Have you ever noticed that Matthew 22:36-39 is often taken out of context?

Have you ever noticed that Matthew 22:36-39 is often taken out of context?

Matthew 22:36. "Teacher, which Commandment in Torah is the greatest?" 37. And Y'shua said to him, that "You should love Master YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might and with all your mind." 38. This is the first and the greatest Commandment. 39. And the second is like it. That "You should love your neighbor as yourself." (AENT)

For some reason, that passage keeps being twisted into the idea that "loving God and your neighbor" is ALL that's expected of you, rendering null and void YHWH's original, Divine Instructions called "Torah."

That is a HUGE mistake, because YHWH's Torah commands are our ONLY blueprint for moral, holy living!  Yet, people will respond with some nonsensical comment such as, "Well, NOBODY can keep all those 613 original commands, and the Bible says if you break one, you've broken them all."

Statements like that reveal that people have completely missed the fact that YHWH never, ever said that EVERYONE had to adhere to "all 613 commands," as MOST of His instructions were directed at the Levite cohens (priests); while some were only for men; some only for women; and some were only for a certain time frame...  (By the way, men numbered them, not Him.)

HOWEVER - and please take note of this:  Some were meant to last FOREVER and for ALL Believers! (See Exodus 12:49, Numbers 15:13-16, Isaiah 56:6, Galatians 3:28 and Romans 10:12-13.) I'm talking about those verses where YHWH specifically states His people must do something "forever" or "throughout your generations" - such as keeping His Seventh Day Sabbath REST (which is a SIGN between YHWH and those who are HIS, Exodus 31:16-17; Ezekiel 20:11-12), and celebrating His 7 Feasts (i.e., Exodus 12 and 34; Deuteronomy 16:1-8, Leviticus 23:4-8, Numbers 28:16-25, Romans 6:4, II Cor. 5:21, etc.), and eating only "clean" foods … all the things designed to set HIS people apart from "the world."

“But,” some will retort, “the death of Jesus abolished all that on the cross!”

…Nope, it did not!  Please pay close attention to what you are about to read:

It is imperative to remember that, yes, Yeshua WAS and IS “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6), and that his divine blood redeemed us.  HOWEVER, YHWH’s TORAH did NOT die when Yeshua’s FLESH was “crucified!” If someone refuses to believe that, then perhaps this next sentence might help change their mind:

Since Yeshua was the “Arm” of YHWH (Isaiah 53:1) and the Word of YHWH (John 1:1, 14), and he died on the cross/stake, then the “Word” (Torah) ALSO ROSE AGAIN when he was resurrected!

Isaiah 40:8 says: “Grass shall wither, the flower shall fade, but the word of our ELOHIM stands forever. (See 1 Peter 1:24-25.)

While YHWH eventually recorded TEN in stone, we must remember, these ten are just part of the larger picture taken from His Torah, which He said would stand forever. Many people balk at this idea because they are under the erroneous impression that they don't even have to bother even keeping the TEN Commandments anymore (let alone the "613"); but, rather, just TWO.  HUGE MISTAKE!

Let's take a closer look at what Matthew 22 actually says:

Matthew 22:36. "Teacher, which Commandment in Torah is the greatest?" 37. And Y'shua said to him, that "You should love Master YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might and with all your mind." 38. This is the first and the greatest Commandment. 39. And the second is like it. That "You should love your neighbor as yourself." (AENT)

Unfortunately, people always seem to stop right there, totally ignoring the NEXT verse, verse 40, which says:  "On these two commandments HANG Torah and the prophets."

THAT tells us, there is "something more" to this passage!

For instance, does verse 40 imply that all of God's original instructions have been done away with or were somehow replaced? NO! The Torah and the Prophets HANG/ARE DEPENDENT ON those two commands!

There's more to pleasing YHWH than just "loving God and loving your neighbor!" SIN is still sin and God still expects His people to adhere to His Divine Standards for moral, holy living!

The thing is, people love to pick and choose and play around with the commandments that were written in stone - such as, for instance, the Fourth Commandment concerning the seventh-day Sabbath. Christianity has decided that the death of Jesus somehow changed YHWH's Seventh Day Sabbath rest to a church event done on Sunday morning (which is mostly based on the writings of what they THINK Paul wrote); which, more often than not, concentrates on bands and entertainment instead of solid Torah teachings (after all, they believe the "law" is considered a curse!)... after which some go home to mow their lawns and clean their houses, or return to the office to catch up on some work....

It seems mankind has always liked to "pick and choose" when it comes to God's Word, but it's time to realize that the “forever” or “throughout your generations” commands were NEVER abolished ... on the cross, or anywhere else!

2 Timothy 3:16. All Scripture that was written by the Spirit is profitable for instruction and for decisive refutation, and for correction, and for deep extensive learning in righteousness; 17. that the man of Elohim may become perfect and complete for every good work. (AENT)