In the beginning, simple obedience to the Divine Instructions (not “laws”; rather “instructions”) from our Creator didn’t have a name. His instructions were never considered to be a “religion”; it was never about “religion” or “religiosity!”
Whatever Yahweh spoke, happened. (Yahweh’s Name in Hebrew consists of the letters יהוה [English: YHWH], as given to Moses in Exodus 3:13-15.) Whatever He commanded into being, “became.” And it was “very good.” (See Genesis 1.)
Even His relationship with Adam was symbiotic; Adam knew “who” he was (Genesis 2:9), and he simply and without hesitation, obeyed the One who created him (Genesis 2:15-1), because he knew HE was GOOD.
Adam - as a created being who had a unique and special “face-to-face” relationship with ELOHIM, and had never sinned - was HOLY. No “religion” involved; just a simple love for his Creator.
NOTE: I’m thinking that must also have been very much how Moshe/Moses felt when he was in Yahweh’s Presence for 40 days and nights; “holy” and full of love, eager to do The Creator’s Will! As evidence of that holiness, Moshe’s body shone like the sun because he had been in the Presence of pure Holiness – and the people were afraid, because of that bright light emanating from Moshe’s face when he came down from Mt. Sinai! (See Exodus 34:29-35.)
But then, “the fall” happened, because Adam and Eve abused the “free will” God had bestowed upon them, by daring to disobey His Holy Instructions concerning the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Consequently, they were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, to fend for themselves. (See Genesis 2:16-17 and all of Genesis 3 which provide ample warning about how strongly ADONAI-ELOHIM feels about disobedience.)
As you know, things went downhill from there because, the “fallen world” quickly became filled with unruly, evil, sinning people who either didn’t know, or didn’t care about The Creator, and so He flooded the earth to rid it of all the evil people. According to the Torah account, everyone perished; everyone that is, except for Noah - the ONLY person on earth who actually still adhered to God’s Divine Instructions. Because of his obedience, Noah and his family were spared and allowed to live and prosper and procreate to start the human race all over again. (Genesis 6:8 through Genesis 9:1)
Living in a “fallen world,” of course, meant that God had to hand down more rules, because men always tend to stray from His Instructions… (Again – “instructions” - NOT “religion”… Sorry to keep belaboring that mantra, but I’m trying to make a point here because, today there are endless fights and arguments over everyone’s respective “religions,” “denominations” and “beliefs.” The bottom line is, those mean nothing, because they all have, in one way or another, twisted His INSTRUCTIONS, which is the ONLY thing that matters!)
Fast forward to Chapter 12 where we meet Avram (which means “Exalted Father”), the pagan Chaldean who accepted Yahweh’s offer to become his God, with the stipulation that he would have to leave the paganism and his home and everything behind, and head to the Land God commanded him to enter. This obedience resulted in Avram becoming our first Patriarch, adhering to the same original Divine Instructions – a body of Rules for moral, holy Living, that men would, centuries later, begin referring to as “Judaism”…
(NOTE: Men, not God, placed the label of Judaism on belief in Yahweh-Elohim and His Divine Instructions.)
Yahweh made several covenants with Avram, who was began being referred to as a “Hebrew” in Genesis 13:14; and He ultimately saw fit to rename him “Avraham” (which means “Father of a Multitude” or “Father of Many Nations”). He also promised Avraham that he would “become a great nation” (Genesis 17).
Yahweh put Avraham through many tests in order to guide and teach him to TRUST, PUT HIS FAITH IN, and TOTALLY RELY on Him – the hardest of which was the order to offer up his own son, Isaac as a burnt offering! (Genesis 22:1-19).
Of course, ADONAI ELOHIM is not, and was never, into “human sacrifice! That particular test was designed, among other things, to not only prove that Yahweh could always be trusted to “do the right thing” in every situation (i.e., at the last minute, He provided a ram for Avraham to offer in lieu of his own son); but also make Avraham realize how much he had “grown” since his pagan days; because now, he was automatically willing to obey EVERYTHING and ANYTHING the Holy One expected of him … which is a trait ADONAI desires to see in everyone who believes in Him, especially His Chosen leaders.
Avraham, naturally, passed knowledge of Yahweh and His Divine Instructions down to his son, Yitz’chak (Isaac), who would become our Second Patriarch; who then passed the same onto his son, Ya’akov (Jacob, also called “Israel”), our Third Patriarch, who fathered 12 sons, who became the heads of the twelve tribes. (Genesis 49:28 And Exodus 24:4)
VERY IMPORTANT: One of Yitz’chak’s sons was Yehudah (Judah) [a later ancestor to King David], who headed the tribe that would eventually be referred to as “Jews” whose “religion” would ultimately be called “Judaism”.
Not only would the Tribe of Yehudah later be charged with taking Torah into the world (Genesis 49:10, Micah 4:2); but Yahweh also caused His “Son” - Messiah Yeshua – to be born into the Tribe of Yehudah!
When Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah, came onto the scene centuries later, he didn’t come to bring ANY “religion” either! He was sent by the Father NOT to do his own will, or to abolish anything His Father ever commanded: but rather, to proclaim the Kingdom of Yahweh and do everything His Father commanded (see Luke 4:43 and 8:1; Acts 28:23). He was to be an intercessor between Yahweh and mankind; all while, constantly leading people back to the Source: יהוה and His Divine Instructions, known as “Torah” (consisting of the first five Books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy)
Unfortunately, regardless of what the first two-thirds of the Bible SAYS, and regardless as to what Yeshua preached, myriads today erroneously insist on believing that he came to establish a new religion, bring new rules and abolish His Father’s Torah … and they will inevitably present the much-misunderstood and mistranslated writings of Paul to “prove” it. (Never mind that Peter said Paul would be hard to understand [2 Peter 3:15-16] in his desperate attempts to explain deep Hebrew concepts to pagan mindsets. AND, never mind that among Paul’s many writings, he ALSO wrote: “Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.” (Romans 3:31, NIV)
Stern’s Complete Jewish Bible puts it this way: “Does it follow that we abolish Torah by this trusting? Heaven forbid! On the contrary, we confirm Torah.”
(NOTE: “The law” is an inaccurate term, because God’s Divine Instructions are just that: loving INSTRUCTIONS on how to conduct our lives in a way that would prepare us to become good, holy citizens not only in this world, but also in the “Olam haBa” (World to Come); “a core Jewish concept for the afterlife and messianic era, referring to a perfected spiritual realm or the perfected world after the Messiah's coming, involving divine justice, potential soul survival, and the resurrection of the dead.”)
IN VIEW OF ALL THE ABOVE, WHY WOULD YESHUA COME TO ABOLISH TORAH, when it is our ONLY BLUEPRINT for moral, holy living? Why would he bring a “new religion” designed to detract from the things His Father taught – and that Yeshua himself, who came from Yahweh and was the “Word of Yahweh” (John 1:1,14) helped to produce? After all, doesn’t the Bible tell that Yeshua is “the same yesterday, today, and forever?" (Hebrews 13:8)
The entire Tanach (Old Testament) revolves around Yahweh and His continuous teachings and reaching out to His people. It chronicles their history and sagas – complete with their triumphs and failures (whenever they were off His Path).
His Divine Instructions are spread throughout the Torah (first five Books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) which outlines ALL of the Holy One’s Divine Instructions - including those found in Exodus 20, from which we got the Ten Commandments.
Not only has Yahweh provided us with the blueprint; but He even made a way for us to have an ongoing relationship with Him every week and throughout the year, via the commanded Seventh Day Sabbath (which is our weekly “date” with Him); and the seven commanded Feast Times (our yearly “dates” with Him), all designed to teach us about Him, His Messiah and His desires to fashion into holy vessels ALL who accept Him as their God; preparing us to spend Eternity with Him and Yeshua!
As you can see, neither Yahweh nor His Messiah gave us any “religions” whatsoever – only the Divine Instructions in Righteousness, without which we would have NO blueprint for moral, holy living. His Son Yeshua certainly didn’t come to bring any religion! He simply reminded Yahweh’s people of the SAME Divine Instructions that we saw from the beginning and which were spread throughout the Torah; and he came to walk them out (1 John 2:3-7) and taught Yahweh’s people how to properly do them.
And then – as you all know – he became our Redeemer by offering up his own life and shedding his divine blood in order to afford us eternal life. (Remember, since the “fall of mankind” Yahweh has always required the blood of an innocent animal to atone for men’s sins. Yeshua was not a “human sacrifice, and nobody “sacrificed” him on any altar; he willingly martyred himself on our behalf, against which there is no law.)
THAT is why I accepted the call to become a “Torah observant believer” in Yahweh, Yeshua, and Torah – the “whole Bible” concept that teaches “the faith once delivered.” (Jude 1:3) No “religion” nor “religiosity”; just plain obedience to the commands we today can still adhere to, such as eating only “clean” foods (as outlined in Leviticus); and keeping the Seventh Day Sabbath and the Feasts.
In closing, I reiterate: Torah observance is not now, nor ever has been about “religion”; it’s always been about simple obedience to the good and holy, DIVINE Instructions, designed to prepare us for an Eternity too amazing for us to even imagine with our limited, human mindsets!
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