It can be seen as the foundation of
a house
The Power of the New or Renewed Covenant (a quote from Lars)
" The problem is that most
Christians seem to have completely
misunderstood what the new covenant is all about. " |
We
rejoice that so many who believe in Yahshua today all over the world, both
among Jews and Gentiles, are beginning to find so much joy, happiness and
freedom in the Eternal One’s (Yahveh’s) Torah (the first 5 books of Moses (
Genesis to Deuteronomy) that contains all the instructions of our Father). The
body of Messiah have for centuries viewed the Law (the Torah in Hebrew) as
bondage, and have been taught and trained to stay away from it as far as
possible because "the church has a new and much better covenant."
What a victory for the devil this deception has been! The body of Messiah have
been robbed for way too long. It is time for change!
(Elohim is the original Hebrew for the “Mighty
One” and one of Yahveh's title names. In most translations it was translated as
“God”). Yes,
legalism, thinking that we can earn Elohim’s salvation and righteousness by our
own works, is a curse. But the Torah, which in most cases is translated as Law,
literally means teaching and instruction. Teaching about YHVH’s
ways and His will for man certainly is not a curse. It is the exact opposite!
It is this teaching that leads us to freedom. Freedom is not doing whatever we
want, but the power to do what is right. Obeying our Father’s commands is the
greatest freedom in life and thousands of believers are beginning to discover
this beautiful freedom today.
And yes,
the new covenant is much better than the first. So much better! The problem is
that most Christians seem to have completely misunderstood what the new
covenant is all about. The new covenant has
not done away with the Torah (the first five books of Moses: Gen-Deutr).
Once again exactly the complete opposite is true. The Scriptures makes it very
clear that in the new covenant the Torah, rather than having been thrown out, has instead been written in our hearts!
“Because this is the
covenant that I shall make with the house of Yisra’ĕl after those days, says יהוה, giving My laws in their mind, and I shall write them on
their hearts, and I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people. (Heb
8:10) (It is a quote from Jer 31:33) The precious 2 verses read: Jer 31:31 “See, the days are
coming,” declares יהוה, “when I shall make a new covenant with the house of
Yisra’ĕl and with the house of Yehuḏah1, Footnote: 1See Heb. 8:8-12, Heb.
10:16-17. Jer 31:32 not like the
covenant I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to
bring them out of the land of Mitsrayim (Egypt), My covenant which they broke, though
I was a husband to them,” declares יהוה.
|
Here we see
that in the new covenant, the Father’s laws, His Torah has been written on our
hearts (a process that have begun- not
completed fully yet). People who say that the Torah has been done away with in
the new covenant (in the New Testament), have obviously never understood what
the new covenant (renewed covenant) means. Secondly, we see in this passage
that the new covenant has not been given to a different people than the people
who received the first covenant (Israel). It is impossible for us to have any
part in the new covenant without being a part of Israel, through the conversion
and circumcision of the heart that comes through the Messiah of Israel.
In the
new covenant (or renewed covenant) the Torah has by the power of the Spirit of
the Living Elohim been written on our hearts, and if we have accepted Yeshua
(Hebrew name for Jesus) as the Mediator and Messiah we have been grafted in to
Israel (Rom 11). This truly is radical. But the truth is so simple that you
definitely need a theologian in order to confuse it for you. It is about time
to begin to demonstrate the power of the new covenant to the world.
Somebody
has said that the Scriptures (Bible) is Christianity's worst enemy. Well, the
Eternal (Yahveh) certainly is beginning to lift the veil over the Scriptures in
these days, and an earth shaking revolution is on the way. Never before in our
lives have we witnessed so much love, joy, peace and freedom as over the past few
years, among people who have begun to embrace the Eternal One's instructions
and teachings in His Torah. It is truly a beauty to behold and heaven is
rejoicing. This is not a matter of judaizing or becoming "Jewish". It
is a matter of embracing and obeying YHVH Elohim’s Word. The words written on
our hearts and in the Scriptures never contradict each other.
We can
never live without laws. The Eternal One's laws and commandments lead to
freedom. Man's laws and commandments always lead to bondage. We have to choose
which ones to follow. There is no middle ground.
"See,
I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I
command you today to love YHVH (Yahveh) your
Elohim, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then
you will live and increase, and YHVH your Elohim will bless you… This day I
call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life
and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children
may live." (De
30:15-16,20)
It is
only in the new covenant, through faith in the atoning offering of Yahshua's
blood and the infilling of the Spirit of YHVH that we can walk in His Torah and
fulfill it to the full. But please understand that the Torah has never been
done away with in the new covenant. It has been written on our hearts. A
Torah-free new covenant is an oxymoron, a complete contradiction of terms.
"You
are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do
people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand,
and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light
shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in
heaven . …For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of
the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the
kingdom of heaven." (Mt 5:14-16,20)
Let's
rejoice over YHVH Elohim’s Torah and
praise Him for it! And let's pray for the light of our good deeds to begin to
shine to a dying world! Yahshua died to set us free from all lawlessness, Tit
2:14. (End of
quote)
The apostle Paul (Shaul) wrote to a
fellow elder, “All Scripture is breathed by Elohim and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for setting straight, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of Elohim might be fitted, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 –
The Scriptures).
When Paul wrote these words, the Scriptures he referred to were
that which we for centuries called the Old
Testament (many still call it Old Testament - A better word is TANACH which
is the first Hebrew letters of the words standing for the First Writings what
we called Old Testament all the years: Torah, Instruction, Nevi’im
(Prohepts) and Kethuvim (Writings) – TaNaCH.
The writings that would eventually be
known as the New Testament (Apostolic writings or Second writings) had not been
accepted as Scripture yet; some of them had not even been written yet.
The Scriptures (Bible) itself tells us
we are to understand it as a unit; all
Scripture is inspired and the Elohim-like-given guide (God-given-guide)
for human conduct. By putting together all the scriptures on a given
subject we allow the Scriptures to interpret itself and give us a
complete and coherent view of YHVH’s (Yahveh’s) instruction on specific
areas of life. Viewing every passage in a different context renders the
Scriptures little more than a conflicting, contradictory collection of human
writings rather than an inspired revelation from Elohim. Shaul/Paul’s
instruction in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 shows us the foundational understanding
through which we can begin to properly interpret the Scriptures: All of it is YHVH’s inspired
revelation.
Quote from another Messianic Torah
teacher concerning the fact of the Torah that is the foundation for the rest of
Scripture and the fact of the unity of all Scripture:
Debarim/Deuteronomy
was the fifth book that Moshe wrote, as it is written in Debarim/Deuteronomy 31:24, “It
happened, when Moshe had made an end of writing the words of this Torah in a
scroll, until they were finished”(HNV revised)
Devarim/Debarim
(Deutr) is a confirmation of the Torah that was already given on
Mount Sinai and on the plains of Moav. It differs from the other four books
(Genesis to Numbers) in that it is not a
collection of the words that the Eternal One dictated directly (that
was done in the first 4 Books), but the words that were conveyed through
the greatest prophet Moshe (not including Messiah Yeshua who is greater than
Moshe (Moses), see Hebrews 3:3-6). The book of Debarim/Deutr, therefore,
is a repetition and an explanation, through the prophet Moshe, of the Torah
that was dictated and given from heaven once and for all. That is why the
book begins by saying, “These are the words that Moshe spoke to all
Yisrael...” This does not mean that the words are not from Yahveh, the
Eternal One, our Father through Yeshua, but rather, instead of being quoted
directly, they are now filtered and conveyed through the human instrument
that reached the highest level of prophecy that there is. They are words
from the Eternal, through Moshe, as it is written in 1:3, “Moshe
proclaimed to the Yisraelites all that YHVH had commanded him concerning them”.
But since these words were not directly dictated by the Eternal, the foundation
for the words in Moshe’s fifth book is already laid in the first four books.
Remember that the foundation of a house supports the whole house.
In the same way, the first four books of the Torah were dictated to the
prophet Moshe, letter by letter, and written down with precision. Thus they
became the foundation for the fifth book of Moshe (Debarim/Deuteronomy).
These five books, that are called the Torah of Moshe, are in turn, the
foundation for the rest of the Scriptures. The prophetic books that
were later added, beginning with Yehoshua (Joshua), doesn't change anything in
the foundation, as it is written in Debarim/Deuteronomy 4:2 “Do
not add to the Word which I command you, and do not take away from it[1], so as to guard the commands of יהוה
your Elohim which I am commanding you. Footnote:
1See also 12:32, Prov. 30:6, Rev. 22:18-19. (The Scriptures)
In Debarim/Deuteronomy 12:32, it is written, “Whatever thing I command you,
that shall you observe to do: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from
it.”(HNV)
The early Prophets, from Yehoshua/Joshua to 2
Kings,
the latter Prophets, from Yeshiyahu/Isaiah to
Malachi,
the early Writings, from Tehillim/Psalms to 2
Chronicles,
and the latter Writings, from Matthew to
Revelation, can neither add nor take away anything from the words of
the Torah (Genesis – Deutr) that YHVH
gave through Moshe. The foundation for the written revelation has been laid once
and for all in the Torah and the other books can neither be a part
of the foundation nor take anything away from it. The other Spirit-inspired
books give explanations and shed more light on that which is already written in
the foundation (Torah), see Ephesians 3:5. Even if they also are books that
were inspired by the Spirit of YHVH, they do not have the same level of
authority as the Torah of Moshe. Therefore one has to be very careful with new
ideas that originate from any of the other Scriptures, which are not found in
the Torah of Moshe, since all revelation that comes after Moshe must be founded
on his Writings, as it is written in
Yochanan/John
5:46, “For if you believed Moshe, you would believe me; for he
wrote about me.”(HNV)
In Romans 3:21,
it is written, “But now apart from the (written) law, a righteousness
of Eloha has been revealed (through the living Torah), being testified of by
the law and the prophets”(HNV revised)
In Acts 26:22 it
is written, “Having therefore obtained the help that is from Eloha, I stand
to this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the
prophets and Moshe said would happen”(HNV revised)
Here is an example of a statement of what we as Messianic
believers came to realize and now believe:
"We consider that the books
which constitute the Tanach, (What was wrongly called Old Testament), and the
Apostolic Writings (which was wrongly called New Testament) were written under inspired
authority of Elohim. These books (called The Scriptures) were given to Yisrael
for the whole world. We acknowledge that the Torah of Moshe is the
foundation of the faith and has the highest authority among the
Scriptures. The rest of the Scriptures - the Prophets and the Writings,
including the Apostolic Scriptures (what was called New Testament by us for
years) - neither contradict, add, nor take away anything from the Torah of
Moshe; but rather expand, explain, and reveal the secrets that were given once
and for all." ( The “New Testament” / which should rather be called The
Apostolic Scriptures can also be called Messianic Writings, latter Writings,
Second Writings or Renewed Covenant Scriptures)
The book Debarim/Devarim
can be divided into three sections, which correspond with the three books:
Shemot/Exodus, Vayiqra/Leviticus, and Bemidbar/Numbers.
Therefore it is also called the Mishneh Torah, "repetition of the
Torah", an expression that is found in Debarim/Deuteronomy
17:18. "Deuteronomium" is the latin form of the Septuagint’s "Deuteronómion",
which means "the second law".
These are the three sections:
Devarim/Deuteronomy 1:1 – 5:5 Morals and Admonitions
5:6 –
27:8 Diverse Laws
27:9 –
34:12 Blessings and Curses
According to tradition, it was Yehoshua
(Joshua) who wrote chapter 34, which speaks of Moshe’s death.
Now, as believers in Messiah, we have believed for so many years as
Christians that when Yahshua (Jesus) the Messiah (Christ) came and was executed
on a stake, that the Torah was “fulfilled” and with that we were taught that
the Torah was done away with. So for all the years we interpreted Scripture the
other way around. We interpreted everything from the understanding of the “New
Testament” writings. With that, we interpreted it through a Greek mindset which
is far removed from the Hebraic mindset. The Messiah, however, came with the
highest revelation of the Eternal’s (Yahveh’s) Torah, as it is written in Matthew 5:17-18 where Yahshua/Yeshua said,
“Don’t think that I
came to destroy the Torah or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to
fulfill. For most assuredly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not
even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from
the Torah, until all things are accomplished.”(HNV revised)
The normal translations rendered these verses as: Think not that I am come
to destroy the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to
fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Already in the Septuagint (the Geek’ Version of the TeNaCk (OT)), was the Hebrew word “Torah” translated into
the Greek word NOMO. So the English translated nomo into “Law”, which in this case is the Torah.
So in this context of Matt 5, the word “Torah” is referring to the
five books of Moshe (Gen – Deutr). The Messiah did not come to do away with any
of what Moshe wrote, but on the contrary, to confirm it and explain it so that
we can fulfill it in the right way. The word “fulfill” in this context is a
rabbinical term that has to do with the “right way of applying the
commandments”. To fulfill does absolutely not mean to end or remove,
but to bring something to its fullest practical application in daily life.
This is what Yahshua did.
In
the same way that Moshe came as a prophet to give us the Torah, which is the
Word of the Eternal, the Son of Elohim (Yeshua) came as the prophet of prophets
in order to speak to us in a perfect way about what was in the heart of the
Father when the Torah was given, as it is written in Hebrews 1:1-2, Eloha, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets
at many times and in various ways, has at the end of these days spoken to us by
his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the
worlds.”(HNV revised)