YHVH's Word - Simply Truth

 A moment of frustration becomes a long blog post of explanation!

An update on following YHVH's biblical calendar according to it's simplicity rather than according to man's traditions and complex interpretations.

Deuteronomy 30:11-16 
“For this command which I am commanding you today, it is not too hard for you, nor is it far off.   It is not in the heavens, to say, ‘Who shall ascend into the heavens for us, and bring it to us, and cause us to hear it, so that we do it?’  Nor is it beyond the sea, to say, ‘Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, and cause us to hear it, so that we do it?’  For the Word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart – to do it.   See, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil, in that I am commanding you today to love יהוה your Elohim, to walk in His ways, and to guard His commands, and His laws, and His right-rulings. And you shall live and increase, and יהוה your Elohim shall bless you in the land which you go to possess."

I am writing this special note as an update specifically regarding my previously published blog posts about the first harvest/first fruits at the time of Unleavened Bread, and even more specifically regarding the counting of the days of omer.

When I first wrote those 2 posts ("Counting the Days", and "Shavuot - YHVH's Biblical Pentecost"), I was not clear on the scriptures surrounding the first harvest and the count of the days to Shavuot which happens during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  I was new in my journey of reading YHVH's Word to take it at face value (literally instead of spiritualizing everything), and putting it into practice in obedience.   
I was searching His Word and changing my lifestyle and habits according to His Word on many things, but there were (and still are) parts of His Word that I was not familiar with or did not know about.  (It is hard to admit that after a lifetime of claiming to follow YHVH and reading His Word, I know so little about what His Word actually says but know so much of what people say that His Word says!)

I was instead following the practices and traditions of many modern Messianic Jewish and Christian groups and many groups of Rabbinic Judaism regarding specific topics such as counting the days to Shavuot.  I was trusting that they were following the Bible’s teaching.

After studying many scriptures regarding this and other topics, I have come to realize that the Bible is more simply clear and plain in this teaching than what many groups will admit it to be. 

 Psalm 118:8,9
It is better to take refuge in יהוה than to trust in man. 
It is better to take refuge in יהוה than to trust in princes.

The more time I spend reading YHVH's Word, tuning out any preconceived interpretations that come from my many years being taught by different people in many denominations of Christianity (as much as I can), the more amazed I am at how much He has created this life of humanity on earth to be dependent on Him for everything!  All parts of life on earth are part of the picture He has created that mirrors or sheds light on His Kingdom and His plan for dwelling with humanity for eternity!

Two quick examples:  He has put in place a way for mankind to know when each new month begins...the sighting of the new moon (new moon and new month are the same word - chodesh).

Genesis 1:14,15
 And Elohim said, “Let lights come to be in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and appointed times [moedim], and for days and years, and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.” And it came to be so.
(take note of the word moedim - it will be important a little further along)

He has also put in place the way to know when each new year begins (which new month begins the new year)...the sighting of ripening barley (aviv actually means a green ear of barley) in the land of Israel.  Once the barley is in aviv stage, then the next new moon is the first month of the year.

In both of these examples, He is in control of when the new moon is sighted and when the barley reaches the aviv stage.  If we are to follow His instructions to keep the commanded festivals on the dates He commanded, then we must DEPEND on Him to show us the proper counting of these dates, rather than trusting on man's calendar based on scientific calcution.

I don't know about you, but for me, this type of dependence on YHVH for even knowing when a new month begins and when a new year begins brings such a sense of safety and complete trust!

I could go into more detail...the command to keep the Shabbat on the seventh day (which is even named Shabbat).  Six days of work, and then one shabbat of rest in Him.  Six years of growing crops, and then one shabbat year of rest for the land.  Seven cycles of these seven years and then the year of Jubilee follows (seven times seven plus one is 50 years...just as seven days times seven weeks plus one day is 50 days, counted from waving the aviv barely until Shavuot/Pentecost).

(What does all this counting do?  It keeps our minds and hearts focused on YHVH daily and weekly and yearly!)

The weekly six days plus Shabbat is also mirrored in the time of mankind on earth (like the six days of creation and then Shabbat) - 6000 years of mankind on earth (2000 years of world desolation, turning away from God; the flood; Tower of Babel, etc  + 2000 years of instruction from God - Torah; nation of Israel  + 2000 years of the days of Messiah encompassing the world) and then 1000 years of Messiah's reign on earth (millennium) equals 7000 years.

Hosea 6:1-3  (spoken to the Israelites)
Come, and let us turn back to יהוה. For He has torn but He does heal us, He has stricken but He binds us up.  After two days He shall revive us, on the third day He shall raise us up, so that we live before Him.  So let us know, let us pursue to know יהוה.  His going forth is as certain as the morning. And He comes to us like the rain, like the latter rain watering the earth.

What a promise, considering one day is like one thousand years!
This promise in Hosea could have several meanings or layers of fulfillment (as biblical prophecy many times does).  One of these very likely could be that YHVH, through Hosea, is pointing to the end of the 2000 years of Messiah (2 days), the time of the beginning His reign on earth as KING during the Millennium (3rd day).  At this time His chosen people will be drawn to Him.  They will know Him!  And they will live with Him.

2 Peter 3:5-9
For [mockers] choose to have this hidden from them: that the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by the Word of Elohim, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.  And the present heavens and the earth are treasured up by the same Word, being kept for fire, to a day of judgment and destruction of wicked men.  But, beloved ones, let not this be hidden from you: that with יהוה one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.   יהוה is not slow in regard to the promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward us, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
(and the rest of the chapter continues the discussion of the end of days)

I don't know if I am making sense in trying to put some pieces together.  Do you see my excitement of how the Word of YHVH and plan of YHVH is so rich and meaningful and how every piece, large and small, fits in perfectly with all the others?  Every part of our lives with YHVH through His Messiah Yahshua is meant to turn us in dependence and obedience toward HIM...everything points to HIM!
I did not "see" these things before I began to be obedient to His Word.  When I was not keeping the Sabbath on the actual seventh day, I never thought about these things.  When I was not watching the moon to determine the times to keep God's commandments, I was not thinking about these things.  Now I see more and more every day how much I am and want to be totally dependent on God!  He is much more in my daily thoughts and actions than ever before!

These are just meant to be quick examples.  I don't intend to go into great detail regarding them.  I just wanted to give a glimpse of the intricacy of how everything in YHVH's Word is related and how dependent we are on HIM to guide us daily, weekly, yearly - throughout our lifetimes, throughout the time of mankind on earth!

Now, back to the specific topic of counting the days to Shavuot:

Since this blog is a telling of my journey in simple obedience to YHVH through Yahshua the Messiah, the Living Word, and since I am constantly learning more and discovering more as I journey with YHVH in His Word, I want to continue to post updates on these things that I discover.

This spring, at the beginning of the new year according to YHVH's instruction, I was reading through the biblical instructions for keeping Pesach (the evening meal), the week of Unleavened Bread, and the day of waving the first harvest of barley (which also begins the counting of days until Shavuot).

I wanted to be sure that I was clear on what Scripture says about observing and keeping these commanded appointed times.  And I was looking for how these things showed up in other parts of Scripture and in YHVH's overall plan.

I discovered that I was not clear.  I was assuming that I would keep the Pesach meal just as many others do - at the end of the 14th day ("between the evenings" is the Hebrew wording used to instruct the timing of the slaughter of Pesach lambs).

Leviticus 23:2-5
"Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and say to them, ‘The appointed times [moedim] of יהוה, which you are to proclaim as set-apart gatherings, My appointed times, are these: 
Six days work is done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a set-apart gathering. You do no work, it is a Sabbath to יהוה in all your dwellings. 
These are the appointed times [moedim] of יהוה, set-apart gatherings which you are to proclaim at their appointed times. 
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, between the evenings [bein ha arbayim], is the Passover to יהוה."

Numbers 9:2-3
 “Now, let the children of Israel perform the Passover at its appointed time [moed].  On the fourteenth day of this month, between the evenings [bein ha arbayim], perform it at its appointed time [moed]."

Exodus 12:5,6
 "Let the lamb be a perfect one, a year old male. Take it from the sheep or from the goats.  And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then all the assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it between the evenings [bein ha arbayim].

As I began to read some articles written by various people who keep YHVH's commanded feasts, I began to find some disagreements between people and groups (imagine that!).  Some said the evening of the 14th of the first month would be at the beginning of the 14th (since the day begins in the evening at sundown).  Others said that the Bible says to slaughter the lambs "between the evenings" (bein ha arbayim, as opposed to erev, which simply means evening), which would be late afternoon on the 14th....almost at the end of the 14th.  Then the time taken for preparation of the Pesach meal would mean that the meal would be eaten at night, on the beginning of the 15th.

Both groups had very convincing arguments.  And some groups had some not-so-nice things to say about the groups who did not interpret Scripture the same way they did (again, imagine that!).

Can you see why I began to get frustrated?

I have spent many frustrating hours in the past few months reading the teachings and thoughts of various groups who claim to follow the Bible in its instructions regarding….

1.  When to have the Pesach meal - at the beginning of the 14th in the evening or the end of the 14th in the evening?
NOTE: Just so you know, I ended this particular frustration by turning away from all the written interpretations of man and just reading the Scripture.  I compared all the places in the Word that use the phrase "between the evenings" and concluded that it was pointing to the end of the 14th to sacrifice the lamb, and then the meal would follow a few hours thereafter at the beginning of the 15th at night. Then I looked at the story of the LAMB of YHVH, the ultimate Pesach Lamb, and the time of HIS sacrificial death...in late afternoon on the 14th. And that is when I had my simple Pesach seder meal.  I began preparing it in the late afternoon on the 14th and ate it after dark on the 15.  It was wonderful!  And it was so meaningful to read the story of Yahshua's sacrifice and the connection to the original Pesach in Egypt!

2. When to observe the first harvest, which included the waving of the sheaf of first fruits barley by the priest.   AND

3. When to begin the count of 50 days to Shavuot, which was commanded to begin the same time as the waving of the first barley harvest

Because of my realization that I should be relying much more on YHVH's Word and not on man's calendars to tell me when to obey YHVH's Word, I want to be as obedient as I can be in my simple understanding of YHVH's Word.  This is why I was reading articles written by people and groups who claim to follow God's Word (not always such a good idea!).

I had the same frustration when I took a closer look at the observance of the day of waving the first barley harvest and beginning the count of days to Shavuot.  In the past, this part of the feast of Unleavened Bread had been a bit unclear to me, and I had not really taken time to read and understand the Word regarding this command...until now.

What the Scripture says about the waving of the first harvest of barley may seem to be vague at first...

Deuteronomy 16:6-10
...but at the place where יהוה your Elohim chooses to make His Name dwell, there you slaughter the Passover in the evening, at the going down of the sun, at the appointed time [moed] you came out of Egypt.   And you shall roast and eat it in the place which יהוה your Elohim chooses, and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents.  Six days you eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there is a closing festival to יהוה your Elohim – you do no work.   Count seven weeks for yourself. Begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain.  And you shall perform the Festival of Weeks to יהוה [Shavuot/Pentecost] your Elohim, according to the voluntary offering from your hand, which you give as יהוה your Elohim blesses you.

Leviticus 23:8-11, 15-16
..."And you shall bring an offering made by fire to יהוה for seven days. On the seventh day is a set-apart gathering, you do no servile work."
  And יהוה spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and you shall say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest.  And he shall wave the sheaf before יהוה, for your acceptance. On the morrow after the Sabbath the priest waves it.....
And from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you shall count for yourselves: seven completed Sabbaths. Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you count fifty days, then you shall bring a new grain offering to יהוה."

Many of the Messianic Jewish congregations and groups (and some Christian groups who actually keep God's moedim) follow the "traditional" calendar of Rabbinic Judaism, which interprets these Scriptures to mean that the waving of grain and beginning of the count of 50 days should begin on the day after the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (which is on the 15th)...so that would mean that the count always starts on the 16th.

I was looking at several calendars and noticed they all said that the waving of grain and the counting were on the 16th, and I was confused because I had just read that the count should begin on the day after the Sabbath.

So I went looking online.  I read many online articles.  Again, I read many conflicting "proofs" and interpretations of Scripture.  Every time I read a new article or a new interpretation, my frustration level continued to grow and grow.

At the height of my frustration, when I really just wanted to be obedient to my YHVH and His Word and yet all I was reading was bickering arguments and complex analogies of Scripture, I came to a point of saying “if the Bible is so vague and unclear about such important commanded and appointed times, then what is the use of trying to obey?”

Immediately after this thought, I would remind myself that it is man’s traditions and analysis of Scripture that is deficient, not Scripture itself!  So I would stop reading the (at times vitriolic) teachings of various groups, each attacking the others’ interpretations and claiming to have the right way of following God’s commands, and I would go back to the Word itself, in the original Hebrew language, and read it again and again.

After reading these Scriptures several times, and after comparing the original Hebrew with other Scriptures (using tools like Strongs and E-Sword), I saw suddenly how simple, direct, and clear the Word is on this point!

There are 3 words in use in solving this question:  shabbat (singular), shabbatot (plural of shabbat), and shabbaton (a related word to shabbat but not the same usage and meaning).  I won't go into great detail here, because this is something you can also search for yourself!  I will just give an overview of what I saw as I searched the Word.

The issue of conflict between groups is that the first day of Unleavened Bread (the 15th day of the first month) and the seventh day of Unleavened Bread (the 21st day of the first month) are both days of rest and no work according to Scripture.  (See Leviticus 23)

Some groups call these two days of no work, shabbats.
But they are not called shabbats in the Scripture.  They are called holy rehearsals or holy assemblies (miqra kodesh).  In fact, the only days that the Scripture refers to as shabbats are the actual Shabbats (seventh day of the week).  The only other time the word shabbat is used to describe any other day is in Leviticus 16:31 about Yom Kippurim (Day of Atonement)...and here it is called a shabbat shabbaton (a shabbat of rest).  The word shabbat, when used alone, refers strictly to the seventh day of the week throughout Scripture. 

How wonderful to come to a point of such peace after being in a state of such frustration!

It was so simple to see that the Shabbat (weekly seventh day) that occurs during the week of Unleavened Bread is the Shabbat that Scripture refers to when commanding us to begin counting the 50 days to Shavuot/Pentecost.  

And that is when I started my counting!  

Let me ask again....what is the purpose of all this counting?

Well, I don't know all the answers.  And I am sure that at some point some deeper meanings and connections will be made plain to us who keep YHVH's commands.

But for now, I can tell you that YHVH's command to count 50 days until Shavuot keeps my mind and heart focused on Him daily!  It is a constant reminder, like the moon, and like the weekly Shabbat, and like many other other reminders He provides in daily life....a reminder that HE is the center of my life, of all life!

Thanks for hanging in there with me during this long explanation of a seemingly small realization!

As we count the days, may we continue to be focused on HIM, on our Passover Lamb, our KING in love and obedience!

Gina

 

Why do you call me "Lord, Lord"...

           ...but you don't do what I say?   (Luke 6:46)
                         
A person can have incredibly sincere faith and still be sincerely WRONG!

I should know....I have been that person!

Welcome to Part 2 of more of my own story,
as well as a look at some important parts of YHVH's Word.

(If you have not yet read it, Part 1 is the blog post called "Which God Do You Serve?")

Now, having admitted from the beginning that I have been one who was very sincere in my faith, but also sincerely wrong, I should warn you that this post will probably be stepping on the toes of some people, although that is not my intention.
(And speaking of stepping on toes...that is not what the above picture is all about.  He is not about to step on someone's toes, and he is not about to step IN something; he is about to step ON something important.  More about this farther along in the post.)

While it is not the intent of this blog post to "offend" anyone or step on anyone's toes, I must admit that having my own "theological toes" stepped on was painful enough that it actually made me take notice.
What I found was that I was not understanding and obeying the Word of God.
I was sincere in my faith in God, sincere in my trust in God, sincere in my obedience of God's Word, sincere in my desire to please God and live fully and completely for God, sincere in my desire to love others according to my understanding of God's Word (I think anyone who has known me for years would agree with these statements).

So...the next question is:
What's wrong with all of that?

Nothing...except that I was focusing on man's interpretation of God's Word of Truth and worshiping Him in ways He warned not to and not worshiping Him in the very ways that He has laid out for His people to live in relationship with Him!  So, in reality, I was not following and obeying YHVH, the Creator of the universe, the one true living God.  Instead I was following a man-made god and a religion (even if I thought I was not "religious" but rather in a relationship with my Creator).  I was actually following traditions and teachings and interpretations that have twisted and perverted and taken the place of God's Word!

Isaiah 2:22 says "Stop relying on man, in whose nostrils is a mere breath - after all, he doesn't count for much, does he?"  
(Isaiah said this to the children of Israel, specifically Judah and Jerusalem, just after he spoke of what God will do to bring down the pride of man during the age to come - the time of judgment.)

I have learned, in many difficult lessons, that this simple verse is so true in every area of life!
And I am now trying to practice putting aside the ways and wisdom of man and following after God alone.  This includes taking Him at HIS WORD - literally - rather than "spiritualizing" His Word, which is something I see happening rampantly throughout Christendom today, and something I have been guilty of myself.

See, already I'm sure I have offended someone (or at least got your attention).
Sorry.  But, really, I'm not sorry.

This figurative "stepping on toes" process is definitely painful but also beneficial...IF a person allows the pain to get his/her attention and he/she takes a look at the TRUTH beyond the pain…or the pride, or the embarrassment, or the complacency (or whatever else might cause a person to ignore TRUTH when confronted with it)!  
This is the process I have gone through and continue to go through daily.   And while I am not intentionally stepping on toes in this blog, I AM willing to speak out about my own experience and journey with YHVH, the ONE TRUE GOD.

Okay, before I get this blog post off on the wrong foot (no pun intended!), let me begin by going straight to the Word of YHVH.  This will be a familiar passage for most people...

Psalm 1

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

(the beginning of Psalm 1, King Jameth Version)

Now I will quote the whole of Psalm 1 from The Scriptures version, which uses the Hebrew word for “law” as it is actually used in the original language:

Blessed is the man who shall not walk in the counsel of the wrong,

And shall not stand in the path of sinners, and shall not sit in the seat of scoffers.

 But his delight is in the Torah of   יהוה (YHVH),

And he meditates in his Torah day and night.

For he shall be as a tree planted by the rivers of water, that yields its fruit in its season,

And whose leaf does not wither, and whatever he does prospers.

The wrong are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind blows away.

Therefore the wrong shall not rise in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For   יהוה(YHVH) knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wrong comes to naught.

(Take careful notice of the difference between those who are called blessed and righteous and those who are wrong.)

In the order of arrangement in the Hebrew Tanakh, the book of Psalms comes after the prophets rather than before.  Malachi is the final prophetic book in the Tanakh, so Psalms follows directly after Malachi in the Jewish ordering of the books of the Tanakh. 

I want to take a look at the final verses of the book of Malachi (which then would lead directly to the first Psalm in the Tanakh).

But first take a quick look at what the cartoon man - who was sincerely crying out to God - was about to step on...

Malachi 3:13-4:6

 “Your words have been harsh against Me,” said  יהוה, “but you have said, ‘What have we spoken against You?’   You have said, ‘It is worthless to serve Elohim.  And what did we gain when we guarded His Charge, and when we walked as mourners before יהוה  of hosts?  And now we are calling the proud blessed – not only are the doers of wrongness built up, but they also try Elohim and escape.’ ”  Then shall those who fear יהוה speak to one another, and יהוה  listen and hear, and a book of remembrance be written before Him, of those who fear יהוה, and those who think upon His Name.   And they shall be Mine,” said יהוה of hosts, “on the day that I prepare a treasured possession. And I shall spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.  Then you shall again see the difference between the righteous and the wrong, between one who serves Elohim and one who does not serve Him.

(Notice again the difference between those who truly fear YHVH and are called "righteous" and those who are called "wrong."  As we continue with this passage in Malachi, you will read an oft-quoted verse about the Sun of Righteousness arising with healing in His wings...be sure to also take note of what the verses surrounding these famous words actually say!)

For look, the day shall come, burning like a furnace, and all the proud, and every wrongdoer shall 
be stubble. And the day that shall come shall burn them up,” said יהוה of hosts, “which leaves 
to them neither root nor branch.   
But to you who fear My Name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings. 
And you shall go out and leap for joy like calves from the stall.  And you shall trample 
the wrongdoers, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,” 
said יהוה of hosts.  
“Remember the Torah of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Ḥoreb for all Israel –
 laws and right-rulings.   See, I am sending you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great 
and awesome day of יהוה .  And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, 
and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with utter destruction.”

Let's look in some other key places in God's Word to see what He says about the righteous and the wrong, the keeper of His Torah and the breaker of His Torah, the blessings and the curses.

One particular Torah portion toward the end of the yearly Torah-reading cycle begins with Deuteronomy 11:26-28 and is named “Re’eh” which means “see” (after the first word of verse 26).

Deuteronomy 11:26-28

‘See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:  the blessing, when you obey 
the commands of יהוה  your Elohim which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not 
obey the commands of יהוה  your Elohim, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other mighty ones which you have not known.

(Another Torah portion, "Ki Tavo" in Deuteronomy 27 and 28, lists a whole series of specific blessings and curses...all dependent on whether or not the people obey Him!)

And the Torah portion immediately before Re'eh, entitled "Eikev", ends with the theme of loving the Lord, which is equal to the call to HEAR and OBEY.

Deuteronomy 10:12-13; 11:1, 13-25
And now, Israel, what is יהוה your Elohim asking of you, but to fear יהוה your Elohim, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve יהוה your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being, to guard the commands of יהוה and His laws which I command you today for your good?
And you shall love יהוה your Elohim and guard His Charge: even His laws, and His right-rulings, and His commands, always. ....
And it shall be that if you diligently obey My commands which I command you today, to love יהוה your Elohim and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your being, then I shall give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, and you shall gather in your grain, and your new wine, and your oil.  And I shall give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be satisfied.  
Guard yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other mighty ones and bow down to them.  Then the displeasure of יהוה shall burn against you, and He shall shut up the heavens, and there be no rain, and the land not give its increase. And you shall perish quickly from the good land which יהוה is giving you.  
And you shall lay up these Words of Mine in your heart and in your being, and shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.   And you shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up, and shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children are increased on the soil of which יהוה swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens on the earth.  
For if you diligently guard all these commands which I command you, to do it, to love יהוה your Elohim, to walk in all His ways, and to cling to Him, then יהוה shall drive out all these nations before you, and you shall dispossess greater and stronger nations than you.  Every place on which the sole of your foot treads is yours: from the wilderness, and Leḇanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea is your border.  No man shall stand against you. יהוה your Elohim shall put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, as He has spoken to you.

 And the weekly Torah portion immediately before that, called V'etchanan, includes the Sh'ma ("hear and obey") that says, "Hear Israel, YHVH is one....


(from Deuteronomy 6)

Yahshua was, is, and always will be a Torah-keeper 
AND the Torah-fulfiller!

“Hear, O Israel: יהוה our Elohim, יהוה is one!  And you shall love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your might.  And these Words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart, and you shall impress them upon your children, and shall speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up, and shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

This particular Torah portion also includes the 10 Commandments.


Yes, the same 10 Commandments that Christians around the USA fought to have posted in public schools.
But do these same Christians know what the 10 Commandments say?  And if they know what they say, do they obey them?  (Well, obeying "most of them" counts...doesn't it??)

If you are not 100% completely sure what the 10 Commandments say, perhaps now would be a good time for a refresher (located in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5).

So what are the common threads in these scriptures (and pretty much throughout the entire Old Covenant, and for that matter the New Covenant)?

God is serious about our obedience!
Yahshua is serious about our obedience!

Yahshua said twice in John chapter 14 that if we love Him we will keep His commands. (vs 14, vs 21).

“He who possesses My commands and guards them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I shall love him and manifest Myself to him.” 

Yahshua was only about His Father's business.  He completely obeyed His Father in every way.  And He commanded us to do the same!

John, who listened to Yahshua's teachings AND obeyed Yahshua's command to obey YHVH's Torah, said this in 1 John 5:

By this we know that we love the children of Elohim, when we love Elohim and guard His commands.  For this is the love for Elohim, that we guard His commands, and His commands are not heavy, because everyone having been born of Elohim overcomes the world. And this is the overcoming that has overcome the world: our belief. 

Now back to my own personal journey in being a YHVH-loving, Yahshua-following, Torah-keeper:

You would think that growing up going to church, teaching Sunday School classes, teaching in a private school with a Christian worldview, living the "Christian life”, working with an evangelical Christian organization, etc... all these things would at some time point me in the direction of understanding what it means to OBEY GOD! 

But I actually stumbled into the TRUTH of what God's Word says (literally, not spiritualized) in another way. 

Really though, I did not stumble into the TRUTH.  God put His Truth in my path...a path that was taking me on a winding journey AWAY from His Truth.

The "discovery" that I cannot trust man's traditions and wisdom and can really only trust God began to sink in very deeply while I was living in Australia and became aware of a painful health issue. In my quest to find doctors and procedures to treat my problem, I also began to do some major in-depth research on the internet.

After surgery neither "fixed" my problem nor alleviated the pain, I decided to try some of the "alternative" choices that I had read about online.  These alternative therapies were actually based on changing eating habits and lifestyle to rid my life of every possible toxin and chemical that I could.

To make this long story a little shorter, I radically changed my eating and lifestyle patterns...and it worked!

As part of my research regarding eating habits and toxins in our food, I found out some absolutely disgusting things about what eating pork and shellfish (and other "bottom dwelling scavengers") will actually do to our bodies!  I stopped eating pork and shrimp at that time (but I did not completely obey God's law...I still ate things like mussels and kangaroo steaks) as well as many other toxic foods, such as processed foods and foods with chemical synthetics and additives.  At this point, it was not because of what YHVH says in His Word about eating pork or shellfish, it was solely because of my health research and the experiences of others that have shown the dangers of filling our bodies with toxins from eating bottom-dwellers and scavengers. 

At the same time, I was given a booklet about the holidays that Christianity have adopted as their own and celebrate as if they were commanded by God (Christmas and Easter). 

I might not agree with all that the booklet said, but it opened my eyes to the pagan roots (and lack of biblical roots) involved in these holidays.  I came to a point while reading the booklet when I had to admit the truth and thus had to make a decision about my participation in something I knew to be against God.  It was at this point in my life that I decided to no longer observe or celebrate Christmas or Easter.  But I still had not come to the point of reading the TRUTH in God’s Word about what HE wants us to observe and celebrate!  Not quite yet…that would come soon!

And at the same time, I joined a prayer group who was very serious in praying for and standing with Israel as GOD'S chosen land and people.  They showed me the scriptures of Old Testament prophecies that were being fulfilled in this day (fulfilled in the most literal way)!   Up to that point, I had read the prophets in relation to ancient Israel and in relation to the Church as having stepped into Israel's place.  (I am now amazed and ashamed that I actually fell for that church-is-now-Israel-and-Israel-is-no-longer-relevant Replacement Theory lie!)

All of these realizations happening at the same time had one giant effect on me:

I realized that I cannot trust man (not even the "experts" in medicine and the "experts" in theology).

I can only trust God.

And then God led me a step beyond.  He brought up all the questions that had been troubling me all my life: the questions about what His Word says compared to what Christianity teaches.

And then God led me to the next step…He re-introduced me to His Word.  But this time He gave me new eyes of understanding to read His Word literally and not try to “spiritualize away” what He clearly said.

It was a moment of stark realization:

God must have been serious, and literal, about telling us what we can eat as food and what to stay away from.

God must have been serious, and literal, about commanding that we keep the Sabbath holy to Him.

God must have been serious, and literal, about His command to observe the Appointed Times that He gave His people forever.

God must have been serious, and literal, about choosing ISRAEL as His people and His land forever.

It was at this point that I "woke up" to the literal words of God's written Word...from beginning to end.

It was at this point that I really began to question why, if Christianity really is all about loving and serving and following God through His Son Jesus, then why is that we Christians snub our noses at so much of what is obviously so important to God - His precepts, His commands, His statutes...His TORAH?  

Why is the Christian list of "things we obey in God's Word" so different in so many denominations?  Why can we pick and choose which parts of the Old Testament we pay attention to?   Why do different "streams" of Christianity come up with their own versions of "what God is saying to the Church today" that are so different from each other (and so many times going against God's written Word)?
 It seemed that the only response I got was a brick wall of hostility and horror that I would even raise such questions against traditional Christianity!

I could not reconcile these questions with the answers I was being given by Christianity as an organized religion.

So I did what I did when the doctors' attempts to help me failed....I went searching.  
And I found the WORD of GOD!  

I discovered that YHVH’s Name has been suppressed in and removed from His own Word for centuries.

I discovered that a relationship with YHVH, according to His Word, has everything to do with obeying Him.

I discovered that Yahshua (Jesus) was and is a Torah-keeper!  He IS the LIVING TORAH!
I discovered that the religion of Christianity changed the YHVH's commanded Sabbath from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week (and then refused to observe it!).  Nowhere in YHVH's Word does HE change the day of rest, the Sabbath.

I am still on this journey that started with a crash course in testing God's Word in the most literal sense.
That was 2006.  Now, 6 years later...I have been keeping Shabbat (the Sabbath) for almost 6 years.  I have been eating according to God's biblical plan for almost 5 years.  I have been celebrating God's commanded appointed times (Passover, Unleavened Bread, Shavuot, Sukkot, etc) for almost 4 years now. 

Am I out to prove something?  No!
Am I bitter or angry toward the Christian church?  No!

The reason I am speaking out is because my life experience has been one of believing lies in the teachings of the religion and traditions of modern-day Christianity, and I want to simply live by the Word of YHVH.   Because I have been guilty of speaking out to others what I now know to be traditions of men that go against the very Word of God I want to obey, I now want to speak out what the Word of God says, literally!

His Word spoke directly to me from Matthew 7 during the time that I was searching for answers of Truth to all my questions about discrepancies in what I said I believed.  This is when I “hit the wall” and came face to face with the seriousness of my situation!

Matthew 7:21-23

      Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord [Master, Master],’ shall enter into the reign of the heavens, but he who is doing the desire of My Father in the heavens.    Many shall say to Me in that day, ‘Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Your Name, and cast out demons in Your Name, and done many mighty works in Your Name?’   And then I shall declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!  [‘lawlessness’ = without the law]

When I read this passage, after all the realizations I had just experienced, I had another realization:  Yahshua was speaking to those who said they believed in Him…those who thought they were Christians, redeemed, saved, born-again (whichever term you would like to use)! 

Yahshua was speaking to ME!

Have you ever put this verse in context with the verses surrounding it?

In the verses just before, Yahshua is speaking about knowing a tree by the fruit it produces.

In the verses just after, Yahshua says that those who hear His words and DO THEM will be like the wise man who built his house on the rock, and those who hear and do NOT do will be like the fool who built his house on sand.  

Now, I am not a theologian, and I am terrible at debate.

You may say to me, “But Gina, what about Colossians 2:14 where Paul says that Jesus nailed these things (the law, etc) to the cross and freed us from them?”

Well, when I read Colossians 2:14 and look at the meanings of the original words (not the English words), I see that what Yahshua freed us from is the curse of breaking the law and the debt owed because of the breaking…not from the law itself.  Yahshua never freed us from keeping the Torah, keeping His own Word!  He was a Torah-keeper Himself!

(And for those who choose to use examples from Paul's writings to negate the rest of God's Word, keep in mind that Sha'ul/Paul wrote with complexities and language that is difficult to understand...even Peter warned about this in 2 Peter 3:15-16.)

And since I am a simple person and no good at complexities or debating such issues, I must stand on what I know as Truth in these cases.  Let's go back to the book of Malachi for  a dose of TRUTH.

What I know as Truth is this:  Malachi 3:6 – “For I am YHVH; I shall not change….”

I take this at face value, literally, to mean that YHVH does not change.  And to prove that His statement, made here in the Tanakh (“Old” Testament), is also relevant to the “New” Testament and today’s followers of Yahshua, just take a look at the rest of Malachi 3…both before and after YHVH’s strong statement in verse 6.  The surrounding verses describe the Messianic period still to come in the future!

James (Jacob) speaks this truth in chapter 1 and verse 17:

  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor shadow of turning.

But isn't the keeping Torah restricting and confining...isn't it legalism...isn't it a yoke that's impossible to bear? 

No!

YHVH does not change.   His yoke is easy and burden is light (Matthew 11:29-30; Jeremiah 6:16).  

Not like the yoke of Rabbinic Judaism (or Pharisaic Judaism of His day).  That yoke is impossible to bear…so many rules added to YHVH’s Torah.  
Not like the yoke of modern day Christianity.  That yoke is impossible to bear.  The rules certainly do not go along at all with YHVH’s Torah.  The rules (expectations) are different from denomination to denomination, from church to church, from leader to leader…and then the rules change without any warning.  It cannot be done.

HIS yoke is easy and HIS burden is light!

James 1:21-22
...receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your lives.  And become doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
(refer back to Malachi 3)

Deuteronomy 30:10-16
...if you obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim, to guard His commands and His laws which are written in this Book of the Torah, if you turn back to יהוה your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being. For this command which I am commanding you today, it is not too hard for you, nor is it far off.  It is not in the heavens, to say, ‘Who shall ascend into the heavens for us, and bring it to us, and cause us to hear it, so that we do it?’  Nor is it beyond the sea, to say, ‘Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, and cause us to hear it, so that we do it?’  For the Word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart – to do it.   See, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil, in that I am commanding you today to love יהוה your Elohim, to walk in His ways, and to guard His commands, and His laws, and His right-rulings. And you shall live and increase, and יהוה your Elohim shall bless you in the land which you go to possess.
The verses after this in Deuteronomy 30 and other places in the Torah give warnings of what will happen should YHVH's people choose not to obey Him.

Not to end on a negative note, but rather to end on a convincing note:  let's briefly look at some other warnings regarding not heeding YHVH's Words, His Torah, His commands.

 Jeremiah 10:2-6 warns against the ways of gentiles such as setting up decorated trees cut from the forest.  (sound familiar?)

Matthew 7:  the entire chapter, part of the Sermon on the Mount, is an extended warning to go along with the verses about those who call Yahshua "Lord" but are not recognized by Him.

Daniel 7:25 warns against those who will change YHVH's appointed times (Sabbath, festivals) and law (Torah), which amounts to lawlessness.

Deuteronomy 12:32 and Revelation 22:18-19 warn us not to add to or take away from YHVH's Words!

And a final thought (for now) from Revelation...
YHVH is True and Righteous...and He will judge each person regarding Truth and Righteousness according to his/her works!

See Revelation chapters 2, 3, 9, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22...

Revelation 20:12
And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before the throne, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged from what was written in the books, according to their works.   
 
 Revelation 22:11-12
 He who does wrong, let him do more wrong; he who is filthy, let him be more filthy; he who is righteous, let him be more righteous; he who is set-apart, let him be more set-apart.  And see, I am coming speedily, and My reward is with Me, to give to each according to his work.

Loving and obeying my Master Yahshua through His Word - from beginning to end!
Gina