Thursday, November 27, 2014

It's Time To "Lay Down the Law" - Part 2

I said previously I would not worry about inferences. But, before leaving Matthew, I simply must address this set of verses:

Mat 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Mat 7:22 "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
Mat 7:23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS (ANOMIA).'

[Note: The Greek word "anomia" is very significant. The prefix alpha, in Greek, means "without". And "nomia" is of the same root as "nomos". To practice anomia is to transgress and be without TORAH! Folks, this our LORD Jesus saying this! And the Church and it's leaders want me to believe Torah has been done away with? Sorry, I believe God, not man. Please notice, it is he who DOES the will of the Father. What has the Father willed? TORAH! And how many people have heard this set of verses mentioned in a Church? Not many, would be my guess.]

In Part 1 we introduced the Greek word "Nomos" which really should be Torah. The ridiculous thing is that our English translations use the word "Law". It's ridiculous because "Torah" actually means, "Instruction", not "Law"! Of course, there is "Law" in the Tanakh - it's called the Big 10, or, The 10 Commandments, as we refer to them today. Most Christians don't understand that Torah is not a man-made collection of legalistic requirements, but instead, is a list of instructions on how to live a good, healthy, holy (set apart) life. These instructions are also called "commandments", or in Hebrew, "mitzvot". If you love Him, you will keep His mitzvot (commandments) (Read John 14).

People will argue that it's impossible to do everything in Torah, not because it's hard, necessarily, but because there is no Temple, no Aaronic Priesthood, etc. This is true! Many of the mitzvot in Torah only apply to women, some to men, some to animals, some to Priests, etc. The Aaronic Priesthood was suspended and Yeshua was given to us as a Malki-Tzedeck Priest, not Aaronic, partly because He is not a Levite. We also cannot "keep" (a precise legal term) the Feasts properly because we can't all travel to Jerusalem every year and yes, there is no Temple (yet!). Instead, we celebrate the Feasts as a remembrance and as prophecies yet to be fulfilled (there's that word again). We don't need to do sacrifices because Jesus became our propitiation (Romans 3). The blood of animals never cleansed our sins anyway (Hebrews 10)! We also do not live under a Theocracy where we take Adulterers outside the city limits and stone them!

But guess what! During the Millennial Reign ALL of Torah returns! To be enforced, btw, with an iron rod (Psalms 2, Revelation 2, Revelation 19) . The survivors of the horrid Great Tribulation to come must have an animal sacrifice in order to be near the reigning God on earth. I would presume that the "Saints", both Jew and Gentile, who reign with Yeshua, would not need an animal sacrifice.

The real question becomes; which of Torah's instructions do you wish NOT to keep? An "anti-Torah" attitude shows an enmity against Yehovah-Yeshua and His instructions (Romans 8), which we all have. Even the Jews know that none are justified by the works of the law (Romans 3, Galatians 2, Galatians 3)! So, why try to keep Torah if it does no good work for our salvation? We try out of OBEDIENCE and LOVE! (Many biblical references here) For if we love Him, we will obey His commandments (John 14, 1 John 2). If we don't we are LIARS!

Let's continue:

Luk 2:21 And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
Luk_2:22 And when the days for their purification according to the law [Nomos] of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord
Luk_2:23 (as it is written in the Law [Nomos] of the Lord, "EVERY firstborn MALE THAT OPENS THE WOMB SHALL BE CALLED HOLY TO THE LORD"),
Luk_2:24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law [Nomos] of the Lord, "A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS."

[Note: "... when eight days had passed". A Hebrew child is not named until 8 days, and then he is circumcised (Leviticus 12, Philippians 3). Please notice how the word "law" is not capitalized when referring to Moses and is when referring to the Lord - yet, it's the same word! This is called translator bias! Also, please notice how care is taken to fulfill the instructions of "Nomos" (Torah).

Now ... is circumcision required for Salvation (meaning for us, not Jesus)? No! Of course not! Later on, a battle takes place over this issue. I will cover that in due time.

However, how do you think Yehovah sees this circumcision instruction? Go read Exodus 4. Yehovah was ready to kill Moshe!

Most Christians teach that there is Mosaic law and God's Law. God's Law being the Big 10 and Moses' law being what he (Moses) was instructed to write down - by God, btw! Then these Christians will then tell you that the 4th Commandment (Sabbath worship) has been changed! They simply don't understand that they have just nullified God's immutable Law AND any inspired "Law" written down by Moshe! Imagine going to Leviticus 23 and reading Yehovah's instructions on keeping the Feasts, but then deciding He really didn't mean it for Christians! This is eisegesis to the extreme, folks! Another issue that arises here is the validity of Manuscript families (which are copies of copies of copies). Manuscript Linguists will tell you that man has altered manuscripts over the years. When you are building a "Church" based on pagan concepts it helps to alter manuscript copies to suit your purpose. This is another one of those subjects that have literally hundreds of books written about it! Btw, which manuscripts are almost 100% accurate throughout history? Why, the ones for the Tanakh, of course! They exist on Torah Scrolls. We owe a great debt to our Jewish Brothers for this!]

... Note - from this point on, "Nomos" will be the Greek word used for "law" and "Law", unless otherwise noted.

Luk_2:27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law,
...
Luk_2:39 When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth.

[Note: Yeshua (w/family) continue to abide by Torah. Please notice, this is referring to the "Nomos of the Lord", the Torah of the Lord. Do you really want to say Torah has been nailed to the Cross?]

Luk_5:17 One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law [see below] sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing.
Luk 5:18 And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him.
Luk 5:19 But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.
Luk 5:20 Seeing their faith, He said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you."
Luk 5:21 The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?"
Luk 5:22 But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?
Luk 5:23 "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins have been forgiven you,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?
Luk 5:24 "But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,"--He said to the paralytic--"I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home."
Luk 5:25 Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.
Luk 5:26 They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen remarkable things today."

[Note: Additional verses are included here for context. Two very important issues are addressed here. One, it is true that only God can forgive sin (Yehovah-Yeshua), and Two, Jesus had the man clearly disobey Pharisaical Takanot by telling the man to "work" by carrying his bedroll home! (The implication being that this could have been a Sabbath) We will find that Yeshua never denies or breaks Torah, but instead, breaks every man-made rule He can! He is showing man that man's religion is nothing, and that Yehovah's instructions are everything! In the West we think "cot" or "stretcher", but in the Middle East perspective it was most likely a bedroll. The word "law" in verse 17 is actually, "nomodidaskalos", which means teacher of the law, or Rabbi.]

Luk 10:25 And a lawyer [nomikos - an expert in Torah, most likely a Levite]stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
Luk 10:26 And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?"
Luk 10:27 And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
Luk 10:28 And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE."
Luk 10:29 But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
Luk 10:30 Jesus replied and said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.
Luk 10:31 "And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
Luk 10:32 "Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
Luk 10:33 "But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,
Luk 10:34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
Luk 10:35 "On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.'
Luk 10:36 "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?"
Luk 10:37 And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."

[Note: This parable is a wonderful illustration of legalistically following man's rules versus following Torah. Samaritans were hated by the "Jews" and they were considered to be dogs. Gentiles, or Pagans, were thought to be even worse! Rabbis taught many rules concerning the interaction between the groups. Some of these "rules" exist today, in the Talmud and other writings. So, Yeshua has the good Samaritan living Torah while the Levite does not, thus showing that Torah is something to be lived and done in your daily life - no matter WHO you are! It is my hope that my Christian brothers and sisters notice this!]

I wish everyone to have a wonderful Thanksgiving, if you celebrate the holiday! And the Best to All of You and Yours! - Tiger

The Observer

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