What is the way to walk with the Messiah today?
Sha'ul of Tarsus, aka Paul, having been arrested for being a teacher and a disciple of the Messiah, proclaimed in his defense:
Acts 24:14 "But I am confessing this same to you: that according to haDerekh ("the Way"), which they are calling a sect, I am serving in this way to the Abba Elohim (Father God), committing to all things; to those according to the Torah and to the Prophets, as they have been written." (*HCB)
After we have confessed our own trust in the death and resurrection of the Messiah, and made the commitment to follow him, are we expected to follow him like Paul?
To a Hebrew, the Messiah must lead us within the Torah (the "Teaching" of God's commands, laws and judgments), since he will be the new mediator of the Covenant between God and his people, like Moses:
Deut 18:18 "I will raise up for them a Prophet (aka Messiah) from among their brothers, like you (i.e. he will succeed Moses as the new mediator of the Covenant); and I will put my words (this same Torah) in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.
18:19 It shall happen that whoever will not listen to my words (keep Torah), which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him." (see also Acts 3:22-23 and John 1:45).
God is "immutable" or unchanging; if so, the B'rit Khadashah ("Covenant of new" aka New Covenant/Testament; see also Mal 3:6 and Heb 13:8) should be understood as being the same Mosaic Covenant, but now under the new mediator like Moses, who will lead us as Moses did in keeping the same Torah:
Jer 31:33 "But this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Yisra'el after those days, says Y'havah (YHVH; "Yah the Existing One"): I will deliver my Torah in their midst (in person as Messiah) and over their heart will I record it; and they shall be my judges, and they shall be my people."
The Hebrews as a people were even chosen by the God of Israel to be a light from the Torah to all peoples:
Isa 51:4 "Attend to me, my people; and give ear to me, my nation: for Torah shall go forth from me, and will suddenly establish my justice for a light to the peoples (all people)."
So, according to what is written in the above verses, the commitment or Covenant with Messiah Yehoshua is supposed to mean that we will follow him as he leads us in keeping the Torah, whoever we may be.
And even though we cannot be perfect in obedience as Adonai Yehoshua is, we can still walk blamelessly with him as we are learning to keep the Torah, which God has said is possible and also expected from us:
Deut 30:9b-10 "Y'havah will again rejoice over you for good, as he rejoiced over your fathers, if you shall obey the voice of Y'havah your Elohim, to keep his mitzvot (commandments) and his statutes (laws) which are written in this book of the Torah; if you turn to Y'havah your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul.
30:11 For this mitzvah (command to keep all of Torah) which I command you this day, it is not too hard for you, neither is it far off."
The Torah then is not impossible to keep for those who are wholly committed to trust Messiah Yehoshua to lead them in it.
Most store-bought translations of the Bible seem to change the Covenant as God gave it to us upon the arrival of the Messiah.
They imply that the Torah no longer is the way we are to follow and obey God in the "New Testament" (NT) and that the Messiah has brought to us a much different message than the words given to Moses.
These English-translation Bibles do not translate the NT in a way that shows us the Prophet/Messiah succeeding Moses as the new mediator of the Torah as prophesied.
This is possible only if the belief of the translators themselves wavered regarding the immutability of words spoken by God.
Accordingly, if any NT verse within your own Bible implies or contains an amendment to the Torah, it can only be due to some degree of uncertainty of this truth when it was translated from the Greek into English; the Greek text itself creates no Torah changes if the syntax is adhered to.
Indeed, men will readily agree that whatever God has said, it can not be changed. But in practice, most really don't seem to know how to truly trust this…
Some examples of this practice would be food-related passages in the NT, which are quoted by many "believers" who have a partial understanding of Hebraic culture, to "prove" that the food laws of the Torah have ended or at least don't apply to non-Jews. It is assumed and taught that if these ended, then so did the requirement for the rest.
To show evidence that the God and Messiah of Israel truly is unchanging with regard to food and every other command within his unchangeable Torah, let's take a look at several of the food passages in the NT, which have all been translated here with what we believe is the most accurate Hebraic Biblical context (*literally translated with precise adherence to the Greek syntax of the Byzantine Majority Text; we encourage you to compare each verse with your own Bible):
1Tim 4:4-5 "Because every creature of Elohim (i.e. as he commanded in his Torah; see Lev 11:2-23) is valuable, and amidst of gratitude, not even one cast off (rejected); being received, it is being kadosh (holy; set-apart) through of a word of Elohim (Torah command of God) and of prayer."
If you were raised without the Torah or were taught by someone that we don't need to keep its commands under Messiah, you might assume this verse means any creature of God is suitable for food. America has pork on the menu; China, lizard on a stick; other places, dog, monkey, etc..
Kefa (aka Peter) warned us that Paul's words can be difficult to understand, but to not be ignorant and "twist" Paul's words to our own destruction (see 2Pet 3:15-16).
Paul can only mean every creature God has declared "clean" as a food in the Torah. He confirms this in saying, "every creature.. being kadosh through of a word of Elohim" which is a Hebrew way of saying, "every creature set-apart in the Torah by God."
Paul certainly is unable to abolish or revise any of God's commands. In fact, he is rebuking any doctrine that may go against the Mosaic law; in the above verse, that no one should forbid any creature which God has said is kosher (set-apart as "clean") or fully suitable for man as a food.
Sin is not just doing what is wrong, it is also failing to do what is right as the God of Israel has commanded us in his Torah; and Paul in context is addressing this important issue all throughout chapter 4 of 1Timothy.
Next, is another food-related passage that we must read with the same Hebraic context, if we are to correctly understand it from Paul's Hebraic perspective:
Romans 14:1-2 "And the one being weak with the e'munah (steadfastness to the truth) you should yourselves be receiving, not for judicial estimations of disputes; who indeed, he is trusting to eat all things (according to Torah), but the one being weak, he is eating [merely] vegetables."
Non-Hebraic thinking often mistakes the forbidden animals of the Torah as being only "ceremonially" unclean, when God has also declared those animals to be entirely unsuitable as food at any time.
A Hebrew writing to brothers within the Covenant knows that "all things" can only mean "all things God has approved as food within the Torah." It would be lawlessness to assume it means to not keep the Torah.
Paul is simply giving instructions here for those who are experienced in keeping the Torah to help those who are struggling with it, since someone new to the Covenant may fear disobedience so much that he may have uncertainty doing the things he should; but at the same time, Paul says to not even consent to disputes regarding Mosaic law.
This next verse pertains to how the Messiah accounts our Covenant obedience while we are learning how to keep the Torah; not that we can now pick and choose whatever we want to as food:
Romans 14:14 "I have known and I have been convinced in with Adonai Yehoshua that no thing is non-kosher through of itself (i.e. a clean thing becomes defiled only by mishandling); not for the one himself questioning (or supposing) if a certain thing is non-kosher, to be being (i.e. making contact) with that thing is non-kosher (defiles you)."
There is a big difference between a food that may become defiled or "non-kosher" (no longer clean) and things that are Tame' or unclean (unkosher) no matter what like pork or shellfish. The one can be caused to become impure as a food, while the other is never a food according to our Creator.
Paul is actually giving an instruction here to be serious in keeping the Torah; that if we or a brother even suspects a kosher meal has become non-kosher, it is no longer set-apart for us and we should avoid it. We should be blameless in our walk.
Last, these following verses from Acts are often misinterpreted as meaning that the death and resurrection of the Messiah has "cleansed" all the animals from the Torah:
Acts 10:11 "And he (Kefa; aka Peter) is staring closely at the sky which had been opened up; and descending above him, some kind of container, in that manner as a gigantic cloth with four ends having been joined, and being lowered upon of the earth.
10:12 Within that it was containing all things the ones four-footed of the earth; even the ones dangerous animals, and the ones reptiles, and the ones flying animals of the sky.
10:13 And after he stood up, it itself generated a voice toward him: 'Kefa, sacrifice and eat'."
This is an extraordinary manifestation. But from the Hebraic Biblical standpoint, regardless of how spectacular, Kefa is hungry and he is being tested (can you recall the testing of Abraham, whom God told to sacrifice his son, Isaac?).
Kefa is not being given permission to now eat unclean food (just as Abraham was not given permission to then kill his son; but his obedience was certainly tested).
And Kefa promptly affirms his loyalty to keep the Torah:
Acts 10:14 "But the one Kefa, he said, 'Not even once, Adonai (Master; Lord); because I eat not even at any time non-kosher (what has become defiled; no longer set-apart) or Tame' (unclean; physical contact with a carcass defiles you; unkosher).'
10:15 And anew out of a second-time, a voice toward him: 'Who the one Elohim he cleansed, you, let yourself not be making (considering) non-kosher.'
10:16 And that object above, a third time it itself generated (the voice from within it repeated itself again) and anew, the vessel, it was taken up into the sky."
At this point Kefa himself is having no clue what this event really means:
Acts 10:17 "But the one Kefa, in that manner as within himself, he was being thoroughly perplexed what, whatsoever it might possibly be, this spectacle which he beheld…"
If Kefa has no idea yet what to make of what has just happened, we should not jump to our own conclusions here either. But from what he said, we know that obedience to the Torah was his primary response.
Let's allow the text itself to explain the meaning of these verses in regard to Torah:
Acts 10:28 "He (Kefa) was shedding light also toward these men (Cornelius the centurion and his guests): 'You, you are understanding yourselves how that it is being unlawful for a Yehudi (Hebrew) man to be being yoked or to be being drawn close to a different kind (anyone not within the Mosaic Covenant). Yet to me the one Elohim, he showed not even one man is non-kosher or to be calling a man Tame' (born unclean and untouchable)'."
The Biblical explanation is simply what is written: any man can be cleansed by God.
Nowhere does it say that any of the Tame'/unclean animals themselves have now become permissible as food.
Nothing has changed, but Kefa is given understanding of something that has always been part of God's plan; and now it was the time to drive this point to the forefront.
From the Hebraic perspective, every book of the Bible is written for the primary purpose of learning and keeping the Covenant. Accordingly, all that God has revealed is in some way an instruction meant for the keeping of his Torah:
Deut 29:29 "The secret things belong to Y'havah our Elohim, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this Torah (Torah is forever)."
If we read the Bible from the viewpoint of an outsider to the Covenant, we will miss the Hebraic context, and subsequently, its main purpose, teaching us the Torah.
If you will begin to see yourself as being joined with the Hebrews in the same Covenant, you will see that the same Torah is commanded for all, and for all of time:
Num 15:15 "For the assembly, there shall be one statute (law) for you and for the Geir (non-Jew within the Covenant) who lives as a sojourner with you; a statute forever throughout your generations. As you are, so shall the Geir be before Y'havah.
15:16 One Torah and one ordinance shall be for you and for the Geir who lives as a sojourner with you."
In closing, this next passage, which in context was written by Paul to the new Geir/non-Jews he was then teaching the Torah to, confirms just how important the Hebrew Covenant was to them, and is to us:
Eph 2:12 "Because you were in with this for a time: with that one separated of Messiah, having been estranged of the citizenship of this Yisra'el and strangers concerning the promise of the Covenants; having no hope and those without Elohim, in with the world."
Consequently then, to not be in with the world, having no hope and without Elohim, but to be with the promise of the Covenants, is to be included as a citizen with this Israel; with those not separated of Messiah; to be those joined with the Messiah in the Torah.
Now, we have heard things said like: "The Messiah himself didn't keep the Sabbath, and so we don't have to either."
If that were true, he would have broken one of the Ten Commandments and sinned; his sacrifice for sin first caused by the fall of Adam would then be worthless.
Think about it; he had to keep the Torah perfectly…
It is Messiah Yehoshua's perfect walk in the Torah during his earthly life that made his sacrifice acceptable on our behalf. Trust in the Hebrew Torah being righteous is the foundation for trust in his righteousness:
Deut 4:8 "What great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so tzadeek (righteous) as all this Torah, which I set before you this day?"
Deut 6:24-25 "Y'havah commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Y'havah our Elohim, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is this day. It shall be tzedakah (a righteous act) to us, if we observe to do all this mitzvah (command to keep all of the Torah/Mosaic law) before Y'havah our Elohim, as he has commanded us."
Trusting Messiah Yehoshua to safely lead and walk with us in the Torah should be the cornerstone for our trust in him:
1John 2:6 "The one meaning to be remaining in with him (Messiah Yehoshua), he is being obligated just as that one walked himself, and is himself to be walking in haDerekh ("the Way" of the Torah of the Hebrew Covenant)."
Messiah Yehoshua warned us himself to not be deceived and think that obedience to the Torah was changed in any way by him:
Matt 5:17 "You should not make a judgment that I came to loosen down the Torah or the Prophets. I came not to loosen down, rather, to fill-up fully (i.e. to cause God's will as written in the Mosaic law to be obeyed as it should be and perform God's promises as made known in the Prophets).
5:18 Trust it is so, for I am saying to you: unto whatsoever, it may pass by the heaven and the earth; one small letter or one pen mark, no, it may not pass by from of the Torah (not even the smallest detail of the Torah; see Isa 40:8). Unto whatsoever it should itself all be kept."
Anyone who would say to you that the Messiah was not here to "fill-up fully" the Torah, but rather "fulfilled" it for us, meaning we now don't have to keep it, has rejected what God has said to be forever, and is proclaiming that the Messiah himself changed the terms of his own Covenant...
Our commitment to follow Messiah Yehoshua in the Torah remains unchanged, just as the God of Israel first gave us his Covenant through the prophet Moses:
Deut 29:14-15 "Not only with you do I make this Covenant and this binding-oath, but with him who stands here with us this day before Y'havah our Elohim, and also with him who is not here with us this day (pertaining to all people who will join with Israel; for all future generations)."
To walk with the Messiah as God commands is to be walking by the Torah:
Deut 5:33a "You shall all walk in haDerekh, which Y'havah your Elohim has commanded you, that you may live… (have life in right-standing with God)"
We believe that a talmid (disciple) of Messiah Yehoshua keeps this command, and is even zealous to keep it:
Matt 10:38 "He also
Messiah Yehoshua lovingly leads us to keep the Covenant wherever we may live and whatsoever our circumstances may be; he is able. But it is our trusting him to lead us in the Torah as it is written that keeps us on the same path he himself is on…
You will most certainly find a considerable weight of teachings and opinions against what we have stated here, but you must decide what the God of Israel's opinion will be when you stand before him; his will be the only one that will count.
What now will be your way to walk with the Prophet/Messiah Yehoshua?
