mind that our government was on the “up and up” and that we American voters were simply going through the motions, fooled into thinking that our individual actions would actually lead to someone getting elected. Then when I entered the Hebrew Roots and immediately went into the Churches of God, my negative view on the election system and process was further supported by the church’s doctrine that stood primarily against the democratic election process and system and American governmental system.
Having mellowed a great deal and more importantly, having left the Churches of God system, I’ve moderated my views on the whole concept of voting and elections. This Torah portion does so much to establish my views on voting and elections–or for that matter, dictate my views on politics as a whole. As a Torah Observant Believer in Y’shua Messiah, I strive to be obedient to the commandments and laws and precepts of Torah, as much as I possibly can. Those areas of Torah that I am unable to obey or keep (especially those connected to the Temple and to the Levitical priestly system), I seek Father’s Spirit to reveal to me the spiritual lessons to be learned from those “static Laws” (my phrase for those areas of Torah that cannot practically be kept by us today). For me, the whole thought behind me participating in the election process falls within this “static law” arena.
We Netzari-Americans (Hebrew Rooters) do not live in a “theocracy” nor do we have a God-appointed king over us. A Torah-based political system does not at all mesh with our national constitution and political system, thus we who are living in this country and in many nations of the west are unable to properly keep this mitzvah. However, for me, I do believe there are tremendous spiritual principles to be gained from this mitzvah related to the selection of a ruler over us.
As it stands and as far as we know, we do not have a current leader—nor do we have a presidential candidate—who adheres to God’s Word or His Torah. Essentially, every candidate and political leader has effectively vowed to the public that any religious or spiritual convictions they possess will not influence their governing decisions and practices–maybe with the sole exception of Ben Carson who is an avowed 7th Day Adventist, but not a Torah Observant Believer in Y’shua Messiah. If you ask me, this would disqualify every would be presidential candidate and current world leader from ruling over us from a Biblical perspective. Thus, for me, I have elected (no pun intended) to not participate in the election process.
Now, this is not to say that Father has not placed them in their political or seats of power to serve His purpose in the earth. Father has made it clear that the earth is His and all it contains. (1 Corinthian 10:26) And we, His elect, have been placed here to inhabit this world and live for Him in the midst of the authorities that He—Yahovah—has set in place. Paul writes to the Messianic Assembly in Rome: “Let every soul be subject to the authorities of government. For there is no authority which is not from Elohim: and the authorities which exist are established by Elohim. He therefore who opposes the authority, opposes the establishment of Elohim; and they who oppose them will receive judgment. For judges are not a menace to good deeds, but to evil deeds. Would you then not be afraid of the authority? Do good, and you will have praise from it. For he is the minister of Elohim; but it is to you for good. But if you work evil, be afraid; for he is not girded with the sword in vain; for he is a minister of Elohim and an avenger of wrath to them that do evil things. And therefore, it is necessary for us to be obedient, not only on account of wrath, but likewise on account of our consciences.” (Romans 13:1-5 AENT)
Now many in Churchianity would use this and other like verses to advocate believers in Messiah get in lock-step with this country’s democratic processes. What this verse is NOT saying, however, is that we are to support and condone evil, be it in our homes, our work-places or even our governments. Our governments throughout this nation have persistently shown that they are evil: they advocate gay and lesbian unions; they support and fund abortions; they stand for social injustice for the sake of societal peace and the personal advancement of the political power brokers that have authority over us. Yet Christians are encouraged by their leaders and teachers to participate in the democratic and political process. The argument from those who advocate our participation in the democratic process is that by our not participating in the process—by our inaction—we facilitate the seating of those who do not share our values and beliefs. Of course, this mindset is debatable to say the least. In fact, the traditional leaning of Christians in the United States tends to be that of Republican, while the secular and non-believing public tends to be Democrats. Certainly, this is a generality. I know for a fact that black-Christians tend overwhelmingly to vote Democrat. Why? One could argue that blacks in this country, be they Christian or non-Christian, feel that the democratic party has their best interests at heart—for some it’s their pocket books; for others it’s their rights and opportunities as members of impoverished communities; for others it’s their close affiliation with members of their race. That being the case, then, these individuals tend to place their Faith secondary and even tertiary to that of their personal interests. And certainly, this same principle goes for the White, Hispanic, Asian and Middle Eastern in our society who chose their personal preferences and interests over their Faith and religious convictions.
What Paul is saying in this letter to the Roman Assembly, however, is that we as Torah Observant Believers in Y’shua Messiah, must be a peaceable people who obey the laws of the land and show due respect for those individuals who have been given authority over us in society. That deference and respect goes only as far as that which doesn’t cross the line into the realm of evil. In other words, we are not to be lemmings who subordinate the tenets of our Faith to the common practices and traditions of our society and the whims and rulings of evil men. Father taught us: “You shall not fall in with the many to do evil…” (Exodus 23:2)
Thus, when we’re presented with participation in our nation’s political process and are faced with electing a candidate to rule over us, we must think clearly about the spiritual impact that our participating in such a process might impose upon us as Believers in Y’shua Messiah and our nation. If our selection of candidates do not mesh with our beliefs and our Faith, why would we go out to participate in a process that we hope will put them into positions of leadership over us? If these individuals do not follow Torah; if they advocate or endorse evil practices; if they seek to fulfill their own personal agendas and interests by becoming our leaders, why would we participate in such a process that would potentially lead to their being placed into office and rule over us? Would there ever be a chance that we’d be shooting ourselves in the foot? Of course there’s such a chance. In fact, we may be facing that type of situation in the not so distant future as a result of those who’ve already been placed in government leadership positions.
It troubles me to think that millions of Americans went to the polls in 2008 and 2012 and placed our current–sitting president into office. He has never truly espoused so-called Christian values; he has advocated a reduction or even elimination of our rights to practice our Faith; he has gone out of his way to subordinate Christianity to that of Islam; he has stomped upon several Christian values such as the Christian belief in upholding the rights of the unborn and rejection of gay and lesbian unions. To add insult to injury, these same so-called Christians elected a Congress that has gone out of its way to support the policies and platform of our current president. Why? Why would we, who claim to be the elect of God, ignore that which we’ve dedicated our lives to—the furtherance of the Gospel and being disciples of Y’shua Messiah—and beat feet to the polls to elect such individuals to positions of rule over us? And if all remains as it is today—at the posting of this episode of Torah Living Daily Challenge—we will see a repeat of this very thing in 2016 when our nation will elect Hillary Clinton or someone else of similar political leanings to the highest office in the land.
But I’ve said all that I’ve said, not to advocate that we overtly oppose our governments. I’m just questioning the spiritual prudence in participating in a democratic process that serves only to put into office those who do not share our Faith. I know this will sound off-base and foolish to many of you listening to this episode. But bear in mind Saints, my whole purpose in this ministry in part is to call all who would claim Y’shua as their Messiah, to embrace a life of Torah and reject compromise in all it’s forms—be it in our day-to-day walk with Messiah or in our spiritual Torah-based beliefs. Traditional Churchianity has shown that she is not afraid to compromise—and why should they think any differently? When you, as a Christian, believe that you have no responsibilities as it relates to your Faith because of a misconception you have related to the hijacked doctrines of Grace, then it’s certainly not a stretch nor is it an effort to subordinate the tenets of your Faith to that of your personal comforts and preferences.
But on another level, Peter comments on the believer’s responsibilities as it relates to how we are to deal with those who are placed in positions of authority over us: “And be submissive to all the sons of men, for Elohim’s sake; to kings, on account of their authority; and to judges because they are sent by him for the punishment of offenders, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of Elohim, that by your good deeds you may stop the mouth of the foolish who do not know Elohim: As free men, you are not like men who make their freedom a cloak for their wickedness, but as the servants of Elohim. Honor all men; love your Brothers; fear Elohim; and honor kings.” (Reference 1 Peter 2:13-17 AENT)
Contrary to what churchianity and others may advocate, this Petrine passage does not in anyway stipulate that we are to participate in the election process. Peter advances to us Messiah-like behavior that we should exemplify as a course of normal Torah Living and general behavior as Torah Observant Believers in Y’shua Messiah. Essentially, Peter instructs us that we are to respect those who are placed in positions of authority over us and to behave in a Messiah-like manner before them. This is contrary to some of the radical, so-called Christian groups out there that have taken it upon themselves to do the exact opposite of what this Petrine passage instructs. I recently viewed a video online, of a charismatic-Christian group, the name of which escapes me for the moment, but if I knew it I wouldn’t reveal it as I was disgusted by their behavior. The members of this group in this particular video, numbered somewhere around seven. It turns out that these members went into a department store and incited a disturbance over a really stupid issue I believe was related to the use of a restroom by one of the members and a staff member of the department store. The disturbance in the store resulted in the the physical assault of a department store staff member. The group departed the store and congregated in the store’s parking lot. Now you should know, that this particular group of so-called Christians have essentially declared war upon the governing bodies of this nation and have been known to assault police officers and threaten to harm other government personnel. These individuals have used the judicial system to their personal advantage through a number of well orchestrated law suits, all the while advocating that they are believers in Jesus Christ and their Faith is first and foremost in their lives.
Well, continuing on with this story, two police officers were dispatched to the scene of that department store to investigate the assault that the store manager had called in to their dispatch. Upon arrival, the assault victim was questioned by responding police and upon concluding their in-store inquiry, they turned their sights to the gathered group, still hanging out in the parking lot. As the two officers approached the group—which I should tell you was composed of both men and women—two to three of the males and one of the women in the group as I recall, became belligerent towards the officers and their questioning. The two officer, grossly outnumbered by this group, seemed to attempt to sequester two or so members of the group to question them about the assault incident. Now, all of this was caught on the officers’ dashboard cams and the video has been viewed by thousands on the internet. The group as a whole resisted the efforts of the officers to get to the bottom of their investigations and began to surround the two officers in a threatening manner. As the officers attempted to gain control of this diminishing situation, at least one of the male members of the group, spurred on by a female member of the group, began throwing punches at the officers. Immediately the situation turned to pandemonium and the officers suddenly found themselves in a fight for their lives. As the fight ensued—bear in mind, these two officers had no other back-up and the suspects essentially numbered about three-times their numbers. One of the suspects got a hold of one of the officer’s side arms. Bear in mind that the officers had not drawn their weapons at this juncture in the deteriorating situation. So this suspect was somehow able to wrestle the weapon from the officer’s holster. Now the officer not only had to physically fight off the assailants, but also attempt to regain possession and control of his now stolen weapon. At some point, the suspect that grabbed the officer’s weapon, shot the officer, seriously wounding him. The shot-officer’s partner, still attempting to defend himself from the part of the group that was attacking him, then realized that both him and his partner were in a dire situation. Despite the wounded officer being shot, he was able to hold on to the shooter, still trying to regain possession of his stolen weapon. The shot officer’s partner then managed to draw his weapon and shoot the individual who shot his partner. I believe the shot officer was then able to regain possession of his stolen weapon. At this point, the group was shocked into reality that one of their members had been mortally wounded. The uninjured officer pointed his weapon at the crowd and at the same time pulled his wounded partner—who did by the way survive his shooting—away from the carnage. By then, several responding police units began arriving at the scene and quickly took control of the situation. The wounded officer quickly received treatment, but the so-called Christian fellow who had been shot by the unwounded officer, died on scene.
I told this story because I found it to be a vivid commentary on the jacked-up state of Christianity today. Christianity is all over the place, more so in the United States, than any other region of the western world. What I mean by that is that we have passive Christians who live rather well-to-do lives in their communities; we have moderate Christians who are dedicated to their religion and attend church every Sunday and maybe even participate in various Church activities during the week; other segments of Christianity are violent and cold and callous and are in complete opposition to the tenets of proper Christian behavior that is denoted in the Bible, and these groups hate all levels and forms of government. And of course, there are groups of Christians that fall out along this spectrum: from the passive to the violent aggressive.
In Hebrew Roots, we tend to be conservative, if not ultra-conservative in our political and social views. Many of us have developed a complete distrust and even disdain for our government, the legal system and law enforcement. Many of us have taken to a life of prepping—for lack of a better term—squirreling away food and stocking ammunition and other provisions for the inevitable apocalypse that is certain to come—when that apocalypse will come, only Father in heaven knows (Matthew 24:36) I am not for and I’m certainly not against “prepping” as I see great value in preparing for the hard times ahead. However, I see a downside to having such an anti-government—anti-system mentality as has grown to disturbing numbers in recent days, within and around our Faith. That downside is a loss of perspective; a loss of faith—that is faith in Father’s will for our lives and His provision; a loss of love and a rise in hatred and bitterness. You see, I believe Paul and Peter inherently and spiritually knew that we as believers in Y’shua Messiah, run the risk of falling into a spiritual malaise if we take to a mentality and stand that is anti-government and anti-society. We lose the ability to be effective witnesses for the Faith. We lose the opportunity to effectively evangelize. We become pariahs of society and once that happens, we become enemies of the state and of society. And of course, when that happens, we are doomed to destruction and complete marginalization. Behaving as this group of so-called evangelical Christians that I described above, serves no practical purpose and goes against the teachings of Master’s anointed apostles. Paul wrote to Titus: “admonish them (speaking about Titus’ followers) to be submissive and obedient to princes and powerful leaders; and that they are ready for every good work; and that they speak ill of no man; that they will not be argumentative, but mild; and that in everything they manifest generously towards all men. For we also were formerly reckless and disobedient, and erring, and serving divers lusts, and living in malice and envy, and were hateful and also hating one another. But when the kindness and compassion of Elohim our Life-Giver was revealed, not by works of righteousness which we had done, but according to his mercy, he revived us by the washing of the new birth and by the renovation of the Ruach haKodesh which He shed on us abundantly by Y’shua the Mashiyach our Life-Giver, that we might be made righteous by His grace and become heirs in the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:1-7 AENT)
So what does all this have to do with this Torah Portion and the Torah Observant Believer in Y’shua participating in the political-election process? It has to do with the mindset and spirit behind this Torah portion. We as Torah Observant Believers in Messiah have a tremendous responsibility to uphold. We must be first and foremost obedient to Father and His Torah. Secondly, we must walk in the manner that Y’shua Messiah demonstrated and taught us. Thirdly, we must be obedient to the great commission that Master conferred upon us: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19,20) And let’s face it, in order to fulfill all these requirements and responsibilities, we have to get along with others and be able to move about freely in our society and communities. We must be accessible to the world for the sake and mission of Messiah and His Gospel. And we can not in any way do this without playing well with others and realizing our place in the world. We are a special people living out unique and special lives. We stand for only that which is good, righteous and holy. We abhor and reject all that is evil and unholy and carnal. Thus, we must maintain lives of purity, unsullied from the carnality of the world in which we live. We must live in this world, but we must not be of this world. Paul wrote to Titus that we must be trained to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:12-14) In other words, we can not compromise our convictions and the tenets of our Faith. Thus, when we have set before us politicians who seek to rule over us, we must ask ourselves, would my support of this candidate indicate a compromise of my Faith. Should we adopt a mentality of “the lesser of evils,” whereby we feel we should simply put in the least evil of the lot? Or should we simply realize that these individuals do not believe or hold to a Torah-based life as we’ve chosen to live. And because of that, why would we beat-feet to a poll to cast a vote for someone who does not possess the same values that we possess? Why would we participate in a political and electoral process that is steeped in carnality and selfishness and evil?
Yahovah, nevertheless, is in control. He places into power those he deems will serve His ultimate purpose and glory. Recall the interaction between Pilate and Y’shua, just after Pilate had our Master scourged in response to the peoples’ demands that Pilate execute/crucify Him. After the scourging was over, Pilate went out to the people and presented our beaten and marred Saviour to them. Pilate formally announced to the heart-hardened Jews that composed that belligerent crowd: “Behold, I bring Him to you (talking about Y’shua) that you may know that I do not find even one cause against Him.” The crowd regardless demanded the death of Y’shua, at which point Pilate literally washed his hands of the situation. But in one last feeble attempt, Pilate attempted to engage Y’shua—out of fear of who He was—a holy man—and reason with Y’shua to renounce His mission and ministry. The conversation went something like this: “…Where are you from? (Pilate speaking to Y’shua). But Y’shua did not give a reply to him. Peelatos (Pilate) said to Him, “You do not speak with me. Do you not realize that I have authority to release you and I have authority to have you executed on the stake?” Y’shua said to him, “You would have no authority over me whatsoever if it had not been given to you from above.” (John 19:10, 11 AENT)
Who are we, then, to get in the middle of that? Frankly, I strongly believe that we have no business getting involved in the political process at any level. Father places those in power whom He choses and we as Father’s elect have nothing to do with that process other than to flourish and thrive in the midst of their—the politicians and power brokers and people of power—and present a holy presence and pay respect to whom respect is to be given. All the while as Y’shua was being scourged and beaten, He did not challenge the power brokers of His time. He endured and showed amazing restraint and holiness. His behavior during the period of His Passion is wondrous at so many levels and is the reason why so many lives from that incident alone were no doubt profoundly affected for the better. We are called to imitate our Master. And there is coming a day when we may have to actually show forth our elect status before men as we are taken and persecuted and tribulated for our Faith. This will be a time of great reckoning and our Messiah-like response to this tribulation and persecution will be the difference between our being the witnesses that Master requires us to be in the earth, or the defiant and self-reliant poor witnesses that Master rejects.
I realize this will not be a popular message to many of our listeners and readers and I’m okay with that. I’m being true to the leading of the Spirit in my life. I’m not here to tell you to vote and I’m certainly not here to tell you NOT to vote. That is a decision that rests between you and Yahovah. I’ve only given you my perspective, based upon my understanding of the Word of Yahovah–His Torah–and Y’shua Messiah’s example to us, His elect.
In any event, we should absolutely stay abreast of what is going on in the political realm, as the ultimate outcome will affect each of us in some way or the other. Being prepared is certainly not a bad thing at all. It’s the wise and prudent thing to do.
Until next time fellow Saints in Training, I bid you Shalom Aleichem.
by Rod Thomas | Nov 26, 2015 | Podcasts
Grace and the Law, Which is it?
Part 9 of the Grace and the Law Series–Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections 38
As I am putting the finishing touches on this Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections, Thanksgiving is at the door. Despite what is typically a joyous time of year, our world remains in upheaval. Terrorism continues to be a primary concern for us in the West; fears of another financial meltdown are ruminating; the globalists are threatening to redefine life on this planet as Agenda 21 and its environmental protectionist theme take center stage in global discourse. This kind of stuff that has been ongoing now for quite some time has the potential to throw us off our game and distract us from our real mission, and that mission is seeking the Kingdom of Yahovah and His righteousness. We have been taught by Master that we were not to be troubled or disturbed in heart and to believe in Yahovah and in Him–Y’shua haMashiyach. That in His Father’s house there are many dwelling places and that He was heading to prepare a place for us in His Father’s house (John 14:1,2) In other words, we are not to be overwhelmed by the events that are ongoing in this world and that our destination is the Kingdom of Yahovah. In reaching that Kingdom, we have a job to do and that is to work in the fields and prepare ourselves for receiving our soon coming king and the establishment of His eternal kingdom on this planet. This program is the basis of this preparation and work for the Kingdom.
As I reflect upon where I need to be in my walk with Messiah and in furthering my relationship with Father, I see that I must become intimately familiar with His Word–His Torah–His way of life. Knowing how Grace and the Law works in our lives is part and parcel of that familiarity with Father’s Word and His Torah and His way of life for every believer in Y’shua Messiah. This is part 9 of the multi-episode series on Grace and the Law. This is Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections–Episode 38–Grace and the Law, Which is it?
Over the last 8-episodes of this Grace and the Law Series, we’ve examined some of the most well-known, seeming anti-Torah passages of Paul’s body of writings. In doing so, we’ve discussed common Churchianity beliefs and teachings, based upon these Pauline passages, related to the misconception of the inferiority and irrelevancy of the Law or Torah, and the supremacy and primacy of the doctrine and concept of Grace. In other words, we considered common teachings of Christianity related to the topic of Grace and the Law as it is believed to have been developed and taught by the Apostle Paul.
It has never been much of a secret that Churchianity despises even the slightest suggestion that the Law (also affectionately known to us as Torah) still applies to believers in Jesus Christ (also known to us as Y’shua Messiah). We in Hebrew Roots have had to either ignore the challenges to our Faith or defend our keeping and honoring of Torah, all based upon these seeming anti-Torah passages of the Apostle Paul (affectionately known to many of us as Rav Shaul). Instead of debunking or nullifying the grand yet hijacked and mostly misunderstood concept of “Grace,” we embraced the true concept of grace as it directly affects each believer in Y’shua Messiah, in proper balance with Torah Living, Y’shua-style. Instead of rejecting grace, we recognized the irreplaceable need for grace in every believer’s life as he or she walks out their Faith each and everyday. We did not drum up Bible passages to refute these seeming anti-Torah passages of Paul, but instead, used these very passages to refute the anti-Torah crowd’s claims against us. We employed sound, exegetical, contextual examination of each disputed Pauline passage and it was not too difficult to see how Churchianity has gotten it wrong all these years and even centuries. Indeed, as it relates to the writings of the Apostle Paul, the beloved Apostle Peter could not have said it any better: “And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures” (2 Peter 3:15, 16)
I find it very interesting that Churchianity (that is fundamental/traditional Christianity essentially rests upon “churching” or indoctrinating their members on that organization’s beliefs and traditions) hardly ever teaches this passage of 2nd Peter. Why would they? Churchianity believes that Paul’s writings, especially on the topic of grace and the law, are crystal clear and not at all difficult or challenging to understanding: that we are saved by grace only, insinuating that the law no longer has any place in a believer’s life (Ephesians 2:8); that we are no longer under the law (Romans 6:14; Galatians 3:23-26); that we have been released from the law (Romans 7:6); that if we continue to obey and honor the law, then Christ’s atoning sacrifice was for naught and that we will have effectively fallen from grace (Galatians 2:21; 5:24); that we who choose to honor and keep Torah are under a curse (Galatians 3:10); and that Christ kept the law for us perfectly, thus we believers no longer have to (Galatians 3:11-13). So for the average Christian, what else is there to be said on this matter. Grace is outrageously wonderful and covers everything ever so nicely having to do with our salvation, our walk with Messiah and how we conduct ourselves in this world and before God. Hilary told me of a conversation she found herself in related to this very subject of grace and the law, and the individual on the other end of the telephone line told her that because of grace (paraphrasing), he had nothing more to do beyond giving his life to Jesus (whatever that really means)—for everything is taken care of. All he, or any other believer, would need to do is await the rapture. What that says to someone like me, however, is that you can live however you choose to live because grace has got you covered. You can violate God’s laws; you can even reject the bible and God Himself, and you’re guaranteed a spot on the express train to heaven because of the outrageousness of grace.
So if you’re a born again, evangelical or fundamental/traditional/orthodox Christian, why would you read these seeming anti-Torah passages of Paul any way other than how it appears written on the pristine pages of the average believer’s Bible? Because if you were, perhaps, to read it the way we in the Hebrew Roots read these same passages, you would actually have to do something about your Faith—something about your religion. You would have to come to a monumental understanding that your pagan-infused, traditional, feel-good, give-me-some of that ole time religion had some serious problems associated with it. You would have to come to the life-changing realization that you’d been lied to by your organization, your religion, the people you trusted so much with your eternal life and your way of life as a Christian believer. You would have to decide whether your commitment to Christ was a real one or simply an emotional response to an alter call one soul-convicting Sunday afternoon. Do you then, buck the system and simply ride it out, trusting that God knows your heart and that you’ll still make it to heaven on that glad morning when this life is over and you fly away? Do you continue to worship (whatever that truly means to the believer in question) in the same sanctuary, with the same brothers and sisters, under the same teachings and indoctrination, while you awaiting the rapture—ever so frightened to challenge those teachings and indoctrinations out of a fear that you might be censured or asked to leave by the organization’s leadership?
Or does the individual who’s life was profoundly changed and he or she has given up everything for the cause of Christ (and yes, I do believe that there are many in Churchianity who are profoundly changed but sincerely mistaken in their understanding of the True Faith once delivered); does he or she upon realizing that what they’d been taught all their Christian lives was wrong, head for the door of their churches, never again to return—abandoning those old beliefs and traditions; willing to be discarded by friends and family upon their revealing to them that they had finally found truth? These are the individuals that we must be ever so ready to come alongside and render spiritual assistance and guidance, as they struggle with the imminent spiritual changes and decisions they are about to make. Many of us Netzari’s—Hebrew Rooters if you will—made this crucial, heartbreaking, yet exhilarating journey as we moved from darkness into Yahovah’s light of truth. But in order to be of proper and effective assistance to those seeking truth and pondering the decision to make that eternal change in their lives, we must—as Paul wrote to the Ephesian assembly—”fasten on the belt of truth along with putting on the breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14). And this is one of the driving forces behind the Messianic Torah Observer and her shows Torah Living Daily Challenge and Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections. When I made this long, trying and painful transition, now over a decade ago, I wish there were resources like this available to me. If so, maybe my journeying would not have been so disjointed and uncertain as it was. You see, if we don’t get this right when the opportunity presents itself—that is availing ourselves to spread the true Gospel message and being able to render the truth of the gospel and properly address issues such as grace and the law to truth seekers–there are many potholes and distractions out there such as Messianic Judaism and Kaballah and a million and one versions of Hebrew Roots that only lead truth seekers down roads of confusion and even destruction. As Evangelical, Fundamental, Traditional and Orthodox Christianity faces her greatest falling away of members and supporters in her collective history—and I’ve spoken on this many times on this program—we must be properly positioned to receive and redirect these souls to the true Faith that they’ve been searching, many of them, their entire lives for. I’m telling you fellow saints in training, there has not been such an opportunity to impact a new generation of truth seeking believers as it is today. I encourage you to join me in this effort to bring truth to a dying world. However and whatever way the Spirit is leading you to act, don’t turn a deaf ear; don’t ignore the tug of the Spirit that is directing you to do your part in the Great Commission. As true disciples of Y’shua Messiah, we’ve been uniquely tasked with “going into the world and making disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19). Of course, there are many ways in which one can do such a thing: (1) one may actually embark upon a ministry that seeks to deliver the truth to all who would listen and receive, as we have; (2) join a ministry that seeks to deliver the truth to all who would listen and receive and that prepares you for the work of the Gospel; (3) prayerfully and financially support ministries such as this that seeks to deliver the truth to the world through various means and programs; or (4) simply be a light in your day-to-day lives such that you are fully prepared to deliver the truth to whomever comes seeking and asking. Don’t allow anyone to dis-way you on your quest and responsibility. I’ve run into many self-righteous individuals who run ministries and who judge and criticize those whom they believe are unworthy to be of service to the Kingdom. Don’t allow these pompous-arrogant jerks to tell you that you can’t. The only reason these individuals take such a position against individuals in our Faith who step out on Faith to spread the true message is that they fear their support and following will be adversely impacted. You see, this is not commercialism—this is not a competition for souls—this is not an exclusive club that only the elite can be a part of. Y’shua showed us that the work of the Gospel is to be done by the “salt of the earth…” (Matthew 5:13), not a select group of beautiful, well mannered, charismatic, unique individuals. Master selected “fishermen” and tax-collectors to be key members and players in his ministry. Who are we then to think that only the Joel Osteen’s of this world should deliver the gospel. Such an attitude falls in the category of the “impostor syndrome.” I had and continue to suffer from this very thing: questioning and chastising myself for stepping out and delivering that which the Spirit (the Ruach) leads and directs me to deliver on this program.
The arrogant and pompous attitudes of members of our Faith must never dissuade any of us from the unique ministries and missions that the Father places upon us to do. I see it more times than I care to mention, how just on social media alone, we love to tear one another apart for some of the most inane things related to our Faith. Just the other day, within less than a one-day period or so, I was subjected to a “Facebook” fight—yes; I said Facebook fight. The first incident was one where a female posted a comment where she castigated those who used the name “Yahu” to refer to the Father. This I believe came as a result of a sincere brother in the Faith referred to Father using some form of Yahu, which erupted in this woman’s tirade against him and all who would use that form of name to refer to the Father. I mean the string of back and forth post to each other, in addition to those individuals who felt compelled to join in on the fight, was beyond ridiculously long. My email account was inundated with notices of each post over the period of a half-day or so. It was insane. The other Facebook fight occurred over a concept of our Faith, the particulars I can’t recall at this point: where one fellow belittled another fellow for not having the full understanding of the concept in question. The arrogant one’s statement to the one who originally posted an innocent statement on the concept was: “you did not dig deep enough in your research;” this after numerous back-and-forth posts on this subject. It’s insane folks and we need to put an end to the attacks on one another. This is why churchianity finds us to be such a disjointed and misguided band of of misfits and it’s this type of arrogant and belittling rhetoric against one another that seems to readily support such a negative contention against us, if you ask me.
Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, we can move on to the topic at hand.
What I’d like to do for the remainder of this episode and concluding, Yah willing, the next episode, is to bring this whole discussion on Grace and the Law in to some form of defining conclusion. As I mentioned at the head of this post, we’ve spent the last 8-episodes of this series examining and attempting to properly interpret some of the most well-known, erroneously perceived, anti-Torah passages in the Bible. And we’ve come to what I believe to be the proper conclusion that Torah has NOT been done away with and replaced by grace as popular Christianity so vociferously contends. We looked at reasons why pop-Christianity holds to such a belief and we concluded that much of the reason for it’s misconception of grace and the law is as a result of a lack of proper understanding—on churchianity’s part–as to what grace and Torah really are, and the relationship that exists between the two.
How should we, the Torah Observant Believer in Y’shua Messiah, respond to such claims that Torah has been done away with and replaced by grace, especially in light of what these seeming anti-Torah passages of Paul would overtly seem to suggest to the unknowing and misunderstanding world? Many I submit, would avoid such conversations or challenges outright; and indeed there are passages in the Bible that some would use to defend their isolationist and avoidance stance to such challenges. But I’m sad to tell those of you who would take such a stance that we can’t simply walk away from every challenge to our Faith. It was the Apostle Peter, no doubt responding to the move of the Spirit in his ministry, wrote: “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Messiah the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Messiah may be put to shame” (1 Peter 3:14, 15)
This is not to say, of course, that we engage in pointless arguments with contrary individuals over subjects such as the true name of our Father (i.e., Yahweh, Yahuah, Yahovah, Adonai, etc.) or the impracticality of following the Creator’s (Biblical) Calendar when we have a perfectly good Calculated Jewish Calendar we can use to figure out dates. I would concede that such challenges and ensuing arguments serve only to divide and separate and sow seeds of discontent and hatred in the Body of Messiah. What I believe Peter to be saying here, though, is that we must be ready and willing to respond to any who would sincerely seek to know the truth about our Faith and why we do what we do and believe what we believe.
I get it though: many of us may feel unprepared and have a sense of fear that we might not represent our faith in the best light because of our lack of understanding or inability to articulate a proper defense and explanation of our Faith. That’s only natural. The natural instinct when we are unsure about something is to simply avoid discussing it. And I would contend that there is great merit to this perspective. Certainly, you don’t want to make a habit out of talking about something you know absolutely nothing about. You probably end up making a fool out of yourself.
However, there is absolutely no excuse for us to not be prepared to defend our Faith. There is no excuse for us to not get over our fear of defending our Faith. We have the resources (tons of content and reference materials); the Faith (that is the counsel of many brothers and sisters in the Faith and the body of teachings left for us by Y’shua and His anointed apostles); and the Holy Spirit. We must not forget that we have been provided THE gift from Father—the Holy Spirit (aka Ruach haKodesh). We talk about having faith. Yet many of us forget or through our inactions, deny that we have the Holy Spirit or that the Holy Spirit even resides in us. Y’shua taught us: “And I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter (i.e., Ruach haKodesh) that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). What we often forget is that one of the things Ruach haKodesh (aka the Holy Spirit) does for us is to charge our memories and understanding so that we may effectively work in the Kingdom of Yahovah. Y’shua taught: “But the Helper, the Ruach haKodesh, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything; that is, He will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26 CJB).
So the Holy Spirit isn’t just to help us resist the tug of sin and to flourish and thrive in a Torah-based life; it’s also designed to embolden us and bring all our thoughts, understanding and the teachings we’ve received—life and biblical teachings—and bring all that stuff hanging within our being to a place where we can readily use it for the work of the Kingdom. It’s a resource that I, unfortunately, believe we in Hebrew Roots fail to access to any appreciable degree or to any appreciable frequency. In our community we tend to view anything having to do with the Holy Spirit with evangelical and charismatic Christianity and thus many of us want nothing to do with it. But we must be absolutely clear on this folks: Y’shua operated in the Spirit; His chosen apostles operated in the Spirit; the prophets of old operated in the Spirit. Thus, who are we to reject the move and influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives? I rely upon the Holy Spirit each day to guide and teach me; to provide me the content that I am putting forth to you today in this episode and in previous episodes of this program; to form me into the very image of my Lord and Master Y’shua Messiah. Without Ruach haKodesh, I wouldn’t be able to make it in this Faith nor would I be able to maintain this ministry and function in this ministry as I’m doing. Believe me, when I first came in to this Faith I rejected the work of the Holy Spirit in my life (it’s a story that I should tell you sometime in the future) and I can tell you, it was a disaster. I was all over the place in terms of my understanding and beliefs. I couldn’t put all that I was receiving from teachings and readings and the like together and incorporate it into my life without mucking it up. I found myself in such a state of mind that I am embarrassed today to even recall that period in my life. It’s a terrible place to be in, although at the time you wouldn’t necessarily realize how bad it is, especially when you feel that you’ve arrived and are in the right about so many things. But when you go it alone and you attempt to walk this Faith, devoid of the Holy Spirit, you strive unaided and unprotected not against flesh and blood per se, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12) Yes, we strive against all these elements because it serves the enemy well to displace and jack us around and divert our attention from the truth; to distort our understanding; to introduce doubt into our minds and hearts; to lead us to wrong fellowships and churches; to put before our minds literature and teachings that serve not only to confuse us but also to lead us down a road towards destruction. To the enemy, if it can somehow make you an ineffective soldier of the Kingdom, then they’ve successfully completed their mission.
This is why understanding fundamental/foundational concepts such as grace and the Law is so important; and not just understanding them, but being able to defend and explain these concepts to other truth seeking individuals. I’ve said it before in previous episodes of this program, that today we are in a great place in that more and more people are leaving churchianity and are seeking truth and seeking to establish a viable, true relationship with the Creator of the Universe. We in Hebrew Roots have been given a gift that is more precious than anything imaginable: truth. But when the truth that many of us have received becomes so real and powerful to us and that truth has profoundly affected our lives for the absolute betterment, then we do not place that light under a bushel, but on a candlestick such that it gives light to all that are in the house (Matthew 5:15).
So what do we do with all that we’ve received on this subject? Well a few things: (1) learn and fully grasp the significance of the teachings; (2) study even more the material using our bibles as the primary source of our learning; (3) pray and fast for direction and deeper understanding; (4) write out your thoughts and maybe share them with other like-minded believers; and (5) be obedient to the truth and the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In other words, don’t just let these truths find themselves buried in your mind, never to surface again, but petition the Father to reveal to you what He would have you do with the truths that you’ve received. I can’t tell you what you must do. I can only make suggestions. But you got to get out of your comfortable paradigm and do something and that something is between you and the Father.
We’re here to help of course.
Next episode/next week, we’ll look at Pauline passages that support Torah living and finally bring everything to a conclusion. Today, I simply wanted to take a break from the nitty gritty of the subject and reflect on our responsibilities as it relates to receiving truth and understanding about grace and the Law. I will concede, not a very enticing subject all around, but absolutely important to understand and be able to defend and explain. I’m simply delivering that which Father placed on my heart and mind to deliver. I pray that you have been blessed by this content and I look forward to bringing this all home and to a conclusion next week. In the interim, may Yahovah bless you and keep you; may Yahovah’s face shine upon you; may Yahovah lift up His countenance unto you; may Yahovah be gracious unto you and grant you Shalom. Shavu’atov and have a blessed Thanksgiving.
by Rod Thomas | Nov 16, 2015 | Podcasts
Israel Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Torah Living Daily Challenge 29
As I came to the end of Parashah 47, I went over to the Haftorah reading that is found in Isaiah 54:11-55:5. What a heart-lifting passage of Scripture. And let me just say before I move forward with today’s Torah Living Daily Challenge: I do follow the course of reading that is outlined in Torah portions, contrary to some in our Hebrew Roots community who rail against this practice or system of Torah reading. Some in our community contend that Torah portions are inventions of Judaism and should be discarded as it was never put in place by the Father. Indeed, the Torah portion system of Torah reading is an invention of the Jew. But we must remember, that not everything the Jew has done that has touched our Faith is wrong or evil. We tend to always through the baby out with the bathwater, especially as it relates to our Faith. Torah portions is simply a system of reading and studying Torah—no different than the system that any naysayer of Torah portions probably employs when they study Torah. I find Torah portions to be an apt system to study Torah and it keeps me on track to go through the Torah systematically. Do I recommend this system of Torah reading to you: sure; I would say give it a try. If it works for you, then I say don’t let anyone judge you on how your study scripture. Those who seek to condemn the use of such systems always have their system off to the side to hand over to you once they’ve convinced you that the system you were once using is invalid or wrong. If Torah portions don’t jive with you, wonderful; Father has another system or format for you to work through His sacred Word. Bottom line Saints, we are compelled to study His Word regardless of the system or means by which we do so. So let us get off our high-horses and get to work on learning about Father and adopting His ways of righteousness. Amein? Amein.
Now back to this wonderful Haftorah passage of Isaiah. This was a familiar passage to me as I’m certain that it will be for many of you who are fans to Scripture. This Haftorah speaks to a time in the future when Israel will re-establish herself in the land of promise and return-or turn-to Yahovah Most High. It’s an inspiring passage that I will read in its entirety:
11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
12 And I will make thy windows of agates (that is, rubies), and thy gates of carbuncles (that is, crystal-NAS; that is gem stones other translations) and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
KJV Isaiah 55:1 ¶ Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.1
3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.
5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.
(Isa 54:11-55:5 KJV)
I see in this passage a tremendous future promise, not just for those true Israelis currently residing in the land of Israel (indeed, not all of those residing in the land of Israel are true Israelis—but we won’t get into that in this episode), but for we who are spiritual Israelis (Romans 11:17-24). I say tremendous future promise because much of Isaiah’s writings speak to the pending “wrath of Yahovah” against Judah as we see in chapter 9:19. However, this passage portrays a bright and wonderful future for Israel. By the time of this writing, the northern tribes of Israel had been sacked and invaded by the Assyrian juggernaut. Unfortunately, the same Assyrian juggernaut molested Judah on a few occasions and it was Isaiah who encouraged Hezekiah to resist the Assyrians (reference 2 Kings 18:14-16; Isaiah 36:2-22; 37:8) which ultimately led to Judah defeating Sennacherib’s armies. (Reference 2 Kings 19) But history bears out that Judah, the lesser of the two apostate states, was ultimately besieged and sacked by Nebuchadnezzar’s Chaldean Armies in 598. It was during that siege that the finest of Judah were deported to Babylon, leaving a remnant behind which has often been referred as “the people of the land.” The people of the land suffered in despair, having to endure poverty and famine, while their brothers and sisters—the nobles—in captivity in Babylon, appeared to have faired much better. It appears as though Isaiah may have been addressing the land and the people who would be left behind after the invasion in 597. It was this despair that the Book of Lamentations was based.
We saw this terrible situation somewhat repeated in 68-C.E. (according to Rood) or 70-C.E., when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and exiled the Jews from the land in 135 C.E., never to truly return in any appreciable numbers until 1948. Many contend that the reformation of Israel as a nation in 1948 may be the fulfillment of this prophecy of Isaiah, while other commentators hold this prophecy to be more directed to the Christian Church (e.g., Matthew Henry). I tend to think that anyone who sees this Isaiah prophecy as referring to anyone or anything more than the Hebrew descendants is deluded in a “replacement-type theology.” Yahovah has not eternally forsaken His people and replaced them with us, the grafted in Israelites of the New Covenant. Indeed, Father Himself has stated: “’Briefly I abandoned you, but with great compassion I am taking you back. I was angry for a moment and hid my face from you; but with everlasting grace I will have compassion on you,’ says Adonai your Redeemer.”
As much as the fundamentalists contend that the Hebrews are done away with and they are the replacements of this failed people; or as much as many of us in Hebrew Roots elevate the Jew of today, in the nation of Israel as the end all to be all; I believe that this passage of Isaiah is addressing a different set of people. I see this being more of a redeemed Hebrew people in the future who will come to know the errors of their ways and the ways of their descendants, and come to Yahovah with outstretched arms and broken hearts. Notice that I said Hebrews, not just Jews. More so, Israelis. True Israelis, who Father will gather from all the corners of the world and gather them unto Himself back to the land of promise (reference Jeremiah 16). These will adopt the true Faith once delivered and become the kings and priests to the world that Father has always desired of us to be. As that beacon to the world, Jeremiah prophesied: “…the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth and shall say, surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity and things wherein there is no profit.” (reference 16:19) As it stands now, the modern nation of Israel is a zest-pool of secularism with a moderate Judaism base that continues to hold on to their man made religion abnd reject the true Messiah. I am all for supporting the nation of Israel, for Yahovah still loves Israel as He always has. Moses wrote of Israel the land: “A land which Yahovah thy God careth for; the eyes of Yahovah thy God are constantly upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.” (Reference Deuteronomy 11:12) Father has always had a problem with the people who have prided themselves as the people of Yahovah, but who have refused to obey Yahovah and His Torah. Father, however, speaks of a time when Israel and Jerusalem will be rebuilt and the people who inhabit the land will be true Hebrews—those who have crossed over to the true Faith once delivered. Israel and Jerusalem will become the mecca of truth as foretold by Zechariah who writes: “Yes, many peoples and powerful nations will come to consult Adonai-Tzva’ot in Yerushalayim and to ask Adonai’s favor. Adonai-Tzva’ot says, ‘When that time comes, ten men will take hold-speaking all the languages of the nations-will grab hold of the cloak of a Jew and say, ‘We want to go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’” (Reference 8:22, 23)
As it stands now, modern-day Israel is not the mecca for truth. However, it is evident from the prophecies of Yahovah’s prophets of old, that a time is coming when the old guard that includes secular and religious Jews, will have their eyes opened to the truth and the nations of the world will journey to Jerusalem to receive that truth. Could this happen in our lifetime? Possibly. And if it does happen in our lifetime, where will we be? Will we be properly positioned to be a part of the final calling of the nations to come to the truth. We are positioned right now to be a part of a great harvest to come. Our challenge is to stay focused on the task at hand. And that task is to clean ourselves up and ready ourselves to be the vessels by which Father may use us to bring not just the Jew to an understanding of the Truth, but the rest of the world to the True Faith once delivered to the Saints.
May you be most blessed, fellow saints in training. Until next time, shalom.
by Rod Thomas | Nov 16, 2015 | Podcasts
We are no longer under the Law? Grace and the Law Part 8
Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections 37
- Calendar
- 2nd-day of the 9th-Biblical Month–also known as Kislev. The renewed moon was sighted over the land of Israel by members of the New Moon Society—headed by Torah Scholar Nehemehia Gordon
- Next festival is Hanukkah–slated for December 8th or at the end of the 9th biblical month
- Hanukkah is the Festival of Re-dedication related to the story of the Maccabees
- Not one of the 7-mandated Feasts of Yahovah
- Hanukkah at Rood International—The Mountain of God–slated for December 11th–13th—just added an additional 30-seats
- http://www.hanukkahconference.com/
- Speakers include
- Egyptologist and Chronologist Dr. David Rohl (Spain) and primary focus of the documentary Patterns of Evidence-Exodus—Tim Mahoney’s profound documentary on his personal crisis of Faith that led to him searching for the truth of about the Exodus
- http://www.patternsofevidence.com/en/
- Jim and Penny Caldwell—the discoverers of the Real Mount Sinai and featured in the Michael Rood documentary “The Real Mount Sinai
- http://bookstore.aroodawakening.tv/
- Drs. Mike and Jenny Wilkins—Integrative Medicine Experts
- Torah Living Daily Challenge
- Week-day challenges derived from my personal torah studies and current news events that have some impact (directly or indirectly) on us and our Faith
- Check it out
- Daily dose of challenge/admonishment/encouragement/information
- Good response/comments/feedback/testimonials
- Fellowshipping
- We’ve begun a home fellowship in Orange County California
- If you reside in the Orange County area and would like to learn more about our fellowship, please email me at perceptionwp@gmail.com
- Looking to add Sabbath Fellowship opportunities through the web—only able to accommodate 25 people
- News You Can Use: The Paris Attacks of Friday, 13th of November, 2015
- Radical Islamic Terrorists stage at least 3-centralized, coordinated attacks in Paris resulting in the murders of 130-people
- This is the 2nd attack by ISIS, the first being the Russian Airliner brought down by an alleged bomb explosion
- This is all fear-mongering that we who are Torah Observant Believers in Y’shua must see through and not fall prey to
- Y’shua told us: 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Mat 24:6-8 KJV)
- But the world’s power-brokers are working to bring fear to the world in order to control us and remove our freedoms.
- Y’shua taught us: “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)
- Additionally: “Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in Yahovah, believe also in me.” (John 14:1)
- Bottom line: it’s prudent to stay informed about world events, but more so, to stay focused on our ultimate goal and that is seeking and working for the Kingdom of Yahovah. All of this noise that is going on in the world is designed in part to distract us from our purpose and our mandate regarding the Kingdom of Yahovah
- All of the flat earth controversies and other things are enticing and designed to capture our attention and distract us from our purpose. We must not be deterred. We must stay focused and be prepared to work the fields while it is still day. For these types of events are all signs of the impending night that is just before us.
- It’s all good—bring hasatan—you’re already defeated
No Longer Under the Law.
This will be part 8 of the Grace and the Law series that we begun a few months ago for purposes of getting us all on the same page as it relates to the subject of Grace and the Law. As we in Hebrew Roots very well know, churchianty despises our kind for many reasons, the main being that we hold to a firm belief that Torah is still valid for today’s believer in Y’shua Messiah. Churchianity outright rejects Torah for a number of reasons, sighting that Jesus Christ kept Torah perfectly so that we no longer have to. Thus, Torah has gone the way of animal sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem. Besides, according to the traditionalists, it is impossible to keep Torah and anyone who attempts to keep Torah is cursed to obey the whole of Torah and not slip up on any one commandment of Torah. Thus we in Hebrew Roots have fallen from grace and have nullified Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross in our lives.
We know all of churchianity’s contentions regarding our honoring of Torah are erroneous; for their understanding of Torah’s role in the believer’s life is based primarily upon a complete misunderstanding and misinterpretaton of many seeming anti-Torah passages in the New Testament and ignorance of what God’s grace is truly about. Thus, I believe it behooves us—the Torah Observant Believer in Y’shua Messiah–to be educated on the topic of Grace and the Law and be equipped to properly explain to any who would ask us why we believe what we believe and do what we do as it relates to our Faith. This is the reason for this multi-episode series on Grace and the Law. If you’ve not already done so, I would highly encourage you to pull up and listen to or read through the previous seven episodes of this series at your earliest convenience. Doing so will help establish a firm basis upon which you can build a comprehensive understanding of this fundamental aspect of our Faith. It is our aim when this series is completed, to compile the contents into a book and make it available to all who would desire to have the information as a reference on this crucial topic.
In this, part 8 of the series, addresses yet another seeming anti-Torah passage of Paul that is found in Galatians 3:23-26. This is an important passage that requires a solid understanding of grace, faith, Torah or the Law and righteousness/justification. And again, we spent the last seven episodes of this series discussing these crucial elements of our Faith and how they all fit into the grand scheme of things—our redemption, our relationship with Father and our eternal life. Armed with an understanding of these elements individually and in orchestra in our Faith and in our lives, we can easily tackle this passage of Paul’s that once again, seems to suggest to the traditionalist/fundamentalist that the Law was done away with and that the Law was and remains a bad thing that any who would belong to Jesus Christ must avoid at all costs.
So let’s take a look at this passage and see what Paul has to say about the believer and the Law. Again, we must remember that the Galatian assembly was composed of Messianic Jews (these have been referred to as Judaizers by certain scholars and commentators) and Gentile Messianics. Paul, in this and other letters to the various assemblies that he is credited with founding, was battling against the influences and privileges the Messianic Jews had over the assemblies. These Messianic Jews—or Judaizers—were “…lowering the Faith’s spirituality to an outward ceremonial system…” (Reference Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary on the Whole Bible) In other words, the Judaizers were insisting that the Gentile Messianics adhere to ceremonial and legalistic Judaism in order for them to be part of the assembly and the Faith. Unfortunately, it is a general lack of understanding of this vital truth that churchianity has failed to grasp and has confused and twisted Paul’s writings to say something that is entirely untrue and erroneous. It isn’t obedience to Torah that Paul was addressing to the Galatian assembly, but rather it was the problem of the Galatian assembling ignoring or rejecting the crucial element of having faith in Y’shua Messiah (that is having reliance upon Y’shua’s work and sacrifice for purposes of establishing their righteousness and being justified before Yahovah) and replacing that faith with legalism, regulations and traditions for purposes of making one’s self righteous and justified before Yahovah. We discussed in the previous episodes that such thinking and practice is terribly flawed and has negative eternal ramifications. For we found that the Believer is required to live by a trusting faith in Y’shua Messiah (reference Habakkuk 2:4). Paul stated quite succinctly that we are not justified by Torah, especially not justified by practicing Judaism as was being pushed by the Galatian Messianic Jews, but by faith (reference Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11). However, Paul nowhere in his writings said that righteous living was not the domain of the true Believer in Y’shua Messiah. Where does one learn how to live righteously? He learns solely from Torah—that is the Law. In fact, our Master has insisted that we keep Torah—Him being the living Torah: “If you love me, keep my commandments” (reference John 14:15); “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father…” (reference John 14:21); “Yeshua answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father ill love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him…” (reference John 14:23); “For this is the love of Yahovah, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous…” (reference 1 John 5:3); “And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments…” (1 John 2:3); “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Y’shua Messiah…Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of Yahovah, and the faith of Y’shua…” (reference Revelation 12:17; 14:7). So there must be no misunderstanding here: we who are true believers in Y’shua Messiah are absolutely compelled to keep Torah. As Spirit-filled Believers of Y’shua Messiah, we are provided the wherewithal to keep Torah perfectly and live in the manner that Y’shua did—the basic definition of grace. But everything must start with a trusting faith in the work and sacrifice of Y’shua Messiah. It is that faith—the same type of faith that Abraham exhibited—that Father counts towards us as righteousness and it’s that inputted righteousness that opens the door to an eternal relationship with Father and forgiveness of sin and a life of abundance in Y’shua Messiah. It’s awesome. But in order to maintain a right standing with Father we must adhere to His rules—Father’s rules for proper living—Father’s house rules as I like to refer to them as; and that is of course Torah.
So let’s take at look at this passage in Galatians, 3:23-26, which reads as follows: “Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Messiah came, in order that we might be justified by faith (that is faith in God through the keeping of Torah justified us before Father as we saw in Abraham’s example—for it was Abraham’s faith in Yahovah which translated into obedience to Yahovah’s call and direction).” Continuing on, picking up at verse 25: “But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian (the KJV references “schoolmaster;” the NAS references “tutor;” the CJB references “custodian;” the YLT references “child-conductor;” and the NAB references “disciplinarian”); verse 26—for in Messiah Y’shua you are all sons of God, through faith.” Indeed, a lot to consider here.
So let’s break this down and see if we can discern what Paul is really saying here. Is Paul saying that we are no longer required to follow Torah but entirely under grace, thus giving us license to live as we wish? Or are is there something else here? Let’s see what’s really going on here.
Verse 23 has the potential if, read through western, sola gratia eyes (that is grace only), to lead one to take an immediate anti-Torah stance as popular translations read: before faith came, we were–kept under the law (KJV); or we were kept in custody or captive under the law (NAS and ESV). Certainly, as written in these translations, the sentiment seems to be that of existing under some form of bondage or slavery for all who lived as a Jew and Israeli prior to Y’shua Messiah’s advent and subsequent sacrifice. But it seems that there are other translations of this particular verse that provide or offer a much different perspective on Torah living prior to Y’shua’s advent. The Darby translation for instance reads: “But before faith came, we were guarded under the law…” Then there is the CJB which reads: “Now before the time for this trusting faithfulness came, we were imprisoned in subjection to the system which results from perverting the Torah into legalism…” And then there is the AENT which reads: “But before faith came, Torah was guarding us…”
So one can walk away from a reading of this verse—depending upon which translation you read–with the perception that prior to Y’shua coming to save us from our sins through His sacrifice on the execution stake at Calvary, we were under subjection to a cruel religious system that kept us in some form of bondage. Certainly, if we looked at this verse from the perspective of Judaism, bondage would be an apt description of the Law in comparison to faith in Y’shua Messiah. Or we can come away with the perception that Torah served a legitimate purpose in establishing Faith in Yahovah through the regulation of our life as children of the Most High; that Torah was a means of keeping us on track and somewhat close to Yahovah. Based upon what we already know about Grace, Torah/the Law, righteousness and justification, it would seem that the alternate translations that described Torah as being our guardian prior to Y’shua’s advent provide us with a perspective that is more in line with what Paul was actually trying to convey. If anything, we have to be cognizant of the translations that we are using when examining these seeming anti-Torah passages of Paul. Unfortunately, churchianity has taken this and other Pauline passages and created a dark and sinister perspective on Torah or the Law. We know differently of course. Torah or the Law was and remains the jewel of our Faith and keeps us on the straight and narrow. If, however, Paul is talking about Judaism—the man made, pagan infused religion of the Jews—then indeed, that form of the Law that is often described as legalism, is certainly a form of bondage that is impossible to keep (reference Matthew 23). And certainly, applying the term bondage in the sense that Paul is addressing Judaism—that is the religion that the Galatian Judaizers were pushing upon the Galatian Gentile believers—would be an apt description. However, from my perspective, I believe Paul is speaking to both legalistic Torah observance and Judaism in this verse. Unfortunately, many in our Hebrew Roots community adhere to Messianic Judaism and worship of Torah that I’ve come to see as being dangerously close to legalism at the expense of Faith in Y’shua Messiah. But I don’t mean to focus on Messianic Judaism in this post. We can certainly visit this topic in a future post.
So it would seem that Paul is explaining to us that the Law was our guardian until Y’shua arrived on the scene; that the Law kept us from straying from God’s good grace and down a road towards total destruction. But then we move on to verse 24 to find further explanation as to the Law’s purpose in the believer’s life. Paul writes: “So then, the law was our guardian (our tutor) until Messiah came in order that we might be justified by faith.” (ESV/NAS) So, it appears from Paul’s perspective that the Law established in every believer, prior to Y’shua, principles that would make him or her an apt—a natural candidate-for justification and righteousness before Yahovah. In other words, in order for one to adhere to a life of obedience to Father, it required faith. One does not just follow a set of rules unless he or she believes in the principles behind those rules. One joins the military or the police force because they believe in the militaristic or legal principles that are established by whichever agency or organization he or she joins. Thus, the recruit and the veteran follow a set of rules and live by those rules because they have faith in the organization and the ones who run those organizations. If one doesn’t have faith in the organization, then they will not obey the rules of that organization. When we received Torah, we followed the commandments of Torah because we believed in the giver of those commandments—the giver of Torah. It was this principle—faith turned into action or obedience in Torah-that established the pathway towards the Faith that we now enjoy and live within. Otherwise, we’d be a wild and crazy group of misfits who would have no understanding as to how we should live within the Faith that Y’shua brought to us. We would be an undisciplined lot as we see so much of in churchianity today. So prior to Y’shua, Torah was our tutor. It was that Faith in Yahovah that led us to be Torah keeping and Torah keeping taught us how to live righteous lives. Torah did not make us righteous. Our Faith in Yahovah was our righteousness, although many of us prior to Y’shua did not understand this at all. It was our desire to please Father and live the way He desired us to live that justified us before Father. And as a result of that Faith that we had in Father and the desire to please Him that we were obedient to Torah.
But then Y’shua Messiah came and established Faith in his work and atoning sacrifice for the cleansing of our sins and establishing of our righteousness before Yahovah. This was first and foremost. We learn of Y’shua Messiah and His work and we believe in Him for our salvation and our right standing before Father. Thus Father apportions or inputs righteousness unto us. Next, we conform to Father’s way of life, following the example of Y’shua, the living Torah. Yah’s grace provides us the spiritual means to adhere to Father’s established righteous living in the midst of an evil and perverted world. Prior to Y’shua, Torah and the Law dictated everything as it related to our relationship with Father. With the advent and work of Y’shua, our Faith in Y’shua dictates everything as it relates to our righteousness and eternal life. Thus in verse 26, Paul refers to us as children (in some translations-as sons) of Yahovah through our Faith in Y’shua Messiah.
Now as it relates to legalistic Judaism, the true Tutor, so to speak, was Torah and not Judaism as so many in our community would assert.(Roth’s AENT commentary on verse 25) Torah prepared us for faith in Y’shua Messiah. It set the stage if you will, for the true Faith once delivered to the first century Saints by Y’shua and His anointed apostles. But let it be known that these three verses in no way indicate that Torah has been done away with and replaced by grace. Paul addressed this issue with the Roman assembly when he wrote: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid.” (Reference Romans 6:1,2) As disciples of Y’shua Messiah and ultimately as children of Yahovah, we are not to have sin in our lives. In order to abolish sin in our lives, we naturally must be able to identify what sin is. John defined sin for us as being “the transgression” or “violation of Torah.” (Reference I John 3:4) Thus we must understand and keep Torah if we are to eliminate sin from our lives. Yahovah hates sin and He will not tolerate it in our lives. Contrary to churchianity’s negative concept of Torah as being evil, Paul wrote: “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Though shalt not covet.” (Romans 7:7)
Proper perspective is the key to understanding what Paul was addressing and gaining an understanding of how Torah and Faith work together in the believer’s life. Torah/the Law, stands as our tutor and guardian up to the point of Y’shua and His atoning work on our behalf. Thus, we stand—our eternal life—our righteousness—stands on this truth—and that is the truth of Y’shua’s sacrifice and atonement. Thus, we’ve been purchased with a price as a result of His work on our behalf. We are no longer our own. We have moved from being under the jurisdiction of Torah to being under the jurisdiction of Faith in Y’shua Messiah. Paul instructs us as follows: “For you have been bought with a price. So glorify God in your body…and do not become bondservants of men.” (Reference I Corinthians 6:20; 7:23) And how do we accomplish this? We accomplish this glorying of our bodies and not becoming bondservants to men through obedience to Torah-Y’shua style. So one could say that Torah has move from the primary focus in the believer’s life to that of secondary. In other words, our focus must be faith in Y’shua. How we walk out that faith in Y’shua Messiah is by way of obedience and honoring of Torah.
We pray, trust and hope that you have been blessed and informed by this episode of Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections. If so, please, let us know by shooting us an email to perceptionwp@gmail.com or simply by writing a comment in the comments section that proceeds and precedes each post on the Messianic Torah Observer website. Leave us a comment on SpeakPipe, the voice message application located and floating off to the right-side of the website. Certainly follow us on social media utilizing the icons at the top-most, right-hand column of the website.
In any event, we have been blessed by your presence here today and we leave you with this blessing: May Yahovah bless you and keep you; may Yahovah make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you; May Yahovah lift up His countenance upon you and grant you Shalom. It is in the name of Y’shua HaMashiyach—or redeemer; our Lord; our older brother; the living Torah that we say—So be it—amein.
Shalom and Shavu’otov Saints.
by Rod Thomas | Nov 13, 2015 | Podcasts
Where is God’s Dwelling Place Part 2
Torah Living Daily Challenge 28
In my last Torah Living Daily Challenge, we discussed the last Torah Portion section of Parashah 47 that addressed the Feasts of the Lord and our celebrating before Yahovah at the place of Father’s choosing (that is, the places where He would choose to place His name and to dwell) at specific times of the sacred calendar year. The challenge was not simply to have an understanding as to what those times and places were that we were to gather before Father, but the priorities that we are to place upon keeping those sacred days of the calendar year.
In this TLDC I would like to turn our focus over to the actual places where Father has chosen to place His name and to dwell. We saw in the previous Challenge episode that we were instructed at least 5-times to gather before Father at the place where He chose to place His name and to dwell. Thus, it becomes crystal clear to even the least experienced of us, that Father places a great amount of importance in our assembling before Him at an appointed place during specific times of His calendar year. This may appear to be somewhat of foreign concept to us in the West because we have been raised in a social environment that affords us the “freedom” (and I say freedom from a nebulous perspective) to worship wherever we please. Take for instance those of us who reside in the United States: we tend to change denominations and churches several times throughout our lifetimes. Granted, these frequent changes are for various and sundry reasons such as relocations, changes in conviction, changes in family and personal relationships and disagreements over doctrines. It’s not the point of changing churches and denominations that I’m trying to get across here, but more so the inbred thinking in our religious society that we can worship God (and note I say God as opposed to Yahovah/Yahweh) however and wherever we please. We have developed the concept within our psyches that God is everywhere (which is indeed true—or at least His Spirit moves throughout the world) and churches (that is brick and steel buildings) are simply the places where we have the resources and the authorized individuals to administer the worship and teachings of our chosen religions.
However, prior to our entering the land of promise, we were instructed to come and worship and celebrate before Father during certain appointed times of Father’s calendar year, at the place where He chose to dwell. Ultimately, after we subdued the land of promised through Father’s power and might (reference Exodus 14:14 and Deuteronomy 3:22), Father established Shiloh as His initial dwelling place, in the Tabernacle that was erected there. (Reference Joshua 18:1; 19:51; 21:2; 22:12) Certainly, the Creator of the Universe can not possibly be contained in a tent of meeting as is clearly attested to by Solomon (known as the wisest man ever to live on this planet) in 2 Chronicles 6:18-21 which reads: “But will Yahovah in very deed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built! (Note: this is known as Solomon’s prayer of dedication of the Temple.) Have respect therefore to the prayer of your servant and to this supplication, O Yahovah my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which your servant prays before you: that your eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof you have said that you would put your name there; to hearken unto the prayer which your servant prays toward this place. Hearken therefore unto the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear You from your dwelling place, even from heaven, and when you hear, forgive.” Does this not cause goose bumps to cover your being? Indeed, the thought of the Creator of the universe, electing to dwell among us is an unfathomable perception when one considers who and what He truly is. We can not adequately fathom the extent of His power, majesty and glory, and to think that He would dwell, not just among us mere mortal beings, but also employ some aspect of His being—a portion of His Ruach haKodesh—His Holy Spirit—to dwell in a makeshift tent in Shiloh and ultimately in a magnificent edifice in Jerusalem (reference 2 Chronicles 7:12; 1 Kings 18:29) is simply awe-inspiring to me. But the fact of the matter is that He did as the sacred writings attest.
We know that Father’s presence ultimately left the Temple in Jerusalem just prior to the Babylonian invasion on March 16, 597 BCE. The actual invasion is recorded in what is referred to as the Babylonian Chronicles, which is located in the British Museum. Father’s presence in the Temple in Jerusalem served as a protection and blessing over us and over the land. But when Father’s presence left us, our protection and blessings departed with Him. Ezekiel records the departure of the Spirit of Yahovah from the Temple in Ezekiel, chapters 8-11. I won’t read these 4-chapters in this episode, but suffice to say, that Father’s precious Ruach (His precious Spirit) progressively departed the sanctuary of the Temple to the Mount of Olives, until it completely went up to heaven. This is a most powerful testimony of the departure of Father’s presence from among us. And with that departure came the imminent siege and invasion of Jerusalem and 70-year long captivity.
Why did Father abandon us and His Temple? History bears out a number of reasons as well as Ezekiel’s vision of the Father’s departure also sheds a great amount of light as to why. They included:
1. Our failure to obey and our rejection of Father’s Torah
2. Our whoring after other gods
3. Our adopting pagan ways
4. Our desecration of the Temple with idols and pagan worship practices
Again, Father’s departure as eerily summarized in Ezekiel 8 through 11, paints a most profound picture of the Father’s steadfast love for us, comparable to a doting spouse; and us, a cheating spouse who defies the holiness code set forth by Father in His Torah and commits spiritual adultery. It is our spiritual infidelity that led to Father’s departure and our ultimate destruction as a nation. We did not care after Father’s Temple as we should. We allowed idols to be erected and pagan worship to be conducted on the Temple Mount. We defiled Father’s dwelling place. Father had essentially no other option but to pick up and leave. But He left with a broken heart. He left looking back over His shoulder (metaphorically speaking), hoping that we would come to our senses and return to Him. He was willing to forgive us and re-occupy the Temple. But we wouldn’t turn our acts around. We continued in our adulterous ways. Thus, we deserved what we got, sadly to say. With Father’s departure went our protective covering and within a short period of time, Nebuchadnezzar’s army invaded the land, sacked Jerusalem and the Temple, and took the best of our people into captivity. After the period of captivity was concluded, many returned to the land of promise and a second Temple was ultimately built. But that Temple too was destroyed, this time by the Romans in 68 CE (Rood’s reckoning) or 70 CE by other’s reckoning.
Y’shua Messiah revealed to the Apostle Paul that Yahovah’s dwelling place was no longer the Temple (although Yahovah’s Spirit had left the Temple and the land some 600-years prior), but now our bodies–our person–the Torah Observant Believer in Y’shua Messiah. Paul wrote to the Corinthian assembly:
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (I Corinthians 3:16)
And there are a multitude of passages that confirm this shift from a physical Temple to that of the believer’s person as being the dwelling place of the Most High. (Reference I Cor. 6:19; II Cor. 6:16; Rom. 8:9; Joh. 14:17; Eph. 2:22; Heb. 3:6; I Pet. 2:5; I Joh. 4:12) Now with our bodies assuming the purpose of being a dwelling place for the Father’s precious Ruach haKodesh—His Spirit, comes tremendous responsibility that I’m afraid many of us take for granted. The first temple was abandoned by Father because we turned to other gods, we erected idols on the Temple grounds, we worshiped other gods on the Temple grounds. But now as our bodies assume the purpose of housing Father’s Spirit, we run the same risk of running Father off if we fail to remain faithful to Father and desecrate our body-temples. How can such a thing happen? Well, this becomes today’s Torah Living Daily Challenge dear friends: taking care of this temple so as not to run Father’s Spirit away from us. Ways that we will run Father away from our body-temples are:
1. Defiling our bodies with things that pollute our bodies health-wise such as foods that Yahovah has banned such as shellfish; pork; blood products to name a few.
2. Damaging our bodies by consuming things that are unhealthy such as junk-food on a frequent basis; GMO foods; manufactured foods; recreational and prescription drugs or pharmakia.
3. Defacing our bodies with piercings and tattoos.
4. Filling our minds with filth and trash such as pornography; violent entertainment; carnal music and literature; harboring anger and hatred for others; lusting after women and men who are not our spouses.
5. Committing adultery and fornication; body worshiping; and the like.
These are just a smattering of things that will ultimately run Father’s Spirit away from us and that is our challenge today dear saints: to keep this temple undefiled so that Father will live and dwell happily within us. As He sets up and dwells within our being, we are able to do some amazing things that we wouldn’t have been able to do without His presence in our lives: long to learn more about Him and His ways; seek to do that which is good and to bear much good fruit; obey Torah without faltering; perform miracles and great and mighty exploits. Let’s face it: many of us have gone through periods in our lives when Father’s Spirit was far from us. Remember those terrible times. We don’t ever want to relive those times again do we? I know that I don’t. I know that I am nowhere near perfect. But I am fully cognizant of where I need to go and where I need to be in my walk with Messiah. Thus, I work ever so hard, and rely on the help of Father’s Holy Spirit to mold me into the person He desires me to be. I rely a lot on the Ruach Kodesh. But I realize that I have to do my part. I must keep this vessel—this temple—undefiled at all times so that Father will have an inviting environment in which to dwell. So I’ve begun watching what I eat beyond what is stipulated in the dietary food laws; I guard my mind, heart and eyes such they do not provide an opening for evil to enter in and defile this temple. I reject this world’s pharmakia. I take the best care of this physical body as I possibly can with the resources that I have available. I work ever so hard to keep my mind stayed upon Father so as not to stray to the right or the left.
Friends, this is not an easy road that we’ve chosen to take. But I would guess that you wouldn’t want to trade this life abundant for the world. It’s time that we treat our bodies like the Temple that Solomon built for purposes of providing Father a dwelling place. We have everything we need to maintain Father’s dwelling place today. Let’s do so with much joy, celebration, praise and love. Until next time, may you be most blessed, fellow saints in training. Shalom.
