September 10, 2024

What IS “the Law or the Prophets”? The Torah [first five books of your Bible], is the God spoken WORD from Mt. Sinai, which Moses penned and taught the Children of Israel… modern culture calls it the “Law.” Some get the concept of the Sheriff of “Boon County” chasing Burt Reynolds in the movie the Bandit… Law is bad translation, as the Torah is a goal, or target, which all believers should be aiming at. It is better defined as “instructions,” and the road map of living a devoted life as a Christian who has decided to “follow Jesus.” By the way, Yeshua [Jesus] is the Torah WORD, in the flesh, as the New Testament teaches us in John chapter 1. So, it is certainly not the case that Yeshua is speaking of destroying Himself in Matthew 5:17 above.

The Prophets, of course, are the spokesmen Yahweh sent into the midst of His People [Israel] to call them back to the Torah and repentance, and tell of the coming Messiah… whom they did not recognize when He spoke to them face to face [namely the religious types]. He did not fit their preferred example of the “Messiah” they had themselves made up… much like the “another Jesus” Paul warns the Corinthians about in 2 Cor 11:3-5. I think the modern church has corrupted the “Word made Flesh, Yeshua,” to the point that most don’t know the Biblical Yeshua in the true sense of His reality. Paul said, about this issue, “so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” Religion has complicated the simple message of the Gospel… and if there was a time men need to come to the simple and real Yeshua of the Bible, it is this day in which we live… because He is soon to return and it would be a good idea to know Him as he IS… The one who said He did not come to destroy the Torah… the only authentic identity of the nature and likeness of Yahweh, and His expectations of us. In Matthew 5, Yeshua went on to say:

“For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” mat 5:18-20 nkjv

I think Yeshua was referring to these two Torah verses:

“You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.” deut 4:2 nkjv

“Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.” deut 12:32 nkjv

AND…

“Forever, O Lord, your word is settled in heaven.” ps 119:89 nkjv

Now, so you know, I am not being legalistic… I just think we need to take a closer look at the Scriptures when we study them… for example I have heard many teachers and preachers [most in honest effort] say things that cloud up the clear and simple water of Biblical truth… such as separating the “moral law from the ceremonial law.” Now I think men choose this thinking when they don’t want to teach their flock what the implications are for the “it is written,” words… I know some will not even try to deal with Romans 9,10, and 11…  I have heard many place Paul’s teachings above the Torah’s direct teachings and the words of Yeshua… I think the Torah, Yeshua, and Paul all say the same thing when we let the true foundation of the Torah stand… it is the adding to and taking from that causes the problems… The Bereans consulted the “Scriptures” to see if what Paul said was true/accurate… Now the only scripture they had to consult was the Torah… and the Prophets, no New Testament was in existence then; give that some thought.

“Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.” acts 17:10-12 nkjv

The “take-away” here is this, when honest and sincere teachers minister to others, it is still the responsibility of those hearing the message to “search the Torah” to see if the teaching is founded upon the eternal, and forever settled Word of Yahweh… I had a person once tell me, when I was teaching, that they were too busy to study the lesson and they depended upon me to keep them informed…. Wrong answer, you think.

For me, I don’t claim to understand the minute details of Torah’s eternal truth… I do, however, with the help of the Holy Spirit, try to live the implied and commanded principles that Yahweh’s Torah established for us to preserve us from the sinful and corrupt worldly system of the devil’s makings… Yeshua’s finished work at the Cross positions us in a secure place, I know we can all find the way to our heavenly home as we like the Berean’s, look to the scriptures daily… as we read and study the scriptures, we are in fellowship with the Divine presence of our Creator, who is always looking out for us, and leading us home… Amen.

Shalom, John