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Jewish Heritage Revival
One Heritage United by Messiah If You Love Me... keep my commandments. John 14:15 This is our Messiah speaking to His apostles...He continues... ...And I will pray the Father and He shall give you another comforter, that He may abide with you forever. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it doesn't see Him, neither knows Him: but you know Him; because He dwells with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world sees me no more; but you see me because I live, you shall also live. At that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in Me and I in you. He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he, it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas said to him (not Iscariot) Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him: If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our residence with him. He that loves me not keeps not my sayings: and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. These things have I spoken to you, being present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said to you." John 14:16 - 26 How do we define what are our Messiah's commandments? In another encounter, our Messiah is asked: "Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matthew 22:35 - 40 Our Messiah in essence has summarized the entire Word of God into two commandments...Love God and love one another. Now the question is how do we do this? What our Messiah summarized - the Tenach, is our guide to fulfilling these two commandments. Now that we know what our Messiah wants us to do as believers the big question is HOW??? In order to do that, we must go back to the source of where everything pertaining to the Kingdom of God is found...The Tenach. Many of the things that we are to do (or not do) as believers is originally found in Torah. Our Messiah makes many references to Moses and Torah. Before going into detail, we must reestablish that Messiah and the Father are one. What our Messiah taught was of the Father and from the Father. As we read continually through His Word, there is only one God. (Adonai echud). The commandments are not new, as we will see. How do we love God? Let us look at the first four commandments in greater detail. "You shall have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:3 As stated above, Jesus our Messiah, the Holy Spirit and our Creator are all one. They are not polythesitic (multiple gods) but monotheistic (one God). As discussed in our article on the origin of easter, there are several accounts of what our God thinks of, and therefore feels towards other gods. In going one step further, what are some of the things that you place before God...money, pleasure activities, people... All of these can be other forms of gods in your life that you have placed before our God. "You shall not make unto thee any graven images, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth below, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them (other gods) for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy to thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." Exodus 20:4 - 6 Look at the last verse again...sounds like something our Messiah said. (look at the title of this article) For that matter it is something that He did say. He will show mercy to thousands that love Him and "KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS" The message is consistent. First given by God to Moses and the children of Israel, then conveyed to the church. "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain." Exodus 20:7 If you love God, why would you even consider it. The Holy Spirit that resides in you, in essence cleans you out. Remember you have become a new creation. God can miraculously take the old sinful nature that you were before you became a believer and completely make you over into a child of the King. "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Six days shall you labor and do all your work: but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor the stranger that is within your gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Exodus 20:8 -11 This will be the most challenging of commandments for the church today. Nowhere in God's Word does it say that He has changed the Sabbath. It was the seventh day when He had completed the creation of the world, and it is the seventh day today. There are various reasons for why the church has migrated to a predominantly based Sunday worship. These reasons include:
"And first of all it appeared an unworthy thing that in the celebration of this most holy feast we should follow the practice of the Jews, who have impiously defiled their hands with enormous sin for we have received from our Saviour a different way…And I myself have undertaken that this decision should meet with the approval of your Sagacities in the hope that your Wisdoms will gladly admit that practice which is observed at once in the city of Rome and in Africa, throughout Italy and in Egypt…with entire unity of judgment.” (Vol. 5, p. 228). (note 3) Other reasons that have been used to convey a Sunday time of worship include:
The church's interpretation of this verse depicts that the above occurred on Sunday morning when in actual fact it is Saturday night. The problem with the interpretation of this verse is that the Jewish perspective is missing. So, what is missing?
Other reasons that I have heard include:
In response to the second reason...as we have discussed in our article on Passover, even in death, our Messiah kept God's commandments and honored the Sabbath, didn't do any work, and rose at His appointed and scheduled time - the feast of First Fruits. Now that we have explored how we are to love God, we can now look at the second commandment our Messiah gives us...love one another. How do we love one another? Let us start by looking at the next six commandments. "Honor your father and mother: that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives you." Exodus 20:12 "You shall not kill" Exodus 20:13 "You shall not commit adultery" Exodus 20:14 "You shall not steal" Exodus 20:15 "You shall not bear fall witness against your neighbor" Exodus 20:16 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor's." Exodus 20:17 This is our starting point for how we are to treat (love) one another. However, now our Messiah has actually raised the bar for us as believers. For instance, when He speaks of the act of committing adultery, He states: "You have heard that it was said by them of old time, "You shall not commit adultery" But I say to you, that whosoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart." Matthew 5:27 -28 Not only are we responsible for the act, but also for the initial thought. Here are a few other commandments found in Torah, that not only apply today, but also sound like something our Messiah said:
These are but a few examples. In another article we will go into greater detail as to separating them into commandments that are still relevant today, and those that cannot be followed or have been fulfilled by our Messiah...thereby showing us what God desires of us as His children. As we read in John's gospel when our Messiah is teaching of the parable of the vine and branches, commanding us to love one another as He has loved us. "I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that bears no fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except if you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me, you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch; and is withered; and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so shall you be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you: continue in my love. These things have I spoken to you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth, I call you not servants; for the servant knows not what his lord does, but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known to you. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit remains: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it to you. These things I command you, that you love one another." John 15:1 - 17 Is our God forcing us to keep His commandments? No. He allows us free will to make the decisions for ourselves. If you truly love Him and you say you do...you will keep His commandments...not a few, but all. When we fail to do so, He is there to forgive us, so long as we accept responsibility and confess our mistakes (sin, disobedience) to Him. From personal experience, when I have done something wrong, God's Spirit is quick to convict me of my wrongdoing. So, how do we know when it is God's Spirit convicting us...and therefore guiding us? It is an intimate relationship that you have with Him. For me personally, at times, it will be a voice, thought or feeling that comes from Him. It will also occur during prayer or when I am reading His Word. All I can say is that the more you focus on Him and how he communicates with you, the better you will know Him. There were times in the past that I wasn't sure if it was Him or the enemy. One thing that will never happen is the Holy Spirit contradicting God's Word. When in doubt, look it up. If what you are given contradicts any of God's Word, then it isn't from Him. "Think not that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For surely I say to you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no way pass from the law, until all is fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, That except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no way enter into the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:17 - 20 When our Messiah gave His sermon on the mount, He was speaking to a Jewish audience, for which they understand Torah and Prophets. In giving these instructions to a Jewish audience, can we say that our Messiah has given two sets of instruction...one for Jewish believers in Messiah, and one for non-Jewish believers? Paul, a student of our Messiah provides the answer to this question..."There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Messiah. And if you are in Messiah, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3:28 - 29 Our Messiah is instructing everyone who believes in Him to keep His commandments...that He didn't come to destroy (do away, discard, eliminate) the law (Law of Moses, known as Torah, which can also be interpreted as teachings, and in essence the teachings of God.) but to fulfill many of the ordinances set forth by God for the requirements for sacrifice. No longer are we required to sacrifice a lamb on the altar for our sins...Our Messiah has done that once and for all. I firmly believe that the following warning speaks not only to unbelievers, but also to many that state they believe in our Messiah Jesus: "Enter in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there will be that go in through it. Because, narrow is the gate, and hard is the way which leads to life, and few there will be that find it." Matthew 7:13 - 14 There are many in the world that do not believe in and therefore follow our Messiah who are currently on this path. Likewise, there are many churches that have watered down our Messiah's message, misinterpreted the scriptures and have ignored the context of what our Messiah has said. It is not for any of us to judge one another...but, rather to earnestly seek Him, immerse ourselves in the Word of God...learning all that He has to say, and help one another should any of us fall. Our Messiah says: "Not every one that says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? And in your name have cast out devils? And in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, you that work iniquity." Matthew 7:21 - 23 "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Revelation 22:14 Remember...when you rightly divide God's Word, it will not contradict itself. It is when you take out of context, or misapply His Word that you are playing with your eternal life. Do you love Him?
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