Who and What is Yeshua Messiah-My Personal Perspective on the Person of Yeshua Messiah

by | May 16, 2021 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

Recently, a dear sister discovered this ministry through our website, www.themessianictorahobserver.org. She reached out to me via a couple email messages. And she posed the question: Who or what I believe Yeshua Messiah to be?

 

And she prefaced her question by informing me, along with some other information that I’ll not mention, that she had perused our website, but could not find the answer to her question.

 

I knew immediately what she was asking me. And I realized right then and there that this was a topic or issue I needed to re-address, sooner than later.

 

Now, I actually published two posts that addressed this issue: The first one on 12/3/2016, and that one was entitled simply the Divinity of Yeshua Messiah, Part 1. I apparently did not post a 2nd or concluding part to this post. However, I did another post entitled, “My Last Word on the Cepher Bible and the Divinity of Yeshua Messiah-Till Next Time,” which I posted on 1/4/2019. (If you are so led, I would invite you to check out either or both of those posts.)

 

Obviously, I did not do justice to this topic and that’s probably not acceptable. At least not acceptable to me.

 

My understanding of who and what Yeshua Messiah is, in the grand spiritual scheme of things means nothing. But to you, my listeners and readers, it is important that you understand and know where I presently stand on this topic. It’s important to you because it will give you a reference point and help you understand, in some ways, how and why and from what perspective I frame certain Yeshua-related topics and issues.

 

Now, I will say at this juncture, that my understanding of the Person of Yeshua Messiah does not jive with the understanding that some brethren in our Faith Community have.

 

I would describe my understanding of the Person of Yeshua Messiah as “scripturally pragmatic.” In other words, my understanding of the Person of Yeshua Messiah is based exclusively on the identification He either gave or affirmed of Himself to us, as well as the Creator’s identification of who Yeshua was and is. To me, this is the only criteria I need to establish my understanding of who and what Yeshua Messiah was and is.

 

When I was in Denominational Christianity, I based my understanding of the Person of Yeshua Messiah on the teachings and traditions of the handful of denominations I was a part of. And generally speaking, that understanding was trinitarian based. However, prior to my coming into this beloved Faith of ours, I began having serious doubts about the biblical accuracy of the Trinitarian Concept and my understanding of the Person of Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ at the time) became uncertain.

 

Upon my coming into the fringe area of our Faith Community that houses the splinter groups of Herbert W. Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God—namely United Church of God and the Church of God, International—my understanding of the Person of Yeshua Messiah shifted.

 

It was in these groups that I came to partially accept the so-called Binarian or Binary Nature of God—God the Father and God the Son, although I still struggled with assigning Yeshua the title “God.”

 

 

But it wasn’t until I transitioned out of the Churches of God and began receiving substantive, meat level teachings from some of our Communities most prominent teachers that my understanding of the Person of Yeshua finally moderated. And allow me to just say: My understanding of the Person of Yeshua Messiah didn’t moderate because of the doctrine or teaching of these Messianic/Hebrew Roots teachers. My understanding shifted because I had finally become free from the influence and indoctrination of organized religion for the first time in my life.

 

The other thing I will admit to you is that I am still a student of this critical subject of our Faith. I don’t pretend one bit to think that I know all there is to know about the subject. For the truth of the matter is, I only know what I know.

 

Thus, I don’t feel that I am in any place to criticize brothers or sisters of our Faith as it relates to their understanding of the Person of Messiah, just as long as we can agree on the basic Truths of who He was and is:

 

  • He was born of a virgin through the agency of the Holy Spirit (Mat. 1:20; Luk. 1:35).
  • He is the Son of the Living Elohim (Mat. 16:16; Joh. 6:69).
  • He bled suffered and died for our sins and His Heavenly Father raised Him from the dead on the 3rd day.
  • He has been exalted above all creation where He sits at the right-hand of the Creator and intercedes on our behalf before YHVH (Act. 2:33; 5:31; Phi. 2:9; Heb. 7:25; 9:24).
  • And He was without sin (Heb. 4:15; 9:28).

 

By the way, I did respond to the dear sister’s inquiry. And it is my response to her inquiry that I will frame my discussion here today.

 

I’d like to begin the discussion first and foremost by stating my understanding of the prevailing theories as it relates to the identity of Yeshua. Some of these “theories” are based upon the various rulings by the early Catholic Church (aka the Church Triumphant) through the leadership and influences of the so-called [Patristic] Church fathers.

 

The Trinity=There appears to be at least 2 primary lines of thought regarding Yeshua’s relationship to a Trinity.

 

The first is a Godhead that consists of 3 co-existing Entities or Persons. These Entities or Persons make up this Godhead and they include, of course: The Father, The Son and the Holy Ghost. Each Person in this Godhead is equal in every respect, but they are said to execute different functions in the work of redemption, salvation and restoration.

 

The Trinity is not in any true sense biblical, although those who hold to this understanding of God and Jesus contend that scripture heavily points to the Trinity as the only viable understanding of the Persons of Yeshua and YHVH.

 

Another aspect of The Trinity has the Godhead consisting of One God or Entity. This one God or Entity, however, functions in 3-differing capacities. Those 3-differing capacities are often described separately by employing the title “God” and a definite article such as: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Contrary to the previous iteration of the Trinity where there were 3-separate, but equal Persons or Entities, this form of the trinity has just One Person or Entity who serves 3-roles, depending on which role is at play at any given time in creation history. The visual example that was given to me that best describes how this manifestation of the trinity can be understood involves “water.” We know that water can take on a solid form which we know to be ice; a liquid form which we know to be water; and a gaseous form which we know to be steam. I guess one could say that this iteration of the Trinity is a form of “monotheism,” whereby there is one supreme Being. But this supreme Being functions in varying capacities or roles. 

 

Next we have what can only be labeled as a Binary understanding of Yeshua. The binary theory holds that the Godhead consists of 2 co-existing persons: God the Father or Creator and His Son, the Messiah. These are equal Persons in a 2-Person Godhead, although the Son is said to have willfully subordinated His authority and power to the Father or the Creator. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is simply the Spirit of God, which is not a Person or Entity of that Godhead. In this theory, Yeshua has always existed and worked with and for the Creator or Father.

 

There seems to be another form of Binarianism, which borders greatly on monotheism. It borders on monotheism because this theory holds that there is just a single God who functions as either the Creator (or Father) or as the Son (or Savior). Sort of like that second form of Trinitarianism. In this form of binarianism, Yeshua is both Messiah and the Creator: or better, Yeshua and Yehovah are one in the same Person. In certain Evangelical circles, this theory was or is known as “Jesus Only.”

 

Lastly there’s Monotheism, which holds that YHVH is the only God or Elohim. Yeshua, on the other hand, is His Son who Yah has exalted to His right hand and given Him His Name (Adoptionism). The thing about Monotheism is that it can be manipulated to include both the trinitarian and binarian theories. And it is capable of housing both theories because the various proponents of these theories hold that there is indeed just One God. However, they will proffer, the One God is manifested in three or two Persons. One version takes the liberty of stating that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost all consist of the same divine substance—cut from the same divine cloth. And so forth.

 

Who and What I Believe Yeshua Not to Be

 

So, having now dispensed of that denominational noise, let me get to the crux of the discussion for today. And I’ll start by discussing who and what I believe Yeshua NOT to be.

 

I believe wholeheartedly that Yahoshua is NOT the Creator of the Universe. He is not YHVH, although YHVH His Father gave Yahoshua His Name. And yes, I get the whole John 1:1 and other similar passages that seem to suggest that our Master was the Creator of the Universe; that He, being the Word from the very beginning; that He was with God; and that He was God, and that He created all things. But my position on such passages is that what many believe these passages are saying regarding Yeshua being the Creator of all things, is not what the original authors meant when they penned their witnesses.

 

I believe to place Yeshua on equal par—equal footing–with YHVH, when neither He nor YHVH attested to such a thing–would run contrary to YHVH’s Torah, in particular Deuteronomy 6:4, 5. (Reference my recent blog post on Parashah 130 where we discussed in some detail the Shema.) 

 

I contend that passages such as John 1:1 that English translators have worded in such a way that supports a multi-Person, co-reigning and co-equal powered Godhead are not what they are perceived by many to reveal about our Master and His relationship with the Eternal. For I truly believe what we have here in these passages are most likely linguistic-challenges (such as phraseology and word order and such) that are often seized upon by savvy teachers and so-called apologists who use these difficult verses to promote their doctrinal agendas such as the Trinity.

 

The nature of our modern English language often runs afoul with the unfamiliar, unique nature of the Hebrew and the Koine Greek. And it is this disparate nature between the languages that often leave room for interpreters to re-imagine for the reader what the original writer was actually trying to convey.

 

Things such as word order, punctuation placement, and archaic turn of phrases, often present challenges and impediments to a true and accurate understanding of scripture. And certainly the best way to overcome these uncertain challenges is to allow the whole of scripture to interpret itself and not read into those challenging passages the things we want them to say.

 

Abba said that He is the only true and living God and that there is no other. And so, why is it that these aforementioned savvy teachers and apologists feel they must work around definitive scriptural passages such as Deuteronomy 6:4, 5 (I.e., the Shema) and the very words our Master used to identify and describe Himself as the Messiah, Son of the (One) Living Elohim, in order to make the man Yeshua Messiah Someone and Something He obviously is and was not?

 

Even Shaul reminded his mentee Timothy:

 

For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, (1Ti 2:5 ASV)

I have to say that a safe haven for the true student of scripture when it comes to such challenging scriptural topics and issues as the one we’re discussing here today is for him/her to ask him/herself if any of Yeshua’s disciples understood Yeshua to be YHVH or another God in a Godhead? Probably not.

 

And another thing I mention here as well is that I reject this whole idea of progressive revelation card that many well meaning folks have given as their excuse for reading into scripture a Greek or Roman god identity for Yeshua Messiah.

 

Now, Abba willing, sometime in the future I’ll share my understanding of John 1 with you. But for now, in order that we stay on topic and not go down too many rabbit-holes, I’ll simply say, regarding John 1:1, that I do not believe Yochanan is making the definitive statement that Yahoshua and YHVH are one and the same Person. I, in fact, believe quite the opposite: That Yochanan is actually expressing a view that Yeshua and YHVH are NOT one and the same Person or that Yeshua is the Creator of the Universe.

 

Furthermore, I do NOT believe that our Master was the “Angel of the LORD” as mentioned and described throughout Scripture. For nowhere in scripture are we told that Yeshua started out as an angel or messenger. Those who believe Yeshua was the Angel of the LORD are essentially nullifying or dismissing the Trinitarians’ and Binarians’ position that Yeshua co-existed alongside or with YHVH before time began–that He is without beginning nor without end. There are at least two reasons I would argue: (1) Because angels are created beings. And (2), the Angel of the Lord appears in the Brit-Hadashah on a couple occasions contemporaneously with Yahoshua here on earth. The whole Angel of the Lord being Yeshua Messiah just doesn’t work.

 

Along the lines of an angelic origin for our Master, Yeshua is NOT the brother or of any relation to Lucifer. There is No scriptural backing for such blasphemous thinking. This I believe is a doctrine of Mormonism exclusively.

 

And contrary to the thinking of some in modern academia, Yeshua is not the product of a union between Miriam (His mother Mary) and some unnamed Roman soldier. Nor did Yeshua marry Mary Magdalene and produce a line of children as suggested in the popular Dan Brown novels surrounding the DaVinci Code.

 

There are other points as to Who Yeshua is not that I could go into, but I’ll simply leave it at what we’ve just discussed.

 

Where I Stand on the Question of Who or What is Yeshua

 

Moving on: At the further risk of alienating some, I will state emphatically that I am a staunch “Monotheist.” By that I specifically mean the following:

 

I subscribe to the understanding that the so-called “Shema” of Deuteronomy 6:4,5—Hear O’ Yisra’el, YHVH your Elohim is One”—means what it seems to be clearly saying: There is no other God but YHVH. Period. This does not leave any room, in my mind that is, for Yeshua being God—that is, equal to YHVH; co-existing from eternity with YHVH and such. For me, my understanding and position on YHVH as the One True and Living Elohim leaves no room for Yeshua being one and the same Person as YHVH. It leaves no room for three-co-existing, co-equal members of a so-called Godhead. 

So where does that leave Yeshua for me?

Well, my understanding of the Person of Yeshua is built solely upon scripture’s direct description or identification of Who He is. I find the opinions of the Patristic Church Fathers and the various Christian denominations on this subject interesting. But that’s pretty much where I end my affiliations and references to them on this subject.

Yeshua Is Messiah (the Christ)

 

I’ll start off with: Yeshua Himself affirmed and even declared to us that He is the Messiah (aka the Mashiyach; Mat. 16:16-20; Mar. 8:29; Luk. 9:20; 22:64; Joh. 4:42; 10:24-26; 11:25-27).

 

Mashiyach/HaMashiyach or Messiah simply means “the anointed One.” The reference to one being “anointed” simply means that individual has received a special calling or appointment from YHVH. King David was described as an anointed one (Psm. 28:8).

 

No, I do get that Yeshua being the Mashiyach or Messiah carries with it a much higher calling or appointment from Yah than any other human being who has ever lived. His calling or appointment was established from the very beginning of time. (Now, we could get into a detailed study on the concept and term of Mashiyach and anointed, but for the sake of not getting off topic, we will visit that subject at another time.)

 

Yeshua is the Son of the Living God

 

Secondly, scripture affirms that Yahoshua is the Son of the Living God (Mat. 16:16; Joh. 6:69). 

Yehovah certified our Master Yeshua to be His beloved Son, of whom He was well pleased (Mat. 3:17; 17:5; Mar. 1:11; 9:7; Luk. 3:22; 9:35).

 

Son of Man—Lord—I Am Descriptors Can Be Misleading

 

I won’t comment here on the miscellaneous titles and descriptors that were used either by Yahoshua or others to describe or identify Him such as “Son of Man,” “Lord” or “kurios,” and the utterance “I Am.” These elements require a ton more unpacking than I wish to devote here in this discussion. But suffice to say, from my perspective, the lack of clear, truthful/transparent understanding of the context and language in which these elements were used, has led to a great many folks of Faith falling for the various denominationally derived explanations or descriptions of our Master. 

 

Yeshua is the Last Adam

 

Along the lines of Yahoshua being referred to as a Son of Man, the Apostle Paul described Yeshua as the 2nd or “Last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45). And it is this perspective of Yeshua being the Last Adam that we find the Apostle in a handful of his writings describing Yeshua in relation to Adam (the first human) (Rom. 5:14; I Cor. 15:22, 45). And this plays heavily in my understanding of Who and What Yeshua is. For in Shaul’s handful of Adam references in relation to Yeshua, we get this beautiful understanding that Yeshua is the start of a whole new line of humans who have been adopted as children of the Most High. And if Yeshua is YHVH or God (let’s say), there is a major disconnect in this whole stream of understanding of YHVH bringing His human creation into a true and substantive covenant relationship with Him: Not by Him physically putting on flesh and coming down to earth and dying for human-kind’s sins, but through a special human being who would pick-up where Adam utterly failed.

 

The Exalted One at the Right Hand of the Most High

 

Other writings describe Yahoshua as the most unique, special man to have every lived. Special because He was without sin (I.e., sinless) and because of His miraculous birth (He had His mother’s human DNA and His Father’s divine DNA—let’s say). So yes, in a sense, our Master was of divine origin since half of His DNA make-up came from the Creator of the Universe. But let us not forget that the first Adam was also of divine origin as well, having received his life force directly from the breath of YHVH.

 

But getting back to the uniqueness of Master Yeshua, it was his unwavering obedience to His Father’s Will, even unto His death, that Yeshua—the anointed one–was exalted to Yah’s right hand where He also serves as our intercessor and mediator in the heavenly Temple (Psa. 110; Rom. 5:15; Act. 2:33; 5:31; I Tim. 2:5; Heb. 8:6; 9:15; 12:24).

 

Personal Beliefs About the Person of Yeshua Beyond Scripture

 

Outside of scripture, what do I personally believe about Yeshua?

 

Well, I don’t believe He is a member of a so-called Trinity nor Binary Godhead as denominational Christianity teaches. I believe, however, that Yeshua was in the heart, mind and purpose of our Father, Yehovah, from the creation of time (Joh. 1:1). How that actually manifested—whether He existed in some form beyond Father’s thoughts and heart and purpose or plan, scripture does not say. But I do believe He is a created Being, albeit the most unique created being of all creation.

I do not believe that Yeshua and Yehovah are one and the same Being. For YHVH our Elohim (God) is eternal and He cannot die. Our Master died for our sins and it took His Heavenly Father to raise Him from the grave.

Riddle Me This Batman

During His Personal ministry, our Master was adamant that He received His marching orders directly from His Father. Furthermore, He prayed to His Father and clearly stated that He did not know when He would return and establish His millennial kingdom, as that information belonged exclusively to the Father.

So riddle me this batman: If indeed Yeshua and YHVH are somehow one and the same Person in some unified Godhead, was He receiving His marching orders from Himself? Was Master praying to Himself? And if He was the Creator of the Universe, why did He not know the details of His own Plan of Salvation, Restoration and Redemption?

Furthermore, our Elohim cannot be tempted nor does He tempt any human being as recorded in James 1:13. But we know that our Master was tempted in every way by the Enemy. But praise be to Yah the Eternal Yahoshua overcame those temptations and proved worthy of His calling as the Prophet (Deu. 18:15-18), the Mashiyach (Heb. 4:15) and the Lamb that took away the sins of the world (Joh. 1:29, 36).

By virtue of Yeshua—a special, unique human being–being sinless, He was indeed worthy to atone for our sins—to serve as propitiation for sinful human beings; to stand in our stead and take on our sins so that we, members of His human creation, may be restored to a right relationship with our awesome Creator. Praise Yah! Halleluyah!

I see this as the greatest news to have ever come to the hearing of Yah’s human creation. In every sense, it is the Gospel. For if our Master was indeed a human being which I wholly believe Him to be—albeit the most unique human being to ever grace this planet for the above stated reasons—we have the divine opportunity to be like Him—to walk as He did—to resist sin as He did (for we have Father’s Holy Spirit as Yeshua did)—to do great works, even greater than He did declared our Master (Joh. 14:12)—we are even authorized through His mighty, powerful and holy Name to do that which He instructs us to do.

If, on the other hand Yahoshua and YHVH were one and the same Person, we are asked, as Yah’s elect, to fill a very tall-order: to do greater works than that of the Creator of the Universe. Just saying. But if Yeshua was indeed human, we have a very real and workable example in Him: to conform to His image, which is the image that Father has always wanted us to conform to.

Aside from His sinlessness and unwavering righteousness, I believe Yeshua had His Father’s eyes (to borrow from a popular Christian song of I believe the 70’s). While being fully human, He possessed His Daddy’s Ways; His mind, heart and the love He possessed for His human creation. We know from the Gospel record that He was filled with the Holy Spirit (Luk. 4:1). Furthermore, He was the human manifestation or expressed manifestation of His Father’s divine character (Joh. 14:9) as well as He was the Perfect human that Yah requires us all who would be His child to be like (Rom . 8:29).

I, of course, could go on and on. Nevertheless, I recognize that my position on the Person of Yeshua Messiah runs contrary to many peoples’ thinking. And I’m okay with that. And I’ll also add that I’m still searching, like many of you, as to the most complete understanding of the Person of Yeshua that our Heavenly Father would entrust me with. I do believe that to a great extent, much about Who and What He was and is today remains a mystery that will be revealed to us when He comes and establishes His millennial kingdom. But for now, I am resting on this stated understanding until such time Father reveals differently.

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Yeshua-The Bread of Life-Torah Reading-132

by | May 14, 2021 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer's Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections

Introduction to Parashah 132—Yeshua, the Bread of Life

 

Our Parshah this week, under the 3-year Torah Reading cycle, is found in Deuteronomy 8:1-20. The most prominent verse in the reading is verse 3:

 

“Thou shalt not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the Mouth of YHVH.”

 

And we’ll talk more about this verse in just a few.

 

The accompanying Haftorah is Jeremiah 9:22-26. (Read.) It reminds us not to glory in ourselves such as in our accomplishments. Instead, we are to glory in the fact that we know YHVH. Another way of looking at it: Glory that we have a true relationship with the Creator of the Universe.

 

Our Apostolic Passage is found in Yochanan 15:8-10 (Read). Master taught us that when we keep His commandments, we abide in His love. But what does abiding in His love look like? What does He mean by that statement.

 

It essentially means that we are kept safe and security from the dangers and curses that often befall those who are not under His umbrella of spiritual protection and oversight. How this plays out in relation to our Torah Reading today will become evident as we progress, but the bare essential, obvious understanding that must be grasped here is that when Yah’s elect walk steadfastly in obedience to Yah’s covenant through Yeshua Messiah and the work of Yah’s precious Ruach HaKodesh, they are taken care of. They are secure. We are abiding in Master’s love.

 

Now, none of this is to say that we won’t run into life’s problems from time-to-time. We are not entirely immune to life’s issues. However, when we are walking in obedient, faithful covenant—we are abiding in Master’s Love—we are not slaves to the whims of this life. When the whims of this life attempt to overtake us, we have the means to overcome those nuisances. We simply take it to Abba, through Yeshua, and He promises us that He will take care of those things for us.

 

Master instructed us to “Seek first the Kingdom of Yah and His righteousness.” And in so doing, “all these things—the cares and concerns of this life—will be added to us” (Mat. 6:33).

 

But we have to keep His commandments in order for us to walk in His love. And oh by the way: Our Master’s commandments are the exact same commandments as our Father’s Torah Commandments. Master simply took His Father’s commandments and brought them to us in their fullest manifestation and understanding. Praise Yah!

 

Our Torah Reading

 

Found this week in Deuteronomy 8 (Read).

 

We Are to Observe and Do All of His Commandments

 

Torah sustains and perpetuates life (vs. 1). It was THE essential key to our taking possession of the Land of Promise. By default, it is also the key to our receiving and entering the Kingdom of YHVH.

 

 

Shamar—Guard Father’s Commandments

 

Father commands us to “guard” (the Hebrew is “shamar” which means to protect or take care of) in order that we may do all of His commandments. There is a strict order at play here. First order of business, we are to protect or guard Father’s commandments. Then, the second order of business is that we simply do them. Guarding/protecting Yah’s commandments are as important as doing them.

 

We “shamar” or guard/protect Yah’s commandments in a couple simple ways: (1) We study Yah’s Word. (2) We order our lives in such a way that it is conducive to walking out His Word (e.g., set-aside prayer and study time; preparation for the weekly Sabbath and annual Feasts of YHVH; ridding our homes of ungodly things and creating an environment that is inviting to Yah’s presence; etc).

 

Every Applicable Commandment Must Be Kept

 

The understanding that must be had in Abba’s commandment that we do all of His commandments is that we must be diligent to keep each applicable commandment. No picking and choosing of which commandments we want to keep or not is allowed.

 

Messianic Torah teacher Tim Hegg describes the commandments of Yah as “a single entity, woven together into a single cloth.” Thus, within the Hebrew mindset, it is not unusual for a writer to refer to Torah as simply the “Commandment”:

 

“And He (Yeshua) answered and said to them (the Jewish leaders), ‘Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of YHVH for the sake of your tradition’” (Matt. 15:3)?

 

“So then, the Torah is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good” (Rom. 7:12).

 

 

No Division Whatsoever in Torah

 

Contrary to religious conventional wisdom, it is evident that Father desired that His Torah be understood from the perspective of a “unified whole” (Hegg).

 

However, various religious entitles throughout the centuries have taken it upon themselves to break the Torah up into sections or categories:

 

The Book of the Law versus the Book of the Covenant; the moral laws; the civil laws and the ceremonial laws.

 

This is all crazy Tom Foolery stuff in order to fulfill some sort of agenda or religious, denominational purpose that is not of Yah.

 

 

Rehearse—Rehearse—Rehearse

 

Moshe’s recitation of YHVH’s miraculous providence and oversight of Yisra’el during their wilderness wanderings served to bolster our Faith as we prepared to take and receive the Land. The foundation of Faith in YHVH is recognizing and remembering how good He is to us and that He desires to prosper us.

 

But in order for His people to prosper, they must be in His Perfect Will. And to get His people to remain in His Perfect Will, Abba is often forced to exercise tough-love toward them.

 

It is from Jeremiah’s letter to the captive Hebrews in Babylon that we learn why Yah exercises spiritual tough love towards His own:

 

 10 For thus saith YHVH, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith YHVH, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

 14 And I will be found of you, saith YHVH: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith YHVH; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. (Jer 29:10-14 KJV)

 

Abba wants nothing but the best for His beloved. However, His beloved must show that they are worthy of His best. And they show their worthiness by their Faithful obedience to His instructions, even in the midst of hardships. Those hardships may or may not, from time-to-time consist of Abba’s tough love discipline and even tests.

 

Therefore, by extension, if we are truly His children, despite the hardships that seem to befall us from time-to-time (for the aforementioned stated reasons), our Faith in Him must cause us to recognize that He orders every aspect of our lives. And it is during those trying times of testing and disciplining that we have the opportunity prove our spiritual mettle. To prove that we fully trust Him to have our very best interests at heart.

 

Shaul wrote to the Roman Messianics:

 

“And we know that Yah causes all things to work together for good to those who love Yah, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

 

The writer of Hebrews wrote the following regarding Yah’s righteous discipling of His children:

 

“For whom YHVH loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights” (Heb. 12:6).

 

A Parenting Example

 

Yah chastened His first-born son Yisra’el because He wanted the very best for His chosen ones. As Yisra’el’s parent, it fell to Him to correct the child He loved so much, despite the pain that it no doubt caused Him on each occasion of correction.

 

Today, modern western parenting advocates that the best parents are those who allow their children to behave any way that seems right to the child. Many parents are opting to be their children’s friends instead of their parents. Thus, discipline (I.e., corrective and lifestyle discipline) are often withheld. And what we’re seeing as a result are generations of young people with no sense of morals; no sense of purpose; no sense of respect for themselves or others. It’s truly sad and equally frightening to think that these are the so-called future of our society.

 

A Lack of Discipline Leads to Death (Spare the Rod Spoil the Child)

 

The lack of discipline inevitably leads to death: physical; spiritual; moral death. And Abba of course knows that. Thus, He had no other recourse but to discipline Yisra’el on numerous occasions, for the purpose of bringing them back from the precipice of death.

 

Yah’s example of disciplining Yisra’el serves as an excellent example of how we are to properly train and mold our children.

 

The Reason Yah Disciplines His Own is for His Own’s Well Being

 

The ultimate reason Yah disciplines His beloved can be found in a passage of Hebrews which reads:

 

“For the earthly fathers disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but Yah disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Heb. 12:10-11).

 

Did you catch what the writer said: Yah disciplines us so that we may share His holiness. Holiness cannot be had by Yah’s elect unless they are trained accordingly. And part of that training may involve disciplining and testing. And if Yah’s elect one is pure of heart and acquiesces to the testing and discipline, and allows Yah’s Ruach HaKodesh to do its work in them, he or she ends up successfully walking in righteousness.

 

Successfully Making it Through Yah’s Disciplining

 

The elect’s success in making it through Yah’s disciplining and or testing comes only by his/her “trusting faith” in the righteousness of their Elohim. A trusting faith is one that recognizes Yah as righteous in all that He is doing in one’s life.

 

We trust Abba that His testing and disciplining is for our betterment and that He will keep the promises that He’s made to us.

 

Under Moshe’s leadership, Yah tested us through hunger and thirst. And hunger was the very thing we apparently did not experience in Egypt despite our harsh slavery.

 

Yah Often Uses That Which is Most Dear to Us to Test Us

 

Yah has, from time to time, used the very thing that means the most to us, to test and try His elect.

 

Recall how Yah tested Avraham using the one thing Avraham loved the most: His son Yitchaq (aka Isaac) (Gen. 22:1-16). Upon Avraham obeying the voice of Yah to the point of killing His own son, Yah states that because of Avraham’s steadfast and exacting obedience to His instructions, He then knew that Avraham truly feared Him.

 

And so are we subject to testing as were Avraham and Yisra’el. But Master Y’shua revealed to us that we can petition Father to not put us through testing or trials (I.e., Lead us not to testing, but deliver us from the evil one–Mat. 6:13).

 

Regardless, Abba must be sovereign in our lives. And If He elects to put us through times of testing and disciplining, we must meet those times with faithful obedience, reverence and repentance.

 

Yah Is Always Righteous—There is no Randomness in His Ways

 

Many in our Faith Community, when they come upon hard times (some seemingly having hard times more severely and or frequently than others) believe it’s just their lot in life to suffer. Now, I would be open to acknowledging that the reason Yah has us endure some trials and even tribulations from time to time is for reasons that we are not privy to. He is sovereign. But in His sovereignty, He is righteous. Thus, Yah’s purpose may not become evident to us in this life, but we can rest assured that He has a righteous reason.

 

And one of the best examples of this understanding can be found in the story of Job. For we learn right at the beginning of the cepher the reason why Job was put through testing (Job. 1:8-12). It was a test of cosmic-proportions that ultimately led to Job being blessed beyond that which he was previously blessed.

 

A Faith Beyond the Physical

 

When we talk about or meditate on the theme of this Parshah, that being “The Bread of Life,” we are compelled to really wrestle with the statement Moshe made to us regarding the contrast that exists between physical food and Yah’s Words.

 

“He (YHVH) humbled you and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you knew not, neither did your fathers know; that He might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of YHVH man lives” (vs. 3).

 

We Are Not to Live by Physical Food Only in this Life

 

I used to always struggle with this verse, never able (on my own that is) to make the connection between manna and Yah’s Word. But it became clear to me some time ago that the manna that Yah gave us in the stark harshness of the Sinai wilderness served two critical purposes: (1) it provided our physical bodies the nourishment it needed to sustain our physical life. (2) The manna was a manifestation of Yah’s Word.

 

Now, the first point is an obvious one. But point two needs a little more unpacking.

 

The Bread and the Word

 

I realize that many have attempted to spiritualize the manna to the point that it becomes some esoteric thing of scripture. Manna has become for some a thing that is beyond what it truly was meant to represent. And to be honest, it seems to me that one should be at liberty to meditate and come to Spirit (Ruach)-led conclusions as to what the manna foreshadowed and meant from a spiritual perspective (e.g., the manna represents Yeshua as the Bread of Life, which of course He is). 

 

The Context of the Manna

 

But from a contextual standpoint, when we trace the first manifestation of the manna, we learn that it was provided to us in the midst of Yah’s testing and proving us through hunger (Exo. 16). If you recall, we demanded of Moshe that he provide us food to satisfy our hunger. The manna (and quail) was Yah’s response to our cry for sustenance. But with that giving of manna, Yah placed very simple rules around its gathering and consumption (cf., the gathering of manna each of the 6 days, but none to be given on the 7th day Shabbat). If we followed Yah’s simple rules around the manna, He would continue to sustain our physical bodies with manna accordingly.

 

Manna Was a Lesson in Obedience

 

Thus the manna not only sustained us physically—miraculously I might add, providing us all the nutrients we needed to survive the harsh wilderness environment—it also served as one of our first lessons in obedience. Obedience to Yah and His Word. And the nexus between the physical manna and Yah’s Word is simply that our very existence is dependent upon our obedient Faith in Father’s providence towards us. Only when we recognize and fully adhere to this critical, but simple spiritual principle, do we find true wholeness and oneness with our Creator.

 

The Dangers of Prosperity

 

We find in Deuteronomy 28 that when we truly adhere to this principle of Faithful obedience to Yah, He will in return prosper us. And because prosperity comes from YHVH, it is of course a good thing.

 

However, because humans have this nasty little tendency of being fickle, or simply forgetful or contrary, that same prosperity that comes from Yah can result in our forgetting or neglecting to remember from whence our prosperity cometh. In many cases we end up erroneously rationalizing that our prosperity came from a source other than YHVH (rather as a result of own efforts or from some random fortune or other).

 

Thus Moshe strongly counsels us:

 

“When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless YHVH Elohayka for the good land which He has given you. Beware that you forget NOT YHVH Elohayka, in not guarding His commandments, and His judgments, and His statutes…”(vss. 10-11).

 

Remember Yah’s Providence by Thanking Him and Obeying Him

 

Thus we are, without failure, commanded to thank Yah for that which He has provided us, in particular for the food He has given to sustain us. The heart of this commanded practice is to bring us to the understanding that Yah is our provider and all that we receive is as a result of His provision only. It is our responsibility to, in response to His provision, thank Him and steadfastly obey Him.

 

Our Torah Reading Points Directly to our Master Yahoshua as the Bread of Life

 

Since Torah points to our Master Y’shua in one way or in others, this whole thought of bread and the Word we must, before we end today, now considered.

 

There are of course a number of ways that one could view our Master from the standpoint or a discussion of bread and the Word. But for me here today, I really want to lay before you the perspective of Yeshua Messiah being the embodiment of the spiritual bread that sustains life and He as the walking, talking Torah.

 

Without Yeshua, we face certain death and separation from YHVH. It is through His personal ministry as the walking, talking Torah that we have the opportunity for abundant eternal life. This is as a result of His atoning sacrifice.

 

Additionally, He is our example for righteous living. He is the  prototypical human being–Son of Adam–that the Creator wants us to imitate. In so doing, we walk as He did and do the works that He did. We please Father in the process and He blesses us in accordance with His covenant promises.

 

The Ruach HaKodesh that He sends to us provides us the wherewithal to walk out our Faith as Father always intended for His children to do. That Spirit embeds Yah’s Torah and the teachings of our Master Yeshua within us so that we may walk uprightly—perfectly–before our Father and make Him proud.

 

The best evidence that I can point to as it relates to our Master being the Bread of Life is found in Master’s very own words—Found in Yochanan 6. And we find, beginning with verse 22, that many who followed Yeshua during His teaching events throughout Judea, did so, not because they truly bought into His teachings. Instead, shockingly so, they followed Him in search of a free meal. And Yeshua discerned this right off the bat and confronted the offenders:

 

“The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, save that one where-into His Talmidiym were entered, and that Yeshua went not with His Talmidiym into the boat, but that His Talmidiym were gone away alone;…When the people therefore saw that Yeshua was not there, neither His Talmidiym, they also took shipping, and came to Kapharnachum, seeking for Yeshua. And when they had found Him on the other side of the sea, they said unto Him, ‘Rabbi, when came you hither?’ Yeshua answered them and said, ‘Amein, Amein, I say unto you, ye seek Me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perishes, but for that meat which endures unto everlasting life, which the Son of Adam shall give unto you: for Him has YHVH the Father sealed.’ Then said they unto Him, ‘What shall we do, that we might work the works of YHVH?’ Yeshua answered and said unto them, ‘This is the work of YHVH, that ye believe on Him whom He has sent.’ They said therefore unto Him, ‘What sign show you then, that we may see, and believe you? What do you work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ Then Yeshua said unto them, Amein, Amein, I say unto you, Moshe gave you not that bread from heaven; but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of Yah is He which comes down from heaven, and gives life unto the world.’ Then said they  unto Him, ‘Adonai, evermore give us this bread.’ And Yeshua said unto them, ‘I am the bread of life: he that comes to Me shall never hunger; and he that believes on Me shall never thirst’” (vss. 22-35).

 

There’s just too much content to unpack here and do this passage any true spiritual justice. Abba willing, we’ll come back to this crucial passage and really pick apart the ramifications of what Master was telling these folks and by extension us today, sometime in the future. But we should at least consider the meaning behind that which Master said to the meal-seekers: what it means for yours and mine eternal destiny and place in the Kingdom of Yah?

 

It should be evident that one of the primary things Master was saying here in this passage is the expanded version of the very thing Moshe was saying to Yisra’el here in our Parshah today: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the Mouth of YHVH.”

 

Master Himself declared that He came from Abba Father and He, the walking-talking Torah, is our sustenance. He sustains us through His teachings and example, and more so through His atoning sacrifice and intercessory work in the Heavenly Mishkan.

 

We could go on and on regarding Yeshua and His role as the Bread of Life for humankind. But Yeshua as the bread—our bread—that leads to life must be the thing that we must always consider in our day-to-day Faith-walk. For it’s one thing to wake up every morning, get our personal acts together, maybe say a prayer or two, and then go on about our day, making sure we keep Torah in all that we do. It’s a whole other level when we repeat the same daily ritual, but instead of launching out on our own to walk Torah, we instead, imitate our Master and do exactly what He did; think how He thought; talk like He talked; love Abba and love others as He did. And if we can manage to do that, we stand the chance of succeeding in our respective walks, glorifying and pleasing our Heavenly Father in the process.

Parashat Mishpatim Judgment-Property and Love of Neighbor

by | Feb 1, 2019 |

This Week's Torah Reading In continuing my travels through this week's Torah Reading, I came upon Exo. 21:28-36. I found endless truths and spiritual applications that I am so happy to share with you today. The Consequences of Negligence This passage in a narrow sense...

Parashat Mishpatim Judgment-Murder-Abortions-Sanctuary

by | Jan 30, 2019 |

Timeliness of This Week's Torah Reading This week’s Torah Reading could not have been more timely. And I was compelled to respond in the wake of the news we’ve received over the last couple weeks regarding the legalization of late term abortions on demand. And just...

Parashat Mishpatim or Judgments-Debt and Slavery

by | Jan 29, 2019 |

 Concerning the Treatment of Slaves by Hebrews The first portion of this week's Torah Reading deals with the issue of Hebrews owning slaves; particularly Hebrew slaves (Exo. 21:1-11) . According to this passage, if a Hebrew acquires a Hebrew slave, they would serve...

To Call or Not Call on the Name of the LORD

by | Jan 25, 2019 |

What Does it Mean? What does it truly mean for a would-be disciple of Jesus Christ (ie., Yahoshua Messiah) to call on the Name of the L-rd? Is it simply an utterance whereby the would-be disciple utters or invokes the actual Name or Title of the Divine One? Or is it a...

No Pagan Links to Catholicism and Christianity

by | Jan 14, 2019 |

Pagan Links to Catholicism and Religion in Doubt I have, of late, become somewhat concerned over what I see as growing support by a good many leaders within and without our Faith for there being no pagan links to Catholicism and Protestant Christianity. And how are...

Paul Opposing God On Issue Of Circumcision?

by | Jan 13, 2019 |

A Matter of Circumcision or No? As I was watching Kenny Russell's (Bulldozer Faith) most recent Sabbath teaching entitled "Press On!," the text  of which he based his message being Philippians 3, I became fixated on verses 2 and 3 of that chapter. It is here that Paul...

Blaspheming the Name of God-Part-2 of the Series A Question of One’s Jewishness

by | May 9, 2021 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

Picking-Up Where We Left Off 

 

What I want to do this week is to pick-up from where we left off from the last installment of this series within a series which was entitled: “You Are Called a Jew” and move on through verses 19 through 24 in this installment. 

And the title for this week’s post is: “Blaspheming the Name of God.” Still part of this “A Question of One’s Jewishness” series.

 A Challenging Title 

Now, I’m sure that the title “Blaspheming the Name of God” will get the attention of a small number of discerning or rather discriminating folks of Faith who are sensitive to the whole concept of blasphemy. 

I also suspect that most folks who come across this title will bypass or overlook it because it’s not tantalizing—provocative or controversial enough for them. Most folks don’t care to know anything about the subject of blaspheming the Name of our Elohim simply because they feel it’s an act or action that is below them. That is, they are not going to find themselves in a blasphemous state. Or worse, they suspect they’ve may have committed blasphemy at some point in their lives and they simply don’t want to come to terms with the ramification of their having committed such a transgression.

 An Important Topic

Regardless, blaspheming (otherwise referred to as shaming, polluting, defiling, profaning) the Name of Yah is an important subject that we must not shy away from. And it is here in our focus passage of Romans 2:19-24 that Shaul lays the blame for the Goyim’s blaspheming of the Name at the feet of his rhetorical religious figure.

 Not So Much About What We Call Him 

I will tell you right now before we get too much further along into our discussion here today, that Blasphemy of the Name of YHVH is NOT the same as Blasphemy of or against the Holy Spirit. Contextually speaking, they are two different felonies altogether, although the commission of either carries with it severe, even dire consequences.

 Two Separate Transgressions

Scripture affirms that despite the deadly consequences that Father has often attached to these transgressions, He will forgive the one, who for whatever reason blasphemes His Name, if they repent and seek His forgiveness (Matthew 12:31-32).

On the other hand, Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (otherwise known as the “Unpardonable Sin”),” according to our Master, if committed, will never be forgiven, regardless the reason one commits it (Matthew12:31-32; Mark 3:28-29; Luke 12:10). 

Now, because I don’t want to get off-track from our focus topic and passage, we won’t tackle this very hard to take in subject of the Unpardonable Sin. We will tackle it in another installment of this program, Abba willing.

 Our Plan of Attack

 So today we will define exactly what it means to blaspheme or pollute the Name of Yehovah; the consequences for committing such a transgression; and what needs to be done to correct all incidents of this critical sin. 

But before we tackle this particular concern about blaspheming the Name, let’s work our way up to our focus verse of 2:24 by examining verses 19 through 23 first.

 Looking Back

I would ask you to recall from our last installment that much of our discussion centered around our examination of the character of Shaul’s rhetorical religious figure.  (And if you’ve not taken the opportunity to read or listen to that post, I humbly invite you to do so.) The rhetorical figure Shaul was describing in his diatribe was the “religious Jew.” And we saw Shaul begin his literary sketch of the “religious Jew,” who took great pride and comfort, not in his covenant relationship with Yehovah, but in his Jewishness: his heritage; his culture; his biology and such.

 Serious Spiritual Deficiencies

And we didn’t need to go too much deeper into the chapter to realize that in Shaul’s mind, his rhetorical, religious figure was in severe spiritual trouble, especially when we contextually factor into his literary sketch of this figure, Shaul’s earlier assertion that a judgment would be levied upon those who reject the Ways of the Almighty (2:12). Those who claimed Torah but did not walk in Torah would be judged within the framework of Torah, while those who knew nothing of Torah would be judged outside the framework of Torah; namely by the testimony of Yah’s creation. 

So with that, let’s continue our examination of Shaul’s religious figure, beginning with verses 19 and 20.

 Paul Confronts Religious Conceitedness 

 

“And [you religious Jew] are confident (Greek of “peitho” which means to be confident or persuaded) that thou thyself art a guide (Greek of “hodegos” which means a leader of the way; a teacher of the ignorant and inexperienced) of the blind (Greek of “tuphlos” which means of the mentally blind), a light of them which are in darkness (Greek for “skotos” which is a metaphor); an instructor of the foolish (Greek of “aphron” which means those without intelligence and who act rashly), a teacher of babes (Greek for “nepios” which means the untaught and unskilled), which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law (that is, because you have in the law the essential features of knowledge and of the truth).”

 

It should not be too difficult to recognize here that this religious figure is conceited. To be conceited is to be excessively proud of oneself to the point of being vain. Otherwise described in scripture as being wise in one’s own eyes (Pro. 3:7).

 The Dangers of Being Conceited

Throughout scripture we are warned of the dangers of being conceited. We are told that conceit has the potential of bringing one to destruction (Prov. 26:12; Isa. 5:21; Rom. 1:22; 12:16; 1 Cor. 8:1-2). The prophet Isaiah declared:

 

“Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes (I.e., conceited)” (Isa. 5:21; NKJV).

 Conceit Leads to Spiritual Darkness

Master taught that conceitedness leads to spiritual darkness in one’s life. Consequently, spiritual darkness creates a great spiritual tripping or falling hazard (Mat. 6:23; 15:14). Therefore, it stands to reason that conceit can cause one to be blind to their sins. And blindness to our sins creates a separation between us and Yah (Joh. 9:40-41). 

Clearly this is a primary concern the apostle had as it related to such religious figures as described in our focus passage. And sadly, our Faith Community is not lacking her share of conceited persons: each of them primed for a great fall if they do not turn from conceited ways.

 Accumulation of Knowledge Puffs One Up

You know, there’s something about the accumulation of knowledge–be it general knowledge or Torah knowledge–that causes, as the apostle describes, one to become puffed up, or in our modern western parlance: full of themselves; feeling as though they’ve arrived (1 Cor. 8:1). 

There is nothing wrong with being knowledgeable, especially knowledgeable of the Ways of Yah. But that knowledge is problematic when it causes us to take our eyes off the originator of that knowledge and put it on ourselves; when that knowledge becomes the thing that we take pride in and rest our eternal destiny on. For the only thing we should take pride in is our Elohim-our relationship with Elohim. That knowledge that we strive to accumulate and then hoard to ourselves is useless if it’s not properly put to the work of the gospel and promoting the Kingdom of Yah.

 The Religious Jew as a Light and Teacher

Shaul brings up the issue of the religious Jew believing that by virtue of his Jewishness that he is the light and teacher to the blind world. And these are indeed interesting topics that I want to discuss. But we will for now save them for a future installment of this program, Abba willing. 

Moving on to 2:21-22

 

“Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest (the Greek is bdelusso which means to turn oneself away from on account of the stench or metaphorically to detest) idols, does thou commit sacrilege (that is, do you rob temples-speaking of the looting of pagan temple riches)?”

 The Hypocrisy of the Religious One

The central theme or issue of concern here that should be evident to anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear is that of “hypocrisy.” Shaul’s rhetorical figure appears to be, in addition to being conceited, a flaming hypocrite. 

Our Master confronted the conceitedness and hypocrisy that was common among the religious Jews of His day:

 

Matthew 7:3-5–“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?“

 

Matthew 23:3-4–“All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe (that being of Torah), that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.”

 

Shaul earlier in this letter also confronted these conditions when he wrote:

 

“Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself, for thou that judgest doest the same things” (Rom. 2:1).

 Robbing Pagan Temples

Now, Shaul’s reference to “committing sacrilege” is best translated in our modern parlance as “robbing temples.” And the temples in question here are pagan temples, not the Mishkan (or Temple) in Yerushalayim. 

Turns out that despite Torah’s prohibition against Yah’s set-apart people having anything to do with the idolatry and paganistic practices by their neighbors (such as recorded in Deuteronomy 7:25-26), it was not uncommon for certain Jews to steal articles from pagan temples. And these common thieves, if you will, would either adorn their homes with these expensive items, or simply sell them for personal financial gain. This is otherwise known as “Jewish plundering of pagan temples.” And it goes without saying that such acts not only violated Yah’s prohibition against stealing, but also against self-defilement: for one who handles pagan-related objects would by default be made impure or polluted and not eligible for worship.

 The Contrary Nature of the Religious Jew 

So, what we should start to see emerge from our reading of the apostle’s literary description of the religious Jew here is the bottom line or gist to what his diatribe was meant to convey. In effect, Shaul purposed to confront some of his kinsmen’s contrary behavior (but not necessarily against any specific Roman Messianic Jews): their conceitedness; their hypocrisy; their contrariness of heart; their intentional transgressions against Yah’s Torah. For these individuals in particular fail to practice that which they, by calling themselves Jews or Yisra’el or children of Avraham, would be expected to do. And connecting this understanding back to our earlier discussions on this chapter of Romans, such religious personalities, just like the unconverted gentile, were subject to judgment (2:12,16). And because these proudly proclaim they are the keepers and teachers of Torah, they will face judgment within the framework of Torah. In fact, the very thing–Torah–which they customarily use to condemn the gentile will ultimately be the thing that will condemn them. 

Again, this is general rhetoric against Jewish disobedience and sin–better, against all religious disobedience and sin that the apostle is framing here. This is not an indictment against all Jews nor against his Roman Messianic Jewish readers.

Our Focus Passage

And finally, we get to the crux of our focus passage 2:23-24, which reads:

 

“You who make your boast in the Law, do you dishonor (the Greek being “atimazo” which means to treat with insult in word, deed or even thought) God through breaking the Law? For the Name of Yah is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, as it is written” (cf. Eze. 16:27; 36:22 Isa. 52:5)

 Father’s Reputation Is Everything

Father’s reputation means everything to Him. And when His people decide to act a fool and openly transgress His Torah while proudly proclaiming to be one of His, well they grossly dishonor Him. And that dishonoring of Yah leads, most painfully, into “blasphemy of the Name of Yah among the Gentiles (verse 24).” The Gentiles blaspheme Yah on account of Yah’s wayward people’s evident contrariness. The Jew of Shaul’s day made a spectacle of themselves as a result of their blatant disobedience in the sight of the Gentile nation peoples of the world. And their spectacle led to those very Gentile nations blaspheming Yah’s Name.

 

Malachi 1:6–“A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects his master. If I am your father, where is My honor? If I am your master, where is My respect? YHVH who rules over all asks you this, you priests who make light of My Name! But you reply, ‘How have we made light of your Name” (NET)?

 

The primary Tanakh passage that I feel best supports our focus passage is Ezekiel 36, beginning with verse 17:

 

“Son of man, when the house of Israel was living on their own land, they defiled it by their behavior and their deeds. In My sight their behavior was like the uncleanness of a woman having her monthly period. So I poured My anger on them because of the blood they shed on the land and because of the idols with which they defiled it. I scattered them among the nations; they were dispersed throughout foreign countries. In accordance with their behavior and their deeds I judged them. But when they arrived in the nations where they went, they profaned My holy Name. It was said of them, ‘These are the people of YHVH, yet they have departed from His land.’ I was concerned for My holy reputation which the House of Israel profaned among the nations where they went” (17-21; NET).

 Blasphemy of the Name is a Transgression of Torah

To blaspheme or profane the Name (that is the Name by which we call our Elohim and everything having to do with the Person-the character-authority-glory-presence of the Creator) of YHVH is a transgression of Torah.

 

Leviticus 19:12–“You shall not swear by My Name falsely, and so profane the Name of your Elohim: I am YHVH” (ESV).

 

Leviticus 24:16–“Whoever blasphemes the Name of YHVH shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death” (ESV).

 A Personal Example

Thinking back to my days as an officer in the U.S. Navy: if one were to commit certain crimes or behave in a certain way and just so happened to get caught, tried and convicted of those crimes or misdeeds, he or she stood to lose his/her commission, benefits and retirement on account of behavior that was “unbecoming of an officer of the U.S. Military.” You see, the military officer corps is supposed to represent or image the finest ideals and values of each branch of service. And when an officer acts in a manner contrary to those values and ideals, they bring dishonor to that branch of service. So, in order to ensure that those established ideals and values are reinforced, the leadership of the branch of service that is in question, will charge the offending officer with the crime of “behavior unbecoming of an officer” of whichever branch of service is involved. And because of that charge, the officer pretty much loses everything he or she worked for up to that point in their career.

 Shaming and Dishonoring the Name

This is, in a sense, what we’re talking about when we’re talking about shaming, polluting, dishonoring and blaspheming the Name of YHVH? That is, Yah’s elect bringing shame and dishonor to the Name of YHVH; sullying the reputation of our Elohim before the nation peoples of the world which has the potential of enticing the unbelieving world to also blaspheme His Name.

 The Church Triumphant is Guilty of Blaspheming the Name

The Church Triumphant has done a fine job polluting the Name of Yah and causing the world at large to blaspheme Yah’s holy and righteous Name. And they’ve done so as a result of their failure to uphold and live in accordance with the tenets, ideals and values of the true Faith once delivered. For they fail to teach their people to obey Yah’s Word and to walk in covenant with the Eternal. They instead encourage their people to walk in accordance with the ways and traditions of their religion and organizations, which ideally suits the desires and preferences of their members. And to add insult to injury, these have a tendency of behaving just like their counterparts in the world. Shaul describes these as “having a form of Godliness, but [they-by their contrary living] deny its power…” (2 Tim. 3:5). 

This, of course, happens while the leaders of these organizations, along with their members, proudly claim the Name of YHVH as their own. Consequently, the secular world sees and recognizes the church’s hypocrisy and contrariness and mocks and blasphemes the Name of YHVH. 

Folks, I get that the vast majority of members of the Church Triumphant are generally not of Yah’s elect-His set-apart, covenant walking people. But the fact of the matter is that these have general possession and  knowledge of Yah’s set-apart Word. And thus, they have no excuse for not walking in accordance with Yah’s Way of Life. 

The Apostle Peter expounded upon the consequences of Yah’s so-called elect dishonoring, shaming and blaspheming His Name in his 2nd Epistle:

 

“And many will follow their debauched lifestyles. Because of these false teachers (and by extension, because of the example of the contrary, hypocritical, errant Jew and Messianic or even Christian), the Way of Truth will be slandered (or better, blasphemed, reviled, or even treated with contempt)” (2 Pet. 2:2).

 Our Ancient Cousins Caused the Gentiles to Blaspheme His Name

In the days of the Hebrew Prophets, Yisra’el’s sins led to the nation’s exile and captivity. Going into exile and captivity, the nation’s reputation preceded them. Their Gentile captors and or conquerors knew they claimed themselves to be YHVH’s chosen people. However, those same captors and conquerors knew the Hebrews to be hypocrites and inconsistent in their profession and living out their faith. This naturally led to these belligerent nations openly mocking and dishonoring YHVH–effectively blaspheming His authority, holiness and sovereignty. 

What Do We Really Mean by Blaspheming the Name of God?

So, what’s the real deal when it comes to one blaspheming, defiling, polluting or profaning the Name of YHVH? I think we can all agree that none of us wants to be guilty of such a transgression.

First and foremost, blaspheming or profaning Yah’s Name, in the context of our focus passage, does not necessarily refer to a mispronunciation or misappropriation of that name or title of which we call Him or refer to Him by: Either in one’s prayers, teachings, worship, exhortations or even general conversation. I will concede, however, that any misappropriation or irreverent references to the Name(s) that we refer to Father by, be it intentional or unintentional, is certainly not a wise thing to do. For Abba has declared He will not be mocked in any way, shape or form (Gal. 6:7).

Putting Blasphemy Into Proper Perspective

It seems that a lot of folks who are partial to the Sacred Names movement or similar denominations within the Hebrew Roots Faith, tend to use passages such as our focus passage to teach and promote the erroneous doctrine(s) that anyone who dares not pronounce the Name of Abba as they declare it to be, are guilty of blaspheming or profaning the Name of Yah. 

We will, however, quickly see that blaspheming, profaning, polluting the Name of Yah goes well beyond the realm of pronunciation or articulation of Abba’s Name.

 Blaspheming the Name Delves into the Improper Worship of YHVH

In Malachi 1:11-2:7, we find that Yisra’el failed to worship YHVH as He’d prescribed in His Torah. Malachi described to his readers that the Hebrews had engaged in “deceptive worship” of Yah. In other words, the Hebrews half-heartedly went through the motions of worship as prescribed in Torah, often cutting corners in their sacrifices to Yah. Furthermore, they were being hypocritical in their Faith walk: declaring to the world that they were righteous children of Yah, when in fact they were willfully transgressing Yah’s Torah at every turn. They were essentially engaging in spiritual adultery.

 YHVH Knows the Truth

 Unfortunately for them, the Eternal saw through their shenanigans. And thus, YHVH informed his cheating wife, Yisra’el, that His favor would be removed from them and ultimately passed on to the Goyim, otherwise referred to by the Hebrews as the heathen nations. Malachi prophesied that the Goyim would someday turn to YHVH as their Elohim (Mal. 1:11; Psm. 113:3; Isa. 45:6).

 Father Charges His People

Therefore, Father charged His people with profaning His Holy and Righteous Name. And one of the ways Father describes how Yisra’el profaned or blasphemed His Name was in her sacrificing animals that did not meet Torah’s exacting standards (Mal. 1:12-14; cf. Eze. 36:21-23).

 When we, who are supposed to be His chosen ones, willfully violate YHVH’s instructions that we vowed to keep, we insult Him and show contempt towards Him. It is a form of blaspheming or profaning His Holy Name.

What’s In a Name?

So, what do we mean by His Holy Name? Well, we talked about this earlier: His Name includes His authority; His sovereignty; His presence; His character; His glory; his wisdom; His holiness and righteousness; His Person or His Being.

 We find in the case of the Prophet Amos that profaning the Name of Yah by His people is not limited to their violating the Torah of sacrifices unto YHVH. Amos described the profanation of Yah’s Name as resulting from the mistreatment of the poor and destitute of the Land and gross sexual misconduct (2:7). 

So, we clearly see from these two examples that those who willfully behave contrary to Yah’s Torah bring shame to Yah’s Name. These effectively blaspheme the Name of YHVH. And Yah does not appreciate that at all.

 Torah-Teachers are Most Responsible

Of note are so-called Torah-teachers who willfully violate Yah’s Torah. These will be judged harshly by the very Torah they demand their students obey. 

The Levitical Priests were responsible for guarding and proclaiming Yah’s Name. In fact, Father viewed their worship of Him, when done according to His instructions, was a clear and brilliant manifestation of His Name being upheld, proclaimed and reverenced in the sight of the nation peoples of the world.

 The Levitical Priests of Malachi’s Day

So, we find that in Malachi’s day, that the priests miserably failed to uphold, proclaim and reverence Abba’s Name as they were specially commissioned to do. Given the contemptible nature of the peoples’ behavior and worship, they were scattered among the nations: booted out of the Land. And as a direct result their blaspheming the Name of Yah, the Holy, spiritual Name of the Creator of the Universe was desecrated and disgraced (I.e., profaned) by the nations that they were banished to.

 Abba Does Not Tolerate Disrespect

And Torah reveals that YHVH does not tolerate such gross disrespect, especially from His chosen ones (Lev. 22). And thus Yisra’el reaped what they’d sown by their contempt and irreverence of their Elohim’s Name. 

We find in each example where Yah’s people have profaned His Name, they demonstrated a disregard for the essential elements of purity, holiness and righteousness. Thus, when Yah’s people begin to disregard these essential elements in their worship of Yah or even in their day-to-day Faith walk, complete transgression of Torah and shaming of His Name is an inevitability.

 Righteousness-Holiness-Purity

Thus, righteousness, holiness and purity must be the basis upon which every Netzari’s relationship with the Almighty rests (Lev. 20:7; Psm. 24:4; Mat. 5:8; 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2.22; 1 Pet. 1:15-16). And this applies not only to our day-to-day behavior, but also to every aspect of our worship of Him. 

When a child of the Most High mistreats or holds the things of YHVH in contempt, he/she profanes Yah’s Name before the unbelieving world. And of course, we’ve see this being played out numerous times in denominational Christianity.

 A Recent Revelation

Just recently, revelation of the alleged years’ long corruption of a very prominent Christian apologist and teacher was made known to the world. And the details of this individual’s alleged corrupt ways, apparently now public record, not only brought shame upon his ministry and the many devoted workers of that ministry, but more so, it brought shame to the sacredness and purity that is supposed to be associated with the Christian Faith. Thus, the world has, through the revelation of this man’s corruption, found another excuse to hold the Name of YHVH in contempt. (It should be mentioned that this individual died prior to the details of his corruption being made public.) 

And thus, the Christian world is having to work through this hellacious stigma on several levels. But in the small number of posts that I’ve seen addressing this situation, the expressed concerns were for the reputation of this man’s organization and the well-being of the family. Indeed, these concerns are understandable. But the real concern that this organization needs to have is its role in blaspheming–its profaning the Name of YHVH to the unconverted of this world.

And what makes these matters worse, of course, is when the unbelieving world feels at even greater liberty to utter blasphemous—disrespectful—shameful words against the Creator of the Universe in response to His peoples’ acts of contempt towards and disrespect of their Elohim.

 Judgment is Coming

Is there no wonder why the Apostle Yochanan (John) wrote of a coming Great Tribulation that will overwhelm the nation-peoples of this world? I cannot help but think that a great deal of the tribulation that will be wrought upon the unredeemed population of this world will be in recompense for their widespread transgressing, profanation or blaspheming of Yah’s Name. 

Yah will not be disrespected nor His Name profaned, especially before the unredeemed:

 

“But I wrought for My Name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made Myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt” (Eze. 20:9).

 The Penalty for Blaspheming His Name

Any and all blasphemy of Yah’s Name will ultimately result in the offenders’ shame (ref. Nah. 3:5-6; Isa. 47:3; Jer. 13:27; Mal. 2:3). Yah is emphatic about this. Shaul warns:

 

“Be NOT deceived; Yah is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal. 6:7).

 

And those who claim to belong to YHVH and are brazen enough to pollute His Name before the heathen, like Yah did with Yisra’el, those blasphemers will lose any protection and well-being that would come to them by virtue of their set-apart status:

 

“Nevertheless, I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my Name’s sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth” (Eze. 20:22).

___________________________________________________________

 How Do We Avoid Blaspheming the Name of Yah?

Now, the opposite of defaming, profaning, blaspheming, shaming or polluting the Holy and Righteousness Name of Yah is to sanctify, glorify or proclaim it. And the way we sanctify, glorify and proclaim Yah’s Name is to do exactly the opposite of what people do to profane His Name. We keep His Ways and obey His instructions; we revere Him and magnify Him in every aspect of our lives. We don’t do, say or think of that which runs contrary to His holiness and righteousness, such that any who come into our circle of influence might use as an opportunity to doubt Yah; to scoff at Yah; to deny His sovereignty; to diminish Him in the eyes of others who may be seeking after Him. 

By our profession of Faith and our agreeing to walk in covenant with the Creator of the Universe, we carry within our being Yah’s holy and righteous Name. Anything we do that transgresses His Ways and our elect status, especially in the sight of the unredeemed of this world, blasphemes/profanes His Name.

 Personal Confession

I’ve personally had to repent and seek Abba’s forgiveness for this transgression a few times in My life. For I have been convicted a few times during my time walking in this Faith of ours that I did not represent Yah nor our Faith before those who I interacted with at some level or another. I’m talking neighbors, friends, family and co-workers. I am not proud of those times when I failed to uplift, glorify, magnify the Name of Yah before others; to imitate our Master Yeshua, but instead showed forth to them a less than flattering testimony. But the good news is that Yah’s Ruach (His Spirit) convicted me, and I have made things right with my Redeemer in this respect. Praise Yah.

 Call to Action

So, let’s make a very conscious effort to honor, sanctify and glorify the Name of YHVH in every area of our lives and not give opportunity to the enemy to blaspheme the Name of our loving, awesome and great Elohim. He alone deserves all the glory, honor and praise we can muster.

 

Praise Him! Shalom-shalom.

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by | May 8, 2021 | Blog

Today’s Torah Reading

Shabbat Shalom beloved of the Most High and sister and brother of the true Faith once delivered. Today’s Torah Reading or Parshah is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-7:26; Zechariah 14:1-9; and Mark 12:28-34.  But given the content rich nature of this parshah, this post will only focus on Deuteronomy 6:4-9. 

Our Focus Text

“(4) Hear, Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. (5) And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your being and with all your might. (6) And these words that I charge you today shall be upon your heart. (7) And you shall rehearse them to your sons and speak of them when you sit in hyour house and when you go on the way and when you lie down and when you rise. (8)  And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as circlets between your eyes. (9) And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and in your gates” (Robert Alter Translation).

The Shema–What is it?

Famously referred to as “The Shema,” this commandment is also found in Deuteronomy 11:13. The Shema can be described as a great many things to a great many people of both the Hebrew and Christian faiths. But to Judaism, it is the central strength and unifying element of her faith: from both the community and individual standpoint. 

It is included and recited in every pious Jew’s daily and Sabbath prayers. It’s recited when the pious Jew awakens and when he/she goes to sleep. It is uttered even on their death bed.

 The True Application of Shema

Outside the realm of religion, in its truest sense, The Shema assumes the hearer is committed to walking in covenant relationship with YHVH. It presumes the hearer believes YHVH and is a committed and grateful child  and servant who seeks first and foremost in his/her walk to do the will of their heavenly Father. Thus, in its truest sense, The Shema is NOT simply a profession of one’s Faith in the One True God of Avraham, Yishak and Ya’achov. It is, instead, a call and affirmation for obedience from one who has freely given themselves over to YHVH (they’ve died to self). For with that obedient affirmation one finds their purpose and hope. That hope is built upon YHVH’s grace—His undeserved favor.

 The Command to Shema

So Moshe commands the would be servant to Shema. In our modern western parlance, while retaining as much of the Hebraic meaning, Yisra’el is instructed to “listen-up” or “pay attention” because what is about to be said is uber important (T. Hegg). From a natural, literary perspective, according to Messianic Teacher and Commentator, Tim Hegg: “He who has ears, let him hear” (Isa. 6:10; Mat. 11:15; 13:9; Rev. 2:7).

 God’s Word is Exclusively For His People–Not the Unbelieving World

Along the lines of this instruction finding its place in the hearing of those who are committed to walking in obedient covenant relationship with the Eternal, it must be understood that Yah’s Word is exclusively for His chosen ones. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the Word of Yah, especially Torah, is intended for the exclusive consumption of Yisra’el as evidenced by the preparatory phrase: “Hear, O Yisra’el.” And it is in this understanding that we must also recognize that Yah’s Word is the quintessential manifestation of Yah’s grace. And here in this passage of Holy Writ, we read this passionate call to His first-born son: Yisra’el. Contextually speaking, Yisra’el at this point in our Torah chronology, is the 2nd generation of Hebrews that came out of Egyptian bondage. These children are died in the wool, covenant walking sons of Elohim. Thus the title-mantle-the Name Yisra’el is most fitting.

 God Does the Choosing–We Don’t Choose God

And the beauty of what we have here in Yah’s calling out to His children to hearken to His Words, is that He chose these children. His children did not choose Him. 

We find in Amos 3:2 the following: 

“You only have I chosen among all the families of the earth…”

 We Are of the Commonwealth of Israel-Grafted in Members

And let us not forget, by extension, and under the auspices of the renewed covenant, we have been grafted into the commonwealth of Yisra’el. Therefore, this Shema also applies to us in every way imaginable. Praise Yah. And this summons to hearken unto His voice is evidence that He chose us. And in choosing us, He set the rules for the covenant relationship. And our end of the covenant relationship requires that we obey and serve only Him. We are to serve no other entities; no other things. For our Elohim is a jealous Elohim.

 Believing God is a Requirement of Being His Chosen One

Within the realm of obeying and serving YHVH, we are by default required to believe Yah—believe that He is Who He says He is and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek after Him. That He is sovereign over, not just us His children, but also all of creation—All the earth is YHVH and fullness thereof. 

And because He chose and loved us, and we’ve agreed to enter into covenant relationship with Him, we’ve a privy to have received His Name: Yehovah.

 Yehovah is the Only One True God 

In calling us to shema-listen and obey—Yah requires us to understand that He is the One true Elohim: there are no other gods. He is “echad.”

 Is the Term Echad About a Multiplicity of Persons in the Godhead?

Many have ventured to tease and take liberties with this term echad, conjuring up this popular interpretation of “unity.” That YHVH is a unified being or unified set of Person in a Godhead. But what we have featured here in the Shema has nothing to do with unity of persons in a so-called Godhead. He is, in fact, unique. There is none like Him, period. And because He is unique and the only Elohim, His chosen ones would not be compelled whatsoever to turn to and worship would be gods, otherwise known as demigods. Our attention must be to the One and only original, none-like-Him, Creator of the Universe, YHVH Elohim.

 Echad as Used Here is Not About a Unity of Divine Persons

The confusion with this whole unity aspect that so many feel compelled to attach to the Shema and the Hebrew tern “echad,” can be traced back to the so-called patristic church fathers who just couldn’t  allowing scripture to speak and interpret itself. Instead of just letting Torah express the truth of the true character of YHVH (that He is unique and there is no other One like Him), the Greek mindset which overtook the general line of thought in the so-called early Christian Church, demanded an explanation for  the existence of the Son and the Holy Spirit. And of course, the plural nature of the Hebrew terms “elohim” and “echad” made for a handy solution to their musings and wonderings and such.

 The Command to Love Yehovah our Elohim

In verse 5, we are instructed to love Yehovah for the very first time in the whole of Torah. Prior to this passage, Yah instructed us to love one another as He declared His love for His people. But it is here that in addition to fearing Yah, we are compelled to love Him.

 What Does Loving God Look Like?

That love is not simply a cognitive acknowledgment that He is our God and because of that, we love Him. What I mean is likened unto a profession, if you will. (Like, for example, at one time in this nation’s history, many would openly declare that they loved their country. But what did that really mean, apart from it being a fashionable statement of patriotism. Did it mean that the patriot thinks and dreams about their country throughout every waking hour? Or was it simply a fashionable patriotic statement. It has been said by some, the the ultimate test of one’s love for their country, for instance, was their sacrifice for their country, most notably by the act of being killed defending and protecting and fighting for their country. I guess one could say to some extent that that soul did love their country, or at least, the ideals and values that their country impressed upon them.)

 Torah Needs to be Embedded Within God’s Elect

The love that the Shema speaks of is not limited to the elect’s feelings and thoughts and platitudes. Instead, this love is fully manifested in the elect’s actions. And those actions take the form of obedience to Yah’s commands and instructions. Over time, those commands and instructions are supposed to embed themselves in the elect’s heart and mind. And having taken up residence within the lover, that elect’s thoughts and actions are henceforth governed by those commands and instructions.

 It’s All About the Heart Yet Again

Our love for YHVH is such that it involves the entirety of our obedient, Torah-infused hearts. That obedient, Torah-infused heart when coupled with a pure abiding affection towards YHVH directly leads to a righteous walk—a righteous talk—righteous thoughts—righteous life. 

Solomon wrote:

 

“As a person thinks within himself, so is he” (Pro. 23:7).

 

So the way Father has this set to work is that the Torah that is embedded in our hearts because we love Him so governs our thoughts and our resolve, which of course directs our actions.

 

Those who are inextricably tied to this world, the same principle unfortunately applies: the ways of the world are embedded in their hearts because they love the world so much that it governs their thoughts and their resolve, which directs their actions.

 Meditating on God’s Word

There is built into this wonderful command of the Shema the concept of meditating on Yah’s Word throughout our day. And over time, one essentially becomes that which they meditate on day in and day out (Psa. 1:1-2). 

So in Yah’s Torah we are to meditate day and night. Scripture meditation simply means to constantly think about a thing with depth and longevity—in this case we’re talking about Yah’s Torah of course. At this level of walking in covenant with the Almighty, our meditating of Torah is likened unto a precious song that we quietly sing and hum to ourselves all day long, and it puts a pep in our step, so to speak.

 A Love as Deep as One’s Very Soul

And that love that He requires of His own is to be as deep as one could possibly go, or the “nefesh” which means one’s “life-breath.” So the very breath that is in us must be breathed in full affinity and affection and tenderness towards our El. And this then plays into the very strength we possess, linked with the breath we take, must reflect our love for our Creator. Thus, our entire existence becomes a reflect our abiding love for Father. 

The Onness of God? 

Ibn Ezra links this love to Yah’s oneness: 

“Since we have no other god but only Him alone, you have to love Him, for we have no other god.” 

Now as sensible as Ibn Ezra’s words may sound, I have a problem with his truncated view of the Shema. To me his view lacks a great deal in terms of the depth of love that Yah’s set-apart ones are to have for Him. Ezra’s perspective on the love we are supposed to have for Yah is tantamount to a man saying to his wife: 

“Well, I can’t find any other woman that suits me, so I may as well stick with you.” I suspect any man who says that to his partner will not garner much in the way of any deep and abiding love from her in return. 

Yes, I may have embellished a little in my example there. But our love for Abba must exceed such a cold love, forced, plastic, fake love. Our love for Yah must be genuine. It must be of such that: “I have found my One true love. I will never love any other god, but Yah. For He alone is my true love. I love Him with every fiber of my being. And I love Him because He is my Elohim—My All in All; My everlasting portion.

 The Greatest Commandment(s) According to Our Master Yeshua

The Apostolic Reading that accompanies this parshah is found in Mark 12:28-34. And it records our Master’s discussion with a scribe who asked Him which of all the Torah Commandments was the greatest. Scribes were experts of both the oral and written laws in Y’shua’s day, meticulous in their study and application of Torah. And it stands to reason that this particular scribe was intent on tripping-up or entrapping our Master with His question. We know up to this point in the Gospel chronology, the Sanhedrin was attempting to build a case against Master, and one of the ways they went about building their case was to ask Him foundational questions about Torah with the purpose of getting Him to promote a transgression of Torah. 

In response, Master recited the Shema, our first verses of our parshah here. The commandment to love one’s neighbor as one’s self sided with the shema as the greatest commandments in all of Torah (Mar. 12:28-34). But we find Master bringing real clarity to the understanding that the shema was the Greatest Commandment along with the love we are to have for one another equal to ourselves. Master declared that the whole of Torah and the Prophets rested or depended upon these two Great Commandments (Mat. 22:40). In other words: Torah and the Prophetic writings, all of them, are deeper revelations and explanations of what loving Yah and one’s neighbor looks like—that is, halachah in its truest sense. For everyone’s concepts, absent Torah and the Prophets, of what it means to love Yah and one another is different. Torah then, is the expansion or clarification of these two great commandments.

 The Diligent Teaching of Torah to Our Children

The Shema goes on to instruct us to diligently teach Torah to our children. Interestingly, at least a couple translations I’ve consulted on this passage translate the term teach as rehearse or recite, the Hebrew term being “shanan.” The gist of “shanan” here is that the very thing that is to be recited or rehearsed is to be done in an incisive manner (BDB Lexicon). The term “incisive” by the way means “accurate and sharply focused.”

 What’s in the Word Teach?

Thus, the Hebrew term “shanan” conjures up images of a sharp knife or sword. The way a knife or sword was made sharp back in the day (and pretty much done the same way today) is to draw the blade against a whetstone stone. And for the instrument to get really sharp, we may have to pass it over against the stone dozens of times. 

Applying this example to the training of our children: Torah must be rendered unto them by us repeatedly. And over time, Abba willing, a spark is ignited in our children. Their lives become sharpened by the constant application of the Word into their innocent young lives.

 A Parent’s Responsibility

This mitzvah rests in the domain of the parents. It cannot be transferred to Sabbath school teachers. Sabbath school teachers and the like are there on a weekly basis (let’s just say) to augment what we as parents teach them on a daily basis.

 

So circling back, as they say, to verse 7, it would appear Father wants us to be determined and focused and consistent in our recitation and handling of His Torah in our day-to-day lives: especially as it relates to passing Torah on to our children. Our efforts must leave an indelible impression upon their developing persons.

 Talk About God’s Word More Than Anything Else 

The other aspect of this rehearsal, recitation and teaching of Torah is that Yah’s Word should be the one thing that comes out of our mouths more than anything else each day. Unfortunately the Rabbis have taken this and the preceding verses to only be a directive to learn and recite the Shema. But such a thing is terribly short sighted and misleading. For if all one has to do to get through their day in their Faith is to recite the shema a couple times, but are then free to do, think and say whatever else they choose or want, is really truncating the Eternal’s presence and influence in one’s life. This is not the desire nor intent of the Eternal in giving us this commandment.

 The Timing of Rehearsing God’s Word

Father reiterates this very commandment to teach our children Torah; to talk about Yah and Torah throughout our day; and to dwell upon Yah and His Torah when we rise and when we lay down in Deuteronomy 11:19. And the reason Father requires that we be so consumed by Him and His Torah in our day-to-day lives is communicated in Deuteronomy 4:9: 

”Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons…”

 People Are Prone to Forget the Things of God

You see, Yah knows how fickle we can be. And it doesn’t take much for us to forget Yah and His Ways. Really. For one day we’ll be all about Yehovah and Torah-Torah-Torah (most likely on the Sabbath). Then the rest of the days we are consumed by life. Think back to those days when the cares of life overwhelmed and control our thoughts, actions and words. And before you knew it, the entire day goes by and we’ve not taken any time to talk to Yah, think about Yah or His Torah, etc. Yah unintentionally gets shoved to the side by the cares of our lives. But Abba here in these verses is trying to get us to really focus on Him in our day-to-day lives and not be consumed by the cares of this life. What did Master say to His disciples: 

“Seek ye first the kingdom of Yah and His righteousness (I.e., Yah’s Torah), and all these things (the cares of life) will be added unto you” (Mat. 6:33).

 Perspective and Focus is Key to the Shema

If we simply focus on Yah with every bit of compulsion we have, and allow His Holy Spirit to do its work in us, Yeshua promised that Yah would take care of those cares for us. 

Now, none of this is to say we are not to tend to our day-to-day responsibilities. We all must earn a living and tend to the needs of our families. But we see to our responsibilities through the mechanism and framework of Torah. Through Torah, we walk uprightly before Yah and become perfect—complete. We take care of our responsibilities in accordance with Yah’s Ways. We spend money wisely as good stewards of Yah’s resources. We treat our employees and our co-workers with Godly love as spelled out in Yah’s Torah. We pay our bills. We work hard and earn our wages. And we don’t worry about the cares that life might bring us tomorrow. Father will provide for all our needs according to His riches in glory.

 Binding Tefillin or Phylacteries–A Metaphor or Literal Command?

Verse 8 is one of those challenging verses that can be read and understood metaphorically or literally. This being the binding of Yah’s Words as a sign on our hand and as frontlets between our eyes. Most of us in the Hebrew/Messianic Faith have concluded this passage to be metaphoric, while some of our ultra-orthodox Jewish cousins take this commandment in a literal sense by wearing tefillin (aka phylacteries). 

I personally believe this commandment to be metaphoric in nature. For it was previously given by Yehovah to us through Moshe as we began our Exodus out of Mitsrayim (aka Egypt). And this specific commandment was given in the midst of instructions that we eat matzah (aka unleavened bread) for 7-days and to rehearse the events of the Exodus to our sons in such a manner that it leaves an indelible impression on them. And Yah’s reasoning for our rehearsing the events of the Exodus was that it would serve as “a sign for us on our hand and a remembrance between your eyes, so that YHVH’s teaching will be in [our] mouth…” (Exo. 13:4-9; Alter).

 Proper Biblical Application of the Command to Bind His Word to our Person

The metaphorical nature of this mitzvah is reiterated in Deuteronomy 11:18 as Moshe was extolling the virtues and wisdom of obedience to Yah’s Word (aka His Torah). And Moshe tells us to lay up the instructions He is passing on to us in our heart and soul and bind them for a sign on our hand and AS frontlets between our eyes. 

Hebraically speaking, the eyes serve as the gates to our souls. We take in the world around us through our 5 senses, especially through our eyes. We learn about and respond to our environment. If Torah becomes situated between our eyes and it begins to manage and control the operations of that gate to our soul, our understanding of the world around us will be filtered and interpreted in accordance with the Way Yah sees and interpret the things of this world. Which then will direct how we will respond to the things that are going on around us in accordance with Yah’s Will. 

The binding of Torah to our hands has similar connotations. Hebraically, the hand symbolizes the work and actions we take in this world. It also symbolizes our strength and capabilities. If Yah’s Words are embedded in our inner being, it will gauge and direct our actions in Godly ways. In so doing, when we start to do things Yah’s Way, we enjoy the blesses that He promised our forefathers. And the fruit of our hands will only prosper. We find favor, not only with Elohim, but also with those who Yah sends into our circle of influence each day.

 The Shema Applied to our Homes

And in this understanding that Yah’s Word/Torah must be central to every aspect of our home lives, He instructs us to also write His Word on the door posts of our homes and the gates of our cities (6:9). 

The front door of one’s home in the Ancient Near East was the most important area of the entire home. It was here that guests would be welcomed to our homes; covenants would be established; marriages conducted; and other important domestic activities enacted. It’s the place where the owner leaves to attend to his servile responsibilities at the start of each day, as well as the place he/she enters at the end of the day to be reunited with his family, have a meal and rest. 

It should not be difficult to recognize what Father is trying to get across to us here: Torah must be inextricably factored or become of a part of the most important area of our homes. That being our front doors. Thus, most Hebrew homes affix mezuzahs to the doorposts of their homes—both front doors and even bedroom doors. A parchment containing the Shema or other verses of Torah is placed inside the mezuzah. And these instruments serve as a reminder—there’s that word “remind” again—that YHVH is the Master of their home. And each time a member of the family either leaves or enters the home, they touch the mezuzah, paying homage to YHVH as the King of their domain and family. The mezuzah also serves as a reminder that they are YHVH’s representative in the world, and thus their behavior is to be consistent with their profession of Faith.

 The Renewed Covenant the Prophetic Manifestation of the Shema

The spiritual applications to be had throughout these 9 verses are many. But the most powerful application to me has to do with Torah being inscribed onto hearts and into the minds of Yah’s elect. 

Father, through Jeremiah, prophesied of a renewal of the covenant that He would cut between Himself and His people (Jer. 31; Heb. 8:8-13). And Abba describes how, through this renewed covenant, He would put His Torah in our inward parts (within our very being) and inscribe it onto our hearts and He would be our Elohim. 

All that Yah describes here in our parshah (our reading) regarding His Law taking a very personal place in our lives as His elect, in the renewed covenant, is shifted to the highest level possible. Instead of Torah being written or inscribed on the door posts of our homes and gates of our cities; instead of Torah being recited or rehearsed to our children and in our prayers and utterances throughout the day; in our thoughts (as frontlets between our eyes—metaphorically the seat of our thoughts, perceptions, emotions, etc.) and in our every action—the work of our hands, etc (as a sign on our hand): Torah would become hardwired in our very being. The centrality of Torah in the Elect of Yah’s life would transition from that of the physical to that of the spiritual.

 The Hardwiring of Torah Within the Elect

So powerful is this concept of Torah being hardwired into Yah’s elect is that we will eventually have no need to have others rehearse for us or teach us, over and over, Yah’s Torah. For Yah promises that “No longer will any of them (Yah’s elect) teach his fellow community member or his brother, ‘Know YHVH’; for all will know Me…” (Jer. 31:34).

 We Are the Beneficiaries of God’s Promises and Way of Life

We, the grafted ones of the commonwealth of Yisra’el, are beneficiaries of this promise. And I believe the work of installing Torah within our very beings has for some of us already begun. For the Ruach HaKodesh, if allowed to work within us, initiates and continues the work of sanctification throughout our walk in Mashiyach. And in that sanctification process, if we are pure of heart and mind, we should start to see ourselves being transformed into the splitting image of our Master Y’shua HaMashiyach. He is the goal we all must earnestly contend to meet. For Mashiyach is our model. He is what Father requires each of to imitate and be like in every aspect of our being. For He was and remains the walking-talking Torah, and we are called to be just like Him as we seek the Kingdom of Yah and His righteousness.

Faithfully–Rod Thomas

Shalom-Shalom!

 

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by | May 1, 2021 | Blog

What Yehovah Expects of His Children

This week’s Torah Reading (aka parshah), found in Deuteronomy 5:1-6:3, is a reiteration of the 10-Commandments by Moshe to the generation slated to enter the Land of Promise. And along with that iteration comes clarification as to what the Eternal expected of that generation, and by extension, what He expects of us today.

As Yah’s set-apart, covenant-keeping people, Father requires that we receive the statutes and judgments that He gave to Moshe and then (1) learn them and (2) keep them by actually doing them.

Statutes {choq} are enactments of codes or laws prescribed of Elohim.

Judgments (mishpat} are rulings within the framework of justice brought by Yah.

And this 1st verse of our focus passage is a reiteration of the 1st verse of chapter 4 of this Cepher of Deuteronomy. And the reason given for our hearing/receiving, learning and keeping these judgments and statutes is that in our doing them we would live and Yah would in return honor His promise of bringing us into the Land.

Covenant Expectations

Covenant enters into the discussion here also. Moshe points us back to Horeb in verse 2 where Yah made a covenant with us:

“…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” (Exo. 19:5).

The Mosaic Versus the Abrahamic Covenants

Now, verse 3 reminds us that the covenant Yah made with us in Horeb was not a repeat of the Avrahamic Covenant (cf. Heb. 8:9). Father’s covenant with the patriarchs was specific to Avraham’s posterity and that seed’s inheriting Cana’an or the Land of Promise. That was a unilateral covenant so to speak. Father would deliver on the promises He made with Avraham regardless what Avraham or his posterity did. The Mosaic Covenant on the other hand was a bilateral covenant whereby we break it, we forfeit the promises contained therein.

Yah here was fulfilling the promises He’d made with Avraham, but it was up to the generation receiving the Words of Yah to keep their end of the covenant bargain (i.e., agreement) or face problems entering and or dwelling in the Land.

The Mosaic Covenant

This parashah was a rehashing of the 10-Commandments given to us at Sinai with an emphasis on our actually hearing and doing those instructions.

This parashah is a rehashing of that Mosaic Covenant that was esablished between YHVH and the generation of Yishra’elites preparing to enter the Land of Promise.

In verse 5 we come to a dreaded parenthetical statement that was inserted into the body of the text which the ASV, LXX and KJV clearly reveal. Nevertheless, beginning in verse 6 Moshe regales the giving of the 10-Words (popularly referred to as 10-Commandments) which Jewish tradition frames to have occurred on Shavu’ot (cf. Exo. 20).

Essentially, these were the same 10-Commandments Yehovah spoke down to us from Mount Sinai, as recorded in Exodus 20.

Keeping the Commandments of God

There have been some who, for whatever reason, abhor Torah. These are primarily of the Christian persuasion let’s say. And what I’ve found since being in this Faith, is that they are not necessarily opposed to anyone keeping the 10-commandments. They in fact, more cases than not, encourage the keeping of the 10-Words (with the exception of the Sabbath commandment #4 which they say is now S-nday). The rest of Torah, however, they reject and teach and hold that no Christian is to keep Torah–that it is only for the Jews.

What the Anti-Torah Crowd is Missing in Relation to Torah Living and Torah Keeping

What these are missing, unfortunately, is that Torah is an expansion of the 10-Words framework. Torah takes the 10-words and essentially “blows it up” so we are able to understand the nuances of each commandment.

Shaul wrote of Torah:

“Is the law sin? Yah forbid. Nay. I had not known sin, but by Torah: for I had not known lust, except Torah had said, ‘Thou shalt not covet'” (Rom. 7:7). He understood the relevance of Torah for every soul of Yah’s human creation. Yet the human creation is oblivious of its relevance.

The Shock and Awe of Sinai Revisited

Yah spoke these instructions to us out of the midst of the shock and awe that had taken place at Horeb (vs. 22; cf. Exo. 20). However, the shock and awe of that day frightened us to the point we thought we were going to die. So our tribal heads approached Moshe and expressed our fear to him. For there was a widely held belief among the ancient folks of that part of the world that anyone human who witnessed any manifestation of YHVH would die (vss. 23-26) .

Moses as our Intercessor

So we urged Moshe to be our go between; our intercessor for us with the Eternal, and anything He would require of us He would communicate those things to Moshe and Moshe in turn would deliver them unto us (vs. 24; cf. 20:19). And Yah agreed to this arrangement (vs. 28).

A Poignant Statement From His People

In verse 29 we come upon a poignant statement Abba made regarding his people.

As we were expressing our desire that Yah would pass down to us everything He required of us and Moshe would in turn teach and instruct us on those things shown to him by Yah, we promised to “hear and do” those things (i.e., shema). This was back in verse 27. And Yah expressed to Moshe that He approved of this arrangement.

We Agree to “Shema” Our God–Our Hearts Were in the Right Place

Yah approved of the arrangement, in part no doubt, because we agreed to “shema” His Word. We were fearful of Him (which is what we were supposed to be), but most importantly, we expressed the will and desire to hear and obey. In other words, our hearts were at that time, the place they were supposed to be; at a place that Father saw that He could work with us (vs. 28).

We Had the Raw Makings to be God’s Peculiar People

We had the raw makings to fulfill the covenant He was proposing and become His peculiar people. And I personally see this as the crux of this entire chapter, especially when it is connected to verse 29. For here in verse 29 Abba frames for us where He truly wanted us to be as it related to our commitment to Him and His Ways.

The State of our Hearts Was Critically Important to God

To Father, it came down to the state of our hearts. And the state of our hearts was that of wanting and desiring to do the right thing and to abide in His Ways and to do that which He commanded. He says, hearkening back to that day:

“Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear (“yare'” or revere) Me, and “shamar,” that is “keep, gaurd, observe and give heed” to My commandments ALWAYS, so that it would go well with them and their children forever” (verse 29).

Moses Becomes God’s Intermediary–A Type of “Christ” (aka Messiah)

And so it was that YHVH passed on to Moshe all of the mitzvot, laws and rulings. And it then fell to Moshe to teach them to us. It then fell to us to obey those mitzvot, laws and rulings as we prepared to receive the Land (vs. 31; cf. Exo. 24:12). Yah’s requirement of us at this juncture was that we do as He orders without any deviation whatsoever (vs. 32; cf. 17:20; 28:14; Pro. 4:27). And Moshe asserted that we must walk in Yah’s commanded Ways so that we may live long and prosperous lives (vss. 33-6:3).

Torah and Covenant-Keeping Always Tied to our Receiving and Keeping the Land

Torah and covenant-keeping was always tied to our inheriting the Land.

Granted, some conflate these two concepts of covenant-keeping and Torah-keeping, and that’s certainly fine to do so. For if one fails, for whatever reason, to walk in Torah (i.e., Yah’s house rules for righteous living), there is no covenant relationship with the Eternal. This, which is inextricably linked and tied to an unwavering trusting Faith in YHVH, a pure heart that is responsive to the leading and direction of the Eternal and the workings of the Ruach Kodesh working within the soul of Yah’s beloved, serve as the fuel by by which we walk and live in Kingdom.

But when it comes down to the nitty gritty of the situation, Yah’s greatest desire was that we possess a heart that was conducive to obeying Him and walking in covenant with Him.  I guess this essentially translates to our loving Yehovah with our whole being when you think about it.

Torah as the Frame Work Upon Which Our Covenant Relationship Rests

Torah is the framework upon which our covenant relationship rests and our walking in covenant relationship with Yah is the thing that ushered us into the Land of Promise and it was the thing that kept us well and flourishing in the Land. The Torah-framework was the buttress for our covenant relationship with the Almighty and these were in every sense of the word the “keys” receiving and dwelling in the Land. For without this blessed Way of Life in operation, our ancient cousins would not be privy to entering the Land, nor dwelling therein without much in the way of peace, comfort and security. Ultimately, it was the abandonment of this Way of Life that led to them being exiled and removed from the Land.

Qualifying to Entering and Dwell in the Land and the Kingdom of God

For us in the here and now, the covenant relationship that rests on the framework of Torah is the thing that will qualify us for entering the the Land of Promise–the Malchut Elohim. As with our ancient cousins in this parshah, these serve as the “keys” to the eternal “Malchut Elohim.”  And contrary to orthodoxy and fundamentlist conventional wisdom, when His supposed people reject this Way of Life–that is they reject said “keys,” they will not even be given the opportunity to enter the Malchut Elohim.

And these are the eternal truths that much be conveyed to the world before our Master returns to rule and reign over this earth in the Olam Habah.