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The Mixing of Seeds in our Faith

Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections–62

• Torah Studies came across Deut. 22:9-11 where it talks about the mixing of seed and the mixing of fabrics and the mixing of animals to till the soil
• • You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited, the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard. You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together. (ESV)
  • A companion passage to this Deuteronomic passage is Leviticus 19:19: Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee. (KJV)   
• Read multiple times
• Failed to see the relevance since I’m not a farmer
• • the clothing aspect makes absolutely no sense to many in both houses of Christianity and Judaism
  • the mixing of seed simply put is don’t plant different seeds in the same hole of dirt
  • the yoking of different species of beasts of burden, however, seems to resonate with most Christians however and at least we see truth–at the very least–in part reaching a rather large segment of the world
  • • Although Christians might have some modicum of spiritual understanding here–although most have no idea that the concept that Paul talks about being unequally yoked in 2 Corinthians is based upon this passage of Torah because the Church doesn’t realize it in most cases–they still fail to be obedient in exercising this instruction
• Pretty good guess that much of the world today has no clear understanding of the relevance of this concept of mixing seed, mixing animals and fabric, regardless if you are Christian, Catholic or Jew
• Truth of the matter is that there is significant relevance here in these 3 brief sentences, more so to the Natsariym, than any other people of faith in this world
• The thing that we as Natsariym must be acutely aware of is that Torah in and of itself is Father’s instruction book for life on this planet

Mixing fabrics is demonstrative of mixing spiritual influences in our lives

• • When Torah was given to us in the Sinai, much of the instruction was given in terms of agricultural meanings
  • Much of it was given to us in preparation for our entering the land of promise
  • To those of us living in those times, all of the instruction provided by Yahovah would have been readily and very easily understood by us, for we all would have had extensive agricultural experience
• Today, a great deal of the instruction handed down to us in Torah is foreign and not easily understood. And much of that which is understood is often discarded as having absolutely no relevance to us today–so we quickly read past or even over these amazing passages of truth
• • In doing so–going past or reading over passages of Torah–we miss essential instructions for Torah Living Yeshua-style (as opposed to Rabbi-style)
• But the truth of the matter is that Father in His infinite wisdom made Torah relevant to anyone who has an ear to hear, eyes to see and a heart and mind to receive

The yoking of different beasts of burden denotes our fellowshiping with those not of our Faith

• • Probably one of the greatest reasons Christians and even most Jews reject the applicability of Torah today–apart from Christians citing the erroneous mantra that the Law was done away with at the cross of Mithra and that Jesus kept Torah perfectly so that they don’t have to–apart from Jews just not caring anymore about their beloved Faith and mixing the seeds of secularism into their heritage and faith–is that they are unwilling to open themselves up to the teachings of Master Yahshua and the revelation and leading of the Ruach Kodesh and see the bigger picture at play here
  • • indeed, blindness in part that Shaul wrote about in Romans 11:25
  • You see, when we were learning how to live Yah’s way as we wondered in the Sinai in preparation for entering the land, we were as children having had little to no upbringing
  • Father in His infinite wisdom realized this and simply gave us His instructions for living as it would apply to us in our present state
  • • We couldn’t handle more than milk at the time
    • Adding a spiritual and general life application to Torah would have simply resulted in information overload
    • •  I’m a firm believer that Father touches us in whatever place we are found at the time to deliver to us His Word and His instructions
      • Are we in a position to receive and obey those instructions, that is the billion dollar question
    • And even after 3,500-years, Jews (really Israeli’s) still are subsisting–if we can really call it subsisting since they pretty much all but reject Torah–on the milk of Torah which the Rabbis have taken and denatured, re-processed, and reformulated into the Talmud and Mishnah–the so-called wall around Torah
    • • Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. ² And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. ³ For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. ⁴ And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables. ⁵ Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? ⁶ He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. ⁷ Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. ⁸ For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. ⁹ And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: ¹¹ But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. ¹² And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; ¹³ Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
         (Mar 7:1-13 KJV)
    • Father never instructed or required us to erect walls around Torah, although the original intention might have been noble. Nevertheless, it served only to bring about a different Faith–actually a religion–that would lead a wandering nation down a path towards destruction–away from Yahovah–out of and away from his will
• The amazing truth of the matter folks is that Christianity and even Judaism has failed to see one of the greatest aspects of Master Yeshua’s earthly ministry and that was to show us how to live Torah the way Father had always intended

The Mixing of seeds denotes the mixing of truth and fiction/paganism/traditions

• • That is to take us away from the milk of baseline Torah living, manifested in mindless-rote Torah obedience–based not on love of or for Father, but out of fear or out of tradition (that is because I was raised a Jew or raised a Baptist)
  • • In that sense, yes, the Law has been done away with–for Yeshua has greatly raised the stakes folks or Torah living
    • •  ²⁷ Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: ²⁸ But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. ²⁹ And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. ³⁰ And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. ³¹ It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: ³² But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. ³³ Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: ³⁴ But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: ³⁵ Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. ³⁷ But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. ³⁸ Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: ³⁹ But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁴⁰ And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. ⁴¹ And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. ⁴² Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. ⁴³ Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. ⁴⁴ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; ⁴⁵ That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶ For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? ⁴⁷ And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? ⁴⁸ Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. (Mat 5:27-48 KJV)
  •  Both Jew and Christian have failed to clearly see and understand this simple Truth
  • Torah in its broadest application was intended to help us build that true–thriving–flourishing–and powerful relationship with the Father that only just a handful of people who have ever lived have experienced
  • • These are true friends of Yah, not just adherents to a Faith that is often fraught with the mixing of seed
• It is my humble opinion that the reason we fail to experience a true relationship with Father–that our day-to-day lives are often fraught with problems and challenges–that we are so confused about who and what we are–often doing that which we should never do–is because our lives and our Faith is tainted with mixed seed–mixed relationships–mixed loyalties–mixed everything
• • Very little in our lives is ever pure and undefiled
  • And that defilement–that mixture is the work of hasatan who began his destructive work of mixing seed in the garden and from that point forward, the world has gone into complete and utter disrepair
  • • But Master is returning and He has been given the authority to return the world to the state that it was originally made to be by Father–when He said “it is good”
• Father made everything after its own kind–he did not make hybrids to function on this earthly plain
• • Although He is making us hybrids from the perspective that we are human beings with Father’s precious Ruach HaKodesh dwelling within us
  • • But that is only temporary, for we will be translated into a pure and unimaginable to man:  ⁴⁵ And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. ⁴⁶ Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. ⁴⁸ As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. ⁴⁹ And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. ⁵⁰ Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. ⁵¹ Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (1Co 15:45-54 KJV)
• The concept of Seed=Literal seed that produces fruits and vegetables, is also likened unto the Word of the Creator
• • Horrendous problems with the mixing of seeds as we see today in GMO’s and other hybrid agriculture
  • • Health issues
    • Father did not provide for an alteration in his setup for agriculture and thus in so doing, man is in complete and utter violation of Torah
  • The Master taught us about the spreading of the Word and likened it unto seed. But we know that when the Word of Yahovah is diluted with incompatible teachings, doctrines and beliefs as we saw in the Judaism of our Master’s day (and even in the Judaism of our day), all that comes out of this mixing of truth with fiction and paganism and man made dogma is a holy mess that leads people away from the Creator and over to the enemy
  • • Christianity–Protestantism; then Catholicism (really good example); Judaism, as we saw in Messiah’s day–all took the framework of Torah and the Tanak and the writings of the Apostles and introduced paganism–pagan beliefs, teachings and doctrines–even in modern day Messianic Judaism, we see how that Faith has detoured from the true Faith once delivered because of the emphasis on manmade doctrine mixed with just a slight smattering of Torah-truth
    • Christmas being the birthday of Jesus Christ–but the original holiday has nothing to do with the birth of the Messiah
    • Easter Sunday being the Day our Lord and Saviour was resurrected when in reality the day denotes pagan Babylonian practices and mythology
  • The Word of the Creator, especially His Torah, must remain pure and unsullied of the whims and imaginations and personal ambitions of man. The only person who was permitted to address Torah from the perspective of application and truth was Yeshua Messiah who changed nothing from the original teachings, but demonstrated and taught us the original intent of the Torah so that we would live in accordance with the desires and requirements of our Creator–such that we may establish and maintain a true and meaningful relationship with Him
• Yoking together different beasts of burden=certainly has practical applications associated with it, but from a more spiritual perspective, it beautifully crosses over into relationships
• • There are concerns in rabbinic teaching that this prohibition was intended to show compassion for the beasts tilling the soil, given that two different animal species would not operate in the same manner and create a mess
  • • Father never intended again the mixing of animal species, be it in reproduction or in use
  • This is probably one of the most challenging of the 3 prohibitions with spiritual applications: for our carnal nature pulls us to establish and maintain relationships with individuals who do not share our Faith. It is these unequally yoked relationships that have the tendency of:
  • • pulling us away from the purity of the Faith by pushing us to compromise our convictions
    • compromise in our obedience to Father’s instructions because we simply don’t want to hurt or harm peoples’ feelings or we just feel comfortable with certain people and we’re willing to compromise just so that we are not inconvenienced
    •  or how about those in our circles who might be members of our Faith and even our Faith community who for whatever reason or manner simply don’t add positively to our walk with Messiah–these cause problems in the assembly and cause our walk to be compromised?
  • Paul taught a Torah principle here: 2Co 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?  
• Linen and Wool=some contend, as I found in www.ourrabbijesus.com, that the prohibition of wool and linen had to do with restricting two items of clothes worn by the Levitical Priests–on item made of wool and another made with linen–restricting those items from the lay folk and keeping them solely in the domain of the priests. But a careful read of Deu. 22:11 indicates that “you shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together.”
• • This verse to me is saying that the fabric that a single cloth is made from can not be made of wool and linen; as we have today with our clothes being made of a mixture of polyester, wool, cotton and other items
  • Interestingly enough, and I agree with ucg.org’s take on this issue, science has revealed that certain mixtures of fabrics can cause imbalances in our bodies such as raising body temperatures or causing other physiological imbalances
  • To me, then, this could tie into mixing spiritual influences in our lives–when we walk this walk, are we introducing spiritual influences into our being, psyche, heart and mind that can detract from our overall Godly spiritual wellbeing?
• Bottom line Saints: Torah requires that we not take Father’s creation and alter it–that we not mess around with nature. Furthermore, we are not to mess around with His Word and the Faith that was brought to us by Yeshua Messiah
• • Yet man has taken the manipulation of nature to the greatest level known in history
  • • GMOs are now mainstream in our food stores
    • things that we consume are also made in labs
    •  human organs and tissues are being grown in pigs as well as well as they are being manipulated through the mixing in of technology–computer chips and the like–as well as mixing DNA from animals in with the DNA of humans
    • is it not understandable then that we have such widespread physical and psychological problems in the world today?
  • But then we have the mixing of spiritual and faith-related things. We have the Faith once delivered being mixed with paganism and manmade agendas and beliefs and the like. People are taking the Word of the Almighty and mixing in concepts and man made traditions, dogma and beliefs. The end result is a bastardization of the truth that only comes from Yahovah
  • • What about the things that many in our Faith have latched on to that have no Torah-basis whatsoever such as lunar sabbaths and other foolish dogmas that are mixed in with the truth of Scripture?
    • • The end result is that we have members of our community utterly clueless of what they are supposed to do; they are heavily distracted; they are completely misaligned and are only taking their lives down a path of certain doom and destruction
  • In our personal walk with Yahshua Messiah, we mix in carnal living with Torah living. The end result is that we live compromised lives that are not in alignment with Torah living. Many of us align ourselves with people that are not  true believers of Yeshua Messiah
  • •  Shaul warned us to not be partakers with them–Ephesians 5:7
    • He further admonished us to not have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness–all types of entertainment; relationships; careers; behaviors; social norms; belief systems–Ephesians 5:11; 1 Corinthians 5:9; 1 John 1:6
• I believe the mixing of seeds–be they of nature or of food or of clothing–violates Torah. At the same time, the mixing of spiritual, relational and biblical seed not only violates the spirit of Torah, but also compromises our witness and our walk with Messiah
• We must constantly be on guard not to mix seed in our Torah living–that is Torah Living Yeshua-style
• • We can not afford to give one inch to the enemy who seeks to take away that which we’ve gained
  • to take advantage of the cares of this world to rob us of our focus
  • that we be fully sidetracked and invested in the world such that when times of trouble come, we stumble and fall away from the Faith
• May our testimony remain forever intact through our refusal to allow the mixing of seed in all and in every aspect of our lives
• Master taught of the principle of the Word of Yahovah being planted in the lives of potential believers through the parables of the sower and the seeds found in Matthew 13:10-53; Mark 4:10-34; and Luke 8:9-18
• • Master provided 4-scenarios for the direction that the planting of the Word in our lives could go–it’s that mixture of the variables of this life into the pure seed base which is the Word that sullies and makes of no effect the fruit that should be manifested in our lives
  • (1) the planting of the pure Word fails to penetrate our thick skulls in the first place and any chance of a firm implantation is removed by hasatan who comes and steals the word away from us (the wayside)
  • (2) we receive the unadulterated seed in our lives and we intend to allow that seed to germinate and manifest in good fruit (i.e., good works) in our lives, but when hard times come we are offended (or maybe better stated–we stumble and depart from the way (the stony ground)
  • (3) then there are those of us where the pure seed–the Word takes hold within us, but the cares of life (e.g., the desire for wealth, career, relationships, power, status, making it, lusts, etc.) strangle and choke away any chance of viable fruit being manifested in our lives (thorny ground)
  • • It is this mixture of elements that prevent us from ever having a fair chance in our Spirit Walk and Torah Living
• But then, some of us find ourselves at a place in life whereby the pure-unadulterated Word of Truth and Life is able to take hold in firm fertile soil within us: strong and viable roots take hold and the Ruach is allowed to till and weed and nurture that which has been revealed to us to the point where luscious, beautiful and wonderful fruit is manifested in our lives and our walk with Messiah and our relationship with the Almighty is beyond that of any others in the world–we become true friends of Yahovah–His amazing workmanship–His treasured possession–the culmination of His purpose and desire for mankind
• If we take the parable of the sower at face value, less than 25% of us will ever manifest this fruit in the world.
• • These will be gathered into the barn in a great joyful harvest (Matthew 13:30)
  • The other 75% will be gathered and bundled and burned–the tares as Master described them
• Father is insistent upon His people being pure and not hybrids of this world. He’s calling for purity of heart; purity of mind; purity of behavior–to such an extent that we achieve the original goal and purpose of Torah, the covenant and the working of the Ruach Kodesh in our lives: ⁵ Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: ⁶ And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. (Exo 19:5-6 KJV)
• In so achieving that goal and purpose, let us be careful not to allow mixtures to invalidate our witness in the world, otherwise we lose the whole ball of wax. Master taught:
• • “Take heed and listen carefully: Whoever obeys, to him shall more be given. Whoever does not obey, even what he seems to have will be taken away from him” (Luke 8:18, CKJV)