Making a Case to be Holy–Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections–87

by | Jul 22, 2017 | Podcasts

Making a Case to be Holy

by Rod Thomas | Sabbath Thoughts & Reflections

A Case for Holiness

As I was conducting my Torah studies week-before-last, I came to Exodus, chapter 19.

This of course, is a well-known passage of Torah to our community, for it is the place that marks that point in our history that we officially received our Creator’s perfect Law.

We had just arrived at the base of Mount Sinai, just three-months prior, having been freed from our Egyptian taskmasters. Upon our arrival, Father summoned Mosheh to the top of the mountain and it was at this point in our history that Abba laid out the terms of the contract to Mosheh that we would either agree to abide by or reject; the option being entirely ours. It was not a one-way contractual agreement such that we were being forced to become Yahovah’s children. Well, Yah has always worked that way has He not? He has always been the God of choice—choose ye today whom you shall serve(Joshua 24:15).

It is certainly easy to recall that when we were in Mitsrayim (i.e., the land of Egypt), we did not have a choice when it came to serving our Egyptian taskmasters, but here, at the foot of Mount Sinai, we were being exposed to a taste of true freedom where we had the option of saying yes to serving the Creator or no to serving Him.

When I think about this whole thing and reflect upon how we must have felt or viewed things collectively and individually as they were transpiring before us. I can not help but think that most of our mixed company coming out of Egypt had no idea what was in store for us.

Abba was not quick to show us His plan but sought to prove us worthy at every step leading up to the revealing of His plan to us.

I would imagine that many of us believed that we would simply be freed from bondage by this mysterious God who would lead us to a land of great opportunities where we could live out our days as we so chose; similar to the mindset that many in churchianity and even our Hebrew Roots community possess today.

Instead, Sinai for us was a precursor of that narrow gate and straight way that Father swore would lead us to a life that just three months prior, was unimaginable. Life would not be easy for us under the terms of the agreement that Abba was laying out before Mosheh and ultimately before us as a nation. Nevertheless, if we could see beyond and live the nuts and bolts of that agreement without compromise (because Abba is a jealous God and He does not share His glory and authority with any other supposed god or power over our set-apart lives), we would reap the unfathomable benefits of being the Creator of the Universe’s chosen, prized possessions in all the earth. Imagine that!

Of the billions of people who have ever lived on this planet, we stand as the Creator’s chosen few. What an amazing truth.

As we proceed through the chapter, we come to two places where Father severely warns Mosheh and ultimately us as a body, that we are not to invade the established boundaries of the mountain, lest we suffer termination with extreme prejudice—that is, execution by stone and or arrow. The verses where this admonishment is found in verses 12 and 13; 21 through 23.

This admonishment by Yahuah has always intrigued me, given that in chapter 20 of Exodus, it was revealed that when we saw the thunder and the lightning and heard that ear-piercing shofar and saw the mountain in such an infernal state, we stood trembling at a distance from the mountain (verse 18). We even told Mosheh to speak to Yahovah on our behalf because we were outright terrified of our Father’s manifested presence before us.

Let us be honest about this thing here: this was the first-time we’d been formally introduced to Yahovah. Yes, we saw His power and might and authority magnificently manifested in Egypt an along our journey to Sinai, but we’d never had a face-to-face, let’s talk and explain the situation, type meeting with Yahuah, our Redeemer until this time in our history. What happens when one goes out to meet someone special for the first-time? Well, he or she puts their best foot forward. Indeed, Abbah instructed us to prepare ourselves for that meeting by washing and purifying ourselves and readying our hearts and minds. We were to put our best foot forward at this meeting. Yahuah came to our meeting in his great splendor; dressed to impress.

I guess this is a far cry from how we view and treat the presence of our Father today. In many cases, that fear that we had towards Father has been replaced with outright irreverence and disregard by so many, but for now I wish to focus on why Father admonished us to not invade the boundaries of the mountain when He obviously knew that we would not.

So I guess I am mystified that our omniscient Father would pose such a stern warning to Mosheh knowing that we would by no stretch of the imagination violate the boundaries of the mountain. My first inclination was that, hey, Father was just making a rule that we, His children, would have to obey and I went with that for a long time. Yet with this latest read, that curiosity once again hit me like a ton of bricks that I just could not dig myself from under. To me, this admonishment by Abba to Mosheh had to be more than a simple “don’t violate the boundaries of My mountain because I said so.” One thing I am certain of is that our Creator does nothing without a reason. Now some of those reasons may not be readily apparent, or for that matter, not available to us for whatever reason and I want to resist engaging in eisigesis (i.e., reading into the text) for purposes of surmising a reason why. Nevertheless, I will take slight liberty and reflect upon a potential reason for Father prohibiting us from broaching the boundaries of the mountain. Hey, this is Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections by the way.

Apart from Yahuah giving the command (twice given) and us simply obeying it because Father said so and because we did not want to die violating the command, I would submit that Father was intending to teach us a lesson here. I believe that Father gave Mosheh this admonishment for purposes of establishing boundaries between the common and the holy. That’s right, I believe that Yahovah wanted to make it perfectly clear to us that He is our God and our Creator and that which He deems holy we are not to treat as we would everything else in our life or within our sphere of existence. I envision Father saying: “Today, I am establishing a clear line of demarcation that I will expect you to respect and observe; and I am going to make that line of demarcation very clear to you; and for that matter, very easy for you to respect and observe. I know that you will be too terrified to cross the boundaries that I am setting up before you, but I also want you to know that wherever My presence rests and wherever I place My Name, you will respect those places and things or face dire consequences. In this case, you cross over and touch the mountain, you die.”

Separating the common from the holy: now that is a concept that has lost a lot of meaning and respect by us humans over the centuries. As it relates to this particular story and situation, we had just arrived in town (i.e., Sinai), having just a couple months ago, beat-feet out of Egypt and trekking across the desert and we were a green, snotty-nosed, mixed-lot of souls who obviously did not know the things of our God. In fact, we came out of pagan-Egypt with all her idols and false gods and we knew nothing of true holiness. Evil (as in paganism) only begets evil and nothing good ever comes out of evil. Thus, we knew nothing apart from that which we were exposed to in Egypt; years spent in abject servitude and bondage.

In the midst of our servitude and bondage, we picked up paganism, whorshipping the gods of our Egyptian over-lords. When we fled Egypt on eagles’ wings, we did not know anything about Yahovah, the Creator of the Universe, apart from Word being handed down about Him being the God of our father’s Avraham, Yitsak and Yaachob. Obviously this was the case because we quickly returned to the worship of the golden calf when Mosheh went up the mountain for an extended period of time soon after this Sinai encounter (Exodus 32).

 

Definition of Holy

That which was dedicated to God was conceived of as entering the sphere of the “holy.” This included the various elements of Levitical worship called “holy things” in Lev 5:15-16, the produce of the land (Lev 19:24), personal property (Lev 27:28), and spoils obtained in military action (Josh 6:19). The sacrifices that were to be eaten only by the priests were denominated “holy” by virtue of their absolute dedication to the sphere of the sacred as represented by the priesthood (Lev 19:8).

While the realm of the holy was conceptually distinct from the world with its imperfections, it could nevertheless operate within the world as long as its integrity was strictly maintained. The maintenance of the integrity of the “holy” was a function of the Israelite cultus. The holy God came to man in redeeming love within the context of regulations and proscriptions that were designed to maintain the purity of holiness the characterized God’s essential nature. Even before the establishment of the Levitical system, this principle was recognized (see Exo 3:5). (TWOT Lexicon)

Essentially, that which Yahovah/Yahuah/Yahweh, the Creator of the Universe, has declared sacred or holy, special to Him and His operations, is holy. Otherwise, anything not declared sacred or holy or special to Him is man’s mess; in some cases, it is hasatan’s mess and is essentially profane. God knows how much of hasatan’s mess is mixed in with that which Father has set apart as special and holy and that is not only problematic, it is a no-no.

Yet millions hang on to a religion that is a mixture of the profane and that which is supposed to be holy according to our God, out of a fear and respect for their denomination, faith community, culture and traditions. Unfortunately, Yah does not care for such behavior and His Messiah will ultimately put an end to it all.

Holiness According to the Bible

Yahovah established with us “right off the bat” an uncompromising “holiness factor” that He insisted be honored and observed by us at all times. There was no question as to what was holy/sacred/set-apart then, and for all intents and purposes, there should be no confusion on this subject as it relates to our understanding and observance of the holy things of Yahuah our Elohim today.

Yet I would submit to and ask you: have we not forsaken that “holiness factor” in our Faith Community today? I mean: in certain sects of fundamental churchianity, especially in some of the fundamental Christian sects that I was exposed to growing up, holiness was more of a “man-made factor” than a “God-ordained factor” or biblically supported factor. Outside of the Christian sects that I was exposed to growing up, there was always the Catholics who worked the heck of this holiness thing. Virtually everything related to Catholic edifices and houses of worship, their masses and their various relics strewn around the world, was assigned by the powers to be at the Vatican, a holiness factor. In terms of the Christian sects I grew up around, the holiness factor was assigned to pulpits, traditions, doctrines, preachers, pastors and ministers.

Looking back at this stuff from my current station in life and filtering most things through my Netsarim worldview or lenses, I clearly see that none of these things that were deemed holy were deemed holy by Abba or the bible; in fact, everyone of them was deemed holy by men, plain and simple; and who is man to assign a holiness factor to anything without the Father’s permission or direction? Yet, is that not the way things work in the mundane, common world: man determines what is what and who is who and damn God and His Scriptures for man believes he runs the show here? Oh how it must insult the Creator to know and see that man is running the show (running it badly I might add) that He established and set in operation.

Even in some segments of our Hebrew Roots Community, we have crossed that line from God-ordained holiness over into man-made holiness. Case in point: Torah worship; sacred names; the Talmud; and certain practices and traditions that are germane to Judaism; and members of our community who are tied to these sects will almost go to fisticuffs over these things that they and their sects deem as holy. Yet when it comes down to the things that Father has actually deemed as holy, many in our Faith have crossed over those boundaries and profaned the established things of Yahovah that are truly holy such as Sabbath-keeping; the Feast Days; our perfectly lived Torah-observant lives; the ways of Yahovah; our Master Yeshua Messiah (yes, believe it or not, we have many in our Community who are Yeshua-haters); and the list goes on as delineated in Scripture.

What is Holy to Father?

So needless to say, I went on a search through the Word for that which Abba has deemed holy. It would stand to reason that Father would reveal to us that which He considered and demanded that we observe as holy.

Well, I was taken aback to find that Father has set apart unto Himself a rather broad and large number of things that He has deemed holy. Some of those things no longer are in existence and thus the holiness factor would not be applicable in this day and age. Certainly there are other things that remain as holy elements to our Faith and I have come to conclude these things demand that we honor and respect them as holy unto Yahovah our Elohim.

Allow me to mention some of them; and know that this is not an exhaustive list.

  • The Mountain of Yahuah (Exodus 3:5; Isaiah 56:7) (Held in abeyance)
  • Collectively and individually as a nation of people dedicated and separated unto Yahovah; serving Him as a nation of priests and living holy and righteous lives; we as engrafted Israelites (Exodus 19:6; 22:31; Leviticus 19:2; 20:7; Deuteronomy 7:6; 23:14; Ephesians 1:4; Colossians 1:22; 3:12; I Timothy 2:8; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:8; I Peter 1:16; 2:5; 2:9; 2 Peter 3:11) (Active)
  • The Sabbath Day (Exodus 20:8) (Active)
  • The inner-sanctum of the Tabernacle and Temple (Exodus 26:33,34) (Held in abeyance)
  • The garments of the Levitical High Priests (Exodus 28:2; 29:6,29) (Held in abeyance)
  • A portion of the atonement sacrifice as food for the Levitical priesthood (Exodus 29:33,34; Leviticus 2:3-10; 6:18; 10:10; 11:44,45) (Held in abeyance yet controversial)
  • The sacrificial alter (Exodus 29:37; 30:10) (Held in abeyance)
  • The implements of the tabernacle (Exodus 30-40) (Held in abeyance)
  • Our heavenly Father (Leviticus 11:44,45; Joshua 24:19; I Samuel 2:2; 6:20; Psalm 99:5; Proverbs 9:10; 30:3) (Active)
  • The fourth-year fruit upon our entering the land of promise (Leviticus 19:23)(Held in abeyance)
  • The Name of Yahuah our Elohim (Leviticus 20:3; Psalm 103:1) (Active)
  • The offerings of fire that we brought to Yahovah (Leviticus 21:6) (Held in abeyance)
  • That which has been gifted and dedicated unto the service of Yahuah our Elohim that He has ordained as holy cannot be in the presence, possession of, or consumed by any impure or unclean individual for Abba requires that we be in a state of perpetual purity or cleanness, especially when it comes to our being near, consuming or touching that which He has ordained as holy (Leviticus 22:3-16) (Active but remain controversial)
  • The Feasts of Yahweh as convocations and the offerings and tithes that we give during these moedim (Leviticus 23:2-36; Numbers 29:7; Exodus 12:16; Numbers 28:18) (Active)
  • The obedient Nazarite (Numbers 6:5-20) (Active)
  • The firstling offerings (Numbers 18:17) (Held in abeyance)
  • Our tithes (2 Chronicles 31:6) (Active but remain controversial)
  • Jerusalem (Nehemiah 11:1; Isaiah 52:1) (Held in abeyance but remain controversial)
  • The Spirit of Yahovah (Psalm 51:11) (Active)
  • The Word of Yahuah/Torah (Psalm 105:42; Romans 7:12) (Active)
  • The Works of Yahovah (Psalm 145:17) (Active)
  • A remnant of Jerusalem in the end days (Isaiah 4:3) (Future)
  • Yahuah’s covenant with us (Daniel 11:28; Romans 7:12) (Active yet remains controversial)
  • The angels (Matthew 25:31) (Active yet remain controversial)
  • A Tzaddik such as John the Immerser (Mark 6:20) (Active but remain controversial)
  • The prophets of old (Luke 1:70) (Active)
  • The apostles (Ephesians 3:5) (Active)
  • Our faith (Jude 1:20) (Active)

Considerations

Again, this list that I have provided is not intended to be an exhaustive listing of that which Father has deemed holy or that which the writers of the Holy Writ were inspired by the Ruach Kodesh to deem as holy. Instead, I see this list as a primer of sorts, that gave me a sense of the great many things that Father has ordained as holy unto Him.

I also came across some considerations as it relates to this holiness factor that I saw as important to pass on.

To begin with, that which Abba has deemed as holy is not to be worshiped by us as Yahweh’s chosen people. Unfortunately, our Faith community is populated by individuals who have taken on religion to the full extent of the meaning, the most prominent of our lot being those who practice Judaism. Many worship the implements of our Faith that are deemed Holy by Father such as the Torah, the Names of our Creator, tzitzits, the Temple (albeit the temple no longer exists, people worship the land of Israel), and even worship some of our Hebrew Roots leaders. Although Abba set before us a list of the things that He deems as holy, not once did He ever command us to worship these implements. Yet it seems hardwired within man to worship those sacred elements of their chosen religion and Faith. Certainly, there is an inherent temptation to worship that which is set apart, but Yahuah our Elohim is the only being that is to be worshiped by us.

The other thing is our holiness: Father requires that we be holy as He is holy and by far, that delineation is mentioned more times than any other element of our Faith. Over and over we are reminded that we are holy unto Father and that we are to be holy in all our ways.

This issue is driven home a great deal in Leviticus 20: 7,8 where we are reminded that our principles, affections and aims must be holy (Matthew Henry Commentary on the Bible). Matthew Henry continues on as it relates to this passage: “We must then cleanse ourselves from all the pollutions of sin, consecrate ourselves to the service and honour of God, and conform ourselves in everything to His holy will and image…(This is part of the sanctification process). In all our actions and in the whole course of our conversation…” (must be obedient to Torah (i.e., you shall keep my statutes).

It then becomes the criteria by which we are then sanctified when we honour and obey Abba’s Torah. Yet we lack the ability to keep Torah to the extent and manner that Father desires, unless we have the Ruach Kodesh working within us (which we should have)—that His Ruach (i.e., His Spirit) writes His Torah upon our hearts and in our minds (Hebrews 8:10; cf. Jeremiah 31:33). In order for this process to work within us as potentially Abba’s holy people, we must have a cleaned up and purified Temple/Tabernacles that can house the Ruach Kodesh and allow Him to operate within us effectively.

So one reflects: why must we go to such a great extent as it relates to the holiness that Father requires of us? (1) Yahuah our Elohim commands it of us; (2) we want to please our Heavenly Father; and (3) to bring glory to His Holy Name.

Of this concern, Matthew Henry comments: “Yahovah (corrected) sanctifies us through special privileges, laws and favours,” all of which are designed to bring us to that special, “peculiar people” status that Father so desires us to be in this world, as well as bring us to the place where we become Yahovah’s special possession. Henry continues: “ Yahovah’s people are, must be, persons of distinction. Yahovah has distinguished us by His holy covenant” (corrected).

Of this same issue, according to Gill’s Bible Commentary, we are to sanctify ourselves by abstaining from all idolatrous practices and then we are to observe Abba’s Torah. In doing such, we become a holy, set apart people from all others in the world in the manner of our conversation and worship.

Yet many self-professing Netsarim are very open to profane and disgusting converation, even castigating those of us who take exception to their practices and talk. Why are they like that? I have read where some feel that it is just words and that their use of profanity is an organic form of expression that would make no difference to God. Really? The common world freely uses profanity as a means of communicating at all levels and on various things. If we are supposed to be holy in all areas of our existence, why would our conversation (that is our vocabulary) not be included in that holiness factor?

As I have mentioned in prior episodes of Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections, the holiness factor requires a “dying to self” as alluded to in Matthew 16:24,25; Mark 8:34,35; Luke 14:27. It becomes the critical decision that we all must make of deciding upon which side of this thing we are going to settle upon and if we decide that Yahovah’s way is the way we want to go, it then becomes the very difficult process of letting go of the things of this life that do not mesh with the things of Yahovah and then walk out our Faith and our salvation in “fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12); relying upon Yahovah’s Ruach HaKodesh to empower us to stay within the confines of that narrow way.

Oh how I can attest that this is definitely not an easy thing to pick-up and do. Nevertheless, it absolutely must be done, more sooner than later, by each of us. As we have so clearly seen in the passages discussing the holiness factor, especially those elements of the holiness factor that apply specifically to us as individual Netsarim, Abba requires we be holy as He is holy.

In chapter 20, verse 26 of Leviticus, Father once again reiterates His requirement that we be Holy, more so that that holiness factor will have led to Him actually “setting us apart from the nations of the world to be His special possession.” Despite all the protests and teachings to the contrary, we cannot be His special possession unless we are holy.

0 Comments

Released from the Law

Released from the Law Moving on from our lengthy discussion on Grace as taken from Ephesians 2:8 and 9, I’d like to look at another popular passage of the Bible that the anti-Torah Christian uses to condemn those of us who embrace a Torah lifestyle. Romans 6:14, and...

read more

By Grace are you Saved–Grace and the Law Part 2

  By Grace are You Saved   Part 2 of the series: Grace and the Law In part one (1) of this series entitle Grace and the Law, we critically looked at some of the key bible passages that our cousins in fundamental and charismatic churchianity (or Christianity...

read more

The Prayer Shawl Controversy-Part 1–STAR 25

The Prayer Shawl Controversy--Part 1 In recent months we've noticed a rather disturbing trend taking place in traditional Christianity, especially in the more charismatic circles of the Christian Faith. As more and more adherents/believers/Christians, if you will, are...

read more

Torah: Is it liberty or bondage?

There is a beautiful doe that has chosen our "back four" as her favorite place to give birth to her baby every year. Why here, is anybody's guess, but it seems she feels safer on our fenced property in the underbrush of a dry creek bed than she does in the forest,...

read more

Occupying Territory–Parashah 46 Part 7

Occupying Territory Deuteronomy 11:22-25 This passage brings us to the end of Parashah-46. As it has been throughout this lengthy portion, we see again Moshe's admonishment that we love Adonai our God. This concept of love in the Ancient Near East continues to be...

read more

Barna Group on Same Sex Marriage

The Barna Group Reports on Same-Sex Marriage I came upon these statistics published by the well established and respected Barna Group, regarding the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage. I found these statistics not so surprising  I must admit and it...

read more

Willing Obedience is a True Act of Love–

Willing Obedience is a True Act of Love   Deuteronomy 10:12-11:9   What does our experience tell us about Yahovah? What is our testimony? It is these exploits, these events that occurred in our lives that make us strong and ready to possess the land. We must not...

read more

What is Torah? – The condensed version!

What is Torah? Here is a condensed explanation. YHWH (God the Father) created everything, including Man. He commanded all living things - the birds, fish and animals - to "be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:21-25). He gave man some rules to follow as well. That is...

read more

Questionnaire for our Christian friends

Shalom, everyone! My name is Carmen and I love to help people become Torah observant! To help you along the way, I have made up this questionnaire for our Christian friends. Enjoy! QUICK INTRODUCTORY QUESTION: Is it really true that to gain eternal life, all we have...

read more

Mentally Preparing for Passover

6 aYour boasting is not good. bDo you not know that ca little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?7 Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our aPassover also has been sacrificed.8 Let us therefore...

read more

Because you are Obedient to Torah Part 2

Picking up from the previous section of Deuteronomy 7:12-8:10: 7:12--there is a 3-part requirement related to Torah observance: (1) listen (i.e., to shama or to hear); (2) keep (i.e., to watch and preserve); and (3) obey (i.e., to do them). What we have here is a...

read more

Because you are Obedient to Torah-Part 1

Because you are Obedient to Torah (Part 1) Greetings Saints, My Daily Torah studies took me to D'varim 7 (Deut 7). Beginning at verse 12, we find Moshe speaking to the nation of Israel from a reassuring perspective. He'd already established the need for them to keep...

read more

Standing Up To The Christian Bullies Part 1

Standing Up to the Christian Bullies Part 1 Commentary on "Hebrew Roots Heresy" Facebook Page One of the posts on this site rails upon Hebraic Roots advocating Christian believers being Torah Observant. This post went out of its way to insist that the New Testament...

read more

Two of Purim’s Greatest Secrets

Happy Purim! Well, here we are in the Month of March which translates to the 12th Biblical Month or the Month of Adar as recorded on the Rood “Astronomically and Agriculturally Corrected Biblical Hebrew Calendar.” At the time of this post it will be the beginning of...

read more

Why Hebraic Roots–An Ongoing Debate–Post 1

Why Hebraic Roots The Messianic/Hebraic Roots of the Christian Faith focuses on what the Father truly has to say to us. Thus, in order to understand what it is the Father has to say to us, it is vital that we somehow come to a place in our lives, existence, etc.,...

read more

Grieve the Holy Spirit?

Don't cause grief to God's Ruach HaKodesh, for he has stamped you as his property until the day of final redemption. (Eph 4:30 CJB) It comes down to us simply giving in to the leading of the Ruach Kodesh in every aspect of our lives. Things are not always going to go...

read more

Doctrine of Baptisms

Doctrine of Baptisms Having just posted the latest episode of Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections where my focus was on baptism or the Doctrine of Baptisms as mentioned in Hebrews 6, a full day later I'm just as fired up about this topic as I was when I recorded and...

read more

Sabbath Thoughts #2

Sabbath Thoughts #2--Baptism and Teachers Calendar--February 14, 2015--the West is celebrating St. Valentine's Day 24th Day of the 11th Biblical Month 6014 (aka: Shevat 5775) Upcoming Feasts and Messianic Celebrations Purim--Est. 03/06/2015 or 14th day of the 12th...

read more

Hanukkah’s Greatest Hidden Secrets Part 2

Part 2--A Case of Anti-Jewish/Anti-Hebrew Sentiments Leading to Christianity's Profound Ignorance On the Keeping of Easter--From the Letter of the Emperor to all those not present at the Council (Found in Eusebius, Vita Const., Lib. iii., 18-20) Jude 1:4 speaks to...

read more

The Love of a Father for His Creation

My Torah studies brought me to Deuteronomy 7: 8 this morning and the passage reads accordingly: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you...

read more

In Yehovah’s Eyes, Size Doesn’t Matter

Continuing my Torah studies, I've come to Deuteronomy 7:7 &8: 7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: 8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would...

read more

The Shema is NOT a Precursor to the Trinity

Read each of these translations of Deuteronomy 6:4 and see for yourself how the Shema (incorrectly referred to by many) states the "oneness of Yehovah:" ASV Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah: (Deu 6:4 ASV) CJB Deuteronomy 6:4 "Sh'ma,...

read more

Speak to Us Yehovah as You did at Horeb

Continuing my Torah studies, I come to Deuteronomy 5: 24 (the corresponding Complete Jewish Bible's verse is 21). The CJB reads as follows: and said, 'Here, ADONAI our God has shown us his glory and his greatness! We have heard his voice coming from the fire, and we...

read more

Deut 4: 9-40–Avoiding Idolatry at any Cost

As I continue my daily Torah studies, I come to Deuteronomy 4:9-40. What follows is a summary for your reference and review, followed by commentary and application: vs 13--He proclaimed His covenant to you which He ordered you to obey, the Ten Words which He wrote on...

read more

America the Beautiful versus Torah

7 For what nation [goy=nation=gentiles] is there so great, who hath God [elohim] so nigh unto them, as the LORD [Yehovah] our God [elohim] is in all things that we call upon him for? 8 And what nation is there so great, that hath *statutes [choq] and judgments...

read more

Keep and Do Torah

6 Keep [shamar-guard, observe, give heed] therefore and do [asah] them; for this is your wisdom [chokmah] and your understanding [biynah] in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding...

read more

Torah Living 37-Yeshua’s Earthly Family

Now the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles) was drawing near. Yeshua's brothers said to him, "Depart from here and go into Yehudaea that your other disciples also may see the works that you do. For there is no man that does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be...

read more

Looking for Signs

As my practice, I began my day with prayer followed by reading Torah. I deter from Torah reading, however, when specific events contained in Rood's Chronological Gospels correspond to our Gregorian calendar date. In this case, events 114 and 115 happen to occur on...

read more

A Case for Eating Out on the Sabbath or Not

A practice that I've begun following of late is incorporating the Michael Rood Chronological Gospels into my regimen of Torah Study. I do this following the Rood Astronomically & Agriculturally Corrected Biblical Hebrew Calendar and looking at the corresponding...

read more

Closing Thoughts and Reflections

Given the extensive treatment of the concept of holiness in the Holy Writ, it is safe to conclude that holiness is not only an important concept to our Father, it must also be an important concept for us—His Children–to understand, discern, guard and of course observe with all the reverence we can muster.

Why? For a few reasons: that which is important to Father must naturally be of importance to us. If we dare call ourselves Children of Yahovah/Yahweh/Yahuah, yet we profane that which Father has deemed holy, we stand the risk of offending Him, marginalizing His Torah and sullying our witness and distinct purpose in this world.

Take for instance the Sabbath, which Father sanctified and separated it as holy and special from the other six-days of the week: when we treat the day as we treat any other day, we have by default violated Abba’s established holiness provision for the day and falsely demonstrated to a profane world that the day is just like any other day. I would submit that the same mindset applies to our observance of Torah, although our observance must be profoundly tempered by the Holy Spirit actively operating in our lives.

I am not in the least advocating Torah worship or any such religiosity that would obviously be a prescription for disaster. What I am advocating, however, is Teshuvah—a heart-felt, zealous, intelligent, uncompromising return to to the ways of our Creator as He originally intended and as our Master taught and modeled for us.

As we grow in the imagine and likeness of our Master, individually and collectively, I look forward, with the greatest of expectations, to being that holy thing that Father has so desperately sought of His people. What an amazing journey we have embarked upon; what an amazing God we serve.

So let us press forward towards that mark of the prize of the high calling of Yahuah in Yeshua HaMashiyach (Philippians 3:14). With the aid of the Ruach Kodesh, bang out and apply this holiness factor in every aspect of our being so that we become that peculiar, holy nation of priests—special possessions of Yah—holy and acceptable to Him—and effectively fulfilling His perfect will in the earth.

Until next time, fellow saints in training, may you be most blessed. Shalom. Shavuatov. Take care.