But...Aren't you preaching a different Gospel?

Shabbat Shalom Y'all :)

I recently had this comment for one of my lovely blog readers and I asked this commenter if I could respond in the way of a 'but...' series post to which they said yes. So that's what I thought I would do this morning.

You can read other posts in the 'but...' series about our faith over >>> there in the sidebar if you like :)

Please remember these are just my thoughts as I search out the Scriptures and desire to know more of the Truth in Yah's Word. I don't pretend to have all the answers (only God does!) but I do want to be like the Bereans who the Scriptures say (in Acts 17:11) "received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true".  

Ok so here is the comment:

Hi Lusi, I have read lots of your articles on the Torah and followed your blog for quite a while. I have six kids and one on the way and find your blog encouraging and interesting! I have watched the change you have made to following the Torah...and would like to ask you a question. As Christians the most important and central part of our lives is the Gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation...yeh? So if we are comissioned by Yeshua to share this good news...what is this gospel? What do you say it is Lusi? Blessings

Thank you for your question and comments. We have encountered many questions like this and so I thought I would share my heart on this matter of 'the Gospel' and go on a little journey through the Bible with you.

I believe the Bible to be one big book - one story with a central theme running through it.

It tells us of:

1. The living God, who from the very beginning, desired to be in a loving relationship with the people He created

2. people not wanting to walk in the ways that He outlined for them and the consequences for this

3. His desire that people repent and live and the blessings for this

4. His desire that His people live in a way that would be a light to the Gentile (unbelieving) nations around them

5. His gracious and merciful nature to rid us of our sins when we return to Him

6. His provision to send a perfect sacrifice that would take away the sins of the world

7. His plan to reunify His people once again

8. His second coming as reigining King over all the earth

Firstly, the most important part of my life is my relationship with Yah (God); just like it was for Abraham, Moses, David, Hannah, Paul and many others of course along the way.

This is the central part of my life.

I have met many people over the years who love to 'preach the Gospel' but do not have a real living relationship with the God that they are preaching about! I honestly think that is truly sad and we need to have the right order first.

A living relationship with my living Maker is the most crucial aspect of my faith.

I do agree that the Word tells me that the Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Romans 1:16) and that by this Gospel a righteousness is revealed by God that is by faith. It is very curcial to us all!

So the question is....what is the Gospel and are we preaching the same one as Yeshua (Jesus) did and the believers after Him? And what about believers before Him? What Gospel did they believe in? Hang in here with me while we look at some of the examples and scriptures we have in the Bible.

The Gospel or 'message of Good News' from God Most High has been around from the beginning of time!

It is not a 'New Testament' concept.

Yah's heart has always been and remains that man walks in faithfulness with Him.

Adam and Eve failed at doing this when they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and there were consequences for their disobedience. However, even after their betrayl, Yah still used Eve as the 'mother of all the living' (Genesis 1:20) and she still gave birth "with the help of Yehovah" (the LORD) (Genesis 4:2). Even though they disobeyed and their were consequences for their actions, Yah still walked with them and was gracious to allow them to live.

He had already set in motion a plan to redeem the sin of our ancestors Adam and Eve.

He would send One who would bear our sins and take on the punishment we deserved,

"Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people, and he will appear a sceond time not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him" (Hebrews 9:27-28)

He shared this plan with His people and gave them many prophecies and appointed times that foretold His coming. Passover is a great example of this. Paul confirms this for us in 1 Corinthians 5:7 when he calls Yeshua our Passover Lamb!

Yah didn't just want one people group on all the earth to be saved though; no! It was ALWAYS His desire that none perish but have everalsting life (John 3:16). In Ezekiel 18 He talks about the person who turns away from wickedness and walks in Yah's ways that the person who does such a thing will be forgiven.

He decleares, "Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one of you according to his ways. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit" (Ezekiel 18:30)

And He finishes off the message with this beautiful line,
"For I take NO PLEASURE in the death of ANYONE. REPENT AND LIVE!" (Ezekiel 18:32)

See how He never wanted anyone to perish? His heart and plan has always been for man to forsake his own wicked way and walk in the ways of Yah that He set out for man's healthy living (the Torah) and that we would live if we would humble ourselves in this way!

Well, you might ask, (as has been asked of me) 'where is the witness-factor' in that?'

Check out Deuteronomy 4:5-9 (the whole chapt of deut 4 is a great read though!)

This is what Yah told ALL His people:

(both those who were native-born of Israel and those who were grafted in - see Numbers 15:15 for more on that)

"See, I have taught you decrees and laws as Yehovah my El (the LORD my God) commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will SHOW your wisdom and understanding to THE NATIONS (those around them that did not believe in nor follow Yah), who will HEAR about all the decrees and SAY, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people". What other nation is so great as to have their gods with them the way Yehovah our Elohim (the LORD your God) is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?"

See here He is saying, If you walk in my ways that I am giving you today, the nations around you will be moved by the way you live! They will see what kind of God I am and what kind of people you are. They will HEAR about me and they will TALK about me! Living according to His way was meant to provoke the nations around us to WANT to KNOW this living God and be in RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM!

Israel, the collective name that God uses to describe His people, were supposed to be a "light to the Gentiles" (Isaiah 42:6) and Isaiah 49:6 says, "l will also make you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth". 

Did Israel, as a people, do this faithfully? No! They didn't. They forsook Him and His ways and did their own thing. They collectively did not witness to those nations around them by living in a way that Yah had lovingly set out for them.

So God foretold a time when He would "call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one.." (Hosea 2:23)

He says in Romans chapter 9 that Israel did not pursue Him with faith but tried to attain righteousness by their own works. Any works without that central faith in Yah is pointless and does not build faith.

When Yeshua came to earth, He correctly interpreted the law and challenged those whom he called 'blind guides' (Matthew 15:14, Matthew 23:16 + 24) who were teaching people about man's traditions and leading them AWAY from the instructions the Father had given. Yeshua said, "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men" (Mark 7:8) He was trying to point us all back to walking once again IN FAITH with Yah in a way that produced the fruit of right-living by keeping the commands set out by God.

We also know that Yeshua was not teaching against the law, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have NOT COME TO ABOLISH them but to fulfill them (fulfill here means to fill up to the correct measure). I tell you the truth, until heaven and earh disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen will be any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven but whoever practices and teaches these will be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:17-19)

Yeshua taught us about the same things that were always taught about in the Scriptures - the same Gospel or Good News preached from the beginning; that God desires to be in fellowship with us and that we can live with Him in a relationship of faith and trust (John 14:1), that we need to repent and return back to the ways of God by loving Him and keeping His commandments (John 14:15 + 20) He told us He would send us the Counselor to help us which is the Spirit of Truth (John 15:26). He once again affirmed that we need to be a light to the nations and "shine your light before men that they would see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).

After Yeshua had risen from the dead, what did He say to the believers? "And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself" (Luke 24:27)

This was the Gospel He preached!

He also told them, "This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:46-48)

So we see Yeshua preaching the same Gospel that has been preached for all time.

What about Paul and the believers after Him though?

What Gospel did they preach?

Check out Paul IN ACTION preaching the Gospel in Acts 28:23-24:

"They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day aand came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he EXPLAINED and DECLARED to them THE KINGDOM OF GOD and tried to CONVINCE THEM ABOUT YESHUA from THE LAW OF MOSES and from the PROPHETS".

You see, even after his death, the believers were STILL preaching the message of good news and hope  about the Messiah from the same places; the law and the prophets!

What about when Paul is asked to share of his faith before the Governor Felix? How does he speak about his faith and the message he is preaching?

"I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I BELIEVE EVERYTHING that agrees with THE LAW and that is written IN THE PROPHETS, and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked"

(Acts 24:14-15)

Stephen, the Martyr that we read about in Acts 7 preaches a mighty version of the Gospel and history of Israel. He is stoned to death because he says of the teachers that they had "recieved LIVING WORDS" (Acts 7:38) which Moses passed on to us from God but that "you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have NOT OBEYED it!" (Acts 7:53).

Stephen wasn't stoned for preaching about Yeshua, he was stoned to death because he challenged the leaders of the day to stop leading people astray from God's ways when they should have been obeying Him and His ways!

What does all this mean for us today?

Well we believe in preaching the same Good News Gospel that Yah has designed from the beginning...we walk in a loving relationship with Him, we live according to His way and when we do that, we are standing out from the crowd which makes people ask, "Why do you do that?" And then we get to share with them about the loving God that we walk with. This has happened to us time and time again since learning about Yah's set apart ways. We haven't needed a programme or a roster to be a part of to do this; it has happened with MANY people from our local video store clerk, to family members from physicians and clinicians to strangers on the street. When we are set-apart for Him and live in a way that He designed, He brings about relationships with others who ask why do you believe that? It's been the most exciting (and challenging!) time of our lives!

So to answer the original question, I hope you can see that we are preaching the same Gospel of Good News that Yah had planned out from the beginning of time, that continued through the ages from Moses to the Prophets and to Yeshua and Paul and beyond.

This is the Gospel we also preach.

This is shared with love and I hope it encourages someone out there.

More to come another time,

But...Isn't the Sabbath a 'burden'?

"But...Isn't the Sabbath a 'burden'?"

"If I did sabbath, I wouldn't know what to do or not do!"

"What would you actually DO on a Sabbath anyway? I don't see the point"

These are all comments we've heard regarding the set-apart day that Yah gave as a gift to His people.

I once read a great analogy about the Shabbat (7th day sabbath) that stuck with me.

Imagine you go to work for your boss 7 days a week. Then your boss says, "You know what? You work so hard. I want you to take the 7th day off as a day of rest. Don't come into work that day and don't even think about it! Just rest." Would you argue and say, "No way! That would be a burden!" or would you accept the instruction given by your boss and enjoy your day off?

The Bible has much to say (both 'old' and 'new' testaments) about the Sabbath and I would encourage you to do a study for yourself on it. Here are the main things we've learnt from our reading of the Scriptures about this holy day, the 7th day Shabbat (rest)...

It's  a day:

To Do no work (Exodus 20:10)

To Rest and be refreshed (Exodus 23:12)

To Remember our Creator (Exodus 20:8-11)

To Rejoice (Isaiah 58:13-14)

That is given by Yah Himself (Exodus 12:29)

Of Sacred Assembly (Leviticus 23:3)

That is a SIGN between God and His People (Ezekiel 20:12 + Exodus 31:13)

That Yeshua (Jesus) and Paul kept holy (Luke 4:16 & Acts 17:2)

That the New Testament' says is 'Remains for God's people' (Hebrews 4:9)

To be celebrated for the generations to come forever (Exodus 31:16)

nb: for more on 'who Israel is' please see HERE. 

So with that in  mind let's revisit the original questions...

"But...Isn't the Sabbath a 'burden'?"

Does the above list seem like a burden to you? A day off of work to rest, rejoice, remember...nope it's not a burden to me!

"If I did sabbath, I wouldn't know what to do or not do!"

Well just like with every other area of our life, we are on a journey. We seek to be led by the Spirit of God Most High. We first look at what the Word instructs us to do on Shabbat and things that don't contradict those instructions are fine! If we are doing something that is not pleasing to Yah, our Maker, we know He will reveal it to us and show us how to change our ways.

"What would you actually DO on a Sabbath anyway? I don't see the point"

The point is that the Creator of the Universe set out a specific day to worship him. He set aside a particular day (the 7th in the week) and made it holy. The point is that He asked us to remember that and honour Him by resting on that day.

As for what to 'do' on the sabbath...here are some of the things we enjoy!

* Sleeping in!

* The kids love eating a particular breakfast cereal that they ONLY eat on Shabbat mornings!
* They love wishing each other and us a peaceful shabbat first thing by climbing onto our bed and saying, "Shabbat Shalom Mum!"

* We love enjoying a lovely meal outside together in the morning sun!

* We enjoy simple-easy to prepare- meals like this slow cooked herb + barley risotto...

* We might enjoy a family game of baseball together laughing and enjoying relating to one another!

* We enjoy sharing our hearts and faith walks with others...

* We love studying and reading in the Word of God!

* We enjoy friendships...

* and sometimes get to hang out with like-minded friends which is a HUGE blessing and encouragement to us all...

* The kiddos might come in from playing and do some colouring in sheets around some scripture passages we've been reading...

* and we might celebrate and sing songs of Praise and Worship to our Awesome Yehovah!

Each week is different.

Sometimes it's just our family.

Sometimes we have people here.

Either way, it has been an INCREDIBLE blessing to our lives as individuals, as a family and a community!
It is NOT a burden or something I despise...in fact our whole family anticipates the arrival of the next weekly Shabbat with a great sense of joy!

If you are interested in seeing what God through his Word says about Shabbat, you might want to have a read of the Scriptures above and pray and ask God to lead you in this. He will! And you will not be sorry!

More soon.

With love,

But...Aren't we under Grace now and not Law?

I think this is the most common thing I hear quoted or taught in regards to a believer not needing to obey the instructions of our Father (the Torah) today. So I think it deserves a bit of a look at. These are just my own personal thoughts on this subject. Please test everything I say (and you say!) against the whole counsel of the Word of God! Ok, that said, here goes... :)

We have been taught in church (generally speaking) that once there was a hard God; the God of the 'Old Testament'. He was harsh and strict and punishing. He was all about the law. Then came Jesus; the kind God of the 'New Testament'. He was loving and gracious, merciful and compassionate.

Of course, not everyone has this idea but I'm speaking from my own experience and as I said, am speaking in general terms. However, during discussions with many people, we have found that we were not the only ones who believed that...many people in the church do believe in what I have said above to be an accurate description of how they understood God and the Bible.
What's wrong with this picture?

Well, it implies a couple of things that don't line up with the Scriptures.

Number 1: It implies that we have two different Gods.
We know that the Scripture say that we have only ONE God. Yeshua (Jesus) Himself said that He and the Father are one. You can check this out in many places in the Gospels (Mark 12:29-31, Mark 12:32, Romans 3:31, Ephesians 4:6)

Number 2: It implies that there once was a God who acted like a mean tyrrant but now there is a God who acts with grace.
We also know from the Scriptures that grace + law (instruction) went hand in hand! Just as when we parent our children, we do not stop loving them and extending grace to them when we need to give them instructions - the Father was gracious while He was instructing His children. In fact, He says that it is because of His great love and mercy for us that He gave us instructions to live by - to help and not harm us! If He truly was only gracious after Jesus' time on earth, then we should not see any references to Him being a gracious and kind God in the 'Old Testament'. Here are a few which show His true nature from the beginning of time...

"Yehovah (God), Yehovah (God), the COMPASSIONATE and GRACIOUS God, SLOW TO ANGER and ABOUNDING IN LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS, MAINTAINING LOVE to thousands and FORGIVING wickedness, rebellion and sin". (Exodus 34:6-7)

""May Yehovah (the LORD) bless you and keep you; Yehovah (the LORD) make his face shine upon you and be GRACIOUS to you; Yehovah (the LORD) turn his face toward you and give you peace" (Numbers 6:24-26).

Here are some other places where it talks about Yehovah (God) being gracious to His people...
1 Samuel 2:21, 2 Samuel 12:22, 2 Kings 13:23, 2 Chronicles 30:9, Ezra 7:9, Ezra 8:18, Ezra 8:22, Ezra 9:8, Nehemiah 2:8, Nehemiah 9:17, Nehemiah 9:31, Psalm 86:15, Psalm 103:8, Psalm 116:5, Isaiah 30:18, Jeremiah 33:14, Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2 and of cours there are many more!

Number 3: It implies that the 'Old Testament' has gone and is no longer applicable to us and that the 'New Testament' is now more important. It implies a separation in time of our sacred text - the Scriptures which we call the Bible.

2 Timothy 3:16 says, "And ALL SCRIPTURE is God breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness..." That's a great verse. But what we don't often think about is that the 'SCRIPTURE' that Paul is referring to here is the ONLY set of SCRIPTURE which they had at the time of the writing of these letters - the 'OLD TESTAMENT'. When Paul wrote this, there was NO new testament! And so he is saying that ALL of the 'Old testament' is God-breathed and useful! It is not correct to pressume that the New Testament is more correct or more current or more anything than the original scriptures! The Bible was separated into two cannons 'the old testament' and 'the new testament' by men!  It consists of the TANAKH which is an acroynm standing for:

'T' (Torah - law or more accurately instructions)

'N' (Neviim which means the Prophets) and the

'K' (Ketuvim which means the Writings (like the Psalms and Proverbs etc)).

The Tanahk is complimented by the Apostolic Writings or Apostolic Record; the writings of those in the church after Yeshua (Jesus) lived, died and rose again. We have writings by the apostles that tell us how the church lived, the challenges that it faced and prophecy of a time to still come. These are classified as the 'New Testament' in modern day theology. God Himself however never made these distictions -he never called one 'old' and the other 'new'. We have one book of Scriptures which does include both the Tanahk and the Apostolic Record. There is no part that has lesser or more importance - it is the Word of God!

So really, from this we can see that the Scriptures say we have ONE GOD, that we have ONE set of SCRIPTURES and that the God who was is the same as the God who is and who will always be!

So then why do we still have people holding to the 'we are under grace now and not law' argument?

Let's check out where that statement even comes from! Almost everyone I know who can quote that verse, can not explain the context of that verse. We need to be sure of the context of the verses we are quoting as doctrine!

It is from Romans 6. What is Romans 6 about? Romans 6 is about the law of sin and death. Romans chapters 5-8 are all really about the same kind of theme. Once, we were slaves to sin (Romans 6:6). Our 'old man' was really dead to God. Because of sin, we struggle when we do the very things that we shouldn't do (Romans 7:15) because it is sin living in us (Romans 7:17) We who were once slaves to sin have now been set free from sin (Romans 6:18 NOTICE IT DOESN'T SAY THAT WE HAVE BEEN SET FREE FROM GOD'S LAW!?!?!?!?) and that now instead sin shall not be our master (Romans 6:14) because we are no longer under law (ie: the law of sin and death) but under grace! (Romans 6:14)

The whole verse is, "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law but under grace". See how the context of the surrounding chapters and verses are not about being under the 'yoke of God's law' as some people try and say, but rather, under the law and penalty of sin and death?

Still not sure? Here's a good experiment. If indeed, as I have suggested, the context of Romans 6 really is about being under the law of sin and death, then you would expect to find the word sin mentioned several times within that chapter right? I went and circled how many times the word sin appeared in the chapter of Romans 6. Want to know how many I counted there (i have an NIV translation)? I counted the word sin, sinning or sinned 17 times! 17!!!!!!!!! WOW! To me that is clear evidence that we are talking about the law of sin and death and how since we are now under God's good grace, we will not have sin as our master (which is what the first part of that verse says!) for we aren't under the law of sin and death anymore! We are free from the control of sin over us!

Interested to know how many times it says in the same passage (Romans 6) that we are no longer under God's law or even mentions His law? 0 times. That's right - there is no mention of His law being completed, annulled, taken away, abolished, or anything similar.

We have heard this verse (taken out of context) being quickly quoted in many sermons, articles, and heard it said to us in many conversations. And yet, each time we have been told this is specifically in regards to God's Holy Instructions which He lovingly gave to His children as a kind Father does; the Torah. We have been told that since we are now in an 'age of grace' His law has been fulfilled and taken away. And yet, just from a very basic study of this phrase we can see that this is totally taken out of context, with the context simply being that we are not under the rule of sin.

So then perhaps the question is, if that's not what it means, then where do we get the idea that the law has been done away with? It is a big claim and one that Yeshua (Jesus) spoke clearly and passionately about. He said,

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:17-19)

So to sum it up, I would say, that as God's people, we have always been and remain under His grace. We are no longer under the law of sin. Yeshua came to redeem us from our life of bondage to sin and death! Yay! The verse regarding 'no longer being under law but under grace' is about SIN , since in its context, it does not even mention ithe law of God (torah) in that chapter whereas the word sin is mentioned 17 times. We are, thankfully, under the gracious hand of our loving God!

Well, woud love to hear your thoughts!
Love and blessings as you seek Him in spirit and in truth,

But...What about Acts 15?

This passage of scripture seems to be one that gets bought up with us time and time again. And it is an important passage to consider! These are my thoughts based on the reading of these scriptures within the whole counsel of the Word of God. Please bear with me; there are alot of thoughts I have in this little brain and big heart of mine and I would love to share them with you! Please don't believe what I write here; please check it out for yourself in the Word of God; the Scriptures!

The summary first and then some of my more in-depth discoveries and thoughts about these things.

1. Circumcision has always been and still remains the sign of our eternal covenental relationship with God. It was never designed to save us. The blood and sacrifice of our Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) did this! The oral law (man-made traditions) of the Pharisees teaches that a man must be circumcised or re-circumcised in order to be accepted by man and God.

2. The apostles say not to put a yoke on the necks of the believers that no one has ever been able to bear. The Torah of God (His loving fatherly instructions to his children) have never been described in the Word as being this yoke or burden. In fact it is described as the exact opposite to a burden or yoke! What burdens a man is the oral law (and its thousand upon thousands of man made instructions), sin + guilt and also physical slavery, according to the Word. We can tell from the Scriptures that the 'yoke' the apostles are referring to here in Acts 15 is the oral laws of the elders.

3. The council decides that the new converts should not be weighed down by man's traditions but instead should abstain from 4 things which are all apart of the Torah of God. It is proof that the Torah of God had not been 'done away with' in the first century church. They were told to do these 4 things BECAUSE  "Moses (knickname for the 'Torah of God' since it was given to Moses) IS PREACHED IN EVERY SYNAGOGUE ON EVERY SABBATH". They would learn the rest of the Torah as the new converts continued to attend meeting together weekly on the sabbath and would hear the Torah being read aloud then.

------------------------------

Ok. Let's kick off by looking at the first part of chapter 15.
"Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, ACCORDING TO THE CUSTOM TAUGHT BY MOSES, you CANNOT BE SAVED"."

Just as a side note here, I wanted to touch briefly on 3 things.
1. Circumcision was FIRST given as a sign of the covenant between Yah (God) and his people to ABRAHAM not to Moses even though it is reitterated in the Torah. My point here is just that it was given BEFORE the Mosaic law as a sign of the covenant that man enters into with God.

2. In the Aramaic, the very first part of this passage actually reads, "unless you are circumcised in the MANNER OF THE LAW" (this seems to be addressing the different types of circumcision according to the oral law of the Pharisees).

3. This circumcision party that was there stirring the pot among the believers were saying THIS WAS A SALVATION ISSUE! It is still a sign of the covenant between Yah and man but it was never and will never be designed to SAVE someone!!!

So, with those little tidbits out of the way, we see that the beginning of this whole debate begins with the 'circumcision party' saying that in order to BE SAVED the believers must be circumcised. In other words, they are saying that in order for a person to enter into covenant with The Most High Yah (God), a person HAD to be circumcised (or re-circumcised) AS IS STILL THE PRACTICE TODAY in much of Judaism. There are three types of circumcision or re-circumcision that a man must undertake in order to be accepted into the community of believers in Judaism (which remember often teaches that the oral law (traditions of men) and the Torah (instructions of God) were both given at Mt Sinai even though they were not!  Three types of circumcision are the HATAFAT DAM BRIT, METZITZAH AND THE MILAH L'SHEM GIUR. These were REQUIRED for different men for varying reasons as part of the ORAL LAW of the PHARISEES and as i said earlier are still required today for acceptance into the community of 'believers'.

Ok, back to Acts 15 and the council. The apostles and elders meet to discuss what the new converts should be doing, how they should be living. They agree that Yehovah (God) has not witheld salvation from those not naturally born of Israel (ie: the Gentiles). They also acknowledge that the 'party of the Pharisees' (verse 5) are "trying to put God to the test by PUTTING ON THE NECKS OF THE DISCIPLES A YOKE THAT NEITHER WE NOR OUR FATHERS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BEAR" (verse 10).

Ok. Most of us have grown up believing (or being taught) that this verse above refers to the Torah (or the Law/instructions that Yah gave to Moses). If that is the case, then we would see time and time again, the Torah being referred to as being a 'YOKE' or as being 'BURDENSOME' or as being something that 'NO ONE CAN BEAR'. Do we EVER see this? Is the body of instructions that our loving God Himself gave to His children EVER referred to im this manner?

You can check it out for youself and please do, but the TORAH IS NOT EVER REFERRED TO IN THIS WAY in the SCRIPTURES!

Here are some verses that show this.

When the Torah Instructions are given to Yah's (God's) people, He Himself says, "Now what I am commanding you today is NOT TOO DIFFICULT (or burdensome in other translations) for you or beyond your reach (Deuteronomy 30:11) No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it" (Deut 30:14)

In the book of Nehemiah, when the Torah has been recovered after so many years, it is said of the 'commands and ordinaces' of the law, that "a man will LIVE if he obeys them". If they brought death and burden, how could Nehemiah say that a man will LIVE if he obeys them? They are life giving!!!

King David, "the man after God's own heart" describes the Torah as... "righteous laws" (psalm 119:106) and says, "I rejoice in following your statutes" (psalm 119:14). He also says, "My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times" (psalm 119:20) Why would he say that about something that was 'burdensome' or that brought 'a curse of death'? Why would a "man after God's own heart" be CONSUMED WITH LONGING for God's LAWS AT ALL TIMES if he was just being a legalist? No! He was called a man after God's own heart because He walked humbly with God and upheld the Torah! He delighted in it! He loved Yah (God) and loved the Torah and wanted to walk in it with Him even when he acknowledged his challenges and difficulties and downfalls.

He says this in Psalm 19 (verses 7-11)..."The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the LORD are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward".

All this again from the "man after God's own heart"! He calls the Torah perfect, refreshing for the soul, he calls it trustworthy and wise, right and a joy-bringer! He says they are radiant and give light!!! He declares that the Torah instructions are firm and ALL of them are righteous, they are precious and sweet and in keeping them there is GREAT REWARD! Nowhere does David say that they are a yoke around his neck that he can not bear! In fact he says the exact opposite!!!

What about the New Testament? You might be thinking that it might say that in the 'old' but not in the 'new'? At the time of writing the letters in the New Testament, the New Testament didn't exist and so they used the Old Testament Scriptures as their foundation for Truth! (2 Tim 3:16-17).

Ok, so New Testament...Check out what Stephen the martyr says of the law of God. When he recalls God giving the law to Moses, he says that "he received LIVING WORDS TO PASS ON TO US" (Acts 7:38). Living words! Not words of death and bondage! And this was after Yeshua (Jesus) died! He still refers to the instructions of Yehovah (God) being the Torah as LIVING WORDS TO PASS ON TO US!

Paul refers to the Torah as being "holy, righteous and good" (Romans 7:12) and proclaims that in his "inner being I DELIGHT in God's law" (Romans 7:22).

1 John 5:2 says, "This is how we know that we love the children of God; by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to OBEY HIS COMMANDS. AND HIS COMMANDS ARE NOT BURDENSOME, for everyone born of God overcomes the world".

So just play along here for a second with me and imagine that the Torah of God (God's loving instructions to us for our daily living and worship) is not the burdensome thing that we've always imagined.

If they are not talking about the Torah of God being the 'yoke' and 'burden' then what are they be referring to?

Well Yeshua (Jesus) Himself tell us. Let's look at His words in Matthew 23. He is condemning the hypocritical ways the Pharisees are living; their hearts and their actions are not lining up and Yeshua (Jesus) is calling them on it. He says, "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you (they 'told' the Torah of God from 'Moses' seat' in the synagogues). But do not do what they do (the oral law) for they do not practice what they preach (Torah of God). They tie up HEAVY LOADS (oral law) and PUT THEM ON THE MEN'S SHOULDERS, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them".

That is HUGE! Jesus is saying that they are teaching Moses (Torah of God) from Moses' seat in the synagogue and yet they (the pharisees and teachers of the law) aren't even practicing  what they preach! His warning to his disciples and the crowd gathered there was to DO what they TELL you (because they were telling the people about the Torah of God) but don't live the way they were because even though they were telling the people torah, they were instead living out the oral law of men and this is what Yeshua (Jesus) describes as THE HEAVY LOAD ON MEN'S SHOULDERS!


Even in Acts when Stephen is being stoned to death, it is because he says directly to the Pharisees that they 'RECEIVED THE LAW (which he already referred to as LIVING WORDS (Acts 7:38)) that was put into effect through angels BUT HAVE NOT OBEYED IT". And this is what he was killed for; for pointing out to the High Priest and Sanhedrin (council) that they had NOT put the Torah of God into practice because we know that what they were practicing were their own MAN MADE traditions (Mark 7:4, Mark 7:8-9, Mark 7:13, Galatians 1:14, Matthew 15:6, Colossians 2:8).

Other than the ORAL LAW being referred to as a burden (which by the way is what is referred to Galatians 5 in context), other things Scripture shows us is a burden is 'sin' and 'guilt'. We can read this in Psalm 38:3-4, Isaiah 43:23, Lamentations 1:14. Physical slavery is also referred to as this like when the Israelites were in Egypt under Pharoah's rule - Psalm 81:6 and Isaiah 14:25.

Ok, once again back to Acts 15 and the council. I've presented so far the case that the Pharisees came trying to say that in order for a man to enter into a covenental relationship to be SAVED through, he had to be circumcised or re-circumcised according to the traditions of the elders. We know it is this because in the context of this passage and in the context of what was historically happening in the first century church (seen from other New Testament letters), the Pharisees were laying on the backs of men the oral traditions that they nor their forefathers could bear.

So the elders in the new church after Yeshua's (Jesus') resurrection, decide that they should recommend that the believers do the following (Acts 15:20)...

1. Abstain from food polluted by idols
2. Abstain from sexual immorality
3. Abstain from the meat of strangled animals
4. Abstain from blood

Where do the apostles get these from? Did they make these instructions up? No! They got them from Torah.
You can find them here:

1. Exodus 32:4-6, Leviticus 7:17
2. Leviticus 18
3. (Strangulation of an animal does not allow an it to be bled properly and the Torah commands against the eating of blood ) Genesis 9:4
4. Leviticus 17:10-14, Deuteronomy 12:23-25

So the 'New Testament' church forefathers are giving the new believers 4 starting points. Most of these new believers are coming out of pagan religions where these 4 things were rife!

So they are like starting points for them. We know that because the very next verse (Acts 15:21) says,
"For Moses (a knickname for the Torah of God since it was given to Moses) has been preached in every city from the earliest of times AND IS READ in the synagogues on EVERY SABBATH". Why would they say this if:
a) they were not meeting on the Sabbath anymore and
b) they were saying these 4 tTorah commands were the only instructions they had to keep?

I believe it is clear from these scriptures that these 4 torah instructions are like starting points for the new believers. They would hear all the rest of the Torah of God being preached every Sabbath anyway and they would get to know how to walk in His ways as they slowly journeyed along with Yah (God).

Well, there you go...my thoughts on Acts 15.
Would love to hear your thoughts too!

Many blessings as you seek Him in Spirit and in Truth.
Love Lusi x

But...Isnt' the 'law' just the 10 Commandments?

This is a question I used to think on often.
Here are some of my thoughts and understanding on this that I wanted to share here as we journey into Torah :) Please check everything I say and find out for youself in God's Word if what I am sharing is the Truth :)

Now before I go on, I just wanted to say up front that, in case anyone get the idea that I just think this journey of faith is all about 'works' alone; I want to be crystal clear to say it is NOT! God desires our hearts and in obedience to Him, we do what is on HIS heart! James talks about this in depth saying that faith and actions work together and in doing so, our faith is made complete (James 2:22). We do not obey Him because we want to be loved by Him, rather BECAUSE we are loved by Him, we chose to obey Him :) Ok, with that said, I wanted to move on to how God defines what we obey; is it just the Ten Commandments or was there more to it than that?

We have to remember that the 'law' in our Bibles is a poor translation for God's instructions. God wrote down the Torah (instructions) and gave it to His people, named Israel, at Mt Sinai. (You can read about WHO ISRAEL, His people are, HERE.)

What were the instructions that God gave to His people through Moses?
What did God ask the people to obey?

Well let's look first at Exodus 19. Before He gives Israel the instructions, He tells them the condition of the covenant and the people responded together with, "We will DO EVERYTHING YHVH (the LORD) has SAID." (Exodus 19:8)

Then we get the 10 commandments being given in chapt 20 of Exodus. YHVH (God) gets through saying these and then the people say to Moses, 'You speak to us and we will listen but do not have God speak to us or we will die". (Exodus 20:19)


YHVH (God) had intended to give the entire law (instructions) to all the people but THEY CHOSE not to listen even as they were being given! Moses went up to the mountain where God gave the rest of the instructions to him and God said, "Tell the Israelites this..." (Exodus 20:22) and he launches in to the rest of the instructions that Moses is to 'set before them' (Exodus 21:1).

Did God ask them to just obey the 'Ten Commandments'? Remember, the people covenentally agreed to do everything that God said. So was it just the Ten Commandments that He said? If you read through Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy specifically, you will see that He said more than just the Ten Commandments to his people.

Here are some verses that show us it is not just the Ten Commandments that He asked us to follow.
"Be careful that you do not forget YHVH (the LORD) your Elohim (God), failing to OBSERVE HIS COMMANDS, HIS LAWS, AND HIS DECREES that I am giving you this day". (Deuteronomy 8:11)

"Take care to follow the COMMANDS, DECREES AND LAWS I give you today." (Deuteronomy 7:12)

YHVH (God) said to Moses, "You stay here with me so that I may give you ALL THE COMMANDS, DECREES AND LAWS you are to teach the to follow..." (Deuteronomy 5:31)

"Be sure to keep the COMMANDS OF THE LORD YOUR GOD AND THE STIPULATIONS AND DECREES HE HAS GIVEN YOU". (Deuteronomy 6:17)

See how God is not saying to them, 'Just keep the 10 commandments I gave you; that shall be your law". No the entirety of the Torah were to be the loving boundaries our Awesome Dad put in place for us!

 And what about when Israel, the people of the Most High, decided to do their own thing and walk in their own way? Did He rebuke them through the prophets by saying, 'You transgressed the 10 Commandments"?

Here's some of what He said, "God warned them to return to the LAW, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your COMMANDS. They sinned against your ORDINANCES by which a man will LIVE if he choses to obey them" (Nehemia 9:29)

They..."have not walked in my ways, nor done what is RIGHT in my eyes, nor kept my STATUTES and LAWS as David, Solomon's father did". (1 Kings 11:33)

How did King David, the 'man after God's own heart' treat the Torah? Did he ONLY uphold the 10 Commandments? This is what he said about the Torah, "The LAW of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The STATUTES of the LORD are trustworthy, making the wise simple. The PRECEPTS of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The COMMANDS of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes". (Psalm 19:7-8) Far out! This blows me away so much! Notice he upholds the Law, Statutes, Precepts and Commands of God? Notice what he says about them? They are PERFECT, they REVIVE the soul, they are TRUSTWORTHY, RIGHT, RADIANT, bringing JOY to the heart and LIGHT to the eyes!!! Who wouldn't want to know His Ways and His Words - and ALL of them!!!
Check out Deuteronomy 10:12-13..."And now O Israel (we are now Israel since we have been grafted in! He only has ONE people or ONE body as it says in Ephesians 4:4) what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to WALK IN HIS WAYS, to LOVE Him, to SERVE the LORD your God with ALL YOUR HEART AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL and to OBSERVE the LORD's COMMANDS and DECREES that I am giving you today for your own good?"  

Do we really think, just looking at this verse above, that we can pick out bits and disregard bits of His Word? Surely we believe that it is still relevant and important to walk in his ways, to love him and to serve him? Then why is it that we get to the next part the 'observe the LORD's commands and decrees' and say that no longer applies to us? I used to think that but I just want to encourage you, if that's how you see it, to really look into the Word deeper and see if God just meant the Ten Commandments or if he meant the entirety of all the instructions He gave His children.

The Ten Commandments were actually called the 'Ten Words' (or Aseret ha-D'bharîm in Hebrew). ALL of the TORAH (instructions) given to us can be SUMMED up under these ten words! They are like Ten Headings or Ten Themes or Ten Main Ideas and every little instruction YHVH gave us falls under one of the ten headings! And even the Ten Words or headings can be SUMMED up into just 2; Love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul and all your mind and all your strength and Love your neighbour as yourself. Just because they can be summed up into these headings, doesn't mean that it erases them; it simply means that can be SUMMED up into those words! If you want to see just how all the Torah can fit under the 10 words, you can READ THIS ARTICLE from Water in the Desert. Scroll to page 12 specifically and from there onwards to see how all the Torah instructions really do fit under the headings of the 10 Words.

What did Yeshua (Jesus) teach? He taught the Torah! Everything you read in Matthew 5 in the 'Beattuitudes' is from the Torah! Did you know it says in the Torah that we are not to hate our brother in our heart?! Did you, like me not long ago, think that Jesus said that for the first time? It's in Leviticus 19:17 and it says, "Do not hate your brother in your heart". The way that the Torah had been taught by the Pharisees and teachers of the law had been incorrect. If you've been reading this blog for a while you'll probably have already read that there was a BIG difference between the man-made oral law (what Jesus refers to as man's traditions or the traditions of the elders) and the written commandments that YHVH Most High God gave. Yeshua (Jesus) didn't obey the tradition of the elders (see Mark 7) but He did completely obey the written commandments of Elohim (God). Did he come to do away with the 'small, insignificant' parts of the law? No! He said that not even the smallest stroke of the law would be done away with until heaven and earth pass away (Matthew 5:17-18). Heaven and earth still stand and therefore so does the entirety of the Torah :)

What did Paul hold to? Romans 3:31 reaffirms exactly what I believe - that we are not justified by the law but that doesn't mean we get rid of it! Paul said in this vers, 'We UPHOLD the LAW'. He also testifies in Acts 24:14 "I believe EVERYTHING that agrees with the LAW and that is written in the Prophets..."

If you are still convinced that only the Ten Commandments matter now, then may I be so bold as to ask your thoughts on Exodus 34? God says these are the exact same commandments He gave the first time, and yet we see the commands about celebrating the Appointed Feasts of YHVH (God) and about blood sacrifice and about the firstborn offspring. Do you obey these to the best of your ability? The reason these are the 'same' as the commands written the first time are that there IS NO DIFFERENCE between any of the Instructions He gave us! These commandments are just as important as the better known version of the Ten Commandments! He said they are His commandments!!!

Last little bit of food for thought:

I wonder if you've seen what I hadn't until recently...Abraham, the man of faith, "OBEYED me and KEPT my REQUIREMENTS, MY COMMANDS, MY DECREES AND MY LAWS" (Genesis 26:5) Have you ever wondered how Abraham could possibly obey these things since he lived BEFORE Moses was given the Torah on My Sinai? While we are here, why was Noah told to take both 'clean and unclean' (Genesis7:2) animals on the ark? How did he know the difference before the Law was given? Why were Cain and Abel sacrificing before the 'sacrificial system' was put in place? And why was the nation of Israel celebrating Sabbath (Exodus 16:23) before the Sabbath was commanded in the 'Ten Commandments'? It is clear that the many things that He gave to His people in the Torah were the same as what He'd given before to His people - firstly he told them and then He wrote it down for them! He is consistent from the beginning to the end; and if you read in some of the prophetic 'end times' passages, you'll see that these things are still in play when our Messiah returns to the earth again!

Remember, He never EVER said His ways (laws, commands, decrees, statutes and precepts) are burdensome! He never told us to do all the laws all at once! He, like any loving parent, wants what is best for us His kids! He wants us to do our best in walking out His ways. He will lead us by His Spirit as He lovingly guides and teaches us how :)

Well, that'll be it for today :) I hope and pray that someone, even one person, will be encouraged to dig deeper, searching for the riches in the Truth of His Word. Yeshua (Jesus) is the Word made flesh (John 1:14) so when we find these nuggets of truth, we are finding more of Him! May He open our hearts and teach us how to walk in His ways.

All my love to you,
Lus x

But...Isn't the law written on our hearts?

Before I write about the law being written on our hearts, I wanted to just say something...

These are my thoughts that appear on my blog. My blog is a place I come to, to share. I'm not saying I have it all right, because God knows that I don't! However, since it's my blog, I enjoy sharing the thoughts of my mind and heart and hope that others may also enjoy reading them.

So let's get back to the next question in the 'but...' series.

But...Isn't the law written our our hearts?

Yes! The law is written on our hearts...

BUT...

That is not something new.

THE LAW HAS ALWAYS BEEN WRITTEN ON OUR HEARTS!!!

I don't know about you, but I was always under the impression that Jesus (Yeshua) came to write God's law on our hearts. But not all the laws from the Old Testament laws (as I would have referred to them) just two; love the Lord your God will all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbour as yourself. I always thought that this was the revolutionary thing about Jesus; that He did away with all the old commandments and established a new style of obedience.

The problem with that is the following...

1. The Word of God (which we believe is true and everlasting) says in Deuteronomy 11:1 says, "Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands ALWAYS."
Malachi 3:6 reminds us that God does not change. He is eternal and His nature has been revealed to us; it does not change depending on feelings or circumstances. Who He was in the beginning, is who He is right now!

2. For Jesus to say that He came to 'do away with the law' would have been a massive contradiction. Who gave the commandments, statutes, decrees and precepts in the first place? I once upon a time would have said God the Father but John1 tells us that 'In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God'. God the Father and Jesus the son (the Living Word, the Living Torah) are one. He didn't come to do away with something that He gave and establised for all time, in the first place!

3. Jesus said that not until heaven and earth pass away that the smallest stroke of the law would be done away with (Matt 5:17-22). He said flat out that He did NOT COME TO ABOLISH the law but to fulfil it (in Aramiac literally meaning to fill it up to the full measure; to interpret it correctly). So whatever He has declared to be law/torah from the beginning to the end, will remain. That means ALL of the Torah, all of His instructions!

4. Loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and loving your neighbour as yourself ARE TORAH INSTRUCTIONS! Jesus didn't give these as new commands, He was summing up the whole Torah into two categories; everything in Torah can fall under either of these headings. That doesn't mean that because you can sum them up in that, that all of the others are done away with (we know that because that's exactly what Jesus said He had NOT come to do!) You can read Jesus QUOTING the Torah in Mark 12:29 and He is quoting DIRECTLY FROM DEUTERONOMY 6:4-6 and also from Leviticus 19:18.

What did our God say about the instructions which He lovingly gave to His children?
Here are some of the things He said about them:

"Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult (or 'burdensome for you' in another translation) for you or beyond your reach. It is not heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven and get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it? Nor is it beyond the sea so you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea and get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" No, the word (torah) is very near you; it is in your MOUTH and IN YOUR HEART SO YOU MAY OBEY IT". (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)

"Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law (torah) IN YOUR HEARTS: do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults". (Isaiah 51:7)

"These commands that I give you today are to be UPON YOUR HEARTS". (Deuterononmy 6:6)

"Fix these words of mine IN YOUR HEARTS and minds..." (Deuteronomy 11:18)

"The LORD (Yehovah) will again delight in you and make your prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, if you obey the LORD your God (Yehovah your Elohim) and keep his commands and decrees that are written in thie Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God (Yehovah your Elohim) with ALL YOUR HEART and with all your soul". (Deuteronomy 30:10)

Notice where the law is? It is in our hearts! He put it there!!!

So in the beginning when God gave the law, He wrote it on our hearts (see the first reference above). It says that it was in our heart SO THAT WE MAY OBEY IT.

The problem was that we (humankind) didn't want to listen or obey. Often the Bible refers to people who 'hardened their hearts' which means they do not want to listen to or obey God. Jesus quotes scripture from Isaiah when he speaks of those who listen but do not hear! He quotes,

" For this people's hearts have become hardened; they hardly hear with their ears and they have closed their eyes..." (quoted by Yeshua (Jesus) in Matthew 13:15 and originally from Isaiah 6:9-10).

The problem with our hearts is that they became stony and did not desire to obey and follow him. All the people of the earth did this....

"The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant" (Isaiah 24:5)

How does the Bible define a stony heart? Check out Zechariah 7:11-12 with me...

"But they would not give attention, turning their backs and stopping their ears from hearing; And they made their hearts like the hardest stone, so that they might not give ear to the law and the words which the Lord of armies had said by the earlier prophets: and there came great wrath from the Lord of armies".

What did God promise to do? He told us He would take away the stony heart (the disobedient, stubborn heart) from within us and replace it with a heart of flesh!

"I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws" (Ezekiel 11:19-20).

This is his promise to those of Israel who have been scattered aboard - that's us! We are apart of Israel (having been grafted in - see Romans 11 and also the previous post I did HERE). The first time I read this passage from Ezekiel in it's context, i couldn't believe it! It actually says that the purpose of giving us an undivided heart of flesh is so that we will FOLLOW HIS DECREES AND BE CAREFUL TO KEEP HIS LAWS!

And He gives us the Holy Spirit in order for us to be able to follow His ways! This is what is said a little further on in Ezekiel...

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God". (Ezekiel 36:26-28)

Yes! He IS our God and according to His Word which He gave us, He says that the reason He gives us the Spirit and a new soft heart is so that we can obey Him by keeping His decrees and laws!!!

And yet, there is still more to come! See according to His Word, we have the Spirit as a 'DEPOSIT' right now...

"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He annointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit IN OUR HEARTS as a DEPOSIT, guranteeing WHAT IS TO COME". (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

and again this is echoed in chapter 5 of the same letter...

"Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a DEPOSIT guaranteeing WHAT IS TO COME'. (2 Corinthians 5:5)

There is a fullness of this gift of the Holy Spirit that has not yet been given to us. We can also tell this by simply reading Jeremiah 31:31-34 (which is reiterrated by the writer of Hebrews in chapters 8 & 10).

“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD.
“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

We've always been under the impression that this was all fulfilled in Jesus. But we see that this particular passage of scripture is talking about a time still to come. We can see that because it says, "No longer will a man teach his neighbour, because they will all know me". This obviously hasn't happened as yet because churches still run  'outreach evangelical' style programs to teach people about who God is. Yet this scripture says that a day is coming when that won't be necessary since ALL will know him. We have the deposit and seal now of the Spirit but still await the fullness of it! Praise Him!

So, I guess, the conclusion I have come to about the law being written on our hearts is that this has always been God's desire for me; that I would walk in His ways with a soft, willing heart. Now, thanks to Yeshua, I have the deposit of the Spirit inside of me leading me to follow and obey Him and I await for a time to come when the fullness of this will be reached on a global level.

I'll finish off with what I began with; this is my blog, these are my reflections on this journey so far.

Would you like to share your thoughts?
Love Lusi x

"But ...aren't all these things you are talking about, just for Israel?"

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

This one is one that stumped me for a while.
Here are my thoughts :)

Before I expand on it, here's how I see the simplified version:

There is one God.
God has always been in relationship with people.
God has one name for His one people.
That name is Israel.
Anyone who wanted to join themselves to Israel could. God has always offered that to those not naturally born of Israel. That made them grafted into Israel.
Anyone wanting to do so had to accept God as their God and follow Him wholeheartedly.
This is what Paul is talking about in Romans 11 in the New Testament.
There is no difference between a native-born Israelite or a grafted in child. In other words, there is no faviouritism regardless of whether you are a naturally born son or you've been adopted in.
There is one Father and one set of house rules (torah).
This has never changed.

Ok now for a bit more depth... :)

I was always under the impression that the Old Testament = God of wrath, judgement and condemnation and the God of the New Testament (Jesus) = a God of kindness and mercy and love.

But, of course, there is only ONE God, not two.
We read this in SO many places in the Bible. Here are some examples: 'there is ONE Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all' (Ephesians 4:5), "God is one" (Galatians 3:20) and "Hear O Israel, Yehovah (the LORD) our Elohim (God) is one" (Mark 12:29) and in that last one, Jesus is quoting the Torah (see Deut 6:4). He is the same "yesterday, today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8) and he says of himself, "I the Lord do not change" (Malachi 3:6). These are just a couple of examples.



So, the Scriptures establish that there is one God who has always been and always will be.

This ONE God has always been in relationship with people. He walked in the garden with Adam (Genesis 3:8). He talked and shared his plans with Noah (Genesis 8:15). He was in a covenental relationship with Abraham (Genesis 12) and Isaac (Genesis 25:11) and transformed Jacob's life physically and spiritually (Genesis 32:22-31).  He revealed His instructions, statutes and decress before they were written down at Mt Sinai and Abraham had obeyed all He had said (Genesis 26:5).

This pattern of God being in relationship with man continues all throughout the Bible and not  just man to God, but also with a nation that He calls to Himself because of the promise that He made to Abraham.

In His promise to Abraham God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:3-8)


This everlasting covenant in which Yehovah (God) swears to make a covenant to make Abraham into a 'father of many nations' is continued when Abraham's grandson, Jacob, wrestles with God and has his name changed from Jacob to Israel (Genesis 32) and fathers the nation of Israel.

Israel, God's chosen people, are persecuted and enslaved in the land of Egypt. They serve Pharoah in slavery for 430 years and yet, God did not forget His people. He heard their cries and sent Moses to deliver them out of Egypt and into the promised land as He had sworn to the forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Who came up out of Egypt?
Was it just the Israelites?

No! Scripture tells us there was a 'mixed multitude' that came up out of Egypt!

In the NIV (New International Version of the Bible) it says this,

"The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. Many other people went with them as well as large droves or livestock both flocks and herds'. (Exodus 12:37-39)

So, they are taken from Egypt across the Red Sea and to Mt Sinai where the laws, statutes and decrees (God's Torah or God's instructions for living) are given to all the people gathered there.

Did God just say that these laws were just for the native-born Israelite and that the mixed multitude were to have a different set of laws?
I always thought that He must have!
But check this out...

"The community is to have the SAME RULES for you and for the alien (which refers to a non-native born Israelite) among you; this is a LASTING ORDINANCE FOR THE GENERATIONS TO COME. You and the alien shall be THE SAME before the LORD. The SAME TORAH (laws) and regulations will apply to BOTH YOU and to the ALIEN LIVING AMONG YOU."
(Numbers 15:15-16)

See, from God's persepective, there is no difference if you are native born or if you are 'grafted into' Israel and that is NOT a new testament teaching - that was there from the beginning!!!

So He has one people named Israel. If you are native-born you are called Israel and if you are grafted in, you are also called Israel. I am a part of Israel!

What about going back before Moses' time? What about travelling back a bit to Caleb. Caleb was not from the natural Hebrew line! You know Caleb? As in Joshua and Caleb, the two brave men who spied out the land and gave a favourable report? Well check out Caleb's family background...

Joshua 14:6 says, "Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite"... His dad was a Kenizzite. Who were they? Check out Genesis 15 for some context...they are among all the 'ites' mentioned to Abram by God.

"On that day Yehovah (the LORD) made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river Euphrates - the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites". (Genesis 15:19)

So how did Caleb become apart of Israel? His dad (and perhaps even his grandad) joined himself to the people of Israel, choosing to wholeheartedly follow after God and choosing to trust and obey His commandments. What is significant here is that Caleb was NOT from the bloodline of Israel but yet in Joshua 14:9 we hear Caleb saying that He chose to follow "Yehovah my Elohim (God) fully".

Numbers 32 tells us that only Caleb, son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua, son of Nun were the only two people to enter into the Promised Land because all of the other people did not serve Yah (God) wholeheartedly.

I tell you, I think that is incredible; that the only two people to enter into the promised land because they served Yah (God) wholeheartedly was a native-born and a foreginer who had been grafted into and accepted by God because of His determination to obey and keep covenant with Him and mix that with faith!

What about Rahab? She too was not a native-born but joined herself to the people of God when she chose to serve Him over her towns' gods. She mixed obedience to Him with faith.

Same goes for Ruth. What a girl! She says to her mother-in-law, the Israelite Naomi,

"Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God" (Ruth 1:16)

She swears to follow after the God of the Hebrews even though she, herself was from Moab where they served other gods.

I lOVE this passage in Isaiah too that is referring to the 'foreigners' who choose to follow after God. It says,

"And foreigners who bind themselves to Yehovah (the LORD) to serve him, and to love the name of Yehovah (the LORD) and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant - these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer". (Isaiah 56:6-7)

These verses are not talking about the native-born Israelite who chooses to put their faith in God and enter into covenant with Him. This is talking about those who are not naturally from Israel and yet STILL choose to delight in Him - that's me! I love Him! How great is He?!

If you think like how I did not all that long ago, then I'm tipping that if you've gotten this far you might be thinking one of two things:
1. That's all good and well Lusi but you are only using examples from the old testament and the old testament is no longer or
2. You might be thinking that now we are in a 'new' type of covenant that has replaced the 'old' one.

I'll be going into more depth with these two things sometime in another post but briefly for now I want to say that:
1. Jesus said that His words remain forever. He is the Word and was there from the beginning of the world  (John 1) so His Words are everlasting, trustworthy and true. His Word remains. Here are three new testament passages though to think on - Revelation12: 17 and Revelation14: 12 which talk about those who "keep the commandments AND hold to the testimony of Yeshua (Jesus) and Romans 11 which talks about both the natural and the wild olive branches (the non native born Israelite) being both grafted into the root (which is Messiah Jesus)
2. the 'new' covenant is a 'renewed' covenant just as there is a 'new moon' it is not a brand spanking new moon but rather a 'renewed' one. The 'new covenant' that is often mentioned in church is, I believe, misquoted. If you read it in full (Jeremiah 31 and requoted in Hebrews 8 and 10) you will see it is NOT between God and the Gentiles (or non-native Isralites). It is between God and the House of Israel and the House of Judah (which are together the 12 tribes of the house of Israel). The only way we are able to be apart of that 'new covenant' anyway is if we have been grafted into the house of Israel! And if we choose Messiah (Yeshua) as our Saviour, we enter into the 'eternal covenant' between God and man. His Torah then are the healthy family boundaries which God has set out for ALL of His children.

Well, that was a lot for the first in this series but I didn't feel I could really omit any of that - sorry it was so big. I hope that helps someone. I must say a HUGE thankyou though to our dear friends Jono and Christine, Donna and Keiran and others too who have lovingly (and patiently!) walked with us and helped us understand more of God's Truth through His Word. God faithfully, by His Spirit, is continuing to show me (us) His ways and it is the most exciting and wonderful time of our faith and really of our lives!

I would love to hear your thoughts!

I pray that there will be a stirring inside of you to search deeper into God's heart and find what He is really saying. May His Spirit lead and guide you into the knowledge of all Truth as you grow in grace, love and wisdom in Messiah Yeshua (Jesus Christ).

More to come another time :)
Loads of love,
Lus x