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Acts 2:3
And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. The English narrative that concludes God’s uttering of His Ten Statements at Mt. Horeb tells us, Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking … (Exodus 20:18). The Hebrew on the other hand literally reads, “And all the people 'saw' the voices and the torches”. One may see a ‘torch’, but how does one see a “voice”? The question may have pushed English translators to stray from a literal rendition of the verse, but not the Hebrew sages. Also, the congregation at Horeb was composed of people from many nations, so for everyone to ‘understand’ them (a Hebrew synonym for ‘seeing’), the Ten Statements would have had to be uttered in several languages. How do you see a voice, and how does a single voice speak in many languages? When Moses recounts these events to the second generation of the Children of Israel in the desert he says, Then Adonai spoke to you out of the midst of the fire (Deuteronomy 4:12). One of the sages saw this verse through the lenses of the following passage, Is not my word like fire, declares Adonai, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces (Jeremiah 23:29)? The sages of Israel have always described these events as the Voice of God splitting into seventy voices speaking seventy different tongues and that these voices were actually like hot sparks flying forth from a hammer’s blow on a stone and becoming tongues of fire. This may sound farfetched, but is it really? Fourteen hundred years after these events Yeshua, the Prophet 'like unto Moses', (Deuteronomy 18:15) came to give His elucidation of the Heavenly Voices. When He was on earth, like Moses He climbed a mountain and His disciples came to Him (Exodus 24:9; Matthew 5:1-2). Later, on the same Jewish calendar date as the Horeb events (Pentecost, or fifty days after the resurrection) as the disciples were celebrating the festival of Pentecost they saw these voices in the form of tongues of fire that gave them ability to speak in the languages of all the foreign pilgrims then present for the festival in Jerusalem (Acts 2:1-5). These ‘voices’ were later to be sent to the whole world to reach out to the lost sheep of the House of Israel and to the nations with their message. Today we, followers of the Jewish Messiah Yeshua HaMashiach, are these ‘Voices’ of fire from Sinai. Today, from where ever we are in the world we are Hashem's emissaries and apostles of the great message spoken at Sinai. I usually teach my students that the Words of the Ten Statements uttered at Horeb elucidated by God’s Agent Yeshua, constitute the solution to all of the world’s social problems. But the people must not only hear the message, they must also see it. They must see it in the exemplary walk of our lives. A tall order maybe, but a lot is at stake and His Spirit is ever present to help us. Truly, Yeshua ever lives to make intercession off us (John 14:26; Hebrews 7:25). May we not fail in our mission!
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John 8:36
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Our fathers were slaves in Egypt. Pharaoh ordered their lives. He told them what to work, where to work, and how to work. He told them to serve him and no one else. Pharaoh was to be obeyed and worshipped under pain of death. When they cried under the cruel oppression, the Almighty El-Shaddai heard them and by His mighty Right Hand delivered them. He delivered them, brought them to a mountain and bound them to Him and to His Laws. Hashem’s Law then ordered our father’s lives. It told them what to work, where to work, and how to work; to serve Adonai and no-one else. Adonai was to be obeyed and worshipped under pain of death. For those who have a tendency to think that living under the Torah is a form of bondage, it could be concluded that the Children of Israel went from one bondage to another; from slavery under Pharaoh to slavery under God. Indeed, judging by the way living under the commandments of Torah is viewed by many people today, these conclusions are inevitable. Let me indulge in a mariner’s analogy. A sailor is at sea. He is in charge of an expensive vessel. He is also responsible for the life of a crew and he has a mission to accomplish. He is at the helm. He has a serious look on his face and does not make a move. He does not take one decision without checking his compass. This reliance on the compass determines the success or failure of his mission, the safety of his vessel; the life and death of his crew. I heard it said that if a sailor wants to enjoy the high seas, he must become 'slave' to the compass. My friend, thus it is with life. To keep our traveling vessel worthy, to preserve the life of those entrusted in our care, and to accomplish the goal for which we were sent on the high-seas of life, we also must become slave to the ‘Compass’, and in this case, the ‘Compass’ is the Torah. A famous American folk singer used to sing the words, "You’re gonna have to serve somebody; whether it may the devil or whether it may be the Lord, you’re gonna have to serve somebody!" This is so true. In the end, we truly always have to serve somebody. We either serve the idolatrous King of the land or we serve Hashem. And even if our lives are not regulated by external forces, we eventually become slaves to the worse bondage of all: the bondage to our own passions. Serving God under His Torah is the most wonderful freedom of all. It means freedom from human slavery, self-imposed or otherwise. It is the wings that free us from even the bondage of gravity to take us to higher ground. It is the very substance that delivers us from the fear of death to bring us to eternal life. If that is bondage, may I live under it all the days of my life. Matthew 5:19
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Whenever I challenge people with our responsibility to God’s commandments, in full knowledge of personal failure they automatically retort with the statement, “Oh yes, but He forgives me”. They seem to know very little about the Bible, maybe they are proud, they lie, or are selfish with their time or finances (Proverbs 6:16-19), but they know how to use that statement like a theological security blanket. There is a theology out there that clams that 2,000 years ago, Yeshua came and abolished the Torah. Think about what this means. This means that 2, 000 years ago, Yeshua came and abolished the moral code that helps us discern right from wrong. That same theology also claims that the Torah has become obsolete to whoever recognizes Yeshua as his Savior because He is the Torah written in their hearts. I am willing to believe that it is true but those who claim that recognition certainly don’t act like it. If it were true, our Western world should be a paradise certainly not facing the sort of social issues it faces. Actually, the people who adhere to that theology are doubly guilty for their ungodly actions because they live in opposition to the Torah written in their conscience. This notion that the Torah is obsolete not only takes away the understanding of right and wrong, but also the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom. It is therefore the utter foolishness and ‘law-lessness’, which is the exact translation of the word ‘iniquity’. What need is there then of a Savior to cover our sins? My friend, the role of Messiah is and has always been to teach us the proper application of obedience to Torah. He came teaching, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand’ (Matthew 4:17), which means, “turn your ways towards God for the days of His Kingdom are near; start living by His Torah and by His Instruction.” In Yeshua nothing becomes obsolete, not even the death penalty against us; He just takes it upon Himself. We therefore owe Him our lives. So beware, there are still consequences for sin; sin is crouching at the door — it wants you, but you can rule over it (Genesis 4:7). “Abba Father: may we understand that your Kingdom is ruled by the commandments that you have outlined in Your Word; .may we realize that we are responsible to Your Torah and that repentance means to turn back and start living by your teachings and principles. Forgive us for following erroneous teachings that negate the importance of obedience while we forget the teachings of the Messiah You sent to tell us that, Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven … (Matthew 5:19)”. Matthew 18:35
“So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." Because of an erroneous stubbornly recurring theology that requires to make differences between the Hebrew and the Apostolic Writings, people automatically assume that the Master overthrew the Mosaic legal code of retribution of, ‘an eye for an eye’ and replaced it with a new law based on love and forgiveness (Exodus 21:24; Matthew 5:38-41). Let’s examine the issues a little closer. The expressions, ‘eye for an eye’ and, ‘turning the other cheek’ are not to be taken literally. These are Hebrew idioms; legal terms invoking damage restitution by a liable parties. For damage restitution not to be demanded by God’s court of law would be unjust, and God cannot be unjust. Actually, for a liable party not to ‘beg’ for an opportunity to demonstrate his true repentance for his foolish actions, would show callousness and a total lack of the fear of God. When reading the Master’s recommended application of the Torah legal code all throughout His teachings, we must realize that Yeshua could not have been changing the Torah. That would automatically make Him a false prophet to be shunned. It is because of that erroneous teaching that until today Jews will not consider Yeshua as the Messiah. What Yeshua did in His teachings was absolutely in line with Rabbinic Judaism. He took the Torah and gave His personal opinion on how to apply It’s wise instructions. Most of the Master’s recommended Torah application can be found within Judaism itself. He promoted much of Rabbi Hillel’s teachings (Rabbi Hillel was Gamaliel’s (Paul’s mentor and teacher) Grand-father)). Of course, since Yeshua is the Mashiach, His chosen applications are the right ones. The mistake people make when they read the Master’s teachings is the failure to distinguish between obligations pertaining to Torah courts of Law, and imperatives given to individuals. Because of this, people often want to take the ‘law’ in their own hands and appl iti in a vigilante style desiring wanting to kill the adulteress, the idolater and the criminals, when actually nothing could be done outside of a legal Sanhedrin ruling. What the Master teaches us here is greater than requiring the due course of justice. There is no commandment to litigate, and what Yeshua offers is the idea to not litigate, but rather to forgive a debt (a sin or an offense) from the heart, to not hold grudges, but to rely upon the God of the Universe for justice. This principle is the one found in the parables of the unjust servant (Matthew 18:21-35).To forgive in the legal code of Torah was not an emotional mental exercise, it was simply not to require retribution. Could anyone of us be required the full mandate of the Torah for our trespasses against God? Luke 1:79
“… To give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." The Torah provides us with much ruling having to do with man’s inhumane behavior. Some of the things the Torah talks about would make very gory bedtime stories. How can such a heavenly document be so besmirched with the filth of human sin? King David said that the Torah is Light (Psalms 119:105). Light is only useful when it shines in darkness. In essence, the Torah finds its mission within the spiritual darkness of our human dimension. Paul built on David’s proclamation in the Psalms with, But when anything is exposed by the light (of Torah), it (the sin of ‘anything’) becomes visible (Ephesians 5:13), and when he taught Timothy that, Now we know that the law (the Torah) is … not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine (1Timothy 1:8). Well I think that includes all of us! The Torah is a Light made to reveal to us our sinful condition, as a help to direct our paths away from sinful behavior. In studying God’s Oracles, we must be careful to distinguish between what the Torah permits and what the Torah advocates. Failure to do so can be disastrous. Whereas the Torah advocates unbroken marriages, in the knowledge of the nature of man’s heart it gave leeway for divorce (Matthew 19:8). Whereas it advocates monogamous marriages, it gave rulings concerning polygamy. It doesn’t mean that the Torah advocates divorce or polygamy, it only means that the Torah is relevant to the society in which it was given. The same goes for slavery; whereas the Torah gives ruling for slaves, it does not advocate slavery. We must be careful to study it according to its contextual values. Not understanding this causes us to feel removed from the text to a point of irrelevance. For example, many who would not consider polygamy as a lifestyle practice it in a sequential manner, using one spouse, and ‘throwing it away’ for another one. Many today also who would not consider enslaving humans practice a different form of it through the very commonly accepted practice of usury (lending for interest) and economic policies that offer less guaranties than those offered to slaves in the Bible. The Torah is a Light, and those who consider it obsolete live in darkness. The Torah reveals God’s nature and character, and those who in a cafeteria-style pick and choose what they want from it, are found to ‘edit’ God in their hearts. For centuries man has tried to find a better type of government than the one offered in the Torah, and the messy results are evident. In the World to Come, the Light of Torah will expose our sinful world for what it is and we will finally learn to be ruled under the justice and righteousness of God. May it come soon Abba Father, this world can’t wait any longer; too many are crying out for justice. Romans 7:24-25
“ Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to Hashem through Yeshua HaMashiach …!” “Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them” (Deuteronomy 27:26) is the curse the Children of Israel had to pronounce upon themselves before entering the land. If they disobey the commandment, they die! Paul refers to this passage as the ‘curse of the Torah (Galatians 3:10). Sadly though, Paul’s statement to the Galatians’ congregation is often interpreted that if someone wants to adhere to God’s commandments like eating kosher and keeping the Sabbath, they are placing themselves ‘under the Law’ and pronouncing this curse upon themselves. How could that be when Paul agrees that the wages of sin is death and that John defines sin as the breaking of God’s commandments (Romans 6:23; 1 John 3:4)? Also, no matter how much we adhere and obey the commandments, in the end, we are all destined to die. Death is everywhere lurking upon us in the form of corruption and decay. Death is an inherent part of our lives so to speak. Paul’s point was simple. He knew that any law without enforcement is no law at all. In order to be effective, a law has to carry consequences. In this case, the consequence is the curse of death. It certainly cannot mean that the Torah itself is death since it is pure and life-giving (Psalms 19: 7-8), and that by it we should live (Leviticus 18:5). Paul tells us then that yes, we have a wicked and disobedient nature; we find it difficult to be the way we should be and easy to yield to our evil inclination, (Romans 7:15-19). He says that we cannot be kept from reaping the earthly consequences of our disobediences (Deut 28: 1-14), but that what saves us concerning eternal life and the World to Come, is the same as what saved Abraham, Moses, David and all the others in their days: ‘faith’ in Yeshua (John 14:6). Paul confirmed that was what the ancients believed and that it was what Habakkuk the prophet was reminding his audience in, the righteous shall live (as in eternal life) by his faith (Habakkuk 2:4). The teaching that salvation was consequential to Torah obedience was never based on Torah. That school of thought was even relatively new at the time of the Master. Paul’s statement to the Galatians carries no implication whatsoever to disregard the commandments, only a statement of Hashem’s eternal mercies in spite of our incapability to obey. To totally disregard God’s rules for life just because we can’t do it all is really faulty logic; we don’t do that with anything else! What if we gave up trying to be godly at all just because we failed sometimes? May we do our best to please Him by living in the way He would want us to, while retaining the assurance that even though, He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him (Psalms 103:7-11). 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! John 5:24
He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. The Torah is a contract. It is a contract that defines our affiliation with our Heavenly Father. It tells us how we belong to Him and His Kingdom (Leviticus 26:10-12). A contract usually tells of benefits for those faithful to its terms, but it is useless unless it is also fitted with ‘teeth’ for those who break them. Within the Torah contract are imbedded two major texts of curses designed to come upon those who dishonor it (Leviticus 26:3-13; Deuteronomy 28). These texts have often been misinterpreted as the ‘curse of the Torah (Galatians 3:13)’ and therefore ‘nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14)’, (God forbid). How could it be that the instructions which Moses proclaimed are our life ((Deuteronomy 32:47), that the statutes in which David found great rewards (Psalms 19:11), what the writer of the Book of Hebrews even called the ‘Gospel’ (Hebrews 4:2), are now cursed death nailed to a tree (God forbid)? The Torah is an everlasting covenant, and even when covenantal addendums are made, they do not replace the former but are built on them (Galatians 3:17). Upon closer examination we realize that this so-called ‘curse of the Torah’ ‘nailed to the tree’ spoken of by Paul is not the Torah contract itself. The salary of sin (breaking the Torah) is death (1 John 3:4; Romans 6:23). The word ‘mavet:death’ in Hebrew actually refers to separation from God. The curse spoken of here is the condemnation to separation from the Father by the eternal courts of judgment; a form of banishment from the kingdom for breaking the rules. Paul also speaks of a ‘written code (NIV)’, of a ‘handwriting of ordinances (KJV)’ ‘nailed to the cross’ which is often erroneously interpreted as being the Torah Itself, but it only refers to a legal document used in courts which is also called ‘a certificate of debt (ESV)’. It is a paper listing to the judge all our offenses against the law. The Master often used analogies of debts and courts when He spoke of sin (Matthew 6:12). This list, this ‘certificate of debt’ is the evidence against us that we broke the Torah. It is that list which is nailed to the cross with Messiah. Basically, Messiah pays our ‘fine’ to the Judge and gets rid of the evidence that stands against us. We are given a clean slate, a chance to start again. In Messiah we are given a new chance to learn to live by God’s standards. The idea is that like the Children of Israel were rescued from the angel of death in Egypt in order to go and learn to live by God’s standards instead of by those of Egypt, we also, are saved from Satan the ‘angel of death’, that we may go and learn to live for God in His way. We don’t obey the Torah in order to get redeemed; we do it because we are redeemed by the Lamb of God: Yeshua HaMashiach! |
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