Some “New Testament” passages revealing that the keeping of the “Old Testament” commandments did NOT end with the coming of Yeshua (Jesus)...

The following are some “New Testament” passages revealing that the keeping of the “Old Testament” commandments did NOT end with the coming of Yeshua (Jesus)...

John 14: 15. If you love me, keep my Commandments. 16. And I will ask of my Father and He will give you another Redeemer[1] who will be with you forever. 17. The Spirit of Truth, He who the world is not able to receive because it has not seen Him, nor does know Him. But you know Him for He dwells with you and He is in you.

18. I will not leave you bereaved. For I will come to you in a little while. 19. And the world will not see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20. In that day you will know that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you. 21. He who has my Commandments with him and keeps them, he is who loves me and he who loves me will be loved by my Father. And I will love him and reveal myself to him. (AENT)

[1] "Redeemer" or "One who ends the curse." By the indwelling of the Ruach haKodesh, our fallen nature is redeemed from the curse of Adam. By ending the curse, Mashiyach as savior, more literally fulfills the office of Mashiyach as the "giver of lives."

John 15: 10. If you keep my Commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept the Commandments of my Father, and I abide in His love. 11. I have spoken these things with you that my joy may be in you and that your joy might be full in you. 12. This is my Commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you. (AENT)

NOTE: The "Commandments of my Father" always refers to Torah; see also John 15:5. Y'shua and his Talmidim (disciples) keep his Father's Commandments, but mainstream Christianity is not only anti-Torah; they turned rebellion against Torah into a "fashionable" form of lawlessness. See Daniel 7:24; 2 Thessalonians 2:7; 2 Timothy 2:19; Titus 2:14; 2 Peter 2:21; 1 John 3:4; Hebrews 2:2-4; Romans 4:15; Matthew 7:23; 13:41.

Note in the above that Yeshua was Torah observant; He kept the commandments of Torah! He said, "If you keep my Commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept the Commandments of my Father, and I abide in His love." Note that Yeshua said “YOU”…Those two facts ("love" and "commandments") cannot be separated! To "love one another" is to share with each other the keeping of the commandments!

God LOVES us, and He WANTS to have a true relationship with Him. Our “traditions” and simply “going to church” are NOT a “relationship.” He demands that we obey His commands, so that all will go well with us.

In Deuteronomy 27:26 He said: “A curse on anyone who does not confirm the words of this Torah by putting them into practice.' All the people are to say, 'Amen!'" (Also, please read Deuteronomy 28:1-15.) These things didn’t then, and don’t now, pertain “only to the Jews.” …
If you’ve read the whole Bible, you can see from start to finish how adamant He was and is - all the way through to the end of the “New Testament”:

Jeremiah 17: 5 Here is what ADONAI says: "A curse on the person who trusts in humans, who relies on merely human strength, whose heart turns away from ADONAI. 6 He will be like a tamarisk in the 'Aravah - when relief comes, it is unaffected; for it lives in the sun-baked desert, in salty, uninhabited land.

7 Blessed is the man who trusts in ADONAI; ADONAI will be his security. 8 He will be like a tree planted near water; it spreads out its roots by the river; it does not notice when heat comes; and its foliage is luxuriant; it is not anxious in a year of drought but keeps on yielding fruit. 9 "The heart is more deceitful than anything else and mortally sick. Who can fathom it? 10 I, ADONAI, search the heart; I test inner motivations; in order to give to everyone what his actions and conduct deserve." (CJB)

Revelation 22: 14. Blessed are they who do His (Master YHWH's) Mitzvot (words/commands), that they may have a right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. 15. Without (will be) dogs (idiom for male prostitutes; those who are evil/pagan) and sorcerers, and whoremongers and manslayers and idolaters, and everyone that loves and does falsehood. 16. I Y'shua have sent my Messenger to testify to you these things before the assemblies. I am the root and offspring of Dawid: like the splendid star of the morning.

17. And the Spirit and the bride say, You come. And let him that hears, say, You come. And let him who thirsts, come; and he that is inclined, let him take the living water freely. 18. I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, that if anyone will add to them, Elohim will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.

19. And if anyone will take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, Elohim will take away his portion from the tree of life and from the Set Apart city, which are described in this book. 20. He who testifies these things, says: Yes, I come quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Y'shua! 21. The grace of our Master (Y'shua) Y'shua the Mashiyach, (be) with all the Set Apart believers. Amen. (AENT)

Remember who was standing before Him on Sinai? It wasn’t just “the Jews”; it was the 12 tribes, AND the foreigners who had followed Moshe and the Hebrews out of Egypt. Those of them who wished to accept YHWH as their ELOHIM, were told to do exactly as HIS people did! (Exodus 12:38, Numbers 15:13-16)

YHWH was making His oath not only with those standing before Him, but with all future generations of those who have accepted Him as their Elohim! (Remember, as believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, YOU are part of Israel - Halleluyah! He made this oath with YOU as well as those standing before Him at Sinai: Obey Him and all will go well with you; disobey and you will be cursed....)

Deuteronomy 29: 19 If there is such a person, when he hears the words of this curse, he will bless himself secretly, saying to himself, ‘I will be all right, even though I will stubbornly keep doing whatever I feel like doing; so that I, although “dry,” [sinful,] will be added to the “watered” [righteous].’ 20 But ADONAI will not forgive him. Rather, the anger and jealousy of ADONAI will blaze up against that person. Every curse written in this book will be upon him. ADONAI will blot out his name from under heaven. (ESV)

A FINAL NOTE TO PONDER:

The death of Yeshua didn't remove our need to have a true and holy relationship with YHWH; he came to free us from our past sins. If things aren’t “going well” with us and we aren’t feeling blessed, it’s either because YHWH is loving us enough to chastise us for something, and He is trying to get us back on track; OR, because WE deliberately continue to ignore His commands – at which point we will receive His curses.

Can Scripture contradict itself?

To all those who believe that Paul negated the Torah by interpreting Colossians 2:14 thusly...

“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;” (KJV) to mean that the Law is nailed to the cross so there is no need for Christians to keep the Torah, and Galatians 2:21 “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” (KJV):

...then please answer one question:  Can Scripture contradict itself?

If it (or Paul) appears to contradict itself, then there is only two possible conclusions. 1) Your interpretation of at least one of the verses is incorrect and you should be open to alternate interpretations, or 2) This invalidates all the Scripture. Is Yahweh the one that is incorrect? Or is it much more likely that it is our interpretation that is incorrect and should be adjusted.

I offer the following verses: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God, and useful for teaching, for reproof, for restoration, and for training in righteousness, so that the person belonging to God may be capable, fully equipped for every good deed.” (TLV)

Does your interpretation of these verses (Colossians and Galatians contradict 2 Timothy 3? It seems to me that if the Torah is done away with, does not apply to Christians, and therefore is not to be followed, then the inevitable conclusion is that Torah is not useful for teaching, reproof, restoration or for training in righteousness. If it is true that Torah is invalid for Gentiles, then what parts of the Tanach, (Old Testament) are valid for teaching, reproof, restoration and training in righteousness? Psalms? Then what about Psalms 119? Proverbs? What about Proverbs 7 “My son, keep my words and treasure my mitzvot within you. Keep my mitzvot and live, my teaching as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers, write them on the tablet of your heart.” Or do we just throw out the entire Old Testament? Just what is the “word” if we do that? If we do that then indeed, Paul contradicts himself and the Scriptures.

There are just so many places within the Tanach (Old Testament) and the New Testament that affirm Yahweh’s instructions first for the Hebrews, and then for all men to follow. In fact, the Torah is the foundation upon which all the New Testament is built.

Paul also said “So what room is left for boasting? None at all! What kind of Torah excludes it? One that has to do with legalistic observance of rules? No, rather, a Torah that has to do with trusting. Therefore, we hold the view that a person comes to be considered righteous by God on the ground of trusting, which has nothing to do with legalistic observance of Torah commands. Or is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, he is indeed the God of the Gentiles; because, as you will admit, God is one. Therefore, he will consider righteous the circumcised on the ground of trusting and the uncircumcised through that same trusting. Does it follow that we abolish Torah by this trusting? Heaven forbid! On the contrary, we confirm Torah. (Romans 3:27-31). 

So by doing Torah we are not boasting, we are honoring and affirming Yahweh’s word and the living word, Yeshua.

And. “Therefore, what are we to say? That the Torah is sinful? Heaven forbid! Rather, the function of the Torah was that without it, I would not have known what sin is.” (Romans 7:7).

And, “For it is not merely the hearers of Torah whom God considers righteous; rather, it is the doers of what Torah says who will be made righteous in God’s sight.” (Romans 2:13)

Why wouldn’t all Christians wish to be righteous in God’s sight? Why wouldn’t all Christians desire to DO the Torah, eat Kosher, keep the 10 commandments, keep the 7th day Sabbath (Saturday), and celebrate the feasts of Yahweh, especially since they claim that Yeshua (Jesus) is their example, and He kept all the Torah. Is it logical that Yahweh sent His only Son into the world to do His Torah just so His followers would have no reason to honor His Father likewise?

Search for another interpretation whenever there appears to be a contradiction in Scripture. The whole book, Old Testament and New Testament are one book, with one message of repentance and restoration, with multiple examples for our edification. It is all true. “Be holy as I am holy.”

Remember Yahweh’s character of compassion, graciousness, slow to anger, abundant in lovingkindness and truth, showing mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means leaving the guilty unpunished. (Exodus 34:6-7). We must adopt attitudes that are consistent with His character. Is it possible that He does not desire that all His people, including Gentile believers in His Mashiach, follow His guidance? Heaven forbid!!!

The bottom line is: if you are a Christian were you grafted into Israel? If yes, then the Torah applies to you. See Romans 11:17-24…. If no, then Yeshua did not come for you. See Matthew 10:24 where He said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Isra’el.” He came for His children (Isra’el), whether or not they are adopted (believers in Yeshua that are grafted in). 

I am sorry, but Yeshua said: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, only those who do what my Father in heaven wants. On that Day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord! Didn’t we prophesy in your name? Didn’t we expel demons in your name? Didn’t we perform many miracles in your name?’ Then I will tell them to their faces, ‘I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness” Matthew 7:21-23.

His Father, Yahweh, gave all His children His instructions for righteousness (holiness), to both His Hebrew children, and His adopted children, and He expects all of us to obey and trust in Him to the best of our abilities, by doing all of His commandments (mitzvot) that apply to us. Do not exclude the Father and His instructions just because you accept the restoration with the Father that Yeshua offers! 

We serve both Father and Son in Spirit and Truth. It’s only logical. 

- Thomas R. Leannah

A word about our “weekly date with God”

I was just thinking of the Weekly Torah portions which we read during our “weekly date” with God.

The lessons are always VERY POWERFUL - and here are their basic messages: The Book of Leviticus is not a "book of laws" as so many insist. It is our Creator asking us to be holy through obedience to HIS rules!

Throughout the Torah we not only see Divine Rules to follow, but we are told via many examples exactly HOW we can be "set apart" for Him - by not following the abominable ways of the other nations. He gives us a choice to follow Him, or not. Those who follow Him are blessed; those who don't are cut off. Simple as that. There is no gray area.

Over and over again we see YHWH saying in various ways: "Be holy because I am holy." How many times have we read His comments: "I am ADONAI (God)"....We are to "do" or "not do" because He said so! Paraphrased: "I am ADONAI! I am holy. If you want to belong to Me and be in MY holy Presence, then you will have to be holy."

And how does one know how to "be holy"? It was revealed to us in Leviticus 18:

Leviticus 18: 1 ADONAI said to Moshe, 2 "Speak to the people of Isra'el; tell them, 'I am ADONAI your God. 3 You are not to engage in the activities found in the land of Egypt, where you used to live; and you are not to engage in the activities found in the land of Kena'an, where I am bringing you; nor are you to live by their laws. 4 You are to obey my rulings and laws and live accordingly; I am ADONAI your God. 5 You are to observe my laws and rulings; if a person does them, he will have life through them; I am ADONAI. (CJB)

Many Christians insist “those old rules were just for the Jews.” Unfortunately that is a huge misconception as we are “one in Messiah” (Galatians 3:23-29; Ephesians 4:1-6; and John 17:20-23), which means, same God, same rules for holy, set apart living.

(Don’t forget: There were 12 Tribes standing before YHWH at Mt. Sinai, INCLUDING all the pagans who followed Moshe out of Egypt, who were told that, if they accepted YHWH as their God, they were told – FOUR TIMES IN A ROW! - to do "exactly" as His people did…)

What are a few of the rules we must keep today? (See our article.)

(1) Eat only “clean” foods (i.e., no pork or shellfish). (See our article)

(2) Keep God’s commanded Seventh Day Sabbath “rest” (which are our “weekly dates” with Him). (See our article.)

(3) Keep His seven High Holy Days, which are our “yearly dates” with Him, spread throughout the year, with each one having great significance.  (See our article.)
DOING these things will bring you closer to God than you’ve ever been!

It’s truly not that hard to do – and DOING these things will bring you closer to God than you’ve ever been!

ARE YOU HEAVILY BURDENED WITH LIFE’S PROBLEMS?

Here are three reasons bad things happen to us:

1. You are off God's path; not doing His Will or keeping His commandments.

2. A family curse. Look at your family history.  Does your family history include physical or mental abuse, alcoholism, drugs, sex, tobacco or food addiction, or other situations that hold you captive today? 

If so, it could be due to a family curse of some kind.  To get rid of that curse, you must turn to YHWH Elohim and ask for forgiveness for yourself and your family/relatives/ancestors, and return to Him. Once you've repented and given your life to God wholeheartedly, you might want to try a mikvah:

A "mikvah" is an immersion in water that can drain away (shower, bath, river, creek, ocean) which symbolically allows your "baggage" to wash away. It is consciously and intentionally "doing something" with your hands that will help your mind to recognize and remember your goal of getting rid of past hurts.

During your mikvah, repent for any and all sins you've committed, and tell YHWH you are His now, and you want to do whatever His will is. Yeshua's death covered all your past sins, but as humans, we are prone to continue to sin at some point, and so we have the option of going to our gracious and merciful God and asking for forgiveness and help in overcoming our frailties.

YHWH knows we're prone to sinning and being stupid and carnal, and yet He STILL loves us. All He asks is that we love Him back - to obey His commands so that we can be truly "set apart" for Him. He will take care of the rest.

3. God may be testing you. He might be testing your commitment to Him, especially during the most stressful of times when your faith is tested the most. Ask yourself these questions:

• Am I always blaming someone else for things that happen to me?
• Do I tend to blame God for my circumstances, or do I recognize that “I” might be the problem? 
• Do I look inward and become humble enough to admit that I caused (or at least helped to cause) my problems, and then humbly ask Him to put me back on His Path?
• Have I taken good care of my body – my “temple” – or have I committed sexual sins against my body, ruined it with tobacco, drugs, food or alcohol, and am now blaming Him for not “fixing” me on demand?

1 Corinthians 6:15 Don’t you know that your bodies are parts of the Messiah? So, am I to take parts of the Messiah and make them parts of a prostitute? Heaven forbid! 16 Don’t you know that a man who joins himself to a prostitute becomes physically one with her? For the Tanakh says, “The two will become one flesh”; 17 but the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. 18 Run from sexual immorality! Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the fornicator sins against his own body. 19 Or don’t you know that your body is a temple for the Ruach HaKodesh who lives inside you, whom you received from God? The fact is, you don’t belong to yourselves; 20 for you were bought at a price. So use your bodies to glorify God. (CJB)