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John 1:21
"Are you the Prophet?" Deuteronomy 13:1-3 the congregation in the desert is taught to discern a false prophet in that he encourages the people to worship or serve other gods. The Torah is our Instruction on how to serve God but the false prophet tells people, in the Name of God, to do thing contrary to Torah, which is equal to serving other gods (Romans 6:16). Later, Moses instructs the children of the Children of Israel to not seek the will of God through diviners, fortune tellers, witches, or astrologers (Deuteronomy 18:9-14), but for matters too difficult for them, to establish judges and a Sanhedrin, and that they are supposed to listen to them (Deuteronomy 17:8-12). These are commandments. Later Moses gives people instructions on how to choose a king, even instructions for the king himself to obey. The king of Israel is to be subject to the Torah; when he is not, he makes Israel sin and serve other gods (Deuteronomy 17:14-17). In His Instruction through Moses, He Who makes Israel a nation tells us who is the prophet we should listen to once we are in the land. The main attributes given are "… a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers--it is to him you shall listen". Moses also informs the people that their ancestors who came out of Egypt had wisely that they could not hear God on their own; they elected wanted Moses as a mediator. God agreed and said, they are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18). It is important to notice here that any would be king of Israel also had to be "from among them" but in the days of the Master, there a non-Jewish king on the throne of Israel. Because Joshua opened the Jordan River as Moses opened the Red Sea, some conclude that this 'prophet' was Joshua, but when Sadducees came to see John by the Jordan River, they asked him, "Are you the Prophet (John 1:21)?". John later pointed to another one called Joshua, pronounced in Aramaic: Yeshua (John 1:29). In this Yeshua, Israel has found its prophet and king 'like Moses'. He is the true prophet who teaches us how to properly obey the Torah, and the true king who is Himself the copy of the Torah. Even though He had to temporarily return to the Father, He has not left us alone, but has established in His disciples a Sanhedrin we can, and should listen to (Matthew 16:16; Matthew 19:28). Living in an age of literacy, may we continually study and learn to obey the Instructions the Master and His disciples left behind that at His return, he might present the congregation to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27).
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James 3:1
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. In his exhortation to the children of the Children of Israel, Moses makes a point about the benefits of keeping the commandment. He says, "The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that Adonai swore to give to your fathers (Deuteronomy 8:1). It is a simple concept. I rent the downstairs part of my house. When a potential renter shows interest in the apartment, I give him a rental agreement which is basically paper telling him that he can only live there as long as he follows certain rules, i.e., "no smoking, no big pets, and pay the rent on time". In the same manner, Israel being God's land, He reminds the potential future tenants of the 'rental agreement' (Genesis 20:15). The word 'commandment' in this sentence is used as a collective word referring to the Torah commandments as a whole. It also points to the whole exhortation Moses was giving to the Children of Israel in his "Deuteronomy' teaching. This verse is often used to motivate people in that if they live more in sync' with God's commandments, He will bring blessing upon their land. Whereas living by the Torah certainly brings blessing upon our land and our lives, this verse was location driven for the Land of Israel. The same collective form of the word 'commandment referring to the Torah as a whole is used in Proverbs 6:23 and 13.13. Paul also uses it in his exhortation to Timothy, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Adon, Yeshua HaMashiach (1 Timothy 6:14). Timothy was the son of Jewish woman and a Roman man. He was raised by his Jewish grandmother in the ways of the Torah (2 Timothy 1:5). In his leadership training epistle, Paul asks timothy not to just keep the commandment, but to keep it "unstained and free from reproach." May those of us whom the Father has placed in positions of responsibility, also serve keeping the commandment "unstained and free from reproach"; untainted by the reproach caused by the rationalization of our evil inclination to selfishness, pride, and deceit. It is a tall order, but whereas those of us in positions of responsibility and teaching receive double honor, we are also liable to greater condemnation (1 Timothy 5:17; James 3:1). Remember the warning of the Master towards those who through their 'staining' of the commandments cause His little ones; to stumble: whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea (Matthew 18:6). Mark 12:29
"The most important (commandment) is, 'Hear, O Israel: Adonai is our God, Adonai is one." Yeshua just dumb-founded Sadducee priests on the subject of the resurrection of the dead, so some impressed Pharisees (not all were antagonistic) came and asked the Master, "Which commandment is the most important of all (Mark 12:28)?" Right away we must conclude from this question that not all commandments are equal in importance; some have more, some have less. This can be concluded by the fact that the breaking of some commandments only require an immersion (like eating something not kosher), while some invoke the death penalty (like murder, idolatry, adultery, and breaking the Sabbath). Yeshua agreed to the idea of least and great commandments in, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:19). To this simple question, Yeshua our Master answered by quoting what has been agreed by Jewish sages for centuries before His manifestation on earth, as being the 'creed' of Judaism, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one". (Mark 12:29; Deuteronomy 6:4)." The word 'hear' is this case, as it is also in English, is not solely related to a sensorial experience but rather means 'to hear with the intention to obey'. In most religions, even in Christianity, the theory of God is the primary thing, but in the Torah the primary thing is not to define or quantify God as usual creeds and statements of faith do, but it is our actions and in this case to: 'hear and obey' to the belief and idea that God is the One and Only, and that there is no other before, after, or beside Him. Unless you do that first, there is no point in going any further. It is interesting to realize that from early forms of polytheistic religions to modern Western religions mixed with elements of Greco-Roman paganism and New-Age, this is the elementary truth that the Satan (cursed be him) has fought the most, because once we throw that out, then he has a chance. Yeshua then continues quoting Moses' words in Deuteronomy, words which teach how we express that belief and the first expression of this obedience is: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30). After that Yeshua adds His own 'halacha', or application to this commandment and says, "The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these (Mark 12:31)." In essence we are taught here that the expression of our belief in the singleness of the Creator is to love Him first and foremost with all our hearts (our emotions), with all our souls (our life in this body), and with all our might (our substance) (Deuteronomy 6:5), and that the expression of this love is to love our neighbor as ourselves. John 15:3
“Already you are clean because of the Word that I have spoken to you”. Leviticus 11 tells us about ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’. Much has been ‘lost in translation’ in this text. The first three verses tell us about permissible foods. Whereas modern science continues to find health benefits to the Levitical diet, the primary reason for these ruling is not health. If God forbids pork because of trichinosis, He should also forbid chicken because of salmonella. There are no English words for the Hebrew ‘tahor’, translated as ‘clean’, and tamei’, translated as ‘unclean’, so for the sake of textual integrity, we will keep them in Hebrew. These terms actually refer to an animal in its dead state, and technically speaking are relevant only to approaching God via the Tabernacle or later, the Temple. To simplify the idea, the carcass of any animal killed improperly, be it chicken or pig, is ritually contaminating. But when slaughtered according to Biblical standards, the carcasses of ‘tahor’ animals is not ritually contaminating. It is therefore not ritually wrong to own a pig or a cat, the difference is only in the carcass. The carcass of a man is technically ‘tamei’ (even if it were properly slaughtered; God forbid!), whereas the carcass of a properly killed cow is ‘tahor’. This understanding gives a whole new twist on the story of Abraham going to offer his son, and on Samson, a nazarite from birth supposed to stay continually remain in a perpetual state if ritual cleanliness, eating honey from the carcass of a lion. This is why also certain animals are allegeable for offering and others are not. We must understand that the conditions of ‘tahor’ amd ‘tamei’ have nothing to do with hygiene or sinfulness. A woman is ‘tamei’ after having a baby which is not a sin but actually obedience to a fundamental Divine command. These conditions have only to do with the state of being human. Human beings we have dead cells and ‘tamei’ particles in our body all the time, so that we can only enter the Presence through the blood of a ‘tahor’ animal, and/or enter a ritual bath. We must take into consideration though that these rulings only concern our relationship with the temple in Jerusalem, so until it is rebuilt, they are only applicable on a symbolic level But here is the good news: Yeshua knew and anticipated a very long Temple-less exilic period of time so He told the Samaritan woman "…The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father (John 4:21)”. At His last Seder with His disciples Yeshua also said, “… You are clean (tahor) because of the word that I have spoken to you(John 15:3), so speaking of Yeshua’s role as the heavenly High-Priest, the writer of Hebrews tells us, with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). May we always have the confidence that by virtue of the Name, obedience, righteousness, and ‘tahor-ness’ of Yeshua, we can always enter in the presence of the Father to obtain His favor. Philippians 2:13
For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. As they readied to enter the Promised Land, Moses addresses this second generation of Israelites from Egypt. He reminds the people of all that happened during the last forty years of wondering. He debriefs them on all the lessons learned and on how not to repeat the same errors. Knowing that he will not enter the land, this was Moses’ departing address. Promises of wealth, prosperity, fertility and military victories fill this address, promises that all hang on one phrase, “Because you listen to these rules and keep and do them” (Deuteronomy 7:12). From this we can define the role of Torah in our lives. Our fathers in the desert had already experienced salvation from Egypt and entered a relationship with El-Elyon, the Almighty God on the Mount. They had been chosen not for their goodness and works but because of the promises God made to their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Deuteronomy 9:5). The Hebrew word translated as ‘grace’ is ‘chesed’, which means: covenant loyalty. We have a God who, unlike man, keeps His promises and doesn’t repent from them. The covenant was ‘cut’; they were the redeemed on their way to the land God calls His Own. The Torah was simply the contract on how to live and prosper in that Land. If they kept it, they would prosper in it, if they disobeyed it, He would take them out. Was it good news or bad news? It was both. If our success is to be measured by our obedience we are all doomed as we are desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). As human, not only do we need to be shown the way, but we also need someone to walk it for us, and we have it: Yeshua our Mashiach. True, some people seem more virtuous than others. Some rationalize stealing in business while others keep their integrity; some lie while other’s word is as good as gold; some easily break promises (especially in marriage) while others wouldn’t dare; some are proud while others humble; some use bad language while other’s mouths are clean. All these virtues though have nothing to do with any personal goodness of our own. They are solely the results of the indwelling of the Spirit of the Almighty within us, which is given to us though the atonement of our Adon Yeshua. This was the promise that was given to the people at the Mount that He will walk ‘within’ us. Take that Presence away from us and we are again as wicked as the most wretched criminal on the planet. When Yeshua walks within us, He is the shield that in a way ‘blinds’ the Father to our iniquities. In the Name of His virtuous sinless life we are redeemed and it is because none of our own works. No matter how much we try to obey Torah, because of our wicked human nature we will always fail. We need the atonement of the Righteous One, of the Tzaddik Yeshua as they say in Hebrew, to intervene between us and the Father. All Abba sees then is the atonement of the Master for us, and it is this grace which then gives us the ability to perform the ‘good works’, the obedience of Torah ( Titus 2:11-14; Eph 2:10). James 2:18
Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works Yeshua said, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16)”. The words spoken by the Master should be understood within the Judaic matrix in which they were spoken. In the mouth of a Jewish Rabbi, to ‘shine your light’ means to practice Torah commandments (Psalms 119:105), and the expression ‘good works’ often employed by the Master and other apostles comes from the Hebrew original ‘mitsvot’, referring to ‘ commandments’. It is the plural of ‘mitsvah’ found the in the term ‘bar-mitsvah’: ‘son of the commandment’. In essence, Yeshua is telling us is to practice Torah in front of men that it may cause them to glorify the Father which is Heaven. This amounts to the same statement made by Moses, “Keep them (the commandments) and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples … all this law that I set before you today Deuteronomy 4:6-8)? Practicing Torah commandments therefore is God’s evangelism program. When we show love, forgiveness, compassion, generosity and care, which are all Torah commands, we show God’s true nature to the world. When we observe the Sabbath, He gives us rest form our labor so we can spend time with Him in the company of family and friends. When we eat according to His diet it shows that He cares that we feed ourselves properly; it also show a disciplined mind as we must remember that the first sin was all about disobedience to a certain ‘food’ (Genesis 3:6). Celebrating the festivals reminds us of His goodness for us, past, present and future, and managing our finances according to the Word benefits the whole community. Today, whenever we talk about obedience to God’s commandments many start screaming ‘legalism’. The question is “What is the difference between obedience and legalism?” The price of our redemption may have been paid by someone else, but it doesn’t absolve from obeying the rules of the Kingdom outlined in the Torah. Attempting to express the gratitude of the redeemed towards their Redeemer, the apostle Paul said that the works of Torah obedience should be practiced, but out of love, not out of duty (Galatians 5:6). We are His Bride. As we enter His household and Kingdom it behooves to start behaving like it. This reminds me of a queen who when she publicly disobeyed her husband, for the sake of the people present he had to banish her from the kingdom, cause if the queen herself did not obey her husband neither will the common folks (Esther 1). Unlike worldly kings, God is a covenant-keeping God and he does not retract from His covenant with His people. Therefore in regards toward His everlasting and gracious compassion towards us we should learn to do His will and obey His commandments out of love. May we learn to live in a manner that the world will glorify our God! Romans 1:20
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. The eighteenth chapter of Leviticus is the main chapter defining the rules for sexual conduct. If we set the lifestyle recommendations of this chapter by today’s accepted moral we would find ourselves at odds with the Bible. Actually, these words sound more like the moral rhetoric we would find in what we call ‘backward’ societies, or Islamic countries. Of course we can rationalize by saying, “Oh, but these were different times”, but is that right? Is the Bible right for then, and wrong for today? Is God just “backwards”, not in sync’ with the times and therefore should be ignored? I dare say that at the top of the reasons for modern western social problems is failure to comply with His commandments. Along with outrightly disobeying the Commandments, it is possible to also be what Jewish sages have termed a ‘reprobate by permission’. Here is how it works. Not every action is mentioned in Torah, but what is not mentioned is inferred by the intent of the commandments. For example, pornography, female homosexuality and polygamy are not mentioned or referred to as wrong in the Torah, so those who adhere to strict ‘sola scriptura” (refusing any teaching that is not in the written form of the Bible itself) often conclude that these things are not inherently wrong. Many a Bible teacher strays because of this. These things are only mentioned in the writings of sages and scholars who have studied the Bible and found that these were wrong. This shows that we cannot just study by ourselves. We need the help of those whom God has anointed as teachers and who have understood not only the letter of the Commandment but also the intent. This represented much of Yeshua’s teachings such as in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5,6,7). From killing He helped us understand that the wrong thing was not the actual action of killing but the anger in our heart that was wrong. Same with adultery, he showed us that the intentional looking was wrong, not just the action. The first sign of trying to rationalize the Torah against the voice of the conscience is when we ask “Is it really forbidden in the Word?” We must beware of that tendency. In our modern times we have learned to look at the Father as this ‘lovey-fuzzey chocolate-candy’ person who understands and is not what people have termed ‘under the law’ or a ‘legalist’ (by the way, what is the difference between legalism and faithful obedience?) We picture God as One who ‘understands’ that we are not that bad of a person inside even if we disobey; that He sees the ‘goodness’ and the ‘real’ us and does not really define us by our actions (well, He sees the ‘real’ us alright!). The story of Nadab and Abihu seems to tell us otherwise (Leviticus 10), and Yeshua’s epistles to the seven Asian congregations also seems to give us quite a few stipulations for His personal approval (Revelations 2 and 3). When He comes, He will not judge us by today’s twisted so-called modern concepts of morality, righteousness, or even political correctness, but by the commandments of His Words that we are responsible to know. |
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