Do I see Treasure or silliness? Do I seek or do I ignore?

From childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2Ti 3:15

Many people, including Bible scholars that I respect, object to following the instructions of our Heavenly Father by acting like it’s silly to take Him seriously. “Are you really not going to eat pork?” “How silly are you?” Are you going to wear fringes?”  You really think God doesn’t want you to wear something of wool and linen or stone rebellious children or Sabbath breakers? Or even stronger, some think God’s instructions on how to live in this world represent bondage and slavery.

Did Yahweh and His prophets and His Messiah not know they were going to get rid of the Torah? Did He not care to give a hint about it nor even mention it. Did Paul, with practically no discussion, just decide the Fourth Commandment, the Sabbath, was not valid, and that circumcision was useless and that God was being silly and should have never told us what food His creation should and should not eat. Did Paul abruptly and unceremonious abolish all of God’s instructions and declare His Torah was no longer useful or needed in a few offhanded remarks?

Does God say things He really does not mean? Like when He says His commands (dabar/words) will last forever. Or did Jesus not mean it when he said that nothing in the Torah would change until heaven and earth pass away or that He did not come to abolish the Torah? YAHWEH was very careful to let us know that there would be changes in the Temple and the Priesthood and that there would be a New Covenant. All of that was prophesied. As it says in Amos 3:7 “For the Lord YAHWEH does nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets.” But there are no prophecies that YAHWEH’s commandments and precepts found in His Torah (Instructions) would be done away with. In fact, the prophecies about the New Covenant say the New Covenant will give us a new heart and a new spirit so that His people will want to and can keep His commands and precepts. (Eze 36:26-27; Jer 31:31-33)

I don’t have an answer for what all these commands mean, I know some, but still meditating on others. But just because I cannot understand some things does not mean God’s instructions are silly or capricious or to be ignored. Because His Words were given thousands of years ago, in an ancient language, we can’t take at face value what our modern English translations say, it requires study, prayer, meditation and community to understand. In fact, just about everything that God has made valuable in this world, is covered up and hard to see or find.

For example:

1. Where can you find diamonds? • In the ground, covered and protected.

2. Where are the pearls? • Deep in the ocean, covered and protected in a beautiful shell.

3. Where can you find gold? • Underground, covered with layers of rock, and to get there you have to work very hard and dig deep.

My son, if you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, make your ear attentive to wisdom; Incline your heart to understanding. For if you cry out for insight and raise your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of YAHWEH, And discover the knowledge of God. For YAHWEH gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, Guarding the paths of justice, and He watches over the way of His godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness, justice, and integrity, and every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be delightful to your soul; Prov 2:1-10

Have I searched for God’s wisdom in His words and commands with as much effort as it takes to find hidden treasure?

For all practical purposes Christianity has cut itself off from the wisdom that comes from YAHWEH by not taking the time to test a few words of Paul but instead, automatically with little thought or research, twist and take out of historical or narrative context a few of his sentences and end up abolishing and negating the sacred writings.

How can unsaved Gentiles or Jews take Christianity seriously when we casually dismiss or even contradict the words of our own God and Savior.

There has never been as many resources so readily available to any previous generation that makes searching, digging, gathering the treasures in God’s sacred writings than what is available to us. But the enemy has effectively caused us to quit looking for God’s treasure.

One of YAHWEH’s instructions says to celebrate Shavuot. Over years of meditation Shavuot became associated with not just the first harvest but also the time when fire came down on Mt. Sinai and God gave Moses the Torah. It became an annual celebration of God giving His Word. Interestingly, it was also at Shavuot that the Holy Spirit was given, inauguration of the New Covenant and fire came down in the upper room. These first followers in the New Covenant only had what we call the Old Testament. This was their only sacred writings. They used those scriptures for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, and it equipped them for every good work. They followed the Torah, its commands, precepts, festivals and Sabbath. They saw no contradiction between the prophesied New Covenant and the Torah. In the beginning was the Word (dabar), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. For the Torah was given through Moses; and grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. John 1:1, 17.  It was only in the generations after the Apostles died out; when in 70 Ad and especially 135 AD the Romans destroyed and burned every fortified city in Israel, killed over 1 Million and sold into slavery over 100,000, prohibited people from following the Torah and the Biblical Hebrew calendar, executed all Torah scholars, burned the sacred scrolls of  Scripture at the large Temple complex for Jupiter which they built on the Temple Mount and banned all Jews from living in Israel and renamed it Syria Palestina; then Greek philosophy infiltrated and interpreted the New Covenant as getting rid of the Torah. From there, an ongoing effort to distance Gentile Christianity from any connection to the Torah. There was a reinterpretation of Scriptures to get rid of any influence of the Torah and excommunication of any Christians who followed it. Eventually Gentile Christianity merged with Rome and adopted Greek philosophy as its heritage and got rid of the Hebrew heritage of the Torah.

"I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves’ men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.” Act 20:29-30

Father, "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word (dabar) is truth.  John 17:17

It is challenging at this time in history because it is rare to find a fellowship of believers dedicated to following all of YAHWEH’s words. It’s comforting knowing it’s in God’s hands and His timing. I have attached a large video I just found this week that has to be downloaded to watch. It’s encouraging to see people in it from all over the world wrestling with some of the same questions I have. I personally do not ascribe to everything that comes up in the video but that will always be the case with all of us. On Sundays I go to a Christian fellowship that, because of their incorrect view of the Torah, believes following the Torah is bondage. However, in their preaching they are very rules oriented. It would be scary for them to decide they had found 600+ more rules to follow. I do not believe God’s Words are a rule book. They are wisdom given to us by God to know how to act towards one another and towards Him. Words to give us wisdom of how to live in this fallen world and teach us about Him. Do I believe God wants us to honor His 7^th day Sabbath and rest from work? Yes, because He said so. But I am still figuring out what all that means. I know some of it, but I am still plumbing the depths of that instruction from YAHWEH. Pretty certain it’s a journey that never ends and only gets deeper and better. I want to learn and understand all His commands and precepts. I am not trying to follow His commands to be saved, any more than I got baptized to be saved. I am saved through faith in the atoning work of the Messiah. I got baptized because I got saved, I want to follow God's Torah, because I got saved. Also, would I be happier if I had a fellowship to share this treasure hunt with, of course I would. But I am still incredibly excited every time I start a treasure hunt for what is in YAHWEH’s Torah. 

'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares YAHWEH, 'plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 'And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jer 29:11-13

My prayer is that when people are searching for YAHWEH, they will not close off their heart to the treasures found in His Word.

 

May YAHWEH bless you and keep you.

Shalom

(copy and paste the link below in your browser to get to the page to download the video) 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HHrjLQfPzzqbWWgLVo3ss7KpiNSZ4C3E/view?usp=sharing